Part of the fun of working on open-source projects is the fact you get to connect with other developers all over the world in a collaborative fashion. Using Internet Relay Chat (IRC), you can connect to other Elgg developers for help or discussion.
If you’re new to IRC, check out the wikipedia article on the subject and download a good IRC client (for Windows) (for Linux KDE).
To connect to the Elgg channel, connect to irc.freenode.org. Then, join channel #elgg.
See you there!
Earlier today, I had a thought: What if a few of us got together to develop specs for a PC-based open-source games console that uses a bootable Linux-based game DVD for games?
I blogged about the awesome boot’n'play Linux CD before, but it still relies on someone to burn the disc and reboot their machine. Also, this requires gamers to (unless they have a unique set-up) sit at their desk and look at their computer monitor to play games. Finally, you always hope that the bootable disc supports your graphics or sound hardware.
Why can’t we put together some specs for a cheap gaming PC in a mini-atx case, include a TV-out card that has composite, S-Video, and Component output, and offer downloadable ISO game-packs from a website. The system can have a hard disk or can save the games to a USB memory card.
The goal is to make the gaming system as easy to use as, say, a GameCube.
Download the ISO, burn the disc, put it in the console and play.
We’re already half there — the games console could easily use the boot’n'play Linux CD I spoke about earlier. It kind of makes you wonder why this hasn’t been done already?
I got back from the 6th Guelph DemoCamp around 9:00pm last night. Free beer, free food, a group of 50 or more programmers, and one block away from my apartment. Guelph rules :)
If you live in the Guelph area and you’re interested in going to the next one, there will be another DemoCamp on the 17th of September 2008. You should be there. Presenting stuff is easy: You get 5 minutes to set up, 5 minutes to talk, and 5 minutes to answer questions from the crowd. If you just want to come listen and mingle that’s cool, too.
I presented Jack of All Links to the crowd and it went really well. There were a couple of guys from WeGoWeGo, which is a startup that’s gearing up in Toronto as well as a few other people presenting technology or software they wrote. I really enjoyed it.
I was really surprised at the size of the crowd! I figured there might be at maximum 10 people (I mean, how many programmers *are* there around here anyway) but there were over 50. Exciting!
Internet Startups and Web 2.0 In Guelph
If you’re in the Guelph area and you’re looking for new and interesting internet startups, come to the 6th DemoCamp in Guelph on July 9th. It’ll be at The Albion Hotel (49 Norfolk St.) and I’ll be there presenting and promoting Jack of All Links, which is the social search engine I launched earlier this year. You can read more about Jack of All Links in a blog post made early last May.
What is DemoCampGuelph?
The origin of DemoCampGuelph is from the event known as BarCamp, which is a collaborative workshop / presentation / networking event where developers and businessmen/women share their latest endeavor whether it be a startup or tool or prototype. There’s only one major rule: No powerpoint!
From the website:
“What could I demo?
The real question is, what would other people find interesting? A web app or cool piece of software you wrote, a neat prototype or project you were part of, even some obscure tool or weird hack you’ve found that others would find useful, astounding or entertaining. Commercial, open source, homebrew hack, whatever… if you can show it off in five minutes, and think it’ll generate questions, conversation or feedback, come out and demo it!”
A similar event takes place in Waterloo, as well. Check it out!