So it’s that time of year again - all the cool kids are out at CFUnited. I would have loved to have been there, but it is not to be.
Why? Well, with much reluctance, I am leaving Adobe, for entirely personal reasons. If I could, I would have stayed on here for many years to come, and seen ColdFusion through many more releases. The team is, without a doubt, the finest I’ve ever worked with, it’s been quite an experience putting ColdFusion 8 out, working on everything from language design to server scalability, and it has been a pleasure getting to know all the great folks in the ColdFusion community, with whom I will continue to be involved. As Damon likes to say, you can join the ColdFusion team, but you can never leave… Sinister and megalomaniacal, that’s our Damon! ;-)
Anasuya and I will be moving to California, where she’ll get down to the arduous task of writing her D.Phil. thesis, and I’ll enroll in the Master’s at the UC Berkeley School of Information, a.k.a. the iSchool. In recent years, I’ve found myself fascinated by the impact that the technologies we build have upon society. The iSchool’s faculty and roster of courses, which meld computer science and the social sciences, should help shape these interests, and give me space to think about what I want to do next. I’m really excited to be studying at the iSchool - this will be a whole new set of challenges and possibilities.
It’s been a lovely 7 years in Bangalore - I met Anasuya and got married here, studied classical guitar at the Bangalore School of Music, jammed in various bands with weird names, circumnavigated the city on a bicycle, did the Koshy’s Sunday brunch (many times), drank too much beer at Peco’s, and so much more. Sadly, I’ve also watched the city decline in this time. Just as the software and services boom drew engineers to Bangalore, so it also drew land sharks, and their ilk. Couple that with an unstable political environment, and you have a recipe for disaster. I can only hope that the citizen’s groups working to better the city will find success in their efforts.
This blog will continue to be, of course, and while I’ll still be writing about technology, I’ll also be talking about the social impact of computing (intelligently, I hope!). And there will be lots more CF8 in the days to come - I’ve been rather insanely busy helping mop things up for the final release build, but I should have more time free to blog CF8 features from now onwards, especially the AJAX stuff, of which I am particularly proud.
Raymond Camden | 26-Jun-07 at 2:44 pm | Permalink
Ashwin - it was great to meet you (last MAX I think) and talk CF with you. I know you will be missed from the team. Good luck, man!
Manish Jethani | 26-Jun-07 at 11:58 pm | Permalink
Here’s wishing Anasuya and you all the best. Stay in touch and hope our paths cross again!
Ashwin | 27-Jun-07 at 12:26 am | Permalink
Thanks, guys!
@Ray - It was great to meet you too at MAX. Perhaps a beer in the Bay Area whenever you’re there next!
@Manish - Absolutely; see if you can’t get one of your consulting gigs in San Francisco.
Sam Farmer | 27-Jun-07 at 2:32 am | Permalink
Oh no! But congratulations on your next move — that sounds exciting and I hope you blog about it.
Great work on CF8 as well. As you, its awesome.
Andy Allan | 27-Jun-07 at 8:31 am | Permalink
You’re absolutely right Ashwin … you can’t leave. Look what happened with Tim Buntel ;)
Seriously though, you’ll definitely be missed by the CF team as your work on CF8 has been nothing short of outstanding.
And remember, wear your Scorpio tshirt with pride :)
Ashwin | 27-Jun-07 at 9:23 am | Permalink
Thanks a lot, guys!
@Sam - I will most certainly be blogging it - watch this space.
@Andy - the Scorpio t-shirt will be worn with great pride, everywhere!
Rakshith | 27-Jun-07 at 10:27 am | Permalink
I will surely miss you Ashwin. It has been great working with you on the AJAX stuff. You have every reason to be proud of the AJAX stuff in ColdFusion 8.
All the very best!
Ashwin | 27-Jun-07 at 2:21 pm | Permalink
Thanks, Rakshith - it was great working with you too. All the best for CF9!
Manu | 28-Jun-07 at 1:10 pm | Permalink
I have no idea about the great work you’re doing out there, but I believe the other posters. :)
Looking forward to having you within 5 hours’ non-stop flying. Still waiting to hear if I’ll be at the airport to pick you up, but I do have a wedding in SF in October, so we’ll meet up then, for sure!
I told Isaac that if he had timed his return to India right, he could’ve bought your place!
Ashwin | 28-Jun-07 at 1:31 pm | Permalink
Hey, thanks, Manu! I hope your SF gig works out - it would really be great to walk out of the airport and have the first thing we see be you guys!
Raheema Begum | 18-Jul-07 at 10:21 am | Permalink
Dear Ashwin,
good luck with school.
I always thought you had brains.
Ashwin | 18-Jul-07 at 1:42 pm | Permalink
Thanks, Rahi! I’m looking forward to the change, brains and all.
charlie arehart | 21-Jul-07 at 9:22 pm | Permalink
Wow, bummer, dude. I just “got the memo” (read your blog entry). I think the news (if others blogged it) was likely lost in all the noise of entries surrounding the conference. Perhaps well-planned. :-)
Of course, we all wish you well, but I do sure hope that you get to remain connected to the community. Your knowledge will surely be valuable if you can continue to share it here (and perhaps in user groups–if you ever need help getting connected to them and presenting via Connect, don’t hesitate to email me. Indeed, if you’d like to present on the Online ColdFusion Meetup, we’d love to have you.)
Great to hear that you have a bright road ahead. I wish you and yours all the best.
Ashwin | 22-Jul-07 at 5:26 am | Permalink
Thanks for your wishes, Charlie!
Well planned, in a way, I suppose - it was at CFUnited last year that I started this blog. I don’t know if you remember, but we bumped into one another in a lift at the Marriott during the conference.
I will continue to share here, and would be happy to present to the Online ColdFusion Meetup, once I get settled at Berkeley.
Gladly Beyond Any Distance :: Bartheevi, Bengaluru… | 19-Aug-07 at 1:11 am | Permalink
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