(The astute among you will note that this post and yesterdays are *not* a continuation of DevTeach: a saga in 17 parts.    I could tell you that there's just too many things for us to talk about in the next little while and not enough time to talk about them in, so its been put off for now.  This is a LIE.  The *real* reason for our sidebar is that you (yes, *you*) are just not ready to handle the tales that would come out of my recap.  Thus, the story of Jeffrey Palermo throwing me through a plate-glass window to end his presentation on the Microsoft MVC will have to remain shrouded in mystery, potentially lost forever to the sands of time.)


I would say that most of the people who read this blog likely also read CodeBetter, except that:

• people come to CodeBetter to, well, code better
• people come to Gray's Matter to...actually, I have *no idea* why people come here, but it's certainly not related to coding better

As popular as CodeBetter is for software development, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the end goal of the site was never to "help foster awareness of better practices, superior tools, proven methodologies and techniques within the software development community." or whatever pseudo-reason they give on their manifesto page to get free software.   Every move that CodeBetter has made in the last several months indicates that they are trying to get a more photogenic and diverse group of people so that they can fulfill Brendan Tompkins' *real* dream: to make a run at a new season of MTV's "Real World".  With the addition of Kyle Baley and James Kovacs to the fold, their chances are now as good as they will ever be!

While it's obvious to anyone who has witnessed my career that I am *not* affiliated with CodeBetter in any way, I *do* happen to have an "inside man" at CodeBetter who tells me that James and Kyle passed a rigorous screening process that consisted of:

• being a developer
• having either their first or last name starting with a hard "C" sound, so as to make "CodeBetter" a catchy nickname.  James "CodeBetter" Kovacs, for example, has a fantastic lilt to it.  Not so much for Jeremy "CodeBetter" Miller (I'll be surprised if that guy even lasts the year with the poor way that flows!)

Not everyone coming to CodeBetter will be familiar with either Kyle or James.  Luckily for you, as a fellow developer and Albertan, I am as *intimately* familiar with James and Kyle as one rampagingly hetero man can be with another group of relatively hetero dudes.

Kyle Baley

You wouldn't be blamed for thinking that a man with the nickname of "The Coding Hillbilly" would be targeting the one-toothed "You've got a purty mouth" segment of software development, finally giving some competition to all of the technical blogs from Winnipeg, Manitoba.  However, Kyle was not added because he is software development's answer to "Deliverance" - in fact, Kyle was selected because he is coding's answer to Mary Tyler Moore.  Kyle has had to overcome several crippling hardships in his life, such as:

• living in a tropical paradise
• having to swim with dolphins every day

This set of circumstances would kill a lesser person, but Kyle courageously persevered through all of this to a bright future at CodeBetter.  On receiving the news of his acceptance, Kyle was in fact seen throwing his hat into the air and singing "You're going to make it after all", truly a thrilling moment for software developers and middle-aged women alike.  His boundless energy, user interface abilities, and Catholic school girl naiveté now balance out some of the more curmudgeonly members of CodeBetter, truly making their group an ensemble cast for a sitcom if there ever was one. 

James Kovacs

Kyle joining helped recapture the "family friendly" audience, but there was still no one at CodeBetter to snag that coveted preteen girl demographic.   After all, every reality TV show needs its rebel without the cause, wanted equally by the police and the ladies.  Who better than the pimp-slapping, gun-running Agile Track Chair of DevTeach Canada?  10 million dollars and a case of malt liquor later, it was official: James Kovacs was on board the "ho" train.  The addition of James not only gives CodeBetter another fabulous presenter and brilliant mind, but allows CodeBetter to massively improve their "street cred" with the more "urban" software developers.  Fans of 2-pac, Biggie Smalls, 50 cent, and agile development will be right at home with a man who is no stranger to pistol-whippings, NHibernate, gold teeth, and limousine parties. 

In all seriousness, James and Kyle joining CodeBetter is pretty much a move of *NUCLEAR EXPLOSION* proportions in our industry.  Yeah, yeah, great validation of their talents, rah rah wider audience blah blah better for the community but let's cut through all that BS and get to why it's *really* important - the Alberta community is only about 3 or 4 more developers away from taking over CodeBetter.  Every decision CodeBetter makes as a group is determined by the votes of their members.  So if you care about code and also care about proving democracy is a failure, I encourage you to find some more Canadians and try to get *them* in there as well!  Will CodeBetter become a Microsoft suck-up site?  An "adults only" site?  A lolcats site?  An adults-only lolcats site with Microsoft popup advertising?  With Kyle and James as part of it, the future of CodeBetter is limitless - go over there and give them your encouragement today!

* that's an old picture of WHAM! before anyone gets any questionable ideas