Soon after I started working, I noticed I was even less physically active than as a computer science grad student (which is saying something), and I’ve dreamt of putting a treadmill in my office and walking while I worked.

Not surprisingly, I’m not the only one with this brilliant idea: Dr. James Levine at the Mayo Clinic and his team have created a workstation combining a treadmill, desk, and computer. At 1 mph, it’s not enough to break a sweat, but it is enough to burn an extra 100 calories an hour, or, at 10 hours per day, more than 50 pounds a year.

I’ve blogged previously about IBM software getting snappier names (e.g., Sametime->”Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing”->Sametime). Looks like this philosophy is slowly spreading. For example, take a look at this name evolution:

• Workplace Client Technology Micro Edition, Enterprise Offering
• Workplace Managed Client for WebSphere
• WebSphere Everyplace Deployment for Windows and Linux
• Lotus Expeditor

It also shows a renewed emphasis on the Lotus brand, a promising sign.

I’ve realized that I’ve been blogging a lot less ever since I started posting my photos on Flickr. Seems like I can do only so much “content creation” before maxing out.

I’ve decided that at age 30, a Casio Databank calculator watch just doesn’t look very, uh, classy in certain situations. Plus, now that I have a cell phone, one of my original reasons for having a Databank, to store phone numbers, isn’t as useful as it used to be. So I bought an analog watch (one of those nifty types that recharge when you swing your arm). But it’ll take a while to get used to it. This is the first time I haven’t had a digital watch since elementary school — I’m not used to reading an analog clock on my wrist.

The developer tools group in Borland, which is in the process of being spun off, is resurrecting the Turbo line of programming tools. They will include a free edition and a professional edition that will cost less than $500. (Currently Borland’s cheapest professional tools cost over $1000.) They’re even bringing back their old mascot, Turboman. I’m glad to see them going back to their roots, and I’m rooting for them. Way back in middle school, Turbo Pascal 3.0 was my first exposure to structured programming and a real IDE and compiler, and I’ve been a fan of Borland ever since.

Last week San Jose hosted a huge digital art conference and exhibition called ZeroOne, held in association with the International Symposium of Electronic Art. I went on Tuesday with Francis and Simona to check out an art piece created by their friends called Acclair, a provocative piece on the intersection of profiling, security, and advertising. We also got to see massive images get projected onto San Jose City Hall the result was quite spectacular. I also wanted to see the Survival Research Labs show on Friday, but it was long sold out.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen people from San Francisco come to San Jose to see art. I hope it’s not the last.

I went on a short trip to Vancouver last week to visit relatives and friends. Thoughts:

• Vancouver is kinda like a smaller version of the Bay Area (city on peninsula surrounded by water, anti-road sentiment, elevated rail transit, etc), except with taller mountains and taller buildings.
• The weather was perfect. I carried around a sweater and never needed it, even at night.
• The road construction on the Sea-to-Sky Highway is coming along nicely.
• The Richmond Night Market is a cross between a flea market and a night market in Taipei. It is gigantic. The food stalls looked tasty — too bad I was too full from dinner. The next time I’m up there, I’ll just go there for dinner.
• It’s definitely nicer visiting in August than in December (unless you want to go skiing).