Well, I’m a bit late to the party in terms of writing about Foo Camp that’s because I was pretty knackered to start with. So I thought I’d just write about my personal highlights:

(Note to self. Don’t pack in 5 meetings in one day before foo camp, and thus lose your voice !)

• Great to catch up lots of people from all around NZ, Ben and Nick, Tasha, Glenn, Robert and Robert
• Seminars were great, but discussions outside were much better.
• Debating the merits of Internships (Summer of Code) with a selection of academic and industry people.
• The Torkingtons’ jammin’ out some catchy tunes on the double bass, guitar and banjo.
• Seeing niche discussion groups spring up and thrash out ideas.
• Watching Toby hacked up a object tracking system with a webcam within a couple of hours.
• Having a play with a Meraki device
• Eating the best conference food for many a year

And finally a big thanks to Vern, Russell, Nat and Jenine for putting it all together. You guys are awesome!

Here’s a simple test to see if you use more of your right brain than your left brain….

It’s a little freaky when it changes direction!

Here’s a fix to a problem I had with a using an usb drive on both Mac and Windows.

Problem: A directory of files was missing from a USB drive. (NTFS formatted USB drive). But, when I browsed the disk on Mac, the directory and files were visible.

Looking at the disk properties (ie. disk space used on the drive), it showed that the files were still there. It was really strange, and a lot of googling couldn’t find the answer.

Solution: Use the dos command chkdsk -f to fix the errors on the disk. The USB disk must have got corrupted when switch between machines.

Thanks to Milton for suggesting the fix. The problem was exsaserbated because it happen which I was migrating from Windows to Mac.

Business

• Interview with Joel Spolsky: What it takes to run a good software company
• How to hire a professional CEO

Tech

• Java compression comparison tool
  
• High performance javascript
• Javascript for all ages
• Squid optimisation
• Drawing with Canvas
• Programmers Need To Learn Statistics Or I Will Kill Them All - A programmer’s rant about statistics
• Data visualisation on Twitter
• Joel on Software - Log everything from high scalability.com

A couple of amateur safe crackers in Colarado Springs were struggling to find out how to open the safe of a business, so they used one of the office computers to find out how to crack the safe.

The burglary at Bigg City, formerly Mr. Bigg’s Family Fun Center, turned into a comedy of errors early June 10. The burglars tried to disable a security camera by repeatedly spraying it with WD-40 — it only cleaned the lens — and spent an hour and 15 minutes trying to open three safes, apparently unaware that some types require the dial to be turned two or three times.

They finally did a Google search for “how to open a safe” and “how to crack a safe” on a computer in the next room.

“They’re not professional safe people,” said Colorado Springs police detective Chuck Ackerman. “No, they’re not.”

On the other hand, the Google query apparently worked: The burglars haven’t been caught, and they did get about $12,000.

Full report ….

Classic!

On Tuesday DeNada, Star Now and Karactaz are graduating from CHQ. (We missed the cut off this year, but we’ll be good for next year.)

It great to see such great companies flourishing. They will join companies including Optimal Usability, Virtual Katy, Spikefin, Calcium Communications, Innaworks and SilverStripe as Creative HQ alumni.

Here are some information about the companies.

Star Now

With over 500,000 members worldwide and clients including the BBC, MTV and high-profile reality TV stars, chief executive Cameron Mehlhopt says StarNow.com has no intention of slowing down.

“StarNow.com gives talented entertainers like actors and models the chance to manage their own careers, be their own agent and sell their talent to casting agents and directors around the world,” he says.

“The UK is our main market, however we are expanding our local profile and planning to officially launch StarNow.com into the USA and Australia in the coming year.”

Karataz

Karactaz was founded by Dylan Coburn in 2002 to sell creative services, especially animation products and technology.

The company has received multiple international awards for television commercials and advertising campaigns, and has a strong and growing export market.

“We’re fast becoming a major player in global animation – original property development, production services and proprietary technology,” says Mr Coburn.

“Now we’re developing our own in-house software product ‘Karactaz Eclipse’ to transfer the techniques created for short-form work into long-form forms like television.”

De Nada

DeNada is the first fashion company to graduate from a New Zealand incubator.

Co-run by Nada Matthews and Stewart Island-based Jo Learmonth, deNada launched a new concept in fashion and retail with the opening of their Featherston Street store.

The collection of street-styled and urban garments in sizes 8-16 is extended to include off-the-shelf garments in curvy and tall, catering for different body shapes.

Jewellery, accessories, good coffee and a boutique selection of low-fi and café style music are available to listen to and buy.

It’s going to be a great party. Last year seeds of Summer of Code were planted… Who know’s what will happen this year ?!?!

Nahum sent through this link to a post on 100 free CSS resources.

The list includes a number of tools that will help you with your website optimisation.

Enjoy!