Monday, April 28, 2003 After slaving away for half a day, I finally completed my first ever movie. WASTED II is now The Movie. Re-live all the excitement and fun of this past season's WASTED trip.
Note: This is a 4 MB file so it will take some time to download on slower Internet connections. I also have a high resolution version that will be available soon on CD. posted by Kirby | April 28 04:44 PM | comments (1)
Sunday, April 27, 2003 This weekend was the return to the skateboard for me. I have not been on a skateboard, aside from my freebord which is a different type of skateboard all together, in more than 20 years. But I finally broke down, bought a new board, and hit the Hudson River Park. And to add to the excitement, Melanie decided to buy a pair of in-line skates. So now we can ride together down the Hudson.
One other thing. I want to be a bit better at skateboarding. I've only gone out twice now and both times were for only an hour or so. But darn it, I want to be better. Tricks seems so easy in my dreams. It should be that easy in real life.
If you want to see some folks who do make it look easy in real life, check out the Dogtown and Z-Boys video. These guys know how to ride. The moves they do are just sick. I can't imagine carving the concrete as low to the ground as these guys get. posted by Kirby | April 27 11:06 PM | comments (0)
Thursday, April 24, 2003 WS-I.org recently published a set of test tools for XML Web services. These tools test for conformance with the WS-I's Basic Profile. For fun, I decided to test my Snow Report Service.
Configuration of the Analyzer is straight forward. Starting with the sample analyzerConfig.xml, I commented out the <uddiReference> and created a new <wsdlReference>, pointing the references to my Snow Report service. I ran the analyzer test and my service failed the tests.
Analyzer produces a report of the test in XML, which can be viewed in a user friendly format using your browser. I quickly saw from the report that the test could not find my <types> that I have declared in a separate schema file that is imported into the WSDL. And sure enough, there was a problem. I had forgotten to include the namespace reference on the <import> element in my WSDL document. A simple change to <s:import> and all was well. My service passes the WS-I Basic Profile test.
In theory, my service should interop with other platforms. I have had no problem consuming the service from Java. However, WSDL2Java from Axis still fails. Apparently it does not support the <import> element. The only way I can generate the Java based proxy classes using WSDL2Java is to include the types schema in the WSDL document as a single file. Hopefully that will be fix some day. posted by Kirby | April 24 02:56 PM | comments (0)
Wednesday, April 23, 2003 WS-I has published a beta version of its comformance test tools. This version will test for version 1.0 of the Basic Profile. Note: You will need the .NET Framework version 1.1.4322 if you plan to use the C# version of the test tools. posted by Kirby | April 23 08:50 AM | comments (0)
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
My latest order of WASTED Wear arrived today. The WASTED hoodie rocks! It's comfy and the print job is nice. Not as nice as the t-shirt given away in Whistler but still nice. The golf shirt is okay but the logo is a little low for my liking. And the shirt quality is only so so. The baby doll shirt looks good though. Can't wait for Melanie to try it on.
You too can own WASTED Wear by shopping at the WASTED online store. How's that for marketing? posted by Kirby | April 22 03:34 PM | comments (2)
Monday, April 21, 2003 The robots at Robot Food have just released a new teaser video for their next video available September 2003. posted by Kirby | April 21 01:07 PM | comments (0)
Photos from Dave's visit and Easter weekend in Killington on online in the Gallery. Enjoy. posted by Kirby | April 21 09:03 AM | comments (0)
My snowboard season is finally over, and it ends with me wanting more. This weekend in Killington was one of the best times on the slope for me this season. And to add to the great snow, the weekend was made a bit better by spending time with the Davis's. The turkey was delich and the ham was more than heavenly. But this posting is about the snow.
Saturday was overcast and warm with slope side temps in the 50's. The snow was soft with lots of nice banks on the bumps. Saturday felt like surfing over and over without having to wait for the perfect wave. The half pipe was surprisingly good given the warm weather and I almost made it to the top of the 15 foot wall more than once.
Sunday was the best of the two days. Sunny and warm. Temps in the 60's during the morning and accordingly the Killington snow report, in the 70's during the afternoon. Definitely t-shirt weather. The surface condition was snow in most places, bare in others. And there was also the occasional water puddle. My favorite part of the day was smashing through soft bumps and face spraying myself with snow.
I got 32 days on the slopes and Melanie made her record high of 27 days spread over a long, 5 month season. Somehow Melanie and I missed the powder all season. I felt like I was riding the same stuff all season, be it in Whistler or Killington. But this weekend reminded me how much fun snowboarding is. And it left me wanting more. I can't think of a better way to end the season. posted by Kirby | April 21 08:45 AM | comments (0)
Thursday, April 17, 2003 So here I am flying back to New York. I spoke at a Web services boot camp today in the Research Triangle of North Carolina. A fun day, I must say. But it got me thinking, and the first thought was that I don't post enough technical content on this site. Why is that?
The main reason is most likely are result of a lack of excitement in technology with my job. As a consultant, you sometimes have to work with less interesting technologies because of customer demand. Lately that less interesting technology for me has been Microsoft SharePoint technologies.
Now don't get me wrong. SharePoint version 2.0 is a nice offering, and I have been impressed with the ASP.NET implementation. It is once again proof that some of the best and brightest minds work at Microsoft. Unfortunately for me, to be involved with technology at a level that would interest me the most would mean relocating to the Seattle area.
Relocating is not going to happen though, especially right now. First and foremost, I love New York City. And I love being close to the New England area, especially Vermont.
So what is a technology starved individual like myself who gets terribly excited about technology of interest, like Web services and the Microsoft .NET Framework, to do? Let me know if you can help me out. I'm soul searching my career and I need guidance.
And on a totally unrelated note, when can I start surfing the Net from the plane in a very cost effective way? Wireless net access everywhere. That's the way life should be be. posted by Kirby | April 17 12:06 AM | comments (0)
You know you travel too much when the Avis Car Rental bus driver can tell you which airline you are flying on before you can.
Yep, this happened to me today. And lucky for me he knew which airline because I may have tried flying out on American West instead of American Airlines. posted by Kirby | April 17 12:06 AM | comments (0)
Sunday, April 06, 2003 I took the freebord out for another 30 minute while in Bryn Athyn for the weekend, and quickly learned that the hills were too big for me. I did a nice concrete roll while trying to stop and I struggled to link turns. The board is definitely harder to ride than a normal skateboard. Speed is a good thing to have when learning to ride but too much speed is a bad thing. I'll probably buy elbow pads before trying it again in BA. posted by Kirby | April 6 07:03 PM | comments (1)
Friday, April 04, 2003 Transworld Snowboarding.com | News | Snowiest March On Record At Whistler Blackcomb
Whistler, March 27, 2003 - Daffodils may be blooming in Vancouver, but in Whistler, the only thing that is growing is the snowbase. This month, it snowed 21 days in a row, and almost 11 feet of snow has fallen, making it the snowiest March on Whistler Blackcomb record.posted by Kirby | April 4 03:42 PM | comments (0)
New York City has ban smoking in the bars. And although I think people should be free to smoke in public, I have to admit I enjoyed coming home from the bar last night not smelling of smoke. Melanie said after returning "It was like not being at a bar" because either of us smelled. I think I might be in favor of the ban after all. posted by Kirby | April 4 03:39 PM | comments (0)
At long last, the WASTED Online Store is finally open. Now you can get your favorite piece of WASTEDWear delivered to your home. Everything from shirts to boxers are available. Note: All proceeds will go towards the upkeep and maintenance of the WASTEDBoarding.com web site. posted by Kirby | April 4 02:20 PM | comments (0)
12 inches in Killington so far and it's still snowing! Why do I live so far away? And why don't I have a car? posted by Kirby | April 4 11:20 AM | comments (0)
Thursday, April 03, 2003 After months of collecting dust, my freebord finally hit the concrete today. I tried it out for about 30 minutes along the bike path on the Hudson River. It doesn't quite feel like riding a snowboard [yet] but that's probably because I wasn't going fast enough. I started with a short, small slope but quickly learned that I needed more speed to balance the board. I found a steeper slope that was a bit longer that did the trick. It was perfect for learning. I'm not doing full carves yet but I'm able to balance and ride straight.
I'm going with Melanie to PA this weekend to visit her family. The hills are much bigger there so I should be able to get in some good riding and really learn to control this thing. I can't wait. posted by Kirby | April 3 06:24 PM | comments (0)
Wednesday, April 02, 2003 I spent the morning taking a deeper look at WS Security using Microsoft's WSE and IBM WSTK. Specifically I wanted to learn more about encrypting a SOAP message, and I have to say I am not only impressed with the standard but with the implementations from both Microsoft and IBM. Once I resolved issues around my X.509 certificate, I was able to play. I found it very easy to sign and encrypt my SOAP messages. And on initial glance, it looks like interop between the two toolkits works well.
If I have more time, I hope to play with WS Security more. It's an interesting spec. Unfortunately it looks like I am about to spend the next few weeks learning SharePoint v2.0, something I'm not all to happy about. Not that it is a bad product. It actually looks good, but I'm just not interested in it. posted by Kirby | April 2 01:40 PM | comments (0)
Tuesday, April 01, 2003 I thought about an interesting problem today. Recently I updating the code behind this site so that all content is stored in XML. But within the archive section, I have references to past posting that use the old URL. These old URL now give a HTTP 404 error. I have always thought it interesting when a site tries to determine the new URL for an old one. I guess now I have a chance to try resolving that problem. Hmmm, maybe I will look into doing that tomorrow. posted by Kirby | April 1 05:08 PM | comments (0)
