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“Professional WordPress” In Print

7 March 2010, 5:33 pm


It is done.

My latest writing on writing, Professional WordPress, is now up for pre-order on amazon.com. This is the culmination of about 9 months of random sticky notes, trying to parse code, working with two amazing co-authors (David Damstra and Brad Williams, latter of NJ WordPress Meetup fame), one very dedicated editor (Brian MacDonald) and one of the WordPress co-creators, Mike Little, who provided insight, education and good temper through the whole process.

Yes, that’s the cover image for the “real book.” Our will be one of the first in the new Wrox/Wiley imprint style, and tops out just around 400 pages. And there’s an obscure reference to the Talking Heads in it (but you’ll have to read it to find it!)

Filed under Words.
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March 3: Awareness Day to “End the Word”

2 March 2010, 11:33 pm

r-word.org
Best Buddies is a non-profit started by the Kennedy Shriver family that creates opportunity – friendship, work, support – for people with intellectual disabilities. If you’re a Jersey hound and are familiar with the Friendship Circle, it’s the left coast cousin. Good friend and long-time Best Buddies support pep first introduced me through her annual participation in their long-distance bike rides. Pep rides, I just support her fundraising efforts.

Tomorrow, March 3, is an awareness day to “end the r-word”. As our daughter says, you’d never use the word again if you spent time with her group at Friendship Circle, and Bubba says the same thing when he comes off the ice with the DareDevils.

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Au (Revoir), Canada

28 February 2010, 10:07 pm

Another Olympics in the books. It was my favorite in years, for so many reasons.

  • US Men’s and Women’s Hockey Silver Medals. OK, so they both lost to the Canadians, but both gold medal games were great. Seeing Jenny Potter with her kids on the ice and Angela Ruggiero tearing up but still hugging her teammates defined the American effort. Teamwork and motherhood – as American as apple pie.
  • Shaun White. He’s as down to earth as a person as he’s high in the sky doing tricks. What a role model for our kids.
  • Evan Lysacek out-skating Plushenko. Yes, Plushenko did quad jumps, but Lysacek skated his heart out. It’s not a home run derby; it’s about interpretation.
  • US gold medals in Nordic combined and 4-man bobsled. First and first in half a century.
  • Apolo Ohno being himself, picking up two more medals, with humility and good sportsmanship

Along with the sad moments, and the completely confounding moments, like the Iranian delegation refused to compete in the same events as the Israelis, the entire two-week event seemed relatively conflict and scandal free. Maybe I’m the only one who thought it was funny that the Canadian women had cigars and beer on the ice after winning the gold medal, because that’s what my teammates in the beer league would do. Seeing the human, everyday side of athletes makes them seem more like the entire country they are proud to represent.

The Olympics is a house guest that comes every four years and stays for two weeks. We hope that it doesn’t break anything, that it makes us proud, and provides small moments for family bonding and stories to be told. Over the course of a year, I make as many references to the Miracle On Ice as I do to Franz Klammer and his intense 1976 downhill run. Here’s what I hope my kids learned this year: never boast, play to the final whistle, hard work pays off, and there is grace in losing.

Au revior et a bien tot, Canada. It was a fun two weeks while you were here.

Filed under Hockey, Olympics.
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Diversity, Cures and Hockey

18 February 2010, 8:15 am

There’s a debate running through the more erudite sub-nets of online discussion about the morality and desirability of “curing” Down Syndrome. I’ve been pointed at two pieces by fellow Tigers and both struck a chord with me. Lisa Belkin is the New York Times Motherlode parenting blogger and she raises the basic question about the desirability of a potential cure for trisomy 21. More fundamental (in many senses) is Amy Becker’s profoundly human and personal view of the issue.

If we don’t rush to subjugate people who are not like us, then we want to cure them. Simply accepting and celebrating their differences is the root of diversity.

I’ll throw in a plug for the Best Buddies campaign to Spread the Word to End the Word, namely, the label applied to people with developmental disabilities, culminating in events on March 3rd. (Side note: If you want to know why I stopped reading “Fake Steve Jobs” and find Dan Lyons to be a less than ideal journalist, it’s because of his multi-root derivations of the same word, applied to anyone or anything he wanted to skewer.)

Conversely, an intent to drive acceptance is why Bubba and I have so much interest in Special Hockey, the DareDevils program, and Jon Schwartz’ EveryBody Skates NJ effort to allocate ice time for special needs players. Professional sports has, for decades, been a harbor of intolerance: of race, religion, language, geography. The only way to address it is to instill inclusion in the next generation of athletes.

To paraphrase Amy Becker, hockey isn’t about solving quadratic equations. It is, at its heart, about rushing to the side of a teammate, whether that’s after scoring a goal or just finishing a good shift, on the ice or off. Hockey remains a good proxy for sportsmanship in life.

Filed under Hockey, Princeton.
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Heartless and Winless

10 February 2010, 10:48 pm

The Devils have become impossible to watch. Guys standing around, falling down, or making passes that are blind, ill-timed, or just flat-out stupid is not competitive hockey. It’s not even good hockey. It’s disheartening.

If I were GM and coach for a day:

Langenbrunner loses the “C”. Where is the leadership on this team? Where are the guys standing up for Salmela and Salvador? No wonder nobody wants to put in the extra effort, because no teammates will get their backs.

Langenbrunner gets benched until he learns to connect a pass. He is a turnover machine. Passes into the middle are dumb, blind passes are dumb, taking an extra step is dumb. Watch Kovulchuk pass. All of his assists are on sharp passes, not accidents.

Get a defenseman, now. It’s clearly not White, Mottau or Fraser. Salvador and Salmela are hurt, or rotate being hurt. Get someone who can control the puck at the blue line, who can clear the crease, and who plays with passion.

It’s just amazing that the Devils have blown three 2-goal leads in a week and a half. Since New Year’s Eve, they haven’t played a single, solid three period game. The glaring, stupid errors are like watching a badly coached beginner’s team. They aren’t a bunch a forty-something asthmatics (like me) playing at 11:00 PM on Sunday night; they’re supposed to be professionals. What they’re doing borders on gross dereliction of duty.

10 points out of 30. 33% point conversion, compared to 75% earlier in the year. I think fans go through a process like grieving: first we’re in denial (it’s only a three game losing streak), then angry (waive White! Marty plays too much!), then we bargain (Kovulchuk!). What’s next? Acceptance of this style of play? I don’t know of any fans that enjoy watching a high-calibre team play so far below its potential, night after night, creating new ways to lose games. Please, act like professionals. Put in the work, for a full game. Beat a team that’s streaking in the opposite direction. Or save me money on my playoff tickets.

Filed under Hockey. Tagged , , ,
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Strong Words and Heavy Music

8 February 2010, 6:32 pm

The content import from my work blog to my more lifestyle, food and sports oriented life over here is about halfway done. Gentle readers will notice heavy music and strong words categories, mostly delving into prog rock, sci-fi and intersections of the two (like Avatar).

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Google’s SuperBowl Ad: The Anti-Beer

8 February 2010, 9:35 am

I believe I’m the only person who thought Google’s SuperBowl ad was very well-produced and cute but utterly, totally demonstrative of what’s wrong with Google. It was an anti-beer ad. It was about using technology, instead of getting up off your butt and talking to your friends, going out for a beer, maybe even discovering things on your own and failing a few times in the process because you didn’t have the best search results. It’s acceptable; it’s called life. Again, I thought the narrative style was fantastic, and the storyline was endearing, but let’s be honest: this was a nerd fantasy played out in a search engine. Great to see all of the ways you can search in Google. Utterly stupid to think it’s going to make you better at relationships with French women. Or relationships of any kind. And therein lies the problem.

Greg Papadopoulos, amazing computer scientist, once said “All technology is social.” I repeat that often because it’s true – increasingly, whatever technology we use becomes woven into the fabric of our lives. The Google ad proved that rather strongly. But the converse — “Every social interaction is technology driven” — is patently false, and should be. That’s what rubbed me the wrong way with Google’s SuperBowl spot: they assume that technology can ameliorate any social deficiencies, gaps or needs that we have. Technology helps (look no further than Cameron Sinclair’s Architecture for Humanity that marries technology to sustainable housing) but it in no way supplants the value of getting some face time.

Put in today’s terms: I’ll always drive the four miles to pick Bob up at his place and go for a coffee, and I went out of my way to be sure Bruce and I are on the same hockey team this spring, when we can enjoy a beer together after the game. Something I can’t do on Facebook, with Google, or using Twitter. And that’s a good thing.

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Hello Kovi, Watch Out Ovi

4 February 2010, 11:09 pm

The Devils have (a) made a trade worth talking about (b) landed a superstar (c) dealt a jolt to the team that is likely make them focus. It’s not just about the players, it’s also a statement of what Lou expects from his team and their efforts, and what he’ll do when he’s pushed to the point that coaching can no longer correct.

First things first: Hello, Ilya Kovalchuk. Woo-hoo! Love this guy. Complain all you want (or all Chico wants) about his backchecking and defensive coverage, because it’s completely beside the point. The guy is a pure sniper, great skater, and creative on the ice. The Devils’ offense of late has shown all of the inspiration and soloing capability of Cheech and Chong’s band (”We only know three chords!”) with Jerry Channel of Boston’s Neats on vocals (nicknamed “Mono-man” by the hip press in Bean Town). Pair him with Zajac and Parise, or with Elias, and he’s even more dangerous. Add to that the cultural aspect, which I think is far too often down played: Kovalchuk is a Russian, will be a good influence on Zharkov, and can speak a bit of mamalushen with Zubrus and Elias (Elias, like all Czech students of his time, was required to learn Russian in school. Not sure if he still speaks it, but probably can recall enough to holler “Shoot, you ugly lunkhead” in the mother tongue).

Second: Lou made the comparison to the Mogilny trade before I even got on the computer. At the time, Mogilny was one of the best shots in the league, and he delivered in 2000 when the team needed him. We loved Mogilny, especially what appeared to be a good influence on Elias. We are going to heap equal adoration on Kovi.

Third: Oduya hasn’t been the same player since he got hurt. Bergfors was great in the first twenty games and now looks like he realized he skipped a grade and suddenly doesn’t remember all of the math he was supposed to have brought with him. As for Cormier, Google on “Daigle” for what’s likely an equivalent story minus the head shots. That’s it? No Zajac, no Clarkson, no Martin? And they got back Salmela in return? This is a great trade for the Devils. I like JohnnyO in so many ways, but I like Kovi more right now.

Overtime: If this doesn’t send a shock through the locker room, I don’t know what will. It means that if Lou goes shopping for another blueliner, other guys who aren’t stepping up are likely to be shopping for apartments in the hinterlands. It changes the dynamics, the lines, the friendships. Shocks like this can be explosive, further fragmenting a team, or they can be concussive and help the guys stick together a little better. Let’s see what Langenbrunner does with his latest teammates.

Prediction: Deeper Cup run, and a player who can go head to head with the Washington snowman.

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How To Beat The Devils

31 January 2010, 9:17 pm

The Devils have gone from mildly upsetting to tragic. It’s Shakespeare on ice without the clever anachronistic puns. It hurts to watch, like the guy who wipes out on the ski jump slope during the intro to “Wide World of Sports” for those of you alive in the 1970s.

Here is the young person’s guide to beating the Devils:

1. Play 20 minute periods. The Devils don’t. Not even close. Between late goals in the Toronto game on Friday, and then coughing up two goals in the last 90 seconds of tonight’s travesty against Los Angeles, there was a goal with less than 30 seconds left in tonight’s game as well. This isn’t pee-wee hockey.

2. Take flagrant penalties. The Devils power play is 3 for 31. There was a stretch a few years ago when it was 4 for 100, and with the current 0-for-25 spurts we’ve seen, that’s easily equalled. If Langenbrunner is going to continue to make ridiculous passes into the middle when there’s no red jersey there, take him off the point. Put Oduya there, at least he can shoot the puck.

3. Get behind by two goals. Twice against Toronto, and then against Los Angeles, two goal leads held up about as well as a house of hockey cards in a nor’easter.

Lou lost out on the Phaneuf lottery, although I’m not sure he was a prize worth winning. But there are plenty of other defensemen who can shoot, move the puck, have a modicum more hockey sense than Mottau and White (combined) and know to clear the crease when the goalie is screened on a power play.. Maybe this is pee wee hockey.

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Content Shuffle

28 January 2010, 3:40 pm

I’m moving all of the non-work related content from my Sun Microsystems blog over to the Snowman, mostly to separate personal stuff and give it a long-term home. So you’ll see about 300 new blog entries show up, but none of them very recent — search, category results, tag results, and some cross-references will play out a bit differently.

Filed under General.
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