New York was a blast, but now I’m all the way on the other side of the country in chilly Seattle. There are apparently quite a few conferences going on here this week so booking a hotel was a nightmare, the selection was very limited, but on the plus side I ended up on one of the top floors of the Sheraton and the view is great. Gnomedex looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun and have a ton of good information. We’re going to do a WordPress BoF or party or open source bar or something, so put your name on the list on this page. I didn’t get to meet a whole lot of people in NY because my schedule was so tight, so hopefully I can catch up in Seattle.
Category Archives: Travel
New York City Meetup
So I’ll be in New York City (for the first time) from June 18th through the 22nd for the Collaborative Technologies Conference. The trip looks like it’s going to be really busy, but if there’s enough interest I’d love to do a WordPress meetup on Saturday or Sunday. Leave a comment if you’re in the New York area and would be interested in getting together.
Travel Troubles
By the way, I’ve never been happier to be home. It’s the little things — like using a mouse and a real keyboard. Unfortunately getting here took the better part of 19 hours. They actually had the hood up on the plane that was supposed to fly me overseas, which was a long delay. I overheard someone say “if they get out the duct tape I’m staying here.” The connecting flight in DC was very missed, but after 45 minutes in line I got the last seat on a direct flight to SFO leaving in about two hours. Then I spent more than two hours in line trying to get a boarding pass and through security, the height being my ticket was once again tagged SSSS which mean I got the “special” treatment at security with my flight set to take off in 8 minutes. (I swear I’m on some sort of list.)
The very worst was I had bought some matchbooks for my sister (who collects them) and they were in my suitcase. The guy asked how many there were and I said “two” because that’s how many I bought at souvenir places. He found another (a free one from a hotel) and another TSA guy came up and said “which two of these do you want?” and took the third one away from me. I was shocked, and said “Are you going to keep that?” and he replied “Well you’re not getting it back.” I stumbled away to the shuttle and ran to the gate, 10 minutes after it was supposed to leave and all the doors were closed but luckily the plane hadn’t left yet. I finally got in around 1 AM and it was too late for BART so I just took a cab. Now I’m home and warm and dry and clean and being back after travelling so intensely makes it seem that much better. Time to disappear under some sheets…
Copenhagen Meetup
Meeting Ben
While in Florence I had the pleasure of meeting Ben Hammersley who took us to have real Tuscan food, which apparently involves parts of a cow you wouldn’t normally expect to eat. We chatted about a whole range of topics and I learned quite a bit about everything from solo polar expeditions to DNA hacking.
Extraordinary Machine
“I still only travel by foot and by foot it’s a slow climb but I’m good at being uncomfortable so I can’t stop changing all the time.” The latest from the unreleased Fiona Apple CD. Hat tip: Jess.
Tripod Sweden
Carthik pointed out to me this thread that says Tripod in Sweden is offering one-click WordPress installs.
Houston Press and CNET
(Also known as Announcements Two and Three. See part one.)
Matt Mullenweg may be underage, but he knows how to get into a bar.
That’s the opening line from the Houston Press feature called The Blog Age, subtitled “Matt Mullenweg helps usher in the real information revolution, one Web log at a time.” Modest, eh? It should be on newsstands tomorrow, so if you’re in Houston, pick up a copy. Otherwise read it online.
Though it’s a little embarrassing for me in parts, it’s a really good article that covers everything from Open Source to my fellow H-Town bloggers to political blogging at the national conventions. I’ve been talking to Cathy (the author) off and on since August and the strangest thing is how much has changed since we first met in a small coffee shop in Montrose. There are a few points I’d like to expand on or clarify but I’m exhausted from today’s travel right now.
The Other Big News
If you’ve read the article already you’ll notice that it breaks a juicy tidbit that hasn’t been published before: I’ve accepted a job with CNET Networks. That’s the reason I’m moving to San Francisco. There were a lot of ways things could have gone and honestly I wasn’t even planning on leaving Houston originally, but over the course of the past 3-4 months I’ve been talking to CNET and an opportunity came up I just couldn’t pass. As it says in the article part of what they’re paying me for is working on WordPress just like I do now. The rest of my time I’ll be working on various projects, most of them probably so top-secret I can’t breathe a word in advance.
The reason I’m excited about working with CNET is how what I’ll be doing meshes with my thoughts and ideals regarding Open Source, standards, and communities. My principles aren’t changing just because my paycheck is. You can expect the same sort of content here on PhotoMatt.net you’ve seen in the past — namely unfiltered personal thoughts, jabs, and observations not connected with any corporate entity. This is obviously a pretty significant move for both myself and WordPress so I’ll do my best to entertain any questions you may have in the comments.
Jane Kim for School Board
One of the people I had the pleasure of meeting while in San Francisco was Jane Kim, who’s running for school board there. If you’re voting in that area in this upcoming election I would highly recommend checking out where she stands on the issues and keep Jane Kim in mind when you visit the polls. If you get a chance to meet her before the election you’ll also get to see what a neat person she is, if not you’ll just have to take my word for it.
Announcement Part 1
So I guess now is as good a time as any for the first annoucement I’ve been promising: In a couple of days I’m going to be driving cross-country to San Francisco and settle down there. I was in SF the past few days to find a place and I found something that’s perfect for me. This is a permanent relocation, though I’m sure I’ll be back to Texas often. (As often as I can. I love TX. :)) Loose ends have been tied, phone plan has been changed, life is in order. I’m going to miss my people and family in Houston very dearly, but I’m still incredibly excited about the move.
If you live on the route between Houston and San Francisco drop me a note and maybe we can meet up on my trip.
WP in Jakarta
My Dad is in Jakarta and has signed up for the WordPress Meetup there. The world is so small.
PHP Pear
Rotten PEAR. I’ve noticed a “good ‘ol boy” mentality in most of the PHP “community” efforts. Is PHP succeeding because of its community or in spite of it? Hat tip: Jeff Moore.
Movable Type and WordPress Meet
Loïc Le Meur Blog: MT and WordPress meet :=) I didn’t get to see Loïc again on Friday like we originally planned, but in the short time we met I got a good impression. People assume that behind the scenes we’re all at each other’s throats, that it’s all WordPress vs. MT vs. Drupal vs. TextPattern vs. Blogger vs. whatever, but it’s actually the opposite. Though there may be some professional differences (you say po-tah-to, I say PHP) everyone is genuinely friendly. Behind the tools are normal people, not super-villians. While meeting with a large potential WordPress user I suggested they also check out Typepad and Blogware because I’ve personally used each and they seem like solid platforms worthy of investigation. I hung out with Anil half of the days I was in San Francisco. Life is too short to waste karma on blogging, and while I get as passionate about the issues as anyone, at the end of the day we’re all contributing something positive to the medium. Of course, Mingus would say “They’re singing your praises while stealing your phrases.”
WordPress Meetup
For everyone in San Francisco the WordPress Meetup is tomorrow (Saturday) at 4 PM. However there is a slight misunderstanding about the location. All week I’ve been telling everyone it’s going to be at the Border’s at Union Square, when at the meetup site it’s listed as a Border’s someplace way out of town. So to clarify, I’m going to be at the Border’s at Union Square Saturday at 4 PM, not anywhere else. We’ll meet in the cafe and eat, drink, and be merry. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.
Here’s the store information. I hear the best parking is at Stockton and Sutter. We’re on the second floor.
Late
Take the Caltrain, forgot to blog this before.
Photos
Meetup?
Tantek and I will be at Rockin’ Java on Haight @ Shrader from 8 PM till about 10. If anyone is interested swing by and say hi.
Photos
Pictures from Upper Haight, Google, a long drive, and the Supernova dinner. These desperately need captioning.
Second
The photos are up from my second day in San Francisco, including the WaSP mini-conference/party. There are a few funny ones but the ones from today are really great, I just need to finish a few up.
Take the Caltrain
I forgot to post this before, so here it is.
I’m on the Caltrain going to Mountain View for lunch, and I’m taking advantage of the much-needed downtime to listen to some music, enjoy the scenery, reply to email, and catch up on writing. Being offline has been productive, and I’m wondering if I should recreate the effect at home by turning off my wireless for an hour or two every day. Something about the constant stream of stimuli when I’m online can be very tiring.
The party/conference last night was an amazing success. I had no idea so many people were going to be there, and Tantek’s house (which we spent a fair amount of time getting ready) was great for the after-party. The conversations were fascinating, and I got a chance to talk a bit with people I knew but had never gotten to sit with before, like Anil. Also met some new faces like Zack and [INSERT NAMES HERE]. Pictures should be up soon and I’ll aside them when they are. Captioning pictures when every single person has a URI can be tedious. 😉
Usually when I listen to music in headphones I’m stationary, so moving around with them is a novel experience. It’s like having a personal soundtrack to the Matt Movie. This must be the attraction of iPods.