Bakker's Blog

A New Goal

Forget the dreams of revolutionizing medical libraries, never mind the vision of fostering real collaboration and information sharing through the use of technology to deliver information at the point of need and make new connections between people and networks of information - i have a new goal. 
Bring the Tom Collins back to nyc. 
Have you had one?  well, they are a Lovely summer cocktail.  but it is shockingly difficult to find a bartender who knows how to make one.  And - buy the mix so you can mix your own after work cocktail?  Don't waste your time on the upper east side.  6 liquor stores and 4 grocery stores later - no mix.  i know it's a simple drink - a little simple syrup, a little lemon juice, gin, club soda and a cherry if you're into garnishes.  but really- at the end of the day, unscrewing the caps of 2 bottles is quite enough; the thought of squeezing a lemon over my most recent paper cut just lacks that after-work-drink appeal.  Or maybe i can finagle a Cleaver thing, except this time June (that's me) goes out to work, and Ward has her made-from-scratch Tom Collins waiting with a smile when i get home from the office.

It's nice to have a new goal. 

New York's loss

My good friends Marcus and Helen are leaving New York.  In the last two weekends, I have been able to spend a fair amount of time with them, and it is only making their parting that much more sad for me.  I have been 'stalking' Marcus and Helen for years now, but I think this is the end of that road and they will be making this trip without me following (while I love to visit San Francisco, if I'm going to live in an incredibly expensive city - i think this is the one.  I mean really- San Francisco isn't even on the map).  It has been great having such wonderful friends and getting to meet such an interesting group of people through them.  I will miss them greatly, and New York is a little worse off for their departure.  Bon Voyage to them on their long trek across our country (they'll be spending a night in my hometown Peoria, Illinois!) and I look forward to keeping in touch virtually, and missing our non-virtual visits.  The Bay area is lucky to get you both. 

Work-Life Balance

Today I got to have dinner with two librarians I respect and admire, Kris and Marcus.  Oh but wait, maybe that should be two people I respect and admire, because that is true too, and I have a tendency to put libraries
first.  The conversation trended for a while to the work-life balance.  Do I have a balance?  Good question - and I think it is all a matter of perspective.  I love being a librarian, and work is my life - but that does not mean I don't do things outside of work.  I think having a career that takes up more than 12 hours a day 5.5 days a week is a not a bad thing...if you love what you do (and thank goodness, I do!).  In fact, I do not really like the term work-life balance, it implies that your work is not part of your life; even if you only spend 8 hours a day at work, that is still a significant part of the day, and to say that is not life...well, I like to think I'm living every minute of my life!  But all work and no play (and vice versa) is not healthy.  In the modern era of internet everywhere, blackberries and cell phones, mixing work and play is a reality, but not necessarily a negative one. I may have my blackberry almost permanently attached to my hip, but that allows me the freedom to be comfortable "playing" and not glued to my desk.  Some days it feels like I work more than I should, but in the step-back-big-picture, my life is full of a variety of things and my networked attachments to work help me realize work as an integral part of my entire life.  I like to compartmentalize parts of my life too, but work seeps into everything and I am satisfied with that (although sometimes my family isn't too thrilled - here is a picture of me during Thanksgiving break dealing with a brief ILL snafu while enjoying a sunset with Lisa.  For me, I was glad that I could be halfway across the country enjoying sunset with my family and friends while also helping a team member at home).

As far as a work-life balance is concerned, I am glad I love what I do and I believe that is the real key to finding a balance. 

Everyone's New York

Thanks to Marcus for his post on New York, although I admit some sadness that it was prompted by his impending departure.  New York is so many things to so many people.  My life-long love affair with the city has caused me to view it as some sort of enigmatic personification of our deepest inner desires (which makes the love-hate relationship so many have a bit more understandable - but in no less need of therapy).  The New York of the movies and songs is a place that is full of hopes and fears, where you are alone while surrounded by the crunch of people, and where anything is possible but you must work hard to survive long enough to get it.  While city life may not be for everyone, those embittered New Yorkers might want to take a look at why they hate it.  This city represents the world of possibilities;  just as I think anything is possible for my life, anything is possible in New York.  But like so many of the great things in life, you have to work hard for it.  But when you get it - it is great, and worth the struggles along the way.  Sure, living here is hard, but that makes it that much sweeter (note: I'm not claiming New York smells sweet...)

Twisted Christmas 1.0

Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Three-Day Weekend.  Whatever holiday you celebrate, have a good one.  At mid-west Bakker Central, we celebrate Christmas- complete with the breakfast of bagels and lox and the stockings hung by the chimney with care. 
For many years now, the holiday season has been the only time we all descend on the parent's homestead en mass - and we make sure it is full of the usual family drama, as well as a therapy-inducing dose of kookiness.  For at least two years, the younger Bakker men have been rumbling about a Tannenbaum Twist.  In 2004, we broke out a model train (Grandpa Gorda got us hooked on model trains at least 20 years ago) and set it up on a lazysusan to make the miniature festivus-pole-with-pine-branches rotate (This beta version 0.6 was a complete failure).   This year it got out of beta and Twisted Christmas 1.0 debuted. 

This is the story of a non-profit venture's journey from idea to proof-of-concept, with a strong marketing plan for Holiday 2007.

The design and production team is comprised of one ABD philosopher, a lawyer and a 35+ year upper management veteran (note: there are two unused engineering degrees in the group).  A signature Bakker characteristic is the need to pontificate a play-by-play (see!  It's genetic!); so on Christmas eve I sat down with the team to try to recapture the day's confabulation.   I was not disappointed - in the words of one of the team members,  "I can reproduce crapola at will."  So what follows are excerpts from the interview:

TAB: Willem, tell me about the concept design. 

WFBII: For the purposes of development, we split into two teams and used concurrent development techniques to work on two solutions to the same problem.  We were fortunate that both approaches completed development simultaneously.  At completion, we had two very different solutions, one had the advantages of scalability and elegance, but the other was ready was ready to go to market immediately.  Management decided to go with the immediate solution to reduce time to market, and the two design teams were re-integrated to finish the project in record time [who's record - no idea].

TAB: Doug, tell me about the configuration of Twisted Christmas 1.0. 

DAB: Twisted Christmas uses a motor harvested from a broken office shredder that has had a lifetime of not-for-profit use.  We stripped the gears (there were initial efforts to use them).  Inspired by Junkyard Wars, a flower pot was used to increase the gear ratio in order keep the tree from spinning too fast.  This aim was supplemented by an external electrical junction box to further decrease the power unleashed by the paper chewing monster.

TAB: Um, Dad - any b.s. to add? 

WFB: We deployed the principles of Rube Goldberg and Junkyard Wars to bring this fiasco to fruition.  Some of the designs were based on low-risk-speed-into torque capacity of the drive mechanism.  We diligently avoided precision and used flexible alignments and mounting of the drive mechanism.  One of the constraints we maintained was the superstructure from a previously failed deployment to reduce the  gears driving the platform;  this failed because one of the  gears stripped itself in the process.  Instead of  redesigning the superstructure, we kept it as a restraint for a pulley-and-belt speed reduction deployment - again based on the best principles of Rube Goldberg. Incidentally, the Tree needed to be secured with four washer-screw combinations to prevent serious injury to observers.
In the absence of a slip-ring, a large extension cord was used to allow a lighted implementation of Twisted Christmas.   Consumers can anticipate a fully-automated, slip-ring supported design with Twisted Christmas 2.0  One of the features of the shredder is a motor reversal, allowing an uncoiling of the extension cord and recoiling at will, this feature may be more fully realized in 2.0. 

Well everyone, I hope your long weekend was filled with as much laughter as Twisted Christmas 1.0 inspired here.  If not, keep an eye on the stores for the commercial debut of our product - and you too can have your own twisted holiday.  Happy holidays and best wishes for 2007. 

Video of the design and production phase.

Video of the Implementation.

Note: No animals (excluding people) were harmed, and all warning labels were removed thereby nullifying any warranties or liability of the parts' producers.  No live  shrubbery were used, abused or otherwise sacrificed in this process. 

New York, New York

My flight took off from La Guardia airport this morning and I peered out of my tiny plane window as we passed over Manhattan.  I could not help but smile as I gazed down on my adopted city, hating to leave even for a few days but happy to get such a fantastic view of the City.  Like so many others, I am a transplant to NYC.  I grew up on stories of my mother's zany weekends in the City and the romantic images from Doris Day, Cary Grant,  and countless other movies from a bygone era when the Empire State Building's tallest building status was a mark of proud distinction, instead of a still heart-wrenching reminder of one of the City's worst and finest hours. 
But better than all the stories, better than all the movies is the reality (okay - better except for any of Audrey Hepburn's NYC movie wardrobes, Doris Day's coat in That Touch of Mink, and 95% of the shoes from Sex and the City, but I digress).  Everyday as I cross Park on my walk to work I look downtown at the once-upon-a-time Pan Am building that spans the width of the wide avenue and a foolish grin appears on my face - I live here!  On  weekends as I walk down to one of my favorite movie theaters, I smile at the silly tourists pouring into the mundane chain restaurants in Times Square and help the families with unfolded maps, all the while secretly thrilled I can finally join the natives in their pride at proving wrong our reputation as a mean city (a pride slightly tinged with derisive laughter at their overwhelmed expressions).  Yes, living here is expensive enough to incite monthly panic attacks; but I cannot help but feel that I live better than any small town millionaire when I take a saturday morning stiletto-heeled saunter through SoHo (in what other city can you wear stilettos before noon on saturday without raising an eyebrow?) to wash my hands (you will understand if you visit), window shop for gorgeous yarn  and maybe drop a wee bit of cash on  a mouthwatering bloody mary before I head back uptown to wander through the Park on the way home. 

Yes, this is a city riddled with problems - from its often questionable politics and provincial self-importance, to its obnoxious cost of living - but it is also a city of enduring promise.  Whenever I am blue, all it takes is a dozen city blocks to make me forget all my troubles.  The sidewalks here really do glitter, and just about anything really is possible. 

Laughter Really is Good Medicine

The article, "Laughter's Link to Health May Be in the Blood" (By Rob Stein) appeared in today's Washington Post (registration required).  The article discusses a study measuring the vasolidation (increase in the caliber of blood vessels [from Dorland's 25th ed.]) of 20 healthy men and women  before and after watching a stressful movie clip and a funny movie clip.  According to the study, "Overall, blood flow decreased by about 35 percent after experiencing stress but increased 22 percent after laughter -- an improvement equivalent to that produced by a 15- to 30-minute workout"  (quoted from the article).    This was not a major study and the hypothesis needs further proof, but I like where this is headed. 

I wonder if watching a funny movie could count towards my 60 - 90 minutes of daily exercise recommended by the UDSA?   Maybe I could get my health insurance to pay my netflix fee as preventative therapy. 
I guess Mom was right, laughter is the best medicine...or at least it's good medicine. 

Making Wine : science vs tradition

Wired Magazine's Rowan Hooper laid bare a rift in the core values of the winemaking industry in the article, "Ye Olde Winos Blinded By Science."  One side, dominated by countries that are newer to the world of commercial wine (e.g. Chile, Australia, New Zealand), is using science to help produce better crops and make the wine "better" or faster, and cheaper.  The other side, dominated by the old school coutries (e.g. France, Spain - those countries with long standing traditions of strict appellation codes and a national recognition of terrior) claim that the old way is the only way. 

I think the United States is somewhere in the middle.  Since we like to do everything bigger, better, and faster - science certainly has a strong role in winemaking.  But at the same time, the U.S. is adopting wine appellations, recognizing the importance of the grape origin.

Can science be used to produce more wine, faster, cheaper, and with more consistency?  And, is that what we want? 
For the average wine drinker on the average day - sure, why not.  Finding an acceptable wine that is cheap enough to drink everyday and consistent enough to not have to re-select with every vintage is a great deal.  But for special occasions, or for every Miles in the world (Miles - from the movie Sideways), the complexity of the grape that comes from the terrior and is coaxed forth to seduce the palate (through the efforts of the winemaker) cannot be replaced by chemical compounds added to tanks in a factory.  The subtle nuances that create a truely great wine are the result of patient care and artisitc talent - and I have yet to see science replace art. 
While I am open to the possibility that science can produce such an exquisite, unique product - I have not tasted it yet (not to mention I do like the process of wine's creation - something the French intimately understand and cherish). 
So for me - back off you techie, only-stuff-made-with-new-technology-is-good hacks and bring me a bottle of real wine.  I'll enjoy my Cote d'Or  while you go siphon off some more pink stuff from that box in your fridge - and bon appetit to us both!
[disclaimer:  the countries newer to winemaking also make some absolutely fabulous, cannot-miss-it wine, and the old countries also make some terrible,  I-wouldn't-serve-this-to-my-worst-enemy wine. And it should be noted - I have been known to be perfectly satisfied with an adequate mass-produced wine from time to time.]

Road Trip to Vancouver!

I found this post on BoingBoing, and I had to post it.  Apparently 3M  sandwiched real money , well Canadian money anyway, (haha!  Just kidding Andrea!) between panes of its safety glass.  This is out on the street in Vancouver. 
Clever advertising! 

Signal vs Noise|3M Security Glass Ad.