Byrne Reese on BookQueueToo and QuickLink

Byrne Reese is our product manager for TypePad, but he's also a true geek whom you might know from his work on such fan-favorite Perl modules as SOAP::Lite.

Byrne's just released two new Movable Type plugins, QuickLink and his updated version of BookQueueToo, so it seemed like a good chance to interview him about Six Apart, his code, and blogging in general.

Let's start with some background: What were you doing before joining Six Apart? How did you start being a geek?

I think my friends will tell you I have always been a geek. But I would say that my true hacker like geek-dom began when I took an interest with a close friend of mine in computer programming. Inspired by our favorite game producer Infocomm, we started writing our own text adventure games when we were just wee-hackers. That interest soon evolved into writing increasingly more and more complex applications for fun, for school, and ultimately professionally.

Most recently and prior to Six Apart, I was fortunate to work for Grand Central Communications, pioneers in the Web services arena. I started my 4 year stint there by writing the company's first Web services. Eventually, my involvement with Web services at Grand Central would lead me to contribute to the SOAP::Lite project; little did I know that my contributions would ultimately result in my taking over that project.

But what has always motivated me as a software engineer, as a project manager, program manager, and now as a product manager is one simple thing: good products. And it was that passion that led me to where I am today: Six Apart.

You've made a plugin, BookQueueToo, that lets bloggers share their media habits with their readers. TypePad has a similar feature, TypeLists, that's also about discussing books and music and all the other media we consume. Why do you think people are so interested in talking about what they read?

I think what motivates each person is always a little bit different. What puzzles me, however, is why do people keep books around after they have read them and when they know they will not read them again? I am certainly guilty of this, and I ashamed to say that I think the reason for this slightly irrational behavior is simple: pride. I personally like to keep a trophy of the books I read. And that's why I started using the original BookQueue: to keep a kind of "virtual bookshelf" on my blog.

But that is me. Other users of BookQueueToo like to discuss the books they read among family, friends, co-workers, and often complete strangers. Others could conceivably use it to maintain a virtual store front. But like MovableType, the great thing about BookQueueToo is that how it is used is limited only by people's imaginations.

What's the most interesting thing you've learned since joining Six Apart? What surprises you about working here?

What surprises me most is just how connected everyone here is. And I believe that is a natural consequence of everyone here blogging so often. The communities, friendships, and connections people have forged by sheer virtue of sharing their thoughts and ideas with the outside world is quite extraordinary. I think is speaks profoundly to the power of blogging and social networking.

But there is something else that I didn't entirely anticipate: the people here are incredibly creative. Which make sense when you think about how many of them actively blog, moblog, take photos, program, write, and you-name-it. It is a privilege to be surrounded by so many creative minds - not only am I constantly exposed to new things, but their creativity is also the heart behind the success of our products.

Your Movable Type plugins take advantage of some of the new features in Movable Type 3.1. What's possible now that you couldn't do in MT 2.x?

The biggest feature for me was the addition of plugin actions that allowed me to register links within the MovableType main menu so that people's BookQueue's are more easily accessed and configured. MT 3.x also provided a handy way to communicate to users that BookQueueToo was successfully installed by having it registered on the active plugin list. The same mechanism also made it easy for bloggers to access the plugin's documentation and configuration options. Bottom line, BookQueueToo feels more and more like a seamless extension of the MovableType core, and exemplifies the power of MovableType as a platform.

Though you've released Movable Type plugins, you work during the day on TypePad. What's the one thing about TypePad that you think would surprise or impress Movable Type users?

I am not sure people realize just how much in common TypePad and MovableType have in common in terms of features. That being said, the primary difference between the two applications is best illustrated by what motivates our decisions as a TypePad team: to make it easier for anyone to post and share ideas and information with their friends, family and the world - with absolutely no knowledge of HTML, or programming required, and there is no need to install software of any kind. Just subscribe to TypePad, and you can have a blog of your very own in just a couple of minutes (if that) - literally.

What's been the most fun you've had working on TypePad?

The application is amazing, and honestly there is virtually nothing that I can say is not fun to work on, because there is so much pride we all feel here in producing a good product and application. But at the end of the day it is the people here that make me excited to come back the next.

What are some of the sites or blogs that you follow?

I follow Hairy Alien, not because the author happens to be my wife, but because I think she is an amazing writer. I also follow: Mahna Mahna, Slashdot, Loosely Coupled, WebServices.org, SFist, Lessig News, and many others, but on a less regular basis.

Any closing thoughts?

Enjoy BookQueueToo and QuickLink, and stay tuned for more modules I am working on!

Byrne's personal weblog is MajorDojo.