8th April, AgileYorkshire Meeting: Crystal Clear Methodology

In this session Richard Fennell, will attempt to provide an overview of Crystal Clear, an agile project methodology proposed by Alistair Cockburn in his book of the same name. This will be from the view of a novice to the methodology, looking at how it appears to pragmatically match the process in place in many companies that are attempting to be agile but do not match the full rigour of Scrum or XP.

Venue: Victoria Hotel, Central Leeds
Date/Time: Wednesday, 8th April, 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start.
More details: http://www.agileyorkshire.org/

16th April, NWRUG - BDD, you know you should be doing it

So, you’re testing your code right? Of course you are! But are you
testing your code as well as it can be tested? This month Ashley
Moran, Testing Maven, will be giving a talk and practical session on
Behaviour Driven Development and how it should be done right.
We’re starting 30 minutes earlier this month due to the practical
nature of the session.

This month we have sponsorship from Engine Yard so there will be free
Pizza (and maybe Beer and soft drinks, depending on the numbers)
during the talks.

Schedule
• 6:00pm :: Welcome & Pre-session bar visit
• 6:30pm :: BDD, why you should be doing it and how. Pizzas provided
by Engine Yard will be served during the session
• 8:30pm :: Drinks at the BBC bar afterwards, then somewhere else
nearby after that closes at about 21:00.

Sign Up
If you would like to attend this event please email me
(nwrug AT willj.net) as the BBC need a list of attendees before the event
and I really need to know the numbers so I can order the right amount
of food and drink. This month I shall be publicly coating people with
blancmange who turn up without emailing me. You have been warned.

Location
This meeting is being held at one of our regular venues, the BBC
Manchester main building on Oxford Road in central Manchester

You can find the exact same information on the NWRUG site

April 15th, GeekUp With Dirk Ginader of Yahoo!

This month, GeekUp Leeds will be upgrading it's regular venue and heading up the hill once again to Old Broadcasting House for a one off special.

This time we've managed to entice Dirk Ginader of Yahoo! fame up from that London to tell us all about the virtues of JavaScript Accessibility.

When
6:00 PM Wednesday April 15th 2009

Where
Old Broadcasting House, 148 Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9EN
Photo
Google Map

Who's this Dirk Ginader then?
In the rough early days of the world wide web Dirk Ginader changed his Passion to his Profession and founded the Unit Interactive of a large Advertising Agency in Mainz, Germany. After nearly 9 Years the Web Standards and Accessibility Enthusiast answered the call of Yahoo! to join the Web Development Team and the Accessibility Task Force in London. In his Spare time he is developing, speaking and blogging about open source accessible JavaScript and Web Development in General.

Attending?
Tell us

Extra
There will be beer (and soft drinks) and a possible visit to the Dry Dock afterwards for yet more beer!

Our Friends
All this would not be possible without our good friends at NTI. They have very kindly paid for the whole event, so a big thanks to them.

7th April, LawCampLeeds

The bundle of web based technologies popularly known as "Web 2.0" have created opportunities for all sorts of new businesses. But those businesses have already encountered legal issues that inhibit the development of those technologies and the exploitation of those opportunities.

The purpose of this gathering is to identify, analyse and resolve those issues. Since those issues are still largely inchoate the BarCamp formula is particularly for their analysis and resolution. This will not be a legal seminar but a forum for the technical, business and academic communities.

The venue is ideal for that purpose. Located in one of the UK's most important financial and legal centres outside London and close to two great universities, the NTI is already the meeting place for many of the developers of the new technologies and those who want to invest in them.
Website: http://www.barcamp.org/LawCampLeeds

1st April, Liverpool Linux User Group Meeting

Liverpool Linux User Group are a group of Linux and open source software users that meet on the first Wednesday of the month. If no talk is organised then we will usually organise a "open stage" for people to discuss projects, current news, or just to rant.

Main Talk
At the moment we have a choice of talks to present at this months meeting, but we'll be confirming the details very soon.

Open Stage
Simon Johnson will be doing a quick talk about high level Python.
Andrew Williams will explain one of his latest projects and why Android development is great for newbies.

We will meet up in "The Old Ropewalk" pub before the meeting, then head out to the event around 7:00pm. The Liverpool Social Centre is two doors up from Forbidden Planet and is the right-hand door at the front of "News From Nowhere". Check the window for a handy Liverpool LUG sign, which will indicate we are there and not still at the pub. Press the white doorbell for access (the one marked basement) and someone will come up and open the door for you.

After the talks we will usually stay in the meeting area for a while then head out back to The Old Ropewalk pub.

If you have any difficulties finding the event, please ring a contact number listed on the website.
Website: http://livlug.org.uk/meetings:2009_april
53.4026340000 -2.9773520000

1st April, Exposure Leeds 2

Exposure Leeds is series of monthly events in a user-group format aimed at helping those serious about their photography to improve and develop.

-- The complicated act of getting back to basics --

A few years ago I attended a workshop on creativity. Now, as a person who does problem solving creativity on a daily basis, I was stunned at not only how much I'd forgotten but also how differently other people approached 'being creative'.

Based on this I approached Rick Harrison and Mike Wallis and they have agreed to cover their thoughts and experiences with the 'dark arts' of composition and exposure.

There will be time given over for networking and socialising.

www.exposureleeds.org

1st April, Geekup Sheffield

As you may know, Sheffields very own geekfather, @jagusti, is off touring the world at the moment, but fear not! We're gonna buy a pint of Franziskaner and stand it on the end of the bar for jag, then muddle on as best we can.

Presentations will kick off fat 8pm on the dot. We're hoping people will use the early evening space creatively and do some networking / catch up. There will be a projector and all the usual facilities, so if anyone fancies giving a lighnting talk, you're more than welcom.

First up at 8pm we've got Finbarr Joy, an old hand at agile projects (And singer with Giants Causeway), who's coming to talk to us about project management and contract issues around agile processes. Bring your anti-agile bosses and their questions!

After questions, and a brief pause for glass re-charging, our very own Richard Allsebrook (Twitter) will be up at ~9pm and giving a whirlwind (30 min) tour of Cake/PHP.

Richard will be doing a high-level overview that should be interesting to everyone, and is then going to show a bit of code. If you don't want to sit and look at more php, there will be seats and tables in the breakout area. We really want to try and cultivate that area, so please feel free to peel off into sub-groups and use the space if you don't fancy the code!

Right, thats it. Support your local geek-up! hope to see you there.

24th April, Ubuntu Release Party

Ian Forrester (from BBC Backstage) has
booked us the BBC Manchester Bar on Friday 24th April for the
Ubuntu-UK Manchester release party. The party will start at 7pm and
go on until late (although after 10pm we may have to move to another
pub on Oxford Road).

If you are interested in attending you need to sign up before 9am 24th
April. You can do this by emailing me, adding yourself to the facebook
page [1] or adding yourself to upcoming yahoo page [2].

The address is: New Broadcasting House, Oxford Road, Manchester M60 1SJ.

The nearest train station is Oxford Road, although it's within walking
distance of Piccadilly and Victoria stations.

For car parking, the Cornerhouse is just down the road and their
website [3] has some useful information.

When you arrive just wait in reception where someone will meet you to
take you up to the bar.

Please feel free to pass this on to anyone you think maybe interested.
It's time to show the London lot some competition!

Rock on Ubuntu 9.04!!


[1] http://preview.tinyurl.com/cy6pgq
[2] http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/2173360/?ps=5
[3] http://www.cornerhouse.org/about/?page=22330

25th March, Bradford LUG Meeting

Bradford LUG Official Meeting
Date: 25th March 2009 - that's tomorrow!

Time: 7pm - 8:30 ish
Place: Mable Booth Room
Bradford Council for Voluntary Services (CVS)
Voluntary Services Centre
19/25 Sunbridge Road,
Bradford
West Yorkshire
BD1 2AY
tel. 01274 722772

more info at:
http://www.bradford.lug.org.uk/wiki/


We're focusing on Games this month with a presentation about Gaming
past, present and future. It promises to look at how to persuade you're
hard core gamers that Linux is platform for them.

You may also get a chance to rub shoulders with our very own Linux
Format contributor - get a copy and then match the face to the person!
(are you coming John?)

It will also be Document Freedom Day,
http://www.documentfreedom.org/

so we may raise a glass to that following the meeting - probably in the
Sir Titus Salt (near the Alhambra) from about 9pm.

19th March Leadership And Management in the Digital Industries

In a fast-moving industry dominated by freelancers and SMEs, what does ‘Leadership And Management’ really mean? Why is it important? Where does Project Management fit it? And how do we get better at it?

This event, held in association with BMedia and the West Yorkshire Lifelong Learning Network (WYLLN), seeks to find out! The event takes place at the WOW Academy in Bradford on Thursday 19^th March, 5.30-8.15pm where Dave Pannell from The Design Mechanics and Liz Cable from Reach Further will give their views on this hot topic. Also including free pizza buffet! Contact us on 0845 122 1555 or infoAT ntileeds.co.uk to book your place.