Archive for the Category ◊ Writing ◊

An ode to simpler times
Thursday, September 02nd, 2010 | Author: kevin

The following short story was submitted to a very interesting project. What was originally called 48 hours magazine, but after receiving a cease and desist letter form 48 hours, the TV show, was changed to LongShot Magazine. The concept was to complete a magazine from start to finish in 48 hours. A pretty impressive goal, but they’ve now repeated the process twice. I missed the deadline for the second one, even though I had an intersting idea. On the first one, I’m not sure if I missed it too, but the bottom line is I’ll have to add this to my rejection pile. As an aspiring author, I know that I have to be patient, persistenet, and keep chugging away.

Anyway, each of the issues of LongShot magazine is based on a one word theme. The first theme was hustle, and this was my original short story, entitled “An ode to simpler times:”

At first, when they introduced the Hyper Usability Synaptic Trance Linking Equipment, it was the promise of easing the laborious process of physical communication. For thousands of years, man had struggled with the flawed effects of common speech. But H.U.S.T.L.E was going to finally eliminate the errors wrought from poor habits of speech. No longer would teams fail because of misunderstandings, mumbling, and mistakes.

H.U.S.T.L.E was going to help leaders to hold teams together by broadcasting messages directly into employee’s minds. It would replace the old fashion sweat equity necessary to overcome poor managerial communication.

What we discovered, too late for the early adopters, was that once a company deployed H.U.S.T.L.E, moral begin to drop. Psychosis begin to erupt among the leaders of each of the H.U.S.T.L.E teams.

What the forensic scientists discovered, was that while H.U.S.T.L.E was completely successful in transferring thoughts into each team member installed with H.U.S.T.L.E, there was abnormally high levels of emotional feedback.

For the managers it meant an overload of powerful emotions. For the employees, it drained their lives of any emotion, leaving them empty shells.

In the end, they had to shelf the H.U.S.T.L.E project, yet another attempt of man which came too close to the providence of God.

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Category: Fiction, Writing  | One Comment
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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To make the world a more beautiful place
Wednesday, May 05th, 2010 | Author: kevin

From a new book I just started called “What is poetry?” by John Hall Wheelock, I came across a real beaut. It’s one of those old “out-of-print” books that boils down a subject to its’ essence. I’m often reminded of the classic lyrics by Pete Townsend from “905” on "Who Are You", when I come across a book like I this, I hear “Every sentence in my head, Someone else has said.” I’ve come to believe that the best advice that mankind has to offer has already been written, and the last 50 years has been nothing but repackaging it, renaming it, and ultimately over-complicating it.

Anyway, I was browsing the library shelves today and bumped into this quaint tome. It looks like a fast read, but I’ve a sense that it’s faded cover and yellowed pages offer treasures untold. So I crack open the old book and that comforting mildewy scent of old books wafts up to my nose. It already feels like a long lost friend. On the very first page it contains, what I might even consider a manifesto:

“Habit, routine, our daily humdrum apathy and indifference, this is the shield we put between us and reality, the shield with which we protect ourselves from life while we were engaged in the business of living. It is the function of the arts to pierce that shield, to re-awaken in us a forgotten knowledge.“

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Giving Thanks
Saturday, November 26th, 2005 | Author: kevin

They say after you fall from a horse, the best way to recover your composure and confidence is to get right back on. I think so it is with writing, maybe the only way to start writing again is to…start writing.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately. Maybe even too much. Most of the time I have been thinking about my blog and where it is headed or not headed, as the case may be. I’ve got so many things swirling around in my head, and I’m trying to learn new things, that by the time I get around to deciding to write, it is like now 11 something p.m., and well my energy level has been that great lately. So I usually just succumb to my desire to get a decent night’s rest and head for bed. I’ve also been beating myself up daily because I have not been writing. I want to create a schedule where I can plan to write more often, but I’m just baffled on how I can find the time. So now that everyone is asleep, I’m climbing back into the saddle and hopefully I can shake off the rust and figure out how to make that schedule. It is my great desire to make that happen. So I’m sure I will find a way.

So on this long Thanksgiving weekend, I thought I would start by just listing a few things for which I’m thankful. Here it goes:

  • God’s presence in my life
  • My beautiful family, especially my four girls
  • Great friends, even if many of them I don’t get to see as often as I would like
  • Many great new friends that I’ve met this year: Gil, Jose, Dan, and Joseph
  • Speaking at 3 major industry conferences
  • SNAP’s brief success on SourceForge.net
  • Being selected as an Enterprize Business Idea winner

So in many ways, this has been a phenomenal year for me. However, there are still some things for which I’m full of sorrow. I believe that we must also enumerate the things that bring us sorrow. We must because they also define who we are. Most of us carry them upon our backs most of the time, so it is important that we also acknowledge them as well. Hopefully, by forcing ourselves to open the door that should remain closed – we learn. We learn from what brings us sorrow so we can appreciate that which brings us joy.

  • The premature loss of Francisco Gregory Martinez (”Paquito”) on March 20
  • The United States’ continued occupation of Iraq
  • The tailspin into chaos here in Puerto Rico from: corruption, greed, snobbery, egotism, jingoism, nationalism, politics, drugs, murder, …
  • Making only $0.91 from Google AdSense
  • Losing my focus in a fog of SNAP challenges and Web 2.0
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Irish TechCamp, Puerto Rican CollabCamp
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005 | Author: kevin

I got this link in one of the many feeds that I receive. It seems if you compare Ireland to Puerto Rico, as it has been done very many times before, that Puerto Ricans are just like the Irish in something else. This quote is from a wiki announcing the plans to host TechCamp:

“Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be as much tech innovation coming from grassroots-tech in Ireland. The US is doing some great work in Web 2.0 and Blogging; having loads of conferences and blogger-dinners; while all we have here is a few very business-like events, and seemingly very few new projects. What’s needed is for us to CONNECT and SHARE and maybe a few companies will get started as a result!”

Here is an interesting exercise. Where ever it mentions Ireland you replace it with Puerto Rico. I really couldn’t have said it any better. So first, things first. My initial gut feeling was right. Just as the founders of TechCamp realized, I now realize. Yes, I want to participate next year and setup a simultaneous BarCamp in Puerto Rico, but we can’t wait! There is no time to waste. We have to kick start our Web 2.0 economy and I can’t think of any better activity than a collaborative, get things done, have fun event like this.

So second things second. Where to conduct the event? We need a comfortable meeting place, with ample room, whiteboards, projectors, wireless high speed Internet, and preferably 1 large meeting room and two smaller (or a large room that can be divided). That’s not too much too ask? Some sponsors for breakfast, lunch, and after event drinks would be nice too! :D

Finally, I need to pick a date. I’ll be very busy through September, so October looks good to me. How about mid-month, October 15, 2005. That gives about 6 weeks to get everything ready. I’ll start asking around for a location and hopefully within a week, I can announce the availability of the CollabCamp Wiki.

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Category: Internet, Open Source, Opportunity, Puerto Rico, Web Development, Writing  | One Comment
Total immersive way of getting things done
Sunday, August 28th, 2005 | Author: kevin

Just the other day, Kathy Sierra on her “Creating Passionate Users” blog shared an excellent idea for getting something done. Fresh from her participation at Foo Camp, she shared the results of a session she attended that was focused on “total immersion / ultra-rapid game development” from one of the leaders of the The Ad-Lib Game Society.

Briefly, this concept involves organizing a small group or team and having this team dedicate 48 hours on getting something done. Everyone agrees to invest 48 hours on completing a task and then you make it happen.

I like this concept for many reasons:

  • If everyone is willing to make that type of investment, you can bet that everyone is motivated, dedicated, and committed.
  • It is easy to set ground rules to minimize disruptions and time wasters: Minimal cell phone usage, no pointless Internet surfing, or blog reading. The task should be clear and foremost on everyone’s mind.
  • With a little preparation you can have everything ready before getting together. Including installing wireless networks, servers, and acquiring any supplies required. It should be everyone’s goal to maximize their output during the 48 hours and completing the “push” goal.
  • Again, once started, there will be no trips to the bank, the pharmacy, to pick up the kids, or whatever. No one should leave the activity until you are complete or if there is an emergency.
  • Building on this further, don’t think you can pull off the same thing by just concentrating on something for two days. Once everyone leaves the office, who knows if they’ll make it back? There will always be something interrupting the flow.
  • The limited time frame helps keep the goal achievable. It should be big enough to be a challenge, but not too big. That can be debilitating as everyone struggles to get their heads around the task.

Of course, this all requires having a location that will allow the team to be comfortable and productive. It should be well stocked with snacks and coffee, and have enough space for everyone to sleep horizontally. It should also be close to some restaurants or within the delivery area of some, which is even better. Try to remove reasons for people leaving. It should be clear, pick a team, pick a goal, prepare for the activity, get to work, have fun, and walk away with something everyone can point to and say see; “We did that!”

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Category: Business, Opportunity, Software Development, Writing  | 2 Comments
Ahh, if I were 20 again…
Thursday, June 30th, 2005 | Author: kevin

Imagine, just for a moment. Imagine you are in your early twenties and your whole life is open before you. What would you do? Or if it had been possible, what are the lessons, knowledge, experiences that would be most valuable? Some say, they wouldn’t change anything, life is a journey; they say that the fun is in the exploration, not the arrival. That may be true, but might the journey have been more interesting with more effective tools or equipment? Sure, it might be very exciting driving my Accord on parts of Germany’s Autobahn, but I bet it is exhilarating in a Ferrari.

Well, if I had been given the opportunity, here are a few of the nuggets I sure wish I would have known when I was 20:

  • Have No Fear – Many of the situations we find that debilitate us are only created by our fear.
  • Plan + Commitment + Sacrifice – I was raised with the simple empowering statement: “You can do anything you put your mind to.” I believe that 100%. However, later I found out that the “formula” was incomplete. You can do anything that you want, as long as your willing to create a plan, commit yourself to that plan, and you are willing to accept the sacrifices, THEN you truly can do anything.
  • Passion – Make sure you are extremely passionate about what you spend your time on. Passion, will make the above formula infallible.
  • Reading is Power – I’ve been an avid reader since I was about 10 years old. Reading gives you knowledge. Knowledge gives you power. What kind of power? To quote Darth Sidious “Unlimited Power! Unlimited P-o-w-e-r” Power every aspect of your life. Let’s face it, most every thought I’ve had, someone has had before me. Why not reap the benefit of their past contributions?
  • Be true to yourself – This is perhaps one of the hardest to achieve, because first it requires that you learn who you are. While this may sound ridiculous, if you don’t know who you are, what you are capable of or not, what you like, what you dis-like, what you are willing to sacrifice, then you will be doomed to make decisions that are inconsistent with who you are. believe me, everytime I have allowed this to happen, it has ended in pain.
  • Seize the moment – Lastly, never take any moment for granted, squeeze out of each day that you can the most that you can. For if you are truly fearless in your life, then you will devise plans that will take you beyond your wildest dreams. And if you know who you are then, you will naturally be able to bring passion and commitment to anything you do and accept any consequences that may result. And for me the tool that has aided me to refine the experiences of my life and produce these nuggets is reading.
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Category: Opportunity, Writing  | 2 Comments
Pass it on…
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2005 | Author: kevin

Over the years I have used writing as a form of therapy. For me it helps bring out from my subconscious what I am thinking and feeling. This has helped me through some rough times and I think I become a better person for it.

However, now for two days I’ve been trying to come to grips with the news I found yesterday on my great friend Paco Martinez’s web log. Monday morning, still Sunday in our time, Paco’s son Paquito Martinez was killed in action while on patrol in Iraq.

Even now, I’m stuck, but I know I’ve got to keep going. Pushing myself to open the door that scares me most. I have to bring out the voice that hides behind that door. I have to ask the tough questions, I have to look myself in the mirror and search for the sense behind this tragedy.

How much pain can one man suffer?

Perhaps there is no coincidence that Paquito’s death occurred during Holy Week. Does the suffering of Jesus bring us any mercy? Do we look at this example and have our faith grow or turn black? Can there be anything more challenging to one’s faith than the loss of a son, a friend, or merely to imagine the pain that someone must endure.

Ever since Paco told me that his son was going to Iraq I have included in my daily prayers special intentions for him to return to Paco safe and sound. I’m sure that did the same. Why weren’t our prayers answered?

His destiny?

Paquito’s grandfather Gregorio, for whom Paquito was named, shared on the local television news that it was his destiny. My wife asked me even more profoundly, “What if it was just his destiny? What if no matter where he might have been on that day, under whatever conditions, it was just his time to go?” What do you say to something like that?

My only response can be a verse from the Bible that says to the effect, that man is incapable of understanding the ways of God. How convenient! I have three kids, and any of you parents that may be reading this can testify that children are seldom satisfied with an answer to one of their questions with “Well I can’t explain it to you because you wouldn’t understand” or something like that. They will typically continue to insist until they have an answer that fits into their world. If we are children of God, should we be any different?

With me, with you

Several years ago another tragedy touched me, and I was changed. After the attacks on 9/11, I began to make decisions differently. This new decision making process has led me to where I am today. It has not been easy. I’ve been through the depths of hell and suffered more than anyone should. But I sit before this computer and am nearer to my dreams than ever before. Did I have to suffer to make me see life differently, value things more, and cherish each opportunity more greatly? Are these events unrelated? As my wife suggests, would I have been here anyway?

I can feel the change already. Paquito’s passing has taught me one thing already. As I read the comments on Paco’s fateful blog entry, I kept seeing that everyone was speechless. I could relate, because I was feeling exactly the same thing. However when I forced myself to post my own comment, I knew that I couldn’t remain speechless. I’m trying to show to myself, and to the world, that I have something to say. Hopefully after sharing, someone else will believe that what I had to say was helpful. So how could I remain speechless? The memory of Paquito deserves better than that from me. So I’m writing. Is it for me, is it for you, is it for him? Maybe all of us. We are each endowed with certain gifts. One of mine happens to be writing. We must all look within ourselves on situations like this and ask whether we using our gifts? Are we trying to hone them, sharpen them, improve them, but most of all use them to help. We need to take advantage of those gifts and help one another. I can assure you that there is enough pain and suffering to go around. Go ahead and make someone’s day a little better by sharing your gifts. The world will be a better place, and you’ll be better for having shared.

For those that are taken from us while they seemed like they had so much left to give, maybe they have already given what they needed to give. Maybe within our memories, their surviving words, their pictures, and the love they shared while they were with us, there lingers everything they were meant to share. It seems impossible, but as persistent children we need to keep asking why this happened. I hope together we will be able to fully appreciate the help Paquito has offered and we can spread it on to the next person when they are in most need. Pass the spirit of Paquito on, I know I will. How can I not, he’s a part of me now. And maybe, just maybe, as hard as it may seem now, maybe then the world will be a little better place.

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Innovation lust
Tuesday, March 15th, 2005 | Author: kevin

Mono setup

It has been an intense few days. Through the weekend I continued work on my Mono configuration for the Linux Journal article. I had to admit it finally, I was stuck. I called up Paco, and he was his usually gracious self. We walked through some issues he knew would cause problems. In the end he advised and I agreed to switch the configuration attempt to my laptop which is running SuSE Linux 9.2. We agreed to teleconference on Sunday morning. I spent most of Saturday night trying to get things going. That ended up being a waste of my time. So Sunday we went through installing Red Carpet, updating SuSE, and then diving into building Mono. When we finished I had a working Mono environment, but I was still missing MonoDevelop, XSP, and mod_mono.

I’ve finished MonoDevelop and XSP and both are working well, however, I can’t get mod_mono working. Through this entire experience I’ve been trying to share my frustration. (Editors note: But people don’t won’t to hear about sad endings. They want everything to end rosy with no loose ends.) It has been especially frustrating trying to find definitive sources of information on the web. I’ve found about 5 or 6 ways to configure mod_mono and even one article that has multiple conflicting versions.

While working on Sunday, Paco and I discussed this. It’s especially rewarding working with people who grok the bigger picture. Paco is one of these people. His response was exactly what I needed to hear. Many of the developers in the Mono community are acutely aware of the challenges and that is exactly why they continue to work thanklessly on improving the Mono experience. For him, there is no use complaining, the only thing worth focusing on is making it better.

O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference

My mind is really abuzz with what I have seen so far at this year’s conference, and I’m not even there! Well I should be clear and say really that it isn’t the content that I’m psyched about; it is what I have found trolling the site Wiki. I had heard of Technorati before, but it took Seth Godin’sblog to thump me over the head and open my eyes to what was going on over there. Then I learned about a collaboration that is emerging between Flickr, Technorati, and Delicous. This collboration is called tags: the real-time web, organized by you. I’ve already setup X-cito to participate. Thus I have added several new categories: Business, Computer, Internet, Linux, and Random. To participate in this aggregation all I have to do now is just select the appropriate categories and I’m co-lab-O-rating. Pretty awesome. But wait there’s more. While researching the Technorati web site and Tags I learned that they want other sites to better integrate with Technorati. Smells like an API or web service to me.

Tim’s vision is blossoming

Speaking of web services, they’re popping up every where I look. Another site I found was Flickr. They have a public API, and developers are starting to use it. In fact, I found that there is a WordPress plug-in for Flickr. This certainly smashes open my plans to implement photo-blogging. I’ve already downloaded the plug-in and I’ll be installing it ASAP.

All of these sites and collaboration has me just mentally punishing myself. Internet web services is exploding right now. I’ve been thinking of two ideas concerning web services. One of these ideas I’ll be submitting to the business idea competition. I’ll be getting neck deep into that when I get back from San Francisco. At the Emerging Technology Conference Wiki I discovered the Attention Stream. This is the collaboration I mentioned between Technorati, Flickr, and Delicous. It is totally fascinating. Seeing the aggregation between these three websites is very interesting. The other idea I have is a web service directory. It could list all of the web sites offering web services and sample code to access and use each. If anyone is interested, drop me a line at APIIndex at x-cito dot com.

A final note. Seeing all of the fantastic conference pictures on Flickr cetainly has got me pumped up for OSBC and OSCON.

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