So, I'm back from a trip to Vista, and back to blogging. 

It was a tough trip, and a good trip; tough, because I had to do performance reviews, which are hard, and good, because I did them, and it went [I think] pretty well.  I have great people in my team and that makes reviews harder; sure, it is fun to celebrate their skills and accomplishments, but it is hard to find places where they can grow and become even better.  And that to me is the real goal of performance reviews.  So anyway I survived, and now it is back to the wider world.  What's happening?

It's Super Tuesday!  Not to be confused with Super Sunday, I guess, although the results of today's votes will probably affect our lives a bit more than a football game.  McCain and Clinton have won the biggest prizes, California and New York.  This leaves McCain comfortably ahead of Romney, and Clinton uncomfortably ahead of Obama.  (Links are to CNN's excellent election coverage; their web team is doing a nice job this time around.)  I am conflicted about the Democratic candidates, I strongly prefer Obama over Clinton, but I prefer McCain over Obama and I think McCain would defeat Clinton more easily than Obama.  On the other hand McCain vs Obama feels like a can't lose for me (believe it or not, that's how I felt about Gore vs. Bush in 2000). 

The also-rans are affecting each party differently; Republican Mike Huckabee (who is still in the race) is doing better than expected, and pulling votes away from Romney, extending McCain's lead, while Democrat John Edwards (who has withdrawn, but who is still on ballets) is pulling votes away from Clinton, closing her lead over Obama.  It would be interesting if all the candidates were still in the race; for example, I think Giuliani would have done well in both California and New York, and probably would have taken more votes from McCain than Romney. 

This is why the timing of primaries matters, and why they should all occur at once.  And don't even get me started on Arnold, who can't run; if he were in the race not only would he have done well in California and New York, he would have done well in either party.  Yes, political system: fail.

Meanwhile the stock market continues to suck air.  I don't think it has much to do with the election, this is a result of the housing bubble and subsequent credit crunch.  I fear it will be worse before it gets better, and the Federal Reserve has pretty much run out of bullets to help. 

Pro cycling team High Road has moved from Germany to the U.S.!  (This is the team formerly known as T-Mobile, famous for their pink kit and in the Lance Armstrong / Jan Ullrich days being Team Discovery's closet competitors.)  High Road is also the present employer of George Hincapie (a classic classics' rider, shown at left).  Their best GC rider is probably Kim Kirchen, who finished 7th overall in the 2007 Tour de France. 

A classic?  Apparently the Boston Globe published a paperback entitled "Unbeatable", celebrating the Patriots 19-0 season.  Precelebration is the root of all failure. 

Marc Andreessen: Silicon Valley after a Microsoft / Yahoo merger.  "The Microsoft/Yahoo deal, if it happens, means very little for the entrepreneurial climate in Silicon Valley, or the opportunities available to you and your startup."  [ via Brad Feld, who agrees with Marc ]  So, I don't agree; perhaps this merger isn't the end of startups in Silicon Valley, but it will hurt the exit climate.  Bill Burnham agrees in his Take II, and makes a key point: "Indeed the most important party in any deal is not the actual buyer but the second place bidder and Yahoo had seemed to make a career out of being the second place bidder lately." 

Mårten Mickos, CEO of MySQL: Why did I change my mind?  Regarding his decision to have MySQL acquired by Sun.  It is an interesting think piece; when people say "it's not about the money", it usually means it was all about the money.  But he makes some great points.  I would have to disagree with him that "users loved it"; I think they accepted it and didn't hate it the way Yahoo users are reacting to the idea of being acquired by Microsoft, but I think they would have preferred MySQL stay independent. 

Mark Pilgrim: writing with ease.  In which he writes without "e"s.  I love Mark.