After our room block sold out in record time on March 31st this year, we asked the Lansdowne Resort to add more rooms at the $199 price (the regular rate is $279). They agreed (they are such friendly people!), and extended our block with more rooms. These have been selling fast and now there are only 23 rooms left. After these go, the hotel will be full on Wednesday and Thursday nights at any price. (There are more rooms available on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday). If you haven't booked your room yet I suggest you move fast to snag your room now! And if you haven't registered for CFUnited, do that at the same time.

Also, if you need anything from our end in order to register, or book your room, please contact info (at) cfunited.com with your questions!

This entry was posted on April 14, 2010 at 12:57 PM and has received 2253 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Stellr is looking forward to seeing everyone at Capital Flash Camp! Capital Flash Camp is a full-day event focusing on the Adobe Flash Platform that will be held on April 16 in Washington, D.C. Enhance your skills in ActionScript and Flex while learning from local and national industry experts. Flash Camp will provide an introduction to the Flash Platform as well as covering advanced topics for existing Flex and ActionScript developers. In addition to great training, this is also a fabulous venue for networking with other developers in the community.

While we are there, Stellr is going to raffle a free ticket to CFUnited 2010 to one lucky winner!

This entry was posted on April 9, 2010 at 12:10 PM and has received 1361 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Hey everyone!

We wanted to spread the word about Capital Flash Camp! Capital Flash Camp is a full-day event focusing on the Adobe Flash Platform that will be held on April 16 in Washington, D.C. Enhance your skills in ActionScript and Flex while learning from local and national industry experts. Flash Camp will provide an introduction to the Flash Platform as well as covering advanced topics for existing Flex and ActionScript developers. In addition to great training, this is also a fabulous venue for networking with other developers in the community.

Make sure you save your spot now with this $20 discount! Stellr will see you there!

This entry was posted on April 8, 2010 at 9:45 AM and has received 1473 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Hear what Chaz Chumley, one of our Advisory Board members and fellow speaker, has to say about CFUnited for developers in the government:

Working for the government has its benefits and its challenges. As a web developer I often have constraints with technology. Being told what I can use, what I can't. Facing challenges to common problems but not always knowing what tools to use and what new technology is best suited for a government business.

With a lot of government agencies using ColdFusion, having a conference like CFUnited makes my life a little bit easier. Yet, every year the schedule comes out I find myself wondering with so many great presentations what will I benefit from the most. Often there are multiple topics going on at the same time and since I can't be in two places at one time, I may split my time between them. While this is not the best way to absorb all the information what else can I do?

So I thought I would help those this year that face this challenge by suggesting the Top Ten Topics to take in based on a typical application life cycle:

1) Setting up a Solid Local Development Environment - Kurt Wiersma

Good development starts with a solid development environment and for new to seasoned developers this is important to us all. If you find yourself struggling with the setup and are tired of wasting your time scouring the Internet to figure out the best way to setup your environment, then you don't want to miss this topic.

2) HTML5: The cool, the really cool, and the "huh"? - Christian Ready

As web design has progressed over the years and government websites needing a facelift to bring them into the Web 2.0 era, HTML and CSS has stepped up to make it easier. So what exactly changed with HTML5 and how do I use it along with CSS3 to get more bang for my buck in the latest browsers? Well this topic is for you as Christian shows you the ins and outs of the latest flavor of HTML.

3) ColdFusion and jQuery: Two Great Tastes that Go Great Together - Jeff Coughlin

Since ColdFusion 8 we have been introduced to Javascript User interface enhancements and with even more tools introduced in ColdFusion 9 you may be scratching your head. Maybe there is more you would like to do with the client interaction than what ColdFusion provides. JQuery is a great javascript library and ColdFusion a great server-side language. If you like to put your chocolate in the peanut butter and see what you come up with then you don't want to miss out on this topic.

4) Hidden Gems in ColdFusion Builder - Charlie Arehart

With cost and budgets constraints always at the forefront of government, it pays to know which editor you should be using to do your development in. Adobe has released a great editor target specifically for ColdFusion development but extensible to allow you to build upon it without buying additional software. Join Charlie as he shows you how to get the most out of ColdFusion builder.

5) ColdFusion and the Open Source Landscape - Sean Corfield

I have started to see a trend of the government moving toward more Open Source with databases, programming and server environments. Why? More Support? Cheaper costs? Where does that put ColdFusion? Join Sean as explains how ColdFusion plays a big part in the Open Source Landscape and how you can benefit both from the community and your next budget meeting.

6) CFWheels - Convention Over Configuration - Mike Henke

Choosing a framework in general can be a daunting task. How you manage your development team can often dictate which one to use. With so many good frameworks out there, how do I choose? I prefer convention over large XML configuration files and finally we have a framework that fits just that mold. Join Mike as he walks you through ColdFusion on Wheels, based on the popular Open Source Ruby on Rails, this framework has powerful database interaction, extensible plug-in support, provides rapid development, SES friendly url's and works out of the box on both ColdFusion and Railo.

7) Writing Secure CFML - Pete Freitag

If there is one thing synonymous with Government, it's Security. Being able to write secure ColdFusion code should be at the top of everyone's list. This presentation will cover several common yet dangerous vulnerabilities, and offer tips and tricks to protect your applications.

8) Searching with Apache Solr - Shannon Hicks

Search functionality or the lack of it has always been a topic of long conversations. Government agencies generally pay a hefty price tag for leasing a Google Appliance and while Google search is definitely powerful, it lacks the ability to provide a more faceted approach. With ColdFusion 9 introducing Apache Solr and Lucene you will definitely want to attend this session as Shannon explains how to harness this new search functionality.

9) ColdFusion Report Builder - Chaz Chumley

How many times has your manager or director asked you for a report? Does your agency spend a lot of money on report writing tools? Do you know ColdFusion provides a reporting tool for free? You definitely want to join us for the presentation as we look at how easy it is to use ColdFusion Builder to build and display reports right inside your applications.

10) AIR development with jQuery and ColdFusion - Raymond Camden

With Web 2.0 the buzz around the Government now a day, teams are scrambling to find the next coolest widgets, iPhone application or user interfaces to build. Why not consider AIR then to take your existing ColdFusion application and easily turn it into a desktop client. Join Ray as he walks your through how to put the tools you already know how to use to work in developing an AIR application.

This entry was posted on April 5, 2010 at 11:32 AM and has received 3053 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Jason Dean - Currently employed by the Minnesota Department of Health, in St. Paul, MN, Jason Dean he has been working in Information Technology for 12 years, focusing on application security for the past 3. A veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard trained in both physical and information security, he held a secret security clearance and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology Management from American Military University. He keeps himself busy managing a ColdFusion User Group at the Department of Health, sitting on the board of the Twin Cities ColdFusion User Group, speaking at conferences and user groups, training, writing, and blogging at http://www.12robots.com.

CFUnited session: Practical Ajax Security
Understanding Security in Adobe AIR Applications

1. Have you spoken at CFUnited in the past?

I have not. This will be my first time. I am very excited about it.

2. Why should people attend your sessions?

Security is an important topic, and, all too often, it is considered as an afterthought in the development process. My goal is to help people think about how security affects their applications and how it should be built in from the very beginning.

I will be talking about Ajax security and AIR security. Both Ajax and AIR are relatively new in the Web 2.0 (bleh) world and there are security considerations that developers may not even know exist.

3. Do you have any projects in the works that you will be revealing at CFUnited?

Maybe. Too early to be certain.

4. Besides your topic, what other sessions are you looking forward to?

The topics I am most interested in are: Mike Henke's "ColdFusion on Wheels" (I want to see what all the hype is about), Jeff Tapper's "Flex 4 for Flex 3 Developers", and Jim Priest's "Digging into the Developer Toolbox".

That said, I have actually seen several of the other presentations and I can say that Bob Silverberg's "What Your Mother Never Told You About ColdFusion 9 ORM", Daryl Banttari's "How to Read a Stack Trace", Kurt Wiersma's "Real World ColdSpring" and Shannon Hick's "Searching with Apache Solr" are all fantastic presentations and are sure to delight the audience.

5. What are some of the hot topics you'd like to see at RoundTable discussions?

Of course I always love to talk about security, but I would also like to see topics on OO, input validation, TDD, and accessibility.

6. Where can people find you at CFUnited?

Anywhere but in my room. I will be at sessions and BoFs, and I am usually in the bar well past midnight. I love to talk, so no one should hesitate to say "Hi".

7. What's the latest news with you? Has anything changed since last CFUnited?

I started grad school this year, so I have been very busy with that. I am working toward an M.S. in Information Assurance and Security. Also, I am writing a column for the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update called "Let's Talk Security" where I discuss different application security topics in greater detail than what I have in my blog posts or presentations.

8. What is unique about CFUnited?

CFUnited is HUGE! Last year was the first time I attended, and I could not believe how many people were there. I have only attended smaller conferences in the past, so it was really great to meet so many people and to see so many old friends. It was hard to make time for everyone I wanted to see, but it was also nice that there was never a lack of good company.

9. What do you like to do in your free time?

In my what?

With work, school, training, presentations, blogging, and writing, I find very little extra time for anything other than my wife (who is a full-time culinary arts student) and my two children, Elizabeth (7) and James (3).

This entry was posted on April 2, 2010 at 9:34 AM and has received 2857 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.