Jack Eber Carlson

Way-Back Machine

You may notice that quite a few of the past posts appear to have been spawned by a way-back machine.

What happened was a glitch in the attempt to import posts here from my jebers.com blog. Going forward I intend to make this my primary blog, since more people in my social networking circles now know me under my real name than my former nom de plume, Jeber. I chose to use that moniker when I first joined Lockergnome forum as it’s a contraction of my first and middle name. I’ve never been smitten with “Jack” as a fist name. My mother wanted to name me Maxwell. How I wish she’d been successful and not let my dad have his way.

Now, 55 years later, I’ve adjusted to “Jack” about as well as I ever will. In an effort to own my web content I decided last year to start using my real name more often than Jeber whenever possible. I’m Jack Carlson on Friendfeed, while I’m both Jack Carlson and Jeber on Twitter.

So as I said, I went to import the content of my former primary blog to this one, only to have it bork on something and only import a smattering of posts. As a result my posts here go from 2010 to 2007 on the first page. It’s not something I’m going to take time to correct. We’ll just carry on from here.

Not many of my post are time-critical, but if something seems oddly out-of-date be sure to check the post date. It’s probably something prompted by current events a couple of years ago.

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I just learned today that a dear friend is dying from cancer that has spread to his brain and other organs. It’s not treatable and he is resigned to his fate.

I’ve known this gentleman for 5 years or more. He lives in Europe, I live in California. We have never met.

Yet I know as much about him and what he holds dear in life as I do many of my off-line friends. He is passionate about Linux. When I was ready to give up and confess that I would never understand this foreign operating system, he encouraged me to keep trying, offering invaluable advice and direction that eventually had me up and running and never looking back…until tonight. Now I can’t help but look back and realize how profoundly he affected my enjoyment of computing and taught me about operating systems and, more importantly, how to persevere and stay focused until success was achieved.

I know he has a loving family that means all the world to him. While he is a very private person he was so excited about his daughter’s wedding that he shared pictures of the event with all his on-line friends, pictures from which he was conveniently absent. He is justifiably proud of his family.

He is extremely humble about his knowledge and influence. He is solely responsible for teaching a lot of us that Linux can be enjoyed without the typical animus that often exists between Linux users and those on Windows or a Mac. When writing about Linux, he prohibits the term “newbie” which he perceives as demeaning. His goal is to introduce Linux in a friendly and helpful way to anyone interested. In this he has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

Being non-religious I’m at a loss in offering many of the hollow platitudes folks so often trot out at times like this. I know he will be profoundly missed by his family and friends. I know that we’ll miss his moderate attitude, his patience, his encouragement, his humor, his presence. He will leave a hole in all our lives that no one else can fill. We are saddened because of what the effect of his passing will have on us left behind. Our lives will be poorer for his absence.

I join all who know this wonderful gentleman in wishing him love and peace through his remaining time with us. May his last days be free of pain and filled with joy. May he pass from us fully aware of how significant he has been in our lives. May he know he will not soon be forgotten.

While this site is being set up, here are a few pictures of Cleo, my faithful companion, for your enjoyment.

A bad hair day

Cleo loves her toys

Contemplation

The Diva

…in a sense. More accurately, I’ve sold my soul to them. It’s almost funny when I think about it. I use Google search in Firefox constantly, use image search at least once a week, there’s my Blogger blog owned by Google, my new Gmail account, and Orkut. I’m waiting for Google to open a retirement community, I’ll move there immediately, despite retirement being a few years away yet. I’ll move in while it’s still a beta village, then send invitations to all my friends. We’ll all have the best places, well before it becomes wildly popular…and Yahoo opens their own village down the road.

It’s one of those mornings when sleeping just seems like a waste of time. Five hours ought to be enough, anyway. I couldn’t sleep because suddenly I’ve got a whole lot on my mind. A partial solution to the unemployment situation was presented to me late last night, and of course my brain immediately went into overdrive looking at all the possibilities and permutations of the offer. It will involve selling advertising in a venue I believe in fully, so it’s not like I’ll be advocating something I don’t support. But it will require time, and between my online commitments and school, I want to be sure I’ll have the time required to do justice to the job. It will also involve working for a fellow I admire and would not want to disappoint. So I need to be sure that I can really do this job and do it as well as I want. It’s often hard to work for family or friends. The work becomes more significant and personal. But I have high hopes that this may become a great opportunity not only to make a bit of money, but to get further involved in online technology. Beware: impending total geekiness ahead.

Thanks to AdmiralJustin at Lockergnome, I now have a Google mail account. That makes two beta services from Google I’m involved with, the other being Orkut. What’s cool about this is, one, I now have an email account with the same name as my web page (consistancy is the first step toward name recognition), and two, it should be nearly impossible to ever, in my lifetime, even approach the storage limit of this account.

As a former AOL beta tester (I’ve since received absolution), I don’t mind trying out new apps and services. It’s actually kind of fun to tweak things until they break, knowing that in doing so you’re actually making it a better app or service for others down the road.

Does knowing that my emails will be scanned for the purpose of adding AdSense to every email I send out bother me? No. If I really wanted privacy for my email, I’d encrypt it. I just make sure I never send out anything I wouldn’t want anyone else to see. Guess that disqualifies me from ever working at Enron.

So email me at jack.eber.carlson (at) gmail.com. Let’s take this puppy for a good, hard test drive.

Chris Pirillo :: The Technology Blog :: Resurrecting Gnomedex

Those of you who follow Lockergnome will know not only how involved in it I am, but how much I support Chris in his efforts to Gnomify the world. For a while it seemed Gnomdex4, the annual meeting of Gnomies from everywhere, would be nothing but a crazy bacchanal. But Chris has decided to refocus it on its geeky roots…panels, speakers, fun…all the elements that made Gnomdex 1-3 so great. This is good news for all us Gnomies. Now hurry, and get your reservation while they’re still available. How does fall in Lake Tahoe with a bunch of geeks sound to you?

Marty, my room mate, is celebrating his umpteenth birthday today, and I want to wish him a great one. Anybody who can put up with me for 28 years for no better reason than friendship deserves special mention, and perhaps a medal. I just hope he doesn’t celebrate himself into a coma tonight.

A very close friend of my mothers passed away last night. Mom has known Clare Jouett since 1957, when they worked together as civilian employees of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. They were both dedicated, hard working women in a very masculine world. Yet they got along well with the Marines on the base, and soon formed a close friendship that survived for nearly as many years as I’ve been alive, even after retirement saw them go their seperate ways.

Very few of us can ever hope to make a lasting effect on the world in our lifetimes. I think the finest legacy people like us can leave behind is that we made a difference in our world, among those we know. Clare leaves us with that sort of legacy.

She enriched my mother’s life with true friendship. When I was a child, she gave me a large, pinkish, stuffed poodle, which I still have safely stored away. At a time when I couldn’t hope to have a live pet, that poodle fostered in me a love for animals that continues to this day. That appreciation for other living things is a part of my personality that brings me much joy, and I have Clare to thank for awakening it in me.

So this is my celebration of a life well lived. Clare, I do not pretend to know where you are bound from here, but I do know for a fact that the time you spent with us is deeply and forever appreciated. You left our world a better place by sharing it with us. Thank you, Clare.

The problem with living in paradise is, that if the day isn’t absolutely perfect in every way, it’s as if life has suddenly become not worth living. OK, maybe that’s a tad extreme, but I’ve noticed on days like today, overcast/cool/gloomy, less folks are out and about, and those that are seem to be less happy, more irritated. Sunshine is supposed to return this weekend, so come on folks, practice those happy faces. You’re gonna need them.