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Next weekend is NCDevCon 2017, the premier web/mobile development conference.  And I don’t just say that because I’m giving 2 talks there.  It’s a weekend; there’s no need to ask the boss for PTO.  It’s super cheap; you get access to all 5 tracks of content for mere 200 bucks.  The conference is big enough to have something for everybody, yet still has a great personal feel in how it’s organized.  With so much good content, I need a game plan for the weekend. Here’s where you’ll be able to find me:

The registration form has been completed and the “Speaking Engagements” pod on my website has been updated, I guess that makes it official: I’m speaking at NCDevCon next month in North Carolina.

Bay Area folks, who wants to learn programming? Or JavaScript? Or both?!

Once again we’re partnering with Bay Area Video Coalition to offer a 2-day Intro to JavaScript class in San Francisco on September 16 and 17.  This is the perfect class for anyone brand new to programming, or just new to JavaScript.  Want to build websites or mobile apps?  This is where you start!  

Last week I took a class on SEO Optimization; here are my class notes:

Lots of new stuff happening at SacInteractive!

Bay Area folks, who wants to learn PHP?! I’m teaching a 2-day Intro to Web Programming With PHP class this Saturday and Sunday (Sept 9 and 10) in San Francisco at BAVC. There are still a couple slots left in the class; I can get you a discount on the price if you book through me. More info at the link in the comments section; any questions, just ask.  Hope to see you there!

Among other changes, Mura 7 includes several new updates to Display Objects. One of the new features we learned about (and helped QA with Blue River while working on a project with them) was the ability to add Display Objects inside other Display Objects. It's actually quite simple, and gives you a lot of flexibility for more advanced UI options.

Local techie friends, I'm in need of a co-manager to help run my SacInteractive monthly meetup. The current co-manager is moving out of state next month. Anyone interested?

This August SacInteractive will have Dave Jones back to give his talk "Docker For Developers".

Greetings from 30,000 feet in the air!  I never used to “splurge” for airplane wifi. These days there is just too much to do to lose 5 or 6 hours being disconnected, especially after a conference.

CF.Objective 2017 wrapped up last night.  There were quite a few changes from previous years. In no particular order:

(I didn’t take a ton of notes while Geoff was speaking, I was busy trying to focus on what he was saying.  Docker is one of those tools that hasn’t “clicked” completely for me yet.  I use it pretty regularly, but mostly via instruction from other people on my teams.  Mark Drew’s talk on Docker was great, as was Geoff’s other talk on Docker. Hopefully they present again at future conferences for others to learn from.)

why most people don’t test

test harness — they start but they never finish

where do you start applying testing techniques

what to test?

what NOT to test?

Fun fact: South of Shasta splits a lot of projects with other agencies. A great one among them is our collection of friends from across the pond, Charlie Mark Delta.  

Mark Drew from CMD and I will be speaking together at CF.Objective, hosting “CMD Office Hours: Get your hot consultancy here!”.  Come ask us questions about the projects we do together at CMD, tools we use to manage projects, software practices, Mark’s favorite Aliens references, Nolan’s favorite guitar players, languages and frameworks we use, anything you like!

Are you going to CF.Objective? Did you know there is a great panel discussion happening titled “Longevity In An Ever Changing Industry”?

As luck would have it, I’ll be moderating said panel discussion!  Come join Mark Drew (CMD), Luis Majano (Ortus Solutions) Dave Ferguson (Silvervine Software) and myself as we all talk about our experiences of writing software professionally for, well, a really long time!

Next week is cf.Objective 2017! Yes, they’re back to the original name, moved to D.C. and with more of a ColdFusion / CFML focus than the last couple of years.  I’m really looking forward to seeing the new take on the conference (and doing a bit of tourist stuff while I’m in DC).  Below is my best guess as to where you can find me at the conference.  Shameless plug: I’m giving 2 presentations this year on Dependency Injection and Best Practices (or lack thereof), come join us!

Bay Area folks! Who wants to learn jQuery? I’m teaching an “Intro to jQuery” class July 8 and 9 at the Bay Area Video Coalition. There are a few spots left in the class; I may be able to get you a discount on the cost (if you're not already a member at BAVC). Drop me a message for more info.

This Wednesday at SacInteractive we have Josh Gurin from TekSystems coming to talk about "What you don't know about your own resume".

For the May SacInteractive meeting we’re going to do something a little different. Rather than having 1 main presenter, we’re going to do a “show and tell” with our group.  Got something cool you’d like to show off for a few minutes? Bring it!  Found a new plugin, app or tool that’s making your development easier? Come tell us about it!  We’ll give everyone 10 to 15 minutes to show off something, and we’ll have some follow-up discussions as well.  Come join us!