Categories
People Writing

Head First into Kathy Sierra

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

I received an O’Reilly email update today about a new edition of Head First into Java just hitting the streets. I had reviewed the Head Into series a while back, and particularly liked the EJB book.

Seeing the book notice today reminded me of the discussion on the O’Reilly ETech conference and the 9% solution. During this, I got into a comment exchange over at David Weinberger’s post with one of the attendees at the conference, Kathy Sierra. Kathy is none other than the author of this series.

I was remiss in not linking to Kathy at the time–probably because like all magpies, a bright new shiny caught my attention and there I followed. However, I thought the book announcement was an excellent opportunity to rectify my ommission. If you haven’t chanced by Kathy’s weblog, Creating Passionate Users yet, you really should; she’s brought her “Head Into” use of fanciful and colorful graphics, and her very active, positive writing style into her weblog and it’s a fun mix. Most importantly, she’s a ‘longform’ writer, and we need more of these!

Well, along with women in technology that is.

Categories
People

The Pope leaves

For those who are Catholic, I am sorry at the loss of the leader of your church today. There were many things I admired about Pope John Paul II: his dedication, hard work, and the common touch he had that made him so endearing. In the end, though I did not agree with many of his opinions and some of the actions he took (or did not take), I can respect him as a man who was fearless in the face of adversity, and had earned the love of many.

Categories
People

Sheila, Radio diva

Sheila Lennon did her first podcast, related to an article her newspaper is doing on the legend, Sister Rosetta Tharpe. It’s a nice mix of voice, story, and music, and I have to admit, there might be something to all of this podcasting stuff.

I’ve had a couple of people ask where my podcasts are. All I can answer is they’re in the future. If you all want to buy me the podcast equipment I need to do the job decently, I’ll do a podcast. Otherwise you’ll just have to assume that I have a wonderful voice that will bring you to your knees.

No, seriously. A real pip. Eat your heart out Virginia Clark.

In the meantime, check out Sheila on Sister Tharpe. It’s a girl thang!

Categories
People Photography Plants

A purple crocus podcast

I had hoped to have my annual post on the state of Etech finished today, but while working on it I found myself starting to take it far too seriously. This just won’t do. Time to take a break and return to it when I control the topic, rather than the topic control me.

In the meantime today is Spring, or at least, Spring for me. The weather was warm and the daffodils, tulips, and other flowers were in full bloom. The Magnolia is just now starting too bud, and the Missouri witch hazel ending its cycle, leaving behind a most wonderful fragrance.

I walked Botanical and grabbed some sunshine and photos. Though I know you’re all tired of flowers and that sort of thing I’ll still add a couple to this writing, just to break up the words. Between you and me, I like seeing something besides red, yellow, and orange on the page from time to time.

Walking over the bridge in the Japanese Garden, the koi fish followed along in hopes of getting some of the fish food you can buy from gumball-like machines at either end. While I was dropping food into hungry mouths, a fairly large group of people approached and several exclaimed in surprise when they saw the fish. They had strong southern accents — more mountain than plantation — and evidentally had never seen koi before.

A couple of women and a young girl ran down the hill to the stream that fed the lake and dropped down for a closer look, while one guy, who seemed out of place, walked around with a quarter in his hand, trying to break into the chatter and laughter.

Another guy yelled down the women, “Watch out, Hannah. That sucker’ll jump out and take your head off!” I finished my feeding and my photos and started to pass the increasingly loud group when the same wit yelled out, “They are the ugliest things I’ve ever seen.”

I glanced at him when I passed, this guy with pasty white arms, sparse straggly black chin whiskers raggedly covering blotched, pink chin and cheeks; matted dull, black hair under an old baseball cap, and huge gut falling out from under his too tight and too short gray t-shirt.

Botanical isn’t the only place with the sights of Spring. Tonight when I went downstairs to get a bottle of water, I noticed Zoë at the window, intently looking out. I peeked through the glass and saw several young bunnies hoping about, grazing on the grass.

And the daffodils are up. Life is good when the daffodils are up.

Speaking of bunnies, thanks to Scoble, I found what I *wanted from the Easter Bunny, a podcasting kit. No, seriously.

A couple of folk pointed out to me today that there’s a rumor going around that Burningbird isn’t Shelley Powers, an American woman. No, Burningbird is none other than Jonathon Delacour, an Australian gent.

I don’t know where these rumors start, but I decided to nip this one in the bud before it spreads too far. I thought I would record a podcast, and you all could hear my softly feminine voice with its distinctly American accent.

I also thought about taking a photo of my breasts, and posting it as proof of my sex, but for all I know, Jonathon has **man breasts, and could do the same. Wouldn’t it be the pits if his were better than mine?

Catching up on my reading, Phil pointed out that Google is looking to relocate to The Dalles, in Oregon. Great location, absolutely gorgeous area, finest wind surfing in the world, but Phil’s explanation left me equally surprised:

Great Googly Moogly. To build a data center, Google has to belly up right next to a dam, with a big ol’ river to use for water cooling? That’s more computers than I can imagine piling up together.

Geez, not even Bill Gates has his own dam and power station. I can see it now: the next time a major weblogging meme hits, Portland suffers a blackout.

And on that, more than past time for bed.

*Well, I really wanted a standards-based Internet Explorer, but the Bunny wouldn’t stop laughing so I had to change my wish.

**Note, I have nothing against man breasts — as long as they aren’t better than mine.

Categories
People Political

A question of whose guts

Jarvis is in a tizzy today because of a New York Times article that I gather is not complimentary to the former IraqTheModel blogger, Ali. In particular he accuses the reporter of putting Ali’s life in danger by reporting his fullname.

Note, by the way, that Boxer does use their full name. They don’t even use it on their blogs. I am usually very critical of people who do not use their names on their weblogs — but I do make an exception for those whose lives might be at risk if they did. I will still not use their full names here.

Considering that the young man is part of a party that has declared its candidacy for the upcoming elections (thanks Paul L.), I find this accusation, well, peculiar.

What I particularly find confusing was that it wasn’t that long ago that Jarvis wrote, in a post calling Juan Cole ‘pond scum’ (and you wonder where this arose when others used the term in turn against webloggers), because Cole was raising questions about the brothers:

I celebrate the brothers’ opinions, too — because I am an American and because I believe in the cause of freedom and because I support the efforts of people to live in democracy and because I have met them and admire their courage and not because I am “right-leaning” (hell, I appeared on Air America this morning, Prof.).

Cole continues his spiteful idiocy:

Contrast all this to the young woman computer systems analyst in Baghdad, Riverbend, who is in her views closer to the Iraqi opinion polls, especially with regard to Sunni Arabs, but who is not being feted in Washington, DC.

OK, Juan, then let’s see you invite her to Michigan. Fete her… if you can find her. She doesn’t have the guts to identify herself.

(em. mine)

Now, what was that about fact checking one’s ass in this business? You tell me, is Jarvis angry because the reporting was sloppy? Or because the reporter didn’t check with him before going to press.

Look, you all want to make a hero of Jeff Jarvis, when he can’t go a week without stepping all over himself in his haste to condemn others of the same behavior he, himself, exhibits, go ahead. But I hope you’ll excuse me if I point the more obvious of his idio…syncratic contradictions.