John "maddog" Hall at ADW2010
This is actually old news that I never got around to blogging about, and every day I regret it. So here it goes:
Athens Digital Week 2010 took place in, well, Athens from October 7-10 earlier this year. This is a yearly event which offers presentations and booths for many digital arenas, including robotics, open source, gaming, and more (find more info on their website).
As a volunteer for the Hellenic Linux User Group (HEL.L.U.G.), I attended one day manning the booth and attending talks. Most notably, I got to meet John "maddog" Hall from Linux International! maddog was invited by HELLUG and gave a presentation on his Cacua project -- see my notes on the presentation here.
When I walked in I went up to the HELLUG booth, setting my things down to join my friends there. maddog was sitting besides the table. After about five minutes where it was obvious I was a linux-interested female, maddog stood up and offered me a pair of penguin earrings without saying anything. And of course I, not recognizing him at first, responded in greek:
Me: "Τι είναι αυτά;" maddog: [points to his ear] Me: "Ναι οκ ξέρω τι είναι, αλλά γιατί μου τα δώσατε;" maddog: "Earrings" Me: " ... OHH.. Yes, thank you very much!"
Immediately after I turned around I realized who he was. It's the first time I've accidentally spoken to a fellow American in Greek accidentally too. As the event proceeded I got a lot of time to sit down and talk with maddog, discussing the dissemination of linux, American imperialist politics, his Cacau project, as well as my little life story about ending up in Greece. Overall it was a very satisfying experience, and now I can also boast that John "maddog" Hall gave me earrings. Also joining our conversations was the current HELLUG president, Richard Kweskin, another American. Together we comprised our own American corner at the conference's open source room.
Here are some pics. The first is me and maddog; the second is Richard and maddog. We also all have the same shoes :) You can find more pics from the event in HELLUG's album.
