Archive for June, 2006
Fri, 23 Jun 2006 21:55 UTC
Sign Up Today!
PHP Appalachia is an informal gathering of PHP enthusiasts who just want an excuse to get together and enjoy exchanging information in a relaxed, beautiful setting. There is no set agenda, no formal speakers. Just 3 days of camping and sharing PHP ideas and experiences with people just like you.
The event takes place September 27-29, 2006 at the Cherokee/Great Smokies KOA in Cherokee, NC.
To receive the group discount for your camping site/cabin, you must reserve your spot with the campground before July 5!
See the PHP Appalachia Web site for more details.
Discussion Topics
There is a post on the PHP Appalacia site asking for topics of interest. We want to compile a list of discussion topics so that we can organize when discussions will take place. This way, no one is left out of a discussion they want to participate in and missed simply because they were off hiking, tubing, or gambling at the casino.
You can send an e-mail to me and Elizabeth for topic ideas (info [at] phpappalachia [dot] org) or simply leave a comment on the post.
On the Importance of Early Registration for Sponsorships
The following is somewhat of a personal rant and isn’t meant to reflect the feelings of Elizabeth Naramore or anyone else affiliated with PHP Appalachia.
It’s the age-old question of the chicken and the egg. You can’t get sponsors without a critical mass of registered attendees. You can’t get registered attendees without sponsorship. What about grassroots campaigns? you ask. Well, grassroots campaigns work often because there are enough people passionate about the issue/event to spread the word and to commit themselves to sign on early—there’s that, and there’s often a lot of money invested.
While we don’t need a lot of money to run PHP Appalachia—in fact, we really only need the registration fees to cover the cost of t-shirts—we would like to offer some other accomodations to our attendees. These include free wifi (currently, there is a daily fee per person), free transportation from the airport (AVL only) to the campground (in the form of passenger vans), namebadges and lanyards, etc.
We have had some sponsorship interest, but sponsors want to know numbers, and we don’t yet have the numbers to appeal to sponsors. So, here is my plea: we need people as excited and passionate about this event as Elizabeth and I are so that we can get the word out and have a good crowd. Please join me in spreading the word, and please commit to attend this unique event. It will definitely be enriched by your presence.
That said, I’ll still be happy to go camping with friends even if there’s only a handful of us that go. 
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Tags: camping, php, phpappalachia
Wed, 21 Jun 2006 0:21 UTC
I originally posted this to the Atlanta PHP Freelance Advice forum, but I don’t think it’ll get much attention there for a while since we’ve just launched our new boards and they have very little traffic. Thus, I wanted to try it out here to see what the community thinks. This topic came up after an Atlanta PHP meeting a few months ago, and I’ve been asked the same question several times since then. So, what exactly is an acceptable rate for a PHP programmer?
To one person, I answered within the scope of the Java world (since this person has more familiarity with Java programmers). I recommended that PHP programmers receive pay comparable to Java programmers. To another person, I recommended that, as a freelancer, he not accept a job for any less than a specific rate comparable to that of Java programmers.
I want to see PHP programmers paid well for the work they do. Let’s face it: anyone can call themselves a PHP programmer, but not everyone programs in PHP well. You should be paid a competitive rate for your skills as an excellent PHP programmer.
However, the problem with paying a PHP programmer occurs when there is a market full of programmers who will work for peanuts, so everyone hires them. Often these are college students or programmers right out of college, but I know of one Java programmer with no prior experience who was hired right after graduation for $90K a year. What a drastic difference in the market view between PHP and Java programmers!
After all, why pay more when you can pay less, right? Wrong!
If someone is charging a lower-than-standard rate, it’s likely a red flag that they don’t know what they’re doing, and you’ll end up wasting money on an application that is very poorly designed and full of vulnerabilities. It’s best to pay for the better programmer the first time around rather than go through 4 or 5 different programmers to get the job done.
Am I wrong here? What do you think? What is a good pay rate for a PHP programmer?
Feel free to post your comments here or in the Atlanta PHP Forum.
22 Comments »
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Tags: business, jobs, php
Tue, 13 Jun 2006 19:57 UTC
Over the weekend, Atlanta PHP launched its brand new Web site and forum. We hope that this new site and forum will allow us to serve our local developer community much more effectively.
Also, something that I’ve not pointed out in any of the language posted on the Atlanta PHP Web site is that the new forum allows members to get in touch with each other, something the Drupal installation we had did not allow. Members can send private messages or even e-mail to each other using the forum software.
I also noticed a lot of people looking for a PHP user group in the area through Meetup.com. I quickly reassessed my attitude towards Meetup.com—over a year ago we left Meetup.com because of the mandatory imposed group fees—and set up a new Meetup group for Atlanta PHP. This is just another channel for us to find local developers or, rather, for local developers to find us.
Finally, the old site is still available as an archive for our old content. I’ve set up some rewrites to funnel old links to the archive site so that old content doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. If you’re looking for something and can’t find it, ask me or check http://archive.atlphp.org.
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Tags: atlanta, atlphp, php
Fri, 9 Jun 2006 16:15 UTC
Sir Tim Berners-Lee warned against a two-tiered Internet “dark period” at the WWW2006 conference in late May, and now it appears that we are moving toward that Internet dark age. Yesterday, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Communications, Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement (COPE) Act of 2006 (H.R. 5252) and rejected the Markey of Massachusetts Amendment (Net Neutrality) to the bill.
Two weeks ago, I blogged that I felt confident that my own district representative—Rep. John Linder—was in support of the Markey amendment based on the language included in his response to me: “I will keep your concerns in mind and will support legislation that ensures open and unregulated Internet access.” He even pointed to Markey’s Network Neutrality Act of 2006 (H.R. 5273). Apparently, I was misled, as his own opponent, Allan Burns, pointed out in a comment responding to my post.
As the record shows, Mr. Linder voted against the Markey amendment to H.R. 5252 and he voted in favor of the COPE Act. Why did the language in his response to me suggest he would support the Markey amendment when he fully intended to vote against it?
After passing in the House, the bill now moves to the Senate, where it can still be blocked. Please contact your senators today and tell them to vote against any bill that will kill net neutrality.
As it so happens, I’ve found that our districts have been redrawn and, while Mr. Linder will continue to run for office in this year’s elections for the 7th district, I am now in the 6th district. So, Mr. Linder will not be on my ballot. Nevertheless, I will not vote for someone who does not support the principle of net neutrality, nor will I vote for someone who blatantly misleads his constituents.
Consequently, I have looked up Tom Price’s voting records on these issues. He is the incumbant for the 6th district, and I’ve found that he voted no different than Mr. Linder. Thus, I called the campaign offices of Mr. Price’s opponent, John Konop, to find where Mr. Konop stands on net neutrality. Thankfully, I am assured that he is completely in support of the principle of net neutrality, so I will be voting for Mr. Konop in our primaries on July 18.
For more information on net neutrality:
Thu, 8 Jun 2006 17:43 UTC
Geoff Young posted a note on his use.perl blog about how he’s going to reply from now on when someone asks “Did you test it?” He says that, unless he has actual tests for the application, he’ll now respond, “I poked it and it seemed to work, but it doesn’t have tests.” His point being that actual tests “count for a lot, while a few mouse clicks really don’t.”
I’ll take this as a reminder and teaser for the tutorial he and Chris Shiflett will be co-presenting at OSCON: Power PHP Testing.
I’m registered for OSCON and this tutorial. Are you?
2 Comments »
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Tags: oscon, php, testing
Sun, 4 Jun 2006 18:53 UTC
As Elizabeth mentioned, what began as a discussion between herself, Aaron, Chris, and me in the #phpc channel on Freenode IRC has become a reality. PHP Appalachia is born!
What:
PHP Appalachia is an informal gathering of PHP enthusiasts who just want an excuse to get together and enjoy exchanging information in a relaxed, beautiful setting. There is no set agenda, no formal speakers. Just 3 days of camping and sharing PHP ideas and experiences with people just like you.
When:
September 27-29, 2006
Where:
This gathering will be held at the Cherokee/Great Smokies KOA in Cherokee, NC.
The Cherokee / Great Smokies KOA is bordered on one side by the serene Raven Fork River and on the other side by three tribal trout ponds. It lies just across the road from Great Smoky Mountains National Park and one mile from the Blue Ridge Parkway. From almost anywhere on KOA’s grounds, take in 360-degree mountain views. Enjoy the shuttle to area attractions, indoor pool and hot tub, fitness center, island pet walk, whitewater rafting, horseback riding and gem mining excursions, among other things. Wireless Internet is available at the campground.
Who:
Anyone with an interest in PHP and PHP related technologies is welcome to attend. Even if “roughing it” is not your thing, you’re welcome to come along as there are numerous area hotels available.
How Much:
Registration is only $15, and each attendee will receive a free PHP Appalachia t-shirt. Accomodations are very affordable, and meals are available for about $25/day.
See the PHP Appalachia Web site for more details.
3 Comments »
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Tags: camping, php, phpappalachia
