DaveGraham.org

Shippable

2011-04-05T15:35:00.000-06:00

Jeff Patton has a great agile development blog posting called "Don’t know what I want, but I know how to get it".

I love this item he added. He also reminds me of the need to Embrace Uncertainty!

October 2010 update on My Life

2010-10-04T12:14:00.001-06:00

Busy is the word. This past September has seen me make two trips to Florida where I was helping out my parents. My parents are doing pretty well at the movement. My father seems to be fully recovered from an operation to put a stint in his leg. My mother who was diagnosed with lung cancer will be entering treatment next week at the Moffat Cancer Center in Tampa. I am very hopeful now that all the diagnosis has been completed and she is entering the treatment phase.

At work, the project that I have been working on appears to be on schedule for launch later this month. Thank goodness, it has been a bit of a stress to get it through the final QA while working from Florida helping my family. It is looking good though, I am quite impressed with what we have created.

Then of course there is the book “Battle Gaming: The New American Sport!” I uploaded a copy for proof print to Amazon’s CreateSpace PoD system. It was rejected with several errors that would prevent a proper printing of it. The biggest problem was that the source PDF was in color and I wanted a BW result. In the end I was rescued by the Zan Image Print Driver. This remarkable little tool allowed me to convert the entire book contents form color to B&W and automatically handled all the halftones and it looks great. I was even able to set the correct page size for the black and white with bleed that CreateSpace required. It is a great little tool that I would recommend to anyone with a similar problem.

I am about to try for the proof again, but that is not the end. I am missing about four pictures that I will need to stage when I get back to Colorado. And I say that because the family is on vacation in the D.C. area visiting the in-laws and historic sites. The kids are old enough now to get some education about our government so we will be visiting the Capitol and the White House along with seeing many other sites.

The Future of High Computation Software

2010-06-03T11:00:00.001-06:00

Why I at best I have only used about 20% of my computers compute power?

Here I am running a big build job on my computer. I rarely see it get above 20% CPU usage. So why am I using so little of my computer's potential?

The two main reasons are poor software and slow disks. I could improve the disk, but I want to talk about the future of software on the multicore, hyperthreaded machine.

I use Windows OS and currently when I run a single application (most applications live as a single process) it can only run on one core. This is a limitation of the OS which will need to end soon. It will not be long before the 128 core systems are on the market (within the next 5 years) so I hope Microsoft is working on the problem. I would hate to put down $1000 for a new 128 core processor machine only to find that my application is still running slow. How disappointing it would be to find that it can’t go any faster and is using less than 1% of the computers potential.

Ideally there will be operating system changes to allow a process to run across more than one processor. I am not sure who will be the first to make this happen. Apple is very forward thinking but focuses on the user experience and is not likely to be a leader in this activity. I suspect the Linux community would be the first to cross this boundary. It has all the ingredients to be a great Master’s Thesis for some university student. I suspect that Microsoft will come late to this game. But I think this change to the operating systems is not required to fully leverage the massive parallelism of future hardware by managed runtime environments.

The future: Speed through high level languages and managed runtimes.

In order to use all the parallel capability of computer hardware, software will need to run in a managed environment.

Software which is written in the form of data objects with methods (actions the objects can be told to perform) is written in a pretty natural structure. If my object is a file (object) and I want the size, I call the get-size method (action) upon the object. This makes it easy to understand and manage the software. The software mimics the human world as humans perceive it. Even if it is modeled as real world objects, almost all of the use is to achieve functional results (use cases). It goes through a single path to a single result which we call a use case.

In the past, if you wanted software to run fast, you would get closer to the hardware and write in a more primitive language. Many people are still stuck in the mode that C and C++ are a good compromise for going fast and having reasonably readable code. It is an approach that has proven itself an easy way to translate use cases into speedy results on a single processor with a single core and often a single thread. This is why many applications of today will use only 1% of the power of my future 128-core processor computer.

Currently it is possible to get speed this functional path (use case) to run in a parallel manor with a lot of not intuitive highly specialized software coding. This makes the software very unintuitive to the human view of the world and difficult to manage. This translates to a high cost and is primarily why few companies currently support the technology.

The change is coming soon where managed code runtime environments will bridge the gap. These environments already exist as Microsoft’s .Net CLR and Sun’s Java JVM. Currently these types of environments are still single process and run on one core. I expect these environments to start running as process pools with shared memory connections in order to go around current operating system limitations for one processor core to each process. This will allow threads within the application to run on multiple processes.

The second change that I see coming to the managed code runtime environments is the automatic generation of massively parallel threading to take advantage of all cores and processor chips. The human intuitive model that has been coded by the programmer will automatically be converted to the non-intuitive parallel architecture. (Methods will automatically become asynchronous callables and the variables which are returned will be blocking queues.) The result will be that almost all object actions (methods) will run on a separate thread. These threads will span processor cores. This will turn what appears in code to be simple functional objects into massively parallel computing.

Software architects have been slow to see this coming. I suspect that in about 3 years (when the 32 core processes hit the market) there will be a sudden race to get this type of functionality built into the managed runtime environments of CLR, JVM, Python, and Ruby. Those who have written code in these high level languages will quickly see the advantages. Those who optimized code to run low level and “fast” (on one processor or one thread) will suddenly find themselves obsolete and uncompetitive.

There will be a massive disruption in the software market as current leaders in computational software (much of which has been optimized for the single core architecture using low level languages) will be replaced with forward thinking new players. These new players will be leveraging high level languages to make massively parallel computational software. This disruption will have its greatest impact in the GIS, CAD, simulations, and predictive systems markets.

I liked My New LiveJournel Account to My Blogger Account

2009-12-16T19:30:00.002-07:00

I found myself making a LiveJournel account to contact other people on LiveJournel. With a little bit of work, I was able to link it to this blog.

Using Google Wave for Gaming

2009-11-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

I found this article published on the RetroRolePlayingBlog. Thought it was interesting.

RetroRolePlayingBlog:

Using Google Wave for Gaming: "Google Wave seems to be the new 'must have' thing on the Internet judging by the buzz on sites like Lifehacker. Gamers are already thinking about how to use it in online games. So far, most people I've seen using it for RPGs are using it like a chat room and not taking much planned advantage of its special features.

Will Hindmarch had a interesting article on using Google Wave for gaming on his gameplaywright blog. Although his blog is aimed more at Story Games than pure RPGs, his ideas for using Google Wave in gaming are quite adaptable and very much worth a look: Playing On A Wave.

Dungeons and Dragons: Who will inherit the legacy?

2009-11-06T15:52:00.001-07:00

I got an Email from Amazon asking if I wanted to sell any Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 material. I think it highlights the popularity of the d20 system and the failure of the fourth edition. Usually, about now, everyone is dumping their previous version to purchase the new one. The market for 3.5 materials should be flooded with players wanting to upgrade and prices should be depressed. Instead, now that the previous version is out of print, demand is higher than ever. A player’s handbook fetches about $90 new and $60 used. This while the free and remarketed Dungeons and Dragons Online is becoming wildly popular (to the point of server overload) and the entire online system is built on the 3.5 rule set.

Meanwhile, Green Ronin Publishing is pushing hard to replace the D20 system with their True20 system that is built on the 3.5 System Reference Documents that were released by Wizards and published under the Open Gaming License. I have seen their true20 on the shelves of two game stores I have visited in the last month. Clearly they are poised to strike at Wizards weakness and are looking to push True20 in as the real heir to the Dungeons and Dragons gaming legacy. They like to say, “True20 is the latest in generations of adventure roleplaying games that have been around since the 1970s.”

I have two 3.5 player handbooks at my disposal that are shared between two campaign groups. I want players to consider purchasing the books themselves. Should I place a $60-$90 burden on them? I think I could ask them to purchase the True20 players handbook at $30, or at least the PDF version for $9.99.

Hasbro’s downsizing last year saw Wizards of the Coast dump Jonathan Tweet (the main author of the 3.5 handbook). With this behavior you have to wonder what of interest will be coming out of Wizards in the future. Meanwhile a small upstart is attempting to co-opt a legacy.

Play Testing is Complete for this Year

2009-10-22T20:54:00.000-06:00

There will be no Battle Game play testing on October 24th, 2009 in Fort Collins. It has been cancelled because of conflicting activities. This pretty much finishes up this seasons play testing. I do not expect to host any more battle game activities until March 2010.

More Battle Play Testing October 17th

2009-10-10T08:52:00.000-06:00

Battle Day and Weapons Construction Workshop, October 17th, Fort Collins, CO

There will be another play test activity for the book "Battle Gaming: The New American Sport" on October 17th at Lee Martinez Park in Downtown Fort Collins. Directions are below.

The schedule is as follows:

10:00 AM - 12:30 PM Weapons construction in the basement of the River Rock Cohousing Community House located adjacent to Lee Martinez Park. (Directions below)
12:30PM - 1:00 PM Lunch and Feedback, I will provide sandwich bar
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Battling. We play test specific scenarios
3:00 PM - free fighting time

I hope that you will come and participate. You can help shape the book that is likely to shape the future of this sport.

What to bring:

Any and all Amtgard/Belegarth/Dagorhir weapons. The system in the book is inclusive to all these weapon technologies. You may also wish to bring armor as we will be doing some play testing with armor.

If you are attending the weapons construction workshop, please consider bringing some supplies. I have many supplies which I will happily donate, but my supply chest is not bottomless. Typical stuff such as foam camping pads, pool noodles, tape, cores (PVC pipe/kite spar/fiberglass rods) and cloth are always useful.

More Information:
Additional information can be found at www.OpenBattleGaming.org, or by calling Dave Graham at 970-484-4577.

Directions:
Google Maps: Lee Martinez Park in Downtown Fort Collins

Fort Collins is located about 60 miles from Denver.

Take I25 to Exit 269B which is CO-14 also known as Mulberry Street.
Follow Mulberry Street approximate 3.5 miles and turn right onto Riverside Ave. This will be the intersection just after you pass the rail road tracks.
Riverside Ave will become Jefferson St.
Go across where it intersects with College Ave. You will now be on Maple St.
Go four blocks and turn right on to N. Sherwood St.
Follow N. Sherwood to the end (it ends in the park) and then turn right and go down the hill and park by the ball fields.
Walk directly south to a fire lane (gravel) and follow it up hill to the east and you will be at the back of the River Rock Community House. Look for signs.
Look forward to seeing you there.

Please note there will be no play testing on October 10th, instead more effort is being put into getting a larger crowd out for October 17th.

Book Play Testing on Sep. 5th in Fort Collins

2009-08-29T20:03:00.000-06:00

Battle Day and Weapons Construction Workshop, September 5th, Fort Collins, CO

The book is comming along nicely. It is still currently titled "Battle Gaming: The New American Sport." Crynolyn is working on photos for the book.

A certain amount of play testing and player feedback needed to complete this project. Therefore I am organizing a series of play test and weapons construction activities that you are invited to attend.

Each of these activities will take place at Lee Martinez Park in Downtown Fort Collins. Directions are below.

The schedule is as follows:

10:00 AM - 12:30 PM Weapons construction in the basement of the River Rock Cohousing Community House located adjacent to Lee Martinez Park. (Directions below)
12:30PM - 1:00 PM Lunch and Feedback, I will provide sandwich bar
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Battling. We play test specific scenarios
3:00 PM - free fighting time

I hope that you will come and participate. You can help shape the book that is likely to shape the future of this sport.

In addition to September 5th, additional play testing and weapon workshops with be held on September 12, October 10, 17, and 24. These events will occur rain or shine. In the event of rain, we will primarily focus on making weapons and armor.

What to bring:

More Information:
Additional information can be found at www.OpenBattleGaming.org, or by calling Dave Graham at 970-484-4577.

Directions:
Google Maps: Lee Martinez Park in Downtown Fort Collins

Fort Collins is located about 60 miles from Denver.

Take I25 to Exit 269B which is CO-14 also known as Mulberry Street.
Follow Mulberry Street approximate 3.5 miles and turn right onto Riverside Ave. This will be the intersection just after you pass the rail road tracks.
Riverside Ave will become Jefferson St.
Go across where it intersects with College Ave. You will now be on Maple St.
Go four blocks and turn right on to N. Sherwood St.
Follow N. Sherwood to the end (it ends in the park) and then turn right and go down the hill and park by the ball fields.
Walk directly south to a fire lane (gravel) and follow it up hill to the east and you will be at the back of the River Rock Community House. Look for signs.
Look forward to seeing you there.

He's Barack Obama

2009-07-18T15:48:00.002-06:00

I thought this was pretty fun.

This I Believe

2009-07-05T09:06:00.003-06:00

Our friend Jenny asked my wife Margaret "What keeps you in your marriage?" And of course Margaret put the question to me. At the time I gave a short answer:

My relationship with Margaret not only allows for growth, it demands it.

Now I have had time to think and it really has to do with my outlook on life.

Comfort - I believe this value is far over rated. Comfort is the place of mediocrity and is a place where things are not so bad that you wish to change them, but not so good that you are enjoying anything.

Victimhood - This is just out. I believe here are no adult victims in life, absolutely none, we are all simply experiencing the consequences of our own choices.

Service - I believe the purpose of life is to live a life of service. I view serving others as a privilege and a joy. I seek meaning in serving the world. I never forget to server myself, so I will continue to have the energy to give to others.

Balance - I believe that life is a balance between "doing" activities and "being" present. Every "doing" should be balanced with a consciousness of "being" to give it meaning.

Choice - I believe I am always in choice. I may not be able to choose the "doing", but I can always choose the "being". So even when I am faced with an event that is force upon me, I can choose my emotional reaction to that event.

Happiness - I believe in authentic happiness that comes from optimism, human interaction, appreciation, working hard, learning new things, taking risks, and having new experiences. I am not much of a fan for short term pleasure and I rarely watch TV or read fiction.

Leadership - I believe although the purpose of life is service, to lead others in service is to help them find purpose. Waiting for someone else to take the lead is always a waste of time. This is true at home as well as at work.

Attention - I believe those things I wish to flourish must be given attention. Attending the family, health, work, and personal finances are my highest priorities. I am aware that attention is a limited resource and I must choose where I apply it. Some things, such as a clean house, often fall off the end of the list.

These are the things I believe. My relationship with Margaret is not one of idyllic easy-going pleasure, instead it is filled with challenge, growth, and meaning. This is what keeps me in my marriage.

Reorganizing my Web Presence

2009-06-18T18:12:00.002-06:00

I am in the process of reorganizing my web presence to create more of a flow of information leading up to the publication of the my new book Battle Gaming: The New American Sport which will happen some time this fall.

Yesterday I launched www.OpenBattleGaming.org as a blog where I will be posting updates about the Open Battle Gaming™ system and eventually this site will see the publication of the of this battle game rule system. I am in the process of attaching a Google group for discussion of this system.

Changes that are coming soon include the retirement of www.AdventuresForYouth.com and www.CreativeSwordPlay.com as that business has been over for more than a year. Also I am going to move www.ExtremeStandardization.org into an archive blog. I hope to get back to this project in a few years.

As we draw closer to the book publication I will be kicking off a number of new web sites. Check back later for more about that.

Good LARP/Battle Gaming Video

2009-06-17T21:07:00.000-06:00

Illinois LARPing from Aubyn Niemi on Vimeo.

Problems with Realm Crafter Mega Terrain Module

2009-06-14T09:13:00.002-06:00

I reciently purchased Realm Crafter for my son Will after he completed his 3D Game Design Camp which used the same software. I then purchased the MegaTerrain Module for the system, but are finding that it has a strange bug. The land area is tiny. Checking the Realm Crafter boards I have found that this may be related to the video card, but this is a very new computer with a new video card. If anyone has any information that might help, please post a comment.

Book Update "Battle Gaming: The New American Sport"

2009-04-11T23:25:00.003-06:00

People have been asking me about the state of the book. So I decided it is about time for an update.

As many of you know I am writing a book called "Battle Gaming: The New American Sport." Some of you have heard me say that it is a book about Dagorhir, Belegarth, Amtgard and Darkon. This is not entirely true. It is a book about Battle Gaming which I believe is what is at the core of what Dagorhir, Belegarth, Amtgard and Darkon do.

As for the schedule, the book is now officially running 5 months behind schedule. And I believe the schedule will continue to slip. The main drivers for schedule slippage are:

1) Reworking all the weapons construction stuff.

2) My day job just drains me.

3) Writing a book takes longer than I thought.

Here is what's going on.

I am simplifying weapons contraction instructions with a focus on accessibility of materials. My original plan of using many of my Action Armory instructions has not panned out well. The instructions I had created for specific kits where I provided the materials. Many of these materials I bulked ordered through Action Armory for the production of kits. The average reader of the book is not likely to have access to some of these materials (at least not easily). Therefore a new approach to a modular weapons construction instruction set is being created. This is a major undertaking and represents a rewrite of about 1/2 the book. This includes standardized methods for creating sharp points (thrusting points), hammer heads, punch protectors, pommels, sticks weapons, ax heads and pole arms. The new system is an ala-carte set of instructions. There is one worksheet for making a pommel, it is used on all weapons. A flail is simply a noodle sword (one worksheet) with a chain and ball (another worksheet). A arrow head is the same as a sharp spike you would find at the end of a small ax. Etc. I tested some of the instructions on the neighborhood kids with some success. Several people from Dagorhir Mordor have seen some of the samples I have been bringing out to practice and they want to know more. I will soon be inviting them to a weapons making workshop and see if we can shake out the instructions.

The book is targeted at a new player who is expected to be between 10-19 years of age. Test drives find that the book is written at a minimum 13 year old reading level. I will probably not try to fix that. There was some feedback that I need more information for parents working with kids. I had originally planned (2 years back) to have a chapter specific to this topic, but it did not exist in current work. I started building this chapter from all the work we did with Creative Sword Play, but then realized I would need to cut most of it. I will likely merge some material into Part I. It will talk about the 3 general groupings of kids: 6 and younger - they love the swords and have no concept of taking shots; 7-9 years - are ready for the simple stuff; 10-13 are ready to go, but need some safety guidance; with 14 and up are ready for the full deal.

The book teaches the Open Battle Gaming System Core Rules. This is simply a system that I created that is a merger of Dagorhir, Advanced Dagorhir, Belegarth, Amtgard and Darkon. It plays on the common root of these clubs. It attempts to draw some of the most interesting concepts from each of these systems. There are light, mortal, and death wounds as found in Darkon. There are heavy weapons that can break shields like Dagorhir and Amtgard. There are throwing weapons like found in Amtgard. There is a core set of rules that play a very generic strike and tag game. There are lots of optional rules that effectively allow the rules to morph into Dagorhir, Belegarth, Amtgard or Darkon like combat.

The Open Battle Gaming System separates the combat rules from the mock weapon technology used for play. These are covered by the Padded Weapon Technology Rules which basically are designed to grandfather in most existing Dagorhir, Amtgard, Belegarth, and Darkon weapons. So in some ways it is a slightly looser standard. In many ways it is more ridged. This standard specifies things like the minimum amount of closed cell foam or open cell foam that is needed for a particular construction. It specifies the density for open cell used in certain constructs. It specifies the use of punch protectors (blunts) at the ends of cores, as well as the use of rip resist parts. It also states that meeting the minimum padding may not be sufficient to get your weapon past the referee inspection. The entire Padded Weapon Technology Rules are demonstrated in the weapon construction portion of the book.

Since the combat rules and the technology rules are kept separate in the Open Battle Gaming System, there is a small portion of the book about applying the combat rules and battle game scenarios using SCA Rapier and SCA Heavy Weapons combat. I also hint at applying the combat system and games using latex style molded LARP weapons. All of this is at the edge of the scope of the book, so do not expect detailed instructions.

The Open Battle Gaming System also has the concept of player classes like found in Amtgard as well as creature class found as Amtgard monsters. But to keep it simple Core Rules has no concept of levels and only define the standard (Dagorhir/Belegarth) player classes: Warrior, Archer, and Healer. Players by default are limited the creature class: Human (as in Dagorhir/Belegarth). The main purpose for allowing the concept of a player and creature classes was to make it more ease to describe the battle games. A zombie tag game includes the creature class Zombie which then defines the actions a player who is playing this creature class can take.

There is no concept of a simulated magic in the Open Battle Gaming System Core Rules.

The system is specifically designed to be morphed by players, organizers, and game designers. The Open Battle Gaming System Core Rules in the Appendix of the book are being published under the Wizards of the Coast Open Game License v1.0a. I have specifically have no intention for there to ever be an Open Battle Gaming national organization. I would rather the rules be used like D&D or GURPs are today. Many clubs, running their own variation of the games with their own variation of the rules.

The book is suffering from overcrowding at this point. From a usability and price point it needs to be limited to 300 pages. It is clear that the contents have exceeded this limit. As a result there will be a major cut of content. Feel free to leave feedback about my suggested cuts shown in the outline below.

The plan for marketing the book is to sell it in two forms. There will be a black and white soft cover addition as well as a color E-book addition. Printing in color is not cost effective, so I decided that if an individual wishes to print a color version, they can purchase the E-book and print it themselves. I have not decided on the print house yet, but it will be self published under the name of my new company (more about that in a later post).

Here is my latest outline. Some things to note: A Worksheet is an item with very specific instructions to create a very specific item. A How To is a more general instruction set that requires some skill on the part of the reader to figure out how to make the project work. These are primarily armor projects where materials, tools, and patterns will vary from one reader to the next. The order for the Worksheets within chapters is still yet to be determined.

I have marked items that I am considering cutting from the book due to content overflow. The book looks like it will go from three parts to two parts. The remaining part which mostly contains "Part III: Running the Games" will be repackaged into a second book. This book will be published about six months after the initial book. It will likely be something of a game masters guide.

Please write comments and send me feedback.

Dave

PART I: Playing the Games

1) Chapter 1: A New Kind of Sport

2) Chapter 2: Safety First

a) Referees
b) Outdoor Cautions
c) Ensuring Safety
d) Safety Equipment

3) Chapter 3: Quick Start Guide

4) Chapter 4: Let the Games Begin!

a) Game Types, Sizes, Configurations
b) 20 Game Descriptions (I have limited it to 20, I could have more)

5) Chapter 5: Combat in Detail (mostly OBGS Core Rules with interpretation)

a) Target Zones
b) Weapon Classes
c) Shield Classes
d) Armor Classes
e) Actions - Sports Actions, Attacker Actions, Defender Actions
f) Optional Combat Rules

6) Chapter 6: From Sport to Game

a) Athletics vs. Strategy Game
b) Player Classes
c) Creature Classes
d) Common Game Creatures
e) Creating Your Own Player or Creature Class (Considered for Dropping)

7) Chapter 7: On The Battle Field

a) Forming a Team
b) Taking Shots
c) Movement and Strategy

i) Individual Techniques (a lot on how to sword fight)

ii) Unit Strategy (strategy at the team level) (Considered for Dropping Some Items)

Part II: Equipment

8) Chapter 8: What You Will Need

a) General info about Weapons
b) General info about Costuming
c) General info about Camping at Events

9) Chapter 9: Technology

a) History of the Mock Padded Weapon
b) Flat blades vs. Round blades
c) Internal Parts of a Padded Weapons
d) Design Guidelines (OBGS Padded Weapon Technology Rules)
e) Constructing Your Own Weapons (background)
f) Construction Materials Catalog
g) Construction Tools Catalog

10) Chapter 10: Swords

a) About the Worksheets
b) From Dagger to Great Sword
c) Worksheet: Make a Pommel
d) Worksheet: Make a Pool Noodle Sword
e) Worksheet: Make a Tubular Weapon Cover
f) Worksheet: Make a Box Style Puncture and Rip Resist
g) Worksheet: Make a Flat Blade Sword
h) Worksheet: Make a Simple Guard
i) Worksheet: Make a Rope Handle Grip

11) Chapter 11: Pokies and Bludgeons

a) Worksheet: Make a Sharp Point
b) Worksheet: Make a Pick
c) Worksheet: Make a Spear
d) Worksheet: Make a Hammer Head
e) Worksheet: Make a Hammer
f) Worksheet: Make a Stick or Staff
g) Worksheet: Make a Circular Mace
h) Worksheet: Make a Flanged Mace
i) Worksheet: Make a Horseman's Flail
j) Worksheet: Make a Footman's Flail (Considered for Dropping)
k) Worksheet: Make Numchakus

12) Chapter 12: Axes and Pole Arms

a) Types of Pole Arms
b) Worksheet: Make an Ax Head
c) Worksheet: Make an Ax
d) Worksheet: Make a Pole Arm
e) Worksheet: Make a Pommel Spike

13) Chapter 13: Thrown Weapons

a) Worksheet: Make a Throwing Dagger
b) Worksheet: Make a Bandelier (Considered for Dropping)
c) Worksheet: Make a Throwing Hammer
d) Worksheet: Make a Javelin
e) Worksheet: Make a Cool Rock
f) Worksheet: Make a Pot or Kettle
g) Worksheet: Make a Brick

14) Chapter 14: Archery and Arrows

a) Selecting a Bow
b) Selecting a Crossbow (Considered for Dropping)
c) Selecting Arrows
d) Worksheet: Make a Padded Arrow
e) Worksheet: Make a Crossbow Bolt (Considered for Dropping)
f) Worksheet: Make a Standard Quiver
g) Worksheet: Make a Large Quiver (Considered for Dropping)

15) Chapter 15: Shields

a) Shield Size, Weight, and Cores
b) Shield Shapes
c) Worksheet: Make a Plywood Backed Shield
d) Worksheet: Make a Saucer Sled Shield (Considered for Dropping)
e) Worksheet: Make a Solid Foam Shield
f) Worksheet: Make a Curved Shield (Considered for Dropping)

16) Chapter 16: Armor

a) General thoughts on Armor Construction
b) How To: Make a Gambeson
c) How To: Make Light Leather Armor

i) Adding Studs

ii) Adding Rings (Considered for Dropping)

iii) Adding Scales

d) How To: Make a Heavy Leather Breast Plate
e) How To: Make Heavy Leather Vambraces
f) How To: Make Heavy Leather Greaves
g) How To: Make a Leather Gorget
h) How To: Make Heavy Leather Pauldrons
i) How To: Make Chainmail
j) How To: Make Brigantine (Considered for Dropping)

17) Chapter 17: Helmets

a) Battle Game Safety Standards
b) Worksheet: Make a Banded Helmet
c) Worksheet: Make a Dark Age Helmet (Considered for Dropping)
d) Worksheet: Make a Psudo-Roman Safety Helmet
e) Worksheet: Attach a Hockey Grill to a Helmet

18) Chapter 18: Uniforms and Costuming

a) Making First Impressions
b) Basic Costuming
c) Winter Costuming
d) Worksheet: Make a T-tunic
e) How To: Make a Belt Pouch (Considered for Dropping)
f) Worksheet: Make a Weapon Clip

19) Chapter 19: Game Props (Considered for Dropping, Entire Chapter)

a) Getting the Setup
b) Worksheet: How to Make Raised Hoops
c) Making Your Portable Keep
d) Worksheet: The Portable Wall
e) Worksheet: The Portable Entryway

Part III: Running the Games

20) Chapter 20: The Organizations

a) History of the Battle Gaming Movement
b) Dagorhir and Belegarth
c) Amtgard
d) Darkon
e) The SCA and Battle Gaming
f) The Crossover Player

21) Chapter 21: Starting Your Own Club (Considered for Dropping, Entire Chapter)

a) Setting Goals
b) Types of Battle Gaming Clubs
c) The Evolution of a Battle Gaming Club
d) The Demographics of Battle Gaming
e) Controlling Your Liability

i) Using Property

ii) Hosting Minors

iii) Non-Profits

f) Creating Your Legal Entity

i) 501(c)3 vs. 501(c)7

ii) Filing for Incorporation

iii) Applying for an EIN Number

iv) By Laws - Your Operational Methods

v) Involuntary Dissolution

vi) Trademarks

g) Promoting Your Club

i) Newspapers

ii) Radio and TV

iii) Internet

22) Chapter 22: The Successful Game Day (Considered for Dropping, Entire Chapter)

a) Choosing the Games
b) Finding a Site
c) Organizing Players
d) Ensuring Safety
e) Game Oversight
f) Dealing with Problem Players
g) The After Game

23) Chapter 23: Working with Kids

a) Matching Abilities
b) Equipment for Young People (Considered for Dropping)
c) After School Programs (Considered for Dropping)
d) Summer Camp Programs (Considered for Dropping)

24) Chapter 24: Build on Success

a) Using Positive Reinforcement (Considered for Dropping)
b) Write Your Own Game Scenarios (Considered for Dropping)
c) Creatively Extend Battle Gaming (Considered for Dropping)
d) A Shared Vision of Fun

Appendices

Organizational Rules Comparison Tables

o Weapon Classes Across Organizations

o Shield Classes Across Organizations

o Armor Classes Across Organizations

o Player Classes Across Organizations

Open Gaming License v1.0a
Open Battle Gaming System Core Rules v1.0
Open Battle Gaming Rules Variant Definition Document v1.0 (Considered for Dropping - post online)
Open Battle Gaming Game Definition Document v1.0 (Considered for Dropping - post online)
OBGS Amt Rules Variant - A rules variation that plays similarly to Amtgard
OBGS Dag Rules Variant - A rules variation that plays similarly to Dagorhir (Considered for Dropping - too similar to the Belegarth Variant, post online)
OBGS Dark Rules Variant - A rules variation that plays similarly to Darkon
OBGS Belegarth Rules Variant - A rules variation based on the Belegarth rules published under the GNU Open Document License.

SharePoint Developer Tip of the Day

2009-03-06T13:30:00.002-07:00

I have started a new blog called SharePoint Developer Tip of the Day. It is basically very short entries designed to give SharePoint developers a small amount of information that they can digest in a single quick read. It is also to help spread my knowlege of SharePoint to my coworkers and the broader community.

Microsoft docx - Macintosh File System resource forks return

2009-01-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

Do you have Word 2007? Have you ever renamed a .docx file to a .zip file and opened it to see what was inside. I have known that the docx file was a zip file for a while, but lately work has been forcing me to read up on Microsoft’s Open Packaging Conventions and it has been very insightful. What I noticed is that in 2007 Microsoft introduced the same technology that Apple had introduced in its 1984 Macintosh File System. Wikipedia: “MFS was notable both for introducing resource forks to allow storage of structured data, and for storing metadata needed to support the graphical user interface of Mac OS.” Wow! 23 years later Microsoft has created the OPC with content forks to allow storage of structured data, and for the storing the metadata needed to support the GUI of its applications. Apple was always ahead of its time.

One Day Left to push for commuter rail

2008-12-29T11:16:00.001-07:00

PUT THE NORTH FRONT RANGE ON TRACK!

http://www.cdot.info/northI25eis/index.cfm

One day left to help bring commuter rail to the North Front Range.

In connection with Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) North I-25 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (NI25 DEIS) and to provide viable transportation choices for the movement of people and goods in the Northern Front Range (NFR), we support: necessary safety upgrades on I-25, mass transit components of Package A, and most specifically commuter rail connecting city centers on existing track from Fort Collins to Longmont, there connecting with Denver Metro FasTracks and RTD bus routes.

Please submit comments supporting the components of Package A above directly to CDOT before the public comment period ends December 30, 2008:

http://www.cdot.info/northI25eis/contact.cfm

Phone for comments and/or questions:

(970) 352-5455 or (303) 779-3384.

I have decided James Shore knows Agile

2008-12-22T12:40:00.004-07:00

I have been reading through James Shore's Top ten articles about Agile software development and I have decided the man knows what he is talking about. I started with The Decline and Fall of Agile which only served to back up what Mary Poppendieck said in her presentation "Is Agile a Fad?" at the October 27th Agile Denver meeting. I have since been reading other articles and have been impressed with knowledge. Here is his top ten list:

The Decline and Fall of Agile - 14 Nov, 2008
It's human nature to only do the stuff that's familiar and fun, and that's what has happened with Agile.
Quality With a Name - 5 Apr, 2006
What is good design?
An Approximate Measure of Technical Debt - 19 Nov, 2008
Introducing: The Spag.
Kanban Systems - 15 Oct, 2008
How, when, and why to use Kanban systems to eliminate iterations.
Use Risk Management to Make Solid Commitments - 8 Oct, 2008
How to use risk multipliers and risk-adjusted burn-up charts to make solid commitments to your executives.
Continuous Integration is an Attitude, Not a Tool - 18 Aug, 2005
CI tools make it easy to do the wrong thing.
Beyond Story Cards: Agile Requirements Collaboration - 21 Mar, 2005
Agile requirements, in-depth.
Design Debt - 1 Feb, 2004
Why we trash seven-figure software investments.
Continuous Integration on a Dollar a Day - 27 Feb, 2006
An easier, cheaper (and better) way to do continuous integration.
Change Your Organization: A Diary - 10 Mar, 2006
Six months of changing an organization from within.

Book Update: Can Wizards4Word help?

2008-12-21T15:56:00.004-07:00

I was just feeling overwhelmed with the management of my book project, Battle Gaming: The New American Sport. I recently decided that chapters 7,8,9, and 10 had to be scrapped and replaced with whole new reorganized set of chapters. The current content looks something like

Part I - Playing the Games
1 - A New Kind of Sport
2 - Safety First
3 - Quick Start Guide
4 - The Games
5 - Combat in Detail
6 - On the Battle Field

Part II - Equipment
7 - What You'll Need
8 - Technology of Foam Padded Weapons
9 - Swords and Long Blade Weapons
10 - Handheld Weapons
11 - Tips and Tricks of Weapon Construction
12 - Thrown Weapons
13 - Archery and Arrows
14 - Shields
15 - Armor
16 - Uniforms and Costuming
17 - Game Props

Part III - Running the Games
18 - The Organizations (Dagorhir, Belegarth, Amtgard, Darkon)
19 - Doing it Your Way - Starting a Club
20 - The Successful Game Day
21 - Building on Success

Each of the chapters are split into multiple section files in word. This has made writing much easier since a section is on a very specific topic and covers only a few pages. The problem is that I now have 37 folders containing 348 files. Even though some are just images and diagrams or research items, I am still having a some difficulty keeping it all organized.

I was checking out the Book Master system (http://www.wizards4word.com/bookmaster.html) that is provided by Wizards4Word to see if that might help. I found a few good reviews, but if anyone has some more information about this product, I welcome hearing from you. Feel free to post a comment. Thanks - Dave

Writing the Battle Gaming Book Update

2008-11-03T06:21:00.002-07:00

Here are were things are at with the new book.

Currently the title is "Battle Gaming: The New American Sport." I am not sure if this is the title that will exist for the release. Margaret had suggested "Battle Gaming Made Fun." The problem I had with this title is that it implied that Battle Gaming was not fun to begin with (on the contrary it is quite fun).

Overall the book is coming together well. I still wish to have a draft out by the end of the year. I have now been printing each section I work on so as to have a binder that represents the entire book. Still do not know how many pages I have. I am trying to keep it under 300 pages in an effort to keep the price of the book down.

Last week activities included:

I was working on the Open Battle Gaming System Dagorhir Variance Document. This is a document that allows players who read the book to convert the books Open Battle Gaming System rules into a set that matches the Dagorhir rule set. As always this force me to loop through yet another revision of the Open Battle Gaming System.

I also spent a good bit of time working on developing a chart categorizing various real weapons to Open Battle Gaming System weapons. This was a nightmare because historical weapon taxonomy is an art more than a science. I ended up writing a few paragraphs about the whole tangled mess of categorizing historic weapons and then went on to just start a table that made sense for most people who are familiar with the common names of weapons used in role playing games. The table is not finished and likely will continue to get updates until the time of publishing.

This weekend was spent attacking the games in Chapter 3. I created my game information rendering template and ran my first mail merge against the Excel spreadsheet I have been loading with games. It was gratifying to see pages and pages of battle game descriptions come out in a good readable form. Of course the spread sheet is still incomplete. I have also taken a hard look at consolidating and reducing the number of games. I am working on how to describe the unique qualities of each game and then reference combining them with other games. I am working on removing redundancy (after all how many versions of zombie can one read about). I think the result will be more concise, with an objective of reduced volume (to keep the price down) along with maximum useful information content.

My objective is to by the end of the year have a draft that I can send out to reviewers. Things are coming together so well I think I may make this deadline.

Reading Update

2008-11-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

I noticed that Amazon has rearranged there Pictures on there server so my Blog site looks like a partly built web site or one that is dieing. They always say, copy the pictures locally for your links, but who has time to do that! I will try to get back in the next few days to update things when I can.

Made me realize how far behind I am on updating what I am reading. Things I have read in the past few months include:

Will and I completed the second Warrior series. Felt the first, second, and fifth books were good, while the third and fourth were pretty much filler that stretched out the plot line too long.

Got going on finances listening and re listening to "Your Broke Because You Want to Be" and "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind"

Currently finishing up the Eragon trilogy with Will. Found the books to be derivative works. Really liked the details he puts in, that boy has an eye for detail. Have difficulty with the rate of advancement of the characters. I think this may be the difference between the video game generation where video games players are used to quick advancement and the old rpg generation where we play a campaign for 5 years before our characters have any reasonable amount of power.

With Audrey I have been through most of the Rainbow Fairy and related books. We are now reading works by Gail Carson Levine. I have also picked up a new book "How to Ditch Your Fairy" which we have not started. I hope that this book will give a different view of the whole fairy genre that Audrey is infatuated with.

As for myself, I am mostly rereading titles to find material for the book. This includes going back to Bruce Lee, Miyamoto Musashi, and John Clements among others.

Most People Don't Get It!

2008-09-14T23:01:00.001-06:00

I finally put my speech Most People Don't Get It into a movie. Check it out.

Quiet Summer on the Blog

2008-09-13T22:54:00.000-06:00

Things have been very quiet this summer on the blog. I have been mostly working long hours at PTC where we are a bit under the gun to get things out. I also took 2 1/2 week vacation where we drove from Colorado to Rhode Island, Mass, and Maine. It was fun to show the kids the North West.

Mostly the reason the blog will continue to be quiet is that I am focusing most of my additional energy on my new book "Battle Gaming: The New American Sport" which I was hoping to have out this year. The book really is not new. The first 97 pages were written in 1997 back when it was a book about Dagorhir. It has had two major rewrites since them and should fall out at somewhere between 250 and 300 pages. It features Amtgard, Belgarth, Dagorhir, and Darkon. With rules and instructions for new people just starting into Battle Gaming. I will share more as the time is right.

Audrey performs in 2008 Lab School Talent Show

2008-05-16T08:06:00.003-06:00

Here is my daughter Audrey at the 2008 Lab School for Creative Learning talent show.

Fantasy Festival Collection still looking for new home

2008-04-28T07:51:00.000-06:00

The Fantasy Festival Collection is still looking for a new home. Perhaps at a Renaissance Festival or other Medieval Festival. The collection contains 52 different plywood set pieces with lots of cool pictures. Call me at 970-484-4577 if you are interested in aquiring it. Pictures are availabe on my Flickr account

Extreme Leadership Model Explained: LEAP

2008-04-18T23:59:00.000-06:00

In Steven Farber’s book the "The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership", he lays out the principles for the Extreme Leadership model. He uses the acronym LEAP to express this model. It stands for Love, Energy, Audacity, and Proof.

Love – For an individual coming to the Extreme Leadership model from the business community you will likely look at this first principle as awful “foo-foo”. It is likely that you are taking it in the wrong context. What Steven Farber is talking about is love of work, love of community, or love of vision. What he is really talking about here is passion and flow. It is evident that individuals will work harder at things they are passionate about. That this will lead to flow. The Extreme Leadership model is about leading people into that place of passion and flow.

Energy – The Extreme Leadership model emphasizes the need for energy. Although this is often a natural consequence of the passion and flow described by the Love principle, it is a necessary ingredient for the success of any endeavor. The lack of energy is often an indication that the Love component has been lost. In the Extreme Leadership model the goal is to lead a group into a positive feedback loop around energy. It is to create a space where energy always spiraling upward.

Audacity – This principle of Extreme Leadership is about the unexpected. Audacity can be defined:

Fearless daring; intrepidity.

Bold or insolent heedlessness of restraints, as of those imposed by prudence, propriety, or convention.

An act or instance of intrepidity or insolent heedlessness

It shows its self in several ways within the leadership process.

First, people are inspired by audacious acts. They gravitate to the daring individual. It is quite a bit tied to the hero myths. The character Indiana Jones is an excellent portrayal of audaciousness that our culture embraces. Everyone wants to be the hero. When an extreme leader acts in a way that is perceived to be heroic, he earns credibility.

Second, ideas stick when they are simple unexpected concrete credible emotional stories. Audacious actions and ideas often lead to these types of stories. The audaciousness particularly feeds the unexpected part of the story.

Third, there is a fine but very clear line between audacious and obnoxious when it comes to actions. Both audacious and obnoxious actions are often bold, insolent and run counter to convention. Despite this people do clearly see the difference. The reason for this is that obnoxious actions are always self serving. Audacious actions are always in service of other. As long as people can clearly see that your actions are in service of another person or a bigger cause, they will perceive your action as audacious and not obnoxious.

Proof – In the Extreme Leadership model proof is the difference between a leader and a poser. The former being the individual who can deliver the goods, the latter being the individual who pretends to be part of the crowd. Proof is about linking your words and your actions and creating a sense of integrity around your leadership. It delivers the credibility you need to make your message stick and draw people to your activity.

Leadership Learning:

In this article I have explained the LEAP concept of the Extreme Leadership model. In a future article I will explain the OS!M and the edge. I highly recommend that anyone who wishes to be fully indoctrinated in to the Extreme Leadership model to read Steve Farber’s "The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership."

OS!M alone may not be enough!

2008-04-17T23:59:00.002-06:00

When talking about Extreme Leadership, Steve Farber, as late has been emphasizing the OS!M moment. It is the at the core focus of his new Audio set "Extreme: Leadership: In Pursuit of the OS!M" I must admit that pursuit of OS!M will get you to places you never thought you could go. I know that from firsthand experience. But it is only a means, and I have discovered more recently it is not always a means that gets you to your ends.

The floundering leadership project:

My "leadership project" as it would be called in the CTI world is the www.ExtremeStandardization.org initiative. Now I have been working on this idea in some form or another since 2005. I also know that I have taken a break from it for February and March of 2008. I was cranking up some great OS!M in January 2008 and things looked promising. Then work stopped. Why?

It became apparent to me that I was OS!Ming without the desired results. A typical OS!M activity to support Extreme Standardization was intended to build a network of allies. I would then make my sales pitch encouraging them to join the project. The concrete goal was to establishing a board of directors. I would try to get some commitment of support as an ally to make the project vision come to life. My response almost always was "that’s great Dave", "neat idea", or "let me know how it works out."

A relationship between Proof and Credible:

I recently read “MADE to STICK” by Chip and Dan Heath. I specifically chose this book because I knew my message was not going through. In the book they outlined the six criteria for a sticky idea. They are:

Simple

Unexpected

Concrete

Credible

Emotional

Stories

When I examined this list it became apparent to me that the one criterion that I was completely missing was Credible. I was using my OS!M to get to meet people that could really make this project effective. I was getting polite reception of the idea. Yet it is apparent, that I am not a seen as a credible individual to pull off such a project. I lacked one of the key ingredients in the Extreme Leadership model – Proof.

I have no credibility because there is no proof that my idea will ever catch on and work. Since I realized that I was missing one of the key pieces to the LEAP model (Proof), I decided to re-examine where I was with relationship to the entire LEAP model. What I found was since my January sprint I had lost Energy in the entire project. Why?

Moving your stake and the Energy drain:

In the CTI world we talk a lot about establishing a stake that you or your project stands for and sticking to that stake. As I was networking in January of 2008 I was getting a lot of great practical advice. I was not getting much in the way of Audacious advice. I was starting to apply more of this practical advice to the project. In many ways the project was becoming more appealing as a sale to an investor. That was great! The only problem was, I was not as interested in the project in its new slick form. For me the project was always about working from the grass roots up. I recently realized that the stake had moved. The movement was sight, but just enough to move it out of the center of my Energy field.

Leadership leanings:

That acting on OS!M is not enough. You must embrace the entire Extreme Leadership model and stay true to the LEAP principles. Without the Proof, you will not achieve your goals.

Chip and Dan Heath discuss that it is possible to create your own credibility. In future article I will discuss how I intend to create credibility and proof to support the Extreme Standardization Project.

The We Can Solve it Campaign Jumps to over 1 Million People

2008-04-04T16:30:00.005-06:00

Al Gore has been spearheading a campaign to make Climate Change mitigation the top priority for government, industry, and individuals. He has been pushing his "We Can Solve It" campaign all last month trying to drive the number of people over 1,000,000 signed up to support and participate in this process. It is an amazing achievement and I was privy to the amount of work that went into driving this campaign. I say good work to all those involved!

Please join the campaign and add your voice to the choir at www.WeCanSolveIt.org

If only Virgle was a real project

2008-04-01T18:57:00.002-06:00

Something happened when I was a child. I was an environmentalist and loved the woods and outdoors. Then Regan began a campaign against the environment while I was in high school. I lost my faith that we humans were going to save our environment. I gave up on the earth.

I was a high school kid and very interested in science and technology. I grew up on Star Trek and Star Wars in the post Apollo era. As a result I decided that Space was where our future lies. I did not pursue becoming the environmental scientists in college. Instead I turned to Space and earned a Bachelors of Science in the Space Sciences.

I remember the time leading up to my decision for the Space Sciences. I was a geeky high schooler sitting on my bed reading non-fiction books about the planets and stars. The most interesting books I had were the ones on colonizing other planets and in particular mars.

So even though I can appreciate the humor of the Virgle April Fools Project, I am also saddened by the lack of progress humanity has made in this area. Frankly, I would find a good joke on the world to be if Google and Virgin actually turned around and did the project. Ah, I am back in my fantasies again.

The Other Game Company to add new card products

2008-03-29T17:14:00.001-06:00

The other day I wrote The Other Game Company (TOGC) to tell them what I was up to and what I needed from them. Here is what I had to say:

Dear Other Game Company

I love your cards and I am currently using them to teach two game groups the d20 system.

To help them along I have a sheet of paper with a square for the right hand and a square for the left hand in which they can place your equipment cards. This allows the players to specify what they are using and change things around during combat.

On that same piece of paper are 3 more squares two Standard Action squares and a Free Action square. In one Standard Action square the spell casters can place your spell cards. I have some business cards I printed the names of the common actions “move, run, draw weapon, etc”which the players can place in there standard action boxes. The players can choose to place a full action card across both boxes.

What I would really like is a set of quality Action cards. Things like “Draw Weapon” which explains that this is a normal action unless you have the quick draw feat in which case it is a free action. Or “Concentrate on a Spell” which has all the concentration penalties listed based on the surrounding conditions. Things like that.

I down loaded the Healing Fireball Productions Combat Cards from RPGnow. They are useful as quick references but do not fill my needs.My goal is to speed up combat by simply allowing the players to lay down a set of cards representing thier actions. Less time explaining, less Munchkin (a big problem when I run my son’s game).

You are the guys who make great cards. I hope you will take up this challenge.

Dave Graham

Here is what they had to say in response to this request.

Hello,

thanks for your ideas!

We're planning two new card products, and something like Action Cards is one of them. Newcomers have always been the main focus of our attention when it comes to cards - right now we're in the planning stage of how to pull a project like that off.

I can't give you an ETA right now, as TOGC has some major changes coming. We're about to relaunch or site, so watch that space.

FYI: the upcoming update for the Complete Item Cards will include a sheet for all equipment a character can carry. This will be similar to the sheet you're using, minus the places for action cards - but I'll think about incorporating something like that. So thanks again!

Regards,
Stefan Pietraszak,
TOGC

Map of An Inconvenient Truth

2008-03-25T17:31:00.000-06:00

I was notified by Ken Mankoff of TheClimateProject.org that there is now a Google map that is related to the The Inconvenient Truth. This map apparently has both locations of TheClimateProject.org presentations to educate people on climate change as well as items of interest that are being impacted by climate change.

Denver Post runs a peep show

2008-03-21T17:27:00.002-06:00

Okay it is not what it sounds like. My friend Andrea Schweitzer sent me this one. And it was sooo cute (sickeningly cute some would say), I had to post it. Go see the entire show here at the Denver Post web site.

Giant Cat at Lee Martinez Park

2008-03-19T06:49:00.005-06:00

Monday the 17th (Saint Patricks Day) was a snowy morning in Fort Collins. It was a paricularly wet sticky snow which we only see in spring. Great snow for snowmen. Pictured is Nichole (friend), Audrey (daughter) and Will (son) along with our creation. We sent the photo to the Coloradoan Newspaper and they posted it to their web site.

Big Dog Robot walks like a real pack horse

2008-03-18T14:23:00.004-06:00

This completely blew my mind. It is clear that these people really studied and simulated the four footed pack animal. I watch this video and cannot believe that there is not a couple of very skinny people inside that machine. This technology will truly change the world.

Randy Pausch "Last Lecture" a must see for all

2008-03-17T14:14:00.003-06:00

I have noticed that when I am home with the kids I don't get much "Work" done. Some how I don't do much writing on my book, I don't do dishes, laundry, or vacuuming in a timely manor. I don't like keeping up on quicken. It is even hard to do my telecommuting work for CoCreate. I often feel guilty for not getting enough done. I find myself doing things with the kids. Everything from sledding on a snow day to setting up games or art projects (and then doing the projects with them). I just like to play too much. So when I viewed this video I suddenly let go of the guilt and realized I was doing it right.

This is certainly a must see for everyone.

Great time to convert to d20 gaming

2008-03-15T14:29:00.002-06:00

As many of us who play Dungeons and Dragons know the fourth edition will arrive in June of 2008. That said, it looks like the focus of 4 will be improved playability at higher levels and an effort to make game play more aligned with video gaming technology and expectations.

Now I am running two campaigns right now. Both of which were using version 1.0 to 2.0 rules depending on what you are doing plus a bunch of custom rules. My friend Dave Miller has been hounding me for the last three sessions asking for "a set of skill rules we can understand and use".

Well after doing a bunch of research, I determined that the skill problem was solved with the d20 system of Dungeons and Dragons v3.0. So I am converting all of my games to the d20 system. I have ordered used Dungeons and Dragons 3.0 Players Handbooks for all the players (only $5-$6 each + $4 shipping on Amazon). For myself I purchased used 3.0 Dungeon Masters Guide, Monster Manual, Monster Manual II, and Monster Manual III (3.5) all were between $11 and $13 each.

I had been avoiding 3.x because it was so different from the 20 years of knowledge I already have. There was also was an issue of investment. I have lots of 1.0 and 2.0 stuff. Who wants to throw down $30 a book to get the same game only repackaged. Now with 4.0 coming, 3.0 stuff is cheep and 3.5 will start dropping soon.

The other nice thing about waiting 8 years on d20 is that now there is a rich collection of 3rd party products for the Dungeons and Dragons 3.x d20 system. In fact it was getting hard to find things on the net that had not been "contaminated" with d20.

So, I have decided it is a great time to convert to d20 gaming. Unfortunately I will need to retrain all of my players. I am learning a lot, after all: "The best way to learn something is to teach it."

My Millennium Falcon Computer

2008-03-13T15:07:00.001-06:00

Okay, I admit there have been days when I have felt like doing this to my computer. You must understand that at home I have the Millennium Falcon computer. It is an old clunker with a warp engine. Basically, a few months back I upgraded the processor to a 3.5 GHz Dual Core AMD processor with new motherboard and video card. I then restored all my old PCI cards and hard drives some of which go back to about 1998.

Lets just say that after fighting to get it to accept my Raid card and my raid drives, which it never did. After getting it to accept my DVD drive, my video capture card, Zip drive, SCSI card, scanner, I was left with a computer that was somewhat unstable. First it would only run for ~10 minutes at a time. This was because it would perform an auto shutdown after it got too hot.

After installing 3 fans and moving one of the raid drives to an external USB box and loosing some 20% of my data; after one of my raid drives was fried, which I blame on the new motherboard; after adjusting and re-adjusting the air flow, I am still left with a system that is less than stable.

Margaret refuses to use the computer. She just doesn't understand that when everything seems to freeze up all you need to do is to unplug the D drive (USB) and turn it off, then plug it in again and turn it back on. If you do this, all of a sudden the windows will start working again. She just doesn't get it that if you cannot find the DVD, all you need to do is go to the device manager and scan for new hardware on the raid controller (now used as just an IDE controller) and it will appear again. She does not understand that all you need to do is open the sliding glass window behind the computer (in Winter) before you rendering your movie file if you wish it to complete without the computer overheating (not sure what I will do this summer).

What can I say, it is the Millennium Falcon.

Green candidates and nuclear futures

2008-03-11T16:07:00.005-06:00

The Grist has put together a nice comparison of the green position of each candidate. What I noticed from studying it is that there is not much different between Clinton and Obama. I found it interesting that Obama is open to thinking about nuclear energy. I think this reflects his personal style of being open minded to new ideas. I am not a strong supporter of nuclear energy myself, but I do believe there has been a lot of advancements in the field that are not reflected in the public's current understanding of the subject. Recently, the kids and I have been watching the Thunderbirds. In the future of the Thunderbirds, almost everything is nuclear powered. It is a clean energy that only has a few safety problems that can be easily solved by the Thunderbirds and International Rescue. :)

The Thunderbird villain stands next to a nuclear reactor of the "future".

Dungeons and Dragons Designer Gary Gygax has passed away

2008-03-05T11:05:00.006-07:00

In a great irony of my life. Tuesday evening is the time that I run a Dungeons and Dragons game for my son Will(9), and his friends Beau(9) and Bjorn (12). Last night they were currently finishing up module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands written by Gary Gygax (a module that was created with the 6th to 11th publication of the basic D&D set). We play by the rules of AD&D version 2, but I incorporate some of every version.

Before we started to play last night, in honor of the man who started it all, we read the introduction to the first addition of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons handbook. In it Gary Gygax recites his struggle to bring the game to the next level of play and the work he put forth to get it there.

My father purchased the basic game in 1978(?) we were living at the University of Rhode Island in graduate student housing. I remember him trying it with my sister once (she was the older one) and finding it difficult to manage.

I was introduced to the game in junior high. It was probably about 1982. As a nerd I was fascinated by the who fantasy role playing concept. There are two main impacts that Gary Gygax' works had on my life.

You see, I was not a reader. I could read, but I never chose to read. Dungeons and Dragons was a game that required reading and lots of it. But more importantly it introduced me to medieval fantasy concepts. At the age of 16 I suddenly started reading fantasy adventure novels. And from that point forward I consumed hundreds of books, fantasy and then science-fiction.

I was also not a jock. I never played sports well. I had a childhood of bad sports team experiences. Since I was not a jock I hand no regular exercise focus. That changed when my D&D friends introduced me to Dagorhir. All at once I had a focus for my physical fitness. I had desire to practice. I had desire to learn. I had desire to tune my body.

So thank you Gary Gygax for your contributions to this world. You help a young nerd find self confidence. I suspect I am not the only one.

The photograph was taken by and is copyright 2007 by the uploader, Alan De Smet. The photograph is multi-licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 and 3.0 licenses; you can select the license of your choice. Per the license, credit must be given to "Alan De Smet".

Upcomming Green Builders of Norther Colorado Events

2008-03-04T10:55:00.001-07:00

Dana Villeneuve of the Norther Branch of USGBC Colorado sent me the schedule of there upcomming events. Although I am not active with the Green Builders I keep an eye on what is going on (having done my entire Masters program stying building energy use). Here is what they have comming up:

March 4th Lunch-n-Learn: Building Design Simulation Tools
This seminar will be presented by Timothy Moore of Whole Systems Design. Timothy will discuss a broad range of building design simulation tools – from basic solar access and glazing selection to double-skin facades, UFAD, and natural ventilation. For more information on the presentation, please contact me at evuenelliv(a*)gmail.com.
This will be a brown bag lunch event. Please RSVP to evuenelliv(a*)gmail.com.
Where: New Belgium Brewing Company, 500 Linden Street, All-Staff Room
When: March 4th, 12:00 – 1:30pm
March 26th Lunch-n-Learn: Ice Energy
This seminar will be presented by Ram Narayanamurthy of Ice Energy. Ice Energy® is an energy technology company focused on energy storage and advanced cooling and refrigeration products and technologies. The company manufactures and markets a new Ice Storage Air Conditioner (ISAC) product line for residential and commercial applications that addresses the increasing demand for electricity.
This will be a brown bag lunch event. Please RSVP to evuenelliv(a*)gmail.com.
Where: Location TBD, Fort Collins
When: March 26th, 12:00 – 1:30pm

March 27th – June 12th: Green Building Certificate Program
The IBE has created a program focused on sustainable building tools and strategies, including LEED®, the nationwide rating system of the U.S. Green Building Council. The Green Building Certificate Program is an on-campus, accelerated evening program providing critical knowledge about emerging practices in commercial and residential building. This spring, the program will take place on Thursday evenings.
Please contact ibeinfo(a*)cahs.colostate.edu for more information.
Where: Colorado State University
When: Thursday evenings, March 27th – June 12th

April 16th Lunch-n-Learn: Solatube International
Candice Clark of Solatube® will be presenting the company's daylighting technologies at this Lunch-n-Learn event. Solatube International Inc. is the worldwide innovator and leading manufacturer of Tubular Daylighting Devices (TDDs).
This will be a brown bag lunch event. Please RSVP to evuenelliv(a*)gmail.com.
Where: Location TBD, Fort Collins
When: April 16th, 12:00 – 1:30pm

April 25th: Colorado Green School Summit
USGBC Colorado is teaming up with the DK Foundation to host this free, one-day seminar that highlights the economics and principles of building high-performance school buildings, state policy and programs for designing such schools and a series of case studies from school districts across Colorado.
For further information about the Summit, please contact Deb Kleinman at 303.454.3391 or deb(a*)usgbccolorado.org; or Matt Samelson at 720.932.1544 or msamelson(a*)dkfoundation.org
Where: The Denver Art Museum, downtown Denver
When: April 25th, all day

I appear in the ASES annual report.

2008-03-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

My friend Dan Bihn was photographer at ASES 2006 conference and one of his photos that featured myself appears in the ASES annual report this year (on page 14). I am speaking with United Nations Foundation President Tim Wirth. I remember the conversation did not go well. I believe that I insulted him when I stated that I believed that the business community had more direct impact upon our cultural direction than any government entity. It was a faux pas that brought an abrupt end to our conversation. Such is life.

Heppelmann talks on Cheerleading Windchill. Who will cheerlead CoCreate?

2008-03-02T10:09:00.005-07:00

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Jim Heppelmann talks about his experience coming from a company that was acquired by PTC.

To make it work, Mr. Heppelmann had to become a cheerleader. "I needed the executive team at the acquiring company to feel like they just acquired the hottest thing ever," he says. He also met with Parametric's biggest customers to sell them on his product.

I do not see CoCreate executives jumping in to follow Heppelmann's lead. In fact, quite a number of them have decided jump ship instead. So who will be the cheerleader for CoCreate?

Ultimate Resource for Leaders Launches

2008-03-01T09:36:00.002-07:00

The main reason that there were no posts in February is do to my working hard to get The Ultimate Resource for Leaders website ready to go. This is a web site for leaders by leaders. The site is still evolving and content generation is still a bit slow as we try to educate the 1300 members on how to use it to promote there leadership activities. Currently membership is closed. Once the website gets going with some content development, there will be a plan on how to start adding additional leaders.

Now that that is done (mostly), I will be spending more time on Extreme Standardization.

Is Multitasking Killing Us?

2008-01-28T23:50:00.000-07:00

My friend Ray Frush sent me this one.

Multitasking messes with the brain in several ways. At the most basic level, the mental balancing acts that it requires—the constant switching and pivoting—energize regions of the brain that specialize in visual processing and physical coordination and simultaneously appear to shortchange some of the higher areas related to memory and learning. We concentrate on the act of concentration at the expense of whatever it is that we’re supposed to be concentrating on.

Some funny and disterbing conclusions can be found in this Atlantic article.

The Necessity of Unproductivity

2008-01-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

Dr John Breeding has a very different view of mental health than the main stream. I found this quote to resonate with my life.

One major effect of compulsive productivity is to powerfully inhibit our ability to live in the spiritual truth of our complete interconnectedness with all of life, and particularly with our fellow human beings.

I agree! Personal experience shows that the less busy I am the more spiritually connected I find myself. I just tend to make myself very busy. Am I simply trying to escape the real meaning of life? Not sure.

Read the article at: http://www.wildestcolts.com/john/madness.html

FCtrip shows road activity in Fort Collins

2008-01-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

Jim Cook sent me a link to the FCtrip website. This web site shows the current traffic conditions in Fort Collins. You can click on camera icon for each intersection and they select the direction you wish to view. Check it out.

A not so shocking job that is very different

2008-01-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

My friend Rob Gardener sent me this one. How about a new job as a high voltage cable inspector? Not a job I would be good at. Here is a job that requires attention to detail and high level of trust (in helicopters and their pilots). Truly fascinating work though. Watch the video at www.flixxy.com.

Wow! Venessa German on Pop Tech

2008-01-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

Chris Jordan sent me this one and I thought "Wow!" As an active public speaker and member of Toastmasters I was very impressed with this woman's ability to weave words and body movement into a captivating presentation. Anyone who is a member of Toastmasters can learn from this presentation.

Bank on Humankind

2008-01-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

My friend Pauline Brinkerhoff sent me this article and it was a nice reminder of what it is all about. I am reminded that life is really made up from all the connections between people. Article: Bank on Humankind

The Story of Stuff

2008-01-04T12:01:00.001-07:00

My friend Rich Young sent me this link. I was very impressed with the work done. My son Will (age 9) watched the entire 20 minute video and he really gets it. I wish more Americans would get it. I am trying to figure out how to link this into the ExtremeStandardaization.org project.

Ecospot Winners Announced

2007-12-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

Reciently the Alliance for Climate Protection announced there Ecospot winners. These are short spots (suitable for advertising) that were solicited in a contest. There were quite a few entries.

First Place: The Sky is Falling

Second Place: Are You Game

Third Place: I did Noth'n

Thinking about a living Christmas tree for next year

2007-12-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

So for the past 12 years, Margaret and I have had a artificial Chirstmas tree. I always thought that this is the best way to go. Rather than cut trees use them and then chip them up. I just can't get into the disposable pattern of a cut tree.

I do miss the feeling of the real tree though and a friend of ours did a living Christmas tree this year in their home. But the question of "What do you do with it?" always comes up. Well I have been reading at www.LivingChristmasTrees.org about living Christmas trees. They suggest just giving it to the local park department or landscaper and letting them have it to plant.

It occured that this is a great gift for the environment. I pay for the nursery to grow a tree and then by giving the tree away will likely add another tree to the earth to help combat climate change. I plan to establish the recipient before I purchase the tree.

Bic Crystal ballpoint pen

2007-12-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

It was brought to my attention by my friend Rob Gardner that the Bic Crystal ballpoint pen is a superior product. If you do not believe me, read the reviews yourself.

What have I been up to.

2007-12-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

Those who are following my activities will notice a lack of blog postings lately. So here is a quick summary of what I have been up to.

1) Worked as a judge for the First LEGO League. I thought that this might help with networking local support for www.SystemBigPlay.org but it did not amount to much. It did make me better understand the challenge and I was thinking of running a team for www.RiverRock.org for next year.

2) I am not working much on www.SystemBigPlay.org web site. I am lobbying the project supporters to change the name to Extreme Standardization, Interconnect, and Integration. People seem to get that name better. So I intend an entire web site rework and re-launch of the project at the beginning of the year.

3) I have been spending much of my free time working on the Ultimate Resource for Leaders which is the new www.thecall.biz web site. This project is to launch at the start of next year. I am hoping to leverage this community to help me in re-launching the www.SystemBigPlay.org concept.

4) Christmas is near and that means more projects with for presents. Can’t describe them here, someone might get a clue as to what will be coming under the tree this year.

Sears is a good citizen for supporting our military

2007-11-20T13:38:00.001-07:00

Lauren Spangler-Young sent me this one. It appears to be a chain letter.

The letter reads:

I know I needed this reminder since Sears isn't always my first choice. Amazing when you think of how long the war has lasted and they haven't withdrawn from their commitment. Could we each buy at least one thing at Sears this year?

How does Sears treat its employees who are called up for military duty? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up.

Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years.

I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution. I suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves.

Adrienne Espinosa wrote:

Decided to check this before I sent it forward. So I sent the following e-mail to the Sears Customer Service Department:

I received this e-mail and I would like to know if it is true. If it is, the Internet may have just become one very good source of advertisement for your company. I know I would go out of my way to buy products from Sears instead of another store for a like item, even if it's cheaper at that store.

This is their answer to my e-mail:

Dear Customer:

Thank you for contacting Sears. The information is factual. We appreciate your positive feedback.

Sears regards service to our country as one of greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they bear at this time.

Bill Thorn

Sears Customer Care

Webcenter[at]sears.com

1-800-349-4358

Adrienne Espinosa also wrote:

It's verified! By Snopes.com at:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp

SBP submitted as idea for PRI Consumed

2007-11-16T16:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I submitted the SystemBigPlay.org idea as one of the ideas for the American Public Media Consumed website. http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumer_dilemma/. I noticed that they changed the title of my idea and gave it a feasibility rating of 20%. I think that only reflects how stuck our culture is in the current value chain. For I indent for the SystemBigPlay.org project to go forward. They did leave the web link in though. Nice of them.

UK Police Advert

2007-11-14T14:54:00.001-07:00

Mike Duffy from the UK sent me this one.

Work on new SystemBigPlay.org website has begun

2007-11-06T17:33:00.001-07:00

There is a new System Big Play web site under construction at www.SystemBigPlay.org. Since quite a bit of time had been spent gathering materials for various grant proposals, the web site is a natural consequence. Material is slowly migrating from draft form on my computer to on the web. I hope to have a newsletter out soon.

Dave

Lab School Homecomming Parade Float Pictures

2007-10-16T13:26:00.001-06:00

Kathy Mroczko took some wonderful pictures of the Lab School homecoming parade float. They can be found at http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?T=1244991.

Looking for Green Technology Inventions

2007-10-16T13:18:00.001-06:00

Thank you Andrea Schweitzer for sending me this one.

The Science Channel is producing a television series on "green technology
inventions", and they have asked the DaVinci Institute to serve as the
go-between to find these inventors.

They will be filming in Colorado between Oct 22nd and Nov 14th. They will
finish up the day before the Colorado Inventor Showcase
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=gwp7nfcab.0.74wg7dcab.4gdo5zbab.8343&ts=S0289&p=htt
p%3A%2F%2Fwww.davinciinstitute.com%2Fpage.php%3FID%3D185).

If you have a "green technology invention "that you would like the Science
Channel to consider,
please contact Thomas Frey at the DiVinci Institute at 303-666-4133 and he
will make the introduction.

Medieval Tech Support

2007-10-05T20:40:00.000-06:00

As a geek and a medievalist, I enjoyed this.

System Big Play to go for Buckminster Fuller Design Challenge

2007-10-01T15:54:00.001-06:00

The System Big Play Project will be submitting a proposal for the Buckminster Fuller Design Challenge. The challenge will give a $100,000 cash award to a project that will help lead humanity to sustainability upon this earth.

“The Buckminster Fuller Challenge seeks submissions of design science solutions within a broad range of human endeavor that exemplify the trimtab principle. Trimtabs demonstrate how small amounts of energy and resources precisely applied at the right time and place can produce maximum advantageous change.

Solutions should be:

· Comprehensive — a clear demonstration of holistic systems thinking.

· Anticipatory — projectively tracking critical trends and needs; identifying and assessing long term consequences of proposed solutions.

· Ecologically responsible — reflective and supportive of nature's underlying processes, patterns and principles.

· Verifiable — able to withstand rigorous empirical testing.

· Replicable — capable of being readily undertaken by others.

· Achievable — likely to be implemented successfully and broadly adopted. “

The System Big Play Project is uniquely qualified to meet this challenge.

There is an extremely tight schedule to fulfill this goal. The deadline for entry is October 30^th. I am quickly assembly a team. We will be seeking the help of The Colorado Nonprofit Association to get started quickly. Grant writing has already begun amongst those people who already expect to be part of the team. If anyone is interested in learning more please call me at (970) 484-4577.

Networking 101: Name Tags and More

2007-09-26T21:25:00.000-06:00

This evening I was at the Green Drinks here in Fort Collins. Now the Green Drinks group in Fort Collins seems to be heavily dominated by Green Builders. I think Green Builders are great and they are promoting a new way sustainable living. But as they talk of big development projects or wealthy people who can afford their products, I think “Aren’t we missing the point a bit here?” Should we not be building less, reusing more, building more compact, living smaller? I just need to realize those are my values and not necessarily others.

Where was I? Oh yea, I was in a networking delema! How can I find the Environmental Activists here amoungst all these Green Builders. First off, I arrived just late enough that there were no more name badges. This put me at a serious networking disadvantage. Then I went on a hunt to find other activists. I scanned each persons name tag to see what they were up to. Some people had there own corporate plastic name tags that were really easy to read with their company logos. This made me realize how I should have brought my TheClimateProject.org reusable name tag along. Others had written in thin pen on their adhesive name tags and I struggled to read them. And some wrote large and clear and just put very catchy things like “Be Green” under their names. It was this last group of people that usually caught my attention. The learning: catchy name tag = attention.

This evening when I got home, I had the latest newsletter from www.TheNetworkingGurus.com (Cindy Rold and Donna Feldman). I wished I had read it before I left. It was a great refresher in becoming a better at networking. This month’s newsletter featured an article from the Mark Hiatt, President of Just Networking and Colorado Business Leads. In it he talks about his FOREST™ program that stands for Family, Origin (place-of), Recreation, Entertainment, Special interests, Talents (what are you good at doing) as the great fall back point when conversation gets dry. It made me realize how much more networking practice I could use.

New Noonshiners Toastmaster Web Site

2007-09-25T14:59:00.001-06:00

I am happy to announce that the Fort Collins Noonshiners Toastmaster Group has a new web site. You can visit it at http://noonshinerstoastmasters.org/. We are looking for new members! Improving your skills in public speaking can benefit you in work and play. Consider joining in the fun.

Do-A-Deed.com supports random acts of kindness.

2007-09-24T09:29:00.000-06:00

Patrick V. emailed me to let me know that he had gotten his Pay it Forward group going to support random acts of kindness. It is Do-A-Deed.com. Please check it out.

I also need to appologize to patrick form my ealier posting that exposed his email on the web. Hope the spam level is not too high!

Is SaveThePoudre.org a lost cause?

2007-09-21T11:16:00.001-06:00

I am reminded by Laura Butler that SaveThePoudre.org reciently had a meeting at River Rock Cohousing. My question is simply “Is it a lost cause?”

Seems that few Coloradoans have read the Colorado College State of the Rockies Climate Change Report. Those who have, realize that even under good conditions we are likely to see an April 1^st snow pack decrease of 50% in the next 75 years. The good news is that overall precipitation should be about the same. Simply said this means that there will be more rain and less snow. The climate change trend is for more precipitation in the fall and less in the spring. So overall you can expect more runoff in the fall when the growing season has ended and more drought in the spring supported by poor snow pack.

The question now becomes how to create a strategy to maintain water supplies moving towards the future. Colorado already has a problem with population growth. It will become even more difficult to meet this growth as supplies in spring and summer start to shrink. It is clear that the goal of conservation that has been promoted by SaveThePoudre.org and the Western Resource Advocates must be embraced! At the same time, it would be prudent to start planning for the future.

I suspect that part of the future of Colorado living through climate change will be the construction of new dams. The planning for these projects must be thought out carefully. Commissioning a new dam causes a loss of interest in conservation programs. At the same time with the near arrival of peak oil as well as expected future carbon taxes, the construction of dams will likely increase sharply in the next 25 years. From a financial situation, sooner is better. I support the guidelines the Western Resource Advocates have laid out for such a projects in the future.

I encourage everyone to read the Colorado College State of the Rockies Climate Change Report. It highlights the fact that almost all other environmental efforts are deeply impacted by this one major environmental crisis.

Feel free to leave your comments and feedback.

My blog is stale

2007-09-21T10:26:00.001-06:00

Why has my blog gone stale.

1. Margaret went to CTI Leadership for a week and I was a single parent.

2. As a single parent the time for work was cut back and I have been spending this week actually catching up on my work for CoCreate.

3. I have been doing a lot for www.CreativeSwordPlay.com

I have a lot to say and I will make some efforts to keep stuff fresh.

Great Weird Al Yankovick Concert Last Friday

2007-09-06T20:32:00.000-06:00

I along with my son Will along with his friends Beau and Ryan along with Ryan's father Micheal went to see Weird Al Yankovick in concert last Friday. It was a great show with no intermission because he uses videos between sets to give himself time to rest and change costumes. It was pretty PG13 on the material. I don't think it scared any of the nine year olds who were with us. He did play "The Saga Begins" along with "Yoda" which really made Will's day. Will is a big Star Wars fan. In addition he did do "White and Nerdy" which is my personal theme song. It was interesting to here, because he slowed the tempo in order to get all the words out. I have tried to sing that song, and it is very difficult to sing at the speed of the production version. Here is another nerdy video for your entertainment.

On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets

2007-09-05T11:54:00.000-06:00

Ray Frush sent me this one. I, in my unparinoid way, was unaware that of the aluminum helmet craze. This MIT study by Ali Rahimi, Ben Recht, Jason Taylor, and Noah Vawter had some interesting concusions.

Abstract:

Among a fringe community of paranoids, aluminum helmets serve as the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals. We investigate the efficacy of three aluminum helmet designs on a sample group of four individuals. Using a $250,000 network analyser, we find that although on average all helmets attenuate invasive radio frequencies in either directions (either emanating from an outside source, or emanating from the cranium of the subject), certain frequencies are in fact greatly amplified. These amplified frequencies coincide with radio bands reserved for government use according to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Statistical evidence suggests the use of helmets may in fact enhance the government's invasive abilities. We speculate that the government may in fact have started the helmet craze for this reason.

Read the whole study ...

Laura Johnson an employee from Agilent says: "It's always good to see how real customers are using Agilent instruments."

LEGO SERIOUS PLAY in the News

2007-09-01T22:44:00.001-06:00

People in my network have directed me several LEGO SERIOUS PLAY articles in the last few days. Marketing efforts by Robert Rasmussen and the LEGO Group seem to be putting LEGO SERIOUS PLAY in the news lately. Here are some articles:

Lego training helps workers boost creativity
Atlanta Journal Constitution, USA - Aug 27, 2007

Play while you work
Canadian HR Reporter, Canada - Aug 30, 2007

DCF rebuilds with Legos
Palm Beach Post, United States - Aug 23, 2007

I had a wonderful conversation with Robert last Wednesday and was very impressed with the depth of his knowledge on collaboration, team building, and idea synthesis. I encourage anyone who is not familiar with his program LEGO SERIOUS PLAY to check it out at http://seriousplay.com/.

Kids ride a zip line to school

2007-08-31T09:37:00.000-06:00

Jeff Thompson sent me this link. As a parent this scares me quite a bit, but the kids doing it seem to be enjoying it. Watch the video.

Advice on preventing Identity Theft

2007-08-31T09:29:00.001-06:00

Today I received an email from Ellen Richey containing a letter that was supposedly sent from a company attorney to employees to help them prevent identity theft. This may be true. If so the attorney simply sent the recommendations from The Consumer Law Group web site FAQ. It has some good advice, you can find it on the web at http://www.theconsumerlawgroup.com/faq.cfm.

Bicycle Crash

2007-08-31T09:26:00.001-06:00

I was riding to work yesterday morning and the right pedal of my Dahon Speed D7 sheared off. The metal post for the pedal broke off. This happened when I was in 7^th gear going fast and hit a hill and then stood up on the pedals. The pedal snapped and I went down. Luckily I was helmeted and suffered only road rash and a light headache. I work with a bunch of Mechanical Engineers (www.cocreate.com) and after examining the broken pedal they concluded that the part had a manufacturing flaw. I would hope so, since the bike has only been used for three months and I only weigh about 130lbs. When I was filling out my warranty form online (thought it would be prudent to be in the system before I show up at the bike shop today), I noticed that there was a small sticker down by the serial number that said “Assembled with parts made in the U.S. and China”. Makes me wonder if this part was not suffering from what is now becoming the “China” syndrome of poorly manufactured products. I will keep readers up to date as I find out more.

I still like the bike a lot, just not sure I trust it.

Object Oriented Design (OOD) Patterns: The Retriever Pattern

2007-08-29T18:31:00.001-06:00

I find myself using this pattern quite a bit in my Java coding for CoCreate and I decided to name it the “Retriever Pattern”. Now it might have another name but, I have not seen it published anywhere. The retriever pattern is an optimistic getter. Here is how it works.

Algorithm:

- Given a reference to a data source.

- Get the data and cache it locally.

- When asked for the data, check to see if the data can be retrieved again.

- If not return the local cached value.

Uses:

- The object providing the data is out of scope.

- The database result has gone out of scope.

- The object providing the data is synchronized and you may deadlock.

Cautions:

- A retriever is not as reliable as a listener. If a data value has been updated, the update will not be seen until the data next retrieval.

- A retriever will not update once the source data object goes out of scope. From that point forward it is static.

Advantages:

Using a retriever there is no need to worry about objects going out of scope in the middle of a presentation of the data. I have found this very useful in web services when creating a soap response from database data. I can reliably close out the database connection, and perform other business logic, prior to assembling the soap response object. The soap response object can be assembled as if the original database object was still in scope.

The same business objects can then be used in a fat client where the underlying data objects will not go out of scope. This simplifies coding and encourages reuse of the same business logic in the fat client as well as the web services.

Sample: A simple Java Retriever class that uses a week reference. I use these a lot to keep our systems at CoCreate from having garbage collection issues. All the JavaDoc and sample files can be found at http://www.davegraham.org/samples/javadoc/



package org.davegraham.retriever;

/**
 * Used in a Sample of the Retriever pattern. Consider this your persistent storage class.
 * See PersistentDataStorage.java source file.
 * @author DaveGraham.org
 * @version 1.0
 * @since JDK 1.5
 */
public class PersistentDataStorage {
    private static String mockDatabaseStore;
  
    /**
     * Used to read the value from the persistent data storage area.
     * @return The current value stored in the storage area
     */
    public static String read() {
        return mockDatabaseStore;
    }
  
    /**
     * Used to write data into the persistent data storage area.
     * @param value The value to store in the storage area
     */
    public static void write(final String value) {
        mockDatabaseStore = value;
    }
}

package org.davegraham.retriever;

/**
 * A sample business object bean for understanding the OOD Retriever Pattern.
 * See BusinessObject.java source file.
 * @author DaveGraham.org
 * @version 1.0
 * @since JDK 1.5
 */
public class BusinessObject {
  
    /**
     * Constructor and initializer for the sample business object.
     * @param value The value to initialize the business object
     */
    public BusinessObject(final String value) {
        this.setValue(value);
    }
  
    /**
     * A getter to obtain the value as used by the business object.
     * @return a string value from the business object
     */
    public String getValue() {
        return PersistentDataStorage.read();
    }
  
    /**
     * A setter to set a new value into the business object
     * @param value the new String value for the busines object
     */
    public void setValue(final String value) {
        PersistentDataStorage.write(value);
    }
}

package org.davegraham.retriever;

import java.lang.ref.WeakReference;

/**
 * A sample class that implements the OOD Retriever Pattern for
 * a weakly referenced object.
 * This retriever pattern object is constructed around a BusinessObject
 * in such a way that the BusinessObject may go out of scope
 * and the retriever will continue to return "reasonable"
 * results about the value within the BusinessObject.
 * See Retriever.java source file.
 * @author dgraham
 * @version 1.0
 * @since JDK 1.5
 */
public class Retriever {
  
    private final WeakReference weakReference;
    private String cachedValue;
  
    /**
     * Constructs a retriever pattern object around a BusinessObject.
     * @param businessObject The busines object from which to retrieve data
     */
    public Retriever(final BusinessObject businessObject) {
        weakReference = new WeakReference(businessObject);
        cachedValue = businessObject.getValue();
    }
  
    /**
     * Returns either the current value or the last known value
     * that was contained in the BusinessObject.  This is the
     * retriever pattern at work.
     * @return the retrieved value
     */
    public String getValue() {
        BusinessObject strongReference = weakReference.get();
        String result;
        if ( strongReference == null ) {
            result = cachedValue;
        } else {
            result = strongReference.getValue();
            cachedValue = result;
        }
        return result;
    }
  
    /**
     * Gets the WeakReference to the BusinessObject.
     * Normally this would not be exposed in a retriever pattern.
     * It is exposed here to demonstrate in the RetrieverTest unit
     * tests that the garbage collector has indeed flushed away
     * the BusinessObject reference.
     * @return the WeakReference to the BusinesObject
     */
    public WeakReference getWeakReference() {
        return weakReference;
    }
}

package org.davegraham.retriever;

import junit.framework.*;
import java.lang.ref.WeakReference;
import org.davegraham.retriever.*;

/**
 * These tests demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of the retriever pattern.
 * They exist only as a sample for people to understand the retriever pattern.
 * See RetrieverTest.java source file.
 * @author DaveGraham.org
 * @version 1.0
 * @since JDK 1.5
 */
public class RetrieverTest extends TestCase {
  
    public RetrieverTest(String testName) {
        super(testName);
    }
  
    public static Test suite() {
        return new TestSuite(RetrieverTest.class);
    }
  
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        junit.textui.TestRunner.run(suite());
        System.exit(0);
    }
    /**
     * This test demonstrates the basic operation of the retriever pattern.
     * It shows that even after the business object has gone out of scope
     * the retriever keeps working and returning the last known good value.
     */
    public void testBasicOperationOfRetriverPattern() {
        BusinessObject businessObject = new BusinessObject("apple");
        Retriever retriever = new Retriever(businessObject);
        assertEquals( "Initial value incorrect", "apple", retriever.getValue());
        businessObject.setValue("orange");
        assertEquals( "Current value incorrect", "orange", retriever.getValue());
        businessObject.setValue("bannana");
        assertEquals( "Current value incorrect", "bannana", retriever.getValue());
        businessObject = null;
        System.gc();
        assertNull( "WeakRefrence should have been cleaned up by garbage collector", retriever.getWeakReference().get());
        assertEquals( "Last known value incorrect", "bannana", retriever.getValue());
        assertEquals( "Last known value incorrect", "bannana", retriever.getValue());
    }
  
    /**
     * This test demonstrates where the retriever pattern fails.
     * A retriever is not as strong as a listener so it does not get
     * notified of new values.  It can only return the last known good value.
     * This demonstrates that retrievers are best used in conditions where
     * its life time beyond the existence of its source (BusinessObject) is
     * not expected to be long.
     */
    public void testTheFailureOfTheRetrieverPattern() {
        BusinessObject businessObject = new BusinessObject("apple");
        Retriever retriever = new Retriever(businessObject);
        assertEquals("Initial value incorrect", "apple", PersistentDataStorage.read());
        assertEquals("Initial value incorrect", "apple", retriever.getValue());
        businessObject.setValue("orange");
        assertEquals("Initial value incorrect", "orange", PersistentDataStorage.read());
        assertEquals("Initial value incorrect", "orange", retriever.getValue());
        businessObject.setValue("bannana");
        assertEquals("Current value incorrect", "bannana", PersistentDataStorage.read());
        assertEquals("Current value incorrect", "bannana", retriever.getValue());
        businessObject.setValue("grapes");
        businessObject = null;
        System.gc();
        assertNull("WeakRefrence should have been cleaned up by garbage collector", retriever.getWeakReference().get());
      
        // This is the important part! Examine these two lines!
        assertEquals("The PersistentDataSorage is the last value set.", "grapes", PersistentDataStorage.read());
        assertEquals("Last known value is not the value in the PersistentDataSorage", "bannana", retriever.getValue());
        // A listener pattern can solve this problem.  But listeners create there own problems particularly
        // when it comes to garbage collection.  The retriever pattern is very friendly to out-of-scope problems.
    }
}

How to purchase a used car or van at 25% below Blue Book

2007-08-28T15:21:00.001-06:00

I stumbled upon this trick just last week and thought I would share it. I purchased a 2001 Chrysler Town and Country Van that had an average Blue Book value of ~$8750 for $6300, a 28% savings. Here is the secret:

You want to purchase from a small independent rental car/truck business. Most franchise rental agencies have special car purchase and sale arrangements with car manufactures and dealers. They will only keep the vehicle a year or two at most and sell it through their network. A small independent rental business has more incentive to get the most out of their vehicles. In our case, the van in question was a 2001, had been used 6 years and had just turned over 100,000 miles. The 100,000 mile mark seems to key indicator as to why this rental company was ready to let go of the van.

Before you buy, pretend to need to rent. Go by the local independent car/van rental location, scope out the situation; see if they have any candidates that they many want to turn over in the near future. In our case, we actually needed to rent a van. Our old van the AC was broken and this summer we wanted to go on a weekend away with my parents. We were looking for a cheap rental price and knew that an independent rental business would likely be much cheaper than the franchises. The first place I called did not have any vans available. The second place I called, which was primarily known as a U-Haul renter did.

This is important to note: The business we purchased from was primarily known for renting U-Haul equipment. They also rented pickups and vans along with SUV’s with towing hitches to allow you to rent both a vehicle and a trailer if you wanted. So don’t discard these types of places from your list of potential sellers.

As it was, we rented the van, drove it for 400 miles that weekend and returned it. Upon returning it, my wife asked if they were going to sell it anytime soon. The guy said they had been considering it. My wife left our name and phone and said we would be interested.

Now this is another curious point. We had actually rented the van so we had a high degree of confidence as to how it would perform. I suggest that after isolating a potential sell/buy vehicle (remember ~100,000 miles) that you may want to rent it for a day to see how it performs.

When the business called a month or so later to indicate that they were ready to sell, the owner offered the direct wholesale cost of the vehicle. I speculate that the reason for this approach is simply that he wants to minimize the effort to move the vehicle on. This is the value of the vehicle if he were to have sold it into a dealership as a used car. This value was $6500 for our particular van. Remember the business makes its return on investment on the rental. The end of rental sale is not a particularly large contributor to the overall profit generated by the vehicle.

Not one to purchase a vehicle without having a mechanic inspect it, I asked if we could take it to an inspection. The answer was yes. I stopped by and picked up the keys and drove it over to the mechanics. This is the great think with doing business with an independent car/van rental agency. He never asked for ID or anything, just gave me the keys and asked about what time I would be back.

The mechanic turned up about ~$950 worth of work that the van needed. Quite a bit of the work was stuff that would normally be done at 100,000 miles. I think this is the primarily motivator for independent rental agencies to sell at this point. The mechanic was also nice enough to work up the average Blue Book value of ~$8750 (this includes the high mileage discount). He did that with me over at the checkout counter averaging the retail value and trade in value of the van. He also mentioned that it needed new tires.

The final deal: Armed with the knowledge from the mechanic I counter offered. He would not give credit to the mechanical maintenance, but did concede some of the cost for new tiers and the final price was $6300. The final value was 72% of the average blue book value.

My suggestion is simply look for that 100,000 mile candidate at your local independent auto/van/truck rental business. Rent it for a test drive. Indicate that you have interest in a purchase. Have it inspected. Leverage the information you have. Then do the deal.

One last note: The van has 104,000 miles on it. My friend Arne has a van with 104,000 miles he is thinking of selling. It is a KIA, a van that is in a lower price category. It is a 1997 van while the one from the rental business is a 2001. This indicates that the rental vehicle managed to put on miles 66% faster than the family owned van. The take away is that the body condition of the rental van is much better than the family owned van. Six years of regular vacuuming compared with ten years of children and dogs (cracked windshield, broke radio, stains in carpet and seats). If I am going to purchase a van at the 104,000 mile use point, the x-rental van seems to be a great deal.

How did Al Gore appear at the Tokyo and New York Live Earth Concerts without a lot of CO2 from Air Travel?

2007-08-27T10:20:00.001-06:00

Al Gore who was the host of the Live Aid concerts appeared upon the stage at the Tokyo concert as well as the New York concert. How did he do it without a flight half way around the world that would have produced large amounts of CO2? Holography! The holographic image of Al Gore was projected onto the stage at the Tokyo concert. The image appeared to the audience to be in 3D and he was able to speak and make hand gestures and directly address the audience. The technique used by Musion Eyeliner to create there holography is a technology that I believe will become more and more cost effective with time. Read about it at their web site. It continues to emphasize a point I believe is rapidly becoming reality. You do not need to be a world traveler to be a world citizen. The future continues to show that worldwide collaboration will not require the energy needed for travel. How much money are companies unnecessarily spending on travel? How much are they contributing to Global Warming?

Did Sputnik launch your dreams -- or your career?

2007-08-24T09:45:00.001-06:00

Today I filled out American Public Media’s survey entitled “Did Sputnik launch your dreams -- or your career?” Although I was not born yet, it very much effected my path in life. Here is what I had to say.

What story can you tell, if any, that embodies Sputnik's effect?

Only that in 1972, I was 5, my father and I went out and looked at the full moon from our front porch and told me that right then there were men walking on the moon. I never forgot that. The whole thing was triggered by Sputnik

What in your career and life can you trace back to the Sputnik launch?

In 1985, I went to Florida Institute of Technology to study the Space Sciences. In 1990, I started work as a contractor for NASA. I am a product of the Space Age.

In your experience and observations, what are the specific, lasting effects of Sputnik (cultural, technological, etc.)?

The whole modern Science Fiction genre got it start during that time of the space race. Young people like myself were fired up with visions of colonies on the Moon and Mars. In many ways, those of us of the X-generation that grew up in the wake of the space race feel that the government ripped us off. There was some serious failure to carry through to the next level. Now that we are older and have our own money, some of us are saying "to hell with the government" and now you see the fledgling new space craft and space travel private industry. I think if you were to interview many of the players in this new private race to space you would find them disillusioned by a lack of government follow through on the dream of bringing humans to space.

How would you compare/contrast America's response to Sputnik and its response to today's threats of global terrorism, a rising China, or global warming?

Modern US society is one of entitlement. There is no such thing as sacrifice in our cultural system. I see this in the unwillingness for others to kick in cash(taxes) to support the war. Even though I disagree with the war, I think only a small percentage of Americans are actually sacrificing for it. I think our managers (not leaders - there is no leadership in the White House) are content to not force the point in fear of losing more support.

Back to the question at hand. I think we need a mobilization on the Global Warming thing. Where are the leaders? Can America change course to one that involves sacrifice? The space race was a great technical accomplishment. I think WW2 was a better example of a people coming together to achieve something large.

The rise of China is of little worry to me. I know that they will be the next world super power. The US will take a back seat with Russia and the EU. The reason this is coming about is simply because they are willing to lead. The US is unwilling to lead the world. It has turned in on itself. Always concerned with the “best interest of the US”, we will never lead the world again until we can really engage with interests outside of the US.

As for global terrorism: The US approach is to smother the fire in coal. Until we stop feeding weapons to unstable areas thinking that will stabilize it. Until we stop treating others as second class people. Until we stop trying to impose the "Right" way of doing things. People will continue to resent us. Only fighting poverty, creating economic opportunity, ending hunger, encouraging human rights, and acknowledging of the great contributions of other cultures, will we get some traction in the world. Could we start such a project on the scale of the space race? I would hope so.

Black backgrounds on web pages?

2007-08-15T15:30:00.000-06:00

Lauren Spangler-Young sent me a email about Blackle.

The email claimed:

"This is something we should all implement....

If Google had a black screen, taking in account the huge number of page views, according to calculations, 750 mega watts/hour per year would be saved.

In response Google created a black version of its search engine, called Blackle, with the exact same functions as the white version, but obviously with lower energy consumption:

Spread the word... use http://www.blackle.com/"

There is some infomration in Wikipedia.

"The principle behind Blackle is based on the fact that the display of different colors consumes different amounts of energy on computer monitors.[3] The creators of Blackle cite the US Department of Energy’s Energy Star information page which states that a monitor displaying white uses 74 watts, while a monitor displaying black uses 59 watts. [4] They also cite a 2002 study from Roberson, who tested a variety of CRT and LCD monitors and found that an all black screen consumed less energy than an all white screen on all of them.[3] ..."

The Citicism Section says:

"The creators of Blackle have been criticised for lack of clarity regarding the type, size and manufacturer of monitor that the power usage claims refer to.[4] One critic, a technology journalist who reviews computer hardware, tested 4 cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors and 23 liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, and found that power was saved by the CRT monitors, but was less than that claimed by the blog post that inspired Blackle. The LCD monitors tested showed increased power use in the majority of cases, although some of the larger (24 inch) monitors did use less power displaying a black screen.[1][5] Despite these concerns, the environmental impact of Blackle is also uncertain, as the 750 MW hours of energy that the original blog[6] claims could be conserved if Google used a black background amounts to about 5 billionths of the total energy consumed annually worldwide."

Appears that black may save some energy, but I would suggest replacing CRT monitors with LCD will save more energy.

Giant LEGO Person floats up on Dutch resort beach

2007-08-14T13:07:00.001-06:00

Thank you Mary Pat Aukema for sending me this story.

A giant LEGO "Minifig" floated up on the beach at the Dutch resort of Zandvoort. Some construction workers fished it out and now it has been installed in front of the drink stand they were constructing. The LEGO person has the words "NO MORE REAL THAN YOU" printed on the front of it's torso and the name "EGG LEONARD" and the number "9" on the back. A quick video available at Reuters.

Letter to Barack Obama

2007-08-08T14:01:00.001-06:00

I sent this letter to Barack Obama today. I seem to have come to the conclusion that he is America’s best bet at this point.

Dear Barack Obama:

The formula for a wining campaign:

Assemble a “Dream Team” cabinet now and run the Team.

The job of president is so big, that the president has a cabinet to help him with policies and decisions. His choices say a lot about his leadership style. Gorge W. Bush has surrounded himself with a few power brokers and a bunch of yes men. America can see that! And we do not want it.

My suggestion is simple. Build a “dream team” of the best of the best right now. For example: Bring in an expert on security to be your Secretary of Homeland Security after the election. Put that person on the campaign trail and build American confidence in a vote for you is a vote for good security. Then find an expert for Secretary Commerce, think big, perhaps invite Alan Greenspan. There is a name that Americans will get behind. Keep doing that until you have an unstoppable team.

Be diverse in your selection; remember America is fed up with Yes Men in the administration. We want competent people who can debate the merits of Government Programs. Dare to cross party lines. I would suggest bringing back Collin Powel. A person who many of us Americans believe has a great deal of integrity and got screwed by the Bush administration.

The goal: Create a group of leaders who are diverse enough to have broad appeal and determined to lead this country forward (most Americans feel stagnated). Have this group assembled early in the election cycle and put them on the road as surrogate candidates. Build America’s confidence in each area of expertise so that even if they are not sure if you personally have a plan, they believe that you have surrounded yourself with great individuals who can work out a plan. A plan that is balanced and fair that has had the input of diverse opinions.

I like your campaign and believe your relative youth in the system allows you to break norms. No one has ever tried to run a full executive team for President before. I think the first person who does will dominate the election cycle and forever change how US Presidents get elected.

Who am I? I am Dave Graham an individual who has a personal interest in the study of leadership. I have many more ideas around this concept; let me know if you are going to pick it up. Please feel free to call me at (970) 484-4577. I am happy to talk with your campaign staff.

Dave Graham

Live Edge Electronic Design Competition

2007-08-06T16:05:00.000-06:00

My friend Gregg Osterhout sent me a link to the live-edge electronic design competition. Thanks Gregg! He knows that I am looking for examples of design competitions and open source design projects as I continue to work on the System Big Play project. This competition seems to be more design to generate traffic to a group of affiliated online electronic parts vendors. I like the sentiment though. It is a great marketing ploy which has the kind of value appeal that will likely get people to participate. Check it out on the web site http://www.live-edge.com/info/index.html.

The Darjeeling Limited

2007-08-01T11:15:00.000-06:00

Producer Wes Anderson is the nephew of Jim Hunter who is a team member of mine at CoCreate. He showed us the trailer of Wes' latest project, The Darjeeling Limited. It looks like it will be a fun film. Great job Wes!

Great week for Creative Sword Play

2007-07-30T12:06:00.000-06:00

The week of July 23rd to July 27th was a fantastic week for the kids at the Creative Sword PLAY Samurai Camp. Between working at CoCreate (early in the week), the arrival of my Sisters family on Tuesday of the week, going out to the mountains with them, and the arrival of my parents on Friday, I have been rather busy. I did help out with camp from time to time durring all these activities and it seemed that everyone was having fun.

Check out the coloradoan article that came out about the Camp.

Readers Cove Harry Potter Party

2007-07-22T07:32:00.000-06:00

Would like to thank The Readers Cove for a most excellent Harry Potter party on Friday night. The activities were quite fun particularly the hour long professional magic show. You gave away some great prizes. For those of you reading this who were not there. Door prizes included reproduction wands of Harry, Hermione, and Ron's from the movies, as well as a reproduction "time turner". There were also loads of other door prizes.

The professional magician was quite a treat, including birds appearing and disappearing, rope tricks, card tricks, but also swords. It was a great way to pass the time.

For those of you who were there, you can check out pictures on my DaveGraham.org flickr account.

If you are local to Fort Collins, stop by The Readers Cove, an excellent establishment.

Appreciating All Things

2007-07-22T06:38:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday morning while riding to work, I was taken by all the beautiful bindweed flowers that were along the Power Line Trail in Fort Collins. As a gardener and home owner I have spent hours removing this noxious weed from garden beds and landscaping. It has the nasty habit of winding itself around and choking off other plants.

I have created much happiness in my life by adjusting my frame of reference to one of appreciation. Therefor as I was riding along, I paused to capture a picture, on my phone of the beauty of noxious weeds.

25 North Magazine Climate Project Article

2007-07-16T20:59:00.000-06:00

I just got a copy of an arcticle about my Climate Project presentations that was in the 25 North Magazine. Check out the PDF copy here.

Overall it is not a great article. I should mension that Kyle who wrote it is an unpaid intern at the Coloradoan. He makes my presentation sound dull, which I would strongly disagree with. His biggest failure was not to print any contact information for those who might want to schedule presentations.

System Big Play

2007-07-15T18:06:00.001-06:00

An Open Source Hardware Design and Manufacturing Project

How Many LEGO System Blocks go to the Landfill?

The ones that are vacuumed up
The ones stepped on and broken
The ones chewed by the dog

LEGO System Blocks are too useful as a creative toy to throw away.

What if the world were made in out of a System of parts like the LEGO System?

That would be System Big Play.

Today, when it is time to reconfigure the built environment the result is demolition.

Items that could be reused are not. It is too difficult to disassemble them or they are too cheap in manufacturing to be reused.

The future can be different.

System Big Play: An Open Source Hardware Design and Manufacturing Project

The Vision

The Stake

The current life cycle of most materials used in the world is:

manufacture -> specialized purpose -> use -> disposal or recycling

The new model that this project proposes to create is:

manufacture -> generic purpose -> specialized assembly -> use -> disassembly -> generic purpose -> repurposed specialized assembly -> use -> disassembly -> generic purpose …

The System Big Play project exists to drive this paradigm change on how materials are used worldwide. By calling upon the wisdom and power of a worldwide community of people, the System Big Play Project will promote resource reusability. By providing free designs for generic purpose interlocking parts, it increases the opportunities for businesses to manufacture interlocking these generic interlocking parts. By restricting the use of these items to non-military applications it will promote a peaceful world.

Desired Outcomes

A large community of design contributors
1. An international and multilingual internet community with tools to support the development of part design
2. Thousands of designs that are freely available via the Internet
A large community of design manufactures
1. Many smaller manufactures worldwide, creating generic parts
2. Assembly manufactures who create valued end use products
An agreed upon set of standards for interlocking generic parts
1. A standards system with multiple levels
2. A certification body
3. Ongoing review and update of the standards and certification criteria
The acceptance in the market place of products created using standardized generic parts
1. Demonstration of the products in the market place
2. Measureable increase in the use of generic parts in the market place
The development of repurposing programs world wide
1. Creation of businesses that disassemble used items into generic parts for repurposing
2. Development of tools to assess the quality and condition of repurposed parts
3. Creation of recycling programs and guidelines for parts deemed too damaged for further use
A measurable reduction in the rate of consumption of natural resources for creation of material goods within the world

Desired Impacts

Excite engineers about the possibilities of contributing to world resource reduction
Elicit hope within people of impoverished economies about small manufacturing development
Bring happiness to millions by providing quality of life improvements
Reduce the apparent size of the world by encouraging international cooperation and multilingual communication.

The Theory

The Collaborative Community

These changes, among others, are ushering us toward a world where knowledge, power, and productive capability will be more dispersed than at any time in our history—a world where value creation will be fast, fluid, and persistently disruptive. A world where only the connected will survive. A power shift is underway, and a tough new business rule is emerging: Harness the new collaboration or perish. Those who fail to grasp this will find themselves ever more isolated—cut off from the networks that are sharing, adapting, and updating knowledge to create value.

Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, Wikinomics–How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything

The System Big Play project is about creating a collaborative community that can create technologies and create innovative ideas. The project is about the people who will create and share the technology.

It is the intention of this project to be part of the major paradigm shift that the authors have outlined. This project is expected to be a “Big Play” against the established norms of product lifecycle and to help usher in the era that they have predicted.

The Right People

The executives who ignited the transformations from good to great did not first figure out where to drive the bus and then get people to take it there. No, they first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figured out where to drive it. They said, in essence, “Look, I don’t really know where we should take this bus. But I know this much: If we get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats, and the wrong people off the bus, then we’ll figure out how to take it someplace great.”

Jim Collins, Good to Great

The System Big Play project seeks to find those people who are passionate about the concept and believe in working on world changing activity. The organization will also seek to fill key positions with competent leaders.

International

The case for diversity is actually a hard nosed one – it can radically improve your collective wisdom.

James Surowiecki, The Collaborative Landscape

The community must have a high international content. This will improve the range of ideas, the number of uses found, and bring about world wide acceptance of the technology.

Peace Promoting

"I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it."

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States of America

In James Surowiecki’s “The Wisdom of Crowds”, he discusses the danger of a crowd divided and how that will destroy information sharing. The purpose of this project is to create a world community of contributors to a new technology that will greatly help humans and the environment we live in. Individuals will not contribute to this goal if they feel their contributions may be used against them. Therefore the project will seek to protect the technologies created by its community from use in military applications.

Artistic Creativity and Play

We take this observation one step further by suggesting that knowledge work, which adds value in large part because of its capacity for innovation, can and often should be structured as artists structure their work. Managers should look to collaborative artists rather than to more traditional management models if they want to create economic value in this new century.

Rob Austin and Lee Devin, Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know About How Artists Work

The project seeks to create a community environment where individuals can express their creative and artistic passions. Individuals are to be acknowledged and celebrated for their contributions. The community is expected to be a place of fun, play (make that big play) and innovation.

What next

Summer 2007

Finding the Right People - Focus on find the correct people for the board of directors of a 501c(3) nonprofit organization to manage the development of the community.

Building the place to play - the current plan is to build out a joomba content managment system as the base for the online community. If you are interested in helping with this project please contact Dave Graham at +1-(970) 484-4577.

More about System Big Play

System Big Play: A History

System Big Play: A History

2007-07-15T17:11:00.000-06:00

In the fall of 2005, my son, Will, joined the LEGO Robotics Club at the Lab School for Creative Learning where he was in the second grade. At the age of seven, he was too young to be on the competition team. Instead, he was part of a second group of students who were introduced to the basic concepts of robotics and programming.

As a kid I was a LEGO fan. I had a large collection of LEGO System bricks when I was a kid and had since gifted them to my son. I had known that LEGO and robotics had been developing for some time and working with Will and the Robotics Club allowed me to appreciate how far the technology had developed.

Much of the time during the club meetings, I found myself puzzling out new concept with the robotics kits. You must understand that I am a Mechanical Engineer by training, a Software Engineer by career, and I am a pattern thinker. I excel in pattern games like the LEGO System. One day I was at the Robotics club and I was thinking, “I could make a such-and-such robot that could help around the house.” Then there was the simple problem that the LEGO parts were just too small and weak to really get the job done. That is when I thought, “What if the LEGO were made of aluminum and scaled up by a factor of two or four.” Thus was born an idea, that at the time I called “LEGO Big Play.”

That fall I was starting into the Coaches Training Institute Leadership program. A 10 month leadership program I affectionately call “Enlightenment Boot Camp.” Our first assignment: Due a presentation in front of an audience and see how you show up as a leader.

My first presentation idea was falling apart. It was a project to modernize the web technology at the Lab School. The school is run by a committee and it is very difficult to get a committee to act in any timely manor. The result was I thought, for my project, I would pitch the idea of scaling up LEGO to a group of my techno friends.

I started to put together the presentation and it mutated as I worked on it. What started off as a robot building system concept changed into a redefine the product lifecycle presentation.

At that point something strange happened. This is often the case in these situations. My wife Margaret asked me to make her web site more like that of Carol Ross’ web site. Carol Ross runs Ross and Associates an executive coaching group. My wife also a life coach had met Carol through one of the many coaching trainings or other activities she was involved in. As I was looking over the Ross and Associates web site, I discovered that one of the associates was Robert Rasmussen.

As I read Rasmussen’s bio I was fascinated. He was an executive coach and currently involved in a program called LEGO Serious Play where he used LEGO System blocks as the medium through which he coached executive teams through various exercises. Between 1998 and 2003 he led the LEGO Group team that developed the LEGO Mindstorm Robotic program.

I thought “I need to talk with this guy.” So I emailed him, using my tenuous connection to Carol Ross and explained that I was in a leadership program needed to do a presentation and would like his feedback on what he thought of it. He agreed and we set a time.

After the presentation, he was intrigued. I learned quite a bit about what LEGO had tried in its labs. I also learned that the LEGO Group was consolidating to focus on the toy market. They would not be likely to entertain such ideas. We left that meeting with the decision to stay in touch and talk again.

I made the presentation to my techno friends. They thought it was pretty cool, but what now?

In January of 2006, Robert Rasmussen and I talked again. I was still pitching the large vision. He requested more specific on how it be brought to market. We talked a great deal on what were the market barriers. The number one barrier seemed to be: You need a large enough mix of parts before the whole system becomes useful. He said come back when you have a workable plan.

I actually did come up with two workable plans. The first was to approach the Military (particularly DARPA) in an effort to sell them on the reusability. I even had written a proposal with very specific time line and R&D goals. I just could not pursue the plan though because it was not in alignment with my values.

The second workable plan I had was in the area of tile mosaics. The plan there was a web site that would allow people to upload images, specify the size of the tile area and have a LEGO like tile kit of their image sent to them. It would have backing boards and snap on tiles. Although I thought this would be workable, it was more of a “toy” like application rather than the hard core real world I wanted to bring the technology into.

Over the next 18 months, I was searching for ideas. It was easy to find ways to apply the technology once it existed. I could do calculations that showed that offsetting onsite labor in construction with automated manufacturing at a factory (embodied in higher cost construction material) could be profitable. Add additional cost savings of much lower construction waste and use of the system could be a great advantage to the construction industry.

I played with ideas like reusable electrical components and what that could mean for the development of custom consumer electronics. Imagine going to a website like Dell Computer and saying I would like a 1200 W microwave, with clock, a kitchen fan, convection system, female voice, and FM stereo radio.

The problem continued to be, how to cross the canyon. How to get from the point of having no parts in the System to having a system of generic reusable parts with enough parts to start making some of these business models works.

In the spring of 2007, I was having a conversation with my good friend Dan Bihn. I was complaining that I was stuck with this idea. I really believed it could be a reality, I just could not find a good business proposition to get it started. He said “Make it an open source project.” I was stunned. Give my idea away? I envisioned this technology playing itself out as the next HP with me as the CEO, and he had just asked me to kiss that dream goodbye. The more we talked about the concept the more it made sense. It still took me a while to re-adjust to this new approach.

Finally, I decided to move forward with the open source concept. I started researching the net. Were there similar projects? Were there open source hardware licenses out there? What I found was that the ham radio people had attempted to standardize an open source hardware license. Other than that there was very little in the way of open source hardware to be found and none of it outside of electronics. The term “hardware” on the internet is synonymous with computer electronics. When you dig into mechanical engineering there is not much to speak of on the internet. The closest project to speak of is the Society for Sustainable Mobility. This open source ground vehicle is remarkable in its pioneering use of the internet.

I further was inspired that I was on the right track when in the summer of 2007 I picked up a copy of Wikinomics by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams. They gave me words to describe what I was trying to achieve. My plan at the time of this writing is to create a pre-competitive collaborative community for the development of a system of highly generic easy to assemble reusable parts.

I have changed the name to “System Big Play” because I realized that the system would not likely in the end look like the LEGO System and to move it away from the LEGO trademarked name. I kept the Big Play because I want people to be creative and imaginative with the System. I also think it is a big play into the existing paradigm by which we make our material world. It is a big play into the global economic system.

The rest of the history has yet to be written. These days I am evangelizing. I am also drawing together the people and infrastructure to support the community. When that is complete the focus will be on a marketing campaign.

If you want to be part of the action, please contact me directly at sbp@davegraham.org or call me at (970) 484-4577.

Climate Change Challenges and Our Bright New Future

2007-07-15T06:32:00.000-06:00

I am still activily speeking on Global Climate Change and how it impacts us in Colorado. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in scheduling a presentation. Here is the presentation write-up:

Dave Graham takes the audience on an exciting ride through the shocking reality of our looming climate crisis, and he ends with a powerful call to action. His audiences leave feeling empowered and part of the solution. Using statistics and basic science in language and modes that audiences easily grasp, Dave Graham discusses the human and earth relationship and how, as a species, we came to this change point. Ending with a section he calls “The Fun Next Step,” he illustrates with clarity and inspiration how individuals can make changes today that will enrich their lives and the lives within their communities. After a brief break for questions, he invites his audience to dream into a bright future and virtually takes them there. A dynamic and entertaining speaker who delivers a compelling presentation with beautiful graphics, Dave Graham receives strong feedback for this presentation.
About the Speeker:

Dave Graham has a long history of environmental concern. Much of his childhood was spent in the woods or beaches of Rhode Island and Maryland.

After graduating from Florida Institute of Technology with a degree in Space Sciences, Mr. Graham went to work in the Earth Sciences branch at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. There, in the early 1990’s he assisted scientists in their studies of climate change, traveling to places such as Glacier National Park and the boreal forests of Canada.

In 1995, Mr. Graham came to Fort Collins, Colorado to attend in Colorado State University (CSU) where studied at the Solar Energy Applications Laboratory, graduating in 1998 with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering.

After CSU, he and his wife Margaret decided to stay in Fort Collins to raise their children. Since that point, his career has broadened his experience. He has developed tools for monitoring the environment. He has worked on modeling pest damage at the U.S. Forest Service. He has developed systems for the dispatching and control of distributed energy generation.

Throughout his experiences, Mr. Graham, has learned the power of the market place and the role of the business community in shaping our world. He has a way of casting dire problems into opportunities. This is reflected in his previous speaking campaign entitled “Peak Oil Economic Opportunity.”

In December of 2006, Dave Graham was selected to be one of 1,000 people to receive training by The Climate Project, founded by Al Gore. He has been pleased to have had the opportunity to inform and excite communities about both the problems of Global Climate Change and, more importantly, how much fun and business opportunities exist as we face these challenges.

Peak Oil Economic Opportunity

2007-07-15T05:55:00.000-06:00

Peak Oil Economic Opportunity was a speaking campaign that I started about two years ago. I have since moved onto other speaking topics like Global Warming. I still believe in the concepts of the Peak Oil Economic Opportunity campaign and I am willing to share them with anyone or any business that is interested in hearing and exploring the potential opportunities. This is the blurb that I was using to describe the speech:

Based on the latest ASPO model Peak Oil is expected to occur around 2010. Current oil production is flat or slightly rising. Oil demand is continues to rise as developing nations, in particular China, are seeking more of this resource. A monumental shift is coming to the world economy. At the current $75/barrel price, the world oil market is about to $2 trillion a year. It is a market that is headed for shortages and eventual decline.

Now is the time for each and every company to look carefully at their processes and products. Those who do are likely to leverage the change in the economy to their advantage, getting ahead of competitors who are slow and reactionary to these new conditions.

Dave Graham speaks on the Peak Oil Economic Opportunity (POEO) to educate business groups about these impending changes. To work with individual companies to examine there markets and understand how they can best leverage this change. To help facilitate the development of the kinds of disruptive technologies and processes that will be needed in the post oil economy. And to assist businesses in finding the sustaining technologies they will need to remain competitive in the marketplace.

Dave is on a personal mission to lead the corporate change that will facilitate the next revolution of the global capitalist economy. Called the green revolution by some, Dave knows this revolution goes much further than fuel substitution, efficiency, or localization. It will change fundamental business practices, process, technologies and paradigms in all sectors of the economy. No business will be free of the impact. Dave seeks to be on the forefront by sharing with businesses why now is the best time to lay the foundations for them to become innovators in their markets. Dave is educating the business community about disruptive technologies and processes as well as business-concept innovation. And, why right now is the time to get curious about the how, what, why and where of your business. A wave is coming, some business will leverage it, use it to trump competitors and create new markets. Others will find themselves in reactionary mode, playing a catch-up game. It is a time to be agile.

Dave Graham is a leader, facilitator, and trainer who has a background in agile software development. Working in the world’s fastest changing industry, Dave has created a personal expertise on what it really means to have an agile company and respond rapidly to change. Dave who is a strong supporter of environment sustainability sees the market environment as reflecting the cycles found in nature. He challenges all to ask, “Is my business ready for the peak oil market cycle?”

Dennis Buys a Boat

2007-07-14T07:01:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to my friend Denis Dybdal who along with two of his friends purchased a 42 foot steel sailboat in Copenhagen last week. The boat has crossed the Atlantic four times already and Denis and his friends intend to continue that heritage by sailing to the Caribbean sometime next year. Additional pictures of the boat can be found on Denis’ new blog.

Fort Colins Bike Library

2007-07-11T11:28:00.000-06:00

This was Emailed to me and I found it rather interesting. So I thought I would let others know through my blog.

Here's an excerpt from Rick Price's notice of a lunchtime meeting:

Café Bicyclette in Old Town – this is the beginning of the Fort Collins Bike Library, a project that brings together BikeFortCollins.org, FC Bikes (the City Bike Program), the DDA (Downtown Development Authority), RamWheels at CSU, the Fort Collins Bike Coop, and several other partners.

Beginning Friday (July 13) you can borrow a bike for friends, family, visitors for up to 24 hours from Café Bicyclette in the former information kiosk near the fountain in Oldtown. We’ll talk about the program and the fact that we need volunteers every weekend: 4 – 8 p.m. on Fridays and 11 –

6 p.m. Saturday and Sundays. Maybe your Scout Troop, service club, bike club, or neighborhood association would like to volunteer to fill these time slots? We’ll talk about it at the BLT.

'Cafe Bicyclette' is by the goose fountain.

Word of the Day

2007-07-09T16:30:00.001-06:00

I was looking for some unusual word to use as the Word of the Day for the Noonshiners Toastmasters meeting. As I was looking I found these interesting links.

BBC News: 20 of your unusual words – I thought the most useful was the German words 'vorgestern' (the day before yesterday) and 'ubermorgen' (the day after tomorrow).

Top 20 Internet Acronyms Every Parent Needs to Know.

I thought Pwned might be fun. Teaching the Toastmasters the lingo of the Net generation. In the end I decided on reduplication because it just sounds wrong. J

Live Earth Party Success

2007-07-09T09:43:00.000-06:00

I wanted to the twenty-five some people who came to the LiveEarth concert party. During the party I had two wireless laptops set up so people could take the LiveEarth Pledge. If you have not done so yet, take the LiveEarth pledge go to http://liveearthpledge.org/. We had so much food left over the next day we hosted a free lunch for our cohousing neighbors on the porch of my home.

Light Rail in Fort Collins: First Step: Expand the Trolley

2007-07-04T19:14:00.001-06:00

Proposal:

Expand eastern end of the Fort Collins Municipal Railway trolley line to Downtown Transit Center, the new Discovery Science Center, and The Farm at Lee Martinez Park using the abandoned BNSF tracks between Mason and Sherwood streets.

Purpose:

Fort Collins continues to win recognition for the quality of life in our community. If our community wishes to continue to be an award winning community, additional quality of life investments must be made. Connecting the eastern end of the Fort Collins Municipal Railway trolley line to cultural destinations such as The Farm at Lee Martinez Park and the new Discovery Science Center is one such investment.

Desired outcomes from the project include:

1) Improve the economy by increasing the cities choice as a tourist destination.

2) Provide increased recreational opportunities to community members by linking two major community parks (City Park and Lee Martinez Park).

3) Connect the Downtown Transit Center to City Park and Lee Martinez Park.

4) Provide greater educational opportunities for children by connecting up to The Farm at Lee Martinez Park, the new Discovery Science Center, the old trolley barn, leveraging the historic nature of the trolley, as well as its nature as alternative electric transportation.

5) Improve safety on the river at Lee Martinez Park by encouraging bathers to take the trolley to the City Park Pool.

Desired impacts:

1) Improved community pride in the Lee Martinez Park Neighborhood.

2) A fun enjoyable experience for visitors to Fort Collins.

3) Stir discussion about the future of light rail in Fort Collins.

Background:

This proposal was written and conceived by me (Dave Graham). It is not the product of the Fort Collins Municipal Railway (FCMR). This proposal will require the approval of the Fort Collins Municipal Railway Board in order to move forward.

I am a member of the Lee Martinez Park Neighborhood. I am a rail futurist rather than a rail fan. As a rail futurist, I has little interest in recreating the past than I want to creating a new future. My interest in this project is to primarily promote the idea that light rail can be feasible transportation alternative.

It is my firm desire to leverage this project as a first step to obtaining true light rail service here in Fort Collins. Primarily by extending the FCMR track to the Downtown Transit Center it connects the system with Transfort. It is the my hope that the line can be dual purposed with the historic Britney trolley running on weekends for tourists and a modern handicap accessible light rail car could be run by Transfort on the weekdays.

I a member of The Climate Project and seek to teach people about the coming climate crisis. I have also spoken on the issue of peak oil and the end of cheap oil. This project represents my interest in going beyond talk, by taking action to promote a different future transportation model.

Creating a Destination on for the light rail track:

Currently the existing light rail track, referenced as the trolley track, originates from the trolley barn in City Park, travels most the length of West Mountain and ends just west of Howes street. It spurs into City Park where the trolley kiosk and loading area is. City Park has been established as the West end destination.

Currently the end at Howes street can be loosely called a destination of “Old Town”. Unfortunately, this loose definition does not make for a compelling travel experience.

The FCMR has a plan to continue the track up Howes street and connect it to the historic trolley barn. That plan is currently seeking grant money. This will make the end point a hoped for future transportation museum.

This proposal would create three additional destinations at the east end of the Trolley line. They would be:

The Farm at Lee Martinez Park

The new Discovery Science Center

The Downtown Transit Center

And although these three locations will make riding the trolley from City Park more popular, it is more likely that these locations will become origins (particularly the Downtown Transit Center) and the system may become known as the Trolley to City Park.

The Fort Collins Municipal Railway:

This is a group of dedicated volunteers who keep existing trolley system in Fort Collins operational as a tourist attraction. The do a great job and have put countless hours in. This proposal does not intend to undermine any of their activities, nor discount the contribution that they have given to the community. Read about their activities on their web site.

The Rail Yard between Mason Court and Sherwood Street:

It is unclear if the original tracks in this yard were first constructed by the Colorado and Southern (C&S) or the Greeley, Salt Lake and Pacific Railroad (GSLPRR). The former operated the yard, the right away for the latter passed through the yard. It is clear that the ownership was held by C&S by the turn of the century. It was a four track yard with additional tracks serving a locomotive maintenance shed as well as coaling and water towers. The yard was passed from C&S to Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy, then to Burlington Northern, then to Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF).

During the 1970’s or 80’s the engine maintenance facility was removed. In 1996 that portion of the land was sold off to Wonderland Hill Development Corp. On that portion, the Riverrock Cohousing community, single family homes, and the Mason Street North project was constructed.

Two of the four track yard remained as it was connected to both the northbound and southbound BNSF main line. This created what is known as a Y track allowing trains to be turned around on the mainline. With today’s modern locomotives, the turning of trains is not as necessary as it was in the past, and in the fall of 2006 the yard was entirely disconnected from the mainline.

For the purpose of this proposal the four tracks will be labeled with number one being the furthest south. Currently only tracks 2 and 3 remain of the original four tracks. About 2/3 of the track 1 ties are still in place mostly buried some still containing tie plates. Track 2 is in better condition than track 3. It is the through track and appears to have been maintained by BNSF to a higher level. There are no remains of track 4.

Both tracks consist of primarily 85 lb rail with some 90 lb sections. Most of the rail is of 1905-1910 vintage. Much of the rail has been turned so that it shows ware on both upper edges of the rail. Tie plates date from unmarked small ones (assume 1910 vintage) to 1920’s to 1938 and 1941. There is quite a mix of tie plates. Rail joiners are primarily of 1941 vintage. The ties on both tracks are badly worn. The ties on track 3 are in bad condition with some of them having evidence of being reused more than once.

Proposed Rail Alignment:

Please refer to the map of the proposed rail alignment. This portion of the document will discuss the proposed rail alignment starting at The Farm at Lee Martinez Park and connecting to the existing Trolley line on Mountain Avenue.

Please note that all thoughts here are my own and not that of a profession rail alignment expert.

Mason Court to Sherwood Street:

The city must first purchase the abandoned BNSF rail yard between Mason Court and Sherwood Street with the existing tracks intact. More about how that might be financed in a later section. It would be wise to contact BNSF and indicate the intent to purchase with the tracks intact prior to BNSF pulling up the tracks for scrap. See below how the city might finance this.

Of the tracks on the property it is proposed that Track 2 be used as the new trolley track and that the rails from track 3 be pulled up and gowned to be reused as rail for the sections on Howes and Mapel Street.

The frog and arms of the existing switch between tracks 2 and 3 would also be removed to be reused on Howes to create the spur up to the old trolley shed at Howes and Cheery Street.

Removal of the rail, tie plates and spikes could be performed by community service works such as the Larimer County Workenders program or AmeriCorps. Additionally there may be volunteer labor available from the FCMR.

Mason Court to Mason and Maple Streets:

This section would use existing BNSF track. The Fort Collins City streets department will need to realign the painted lanes in order for the trolley to travel safely amongst the automotive traffic.

The Discovery Science Center Spur:

This is the north portion of the old BNSF Y track. There are three options for this track:

1) Remove the track and use the rails elsewhere. Note that some of this rail is of a heavier type.

2) Keep the spur and have it end at the discovery center.

3) Keep the spur, and lobby to have a new trolley line as part of the North College Ave Corridor improvement plan.

I like option (3) myself. Although outside the scope of this proposal, now would be the time to add it to the North College Urban Renewal Plan, before construction begins.

In option (3) it would be necessary to gain approval from the FRA and UP to place a second diamond on the UP track just north of the UP/BNSF diamond. Along with approval to string cable across the UP track. This may not be difficult because the UP spur sees no double stack traffic and the UP trains must already come to a full stop before crossing the BNSF track at the diamond.

In this option the trolley would then proceed north along North College Avenue in the western most lane. The pedestrian section on the west side of the College Avenue bridge would be repurposed to have the trolley track. A new light weight pedestrian area would be attached to the west side of the bridge connecting the existing patio extensions that are above each bridge support

The turn from Mason Street onto Maple Street:

I do not know the capabilities of the FCMR people, so I would recommend that construction of all turns as well as the reconstruction of the street around the turns be professionally contracted out to an experienced rail alignment contractor. I think that the FCMR people could oversee construction of the straight track.

Maple Street between Mason Street and Howes Street:

I think this section of track would be placed on the south most portion of the street. A standalone curb (with water drainage breaks) could then be placed between it and the auto traffic. There would still be room for a parallel parking lane.

This placement allows for the construction of a Downtown Transit Center trolley stop structure on the south west corner of the intersection of Mason and Maple street.

This placement also removes the bi-directional trolley movement from the automotive traffic.

The total separation from the auto traffic allow for the “street surface” around the tracks to be replaced with ballast (gravel). Installation and maintenance cost will be reduced if the tracks are not paved into the road surface.

The Intersection of Maple Street and Howes Street:

It is proposed that the track along Maple Street clip the south east corner of this intersection as it turns on to southbound Howes Street. It is hoped that the Oil Company that owns that lot will consider donating a very small corner of their lot to the FCMR for this purpose. They could then take the donation as a tax deduction.

Alignment on Howes Street between Maple and LaPort Street:

I propose that the alignment on Howes be along the eastern most portions of Howes Street. A standalone curb (with water drainage breaks) could then be placed between it and the auto traffic. The city would need to give up either the parking lane, or move it in and give up one lane of traffic.

This placement also removes the bi-directional trolley movement from the automotive traffic.

This alignment allows for placement of the switch to the trolley shed spur up Howes Street to be installed in a portion of the road surface that need not be paved making construction and maintenance much easier.

The alignment on Howes Street between LaPort Avenue and Mountain Avenue:

There are two options for this alignment:

a. Us the existing track

The primary reason for using the existing alignment is that it is potentially less expensive. The existing track is in the second lane (one over from the parking lane) form the west side of the street. It is covered with about one inch of asphalt.

The asphalt would need to be removed from the surface and the wheel flange area.

b. Install a new track along the eastern most part of the street.

This would be an extension of what was proposed for the previous block. I think that it may not be possible to salvage the existing track and that this would provide a lower maintenance alternative. I base this on recent evidence from work at Mountain Avenue and Linden Street. When rails were pulled up, they were severely rusted and I believe that the process of removing the over coat of asphalt will likely be to hard on them.

Project Funding:

My thoughts on project funding are these:

1) The FCMR are already looking for grant money for the Howes street part of the project. Support and encourage that activity.

2) Have the city buy the BNSF property, then subdivide it, taking alignment for track 2 for trolley, and track 1 (no longer existing to the south) for a pedestrian trail (may get some rails to trails money to bank it), while making a series of smaller lots along the north side of the property. Sell those lots to an infill developer like Denny Sovick.

3) Purchase the land with rail on it. Salvage the rail to reduce cost of the project.

4) If there still not enough rail, ask for donations. I can think of several industrial lots in Northern Colorado that still have rail on there lot and long ago were disconnected from the system. One such lot is just up on North College Ave.

5) More grants. If Transfort gets on board, including the purchase of a used but newer light rail car, then the whole project could go after some state or federal transportation money.

Conclusion:

I think it is time for Fort Collins to take a stand on light rail as an issue. This simple proposal is a step in the right direction. Please post your comments here so all can see.

Pioneer School Auction

2007-07-03T14:27:00.000-06:00

I was over at the Pioneer School about two weeks back while Glory was going through all the stuff and trying to find some buyers that would buy in bulk. It is a sad looking place over there, the kids are gone and the stuff pilled up. She indicated that an auction might be likely if they had dificulty moving stuff.

Well I recieved this today and I am sharing it here. Lots of cool suff. Looking for a bus to take you to Estella, or some extra LEGO Robots Equipment? Check it out.

Liquidation Auction

PIONEER School, Fort Collins
Sunday, July 8, 11 AM
2745 Minnesota Drive, Fort Collins, Colorado
Directions: From I 25: Prospect exit west to Timberline south to Custer east to address. (Follow Signs).

Vehicles: 2001 Chevy Express G3500 LS Van and 1985 GMC Vandera 3500 Bus

Kitchen: Stainless steel industrial 4-tub sink—104” by 36” w/24” Dual drain boards, 6’ by 3’ Stainless steel prep table, Well’s Cook n’ Hold food warmers, Sani Serv frozen dessert machine model A5271 J-S, Coffee pots, Dishes, Glass, Microwaves, GE Mini Dorm Refrigerators w/freezers.

Office Equipment & Supplies: Office desks, Tools, Hole punches, Paper, Tape, Staples, Paper clips, Pens, Pencils, Tape dispensers, Cash boxes, Stacking trays and lot more. Everything needed to supply dozens of office desks! (Will be sold by the box full.)

Phone System: Sony iDCS 50si w/voicemail & 34 Desk phones and more.

Computers & Computer Components: Working Desk tops & Laptops (IBM, Compaq, HP, IBM Intellistations, Gateway, Linksys) All accessories, Routers, Network switches, Printers, Servers, Server carts, Key boards, Monitors, Mice and more.

Bookshelves: Large solid handmade wall unit 8’ by 10’ w/wood oak veneer, Many smaller stand alone bookshelves particle board w/veneer and other shelves and shelving.

Filing Cabinets: Several Large lateral fill locking cabinets, Standard front fill cabinets 2 & 4 drawer.

Desks: Wood desks, Formica & steel desks, Computer desks large & small.

Tables: Dozens of work tables various types & sizes, Round collapsible tables, Solid oak round tables, Several Cafeteria Tables— double-sided upright folding & single-sided bench style tables.

Janitorial Supplies: Complete Janitorial Closet Supplies. Brut cans large & small w/dome lids, Office trash cans, Hall trash bins, Recycle cans, Spartan Press & Fill Locking Dispenser, Rubbermaid wall mounts for long handles, Industrial Mop bucket, Wet Mops, Dust mops, Cleaners, Paper, Trash bags, etc.

Kiln: Skutt Electronic (818-240)

Climbing Wall: Entre Prises custom 26’x16’ climbing wall, complete w/I-beams & braces & mounts

Reception Desk Island: For Front Office, 3-piece C-shaped w/2 - 2’x 10’ pieces & 1 – 2’x 4’ piece, solid construction, neutral colors, complete with locking drawers, file drawers, 48 sq ft of counter space, computer space, trash & recycle cabinets, rounded corners.

Storage Cabinets: Many types & sizes, metal, some on wheels, w/doors, some locking,
Chairs: Hundreds of good-condition sturdy wood & vinyl or plastic & metal classroom & desk chairs.

Misc: Laminator machine by Educator, TV’s, Folding Martial Arts Mats Terminator Series 2” thick 10’x10’, Lego Robotics Equipment (complete), White Melamine classroom wall boards, Cork boards, Locking medical security cabinet for sick room (wall mount), Precision Vision school vision testing kits, Cryomedics MM 200 Colposcope, and Much, Much more. This auction is too good to miss!

Auctioneers’ Disclaimer: Announcements made day of sale take precedence over any printed material or other oral statements made. The sale is subject to postponement, cancellation, additions, or deletions. All information contained herein is believed to be correct, but is not guaranteed. All purchasers must independently investigate and confirm any information or assumption on which any bid is based. Terms: CASH and MASTER CARD & VISA. Sorry NO CHECKS

Pat Young II, Auctioneer 970-227-4151

Live Earth Concert Party

2007-07-03T10:21:00.000-06:00

I have been circulating this around my friends and wanted everyone to know it is open to the public.

Live Earth House Party

There will be a gathering at the Riverrock Commons Cohousing Common House in Fort Collins, CO to watch the Live Earth Concert broadcast on projected big screen. It is being hosted by Dave Graham who is a member of Al Gore's TheClimateProject. Dave will be available to answer questions about global climate change and the expected effects in Colorado. Please consider bringing drinks or munchies to share.

RSVP by clicking here!

Time: Saturday, July 7 at 6:30 PM - 4 hours
Location: Riverrock Cohousing Common House
520 N. Sherwood St. #35
Fort Collins, CO 80521

Directions:
Take College Ave to Old Town. Go West, 4 blocks, on Cherry
Street. Turn North on Sherwood Street. Travel to the end of
Sherwood St and park at Lee Martinez Park (We do not have
sufficient parking at Riverrock). Walk to the South East
into Riverrock Commons Cohousing community. The Common House
is unit #35.

Yo! Who are these people?

2007-07-03T03:09:00.000-06:00

I know I need to have gone to bed. I was just checking one thing :) and then I got distracted.

But what I want to know is "Yo, Who are these people?"

Wow!

2007-07-03T01:15:00.001-06:00

It is late and I need to sleep. I just keep tweaking my blog template. I have impressed myself with my own artistry. Just not sure what to do with all the other loose ends on my website. I think they will have to wait. If you are viewing this through blogspot, you really should go to http://www.DaveGraham.org. The presentation there is slightly better.