February 2014 Summaries

The upcoming hackathon, taking place at McGill University in Montreal on February 22nd and 23rd, invites undergraduate students from around the world to showcase their programming skills. The event offers a unique blend of creativity, technical difficulty, and learning opportunities, with $30,000 in cash prizes, latest tablets, and mobile phones up for grabs. Teams are capped at four people, but solo participants can still join forces with others through event coordinators. Travel expenses will be reimbursed up to $150, and admission is free, including food and drink, making it an attractive opportunity for college developers.

This is an exciting announcement from DigitalOcean, a cloud computing platform, regarding the opening of its first datacenter in Singapore. The new SGP1 datacenter will improve connectivity and overall experience for users in Southeast Asia, Australia, and India. This move was driven by the growing demand for cloud services in the region, as predicted by the Global Developer Population and Demographic Study. DigitalOcean's decision to invest heavily in infrastructure is part of its efforts to expand globally and add more datacenters throughout the world. With Equinix facilities, users can now benefit from high-quality cloud computing advantages. This is just one of several upcoming announcements expected within the first half of the year.

The company has simplified the process of transferring snapshots between regions, eliminating the need for users to receive snapshots in multiple datacenters. This change will save users time and improve the efficiency of image transfers, allowing them to target specific regions for quicker migrations. The update is part of the company's ongoing efforts to expand its global infrastructure.

The DigitalOcean support specialist, Josh Warrick, or "Warhammer", is a self-proclaimed enthusiast who has found his dream job in customer support. He was born in Ohio and currently lives in San Antonio, Texas. Josh's interest in computer programming started early in life, with his parents initially catching him hiding cookies on the internet. He developed a passion for Linux and Python, which he still uses to solve problems and simplify his day. In his typical day, Josh spends most of his time responding to customer tickets, and he approaches each issue as if it were his own problem. He believes that treating customers like they're having issues with their own site can leave them "breathless" and leads to positive word-of-mouth marketing. When not working, Josh enjoys writing Python scripts for his wife and is also working on automation projects of his own. For him, the most exciting part of his job is the diversity of issues he encounters, which keeps his work interesting and fulfilling. He credits DigitalOcean with helping him find a passion-driven job that allows him to spend time with his family.

The UBC SailBot team from the University of British Columbia has been selected as a Top Drop by DigitalOcean, and will utilize their services to track and manage their robotic sailboat's journey across the Atlantic Ocean. The team consists of over 40 students who design, manufacture, test, and race high-performance robotic sailboats, with a focus on complex programming, advanced electronics, and sailing. With a perfect score in the 2013 International SailBot Championships, the UBC SailBot team has proven their ability to take on the best teams in the world. They will use DigitalOcean's droplet for tracking, blogging, project management, and testing, with plans to cross the ocean autonomously from Newfoundland to Ireland. The team is passionate about complex programming, advanced electronics, and sailing, and sees DigitalOcean as a reliable platform that meets their needs for speed and price.