Photo gallery: The Google I/O party

A DJ mixed music on stage.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News.com)

OK, all you coders toiling in obscurity, are you wondering how the other half lives--the programmers who live the glam rich Internet application lifestyle, ditching Win32 and C++ for Web-based APIs and Python?

A few hundred of them were to be found at the party this week at the Google I/O conference, and I couldn't resist taking some photos. I've been to a lot of trade show parties, and although this wasn't over the top, it was certainly more lavish than the usual rubber-chicken-and-Heineken affair.

What would a Google party be without Wi-Fi? Plenty of people were typing away during the festivities.

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For the event, Google packed Moscone West's third-floor auditorium with games and food--I overcame my fears of Moscone-induced illness and found the sushi tasty--but the real draw clearly was a concert by the witty New Zealand duo, the Flight of the Conchords.

The party had two flowing chocolate fountains with strawberries and other snacks for dipping.

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As usual, the concert was better if you already knew the words. I hesitate to acknowledge that I first encountered the band on YouTube (which had better audio than Moscone) but failed to notify the authorities of the possibility of copyright infringement.

About 3,000 people attended the show, said Vic Gundotra, Google's vice president of engineering in charge of developer evangelism and open-source software. Gundotra seemed to be having a good time at the party--at least until he heard about the binary encoding typo that meant the conference T-shirts read "Google KO" rather than "Google IO."

The conference was alive and kicking. Many sessions were packed to overflowing. It's not clear if the draw was Google's clout or the hunger for information about building rich Web applications, but interest there was.

For those who couldn't be attend, Google plans to post videos of the sessions on the Google I/O Web site in the next week or two.

Among the presentations I joined, I found the most interesting to be Jeff Dean's on the inner workings of Google's data centers; Marissa Mayer's on Google search, and the several talks on Google Gears software to augment browser abilities.

Forthwith, some pictures.

Jemaine Clement, left, and Bret McKenzie form the musical comedy act called the Flight of the Conchords.

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Bean-bag chairs can offer respite after a packed day of sessions on APIs, the Google Web Toolkit, HTML, OpenSocial, and open-source software.

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A member of the Android phone target market checks e-mail during the party.

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Still life with tchotchkes. Nerd toys such as Lego bricks and Rubik's cubes were on hand at the show.

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A partygoer awaits the Flight of the Conchords show.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News.com)

Jemaine Clement of the Flight of the Conchords

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Bret McKenzie of the Flight of the Conchords

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The Flight of the Conchords got a lot of laughs from the crowd.

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Plenty of people lined up to shoot a little pool.

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Air hockey afficionados whacked plastic pucks to their hearts' content.

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The Google I/O colored party lights deviated from the standard Google hues. In the background, Wii bowling.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News.com)

The beer flowed freely at the party.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News.com)