Erin Morgenstern's novel "The Night Circus" takes the reader backward and forward in time as it weaves a complex tale. The author frames her story with chapters at the beginning and ending of the book, told in the second person and the present tense. These chapters describe the reader's encounter with a circus that appears without warning or advertising, opening after sunset and closing before dawn.

Between these bookends, she tells two stories. One involves Bailey, a farm boy in 1902 Massachusetts. On a dare, Bailey sneaks into the circus during the daylight hours, where he meets and befriends a young girl and her twin brother.

The other story begins decades earlier. Rival magicians engage in a contest pitting their young proteges against each other. Hector Bowen (Prospero the Enchanter) pits his daughter Celia against Marco, an orphan adopted and mentored by Mr. A.H. (The Man in the Grey Suit). The elder magicians manipulate their young apprentices into a rivalry over which the youngsters lack control and understanding. The two young proteges join Le Cirque des Rêves, a mysterious circus, in which the workers never age, and true magicians disguise their craft as sleight of hand. The circus moves across Europe, developing a devoted group of followers who call themselves the "Rêveurs."

The earlier story jumps ahead in time with each chapter, as the young wizards grow up, attempting to learn their destiny. Eventually, the circus moves across the Atlantic to Concord, MA, and collides with the Bailey story.

I like the way that Morgenstern bounced between the two timelines, merging perfectly. Minor characters became major characters. Rivalries became romances. Mysteries unraveled layer by layer. The plot unfolds slowly, but she has a talent for building sympathetic heroes and callous villains. She favors character development and scene exposition over action. The primary character of this book is the circus, which exerts its power upon all who work in it or enter it. Her descriptions of the magic and illusion display the author's imagination.

"The Night Circus" is an enchanting story with an intriguing ensemble cast. After reading it, I count myself among the Rêveurs.

GCast 205:

Mastering GitHub Copilot course, Integrating MCP with Copilot

In this video, I walk through the excellent tutorial "Integrate MCP with GitHub Copilot." In this lesson, you learn to use GitHub Copilot to interact with an MCP server, extending the AI functionality of Copilot.

Links:
https://github.com/microsoft/Mastering-GitHub-Copilot-for-Paired-Programming/
https://github.com/microsoft/Mastering-GitHub-Copilot-for-Paired-Programming/

Episode 879

Carlos Reblos on Developer Tools for SQL Server

Carlos Robles is a Product Manager for Microsoft Database Developer Tools.

He talks about Visual Studio Code extensions, using GitHub Copilot with SQL Server, SQL containers, integration with Microsoft Fabric, upcoming features, and the retirement of Azure Data Studio.

Links:
http://aka.ms/vscode-mssql-roadmap

Almost every generation of the Howland family of Alabama had a male named "William." In the mid twentieth century, the current William Howland secretly married his black housekeeper Margaret, at a time when interracial marriage was illegal. When their children grew up, Margaret sent them away to avoid the racism of the Deep South.

The incident came to the fore years after William and Margaret died. William's granddaughter, Abigail, married an ambitious politician whose speeches often aligned with the Ku Klux Klan. One of Margaret's children leaked the news of mixed blood in Abigail's family, destroying her husband's chances at the governorship and setting the townspeople against Margaret's family.

Shirley Ann Grau's 1964 novel "The Keepers of the House" shines a light on the explicit racism prevalent in the Deep South.

Grau tells a story about human struggles, race relations, honor, and revenge. She examines the roles of women and blacks in a society that hinders them with mores and laws. William accepts his relationship with Margaret, but knows that those around him will not, so he keeps their marriage a secret. Ultimately, Abigail pays the price two generations later. It matters not that the Howland family is among the most prominent in the state. Their secret is enough to enrage the community and incite them to judgment and violence.

Although Grau's characters lack depth, she unfolds her story well. It builds slowly, revealing the history of the Howland family and Abigail's young adulthood, but it accelerates at the end as the family secret is revealed.

The novel caused controversy in 1964. Many in the South did not like to be reminded of the existence of institutional racism. But it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction the following year.

In 1992, Robert Olen Butler published "A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain" - a collection of sixteen short stories and one novella. Each story tells of a different person or family from Vietnam.

The collection includes the following tales:

• A North Vietnamese Communist who defected and decided to work for the Americans after the Viet Cong murdered his family.
• A family reunited with the wife's grandfather, discovering that the grandfather has no recollection of his granddaughter.
• The ghost of Ho Chi Minh visits a dying old man. The two worked together in their youth, and they talk of their political struggles and the fate of their country.
• As a spy for the Americans during the war, a husband had unlimited power to exact revenge on his enemies. He longs for this power in America when he suspects his wife of infidelity.

- An encounter with a demonic ghost who saves people only to devour them later.

Although there is no continuity between the stories, they share some common threads. All but one story is told from the point of view of a native Vietnamese (an American living in Vietnam narrates the final story); and most of the characters have immigrated from Vietnam to Louisiana, where they attempt to assimilate into American society while retaining some of their Vietnamese identity and customs.

Butler does a good job contrasting Eastern and Western cultures, as well as the struggles immigrants face in navigating those differences.

Episode 878

Jennifer Wadella on The 7 Deadly Sins of Management

Jennifer Wadella has learned that there is no universal advice for managers to apply in every organization and in every situation. But she has found some things that managers should always avoid doing. She shares her seven deadly sins of management.

"A Beautiful Noise" has been touring for eighteen months, including a stop in Chicago last year. This month, the troupe returned to the Windy City to recreate the Neil Diamond musical biopic in front of a sold-out Cadillac Palace Theater. I caught the Thursday evening performance.

The story begins in the office of a psychologist, where the doctor opens a book of Neil's song lyrics and an aging Neil tells the story of his life through those songs. Diamond is on his third marriage, and his performing days are behind him - a difficult situation for one who has always defined his identity through his music.

We flash back to a young Neil pitching his songs to a publisher, who soon decides that the young songwriter is a better interpreter of his own music than The Monkees, Lulu, or Deep Purple. The young Brooklyn-born Neil is uncomfortable in the spotlight, but loves performing. He falls in love with Marcia, leaves his wife and daughters, signs a recording contract with a mob-controlled record company, and his career skyrockets. As Act 1 closes, Diamond delivers a final hit song ("Sweet Caroline") and the mob releases him from his contract.

Act 2 opens years later. Neil's hair is longer; he performs every night in front of tens of thousands of people, and he has embraced his fortune and fame, touring almost constantly in front of adoring fans. The constant travel strains his second marriage, which ends with the couple singing "You don't bring me flowers" to one another.

"A Beautiful Noise" is about balancing fame and work obsession with personal relationships. Neil Diamond struggled to balance the public and private aspects of his life, which cost him two marriages. Robert Westenberg and Nick Fradiani are brilliant as old and young Neil, respectively. Their duet at the end is moving, signifying the man's self-acceptance of all that he was and became. Of course, the music was great, and Anthony McCarten's story ties the songs together into an emotional tale.

After taking their bows, the cast returned to the stage to promote a charity auction and to sing "Sweet Caroline" again - this time with the help of the audience. It was an excellent finish to an excellent show.

Patti Smith was there at the beginning of the punk rock movement. She was a frequent booking at the famed New York punk club CBGB, and she released high-energy albums in the same era as The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, and Iggy Pop. She share the rebellious nature of those punk bands, but her intelligent lyrics and more complex arrangements set her music apart from the frantic three-chord formula used by many of her contemporaries.

She established a reputation as a punk poet with the 1975 release of her debut album "Horses."

Fifty years later, Smith is touring to celebrate the anniversary of that landmark album. This week, the Chicago native brought the tour home with two performances at the Chicago Theatre. I caught the second night show on Wednesday.

Ms. Smith began the show by playing each track on the album in order. She prefaced each song with a brief story about its origin. She based "Break It Up" on a dream about Jim Morrison breaking free from within a statue. A conversation with Jimi Hendrix shortly before his death inspired her to write "Elegie."

At the conclusion of the album, Smith stepped off stage, allowing her band to perform a medley of songs by Tom Verlaine's Television, which they described as their "sister band."

Smith returned to the stage to sing, dance, shout, and spit for the remainder of the set, concluding with "Because the Night," her biggest commercial hit. She told the story of receiving the music from Bruce Springsteen and setting it aside until one night when she wrote the lyrics while awaiting a call from Fred "Sonic" Smith, with whom she was involved in a long-distance relationship.

Smith's band was excellent with Tony Shanahan on keyboard and bass guitar, JD Dorety on drums, Lenny Kay on guitar, and Jackson Smith on guitar and bass. Jackson is the son of Patti and Fred, and he was joined on stage by his sister, Jesse Paris Smith, who played keyboards during the encore. The encore began with "Ghost Dance," a tribute to Native Americans, followed by the anthem "People Have the Power," which inspired the crowd to sing along.

Patti Smith remained on stage long after the music stopped, taking photos, hugging her band and her children, and shaking hands with the audience. It was clear she did not want this homecoming to end.

Set List

GCast 204:

Mastering GitHub Copilot course, Using GitHub Copilot with JavaScript

In this video, I walk through the excellent tutorial "Using GitHub Copilot with JavaScript." In this lesson, you learn to use GitHub Copilot to create and modify JavaScript, as well as how to add custom instructions for GitHub Copilot.

Links:
https://github.com/microsoft/Mastering-GitHub-Copilot-for-Paired-Programming/
https://github.com/microsoft/Mastering-GitHub-Copilot-for-Paired-Programming/tree/main/Using-GitHub-Copilot-with-JavaScript

Episode 877

Jimmy Bogard on Monetizing Open Source Software

Jimmy Bogard created and maintains the popular open source projects, Automapper and Mediatr. Recently, he decided to build a business around these tools - charging some users for the tools and keeping it free for others. He talks about the challenges encountered in monetizing an open source project.

After a professional musical career spanning fifty years, three Grammy Awards, and nine nominations, John Scofield continues to enjoy entertaining audiences. It is a delight to see a musician of his caliber and success play a small club. I caught his first set Thursday evening at SPACE in Evanston.

Scofield brought with him an outstanding group of musicians: Gerald Clayton on piano and organ, Bill Stewart on drums, and Vicente Archer on upright bass. Clayton was particularly impressive in his solos.

What Scofield did not bring was a plethora of guitars. He played only his Ibanez, using a control panel at his feet to change the sound. At one point, he removed a shoe for better control of the panel. With this guitar, he was able to switch seamlessly between jazz-rock fusion, blues, love ballads, and straight-ahead jazz.

With his head tilted back and his eyes closed, he gave the impression that he was guiding the guitar, rather than playing it.

His composition "Boulez Saal," which he wrote to dedicate a concert hall of the same name in Berlin, left us speechless. Clayton's piano solo on this song was impressive.

My only complaint was that the organ blocked my view of most of the stage from my front-row seat. SPACE has a small stage, so the extra keyboard crowded the area.

But this was a minor issue. The music was enough to overcome the visual limitations of the evening.

Sunday evening, Jeff Daniels walked onto the City Winery stage and curtsied to the audience, before sitting at the only chair and plugging in the only guitar. "Bears won," he said to the partisan Chicago crowd. He sang the praises of new Bear coach Ben Johnson, who arrived in the offseason from Daniels's hometown of Detroit. Technically, Jeff is from Chelsea, Michigan, a small town about 40 miles west of Detroit. One can hear the rural Midwest in his voice and mannerisms, and sometimes in his music.

He sang and played for the sold-out audience, filling the evening with mostly original music and with stories.

He recounted the time Ted Turner invited him to play during the unveiling of Turner's star on Hollywood Boulevard. Jeff lamented the fact that he does not have a Hollywood Boulevard star. He accepted, thinking this might be the closest he would ever come to getting his own star. He then launched into "Are You As Excited," a song about the fleeting nature of fame.

"Not bad for an actor," he said a couple of times during the evening. And it was true. Although Mr. Daniels is most famous for his acting career, he is also an accomplished guitarist, singer, and songwriter.

He recounted his experience singing for Kelly Clarkson. When he told her that it is ok to play guitar even if you are no good at it, Kelly looked at him with terror in her eyes. But she softened when he played "When My Fingers Find Your Strings," a love song to his guitar. Kelly liked the song so much that she and her band played it a few months later.

In introducing "Jesus Was a Stoner," he said that his research revealed that marijuana was much more potent in Biblical days. "Those of you who are religious," he quipped, "Buckle up!"

He shared a story about working with the Circle Repertory Company, an off-Broadway theater company, early in his career. They featured plays written by American playwrights, including future Pulitzer winner Lanford Wilson, who asked Daniels to write music to one of his poems.

He told of the time he passed Ryan Reynolds in a hallway. As they tried to avoid bumping into one another, Reynolds told him, "Let's take our pants off and relax." Daniels immediately went to his dressing room and wrote a song around that line. Soon after he told this story, the audience was singing along to that line.

Jeff finished the evening with a story song about the time he rented a recreational vehicle, drove across the country, and accidentally left his wife at a rest stop.

He followed with a hopeful song - "Crazy World" - to finish his set.

"This crazy world's gone crazy,

Who am I to judge?

It's nice to know, in a world full of hate,

There's someone out there still making love."

He unplugged his guitar, stood up, curtsied, and walked off stage.

We all agreed. He was much better than “Not bad.”

Photos

This year, the keynote address at the Microsoft Ignite conference focused on Artificial Intelligence.
Microsoft Commercial CEO Judson Althoff began by talking about the company's Frontier Success framework. This framework focuses on companies hiring the best people, engaging with customers, reshaping business processes around AI, and finding ways to innovate. He referred to AI Transformation as "democratizing intelligence," a phrase I fully intend to borrow.

Here are the announcements that caught my attention.

Microsoft Agent 365

Agent 365 provides more capabilities to the Copilot tools in M365 applications. This brings Copilot for Security tools into M365. The agent registry offers visibility into every agent in your enterprise.

Agent registry

• Visibility into every agent in your enterprise
• Enforce access controls to data and system
• Easy way to see and understand your agents
• Safe and secure way to interact with your agents
• Secure all agents: protect and respond to threats

Work IQ:

They referred to it as "Work IQ." It works across your entire workflow. They showed off how to use this tool to create an app in minutes.

Agent HQ

Allows you to assign GitHub issues to Copilot, which generates code and a pull request in response.

Azure AI Foundry

Azure AI Foundry has been renamed to Microsoft Foundry. It now includes Anthropic models.
A new Model Router automatically selects the LLM best suited to your project.

Fabric IQ

Uses AI to assist in working with data in Fabric. Integration with Foundry IQ
Sustainability
Microsoft is committed to achieving net-zero energy consumption at its data centers within the next year. Scott Guthrie talked about the technology data centers are using to capture and reuse cooling water.

AKS Automatic

It is easier and faster to create and deploy K8S clusters from code
Generally available today.

Azure Horizon DB (announced)

Compatible with PostgreSQL
Supports Vector Indexing and semantic search.

Conclusion

Microsoft is clearly emphasizing its commitment to and investment in Artificial Intelligence. Their priority seems to be using AI to make your job easier.

Disclaimer

This post is about what I heard in the keynote. In no way should you consider this an official announcement from Microsoft. It is always possible that I misheard or misunderstood something. For more information, check out The Ignite Book of News.

Episode 876

Kathryn Grayson Nanz on Usability Testing

Progress Design and Developer Advocate Kathryn Grayson Nanz talks about software user experience and how to effectively test usability.

Josh Ritter radiates joy when he performs. He bounced onto the stage at a sold-out Thalia Hall on Friday evening at the start of his show. A smile spread across his face as he told the audience: "I am Soooo happy to be here!" and launched into "Monster Ballads."

That joy never left him during his two-hour performance. We felt it when he played love songs ("Strangers"), frantic songs ("To the Dogs or Whoever"), dark songs ("Honeydew, No Light"), Anthems ("Wild Ways"), songs of lot love ("Truth Is a Dimension, Both Invisible and Blinding"), cover songs ("Rhythm of My Heart") and hymns ("The Throne").

His range was as impressive as his backing band, The Royal City Band, which included his longtime bassist, Zack Hickman, and the excellent pianist, Sam Kassirer. Each of them shared the stage with Josh in accompaniment, while the rest of the band took a break.

Multiple times during the evening, Josh told the audience, "Thank you soo much!" In return, we thanked him. We too were Soooo happy to be there!

Everclear released "Sparkle and Fade" in 1995. It was their first album on a major label (Capitol Records), and it launched a period of fame among the alternative rock crowd. The fame lasted through the next few years and subsequent albums.

When the band's popularity faded a few years later, most of the original Everclear members departed. But lead singer and songwriter Art Alexakis reformed the group with new members and the old name.

In 2025, this incarnation of Everclear celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of that landmark album with a tour. The tour concluded Sunday evening at Thalia Hall in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.

The show began with two midwestern punk bands, resurrected from the 1990s and early 2000s. Detroit-based Sponge opened with a brief set. Chicago natives Local H followed, playing for nearly an hour. Local H is the first two-piece punk band I remember seeing live. They filled the theater with sound using just drums, guitar, and vocals.

Alexakis did a good job of channeling the difficulties in his personal life into moving and energetic music. For example, he wrote the song "Strawberry" while recovering from alcoholism. He told us this while declaring he was now "36 years clean and sober."

The setlist consisted of every track from "Sparkle and Fade" in the same order as listed on the album. The only exception was "Santa Monica" (the album's biggest single), which they teased with one verse and then reprised as the final encore song.

Everclear mixed in a few hits from other albums, including "Wonderful," "So Much for the Afterglow," and "I Will Buy You a New Life."

The three bands collaborate well. Everclear's bassist joined Local H for a couple of songs, and Everclear invited the lead singers of Sponge and Local H during their set. The latter donned a Robert Plant wig to sing a Led Zeppelin medley.

The three bands filled the show with energy and fun for both the audience and the musicians. My only complaint is that Alexakis overused his catchphrase, "Can I get a 'Fuck Yeah!'" too frequently throughout the show. It was annoying, but it was not enough to spoil the fun.

GCast 203:

Mastering GitHub Copilot course, Lesson 1 Getting Started with GitHub Copilot, Step 3

In this video, I walk through Step 3 of the excellent Microsoft Learn tutorial "Getting Started with GitHub Copilot." In this step, you learn to use the Edit Mode of GitHub Copilot to generate code for your application.

Links:
https://github.com/microsoft/Mastering-GitHub-Copilot-for-Paired-Programming/
https://github.com/microsoft/Mastering-GitHub-Copilot-for-Paired-Programming/tree/main/Getting-Started-with-GitHub-Copilot

I recently ran into and corrected an issue with my PowerShell execution policy.

In my case, I was trying to install an npm package that was remotely signed, but my execution policy required that all packages be locally signed by a trusted publisher. I received the following error:

File C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.ps1 cannot be loaded. The file C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.ps1 is not digitally signed. You cannot run this script on the current system.

Microsoft remotely signed this file, but my PowerShell environment policy prevented me from running it locally.

You can view your execution policy with the following command:

Get-ExecutionPolicy

The possible return values are:

• AllSigned: All scripts, including locally running scripts must be signed by a trusted publisher
• Bypass: Signing is not checked. Any script can run.
• RemoteSigned: Allows running scripts that are signed remotely
• Restricted: Prevents some but not all scripts from running
• Undefined: No execution policy set. The operating system policy takes effect.
• Unrestricted: Unsigned scripts can run. Similar to Bypass, but it warns the user before executing an unsigned script.

My PowerShell session policy was set to "AllSigned."

The solution was to change the executing policy to "RemoteSigned," which I did with the following command:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

Running Get-ExecutionPolicy again returned "RemoteSigned"

After changing this policy, I was able to install the npm package succesfully.

Episode 875

Sam Gomez on AI Agents

Sam Gomez is Head of AI and ML at Geneca. He talks about AI Agents and how to build them by writing custom code or by using Azure AI Foundry.

11/2
Today I am grateful to see an improv show last night on my first visit to the Revival - Improv Theatre.

11/1
Today I am grateful to all those who donated this week to support Parkinsons research.

10/31
Today I am grateful for a new iPhone

10/30
Today I am grateful to attend an exhibition game against Western Michigan for my son's Kalamazoo College team last night.

10/29
Today I am grateful for four days in New Orleans.

10/28
Today I am grateful for my first visit to Smoothie King Center to see the Pelicans play the Celtics last night.

10/27
Today I am grateful to visit the Caesars Superdome for the first time yesterday and see a Saints - Buccaneers game.

10/26
Today I am grateful
- for an airboat ride in Jean Lafitte, LA
- to see the Krew of Boo parade last night in New Orleans's French Quarter

10/25
Today I am grateful
- for our team's virtual offsite this week
- to arrive safely in New Orleans this morning

10/24
Today I am grateful:
- to see Cyril Neville in concert last night
- to attend the ODi Pre-Conference Reception yesterday

10/23
Today I am grateful to spend a couple minutes practicing piano chords every day.

10/22
Today I am grateful for no meetings yesterday.

10/21
Today I am grateful that the stomach pain that kept me awake most of Sunday night is now gone.

10/20
Today I am grateful for dinner last night with Dan, Charity, and Donna

10/19
Today I am grateful to hear Stephen Dubner talk about his book "Freakonomics" yesterday at the University of Chicago

10/18
Today I am grateful for 3 doctor appointments this week.

10/17
Today I am grateful to see Jonathan Coulton in concert last night

10/16
Today I am grateful for dinner with Tim last night

10/15
Today I am grateful to attend the Chicago Ventures Summit yesterday

10/14
Today I am grateful for:
- 12 years at Microsoft
- a few days in Orlando, St. Augustine, and Jacksonville.

10/13
Today I am grateful:
- to see the Jacksonville Jaguars play the Seattle Seahawks yesterday on my first visit to EverBank Stadium
- to see dolphins swimming in the St. Johns River last night

10/12
Today I am grateful to walk around historic St. Augustine, Florida yesterday.

10/11
Today I am grateful for coffee with Esteban yesterday

10/10
Today I am grateful to speak at the #DevIntersection and #CybersecurityIntersection conferences yesterday in Orlando

10/9
Today I am grateful to attend the AI Tour for Partners yesterday at the Willis (aka "Sears") Tower

10/8
Today I am grateful:
- to volunteer to wrap gifts for patients at Lurie Children Hospital yesterday
- to Pete for presenting at my user group last night

10/7
Today I am grateful for a new car battery

10/6
Today I am grateful for breakfast yesterday with Megan and Amanda.

Brazillian Paolo Coelho wrote "The Alchemist" in 1988. The book sold poorly in its first printing, but arguably became Coelho's most famous work after he established himself with other successful novels.

"The Alchemist" tells the story of young Santiago, a Spanish shepherd who travels to the Egyptian pyramids in search of a treasure foretold by a fortune teller and a wandering king.

Along his journey, Santiago meets an ancient alchemist. As the pair travels across the Sahara, Santiago learns about life from the old man. Multiple times, the boy loses all his money, but manages to recover enough to resume his journey.

Much of the story is mystical: In addition to the alchemist's ability to transform lead into gold, Santiago has direct conversations with the wind, the sun, and God; dreams and omens always accurately foretell the future, albeit indirectly; and King Melchizedek of the Old Testament appears centuries after his death.

This book explores the themes of overcoming fear and hardship, as well as the role of fate in our lives. Coelho frequently brings up Santiago's "Personal Legend" - an encouragement to identify and pursue one's dreams and embrace one's destiny. The author emphasizes the interconnectedness of all things in nature, including the universal language of love. Although the boy suffers many setbacks, the universe ultimately rewards him for doing the right thing.

"The Alchemist" is an enjoyable fable told simply and straightforwardly.

Episode 874

Jayson Street on Hacking and Social Engineering

Jayson Street talks about low-tech ways that hackers can bypass cybersecurity systems, and ways you can protect your network and data against these attacks.

Even before Cyril Neville took the stage Thursday evening, his son Omari amped up the crowd with outstanding versions of the Neville Brothers' "Hey Pockey Way" and Dr. John's "Walk On Gilded Splinters."

The crowd was already on their feet dancing when the Cyril walked out, preceded by his horn section. For ninety minutes, Cyril, Omari, and the band entertained a packed house at Fitzgerald's Night Club in Berwyn.

The youngest sibling of the legendary Neville Brothers, Cyril has been recording and touring with his own bands for the past thirty years. Thursday evening, he drew on many of these recordings and the music of others. We heard covers of songs such as Professor Longhair's "Tipitina" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary." Cyril's arrangement of "Exactly Like You" was more soulful than the famous Frank Sinatra version. He also drew from the Neville Brothers' songbook, including "The Tambourine" and "Brother Jake."

Cyril turned 77 earlier this month, but you would not know it to see his energy as he sang, danced, and soaked in the solos of his backing band.

No matter what this band played, they injected the funkiness we come to expect from a Neville. It was a delightful mix of New Orleans blues, rock, R&B, and funk.

The Neville family has been producing excellent music for decades. That music lives on through the youngest brother, Cyril, and his youngest son, Omari.

Carol Shields's 1993 novel "The Stone Diaries" is about the life of Daisy Goodwill Flett and of the people around her.

Shields begins with the story of the courtship of Daisy's parents. Cuyler Goodwill fell in love with the obese orphan Mercy Stone, who died giving birth to Daisy. Daisy's youth is filled with trauma. A neighbor ("Aunt Clarentine") raises Daisy until her death. Clarentine's son, Barker, cannot care for her, so she moves to Indiana to live with her birth father before marrying Harold Hoad, an alcoholic who falls to his drunken death on the couple's honeymoon. Shortly afterward, she marries the much older Barker and moves to Ottawa, where she raises their three children.

Each chapter of "The Stone Diaries" describes a part of Daisy's life: Birth, Childhood, Marriage, Love, Motherhood, Work, Sorrow, Ease, Illness and Decline, and Death. Years - sometimes decades - pass between chapters. The author tells Daisy's story from the edges of her life.

Daisy's story is not heroic. She is everywoman, dealing with what life offers her. It is a saga that takes the reader from rural western Canada to an Indiana college town, then to the suburbs of Ottawa, and finally to a retirement in Florida.

The word "Diaries" in the book's title is misleading. The author frequently shifts from the third to the first person, often allowing others to tell Daisy's story. We hear about Daisy's career as a newspaper columnist through letters from her publisher and her readers. When she falls into depression after a rival, we learn the details through the voices of Daisy's friends and family speculating on the cause of her depression.

Shields shows us how people change throughout their lives. The scope of time allows us to see Daisy's growth from an insecure girl to a devoted wife and mother to a career woman through her struggles with and recovery from depression. But many of the peripheral characters also grow as they age.

"The Stone Diaries" is a touching story of a woman's life told from many points of view. It is about dealing with loneliness and about personal growth.

GCast 202:

Mastering GitHub Copilot course, Lesson 1 Getting Started with GitHub Copilot, Step 2

In this video, I walk through Step 2 of the excellent Microsoft Learn tutorial "Getting Started with GitHub Copilot." In this step, you learn: - to use the Inline Commands of GitHub Copilot to suggest code changes - to use Copilot to generate Commit messages

Links:
https://github.com/microsoft/Mastering-GitHub-Copilot-for-Paired-Programming/
https://github.com/microsoft/Mastering-GitHub-Copilot-for-Paired-Programming/tree/main/Getting-Started-with-GitHub-Copilot

Episode 873

J Tower on Over engineering Software Projects

J Tower has seen many architects and engineers make the mistake of adding needless complexity to applications. He discusses the types of overengineering and ways to avoid these errors.

Links:

https://trailheadtechnology.com/blog

Yakov Bok was a handyman, also known as a fixer, which makes him the title character of Bernard Malmoud's 1966 novel "The Fixer." Bok was a Jew living in nineteenth-century Tsarist Russia, who moved to Kiev seeking a new life after his wife left him. The Russian government oppressed Jews, so Yakov changed his name and hid his religion, seeking work in a neighborhood forbidden to his people. After his employer discovered his deception, others accused Yakov of the murder of a Christian boy. He was imprisoned for years without a trial or formal charge.

The numerous lies and false testimony levied against him make his case appear hopeless, yet he survives. Bok is a victim of the fear and hatred heaped upon the Jews of his time and place. Antisemitism ran strong in the Russia of his day. The belief that Jews drank the blood of murdered Christians in mystical rituals fueled the public's fear and hatred.

This book is a painful novel to read. Malamud provides excruciating details of the torture and humiliation suffered by Bok.

Malmoud based Bok's troubles on the ordeal of Menahem Mendel Beilis, who was falsely accused of a similar murder in 1911.

"The Fixer" is a story of institutionalized discrimination; of paranoia and suspicion; of the hostility and the inaction of society in the face of oppression. But it is also the story of hope and defiance. Yakov refuses to confess under pressure and endures years of a bleak existence.

The lessons of "The Fixer" should resonate with readers today, who witness hate speech against immigrants and minorities in my country, who are accused of everything from stealing benefits to eating pets.

Jonathan Coulton has never achieved the fame he deserves. His music spans a variety of genres, and his ability to mix catchy melodies with clever lyrics is unmatched. But he has managed to build a fan base that loves his talent. This was evident at his sold-out performance Thursday evening at Chicago's City Winery. Many in attendance sang along to each of his songs. And he drew massive applause when he introduced songs with descriptions such as "Here is a song I wrote for a video game" ("Still Alive") or "Here is a song about zombies" ("Re: Your Brains")

With a catalog spanning hundreds of songs, Coulton announced that he developed an algorithm for deciding which songs to play in which order. The algorithm consisted of playing them in alphabetical order. He admitted the system was "stupid," but it had the advantage of letting the audience immediately know if he was skipping their favorite song, so they wouldn't have to wait to be disappointed.

Although he performed almost all originals, he did an impressive version of Billy Joel's "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" - a mini rock opera that featured horns, strings, and orchestration on Joel's original recording. Although Coulton played an acoustic guitar unaccompanied by a band, he emulated the other instruments with his voice to the amusement of the crowd. His only other nod to another composer was his French tribute to Rick Springfield ("Je Suis Rick Springfield") in which he sang a few lines of "Jesse's Girl" to the tune of "Code Monkey."

He deviated from his guitar once when he picked up a zendrum – an electronic percussive instrument that he used to remix the funk dance break "Mr. Fancy Pants."

I felt a part of this show. When the MC asked who was a Vinofile member, I was the only one who clapped. When Jonathan took the stage, he pointed me out as the only member and even remembered me when we met briefly after the show.

Coulton opened his encore set with a cleaned-up version of his racy anthem "First of May," replacing a four-letter word with "hug" to the amusement of the crowd.

Part of me wishes Jonathan Coulton had achieved more commercial success. But another part of me is grateful he is still playing intimate clubs like the City Winery. It was a show everyone should see.

Set List

Episode 872

Karl-Henrik Nilson on Software Archaeology

Karl-Henrik defines a legacy app as an application with a planned retirement date. He describes his approach to working with legacy applications, how he determines the history of an application, and how that history helps him develop an appropriate architecture.

Links:
https://c4model.com/
https://karl-henrik.se/
https://karlhenrik-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/karl-henrik_mean_se/EUS0YtEHD5pPkfkPqilW5aABbH72XUCDiMF2TblMEvt_sg?e=eJyndf
https://karlhenrik-my.sharepoint.com/:t:/g/personal/karl-henrik_mean_se/EVlj0v3dJklFtT4UWShu2hoBNsPV9qf0Vd0SqC-MWoLPyA?e=Zbdvpc
https://karlhenrik-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/g/personal/karl-henrik_mean_se/EZlc-bZ1KUhGiKxHprkzpIABHKH4dIlkdvRzqHOacIT-Rw?e=MEePza

When I was in college in the early 1980s, I worked as a DJ at the on-campus radio station, which featured alternative rock music. Among our playlist was a punk band called "Hüsker Dü," led by singer Bob Mould. Over the next few years, I listened to Hüsker Dü and Mould's follow-up project Sugar. I continued to admire Mould's work when he launched his solo career in the 1990s.

I never saw Bob perform live until the summer of last year when he warmed up for Courtney Barnett at a music festival in Skokie, IL. Mould outshone the headliner on that evening, so I jumped at the chance to see him take top billing Saturday night at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

With a gray beard and a balding head, Bob Mould no longer looks like a punk rocker. But he still possesses frantic energy and manic guitar playing that defined the punk genre. He bounced around the stage like a man a third his age (He turns 65 next week)

His songs sound more melodic today, but they retain the thrashing guitar work that made his reputation decades ago. With barely a second between each 3-minute piece, he had little time to talk with the audience. But he stopped a couple of times to share his opinions on the state of the world, politics, religion, and gay marriage.

Few people can entertain with nothing but a guitar and their voice like Bob Mould. He did just that Saturday night.

GCast 201:

Mastering GitHub Copilot course, Lesson 1 Getting Started with GitHub Copilot, Step 1

In this video, I walk through Step 1 of the excellent Microsoft Learn tutorial "Getting Started with GitHub Copilot." In this step, you learn to use GitHub Copilot to explain, configure, and run an application.

Links:
https://github.com/microsoft/Mastering-GitHub-Copilot-for-Paired-Programming/
https://github.com/microsoft/Mastering-GitHub-Copilot-for-Paired-Programming/tree/main/Getting-Started-with-GitHub-Copilot

I arrived an hour early at the McCormick Convention Center for my shift at the Microsoft AI Tour. I had volunteered to help at the Azure AI Foundry "Ask the Experts" booth, and I wanted to confirm its location. I arrived and introduced myself to Sam, who worked the morning shift. As we were talking, an attendee walked up and asked a question. Then another person appeared with another question. Then another. Soon, people were waiting in line, and we were dividing them between the two of us. Some questions I could not answer, so I handed them off to Sam and invited another attendee to ask.

Sam stayed well past her scheduled end time, and I did not take a break until hours later, when I realized I had not yet eaten lunch.

The crowd finally thinned out in the late afternoon. I took the opportunity to walk around the expo area, checking out the other "Ask the Experts" booths, and talking with partners. Microsoft had scheduled a Chicago AI Tour specifically for partners a few days after, so not many partners attended this event. However, I had conversations with people I knew from Elastic and Long View.

The Folks at Long View invited me to a Happy Hour following the AI Tour, so I stopped by the VU Rooftop Bar around the corner from the Convention Center to meet a few of them. The views from this rooftop bar are impressive, and it was nice to meet a few more people from the partner's organization. I could not stay long because I had already accepted an invitation to a Microsoft MVP dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant. My friend Betsy organized the event and invited me as a former MVP.

It was good to connect with this community, which does so much to help spread knowledge about Microsoft technologies. Most were in town to volunteer at the AI Tour.

Thanks to the number of people and questions at the Experts booth, I was unable to attend any breakout sessions at the event. Still, it was time well spent, connecting with people, teaching them, and learning from them.

Episode 871

Arthur Doler on Code Archaeology

After over a decade of consulting, Arthur Doler has inherited a lot of legacy code. He talks about how he approaches to understanding code that others have written. His process of surveying, extraction, and analysis allows him to more effectively work with this code.

10/5
Today I am grateful:
- to see Bob Mould in concert last night
- to attend a conversation with Nate Silver and Richard Thaler yesterday

10/4
Today I am grateful to see Il Divo in concert last night

10/3
Today I am grateful to see Midnight Sun last night at Hyde Park's Summer Music Series.

10/2
Today I am grateful to my neighbor Tim for helping me jump start my car last night.

10/1
Today I am grateful to deliver a presentation on AI for programmers at the Native Dev Road Show last night.

9/30
Today I am grateful to successfully organize a class on GitHub Copilot for our partner this week.

9/29
Today I am grateful for a new stepladder

9/28
Today I am grateful to Ed for sending me some freshly roasted coffee beans.

9/27
Today I am grateful for dinner and pickleball with Dan and Charity last night

9/26
Today I am grateful
- to pretend to be an expert at the "AI Foundry" booth yesterday at the AI Tour.
- to Betsy for inviting me to dinner last night with a group of MVPs

9/25
Today I am grateful to speak at VS Code Dev Day last night.

9/24
Today I am grateful to record a bunch of screencasts this week after a long gap.

9/23
Today I am grateful to deliver a presentation on AI yesterday at the Women in Technology meetup at the University of Illinois - Chicago.

9/22
Today I am grateful to see Cheech Marin last night in Little Village.

9/21
Today I am grateful for a relaxing day in Lemont, IL.

9/20
Today I am grateful to catch up on editing photos

9/19
Today I am grateful to play pickleball outdoors at night for the first time yesterday.

9/18
Today I am grateful for a long weekend in Florida, visiting family and friends, and attending exciting sporting events.

9/17
Today I am grateful:
- to see a Rays - Blue Jays game at the Steinbrenner minor league ballpark in Tampa last night
- for the hospitality of Kathleen

9/16
Today I am grateful for dinner last night in Bradenton with my cousins Kathleen, Kevin, and Judy

9/15
Today I am grateful:
- for the hospitality of Cam and Marnie
- to see an exciting Dolphins-Patriots game yesterday on my first visit to Hard Rock Stadium.

9/14
Today I am grateful to see an exciting Tigers-Marlins game yesterday on my first visit to LoanDepot Park.

9/13
Today I am grateful for coffee with Armando this morning.

9/12
Today I am grateful to arrive safely in Miami

9/11
Today I am grateful to see Roger McGuinn in concert last night.

9/10
Today I am grateful for the return of my espresso machine after two months.

9/9
Today I am grateful to find some folks with whom to play pickleball yesterday.

What do opera singers do when they are not singing opera?

If they are members of Il Divo, they sing pop songs, show tunes, and a few operatic pieces.

This multinational group brought their show to Hammond's Horseshoe Casino Friday evening to perform for an audience that one of the singers joked: "included no one from Hammond."

The quartet alternated between singing harmonies, providing background vocals for one another, and each performer singing a solo song. Each singer introduced his song with a brief story of how his interest in music began.

The evening mixed songs by pop singers Mariah Carey and Toni Braxton with those by classical composers (George Frederic Handel), along with some love songs and standards. A highlight was their Italian language version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." They overcame technical difficulties when the microphones failed for a few minutes during the opening number. The string trio Simply 3 opened for Il Divo before settling in as the quartet's accompanists for the main act.

Il Divo was founded in 2003 by Simon Cowell (yes, that Simon Cowell!), and included tenors Urs Bühlerand, David Miller, and Sébastien Izambard, along with baritone Carlos Marín. Steven LaBrie joined the group in 2022 to replace Marin, who died of COVID-19. After more than two decades, the group remains strong and continues to entertain audiences.

Episode 870

Arunava Majumdar on AI and an Automation Platform

After 23 years at IBM, Arunava Majumdar has entered the startup world, creating Open Development Platform and ResearchNet. He describes the platform that he is developing that uses AI and LLMs to understand and solve problems and to generate products.

Links:
https://researchnet.ai
https://www.linkedin.com/in/arunava-majumdar/

The United States underwent significant changes in the early twentieth century. The automobile was replacing the horse-drawn carriage, the economy was shifting from agriculture to industry, and a new breed of industrialists began to emerge. Booth Tarkington's 1918 novel, "The Magnificent Ambersons," documents this national change through a story set in a midwestern city and its inhabitants.

At the beginning of the novel, horses fill the city's roads, and the Amberson family dominates the city's social and political system, as if they are royalty. It is not long before automobiles produced by Morgan's company fill the roadways.

George Amberson Minafer was born into a life of privilege. His mother, Isabel, spoiled him endlessly, and his family lived off his grandfather's fortune. George aspired to nothing more than to live a life of ease, which he believed was his birthright.
By contrast, Eugene Morgan attained his fortune through hard work and intelligence. George's courtship of Eugene's daughter, Lucy, highlights their cultural and upbringing differences. George's pompous rudeness contrasts with Lucy's practical nature. Their relationship serves as a metaphor for the two cultures in the nation.

George rationalizes his feeling of superiority: "really, don't you think that being things is rather better than doing things?"

George's relationship with Lucy serves as a metaphor for the clash of cultures and the shifting power in America. Lucy sees the value in all people, while George rates them based on their family's status. The power shifts from the old money of the Amberson family to the industriousness and work ethic of the Morgan family. George is intelligent and charming, but his sense of entitlement is off-putting. George looks down on those around him and even prevents his widowed mother from marrying Eugene, whom he believes was born into a lower class. Isabel was in love with Eugene, but George made it clear he would consider the match below her station.

The Amberson family fails to recognize the changing world, which ultimately leads to their inevitable downfall. Those who were offended by George's youthful rudeness and condescension take pleasure when his family fortune inevitably collapses.

"The Magnificent Ambersons" is a parable about the dangers of pride and hubris that can afflict individuals and groups.

Mark Twain's nineteenth-century novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" introduced the character of Jim, a runaway slave, who traveled with young Huck down the Mississippi River. Twain chose to tell the story in Huck's voice and from Huck's point of view. Jim was arguably the bravest and most intelligent character in this novel, but the author presented him as simple, superstitious, and uneducated. Percival Everett's 2024 novel "James" tells the same story from Jim's point of view and in the voice of the slave.

In Everett's novel, James is educated and articulate, but he hides these attributes from the whites he encounters, knowing they will feel threatened by an intelligent negro. He instructs his family to feign ignorance and hide behind poor grammar to remain safe.

Everett fills in some of the gaps of Twain's novel when Huck and Jim separate, such as what happened when the "Duke" and "King" sold Jim. In addition, we hear Jim's thoughts, getting a glimpse inside his head of what he knows, what he thinks about Huck's words and actions, and how he chooses to respond. At the end, the book serves up a twist that helps explain Jim's loyalty to Huck.

"James" is much more than fan fiction. It is an intelligent story about a character we think we know well. It provides a new perspective on an old story that forces the reader to think about the faces people put forward.

GCast 200:

Recording and Editing a Screencast

In this video, I show the steps I use to create, record, and edit the screencasts for this series. Tools include Microsoft Teams and Adobe Premiere Pro

I recently sat down to interview Harshvardhan Pathak and Gajanand Singh of Celebal Technologies. We talked about CT Vision – their video analytics platform.

The interview is part of the Azure Kubernetes Service team’s series “Partner Cloud Native Showcase.”

Streamline video content management with Celebal: CN Partner Showcase: Azure Kubernetes Service

Episode 869

Jennifer Reif on Graphs, Graph Databases, and Neo4j

Neo4j Advocate Jennifer Reif defines graph databases, including Neo4j, and describes the use cases when they are most useful.

John and Julie Gottman have been studying interpersonal relationships and writing books on the subject for decades. Their latest book - "Eight Dates: Essential Conversations for a Lifetime of Love" - focuses on helping those in a long-term relationship.

After years together, a couple may fall into a routine in which they take one another for granted. The Gottmans recommend keeping things interesting by continuing to date. One does not need money for a successful date. In fact, one does not even need to leave home. The important thing is to dedicate some time to focus on each other and on your relationship.

This book suggests ideas for eight different dates. The topics of each date are Trust and Commitment; Addressing Conflict; Sex and Intimacy; Work and Money; Family; Fun and Adventure; Growth and Spirituality; and Dreams. Each chapter covers one of these ideas, but only a small part focuses on the date itself. Each chapter opens with a description of the topic and how it can potentially lead to conflict or misunderstanding, and how couples can resolve these issues. The authors illustrate many of their lessons with anecdotes of couples they have observed. The Schwartzes have been married for nearly forty years, and they have used their own experiences as examples on multiple occasions. They follow each case study with a set of questions for the couple to go through together, answering each in turn. Finally, we read a description of the date, which usually involves finding a private place to talk and discuss the chapter's ideas, and compare their answers to the questions.

My partner and I each read this book. We did not go on every date described, but we held many of the conversations suggested in the chapters. It helped our communication, and we learned things about one another during these conversations.

This book will not repair broken relationships, but it will provide a starting point and spark conversations that can remind you why you fell in love in the first place.

When I was a boy growing up in Rockville, MD, my father would sometimes take us to RFK Stadium to see the Washington Senators. After the Senators moved to Texas in 1971, the family attended a few  Orioles games at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. We moved to Michigan in 1972 where my father's job included some free tickets to see the Detroit Tigers play at Tiger Stadium. When no customer or vendor wanted these tickets, he would bring his family.

Those three ballparks have long since been torn down, but they sparked my love for baseball - particularly for seeing games in person.

During my consulting days I traveled often across the US, and I made a point to see a baseball game if the local MLB team was playing at home.

At some point, I decided that I should visit all 30 Major League ballparks. This was a difficult goal because teams often move to a new city or tear down their old stadium and build a new one. When that happened, I decided I needed to return and visit the team's new ballpark.

I have had many jobs that included travel around the United States, so I tried to attend home games when visiting a new city. I happened to be in Kansas City on Opening Day the year after the Royals won their first World Series in decades. Tickets were sold out, but someone must have returned their tickets since I was able to buy one behind home plate. I have gone with friends, family, co-workers, and people I had just met. And I have been to many games by myself.

On my recent trip to Florida, I finally completed this bucket list. For my birthday in March, my sons gifted me tickets to a Miami Marlins home game - the only stadium remaining on my list. They joined me as I celebrated. It was a fitting finale. Although I was pulling for the visiting Tigers to win, the Marlins won on a walk-off home run in the eleventh inning.

Thanks to the many moves, I have seen a Major League Baseball game at 45 different stadiums - 50% more than there are teams in the league. This includes two games at Minor League parks. The A's moved  to Sacramento temporarily and played at a Minor League stadium while developers in Las Vegas build them a new home; and the Rays are playing this year at a Minor League park in Tampa while the Tropicana Dome is under repair.

Major League Baseball places far fewer restrictions on field dimensions than the NFL, NBA, and NHL place on the dimensions of fields and courts. As a result, baseball stadiums vary greatly in size and shape. I love stadiums that embrace their home town. Detroit's Comerica Park and Pittsburgh's PNC park offer spectacular views of their city skylines. The outfields in San Francisco and Cincinnati open up to the adjacent waterways. Detroit and Baltimore include the walls of old buildings that existed before the stadiums, while Dodger Stadium is built into the side of a hill. I love the history of Wrigley and Fenway, which are both over a century old. I love when a new stadium pays homage to its predecessor: The new Yankee Stadium retained the monument park in the outfield and Guaranteed Rate Field includes a digital version of the pinwheels that adorned Comiskey Park. The Ferris Wheel at Comerica Park and the Coca-Cola slide at Oracle Park are fun distractions. I like to see stadium food that reflects the local culture, such as BBQ in Texas, paninis at Cleveland's Progressive Field, and Chicago dogs at the Windy City ballparks.

I paid a premium for some games, but others were a huge bargain. Several times, I was offered free tickets because I was with my two young boys. In San Francisco, we sat with the local Boys and Girls Club, which did not use their donated allotment. The Rockies had a $1 ticket promotion the day I attended. Because they would not take cash, they probably lost money on the transaction.

I have seen some memorable games over the years. Here are few of the best:

- Clay Bucholz no-hitter at Fenway Park, Sep 1, 2007
- Phillies Walk-off RBI at Citizens Bank Park during a playoff race
- Giants Grand Slam at Pac Bell Stadium. We got free tickets in the Boys Club section, because they did not use - all of theirs.
- Biggest comeback in Nationals history at Nationals Park, July 5, 2018
- Royals Opening Day at Kauffman Stadium the year after their World Series victory. Rematch with the Mets - their World Series opponent. Apr 3, 2016
- Walk-off victory by the Oakland A's, July 4, 2014
- First-ever Opening Day at Great American Ball Park, Mar 31, 2003
- Walk-off RBI by Yainer Díaz at Minute Maid Park lifts the second-place Astros over the first-place Rangers, July 24, 2024
- Ohtani grand slam; triple play by the Angels; Rays win in 10 innings, Aug 18, 2023
- Walk-off RBI by the Mets in the bottom of the 11th, Citi Field, Sep 15, 2013
- Grand Slam by Royals' Bobby Witt Jr., Guaranteed Rate Field, July 29, 2024
- Longest losing streak in AL history, Guaranteed Rate Field, 2024
- Rookie Troy Johnston hit a walkoff 2-run home in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift the Marlins over the first-place Tigers 6-4, LoanDepot Field, September 13, 2025

Now that I have made it through my list, I can focus on visiting the remaining NFL, NBA, and NHL home venues. Only 18 of these remain. Of course, I will travel to a game when a team builds a new stadium. The next scheduled one is for the A's in Las Vegas.

It took me over 50 years to complete this bucket list. I began it with my father and I finished it with my sons.

Below is the complete list:

- Angel Stadium (Anaheim Angels) - 2023
- Chase Field (Arizona Diamondbacks) - 2019
- Sutter Health Park (A's) - 2025
- Turner Field (Atlanta Braves) - 2014 *
- Truist Park (Atlanta Braves) - 2024
- Camden Yard (Baltimore Orioles) - 2002
- Memorial Stadium (Baltimore Orioles) - 1970 *
- Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox) - 2007
- Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs) - 2005
- Guaranteed Rate Field (Chicago White Sox) - 2012
- Cellular One Park (Chicago White Sox) - 1999 *
- Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati Reds) - 2003
- Cinergy Field (Cincinnati Reds) - 2002 *
- Jacobs Field (Cleveland Indians) - 2004
- Coors Field (Colorado Rockies) - 2022
- Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers) - 2001
- Tiger Stadium (Detroit Tigers) - 1979 *
- Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros) - 2023
- Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City Royals) - 2015
- Dodgers Stadium (Los Angeles Dodgers) - 2023
- Marlins Park (Miami Marlins) - 2025
- Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers) - 2014
- Target Field (Minnesota Twins) - 2015
- Hubert Humphrey Metrodome (Minnesota Twins) - 2005 *
- Citi Field (New York Mets) - 2013
- Shea Stadium (New York Mets) - 2006 *
- Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees) - 2012
- Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees) - 1982 *
- O.Com Colliseum (Oakland Athletics) - 2014 *
- Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia Phillies) - 2007
- Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia Phillies) - 1998 *
- PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates) - 2007
- Three Rivers Stadium (Pittsburgh Pirates) - 1999 *
- Petco Field (San Diego Padres) - 2023
- 3Com Park (San Francisco Giants) - 2000
- Safeco Field (Seattle Mariners) - 2004
- Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals) - 2015
- Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals) - 2005 *
- Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Rays) - 2013
- George Steinbrenner Stadium (Tampa Bay Rays) - 2025
- Globe Life Park in Arlington (Texas Rangers) - 2018 *
- Globe Life Field (Texas Rangers) - 2023
- Rogers Dome (Toronto Blue Jays) - 2005
- Nationals Park (Washington Nationals) - 2018
- RFK Memorial Stadium (Washington Senators) - 1969 *

Episode 868

Mihai Tataran on Testing and Evaluating Generative AI Solutions

Generative AI projects present challenges when trying to test and evaluate nondeterministic output. He describes his approach to validating the quality of these systems and ways to improve them.

I don't know anyone who does not feel the pressure of time. This feeling may stem from the need to complete all one's daily tasks or from the desire to achieve long-term goals within one's lifetime. In my case, I feel both pressures.

Chris Guillebeau's 2025 book "Time Anxiety" addresses these pressures.

Here is some of his advice:

- Schedule transition time between your appointments, so you have time to prepare
- Allow a few extra minutes to travel than you think you might need. Avoid doing last-minute tasks before you head out the door.
- Not every task has to be accomplished with excellence. Some things can be good enough, leaving more time for higher-priority activities.

Most of his advice revolves around deciding what is important to you, focusing on things that support that, and deproritizing unimportant things. For example, it is not necessary to finish a book or movie if you are not enjoying it or not getting anything from it. Ask yourself how you will feel about a decision ten years from now. That may help you to decide.

The best advice I read here was in addressing overwhelming negative thoughts, which everyone experiences sometimes. Guillebeau advises us to focus on the positive - to remember a time you faced a similar challenge and succeeded.

"Time Anxiety" is not a bad book. The author provides simple, straightforward, and concise advice on managing time. But nearly all of it is common sense, and I think I am already doing all his recommendations.

When Roger McGuinn performs, he brings his life story with him.

The veteran musician sang, played, and talked for nearly two and a half hours, breaking for a 15-minute intermission. He interspersed stories of his long career between classic songs. After strolling onto the stage with a cordless electric guitar and playing Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages," McGuinn sat down to talk about growing up in Chicago, attending Latin School in the Gold Coast neighborhood, and learning guitar at the Old Town School of Folk Music. A guitar and a microphone were all he needed to entertain the Skokie crowd on Wednesday evening. He played some of the songs he loved to listen to as a boy, talked about the teachers who had influenced him, and shared the story of moving to Los Angeles after high school graduation to record with The Limeliters.

The one-way ticket to California marked the beginning of a musical journey that enabled him to meet, record with, and tour alongside many of the legends of rock and folk music. Roger introduced "The Ballad of Easy Rider," telling of how Peter Fonda approached Bob Dylan about writing a song for his new motorcycle movie. Dylan scribbled a verse on a napkin and told Fonda to "give this to McGuinn. He'll know what to do with it."

We heard about Bob Dylan's 1975-76 Rolling Thunder Revue. McGuinn joined the tour, which inspired McGuinn to write "Take Me Away" and "Jolly Roger" - the latter based on the rocking motion of the tour bus, which reminded Roger of a pirate ship.

McGuinn met David Crosby after seeing him perform in a Samuel Beckett play. The two became friends and later formed The Byrds, a group that rocketed to stardom and transitioned from folk rock (Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man") to country ("You Ain't Goin' Nowhere") to psychedelic rock ("Eight Miles High"). McGuinn performed each of these as he told of the rapid evolution of The Byrds.

When Roger turned down the chance to play a country banjo player in a motion picture, he was told he would never work in Hollywood. "I never have," he quipped, "but I still play the banjo," before launching into traditional banjo tunes "The Preacher and the Bear" and "Old Blue."

The audience joined in on "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Knocking on Heaven's Door," which brought a smile to the singer's face.

Each story led into a song, and each song felt like an old friend. Roger's speaking voice is soft and high-pitched, like his singing voice. At 87, he still projects joy when he sings and talks of his career and his friends.

I left the concert feeling like I knew Roger McGuinn better.

Episode 867

Sam Nasr on Data Cleansing

When working on Machine Learning projects, Sam Nasr spends most of his time cleaning data. In this video, Sam discusses why data cleansing is important, the types of data that he needs to review, and how to address data deficiencies.

9/7
Today I am grateful to shop for an iPhone with my son yesterday.

9/6
Today I am grateful to see comedian Stephen Rogers at the Lincoln Lodge last night

9/5
Today I am grateful for a successful Chicago Cloud Computing User Group meeting last night.

9/4
Today I am grateful to hang out with Jayson last night.

9/3
Today I am grateful to celebrate Tim's birthday with a bbq dinner last night.

9/2
Today I am grateful to Tim for helping me hang my new TV

9/1
Today I am grateful for lunch yesterday with Pat and Pat.

8/31
Today I am grateful for breakfast with Amanda yesterday in East Lansing.

8/30
Today I am grateful to attend a Michigan State football game last night at Spartan Stadium for the first time in years.

8/29
Today I am grateful to see Laretha Weathersby perform at Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven last night.

8/28
Today I am grateful to talk with Gaines yesterday.

8/27
Today I am grateful for a new TV

8/25
Today I am grateful to attend Charity's birthday celebration yesterday in Lansing, IL.

8/24
Today I am grateful to attend the Chicago House Music Festival yesterday.

8/23
Today I am grateful to see Bossa Nova Noites, Larry Williams, and Najee in concert last night.

8/22
Today I am grateful to attend the AI Collective meetup last night.

8/21
Today I am grateful for a new neck reading light.

8/20
Today I am grateful to catch up on writing book reviews this week.

8/19
Today I am grateful for a massage yesterday.

8/18
Today I am grateful to play pickleball much of yesterday afternoon.

8/17
Today I am grateful to talk with Jayson yesterday

8/16
Today I am grateful to the organizers of #KCDC who put on an excellent conference this week!

8/15
Today I am grateful to deliver two presentations at the Kansas City Developers Conference yesterday.

8/14
Today I am grateful to attend the #KCDC Speaker Dinner last night.

8/13
Today I am grateful for those who made last night's Chicago Cloud Computing User Group a success, especially:
- Mike, for giving an excellent presentation on Fabric and AI
- Ron, for recording and live streaming the meeting
- all the people who braved the thunderstorms to attend

8/12
Today I am grateful to celebrate an 87th birthday with her family yesterday.

8/11
Today I am grateful for the love of Jesus Christ.

8/10
Today I am grateful to see Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass in concert last night.

8/9
Today I am grateful for a phone call with Kathleen yesterday.

8/8
Today I am grateful to attend Juan's going-away party yesterday before he moves to Washington, DC.

8/7
Today I am grateful to attend the Discovery Partners Institute Summer Tech Interns Summer Project Showcase yesterday.

8/6
Today I am grateful to talk with Brent yesterday.

8/5
Today I am grateful to talk with Josh yesterday

8/4
Today I am grateful to see Firefall and Orleans in concert last night in St. Charles

I don't know anyone who does not feel the pressure of time. This feeling may stem from the need to complete all one's daily tasks or from the desire to achieve long-term goals within one's lifetime. In my case, I feel both pressures.

Chris Guillebeau's 2025 book "Time Anxiety" addresses these pressures.

Here is some of his advice:

- Schedule transition time between your appointments, so you have time to prepare
- Allow a few extra minutes to travel than you think you might need. Avoid doing last-minute tasks before you head out the door.
- Not every task has to be accomplished with excellence. Some things can be good enough, leaving more time for higher-priority activities.

Most of his advice revolves around deciding what is important to you, focusing on things that support that, and deproritizing unimportant things. For example, it is not necessary to finish a book or movie if you are not enjoying it or not getting anything from it. Ask yourself how you will feel about a decision ten years from now. That may help you to decide.

The best advice I read here was in addressing overwhelming negative thoughts, which everyone experiences sometimes. Guillebeau advises us to focus on the positive - to remember a time you faced a similar challenge and succeeded.

"Time Anxiety" is not a bad book. The author provides simple, straightforward, and concise advice on managing time. But nearly all of it is common sense, and I think I am already doing all his recommendations.

Episode 866

Ted Neward on Writing Prose

Software developers are good at writing code but tend to do a poor job at writing prose. Ted Neward discusses why writing is important and how to improve in this area.

Links
https://www.amazon.com/PRFAQ-Framework-Adapting-Amazons-Innovation-ebook/dp/B0DPXT6YTV