the pod bay door

:: It’s crunch time. Also the time when the weeks start to appear to me as if they are moving faster than normal. Next week (June 7), Geoff and I fly to NYC for SLA. Before that, we’re attending (and are helping organize) the EBL conference. I’m making minor revisions to my presentation on engineering libraries for the SLA conference. I haven’t begun to consider other events in NYC, like theatre, movies, music, etc. I’ll be there for seven days after the conference to do whatever, whenever – this means visiting good friends as well, and showing Geoff some of the town (and some of my friends, too.) I return home on June 19th, leaving me a few days to ruminate about being alive for half a century.

Summer just seems to happen too fast.

:: More evidence seems to appear weekly that suggests blogs are swiftly moving into the mainstream. Today’s NYTimes Arts & Leisure section’s cover story is titled, “Prospecting for Gold Among the Photo Blogs.” (NYT ID& PW: podbay)

:: I attended my Pilates class tonight for the first time in two weeks, since I started coughing and hacking. Tough class, hard to get back into it. Tomorrow I’ll try a regular workout.
:: This weekend was a scorcher: 31^oC on Saturday and 26^oC today. Hard to believe that we had this weather only three weeks ago.

Do you own a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)? I don’t, but have been thinking about it for some time. Yet technology seems to move faster than one can keep up in the 21st century. Ephraim Schwartz, editor at large at Infoworld writes that General Motors believes the time may be approaching for you to get rid of your PDA.

General Motors announced last week that it will partner with wireless carrier Nextel to use Nextel’s Motorola cell phones with data capabilities to market a field-force management application to its commercial truck fleet customers. The announcement casts a shadow over the future of handheld devices in the business marketplace.

By selecting a cellular phone, GM in essence said no to Palm, HP, and Microsoft.

IT departments should consider the reasoning behind GM’s decision before recommending a handheld solution of their own.

The technology includes GPS, Java, and push-to-talk, and in tandem with ease of use, it becomes hard to chose a handheld over a handset. Cell phones are also considerably cheaper than PDAs.

Can someone slow technology down for just a few minutes, please? (From: Roland Piquepaille’s Technology Trends)

:: Kelly‘s friend Chuck is making a movie about blogs, called Blogumentary. Check out the trailer in Windows Media or Quicktime. (PBS has also made a documentary about blogs.)

:: I’m keeping the shoes.

:: I was going to write a piece on the edu-blogging session which Geoff and I presented this afternoon on campus, but Geoff already has posted a good summary here.

:: I’m thinking, my previous post garnered 18 responses, a new PBD record. How can I ever post again? It’s like, I don’t want to post another entry because I’ll break the spell or something…

:: I bought another pair of shoes today. That’s twice in one week. By popular demand, view the first and second pair. Comments welcome. Both pairs are very comfortable, and will make the trip to NYC.

Really, can life get any better?

I watched The Matrix on video tonight, in prep for Matrix Reloaded. I saw the first film in 1999, and it was good to see it again. Maybe I’ll understand the second one a bit better. This site discusses the first film, providing an in-depth analysis. The official site also has a page devoted to the philosophy of the matrix.