Note that I will post up the prior day’s events, at the end of the day. Will have to rest up for tomorrow’s OSCAMP session.

Tuesday was more tutorials, and I took in some shopping and looking around Downtown Portland. I truly recommend the light rail system, especially at Fareless Square. After that, I was ready to head to the Center for lunch when Zak from Mozilla greeted me. He and his buds went for lunch at Huber’s, Portland’s oldest restaurant. Once seated, I realized that this was not some ordinary lunch. For instance, across from me was Jeff Waugh, sans headphones. Also in the group was Aaron Leventhal, who won an Open Source Award. I ended up having lunch with the FLOSS blokes who oversee various Open Source foundations and groups. “Zak!” I exclaimed. “Are you sure you want me to stick with you guys?” He replied it was no problem, and we have a great time. I had a great open face turkey sammich with sage dressing and cranberry sauce. The turkey was roasted and from the bird itself, not pressed and processed. It was like Thanksgiving in July. The guys at my section and I exchanged tips on making flatbreads (dosa, naan) and talked about the kitchen knives we owned. I will have to invest in a Kevlar woven glove for my mandoline. Zak: thanks for making me feel welcome in the Open Source community.

The afternoon tutorial was on being how to be a better programmer. This means being clear on communication, clear in one’s coding, and carry an elegant style in the code. No 3rd or 4th level nesting…just direct to a separate function.

The Meet n Geek was nice, and it was there when I learned that the guy who made the Perl code was there. Larry Wall and his family are nice, down-to-earth guys. He signed my Learning Perl book, with a nifty camel stamp effect. Hugs and greets were exchanged and I got *one* advice: Have Fun. (I asked for only one most important tip.) It was an honor to meet you, and to the kids: Good luck in your endeavors.

After that, I went to the Holocene nearby for the Ruby presentation and pizza. It was a mellow scene, with some tin-foil hat silliness. HotLips Pizza has great pies and it was a shame that the Prediger and our dog was not with me to enjoy that.

BTW, I’ve opened up a Flickr account, with pics added regularly. Stay tuned.