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Exploring the science and magic of Identity and Access Management
Friday, March 29, 2024

Honoring Jackie Robinson in Space

Space Travel, Sports
Author: Mark Dixon
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
8:53 pm

NASA astronaut Terry Virts, wearing a replica Jackie Robinson jersey in the cupola of the orbiting International Space Station, is celebrating Jackie Robinson Day, April 15, with a weightless baseball.

SpaceBall2

April 15th (Baseball’s opening day in 1947) has now come to commemorate Jackie Robinson’s memorable career and his place in history as the first black major league baseball player in the modern era. He made history with the Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) and was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

Congratulations, Jackie, for your courage!  Thank you, Terry, for a memorable celebration!

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Nostalgia for Nate Thurmond

Sports
Author: Mark Dixon
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
8:01 am

Yesterday, for some unknown reason, I received an email with an alluring offer: “Courtside Seats became available right next to the Warrior’s bench.  Not only do they provide a great view, but you can hear the interaction between players and you are really part of the game!”

I’m not sure how a guy in Arizona could really take advantage of season tickets to Golden State Warriors basketball, but the offer triggered pleasant memories of my first introduction to professional basketball, featuring an earlier version of the Warriors team.  

As a young boy growing up in southern Idaho, we didn’t have television in our home, but at night, our old tube AM radio could tune into faraway stations like KNX in Los Angeles, KSL in Salt Lake City and KNBR in San Francisco. KNBR was home to the San Francisco Warriors, who played in the Cow Palace and featured emerging star Nate Thurmond.  How I loved to listen to the games and imagine the fantastic plays of those talented athletes.

 
 


I don’t remember many details about those old games, but seeds sown back then grew into my great love for the game of basketball.  As I watched the Oklahoma City / Memphis 3OT thriller last night, it was great to think back across the years and realize again how much I love the game.

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Congratulations, Jimmer Fredette!

Sports
Author: Mark Dixon
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
2:07 pm

Jimmer FredetteI haven’t devoted many posts on this blog since a few years ago, when Terry Sigle and I were cheering our favorite teams, the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns on to victory.

But is is appropriate now to mention that Jimmer Fredette, who hails from my alma mater, Brigham Young University, was named Player of the Year by CBSSports.com.  Jimmer was the NCAA national scoring leader, averaging 27.9 points per game.

Congratulations, Jimmer, for a great year!

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Tru.ly Identity Verification – Base Hit

Identity, Sports
Author: Mark Dixon
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
3:46 pm

My Tru.lyLast Thursday, I tried unsuccessfully to register for the new Identify Validation service provided by Tru.ly.  On Friday, I got a nice email from a Tru.ly representative, responding to my blog and Twitter posts, thanking me for my access attempt and inviting me to try again.

This afternoon, my registration effort was successful.  Tru.ly verified the bits of Identity information I provided, and issued my very own Tru.ly URL – tru.ly/mgd – plus the QR code included in this post and on the blog sidebar.

You can see my verification information by visiting tru.ly/mgd, by clicking on the QR code or by scanning the QR code with your mobile device.  It worked just fine on my iPhone using the QRReader app.

What does a Base Hit have to do with Identity Verification?

Since Spring Training has started in Arizona, baseball analogies came to mind.  I assigned my first failure at Tru.ly registration “Strike 1.”  I’ll call my current success a “base hit.” The registration worked, but I’m not really sure what its real value is yet.  We’ll have to wait awhile to see what brings me across home plate.

 

What’s a Dad to Do?

Humor, Sports
Author: Mark Dixon
Friday, November 12, 2010
10:02 pm

This may not be an Identity Management subject, but I just had to share a happy memory and bit of congratulations as I return to blogging after a long time.

Many years ago, my younger sister prepared for a high school science fair by training a pair of white rats to play basketball.  She taught the little critters to stuff a whiffle ball through a wire hoop by rewarding each successful attempt.

On the morning of the science fair, the female rat gave birth to a litter of young rats.  As expected, she refused to play ball.  But the daddy rat? He went right ahead and played hoops!

Today, Phoenix Suns’ superstar Steve Nash played his best best game of the young NBA season tonight on the same day his wife gave birth to a new baby boy.  This morning, the Nash’s new son, Matteo Joel Nash, was born.  Tonight, Dad almost had a triple double with 28 points, 14 assists and 7 rebounds as the Suns beat the Sacramento Kings 103-89.  Congratulations Suns! Congratulations Nash family!

And lest of you think otherwise, none of us think Steve is a rat!

 

 

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Jared Dudley, You Inspire Me!

Leadership, Sports
Author: Mark Dixon
Thursday, August 12, 2010
6:07 am

image Jared Dudley, you inspire me!  You really do.

For my second sports blog of the day, I share with you three tweets that reveal why Jared Dudley succeeds.  Jared is a go-to bench player for the Phoenix Suns.  He has not been blessed with superlative talent.  In the high-flying, above-the-rim style of NBA basketball, he can barely dunk the basketball.  But the kid works, and works, and works … and his persistence pays off in games.  Time after time, his coming off the bench inspires the team to new levels of effort and performance.

A bit of his secret?

At 11pm on Tuesday night earlier this week, in the middle of the summer, Jared was watching film, trying to figure out how to improve his game.  He shares his thoughts with us:

Every night I been watching film on the top players I have to guard. Tonight is Kobe and the Lakers. It’s cuz of him I’m goin on this diet lol

I’m watching this WCF vs lakers, and Kobe can wear u down..Right when i thought I had some of his moves down he shows me something new

My thinking is I’m not getting any taller or a longer wing span.. So I better get in the best BBALL shape possible.. Back to the LAB

The best BBALL shape possible.  Yes, we can learn from that.  No matter where we are, or what we are doing in life, we can improve our performance, regardless of physical constraints that would hold us down.  We need to study, and work, and study and work some more.  Then, we can rise above our limitations and achieve greatness.

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Go Diamondbacks! Breakout from Misery. Go Yard.

Leadership, Sports
Author: Mark Dixon
Thursday, August 12, 2010
5:47 am

image The Arizona Diamondbacks have given us little to cheer about this season.  They are mired at the bottom of the National League West with a dismal .400 record.  But yesterday, as reported by KTAR.com, “The Arizona Diamondbacks tied a major league record by hitting four consecutive home runs, with Adam LaRoche, Miguel Montero, Mark Reynolds and Stephen Drew connecting in the fourth inning Wednesday night to beat Milwaukee 8-2.”

You can view a video of all four solo shots here.

Only seven major league teams have accomplished this amazing feat in the history of the game.

The lesson? No matter how dark and impossible our world seems to be, we all have the potential to break out in a spectacular way.  In the face of immense opposition, we must, as urged by the Curtis Mayfield song, "Keep on Keeping On.”

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Phoenix Suns TW@CKLE

Sports
Author: Mark Dixon
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
7:57 pm

The coolest commercial use of Twitter I have seen to date, Suns Twackle, was placed into production today by our hometown Phoenix Suns.  This application, included on the Sun’s website, shows all the Twitter messages posted about the Phoenix Suns and allows Twitter users to log in using their Twitter credentials and post Tweets directly from the Twackle page.  Quite an innovative use of Twitter as an integral part of the Suns’ PR strategy!

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Monster Game for @THE_REAL_SHAQ

Sports
Author: Mark Dixon
Sunday, March 1, 2009
8:50 pm

With Steve Nash on the bench nursing a sprained ankle and Amare Stoudemire out for the season with an eye injury, Shaquille O’Neal has been playing inspired basketball – the old man against youngsters.  It was great to see him lead the Suns to victory over the Lakers today.

Do you want to be entertained between games by Shaq in a hip, social media sort of way?  Follow @THE_REAL_SHAQ (yes, it really is Shaq) on Twitter.  He’s quite a character off the court as well.

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140×3! A Lesson in Optimism

Sports
Author: Mark Dixon
Saturday, February 21, 2009
2:14 am

After yesterday’s heartbreaking news about Amare Stoudemire’s eye surgery, my pessimistic vibes cast a dark shadow over the rest of the Phoenix Sun’s season.  It’s good thing the Suns believed in themselves more than all us doubtful folk.  Last night, Leandro Barbosa poured in a career-high 41 points and Jason Richardson added 34 to lead the Suns to their third straight game of scoring at least 140 points!

Go Suns!

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