Archive for ◊ 2010 ◊

Tools of Change for Publishing
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 | Author: kevin

Over the last month or so I’ve been working closely with Kat Meyer at O’Reilly Media on the TOC for Publishing conference. It’s almost been like a dream come true, mostly because I’ve now got an opportunity to align my freelance efforts with the future of e-publishing. In some ways, I’ve been moving towards the publishing industry ever since I picked up a 35mm SLR camera, waaaayyy back in high school. Back then I graduated with the full intent of moving into the world of photojournalism. The problem is I got side-tracked in college, convinced myself that computers was a better career path and have been circling back towards journalism, writing, and publishing ever since.

Through my connections at O’Reilly and my participation in their Open Source Conference, I think I’ve finally come full circle. I’ve been welcomed into the TOC for Publishing community and I feel a real affinity, I feel like I belong. I don’t think it is too much of a stretch, but I feel like working on the future of publishing is what I am supposed to be doing, at least for now. I have three main motivations for this feeling:

  1. First, it’s now very clear to me that I need to setup my own alternative publishing business. One of my best friends here in Puerto Rico is a prolific and very talented writer. We’ve already started one book, which I hope to finish very soon. However, recently he informed me that he’s already working on another collection of short stories as well as some other projects. More importantly, he’s determined to develop a steady income from his fiction writing. So he needs a publisher, and I need to learn how to publish. Thankfully he’s given me the opportunity to become his publisher. For your trust, I thank you Gil.
  2. Second, once I’ve learned the ins and outs of this brave new world of publishing, I’ve got quite a few projects of my own to get published. I’ve done most of the research required to launch those projects, so once I’ve got the how-to piece mastered, all I lack is the discipline to put my arse in front of my computer and write. Easier said, then done, but I’m running out of excuses.
  3. Finally, as I’ve written about already over at the O’Reilly Broadcast here and here, the future of e-publishing is going to be immense. Not since I sat in my office back in 1994 cruising the early Internet, have I seen such a clear opportunity unveil itself before me. It’s my humble opinion that I see this new opportunity clearer than most people and I’m determined to become an expert in the future of publishing.

I’m really honored for the opportunity to participate in the TOC Publishing community. I hope that as Tim O’Reilly frequently says “I’m able to add more value to this community, than I hope to get out of it.”

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My favorite solo artists
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010 | Author: kevin

I didn’t think it made sense to combine my favorite artists, along with my favorite bands, so I’ve split them into two lists. Of source, anyone who knows me, knows that Todd is God. With no exception, there is no other musical artists which means as much to me as Todd Rundgren. For me, the Rock and Roll Hall is an abomination without Todd’s presence, and that of Rush and Devo, but I digress. I plan to write more about Todd, so I won’t bore you with my fanatics.

However, I will tell one story. On Todd’s Nearly Human tour, which in my opinion is another one of his masterpieces, I was able to see him four times. On three of those occasions, I paid for one of my three brothers to go with me to witness the magnificence of seeing Todd perform live. When my oldest brother Russell died we were sorting through some old pictures that he had held on to. Mixed in among those photographs, I found the ticket stub to the last concert we ever went together. It was the Todd show in Cincinnati. Boy, I’ll have to confess, that made me choke up and cry when I found it. I think it was difficult for Russ to show or express affection, but by finding that ticket I knew how much it had meant for us both.

Top five favorite musical artists (in parenthesis is the number of times I’ve seen that artist live):

  1. Todd Rundgren (8)
  2. Eric Clapton (2)
  3. Neil Young (2)
  4. Carlos Santana (2)
  5. Frank Zappa (1)

    6. And rounding out the top ten I would have to include

  6. Alice Cooper (1)
  7. Cat Stevens
  8. Bob Seger (1)
  9. David Bowie
  10. Robin Trower

Now any top ten list wouldn’t be complete with a long list of honorable mentions. Coincidentally enough this list also contains some of the artists I most want to see in concert before they or I die. Of course none of them ever come to Puerto Rico, so it’s likely that I never will. I was very fortunate to have caught SRV before he died. His death was one of those moments, that I can say I knew exactly where I was when I heard the news. Sadly it was driving into Washington DC to go to work.

  • Bruce Springsteen (1)
  • Elvis Costello
  • Joe Satrianai
  • Jeff Beck
  • Pat Travers
  • Steve Miller
  • Stevie Ray Vaughn (1)
  • Stevie Wonder
  • Tom Petty (1)
  • Bob Marley
  • Elvis “The King” Presley
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Merit Badges
Friday, August 13th, 2010 | Author: kevin

I ran into this curious site through my very, very all-time favorite blog/feed/inspiration Boing Boing, and I fell in love with the meme. Merit badges for your website, how viral, how un-necessary, but how just so right? Anyway, the one which caught BB’s eye was the Zombie Merit Badge. Essentially, the meme is that zombies make any story better, just as any designs which include skulls are better. If you have to ask, you wouldn’t understand.

So I totally deserve this merit badge because I’ve like seen nearly every zombie movie ever made. I love zombie movies so much I’ve trained my children to like them as well, thus carrying on the well-deserved meme that zombie’s like totally rock. Heck one of my favorite flash games is Plants vs. Zombies.

Mad props to Em for her great site, and my new favorite meme Merit Badger.

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My favorite bands
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 | Author: kevin

A while back, as I was thinking of an old pet project of mine, I came up with a list of questions that I would want my children to remember about me after I’m gone. So this is the first in an ongoing series of posts that I hope to one day compile and self-publish. So I’ve been thinking of this one lately, so I thought I would get the ball rolling with my ten favorite rock and roll bands. Now I’ve purposefully started with just bands, of course, my favorite artist of all time is Todd Rundgren, he’s mostly been a solo act with a wide assortment of back-up bands. So my next post will be about my favorite solo rock and roll artists. Anyhoo, here goes…ohh the number in parenthesis is the number of times I’ve seen them in concert…

My five favorite rock and roll bands:

  1. Rush (easy, and yes Pete was right) (5)
  2. Led Zeppelin
  3. The Who (1)
  4. The Beatles
  5. Pink Flyod

    6. Now the next five get a little fuzzy; fuzzy because after the top five the list of bands I like grows exponentially to include such a wide array of artists that it gets to be a little difficult to choose only five more. Anyway, here’s the rest of my top ten:

  6. AC/DC (2)
  7. Yes (2)
  8. Black Sabbath (2)
  9. The Police (2)
  10. Incubus (1)

Wheeh, that was tough. without going into too much, here’s a few criteria used to compile the list. First, how many times I saw them in concert. Of course this didn’t apply to Led Zeppelin and The Beatles because they weren’t touring by the time I hit 15, which was when I went to my first concert. I never saw Pink Floyd, but that was partly because I never remember having a chance, and when I realized how important it would be to me to see them, Roger Water had left and well I’m kind of snobbish when it comes to groups. I rarely want to see a group after important members leave or die. The second, was how much time in my life I’ve spent listening to their music. Finally, I considered how much their music has affected the way I think. That said, I think I owe it to a few more bands to add a few honorable mentions, because there’s definitely a few bands I’ve seen more times than a few of the bands in my list, such as:

  • Utopia (2)
  • Triumph (3)
  • Blue Oyster Cult (2)
  • Van Halen (2)

Finally of course, there’s been one band who’s come to mean a lot to me, but I was only able to see them once and had a really bad trip, but nevertheless is truly inspirational. That would be the Grateful Dead. I did see the Jerry Garcia Band as well, but it’s only know that I realize how cool of a scene (vibe) the Dead were able to create.

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At OSCON, again
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 | Author: kevin

Through great blessings and a wonderfully understanding family, I find myself once again in Portland for the O’Reilly Open Source Convention. It’s just such an honor to participate in such a cutting edge conference.

I’ve posted the results of my first day over on the O’Reilly Broadcast blog. I’ve also uploaded a new set of photos from the OSCON Cloud Summit over on Flickr.

Overall, it was great to see some old friends and in general be in the company of a lot of really smart hackers. Today, the conference officially kicks off with Tim O’Reilly’s keynote speech, which is always intriguing to witness. Then it’s into the maul of the beast with hundreds of sessions anf the always jam packed exhibit hall. Sounds like a great day ahead of me.

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Tweak here a tweak there
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 | Author: kevin

Even though I take massive dosages of Xanax to get to sleep every night, sometimes I’ll just wake up at like 4:00 a.m. I don’t know why, because most days I feel a little “hung-over” from the Xanax. Yes, I didn’t know it, but some medicine can cause you to suffer through a hang-over. While it’s not the uncomfortable alcohol triple whammy of nausea, vomiting, and dehydration, there are some medicines that will cause an adverse after affect.

Well today was one of those days. I popped awake at 4:30, and from experience, there’s little reason to try to get back to sleep. So I got up made a cup of excellent Puerto Rican coffee and I was off. First, I wasn’t liking how my twitter background image looked on smaller screens so I gave it a couple of tweaks. Since it points to this blog, I decided to carry over the skull motif, which required playing around a bit with the custom template. Now everyone know that skulls make any design cooler, so I was off to a killer start.

While I was at it, with the help of the WordPress documentation and this support post I setup automated posting using e-mail. While I never really needed this before, I’ve gotten used to using my Sharp Sidekick for updates to Twitter, Facebook, and my Blogger blogs, it’s nice to be able to update my blog when I only have cell phone at hand.

Finally, I got comments working again. I have been slammed in the past by comment spam pretty heavily so I had’em shut down. So I got those back online, just hope I don’t make it back onto some spambots list. Next up, I’ve got to get a life stream feed going for all of my me related social media accounts.

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A New Mission?
Friday, July 09th, 2010 | Author: kevin

While I was in high school and college, I always enjoyed listening to Devo. Hey what was not to like, catchy riffs, techno/punk rock, with a geeky concept? With smash MTV hits like “Whip-It”, “Satisfaction”, & Through Being Cool” they were always fun to watch and listen to. When I was off at college my brother Alan, who has always been a big influence on my musical tastes, turned me on to “Oh No! It’s Devo,” (1982) which was a masterpiece of prog-rock/punk fusion.

Now fast forward some, umm, well, a lot of years. Again, my brother Alan re-introduced me to Devo. You see, he’s picked up the drums and has been pounding on those things like it was the bosses head. And you guessed it, one of his favorite bands to jam to is Devo. We each rediscovered Devo’s greatness. Through the deep well that is BitTorrent, I was able to score their discography as well as some videos of complete concerts. After seeing them perform live, well at least on video, I was totally blown away.

Now I’ve seen a lot of concerts in my day. Some bands, just don’t transfer well to the whole reproduce their recorded sound, live. Well that’s certainly not the case for Devo. I guess essentially being a punk rock band helps. As my brother and I have come to realize many mainstream bands start off as punk bands, then evolve musically into more complex genres. Incubus and the Police are two such bands. My conclusion was that, when you get right down to it, punk rock is about the most simple type of rock there is. Sure there’s a big difference between the Sex Pistols, The Ramones, and Devo, but I think they all share a certain pureness that emerges from their simplicity.

After “Oh No! It’s Devo,” Devo only released three more Cd’s, the last coming in 1990. Now after 10 years, they’ve released “Something For Everyone.” Ladies and Germs, let me tell you, it is another masterpiece. Check out this brilliant video from one of the singles “Fresh” If anything, I’d say they sound better than ever. They’ve also picked back up where they’ve left off and are pimping the new CD all over late night television talk shows and have also hit the road for a new 2010 tour. Of course, they’re going to be performing in Indiana, and I hope Alan’s going to go, but the closest they’re coming to Puerto Rico is Atlanta, Georgia.

It’s easy to say that after watching them perform live and the total awesomeess that is “Something For Everyone,” I now want to see them more than ever. I remember them playing the 9:30 Club back when I was living close to Washington DC, but I’d have to say that was about the only opportunity that I can remember. So I’ve started to make some noize locally with a local promoter and will soon ratchet up the noize to see if there are any other Devo fans stuck on the island. My mission, and I’ve defnitely chosen to accept it, is to raize enough stink to get them to come to Puerto Rico; something which I don’t believe has ever happened. So how about, “Are we not men?”

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Same as it ever was
Monday, June 28th, 2010 | Author: kevin

On September 11, 2001, I, like millions, watched in horror as the worst terrorist bombing in the history of mankind transpired. As I watched, I felt a change come over me, and in the weeks to come, the world seemed to reflect that change. The world seemed like a smaller place, and for a fleeting moment, people begin to speak of the change this event meant.

However, in the months to follow, I saw our unity disappear. I saw the United States react exactly as it had always done. It was difficult to watch as the speech of change, devolved into speech of revenge. As the Bush war machine began to pick up steam, all sense of the great change the attacks on 9/11 had wrought were forgotten.

It made no sense to me, for I had changed. I had a new perspective on things, as well as new priorities in my life. I couldn’t understand how I had changed but the world hadn’t. In my confusion, I turned to God to ask for guidance. I asked for the knowledge to understand how everyone’s hearts seemed to have hardened, while mine seemed to cry out for peace, for love.

Now it may seem improbable, which I think is at the root of our discontent, but God spoke to me. He told me that if the world had promised that 9/11 changed everything, that they needed to be reminded of the change they had weeped for on September 12th. I played the humble servant and tried to remind the world, and, at least for me, my world did change. I became ostracized, feared, and shunned. Indeed, my life changed on 9/11 and eventually resulted in me becoming disabled by Crohn’s Disease, a ticking time bomb I had carried inside me since I was 25 yrs old.

Deepwater Horizon

Again on April 20, 2010, I watched as the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. At first it seemed like a minor catastrophe, but as the wellhead 5,000 feet below the ocean continued to gush oil into the gulf. I had that inescapable feeling once again. The world had changed. Only this time, no one else seemed to share my opinion. It wasn’t until two months of oil had spilled into the gulf, that I finally heard someone say: “The Gulf of Mexico will never be the same.”

Now a month later, we are still a month away from stopping the oil leak caused by the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion. I’ve watched in horror as the greatest environmental disaster in the history of mankind continues to transpire right before our very eyes, and yet, there are still very few who recognize the travesty that has taken place. It’s difficult to predict what the long term effects of this disaster will have on our ecosystem, but we’re witnessing the elimination of a major component of that ecosystem and very few seem to care.

Conclusion

Now forgive me for swinging for the low fruit hanging off of this rant, but it should be just as obvious to everyone else as it is to me. In July of 2008, crude oil hit a record high of $147 a barrel. Now the oil shortage is not factored into the economic collapse of 2007-2010, but I do believe it is relevant and contributed to the crisis.

So we have three crises within 10 years, which, for many, if not everyone, has changed the world indelibly. So I argue that they are are all linked to one root cause, our dependence on fossil fuel, especially crude oil. For me, the obvious change needed after 9/11 was a discrete change in the policies of the United States which extricated us from the Middle East, or rightfully, eliminated our need for oil supplied by the Middle East.

In 2008, the $147 per crude oil barrel should have caused us to form the same conclusion. During the duration of the shortage, there was frequent talk of developing clean energy, but by December of 2008, crude oil had dropped down to $32 a barrel. At that point, the crisis had ended. Except for the looming economic meltdown, everything was business as usual.

Now in 2010, we have yet another messy reminder that we are too dependent upon fossil fuel, yet very few people are recognizing the dire need for us to change. For me, when the Deep Water drilling rig exploded, our world changed, we’re just in denial that it means that we have to change as well.

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Riding the Wave
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 | Author: kevin

As a technologist, and an aspiring author, artist, poet, publisher, I’d have to say the biggest dilemma I face is deciding whether to stay abreast of the latest whatever or focus on my projects. No kidding, I bet on a daily basis I come across at least ten articles to read and two or three themes that require additional investigation.

However, the mysteries of our minds, our subconscious, and our free will continue to confront the same truism. Only those who are able to rid themselves of all distractions and apply the strictest dedication to their selected tasks are the ones that break through and achieve the celebrity or success they desire.

A while back I started to use Twitter as a pressure release valve for this information overload. Whenever I came across something appealing or interesting, or requesting my attention, I simply posted it to Twitter and tried to bring my attention back to where it needed to be. That strategy works pretty well, at least until I find the next shiny new article full of the promise to complete the puzzle I have in my head. Actually, it’s more like puzzles.

You see, I have these theories, and they’re nearly complete. They are just not fleshed out enough to be able to document them with enough authority for them to gain traction. Although, to be honest, when I look at other successful technologists they have some distinct advantages. First, they are not crippled my a chronic disease. It’s cruel but true, while my body is ravaged by Crohn’s, my mind remains clear and active. Second, they are not stranded on a island in the middle of the ocean. Ideas are like plants. They require the cross pollination that only comes from frequent contact with other deep thinkers. Unfortunately due to the oppressive force of zero-sum thinking in Puerto Rico, there is absolutely no meetings of smart people doing interesting things.

I’ve got one other disadvantage (well, it’s really a blessing). I’ve decided to be a home maker for my wife and our three daughters. Which as my good friend Gil tells me, places me in a really unique position. There are many resources available if you want to be an entrepreneur, a freelancer, or an artist, but I’m basically making things up as I go. For there is no play book for an expatriate living in Puerto Rico, disabled by Crohn’s, home maker, who wants to heal the world. I guess that’s the reason I’m so tempted by each shiny new article to come out; I’m hoping it holds some information that can help me navigate these uncharted waters.

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Dab Nabits, I mean Habits
Thursday, June 10th, 2010 | Author: kevin

I’ll admit it, I like Twitter. It’s a great tool to keep your fingers on the pulse of what’s going on in the world. While comments range from the inane to the minute details of people’s every day lives, it also is a utility built just for the short attention spans of the 21st century. I’m still weighing the overall impact of getting more news, but it is coming with a small cost. As I’ve come to rely on Twitter as my primary news feed, it also means that I have stopped drilling down into that news. Since my primary interface to Twitter is my unlimited SMS phone, I get a whole days worth of tweets, but rarely follow up on any of the more interesting comments.

However, I’d have to conclude that after relying on Twitter on my cellphone for several months, I believe I’m staying more abreast of what’s going on in the world, of course, that depends heavily on who you follow, and then even more selectively which of those feeds I send to my phone. Like most new technologies, there is a growing encroachment of spam and snake oil peddlers populating Twitter, and their presence is hard to avoid, but there are many people working hard to add value to this global thought stream. One of my favorite aspects of Twiter is the rare nugget that comes through that really causes you to re-evaluate yourself and how you’re conducting your life.

Yesterday was a perfect example of this, when I read the following quote from F. Matthias Alexander, “People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.” The quote came through the stream by author Johnathan Carroll, who I happened to start following at some point (by the way, I think Twitter could provide much better utilities surrounding the follower – followee relationship, such as when you/they started following, being able to sort by that date, etc.). When I read this quote, it was like a slap up beside my head, telling me to wake up.

In the development of any expertise, there is one essential truth. In order to achieve expertise, one must put in the time. Unless, someone is super-naturally gifted in some endeavor, there is no way to achieve expertise without practice. So after reading Mr. Alexander’s words, it finally sunk in. I had become lackadaisical when it comes to writing. While mastery of my art and cartooning skills remain many years ahead of me, I’ve been writing for well over the 10 years necessary to call myself an expert writer. Now I’ve got to focus my efforts on writing and develop my technological skills (and habits) into publishing what I’ve already written, and capturing the writing that’s spilling out of me to become lost amongst the many notebooks I use to preserve my ideas.

Therefore, this post is a testament to my renewed effort to develop some new habits. Which is to say, not entirely comprehensive enough to recognize the discipline that lies behind establishing and sustaining a habit. New habits are hard to build, but wither and cease to exist with such quickness, that one must always be on guard to ensure that your habits remain in support of your goals.

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