I just got back from a quick trip to the park to get in a little fishing and let the babies play at the park. I figured what better time than now to test the email interface for blogger!
Testing the email interface
Ontology Lookup Service
Who knew - Sourceforge supports an Ontology lookup service! Check it out here: http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ontology-lookup/
I have to dig a little more to see if there is a publicly accessible API we can hit for this - sort of like encoding a-la MEDRA.
Summer afternoon
I am sitting on my back patio as I type this, enjoying a cold drink and listening to the birds. In front of me is my backyard, with one of my wife's beautiful flower beds front and center. She has transformed our property with flower beds and gardens, while also making it a mecca for birds of all varieties.
Life is good.
I think I hear little Tommy calling so I had better respond - thankfully he has not mastered his sisters art of poo painting yet but I had better play it safe. ;)
LinkedIn Profile for Jim King
LinkedIn profile
I have been playing around with LinkedIn and looking at their API. I found a widget that provides a snapshot of my linkedIn profile so I am including it here. For those of you not in the know on LinkedIn, it is a business networking site.
Walkway for the garden
When we visited Tom and Amy, we brought home a load of stone in the truck from their property (years ago, my grandparents place). I made a little walkway / sitting area for one of Jessica's gardens.
Thought for the day... (especially fitting considering my earlier post today)
"I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
— Marilyn Monroe
life happens...
I am hoping to start feeling better soon - I got some kind of upper respiratory thing that has also settled in my chest. I have been fighting it for a week now so it will hopefully have run its course by tomorrow.
This morning Adrienne greeted me with a little surprise of her own, or maybe better said, a pile of little surprises in her crib. Seems we did not make it to her room in a timely fashion so she took it upon herself to strip her diaper and toss it over board for the sharks to snack on while she hoarded the contents, and seemed to be pondering the physics of poo while running various experiments on physical manipulation of leftovers. It's one of those briefly paralyzing moments when you wonder where to start and what is safe to touch. After a good scrubbing and laundry, things are back under control and she is right now sitting on my lap as I type this.
Ahh, the joys of parenting never end. At least they make up for the gross bits by being so wonderful at other times!
Thought for the day...
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." — Dr. Seuss
Microsoft – the integration story
Working in IT, I run into people with religious convictions all the time - software religion that is. It amazes me how often people fall into one or the other camp and are completely blinded by the "right thing" in their mind. This most often occurs with the Microsoft, Open Source, and Java camps for techs and Microsoft and Mac for many end users.
While all platforms have strengths and weaknesses, no one platform is the best fit for all use, and we should be focused more on interoperability than on justifying a platform choice.
As for Microsoft, in the enterprise it is a hard sell to unseat the giant. They own the desktop and that makes the stack so much more compelling. While any single product can likely be beat by a best of breed comparison, their greatest strength comes in their integration story. So... what's the big deal? let it be while others work on a similar story and accept that this is reality for now. Learn to work with it and let's figure out how to make our Linux and Mac machines work in this environment while alternatives are created. Collaboration is the only way to create a new stack option for seamless integration.
Visiting Tom and Amy
Gap Minder
I recently came across an interesting web application called GapMinder. It allows you to get tailored views of the world and compare a wide variety of demographic information. The summary from the site is here below.
Gapminder is a non-profit venture promoting sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by increased use and understanding of statistics and other information about social, economic and environmental development at local, national and global levels.
We are a modern “museum” that helps making the world understandable, using the Internet.
I recommend a visit. It reveals the stark contrasts that we often take for granted here in the US and in other more developed countries. How does this gap (Wealth / lifespan / healthcare) shape our world view?
Thankful
Today is Tommy's first birthday - this year has flown in many ways as have the last several. Adrienne is now 2 and a little mommy and great big sister to Tommy. He is off the feeding tube and into everything which is so cool to see. I am excited to see where he goes next and so thrilled to have him - as well as the rest of our fantastic kids.
While this parenting thing is at times exhausting and often a little stressful, it is also one of the most rewarding experiences of life. Jess is working with them every day and it shows in their activities. Adrienne is using full sentences and sounds so grown up sometimes!
Life is good - we are blessed and so very thankful for our 5 amazing kids.
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