Last night I had a dream that all of the robot vehicles competing in the Darpa desert race started brushfires and "ignited controversy," as the imaginary L.A.-based newscaster in my head said (and I'm sure the real ones have said countless times before).
Imagine my surprise when I woke up today to read that none of the entered vehicles lasted more than seven miles. The Carnegie-Mellon (go, Pittsburgh!) robot Hummer managed that feat, but to be fair, one of its front wheels caught fire after it barreled through a fence and took out a post. Another vehicle flipped over and started leaking fuel, so maybe my brushfire dream wasn't all that far off the mark.
Everyone's putting on a brave face, saying that building the perfect autonomous ground vehicle is not about one day of racing, but when you sink $3.5 million into your robot Hummer, you can't tell me you're not crying a river when it only goes seven miles.
Here's the saddest tale, though: one "entry, Ladibug, never made it past the starting gate, despite having been blessed by two Buddhist monks in orange robes from the Wat Thai, a temple in Los Angeles."
You can find more of the interesting word usements I structure* on Apple.com.
Read my article, Better Writing Through Design, on No. 242 of A List Apart.
Pick up issue 176 of .net magazine to read my thoughts on creating outstanding web copy.
Watch a video of the Design Eye for South By panel at SXSW Interactive 2008. Or view the slide deck at DesignEye.org.
*With apologies to Harris K. Telemacher.