My friend Nigel Parker, who works in the Microsoft New Zealand office and who I met on my trip there almost three years ago, does some amazing things as he shows off cool new Microsoft technology. The latest thing combines two things I love - great technology and sailboat racing.
Right now the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series races are underway in Auckland. These races are in Americas Cup class boats with Americas Cup crews. Even for sailing enthusiasts, it's hard to watch sailboat racing, but Nigel helped build a very cool race viewer using Silverlight (a very slick newish product from Microsoft) that makes following the races easier to understand and frankly more fun.
You can read his account of the creation of the app on Nigel Parker's Outside Line (his blog). Of course, check out the app and follow the race action on the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series website.
He has such a cool job and is good at it...
(BTW, go Team New Zealand -- I can't root for BMW Oracle, even though they're the American team...)
Nigel Parker Reply
Hey Tony,
Surely you can root for Larry and BMW Oracle ;)
Thanks for the kind words... we need to get you and your family back down to New Zealand again in the near future.
Tony Reply
@Nigel I'd definitely love to come back to NZ soon. And, no, I can't root for Larry...