7/31/06: Podcast Listening Update

Firefox 1.5.0.5 Crashed 3 Times (and counting)!! So, I am trying this again. Arghhhhhhhhhhhh....

• David Helvarg and Jim Toomey talked with Dr. Moira Gunn on Tech Nation about thier book 50 Ways to Save the Ocean. You may recognize Jim Toomey as the creator of Sherman's Lagoon. This discussion was informative and entertaining. I bet the book is too. I recommend this one highly. Recycle. Use less plastic. If you use plastic, know where it goes when you are done.
• Dr. Katrina Firlik, Author of Another Day in the Frontal Lobe, talked to Dr. Moira Gunn on Tech Nation. Dr. Firlik is a neurosurgeon. She talked about the texture of the brain and the kind of things she gets involved in as a surgeon. The most interesting story was about a construction working with a nail in his skull. Good listening.
• Jason Matusow, Director of Shared Source at Microsoft Corporation, talked about Sharing the Love (sharing source and open source). Jason's viewpoint was very interesting and he seemed very much on top of his subject. He talked at length at the properties of successful shared source projects both internal and external. Very insightful and a very good presentation.
• Nicholas Negroponte, MIT Media Lab, talked about the Participation Revolution. It seemed to me that the majority of this presentation was about the $100 laptop. I have heard several naysayers in some of these podcasts. But, clearly Nicholas believes the effort will go forward and that it will bring value. It would be interesting to find the time to line up these naysaying podcasts and the non-naysaying podcats and listen to them more like a traditional pro-con list.
• Paul Everitt, Zope Europe Association, talked about the Lisbon Agenda and Open Source. This informative presentation made several interesting points. Most noteworthy was the assertion that much open source starts in Europe and is adopted by the US (as in the US takes it over). He also pointed out that one of open source's heroes, Linus Torvald, now lives in the US.
• Robert Beardsley, President and CEO of Kereos, talked with Dr. Moira Gunn on Tech Nation. The subjects focused on biological research including nano-tech and stem cells. Robert noted that many of the big diseases of the day will be treatable or curable in the not so distant future. However, it will be years.
• Spencer Wells, Population Geneticist and a member of The New Explorers, talked about how we can trace human migrations via DNA. Very interesting indeed. He credited a lower sea level and migration from Africa, through India, to Austrailia for the Austrailian's aboringine's appearance in Austrailia. He also noted that the DNA record demonstrates that human males tend to recreate via obtaining alpha male status and then hogging the females. TMI, perhaps.
• Mark Cuban, Michael Powell, Evan Williams, and Reed Hastings participated in a panel discussion about The Future of Entertainment. This was a spirited and informative discussion and predated the video iPod as was obvious by some of the discussion. If you are interested in how entertainment and content will be managed in the future, give this one a listen.
  
  
  

7/30/06: 10.5 Mile Run: Brownell-Shades Creek Greenway

Another Sunday run alone. Judy is still recovering from her medical procedures. So, I listened to Phedippidations and Accident Hash. I finished off with some IT Conversations based podcasts I will blog separately. It was a good run, but the last 3.5 miles were in pouring rain. It actually felt good.

Data

Distance:	10.5 Miles
Time:	1:44:03
Heart Rate:	155
Pace:	9:55
Weather:	Cloudy then rain Temperature-71° Humidity-90%
Route

7/28/06: Podcast Listening Update

• Beth Noveck, Associate Professor of Law at New York Law School, talked about Peer to Patent: Collective Intelligence for our Intellectual Property System. She reviewed some of the basic problems with the way patents are evaluated and used these days. All informative and insightful to me. I found her hypothesis that with technology we can resolve the issues like never before. I suspect the is and always has been more related to the humans involved in the process. Nonetheless, I thought her idea of introducing peer processes to the evaluation of patent applications was very cool. Well worth listening to.
• David Brin, author-physicist, talked about Evaluating Horizons. He built a great case for why our society needs to be more transparent. If for no other reason, than to point our errors quickly thanks to the rapid and broad sharing of information. I agree with him and also agree that our current administration and that of many other countries are working directly against this kind of transparency. Great presentation.
  

7/28/06: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Another early morning run during which I listened to the latest Daily Source Code. As I am logging this on Saturday, I have heard all of show 429. During this show, Adam referred to my entry for the iPod contest as "very interesting". As I commented on his blog, this is not a good thing for me according to my wife. So, I added an explanation on the comments there. My entry is TheiPodThatLaunched1000Shows.com. This is an allusion to the "face that launched a thousand ships". You know, Helen was taken to Troy and the Greeks sent 1000 ships to fetch her. This resulted in the Trojan War. The guy that started this whole free iPod mess is named Troy, troyneedsanipod.com. Anyway, if I have to explain it, I suppose my fate is predictable. :(

It is really hard to ignore this Israel/Hezbollah war. Not only is it a horrible reflection of the inability of these 2 groups to find a way to resolve their differences without killing people, but it sure seems polarizing. I can't help but think that this plays so well into the hand of Iran's, Al Queda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic militants that it is anything other than calculated. Iran wanted to see Israel get pissed off. If they didn't do much, a good test. If they did do as they are doing, then in time more and more Arabs will get militant. There just seems to be no way to fix this situation. It just plain sucks.

Data

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	29:19
Heart Rate:	149
Pace:	9:46
Weather:	Clear skies 79° Humidity-79%

7/26/06: 5 Mile Run: Neighborhood

An early morning run during which I listened to the latest Daily Source Code. There is a contest sponsored by Adam wherein the winner gets a video iPod. This was inspired by a site set up to help a guy named Troy get an iPod. My entry is TheiPodThatLaunched1000Shows.com. I think it is creative, but easy for me to say of myself, eh?

This was a good run. I passed an older guy running the opposite direction. And, he had such a pleasant smile and demeanor about him that it just made me feel cheery. In fact, on the second pass he asked "did you see that beautiful rainbow?". I had seen it, but his pointing it out so bluntly and happily was just joy spreading. I think it is cool when we adults can behave just a little bit like children who just met on the playground and recognize a kindred spirit of "do you want to play?".

We lost our upstairs air conditioner this week and finally worked up the nerve to call the HVAC guys to come fix it. They convinced us to replace it. Man, what an expensive fix/upgrade. But, it was necessary.

Data

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	49:08
Heart Rate:	152
Pace:	9:50
Weather:	Few clouds 76° Humidity-76%

7/25/06: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

An early morning run during which I listened to the Daily Source Code and Accident Hash. So, Rice went to the middle east and it appears that we are not going to be able to broker a cease fire and a peace deal. No surprise there. The extremists want to fight and Israel doesn't have a reputation for backing down. Sure seems like the side picking continues. Hard to see a resolution to this stuff, that is for sure. I can't imagine what it must be like to live in Lebanon right now, especially if you don't care for the motivations of either side of the conflict.

Data

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	28:58
Heart Rate:	149
Pace:	9:39
Weather:	Few clouds 76° Humidity-85%

7/23/06: Podcast Listening Update

• Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, Authors of Naked Conversations, talk about The Corporation in a Blogging World. I think one of the side-effects of the network effect is the increasing pressure for transparency and authenticity one sees in the blogosphere. Robert And Shel talk about blogging and some of the decisions one needs to consider as one blogs in a context that is clearly associated with where one works. Great presentation.
• Tom Barton, President and CEO of Rackable Systems, talked about the data centers in place for huge Internet presences. This was hugely interesting presentation from my perspective. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the number of machines involved in running Google and the statistics Tom presented are startling. Further, the implications for power consumption, heat generation, and system administration are huge. Great and interesting presentation.
• Ray Lane, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, talked about The "Inter" Personal Enterprise. Ray discussed the environment around the thousands and enterprise software vendors. In an environment, as Ray notes, that 80% of the money goes to 3 companies, these vendors must compete fiercely. Ray talks about a variety of business models. He clearly recognizes that the traditional models for large license fees with a maintenance and support tail is increasingly under attack. Today, vendors need to focus on organic growth and acceptance with quick time to value. This was long and wordy presentation, but packed with good information.
• Retooling Developers for Geospatial, A Panel Discussion (see link for list of panelists) at Where 2005. This panel was clearly speaking to an audience that is familiar with GIS based mapping and data resources. But, the information was interesting to the rest of us too. I recommend listening and I am hoping to find time to visit the 2 sites I heard recommended during the presentations (again, check out the resources at the link provided above
• Scott Gatz, Senior Director of Personalization Products at Yahoo! Inc., talked Yahoo's Content Syndication Ecosystem. This was a presentation about how Yahoo is taking advantage of RSS and helping its visitors do the same. Scott discussed many of the things one might consider as one takes advantage of syndication and offers up content that can be syndicated. Good presentation.
• Pundit Panel, Dennis Kneale served as moderator (see link for panel member list), talked the general state of SOA and such at Software 2006. This was a fast paced, information packed, and sometimes combative discussion. I highly recommend it. The main take away for me was the importance of driving innovation into software to ensure competitive edge. But, there were many more. I highly recommend this one.
  

7/23/06: 8.5 Mile Run: Brownell-Shades Creek Greenway

I got some new CD's this week and I have caught up on podcasts, so I jammed to the new music. The weather was great. Still thinking about the extended family situation. Man, those decisions you make early in life can haunt you later. I feel like I have done the right thing most of the time, but there are few I regret. The stuff in Israel and Lebanon seems to just keep getting worse. Iran must be having a field day with this. Nothing creating a little conflict that will go on for awhile and result in 10 times as many deaths in Lebanon to get more Shiites motivated to rally against the U.S. and its allies, drive a bigger wedge between the parties in Iraq, defer attention, and basically just stir things up. I regret that leaders, on all sides, use rehetoric and munitions to create contexts that help the rest of us pick arms and fight for those causes. Let's aim for real peace. I listened to Nickleback's new CD, All the Right Reasons, (not available via the amazon links I build). Good CD, but not as good as early CD's in my opinion. But, a definitive keeper. The Trapt CD, Someone in Control, was jamming. I really loved their debut CD and have seen them several times here in Birmingham. Great stuff! I only hear the first few tracks of Shinedown's Us and Them, but they were good. Data: Distance: 8.5 Miles Time: 1:18:35 Heart Rate: 162 Pace: 9:14 Weather: Cloudy 72° 82%

7/21/06: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Since I have been traveling, I was fully caught up on the podcasts I listen to while running (see me at PodShow+). So, I listened to a CD for this run. I went back a few years and pulled out the Butthole Surfers. This CD is a bit off the way, but I like it. For reasons I won't share here, I am struggling with answering the question "Am I my brother's keeper?". I attended the funeral of a cousin's husband this week and saw family members I had not seen in years. Brought back some very old fears, sense of obligation, and emotions. So, I am in the midst of major cognitive dissonance. Data: Distance: 3 Miles Time: 28:45 Heart Rate: 156 Pace: 9:35 Weather: Clear skies 93° 41%

7/19/06: Podcast Update

• Gordon Chang, Author of "Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World" (follow the link below to ITConversations if you wish to checkout the book), talked with Dr. Moira Gunn of Tech Nation about North Korea and nuclear weapons. This was an informative and interesting discussion. Gordon's assertion that the North Korean leader may pull something stupid (like sending out some nukes) if he feels he is about to pass is scary. He seems to believe that diplomacy is the best handling of the situation, but sure sounds like a madman is at the helm in North Korea.
• Dr. Mahendra Rao, Vice President for Research - Invitrogen, talks with Dr. Moira Gunn of BioTech Nation about stem cell research and why some lines end. He talked about the "presendential lines" and how the current ban on research funding for research using any other lines. Much of the funding has switched to private sources. The discussion is very interesting and I recommend it. I am a supporter of stem cell research including embryonic stem cell research. So, I would like to see the ban eased and research increased. I am particularly concerned that doing otherwise will continue to enhance the offshoring of the research. It was also interesting to hear the discussion at the end of the podcast about the impact of the initiative in California that seems to have stalled.
  

7/19/06: 6 Mile Run: Columbia, SC

The trouble with the My Channel thing on PodShow+ has worked for about 24 hours now. So, maybe it is fixed. Again, I used the Garwin device to measure the route, so no heart rate. This morning I listened to the latest Phedippidations and started the latest Accident Hash.

Data

Distance:	6 Miles
Time:	59:31
Heart Rate:	Not measured
Pace:	9:54
Weather:	Hazey 74° Humidity-82%
Route

7/18/06: Podcast Update

• Bruce Sterling, Science Fiction author, talked about The Internet of Things. This guy is FUNNY. I was going through the Atlanta airport while listening to this one and I know some folks that I was nuts for laughing so often. It is extremely good and I highly recommend it. Memorable experiences include listening to Bruce tell the geek filled audience that Web 2.0 is not about participation, but putting the geeks back in control since things are just a bit more difficult.
  
• Dr. Daniel Amen, Amen Clinics, talked about SPECT and the Future of Mental Health. Dr. Amen went through scenario after scenario demonstrating that with the brain imaging technology we have and the historical data we have collected, that it is simply amazing that Psychiatrists don't use it for ALL diagnoses and treatments. If nothing else just to make sure that there isn't an obvious root cause. Very interesting presentation.
• Dr. Carlos Melo,Transgenic Animals, spoke with Dr. Moira Gunn of BioTech Nation about, come on guess, transgenic animals. Another interesting presentation about genetically modified life from Argentina. And, again, very interesting. Imaginge human growth hormone produced by cows and harvestable via milk..... very interesting.
  

7/18/06: 3 Mile Run: Columbia, SC

Another run during which I listened to the Daily Source Code. I am still having trouble with the My Channel thing. I used the Garwin device to measure the route, so no heart rate.

This on-going Israel and Hezbollah confrontation is still going on. It sure seems like all the international leaders are lining up on one side or another. I sure hope we find a way to calm this down. But, the middle east situation sure seems intractable and the threat of those opposed to Israel have Americans in their sites and are not going to negotiate. We aren't likely to change our stripes, nor are they. So, do things return to the same festering wound waiting for the next explosive situation or do we just get it over with....... I wished I was smart enough to think my way through the best way to handle this or for that matter be able to draw a clear line to which side is "really" right.

Data

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	29:17
Heart Rate:	Not measured
Pace:	9:34
Weather:	Clear skies 72° Humidity-80%
Route

7/16/06: Podcast Update

• Oded Shenkar, Author of "The Chinese Century", talked about East Meets West. He did a fairly thorough analysis of the history of the U.S. as an economic power that emerged from underneath British lead. Then, he shifted attention to what is happening in China and how the U.S. needs to pay attention and start doing its homework. This was a very interesting presentation. He made it clear that the scenarios don't completely align, but there is some similarity. The main point I took from his presentation was that the world is flattening, things are changing, and we should embrace. The impact will not be simple and the outcomes will not be easy to predict.
• Rebecca MacKinnon, Co-founder of Global Voices Online, picked up the the second part of East meets West. She included tons of real world examples of how the Chinese are embracing the Internet and innovation. Including things as simple as attracting tourists to rural villages and growing a tourist industry. She described in detail how firewalls are keeping Chinese citizens from viewing and publishing objectionable content. Interestingly enough, she observed that for a lot of Chinese the end result is seen as freeing, not the converse as we might expect. Again, a very interesting presentation.
• Bjorn Melin, BioSidus, talked with Dr. Moira Gunn about Genetically Modified Crops. This was an interesting presentation about the positive impact of genetically modified corn and soybeans in Argentina. Given the FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) spread by some, I found this quite interesting.
• Ron Jacobs, ARCast, talked with Denny Boynton about Patterns and Anti-Patterns for SOA Applied. This was a great podcast for technologists interested in SOA. I loved the labels "Cruddy" and "Loosey Goosey" used to describe several patterns used by those designing SOA based systems. If want to know what these are, I recommend going and give this podcast a listen. But, here's 2 hints: don't do crud via WSDL and on have 1 method "DoIT" within your WSDL.
• Ron Jacobs, ARCast, talked with Robert Daigneau, Director of Platform Architecture for Monster.com, about Becoming an Architect. They did an excellent job describing the real world around software architects. If you are an architect or aspiring to become one, I recommend giving this podcast a listen. I can certainly verify that what they say is true! Main points I took away include, if you are an architect you have to lead by influence and you grow into the position after years of experience.
  
  

7/16/06: 10.5 Mile Run: Brownell-Shades Creek Greenway

I started this morning by letting the dog out while the gates to the fence were wide open just as I left them after mowing yesterday. Naturally, the dog went for a stroll. Fortunately, he didn't go far. Judy will not be running for a month, so I went out alone. Interestingly, I was slower. Maybe, I can blame it on the heat.

I am still having trouble with Podshow+'s My Channel despite having heard from their help desk. I will be glad when they get it working. I love the idea they are trying to make real.


Data

Distance:	10.5 Miles
Time:	1:49:46
Heart Rate:	154
Pace:	10:27
Weather:	Clear Skies Temperature-75° Humidity-88%
Route

7/15/06: Podcast Update 2

I had to mow the yard, so got to knock off a couple more from my queue.

• Ed Vasquez, Tom Myers, Jerry Flasz and Derek Butcher participated on an Expert Panel where they did a SOA Reality Check Part II. I have to be honest and admit that I listened to this quite awhile ago so I don't remember many of the details. But, I know it was a good presentation and focused a lot on actual experience rolling out SOA. I would recommend listening.
• Jonathan Schwartz, President and COO of Sun Microsystems, Inc., participated in a conversation with Doc Searls, Senior Editor of Linux Journal at Syndicate 2005. Jonathan is one of my favorite speakers on these ITConversations podcasts. This was a lively, opinionated, and insightful exchange that I would recommend. I love Jonathan's assertion that he would not worry about providing email access to employees who might abuse it, but would worry that the more connected employees become the more they work. They also made a good case that a company that chooses to attempt to set the standard as a competitive advantage will ultimately have to choose which segment of the market they will serve and necessarily that which they will not serve. The conversation included discussions of open source and its impact. Jonathan also included a discussion about how one selects the appropriate license for a project.
• Marcel den Hartog, Computer Associates, talked about his notion of Three Degrees of Separation borrowing from the popular six degrees of separation idea. For Marcel, he is referring to 3 degrees of separation between any element of the application and the user: storage, middleware, and the application layer. This was a fast paced and good presentation.
  

7/15/06: Podcast Update

• Philip Rosedale and David Alan Smith participated in a Intelligence Amplification Panel where they talked about Building the Metaverse. I selected to listen to this podcast predominantly because of Philip's association with Second Life. This was an interesting podcast, but does have content that would require access visual content that was in use when the podcast was recorded. One of the surprising things was the assertion by David that Java does not work the same way every where, thus his use of Smalltalk instead.
• Dileep George, Principal Architect at Numenta, talked about Understanding the Neocortex to Accelerate our Understanding of Intelligence. This was an excellent presentation. Dileep noted that the neocortex consists of a large sheath of neurons about 6 levels deep. Further, that the system is not highly differentiated as one might expect. In fact, he indicated that all of the cells essentially apply the same algorythms just to different stimuli. There is some modularization, but each unit functions much like other units at the celluar level. Again, very interesting and Dileep talks about it better than I. So, if you find this intriguing, go check it out.
• Steve Jurvetson and Blake Ross participated in Future Maker Panel during which that talked about Small, Smart, Open. Steve makes a good case for evolutionary processes leading to and hierarchial system with levels of abstraction that may not be so easy to figure out and replicate. Why? Because the evolve organically and are not necessarily efficient and eloquent. That doesn't mean they are NOT effective or easy to use. Very interesting idea. This was an extremely interesting podcast that I highly recommend.
• David Isenberg, Founder of isen.com, read a poem called Freedom To Connect. It was very Dr. Seuss like and villified the telecoms and clearly offers support for Net neutrality. I am not convinced the telecoms are the big evil as this poem and other Net neutrality backing content suggests. But, it was creative and entertaining.
• Dr. Greg Stock, CEO of Signum Biosciences, talks with Dr. Moira Gunn (BioTech Nation) about how machines are being used to aid biological functions. Dr. Stock does not anticipate large scale implantations for enhancement or cosmetic reasons given that one would need to upgrade frequently and that means invasion of the body. Thus, one would be shy to go there. Very interesting conversation.
• David Sifry, Founder and CEO of Technorati, talked about The State of the Blogosphere. This quick and interesting presentation mentions the incredible growth in the number of blogs, the increase in credibility for some blogs, and the abuses in the blogosphere.
• Al Gore, former Vice-President of the United States, talked about The Earth in the Balance. This was a faced-paced, fact-packed presentation about threats to the earth's climate and evidence that global warming as a result of human activity is real. Despite corporate and republican naysayers, I think Gore and the scientists I have seen on TV read or read about in other media are right in asserting that we are dangerously close to messing up the system. We need to do a better job of addressing global warming before it is too late.
• As briefly mentioned in a recent running entry, I listened to 3 podcasts about SCRUM. I have long been a fan of agile methods. It would be interesting to see if one could actually add 77 functions points in the same timeframe traditional processes result in 2 as suggested in these podcasts. That sounds unbelievable. But, I expect to checkout some of the principles and practices suggested in these podcasts and see if I can find a home for them in the processes I use at work. Here's a quote from the Agile Manifesto that highlights some of the basic differences between agile and traditional methods:
  

  ...we have come to value:
  
  Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
  Working software over comprehensive documentation
  Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
  Responding to change over following a plan
  
  That is, while there is value in the items on
  the right, we value the items on the left more.
  

  
  I found these 4 contractual provisions as discussed in the podcasts most compelling (copied from the transcripts for the podcasts):
  
  
  1. For any part of the requirements that the team hasn’t started working on yet, the customer is free to change them with anything of equal value.
  2. For any part of the requirements that the team hasn’t started working on yet, the customer is free to reprioritise them
  3. For any part of the work that has been delivered as increments already, the customer is free to ask the teams to implement them in addition to any call for implementations and they will be charged time and material to do so.
  4. Since the team has given the customer, as part of the proposal, the list of requirements of the project in a prioritised list by value, the customer can often see the system they want emerging and may feel satisfied before the entire set of requirements are developed. In this case they can cancel the contract at this point in time and take delivery of the system that is adequate to their needs and is only charged some penalty (such as 25% of unbilled revenues) to take care of any overhead that the team has absorbed by entering into the contract.
  
  I intend to keep learning more about SCRUM.
  

7/14/06: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

A HOT afternoon run during which I listened to the Daily Source Code. Still some conversation about PodShow+, but I have to say that I am still having trouble with the My Channel thing. I'm sure it will get fixed and the tech team has emailed me telling me they think it is fixed, but not yet. I like aggregating online and having a combined feed. It does make keeping my iPod current easier. Further, I essentially have 2 sets of things I listen to on my iPod: entertainment podcasts (Daily Source Code, Phedippidations, Accident Hash, and Pod Save the Queen) and techy podcasts from IT Conversations. With IT Conversations support for My Queue, I can manage my downloads for techy podcasts and now with PodShow+'s My Channel, I can do the same for the other shows.

Man this crap in the middle east is sure scary as hell. Part of me says, those terrorist bastards want a fight, so give it to them. I mentioned this to my wife and she said "that doesn't sound like you." True enough, normally I lean a little more to the passivist side, but gees how long are we going to tolerate living in a world of fear. And, this middle east thing is surely akin to the cold war stuff where the big powers used other countries and groups to execute the battle in the field. So, we are behing Israel and Iran, Syria, and some non-state groups are backing Hamas and Hizbollah. Thus, playing out the big battle we aren't fighting on the backs of smaller groups. Why can't we humans find a better way to solve problems? Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Data

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	30:56
Heart Rate:	148
Pace:	10:19
Weather:	Clear skies 95° Humidity-38%

7/12/06: 6 Mile Run: Neighborhood

For this morning run, I listened to the last of yesterday's Daily Source Code, 3 Podcasts on SCRUM (a agile development methodology) and started listening to a PodCast of a presentation by Al Gore as delivered at Stanford on global warming. I guess one of the benefits of running slow is there is lots of time to listen. And, I had a friend turn me on to Yahoo! Answers, most particularly one posted by Stephen Hawking within which he asks will humans still be here in 100 years given all the chaos we see socially, politically, and environmentally. Man all of this content has my brain spinning. I am also struggling trying to get a picture out of my mind. It was taken by Kevin Carter and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 showing a starving Sudanese boy with a vulture standing behind him waiting for a meal. It is VERY disturbing. How can we be so damn cruel and let some of our brothers suffer so!

I have long been intrigued by the prospects agile methods introduce for improving and accelerating feature introduction for software. In fact, some of the processes used where I work have been influenced by agile methods. But, as noted in the podcasts above, it is not an easy transition from traditional to agile methods. It may be worth the effort, but it is an effort. I have found that the culture change required to get the motivation to stick through the effort is the hardest to develop and maintain.

As to Stephen Hawking's questions, the disturbing picture, and Al Gore's presentation, it is just a solid reminder that we have a lot of work to do to ensure that we properly care for the planet under our care, treat each well, and prevent preventable outcomes for our brothers and sisters. Some of those replying to Hawking indicated we should just trust in deities or that all generations have asked the same question and it hasn't happened yet, so don't sweat it. I think both attitudes are counter productive. We are impacting the planet like never before and WE KNOW IT. It is the knowledge part that I think we have an obligation to respond to. It is one thing to live in a world where you view is limited to the "known world" and the population is small enough to limit the environmental impact to relatively small areas and another to live today where Thomas Friedman can build the case that we are so connected to knowledge and each other we can think of the planet as flat. I don't have a solid answer to resolve the issues hinted at by Hawking's question. But, I know we can only solve, like all hard problems, by being rational and dividing and conquering the problem's contributing problems. Let's get busy.

Data

Distance:	6 Miles
Time:	1:00:43
Heart Rate:	152
Pace:	10:07
Weather:	Mostly Cloudy 84° Humidity-68%

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

Still insufficient podcasts coming down to listen to one of the shows I subscribe to while running this morning. I don't really care to listen to one of the more technical related shows while running. So, I grabbed the music playing mp3 player and loaded up Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians. I just love her voice and perky style. I signed up at PodShow+, but it is still having trouble providing the exact service I think I would use. But, I anticipate that will come along. There is a fairly lively discussion going on at curry.com if you want to watch what is happening as PodShow+ continues to get unleashed. I think once the dust settles the results are going to be very cool. Data: Distance: 3 Miles Time: 28:53 Heart Rate: 152 Pace: 9:38 Weather: Clear skies 74° 78% Humidity

10.5 Mile Run: Brownell-Shades Creek Greenway

Met Judy at 6:30 am as usual. A good run, but she kicked my butt even worse than last week. the extra 2 miles just gave her more time to get ahead. I even blabbed less, but it didn't help. I listened to the latest Daily Source Code by Adam Curry on the way to and from Brownell. A good deal of the show was about the release of PodShow+. Adam also talked about the service for his mother who recently died. Sounds like it was exactly what his mother would have wanted. I was sorry to hear of his loss and wish the best for his family.

I signed up (http://bobevans.podshow.com/) and I am getting acquainted. I have not decided precisely how I will use it, but it is interesting. I found it a little confusing at first and even added a comment to at http://www.curry.com. But, the first thing you have to do is understand that PodShow is an aggregator. However, for shows that are listed there, one might only want to add that show directly to their podcatcher. I think it needs to be easier to do that than it seems to be right now. But, for an initial release, it may make sense to let the dust settle before getting to uppidity.

:)

Data

Distance:	10.5 Miles
Time:	1:42:05
Heart Rate:	160
Pace:	9:21
Weather:	Cloudy Skies Temperature-74° Humidity-74%
Route

Accident Hash Rave

Show 160 of Accident Hash was the best I have heard. Someone apparently wrote that C.C. likes pop music beats and he reacted (maybe, overreacted) and I loved it! Go C.C., I was driving and hanging out in the gym while listening, but man if I had been running this show would have ruled. Last, but not least, I must buy some Munk.

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I enjoyed a morning run with cooler temperatures and commercial music. Kind of unusual for me these days. But, Adam Curry has not been posting Daily Source Code shows (his mother died recently, so not complaining). The rest of my regular shows for running don't fill up enough space. So, I grabbed the music playing mp3 player and loaded up The Eminem Show. I thoroughly enjoyed the updated dose of Eminem. The "Cleaning Out My Closet" track especially. He is too crude at times, but he does hit a nerve and reflect a side of society that is there. Sometimes art does reflect life. I dropped by Second Life briefly yesterday and the Curry Castle has moved. I am sure it is on Adam's island in Second Life, but I have no clue where the island is or how to get to it. :( Data: Distance: 3 Miles Time: 28:07 Heart Rate: 154 Pace: 9:39 Weather: Clear skies 70° 64% Humidity

Podcast Update

I listened to Dr. Moira Gunn interview William Vollmann about Uncentering Earth (follow this link for information about purchasing his book if you wish to dig deeper). The majority of the conversation was about Copernicus and his discoveries and observations. Special consideration was given to the science available to Copernicus to help shed light on the context within which he operated. Very interesting presentation!

6 Mile Run: Neighborhood

A cooler afternoon run. Felt like a "mental run". Translation: I was supposed to run, so I did. Not because my body felt like it, but because my mind said "just do it". So, I was slow, but I did get it in and I appreciated that once the run was complete. I listened to the latest Phedippidations and was pleased to hear Steve remind us that flexibility is a good thing. Those of you that read this blog regularly (yeah, right!) know that I do occasionally skip out on a run or two and alter my running days. Nothing too drastic, but flexibile enough to permit a little balance to my life. This made for the first full year of Phedippidations too. Congrats, Steve and keep it up!

Data

Distance:	6 Miles
Time:	1:00:23
Heart Rate:	152
Pace:	10:04
Weather:	Cloudy, 84°
	Humidity - 48%

George Bush Raps!

This is a super hilarious rap song with Chris Cox as George Bush. I found this gem on iFilm.com.

3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

A hot afternoon run. I had to work with my son to decorate his wagon for a neighborhood 4th of July parade. So, I didn't manage to get my run in early. In fact, it was so hot that I got in my son's kiddie pool after the run. He thought that was a blast and it was a quick cool off. I listened to C.C. Chapman's Accident Hash. Podshow.com, the hosting site for Accident Hash, appears to be down right now. I am guessing they are about to launch! Adam's video that presents the illusion that we are seeing him through his monitor is cool and a creative way to manage informing the visitor that the site is down. Anyway, I thought C.C.'s choice to present a show based on the top 10 songs from the Podsafe Music Network was excellent!

It is interesting that part of the pitch of podcasters is that the redundant, repetitive playing of songs is one of the things that can be avoided by listening to podcasts doesn't seem to be entirely accurate to me. I am NOT complaining. It is certainly a LOT less repetitive. But, with the 3 podcasts I listen to regularly (Phedippidations, Daily Source Code, and Accident Hash), I can say that the advertisements and songs do get repeated. This repetition occurs across and within shows. But, I think to some extent this repetition is good. A really popular, good song merits repeating by the same show and across shows. While not preprogrammed and managed by the corporate media outlets, there is something to be said that popular, good songs get repeated both by podcasters and, for commercial enterprises, by the radio. While different, repetition is not inherently bad, just overdone by the usual radio station.

C.C.'s comment, in a recent show, about the lack of variability from city to city as it applies to radio is definitely a fair criticism. In fact, this pattern bothers me much more than the repeated playing of songs. I would love to hear regional influences on the radio as I travel. That would add a whole new dimension to traveling that offers plenty of opportunity for audio tourism. But, everything in its place. For me, the radio is just about dead. Not because of repetition. Purely from lack of entertainment; too much of the same ol' stuff. Podcasters are simply offering better content in a more interesting format.

Data

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	29:52
Heart Rate:	153
Pace:	9:57
Weather:	Clear skies, 96°
	Humidity - 48%

Podcast Update

OK. If you have been watching, you would think I have been listening to anything from IT Conversations, but that isn't true. I just haven't had time to log it. But, here's the most recent lot. I will list the others and at least highlight my favorites.

• Gary McGraw, CTO at Citigal, talked about Software Security. He referenced a book he recently published on the same subject that you can learn more about and purchased at the link just included. I thought the presentation was excellent and thought his focus on the programming techniques and procedures were right on target.
• Paul Levine, General Manager at Local Yahoo!, Inc., talked about The Architecture of Participation. Paul clearly understood his subject matter and I recommend this presentation. I haven't spent anytime on checking out Local Yahoo, but will now, should I get the time. I think participation is a central tenet of modern software development and instrumental in many ways. It is being embraced in many ways both for open and closed software development. Paul talked a lot about search and most importantly how it should be focused more on purposeful search and results. He is right on.
• Cory Doctorow, European Affairs Coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, talked about Europe's Coming Broadcast Flag. While I sometimes find the EEF's statements and policies a bit extreme, Cory's presentation was not so extreme. In fact, I found it informative and interesting. I especially like the obvious assertion that the mainstream media producers are treating their customers as the culprits against which they need to put in protections. Thereby, thwarting innovation and creating motivation for the very audience that paid for the media to find a different way to get content they are willing to purchase if they wish to use it in an alternative manner. He is right on the money!
• Carolyn Porco, Cassini Science Imaging Team Leader, talked about the Cassini mission at Saturn as part of the Explorer's Club at Pop!Tech. This was a very interesting presentation. I highly recommend listening and checking out the Cassini website.
• Jaime Sguerra, CTO, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, delivered a presentation called A Services Oriented Architecture for Competitive Advantage. Since I work in the insurance software industry and SOA is a major interest, it was quite interesting to hear Jaime's perspective. Very well presented and dead-on!
• Mark Lynas, Author of High Tide, talked about Global Warming. This enlightening presentation should provide plenty of motivation for all of us to start taking our behavior and its potential impact on our environment a lot more seriously. I recently read an article from Men's Health that talked about the dangers we runners face when we run while pollutants are high. Put these 2 tidbits together (Mark's presentation and this article) and man it makes for some sobering thoughts. Mark also pokes fun at our government's (especially Republican) attempts to treat Global Warming as a non-issue. His particular example included a reference to Congress asking Michael Creighton, a novelist, for an opinion on the subject. According to Mark, no expert/scientist in the field disagrees with the contention that something is happening and that it does not bode well for humanity.
• Lee Felsenstein, PC Pioneer, spoke with Larry of Larry's World. Lee is a famous moderator of the Homebrew Computer Club (think where early Apple Computers and others such were shown and discussed). Listening to Lee talk about the history of PC technology and the personalities of some of the now famous folks as they were before they were famous was extremely enjoyably. Highly recommended.
  

8.4 Mile Run: Brownell - Shades Creek Greenway

Met Judy at 6:30 am as usual. Man, did it seem hot. Must have been humid. I plan to add that measure to the data section below. I didn't record it for this run. Judy kicked my but at the end of the run, but my watch says I ran the usual time. Go Judy. Me, I was pleased just to not walk. It was one of those runs.

I also blabbed a lot. In fact, I joking noted that Jed Bush will run for president in the future. Not the next election, but for the next presidency after. And, at that time he will wage war on Iran. I note such here, in case I turn out to be right. I want evidence. I wonder if this blog will still be here then?

Data

Distance:	8.4 Miles
Time:	1:18:30
Heart Rate:	164
Pace:	9:21
Weather:	Clear Skies, 74°
Route