Codetown
Codetown ::: a software developer's community
OSCON 2012
I went to OSCON last week. It was even better than ever. There were lots of memorable moments for me this year. I'll try to capture them here, stream of consciousness.
*** Note *** this is a work in progress!
One of the big topics was cloud computing. Openstack was mentioned in many conversations. JQuery, Neo4J, extracting data from social networks, HTML5, Arduino hacks, an informative and funny keynote by Mayor of Portland Sam Adams.
I went to a presentation by Ward Cunningham on wikis and had lunch with him and GatorLUG's Clinton Collins (on the left).
Mark Shuttleworth and I talked for a few minutes. I asked Mark whether he had anything to add to my upcoming JCertif presentation in the Republic of Congo and he said "Tell them Africans will see great changes in their lifetimes and they can be a part of it!"
...please check back as I continue this blog post. Thanks!
Comment
Happy 10th year, JCertif!
Notes
Welcome to Codetown!
Codetown is a social network. It's got blogs, forums, groups, personal pages and more! You might think of Codetown as a funky camper van with lots of compartments for your stuff and a great multimedia system, too! Best of all, Codetown has room for all of your friends.
Created by Michael Levin Dec 18, 2008 at 6:56pm. Last updated by Michael Levin May 4, 2018.
Looking for Jobs or Staff?
Check out the Codetown Jobs group.
InfoQ Reading List
QCon London 2026: Shielding the Core: Architecting Resilience with Multi-Layer Defenses
Anderson Parra, Staff Software Engineer, at SeatGeek, presented “Shielding the Core: Architecting Resilience with Multi-Layer Defenses” at QCon London 2026. Parra discussed strategies on how to handle significant traffic spikes in systems that can overwhelm an even well-designed infrastructure.
By Michael RedlichUber Automates Design Documentation with Agentic Systems
Uber’s uSpec uses AI agents and the Figma Console MCP to automate design specs, cutting documentation time from weeks to minutes. Integrated with the Michelangelo platform, it uses a GenAI Gateway for PII redaction, ensuring data stays local. This reflects a 2026 industry shift between Uber’s "Visual-First" Figma workflow and a "Guide-First" approach favored by developers using agentic IDEs.
By Patrick FarryRevenium Unveils Tool Registry to Expose the True Cost of AI Agents
Revenium has announced the general availability of its Tool Registry, a new capability designed to give enterprises a complete, end-to-end view of what their AI agents actually cost.
By Craig RisiAI Coding Assistants Haven’t Sped up Delivery Because Coding Was Never the Bottleneck
Agoda recently published an observation arguing that while AI coding tools have measurably raised individual developer output, the resulting velocity gains at the project level have been surprisingly modest, because coding was never the real bottleneck. The post claims that the bottleneck has shifted upstream to specification and verification because these areas require human judgment.
By Eran StillerQCon London 2026: Ethical AI is an Engineering Problem
At QCon London 2026, Clara Higuera, responsible AI program lead at BBVA, presented how many of the risks associated with AI systems are fundamentally engineering challenges rather than purely governance or policy issues.
By Daniel Dominguez
© 2026 Created by Michael Levin.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Codetown to add comments!
Join Codetown