Check it out!: http://lookingtothesky.com/2014/10/im-a-private-pilot/

This last week I had the awesome opportunity to attend Google I/O at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.  The event was a two-day Google technology conference showing off some of their newest creations they’ve come up with along with some new gadgets other companies have made using their technologies.  One of the largest components to the conference was the discussion of Android on phones, tablets, and TVs.  Second to this was the exciting updates their doing with Chrome; including their new “Chromebooks” which are notebooks running their Chrome OS.  The exciting new technologies Google is coming out with and making possible is the reason for this con and a reason I wanted to attend.  On top of this though, they awarded all attendees the first day with Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets.  The second day they gave everyone not only a Samsung 4g MIFI device which runs on Verizon with a three-month contract, they also announced that on June 15^th all attendees will be getting a Chromebook.  What an awesome and unexpected award for just going to an event I wanted to attend anyways.  All in all, the conference was not only fun and exciting, but also informational.

Every hour or so the conference had a bunch of “break out” sessions.   During each of these times there were a number I wanted to attend, but since I don’t have a clone or time machine, I was only able to attend one during each.  My big interests going into the con involved finding technologies that could be used for Viewpoint Construction Software, but also my own personal growth.  The con didn’t go in detail during the sessions, but I did get some good points on where to start developing in the different areas.

Android Development

I didn’t get a ton of info specific to android development, but what I did get was a large interest in creating mobile applications.  I think creating some mobile applications would be fun, interesting, and useful.  Android development is primarily done using Java, but there are those who are allowing development to be done using C# or other languages that are similar.  This is great for me since I haven’t really touched Java for over five years.  C# though I use almost daily.  Unlike an iPhone, to create an application for an Android, it just takes having an environment like Eclipse to create the Java app and to compile and build the APK to be installed.  Once this is done it is just a matter of running it on an android device.  The idea of this is that it allows for anyone to really pickup on developing for Android.

Google APIs

On top of just creating an Android app, Google has a number of APIs that developers are able to use to create their applications; allowing for developers to use the Android contact list, phone dialer, system resources, Google Maps, docs, etc.   The list really goes on and on.  There are new APIs created all the time for developers to apply to their system.  This again is a huge resource which allows for quick application creation without a ton of rewritten code.  And of course, there are lots of examples out there on the interwebs.

NFC

NFC, or Near Field Communication, is a set of short-range wireless technologies allowing for Android devices (or others) to be placed on other NFC devices (even stickers) and allow the user to get whatever is stored or being shared.  Unlike QR tags which only store one piece of info, these can be reprogrammed allowing for a breadth of application.  Thought it was very cool and excited to see what people decide to invent using this technology.

Coding for the Cloud

Cloud computing is something that a number of companies are getting into.  This new technology allows for tons of data to be stored over the cloud (or a bunch of computers with storage) and be leveraged for application development.  The idea behind the “Chromebook” is to use the cloud to store all the users’ data allowing for the hardware to be changed without having to worry about reinstalling since it is all out of the users worry.  My big concern for the cloud is security of people’s data and also persistency.  Is the data backed up?  If it is, how often is it backed up?  Are users able to put important documents into the cloud and not have to worry about someone else hacking into their private data.  What about companies that use this and the private data they have.

Either way, cloud computing sounds very exciting and creating apps that work with the cloud sounds like a lot of fun.

At VCS, we have some software that is quite complicated and narrowing down an application for mobile is going to be difficult.  However, I am certain we will be able to find something that allows us to stand above the rest.  I’m not whether it’ll be built for Android, iPhone, Blackberry or any other, but what I do know is that we need something that’ll allow us to compete with our competitors and a mobile app is something that I see our customers wanting, if not now, very soon.

For more info, check out the following presentations:

Android Development Tools

Best Practices for Accessing Google APIs on Android

Accelerated Android Rendering

Life of a Google API Developer

How to NFC

Coding for the Cloud

For many more sessions from the conference, head over to the Google I/O site here.

Here are some pictures and video from the conference:

Last month I made the decision that I’m going to do all I can to become a private pilot.  So far I’ve found out the following:

1. It’s gonna cost me around $7,000
2. It’ll be an expensive hobby to keep up
3. There are a number of locations in the Portland area to learn to fly
4. I like Stark’s Twin Oaks Airpark the best.
5. I’m gonna take my lessons from a fellow named James.

Though it’ll cost me up front, my thought is since it is education, that I can use it for years to come.  Also, since I didn’t pay a ton for my car a couple years ago and live pretty frugalous, that I’m allowed to make this dream of mine happen.

Weather providing, this journey begins on Monday, August 30th, when I take my first lesson!

I’m going to be logging my adventure learning to fly at*: lookingtothesky.gilldev.net.

I hope the few people that read my blog will continue to track my progress as I learn to fly in the next few months.

Jason

*Looking To The Sky – lyric from “Learn To Fly” by the Foo Fighters.

This weekend I went to Portland Code Camp, and I am so glad I did.  This years FREE event, hosted at the University of Portland, had over a thousand people in its attendance, nearly fifty plus speakers, and seven sessions with a dozen or more topics in each to attend.  I ended up attending a number of different session topics ranging from mobile phone development to parallel programming; all of which were quite stellar.  On top of the sessions there were prizes that could be won by the different sponsors at the event (one being a 320GB SSD Hard Drive, WOW!!!)  There was food and snacks provided throughout the day with the dinner including complimentary been and wine.  I didn’t stay for the final session (after dinner), but either way I had a blast and learned quite a bit while also filling my belly!

Be sure to follow the site for next years event schedule, for it will be even bigger than this one!

– Jason

After six whole months of interning here at Garmin AT, I’m finally heading out.  I’ve had a fantastic time being part of the Garmin team and will definitely be looking this way in the next few months as I get closer to graduating.  Hard to believe that the internship has come and gone already.

I’ve learned a lot throughout this ordeal and am extremely glad I took the time out of my sequence to partake of it.  I gained a lot while I was here and have given my fair share of help throughout this internship.

For all those Garmin people who take a look at this, thanks for all the good times and for making me feel like an actual part of the team.  Who knows what will happen later down the road, I may just end up sitting next to a few of you.

This entire internship was totally worth while and I would do another one with Garmin any time (Cept I’d rather have an actual job with them for better pay if nothing else).

I recommend Garmin AT to anyone with an interest in aviation who wants a fantastic job, so go apply as soon as you can!

I’m going to miss this place for sure!

Jason