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:
Spent some time today working on updates to a lab related to the use of web services on WebSphere Application Server (WAS). In the past, to complete the lab, students would have to manually deploy a WAR file - which was tedious and could be a pain if they were not familiar with WAS admin tasks.
To streamline the effort, I'm investigating replacement of the manual steps with the creation of a Jython script to automate the deployment of the WAR file. I've worked with WAS in the past, but hadn't tried to do any admin scripting or worked with Jython.
I found a few resources on the topic:
Probably not that surprising, didn't find one resource that gave me the answer I wanted when I wanted it. Took a bit of digging through these resources. However - if I was starting again (or helping someone else to do this) - I'd suggest taking a look at the Techdocs White Paper, then look at the Command Assistance page at the info center. The White Paper provides a nice overview of Jython and using it to administer WAS. Then, use the Command Assistance to build the commands that you want.
The Command Assistance works inside of the WAS Admin Console - essentially, whenever you perform a task manually, you can ask to see the script that is used to complete the task. So you can perform the set of tasks that would go into your script - capturing each of the Jython statements needed, and then save them to a .py file.
Lee.
I've been working with a number of SME's from across IBM in updating the SOA Architect Summit. We had our first delivery with the new content earlier this week in Sacramento. All reports in so far indicate that it was a very successful day - content and speakers were great, and customers that attended found that it was an excellent decision to attend.
We have two more Summits scheduled for the quarter - one in Ottawa (Feb 24th) and another in Pittsburgh (Mar 10th). Additional summits will be scheduled at additional locations world-wide through the remainder of the year.
The links above will guide you to the registration and agenda pages for the two upcoming deliveries. Note that we've also created a customizable agenda for the event - so you'll see that there are some differences in the sessions offered and flow at each location.
The event is free to attend - and the content focuses on discussing the aspects of architecting a successful SOA solution within an enterprise. This is an educational offering first and foremost - our goal is to help highlight the issues, nuances and details an architect will deal with in creating their solutions.
Lee.
About a week ago, Celso and I submitted our final manuscript for our PBE book to the publisher. We now move into a production phase - focusing on editing, cleaning up graphics, and getting the manuscript to look like a book. We also have some additional work to do in wrapping up and packaging some collateral that we will be making available as associated downloads. Domain name for a website is registered, and now we have some work to do in setting up the site and publishing our collateral.
The effort and time to get to this point was much more than what was anticipated when we set out to write a book. However, I'm not sure how we could have shortened the time or lessened the effort. Much knowledge was acquired along the way, the manuscript is better now than it was six months ago - incorporating reviews, rewrites, edits and feedback.
I've always been impressed with those that can write and create a book. However, having gone through the process - my amazement and admiration has grown.
And - this is really just the end of the beginning. Sure there's been a great deal of effort, but now how do we leverage this investment? We'll be involved in promoting the book, building and supporting the associated website (and downloadable collateral), discussing the book, some additional conference presentations, and leveraging the book in our day-to-day work efforts.
If you're interested, Amazon has pre-order (.com, .ca) links up at the moment. I'll also post updates as we get closer to the release date.
Lee.
As an update to my earlier post regarding the SOA Sandbox wanted to share that a new trial and associated exercise focusing on WebSphere Application Server Community Edition (WAS CE) has been made available.
WAS CE is a light-weight, freely available Java EE 5 application server - based on the Apache Geronimo project. Typically we'd look to use WAS CE where the focus for the project is on simplicity and cost - looking to move to more advanced application servers (WebSphere Application Server) as security, scalability and manageability become more important.
In summary the exercise: "demonstrates how a developer can build, deploy and test dynamic web applications using WebSphere Application Server Community Edition v2.1 (WAS CE) and Eclipse. You will leverage Eclipse Galileo to setup, deploy, and test a web services application against WAS CE. In addition, you will also explore the capabilities of the Eclipse Web Services tool for generating web services, as well as embedded tooling in WAS CE that aid in creating WSDL files and source."
The exercise is in the section of the Sandbox focused on the SOA Reuse Entry Point.
Again - with this being in the Sandbox - no need to download or configure the application server nor the development tooling. Quick and easy to get going - and available for free. A great way to gain hands-on experience and learn more about creating SOA solutions.
Lee.
We've made the Smart SOA Sage available up on the IBM.com/SOA site earlier today. It's an interactive conversation - for those new to SOA or looking to learn more.
It'll run in your web browser and is quick to go through - and not only is it educational - but its amusing as well.
It has been a long winding road to get the Smart SOA Sage out (lawyers....don't ask) - but we're excited to get the conversation out there. Give it a try - and pass along the link to any others you think might value (or be amused) by the Sage.
I'd be interested in any comments you have on the Sage.
Lee.
Just the one hill at the beginning and from there it was relatively flat.
This was my third half-marathon of the year. The previous race was a Five Peaks race held at the Canmore Nordic Center. Here's a view of the elevation profile for the race:
Definitely more climbs/descents to deal with for the Canmore race. I have some work to do both on my hill climbing and how I handle the more technical running needed to go down some of the hills. There were a number of places where the race course went through the trees, single track and was steep. It was a challenge to walk down without sliding - never mind running. I finished in 2:35 - the winner of the race clocked in at 1:25 which is just amazing.
The other race I competed in this year was Powderface. Here's the elevation profile for that race:
This was also a very tough race - hills were steep, lots of rocks, and as mentioned previously even some wildlife.
Running the three races this year has been a lot of fun. Looking forward to some more races in the new year. In the meantime, going to take a few days off from running and heal a bit. Then will start on a new training program and see if I can start to work on my timing and endurance.
Regardless of the topic - the best path to learning is usually through hands-on experience. To read about a topic or have someone else describe it - while useful - is no replacement for getting your hands dirty. In looking at SOA this can be a challenging situation as there can be multiple development and runtime tools that need to be downloaded, installed and configured before getting started with any experiential learning (unless the goal is to learn about downloading, installing and configuring).
A useful alternative is to check out the SOA Sandbox. The SOA Sandbox is a cloud-based offering from IBM. The goal is to provide a way to get started with the SOA Entry Points and the associated set of IBM Products and Best Practices. By being cloud-based - there's no need to download any tools or runtimes (although there is a small Citrix plug-in download).
Once in the Sandbox, there are simple hands-on guided exercises. Its a great way to explore, learn and experience tools. Some of the tools available include: WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Business Events, WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus, WebSphere Process Server, Rational Application Developer, and WebSphere sMash (here's the complete list)
The Sandbox takes things further by including access to an Information Center - which contains documentation on Best Practices and architectural guidance. This includes whitepapers, decision guides, technical presentations and demos.
The Sandbox is available 24/7 and is free. Exercise trials are available in 4 hour windows.
Seems to me, that this is a great way to learn about SOA as it reduces the typical hassles involved in getting set up - while incorporating guidance and exercises.
Lee.
Article today in NYTimes discussing some of the latest Augmented Reality apps showing up on mobile phones.
They included a link to discussion of an app made by IBM for Wimbledon called IBM Seer Android. Some videos of the app in action are available.
I'd expect that a set of services exist behind the scenes that make this application (and like others that will work like it) possible. Guess I have some work to do in finding out a little more about how they built this application.
Finding the topic of Augmented Reality to be quite fascinating - some of the demos that I've seen on the IPhone have looked phenomenal.
I've been trying to ramp up a bit and pick up some knowledge in the area - some resources that I've come across so far include:
Augmentality - Blog covering augmented reality
Twitaround - demo showing an app on iphone - locating and viewing other twitter users
Nearest Tube - another demo - related to the tube in London
Seen that there's a few books up on Amazon on the topic - considering picking up a couple to get a few more details. Would be interested in any opinions from someone that's already well read in this area.
I can't help but think that a Smarter Planet would include augmented reality - imagining it combined with RFID, intelligent datasources, flexible & service based solutions.
Lee.
Been migrating to a new MBP and its taking a surprising amount of time to move data off the old laptop and to find the apps that I want to install and use. It's been a while since I've been on the Mac platform and it's good to be back.
Some of the apps that I've been working with so far (and having some fun with) include:
- Tweetdeck
- Dropbox (pleased that I can synch across Mac and Win boxes, even virtual images)
- VirtualBox
- Skitch
- Keychain
and just getting started with Blogo and Curio. The other surprise so far is how quickly the harddrive is filling up. Apparently been getting a little sloppy with downloading various disk images and need to do some cleanup.
Lee.
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