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People Call Me Aaron

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Re: People Call Me Aaron

#91
post #66

My brother committed suicide after facing a prison sentence. It is a really difficult thing that when you meet people (even for years afterwards, it still happens to this day 13 years on) and they just want to talk about the circumstances behind his suicide and the things that get him to that point. Having people consistently drag it up for you really hurts at times. I also have experienced the name-calling thing. My…

It's probably little consolation, but my mom confuses my name and the dog's name. I think it's just a mom thing.

Re: People Call Me Aaron

#92
post #20

This is so sad. I wonder if Noah has considered moving abroad for a bit - in my experience, very few people in the London tech scene know who Aaron Swartz was, or if they've heard the name they will struggle to remember the story behind it. Maybe people will disagree, but I don't think the story had quite the same cultural resonance outside the USA.

That might be his best option, for a few years at least. I doubt that enough people outside the US tech scene know Aaron's face well enough to out him. And if questioned, he could just deflect. But it would be hard to leave friends behind. And he would need to do that. Also, if he has a middle name, he could start using a nickname based on that. Swartz is a common patronymic.

Re: People Call Me Aaron

#93
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you live in the Bay Area or Silicon Valley? I think it is a lot different there. Also, some people participate in the "scene" while others don't. I used to go to more meet-ups and hacks-a-thons, but not so much anymore. I am not sure which is the norm.

Yeah, it seems like a "Silicon Valley" thing. The whole thing seems quite mysterious to me. I worked in (4) random cities in the UK. But even in London, I didn't notice a scene. Maybe its also a thing more with web development and start ups. Where the whole company can be mostly tech people, and where most people are young (so socialize outside of work more).

It's not a Silicon Valley thing. There are tech scenes in the smallest of places, you just need to pay attention. The UK is brimming with tech scenes, especially London.

Re: People Call Me Aaron

#94
post #66

My brother committed suicide after facing a prison sentence. It is a really difficult thing that when you meet people (even for years afterwards, it still happens to this day 13 years on) and they just want to talk about the circumstances behind his suicide and the things that get him to that point. Having people consistently drag it up for you really hurts at times. I also have experienced the name-calling thing. My…

11yrs for me; I actually grew kind of used to the name-calling thing. I don't go home a whole lot but try to spend a few days with my parents 1-3x a year, and I feel like all is back to normal when they call me my brother's name. We're all "home" again.

Different experiences for different people :)

(P.S. My brother was not facing incarceration but had significant mental illness, just feel like I can identify with the loss. Do not believe anybody really close will, you like said, truly get over it. Time really does not heal all wounds.)

Re: People Call Me Aaron

#95
post #76
post #20

This is so sad. I wonder if Noah has considered moving abroad for a bit - in my experience, very few people in the London tech scene know who Aaron Swartz was, or if they've heard the name they will struggle to remember the story behind it. Maybe people will disagree, but I don't think the story had quite the same cultural resonance outside the USA.

I cant help but think it quite easy to stay anonymous as a programmer. That its the default. I never really understood what people mean by the "tech scene". Its like you guys meet up or something. I have rarely meet other programmers apart from the few ones at work, and usually we don't socialise outside of work. I think this is the norm. I haven't noticed any kind of scene. The average programmer is quite anonymous.…

It becomes a scene if you want to. Start a blog, do presentations, come to events, contribute to open source — soon you'll find yourself in the middle of professional social circle.

However, it's something that you can choose to do or not to do, and something that is not at all necessary to be a good professional developer.

Re: People Call Me Aaron

#96
post #93
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it seems like a "Silicon Valley" thing. The whole thing seems quite mysterious to me. I worked in (4) random cities in the UK. But even in London, I didn't notice a scene. Maybe its also a thing more with web development and start ups. Where the whole company can be mostly tech people, and where most people are young (so socialize outside of work more).

It's not a Silicon Valley thing. There are tech scenes in the smallest of places, you just need to pay attention. The UK is brimming with tech scenes, especially London.

What counts as a 'tech scene', out of interest? I'm based in London, and don't really have any friends that are programmers, or really see much going on.

Somewhere I can get involved?

Re: People Call Me Aaron

#97
Maybe slightly unrelated but if you have experience the grief from death of a loved one, this advice helped me :

https://www.reddit.com/r/Assistance/comments/hax0t/my_friend...

{ Alright, here goes. I'm old. What that means is that I've survived (so far) and a lot of people I've known and loved did not. I've lost friends, best friends, acquaintances, co-workers, grandparents, mom, relatives, teachers, mentors, students, neighbors, and a host of other folks. I have no children, and I can't imagine the pain it must be to lose a child. But here's my two cents. I wish I could say you get used to people dying. I never did. I don't want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I love dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don't want it to "not matter". I don't want it to be something that just passes. My scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. And if the scar is deep, so was the love. So be it. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gouged, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love. And the scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are only ugly to people who can't see. As for grief, you'll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you're drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and the magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more. And all you can do is float. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it's some physical thing. Maybe it's a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it's a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float. Stay alive. In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don't even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float. After a while, maybe weeks, maybe months, you'll find the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function. You never know what's going to trigger the grief. It might be a song, a picture, a street intersection, the smell of a cup of coffee. It can be just about anything...and the wave comes crashing. But in between waves, there is life. Somewhere down the line, and it's different for everybody, you find that the waves are only 80 feet tall. Or 50 feet tall. And while they still come, they come further apart. You can see them coming. An anniversary, a birthday, or Christmas, or landing at O'Hare. You can see it coming, for the most part, and prepare yourself. And when it washes over you, you know that somehow you will, again, come out the other side. Soaking wet, sputtering, still hanging on to some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you'll come out. Take it from an old guy. The waves never stop coming, and somehow you don't really want them to. But you learn that you'll survive them. And other waves will come. And you'll survive them too. If you're lucky, you'll have lots of scars from lots of loves. And lots of shipwrecks. }

Re: People Call Me Aaron

#98
Aaron stuck out his jaw and faced down the murky machinery of corruption offending some very powerful people and showed the internet user-base the power of collective action.

Then Snowden revealed that control and surveillance was already so very much worse than even the paranoid imagined.

Snowden's revelations suggest that Aaron would be just the sort of dissident the domestic spying and manipulation might target.

Whatever facts will or wont become known, we lost a great inspiring creative soul in that good man's passing.

Re: People Call Me Aaron

#99
post #7

Whoa. I met Noah at a very small game dev conference last May. I had no idea who he was until this moment, nor was I aware that anyone else did, but I could be wrong. It's interesting to think how that interaction would have changed, probably for the worse, if I had known more about him beforehand.

Heh, yeah. Met him at Mozfest a few years back. Noticed the last name but figured it was a coincidence, so I didn't ask. When I watched The Internet's Own Boy months later (and by the way, everybody who hasn't watched it really should) I realized he was Aaron's brother.

He's really laid back and an overall cool guy to talk to. I'm glad I didn't know - Aaron was a great guy, but being identified as your dead brother's brother must be miserable...

Re: People Call Me Aaron

#100
post #20

This is so sad. I wonder if Noah has considered moving abroad for a bit - in my experience, very few people in the London tech scene know who Aaron Swartz was, or if they've heard the name they will struggle to remember the story behind it. Maybe people will disagree, but I don't think the story had quite the same cultural resonance outside the USA.

Yes this is true. Amongst most of my peers im about the only person who knows who he was
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