Monthly Archives: October 2008

Boo! at Lansing Area .NET User Group meeting

Nope, this isn't a Halloween gag, but it's timed well. On Thursday, October 16, Jay Wren will be speaking about the Boo programming language at GLUGNet in Lansing. Boo is a statically typed language with a python-inspired syntax and it runs on the .NET platform.  He will be discussing how to create Domain Specific Languages using Boo.

The meeting will be held on Michigan State's campus in East Lansing, at 1235 Anthony Hall.  The meeting starts at 6 pm.

More information and directions are available on the GLUGNet website.

Detroit Java User Group is ALIVE!

After a long while of on-again/off-again meetings, I was pleased to hear the news that the Detroit Java User Group has reformed! This is great news for the east-siders who find Ann Arbor a bit too far to go for an evening meeting about Java. The Detroit group has a new home: ePrize headquarters in Pleasant Ridge (I-696 and Woodward area, near the Detroit Zoo).

The next 2 meetings have been scheduled.  More information yet to come, but here are the topics, so that you can set the time aside to go.  They look great to me, and I'm hoping to attend.

Wednesday October 22nd, Jim Steinberger – DOJO and DWR
Wednesday November 19th, Kirsten Schwark – Groovy

To be complete, I should add that the Ann Arbor Java User group topic has been announced for October as well.  On October 28, Matt VanVleet from Pillar Technology will discuss Automated testing using Pillar's tool: Verde.  

And many thanks to Kirsten for her summary of my Scala talk at the Ann Arbor Java User Group on September 23 (and for the "geek celebrity" title!).

 

 

Ann Arbor events this week: Continuous Integration and Lightning Talks

Jay Harris will be speaking at the Ann Arbor .NET Developer Group Meeting tomorrow night, October 8.  The topic is Continuous Integration.  Join us at SRT Solutions, 206 S. Fifth, Suite 200.  The meeting is open to everyone and free (donations taken for pizza).  The meeting starts at 6 pm.

On Friday, SRT's Lightning Talks will be held, from 3:30-5 pm.  Also open to all, lightning talks are 5 minute discussions on the topic of your choice. Please come, but don't go over the 5 minutes or you'll get buzzed with a kitchen timer.

 

Events and News from Ann Arbor this week

October snuck up on me.  Tonight is the monthly Ann Arbor Computer Society (AACS) meeting.  I had thought that Bill Heitzeg was going to be talking about Mono, but it turns out that I had some outdated information.  John Fohrman is going to be discussing scrum.  The meeting, as always, will start at 6:00, and is open to everyone (free).  AACS will supply pizza and soda. Members ($20/year) qualify for door prizes.

And, if you're still raring to go after the AACS meeting, stop off for "Coffee House Coders", from 9-11 pm at Espresso Royale on State Street for some tech talk and hacking with friends, powered by coffee.  You can even join in remotely: 

irc.freenode.net
#coffeehousecoders

 

Tomorrow night, the Michigan Python user group (MichiPUG) will meet at 7:00 pm.  The topic for this month is "What's Cool in Python 2.6".  Since Python 2.6 final is due to be released, this is a timely topic.

Both AACS and MichiPUG will be held at SRT Solutions, 206 S. Fifth Ave, Suite 200, Ann Arbor.

No lightning talks this Friday.  Join us on October 10 at 3:30 for the next round of lightning talks.

I also wanted to report some GOOD news from Michigan, this time from my alma mater.  Michigan Tech and the Smart Zone just received a $3 million business incubator grant.  They will use the money to renovate the former UPPCO building in downtown Houghton.  The SmartZone will lease space in the building, along with other tenants. 

The investment will reportedly help to create 355 jobs and generate another $5.1 million in private investment in the Houghton area. Wow!  So area business leaders have already announced a "Mich-Again" campaign, intended to attract Michigan transplants back to Michigan.  Knowing Tech grads as I do, I'm pretty sure that moving back to the Keweenaw would be an easy sell.  With the renovations being complete in mid-2009, Houghton may find itself swatting back those of us who feel strong ties to the area.