Orlando Ruby Users Group

We are ready to Beta test our next course at Code School, CSS Cross Country. Cross-Country is an intermediate course for those who are already familiar with the basics of CSS and want to learn more about best practices. We’re stepping back to give users a comprehensive understanding of major CSS fundamentals and techniques at a professional-use level.   Topics covered include:

• Level 1 – Adding Style, Selectors, Cascade Order, Floating
• Level 2 – Clearing Floats, Inheritance, and Specificity
• Level 3 – The Box Model, Positioning, Z-Index
• Level 4 – Staying DRY, Display Types, Centering
• Level 5 – Protecting Your Layout
• Level 6 – Image Use & Cropping
• Level 7 – Image Replacement & Sprites
• Level 8 – Pseudo Classes & Elements

The Beta will be 6:30 PM to 10 PM on Thursday, January 19th at Envy Labs and dinner will be provided.  You’ll need to RSVP over on EventBrite

We are ready to Beta test our next course at Code School, A Sip of CoffeeScript. As you may know CoffeeScript ships with Rails 3.1 by default, so if you haven’t learned it yet, here is your chance.  Topics covered include:

• Level 1 – Variables, functions, and the command line.
• Level 2 – Converting jQuery into CoffeeScript
• Level 3 – Conditionals, operators, and comparisons.
• Level 4 – Arrays, objects, iteration, and list comprehension.
• Level 5 – More advanced jQuery into CoffeeScript
• Level 6 – Object orientation, inheritance, fat arrow, and encapsulation.

The Beta will be 6:30 PM to 10 PM on Thursday, December 8th at Envy Labs and dinner will be provided.  You’ll need to RSVP over on EventBrite

jQuery is the default JavaScript framework in Rails 3.1, and on Thursday, November 10th, 7 PM at the Envy Labs office we’ll be Beta Testing Code School‘s new jQuery Air 2 Course. This course covers move advanced jQuery topics such as Binding, Unbinding, Live/Delegate, AJAX calls, Effects, Effect Speed/Easing, Queues, Delays, creating Utility Methods / Plugins, Custom Events, and finally jQuery Templates. Not a small list.

If you wish to attend you’ll need to RSVP on Eventbrite, see you next week!  Oh, and we’ll bring free dinner =)

The next ORUG meeting we’re going to be doing a walk through Rails for Zombies 2: Resurrected, our next Code School course which should be coming out in the next few weeks. If you haven’t done much Rails in a while (or you’re still new), this is a perfect opportunity to catch up and continue your learning. This will take place down at Envy Labs, September 7th from 7 PM to 10 PM. We’ll also have free food at 6:30 PM if you want to come by for dinner. You’ll want to register at http://rfz2.eventbrite.com/ and the description is below:

Done with Rails for Zombies but can’t stop the craving for a second corpse? This sequel picks up where Rails for Zombies #1 leaves off, but this time the game engine has been new and improved, keeping track of points and offering you hints to help you along (like our other courses).

Gregg Pollack is resurrected in this paid course to advance your Rails knowledge with 5 new videos and a bunch of new code challenges. We’ll jump into the command line, migrations, more ActiveRecord, forms, using AJAX, and even a taste of the Rails 3.1 asset pipeline with SCSS and CoffeeScript.

If you’re an experienced Rails developer and you just want to come and hang out, you’re welcome to stop by, have a free beer/whiskey, and play some ping pong. It’ll be a grand old time.

Next Thursday would typically be our next meeting, but next Wednesday is Build Guild Orlando. So to help them start their new event with a bang, lets just head over there for our meetup this month. More information and RSVP Here. Some of the Envy Labs team should be over there AND we’ll be handing out a bunch of $15 gift cards to Code School.

If you just can’t stay away from Envy Labs for a month, on Tuesday July 19th from 7 PM – 10 PM we’ll be doing a trial run of our newest Code School course, Functional HTML5 & CSS3 by Jason VanLue. As we do with all our courses, we like to invite people into our office to play through it and get their feedback before we do a release to the public. If you haven’t learned much HTML5 / CSS3 yet, you might dig it.. it’s a beginner course. Register and more info here.

It’s been a while, but we’re back and next Thursday, June 16th and we have two presentations (and FREE DINNER) you won’t want to miss. First up Jacob Swanner will be giving a presentation on CoffeeScript, The Basics. Since Rails 3.1 is going to be adding support for CoffeeScript, now seems like the perfect time to learn about it, if you haven’t already. We will cover what CoffeeScript is, the syntax, and how you’d use it.

Next up Eric Allam will be giving a talk on the Asset Pipeline in Rails 3.1. We’ll discover how Rails 3.1 promotes Assets to a first-class Rails citizen in 3.1, and how the new Asset Pipeline allows you to use new technologies like CoffeeScript and Sass to write cleaner and more maintainable code.

Starting at 6:30 PM we’ll have free food from Gringos Locos, and at 7 PM the talks will start. We’ll be holding the meeting at Envy Labs office (http://bit.ly/envylabs). There should be plenty of free street parking and the elevators are right behind the Corona Cigar company on the corner of Orange and Pine. There should be someone in the lobby to buzz you up for the meeting. If not you can call me 407-754-5517. If you park in the garage and you can’t get up to the 10th floor, come down to the lobby and we’ll buzz you up. If you can use your Ruby skills to hack the elevators, you get extra points.

Hope to see you next Thursday the 16th!

This last month at Envy Labs we’ve been putting together the next Code School course, and with your assistance we’re going to beta test it at the next Ruby Users Group on Thursday, May 12th. The meet-up will take place at the Envy Labs new office in the Plaza (directions here: http://bit.ly/envylabs) from 7 PM to 10 PM.

jQuery Air is taught by Jeff Casimir, so this time we WILL be watching videos rather then having a live instructor. jQuery Air: First Flight covers the basics of jQuery, so it is a beginner topic, although the challenges make it fun to play through at any skill level. We have limited space for this meeting, mainly because of space AND we don’t want to be overwhelmed with people so I’ve created an eventbrite list. Please register if you’d like to attend.

http://jqueryair.eventbrite.com/

You’ll need to bring a laptop to the event if you want to play AND headphones to watch through the videos. If you don’t manage to get a seat but you’re really interested in playing the course, leave your email over here and we’ll let you know the moment it comes out. Thanks!

Update: The course we ran Rails Best Practices is now for sale at RailsBest.com

Next Thursday, March 10th from 6 PM to 9 PM at Voxeo’s board room we will be running Code School‘s Rails Best Practices course. This is a course done in the same style of Rails for Zombies. All skill levels are welcome. Here’s a description:

Although Rails contains many web framework best practices, there are still plenty of ways to create horrible code. Fortunately, as the community has matured many new techniques have been discovered which can help keep Rails apps maintainable. In this 5 part lab we will walk through the most common of these best practices and get some hands on experience refactoring Rails.

This course will be on sale when we release CodeSchool.com, and we could use your help fine tuning it before it goes live. Directions to Envy Labs office (which is right next to Voxeo) with Parking options can be found here: http://bit.ly/envylabs

If you get to the building after 6 PM, you will need someone to buzz you up to the 20th floor. Someone will be in the lobby, so just ask for the Orug meeting and we’ll get you where you need to go. Call me if needed 407-754-5517.

We’re all geared up for Magic Ruby this weekend, hopefully see some of you there.

However, if you’re new to Ruby, or you have friends who need to taste the cool aid, Jeff Casimir will be doing a free Ruby class next Wednesday, February 9th from 6 PM to 9 PM at Voxeo’s office downtown. The class is absolutely free, so register today to reserve your spot.

Be sure you’re subscribed to the Orlando Ruby Users Group Announcement list. We may be running some additional short notice events this month, so you’ll want to make sure you’re subscribed so you’re notified.

First up, thanks to Andrew Smith, we’re running a a free Intro to Web Development with Rails course (Rails for Zombies) next month hosted by Full Sail University.  The date is Thursday, January 20, 2011 from 6 PM to 9 PM.  To register please head over to eventbrite.  If this is going to be review for you, but you want to come hang out, feel free to come on by and act as a teachers assistant.  I’m sure our students will run into issues as they go through the course, so it’ll be nice to have a few people to help instruct.

Next up don’t forget about Magic Ruby on February 4th and 5th, a FREE two day Ruby conference down at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.  This conference already has a bunch of great talks listed, including keynotes from Chad Fowler and Dave Thomas.  See the Magic Ruby website to view the talks and register.

Have a great holiday season.  =)