Aloha!
Thanks to the wonderful Gray Herter, we have pictures of most of the speakers from Aloha on Rails.
Mahalo for the pics, Gray!
Speaker Pictures Are Available
November 7th, 2009Card Game Winners
October 6th, 2009To all those who tried it, mahalo for playing Pāʻani Pepa, the Aloha on Rails Official Card Game. It was a real experiment, and we appreciate you rolling with the ups and downs.
We took this snapshot of the Leader Board at 3:49 pm HST. If you are in the top 45 or so, please meet with Seth immediately following the conference. We’ll move down the list, giving the first person the first choice of prize. If you’re not there when we call your name, you lose your chance to pick.
Please use the comments of this post for any feedback or suggestions you have for the game.
Congrats to our winners, and thanks for playing!
For players that have signed into the game at least once. Updated at Tue Oct 06 18:49:21 -0700 2009. 1. Jordan Isip : 838 2. Savara Sid : 633 3. Baker Luke : 611 4. Jess Mauer : 410 5. Anthony Eden : 407 6. Burger David : 387 7. Gaio Michael : 381 8. Marty Haught : 342 9. Hagius Walker : 326 10. Price Wes : 307 11. ENGLISH KEVIN : 299 12. Wang Andrew : 282 13. Brenda Strech : 280 14. Jon Suderman : 248 15. Michael O'Sullivan : 238 16. Michalczik Jasper : 236 17. Mark Ranallo : 222 18. Seth Ladd : 220 19. Matthew Williams : 217 20. Hoang Vince : 210 21. Cole Carson : 206 22. Nicholas Brochu : 198 23. Ip Justin : 190 24. Phil Cohen : 188 25. Olson Rick : 185 26. Matthew McVickar : 184 27. Matthew Wastrodowski : 183 28. Taylor Jeremy C : 181 29. James Martens : 170 30. Ben Trevino : 168 31. Andrew Canfield : 164 32. Zhou Wenyi : 158 33. Chris Selmer : 153 34. Little Timothy : 152 35. Scott Chacon : 150 36. Wyatt Ferreira : 146 37. Sarah Mei : 146 38. Desi McAdam : 146 39. Dighe Vikram : 132 40. Shawn Drost : 131 41. Charles Nutter : 108 42. Jim Weirich : 105 43. Jussi Sipola : 102 44. Sean O'Brien : 99 45. Spangle Travis : 98 46. Tammer Saleh : 94 47. Trey White : 93 48. Chesley Tyler : 93 49. baldwin andrew : 93 50. Forde Pete : 92 51. Maika Saguid : 92 52. Clarke Joe : 89 53. David Croswell : 84 54. Obie Fernandez : 81 55. caleb cohoon : 81 56. Huggins Kieran : 79 57. MATHURIN Gilles : 78 58. Olausson Thomas : 77 59. Beutel J David : 74 60. Nicole Hori : 74 61. Park Donald : 72 62. Juselis Jane : 72 63. Byrd Marc : 71 64. Cory Shaw : 67 65. Lamb Lai : 66 66. Peter Liew : 65 67. Reid MacDonald : 57 68. Apao George : 56 69. Yung Wing : 53 70. Aaron Longwell : 52 71. Katzman Phillip : 51 72. ramin keene : 49 73. Gregg Pollack : 44 74. Kim Bruce : 44 75. Bloch Alain : 23 76. Walker Robert : 17 77. Corey Donohoe : 17 78. Yi Dan : 12 79. Jesse Copeland : 8 80. Myron Marston : 0 81. Steve Sloan : 0 82. Veenstra Ron : 0 83. Sussman Kurt : 0 84. Eden Darrin : 0 85. Ritari Alan : 0 86. Kevin Folan : 0 87. Jennifer Geis : 0 88. John Postlethwait : 0 89. Mattias A : 0 90. Blythe Dunham : 0 91. Pat Maddox : 0 92. Nathaniel Brown : 0 93. Darron Froese : 0 94. Boonstra Joel : 0 95. Lee Laurence : 0 96. Preston Ma : 0 97. Duckart Frank : 0 98. Mayer Ken : 0 99. Lewis Skip : 0
Trade Cards, Win Prizes with Pāʻani Pepa
October 5th, 2009Aloha!
All attendees are invited to play Pāʻani Pepa, the Aloha on Rails Official Card Game. Trade cards, organize cards, and win our fabulous prizes!
Check your email that you used when you signed up. It will contain your password.
Enjoy and have fun!
Hike Tantalus on Sunday with Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club
October 1st, 2009Aloha!
The Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, founded in 1910, leads hikes all over Oahu. They perform trail clearings and help both locals and visitors explore the island.
This Sunday, Oct 4th, HTMC will lead a hike around Tantalus Mountain. The trail is 6 miles long. It traverse a diverse, lush rain forest. At 1.5 miles there is a lookout of Nu’uanu Valley. Hikers can turn back at this point or continue, climbing a steep sloop and going down to explore Paoa Valley.
Kevin English, a local Rails hacker, surfer, and hiker, will help lead the hike.
If you are staying in Waikiki, it’s very easy to join the hike. Meet at Iolani Palace at 8am. For the full hike bring 2 liters of water and a lunch. It will take about 4-5 hours. If you are only interested in the short, flat portion of the hike, bring 1 liter of water and a snack. Call Kevin English at 271-5125 if you are coming, would like a ride, or have any questions about the hike.
Join Us for Drinks, Art, and Chinatown Oct 2
September 29th, 2009Aloha!
Many of our Aloha on Rails attendees are coming to Hawaii early to enjoy the island. If you are on Oahu on October 2nd, we recommend coming down to Chinatown for First Friday. First Friday happens the first Friday of every month in Honolulu’s Chinatown district. You’ll experience the local scene as you bounce between art shows and happy hours.
To get the most out of First Friday, just come down to Chinatown, and start following the crowds. The area is small enough to easily walk everywhere, but big enough to explore the whole night.
The main attractions are the bars and the art galleries, which seem to fuse into this meta-event alive with its own pulse. Most of the art galleries are open with extended hours, pupus, and special exhibits. The many bars have happy hour specials, and will be packed with locals enjoying the Aloha Friday.
The Chinatown Boardroom is a personal favorite, featuring hand painted surfboards and other eclectic art. This Friday they will feature Monster Mash, featuring artists that have “been asked to create a monster to be mixed and mashed.”
We highly recommend this event. It’s chill, local, and full of surprises. Take a walk around and you’ll certainly find something interesting.
There are lots of restaurants to choose from, from the Hukilau to Little Village to Indigo. Other choices include JJ Dolans, Soul de Cuba, and Brasseire Du Vin.
Of course, no evening out is complete without a stop to the watering hole. Check out Indigo, JJ Dolan, 39 Hotel, and Bar 35. There are plenty other options, all inside Chinatown. Just follow the crowds.
If you are driving, there are municipal parking lots in Chinatown.
TheBus is a really easy option from Waikiki (with the bonus that no one has to be designated driver!) Each ride is $2.25, and bring exact change. ProTip: ask for a transfer which is good for a few hours and good for your ride home (within the time range allowed.) Just take the B Express line, picking it up on Kuhio Ave (running through Waikiki). Be sure to wait at a CityExpress stop to catch the B! You can also pick up the 2 or 13 from Kuhio, but that’s not express. Consider buying the $25 4 Day Pass, which gives you unlimited rides anywhere TheBus travels.
Follow @sethladd or @alohaonrails, or your other favorite Aloha on Rails attendees, to find out where we are. Some of us will be using GoWalla, so you might see the updates there, too.
Limited Seats Now Available
September 24th, 2009Aloha!
Due to the incredible support, interest, and sign ups to our waiting list, we’ve worked with the venue to move to a bigger space. This means we’re able to open registration again for a limited time and a limited amount of seats.
Our waiting list will get the first chance to register for Aloha on Rails, the Hawaii Ruby on Rails Conference. Soon after, we’ll open registration to the general public. Our advice: check our registration page frequently today, as you won’t want to miss this limited chance. We will be releasing a few seats by 11:00am HST today!
If you are on the waiting list, you should receive an email with further instructions.
Mahalo for your support and patience, and we’re looking forward to seeing you in Waikiki!
Rainforest Hike to a Waterfall and Swimming Pool
September 22nd, 2009Aloha!
Oahu is filled with interesting and beautiful places. All you have to do is venture out of Waikiki to see the Hawaii you’re dreaming of: vast valley landscapes, waterfalls, luscious tropical rain forests, bamboo forests, and towering cliffs and mountain ranges. You’ll experience all of that at the Maunawili Falls Trail, on the Windward side of Oahu. We highly recommend this hike if only for the experience of playing in a waterfall in the middle of a Hawaiian rainforest.
The Maunawili Falls Trail is of medium difficulty. That is, it’s not paved and there is a bit of up and down, but it’s a relatively short trail and you can do it in about 1.5 to 2 hours. You’ll cross a few streams, so expect to get your feet wet. It’ll all be worth it, as you’ll end up at a big swimming pool and waterfall. You’ll probably find people jumping into the pool.
This is a fairly well maintained trail that is easy to follow. You can even park close to the trail head, which is in a residential neighborhood. Be respectful of people’s homes when starting or returning from your hike.
Bring plenty of water and snacks, and wear your bathing suit!
Schedule Posted
September 19th, 2009Aloha!
We’re excited to announce the formal schedule for Aloha on Rails, the Hawaii Ruby on Rails Conference! We’ve put together two amazing days of quality, relevant, timely, and thought provoking sessions. A big mahalo to our speakers for sharing their story. And a really big mahalo to all our attendees and guests who are coming to share in the discussion.
Putting together a schedule is not easy. There were a few things we had to balance to ensure a quality program.
First and foremost, we know that single track sessions are very popular with attendees. No one is forced into a potentially difficult decision of what talk to attend. Also, annecdotal evidence suggests that the entire crowd attends every session, then discussion and debate increases (a major goal of any conference) as everyone has experienced the same material.
We were incredibly lucky and humbled to receive an overwhelming amount of talk proposals. So many talks captured our theme of “Talk Story” or discussed cutting edge technologies that a single track format wouldn’t cut it. Therefore, we are attempting a hybrid Single/Dual Track conference format. As you can see in the schedule, approximately half the day will be Single Track, while the other half will be Dual Track. We tried to put the technology-specific talks into the dual track, as those are more specific and therefore focused. The higher level talks, such as those that help you excel at your career, deal with technical debt, or explore the balance between dogmatism and pragmatism in agile methodologies, will be single tracked.
In talking with other conference organizers and attendees to previous regional Rails conferences, we received lots of great scheduling feedback. One thing we heard over and over again was, “The hallway conversations are invaluable. Ensure there is a lot of time between sessions.” We heard that loud and clear, and have scheduled a 15 minute break between each session. We hope that’s a good compromise between giving attendees enough time to move between sessions and discuss what they just learned, and not too much time that the flow slows down and everyone loses momentum.
Aloha on Rails is much more than a series of technical and career sessions. We’ve scheduled additional activities to ensure attendees have a well-rounded experience and get the most out of their trip to Hawaii. We’ll start each day with a morning run around Kapiolani Park, sure to kick-start the brain and wake you up. There’s nothing like an early morning jog, with the ocean breeze, to really start your day on a positive note.
To help celebrate the event, our friends, and the fact that we’re in one of the most beautiful places on earth, Agathon Group, an international hosting provider with SaS 70 data centers, has generously sponsored the Official Pau Hana Party for Aloha on Rails! Join us for free drinks and pupus Monday evening at 6pm, across the street at Tiki’s, and watch the sunset over Waikiki Beach with your friends and colleagues.
We’re so excited to host everyone and to put on a great show. We’ll see you in Waikiki!
Watch the Sunset Over Waikiki at the Aloha on Rails Official Pau Hana Party
September 16th, 2009Aloha!
To really enjoy Hawaii, you have to slow down and admire the scenery. Some of the most breathtaking sites in the world can be found in the islands. From the Na Pali Coast of Kauai to the volcanic craters of the Big Island to the Sunsets of Waikiki, nature is on spectacular display every day.
To celebrate that we’ll all be in Hawaii with our friends and peers, Agathon Group, a leader in cloud and grid hosting, has announced the Aloha on Rails Official Pau Hana Party! Pau hana means “after work” in Hawaiian, and is the perfect time to enjoy free drinks and pupus (appetizers) while listening to Hawaiian music as the sun sets over Waikiki Beach.
The party starts at 6pm on Monday, October 5th. Come on over to Tiki’s Grill and Bar, which is next door to the conference venue. Tiki’s is an open air restaurant and bar, featuring spectacular views of Waikiki Beach, live local music, and Tikis everywhere.
Agathon Group will be providing free drinks, pupus, and prizes. After a productive and thought provoking day at the conference, come relax, have a drink, and carry on the conversations and debates with your friends and colleagues.
Mahalo for coming to Aloha on Rails, and we’ll see you at the party!
Learn to Surf at Aloha on Rails
September 13th, 2009Aloha!
Hawaiians had such an advanced culture that they had time to invent things like surfing. No trip to Oahu is complete without jumping in the water of Waikiki on a surfboard and catching a few waves. If you already know how to surf, you’ll undoubtedly want to surf either the south shore or, if you are experienced, the famous North Shore. If you are new to surfing, then there is quite possibly no better place to learn how to surf than Waikiki.
Lessons on Waikiki Beach
There are a few ways to get started, but the easiest and quickest way is to rent a board from one of the Beach Boys on Waikiki Beach. The surf break is called Canoes, and our friends at Hawaiirama explain it best:
A good portion of Canoes is a sand bottom break and the better waves definitely break further outside although even those waves are pretty friendly to beginners. The crowds are extremely mellow, although it does get crowded. The better surfers expect to see beginners there so no one loses their cool. All of the surfboard concessions are there and its the place the original Waikiki Beachboys offered lessons. You can go to rent surfboards, usually $20 or $25 for two hours, meet the beach boys, and get a surf lesson.
No reservations are necessary, everything is super chill. Just walk down Waikiki Beach until you see a kiosk with a bunch of surfboards propped up everywhere. Simply walk up and let them know you’re ready to catch a wave. A beach boy will show you how to stand up, take you out, and even put you in the right spot. Nearly everyone (and I really do mean nearly everyone) gets up on a board numerous times. They will rent you a very big surf board, making it really easy to paddle and catch a wave. A big board will make it easy to balance and harder to fall off.
Once you have the hang of catching the waves, you can easily move on to just renting the board and going out on your own. Waikiki is a perfect place to learn and it’s big enough so that everyone has room to practice.
Surf School
After you’ve “gotten your feet wet” surfing (pardon that horrible pun), you might consider taking more private or longer lessons from a Surfing School. You can arrange for semi-private or private lessons, and get the opportunity surf other parts of the island.
Hawaiian Fire is a recommended Surfing School that will take you to the next level, or give you longer more one on one training. Hawaiian Fire is owned and operated by Hawaii firefighters. They offer group, premium (3:1 student to instructor ratio), and private lessons. All lessons include transportation to and from Waikiki Beach, plus all the gear you’ll need. They explain it best:
Our combination of the very best island firefighter surf instructors, a pristine secluded beach with perfect rolling beginner waves and the use of state-of-the-art safety equipment has been our recipe for success.
You’ll learn how to to surf, but most importantly you’ll have a lot of fun.
Hans Hedemann Surf School is another option, with a location in Waikiki that is one block away from the conference venue. HH Surf offers private, semi-private, and group lessons.
Your Fellow Hacker/Surfers
However you do it, we hope you’ll make it into the water to ride the waves of Waikiki and Hawaii. We’ll have lots of hacker/surfers at the conference to answer your questions and even take you out surfing. Look for Anthony Eden, Mark Johnson, Michael Nieling, Cory Shaw, or Kevin English, just to name a few. In fact, Cory has written a post with lots of surfing tips for beginners.
One of our speakers, Corey Donohoe, is putting together a group to learn surfing before or after the conference. Drop Corey a note and let him know you’re down for some surfing safari!
Mahalo and see you in the water!
