SuperWebDeveloper.com » User Groups http://www.superwebdeveloper.com code, design, concepts, ecommerce, media Tue, 03 May 2011 04:41:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Wordcamp Vancouver 2011 http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2011/01/17/wordcamp-vancouver-2011/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2011/01/17/wordcamp-vancouver-2011/#comments Tue, 18 Jan 2011 06:07:48 +0000 pbg http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/?p=583 WordCamp: Developers is an one-day technology conference by developers for developers. Held in Vancouver, BC, WordCamp: Developers is slated to take place as part of the Vancouver Open Source Week on May 5, 2011.

The conference will feature 2 tracks, one targeting WordPress UX topics and issues, and the other targeting strictly development issues. The day will also be host to a WordPress Un-Conference where participants are encouraged to pitch talks and join in discussion.

The conference is open to all WordPress Developers and Designers interested in learning about practical, applied WordPress development by industry thought leaders and local WordPress practitioners.

WordCamp:Developers is part of the Vancouver Open Source Week.

We hope to see you there!

http://wordcampdevelopers.com/

http://wordcampdevelopers.com/
]]> http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2011/01/17/wordcamp-vancouver-2011/feed/ 0 Brickskellar Night Out At Codeworks DC 2009 http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/10/10/brickskellar-night-out-at-codeworks-dc-2009/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/10/10/brickskellar-night-out-at-codeworks-dc-2009/#comments Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:29:48 +0000 pbg http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/?p=219 We took a break after day one of the Codeworks DC conference and went to the Brickskellar. The Brickskellar is a famous institution of beer in Washington DC, noted in the Guinness Book of World Records as been the place selling the greatest number of different beers of any drinking establishment on the planet earth. We met up with the group going there in the hotel lobby. We had originally scouted out the fine dining in Alexandria, of which there is plenty. We were thinking of Overwood, 219, The Flying Fish, or others, but on a whim we decided rather to join the conference folks down at The Brickskellar. We got the address from the hotel, entered it in the TomTom, and made it there before the main group did.

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We had thousands of possible beers to choose from, but we were most attracted to the pumpkin beers from local microbreweries from the taps. We enjoyed a down home meal of mussels, beef, and a crab cake sandwich and fries. A few things to point out in the pics above: Not the skull foam in the beer glass, the chocolate cake, the double chocolate stout, the elephant tap, the cans in the wall, some familiar faces from the php community, and the trappist ale. So never mind the fine dining in DC, go for the soul food and beer.

]]> http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/10/10/brickskellar-night-out-at-codeworks-dc-2009/feed/ 0 CodeWorks in DC October 2009 http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/10/10/codeworks-in-dc-october-2009/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/10/10/codeworks-in-dc-october-2009/#comments Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:05:43 +0000 pbg http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/?p=197 I am back recently from Codeworks 2009 in Washington, DC. It was in Alexandria, Virginia actually, but close enough, its a big place and its the same thing. This is the first time I have been able to go to a conference  without being involved at all in its planning and organization. I know from experience that a lot of work is put into organizing and hosting a two day event with top-level speakers from all over. The DC Codeworks event was just one event in a series of dates in major cities across the us. Yep, php has gone rockstar. I am proud of the work I have done in the past but I found that by the time the conference came around I was too tired to absorb the lessons as I would like to. So while I am busy recompiling notes from the talks I attended, here are some photos from the conference I would like to share.

Derick Rethans Chris Shifflet Ben Ramsey Andrei Zmievski Kuassi Mensah After Party Cal Evans Sebastian Bergman and Stefan Priebsch Patterns Slide: the relative cost of a bug fix Stefan Priebsch Hotel Atrium Lukas Smith Hotel Atrium Matthew O'Phinney

The conference was great, I learned stuff, I learned what I know, what I dont know, what I need to know, and more. I met a great group of people and traded lots of business cards.

]]> http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/10/10/codeworks-in-dc-october-2009/feed/ 0 BCCLA hosts Dr. Michael Geist for evening lecture http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/09/20/bccla-hosts-dr-michael-geist-for-evening-lecture/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/09/20/bccla-hosts-dr-michael-geist-for-evening-lecture/#comments Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:47:16 +0000 pbg http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/?p=195 The BCCLA, in partnership with the UBC School of Journalism and the Tyee, will be hosting renowned copyright and internet law expert Dr. Michael Geist at the Wise Hall in Vancouver on October 1, 2009 for a unique evening lecture.

Dr. Geist is Canada’s leading technology law expert and the guru of the Canadian movement to prevent copyright restrictions from infringing on key free speech principles including parody, artistic use, fair use, and device transferability.

A national innovator in using Web 2.0 tools like blogs and Facebook for campaigns for law reform and policy change, Dr. Geist’s advocacy, in partnership with Cory Doctorow, resulted in more than 30,000 people joining a Facebook group opposing proposed Canadian copyright law changes and ended in the tabling of the proposed changes by then Industry Minister Jim Prentice.

To learn more about Dr. Geist’s work, visit his website at www.michaelgeist.ca.

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=147315202089

Host:
Type:
Network:
Global
Price:
free
Date:
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Time:
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location:
WISE Hall
Street:
1882 Adanac Street
City/Town:
Vancouver, BC
]]> http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/09/20/bccla-hosts-dr-michael-geist-for-evening-lecture/feed/ 0 FreeGeek Vancouver is Computer Heaven http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/09/17/freegeek-vancouver-is-computer-heaven/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/09/17/freegeek-vancouver-is-computer-heaven/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:14:26 +0000 pbg http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/?p=156 Freegeek Vancouver is technology heaven and I can prove it. I took photos. It is thriving. It is a beehive of activity. FreeGeek is a ‘non-profit computer re-use and recycling centre’ that only opened in Vancouver a couple of years ago as a branch of the original operation in Portland, Oregon. They have expanded their facilities at least a couple times that I know of just to keep up with the community need to properly recycle computers. If you want to learn about technology, if you want to work in technology, if you want to learn about Free Open Source Software, FreeGeek Vancouver is the place to be. It is computer heaven, because that is where computers go to die and are reborn again.

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What you can do at FreeGeek:

  • Donate hardware, books.
  • Recycle.
  • Take short courses in hardware and software, or teach them if you have the background.
  • Mentor someone.
  • Volunteer for 24 hours and take away your own computer.
  • Shop the computer thrift shop, for super affordable computers and peripheral devices.
  • Learn to hack computers and technology, everything an engineer learns how to do.
  • Learn about Ubuntu Linux, and attend the Vancouver Ubuntu User Group meetings.
  • Take part in cleaning up the environmental problems generated by e-waste.
  • Receive a grant of computer hardware as a non-profit community organisation.
  • Donate money or materials for the FreeGeek wish list.
  • Apply for a paid position, or join it as a board member.

Video on FreeGeek:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Find out lots more about FreeGeek at http://freegeekvancouver.org/ .

]]> http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/09/17/freegeek-vancouver-is-computer-heaven/feed/ 0 A Tale Of Two Logos http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/06/11/a-tale-of-two-logos/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/06/11/a-tale-of-two-logos/#comments Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:44:08 +0000 pbg http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/?p=111 It seems that some spineless technical provider which ordinarily would have used our beautiful conference logo was somehow terrified by Open Web Logo and said they weren’t willing to use it, because it had a skull & cross bones in it. Of all the spineless nonsense I have ever heard, somebody pencil pushing nit wit who rotates on a stool somewhere, probably using hand sanitiser after everything they touch was too afraid of the logo, so they had to shit on somebody else’s freedom of expression. Ooh! Skull and crossbones! Its so scary! We don’t understand it! We have to censor your identity!

So this beautiful logo:

vector_open_web_logo

Got turned into this:

open_web_logo_telus

I think this is what Viktor Frankl meant when he said Logos is deeper than logic.

]]> http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2009/06/11/a-tale-of-two-logos/feed/ 0 Vancouver Python Conference 2006 http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2006/08/08/vancouver-python-conference-2006/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2006/08/08/vancouver-python-conference-2006/#comments Wed, 09 Aug 2006 00:54:18 +0000 pbg http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/wp/?p=5 <meta content="OpenOffice.org 1.9.129 (Linux)" name="GENERATOR" /><meta content="20060808;13412100" name="CREATED" /><meta content="20060808;16561200" name="CHANGED" /><br /> <style> <!-- @page { size: 21.59cm 27.94cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --></style> <p>The Vancouver Python / Zope User group <a href="http://www.vanpyz.org/">http://www.vanpyz.org/</a> put on a great conference this year in Vancouver.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">SFU Harbour Centre was the location for the Keynote speech on Friday night by Guido van Rossum of Google. In short, Python plans to go a lot further with its next incarnation as Python 3000, the third version of the language. Next that night was Jim Hugunin of Microsoft. Jim delivered a very entertaining talk about Microsoft’s efforts with Python, called IronPython. made for Python’s integration into .Net. Steamworks, across the street from Harbour Centre, already a great hangout for developers of all stripes, was the location for the reception. Great Reception room, great food made just for us.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">The Holiday Inn Express in Burnaby at Metrotown was the location for the conference talks for the next two days. The conference offered three tracks: General, Web, and Beginners. Jim Hugunin would be back for IronPython, and other coding with Python tasks such as how to create Desktop apps for the Mac and Windows and an in-depth look at Embedding Python in other languages such as Java, C, and C++. The web track would have lots on Plone and Zope, and Ajax talks as well. I would stay with the Beginners track, since I work regularly with another language, and this Python thing just keeps blipping on my radar screen.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">Python is a programming languages with really diverse purposes. But at its core, what you need to know about Python, if you know any other languages and are wondering, is that it is a language that uses lists, tuples, and dictionaries as its complex data types, and, everything being an object in Python, is be accessed with methods. Thats about all there is to it and what you have seen elsewhere you will find in Python. One of the most obvious features about Python is that for coding’s sake, curly braces are omitted in place of indentation. Now it sounds like a simple feature and some would say ‘so what?’ but its a brilliant thing. Ordinarily for code to be shared it has to be indented in order to be easily read, and there is no end to the navel gazing and flaming on this topic about the best method to commenting and indenting of code. In one simple feature, Python has eliminated this issue for developers, making a simple and light syntax that is readable by everyone who can read the language irregardless of who wrote the code.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">So back to the conference: Paul Prescod took us noobs through the paces for 2 days with an in depth look at Python. Saturday covered a lot of material that I knew about Python. I also didn’t know much more about Python that what he covered. I think its ok to cover this material. I do. But I hoped for more new material in the first day. Most other people there were bound to know enough about Python to have chosen to be there, but want to know more. I mean we were not noobs to programming, just noobs to Python. The content of the first day was still important, and needs to be covered. We were all looking forward to getting more on the second day and we sure did. We saw more about Python’s abilities with its language and its extensions. Python wins big time already by a disciplined and light syntax using indentation, and a CLI that is actually useful. But the big deal is extensions. You can use Python to write to other languages, such as C, C++, Java, VisualBasic, and their respective libraries. You can use Python for both Web development, using Zope and Django, or create desktop apps for win, mac, linux and others, create rpms and other bundles. Stateless Python is used on Eve Online, a Game network, to handle 10,000 threads at once. Python gets extended in lots of ways – web, desktop, system administration, batch processing, and embedding itself in other languages. When so many programming languages have fragmented the industry, and what anyone can do, Python brings it back together. Why learn java, C, visualBasic, when you can learn Python and have it all? Yes of course there are no shortcuts, but still, for those with skills, Python offers a big leap forward in productivity.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">Then the really stunning stuff was saved for last. Great lightning talks, including Andy McKay’s browser based CLI for Python. A big security hole, he tells us, but a useful tool when nothing else will do. Ian Caven’s talk rounded up the conference. Python I had learned is already a tool the visual special effects industry makes generous use of. Everyone there got a real treat I might add – first with Derek Simkowiak’s presentation of Elephant’s Dream – the first open source movie, complete with access to Blender and Python source files. That was a project I had to abandon downloading because I had only learned about it when it was Slashdotted. Ian Caven built a business of digital image processing to restore old movies (Star Wars and many others etc), with a farm of macs and some coding in C++ and Python. Its a business that is all the more impressive, not only for the amazing results, or for revolutionizing the industry, but the ability to have done so with such a small development team.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">Its clear that where high powered computing using low level optimization for high performance is needed, Python is going to be a category killer. Its a technology that can slash development times and deliver results that are hard to beat. It hooks in to tons of extensions and other languages, made to output anything, talk to anything. Python as a tool for special effects may bring about an emergence of the creation of new post production companies for image processing, posing some serious competition for the big players in movies and special effects, something the whole film industry would benefit from no doubt.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">I’m looking forward to learning lots more about Python. The VanPyz members put on a great conference and I hope that the community continues to grow around this great technology.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2006/08/08/vancouver-python-conference-2006/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>3</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Get to know your local user groups http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2006/04/27/get-to-know-your-local-user-groups/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/2006/04/27/get-to-know-your-local-user-groups/#comments Fri, 28 Apr 2006 01:05:13 +0000 pbg http://www.superwebdeveloper.com/wp/?p=3 For almost every programming language, software, platform, operating system you will also find a local user group where you can find out more for yourself.

A little time spent with user groups can improve your skills. Take for example the possibility of reducing costs by learing how to use Open Source software, or perhaps you can find new ways to serve your clients and customers.

User groups are really for anybody interested in technology. if your skill background is different from the group, its still an opportunity to share your own knowledge, and you add diversity to the group. Think about going to a user group for something you might want to know more about.

User groups arent just for experts; they consist of regular people, and this is important to understand. They are the grassroots organizations for modern technologies, and they help put a human face to technology.

User groups provide an unprecedented opportunity for networking and learning in the field. You can get exposure and information from first hand users you may never get from learning on your own. Regular meetings feature talks by association members or invited guests, and the groups all have websites which post forum discussions and job postings. Groups even occaisonally organize larger events and conferences. Its a great opportunity to see how the field of technology works from the inside.

User groups operate with minimal overhead. Meetings are free to attend, and sometimes there are even courtesy offerings of pizza and soft drinks. Membership is optional. But still what is really surprising is that most user groups are fairly small, even though the opportunities for networking, knowledge and participation are excellent. Maybe these organizations just need a little more publicity to increase their attendance numbers.

The best way to support these groups is by going to meetings because you can help share the awareness of these groups with your colleagues. User groups have become the bulwark in promoting Open Source technologies, which otherwise dont have marketing and advertising budgets that major technology corporations have. It can help you get ahead in your profession – and you can enjoy a good slice of pizza while you are at it.

If only groups were a bit more aware of each other, they could become a greater force and option for the public to get what they want and need from technology.

To start you off, here’s a partial list of groups for Vancouver area. Spread the word!

PHP: Vancouver PHP Users Association http://vancouver.php.net
Linux: Vancouver Linux User Group (VANLUG) http://www.vanlug.bc.ca
XML: Vancouver XML Developers Association http://www.vanx.org/
freeBSD: http://www.vanbug.org
Python / Zope : http://www.vanpyz.org
Java: http://www.openroad.ca/vanjug
.NET: http://www/netbc.ca
Macintosh: Hosted by Apple Canada http://www.mactag.org
Perl: Vancouver Perl Mongers http://vancouver.pm.org
Microsoft: http://www.vantug.com
Information Processing: Canadian Information Processing Society http://local.cips.ca/vancouver/
Graphic Design: SIGGRAPH http://www.vancouver.siggraph.org/
Game Design: http://www.igda.org/vancouver/
Software Developers: Vancouver Software Developers Network (VANDEV) http://softwaredev.meetup.com/17/
Software QA: Vancouver Software Quality Assurance Group http://vanq.org/
GIS: Vancouver GIS Users Group http://www.vancouvergis.org/
Bioinformatics: VanBUG: Vancouver Bioinformatics User Group http://www.vanbug.org/
Useability: The Vancouver User Experience Group (VanUE) http://vanue.com/
Wired Woman: http://www.wiredwoman.com/mc/page.do?sitePageId=2952
Engineers: IEEE Computer Society, Vancouver Chapter http://www.kruchten.com/IEEE/

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