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2008/12/17
Who are you and what do you do?
Ryan Burns. I design and model digital electronics for a small Chicago based consulting company that is expanding with an Ann Arbor design center, currently staffed by myself. We do a lot of video hardware datapaths, as well as general control electronics for a variety of applications, which are primarily implemented in Field-Programmable-Gate-Arrays (FPGAs). An FPGA is basically a bunch of general digital logic cells and delay elements that can be reconfigured to implement your Hardware Design Language design, including processors, and direct hardware realization of algorithms. I'm interested in design-cycle automation and testing strategies for compressing design and integration time.
Why are you attending ArbCamp?
I watch Iron Chef because you can efficiently absorb a massive density of cooking techniques and strategies in a reasonable amount of time, and through serendipity you become aware of things you didn't know you could look up. I'm hoping ArbCamp will fill the same role for cooking up technology ideas and meeting interesting people.
If you were to lead a session, what would it be about?
Applying the principles of Edward Tufte regarding concise and informative graphics, or about using wikis as an internal corporate knowledge base, both of which I'm a big proponent of. Alternatively: Do you run a personal wiki? What platform do you use and how does it work for you?
Tell us one random fact about yourself.
Above my desk is a framed charcoal drawing of a former co-worker being pelted with elastic bands, drawn by said co-worker.
Where can we find you?
http://ryanburns.info/blog
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanburns
http://twitter.com/ryanburns
| From | Brian Genisio |
|---|---|
| Who | The software nerds of Ann Arbor |
| What | Lunch - a place to talk tech and socialize |
| When | Thursday, December 18th at 12:00 PM |
| Where | Mahek Resturant, Ann Arbor |
Greetings!
Our first Ann Arbor Nerd Lunch will be held on Thursday, December 18th at Mahek Indian Buffet. We will hold these lunches every month on the third Thursday of the month at noon. Tell your friends!
For the first meeting, I will challenge you to bring a nerd with you! Bring someone who doesn't normally come to the community events, but is interested in being a part of the community, if you can. Also, come with ideas about what you want this lunch to be. Do we want to keep it casual? Do we want to bring in "special guests" to help spur conversation? Do we want to keep it a software group? Or do we want to branch out to other nerds? What do YOU want in a nerd lunch?
Some tips to make the most of ArbCamp 08 tomorrow night:
- Bring your laptop / camera if you have things to share, show, or publish (we strongly encourage people to share their ArbCamp experiences online through blogs, tweets, photos, video, etc. with an 'arbcamp08' tag). Don't forget your power adapter!
- Bring business cards (some have made MooCards just for this)
- Bring any job postings, or in these times, even just news of interesting employment opportunities, for which we'll set up a bulletin board
- Think of 3 tags that describe you, for our introductory session (and badges)
Here are some other thoughts about preparing for a barcamp event to think about.
Remember, ArbCamp is about participation. This event is BY you and FOR you. Think about what you'd hope to see, or what you can offer, and help make it happen by leading a session (e.g. starting a discussion, not necessarily presenting in any formal way). We'll have at least two projectors to hook up to laptops (with a standard VGA connector) though, if you've prepared something to kick off a discussion. We'll also have whiteboards, markers, paper, and tape, and other basic office supplies.
Please share your thoughts on what you hope to see happen at ArbCamp in the comments below, and we'll see you soon!