MacHack Frequently Asked Questions
Legality
- Is this MacHack thing legal?
- Can it teach me how to break into computers and steal
stuff or write a virus?
- Location & Transportation
- Why is MacHack held in Michigan!?
- Where is the conference being held?
- How far is the hotel from the airport?
- What is the closest airport?
- When should I fly in and fly out?
- If I don't have a car, what is the best
way get to the hotel?
- Will I need a car?
- I've rented a car. How do I find the hotel
from the airport?
- I'm driving. How do I find the hotel from the
East or South?
- I'm driving. How do I find the hotel from the
West?
- I'm driving. How do I find the hotel from Canada?
- Is there any other way to get to MacHack?
- What's the weather like in Michigan in June?
- Conference Facilities
- Can I get email?
- Do I need to bring a laptop, a modem, my hard
drive?
- When does the conference really start?
- Logistics
- How should I select which sessions to attend?
- What is the "Hack Contest"?
- Do I have to wear a tie to the banquet? (What is the
dress code?)
- Will I get any sleep?
- Do I need to bring my favorite six volumes of Inside
Mac? (What tools/docs are available in the machine room?)
- Trivia
- "It's all Jordan's fault." Who is Jordan
and why is everything his fault?
- "Where's Waldemar?" Who is Waldemar
and why should I care where he is?
Legality
Is this MacHack thing legal?
Yes, MacHack is legal. It is a legimate conference for "Leading Edge
Developers". It is not about breaking into computers, or learning the
newest virus writing tips.
Can it teach me how to break into computers and
steal stuff or write a virus?
No you won't learn how to break into computers and steal stuff or how to
write a virus. In fact, some of the people who attend MacHack are the ones
who write the anti-viral software. If you've ever used Disinfectant, you
know the work of one MacHack attendee. The hacks that come out of MacHack
are those that do clever, amusing or useful things to the system software.
Hacks which can do damage to data, networks etc are not welcome at the conference.
Location & Transportation
Why is MacHack held in Michigan!?
An extensive survey determined that there was very little for a bunch of
Macintosh developers to do in Michigan in the middle of summer beside stay
awake inside the hotel chatting and writing insanely great software. No
nearby amusement parks beckon, no water slides cry out for attention. In
short, once you get there, there's no reason to leave -- which is perfect,
because you'll want to stay and hang with the your fellow Macintosh home-boys.
or
12 years ago Gavin Eadie and some of his colleagues thought a conference
on this new computer called a Macintosh would be a good thing for the University
of Michigan. They hired as their conference manager a fledgling outfit based
nearby. After the first year, U of M decided that they would rather not
run the conference again, but several of the attendees thought it was such
a good idea, they talked Expotech into taking it over from the Uiversity
and holding another one. Because the conference started in Michigan, and
is owned, trademarked, DBAd and run by a Michigan corporation, it's always
been here. Besides it gives everyone *from* Ann Arbor a good excuse to come
back again for awhile.
Where is the conference being held?
This year, MacHack is being held at the Holiday Inn Fairlane. The hotel
is located at the intersection of the Southfield Freeway and Ford Rd. in
Dearborn, Michigan.
How far is the hotel from the airport?
The hotel is located about 20 miles from the airport.
What is the closest airport?
The closest airport to the hotel is Detroit Metropolitan Airport. There
is also a commuter airport, Detroit City Airport, nearby. Detroit Metro
is a hub for Northwest Airlines, and is also serviced by all major airlines.
When should I fly in and fly out?
Things work best if you arrive sometime on Wednesday before the conference
begins. The conference begins at midnight, Thursday, which is really just
a minute after 11:59pm Wednesday. Don't get confused and think that you
can arrive on Thursday. If you arrive on Thursday, you've already missed
the keynote and the first 8-12 hours you should be staying awake.
Don't worry about showing up too early. Take the opportunity to check out
the pool and other amenities, because you'll be so busy once the conference
starts you won't see them again.
MacHack ends Saturday evening, like 8-ish, but everyone goes out to the
movies afterwards and then comes back to the hotel to eat ice cream. So,
you'll be up late Saturday night; and so shoudn't try to leave too early
on Sunday because you won't have time to rest. Leaving sometime Sunday afternoon
generally works pretty well, although people flying east generally have
to leave late morning or early afternoon in order to get back to where they
came from before too late.
If I don't have a car, what is the best way
get to the hotel?
Commuter Transportation runs shuttles from Detroit Metro Airport to the
hotel every hour. The shuttles leave from the "Arrival" level
of the airpport every hour at the quarter hour from 7:15 AM to 9:15 PM.
Cost is $10 one way and $18 round trip. Advance reservations are not necessary.
Call 313-941-3252 for more information.
There is also a limosine service called MetroCars. They will meet your plane
and deliver you to the hotel. Call 313-946-5700 for more information or
to make reservations.
Will I need a car?
No, mankind lived for tens of thousands of years without a car, and almost
all of the activities at MacHack are held at the hotel, so unless your personality
somehow require a car be available you can do without one. There are three
strip-malls, a major shopping center, and several restaurants within a mile
of the hotel.
However, it's darn handy for some people to have cars for the occasional
food run late at night and for ferrying everyone to the movie on Saturday.
Preferably these people have an expense account from a big company which
hasn't lost more than $700 million in the past year. If you're such a person,
you might want to get a car. A big car.
I've rented a car. How do I find the hotel
from the airport?
When you exit the airport, take I-94 East to the Southfield exit. Go North
on Southfield to Ford Rd. West exit. Exit, and go West to the Service drive.
Once you exit you will be able to see the hotel. It nestles next to the
Office Depot and the fast food place on the service drive in the Northwest
corner of the intersection of Southfield & Ford Rds.
I'm driving. How do I find the hotel from the
East or South?
Avoid at all costs expecting to go up I-75 from Ohio to Michigan. There
is major construction in the Toledo/ Ohio border area. Your best route is
to take US-23 to Ann Arbor and join I-94 there. It's many more miles, but
far less time, this summer. From I-94 follow the directions from the airport.
I'm driving. How do I find the hotel from the
West?
Take I-94 East, and then follow the directions from the airport.
I'm driving. How do I find the hotel from Canada?
Take your best route to Windsor. Cross into the States at the bridge. Take
the Jeffries Freeway (I-96). Take the Jeffries Freeway West to the Southfield
Freeway. Go South to Ford Rd. West. From Ford Rd., turn right onto the service
drive.
Is there any other way to get to MacHack?
Yes, you can take the train. There is an Amtrack station about a mile from
the hotel.
Past efforts have determined that standing in a quiet room, dressed casually,
and tapping your heel together three times while repeating "I want
to got to MacHack" doesn't work, but you could always give it a shot.
What's the weather like in Michigan in June?
June in Michigan is a lovely month. In the past we've had a scorching heat
wave, a year when it never went above 63 degrees F (blame the volcano),
two tornados (same year, we were evacuated from our rooms twice in two days)
with a lightning strike, and 7 other years when the weather was pretty darn
near perfect - in the mid 70's to mid 80's, sunny or only mild rain, lows
in the high 60's to 70. Bring an umbrella and hope for the best.
Conference Facilities
Can I get email?
Of course. We will have a direct Internet connection in the Machine Room
and we have been promised (it's in the contract this year) that every attendee's
room will have a data port on the phone line.
Do I need to bring a laptop, a modem, my hard
drive?
MacHack has a machine room with general use Macintoshes, so you don't need
to bring a machine. If you use a non-standard development environment, or
might want your previous source code be available, or something similar
you'll want to bring a machine or hard drive.
Logistics
How should I select which sessions to attend?
Virtually no one attends the sessions, so don't sweat it.
OK, lots of people attend the sessions; more in the afternoon than it the
morning but that's to be expected. In general, go to the sessions that interest
you. If you're a beginner, try to select sessions which aren't aimed at
the hard-core hacker. If you've got a problem or don't know how to get some
piece of code to work, go to one of the code clinics. Don't miss the keynote;
it's probably a good idea to hit a few of the Mac OS 8 and Rhapsody sessions.
What is the "Hack Contest"?
Long ago, back when the Macintosh was young and Color Quickdraw was still
a dream, Scott Boyd and Greg Marriott ( hereafter refered to as the-guys-that-make-the-rules
) decided that a conference called MacHack, which brought together some
of the best Macintosh developers, should have a competition wherein the
attendees tried to out-program each other, much in the same way mountain
goats bash each other silly with those horn things on top of their heads.
Thus, amidst much grunting and bellowing was born the first hack contest.
In short, many tried to write the coolest, neatest,
most-impossible-that-can-never-work-but-golly-it-would-be-cool-if-it-could
piece of software and show it around during the contest. A vote of attendees,
tabulated by the-guys-that-make-the-rules, determines the winner.
In the years since, the hack contest has grown. Many enter; many demo their
hacks on Friday night; and a honored few enter the hallowed registry of
MacHack winners.
You can, in general, enter anything you've written in the Hack contest.
You must be able to demo it in front of a group of your peers on Friday
night; winners are announced Saturday evening after dinner. You don't have
to create the hack at the conference, but it's more fun if you do.
When does the conference really start?
We start moving equipment into the Machine Room on Tuesday. If you show
up anytime on Wednesday and want to volunteer to help bring up the Machine
Room, we welcome your assistance. Registration will open in the Operations
Room about 3 PM on Wednesday. The kickoff session for MacHack is at midnight
(between Wednesday and Thursday).
Do I have to wear a tie to the banquet? (What is the
dress code?)
No. You can if you want to, but you WILL be abused. I believe that at least
one person does usually wear a tie. Most people try to blot off the newest
pizza stains from their T-shirt before they attend, but even this is optional.
Will I get any sleep?
There's always something happening at MacHack, and because of this some
attendees have realized that they can get the most out of MacHack if they
simply skip sleeping for the duration of the conference. Of course, this
has its problems, and occasionally we've had to rescue tired MacHackers
who fell asleep face-first in their ice cream at the Saturday festivities,
but overall works for some.
Other attendees have realized that, while sleep is for the weak and the
sickly, it's also for the tired, and so these people sneak off and try to
catch a few hours between 6am and noon, when lunch is served.
Do I need to bring my favorite six volumes of Inside
Mac? (What tools/docs are available in the machine room?)
Most technical documentation is available in the machine rooms, including
copies of the most recent developer CD's.
Trivia
"It's all Jordan's fault." Who is Jordan
and why is everything his fault?
There were no Apple representatives at MacHack 1. For MacHack 2, Apple sent
one person. A sweet, gentle, young, new hire named Jordan Mattson. After
the first day of the conference, Jordan became very tired of answering the
same questions over and over in the hallways. He proposed to have an "Apple
Feedback" session where he would take questions from the audience and
try to answer them as best he could. So we put him up in front of the room
with a microphone. We also put a very big person with a baseball bat at
the table with him. Jordan took questions and wrote down things to take
back to Apple for over 4 hours that night. Because of the imprecise nature
of the Engligh language, every single strange, unusual, stupid, great, or
otherwise policy or pronouncement that Apple had made in it's history became
the fault of the person in the front of the room. "Why did you do .....?"
Because Jordan was the only Apple person in sight, everything was, de facto,
his fault. After that Apple sent more and more people to MacHack, so no
one person ever since has had to take the flack that intensely. But of course,
everything is still Jordan's fault.
"Where's Waldemar?" Who is Waldemar
and why should I care where he is?
When the "Where's Waldo" craze was at its height, the T-shirt
for MacHack was a schematic of the hotel and the events during MacHack.
Waldemar Horwat had been in charge of the paper's track at MacHack for several
years and was a natural for the person to be looking for. Waldemar can currently
be found at General Magic or www.waldemar.com
<Don't forget to bring your business cards.>
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Last updated: May 18, 1997 by mtc