Shocking News

It's been a while since I posted anything on this blog, and I wish my return was the result of better circumstances but no such luck: my position at Sun Microsystems has been eliminated, and as a result I have been let go. It is ironic that the European Union's lengthy delay in approving the Oracle-Sun acquisition gave the Project Darkstar team and community such a long, uninterrupted stretch of time to make some unbelievable progress towards our goals. However, once the deal did finally close, the decision had already been made that Oracle will discontinue investing resources in the project, and so here I am: newly unemployed.

I must say that the shock and disbelief of learning that you've been laid off is a predictably emotional time. Of course I didn't think it would happen to me, but it did: proof that job security is all but an illusion. They say losing your job is like dealing with any other type of loss, which is absolutely true. Knowing this doesn't make it any easier though. Despite this difficult situation, however, I have received nothing but support from my family, friends, colleagues and even people who were previously just casual acquaintances. Thank you to everyone who has been there so far; I know for a fact I'll come out the other side of this a strong person.

As for my future, and the future of Project Darkstar? Well both are uncertain. I have already started ramping up and preparing for a full scale job search in the hope that I will find something even better than the best job I've ever had. In terms of Project Darkstar, a core group of former members of the team have already started exploring alternative ways to keep the project going. This includes both potential for-profit and volunteer efforts to carry out the original mission objectives laid out years ago. At the very least, after getting myself organized, I personally intend to continue working on the project on a part-time basis during my job search and hopefully beyond. More details to come...