Microsoft called me today...
No seriously, a guy from Micro$oft called me today. I was a bit afraid at first, had to remind myself that yes, I run Linux and OSX, I’m safe… I think. ;-)
Actually, in late July, they are helping host Portland Code Camp 2005, which is basically 2 days of FREE developer conferences.. but in a classroom setting. It will be held at Reed College (where Lucas just graduated from). It’s typically, .NET, MS SQL, etc related… the main group behind it is the Portland Area .NET Users Group (PADNUG). Basically, a bunch of stuff that I’m generally not too involved with unless its assisting with a migration away from their platforms. ;-)
It turns out that there has been some buzz about the Ruby on Rails hype and they’re interested in having me (or someone) come and give a presentation at the event. I have not said an officially yes or no, as I’m supposed to be going down to California towards the end of the month to visit family.
While I was talking with the guy from Microsoft (they are covering the costs for the venue…), he asked if I knew of any body that might also be interested in speaking on subjects such as open source databases (mysql, postgresql, etc..), Python, etc. They want to keep things local… so if you’re in the Portland area, shoot me an email and I’ll put you in contact with the right guy to talk to.
One thing that kind of amused me was some content on their site.
To create a little structure, we’ve proposed a variety of one- and two-day tracks including Hobbyists, Mobile and Tablet PC, Architecture and Patterns, Databases, Web Development, Client Development, Games Development, Tools, Methodology, XML and Web, and “Alternative Lifestyles” (Ruby on Rails, Python, Squeak, etc.)
Heh, Alternative Lifestyles. Not the worst label.. but when I think about .NET versus Rails, I feel like those folks are the ones who enjoy the pain. ;-)
Is .NET a fetish and is Ruby on Rails a fad?
