Babies don't turn 5, do they?

Our little guy, Noah, celebrates his fifth birthday today. In a couple of hours, we'll load the minivan, slide open the sunroof, pop on some tunes and head on down to the play place that he chose as the venue for his party. He and his boisterous circle of friends will run themselves silly, fill themselves with pizza and cake, and then hopefully be tired enough to nap while their parents - and we - drive them home for a quiet afternoon. At least that's the plan.

But it wasn't the party that was on my mind as I snuck into his room after tuck-in last night. I simply stared at him as he dozed in the dim light that reflected in from the hallway. He lay curled up on his side, underneath his Buzz Lightyear comforter, clutching his beloved Winnie the Pooh blankie. He was bigger than he had ever been before, yet he still looked so small.

I gently patted his head with one hand, wondering how much longer I'd be able to fit my whole hand over so much of him. I put my head in the little crook between his shoulder and his cheek, and felt his gentle breathing. I wondered what he was dreaming about. He's such a happy kid that I figure it had to be a sweet dream.

I stayed there for too long, hoping I could slow things down just long enough so that I would properly remember what it felt like to be right there, right then. I thought how lucky he was to be having a sweet dream about his big birthday, and how lucky I was to be right there as he dreamed it all.

He didn't stir as I whispered into his ear that I loved him and kissed him one last time. I'm sure he didn't even know I was there. But deep down, I hope he knows that I wish I could always be there with him. And that no matter how big he gets, he'll always be our baby, and we'll always remember what it was like for our little guy to get lost in the middle of a sea of Buzz Lightyear and Winnie the Pooh.

May this birthday be as happy as the little boy who celebrates it today.

Bizarro Google search return

I came across this one as I noodled around Google looking to see who on the Internet has been quoting me in recent weeks. The link traced back to a generic, pathetic-looking site, and the whole thing smells a bit funny. But the starkness of the search return block on the Google screen stuck in my mind. I am, apparently, an Internet phone-sex guru. Here it is. Please swallow your milk before you proceed.

Your turn: what weird search returns have you come across recently or not-so-recently? What does this say about our world?

Your internet Guide to skype sex
... says infotech research until the voip world gets serious about security, group senior research analyst carmi levy Development, presence, peertopeer, ...
www.voipphonecalls.co.uk/skype-sex.html - Similar pages

Magic comes home

I was catching up on a bit of work on my laptop this morning when it dawned on me that the Discovery astronauts were conducting their first spacewalk of the STS-114 space shuttle mission. So I did what any modern-day geek with a broadband connection does: I loaded up NASA-TV in a new window, moved it to the corner of my screen, and continued to work while the otherworldly scene played out in front of me.

I called our two youngest munchkins over to see. They oohed and aahed as they asked a rapid-fire series of questions:

• "How can they breathe in space?"
• "Why do they have to go outside?"
• "How did they get outside? Did it let the space stuff into the space shuttle?"
• "Hello! Hellooooooo"

After the last one, I had to explain to our soon-to-be-five-year-old that they can't hear us from the kitchen table. With that, they settled in and watched the chaotic video from one of the astronaut's helmet cams for about another minute.

The viewing didn't last long. Almost as quickly, they were getting up to leave. "This is boring," uttered Noah as he scooted back to his Shrek DVD.

The magic lasted all of three minutes, but it was just enough for them to have a glimpse of another world before they went back to the comfort of their own.

Your turn: What's magical to you? To your kids? How do you know when something actually is magical?

Quoted - (again) on Apple/Intel

More geekiness to come. I've been vanity searching this morning to catch up on who's running what words of mine in response to recent press releases and interviews. I've been so busy over the past couple of weeks that I've let this kind of tracking slip. Anyway, here goes...

The Channel Insider has published a piece entitled, VARs wary of Apple's transition to Intel. This follows up my earlier comments on Apple's announcement to dump its G4/G5-based processor architecture and migrate to Intel's x86 landscape by 2006/07.

What's cool about this particular pickup is the who. The Channel Insider is a Ziff Davis (ZDNet) publication, and it wears the sub-title, "From the editors of eWEEK." Both The Channel Insider and eWEEK are pretty influential publications in the tech world, and it's a real thrill to be interviewed by them, and to be quoted alongside a roster of pretty top-flight analysts from across the continent.

Quoted - IBM, Avaya & convergence

Warning: self-centred tech discussion shall ensue. I'll keep it brief, however, as I know we can only take so much Avaya before the appeal wears off. Come to think of it, the word "Avaya" would make a cool party greeting. But I digress. On with the geek show...

I was interviewed for a piece, entitled IBM, Avaya answer convergence call, that appeared in IT World Canada yesterday. I commented on an emerging trend in the industry, and was quoted alongside some key representatives of the two companies that are driving this week's news.

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now: I love doing this kind of thing. It's another way of getting words in front of folks far and wide, and helping them see their world just a little bit differently than they did before.

---
Update, August 1, 10:28 a.m.: IT World has picked up the piece and is running it here.

Blogroll backlog

Time-out for maintenance discussion...

I've fallen immensely behind in maintaining my blogroll (see sidebar). In fact, I've fallen behind in maintaining the sidebar as a whole. I've been so busy with writing, work and life in general that I've barely been involved in maintaining my blog's health and happiness. Priorities...

(I won't even begin to talk about my inability to comment on anyone else's blog. Please don't assume I've abandoned you...I just have too much on my plate these days.)

In reviewing my comments, I notice a number of you have added me to your blogroll. If you have done so - or are thinking about it - please let me know and I will add you to my own during my next round of site edits. And let's not forget: a huge thank you to you all. Without readers, I'd be talking to myself.

Thanks in advance.

Your turn:

1. Please let me know if you've blogrolled me (i.e. added me to your list of favorites).
2. Similarly, let me know if you'd like me to do the same (I'm assuming so, but you never know.)
3. Even more similarly, kindly let me know if a current entry for your site needs to be updated...basically, this is your chance to set me straight.
   

Publish Day - keeping kids water-safe

My latest column, Tots at highest drowning risk, deals with a topic that is very near and dear to my heart.

As usual with me, there’s a bit of a back story: When I was 13, I made a conscious decision to never work in a burger joint or other minimum-wage-prison job. I decided to become a lifeguard. I trained hard, got certified, and worked at pools throughout my teens.

The experience helped set the stage for everything I’ve done since. I learned how to lead, communicate and empathize. I learned how to manage in a crisis, and how to control large groups of people. I learned the value of prioritization.

I was also a swim instructor, and much of my work with children and their parents helped me build skills that have lasted a lifetime (so far, anyway.)

I also met my wife at my pool, and I can’t help but think that things would have been very different if I hadn’t been lucky enough to be there on that particular day.

So when I open up the paper and see an almost endless trail of stories about kids drowning, my heart breaks. I look at my own kids and pray we never show up in the paper for that reason. I hover over them when we swim and agonize over all the things that can threaten their safety and their lives. I cringe when I watch other parents and caregivers at a beach or pool virtually ignoring their kids for hours at a stretch.

If this piece reaches one person and motivates him/her to become a water-safe family, then this column will have been worth it.

Pray we don’t read any more news stories like it this summer.

Your turn: How do you keep your kids safe around water? How do you handle yourself when you see kids with no one looking over them?

Vacation images - swirly grass

Another in a seemingly never-ending series of pictures from our grand driving adventure to Florida last December.

I liked how this wild grass seemed to have a swirly pattern to it. More challenging was the fact that this occurred to me while I was stopped at a red light. Thankfully, I shot quickly while my wife watched for the green light. No, I do not recommend this photographic technique for the faint-of-heart.

Many thanks to the good folks of some now-forgotten town in Tennessee for suppressing the road rage gene while I engaged in this little bit of photographic fun.

Your turn: Two things, actually:

1. Do you, like Nostradamus, see anything in these swirls?
2. If you've got a good grass picture (no silly doobie jokes, though, as this is a family blog) then I hope you'll post it to your site and let us know.

New bio

If you're looking for some more comedic reading, click here. It's my new analyst's bio at work.

The picture is grand, isn't it? Definitely PhotoShop at its best.

I'll be serious for a moment: When I read this brief synopsis of my all-too-short work life, I realize I've done some pretty cool things. And this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. Neat!

Angry sky

As a followup to my earlier post, I took this picture from just outside my house earlier this evening as a huge, rather intense thunderstorm was rolling in. I was challenged by rapidly fading light and rapidly approaching lightning. This isn't going to make my Photographic Tack Sharp Hall of Fame, but there's something about the rich, boiling color in the clouds that just gets me. Nature is awe-inspiring and scary, all at the same time.

Your turn: I hope you'll upload a picture that "gets you" in some way. I also hope you'll post a link to it from here.

Inspiration wears yellow

The world now knows that Lance Armstrong has captured his seventh straight Tour de France victory, and has retired from the sport that he dominated for so long.

It's easy to measure his legacy in terms of victory, and to calculate his greatness by the number of times he stood atop the podium and the manner in which he could absolutely crush competitors on a climb, in a time trial, or on a flat stretch of impossibly beautiful French road. But this doesn't do justice to the impact that he has had on the lives of cancer survivors - and anyone else who has simply aspired to lead a better life.

For years, he has been dogged by rumors of drug use, that he somehow cheated his way to the top. Arrogant European cycling fans could never quite accept that an American - a brash Texan, no less - could come in and lay claim to iconic status in 'their' sport. They mercilessly taunted him along the route, conveniently ignoring countless scandals that claimed their own so-called national heroes.

As always, Lance found a tactful way to both put them in their place, and to remind the rest of us that there's so much more to him than his ability to turn a bicycle into a frighteningly quick blur of color and motion. I'm struck by what he said just after he finished the race:

"For the people who don't believe in cycling - the cynics, the skeptics - I'm sorry for you. I'm sorry you can't dream big and I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles."

We do, Lance. We've watched yours for so many years. We look forward to seeing where your journey takes you - and the rest of us - in the years to come. It's not often one gets to see a miracle play out so gloriously. And for that we are thankful.

Your turn: I hope you'll all take a few minutes to share your thoughts on Lance Armstrong's legacy. Where do you find your inspiration? What are you going to do with it?

Tonight's spooky London weather...

If I don't post for a while - or ever again - please look for me and my brood in the basement under the stairs. Here's the latest weather warning that I just pulled off of Environment Canada's website:

London - Parkhill - Eastern Middlesex County
10:02 PM EDT Sunday 24 July 2005

Severe thunderstorm warning for
London - Parkhill - Eastern Middlesex County continued

Around 10.00 PM a large area of severe thunderstorms about 50 km wide over the western half were moving eastward at 70 km/h.

Damaging winds risk of a tornado large hail torrential rain and deadly lightning are likely with these storms.

Carmi again: You know, two things come to mind as I read this weather warning:

1. The terms "tornado" and "deadly lightning" really make me question why I uprooted my family to move to this part of the world. What was I thinking?
   
2. I think I should offer my services as an editor to Environment Canada. Whoever writes their web updates needs some serious English lessons. Our tax dollars, apparently, are hard at work once again.

Your turn: What kind of weather scares you? What do you do to stay safe when it rolls in?

Public service message: Please don't be like me, riding my bike, taking pictures, using my laptop to connect to the Internet, and basically putting my health and my technology at risk for the sake of sharing my words and vision. Though I did get some amazing pictures tonight. Wanna see 'em?

The wonder of the back yard

This bedtime picture is a result of a ritual I started when I was a kid: Before I could go to sleep, I had to stare at the sky for a couple of minutes and wonder what was out there. I always found it neat that the whole world was still busy while I was asleep. What can I say except I was a crazy munchkin with an overactive imagination.

It continues to this day. When we tuck the kids in and I close their window shades, I first peek outside - pretty much the scene you see below - and wonder what tomorrow will bring them. And us.

Your turn: What's the view like from your backyard when the day slowly turns into night? What do you hope tomorrow brings?

Quoted - VoIP (again)

More geekitude on its way...

I know you're all likely getting tired of my posting links to stuff where I've been quoted. Frankly, if I don't post it here, then I tend to forget about it. Since I am a media wh.... um, streetwalker, not keeping track of these things would keep me awake at night.

Anyway, I was interviewed for this piece, What is the Leading VoIP Service, that was published last Monday (July 18th) in Enterprise VoIP Planet. I chatted about quality concerns and similarly scintillating stuff.

Your turn: Should I cut the geekiness out? Should I talk about it in the main blog? Leave it in the sidebar and hope folks stumble across it? What say you?

Vacation images - sandy ground

Another photo in an occasional series from our trip to Florida last December...

It's not the beach, but a playground in a park near my in-laws' place. Still, it takes me to a far-off desert as I wonder about the never-ending forces that reshape the surface every day. Kids really can change the world. On a really small scale, here's some proof.

Your turn: What is it about playgrounds that makes them such fertile ground for thinking? What do you think about when you sit around the edges of one?

Dilithium loses its lustre

Sad news from the world of entertainment: James Doohan, who played Scotty on the iconic Star Trek series and subsequent films, has passed away.

CNN just ran the AP bulletin.

Beating the heat

Today marked the first day of non-record-breaking heat and humidity in, quite literally, many weeks. It was interesting to see people emerge from their air conditioned cocoons and revel in the fact that it was sorta comfortable outside.

The stinky, smoggy air will no doubt soon return, and along with it a desire for relief that lasts longer than a fleeting day. When that happens, I hope you'll have something cool to think of. Here's mine, a red leaf on snow that I shot last autumn.

Your turn: What images will you think of when the weather gets unbearably hot and gross? Do you think we'll ever stop whining about the weather?

Quoted - HP

Quick time out for some geekiness...

HP confirmed weeks of rumors today when it announced it would be laying off 14,500 employees as part of a large-scale restructuring effort. Since I own a laptop from them, I felt compelled to say something about it.

The release, SMEs Beware: Relationship with HP will change, says Analyst, is now available on our corporate web site. I guess my schedule for the next day or two is going to change a bit. What fun!

Updates...

• The San Francisco Chronicle - both articles by Benjamin Pimentel.
  
• July 19: HP plans to cut 14,500 jobs. Quoted opposite a Gartner analyst.
• July 20: HP plans to eliminate 14,500 jobs: Technology giant expecting to save $1.9 billion annually. Quoted opposite Gartner's VP of Research(!)
  
• CFRA Radio in Ottawa interviewed me live (!) earlier Tuesday afternoon.
• The main interview page is here.
• The actual MP3-format interview, entitled Biz @ Nite - Focus on Hewlett Packard, can be found here.
  
• Yahoo! Finance.
• Softpedia. Small And Mid-Sized Businesses Might Be Affected By HP's Restructuring.
• IT World et al - Same article - HP chief urged to take pay cut to augment cost savings - published through chain, including:
• IT World.
• IT World Canada.
• KQED - National Public Radio, San Francisco. No link yet: the MP3 of the interview is somewhere on their web site, but I haven't found it yet. Coming soon...
  
• TechTarget. What does HP's shake-up mean to you?
• The Envision Resource Group.

A child's perspective on life

Regular readers of this blog may know that bedtime is a pretty big deal in our house. Between picking the right pair of pyjamas and changing into them, brushing and flossing, negotiating bedtime extensions and hunting for favorite blankies and stuffies, the complexity of moving our three kids from an awake state to an asleep state can often rival that of a Space Shuttle launch.

And we love every second of it.

Part of the ritual involves storytime. Often, we read their favorite books, or we tell them stories (their favorites are the ones about Mom and Dad when we were younger), or we simply let the older sibs read to the younger ones. This often leads to deep discussions about life, the universe, and everything.

All too often, I'm stopped in my tracks by what our kids share with us as they drift off to sleep.

To wit, Noah, 4, sighed very loudly the other night after the two of us had finished a long conversation about what my bedtime was like when I was 4. He very seriously looked at me as he clutched his beloved blanket, scrunched himself under his comforter and adjusted his pillow just so. Then, he let me have it:

"Daddy, I hope I never die. I always want to be a kid."

For what seemed like the millionth time since my wife and I became parents, I had no words. He's been bringing up death and dying more so than usual in recent weeks, and I've struggled with how to respond to it truthfully without letting too much of life's cold realities into his world.

I looked at him, all small and curious and looking right back at me for an answer, and I just couldn't string together the right answer (some writer I am.) All I could think of was how badly I wished for his wish to come true, and how sad I was that it wouldn't.

So I held onto that fleeting moment - and to him - tightly in the hope that the memory would carry me long after the moment had passed. He didn't see the tears in my eyes as I did so.

Technology goes to the birds

Our van has a neat feature: little sensors on the back bumper that beep when they detect an obstacle. They're obviously no replacement for actually turning around and carefully eyeballing the scene before you start to move, but they don't hurt either.

So the other day, I'm backing out of a driveway when the thing starts to beep. I'm absolutely certain that the only thing remotely close to my rear bumper is air (OK, smoggy air, but nothing that will result in an expensive crunch.)

My wife saw it first: a tiny bird had flown right past the bumper and set off the sensors just as I shifted into reverse.

Never let it be said that technology is anywhere near perfect.