O (b LOG N)

Video from OSCON

MindTouch recently attended the OSCON open source software conference in Portland. Steve and I presented a session on open collaboration that was very well attended. MindTouch also celebrated the two year birthday of MindTouch Deki (since product release).

Here’s some video of Ted and I having fun at the Sun/MySQL/Zend party. Ted is great.

Unfortunately, I can’t find any video of me attacking the Sumo wrestlers in the full bunny suit, kicking their asses, and then stealig a tricycle from some guy. I’m still hoping video or photos will surface.

Here’s an interview of me from Linux.com. As usual it takes me the first few minutes to lighten up and be myself (about half way into the interview ).

Also of note, resulting from OSCON, a lot of press for MindTouch. And my new tattoo (no, not my first) courtesy of SourceForge.net:

A few people have commented on the commitment to MindTouch this represents…euh…no shit. To those of you who do not know this. I started the company with Steve back in 2005 and gestated the idea with him in late 2004. He and I helped create the design of the logo (Chris, wherever you are–great work). No the logo doesn’t have cross bones; this was my addition. Arrrg. MindTouch has absorbed an enormous amount of my time and energy in the last three years. It will undoubtedly continue to do so for a few more years. Hell yah I’ll ink that on my leg. Now I don’t have to wear stickers.

Download Day 2008

Help Mozilla set a World Record.

Are you planning on attending or hosting a party to celebrate the Firefox 3 launch, Mozilla’s 30th Anniversary, or the World Record download day?

Shorpy: The 100 Year Old Photo Blog

I’ve been thinking how odd it is that I’m one of the very few 3rd generation Californians I know. My Great grand parents were Okies that came to California during the dust bowl and lived in the tent cities initially upon their arrival. So, when Sam Lawrence tweeted about Shorpy it was timely.

Here are some choice dust bowl photos.

November 1936. Arvin migratory farm workers’ camp in Kern County, California. “Tom Collins, manager of Kern migrant camp, with drought refugee family.”

“Children of Oklahoma drought refugee in migratory camp in California.” November 1936

“Destitute pea pickers living in tent in migrant camp. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two.” Nipomo, California. February 1936. Photograph by Dorothea Lange. The anonymous subject of this famous Depression-era portrait known as “Migrant Mother” came forward in the late 1970s and was revealed to be Florence Owens Thompson (interview). She died in 1983. Read more here.

Fantastic site. Thanks Sam!

My wife is amazing - 26.2 miles

I am SO damn proud of Tara. This last weekend my wife ran the Rock-N-Roll Marathon here in San Diego! I’m so proud of her! Ashby, Brenda (Tara’s mom) and I were there to cheer Tara on. It was very emotional. I freely admit I shed a few tears of pride and joy for her.

I don’t link to Tara’s blog here because that’s personal family content, but I’m going to excerpt Tara’s post about the marathon here.

…

The downtown part was great and more so because our families were cheering us on at mile 6. Aaron had a air horn so it was easy to locate my awesome family with their signs.

Somewhere around mile 11 on the 163 my knees started hurting and my little toe on my left foot was aching. At this point, Jarod and I are still together running and we decide to slow down our pace a little.

Right before segment 3/Mission Bay my knees are throbbing but the vibe from the fans was energizing. I liked the neighborhood feel and the view kept me distracted. Also, I tried a few new things which gave me a burst of energy such as chewing on ice cubes and bubble gum. This was around mile 18 and at this time Jarod was going faster so we split.

Around mile 21 I was HURTING beyond words and I began getting emotional - way emotional. I cut out a picture of Ashby the size of my ipod and had it taped to the back. It helped me to see my daughter however it almost brought a wave of unexpected emotion during this mile. I got it together and just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Luckily, when I passed the corner I could see the end point way in the distance which gave me energy.

At Mile 23 I realize I passed my buddy Jarod somehow and my competitiveness creeped in (in a good way) which pushed me to the end.

At Mile 24 I walked a few steps, collected my thoughts, and pushed all pain out the door. I ran strong till Mile 25 and at that time I experienced the “runners high.” I wish I could find out how fast I ran the last mile because I would not be surprised to find out that I did it in under 8 minutes. When I made the decision to “haul ass” I looked down and I had goosebumps everywhere and I did not feel any pain whatsoever. I literally hauled ass to the finish line. I heard Aaron’s bull horn and saw the finish line all at the same time. I saw my mom and Aaron and I began crying because I was so happy to see them and to be finished.
I finished with a smile and both hands in the air.

Questions I have asked myself:

Will I do it again? Most definitely.

How soon? In the next year.

What will I do differently? I will build up my quadriceps because I believe my knees hurt so much in the long runs because my thighs are not as strong as they should be to support the knees. (my dad’s advice)

…

What is my goal? To get faster, stronger, and to finish the next marathon in 4 hours and 30 minutes.

4:50 am (my mom was up with me at 4:00 AM)

6 Mile Marker

Finish Line - weeping

Relief

Proud Daughter

Proud Husband (mom too but she was taking photos)

My Buds

Dressed for the post-marathon celebration at Jarod’s house - going through posters.

Ashby’s Poster

Aaron’s Poster

Poppa and Mimi’s Poster

The Day After - very stiff but itching to jog on Thursday morning

Once again, I would never have been able to accomplish this personal goal without my ENTIRE family.

Thank you Tara for inspiring me with your drive and ambition. I love you.

Biking to and from work

I bike to work. Most days anyway. Recently I’ve been sick; so, I’ve not been biking as often as I was. MindTouch is headquartered downtown in Little Italy and I live in Mission Hills. This means I have to bike uphill on the way home. It’s not bad. The bike ride is only 2.5 miles each way and I really enjoy it. However, since I’ve been sick (for damn near 4 weeks now with 3 illnesses I think) I could really use some assistance on some days coming up the hill. Here’s an idea:

Turns out you can buy it on ebay. I wonder if that’s street legal. Probably not. There are several stop lights and signs on the way home. Taking this straight up Laurel Street would be pretty awesome though (steepest street to climb in San Diego).

Sophisticated educational tools for about $10

Johnny Lee you rule.