This blogpost helped precipitate some thoughts that have been swimming in my head for a while. The main topic of the post is that Tim is leaving google (good luck, Tim!) but that's not what is of most interest to me.
Firstly, I am interested in alumni networks in general: In Silicon Valley, ex-employees of Netscape, Yahoo and google control many of the decisions behind what happens. Here in Bangalore, the ex-Wipro mafia is well known. I am interested in people's thoughts on alumni networks, and how to do them well (I have a vested interest in this, but will talk more about this later). The second part is about the things that are competing for foreground space in Tim's head: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2014/02/19/Leaving-Google <quote> What are you interested in? · I’m interested in the Internet and its interaction with the world. I care so much more about the thing as a whole than any of the products that inhabit it. A chance to serve as a full-time partisan of the Net, especially with a bit of technology hands-on, would get my attention. On the policy side, I’m interested in the power relationships around identity and privacy, and how to use market forces and regulations in the interest of the people who use the Internet. On the technology side, I’m interested in identity protocols, functional programming, and augmented reality. In recent weeks, I’ve been troubled by an insanely ambitious augmented-reality idea, a notion that could touch a billion lives, only I don’t see how you make money with it. I probably lack the will-power to not tinker with it. Realistically, I probably should do something connected to Identity, because the issues aren’t easy to master; I know because I just invested a couple of years trying. And I’m really good at explaining OAuth. I feel deepening guilt about never having done much teaching. My profession has been immoderately generous in teaching me over the decades and there should be a way to give back. On the other hand, while I give good public speeches, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’d be a good teacher. </quote> -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
