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Saturday, January 7th, 2006

4:30 PM - We lost on our match, sadly, and it will be our last. The first semi-final match is beginning now.
4:21 PM - Another match, another tie, more signs!
4:08 PM - We just had our playoff match, and lost.
4:06 PM - Apparently we've started a trend with signs, especially on iBooks.
3:32 PM - On top of that, we're in the playoffs!
3:31 PM - We put "LOL" in big letters on the iBook and the cameraman zoomed right up on it. We all laughed out loud.
3:18 PM - There's word me might be in the playoffs yet.
3:01 PM - We won our latest and last match! We didn't place in the top three teams, but we still did well: two wins, one tie, one loss.
2:30 PM - Another match, hopefully in our favour, although there was no official word. We won Mr. M a shirt for spirit!
1:50 PM - Our second match has ended, and although we got two balls in the centre goal, we still had difficulties in moving around, and lost.
1:39 PM - Natalie says the robot lives.
1:25 PM - We're to be up again at ten to two.
1:15 PM - What an interesting first match! While the opposition failed to move, we slowly (due to the rubber ground) inched across the field and picked up four balls, but could not turn to put them in a goal. It was a tie game. Another match with other teams is about to begin.
1:09 PM - The score keeping device is a bit flaky. We're starting our match in two minutes.
1:07 PM - It sounds like it's all starting, they're about to explain the rules. Our team is one of those up right now!
1:05 PM - The cameraman's going crazy by zooming up on random audience members. Amber and Fil were definitely up on the big screen.
1:02 PM - We just finished a lunch break, more or less. The Bytes have been working in the pit through most of it, reworking the 'bot to adapt to the rubber flooring of the game field.
11:18 AM - We have the super secret password to read the encrypted game file now. Thing's are supposed to start hopping in about an hour. We're no longer watching the broadcast.
11:13 AM - The shipping deadline for the robots will be Tuesday, February twenty-first, at midnight.
11:09 AM - They're asking the audience how they feel about the game, which is positive. Now they're doing their own game show to answer questions.
11:06 AM - Humans in boxes are simulating the game.
11:04 AM - The game is Aim High! It's pretty crazy.
11:00 AM - They're playing The Who. And here they're revealing the game!
10:59 AM - A little about the game hint has been explained by Woodie. Now several people are being introduced.
10:56 AM - "FIRST is about nerd pride, but it's about nouveau nerd pride."
10:52 AM - Woodie is talking about the importance of safety (and showed a video) and the eventual unveiling of the game challenge video (Dave Lavery waved a CD copy of it around earlier as a joke).
10:45 AM - Some exciting advances for those who get to program the robots! Dr. Woodie Flowers is speaking now.
10:37 AM - Excellent speech by Dean as always. Dave Lavery from NASA is now speaking. (The broadcast is out of Manchester, NH.)
10:26 AM - A new, and funny, safety video just aired. Dean Kamen is now speaking.
10:17 AM - Having just watched the Cheesy Poof's Chairman's Award video, FIRST president Paul Gudonis is now speaking.
10:10 AM - We're now watching the NASA broadcast. Pass the popcorn.
10:07 AM - The NASA broadcast seems to be underway.
10:06 AM - Watching a Lego League video.
10:05 AM - The official broadcast is to start in about two minutes, which is also when game guesses have to be handed in by.
10:04 AM - Free t-shirts that are "out of date after this afternoon" for six volunteers who help hand out kits.
10:03 AM - For those who know the layout, kits are being handed out in Gemini Room East. All kits are to be picked up by one o'clock, but delays are expected.
10:01 AM - Team 610 has organized a way for teams with any spare parts to donate them to teams affected by Hurricane Katrina.
9:59 AM - Google is now a major sponsor of FIRST, and has given every team a digital camera!
9:55 AM - The "Canadian Association for Student Robotics" is now "FIRST Robotics Canada": www.firstroboticscanada.org.
9:54 AM - The competition will be one o'clock to four o'clock.
9:52 AM - Here we go! There are about a thousand people here today, apparently.
9:46 AM - Staring in five.
9:30 AM - There is zero Internet in here, or something to that effect. Thanks anyway, Andre. Apparently this will be a log to read later.
9:27 AM - The game guess box is front and centre for everyone to see. Guessing stops at ten o'clock, which is when the NASA broadcast is to begin.
9:23 AM - Andre is on the hunt for any kind of Internet access in the building. He's done it before, he can do it again.
9:15 AM - We're getting an announcement about the game challenge clue competition. Teams can fill out forms with their guess as to what the challenge will be, and the closest to the "judges' very subjective" decision will win a battery charger.
9:13 AM - Mentor Chris Kelly showed up at the hotel this morning, much to the surprise of many. He's just entered the auditorium with a posse.
8:56 AM - The Sabres have arrived at the Ontario Science Centre! A very snowy drive up, but we made it. We're gathered in the filling auditorium, looking over the game field and watching a background presentation of different teams' guesses at the game clue. No sign of wireless Internet, so these updates might just get posted later.

Friday, January 6th, 2006

8:58 PM - We had dinner at Boston Pizza, and apparently it was Kristen's birthday again. The team is now back at the hotel and working on the VEX robot.
3:07 PM - We're in Toronto! Technical difficulties include no wireless Internet access in the hotel, and their wired service has blocked just about everything. Anyway, we're getting along.
9:00 AM - Hi, this is a totally automated message, probably written at three o'clock this morning. Anyway, by this time (nine o'clock) we should have just left for Toronto.