Tomorrow, this very website turns 15 years old.
Old-school readers will remember 512 Pixels’ original name, ForkBombr. I bought the domain from my friend Kevin for a couple of slices of pizza, as I thought the programming joke was pretty clever.
I don’t have many screenshots from those early days, but I managed to find this one in my archives. It’s from the development phase of the first version of the blog, so don’t worry, the logo ended up a good bit smaller by the time the site went live.
(2008 was a very different time.)
In the past 15 years, I’ve published nearly 11,000 articles, had three children, changed jobs twice, started a podcast network and have helped raise $2.5 million for St. Jude. I’ve forged lifelong friendships and have been lucky enough to build things that people truly care about.
Through it all, I try to live up to what I wrote in my very first entry:
Don’t suck.
With that phrase, one of my mentors has repeatedly set me straight. And with that phrase, I’m launching ForkBombr.
In hindsight, that wasn’t the most helpful advice I’ve ever received, but it was simple enough that it still bounces around in my head. Not sucking means caring about the details no one will ever see. It means being thoughtful about the work and humble when it isn’t good enough. Sometimes, it requires turning down sponsors who aren’t a good fit or knowing when a project isn’t working out.
In that original post, I linked to a post from Merlin Mann, and now I get to call him a colleague and a friend. In fact, I get to work with a bunch of my Internet heroes thanks to Relay. Getting to do this full-time for eight years and running is a true honor.
My podcasting partner Myke Hurley has not only helped me improve my craft, but has made me a better person. My wife Merri has been nothing but patient and supportive as I’ve worked to take my hobby and turn it into a sustainable business.
The success of this blog, my podcasts and Relay FM itself all astound me. Yes, I work hard, and sometimes I care way too much, but it’s all of you who have made this possible.
So thank you. Thank you for letting my support my family by talking about computers on the Internet. Thank you for the fantastic ride that has landed me (quite literally) in Cupertino this week. My career has ended up in a place far more wonderful than I ever would have guessed back when I installed my first copy of WordPress at 22 years old.