I am a founder and the Chief Executive Officer of MindTouch, a popular open source business application and collaboration platform used by millions. Read more.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDjSbWTJbdo]
Where’s mine? I would gladly buy one. I saw one of these last year in Minnesota. The Li-Ion batteries they use have a many year warranty. If I recall correctly it was like a five year warranty. The engines last considerably longer because they run so much cleaner. It’s simply common sense.
I promised previously to highlight a developer a month. This month I'm highlighting Pete Erickson. I guess this makes Pete our developer of the month. Roy told me he was unwilling to peaceably relinquish his crown. Too bad Roy. It's Pete's turn to shine because he's a superstar and you're old news.
First a little background on Pete. Pete was born and grew up in a teeny tiny village in way northern Minnesota called Roseau.. He attended college at Bethel and then NDSU. He was hired by Great Plains software after school. Pete tells the story of his first week at work. He was informed the company was purchased by Microsoft. He was sufficiently pissed he considered quitting. He didn't though and he continued to work with Microsoft for a couple of years in and out of Redmond, WA. PeteE (as I call him) is passionate about open source and open standards. He enjoys participating in triathlons, biking, hiking, camping, and long walks on the beach with pina coladas. Ok, the last two items I manufactured, but the rest is true.
Open Source Developer Poster Child
Pete manages most of our infrastructure stuff. He's probably the best Linux guy we have other than Geoff. He codes mostly in C# although he's recently become adept in PHP. He manages the NOC, all our software packaging, install guides, and upgrade scripts. Mostly recently he's done a lot of work in Hayes on Lucene with search indexing, he wrote the RSS API, and he even wrote a Drupal authentication service for DekiWiki.
Pete was actually the first engineer hired by MindTouch. He was a contractor even before Roy came on as a full time employee. He was introduced to me by his now girlfriend Marianne who was doing some business administration work for MindTouch. Pete literally worked with me out of my windowless basement for a couple of months off and on. Unfortunately Pete still lives in MN. Hopefully his recent surfing expedition in Pacific Beach with Max will entice him to move to San Diego very soon.
Pete blogs on rare occasions too. He's done a nice write-up about the upcoming Hayes Beta2 release. Specifically he highlights:
Pete's post is a useful read for all you interested Gardeners. Enjoy! Oh, and be sure to click on the photos in this post so you can see the witty Flickr notes I placed on the photos. 
There’s this game of blog-tagging that’s been going around for some time now. I was just tagged by my old neighbor in Minnesota. The very lovely and talented JJ Killins who has been such a good friend to my wife and daughter. In fact, her daughter was Ashby’s first friend. This meme (see Unusual #2 below for why I’ve not used that word for two years) has evolved some it seems from the original five things that most people don’t know about me to 6 things that make me unusual and 6 things that make me happy. Here it goes:
Things that make me unusual (Tara helped):
Things that make me happy:
Now it’s my turn to tag two people. Definitely PeteE who, because he’s so much cooler than me, has probably already been tagged. And Paul Jones who I barely know, but admire greatly.
Everything is packed. The house is cleaned and ready for our renter. I made the mistake of touching up some paint, which resulted in me having to paint a couple very large walls, one of which was 15 feet high. That sucked. I also had to repaint part of the kitchen because a handyman I hired to help get some things done around the house to get it ready for us to leave the state had used the wrong paint, cream not white. That sucked too. Home Depot is like a black hole. Why is it that if I have to make one trip to Home Depot I end up making at least three? I hate that! I can never seem to get what I need in a single trip. I suppose it’s best that the house have fresh coats paint now. It will surely save us money later. It still sucked.
In preparation for the trip I’ve got my podcasts stacked up on my iPod and some new audio books to tide me over during the 30 hour, 2000 mile drive. I have the route planned. If you like, you can review it. If I had more time I would take a route through Wyoming our mover was telling me about that’s mostly 2 lane highways and not much longer. However, I have to be in San Diego Wednesday for a conference on Thursday and with Ashby an all…we’re going to get the drive done quickly. We’ll be sleeping in or near Omaha, Nebraska tomorrow night. I’ve taken this route before. Tara hasn’t. Hell I think I’ve taken darn near every reasonable route one can take from MN to CA. I considered going south to Oklahama City and cutting across to avoid any potentially bad weather. I took this route last time though to California and stopped off to visit Paul Yellowhorse (an old buddy I’ve known since I was about eight) and I’ve trafficked that souther route from east to west most often recently; so, this time I figured I would take the route through Colorado, which I haven’t done for many years nor has Tara ever seen.
I can’t wait to get on the road. It definitely feels like I’m going home. I’ve also been freezing my ass off today. It’s bitterly cold here in Minnesota. Bitterly cold. I mean really freaking cold. Also, my gloves were packed. I think I lost two fingers today.
I just finished reading Cobra II. Well, I say reading, but I use this loosely. I actually listened to the audio book over the last few days as I packed and cleaned the house. Wow, what a book! I suspected Rumsfeld was an incompent and stubborn Secretary, turns out I was right. Great book. Must read.
We’re mostly packed now. The movers load the majority of the Minnesota office tomorrow beginning at around 8 AM CST. After that they’ll load the house. Our route to San Diego is completely planned, but I know we’ll be going through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada before we reach California. The car is loaded. I would have never had enough room if it weren’t for the new (used) 21″ Yakima Skybox I bought off Craigslist for a less than half price. I’ll try to post as we travel. My BlackBerry acts as a modem to my laptop so connectivity won’t be much of a problem. I’ll be glad when we’re on the road this Sunday.
Yes, I feel like I’ve mentioned I’m leaving MN here a dozen times. It’s probably getting tiresome me always talking about this. But this post is necessary because I’ve got to supply a post regarding my going home (un)celebration that we had at the Loring Pasta Bar last Friday. I noticed my depature was mentioned here. I wish I had had a chance to meet or get to know this Garrick guy. I remember seeing him once and thinking: "he looks cool, where did he get that name?" I mean come on, he sounds like a medieval baron or something: Garrick Van Buren. I know he’s into podcasting. That’s cool. Anyway, like I talk about in response to PeteE’s comments I feel like I’m leaving the cities with things not quite finished. I’m not going to mull over that again though. Instead I’ll just share photos of the event and a review of the restaurant.
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Reviewer: Aaron -
January 19, 2007
Loring Pasta Bar is a fun and funky place with live music near UMN in Dinkytown, Minneapolis, MN.
The ambience of the place is great. Very funky. The service was really good. Our server was Jim and he wore a cool vintage shirt I liked. The menu is eclectic with an emphasis on, guess what, pasta. There were nine of us and we had an appetizer that was suited for a big group and some sushi. Surprisingly the sushi was good and the appetizers great. It was some type of combo platter with several items, which ordinarily I never order. However, the Linguine with Clams was very dissappointing. The place had live Jazz that was pretty good. I’m giving it a higher grade for the sake of the beautiful decor and wonderful ambience.
Visit date: January 2007
Food eaten: Linguine with Clams
Learn about microformats, which is what I used to write the above review.
I’m overdue for a family update. First, turns out Tara is 50% Wonder Woman and 55% Hulk (see comments), BrwaaAAAaaa! Last weekend we headed north for our last visit to Duluth before our move. Tara had a chance to spend some time with her mother and I stopped by Scenic Cafe for coffee and a couple Guinness (in that order). Tara was happy to see the in-laws and their undead rat dog. On the topic of Scenic Cafe, if you are looking for dining on the North Shore of Lake Superior this is the place to go. Disclosure: my buddy Scott owns it. Scott is an amazing chef. The place is funky and fun. The menu is eclectic. It has great beer, wine, and coffee, and the food is even better. Plus it is on Lake Superior (between Duluth and Two Harbors).
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Ashby is really diggin’ her forts. We set up a blanket and pillow fort in the family room and she goes crazy with excitement! Evidence below. The only other event of significance to report is that we’ve sold the Accord. It’s great to be down to one car. I really looking forward to the office being two blocks from home as it will be in San Diego. I won’t have to drive, less waste! Work has been a tad painful as my office in MN winds down and the office in CA winds up. With all the odds and ends Tara and I have been managing I’m especially out of touch of with work. Living downtown San Diego is going to be different. I know Tara and Ashby are going to love it. Take today for example. It is butt ass cold and snowing outside. Tara and Ashby are trapped in the house all day. Something as simple as going to the store is a huge undertaking and, at best, a two hour ordeal. In San Diego it’s 50-something F. There is a play ground a few blocks away. They can go a couple blocks away for coffee. Walk along the harbor. Go to the zoo. Head out to the beach. Catch a donkey show in TJ, you know whatever. 
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I was planning a going-away party for myself last week. Pathetic, I know. As I sifted through my address book it occurred to me that I’ve pissed off a lot of people in this state. Sure some were people I had to fire, or instilled with a desire to quit. Then there was a raft of contractors that I had the misfortune of working with. From the incompetent to the criminal. My favorite contractor in Minnesota was definitely the graphic design firm that incorporated another company’s trademarked logo into the design they sold us. At first they claimed it wasn’t a trademarked logo, but instead a generic graphic. Then they asserted that it was our fault because it was just a place holder image in the design and they never intended for it to be part of the design. That was awesome. And then of course there were droves of people in technology organizations that I suppose I offended by being very vocal and maybe occasionally rude. So, I’m opinionated and I don’t suffer fools lightly. Is that bad? At least you know what I think. Most of my offenses come from me being very candid. I do not like to waste time on prancing about issues and I tend to be pretty direct with my opinions. Don’t get me wrong. I always respect others’ opinions. I appreciate hearing them in fact. Indeed, I find it difficult to deal with people who obfuscate their emotions or are unwilling to candidly share their opinions. It’s painfully frustrating for me. I think this is why I’ve always loved Italy. Southern Italy especially. They scream, they yell. You know what they think even if you don’t speak their language. I like that. As for work, I’ll admit I’m pretty demanding. I know Pete’s woman said something to him when he decided to come work with me along the lines of: are you sure, you know Aaron is impossibly demanding…or something like that. I know I can be difficult to work with, or be married to (for different reasons though I believe). I think it’s because I’m passionate about what I do and I tend to demand a lot of commitment. If you’re not fully committed to something, why do it? Just to collect a paycheck? I don’t want to share my life with people like that. Just going through the motions.
Maybe I’m being too harsh. Most people do just work for the paycheck and have no real interest in their jobs beyond that. Maybe those people are really passionate about side hobbies. Cool, go get paid doing that. You’ll probably be happier. I’m not saying these people are less worthy, I just don’t want to work with them. If you’re not all in, don’t bother, and don’t waste my time.
That’s free like speech, not like beer. I received a link to this article in Minnesota Technology magazine today. It has a short piece about wikis and MindTouch. I wonder where my free knowledge shirt went. I love that shirt! This is what my focus has always been. Knowledge should be open and free (within reason). Obviously I’m not talking about publishing the recipe to saren gas, but I am talking about, among other things, opening up how we manufacture and engineer. Imagine if all our engineering were open and accessible to anyone who had the desire to review and contribute. I’m talking about chemical, pharmaceutical, automotive, software, aeronautical, whatever engineering. People could review, contribute, and assist in improving. What if, for example, an electric car’s design, manufacturing, parts purchasing, etc was completely open? Think about how quickly this could improve. Surely there is more overhead in manufacturing than in software, but the process would certainly be improved were it open. Sticking with the electric car idea, perhaps all the laid off auto-workers could even start their own boutique car company. It’s not impossible or unrealistic. The costs of goods sold are significantly lower than what they used to be in car manufacturing. What’s the business model? The same that exist for open source software. Let’s say for the electric car it could support and services.
: I should have known. I mentioned this to Brian, the electric car example that is, and sure enough there is a post at MAKEzine about an open source car, which is really just a bunch of useful links on the topic. I would really like to explore this further. Especially since it would actually be practical for me now that I’m moving somewhere other than Minnesota, which simply wouldn’t be conducive to an electric car with my commute.
Ashby turned one year old on Saturday, January 6. It is hard to believe she’s already one. I think back to those first three months…man…that was scary. Things are much more stable now. We’ve had so many milestones already. She got her harness off for her hip dysplasia and report that her hips are normal at about three months, which was a huge relief. Then at eight months my fears of SIDS ended because research shows SIDS drops way off at that age and is no longer an issue at one year. She crawled. She signed for the first time. She’s spoken her first word: ‘dadadada’. She led us on a wild goose chase to determine why she’s anemic. She’s walked (with the aid of a walker toy). And more. I’m glad she’s sturdier now. She’s a lot more fun now that I can ‘rastle’ with her.
For Ashby’s birthday weekend the wonderful and very talented Jj Killins (our neighbor we will surely miss after we move) took photos of Ashby again. She’s amazing. For the full photo set click “Ashby’s One Year Set” below. Tara and Brenda also took Ashby to Target to get more photos taken. I can’t stand these places though because you don’t get the digital copies. What’s the point? I want nothing to do with that; although, the photographer took some surprisingly nice shots. I prefer Jj’s though photos though. I know most photographers aren’t like Jj (meaning they don’t provide digital copies), but it’s just nonsense.
On Ashby’s birthday she also went to the playground, one of her most favorite things to do. I stayed at home and work. Partially because I have so much crap to do, but also because I knew if I went I would steal the show from Brenda (Tara’s mom) who doesn’t have much time left before we move. When Ashby went down for her nap Tara and Brenda did a great job decorating the kitchen. After Ashby got up we sang her happy birthday, took a ton of photos, and let her taste cake for the first time. Tara got a cake from Byerlys, this awesome grocery store chain they have in Minnesota. It’s got a great meats and cheese section. This is where I got the four different sashimi grade fish for our New Years’ Eve sushi night. Around Christmas time they have a pianist. The place is all carpeted. And they give a free cake for first birthdays! The place rules. Anyhow, Ashby stuck her finger in the cake, didn’t know what to do, I put it in her mouth, and she jerked her head back as if her finger had an electriccharge. She paused, stuck her finger in again, tasted, and concluded this was some good stuff.
Tara and I plan on getting Ashby an aquarium once we move to San Diego; so, we didn’t really get her much for Christmas. However the in-laws gave her a hippo-walker/ride-on toy that Ashby promptly stood behind and charged about the house with. Also, she received a Leap Frog console that communicates with the DVD player. She checked it out for the first time today and seemed to understand she was manipulating the TV. I’m not yet sure how successful that one will be.
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One of the countless things I need to get done before moving out of Minnesota is to build a deck onto my house. Mike Vath, an old buddy, has been kind enough to lead me in this endeavor as I've never built a deck before. As you'll notice in the photos we just got our first snow. We got probably about 60% of it done last weekend in the pleasantly warm (no I'm not being sarcastic–this is MN) 45 degree weather. We hope to complete it this weekend, but I hear we're likely getting more snow. I'm pretty pissed that this bloody deck is going to be significantly nicer than the one this house had when we bought it, which was promptly tore off when water damage caused by improper installation of the deck was discovered a month after we moved in. I'm pissed it's going to be so nice because in the year and half we've lived in this house I've never been able to enjoy the deck! And now there is going to be a kick ass one and I'm moving.
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The specs on the deck are 10'x12'. We've built the frame, mounted it to the house, mounted the stringers in the frame, and have mounted them to the deck feet. All we have left to do is square it off, lay the decking, build a railing and mount the stairs, et Voila! It's been an educational experience. Without Mike, God only knows what I would have built out there. I had a completely different idea about how I was going to build the thing. It would have been baaaad. "Mike do you have one of those liquid-bubbly-thingies?"
Well, the deck is still not done; although, as you’ll see in the photos below it’s come a long way. We haven’t gotten any snow since Dec 21, which is just plain bizarre for Minnesota. However, we’ve had rain. Rain! Rain in December? Crazy. As you can see, all I have left is the railing. I had hoped to get it done this weekend, but we’re expecting more rain.
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Minnesota's Children Museum is cool. We checked it out earlier this week. The museum is designed for children from 6 months to 10 years. Ashby had fun and she's not quite a year old. I can see it being a blast for kids in 2-6 range. They have a bunch of cool interactive exhibits. There was a mock town where kids could dress up as police, fire, or postal workers (among other things). And a mini-grocery store they could go shopping in. Also there was a really cool play factory they could work. As you can see below I had some fun with the giant bubbles. Apparently they rotate exhibits based on the season, etc; so, the museum likely doesn't go stale very quickly.
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Tara and I flew out to San Diego for a long weekend in search of a new place to live. As previously mentioned here we're moving back to my homeland. Ashby stayed with her MeMa (Brenda). Other folks from work flew out as well, these included: Roy, Pete, his significant other Marianne, Corey, and his significant other Pam.
Tara and I spent all day Friday and Saturday checking out different condos downtown. We looked at around 15 condos. I liked one on Banker's Hill that was a block away from Balboa Park and a couple blocks from Hillcrest. It was really nice, but Tara didn't feel as comfortable in the neighborhood because the foot traffic was limited. When you are smack downtown you have people everywhere and the throngs give you a sense of safety that you don't have when there is not a lot of foot traffic, which was the case with Banker's Hill. Unfortunately we didn't find a place. However the wonderful people at City Center Properties are helping us find a place (to rent) remotely. They've been very helpful and I recommend them highly.
Anyway, I'm favoring Little Italy. Tara likes the Gaslamp, and Marina districts. I don't think we're going to find anything we can actually live in and afford in the Marina district though. And to be honest I think the district is a little too sterile, even though you're easily within walking distance of everything else. Gaslamp is cool, but nothing beats Little Italy. I didn't see a single corporate restaurant. It is, by my estimation, the most authentic of the communities we've looked at. Also, I've been told it has the active community association.
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I'm really looking forward to living near Henry and Glenda. Henry and I have known each other since kindergarten. Back in June at Tom's wedding I swore that we would live near each other again in the next two years. Turns out I was right.
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At any rate, Tara and I have lucked out and found, who appears to be, a very qualified renter for our home in Minnesota. Our realtor introduced us to a fellow who happens to be an M.D. who is moving from Virginia to Minnesota. He'll be moving into our home Feb 1. So, we'll be back in the homeland in just over a month. We have so much to do! I'm half way through building a new deck on the house, which was..uhh…cold and have had countless other household tasks to get us ready for the move. We have so much left to do. It's daunting.
We headed north to the in-law's place who reside just north of Duluth, MN on Lake Superior. It was eventful to say the least. Anyhow, Brenda and Tara made a spectacular meal. Toby and I threw down some "Gears of War," which is a pretty impressive game. Tara is now feeling under the weather, which is going to make her time difficult alone with Ashby while I’m in Boston for the next couple days at the Gilbane Content Management Conference. Enjoy the pics.
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Ok, so she hasn’t crawled on water (yet), but Ashby did start crawling last week. Right at 10 months. She has been mobile for at least two months now, but she would propel herself about by what I can only describe as log-rolling. She would roll from one end of the room to the next, which had to make her dizzy. She is so darn big I think it’s been difficult for her to master crawling. Now she is trying to master climbing up the stairs.
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Tommy and Brenda were down this weekend. Tara and I broke the news to them that we’re very likely moving to San Diego at the end of February. Needless to say that was rather emotional. It’s been wonderful living so close to them and Tara, Ashby and I will all miss them greatly. I know Tara takes great comfort in having her folks so close by. Moreover, Ashby loooooves Tbone and PorkChop. To be honest, they’re really our closest friends. We generally spend two weekends a month with them and I’m going to miss having them nearby. Also, I know Tara and Ashby are going to miss our wonderful neighbors J.J., Ron, and Alla. Tara and J.J. have grown close in the last few months (as have Ashby and Alla) and Tara doesn’t easily open herself to new friends. I’ll admit I have allowed myself to fantasize about Alla and Ashby growing up together and remaining close for many many years, even though I knew we almost certainly wouldn’t be around long enough for that. Alla is Ashby’s first friend though and they’re so sweet. End the long term I’m certain it’s for the best though.
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We went to Buca’s in Maple Grove. I’ve never been particularly fond of their food–it’s ok, but it’s a great place when you have young children. It’s loud and there’s lot to look at. While waiting for a table I took Ashby into the bar (non-smoking) and sat at the bar and had a drink while waiting for Tara and her folks to park the car. The place was totally packed and it was the only place I could sit down and keep Ashby somewhat sheltered from the throng. I got some disapproving looks, which I thought was odd. So, what’s the protocol now that most places disallow smoking? Who cares if I take my daughter into a non-smoking bar? Does she soak the sin of drinkers by way of osmosis? It’s not like I’m tying one on nor was I driving. She certainly enjoyed it.
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Ashby, as always when she is on the go, had a blast. I believe she’s been to Buca’s at least five times since being born. The chain started here in Minneapolis. As an uninteresting side note many many years ago I opened a 350+ seat restaurant that was a total Buca’s rip-off. It was called Bella Vita. I didn’t know it at the time being I had not been to a Buca’s (I think there was only a couple around back then). Anyhow, I guess that’s another reason I like it. I had opened Bella Vita just months after meeting Tara (over 10 years ago). I started out as Soux Chef and then about 6 months later took over as executive chef. The former chef was a complete moron. Then 6 months later Tara and I took off and backpacked Europe for several months having very quickly saved enough money. It was kind of a funny thing. I remember I had just been promoted to Executive Chef and was making really good money (for how young I was and where I lived). Tara and I were talking outside of Bella Vita, smoking of course. And somehow we got on this conversation about how we should go to Africa. So, we decided we would save for the next 5-6 months and split to Africa. After a little research we discovered Europe would be lots cheaper to fly to. At that time I made it a practice of working for no longer than a year before splitting into the woods or on a road trip for a prolonged period of time. I miss that. I can’t believe I’ve lived in MN for just over two years now and I only made it into the BWCA once and only did one white water canoe trip (which Tommy and Brenda still swear they’ll never canoe with us again since that trip–gooood times). Lame.
I can’t wait to take Ashby abroad. I’ll never forget that American fellow we met in Pompeii. He was there with his wife and ~5 year old son. I believe he was a gemologist, or diamond merchant, or something odd like that, but related to gems. I remember thinking how damn cool it was that he was able to just take off and travel Europe for several weeks with his wife and son. With two kids this would be really hard, I think. If not impossible. I think we’ll stick with one child.
