Between my article in annarbor.com and my talk at TEDxDetroit, it’s been a busy few weeks, talking and writing about flexible workplaces. And then, today, I had to follow some of my own advice to stay home with a sick kid. While he was entertained by Netflix movies on the iPad and books to read, I was able to get about half of my work done today. I’ll finish it up over the weekend!
Category Archives: Ann Arbor
SRT Solutions and The Whole Brain Group Team up to Work with Adaptive Materials
SRT Solutions and The Whole Brain Group are working with Adaptive Materials on a new software application for renewable energy. Funded by an Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase II grant, this application will improve the military’s renewable energy usage in the battlefield.
With Adaptive Materials’ renewable energy acumen, SRT Solutions providing the software development expertise, The Whole Brain Group providing the user interface design and artwork, this project is a great opportunity for three Ann Arbor companies to work together.
You can read more about the project on AnnArbor.com.
Scala Code Retreat on Saturday, September 25 at SRT
Please join us in Ann Arbor at SRT Solutions, 206 S. Fifth Avenue, Suite 200, for a Scala Code Retreat this Saturday, September 25 from 9 am – 5 pm. The format is well defined, here: http://coderetreat.com/how-it-works.html.
Basically, we’ll be working together on the same problem. Novice and advanced Scala developers are welcome. There will be no IDE wars (we’ll all just use vi … OK, I’m joking).
In any case, SRT is sponsoring a continental breakfast, and lunch is on your own. There’s no cost to attend.
To register, go to http://coderetreat.ning.com/events/scala-code-retreat-ann-arbor
Scala now or JDK 8 (much) later
If you were waiting for the JDK 7 release in preference to Scala for things like lambdas, parts of Project Coin (small language changes), or Jigsaw (modularized JDK), your wait is over. That’s over as in not gonna happen til the middle of 2012.
Maybe that’s too long. Maybe you’re curious about what Scala can do now. If you are, the Ann Arbor Scala Code Retreat is happening at a good time. Join us on Saturday, September 25. We’ll be at SRT Solutions, 206 S. Fifth Ave., Suite 200, from 9-5. That’s at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Washington in downtown Ann Arbor. Everyone is welcome: novice to advanced. This won’t be a tutorial; it will be an active coding session.
Ann Arbor Businesses in the News
Get some updates from some of my favorite business owners
Two bits of news came by my desk today, and since they are about some of my favorite business owners in Ann Arbor, I thought that I would pass them along.
First of all, The Small Giants Community has named Marisa Smith of The Whole Brain Group to its Board of Directors. Nicely done, Marisa!
And, Pure Visibility has been profiled in a Concentrate Media article, interviewing founders Catherine Juon and Linda Girard.
Enjoy!
What Defines Success in Business?
My thoughts, as appear in AnnArbor.com
Last week, I wrote an article for AnnArbor.com about success in business, and how one formula (that is, growth) is perhaps not always appropriate. Longevity, great customers, great employees, doing things you enjoy that also pay the bills are other factors that companies sometimes consider. And that’s a good thing!
See Also
- What defines success in business?
It’s complicated!
Ann Arbor Technical Events
This week and next …
If you wanted to learn about Joomla, you missed your chance. The Ann Arbor Computer Society met just last night on that topic. Rumor has it that they have some amazing speakers coming up in the next few months, so stay tuned.
Tonight, the Michigan Python User Group meets at SRT Solutions, 206 S. Fifth, Suite 200. The meeting starts at 7, and is free and open to the public.
With the Ann Arbor .NET Developer Group meeting next Wednesday (August 11) and the Cocoaheads User Group meeting on Thursday (August 12), the SRT space will be the place to be in the evenings over the nextweek, regardless of your language affiliations and preferences!
If you’re planning ahead for next week, here’s a brief preview:
Jamie Wright will be speaking on "Getting Real with Software Consulting" at the Ann Arbor .NET Developer Group.
Chris Adamson, author of several books including "Swing Hacks" and "iPhone SDK Development", will be in town for the Cocoaheads meeting. He will talk about AV Foundation in iOS4. Chris has had a history of interest in media, and he has an upcoming book entitled "Core Audio".
Weeks like these make me appreciate our area for its rich tech talent as well as its ability to attract well-known speakers.
Ignite Ann Arbor videos posted!
Ignite talks have been presented all over the country, and I was thrilled to hear that Ryan Burns was organizing them in Ann Arbor. About 200 people packed into the Neutral Zone on Washington on Tuesday, June 30, for Ignite Ann Arbor. If you missed the event, you can check out the videos posted on the Ignite YouTube channel. I suspect that the videos will encourage you to attend in person when Ignite talks return to Ann Arbor in the fall!
The Ignite format is …. 5 minutes total, with 20 slides, slides advancing AUTOMATICALLY every 15 seconds. I've attended and participated in a lot of 5 minute lightning talks, but the auto advancing of slides adds a new twist! Your timing had better be ON or the slide will go on without you (or linger as you wait, uncomfortably). But, I found that I liked the format. The energy level remained really high and the slides were engaging and interesting. The speakers all did a fantastic job of staying on message and keeping with their slides. I was quite impressed.
Here's a quick summary of what you will find on the You Tube channel:
Eli Neiburger of the Ann Arbor District Library kicked things off in amazing style with "Hack your Library". His energy and excitement really set the pace for the remainder of the evening!
Matt Orishi is a Neutral Zone teen, and he did an amazing job of composing an electronic lullaby. Not to mention, he's a TEEN! Good job, Matt.
I spoke on the Under-representation of Women in Computer Science. I was shocked to learn that the number of women in this field that I truly enjoy has been declining since I graduated in 1986, and felt the need to talk about this. I hope that other computer scientists, male and female, will talk more about what we do. I'll write more about this in an upcoming blog post.
Aydin Akcasu scaled his Wii Will Wii Will Rock You talk down to the Ignite format, and it was quite well received.
James Deakins talked about making your own weather balloon (and sending chocolate into near space!).
Stephanie Murray talked about the past and future of the news in this town.
Zach Steindler thrilled the crowd with a discussion of inexpensive, do it yourself camping gear. My personal favorite? The pop can stove.
Brad Boegler talked about receiving real time NOAA weather satellite imagery in your home (pretty sure that when my husband sees this, we will be hacking along with him).
Laura Fisher talked about classic visual ratios. I didn't know that ratios were so fascinating, but she's right: they are!
Bob Stack talked about his experience with a fabulous group of people, coworking at the Mech Lab.
Kyle Mulka talked about the Many Uses of Twitter.
Eric Jankowski promoted the game Go (he sure makes it sound easy!).
Dave Askins talked about the history of the Ann Arbor Chronicle and the TeeterTalk.
John Barrie wrapped up the night with a discussion about how to end poverty using clean green technology.
Ignite talks will return to Ann Arbor in the fall. I'm already looking forward to them.
3 Days, 3 Events before the Holiday
Holiday week? Lots to do before fireworks on the weekend.
Tomorrow night is Ignite Ann Arbor. If you haven't attending Ignite talks before, check them out! If you have, I'm sure that you'll be there. Format is 5 minutes per speaker, 20 slides that autoscroll every 15 seconds. No time to get off track. No opportunity to go over. People stay on track, on message, and then they're off the stage. Talks can be on anything, as long as it's something that the speaker is passionate about. I'll be talking about the Under-representation of Women in Computer Science (the number of women getting CS degrees peaked the year I graduated from college in 1986, and has been in a steady decline since).
Ignite Ann Arbor starts at 7 pm, and will be held at the Neutral Zone, 310 E. Washington (yes, that's just down the street from SRT's office!). Register at http://www.igniteannarbor.eventbright.com.
Wednesday, July 1 is the monthly Ann Arbor Computer Society meeting. I'm not sure about the topic, but it's election month, so it's really important that members attend. Meeting starts at 6 pm, at SRT Solutions, 206 S. Fifth Avenue, Suite 200, Ann Arbor. Pizza will be served.
Thursday, July 2 is the monthly Michigan Python User Group meeting. The group is still deciding on a topic, but it never disappoints. Meeting starts at 7 pm at SRT Solutions, 206 S. Fifth Ave, Suite 200, Ann Arbor.
And on Friday, it will be time to rest.
JavaFX, Microsoft Surface, and TDD talks this week
The Ann Arbor area is ripe with events this week (apologies to our spouses).
Join up with fellow coders tonight at NSCoderNight, at Sweetwaters in Kerrytown.
Tomorrow night (Wednesday April 15), you will have to choose between attending a JavaFX talk at the Detroit JUG and a Microsoft Surface talk at GANG (Great Lakes Area .NET User Group). Jim Weaver has solidly embraced JavaFX, and is working on his second book. I'm thrilled that he's returning to the area, since I missed his talk at the Ann Arbor JUG late last year. The meeting will be held at ePrize, 1 ePrize Drive, Pleasant Ridge, MI. I had a hard time finding the location the first time I went there, so definitely check out the directions. The meeting starts at 6:30.
The Microsoft Surface is also pretty exciting. VectorForm is a Michigan company that has been doing Surface development perhaps as long as the device has been available. My first view of the Surface was in the James Bond movie (Quantum of Solace), and then I was also lucky enough to see one at CodeMash. So if you haven't seen the Surface, definitely head out to the Microsoft office in Southfield (1000 Town Center Drive, Suite 1930, Southfield, MI 48075) tomorrow night. Joe Engalan and Jennifer Marsman will co-present. The meeting starts at 6:30.
And after the meeting (around 9 pm), join up with CoffeeHouse Coders in person at Mujo's in the Duderstadt Center on North Campus or on their IRC channel.
On Thursday 4/16 for lunch, choose between the monthly A2 Nerd Lunch or the weekly A2B3. They're about a block apart, so perhaps you can hit both.
On Thursday evening, you have several choices in Ann Arbor: Ann Arbor Startup Drinks at Grizzly Peak, and the Washtenaw Linux Users Group at WCC.
Also on Thursday, but a little further from home, Dennis Burton is speaking at the Greater Lansing .NET User Group with his talk on "Test Driven Development is Driving me Insane". Dennis will discuss patterns and techniques for writing tests that are more robust and provide better information, including techniques that you can apply to your design when writing new code to make testing easier, as well as tools for working with existing applications that do not have good test coverage. If you miss his talk on Thursday, catch this talk again the following week 4/21 in Toledo, at Northwest Ohio .NET User Group.
On Friday, you can learn how (and why) to join a non-profit board in the Ann Arbor area. A2Geeks is helping to sponsor training at the NEW Center, for just $35.
This is your last chance (mine too!) for the 2008/2009 academic year to visit the MPowered Entrepreneurship Hour at UM. The speaker this week is Joshua Pokempner of Entrepreneur Toy Company. The meeting is held from 3:30-4:30.