Monthly Archives: February 2013

Annual trek to Java Posse Roundup

I’m here in Crested Butte, Colorado, for the annual Java Posse Roundup. Of course, the Java Posse delivers the podcast that keeps programmers on the JVM up to date, and this conference brings together a group of those listeners every year so that we can say, in person, what we’ve been screaming at our mobile devices 51 weeks out of the year. And, given the open spaces format, we choose topics for discussion all week. We also hack on special projects and generally enjoy the intellectual experience.

I’ll report throughout the week, but for those who might be curious what we do here, I’m posting the “Master Schedule” below.

Sunday

6pm: Welcome Barbeque.

 

Monday

Hackathon Day workshops 

9:30 pm at the Majestic Theatre: “Possibilities”: A selection of TED Talks Designed to Inspire New Thinking, presented by the Java Posse Roundup. Free admission, all are welcome.

Tuesday

8:30am:
Conference Overview
Introduction to Open Spaces
Initial talk topics and organization
Session 1
10:30am-12:00pm: Session 2
Afternoon: lunch/hackathons/free time
Evening: Groups go to dinner or informal barbeque & discussion
Lightning Talks 8pm – 9:30 pm
End the evening with private gathering at Princess Wine Bar.

Wednesday

8:30-9:30 am: Session 3
10:00-11:00am: Session 4
11:30-12:30pm: Session 5
Afternoon: lunch/hackathons/free time
Evening: Groups go to dinner or informal barbeque & discussion
Lightning Talks 8pm – 9:30 pm
End the evening at the Dogwood Cocktail Cabin.

Thursday

8:30-9:30 am: Session 6
10:00-11:00am: Session 7
11:30-12:30pm: Session 8
Afternoon: lunch/hackathons/free time
Progressive Dinner (5 pm?).

End the evening at the Lobar with Karaoke.

Friday

8:30-9:30 am: Session 9
10:00-11:00am: Session 10
11:30-12:30pm: Session 11
Afternoon: lunch/hackathons/free time
Dinner at either Django’s or the Yurt (x-c ski or snowshoe to get to the Yurt, rentals at Nordic Center)

Adventures with Single Page Apps

Single page gurus Brian Genisio and Dennis Burton teamed up with SRT’s creative staff John Lucas and Anthony Williamson to build Choose Your Own Application as a fun and engaging way to investigate single page applications. You can choose from several popular Javascript libraries, web frameworks, and cloud platforms to build a single page app in many different ways. There are currently 22 paths through the system, and you will earn badges for completing the various paths, as well as for other achievements.

Gamifying learning — why not?

Looking forward to Java Posse Roundup 2013

I’m always excited to attend the Java Posse Roundup, but this year more than ever! The Roundup is in its 7th year (if I’ve done the math correctly) and I’ve made it to every one, so why is this one so appealing?

First of all, our private google group, for attendees, has been hopping with ideas about what sessions people are interested in, and what the open hacking day will be. People are talking about hardware this year: Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and 3D Printers. And there’s lots of excitement around programming NFC stickers. Software excitement is in the air as well: lots of discussions around Javascript and Node.js and Coffeescript. And of course there will be discussions about Groovy/Gradle, Java, Scala, and Go.

Many of the veteran attendees share houses in the town so that the geekery doesn’t have to stop when people go back to hotel rooms. The number of repeat attendees at this conference is very high, but it offers a good mix of newcomers each year as well. I see the newcomers offering great suggestions on the group, so they’re jumping right in too.

As far as I know, there’s still time to join in, although time may be getting tight to arrange travel. The conference is February 25 to March 1, and it’s held in Crested Butte, CO. Registration is at http://www.mindviewinc.com/Conferences/JavaPosseRoundup/. Hope to see you there!

 

 

Scala Enthusiasts survey and February meeting

At the inaugural Ann Arbor Scala Enthusiasts meeting, attendees showed interest in some hands-on hacking. So, for the next meeting, on Wednesday, February 20, that is what we will do! Bring your laptop (or a friend with a laptop) and join in the fun. We’ll make sure everyone gets Scala 2.10 installed and then we can either all work together or break into small groups.

I have also published a survey from the first meeting. Please complete the contact info for the survey if you are interested in attending future events, even if you weren’t able to attend January’s meeting.

See you on Wednesday, February 20 at 6 pm at SRT Solutions, 206 S. Fifth Ave. Suite 200, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. We currently don’t have a food sponsor for the meeting, but we can order food delivery from a nearby restaurant if people are interested (or feel free to bring something with you)!