Sunday, April 30, 2006

Podcast Update

  • Joe Paiva, Enterprise Architect for the U.S. Army, presented A Warriors Guide to Business Architecture. Joe delivered a well reasoned and well delivered presentation. The Army, like many commercial enterprises, is deploying and using a SOA based infrastructure. Joe made some very interesting and correct comments about how SOA not permits, but is there just for the purpose of continuing to get value from existing and well working systems. Great presentation.
  • John Smart, President of Acceleration Studies Foundation, talked about How to be a Tech Futurist. If you, like me, sometimes fear for the future, this presentation contains content that will raise your hopes. John touches on many areas in technology and spins a futuristic viewpoint that is optimistic and seems to be informed. I need to listen to this one again as John went fast and the content is rich. Highly recommended.
  • Scott Anderson, Director of Enterprise Brand Communications at Hewlett Packard, delivered a superior presentation about Business Blogging, Do It Right. At first, I thought this was going to be a dry speech about blogging and business. But, it was definitely anything but that. Scott was right on target. He especially nailed the importance of authenticity and transparency if you enter the blogosphere. An extremely good presentation.

10.5 Mile Run: Brownell - Shades Creek Greenway

I got started later than usual, about 7:15 am instead of 6:30. And, I ran alone. All my running mates were busy doing something else. I left the house with Gu, whaaaaa. I normally do a Gu 1/2 way through this run. But, it didn't seem to affect me much.

I started the run listening to the Adam Curry's latest Daily Source Code. He played some cranking tunes in addition to the conversational content. He normally plays some music, but sometimes his choices are a little on the mellow side. Good music, but just not my preference while running. Then, the MP3 player rolled into some April Wine followed by Avril Lavigne. I loved the classic rock start and the upbeat, modern interlude of Avril, with a finish with a few numbers by the Cranberries. A good run.

The weather went from cloudy with a list rain to clear skies and back to clouds. And, the wind was a cranking.

I sat down next to a fella at the end of the run that gave me loads of unrequested advice because I dared say "Why not" when he told one no beer today. His advice went to stretching, napping, hydrating and avoidance of beer. He meant well, but I am telling you no where did he permit a word in edge wise. The only chin wagging was his. Conversation is best between 2 people especially in such a social setting.

Data:

Distance:10.5 Miles
Time:1:40:38
Heart Rate:161
Pace:9:35
Weather:Cloudy and clear, 61°
Route

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Podcast Update

First, let me say that my descriptions for some of these will be weak as my memory has lapsed since I listened simply because of my tight time schedule which has not permitted me to log more timely.
  • Bruno Haid, System One, talked about Educating our Machines. During this presentation he talked about social networking and how software and the Net is making it possible. Good presentation.
  • Anne Thomas Manes, Burton Group, provided a SOA Reality Check. She reminded us of the importance of emerging standards, their adoption within major frameworks and tools, and the impact that will have on the continued growth of SOA. She also addressed the need for changing the incentives that motivate teams and their leaders if organizations want to fully harvest the benefits SOA will bring. Good presentation.
  • Dr. Moira Gunn, Tech Nation, talks with John Barrow, Cosmologist and Mathematician, about his books including "Book of Nothing", "Theories of Everything", and "The Infinite Book...A Short Guide to the Boundless, Timeless, and Endless". John has a great sense of humor and Dr. Gunn and he carried on a spirited conversation that was extremely entertaining and educational. The discussions around when humans first considered things like true mean of infinity was especially interesting. Excellent podcast.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

6 Mile Run: Columbia, SC

Another good morning run. I once found a Crown Royal bag (you know the purple cloth bag with a yellow draw string) on this route once. I use that bag to keep my iRiver, portable mic and such together. Today, I found 2 Crown Royal bags. I hope the driver is not on the road! I listened to the Killers and Shinedown. I had started listening while getting ready to run. So, I heard all of the Killers and and 1/2 of Shinedown. This made for a nice mix for run. With Shinedown there for the last half, it felt like completing a negative split. It was, however, just perception. According to the watch, the splits were about even.

Data:

Distance:6 Miles
Time:56:32
Heart Rate:Not Measured
Pace:9:21
Weather:Mostly cloudy, 72°
Route


Tuesday, April 25, 2006

3 Mile Run: Columbia, SC

A very pleasant morning and a smooth run. The Garwin stopped working on the way back and I hope it is as simple as the batteries which I haven't changed in a while. I ran to one of my favorite CDs, Audioslave

Data:

Distance:3 Miles
Time:28:56
Heart Rate:Not Measured
Pace:9:39
Weather:Clear skies, 63°
Route


Saturday, April 22, 2006

9.3 Mile Run: Statue-to-Statue Run

I participated in the annual Statue-To-Statue run here in Birmingham. This is a hard, hilly run from the Vulcan statue to the Liberty statue. This was the best managed for this event I have seen. Water stops were well placed and staffed. And, the T-Shirt was made of wicking material instead of cotton. I WAY approve of this break from convention. I thoroughly enjoyed the run.

As to my listening pleasure, I built a playlist that I unfortunately lost track of later and can not report it accurately, so I am not going to try. I did start by listening to a long rant from Adam Curry (show 372) during which he brow beat Madge Weinstein (sort of a stage name) of Yeast Radio, be forewarned that the language and content is for adults, for calling him a bigot. It was very entertaining. I read the comments on curry.com. Man, some of these folks are just plain out there. I was especially entertained by the "Somebody Who Knows Better" entry. I have listened to Adam's show for a long time now. And, frankly, I don't think this person "knows better".

Adam definitely took Madge too seriously. The trigger word that fired this off is "f*gg*t". A horrible word as most trigger words of this nature are. It was in a promo for some rap stuff and not directly aimed at gays per se. But, like any trigger word like this, naturally some gay people are going to notice and take offense. Madge did. Madge has ranted. Adam has ranted. I have to say that if it is all genuine (and I think it is), it offers us all a reminder of how important words are and how important compassion and patience is. Intent does matter and Adam clearly has no harmful intent in this matter. And, Madge your language and style is so extreme that I can not bring myself to listen to you for very long. Be that as it may. If you wish to make a point about accepting and respecting folks that wish to be gay, you might do better if you don't sound so mean, mad, and crude. But, that is just my opinion. If there are tons of folks that like your style, you should give them what the want and you all have fun.

Don't scare off potential friends. And, in my opinion, we should all avoid these trigger words; all of us. F*gg*t simply shouldn't be said by anyone, IMHO.

Data
Distance:9.3 (15K)
Time:1:25:55
Heart Rate:168
Pace:9:14
Weather:Clear skies, 62°
Route

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

6 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Another early morning run and I listened to the Daily Source Code. By the way, I bought some an "e-album" from Jim's Big Ego after hearing Stress during show 368. Man, so cool, no CD, no DRM, right off the credit card into the player. I love it. And, jamming tunes. For today's show, Adam informed the press that they should go read Dianetics before slamming Scientology. I could be wrong, but I got the sense he thought we ought to ease up on Tom Cruise a little bit. It's the birth of Tom's new baby and "silent birth" that has generated a lot of recent interest in Scientology.

Adam is right that it is better to criticize after doing some homework. But, Tom sure invites it with some of his public outbursts and silly criticism of things like psychology. And, some things can be criticized on face value. I am thinking of things like basing one's spiritual being on removing contaminants left behind by aliens. OK, I didn't read the book. I watched something on TV, but it sure made it sound that removing these impurities is central to Scientology. Is easy for me to dismiss, but to each his own I guess. A search on Scientology's "official" site retuns "not found" for "alien". Hum, maybe the press found some more sensationalism again. Don't know, I don't have any compelling event to look any deeper.

Adam's point that it makes sense to make the birthing experience as pleasant as possible for the new arrival (his point was that this is what was highlighted in the book) is a very good one. I also love the idea that L. Ron bet someone he could right a book and start a religion.

He also noted that some Americans are apparently up tight about the term "Metro-Sexual". Not this American. I think it fits and I think it is cool.

Oh, felt good running despite the slow pace.

Data

Distance: 6
Time: 1:00:19
Heart Rate: 151
Pace: 10:03
Weather: Clear skies, 69 degrees

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

An early morning run, and, man, the weather was awesome. I listened to the Daily Source Code. It was interesting to hear Adam talk about Steve Runner , Phedippidations. Adam had offered to sponsor Steve. Steve wore a Podshow t-shirt but declined any sponsorship offer. So, Adam made a donation to MS Walk Sunday per the biddycast. Very cool on both counts. I did notice that Steve finished: CONGRATS STEVE. I so want to run Boston, but I have some minutes to trim (not to mention I haven't run a marathon since 1995 and it is my only one). I've got lots of 1/2 marathons under my belt though. I am running a grueling hill run (15K) this weekend called the Statue-to-Statue here in Birmingham. This makes at least my third time to run it. It is one of my favorites, but it is tough.

Data

Distance: 3
Time: 29:10
Heart Rate: 148
Pace: 9:43
Weather: Partly cloudy, 69 degrees

Sunday, April 16, 2006

7.4 Mile Run: Demopolis, AL

We are still at my wife's parents for Easter, so the run is in Demopolis today. I caught up on the Daily Source Codes and Phedippidations. I was targeting 9 miles, but I simply pooped out and walked the last mile or so. I had eaten a regular breakfast as part of our Easter celebration, probably had not had enough fluids, and I am not climatized to the heat yet. It has happened before and it doesn't seem to have an effect that lingers. So, it is what it is. I walked that last bit and ran shorter. I can live with it.

Data
Distance: 7.434
Time: 1:13:36
Heart Rate: Not measured
Pace: 9:54 (wow, it didn't feel this slow)
Weather: Clear skies, 86 degrees
Route (I started walking at Wildwood Circle & Herbert St.)

Saturday, April 15, 2006

3 Mile Run: Demopolis, AL

We are at my wife's parents for Easter, so the run is in Demopolis today. I caught up on some of the Daily Source Codes (still 1.5 shows behind). When I passed the marina, I noticed that they were preparing for a "renew our river" activity. The parking lot at the marina had piles of stuff that had apparently come out of the river it was amazing to see how many shopping carths were in there. And, what a reminder that people are such pigs. It just never ceasees to amaze me how callous and uncaring people can be towards the planet (not to mention each other). Anyway, was a good run.

Data

Distance: 3.404
Time: 34:33
Heart Rate: Not measured
Pace: 10:08 (wow, it didn't feel this slow)
Weather: Clear skies, 72 degrees
Route

Friday, April 14, 2006

Podcast Update

  • I listened to Ed Amoroso, Chief Security Officer at AT&T, talk about Frontline Security. This was a good podcast with an excellent write up at The Conversations Network (see link just referenced). I found the most interesting idea introduced by Ed to be the notion of moving some of the protections now managed on the edge of our networks closer to the center. In other words, more enforcement at the ISP and less at the firewall.
  • David Heinemeier Hansson, Developer for Ruby on Rails, talked about the Secrets Behind Ruby on Rails. After listening to this presentation, I found myself wishing I had more time to investigate Ruby. Many of its goals match those of much of the software development I see. I wonder if Ruby is ready for enterprise scale deployments? I love the basic ideas introduced by David as the core competencies for Ruby. A framework of frameworks that makes development easier to do and learn! Yeppee. Good presentation.
  • Mark Orttung, VP of Products and Engineering at Rearden Commerce, talked about SOA Build Best Practices. Again, The Conversations Network has an excellent write up. This presentation definitely highlighted what can be possible with SOA and the ubiquity of the web. The idea of being able to schedule appointments with commercial vendors and have my calendar updated all through a single user experience is just too cool. Check it out.
  • Tim O'Reilly (CEO of O'Reilly Media, Inc.), Mitchell Baker (president and general manager of the Mozilla project), Jonathan Schwartz (president and COO of Sun Microsystems, Inc.) talked about Can Open Source Stay Open? This fast paced presentation discusses much of the modern landscape within which innovation for software is being created. Most specifically, as the title suggests, they focused on the culture around open source. The discussion includes consideration for some of the issues faced by commercial enterprises as they try to determine how to embrace open source given their history of managing IP as a private and protected domain. The panel correctly notes that the traditional methods include significant overhead for just maintaining centralized control of IP. Highly recommended.
  • Ayn Lavagnino (Environmental Manager for Hewlett Packard's Imaging and Printing Group), Jill Kauffman Johnson (Executive Director of the Chemical Strategies Partnership), and Timothy Taylor (President and CEO of Environment Home Center) participated in a panel discussion on Clean Products at Stanford's 2005 Net Impact Conference. This was an interesting presentation that talked about a number of significant actions some organizations are taking to treat our environment more responsibly. Excellent! I was most impressed with Ayn's discussion of how HP has not introduced a lot of reuse of printer based hardware, but simplified the infrastructure from some 2500 to 250 parts.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

6 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Another early morning run and I listened to the Daily Source Code. Adam is just back from vacation. Today, he played a promo for Phedippidations and offered to sponsor Steve during Steve's upcoming Boston Marathon. What a small world. Comic Strip Blogger provided Adam an audio comment claiming the "Best of Charlie" shows produced by listeners while Adam was on vacation were lame. Well, Comic Strip produce a non-lame one.

Data

Distance: 6
Time: 58:29
Heart Rate: 157
Pace: 9:45
Weather: Clear skies, 58 degrees

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I finished catching up on Phedippidations. Steve is about to run Boston. Thanks Steve for explaining how you got to toe up to the line. Since I know his target is to beat 4 hours in a marathon (not Boston per se, any marathon) and I know the times required to qualify, I was curious. He was invited to run. No matter, getting to run is what matters. I did sign up for the email updates of his progress along the way.

He played an audio comment and commented himself on the use of mp3 players and headphones. I was happy to hear Steve give a more balanced coverage than we typically get. It just gets up my back teeth when someone gets on their "holier than thou" soap box and tries to tell me danger I am introducing to myself and others because I choose to use an mp3 player and headphones. As to the lady described in the story that yelled out during the "Run to Remember", the problem was not the her headphones. It was what was in head, not on her head that led to such rude behavior. As to the audio comment, Michael needs to humble himself a bit and accept that just because he thinks it's important to hear all of the sounds in a race with naked ears, doesn't mean everyone else agrees. I act on my conscience not anyone else's.

Steve! Good Luck at Boston!!!!!!

Data

Distance: 3
Time: 28:36
Heart Rate: 154
Pace: 9:32
Weather: Clear skies, 76 degrees

Sunday, April 09, 2006

10.5 Mile Run: Brownell - Shades Creek Greenway

Met my friend, Judy, and we took off for the distance. Since I have never run with Judy alone (normally we there were other folks with us), I didn't turn on the mp3 player. We chatted along the way and it was a great run. She had her yellow lab with her too. Good solid run with no incidents. It was remarkably cool, by the way. It doesn't take long to get spoiled by warm temperatures like we have had lately. So, it was surprising to see 42 degrees on the thermometer before we started. But, we were dressed right, so no big deal.

I forgot the heart rate monitor and watch! So, no data today. I felt naked.

Scary thing happened yesterday while walking! My left ankle (yes, the one I had so much trouble with last year) gave out. I caught my balance and I experienced no pain or swelling. Just a friendly reminder that my left ankle will always be trouble, I guess. My podiatrist had suggested that I always wear a brace. I have only been wearing one when running. I guess his advice is good and I should listen.

Data

Distance: 10.5
Time:
Heart Rate:
Pace:
Weather: Clear skies, 42 degrees
Route: Gmap

Friday, April 07, 2006

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Bad weather is coming! Bad weather is coming!... Well, the daycare is asking us to pick up our son early due to impending bad weather. The local schools are closing early. I guess that even though weather.com doesn't show any increment weather in the area and that the skies look beautiful outside, I better get my run in early. So, I did. Well, there was horrible weather in various parts of the Southeastern US, but not really here. Seems like a lot of over-reaction.

But, it was a warm run with no trouble. I listened to the latest Best of Charlie since Adam Curry is on vacation with his family. Talk about agility. For those of you that don't listen to the show, here's what happened. Adam announced during one of his shows that he was going on vacation and that there would be no shows. A listener sent a message saying what if listeners built some "Best of Charlie" montages. And, walla walla, it happened.

Data

Distance: 3
Time: 29:38
Heart Rate: 157
Pace: 9:52
Weather: Partly cloudy, some wind, 84 degrees

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

5 Mile Run: Neighborhood

This was a difficult run. Well, only because I felt tired and out of gas. I had planned on doing 6 miles, but dropped 1. I plan to do a 10.5 miler on Sunday, so between feeling tired and not wanting to risk injury, it was a easy mid-run decision. I wonder if yesterday's run with the jogging stroller introduced some DOMS and set up a situation where I simply needed more recovery time if I wanted to feel fresh and fast.

Tonight, I ran to Gorillaz, Demon Days. My wife noticed their single "Feel Good Inc". This song is catchy and has a beat good for running. Most of the others songs do not. I need to hear it while not running to form a wider opinion. Music listening while running is rated for its suitability for that context. So, I am not damning the CD in general. I am actually looking forward to listening to it while NOT running.

Data:

Distance: 5 Miles
Time: 50:04
Heart Rate: 152
Pace: 10:01
Weather: Clear skies, 72 degrees

Podcast Update

Susan Greenfield and Ray Kurzweil exchanged different opinions about Biotech: Will it Save Us or Hurt Us? Great podcast and I lean to the "save us" alongside Ray. Susan makes some good points, but I am not going to be convinced with arguments like what I am going to do in an additional 100 years of life that I didn't do in the first 50 years. I am much more concerned about "black hat" concerns like great technology in the hands of those with ill wishes for its use and unanticipated and dire circumstances.

Susan did make note (referencing Freud, I think) that if commercial enterprises could succeed in getting us to associate product ownership with our self image, then we would have a commercial bonanza. Now, given the current state of consumerism, this is a scary thought. Susan is doing a good thing to challenge us to ensure that we use the right technology at the right time for the right reasons. But, I look forward to the continued march of technical achievements.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

The wife was at the beauty shop and I had our 3 year old. So, into the jogging stroller which I have used in a very long time. He has grown and with the hills it really slows us down. So, that explains our incredible slow time. But, it was fun to chat with him all through the run.

Data

Distance: 3
Time: 32:17
Heart Rate: 149
Pace: 10:45
Weather: Clear skies, 72 degrees

Saturday, April 01, 2006

10K Run: Cooper River Bridge Run

I ran my 11th Cooper River Bridge Run in 12 years. The Charleston Post and Courier has a great slide show of the event. I constructed a playlist while waiting for the start and listening to the Adam Curry's Daily Source Code. Here's the list:

The Way You Move
OutKast
Hey Ya!
OutKast
Hey Baby
No Doubt
RunningNo Doubt
CrawlingLinkin Park
Breaking the Habit
Linkin Park
From the Inside
Linkin Park
Smooth Criminal
Alien Ant Farm
Hands Up
Black Eyed Peas
Let's Get Retarded
Black Eyed Peas
Hey Mama
Black Eyed Peas
AnxietyBlack Eyed Peas
Pump It
Black Eyed Peas
Girls and Boys
Good Charlotte
H0llaback Girl
Gwen Stefani
Bubble Pop Electric
Gwen Stefani
Are You Gonna Be My Girl
Jet
Cold Hard Bitch
Jet
Harder to Breathe
Maroon 5

The new bridge was cool and I found it easier than running the original. The crowds were thicker than usual, but I started far enough forward to not be impacted much. We were not able to get our usual parking spot for the post race meet up. But, we were close. It was a very good time.

Data

Distance: 10K
Time: 53:42
Heart Rate: 174
Pace: 8:40
Weather: Partly cloudy, 63 degrees