March 14, 2008

PyCon Friday: the Calm Before the Storm

Late to bed last night, and clearly too sleepy to set the alarm properly, so woke up today feeling a little groggy rather later than I had intended. Laptop behaving so far, fingers crossed.

Breakfast and the keynotes first. For the morning session the only two talks I want to hear clash with each other! PSF members' meeting at lunchtime, then chairing a session in the afternoon (a good way to make sure you get to hear some talks you want to). Trying to leave the evening open for "social business" activities.

I'm asking all the newcomers I meet what made them come to PyCon this year in an attempt to understand the explosive growth. It seems that a lot more people are starting to use Python now, vindicating my ten-year master plan to be involved with a significant technology by the end of this decade. Wonder whether it will do me any good.

Alex Martelli says I should consider writing another book, and wants me to contact a publisher. Whenever anyone says this I always remember the $2.50 royalty check I got once for Python Web Programming, and this brings me back to reality. I told him I might consider it if he'd be my technical editor again. His encyclopedic programming knowledge was terrifically useful last time.

Talking to Glyph Lefkowitz in the bar about books, he asked me how sales were going and I told him it is still in print but I am waiting for it to be remaindered (though it's hardly Books-a-Million material). He was nice enough to say that compared with other six-year-old books on web technologies there was still a lot that was relevant, which is definitely a complement. I did try hard to include explanations of the fundamentals, and I guess that counts for something.

Enough, I'm getting hungry.

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