SOA, Mashups, Mashed Knees and Surgery

Today is my birthday - I had arthroscopic knee surgery last night and am feeling pretty good so far (happy birthday to me). I know I still have a lot of meds/painkillers in my system and that its going to feel more uncomfortable the next few days. I'm still hobbling around on crutches but I'm feeling much more confident that I can attend (and present at) Agile2009.

I received some very good books on Mashups and SOA a few months back and I'm finally getting a chance to look at them in some more detail. They really are quite good! I think Mashups are the "latest frontier" for realizing the promise of SOA, and a natural evolution from Wiki-webs. Here are the books:

• SOA Design Patterns, by Thomas Erl
• Mashup Patterns: Designs and Examples for the Modern Enterprise, by Michael Ogrinz
• Mashups: Strategies for the Modern Enterprise, by J. Jeffrey Hanson

If you follow the links above to the InformIT.com homepage for each of the above books, you'll find some good excerpts and related articles that will give a preview of what to expect so you can judge for yourself.