9:30 pm – “On the ground in San Francisco. Nights here really are quite cool and windy. This excites me for some reason.”

I wrote those words in my journal (yes, on paper) on July 19, 2007, when I decided to fly up for Wordcamp on a bit of a whim. Although my journal entry was brief, it marks a pivotal moment in my life. I remember I was in the airport and going up an escalator to get to the BART station. As I reached the top and looked out over the city for the first time, it was like I’d taken my first breath full of energy and life and possibilities, and I immediately knew that something in this city was waiting for me. The moment was so intense, the memory of it can bring tears to my eyes.

Dear friends, I am pleased to announce that I have found the opportunity I sensed that day. In just a few short weeks, I will be leaving San Diego to join Palm’s Developer Relations team. PreDevCamp was the most humbling and exciting project I’ve ever undertaken, and I’m honored to be in an even better position to serve this new community of developers. As an application reviewer, my priorities are now to help you guys develop the highest quality apps possible, and ensure the review process treats all developers with the respect they deserve.

I’ll be joining Chuq, the community manager that we already know and love, new directors Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith, and a host of other crazy talented folks. What I’m looking forward to the most about working for Dion and Ben is that they’re so passionate about driving the future of the Open Web in a mobile environment. I’ve merely dabbled with the idea before (and listened to many of @hober’s infamous drunken rants), and I’m excited to have a chance to become a participating member of this community.

As eager as I am to join Palm, departure is bittersweet. San Diego is where I discovered myself, and with the help of some really awesome friends I’ve learned that my truest source of happiness is to be active and genuine in my communities, and never be afraid to follow my passions. As Barcamp San Diego and twitter empowered San Diego with a thriving new community, I was empowered myself and decided what I wanted to do with my life. For that reason, San Diego — and the people here — will always have a special place in my heart.

The next two weeks will be a whirlwind of activity to wrap up my last obligations, see as many friends as possible, and ship me and my cat up to Sunnyvale ASAP. The realization that I’m really doing this comes in waves, so I’m doing everything I can to cherish my remaining time here. You will be greatly missed, San Diego, but be proud that it is your legacy that will carry me through this next adventure.

Cross-posted from the official PDC SD blog:

Crack your knuckles and grab your caffeinated beverage of choice, because PreDevCamp is only a week away!

When: August 8, 2009 at 10:30 am

Where: theHIVE, 777 11^th Avenue [map]

Cost: Free, but please bring $5 to chip in for lunch

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW!

I’m pleased to announce that preDevCamp San Diego will be hosted at theHIVE, downtown’s most fashionable co-working space. Jason and the team have made a huge contribution to the SD tech scene by graciously hosting events such as SD Ruby, Django SD, SD Tech Founders, and the upcoming Ignite event. Check their website to learn about the space and the creative professionals who work there, or stop by for the next free Jelly co-working day and say hi.
 

Survey
What do YOU want to learn at preDevCamp? We’ve created a survey to get a feel for your background and what you’d rather focus on. It’s also a dang good way to get an idea of what the event will be like. Click here to take the survey!

Schedule
As always, keep in mind that this schedule can and probably will change.

• 10:00 – Doors open
• 10:30 – Introductions: Who you are, what you do, and what you’d like to build
• 10:45 to 12:30 – Intro to Pre development, SDK installfest, hello world, HTML5, services api, frameworks
• 12:30 to 1:30 – Lunch
• 1:30 to 5:30 – Open hacking and group discussion: website optimization, mobile UX, webOS internals hacking (running servers, homebrew apps, etc), whatever else comes up
• 6:00 to 6:30 – Demo your app, prizes
• 6:30 – Closing remarks
• 7:00 – Cleanup
• 8:00 – Afterparty at one of downtown’s fine drinking establishments

What you can do
The conference might be a week away, but here’s what you should start doing now.

• Brainstorm for app ideas. PreDevCamp San Diego will be very hands on, so start thinking about what app you’d like to build. I’ll be announcing at least two contests in the next week, so make it good.

• Install the SDK, which is conveniently available for Windows, OS X, and Linux. We can help you get this set up if you need it, but it’ll save a lot of time if everyone can get this done before the event. And remember to update to the latest version if you have the beta SDK installed!
• Play with the emulator. If you don’t have a Pre, spend a few minutes with the emulator to get a feel for how webOS handles multi-tasking and notifications. Be warned that the gestures are rather addictive!
• Connect with other attendees. There are over 1000 people registered for preDevCamp around the world, and they’re all as awesome as you are. Get to know them on Facebook or our irc backchannel at #predevcamp on irc.freenode.net.
• Help get the word out. Post about preDevCamp on your blog or send a message to your favorite mailing list. There’s also a Facebook event you can use to invite your friends.

That’s it for now! If you have any questions, please catch me or Dave on twitter or shoot me an email. Happy hacking!

1. First, get your serial number.  Don’t crack open the case, it’s under Device Info on the third page of the launcher.

   

2. For the Pre, we care about the 6th, 7th, and 8th numbers — the 6th is a code for the month, the 7th is the day, and the 8th is the last number of the year.
3. Use the list below to find your Pre’s birthday:

   1	Jan
   2	Feb
   3	Mar
   4	Apr
   5	May
   6	Jun
   7	Jul
   8	Aug
   9	Sep
   A	Oct
   B	Nov
   C	Dec
   
   1	1
   2	2
   3	3
   4	4
   5	5
   6	6
   7	7
   8	8
   9	9
   A	10
   B	11
   C	12
   D	13
   E	14
   F	15
   G	16
   H	17
   I	18
   J	19
   K	20
   L	21
   M	22
   N	23
   O	24
   P	25
   Q	26
   R	27
   S	28
   T	29
   U	30</code>
   V	31

Mine was born on May 31, 2009…only a week before I bought it! Most of the dates I’ve seen are within the last half of May. When was YOURS born? Let me know in the comments!

PS:  And yes, I did set up a birthday remember for the lil’ guy.