Wow... our book is not complete yet and folks have already started writing code based on our examples? :-) I just read on Jim’s blog that Guilherme Silveira, Adriano Almeida, and Lucas Cavalcanti have been doing some good work in this space. Very very cool. Excellent job!

Now guys… we also have a DSL for driving a hypermedia engine that I’d love to see implemented in Java using a persistent backend store. Interested in the challenge? Feel free to have a look at the .NET code from the book if that helps.

Like Jim, I need to get down to finishing those chapters. Not very far from the end now :-)

I loooove good technical arguments. Over the last couple of years, I have stayed out of the community discussions around REST, Web Services, SOA, Grid, and all that. This was a conscious decision on my part. I much prefer to focus on building technology rather than arguing about it :-) However, I still enjoy monitoring what’s going on out there.

The recent publication of the “SOA Manifesto” created some heated discussion. Jim Webber wrote a fun post while Don Box pointed to a humorous page. As the discussion continued, Jim’s “Guerilla SOA” video and rhetoric attracted even more attention. Today, Jim published a great great post about the costs of middleware in building enterprise solutions (“Joe Moe on Guerilla SOA”).

I am a huge fun of simplicity, using the right tools for the job, and incorporating into a solution only what’s absolutely necessary. Jim makes a great point about frameworks. It made me think about the extraordinary value of combining good frameworks with the application of good software patterns and engineering practices.

Of course, one could argue that many frameworks are indeed middleware. But who cares about terminology? As Jim illustrates, when the job is done on time, cheaply, and with immediate positive impact to a customer’s business, who cares about what constitutes middleware vs a framework?

The trick of course is in the application of the right patterns and practices. Again, Jim’s experience shows the great benefit to the customer of consistently following a disciplined development methodology.

Well said mate!

What a wonderful wonderful experience that was! We had a blast!

I left work early to get to Vancouver with 1 1/2 hours to spare so that I could have dinner with my friends before the Black Eyed Peas who were opening for U2. Unfortunately, I hadn’t calculated the traffic at the tunnel before Vancouver, so I spent more than an hour almost parked on the highway :-( Still, it all worked out and I am happy that Dennis and Lillian didn’t miss the opening band, we got our tickets, and got into the stadium just in time!!! :-) I didn’t get to see Theoni and Simran though :-( Sorry guys! I promise, though, I’ll be up there again soon.

It was sooooo nice seeing my best friend Colette again with Brian. They are the best! We had an amazing time altogether.

  
Running to get in the stadium on time, only to realize that we had few mins to spare :-) It got packed afterwards.

  
During the Black Eyed Peas performance. They were great!

  
Being silly during the break.

  
U2 were absolutely amazing. And of course... everyone was taking a photograph. I love the last one :-)

 

And some iPhone photos...
 
 

 

Finally, here’s a panoramic view of the venue during the break. The 360 stage was amazing.

On Friday, my neighbors Janet and Ed threw a party for Ed’s birthday at Sole Repair in Capitol Hill. They always know how to throw a good party :-) It was an absolute blast. The theme was “Xenophilia = love of the strange”. It was so great to see all the different colors and how creative people can be. Oh… and we danced!!! :-)

I went there with my good friend Jon who created his own costume. He came as a hero: “The Tape Man” :-) He literally tapped himself using lots of tape and newspapers (apparently it took him hours :-). It was soooo funny to see. He was even asked to use his “powers” in the street where he tapped a girl, hands and mouth (I missed the photo opportunity there :-( It was absolutely hilarious :-) I was there as a Wizard but got really hot so I removed the beard and then the entire costume.

The Tape Man

   
  

Party photos

Ed looking at his crew :-)

There was a photo-booth at Sole Repair, which automatically showed the photos on a large screen and uploaded them on Usnaps.com. There are many amazing, fun, creative photos (675 of them). The guys arranged for us to get access to them. Thanks!!! Here are few characteristic ones.

  
 

  
 

And yes, this is me taking a photo of the photo showing the camera that took all the photos above :-)

 

Many thanks guys! I had a blast! Happy birthday again Ed!

Seattle is sooooo beautiful at this time of the year. I’ve been carrying my camera with me the last week or so and taking photographs of the colors and the rapidly changing landscape.

This is a sunset from my balcony...

 

The top of the Queen Anne hill, where I live, is gorgeous…

  

I went to Moby’s concert here in Seattle yesterday. It was absolutely great. I don’t know whether it was the music, the dancing (lots of jumping :-), the vibe, the wine + beers that we had beforehand, or the combination of all but I had an amazing time. I loved Moby’s statements of the obvious :-)... “So, next I am going to play the guitar, X is going to sing, etc.” :-)

Here are some iPhone-quality photos from the concert. BTW... the Showbox SoDo venue is great.

  

I am extremely honored and humbled to be amongst so many scientists who have contributed to the book entitled “The Fourth Paradigm: Data-Intensive Scientific Discovery”.

I met Jim Gray back at the end of 2003 and since then he’s been an inspiration to me. He was amongst the best Computer Scientists but also such a great mentor to so many. He continued to give me advice and even offered to be my mentor after I joined Microsoft. His technical contributions to our industry were tremendous and his influence on people extraordinary. As a personal goal in my career, I’d be very happy if I manage to achieve a fraction of what Jim did in his. I try my best to also be a good educator and help others in every opportunity.

Amongst the many things that Jim talked about was the “Fourth Paradigm in Science”, the fact that scientific research has transitioned from “experimental” (thousands of years go), to “theoretical” (few hundreds years ago), to “computational” (last few decades), to “data-intensive” (today). Data-intensive scientific research has been at the essence of what eScience is all about, as shown by Tony Hey’s extremely successful research program in the UK, the Cyberinfrastructure-related research activities in the US, and so many others around the world.

When Tony Hey told me about his plans to collect a series of essays to celebrate Jim’s work and views on the subject, I thought it was a fantastic idea. When he asked me to also contribute, I was extremely surprised, happy, and scared at the same time... but I never say “no” to a challenge :-)

Tony asked me to capture my views on the impact that “semantic computing” might have on the research infrastructure of the future. How could researchers benefit from the promise of “semantic computing”? I called my essay “A platform for all that we know: creating a knowledge-driven research infrastructure”.

“The Fourth Paradigm: Data-Intensive Scientific Discovery” is now available. You can read the chapters separately or download the entire book (6MB PDF). The actual printed book is of fantastic quality. I am waiting for mine to be signed by Tony Hey :-) I also can’t wait to read what the other great scientists have written. Just have a look at the names. They are amongst the best in their fields. What a collection of people/essays!!!

Kristin Tolle, Stewart Stansley, and Tony Hey did an amazing job at editing the book and bringing it to us.

I attended the “Star Wars in concert” show at the KeyArena earlier tonight. It was quite an experience! :-)

There was a large orchestra and symphony to play John William’s compositions from the movie series. A huuuuge screen was playing snippets from the movies. Cameras were not allowed in so I was only able to get few shots with my iPhone.

 

A surprise for me (I just hadn’t checked the schedule or any other information about the show) was the fact that Anthony Daniels (the C-3PO of the Star Wars movies :-) was narrating the show in between compositions.

The music was beautiful. It was great to listen to these compositions live. I think I would have preferred it even more if the show took place in a concert hall, with much better acoustics, rather than an arena. The sound system was fantastic though so no harm done. The arena was packed.

Amongst the videos I was sent today, these two really stand out, for different reasons.

The first one is beautiful and moving. Kseniya Simonova, a sand artist from Ukraine, participated in a talent show on TV and won. Apparently she joined the competition because she wanted to help a kid who needed the money for an operation. Her art tells the story of Ukraine during the Second World War. It’s amazing how her hands create animated stories right in front of our eyes. The storyline is further enriched by the music, making Kseniya’s storytelling a truly unique experience.

Here’s a snippet from a Guardian article about Kseniya’s performance.

“…she recounts Germany conquering Ukraine in the second world war. She brings calm, then conflict. A couple on a bench become a woman's face; a peaceful walkway becomes a conflagration; a weeping widow morphs into an obelisk for an unknown soldier. Simonova looks like some vengeful Old Testament deity as she destroys then recreates her scenes - with deft strokes, sprinkles and sweeps she keeps the narrative going. She moves the judges to tears as she subtitles the final scene”"you are always near".

(Thanks to Despina for forwarding)

 

The second video is about dancing. Not just any dance but the particular one that Matt from Connecticut performs in different places around the world. He’s my new hero and he happens to live in Seattle. I may try to meet this guy :-) Apparently, he did this little dance of his during one of his trips and uploaded it on YouTube. It became popular enough that he got sponsored to travel around and do it in even more countries. It’s really entertaining to watch and I am seriously jealous of the places that he’s been :-)

Matt has a web site where you can read all about him and see all his videos. Here’s one of them...

(Thanks to Karen for forwarding)

“It's the one-man fight against global warning! All I need to do is stick a wire up your butt, and hey presto, no more CO2 problems."

This is what one of my best friends wrote while we were chatting because I keep talking about positive and negative “energy” :-)))) It’s sooooooooo funny :-) Oh... I miss you mate :-)

It was a very short but, still, great trip to the UK and Greece.

The last day of my visit at my family home was relaxing... just spent time with everyone and met more friends. My sincere apologies to everyone I missed. My days were totally packed :-(

I’ve been saying “goodbye” to my family for 18-19 years now, since I first left to live on my own, but it never gets easier, especially after such a short stay :-(

My parents’ place where I grew up, their current dog called “mavroulis”, and my granddad, after whom I am named... yup... he’s a “Savas” :-)

I was looking forward to seeing Meropi again and, as always, I had a blast. Sooooo much energy, great smiles and ideas about life!!! I absolutely adore her and can’t wait to see her again.

Meropi

On my last day I spent some more time with Despina, with whom I had an amazing time in Xanthi, and then my brother drove me to the airport. I am bringing back some very nice chocolate-based deserts (many of you have already tried them :-) If you see me in the first few days, remind me to give you one. I don’t think they are going to last long :-)

I am in London now, where I am staying for the night... I checked myself into a really really nice hotel at Russell Square :-) Too bad that Jim is away to India for work :-( I was hoping to meet with my friend Renata but also to catch a play. At the end, our schedules didn’t work so I ended up just going to a play. And what a decision that was!!! :-)

Since I had never seen the “Phantom of the Opera” at “Her Majesty’s” theatre, I chose to just turn up, after I had just dumped my stuff at the hotel, and see if they had any seats available. I was very lucky to find a great one at the front of the stage. I enjoyed the show tremendously. I was really captivated by the huge production (the stage was transforming all the time), the amazing music, and the exceptional singing of course. It’s one of those memories that you just know is going to last. Even though I knew the story, I was still moved by its delivery. The cast was outstanding!

  

After the play, I walked around SOHO, ate, and just absorbed the London vibe. I LOVE this city. Perhaps Meropi is right... a move here might not be a bad idea after all :-)

Now I need to recover from all the eating and drinking. Training for the half marathon will probably help :-) I am also looking forward to diving into the responsibilities of my new role. Even though I did do few things while on the road, I am eager to start the real hard work! The trip to Greece has really helped with my energy levels. I feel that I can be creative again, motivated, and full of ideas.

Seattle, here I come :-)

After an amazing day/night in Thessaloniki, Kostas and I drove to Xanthi, my home city (just a couple of hours from Thessaloniki). My family house is actually 5km out of Xanthi, in the beautiful village of Petinos (photos of the place where I grew up will come with my final blog entry).

It was sooooo nice seeing my parents, my brother (whom I hadn’t seen for over the year), and my grandparents (all in their mid-80s now :-) I spent all afternoon with them and then joined them in one of my cousin’s engagement dinner (yes… food again :-)

 

I left the engagement party early to join some of my friends at bars in Xanthi.

In the photos: Despina, Mary, Vangelis, Filippos (my brother), Kostas, Mpampis.

The last stop was Mpampis’ bar (the last photo above) which I love. The three of us talked about our views for social justice, what’s fair in the world’s economy, how to solve the world’s problems, etc. etc. :-) Wayyyyy into the night… 4am.

I walked Despina, whom I’ve known since high-school, to her family’s place (she’s visiting too from Thessaloniki) and then did the crazy/stupid thing I tweeted about yesterday :-) I walked to find a taxi and got back home. Once I arrived in Petinos, I realized that I hadn’t made arrangements to get a key for the door. Still, I seemed to have car keys in my pocket. Car keys? Eh? I had totally forgotten that I drove my mom’s car when I went out :-))) It was already past 4.30am so I just decided to sleep for few hours and go pick up the car in the morning :-)

I woke up early and walked to Xanthi. Found the car and went to get “mpougatsa” for Despina and myself (photo below). It was general election day for Greece. Despina (very very clever girl... PhD in theoretical physics, research work, etc. :-) was working on the exit-polls. I decided to keep her company for most part of the day. It was HILLARIOUS!!! We were laughing all day. It was an amazing place for people-watching. Even though we weren’t there in any election-related official capacity, everyone was asking us for directions, help, etc. Both of us, very polite, were more than happy to help. It was lots of fun! Soooo many lines to remember, stories to tell :-)

 

After a break to have lunch with my family and to exercise my voting rights, I rejoined Despina for a while before going off to meet more friends. Afterwards, I ended up eating, yes again, at Vangelis’ and Mary’s new amazing house (at this stage, I am even getting full by just typing about food :-)

Finally... a “quiet” night... only till 1.30am... in one of my favorite bars called “Ano Kato” (“Up Down”) with Despina.

Tomorrow is my last day around here before making my way to Seattle via London... meeting with even more friends! :-))

I don’t expect all nights are going to be like my first one in Thessaloniki because if that’s the case, I’ll need to take a vacation immediately upon my return to Seattle :-)

Wow! The welcoming was amazing.

Kostas picked me up from the airport and we headed towards Thessaloniki while listening to Radio Republic. One of the most popular radio producers and personalities in Thessaloniki, Stefanos Tsitsopoulos (also editor of Soul), was on (whom we happen to know :-) Well, he announced my arrival to Greece over the air, said few things about where I am and what I do, and even dedicated a song to me :-) Many thanks to Stefanos; that was a nice surprise :-)

After dropping off the car in favor of Kostas’ Vespa, we went to find our friends Panagiotis and Athanasia. I hadn’t seen their beautiful baby daughter before :-) Of course, there was lots of food involved (which I expect to be a common theme while in Greece :-)

  

  

After dropping off our stuff at a hotel, I met with my great great friend Katerina, whom I love dearly!!! She’s amazing!!! We spent some time alone at one of the coffee places down by the sea, before we were joined by Natasa and Kostas again. Then, it was time for .ES (a new bar & restaurant) where Kostas’ photographs were in display. We must have stayed there 3 hours or so... chatting, laughing, and drinking :-)

(photograph quality drops from now on... iPhone rather than proper camera but, still… there are some amazing shots/frames... the ones that Kostas took :-)

Then on to the streets of Thessaloniki and the various bars... art, meeting people, more drinking. Kostas and Nikos (his assistant) seemed to know EVERYONE. Even at 3am the streets were full of people... amazing vibe, music everywhere. Oh... I soooooo miss this aspect of Greece.

 

At 4am we found ourselves at a club, dancing... totally packed with people :-) We stayed there for about 30mins before heading for some food again :-)

I am now in Xanthi, spending time with my family and eating mother- and grandmother-cooked food :-)

Despite a rocky start to the trip due to the jet-lag and a cold, I now feel so much better and I am ready (and very excited) to see my family and friends in Greece. I am currently at the British lounge at Gatwick, waiting for my flight.

The meeting in Cambridge went great. The presentation went smooth and ALL my demos worked flawlessly, which must have been a first :-) We got some nice feedback and there seemed to be genuine interest in Zentity. Alex Wade did an amazing job running the meeting and presenting all the wonderful things that the group has been doing.

On the way to the hotel near the airport, I met a young mother (very sweet and smiling... my type of person :-) with her son, Kendal. They are traveling (backpacking) around Europe for 5 weeks. They had just returned from Greece and they were on the way to Rome (I didn’t ask why they were using Gatwick as a hop). They are from Portland!!! :-)

Kendal and I became friends instantly. He even gave me a pin that he and his mom made as a present at the end. I really wish them all the best and I hope they keep in touch :-)

 

Now... on to Greece... recharge, get rid the last bits of negative energy from the summer, and have fun! :-)