Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Comp Sci Programs Making a Comeback?

Considering its only been about 7 months since I talked about the prospects of engineering degrees becomes more popular in this country, I'm surprised to see such a quick uptick in Computer Science Degrees in only a semester's difference. According to the NY Times, the amount of individuals pursuing a CS degree have increased for the first time in 6 years! That's great news, however, I'm inclined to know the breakdown of international vs. American students within these programs...there will be a later blog post as to why I would like to know. On a further note, a study from these individuals on why they are pursuing the degree would also be great.

Nevertheless, this is awesome news!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Coworking in Dallas

So instead of spending my Friday working from either home or Starbucks, I decided to change things up a bit.  I spent the day at a coworking space sponsored by Alex Muse and Big in Japan.  It was easily one of the better environments that I've worked in.  Although yesterday was technically considered a Jelly, I don't believe its much different than any other time of the week.

I got there in the morning, grabbed a seat at one of the available chairs and spent a few hours working while chatting it up with some really cool folks.  One of the guys, Chris, that sat next to me has recently built a neat app for the G1, go check it out.  There were a bunch of other developers as well as folks doing some media content and advertising work.  

Got a lot accomplished, met some great people, and even got free pizza!  Not sure if the pizza is a standard, somehow, I doubt it :)  I would definitely suggest anyone out there who is a consultant, entrepreneur, or independent contractor to check out some of the coworking space out in your area.  This is the best list that I could find online.  And if you live in Dallas and want to check out the Big in Japan coworking space, go here.  To get and idea of what it looks like, check out the pictures here.