Global Nerdy

Didn’t I just do this?

Once again, it’s my last day at the job, which means I’m cranking that classic of 80’s hair metal: The Final Countdown by Sweden’s gift to rock, Europe.

It’s become a bit of an end-of-job tradition for me that started back at OpenCola, the dot-com that Cory Doctorow co-founded and for which I worked for during those heady last days of The Bubble. In the summer of 2001 when all but seven people (I was one of the seven) were laid off, some wag played The Final Countdown over the office intercom system. Since then, I’ve associated it with departures from a company.

Since it’s now my tradition, I now present a couple of versions of this song.

First, there’s the video for Europe’s studio version. (I’d post it on this page, but the copyright holders don’t allow that.)

Next, there’s the live version:

Can’t see the video? Click here.

Then, the most painful cover version of The Final Countdown, performed by Deep Sunshine:

Can’t see the video? Click here.

And finally, a Bollywood number that borrows from The Final Countdown’s opening riff. (Once again, the copyright holders won’t let me post it here, in spite of their having no compunctions about ripping off Europe.)u

I’ll have you young whippersnappers know that I only played the first edition of AD&D, the One True Version of the game.

E. Gary Gygax, who as co-creator of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game, died this morning at the age of 69 at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. As a former dungeon master, I feel the urge to get some mead and pour 2d20 ounces on the ground outside the former Yonge Street location of Mr. Gameway’s Ark for my dead homie.

Requiescat in pace, Gary. You were a natural 20.

The LOLcats site I Can Has Cheezburger? is looking for a .NET developer:

We’re looking for a Full-Time .NET Developer with a passion for coding with “srsly gud” .NET expertise. You will make the intarwebs a better tube for millions as we expand the capability and awsumness of our sites. We offer flexible hours, a great work environment, health benefits and freedom from the tyranny of spelllcheck.

The One and Only Technical Requirement:

A deep, deep, deep understanding of developing, deploying and managing customer-facing web sites using ASP.NET (using C#), SQLServer and IIS. We need .NET developers who have been working with the .NET (ASP.NET, IIS and SQLServer) for years and years and years (like at least 5).

I figured I’d start off the working week with a big announcement: I’ve landed a new gig. As of this Thursday, March 6th, I’m going to be working at b5media, a network of 320 blogs that gets a total of over 10 million unique visits every month.

Depending on whom you ask, my new job title will be “Nerd Wrangler” or “Technical Project Manager”. I’ll coordinate b5’s development team and their projects, as well contribute my own experience and expertise in both blogging and accordion-playing.

I’m going to have a rather interesting first day on the job. Rather than heading to the office, I’m heading to the airport and boarding one of these…

…because along with a good chunk of b5, I’ll be attending the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas…

…as well as attending BarCamp Austin…

…where I plan to catch up with old friends and business associates and meet some new ones!

I’ll be staying at the ranch that b5 rented and attending the conference, taking copious notes and photos (and posting them here) as well as meeting up with the b5 bloggers and development team, who come from all over.

I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again:

Watch this space for my posts from Austin!

BarCamp Austin!

More on this later.