Support UnderArmour / Support our Veterans

This is quite a bit off topic for the technology posts I usually do but its a subject very important to me personally.   I have had the wonderful experience of getting a lot of exposure to the brave men and women coming back from our military actions abroad.   Aside from having some very dear friends who are overseas (both in the regular military and reserves), I meet them at industry events, in airports, and everywhere I can.   Their commitment, stories, and personal sacrifice can be a soul-shattering event if you take the time to speak with them.  It will renew your faith in our future, I promise you!

This level of commitment is not just limited to the United States either.  I had a wonderful experience speaking to a wounded veteran in London at Data Center Dynamics event just a few weeks ago.  He was just outside my hotel in Piccadilly.  He had been injured in Basra and it was very interesting to listen to his story.   After I thanked him for his service, he looked at me like he thought I was just some crazy American, but he did shake my hand in response.

While I typically try to show my support in small ways (buying them lunch or breakfast, giving up my seat in first class for a serviceman, or any host of other small things), I was recently moved by what UnderArmour is doing for these brave men and women and felt that I should in whatever small way this blog can, support their efforts.

UnderArmour is supporting the ‘Wounded Warrior’ Project, which assists our veterans and their families, by creating a line of clothing with proceeds going to help these families out.  You can bet that if you happen to see me walking around you might just see me some of the UnderArmour Wounded Warrior Clothing Line.  I know times are tough but if you do have some extra income, this is a great investment.

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I am not sure if this program extends to our British allies but it should.    I applaud UnderArmour for this effort and they can count on my continued business.

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Panel at Data Center Dynamics – London

On November 10th and 11th I will be speaking on two panels at the Data Center Dynamics event in London.  The theme for the two day event is Carbon: Risk or Opportunity.   In the morning, On Day One, I am speaking  in a panel entitled The Data Center Efficiency Schism …New Realities in Design with Ed Ansett from HP/EYP and my old friend Lex Coors from Interxion.   The afternoon has me on another panel with Liam Newcombe with the British Computer Society entitled ‘The Shape of the Cloud to Come’ moderated by Data Center Dynamics CTO, Stephen Worn.  Liam and I have passion for this space and our past conversations on this topic in particular and other related topics have been quite entertaining (or so I have been told).  To top it off, this panel is moderated by Stephen who is not known for being timid either, so I am really looking forward to the discussion there.

The entire event should be quite super-charged especially given the recent Carbon Reduction Commitment legislation in the UK.  For those of you keeping a close eye on the emerging impact of carbon legislation across the world this event is likely to source a number of lightning rods and thought leadership to watch out for.  

If you have not signed up and will be in London, I would strongly encourage you to do so.   As always if you happen to see me wandering about, please feel free to stop and chat awhile. 

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Data Center Dynamics – San Francisco July 17th

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For those of you interested I will be at Data Center Dynamics in San Francisco on July 17th.   I am scheduled to be on a panel moderated by James Staten of Forrester Research at 11:05AM along with Tom Furlong of Facebook, John Haas of Intel, and Bill Mazzetti of Rosendin Electric entitled ‘The Data Center Efficiency Schism…New Realities in Design’.  I may also do a guest appearance during the Chris Crosby keynote.    When I am not speaking I am likely to be found wandering around the event from session to session so please feel free to stop me and say Hi.

I am also planning on attending a Green Grid event at the conference later in the day as well. 

If you would like more information or are looking for registration information it can be found here.  See you there!

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Upcoming Speaking Engagements and Industry Events

For those of you interested I thought I would post a few of the upcoming industry events I plan on attending this year as either a speaker, panelist, or general attendee.  

Look forward to seeing you there!

/Mm

The Data Center Blogs I Read

Every once in a while I like to post up the latest data center blogs and news sources that I follow on a daily basis.   I have never really gotten into the “blog reader that looks like email” paradigm, probably because it reminds me too much of work.  Like you, I get a ton of email every day, and getting even more of them, well it just sucks all the fun away of what  is happening out there.  I grew up using the traditional portal interface as my home page to get my news and the Live RSS Reader (my.live.com) best emulates that experience plus it never feels like work. I have attached a screenshot below and included a link to directly add my list to your “My Live” view here.

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For those of you with no interest of adding yet another tool to your daily use, I have listed them below for your convenience:

Data Center Knowledge

Data Center Dynamics

Data Center Journal Superfeed

Data Center Facilities Pro

Dave Ohara’s Green Data Center Blog

Loosebolts

ServerTech Blog

MS Data Centers Blog

James Hamilton’s Perspectives

John Rath’s Data Center Links

The Raised Floor

Lewis Curtis’ Thoughts from the Raised Floor

Cisco’s Data Center Networks

The Iowa TechHermits – Digital Cave

ComputerWorld’s- Mike Halligan – Data Center Junkie

Burton Groups – Data Center Strategies

Groves Green IT

Data Center Design

Nicholas Carr’s Rough Type

GIGAOM

Arthur Cole

Greg Lindens’ – Geeking with Greg

If you know of any other sites that you think I should be looking at please feel free to drop me a note or a comment.  I am always looking for more great sources…

Happy Reading!

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Upcoming Speaking Events

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For those of you interested, I thought I would outline some of my upcoming speaking events:

August 7th, 2008 – Data Center Dynamics Keynote – Seattle

Presentation: “The Need for Data Center Glasnost”

September 16th, 2008 – Data Center Dynamics Keynote – Chicago

Presentation: “Containers, Fact, Fiction and Fantasy”

October 2, 2008 – Power and Cooling ’08 – London

Presentation: “Think Green, Think Different, Think DATACENTRES”

November 17th, 2008 – 7×24 Exchange Keynote with C. Belady – Palm Springs

Presentation: “Kicking Anthills: The Challenge Landscape of Mission Critical Environments

-Mm