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This week we talk with Hal Bergman, a photographer who specializes in industrial and travel photography, has worked with companies ranging from Apple to American Express, and creates stunning timelapse video art. He's also responsible for the Magic Window app for Mac and iPad, which gives your devices timelapse desktop backgrounds and screen savers. Hal discusses how he got his start, why other freelancers are your coworkers, why you shouldn't delete old photos, and how to organize your projects. He also covers when to ask for forgiveness instead of permission, how to set deadlines that work, and much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Hal Bergman: Website, Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Flickr Magic Window for Mac Magic Window 4K for Mac Magic Window for iPad/iPhone/Apple TV Magic Window Yosemite All Jetson Creative Apps

On this episode we talk with Sacha Greif, a designer and developer behind a myriad of projects. You might know Sacha from his book Discover Meteor, which provides a comprehensive introduction to building web and mobile apps with Meteor, a realtime JavaScript framework. Or you might know Sacha from his work on Telescope, a real-time, open source social news app. Still, you might know him from his work on Sidebar, Step By Step UI Design, Folyo, or other projects. Sacha covers why it's important to have side projects, how to transition from freelancing to building and selling products, how to stay motivated along the way, and much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Sacha Greif: Website, Twitter Discover Meteor: Website, Twitter Telescope: Website, Github Step By Step UI Design Sidebar: Website, Twitter Folyo: Website, Twitter Transcript Alexis: Sacha, thanks for coming on the show! Sacha: Hey, thanks for having me. Alexis: Yeah, absolutely! So I’ve mentioned in the pre-show – I was kind of fan-boying out for a little bit there – I’ve been following you online since about 2013 from one of your products. Before we get to Step By Step UI Design, which is how I got into the world of Sacha Grief, let’s dive back into the past and tell us a bit about your background. Where’d you grow up? Sacha: So, I grew up in Paris, France. I spent most of my life there, although now I live in Osaka, Japan. My background – I guess I kind of have a dual background in coding and design. Originally – the way I got started, like a lot of people, is just messing around in Photoshop, messing around with flash, doing some websites for friends–. Alexis: Those were the days. [Chuckles] Sacha: Yeah. I mean I still remember my first actual job – professional job – I had to manually search and replace through hundreds of HTML files because nobody had invented PHP or MySQL yet. Alexis: Oh boy. Sacha: So, that was fun. [Chuckles] Yeah, but around that time I also went to college to study Computer Science, so that gave me a foundation and the more technical stuff of things like coding and math. It’s funny because a lot of people know me more as a designer, I guess, but my background would be more on the technical side. Although I think if you study computer science yourself you’ll probably

This week we talk with Stefan Reitshamer, founder of Haystack Software and creator of Arq, the backup app that uses the storage you already have -- whether that's Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Storage, Dropbox, or otherwise. Stefan discusses how you can practically eliminate support, why he considers bundle sales a marketing effort, why you should dedicate time to go out of your comfort zone, and much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Stefan Reitshamer: Twitter Arq: Website, Twitter Haystack Software: Website Transcript In progress...

On this episode we talk with Guy English, founder of Aged & Distilled, the software shop behind the Mac annotation app Napkin. Guy discuses how he left the game development world for software development, why burnout isn't worth the perceived productiv...

This week we talk with Jonathan Deutsch, founder of Tumult, the software outfit behind Hype. If you're not familiar with Hype, it's a Mac app that helps users create stunning animated and interactive HTML5 content, and it's used by both beginners and pros. Jonathan covers how he got his start, the importance of a support network, how your product itself can drive marketing, why you should use a public support forum, and much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Jonathan Deutsch: Website, GitHub, Twitter Tumult Hype: Website, Twitter HypePro HyperEdit Transcript Alexis: Jonathan, thanks for coming on the podcast. Jonathan: Glad to be here. Alexis: So before we get to Tumult and Hype, tell us a little bit about your background. Jonathan: Sure. Before Tumult, I started in CS at Purdue University and right out of college I was at Apple and have worked some various jobs at Apple for about six and a half years. I always wanted to start my own company; Apple was a little bit of a detour and so the opportunity came up in the HTML5 space. I had been there long enough that I felt I had accomplished what I wanted to do, and so I left and started Tumult. Alexis: Alright. Let’s take another step back here. How did you learn how to program? What got you interested? Jonathan: I would say having a TI-82 calculator was probably the first thing that really sparked my interest in programming. They were programmable calculators; you could do BASIC programming on it. You could also do Assembly programming, which I didn’t do much of, but I thought it was so much fun that I could write a little program – and usually they were text adventure games, is what I really started doing. I did Escape from West Middle – West Middle was the middle school I was at, and so you could choose one of different routes. It was very much like, if the user chose this, go that way; if the user chose that, go this way. It’s like you would have to start in your classroom and then eventually you’d escape out to the hallway. You’d have to avoid the administration and try to get your way out. That’s what started me; it was really just more fun and games and if I could impress my friends and I’d give them my calculator –. Alexis: I’ve got to say though, I did daydream about escaping from middle school or h

This episode we talk with Gus Mueller, founder of Flying Meat Software and creator of Acorn, the image editor for humans, built for Macs. Gus covers why you should still sell direct, his thoughts on sales, how he handles competition, why he wishes he'd focused on documentation earlier, and much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Gus Mueller: Twitter, Blog Flying Meat Software: Website, Twitter Acorn: Website, Twitter Audio Hijack Versions Kaleidoscope NetNewsWire BBEdit Coda Transmit Transcript Alexis: Gus, thanks for coming on the podcast! Gus: No problem! Alexis: Now, before we get to Flying Meat and Acorn, tell us a bit about your background. Gus: I’m a programmer. I went to college at the University of Missouri, Columbia. I basically ended up getting a general studies degree by combining three minors together to get a single major. I basically studied Art, Art History and Computer Science and I took them all together and sort of made my own degree. So that’s sort of where my art background comes from when I do image editors and stuff like that. Add in the Computer Science and that’s what’s going to happen. And I’m mostly just self-taught. Alexis: Now why did you combine those three minors or your interests? Was it because, “Well it’s just what I’m interested in so it’s going to happen” or was it more of a calculated, “Well I think these could go well together,” like the Steve Jobs intersection of technology and liberal arts kind of thing? Gus: No, it wasn’t really planned. I just always grew up with computers. I had an Apple IIc growing up; it was my first computer. I was just playing games on it and I would write little basic programs, and I also liked drawing. So when I went to college, I just took a bunch of art classes just because it was fun; I really enjoyed it. Computer science, I just kind of enjoyed too. I didn’t take very many hardcore Computer Science classes; I actually worked for the Campus Computing – as it was called there. It’s the central IT department for the university and some of my co-workers were actually professors. I would create my own little Computer Science classes, which were basically projects I was working on at work anyway, and they would sign off on it and I would get credit for it. That's how I got the C

This episode we talk with Jamie Smyth, CEO The Smyth Group and TypeEngine, a platform and service for building tablet-native publications. Jamie covers how Hurricane Katrina was the catalyst for his agency, why having a dedicated contact person is vital for client work, what it's like to working as a programmer in the fashion industry, and much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Jamie Smyth: Twitter The Smyth Group: Website, Twitter TypeEngine: Website, Twitter Joel Spolsky's Smart and Gets Things Done Transcript Alexis: Jamie, thanks for taking time out of your schedule to come on the podcast. Jamie: Yeah, thank you for having me. Alexis: So before we start into the Smyth Group and TypeEngine, tell us a bit about your background. Jamie: I’m a nerd. I was born in New Jersey, raised in Louisiana. Yes, they have computers in Louisiana [chuckles]. I lived on a small island off of Seattle for quite a while and from there I moved to New York. Now, I live in Brooklyn. I don’t have any brothers and sisters. So I was an only child which means I was spoiled, apparently. [Chuckles] Alexis: High five for both of us [chuckles]. Jamie: [Chuckles] Right it on. So that’s it. Alexis: After having been to Seattle for about a month and a half this spring, what island off to Seattle did you live on? Jamie: Oh, right on. I lived on Vashon Island which is pretty much the closest one. You have to take a boat to get there. It’s just a wonderful, wonderful place to live. Alexis: I went to one of the islands there. I can’t remember if it was that one or not but it was about maybe half an hour or a forty-five minute boat ride. But, it was very nice. Jamie: Yeah. It might have been Bainbridge Island. Alexis: Yeah, that was it. Jamie: Ok. Anyway that’s a very popular –. Alexis: Anyway, enough about my Seattle adventures [chuckles]. How did you learn to program? Jamie: You’re going to love this – my mom taught me to program. Alexis: What? Yes! Jamie: Yeah. My mom taught me to program when I was about 9. She didn’t know how to program but what she did was – so, I’m dating myself here [chuckles] – she bought an Atari computer and she bought a BASIC book: a book on how to program in BASIC. I’ll never forget, she hooked it up in the TV in the living room and she sat me dow

On this episode we talk with Roger Dannenberg, co-creator of Audacity and Professor of Computer Science, Art, and Music at Carnegie Mellon University. If, by chance, you're not familiar with Audacity, it's a wildly popular open source audio editor and ...

On this episode we talk with Dries Buytaert, founder of Acquia and creator of Drupal, the incredibly popular open source CMS. Dries covers how he got his start, Drupal's origins, how Acquia found its footing, and why people skills are important for open source projects. He also discusses the beginning of an architectural shift for the web, how he manages burnout, and much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Dries Buytaert: Blog, Twitter Drupal: Website, Twitter, GitHub Acquia: Website, Twitter, GitHub Transcript Alexis: Dries, thank you for coming on the show! Dries: You’re welcome! Alexis: So before we get to Acquia and Drupal, tell us a bit about your background. Dries: Sure. I was born and raised in Belgium. I got into computers pretty early on in life – I guess I was about eight years old or something when my dad came home with a Commodore 64 along with some programming books for kids, so I always tried to get on the computer. I wasn’t always allowed to be on the computer. Hey, mom. [Chuckling] I just grew up as a very nice youth, so to speak. And then when I finished high school, I went to study Computer Science at the University of Antwerp here in Belgium. I did that for four years, graduated with a Computer Science degree. I guess it’s sort of a Masters, although it wasn’t called a Masters at the time. It’s also at the University that I started the Drupal project. I can go back to that in a second if you like. Alexis: Sure. Dries: Do you want me to keep going, sort of telling the history? Alexis: A quick interjection here. When you went to study Computer Science, what was the original game plan? “I’m going to get my degree and then I’m going to get a job in __.”? Dries: To be honest, I didn’t have a game plan in terms of what kind of job I would land, but other than, say, I would be a software engineer working in a technology startup, I never really felt attracted to working for large corporations. I always felt like the smaller startup-style environments would be better. So I guess my plan to the extent that I had a plan was to go and work at a technology startup on a software or R&D team. Alexis: Alright. How did that plan deviate? Dries: Well, it kind of worked out in the beginning, I must say. When I did finish college, I went to work at a star

On this episode we talk with Dan Counsell, founder of Realmac Software, an award winning independent Mac and iOS development studio. They're the folks responsible for app such as Clear on iOS, and RapidWeaver, Ember and Typed on Mac. Dan covers why bundle sales are useful, why you shouldn't rely only on app stores, what can make a software company sustainable, and much, much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Dan Counsell: Blog, Twitter Realmac Software: GitHub, Website, Twitter RapidWeaver Clear Ember Typed for Mac Typed.com crowdfunding campaign Milen Dzhumerov: Twitter, Website Helftone Transcript Alexis: Dan, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to come on the podcast. Dan: You’re welcome, thanks for inviting me. Alexis: Before we get into the more recent stuff with Realmac Software, let’s do a quick history lesson. How did you get started programming? Dan: Well I’ve always had an interest in computers growing up and I was lucky enough that my dad ran a print shop. He got into Macs very early on, so I grew up having a Mac Classic and all the old iterations of Power Macs at home, so I was very lucky from that perspective. I never got into PCs and stuff like that, so I feel pretty fortunate. Yeah, I’m a die-hard Mac user. Anyway, my dad brought home a Mac Plus I think it was, and we had HyperCard on there, and I was just tinkering around that. At the time, I must’ve only been 10 or 11 or 12 – around that age. I was playing with HyperCard, building simple games and little scripts. From there, I got interested in that and then went on to building websites. I got a little bit interested in PHP, and then eventually ended up using REALbasic. By this time, this was on Mac OS 9, and that’s really when I released my first product. Again, I had a full-time job and this was just a hobby. That’s really what set me off on this road of developing software and that must have been around 1998 or something, maybe; 1999 when I released my first app. So a long time ago now. Alexis: How did your first app lead into Realmac? Was it a very quick transition, or was it a bit more patient transition? Dan: Well the company wasn’t founded until 2002, and that’s when I finally quit. I was working in London at the time and I finally quit my job there and went full-time with

On this episode we talk with Chris Van Patten, Creative Director of Van Patten Media, a full-service web design and online identity agency based in New York City. Chris and the team have developed a stable of WordPress plugins. Their flagship commercia...

On this episode we talk with Greg Scown, founder of Smile, which is behind apps such as TextExpander and PDFPen. Greg discusses how he got his start, why you should include time for curveballs in your product launch, and the modern day role of conferences. He also covers how to handle competition, lessons learned from acquiring software, and much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Greg Scown: Twitter Smile TextExpander PDFPen Transcript Alexis: Greg, thank you for coming to the podcast. Greg: You’re very welcome. I’m excited to be here. Alexis: So before we get down into the rabbit hole of Smile Software, TextExpander and PDFpen and then iOS apps and the Mac Store and all this good stuff, let’s start with yourself. Give us a bit of background on yourself. Greg: Sure, I’m originally from Pawtucket, Rhode Island and I got involved in computers around age nine. In fact, it was kind of funny. My father moonlighted teaching investments at a little community college and they did a stock market game. I was fascinated with this; I played the game and really enjoyed it. I convinced my dad that I should invest a portion of what I had in my savings. So being a kid, and the wisdom is invest in what you know, I bought some shares of Ideal Toy Company. About six weeks later Ideal Toy Company came out with this neat thing called The Rubik’s Cube, so I tripled my investment and made enough money to buy a computer, which was really what I wanted to do at the time. I hadn’t really anticipated it working out quite that well. Alexis: Before we get too far from this investment thing, I have to stop you here. Did you continue your wild investment streak? Greg: I have not continued my investment streak with that degree of success but I am a lifelong investor. That is true. Alexis: Okay, I just want to make sure because you can send me an email whenever you feel good about a toy company. Greg: I’m pretty sure that stuff would go directly to spam [chuckling]. Alexis: Alright, so you got your first computer. Greg: Yes, it was a TRS-80 core computer hooked up to my TV. That was how I got started. Fast forward a bit, graduated high school, I came out to California to go to school. I took a degree in Computer Science from Stanford which kept me out here. I did an internship with Apple my junior y

This week we talk with Solomon Hykes, creator and founder of Docker, the open source platform for distributed applications. Solomon discusses the shift from DotCloud to Docker, why you should trust your instincts, why a good product can survive surpris...

On this episode we talk with Brett Terpstra, the coder, author and web developer behind apps such as Marked 2 and nvALT, and podcasts including Systematic and Overtired. Brett discusses how he got his start, lessons he's learned from freelancing, why it's vital to share your work, the importance of choosing the right clients, and much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Brett Terpstra: Website, Twitter, GitHub Systematic Overtired Marked 2 nvALT Scrivener Ulysses Transcript Alexis: So Brett, thank you for coming on the podcast. Brett: My pleasure. Alexis: I don’t know exactly – well, I lied. I know exactly where to start, but I think there's a lot of ground to cover here. But before we get too far into things, we should say that Brett has a podcast called Systematic, and he also has one called Overtired. Go over there if you’ve got more time that you would like to fill with podcasts. I have to admit, I’ve only listened to Systematic, but when I first started listening, I went through about 40 episodes in a couple of days. Brett: It’s a fun one. Alexis: Yeah, 40 episodes in a couple of days is not something I regret, I tell you. Brett: [Chuckles] I would say that Overtired is almost a different audience. It’s more pop culture and completely 100% random. We never know what we’re going to talk about when we sit down. Alexis: No show notes? Brett: We’ll brainstorm for about five minutes before we start recording, whatever pops in our head, and just talk about it. That’s with Christina Warren and it’s really fun. Both of them are over at esn.fm now. Alexis: Anyway, let’s start from the beginning. How did you first start programming? Brett: My dad brought home a PC junior – that would have been ’83 or ’84 – and I was six at the time. He basically just let us play with it whenever he wasn’t doing drafting or spreadsheets. I figured out a little bit of BASIC and a little bit of Logo, and King’s Quest I and Jumpman, and got really into making computers do things. I was really fascinated with the idea of providing a series of commands that made something happen. Choices were limited back then or functionality was limited, but soon after you could program Lego with Logo and make robots and things, and that’s where it all started. Instantly, as soon as I had my

This week we talk with Jordan Weisman and Mitch Gitelman, co-founders of the game studio Harebrained Schemes. Jordan, the creator of Shadowrun, and Mitch discuss how they got their start, how they grew their business, and lessons learned from Kickstarting their games. They also cover why it's vital to identify what you're not good at, the importance of finding the right partner and much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Shadowrun: Hong Kong Kickstarter Harebrained Schemes: Website, Twitter Shadowrun Returns: Steam, Kickstarter, Google Play, App Store Shadowrun: Dragonfall -- Steam, Google Play, App Store Golem Arcana: Website, Kickstarter FASA BattleTech Center (video) Transcript Alexis: Before we get to Harebrained Schemes and even FASA, Jordan, why don’t you introduce yourself really quickly? Jordan: Sure. I’m Jordan Weisman. I’m both embarrassed and proud to say that I’ve been designing games for 35 years now and glad that my last job was as a paperboy. Since then I had to work for a living, so I enjoyed that very much. Do you want the whole –. Mitch: Brief bio thing? Jordan: The brief bio, this and then that? Alexis: Sure, let’s get a bit of an intro for Mitch and then we can dive into the history. Mitch: Okay. Hi, my name’s Mitch Gitelman and I’m the cofounder and studio manager of Harebrained Schemes. Let’s see – I’ve been making games since about 1993, started in paper and pencil role-playing games, which is where I met Jordan. From there, I moved on to video games where I started working on PlayStation 1 first wave title and did a whole bunch of really horrible games where I ended up working with Jordan on what became Crimson Skies at FASA Interactive. Then I went to Microsoft from there. Alexis: Alright. So how did this all get started for you, Jordan? How did you leave your job as a paperboy to decide, “You know, I want to make games”? Jordan: Let’s see – I wasn’t actually a paperboy; “paperboy” is a euphemism. I was a delivery boy for a drug store, actually. Mitch: Well that’s much better. Jordan: That drug store had delivery boys. Anyway, I had been a player of old Avalon Hill titles for a long time since I was a kid. I was working at a summer camp up in Wisconsin, got introduced to D&D the year it came out and that’s pretty much

This week we talk with Adam Atomic Saltsman, the video game designer behind Canabalt, Wurdle, Hundreds and Finji. Adam discusses tips for making game development businesses sustainable and why communication in teamwork is just as important as technical...

This week we talk with Brad Wardell, founder and CEO of Stardock, the software and game development company behind everything from Object Desktop to Sins of a Solar Empire and Galactic Civilizations. Brad discusses the importance of delayed gratification when building your business, how to distinguish between a hobby and a business, and the importance of location when recruiting talent. He also covers how he got his start, why cognitive dissonance kills more businesses than anything else, how to make sure partnerships are worth your while, and much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Brad Wardell: Twitter, Blog Stardock: Website, Twitter Object Desktop Sorcerer King Sins of a Solar Empire Galactic Civilizations: I, II, III Transcript Alexis: Brad, thank you for coming on the podcast. Brad: Oh, glad to be here! Alexis: So, as I’ve already introduced you in the intro as the head honcho over at Stardock, before we dive into Stardock let’s go back into your past and find out how you got into this whole programming mess. Brad: Oh yeah, well, it’s funny because I started Stardock in college – this was over 20 years ago – and the idea was to make a little bit on the side to pay for school. I was going to Western Michigan University to get a degree in Electrical Engineering and at the time what I would do is I’d build PCs put OS/2 on them. I was a big fan of Sid Meier’s Civilization, which had come out, but I wanted to make a space one. So I literally picked up Teach Yourself C in 21 Days and learned how to program and made Galactic Civilizations for OS/2 – this was back when I was still in the dorms. Alexis: Did this take longer than 21 days? I have a suspicion it did. Brad: Oh the game did, yes. Learning the basics of C enough took about three weeks to do. We did it pretty straightforward. Back then, especially the graphics requirements for sprites so you could draw your own graphics, put them on the screen, move them around – very easy compared to today. From there, the game did well, but we didn’t get paid. Our publisher didn’t pay us anything, but the game made Stardock well-known in the OS/2 world and from there I leveraged the awareness to start publishing third-party games and I made my own sequels. Alexis: What were some of the hurdles that you had to overcome in

This week we talk with David Helgason co-founder and former CEO of Unity Technologies, the company behind the wildly successful Unity game engine. David discusses how Unity got its start, how being responsive to your community is some of the best marketing possible, why he stepped down as CEO, and much more. He also answers questions from the Unity community, which cover everything from Unreal Engine to Linux support. A big thanks goes out to the Unity community and the fine folks at Reddit for contributing questions (one thread here, and another here)! Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Unity Unity 5 Unity Asset Store David on Twitter Unity Technologies on Twitter Transcript Alexis: David, thank you for coming on the podcast. David: Thanks for having me. Alexis: Absolutely! Now you are the co-founder and former CEO of Unity Technologies, the company behind the Unity game engine. I’m sure pretty much everybody who has listened to the podcast is familiar with it, but for folks that on the off chance aren’t, what is Unity? David: Sure. It’s a software platform that a lot of people use to make video games and other interactive experiences. It’s a game engine that lets you create attractive games for pretty much any platform very easily and then publish them to all these open channels – everything from PC, browser, iOS, Android, a number of other operating systems, but also game consoles, some smart TVs and some more niche-y things. Oh, I forgot Linux. It’s very broad and people use it for everything like really simple but beautiful things like Monument Valley up to really complex, advanced games like Dead Trigger 2 and stuff like that. Alexis: It’s funny that you mentioned other quirky things that Unity might be used for. We crowdsourced some questions from the Unity community, and one of them was “David, have you seen Unity used for any casino games?” [Chuckles] David: Sure. Alexis: And I thought, “Wow, that’s something.” David: My answer to that is basically if you can imagine it, I’d probably seen it [chuckling]. The thing is, over three million people have used our platform in the last few years. Every month, something like 700,000 people use it to create stuff. Many of them are big companies, big studios, but also a lot of smaller studios – tons of really tiny st

This week we talk with the creator of Ceph and co-founder of DreamHost, Sage Weil, as well as Ross Turk, VP of Marketing and Community at Inktank. Ceph is an open source distributed storage system and Inktank is the company created to support it, which was recently acquired by Red Hat. Sage and Ross discuss community building, the importance of keeping an open source project's brand separate from its supporting company, and using video chat for remote work. Sage also covers how he developed with web ring concept, why academic projects should make the jump to open source after graduation, and much more. Listen to the podcast in the player above, or click here to download it directly. Subscribe on iTunes or do so manually by using this RSS feed. Subscribe oniTunesPocketCastsStitcher Show notes Ceph Inktank BlueJeans DreamHost Transcript Alexis: So this week we have a very special episode because it is the first time the Binpress Podcast is hosting two guests at once. We’ve got Sage Weil and Ross Turk. They’re both involved with Ceph, and we’ll get into what exactly that is in a moment. Sage, how are you doing? Sage: Pretty good, how are you doing? Alexis: Quite well. I’m not going to say that I’m nervous about interviewing two people at once and trying to cram everything into an hour – no. I’m a professional podcaster and I will pull this off [chuckles]. Sage: Alright. Alexis: And Ross, how are you? Ross: I’m doing very well, thank you. Alexis: Let’s see. Where do we start? I guess this time it makes sense explaining what Ceph is and your involvement with it, and then well unravel things and work backwards. Who would like to take this? Ross: I think that should be you, Sage. Why don’t you go first? Sage: [Chuckles] Sure, alright. Ceph is an open source, distributed storage system. The idea is to take open source software and layer it on commodity hardware and have the same sort of storage features that you’d get out of something that would ordinarily cost a lot of money. You get the reliability from replicating data across lots of nodes, you get the performance and scalability that comes from that and you get a rich set of interfaces whether it’s object storage, block storage or file storage. Alexis: And Ceph is supposed to be incredibly fault-tolerant, even self-healing and it’s incredibly receptive to scaling, right? Sage: Mm-hm, that’s magic [chuckling]. Alexis: And it included a PhD thesis that we’ll hear about soon.

This week we talk with David D'Angelo of Yacht Club Games, the studio behind the game Shovel Knight. David covers the ins-and-outs of their Kickstarter campaign, the importance of YouTube for their success and how press plants the seed for word of mout...