Agenda

Talk : Using Python and Screen-Scraping To Grab Data From An Online Learning System
Speaker : Thomas O’Dell

Thomas will share his experiences of using Python to supplement an online learning system for work that he does with grading and evaluating students

Talk : What’s Coming Up in Python 3.2
Speaker : Senthil Kumaran

Senthil has moved to Singapore recently and he is an active contributor to the international Python community, having spoken at PyCon APAC 2010.

Talk : TBA
Guest Speaker : Graham Dumpleton

Graham is probably best known as the author of the mod_wsgi module for Apache for hosting of Python web applications via the WSGI interface. He is also a member of the Python Software Foundation and Apache Software Foundation.

When: Thursday 17th February 2011
Time: 730pm-1030pm
Where: School of Information Systems – Seminar Room 2.2, Singapore Management University

The Singapore Python Group is organising their 8th meetup. Topics to be discussed include using Python tools for Differential Equations and Queuing Up Background Tasks With Google App Engine.

· Python Tools for Differential Equations (Nguyen Quang Chien)

Synopsis: Shows how to use simple Python scripts to solve rate equations and the more complicated partial differential equations.

· Queuing Up Background Tasks With Google App Engine (Dr Chris Boesch)

Synopsis: Tricks and techniques to improve Google App Engine responsiveness and avoid timeouts when using Google App Engine.

· Lighting Talks (Open) + Announcements for PUG AGM

When: Thursday 7th October 2010
Time: 19:30 – 21:00
Where: Singapore Management University, SIS (School of Information System), Seminar Room 2.3

About Wesley J. Chun from Google: Wesley is the author of Prentice Hall’s bestseller ‘Core Python Programming‘, its video training course ‘Python Fundamentals’ and co-author of ‘Python Web Development with Django’. He is a software architect and developer advocate at Google and runs a consulting business called CyberWeb.

The Singapore Python Group is organizing the 7th Singapore Python User Group Meeting. The meeting will be held on Thursday, April 15, 2010, from 7:30pm – 9:30pm in Room 2.1, SMU, SIS (School of Information Systems).

Here are the topics which will be discussed in the coming meeting:
* Using Python in Finance (Dr. Tan Chong Hui)
* Buildout (Abhaya Shenoy)
* PyCon APAC 2010 (Liew Beng Keat) – our last meeting before PyCon APAC!
* Lighting Talks (Open)

The Singapore Python Group is organizing the 6th Singapore Python User Group Meeting. The meeting will be held on Thursday, Jan 14, 2010, from 7:30pm – 9:30pm in Room 2.2, SMU, SIS (School of Information Systems). Here are the topics which will be discussed in the coming meeting:

Topic : Web2Py – Python Web Development Framework
Speaker : Anand Vaidya
Synopsis : Web2Py is described as a free and open source full-stack enterprise framework for agile development of fast, secure and portable database-driven web-based applications. Obviously, it is written and programmable in Python and Anand will be taking us on a Web2Py tour. All aboard please!

Topic : Python Scripting on the Android Phone
Speaker : George Loo
Synopsis : The Android Scripting Environment (ASE) brings scripting languages to Android by allowing one to edit and execute scripts and interactive interpreters directly on an Android device. These scripts have access to many of the APIs available to full-fledged Android applications, but with a greatly simplified interfaces. George will be sharing how the ASE Python package helps him write and run scripts directly on his Android phone.

Topic : Google App Engine + Django
Speaker : Calvin Cheng
Synopsis : By now, you should have heard of GAE or the Google App Engine as a platform for developing and hosting web applications in Google-managed data centers. You should also know Django as the high-level Python Web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. Calvin will bring both of them together as he shares his experiences in running Django on the Google App Engine, having created his personal GAE + Django blog site.

Title : Lightning Talks
Speaker : Open Invitation to All
Synopsis : All (personal) projects that you have done using Python. If you’ve never given a talk before, lightning talks are a good place to start. You don’t need to make slides, but if you do, you only need to make three.

The Singapore Python Group is organizing the 5th Singapore Python User Group Meeting. The meeting will be held on Thursday, Oct 15, 2009, from 7:00pm – 9:00pm in Room 2.2, SMU, SIS (School of Information Systems).

Program:

- Python Games Development in 60 minutes (as a Mini Sprint) – Mr. Morgan Heijdemann
Pre-requisites : Because this is a mini-sprint, you need to bring your laptop computer for the hands-on.
Pre-installations : Please have python 2.5/2.6 and pyglet 1.1.3 installed beforehand.
- Python Programming on Your Browser – Dr. Liew Beng Keat
- PyCon – Call for Papers (Stand up Singapore!) – Dr. Maurice Ling
- PUG website – Connecting our Community – Mr. Abhaya Shenoy
- Lightning talks – Open Invitation.

Last Saturday on 22 August 2009, GeekCamp finally took place at the Yahoo! Asia office in Suntec City, Singapore. It drew between 80 to 100 people from 9 am to 7pm. It was organized by an enthusiastic community of geeks who develop for the web or engaged in some form of scientific research related to computing. While scrambling across topics on cloud computing, web and mobile development from Ruby, Python-Django, Android and iPhone, it has an almost full fledged view that it’s an event totally designed for technologists. Given that there are many developer communities in Singapore but with very few members (with no critical mass, maybe the PHP User Group or ASP developers), this is a good event to aggregate them together so that we all can share ideas. Here are some reasons why we need more of these GeekCamps in Singapore:

• Lack of Amateur-based Technologists to drive incremental or disruptive innovation: Everyone complains about the problem of either finding developers, technologists or even something that sounds vaguely like innovation in Singapore. If there are, they may be “collecting dust” in the universities or government owned research institutions with so much IP restrictions placed on it. Amateur based technologists can be cultivated via the process of GeekCamps with specific themes in mind, be it web development, mobile development or hardware hacking. In fact, we don’t have very good technologists, but a bunch of good IT graduates joining banks after graduation. In fact, most geeks in Singapore are usually people who self-taught themselves from O’Reilly books.
• Merging the thinking and implementation process: A lot of people are confused about the thinking and implementation process. The thinker generates the ideas, asks the engineer the feasibility and then works with the developer to implement that feasibility. In Singapore, this whole process of product development is totally missing or perhaps replicated in one way or another. In fact, very few people really played with the APIs or put something quickly up for testing. In fact, one of the talks on how to set up a Django site in 30 minutes by Kenny Shen made the point of teaching people how simple it can be to create your own site. The lighting talks were great fun as well, for example, the talk on Natural Language Processing by Francis Bond, an academic from NTU dazzled the audience with interesting algorithms and ideas.
• Think GeekCamp as a hobbyist club rather than a dealflow driver for incubators or venture capital firms: I see it as a hobbyist club rather than finding potential dealflow. During the whole event, I was busy trying to set up and speak to fellow geeks on some code implementation or bugs I encounter with my own private projects. Actually, there is something more to this. Most of the VCs or angel investors are strictly financiers with no training in technology. Perhaps, it is good to get some of them to understand the technology that they are investing.
• Why stop at software, bring in the hardware: I will love to see someone cracking the iPhone and show us what is inside, or produce some interesting software-hardware integration for the next GeekCamp. In fact, since there are all geeks in the event, finding access to the Internet ranged from wireless to tethering from iPhones becomes an interesting sight to watch. Even augmented reality might be something for people to explore using the mobile phone as a form of a communication device trigger some functions around his vicinity or someone giving a breakdown how the voice controls or recognition system in the present smart phones work.

So why talk about the need for more geekcamps in Singapore? We need to have more people trained in technology and innovation or enjoy the process of innovating like the people in Homebrew Computer Club before really thinking about commercialization. That’s how entrepreneurship begins.

Check out the twitter feed and feedback for the GeekCamp. I have to say this, “Great job on the #geekcampsg event @jasonong, @patrickhaller, @sausheong, @mhisham and all other volunteers together with speakers and audience who are involved in the event.”

If you are a geek, developer or programmer who works with technology most of the time ranging from Java, Python, C++, MySQL, Objective C, Android, PHP, MySQL, Ruby, Linux and anything else in the Open Source Movement and otherwise, the GeekCamp is the perfect event for you. The event will be held on 22 August 2009 at Yahoo! Asia, Suntec City Mall, Tower 4, 8th Floor, Singapore. If you want to share your experiences in programming and web development, please go to the GeekCamp Wiki and volunteer yourself for speaking, organizing or even just turning up.

The Singapore Python Group is organizing the 4th Singapore Python User Group Meeting. The meeting will be held on Thursday, July 16, 2009, from 7:00pm – 9:00pm in SMU, SIS (School of Information System) NSR 2.1.

Programme:

* DigiBanner : An Interactive Multi-Screen Network Application – Mr. Morgan Heijdemann
* Using Google Application Engine and Amazon Web Services Together – Dr. Chris Boesch
* Python User Group updates – Dr. Liew Beng Keat
* Lightning talks – Open Invitation. (Come on and share what you have been doing…)
* Snacks and Tea