Honda and Suzuki snub American motorcycle race fans in 2009

Two of the "Big Four" Japanese motorcycle manufacturers have committed to a motorcycle racing season next year with no American riders on factory teams. Honda and Suzuki are taking a gamble that American race fans who ride Hondas and Suzukis will be content to cheer for ..... no one. At least no one from America. I think it is a mistake to take a publicity dive in the world's largest motorcycle market. American racers sell bikes in America. In 2009, the cheering and the sales in America will be around Ducati, Yamaha, and Kawasaki. Regardless of who wins the races next year, Honda and Suzuki are losers. Here's why.

America motorcycle dealers will have no excitement about their riders.
Imagine yourself next spring, talking with your local dealer about racing, saying, "I'm rooting for (insert rider name) this year." If you are a Honda or Suzuki dealer, the names they will mention will not be riding your bikes. No posters of Americans, no rider helmet paint schemes, no public face, literally nothing that represents "American Honda." Zip, nada. "American Suzuki" has (drum roll) Tommy Hayden. I love Tommy, but as an American, I'm not feeling the love.

In sharp contrast, Ducati dealers are literally sqealing with glee to get Nicky Hayden associated with their brand. They are going to sell bikes, and I suspect, a ton of merchandise. The better he does, the more they will sell. Yamaha still has Edwards, Ben Spies in World Superbike, and if American superbike gets sorted, they will have Americans there too. They are covered. Kawasaki has Hopper, Hacking, and Roger Lee Hayden. Covered. Lots of buzz and smiles at those dealers, feeling the love.

America media will have no excitement about their riders.
When local media covers the GPs at Indy and Laguna Seca next year, they will be drumming up the American riders and their chances. Do you think Honda and Suzuki will even get a mention? I seriously doubt it. No tv interviews, no serious ink. Although Honda has a great potential for more bad press, as it did at this year's Indy event. The void of charisma in the Honda and Suzuki garages is absolutely staggering.

Honda and the Spanish Mafia
The press has had a field day with Honda's generally accepted mistreatment of Nicky Hayden. The negative press around Alberto Puig and Dani Pedrosa is embarrassing. Honda wants to win, at all costs. Repsol, the Spanish oil Company is their major sponsor. Dorna, a Spanish media corporation, controls the series rules and media distribution. I don't know of a single American that is rooting for Pedrosa. Even if Pedrosa does win the championship, it will always be tainted in the eyes of American race fans. Honda has shown us that it actually is possible to use racing to reduce sales in your best market. (That's not a compliment.)

Suzuki embraces GP mediocrity
Suzuki had a promising young American rider named Ben Spies, poised to be the next Kevin Schwantz (at least a prayer anyway). So Spies was asking for too much money, so what. Try to actually get a rider who has the potential to win you a championship. There is literally no chance that Caporossi or Vermeulen will become GP world champion. There is no plan for the future. Why bother running the bikes at all? As bad as 2008 was for Suzuki, I expect 2009 to be worse.

Your last premiere class GP world champion rider was from.....America!
Honda's last champion: Nicky Hayden. Instead of supporting your champion, you built your next bike around your second rider. This is the same rider who took out his own teammate, and almost threw away the championship. This does not make sense.

Suzuki's last champion: Kenny Roberts Junior. The one before that: Kevin Schwantz. Those were great days, weren't they? I bet they sold bikes too!

Your last AMA Superbike champion rider was from.....America!
Honda's last champion: Nicky Hayden. So, you took him to Europe to give the GPs a try. Result? A world championship that you didn't even appreciate. Duhamel and Hodgson aren't winning races. Your efforts in America have pretty much imploded.

Suzuki's last champion: Ben Spies, three straight years, selling bikes, screaming potential for GPs. He's riding for Yamaha next year. I'll bet it's not much more, maybe less, than he was paid in 2008. The hope is gone now.

Respect
Get some! Honda has put all it's effort into a Spanish rider that American race fans openly booed at Indy. Suzuki took the one rider they had who had a remote possibility of becoming GP world champion, and left him out in the cold. Alienating American race fans is not good for business. American Honda and American Suzuki had better wake up and do something in 2010. Their 2009 is going to be a long, boring, lonely year.

Update 2009: Honda has announced that they are pulling out of the AMA altogether for 2009. The recession is hitting hard. Ben Spies and Nicky Hayden are doing good times in off-season testing.

Apple and the new MacBook Pro are awesome!

I have now had a MacBook Pro for a month, and I'm really impressed. Fortunately, my work bought it, stacked with 4GB of memory. I'm programming in Objective-C now. Anyway, by sheer hardware, it's impressive. The unibody is simply gorgeous. The new placement of the connectors and the SuperDrive is very clean.

After using it a while, the biggest deal has become the new trackpad. It's bigger as far as space, and the whole area is a button. The is so much nicer and e4asier than any other trackpad I've used. It is more sensitive to touch, and just acts smarter. When you're clicking and moving all day, evrything that makes that easier is appreciated.

I've been programming for, and using, Windows PCs most of my career. But I have to say I enjoy the Mac far more. Programming with XTools is a joy, though not perfect, it's as good as Visual Studio ever was. It also forces the programmer into MVC programming. This is a good thing. It's practically impossible to do "bad" programming. This explains part of the reason why Mac "just works." It's not a fluke, it's not just the hardware, though that is a major factor. In Windows-based tools, it's outrageously easy to get sloppy. In Mac, it's incredibly hard. That's not something I hear regarding Mac vs. Windows. It deserves to be a biger part of the conversation.

The last thing I want to mention is the intangible -- less stress. I find myself doing fewer steps, fewer clicks, more stability, more speed. These are little thingts that simply add up every day. I had no idea how much more work was doing inside Windows. My wife has had a MacBook Pro for a full year, and I have not rebuilt her machine once. That was something I did at least twice a year. The only time she has problems is when she's running something in Windows/Parallels. Again, it's just something I notice.

My wife has found it amusing that I have become "Mac happy." Guilty as charged. I have more reasons than most typical users to be that way. Yes, Apple products are shiny, cool, and age very well. Nut make no mistake, there is competency there, a lot of it. Considering the freefall of Microsoft into incompetence and denial, the contrast couldn't be more stark right now. I have beenj converted, and I'm not going back anytime soon. Great job, Apple!

Hurricane Ike and MotoGP at Indy

My brother and I were fortunate enough to fly out to Indianapolis to see the MotoGP. The remnants of Tropical Storm Ike made things a lot more interesting than we anticipated. Basically, it was three days of torrential rain. So in many ways, it was a unique experience, beyond the historic build-up about motorcycles racing for the first time since 1909 at Indy.

First, the weather, where we later saw the local weather man showing the center of Ike going over the city, and the racetrack. I was not surprised, because on race day, the winds changed 180 degrees from the 125s to the 800s. It was very dangerous out there, and even though it's exciting to see a crash, you really don't want to see someone get hurt. Bringing out the red flag on this day was merciful. Sheets of water, leaves, branches, trash, all flying sideways across a wet track, while these guys are going 200 mph, is a little crazy.

In spite of the weather, the experience was fantastic. I definitely want to go back. The people, obviously hurt by the economy, were really wonderful, and well organized. The number of merchandising choices was the largest I've seen at any track event. Lots of food at different parts of the track, which made things convenient when the downpour started. We had some coffee and a funnel cake (a stringy waffle snack with powdered sugar), which was really tasty. Standing under the bleachers, while the heavens opened up, you knew you were surrounded by the hard core fans, that's for sure.

As far as the racing and the track, it was really nice. Valentino Rossi won, passing Agostini's record of all-time premiere class wins. Nicky Hayden came in second, sporting a Colts logo on his helmet. Nice to see him return to form, and even nicer to know that he moves from Honda to Ducati next year. It's hard to win on a bike specifically built for the Spanish midget. Dani Pedrosa was repeatedly greeted with loud boos from the crowd, so the Honda bosses had some things to ponder about their decisions. Pedrosa is not the next Rossi. The next Rossi was not on that grid. But in the 125 Red Bull race, Hayden Gillim looked incredible for a kid only thirteen. Perhaps he's the one....

If you've never gone to see grand prix motorcycles race, give it a try, you may really like it. It's not as crowded as NASCAR, and there are a lot of passes and crashes, that are far more entertaining and close than what you see on four wheels.

The Mojave Insult and the Seinfeld Shoes

As with most people, the negative impression of Vista has been long, deep, and across the board. It's not sporadic, it is the vast, overwhelming majority. Even the most staunch Microsoft zealots have had major problems with it. Vista is a disaster.

I had a former co-worker, who was an ex-Microsoft employee, and he had gone back and forth between installing Vista, versus back to XP, then back. When you have Microsoft power users, experts (!), blowing 4+ hours for each Vista retry, and failing, you have a big problem. It is crazy to think that the general public will be more successful.

Enter "The Mojave Experiment." I had heard about the site, which requires Silverlight, by the way. Last night I finally saw the TV commercial. The premise is like the old Pepsi Challenge, where you try Coke versus Pepsi and pick the one you like. But this one is a "new" Microsoft OS called "Mojave," where people off the street try it and love it. They are implying that this should be compared to Vista. Then the big reveal is that Mojave is Vista, Vista is Mojave.

In other words, there is nothing wrong with Vista. It's not a software problem, it's a people problem. People are just too stupid to realize how wonderful and bug free Vista is. What a relief. Apparently, we have all suffered some mass hysteria where we imagined Vista problems that weren't really there! All it took was a controlled environment, with novice computer users, to prove it. Microsoft is denying there is a problem with Vista.

I saw this commercial with my wife, and her reaction was that it was an insult. I think her observation was spot on. This is hubris and denial on a very public and embarrassing scale. It's official: Microsoft has lost it. Microsoft is telling us we are just stupid, it's not Vista.

Later on, we saw an Apple commercial, this one where PC is the King, with robe, sceptre, and throne. The premise being that Apple store staff will help you transfer your PC files to Mac when you switch to Mac. What a contrast of message: "You're stupid" versus "We will help you, it's easy."

So the big plan was to have Jerry Seinfeld come and save the day, and overturn these Apple commercials with something hip and funny. If you have not seen the Seinfeld/Gates shoe commercial, don't worry, you're not missing anything. The message is very subtle. In fact, it is so subtle, I don't get it. Seinfeld and Gates say we can expect something pliable, mushy and gooey? We are supposed to be impressed with Gates shifting his butt? Are you kidding me?! The Seinfeld commercial is definitely not funny.

At $10 million, I originally thought the Seinfeld project may stop the bleeding on TV. Instead, these commercials confirm the bleeding and the denial are all too real. My opinion is that Mojave and Seinfeld are monumental marketing gaffs. Vista will not recover from its well-deserved reputation. The bottom line: Microsoft is in a public relations free fall.

Book Review: Manning Adobe AIR in Action

As of this writing, there are more books on AIR coming in the fall (2008). So I was excited to have an opportunity to review a book before its release. So, many thanks to Manning and Emmy Southworth of he Salt Lake City Adobe User Group! Adobe AIR in Action is a superb book, and I would say is the first must-have book on Adobe AIR.

One of the strengths of this book is the flow and pacing, which is pretty consistent, and comfortable to follow. I came to appreciate the way Manning uses it's code samples, with numbered comments, that also correspond to the sentences in paragraphs that relate to lines of code. It's practically impossible to get lost, and that's a confidence boost for the reader.

Another trait of the "In Action" books is the concept->example formula. Easier said than done, this book is a fine example of really pulling it off. I never felt overwhelmed. The sample applications here are refreshingly concise. Many books have examples that have a lot of code that wanders off a little, but not this one. One of the applications is using YouTube APIs, where there's enough dazzle, without extra fluff. The sample applications here stuck to the point, and didn't waste my time.

So what are the highlights of the book?

When it comes to standard Flex/Flash RIAs, there's really no need to consider anything outside the browser. This book concentrates on desktop-oriented programming, the things you need to know. I thought the section on menu types and how they work across OSes was very thorough. They cover many of the gotchas of window types, and things that we tend to expect from a windowed application as far as behavior.

File system concepts, like reading files, reading directories, reading streams, writing files, all are handled well. Excellent examples of all. The copying, pasting, and drag and drop are covered equally as well. The material always feels complete, not rushed.

The database section concentrates in AIR's support for SQLite, and again gets to the implementation in a direct way. There are obligatory pages going over the basics of SQL, and a nice explanation of how to create a database and tables. They show a relational junction table as well. However, I am always a little sad when databases are discussed, and normalization is not. I know that AIR application databases are relatively small in size. But...Normalization is THE most important thing to know - truly know, when building any database. It's a serious gotcha.

I enjoyed the Network communication chapter, which covers HTTP and other network connectivity monitoring. There's only so much to show here, whereas a Flex book may show a lot more about the actual communications.

The HTML in AIR chapter could easily be applied to a normal Flex RIA. It's always nice to see how you can have Actionscript and Javascript communicate via the DOM. There is no shortage of good examples, and they don't disappoint. Obviously the authors were very excited about it. However, the parts that I found most interesting was loading PDF, managing caching, cookies, authentication, and sandboxes. I was really pleased they included this material.

This book has the best explanation of installing with badges and updating that I've read so far. It's easy to read, and takes away any intimidation. If only all desktops were this easy! They finish up with launching an AIR application via file type or browser RIA (Flex or Flash). This functionality of the AIR runtime is really appreciated by those of us who've done desktop development, and done it manually.

Summary

Adobe AIR in Action is a great book that is very concise in its concept descriptions. The examples are top notch, well explained, and easy to follow. They cover the basics of what a desktop application needs: windows, menus, file access, clipboard. They cover using the SQLite database and network connection well. And the installer and automatic updates features of AIR are simple and complete. The best way to describe this book is concise and competent. If you are a web developer, doing a desktop application for the first time with AIR, this is a book that will really help you. For any AIR developer, this book is easily a strong reference/sample book, that will not collect a lot of dust. It's that good, very usable.

Book Review: FriendsOfEd Foundation Flash CS3 Video

Being someone who works with Flash and video as my profession, this is obviously an appropriate book for me to read. I am happy to say that this is a really good book, and touches on some subjects where previous Flash video books have not gone before.

As with all Flash video books, they start with the usual "Here's how to slap in a video, encoded, and running in an FLVPlayback component. Standard stuff, not unexpected, and yes, I'd say obligatory.

They also go into how to create some video content and editing with iMovie and Movie Maker. I was surprised that this actually well done, and had the right length.

Where things start to get interesting is in the "Talking Heads" chapter. It was really good to see a much more expanded explanation of how to approach this common technique. They go into more detail about creating alpha channels with After Effects and Final Cut Pro than I'd seen before. Instead of just showing how to do it, they also discuss how to do it with some flare. This includes applying filters, blends, shadows, video-on-video, and video reflections. The book really goes to some places I really hadn't considered trying with video. There is a nice explanation of using a matrix and how to apply a Convolution Transform.

This book shows masks and effects in much more detail than previous books I've read. They do examples of moving masks, rotoscoping, aging and more. Although I prefer to use After Effects for video effects, this is a good alternative if you don't have video production products to do that.

I like the section on playing multiple videos. It gives you some different ways to do that. The interactive video of the guy slapping himself was hysterical. If you have a kid who likes slapstick, this interactive approach to video abuse is pretty entertaining.

The chapter on going small and going big is excellent. While I'm not into video for the phone -- yet, this is covered fairly well. Much more appropriate for my work is going big, and that's looking at fullscreen h.264. This is the only Flash video book at this time that really dedicates space to this subject, and does a good job. There has been a lot of moaning and crying over Flash Player and it only supporting flv and mp4, and how that's not "acceptable." Grow up already! AVIs, WMVs and MPG (2) are ancient, obsolete formats, and are the video equivalent of the 8-track tape. The difference in compression, bit density and quality is absolutely huge. Don't believe me? Standard video on an HDTV looks terrible, but that is not stopping sales, is it? It's the same thing. If you are a Microsoft guy, and you're trying to do video -- I pity you. In stark contrast, the Apple MOV format is identical to mp4, and their video tools are incredible. They are in great shape!

The last section they have that is unique is using the camera object. But they really go a lot further, using video for boxes, flipping them, and inserting them into various displays. The effects and things you can do are very similar to iPhoto and iMovie effects, only you can do them from Flash. I can just see some security guy wanting to use the motion capture example.

Summary
FriendsOfEd Foundation Flash CS3 Video is an excellent book, with a lot of solid detail. It covers a lot of territory, as far as techniques that someone can use. Other Flash video books cover a lot more video production and encoding than this book does. But if you are doing any video with alpha channel production, fullscreen, mp4, or cameras, this is the right book for you. That's where this book shines.

Pixar Lunch at ADC 2008

As I've posted here before, I attended the Apple Developer Conference 2008 in San Francisco. One of the most interesting speakers I heard was someone from Pixar Development. Aside from being entertaining, there were some awesome quotes that really had me going "Amen, brother!" Here they are, paraphrased:

"If your application and its architecture are not going to get you where you need to be, it's okay to let it go." Sometimes when a lot of development time has been investing in one's code, it is hard to admit that it is obsolete. Using yesterday's code to add on today's new development challenges can mean compromises that prevent you from creating the best software you are capable of. The more this is repeated, the more limited you become. This doesn't mean leaving a path of destruction. However, nothing lasts forever, and the lifespan of software is incredibly short. Modern development challenges require modern software architectures. Software should be clean and concise, without the workarounds of the past. In the long run, it costs more money to keep tweaking than it does to rewrite it and do it correctly.

"If you are not going to make industry-leading, best-of-breed software -- don't do it. You are wasting everyone's time. Go do something else." This is a bold statement, but it goes to the heart of the aspirations of a developer. If you are developing something that is second rate, you might as well pack it in. The example he used was for the movie Toy Story 2. Disney wanted a cheap, straight-to-video movie. Unfortunately, the people at Pixar working on the project got incredibly depressed, and hated their work. They were taking shortcuts and compromising the integrity of their work, and not fulfilling the promise of what they knew they could produce. So, they went back to Disney and said, no, we will not produce a low quality product. The final result was a high quality movie instead, and happy people, not just at Pixar, but for the audience.

"Build sharp scalpels, not dull Swiss Army knives." This one can get some people a bit defensive. There are those who think that feature-rich means quality. It does not. It is better to make separate products, or even plugins, that are extremely high quality. They serve a specific purpose concisely, and with power. Would you want a doctor to operate on you with a Swiss Army knife? I hope not. This is true for making modern software. It is also true for careers. Technology changes, evolves, and gets better. As new tools and technologies emerge, you should use the best you can to complete your task.

My Thoughts.
I think that many developers become so skilled at certain languages and technologies, that they refuse to use better, more efficient tools to complete their tasks. Some view my career as a Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none, because I have not become an extreme expert on a particular language or skill set. That requires a complete investment and some blinders, where you have to ignore new technologies to a large extent. I believe that is fairly stupid, and a recipe for career obsolescence.

I think some developers personalize their software. It becomes their baby, and their work represents who they are. Actually, if someone does this, I agree. As their software becomes obsolete, and stops moving forward, so do they. I think this is crazy. I think you always modernize your code, and yourself. I believe you keep your eyes open for the best, most modern tools and technologies you can find to produce industry-leading results.

Technology is not built on bedrock, it is built on sand. The higher you build, the more unstable, and the greater the fall. Adaptation and speed allow you the ability to acquire excellence. Excellence is a constantly moving target. You can place your foot down on the technology treadmill if you want. But if you do not know when and why to lift your foot and move forward, you are not as good as you think you are. Pixar is the perfect example of moving forward and not compromising excellence. I say, be like Pixar!

My week at WWDC08 Apple Developer's Conference in San Francisco

I just got back from the WWDC08 Apple Developer's Conference in San Francisco, and it was a fantastic week! Now before anyone starts looking for info from the conference...I'm sorry, I can't do that, NDAs in place.  Let me just say that as a developer, there has not been a better time to embrace Apple technology. I'm not saying that in a small way, I'm saying it in a big way.

Since I work with and enjoy creative media technology, Apple and Adobe have been the places I have looked to. I have applauded Adobe's move to embrace Linux, not just in words, but in real products. But as many Adobe technology buffs observe, the carbon-based Flash Player on OSX is not exactly getting with the program. Apple has been going the way of Cocoa for some time. Don't even get me started about Flash on the iPhone! The ball is in Adobe's court, it's no secret what they need to do. I sincerely hope they respond well.

One of the highlights of the week was our Helius group going to the ballpark to see the A's and the Yankees. The A's won.  The food in the city was fantastic. I think my favorite meal was at Roy's, which is not too far from Moscone Center.

Up until now, the market share of Apple was so small that it was a niche of a career move to develop on. The combination of a very successful OSX, the explosion of iPods, the spectacular failure of Vista, and those extremely-funny-and-true mac/pc commercials, the market is changing in Apple's favor. Look on any college campus, and the cool kids are the one's with the Macs, definitely not the Dells. At the conference, the momentum is obvious.

As a developer, that is a trend I cannot ignore. The fact that the conference sold out for the first time, and about half of the attendees were first time attendees spoke volumes. And after this week, and seeing the direction, and the polish of the development tools, I've come away extremely impressed and energized.

Yes, I want an iPhone! Yes, my head is swimming with information and techniques from the week! Yes, I ate too much! Yes, I had a great week with perfect weather! Yes, I love working for Helius! I'm typing away on my Mac laptop, on my back porch on a sunny, mid-70s day with my wife, our cats, and my son playing in the jacuzzi. Tomorrow is father's day. I'm happy, for sure. 

Autism snippets: May 5, 2008

William Coleman, founder and chairman of BEA Systems Inc., has donated $250 million to the University of Colorado to research neurological disabilities like autism and Down Syndrome. This is the largest gift ever given to a public university in the United States. The Colemans have a niece with special needs. Good news.

Here in Utah, we just had the Utah Walk Now For Autism. Thanks to everyone who participated and donated. This was organized with Autism Speaks, who is also getting donations through Toys 'R' Us.

May 21-25 is the Autism One 2008 Conference in Chicago.

My wife heard from one of the neighbors that a kid was doing a presentation in his class about autistic children. Before the presentation began, the teacher of the class began by saying that vaccines have been proven to have no link with autism. So, with that the student presented his arguments, and won over the class, over the vocal protest of the teacher. Why? He argued that epidemiology was not hard scientific proof, citing the decades of epidemological studies "proving" that cigarettes did not cause lung cancer. His conclusion was that until we have non-epidemiologocal proof, we should be safe rather than sorry. Smart kid! No word on his grade.

For parent of autistic children, wanting to find those answers, it's amazing how aggressive people are in shouting us down. Our society has been well indoctrinated into calling our concerns a myth. But autism is not like the Loch Ness Monster. You can easily sit down with thousands of American autistic children, and solve the mystery. You get a new one every 23 seconds! As demonstrated by this classroom, the propaganda is not working. In this case, the children are smarter than the teacher.

Book Review::The Zen of CSS Design: Visual Enlightenment for the Web

This book has the whole package: layout strategies, using images, proper fonts, special effects.

If you are doing anything with CSS, this book is required reading. In fact, I can safely say this is my favorite CSS book. Why? While most books cover the technology, this book covers the philosophical and design aspects of the application of CSS.

As a programmer, I feel at home with the standard fare of CSS books. However, there is something missing. The element of design is a core half of what CSS brings to us. An ugly page can be done in CSS just as well as a sliced up table layout. But a well designed page, and a well constructed page as far as markup, is what we all want to achieve in the end, right?

If you are not awate of what CSS Zen Garden is, you are in for a treat. This one site single-handedly converted me to CSS, in one day. It was the last time I ever did a table layout. It shows the power of CSS, where the markup does not change -- a true separation of content and design. Check it out, you won't regret it. If you are not impressed, you must be one of those command-line, hopeless types.

The book takes different posted designs, and describes how they work. It's one thing to see the code, and try to figure out what it's doing. This book explains the concepts, explains the code. It's clear, concise, and a fast read. It also makes a great coffee table addition!

Bottom line: This book is incredible. It brings a more complete appreciation for implementing CSS, it brings the design portion in, and gives it a prominent spot. If you are a designer, you will appreciate what programmers can do to set your creative side free. If you are a programmer, you have the function, now embrace form a bit, and make something extraordinary.

Autism Awareness Month 2008 - TV Networks and License Plates

In case you didn't know, it's Autism Awareness Month. The big news? It is starting to appear that CNN is making the turn when it comes to autism. I love their tagline, "Why is autism still a mystery?" That is a very good question, and I'm convinced it has some very ugly answers. On the good side, Larry King has done a number of very positive shows with parents of autistic children over the past two months. Bravo Larry!

In general, the major news networks have bowed to their drug company advertisers and CDC talking heads, while making parents of autistic children look emotional and ridiculous. By far the worst is CBS. Last year, Bob Wright, former CEO of NBC, found out that his grandson had autism. To his credit, he and his wife began Autism Speaks, which is a fantastic organization. Since then, NBC has been very careful to show parents in a positive light. Now it's CNN.

The second thing I wanted to note was a story about a girl from Kentucky (where I used to live). Natalie Pope, a 17-year old girl scout, will kick off a new autism awareness specialty license plate for the state of Kentucky. Her younger brother was diagnosed with autism, and this was her Gold Award project. This was not an easy thing to do, and I applaud her for it.

The last thing I want to mention is a long running story of frustration. Once again, Dr. Paul Offit, inventor of thimerisol, is being quoted that a mercury/autism link has been disproven "over and over again." In the face of conflicting studies, and the growing numbers of autism, he's sticking to his "story." Why? Offit makes money when thimerisol is used. His entire medical reputation is wrapped up in it. Would you listen to a tobacco executive telling you that nicotine is not additive and cigarettes don't cause lung cancer? Of course not! Then stop reading Paul Offit. One day, I believe he is likely to be regarded by future doctors as a misguided and reckless. He is our modern day Walter Freeman. Freeman was considered an expert, a hero during his life. History is often very cruel, with a ling list of doctors who are today considered monsters. Offit's name, just like Freeman, will one day be added to that list.

Quote of the day

"An eagle may soar but a weasel will never get sucked into a jet engine." -- Scott Hill

SPLORE of Utah - Fun for Everyone

SPLORE is a non-profit organization in Utah that creates "Outdoor adventures for people with disabilities." And this is a story that is filled with goodness and happiness. There are times in our lives that we become accutely aware of our humanity. This winter, our experiences with SPLORE have been absolutely wonderful. Here's what we've done so far.

Indoor Rockclimbing
Our first experience with SPLORE was a few months ago. The program was seven weeks of rockclimbing, with the trained staff of SPLORE, teaching four autistic children the sport. Each child had someone assigned to them, to set up their equipment, spot for them, and encourage them. To say this was a success is a huge understatement. Our son Aaron absolutely loved it. Trepid at first, every climb built growing confidence and experience.

If you live in Utah, and want to get into this sport, I highly recommend Momentum. They have spectacular facilities. They even have a great web site. They have some climbs that are stories high, with a large variety of difficulty and terrain. This allowed the SPLORE folks to tailor different climbs to match the climbing level of each child. So everyone was challenged, and everyone experienced a pinnacle. Aaron was able to make the highest climbs. multiple times, and ring the bell at the top.

Cross-country Skiing
Since our first experience was so great, we did a simple, one day event at Solitude. This time, we had a mix of people with disabilities, and different ages. Debbie and I had a great time. It was easier than we had originally thought. Having a prepared area that is dedicated to cross-country skiing definitely helps.

Aaron was okay for the first hour, but I don't think he was thrilled with the bindings on his skiis. When he'd had enough, he just started off into the snow banks, with Susie chasing behind. This is just one example of the selfless and cheerful care that we've seen with the SPLORE staff and volunteers. The weather was great, the snow was fresh, and the atmosphere was easy and gentle.

Snowshoeing at the Spruces
Again, we did a first for us as a family. In the summer, The Spruces at Big Cottonwood Canyon Campgrounds is camperland. But in the winter, it's under many feet of snow. We had a new set of people and volunteers. We even had people with special sleds, who could not walk. Yet here we were, all out in the winter forest. Beautiful scenery, and a warm dose of human compassion.

There was a moment when one of the girls had fallen over on her sled. We were all there, helping out as a team, even having a good laugh. We had such a good time, we actually bought some snowshoes for the three of us. The photo shows just what kind of snow there was.

The thing we like about SPLORE is the chance to do something new in a safe environment. Being around people who are trained, who are specifically spending their time so that others can live a fuller life, is a good feeling. I have a lot of respect for the SPLORE crew, and the other participants. Their hearts are in the right place. It brings out the very best in the human spirit.

-- Cole Joplin

Book Review: AdvancED Flex Application Development: Building Rich Media X

I've been meaning to do more online book reviews, and blogging in general, but it's always hard to find the time. First, a big thanks to FriendsOfEd and John Lindquist at the Utah Director and Flash User Group for providing the book for this review. Thanks!

This book is intended for the advanced developer, as indicated by the AdvancEd moniker. It's always helpful to have the level easy to find, and FriendsOfEd are great at this. I'll be reviewing this as a senior developer, who is new to Flex itself, but experienced in Actionscript. This book is available at Amazon.

The authors are the guys at Almer/Blank, which is an Adobe Solution Partner. They describe in detail how they developed the LAFlash.org site. They were also featured in an interview on episode 31 of The Flex Show, which is a Flex podcast. So what about the book?

This is a fantastic book
It's organized well, takes concepts into practical application, and touches on some unique topics not found elsewhere. I didn't find the material very intimidating at all. It was an easy read. If you are managing a user group site, there's a lot of direct how-to to take your site to the next level. One of the benefits of this book is how easily it shows the practicality and power of using Flex for web development.

What's typical?
For completeness, they cover project planning, working with databases and web services, and navigation. Your typical developer will find a lot to love about the first half of the book. They touch on some of the Flex 3 features that make a big impact as well. Things like styling, Flex components and SWCs, RSLs (runtime shared libraries) and framework caching. To be honest, they've done an excellent job in describing these subjects with clarity.

What's unique about it?
If you have several Flex books, what's new here that hasn't already been covered? The most obvious is SEO (search engine optimization). I can't count how many times I've had people dismiss Flash platform development for this one reason alone. Now, thanks in large part to Google and the Sitemaps protocol, those excuses are over. You can deliver searchable content, and there's a whole chapter in this book about it. While the first reaction may be "What's this got to do with a web application?", there is a place for content delivered in a rich way.

I haven't seen another book do a Flash-based, step-by-step user group site, including blogs, job boards, event calendar, sharing of video content, and advertising models. More than a Flex book, they cover combining technologies like PHP, Drupal, and OpenAds. That's one of the core pieces of this book, how to integrate with Flex. The section on video is also well done, and makes suggestions about closed-captioning, which also has an SEO element to it.

Done almost apologetically, they touch on how to monetize a site with a Flex front-end. That is really unique to this book, and it has an importance that may get lost on the typical developer. It's the later part of the book that will appeal to the more sophisticated or business-savvy developer. It's a major part of the value of this book, because the other Flex books just don't go there.

Is it worth buying?
Yes, I think so. It's got something for everyone. But especially if you manage a user's group, are dealing with aggregating media and content, or doing something that relies on advertising and traffic. While they do not cover eCommerce in this book specifically, this is a really big deal if you are building an eCommerce site in Flex. It outlines how to enhance a Flex-based online store. That information alone is worth the price of the book.

-- Cole Joplin

Why The Vaccine-Autism Non-Link Study Announcements Aren't Working

This week there were two more nationally publicized announcements that "prove" there is no link between the mercury in vaccines and autism. (Update 2/26/2008 - But in US Federal Court, they just conceded that there is a link) Yet, this week I also had a total stranger at a gas station come up to me and ask what I thought was really going on. He had heard the announcements too, but had serious doubts, and he had a son about to vaccinated. Here's why I think these announcements are not working.

Science does not know what causes autism
Medicine has not the first clue as to the cause of autism. They admit it. By default, the medical establishment is speaking from lack of knowledge. That is dangerous and unscientific. We have only theories, nothing more. Science is just getting started on autism. Until there are concrete answers, people will want to play it safe. That is normal.

Autism rates continue to explode: 1 in every 150 children, getting worse
Something is obviously happening. There is a theory that better diagnosis is the reason. But this theory has a big problem: we can now properly diagnose the adult autism population, and the corresponding numbers are simply not there. A large portion of our population now has a friend, family member, co-worker, church member, or neighbor where someone's child has autism. This is something new, and we all know it. Anyone working in a public elementary school especially knows it. Five years ago, China reported no cases of autism in their population. This year, the count was 1.8 million kids. What changed? A nationwide program of an aggressive vaccination schedule, with widespread use of mercury-based vaccines.

Divided scientific opinion among doctors and researchers
In spite of what is portrayed on television, the medical community is not at all in lock step. Some of the most vocal promoters of a possible link are doctors, particularly if they have autistic children themselves. These are trained professionals and medical observers. Their number is growing each day. Many doctors are giving their own children mercury-free vaccines, but not sharing this fact with their colleagues for fear of ridicule.

Studies claiming no link are quickly debunked
Autism doctors are easily and successfully debunking these studies, usually within 48 hours. They actually read the study and the footnotes, and find holes you can drive a truck through. In one example, the famous Denmark study continuously quoted by the CDC, made all its calculations based upon a nine month exposure rate. No big deal? That means the study assumes that the day you administer the vaccine, the amount of mercury is not the actual amount, but the adjusted amount: 1/270th of the actual amount. If we follow this logic, taking nine months of sleeping pills in one day is perfectly safe. By the way, US-made vaccines with mercury are banned in Denmark, almost all Europe, and Japan.

Update 2/12/2008 - Both studies released this week declaring no link have been debunked. The MMR study was debunked as it narrows the field of eligible children to those with concurrent symptoms that basically eliminates autistic children from the study. The California mercury ban announcement (for year 2005) was debunked as it did not account for the fact that the vaccines with mercury were not removed from the system before the end of 2006, and studies will not be clear until 2009-2010. In other words, they are making claims about a law's lack of effect before the law had been put into effect. It is no accident that these announcements have gone unreported by national and local news media.

Independent scientific studies show a direct link
Virtually every study not funded by a pharmaceutical company has concluded there is a link. For example, the study from Columbia University which strongly suggested a link, has gone unchallenged and practically unreported. But it was strong enough for the CDC to threaten the University with getting their federal funds stopped if they did not change their conclusions. To their credit, they refused.

Mercury In Fish Is Bad: Mercury In Vaccines Is Good?!
The most toxic substance on our planet is being injected into babies. It's for their health. It's perfectly safe. But pregnant women shouldn't have fish more than one day a week, because mercury is bad. Sending these mixed messages does not instill public trust. Common sense, give it a try.

Criticizing parents does not work
In fact, it makes them mad, and even more determined. The most vocal proponents of no-link have consistently engaged in personal attacks against parents. This fact has not been lost on John Q. Public. When that person being attacked is a close friend or family member, a doubt is planted. Parents want this mystery solved -- now. In stark contrast, the CDC, the medical establishment, and big pharma are all happy to leave the mystery unsolved indefinitely.

When CDC officials go before Congress and oppose autism research funding, parents have every right to be upset, and ask inconvenient questions. You would think that any doctors would be begging for any medical research money they could get their hands on -- every penny. Why is autism the exception? Why is this particular mystery good for the CDC? It just doesn't make sense.

Doctors and hospitals are pushing vaccinations aggressively and emotionally
This was the point that I remembered most of my conversation at the gas station. His gut told him that something was wrong with the emotional, over-the-top conversation about vaccination safety. Getting over forty vaccines before age two sounds a bit -- crazy. Let me make this clear, I'm against mercury. I'm not against vaccines. I'm against vaccinations before the age of three. I'm for vaccines when a child has a better developed immune system, has an adequate production of MT protein, and the vaccine schedule that is spread out, using prudence and conservative caution that is consistent with the Hippocratic Oath and Scientific Method. Vaccines have reached a religious fever pitch of "perfection": the biggest God complex of all.

We've Seen This Before: The Tobacco Industry
Four out of five doctors prefer Camels. Hey, I didn't make that up. There were even TV commercials showing doctors smoking while treating kids. What were they thinking? Well, they weren't. They still aren't.

Big Pharma makes Big Tobbacco look like a beggar. Watch any national news program, and count the number of drug commercials. It took thirty years of conflicting medical studies before we finally realized that smoking caused lung cancer. What about the people killed by Vioxx? Is there something shady going on? Don't take my word for it. New documents about secret meetings and strategies to ridicule parents of autistic children are discovered or leaked all the time. Check out a book that has yet to have a single fact disputed by either side.

Conclusion
I submit that history is probably repeating itself right now. I predict the autism epidemic will get a LOT worse. Regardless of what your opinion is on the controversy, I have one question for anyone who will dare to answer:

How many autistic kids will it take before we do something? One in 100? One in 50? One in 10? Give us a number. Until that sea change happens, all the announcements will fail to put it to rest.

-- Cole Joplin