Perhaps you've seen a post on the last lecture of Randy Pausch, a CMU professor dying of cancer. I was just watching the 2nd part of his lecture on YouTube, all the while thinking, "Why is this guy so familiar?" Virtual Reality? I attended a VR conference in 95.
Around 5 minutes into the 2nd lecture is when he talks about his family's visit to Disneyland, and he says about the photos on his slide, "There I am in front of the castle, and there I am on a ride. For those of you into foreshadowing, the ride is Alice." So the ride is the Mad Tea Cup, inspired by Alice in Wonderland, but that doesn't really matter, because what I figure out in that instant is how and I know him, and why, and where: Alice.
I attended and talked with him at the Special Interest Group in Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) conference 2006 in Houston, and I recall how wonderfully vital he was then. The very idea that this man is dying while so young seems so absolutely awful and cruel and wrong. So it may seem strange for me to say that I in spite of that, I still recommend watching the videos of his last lecture. They are sad and poignant, but inspirational and uplifting, too. This isn't some dry CS lecture. This is a wonderful summary of the dreams of his life and he went about trying to achieve them.
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