kathleen forden

Blarney, originally uploaded by gengish.

The Blarney Stone is actually at the top of the castle, you hang upside down on your back under a bar and kiss the side of the castle while hanging over the edge.  Yes, I have visited and no, I did not kiss the stone.  Even I had heard about the locals who head there to “christen” the stone after several pints.

<excerpt from Wikipedia> The stone is said to have been presented to Cormac McCarthy by Robert the Bruce in 1314 in recognition of his support in the Battle of Bannockburn;[1] popular legend holds that this was a piece of the Stone of Scone. This stone was then installed at McCarthy’s castle of Blarney. When the castle was rebuilt in 1446, Dermot McCarthy had the stone preserved in the new castle.

The proprietors of Blarney Castle list several explanations other than the Stone of Scone for the ancient origins of the stone, many of which suppose that the Stone had previously been in Ireland but was then taken to Scotland and returned to Ireland in 1314.[1] The theories listed include those that the stone:

* was part of the wailing wall in Jerusalam brought to Ireland during the Crusades.
* was half of the original Stone of Scone – presented to Cormac McCarthy by Robert the Bruce in 1314 in recognition of his support in the Battle of Bannockburn.[1].
* was the stone that Jacob used as a pillow, and was brought to Ireland by the prophet Jeremiah.
* was the pillow used by St. Columba of Iona on his deathbed.
* was the Stone of Ezel, which David hid behind on Jonathan’s advice, while fleeing from King Saul, and may have been brought back to Ireland during the Crusades.
* was the rock that Moses struck with his staff to produce water for the Israelites, during their flight from Egypt.
* was related to the stone was known as the Lia Fáil or “Stone of Destiny” – part of the king’s throne, with mysterious powers.

None of these provenance stories account for why a stone of such significance and antiquity would be used in the construction of a fifteenth century castle, inconspicuously incorporated into an exterior wall and exposed to the elements. Apart from discoloration and wear caused by human contact, the stone is not readily distinguishable from its neighbors. </excerpt from Wikipedia>

Mike’s blog and site rock!www.implementingscrum.com

I love the bay area, it’s such a beautiful place to visit.

Cultures, People, Google Logos, World's Celebrations

I’ve been a fan of the Google logo directory for a few years now.

http://www.google.com/logos/logos09-1.html

This morning I was just reviewing the new logos for the last year when something hit me.  I’ve been visiting this site because it shows creativity and imagination with each cool design.   But, I also love it because it reminds me that we live in a global society.  A fact this is sometimes easy to forget when you are managing all your “life responsibilities”.

Each culture has their own traditions and holidays represented on these pages.  Scrolling through the logos and reading each holiday  is a quick way to feel just a little bit more connected with all the other folks out there beyond our cubicles or homes.

Go visit and let me know what you think.

http://www.google.com/logos/logos09-1.html

Hong Kong View from Victoria Peak, originally uploaded by jhandelman.

On the list to visit before relocating to Europe

Try out new Facebook features before your friends with Prototypes

by John Burke (RSS feed) Sep 16th 2009 at 12:20AM

On the heels of last week’s release of @mentions and the new Facebook Lite, today Facebook announced “Prototypes”.

Prototypes give users a chance to test out cool new applications and functionality “going on inside the walls of Facebook” and to provide feedback to the who built the prototypes, directly.

To begin testing and providing feedback, simply find any application available in the Application Directory that is marked as “Prototype”. Some cool examples that have come out of Facebook prototype apps include Desktop Notifications for Mac, recent comments filters and enhanced event emails.

Think of Prototypes much like the recently released Mozilla Test Pilot; Giving users the chance to opt-in to new features not quite ready for primetime.

via pheedcontent.com

Posted via web from kforden.com

Sometimes even the best researchers forget that the answer you get depends entirely on who you ask. A new Forrester survey of 2,000 information workers has revealed that despite the hype, it’s not Gen Y that’s getting business to adopt collaborative technology. Gen X, those who are 30-43, are the ones leading the charge for social computing.

Forrester’s analysis is that despite their different view of technology, Gen Y, Millennials, or whatever you want to call those 29 and under, don’t yet have the clout within organizations to make real change. The same Gen X employees who are the fastest growing demographic in Facebook are the ones getting management to accept new technology as more than a fad.

Just Ask Employees

A common method for researching about how people use technology is to ask industry experts and management about what they’ve provided to workers and how they think it’s being used. That’s how many market researchers go about their business.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2009/09/forget-gen-y-gen-x-is-making-r.php

So it’s not exact science, it’s still worth viewing.

I awoke last night to the sound of thunder…, originally uploaded by fgfathome.

Drove to the Marin Headlands but it was way too foggy so I went low near the Coast Guard station for this shot of the Golden Gate Bridge.