Everything CUSEC

The last keynote speaker from CUSEC 2008 was Jeff Atwood, popular blogger at Coding Horror and recent founder of Stack Overflow. In this talk he gives some great advice about writing, communicating, and how that could be the most important skill an engineer needs.

Follow along with the slides: cusec.net/archives/2008/jeff_atwood.pdf

Jeff Atwood – Is Writing More Important Than Programming? from CUSEC on Vimeo.

Abstract: Programming, like all writing, is just another form of communication. Writing code that the compiler understands is easy. Writing code that other people understand is far more difficult. And that’s assuming you’re persuasive enough to convince other people that your code, in a world positively overflowing with free code, is worth looking at in the first place. Good luck. You’re gonna need it. History books are written by the winners and the winners in the software industry were those whose voices were heard over the din. Code speaks, but writing– for machines and the people who love them– speaks loudest of all.

Finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Here is the video of Zed Shaw’s keynote speech from CUSEC 2008. This was the opening keynote in 2008 and was repeatedly quoted by many delegates for the rest of the conference. Our feedback forms consistently said “Zed Shaw” was their favourite part of CUSEC, and suggested we have more steaks and strippers. Don’t get it? Watch this video.

A tale of suspense, intrigue, corporate greed, and the stupidity of an authorization mechanism that isn’t turing complete. With code.

Zed Shaw – The ACL is Dead from CUSEC on Vimeo.

And remember, if you’re a student you can still take advantage of the early-bird registration price.

Dr. Jeffrey Ullman is the Stanford W. Ascherman Professor of Computer Science (Emeritus). His interests include database theory, database integration, data mining, and education using the information infrastructure. We were fortunate enough to have him as a keynote for CUSEC 2008. Here’s his presentation from CUSEC 2008.

Accompanying slides: http://cusec.net/archives/2008/jeffrey_ullman.pdf

Abstract: Some of the most profound ways in which the Web changes our lives would not have happened without a heavy dose of computer-science theory. PageRank, and how it makes Google work, is a well-known example, but there are many others. We shall explore briefly some of the interesting algorithms, such as PageRank variants, minhashing, and locality-sensitive hashing that have given us surprising capabilities.

Dr. Jeffrey Ullman – When Theory Matters from CUSEC on Vimeo.

Concordia’s Dr. Peter Grogono has been a friend of CUSEC for some time, speaking at many of our conferences and always showing off some cool research. Here’s his presentation from CUSEC 2008.

Accompanying slides: http://cusec.net/archives/2008/peter_grogono.pdf

Dr. Peter Grogono – Living with Concurrency from CUSEC on Vimeo.

Biography: Dr. Peter Grogono is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Concordia University. Before entering the groves of academe, he developed software in a variety of application domains, including pattern recognition, operating systems, highway construction, electronic music, games, and accounting. His principal interest is in tools that help programmers to efficiently produce high-quality software, especially programming languages and development environments. He has given keynotes at four previous CUSECs.

Abstract: Many universities have introduced undergraduate software engineering degrees during the last decade. Are they doing a good job? Is industry getting what it needs? Most current degree programs are doing well for now, but the industry is changing fast, and universities must keep up with it. Herb Sutter says that the “next software revolution” will be about concurrency. Is industry ready for it? Are universities ready for it? Objects, aspects, and concurrency will make a very rich mixture – perhaps too rich. Effective use of new hardware will require drastic change: perhaps even a new programming paradigm. We will outline a modest proposal.

Jon Udell was one of our keynote speakers at CUSEC 2008, delivering this talk on the social dimension to engineering. This is some awesome stuff.

Jon Udell – Hacking the Noosphere from CUSEC on Vimeo.

Abstract: We learn, teach, and work in an increasingly connected world. Computer and information sciences supply the raw connectivity. But it’s people, interacting on networks, in information-rich contexts, who weave the fabric of knowledge and action. To empower them, we need to add a social dimension to our engineering practice.

Biography: Jon Udell is an author, information architect, software developer, and new media innovator. His 1999 book, Practical Internet Groupware, helped lay the foundation for what we now call social software. Udell has been a software developer at Lotus, was BYTE Magazine’s executive editor and Web maven, and has worked as an independent consultant.

A hands-on thinker, Udell’s analysis of industry trends has always been informed by his own ongoing experiments with software, information architecture, and new media.

From 2002 to 2006 he was InfoWorld’s lead analyst, author of the weekly Strategic Developer column, and blogger-in-chief. During his InfoWorld tenure he also produced a monthly series of screencasts about software, and a weekly series of audio interviews with innovators — which now continues at ITConversations.

In January 2007 he joined Microsoft as a technical evangelist. In his new role he’ll continue to explore and explain a broad portfolio of technologies, both inside and outside Microsoft. He aims to build bridges not only within the technical community but also, and crucially, across the chasm that divides elite technologists from everybody else.

Sylvain Carle dwells in emerging technologies; he has been on the bleeding edge of new media and networked applications for more than 10 years. Communications tools, XML web services, digital media and Free Software, Open source and open standards are amongst his core expertise. Strong communicator and advocate for pragmatic IT, he’s one of the cofounders and CTO of Praized Media, a newly funded startup in local search, and serves as an advisor for several startups in the Montreal area.

Presentation Slides (pdf)

Sylvain Carle – We Didn’t Start the Fire from CUSEC on Vimeo.

In case you’re still not convinced about the caliber of presenters and presentations you can experience at CUSEC, here is the first in our video series showcasing the keynote speakers from the CUSEC 2008 conference.

Tim Bray managed the Oxford English Dictionary project at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada in 1987–1989, co-founded Open Text Corporation in 1989, launched one of the first public web search engines in 1995, co-invented XML 1.0 and co-edited “Namespaces in XML” between 1996 and 1999, founded Antarctica Systems in 1999, and served as a Tim Berners-Lee appointee on the W3C Technical Architecture Group in 2002–2004. Currently, he serves as Director of Web Technologies at Sun Microsystems, publishes a popular weblog, and co-chairs the IETF AtomPub Working Group. [From Oram & Wilson’s “Beautiful Code”, 2007]

Tim Bray – Hard Problems in Network Computing from CUSEC on Vimeo

Tim Bray, the hat-wearing gentleman he is, has jumped on the buzz train!

(Not to be confused with the fizz-buzz version thereof.)

In this first edition of the events spotlights, I’ve decided to present to you Sylvain Carle, whose most recent project is a startup called Praized Media Inc. (http://praizedmedia.com), which is set to launch very soon.

I really absolutely wanted to have a “startup”-themed event this year. Let’s face it, as we continue riding this long-tail-web-two-oh wave, more and more startups have been popping up, often led by fresh-faced newly graduated geeks, ready to risk it all. As this wave continues to gain momentum, more and more experience is being acquired and with this, knowledge of what it takes to make it after all. Take for example Paul Graham and his Y Combinator project, who’s helping pave the way to startup stardom in a few “simple” steps.

This is where Sylvain comes in. I first met him at BarCampMontreal3 this fall, where I was on the lookout for some neat new ideas that I could share with all you CUSEC attendees. (Something you all could get excited about, but that you could also really make use of, you know?) This guy started his presentation on “Startup Kung-Fu” with “Kung Fu Fighting” and a series of very amusing slides. He has long hair, wears band shirts and has just the right amount of crazy, passionate enthusiasm. I knew he was the one when he said “Paul Graham, eat your heart out.”, when explaining that big American metro areas like Silicon Valley are not the only place geeks can succeed at startups. He just knows how to stand out and get you to listen!

So this is where you come in. Perhaps the idea of being your own boss and starting your own gig intrigues you, or maybe you’d just like to know what the heck I’m talking about. Either way, I think Sylvain has lots to offer with his impressive lineup of past and current startup projects, on top of the fact that he loves every minute of it! During this year’s edition of CUSEC, he will fill you in on everything about startups, with his presentation called “We Didn’t Start the Fire, and I assure you it will be HOT!

Evidently, I could go on and on about Sylvain’s numerous exploits and interests, just to show you how cool he really is, but instead I’d like you to see for yourself by checking out his blog, http://www.afroginthevalley.com.

I can’t wait to see this presentation and I hope to see you there!