When: May 25nd, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: Atomic Object, 941 Wealthy Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506
RSVPs: Register here

Google’s AppEngine can enable developers to build awesome apps quickly. However, building on AppEngine means you have to work with the Datastore, and you can get into trouble quickly if you don’t understand how it works. The rewards are great, but so is the learning curve. This is especially true if you’ve never worked with a NoSQL database before. AppEngine forces you to consider scaling from the beginning and the API’s can range in available functionality. There are important differences between both the Python and Java implementations and the imposed limitations can seem arbitrary at first. All of this can be daunting, so join me as we dive deep into the AppEngine::Datastore and discover all the power it has to offer.

Have an AppEngine topic you’re curious about? Submit questions online with Google Moderator here.

About the speaker

Ryan Montgomery is a local Grand Rapids web developer who has years of experience building web based applications in .NET for the Material Handling industry. In more recent years Ryan has migrated his attention to building apps with Python and JRuby on Google’s AppEngine. You can discover the Meaning of it all on his blog or learn more about Interwebteknology on his technical blog. Catch him in person at the GR Python Users Group.

Bob Walsh, 47 Hats

When: April 27nd, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: Atomic Object, 941 Wealthy Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506
RSVPs: Register here

The bad news is being a commodity IT person means your job or skills are ever closer to being outsourced or automated. The good news is social media and the web as it’s own economy, society and culture have reached the point where you can define, focus and build your web-wide reputation as an indispensable IT person beyond any single service, beyond your current job or next contract gig.

In this talk, I’ll be focusing on beyond why you should be on Twitter or Facebook, beyond the ten best tips on blogging, etc., to look at the road ahead for online professionals of all stripes. What online/social media core strategies work to make you indispensable? How do you build levels of interaction with your social network to be a valued part of that network and still get work done?

Whether you’ve been a sysadmin for the same company for a decade or in the midst of launching your own startup, becoming indispensable, being a linchpin, is a key component to developing an option-rich future for yourself.

About the speaker

Charles Nutter, Engineyard

When: March 23rd, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: Atomic Object, 941 Wealthy Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506
RSVPs: Register here

JRuby has changed a lot in the past year. With a new focus on Java integration, the entire world of Java libraries has opened up to Rubyists. The night will include a presentation by Charles Nutter followed by discussion about all things JRuby, such as:

• invokedynamic and method combinators
• JRuby on the desktop
• challenges of implementing a dynamic language on the JVM
• what JRuby can do to help enterprise IT and existing J2EE applications
• JRuby on Android
• whatever else the audience wants to hear about

About the speaker

Charles Oliver Nutter has spent the past 4 years making JRuby into an
oustanding Ruby implementation. Now he’s working to make JRuby a
first-class JVM language, with all the Java integration features users
expect. Charles blogs at blog.headius.com.

When: February 23rd, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: Atomic Object, 941 Wealthy Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Buffer-overflow attacks persist and there have been many solutions proposed — all with weaknesses. We mark all external data as ‘tainted’ and refuse to jump to any ‘tainted’ addresses. By using hardware to support this approach we are able to prevent all buffer-overflow attacks that culminate in jumping to a user-supplied address, i.e. the nasty ones. In addition, our approach is backward compatible for user code at the machine-code level, i.e. no recompile or change in user software is needed. Furthermore, there is no way to ‘untaint’ data once it has been marked ‘tainted.’

About the speaker

Dr. Enbody received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1987 and has been in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at Michigan State University since then. He has published research in a variety of areas including design automation, parallel processing, computer architecture and security. He is currently co-authoring an introductory computer science text using Python — due in February. When not teaching he enjoys wilderness camping, hockey, and squash.

When: January 26th, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: Work Play Space, 941 Wealthy Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506

In his day job he is a software developer at SourceGear, a company which sells source control (aka “version control,” “SCM”) tools for small and midsize software teams.

In October 2002, SourceGear was named one of the fastest growing companies in the nation by Inc magazine.

By original training, he is a software programmer. He has a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He founded the AbiWord project and was responsible for much of the original design and implementation. The title on his business card says “Software Craftsman.”

Prior to founding SourceGear, Eric was at Spyglass (now part of OpenTV) for around five years, where he served as Project Lead for the browser team. They built the original versions of the browser you now know as “Internet Explorer.”

When: October 27th, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: Work Play Space, 941 Wealthy Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506

In this lecture, Wettersten examines communication across the languages of art, mathematics, programming, and music and the implications for the creative process. Wettersten’s topic of discussion centers on the idea that languages used during the creative and design process have themselves also been designed.

Wettersten’s multi-disciplinary background includes major concentrations in mathematics, classical music and fine art—his current occupation finds him in a Senior Application Designer role at IDEO in Chicago.

Speaker Bio

An application developer and design strategist who helps lead IDEO Chicago’s digital experience efforts, Jon Wettersten encourages project teams to push the limits of technological feasibility and supports IDEO’s more strategic projects through their later-stage development processes. Since joining the company in 2007, he’s worked on projects spanning financial services, telecommunications, health, and web and mobile application development.

Jon comes to IDEO with over 10 years of experience in the design and development of user-centered software applications and web-related server-based technologies for a wide range of clients and industries including financial services, retail, publishing, education, and not-for-profits. Immediately prior to IDEO, Jon served as a managing technology partner for a research, design, and development firm where his duties included providing appropriate technology strategies and collaborating with research and design teams on rapid prototyping, among other responsibilities. He holds a BA degree with a concentration in Fine Art from St. Olaf College with continued education in computer science at Northwestern University. A classically trained violinist and avid cyclist, Jon also enjoys sewing, playing tennis, figure painting, and volunteering in his community.

When: September 22, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: Work Play Space, 941 Wealthy Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Agile began as a developer centered set of values and practices that aimed to uncover better ways to develop software. As the movement has grown, the Agile community has been flooded by managers and agile coaches who see the improved productivity and want to harness it for their companies. As a result, much of the discussion in Agile has moved towards managing people, managing backlogs, managing those typists who write the code. Well typists, where have those eXtreme values that first excited you so much gone?

In the last year, many people have begun talking about Software Craftsmanship. Pete McBreen first coined the term with his 2002 book of the same name. This year a summit in Chicago, a conference in London, a google group, a manifesto, and the recent Software Craftsmanship North America conference in Chicago have brought together craftsmen from all over the globe to refocus the conversation on writing good code.

In this talk, we will explore why the craft meme works in talking about software and the kinds of things being learned from historical craft work. We will look at the values in the Manifesto for Software Craftsmanship and the related ethics statement. We will also talk about what it means to be a professional and to work towards mastery of your craft.

Intentional practice is one of the ways in which many craftsmen are building their skill sets and improving the way they write code. In the second half of the evening, we will do a bit of practice ourselves with a randori. Randori is a group coding exercise where we take turns working on the same piece of code. Your disciplines of testing and writing clean code will be put to the test in a fast and high pressure couple of minutes when you take the stage in front of your peers.

Speaker Bio

Doug joined 8th Light with more than 5 years of software development experience. Doug has written everything from assembly level digital signal processing algorithms to web application with Ruby on Rails. He adds strong real-time embedded C++ experience to 8th Light’s talented and diverse group of software craftsmen. He has worked for companies serving several niche markets including pro audio and speciality printing.

With 8th Light, Doug has contributed to several projects in Ruby, C++, and Java. He was a team member on the Fidelity Life project. He helped craft the Manifesto for Software Craftsmanship and is continuing to contribute to this emerging movement. Doug is the creator of the web based (rails) app Gift of Admin.

Doug and his wife, Jen, are avid travelers, hikers, and skiers. Much of their time is also devoted to teaching and mentoring junior high and high school students in a suburban church.

It’s summer! We’ll be taking it easy this summer. No speakers; just each other. Join us to just hang out, network, eat, and drink. We’ll be at HopCat at the usual time.

About HopCat

HopCat was envisioned, designed, stocked and staffed with one mission in mind: to bring you great beer. We specialize in Michigan brews, but also offer a wide range of global beer, with a large Belgian selection. If you’re not in the mood for a beer, you can get a glass of wine or cocktail from our full bar.

It’s summer! We’ll be taking it easy this summer. No speakers; just each other. Join us to just hang out, network, eat, and drink. We’ll be at Bar Divani at the usual time.

About Bar Divani

Divani is Hindi for being crazy in love – something we anticipate you will be experiencing shortly. Our friendly and knowledgeable staff is available to make exploration of the vast beverage selection as dauntless as possible. With over 200 liquors to choose from we will be sure to recommend one that is well suited for you.

In addition to liquor, we have an overwhelming list of wines by the glass, half bottle, or bottle. And beer is fun too: there are plenty of bottle options to choose from as well as a rotating set of local and national hand-craft beers on tap.

It’s summer! We’ll be taking it easy this summer. No speakers, just each other. Join us to just hang out, network, eat, and drink. We’ll be at the Green Well at the usual time.

About The Green Well

At the Green Well, an Essence Restaurant Group establishment, we serve honest fayre with local flair in a green, neighborhood setting that keeps customers coming back. Our innovative gastro pub is green beyond its name: Our building is LEED® certified inside and out which means it’s environmentally safe, ultra efficient and leaves behind the smallest possible carbon footprint.

Our creative, ever-changing menu features a global range of eclectic flavors prepared with ingredients from local farmers, and our beverage offering includes a wide array of local craft brews and wines, all to support our local economy.

Our greenness also spills over to our guests who benefit from affordable prices and outstanding service by a fun, welcoming staff.