DaVinci's Blog

Signing Off

2006-05-11T12:37:00.000-04:00

Well this will be my last post here.

I simply haven't been writing about Palm OS stuff specifically and I think I am better off focusing on my other projects.

Check out www.nathanbaron.wordpress.com for more of my writing.

Palm OS User Interface

2006-02-19T09:59:00.000-05:00

Tam's Palm Blog has an interesting post on the possibilities of a new Palm OS user interface based on the recently announced Access Linux Platform. The wirter, I'm not sure who wrote this particular post, was looking at the possibilities based on past Linux/ Be OS interfaces.

Personally, I hope that the platform offers us more choice rather than a new specific layout. The current Palm os interface was perfect for the machines that it grew up on. Even now, some people say "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

I think it is obvious though that many Palm OS users want to have a very customizable experience, one that can be changed to suit the user and their particular useage patterns. This is shown by the vast number of launcher applications that are available.

These useage patterns can be very different though. Since getting the Treo, I have found that Initiate is my launch of choice. This is a very keyboard centric launcher, that allows you to access almost anything on the device via the launcher. So whenever I pick up my device to do something, I almost always hit the home key and start typing what I want to do/ access.

On the other hand, when the UX50 was my primary device, I wanted as much information on my launcher screen as possible. (With the landscape screen, that was a lot of information!) For this AppShelf was the best application for the job. Through almost opensource techniques there were so many pluggins for AppShelf, that you could customize the device to have a very personal overview of the information that I access most. My launcher became my "mission control".

Other users want to be able to organize things in a tabbed interface that makes it easier to access application and data. This allows things the be cleanly organized with a minimum of stuff on your home screen. Zlauncher is an extremely popular launcher on all palm os units for this very reason.

Applications like SkinUI and PalmRevolt offer a way to hack the systems appearance and these have been hugely popular with users. I find these hacks to cause huge compatibility issues and the overhead resources it takes to keep the device stable and useable are just too demanding for what we have now.

So I would argue that Access should do there best to make the Palm OS GUI as flexible as possible. Make it so that the user has many options for their GUI. Obviously the more powerful the handheld, the more eye candy and special effects the user will be able to use. The trick will be to allow application developers the freedom to make the device's interface flexible and easily integrated with the core functions and databses of the PDA.

I'm really excited to see what will happen with this next iteration of the OS. I just hope that Access sticks to the core concept that keeps Palm OS users coming back to the operating system again, again:

Let us make it what we want!

Dream Software: Virtual Assistant

2006-02-07T16:48:00.000-05:00

One of the things that I really like about the Palm OS is that the common databases (calendar, contacts, tasks) are useable by other apps. As I have said before, I love Agendus, Shadow, and Initiate; all apps that use the common databases in new ways. The Attention manager is another cool feature of Palm OS that deliver notifications from various applications in a single window. I think the attention manager is under utilized by developers as a way of communicating notifications.

What I have dreamed of, ever since I bought my first palm, was a front end that would deliver information to the user in a consolidated way.

Yesterday I was playing around with the TodayPlus, a launcher that has been in very slow development for quite a while. TP has one feature that is unique among Palm apps: a graphic image of an assistant that sits on top of the interface and delivers information via text bubbles. (The developer has chosen the unfortuneate description "mates" for the feature. Equally unfortuneate are the characters that border on pornographic.)

Taken to the next level, the concept has a lot of possibilities. (And technical hurdles.)

So picture this, you are sitting at your desk at work, and your Treo gives a chime. You pick up the device to find the image of your butler (I like this better than some scantily clad female) with a text bubble on the screen. The Butler tells you that a call has just been sent to voicemail, and there is a message waiting. "Would you like to listen to the message now sir?" Below the bubble are two buttons, yes and later.

This is an example of the interoperability of applications that could bring the palm os to the next level. In the above example, when the phone app recieves the call, it triggers Callfilter to apply a rule and the call is sent to voicemail according to a rule. Once the system has determined that the caller has left a voicemail, my butler is told to give me the information on what just happened and gives me the choice to follow up now, or deal with this later.

This example could be extended to many Palm OS apps. So say that I make an appointment in Agendus for a particular date. When the meeting time arrives, my butler appears to tell me that the meeting is starting, and gives me the opportunity to open the files that I have associated with the appointment. (This could be a word document, shadow outline, or a simple memo.) The butler could also inform me of changes in device profiles based on the timed event. So if my profile app knows that I have a meeting and changes to the appropriate profile, I will have notification of the action, so I am assured that I won't get a loud ring in the middle of my meeting.

Anyone who has used the Palm OS for a while knows that the more you have running in the background is going to slow down the system. There are also many opportunities for software incompatibilities. The graphics alone would take up a crazy amount of system resources.

I hope that developers catche on to something like this. There are so many apps that work so well together, I'm sure that someone could put together a framework of apps that could accomplish this on the current hardware. (Extra points if you can make it work in the Treo 650 :)

Retro Tin Carder Reader

2006-02-04T12:13:00.000-05:00

I have been using an old cigarette tim to carry around my bluetooth headset, card reader, hybrid headset and misc cards. These old tins have tonnes of character and are the perfect size for this kind of thing.

I decided to cut out a small hole at the back and glue down the card reader so that it would line up with the hole. Now, whenever I get to work or return home, I just take out the tin and plug it in. (I leave a spare usb cable on each machine instead of carrying one around. )

It keeps the wires tamed and doesn't look half bad on my desk.

Here are some pics.

Stable vs Customized

2006-01-31T08:43:00.000-05:00

There is a great discussion posted on PDA247 today about the benefits of a clean device vs the added functionality of having a device choke full of programs.

i must say that I have always been of the opinion that you should do as much with your palm as you can. This means loading programs and getting them set up to your useage, then testing stability. Often when you load tonnes of software, especially hacks, stability suffers. Software conflicts are simply a reality in computers, and we have to find that balance of stability vs personal setup.

It is very rare that I find two peices of software that I simply must run together and that don't work together.

My experience with the treo has been pretty good. The device seems a little more sensitive to software conflicts that others I have used. (This may be due to the fact that many developers are enabling customization of the same hardware elements, i.e. the LED indicator. This leads to more conflicts.) But now that I have had a chance to install my regular programs and hacks, I have had a chance to settle in and I am finding that it is much more stable.

Anyway, interesting conversation. I'm sure that there will be lots said on the issue.

ADD Blogging

2005-12-09T12:55:00.000-05:00

OK, so more format changes:

DaVinci's Blog: This will be the Palm OS based blog. Here, I'll be writing about my adventures with my treo and other palm os related stuff.

From a man without letters: This will be my personal blog where I publish thoughts and opinions.

KYC Communications: This is the blog for KYC Communications committee to discuss projects and direction for the committee.

I'm trying to encourage myself to be more disciplined about subject matter. There is just too much in my head to dump it all into one place. I'll try to provide links each blog where it's appropriate.

Thanks for your patience as my ADD head tries to work through organizing all this.

Cheers,

n

One very smart phone

2005-12-09T09:44:00.000-05:00

I am a palm addict. It seems that I have been playing/ working with personal digital assistants for a long time and over the years, my opinions have changed and morphed into what I see as the perfect device.

I have long been a two piece kind of guy. I used my trusty UX50 and v710 for almost a year and found it to be a great solution. (I still maintain that the UX50 is the perfect stand alone PDA.) This was great, but I did find it difficult to keep address, email and other communications tools in sync and showing the correct information on all devices.

Well a couple of weeks ago I was given the opportunity to upgrade to a Palm Treo 650. I took the plunge, and I am really happy with the device and possibly more importantly, the community of users and developers that are so dedicated to the device.

There is so much custom software for the treo that it is almost overwhelming. Software for ring tones/ sound, profile apps, launchers, and utilities that leverage the treo hardware features; it?s easy to get carried away when you first start customizing things.

So here is a list of the software that I have been working with and the end results.

Simple Profile Manager:
This app is actually a preference panel plugin. It allows you to create several profiles with specific system settings for environments or times of the day. For instance, I have a profile for work that turns the ringer volume down, turns IR on, makes sure that the phone radio is on etc. I also have profiles for home, mobile, meeting, and other situations where I want to adjust several settings quickly.
The profiles can be set to switch at a time of day, using a pop up panel to manually adjust sets of settings, or (and this is really cool) use keywords in your calendar. So if a datebook entry contains ?meet? the system knows to change the profile from the start time of the meeting and switch back to original profile at the end of the appointment. This way, when I go into the meeting, the volume is muted; key guard is turned off, and the auto off is set to never. No embarrassing moments, when the phone rings at full blast while you are meeting with your boss.

Callfilter:

This app is a little more complex, but has even more impact on the way that you interact with your device.

Call filter allows you to set up rules for incoming and outgoing calls. It integrates with SPM, so that you can create different sets of rules based on your activity or location. For instance when I am at work, I have call filter set up to direct all the people in my addressbook in the personal, sailing, and family catategories sent to voicemail immediately. (I can also set up exceptions, so that whenever Alison calls, she can get through. ;)

So if I am in a meeting, my assistant knows to send all calls, even Al, to voicemail. But as soon as I am out of the meeting, it knows to return to the last set of call rules.

Call filter also allows you to use mp3 or wav files for your ring tones. This allows you to use songs or files that you generate to alert you to incoming calls from a specific group or person with a customized tone. I found an AT&T site that does text to wav file conversion, so that I can have a voice tell me who is calling. Now the other women

That?s enough for now I think, but I?ll write soon about other cool treo stuff.

The Race is on!

2005-12-02T09:14:00.000-05:00

I think that I am a minority of one when I say that I just love elections.

I was just reading the "blackberry blog" written by Scott Feschuk who is the chief Martin speech writer. Feschuck's irreverand, taunting words are totally in the spirit of this campaign. Hope they keep this blog going; but I suspect it will disappear quickly as it could totally get the liberals into more trouble than it's worth.

Campaigns are always full banter and pot shots fired from one camp to another. I love reading the press releases and posts by the various parties. Often they contain so little substance and so much sarcasm and wit. It is a rare opportunity to see what the candidates are capable of when push come to shove. I always hate to see my favorites embarrass themselves under the intense, hyper-sensitive scrutiny of election campaigns. However I get equal delight in watching my "favorite losers" make their faux pas.

From a communications and public relations point of view, election time is a flurry of activity. Watching the positioning and long term stategy of the campaigns is so intrigueing. I find myself shouting from the sidelines with excitment.

This is just too much fun.

News Update

2005-11-10T08:29:00.000-05:00

The House

Well we are finally in! Moving day was fairly uneventful, as we had moved over most of the boxes and miscellaneous stuff over the two weeks that we had both houses. As usual, Alison and I worked like dogs in the first few days to get furniture where we want it, and get the boxes in the general vicinity of where they would permanently be set up.

I'm really happy with the rooms that we have set up. Alison's office looks amazing with all the dark wood furniture we got from her grandparents. I spent a bunch of time setting up our library, and I am really pleased with the results. My office is still coming along, but things are in place and just need some tidying up.

The Club

On November 5th, we had out annual awards night. The event came together really well and I was very pleased with the results. All the stuff that could go horribly wrong (engraving, flags, and glasses) were fine. The speakers over the night were great. Ian Watson did a great little speech on the Watson Cup, going over the history of the trophy and told some stories of our more illustrious members. Dinner was fantastic, and Cory and his staff got a standing ovation for the second year in a row.

The other bit of news is that my good friend Peter Kraszewski has agreed to take over as Sailing Director for me. Peter has been helping me keep it together over the last couple of years and will do a fine job. I?ll remain on the sailing committee next year, and Brandon Tattersall has also agreed to join the team. It is shaping up to be a fantastic year.

My Amazing Wife (I saved the best news for last...)

Alison has been working toward becoming a vice-principal since I have known her. She has been slogging it out at school and then working on a masters throughout the last couple of years. This fall she applied to the VP pool, which is a gruelling process.

Well last night it all paid off. Alison got the call from the Board office last night around 2200 and the caller asked if vice-principal Fraser was in. Needless to say there were a few tears, and lots of "OMG I can?t believe it"s. It looks like she won?t get placed until September, but that?s not a bad thing at all. More time to practice at her new school.

I just couldn't be more proud of Alison. She has worked so hard for this, and it is so gratifying to see her succeed.

New House Today!

2005-10-14T10:27:00.000-04:00

Well today is the big day, we take possesion of Hampstead Heath.

We signed all the papers yesterday at the lawyers office (which was way easier than I thought it would be) and we pick up the keys today.

The next two weeks are going to be crazy busy with painting and cleaning, but I am really looking forward to setting everything up. It will be hard staying at N. Bartlett street during this period, I just want everything set up in the new house.

Patience grasshopper, patience.

Ruddy and Jorge

2005-10-05T16:01:00.000-04:00

Here are the little ones chillin on the stairs.

1005051557.jpg
Originally uploaded by nathan_baron.

More Birthday Goodness!

2005-10-03T14:08:00.000-04:00

When I got back from our little cruise to Wolfe Island, Alison was kind enough to come and pick me up at the club and take me home. When I got there, I had a really little surprise waiting for me...

Our landlords had a litter of cats about 9 weeks ago and we?ve been debating about getting one of them to help keep Jorge sane. We?ve hummed and hawed about it for a while, but never really came to any conclusion.

But when I got home there he was sitting on the couch was our new little kitten, Rudy. He's grey with white markings around his eyes and has hair that's a little longer than I would have liked. (I'm not complaining at all, not yet anyway...) He and Jorge seem to be getting along famously. Jorge is happy to be the grown up for once, but is still really good about playing with Rudy gently.

One of the best birthday presents I've ever received!

Happy Anniversary!

2005-10-02T14:00:00.000-04:00

Well October 2 was Alison and I first wedding anniversary. We've had an incredible year, a tonne of stuff has happened. We've had too additions to the family, new jobs, a new house, a lots of sea miles under us? Such a great time. This probably sounds really cheesy, but these past 12 months have been the best I can remember.

We went to Ottawa to look through some of Alison's grandparent's things. (Alison's parents have just sold the house and are in the process of clearing things out.) We were offered some great furniture for our house and I was totally delighted to have anything I wanted from Dr. Fraser's library.

Some of the books that we found were absolutely stunning, I felt guilty taking some of them. I've been piecing together a rather humble library of books for years, and this was an absolute windfall. Shakespeare's collected works c 1890, Biblical encyclopaedias c 1850, poetry books from various authors, and one curious little book dated 1762, written in Latin. We also managed to acquire a great bookcase with flip up glass doors. Should look amazing when we get it back to Kingston. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait to go through them all in the new house.

I hope that our second year of marriage will be half as exciting and fulfilling as this past year has been. I guess it?s up to us to make that happen?

Birthday Get Away

2005-10-01T12:00:00.000-04:00

P9300228
Originally uploaded by nathan_baron.

Matt Fair and I took a trip down to the club's property on Wolfe Island last Friday. We had a great time, eating and drinking like kings.

We had a nice evening/ night sail and managed to find the dock in the dark. (Thanks to Matt's expert navigation skills!)

We had a great breakfast and then slowly headed back to Kingston in a building 20 knot breeze. One reef and no headsail made for a fairly comfortable ride home.

Glad we got this in before the end of the season, the boats will be on the hard in no time.

Goose at Jemmet's Landing

2005-10-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

Goose at Jemmet's Landing
Originally uploaded by nathan_baron.

Here's a shot of the Mighty Goose at the Jemmet's landing dock.

Leaving Kingston

2005-09-30T19:26:00.000-04:00

P9300209
Originally uploaded by nathan_baron.

Matt took this shot as we were leaving kingston Harbour. Nothing like sailing in Kingston in the Fall!

Good Days

2005-09-21T11:29:00.000-04:00

Well the last couple of weeks have been pretty exciting. With the house deal almost done (we take possession in less than two paycheques, Alison keeps reminding me) and are things starting to wrap up at the club, things have been pretty hectic.

It was just announced at work that I have a new position for the next few weeks. I will be acting as the Regional Municpal Operations Officer for the MTO Eastern Region. The job looks after relationships and agreements between MTO and the municipalities in our region. It is a lot more responsibility and way more interesting than the work that I've been doing. I'm really looking forward to the next few weeks.

On the flip side of the coin, I had my worst night on the water ever last night. Force 10 was race committee for the night. We had a big breeze, well above 20 knots for most of the night. Everything started fine, we decided to just use the peel to drop the pin and leave the whalers at the dock.

I tied the achor rhode onto the mark and we tossed it in. We then positioned the boat for the start, and started going through the sequence. We kept noticing that the boat end of the line was getting more and more favored, so we repositioned the boat. Once settled down for the second time we figured out that the mark was drifting.

One of the Shark offered to go grab the mark, since we didn't have a whaler. When they brought it back, there was not anchor rhode attached to the mark. DOH! We had to abandon the sharks and somehow managed to get the offshore guys finished.

I offered to buy the beer for the Shark fleet. Bob and Jim kindly offered to pitch in on a couple of pitchers. God, I'm still embarrassed. I will never, ever, live this down.

Oh well, lesson learned.

Spinnaker Fix on Force 10

2005-09-09T08:58:00.000-04:00

Evan took this picture aboard Force 10 the other night. We had to re-lead the jib sheets after they came apart.

Mobile Blogging Tools

2005-09-07T11:08:00.000-04:00

0907051106.jpg
Originally uploaded by nathan_baron.

Well anyone that knows me even a little bit knows that I am a technology crazy individual. I have been on a ten year quest to rid my self of clutter and unnecissary stuff, and I use technology to accomplish this.

Since I've been a little "more into" my blog as of late, I thought I would post on how I do this and maybe get some comments from other mobile bloggers.

I use a sony clie UX50 for almost everything. But as a blogging PDA, I dare say that this is the ideal handheld. (With the disclaimer that I do not own a treo.) The keyboard is big and easy to use. The camera is OK for pictures for online viewing (more on that in a second) and the two types of wireless give me the opportunity to upload anytime, anywhere.

I also use a Moto v710 as my phone and internet connection on the go. The phone has an even better camera, 1.3M as opposed to 0.3M, and is able to email this directly.

So there are a few ways that I update my blog while on the move. To upload pictures, I use flikr. This isn't hard, although it took me a while to actually get it all sorted out. Set up an account at flickr, and set up the blogging preferences. You should be given two email addresses for uploading, one that updates flickr only, and one that updates fickr and a specified blog. Use the latter. I entered this address into my phone addressbook, and now I can take a picture, and hit menu and then send message. The I choose the blog email adress and send. The subject line is the title for the entry. After it is sent, I can go into blogger with a browser and added whatever comments I want.

Sending stuff from the UX is just as easy. I use email entries most of the time and the subject line is the title, and the body of the email is the body of the blog entry. Hit send, and you're done.

I'm sure that there are other applications that will make all this easier. I would really like to have an app on the UX that can handle pictures, titles, and body a little more elegantly, but this way works for now.

I'll be sure to post on any blogging tools that I try out.

Dr. Bob is always on Starboard

2005-09-01T11:32:00.000-04:00

0814051501.jpg
Originally uploaded by nathan_baron.

now that I have photos figured out in Blogger, I just had to upload this image from CORK. Jim M just couldn't resist slapping this starboard sticker on our fearless leaders melon.

too funny.

Another Day at the Office

2005-09-01T11:01:00.000-04:00

0901051021.jpg
Originally uploaded by nathan_baron.

Just trying to get the picture thing set up on the blog. (Can u tell that things are really busy at work?)

Another late update

2005-09-01T09:37:00.000-04:00

Well there has been a tonne of stuff happening in Alison and my life lately and I've been bad about letting people know what's going on.

Al and I have bought a great little house in Strathcona park. It's a great four bedroom bungalo that backs on to a park. We close on October 14. Super excited to have a roof of our own and a new project to keep us busy.

Things at the club are starting to wrap up. It's always sad to see the season come to an end. Al and I are still reacing tuesdays and thurdays on Force 10 and we still have a couple of weekend events left before we haul the boat. Shark stuff is done for the year, but I have already signed on with Paul for next year. Third at the Worlds this year was great, we'll see what we can do next year.

I have decided to resign as Director of Sailing after this term is over. I have tonnes of projects at work that I would like to spend some time on and I just don't have enough time to do everything. If any of the KYC folks are interested in taking on the job, drop me a note and I can pass out a pile of email and notes that I've taken over the past couple of years.

Alison is back in the school, this time setting up an office instead of a classroom. This year will be exciting for her, but a little scary as she heads into an administrative role in a new school. I have never known her to fail at anything, and her hard work almost always pays off.

Life at MTO is trucking along. As we head into September, we'll have lots of disposals as we now have all of our new vehicles. Sara, my summer student, has gone through all the old equipment files and we will now be able to go through and move a lot of stuff off our inventory. Nice to have everything cleaned up and all our data in good shape.

I'll try and better with updates here. I'm looking forward to having a bit more time to work on the computer as the sailing season wraps up.

Impending Doom?

2005-08-31T13:01:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you, but with this Katrina wrecking havoc on the south and the far-reaching impacts that it has had on the global society, I can't help but think that this is just another proverbial broken straw. With oil prices soaring, communication infrastructure decimated and many, many people dead or homeless, I can't help but conjure up images of William Gibson's Sprawl Series. Gibson's vision of apocalyptic broken cities, humans doing the most awful things to just survive is getting a little too close to home.

I'm sure that once the initial shock of the disaster is over, we will be inundated with "I told you so" messages from environmental groups, economists and pundits. I am both shocked and hardly surprised at the soaring oil prices that will such a huge impact on our economy and the lives of people just trying to make their way in the world. How many people will park their cars after this? (Which is a tiny bit of progress.) How many businesses will have to raise the price of their products because of increased delivery costs? How many people will not be able to afford vegetables for their families when the costs go through the roof?

I hate this nagging feeling that resides in the back of my head; that the world REALLY IS going to hell in a hand basket. Not just natural disaster likes the tsunami and violent hurricanes but also social problems in our cities, the Jihad that is being waged in the US, Great Britain, Iraq, and around the world. The world's troubles are mounting and I sometimes wonder what the combined effect is going to be.

Will the financial markets crumble? How many mass murders must we watch on CNN? How long until we see governments going bankrupt trying to dig out from one of the many natural disasters that are plaguing the world?

I don't want to sound like a pessimist. I am normally the guy saying, "Look at the bright side?" but things aren't looking good.

Shark Canadians

2005-07-25T08:28:00.000-04:00

The 2005 Shark Canadians Championship was held at Kingston Yacht Club this weekend. We had a mixed bag of wind and weather, but after the two days we got the maximum six races in.

I was sailing with Maryanne and Paul Davis aboard Shadfly, Jamie Shadwell?s boat. We hadn?t even got on the boat before Saturday morning, so we were kind of winging it for this regatta. Maryanne and Paul have been joking for the past week about who was going to ?drive the bus? as both are world champion sailors. Maryanne won the arm wrestle (best two out of three) and we had Paul doing middle and me on the foredeck.

We had a crazy NE breeze the first day, which led to some crazy lanes and patchy conditions. Paul and I had sailed in these conditions at the worlds, so I had a pretty good idea of how he was going to want to run the boat. Concentration was good and we played the shifts and pressure well. The breeze filled in from the south in the afternoon, and we had some better conditions.

A huge storm cloud moved over the race course in the mid-afternoon, and made things a little more complicated tactically. We played this well and manage a first in the last day of the race. We had a squall come through with torrential rain for about half an hour, which meant we had to hang on to our lead while madly wiping off our sunglasses so we could see the windward mark.

After the first day Shadfy was tied for first place and we were very happy with the results. (Other than the fact that we really had our work cut out for us on Sunday.)

The dinner at the club was good (Cory always puts on a good spread) and we had a few beers to celebrate the day?s successes. It was great to hang out some folks from the worlds and tell war stories from the day. I really like the Shark fleet; they are great sailor?s and they love to party when they get off the water.

Sunday morning was very, very light. The N breeze still dominated from 1000-1100 and then died completely. Around 1200 the thermal started to fill in and we soon had a 10-knot building breeze from the south. Classic sailing in Kingston.

We had a bit of a hard day, placing 6th and then 10th. This moved us from first to fourth.

The awards went smoothly and, as usual, the boats got out of town as soon as things were wrapped up there.

We had a super fun weekend. I?m a little beat up, but relatively happy with the final results.

Maybe next year?

Shark World Cup

2005-07-12T14:46:00.000-04:00

If you are a regular reader you know that I often make promises to blog events, and then realize when I get there that I have neither the time nor the energy to write after a long day of sailing. I?m working on it. (I kind of kept a journal? OK I wrote on the first night :~)

Southport Sailing Club hosted the Shark World Cup this year and they did a fantastic job. From the time we first showed up at the gate to the award ceremony, we found them to be well organized, fun and hospitable. Good food, good beer (thanks to Steelback Breweries) and lots of fun sharkies to party with, made this event really fun.

We had been set up with the Jim and Lee Ann Haplin for our billets. We each got a room of our own, a full bathroom for the three of us to share and we even managed to get access to his wireless router for checking weather and email. Jim volunteered on the Race Committee and Lee Ann was in charge of putting together breakfast for the whole regatta. Even with these duties she found time to make coffee for us before she left. Super great people.

But the sailing is what was really awesome. Although Paul Davis, Peter van Rossem, and myself only had a few practices before leaving Kingston, we quickly got into the groove at KYC and felt pretty good going into the regatta. Top ten seemed a reasonable goal.

The racing proved to be really tough. In the first three days of the regatta all the results looked to be scrambled up from what you thought they should be. Regular leaders in the fleet were way deep and some of the new guys were a lot further up in the standing than I thought they should be. Admittedly, we had some light and flukey wind with lots of lanes.

We managed to keep respectable finishes for the first few days. We seemed to be finding our groove in the 10th-11th place area. We were 10th overall going into the last day of racing.

On the last day we got out to the course early (a good habit) and cleaned the bottom (Thanks Pete!) and got some wind readings and a couple of transits. The first start went well and we were in the leading pack at the first weather mark. Over the next legs we picked off a few boats and found ourselves in even position with 711, Jin from Montreal with Shark Poop not far behind.

We got into a jybing duel about 200? from the finish with him just half a length in front. In the four jybes, we came out ahead, with poor Jin nearly dead in the water. We took the first with cheers from the pin end race committee boat. (Our billet and biggest fan, Jim was on board.) It felt so good to win one, and a very important one. We did the math and found that we were in third!

The last race we kept pace and kept picking off boats after a fairly good start. We ended up fourth. After the race we high tailed it to the crane and won that last important race. (Crackerjack almost always wins this one, they were a close second.)

Awards were fun and I was able to have a few beers as Paul was driving.

The drive home was absolutely brutal. We left at 2100 and arrived in Kingston about 0330 after repeated stops, tonnes of traffic in TO and torrential rain in spots. Pete had it almost as bad as he was riding his bike.

All and all, a totally great experience.

Up next: Canadian Championship in Kingston.

Gearing up for NOOD

2005-06-23T10:05:00.000-04:00

Force 10 should be more than half way to Toronto by now. Jim Boag, Ken Beckett and Kim Ronson left yesterday afternoon and it looks like it'll be a nice motor. (7 knots out of the south right now in western lake Ontario...)

I'm heading up to Toronto with Cindy and Evan this afternoon so we can register and have a few drinks tonight.

I'll try to update this blog over the weekend. Not that anyone is actually reading it, but it's good for me to debrief on the days events. Next stop National Yacht Club!

Gibson's Japan

2005-06-09T09:11:00.000-04:00

I just read, for the millionth time, William Gibson's article "My Own Private Tokyo". Gibson is one of my favorite cyberpunk writers (if this genre actually exists anymore.) His vision of the future is sometimes bleak, often beautiful, and always very Japanese.

I guess we all have our ideas about asian cities. But Tokyo is the epicentre of technological development. Things that are happening in Tokyo now are going to happen here eventually, just a matter of when.

Gibson is great at looking at historical context to explain the current state of affairs, which is almost ironic when you look at the culture. The Japanese have such a long history of conflict, but in the streets of Tokyo you can find so many kinds of weird outfits, advertising and buildings, that "tolerance of differece" is at the core of it. I don't think they would call it tolerance, but I would.

Across the pond, we have many different social groups that work on the fringe. But North Americans always pass judgment on people and form opinions of what the norm should be. Sometimes we base our laws on these judgments. But in Japan everyone somehow has a place in the big scheme of things.

Some day I'll get there and see all this for myself. For now, I'll settle for Gibson's interpretation of things, and try to spread that japanese tolerance around me in preperation for when the future finally gets here.

Trillium Regatta

2005-05-30T14:47:00.000-04:00

This weekend I was in Toronto sailing in the RCYC Trillium Regatta. This regatta is the warm up regatta for the Shark fleet and this year it was a great event. I was racing with Andrew and Daina on Razor, an incredible boat I talked about a couple of weeks ago.

I took the train up Friday night and hung out at the club during the registration reception. Steam Whistle beer was a sponsor so the taps were open and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Saturday morning came a little too quickly, but after a short skippers meeting we headed out to the course on the outside of the harbour. We started the first race in a building 5-8 knot breeze and it kept coming up throughout the day, topping out around 20-22 knots.

Great wind for a normal Shark, not so great for the extremely light Razor. We did fairly well, with upper mid-fleet results. We had trouble through the tacks as there are no winches on Razor; that coupled with the extremely small sheets was pretty hard to manage in that much wind. My hands were raw after that and I?m still waiting for the swelling to go down.

The rum was flowing after the race and I had a great time chatting with folks and walking around the beautiful property. We caught the 2230 launch back to the city and were in bed around 0000.

Sunday morning came even earlier, and we headed down to the club to get set up for the racing. The breeze was a little lighter, 7-10 knots. We had a fairly good first race, 12th I think. In race 2 we were OCS and didn?t realize it until the race committee notified us at the first windward mark. We sailed the course anyway, and unfortunately, we sailed the rest of the course really well and were top ten.

The last race, we managed to get a 6th. Just after the race a few storm clouds were forming and on the way in we got hit with some crazy rain and big puffs. We made it in safe and sound, and took the boat apart.

The train ride home was uneventful, and I had a chance to relax a bit. Alison being the wonderful wife she is had everything organized for this morning so I could just shower and crawl into bed.

I feel pretty good about the our placing, 11th overall, and I think we could definitely do better with a little more time sailing together. Just wish my hands would heal?

That's My Baby

2005-05-24T12:46:00.000-04:00

Alison and I were in Ottawa over the Victoria Day weekend for Alison?s first triathalon of the season.

She entered the Try-a-Tri as she hasn?t even had a chance to get in the pool yet. With out any swim training, I?m glad that she did the smaller race. That said, she looked very strong through the swim and was trucking once on the bike. She said the run was a little harder than it should have been, but it looked fine to me.

She ended up 2nd place and she seemed to happy with this. The season is just starting though, and there is a lot of room for progress.

I?m so proud of her.

Symphony of Technology

2005-05-18T14:32:00.000-04:00

At the Massive Change Exhibit there was a display on human/ machine interfaces that included PDAs, tablets, mice, and various handheld computers with different industrial functions. In the exhibits audio commentary, the artist made the analogy between the various devices and instruments in an orchestra. Each device serves a special purpose, and has it's own "voice".

I love this analogy. I am totally comfortable sitting in a meeting and writing with a stylus. This is the instrument of choice for this task. For a piece of writing like this, I am totally comfortable on a keyboard, it is the instrument that lets thoughts flow and allows me to move things around and edit in a way that works as fast as my brain does for this task.

The gadgets and tools that compose this orchestra combine to form the digital life that is tightly intertwined with those around us. As life is composed more and more of digital assets, the symphony grows and becomes more complex. There are many people who think that information technology has increased the pace of life and has caused a degeneration of work/ life balance. In my experience, my life is getting richer and more full of good stuff as I am able to move things to the digital realm.

I write blog and journal entries, read books, listen to real symphonies, and even work sometimes, all in the digital realm. My world is linked together by so many invisible networks and I have never felt closer to my friends and family as well as my coworkers.

Technology and art go so well together. Da Vinci would have loved the way that technology enables, and allows us to go to places and do things that are totally beyond imagination.

And we are just getting started...

Toronto Goodness

2005-05-16T21:30:00.000-04:00

I was offered the opportunity to sail on Ockum?s Razor for the Trillium Regatta this year with my friends Andrew and Daina. I love sailing out of RCYC as the facilities are second to none and the grounds are just beautiful.

Razor is an incredible piece of technology. Sharks have been out of production for a while, but this hasn?t stopped people from doing drastic work to the bottoms, deck layouts, and rigging. Every piece of Razor is feather light, all the lines and blocks are perfectly placed for crew positions and there is nothing on the boat that doesn?t need to be there.

On Saturday we were tuning with another boat, Shikasta. After rigging the boat for the first time this year (an incredible challenge in itself) we splashed the boat and got out into the harbour. Wind was almost perfect for the kind of practice we wanted to do, 3-6 knots E. We did some windward leewards, and looked at speed and point as well as trying to sort out some of the crew work. I felt good after the practice, although I need to do some work on my trimming. There is a lot of summer left, so there is time.

After sailing Daina and Andrew dropped me off on Queen Street to meet Alison and her friend Eileen. I didn?t have time to get out of my foulies before we caught the launch and ended up getting out of the car on Queen Street in full sailing gear. More than a little awkward for me, but strangly enough, no one on the street seemed to notice?

I felt much better after a shower and a snack. The three of us lounged around for a few hours and then drove to dinner. We had a great dinner at a Greek place on Danforth and headed back to Eileen?s to sleep it off.

On Sunday, I went to an Exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Massive Change was put together by one of my favourite designers, Bruce Mao. The exhibit showcased technology that is changing the world for the better. (It also warned of the dangers of some of the evolving technologies.) I loved the exhibit, as it was dripping with the same kind of techno-optimism that I have for the world. It was nice to be immersed in these ideas, and see how others feel about them.

Every time I go to Toronto I feel like I was meant to live there. Getting croissants at the bakery down the street, checking out the little stores that are full of the style and design that I yearn for here in Kingston. There is just something about urban life that makes sense to me. I don?t know if it is the sense of community that develops in neighbourhoods, or the art and culture that is woven into everything, or that you know anything is possible there.

Curious Jorge and the Good Hood

2005-05-09T11:38:00.000-04:00

Well our intrepid cat is turning into quite the explorer. On Friday night I let him out for his constitutional, and headed back inside to read for a bit. At 2000, I remember that he was still out side and went to try and find him. Calling off the back porch turned into a stroll around the neighbourhood, which turned into a full scale, neighbourhood wide search.

Jorge is a fantastic little cat. When we got him from the Humane Society he was a little over two years old, we think, and he seemed to be mostly healthy and good shape. In no time at all, he settled into our schedule and became a part of the family. He loves to talk and play with people and other cats. It?s funny how many of our neighbours met Jorge before us. Needless to say, he?s been very good for us.

Jorge stayed out for the whole night (this is the second time he?s done this), and at 0700 Saturday morning, Alison and I were sitting on the front porch looking like parents whose teenager never made it home. (The irony is almost overwhelming, as I was always the disappearing child?)

As the hours passed, and Alison and I wore a groove in the hardwood from pacing back and forth, we got to know our neighbours a little better. A couple of our next door neighbours saw that we were wandering around looking for him and put the word out to other neighbours. Before we knew it, the whole neighbourhood was out looking for our ?little buddy?. Kid?s from Al?s school dropped by to say that they were looking for him, people from down the street seemed to dropped by hourly to get progress reports. I have never heard so many missing cat stories.

As the sun started to drop on Saturday night and we had still not seen Jorge, I started to wonder whether he was going to come back. All this time I had been trying to play it cool, as Alison was a total a basket case not having slept much the night.

Then the phone rang.

A guy who lived about a kilometre away had been hanging out with Jorge for most of the day. He got our number from the PetWatch tag Jorge wears. He said he would bring him home. When we saw this huge guy walking down the street with our little buddy, I almost laughed out loud.

Mike looked like a construction worker and was probably 6?4. Rough hands and dusty clothes finished the look on this guy. Seems Jorge had settled at his house and was happy playing with the other cats in the house and seemed to really like his new friend. Mike said that if he could find the owners, he wanted to keep him.

So our curious Jorge is home again, safe and sound and grounded. Trying to learn a lesson from all this, I have come to a couple of conclusions:

1. ?Crazy Cat People? are not as crazy as I thought. (I now include my self in this group.)

2. Never underestimate the network power of a good hood.

Bad Nathan

2005-05-06T08:11:00.000-04:00

If you're not into hearing about my deep inner-guilt, I would skip reading this one...

I think one of my first posts was on my attempt to quit smoking. I started fairly strong, made it a few weeks without a smoke, and I felt ok. But a moment of weekness at work, just made everything go to hell. I have quit many times and I never seem to learn that one is enough to end everything.

What is really bad is that I lied to Alison while she was trying so hard to help me. She bought food, took me out to dinner, and generally dealth with my grumpy ass through think and thin. (Which was way more grumpy because I was always looking for my next fix.) I was totally unfair to her.

I finally told her last night, and I got what I deserved. Anger. Well deserved anger.

I don't know what I should do at this point. There are no words that are going to make it better, and I can't think of any actions right now that would make her feel better. I will most certainly be trying to make it up to her though.

I thought I would feel better be honest with her. I thought that if I aired out my conscience, i could sleep. apparently it will take more than that.

It's hard to live with this right now. I haven't really talked to her since last night.

Not sure what to do now.

Palm Dependance

2005-05-05T14:56:00.000-04:00

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am totally dependant on my trusty UX50. I use it for scheduling, notes, entertainment, blogging etc, etc, etc. People often ask me, so what would you do if you lost it? I always say that my information is backed up regularly to MS and that I have a backup PDA in case the unthinkable happens.

This morning I had one of those scary crashs that I just couldn't get out of. This is the second time that I have had to open up the UX and yank the battery to get out of a nasty reset loop. It happened at the office, so I pulled the memory stick and plugged it into my old SL10. What do you know, it won't read the magic gate stick that I use in my UX. There goes the back up PDA plan.

Long story short, I got the UX going again and all is well there, but I am left feeling kind of vulnerable. If I really broke the UX, how would I get up and going again? Clie's are hard to find now, and I can't just go to the Sony store and pick up a new unit with credit. (We're talking worst case scenario here...) So what would I do? I can't really get by with out a palm. If I had to buy a new one, I would have to buy a Palm version. Not easy to get backup data from my Sony unit to a PalmOne unit.

Gotta figure this out. It is going to happen some day.

Anticipation

2005-05-05T08:42:00.000-04:00

Well there seems to be a break in the weather today. The guys are going to be laying marks this afternoon, and I am praying for a breeze less than 20 knots. The temperature is slowly rising, which should make things a little more bearable.

This month, while I'm waiting for the shark to get prepared to sail, I'll be coaching Kim and Mike on the foredeck of Force 10. I'm looking forward to this role of coach, as I am so familiar with the boat and big boat foredecks in general, that it will be a nice change to sit back and advise instead of doing.

That said, I can't wait to have the shark put together and ready to race. It's been quite some time since I have raced a one design boat, and I will definetly need to get some boat time under my belt before I will feel comfortable with that again.

Should be a great season, can't wait to get out there under sail.

Disappointment

2005-05-03T14:41:00.000-04:00

Well when I got into work today, I found that I had a message from the manager of the department that I had an interview with last week. I have been trying to stay positive while waiting, I tend to get down on myself. When I got that message, my first thought was ?Yeah, baby! Done deal.?

Well no.

Got a call around 10:30 from someone else in the department to offer me a debriefing, and tell me that I was not the successful candidate. I was so disappointed after thinking that I was in.

So now I?m sitting here trying to get stuff done at my real job, and just can?t help but sit and feel sorry for myself. What am I supposed to be doing? What am I really good at? What is the best thing for me to be putting my energies into? Seems that what I am doing just isn?t working for me.

I hate having no time, no money, and stress for jobs that should be fun.

Every time I get into this headspace, I think that I should do something with mobile technology, but I am no good at all the small business stuff. I can?t manage the money I have let alone a company?s money, and I am terrible at selling anything. Especially myself.

So what do I do? I feel kind of lost. I don?t know what I am good at, I keep trying to do stuff that I am not good at, and I am in a place where I feel like I have to do something.

30 Knots and Holding

2005-05-02T15:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had a work crew scheduled to put in the KYC permanent marks. it's still 5-10 degrees C, and it was gusting to 35 knots yesterday, with a sea to match.

We got out on the water with two marks, and within 15 minutes had them all tangled up and had to drop them both. With the heavy sea there is no way t pull them without flipping a boat. too cold for that.

so we scheduled a second work day for today (racing stats tomorrow) and it's blowing 30 again. too much breeze for one little whaler.

the orange peel should be going in the water tomorrow so we can use temperary marks for racing tomorrow, and deal with the rest latter this week.

n

I Love Techno

2005-05-02T09:24:00.000-04:00

Well Alison was in ottawa this weekend, so I took the opportunity to listen to some music at crazy volumes. (I hate doing this when she's home, different tastes in music...) I am a proud techno fan. Being almost thirty, I feel kind of weird saying that, as techno seems to conjure up visions of 15 year old kids with plastic wallet chains and some serious chemical problems.

But I want to stand up and say that techno is a valid form of music that is not only technically amazing, but also embodies a culture that is right on with my political beliefs. Take Orbital for example. This group of new techno/hippie/gaia people have done real work to draw attention to GreenPeace and the environmental movement. They produced an entire album in the back of a solar powered bus just to prove the point that these things can be done. I think that's a really cool example for people. This is good music, doing good things.

I was listening to Chemical Brothers, Orbital, Prodigy etc, etc. I totally forgot about the energy that this genre of music has. I was never a hard care raver or anything, but I just love that groove. When the house is bouncing up and down, and you can feel the bass more than hear it, then I am just in heaven.

I get to listen to this music in the morning while working out, and it has exactly the same effect, but I have to say, sometimes I just want to go dancing.

Time Managment for Anarchists

2005-04-29T11:38:00.000-04:00

Just came across nomediakings.org at boingboing. There is a great flash presentation on "Time Management for Anarchists".

Makes me want to quit my job and take up something a little more creative...

Small Victories

2005-04-29T11:06:00.000-04:00

Well we held KYC's annual Sailor's Night last night, and if I may say so myself, I thought it went went well. This event is the culmination of all the planning that happens from November through April and outlines everything that the club has planned for the coming season.

I feel pretty good about what we have implemented:
- New Cruising events
- New dinghy events
- Further refining of the sailing instructions

People seemed to be pretty happy with what we had to present. (Not that there was much to get upset about.) All the same, when you are planning in the bleak winter, it is easy to lose sight of all the little things and people that may take issue with something you choose to put in place. It?s done, on to the fun stuff now.

On a personal note, I was happy with the way I dealt with the meeting. I am getting more comfortable giving presentation like this and am happy with how the Q&A went. This is where things can go horribly wrong, and I think that the fleet captains and I dealt with the questions well.
As much stress as I have about these things, I can't help but feel satisfied with this job right now. It?s fun to be the head of something, makes me think that I could be the head of something bigger...

A Brief Blogging Break

2005-04-28T13:59:00.000-04:00

So we are on the home stretch with Sailor's Night. The books are done and waiting for me at the printers. The PP presentation is mostly done. The race committee roster is done.

Whew.

Still have to get the dinghy fleet forms wrapped up, and I can call myself ready.

i totally don't get paid enough for this...

Truely Amazing Technology

2005-04-23T10:12:00.000-04:00

I still find it so amazing sometims.

the technology that we have now is so user friendly and empowering. this little device in my hands allows me to do and know and communicate and learn. this is still amazing to me.

to be able to write this entry while barbequeing in the back yard is just so amazing to me.

i am trialing mo:Blog right now, and i have to say that it does a very neat and tidy job. this is one of those peices of software that are just so simple to use.
n

More Fun with Macros

2005-04-19T12:43:00.000-04:00

i have to admit that I have become slightly obsessed with macros. If I could have my way, everything than could be automated would be. I have planned out my PDAs day, have set up profiles for every damn situation I could possibly get into, and have tweaked and tweaked to get everything set up correctly.

What I am really doing is trying to make an stupid machine "intelligent". (Don't get me wrong, there is nothing stupid about my Clie, but I am trying to reproduce anticipatory behavior in the davice.) In other words, I want my clie to already know what network I want to use, which categories should see, what documents I need, etc, etc, etc.

So I have been trying to look at things in a different way. There are two kinds of actions in my system: scheduled, and user triggered. The scheduled actions take into account my daily, weekly and monthly schedule. Triggered actions are there to deal with variations in routines and one time actions, such as meetings, or going out with friends.

I write back soon when I have the new system set up in more detail.

Too Busy for words!

2005-04-18T13:50:00.000-04:00

Well this blog seems to be suffering the same fate that past attempts have suffered: time managment issues.

With the warm weather finally here, I am scrambling to get all the programs and documents ready for the sailing season. I hate that I get so stressed tying to get all this together in time. I am a pretty organized person, yet I always end up right on top of deadlines and haveing to work through the night. Whatever, we'll be sailing soon.

Jorge, or curious cat, has been exporing his new hood. Alison and I have definetly become the dotting parents the cat owners inevitably become. (I thought we were different, but he's so damn cute!) He's been wandering the hood unteathered and meeting new friends, and exporing new places. I love watching him discover stuff, makes me think that parenting isn't all that scary.

Button Down Liberalism

2005-03-23T11:56:00.000-05:00

I was raised in a very liberal household. My father is an academic and my mother is a librarian. On top of that, it was a very multicultural family, Catholics, Jews and Buddhists all coexisting and debating around the dinner table. All this has made me very socially and politically aware and I am very proud of this background.

I work in a very conservative workplace and operate in a fairly conservative little town in Eastern Ontario. It is a very WASP community and people in this community seem to be more concerned with their next house or car than they are with social justice or world events. We live in a political vacuum where the only thing that can evoke anything remotely close to activism is an infringement on a person's rights directly. Genocide in Rwanda is not as important to people as the building that will block their waterfront view.

So when I read the news I am wrought with anxious rage. I want to scream as I see our civil liberties disappear one by one, as I watch the Americans walk all over multiculturalism, and watch corporate interests stifle human's incredible potential to evolve. Everywhere I go I see and hear lethargy toward the injustice that is all over the world today.

But all through my life I have been a hypocrit in my liberalism. I am drawn to the norm of my community.

I try to think globally and act locally.

I try to conserve energy in my home and work place.

I try to honestly reflect on Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the Montreal massacre and the Holocaust Remembrance day.

I listen to the politicians during their campaigns and vote with my conscience.

But is this really enough? Are these things that will evoke change in this fucked up world? The answer is no I'm afraid. Despite my good intentions, my liberalism does little to change anything.

So what am I supposed to do?

I could go to WTO protests; I could write letters to my politicians, I could spray paint on government buildings or work for radical organizations. But I don't. I tend to my little life here in my community. Often I soliloquize on the injustices of the world, my tongue dripping with desperation and hatred toward the evildoers. But do I act?

No.

This button down liberal is just trying to maintain the standard of living that I have, while trying not to piss anyone off. Trying desperately to get ahead in my social circles, all the while feeling so guilty that I am not on the front lines of liberalism or being true to my conscience.

There must be a way...

My Assistants Schedule

2005-03-03T13:00:00.000-05:00

My digital assistant does a lot of work. From before I get up in the morning, until after I go to sleep at night, it is performing tasks, looking for email, sending me alerts and generally trying to keep me on task. (That's not easy, just ask my wife!)

So I thought that I would write out a typical days schedule for my assistant.

The day starts at 0445. It does a backup of all the files on the device and safely stores them on the memory stick. Then it starts updating weather and the quote of the day. Downloading news and email is next. When I get up at 0515 it has already switched to my today view so I can figure out what the day looks like, how many messages I have received overnight, and what I have to accomplish.

0545 it shows me a checklist of things that i will need for the day. After going through the list and checking my bag to make sure that I have everything, we head for the gym. While we're driving down to Goodlife, my PDA switches network settings from my home network to the cell network that I use for my roaming Internet connection.

Once at the gym I plug in my headphones and hit the treadmill. The gym playlist is all high beats per minute stuff, that gets me trucking along in no time. When the run is done, I head up and do some weights. Hip hop for this. I'm going to start using a spreadsheet to keep track of all weights, I'll have to start that soon...

Throughout this, every 15 minutes I have a nice female voice telling me the time. (I have really tried to resist giving this voice a name, but I'm afraid that I keep calling her Rosie, after the Jetson's housemaid robot with attitude.) Well I give up; we'll call "it" Rosie from here.

While I'm waiting for Alison to finish in the change room I cram. CBC, Globe and Mail, and BBC. I like to come to work being up to date so that I can deal with any conversations with the brass.

When I get to work, I switch playlists and start reviewing my tasks and getting on with the work of the day. Throughout the day Rosie tells me the time, picks up personal email every hour, and tells me when I have meetings, and reminds me of things that I have to do. I also keep a running log of activities at work. One thing I have learned from a couple years in government is to always cover your ass with notes. Every conversation, action, inaction, voicemail and email must be documented. In a year, or five, I will inevitably need to know what I said in a conversation last November 17th. Once again, Rosie steps up and is always ready to take and file notes for me.

When I'm done work, I head home to regroup. As I get home at the same time almost every day, Rosie switches my network settings back to the home network so I can have a high speed connection.

I am on the board of directors at my local yacht club, so I have many projects to organize and meetings to attend. I take notes in several different ways. Sometimes a mind map is the best way, while at other meetings an outline is more appropriate. Some of these meetings are just recorded.

Before I get into bed at night, Rosie and I go through tomorrow and put to dos in time slots, bring any undone tasks into tomorrow and generally plan out how things are going to play out. This is important, as this planning time dictates how useful Rosie will be tomorrow.

Rosie sleeps beside the bed in case I remember anything in the middle of the night. (Or Alison does: "Honey, can you remind me to...". Funny, her PDA is on the charger down stairs;)

PDAs are not yet intelligent, but with the smallest amount of diligence and little technical know how, they can do a surprising amount of stuff on their own. I can't wait for the day that our assistants can dynamically change as we go through our day, as the only thing that is constant is change. My set up is pretty good, but when something unexpected happens, it can't adapt. I'll be writing more on this latter.

Quitter

2005-03-03T08:52:00.000-05:00

Well anyone who knows me, knows that I have been a confirmed smoker for many years. It has been a crutch that has helped me through good times and bad. I have tried to quit a few times and almost always come back to smoking within a week.

Well this time is different. I've been on Zyban for the past couple of weeks and that has helped me cut down my smoke intake. I've also been following the eQuit emails from gosmokefree.com. This is a great resource for smokers who want to quit, and thats coming from someone who has tried every method of smoking cessation at least twice.

So the plan is to wake up an ex-smoker on Saturday morning. I have planned to not leave the house for the first two days, except maybe to go to the gym. (Not likely to bump into many smokers there.) I will put on a patch for the first couple of days as well, and us gum for work next week. (I have left overs from past attempts to quit.) I'm expecting that I am going to have to barricade myself in the house and try and cope with the withdrawl for two weeks. After this two weeks I'll try and get back to normal, seeing friends and maybe going out for a drink. I'll have to see how I'm feeling.
In the past, I have found that when I'm alone is when I break. This is a little difficult to prevent. But I need to keep in my head that the first smoke is the end. There can be no tial smokes, no "I feel stronger now smokes". I will yell and shake and stomp and cry, but I will not give in.

This time its a fight and I'm going to win.

Just hope Alison won't kill me....

So Why Da Vinci's Palm?

2005-02-17T14:03:00.000-05:00

I have always admired Leonard da Vinci for the amazing things that he brought to the world. I like to imagine him wandering the streets of Rome, or the beautiful countryside, and casually sitting on a bench to write or draw in his little notebooks that are now so famous. In those books he thought about machines, natural science, food, and music. The miscellany of subjects and thoughts were a way of exploring things, a way of asking questions and finding anwsers at the same time.

I like to think that I can translate some of that process to my life. Da Vinci integrated art, science, and emotion into a way of life; a way of living that encourages critical thought and personal development. As I walk down the concrete and asphalt streets, past neon signs; listening to a Beethoven on my personal digital assitant, I canâ€™t help but think that Da Vinci's way of exploring things is still valid. When I stop into a coffee place to casually sit and write and draw and think about things, I smile to myself and think about what Da Vinci would do on his PDA.