Software is a beautiful industry, changing the world every day with new solutions, new products, and innovation everywhere. Software is perhaps so beautiful because it’s easy to build and has a low barrier to get up and running. We don’t need expensive testbeds, extremely long development life cycles, or super fancy design tools to get up and running. Instead, to change the world all we need is a computer and an idea. Our art is a programming language, our canvas the pixels displayed on iPhones, Androids, and computer screens. Most startups and small engineering teams are composed entirely of engineers and maybe some designers because product needs to be built. And who cares about marketing? As long as the product is awesome it’ll see success, right? I’m arguing, “wrong.” Marketing is a vital skill for any startup or small software team. Without marketing a vision isn’t properly communicated, a feature not properly outlined, and a team’s innovation not properly received by those that matter most, customers.

More to come.

It’s been nearly six months since my last update.  What can I say?  I suppose I just haven’t prioritized sharing my life and thoughts on the internet (which is perhaps the biggest reason why I’m not on Twitter).  I admit that I miss writing, but I’ve managed to fill my days with some cool stuff I think.  I’ve been cycling like a maniac, working — still at Cloudera — a lot, reading (currently The Dark Tower series), exploring San Francisco (which means eating and drinking with friends), and road tripping on the weekends to various places to see various people who are important in my life.  Life is good.

Anyway, enough emo shit.  I’m here to tell you about my new blog, which is solely about the beer I drink and the sandwiches I eat.  The blog is very bluntly named Beer and Sandwich, and it’s composed of short descriptions and photos.  I decided I needed to start this blog for three reasons: first, my coworkers made me realize how much I love food, sandwiches in particular; second, my friends made me realize that I know a fair amount about beer and really enjoy a good beer; and third, I tend to forget beers and sandwiches that I enjoy, which hopefully won’t be the case any longer now that I’m documenting my experiences.  I hope my writings and experiences are helpful, and possibly entertaining.  Enjoy, and I’m always open to recommendations :).

(PS: Tumblr is pretty awesome.  The iPhone app made it the perfect blog platform for me; I usually write each post immediately after I’ve had a beer or eaten a sandwich.)

GO VOTE!  If you’re not sure where to vote, then take a look here.

I signd up for a $85 service plan (basic plan + $10 upgraded text plan), and my first bill totalled $156.  The extra costs are for prorated minutes and texts, a $30 activation fee, and tax.

New iPhone customers, watch out.  Your first bill is gonna be a doozy.

Don’t forget to register to vote. Obama’s campaign emailed me a one-stop-shop voter registration link.

The server that is serving this blog is a monster.  It’s also connected to a monster connection.  I purchased a Dell PowerEdge 1950 thinking Cellarspot would succeed, and I colocated it on a 100mbit connection.  Well Cellarspot didn’t succeed, and now I have a dragon with nothing flying on its back.  I need some advice on what I can do with this thing.  Here are the options:

• Purchase a DreamHost or SliceHost account, take my machine out of colo, and sell it
• Sell my machine and internet connection as a packaged deal
• Sell services such as game server hosting (CS, BF2, etc), FTP, etc
• Install SETI@HOME and stop complaining, knowing I’m helping science
• Something else?

I’m inquiring about this because I’m tired of spending a lot of money on a system that isn’t used to its fullest potential.  However, I love having the freedom of my own machine.  Plus just being able to say I have a colocated rack-mount scores points with the ladies.  Haha.

What do you think?  Do you need a service that requires a practically dormant monster?  Do any of your friends?  Reply in a comment or shoot me an email: alexloddengaard -at- gmail -dot- com.  Here are the specs just in case:

• Dual 2-core Xeons @1.6GHz w/ 4MB cache
• 4GB Buffered ECC DDR memory
• 2x250GB SATA, hot-swappable HDs in hardware RAID1
• Redundant, hot-swappable power supplies
• 100mbit connection, hosted in Issaquah, WA
• 20GB monthly transfer
• Currently running Ubuntu

Jon Stewart is good:

I have discovered the best dumplings I’ve ever had. The English name for them is “soup dumpling.” Being filled with meat and soup, this is an appropriate name. Though eating these dumplings may seem obvious, careful technique must be used to avoid burning the shit out of your tongue, mouth, and face. I’ve outlined the steps one should take when voyaging into the soup-dumpling world:

Step 1: Look at the dumpling.

Look at it. Notice how wonderful it looks, with its sesame-seed sprinkle and fried outer skin. Your mouth may be watering, but wait. Oh just wait for the inside.

Step 2: Bite a hole in the top of the dumpling.

Absolutely do not try to eat the entire dumpling, for if you do, you will suffer serious burns in your oral region.  Simply bite a small hole in the top.

Step 3: Drink the soup out of the dumpling.

Mmmmmmmm.

Step 4: Eat the dumpling.

Mmmmmmmm.

This concludes my tutorial on eating soup dumplings. I hope you’ve enjoyed yourself while reading this, but more importantly I hope you get to enjoy a traditional soup dumpling for yourself :).

FYI: 10 dumplings and two bottles of Pepsi cost 14 Yuan, which today is a little over $2.

Special thanks to my Dad for modeling.

I’m usually hesitant to give political endorsements, because I’m of the opinion that politicians are too often liars, frauds, and generally immoral people.  However, there comes a time when a certain calling motivates me to endorse.  Here is Barack Obama’s email to his supporter’s list, with a subject, “You made it happen:”

Alex –

This night could not have happened 40 years ago — or even 4 years ago.

And it could not have happened without you.

You believed, against the odds, that change was possible. I felt your passion here tonight, and I know it was shared by millions of Americans who are building this movement all across the country.

Tonight is your night. But tonight is just the beginning.

The general election is going to be faster and tougher than anything we’ve faced so far. And our opponents will do everything they can to tear us down.

I need your support more than ever.

Make another donation of $25 or more right now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/thebeginning

Our party is united. Our purpose is clear. And our goal is in sight.

Thank you for everything you’ve done,

Barack

It’s pretty sappy, but it did what it was supposed to do.  I decided to donate $25 to Barack’s campaign.  I think it’s for a good cause, though maybe $25 would go further with a charity?

Brussels was a ton of fun. We stayed at a really neat hostel and enjoyed the quant little city, despite our massive jetlag. First on our list was wonderful Belgium beer and waffles, which were both enjoyed at 10:00am the morning after our evening in Amsterdam.

Belgium, being so small, doesn’t have many sights or destinations, so most of our time was spent walking around, eating, and drinking. This was fun, because the beer was exquisite and the food was good as well. We discovered the magic of Turkish Snack Shops and Doner Kebab Shops, which are cheap places to get awesome food. The French fries, or frites, in Belgium were also insanely good.

Totally worth mentioning is the Delirium Cafe, which is a bar that holds the world record for the most beers. Their beer list, made up of around 2600 beers, is the size of a phone book. We had Piraat, St. Bernardus, Kwak, Delirium Tremens, and many others.

Inside the Delirium Cafe.

Outside the Delirium Cafe with Flavio.

The square in Brussels.

Waffles.  Mmmmm.

The beer list a.k.a. PHONE BOOK.

Kwak cheers.

The crew at the bar.

Learn more about my Europe trip here.