My buddy @dsummer and I took a day to check out the new crazy coasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The service at this park is horrific. It I'd quite clear they are sorely understaffed and cutting corners. That said, the coasters are quite fun and unique. If it wasn't for the horrendous experience just getting on and off each ride, the coolness and thrills for each ride would have outshone many other parks. The Deja Vu and Terminator both gave amazing and fresh perspective on roller coasters. We'll see if X2 performs to the hype we've gotten so far.

Alaska Airlines is the best carrier in the world. And boy am I enjoying the benefits of their great service this summer. I've been out and about quite a bit and will cap my summer with a trip overseas in a few weeks. Right now I'm bouncing up and down the coast visiting friends and associated hob-knobbing. The photo on this entry was the yummy breakfast on flight into LAX. For a picky eater like myself the fresh fruit (including blueberries! Firm and juicy!) and turkey sausage were a real treat. The good thing about all this activity is I've had time to polish some posts. So if you follow my other topic areas, you'll find some new writing soon. And I might include a real intimate personal piece just for HH.

The Snoqualmie Casino is a great venue for seeing artists up close. Tonights show was really intimate and casual. He played lots of old favorites which for someone with so many hits wasn't particularly hard. My personal favorite Life's A Dance was early in the set and the whole crowd sang along. To make the evening better, I ran into the Wahl's and got to say hello. I've missed them terribly so seeing them having fun was just a real treat. I'm definitely looking forward to coming back to enjoy this place in the future.

In working on a green field system recently (green field means it's new from scratch development) the discussion for a series of services turned to the subject of which type of data interaction should be used. Specifically, should the service be designed using message contracts or data contracts?

Since it became clear that the basic inflection points were not well understood, I had to hold an impromptu clinic. After we finished, I wrote down the salient points and turned it into this post.

The first thing to consider when choosing packaging formats is whether the messages need to be conformed. You see, many technologies don't comply with the published contract specifications choosing instead to rely on the lowest level XML serialization for interchange. If these messages already are in use, or you intend to interoperate with a system that has such restrictions, the choice is usually made for you.

If you are playing green field (as in the conversation sparking this post) it helps to understand that data contracts have good portability which makes them widely applicable. Message contracts are less capable and therefore can have less portability .

So the less conformant you are required to be, the more reason to choose data contracts. The more conformant your requirements, the more likely you will need message contracts or even base XML serialization.

Summer is great for packing your days to overflowing. This weekend was no exception. The sunshine baked into my skin every day and all the people watching and socializing nourished my soul. Saturday was a zoo day with a chance to sample some brews at the Seattle International Beer Festival and some inspiring fireworks. I got the chance to spend some quality time with good friends and make some new ones. They taught me about gin and tequila which just proves I can learn something every day. Even when relaxing on the grass. To close out a Sunday that was supposed to be lazy, I got to catch a set by Boys Like Girls at El Corazon. It's such a great small venue for such a fun band with great stage presence. I've seen them on bigger stages and in comparison they just exploded being so close to the fans. If I get the chance perhaps I'll post some of this weekends writings. For now, I'm heading to visit from friends in Burbank. If I'm lucky I'll get a chance to see @puarick, @shooman, and @dsummer.