Coding Dojo #3 on Monday July 12th
posted: July 9th, 2010
Exciting news, your wait is nearly over. Monday we’ll be enjoying our 3rd Coding dojo. As usual, the challenge will be a surprise, but it will be chosen so that all experience levels can contribute. This time I have some books from O’Reilly to offer to people. I’ll give details at the meeting.
But what is a coding dojo? It is a collaborative project where we break into randomly assigned teams to accomplish a set goal. Sometimes we achieve our goal, sometimes we don’t, but we learn from each other as we work together and at the end share our successes and failures. The projects are fun and challenging and will make you a better web developer.
As usual, the location will be at Impromptu Studio, downtown Des Moines. Bring your laptop if you have one. We really need to start promptly at 7:00. Please RSVP (leave a comment here or reply on twitter)
Coding dojo #2 code at github
posted: June 15th, 2010
I’ve updated our branch on github with the reference code from last Monday’s coding dojo. Please, send me your code or if you’re comfortable using github for our code, add yours and request me to merge it in. (emailing a zip file is fine but tell me your group number).
You’ll see week 2’s folder is 2010-06-07 and under that will be a folder for each group (they were numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4-5). Also is my prototype that I created while developing the challenge.
As a bonus, I’ve added the dsmwebapps folder to the root of the branch. This is the exact, ugly, horrible code at dsmwebapps.appspot.com which is where we published the web service. I foresee needing code hosting for future code dojos so we can just update this for each new challenge as needed.
2nd Coding dojo on June 7th
posted: May 27th, 2010
We had excellent feedback and participation from the last coding dojo. Everyone contributed, from designers, to JS newbies, to backend experts, there was something for everyone. It was so much fun, we’re doing it again!
Daniel Shipton picked the last challenge, to create a URL shortening service. This time I get to pick. I’ve stepped up to the challenge and chosen the topic, prepared the assets and even completed the challenge on my own to make sure it was achievable.
You’ll have to attend the event at 7:00 on June 7th to learn what the challenge will be, but I’ve designed it to be something anyone who calls them self (or aspires to be) a web geek can contribute to.
As usual, the location will be at Impromptu Studio, downtown Des Moines. Bring your laptop if you have one. We really need to start promptly at 7:00. Please RSVP (leave a comment here or reply on twitter)
Coding Dojo this Monday, May 3rd
posted: April 28th, 2010
You’re not going to want to miss out on Monday’s meeting. We’ll be bringing an entirely new concept to Des Moines – the Coding Dojo. Instead of our usual monthly meetup we’ll be exploring this collaborative web development strategy.
We’ll create spontaneous groups of people with varrying skill levels who will then work together to solve the programming challenge of the evening. It will be collaborative, it will be fun, it will be challenging.
You do not need to register for this event but you should so that we can accurately plan. You are welcome and encouraged to bring your laptop. Be prepared to think.
RSVP in one of the following ways:
- Via Facebook
- Send a message to @dsmwebgeeks on twitter
- Leave a comment here
This event is located at Impromptu Studio (map and directions) and will begin at 7:00 on Monday, May 3rd.
Facebook Now Drives More Traffic to Key Sites Than Google
posted: February 16th, 2010
“According to Web measurement firm Compete Inc., Facebook has passed search-engine giant Google to become the top source for traffic to major portals like Yahoo and MSN, and is among the leaders for other types of sites.
This trend is shifting the way Web site operators approach online marketing, even as Google takes steps to move into the social-media world.
Some experts say social media could become the Internet’s next search engine.”
That last line is key. I see Facebook starting to look more like Google while Google tries and stumbles at becoming more social. Bing will start to play a central supporting role here. I see Facebook and Bing becoming an “Axis of FTW” that will disrupt Google on every front. (Microsoft is an Edelman client.)You can already see it coming…
- Titan/Facebook Chat will challenge Gmail in communications
- Facebook pages will disrupt Google – especially if they were to integrate Bing Maps and location technology a la Foursquare. This can quickly position Facebook as the Web’s Yellow Pages, an area that Google and Yelp currently dominate
- Facebook will make search more social, allowing it to become annotated and curated. This up-ends Google’s core business. It also makes the Facebook self-serve advertising model smarter and more effective as it collects more data about where it sends traffic. This threatens Adwords
Social networking is here to stay. It’s where attention spirals are flowing and no one looms larger than Facebook. (Link sharing on Facebook rose 500% in six months.) And while Facebook has plenty of critics and they run into the occasional privacy concerns, I believe that they will dominate the landscape the next few years. In fact, I see them becoming the number one web site in the world in under three years. It could eat the web.Now a lot could go wrong. It is possible that Facebook will become AOL the sequel. But I don’t see it. There’s no alternative and the more we put into Facebook the more value we gain from it. This is a different era where vertical integration (e.g. owning and controlling the whole experience) is a major plus, especially if it’s elegant and simple. There’s too much information and things vying for our attention today. This turns vertical integration and simplicity into a competitive advantage.So what does this mean? I believe business web sites will become less important over time. They will be primarily transactional and/or for utility. Brands will shift more of their dollars and resources to creating robust presence where people already are and figure out how to activate employees en masse in a way that builds relationships and drives traffic back to their sites to complete transactions. Media companies will do the same – they will be “headless.”Google and search will remain important for years to come. However, what we’re seeing is the beginning of big changes where social networking and Facebook will further disrupt advertising, media, one-to-one and one-to-many communications, not to mention search.
I disagree with Steve about facebook hurting adsense. The reason adsense works so good is because when people are searching for information they’re more willing to consider ads, while at all other times on the net ads are an intrusion, not an aid. Therefore advertising on social networking sites will not be nearly as effective *for advertisers* (and therefore as valuable) as ads on search.
That said, fascinating post about how Facebook is becoming an intermediary for driving users to content. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Say What?
Des Moines Web Geeks is a group of web professionals and enthusiasts looking to meet, share ideas and have some fun. Everyone is welcome to join and participate. Have an idea for a session? contact me.
