Agathon Group - "The Good Stuff"
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What's cool in systems, part 1
by Peter Green on July 30, 2008 10:59 AM.
Systems administrators usually don’t have much to get excited about: “Wow, a new way to read logs, only faster!” Or if a new technology is exciting, it exists only in the research lab of a university, and is unavailable for nearly everyone else. However, there is a new technology that has emerged (and is still emerging) that is changing the way systems engineering looks… and it’s readily available to the masses. Finally, something worth getting excited over: it’s grid computing!
Top 5 Things You'll See at a Techie Conference
by Morgan Foster on July 24, 2008 7:57 PM.
Greetings. This is my first post to the blog, although some of you have probably chatted with me via email. One thing you may not know about me is that while I have a degree in Computer Science, I also have a degree in Theatre. Basically what that means is that, though I can pretend to be a techie, I'm really not one at heart.
Since I'm also the "Theatre Guy" at Agathon, it comes as no surprise that I like to talk, either to people or to myself. So being a non-techie pretending to be a techie who likes to talk to people, I feel I have a unique perspective at any techie conferences I end up at.
So I figured you all may enjoy a list of the top 5 things that you're likely to see at a tech conference, based on my experience.
The Start Conference
by Alan Ritari on July 21, 2008 6:08 PM.
“Follow your folly. Ours is beer.”
Six simple words, but the copy from a New Belgium Brewing* ad speaks to the voice inside many of us. You know the one—it nags you, “I have this crazy idea for a business… and it could change everything.”
The Start Conference is a one day event for those of us ready to follow our follies. A crack slate of online entrepreneurs will, “give you practical advice, tell their horror stories, and maybe lend you a little inspiration.” It’s a conference to learn how to start your startup. Stop talking about it and start doing something about it.
What’s Agathon’s interest in all this? We’re a sponsor for the conference, in part because we like Jeff Veen and in bigger part because we can relate to the startup mentality. Even though we’ve been in business for almost nine years, we are constantly reinventing ourselves (“Innovate or die!”), combining our collected hard knocks with the passion and agility of a startup. So yes, we expect to learn and glean in addition to our role as sponsors. Everybody wins.
It’s only $200 for the full day, lunch and evening party included. Follow your folly!
* New Belgium makes a yummy Fat Tire amber ale. It’s not available near me but I try to grab a pint on trips to our Denver data center. Highly recommended.
Hiring: Systems Architect
by Alan Ritari on July 11, 2008 12:46 PM.
Update: this position has now been filled from a surprisingly large number of qualified applicants.
Agathon Group is seeking a crack systems architect to join our team. We’ve always been a lean organization, but as the scope of our projects increases each year, we have a growing need for someone to help glue all our systems together into a seamless whole. The role requires a broad understanding of Linux, networking, security and programming along with a true joy in solving thorny problems. Are you intrigued?
Getting Started With Javascript
by Joel Boonstra on July 10, 2008 2:06 PM.
So you are a PHP (or Perl, or Ruby) programmer and want to dive in to Javascript, but don’t know quite where to start. It might be tempting to download the Javascript framework du jour and start coding, but that would be a mistake. Javascript is fundamentally different from most other programming languages, and your knowledge of the others will only get you so far.
So before touching jQuery, Prototype, or one of the other frameworks or libraries out there, it’s a good idea to get a feel for Javascript itself, without the extra stuff added in.
Show and Tell
by Alan Ritari on July 2, 2008 4:48 PM.
My son's kindergarten class has a daily show and tell time, where each kid can share something from home with the others. They tend to bring in their newest toy, an interesting book, or on really good days, the cockroach they found on the driveway. The fifteen minute show and tell time is a window into the kindergarten world and everything that is new and exciting within it. Then they hit the playground for twenty minutes before pulling out blankets for nap time.
This blog is the show and tell time for the Agathon Group team. We've been talking about starting it for several years now, but didn't want to jump on that bandwagon until we had compelling ideas for what we could share. Don't expect sales pitches or press releases thinly disguised as blog posts--this is not our company mouthpiece. Instead, we're sharing a window into our collective stream of consciousness with you, our classmates. This is what is new and interesting to us. You've been warned!
Seriously though, we know your time and attention our precious resources. We'll do our best to make Show and Tell worth your time to read. Then afterwards we can all hit the swings before nap.
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