8/30/06: 5 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I have been running mostly in the morning, but today I got too busy first thing to do so. Thus, this was a late afternoon, early evening run.

I listened to the latest Daily Source Code (DSC). Adam and Patricia's concerns about their 16 year old daughter's apparent interest in a 21 year old guy dominated much of the conversation. And, I would say it should. Also, the DSC has had some comments sent in and made by Adam to which I am motivated to respond. Namely, the idea that the continued coverage of the terrorist threat is just feeding fears and is over blown. In fact, a caller to show referenced back to older movies where the leading characters would intentionally hold back information to prevent panic by the people. Bunk! Tell me everything, just make it accurate. I got long winded so if you wish to check out the comment, visit the comments at DSC.

 Data

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	50:48
Heart Rate:	155
Pace:	10:10
Weather:	Mostly Cloudy 84° Humidity-59%

8/29/06: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I listened to the latest Daily Source Code and Accident Hash during the run. I loved hearing Jim's Big Ego on the Charlie. Also, loved hearing Roger Smalls message about Adam's continued asking for naked pictures. I hope Adam shares the picture Roger sent! It ought to be a hoot.

 Data

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	29:12
Heart Rate:	154
Pace:	9:44
Weather:	Clear skies 74° Humidity-90%

8/27/06: 6 Mile Run: Brownell-Jemison Park

I have been on vacation for a week. So, no blog entries and I only ran twice. Yes, I was really on vacation. So, I will be jumping back into the schedule, but thought I would hold back for this run to ease the body back in a bit.  I also fell behind on podcast listening while on vacation. So, I used the ride down, the run, and the ride back to catch up on the Daily Source Code. I had listened some while doing chores yesterday. So, I did get caught up on this show.

We vacationed at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. Since our toddler was aware of everything and at a good age to appreciate it, we had a blast.

Data

Distance:	6 Miles
Time:	57:02
Heart Rate:	163
Pace:	9:30
Weather:	Few Clouds 82° Humidity-72%
Route

8/16/06: 6 Mile Run: Neighborhood.

I was caught up on the podcasts I listen to while running, so I put the Creative Zen on shuffle and jammed while I ran. I finished listening to the latest Daily Source Code (show # 441) last night while shopping for shoes. Adam went off on some NPR dude talking to folks about security lines at airports. Most specifically about some folks getting preferential treatment given having paid higher fares. Adam went into a rant about how his $12,000 first class fares subsidize flying for the rest of us poor saps. Makes me want to say, "Give me a f**king break and get over yourself." I am not bothered by first class and frequent flyers getting preferential treatment personally. No more than I am someone passing in road race. There is always someone faster, richer, prettier, etc. But, noone likes such shoved in their face. But, Adam is Adam. I still like his show and suspect he general that he is a nice guy despite his repeated reminding that he lives in a affluent suburb of London, drives a Jaguar, flies first class, owns a plane, ..... Makes my rich life seem poor. But, there is always someone faster....

 Data

Distance:	6 Miles
Time:	1:00:10
Heart Rate:	153
Pace:	10:02
Weather:	Clear skies 71° Humidity-90%

8/15/06: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I listened to the latest Daily Source Code during the run. It was a good run and I contemplated all the chatter around the ceasefire now established in the Lebanon/Israel conflict. Anyone claiming victory, ANYONE, is full of crap. Nobody won anything. In fact, when I hear all the various world leaders claiming victory, I see hairy primates acting as if they have just killed the previous alpha male, his offspring, and taken his mate(s). I expect our leaders to show more signs of evolution towards a higher end. Noone, NOONE, should celebrate death, NOBODY'S DEATH, even your enemy's death is to be mourned.

 Data

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	29:00
Heart Rate:	149
Pace:	9:40
Weather:	Clear skies 76° Humidity-82%

8/15/06: Podcast Listening Update

• Bret Taylor, Google, Inc., talked about Inside Google Maps. Bret covers the strategy and use of Google Maps richly and well. Good presentation.
• Derek Powazek, Technorati, talked about The New Community. This is an insightful and well delivered presentation. Derek does a good job building the case the Web 1.0 was basicaly about company towns. A company town is characterized by the central control features one might expect. As the web is maturing, people are participating more and the tools on the web are doing the collating and and aggregating to present the broader view. I highly recommend this presentation.
• Dr. C. K. Prahalad, University of Michigan, talked about Emerging Hi-Tech Ecosystems. Dr. Prahalad drives home the point that outsourcing is not just about cost savings. It is also about quality. He builds a solid case that is yet one more sources of evidence that, in Thomas Friedman's words, the world is flat.
• Dr. Glen Elliott, Director of The Children’s Center and Author of "Medicating Young Minds", talked with Dr. Moira Gunn of Tech Nation about prescribing psychiatric drugs to children. This was an informative and well articulated discussion.
• Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon, talked with Tim O'Reilly at the Web 2.0 Conference. I always find it interesting to listen to conversations with the "so greats" of the Internet age. This one was not a disappointment. Jeff sounds so nice and insightful all at the same time. Tim and Jeff talk about search and how it is used on Amazon and how it influences the use of Amazon amongst other topics. Very interesting.
• Kaj Arno, VP of Community Relations of MySQL AB, talked about MySQL on Opening Move. This conversation included his thoughts about patents, the GPL 3.0, and licensing in general. He also talked about efforts for use of MySQL in .Net environments. Good presentation.
• Marc Hedlund, O'Reilly Media, talked about Future-Proofing Your Privacy. Marc talked about why it might be important to be aware of how your data is stored on, well, resources like this, blogger. Can you export it? Can you delete it? If you can't, maybe you no longer own it once you put it out there. With Web 2.0 increasing the opportunity for people to put more data out there and for search engines to find and correlate it, we may need a some form of license that still lets people have some control of their information. A very interesting presentation.
• Yochai Benkler, Professor of Law at Yale Law School, talked about the Participation Revolution. This is a third presentation in this series. Yochai talked about how the participation enabled by the web can show how individuals can out perform organizations on some tasks using peer-to-peer. The business models built upon the passive consumer will continue to find themselves challenged as the consumer becomes more active and engaged with other consumers (listen up Hollywood). 

8/13/06: 10.5 Mile Run: Brownell to Shades Creek Greenway

Well, I thought today's run was going to be my opportunity to catch up on all my regularly podcasts. But, NO, the damn headphones bit the big one about 3 miles in. So, I trashed 'em and ran to the sounds of Homewood, Alabama. That was not the worst part of the run though. I had the trots for the first 3 miles too. I had to find a porta-john 3 times! But, after that all was fine. That is a horrible way to start though.

Data

Distance:	10.5 Miles
Time:	1:44:34
Heart Rate:	152
Pace:	9:58
Weather:	Cloudy Temperature-73° Humidity-79%
Route

8/11/06: 3 Mile Run Neighborhood & War Rant

I listened to the latest Daily Source Code. Yesterday, the British arrested 20+ folks for plotting to blow up 10+ airplanes over the Atlantic in a near simultaneous explosion. And, the war continues between Israel and Hezbollah/Lebanon. This stuff is just so concerning. Thank goodness, the British stopped the plot. It is just amazing to see what is happening around the globe. I have been watching a lot news and following the LebanonLive blog to get a glimpse into a different point of view. I have previously read Thomas Friedman's books, several books on middle east history, and some Arab writings. I am just trying to get a view from all sides.

I find it virtually impossible to assign sole fault to any side. It seems to me that over the course of history all sides have made huge mistakes. So, what are we to do? Assume we can't agree and just keep killing until one side wins or perhaps just killing indefinitely with no end in sight? Gees, what a stupid species we are. It just frustrates me so. But, I still believe the key is that individuals MUST think for themselves. Let any incident happen and I can virtually assure you that you can pick whose position you want to predict and if it is George Bush, Condeleezza Rice, Nasrallah, my father-in-law, me, you, and anyone you know fairly well and I bet you can predict it fairly well.

So, if every major leader's position is so predictable, what is the truth value of their position. What does current happenings have to do with their ability to adjust position based on current truth. Virtually none. It is not today that determines truth. It is yesterday that determines today's truth. So, if you want to change the horrible conditions of today, change tomorrows truth by shaping the truth of today. That means we need to stop letting these political figures shape our context and our truths.

Let's start by calling killing what it is. It is doesn't matter who is doing it. Killing people, well torturing them is right in here too, is the worst thing people can do. OK, under threat maybe you don't have that much choice, but it is still the worst thing you can do. The death of anyone is NOT to be celebrated by anyone. Stop celebrating death, if you are. If you have to kill, acknowledge that it is a horrible thing. Pity those you kill. Despise the circumstances and the poor choices that led to the need to kill. And, by all means, do everything possible to find alternative methods for resolution. All of us, REPEAT ALL OF US, get all worked up and think we must kill sooner than may be true. But, rest assured, business as usual ain't gonna fix this mess either. Unfortunately, people are going to continue to kill.

But, a good start would be to start mourning the killing and the death EVERYWHERE. No more dancing in the street when someone dies. No more teaching that one who dies while killing gets multiple virgins in heaven. What the hell is that anyway? Am I to believe that a righteous, pious religious person wants to kill, die, and "enjoy" having virgins? Is that Godly? Would a thinking person believe that is Godly? I think not.

Now, in case you think I am bashing one side of the argument, let me tell you that I think the arguments put up to support attacking Iraq fall apart quickly. They fell apart quickly before the war in Iraq started. And, since killing was the plan, they were simply not questioned enough by those that had the power to change the plan. Shame on you George Bush. Shame on those that reelected him after that.

I am also disturbed to hear that some of the bombings in Iraq are not just motivated by hating Americans and sectarian violence aimed at seizing power, but by the desire to assert power over those that don't follow decrees by clerics telling store owners how to arrange vegetables so as not to have vegetables arranged too seductively. Gees, this is like creating a militant out of the philosophy that indicated that the purple Teletubbie was supporting a gay lifestyle and as such was evil. Give me a break. How can people let people kill in the support of such nonsense? How evil is the mind that sees a penis and balls when celery and tomatoes and placed close together? Worse will kill the store owner and patrons as a result of such nonsense.

We all must start screaming "stop the killing". All of it. And, that won't be easy because frankly it is stupid not to kill the person about to shoot you and your family. But, that is not the sole motivation behind the killing going on. Stand up and do the right thing, everyone. It ain't going to be easy. Be more willing to die, than to kill! Question your leaders, ALL OF 'EM. Those wise old guys, may not be so wise. Remember power corrupts absolutely.

Excuse the rant. I threw it out. Maybe I haven't thought through every point deep or long enough. But, I am just so fed up with us (all people, everywhere).


Data

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	30:56
Heart Rate:	150
Pace:	10:19, so slow :(
Weather:	Clear skies 86° Humidity-57%

8/10/06: 5 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I listened to the latest Daily Source Code. I am blogging this late, so I can't remember what I was thinking on this day.....


Data

Distance:	5 Miles
Time:	50:47
Heart Rate:	155
Pace:	10:09
Weather:	Clear skies 74° Humidity-87%

8/8/06: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I listened to the latest Daily Source Code and Accident Hash. I discovered that I didn't win the video iPod as part of Adam's little contest. But, what the heck, it was worth $6.95 to try.

I heard on NPR recently that some of the sectarian violence in Iraq is motivated by folks ignoring cleric decrees for things like how to arrange vegatables in a store. Apparently, if you place celery and tomatoes too close together, it may be overly suggestive. And for this some must die. I would love to think this story is just wrong, but my gut says it is the truth. And, I fear that the sides keep forming up to fight the battle between the "west" and the "middle east". It is just so ridiculous and sad. There is no innonence to shared by those who choose to kill. I believe that sometimes one has not choice, but that doesn't make it right.

Data

Distance:	3 Miles
Time:	30:33
Heart Rate:	152
Pace:	10:11
Weather:	Clear skies 75° Humidity-79%

8/6/06: Podcast Listening Update

• Alex Lightman, CEO of Charmed Technology, talked about Globalization to the Edge. This was a very upbeat presentation that highlighted why reading Thomas Friedman's latest book (which I am reading right now coincidentally), The World is Flat. He also talked about what IPv6 is so cool. Good presentation.
• Bart Decrem, Flock, talked about the Participation Revolution. Most particularly, he talked about Flock. As a podcast, this one was a bit difficult as Bart was describing things he was showing which doesn't translate well to listening for obvious reasons. However, he provided enough verbal content to keep you interested and make you want to go check it out. Flock is a browser with social networking built in. Sounds quite cool and I will be checking it out. Blogger, del.icio.us, all together in your browser. Sounds cool.

8/6/06: 8.5 Mile Run: Brownell-Shades Creek Greenway

I was fairly well caught up on podcasts, so I took the Creative Zen Micro which has many of my CD's ripped on to it. I put it on "shuffle" and just took off. Too many songs for me to remember, but it was cool. My favorite was Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down. I made some folks think I was daft as I sang the chorus out loud as I ran. But, hey I was in the moment and having fun. I ran alone again as Judy is still recuperating.

I did listen to Phedippidations in the car to and from Brownell. The story of Eric Little is quite moving, especially the part about the internment camp in China where he died. Steve, the voice of Phedippidations, has a great style for telling stories like this. Good research and nice production, and very moving.

This stuff in Lebanon and Israel is just unreal. I occasionally check out videos on iFilm and it is just sickening to see what people do to other people. I am not taking sides. It all sucks. What if we all just decided we won't kill! Be willing to die, but not to kill. Stop the damn killing. It is virtually impossible to know what is true as you listen to those with an investment in a placement of blame. But, I just think that perhaps those of us who are really rational and NOT evil need to stop letting others set the context for us. I don't care who you are. Don't let George Bush, Nassarallah, Bin Laden, or anyone else set the game. Think for yourself. We need to stop labeling each other with labels that permit us to kill each other. Find the truth. It really does break my heart to see what people will do to other people.

Data

Distance:	8.5 Miles
Time:	1:21:18
Heart Rate:	159
Pace:	9:33
Weather:	Clear skies 80° Humidity-69%

8/4/06: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I was fully caught up on the podcasts I listen to while running (see me at PodShow+). So, I listened to The Killers. Kicking CD and I was glad to get the run in. Data: Distance: 3 Miles Time: I hit the wrong Heart Rate: button and lost Pace: the data. Weather: Clear skies 74 ° Humidity 82%

8/3/06: 6 Mile Run: Neighborhood

I listened to the latest Daily Source Code and Accident Hash. Adam explained why "My Page" has been loading slow on PodShow+. I kept hoping for more detail, but he didn't bring it forward. Twas a good run though.

Data

Distance:	6 Miles
Time:	1:01:07
Heart Rate:	153
Pace:	10:11
Weather:	Clear skies 78° Humidity-82%

8/1/06: 3 Mile Run: Neighborhood

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 listened to the latest Shinedown CD. It was good, not great. A keeper and I will listen to it again. It is virtually impossible for me to push the Lebanon-Israel war from my mind. It is just so horrible that we humans can find no better way. At the level of those that pull the strings to initiate attacks and violence, regardless of side, there is none without fault. I find it impossible to decide if either side has "just" reasons to start or end the fight. I do not believe it will resolve the problem. Shame on us all. If we want peace (and we should), we will likely have to simply accept that the past is the past and move on. The circumstances that led to where things are now and long and convoluted. Borders, nations, racial categories, and such serve to provide reasons to divide and sometimes to hate. Let's get past it and love each other. All people are worthy of love and praise. This is not a plea for surrender to evil. It is a plea for the trully righteous to stand and be counted. Standing does not include killing without remorse or without DAMN good reason. But, once you start killing you are on a evil slippery slope. Mourn the dead. Mourn the killing. I am sure I am just rambling. But, OMG we need to stop ourselves from this way of solving conflict. Make sure your heart is right. Don't hate. Do protect. Data: Distance: 3 Miles Time: 28:17 Heart Rate: 156 Pace: 9:26 Weather: Clear skies 75° 85%

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%