5 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Our neighborhood is replacing one of the bridges across the a portion of the lake, so have had to alter my course around the lake. There is a path between 2 of the houses near the bridge that leads to the road that ends at an intersection that once one turns left intersects the path around the lake beyond the bridge. Added a little distance, but that is ok. I used the "Time and Distance" system to check the difference in distance. I will have to do so again as my first attempt was to run around the little cove across which the bridge went across. It was not possible.

The reports from the disaster zone are just unbelievable. Some are just incredible. It just irks me that these situations can bring the worse from so many. The thugs in the streets of New Orleans need to be stopped. Can you imagine being stuck there with your family and just trying to make you way to a safe area. Of course, I am sure it brings out the best too. I just find it incredible that civil society can disintegrate so quickly. Worse is knowing that before the storm some of these folks ignored the warnings from the experts.

Data:
Distance: 5.31 Miles
Time: 53:34
Heart Rate: Not Measured
Pace: 10:05 (yuk! I did have to stop to see the distance on the watch, but I doubt it took this much time off. Sure would be nice if they had designed the display to be readable at dusk, dawn, and at night.)

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Unfortunately, Katrina packed the punch the experts predicted. This is an incredible disaster and will be just horrible for those affected. And, poor New Orleans. This was a therapeutic run if anything.

We lost a tree in our back yard and several around the neighborhood lake. Our neighbor lost a shutter. We also found a roofing shingle in our front yard that we assume came from our roof. Still trying to determine if so, from where. If the ferocity and frequency of these storms is being fueled by the behavior of humans, then I sure hope we change our behavior and clean up our act.

Data:
Distance: 3 Miles
Time: 29:27
Heart Rate: 159
Pace: 9:49

Podcast Update

Listened to yet another one while mowing the yard. I listened to Werner Vogels,CTO at Amazon.com talk with Halley Suitt. The is the second podcast within which Werner speaks that I have listened to and it is clear that he gets it. This time he focused on talking about the relationship between Amazon and its customers and search. He provided several examples of where search today just doesn't cut it (like the top 10 returns for "digital camera" may be commercials and not what the user was looking for). Good presentation.

10.5 Mile Run: Brownell Circle

6:30 am and I am at Brownell meeting Lito for our Sunday morning ritual. He chose to run 7 today, so we only ran the first 3.5 miles together. He went back along the Shades Creek Greenway while I continued along the big loop. Felt like a good run and the Creative Zen Sleek Mp3 player didn't SFR. So far, I am liking the player and accommodating the nuisances I don't like in the desktop software.

Big worry today is New Orleans. That is our favorite party town and it looks like it is going to get bashed by hurricane Katrina.

Data:
Distance: 10.5 Miles
Time: 1:40:58
Heart Rate: 162
Pace: 9:37

Podcast Update

Chris Anderson, Wired Magazine talks about The Long Tail (he wrote an article in Wired on the same subject too). This is a very interesting topic. The long tail refers to the long and thin area under a sales curve. The items under this curve are many and distributed individually to few. Amazon, eBay, and other net based distribution models are finding profitable ways to deal with thelong tail. Traditional distribution channels do not fare so well.

Jory des Jardins, Heather B. Armstrong, Ronni Bennett, and Koan Bremner talk about blogging "naked". In other words, exposing one's real self and personal details via one's blog. I guess I am sort of doing this. They talk about folks revealingthings about themselves that can potentially lead to bigger backlashes then I would expect (e.g., revealing that one is changing one's gender). Interesting discussion.

Scott Kriens talks about the relationship between applications and the network. He basically builds the case that the network should have more intelligence to help deliver richer behaving applications.

Alan Zelicoff and Michael Belloma talked about fighting virus outbreaks and bioterrorism. Specifically, they talked about the importance of tracking symptoms instead of diseases. Currently, doctors are required to submit information based on the diseases they diagnose. But, they grossly under-report.

Joshua Schachter (del.icio.us), Stewart Butterfield (Flickr), Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia) and Clay Shirky talk about folksonomies. If you have an interest in opening up a taxonomy to "folks" then I recommend this podcast. We are using Wiki to collect documentation for one of our product frameworks at work. I liked this presentation.

Brian Dear, founder & CEO of EVDB.com talks about EVDB, a database for events. Imagine one stop to learn about events with views that change depending on whether you have registered or not. Further, what if you can register for an event and have the registration site update your calendar. Very cool and great presentation.

Jerry Weissman, Media and Presentation Coach, talks with Dr. Moira Gunn about well, making presentations. He offers advice about how to use (or how not to use) PowerPoint. Specifically, he recommends using slides to support the presentation not to contain lots and lots of details on each slide. Each slide should have nothing much more then a graphic and a few words to support the content be presented by the presenter.

Dennis Bakke talks with Dr. Moira Gunn about having fun at work. He indicates that it is more about having a work environment where folks can take a stake in what they do and be accountable. It is not just about freebies and benies.

Darwin Prockop,Director of Tulane's Gene Therapy Center, talks with Dr. Moira Gunn about adult stem cells and how they may prove to provide benefits for a variety of medical uses in the future. Very interesting presentation.

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Finally running at home again. The new Mp3 player, Creative Zen Sleek, works well while running. I am still learning how to use the software. The only thing I really miss is the ability to view all tracks at once and sort them by virtually any column of information. The Creative software doesn't seem to support that or they hid the feature really well. Anyway, the run was good (if you ignore the pace). I guess I am going to have to accept that I am 1 minute per mile slower then I was 5 years ago. Damn!

It is good to be home. My son had taken to talking to my picture. :(

Data:
Distance: 3
Time: 28:37
Heart Rate: 157
Pace: 9:32

5 Mile Run: Columbia, SC

Early morning run with the new Creative Mp3 player. It is working very well. The desktop software sucks as compared to that of the Rio Carbon. For example, you can't view content on the player as a long list of tracks sorted by date loaded. This is my preferred view for clean up after listening to Podcasts. But, it is very easy to delete directly on the player itself, so not so bad and I am sure I will accomodate.

Data:

Distance: 5:087
Time: 47:36
Heart Rate: Not measured
Pace: 9:21

3 Mile Run: Columbia, SC

A few time zones later.... Back from Australia on Sunday, off to Columbia, SC on Monday. Hectic schedule and I don't get a run until Wednesday (last one was on Saturday). I dropped and broke the Rio on the way here. So, I bought a Creative "Sleek". 20GB, great sound, with horrible desktop software.

Anyway the run was fine with the exception that I am discovering that the new Time and Distance watch I got as a replacement to my original is hard to read while running in between dawn and dusk. The print is too small and the contrast is not sufficient for my old eyes. It's always something, eh?

Data:
Distance: 3.119 Miles
Time: 28:21
HR: Not measured
Pace: 9:19

Podcast Update

Adam Curry talks with Rob Greenlee, the host of webtalk about podcasting and a wide number of other topics including podsafe music, Adam's personal history, bittorrent, and all of the subjects that Adam frequently talks about on the Daily Source Code. Since I am a regular listener to the Daily Source Code, there was nothing new in here. I wasn't bored and listened to the whole podcast anyway. Rob also interviewed David Coursey who slammed Adam without using his name. Adam maintained the higher ground. If you don't listen to the Daily Source Code, this is a good way to get a sense of should you.

Podcast Update

Vint Cerf, one of the founders of the Internet (Not to be confused with Al Gore), talks with Larry Magid, of Larry's World about the Internet what he might have done if he could have more accurately predicted how itwould be used. He also builds the case for IPv6. A good listen.

John Seely Brown talks about off-shoring during which he talks about how suppliers influence the design decisions of some companies through a process that focuses more on cost then price. He elaborates this case to imply that this bottom up approach influencesa style of design and construction that is similar to or useful for computer science topics like open source.

Kris Lichter talked about the Genographic Project. IBM and National Geographic are collecting DNA from a large number of people via a participation package. Others are solicited because they are indigenous to particular and identifiable areas. Then, the volunteers DNA is analyzed to determine is geographical history. I can't wait to search the net and become a participant. Yes, participants get to see their own history. Very cool.

Found it and the kit costs almost $100, ouch. I might still do it, but some how I was expecting less expense. I won't be doing it right away.

Joel Spolsky talks with Phil Windley about writing skills and their importance for programmers. He and Phil also talked about a collection (a book I think) that Joel put together. The collection contained artices thatJoel and others nominated as some of the best writing examples on the web.

Buzz Aldrin talks about space flight. Particularly, he talks about some ideas about how to make it more feasible for more of us. He also talks a hearing aids and why those that need them should be less concerned about social stigmas and those of that don't should create fewer stigmas. It is amazing that Buzz is still as energetic and youthful, but is also hope creating. May I be so lucky. Keep it up Buzz.

Susan Crawford and Phil Weiser talk about the "Brand X" decision from the Supreme Court involving broadband and cable. The built a good case for why this may be more important then the "MGM vs Grokster" decision. This decision gave the FCC the power to choose when to intervene by declaring certain uses of the cable systems for Internet traffic (e.g., e911 for VoIP). If you are interested in legal stuff as it applies to the Internet, you will like this. For me, a bit too legalistic.

Podcast Update

• Anna Nagurney gave a presentation about networks of all types. She was well prepared and brought many perspectives to the subject including consideration of traffic patterns and the influence of the acts of individuals on the performance of a network.Networks. This is a very interesting, but heady presentation.
• Tim O'Reilly delivered the closing session at the MySQL User's Conference. Tim delivered a great presentation talking about what is coming around the corner (his radar talk). He offered very insightful observations about open source and notions of "small parts, loosely joined". A meaningful presentation I intend to quote at presentations of my own.
• Jimmy Wales, President & Director, Wikimedia Foundation delivers a talk about wikipedia and the wiki phenomenon in general. His talk includes content relevant to people sharing and the impact of the web. An excellent presentation.
• A panel of CIO's met to talk about software vendors and how the recession has influenced their behavior. More importantly, they talk about changes that are still required. The variety of perspectives provided made the whole presentation quire interesting.
• A group of pundits (analysts) participated in a panel talked about IT budgets, consolidation and the impact of open source on IT companies and their work. A very interesting presentation with some humor between the panelists. One panelist sees open source projects leading to the emergence of new companies. He believes that open source is challenging existing companies as it is not held down by existing legacy and compliance. He sees both cost and innovation offering opportunity for business models to be defined to leverage some of this innovation. Off shoring was another topic discussed. They pointed out that this offers opportunity and threat. Another pundit suggested that automation will cause more job loss.
• Only Connect was a panel discussion about how broadband and wireless is affecting the telecommunications industry. For example, rulings indicating that VoIP providers must supply support for 911. This will potentially add all kinds of demands and introduce new innovations. This was an interesting and worthwhile listen.
• Andrew Morton, Lead Maintainer for the Linux Production Kernal talked about the processes and procedures behind managing the large numbrer of changes to the Linux Kernal. He is a very relaxed and calming speaker, but delivers a lot of content. He made a very interesting comment about Steve Balmer's comments about open source development and its comparison to communism. Since the Linux kernal is managed from the bottom up (unlike Microsoft development), he thought Steve's comment was laughable.
• Werner Vogels talked about eCommerce at Interplantary Scale. This very interesting presentation talked about mimicking the patterns observed in nature to achieve scale for computer science problems. The main one Werner referenced was the epidemic pattern. Very, very interesting presentation.
• Mark Carges, CTO, BEA Systems talked about service-oriented archiecture (SOA). He built a good case for composability and how one achieves it. This is an excellent presentation and I would highly recommend it for those interested in SOA.

10 Miles: Sydney, Australia

I basically added the other 2 runs I have done here into 1 and added a little more distance on the other side of the Harbour Bridge. Great run.

Data:
Time: 1:42:34
HR: Not measured
Pace: 10:15

3.233 Mile Run: Sydney, Australia

The temperature was 50 degrees. This time I ran across the Harbour Bridge. Very cool views of the city. It felt like I was running in an European city.

Data:
Time: 30:24
HR: Not measured
Pace: 9.24

5.5 Mile Run: Sydney, Australia

The temperature was 50 degrees. Great run along the Quay in downtown Sydney, Australia.. It took the Garwin a few minutes to lock in to the satelites, but it did. So, I actually ran something more like 5.5 miles. Started right next to the Sydney Opera House. I walked across the famous bridge (so, famous I can't name it), but you would recognize it. I thought I was in shape, but I tell you all of the people that were just walking home, were passing me like I was standing still. I didn't see too may obese folks.

This place is packed with runners too. Unbelievablely full of 'em. What a great atmosphere for a run.

Data:
Time: 50:59
HR: Not measured
Pace: 9.27

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Today, I ran in 99 degrees. Man it was hot. Tomorrow, well sort of, I should be running in temperatures in the 50's in Sydney, Australia. That should be cool eh! Well, the technical gremlins were at it again. And, they were attacking the Rio again. Except, this time I think I may have spotted what has been happening. Namely, that the stop button is somehow getting pressed while I am running. The SFR is a result of button presses. But, I am not certain by any means.

Data:
Time: 30:44
HR:153
Pace: 10:15

10.5 Mile Run: Brownell-Shades Creek Greenway

I did the "Lito Loop" again (see July 31, 2005 run). However, Lito was out of town. So, I was alone. I took the Garwin, Time "Speed and Distance" system with me this time. It worked flawlessly. However, Lito's 12 miles, is 10.5 miles. Amazingly, the distance is the same as my original loop. I, too, thought this route was longer.

Damn technology failures strike again. I update my Rio Carbon to the latest versions of the desktop manager and the flash for the player itself. In addition to the published fixes and access to online purchase systems, I was hoping that the SFR problem would be fixed. I know you are asking what is SFR. Spontaneous F**king Reboot. On long runs, I have had several occasions where the Rio, just SFR's. Well, it did it again. Gees, technology just keeps chugging and choking eh?

The run was good except for that. I would say great if not for the pace.

Data:

Distance: 10.5
Time: 1:45:20
Average heart rate: Not measured
Pace: 10:03 (yuk!)

5 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Damn technology failures strike again. I bought Missy Elliott's song "Lose Control" on iTunes only to discover I should have read the fine print first. It is some format not supported on my Rio Carbon. OK, it was just a buck. But, that is not the end of it. I went out and bought the CD. I ripped it, copied the folder to the machine I use to load my Rio, stuck the player in the pouch for running and took off. Well, I listened to the entire contents of the CD's folder on the Rio and never heard "Lose Control". Don't know what happened, but the song didn't make it to the machine from which I loaded the Rio. Arghhhhhhhhhhh.

The run was great except for that.

Data:

Distance: 5
Time: 48:46
Average heart rate: 156
Pace: 9:45

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

My legs were a little sore from the 13 miler, so just took it slow and easy. Nice comfortable run.

Data:

Distance: 3
Time: 29:26
Average heart rate: 153
Pace: 9:49

13 Mile Run: Shades Creek Greenway + 6 Mile Loop

Lito overslept, but showed up before 6:30 am. That was ok with me as I needed to visit the Shell station down the road anyway (as in use their restroom). Lito wanted to do 13, so we went from Brownell to the end of Shades Creek Greenway and back (7 miles) and did a 6 mile loop through Mountain Brook. I caught on Adam Curry's latest Daily Source Codes and Dawn and Drew's shows on the mp3 player.

The mash up with Dolly Parton doing Stairway to Heaven was awesome (on one of the Daily Source Codes)!

Data:

Distance: 13
Time: 2:05:23
Average heart rate: 161
Pace: 9:38

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I heard that some nearby county was getting hail and the day was nearing the end, so I took off for my run. The skies were overcast, but no problem. I had a good run. But, about 15 minutes after I got home, I heard hail outside. Sure glad I wasn't still out there! We lost power as did the restaurant we had planned for dinner with the usual group. Alas, we went across town and ate with them there.

Data:

Distance: 3
Time: 28:52
Average heart rate: 154
Pace: 9:37

5 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Extremely hot day! And, man I was not on the top of my game as is obvious by my pace. I am nearly embarrassed. But, hey, I ran.

Data:

Distance: 5
Time: 50:12
Average heart rate: 159
Pace: 10:02

Podcast Update

• Michael Tiemann delivers a great presentation on Defining Open Source. Highly Recommended.
• Ron Gula talks about security. Good presentation.
  
• Roger McNamee talks about the "New Normal". Interesting presentation that synchronizes a variety of today's trends into a cohesive and meaningful presentation.
  
• Joseph Fuselier talks with Dr. Moira Gunn about proteins and DNA. Brief, but very good.
  
• Frank Martinez talks about Web Services. This is an excellent presentation that helps make sense out of the milieu of information about web services.
  
• JD Lasica talks about Darknet and Hollywood's desire to stop digital copying. Good presentation highlighting the growing distance between technical innovation and Hollywood's attempted choke hold.
  
• Hossein Eslambolchi talks about intelligence and whether it occurs on the edge or on the network. Excellent and technical presentation.
  
• Meyya Meyyappan talks about nanotechnology and NASA. Very interesting presentation and it generating much contemplation and thought for me.
  

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I ran another early morning in anticipation of Betsy's upcoming evening run. I jammed to the Police's Reggatta De Blanc. Sometimes, this old stuff just brings back young memories and makes me feel good. Today was just such a day.

Data:
Distance: 3

Time: 28:31
Average heart rate: 156
Pace: 9:30