For my guest talk, each year I’ve improvised the presentation, feeling around for what was of interest. This year, I gave a three-part talk:

• A brief history of computing
• Programming on the web
• Computer science as a career

Caitlin Baker from the Analy film class was kind enough to record my talk and post the video:

I really enjoy connecting a bit with the students and sharing my perspective from 40 years in the industry. I have, alas, found it frustratingly difficult to get most of them to engage by asking or responding to questions during the class.

I’ve had the opportunity to get to know two of the students a little better: Luc Street and Izzy Ehnes both joined Webvanta as interns after my talks in previous years. It’s been great to have them be part of our little company.

The post Talk for the Analy High School AP Computer Science Class appeared first on Parting Thoughts.

Like many area residents, we have long bought much of our dog and cat food there, and it is sad to see the old building go. Fortunately, there have been no reports of injuries, and the animals are ok.

I hope they had good insurance. The building didn’t quite burn to the ground, because of its cinder-block walls, but it is a shell and will have to be demolished.

As the first picture below shows, it was only a few hundred feet from Webvanta’s office (in the foreground).

I’ve posted on Flickr a more extensive set of pictures of the Frizelle Enos fire.

The post Sebastopol’s Oldest Business Burns appeared first on Parting Thoughts.

Working in my garden has been immensely helpful in preserving a semblance of sanity, and I’ve found myself pondering why it is so satisfying.

Creating things has always been a driving force in my life, whether it’s a book, a website, a computer program, a business, or a garden. There is a special quality to gardening, though, that feels very different from these other activities.

The big difference is that the garden does so much on its own. As the gardener, I don’t need to design the flowers, or understand their inner workings. For a few dollars, I can bring home a six-pack from the nursery with little plants that embody millennia of evolution. Only a basic understanding of the plant’s needs is required; the plants do all the "thinking" on their own and grow from little seedlings into spectacular creations.

With all of my other projects, virtually all of the creation process is up to me (and my colleagues, if a team is involved). Very little happens on its own. This is the big difference with gardening: it taps into the wonders of nature, and one needs only to guide it along. In a very real sense, the garden creates itself, and I am just the curator.

Gardening provides an unending stream of surprises, many of them pleasant ones. I could never design or create from basic components the flowers, fruits, and vegetables that plants so effortlessly produce. With some basic physical labor, a little tending, and a minimum of thinking, I get to enjoy these wondrous creations.

The world of the web, as much as I enjoy it, is an entirely man-made place. While it has many intriguing aspects and creating things on the web can be very satisfying, it can never provide the same sort of satisfaction as watching a garden grow.

The post The Joys of Gardening appeared first on Parting Thoughts.

We’ve enjoyed the property immensely, having raised two kids and built three businesses here. But it’s now much more space than we need, and the wonderful grounds are demanding.

Now that my office is in downtown Sebastopol, and Amanda is at Analy High School, it’s come to seem very enticing to move to a smaller house in town. I know we’re going to miss our gardens and woods and total privacy, but after more than 20 years we’re ready for a new adventure.

We’ve been cleaning up, packing away non-essentials, and fixing all those nagging little things you never get to, for the past 6 months, and the house and gardens are in their best shape ever. It makes it that much harder to leave!

We hope to be settled in a new house in Sebastopol in the fall. Just in case you know of anyone who is thinking of selling, we’re looking for a 3-bedroom house, within walking distance of downtown Sebastopol, in a reasonably quiet location.

The post Moving into Town! appeared first on Parting Thoughts.

For most of the time I’ve lived in Sonoma County, I’ve remained intimately involved with businesses based in the valley. Although I’ve always had an office up here, I’ve also spent a few days a month in the valley, and most of my contacts remained there.

When I decided to leave Adobe last fall, I also decided to seek out the local technical and entrepreneurial communities and get to know them better, in the hope of making new friends and forming a new venture that would be truly centered here in the redwood country. Along the way, I’ve joined a few groups and created one, and met a lot of great people.

There are many, many talented folks in Sonoma County, but they tend to be isolated, and often connected to businesses in San Francisco or Silicon Valley. I believe we can create a much stronger environment for entrepreneurs and technical people here by providing more opportunities for us to all meet each other and share ideas and dreams.

Announcing the North Bay Internet Society

After looking around for a group of like-minded folks to join, I couldn’t find one—so I decided to create one. The North Bay Internet Society (NBIS) is about to have its third meeting, and our membership has grown to a little more than 20 people. It’s a remarkable group, including several technologists, a few marketing folks, a couple people helping run established web businesses, and a few people building new web startups.