Vol 15, Issue 35

August 27, 2001

Good Luck Steve

By Max Baron

Some of us may remember seeing Steve for the first time, dressed up like one of the Blues Brothers, emceeing MDR's Microprocessor Forum. Dressed in a dark-blue suit and hat and wearing dark glasses, Steve was very different from his predecessors, who imparted to the conference an aura of somber, solemn communication of science and technical achievement. For Steve, MDR's forums are a show to be enjoyed. Steve created rock-and-roll videos dedicated to computing and embedded design and presented them at the MDR forums—songs of praise and encouragement to the modest engineers who shape the world and don't get the recognition they deserve. Steve's show is a brightly colored backdrop for breakthrough technical announcements at the most prestigious computer forums in the world.

Behind the scenes, behind the expensive props is an even more expensive TV-like studio, where a surprisingly large number of people are controlling computers and sound and video and the time-to-finish clock that is displayed for speakers. Steve is there most of the time, half-whispering, coaching speakers, encouraging, making sure that they look their best and that everything happens on time. The speaker is guided up the few steps in the subdued light, the announcer's formal voice performs the introduction, and the speaker is nudged into the intense limelight precisely on time. Steve turns to the next speaker but keeps looking at the time-to-finish clock of the ongoing presentation.

A few months ago, we heard Steve laughing as he watched videos of "battlebots"—battle robots, the remote-controlled engines that fight and destroy each other in specially designed arenas. The arenas can themselves destroy battlebots that carelessly go, or are pushed, into dangerous areas. Steve can watch the videos over and over and enjoy them with a child's pleasure at hearing a story again and again. Looking over his shoulder at the screen, you can't help laughing yourself at the damage these machines can inflict on one another. We weren't surprised that Steve convinced a few battlebot hobbyists to display their engines at the recent Embedded Processor Forum's expo. The battlebots turned out to be a major attraction.

One of our analysts showed me two thick, heavy, expensive steel-cutting saws that he had brought along from a recent trip. "I'm going to use these on a battlebot," he said. I tried not to smile, but my face may have given me away. "I don't have time to actually do it myself," he said, "I may give it to somebody to build it for me." Sure. Yeah. Steve-stuff is getting contagious.

Steve allowed and encouraged us to expand Microprocessor Report's coverage into the embedded processor area in addition to the traditional focus on general-purpose processors for desktop and server applications. Somehow, the shows at the forums, the accent he has put on imagination, his science fiction, and our own coverage of the new embedded systems have all come together at the right time and have propelled the forums and our newsletter into the twenty-first century. For the next Microprocessor Forum, Steve has already created the lyrics for a song about the Itanium. But a lot more work is required to perform and produce it.

Steve joined MDR two years ago, bringing with him his rich and successful background in publishing, 11 years on the editorial staff of EDN, and the sharp understanding of computer systems that he acquired as a design engineer at HP. Steve is a man of impeccable integrity. He is a gentleman of principles, a person you would like to emulate but might find the effort to do so beyond your will power. He is an idealist who has not given up on his principles and inspires the respect of all that know him.

Steve Leibson is our editorial director, MicroDesign Resources' Vice President of Content—"What's VP of Content?" he keeps saying, "I'll say I'm the VP." —but not for much longer. Steve is leaving MDR.

We wish him well.