I was in Durban on the 2010 FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony on June 11, 2010. I was not about to miss out on the atmosphere on this historic moment; the first World Cup ever in Africa. Ideally the best place to check out the game was the FIFA Fan Fest at the New Beach. From what I read, it could accommodate up to 25,000 people. With its location on the beach and the overall good weather in Durban, the FIFA Fan Fest in Durban is definitely an ideal place to watch the game and to mingle with football fans from around the world.

By the time we arrived, the place was already packed with people. This was probably the next best place to be in South Africa to watch the opening match beside Soccer City stadium, the place where the opening ceremony and the opening game were held.

I had lots of fun watching the game. Lots of celebration, lots of cheering, lots of fun; and of course lots of Vuvuzela. My ears were still buzzing at the end of the match. The evening would have been so much better had Bafana Bafana won the game. At the end of the day, a draw was a good result against Mexico.

I will post some videos from the evening once I manage to find a decent internet access. For the time being, enjoy some pictures from the evening.

© Joey Rosario - visit the author for more great content.

We arrived in South Africa last week and went on safari for 7 days. The safari was amazing but I’ll post the experience on another article. We flew in to Durban last night at their new King Shaka International Airport, which was only opened at the beginning of May. Crazy. The Cameroon team arrived around the same time but they were quickly escorted through security. We also missed the Chilean team last week when we arrived at Nelspruit Airport. Bummer.

I tried to get my tickets printed at one of the ticket kiosk at the airport and was told to get an assistance from one of the attendant. I guess 20 tickets are way too many for the kiosk to handle. My girlfriend’s 14 tickets were not a problem for the kiosk to print. We will be attending at least 9 World Cup matches including the FINAL. Could end up going to 3 more matches depending on how adventurous we are. A good friend will be arriving tomorrow and my cousin will be joining us at the end of the month. Bring on the World Cup. Go England … Go Bafana Bafana …

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This year was no difference.  We arrived a bit late and only managed to snap a few photos. The highlight of MY Bay to Breakers has got to be the Don’t Stop Believin’ song at the end of the parade right in front of the Alamo Square Park where the crowds gathered. One minor bummer was as soon as the song was about to finish, the over-zealous cops were blasting the siren trying to break up the party. Someone forgot to bring the donuts.

This was my favorite character of the day. There were other similar costumes but hers was by far the closest to the exact resemblance of that in the movie.

Sorry, gotta blur out the R-Rated

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We celebrated the Earth Hour last month. Everybody turned off their light for one hour and it’s all fine and dandy. But how many of us actually follow up on energy-conservation habit? It’s easy to get caught up in the celebration without actually making permanent changes. Everyone just want to be part of the good cause which is great but good cause does not have to stop once the celebration is over.

Yes, I realize Earth Day is not only about the energy. It is about the environment and what we can do to preserve it. We as the inhabitants of this planet, have the solemn duty and responsibility to care for it so we can leave it in relative good health to our next generation and the generation after that.

Anyway, the 3 major Search Engine came up with unique logos to celebrate Earth Day 2009. I love the one made by Yahoo (it’s an animation so refresh the screen if you miss it.)

Yahoo

Google

Google Earth Day Logo

MSN

MSN Earth Day Logo

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It was a hard fought battle. They lost the first set in 14 minutes 12-21 before storming back to win the second 21-11. The third set was nail-biting. Markis and Hendra had match point saved by their opponents 4 times before finally sealing the deal to win Indonesian first Gold medal in this Olympic.

The excitement was heightened with the constant loss of my internet connection. I have to move around to find the signal and quickly reload to see what I’ve missed. But it was a sweet ending when I watched the Red and White Flag raised up to the rafter, accompanied by the melody of the national anthem Indonesia Raya.

I am so proud of both Markis and Hendra. You are Indonesian heroes.

Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan at the podium with the gold medal around their neck

Indonesian Flag being raised to the rafter during medal presentation

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If you saw the Chinese team led out by Yao Ming walking through the stadium, you would notice a small little boy walking next to him. Now with all the spectacular display, the story about that young boy is the one that touched me the most. The boy, Lin Hao, is a 9-year-old survivor of the earthquake devastated the Sichuan province back in May 2008 that killed more than 60,000 people.

What you probably don’t read about him was during the earthquake, he was in a school with 30 other students in his class. When the earthquake struck, he didn’t just run to safety. He ran back to the school and saved two of his fellow students by carrying them out of the rubbles when the school collapsed. Only 10 students in his class survived and two of them were saved by him. His act of heroism made him a national hero. He has earned the right to stand alongside his country’s best in this year Olympic. An amazing young boy.

© Joey Rosario - visit the author for more great content.

© Joey Rosario - visit the author for more great content.

We arrived around 6.30 pm to gain an entry to the ballpark. The sea of people waiting in line with picnic bags in tow is astounding. I didn’t realize there were these many people interested in the opera. I have other theories regarding the attendance. First, the event is free. Second, when else will any of us ever get a chance to sit on the field grass at the famous AT&T Park for a nice picnic? Third, the weather was incredibly beautiful throughout the day and it carried over towards the evening. I don’t remember the last time I can get-by with a t-shirt (jeans too of course) in San Francisco during the evening. The temperature stayed in the high 70′s throughout the evening.

We gained entry to the ballpark around 7.15 pm. We had a good 45-minute to find a comfortable place to watch the opera and enjoyed our picnic before the show started. We found a nice spot on the field directly in front of the jumbo screen. Some people chose to sit in the regular seating areas for the baseball game. A friend who attended the same event last year told me it was freezing cold last year. No way I am passing a chance to lay down on the grass on a nice evening at the AT&T Park. Too good of an opportunity to pass up.

At 8 pm, the show started with an introduction from .. well, I don’t know who they are. The audio and the video synchronization was a bit off. But it didn’t stop me from enjoying the show. This would be my first-ever opera show. I know it’s not your conventional opera show in an opera house but it was still a VERY enjoyable show.

The story was about a feud between a Scottish families of Ravenswood and Lammermoor. Enrico Ashton of Lammermoor wrongfully holds the estates of Edgardo Ravenswood. In addition, Enrico’s political activity against the King has placed him in a perilous situation, and he has resolved to reestablish his family’s position by marrying his sister Lucia to Lord Arturo Bucklaw. In the end, Lucia killed herself and so did Edgardo, pretty tragic love story of arranged marriage and deception.

There was a 25-minute intermission between Act II and Act III. I didn’t know the intermission was so long but in a three-hour show, I suppose some people might have to reload their alcohol. The show ended around 11 pm. At the end of the show, the casts salute the audience in San Francisco gears (hats, foam finger, shirts, flag, etc.)

Until next year.

Picnic at the AT&T Ballpark before the Opera Simulcast

Some enjoyed the grass, some enjoyed the seats

The high-definition jumbo screen

Lucia during Act I

The view of the opera on the jumbo screen from my seat

Lucia & Edgardo

Lucia had gone mad

Lucia during her last moment alive

Lucia was about to take her own life

Enrico berated Lucia

Edgardo took his own life

Closing Scene

Enrico with SF Giants foam finger

Edgardo with SF Giants baseball cap

Lucia with SF Giants foam finger

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I am sure the race itself is entertaining but I think I speak for the majority that the race only appeals to the minority. For the majority, Bay to Breakers hold a special appeal because it’s our version of daytime Halloween Party. I would estimate close to about 100,000 people (according to Wikipedia it’s about 70,000 – 80,000) participated in the event. People dress up in oddball costumes. Some people will get in a group and come up with the funniest costume ideas to entertain the crowd. Some create float and drag it around (I don’t think engine or any kinds of machinery is allowed.)

Some people walk the whole 12k or they can do what I do this year; I find a nice spot at Alamo Square for a picnic while enjoying the nice weather and the human centipede. There are some naked people in the crowd too. And of course, they are the one who you don’t want to see naked. Ewwww ….

God Bless America … I mean the flag … I mean the body paint … I mean .. never mind

Hey there ….

Smoking Engine

I swear … I am looking at the Obama sign

Who lost the blow up doll last night?

I figure there is somebody in there, I guess not

Butterfly

Priitt priitt … Baywatch on Land

People would have taken you more seriously if you are drinking beer instead of Coke

Olympics ??? Hmmm ….

Nice dress dude

Pee OK?

The Famous Victorian Home on Alamo Square like the one you see in Full House

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Last night SF Entrepreneur Meetup Group invited Matt Mullenweg to speak at its monthly meeting. For you blogger out there who doesn’t know who Matt Mullenweg is, shame on you. Matt Mullenweg is the founder of WordPress and Automattic.

Edith Yeung, of EdithYeung.com, was the moderator of the meeting. The session was done in a Q&A format with participants got to ask their questions at the end of the Q&A session.

Early Story

Matt talked about how he got started in WordPress. He started blogging with typepad and was frustrated with the user-friendliness of the software. He was still in college then in Houston, TX. During one of his trip to San Francisco, CA, he grew to love the place he would later call home and tried to find a way to move there.

He found a job at CNet which took him to San Francisco and subsequently forced him to drop out of school. At CNet, he was given the freedom to develop WordPress, which was an open-source project from the get-go. After about one year, Matt decided to call it a day at CNet. He shared his view with the audience (most of them are entrepreneurs) that it was his entrepreneur spirit that made him decide to quit CNet. To paraphrase him … There’s only so long you can work for the “man”.

WordPress Business Model

Matt said it didn’t take long for Automattic to be profitable. The business model is made up of Advertising, premium service on WordPress including private domain, and Akismet.

Claim to Fame

When asked about his claim to fame, Matt jokingly said it was when he finished 107 Chicken McNuggets with his favorite Sweet and Sour sauce in his native Houston, but then retracted that by saying WordPress is his actual claim to fame. That piece of software has changed the way we live. It has impacted me personally. I met so many new friends from blogging; people who share similar interest, people who find my writing inspiring, and the list goes on and on.

Reason behind ma.tt

He talked about how he moved his blog from photomatt.net to ma.tt and it was because someone already owned photomatt.com and it was a photography site like his, but just more provocative. He was worried that he might be mistaken for the other site. So in short, he found out about .tt which is domain extension for Trinidad & Tobago, and being the person he is, he simply has to get the ma.tt.

Akismet

If you own a blog, you have akismet plugin installed on your system. It’s a spam-comment filter. It was a funny story how he started developing akismet. He said one day his mum told him that she wanted to start a blog. (She had mentioned she would not use WordPress to avoid the attention as “the mum”.) Matt said he was terrified with the thought of his mum getting exposed to indecent spam comment in her blog. That’s when he decided to develop Akismet. And truth to be told, the mum hasn’t started a blog yet. But it’s a good scare tactic to have Matt developed one of the best (if not the best) plugin ever for WordPress. Way to go mum.

Early Business Venture

Matt said there was not a lot of stories about his earlier business venture. He said he used to own a window cleaning service in Houston. And he compared that to his success with Automattic. His advise were never afraid to fail and the more open you are about your business, the more successful you will be.

Biggest Business Blunder (BBB)

Matt suggested never to buy a server for your site. WordPress grew so fast that it outgrew the server capacity within the first couple of months. He said with so many hosting providers out there, there is no reason for any individuals to ever own their own server. And he also mentioned never to enter into a long term contract with any single providers. He had to buy his way out of the contract because the term was no longer favorable. He recommended a few service providers in Texas but unfortunately I do not remember the name.

Employment

One question from the audience was the hiring process. Matt said the company does not have an office. The address listed for the company is actually his residence. He said his company is not bound by location in hiring the best people. He mentioned if he is only interested in hiring local people in San Francisco, he would have eliminated 99.99% of other very qualified people around the world. He would like to think of his company as a virtual company; a collaboration of the best people around the world he can find.

He received thousands of resume for every position. According to him, automattic hired about 2 new people a quarter. He scanned the resume himself. The traits he looked for in new hire are creativity, curiosity, and taste. According to him, in creativity, people have the will to innovate; in curiosity, people have the hunger for knowledge, and in taste, people have a sense of value you can’t replace.

Business Transition

Matt said his biggest obstacle when transitioning from a one-man show to hiring employees was delegating work. I am sure most of us can relate to that. He likes to do everything by himself. Eventually, he managed to overcome that by hiring people who are better than himself in what they do.

Venture Capital

Matt did touch on the subject on his experience with the VC. He said the VC use the term backable to describe the prospect. His tip is to have a good introduction to the VC. He said being in the room with VC is quite something else. All it takes is to have one VC says a Yes or a No, and the rest of them will follow suit. His advise is “Make your presentation as easier to understand as possible.”

One of the site he recommended for any entrepreneur who is interested in getting funding is Venture Hacks.

Premium WordPress Theme

I will not miss the opportunity to ask Matt in person about this subject. I have to ask him personally about his take on premium WordPress Theme. He is not against people making money with WordPress. In fact, he is thrilled with how the theme has evolved over the last couple of years to where it is now. He just thinks any codes that are derivatives of the WordPress code falls under GPL (General Public License) and therefore should be available for free. He mentioned that Theme Designers should change their business model. They should make the code available to the masses for free and charge anyone who wants customization. He reiterated that he is NOT against anyone who wants to make money.

My take on Matt

Matt is a very good speaker, very articulate, and concise in expressing his idea although he did stumble on one word “discriminate” . He is a very nice decent young man. He shows a lot of humility and never let his success get to his head. He is very approachable. At the end of session, he stayed behind to talk to everyone and he was in the last group of people who left the building. Overall, it was an excellent meeting with the WordPress pioneer.

© Joey Rosario - visit the author for more great content.