Penmachine

Chris Pirillo, who organized the Gnomedex conference last week, posted a fun video compiling a bunch of photos from the event. As far as I can tell, most of the photos are from my Flickr set, which is cool:

He calls it "The Beginning of Human Circuitry." The groovy technobleep soundtrack is "Icarus" from Trash80.net, and the video was assembled using Animoto.

Labels: animation, conferences, gnomedex, kriskrug, photography, pirillo, video

Last year there were worries that the annual Gnomedex conference in Seattle might have lost some of its mojo. This year Gnomedex got its mojo back. Several 2008 sessions, for instance, blew away my bedridden 2007 remote-video appearance, which I'd heard some people had then considered a highlight. (Yikes.)

Rather than write out a big summary (you can read what others had to say), here's what I was chatting about on Twitter before, during, and after Gnomedex 8.0 with various people. The @ links are Twitter's way of letting you target your messages to other Twitter usernames. The #Gnomedex tags are there so that search sites know that various Twitter messages ("tweets") are about Gnomedex. You can probably ignore both and still get the point:

Wednesday

• Took a pill that can upset my stomach, didn't eat soon enough, threw up in the sink with almost no warning a few minutes later. Better now. 09:50 AM August 20, 2008
• Packing, last minute, before leaving for #Gnomedex today. 10:49 AM August 20, 2008
• jjtoothman @penmachine its awesome that you are going to gnomedex. words don't describe how good it is to read that. 11:05 AM August 20, 2008
• Just ate @ Shari's in Bellingham 03:19 PM August 20, 2008
• brooksduncan @penmachine What is Shari's like? I always see them but I have never dared enter. 03:25 PM August 20, 2008
• @brooksduncan it was tasty! 03:42 PM August 20, 2008
• bajema @penmachine What brings you south of the border? 03:28 PM August 20, 2008
• @bajema gnomedex.com in Seattle 03:42 PM August 20, 2008
• Derek will have dinner in Lynwood, then on to Seattle. This weather could easily be February here in the Pacific Northwest. 05:41 PM August 20, 2008
• geoffduncan @penmachine In February, there are fewer daylight hours and everything is grey and brown, not grey and green. :) 05:59 PM August 20, 2008
• Derek is in Seattle early for #Gnomedex, uploading photos to http://flickr.com/photos/penmachine -- and will spend tomorrow with his lovely wife. 12:06 AM August 21, 2008

Thursday

• Derek had a great sleep-in in Seattle. 11:26 AM August 21, 2008
• The Red Lion Fifth Avenue in Seattle makes a pretty mean clubhouse sandwich. And the sun is out! 01:24 PM August 21, 2008
• Derek is off to #Gnomedex start party in 90 mins or so. 05:31 PM August 21, 2008
• inkbase @penmachine I'm watching you live at pirillo.com - freaky. 10:27 PM August 21, 2008
• Derek plans to be up in less than six hours. 01:34 AM August 22, 2008

Friday

• caseorganic @penmachine hello to you! #Gnomedex 08:39 AM August 22, 2008
• Derek is at #Gnomedex, seated next to @kk who is first to present. 08:50 AM August 22, 2008
• Thanks for the name-check, @chrispirillo -- @kk now onstage 09:27 AM August 22, 2008
• #Gnomedex audience photo panorama http://snipurl.com/gdex8pano 10:09 AM August 22, 2008
• netchick @penmachine - retweet: #Gnomedex audience photo panorama http://snipurl.com/gdex8pano (great job, D!) 10:12 AM August 22, 2008
• jabancroft @penmachine just asked "what the heck does ma.gnolia DO?" Sad it got to the end of the preso before that tidbit was mentioned. 10:19 AM August 22, 2008
• #Gnomedex is now the top search term on Twitter 10:28 AM August 22, 2008
• Don't forget the #Gnomedex photo pool at Flickr: http://snipurl.com/gdex8 and the FB group: http://snipurl.com/gdex8fb 10:41 AM August 22, 2008
• Ben Huh from #icanhascheezburger is a great speaker here at #Gnomedex 11:07 AM August 22, 2008
• uncleweed @penmachine added both links and your panorama to raincitystudios post - thanks! 11:29 AM August 22, 2008
• @dannysullivan @ #Gnomedex: "Haven't talked to my kids yet, because you don't want to freak them out..but you do want to freak them out." 12:06 PM August 22, 2008
• Derek is getting ready for #Gnomedex lunch. Danny Sullivan is also passionate and interesting. 12:14 PM August 22, 2008
• glaciermedia @penmachine most definitely 12:43 PM August 22, 2008
• uncleweed @penmachine i got an XL here for you and (disclaimer) this parody derivative artwork is not licensed and not to be confused with Star Wars 01:54 PM August 22, 2008
• mndoci @penmachine Thanks for clarifying. IMO they are important through your life, :). Agree that business skills should be taught as well 02:07 PM August 22, 2008
• buzzbishop @penmachine very sage advice, my friend. 01:17 PM August 22, 2008
• buzzbishop @penmachine then, of course, there's scoble http://twitter.com/Scobleizer 01:18 PM August 22, 2008
• @markbao Most attractive #Gnomedex slides so far. 01:41 PM August 22, 2008
• @jackbrewster I agree about @markbao - there have always been supersmart kids who don't need school. Most kids aren't that #Gnomedex 01:54 PM August 22, 2008
• @uncleweed Darth Drupal! Want. I'm sure it's totally legitimately licensed from Lucasfilm as well. 01:51 PM August 22, 2008
• @mndoci I think @markbao was saying that History & English *are* important in school, but not enough about making a business etc. 02:02 PM August 22, 2008
• #Gnomedex My advice on information overload: learn to love ignoring things. 02:14 PM August 22, 2008
• @hardaway at #Gnomedex: We have to redefine "experience," bc we have to unlearn as much as we learn. See, there is such a thing as wisdom. 02:17 PM August 22, 2008
• Derek is charging his Nikon DSLR battery, which is a remarkably rare event. Mid-#Gnomedex, alas. 02:25 PM August 22, 2008
• trishussey @penmachine I have a spare and charged EN-EL3e if that works in your Nikon 02:32 PM August 22, 2008
• uncleweed @penmachine where are you sitting? i'll deliver your shirt next break before it is snagged 02:36 PM August 22, 2008
• @uncleweed Row 2 middle aisle with hat and tripod, next to @kk 02:39 PM August 22, 2008
• @TylerGraffam Sad to say, but #Gnomedex $600 is pretty inexpensive for a tech conference. But look into #BarCamp and #NorthernVoice though. 02:51 PM August 22, 2008
• Agh, I feel like a heel by phrasing my question to @kanter at #Gnomedex badly. 03:08 PM August 22, 2008
• uncleweed @penmachine nah, made sense and she gave a useful answer i thought 03:08 PM August 22, 2008
• Suggestion: a #Gnomedex that raises $2500 to send a Cambodian girl to college is better than one where Winer/Calacanis argue about Mahalo. 03:36 PM August 22, 2008
• davedelaney @penmachine You have that right brother! 05:38 PM August 22, 2008
• betsyweber @penmachine - I second that! 06:38 PM August 22, 2008
• @kk Archives need to live forever. I still get people hitting things I uploaded in 1997. 03:41 PM August 22, 2008
• kk @penmachine the domain expired last week. oopsie. i'll fix it momentarily. :P 03:44 PM August 22, 2008
• The most inspiring speakers at #Gnomedex have a phrase in common: "...so I tried an experiment." 03:48 PM August 22, 2008
• trishussey @penmachine exactly. Now imagine if we all just took the leap to just experiment. What could we accomplish? What problems could we solve? 03:50 PM August 22, 2008
• caseorganic @penmachine Experimenting is how amazing things happen! hooray! 02:50 PM August 22, 2008
• dbrazeal @penmachine Great point.... and we need to experiment even if we have to do it on our own time, without the backing of the institution 05:53 PM August 22, 2008
• @kanter #Gnomedex Sorry to phrase my question poorly to you re: other charities. Sounded more negative than I meant. Great answer, BTW. 03:58 PM August 22, 2008
• Okay, this #Gnomedex cyborg talk is hard-hard-hardcore geekery. 04:33 PM August 22, 2008
• @penmachine understatement. But again follows "so I did this experiment..." 04:35 PM August 22, 2008
• #Gnomedex Medical imaging » hi-end 3D graphics » mech eng » machine tooling - where will this end up? 04:36 PM August 22, 2008
• uncleweed @penmachine hard freakin core man ... but i am now a flickr picnik premium member 04:35 PM August 22, 2008
• #Gnomedex Ah, of course, it's an art installation with an interactive lighting installation. I am not worthy. 04:39 PM August 22, 2008
• @uncleweed http://flickr.com/photos/lockergnome/2782985591/ 04:46 PM August 22, 2008
• Derek is too tired to finish processing #Gnomedex photos for upload for day 1. More tomorrow. Now bed. 01:07 AM August 23, 2008
• My favourite photo I took at #Gnomedex so far: http://shrinkster.com/11hj 01:30 AM August 23, 2008

Saturday

• Derek is heading back to #Gnomedex. 08:39 AM August 23, 2008
• OK fine fun conversation. This conversation is precisely what #Gnomedex managed to avoid yesterday -- and what made yesterday awesome. 10:16 AM August 23, 2008
• jackbrewster @penmachine Amen. 10:17 AM August 23, 2008
• Yes @kk -- here is info on @uncleweed's "f*ck stats make art" http://shrinkster.com/11hr - http://shrinkster.com/11hs -- he should speak here. 10:21 AM August 23, 2008
• #Gnomedex Blogs don't have to have comments. http://daringfireball.net, http://kottke.org etc. - almost more valuable because they don't. 10:27 AM August 23, 2008
• I feel like this is #Gnomedex 5 -- but I enjoyed Gnomedex 5. 10:30 AM August 23, 2008
• I wonder how much of the tension in that @sarahcuda #Gnomedex session was slopover from the whole SXSW thing & how much was the actual topic 10:36 AM August 23, 2008
• My photos of #Gnomedex day 0/day 1: http://shrinkster.com/11ht 10:40 AM August 23, 2008
• dbrazeal @penmachine I think it was 90% SxSW hangover. Gotta give @sarahcuda credit for guts to show up and do it that way. 12:48 PM August 23, 2008
• davidrisley @penmachine It was the actual topic. I don't think any of that was because of SXSW. 01:54 PM August 23, 2008
• uncleweed @penmachine thanks for the plug amigo - here's audio and notes on f@cking stats and making art http://is.gd/1Rf9 sign me up for next year! 10:57 AM August 23, 2008
• #Gnomedex Okay, Adeona looks extremely cool and useful, and these are the right people to do it: http://tinyurl.com/6jfgdd 11:49 AM August 23, 2008
• @leelefever #Gnomedex Removing bullet points is easy - use no text on your slides at all. 12:28 PM August 23, 2008
• uncleweed @penmachine yes! use photos for visual accompaniment and then talk the things on the list rather than listing them 12:29 PM August 23, 2008
• Today's #Gnomedex - so far not as inspiring as yesterday, but cooler geekiness. A good mix overall. 12:32 PM August 23, 2008
• @kegill Here are my photo tips @kk mentioned http://snipurl.com/cameraworks (reverse chronological order) 01:48 PM August 23, 2008
• kegill @penmachine Thank you!! 02:41 PM August 23, 2008
• #Gnomedex Scott Maxwell brought a tear to my eye, and got a standing ovation too. 03:51 PM August 23, 2008
• @jabancroft If you don't already have one, get a 50mm/1.8. Or save up for the 85/1.8, lovely lens. 03:34 PM August 23, 2008
• jabancroft @penmachine I have a 50mm/1.8, but it doesn't autofocus on my D40 (which I knew when I bought it). I thought I'd use it more than I do. 03:35 PM August 23, 2008
• @jabancroft There's a new autofocusing Sigma 50/1.4, but it's pricey. The Sigma 30/1.4 DX is nice too. http://shrinkster.com/11hy 03:42 PM August 23, 2008
• theMetz @penmachine Jeez, did I Robot get you torn up too? 03:53 PM August 23, 2008
• jabancroft @penmachine I teared up a little, too, at those photos. Amazing stuff. 03:54 PM August 23, 2008
• An extremely impressive #Gnomedex this year, a definite recharge. Thank you @ponzi @chrispirillo and everyone else. 05:36 PM August 23, 2008
• kegill @penmachine Derek ... these are *great*! Takes me back to photoJrl class as an undergrad. :-) Love the sketches -- for the "touch" and info. 08:45 PM August 23, 2008
• Derek is back at the Red Lion Seattle. Getting last #Gnomedex photos ready to uploade. 10:04 PM August 23, 2008
• Uploading final batch of #Gnomedex photos to Flickr. Find 'em 2 places: http://snipurl.com/gdex8 and http://shrinkster.com/11i6 10:38 PM August 23, 2008

Sunday

• Derek is pretty much all done in Seattle after #Gnomedex -- the sunny hotel buffet patio is going to turn to rain soon, so we'll head out. 12:30 PM August 24, 2008
• Derek is at Shari's in Bellingham again. Food is decent, but it's the free Wi-Fi that brings us back. 04:40 PM August 24, 2008
• Derek is home and unpacked. Time to pick up the kids. 08:02 PM August 24, 2008
• It wouldn't have been a trip to Seattle without mysterious traffic slowdowns on the I-5 near Everett. 09:00 PM August 24, 2008

Gnomedex 2008 was a remarkable and refreshing forum of ideas, which is the best anyone could ask for. I also won a cool prize thanks to Eye-Fi and Chris and Ponzi Pirillo, and they played my Gnomedex song at the end. Yay!

P.S. You know who'd be cool to have speak next year? One of the MythBusters crew.

Labels: conferences, gnomedex, meetup, mythbusters, pirillo, seattle, travel

A fun way to spend our anniversary week is for my wife Air and me to come down to Seattle, hit the parties for Gnomedex together, and then have me attend the conference while she goes on the town.

The kids are with my parents back in Vancouver, and it sounds like they're having a good time too.

Labels: conferences, gnomedex, meetup, pirillo, seattle, travel

Today, via Twitter:

• Home, Burnaby, B.C., 10 a.m.: Took a pill that can upset my stomach, didn't eat soon enough, threw up in the sink with almost no warning a few minutes later. Better now.
• Home, 11 a.m.: Packing, last minute, before leaving for Gnomedex today.
• Near Bellis Fair, Bellingham, Wash., 3 p.m.: Just ate @ Shari's in Bellingham.
• Alderwood Mall, Lynnwood, Wash., 5:30 p.m.: Will have dinner in Lynnwood, then on to Seattle. This weather could easily be February here in the Pacific Northwest.
• Red Lion Hotel Fifth Avenue, Seattle, midnight: In Seattle early for Gnomedex, uploading photos to Flickr—and will spend tomorrow with my lovely wife.

Labels: conferences, gnomedex, meetup, pirillo, seattle, travel

Every year since 2001, Chris Pirillo (and now his wife Ponzi too) has put together a strange little tech conference called Gnomedex. I've participated since Gnomedex 5.0 in 2005, although last year I had to do it by video.

What I heard afterwards is that overall, the 2007 Gnomedex 7.0 seemed to have lost a bit of its geeky focus, so Chris and Ponzi look to be working hard to regain it this year. There are sessions on photography, search engines, Mars landers, managing online relationships, and so on. Nerdy stuff, which is at it should be.

What makes Gnomedex unusual is that it's small (only a few hundred people) and runs as a single track schedule, rather than multiple simultaneous sessions, so you don't miss anything. The food and free Wi-Fi and power are as top-notch as the Pirillos can make them. The parties are good. And it attracts some of the top tech people in North America, as well as a good contingent of normal nerds like me (and our laptops).

I'm looking forward to seeing a bunch of people face-to-face for the first time in awhile—I haven't seen Chris and Ponzi in person since my wife Air, our friend KA, and I went to their wedding in late 2006, for instance. It's also my first trip out of Canada since my cancer surgery last summer. I'm glad I'm feeling well enough to go.

Now, Air and I need to get that hotel booked. The last-minute deals aren't as fantastic as I was hoping...

P.S. I also created a photo group at Flickr for those who'd like to add their pictures of the event.

Labels: conferences, geekery, gnomedex, pirillo, seattle, travel

Chris Pirillo has posted video of my piped-in appearance (from my bed) at Gnomedex last month:

A few people asked about it, and now there it is. Thanks, Chris.

Labels: cancer, fatigue, gnomedex, ichat, macbook, pirillo, ponzi

I love attending the annual Gnomedex geek conference in Seattle, but this year I just wasn't in shape to do it. So we did the next best thing: organizers Chris and Ponzi Pirillo asked me to give a little talk and answer some questions via live video chat yesterday, and I think it worked rather well.

Even among the digital leading edge who attend Gnomedex, being as wide open about cancer diagnosis and treatment online, as I have been, is still a bit unusual, but I hope that my appearance there encourages people not only to use the Internet as a way to get information and support, but also to get themselves checked out for the various diseases they might be at risk for, so that they can maybe get treated early and not have to go through all the crap I have.

One of the audience members who said hi (I think her name was Dawn) also reminded me not to get consumed by all this, not to let my condition become my life, and I think that was good advice. As I've said before, I'm trying to come back to life, to see movies and have fun with my family and friends, and to blog about something other than cancer from time to time—and more often as I get better.

Today I cooked some bacon and eggs and made coffee, which is the first time I've had enough energy for that. But yesterday I spent almost the whole day (including my video chat session) in bed. Maybe later today I'll get out for a walk, or go to the mall or a restaurant. I just have to see how I feel.

Thank you to all the Gnomedexers who attended my session yesterday. Once again, your support and good vibes humble me.

Labels: cancer, fatigue, gnomedex, ichat, macbook, pirillo, ponzi