Here’s a photo to remind you that DemoCamp 17 — the “show and tell” gathering of the bright lights of Toronto’s tech community — is just over a week away:
For more details about DemoCamp 17, see:
Here’s a photo to remind you that SciBarCamp — the unconference where scientists, technologists, artists and other thinkers come together for a weekend of exchanging knowledge and ideas — is just over a month away:
Photo by Matt “Black Belt” Jones.
Click the photo to see it on its Flickr page.
For more details about SciBarCamp, visit:
Categories
Sexsomnia
Categories
Merlin Mann on the Bay Area
Click the illustration to see it on its original page.
Illustration from The Hookah Girl and Other True Stories.
Merlin Mann (of 43 Folders fame) wrote on Twitter:
Pockets of the Bay Area tacitly run on that mix of navelgazing and arrogance you perfect around Christmas of your freshman year.
I’ve lived there. It’s true.
Categories
The Qualities of a President
Republican candidates and Vader have the same line:
“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
Here’s a post by Frank J. over at IMAO — one of the right-wing blogs where you’ll find a lot of carping about John McCain just not being bat-shit crazy conservative enough — titled The Lovable, Huggable President, in which he writes about what he sees as the ideal qualities of a president:
Opinion seems to be that Obama is pretty unbeatable. Why? Because he’s so charming. He has no accomplishments and no more experience with foreign affairs than the average college student, yet there’s a good chance he could be elected president just because he’s so darn likable. If this strategy of nominating a nice looking empty suit works, expect future presidential elections to be between two plush toys (“Looks how adorable they are! I can decide which one to pick!”).
Just a reminder: We’re currently the most powerful nation in the world and the definitely leader at blowing crap up. Our leader should never be charming. He should be scary. He should appear in the nightmares of our enemies, eating their children. Diplomats should not want to meet with him unless they have numerous armed guards for protection. That’s who the leader of the most powerful nation should be.
Sounds like an endorsement for the Vader/Voldemort team in ’08!
You can buy the T-shirt here.
I’d like to think that it’s not necessary to point out that there’s a difference between strength and bullying, but given the tenor of the times, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Dig deep enough into a bully, and you’ll find a coward at the core. As the fine folks at The Metaverse put it in their analysis of the short story The Cold Equations (a good read if you’re into the ethical implications of engineering):
It’s a commonplace that our civilization is soft and sentimental. It’s less remarked that soft and sentimental people– particularly the chair-bound geek variant– often idolize brutality. The actual inhabitants of barbarian eras don’t necessarily share this feeling; they often took pains to appear as refined and cultured people.
Click the comic to see it on its original page.
All the talk about McCain “not being conservative enough” to my ears is like complaining that Jamie Lynn Spears isn’t as screwed up as big sister Britney.
(To her credit, she’s trying really hard.)
Next Tuesday is the second Tuesday of the month, which means: Ruby/Rails Project Night, hosted by TSOT!
The Quick Version
- When: Tuesday, February 12th, 2008:
- Doors open around 5:30 p.m.
- Presentations begin sometime between 6 – 6:30 p.m.
- Arrive early to get fed!
- Where: TSOT developer office, 151 Bloor Street West (just east of Avenue Road), Suite 1130
- Admission: FREE (but please register!)
- Register with: Corina Newby or Joey deVilla
About Ruby/Rails Project Night
Ruby/Rails Project Night is a Toronto-area gathering held at the TSOT developer office on the second Tuesday of every month. It’s an event that lets people developing projects in either Ruby or Ruby on Rails show them off in front of their peers in 20-30 minute presentations. Presenters are encouraged to go into as much technical detail as they like (even showing the code, if they’re so inclined) and cover all sorts of aspects of their projects, from programming issues to visual design and usability to the business of making a living off their software.
Whether you code in Ruby and Rails for a living like we do, dabble in it in your spare time or are just curious as to what the fuss is all about, we encourage you to come to our office next Tuesday for Ruby/Rails Project Night! It’s a chance for you to see software that’s being developed right here in town and to mingle with other developers interested in Ruby and Rails. We provide food and drink, so you can focus on the presentations and not your grumbling stomach.
Who’s Presenting
Yours Truly will start the night with an opening monologue to get things going, after which I’ll be followed the the evening’s main presentations:
- How to Avoid Hanging Yourself in Rails, by Rowan Hick. This presentation is subtitled “or: Optimizing Your ActiveRecord Associations”.
- EasyBrandingTools.com: Mike Bowler and Steve Vetzal will talk about their project that helps new businesses be memorable.
- CRMS – Clinical Research Management System. Luke Galea will present this project, a Rails and Prolog/XSB application that manages drug and procedure trials at some of the biggest hospitals in the U.S..
What Happened at the Last Ruby/Rails Project Night?
Click the photo to see it on its Flickr page.
Check out this article, which has a quick write-up and photos.