Utah Open Source Planet

Last night, at 10:30 PM, I flew into the Chicago Midway Airport.  Why?  Because I am taking a Train the Trainer class for OS X Deployment for 10.5.  I have never been East of the Mississippi, unless you count the quick stop in JFK on my way to and from Germany.  As such, I didn’t know what to expect.  

The flight was, bumpy at first.  I flew Frontier Airlines, which is based out of Denver.  The runway in Denver was really rough, and the plane I was on first made noises as though someone was literally riveting the thing together as we took off and landed.  Other than that, it was a pretty nice flight.  

From Denver to Chicago was different.  Because I was in such a hurry to make my connection (the plane was supposed to be taking off when I landed), I had to place my smaller bag overhead, which had my reading material.  So, I read the magazine available to me, until the entertainment was turned off and then on again.  They had to reboot (and on these planes each person had their own TV screen).  The good news is that we all got free TV content without having to pay for it (normally it was $3.99).  Also, the leg room was MUCH better than either Delta or American Airlines.  I was impressed.

The taxi ride was a bit longer than I would have expected, and the traffic was really light (but then, it WAS after 10:00 at night).  It was pleasant, and the hotel attendant that checked me in was very courteous.  I hadn’t eaten all day (my delay at Denver was more of a mad dash), so I ate the cookie in my room.  I’m sure I’ll be paying for it later, but I was really hungry.  

The room was really warm.  I didn’t see an air conditioning unit, and didn’t know how to cool things off, so I just dealt with it.  It was still cooler than my house had been lately back home with a broken swamp cooler (which I managed to fix for my wife Sunday, before I flew out).  By that time it was midnight Chicago time, and I was planning on waking up at 6:00, since I didn’t know where I was going the next day. 

I woke up at 7:00 AM, checked my email, and breathed a sigh of relief that the training was not starting until 9:00.  I got ready and headed down to breakfast, which was filling, yet light.  Not too much meat, plenty of egg, a half a danish, and some yogurt.  

I then headed out to the training building.  I’m walking, because the training building was supposed to be less than a mile away from my location…  except I got some rather dodgy directions and ended up going the wrong way.  By now the heat and humidity was getting to me, and I was 15 minutes late to the training.  Luckily they didn’t start anything important, and I was able to get settled.  I’ll comment on the training on the last day (but for now I’ll just say I’m enjoying it.  ^_^).  

Lunch was at the Baker’s Place (I think), which has the exact same menu items as Village Inn, which apparently no one on either side of the Rockies had heard of.  It was good, even though the meal came slow.  But it was right next to the training center, which gave us plenty of time to get back (five of us ate there).  

After the training, I headed back to the hotel.  The traffic was horrendous, making me quite happy I opted to walking.  I hate traffic, even in Salt Lake which didn’t even compare to what I saw on my way back to the hotel.  

Along the way, I was looking for options to try for my dinner.  I’m not really that picky, and I like to make something light while on the road.  That way I can study while eating and not be bothered by anyone.  Well, I was about to give up on any type of grocery store until I saw it:  An Aldi.  

Now, many of you may think I’m being silly, but I love Aldi.  Why?  Because I used to always shop there in Frankfurt.  They were everywhere, and held the cheapest, almost tasteless food imaginable.  But it brought back fond memories of the old days, and I picked up some things for dinner and lunch for the next two days.  I picked up fruit, bottled water (mostly for the bottles), and two dinner items.  All total it came to $14.00.  I just had to carry it the rest of the way back to the hotel (again, another Germany moment). 

So, how do I rate my trip to the Chicago area so far?  Traffic is a definite minus, no sidewalks reminds me of Austin Texas (and the blisters I got), and I don’t really like the heat.  

The plus sides are close shops, a nice, comfortable hotel room (I’ve since found the AC ^_^), and an ALDI close by.  I’d say that this is definitely the best training trip I’ve been on.  The only thing that could make this better than going to Cupertino for training would be an Apple Company Store with employee discount.  ^_^

Stay tuned for details on my Training experience!  

I'm at the Velocity Conference in Burlingame, CA today and tomorrow. I was planning on dinner at Kincaids tonight. If you're interested in coming, drop me a note or direct me on Twitter and I'll include you in the reservation.

Tags: travel events

I'm going to be at O'Reilly Velocity conference next Monday and Tuesday. Scott Lemon and I talked with Jesse Robbins (conference chair) and Adam Jacob (presenter) for a Technometria podcast a few weeks ago and got a lot out of it. I decided the conference was something I needed to be at.

Tags: itconversations travel events

I'm at the Internet Retailer this week at the McCormick Center in Chicago. I haven't been to an industry conference like this since 2000. The opening by Jack Love was, frankly, a throw away. Nothing like a Phil Becker welcome at Digital Identity World. Jack spent his 15 minutes telling us why his conference was so important ("this show is full of content") and saying things about ecommerce that anyone who's been paying attention since 1997 probably know ("ecommerce works as well for small merchants as large merchants"). Instead, he should have introduced a theme and set out the "state of ecommerce."

Many of these attendees are retailers, not vendors. This isn't so much an ecommerce conference as an online retailing conference. The vendors are all on the exhibit floor. That's OK. We're mostly here to cruise the exhibit floor and learn about competitors as well as sense opportunity.

A second short intro speaker (didn't catch the name) did speak to some trends:

1. Ecommerce is becoming more mainstream. For example, last year, for the first time, online apparel sales surpassed online computer sales in terms of dollar volumes. Given that basket sizes are much smaller, that translates into any more individual orders.
2. Higher fuel costs are going to hit online retailers. Many have been eating the cost of shipping to compete with offline retailers, but that probably won't last.
3. Green is becoming a factor in ecommerce. Consumers who care about green products can find them more easily online than offline. On the other hand, green often translates to "local" and that can hurt online sales.

Mike Boylson, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at JC Penney is the keynote speaker. He started with an interesting statement: The things we've done in the past to get where we are won't get us where we need to go. Half of all households in the US shopped at a JC Penney store sometime in the past year. Their ongoing goal is to be the preferred shopping choice for middle America.

Before 2001, JC Penney was largely decentralized and there was little brand identity between individual stores as they merchandised separately. Between 2001 and 2004, they built infrastructure to support centralized ordering and sourcing. They've built four million sq foot fulfillment centers and set up their own design and sourcing capabilities.

Mike showed us videos which didn't tell me much about JC Penney's ecommerce strategy. I felt cheated out of those 5-10 minutes. I didn't spend money to come to a conference to see advertisements.

One of JC Penney's strategies is to put destination brands (like Liz Clayborn merchandise) in their online store. They're taking advantage of longtail principles here because they don't have room in their stores for all this merchandise, but of course, online shelf space is almost unlimited. These brands cause JCP to be more relevant and relevance is key.

JCP's 35,000 POS terminals are linked into jcp.com so allow in-store sales associates to help customers order online and handle returns. Four out of five web shoppers are store shoppers. The ecommerce platform has become the hub of the business, managing orders, fulfillment, etc. The "know before you go" program allows shopper to research online to find products in the store. Linking the online use to offline products is important.

It's just a matter of time until all marketing is digital. Make jcp.com much more exciting and interactive. Customer media habits are changing. Shoppers 18-35 years old don't access newspapers, magazine, and so on in the same way their parents did. Not to mention the fact that it's expensive. Digital asset management is key here.

JCP is organizing according to channel/customer rather than business unit. For example, marketing has P&L; responsibility for all of the "direct" business (online and catalog). Have one "voice" and a consistent look to the brand.

Tags: travel ecommerce

One of the nice things about working for Guru Labs is the variety. I get to see new places, try new foods, and drive a variety of cars. Which brings me to my ride in Boston a couple of weeks ago:

Need I say more?

The announcement and registration pages for IIW 2008 are now live. Please take minute and do three things:

1. Register so we know you're coming. Having a good count early makes the whole thing go smoother.
2. Help us spread the word by blogging about it.
3. Put a badge for IIW on your Web site if you can. Here's the code for the badge you see on the right hand side of my blog:

   <a href="http://www.windley.com/events/iiw2008a/register.shtml"> <img src="http://www.windley.com/events/iiw2008a/images/iiw2008_badge.png" border="0" hspace="3" vspace="3" title="IIW2008 Registration banner" alt="IIW2008 Registration banner" /></a>

We expect that IIW2008 will be every bit as productive and fun as past IIWs have been I hope you can make it.

Tags: iiw identity iiw2008a travel events

If you travel and haven't yet heard of TripIt, you're going to be sooo excited! TripIt is a site that keeps track of your travel. But unlike many other sites that promise to help you with your travel, this one is so easy and useful, you'll actually use it.

Here's what you do: when you get an itinerary from the airline or a hotel, just email it to plans@tripit.com. You're done.

When you email your first item to TripIt, they'll create an account for you and send you a confirmation email. Click the link and you're in. I was amazed to find the hotel and airline reservations for my upcoming trip to San Diego were there, cataloged and turned into a very nice looking itinerary that included Google maps, addresses, click able links and anything else I'd need.

TripIt didn't understand the conference registration email I sent, but they stored it as a note and I moved it to the San Diego trip with two clicks. Easy as can be and now it's all together.

TripIt includes some social features so you can collaborate on a trip with others. I played around with that a bit and also logged in from my iPhone since that's where I'd be wanting most to get to it from when I'm on the road. I was a little disappointed with that. There doesn't seem to be any special support for mobile devices. Another feature I'd love to see is an iCalendar view of the trips so they can be added to Google Calendar, iCal, etc.

Even with those missing features, this is a very cool application. Believe me, your assistant doesn't make itineraries this nice.

Update: Jay informs me via a comment that there is an iCal link. I was looking on the itinerary page, but it's on the page that lists your itinerary. That's so cool. I subscribed to my TripIt calendar and now all that stuff shows up on my calendar just because I forwarded the emails to TripIt. Nice. Very nice.

Tags: travel web

I'm planning a trip to Beijing in April for WWW2008. I'm looking for other things (conferences, speaking engagements, etc.) I might combine it with in Asia to maximize the trip/time benefit. Any ideas?

Tags: travel

USA Today carried this story on the front page, Tuesday, (2007/12/04). It’s interesting that the headline for this story in the print edition and the online version are not identical.

The crux of the story is that the major U.S. airlines are shifting their schedules a little so that there will be fewer overall seats available throughout the U.S., despite stronger demand than last year. Such changes are not being made in their International schedules.

Part of the numbers come from switches to smaller aircraft, some are from schedule changes that will have a smaller total number of flights on some routes and other routes may be eliminated.

I also found it interesting that Delta Airlines, which I fly more often than all others combined, is the only major airline that is leaving their capacity and schedules virtually unchanged, with only a 0.6% overall U.S. routes capacity decrease planned for January 2008.

The biggest problem that could occur, whether you are flying with an airline that is making large changes or small, is that hiccups could take a day or two, rather than hours, to resolve. Such issues could bleed into other airlines, as cross-pollination can and does quickly fill the few available seats still open on all the other airlines. Given all of the problems that Northwest Airlines has been experiencing this year, I would hope that they don’t cut back too far. Granted, things are better at Northwest than they were in June of 2007, but the end of November continued to show larger numbers of cancellations than should normally be expected.

Flight cancellations are never fun, but when they force over a dozen other people’s plans to change, a canceled flight can spell real trouble for a business traveler. When I arrived at the airport on Sunday (2007/06/24) to board my flight (BOI to MSP to BWI) with Northwest Airlines, I was told that the flight from MSP to BWI had been canceled. After 25 minutes of searching for alternatives, the soonest available flight was on Northwest the next morning but wouldn’t get me into BWI until 1:44pm. After consulting with my boss, I had them “book” me on that flight. At this point, there were several people at the counter all experiencing the same joy-of-re-booking as I.

It was obvious that there were a lot of cancellations on Northwest. Fearing that my newly re-booked flight might also be canceled, I asked if this was a likely possibility. “We have no reason to think that there will be any cancellations tomorrow,” was the response. Not quite fully reassured, I prompted them for details about the cancellations. Over 300 Northwest flights had been canceled so far that day (it was not yet 1pm MDT) due to “Lack of crew availability” (which they read directly from their screen concerning my flight, and others’ around me). I asked why they had such large crew shortages. “Because of the weather on the east coast; so many flights out of there had to be cancelled that we now haven’t got crews where they need to be. All flights out of MSP that head east are cancelled for today at this point.” I hadn’t heard about any serious weather, but I hadn’t really been looking in the past few days either.

Then the next problem hit. They were unable to print anything, it seems. They couldn’t print boarding passes for people who were going to be flying, they couldn’t print an itinerary for me (or other people, either). Finally, they hand wrote my flight numbers and departure times and gave that to me on a scrap of paper. While they were working that out, I called my ride (I had been dropped at the Boise airport this time) to get them turned around to come back and get me. While waiting for my ride to return, I made a couple of other calls to people who needed to know that I would not be there to start my class Monday morning.

After returning to the house, I phoned the hotel and rental car agency to push my reservations back for the next day. The hotel was no trouble at all, and I even got the 1 night refunded without any hassles (Marriott properties are great that way). But the rental car agency said that the price for changing my reservation would be an additional $200 for the (less than a) week. I phoned Expedia Corporate Travel, which had been used to book the trip in the first place. That’s when things really came apart.

Expedia’s agent was able to help me reschedule the rental car with Hertz (my first ever time renting from them, but I’m 100% convinced that they are the best now), which turned out to be a few dollars cheaper than the other alternatives now, though the price still did go up. They also double-checked with the hotel for me and things were fine there, but there were problems with the flights. Mainly, their systems now showed that I didn’t have any. They phoned the airline and called me back a couple of times and eventually got us all on a conference call together, where the airline representative told me that my flights were not canceled, that they were almost no flights canceled anywhere and that my flight was about to land at BWI. She also said that their system did not indicate that I was booked for the new Monday flights but that they showed that I had never shown up at the airport at all. This despite the fact that the BIO counter and kisok systems both had pulled up my information, which I pointed out and she said that their systems did, indeed, log such lookups and there were no entries showing that I had been there. I asked if they had any data about anyone being queried from Boise today, which she “couldn’t answer”. She tried to make sound like she couldn’t perform a query to find out, but it really sounded like she knew that I was right and their systems were currently partitioned. In any case, that was the triger that got her to lock me in for the next flight (the one the counter agents at BOI had given me) despite the fact that she had told me earlier in the conversation there were no seats available at all.

After all that conversation (which took about 25 minutes) it looked like I was solidly set to travel Monday morning. Still, Expedia’s computers couldn’t see the flights. After a few minutes asking the Expedia rep some questions, I ascertained that the flights were booked (originally) through Delta Airlines’s systems despite the fact that every single leg was with Northwest. So, I called the special Medalion Members only service line (gotta love some of the perks) and they were able to reconnect the dots, though they were very perplexed that Expedia had booked the flights through them to begin with.

But just for my own sanity, I spoke with the counter agents at both BOI and BWI on Monday. They both said that the flights had been canceled. When the agent in Boise looked up the flight I had been originally scheduled on, that system showed that it had been canceled and still showed the same reason. The same occured at the ticket counter in BWI. This left me feeling like Northwest’s “customer service” center wasn’t really trying to serve the customer but instead trying to cover up the whole thing.

Then, on Tuesday morning as I left my hotel room to head for the classroom I was teaching at, I had a copy of USA Today outside my door. I picked it up but didn’t look at it until lunch. The topmost story on the Money section for Tuesday, June 26, 2007 was titled “Northwest’s flight cancellations surge“. Basically, Northwest’s management is blaming weather from several days earlier for canceling 14.2% of their flights on Sunday alone. Their pilots are blaming it on bad planning by management.

It looks like Northwest is burning all of their pilot’s legal limit of flight hours (some on activies other than flying) so quickly that they can’t fly them towards the end of each month. In addition, Northwest’s management has reportedly refused to rehire furlowed pilots, despite the fact that they know there is heavier demand coming. The USA Today article goes into a little more detail regarding the situation.

The long and the short of it is, if you travel much, I would recommend avoiding Northwest flights in the last 7-10 days of the month, for now. We’ll see if management gets it together in the next couple of months or not. Until then, I know I’ll do my best to avoid a repeat.

BTW: I normally fly out of SLC, but am visiting family in Weiser, Idaho for three weeks centered around the 4^th of July holiday. did check and found that I would have had the exact same experience if I had been flying out of SLC, as there were no flights available on Delta either (those Medalion Member Service Center folks are very helpful and answer all sorts of questions). Apparently, due to Northwest’s high cancellation rates over the whole weekend, all the other airlines seats had been filled as Northwest moved them to other flights and Delta’s had all been filled the day before.

According to a TSA press release, the existing ban on an entire state of matter (liquids) and gels is partially lifted, effective as of today. Many (including myself) have previously written about how this particular move was useless security theater.

It’s about time! Too bad they are trying to tiptoe their way back to sanity. Like we’re not going to notice? But, that’s OK. as long as they continue to move in the right direction. Keep it up.

P.S. Nice timing; I’m in Massachusetts this week, without my toothpaste. Don’t worry, I bought some here, but it would have been nice to travel with mine.

In today’s issue of USA Today, there is a story about how the surge in quantity of checked lunggage to be processed in U.S. airports is overwhelming the TSA baggage screening systems.

I am not the least bit surprised; I (and many others) predicted that this overload would result from the rule changes “prohibiting an entire state of matter” (liquids) and prohibitting gels in carry-on luggage. For me, I have to now check my suitcase instead of just carrying it on because of toothpaste and the particular deodorant I was traveling with when these new rules were put into effect (I’ve since switched back to my usual traveling solid).

I don’t want to leave my toothpaste at home, but if these new and useless rules stick for long, I may just ditch it, instead making sure that all of my hotels can provide me with some. That way, I would again be able to take my suitcase carry-on and skip the check-in and baggage carousel entirely. However, when I travel, I prefer to have everything I need with me.

As I am sure everyone has heard by now, on Monday, Brittish authorities arrested nearly 2 dozen suspected terrorists and raided their homes. It is believed that this action foiled an Al Qaeda plot to blow up as many as 6-12 trans-Atlantic airliners as they reached U.S. soil.

Because of the methods these individuals planned to use for smuggling explosives aboard, security restrictions on what passengers may carry-on commercial airlines in England are very stringent. Basically, you get to keep your wallet, keys, some money and the clothes you are wearing. No cell phones, computers, DVD players, audio devices or any other electrical apparatus are allowed.

I happened to be in Los Angeles at the time this happened. As the week wore on, I read and heard that some U.S. airports had adopted the same extra security restrictions now found at London Heathrow & Gatwick. On Thursday & Friday, I was told by several people that they had heard that LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) was not permitting any carry-on luggage at all. This worried me only because I have no desire to find out just how well this notebook would survive the tender, caring baggage handlers’ grasp. In other words, I never check my computer bag or the computer.

However, there was nothing to fear. When I arrived at the airport, it turned out to take longer to walk from the ticket counter to the security checkpoint leading to my gate than it took to get my boarding pass, check my 1 bag (suitcase with a week’s worth of clothes) and get through security, combined. I’m sure the fact that I have nearly three hundred thousand miles of flights with Delta didn’t hurt either. As it turned out, if I had been willing to throw away my deodorant and the little traveling tube of toothpaste I was carrying in my suitcase, I wouldn’t have had to check that bag, either.

For me, the “extra” security measures only amounted to my having to wait for my bag when I got to Salt Lake.

As I was at the airport at 3:45pm for a 6:08pm flight, I ended up standing around at my gate for just over 2 hours before boarding. I try to not spend too much time sitting in airports, since I’m going to be spending so much time sitting on the planes.

But that wasn’t the worst part.

The worst part was that there was a 4:50pm flight and they “couldn’t” put me on it. Was I there in plenty of time to switch to the earlier flight? Yes. Were there seats available? Yes. But only in First Class, there were no Coach seats left, so she couldn’t switch me to that flight. Given as much as I travel, I almost always get upgraded for free to First Class. In fact, I was upgraded for the flight there this trip. The agent was kind, she said they really should have a way to let me take one of those seats, which I would have gotten anyway (she could already tell by looking at her screen that no one else was going to get upgraded).

How ironic is that? Oh, well; I made it home that night and to me, that’s the most important part of these travels.

This morning, I flew from Salt Lake City (SLC) to Los Angeles (LAX). I arrived before 9am PDT and was driving off in my rental car by 9:30. It only took me about 12 minutes to drive to my hotel in Manhattan Beach, California. Unfortunately, 9:45am is a little early for checking in (officially, this hotel’s check-in time is 3pm). They didn’t have any rooms cleaned, yet.

I knew that I was very close to the beaches and the ocean, though I hadn’t seen them on the flight in (I was sleeping until just before we pulled into our gate) or during my drive to the hotel. But, hey, all I had to do was head west, right? So, I did.

At about 11:45am I finally found a parking place. It turns out that there are two local events going on at Manhattan Beach this weekend, so all the street parking was full. I simply slipped off my Mephisto sandals, walked 1 block west and I was on the sand. By the way, for those of you reading this from Utah, that’s not 1 Utah block (6-8/mile), it’s 1 block like most of the rest of world has them (12-13/mile).

I walked slowly north along the water’s edge, letting the inbound tide lap over my feet & around my ankles, listening to the sounds of the surf and wind. It was only about 73 degrees Faranheit (approximately 22 degrees Centigrade) with a lightly filtered Sun playing it’s light over the land and sea. The water felt as though it were only 5 or 6 degrees cooler. There were very few people among the sands in this direction, affording a peaceful, easy stroll with little distraction.

After about a mile of almost pristine beach, I turned back south, retracing my already vanished footprints. The tide continued to lull it’s way in, a little further with every other attempt. I walked a little faster on the return trip, as I had no sunscreen on and I do not wish to inflict a lobster impression on my students this week. The whole walk took merely 45 well-spent minutes. It was really quite relaxing.

I drove off to head back to the hotel and see if I could check-in, yet. However, a Fry’s Electronics caught me, instead. I spent about an hour perusing through all the wonderful treasures (and even more stuff I don’t really want). This has to be the smallest Fry’s there is. From there, I made it to the hotel, got into my room, unpacked my suitcase for the week and this notebook. A moment before I began writing this post, I awoke from a quick nap. This room is basically a studio apartment, with a full kitchen. I think I’ll have to do a little grocery shopping and cook all (well, at least most of) my meals for the week.

Though it occasionally happens, ’tis not often I have time for relaxation in my business travels.

Ah … lazy days.

In my recent post, I said that I would try to get better pictures of the commemorative plaques at the U.S. Patent & Tradmark Office’s training rooms. When I went to start making the attempt, the camera reported to me that there was insufficient power remaining to take pictures. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a spare set (2xAA) of batteries with me.

When I bought the camera, I read in it’s manual that it should last much longer on lithium AA batteries that it will on alkaline, so I guess I’ll have to go get some and try it out. Either way, I should carry a spare set when I’m traveling. I already keep AAA batteries for my headphones and my bluetooth earpiece.

Also in today’s issue of USA Today was this story about the ill conceived, so-called “SecureFlight” program that the U.S. Congres suggested following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Oh, yeah, the House of Representatives is just the place to find a plethora of individuals who you would want designing security systems. Not!

Let me boil it down for everyone:

If you have two pathways to enter a secure area (in this case, the airports), one high security path (what passengers go through today) and one low security path (what SecureFlight and other registered traveler programs would do), which do you think terrorists are going to attack? If you said the low security path, you’re right.

It’s that simple. These programs will, if allowed to launch, completely undermine the rest of the security operations at airports.

Today’s USA Today caries a cover story titled, “USA Today caries a cover story titled, “Frequent business travelers pack guilt“. Some of it is common sense, but as the author, Gary Stoller, points out, almost no studies have been done to show the impact of frequent business travel.

As a frequent business traveler myself, I can relate to some of the things in the article. There are certainly times that all the traveling has left me feeling drained of all my energy. That’s when it’s not fun. However, as I have no children (yet), it’s (usually) not so bad.

I recently posted about a nice little bit of historical information that I had found while traveling for work. Since then, I purchased a digital photo camera. This week, since I’m back at the same location where I found “The Real McCoy” factoid and since I brought my new camera, I decided to take some pictures of some of the plaques.

Unfortunately, the subject I’m trying to photograph is so highly reflective, that only 4 out of the 14 photos I snapped today turned out well enough to be used.
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As most of you know by now, I’m spending this week on the road. One thing that makes a big difference in how you feel throughout the day is to have a good breakfast. That doesn’t mean a huge feast, just something to get your body energized for the day. This is especially true when traveling.

So, with that in mind, I have filled out the “order some breakfast” door hanger and placed it on the handle the past two nights. Unfortunately for me, each morning, there was no breakfast. It never showed up.
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This week, I’m again in Alexandria, Virginia. I arrived yesterday afternoon, flying in at Ronald Reagan National Airport. I took the Metro train into Old Town Alexandria where my hotel is.

The work this week is to teach one of Guru Labs’ many Guru Labs’ many Guru Labs’ many Guru Labs’ many Linux courses for (and at) the Linux courses for (and at) the Guru Labs’ many Linux courses for (and at) the Linux courses for (and at) the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. I’ve been here once before, as some of you may recall.

My hotel is only about a 4 block walk from the Patent Office. Following the first day’s class, I started back only to find that it was just starting to rain. As I completed the first block, I reached a point where I could see farther away between the buildings and knew I had to hurry if I didn’t want to get drenched.

I just love the rain. I normally don’t mind getting caught in it, either. But today, I was wearing a silk tie that my wife recently gave me (no, it wasn’t for Father’s Day, it was a few months ago).

Sitting here working on my notebook for the past couple of hours, I have been listening to Frank Sinatra and a lot of strange sounding thunder. Looking out the window, I can see the rain coming down in droves, pounding the cobbled streets, but I can’t hear it. I think the thick windows are mutating the sound of the thunder. It’s almost like some one is playing it through giant, blown speakers. It’s rather tinny. Weird.

Oh, but I am loving it. :)

This week, I’m working at the United State Patent & Trademark Office. On Monday, I had some time to myself during lunch and walked around the halls of their classrooms floor. Outside the door of each is a display mounted on the wall, talking about a different inventor (or inventors), their patent(s) and how they affected technology & society.

This one in particular caught my eye, so I took a picture of it with the camera in my cell phone.

Elijah McCoy, the son of former slaves, worked for the Michigan Central Railroad as a fireman. His duties included lubricating engine parts. McCoy invented his automatic lubricator. Soon, long distance locomotives, transatlantic ships and factory machines were using his lubricating invention. His reputation spread, and users were wary of buying cheap substitutes. As a result they often asked for “the real McCoy.”

Last week, I found out I would be spending this week in San Francisco, California. I’ve never been here, before. I came home and asked Charlotte if she wanted to go with me. That put a really big smile on her face.

We had to go to Idaho for my youngest brother’s wedding over the weekend, so I asked Guru Labs to book my flight from Boise instead of Salk Lake City. No problem, but I’m flying on Alaska (they’re the ones who decided to loose my “checked plane-side” bag the last time I flew with them).

While driving to my folks house in Weiser, Idaho, I got Delta on the phone and reserved a seat for Charlotte using some of my 100,000+ miles (just a hint, I’ve spent 145,000 miles on tickets in the past 20 months). It wasn’t until Saturday night that I had an opportunity to pay the fees for the ticket, but I took care of it. We left my folks house at 9am to head to BOI, about an 80 mile drive.

My flight left first, so Charlotte saw me off at my gate. I actually flew on a turboprop aircraft! I haven’t been on one of these since October, 1997. I tried to call Charlotte’s cell phone when I reached Portland (to change planes) but she had it off. I had a 2+ hour layover (+20 they had added on since printing my boarding pass).

Later, Charlotte called and told me that she was sitting on the plane at BOI, still on the ground; there was a mechanical issue. Her flight out of Boise ended up delayed about 90 minutes. That meant that she had to be re-booked to another flight from SLC to SFO (San Fransisco). Since this is Delta, I knew there would be no problem; they have billboards that advertise around SLC that they have no less than 17 flights a day from SLC to SFO, and back.

So, I finally left PDX (Portland, Oregon), this time on a CRJ700. Those are very nice 70-seat “regional” jets. Once I got in to SFO, I found the baggage carousel that Charlotte’s bag would be coming out of (I never check, unless I have no choice). I sat around for 2.5 hours until she got there.

We took a cab to our hotel, which is right in the heart of the Financial District of San Fransisco; nice! it was about 7pm by then, so we got dinner at the Elephant & Castle Restaurant & Pub, attached to our hotel. It was very good food and a fun, English Pub atmosphere. Oh, and it’s smoke free, which is always a big plus.

Since Charlotte has been to San Fransisco many times, she’s just loving it. I have walked from my hotel to the training center where I’m teaching this week, each day. It’s a nice 7-8 blocks walk (for those of you who think that blocks come 6-to-a-mile, that’s only in Utah; these are about 10-12/mile). But, there’s going to be very heavy rain overnight and tomorrow, so I might take a cab instead.

I think we’re going to see Alcatraz Friday evening. If I want to do that, I had better get tickets tonight. Charlotte says we have to go to Fisherman’s Wharf and my students have told me about an excellent little pizza place called North Beach Pizza in Little Italy, which will be about a 7 minute walk from our hotel; I think we’ll go there tomorrow night.

I'm in Denver at Defrag. Eric Nolan, Brad Feld, and Phil Becker have organized it to discuss "the internet-based tools that transform loads of information into layers of knowledge, and accelerate the "aha" moment. Defrag is about the space that lives in between knowledge management, "social" networking, collaboration and business intelligence."

I missed Dave Weinberger's keynote. I didn't want to--he's an engaging speaker and this performance must have been great: I walked in as someone commented that she never expected to come to a tech confernce and cry in the first sessions. But to make it I would have had to fly out yesterday and as much as I love Dave, I love being with my family on Sunday evenings more. Sorry Dave.

Flying out this morning did allow me to see the Moon-Venus conjunction that Doc showed on his blog this morning. Very clear skies and a beautiful morning.

The good news is that IT Conversations will get the audio, so while I didn't hear it live, I'll hear it none-the-less. If you're not here, look for the audio in a few months. I'm sure it's going to be very interesting based on the speakers and topics.

Defrag has all the marks of an engaging, early-stage conference: a smaller-sized crowd that makes for more intimate, honest conversation, not too many vendors to drive the agenda, and lots of familiar faces who I know are interesting to listen to.

Tags: itconversations conferences travel events social+networking information+overload defrag

A few months ago, I went to Dublin and Berlin for work.  I loved the trip — it was so good to see co-workers, that have become dear friends, in-person.  During my trip, I took a few pictures that I wish to share.  Sadly, however, I wasn’t able to take any pictures while I was in Dublin, but the people there and the atmosphere was great.  I loved Dublin, Ireland and am so sad to not have pictures to share.  So, what I can share are just a few pictures from my visit in Berlin, Germany. 

First, the food in Germany was amazing, fancy, and very affordable.  One night, we ate at a restaurant in the Sony Center and here is what I ordered — roast, potato dumplings, and sauerkraut:

My dear friend and co-worker and I drove around in his Marcedes Smart Car.  I loved riding around town in this little car.  These cars are so small that you don’t have to parallel park — you can just drive these in the spot horizontally and it will fit!  Seriously, living in Utah and driving next to huge gas guzzlers and environmentally unfriendly vehicles everywhere, it was refreshing to see a beautifully designed and eco-friendly automobile:

While driving in the center of town, we saw this — everywhere in the world, there is a Burger King!

Here is where the Wall used to be, which is now memorialized by a brick lining:

Here’s the Brandenburg Gate at night:

Here is a memorial to remember those that died swimming across the canal from East Berlin to West Berlin.  This was very humbling and solemn –

It was a great trip to both Dublin and Berlin.  My co-workers and friends were so nice and accommodating and I thank them sincerely for everything.

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Articles on Queueing Theory

1. Queueing Theory: Part 1
2. Queueing Theory: Part 2
3. Queueing Theory: Part 3
4. Queueing Theory: Part 4
5. What is Waste?
6. On Time-Traps and Waste
7. Call Centers as Queueing Systems
8. Travel Time & Waste
9. Little’s Law for Product Development
10. YouTube’s Queueing Properties
11. Psychology of Queueing and Disneyland
12. Queueing, Disneyland, and FastPass
13. Multi-Tasking Leads to Lower Productivity
14. Queueing Theory and Terrorism
15. On Queueing Theory and Elevator Mirrors
16. Queueing Psychology at the Gas Pump

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For articles on queueing theory, time-traps, operations, lean and six sigma, please visit the links below:

• The Gemba is the Dojo

• Managing Constraints Under Peak Volumes

• Order Pipeline of Events

• Variation for Dummies

• On Game Theory

• Series on Queueing Theory

• Applied Regression Analysis

• 5S

• Click-to-Ship Processes

• Kanban Sizing and "Pull"

• Lean at Krispy Kreme

• Theory of Constraints and Camping

• Lean for Software Development

• Don’t Waste the Customer’s Time

• Featuritis and the Focus on the Customer

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Poor Ben Forta. The fact that he’s actually struggled to get through airports for a while before figuring this out seems rather strange to me. How could he be the only one? Why have none of my co-workers (at least, to my knowledge) not had similar troubles with their ThinkPad notebooks?

It seems that several TSA inspectors at several different airports were mistaking the laptop battery for a possible gun in Ben’s notebook bag as it went through X-Ray scanners.

One of the nice things about working for Guru Labs is the variety. I get to see new places, try new foods, and drive a variety of cars. Which brings me to my ride in Boston a couple of weeks ago:

Need I say more?