Josh Holmes

eRubyCon 2008 Day 3

joshholmes — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:16:38 GMT

I'm sitting in the back of day 3 reflecting on the previous two days. It's amazing the group of people that Joe has put together here to speak on Ruby in the enterprise.

A lot more on my blog at eRubyCon 2008 Day 3

eRubyCon 2008 Day 2

joshholmes — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:00:04 GMT

Yesterday I wrote a write up of eRubyCon 2008 Day 1. I'm learning a ton - the only issue that I've had is that my brain is filling up. It's an amazing conference.

I wrote up day to at eRubyCon 2008 Day 2.

Josh Holmes - eRubyCon 2008 Day 1

joshholmes — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:36:21 GMT

I'm sitting here at the second Enterprise Ruby Conference (eRubyCon). There's a couple of fun and interesting things that have happened this year.

A lot more on my blog at eRubyCon 2008 Day 1...

Miguel de Icaza on Mono and Moonlight

joshholmes — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:53:12 GMT

Moonlight is still continuing to progress. Moonlight is the open source implementation of Silverlight for Linux. It's being run by Miguel de Icaza of Novell.

There are a couple of things that are interesting to me about this project.

More on my blog at Miguel de Icaza on Mono and Moonlight

Blogging by the Campfire

joshholmes — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:34:46 GMT

There's something surreal about blogging by the campfire watching the sun rise. I'm out with my boys on a guys day out. Ok, I didn't post this from the campfire but I could have since I had cell signal and can tether my phone... But I resisted the urge. What you've got here is what I happened to jot down while my boys were sleeping.

More on my blog at Blogging by the Campfire

Inspired By: Nathan Blevins and Wonderpuzzle

joshholmes — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:27:23 GMT

I thought long and hard about how to write this post. There are a ton of people that have inspired me throughout my life.

I was inspired by Jeff Blankenburg's Contribupendence Day. I was inspired by the original GiveCamp thrown by Toi Wright and Chris Koenig and the latest one hosted by John Hopkins and Jennifer Marsman. I was inspired by Joe O'Brien's passion for Ruby. I was inspired by more people than I can possibly name. I am the person that I am today because of the people that have inspired me through out my life.

More on my blog at Inspired By: Nathan Blevins and Wonderpuzzle...

Ann Arbor GiveCamp 2008

joshholmes — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:35:44 GMT

This past weekend was the Ann Arbor GiveCamp 2008. The idea is Geeks Giving Back. The GiveCamp organized a number of charities(15) and a number of developers (over a hundred signed up and 90ish showed - I don't have exact numbers). We showed up on Friday night at 5:00 and started work. At 3:00 on Sunday afternoon, we showed what we had accomplished. In many cases, the charities just needed a web site or a better web site. In some cases, they needed real programming work done.

Lots more on my blog at Ann Arbor GiveCamp 2008...

Welcome to the Team - DJ Fury is rockin DPE

joshholmes — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:01:17 GMT

This has been a little while coming but one of our recently additions to the DPE Academic team is Devaris Brown, aka DJ Fury, aka The Furious One.

More on my blog at Welcome to the Team - DJ Fury is rockin DPE

Public Speaking - Great Beginnings

joshholmes — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:08:50 GMT

I'm giving a talk next week at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC). I happen to be in the fun position where I'm directly following the keynote. I've sat in on content reviews and keynote writing sessions so I know the messaging from that talk and the overlap that there will be with my session.

One of the services that they offer to their speakers is a speech coach. It's the first time that I've worked with one one on one. I sat through a class offered by a different conference a number of years back. It was fairly useless so I didn't have high hopes for another speaker coach. Boy was I wrong.

More on my blog at Public Speaking - Great Beginnings.

Solid Error Messages

joshholmes — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:34:48 GMT

Writing good error messages is an art form. It's important though because the error messages are often the only communication with the user in an already frustrating situation for said user. More about this sensitive topic on my blog at Solid Error Messages.

Ranting and Raving or Getting Results?

joshholmes — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:29:02 GMT

I've been at Microsoft a little over a year and a half. I'm very excited about a number of the new technologies that are here and on the coming roadmap. Microsoft is at a point where it's more open than it's ever been. The level of community involvement in projects like the ASP.NET MVC framework, IronRuby and much more has been historic.

I get that it could always be better. But don't (as Joe Brinkman put it) throw a brick through my window to tell me that... More on my blog at Ranting and Raving or Getting Results?

My Daily TED

joshholmes — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:52:09 GMT

A few weeks back John Hopkins forwarded me a video from TED. Specifically he sent me a talk by Clifford Stoll called "18 minutes with an agile mind" that he thought reminded him of me. Not because of the brilliance that he showed but because of the ADD nature of the speaker. I was blown away. Much more on my blog at My Daily TED.

Software Development Meme

joshholmes — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:03:45 GMT

Jeff Blankenburg called me out with his Software Development Meme. It's actually a funny thing that he did because I have a much different background than much of the industry. My undergrad is actually English with a minor in Drama and a minor in Communications. When others are talking about programming outside of the box, I ask the really simple question of "What box? - nobody told me about a box..."

More on my blog at Software Development Meme

Doing a Demo while Public Speaking

joshholmes — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:12:01 GMT

As I've started writing about public speaking, I have started getting great questions that lead to more blog posts - keep those coming! I was talking to a fellow speaker (who can identify himself in the comments if he so chooses) and they brought up the fact that it's hard for them to prepare a demo. So I've tackled this tough issue on my blog at Doing a Demo while Public Speaking

Prepare Yourself To Give a Great Talk

joshholmes — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:00:12 GMT

In my ongoing series about public speaking, I'm writing about preparing for a presentation. Preparation is key in giving a great presentation. More on my blog at Prepare Yourself To Give a Great Talk.