Tao Of Foo

Yesterday Ben decided he wanted his training wheels off. I think he’s been ready for this for quite some time now but every time I asked he would always say no. Yesterday was the day though. He had already bent one of the training wheels up a bit and it wasn’t going to repair easily. I asked him as I’ve asked him dozens of times, “Ben, should I just take them off completely?” I was a bit surprised when he said “Sure!!!”

Amy prepped her camera … I stood by ready to perform the most sacred of fatherly rituals of holding him upright and running beside him for the next half mile while he struggled to stay upright. What happened you ask? I held on for about 3 seconds before he realizes he’s under control then he speeds away and starts doing figure eights in the cul-de-sac. All I can do is watch as he does 3 perfect laps. And I mean perfect. After 3 laps he gets confident and starts doing tricks. Riding with only one hand on the handlebars. Sticking both legs out to the side. Sitting on the frame. He had this down.

Evan Christopher Anderson was born on at 1:47pm on June 10th.  He weighed in at 9lb 5oz and measured out at 20.75 inches.  Everyone is happy, healthy and recovering.  I’ll update with some pictures once I have caught up on some email.

My lovely wife recently asked me publicly about the things I love. Here’s a quick list.

• Food (I don’t think I’m a “foodie” but I REALLY like food, there’s nothing I patently dislike)

• wine: I’m not too particular but I really like a good shiraz or merlot
• beer: anything but american piss-beer, I really like these brands: Guinness, Duvel, Sierra Nevada, Rahr, Shiner
• cheese: blue, havarti, sharp swiss, blue cheddar (I’m drooling just thinking about it)
• bread: anything crusty, whole wheat, with chunks (that’s for you Amy), pumpernickel etc
• fruits and vegetables: about anything fresh, I’m currently growing: tomatoes, 3 kinds of peppers, squash, lettuce and watermelon
• Ms Sandy’s snow cones, mmmmm, tastes like summer

• my Ridgid 24V cordless hammer drill, it’s the best cordless drill you can buy IMHO hands down
• my Craftsman radial arm saw, it’s my general purpose work-horse saw, I love it
• my BBQ pit.
  

• U2, Toadies, NIN, Muse, Sparta, Stone Temple Pilots, Chevelle, Metallica, The Mars Volta, Burden Brothers, and many more….

• Davis Mountains, not the most beautiful mountains I’ve been to, but this family place is my zen-spot, my centering place
• our back yard, very relaxing and comforting
• my workshop (or my Man Room as Amy calls it)

• My wife and son are the joys of my life. Period.
• My family (immediate and extended) is incredible and I don’t get to spend enough time with any of them.
• My friends are all wonderful and different. Every time we have a BBQ or gathering I realize how fortunate we are.
• My job and career. I love where I work and what I do. I couldn’t ask for a better team, boss, department or company to work for. I’ve never been happier professionally.

Lots of techies are out there right now thinking ahead to 2008 and what might be. Here’s a few random thoughts. Hopefully the tongue-in-cheek entries will be self evident.

The semantic web will become more fully realized. But you won’t notice it. It will power more and more of your daily functionality yet remain very transparent. All of your news feeds, TV listings, calendar items etc will all be managed more and more by web related delivery mechanisms. Look out for Google Mashups and Yahoo Pipes to become a lot more interesting.

The push for pure-play SOA will be replaced by simpler message bus style architectures. Techies are tired of having large scale infrastructure and application architecture pushed on them. The message here is to start small. the introduction of message bus driven architectures to solve scalability issues will help long term SOA adoption by bringing the tools and techniques in the back-door. Players to watch for in this space: WSO2, ServiceMix.

The “Web 2.0″ label will officially be retired. Subsequently “Web 3.0″ will be announced by Tim in mid ‘08.

MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn will be hit by a serious security vulnerability that will expose enough personal information (more than they already perhaps) that serious questions will be raised regarding online privacy legislation.

Google’s gPhone will launch and Android will be a smashing success. Riding the coat tails of the iPhone (and Apple fandom) will tough and traction will be difficult. Once Android is running on more platforms and people start to understand its power then phones (and their networks) running it will slowly start to become more popular. This will begin in ‘08 but wait another few years to see the revolution. Eventually even the iPhone will have an Android compatibility layer.

Kindle will fizzle more than it already has.

OLPC will not change the world. Don’t get me wrong, some really cool inexpensive technology will eventually trickle down to the masses. It will not have a significant impact on developing countries though. Reliable drinking water systems. Sustainable food supplies. Advanced education systems. These are the things that developing countries need.

Elvish

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

I took this test twice and came up with slightly different sub-classes of Elf. My mother would be so proud.

One of my best friends got married over the weekend. Kevin and Daniella, I want you to know that Amy and I are honored to be your friends and we know you will have a lifetime of joy and happiness. We love you guys.

I have known Kevin since the fall of 1994 when we lived across the hall from each other in our dorm at UT. Kevin and Daniella (freshmen at the time) had been dating since their senior year of High School. Quite a lot has changed in both of our lives since we first met but I’ll spare you those sappy details.

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Florence C. Cavett (nee Ginder), born November 15, 1901, in San Antonio, TX died peacefully on February 24, 2005 at the age of 103. A San Antonio resident most of her life, except for a few years spent in Harlingen, TX, she graduated from Main Avenue High School (now known as Fox Tech). Florence was quite active in the retail pharmacy business during her working years. She ‘retired’ to concentrate on full-time homemaking, with frequent stop-offs for garage sales and flea markets. As a devoted grandmother, she was always ready, willing, and able to babysit her six grandchildren. During her middle years, she assumed an active role in the Sunday School and Vacation Bible School programs at Zion Lutheran Church. Florence was preceded in death by her husband, Jean S. Cavett, in 1970, and by her daughter, B. Ellen Garrison, in 2000. She is survived by her very devoted caregiver, Florence (’Sissy’) Bevill, and by a son, Andrew Cavett and wife Ann, of San Antonio. Also, by 6 grandchildren: Larry Anderson and wife, Debbie, of Azle, TX, Linda Coker and husband, Lenny, of New Braunfels, TX, Jo Ann Goodrich and husband Sam of Muldoon, TX, Andrea Hargreaves and husband, Mark of San Antonio, Sherri Walters and husband, Bubba of Kerrville, TX and Jill Miller and husband, Robert, of Springfield, MO. Also by 10 great-grandchildren, Jenny & Nathan Anderson and wife Amy; Sondy and Trevor Coker; Jeanna and Jamie Goodrich; Austin and Ty Hargreaves; and Ashley and Aaron Walters. Also, by a niece, Georgene Pawlowski, of Manassas, VA, Bill Sterling and wife, Shirley, of Georgetown, TX, and Jim Ginder and wife, Chrystal, of Seguin, TX. The family wishes to thank all of those friends and relatives who have inquired about her condition, and especially those who have come to visit her in the declining years. It meant a lot to her to be ‘fussed over’ as the center of attention. She has lived a long and eventful life, having been almost a teenager when the Titanic sank, having seen the development of many things that we modern-day people take for granted, like automobiles, telephones (her favorite), paved roads and highway systems, airplane travel, television, communication systems, computers, and on and on. It is now time to be reunited with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and with all of those many loved ones who have gone before her. R.I.P., Grandma Flossie SERVICES Visitation will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 PM, Sunday, February 27, 2005 at Mission Park Funeral Chapels North. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM Monday, February 28, 2005 at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, 702 Cincinnati, San Antonio, TX with interment to follow at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery. You may sign the online guestbook at www.missionparks.com under the obituary section. Mission Park Funeral Chapels North.

Obituary in MySA.com

I am feeling more and more like my work life is out of balance with my personal life. I need to get the train back on the right track here. Perhaps a nice long vacation is in order. I’m thinking of camping. Someplace nice and far away. New Mexico? That’ll be a good getaway. If I can convince Amy of the drive. Wish me luck. I just need to see and do something new. Maybe a nice week long trip to the Mountains (without my parents) would work. Gotta get the new water tanks installed first though before we can go out there. I think the key here is “family time” so it doesn’t really matter what we do, so long as we’re together and having fun.

I know that Amy has felt as burned out as I am, but I haven’t been very understanding of that. Bad Nathan.

Work is … work. The big project that I have spent several years arguing for is finally nearing completion. The team is cranking, all cylinders are firing and we’re (IMHO) making good progress. It’s a good feeling to see nearly 50,000 lines of code all come together and work.

Ben keeps getting bigger (and cuter) and Amy keeps getting more talented. Other than that, not much is going on around here.

Ben is learning so fast. He points out everything to us. Bugs, trucks, cars, planes, dogs, cats, cows, deer, books, daddy, Daisy etc all get proper announcements every time he sees it. He seems so proud to know that he can identify things.

Amy may soon become a freelance photographer for the Boerne Star. She met with the Editor yesterday and they both sound very excited about it. Hopefully this will bring lots of good publicity for her new business, Shutter-Happy Photography. She is going to soon be one of the most popular photographers in South Texas at the rate things are going. Word of mouth is really starting to take hold. She is starting to promote things now and already has a few engagements lined up. If anyone is interested in purchasing prints, arranging a portrait session, arranging an event photographer etc, contact her now.

I have to admit, I am pretty impressed. Not only is my wife an amazing award-winning photographer, but my son is an award-winning adorable baby. For those who don’t know, Amy has been winning contest after contest lately with her photography, mostly of Ben. We upgraded our camera a few weeks ago which should help her out even more. And Ben, what can I say? According to one of the latest contests he won the “Mr. Personality” title. I wonder who he get’s it from?

Here’s a quick rundown of a few of Amy’s recent winnings in no particular order:

• Heavens Little Angels (Theme Contest Winner)
• BellyForever.Com (3rd Place and “Mr. Personality” title)
• Gatherings (2 prizes: “Best moment captured” and “Most generations in a photo”
• BellyForever.Com (1st place: September 2003, 2nd Theme, “Hangin’ Out in My Jeans”)
• Baby Corner (Beautiful Babies Contest)
• Baby Outlet Mall (1st place)