Slides from KCDC 2011

These are the slides from my Google App Engine talk presented at the Kansas City Developer Conference (KCDC) this past weekend. (June 25th).

The Python momentum and PyCon 2011

In light of TIOBE's recent announcement, I was again reminded of what a great time it is to be a Pythonista and part of the Python community. This was also a week of great excitement around PyCon 2011 with the announcement of the final list of talks and tutorials for the conference, in what's shaping to be the best PyCon to date.

On that note I wanted to share a message from Jesse Noller, PyCon's Program Committee Chair:

I'm very pleased to announce, on behalf of the PyCon 2011 Program
committee, and entire PyCon 2011 volunteer staff, that the full list
of PyCon 2011 talks is now public, and available!

This was an especially hard year for the PyCon program committee: we
had over 200 proposals for only 95 total slots, so we ended up having
to reject a lot of excellent proposals. We've spent the better part of
the last few months in reviews, meetings and debates selecting which
talks would be in the final PyCon program. It was not and easy task -
all of the proposal authors really came through in their proposals -
the number of high quality proposals we had to chose from was simply
staggering.

That said - the program committee completed it's work yesterday
morning. Acceptance and rejection letters have been sent, and you can
now view the full program on the site:

http://us.pycon.org/2011/schedule/lists/talks/

This obviously complements the list of tutorials also available:

http://us.pycon.org/2011/schedule/lists/tutorials/

Personally, this is my second year acting as the Program Committee
chair (and hence, my last) - and between the talk list, and the list
of tutorials, our current keynote speaker
(http://us.pycon.org/2011/home/keynotes/) and the emerging line of up
poster sessions - I'm extremely proud to have been part of the
process, and extremely excited about the upcoming conference. It is
going to be amazing

One behalf of the entire PyCon 2011 staff, I want to again thank every
single talk author for their submission(s), and I look forward to
seeing all of you, and them at the conference. PyCon is an amazing
conference only because of the quality talks, tutorials and community
we have. I'm confident this one will knock it out of the park.

As a reminder: Early Bird registration
(http://us.pycon.org/2011/tickets/) closes January 17th - and we have
an attendance cap of 1500 total attendees (speakers are counted
against this number, and guaranteed a slot) so be sure to register
today!

Jesse Noller
PyCon 2011

I was fortunate enough to be part of PyCon's Program Committee this year and be involved on the selection process for these talks, it was a great process (and a lot of work) and we're all thrilled with the final outcome and hope this year's PyCon reflects the great momentum Python is currently enjoying.

Review: The Quick Python Book, Second Edition

Vern Ceder

This is IMHO the *best* book to learn Python for professional programmers or people that already know how to program on a different language.

If you're interested in learning Python but want to quickly get up to speed not only on the language itself but its real essence, its elegant syntax and effective coding style, this is really the book for you. It has all the basic stuff without the "fluff". You don't have to put up with basic tutorials for non-programmers or super advanced topics for language experts, Just what you need to start effectively writing Python code that is up to the standards of the Python community.

This won't be your only Python book, but it definitely has to be your first!!!

On the last few chapters it'll scratch the surface of more advanced topics and effectively point you to a wealth of online resources, where you'd be able to learn more and then decide if you want to continue on your own or pick a more advanced book focused on a specific topic.

It's a great book not only to learn the syntax and features, but grasp the "Zen" of Python which makes it such an elegant and "sexy" language.

from antigravity import Flying

Recovery from Addiction

It took me a while but I finally found it... this video is excellent, and as a recovering addict this video keeps me going ;-)

Hope you enjoy!!!