Announcing the New FTW Champion: Timothy Dalby!
The announcement we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived, the winner of the 2010 FTW! Coding Competition is FindAHome by Timothy Dalby! 
Find-A-Home revolutionizes the way you search for a house, it uses an innovative decision engine that simplifies the process of finding a new home by automatically researching the area a house is located in and providing each home with a score based on a number of metrics. The engine uses a number of data sets, including the locations of City Parks, Schools, Bus Stops, Police Stations, Fire Stations, and Recreation Centers to build a ranking for each house. FindAHome makes extensive use of the Edmonton Opendata catalogue and proves what can be when more cities start to open up their data.
The Final showdown..
In the first round each finalist did a 10 minute presentation on their respective apps. Dressed as generals, each contestant pitched convincing arguments on why they should be the next FTW! champion. FindAHome stood out among the rest; it showed a clear purpose that would be useful to any home buyer and was currently available to the citizens of Edmonton. He had written the app by himself in only about o3 weeks, never even knowing what Open Data was before entering the competition. The second round commenced with counter questions by each contestant. Francois Mazzerole from project Tholus and Dashan Yue from Taxicity both defended their apps valiantly. However, when it came to round 3, the MWNW attendees decided that FindAHome was a champion among two other stellar apps, Taxicity and Project Tholus (Who came 2nd and 3rd). Timothy Dalby won the grand prize at MWNW, as well as the bonus prizes for using Open Data, Windows Azure and SQL services. Timothy took a home a total of $8K worth of Dell Prizes! Congratulations Timothy on becoming the FTW! Coding Competition Champion!
WHY THE @&*# IS MICROSOFT DOING THIS?
Microsoft contributing to Open Source projects? Organizing Make Web Not War and MonDev? Is it an evil ploy to take over the world, or has “the empire” gone soft?
Some say it’s for the love of technology, web developers and designers. Some say we’re desperate, and being forced to “deal” with Open Source. Others, like the many open source communities we work with worldwide and in Canada: PHP Quebec, Impress CMS, TikiWiki, Vanilla Forums, Status.net, PHUG and many others, say it’s good for their projects, as it exposes those PHP apps to more people, particularly those who run Windows “shops”.
We couldn’t agree more. But it also just makes good business sense! See why on PORT25.ca — the voice of a small, but feisty Open Source strategy team at Microsoft Canada.
Oh, and if you are at Make Web Not War event – we want to talk to you! Open is also about being open to feedback and commentary from the community, and we welcome all feedback we get.
We’re the people probably wearing one of the RED shirts like this…
… or the people in the corner getting kicked (let’s hope not)…
… and if you are not at the event, please send us a tweet @PHPonWindows or feel free to rant, I mean, comment below!
Nik G
Open Source Strategy Lead at Microsoft Canada
twitter: @Nik_G
Pick your Winner
The results are in… The votes have been cast… The judges have spoken…
The chosen few – more exactly 3 – are going to Montréal to claim the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places at the FTW! Competition finals at Make Web Not War conference. The audience will vote for the best app, but not without seeing Twitters Stats first, together with excerpts from blog posts, videos from the “internets” and comments from experts – all to help decide WHO SHOULD BE THE FTW! WINNER.
So, here is your chance to affect the outcome:
1. Check out the Finalist Apps:
|
Project Tholus / Francois Mazerolle An evolution of the Role Playing Game style written in PHP that helps develop reading and writing skills, while bringing students and teachers together |
Find-A-Home / Timothy Dalby A property research engine that uses Edmonton Open Data catalogue on Windows Azure to rank properties based on proximity to public landmarks |
TaxiCity / Manpower Team An interactive Silverlight-based driving game that uses Vancouver Open Data catalogue and BING maps to explore streets and landmarks of Vancouver |
 |
 |
 |
2. Vote for who YOU think should win:
The audience will vote based on what they hear/see/read, which means your votes via twitter (Method (a) below – primary), blog posts & reviews (secondary) as well as twtpoll will make a difference! Here’s how:
a) Tweet with a hashtag for only ONE application above (#tholus or #findahome or #taxicity) + #webnotwar + link to the FTW! site: http://bit.ly/ftwvote (in no particular order 
)
EXAMPLES:
OMG, #findahome totally rocks and should win! http://bit.ly/ftwvote #webnotwar
wow, I love #taxicity – finalist at #webnotwar http://bit.ly/ftwvote
My vote for #tholus over all others!! http://bit.ly/ftwvote #webnotwar
b) Write a blog post with an objective review of the apps – and let the world know about your pick! Remember to #hashtag_the_app + #webnotwar + please let us know about it: email, @PHPonWindows !
Make a short video on who should win & post the link — feel free to comment below (with links to your blog posts, videos, etc)
c) Cast your vote on the poll below & tweet your vote + the link: http://bit.ly/ftwpoll
EDIT: Some people missed the point of the original poll and spammed it with 30,000+ votes in 1 day. We’ll still show the the original results, but will now also have a second poll (no multiple votes per IP):
EXAMPLE:
I cast my vote for #[app] to be the #webnotwar winner http://bit.ly/ftwvote
FINALLY…. if you are at in Montreal, you should be at the finals at the Reunion May 27th, 5pm sharp – you will not regret it! See for yourself presentations & demos by the talented developers, and not to the forget the special flavor delivered by Joey DeVilla and Stephan Champagne as the MC’s of the showdown – and you know it’s going to be a blast!
Don’t miss it – there is still time to sign up for Make Web Not War!
^nik_g
Bring a Friend & Get Exclusive #WebNotWar Swag
The conference officially kicks off in 9 days and we are truly excited to host this event in its second year and first time in beautiful Montreal. Because we are so excited to kick start this event and have received much of our giveaways before the event, we’d like to share the goods with you all before the event! If you have already registered for the event and looking to score some goods, here’s how you can win some stuff before the event next Thursday.
Bring a Friend – Get Exclusive #WebNotWar Swag*
Your friends MUST indicate your name under the question: “Where did you hear about this event? – Select: Friend and indicate: Your First & Last Name.
Only available to friends who have not yet registered for Make Web Not War.
+ You and all of your friends who register before Friday May 21st, will also receive 2 GB USB keys at the event.
1. Bring One Friend, Get A Make Web Not War T-shirt
*Limited to first 25 people to refer one friend
2. Bring Two Friends, Get a $25 JUMP Reward Card
*Limited to first 25 people to refer two friends
3. Bring Five Friends, Get an exclusive MWNW Bundle including an MSDN Premium Subscription Token (valued at $2,500)
*Limited to first person to have five friends referred
+ You and all of your friends who register before Friday May 21st, will also receive 2GB USB keys at the event.
Terms
*No purchase necessary. Contest open to residents of Canada. There are fifty one (51) prizes available to be won consisting of twenty five (25) t-shirts (value $20), twenty five (25) $25 JUMP Reward Cards (value $25) and one (1) MWNW Giveaway bundle consisting of a mouse, keyboard & MSDN Premium Subscription token for twelve months (EST Value of $2,500). Offer ends Friday May 21st. The selected individual will be required to answer correctly a time limited mathematical skill-testing question. Friends who register must be registered after May 18th and must provide the name of their referring friend in the question: “Where did you hear about this event?”. Microsoft assumes no responsibility for missing names.
Toronto-Montreal #NerdTrain (Departs Tuesday, May 25th, Returns Friday, May 28th)
A quick reminder: if you’re looking for cheap transport to Montreal for MonDev, Montreal’s Open Source Week (which concludes with the Make Web Not War conference), we’ve booked an entire VIA Rail car from Toronto to Montreal ! The train car (pictured above) has wifi, power outlets and will be equipped with video monitors, an Xbox or two, a big-ass HP TouchSmart computer and other technological goodies to make the time pass by.
Best of all, if you want to book a trip on this car, we’re subsidizing it. Round-trip tickets are a mere $50 and cover the cost of the ride, a sandwich lunch and drink voucher! The train departs for Montreal on the morning of Tuesday, May 25th and departs back for Toronto on the morning of Friday, May 28th.
For more details, email cdnsol@microsoft.com.
This article also appears in The Global Nerdy.
All Aboard Toronto: Make Web On The Way!
REGISTRATION FOR THE #DEVTRAIN IS NOW OPEN!
1) Make sure you are registered for Make Web Not War 2010
2) Send an email to cdnsol@microsoft.com to ask for next steps
See you there!
Full terms & conditions
=======================================
At one point or another, despite the evolution of transportation, traveling by train still remains to have an element of romanticism associated with the illusion of ultimate speed. While no faster than a plane, perhaps its the passing landscapes that come closest to t
he imagery associated with time travel at warped speeds. Nonetheless, while we can’t promise to get you to Make Web Not War in record speed, we can guarantee that you get there in a train packed with web development folks, goodies & resources to allow you Make Web On the Way!
What Can I Expect on the DEVTrain?
1) Power & Wifi to make web on the train! Yes, even if you’re not at work, you are still “working”.
2) Meal & Drink sponsored. We’re still working on that beverage cart
3) Meet members of the Toronto Web Dev community. You have up to 6 hours to really get to make new friendships.
4) Meet members of the Montreal Open Source Community at MonDev at events such as Startup Drinks, WebCamp and Demo Ignite Montreal.
5) Meet members of the Microsoft Technical Evangelist team on board and ask them anything you want.
Cool, When Do We Leave?
Departure –> Leave Toronto: Tuesday, May 25, 9:00 AM – VIA Rail Panorama Lounge Return –> Leave Montreal: Friday, May 28th, 11:25 AM – VIA Salon Panorama Salon
Ok, I’m in! How Do I Score My Seat on the DEVTrain?
The seats are on a first come first serve basis with the first announcement coming out this Wednesday May 5th! Join us on our Facebook, Twitter, Email accounts to ensure that you hear about it first to reserve your seat. To get the invite this Wednesday, email us at cdnsol@microsoft.com and we’ll be sure to send you the instructions as soon as they come out! All Aboard the DEVTrain from Toronto to Montreal!
Read the full terms and conditions to get your seat on the DEVTrain.
The Big O
What comes to mind when you see “The Big O”?
Things like..Oh my! Oh wow that looks interesting! Oh my goodness not gonna miss that session!? The Stadium? Good guesses And for the rest of you, get your mind out of the gutter! O stands for Open Data, just to clarify before moving on..
What does Open Data mean?
On a basic level it means previously hard to access information held by the government is now available for public consumption. On a more important level it means a lot of things. Things that come to mind- transparent budgets [http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx], killer new apps using open data [http://vanguide.cloudapp.net/], understanding where tax dollars are spent [http://eaves.ca/2010/04/14/case-study-open-data-and-the-public-purse], better decision making by our lawmakers, higher standards for customer/citizen service, increased voter turnout due to a desire to participate, citizens connecting to other citizens, happier citizens, more efficiency between different government organizations, the list goes on..as citizens of the world we should be excited!
The power of Open Data is unleashing its furor and I’m certain we can’t predict the impact it will have, but we can start to understand its implications and participate. Don’t miss our Open Data session at Make Web Not War.
@InteropQueen
(Français) La qualité web selon Élie Sloïm
CT Moore, notre stratège web a rencontré Elie Sloïm lors de l’événement Confoo. Elie Sloïm est directeur de Temesis, une compagnie spécialisée dans la qualité et l’accessibilité des services en ligne. Élie Sloïm est également l’auteur de : «Site web : les bonnes pratiques». De passage à Montréal, il a donné une conférence sur la qualité web. La notion de qualité web comprend de nombreux aspects : l’utilisabilité, la conformité, la performance, le respect des standards, la sécurité… Dans sa présentation, Elie Sloïm a montré en quoi cette notion avait son importance aujourd’hui ainsi que les outils à utiliser pour mesurer la qualité d’un site web. On constate que les problématiques en termes de SEO et de référencement sont les mêmes tant pour les francophones que les anglophones. En revanche, la qualité web est une notion qui semble être encore peu traitée par les entreprises d’Amérique du Nord. L’occasion pour Élie Sloïm de familiariser le public québécois à cette problématique. Élie Sloïm encourage les efforts que Microsoft fait dans la communauté Open Source, ce qui donne une image positive pour Microsoft. 
(Français) Interview de Tarek Ziadé
Président de l’Afpy, association francophone Python et technicien en chef chez CritSend, Tarek Ziadé a participé à deux conférences dans le cadre de l’événement Confoo. Sa première présentation portait sur Pylons, un framework web permettant de créer des sites Internet grâce à la multi-plateforme Python. Dans une seconde conférence, Tarek a présenté les différents outils de packaging à utiliser en vue de réaliser des applications Python. Tarek souligne l’effort de Microsoft notamment pour la plateforme IronPython, qui est une implémentation de Python pour la plateforme .NET. Ce qui permet au programme Python de tourner sur une plateforme .NET en utilisant les outils Microsoft. Cela représente une opportunité pour les développeurs web qui veulent développer des sites en utilisant des langages de haut niveau. 
The Agavi Framework
In this second half of our interview with David Zülke, he gets down to the nitty gritty of Agavi and the advantages is offers developers. According to David, Agavi is all about building clean and scalable apps. He illustrates that, because of the way it encourages developers to write code, Agavi can represent a huge cost saving as Agavi-based apps are scaled.
David is the lead developer for the Agavi Framework, and we caught up with him at Confoo where he was giving a couple presentations.
