I know this might not be the proper place to discuss something like this, but it's important to me and I'm going to do it anyways as it concerns a fellow native Rhode Islander.

Josh, a very close, long-time friend of mine was in a serious lawnmower accident the day before Thanksgiving (11/25/2009).

As a result of the accident, he suffered very severe damage to his primary hand including the loss of several fingers.  While, thankfully, the injury was not life-threatening, it most certainly was life-altering.

Josh and his wife have two young daughters and could use any help possible during his recovery.

All donations will go directly to Josh and his family to help cover the cost of his medical bills and support them while Josh recovers and is out of work.

Thanks so much in advance for your donations no matter how large or small.

Any small amount will help, whether is be $1, $5 or $500 dollars - the amount doesn't matter.  I know the holiday season is traditionally a tough time for people with money anyways, but if you could help out I'd greatly appreciate it.

http://pledgie.com/campaigns/7...

To those who follow me on twitter and have already seen this several times, sorry for the cross-talk.

Huge thanks to those who have already donated.

- Craig 

Just trying to get a head count for the first RI Ruby Group Meeting next Monday (October 27).

If you do plan on attending please RSVP in this thread, on the RIRUG Google Group, or on the RIRUG blog site (http://rirug.wordpress.com/200...)

 Thanks

 -Craig 

It looks like Monday, October 27 is going to be the date for the first official Rhode Island Ruby User Group meeting.

I met with Wayne this afternoon, and we are going to use the new co-working space at OfficeLab to hold the first meeting.

I know discussion has been back-and-forth at various sites about this first meeting, so if you are interested, I encourage you to join the RIRUG Google Group and participate in the group discussions there.That is where I hope to keep most of the discussions so it is all aggregated in one place

You can also find info online at the RIRUG webiste (http://rirug.wordpress.com/) which will most likely change once I buy a domain for it

So, if you are planning on attending the first meeting on Oct. 27, please either post a response here or to the mailing list on the Google Group. Also, if you are interested in give a short (or long) presentation at the first meeting (or any meetings in the future) please let me know as well so I can co-ordinate that with you.

Addison-Wesley has graciously agreed to sponsor the first meeting and has donated some Ruby related books and conference pass discounts to the upcoming "Voices That Matter: Professional Ruby Conference" in Boston this November. All those in attendance will be eligible to "win" those items.  

Hey guys, seems like discussion has died down on the earlier Ruby thread about having Ruby Group meetings.  I've been trying to get something setup and am hoping we can have the first meeting in October, but I need a bit of help.

As I've worked solely out of Boston the past 3 years, I haven't been involved in the RI tech scene and need a bit of help with choice of venue for the meeting.

Also, we'll need a few people to volunteer to give a short talk or presentation since I haven't been able to line a guest speaker up yet.  The more volunteers the shorter everyone needs to talk.  Maybe the first meeting can just be a simple "Drop your Pants" session where everyone gives a blitz talk on what projects they are currently working on??

Ideas? Comments? Suggestions? 

Are there any Ruby on Rails shops in RI?  Everyone I talk to in RI (especially recruiters) have literally never even heard of Ruby on Rails.  Is RI so entrenched in Java and .NET technologies that there are no companies using Rails?

On another note, any kind of Ruby User group interest in Rhode Island.  It's getting tiresome traveling to the Boston and MetroWest ruby groups up in MA all the time.  Wondering if there is any interest in having a Rhode Island group 

Are there any good tech recruiters in RI?  I've been working with web startups in the Boston area for the past few years and would love to work in RI or southeastern MA, but I can't seem to find a single tech recruiter that does placement in RI. 

Every single one is either a Boston or NY based recruiter firm.  Are there simply no web jobs and startups in RI or are there simply no recruiters?  I have a hard time believing its the former.