Registration begins for Emerging Technology Conference by Andy Oram May. 12, 2002 URL: http://conferences.oreilly.com/etcon

I'm told that 500 people have signed up for this conference (the last registrant today was me, because I literally ran up to the staffer--whom I've known for a long time--as she was going to the elevator and begged her to return to the registration desk to sign me up). This number is an achievement, since it's hard to put your finger on what's going to happen at the conference. Essentially, this is several conferences in one, each conference representing a trend that is about to break out (we think) and become a major facet of people's work and life.

But the Emerging Technology conference will (we hope) turn into much more than the sum of its subconferences. These trends all interact in subtle ways. By studying one trend, you understand the others better. That's the potential strength of the conference.

After registering, I took advantage of another colleague's last-minute database fixes to stay around a while, boot my Linux laptop, and try out my wireless Ethernet card. I wish I could awe my readers with agonized stories of my configuration struggles with this card, but the simple fact is that I stuck it in the slot, booted, and pinged away. My thanks go to Andreas Neuhaus and anyone else who worked on getting wireless cards operational on Linux. It's a gratifying experience for me, because it shows me that Linux is staying current with critical modern technologies and is ready for the twenty-first century.

Andy Oram is an editor for O'Reilly Media, specializing in Linux and free software books, and a member of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. His web site is www.praxagora.com/andyo.