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I’m a huge fan of the No Fluff Just Stuff tour (yeah, I know - I could be seen as “biased”) and I’ve wholeheartedly recommended it to many, many people over the years. For those of you who have (inexplicably) ignored my advice, you can get a flavor of what a typical symposium is like by reading the latest and greatest No Fluff Just Stuff Anthology, Volume II. That’s right, for a low low price, you can have your very own copy of what will, I’m sure, be lauded as one of *the* great works of the 21st century (to point, the chapter on usability is top notch!) But don’t just take my word for it, see what Neal “let’s-see-how-many-books-I-can-write-in-one-year” Ford (otherwise known as the cat wrangler of the anthology) has to say here. You can order your very own copy from the Prags or Amazon (don’t forget, Anthologies make *great* gifts). Enjoy!

As promised, here are my slides from last week’s Gateway JUG talk (apologies for taking so long to get these up). I had a lot of fun (well, except for the trip to the airport) and I want to thank NFJS for sponsoring my trip! Please note, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License: Foundations of Ajax.

I’ve already described my harrowing mad dash to the airport but there were a couple of other random travel notes I just had to throw out there. First of all, I’ve traveled on some smallish planes this year but Tuesday was the first time I’ve ever heard a stewardess utter these very comforting words “Someone from the first two rows needs to move to the back of the plane to balance out the weight.” Huh. So, this aircraft is so sensitive that we need to move a couple of hundred pounds 30 feet. Well, that makes me feel *very* secure. I know this is pretty standard but still, gives a guy pause…

As you no doubt know by now, it was snowing on Tuesday which means deicing. Frankly, I wasn’t that concerned - it wasn’t that snowy (though it was plenty cold) but still, flying in less than ideal conditions makes you think. Anyway, the first officer gave us the spiel about how we’d be taxiing to the deicing station where we’d stop and then we’d be off. After getting a bath in propylene glycol, we were ready to roll…well, not quite. At one point my seat mate leaned over and quipped “I didn’t realize we were driving to St. Louis.” I’m sure it wasn’t that far but it really did seem like we’d be “driving” for quite some time and I was starting to wonder what the time limit was on that deicing fluid…

Speaking of which, the spare pilot (seriously, what *is* their role? Don’t get me wrong…redundancy in pilots is a good thing…) makes a comment along the lines of “we are really hoping to get in the air shortly or else we’ll have to return to be deiced.” Huh. Not that I really wanted to return to the terminal area but I couldn’t help but wonder - should we really be taking off with the deicing fluid at the end of it’s effective life span? Obviously, it wasn’t a problem but still…

One last little travel note - why is it, when you have *plenty* of time to get to your gate, it’s about 50 feet from the security checkpoint but when you’re rushed, it’s on the other end of the world? Leaving St. Louis, I alloted ample time (hey, I learned my lesson…) and while I didn’t expect any issues getting through security, of course my gate was literally down the hall from where I went through the gauntlet that protects the world from dangerous shampoo. Oh well, who ever said this speaking gig wasn’t glamorous huh?

A while back, the Fluff Talker list had a bit of a debate over the merits of PowerPoint vs. Apple’s Keynote. Since I’ve move to the Mac, I’ve done all my presenting in Keynote and frankly I haven’t looked back; at first it was a bit of an adjustment but all in all, I liked it quite a bit. I’ve seen a lot of great decks in Keynote including the drop dead gorgeous work seen in an Inconvenient Truth. When I complimented Bill Scott about his presentation at AE, he humbly gave Keynote the credit (seriously, Bill is something else - if you have a chance to see him live, do not hesitate.)

Anyway, I’ve spent a lot of time in Keynote and I’ve been trying to mimic the “Lessig method” of presenting (free culture is a great example, but you owe it to yourself to watch Dick Hardt’s OSCON 2005 Keynote). I’ve seen *way* too many bullet point infested decks (it should be illegal to indent more than once) and I’ve been doing my part to stem the tide. At the day job, I’ve been pounding out a deep dive on TDD and since work is all about Windows, I find myself again in PowerPoint. I have to admit, I really wish I wasn’t. Trying to bend PPT to my will is proving difficult though I think much of the blame belongs to our corporate template - one that practically forces bullet point upon bullet point. Much as I want to blame crappy slideware on the presenters, maybe we need to “reeducate” those wonderful people that piece together lackluster themes. Or at least those swell souls that dictate all presentations shall be in said stifling framework.

So last night I made a mistake - in a moment of weakness, I decided to get my car washed. I was so tired of all the grime that I just had to clean the old girl up. You’d think I’d learn from past transgressions, but no. The last time I washed my car, the very next morning it snowed, turning my quiet commute into, well, a not so quiet one.

Yes, I should have known better especially when the weather person on the radio said there was a 50/50 chance of snow in the morning. But by then I was committed. Maybe not in the “pig” sort of way but there was no turning back. Oh well. The astute reader would note that I’m speaking in St. Louis today and seeing as I don’t live in or near St. Louis this implies a trip MSP. Ordinarily I’m the type that gets to the airport with plenty of time to spare…but not today.

I should have just listened to my wife. She left for work at the normal hour and called me 30 minutes later to say she’d almost spun out in Spaghetti junction. I was a bit alarmed but as my initial plan allowed me two and half hours of travel time, I wasn’t concerned. And as I headed on down 35, things seemed fine - I was clipping along thinking about the mocha I would enjoy while waiting for my plane. But then it happened.

Just south of the last exit for several grueling miles, traffic came to an almost complete stop. For about five miles I was literally idling my way along. To say it was painful just doesn’t do it justice - a stretch that normally takes 10 minutes was pushing an hour. I glanced at the clock, did some math and called my wife. At this moment I figured there was ZERO chance I’d make my flight…none. I had her call Jay and the travel guy to see what my options were. Of course if you’ve flown you pretty much know you must actually miss your flight before you have any chance at redemption.

After what I can only describe as an eternity, I was finally able to exit the parking lot that was 35E south. I figured I was home free. Oh. How. Foolish. Highway 96 wasn’t much better and again a few miles took torturous amounts of time. By now I was thirsty and the windshield wipers were working overtime. After agonizingly slow progress I was finally able to head south - towards my ultimate destination (though the idiot that decided she should plow ahead as I was turning left on a yellow arrow - I’m not sure what you were trying to prove by gunning it off the green light but good for you for almost clipping me, I’m sure that would have gotten you to work right quick).

Lexington avenue was moving right along and for the first time all morning rays of hope warmed my face. I thought there might be a chance - slim as it may be - to make my flight. Off I drove cutting over to Snelling which would take me most of the way to the airport. Woops, got a little ahead of myself. Though not nearly as bad as 35E, Snelling wasn’t good. My wipers were so bad I had to make a pit stop…but I soldiered on.

Eventually I started making good time though again, looking at the clock I was quite certain I’d have an afternoon at the airport. Eventually I found my way to West Seventh and things were nearly falling into place. FINALLY, I was at the airport…now all I need is a parking space. I mentioned the snow right? Well, the spiral drives at the parking ramp aren’t exactly “dry” by this point in the morning - something I become acutely aware of as my all wheel drive SUV starts to slide a bit going up the embankment. Of course there’s someone *right* on my tail… But I manage to get to the second floor where the signs assure me I’ll find parking.

Around and around I go wondering where these alleged spots are. Again checking the clock wondering how a mere inch of snow turns a 45 minute drive into a three hour slog… Hey, what’s that over there? A SPOT!!! Oh joy! Off I rush to the skyway frantically telling my wife I’ve arrived. At this point my flight is boarding - no doubt about that - and I haven’t cleared security. But I remember back to my last trip out of the A concourse when the very nice Northwest agent told me about the security checkpoint for carry on only.

What’s that sign say? Checkpoint this way! Off I go figuring it’ll be easy to spot. Not so much. I take the tram to the only stop and look around confused. Oh, I see, the security checkpoint sign is by those stairs over there - the ones you’d know to go up if you knew where the magic entrance was. That wasn’t quite the end of my searching but needless to say I did find what I was after.

I ask the TSA agent if I have a shot of making my flight, he looks at his watch and says no problem (which leaves me thinking - are you going to beam me to the gate?) After going through the metal detector twice (darn cell phone) I quickly grab all my stuff and prepare for the sprint I’m about to undertake to the other side of the world. As I’ve described before, the A concourse is a bit of a hike and I’m going out 12 - which darn near is in Stillwater. I huff and puff and show up just in time… Though I wasn’t the last person on the plane, it was tight. But I made it. And I’m now in St. Louis.

This week I’ll heading down to St. Louis to speak at the Gateway JUG care of the No Fluff Just Stuff tour. I’ve heard great things about the group and I’m really looking forward to the trip!

On Thursday, Charles Nutter and Thomas Enebo gave a “breakfast briefing” on JRuby. It’s a good thing Charlie had forwarded the information on to the RUM list because otherwise I for one never would have found it - when someone at work asked about it, Google was fruitless. Anyway, despite the quiet nature of the advertising, there was a decent sized crowd including a couple of old friends.

While I’ve seen the JRuby/Swing demo several times now it never ceases to impress me. The lads have been quite busy and it’s clear their move to Sun has really helped them move their work along. The “schedule” for the next few months is pretty aggressive: February includes Rails 1.2.1 support, running Rails in GlassFish and a public release of the *outstanding* Ruby support that Tor Norby has been baking into NetBeans. Seriously, I think NetBeans will be a force in the Rails/Ruby editor market - it’s very impressive. And don’t get me started about how slick it will be to deploy a Rails app to a Java web server!

Now I know that last line will probably cause a few of the Rails faithful to yack up their favorite caffeinated beverage but for many, I think it could become the deployment option of choice (for a framework that makes so many things so easy…deployment still leaves something to be desired). Of course it will also break down some of the barriers that slows Rails adoption in certain settings though I suspect some developers would sooner have their MacBook Pro sent through a trash compactor than deploy a Rails app to say, WebSphere (hmm, there might be quite a few Java programmers that don’t particularly relish working with WAS).

Anyway, Charlie and Tom are looking at March as the last “pre 1.0″ release with April earmarked for some heavy bug fixing. Oddly they think they’ll have a big announcement in early May (can’t imagine why). JRuby should do an awful lot to make Rails a first class framework in the Java space and may actually stem a bit of the “brain drain” some companies are experiencing. Look to see more and more interest in Rake and migrations in the Java space too…

While I’m sure there are those that think Ruby on the JVM is heretical, JRuby is positioned to add even more fuel to the fire. If Rails made it OK to look at dynamic languages, JRuby is practically going to make it mandatory.

The glamours life that is the speaking circuit. Last night around 8 PM I picked my lovely wife up at exotic MSP only to return 12 hours later to fly to Toronto for the NF event. In general I like MSP - well, I’m familiar with it - but I have to say, “they” have really sucked the romance out of travel. Off with your shoes, take off your belt, put your laptop through separately please, take out your little plastic baggy full of travel size liquids and gels, throw that water away… Man - these new rules *must* be a boon for the in airport kiosk industry.

But you know what the secret is? Never forget, the people working here are doing their best (mostly) and their just following orders. Be civil to them and you’ll be amazed at what you get in return. I know, some of them are, well, dinks, but a smile and a warm comment go a long way. At least it does for me - YMMV.

Today I’m flying out of good old concourse A, a relatively new part of MSP and one I’ve never been to. The kindly woman who checked me in (and also shared a neat little trick, what did I say about that smile? No, I’m not telling…) was right - it is half way to Stillwater! I hope I’m not flying on the plane I see out the window…what was that I said about glamour?

Most of the time I’m traveling out of the main part of the airport where you can’t go fifty feet without running into a Caribou or a McDonald’s but when you’re at A, you better be ready for the duration. Or have the time to run back to C. Seriously, vending machines are you options down here (but they are cheaper…) One thing I can’t figure out though - why does the “the walkway is ending” voice have a British accent? Is that particular vernacular more comforting to international travelers? Oh well, in a few hours I’ll be in Toronto settled in for what I’m sure will be a great weekend and then off to Boston for *the* event of the fall. Other than missing my wife, I’m pumped!

I’ve been so busy the last few weeks that I’ve been remiss in mentioning my schedule. This weekend I’ll be in the Toronto area at the Greater Toronto Software Symposium talking about Ajax and usability. Mr. Ashley has been trying to get me to his neck of the woods for a while now, unfortunately I won’t be there long enough to soak in the local flavor. I haven’t been speaking much of late so I’m really looking forward to connecting with the lads (I suspect there will be some Catan going on…)

From there I head over to Boston for the Ajax Experience where I will be presenting a broad overview of some common Ajax frameworks. Jay and the Ajaxians have put together a fantastic lineup of speakers and it will be an action packed event. A few of my friends managed to wrestle some funding from their respective employers so I’m looking forward to catching up. It’s going to be a busy week for me but I’m really excited!

On Saturday, I had the distinct pleasure of presenting Foundations of Ajax and Pragmatic Usability at the Central Iowa Software Symposium. As regular readers know, I’ve attended NFJS events in the past (take a look at my thoughts on this year’s MN show: day 1, day 2, day 3 and of course quotes) but this was my first go at actually presenting. If you’ve ever attended a NF event, you know how outstanding the speakers are so I was really honored when Jay Zimmerman gave me the green light! Based on the feedback I received, I think I held my own which is saying quite a bit when you’re sandwiched by the likes of David Hussman, Venkat Subramaniam, Glenn Vanderburg and a host of outstanding technical minds.

I want to thank everyone that came to my talks - especially those that came up during the breaks to chat! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to stick around for very long (though I thoroughly enjoyed Scott Davis‘ talk on Easing into Agile - oh, and thanks to Scott, his mom, and Matt for making me feel right at home). My apologies for the handouts, I will get that corrected (though I know that is of little help to the good folk in Iowa). For your viewing pleasure, I’ve uploaded the slides (FoA, Pragmatic Usability) and as usual these are released under a Creative Commons license.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

If you’re interested in hearing me present either of these talks, I’ll be at the Southern Ohio Software Symposium in two weeks - hope to see you there!