I have been thinking about software convergence lately. This weekend I was visiting Big Bear, CA with my family where a cultural convergence was happening. The annual Big Bear Film Festival, a motorcycle rally and Oktoberfest all happening at the same time. What does three distinct events transpiring in a very small town create? A peculiar cultural convergence of Hollywood hipsters, motorcycle club members and rural rednecks. This peculiar convergence is not a dissimilar result from many software convergences. At least this cultural convergence is fun to watch.

I had a great time with my family. Big Bear always delivers on the promised reprieve. This trip was spontaneously arranged mid-week. Tara and I spend our Thanksgivings in Big Bear and she suggested we drive to Big Bear and find a suitable cabin for our Thanksgiving trip.

For this weekend Tara found an adorable farmhouse for rent. The owner did a fantastic job decorating the place. However, the neighborhood was less than appealing. My Facebook description of the farmhouse:

We rented a cute little farmhouse. It’s nice. Other than the shitty neighborhood replete with dick rednecks partying loudly all around us…Oh and owner said it was “near” the airport. Seriously, the runway is literally in the backyard.

Thankfully the airport in Big Bear is just a little air strip for small personal airplanes. Still, with two little ones, the airplanes coming and going were not welcome. Worse yet were the raucous parties of cursing twenty-something Caucasians that drove jacked up American made trucks that appeared as though they should be participating in a monster truck rally. These twenty-somethings also dressed as though they were lead characters in rap music videos. Yet another peculiar convergence.

We did find a cabin for our Thanksgiving trip to Big Bear. Cozy Hollow Lodges is less than a mile from the village and it has a playground. We drove by and checked it out before we left town.

I’ll be speaking at the Defrag conference November 11-12 in Denver Colorado. Defrag ranks right up there with OSBC as one of my favorite conferences to attend.

Defrag is like no other conference I have attended. The format is more interactive, but not open conference style. It has a wealth of big thinkers, geek-famous and infamous.

I recommend attending Defrag. I’m so convinced you’ll enjoy the event that I will PAY $200 of your ticket price. When purchasing your ticket use the discount code “roebot1” and receive a $200 discount. Enjoy!

I was in DC last week where I was attending a work related conference titled Gov 2.0 Summit. Before leaving home I asked Ashby, my daughter, to help mommy because Roesevelt, my son, was sick. Tara called me and told me she had been especially helpful and that Ashby had told her she was helping so much because “daddy asked me to help you because Roe is sick.” So cute. I had to pick her up something.

Before going to the airport to return home I stopped by Georgetown to buy Ashby something fun to reward her. I happened upon a shop lifter casually walking away from a shop keeper after apparently having stolen from his shop. The shop keeper attempted to stop her by insisting she stop as he followed her down the sidewalk while, I’m assuming, he hurriedly tried to reach the police on his mobile phone. She ignored his demands and continued her brisk stroll.

The shop keeper attempted to wrestle the stolen merchandise from the woman. A scuffle ensued that soon involved three women wrestling the unlucky shop keeper to the ground. It seemed they were all in cahoots. I only photographed two of the women wrestling the shopkeeper because the third actually left her one year old child, in the stroller, in the road. Albeit near the curb, but still in the road. Realizing where the kid was, sadly, kept me from photographing the dog pile on the hapless shop keeper as I was busy worrying that a car may hit the kid. 

As for Ashby, she got two hair barrettes and an Obama tshirt. She says the Obama tshirt is a boy’s shirt and she is not fond of it. She is very girly. 🙂

Anyway, Georgetown is a beautiful part of the city.

I just announced some Interesting news at the work blog. I am now advising Microsoft on open source software strategy. Microsoft? Open source? Yes. I announced my joining the advisory board of the newly minted CodePlex Foundation that was created by Microsoft last week.

CodePlex Foundation: Microsoft, an Open Source Leader? | MindTouch, Inc Blog

Last week I joined the advisory board of the newly created CodePlex Foundation, which was forged in the bowels of Microsoft. Sounds scary doesn’t it?

The foundation, a 501.c6 non-profit, endeavors to increase participation in open source community projects. The intent is to provide a framework for commercial (proprietary) software companies to more easily contribute to open source projects. Specifically, the CodePlex Foundation wishes to help resolve concerns commonly shared among commercial software companies about contributions downstream; such as implied patents, copyright, licensing, etc.

Ashby and Roesevelt have been awfully sick this week. So, this weekend we decided to stay in and lie low. We did manage to make it to the Hillcrest Market for lunch and this week’s flowers, fruit and produce.

There are always such well groomed men at the Hillcrest market.

Today I’m spending my day catching up on writing for work. Interspersed with the work stuff I’m giving my girls makeovers. Ashby started it by giving me a make over initially. 🙂

I think Tara’s make over is especially hot.

Warning: potentially annoying pontification to ensue.

I believe it is important to instill your kids with the importance of community obligation and compassion. As I wrote previously, it’s too soon to do most volunteer work, but a beach clean up is just right for a 3.5 year old. 

We had a great time. Between playing in the sand and surf we picked up trash and talked about the importance of helping others and making the community we live in a better place. Ashby responded with: “like heroes”. Exactly.

I suppose I’m feeling a little like Botero. Here’s a slice of Americana.

When it comes to sharing the road with cars, many people seem to assume that such accidents are usually the cyclist’s fault — a result of reckless or aggressive riding. But an analysis of police reports on 2,752 bike-car accidents in Toronto found that clumsy or inattentive driving by motorists was the cause of 90 percent of these crashes. Among the leading causes: running a stop sign or traffic light, turning into a cyclist’s path, or opening a door on a biker.

via Who Causes Cyclists’ Deaths? – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com.

I bike to and from work. When I bike on the road and use the full lane, which is the safest and my legal right, motorists often intentionally try to squeeze me into parked cars, scream obscenities at me, honk the horn in an attempt to scare me and generally behave poorly. Of course, most often I’m traveling as fast, or faster, than they are through downtown San Diego. Alas, for some reason they feel obliged to rage at me.

When I bike to the side of the road to allow cars to pass I have doors from parked cars open on me, motorists turn  in front of me and cars pull out of parking spots dangerously cutting me off.

It is illegal to bicycle on the sidewalk. Given the aforementioned circumstances I occasionally do. I always bike slowly and considerately when doing so. Even still, I’ve had pedestrians shout obscenities at me, call me names, gesticulate violently and cars almost hit me when using the crosswalk.

Cycling is not a crime. 😦