
Alex King, an original Wordpress developer, has died - a5seo
https://poststatus.com/alex-king/
======
junto
Colon / bowel cancer has a relatively high success rate when treated (compared
to other cancers), but as with all cancers, it is important to catch it early.

Not to be to graphic, but if you have blood in your stool (especially if it is
dark red in colour rather than bright red), then you should take yourself
immediately to the doctors and tell them. They can take a stool sample and if
necessary, refer you for a colonoscopy.

You can be sedated for the colonscopy if you don't like the idea of being
awake for it under a local. You normally get a dose of Propofol injected into
you (like Michael Jackson) and you wake up feeling refreshed and slightly
pissed off that the nurse dared to wake you up from your beautiful embracing
slumber. The procedure really isn't as bad as you think it is going to be. The
preparation for it is much worse (not painful, just unpleasant).

You will then know for certain whether or not you have a really nasty cancer
problem, or just plain old piles. People with Ulcerative Collitis and Crohn's
have a higher risk of bowel cancer, so it important that they get checked
regularly (talk to your doctor).

Don't delay. It could cost you your life. Men are often the worst for
procrastinating over such a decision.

Update - I don't want anyone to think that I'm am suggesting Alex delayed
seeing a doctor btw. I just wanted to impart some general wisdom that might
save someone else's life.

~~~
jgrahamc
_You can be sedated for the colonscopy if you don 't like the idea of being
awake for it under a local. You normally get a dose of Propofol injected into
you (like Michael Jackson) and you wake up feeling refreshed and slightly
pissed off that the nurse dared to wake you up from your beautiful embracing
slumber. The procedure really isn't as bad as you think it is going to be. The
preparation for it is much worse (not painful, just unpleasant)._

That's spot on. I've had a colonoscopy as a precaution after seeing blood in
my poo (can't bring myself to use the word stool here). The preparation
involves taking a very powerful laxative which cleans you out completely. You
end up going to the toilet _a lot_ passing what quickly becomes a clear liquid
after a couple of trips. This goes on for hours and is unpleasant. But, hey,
just unpleasant, nothing more.

The actual procedure does not take long (tens of minutes) and they gave you
something to make you feel drowsy. I was fairly awake and enjoyed watching the
inside of my body on the screen; others can just layback and do nothing.

On the upside the doctor wrote "Excellent bowel preparation" on my report
afterwards so... Achievement Unlocked!

~~~
junto
You must be British. Only a Brit could talk about poo like this.

~~~
jgrahamc
Yes, I am.

~~~
junto
It takes one to know one. :-)

------
lloydde
If you did cross paths with Alex King, please share your stories with his wife
at heatherkingcom@gmail.com .

From
[http://alexking.org/blog/2015/08/24/rememberances](http://alexking.org/blog/2015/08/24/rememberances)

 _One of the things my wife and I are trying to do is put together some
information about my career that will hopefully give my 6 year-old daughter a
better sense of who I was as an adult. She knows me as “dad”, but when she
gets older she’ll be curious about who I was to my peers and colleagues._

 _I’ve spent more than a decade in the WordPress community and I’d like to
request that you to share a few thoughts or remembrances about me that we can
compile and share with her when the time is right._

 _If we have crossed paths or if I have managed to do something that you found
helpful, I’d love it if you would take a few minutes to write it down and send
it to me or my wife: heatherkingcom@gmail.com. If you’re willing to have the
story shared publicly, please indicate that accordingly. By default, we will
keep everything confidential._

~~~
addamh
"that will hopefully give my 6 year-old daughter a better sense of who I was
as an adult" ... :( heartbreaking

~~~
Killswitch
Yeah, reading that made me think alot about myself and my 6 month old daughter
and what would happen if I died as young as my father did (he was 48, I am now
30)

------
rabino
He was a great person, a great developer and a great businessmen.

And fun piece of trivia, he invented the share icon
[http://alexking.org/project/share-icon](http://alexking.org/project/share-
icon)

------
CaptchaReader
In the early 2000s Alex had an opensource project written in PHP. I was then
learning PHP and used his project to learn how to build a web app end to end:
auth, business logic, db interactions, views, etc. I was in my late teens, and
using his project as a guide I built several products that people used and
were keen to even pay for, learnt lots back then.

Thanks Alex!

------
staunch
Looks like Alex did great work and had a great family. That's a good life in
my book. Too bad he didn't get more time.

------
firasd
As someone who got into web development, and thus my career, through the
WordPress community, I was definitely aware of Alex and followed his work. I
recall that he once mentioned using a plugin I wrote and that just shows how
interconnected everything was back in those early, indie days.

RIP Alex King, and may we carry your torch by being creative in our work,
astute in our enterprise, and cherished by our communities and families.

------
alxmdev
I remember often ending up on his blog when looking up various Wordpress and
web development topics back in the 2000s. The about page
([http://alexking.org/about](http://alexking.org/about)) on his website
reveals an exciting and accomplished career, no doubt he would have kept doing
ever greater things. Rest in peace!

------
davidu
I hadn't kept up with Alex, but I do remember interacting with him and looking
up to him while I was in college and even after. He was always so impressive.

While I always admired him, I'm even more in awe now. It takes someone really
special and thoughtful to create the kind of lasting impression he has left on
his site for his daughter, his wife, and his family and friends. You can get a
taste here:
[http://alexking.org/blog/2015/08/24/rememberances](http://alexking.org/blog/2015/08/24/rememberances)

To all his friends and family, so sorry for your loss. Alex impacted so many
people, many who will never know, but all of whom benefit from his far-
reaching technical work and his community-building efforts.

------
JupiterMoon
This is going to sound heartless and for that I apologise. I am curious what
happens with his copyrights on his opensource code now? Not many significant
projects have suffered such loses yet.

Condolences to his family and friends if they ever read this.

~~~
thenipper
I'd assume they just go to his estate unless he specifically specified
otherwise.

~~~
JupiterMoon
I'd assume that his immediate descendants would respect his involvement in
open source. Is there a risk (maybe in other cases) that inheritors of an
estate can retrospectively change licenses on code for which they have
inherited the copyright to? (Maybe I'm missing some understanding of software
licenses though.)

~~~
leoedin
Pretty much every free software license is irrevocable - if you make software
available under that license, you can't retroactively remove those licensing
terms later. This applies whether the copyright is owned by a person or
corporation. It's a fundamental building block of the concept of free software
- that once software becomes free, it cannot be made non-free again.

I'm not a lawyer and I'm not sure whether this has been tested in court, so
I'd suggest further research on your own. There's some discussiof this on
Groklaw -
[http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2006062204552163](http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2006062204552163)

------
splitbrain
Damn. I never met Alex, but was subscribed to his blog for several years. This
makes me genuinely sad.

fuck cancer.

------
filmgirlcw
This is a huge loss. He was a great person and developer and it was so clear
how much he loved his family. My thoughts are with the Kinf family and his
friends.

------
larrywright
I didn't know Alex personally, but I was a paying customer for his site
FeedLounge back in the days before Google Reader came along. It was a great
web-based RSS reader, and was the first web site I used that felt like a
desktop app in terms of responsiveness.

I didn't really know him, just _of_ him, but as someone only a couple of years
older with three kids myself, this is heartbreaking to see. RIP, Alex.

------
nikolay
How come we haven't heard he was sick!? Rest in piece, Alex!

------
ogezi
God bless his soul.

------
aurora72
[http://phkillscancer.com/](http://phkillscancer.com/)

~~~
voltagex_
[https://www.metabunk.org/debunked-alkaline-diets-cure-
cancer...](https://www.metabunk.org/debunked-alkaline-diets-cure-
cancer.t5401/) but really, this is not the time nor place.

