Author: Tendenci Open Source Software

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PyCon US 2013 – Python Conference in Santa Clara, Californa

[![image][audience]][audience-link]
[Photo by Eloy Zuniga Jr.][audience-link]

### You’d like it

For those of you who love to tinker with things or reverse engineer them (destroy them) to figure out how they work, [this is your place][pycon-url].

It’s always great to see the latest and greatest being invented by **2500** of your closest friends. When services and features are extremely undervalued and success is at it’s infancy.

Have doubts about the size of this annual event? [Check out the sponsors][sponsors].

I’ve been a programmer now for more than 10 years and a Python developer for over 3 and I can sincerely say I may never grow old of this stuff. It keeps me young, can I say that? Just did.

### What you’ll see and maybe learn

What to expect when your “[Excepting][exceptions],” little bit of nerd humour there, don’t mind if I do. But seriously, what should you expect if you come on down?

[![image][photo-guido]][guido]
[Photo by Ed Schipul][guido]

1. Well we have lightning talks with rapping programmers. [Listen to this intro][lightning-talks].

2. We have the benevolent dictator which only [speaks genius][keynote]. One of these days I’ll be able to understand his entire talk. AKA the creator of Python.

3. [The creator][keynote2] of the [Raspberry Pi][raspberry-pi]. A less-expensive computer that’s providing for those on the other side of the digital divide.

4. People sporting the latest technology such as [Teslas][tesla] and [Google Glasses][glass]. Maybe the car had more to do with the fact we were in California.

[![image][photo-tesla]][tesla]
[Photo by Ed Schipul][tesla]

### Tell me more about these “Lightning Talks”
Anyone attending PyCon can have 5 minutes to talk about anything that is *remotely* associated to Python. Bright minds are sitting in the audience, they could be sitting next to you … you could be one. So why not let them speak.

For 5 minutes you can talk to one of the widest Python audiences you’ll probably ever encounter. Talk about a pet project, do a little venting, bring a community together and promote your conference.

Just be careful, developers tend to be highly sensitive to the ole sales-pitch.

### See you next year

We had a great time — I hope this is obvious — we did a lot of learning, and we hope to see you next year.

[![image][photo-group]][group]
[Photo by Ed Schipul][group]

### References

1. [Full List of PyCon US 2013 Videos][pycon-videos]
2. [Photos taken by Ed Schipul][pycon-photos]
3. [PyCon 2011 Blog Post][pycon-2011-blogpost]

[pycon-videos]: http://pyvideo.org/category/33/pycon-us-2013 “PyCon US 2013 Videos”
[pycon-photos]: https://www.tendenci.com/photos/set/58/ “PyCon US 2013 Photos”
[pycon-2011-blogpost]: https://blog.tendenci.com/pycon-2011/ “Pycon US 2011 Blogpost”
[lightning-talks]: http://pyvideo.org/video/1853/friday-evening-lightning-talks “Lightning Talks”
[exceptions]: http://docs.python.org/3.3/tutorial/errors.html “Errors and Exceptions”
[keynote]: http://pyvideo.org/video/1667/keynote-1 “Keynote Guid Van Rossum”
[keynote2]: http://pyvideo.org/video/1668/keynote-2 “Keynote Eben Upton”
[raspberry-pi]: http://www.raspberrypi.org/ “Raspberry Pi”
[audience]: http://distilleryimage2.s3.amazonaws.com/fc91835c8d8e11e2beb722000a9f3ce2_7.jpg “PyCon US 2013 Audience”
[audience-link]: http://instagram.com/p/W4pwjGHu4G/
[guido]: https://www.tendenci.com/photos/1604/in/58/
[photo-guido]: https://www.tendenci.com/photos/1604/640×360/
[sponsors]: https://us.pycon.org/2013/sponsors/
[pycon-url]: https://us.pycon.org/2013/
[tesla]: https://www.tendenci.com/photos/1614/in/58/
[photo-tesla]: https://www.tendenci.com/photos/1614/640×360/
[glass]: https://www.google.com/glass/start/how-it-feels/
[group]: https://www.tendenci.com/photos/1599/in/58/
[photo-group]: https://www.tendenci.com/photos/1599/640×360/

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[RESOLVED] 5:30 PM – All Sites Online – Tendenci 4 Server Outage

Tendenci Logo

5:30 PM

All sites are back online. If you continue to see errors or have any questions at all, please let us know!

Questions? Contact us at support@tendenci.com or (281) 497-6567 ext 411

2:30 PM

Some sites are beginning to come back online as we continue to work through the server issue. You should begin to see these Tendenci 4 sites back online.

9:30 AM

This morning, one of our Tendenci 4 Servers is experiencing an outage and some Tendenci 4 sites are down.

Our team is actively working on the issue to get the sites back up as soon as possible.

We apologize for the inconvenience and will update here with more information as soon as we can.

 

Questions? Contact us at support@tendenci.com or (281) 497-6567 ext 411

 

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Introduction from Becky – The New Guy

Hello world!

Schipul Holiday Party Picture - 2008
Old School Schipul 2008
Fayza A. Elmostehi, Aaron Long, and Becky Leven

I am most honored to be welcomed back into the Schipul tribe and to be going for new guy round two.

I first joined the Schipul community back in 2008 as an intern while studying at Rice University.

My experience at Schipul was so mind blowingly amazing that I went on to create a self designed major at Rice in Communications, Culture, and Society based on the mission and culture at Schipul.

After graduating from Rice, I moved back to my hometown, NYC, where I worked in the financial services industry, but Schipul was never far from mind.

I am thrilled to be back and look forward to bringing visibility to the amazing people and organizations we work with and to partnering with our clients to grow their reach and strengthen their communities.

When not doing awesome things in Schipul land I can be found cooking and exploring restaurants, travelling, rocking out to NPR, and getting my workout on.

Sign - Welcome New Guy
Welcoming the New Guy
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Recap: The First Ever Tendenci Chili Cookoff!

2013 Tendenci chili cookoff

Friday was our first ever Tendenci Chili Cook Off! Our team members offered up recipes from vegetarian chili to chicken to unique ingredients like Guinness beer and even queso!

Good thing we have lots of extension cords for all these crock pots!

2013-03-29 11.19.38

All of the entries!

Chili Cookoff

Our esteemed judges judging in the categories of Flavor, Creativity, and Heat!

judges

We used PollEverywhere to text vote and picked our fan favorite!

Tendenci Chili Cook Off Results

CONGRATS to the winners!

A big thanks to all of our participants! Congrats to Forrest Purser for being the Judges’ Overall Favorite and new guy Ben Floyd for being the people’s favorite!

Also Congrats to Mary Shamburger for winning the judges’ choice for Flavor!

Chili Cookoff

More Chili Cook Off Photos!

Check out all of the Chili Cook Off photos in our Tendenci Photo Album!

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Crowdsourcing Your Mental Health at #SXSW

Crowdsource Your Mental Health at SXSW

We were extremely proud to have one of our team members selected to lead a panel discussion at this year’s annual SXSW Interactive festival! Schipulite Sarah M. Worthy and former Schipulite Data Analyst Dr. Dharol Stevens, PhD. led a Core Conversation on the topic of “How to Crowdsource Your Mental Health for Free.”

The audience was made up of an array of medical professionals, those looking for better ways to find health information online, and those curious about the topic as it relates to the growing trend of Health 2.0. The panel was a great discussion with lots of feedback and participation. Below are my highlights:

Why Crowdsourcing for Mental Health?

Crowdsourcing is where many people are doing a little bit of the work instead of one person doing all the work.

Over 50% of people in the US can’t afford afford mental health treatment. Mental health issues are complicated and much of  the treatment is trial and error. Unlike other medical conditions, mental health symptoms do not necessarily have only one answer that a doctor (even a very experienced doctor) can diagnose with a single test or symptom.

For Mental Health issues specifically, crowdsourcing can help piece together the puzzle of what is really going on for symptoms that are difficult to diagnose. The idea is that crowdsourcing is a tool you can use to be more informed and aware when you visit a doctor.

The Power of Crowdsourcing

SXSW Part 2 058Crowdsourcing’s power is in its specifics. Reading other people’s very specific accounts can hopefully ring true to your unique situation as well.

The benefits of these personal experiences include:

  • Reading other people’s stories lets you know you’re not alone
  • Seeing stories of those going through treatment may set expectations for what treatment entails
  • Stories of people who have overcome health issues gives hope that the symptoms will eventually end
  • Reading other people’s accounts can also help you define symptoms you didn’t otherwise know how to articulate, or things you didn’t know were a symptom you should be paying attention to
  • These accounts give access to peer support which can be incredibly powerful for those going through any kind of medical treatment
  • When you visit your doctor, you can ask more informed questions to get to treatment faster

Tools for Anonymous Online Searching

Screen Shot 2013-03-18 at 4.02.23 PM

Many people hesitate to do searches around mental health online because they are worried about the privacy issues involved. If your family or peers cause these concerns, here are some resources to try for anonymous searching online:

  1. Incognito mode in the Chrome browser when browsing the web
  2. Tor – For IP address anonymity online
  3. Duck Duck Go – Anonymous Search Engine with Privacy at its core

Validating Medical Information Online – The Downside to Crowdsourcing

The danger of crowdsourcing is that 50% of health sites have incorrect information. You can combat this by arming yourself with tools to evaluate information online and look for trusted sources.

Tips for Validating Online Medical Information

  1. Verify that it is written by an expert
  2. Make sure it is current & cites valid sources
  3. Look for certifications and disclaimers

Valid Sources for Medical Information Online

  1. Look for .gov or .edu sites
  2. Anything linked from the resource pubmed will be credible
  3. If you find studies cross linked you can look for them on scholar.google.com – Sometimes it will appear as though you have to pay for detailed study information, but any government journal is required to release its studies for free after 2 years
  4. Health on the Net is a great resource as well – this organization’s goal is to publish credible medical information

“It’s never been easier to cross reference information online” – Dr. Dharol Stevens

mental health apps to try

Mental Health Apps to Help Focus

  • Mood Tracker tracks your mood over time and shows patterns like how your mood is related to stress, amount of sleep, etc.
  • Focus Booster uses the Pomodoro technique to break down work into 25 minute chunks of uninterrupted time
  • Lifetopix is an app of organization tools help you stay organized and focused
  • Self Control blacklists programs or websites you block for a certain period of time so you can focus

Tips for Finding a Doctor

“If you take one thing away from this, it is that the Internet is not your doctor. You still need a doctor.” – Sarah M. Worthy

The internet will never replace a medical professional. Hopefully it will arm you with the tools to start the conversation.

Tips for Finding a Doctor

  • Unfortunately the best way to find a doctor is still word of mouth
  • Like treatment, know that finding a doctor you like will be effort – it may take some trial and error
  • If you don’t like the person you are working with it’s ok to look for another doctor (your gut feeling is probably right)

Apps to  for Locating a Doctor

(Note that this list was crowdsourced from the audience)

Keep the Conversation Going! More on This Topic:

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TED 2013 Starts Today! Some of our Favorite TED Videos

We at Schipul love sharing knowledge and inspiration – especially the fantastic free videos that come out of the annual TED Conference! In honor of the 2013 TED Conference (which starts TODAY), we’ve put together a few of our favorite TED videos to share.

A few ways to follow along with the TED Conference:

What is your favorite TED video? Let us know in the comments!

Some of our Favorite TED Videos!

Simon Sinek – How Great Leaders Inspire Action

Quote: “People don’t buy what you do; people buy why you do it”

Talk Details on TED.com

Loved by Sarah Worthy

Benjamin Zander – The Transformative Power of Classical Music

Quote: “The conductor of an orchestra doesn’t make a sound. My picture appears on the front of the CD — but the conductor doesn’t make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make other people powerful. And that changed everything for me.”

Talk Details on TED.com

Loved by Caitlin Kaluza

Brené Brown – The Power of Vulnerability

Quote: “When we work from a place, I believe, that says, ‘I’m enough,’ then we stop screaming and start listening, we’re kinder and gentler to the people around us, and we’re kinder and gentler to ourselves.”

Talk Details on TED.com

Loved by Benjamin Floyd

Ken Robinson – Schools Kill Creativity

Quote:  “I believe our only hope for the future is to adopt a new conception of human ecology, one in which we start to reconstitute our conception of the richness of human capacity.”

Talk Details on TED.com

Loved by Eloy Zuniga Jr.

Amy Cuddy – Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are

Quote: “Tiny tweaks can lead to big changes.”

Talk Details on TED.com

Loved by Erica Bogdan

What Did We Leave Out?

Have a favorite TED video we didn’t include here? Let us know in the comments!