Tag: TSOT

Categories
Uncategorized

TSOT Ruby/Rails Project Night Next Tuesday!

Next Tuesday is the second Tuesday of the month, which means: Ruby/Rails Project Night, hosted by TSOT!

Jon Stewart, Conan O'Brien and Stephen Colbert fighting over a Rails logo

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?

Everyone Takes Their Seats
Click the photo to see it on its Flickr page.

Check out this article, which has a quick write-up and photos.

Categories
Uncategorized

Books I’m Buying / Recommended Ruby and Rails Books

Covers of “Design Patterns in Ruby” and “The Rails Way”

I’ve been quite impressed by the “Addison-Wesley Professional Ruby” series of books (I’ve got The Ruby Way and RailsSpace) as well as the work of series editor Obie Fernandez, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at RailsConf 2006. That — along with glowing reviews for both books plus my serious immersion into Ruby and Rails at TSOT — is why I’ve got Design Patterns in Ruby and The Rails Way on order. I’m looking forward to getting my paws on these books, and I’ll post reviews shortly afterwards.

(I’m normally pretty conservative when it comes to spending on computer programming books for the past little while, but that’s because evangelism rather than programming has paid the rent. That situation has changed somewhat.)

Both Design Patterns in Ruby and The Rails Way are in Antonio Cangiano’s set of recommended Ruby and Rails books. If you’re looking to get into either Ruby or Rails (or if you’re already into either and just looking for related reading material), check out his list.

Categories
Uncategorized

The Evolution of the TSOT Office

It’s been exactly one week since we moved from TSOT’s temporary office to the permanent one on the 11th floor at 151 Bloor Street West. The new digs are pretty sweet, and I thought I’d post some photos showing the evolution of the space.

Here’s what the place looked like on December 7th. You can click the photo below to see the whole photoset on Flickr:

P1030227
Click this photo to see the “TSOT December 7” photoset.

Here’s how things looked on December 20th and 21st. Once again, click the photo to see the whole photoset on Flickr:

P1030345
Click this photo to see the “TSOT December 20 – 21” photoset.

And finally, here’s how things looked on “Moving-In Day”, January 3rd. Click the photo to see the whole photoset:

Looking at my Desk
Click this photo to see the “TSOT January 3” photoset.

Categories
Uncategorized

TSOT’s Ruby/Rails Project Night

Andrew Burke, Hampton Catlin and Mike Ferrier

Tonight is TSOT’s first monthly Ruby/Rails Project Night, where we invite the local developer community into our offices to see presentations on Ruby and Rails development and socialize. We’ve got a great lineup of speakers:

  • Yours Truly, on the lessons and challenges of Zed Shaw’s rant
  • Andrew Burke on the business and technical aspects of his current Rails project
  • Hampton Catlin on Ziplocal.com
  • Mike Ferrier on The Score’s iPhone application

The event will take place at TSOT’s office — 151 Bloor Street West (on the south side, just east of Avenue Road), suite 1130. The doors open at 5:30 p.m., during which time we’ll serve food. Presentations start at 6-ish, with breaks in between and some time for socializing afterwards. Admission is free, but space is limited — to register, please email joey.devilla@tsotinc.com.

Categories
Uncategorized

Rant Said Zed: I’m Too Sexy for My Rails

Fred Fairbrass and Zed Shaw, side by side. The resemblance is uncanny!
The resemblance is uncanny, isn’t it?
Zed Shaw photo by Adewale Oshineye — click the photo to see it on its Flickr page.

By now, most Rails developers — and even a number of people who couldn’t care less about Rails — have read Zed Shaw’s infamous rant titled Rails is a Ghetto. It’s given me a lot to think about, and as a result, I’m changing my presentation topic at Tuesday’s TSOT Ruby/Rails Project Night to Rant Said Zed: I’m Too Sexy for my Rails (or: Lessons and Challenges from Zed Shaw’s Rant). I promise that it’ll be both informing and entertaining.

  • Want to know more about Tuesday’s TSOT Ruby/Rails Project Night, which takes place this Tuesday, January 8th? See this entry.
  • Want to sign up? Email me!

Aside: A Quick Trip Down Memory Lane

How can I reference Right Said Fred without showing you the video for their one hit?

Categories
Uncategorized

TSOT’s Ruby/Rails Project Night — Next Tuesday!

Bruce Lee, wearing a TSOT t-shirt and holding Ruby on Rails nunchuks.

Don’t forget: TSOT’s first Ruby/Rails project night takes place next Tuesday! Admission is free, but space is limited, so sign up now!

The Quick Version

TSOT Ruby/Rails Night
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 (and the second Tuesday of every month)
@ TSOT’s office — 151 Bloor Street West (on the south side, just east of Avenue Road)
11th floor
Door open and food at 5:30 p.m.
Presentations start at 6-ish
FREE ADMISSION (but limited space)
To register, please email joey.devilla@tsotinc.com

About TSOT

TSOT is a Toronto-based start-up that develops — look out, here come the buzzwords — social networking applications using Ruby on Rails. Our first applications are FraternityLive and SororityLive, social software built specifically for people in fraternities and sororities. Both apps are currently being tested with a userbase of thousands of university students and alumni, and we expect to release them in early 2008.

About Ruby/Rails Project Nights

We believe that it’s good for Toronto to have a healthy developer ecosystem — it’s good not only for us as a Toronto-based development shop, but also as a group of developers who are passionate about the work we do. We’d like to see Toronto as “Silicon Valley++” — with the vibrant high-tech scene, but with all the amenities that make Toronto a better place to live than the Valley (such as not being a dreary 50-mile stretch of suburbia and having decent places to go at night).

Hence our contribution to the local developer scene: TSOT Ruby/Rails Project Nights, which will take place on the second Tuesday of every month. They’ll feature in-depth presentations by developers working on interesting projects — primarily Ruby and Ruby on Rails — along with drinks and munchies and a chance to socialize with your fellow developers. They’ll be hosted by Yours Truly, TSOT developer and DemoCamp regular Joey “Accordion Guy” deVilla.

The First Night: Next Tuesday, January 8th

This first Ruby/Rails Night will feature presentations by a couple of Ruby/Rails local heroes on their current Ruby/Rails projects:

The doors will open at 5:30, the first presentation will start at about 6, and we hope to wrap up the evening by 8:30 or 9. We’ll provide food and drinks, and if there’s enough of a demand, we can always go out to a nearby pub afterwards. There’s no cost to attend (but be advised that seating is limited).

If you’ve been thinking about making a Ruby or Rails presentation (perhaps you want to rehearse for RailsConf 2008!), we’d like to have you present it at one of our project nights!

Add TSOT Ruby/Rails Nights to your list of New Year’s resolutions!

How Do I Register?

Registration is free, but space is limited. To register for the upcoming Jan 8th gathering, please email joey.devilla@tsotinc.com

For More Information

For more information about TSOT Project Nights, please contact:

The event is also listed on Upcoming.org.

Categories
Uncategorized

Reminder: TSOT’s Ruby/Rails Project Night – January 8th

Here’s a quick reminder about TSOT’s upcoming Ruby/Rails night, which takes place on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008:

Bruce Lee, wearing a TSOT t-shirt and holding Ruby on Rails nunchuks.

TSOT Ruby/Rails Night
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 (and the second Tuesday of every month)
@ TSOT’s office — 151 Bloor Street West (on the south side, just east of Avenue Road)
11th floor
Door open and food at 5:30 p.m.
Presentations start at 6-ish
FREE ADMISSION (but limited space)
To register, please email joey.devilla@tsotinc.com

For more details, see this entry or this page on Upcoming.org.