TechRepublic Blog puts ColdFusion on life support

Another day passes, another blog post published on a tech site about the impending death of ColdFusion. But this one comes as more of a slap in the face than previous posts, as it comes from the blog of a very reputable technology publication: TechRepublic.

TechRepublic, a site brought to you by the conglomerate known as CBS, is a reputable publication that many IT professionals go to for information.  In addition to their unique content, the site brings in articles from various feeds on the web, and is a great source of tech related news.  One of the sources of that information is a company called Global Knowledge, a "worldwide leader in business training".  They specialize in Microsoft and Cisco Training (nerd note: that was foreshadowing).

Global Knowledge is the source of a recent article titled "10 dying IT skills". Written by Linda Leung, this article is an attempt to compile a list of dying IT skills in the tech industry. The theme of the post is a popular one for tech blogs, as it requires little to no effort to construct on the quick. For the most part, the article does an adequate job of listing skills on the verge of death. COBOL, HTML, Novell NetWare, etc. COBOL only still exists because it is too expensive for some banks to switch from and HTML should be scrapped for XHTML or DHTML. But then the article jumps the shark with its inclusion of ColdFusion as a dying skill. And thus the ignorance of another tech author is exposed.

To suggest that ColdFusion belongs anywhere close to this list is insane, and proves no real research went into writing this post.  For starters, comparing ColdFusion to COBOL is irresponsible.  Spouting nonsense this ridiculous is punishable by flogging in some countries.  Then, it suggests that Adobe doesn't have the money to compete with the marketing of Microsoft and Sun.  Interesting theory.  And this says nothing of the logic in saying that ColdFusion is a dying skill simply because the job searches performed by the author for CF jobs was less than that for PHP jobs.

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Phoenix OpenCoffee Club

If you're an entrepreneur or investor in Phoenix looking to meet with like-minded people over great coffee, then come out to Phoenix OpenCoffee. OpenCoffee is a weekly meetup intended to bring together talented entrepreneurs and local investors in the informal setting of a coffee shop.

The OpenCoffee Club was started to encourage entrepreneurs, developers and investors to organize real-world informal meetups to chat, network and grow. It originated in London by Saul Klein, a venture partner at Index Ventures. Since then it has expaned to over 80 OpenCoffee Clubs worldwide with the PHX version starting this past April.

Since the startup Community is beginning to sprout here in the Phoenix area, Curtis Miller at Flatterline thought bringing OpenCoffee to Phoenix would be a great idea. Curtis was inspired by a recent trip to Boulder, CO, where he attended an OpenCoffee Club get together. Seeing the Boulder startup community embrace such a vibrant event to discuss ideas, share problems, give advice and listen to each other made him motivated to bring this type of event to Phoenix.

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Developer Ignite offers Nerds a chance to shine

Developer Ignite is a free information exchange event designed to connect developers in the Phoenix area and allow them to share topics of interest with a group of people. Inspired in part by Ignite Phoenix, Developer Ignite is not only a great way to hear new ideas, but it is also a great opportunity to network with like-minded nerds.

Since this is a technical event, topics will be centered on relevant and important information to software developers.

Ignite-style events are gaining in popularity, due to their rapid format. Each speaker gets 5 minutes and 20 slides (rotated automatically after 15 seconds) to share a topic that they are passionate about. After the presentations, attendees and presenters mingle together to further discuss and elaborate on the topics.

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