Over the falls

Joe McKendrick has a great post on how system architecture these days is in a state of flux - there are a collection of web services floating around, sort of talking to each other, sort of not - the dream of a streamlined, service oriented architecture seems to be still largely that. He suggests that the secret lies in the repository - in having a central design-time asset where organisations can build out from a single repository to a SOA. Now, I find this interesting for several reasons, but mainly because since I started with TOWER Software, four years ago, I've built several different business systems, and I've never buit a relational db store for any of them - I've alwys just used TRIM Context as the repository. Sure it's designed to manage enterprise content - but that can include custom designed content types that map to a business object, just as easily as it includes a document, or some web content. With the web service interface, and the new ICE framework ...

G'day. It's Australia day! Australians aren't the most patriotic of people. As a general rule, Australia Day usually means sitting around in the hot , hot sun, drinking beer and listening to triple J's hottest 100 countdown on the radio. Today for me was no exception. And, now that it's all done, and I've had a suitable amount of beer, I have to ask one question of my country: What was that all about exactly? That Bernard Fanning tune that came in at number 1 is boring and simple and dull, and I'm ever so sure that it's not the best song ever released last year, by any conceivable metric. I mean, really, it sounds like a weak covers band tune: "Okay, now we're going to play an orginal song..." "KHE-SAN!" "This one was written by our guitar player, Bernard..." "Play KHE-SAN!" Anyway, you get the point. I would rather that any of the other top ten tunes was number one. I mean, really Australia - the powderfing...

When I left to travel this cute little world we all inhabit and inhibit, I decided that I would post all my adventures as soon as they happened. But, I'm so busy and jetlagged, that I haven't really wanted to post anything. So, here's a preview of coming attractions - posts that I've composed in my head and never got around to posting. The NA TUF Conference, and how cool it was The drive across the state of Florida, down Aligator Alley The Miami Hotel that was in Goldfinger, that we stayed at Crazy Americans, and how weird that country can be Kris, Mel and Craig, and how they all rule for different reasons Trying to get into the Miami Airport Lounge The Drive with the crazy russian immigrant The Cantley House Hotel, or how a giant cat nearly killed me A random departure to Bristol The Hitchock Rules So, yeah, there's much to catch up on. Stay tuned for more ranting and general silliness.

I arrived in Florida today for the TOWER Software Trim User Forum and Partner Conferences, which are being held back to back this week. I'm going to be giving a series of talks about ice , our new web client, and discussing how people can get the most out of it with their ECM deployments. Florida is amazing - lots of water, and nice and warm. The view from my hotel is pretty impressive. I'll post some pictures later... Washington DC was great - Thanks to my old mate Greenie from back home, and his lovely wife Candy, Woofy II and I got to see all the sights, including the Lincoln Memorial, and share a little bit of the American Dream out in Herndon, a neighborhood just west of DC. We drank beer, Watched an NFL football game on the big screen, and even went to see the Washington Capitals play Ice Hockey against the Florida Panthers, with all the Australians we could find. It's funny the ex-pat thing. Out of the 11 of us, there was only one American...Ice Hockey is one really ...

I found this next to the original Wright Brothers Plane in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I know, it's childish... (Note to overseas friends - the word 'rooted' has a slightly different meaning in Australia. Like I said, it's childish...)

Today I headed out to visit a customer who was about to deploy TRIM Context and ice . It's really quite rare that our development staff get out to visit a customer. These guys, like a lot of US federal government sites were literally just over the road from The White House. So after I'd overcome my fascination with American History, and lived out this mild TV star fantasy that I was in an episode of The West Wing ( I must admit I turned up my collar against the Washington cold in a very Josh Lyman -like way when I got out of the car - but I'm pretty sure no-one was looking), I was set to get to work. I know I've probably carried on about it too much here, but I really like to improve the way people work. It was extra cool to see how ice, and the TRIM platform could so easily solve the business problems these guys were facing. After that we grabbed some lunch at a Ruby Tuesday restaurant. Try as I may, I still fail to understand the whole table service - tipping thing...

It's kind of hard to tell where exactly the day started, or ended. Time is a fuzzy, fuzzy made up human thing... Let's see - last post I finished on the floor of Stilly's Mountain View Apartment. Since then, I've been to visit the Googleplex, where I ate lunch at Charlie's Cafe (amazingly good Chinese food including without doubt the most horrible beverage I ever consumed), wandered around the campus, saw amazing things, and pooed in the most hi tech and impressive toilet I've ever had the pleasure to poo in. Really, the googleplex is Nerd Heaven. It's where all the nerds would love to go if they died. A huge sprawling campus full of other nerds to argue with about stuff, unlimited delicious free food, every hi tech gadget , toy and convenience you could imagine. Dual 24" Monitors. Whatever hardware you want...Freedom to create whatever you want, on pretty much your own schedule... After that I took the train into San Francisco , and got very, very rai...

Well, here I am. Contrary to my suspicisons, America does actually exist, and is not just something made up for TV. The flight over from Sydney is really, really, really long and boring, and the novelty wears off after about an hour, leaving 12 and a half hours of boring, boring waiting. As soon as I sat down, my ass went to sleep, but sadly, that was not indicitive of the rest of me - I tossed and turned for 12 hours, and every time I closed my eyes, my brain would keep playing Sufjan Steven's Come On feel The Illinoise , which was driving me absolutley crazy. (Did I mention that the flight is really, really long, and boring? well, re-read that sentence about seven hundred times to get a real insight into how boring and long it was.) Eventually, we landed in a rainy, dsmal, and stinky Los Angles - it took me an hour to clear the customs, which menat that I wouldn't make my connecting fllight - lucky for me it was delayed by an hour and a half. LAX seems like this weird enorm...