“Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and welcome to this presentation regarding the acquisition of the company MySQL AB by Sun Microsystems.”

Since my speech on Sun / MySQL integration for about 400 people in Beijing last week, I have been asked a few times about what it’s like to give a speech in Chinese. Well, I wouldn’t really know, as all I did was read aloud a text for 8 minutes. I remembered what passage was about what topic, and I had noted which words to stress, when to raise my hand etc. But of the actual words, I understood perhaps 5-10 % (based on them being repeated often enough). So I know I am a fuzongcai (Vice President) with Sun Microsystems, I know the difference between a kèhù (customer) and a yònghù (user). I live in Munihei (München), but I am not deguoren (German), I am fenlanren (from Finland). And, nüshìmen, xianshéngmen, that’s Ladies and gentlemen.

So far, hen hao.

I read aloud from this paper (no, not the Chinese characters, just the pinyin).

But the ambition level could really be a bit higher. Not stressing every syllable. Speaking a bit faster. Repeating the tones once (ok, five times) more. And I could memorise more words, not 5-10 % but perhaps 25%. That would be more enjoyable for both the audience, and for myself.

That said, giving a speech in Mandarin was a very positive experience, even at my level of delivery. My ambition was for at least 70% of my message being understandable from a pronunciation standpoint, and I heard estimates of the outcome being 80% to 90%. And I got interrupted by applause at least five times, and laughter at least once (even at the intended spot). So I’m happy. And I recommend using Chinese for more than the mere greetings, for any non-Chinese wishing to be well received in China.

Xìexìe, thank you, xìexìe.

References:

• Kaj Arnö speaks Chinese to the Sun/MySQL crowd: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3036893738929286405&hl=en
• Wikipedia: Pinyin (Chinese spelling): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin

Earlier, I noted that Julian Cash was to do some “light painting” at the MySQL Users Conference. And boy, did he do it!

He had a normal conference room, the Bayshore at the MySQL Conference, made a bit darker. Not pitch dark, but let’s say too dark to read. Then, he had us sit down on a chair in front of a neutral background, and took the pics with his camera mounted on a tripod. A picture took perhaps 30 to 60 seconds. After opening the shutter, the object was supposed to sit still. Julian then lit up our faces, in my case with blue and red light sources (”mini-torches”) which he moved top-down. Then, he sprinkled in some additional stray light in various colours.

I had asked for a picture of an angel (with halo, above — perhaps to be used at my own funeral?) and a devil (with red horns, below — perhaps as an alternate funeral picture, depending on my then-current CV?). Being the guinea pig for the setup, Julian spent over a quarter of an hour on the pics.

It was great fun, and I remain a great admirer of Julian’s.

Ah, and just to be clear: Note that the pictures are not digitally edited. They’re originals. I.e., the tricks work also with granddaddy’s analog cameras. However, seeing the pics on the camera display does help; in my case, the final pics were the fifth and sixths tries. So if you experiment yourself (and at least I will), do go with a normal, modern camera, mount it on a tripod, and use some creative sources of light.

If you click on the thumbnails below, you’ll see a number of other pics taken by Julian in that session.

References:

• Julian Cash’s Flickr set “MySQL 2008″: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliancash/sets/72157604716923223/
• Julian Cash’s web site: http://www.juliancash.com/
• The Human Creativity Project: http://www.humancreativity.com/about.html

Who’s Barton George?

Barton is a colleague from Sun, who “looks after Sun’s relationships with the various GNU/Linux communities as well as our relationship with the FSF” according to his blog. I spent time with him at the MySQL Users Conference last week. He is a fun guy to be around, and isn’t as US-centric as his remark “Last year, my family and I emigrated from Silicon Valley to Austin, TX.” would lead one to believe.

Barton is also an avid blogger. And, on top, a diligent podcaster.

As for blogging, he has recent MySQL relevant entries on partying (with Mårten of MySQL, and with Jonathan & Rich of Sun at the Pre-Conf Community Dinner), and with pics from the UC.

As for podcasts, he has already posted four entries from the MySQL UC, i.e. interviews with Mårten Mickos, with Zack Urlocker, with Baron Schwartz of Maatkit & Community Award fame, and with Jennifer Venable of Red Hat.

The podcasts are about 10 minutes each. To help you decide whether you want to spend those 10 mins or not, his blog entries provide tips on the contents, such as this one about the Zack blog:

• Exceeding expectations at the MySQL conference
• The availability of MySQL’s 5.1 later this quarter and all the cool new features
• The GA of Workbench - a modeling tool for DBAs
• The morning’s keynotes (here is the video Zack shot)
• The challenges that Werner Vogels, Amazon’s CTO, faces
• Sun’s performance tuning team and how it helps MySQL shine
• Zack’s impressions of his first six weeks at Sun

Barton tells me there will be more podcasts posted soon, with Brian Aker of MySQL (now live!), and with Erica Brescia, CEO of BitRock (now also live!).

References:

• Barton George’s blog: http://blogs.sun.com/barton808/
• MySQL Conf Kicks off with Parties at Marten’s and Pedro’s: http://blogs.sun.com/barton808/entry/mysql_conf_kicks_off_with
  
• Pics from MySQL Conference ‘08: http://blogs.sun.com/barton808/entry/pics_from_mysql_conference_08
• MySQL Conf08 - Chattin’ with Zack Urlocker: http://blogs.sun.com/barton808/entry/mysql_conf08_chattin_with_zack
• MySQL Conf08 - Marten Mickos tells all: http://blogs.sun.com/barton808/entry/mysql_conf08_marten_mickos_tells
• MySQL Conf08 - My Interview with Jennifer Venable of Red Hat: http://blogs.sun.com/barton808/entry/mysql_conf08_my_interview_with
• MySQL Conf08 - Talkin’ to Baron Schwartz, Community Award Winner: http://blogs.sun.com/barton808/entry/mysql_conf08_talkin_to_baron
• MySQL Conf08 - Hangin’ with Brian Aker: http://blogs.sun.com/barton808/entry/mysql_conf08_hangin_with_brian
• MySQL Conf08 - Erica Brescia, CEO BitRock: http://blogs.sun.com/barton808/entry/mysql_conf08_erica_brescia_ceo
  

We had over 400 participants in yesterday’s MySQL-Sun event in China! Plus another 30 or so in the press event, happening in parallel.

Beijing, if nobody noticed, is preparing for the Olympics. Here’s the so called Birds Nest, that we passed several times on the way to various meetings — including yesterday’s event.

After initial linguistic difficulties, Larry Stefonic (MySQL VP APAC) found our way to the event.

This was the first MySQL-Sun event with a banner across a street!

Everything takes place in Chinese here. About as much as it’s Japanese in Japan. In Europe, we seem to give way too much way for English.

And to accommodate to the local situation, I gave my presentation (on MySQL-Sun integration) in Chinese. It was about 8 minutes, and I was happy to be several times interrupted for applause. And I didn’t say anything particularly smart — just read aloud my normal presentation, albeit in Chinese. Judging by the warm reception, that’s not an everyday gesture by Westerners in Beijing.

Now, after nearly three weeks on the road, I’m finally going back home. Hence the popular Chinese gesture: the Thumbs Up sign.

Thanks to everyone who arranged the event — especially, Scott Chen at Sun in Beijing, and Yoko Suga-san with the MySQL APAC team!

First of all, thank you, Jay Pipes, for setting up the Bayshore Room tomorrow between 10am and 2pm, for Julian Cash to take pictures of us!

Second, I am a big fan of descriptive subject headers. So I thought I could promote this memorable event even more explicitly than what Jay did in his posting “Yes, It’s That Time of the Year Again…“.

It’s Julian’s fault that I bought my 8mm Sigma lens. He has one, and takes weird pictures with it. As opposed to mine, his are good (yup, he uses fancy high-tech equipment like flashes, and white background paper — one day I’ll go there, too).

This is MySQL’s very own Brian Aker, as distorted by Julian.

The new thing Julian is doing is Light Painting. This means he creates pictures that look like they’ve been PhotoShopped through some strange filter, but they haven’t.

Let me quote Julian:

Light Painting

Light painting portraits are distinctive, innovative, and magical. The photos have a dreamlike futuristic feel and lend themselves to editorial work, advertising, book covers, and portraits of musicians.
I do not digitally manipulate the images. All of the effects are created simply by painting the subject and the surrounding area with colored light in a dark room while the camera shutter is open. This makes for images that feel especially organic and believable despite their surreal nature.

My subjects and I have a great time creating light portraits together. The style of the images is both unique and varied. My proficiency comes from 15 years of experience and experimentation with this type of photography. It also helps that I am an illustrator and painter as well as a portrait photographer. The process is fun and is a natural combination of painting and photography.

If there is a concept or emotion that you want expressed in the image, I especially enjoy using that as part of the creative process. I’m happy to work with an art director, or I can take the initiative to come up with a powerful and satisfying image.

So if you’re at the UC, do stop by at Julian’s event and have your picture taken!

References:

• http://www.juliancash.com
• http://www.HumanCreativity.com

Allow me to provide some relaxed photographic observations from this morning’s MySQL UC keynotes.

Warning 1: My view is distorted, by my favourite lens, Sigma 8mm.

Warning 2: I took the pics with a shaky hand in low light, so they’re not sharp ones, of the James Duncan Davidson type (the guy who takes all the great pics for O’Reilly).

On Johnny Good’s command, doors open, and the audience starts pouring in.

Zack Urlocker has challenged me in the James Callis Lookalike Contest (of Battlestar Galactica fame), but is himself clearly in the lead.

Journalist James Niccolai of IDG, taking a picture of Rich Green and Mårten Mickos (Note: I am a fan of recursion; it would have been even better if Zack had taken a picture of me taking a picture of James, Rich and Mårten).

Mårten Mickos talking to Sheeri Kritzer Cabral.

Jay Pipes’s head is moving so fast talking to Gina Blaber of O’Reilly, that it gets blurred.

James Duncan Davidson, one of my two favourite contemporary American photographers. The other one is Julian Cash, whose fault it is that I now have a Sigma 8mm lens. He takes weird pictures with his fisheye lens (way weirder — and, above all, better — than mine), and now he has turned his interest into something he calls light painting. Speaking of Julian: He is here. Do come to the Bayshore Room (on the Mezzanine level of the hotel) tomorrow between 10am and 2pm, and have your weird picture taken!

Me showing my favourite gadget (remember? the 8mm fisheye lens) to Jonathan Schwartz; Rich Green and Mike Zinner look suspicious.

Everyone has found their way in and we’re ready to go!

Mårten complains he got only 35 minutes, of which Jay had already burned 5 when Mårten got on stage.

Sheeri Kritzer Cabral’s video camera recording Mårten.

Mårten asked everyone in the audience who had reported bugs to stand up.

Mike Zinner wearing a MySQL Workbench t-shirt doing his great demoes, with an amount of superlatives that is more American than Austrian (prompting Mårten to mention that Mike could have an alternate career in Hollywood; perhaps, later, Mike could run for governor somewhere).

Ah, did you note that MySQL Workbench went GA and is ready for download today? At least Mike Hillyer did. And of course Patrik Backman did, but it would be strange if he didn’t, as he is Mike Zinner’s boss.

Mårten Mickos and his SunVisor Rich Green (Note 1: Rich Green doesn’t want Mårten to call him “boss”. Note 2: A “SunVisor” is a helpful person working for Sun Microsystems that adopts an employee of an acquired company to guide him through the first rough times with a new employer).

James Duncan Davidson taking pictures of award winners.

The Community Award Winners between Rich Green and Mårten Mickos: Diego Medina, Baron Schwartz, Sheeri Kritzer Cabral.

How bright (not)! I didn’t take any well-lit pictures of Jonathan. Perhaps because his captivating presentation kept me focusing on the content? But I did take this picture of the stage when Jonathan explained the world map in blue and green dots. The light blue dots depicted places downloading MySQL. And if you look really carefully in the top-left corner of this picture, you’ll see green dots. That’s the US East Coast, and Europe, which are eager at downloading the GlassFish application server for Java EE.

Today’s keynotes were concluded by Werner Vogels, Amazon CTO, on “The Power of Infrastructure as a Service”.

There’s a reason for Sheeri winning the Community Advocate of the Year award. Her activity level is hard to beat.

If you want a chance to beat Sheeri for 2009, you need to master multitasking. Not only is Sheeri listening to Mårten presenting his keynote. She’s preparing for some vlogging, i.e. recording Mårten’s presentation. And she’s blogging at the same time. And (although she doesn’t know it until three seconds after the picture was taken) she’s getting ready for getting up on stage to receive her 2008 award.

Ah, myself I’m only listening, and taking the odd picture. (Some of them very odd).

Every year, there’s a task that is both difficult and pleasant at the same time: Picking three outstanding contributors from the MySQL Community. Mårten Mickos, MySQL’s former-CEO and Sun’s now-SVP of the Database Group, has just presented the results by handing out the 2008 MySQL Community Awards.

Rich Green, Diego Medina, Baron “xaprb” Schwartz, Sheeri Kritzer Cabral, Mårten Mickos at the award ceremony

This time, our choice fell upon these three community members, whose contributions we very much appreciate:

Code Contributor of the Year: Baron “Xaprb” Schwartz, for the Maatkit toolkit
From the creation of the most popular MySQL toolkit, Maatkit, to his outstanding and comprehensive blogging, we would like to recognize Baron Schwartz for his extraordinary contributions to the greater MySQL community.

Quality Contributor of the Year: Diego Medina
The next award winner has distinguished himself this past year in being the most prolific forum poster, answering questions in multiple categories with great zeal, and for logging countless reproduceable bug reports. For his efforts, we recognize Diego Medina for his outstanding contributions to the MySQL community.

Community Advocate, Communicator and Facilitator of the Year: Sheeri Kritzer Cabral
As the only community member to receive an award two years in a row, this next award winner has once again distinguished herself from her peers in working to promote MySQL, to organize meetups and local events, for blogging about MySQL issues and concerns, and for being an advocate in the truest sense of the word. We recognize Sheeri Kritzer Cabral for her tireless community efforts.

Thank you, Baron, Diego and Sheeri!

Reference web sites:

• Baron Schwartz: http://www.xaprb.com/
• Diego Medina: http://www.fmpwizard.com/
• Sheeri Kritzer Cabral: http://www.sheeri.com/

As followers of Free / Open Source Software know, there are several ways of being free.

As for free as in speech, look for Wednesday’s keynote at the MySQL Users Conference here in Santa Clara on the US West Coast. It’s by Rick Falkvinge, party leader of the Swedish Pirate Party. Or download MySQL Community Server, it’s free as in speech.

As for free as in beer, sure, again, just download MySQL Community Server, install it, and use it. Old news.

But what if you’re lazy enough not to want to download and install MySQL Server? What if you just want to use an instance of MySQL Serer, installed and provided by someone else, with a simple command like

mysql -h db4free.net -P 3307 -u [username] -p[password] ?

Well, in that case, register for a free MySQL 5.1 plus a free MySQL 6.0 at http://www.db4free.net/

Like it says on DB4Free’s first page:

The db4free project provides a platform for database users and developers from all over the world to exchange experiences, give hints to each other or to discuss. This offer also gives you the chance to learn to deal with databases without having to rent a server for money.

You just create an account, perhaps browse the db4free.net blog, and off you go.

You can run MySQL 5.1 (now in RC) and MySQL 6.0 (still in Alpha; includes Falcon).

Thanks for the beer, Markus Popp!

The very first UC related parties are over, and the Users Conference hasn’t even started!

The first one was Mårten’s traditional and well-liked MySQL staff party in his garden. The coolest and most community significant one was the MySQL Community Pre-Conference Dinner party, though, as advertised on MySQL Forge Wiki. So we dropped out of Mårten’s party at six, to meet with the community.

There were 48 registered people, and I think even more turned up. And some of the guys who turned up unregistered were from Sun.

Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz crashes the party and is surrounded by community members and MySQLers alike

Rich Green, Executive VP of Software at Sun, also surrounded by Community Dinner attendees

Given that we’ve got record number of attendees at the UC, I think I will have to speed up my discussions, as I got to talk properly only with Florian Haas and Philipp Reisner of Linbit / DRBD, with Kai ‘Oswald’ Seidler of XAMPP, with Marc Delisle of phpMyAdmin, with Volker Oboda of Primebase, other than the MySQLers, ex-MySQLers and Sun employees. Note to self: Blame the jet lag, as this is my second Sunday 13 April 2008 (having got up in Tokyo at 7, and left Tokyo at 16, and arrived in San Francisco at 9 i.e. 7 hours before leaving).

And it seems I also blew my opportunity of flying Decadence Airlines again anytime soon. I was going to handle the payment using Rich Green’s credit card (Rich had to leave a bit earlier), but the restaurant gave him back the credit card and left me with merely signing a receipt. This isn’t going to buy me any aircraft fuel on Netjets.

Footnote 1: Yes, I was teased all evening for the four days we flew “Sun’s Corporate Jet“, i.e. a rental airplane by Netjets from Dublin via Stockholm, Moscow, Izhevsk, Moscow again, and Kiev to Hamburg in March. But it was good, so I suppose I deserve some teasing.

Footnote 2: I googled for “Decadence Airlines”, and funnily enough, one of the links goes directly to http://www.netjetseurope.com/eng/welcome-to-netjets/. I think I will have to plead guilty to that one.