DjangoCon roundup

DjangoCon roundup

So, it's been a few days since I got back, and I've finally had time to decompress, although I'm definitely going to enjoy a nice, long bank holiday weekend doing nothing. But before I put DjangoCon to bed, I thought I'd just write up my experiences in brief, and dump all my notes for anyone who might be interested.

I've already written quite extensively about my personal experiences in Warsaw, but as my notes can attest, I really did get something out of it other than meeting some great people and eating some yummy noms. I've learned how to be a better Python developer, how to get more out of Django and how to test and improve the security of the sites I build. At the sprints I started my first community-minded project, called Obtainer, and have some great resources to help me get my feet under the table with the Django community at large.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to talk to me during the con, and to James, Valberg and the rest of the guys who made my Friday. Thank you to the organisers for putting on an incredible conference - good luck to the French contingent for 2014! - and to Warsaw for being beautiful.

If you're into development, couldn't make it at the con or just want to crib off my notes, here are my notes :)

Day one

Day two

  • postgres.app (PostgreSQL for OSX)
  • django-hstore (key-value support for PostgreSQL and Django)
  • djorm-ext-expressions (addons for Django and PostreSQL
  • django-db-tools (aightweight piece of middleware to enable READ_ONLY mode)
  • Don't store sessions in the database... it's slow
  • I really need to start using Redis, and probably move to PostgreSQL
  • Brunch (watch files for changes, ie for LESS compilation)
  • Salt (Pythonic configuration manager)
  • docopt (create argument parsers by writing help strings)
  • symver.org (semantic versioning)
  • Surprised that, apparently not that many apps use TemplateResponse
  • ponycheckup.com (security checkup for Django sites)
  • Two Scoops of Django (book)

Day three

  • Don't put anything on self when extending Admin, as it's a security issue
  • Class-based views are good for HTTP method detection
  • Look into View Mixins
  • PyCharm (Python IDE)
  • BreakfastSerial (Python programming for Arduino)
  • Look through code for transaction.commit_on_success and replace with transaction.atomic
  • gargoyle (feature management)
  • Blue-green deployment pattern
  • django-mutant (dynamic model management)
  • collections.defaultdict (create dicts with default values)
  • sets (quick access, unordered lists of items that must be unique)
  • Use sorted() function rather than list.sort()

Todo

  • Find or start a Python user group in Birmingham
  • Check your Ubuntu version for Amazon search scandal

Randoms

Posted on May 23, 2013 in Development, Out and about and tagged (No comments)

Post #devlab

I was approached about 10 days ago to take part in DevLab, a sort of hack day-and-a-half aiming to connect cultural organisations with digital developers. Very much my bag... baby.

The morning was taken up with short presentations by both sides, including those by advisors and disrupters (mine, such as it was, is above).

The afternoon started with organisations opening the kimono to developers and continued. Partnerships were formed over the cheesy bagels and chicken wraps.

I was delighted to sit with Adrian of Rural Media, who have a number of fantastic projects behind and infront of them. We talked, shared ideas; I got a little overexcited about walking tours and geocaching in a forest. With the short time bee had, and with Adrian's projects being mostly in the pipeline, there wasn't anything I could crack on and build, but I'm hoping we've sewn the seeds of a potential collaboration.

It was a really enjoyable day-and-a-half, filled with the kinds of people I wish I could spend more time with. I've always been more comfortable around creatives than techies - and have always resented being thought of as "the tech guy", partly as if what I do is just logistical - so Im hoping there'll be more chances for these kinds of collaborative explorations in the future.

Good luck to everyone at DevLab who has a project to work on. When we reconvene in five weeks, it'll be great to see which efforts will go on to seek further funding. Thanks to everyone who was there; it was great fun.

There's loads of photos and video on the DevLab Posterous, thanks to Nat and Julia of Rebel Uncut.

Posted on June 21, 2012 in Development, Out and about and tagged (four comments)

Is there room for another Hackitude?

Is there room for another Hackitude?

In 2009 I ran a reasonably-successful hackathon calked Hackitude. It was the first time I'd tried anything like it, and was pleased with the final result, even if I did end up coding which I'd promised myself I wouldn't.

After this weekend's Launch48 fun and a few conversations, I started wondering whether there was perhaps room for another non-thematic hackathon. So how does it work?

For a few weeks before the event, anyone can suggest a problem, or a "what if" scenario. Things like "What if all the lampposts had QRcodes so we could use our mobiles to report when they'd gone out?" or "What if there was a map of all the allotments in Birmingham?" (We actually built the last one.) Developers and ideas people can then sign up to the event, and on the first night we pick the problem(s) we want to solve, then spend the weekend designing and building.

It's a less-talk-more-action kind of feel, borne out of frustration with a city that does lots of talking, but not much doing.

The first Hackitude was held at Aquila's former offices in Broad St and started off with a dozen or so people. I'd struggled getting events off the ground after that, but I'd like to try again. The only question is...

Would you?

Posted on March 19, 2012 in Out and about and tagged , , (six comments)

I'm going to the Gadget Show

I'm going to the Gadget Show

I got my press pass confirmation through this morning, for this year's Gadget Show Live. Only problem is, it's the day before the doors open to the public.

I'd been hoping to cover some of the action from the floor throughout the event, but knew that was a bit ambitious. However I should be able to take a wander round the exhibitions, speak to some of the companies and maybe make some contacts, while also producing some useful content for Meegloo.

I've never been before so don't know what to expect, but it should be fun. Here's to a continually filling calendar!

Posted on Jan. 31, 2012 in Out and about and tagged , (No comments)

Tech Wednesday

There were no speakers at this month's Tech Wednesday, but I still met up with some top people and got my usual dose of inspiration.

It was great to meet @davedev, who told me all about the awesome things his company's doing with .NET and HTML5.

Designer @russellgoffe who runs Horbury & Goffe gave me a beautiful business card, and afterwords I hooked up with Paul Hewett of @activedesignltd to discuss assistive technologies.

And as usual it was lovely to see Eleanor of @PoikosTech, who gave me some inspiration for Flaming Tarball's Next Big Thing, and to discuss TEDxBrum with @simonjenner and @kathpreston1.

All in all, a morning very well spent! Oh, and I also got introduced to an amazing website: SaneOrInsane.com. I think I'll leave it there!

I'm out and about a lot in the next week or so, so come and say hi!

Posted on Jan. 18, 2012 in Out and about and tagged , (No comments)

Where's Moxy?

This is where I'm going to be in the next week or so. If you're coming too, say hi!

Hope to see you around!

Posted on Jan. 17, 2012 in Out and about (No comments)

I'm going to Launch48

Less than two days after I touch down into London from South by South West, I'll be at this year's Launch48 event, which is again being held at Aston Science Park.

Not dissimilar to the Hackitude event I organised towards the end of 2009, Launch48's aim is to form a working business in 48 hours. As of yet I've no idea what will be formed, or which, if any of my skills will be of use, but I'm excited to see what goes on, and if I'm not actively involved in development, I'll definitely be covering the event with Meegloo.

It's happening over the weekend of March 16th, so hopefully I'll see some familiar faces there. If not, you should be able to keep up with developments on my Meegloo stream, when I set it up nearer the time.

Posted on Jan. 16, 2012 in Out and about (No comments)

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