We went to their offices in response to a 'casting call' GeekWire posted a few days ago. I didn't see the post, but friends contacted me about it. Apparently they think I have geeky kids. I suppose some might be offended, but I was flattered. ;)
I responded to the casting call via email, and lo and behold, Annabelle was invited to come into their offices to interview. (I didn't put in for CJ, because he was well outside their age 5 to 10 range in the notice.)
We got to the GeekWire offices a little early, so we strolled around Fremont for a bit. We love that neighborhood - so cool and quirky!
One of the first things we spied was this sign tied to a chain link fence.
We found an urban oasis garden, complete with a hard cider in its natural habitat (ha ha).
Politics are always big in "The People's Republic of Fremont."
About 2:20, we headed to GeekWire for our 2:30 appointment. The child being interviewed ahead of Annabelle was just coming out, so she went right in. Annabelle was in there about 15 minutes, and most of the time CJ was peppering me with questions about what she was doing and asking if we'd ever get to see her whole interview. I told him no and not to worry about it, it was her thing, no big deal.
That said, about three minutes before we left home this afternoon, I told CJ to brush his hair and get on a geeky t-shirt. I had a feeling that he might get a crack at being interviewed, as well and lo and behold, when Annabelle came out of the room, one of the principals spied CJ in his Oregon Trail t-shirt and conscripted him to be interviewed. CJ was happy to oblige.
CJ didn't hesitate to share his thoughts with GeekWire. Here are some highlights. ...
On September 2nd, 2015, we went to GeekWire Headquarters in the neighborhood of Fremont to be interviewed. According to Wikipedia, GeekWire is a technology news website that covers startups and established technology companies. The reason Annabelle managed to get interviewed is when mom learned that GeekWire was looking for "geeky" kids to interview, and Annabelle made the cut (because of her age). Although only Annabelle was supposed to be interviewed, I was pulled in the room at the last second.
First of all, I was wearing an Oregon Trail t-shirt saying "you have died of dysentery", one of the most common things you'll see in the game, and I was asked where it came from. I explained the t-shirt was inspired by Oregon Trail, and that it was notorious for being a luck-based mission and near impossible without save scumming*.
Afterwards, when I was interviewed, I was asked multiple questions. Some of these questions were the following: "Do you like video games?" I answered yes. "Which occupation would you prefer: astronaut, firefighter, entrepreneur, or scientist?" I responded that I would prefer to be a scientist, as both astronauts and firefighter have to frequently put their lives on the line, and I don't think I'd be a very good entrepreneur.
"Will robots take over the world?" I said that if we continue to make better AI and fail to take action about their ever-growing capabilities, then they may cause disaster.
"Which do you prefer: Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft?" I replied by asking "Is there a fourth option?"** They laughed and asked me if it could be one of the three they listed. I said Nintendo.
"If you could invent anything, what would it be?" I asked if it had to be within the bounds of known science and physics. They said no, and I said I'd make a Portal Gun.***
Lastly, they asked me if I wanted to say anything before I left. I said "Never give up, never surrender", a quote from Galaxy Quest. They proceeded to laugh. Overall, I had a good time being interviewed by GeekWire.
*Definition of save scumming: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SaveScumming **My choice, had it been available, would have been PC. ***Article about the Portal Gun: http://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/Portal_GunHere are a few of Annabelle's thoughts about the experience. ...
On September 2, I went to GeekWire to be interviewed. The people at GeekWire interviewed multiple kids to put into a compilation video. They asked me multiple questions about technology and other ‘geeky’ things. The interview was short, but I enjoyed answering the questions. Some of the questions included whether I liked Google, Apple, Microsoft, or Sony more and if I knew what a “Walkman” was. One thing that surprised me was that John Cook, the founder of GeekWire and person interviewing me, did not recognize my Boba Fett dress, nor my brother’s Oregon Trail shirt. GeekWire has been doing interviews for a couple of years now, and they’ve made videos showing some of the questions. I thought it was fun, and I can’t wait to see if I make the video.MORNING STROLL: This week was supposed to be cold and wet all week long. Imagine our delight when this morning was blue skies and friendly temperatures.
To celebrate, we look a long walk down to Fisherman's Terminal. We were rewarded by some beautiful sights.
UP AND AWAY: Last night, we watched three men rocket off Earth in a Soyuz capsule. On board were Sergey Volkov, a second-generation cosmonaut, along with Andreas Mogensen - Denmark's very first astronaut ever! - and Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency.
While Volkov will spend six months on station, Mogensen and Aimbetov are super short timers, there for just eight days. For a few days, the ISS will have nine people on board. That's a pretty full house, so to speak - 50 percent or more than are usually living there.
https://youtu.be/r2s1ZJjeQGI
Maybe the Geekwire interviews will be on their website after the convention.
ReplyDeleteThey probably will. The convention is in early October, so we'll have to remember to check for them after that.
Delete