Goodbye Aaron Swartz.
About 13 years ago or so I logged onto IRC (as I had many times before), and found a group of guys in a room that I felt like I fit into. Aaron Swartz was one of those guys. I was fairly active there for a couple years, but as jobs and priorities changed I wasn’t able to socialize there as often as I might otherwise have wanted. Aaron, although young, was brilliant. His insight into the inner workings of the mind, and politics specifically was simple and smart. He made quite an impression on me, which is why I (to this day) host one of the mirrors of http://web.resource.org. I felt it was something I had the resources to supply in his quest for freedom of all sorts.
I never met him in person. I hadn’t talked to him in years, except for the occasional pleasantry, yet I saw him excel in the thing he was great in – fighting to keep things free that should be free, whether it was technical specifications, democracy, or publicly funded journals. He was quite amazing at these things.
I always felt that his interests and activities should be important to everyone. I always struggled with being active in those things myself because I felt the importance, but life always seemed to get in the way. I did what I could.
Aaron committed suicide today. We might not ever know the reason why, although many of us will suspect. He will certainly be missed long into the future, and will hopefully be remembered as a person that fought for freedom.
I’m really unsure why I’m writing this except that this seemed the most appropriate place (more that 140 characters, and published in RSS especially), and there is some cathartic feeling.
Aaron was a star that shone very brightly. I regret that I didn’t know him more. Maybe I could have helped in the end, but who knows.
Apple
Quick Update:
Recently we moved to California in April, and I am now working for Apple.
For those of you using my apps, I’m looking at options, and will keep you all informed.
In related news, I will be at WWDC this year! We should meet — message me on Twitter
Indie+Relief : All Revenue Will Go to Haiti on Jan 20.
In response to the earthquakes in Haiti, Second Gear Software and Garrett Murray have teamed up to create Indie+Relief – a group of iPhone and Mac developers giving to Haiti.
I was a bit late to the game, so I’m not officially listed, but will be participating. All revenue (minus Apple’s cut) from Humidor and MyGarden for January 20th will be given to Yéle Haiti, an organization created by musician Wyclef Jean to help Haiti’s children.
Over 130 other developers are participating. If you need some software, go buy it now!
Finally Found the Error I’ve Been Looking for (or “OSX Error Code Lookup Tool”)
In a recent project, I kept receiving a -10000 error in the console when running my app. Quite frustrating to say the least since the error description was useless, and Google wasn’t any help at all either.
So I was completely thrilled to come across the OSX Error Code Lookup Tool. Download, compile, and plug in your error code — it’ll give you something good back!
Cheater, Cheater Pumpkin Eater (or “Cheaters Never Win”)
… at least I hope they don’t.
Seriously people, why are you paying for reviews?