
Show HN: My RIP Goodbye to my Co-Founder Carlos Icaza - ewmailing
Carlos Icaza was my co-founder at Lanica (an Appcelerator backed company). He passed away this summer unexpectedly. I wasn’t able to find the right words to say at the time. But since we spent so much in code, I decided I should code something in his memory instead.<p>Carlos was also the co-founder of the Corona SDK, and was also a lead&#x2F;manager for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Flash before that. He also ran @codinginswift on Twitter with over 18,000 followers.<p>I finally finished my tribute and debuted it at the try! Swift conference in Tokyo last month at the end of my Swift on Android talk. That whole talk has just been publicly posted, but I wanted to make it more accessible so I’ve uploaded just the demo part to YouTube. (It also contains some fixes and improvements since the conference.)<p>Dance of the Fairies<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;ciphph8R4sU" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;ciphph8R4sU</a><p>It’s also inspired by an old Sierra On-Line game series, Quest for Glory. I wrote more about both Carlos and the demo on my blog.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;playcontrol.net&#x2F;ewing&#x2F;jibberjabber&#x2F;dance-of-the-fairies-quest.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;playcontrol.net&#x2F;ewing&#x2F;jibberjabber&#x2F;dance-of-the-fairi...</a><p>Thank you for reading&#x2F;watching
======
salimmadjd
I was camping in Patagonia and away from internet. When I got back to
civilization, I had a long group messenger thread that started from his stroke
to his untimely death.

The morning after I learned about him passing away, I got up for sunrise
photography, and we have a beautiful sunrise in Patagonia. I took the photos
thinking of him and dedicating that photo to him. It was my way of saying
goodbye.

[http://imgur.com/a/DuFvn](http://imgur.com/a/DuFvn)

------
Paul_Dessert
I met Carlos about 15 years ago while I was in school. He helped me with a
project I was working on. Very helpful and friendly guy!

I also remember going to lunch with him as he was building Corona. His passion
was contagious.

We hadn't talked for a while and this is the first time I'm hearing about him.
Very sad. RIP Carlos.

------
alanfalcon
I did not see news of Carlos's passing last year - very sad. He was always a
helpful and hopeful voice in the Corona SDK community, and I thought very
highly of him as I used his product to develop my first iOS game.

Thank you for sharing your tribute.

------
WhitneyLand
It's crazy how so many people come to HN from all over the planet, yet we
always see many connections in the comments for threads like this. Other
communities this large I don't seem to notice it as much, maybe just
confirmation bias.

In any case, I remember chatting with Carlos shortly after the launch of
Corona. It was still exciting times in mobile. The opportunities were big.
It's easy to forget the courage it took to leave a senior role at a top
company and face the risk and challenges.

------
matt4077
That's the cheesiest thing I've seen in a long time and also I'm crying now.

Thank you

------
phodo
I am saddened by this news. I met Carlos a few years back in Palo Alto In the
early days of corona. I am sad to learn about this. I was just thinking about
him yesterday and wondering what he was up to as I had lost touch with him.
RIP. Condolences to his family.

------
balls187
RIP Carlos.

I wrote my first mobile app in Corona.

------
gorkemcetin
I feel sad. I was puzzled as I checked his twitter account some time ago since
it wasn't updated. Now found out why. RIP Carlos.

------
canes123456
Damn. I am pretty sure I meet you two in a random FIU presentation a bunch of
years ago. Sorry to hear this happened

------
jpgvm
Sorry for your loss.

This is great tribute, I hope it brings you happiness for many years to come
when you think about your friend.

------
hyuuu
I met Carlos few years back, Corona was just starting and he invited me to the
office to debug performance issues on the game i'm working on using Corona
SDK. He was helpful and accommodative, even during his busy schedule, a nice
person overall, you will be missed Carlos :(

------
wyldfire
Can someone help me clear out the cobwebs? I played the first couple of Hero's
Quest / QFG games lo those many years ago.

But how specifically does this animation relate to the game? Was there a scene
like this one? Or is it only the background illustration that's similar?

~~~
ewmailing
I wrote a little about the QFG1 vs. QFG5 inspirations in my blog entry.

But here is a video of the QFG5 dryad dance which will probably start making
it clear.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2dTxSCGeNE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2dTxSCGeNE)

And this is from QFG1, which is where the concept of dancing and personality
of the fairies originate from.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYpN8Uii6ng](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYpN8Uii6ng)

I don't remember if that clip shows all the dialog, but they talk about how
they rule the forest and make rainbows and "fairies just want to have fun".
They like to dance and don't know if humans can dance.

This video does show you making them mad by walking into the fairy ring
(because the human smell is impossible to get rid of). So they make you dance
to your death as punishment.

The last fairy message at the end of the credits is also borrowed straight
from the game. When you leave the screen in the game, a fairy will fly to you
in the next screen to say a randomized good bye message before flying off.

------
tzm
RIP Carlos. What a nice tribute. Carlos was a friend and adviser to my
company, just prior to him starting Lanica. We both were considering funding
from Appcelerator and had met for coffee in Palo Alto many times.

------
i336_
I wasn't totally sure when I checked this last night; confirmed while browsing
other threads this morning.

Mods: thanks for making the links in the post clickable. :)

It's the little things.

------
jayrparro
woah?!? I haven't read any news he'd passed away.. only just now.. been know
him once he started the Corona SDK.

RIP Carlos

------
igorpcosta
That's really sad news.

------
dccoolgai
Hope he's somewhere like Erana's Peace now. RIP to Carlos.

------
igorpcosta
That's sad news, just got the attention now.

------
jayrparro
woah?!? I didn't hear any news he passed away.. only just now..

RIP Carlos

------
seany
rip Carlos.

