The Ann Arbor Java User Group is meeting tonight, at Washtenaw Community College, BE 270. The topic is Java FX, and speaker is Jim Weaver. The meeting starts around 6:30, with some informal networking.
I was really hoping to attend. Looks like a great talk! Unfortunately, I have a conflict tonight. I'm hoping someone blogs the talk!
We do lightning talks at SRT every other week, from 3:30-5. The idea was borne out of my very positive experience with lightning talks at the Java Posse Roundup and in others who are here who have had similarly positive experiences. We realized that there was a lot of benefit in knowing what people are looking at, and having 5 minute talks is ideal, since that gives you enough of a flavor for a topic to determine if you want to spend more time researching it. So here are the topics that were discussed today.
Drizzle is a fork of MySQL. Objective is to return MySQL to its roots by stripping out the garbage it doesn't need. Unlike MySQL, this has no connection to Sun. There are no procedures, views, grants, triggers, and there is no Windows support. Can also use Drizzle as a view of a larger backend database store (like Oracle). Goal is to serve data fast, and to provide a front end for a database. Want charding across nodes, real working proxing, no internal ACLS. UTF-8 only. Linux only. Idea is to be very fast microkernel and support a flexible plugin architecture. Hosted on Launchpad. Targeted toward web and cloud applications.
Bill Heitzeg wanted a repository for his music and TV. Charlie built a Windows Media Center PC with components from NewEgg. It uses Vista's Media Center. The computer was 2 gig of RAM, a terabyte of disk, Intel 2.53 GB processor, wireless. Cost: $850 including shipping.
Microsoft's product, XSD, didn't handle the nesting of an XML file that Bill needed to view, so he went looking for a tool. Having had experience with XMLSpy, he decided to look at Altova's offerings. Altova has a set of tools for XML editing, data management, UML, and web services.
UModel is UML modeling which works with Eclipse and Visual Studio.
DatabaseSpy is a query and design tool for databases.
Authentic is an XML Authoring Tool.
And they have several other tools as well.
Phil described some situations in inherited software. First case, on a Unix platform where he found a bunch of core files. Team had been ignoring them. Phil debugged the core files and found errors in application and needed to be able to test. He found that a second application could replicate the problem and debug/test. Second case, a scientific application was built with a data acquisition card, etc. (real hardware, not simulated). A second application was available to simulate the hardware. He was able to get a hardware person to create a simulation environment in hardware for testing.
Inspired by observing the use of a tree data structure in the past week. Left out of the framework was a way to do an adhoc iterator. Inspired by "cons" in F#, Jay demonstrated how to add it to C#.
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And on the non-technical side, we had ice cream from Washtenaw Dairy. My favorite is the lemon custard, which I have a hard time finding anywhere else. Oh, and Bill's letting me take home his Windows Media Center PC for the weekend so that I can check it out, and
Just a quick reminder that SRT is hosting lightning talks at 3:30 pm today (until about 5). Anyone is welcome to attend, to give a 5 minute presentation on anything remotely technology-related, and/or to simply observe.
SRT hosts lightning talks every other Friday, and these are always open to anyone in the community. We feel that this is a great way to wind down the work week, while piquing interest in a variety of topics.
Join us!
In addition to a user group meeting this week, there are some weekend conferences/camps going on.
Ann Arbor .NET developer group (Wednesday August 13 at 6 pm) features Jeff McWherter who will be speaking on applying automated testing to an existing application. AADND meets at SRT Solutions (206 S. Fifth Ave, Suite 200, Ann Arbor). Visit http://www.aadnd.org for more information.
eRubyCon is a conference geared toward the use of the Ruby programming language in the enterprise. The conference will be held August 15, 16, 17th in Polaris (near Columbus). The conference boasts speakers who have had success getting Ruby into some of the largest organizations, speaking on data warehousing, JRuby, testing legacy JEE code with JRuby, Ruby code generation, enterprise workflows and more. For more information, see http://eRubyCon.com.
BarCamp Grand Rapids is being held on Friday August 15 through Saturday August 16. BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees, usually centered around technology topics. For more information, see http://barcampgr.org.
And, of course, don't forget about SRT's hosted Lightning Talks on Friday August 15, from 3:30-5 pm. Last time (on August 1), we had topics like Subversion 1.5 (Rick Harding). Phone Calling over Twitter (Ed Vielmetti), Selenium (Charlie Sears), Cube Permissions (Phil Huhn), Generic Functions with Python (Mark Ramm), Subsonic (Phil Huhn), Blogging to Community Server from Microsoft Word (Charlie Sears), Musical Topology (Ed Vielmetti), and Blogging with Microsoft LiveWriter (Bill Wagner).
Plan ahead for next week too! The Detroit Java User Group doesn't meet every month, but they're meeting on Wednesday, August 20, and the topic is Java Scripting Languages, with Kirsten Henderson. And while it's called the Detroit Java User Group, it's really in Farmington Hills, so quite driveable from Ann Arbor.
[DMM: correction … there was an error in the post on the Detroit JUG. Kirsten emailed me that they made a mistake in the year of the post and that was the talk she did LAST August. Sigh, too bad. I'm sorry I missed it last year and was looking forward to an update!]
I also thought that I would mention the Agile Summer Camp, coming up September 5-7 at Brighton Recreation Area. This is an interactive, participants-driven open spaces event that will be held over a weekend, and will attract professionals interested in improving software development through agile techniques. Some people will be camping (there are 2 cabins available, and a separate campground), while others will commute from their homes.
It's the first full week of the month. Hoping I'm able to get away for some user group meetings.
On Wednesday August 6, AACS (Ann Arbor Computer Society) has Eric Inancich discussing Ruby and Domain Specific Languages. The meeting starts at 6. Pizza will be provided by AACS, free of charge. The meeting's free too, but door prizes only go to paid-up members (note to self: remember to take $20 for annual membership). AACS usually gives out gift certificates.
On Thursday August 7, the Michigan Python User Group (MichiPUG) will be discussing the state of Turbo Gears 2. Created in Ann Arbor by local Kevin Dangoor, another local (Mark Ramm) has taken over maintenance of the TG2 project. Both are very knowledgeable and it's always interesting to hear where the project is, and where it's going. MichiPUG starts at 7.
Both meetings are at SRT Solutions, 206 S. Fifth Ave., Suite 200, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 and are free and open to the public. Hope to see you at a meeting or two.
The end of the month is sort of light on tech events in Ann Arbor, but STILL there are things to do within driving distance!
PyOhio is going on in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday July 26. It's a free event, and includes talks, open spaces, lightning talks, and poster sessions. If you're planning to attend and want to carpool, check with other Python developers on the MichiPUG Google group.
The Ann Arbor Java User Group canceled their meeting for next week (would have been on Tuesday July 29), but look for their meeting next month. Rumor has it that the August talk will be on JavaFX, which is getting some air time at OSCON this week.
Next week, Wednesday and Thursday (July 30-31) is the Michigan Flex Camp in Lansing. The price is only $40 ($25 if you only want to attend the first day). This hands-on interactive camp looks really interesting. Registration is limited to 150 people, so sign up now if you're planning to attend: http://www.theflexgroup.org/camp/.
Lightning Talk Fridays, hosted by SRT Solutions, continue on Friday, August 1 from 3:30-5 pm.
And one non-technical event will be held next week as well. The WXW Business group is holding a networking event for businesswomen at the Ann Arbor Art Center. Cost is $10, and registration is limited to 120 people. Wine and appetizers will be served. Registration is available at http://wxwbusiness.com/.
If you have any interest in traveling to North Carolina in next week or the week after, TrizPugBootCampArama is being held there, with 3 consecutive camps: PyCamp and 2 on Plone.
Oh, and of course, the first week in August will be busy event-wise, with both the Ann Arbor Computer Society meeting on August 6 (topic: Ruby for Domain Specific Languages) and the Michigan Python User Group on August 7. More details on those meetings to come.
Today is the start of the weekend ICFP (International Conference on Functional Programming) contest. Jay Wren, Charlie Sears, and Chris Marinos are teaming up to participate.
Across town, Mike Woelmer is participating in the Ann Arbor Give Camp, where developers "give back" by implementing a requested application or website for charities over the weekend.
Have fun guys (and many kudos to the spouses who support the effort on a weekend).
The Ann Arbor Art Fairs (the "s" is critical because there are several running concurrently) bring a half million visitors to our town. Parking is difficult, and driving can be challengine. All of that means that some people avoid downtown that week, unless they are actually spectators, while others try to get in and out using alternate forms of transporation. I'll be riding my bike in (or taking the bus if the weather is bad).
What does that mean about the SRT-hosted Lightning Talks scheduled for Friday (7/18)? We're still planning to hold them. We're also planning to invite customers and friends into our offices for a break from baking in the hot sun. So, if you attend the Art Fairs, or if you're just downtown, please stop by on Friday between 3:30 and 5. We'll be here. And for those attending the Art Fairs, we'll be hoping that the ONLY lightning is in the talks.
Earlier this year, I was invited to join a group of women who were organizing a new group for busineswomen in Washtenaw County. The participants on the steering committee covered a wide variety of businesses, but the unifying characteristic was that everyone was committed to improving the business climate in our region, specifically for women-owned businesses. To do so, it was first important to figure out who was here! What busineses are owned or run by women? Who are the prominent women in our community? And who are the businesswomen who would enjoy getting together to exchange ideas, suggestions, business cards?
So, the first Women's Exchange of Washtenaw (WXW) event was organized. This involved quite a bit of planning, the securing of sponsors, and a lot of promotion. In response, over 200 women attended the first event, which was a learning/sharing event held at Kensington Court. Complete with prominent speakers from our community (Michelle Crumm, Marcie Brogan, Carol Goss, and Eileen Spring) as well as roundtable discussions, the event offered the opportunity to share ideas as well as business cards. If you would like to see a great promo video made from the event, you can view it on YouTube at http://youtube.com/watch?v=4Lb3xQ16r6k.
The second WXW event is scheduled for July 31 at the Ann Arbor Art Center, from 5-7 pm. Unlike the learning/sharing sessions of the first event, this is a pure networking event, but the exhibition titled "A PLACE AT THE TABLE" may provoke discussions between women business leaders. The difficulty that many women artists have had in a traditionally male-dominated art world may parallel the experience of many businesswomen.
If you would like to attend, sign up early, because attendance will be limited to 120 registrants. The cost of the event is $10/person and proceeds go to the Art Center. Wine and appetizers will be served.
Here are some podcasts that I've listened to in the last week or so, and what I've learned: