4D Summit Notes: 2003

Jeff Kain's birthday party

That evening, Debbie Schilling very kindly arranged for a special birthday party for Jeff Kain (her boss at Orchard Software and an all-around great guy).

Many developers came by throughout the evening to wish Jeff well on his special day, including Alexander Heintz, Rich Gay, John Steele, Steven Horst, Anthony Taylor, Kent Morris, Michael Giannini, Tom Bundy (Debbie's persistently bemuséd husband), Tom Dillon, Peter Hay, David Adams, Charles Albrecht, and Christian Cypert (among many others).

Clockwise from left: Tom Bundy, Debbie Schilling, Tom Dillon, Peter Hay, the Birthday Boy Jeff Kain (contemplating his nth beer), Yours Truly Bryan Green, David Adams, Charles Albrecht, Michael Giannini, Alexander Heintz, and Christian Cypert.

The party was held in the lobby of the El Dorado Hotel, and was liberally lubricated with enough alcohol to make what must have been a monstrous bar tab. Debbie kept the party going with several interesting gifts of a challenging nature for Jeff. The first was a book of trivia that served as a source of amusement the rest of the night. The questions had a wide range, and included such base items as "Name the husbands of Elizabeth Taylor" (which, oddly, Rich Gay knew quite well) and such arcane items as "Name the seven wonders of the ancient world" (which no one really knew). The geekiest trivia moment of the night came when Charles Albrecht and Yours Truly raced each other to see who could recite the phonetic alphabet the quickest — Yours Truly did win, and was gracious about it despite what Charles may say.

Another challenging gift for Jeff was the Fortune Teller Miracle Fish. This little device is supposed to tell you how romantically adept you are, and, judging from the reactions of those who tried it, it's fairly accurate — in a way that makes sense when you've had three or more drinks, anyway!

Debbie also gave party favors to the guests — starting with the Orchard Software Squishy Pear! The Squishy Pear is a marketing chachka meant to elicit thoughts of fruit, or at least really great Laboratory Information Systems.

The Orchard Software Squishy Pear in its vestigial state.

Now, to fully understand the impact of the Squishy Pear, one must simply contemplate its natural God-given shape: lovely pear-shaped simulated fruit flesh topped by a facsimile of a stem — and then realize that (to put it conservatively) it took all of 5 seconds before Tom Dillon and Peter Hay had transformed a set of Squishy Pears each into a more salacious example of blossoming and budding.

Tom Dillon and Peter Hay show their home-made Pear Blossoms

There were further experiments in anatomical synthesis using the Squishy Pears, but I choose to spare the reader from the photographic evidence — which does exist, and you never know at what moment's notice it may appear!

The evening took a better turn when Michael Giannini arranged for a special duet with the musician playing in the hotel lobby that evening. It turns out that Michael sang Happy Birthday quite nicely!

Michael Giannini sings a Happy Birthday duet with the local talent

Happy Birthday, Jeff!

Romance is still alive and well in Santa Fé

Remember the bride and groom I met in the street the first night in Santa Fé? Well, I saw then again this evening. They were in the El Dorado Hotel lobby, enjoying some of the very nice guitar music. They recognized me and came over to introduce themselves. It turns out that they are Robert Baron and Rebecca Henry from Rensselaer Technical Institute in Troy, New York. They had come to Santa Fé for the express purpose of getting married. Congratulations, Robert and Rebecca! Here's to a wonderful life together!

Class: Dave Dell'Aquila on Integrating 4D with Enterprise Applications

I sat through Dave Dell'Aquila's class on Integrating 4D with Enterprise Applications using Web Services. Dave always gives a great presentation, and he sets a high mark for the other presenters.

Senior 4D Evangelist Dave Dell'Aquila speaks about Web Services

Cutting Class

In between sessions I discovered this selection of developers in the hallway — they were cutting class! [Ed.: this is the best part of the Summit, many say: the conversations amongst developers.]

Jack des Bouillons (left), Melinda Gallo, Walt Nelson, Brad Weber, Alexander Heintz, and Tom Dillon are caught cutting class — and enjoying Summit fellowship!

Class: Doug Davis on the BLOB as a Tool

I also looked in on a nattily-dressed Doug Davis teaching his class on A BLOB as a Tool. Lookin' good, Doug! Way to go!

A formally-attired Doug Davis lectures on the BLOB that ate his structure! Or something like that...

Class: Luke van der Westhuyzen on WebSTAR

I looked in on Luke van der Westhuyzen's class on WebSTAR and took a picture.

Luke van der Westhuyzen talks about WebSTAR's security model.

[Ed.: Luke gets my vote as the man with the neatest beard at the Summit.]

Class: David Adams on FastCGI and 4D

Along with many other developers (it was a very popular presentation), I attended David Adams' class on FastCGI. I had only heard of FastCGI previously, so I went in order to learn more. It was very informative!

Evidently, FastCGI is a special binary protocol used for many of the same reasons that Web Services are used. While Web Services use the same HTTP protocol and port as regular old HTTP, FastCGI uses its own protocol and port number. In the evolution of external web services (without capital W and S), CGI came first, then FastCGI, then Web Services. FastCGI, although a little older than Web Services, offers much in the way of performance — and that's why it's so interesting.

As with many software technologies, there is a special home page that gathers all the information together: http://www.fastcgi.com/.

David's demonstration centered around a component written in 4D. (See http://www.4d.com/knowledgebase?CaseID=27786.) The examples were well-done, and everyone went away with a good understanding of FastCGI and some ideas on how to use it with their next 4D-based web server project.

David Adams covers FastCGI — the class was packed!

Demi al fresco

I must say that the dining arrangement at the El Dorado hotel is simply splendid. The dining room used for the Summit has large windows to the street which are filled with ironwork, but no glass. There are canvas covers that remain in place when it is dark or cold, but during the day they are opened up to let the outside breezes in. The effect is very nice on a good day, making for a demi al fresco experience. [Ed.: please, somebody help my Italian.]

Demi al fresco dining at the El Dorado Hotel

While lunching, I met Jerry Flatt and Mandy Corliss. They were such a nice couple that I took their picture.

Jerry Flatt (left) and Mandy Corliss

Vendor Exhibition

I took a picture of the hallway of vendor exhibits. It was much nicer than you might think, since in-between classes you could just walk right through and have a quick look at what was offered.

The hall of vendor exhibits.

Vendor Class: RJ Sharp demonstrates Inquire4D

I visited the vendor class given by RJ Sharp of InquireTec. He was demonstrating Inquire4D, a unique SUI (Speech User Interface) add-on for 4D. RJ has been working with speech technologies for several years now and Inquire4D is looking good. Way to go, RJ!

RJ Sharp demonstrates Inquire4D to an interested crowd.

Lincoln Stoller's session notes

Lincoln Stoller of Braided Matrix sent along these links to his session notes.

Designing Web Services - The View from 60,000'

This overview is for developers interested in creating web services. It discusses what web services are, why you should be interested in them, and what risks you should be aware of. http://www.4thquarter.com/NewSite03/DownloadBodyF/4QDocuments/Designing_Web_Services.pdf

Squeaky Clean - Black Box Methods with Soap

Developers interested in creating and publishing their own web services need to understand the new middle-ware design requirements of a web services server. This paper recommends certain designs for web services. http://www.4thquarter.com/NewSite03/DownloadBodyF/4QDocuments/BlackBox_Methods_with_SOAP.pdf

Booth: Braided Matrix featuring 4D: the Game

I dropped by the Braided Matrix booth to look in on Lincoln Stoller, and discovered that he had Brendan Coveney and Dave Dell'Aquila visiting.

Dave Dell'Aquila (left), Brendan Coveney, and Lincoln Stoller pose in front of the Braided Matrix booth.

Braided Matrix had made many interesting improvements to their 4th Quarter accounting software since I'd last seen it, but by far the most amusing thing in the booth was 4D: the Game. Lincoln had taken a game based on the Lord of the Rings and re-purposed it toward 4D. The goal of the game was to take 4D from Paris to the Fortune 100, with main playing pieces Laurent Ribardière and Brendan Coveney facing such opposing pieces as Bill Gates, FileMaker, MS SQL, and Britney Spears (whose sole purpose appeared to be being conquered by Laurent's game piece).

4D, the Game: overview

4D, the Game: detail

Pieces included: Oracle, .NET, Server Attack, Virus, FileMaker, MS SQL, Britney Spears, Bill Gates, and DB2 on the dark side. The light side pieces include: W3C, 4D, Laurent, 4D Connectivity (which, oddly, has zero strength), 4th Quarter (with strength four, naturally), Steve Jobs, Deep Sky, Brendan, and WebSTAR.

Playing pieces moved from Paris through 4D University, 4D Summit, Comdex, Info World, Mac World, Culture, Market Awareness, Sales, Money, De Facto Standard, ISO Standard, US Government Adoption, International Dominance, and North American Dominance on their path to Fortune 100.

Several cards made the play more interesting. On the dark side, there were Outside Investor, Vaporware, and Market Manipulation that subtracted points from the light side pieces. On the light side, White Knight, Obsolete Technology, New OS Released, and New Version added points.

Very clever, Lincoln!

[Ed.: Check the Braided Matrix press release for more information.]

Class: Add Komoncharoensiri on Beginning XML

I looked in on XML: A Beginner's Guide. Add Komoncharoensiri was teaching it in place of the very busy Frank Chang. From the packed-out looks of the class, it was quite popular. [Ed.: Add is one of my favorite 4D engineers. He's always willing to help, and has a refreshingly understated ego — it leaves more room for mine! Seriously: bravo, Add. You're the best.]

Add Komoncharoensiri educates developers on the basics of XML.

Class: Liz Delgado on List View Redo

I poked my head in Liz Delgado's List View Redo class — Liz is the best at practical explanation.

Liz Delgado (far right) instructs a full class on the finer points of the list view. Is that Jack des Bouillons' hoary head and crimson shirt in the front row?

Internet Café: thanks, Apple!

As they have done in past years, Apple have provided an Internet Café for Summit attendees. This year there was a crop of the fancy new iMacs, which proved to be quite popular. [Ed.: If you look closely, you'll see Tom Dillon, Alexander Heintz, Paul Carnine, and Walt Nelson peaceably sharing the laptop table in the back. O Doug Hall, how we missed thee and thy stirring stick!]

Apple's Internet Café is a popular spot in the Summit.

Demonstration: Custom Report Editor

I visited Dave Batton's demonstration of his work in the Custom Report Editor (as shown in the keynote address earlier that day). As usual, Dave's style was very explanatory, and he made the work look easy — it seemed like anybody could do it! The advanced techniques he employed were great food for thought with the new quick report commands available in 4D 2003.

Dave Batton makes the custom report generator look easy.

Four fine fellows

In between presentations, I ran across these four fine fellows in the hallway. Don't they make a nice picture?

Four fine fellows: Jim Sobczak (left), Olivier Flury, David Adams, and Braden Messenger

New Features: XML

I attended the review of the new features as hosted by Matthieu Chevrier. Despite some equipment problems, it was quite informative. I went away with two impressions: one, that Matthieu is quite a brilliant fellow, and two, that I wished he had more time to use 4D as a product in addition to adding all these wonderful new features to it. Here's to an XML future for 4D!

Matthieu Chevrier demonstrates the nitty gritty of how to use the new XML features in 4D TNV.

Keynote: Day One

There was a palpable sense of expectation in the air as the first day's keynote began. Brendan Coveney welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming. Then, the first slide!

The company is profitable, stable, and innovative

Slide 1: The company is profitable, stable, and innovative

Brendan explained that the company is profitable, stable, and innovative. He went on to explain that in a time when the industry is experiencing difficulty, 4D has had a 5% increase in the number of new licenses — which is in contrast to Oracle and Sybase, which have each experienced negative growth in the same area.

Slide 2: Oracle, Sybase, and 4D new product licenses compared

4D 2003 Developer Licenses

Then Brendan explained that 65% of the 6.8 developer licenses were upgraded to 2003 in the first 45 days of its release. As well, 24% of 2003 developers licenses are new licenses.

Slide 3: 4D 2003 developer license breakdown

Stable

Brendan then emphasized that 4D the company is stable: there is a stable management team, stable development teams, and a stable third-party community.

Slide 4: Things are stable

4D Business Kit 2.1

Brendan announced that 4D Business Kit 2.1 has the new ability to edit its configuration and the data remotely (items, sales, web pages, etc.) using a special local edition of 4DBK. This fully-functional version of 4DBK cannot serve any pages except in demo mode, but it can be used to upload all the settings to a live instance of 4DBK somewhere on the Internet.

4DBK 2.1

4D 2003.2 coming soon

Brendan reminded us that 4D 2003.2 will be coming soon.

4D 2003.2, coming soon to a database near you.

4D 2003 certified on Windows 2003, Mac OS X 10.3 Panther

Brendan announced that 4D 2003 will soon be certified on both Windows 2003 and Mac OS X 10.3 Panther.

Windows 2003? Mac OS X 10.3 Panther? Certifiably 4D.

4D 2003 gets Jeff Kain's endorsement

Brendan showed us an endorsement from Orchard Software's Jeff Kain. In it, Jeff says that:

We now have over a dozen sites running 4D Server 2003.1. We've had no problems at all with any of these sites, which is really quite amazing. I don't remember a version of 4D Server that has performed so well in the real world.

Jeffrey Kain
Orchard Software
July 2003

4D 2003? Jeff Kain says that it's the best.

4D 2003 and web services give small company big gains

Brendan then gave a real-world example of how web services and 4D 2003 have helped a particular IT services company. Previously, the company would use fax transmissions to dispatch technicians, order parts, and handle their business. With 4D 2003 and web services, they were able to eliminate fax communications, and handle real-time orders and dispatches. They were able to process three time the business with the same personnel — all thanks to 4D 2003!

The old way, before 4D 2003 — too many steps!

The new way, after web services and 4D 2003 — 3 times the business with the same personnel!

The state of web services

Brendan reviewed the state of Web Services in 4D: there is an XML Parser, a Web Services Client, and a Web Services Server. [Ed.: If this seems a bit odd in sequence, know that there is more to come.]

The state of web services

Linking 4D 2003 and Pocket PC using Web Services

Brendan then showed an example of a new component that integrates Palm or Pocket PC with 4D 2003 using Web Services. The handheld device downloads a form from the host 4D instance, then allows remote data entry or editing, then uploads changes using Web Services. The example shown is with a PocketPC emulator running on Windows XP. [Ed.: Given that this is something that can be both cross-platform and without a special plug-in, it is a useful component indeed!]

The Palm/PocketPC connection architecture

Example PocketPC communicating with 4D 2003 using Web Services

Custom Report Editor Example

Brendan then demonstrated a custom report editor built with commands available in "The Next Version" of 4th Dimension. [Ed.: help me recall this correctly: is it the next version, or 2003?]

Report Engine features

This report editor (written by David Batton?) had a lovely presentation of the various options available. It was presented on Mac OS X, and had the ability to save a report to PDF using the built-in platform feature. Brendan jokingly used the font Zapfino in his examples, which he said was his favorite. There were many options available in the editor, and it was a great example.

Column selection

PDF preview of a custom report

Setting output options: colors on alternating lines

Another PDF preview of a custom report (with Brendan's favorite font Zapfino)

Setting the watermark

PDF preview with watermark

Review of features in 4D 2003

By way of review, Brendan next listed the features introduced in 4D 2003.

The current state of the art: features in 4D 2003

Road Map: the eventual convergence of 4D and Goldfinger

Brendan next revealed an important new direction for 4D the company: there will be two product lines. 4D, as we know and love it, will continue to be one product line. Goldfinger (which will not be its final name) will be a separate product line representing a new state of the art. Previously, backward compatibility was a key design concern — practically any old structure file could be converted to the new version on opening. However, with this dual-product strategy, compatibility will no longer be a primary concern between the 4D and Goldfinger product lines. Eventually, the two will converge, but for now they will be distinct and incompatible.

Convergence path for 4D and Goldfinger

New XML Features in The Next Version

Brendan then revealed that The Next Version of 4D would have extensive new XML features: a SAX parser, DOM tree modification and serialization, streaming generation, and XFind (the ability to locate something in an XML document).

New XML features in The Next Version

Brendan explained that SAX parsing is much more efficient in terms of speed and memory utilization, and will give a whole new set of functionality to the developer.

DOM tree processing in 4D

SAX stream processing in 4D

[Ed.: for those who would like to know more, these two concepts are covered in the following list of articles from XML.com: http://www.xml.com/pub/rg/SAX_vs_DOM.]

Brendan also revealed that The Next Version of 4D will be able to handle SOAP requests with DOC payloads as well as the currently-supported RPC payloads. This opens up the rest of the SOAP world to 4D.

Microsoft Infopath integration example

Brendan then showed an example integration between Microsoft InfoPath and The Next Version of 4D — it was implemented with DOC-based web services.

[Ed.: Microsoft InfoPath is a web-services based technology targeted to compete with Adobe's PDF technology for active document publishing. For for more information about InfoPath, see the official Microsoft InfoPath home page. For reference information about Adobe PDF technology, see the official Adobe Acrobat home page.]

In the example, Brendan showed how The Next Version of 4D can be a source for both retrieving and accepting data from InfoPath documents using Microsoft Word. [Ed.: This — almost singularly — raises 4D to a new level of exposure in the world of Information Technology. Hitching your wagon to the Microsoft wagon train is always a great idea.]

InfoPath-enabled Microsoft Word queries 4D TNV-based DOC-style web service

Word issues query against 4D data source using InfoPath

Dialog sheets in Mac OS X

Brendan next demonstrated that in The Next Version of 4D, on Mac OS X, movable dialog boxes will be implemented as dialog sheets, obeying the Human Interface Guidelines more closely.

A dialog sheet in the Next Version of 4D: viva Mac OS X! Viva Aqua!

4D The Next Version: bye bye Open Transport, hello Mach-O

Brendan then made the exciting announcement that The Next Version of 4th Dimension on Mac OS X will no longer have any calls to Open Transport, but will instead use BSD sockets — this ought to make it much faster and more compatible on that operating system. He also revealed that it will be distributed as a Mach-O binary (rather than as a Code Fragment Manager binary, as it is now), which will allow it to be started as a service on Mac OS X.

4D TNV: better explorer

Brendan then began to talk about the new developer features in 4D TNV. The first set of these includes a new toolbar, a new toolbox, and a new explorer.

4D TNV: new toolbar, explorer in design mode

Then Brendan showed what the method list will look like in 4D TNV. He showed how more than one method could be highlighted from the list and opened.

4D TNV: list of methods

Then Brendan revealed that the new Explorer will support grouping of objects. He explained that last year's developer survey had method grouping as an important item and that 4D was not going to implement it. Instead, they were going to go much father — instead of just methods, now practically anything can be grouped. He showed an example of how components can be grouped.

4D TNV: Explorer with Component containing grouped objects

Groups can contain most types of objects, including forms (as in this example).

4D TNV: Explorer group with form contained

This new feature brought much applause!

4D TNV: XSLT support

Next, Brendan revealed that 4D TNV will support XSLT. To explain XSLT and what it is, Brendan told a story. His five-year-old son, Oisin, is a Giants fan. Recently, Brendan was watching the pennant race on television and Oisin asked where the Giants were. Since the Giants are not in the playoffs, Brendan came up with this analogy on the spot: same game, different teams. This made sense to Oisin, and it does with XSLT, too: same data, different presentation. XSLT allows data to be stored in a generic format, and then finally rendered to a particular presentation — same data, different presentation. [Ed.: see http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2000/08/holman/ for more information on XSLT.]

4D TNV: XSLT Support

XSLT is much more than a buzzword. It allows 4D TNV to have Microsoft Office products as output options! With the help of Julien Feasson, Brendan showed how both MS Word and Excel documents can be output targets for 4D reports. Brendan explained that Julien was able to do this with very few (less than 50) lines of code — and that developers can, too, with style sheets downloaded from the Internet.

A (slightly fuzzy) selection of records in 4D TNV...

The same (slightly fuzzy) selection of records as output to a MS Word document.

Brendan then had Julien show how simple the code actually was, using the DOC-based SOAP commands to be available in 4D TNV.

The code behind the XML document...

...and the very simple code behind the Word document.

Wrap up: new features reviewed

Brendan then finished the keynote address by reviewing all the new features to be introduced in 4D TNV:

• XML SAX Parser
• XML Modification/Generation
• Streaming Generation
• Find in XML
• Web Services Doc Style
• New Look and Feel
• Explorer Features
• XSLT

Something for everyone in 4D TNV.

In closing, Brendan said that last year XML was becoming the standard — but this year, XML is the standard. Lastly, Brendan recognized Doug Blew and said that it was very nice to see him at the Summit this year.

A lovely breakfast

After a good sleep (sorry, Willie) I woke up with Summit on my mind!

Summit Banner

We had a lovely breakfast, though minimally compatible with a low-carb diet regimen -- thank goodness for coffee!

Larry White, his lovely and brilliant wife Cindy, and their breakfast companion Margaret.

The piano lounge

Sebastian Frey invited Rich Gay and me to a local piano lounge after the reception. It took us a little bit of walking around to find it, but we were glad we did. It was great fun! Several 4D Summit attendees were there in various states of inebriation (Sebastian was not quite chief among them, oddly). Brian Campbell took it upon himself to treat us to some nice jazz style singing, extemporaneous. He was quite good!

We give you the piano barflies! Can you tell who's having the most fun?

Brian Campbell belts it out

My 15 minutes of fame

Ron Dell'Aquila wanted to take Rich Gay's and Laurent Ribardière's picture together, so I snuck in.

Rich Gay (left), Laurent Ribardière, and Bryan Green

Doug Blew

During the registration, I was overjoyed to see Doug Blew. We are all glad that you are here this year, Doug. Thanks for coming!

Doug Blew: a man we are glad to see.

Thanks, registration ladies!

Events like the 4D Summit don't happen without the people who work tirelessly behind the scenes. In our case, it's Doris Beaulieu, Debbie Brewer, and Adrienne Coerper. Thanks for the excellent work, ladies!

Doris Beaulieu (left), Debbie Brewer, and Adrienne Coerper: the registration ladies!

Excellent chachkas

Every year, summit attendees receive certain chachkas. For example, in 1998 we received a special Oktoberfest beer stein with an etched glass 4D logo. It's fair to say that every year has had some interesting prizes, and this year was truly outstanding! We received a 4D logo backpack (in corporate colors), a 4D Today mug, and a 32 MB USB RAM Disk!

Excellent chachkas.

Santa Fé is an artistic place

On the walk back from dinner to the hotel, I decided to have a look at some of the features of Santa Fé. It's a very artistic place here, and although it can look a bit "touristy," the features seem very genuine as compared to those in other places I've been. The plaza is full of trees wearing their fall foliage.

Trees in the plaza.

It's an old town. The streets are narrow, and adobe structures abound.

Narrow side street

On the way I stopped at Starbucks for a Venti Breve Latte — even a franchised coffee shop has an assimilated Santa Fé feel to it.

Artsy Starbucks

There's a theater here that exemplifies the adobe construction. It has very interesting detail.

Theater facade

Theater detail

The El Dorado Hotel is an excellent example of the Santa Fé artistic look.

Hotel facade

Dinner with a Beer

At dinner, which was lovely (although the notion of a smoking section does seem odd to those of us from California), John Steele decided to have a beer. I threatened to take a picture, and here it is. Apparently, it was a good beer.

Charles Albrecht observes John Steele and his Beloved Beer.

Romance is alive and well in Santa Fé

While a group of us were walking from the El Dorado Hotel to the Plaza in search of some dinner, I encountered this radiant couple. I asked them if they had just come from a wedding, and they explained that they had — it was their own! They were walking back from the court house, bride with bouquet and groom with marriage license in hand. Their public beauty moved me, and I just had to have a picture.

Beautiful bride and handsome groom in Santa Fé.

Do you know the way to Santa Fé?

Early this morning, Web Woman took me to SMF (that's Sacramento Municipal Field to you) to join my fine fellows from PowerSchool. We were all going to take the same plane to Albuquerque together, and then make our way in an car caravan to Santa Fé. (Does that seem unsafe to you, all of us taking the same flight? We had that conversation on the way. Apparently it's common for corporations to have by-laws that prohibit their executives from traveling on the same plane. However, this same prohibition does not apply to engineers. Odd, that.)

Our plane awaits the call to board.

While boarding I took this picture of John Steele — he looked comfy in his seat.

John Steele relaxes in his man-of-the-people seat in coach.

Later, I noticed that Rich Gay was sitting a few rows behind me — he had been using his computer for such a long time, I think his head was really into it.

Rich Gay, the Man in the Machine

Since Sacramento is a "river city," I took this picture of the American River. Isn't it pretty?

The American River winds its way through Sacramento.

We arrived in the Albuquerque airport after an exciting landing (ugh). While we waiting for our luggage, we noticed someone holding a sign with a familiar name: 4D, Inc.

Mr. 4D? Is there a Mr. 4D?

Luggage re-captured, rental cars obtained — and we're off on the road trip phase of the journey!

I knew I should have turned left at Albuquerque!

I was in the minivan, which was driven by our fine fellow Willie Alberty (who is also my roommate for the duration of the Summit — my condolences, Mr. Alberty). Along the way, Doug von Roeder regaled us with tales of his former life here in the area. He pointed out many local attractions and features of the natural history. Rounding up the crew was Robert Pollard. We passed a few billboards of a political nature:

No nukes is good nukes. Except when your whole local economy depends on it!

And, of course, there were the many Indian reservations, each one replete with the requisite Indian Casino, baby!

Righteous Irony or Moral Blight? You make the call...

At last, we arrived in Santa Fé and found the hotel (after a zippy jaunt through the historic downtown). Let the Summiting begin!