Confusement should be a word!

Teaching your kids to program

Dan Silivestru — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:37:34 +0000

About a couple of days ago I came across Microsoft’s SmallBasic (on Scott Hanselman’s blog). It looked like a great way to introduce my 10-year-old to the world of programming. She’s been bugging me for a while to teach her how to code and I’ve always struggled how I would do that using the languages I normally use (i.e. C#, Ruby, JS, etc.) Those languages aren’t really good for a 10-year-old.

SmallBasic’s simplicity and the speed with which a kid can get something up and running is impressive. I sat down with her today to play with it for the first time and the results were nothing short of awesome She had never written a line of code in her life and in less than 2 hours she (with my help, but she did all the typing) built a command line calculator. We then spent another hour in which she designed (purely in code) a calculator UI.

She’s really excited to keep going and is already thinking of a slew of features she wants to add to her calculator. Once we’re done with that, I think we’ll move on to building a simple game

I was so proud of how quickly she picked this stuff up!

If programming is your passion and you have a kid between 10 and 16 years of age that want to learn to program… I would definitely recommend that you take SmallBasic for a test drive. You can also “graduate” your program to Visual Studio (only support VB upgrade) so that you can help them take their coding to the next level

Happy coding!

StartupDrinks.ca is live!

Dan Silivestru — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:41:03 +0000

StartupDrinks Canada now has a new home! The new blog is up and running and can be found at http://startupdrinks.ca Waterloo has it’s own tab with all of the information about our next event. You can find that page here.

The next Startup Drinks Waterloo will be held on Dec 1st, 2009. Hope to see you all of you there!

Stupid bomb threat!

Dan Silivestru — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:45:31 +0000

So… I spent all day getting myself psyched to go to Crossfit today the Workout Of the Day (WOD) today was:

50 Pullups
400m run
21 Thrusters 95lb men / 65lb women
800m run
21 Thrusters 95lb men / 65lb women
400m run
50 Pullups

But the gym was closed due to a bomb threat on King St. of all things… I guess I’ll have to do something else at home. If nothing else I have 28 Burpees to get through

The best chocolate!

Dan Silivestru — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:06:31 +0000

Every once in a while, you come across an individual (or group of people) that take their craft, what ever it might be, to the next level. When you look at at their creations, you can tell without a doubt that not only are they good at what they do, but that they take pride in it and strive for perfection.

Two weeks ago, I came across an example of this and lucky for me, this person’s passion is… CHOCOLATE! yay I could probably write a very long post describing her chocolate and how good it is, but instead, I’ll let a couple of pictures do the talking and urge you go and visit her at the Kitchener Market and actually taste the product. Katharina is the chocolatier in question, uses all organic, fair trade chocolate. I can’t say enough good things about it.

The name of her company is Anna Tolazzi. They don’t have a web site just yet, but I’ll post it here once it’s up. In the mean time, if you need to order some chocolate before the next market day. You can reach them at:

1 (519) 342-8264 or Katharina [at] annatolazzi.com

Startup Drinks Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa – Sep 30th, 2009

Dan Silivestru — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:33:16 +0000

Our friends in Toronto and Montreal are also holding Startup Drinks (the last Wed of every month). The info is up for this month, and here’s where you find it:

http://guestlistapp.com/events/3990

Update: Startup Drinks is on in Ottawa as well:

http://www.startupottawa.com/?p=1622

And don’t forget about Starup Drinks Waterloo taking place on Oct 6th. Info can be found below:

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=138061698885

For those without a Facebook account: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/442739245

Crossfit Kitchener – Grand Opening

Dan Silivestru — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:15:29 +0000

I’ve been doing Crossfit for almost a month now and I’m loving it. It definitely feels like the best workout I’ve ever done. The good people at Crossfit Kitchener are having their grand opening this coming Sat (Sep 26th, 2009) from 1 to 4 pm. Come out and see the memebers do the 300 workout (yes, the workout the actors did to get in shape for the movie).

While there, you can also take part in a free introductory workout.

Rumor has it, there might be a one day discount if you’d like to sign up

See you there!

Startup Drinks Waterloo is on!

Dan Silivestru — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:26:04 +0000

The first ever Starup Drinks Waterloo is now a go Come out and share a pint with other startup folks. A chance to meet new people, catchup with old friends and talk about what you’re up to, what you might need help with, or anything that crosses your mind…

Where: McMullan’s on King, 56 King St N. Waterloo, ON (map)

When: Oct 6th, 2008 (Tue) starting at 5:30pm to 10pm

Facebook event open to all can be found here. If you don’t have a Facebook account, you can always reserve a ticket here. It’s all free!

Please spread the word to anyone that you think would enjoy this event.

Hope to see you there!

I gained 4lb

Dan Silivestru — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:55:58 +0000

Stepped on the scale for the first time in over a week today… I gained 4lb! Not sure why, been eating really well and working out like crazy, I actually went down one belt notch! Am I gaining muscle??? 4lb seems a little excessive, although I’ve never worked out this hard in my life.

I think I’ll just put the scale aside, continue to work out and eat well and see if I notice any differences in the mirror and how my clothes fit.

I have to admit, with all of the intense working out, I’ve been feeling great, almost like being on a permenant high

100 Burpees in 100 days

Dan Silivestru — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:58:13 +0000

I just signed up for the 100 burpee challange with crossfit Kitchener. The challange sounds pretty simple… Day one, you do one burpee, day two, you do two burpees and so on.

I think I’m more worried about getting past day 50. Doing 70 burpees is tough, but I have a feeling it’s even tougher when you know you have to do 71 the next day

CrossFit “Helen”

Dan Silivestru — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:41:37 +0000

Today was my first named WOD (Workout Of the Day). Helen, consists of 3 rounds for time each of:

400 meter run
21 Kettle Bell swings (I did 1 Pood, men’s Rx’d was 1.5 Pood)
12 Pull Ups (I had to do mine box assisted)

My total time was 16 minutes on the nose, I’m hoping for 13 min next time