The Reason Why We Had No Pho in Taipei…

We had Taiwan beef noodles, hot pot, heck, we even had EPIC curry. But unfortunately, our plans for Dot Com Pho went to the dumps as we had to eat out of modern toilets for our weekly meet up. We never had one string of Vietnames Noodle in Taipei, which we affectionately know as “Pho”. Well, there was a reason for that.

Now John Chow says that we were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. But that’s not the real story. The real story is that when they saw the Root of All Evil coming their way, every Pho restaurant decided to close shop. They didn’t run away when Ed, Michael and me stopped by.

Because John got the boot, that meant that we got the boot by association. Man, we can’t take this guy anywhere! There must be like this super “Pho Network” that notifies other restaurants of the presence of Evil.

I guess the key to getting Pho in Taiwan next year is simple: Leave John happily in his room, complaining about the weather while the rest of us head to Pho!

Dot Com Pho - Massive DUMP Edition

During my trip to Taipei, the Dot Com Pho Crew hit many odd and wonderful eateries. Unfortunately, John Chow wasn’t part of most of those because he wanted to stay indoors and not go anywhere in the hot humid heat…which pretty much means…he never left. Now we thought that our usual digs of Pho Lan had a dirty disposition, but at least they try to hide it in the “Reserve Pho” bins out back. Here in Taipei, when you’re eating out of a toilet, they proudly turn it into a restaurant known as the “Modern Toilet“.

Originally a Japanese concept because that’s where all the weird shit comes from, Modern Toilet is an eatery that celebrates your time on the throne. Even John Chow wanted to come because inside, he’s some sort of deranged phecalpheliac in need of Prozac. As a result, this was our first Dot Com Pho Crew reunion with your favourites like Michael Kwan, Ed Lau and of course, yours truly. According to Michael Kwan, Real Dot Com Moguls eat out of toilets, and after this experience, I would have to say as the Danish do: Kerrect!

That was probably one of the most tasty meals that I’ve ever had on a toilet. I know that some of you work on the toilet or read on the toilet, but have you ever eaten out of a toilet? I can finally add that one to my bucket list

Just FYI, Dot Com Pho: Richmond Pho Lan Edition is back again this week. We’ll all be there at 12:30 today to reunite with the rest of the crew after a long two week absence. If you want to come along, let one of us know so we can save you a seat…or Mr. Lan will kill you…no kidding around :O

A Proud Moment For Futurelooks at COMPUTEX 2008

Probably one of my proudest moments at COMPUTEX this year was seeing Futurelooks recognized as a site that matters. While perusing the FOXCONN booth, I noticed what appeared to be a Futurelooks award logo featured on one of the large walls of the booth.

As I neared the booth, I could make out a Futurelooks’ Editors Choice award. We gave this award to their 9800GTX Video Card earlier this year and thought it was a very solid performer. However, I never expected our award to be important enough to earn a space on a large prominently featured display wall at an international trade show. I was so proud! However, this recognition would not have been possible without the hardwork of Futurelooks Hardware Editor, Jason Landals. I’d like to thank him for producing such an outstanding review that got the attention of one of the largest OEM component manufacturers in the world. It was his review of this card that got us this recognition. Jason couldn’t make it out to COMPUTEX this year, but next year, I’ll make every effort to ensure that he’s on the plane and in Taipei for the only computer show that matters.

Why is this show so important? If you think about it, all the engineering and development of potential products is done in Taiwan and many proofs of concept are shown there. Based on the interest or the number of orders they get on a product, a manufacturer can decide whether or not a product even goes to production. If you’re here, you get to see things that won’t be reality until CES or even CeBit. Although I love CES, by the time you get there you’re already looking at old stuff, at least on the computer hardware side. That show really is about new consumer electronics, not so much about new computer hardware.

For any site that covers computer hardware, being at COMPUTEX is important. It means that you’re serious and that you want to be on the cutting edge. Most importantly, it means you matter and the fact manufacturers feel the same way too by proudly displaying your award logo means that your opinions and feedback are important to the development of future products. It’s funny, but I noticed a couple sites trying to get in on the action without being there by trying to “Regurgitate” press kits. How can you form a real opinion of a product on a press kit? Also, much of the information on early product is not included in those kits. For example, during my meeting with Thermaltake, they showed me something that won’t see the light of day till CES 2009, but more likely, CeBit 2009. It was so secret, proof of concept stage, that I had to convince the CEO of the company to show it to me. It was a great scoop and you can only find out this stuff if you’re there.

Even though it’s only been a few days after the show, I’m already starting to see the impact of our presence there. I’m starting to get requests to take product reviews, straight from Taiwan, bypassing the North American wait. I also spoke directly to the people that sign the checks when it comes to advertising dollars and where to spend it. You can bug your local reps all you want, but it always pays to talk to the boss and build that relationship directly because at the end of the day, where does the money come from?

So I have to ask, knowing that webmasters from other sites occasionally stroll by here, what is stopping you from coming to the only show that matters for the latest Computer Hardware? If your only answer is cost, then my friends, I have to tell you, it’s costing you more to stay on the sidelines.

COMPUTEX 2008 Booth Babes Anyone?

While I figure out how to reset my internal clock to Vancouver time and dig through all these videos and pictures, I’ll keep you folks occupied with the Futurelooks COMPUTEX 2008 Booth Babe Gallery. This gallery contains over 168 photos for your viewing pleasure. If you want to know who we thought were the best, you can check out the top ten right here.

Just in case you’ve missed it, the Futurelooks crew has been busting out article after article on the latest techie goodness. Check out all the stuff that a geek should care about right here.

I Won Another iPod nano!

Well, lightning has struck twice. Last year at COMPUTEX, I won an iPod nano at the Thermaltake Party. This year, I won another one at the ZOTAC party. Unfortunately, I’m not much of an iPod fan so it might have to be given away at some point in the near future. Ed Lau also won an iPod nano. In fact, he was the first one to get called up. Jokingly, we asked our ZOTAC rep to draw Michael, Ed and me so when he drew my name after the third try, we were totally thinking that Michael would be a shoe in. Unfortunately, he got totally pwned. Poor Michael. First spooning, now no iPod or iPhone.

John Chow, who normally ends up winning something at every party, is currently batting zero. I guess that streak had to come to an end at some time.