TAG WebChallenge 2009

This is just a summary of the 2009 Contest – for more information please go to the WebChallenge 2009 Web site at: http://www.webchallenge2009.org/

 

There are so many free web-based tools available, used by students every day.  But some of these tools like email, texting, and more, can be put to greater use.

 

 

The 2009 Webchallenge, “FREE YOUR COMMUNITY!” is about using free and/or open source technologies to benefit your local community.  Some examples are:

·        build a website for a student group or local non-profit

·        create an online newspaper for a support group

·        use text-messaging to broadcast to adults about job opportunities

There are 3 categories of competition, for all levels of technology developers:

 

Free Tech:  Gmail, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Google Maps, Blogger and more.  You can find plenty of examples where people have used one of these tools to create something that their community benefitted from.

 

Open Source:  Websitebaker, Moodle, Joomla, WordPress, etc.  These are softwares that are free to download and install.  Technically more challenging, but they can be put to use without knowing how to program anything.  An example of this could be a school newspaper, such as the local www.northgwinnett.com/blackandred.

 

Custom Code:  Using the listed technologies or creating programs from scratch, participants in this category would create customized applications to serve their community.  While all 3 categories will have a priority on the effectiveness for the community, this category will also recognize the technical sophistication of the product.

 

TAG Enterprise 2.0 Society – November 5, 2008 Meeting

TAG Enterprise 2.0 Society – November 5, 2008 Meeting    http://www.tagonline.org/events.php

Cloud Computing – Amazon Web Services

In this session, Seattle-based Jinesh Varia, Evangelist for Amazon Web Services, will discuss the latest innovations and new technology trends like Utility computing (Paying by the hour, paying by the Gigabyte usage), Virtualization and Web Services in the Cloud and most importantly, discuss some of the innovative business models for Start-Ups and Enterprise companies.

In this session, we will learn how aspiring entrepreneurs and enterprises can take advantage of these technologies to quickly scale up their infrastructure programmatically without any upfront heavy infrastructure investment. Often termed as Cloud Computing, we will see how these technologies are changing the way we do business today.
 
Amazon Web Services provides Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) that allows requisition of machines on-demand using simple web service call and paying for computation by the hour. Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) which is infinite storage in the cloud and Amazon SimpleDB which is the Database in the cloud and how these services can help local companies to scale-out and go live quickly. Also, we will see some exciting apps and some unique business models that are built on AWS that have become profitable businesses and others that are just simply cool to see.

PRESENTER
JINESH VARIA, TECHNOLOGY EVANGELIST, AMAZON WEB SERVICES, AMAZON.COM
As a Technology Evangelist at Amazon, Jinesh Varia helps developers take advantage of disruptive technologies that are going to change the way we think about computer applications, and the way businesses compete in the new web world. Jinesh has spoken at more than 50 conferences/User Groups. He is focused on furthering awareness of web services and often helps developers on 1:1 basis in implementing their own ideas using Amazon’s innovative services.
Jinesh has over 9 years experience in XML and Web services and has worked with standards-based working groups in XBRL. Prior to joining Amazon as an evangelist, he held several positions in UBmatrix including Solutions Architect, Enterprise Team Lead and Software engineer, working on various financial services projects including Call Modernization Project at FDIC. He was also lead developer at Penn State Data Center, Institute of Regional Affairs. Jinesh’s publications have been published in ACM and IEEE. Jinesh is originally from India and holds a Master’s degree in Information Systems from Penn State University