This is a short and approachable translation of the Japanese novelist's memoir about running, and it hits home for this runner who has been suffering from withdrawal symptoms in this month when I have only managed to run about 50 miles...

If you run and you want to get inside the head of a fellow long distance runner, this should be a good read.

What do I mean by "transformational software?" Maybe I am the only one who experiences computers and software this way, but every now and then I come across a hardware or software tool that causes me to rethink the way I work. Many years ago when I first encountered Tinderbox and took the time to try it out as a blogging tool, it became a transformational software tool for me. Tinderbox exposes itself in layers, and for me that started with outline views then graduated a couple of years ago to mindmapping and visual planning applications that I use every day in my work. And there is still more to learn and explore.

InkSeine feels like it could be a similar kind of tool. Given an appropriate application of the software and access to a decent, pen-based computer running Windows, it appears to be transformational software. I am playing with it right now to make a casual, visual presentation of info about Web 2.0 tools and social media to a group of executives. Why would I use PowerPoint to tell a flat story when I could run InkSeine on my tablet to flip between rich pages with graphics, Web clippings and links that I can visit with a swipe of my pen?

Sure, I could do this with the more mature Microsoft tool, OneNote, which I use on the tablet to take meeting notes. But OneNote isn't nearly as interactive. It doesn't offer the abilities to interact with the content on a note page in the same way with a pen.

What other transformational software is there out there waiting to be explored? Well, from this piece about how one writer does his craft, DevonThink sounds like it has potential. I haven't tried it because I have thought that it overlaps too much with what I do within Tinderbox, but the article and accompanying comments make me wonder if I should check it out...

As always, whenever I expose Tinderbox and its capabilities to Windows users, they are eager for a Windows version or similar application. Once a Windows version is alive, I have a few customers ready for Tinderbox.

Although I haven't found a good similar application for planning and thinking on my work PC, an HP tablet running Windows XP, over the last couple of days I have started playing around with an experimental program from a group of Microsoft programmers that seeks to make the most of pen-based computing - InkSeine. I had the program installed on Tuesday and used it to take notes all day. This is the kind of program that would be right at home on a Mac tablet, if such a thing existed.

Here is a screen shot from the InkSeine Web site:

InkSeine is an experimental program for visually organizing thoughts and resources in a drawing pad format. It isn't the same concept or as flexible as Tinderbox, but as a tool for free-form thinking, it has some similarities on the surface. It offers a different set of tools than OneNote, which I also use for taking notes with the pen when my Windows machine is in my hands. But so far it isn't as easy to imagine how to integrate InkSeine information with Tinderbox back on the Mac. I'll dig into that more in future MNJ posts...

Ironically enough, I started taking another crack at using OmniFocus as my GTD tool of choice on my MacBook Pro and iPhone yesterday.

Combining OmniFocus with my ongoing communications planning I am doing in map view in Tinderbox, I'm trying to wrap an organizational framework around 2009. I did the same thing with Tinderbox in 2008 and it helped transform my work early in the year as well as the way that I use this tool for information management. I need to do more writing about this.

Were there any game-changers? It's too early to tell. Here is a run-down of what's updated and new:

• iTunes Plus as part of the new iTunes 8, with tons of digital rights management-free music. The upgrade to iTunes 8 is free, but moving to iTunes Plus and DRM-free music could cost you.

• iLife '09 adds many new features in its components - iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand and iWeb. Is it worth $79? If you will use one of two of the components, sure. Unfortunately, I don't use any of these tools...

• iWork '09 has a number of major enhancements as well in its components - Pages, Numbers and Keynote.

• iWork.com beta, which appears to only be available for folks who buy iWork '09.

• 17-inch MacBook Pro is the biggest announcement for major-league mobile Mac users, although it is still too big for me and for most of the people that I work with every day. In fact, one colleague is intrigued with the idea of buying a Mac for home use, but he even sees my 15-inch MacBook Pro as too large. The new 17-inch machine has lots of horsepower to go, and now up to eight hours of battery life, but many will be thrown off by the fact that the battery is not replaceable by individual users. Instead, you have to take it to an authorized repair shop for replacement.

So this is an evolutionary rather than revolutionary round of announcements from Apple. No Apple netbook, no iTouch tablet - both of which would have excited me. But now that Apple is freed from the chains of announcing the Next Big Thing at each Macworld Expo, there is no saying that we won't hear about a major announcement from Apple in March or any other time later this year. We can keep our fingers crossed...