Archive for Jonathan

Happy birthday, ZX-Spectrum

// April 23rd, 2012 // 2 Comments » // Free Software, Jonathan

Happy Birthday, Spectrum!

Today marks 30 years since the release of the very first ZX-Spectrum. This was the first computer I ever used, I learned in part how to read on this device while typing out games written in BASIC from magazines. It was one of the first mass-produced computers to make it into homes and was a remarkable device for its time. I have lots of fond memories of it and I will probably always be somewhat sentimental about it.

Google UK Doodle

Google UK commemorated by having a Google Doodle today in honour of the device. Happy birthday ZX-Spectrum!

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Turning 30

// February 8th, 2012 // 4 Comments » // Free Software, Jonathan

I’ve always heard people complaining about turning 30 before and wondered what it would be like for me.

I’m thrilled to turn 30. I feel like I’m 20. I think I’m some kind of late bloomer, my 20′s were probably more like what teens are like for most and while I still feel young and restless, I’m slowly but surely growing more confident, more relaxed, more content, more independent and I’m becoming more and more ME.

I’ve overcome quite a lot of personal problems in the past, and I’m glad to be at a point where all my current problems are solvable without much help from anyone else (even though that means I had to mark some things as ‘wontfix’). Having said that, I’m really happy having the people in my life that I do. The people that are always there for me, whether I’m in SA or in Canada (my support network!) THANK YOU! I’m grateful for every moment we get to spend together!

I have a good feeling for this year and the future, there’s some great things on the way!

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Bonjour, 2012

// January 5th, 2012 // No Comments » // Free Software, Jonathan

This year I just want to get more stuff done.

Motto for 2012:

 

JFDI
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On the road again

// October 28th, 2011 // No Comments » // Free Software, Jonathan

Some updates form the world of Jonathan…

  • LTSP BTS2011: Yesterday Marc, Stéphane and myself drove down to Southwest Harbour in Maine for the LTSP By The Sea 2011 hackfest. It wasn’t a long road trip, but it’s been fun, we picked up 4 other people at Bangor airport and the minivan we’re hiring was like a party bus from the airport to the harbour. The hackfest itself has also been really fun so far and productive, I’ll blog about that some time.
  • UDS Precice: On Sunday I’m off to Orlando, Florida for the Ubuntu Developer Summit for Ubuntu 12.04. It will be my first time in Orlando, and the first time I get to attend a UDS in the US. Previously my visa got approved too late so I couldn’t attend, this time I received a 10 year visa so I should be fine for a long time, I’m really happy and relieved about that.
  • Holidays and stuff: The week after UDS I’m back in Canada for a week to organise some things and report back at the office about what happened at BTS/UDS and then I’m off to South Africa for 3 months. I’ll be working from there for the period and also taking most of my year’s holidays during the end of December and early January. I’m the best man for a wedding and will be organising a road trip for the bachelors party, my friend in South Africa also got my motorbike fixed so we might end up going there by bike, the weather should be really good around then.
  • Back in Sherbs: On 15 February, just after my 30th birthday, I’ll be back in Sherbrooke. I’ll probably end up having some form of birthday party in both countries. After that… the adventure continues!
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One Year in Canada, eh?

// July 1st, 2011 // No Comments » // Free Software, Jonathan

At 16:00 today it will be exactly one year since I first landed in Canada. It also happens to be Canada day (a national holiday) so at least my Canadian anniversary will be easy to remember!

It’s been an incredibly interesting year with lots of ups and downs, I’ll blog about it in time but if I try to put it all in here today this will end up being another draft that never gets finished.

Thanks to everyone who has given help, friendship and assistance of any kind over the last year. Especially my colleagues at Revolution Linux who I really consider to be my friends. It’s deeply appreciated!

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Snow

// November 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Jonathan

Living in Cape Town for pretty much all my life, I saw snow for the first time a few weeks ago while traveling back to Canada from the US. People here in Sherbrooke told me it wasn’t real snow because it melted as soon as it hit the ground. A few minutes ago, my car was on a black tarred driveway, now you just see snow:

Outside from my home office:

Next month when it heaps up nicely I’ll build a snowman in the front and post some pics :)

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Re-focussing

// November 8th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Free Software, Jonathan, Project Mayhem

Too Much Noise

I’ve taken a lot of time recently to think about my future and what I want to do with my life. Part of the process in refocusing and doing what I really want to do is cutting back on distractions and some things that just take up too much time.

I unsubscribed from a bunch of mailing lists (down from hundreds to dozens), quit from a lot of IRC channels (down from more than 50 to 16) and unsubscribed from a big bunch of blueprints, bug reports and other stuff that sends out email in Launchpad.net. The reason for all of this isn’t because I’ve lost interest in those things I unsubscribed from, but more a case of getting back to basics. So if anyone is wondering, it’s certainly not because I got angry or bored or anything like that, I just really needed to cut down!

More Work and More Fun

At my French classes on Mondays we usually spend some time speaking about what we did the last weekend. I usually get stuck there and can’t think of much that I did besides work. I’ve spent entire weekends before just thinking or worrying about stuff that I need to do. I’m going to change that. I put together a *really* big mindmap in freemind mapping out some ideas that I’ve had that spans career choices, hobbies, stuff just for fun, financial targets, training and education and more. It’s big and I’ll probably not be able to do everything on there in my lifetime (which is actually fucking scary), but I certainly want to make the most of it and prioritize my time better. I’m going to have to learn to rely on other people much more in the future and learn to let go a bit more, which is hard, but I think doable!

Specifics will follow in more blog entries… or if things go well you’ll read about it on digg/slashdot/etc ;)

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