- Up early, still a bit woozy from jet lag (or perhaps an overabundance of cheap beer). Breakfast in a beautiful gallery encased almost entirely in glass. Lots of natural light. Helps with the waking up.
- First session of the day was a discussion with some of the Qt developers. They talked about some features and upcoming Qt releases. (blueprint, notes)
- I was still feeling a bit off and perhaps I overdid it at breakfast, but I decided to take a break during the second session and have a brief nap in my room.
- Next up was a session on Ubuntu One and its model for sharing files with other people. Several paradigms for sharing were discussed including public sharing, private sharing, and collaboration. The main sticking points were how to handle each type gracefully and expose the options to do so to the user without overwhelming them. (blueprint, notes)
- Following that I attended a session checking up on Ubuntu’s relationship with Debian. I’m told that in the past these sessions got pretty heated, but judging from the tone of this particular session things must be improving. (blueprint, notes)
- After lunch I spent some time in the super secret OEM private room, where I got a preview of some upcoming projects and some really cool toys.
- Next I went to a session discussing uploading packages by committing to a package branch rather than uploading a whole source package to the builder. There are some technical nits that need picking on the bzr side (of course they use bzr 🙂 ) but it looks like it could streamline the packaging process a bit. (blueprint, notes)
- Last session of the day was a discussion of simplifying Ubuntu’s hardware verification tool. Apparently there are several versions of it floating around used by different groups and the goal is to merge all of them into a single code base. (blueprint, notes)
- After the sessions a few of us rented bikes from the concierge desk and took a little sightseeing ride around the city. We rode across the Danube into Buda (our hotel is in Pest) and along some riverside trails before finding a pathway to a
little island in the middle of the river. We rode around the island a bit, spotting some ruins, a bird sanctuary and even an Ultimate Frisbee game. We eventually found a nice beer garden where we stopped for dinner and drinks. I finally had some dark beer the name of which I couldn’t pronounce and some pizza which I could also not pronounce but it had mushrooms, broccoli, and corn on it. Pictures of the sightseeing ride and from the rest of the trip can be found on my flickr page.
- As it was getting dark we headed back to the hotel. A relatively early night.
Category: General Nonsense
9 May 2011 (UDS-O Day 1)
- After several hours attempting to sleep on the plane, gave up and decided to watch The Green Hornet. Not bad from what I saw, but what I saw didn’t include the last 20 minutes since we landed just as the movie was reaching its climax. Going to have to Netflix it just to watch the end.
- We landed in Frankfurt just late enough for me to miss my connecting flight to Budapest. Seven others were in the same boat. We banded together to support each other as we navigated the Frankfurt airport on the wild goose chase that was our attempt to get scheduled on another flight. As we deplaned on the tarmac we were met with a shuttle bus for people heading to Budapest. They rushed us back to the terminal but we were stymied at passport control and sadly were not able to make the flight. The nice folks from the airport apologized profusely and guided us to the Lufthansa desk so we might get rebooked. Unfortunately the Lufthansa folks couldn’t do anything for us, as we’d all originally booked on US Airways. Even more unfortunately, the US Airways desk was outside the security perimeter (As an aside, what is the point of the whole “Star Alliance” thing if they can’t just call each other to get someone on a flight? As another aside, the Frankfurt airport is HUGE). We exited passport control again (I have TWO German stamps on my passport for the price of one!) and took the airbus to the other terminal. Once there we tracked down the US Airways ticketing desk and rebooked on Malév Hungarian Airlines for a flight two hours later. We tracked down the Malév check-in desk then headed back through security and found our gate. After a couple of hours spent joking about what else might keep us from getting to Budapest we finally boarded and were on our way.
- Landed in Budapest around noon, only three hours after I’d planned to. Traded in some dollars for Hungarian forints and hopped on a shuttle bus to the hotel.
- Emailed my new manager asking where I might meet him then took a much-needed shower. Got a response by the time I was done and headed down to the main floor to start my first day of work.
- Spent most of the afternoon meeting various Canonical and Ubuntu folks and attending UDS sessions.
- The session on cleaning up the startup apps was pretty interesting. It was more about cleaning up the UI for setting startup apps, but there was some discussion of what should be there by default. (blueprint, notes)
- Also attended the session discussing whether to continue limiting the size of CD images to 700MB (I know that sounds weird). Points were raised about how many folks actually burn the images to CD vs. using a USB thumb drive and whether the DVD image might be made smaller. (blueprint, notes)
- After the sessions was a meet-and-greet where everybody was able to schmooze it up over free food, beer, and wine. Speaking of schmoozing, I met Mark Shuttleworth and got to talk to him for a few minutes. I managed not to ask him about space (I’m sure he gets that a lot) and he said he was very excited about what the OEM team (which I’ve joined) is doing and how it will help spread Ubuntu to the masses.
- Caught up with Lyz Krumbach and a couple of my new coworkers. Heard some stories of past UDS shenanigans. Apparently the UDS in Brussels was legendary. They told me tales of pants dropped and cut rear ends.
- Once the free beer ran out we took the party to a nearby bar. Discussion ranged from perspectives on working for Canonical to Lyz’s perspective as a community member and mine as the new guy and what type of beer is popular in Australia.
- Got back to the room way too late. This is the start of a pattern.
8 May 2011
- Up early, off to the airport.
- Kissed my wife goodbye and headed off to UDS.
- Spent most of the DTW -> PHL flight reading.
- Spent the beginning of the PHL -> FRA flight watching the first episode of HBO’s 24/7 Caps vs. Pens, The Big Bang Theory, and The Simpsons.
- Tried to sleep. Met with little success.
7 May 2011
- Up and at ’em. Headed to St. Clair Shores for Mother’s Day brunch with the in-laws.
- Brunch was at a nice Italian restaurant beneath a hotel nearby. We were the only customers, not that we were complaining.
- Back to the hotel to take a short nap.
- Got dressed for the wedding and headed over to the ceremony. I tailgated a bit with Mike and Jim as they listened to the Tigers game (their pitcher went on to pitch a near-perfect game) while Emily, Amy, Greg, and Luke explored the park.
- Ceremony was beautiful. Marred only by my uncontrollable laughter at the opening words: “Marriage. Marriage is what brings us together today…”
- Much merriment followed the ceremony. Tried to wear myself out for my upcoming travel.
6 May 2011
- Up somewhat early. Stopped at a local donut shop for breakfast.
- Went to a local coffee shop called the Bean and Leaf and worked on the blog, which upon reflection is a very stereotypical thing for a (temporarily) unemployed person to do.
- When Emily was finished we grabbed lunch at a National Coney Island then went to a friend’s house to visit and dote on her babies. One of the twins slept peacefully in my arms until he awoke and realized some strange bozo was holding him.
- From there we headed to Joe Louis Arena to see what turned out to be a very exciting game between the Red Wings and the Sharks. The Wings were down 3-0 in the series, so this was a potential elimination game for them but they managed to survive. After getting up to an impressive 3-0 lead in the first period the Wings let the Sharks chip away until it was all tied up, then miraculously scored the game winner with less than two minutes left in the third. It was an exciting game, and I did my husbandly duty and rooted for the Wings all the way.
And now for something completely different…
As I’m sure many of my very few readers will have heard by now, I’ve made an exciting career move. As of this past Wednesday I am no longer working at Timesys. Starting Monday May 9 I will be an employee of Canonical Ltd., otherwise known as the corporate backer of the Ubuntu Linux distribution. I will be joining the OEM Services team, which helps customize Ubuntu for new hardware, such as tablets and laptops. I’m also very excited to say that my first day will be at UDS in Budapest, Hungary.
I can’t begin to describe how much I’ve enjoyed working with my friends and colleagues at Timesys. I learned more in my three and a half years there than in all my years of schooling. Each member of the engineering team — from the coders to the manager — is a rock star at what he does, which was a little intimidating when I started. But they all helped me find my place on the team, and each helped me to become a better programmer and engineer.
I will be working from Canonical’s Pittsburgh headquarters (a.k.a. my house). I will miss commuting to downtown every day, and seeing these folks who have become my friends. I will also miss the wonderful lunch options that Downtown Pittsburgh has to offer (though I suspect my waistline won’t). I will be sure to visit Timesys from time to time to drink their beer, and I will even consider the CEO’s offer to let me rent my old cube. 😉
In the meantime I want to wish everyone at Timesys the best of luck, and hope that they show enough respect to at least wait until Monday to raid my desk.
5 May 2011
- Up early; hopped in the car on the way to Rochester, MI; a suburb of Detroit. Some friends of ours are getting married on Saturday and Emily is one of the readers.
- Showed up early for the rehearsal. The park where the wedding is being held is beautiful.
- Rehearsal dinner was at the Rochester Mills Beer Company. I’m a sucker for local breweries and there seems to be no shortage in Michigan. The black IPA and porter at this place were lovely. They had a very interesting array of pizzas as well.
- After dinner took a walk around the town with Emily. The town itself reminds us a bit of Mt. Lebanon back home, with little shops along the main drag.
4 May 2011
- Up early; last day at Timesys. Hopped on the bus one last time.
- Bought bagels for the office as an explicit bribe that they might remember me fondly. I hope it worked.
- Due to inclement weather we ordered in from Chinatown Inn for my going-away lunch. Delicious food and interesting conversation. My (now former) boss told me to go screw myself. Good times.
- Cleaned up my workstation and tarred up my various configuration files (git, vim, bash, etc.). I think the intern is inheriting both my computer and my seat.
- Happy hour at the Sharp Edge Bistro with Justin, Andy, Ian, Tony, and Ed (a.k.a. Former Boss). More good times as I said my farewells.
- Home for a quick dinner with Emily then lots of packing.
3 May 2011
- Up early but it didn’t matter since my bus had a flat. Eventually made it to work.
- Got all of my projects either wrapped up or in a good state to pass on. Justin seemed excited about taking over maintenance of the audio driver.
- Lunch at India Palace. Delighted to find gulab jamuns set out for dessert.
- Home then off to guitar lesson. Learned some 12-bar blues riffs. Let the instructor know that I’ll be out of town next week.
2 May 2011
- Up and off to work. Only a couple of days left.
- Still no word from customer about memory leak. Perhaps they solved it on their own?
- Started redding up my desk. It’s amazing how much crap one can accumulate on one’s desk in three and a half years.
- A bit unsure of my feelings regarding the death of Osama bin Laden. He was a mass-murderer of the highest degree, but it does feel weird to celebrate someone’s death. I guess my feelings can best be described as relief that the man who orchestrated the deaths of so many has seen some measure of justice done. However the partying in the streets of New York and Washington, D.C. are a little too reminiscent of scenes I saw in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries in September of 2001.