The Spaces in Between
I was reading a blog post the other day (for the life of me, I can't find it now) that was talking about "the spaces between" the Web API and the "cloud" (whatever that means) -- specifically, how it was that "space in between" where all of the real "action" was going to happen over the next few years. I have to say I tend to agree. Not that there isn't a lot of stuff to work out around cloud computing, virtualization, mobile computing, etc -- but the REALLY interesting stuff isn't what occurs *in* an area/space, it's what occurs between that area and another area.That thought is really helping me to sort through Glue topics, and, accordingly, I'm happy to announce that I've got our earliest of early draft agendas up (kind of, as I look on the website, I see that even it is not totally current). The thing I keep coming back to is how the topic/session ideas are addressing things that are about "the spaces in between." The spaces in between data, applications, architectural building blocks, messaging protcols, identity and context, etc. Beyond that, we need to start looking at the areas of need that span those in between spaces (governance in a cross-app, WOA environment, for example).So, go take a look at the agenda, and realize that a bunch of it is about to change, but you should still be able to get a good sense of *what* we're trying to wrap out head around with Glue.A few of the sessions that are confirmed might help a bit:
- David Heinemeier Hansson - As the creator of Ruby on Rails, David is pretty uniquely qualified to speak to "gluing" things together. Look for more keynotes of this caliber and type to be announced in the coming weeks (not months).
- Beyond Mashups: Using the Cloud to Integrate Below the Browser -- Andy Morgan, Internet Broadcasting. Andy describes the session this way: "JavaScript Global Variable Collisions, CSS conflicts, Widget Frameworks, iFrame blind spots, search blind spots and many other browser integration challenges face those of us working across the tops of the silos. With the rise of Web 2.0 came the rise of the public API. Application developers have a rich set of options for integrating data and functions. What capabilities exist within the context of distributed "cloud" computing to help engineer a quality user experience that does not rely solely on the desktop or browser to bring it all together?"
- Building Context Aware Services using Identity as a Foundation - Phil Windley.
- Using System Design to co-create lenses for data and context - Brian Oberkirch. Where Brian describes the session as: "Too much service design is orbiting around users creating content, whereas we're much more likely to collectively build on the fly contexts for something with bookmarks, comments, retweeting, etc. It would be interesting to look at system design as a place where you help users co-create lenses for data. "
That's a beginning, and flavor of what I think we're aiming for with Glue.Bottom line: we're in this weird period of (some) VC's freaking out, economies sputtering under the paralysis of uncertainty, and people just generally walking around with some gloom and doom clouds hanging over their head. But the truth is that optimism and innovation *always* win out. Always. The time to get focused on that is right now. And Glue is going to be one helluva place to focus.To that end, we've priced Glue so that it is more than affordable ($395 early bird), and if you use the code "early1" you can get an additional $50 bucks off of that price. But hurry (can you hear the used car salesman in my voice?), that discount is only good for the next 25 registrations. Register today. ;-)