Global Nerdy

We had some serious agile brainpower gathered in one place on Monday, what with:

• Lyssa Adkins, co-founder of the Agile Coaching Institute and author of Coaching Agile Teams, who was leading a personal agility course earlier in the day along with…
• Alistair Cockburn, one of the 17 developers who met at the Snowbird Resort in Utah back in 2001 and created the Manifesto for Agile Software Development (better known as the Agile Manifesto), creator of the Heart of Agile concept, and a local (he lives in St. Pete), and…
• Maria Matarelli, agile coach and presenter by day, fabulous club DJ by night, and co-organizer of the Tampa Bay Agile Social meetup…

…all gathered for the end-of-the-year Agile Social meetup, which also doubled as a birthday party for Alistair:

It’s not a proper birthday party without Happy Birthday being played in some form, so we did just that. Maria started a DJ set with a more acoustic-sounding mix 50 Cent’s In Da Club (which many people  know only as “Go shawty, it’s your birthday”). In the spirit of agile, I decided to play along with an improvised accordion line, and the result was captured in the video at the top of this article.

After the set, and as is my tradition whenever I meet someone who signed the Agile Manifesto, I had to ask Alistair my standard question: “Was the gathering at Snowbird anything like Hot Tub Time Machine?”

Alas, he said no.

So far, I’ve asked this question to three Agile Manifesto signers:

• Martin Fowler
• Robert (“Uncle Bob’) Martin
• Alistair Cockburn

3 down, 14 to go…

From left to right: Joey deVilla, Lyssa Adkins, Alistair Cockburn, Anitra Pavka.

Tampa Bay has a lot of agile goings-on, thanks to a lively community of agile practitioners and gatherings, including:

• Tampa Bay Agile, which organizes a great many local meetups and is managed by some great people: Stephanie Davis, Evy Vicioso, Becky Hartman, Julee Everett, Adam Ulery, Tami V., Carol Dekkers, and of course, Alistair Cockburn,
• Agile Social, organized by Jennifer Cullen, Ashlie Stevens, and Maria Matarelli,
• A number of Lean Coffee events — these are morning pre-office-hour events where agilists get together to discuss issues on their minds,
• Lean Beer, the after-work agile event that’s like Lean Coffee, but with beer, and created by Fred Mastropasqua.

Want to find out more about events like this in the Tampa Bay area? Follow this blog and my Twitter account (I’m @AccordionGuy) — I post a weekly round-up of upcoming tech events, and agile gatherings are a part of that list!

My trick is to remember it like this: ln -s $real $fake.

Android Apprentice and Kotlin Apprentice: Learn from a couple of great books

I learned iOS programming from iOS Apprentice, which is one of the more fun programming books I’ve had the pleasure of reading. It’s put out by the developer tutorial site RayWenderlich.com, who have since expanded their offerings to cover Android programming in addition to iOS programming. Android Apprentice is for developers who want to learn Android programming from scratch, while Kotlin Apprentice focuses on the Kotlin programming language, which is rapidly becoming the preferred language for Android development. Both are excellent resources, whether you’re new to Android programming, Kotlin, or even programming in general.

• Android Apprentice ($54.99)
• Kotlin Apprentice ($54.99)

Moto X4: So much Android for so little money

For just a smidge over $200, you can get the perfect Android phone for the developer on a budget (or in my case, a perfect second phone that also runs Android): the Moto X4. It has solid engine under the hood (Snapdragon 630, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage), good display (LCD, 5.2 inches, 1920 by 1080 pixels, 424 ppi), better-than-you’d expect cameras (12 megapixel rear, 8 megapixel front), and a 3,000 mAh battery. These specs put it squarely in the middle of the pack of the current phones, for a price that’s only slightly higher than a much slower, much sadder bargain device. Its metal body feels more like one of a premium phone, and unless you’re running the more intensive games, you probably won’t notice the X4’s performance difference from higher-end models. It’s makes a great phone for the Android developer who wants to target a wide range of devices. That’s a lot of bang for the buck, and that’s why it’s my Android development phone.

Don’t take just my word on the X4; here are a number of glowing reviews from other sources:

• Wired: The 12 Best Android Phones You Can Buy in 2018
• Android Authority: Moto X4 Android One review: return of the X
• C|Net: Motorola Moto X4 review: Standout midrange Android phone is even cheaper
• The Inquirer: Moto X4 review
• PC Magazine: Motorola Moto X4
• Wired: REVIEW: MOTOROLA MOTO X4

Logitech K380 keyboard: Feels good, man

A $30 keyboard shouldn’t feel this good, and it most certainly shouldn’t be be able to switch among three devices with a single keystroke. But that’s exactly what Logitech’s K380 keyboard does, which is why it’s the keyboard I use at my home office (where I work on RayWenderlich.com and personal projects). I prefer it to Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard. Come to think of it, I should get one for use during my day job at Sourcetoad.

Want more than just my opinion? Check out these videos: