Aigarius Blog (Posts about event)

Debconf 19 photos

Aigars Mahinovs — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 17:07:42 GMT

The main feed for my photos from Debconf 19 in Curitiba, Brazil is currently in my GPhoto album. I will later also sync it to Debconf git share.

The first batch is up, but now the hardest part comes - the group photo will be happening a bit later today :)

Update: the group photo is ready! The smaller version is in the GPhoto album, but full version is linked from DebConf/19/Photos

Update 2: The day trip phtos are up and also the photos are in Debconf Git LFS share.

Debconf18 group photo

Aigars Mahinovs — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 05:08:07 GMT

Enjoy the Debconf18 group photo and also the rest of my photos from Debconf18.

Debconf 17 photo retrospective

Aigars Mahinovs — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 19:08:24 GMT

Debconf17 has come and gone by too fast, so we all could use a moment looing back at all the fun and serious happenings of the main event in the Debian social calendar. You can find my full photo gallery on Google, Flickr and Debconf Share.

Make sure to check out the Debconf17 group photo and as an extra special treat for you - enjoy the "living" Debconf17 group photo!

Road tripping to Debconf15

Aigars Mahinovs — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 15:06:10 GMT

TL/DR: I am going by car on route Riga-Warsaw-Dresden-Debconf15-Lyon-Genoa-Venice-Vienna-Riga and I can take passengers along the way too.

This year Debconf 15 is happening quite near to me - in Germany to be more specific. As soon as I found out about it a plan hatched to skip flying this year and instead travel to Debconf by car. First, however, I needed a car.

Buying a car is .. an experience. Used to the wolrd of computers where brands have minimal importance and specifications rule everthing going to the world of cars where brand is the key was quite hard. Basically each brand has its own reputation for power, quality, reliability and maintenance costs which then get again subverted by each model line of each brand. And then in addition to that comes different base and additional eqipment in each individual car for sale. This basically means that it is impossible to compare any cars directly. The best one can then do is set a budget, set mandatory features and optional feature wishlist and start looking at options on the market. Possibly you might also want to think of what image the brands you are looking at are meaning to project.

I started with simple mandatory requirements of automatic transmission, air conditioning, parking sensors, low CO2 emissions and cruise control and optional requirements of safety features. But then I realised that what I wanted to project was a more solid, business persona. After checking in with some people that know more about cars this basically focused me onto Mercedes C class. Low emission requirement with automatic forced me to look at quite new models with 7G-TRONIC PLUS transmission. Just barely in my price range, but after another month of sifting trough the offers, I finally got my new dream car delivered exactly on my birthday - March 23rd, so 3 months ago. I am pretty amazed at the technologies in modern cars - bunch of ultrasonic sensors for parking assist, radars for collision avoidance and deadzone assist, cameras that detect lanes and even read traffic signs. And another camera that detects lights of oncoming traffic to control high/low beam switches fully automatically. Fuel consumption was as advertised - 5l/100km on highways and a max of 8l/100km in short city trips. My car is the weakest C class of that year - its engine is actually downclocked by software by about 12 horsepowers, this can be hacked, but that, naturally, voids the warranty.

One annoying things about modern cars is .. software. Most manufacturers (except Tesla) simply expect you to buy a new car to get a software update. The only update I could find for my car was an update of navigation maps and even that costs quite a lot of money as they have DRM that locks maps to the specific car. Highly annoying. In the future I hope to use this car for 3-4 years and then sell it and upgrade to Tesla Model 3.

Getting a car changed me, as expected. It became much easier for me to take detours on the way from work to home, like to a swimming pool (twice a week, every week, 3 months now) or to some shop for fresh food. I have become more outgoing which was also a big reason behind actually buying a car and not renting. It also became much easier to just go "local" sightseeing on the weekends (for values of local in ~500km range). I mean - I have been to Tokyo (8000km away), but not to Bauska castle (60km away). I have now actively stated to rectify this and also along the way train myself for the big event of the summer - car trip to Debconf15!

The initial trip will be comparatively simple - the Riga to Heidelberg is around 1800 km or nearly 20 hours of pure driving. As to not go completely crazy, the plan is to split this ove 3 days of around 7 hours of driving each. This makes the overnight stops happen somewhere around Warsaw and Dresden. I have not been to either of these cities, so that is a nice bonus. Apparently the space in Debcamp is very limited this year, so I will be only arriving a couple days before the Debconf itself, stay in some other hotel and see what is around and maybe randomly show up and say hi and scout group photo locations.

At the Heidelberg itself I might want to visit an open track day at Hockenheimring Formula 1 track. Not yet sure about that. I will need to get some practise at a local track first.

But the really fun part of the trip is going to be after Debconf15. My current plan is to go back home via Alps and a dip in the Med with provisional stops at: Frankfurt-Hanh airport, Basel, Lyon, Genoa (or Milan), Venice and Vienna. That is another 4000 km of driving spread over 7 to 8 days. This should also include some spectacular roads over the Alps (no tunnels!) with just enough time to see the cities and get the taste of the culture.

I would be glad to take anyone who is going to Debconf15 from Baltics, Poland or eastern/southern Germany. It should also be easy to bring anyone to Franfurt airport and Frankfurt-Hanh airport (that Ryanair operates from) after Debconf15 ends or to Basel/Lyon if you are fine with stopovers. Farther destinations on the way back may become more annoying as I do not plan on taking the direct routes and many stops are to be expected.

Soon to be on my way to Debconf too

Aigars Mahinovs — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 12:08:48 GMT

I also soon will be on my way to Debconf13 and those who asked for more photos from the place on Planet Debian will soon start getting their fill ;)

Privacy note: as always, I will be trying to balance the need for people to get lots of pictures as fast as possible with privacy of people, who do not want to be in published photos. The way this has been done before and will be done this time (at least from my side) is that:

I will myself filter the photos so that bad or embarrassing photos would not be published

If you see a photo of yourself published that you do not want to be, ask me and I will take it down ASAP

If you see me taking a picture that you don't want to be taken or published, just come up to me and say so and I will erase it

If you do not want to show up on any published pictures, please come up to me at any time and say so. I will have to then to take a full face portrait of you for my own reference (my memory is not that great) and will be my best to avoid even taking pictures with you in the shot

Update: http://www.aigarius.com/blog/2013/08/12/not-going-after-all/

Le Camp Le DebConf Le 2013!

Aigars Mahinovs — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:02:56 GMT

The meeting was as long as the kernel changelog, the decision was as difficult as a Debian release, but in the end Le Camp has won in the voting 5 to 4. It was lucky that one member of the 10 man committee was not present or we could have had a tie, just like there was one in the first round of voting.

Well, congratulations to the poor sods of the Swiss team, who will now have to fulfil what they promised and also all the small things that everyone always forgets that also need to be done for every Debconf!

I think that I will try again for 2015, but before that we will try to get a few people from Latvian community to go to Debconf13 to get the Debconf and Debian experience and exposure.

Meanwhile, it looks like I will be skipping this years Debconf12 - it is very far away for me and as I could not find a reasonable business rationale for me being there, it would be a far and expensive vacation for me. I don't think there is enough benefit from me being there to ask for any Debian funds for this either, especially hearing how tight money is this year. So - if you're going, make sure to take a camera and take a bunch of pictures, so we at home can see it too :)

Debconf 11 - the group picture

Aigars Mahinovs — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:07:31 GMT

The group picture of the Debconf11 has been up for 33 hours now and finally I also had a moment of time to make the numbered version so you can add peoples names to it.

I am pleased to say it is the one of the largest Debconf group photos yet with 263 people and 86 Mpix resolution. It took 10 separate images to stitch it together (from 44 images taken) and 15 fixes of stitching bugs deemed RC, 4 bugs were noted post-release, deemed minor. Most noticeable is on very skinny leg in the front row :).

Short links: http://is.gd/dc11group http://is.gd/dc11names

Debconf 10 - arrival and first days

Aigars Mahinovs — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:07:04 GMT

I had planned long for this Debconf and with the experience from the previous times I did all I could to reach one goal - minimise stress. I think I got it right this time.

First of all I got my company (Accenture) pay for the whole thing, so I did not have to worry about sponsorship queue (but instead I must gather and deliver them back some knowledge gained from the conference - should be easy). I also managed to get a direct flight - there is a weekly flight Tashkent-Riga-New York on Sundays and I got a ticket for that both ways. This took many hours off the travel time and reduced the stress a ton. Then I also did all the prudent travelling things: mostly reading the New York page on Wikitravel. This told me (among other things) what metro line to take to get the best view of the city. And for luggage I took a backpack (for the laptop and walking around) and a roller (for the clothes). I learned a lot from the "Up in the air" movie, it really teaches one how to take stress out of travel.

This went very well in the beginning - I took a bus to the airport early, checked in, breezed trough security and then waited and waited. The boarding only started half an hour after we were scheduled to depart. But I can not complain, because the flight attendant called my name (among a few others) just before boarding and changed my ticket - I was bumped up to business class :). It has been many years since I've flown a regular (non-budget) airline and now first time ever in the business class! We got regular class meals, but at least we got to sit in the big chairs with lots of leg room. It was great! I bought a paper book (from Charles Stross) to read during the flight, because that is the only thing you can do during take-off and landing and I had some stuff to listen to in my iPhone. I tried sleeping and I think I managed to kill a couple hours that way too. It sure helped combat jet lag later on.

When I arrived, I had my immigration and customs forms filled out. Latvia is on the USA Visa Waiver program, so I just had to fill out a form online prior to the trip to get a permission to enter USA. I only had one printout of the Waiver confirmation page and my airline took that before giving me a boarding pass, so I had no paper copy to give to the guy at the USA border, but he did not even ask for it - he only took the two forms I filled out, scanned my passport, took my fingerprints (all fingers) and a photo. Then he gave me back the customs for (stamped) and I could go get my luggage. After that it was just a matter of walking trough customs and giving the customs official the pre-filled and stamped customs form. I was not stopped further.

The AirTrain was a bit confusing - you just get on the AirTrain and go where you need to go, you actually pay at the place where AirTrain connects to metro, so when you are coming from the airport you are actually paying ($5) when you are exiting the AirTrain system. There are plenty of AirTrain people that will give you an AirTrain ticked for $5 cash right there or you can use a machine to get it (where you can also pay with a card). The machines also take AmEx, but you must know the PIN code, if your don't know the PIN of you AmEx card (like I don't know the PIN of my corporate AmEx) you can only buy MetroCards at news stands, but there you will not find the unlimited ride tickets - only 5 or 10 ride tickets are available.

Next I screwed up a bit and thus got a bit lost in the New York metro system. The Wikitravel recommends to take the AirTrain to Jamaica station and from there take J or Z line into the city for the best views. I went to Jamaica and got into the first metro train that came on to the platform. Unfortunately, that was the E line train and it does not cross with J or Z lines after that, so I was stuck. To complicate the situation E line is under repair, so after a few stops the trains diverted to the F line and I had to scramble to figure out where to get out to get to the 1 line where Columbia University is. I ended up spending more than an hour in the metro, but I got there in the end.

So I emerge from the 116th street metro station directly in front of the campus entrance gate and ... it starts raining. A thunderstorm swept across New York as soon as I stepped outside the metro station, so I took shelter a the side of the building. It kept raining. After a few minutes decided that I don't want to wait any more, so I put all my electronics into my backpack and went towards the dorm where my room was. The rain was warm, people around me were playing and running around in the wet grass, it was fun.

The guard showed me where to go to check in. It was really simple - sign here, here is you magnetic stripe key, have fun. And the room was just as spartan - bed, desk, chair, closet, bathroom and a large fan under the window. The first night I did not know that I could actually turn that fan down, so I slept to the sound of full fan blasting, much like on the airplane. The dorm looks ancient - it looks like it was build in the 60s and never changed since then. I mean, I've lived in worse places, but people would at least change wall sockets or faucets or ceiling paint every other decade or so. The newest things here were the magnetic locks on the doors and a TV and a mini fridge in the hallway.

After dropping my things I went off to the Mudd building across the campus to check in with people in the hacklab. It was just starting to take shape, but many great and familiar people were already there. It was like walking into a family home - same warm welcome smiles and that great feel of belonging to the group.

After I quick chat I went off downtown. The plan was that I left my old Canon 400D camera back at home and that I would buy a new Canon 550D here in New York on arrival. Unfortunately I underestimated the travel time on subway and by the time I got back downtown most shops where already closed. I got to checking out a Best Buy and was told there that they don't have 550D in stock. Next morning I went for a full scale search - B&H Photo Video store, J&R Express, another BestBuy - none of them had the Canon 550D (aka T2i) in stock in a body-only configuration. BestBuy had a few sets with the kit lens, but I did not want paying 100$ extra for something I already have. The last option was Adorama and I got lucky - I nabbed the last 550D they had and it was body-only.

Now I was back, with a camera in my hands and the Debconf10 could really begin!

Latvijas pavasara Ubuntu Bug Jam un Installest - 27.03.2010

Aigars Mahinovs — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:03:34 GMT

The following is an invitation to the Latvian Ubuntu Bug Jam (in Latvian) sent for a bit of a wider circulation to catch people that monitor Planet Debian, but not Planet Ubuntu.lv.

27. martā LU Linux centrā notiks divi pasākumi vienā - Ubuntu Global Bug Jam Latvijas daļa un installfests. Global Bug Jam ir pasākums, kurā piedalīties ir aicināti interesenti, speciālisti, studenti, lai meklētu kļūdas Ubuntu Lucid Lynx testēšanas versijā. Cilvēki, kas grib uzzināt par Ubuntu Linux, vai kuri grib atrisināt kādu konkrētu problēmu ar Ubuntu Linux tiek aicināti nākt uz šī pasākuma otro daļu no pulksten 14:00 līdz 16:00. Pasākuma būs kafija un bulciņas ar Accenture atbalstu.

Ubuntu Global Bug Jam ir globāls pasākums, kura mērķis ir iepazīstināt programmētājus un tulkotājus ar rīkiem, kas tiek lietoti, lai labotu problēmas Ubuntu operētājsistēmā un arī izlabot pēc iespējas lielāku skaitu problēmu īsā laikā. Izstrādātāji, kas grib labot Ubuntu problēmas vai iemācīties kā labot Ubuntu problēmas, tiek aicināti ierasties 12:00 un palikt līdz 16:00.

Installfest pasākuma sadaļā tiek aicināti visi esošie Ubuntu lietotaji, kuriem ir kādas konkrētas problēmas un arī cilvēki, kas tikai vēl interesējas par Ubuntu Linux. Ja jums ir konkrēta problēma ar Ubuntu Linux ir ieteicams atnest uz pasākumu savu datoru, kurā šo problēmu var atkārtot, lai pasākumā esošie programmētāji varētu noteikt šīs problēmas iemeslu un palīdzētu no novērst. Installfests sāksies 14:00 un turpināsies līdz 16:00.

Ubuntu ir bezmaksas, uz Linux balstīta pilna apjoma operētājsistēma jebkuram personālajam datoram, serverim un portatīvajai iekārtai. Tās standarta komplektā iekļautas visas nepieciešamās programmas, lai strādātu ar tekstiem, attēliem, elektronisko pastu un Internetu, kā arī jūs varat instalēt papildus programmatūru dažādiem nolūkiem. Pasaulē to šobrīd jau lieto vairāk kā 8 miljoni cilvēku, un to legāli bez maksas var lietot gan mājās, gan komerciālās un nekomerciālās organizācijās.

LU Linux Centrs ir izveidots Latvijas Universitātes Datorikas fakultātē. Linux Centra darbības mērķi ir: popularizēt atvērtā pirmkoda (Open Source) programmatūras, tai skaitā, Linux operētājsistēmas un citu atvērto tehnoloģiju iespējas un priekšrocības; piedalīties LU studiju procesā un īstenot lietišķo IKT pētījumu projektus, tajos izmantojot un attīstot atvērtās tehnoloģijas; sekmēt APP pieejamību Latvijā un pasaulē.

Better now!

Aigars Mahinovs — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:08:32 GMT

As soon as my laptop came back from repairs, I started to feel better - being back with 1920x1200 resolution is great! NVidia is much more stable than ATi and Intel wireless is just great!

And then last weekend I was in Berlin for the FFII board meeting and used the opportunity to see the city with my girlfriend. I must say that there is a lot of interesting things to see in Berlin.The things I would recommend everyone are: go to the Zoo (5-7 hours of superb fun), then take bus 100 to Alexander Platz (driving by all the main landmarks), go up on the TV tower, then come down and sometime late in the night go to 'Weekend' dance club.

The Zoo is fantastic - most of the time there are no walls between you and the animals, only deep pits. Most animals can be seen both in their outdoor spaces and in their indoor places. The park is a bit maze like, but the best thing is that you can just keep on walking and you will always have something interesting to look at. Wherever there is a underwater bit, there is a glass plate that allows you to look underwater. It looks almost like huge TV sets. When a family of hippos swims by a long wall of glass, the effect fantastic. And so is the whole zoo.

Going to the 'Weekend' club was another interesting experience. We found out of the club from Wikitravel and went there around 22:30. The place was barely warming up. We easily found the big office building with red "SHARP" ad on top just off the Alexander Platz, but it was fully dark and quiet with no signs about the club, so we looked for people. At one of the entrances there were a couple people with a table that took 5€ from us and waved us inside to the elevators. When elevators came, they had two guys inside that did not ask us anything, but just shot us up to the 15th floor, we followed the small stream of people and came to a wooden roof-top terrace with lots of place to sit, to chat, to drink and a very long bar with lots of staff ready to make us a drink. And there was music - great quality soft disco music that was quiet enough so that people could relax and talk freely. You could see the street below, but not a sound from this roof-top chill-out reached the street level - that is one great way to make a club. We also checked out the small dance room on the 15th floor, but did not stay around for long enough to see the main area on the 12th floor. Again, the sound system was perfect - they were rolling dance music on vinyl and I could really hear the difference in the depth of sound and appreciate how the female DJ mixed the tracks seamlessly. We were a bit surprised by the number of gay people in the club, both male and female. It is very rare to see that in Latvia because of the still prevalent prejudice, unfortunately.

We also went to a great place serving South African food and we ate some ostrich and gnu meat which was cooked flawlessly. It was a place of a slightly higher level than we normally eat, but it was totally worth it.