Freelancing Gods 2008

A few random items:

• There’s a Rails Camp happening in Denmark. How awesome is that!?
• I’ve added an About Me page to this blog – filled with opinions. You have been warned.
• I’m talking at NYC Ignite – come along and listen to me talk quickly about non-Ruby stuff for five minutes, if you’re near that part of the world.
• Joss Whedon is awesome.
• So is Pixar. You must see Wall-E. Easily the best film I’ve seen all year.

Following in the steps of the Australian Rails Camps, it’s now time to announce the first UK edition. Running from Friday the 15th to Monday the 18th of August, it will be an extended weekend of hacking, talking, eating, drinking and games, with a bunch of smart and passionate Ruby developers.

Even though the name is “Rails Camp”, previous camps have included talks on topics from Merb to Rack to Extreme Programming – all topics somewhat related to Ruby are welcome.

If you’d like to come along, I’d recommend registering soon, as there’s a very limited number of places.

If you’re a Ruby developer in or near Australia, I highly recommend attending RailsCamp number 3, which has just opened for registration. The first two were simply amazing, so I’m just a little annoyed that I can’t make it to this one (as I’ll be traveling overseas at the time). I’ve no doubt that this one will be just as fantastic – expect an extended weekend of hacking and talking with a bunch of smart, entertaining and passionate developers, and plenty of drinks and games thrown in for good measure.

You don’t need to be a Rails or Ruby genius to attend – just a desire to discuss, learn, teach and (most importantly) have fun.

Go register now.

RailsCamp 2.0 finished earlier today – and I think it’s safe to declare it a fantastic success (even given my bias).

Massive thanks to Ben and Karen for their hard work getting everyone fed and co-ordinating people in the kitchen (and the RailsCamp bus from Melbourne to Sunnystones). Thanks too to everyone who helped at various points – both in the organising and over the weekend.

Finally, thank you to everyone who came along – these camps are so much fun because of the calibre of people who attend, and their willingness to share ideas, code and laughs.

Will be posting a version of my talk at some point soon… once I’ve recovered from the weekend.

In case the few readers of this blog are not aware, there’s a RailsCamp happening just outside of Melbourne, from the 23rd-26th November (not far away at all). It will be a weekend of hacking, chatting, food & drink, and very likely some gaming (along the lines of GuitarHero and WiiSports), taking a similar approach to barcamps. The first one, back in June near Sydney, was a fantastic success, and judging by the current list of attendees, I’m expecting it to be much the same.

We’re edging closer and closer to being sold out, so if you’re considering coming along, I recommend signing up as soon as possible. Day passes for the Saturday and Sunday are also available.