- Open source as competitive advantage, gartner survey: http://bit.ly/hbwpBp #
- Want to learn more about PostgreSQL? I'm teaching a class: http://codelesson.com/courses/view/introduction-to-postgresql #
- Ah cool. @convore uses #postgres #
- jsconf proposals are out: http://2011.jsconf.us/proposals (via @convore) #
- Current status: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g9HDyaCTlI #
- Yay seeing tons of old friends at Small Society tonight. #
Monthly Archives: February 2011
Learning Python the hard way: __init__.py needed for packages (as opposed to modules)
Just ran into this today, and wanted to get it down so I never forget:
Modules are not packages! 🙂
From the docs, a Module is:
A module is a file containing Python definitions and statements. The file name is the module name with the suffix .py appended. Within a module, the module’s name (as a string) is available as the value of the global variable __name__.
And a Package is:
Packages are a way of structuring Python’s module namespace by using “dotted module names”.
When you create a module and you want other scripts to be able to reference it, you need an __init__.py in the directory containing the modules in order for Python to treat a directory as containing a package.
The error manifests as “ImportError: No module named XXXX”.
All I had to do was touch __init__.py and things worked. I’m sure there are other things I’m going to learn today, but that was a silly one that I didn’t expect, and wasn’t mentioned in the Modules documentation, but is mentioned in Packages.
twittering on 2011-02-09
- Black history month talk about destruction of Albina in '70s #pdx http://t.co/bTNsklV #
- Places to have events in Portland, OR: http://www.chesnok.com/daily/?p=2490 #pdx #
- Slides from @oregonstateuniv lecture yesterday: http://www.chesnok.com/daily/?p=2499 #postgres #foss #
- "Top Secret Rosies": http://bit.ly/gy2sJy WWII women who were the first "computers" documentary #
- I'm an advisor! Join us. 🙂 RT @vaurora @AdaInitiative launches today! Promoting women in open technology & culture http://bit.ly/eTgPbG #
- The #pdx11 Finance group is running survey to establish priorities: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2CR86MZ #
Invited lecture at Oregon State University: PostgreSQL
Oregon State University invited me to give a technical talk yesterday about PostgreSQL and open source community. It was aimed at graduate level students, and an attempt to recruit them.
It’s not in the slides, but I told a short story in the ‘but there’s a disconnect’ slide. I wanted to convey to them that both the free and open source community and the educational system are failing them when it comes to open source. I attended a conference last fall that had nearly 1000 undergraduate and graduate students. I staffed a booth about open source software, and nearly every student that dropped by couldn’t think of a single open source project they’d ever heard of. With prompting, they’d agree that Linux was probably open source.
We had a discussion about how our community manages conflict, who the big production users of PostgreSQL are, and how folks can get involved. I gave out a few tshirts and buttons, and ran into some old friends from Open Source Bridge.
Event organizers: spaces to have tech events or conferences in Portland
I’ve been asked more than a couple times about places to have events in Portland.
When you google for ‘event spaces portland, or’ you don’t get anything that I’d call useful.
So here’s the list that I’ve compiled:
East Side:
- Oregon Convention Center: http://www.oregoncc.org/
- Ambridge Event Center: http://www.ambridgeevents.com/
- The Doubletree: http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/hotels/groups.jhtml?ctyhocn=RLLC-DT
- The Wonder Ballroom: http://wonderballroom.com/
- Reed College: http://reedevents.reed.edu/contact.html
- Left Bank: http://www.yelp.com/biz/leftbank-project-portland
- Kennedy School: http://www.yelp.com/biz/mcmenamins-kennedy-school-portland
- Olympic Mills: http://www.yelp.com/biz/olympic-mills-commerce-center-portland
- Washington High Community Center: http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/index.cfm?c=49531
West Side:
- Portland Art Museum Mark Building: http://portlandartmuseumevents.com/meetings.html
- Eliot Center: http://eliotcenterportland.org/
- Souk: http://www.soukllc.com/
- Eco Trust: http://www.yelp.com/biz/ecotrust-portland
- The Nines: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1757
- The Hilton: http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/PDXPHHH-Hilton-Portland-Executive-Tower-Oregon/index.do
- Portland State University: http://www.pdx.edu/cegs/
- PSU Alumni space: http://www.pdx.edu/alumni/renting-simon-benson-house
- PSU Business Accellerator: http://www.psba.pdx.edu/roomrental
- Marriott downtown: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pdxor-portland-marriott-downtown-waterfront/
- White Stag Building: http://pdx.uoregon.edu/index.php?p=eventrequest
- The Cleaners http://www.acehotel.com/portland/events/cleaners
- Jupiter Hotel: http://www.jupiterhotel.com/events/
twittering on 2011-02-08
- On my way to @oregonstate with @lhawthorn #
- Had fun meeting Prof. Arwig and students @oregonstateuniv. Thanks @lhawthorn and @osuosl for inviting me! #
twittering on 2011-02-07
- Prepping for my talk tomorrow @oregonstateuniv: http://eecs.oregonstate.edu/graduate/colloquium/ #
- "I had fun programming with you." – best compliment ever. 🙂 #
Weekly tweet digest for 2011-02-06
- Dinner table from #shesgeeky http://flic.kr/p/9eicPd #
- Just discovered the Level Playing Field Institute. Conducting a survey about bias in IT workplace: http://www.lpfi.org/workplace/index.html #
- have a new stickur idea. waiting for the requested photograph. #ideas /cc @maxogden #
- zomg stuffed from delish dinner at chez @fuzzychef. now for some sleeeep #
- Also, I have acquired zombie socks with brains. #achievementunlocked #
- just had awesome @uber ride to SFO. totally rules. app is sweet too. #
- "Assisting" @gorthx in a postgresql class for Freegeek students. #
- Like a g6 pandora radio station is epic. #
- morning plying async monitoring framework. plenty of fodder for @pdxhackathon this evening. #
- Also, plan is for @emmaemail to buy a couple rounds at @pdxhackathon this evening. #
- Just put an @osbridge talk in with @kveton: http://opensourcebridge.org/proposals/530 #
- Checklist for new event organizers: http://bit.ly/hFQD3M #
- Had an awesome time last night playing with 8×8 LED squares with @WardCunningham. @pdxhackathon ftw! #
- Missing @urbanairship party to hang out with @mildwail after long day. Have fun, guys! #
twittering on 2011-02-06
- Missing @urbanairship party to hang out with @mildwail after long day. Have fun, guys! #
twittering on 2011-02-05
- Had an awesome time last night playing with 8×8 LED squares with @WardCunningham. @pdxhackathon ftw! #