Interview with Drupal and open source evangelist, Jeffrey A. “Jam” McGuire

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I remember first meeting Jeffrey A. “Jam” McGuire in person at DrupalCon Denver. We talked about communities, music, and shared ways to show why open source is a better way. Even before meeting him, I could tell from my first interaction with him that he was passionate about Drupal and open source. He’s becoming an in-demand Keynote speaker and presenter at Drupal and other business and software events around the world. He’s already a staple for the Intro to DrupalCon session and always seems to incorporate music and singing as part of the performance. Continue reading →

Predicting future trends with Triangle Interactive Marketing Association

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It was great to participate in the Triangle Interactive Marketing Association (TIMA) 4th Annual “Futurist’s Panel” held at the great new space co-working space at HUB Raleigh on January 9, 2013. We made predictions, talked about trends, and things we want to see our business accomplish in 2013. Continue reading →

Taking a daily email vacation

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I am declaring a vacation from my email. Since I can’t quite get to #noemail yet, I think this is the next best thing. Let me explain.

First, I need to say thanks to Tom Cochran. He used to run digital technology for Whitehouse.gov and I got to meet him at Drupalcon Denver last year. Tom shared a link to an HBR article on Twitter and I luckily saw it go by on my stream. I read the post Continue reading →

Writing a book about Raleigh being an open source city

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It’s about time to come out of hibernation mode and come out swinging for 2013. I’ve been quiet the last two weeks. Red Hat had their annual holiday shut down from December 24 to January 1 and I decided to extend that until January 3. I head back to the office this Friday.

Over the last two weeks, I spent some time with the family, did a lot of running (I made my goal of running 1,000 miles in 2012), and I played a little too much Skylanders Giants.

Before the break, I was contemplating writing a book about the open government movement in Raleigh with a focus on the characteristics of an open source city. I jotted down a few title ideas and drafted an outline in early December one Saturday morning. And I sat on that for a week or two. Letting the idea marinate. Continue reading →

2012 Garden Results and Notes

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The garden this year started in mid April with a variety of tomatoes and peppers. I kept track of the incoming crop, took notes along the way, and tallied up the totals.

I planted a bunch of different tomatoes: Early Girl, Patio, Large Red Cherry, Better Boy, Big Boy, Roma, and Super Fantastic. I also planted seven different kinds of peppers: Big Bertha, Camelot, Golden Yellow, Orange, Red, Jalapeño, and Serrano.

The results are in. Here is what I brought in this season: Continue reading →

Could open source software save New York City’s bike share program?

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A bike share program that was supposed to be launched last summer in New York City has come to a halt due to software related issues. I can’t help but think that if the software was open source, these problems would have been easily resolved, eliminating worrisome delays.

This past August, Mayor Bloomburg said “The software doesn’t work,” responding to questions about why the bike-share program is on hold. Now, according to a post in the New York Times, flooding and damage from Hurricane Sandy has caused further setbacks. Continue reading →

How we spent Thanksgiving 2012

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Skinny TurkeyOur Thanksgiving break started off hectic—is there any other way? For me, it started off on a chilly morning running the hills of Wakefield (North Raleigh). I was running the Skinny Turkey half marathon. It was my third half marathon of November after running the City of Oaks and the Outer Banks.

The race started at 7:30 am and it was a 30 minute drive from the house to Wakefield High School, where the race started and finished. I was awake early, around 6:00 am, leaving the house by 6:45 am. I decided to run in long sleeves because it was below 40° and a bit breezy. The course was hilly but manageable. I was expecting a decent time and was happy with the 1 hour 44 minute and 14 second finish. Continue reading →

Another great Outer Banks Half Marathon

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OBX November sunset

OBX November sunset

Happy belated Veteran’s Day. We spent Veteran’s Day weekend on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I was ready to run my second Outer Banks half marathon. Race season kicked off last weekend with the City of Oaks marathon. I ran the half in 1 hour and 43 minutes. This weekend, I was looking for a better time, but was concerned because of a leg and foot injury that’s been nagging me.

We arrived on the OBX Friday evening, November 9, 2012 to a freak blackout. As we drove through Mann’s Harbor, we noticed it was really dark. The radio was talking about widespread power outages from the Virginia border all the way to Hatteras Island. We noticed Roanoke Island was pitch black except for the airport, as we traveled over the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge. Continue reading →