The list of RubyNation speakers has now been finalized, and I will be one the local DC-area speakers again this year. My topic is going to be: “Creating a World-Class RESTful API in Rails.” This is based on my direct experience at Grab Networks.com creating a robust, Amazon-style API for use by partners and, eventually, the public.
Specktrum.net Goes Live
I just completed a new web site, Specktrum.net, for a small accounting firm owned and operated by Mark Speck. The site officially went live today.
Speaking at the ICCA June Meeting
I just got confirmation that I’ll be speaking on Rails at the June 2009 meeting of the ICCA, the Independent Computer Consultants Association. The meeting will be June 9th ay 6:30 PM at the Olive Garden in Tysons Corner. Socializing begins at 6:30, dinner at 7:00 and the presentation at 8:00. The meeting is open to the public.
Location: Olive Garden Restaurant, 8133 Leesburg Pike, Vienna VA 22182
RubyNation 2009 Web Site Up!
Karen Gillison, of CodeSherpas and I just finished all of the updates for the RubyNation 2009 web site, and the updates are now live. Last year we maintained the content in, essentially, straight HTML, so this year I added a custom-built content management system to make posting news items to the site easier (implemented using Active Scaffold). The Call for Papers is now officially open, too.
RubyNation 2009
Ruby enthusiasts of the Washington DC metropolitan area, mark your calendars. We’ve confirmed the date for RubyNation 2009. It’s going to be June 12 – 13 in Reston, VA. Based on last year’s sell-through, we have commissioned a larger venue. We’re going to have it at the Sheraton Hotel, where we can expand it to accommodate 200+ people, rather than the hard limit of 125 that we had at last year’s conference. It’s also going to be a dual-track event this year.
KeenerTech Version 3
A new version of the KeenerTech.com web site, designated as Version 3, is in the works. Version 1 was a Java/JSP intranet (on my home network); Version 2 is the current ASP.NET site. Version 3 is a full Rails 2.2.2 site, with admin functionality implemented using the ActiveScaffold plugin, a wider page content area and numerous other features. This should explain why there’s been fewer blog entries on the site lately (plus the workload at Grab Networks, of course).
Voxant Merges with Anystream
The official announcement went out over the wires today. My company, Voxant Media, just merged with Anystream. Voxant Media specializes in building an advertiser-supported distribution network for monetizing content such as video, images and text. Anystream produces products that process video, transcribe video as needed and generally make it available for distribution. Their most notable recent activity is streaming all of the content from the Beijing Olympics.
Note: (2018/01/13) I worked for Voxant, an Internet startup. They merged with Anystream to form a new company called Grab Networks and, later, Grab Media. The combined company never achieved the financial results the venture capitalists were looking for and they finally sold off the various pieces of the organization about four years ago. I ended up leaving Grab Networks in mid-2009.
Worldcon 66
Dave Keener attended the 66th World Science Fiction Convention in Denver, Colorado, from August 7 to 11. As per usual, there were lots of great events, good food and many, many SF books. The convention center was also nice, with an interesting statue, as shown below:
RubyNation 2008!!!
The RubyNation 2008 Conference was a stunning success on August 1 – 2, easily at the upper end of what the organizers were hoping for. The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) venue was excellent, with plenty of parking, a really nice auditorium and good electronics capabilities. The catering was first-rate. Finally, the array of speakers and the mix of topics went over very well with the audience. Rest assured, there will be a RubyNation 2009.
Oh, and by the way, I had great time giving my presentation on JRuby…
RubyNation Conference Sold Out!
As one of the organizers, I’m proud to say that the RubyNation 2008 Conference has sold out. All 125 tickets (at $175 each) were sold in 52 days, which is excellent for any technical conference, let alone the first year of a conference. We were also able to attract a number of great sponsors, as well as companies to provide some truly excellent giveaways. Between the tickets selling out and the sponsors, the conference is solidly in the black, which is also gratifying (since there are some pretty hefty hard costs associated with running a conference).