The Seattle Surfer

Independence Day

2005-07-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

It's the Fourth of July holiday weekend here in the US and as the big day approaches, the likelihood of our firstborn arriving on this most American of days is ever increasing. It will have American citizenship either way but if it arrives on the fourth I might just have to call it Bud or Chad.

The Tour starts tomorrow and I've spent the last two weeks reading Lance Armstrong's first two books, It's Not About The Bike and Every Second Counts. The guy has done remarkable things on a bike and raised millions of dollars through his charitable foundation yet there seems to be very little affection for him among the general public (I mean personally, rather than supporting the LiveStrong campaign, which has deservedly won tremendous support).

Reading these autobiographies does not qualify me to comment on Lance Armstrong as a person other than to say that there was nothing at all in either of the books which made me feel any affinity or affection for him. I did feel admiration for his achievements and will be supporting him in his bid for a seventh Tour.

b.

Better Photo Blogging

2005-06-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post, I mentioned the difficulties associated with posting photos to a blog.

Well now it's much easier, just an "Add Image" button. So here's one from the McManus Seattle Collection to celebrate.

Have a good weekend,

b.

Happy Solstice

2005-06-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful weekend here in Seattle, perfect weather for the annual Fremont Fair and Solstice Parade.

The parade is very much an "anything goes" type event (Gina thought it would have been much better with a theme and placards announcing the floats - but that's not really the spirit of the thing) however this year the "Human Piercing Suspension Artists" (sounds sore) were barred from the parade.

The traditional and now almost mainstream "Naked Cyclists" were very much out in force.

With the silly season approaching at home, I couldn't help but wonder what the Twelth of July parades would be like with some naked cyclists. I really wish the tolerance, peace and goodwill which exudes from this event could be felt by everyone in Northern Ireland.

b.

On The Wagon Again

2005-06-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if you're on the wagon when you're on a bender or when you're sober, but which ever one means starting over again after a period of failing to meet commitments and do what you said you would do, well that's the one I'm doing.

I just checked when my last post was and it was almost a month ago; it seems a lot longer because so much has been happening and so much is about to happen.

Anyway here's a brief run down of what I've been up to in the last month:

Went to Oregon to surf
Went to Swedish Hostpital to see birthing suites
Went to Prenatal Partner Yoga to chill out about birthing suites I'd seen
Went to Microsoft to work on .Net 2.0 Compatibility and to help pay for birthing suites
Went to cinema to see Lords Of Dogtown to try and forget about .Net and birthing suites
Went to Westport to surf and forget about everything.

As you can see it's getting close to the birth date so we're getting really excited. I'm surfing again and I can't understand why a little thing like a five hour round-trip drive kept me from it for this long, it just felt so good to be back in the water that I reckon I would walk to Westport if I had to. I'll hopefully be posting some more surf stuff soon.

Going to see David Kitt at the Crocodile tonight. We've seen the Kitster many times back home so it'll be good to support him in a far-away venue.

Aloha,
b.

Dogtown

2005-05-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:48 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 242: 7:13 Montlake to Overlake

Reading: Faster Than The Speed Of Light, Joao Magueijo
Listening: Collateral Soundtrack

With the current appetite for all things extreme and even better, extreme and retro, there will undoubtedly be a lot of hype around the new movie "Lords of Dogtown" which is due for release here next month. This is a dramatisation based around the skaters of the pioneering Zephyr skate team, a bunch of hard-core surfers who essentially changed the skating landscape from the teeny-bopper, gold-lame short-wearing American "craze" it was back in the seventies to the extreme sport - alternative lifestyle it is today. The group were essentially a local surf crew who brought their surf moves to the concrete when the conditions were blown out and it was this fluid, surf-like style which mainly contributed to the huge shift, along with a fair amount of style and a lot of pool-riding which is still around today in the modern half-pipe.

Anyway, I watched the original documentary on these guys "Dogtown & Z-Boys" and it was superb. It was a glimpse of a time when surfing/skating wasn't a "cool" thing to do, when there was no X-Games, no billion dollar clothing industry and no Kelly Slater / Tony Hawk.

The film interviewed all these guys today, some are still skating, like Tony Alva while some have drifted back into normal lives. Stacy Peralta, was hugely successful behind the scenes, becoming a successful director of skate videos and infact this documentary. And of course there was the most naturally gifted, yet most self-destructive of the bunch, Jay Adams, a kind of Southern Californian bleach blond Alex Higgins, who is currently spending time in a Hawaiian Correctional Facility.

b.

I Thought He Was Dead ....

2005-05-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

... No, not the alcoholic comedian, the Microsoft consultant.

I was sitting hacking away (on top secret stuff) when I heard the unmistakable dulcet tones wafting down the hallway.

I figured maybe it was just the truth-serum mixing with the kool-aid and all the subliminal messages being beamed through the building.

But when the sound didn't cease after 60 minutes I knew it could mean only one thing.

Dave Allen was in the hallway.

Pretty small world. There was a big contingent of HBOS Retail over with Dave, doing performance testing with the Visual Studio Team. They must have some sort of centre of excellence or something over in Halifax?

(Listening: It Should Have Been Me - Yvonne Fair )

b.

Top Secret

2005-05-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

Outbound: Undisclosed

Reading: Confidential

Listening: Can't Say

I'm up at Microsoft this week on a Top Secret mission so I can't talk about it.

Maybe I'll get a chance to blog about life rather than tech which someone requested last week (Gerry).

b.

Cinco De Mayo

2005-05-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:48 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 242: 7:17 Montlake to Overlake

Reading: Code
Listening: The Strokes - Is This It?

The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, The 5th Of May, commemorates the victory of the Mexicans over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It's a big thing here in the US, I'm not sure it's such a big deal in Mexico, but having seen how they celebrate St. Patrick's day much more here than we do in Ireland I suspect it's probably the same with Cinco De Mayo.

Anything for a party I suppose and what's the harm in that.

Happy Cinco De Mayo.

b.

Enterprise Library and Whidbey Beta 2

2005-05-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:46 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 242: 7:10 Montlake to Overlake

Reading: MSDN Magazine June
Listening: Shuffle Setting

Enterprise Library is broken with Whidbey Beta 2 release. Scott Densmore has a How To post to get it up and running again, make sure to read all the comments as well as the original post but it does work.

They're hoping for an early community release of the next version which should have all the fixes in.

b.

Deja Vu

2005-05-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:47 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 242: 7:13 Montlake to Overlake

Reading: June Edition of MSDN Magazine
Listening: Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antartica

The only thing about having a subscription to MSDN magazine (and this is probably true for any special interest publication) is that the same articles get republished, albeit by a different author or with a slightly different bent. This months MSDN has an article on XML in SQL, which did the rounds two or three time when SQL2000 was launched as well as one on ACT which I'm sure I've also seen before.

I suppose there are many articles which I'm enjoying as a first time reader and someone else has already read and that's exactly why they have to do this kind of thing.

b.

Portland, Oregon

2005-05-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:48 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 242: 7:13 Montlake to Overlake

Reading: Writing
Listening: Athlete - Tourist

We spent a great weekend in Portland, probably the last city break we will have as a two-person family, so we didn't hold back on the eating, drinking and general adult-oriented activities. We stayed in Lucia, a nice hotel right in the heart of the city. It was a good omen when there was a picture of Jerry Seinfield on the wall outside our room. It was part of an exhibition by David Hume Kennerly and there were some brilliant images.

Portland is a pretty laidback city, a lot like Seattle except maybe with the softer edges of a smaller city. I'll not bore you with the details but the gourmet highlights were Bijou for breakfast, Elephants Deli for lunch and Saucebox for dinner.

There is a great Saturday Market in the Old Town District and I invested in a balance board from Eastside Longboards . I really need to work on my balance after my sailing accident in Oz left all the little balancing tendons around my ankke shredded to pieces, also it means I can have a little board time every day, even if the waves are 150 miles away. Check out these balance board tricks!

b.

Poetry In Motion

2005-04-28T07:50:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:46 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 242: 7:01 Montlake to Overlake

Reading: Windows Internals, Fourth Edition
Listening: Shuffle

I spotted this poem on the bus home last night, it's part of a "poetry in motion" thing which KC Metro do and it really stood out. Gina makes a big deal of putting together life-story scrap books for kids when she places them for adoption and I've even helped out with some so I copied this down because I figured she might even be able to use it in her work.

Pretty strong words from a twelve year old:

Where Am I From by Katrina Carlsen, 8th Grade

I am from faint images, photos
Where waves and sandy shores crash
In salty air

I am from two families
One gave me life
The other supports me now

I am from worlds
Put together to form one
These giant waves I must ride
Before they wash up onto shore

btw April is National Poetry Month

b.

The one where I forgot my bus pass

2005-04-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:46 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 256: 7:58 Montlake to Overlake

Reading: Sharepoint 2003 Unleashed
Listening: Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antartica

see title.

b.

SQLDependency Update

2005-04-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:45 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 242: 7:01 Montlake to Overlake

Listening: Feeder Pushing the Senses

I've updated my last post because it looks like my msdb was missing the SqlQueryNotificationService (I upgraded a SQL2000 installation - must have been that) and that's why I had to use the [http://etc] names.
Well this seems to work right up until SQL server tries to notify the caller of the change, at which point it generates an error saying that it could not find the service contract.
I presumed it needed the default (SqlQueryNotificationService) contract so I switched over to a fresh install of SQL2005 (making sure the SqlQueryNotificationService was there) and retraced my steps using SqlQueryNotificationService (e.g. GRANT SEND rights again) and it worked.

I have a feeling that the list of query restrictions will make SQLDependency almost unusable in the real world.

b.

SQLDependency in the April CTP

2005-04-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

****** UPDATED 04/26/2005 *********

The problem here was that the SqlQueryNotificationService did not appear to get created when
I upgraded an installation from SQL2000. I fixed the problem by creating the service and then all the advice in the posts mentioned works fine. Here's how to create the service if you have the same problem:

USE [msdb]
GO
CREATE QUEUE [dbo].[SqlQueryNotificationService_DefaultQueue] WITH STATUS = ON , RETENTION = OFF , ACTIVATION ( STATUS = ON , PROCEDURE_NAME = [sys].[sp_DispatcherProc] , MAX_QUEUE_READERS = 5 , EXECUTE AS N'dbo' ) ON [PRIMARY]

USE [msdb]
GO
CREATE SERVICE [SqlQueryNotificationService] AUTHORIZATION [dbo] ON QUEUE [dbo].[SqlQueryNotificationService_DefaultQueue] ([http://schemas.microsoft.com/SQL/Notifications/PostQueryNotification])

USE [msdb]
GO
GRANT SEND on service::SqlQueryNotificationService to guest

****** END OF UPDATE ***************

As an update to some very useful posts on getting SQL Notification to work in Beta 1 from Nils, Julie and Bob Beauchemin, as well as a great original article from Bob, here's what you need to do in SQL2005 April CTP with Beta 2 VS.

Use service name of http://schemas.microsoft.com/SQL/Notifications/QueryNotificationService
rather than SqlQueryNotificationService

So to grant the send rights in SQLServer use

GRANT SEND ON SERVICE::[http://schemas.microsoft.com/SQL/Notifications/QueryNotificationService] to GUEST

To create an instance of the SQLDependency object you will also have to use the overloaded method which explicitly takes a service name (I presume the default is SqlQueryNotificationService), so you will have

SqlDependency depend = new SqlDependency(cmd, "http://schemas.microsoft.com/SQL/Notifications/QueryNotificationService",SqlNotificationAuthType.None,SqlNotificationTransports.Any,10000);

By the way, this will make no sense unless you have read the above article/posts first.

b.

Vertigo

2005-04-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:50 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 242: 7:14 Montlake to Overlake

Listening: U2 Vertigo

U2 were in town last night for the first of two, sold-out Seattle gigs. I like a few U2 albums but I'm not too fussed on their latest offering and I'm definitely not much of a stadium rocker. Last night though, I realized I had never actually been to a mega-gig in the United States and that, in fact, the shows we see presented in football grounds or large fields in Ireland are designed to be hosted in high-capacity indoor venues of the type only found in the major US cities.
I was massively impressed at the production of this show and particularly how it succeeded in transforming a 17,000 seat, souless, sports stadium into an intimate, lounge-like music venue. No amount of musical talent can do this. We saw the Kings of Leon play a great warm-up set, they gave it their all but just couldn't avoid sounding very small (btw I saw them back in January in a club in Seattle and they blew it away). Caleb Followill, lead singer of KoL came back out to watch the show from the mixing desk so maybe he was picking up some tips for when they headline the Key themselves.

The gig was fantastic; you don't mind paying a high ticket price when it's obvious that a big portion of that money is going into the show. Being indoors means that the crew have complete control over lights, sound, stage setup and this means that the whole thing is more like a theatre production rather than a festival gig, which is unfortunately what these things become when staged outside.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone in Ireland know that you've definitely got something to look forward to in June.

b.

My First VS2005 Beta 2 App

2005-04-20T23:37:00.000-07:00

Not very exciting, just a windows app calling a web service calling the db but it's 100% new stuff Beta2 bits and it's something to build on.

Maybe I'll blog about this Bookstore app or maybe I'll come up with something more original!

b.

End of an Era

2005-04-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:46 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 242: 7:02 Montlake to Overlake

Reading: The C++ Programming Language, Bjarne Stroustrup
Listening: Kaiser Chiefs Employment (fits the post heh?)

Well, the good times are finally over. After 2 separate periods of living in the US, over two years altogether, at over seven months pregnant, Gina has got a job!

She starts work on Monday as a social worker at a specialist facility for babies who are born to drug-addicted mothers. Gina knows the center well, having volunteered there last time we were here and is really looking forward to the work.

Congratulations Gina.

Beta2 download stalled last night at some point, using File Transfer Manager so nothing lost. 6 hours 17 minutes left, maybe I'll get it today.

Also, I could only find the Express edition of the SQL Server 2005 April CTP yesterday but the Developer editions have appeared today.

b.

Cougar Mountain

2005-04-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:45 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 242: 7:11 Montlake to Overlake

Reading: All the Beta 2 buzz on blogs
Listening: Amy Correia - Lakeville

Since everyone will be doing a Beta 2 post today and I've already done mine, it's great to be able to blog about something different.

Yesterday Gina & I hiked some nice trails around Cougar Mountain Regional Park. The park is only 15 minutes from downtown Seattle yet it feels like you've travelled back in time as well as space, to a time when the Pacific Northwest was pretty much completely covered in forest. Not much elevation to the trails but a good chance to break in hiking boots for the summer season.

Anyway back to Beta 2, Scott Guthrie has an interesting post on the final hours of the release and I've started to download it (10 hours 36 minutes left).

b.

Beta 2

2005-04-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

Whidbey Beta 2 is available for download now.

It's build 50215.45, it was signed off on Thursday night and went up on MSDN sometime over the weekend.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to get it on a VPC some time tomorrow.

b.

40 Minutes

2005-04-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:45 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 256: 6:58 Montlake to Overlake

(XC translation - "that's the ultimate connection - 40 minutes door to door").

Reading: Surfer Magazine
Listening: Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

b.

SQL Compare

2005-04-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

Inbound:
Route 256: 5:35 NE 20St to Montlake Freeway Station
(XC Notes - g picking me up at Montlake so anything could happen after that! e x t r e m e ).

Reading: May edition of Surfer Magazine
Listening: Beck Guero

SQL Compare is a great tool. Marty & Co introduced me to it and I thought it would be great for db schema upgrade scripts which are always a pain to maintain. I was warned that it does have some caveats and you couldn't always trust the SQL it spat out but it just saved me a whole lot of hassle after I ran a pre-release db upgrade which resulted in a couple of different application failures.
I basically installed a clean version of the app/db, made sure that worked and then compared the db on the working machine to the db on the upgraded failing machine.
SQL Compare quickly told me how the schemas differed and generated the SQL for me to fix the problem.
SQL Data Compare then told me where metadata changes had gone wrong and again offered sql.
Problem solved.
And you're left with a bunch of scripts that you can ship back to whoever wrote the flawed upgrade script.

That's the good news, the bad news involves a MAPI Provider, multi-threading Outlook and a plate of spaghetti in between, but that's for tomorrow.

b.

Photo Blogging

2005-04-13T07:36:00.000-07:00

Outbound:
Route 44: 6:44 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 242: 6:59 Montlake to Overlake

(XC translation - "good first bus, again I saw the ultimate connection pulling away, but I caught the early 242").

Reading: Michael Howard's Blog
Listening: The Perishers - Let There Be Morning

I've made a few half-hearted attempt to add some photos to my blog and finally succeeded. I had to make a special effort because this was just too good not to share.
I used Picasa, Hello & Blogger. Picasa is a great little package for managing photos and it integrates with Hello which can best be described as photo IM. I had already used Hello to share photos with friends who want the original full-size photo rather than the reduced, compressed version they get in my email. To be honest I don't really like the link between Hello & Blogger (a "BloggerBot" process sits on the other end of the IM Client, configured with your blog and you essentially send pictures to that process, which posts them straight to the blog) because of the fact that it actually publishes before you can edit the post. Of course you can go back, edit the post and republish.

I started this blog as a means to practice writing so I'm not going to go mad with the photos but it is very tempting because I've been taking so many pictures since we arrived here in Seattle. Maybe that's another blog!

Check out the Perishers album it's pretty good but there is one standout track for me. It's worth spending the 99c (or pence) to buy individually even if you don't want the album, it's called "Pills" and it's pretty haunting.

b.

Literary Community

2005-04-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

I just passed this on my way home from the bus stop. What a great neighbourhood to live in, and people wonder why I don't live closer to work on the Eastside! This is why.

Anyone know what bosky means?

Having an abundance of bushes, shrubs, or trees.

b.

Ultimate Connection

2005-04-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

Outbound:

Route 44: 6:45 Wallingford to Montlake Freeway Station
Route 242: 7:01 Montlake to Overlake

(XC translation - "good first bus, just missed the ultimate connection ( a 6:57 256 which drops me right outside my office) but still caught the early 242").

Reading: Last few titbits from May MSDN Magazine
Listening: Beck Guero.

b.