Hello from the Ajax Experience conference in Boston!
Not too long ago, you probably couldn’t get a self-respecting software developer to wear an AOL t-shirt (I joked that once upon a time, they’d have been as popular as NAMBLA shirts). However, AOL seems to be embracing the mash-up scene and they’ve cranked out a series of shirts with some geek appeal. I’m modelling the most-requested one here:
…are over at Global Nerdy and the Tucows Blog. Go check them out!
(Well, the best one I’ve seen in a while, anyway.)
The swag that every attendee gets here at the Ajax Experience conference gets comes in a very nice custom knapsack, and it’s surprisingly heavy. I’ll post a video entry later, where I’ll go through what’s in the bag. We’re swagging like it’s 1999!
[Cross-posted to Global Nerdy.]
I’m in Beantown to attend the Ajax Experience conference (Ajax as in the web application programming technique, not the cleanser), which starts tomorrow and runs until Wednesday.
The conference takes place at the brand spanking new Westin Boston Waterfront, which still has the “new hotel smell”. It’s considerably more posh than the typical stone’s-throw-from-the-airport conference hotel, and it’s pretty close to downtown (a ten or fifteen-minute walk, depending on your pace, will land you right at Downtown Crossing). I predict the possibility of some post-session expeditions for booze.
Aside from dinner with Wendy’s parents tonight, I had nothing scheduled today, so I walked over to Downtown Crossing and ended up doing what I always do when I go there: buying dress shirts at half-price in Filene’s Basement. I think half my office and going-out wardrobe comes from Boston now. I then handed a guy in a tri-corner hat twelve bucks to take me on a walking tour of the Freedom Trail. This sort of thing would probably bore Wendy to tears (she’s lived in Boston most of her life), so I thought I’d catch it as long as I was travelling without her.
I’ll be blogging about the conference over at the Tucows Blog and Global Nerdy; my non-technical entries about the trip will go here. If you’re attending this conference or just happen to be a friend of mine in the Boston area, drop me a line. I’ve got the accordion with me, and am always up for a little beer-fueled fun.
It must’ve been a slow news day, because CityNews aired the segment about me Googlebombing my deadbeat ex-housemate ten minutes into their broadcast! You can watch the video here.
My thanks to Amber MacArthur, who read my entry about my deadbeat ex-housemate and turned it into a news story, as well as the charming Kris Reyes and Mark the camera operator. (By the way, ladies: Mark’s a good-lookin’ fella with a cool job. Let me know if you’d like to get set up.)
Click the photo to see the video.
Note the title of the web page corresponding to the news segment: Man Punishes Ex-Roommate with “Google Bomb”. All they’d need to do is change “Man” to “Area Man” and they’d have a title that would fit right in at The Onion.
The web article has another article partnered with it, titled How to Fight Back Against “Google Bombing”. The tips listed within are somewhat useful, but inapplicable in this case. While Googlebombing him is a bit harsh, I don’t just have the legal and moral high ground, I’m in legal and moral orbit, baby.
(Besides, they forgot the most important tip: Don’t welch on your media-savvy, high-whuffie roomate.)
Click the photo to see the video.
Is this “cyberbullying”?
No.
Bullying implies an attack by one party with considerably more power than the attacked party. My ex-roomate is a middle-class twenty-something white male computer consultant living in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Simply put, he’s The Man. (Maybe Poor Impulse-Spending Control Man, but The Man nonetheless.)
From a socioeconomic standpoint, we’re in the same weight class. This isn’t David vs. Goliath, it’s Kenny vs. Spenny.
(From a fiscal responsibility standpoint, I’m Warren Buffet and he’s one of those people who wins the lottery and is broke the following year.)
My intent was merely to get his attention and get him to email me back. We’d had an agreement that’s he’d update me regularly about his financial situation — about once a week, even if only to tell me “Hey Joey, I can’t get you a cheque this month”. He’s been unresponsive for the past couple of months, and I got fed up.
I know that there’s a good chance that I may never get paid back. It’s been five years since he started defaulting on his rent, and I get the distinct impression that I’m not the only person to whom he owes money.
To rephrase the old joke about professional musicians…
Q: What’s the difference between my deadbeat ex-housemate and an extra large pizza?
A: An extra-large pizza can feed a family of four.
I’ll keep at him continually. You never know, he could come through.
(Sorry about the title. When a good pun makes itself, I cannot resist!)
As I mentioned in a post yesterday, a couple of folks from CityNews dropped by the office to interview me for a segment on Googlebombing based on my article about my deadbeat ex-housemate. The segment airs on CityNews tonight at six.
I’ll write more about the interview later tonight, after I’ve seen it myself.
About a half hour ago, the phone rang…
Phone voice: Hi, I’m calling from CityTV. We’d like to interview you for a news piece tonight about Googlebombing.
Me: (Uncontrollable fit of laughter)
Phone voice: I see I’ve reached the right person.
It looks as though they’d seen my A Special Message to My Deadbeat Ex-Housemate entry, in which I started to Googlebomb my deadbeat ex-housemate. They’re coming to the office to shoot the piece, and I believe it’ll air tonight.