BE DOPE NEWS (BDN) Thousands of would-be BeDC conference attendess were disappointed as police barred the doors to the capacity-filled Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel in Palo Alto, signaling the start of the conference.

Be Inc. CEO Jean-Louis Gassée began the General Session by emphasizing Be's positioning as the Media OS. To further illustrate his point, he delivered portions of his speech via interpretive dance, which was fed via a sensor-equipped bodysuit into the BeOS, which then translated his movements into video effects and sound. Be Inc. VP Tim Self received a standing ovation for his presentation, which he sang acapella in the style of Bobby McFerrin.

An impressive demo of Quake II on the BeOS was not a huge surprise, considering the Be RailGun developers received along with their BeDC tshirts.

Thomas Dolby closed the general session talking about his days as a Beatnik, and how he, Jack Kerouac and others dreamed of the day of sharing song and stories via a web interface. While somewhat entertaining, many fans wished he would have played his big hit, "She Blinded Me With Science". No one requested it, possibly because Dolby was wearing a tshirt which read "Mention that 'Science' song and I will shoot you dead".

Developers then explored the open bar and the development lab (in that order). Due to their proximity, it was inevitable that the bar was soon hooked into a BeOS machine, which mixed perfect drinks all evening. The BeDC store sold thousands of stylish Be tshirts, hats, mousepads, condoms, mugs, pens and clipboards.

The two dozen lab machines were not left idle until late until the night as developers coded new ideas and engaged in huge games of networked Quake II on the BeOS.

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