February 2011 Summaries

Chris Wanstrath, also known by his Twitter handle @defunkt, announced the winners of a raffle, revealing that the selected individuals are "graffic" and "dryan." The announcement, made through a Python script named "raffle.py," concludes with congratulating the winners and expressing anticipation for their attendance at the PyCon 2011 event.

GitHub has implemented changes to its email notifications to enhance the organization and readability of messages in mail readers by making them appear from the user who performed the action rather than from "GitHub," thus facilitating easier scanning and filtering. The subject lines are now topic-focused, helping emails to be grouped more effectively, particularly in Gmail, and easing the process of finding discussions by topic. Additionally, headers such as Message-Id, References, and In-Reply-To are set for mail readers that utilize these attributes for grouping, resulting in a more streamlined inbox experience with the ability to label, archive, and mute conversations as a group. These updates are designed to work across various mail readers, and users are encouraged to report any issues to GitHub support. Users can also customize their email notification preferences in the Notification Center.

PyCon 2011 is on the horizon, and there is an opportunity to win one of two free tickets to the conference by participating in a giveaway. Interested individuals need to fork the GitHub repository "github/pycon2011" for a chance to be randomly selected as a winner on Friday, February 25th. The event promises an exciting lineup of talks, encouraging attendees not to miss the opportunity to participate.

Nerd Merit Badges offer a playful twist on traditional merit badges, catering to individuals passionate about coding and nerd culture, and are available for purchase in the GitHub Shop. These badges, which can be proudly displayed by contributors to open source projects, feature the iconic Octocat as a symbol of open source commitment and coding prowess. Each badge is 1.5 inches in diameter, fully embroidered, and backed with Velcro for easy attachment to various items like jackets, backpacks, or laptops, allowing enthusiasts to showcase their achievements and interests in a fun and tangible way. Written by Tom Preston-Werner, these badges celebrate the spirit of open source collaboration and creativity.

Tower, a highly powerful Git client for Mac, has been officially launched, offering users a 30-day free trial and a promotional 10% discount with the coupon code GITHUB10 available until March 15, 2011. The release marks a significant achievement for the fournova team, as noted by Chris Wanstrath, who congratulated them on their successful launch.

GitHub is sponsoring drinks at the O’Reilly Tools of Change conference taking place at the Sheraton Hotel in midtown New York City. The event is scheduled for Tuesday, February 15th, at 9 pm, and attendees can obtain a drink coupon from Scott Chacon to enjoy complimentary beverages. There is a possibility of relocating to a different venue afterwards, with updates to be communicated via Twitter.

Aman Gupta reflects on his journey from using TextMate, whose cmd-T file finder transformed his code browsing experience, to Janus, thanks to the Command-T plugin for vim, and ultimately to reading most new code directly on GitHub. Missing the cmd-T functionality, he decided to integrate a similar feature into GitHub, which allows users to quickly find files by pressing 't' in any repository's file or directory view, thus enhancing the code navigation experience on the platform.

A meetup is scheduled at the Edinburgh Castle Pub located at 950 Geary Street in San Francisco, not to be confused with the castle in the United Kingdom. This event will take place on Thursday, February 10th, 2011, at 8:30 PM, organized by Melissa Severini, who can be found on Twitter under the handle @luckiestmonkey. The announcement humorously clarifies the distinction between the pub in San Francisco and the famous castle in the UK, with a promise of future visits to the UK for their users there.

Tom Preston-Werner announced that he will be visiting Boulder on Thursday, February 10th, to deliver talks at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Boulder Linux User’s Group (BLUG). His presentation for BLUG, titled “Unlocking the Secrets of Git,” is scheduled to begin at 7 PM. Following the meetup, he plans to host a GitHub Drinkup at 9 PM at the Southern Sun Pub & Brewery, inviting attendees to join him there.

GitHub has introduced a feature that allows users to comment directly on individual lines in the Diff of any Pull Request, ensuring comments maintain their correct position even after modifications. These comments are integrated chronologically into the Discussion view with a diff excerpt, helping users track the branch's evolution. Users can easily leave comments by hovering next to the line and selecting the comment bubble. For more insights into how Pull Requests are utilized, GitHub offers a Futuristic Code Review feature page.

GitHub is offering an online Git training course on February 11, led by Matthew McCullough of Ambient Ideas, designed to help participants quickly learn Git from home or office. The course consists of six 50-minute sessions focusing on practical daily commands and runs from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm EST, priced at $195. Past attendees have praised the course for its clarity, professional delivery, and the instructor's ability to balance structured content with exploratory learning, making it easy to engage for the entire duration. Testimonials highlight the effectiveness of the training, noting increased comfort with Git and appreciation for the insights provided into advanced features like rebase.

GitHub has enhanced its search functionality, beginning with a complete overhaul of Gist search, as part of a New Year's resolution to improve the platform's search capabilities. The updates include new features such as highlighted matched snippets, syntax highlighting for specified file types, and displaying multiple matches within a single Gist file. Improvements have also been made to the reliability and comprehensiveness of the search index, accompanied by a new ranking formula that can be adjusted over time to optimize search results. This initiative, led by Tom Preston-Werner, marks the first phase of broader search enhancements aimed at making GitHub the primary choice for discovering projects, people, and code.

IntelliJ has enhanced its GitHub integration by introducing Advanced GitHub Integration with a new feature called "Rebase My GitHub Fork," which simplifies the process of keeping up with upstream repositories. This advanced feature is available in both the free community edition and the commercial edition of IntelliJ IDEA, with plans to expand integration to other products. Users are encouraged to visit the JetBrains blog for additional details and a screencast, as the JetBrains team continues to innovate and improve their offerings.

GitHub Universe, GitHub's annual conference, is an event designed to bring together software developers, open-source enthusiasts, and industry leaders to explore the latest in software development and collaboration. The conference provides attendees with opportunities to engage in workshops, listen to keynote speakers, and participate in discussions that highlight the evolving landscape of software development, open-source projects, and GitHub's role in these areas. It serves as a platform for networking with like-minded individuals and gaining insights into the tools and technologies shaping the future of software.

Scott Chacon announced a drink meetup scheduled for 10pm at Fiddler’s Green Irish Pub and Brewery in Winter Park, Florida. This gathering coincides with his visit to Orlando, where he will be conducting Git training at Full Sail University. The event is set for Thursday, February 3, and aims to provide an opportunity for socializing in the area.