Planet TLUG

For many of our development projects, we use Ruby as our programming language. The language is not only interesting from a software development perspective, but also from a cultural one. Ruby was originally created by Yukihiro Matsumoto, and many of the core developers are also Japanese.  Although this programming language began in Japan, it is now popular throughout the world. 

Because many of the Japanese ruby developers are not so comfortable with English, there is a bit of a rift between the two communities.  This divide between the international and Japanese Ruby communities came up several times during RubyKaigi.  At the same time, both sides want to work to close this gap.

As a Canadian in Japan I feel I am in an excellent position to help bring these two communities together.  I am both tapped into the English speaking Ruby community around the world through the internet, and the Japanese Ruby community by virtue of my location.

With this in mind, I created Tokyo Rubyist Meetup. This group will give Japanese Rubyists a chance to meet with non-Japanese Rubyists like my self.  Within an hour of the announcement of the group over twitter, we already had 25 people sign up, so it seems there is a demand for such a group.

We are going to have our first meeting towards the end of this month (the exact date is to be decided).  If you are interested in Ruby and living in Tokyo please join us. 

In the last 2 months I was going through all the episodes and movies of Star Trek the old series. I grew up with Star Trek, with Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk, and now I can look backwards and see how much it influenced my life. Star Trek was not an usual science fiction series. It was science fiction and morality and good values in action. Star Trek promoted friendship, cultural diversity, peace, understanding beyond oneself comprehension.
The series purpose wasn’t only entertainment. Star Trek was a carrier for ideas, meaning, good values and knowledge that was caught in the mind of kids and adults. It was a show that made you think about the reality and the ignorance we still have about this universe and about the possibility that something unusual could happen beyond our comprehension.

The series always tried to use scientific view of facts and, at the same time, it tried to make it understandable to everyone, it trained people’s minds to think that not only actual knowledge is the absolute truth. The characters always run into the possibility to go beyond their own believes to understand the amazing things that they found. Star Trek helped people to break those mental limitations indirectly.

I’m sure I got influenced when I was a kid and probably Mr. Spock stimulated my interest for science and mathematics. It was a show that offered entertainment, a dose of reasonable violence in terms of self defense and at the same time it was a carrier for moral values.