Archive for the 'Conferences' Category

What to do in Portland when you’re at RailsConf 2008

Published by
mattking
at May 29, 2008 in Portland, Conferences and Rails. 0 Comments

I updated last year’s post about what to do in Portland while you’re at RailsConf, adding a few places and taking some out. Just want to help all you geeks from out of town avoid Red Robin and Starbucks. Get out there and find these places!

Read about what to do in Portland while you’re at RailsConf 2008

NBC Reporter Owned at DefCon 15

Published by
mattking
at August 6, 2007 in Intarweb, Funny and Conferences. 1 Comment

A Dateline NBC reporter shows up and tries to go undercover with a hidden camera at DefCon 15, a hacker convention in Las Vegas last weekend, apparently trying to get some coverage of people to make them look bad. DefCon organizers know from the beginning she’s coming, and even offer her a free press pass if she wants to cover the event openly. Instead she tries pass off that she’s just a regular attendee and gets outed in front of a crowd during a ’spot the reporter’ stage gag (specially cooked up just for her).

I’ve never been to a DefCon, and it’s probably way out of my league, but I’ve heard these conferences are full of relentless people who are trying to outsmart each other.
Lesson: if you’re going to try to outsmart a group of people, don’t choose a crowd of computer geeks. And don’t do it at a convention that attracts the uber-geeks.

Here’s a video of the ’spot the reporter’ at the event, including shots of people walking with the reporter as she runs to her car and tries to get away.

10 Things I learned at RailsConf 2007

Published by
mattking
at May 21, 2007 in Top 10 Lists, Portland and Conferences. 0 Comments
  1. Memcache rules, and it’s easy to use with Cache-Fu
  2. Geeks aren’t socially retarded
  3. Free coffee goes really fast
  4. Always practice your presentations
  5. Twitter only uses one MySQL database and a slave
  6. ~90% of Rails developers have an Apple laptop
  7. There are people out there that spend more time on their laptop than I do
  8. Developers are more generous than I thought
  9. Normalized Data == Good (most of the time)
  10. Helpers in your views is where it’s at

RailsConf 2007 Starts Today!

Published by
mattking
at May 17, 2007 in Portland, Conferences and Rails. 0 Comments

I won’t be attending today’s tutorial sessions, but I’ll be at the conference starting tomorrow. Check out this Map at Google’s My Maps that someone put together, it has a few more things plotted out than I mentioned in my post about what to do in Portland while at RailsConf, but one small mistake I found that you may want to know about is that the Coffee People listed on the map is closed forever. Unfortunately they sold out to Starbucks and it will be replaced very soon with yet another Starbucks. The only reason I mention this is because coffee == freedom, and if you need your coffee fix and want to avoid Starbucks, you’ll be sorely disappointed when you find a closed down Coffee People.

Check out these places to grab coffee instead:

What to do in Portland while you’re at RailsConf 2007 (updated for 2008)

Published by
mattking
at May 1, 2007 in Portland, Conferences and Rails. 6 Comments

If you’re attending RailsConf this year and are from out of town, you might be like me when you’re in another city: I don’t really find much outside of the touristy areas, or what’s immediately around where I’m staying. But you’re in luck! I live here in Portland, Oregon and I have a list of places to go and things to do that I think are quintessential Portland.I’ve tried to pick places that are close to the convention center, but most places will require either taking Tri-Met bus, light rail or street car, or driving. Each listing has a link to directions from the convention center so you can see about how far it is.

Good places to eat lunch or dinner
The immediate area around the convention center is mostly places like Denny’s and Red Robin. I wouldn’t recommend eating there. Here are some places for getting some good food.
Good places to eat breakfast
One thing Portlanders know how to do right is make a tasty breakfast. Check out these places if you have time to get up early and eat before the conference starts for the day.
Go see a movie, and have a beer
Portland, as far as I know, is one of the very few cities that have so many movie theatres that serve beer and food. AND to top it off, most movies are $3-$6 admission. Check out one of these theatres for a magical movie and beer experience.
Coffee Shops Galore
Portland has no shortage of coffee shops. Try not to go to Starbucks and find one of these local coffee shops.
Happy Hours
Come 4pm you’ll be wanting you some drinks. There are plenty of happy hours around town, but here are a few recommended.

Find more Portland Happy Hours at Unthirsty.com

Powell’s/Powell’s Technical
Powell’s Books is one of the largest book stores in the world, and to make it even better, they have a separate store that only sells technical books (I picked up my Programming Ruby book there, among others).
Places to find gifts for your Significant Other
You might get in trouble if you go to a conference out of town and not bring back a gift. Luckily for you there are a couple areas you can check out that have unique gifts.
Relive the golden age of arcade games
The only place in Portland that has all the classic arcade games, beer, wine and DJs you can take.
See a live band
Every night you’ll find tons of bands playing in lots of clubs around Portland. Check out the Portland Mercury before you come, or pick one up while you’re here. You find all the band listings, as well as other stuff to do while you’re here. Listed below are some recommended venues.

If you know a great place to eat, drink or have fun in Portland, leave a comment below with a suggestion or link to your list. See you at the conference.