If you are looking for the slides for my GUADEC keynote, you can find them here - Would you do it again for free?  It was a good conversation starter - I had fun in all the conversations that came out of the talk.  Lots of people shared supporting anecdotes with me.  And, most importantly, people pointed out that I left out one important area of motivation: ethics.  Lots of people work on open source software because they believe it is good that software is open.  

I have often thought that the open source community could use some more good blogs by attorneys, so I was very excited to see that Jason Haislmaier, one of my favorite open source attorneys, has started blogging!  Check out his blog ThinkingOpen.

Do you play online virtual reality games?  Have you created an avatar in Second Life?  Did you know your next job interview might be on Second Life?  I have created an avatar but I don't play regularly and the thought of going on a job interview in a virtual reality world is a bit scary.  Well, maybe a bit terrifying.  Also, a bit sad.

We have moved past the Information Age - the knowledge worker is yesterday's hot commodity.  I read a book over my 4th of July break that crystalized something that I had been on the verge of realizing for a while.   In A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future Daniel Pink argues that we've mastered the Information Age and today's top thinkers need to add creativity to their work.  They need to see big picture (he calls it symphony), add design, stories, meaning, empathy, and a sense of play to the things we are creating and communicating.  Think about it.  We have all the basics.  All of our everyday needs are covered.  Things are relatively cheap.  I can buy a whole new outfit for my 10 month old for $4 at Walmart - that's half an hour of work at minimum wage!  I can buy a meal for even less.  Most of us own more things than we know what to do with.  (Just look at how the storage business is booming.)  What we are looking for is experience and meaning - the experience of Starbucks over just a cup of coffee, designer furniture over just a table and chairs, luxury cars over one that just runs.  Kathy Sierra's design blog has a huge following.  And don't forget meaning.  There's a reason Steve Pavlina's self development blogs is one of the highest earning blogs out there - people are looking to develop themselves and find meaning in life.  A purpose.