Category Archives: what I do

bio, portfolio

Stuff I Do: dtrace.conf 2012

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^ above: the famous DTrace laser pony designed by substack. Why a pony? Read here.

This week was eventful for me professionally. I organized and ran dtrace.conf 2012, a highly technical conference, for my employer and others of the tech community that works with this technology. Yes, this is the same DTrace as in that book that I edited in 2010.

I also filmed it and ran a live video stream, while publicizing it via Twitter. And making sure everyone got fed and, at the end of the day, had beer to drink. A very busy day, but all went very well. The final, edited video is now making its way to YouTube, see the playlist of videos above.

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bio, what I do

My Year in Blogging – 2011

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I have had a website for over ten years now. It began as an archive for the personal email newsletter I started publishing after leaving my job at Roxio – some of the 170,000 subscribers to my Roxio newsletters said they wanted to keep hearing from me, and some of them are still readers and friends!

The site was originally hosted on one of the free hosting services in Italy. I produced it using a simple (but sometimes infuriating) site building software for Windows, whose name I can’t bring to mind right now. Then, as it grew larger and more complex, I learned DreamWeaver to manage it. At some point I started using the straughan.com domain which my friend Markus had bought me as a birthday present. But that was a difficult URL to give out – the spelling is not intuitive – so I cast about for an easier name, and came up with beginningwithi.

The site started out mostly text – I am, first and foremost, a writer – but I’ve also been photographing since childhood. In 2004 I began videoblogging, though in recent years most of my video has been for my work at Sun, Oracle, and now Joyent.

Since starting my new position at Joyent in August, 2011, I’ve been blogging on the SmartOS and Joyeur sites, but have published few substantive articles here, except the one about my father’s death. I did do almost a full month of videos for vlomo11 in November (missed only one day!).

Year-on-year, views and visitors were down about 5% from 2010, due to the pharma hack which took the site offline repeatedly throughout the summer, until my in-house security expert finally defeated it (and, in the process, learned some things about the vulnerabilities of DreamHost).

The site currently contains over 1,600 posts/pages. I still need to convert the remaining 100 or so pages from my old html site to WordPress. And there’s so much new writing to do, for example about the October trip to India… Onward to 2012!

Full site stats for 2011 (and advertising rates) available here.

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portfolio

Index of Videos

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All my videos [to 2007] are listed here in reverse chronological order of the date they were shot, newest on top. To visit the related web page, click on the title. To download the video, right-click on the video filename and select “Save Link As” or “Save Target As”.

Work in progress – there are probably many links on this page that I still need to fix!

  1. Beginning with I: The Trailer – swf – wmv – m4v
  2. Landour Snow, Dec 10, 2007
  3. Woodstock Arts Evening, Dec 8, 2007
  4. Woodstock School Jazz Band, Dec 3, 2007
  5. Woodstock School Christmas Chapel Concert Dec 2, 2007
  6. Landour Wedding Party, Dec 1, 2007
  7. “Taming of the Shrew” Wedding Dance, Nov 16, 2007
  8. Hummingbirds in New Mexico – flv – Aug, 2007
  9. Roasting Green Chiles – Aug 17, 2007
  10. Tin Tin Su and Our Lady of Drosophila – Jul 15, 2007
  11. Song: Amo Tutte le Signore – Jul 15, 2007
  12. Fanfara dei Bersaglieri – Jul 3, 2007
  13. Getting Girls Into Science Early – Jun 3, 2007
  14. ‘E Cal’arroste – swf – m4v
  15. Il Castello di Vezio – swf – m4v Apr 28, 2007
  16. Il Muro di Sormano – m4v Jan 31, 2007
  17. Windy Sunday on Lake Como – swf – m4v Oct 9, 2006
  18. The Italian Correspondent (part of the Node 666 video collaboration – fiction!) Sep, 2006 – notable as the only time, so far, that I have appeared in front of the camera! – YouTube
  19. Parc Guell – swf – m4v Aug 16, 2006
  20. Casa Batlló – swf – m4v – wmv – divx May 21, 2006
  21. The Streets of Barcelona – swf – m4v – wmv May 1, 2006
  22. Good Friday, Jesus Christ Superstar – swf – m4v Apr 25, 2006
  23. Post-Funeral Jazz and Barbecue – swf – m4v – wmv Apr 12, 2006
  24. Funeral Recessional – swf – m4v – divx – wmv Apr 1, 2006
  25. Graveside Remarks – swf – m4v Apr 11, 2006
  26. Funeral Processional – swf – m4v – wmv Apr 1, 2006
  27. The Giving Tree – swf – m4v – wmv Apr 1, 2006
  28. Dad’s Eulogy for Rosie – swf – m4v Apr 1, 2006
  29. What I Said at Rosie’s Funeral – swf – m4v Apr 1, 2006
  30. Mantova – swf – m4v – wmv Mar 6, 2006
  31. Domo Arigato – swf – m4v Feb 18, 2006 (filmed Jan 7, 2006)
  32. Video Comment on Current Events – swf – m4v – wmv Feb 12, 2006
  33. Video Postcard from Lecco – swf Feb 11, 2006
  34. Heavy Snowfall in Lecco Jah 27, 2006
  35. In the Kitchen at Spankyville – swf – m4v Jan 3, 2006
  36. You Can Leave Your Cat On – swf – m4v Dec 30, 2005
  37. Flying Over the Swiss Alps – swf – m4v Dec 26, 2005
  38. Wind-Up Soul – swf – m4v
  39. Woodstock Reminiscences on Video – swf – m4v
  40. Christmas in Lecco – m4v Dec 24, 2005
  41. Italian Christmas Carols – swf – m4v Dec 4, 2005
  42. La Transumanza – m4v – snow.swf Nov 19, 2005
  43. Video Postcard from Villa Monastero – swf – wmv – divx Oct 16, 2005
  44. Sunday Sing-Along – wmv – m4v Oct 2, 2005
  45. Corteo Manzoniano 2005 – swf – divx – wmv – m4v – Oct 1, 2005
  46. House Tortoise – swf – m4v Aug 15, 2005
  47. Mehndi Hand Painting – – wmv – divx – Aug 14, 2005
  48. Transportation in Jaipur – swf – wmv – m4v Aug 9, 2005
  49. English Words in Hindi Script – swf – m4v Aug 9, 2005
  50. Teej Festival – swf – wmv – divx – Aug 8, 2005
  51. How to Tie a Turban – swf – wmv – divx – Aug 8, 2005
  52. Jantr Mantr – swf – wmv – divx – Aug 7, 2005
  53. Handprinting Cloth Demonstration – swf – wmv – divx – Aug 6, 2005
  54. Elephant Ride to Amber Fort, Jaipur – swf – wmv – divx – Aug 6, 2005
  55. Inside Amber Fort – swf – divx – wmv– M4V – Aug 6, 2005
  56. How to Weave a Handloom Carpet – swf – wmv – divx – Aug 6, 2005
  57. Evening Songs at the Samode Haveli – swf – wmv – divx – Aug 5, 2005
  58. Learn the Indian National Anthem – swf – wmv – divx – Aug 3 , 2005
  59. Cicadas – Aug 2, 2005
  60. Tibetan Prayer Wheels – swf Aug 1, 2005
  61. Mussoorie Monsoon Melody – swf – wmv – divx – Jul 30, 2005
  62. Tenzing’s Monkey Tales – swf – wmv – divx – July 29, 2005
  63. Old Delhi Station – swf – July 28, 2005
  64. Old Delhi at Night – swf – July 27, 2005
  65. Video Postcard from Bellagio – swf – Jul, 2005
  66. Italia Marching Show Bands – wmv – divx – Jul 3, 2005
  67. I Love a Parade – swf – swf – wmv – M4V – Jul 2, 2005
  68. Transport Surprises – swf – swf – Jun 25, 2005
  69. MBA Graduation Ceremony – swf – m4v Jun 10, 2005
  70. And She Was – mov – Jun 7, 2005
  71. A Close Shave – mov – Jun 3, 2005
  72. Lecco Kayaker – mov – Jun, 2005
  73. Milan Central Station – mov – May 24, 2005
  74. Kids on Scooters – mov – May 11, 2005
  75. Java – swf – wmv – divx – Apr 16, 2005
  76. The Great Escape – swf – wmv – divx – Apr 16, 2005
  77. The Hundred Years’ War – wmv Mar 10, 2005
  78. What Am I Doing Here? – swf – Mar 10, 2005
  79. Commuting Kids – swf – Feb or Mar, 2005
  80. La Bottega del Maiale – swf – wmv – divx – Feb 25, 2005
  81. Spankyville, Subtitled – swf – wmv – divx – Feb 13, 2005
  82. Welcome to Spankyville – swf – Feb 13, 2005
  83. Winter Wonderland – swf – Jan 22, 2005
  84. Bright Lights, Big City – swf – wmv – divx – Jan 10, 2005
  85. Jewelry Repair – swf – wmv – divx – Nov 3, 2004
  86. Jantr Mantr Delhi – swf – Nov 2, 2004
  87. Delhi Bartender – swf – Nov 2, 2004
  88. Delhi Dancers – swf – wmv – divx – Nov 2, 2004
  89. Making Rumali Roti – swf – wmv – divx – Oct 30, 2004
  90. Air Tabla – swf – Oct 30, 2004
  91. Sitar Concert with Sanjeeb Sircar – wmv – divx – Oct 30, 2004
  92. Making Jalebis – swf – Oct 30, 2004
  93. Making Naan – swf – Oct 29, 2004
  94. Campfire
  95. Dancing Queen
  96. Presentation and Tea for Dick Wechter – Oct 29, 2004
  97. Midlands with Festive Lights – swf – Oct 28, 2007
  98. Seen from an Indian Train – swf – wmv – divx – Oct 28, 2004
  99. Corteo Manzoniano: The Grim Sweepers – swf – Oct 10, 2004
  100. Corteo Manzoniano: Parade! – swf – Oct 10, 2004
  101. Corteo Manzoniano: La Peste – swf – Oct 10, 2004
  102. Corteo Manzoniano: Procession – swf – Oct 10, 2004
  103. Corteo Manzoniano: The Kidnapping of Lucia – swf – Oct 10, 2004
  104. Corteo Manzoniano: Tradimento! – swf – Oct 10, 2004
  105. Moving In – swf – Sep 27, 2004
  106. Moving Out – swf – Sep 27, 2004
  107. Volunteers – swf – Sep 25, 2004
  108. Blues Brothers Come to Lecco – swf – Sep 18, 2004
  109. Moving the Chandelier – swf – Sep 24, 2004
  110. Funiculi, Funicula – swf – Aug 22, 2004
  111. Ristorante il Capriolo – swf – Sep 6, 2004
  112. Summer Storm Over Lake Como – swf – Aug 20, 2004
  113. Ross & Hamish – swf – Aug 14, 2004
  114. The Ferry Arrives – swf – Aug 14, 2004
  115. Ferry Loading and Departure – swf – Aug 14, 2004
  116. Introducing the Turtles – swf – Aug 3, 2004
  117. Summer Fun, Italian Style – swf – July 27, 2004
  118. On the Road to Siena – swf – July 27, 2004
  119. Italian Gospel – swf – July 20, 2004
  120. “A Sua Immagine” – swf – July 19, 2004
  121. Wind-Up Soul – Jul, 2003

 

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