Ever since Barcamp I’ve been shopping for a personal laptop for general use as well as a development machine that I could use for work. Our work issued machine is a loaded mac powerbook. With a unix core osx has given me much of the power that I used to enjoy when I’d used linux as a primary os. However Apple is not doing wonders for free software and I felt the need to get back to my roots and move back to Linux. ...
When wrapping up the VIm talk @trevmex mentioned that people share their dotFiles on github. This blew my mind. I can sit in front of anyones desk and start using their eclipse and immediately be productive. The secret to VIm is the years of refactoring the configuration and shortcuts, known as the dotFiles. You probably couldn’t even execute a mapped command on my machine since I map the leader based on my keyboard. ...
I’ve been reading about India’s concept of Jugaad, possibly poised to enter our buzzword vocabulary since it came up in the context of what Obama can learn from that country. Where the Agile Manifesto starts with “Individuals and Interactions” the Harvard Business Review kicks off Jugaad with “Thrift not Waste”. All too often I’ve seen Agile work because a scarcity of resources (money, time or knowledge) pushed an otherwise waterfall loving group into giving Agile a shot. The tenants of Jugaad resonate with me as a more general philosophy about how to get things accomplished then Agile’s focus on “working software”. ...
Every year Philly’s BarCarmp gets better. Last year I met great people and learned new tactics from my peers. This year I enjoyed a number of roundtable discussions where we taught each other and had my core paradigms challenged. (of couse still met great people, but that is implied) The day opened last night with a fantastic hosted party @indyhall. It had a vibe that reminded me of my college days where the future was bright and everyone you talked to has excitement around what they were doing. I loved being surprised by people. Even the kids from Phillymagic had more going on then I would have thought. First off the magician was a Rensselar student and I was saddened to learn the bars I institutionalized as a student were no longer in vogue. More importantly he was not just flipping cards for pay, he is building out an online hub for magicians to fill a market need that he noticed. I’m barely through my first tequila and completely impressed by this fellows accomplishments in building a passive income stream is a business he loves. ...
After spending a day immersed in the utopian community of http://www.barcampphilly.org/ I came home to dystopian reality of dog owners in my local park. Basically Cianfrani park is a nice little community park that has been overrun by rude dog owners recently. I love dogs, having raised three. My dogs didn’t need a leash and I walked them daily off-leash, so I understand these people. The contrast in the community is striking. At barcamp I was surrounded by people that see the web as a way for people to collaborate and communicate. These dog owners put up a site to champion their cause rather then conduct a dialog on the ‘official’ site. On the site some poster says that ‘unjust laws call for civil disobedience’. Most of the dog owners are very nice and considerate. It only takes a few bad apples to ruin a reputation. This injustice I understand since I ride a motorcycle and automatically get associated with obnoxious load harley’s and kids that recklessly weave through traffic. ...