Mikes Thoughts

I visited Linuxworld Expo for the day yesterday. It was yet again different and a few folks commented on the overall size reduction of the exhibition floor. Gone were Novell, no Redhat (again), no Sun, no groups of others. At this point it could move back to San Jose for size reasons much like it moved out of San Jose back in 2001 or so for size reasons.

The show is sad and it seems to be like an anxious shadow casting about furtively for its master image. It just don’t know what it wants to be. Am I data center show focusing on Linux or a Linux show focusing on data center? There was a huge trailer with the next generation data center in it but there were not enough visitors to keep the show floor busy.

At the other end of the spectrum, thanks to the folks at SCALE for making 7x a Westin LAX Hotel event again! The accomodations, staff, location make the Westin a great conference location. I will be attending next February 20-22 for sure! The difference is the difference. SCALE is enjoyable, rewarding, and fun. There is the mix of big enterprise and individual contributor there. I like the spread of papers that one can listen to and enjoying a beverage at the hotel of the event each evening.

I’ll probably drop to one Linux show each year now and it won’t be LWE in SF. I cannot afford OSCON. SCALE remains my show of choice especially after seeing this last Linuxworld. I commented to Doc that it was like someone washed the show in very hot water and it shrunk.

So true; so sadly true.

Its getting to be that time of the year again. People are booking rooms in San Francisco, packing up suitcases, perhaps traveling at the behest of their company. They’re seeking out news of the Penguin in the wonnerful city by the Bay. They may travel long or short distance and if they’re exhibitors their feet will ache, time may crawl by, and other booths start looking interesting.

I’ve done my fair share of booth duties and doing a trade show is always interesting. You meet people that want to know what you do or just want to know what you are giving away. I think the doodads used to be better and more fun. I remember all kinds of interesting little things and big. When I worked at Linuxcare we gave away cars! And bug suckers. Big and small. Linuxcare knew how to package up show things. Perhaps the strangest and best was the “poster”. This was the so-called Simply Supported Poster with the “palm girl” holding a Redhat box on it. I remember handing them out to everyone that morning in North Carolina and then we got the cease and desist request. Redhat was not happy. And it was their show.

But it was too late. Everyone had seen it and wanted it. I handed out copies to friends at Suse and a few guys I knew in the support pit at Redhat.

The shows have paled in some regards and IDG seems to be able to do a massively mediocre job at promoting something as fun as Linux. Lets be clear and certain here. Linux is fun. Its fun because its not done yet and the people and companies and pundits that go know its not done. Trade shows must be unfinished too to gain acceptance. You cannot hustle off the .orgs to some other place, city, or floor. Big mistake and IDG gets another bad mark.

Yet still I will go. Why? Well this year I am meeting someone for a business meeting. I’m a SE Manager but I touch many things at Celestix. I get to play with lots of things in the course of a day. And I’m going to meet up with some friends, see other friends, hopefully see the oldtimers from those other halycon days.

Then we’ll wander for lunch and maybe a beer at the Thirsty Bear. That’s just what ya do. So if you are at the show, I’m there with ya. I show up for only a day this year on Wednesday. It will be fun and mediocre. But that’s the declining nature of the whole thing. Linux is changing and since its not done; no one knows what it will change into. I have some questions around evolution of it all. I’m unsure what it all means any longer and perhaps no one really knows and they’re along for the ride as well. That’s okay. It all works for me. I use it the way I want to use it and it works for me.

Linuxworld Expo in SF is just around the corner. Its time to go to the show for my requisite one day and see who’s left that I know that goes. Last year was the last time I arranged a lunch for some of the folks. I just got an idea that the time had come to leave that behind. This year I go on Wednesday and meet up with some potential business partners for work stuff. We may build an appliance prototype with some of them. That should be interesting.

But Linuxworld Expo itself is not so interesting any longer. Its become something that I don’t really recognize any longer and I prefer the community spirit of the SCALE shows down in Los Angeles. But they are the expo’s and they have this memory of the older shows from the Linuxcare days.

So, here I go for a day to do a bit of business and perhaps some fun. We’ll see. I will probably post a one-day review of the show from my vantage point. I’ve moved far away from the mainstream of Linux sometimes it seems. But I think the show may be fun. At least for a day.

What’s the best about traveling? Some would say getting home. It was a 12 hour plane ride where I slept, ate, read most of the time. I managed to sleep for periods up to 3 hours each time which was a joyous reprieve from the monotony of the long ride home.

Jetlag is real though. I’m kinda suffering through it today with being tired but still waking up really early this AM. Back to work and perhaps some normalcy tomorrow but something tells me that tomorrow is going to be exciting because of some of the email threads. I’m up for it! The trip was really good though and a lot of things settled out for my work including building out an entire SE organization fundamental for international operations. I’m excited about that.

Anyways, I’m home and I have the rooms, the network connection, the computers. I found out my combo printer, scanner, fax machine died while gone so I ordered a new one from the “egg”. I got another HP because they just seem the best these days.

Last day in India and I’m flying out today at 1130 or so for Singapore for a night there and then tomorrow back to good ole USofA. I’ve been gone for 2 weeks and did 2 countries I’ve never been to. That’s been a joy to me. I also got meaningful work done with our offices in two different countries. Still need to get to the UK and I’m planning on doing that next. I spent last night drinking some beer, eating some good Indian food, and considering the view from the RainTree rooftop bar. The RainTree staff has been exceedingly kind and courteous and I’d heartily recommend the place if you are traveling to Chennai. I’m still struck by what I saw in both places but the spirit, zeal, wonder of India got me most of all. Perhaps its the anthropologist in me struggling to get out.

Yesterday a work colleague took me for Southern India cuisine for lunch and it was very good and spicy! I had tandoor lamb and rice last night cooked to perfection served with abundant beers.

Now I’m playing the waiting game to get on to Chennai Int’l Airport which can take as an hour to get to in traffic and then there is the waiting around for customs.

I’ll be back in Singapore for one night tonite and then I’m homeward bound. Catch you in Singapore for some final thoughts and perhaps a Chilli Crab or two

I’m at the last stop in my tour of company bastions of appliance freedom. Chennai, India is the home of our Linux-based team which I have looked forward to linking up with since I’m just a Linux guy at heart. And it was good today. Meetings, discussion, and formative statements all made me feel that we are on the right path. I also like Chennai quite a bit. Its this mix of culture, religion, poverty, technology. Perhaps it stirs the anthropologist in me too many ways; but its this fabulous unfinished picture of life with the colors and shades still being added. I want to come back for longer actually and learn more about this city once called Madras.

After meetings tomorrow, I’m back to Singapore for a night and then on to home on a long airplane flight. It will be good to get home but I already am planning a trip to the UK and back to Chennai. There are things which need to get done that belong to me. Its a good feeling that I still have so much left to contribute. I feel in the right place, right time. Now I need to deliver and execute. I’ve always felt I could do that reasonably well. Except perhaps at Levanta. But Levanta had its own issues far and away from my humble abilities. They did not know what they had and mis-managed the rest of it. Blech…

I’m going to Linuxworld Expo in SF for one day. If you go on Wednesday, see ya there. Look for me. I’ll be wearing an older debian shirt or something and my beard has touches of grey. Age moves along at its pace.

Catch you all tomorrow Chennai time!

Sunday in Singapore. I gave some thought to doing things versus doing nothing and I came down in favor of relaxing today. Its not like next week I am going to do a triathlon or anything. I’m just lazy and inclined to be lazy. I had a great day yesterday hanging at the pool, doing the museum thing, and I found this great American expat hangout for dinner. Tonite I do chili crab nearby. I also rev’ed wordpress to 2.6 and the Tarski Theme up to 2.2.1. How you may ask could I reach out to a friendly webserver and get that done? The answer is tools and habilis friends and a dash of OpenVPN. OpenVPN is one of those wondrous pieces of code that switches on productivity by default. I think its an automatically enabled compile option!! Yet what it actually does is open up corridors if you have the right creds to reach corridors where there are friendly Unix or other servers. OpenVPN is a tool for the multi-habilis toolkit where a single thing can be used for multiple enabling toolkits.

Tomorrow I go back to work and I’ve thought a deal about my last week traveling. I’ll be glad to get back home in a week or so. I miss the family unit and it’ll be good to see them. The little spats, arguments, family time is good when you don’t have them. But I also have enjoyed the “me time” on this trip. I’m on to Chennai India for a few days later this week and then back to Singapore for a evening and then on to home next Saturday. In the global sweep of time, I get in an hour after I leave from here. Its really kinda strange how that works but it all leads up to a few days of roaming, waking at strange hours, and trying to acclimate.

I’ll be blogging each day I think which is more than what I’ve been able to do when I’m just at home @ work. That seems good since I feel less blogstipated when I take the daily dose.

Its Saturday morning here in Singapore and I’m planning out the day today. I’m going to visit the Singapore National Museum today and then find a place in the evening to get some Chili Crab. Tomorrow, I am off to the Singapore Zoo for a day of stomping around. Monday I may do this cruise to an island for a day. I decided to take some time away from the whole work cycle.

Its a beautiful sunny day here in Singapore and in about an hour I’ll be departing the hotel for a day here and there. I saw the museum in a cab ride and I cannot wait to get there and explore for a day.

Dreams are strange. I read somewhere they allow you to go quickly and quietly insane every night of your life. Last night, I had this dream about RWR which is strange. I still think about him but I’ve kinda decided that we’ve changed too much and my world and his world are too far apart. I don’t know what I’d say in a real world if I met up with him again; but in the dream scene, we hugged. Val was just smiling and nodding like telling me “you should listen to me; of course RWR wants to see you”. But in the real dream I live in, I simply cannot find the way to do anything there in that old prehistoric archeological world I lived in. Its too distant and different. I still miss it too much at times I think. It had the better parts of most things and perhaps I miss the wondrous mix of science and human endeavor that anthropology offers. I guess I will always be a once separated archeologist and will watch the History and Discovery channels. And dream…

My Saturday AM scramble would not be complete without a sense of the “what next” in my life. It seems you reach a stage in life where the what next thing is kind of decided. Its not a case of what you “may” do but what you “will” do. That is strange. The eggs don’t scramble so wild any more folks. The yokes are all in place and the whites don’t spread in the pan. Gosh… I don’t even eat eggs any more. Bad analogy I guess.

Anyways, go out and make it a fine day. If you go to Linuxworld, I’ll be there on Wednesday. I’m not sure why. Call if a step towards Linux after so many steps away.

I seem to wake up a bit earlier and then I wake up a few times each night. Attribute to Jet Leg remnants. Last night I slept relatively well yet its 530am here now and I’m raring to go. Not bad. Just different. My trip is cutting short by a week or so and I’ll be back home after only three days in India and a final night here in Singapore. I have this weekend to go out and do stuff and I plan on traversing the island spectacular by walking, perhaps a ferry boat to an island, and the excellent subway service they have. I am also gonna go to the Funan IT mall tomorrow after some office meetings. I may try to find a digital doodad or something there. I like little digital devices so its fun to go to a place where they have them all over.

Work is work is not is…

I had started to say a few venting things about my job; but its simply not worth it. Sometimes, work is just work. There is no edge to it, no wondrous innovation and everyone just shrugs much like Ayn Rand told Atlas to do. Shrugging removes the discomfort but the weight may come back. We shall see.

I don’t dislike my job; in fact its mine by choice not chance. I’ll be there until I leave and I’m dedicated to it completely. What I don’t really get at *job is why they can settle for so much less when they could have more.

I was lucky in my trip to Singapore in that Art also was here at the same time. Tonight, we got together for dinner and a few drinks. In this globetrotting, gas expensive, and almost alienated world; its pretty kewl to get together with someone who came out for work as well and that you don’t get to see that often. I remember the days with Art at Linuxcare when he stood on chair and we all cheered. So many times, years, days. Now we got to meet in this amazing island called Singapore. An enchanting, wondrous, change aware place. I got to say…

This place truly rocks it. I like Singapore. I’m also drinking some beers tontie and blasting away. Its been a year since I drank more than this number and I think I will just blow the carbon out. This engine has been pampered for awhile. Time to let things go.