December 2010 Summaries

A meetup is scheduled for Wednesday, December 15th, in Portland, Oregon, to celebrate the anticipated milestone of the 500,000th user signup on GitHub. The event will take place at Rontoms, located at 600 E Burnside, starting at 8 pm. The announcement, written by Melissa Severini, expresses appreciation for all users, comparing them to unique snowflakes, and invites them to join the celebration despite Portland's typically damp weather.

Erik Michaels-Ober launched a Kickstarter campaign to develop Hubcap, a native Mac client for GitHub, aiming to enhance the platform's social engagement by incorporating the elegance of popular Twitter clients. The project seeks to raise $2,222 within a week and has already secured $1,869. Potential backers are encouraged to pledge support to help reach the funding goal.

GitHub is hosting a special holiday edition of its meetups in December, designed as a celebratory event to acknowledge the achievements of reaching the end of the year. The event is scheduled to take place at 15 Romolo on Wednesday, December 8th, at 8:30 PM. Attendees are encouraged to feel proud of their year's accomplishments, enjoy the festive atmosphere, and partake in complimentary drinks. The announcement, penned by Melissa Severini, seeks to create a sense of community and celebration among participants.

Recent updates to tree browsing on GitHub for browsers like Safari, Chrome, and Firefox 4 utilize the HTML5 History API, a JavaScript API that enables URL management without full page reloads, improving speed and user experience. This API works in tandem with CSS3 transitions to maintain permalinks and ensure functional back buttons by intercepting clicks, using pushState() to change URLs, and loading data via Ajax. When users navigate back, an onpopstate handler is triggered to easily redirect them. Other platforms like Facebook and Flickr have adopted similar techniques, and GitHub continues to refine features like the Tree Slider, encouraging users to explore demos and documentation for further understanding.

The new Organization API documentation has been released, allowing users to access and modify Organization and Team information for their repositories, which tested the limits of the existing GitHub API. Unlike the previous Repository API actions that only required a repository name for updates, the new changes necessitate additional details such as the user login and repository name due to the complexities introduced by Organizations. Consequently, several old Repository API actions have been deprecated, although passing these details is encouraged rather than mandatory. The feedback from developers during the beta phase has been instrumental in refining the API for consistency, and developers are advised to stay updated with the API Support Forum for future updates.

GitHub has introduced a new Features section aimed at highlighting its various capabilities, including lesser-known tools such as fork queue and blame visualization, which some long-time users may not be aware of. This initiative, announced by Kyle Neath, encourages users to explore these features through a lightweight tour available on the GitHub website, potentially uncovering functionalities they haven't yet discovered. The Features section serves as a resource for both new and experienced GitHub users to better understand and utilize the full range of GitHub's offerings.

Scott Chacon is planning a casual social gathering, or "drinkup," on Monday, December 6th, at 7:00 PM at Ireland's Four Courts in Arlington, VA, coinciding with his visit to the DC area for Git training in Reston, VA, organized by Jumpstart Lab. Situated conveniently near the Court House metro stop on the Orange Line, the venue offers an opportunity for attendees to enjoy a drink together, following the success of a previous event. Chacon, who also wrote the announcement, looks forward to reconnecting with participants from past events and meeting new faces at the gathering.

In a promotional blog post, GitHub introduces "Octocat Wednesday," a fictional event offering a limited-time promotion of free private repositories. For one week, new users or those not already using private repositories can redeem a free month of GitHub's Micro plan, which includes five private repositories and one private collaborator. Users must log into their dashboard to check eligibility and redeem the offer, or sign up for a free account if they haven't already. The promotion encourages users to experience GitHub's private repository hosting, with the offer set to expire in a week.

Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) is a global hackathon event aimed at developing applications to assist millions affected by disasters, with its upcoming event scheduled for December 4 and 5. Previous RHoK events have successfully produced tools used in disaster relief efforts, such as during the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, and a World Bank-piloted tool in the Caribbean. The hackathon seeks participation from coders and tech students across various U.S. and international locations, including cities like Atlanta, New York, and Berlin, to contribute their skills in creating impactful technological solutions. Interested individuals can register to participate through the RHoK website.