I haven’t blogged since joining Google 5 years ago. Its crazy how fast time flies. I moved back to Alameda from San Francisco and got involved in local civic action in my town. I also took over the largest FB group in town called Alameda Peeps.

One of things I’m doing now is advocating for a local ballot prop/measure called Measure Z. It’s important to me for a whole lot of personal reasons.

As part of that I wrote an letter to the editor for the local paper:

One of the questions we require before allowing anyone to join the Alameda Peeps Facebook group is, “Do you currently live in Alameda?”.

Too many responses are of people displaced from Alameda because of high rents wanting to move back. Sometimes it’s people who work in Alameda, teachers, baristas, and city employees who can’t afford the skyrocketing rents but still feel part of this community.

I’m so grateful to own a...

Seriously apps. This is my space and you are trespassing.

I don’t mind after I install your app that you add a menu while you are running.

I don’t mind you sticking around up there if there is an expectation that you have some usefulness running in the background for me (IM clients, syncing tools, quick access to hardware features, etc).

But what I can’t stand is you moving in unannounced and not giving me an easy preference or option to kill your damn icon. It seems the most useless apps and features (usually bundled with other bigger apps like updaters) are also the ones that seem to want to move in. I have no use for you so why the hell do I have to look at you?

I’m looking at you:

• Adobe Updater Icon - removal instructions
• Google Chrome Notification Icon - complaints and removal instructions
• Google Music Manager
• Dozens of other menu bar apps in the Mac AppStore

...

It’s a strange kind of responsibility. Going to conferences and hackathons, slinging what you do to devs and prospective customers, maybe getting them to use your API or SDK, hoping they will remember you when they do that next project, and maybe find a good lead from that dev that can use you today. We also hold office hours and meetups and encourage everyone to come by. There is also bit of recruiting in there as well when you find the really exceptional devs using your product.

That’s pretty much it. You are pretty much a representative and face of your company, expert in all things technical. On top of that you are the liaison of sales, support, and on some level the marketing message of your company. Everyone I meet I try to follow up and get in contact with the right in my company.

At Apportable, we develop a product that is specifically tailored for devs and companies to make...