Adventurous Silicon Valley software guru killed in Brazil

Adventurous Silicon Valley software guru killed in Brazil
Michael Kanaley, 41, was a principal architect at TIBCO Software in... ( Courtesy of Ken Manning )

Michael Kanaley rode his motorcycle in thunderstorms, backpacked through Pakistan and told his Palo Alto software company that he was moving to Brazil. He persuaded his boss to let him keep his job and jet to Silicon Valley for monthly meetings.

It was the perfect lifestyle for an adventurous spirit — until somebody shot the 41-year-old father of two in the face, killing him in a resort town near his adopted home of Rio de Janeiro.

Now, friends here are mourning the tragic death of Kanaley, a principal architect at Palo Alto's Tibco Software.

"Every one of us wants to live their life that way, but we often let fear overtake us," said longtime friend Larry Neumann, a marketing executive at Solace Systems in Mountain View. "Not Mike."

His brother, Jim Kanaley, of Salt Lake City, told the Mercury News that his younger brother was driving on the morning of Jan. 5 from a hotel in the town of Buzios to see an attorney; he was looking to buy a new place in the wake of a breakup with his longtime girlfriend.

According to news reports from Brazil, Kanaley was headed back Rio de Janeiro when he was shot in the face. His rental car was discovered torched down the road. His wallet and computer were stolen.

Jim Kanaley said he's since been communicating with local police and FBI agents in Brazil to figure out who would have killed such a "talented Internet geek." He added his brother, who moved to Rio in 2004, was worth "millions,"
Advertisement
including the properties he owned, earning power and stock.

Michael Kanaley leaves behind two daughters, ages 9 and 4, whom he had with Mara Moreira, who was from Brazil and had once worked at Tibco in Palo Alto, too. Jim Kanaley said his brother had never married Moreira; after 10 years together, they had decided to separate. They were in the process of splitting assets and figuring out child custody issues at the time of his death.

"His girls were his world," Jim Kanaley said.

At least three separate memorials have been held for Kanaley. The first was with about 100 friends in San Francisco, where he lived since 1991 after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and being hired by Oracle. Friends remembered him as a track star who loved annual Burning Man trips, dyed his hair crazy colors and frequently changed styles from bearded hippie to closely shaved, played pickup soccer games at Stanford University on lunch breaks, and stood out in a crowd with his trademark baggy red pants and bright Indian shirts.

"There was a rumor that he once skateboarded from San Francisco to work at Tibco," said friend Ken Manning. "I never knew if it was true, but you could believe it."

The next service was held in Rochester, N.Y., where Kanaley was born — the youngest of four children — and where his parents had lived for many years.

The final service was held in Palo Alto at Tibco, where Kanaley was considered a "guru" who had a hand in the design of most of the company's real-time business integration software.

Bill Hughes, Tibco's executive vice president of human resources, said Kanaley's death was a "terrible tragedy. He was not only an invaluable co-worker, but a friend to all of us at Tibco. People here will remember how he livened up the office with his unique style of dreadlocks and brightly colored clothes. Mike was one of Tibco's brightest minds, and he had a gentle soul who made those around him better. He will be greatly missed."

Kanaley went to work for Tibco more than 10 years ago after the company bought a startup he cofounded, inCommon. Neumann said he had a tough time keeping up with his world-traveling friend, someone who wanted to party at off-the-beaten-track-nightclubs in Brazil just because they were located in the most dangerous spots in the country.

"But he wasn't trying hard to be cool," Neumann said. "He had this authenticity about him. He'd spend a half an hour talking to someone's parents at a party. People trying to be cool don't do that."

Friends marveled that Kanaley could be an engineer by day, and a photographer, artist, athlete, outdoorsman and father after work.

"He was a lot in one person," Neumann said. "People tend to gloss this stuff up when people pass on and not remember the bad parts. But I can't think of any bad parts."

Scores killed in Thai club fire

At least 54 people have been killed and 100 others wounded in a fire at a nightclub in the Thai capital Bangkok.
Locals and foreigners were celebrating New Year's Eve.
The fire started at the Santika club in the city's Ekkamai district early on Thursday morning, Vallop Janthorn, a metropolitan fire co-ordination official, said.
"The fire is under control and police are investigating to find out the cause," Vallop said.
"At least 54 people are confirmed dead and the toll could rise."
Television stations variously reported the cause of the fire as a firework set off because of the new year celebration and an electrical fault at the club.
Sirens wailed through the night as rescue workers raced to the scene.

Jewish Center Attack

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Hostages taken at a Jewish center during attacks across Mumbai two days ago were killed, while commandos freed more than 200 people from the Indian city’s Oberoi-Trident hotel complex, officials said.

“There were two gunmen and five hostages” lying dead in Nariman House, site of the Chabad-Lubavitch Center, Motti Bukchin, a spokesman for the Israeli emergency response organization Zaka, said today in a telephone interview from Jerusalem.

Three bodies were found on one floor and more on another level of the Jewish center’s building, J.K. Dutt, director general of the National Security Guard commando unit, said in an interview with Times Now television. An American man and his teenage daughter died when a cafe was attacked during the assault on the city.

At least 124 people were killed and 370 were injured in almost 48 hours of violence as terrorists moved through India’s financial hub, targeting the Oberoi-Trident and Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotels and several other locations.

A little-known Islamist group, the Deccan Mujahedeen, claimed responsibility for the coordinated shootings and explosions across the western coastal city, Home Ministry official M.L. Kumawat said. Elements in neighboring Pakistan are responsible for the attacks, the Press Trust of Indian cited External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee as saying.

‘Highly Motivated’

“We came up against highly motivated terrorists,” Vice- Admiral J.S. Bedi, whose commandos led the assault against the militants, said in televised comments. He showed pictures of recovered hand grenades, tear gas shells and AK47 ammunition.

India will “go after” individuals and organizations behind the attacks, which were “well-planned with external linkages,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a televised address, without identifying nations.

Americans and Britons were singled out by the gunmen. The targeting of Westerners marks a shift in tactics for Islamic militants in India as they strike the international links that have helped the country’s economy grow at 9 percent or more for each of the past three years.

Among those killed were three Germans, two Australians, a Briton, a Japanese and an Italian, authorities said. One Canadian was also killed, Agence France-Presse reported. Twenty-two foreign nationals were among those injured in the attacks, according to Mumbai police.

The attacks, the worst in the city since train blasts in July 2006 killed 187 people and injured more than 800, began with explosions and gunfire ringing out across the city late in the evening of Nov. 26.

More Explosions

Today, two large explosions were heard at the luxury Taj, where six hostages were freed. One national security guard was killed at the hotel. A fire broke out at the hotel after a further explosion.

There were similar scenes at the Oberoi, where 24 bodies were recovered. Rescued guests, many clutching passports and bags, were loaded into buses and cars by authorities as they fled the hotel. The Oberoi-Trident complex was cleared of assailants today, the National Security Guard said. Two terrorists were killed at the Trident, where guests were receiving first aid.

“This was a very planned and orchestrated attack, suggesting a more professional terrorist hand at work,” said Rory Medcalf, the Sydney-based Lowy Institute’s program director for international security.

Extremists within India are concerned about the government’s “closer alignment with the West,” Medcalf, a former official at the Australian High Commission in New Delhi, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Bush Informed

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was keeping President George W. Bush up to date on the situation in Mumbai, the White House said. Embassy personnel were visiting hospitals and hotels to locate and identify any injured U.S. citizens.

The American man and his daughter were identified as Alan and Naomi Scherr, the Synchronicity Foundation of Virginia said. The two Americans were with a delegation from the foundation, according to the spiritual group’s Web site.

Multiple attacks have rocked India’s cities with bombs planted in markets, theaters and near mosques this year leaving more than 300 people dead.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari said “non-state actors” were forcing their agenda on India and Pakistan and that the two governments must not allow them to succeed.

Governments to Cooperate

Pakistan’s “government will cooperate with India in exposing and apprehending the culprits and the masterminds behind the” Mumbai terrorist attacks, according to a statement by the president’s office, citing Zardari’s phone conversation today with Singh.

The attacks in Mumbai show India’s home-grown Islamic militant movement is aligning its campaign with those in the Muslim world, while seeking to hit economic interests, B. Raman, the former counter-terrorism director of India’s intelligence agency, said in a telephone interview.

“It is unfair to blame Pakistan or Pakistanis for these acts of terrorism even before an investigation is undertaken,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S. Husain Haqqani said in a statement. “Instead of scoring political points at the expense of a neighboring country that is itself a victim of terrorism, it is time for India’s leaders to work together with Pakistan’s elected leaders in putting up a joint front against terrorism.”

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will meet with Singh today to personally offer Pakistan’s condolences for the Mumbai attacks, the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

To contact the reporters on this story: Anil Varma in Mumbai at avarma3@bloomberg.net; Chitra Somayaji in Mumbai at csomayaji@bloomberg.net; Vipin V. Nair in Mumbai at vnair12@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 28, 2008 09:59 EST

Cambodia postpones border talks with Thailand

JAKARTA, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - Talks scheduled for Tuesday between Cambodia and Thailand to address recent clashes near the 11th century Preah Vihear Temple have been postponed on Phnom Penh's request, local media said on Monday.
The Thailand News Agency said the meeting of the Regional Border Committee, which is now expected to take place on Thursday or Friday, was to bring together commanders of the two armies in the Cambodian town of Siem Reap. The reason for the postponement is not clear, although the parties are reported to have said they were not ready to come to an agreement.
The Thai Foreign Ministry was reported to have been approached by Tia Banh, the Cambodian deputy prime minister and defense minister, who asked for the meeting to be postponed.
A new wave of tensions over the temple broke out in July, when Cambodia's application to have Preah Vihear placed on the world heritage list was approved. The listing was rejected by Thailand's Constitutional Court, however, and on October 15 two Cambodian soldiers were killed and several Thai troops injured during clashes over the ownership of the land around the ancient building.
The Preah Vihear temple was awarded to Cambodia in a 1962 ruling by the World Court, but issue of sovereignty over the adjacent land was not resolved and remains a point of contention between the Southeast Asian neighbors.

Shooting rampage by Vietnam soldier leaves 5 dead

A Vietnamese soldier shot and killed four people and seriously injured five others before shooting himself dead, state media and witnesses reported Wednesday.
The soldier, identified as Nguyen Manh Hung, 23, reportedly became enraged after being accused of stealing a mobile phone. He grabbed an assault rifle from a locker and began shooting inside an army compound in Hanoi on Monday night, the Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper said.
Hung killed three soldiers and a civilian woman, the newspaper said.
"I heard at least two series of gunshots which were several minutes apart," said a resident whose house was next to the walled military compound. "The area was quickly sealed off and local residents were asked to go home," she said, declining to give her name for fear of government reprisal.
A police officer at Hang Bot precinct, where the army unit is located, said he and some other colleagues rushed to the area after hearing the shots.
"When we arrived at the scene, an army colonel stood at the gate and told us to leave saying this is military internal affairs," he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
City military officials declined to comment Wednesday, but the story was widely publicized in Vietnam's state-run newspapers with military sources quoted.
Murder, or any type of violent crime, is extremely rare in Vietnam where use of arms is strictly prohibited.