Combell host of the third Belgian Node.js User Group meetup

On Wednesday 13 March, Combell hosted the third meetup of the Belgian Node.js User Group. Node.js is a new phenomenon on the Internet. It is a server-side version of Javascript and is used by LinkedIn, Yahoo and Yammer (among others) to publish real-time data... Its use is quite recent, which explains why there were only about twenty participants.

The event kicked off a little later than scheduled, because everyone was obviously very curious about what was happening in Vatican City. After the famous “Habemus papam” on Saint-Peter’s Square and some delicious sandwiches, the evening started with an introduction by Thijs Feryn, our technology evangelist. He warmed up the audience for the first presentation given by Laurent Van Basselaere, who gave us an insight into how he uses Node.js to build enterprise applications. Laurent’s presentation can be seen on Slideshare.

Of course, what everyone was waiting for was Steven Beeckman’s presentation. In fact, he came with a hip AR.Drone helicopter that he controlled with Node.js. Even better: the helicopter transmitted all the data about the flight to his application and the data were displayed in real-time on a dashboard. All the code and the explanations from Steven's presentation can also be found on Slideshare.

After some technical problems due to interference with the local wireless network, Steven showed us a short test flight. See the result below.

Although there were only a limited number of participants, the event was a success. Afterwards, during a pleasant chat in the Combell Café, we got to learn even more and made new contacts. As a result, Combell was very happy to have provided this new User Group with a roof during one very nice evening and is looking forward to the next meeting.

If you too have a User Group or if you want to organize an IT-related event at Combell’s, that is possible. We have enough space for over 80 participants, as well as catering facilities in our Combell Café. And we are always happy to make this space available to customers and other acquaintances. Please contact us for further information.