Ryan Resella

What 2011 Means to me

This framed print sits in my room and I see it everyday when I wake up.

2011 has been an absolutely amazing year in my life. I’ve said many times throughout this year that it has been the best year of my life so far. Usually as each year ends I’m ready to move onto to the next one with a fresh start. There are always things that a new year brings, chances to start over and chances to start again. For the first time in my life I don’t want 2011 to end because of what a great year it has been.

At the end of 2010 I quit my great job in Santa Clarita and left the town that I grew up in, my home. I stepped out and took one of the biggest chances in my life to go and work at a first year organization named Code for America. I wrote all about the experience half way through and was featured here.

I had no idea where 2011 was going to take me. When it started I couldn’t even imagine how much I accomplished, learned, and traveled. Learning was such a big factor this year. Learning to love programming again by learning Ruby on Rails and contributing to open source software. Learning to say what you mean and be confident in the decision that you make. Learning that waiting to say something isn’t always the best thing. I can’t believe the new friendships that were created. I also have such a different view of the world living outside of Santa Clarita.

2011 Photography Year in Review

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

The past few years I’ve decided to start goal setting and writing them down on this blog. Some of the goals have been more general but I’ve been tending more to tangible goals that I can check off a list. I set out these goals last year in this blog post

Let’s go through the 10 of these and see how I did this year:

1. Make the most out of 2011 with Code for America Success - I would say that I made the most out of this experience

2. Enjoy the changes of 2011 and San Francisco Success - San Francisco is a town that is easy to fall in love with. It’s different than any other city that you will find in the US.

3. Go to an LA Kings game in a different arena Success - Went to the LA Kings game against the NY Islanders in February.

4. Go to hockey game at a different arena Success - Went to the Boston Bruins vs Detroit Red Wings game at Boston Garden in February.

5. Blog more Success - although this one is hard to measure

6. Make it Vegas once this year Success - I made it twice this year

7. Learn to save money Failure - I’m going to say I failed on this one

8. Go to a Giants vs Dodgers game in SF Success - going to a Giants vs Dodgers game in SF is a tough one

9. Take more photos Undetermined - I don’t know how many photos I took the year before so its hard to measure.

10. Find a job at the end of November Success - I did it before the end of November!

As I look back on this year and think of what could have been. It could have been a year of regret had I not moved to San Francisco this year and done Code for America. It could have been more difficult without the constant support of my friends and family though out this year.

It makes me think of this Steve Jobs quote - “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

There are so many things that I will remember about 2011. The biggest thing that stands out in my mind of course is Code for America. I’m so glad for the choices I made to join this organization and also join the organization as a staff member. When I left my job in 2005 and then again in 2010 they have all been life changing choices. Winning Apps for Communities was also one of the biggest accomplishments of 2011 for me. Finishing 8th place for Techno Finder in Apps for Chicago.

I went to three different MLB ball parks this year: SF Giants Stadium, Camden Yards in Baltimore, and Nationals Park in DC. I traveled to the cities of Boston, New York, Manchester in New Hampshire, Washington DC, Raleigh, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Palm Springs, San Diego, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. I inadvertently almost flew somewhere each month this year. A goal that I had for myself a few years ago and missed it by 2 months. This year I missed it by 1 month. I also got to speak at a conference this year for the first time in my life. I’m sure there are so many more things here that I missed that I did this year. None of these things woud have happened had I stayed in Santa Clarita.

It’s going to be hard to top 2011 but I’m going to set some goals for myself in 2012. I found that in 2011 many of them could be accomplished. What I learned this year is that it’s okay to create a goal that you cannot meet. If you accomplish all your goals in one year are you shooting to low?

Go to an LA Kings game in an arena I haven’t been to

Go to an NHL game in an arena I haven’t been to

Go to an NBA game at Oracle arena (hopefully a Laker game)

Go to Mardi Gras!

Have another successful year at Code for America

Travel more

Vacation more

Explore San Francisco more

Date more?

Win another apps contest

Move into the City

As 2011 ends and 2012 begins I’ll end this with another Steve Jobs quote - “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Happy New Year! I hope that 2012 brings another wonderful year of prosperity!

The Story of Yakb.us

During the summer I entered this apps contest called Apps for Communities.

“The Knight Foundation and the FCC challenge you to develop a software application (app) that delivers personalized, actionable information to people that are least likely to be online. Using hyper-local government and other public data you should develop an app that enables Americans to benefit from broadband communications — regardless of geography, race, economic status, disability, residence on Tribal land, or degree of digital or English literacy — by providing easy access to relevant content.”

Why did I build this application?

I lived in Southern California my whole life and never depended on public transportation. Southern California is a very car heavy dependant area to live in. This year when I moved to San Francisco for the Code for America Fellowship. I heavily relied on the BART to take me to our office in SoMa. At the BART station there are boards that quickly show when the next train is going to arrive. I learned soon after that there were many mobile applications developed for the BART that would show when the next train would arrive. I could easily look on my phone or the computer and see when I should leave the office so I wouldn’t have to wait on the platform to long before the next train.

I spent the month of February in Boston as part of our city residency. Again in this city had to rely heavily on public transportation. MBTA had a different approach for their subway, there were no digital boards that displayed the read out for the next arrivals. MBTA had opened their data up and allowed developers to build applications.

Having worked for the City of Santa Clarita i knew that there was a real time transit information system in place for Santa Clarita Transit. I just never knew what to do with it or how to implement the information. A former coworker had found the API end points for me and I was able to start working with them. I built the Connexionz Ruby gem to interface with the API. I did some more research and found that other people had built an iPhone and Android app that uses that API. I wanted to learn more about how to send and receive SMS with an API. I had a thought of texting the 5 digit bus stop number to the phone number and the API returning the next arrival times.

I prototyped the application using the Ruby gem that I built, Sinatra and SMSified. This simple application is available here on Github connexionz-sms

As I thought more and more about the application, I wanted it to impact more people. What would be the easiest way to reach people riding the bus who don’t have smart phones or computers. I added the voice component to the application and expanded the text messaging portion. I did some more research and found that Arlington, VA and Charlottesville, VA both used the same Connexionz API. I provisioned two different phone numbers for those areas and added them to the application. All of this was built using Ruby, Sinatra and the Tropo platform.

That’s how the idea of Yakb.us was born.

I never imagined that I would win this national contest. This simple application was developed to bridge the gap between citizens and government services. To help people quickly find the next arrival time simply by using the text messaging on their phone or dialing a number.

I cannot believe how much press has been out there:

The White House blog site - http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/12/15/opening-local-data-prize-inspired-apps

The Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/bus-arrival-times-homeless-services-job-ads-fcc-challenge-creates-apps-for-that/2011/12/15/gIQAbRWXwO_story.html

The City of Santa Clarita website - http://www.santa-clarita.com/Index.aspx?page=133&recordid=721&returnURL=%2findex.aspx

The San Jose Mercury News - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fccdotgov/6521822055/

As I think about this more, had I never went to Code for America this year I would have never had the technical skills or thought to build this application.

2011 Code for America Summit

Last week was the first ever Code for America Summit. The summit was a two day long event that took place here in San Francisco. The summit brought together 2011 and 2012 Fellows along with 2011 and 2012 cities. We also had many of our supporters and leaders in the civic space.

This first ever Code for America summit was a chance to share what we had learned over the last year as well as show off what we had built.

The summit was two amazing and inspiring days. I enjoyed every panel discussion and every speaker that was on stage. Two moments stuck out to me during this summit. The first was watching each Fellow demo their respective projects. It was so great to see each Fellow talk about their project with so much passion and enthusiasm. I had seen all these projects all year long but was still blown away by each of the fellows delivering such passion into their presentation and demo.

The second part of the summit that I’ll remember for ever is the end of day 1 watching Clay Johnson deliver and inspiring talk. It’s a touching reminder of all the work that everyone has done at Code for America this year and the years leading up to our first class. “It’s not about the apps” it’s about a culture change in government that I hope people will continue to see. I’ll never forget the slide with the koolaid man busting through the wall.

Oddly I think this was the image used: Clay had explained that being the first one to go through the wall gets bloodied. Everyone who follows through that wall it’s much easier for them. This was related to the first year of Code for America. Everyone who was a part of Code for America this year, from staff to fellows, to our partners went through the wall and were so it would be easier for everyone in the future.

I’ve been glad to be a part of this organization this year it’s been amazing.

I’ll never forget where I was…

Wednesday October 5, 2011 when I read the news that Steve Jobs had passed away. I was at our office in Code for America sitting in the Ben Franklin room. Listening to Whitehouse CTO Aneesh Chopra talk about a bunch of new open data initiatives along with other technology people such as Tim O’Reilly and Craig Newmark.

I stood in the back of the room on photography duty. Scrolling through Twitter on my iPhone 4 I saw a tweet 2 minutes ago.. that said - @abc7: #BREAKINGNEWS: Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs has died. My Twitter stream began to flood with this news and I instantly turned to the coworker next to me and showed him my phone. He proceeded to look up the information on his Mac and I moved over to the next coworker and showed him the news.

You don’t have to be an Apple fan boy to realize the impact that Steve Jobs has made in the technology world. At 56 years his life is filled with amazing achievements but also many failures. If it weren’t for those failures the products that he inspired wouldn’t be as innovative as they are today.

I spent most of the afternoon reading through tweets and stories about the legacy of Steve Jobs. Many of them fascinated me about a story of a person who was given up for adoption, didn’t graduate college, was fired from the company that he cofounded. Yet, through all the challenges he never gave up on his passions and dreams. He continued to take challenges and move forward and keep innovating.

I grew up tinkering with computers and having a passion for technology. I’m deeply saddened today by the loss of such a great innovator that is Steve Jobs. His innovations changed technology for the better. The first Apple product that I ever owned was in 2005 a white 20 gig iPod. Mp3 players were just getting popular and I was trying to decide which one to purchase. My younger brother had been sold on Apple products for many years and convinced me to get the iPod. Ever since then I had been hooked on Apple products. I don’t even want to count the amount of Apple products I have, but I had the original iPhone and I type this blog post on a Macbook Pro while I wait for iOS 5 to install from my Mac Mini onto my iPad.

It’s not just the Apple products that Steve Jobs was responsible for. Let’s not forget that major movie studio Pixar. I can’t forget when I saw the first ever full length computer animated movie in theaters - Toy Story. Some of my favorite movies are Pixar movies and that’s a legacy that will not be forgotten.

As I browsed through the web today I found this quote from President Barrack Obama pretty profound:

“Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it. By building one of the planet’s most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. Because he did, he transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world. The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to Steve’s wife Laurene, his family, and all those who loved him.”

It’s true as I read the news of Steve Jobs passing on my iPhone. Steve Jobs is a symbol of what is possible in America. It’s possible to have an idea and change the world.

If you haven’t seen Steve Jobs 2005 Commencement speech it’s worth a watch.

It makes me wonder what those Stanford Graduates in 2005 were thinking at the time and where they are now and what they are thinking.

There are two amazing quotes in this commencent speech that really stick out to me - “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

This one also: “I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

“Don’t settle.”

With less than 7 weeks left this year in the Code for America Fellowship these words resonate loud and clear with me right now. There is a whole world out there to go and change. We may never see another technology visionary such as Steve Jobs in our lifetime, but thanks to him we can play in the world that he imagined for us. We can dream big and not settle.