Granted, it's not the world's most useful application, but I do hope to add more features to it in the coming weeks. It was mostly a small app so I could learn about iOS development and Apple's App Store submission process.

There are other simulators out there, including this one that lets you upload your own sample images.

This year I'm going to take a break from blowing stuff up, but you can probably expect to see exciting videos from our fireworks display next year.

Nope, I don't know why I noticed this.

Well, it's going ok. So far it's been an interesting experience. I've spent much of the time not working at home, for one reason or another, so when I actually get to work from home for a few weeks in a row, I'll probably start to get a bit of cabin-fever. For now, though, I am enjoying the commute. Going from 30-45 minutes every day to a few seconds is unbelievably nice.

I'll be gone for the next two weeks in Ottawa, so I'll be commuting to and from work there, with the added fun of going crazy at nights in a hotel room. I should probably go see a hockey game or something.

There are plenty of downsides, though. Differing time zones makes things fun as most of my coworkers are on the east coast or on another continent all together. And not having anyone to bug with questions without a phone call or email is annoying. It's helped that I've had to go onto customer's sites for a few days. I'm hoping I don't get an advanced case of cabin fever before all is said and done.

Continuing my obsession with bizarre ways to represent time, I'd like to present to the world my 2D Kinetic Clock.

Traditionally, a Kinetic Clock, as seen in something like the "Time Machine Clock," uses complex paths for the balls and weighted levers to transfer the balls from one row to the next. Rather than go down that route, I use a series of switches and vanishing segments to move balls from one row to the next one.

I might play more with getting a lever based solution running, but for now I'm happy with this one. It's not bad for something mostly done in an airport.

Despite the supposed goal of the conference, it was almost taken over by the Windows Phone team to unveil their new Windows Phone 7 Series. It's a horrid name, and quite the departure from the previews Windows Mobile devices. It represents a new platform, not an upgrade from the older Windows Mobile platforms. The blogo-sphere has tons of more details, including the discussions on the seemingly random missing features.

I've always been passionate about the developer story in Windows Mobile, and the upgrade story here, "Learn a new platform, and rewrite your code", doesn't thrill me. That said, the new platform, C#, Silverlight, and XNA, is one I already know and use, so for me personally, I may just buy into the hype.

At least in spirit, this phone really feels like the much rumored Zune Phone. It constantly makes me think of the Zune, and while I think the Zune is a solid device, it pretty much has permanently been an also-ran device in the media player category. I'm not sure what the Windows Phone platform will bring to the marketplace to differentiate itself from the 800lb gorilla that is the iPhone.