Roland Piquepaille Dies 288
overheardinpdx writes "I'm sad to report that longtime HPC technology pundit Roland Piquepaille (rpiquepa) died this past Tuesday. Many of you may know of him through his blog, his submissions to Slashdot, and his many years of software visualization work at SGI and Cray Research. I worked with Roland 20 years ago at Cray, where we both wrote tech stories for the company newsletter. With his focus on how new technologies modify our way of life, Roland was really doing Slashdot-type reporting before there was a World Wide Web. Rest in peace, Roland. You will be missed." The notice of Roland's passing was posted on the Cray Research alumni group on Linked-In by Matthias Fouquet-Lapar. There will be a ceremony on Monday Jan. 12, at 10:30 am Paris time, at Père Lachaise.
Rest in Peace, rpiquepa (Score:5, Insightful)
It is also comforting to see a soul survive and prosper in a technological field and end up where they want to live blogging peacefully. I hope my own retirement and passing are similar instead of some of the mindless inane existences I know my ancestors have lived out in nursing homes and/or in front of a TV.
Know your limits (Score:2, Insightful)
While it is important to speak when you have something useful to say, it is as important to Shut The Fuck Up when you haven't.
Re:Know your limits (Score:5, Funny)
In honor of him, we should flood news sites with releases for this subject that redirect readers to a blog.
Re:Rest in Peace, rpiquepa (Score:5, Insightful)
Agree. While I didn't always like his choice of articles, he was one of us and I'm sorry to see him leave.
Slashdot (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't have them, and I'm not looking at this story again, because I'm grossed out by some of the folks here.
Re:Slashdot (Score:5, Informative)
4chan.
Yeah, definitely 4chan.
And of course here [darwinawards.com] where it's expected to laugh yer ass off.
A taste of Slashdot (Score:3)
"Its slashdot for God's sake. If you can't laugh at someone's death here where can you?"
I wonder if your mourners would mind if I laugh all the way through your eulogy?
Re:A taste of Slashdot (Score:5, Funny)
On slashdot?
I'd actually be very pleased if my death made it to the front page.
Re:A taste of Slashdot (Score:4, Funny)
Re:A taste of Slashdot (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Its slashdot for God's sake. If you can't laugh at someone's death here where can you?
You can't, and 4chan.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Slashdot (Score:5, Funny)
Moral bankruptcy was so 2008 - fiscal bankruptcy is all the rage in 2009!
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Rest in Peace, rpiquepa (Score:5, Interesting)
Agreed.
I was one of those folks who said bad stuff about his posts. If he read it I hope he didn't take it personally. He was a good guy and there's true bad things out there to have gotten riled up about instead. I am saddened by this news.
Re:Rest in Peace, rpiquepa (Score:5, Insightful)
This makes me sad. OK, I know that a lot of people on Slashdot didn't like rpiquepa, and I understand why. But truthfully, I never paid much attention to who submitted what, so I probably read hundreds of his articles. Am I a better person for being a little bit more informed? I think so.
And so are you. We're all just names on the internet to each other. Some of those names, like mine, are more or less anonymous. And some people, like Roland, use their real names on the internet. Are we mortal or not? Obviously, we are. One (more) of us is dead now.
What about our words, our ideas? When the checks to the hosting companies stop and their servers shut down, will our words- all that we really are to each other- not disappear? I'm just rambling. Good night, Slashdot. My condolences to Roland's family.
Re:Rest in Peace, rpiquepa (Score:5, Funny)
I don't know about that, but on Roland's approach St. Peter was heard to say "oh no, it's Roland".
Re:Rest in Peace, rpiquepa (Score:5, Funny)
No, actually St. Peter has no idea that Roland is coming. He was using an extension to block everything related to him.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
tagged ohnoitwasroland
Re:Translation: This is what he is trying to say. (Score:5, Insightful)
by lowering reader's estimation of how much Slashdot editors can be trusted.
Story submitters can't do that. It is the editors' jobs to separate the wheat from the chaff. Failure to do so is what reflects badly on the editors.
Re:Translation: This is what he is trying to say. (Score:5, Insightful)
Perhaps that was right, but Roland has earned a place in the slashdot community.
I had a good time tagging all of Roland's articles as "ohnoitsroland". It made my days more bearable, and everytime I saw his stories tagged already, I chuckled.
Roland was a traditional part of Slashdot (for good or bad), and even if only in the form of a meme, I will miss him.
Re:Translation: This is what he is trying to say. (Score:5, Insightful)
Roland might have been short on netiquette when he first started submitting stories to /., but once the community started to speak out against his copy-and-paste blog entries and use of other people's content to earn ad revenue, he stopped doing all that. all of his submissions of late have linked directly to the source article.
if anything, Roland has contributed greatly to the /. community by submitting a ton of excellent stories--even after he stopped earning ad revenue from submissions--and starting many interesting discussions. so he clearly cared more about /. as a thriving community with a rich online culture than just another business to be monetized. and if you're more worried about Slashdot's value as a business than its usefulness to its users (which is primarily from the discussions that follow each submission), then you clearly don't understand /. as well as Roland did.
your blatant hyperboles and baseless accusations are more dishonest than Roland has ever been. and i doubt you will ever make as great of a contribution to the /. community as he has.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Hey rude boy, you might try "Vaya con dios" next time.
You'll still sound like an asshole, but at least like an educated asshole!
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Hey rude boy, you might try "Vaya con dios" next time.
You'll still sound like an asshole, but at least like an educated asshole!
Agreed, but for Roland, one should say, "Allez avec Dieu."
adieu (Score:4, Informative)
Just one word.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I have no idea why everyone thought the world would collapse when he linked to a blog with ads from a site that amounts to a blog with ads. I found it quaint and charming, but then again I'm not one to RTFA. Which is another point, if no one reads TFA why make such a fuss about the links? I think it's just weak people trying to feel bigger by insulting people, just like the schoolyard any excuse will do.
Rest in peace (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Rest in peace (Score:5, Informative)
Years ago, perhaps. That hasn't been true in a long time, however.
Re:Rest in peace (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't bother bringing truth or reason to Slashdot. There's a large contingent of users on this site who seem to have the same amount of religious fervor as your average born-again evangelical, just for a different set of causes.
I'm not sure if I respect loving Jesus or hate Roland less.
Re:Rest in peace (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Rest in peace (Score:5, Insightful)
There was a period when it was common to see 1/3 to 1/2 of the stories on the front page from Roland, and the stories linking to brief summaries on his own blog rather than to the original article. I can only assume it was a comment on that period.
Re:Rest in peace (Score:4, Funny)
Mere death won't stop him from posting
Re:Rest in peace (Score:5, Funny)
You got that right!
Re:Rest in peace (Score:5, Funny)
I checked his grave, and there was just a link to a different grave with someone else's corpse.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Rest in peace (Score:5, Funny)
When you see death walking up the path to your door, start typing fast.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Rest in peace (Score:5, Insightful)
It's very fitting that news of his passing is in the Meta catagory because his submissions were like a Slashdot within a Slashdot. I like the fact that he, like NYCL, wasn't above actually kickin' it with us and participating in discussions. He also made the occasional funnie as well. RIP RP!
Re:Rest in peace (Score:5, Insightful)
Originally, most of the posts attributed to him provided links directly to his blog rather than to the original source. Once there, you were greeted by a summary that bordered very closely on, what many people considered, outright plagiarism. This, along with the sheer number of times the slashdot editors posted his submissions, caused a lot of slashdot readers to conclude that he was "stealing" stories to generate hits so he could profit from advertising. There was also question of whether there was some kind of improper favoritism going on between Roland and the Slashdot editors.
Personally, I doubt there was any overt quid-pro-quo between Roland and Slashdot. I think he was just a conveniently consistent source of new stories for the editors. As far as the supposed stealing of stories went, he responded relatively quickly by not linking to his own blog most of the time and by providing the summaries in more of his own words. This resolved any potential I, personally, might have had.
However, since then, there has always been a decent amount of eye rolling every time a story was posted with Roland as the source. This is why you see the "ohnoitsroland" meta tag. I think it's probably in jest, though maybe not the most tactful joke.
I would also like to join the people offering condolences to Roland's friends and family for his loss. Regardless of what some people may have thought of his posting style, it's a tragedy when a loved one is lost and my sympathy is with them.
In memoriam (Score:5, Interesting)
http://slashdot.org/tags/ohnoitsroland [slashdot.org]
Re:In memoriam (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Prophetic, nothin'! I am SOOOO tagging this article 'diekdawsondie'!
(It's a joke. It's funny. Laugh.)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
News flash: you're going to die someday too.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
What happens to... (Score:4, Insightful)
...his blog? Or for that matter, his email account?
Re:What happens to... (Score:5, Informative)
The "Roland Piquepaille" account is a troll.
The actual Roland's account, as mentioned in the story, was "rpiquepa".
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
>The actual Roland's account, as mentioned in the story, was "rpiquepa".
You expect /.ers to RTFA?
You must be new here.
Re: (Score:2)
Does that mean we should get rid of the troll account or the person that uses it?
No Need for Insult (Score:5, Funny)
Roland was really doing Slashdot-type reporting before there was a World Wide Web.
Now, Now... there's no need to insult the guy at this point.
Re:No Need for Insult (Score:5, Funny)
Its pretty sad I came here just to post that exact joke. Ronald's passing has opened my eyes on how unoriginal I am. Thank you sir, that is the greatest gift of all.
Re:No Need for Insult (Score:5, Funny)
Who the fuck is Ronald?
Hmmm (Score:4, Funny)
Oh No, Not Roland! (Score:2)
Sad news. His postings were a lot better... (Score:5, Insightful)
... than all the slashdotcynicalwhining that pervades the board.
He'll definitely be missed by some of us.
Oi. (Score:5, Insightful)
You know, over the years I've read Slashdot, I got the impression Roland was one of those stereotypical "needs a life" /. posters from all the people complaining about him. Then this happens and I find out that, well, he had a life, and worked at some interesting companies back in the day.
Best wishes to all Roland's people, and at the same time I'm glad that complaining about him from the other basement dwellers is going to stop before too long.
Re:Oi. (Score:5, Insightful)
Just goes to show, live life well until the end because odds are you'll be remembered for the last thing you did, not the first.
Re:Oi. (Score:5, Funny)
Which means that if you do something awesome, you should never try do anything else, ever.
slashdot^2 (Score:5, Interesting)
i'll miss his blog. biotech, computers, physics ... it was slashdot^2 ... to bad he had to close down comments a few years ago due to abuse.
he was thinking ahead of his time. i would like to be that anticipating at that age.
Well, this proves... (Score:2, Funny)
Apparently its not just his blog links that resulted in a DEAD END.
Too soon?
Wikipedia (Score:3, Insightful)
Articles about him have been deleted over and over again most recently in 2007.
Is he really just "A french blogger known for frequently posting articles to the technical website Slashdot that primarily linked back to his own technica" or "a fellow who makes a lot of money on ads by getting his crappy stories linked constantly on Slashdot" [link] [wikipedia.org] or is he notable enough outside of the blogger/Slashdot community to make an article?
I know it's tempting, but please don't go making an article about him before you read Wikipedia's notability requirements for people [wikipedia.org].
Sincerely,
Anonymous Coward Wikipedian
Roland Piquepaille - Mod Him Way Up, IMHO (Score:5, Interesting)
I liked his whit, and charming methods of describing things to the readers of this website. He truly embodied what can best be described one of the pioneers of the Slashdot effect. Some people trolled him pretty hard, but he was and will always be remembered as interesting, insightful, funny and underrated.
Roland, may the god(s) of whatever religion you believed in, forever mod you up.
RIP, bro.
Re: (Score:2)
True to form, even the announcement of his passing has a link to his blog.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I know this is off topic but it's worth mentioning... this is the first time in several years where I've seen a post by any of you sub 1000 (non-rob) UID folks that has content and isn't about the ahem size of your UID.
(not that I mean to rip on you guys or say that you don't make posts that I just don't see, but it is just such an infrequent occurrence in my view to be worth noting) ... and I will wait patiently for some 56 user to make a non-witty, meaningful post to prove me wrong :)
Yeah... bout that UID. (Score:4, Interesting)
Sorry to disappoint you, but -- inb4 "He Bought it on Ebay."
I first visited Slashdot when UIDs were in the low 1000's, so I have a lot of time invested in this website. I've read plenty of Rolly's posts and while I didn't agree with all of them, I always enjoyed his perspective.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
We'll miss you, you git (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, parent post sums up my feelings.
Is there a named cognitive bias (or something similar) for suddenly liking and missing someone who was universally considered a git prior to his passing?
If there is not a name for this, there should be. Maybe call it the Roland Effect, in honor of a man who may well have been less of a git and more important to my world than I had realized before.
Re:We'll miss you, you git (Score:5, Informative)
Well, there's always the old Latin saw: De mortuis nisi nil bonum "Of the dead [say] nothing but good"
Re:We'll miss you, you git (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know about a named condition, but to paraphrase the (alleged) F.D.R. quote, he may have been a git, but he was our git.
R.I.P. Roland.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Is there a named cognitive bias (or something similar) for suddenly liking and missing someone who was universally considered a git prior to his passing? Because that's what happening to Slashdot right now, including me a bit.
Yes.
De mortuis nil nisi bonum.
Latin for: Speak nothing but good of the dead.
Ironic? (Score:2)
Isn't it ironic that the Slashdot submission itself has a bunch of links to other websites in it, Roland style? /RIP and all that, click-harvester
Jon Katz (Score:5, Funny)
Is breathing a sigh of relief that he escaped Slashdot alive.
ohnoitsroland (Score:2)
Maybe the "ohnoitsroland" tag should be retired in his honor?
Should have been submitted by Ron... (Score:2)
In clear violation of standard posting practice I think the Slashdot editors should have posted it as if by him.
A certain amount of symmetry.
It's so terribly, terribly sad... (Score:2)
Oh, woe...woe! The Grim Click-Harvester has claimed yet another life.
In a truly ironic twist of fate... (Score:2, Funny)
All the advertising I usually see on a /. story is coming up with a "404 - Not Found".
RIP, Roland.
I thought that was a nom du plum (Score:2)
who knew that was his real name?
R.I.P. (Score:2)
R.I.P, Roland. You will be missed, even if I didn't agree with you on everything.
Um, how? (Score:2)
Not once in the summary or in any of the comments did it mention what he died from. Cancer? Heart attack? Eaten by a grue? OD huffing kittens?
How did the man die, anyway?
Re:Um, how? (Score:4, Informative)
No offense (Score:3, Insightful)
But pretty much everyone here hated his linkjacking ass, even threatening to boycott the site. I can remember threads calling him the worst of the worst, and for a time, he was. To steal others content and pass it off as your own is real intellectual property theft. Especially when you make advertising money from it!! To see everyone get all two faced and misty eyed now that he has died is pretty unreal. Its like everyone feels guilty somewhat. He linkjacked all his content, and everybody dies. I really dont see what saying RIP does for anyone except the person that says it. My guess is that people are trying to say "im sorry".
Whats next, jon katz found dead and we build him a monument?
Hopefully I dont get bitchslapped for insulting a slashdot "celebrity", but someone has to tell it like it was
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Perhaps many of us misunderstood Roland ... (Score:4, Insightful)
There were submissions from Roland that I thought pointless and absurd, but he also submitted some fascinating stuff.
It occurs to me now that Roland was "in love" ( in a manner of speaking) with science. And this is probably why he behaved as he did. He wanted to share that which he loved with the rest of us.
Whether the guy is dead or not, it's hard to hold someone's essentially harmless passion against them. If anything, the world would be a better place if there were more curious and passionate people.
Finally, I remain utterly amazed that he could manage to assimilate and pass on so much information, and if he really did do it all by himself ( I used to suspect he had a few interns or something ) then he must have been quite a guy.
Truly (Score:5, Funny)
He'll be missed.
But honestly, his death should have been reported via a link to his blog that would THEN link to the page discussing his death.
Only a fitting tribute.
It must be true... (Score:4, Funny)
I checked to see who submitted and it wasn't Roland. I would think that this being Slashdot he would have set up a dead-man-switch to make that submission himself.
It would be only fitting.
RIP Roland.
It's a bit like (Score:5, Insightful)
The old guy in your local bar. You'd be in there regularly, and there he'd be, holding forth at anybody who'd give him the time of day. You'd make for the other side of the bar, grateful that he'd collared some wet-behind-the-ears Johnny-come-lately rather than yourself, because you'd been there enough times before. He'd be chuntering on in the background and you'd pay him little heed.
And then one day you come into the bar and he isn't there, and you hear he'd passed away, and you realise that you'd miss the old bastard. Because people like that add colour to the world, and what is this life without characters to enrich it, whether you actually like them or not?
That was Roland for me - I'd come here and I'd see an article submitted by him and there'd be some generally good-natured muttering about his modus operandi. Some people clearly didn't like him, but the truth is I couldn't tell you who any of those people are. But if you asked me to name five people who post on Slashdot, he'd be one of them.
So by that measure alone, I for one will miss him, and I think Slashdot will be the poorer for his passing.
Here's to Roland, and to making a difference in any way you can.
Well, he's not here to read the comments. (Score:4, Insightful)
Why is it we only show up for peoples' weddings and funerals? Do they have to hook up psuedo-permanently with a gal/guy or be in a casket before we'll take the time out of our busy lives to see them?
So, for all those who miss him in requiem - treat the living, give them as much charity, forgive their trespasses, and appreciate their good qualities while they are still around to hear it.
R.I.P. anyway.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't know, I had a pretty good greasemonkey script that got rid of his submissions. When I first saw this story, I quickly checked to see if greasemonkey was disabled somehow. My first thought, WTF? How did that get there? Please tell me he has not changed something to get around the filter!
Sorry that he died, don't wish death on anyone... well, not most people anyway. Won't miss the stories either... I haven't been reading them, so not much affect.
Re:I think I speak for all of us when... (Score:5, Interesting)
You certainly don't speak for me, Anonymous Coward.
R.I.P. Roland.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
On the contrary, he very rarely seemed to understand what he was reporting about, making overly optimistic and far reaching speculations about trivial matters.
I was surprised just now to learn that he was actually so technically inclined.
Re:Wait a second (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Wait a second (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Wait a second (Score:5, Funny)
Ok now THAT makes me doubt this is real.
Re:Wait a second (Score:5, Funny)
Kdawson made the phone calls to confirm this before posting it.
What is netcrafts phone number?
Re:Wait a second (Score:5, Informative)
Oh, no, Roland is no more...
http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=1138 [zdnet.com]
It is with great sadness to tell you that our Emerging Technologies blogger Roland Piquepaille has passed away suddenly. His wife Suzanne just confirmed his passing.
Roland, 62, was one of our most passionate bloggers and his ability to explain complex science well was something to behold. Roland spent most of his career in software, mainly for high performance computing and visualization companies, working for example for Cray Research and Silicon Graphics. He left the corporate world in 2001 after 33 years and jumped into blogging.
Roland passed away Monday in Paris. He was hit with a digestive virus that lead to a high fever and health complications beyond that. Suzanne said that the doctors are still trying to quantify how Roland got the virus and the exact details. We spent the last few hours confirming Roland's passing as word began to spread. It has been a rough year for the ZDNet family.
There will be a ceremony held on Monday. Rest in peace Roland, we'll miss you. Suzanne said that Roland had a few posts in the pipeline and wanted them published. If she is able to pull them from Roland's PC we'll put them on his blog to complete his record.
Re:I will not miss him (Score:5, Informative)
Actually I will. His reporting improved significantly from his early blogging days, so much so that I often did not notice that the story submitted here on Slashdot was from Roland unless the "oh no its Roland" tag appeared. I think this became more of a good natured ribbing rather than slighting him personally. I also subscribed to the nascent "oh yeah it's Roland" tag movement a couple of months back. Now that he is gone, I really do miss him. Rest in peace, friend.
Here is more details about his death [zdnet.com], which appears to be a fast moving gastrointestinal virus.
Re: (Score:2)