Lately I’ve been very impressed with Novell and the things they have done for the local open source community here in Utah. I think it’s pretty awesome that a company as big as Novell would take an interest in the work and needs of those who might just be working out of their own garage.

This years Utah Open Source Conference was a great success. If you missed it I would highly recommend not missing next year as the conference seems to grow every year (Or at least it has since it started).

Novell really come through for those who attended by providing laptop bags for carrying around all of our schwag. These weren’t the cheapo bags you would expect from a conference either, they were really nice and I’m impressed that they would do that.

In short I’d like to give a Kudos to Novell for really going all out.

Anyone and everyone following my blog I’ve modified/updated my blog page so that it is easier to use. You may notice that I now have a section for my links on Social Network sites. If you happen to use any of those make sure to add me. If you are not using any of those sites, you should it’s really fun!

Also…feel free to check out my Tumbr site because it gets updated a lot more than this blog, since its not really a blog.

I guess I should have expected it, since it was my first presentation, but I really blew it. Note to self, when creating a presentation leave the details out. My presentation was supposed to be on the future of  Artificial Intelligence but I got caught up in current artificial intelligence. On member of the audience actually raised his hand to ask me what I was talking about….

1. Brief Introduction with segway into presentation

• Include description of what the presentation will be

1. Types of AI, and Best Fit discussion

   1. State Machines and Basic Logic

   2. Learning Algorithms

2. Examples of State Machines and their use.

3. Examples of Learning Algorithms and their use

4. Discussion on features

5. Examples and Questions

Please feel free to leave comments on how I might improve this agenda.

Also if you have a chance feel free to stop by my presentation web site.

Thank You!

The Utah Open Source Conference is in August on the 28-30th. I’m very excited for it, but I just looked at the speakers on the website and found out that I am on the list! It’s really exciting, and a little nerve racking. I have tons of research, so now I’ve just got to put it together in the form of a HOWTO presentation that will be appropriate for the conference.

It all seems really straight forward to me so I’ll be posting ideas here to generate some comments to make sure the topics I choose to cover will be as simple as I think they are to understand.

Well…Monday after work Aaron and I ran up to Heber to grab Jake and we all went down to the University Hospital in Salt Lake. Dad had received a call earlier in the morning saying that they had a possible match for his lungs and he needed to be ready for Surgery. Poor Dad didn’t have an opportunity to eat all day.

In the morning he eat a banana and ran off to go to his exercise, right afterward came the big call. He spent all day waiting, and they didn’t want him to eat before he got surgery but they also didn’t know when the surgery would be…so he just didn’t get to eat all day.

All the Boy’s and Kasie our fearless leader met up at the hospital and talked with Dad for a few hours before he went in. Then was the long wait to find out the outcome. We tried to have fun but most of us were nervous. Jake and I had a good cry together which I think was good for us. He’s a tender hearted kid and he can get me going without much work.

When all was said and done Dad came out with a new lung and last I heard he was doing great. He had a little scare earlier today when his oxygen dropped low, but they put him on his respirator again.

Hopefully all goes well, all prayers are much appreciated!

-Trix

For me the release party started when I went to help get some supplies with Emily. We made our way over to novell and found our way to Novell’s building A which is the Open Source Technology Center, which in itself is a pretty awesome place in my opinion. I love the fact that Novell even has that building.

The party kicked off with some awesome door prizes which included the usual swag. Hats, Shirts, posters, and even a laptop back for anyone who wanted one. Nice touch!

Once everyone was settled eating their pizza we began introducing ourselves. Those that contributed to SUSE in one way or another told a little bit about what they did. It was very interesting!

Shortly after there was a drawing for 10 free Sony Readers. I was one of the lucky ones able to walk home with one.

Thank you Novell for letting us have an awesome party on your campus. Thank you Decriptor and Memilyrae for all the hard work you put in organizing everything. And definitely Thank You to SUSE for being so awesome. I’ve been a loyal customer ever since the late 90’s when I realized it was better than RedHat!

So I was riding my bike last night and a lady chewed me out for not wearing a helmet. Aparently she is a nurse and has seen lots of people with bad head wounds from crashing on bikes, so I found this one today:

I think it fits me pretty well!

The following is a quote from George Orwell’s book “1984″.

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.

This post partly stems from guilt from not writing, while I have the freedom to do so, but also from the desire to share some recent thoughts of mine. I’ve had a recurring rhetorical question running through my mind. Do we as Americans allow ourselves to be slaves to our lives? Obviously there is some extent to which we don’t have much of a choice. We have bills to pay and we have to work. But how much of the stuff that we have acquired that incurs bills that push us into a life of slavery is necessary?

A friend of mine just the other day asked me if I would like to buy a boat. I told him no, and when he persisted I explained that I did not need it and that it would just clutter up my life. He looked dumbfounded initially, and then after a moment said, “Yeah I guess it would be nice not to have to take care of so many things.” Things, this is the plague of the American lifestyle. The more things we have the more busy we must be in order to keep up with the bills, or at least the extra time-cost of taking care of such things.

I think perhaps slavery has many definitions, many of which go unnoticed because they are not traditional means of slavery. How many of us could walk out the door of our jobs in search for a much more simple lifestyle and refuse to return? We cannot do so without repercussions, some of which can be very stressful and life altering, that to me is slavery.

Freedom would be the ability to spend my life as I see fit. I may be one of the lucky ones that can say that at least I chosen my life path. The only concern that I have in the smallest amount is the desire to have more time for the people I love; because it is people and not things that make life worthwhile. It is Love, not Money that make getting up every morning possible. And all the clutter that comes into our lives due to neglecting this principle is most likely very unnecessary.

I say start simple, even if you are buried under mountains of debt, and have tons of bills and your life is stressful, start simple and just take some time to write. Writing will free your mind of burdens which it may hold onto unconsciously writing will share your feelings even if only with a piece of paper. If you don’t know what to write about, then read. Reading will stir up thoughts in your mind that would have otherwise not have been there.

Take the advice from the movie “The Matrix” and “Free your mind!”

-Trix

Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Dr. Seuss