I stopped writing conference wrap-ups a while ago, mostly because conferences are pretty much all the same. You go, listen to some smart people talk about PHP, eat-drink-be-merry with friends and fellow PHP geeks, then you go home.

However, imagine sticking roughly 25 geeks together in a house in the mountains for 4 days and see what comes of it. Cooking together, hacking together, talking PHP together, playing some video games together and of course drinking together. I think everyone would agree that it's worth the $15 plus travel and the cost of the cabin.

We came from 9 different states and 2 different countries (yay Paul!) and we all had different backgrounds and working environments. We all had differing opinions on quite a lot of things from politics to IDE usage to just about everything else. There were some great discussions, some great meals, and some *awesome* impromptu presentations. The PHP Trivia was a hoot also, although I realized much to my chagrin the answers I knew revolved around spelling people's names or drunken escapades by PHPers at past conferences. Oh well. Despite crappy Internet connectivity, a toxic hot tub, a visit to the emergency room (poor Cal) and a visit from the Pigeon Forge Fire Department, the whole conference went off without a hitch.

What I found most interesting is the group bonding that occurred (note, I said bondING). Everybody pitched in to cook, and clean, and present, and discuss, and participate. I feel like we all met some new friends and had a lot of fun with the old ones. But it wasn't just about having fun, it was about the exchange of information which so readily happens when you're stuck with people for 4 days straight.

Don't get me wrong, large, more formal conferences obviously have their place, and I really look forward to those too, but for a different reason. The nature of a large conference definitely allows for broader networking, more presentations, and sometimes a bit of formality is a good thing. A small uncon like this basically takes all the great things about a conference and compiles it into one nice neat little package. Kind of like the top of the muffin. Tastes awesome, but might not entirely fill you up like a whole muffin would.

So, anyway after all is said and done, I think I can consider this a success and something I'll definitely be up for helping to plan again. A very special thanks to:

• Whitney Turland for cooking authentic Louisiana gumbo for the entire crew (and even a special veggie batch just for yours truly!)
• Sara Golemon and Maggie Nelson for cooking breakfast for the crew
• Keith Casey for completely planning the uncon schedule
• Paul Reinheimer for keeping us entertained the entire time
• Cal Evans for enduring 13 stitches despite being one of the few sober ones at the time
• all those that took the time to present (they were great, guys.. seriously)
• Joe LeBlanc for disarming the fire alarm multiple times
• and of course our sponsors, who really did help us make the event a success (php|architect, NuSphere, Cool Blue Interactive, and ServerGrove Networks. Many, many thanks to you.)

We've also begun talking about next year's PHP Appalachia, so if you think it sounds like fun, be sure to keep your eyes and ears open. :)

PHP Appalachia is now only 3 weeks away! We have 30 people currently signed up, but there is still room for more. There may be room in the Main Cabin (room sharing availability is on our wiki) or else there are plenty of campsites and hotels in the general area.

Remember this is an unconference, which is being scheduled by the fabulous Keith Casey (who did an outstanding job as ZendCon's recent unconference Chair) and you can see the tentative schedule also available at our wiki. As you can see there will be plenty of time to do other things, such as visit Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, and the surrounding areas.

We've also started a list of attendees at the wiki, and although not everyone is listed, I'm sure you'll see some familiar names on there.

So come drink, be merry, and maybe kick around some PHP with us in the mountains!

I'm very excited to say that we've announced the schedule for php|works/pyworks 2008. This year, it'll be held November 12-14 in Atlanta, GA, and if you haven't heard, we're offering 2 tracks of PHP talks, 2 tracks of Python talks, and 1 "center" web development track that will appeal to both sides. One ticket will get you access to all the tracks so it's a fantastic deal. There are discounts available for students, user groups, and companies that send more than one employee, so be sure to check those out. As well, attendees get a free one-year subscription to php|architect or Python Magazine, whichever they choose. Woot!

In true conference fashion, we also have some fun things in store for the social event, so be sure to keep an eye on that as well. Hint: adult beverages will likely be involved. Just sayin'.

Hope to see you there!

I love to take my work outside, but of course, like everyone else, I hate that laptop screen glare you get in the bright sunshine. Sometimes I brave it and end up like Squinty McSquinter after spending my working hours outside... but it makes it really hard to debug something when you can only see the screen at about 17%. When I stumbled across this Compushade Laptop Screen I thought at last I had found the perfect bridge between my tan and my geekdom.

I'm a complete impulse buyer but before I bought this, I thought I'd do a quick Twitterpoll just to see if anyone had used this. I'm also not a very good judge of what looks dorky versus what looks "cool" so I thought I'd get some feedback on that too, while I was at it.

Most people hadn't tried it, but felt it ranked pretty high in dorkiness. I also had a few suggestions for using a cardboard box or a jacket instead (which I'm pretty sure would be more dorky than this shade thing). However, being the consummate hopeful that I am, I figured I'd shell out my $30 and give it a shot, dorky or not. (What do I care, anyway?)

Installation was pretty easy; you just attach some Velcro strips to your lappy and then stick the two plastic panels on to the Velcro. The panels then fold together to encompass your laptop screen in a glorious mass of inky darkness (or so I'd hoped).

I first tried it with my laptop on battery power, which makes the screen a little dimmer, in order to save battery juice. Sad to say, there was virtually no difference when viewing with or without the CompuShade. I tried to give it every chance I could; I tried with the sun behind me, with it in front of me, and to each side. I also tried it in a shady spot, and still no difference really. If trying to look at your laptop in the sun is about a "1" on the scale of 1-10, then this maybe bumped you up to a "2."

Next I tried it while my laptop was plugged in, which offered a little better result. I again tried all angles and all sun positions but this maybe took me from a "3" to a "4." Hardly enough to justify the purchase, or to enable me to spend any length of time working comfortably in the sunshine. In the shade, it took my viewing from about a "6" to maybe a "7" which is probably okay to do some real work. But if you're at a park or the beach, how often are you going to have a) shade and b) an electrical outlet?

Now, the manufacturers of the CompuShade also claimed that this would help with "privacy" so I engaged my kids in a little experiment. I made them sit next to me, as would potentially be the case on the bus or at a restaurant, and tested how easy it was for them to see what I was doing. While it did keep them from casually glancing and seeing what I was working on, if someone was really determined to see, they absolutely could. Especially if they are curious children. :)

Long and the short of it, my purchase was a bust. I guess I'm relegated to the whole "jacket over the head" thing, which somewhat defeats my purpose of sunbathing and refactoring simultaneously.

Hey, we now have a wiki for PHP Appalachia, so if you're attending be sure to list your name on there. I could do it myself but what do I know; you may want to keep that your little secret. Plus, I'm lazy.

We're also listing great places to eat, so if you know of any in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, feel free to add it to the list.

Also, if you want to add fun places to go, that would be killer too.

We still have spots open for anyone that is interested in attending. Plus, we know it will be way better than PHP Vikinger... (just kidding, Derick :) ).