prPIG Partnering With EFF To Help Civilize Electronic Frontier

Effort brings new attention to critical Internet freedoms, including privacy and security.

As the Puerto Rico Python Internet Group (prPIG) completes its’ first year of meetings and activities, the software development user community is partnering with the Electronic Frontier Foundation to help spread the word about the EFF, their mission, and work.

In addition to becoming an affiliate member of the EFF, prPIG will actively conduct meetings to share EFF prepared materials to the Puerto Rico software development community.  The EFF provides a timely “Take Action” center on their web page where citizens can actively engage citizens to help inform netizens about hot issues.  

prPIG is dedicated to ensure that the local software development community is exposed to the EFF, their work, and the valuable information they publish.  This material covers a wide range of issues likely applicable to technology professionals, such as blogger’s legal rights, coder’s rights, and ripped from the headlines, the EFF’s fight against NSA's Warrantless Surveillance.

About Puerto Rico Python Interest Group

The Puerto Rico Python Interest Group (prPIG) is the leading software development user community in Puerto Rico. Our mission is to create a sustainable user community for software development in Puerto Rico.  With more than 170 members, the prPIG has successfully organized 18 activities and meetings during 2013.

Pycon 2014 Early Bird Tickets

Para aquellas personas que les interese ir a Pycon 2014 ya se han vendido 50% de las taquillas "early bird". Para más información http://bit.ly/pycon2014 o http://bit.ly/pycon_reg_open y para el registro http://bit.ly/pycon2014_registration.

Nos vemos ahí!

November Meeting

November is around the corner and our monthly meeting will soon be upon us! It'll be held at our usual place, the Puerto Rico Science, Technology, and Research Trust (google map: http://bit.ly/science_trust_pr), at 7:00 pm local Puerto Rico time.
Here are the invites for your calendars:

• Google+: http://bit.ly/prpig_nov_meeting
• Facebook: http://bit.ly/prpig_nov_meeting_fb

That being said I want to try something different. I would like to do a "call for papers" for this meeting. These "papers" could be anything, an intro to a library/framework, a "war story", a simple tutorial, live code, questions, etc.
Below is a Google form for your submission of talks. I hope to see you all at our meeting!

New Meetings Schedule

Hi everybody!

prPIG will be changing it's meetings to a once a month, third thursday of the month schedule. We believe that this way it'll be simpler for our members and those interested in joining to plan ahead.

Our next meeting will be October 17, 2013 at 7:00 pm at our usual location (yes it's the third thursday of the month). Check out our G+ event.

See you there!

I can haz Python introz?

Hello once again!

At our last workshop we had a great Introduction to Python talk. Afterwards though more and more people asked for more and more intro style talks / tutorials. Well even though we would give you all the intro tutorials you want we also have to carry on. We will not be giving intro to Python tutorials for a while, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there and that prPIG won't help you get them!

Teaching some Python!

We had our helper pythons slither through the internets to find some great intro to Python videos for you!

Google's Python Class:

• Day 1 Part 1
• Day 1 Part 2
• Day 1 Part 3
• Day 2 Part 1
• Day 2 Part 2
• Day 2 Part 3
• Day 2 Part 4

Pycon 2013:

• Intro to Python Jessica Mckellar

Hope you enjoy them and happy coding!

Two quick things to talk about...

Greetings fellow Pythonistas! We got two cool things to talk about!

First prPIG is hosting a Sprints and Workshop day this saturday October 12, 2013. Our workshop will be focused on beginning and intermediate python users. Our other track will be Python sprints.

Sprints in the Python world are a get together for 3 to 5 days of programmers interested in working on an open source project. In our case our sprints will be 1 day long. These are recommended for intermediate to advanced Python devs but are open to all!

Currently we need more attendees, sprint projects, and tutorials for the workshops. If you have ideas, want to give a tutorial, or want to participate please check out:

• Eventbrite Event <http://bit.ly/18xHwLf>
• Google Plus community <http://bit.ly/19kcZ6m>
• Google Plues event <http://bit.ly/1hnXWrA>

Second at prPIG we've been getting many request on teaching beginning Python. Although this is a group interest and we are giving a Starting off with Python tutorial at our workshop, we think some people do this better than us. You know like the folks at Coursera! Coursera just open what looks to be a great course: An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python and I invite everyone who is interested in beginning with Python to not only come to our workshop but also enroll.

During the week we will be posting the confirmed tutorials and sprints for our Sprints and Workshop day.

Python Parranda - InstallFest

On May 11th, the Puerto Rico Python Interest Group (prPIG) is proud to announce our first ever

Python Parranda.  The Parranda is part Python InstallFest and part Meetup/Sprint. It will be Saturday morning from 9am till 12pm at the Telegrafo building on Ponce de Leon, San Juan, Puerto Rico.  

The group decided that getting the Python community ready for the upcoming Puerto Rico Tech Summit. what was most important need.  The Tech Summit, 06/06/13, is sponsored by the Puerto Rican Government, and it’s CIO Giancarlos González.  The first of it’s kind, the Tech Summit is a direct outreach to the Puerto Rico software development community to participate in access to governmental data; especially the Government Hackathon being held simultaneously with the summit.  

The data being made available for the hackathon is a direct result of the MOU Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed on 2/28/13.  Following President Barack Obama’s lead, Governor Garcia requested every government agency to make an API within 90 days.

Note: prPIG is kindly sponsored by the Internet Society, through their Community Grant program.  We are deeply grateful for all of the support we have received so far, it has been well beyond our wildest expectations.

Puerto Rico Python UG will host a look at Blimp in next prPIG meeting

Puerto Rico Python is pleased to announce our next meeting.  The meeting will be April 9th at 6:30 in the offices of Vasa Consulting.  Be advised that this is a new date.  Our normally scheduled Wednesday meeting was not possible, because the conference room was already booked. 

We will start a new content track with this meeting.  From now on, all meetings of the Puerto Rico Python Interest Group (prPIG) will include a tutorial or demonstration from a group member or a specially invited guest.

Our first tutorial will be offered by the co-founders of Blimp, a project management web service built in Python.  You can get blimp at http://getblimp.com.  prPIG members Giovanni Collazo and José Padilla will be offering us a long behind the curtain at their software development stack.

Our "Hack the Hackathon" meeting was a smashing success.  You can watch the recording and see the fluid flow of great ideas.  The prPIG "Hackathon" meeting from 3/27 is available from Youtube via an On Air Google Hangout.

Although we are still seeking a date to lock in our first Python Hackathon, what we have decided on is the content.  The prPIG Python Hackathon will consist of three tracks. The first track will be a Python Install Fest; anyone wanting to install Python can bring their laptop and prPIG will make sure they walk away with a working version of Python.  

The second track will be tutorials given by prPIG members.  The final track will be a Python Sprint.  Using the Hacker League, prPIG will host a Python hacking contest.  More details of the hackathon will be available soon.  

An example of the type of content that prPIG will strive to produce in our Hackathon was recently created by one of its' members.  Robert Rosario produced "Screencast de como comenzar un proyecto de Django + Virtualenv;" thus completing one of prPIG's original goals, generate Python-related content in Spanish.  

Meeting on 3/27: Hacking the Hackathon

The Puerto Rico Python Interest Group (prPIG) will hold their 3rd meeting on March 27th at 6:30 PM.  The meeting will dedicated to hacking away at the prPIG process to host collaborative events, such as a Python Hackathon, in the San Juan, Puerto Rico area.  We will brainstorm how to use what's already known and adapting (translating) it to the types of projects, processes, and activities that will be successful in Puerto Rico.

Our next scheduled regular meeting will be on April 10th, 2013 at 6:30 PM.  The co-founders of Blimp (a local startup based on Python) will give us an inside look at their SD stack.

All of the prPIG meetings at sponsored by the Internet Society, ASOPYMES, and Altamente.  Meetings are held in the ASOPYMES offices in the Teachers Association Building in Hato Rey, Suite 403.  prPIG can be contacted through a variety social networks: Google Communties, Google Groups, our Facebook Page, and here on the prPIG homepage.

prPIG was founded to create a sustainable user community based on software development in Puerto Rico

Google Group Moved

If you are looking for the Google Group, I moved it to the "Follow prPIG!" page.  It just wouldn't fit in 250 characters.

Slowly but surely, I'm getting all of the plumbing setup so that prPIG announcements will go out to every major social network, including email, all simultaneously.

Test Driven Python Development

Useful tutorial for using test-driven development, while learning Python:

Test-driven development (TDD) is a process that has been documented considerably over recent years. A process of baking your tests right into your everyday coding, as opposed to a nagging afterthought, should be something that developers seek to make the norm, rather than some ideal fantasy.

prPIG Meeting - 2/28/13

I'm organizing the next meeting of the Puerto Rico Python Interest Group.  It will be February 28 at 6:00pm in the facilities of the Teachers Association in Hato Rey. The address is 452 Ave. Ponce de León, San Juan, PR 00919.  I'll have the details promptly in Facebook.

The tentative agenda is to introduce the mission of prPIG and begin planning our first joint project.  I hope to see you there!

Coordination for 1st prPIG Meeting

I'm trying to nail down the location, the date, and the time for the first meeting.  One of our partners ASOPYMES has volunteered to host our first meeting.  Their offices are in the Association of Teachers building near the Department of Labor station of the Tren Urbano.

I'm shooting for the last week of February, either the 25th, 26th or 27th.  While I would prefer the meeting during business hours, I'm open to suggestion.  Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

If I don't hear back from the group by 2/18/13, I'll setup the meeting and let you know the where and the when.

Programming iOS with Python

Obviously, this is a VERY hot topic, so we'll definitely be looking into all aspects of using Python to program apps for iOS.  While this review of Pythonista is about using Python on iOS, it is still applicable. Excerpt:

"An app for programming Python on iOS called Pythonista ha[s] some smart ways of getting around some of Apples restrictions. And one of the nice things you can do is home screen shortcuts, making your scripts available directly from your home screen of your iOS device."

Thanks to Jacken's Blog for the tip!

Making Bacon

Come all ye Phythonistas!

The feedback from the meetup last night, is that Puerto Rico is ready for a software development community. With pleasure, prPIG is here to serve.

I'd like to announce that we will hold the 1st Puerto Rico Python Interest Group meeting before the end of the month (2/28).

Tentatively, the meetup will be at the UMET Cupey campus, unless someone would like to volunteer a location in the SJ Metro area? With WIFI por favor? :-)

Thanks for the leadership of Axel Rivera!  It was great networking with other Pythonistas!

Don't forget to like the prPIG Facebook Page!

Installing Python on Windows

#youtube #video #howto

Here's a basic tutorial on how to install Python on a windows machine:

First Puerto Rico Python Interest Group Meeting

Long live Puerto Rico PIG!

2/06/13 @ Ficus Cafe at 8pm

We will conduct our first meeting on February 6th at 8:00 pm at the Ficus Cafe in front of the Puerto Rico Convention Center.  Alex Rivera, founder of Startup After Hours Puerto Rico, has graciously allowed me a few minutes to introduce prPIG to his community during their scheduled meetup.

My objectives are simple. First, in order to prepare for the meeting, I wanted to launch a minimal viable product website and email mailing list, which I completed yesterday.  That's why I reached out to Alex, because...

An second, I wanted to get the word out as quickly as possible. At the event I will share the mission of the prPIG community, invite new members (free), and review the types of activities we have planned.  I hope to see you there!

P.S. I'm in the process of getting us listed on the Python Foundation Local User Group page of official list of Piggies on the Python Foundation Wiki. Soon it will be official, Puerto Rico will have their very own Piggy!(*)

(*) The Python Foundation refers to their local user groups as Python Interest Groups (PIG). 

First Steps to Building a Community

Every community must start somewhere.  This one grew out of a overwhelming need to better organize and educate the software development community in Puerto Rico.  It materialized in the desires of like-minded volunteers who were willing to cooperate and work together to fill that need.

There are many things to share and many more things to do, but this is a start. At this new beginning, everything is possible, and where we might end up is difficult to predict.  However, what we know is  that Puerto Rico needs software development leadership more than anything. We need leaders to pick up their respective banners and announce to everyone, "We are here to help! We are going to help!"