I just wanted to note that our local tradition of leaving a trail of destruction up and down the east coast is older than we knew...

Yeah I saw the Docker stuff but decided to set it up myself end to end because I use that server for a few other things internally, and I wasn't sure how the packaged solution would work with that. Overall I was pleased with the simplicity of setting it up. The only curveball I had to overcome was using apache (so as not to interfere with other working things) and my own cert. Reverse proxy to feed traffic back to the default Mattermost port and easy peasy.

I just put up a Mattermost server this week to replace Slack for my family messaging. I chose it over Jabber or IRC because the features it sports are a little friendlier to the less-tech-savy or younger (6 year old) user. The traffic is encrypted with my own cert, and the box is my own (physical, not AWS or anything) and it's encrypted. I know that to use push notifications on mobile you have to allow the notification to route through their services, but you can limit the info to simply be "person has sent you a message". From what I could see in my research Mattermost seemed like it was private, easy, and had some nice features. I'd recommend it...unless of course I missed something on the privacy side...

I would discuss what skills are required and beneficial. Also the duos learning experiences in the profession, such as basic political issues and best practices. A good place to point them to learn more is WiBit.net

Check out WiBit.net. It's not really an open source project; but it is a site that, for free, teaches programming including C++ (also C, Objective-C, soon Java and C#). We have a forum where users can help each other learn. It's not a big thing, but that's one way to give back to the community. Not just on WiBit, but helping others learn what you have learned is a great way to give back overall :-) Also by getting into a learning site you can meet others who are like you: they know a bit, but want to be involved with something bigger. You can get your own effort moving and maybe create your own open source project. We have a guy in our forums working on an open source game with other users of the site. Check that out here.

If you have a base its better than starting from 0. Now for my sales pitch:

Check out my site WiBit.net. We offer video computer programming tutorials in a linear and fun way. We break apart everything into 5 minute videos that are focused and comedy infused. You can skip right to things you want to learn, and skip over things you already know. We made it so you can learn if you have no experience, or skip right to what you're trying to figure out if you're experienced.

We have C,C++, and Obj-C for now. Java and C# are coming soon! Out content is free! We only ask that you sign up to download labs material!

End of sales pitch. Thank you for your time and for tolerating my excessive use of exclamation points.

If they're updating us that they lost it with Twitter they should've just had it check in with Foursquare when it landed so they could find it. Duh!

How many times has it been "the year of Linux" over the years?

I don't know if it's the year of Linux or not, but I think with economic times being what they are it is certainly a good time to brush up on some skills and strengthen your resume.

You can do that at WiBit.net

Dish Network picked up Blockbuster. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/06/us-blockbuster-dishnetwork-idUSTRE7351VA20110406 Also note the "Subsidiary of Dish Network" part here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_Inc.

Wow. Calm down. I'm not discussing anything with you being all jack-assish like you were there. You want BASIC to be the most amazing thing ever, fine: it is. WHATEVER. Your';re right, that is the wrong article and I posted it by mistake. The article, which is written clearly tongue in cheek and is a joke and I think that is pretty obvious, is a great article in it's own right. To call my friend an idiot simply because you've got your panties in a wad over BASIC is pretty lame. Enjoy your life from this point on knowing I said BASIC is the most amazing shit ever and I'm ashamed for ever having called it poo. And go f yourself.

http://www.wibit.net/blog/visual_basic_relevant_programming_language

I'm not arguing the merits of other languages so please don't think I'm putting anything down (well....I really hate BASIC), I'm arguing for a linear approach to teaching. To quote my site "Many modern languages today were inspired by C++. It is imperative to learn C++ before even attempting Java or C# or any other OOP language. Syntax structure for C++ is pretty much the same as C and other higher level languages follow similar syntax and program structure as C++" http://www.wibit.net/curriculum/the_c_lineage/programming_cpp

I definitely agree with you on the memory management point. All I am suggesting over-all is a straight shot approach. Start with C, then C++, then probably Objective C, then Java, on and on. Each language broaches concepts and don't repeat the taught concepts of the previous languages. I can't tell you how many times I've watched a tutorial or read a book and it's gone over what OOP is when this is something I should (usually) know already. I've not used Objective Pascal so I can't really comment on it, but I'm sure it came after C++ and therefore probably borrows concepts from it?

You make some great points here! I couldn't agree more. C and C++, to me, are the best places to start.

Ruby is awesome but I would content it isn't the best place to start. If you start there it might be harder to go to other concepts later. If you start with something like C++ it may be harder at first (maybe) but the concepts can be applied to other learning down the road.