Last Sunday, Michele, Dave, and I participated in the “No Pants Light Rail Ride” event. Similar events take place in major US cities every year. This one was the first one in Seattle.

It was an absolute blast. We had such a good time! Just looking at the expressions of unexpected passengers was great :-) Michele and Dave... you were both such a good company. Many thanks!

Videos and photographs of the event are all over the place. Here are some representative ones.

• The Komo News report is fun. The reporter took his pants off at the end :-)
• The Highline Times post has some nice photos (just click on the first one).
• The Seattle PI has some video shots. David is the one talking at the start. I can be seen in two of the shots in the first few seconds, albeit very very briefly. At the end of the video, the shot of the pants on the conveyor belt at the airport is great :-)
• King 5 news: Michele and Dave can be seen. The “happy faces” guy is blocking me :-(

A random YouTube video.

And here are some of Dave’s excellent photographs (I can’t believe I am posting photos of myself without pants :-)

It’s been long time in the making but, finally, Tony is blogging :-) In fact, it seems that the entire External Research team might be posting through the same blog. Definitely worth following! And no, I am not just saying this because it’s my previous team and I really like everyone over there :-)

External Research blog

The inspiration behind this blog is a strong desire to foster connections that lead to meaningful breakthroughs; to engage in ongoing dialog in an open forum; to discuss and debate the information and ideas critical to harnessing the power of science and technology to address the most urgent global challenges.

Every day, I have the privilege of witnessing the wonder of discovery, regardless of where it takes place, or whether it’s undertaken by academic researchers and scientists around the world or within Microsoft External Research. For those of us at Microsoft External Research, the opportunity to collaborate with the finest and researchers and scientists working across the globe today is the core of everything we do.

This blog is being launched at a critical juncture in the research field. Over the next decade, it’s predicted that more scientific data will be accumulated than has been collected thus far in all of human history. For every member of the global research community, that fact represents a serious responsibility. Given the richness of available resources, it’s important to make the most of that data by sharing not only ideas but inspiration as well, and to challenge one another to contribute the best work possible to the global, virtual collective of dedicated research and technology professionals. The work being undertaken by the global research community is significant: the impact of the research being done throughout the community extends far beyond today. And, by collaborating in order to share the best work, the pursuits will benefit generations to come.

Please, let us know what’s on your mind. Let us know what’s important to you and how the research community can make a meaningful contribution to your work. On behalf of all of us at Microsoft External Research, we look forward to the conversation.

Tony Hey, Corporate Vice President

Microsoft External Research

(source: Welcome to the Microsoft External Research blog)

Last February, I linked to a video, which I thought was very powerful, from Konstantinos Pilavios. Here’s another one called “Small Pleasures” (make sure you watch it all the way to the end).

(thanks to Ioannis Kavouras for the link)

Our upcoming book (tentative title: “REST in Practice”) has a Facebook page, so go become a fan. We are going to start posting news/updates about the book soon. You’ll also be able to ask questions, monitor our progress, and give us feedback. However, if you are not a Facebook fan, you can always contact us directly:

Savas Parastatidis: Web, Facebook, Twitter, email

Jim Webber: Web, Facebook, Twitter, email

Ian Robinson: Web, Twitter

We are also considering launching the “restbucks.com” Web site.* “Restbucks” is a coffee shop. It is used throughout the book as an example of how Web technologies could be used to build Web-based services solutions (inside and outside of an organization), apply hypermedia in the implementation of business processes and documents, address scalability and fault tolerance issues through caching, utilize Atom and Atom Pub, etc.

We are very excited about the book and we are making our best to bring it to your hands as soon as possible. We are also thrilled to see our work already influencing the thinking behind efforts like Restfulie.

* We need to check with a lawyer first for obvious reasons :-)