A Tiger at Hamilton Zoo

I'm testing out another photo site called Zooomr it has some cool features, but flickr does seem to be catching up adding geo locations etc. It will be interesting to see what zooomr brings out next.

Groom and Groomsmen

Groom and Groomsmen, originally uploaded by Azzaroni.

Yes, I was a groomsman once...

Photo Credits: Stephen Barker www.barkerphotography.co.nz

James Brunny tees off at Pitch n Putt

James Brunny tees off at Pitch n Putt, originally uploaded by Azzaroni.

I didn't know I was now called "James Brunny" but I guess that will have to do.
Note: I don't really know how to play golf.

A Sea Gull in a fountain

A Sea Gull in a fountain, originally uploaded by jambe.

Just one of many novelties in beautiful Sausalito

Mother Duck and Ducklings

IMG_0136, originally uploaded by jambe.

Bethany aka The Dog

Bethany aka The Dog, originally uploaded by jambe.

The Dog

The Dog, originally uploaded by jambe.

Well I posted a photo of the cat and a pigeon, now it is time for the dog. (Only about 365 million more animals to go, I'm glad I only have to feed them when everyone else is away!)

A baby duck in lilypads

A baby duck in lilypads, originally uploaded by jambe.

This has got to be one of my favourite photo's that I have taken.

A white pigeon

A white pigeon, originally uploaded by jambe.

The Cat

Our Cat, originally uploaded by jambe.

It is a pretty well know fact that you are not a "real" blogger until you have posted a photo of your cat. Actually this cat belongs to my sister, but it will have to do :)

Dan

Dan, originally uploaded by jambe.

Here is one of my favourite shots from my new camera. It is so good to be able to control depth of field!

Java in 25 years?

I just read this post over at O'Reilly Radar: http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/10/cobol_the_undea.html

This paragraph caught my attention

The future news is that twenty five years from now, we'll all be saying the same thing about Java: "what? I thought that died in 2010 when IBM switched to Haskell! Oh no, banks are still writing Java code—and their new programmers only want to use Smalltalk. We can only hire 50 year olds to program in Java! Thank heavens all those Indian programmers from the offshoring boom of the early 2000s are looking for something to do to cover the cost of Chinese lessons ...."

It is always interesting to see what people think will happen in the future, even if it is supposed to be joke. I think it is facinating that we all think that China will some how be the next super power. I agree that it is entirely possible, China but couldn't it just as easily be the chinese who have to learn Indian? I mean heck those are the guys who wrote all our computer programs. Won't we want to be able to communicate effectively with them?

BEA World 2006

Finally I get to the reason for my trip, BEA World 2006.
This is the annual conference for BEA the company that makes weblogic server.

This year they anounced a number of new products most notible was the SOA 360 initiative and their microService Architecture.





Of course the highlight for me was receieving a portal award for our "mypapers" system which I must admit I had very little todo with. I'm the second from the left in the photo.

BEA Press Release - Waikato Press Release

San Francisco

San Francisco is a nice city, I was a little surprised how many beggars there were on the streets through. If you are visiting be prepared to have to tell a whole bunch of people that you don't have a spare "quarter". Otherwise I'd recomend the place...


The golden gate bridge, probably one of the most photographed bridges in the world.


Golden gate again this time from the salsolito ferry.




The machinary running San Francisco's famous cable cars.


Alcatraz!


China Town


There are quite a few murals in San Fran because the graffiti artists respect the muralists work and don't deface it. People often get a mural painted as a sort of graffiti deterant...


A Fire Truck


The ferry building


The Salsalito Ferry


A Lawn Sculpture.


Part of the City


And one final Golden Gate Bridge photo to finish it off...

HMS Belfast

The HMS Belfast, one of the last world war II cruisers still a float. It is now a floating museum sitting in the calm water of the Thames in London.

One the original boats from HMS Belfast Hosted on Zooomr

Apparently this is one of the very last boats of it's kind, used during world war II.

HMS Belfast Radio Tower Hosted on Zooomr

One Of the many big guns on The Belfast (HMS Belfast) Hosted on Zooomr

The Two 8in Gun Turrets (HMS Belfast) Hosted on Zooomr

Apparently these guns have been aimed to blow up the M1 Motorway!

Me a Prisoner! (HMS Belfast) Hosted on Zooomr

Part of the Gear box (HMS Belfast) Hosted on Zooomr

See also: The Official Site

The Tower of London

The Tower of London Hosted on Zooomr

This is the building the houses the Crown Jewels (The Tower of London) Hosted on Zooomr

Some Ruins of an earlier verison of the castle (The Tower of London) Hosted on Zooomr

Crows are Part of the landscape (The Tower of London) Hosted on Zooomr

A suit of Armour with Horse (The Tower of London) Hosted on Zooomr

A model of the castle (The Tower of London) Hosted on Zooomr

Sherlock Holmes Museum

I have to admit the Sherlock Holmes museum was a little bit of a let down after all the amazing museums I got to see in london. It feels a little too fake for my liking, but it was interesting.

Me Standing outside the Sherlock Holmes Museum (London) Hosted on Zooomr

The Famous Monograph (Sherlock Holmes Museum) Hosted on Zooomr

Sherlock's Sitting Room (Sherlock Holmes Museum) Hosted on Zooomr

Me Chatting to Sherlock and Dr. Watson (Sherlock Holmes Museum) Hosted on Zooomr

British Museum

The British Museum is absolutely huge so if you are in london I remend taking the british museums walking tour. I can't remember the exact details but it leaves from holburn station and isn't too expensive.

Hoborn Unground Station Hosted on Zooomr

The Entrance to the British Museum Hosted on Zooomr

The Museum's main entrance, the building stretches out from here on both sides.

Glass Roof (British Museum) Hosted on Zooomr

The Rosetta Stone (The British Museum) Hosted on Zooomr

The highlight of the trip for me was seeing the Rosetta Stone, which enabled scientists to decypher hieroglyfics for the first time. Amazing to see something like this in a country so far away from where it was found.

Our Guide explaining the stone sculpture (The British Museum) Hosted on Zooomr

Horse Sculpture (British Museum) Hosted on Zooomr

Horse and Rider Sculpture (The British Museum) Hosted on Zooomr