Archives 2011

Enter to win the one true Pass! Unify your way to EMC World! WIN FREE CUSTOMER PASS!!!

OMG YES THAT IS RIGHT! Yea.. You have the opportunity to win a free pass! Be sure to click on the link(s) provided (Tip: the big picture is the same link!)

This will take you to not only the rules of engagement (which I’ve hijacked here…. ;)) but takes you through each of the steps of what you need to DO TO WIN!!!  I definitely encourage you to do it.  I mean cmon, one of the best conferences of this year in VEGAS OMG VEGAS and you could WIN! Start EMC World as a winner, and I won’t make any Charlie Sheen references (I refuse to!)  So, act now or forever hold your peace! :)

Win a FREE CUSTOMER PASS to EMC World this yearOMG YOU COULD WIN A FREE TICKET TO EMC WORLD! ENTER TODAY!!!

Rules of engagement

  • Contest is open till end of day 22nd of April
  • A winner, randomly picked from the pool of entries, will be announced on 25th April, 2011
  • The winner will be contacted by a Unified Storage community administrator
  • This offer is not applicable to EMC Employees
  • EMC World Pass is non-transferrable and cannot be redeemed for cash. This does not include travel, expenses and hotel accommodations.

HOW TO ENTER

     1) Become a registered member of our Unified Storage EMC Community Network and answer this simple question on our discussion:

What are the top 3 sessions at EMC World that you will attend if you win the free pass?

To access agenda of sessions at EMC World, visit www.emcworld.com

  • Answering this question in the discussion tab, will get you FIVE entries into this drawing

FOR THREE ADDITIONAL ENTRIES

     2) Become a fan of our VNX and VNXe Facebook page  

  • Liking our Face book page, will get you ONE additional entry into this drawing

     3) Follow VNX and VNXe on Twitter

  • For theTwitter accounts you follow, you will get ONE additional entry each into the drawing

Maximum entries into the drawing per participant = 8

API HACK DAY COMES TO CHICAGO! OMG!!! May 28 2011

API Hack Day - In Chicago! Brought to you by Apigee, SimpleGeo, Twilio, SendGrid and Mashery!

Sponsored by!

Apigee - For people who love APIs, API products for developers, providers, and enterprises. Twilio Cloud Communications - Build Powerful Voice and SMS Apps! Sendgrid - We make email delivery easy! SimpleGeo - We make it easy for developers to create location-aware applications! Mashery

OMG THATS RIGHT! Yea, wow, I’m a tad overzealous! But hey, the SECOND EVER API HACK DAY IS COMING TO CHICAGO! That’s right! Stick it to the man! 

What is API Hack Day though you wonder?!?

API Hack Day brings developers together for an all-day coding fest focused on building apps and mashups with APIs. Developers of all experience levels can share ideas, collaborate on existing projects, start new ventures and find out about great tools and new APIs to play with.

Free admission, food and drink provided!

Hackers will also hear from some of the country’s top API-focused companies on tips, tricks and tools for building the next big app. At the end of the day, teams and/or individuals get a chance to present their work to a panel of judges and win great prizes.

API Hack Day Chicago will be held at the offices of event sponsor Morningstar, home of the Morningstar Tech Talks.

Brought to you by SimpleGeo, Twilio, SendGrid, Apigee & Mashery.

When

Saturday, May 28, 2011 from 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM (CT)

 

Where

Morningstar – Chicago, IL

22 West Washington Street

Chicago, IL 60602

 

Tentative Schedule as it stands!

  • 8:00 – 9:00 Registration / Breakfast
  • 9:00 – 9:15 Intro / Welcome / Kick-off
  • 9:30 – 10:00 API Workshops
  • 12:30 – 1:30 Lunch
  • 6:00 Submission Deadline
  • 6:30 – 7:15 Presentations
  • 7:15-7:30  Judging
  • 7:30 – 7:45  Awards

Sign up here!

http://apihackdaychicago.eventbrite.com/

 

That’s not all!

But wait… this sounds like a Press Release for an event, not at all the sort of thing I’d expect to find here! That’s damn straight! – You’ve seen what is COMING! Now through the power of the WAYBACK MACHINE… Oh and Context.. I’ll show you what you can begin to expect and what has happened!

They came.  They saw. They hacked!

 

API Hacking with Apigee!

They hacked!They Hacked!

 

Oh yea baby, and they hacked!Oh, did I mention.. a tad little more hacking?!?

They ate, they voted and they won?!?!

Pizza! Pizza! Everywhere! and not a drop of water! okay.. maybe wrong analogy!Vote!Vote!Vote! I wonder if that was one of the hacks.. a voting engine! ;)OMG THE WINNERS! Congrats to Zain Memon and Sha Hwang [if that is them.. it's some people who looked like they won, so I'm taking a stab in the dark! ;)]

San Francisco – October 2010

  • FIRST PLACE: Mootup by Zain Memon and Sha Hwang. An interface to explore upcoming meetups happening around the city, so users can discover various events without having to sign up for a group first.
  • SECOND PLACE: Push’d by Sherman Lee, John Milinovich, Jayant Sai and Parth Shah. Push’d empowers developers and consumers to push important online information to mobile phones in a format that can be accessed from anywhere.
  • THIRD PLACE: VeePark by Brennan Novak and Daniel Erickson. Air BnB for driveways. Rent out your driveway to people that need to park. Renters can use sms to find the nearest available driveway.

Yea, that’s right! Their hacking not only was rewarded with food and drink, but there were prizes! Props to the winners, and you too could be that winner!

Now, I know you guys know me from attending other events at one point or another in the past – So if the interest is there – I will not only LiveTweet the event on my beloved @cxi twitter ID, but I’ll also do the best of my ability to live-stream it (uStream?) , live-handle questions, and at request, handle one-off video interviews (in HD goodness) which we can throw on up to YouTube – It really is up to you the community to decide just how FAR I’ll go!

So, get your registration on! Get your hack on! And keep on keeping on!

Leading with the Unified EMC VNX – Watch, Look and Listen [Contest Entry too]

Hi guys! You’ve seen me produce videos in the past I’m sure, although it is not that often that *I* am actually IN the videos where you can see me, if even for a moment.  (You let me know if you like that, or not ;))

Through a series of events, I ended up recording this video.  For your reference: This IS a first draft, in an infinite style of regularly updating my style for delivery.  [This was done using a little camera and a tiny mount on not a whole lot of space on a whiteboard… if I went Pro for the next one… you’ll be all OMFG :)]

Initially, I had drawn up some notes of how I’d present this.. so in the effort of WTF and Full disclosure (You know me all too well ;)) These are those preliminary whiteboard/notes.

Unisphere, Silos, FAST-VP, FAST Cache Ease of Use, Maximum Efficiency, Consistent Performance

I did have some other pictures which showed bits and pieces.. but I’m sure you get the gist of it!  So what exactly am I saying with this video, with these whiteboards.. with this.. you know, whatever it is I’m doing here. :)

Three things actually.   One of the cool things about the VNX is that it provides you with:

  • Ease of Use – With simplicity of management using Unisphere, vCenter Integration, Single Pane for all arrays
  • Maximum Efficiency – With FAST-VP, You can go Thin, and use the right tier at the right time with auto-tiering
  • Consistent Performance – The magic of EFDs, QOS, FAST Cache, Wide-Striping, Consolidate and guarantee SLAs

I know what you’re saying “OMFG CHRISTOPHER, ARE YOU IN MARKETING?” No. And I usually stand by that, because I get things done ;).  Yes, I intentionally chose fitting points which happen to coincide with the acronym EMC, you know why? Because for one thing it’s easier to remember. :)  Not to mention, things should truly be easy to work with, and enjoyable; all the while providing an accurate picture of the story at hand!

Look forward to some future series where I actually go into the guts of the system and show you (from my perspective) the how’s and the why’s of these things [Time permitting ofcourse ;)]

So, for now, I leave you with this video.  Take it with a grain of salt, it IS a first-draft cutting room floor version.  As soon as I get my new mbp (April 1st?!) You should see some far better *Perhaps Annoying* videos coming from me ;)

And I know that some of you love me in videos sometimes… so for those of you who want to see me unplugged in an off-the-cuff impromptu interview (No, I’m not drunk), here is the infamous “I’m CXI, I’m from the Internets!” video!

I hope you enjoyed that.   Now, I’d love to hear your feedback. Where you say “Wow, I never thought of it that way” Or, “OMG You’re a total tool!” Yea, I’m game for either of those – Whatever you have to offer up, constructive or otherwise!

Oh, and I also submitted this for an internal contest (Which if I win.. will give me a sweet wrap-around terrace suite at EMC World [Yes, you can all come hang out in my room ;)] So, support away in every way possible! :)

Watch this space for more stupidity, err I mean great content in the future!

Hack and they shall come! (Seattle Mobile App Hackathon Apr 16 2011)

Mobile App Hackathon

 

Are you a Hacker? Interested in HTML5/Javascript Mobile based apps, or even looking to transcend beyond that?  Located in the Seattle area (or want to travel to this OMG event?!) Then look no further!  This event is nearly SOLD OUT! So it is best to act now!

So what is this exactly?! I’ll steal little snippets from the official site and registration site!

  • a one-day workshop for coders building mobile applications

    Mobile App Hackathon (@mobilehackathon) is a hacker event for new and experienced developers working on mobile apps. Experienced coders can show off their mobile apps while new app developers will learn from the best.
    The hackathon is the first in a series of mobile development events brought to you by the
    AT&T Developer Program and will include talks from members of the PhoneGap and AppMobi platform teams, Sencha and Apigee. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to show off your app or learn how to create great ones.
    To keep up-to-date on AT&T Developer Events, please sign-up with the program
    here.

  • Wow, that sounds pretty cool right? At a high level it can be summed up as:

    Hacking. Mobile. Good food. Awesome prizes.

    Yea, but let’s not over-simplify things, I know you verbose types want to know some of the HARD details! Like…

    Presenters!

    Jesse MacFayden Joe Monastiero Sam Ramji Jeff Barr James Pearce
    PhoneGap AppMobi Apigee Amazon Sencha
    Jesse MacFadyen Joe Monastiero sam ramji jeff barr james pearch
    Jesse MacFadyen is a senior software engineer at Nitobi, specializing in presentation layer programming for Rich Internet applications. Jesse has developed large scale applications in PhoneGap, JavaScript, Flash/Flex/Air, .net, and Silverlight. As a major contributor to the PhoneGap open-source project, he is passionate about bringing device level functionality to multiple mobile devices through simple web-tech APIs. Jesse has also created the open source project GloveBox to enable the use of fixed positioning and touch scrolling on iOS + Android devices
    Click here for Jesse’s Blog
    Joe Monastiero is co-founder and vice president of business development for AppMobi, bringing with him 20 years of management experience. Prior to AppMobi, he co-founded Intervideo, where he was responsible for sales, marketing and business development activities and helped drive over $30M in software revenue in three years. Sam’s spent over 15 years working across enterprise software, product development and open source strategy. Currently VP of strategy at Apigee & board member at the CodePlex Foundation, Sam works deeply within the developer, open source and social app communities to create a healthier, more productive ecosystem. Prior to Apigee, Sam led open source strategy across Microsoft and was a founding member of the AquaLogic product team at BEA. In his spare time, Sam enjoys the great outdoors, spending time with the kids, and bacon. Jeff Barr is a senior web services evangelist for Amazon Web Services. Jeff is focused on furthering awareness among software developers of the opportunity to innovate and build businesses using Amazon Web Services. In this role, Jeff travels, speaks, blogs, and conducts virtual events. James is a technologist, writer, developer & entrepreneur who has been working with the mobile web for over a decade. He is Senior Director of Developer Relations at Sencha. Previously he was the CTO at dotMobi and has a background in mobile startups, telecoms infrastructure and management consultancy. He speaks extensively on the topic of mobile web development, and has written books for both Wiley and Wrox.

    As you can tell, that’s very possibly a major Formatting Fail.. but that’s okay – It definitely gives you the gist of things :)  But by now I’m sure you know, few things are more important than.. the Agenda!

    Agenda!!!

    9:00AM Registration and Breakfast + Networking
    9:30AM Dev Environment Setup Help
    10:00AM Kick-Off – Platform Lightning Talks
    11:00AM Lunch is Served!!!
    12:00PM Coding Starts
    6:00PM App Submission Deadline
    6:30PM App Demos
    7:15PM Content Winners Announced
    7:30PM Drinks!

    And let’s not forget, after the Hack-A-Thon is over, everyone will demo what was worked on, gather feedback and hand out prizes for audience favorites!

    Whoa! This sounds cool! So where do I sign up?!?!

    Click here to Sign Up for the Seattle Mobile App Hack-a-thon 

    I don’t think it can be any clearer than that, right! Hooray! But I guess it may be important to have the rest of the details in one place:

    • When: 
      • Saturday, April 16, 2011 from 9:00 AM – 7:30 PM (PT)
    • Where: 
      • F5 Offices
        401 Elliott Avenue West
        Seattle, WA 98119
    • Who:
      • Hackers, Mobile App, Developers, Ninjas, Gurus
    • Why:
      • Because it rocks! And you’ll enjoy it! (Oh, and did someone say NETWORKING?!??! :))
    • Where do I sign up?

    Well, there it is, the whole scoop and ready for you to rock this out! I hope you get in a slot before it fills up! Enjoy it, it’ll be a blast!

    Register today for EMC World – Early Bird Discount Offer ends Feb 28th, 2011!

    EMC World 2011 - Las Vegas May 9-12th @ The Venetian

    OMG! It is THAT time of year again! Are you going to EMC World?  This is definitely the MUST attend event of the year!  (Seriously, you have no idea :))

    However, my first call to action for you guys.. is to try to make sure you’re getting hooked up with the FREEBIES if you know you’re going to be going anyway!

    Early Bird Registration Gifts - Receive an Apple iPod nano, an Iomega eGo, or a complimentary Wednesday Evening Customer Appreciation Event Guest Pass.

    A basic chart breaking down what you’re looking at when it comes time to register:

    Conference Registration Rates and Breakdowns:

    Conference Registration Rates Price Valid Starting Valid Through
    Early Bird Rate $1,895 USD with gift November 9, 2010 February 28, 2011
    Discounted Rate $1,895 USD March 1, 2011 April 11, 2011
    Standard Rate $2,195 USD April 12, 2011 May 12, 2011

    So I decided to take as best of a dive as I could into what these “Special Gifts” are, just to get an idea of what incentive you have to book early (and often?!)

    Early Bird Registration Gifts:

    Early Bird Registration Gift Approximate Price Relative Value
    8GB iPod Nano $149 This is great if you don’t have an iPod or want another as a gift!
    1TB Iomega eGo Portable $159 I’m not certain if this is the correct one but the price is retail about this
    Could be very useful if you don’t have or want another drive (these rock)
    Event Guest Pass $155 Bringing a spouse? (To vegas?! Seriously?!) Invite them to the event!
    If you are not bringing another, this is NOT the gift for you!

    Booking your hotel:

    Within the Venetian Resort you have the option to select your room to be within the Venetian Tower or the Palazzo Tower. Both towers are equal distance to the conference center. To secure a special conference rate be sure to reference EMC World if you chose to make a phone reservation. All room blocks expire on April 14, 2011.

    The VenetianThe Palazzo

    The Venetian The Palazzo
    Rate: $179.00 + tax
    Phone: 866.659.9643 or 702.414.1000
    Online Booking
    Rate: $179.00 + tax
    Phone: 866.659.9643 or 702.414.1000
    Online Booking

    I cannot emphasize enough because I know a lot of you guys… wait until the day OF the show to book your hotel rooms :)   All Room blocks (at these two hotels) will expire on April 14th, 2011 for this rate.   So just take that to heart when it comes time to book and buy your tickets :)

    This is going to be quite the OMG WTF AMAZING EMC World on record, far greater than you can imagine.  And it will ALSO be in Vegas, so if that means a lot to you, further mad crazy times – But in all seriousness, the type of content, the audience, the community, EVERY instance of the value which will come from this event.. this is a MUST attend EMC World.  You think records were broken at our Launch Event on January 18th?  Well, you haven’t seen nothing yet? (Is that grammatically correct?!? :))

    What, who, why, Justify to my boss! –

     

    What – (2011 Conference Topics and beyond!)

    • Backup, Recovery and Archiving
      Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
      Cloud Computing
      Content Management and Archiving
      Enterprise Applications and Databases
      Mainframe Platforms
      Partner Solutions
      Security and Compliance
      Storage and IT Management
      Technology Directions and Innovation
      Tiered Storage and Automation
      Virtual Infrastructure
     
    Yes, I know the conference topics have not been announced yet (Or else I would be citing them) But as an insider [ooh!] I know some guys delivering some GREAT sessions this year!  I haven’t planned to slate myself for anything, I’m tied up with other conferences.. and will be busy attending the show instead of presenting [well, and covering the show for the Media] but feel free to come by and talk ;)

    Who – (Meet, Greet, Network, Learn)

     
    • Learn directly from EMC engineers, customers, and partners at 500+ breakout sessions. EMC World’s comprehensive agenda includes keynotes, lectures, live demonstrations, hands-on workshops, and birds-of-a-feather sessions.
     

    Did I mention I’m going to be there?! :) And definitely seek me out and I can hook you up with other like-minded individuals, or others who are either doing what you WANT to do, or have already done it and you can share best practices (No, not marketing fluff, but actual real customers, engineers and beyond, networking seeds networking! :))

     

    Why – (Content, Content, Content)

    • Challenge your expertise with offerings including tutorials, business tracks, technical training, and developer sessions ranging from novice to expert.

    Are you a novice looking to seed your knowledge? Excellent.  Are you an expert, guru, ninja, and you find that no one understands you? Go yell at engineers! (That’s what I do ;))   This is the perfect opportunity whether you’re at the top of your game or just getting involved in the industry.   No stone unturned, you will be able to enhance your knowledge, take things to a new level and become an even greater champion than you already are today! (Champions ARE made just by attending EMC World)  Literally, seek me out and I’ll make sure you’re getting the MOST out of your entire experience – I do it at every show I attend. ;)

    Justify to my boss – (Whoa, this is in Vegas, my boss won’t approve that!)

    I haven’t seen an official write up ‘slick’ on this yet, so I am writing this FOR you.  I’ve had to do this in the past for past events (VMworld, Microsoft TechEd, Past EMC Worlds, TEC, etc)   You go to your management and you scream “I want to learn, I want to educate myself in order to better drive value into the environment, I need to network with my peers, and see the up and coming and be PART of the future instead of waiting for us to eventually get there”.   Yea, but this is what your management sees. “Jim wants to go to Vegas for a week, blah blah blah conference”  

    Do you find yourself in this situation?  If so, let me know (And let others know) I’ll try to make sure you have the right resources to help PROVE this out in your environment.  Whether you’re an EMC Customer today, or one in the future; this will be the value of a life time.   If you spent the entire time in sessions never meeting a single person you will gain benefit and an experience which will pay dividends in your home environment; step outside that shell a little bit and all of a sudden you will become a champion unlike that you’ll ever have seen!  

    Do not hesitate to educate! I’ll personally call your management if you’d like and help them understand the value (I’ll get whoever your local account team is involved just to make sure I’m not blindsiding them ;))   But seriously, now is the time to SAVE, as well as to LEARN!   Hop to it!

     

    So, good luck, enjoy and lets all meet up in Vegas for what will be an experience of a life time, this is ground breaking in every possible fashion!