March of the Breakpoints — ‘Goto Fail’, Chicago, DC

April 9, 2014

March was a busy month for James Dempsey and the Breakpoints, with a brand new song and video (ripped from the headlines!) and Breakpoint Jams at CocoaConf Chicago and Washington DC.

Goto Fail

Goto Fail is inspired by actual code, the code that caused a big security issue in iOS and OS X earlier this year. Not that Apple has a monopoly on SSL issues in 2014 — The recent Heartbleed Bug only drives home the last verse in the song:

Don’t think your own code is some bug-free oasis,
It’s probably screwed up in a couple of places.

With Jonathan Penn (@jonathanpenn) of Rubber City Wizards on guitar, here’s the video of a live version of Goto Fail:

Chicago Breakpoint Jam

Chicago has been the home of a few firsts for James Dempsey and the Breakpoints — the inaugural Breakpoint Jam in 2013 and the debut of a new song “Goto Fail” in 2014.

Not since Murph and the Magictones has a Chicagoland Holiday Inn rocked so hard.

Joining in on the jam in Chicago were a number of familiar faces:

Jonathan Penn (@jonathanpenn) of Rubber City Wizards on guitar and vocals.
Ben Scheirman (@subdigital) of NSScreencast fame on guitar.
Daniel Steinberg (@dimsumthinking) of Dim Sum Thinking on slide-advance keyboard.

After debuting the new song ‘Goto Fail’ — the Breakpoint Jam continued with a set of older favorites. Photo: Solomon Klein
Jonathan Penn laying down some acoustic Chicago blues on Modelin’ Man.
Photo: Solomon Klein
Ben Scheirman channeling ‘The Man in Black’ himself, Johnny Cash.
Photo: Solomon Klein
Jonathan Penn and Ben Scheirman on guitar. Two Breakpoints — No Waiting.
Photo: Solomon Klein
The anguish and despair of an almost-dropped iPhone
Photo: Solomon Klein

Washington DC Breakpoint Jam

The spring tour rolled on to Washington DC, where we played our set, managing to avoid the world-famous DC gridlock and partisan bickering.

Most of the Chicago crew was also in DC, with Jonathan Penn on guitar and Daniel Steinberg on slide-advance keyboard.

Keynote speaker Mark Dalrymple (@borkware) of Big Nerd Ranch sat in on Modelin’ Man, bringing a trombone solo to the blues tune for the very first time in its long history.

After his keynote speech, Mark Dalrymple joins in the Breakpoint Jam on trombone
Photo: Solomon Klein
Jonathan Penn on borrowed guitar.
Photo: Solomon Klein
James Dempsey sings the new song ‘Goto Fail’.
Photo: Solomon Klein
Daniel Steinberg keeps the slides in sync at the 2014 Washington DC Breakpoint Jam
Photo: Solomon Klein
James sings Modelin’ Man with Jonathan Penn on guitar and Mark Dalrymple sits in on trombone.
Photo: Solomon Klein