Category: Places

I’m Back

I’m back from SLC. My brother just moved to Bolivia. I’m moving to Park Avenue 02144 this week. Expect few posts, as I will be busy.

No, I Will Not Fix Your Computer

No posts lately because I’ve been at Brainshare. But here’s my recap: best giveaway of show: The case stickers that replace your Windows sticker. Surprise hit: we only printed a couple thousand, but people went apeshit for them and we’ve had to resort to rationing. I should note that they say it’s “Optional” to remove your Windows sticker because apparently removing the “Made for Windows” sticker can invalidate your warranty.

Most common question of show: will you help me with my wireless card? Most wireless cards are supported. Many are not supported. This is unfortunate.

Second most common question: When can I get a Novell Netware Client for Linux? A: Closed beta now, open beta early summer, release late summer. Sorry for the delay, but they insisted on testing it before release.

Best lifesaving participant: Brian Coons from IS&T. Not only did he save my butt on numerous customer questions, but he seems to have galvanized all the developers and product managers to implement a good plan for wireless support. Why this man isn’t in charge, I do not know. He’s apparently also a wonderful father. People like him make me jealous.

Highest-calorie meal: The Melting Pot. Four courses, three fondue and one salad. Yeah, they throw in a salad. Whoo. It’s still cheese, oil, and chocolate for the better part of two hours. I walked back to the hotel slowly.

Assorted things we ought to care about but don’t

yet another article on how people in prison die of malign neglect. It reminds me of this book from Disinformation called “50 facts that should change the world”. The problem is, well, you could call it “fifty facts that should change the world, but won’t, because nobody gives a damn.”

Anyway, Disinfo seems like a neat publisher. Check ’em out. Coming up: reviews of wine, cheese, and the book “A Carnivore’s Inquiry” by Sabina Murray.

Death by Exposure

LinuxWorld Expo is in Boston this year. I think that might mark a step down for the… well, not venerable exposition. But certainly it’s been around for longer than many other Linux events. It’s certainly smaller this year than last. Last year was smaller than the year before. Conclusion: indicates maturity in the market. Or maybe it’s just not insane anymore, without being actually “mature.” Whatever that means.

At any rate, there were still some funny moments. Intel reception afterwards celebrated their 64-bit Linux software achievements. The theme was ’64. There was a Beatles tribute band. Jello was served and slideshows illustrated Intel scenes from the mid-sixties (pre-bunny-suit technicians soldering transistors and wearing beehive hairdos). Conclusion: nobody at Intel is old enough to remember the sixties.

Also, the KDE booth advertised itself as “The Enterprise Desktop” which makes little-to-no sense, given KDE’s hacker-oriented focus on flexibility and configurability above all else. Conclusion: “Enterprise” is now totally meaningless, except in the context of Star Trek.

Dakar Journal

One of the Dakar riders is posting entries from his road diary day by day. Sample:

It was pitch dark when I left the airport, the liaison was going to take us to the Moroccan –Mauritanian border and the special would start once we were into Mauritania. The road section turned out to be a seldom-used dirt piste, and despite the military marking it out with little torches, I still managed to get lost for a while. Fortunately I managed to regain the main track before reaching the border area, the frontier had been heavily landmined during the Polisario disputes and was no place for offroading.