Cafe Bucky

Happy Easter! Here’s a little detail from the “Petaluma’s Choice” Coca-Cola sign.

…two vices …

[summary: March 28th marks two years of blogging - first on JavaJoint.com, and now on "Cafe Bucky" (daniel.org/blog). This post definitely strays into the territories of metablogging. There's also a bit of being my own critic. But along the way, I get into some comparisons with other forms of online chitchat. I don't pull out a bunch of links of my favorite posts. I'll wait for #300 to do that. This is more in the vein of "what I think about this stuff"] — more after the jump.

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Golden Gate Bridge pouring rain, dark night, 2 cramped lanes above, and half a million crustaceans & mollusks below, gnawing away at the International Orange Paint on the towers. Howling wind outside. Pixies “Debaser” playing inside. Just want to get home

Oh, wait, s’not a travelogue posting. I was coming back from a Wordpress get-together in the Mission District. Even though I was just there for an hour or so (weeknight, long drive), it tied together a number of threads that have been bouncing around in the noggin :

• It’s really cool that Matt Mullenweg and cohorts have come up with a great blogging package. It’s always fun and inspiring to meet one of the lead authors, and congratulate them in person. I’m glad I made the switch from MT. It reminds me to get my butt back to FlexiPhoto.. devote a few hours here and there, and feel like I am making progress.
• Why didn’t I go to SXSW??
• … or Etech?! .. I blogged this one in 2003. Missing the conference scene.
• I want to get together with someone to do something in GarageBand.
• Gotta get out and take more photos (I haven’t done Zoom Blurs of the GG Bridge, or indeed of San Francisco, yet I pass by it very often)

The gist is that I’ve been sort of a hermit lately in Petaluma (or hermetically sealed into a 2 block radius in the Mission, zipping my commute to and fro). Reached the point where it hit me all at once: make some new contacts, and get some creative output going. Time to wake up from a long winter’s nap :-)

Paul Graham wrote Hackers & Painters, which I was interested in reading, way back in June 2004. It’s finally available on Safari, so I’ll plunge in this week.

I gotta thank my pal Mike Schilli, because I mentioned H&P and Safari to him, and he pointed me at an excellent essay by Paul, entitled “How to Start a Startup” I don’t agree with absolutely everything in it, but I’d go as far as to say that it’s a “must read” for anyone thinking of starting a tech company. He’s been there, and shares his experience in an enjoyable read (chock full of great advice, delivered in a matter-of-fact manner)

A few of the best bits:

• work with good people that know the area of expertise. Don’t hire business people that don’t understand the tech (”newscasters”).
• don’t hire solely to fill up holes in an org chart
• use trade shows as a means of research - chance to listen and learn from customers as to what they want
• important to get a first version out there quickly
• best odds are in niche markets
• don’t burn up startup money on flashy offices (and, location is very important - got to be a place where people want to come back after dinner)

I said “it’s not quite spring yet”, but then the house said “ya think you can put it off any longer?”, and I said “but I can still see the floor in some places…”. The house chuckled merrily, and slapped me upside the head with some random wainscotting.. “don’t argue with a 110 year old!”.

So while I am off filling my lungs with dust and shredded credit card invites, go see The 30 least hot things you can say to a naked woman.

Somehow this photo reminds me of something I would have seen in “Tomorrowland” at Disneyland, sometime in the 70’s…

(Videoconference, Petaluma & NYC Dessert - Photo © Susan Price 2005)

I’ve got to make a decision in the next day or so as to whether or not I’ll keep 3 domains:

• ThereAndThen.org
• ThereAndThen.net
• ThereAndThen.com

If you’re into Geo-enabled apps, these may be especially useful. The current content will get moved to daniel.org. I would prefer to get a little ton of $$ for these, but a really good cause or sob-story might work. dls-tt-2005 at daniel dot org.

In honor of adding a couple of new categories (”WestCoast” & “EastCoast”), I figured it was high time to do a meandering bit on Petaluma. I’m in a West Coast mood today, enjoying the weather and the roar of 100’s of Harleys passing by my study, heading out D Street on their Sunday Ride.

I’m even playing the Dead (American Beauty, currently “Sugar Magnolia”), just to get my California hippie DNA to kick in. Don’t worry, another 15 minutes of this, and I’ll be switching to Frank Black to counterbalance.

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