SoCal Code Camp – San Diego 2014

This is a brief reminder to let you know that the SoCal Code Camp weekend is coming up in 10 days. As you may already know, this is a community driven event and completely free.

 

If you check out the session list for next weekend’s code camp, you will see that there is a variety of topics, which include presentations and discussions about Web technologies, mobile development, developer networking, coding standards, design patterns, game programming, databases, Universal Windows apps and so much more! There is certainly one topic that will interest you and besides the awesome content, you will have tons of time for networking with fellow tech professionals.

For latest announcements before the event, follow the SoCal Code Camp tweets and check out their Facebook page. If you decide to attend the event, do not forget to RSVP and in case, you want to share something with the community and be a speaker at the event, you have time until this Friday,  June 20th, to sign up.

There is always some great event going on after the sessions in the evening, make sure not to miss any of those! All tech and no play, what’s the fun in that? A little socializing can do wonders:)

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

23 Days of Devices

February is already a short month and you have got exactly only 23 days left to participate in Microsoft’s 28 Days of Devices sweepstakes. This is part of the App Builder Rewards of the Windows Store AppBuilder program.

If you haven’t heard about the AppBuilder program, you should certainly take some time and check out the site content. You will find many useful resources and tools to kick-start, simplify or enrich your Windows application development endeavors and improve your coding skills. There is also support on how to publish and promote your applications. The AppBuilder Rewards program is a bonus feature besides the content and offers for a limited time points for completing quests, attending events and publishing apps to the Windows Store. Points can be cashed out to get Xbox games, a Windows Store developer account and much more. The following two graphics should give you a few hints on what the reward program offers to motivate app developers:

On top of the existing AppBuilder Rewards, the 28 Days of Devices sweepstakes give you a chance to win one of 28 Dell Venue tablets with your qualifying app submission. You need to get your Windows app downloaded 100 times by the end of this month and you will be entered in daily drawings. A few more details about how everything comes together:

1. Enter your Windows Store apps to the Apps Quest
2. If your app has less than 100 downloads when you complete the Quest between January 21st and February 28th, you will get a $15 Windows Store gift card
3. Use the App Promotion Kit, Windows Store gift card and AdDuplex advertising impressions to reach 100 downloads before the end of February and earn your chance to win one of 28 devices

It goes without saying that, the more apps with 100 or more downloads, will get you more points and sweepstake entries. The sooner your apps qualify, the more daily drawing chances for you!

You can check out the official rules for the sweepstakes here: https://build.windowsstore.com/rewards/28daysofdevicesterms

23 of 28 days are left. Hurry up. Happy building!

Read Full Post »

A Developer’s Paradox ~or~ The Exploration of Inspiration

Does it ever happen to you, that you had to work let’s say on some urgent, routine, daily coding work, but at that time suddenly had the urge to explore some new programming framework, some cool technology… Maybe you already had some plans or maybe you came across that so interesting new “thing” while searching through a forum for that crucial daily work of yours;) Forums do enlighten us, don’t they?!

Well right now, I have to finish some coding tasks with Java, Spring, Hibernate and MySQL; complete unit tests and come up with fast+working customizations. Yet I wish to read, try out some new stuff on Silverlight and refine a somewhat experimental Facebook application that lingers in my head.

So I guess that’s what I have to call a contradiction: I have to do A, however I’m thinking about B and doing something totally different as I’m here writing –U C! Since I’m totally off the track; I could, with my beginner level piano skills, try to bring even that mysterious symphony alive; which plays in my mind whenever I feel the joy of spring:) How do I jump from one irrelevant topic to the other? Seriously, I don’t know.

Shutting down my self-chatting-mechanism for a while, I will turn to the origin of my writing: There’s some coding you need/have to do and that tempting drive to check out that crazy-cool-WOW(!) tech stuff you newly discovered.

The voice of responsibility might tell you to take down notes to “suspend” your enthusiasm for an indefinite time and just go on with your routine work…  But is there a way to capture that vivid image of the plan/experiment/program that you started to picture in your mind? Does any developer’s rough, scribbled down notes resemble the colorful photograph of one’s imagination?

What do you think; does inspiration wait? Can it be postponed and put somewhere in your calendar for a private meeting in the near future?

Does inspiration ever become as alive as at that moment, when you so desperately wished to elaborate on your incredible idea? Or does only a tiny flicker of your idea send an RSVP, so that you eventually cancel your inspirational meeting on the spot?

Welcome back to reality!

Read Full Post »