Wednesday, June 02, 2010
O’Reilly News for User Groups: OSCON 2010
Link to OSCON 2010 website.
OSCON 2010 is happening July 19-23, 2010 in Portland, OR.
There is big change in technology and society, and open source is making it happen. Cloud computing is transforming our toolkit, from NoSQL to systems management. Mobile services are growing exponentially, set alight by Android and iPhone. New languages and APIs are flourishing. Developers must adapt to a rapidly evolving platform, which open source is the key to managing and steering.
Rapid change presents opportunity as well as challenges. Open source isn’t just about being cost-effective, it’s leading in innovation. You can change the game in your business, your community, or even the world. OSCON brings together people like you from across the open source universe to learn, inspire each other, and collaborate.
Join O’Reilly in Portland this July to:
* Explore the benefits and challenges of building scalable applications for the cloud
* Use open source to target Android, iPhone and other mobile platforms
* Understand how and when to use NoSQL databases
* Learn best practice from experts in Python, Java, Ruby, Perl, PHP and JavaScript
* Use open source effectively as part of your business strategy
* Learn how to foster contribution and adoption of your open source projects
At OSCON, you’ll participate in hundreds of sessions covering open source languages and platforms, practical tutorials that go deep into technical skill and best practices, inspirational keynote presentations, an Expo Hall featuring dozens of the latest projects and products, fun networking events and activities, and the best “hallway track” around.
O’Reilly Answers
O’Reilly Answers is a community site for sharing knowledge, asking questions, and providing answers that brings together our customers, authors, editors, conference speakers, and Foo (Friends of O’Reilly)
Why Answers, and why now?
O’Reilly is at the center of an amazing exchange of knowledge sharing and idea generation. We’ve created the usual means of facilitating communication between customers, O’Reilly folks, and the outside experts we call “alpha geeks” who contribute to O’Reilly books, conferences, and websites. We can connect through reader reviews, errata submissions, book forums, blog comments, Get Satisfaction, our customer service department, and more. But too much of this conversation is siloed, and not enough is public (e.g., discussions on our internal mailing list for editors, or personal responses to customer questions). O’Reilly Answers will be the place where much of that communication happens from this point forward.
Why participate?
The lofty reason: Like O’Reilly, you want to “change the world by spreading the knowledge of innovators.” That’s our mission, and we’ve been fortunate enough to build a community of passionate, committed people who love to learn and share their knowledge as they work towards a better world for us all.
The “nice, but what’s in it for me” reasons: reputation, recognition, and rewards.
1. Get Recognized: “Find interesting people” is a core activity at O’Reilly, and an important component of our success. We see Answers as an important way to discover and connect with our next authors, online instructors, videographers, and speakers.
2. Build Your Reputation: You’ve learned a lot, why not get credit for all that knowledge? As your submissions to Answers are voted up, your personal reputation on the site increases. At launch, your reputation will be based solely on your participation in O’Reilly Answers. Soon, we’re expanding across oreilly.com, so the book errata and book reviews you’ve submitted, books you’ve registered, and conferences you’ve attended, will add reputation points. You’ll also earn badges to mark accomplishments and milestones.
3. Earn Rewards: Glory is great, but discounts and deals are nice, too. We want to reward your contributions to the O’Reilly community. Shortly we’ll have a point-based system in place that you can redeem for books, training, courses, and conferences. Details soon, but in the meantime, any actions you take now will count towards your total points.
This is just v.1
The best part of any project on the web is watching it take on a life of its own. With that in mind, we’re looking forward to *your* suggestions about where O’Reilly Answers should go, what features should be added, and what benefits and rewards we can offer all of you.
I’d like to acknowledge the projects that have proceeded Answers and inspired us, such as SitePoint Forums (we distribute their books), StackOverflow, Yahoo! Answers, Knol, and many others. They’re great resources, and we think the O’Reilly community can create a useful site that’s, well, a different kind of animal.
One last thing: O’Reilly Answers is in beta and you may encounter bugs. We’re still working on many improvements to the site, such as feeds for each tag, but would love to hear your suggestions for features and improvements. Please send any suggestions/questions/bug reports to answers@oreilly.com .
O’Reilly News for User Groups: Rails Conf
Happening June 7 - June 10, 2010 in Baltimore, MD, RailsConf is *the* official event for the growing Rails community.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
2nd Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire
Local and regional Makers will show off their creations. Last year’s demonstrations included robots, bookbinding, electric vehicles, computer-controlled machinery, high-altitude balloons, vortex cannons, and other projects, devices, and inventions. This year they will have three times the space for even more exciting exhibits. Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire
Where:
* 5055 Ann Arbor-Saline Road
* Ann Arbor
* 734-429-3145
* Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds Website
Admission:
* Admission, parking, and all activities are free.
Local and regional Makers will show off their creations at the second Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire, held 10 am to 5 pm Saturday June 5, 2010. The event is free to attend, and is again at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds (aka “Saline Fairgrounds”). It is a local version of the major Maker Faires in the Bay area, and, new this year, at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit (July 31 – August 1) and in New York City. Full info at http://www.a2makerfaire.com/2010/
Friday, May 29, 2009
What the Flex?
Ok, so the best thing since hypercard is definately Flex.
If you want to know what it’s all about, the best place to start is Flash & Flex Developer Magazine - http://www.ffdmag.com.
I’d say go there now to get started!
Check back here for more updates!
