Category: Conferences

Node PDX – Introducing Jason Denizac, Thorsten Lorenz and Peter Braden

Here’s the second of a series of introductions for the upcoming Node PDX Conference while I train ride up to Seattle today.

Jason Denizac presenting…

Programming With a Purpose

Jason Denizac
Jason Denizac

I met Jason over a year ago while he was in Portland at a coding conference. Since then we’ve kept in touch, and everytime I’ve enjoyed seeing him speak. This guy is from a place far over the hills and valleys somewhere in that central part of the United States, but I’m stoked he’s out here on the west coast now bringing more brainpower to the region.

Jason described his talk, “As programmers we are wizards. Our job is to manufacture super powers. Like with the Manhattan Project, wielding such great technological power entails moral implications which we ignore at our peril. But we can recognize this power, embrace it, and use it for great good. Node gives us a tool kit to confront great problems and share in solving them. Specifically: radical decomposition, horizontal reuse, and positive community norms around testing and documentation.

Audience participation requested: be prepared to share your expertise in a real world problem space like education, civics, social equity, environmental conservation, healthcare, or your own favorite “intractable” problem. If time and scheduling permits, I’d love to have a series of lightning talks in which people could introduce other developers to the problem domain.”

This should be a good one.

Thorsten Lorenz presenting…

Module Driven Programming

Thorsten Lorenz
Thorsten Lorenz

Thorsten Lorenz has been creating nodejs projects for over two years mostly in his spare time. The main reason why he can’t (and won’t) stop is, that ideas can be transformed into something that works in a very short amount of time when implemented in JavaScript. Aside from these projects, he also contributes to projects important for the community, one of the recent additions is source map support to browserify. These source maps even allow debugging transpiled languages (i.e. CoffeeScript) right in the browser.

Thorsten threw a bullet point list of the key points for his presentation, which follows:

  • what constitutes a module
  • why it is desirable to build smaller modules
  • challenges and patterns for separating the application into independent modules
  • process of pulling out a module from an application
  • replpad case study
  • how to become module driven phase1 and phase2
  • browserify and how it enables to even manage your client side modules with npm
  • quick primer on tools like npm init, pkginit, travisify and npm link that help with module driven development

Peter Braden presenting…

Teaching Robots to See With Javascript

Peter Braden
Peter Braden

Peter Braden is the author of the node-opencv bindings that allow node scripts to interface with this powerful computer vision library. Peter related to us that he’s both excited and terrified for a future of seeing drones and robots. Currently he works as a web consultant-of-all-trades at frozenridge.co.

In his talk he’ll be diving into, “As we start to use javascript to control quadrocopters and robots, it becomes important that they can see with images from cameras onboard. In this talk we’ll take a step back and look at the field of computer vision; look at some of the exciting practical problems that can be solved with CV techniques, and look at how we can do this with javascript. Whether it’s detecting and recognising faces, building a picture of surroundings from a video stream, or tracking shapes, we’ll look at how we can make our javascript programs see. And all going well, we’ll have a live demonstration of a drone navigating based on onboard camera data.”

…

…

…ready to get your tickets?

Are you signed up?  BUY YOUR TICKET FOR NODE PDX HERE

Want to learn more? http://nodepdx.org/

Want to know the dates? http://nodepdx.org/

Want to know who else is speaking? Stay tuned here or go check out http://nodepdx.org/!

Have a last minute request, idea, comment or a speaking proposal? http://nodepdx.org/

Node PDX – Introducing Ward Cunningham, Nexxy, Jerry Seivert and Hannah Fousanon!

Here’s the first of a series of introductions for the upcoming Node PDX Conference here in bright and sunny Portland, Oregon!

…and no, that isn’t sarcasm, it’s the summer time now so we’re allowed to have sun and warm weather! With that, the speakers for Node PDX!

Ward Cunningham presenting…

My Sensors Love Node.js

Ward Cunningham
Ward Cunningham

Who’s Ward? In his own findings, “The Oregonian describes me as the Old Growth of the Silicon Forest. I appreciate the thought but move way too fast to be compared to trees. Think of me as your intellectual immune system separating good technology infections from bad. Ditch that fever. Go with node.”

As Ward describes this presentation, “I’ve tested a half-dozen home sensor integration technologies over as many years and learned something important about architecture with each generation. I’ve replaced Arduino hardware with Teensy which offers much better USB support. I’ve replace C++ with Perl then with Ruby/Sinatra and now Node/Wiki each time feeling the fresh air of a more friendly and dynamic environment. I’ve plotted results with ascii-art, java-2d, flot and now d3.js which can be a career in itself. I’ll share the good parts of each of these and suggest how you will know when it is time for you to move on.”

Nexxy presenting…

Realtime Hardware with Node.js

Nexxy
Nexxy

Key facts about Nexxy:

  • Nexxy has been hacking on things in one way or another SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME.
  • Nexxy is also known for her occasional use of hyperbole as a literary device.
  • Nexxy first began hacking arduinos with node while she was working with a vegan strip club named Casa Diablo.
  • Nexxy is now enjoying her work with Ninja Blocks as they take over the world with the internet of things!
  • Nexxy inexplicably decided at the last second to write this section of the proposal in 3rd person, bullet form.

…and I have recreated this proposal section here for your information!

Join Nexxy & all for another installment of “Realtime Hardware with Node.js” as we take a look at just how exactly one should go about making a fool of themselves on stage with a bunch of electronics. We will cover the basics of getting started with hardware, demonstrate some cool tech, and conclude with a super rad (slightly hazy) and interactive dance party of epic (modest) proportions — if everyone cooperates. Questions are welcome throughout the presentation and audience members are encouraged* to participate.

* bribed with stickers

Jerry Seivert presenting…

Know Your Environment

Jerry Sievert
Jerry Sievert

Jerry is a conousier of fine beer, drinks and other assorted things. The relevant list of coarse includes Lego, trains and JavaScript. His own words of these things, being a drink or beautifully coded up application, “I love to build things!” summarizes up Jerry’s love of building perfectly!

Jerry will pose the question, “What if your software knew about its environment and could react?” With very basic electronics skills, and the ability to read a datasheet, you can be well on your way to a smarter and more responsive application. We will discuss some common hardware protocols and how to interface your code with them to build something all “teh aWeSOME“!

Hannah Fousanon presenting…

Optimizing Single-Page Javascript Websites for SEO

Hannah
Hannah

Hannah Fouasnon is a cofounder and lead engineer at DJZ based in San Francisco. While a full time hacker, she’s currently focusing on creating DJZ’s next single-page javascript website optimized around playing media and games. Former projects include Luckysort, a big-data, text-analytics company based in Portland, OR, where she implemented a large portion of the node.js architecture.

Hannah will cover how to create single-page javascript websites and enable developers to more easily support advanced web client features. For example, the persistent playing experience on soundcloud is supported by a single-page backbone.js architecture. One of the downsides when deciding on this architecture is that web crawlers have trouble indexing content, which can hurt seo and facebook sharing.

This presentation covers how we solve this problem at DJZ. The example will be a simplified angular.js application optimized for seo using primarily phantom.js. Viewers can follow along with code on github (link to come).

Are you signed up?  BUY YOUR TICKET FOR NODE PDX HERE

Want to learn more? http://nodepdx.org/

Want to know the dates? http://nodepdx.org/

Want to know who else is speaking? Stay tuned here or go check out http://nodepdx.org/!

Have a last minute request, idea, comment or a speaking proposal? http://nodepdx.org/

Write the Docs, Proper Portland Brew, Hack n’ Bike and Polyglot Conference 2013

Blog Entry Index:

I just wrapped up a long weekend of staycation. Monday kicked off Write the Docs this week and today, Tuesday, I’m getting back into the saddle.

Write the Docs

The Write the Docs Conference this week, a two day affair, has kicked off an expanding community around document creation. This conference is about what documentation is, how we create documentation as technical writers, writers, coders and others in the field.

Not only is it about those things it is about how people interact and why documentation is needed in projects. This is one of the things I find interesting, as it seems obvious, but is entirely not obvious because of the battle between good documentation, bad documentation or a complete lack of documentation. The later being the worse situation.

The Bloody War of Documentation!

At this conference it has been identified that the ideal documentation scenario is that building it starts before any software is even built. I do and don’t agree with this, because I know we must avoid BDUF (Big Design Up Front). But we must take this idea, of documentation first, in the appropriate context of how we’re speaking about documentation at the conference. Just as tests & behaviors identified up front, before the creation of the actual implementation is vital to solid, reliable, consistent, testable & high quality production software, good documentation is absolutely necessary.

There are some situations, the exceptions, such as with agencies that create software, in which the software is throwaway. I’m not and don’t think much of the conference is about those types of systems. What we’ve been speaking about at the conference is the systems, or ecosystems, in which software is built, maintained and used for many years. We’re talking about the APIs that are built and then used by dozens, hundreds or thousands of people. Think of Facebook, Github and Twitter. All of these have APIs that thousands upon thousands use everyday. They’re successful in large part, extremely so, because of stellar documentation. In the case of Facebook, there’s some love and hate to go around because they’ve gone between good documentation and bad documentation. However whenever it has been reliable, developers move forward with these APIs and have built billion dollar empires that employ hundreds of people and benefit thousands of people beyond that.

As developers that have been speaking at the conference, and developers in the audience, and this developer too all tend to agree, build that README file before you build a single other thing within the project. Keep that README updated, keep it marked up and easy to read, and make sure people know what your intent is as best you can. Simply put, document!

You might also have snarkily asked, does Write the Docs have docs,why yes, it does:

http://docs.writethedocs.org/ <- Give em’ a read, they’re solid docs.

Portland Proper Brew

Today while using my iPhone, catching up on news & events over the time I had my staycation I took a photo. On that photo I used Stitch to put together some arrows. Kind of a Portland Proper Brew (PPB) with documentation. (see what I did there!) It exemplifies a great way to start the day.

Everyday I bike (or ride the train or bus) in to downtown Porltand anywhere from 5-9 kilometers and swing into Barista on 3rd. Barista is one of the finest coffee shops, in Portland & the world. If you don’t believe me, drag your butt up here and check it out. Absolutely stellar baristas, the best coffee (Coava, Ritual, Sightglass, Stumptown & others), and pretty sweet digs to get going in the morning.

I’ll have more information on a new project I’ve kicked off. Right now it’s called Bike n’ Hack, which will be a scavenger style code hacking & bicycle riding urban awesome game. If you’re interested in hearing more about this, the project, the game & how everything will work be sure to contact me via twitter @adron or jump into the bike n’ hack github organization and the team will be adding more information about who, what, where, when and why this project is going to be a blast!

Polyglot Conference & the Zombie Apocalypse

I’ll be teaching a tutorial, “Introduction to Distributed Databases” at Polyglot Conference in Vancouver in May!  So it has begun & I’m here for you! Come and check out how to get a Riak deployment running in your survival bunker’s data center. Zombies or just your pointy hair boss scenarios of apocalypse we’ll discuss how consistent hashing, hinted handoff and gossipping can help your systems survive infestations! Here’s a basic outline of what I’ll cover…

Introducing Riak, a database designed to survive the Zombie Plague. Riak Architecture & 5 Minute History of Riak & Zombies.

Architecture deep dive:

  • Consistent Hashing, managing to track changes when your kill zone is littered with Zombies.
  • Intelligent Replication, managing your data against each of your bunkers.
  • Data Re-distribution, sometimes they overtake a bunker, how your data is re-distributed.
  • Short Erlang Introduction, a language fit for managing post-civil society.
  • Getting Erlang

Installing Riak on…

  • Ubuntu, RHEL & the Linux Variety.
  • OS-X, the only user centered computers to survive the apocolypse.
  • From source, maintained and modernized for humanities survival.
  • Upgrading Riak, when a bunker is retaken from the zomibes, it’s time to update your Riak.
  • Setting up

Devrel – A developer’s machine w/ Riak – how to manage without zombie bunkers.

  • 5 nodes, a basic cluster
  • Operating Riak
  • Starting, stopping, and restarting
  • Scaling up & out
  • Managing uptime & data integrity
  • Accessing & writing data

Polyglot client libraries

  • JavaScript/Node.js & Erlang for the zombie curing mad scientists.
  • C#/.NET & Java for the zombie creating corporations.
  • Others, for those trying to just survive the zombie apocolypse.

If you haven’t registered for the Polyglot Conference yet, get registered ASAP as it could sell out!

Some of the other tutorials that are happening, that I wish I could clone myself for…

That’s it for updates right now, more code & news later. Cheers!

Who is Node PDX for? Who should attend? What’s going on? Where are we at?

Node PDX is a conference that is for programmers (ticket link below!!) both new to the industry and stalwarts, ladies and gentlemen, and simply the curious or already seasoned pros of JavaScript. Our goal is to have great speakers, great topics, encourage and support intelligent and forward thinking conversation. All of this and we’ll strive to move the industry forward as a whole in whatever way we can. Node PDX is for those that want to help do just that!

What is Node PDX? What is Portland?

Node PDX is a conference held yearly in Portland, Oregon. It’s driven by the passionate tech industry located in Portland and around the country and world. At the conference we’ll dive into technologies surrounding JavaScript, Node.js, NPM, hardware and beyond. Other topics may include patterns, design practices, new libraries, and technology add ons.

Portland is a coder’s paradise! Nuff’ said. 🙂

Where is Node PDX?

PDX is the airport code for Portland, Oregon. It’s not at the airport, but if you fly in to our fair city for Node PDX, take the light rail Red Line MAX to downtown and enjoy our coffee, beer and some of the finest food and the most amazing cart collections you’ve ever seen in your life. Promise!

If you’ve never heard of Portland, Oregon here’s a documentary starter…

When is Node PDX?

First off, it’s going to be every year. This year, the grand year of two thousand and thirteen, is going to be on the 16th and 17th of May. That’s a Thursday and Friday on the 3rd week of the fifth month of 2013. Come for Thursday or Friday or Thursday and Friday and enjoy the weekend afterwards. However you pick your days, we hope you come and join us for Node PDX 2013 on May 16-17, 2013.

Why Node PDX?

This is easy. Node PDX is a conference that Troy Howard and I put together out of a frustration from two things: we wanted a conference without the high prices and had a desire to contribute to the local JavaScript and Node.js community, and any other interested coder community. Thus, Node PDX was born in a few quick weeks of hectic hustle. This year we’re back at it with Luc Perkins hacking the program along with us.

Node PDX, How is This Happening?

Mostly magic, with the help of some druids and unicorns. But for some of the heavy lifting we’re looking for sponsors, but we’re throwing an interesting little twists into the fray.

Last year we worked hard to be inclusive and bring together great talks. We did this in a various ways. The first was, we used a Github repository for the site and pull requests as the method to submit talks. We figured, what better way to submit a talk to a developer’s conference than to throw down a commit and pull request to Github. Needless to say, it worked great!

In 2012 to insure we had proper party groove and vittles for the attendees we had volunteers throw down some chef skills and some great sponsors including New Relic, Mozilla and others. This year we’re aiming for a slightly different angle and putting a little more crowd sourcing into the ingredient list.

So here’s how you can get involved!

  • First and foremost: Come to Node PDX – Get your tickets here!!  Oh yeah, there’s a 200 limit, and only so many early birds so do NOT wait!!  🙂
  • Second, throw a talk into the mix! We’ve got two tracks lined up so we’re looking for a lot of material, beginner to advanced!

That’s it! To keep up with the latest, subscribe to my blog here and/or read up on the Node PDX Site! We’re looking forward to seeing you in Portland (even if we see you in Portland every day!)  Cheers!

Write the Docs, Railsconf Portland, RICON East, Node PDX, Vancouver Polyglot, Open Source Bridge and OSCON…

…if you are deciding what to attend this year, here’s the top of the list.

Just a few key conferences that will kick ass in technical & academic content. The other great thing about these conferences is that they either have a “code of ethics” or are reknown for real conference diversity vs. the “hey a bunch of privileged sameness all ended up in this room purely out of meritocracy” nonsense. So you can rest assured that at these conferences you’ll have interesting conversations, be actively involved in things that will expand our personal sphere of the world and in the end leave you dramatically more enriched than those “corporate warm body vacation conferences“. This list doesn’t mean I’ll be able to make it to all of them, but each conference I’m in some way intimately involved with and fully support with the “Conference Seal of Approval“! So here we go…

Write the Docs – April 8th and 9th – @writethedocs – A new movement, to know where we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going. Get here, know how and why to bring knowledge forth through documentation. This is not your grandpa’s documentation.

Portland RailsConf 2013 – April 29th-May 2nd – @railsconf – The rails community has grown by leaps and bounds. Regardless of your love or hate for the framework, it’s revolutionized the way web applications are built over the last decade.

RICON East in New York City – May 13th & 14th – @basho – (I do work for Basho, but this is on here because RICON last year ROCKED and meets the requirements, come see for yourself!)  🙂

Node PDX – May 16th & 17th – @nodepdx – Troy Howard and I are putting this together, we’re working hard to make sure it’s more of what you want, more than it was last year and kicking to the curb the things you don’t want. So come hack some node, JavaScript and enjoy yourselves.

Polyglot 2013 – May 24th through the 26th – @polyglotConf – Open spaces, with tons of really, truly smart people with no presumptuous marketing and sales bullshit to get in the way. This is about software development, across the realms of frameworks, languages and more.

OS Bridge – June 18th through the 21st – @osbridge – open source bridges the divide here and new thinking is created. You have to attend to see…

OSCON – July 22nd through the 26th – @oscon – This is the premier open source conference in North America. It’s in Portland. Nuff’ said.

I’ll be at a few more conferences this year, but these are the key conferences, if you have to pick one to go to, it should be on this list. If you can go to one or two others, pick em’ from this list. Software + Data + Giant Phat Data + NoSQL + Future Thinking + Leaders o’ Thoughts == Top Conference List.

See ya there. Cheers!