I was in Russia last week to speak at Interop Moscow 2006. As an American who’s old enough to remember duck and cover, it was an experience indeed. Growing up, the Kremlin would have been the last place I’d ever thought I’d get a chance to see, that is, if I’d thought about such things back then (most kids don’t, and I was no exception, being too busy thinking about important things like baseball and computers). After the conference, I did get that chance to see the Kremlin and other Moscow sights with fellow speakers Jon “maddog” Hall, Federico Biancuzzi, and Raoul Chiesa.

Speaking of being a kid and computers, I also had the opportunity to meet Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple Computer. I was first introduced to computers when my father replaced his typewriter at work with an Apple II in 1981 or so, thought I might find it interesting, and brought it home to show me. Needless to say, it captured my imagination, first with the games, then with the idea that I could make it do my bidding with a little study and a lot of tinkering, and I’ve been hooked ever since. So, as I had a chance to tell the Woz firsthand, I literally do what I do because of his Apple II.

I took plenty of pictures, but as usual, I don’t like most of them. The ones I don’t end up throwing out will be appearing in my Flickr photostream over the next few days.