Jewish Murder Memorial

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Spent a few days in Berlin on a business trip for Mozilla.  Jet lag kept me up all night several nights, and on one, I slipped out to roam the town.  I ventured back over to the Jewish Murder Memorial to see if I could somehow burn onto film the heavy feeling I get when I visit the site.   I’d visited the place seven or eight years ago, and I remember being impressed.  I feel it’s a perfect installation for what it represents.

These shots were taken sometime after 10pm on a cold and rainy night.  Every night that I spent in Berlin was a cold and rainy night–always shrouded in grey clouds and drizzle.  The memorial is in a section of town where there are plenty of well-lit buildings so the sky glows with reflected light.  I dropped a tripod, pushed a roll of HP5+ to 1600, and took about a dozen 10-30 second timed exposures.  I was hoping to capture the rain beading down the sides of the smooth concrete slabs.  I was successful.  The two below are my picks.

Jewish Murder Memorial I

Jewish Murder Memorial II

 

 

Jolene. Two.

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A few days ago, Jolene turned two.  We had a small party with family.  This time Grandma was in town, and Paloma, who has been one of the best things to happen to this busy family, joined us, too.

Jolene. Two. | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Grandma and Steph baked a cake with whipped icing made from strained raspberries (we later used the leftover raspberry seeds as a dressing for a family dinner of delicious deer).  While they were busy in the kitchen, Paloma was twisting up balloon horses, reins and everything.  I tacked streamers all about the room, and just before the party, Steph and I fetched helium balloons to fill the remaining spaces.

Paloma Makes Horses

My birthday is only two days before Jolene’s.  Secretly, I was hoping she would have been born on my own birthday, but I’ve changed my mind.  This was her day, and she deserves it.  No reason to mix the two.  Still, her day is next to mine, and that’s just right.

The party was short, and Jolene ended up crying during her birthday song as I think she was a little embarrassed being the center of attention with everyone singing and smiling at her.  I can see how that would be creepy.

One of Steph’s presents to Jolene was a set of wet-washed watercolor cards handed to each person at the party on which they wrote a short note that someday Jolene would read once she’s acquired the skill.  Steph tucked them away, saving them to give to Jolene someday.

Grandma write a note for Jolene on her birthday, to be read sometime in the future.

This is what Stephanie does.  She’s exceptionally thoughtful during important events in our lives, and she always keeps us in a creative space.

The party wrapped up, and another great birthday party success was behind us.  Now Steph can relax, at least until Chas’ day in the later half of the year.  Steph cherishes birthdays, and she does everything she can to make sure the kids have the best possible time.  All I do is try to help, and it’s sometimes hard to live up to her expectations.  This time, all worked out.

A Happy Steph on Jolene's Birthday

 

 

From Mozilla to Edmodo

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For the past six years, I created an environment where amazing engineers and engineering leaders built Firefox for the desktop and Android, amazing products that deliver on Mozilla’s mission. I’m very proud of everything we’ve done, and I’m proud to have built and been part of a world changing team. We were, and still are, exceptionally motivated and unbelievably talented.  Mozilla Firefox continues to write the future of the Web.

Mozilla’s next endeavor is Firefox OS, and as of January 15, we hit a major milestone, completing the foundation of what will become Firefox OS 1.0.  This project has teeth, and it will be the next amazing product that enables Mozilla to continue pushing the Web forward and protecting user sovereignty.  The project is off to a fantastic start, and I’m thrilled by the progress we’ve made in such short time.

Sometime around 2000, I read Jamie Zawinski’s resignation from Netscape and mozilla.org.   I planned to reference JWZ’s post in my own today; however, I hadn’t re-read his note in over a decade.  The thing I remembered most–before I looked back to find it–was his point in his second paragraph:

When we started this company, we were out to change the world. And we did that. Without us, the change probably would have happened anyway, maybe six months or a year later, and who-knows-what would have played out differently. But we were the ones who actually did it. When you see URLs on grocery bags, on billboards, on the sides of trucks, at the end of movie credits just after the studio logos — that was us, we did that. We put the Internet in the hands of normal people. We kick-started a new communications medium. We changed the world.

His statement above was a big part of the reason I joined Mozilla–plus I’d get to work with great people like John Lilly, Mike Schroepfer, Mitchell Baker, and Brendan Eich. I remember quoting JWZ’s words above to Mitchell in my own Mozilla Corporation interview back in 2006.  To have an impact on the world like that is a once in a lifetime opportunity for an engineer.  Now, I’m in his position of departing (the company, not the project), and my experience is positive and thrilling as I have been a part of changing the world and part of a world-changing team.

I’ve decided it’s time for me to embark on a different world-changing adventure by joining Edmodo as VP of Engineering–the same role I have here now at Mozilla.  This new opportunity is exciting because it has the familiar feel of when I first joined the Mozilla project: Almost the same number of users, it’s rapidly growing just like Firefox, and they have a stellar mission that aligns with my values–something hard to find in a start-up on a clear path to success.

I’m proud of and thankful for all who have joined me on my journey at Mozilla and who have made it a world-changing success.  I’m looking forward to continuing with another world-changing team.  Edmodo’s mission is to connect all learners with the people and resources they need to reach their full potential.  Education is important to me as it’s a big part of my own young family, and knowing that I can improve the world’s educational experience, in addition to my own children’s, is a huge motivator.

I can’t wait to get started.

Rolling Palm

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Steph was soaking in the adjacent springs while the kids played in the palm grove. Like little Bower birds, they pulled hairs from the palm trunks and spun the fibers into balls, arranging them in rows on a bench. Children have this capacity to create meaningful but ephemeral tableaus from what we commonly overlook as bark in the background, from the fraying fringe of everyday fabric.