Scott Hanselman's ComputerZen.com

It was epic. Truly epic. Thfe stuff you tell, if not your grandchildren, your middle-aged nerdy neighbor about. We had a great time at Cinetopia and raised a lot of money for the American Diabetes Association.

You can make a tax-deductible donation today!

Big Thanks to Everyone involved:

• Jason Mauer and Microsoft Portland for the Xboxes, the Halo 3 games, organization, logistics and his tireless work and two 42" plasmas.
• Rich Claussen for all things business, negotiations, and convincing Cinetopia we had a good idea.
• Greg Hughes for his press-contacting expertise and for spreading the word in creative ways in the Oregonian, the Willamette Week and on KXL radio.
• The SAO for their sponsorship and for all their help the evening of the event!
• John Poore, Michael Willits, Jennifer Bernstein and everyone at Robert Half Technology for their sponsorship and their commitment to the community!
• Wendy Fatz and Rodger DeGeorge from CompView for believing in the dream and loaning us two projectors.
• Lee Williamson and PADNUG for the Food and Drinks!
• Aivea for their sponsorship and generous donation!
• Rudyard and the team at Cinetopia, a locally-owned rockin' sweet luxury theatre, for shutting down 2 of their 8 Super-HD screens!

And lastly, to everyone who donated and everyone who was powned or dispensed pownage all evening long!

Let's do it again soon!

Just a reminder if you're in Portland or SW Washington that now is the time to register for the Halo at Cinetopia for Diabetes Party. You need to pre-register and please, do tell your friends and family! Let's fill it up!

WHAT

We're renting out TWO SUPER HIGH DEF (2048p) 50 foot Movie Theaters and playing Halo. There will be soda and popcorn and pownage. Eighteen and older please.

WHERE

The Glory and Wonder that is Cinetopia just over the bridge in Vancouver.

WHEN

The event is this Thursday, October 11th from 7pm to Midnight.

HOW

Your donation of $25 or more at the door will go straight to the America Diabetes Association. You can also pre-donate and bring your printed receipt to the door. We have room for only 120 people so register today!

Register for this event at http://iammasterchief.com/ with the RSVP code "FIGHTDIABETES". The event is Thursday, October 11th from 7pm to Midnight.

Note that the banner in the upper left of the reservation site does mention the “PRELAUNCH PARTY 09 24 07” even though the center box shows “10/11/07 – Cinetopia”. Just make sure to use the right RSVP code.

WHY

Because it's Halo. And to Fight Diabetes.

We'll see you there!

Here's the big announcement. Strap on.

WHAT

Wanna play Halo 3? You might.

Wanna play it in High Def? Possibly.

How about playing Halo 3 in a 50 foot screen in Super Hi-Def (2048p^[1])?

Wanna get powned bigger than life? Join us.

WHERE

It's at Cinetopia, of course. It's in Vancouver, WA, just north of Portland, OR. This is the NW's most awesome theater. Actual waiters with actual food. Leather seats. Top of the line video and audio. Super HD in every theater. Seriously, this is the only theater Mo and I go to because once you've experienced it you're ruined for other theaters. It's a little pricey, but it's great for date night.

It's 18 or older unless you have a parent escorting you - note that Halo is an "M" rated game. We'll have one Large Theater with a 88 seat capacity and a Living Room Theater with 63 seats. The Living Room Theater is 21 and older. We'll also have a number of Xboxes and Plasmas setup. It'll be a social mingling, eating, fun event. We might have some Guitar Hero also.

WHY

We're doing this because Halo is fun and Diabetes sucks. We're hoping to cancel them out. The event is being organized by Rich Claussen and fellow MSFTie Jason Mauer and myself.

HOW AND HOW MUCH

Ok, this is important. We're trying to raise money for the Fight Against Diabetes and get folks to join us for the Diabetes Walk on October 20th. The fee is $25 (or more, and more is encouraged) at the door, with all proceeds going to the American Diabetes Association.

We're throttled to 120 people. We might raise this if some folks can't make it, but if you register for this event, DO SHOW UP because you're taking an actual human-sized slot that someone else could use. We'll have sponsors there with tables (if you'd like to sponsor a table, let me know) with their various geek wares.

Register for this event at http://iammasterchief.com/ with the RSVP code "FIGHTDIABETES". The event is Thursday, October 11th from 7pm to Midnight.

Note that the banner in the upper left of the reservation site does mention the “PRELAUNCH PARTY 09 24 07” even though the center box shows “10/11/07 – Cinetopia”. Just make sure to use the right RSVP code.

If you don't make it, don't worry, we're going to video/photo/save for posterity as much as we can and get it up on Flickr. It's going to be awesome.

Hope to see you there.

[1] Interpolated by a commercial line-doubler.

Hello folks. The Walk Against Diabetes approaches - it's coming up this October 20th, 2007. You can get details and join the Walk with my family and I at the American Diabetes Association. All donations go straight to the ADA for Research, Education and Advocacy.

Last year we (meaning, YOU, the readers of this blog) raised over $12,000, blowing past my goal of $10,000. Turns out we raised more money than any single team in Portland and they made me this year's Walk Ambassador.

So, I set the bar higher for 2007 with a goal of $50,000. As of this writing we are at $25,421.68! We've almost doubled last year, but only 51% of this year's goal.

What's Next

However, don't count us out yet. With only a month left I've got a few ideas up my sleeve. Along with Jason Mauer and Rich Claussen, we've got a fund raising promotion idea that will truly blow your mind. If you're in Portland, SW Washington, or willing to drive from Seattle, mark your calendars for Thursday, October 11th from about 8pm to Midnight and watch the blog for details. If you don't make it, there will be pictures and video galore - of the mind-blowing, face-melting variety. Watch for the announcement coming soon.

Again, do visit the Diabetes Site to DONATE or JOIN THE TEAM AND WALK.

Microsofties

If you're reading this blog and you work for Microsoft, perhaps you've not gotten around to giving yet. Remember that Microsoft will MATCH your donation dollar for dollar. Just visit http://give on the Microsoft Intranet, and select the Portland Chapter of the American Diabetes Association and mention "Team Hanselman" in the notes. Feel free to send me a copy of the PDF or screenshot and I'll make sure things get there they should.

What have we accomplished?

Maybe you've just started reading this blog recently? Here's some of the promotional stuff we've done this year to help raise awareness:

• We woke up at 5am to be on Good Day Oregon for 4 hours. Well, every 20 minutes for 2 minutes over a four hour period. Video highlights here.

Get Educated about Diabetes

Here's some potentially interesting Diabetes Links for you to read:

• Scott's Diabetes Explanation - The Airplane Analogy - If you read one link from this post, read this one.
• Twitting my Diabetes - I was on NBC11 in the Bay Area when I blogged my Diabetes every few minutes for an entire day.
• Diabetic Books - My personally cherry picked selection of the best Diabetes Books from Amazon.com.
• Team Hanselman and Diabetes Walk 2007 - My Personal Story about Diabetes and information on how to join us on October 20th for the Walk to Fight Diabetes. There are also banners and badges you can add to your blog or MySpace page.
• A Call for Good Design - One Guy, an Insulin Pump, 8 PDAs and an iPod - A post about the sad state of design around Diabetes Equipment.
• Arusha Tanzania 2006 Day 14 - Travelling as a Diabetic - Here's how I travel to a different country in Africa each year or so and all the things a diabetic has to deal with when out and about.
• The First 12 Hours - The Medtronic Minimed Paradigm REAL-time Continuous Glucose Monitor - This is some information about the Continuous Sensor I use as well a brief history of Diabetes.
• Diabetes Walk 2006 - The Day of the Walk - We raised $12000 last year. Here's some pictures of Team Hanselman at least year's walk.
• Type 1 Diabetes will likely be cured in my lifetime - and just in time - Will Diabetes be cured in my lifetime? I hope so, as Diabetics die of Diabetes.
• Symlin plus Insulin equals new Diabetes Therapy - I am not only on an insulin pump, but I still take shots. (A lot of folks don't know that.) Here's why.
• What is the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes- - Here's my definition. Be sure to read the comments.
• Technology and the first insulin pump - Here's a picture of an early insulin pump.
• Garrick Neal's Ten Commandments of Diabetes - My good friend's tips for good control.

Thanks

Thanks VERY much to everyone who has given so far. This has been an amazing here.

Special thanks to our MicroISV partners:

• Scott Cate and his EasySearchASP.NET gift! He donated all the proceeds to EasySearchASP.NET to the ADA from August 23rd through September 7th! Very generous and a great MicroISV idea. Thanks to the folks that purchased his product and indirectly supported the fight against Diabetes
• Leon Bambrick for donating 50% of the proceeds for TimeSnapper. If you have to keep a timecard or keep track of exactly what it is you do all day? Get TimeSnapper - It's Tivo for your Mind.
• The very awesome Martin Plante, lead at slimCODE Solutions, for starting us off by giving all the earnings from his slimKEYS product during the May 6th to May 11th to help fight diabetes. An amazing idea and a very nice gesture. Thanks Martin! Check out SlimKEYS in my post on Replacing Start Run.

Kitsch and Merchandise for the Cause

Phil Deveau emailed me and said:

"I'm going to be riding in a 50K bike ride in November of this year for diabetes (www.diabeteschallenge.com).  I'm training with a couple other guys, every day, if you have a store or something where I could purchase a team Hanselman hat, I'd be proud to wear it while I'm training and on the race day"

What a fantastically nice thing to offer! Of course, I have no merchandise, BUT I do have Jon Galloway on Skype Speeddial. Jon created a 2000x2000 Transparent PNG of the Team Hanselman Logo (also a Galloway creation), and fired it off to me, and 20 minutes later I present to you, Dear Reader, The Team Hanselman Fight Against Diabetes Store.

Just when you though you couldn't get away from my giant disembodied head, I show up on a T-Shirt. When will it end? It will never end, thanks to the Team Hanselman Diabetes Store. Madness.

 Here's your hat, Phil, along with T-Shirts, Sweats, Hoodies, Buttons, and, of course, the Team Hanselman Baby Onesie. Rock the Onesie on Oct. 20th to help in the Fight Against Diabetes.

Thanks again to you, the community. I'm proud to call you all my peeps. I appreciate you, your comments, your support, your emails. Even the anonymous cowards in the comments. Especially you. ;)

Hello! Perhaps you've just arrived at my blog after watching us today on Good Day Oregon from 5am to 9am.

Please do visit the Diabetes Category on this blog and read my personal story about my Type I Diabetes. If you can, please do Donate to the American Diabetes Association. If their site is down, do try again!

If you want to spread the word or email this to your friends, just send them to http://www.hanselman.com/fightdiabetes. We're trying to raise $50,000 and the folks on Team Hanselman and this blog have raised $25,000 so far! Thank you very much to those who have donated! Your money will go directly to diabetes research funded by the American Diabetes Association.

Video: Step Out for Diabetes on KPTV's Good Day Oregon

Here's some potentially interesting Diabetes Links for you to read:

• Scott's Diabetes Explanation - The Airplane Analogy - If you read one link from this post, read this one.
• Twitting my Diabetes - I was on NBC11 in the Bay Area when I blogged my Diabetes every few minutes for an entire day.
• Team Hanselman and Diabetes Walk 2007 - My Personal Story about Diabetes and information on how to join us on October 20th for the Walk to Fight Diabetes. There are also banners and badges you can add to your blog or MySpace page.
• A Call for Good Design - One Guy, an Insulin Pump, 8 PDAs and an iPod - A post about the sad state of design around Diabetes Equipment.
• Arusha Tanzania 2006 Day 14 - Travelling as a Diabetic - Here's how I travel to a different country in Africa each year or so and all the things a diabetic has to deal with when out and about.
• The First 12 Hours - The Medtronic Minimed Paradigm REAL-time Continuous Glucose Monitor - This is some information about the Continuous Sensor I use as well a brief history of Diabetes.
• Diabetes Walk 2006 - The Day of the Walk - We raised $12000 last year. Here's some pictures of Team Hanselman at least year's walk.
• Type 1 Diabetes will likely be cured in my lifetime - and just in time - Will Diabetes be cured in my lifetime? I hope so, as Diabetics die of Diabetes.
• Symlin plus Insulin equals new Diabetes Therapy - I am not only on an insulin pump, but I still take shots. (A lot of folks don't know that.) Here's why.
• What is the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes- - Here's my definition. Be sure to read the comments.
• Technology and the first insulin pump - Here's a picture of an early insulin pump.
• Garrick Neal's Ten Commandments of Diabetes - My good friend's tips for good control.

Thanks for visiting! I'll chop up the video and post it here when I'm back. We're on Good Day Oregon theoretically every 12 minutes, during the weather update, from 5am to 9am.

Hey look, it's me on NBC! Well, it's the local News in the San Francisco Bay Area (even though I live in Portland), but it's coverage!

Marianne Favro, the Health Reporter from NBC11 contacted me for an interview after hearing about Twittering My Diabetes , so I went down to the local NBC Affiliate and recorded a bunch of footage.

Of course the footage they used was the least awesome, including me saying (at one point during the 90 minutes) that diabetes "is wicked hard, and doesn't get any easier." It's magical how that kind of quote can get pulled out of an hour and a half of raw footage and make me sound like an idiot. ;)

Anyway, it turned out OK. The only major glitch is when they showed my Glucagon (sugar shot for major lows) and called it Insulin, but who notices that but me?

Go check out the Video up at NBC11 with the creative title: Diabetic uses Twitter.com. It also featured Biz Stone, one of the co-creators of Twitter.

Action Item and Note to Self: Come up with new Web 2.0 name like "Biz Stone" or "Guy Kawasaki", as "Scott Hanselman" is very Web 1.5. Any ideas?

Last week in order to increase awareness of Diabetes and raise money for the ADA I twittered my diabetes. I twittered (tweet'ed) every blood sugar test, every time I stuck an needle in me, refilled my pump, had a low, had a high, went for a walk. Every time Diabetes stuck its nose in my life, I twittered it.

Here's the transcript. Thanks to everyone who donated! The transcript is ordered NEWEST twitters first, so read it from the bottom up if you want the full experience. Finally, a use for Twitter. ;)

Big thanks to the folks at Twitter for featuring me on the their home page last week in support of the idea.

Please do note this is experiment was designed to generate empathy and turn that emphathy into action. No one's looking for pity and this wasn't intended to inspire fear, only to spread understanding.

For more information on why one ought to manage their diabetes closely and an analogy that explains how insulin and blood sugar relate to either, do check out "Diabetes Explanation: The Airplane Analogy" and the Diabetes section of this blog.

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The day (++) of Twittering for Diabetes is over. Thanks everyone. http://hanselman.com/fightdiabetes 05:27 PM May 19, 2007

Blood sugar is 110mg/dl but heading low fast. I'm off to burgerville. *http://hanselman.com/fightdiabetes/donate* 03:22 PM May 19, 2007

Blood sugar is 150mg/dl...crept up some before lunch. 12:53 PM May 19, 2007

Sugar is 122. Nice stable night. Don't get to many of those. *Twittering my diabetes* to raise money for the ADA - http://hanselman.com 09:04 AM May 19, 2007 from web

Blood sugar is 110mg/dl...looking like I'll be in for a stable night. Thank goodness. 01:23 AM May 19, 2007

Looking stable at 140mg/dl. Never a good idea to go to sleep with blood sugar that's "moving"...makes nighttime dangerous 11:27 PM May 18, 2007 

Blood sugar starting to inch up...now at 140mg/dl. I'd like an apple, so I need to do some calculations. 10:42 PM May 18, 2007

*Twittering my diabetes* to raise money for the ADA - http://hanselman.com 09:00 PM May 18, 2007

Salad was a good choice. Don't want to have a low while putting the baby down. 08:50 PM May 18, 2007

Blood sugar heading up, turns out tortilla strips have more carbs than I thought. 07:34 PM May 18, 2007

Going to have a chicken salad...should not be much insulin, but it's HUGE 07:15 PM May 18, 2007

Italian food tonight, but going to try lower carbs...I'd rather not "disturb" good blood sugar. 07:00 PM May 18, 2007

Getting ready to drive home....gotta check sugar before I drive. Looks like a lovely 105mg/dl. Don't want to have a low while driving. 06:49 PM May 18, 2007

Had to have a 15g granola bar to "level off" blood sugar. In a good position to start dinner with good numbers. 06:43 PM May 18, 2007

Blood sugar are 96mg/dl...kind of "sliding" into a low blood sugar...no action now, but soon. 06:09 PM May 18, 2007

Levelling off nicely. 108mg/dl, fitting nicely in the 80-120mg/dl goal that you, dear reader, the non-diabetic has. 05:53 PM May 18, 2007

Blood sugar is 122mg/dl...looking much better, but still "coming down hot." Don't want to have another low. 05:30 PM May 18, 2007 from web

Blood sugar is 177mg/dl...the delta/slope is great....40 points drop in 20min...I need to soft land this plane.... 04:59 PM May 18, 2007

*Twittering my diabetes* to raise money for the ADA - http://hanselman.com 04:44 PM May 18, 2007

Blood sugar starting to fall...224mg/dl now. Aiming for 100mg/dl, remember. Not sure why lunch was a failure. 04:43 PM May 18, 2007

I think my blood sugar has topped out (apexed) at 232mg/dl....I hope I'm heading back down... 04:24 PM May 18, 2007

Crap...totally messed up lunch...sugar is 228mg/dl and climbing... 04:14 PM May 18, 2007

Alarm just went of...blood sugar is 177 and heading higher. 03:39 PM May 18, 2007

There's free granola bars at a booth here at the conference. I'm grabbing 4 in case I have a low later. 03:34 PM May 18, 2007

There's lots of candy here...snickers, piles of the junk. Everyone's eating. Not I. 03:29 PM May 18, 2007

Blood Sugar 138mg/dl. Nasty low, now I'm afraid I'm going to "overshoot" my low and now I'm going high. 03:26 PM May 18, 2007

Found a cookie in the exhibit hall...gotta wait 10 min to see... 02:14 PM May 18, 2007

Insulin has a "half life" in the system...I've underestimated the power of the walk...I've got 2.5U still "pending"... 02:10 PM May 18, 2007

Alarm just went off...I can feel it, having a low. Shouldn't be...meter says 65...pump says 70... 02:09 PM May 18, 2007

Starting to get really nauseous...the secondary drug, Symlin, causes an hour of seasickness after injection... 01:41 PM May 18, 2007

Just walked 0.5 miles, back from the Restaurant. Can feel the sugar rising... 01:21 PM May 18, 2007

Blood sugar is 155mg/dl. Took 5U of Symlin, that slows digestion. Set pump to deliver 5U with 2.5U now and the rest on going. 01:07 PM May 18, 2007

Most insulin starts working in 2 hours, but most food starts raising your sugar in 10 mins. 12:34 PM May 18, 2007

Blood sugar 120mg/dl...good start to have Ethiopian food. Going to take insulin now in anticipation of a large meal. 12:18 PM May 18, 2007

At Queen of Sheba, trying to count carbs. 12:09 PM May 18, 2007

Walking to Queen of Sheba Ethiopian....walking takes the edge of blood sugar... 11:54 AM May 18, 2007

It's always a good idea for a diabetic to enter a meal with stable blood sugar... 11:31 AM May 18, 2007

I'm well positioned for lunch, blood sugar seems stable at 120mg/dl. Good for a diabetic. 11:02 AM May 18, 2007 

Blood sugar is 110mg/dl...trend is downward... 10:43 AM May 18, 2007 

My insulin pump is currently set to deliver 0.6U of insulin per hour. I take 30U a day total, including this "background insulin." 10:20 AM May 18, 2007

Doing more walking today than anticipated...I may need to take less insulin. 10:19 AM May 18, 2007

My continuous meter just alarmed, says I have to calibrate it with a blood test within 2 hours. Have to keep them in sync. 10:02 AM May 18, 2007

Blood sugar is 140mg/dl. Coming down, good. Safe to drive. Under 80 would not be safe. 09:56 AM May 18, 2007

Driving somewhere, gotta check blood sugar first....diabetics can lose their licenses if they have a "low" 09:55 AM May 18, 2007

I'd like to get my blood sugar back to a more normal level before eating lunch... 09:43 AM May 18, 2007

Sometimes when you have high blood sugar, your mouth tastes sweet, like you're marinating in your own juices. 09:36 AM May 18, 2007

Refilling my insulin pump reservoir. I don't "trust" this bottle of insulin. Insulin only lasts 28 days unrefridgerated and sometimes "dies. ... 09:32 AM May 18, 2007

Sugar is 160mg/dl. The goal is always 80-120. 160 is too high given I haven't eatten yet. 09:30 AM May 18, 2007

Sugar is 172bg/dl. That's high for a fasting number. Has the correction I took not hit yet, or do I need more insulin? 08:56 AM May 18, 2007 

Out of the shower, reconnecting the insulin pump tube to me. The tube is 43" long. The pump has 4 days worth of insulin. 07:20 AM May 18, 2007

*Twittering my diabetes* all day to raise money for diabetes research. Info at http://hanselman.com 07:14 AM May 18, 2007

Getting in the shower. I can disconnect the tube that connects my insulin pump, but then there's no insulin...can only d.c. for 30min. 07:09 AM May 18, 2007

Blood sugar went up around 5am, now 166bg/dl. Taking 1.25U to 'correct.' This is called the "pre-dawn effect," and is hormonal. 07:05 AM May 18, 2007 

Sugar is 104. Got to remember to refill my pump, and change batteries. http://hanselman.com/fightdiabetes 03:13 AM May 18, 2007

Took a 1/2 unit too much insulin...alarm just went off, having a fig newton. 02:02 AM May 18, 2007

Blood sugar seems ok after the apple an hour ok, I'll go to bed now. I'll wake at 4 to check. 01:20 AM May 18, 2007

When eatting large meals, I use the pump *and* take an additional shot of a drug to slow digestion, and slow the sugar rise. 12:58 AM May 18, 2007

Some diabetics take shots, I'm connected 24hrs a day to a pump. I keep it under the pillow. 12:56 AM May 18, 2007

Running out of insulin in my onboard pump....I need 30U (units) for 24 hours. Got 14U on board...change the whole thing now or in the mornin ... 12:06 AM May 18, 2007

Going to eat an apple. Blood sugar is 102mg/dl. Gotta take 2U of insulin, but I'm also eating cheese, so I'll do 3. 12:05 AM May 18, 2007

blood sugar is low...74mg/dl. Starting to feel it. I took too much insulin for dinner. Damn low carb soup. 10:39 PM May 17, 2007 from web

A non-diabetic's blood sugar is between 80mg/dl and 120mg/dl (milligrams/deciliter of blood). 10:23 PM May 17, 2007

Tomorrow I'm going to "twitter my diabetes" - all day, to help raise awareness. hanselman.com/fightdiabetes 07:10 PM May 17, 2007