I had my 30th birthday this last week. I was frequently asked how I has handling it. Turning 30 seems to carry some serious mental baggage for many people, and seems to cause reflection on one's progress through life.

I'm very happy with my life. I have an awesome wife, two great kids (and one on the way!), a Masters Degree, a house, a job where I work on exciting things with good people, good neighbors and friends, and a small but growing collection of tools in my workshop. I have a relationship with my Savior, and I'm grateful for all he has blessed and granted me with.

I'm don't remember having any specific goals to meet by the time I was 30, so I declare them met.

Perhaps the only downside is that I'm no longer considered a 20-something. Apparently everyone expects the next big 'thing' to come from a 20-something. I'm no off the radar, leaving me free to surprise everyone when I do awesome things.

Being 30 is just fine with me.

On a side note: My 4 year old asked how old I was on my birthday. We told her that I was 'old'. She then asked if I was going to die soon. Ahh, the relativity of things.

I've been pretty quiet on my blog lately, and I have a really good excuse. Now that I've graduated and have time to get involved in some serious endeavors, I've joined the folks at Kynetx. I've been contributing in their efforts to change the world. Indeed, this does change everything.

At Kynetx, we believe that experiences can be made better through better use and understanding of context. (Gartner agrees...) Context is data in time and space: who we are, what we are doing, and what our purpose is. Kynetx has what we call a Context Automation Engine, which does the heavy lifting required to produce intelligent applications. Using our engine, you can create complex applications easily, and deploy them fast.

I'll take a break now and again from my work to post more info, including examples and more information about what we are doing. If you want to learn more, attend the Kynetx Impact developer conference Nov 18-19. We will cover our technology and our vision.

If you are interested in using our platform to add contextual intelligence to your applications, go sign up. Use code Windley50 for a 50% discount, and I'll see you there!

I've now finished my 1,000 mile challenge, and like any self-respecting geek, I ran a few numbers about my ride. I've posted them here, as well as some thoughts about the experience.

Stats

Start Date: 15 May 2009
Days: 100 Calendar Days
Time: 66.5 riding hours
Final Mileage: 1,003 miles
Miles from Commuting: 830
Miles in organized rides: 79 (Tour de Donut, ULCER 60 mile option)
Number of tire rotations: 792,300
Flats: 0* (After a small celebration at the park, I got a flat on the way home....)
Weight lost: ~10lbs.
Average length of ride: 10 miles
Average Moving Speed: 15 mph
Riding Hours: 66.5
Miles I didn't drive in my car: ~400
Time I didn't spend in my car: 16 hours

Random Facts

Many of my commuting miles were spent on the Jordan River Pathway in Utah County.
I did not listen to music (or anything else) at all.
My legs are now in the best shape they have ever been.
Because there is always a breeze, temperature didn't bother me as much as I thought it would.

Thoughts

When I started this challenge, I felt like 1,000 miles was a huge goal. After having completed it, I still feel like it was a huge goal, but in a different way then expected. Pedaling 1,000 miles was not really that difficult. More difficult was my willingness to sacrifice the time it took to ride each day. I cheated to make it work. By trading 10 minutes of drive time for ~45min of riding, I got 45 min of riding in while only sacrificing 35 minutes of time. Added up cumulatively, 16 hours not spent in a car is quite a lot of time recovered and put to better use exercising.

Part of the reason I enjoyed this challenge so much is the route I take to work. I only travel through one major intersection, and most of my riding is on low traffic country roads or paved pathways. My route allows for many variations I can take for various distances. Having a variety of routes breaks things up, and I didn't get too bored of any one route.

With my route and the fact that I was on a bike, I rarely dealt with traffic. After driving more this last week, I have begun to remember how bad commuting traffic can be while driving home. On a bike, I experience almost none of it.

I accomplished my goal in just over three months. Utah has plenty of weather not conducive to cycling, so part of the year it is very painful to ride. Even so, I feel like almost anyone willing to make a consistent effort can accomplish this same goal. I'll write about my gear in another post, but my bike is a simple mountain bike, and I spent very little on gear, especially when you consider comparable gym fees. How much time did you spend exercising in a gym this year? 66 hours? How much did you spend on membership fees? Yeah, my gear was pretty cheap.

So, will I do it again next year? Definitely. I do hope to be on a road bike though...

Early on in my 1,000 mile quest, one of my tires needed to be replaced. I had heard someplace that you could be tires designed for pavement for a mountain bike, and I started poking around.

My good friends at Infinite Cycles recommended that I buy some Continental Traffic Tires. I have been completely happy with these tires.

After installing the tires, I was immediately impressed with the lower rolling resistance, when compared to the knobby bike tires I was used to. The road felt smooth, my downhill speeds increased, and the tires feel very stable cornering. It leads to a much more pleasant experience. They perform well on wet streets as well. After more then a month of commuting on these tires, we took a vacation to Colorado for some singletrack sans kids. With a very few exceptions, these tires performed as well as my previous knobbys! It did slip more then expected as I rode over smooth branches and rocks, but I was very happy with my experience.

The reviews that I've read indicate that these tires last for years, and I'm looking forward to enjoying them on my commute!

If you are among those of us that commute on a mountain bike, do yourself a favor and buy a pair of these tires. The riding experience is much more enjoyable, and you'll find yourself riding more!

In my previous two posts, I introduced my project and described data collection using my G1 and Google Spreadsheets. Today, I'm going to show you how I used Kynetx Network Services to add my ride stats to my personal blog and to the Google homepage.

Dataset Conversion

Google Spreadsheets, where my stats are calculated, can publish data in a variety of formats. It cannot publish JSON data, so I use Yahoo's YQL to convert the data from CSV to json, with the following statement:

(See the raw JSON results)

Building the App

I then build my Kynetx App in AppBuilder, defining the following datasource in the Global block:

Since I ride in the morning and the evening, I cache the dataset for 2 hours. This keeps the data fairly current, but still keeps the service fast.

Annotating My Blog

I have two rules, the first of which adds stats to my personal blog:

I set the rule to fire on my blog's domain, and then use the pick() method to extract different totals from the json dataset declared in the Global block. I construct a message string that varies depending on the different stat values. Finally, I replace the text at the top of my blog page with the message.

To run the Kynetx application on my blog, I plant Kynetx tags on my blog. This enables everyone to see the Kynetx Application with no installs or Action Cards. The html tags are available within AppBuilder, and I simply copied them into the template for my blog.

Annotating Google's Homepage

My second rule is activated by an Action Card installed on the user's computer (instructions for installing this are in my first post). My second rule is very similar to the first rule, with some minor difference in inserted HTML and appending the message to the existing site, instead of replacing anything on the page.

Activating Kynetx Rules with an Action Card also requires an update to the Dispatch block of the rule, adding this line:

I also generate the card inside AppBuilder, providing a custom image that I created using Pixlr

And there you have it. Sam rides 1000 miles, with automated stats provided by Android MyTracks, Google Spreadsheets, YQL, and Kynetx Network Services.

Shameless Plug

Kynetx is a cloud based automation engine, capable of doing the things I've demonstrated and much, much more. If you'd like to use Kynetx Network Services, sign up for an account, and start using AppBuilder.

On my Android powered T-Mobile G1, I'm using the free My Tracks application to record my rides. I start recording just before I start, then throw it in my pocket or bag. I stop recording at the end of my ride, then use the Upload to Google option in the map menu. You can upload the track to My Maps within Google Maps, but my rides are very similar, so I usually only upload to Google Spreadsheets.

Uploading to Google Spreadsheets creates a new spreadsheet in Google Docs, with one page for ride data, and another for stats. The program creates a new spreadsheet for each activity type, so I make sure and select Cycling when I stop recording at the end of my ride.

Additional Stats

It's important not to manually change too much on the Log sheet, as the program will get confused, but everything else in the spreadsheet is open to tinkering. In addition to the total miles and total time stats, I wanted to calculate daily, weekly, and monthly totals.

Before I computed those stats, I had to handle the date field uploaded by the My Tracks application. Google Spreadsheets cannot parse the provided date as a date value, so I had to help it along. I created a Dates sheet to accomplish that task. Rather then try and explain what I did, see this spreadsheet, which contains my modifications and formulas:

Sample Spreadsheet with modifications.

I then added some additional stats, first by calculating the start of the date range I wanted to sum, then using SumIf() to only add the mileage and time from the period I wanted.

Finally, I published the Stats sheet of my spreadsheet, so I could use it as a dataset for my Kynetx Application, which I'll explain in a future post.

I’ve been pretty silent the last few months here on my blog. I’ve been pretty busy with things like settling into our new house and starting full-time at Kynetx. A major sap on my free time both recently and for the last several years has been my Master’s Thesis. I’ve graduated now, and finally carved out some time to update my blog.

In my efforts in resuming regular blogging, I find it appropriate to post my Thesis for all the world. First, a little backstory.

For my thesis work, I worked on an algorithm to combine GPS tracklogs into what I call a spatial network. I chose this work because of my experience building ActiveTrails.com. As any excited graduate student (pre-thesis student, that is) I had grand ideas about what I was going to accomplish with my thesis work. Luckily for me, my graduate advisor guided me properly through the process, and I finally completed my work.

I do find it strange that only a written Thesis is required for an MS in Computer Science. I’ve decided that it only makes sense to post my code, that others might be able to experiment with my work without having to rewrite it from scratch. Now, I’m sure I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my code, and I hope that others can produce much better results then I, and not fall into the same lines of thinking that perhaps restricted my results.

I originally had plans to organize my code, clean it up, flush it full of comments, and organize my result files. And then I realized it might never happen. I’ve packaged my code, source files, and results into a zip file, and though it isn’t perfectly clean, I hope it’s useful for those who want to use it.

Progressive Spatial Networks: Learning from GPS Tracklogs (pdf link)

Source data, python source code, and result files (zip file).

When Twitter was new, the only people that followed me were early adopter, technical people. As twitter has become more mainstream, I have more and more non-technical friends that see my tweets. This is also a result of hooking my twitter feed into Facebook (to keep up appearances), where the tech-to-non ration is very low.

I'll occasionally get a response to a technical tweet that reads "I don't understand any of your updates!" or "Whatever!" and I usually just ignore them. (Seriously people, you know who I am!)

Yesterday, I posted a technical tweet, and the response made me chuckle. My tweet:

The response, posted by my Paramedic Fireman Brother:

Until Twitter (and Facebook) give us better tools to manage different circles of friends, I do enjoy a sense of humor!

My Father has a garage full of tools and years of experience using them for good. I grew up spending many hours in his workshop; some of them voluntary, some of then conscripted. Having moved too far away for quick tool loans, I frequently find myself without the drill, level, saw, or other various tools that I need for some project. Over the last few years I've gradually built up my own small collection of tools.

I appreciate the value of quality tools and my cash supply is limited, and so I must make my purchases carefully. More then a few times in the past few years I've called my Father and said: "I need some bar clamps to fix a drawer. If I'm going to buy a single pair, which size should I get?" This question has been asked about laser levels, bar clamps, crescent wrenches, and other's I've forgotten. His advice has never failed me in choices of brands, sizes, and knowing when getting the cheaper option isn't going to eat me in the long run.

I do appreciate my Father for things other then his tool advice, but in this post, I highlight his excellent guidance in getting the right tool for the job.

I took a moment with my new bar clamps to practice my photography skills. Jess let me borrow the camera for a few minutes, and also gave me feedback on my editing.

I've been asked several times what I think about California's Proposition 8. Proposition 8 is a State Constitutional Amendment that legally defines marriage as between a man and woman. While I live in Utah, I grew up in the SF Bay Area and I've maintained CA residency and have voted in absentee while attending school. I've thought carefully about how to express my thoughts, as I have no desire to offend anyone or start a war. I have friends in a wide variety of circumstances that will be affected by the success or failure of Prop 8. I rarely post on political issues, but feel strongly enough on this issue to voice my opinions and reasons. I also realize that many who read this will disagree with me, and request responses and/or questions to be civil in nature.

I am pro-family. I believe that families are the fundamental unit of society, and that the breakdown of the family will enable the problems of the world to tear apart our society and way of life. Being pro-family, I am against anything that fails to support it in our society. This includes dead-beat-dads, couples unwilling to invest time in a strong relationship, parents who abandon their spouse and/or children, individuals who sleep around and refuse to settle down, young adults who refuse to grow up, and gay and lesbian individuals.

When I say that I am 'against' these things, let me be clear in saying that I do not hate these people, attack them in public or in private, think that they are evil, or anything of the sort. I am against supporting these behaviors. I am fully aware that many people feel differently then I do on these issues, and each of us is entitled to our own beliefs. As mentioned, I have friends and associates in nearly every one of the situations mentioned. I work with, associate, laugh with, respect, and love them. Disapproving of their actions and/or disagreeing with their beliefs is no reason to sever our relationship or treat them unkindly.

The reason I support Proposition 8 is that failing to do so is the same thing as me supporting these behaviors. Even more important to me is the loss of religious freedom that has resulted from the efforts to legalize gay marriage. In 2000, the voice of the voters in California passed laws preventing gay marriage. The voice of the people was overturned by the California Supreme Court, declaring the laws to be unconstitutional. I get upset when the government goes against the voice of the people. The response to this is Proposition 8, which will amend the constitution of California with a legal definition of Marriage as being between a man and a woman.

As a Dad with 2 kids, I am worried about what they will be taught in school as they grow up. While there were certainly things that I was taught that went against my religious beliefs, recent changes in some CA schools have crossed the line of what is acceptable to me. 'Age appropriate' materials discussing gay marriage have made their way into curriculum that in my opinion is not appropriate to children of that age. While I am willing to teach my children the difference between what is taught in school and what we believe, I would rather wait till a more appropriate age to have those conversations.

A failure to pass Prop 8 will force the majority of Californians to be force fed gay propaganda, even though the percentage of the population which gays represent is quite small. The awful behavior of those that oppose Prop 8 in CA has made it clear that they will persecute those that believe in traditional families. Citing discrimination laws, gay rights activists have and will attack churches that refuse to marry gay couples. I refuse to allow governments to control the teachings of my religion, especially when considering the religious reasons for founding this Great Nation.

The parties opposing Prop 8 have advertised that anyone who supports the measure surely 'hates' gays and lesbians. Their tactics have fallen to new lows to accuse others of such hate. Nowhere in any of my reasons to support Prop 8 is hate an issue, and I certainly do not hate people because I disagree with their actions. Would I hate a drug user because I disapproved of their drug use? Of course not. Neither do I hate anyone because of their choice of beliefs.

I hope that I have not offended anyone, and that I have clearly expressed the way I feel on this issue. However you feel, please make your voice heard on Nov 4th by voting on this and other important issues. I will be voting in favor of Prop 8.