LavaCon 2026 and the future.

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LavaCon is a conference now going on 25 years. Its always fun at conferences where folks collaborate on what the future holds. This year I drove to Charlotte NC from Duluth GA to attend. I used the Tesla in Full Self Drive. I went park-to-park without touching the wheel for over 200 miles. It's crazy. I don't think most people understand how well it works. Lots of nay-sayers still, but it really does work. Be on guard, but enjoy. I spent some of my time "driving" while conversing with Grok as part of my daydreaming. I was discussing with Grok an idea I have of building a West system (cold molded) old style barrel-back runabout maybe 20 feet long- all varnished Mahogony. Of course this boat would have an exotic 12-cylinder engine under a transparent engine hatch between the twin cockpits. We discussed the designs, available actual study plans and pre-lofted design documents for the hull. We also discussed the best engine (perhaps a BMW N73) coupled with a Velvet Dri...
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I am traveling 5 out the next 5 weeks. Fortunately some of that travel includes travel to and from Berkshire, NY. I fly into NY from Wichita and out to Munich. I definitely have a lot of plates spinning. I have a few more to get spinning before the tight rope walk and the encore. Overall, it is a joy.

DJ was down this past weekend. It was great having her here and having someone around to do stuff with. We went to the Shabu Shabu restaurant, the world of Coca-Cola and the Atlanta Aquarium. Not to mention a swim in the pool, the Waffle House and the Kroger.

The Shabu Shabu restaurant was excellent. The service really sucked though. They seemed to really be put off by having two round-eyes as customers. Too bad. I am sure we will go back unless we find another Shabu Shabu restaurant where the service is better. The Asian population in some of the areas North of Atlanta exceeds 60%.

The world of Coca-Cola was fun. They had a great 4-D movie about coke. Interestingly, I ccaanntt seem to drink anything but coke after the experience. They have a tasting room of Coke products from all over the world. It was worth going.

The Atlanta Aquarium really was quite good. It holds stature as the biggest or best of a lot of aquariums. We pet some sharks. I didn't take many photos. There were a lot of folks taking pictures. I suspect it is all pretty well documented.

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LavaCon 2026 and the future.

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LavaCon is a conference now going on 25 years. Its always fun at conferences where folks collaborate on what the future holds. This year I drove to Charlotte NC from Duluth GA to attend. I used the Tesla in Full Self Drive. I went park-to-park without touching the wheel for over 200 miles. It's crazy. I don't think most people understand how well it works. Lots of nay-sayers still, but it really does work. Be on guard, but enjoy. I spent some of my time "driving" while conversing with Grok as part of my daydreaming. I was discussing with Grok an idea I have of building a West system (cold molded) old style barrel-back runabout maybe 20 feet long- all varnished Mahogony. Of course this boat would have an exotic 12-cylinder engine under a transparent engine hatch between the twin cockpits. We discussed the designs, available actual study plans and pre-lofted design documents for the hull. We also discussed the best engine (perhaps a BMW N73) coupled with a Velvet Dri...
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