The Connexn development team had a lot of fun together, and Xibin was always a part of it. I remember playing a lot of ping-pong with Xibin. He was one of the best players, and usually beat me easily. For a few weeks when he was changing from pen grip to western our games were competitive, but soon he was beating me handily again. We played doubles with different team combinations and there were a lot of good times and joking around. There were also frequent lunches out with the team. One of our favorite restaurants was Spice China in Louisville where Xibin knew the owners. Once the twins were born, that was a frequent topic during lunch. Xibin was very devoted to his boys.
johnkaplantech
4th March 2012
I first met Xibin in September of 2000 when I interviewed him for a spot on my team at Connexn. I remember I liked him from the start. The summary at the top of my interview notes says, “Sincere, humble, good potential.”
I was building a team to do telecom software in Java. Xibin didn’t have any professional Java experience, and for most software managers, this would have disqualified him, but I hired him anyway. Fast study is one of the most important skills for a software developer, and Xibin showed me he was a fast study in the interview. He treated my hard technical questions as opportunities to learn. The tech bubble wasn’t over yet, and I had interviewed hundreds of developers who couldn’t admit they didn’t know something, and would try to fudge answers. Xibin did the opposite, answering as best he could, then quizzing me on whether there was a better answer, an additional detail I would share, or a nuance he had overlooked. He took every opportunity to turn the interview into an advanced Java lesson.
- John Kaplan
johnkaplantech
28th January 2012
Jill and Michael Butler from East Knoyle, UK, were so very sad to hear of the terrible accident in the sea. We hope that his wife and children will in due course be able to recover from the shock.
We are very sad for you all.
Michael & Jill
mbutler
15th January 2012