Potlach Feast

Several folks have asked me privately about Zepheira … more specifically what we do, how to pronounce it and where the name came. The following is a poor attempt to minimize future inquiries

Ok, first, what is it… the home page captures some of this:

Zepheira provides solutions to integrate, navigate and manage data across personal, group and enterprise boundaries to save time and money. Our team are experts in applying Semantic Web standards and knowledge management technologies to address your specific data integration challenges.

Not quite a full answer, but close. For those interested in more details, Zepheira’s services page may be additionally useful.

Secondly… how to pronounce it:

zepheira : ze-fear’-a

see… that wasn’t so hard

And finally, where did the name come from…

Naming things in general is difficult- companies even more so.

I’m fortunate enough to be part of a team of industry leaders who have come together to help provide effective solutions to address various data integration, collaboration and knowledge exchange challenges. During the discussion on what to call ourselves, we found ourselves discussing a wide range of inter-related topics including philosophy, values, experiences, lessons learned and future goals. James Lipton’s Inside the Actors Studio questions, care of Bernard Pivot, we found equally insightful In the process of sharing our individual views on various subjects we collectively recognized that while each of us are respected industry leaders in various areas, we also shared a deep passion for the arts. We found that everyones ‘hobby’ was incredibly artistic in nature - pottery, woodworking, sculpting, music, poetry, martial arts, weaving / fabric, photography, etc.

I own only one piece of “serious” art (something I paid money for). It’s a painting from an Armenian artist named Vakhtang. My wife and I stumbled upon this piece independently in Sausalito and it holds a special place in our hearts. I walk past it everyday and everyday I pause briefly to breath it in. It’s a bit of a daily ritual of mine; viewing this piece makes me pause, reflect and subsequently feel a bit better about life, the universe and everything.

The painting is called ‘Zepheira’.

It was one of those ‘ah ha!’ moments that we as a team had and it came together instantly: “Zepheira, ‘The Art of Data’”. It simply felt right.

I recently acquired a 1948 Martin “60″ outboard which hasn’t been run in over 30 years. I’m slowly breathing life back into this following Art Dekalbs’s 5 Point plan for old outboards which I’ve found quite helpful. It doesn’t quite look as nice as the original magazine ad, but I hope to get close its late 40’s condition as the original detailed manuals were included and parts, decals, etc. are still readily available.

The initial tear-down has been messy, but encouraging. It’s a very simple, but elegantly designed 7.2 hp, 2 cylinder engine. From looking under the hood, I can see why these Martins have quite the cult following.

I’ve been wanting something to go with my boat ‘high treason’ which is designed to be sailed, rowed or motored. It’s too early to tell if I can get this Martin working, but Alex and I are optimistic that we can. Our goal is that in the next couple months to be puttering over the water in style.