Finally got the cranks on, the pedals on, the new 17 tooth cog on the old wheel that I re-tensioned and trued (well, partially trued at least), only to put the chain on with a broken chain tool. (I didn’t realize it was broken). So one of the bushings became bent, and on my ride home, I popped the chain. Tried to use alternate links to fix it, but they stuck (and ended up with only slightly bent bushings). So a new chain it is for me, unfortunately.
Not a technical post, but a personal update. I promised over a week ago. 
I’ve been exceptionally busy at work, we’re beginning to finish up a much needed, much discussed by librarians, redesign of PubMed. We’ve put a ton of user interaction effort into this project, as well as a good sprinkling of graphic design (watch out, I even did some parts!) I think people will be really positive about these new changes.
[Just for the record, if someone happens to stumble upon this from the librarian community, yes, release date is still end of summer, and yes, there will be a Beta period, so no need to worry about a short timeline to update your class or instructional slides. We do listen!]
It’s also been exciting that we’ve brought a few new people on board. Always exciting to have new hires, despite the fact that it’s a lot of work… and all of the trainings I have to do.
What else… I’m planning on attending the DelveUI masterclasses this week in Brooklyn. It will be interesting to see what some of the heads of state have to say about the field. I’m a little excited, this masterclass format isn’t the usual boring no-content fluff that you hear at most conferences. I get the feeling that there will actually be code present! My thanks to the lovely Jina “Sushi & Robots” Bolton for the opportunity for the free ticket.
I’ve been reading… way too many things. I’ve been reading Learning jQuery 1.3, jQuery UI 1.6, and jQuery in Action and you’ll see the reviews of those two books very soon. (Can you tell that we’ve switched to jQuery at NCBI?) I’m a little behind with that reading, but I’ve been working hard on other things. Additionally, I went on an Amazon spree, and started reading Programming the Semantic Web, An Introduction to Lambda Calculi for Computer Scientists, To Mock a Mockingbird, 101 Things I learned in Architecture School, Code Complete 2. Last but not least, I’ve also been reading any photography book that I can get my hands on.
Yes, that is a lot of books, and I haven’t had much time for them. I’ve been working hard at work, and I want to relax a bit when I come home. Once summer ends, things will return to a slightly more regular pace. I’ve been learning so much on the job, that I’m not very worried about falling behind in reading.
Continue readingI’ve been following Le Tour again this year. Previously, the aerial shots of France kept my attention, but this year I have been interested in the competition. I’ve found the mini-goals and side stories are as good as the goal of le maillot jeune.
Anyway, I try to avoid re-posting the “hot link of the day” type links-the ones that have been passed around on other blogs-but the Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog is worth it… just take a look at those photos. This set from the flickr blog is also pretty cool.
Still not enough? Follow tour coverage from the New York Times.
I rode my bike to work today. It was the first time I had done that in an excruciatingly long time.
It turns out that neither would have killed me. I made it up the rather stiff hill in front of NIH quite easily. Didn’t get to work gasping for air, feeling sore legs, anything. Really quite boring, come to think of it. But it was a great day to be outside. It’s too bad that the trip is so short as it wasn’t quite the work that I would like, but I can only take what’s given to me. The next day I have more time, I am going to venture around downtown Bethesda. Seems like a fairly bike-friendly town. I don’t really make New Year’s Resolutions, as they’re more birthday resolutions to me, but I am definitely going to ride more this year. Last year was a long string of mistakes. Beach road, here I come.
Not that I want to jinx this beautiful weather, but I have gloves, my head warmer and all the rest lined up for when it returns to normal January weather.
