Myself and my co-author, Celso Gonzalez, will be delivering a webcast at Safari Books Online discussing our book "Patterns-Based Engineering: Successfully Delivering Solutions via Patterns". The webcast is free, there'll be a chance to discuss the book and ask questions - and win some prizes. To learn more about the webcast and register check out this page.
If you'd like to gain some hands-on experience with the pureXML capabilities of DB2, I'd like to invite you to try the exercise that we've deployed to the SOA Sandbox cloud-based environment at developerWorks. This environment provides free access to DB2, Optim Development Studio and instructions for an exercise introducing you to querying XML data.
To work in the environment, you will need to download a small Citrix client. Once installed you'll have access to a pre-configured environment. So no need to download, install, or configure the database or associated tooling. Once signed up, you will be given 4 hours of access to the environment. There is no fee associated with the exercise or working in the Sandbox. If you would like additional time, you can work with your sales team to arrange for up to 30 days of access.
The exercise is a straight-forward introduction to working with XML data and querying via XPath and XQuery. Typically should take about 30 minutes to complete
Lee.
A few weeks back, August 7th to be exact, I participated in my first ultramarathon. The HURL Elkhorn 50 Mile/50K. I ran the 50 K portion - not quite yet up to a 50 mile run (but something to aim for in the future). The race is held just outside of Helena, MT - nice town, gorgeous area, and friendly people.
I had previously run the Powderface42 - my first trail marathon a few weeks earlier (on July 17th). I was a little achy for a couple of days after the race (mostly struggled with stairs as my quads and hamstrings had taken a bit of a beating). However, as the endorphins were still flowing freely - I had the idea that I should do another race. Another trail race and even look at going a bit further. Dangerous ideas.
In researching dates, locales and how they fit into the summer schedule - the HURL event was chosen. It was reasonable distance, so driving was possible - and gave a chance to go somewhere new. The initial challenge would be to change my thinking from seeing Powderface as my target race, to being a training run in preparation for HURL. Going 50K versus 42K (marathon distance) didn't seem that daunting, but adding in 2000 more feet of climbing and you start to wonder.
In preparing for the event - most of the focus was in recovering from Powderface and then building up some energy for the ultra run. Shorter runs, biking and taking it easy for a few weeks. Longest run in between the two events was about 10 miles.
The night before the race, a carb-loading and racer briefing was held at site just outside Helena (part of the park where the race was being held). The day was pleasant, but as night approach it started to cloud over and during the outdoor briefing the rain came down (and down). There was a small shelter that was used for the briefing - it had a roof, but no walls. Kept us dry, for the most part, but the rain was loud on the roof. The hope was that the weather would pass, the course would be somewhat dry and wouldn't be a factor in the run.
Day of the race was quite nice. No rain - some cloud and stayed cool for a good portion of the run. For the 50K portion of the race, we started at 7AM - the 50 Milers had already been out for 2 hours before we started. The run went through a number of mountains, through the forest and through a number of streams. Some of the forest had previously had fires, so it was a bit eerie to be running through and seeing the scorched trees.
One of my favorite parts of the run - especially as things started to get achy - was the stream crossings. The water was freezing cold - refreshing and energizing. The toughest part was the climbing. In particular - I struggled with the climbs at the 20 and 21 mile mark. Was getting to be later in the day, was getting hot out and was already getting a bit tired. But having to climb for a couple of miles at that point took a lot out of me. After that point, even going downhill became tough as I didn't trust that I could react if the ground was uneven, there was an obstacle or I lost balance. So I ended up slowing down quite a bit.
Here's a view of the elevation profile for the race:
and for comparison sake, here's a view of the elevation profile for Powderface:
There's about 2000 feet difference between the two races - but there's also quite a difference in how the climbs occur. Not sure if one was more difficult/easier - in the end you still end up climbing a lot.
One more picture - here I am in an action shot. Tried a new color for the running shirt - told I was too hard to pick out of the crowd as I passed the different points in the race - thought yellow would be a good way to stand out.
Now - I'm trying to figure out what's next. Maybe another race yet this fall? Not sure yet. In the meantime, trying to heal a bit (hamstring has been achy for a few months now) and mourn the loss of a couple of toenails.
July's been a big month with two big finish lines crossed. On July 2nd, my book Patterns-Based Engineering: Successfully Delivering Solutions via Patterns was released. Myself and Celso Gonzalez had spent the past couple of years (yikes!) working on this project and it was a big moment when the book shipped. We're still busy with the book - but now its all about supporting the release. We have a website up to support the book (to which we are frequently posting), have articles underway, and are setting some dates for webcasts. So still busy, but busy in a new way.
The other finish line was the completion of the powderface42 - trail marathon. The race was this past weekend, been resting up a bit before posting this. The race is tough - running through the mountains just outside of Calgary. Although not possible (as the start/finish line is in the same spot) - it seemed as though the entire race went uphill. Total elevation gain for the race was just under 5k feet - so quite a bit of climbing (and descending). There was a couple points where the climb felt steep enough that I started to consider whether it would be better to climb using hands and feet.
Along the way, there were a number of ponds/marshes/creeks to cross. The ice cold water felt great for the feet! As for injuries - I managed to mostly emerge unscathed. I was sore, of course, from the running and climbing, but otherwise feeling good. I did kick a tree branch along the way, so a toe was quite sore, but it looks like all of my toenails will be staying with me. I've included a few pictures taken by my support crew - will look to link to some more once the official pictures are released.
In bringing the two events back together - in the time that it took to write the book, I've now run two marathons and 3 half-marathons. Before starting the book, I'd never run in a race. All told its been a long effort (running and writing) - and its great to reach these milestones.
The book that I've been working on: Patterns-Based Engineering: Successfully Delivering Solutions via Patterns is going to be released soon (July 2nd!). Myself and my co-author, Celso Gonzalez, have been wrapping up the production effort over the last few months (edits, proofs, etc) and working at cleaning up and packaging our downloads. We've also created a website to support the book - accessible at: http://patternsbasedengineering.net/
The website is still in early days, but we have a few posts up, as well as links to order the book, some pointers to related books and materials as well as access to some downloads related to the book. And as of today, a sample chapter is available from InformIT - links to the material are provided from the PBE site.
Lee.
We have a number of pureXML Bootcamps coming up in the next while in McLean, Virginia and Manhattan, NY. We keep the latest details on upcoming bootcamps on the pureXML wiki.
I participated in a couple of bootcamps last week - one was two days and the other was an abbreviated half-day session. Feedback from the customers that attended was very positive. Its was an enjoyable time for myself - as there were many questions and the days were quite interactive.
A few new resources have become available recently to help with working with XML and pureXML:
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