If you've ever looked at my vita, which is on my personal portfolio site, you'll notice that my PhD is from the University of Maribor in Slovenia. It's a long story of how that came to be, but suffice it to say that I was the first American to get a PhD from the University of Maribor and, as far as I know, I'm still the only American who has done so. I've had a long association with the country going back twenty years, and I met many of my long-time colleagues in electronic commerce (Milt Jenkins, Roger Clarke, Paul and Paula Swatman, Doug Vogel, and many others) at the wonderful EC conference my friend Joze Gricar sponsors in Bled, Slovenia, this year. Naturally, I follow what goes in this small country with a lot of talented people because, in a way, I consider myself to be an honorary Slovene.
That's why this story caught my eye. Martin Strel, a marathon swimmer and a Slovene, swam down the Amazon river from Atalaya (Peru) to the Atlantic Ocean at Belém (Brazil), 3,274 miles, in 66 days. Made me proud. Read about it on his website at www.amazonswim.com
