February 25, 2009

Ultimate Game

Monday February 23, 2009
12PM Pick-up game
Mitre Fields, Burlington, MA
Weather: 21 F, Sunny, Really Windy
Field: thin layer of crunchy snow
Perfect conditions for Ultimate.

Winter continues to hang on for Monday's game as it was cold with stiff, stiff winds gusting over 40mph at some points. Despite the conditions we still had some good quality play (other with most of the scores happening in one direction!)

Ultimate Statistics (since January 2008):
Total Games Played: 159
Total Hours Played: 185

February 21, 2009

Ultimate Wind

Friday February 20, 2009
12PM Pick-up game
TRW Field, Burlington, MA
Weather: 25 F, Cloudy, Windy
Field: patchy snow, ice
Perfect conditions for Ultimate.

A bit of a frustrating, windy, icy game on Friday. As much as I love playing in the cold and the snow, I'm really looking forward to soft, dry grassy fields in the approaching spring.

Ultimate Statistics (since January 2008):
Total Games Played: 158
Total Hours Played: 184

Ultimate Catchup

Wednesday February 18, 2009
12PM Pick-up game
Mitre Fields, Burlington, MA
Weather: 38 F, Partly Cloudy
Field: cruncy grass
Perfect conditions for Ultimate.

Just catching up on my ultimate posts.

Ultimate Statistics (since January 2008):
Total Games Played: 157
Total Hours Played: 183

Ultimate Catchup

Monday February 16, 2009
12PM Pick-up game
Mitre Fields, Burlington, MA
Weather: 35 F, Partly Sunny
Field: cruncy grass
Perfect conditions for Ultimate.

Just catching up on my ultimate posts.

Ultimate Statistics (since January 2008):
Total Games Played: 156
Total Hours Played: 182

Ultimate Thirteenth

Friday February 13, 2009
12PM Pick-up game
Mitre Fields, Burlington, MA
Weather: 25 F, Partly Sunny, Windy
Field: ice
Perfect conditions for Ultimate.

Almost impossible to play on an icy field but we found a small patch that was reasonable.

Ultimate Statistics (since January 2008):
Total Games Played: 155
Total Hours Played: 181

February 10, 2009

Project Darkstar Maven Plugin

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the main goals I had in mind for version 0.9.8 of Project Darkstar was establishing an application deployment mechanism that was both simple and consistent. A cornerstone feature of any application container, at least from an IT and system administrator's standpoint, is a clearcut and highly predictable structure for application deliverables. This streamlines maintenance, keeping the costs down and contributing to just one of the value-adds of the technology. Personally, I think that we accomplished this with this release.

There is a flip side to this coin, however. In addition to administrator and deploy-time efficiencies, there are also developer use-cases that require simple, consistent, and automated bring up of a deployed Project Darkstar application. Whether it's for testing, debugging, or one-off temporary deployments, the need for quickly and automatically booting up a Project Darkstar server application during development is obvious. The question is, can we leverage the new distribution structure of 0.9.8, which accomplishes our first goal, to also establish a "best practice blueprint" for our second goal? I think the answer is yes.

The Project Darkstar Maven Plugin does exactly this. Using the standardized structure established in version 0.9.8, the plugin provides the capability to control a Project Darkstar server installation, including deployment, bootup, and shutdown. Is it a silver bullet? Probably not. But I've already ported the wanderer example and Project Snowman to use it with good success. If you're developing a Project Darkstar application, and especially if you're using Maven, I would encourage you to check it out.

Ultimate Ultimate

Monday February 9, 2009
12PM Pick-up game
Mitre Fields, Burlington, MA
Weather: 33 F, Sunny
Field: snow
Perfect conditions for Ultimate.

This week at work, some of our west coast counterparts are here for some business meetings. At first they didn't believe that we actually played ultimate outside in the snow during winter. Well we proved it on Monday as Mike came out to join us for a really great 6v6 game.

Ultimate Statistics (since January 2008):
Total Games Played: 154
Total Hours Played: 180

Ultimate Weekend

Sunday February 8, 2009
11AM Pick-up game
Danehy Park, Cambridge, MA
Weather: 50 F, Partly Sunny
Field: slush, ice water
Perfect conditions for Ultimate.

I swung by the weekly Arlington/Cambridge game on Sunday for a 4v4 in melting, icy slush.

Ultimate Statistics (since January 2008):
Total Games Played: 153
Total Hours Played: 179

February 7, 2009

Ultimate Friday

Friday February 6, 2009
12PM Pick-up game
TRW Field, Burlington, MA
Weather: 21 F, Sunny
Field: deep snow
Perfect conditions for Ultimate.

I bought a new pair of white cleats over a month ago after my old cleats were once again developing holes and nearing a blowout. They're still white.

Ultimate Statistics (since January 2008):
Total Games Played: 152
Total Hours Played: 177

February 5, 2009

Ultimate Powder

Wednesday February 4, 2009
12PM Pick-up game
Mitre Fields, Burlington, MA
Weather: 20 F, Sunny
Field: deep snow
Perfect conditions for Ultimate.

Lots of fresh powder made for a great 6v6 game yesterday.

Ultimate Statistics (since January 2008):
Total Games Played: 151
Total Hours Played: 176

February 3, 2009

Ultimate Bright

Monday February 2, 2009
12PM Pick-up game
Mitre Fields, Burlington, MA
Weather: 45 F, Sunny
Field: snow
Perfect conditions for Ultimate.

I need to remember to bring my sunglasses on sunny winter days. Yesterday the large, white Mitre fields were blinding me with the reflection off the snow.

Ultimate Statistics (since January 2008):
Total Games Played: 150
Total Hours Played: 175

Ultimate Slush

Friday January 30, 2009
12PM Pick-up game
Mitre Fields, Burlington, MA
Weather: 33 F, Partly Sunny
Field: snow
Perfect conditions for Ultimate.

Missed Wednesday's game due to an inability to get there in an ice storm.

Ultimate Statistics (since January 2008):
Total Games Played: 149
Total Hours Played: 174

Ultimate Catchup

Monday January 26, 2009
12PM Pick-up game
Mitre Fields, Burlington, MA
Weather: 25 F, Sunny
Field: snow
Perfect conditions for Ultimate.

Catching up...

Ultimate Statistics (since January 2008):
Total Games Played: 148
Total Hours Played: 173