We currently have over 600 candidates on our system.

Over 600 people who have applied to attend Codebits 2010.

In less then two weeks.

Amazing.

We've just been through hundreds of applications and approved 50 of them (we now have exactly 100 people accepted).

But Codebits isn't just about attendees and pizzas; Codebits wouldn't be what it is without its amazing talks and workshops.

With that in mind, we'd like to share with you some of the talks that have already been accepted and confirmed by their respective speakers. These will remain on the talk proposals list so that you can keep on providing us with your feedback (which will help when we assemble the schedule).

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Spacebits, by Celso Martinho

A group of people got together after last year's Codebits and managed to send a balloon into the stratosphere, complete with cameras, sensors, the works.

Twice.

They also managed to recover it safely.

Once.

This talk is their story.

One other thing that makes us especially happy about this talk is that in the beginning it was just a placeholder, SAPO's CTO beta-testing the talk submission form. As it turns out, there is high demand for the talk, and thus we managed to give our CTO some extra work and told him he would have to give the talk.

We're really happy about it :-)

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How to build your own Quadrocopter, by Lenz Grimmer

Ever wanted to own a Quadrocopter?

Of course you did! And if you didn't, you probably do now!

Do you have any idea what it takes to build one?

Well Lenz didn't either, but he's figuring it out.

In this talk, Lenz will show us all the details on how a Quadrocopter works and what you need to assemble one yourself.

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Computer Forensics - The Digital CSI - What, Why and How, by Tiago Henriques

Two in one: a presentation and a workshop.

Starting with a light presentation on the concept, this talk will move on to the technical details and will even include a case study.

Attendees will then be taken through the steps of analyzing a disk image (if you want to participate in this experience don't forget to bring your laptops with VirtualBox or Vmware).

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Collecting and Visualizing Data, by Brian Suda

To most Codebits' attendees Brian will probably require no introduction.

He gave a very well received presentation at Codebits 2009 - Optional is Required - and now his book Designing with data just came out.

This year, Brian is coming back to Lisbon to talk to us on ways to collect data and visualize it.

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1. Code 2. ????? 3. PROFIT!, by Pedro Morais

Pedro is going to take us through the world of marketplaces: Apple's App Store, the Android Market, the Google Apps Marketplace and the Chrome Web Store.

Do you think there's stuff you don't know because you simply never tried it yourself?

Of course there is.

The costs, the legal hurdles and all the other details you never heard about.

***

More talks will follow.

We're currently sorting out the details with some speakers and we still have a lot of talks to approve and some tough decisions to make (don't forget: your feedback counts).

While we don't have a deadline for talk proposals, we are indeed approving talks, which means we're filling in several available slots each day.

If you want to give a talk at Codebits, please submit it now.

We said "now"; you're still reading this, we know. Go on.

In the meantime, we'll just go and approve 50 more candidates.

The Quiz Show is one of several satellite activities taking place at Codebits.

4 rounds with 4 teams of 2 people each, plus a final round with the 4 winning teams.

The whole format will be explained in detail once we get to the venue, but rest assured it will be very, very entertaining.

Questions can range from Marge Simpson's maiden name to the only two actors to ever face a Terminator, an Alien and a Predator.

You may be asked the Konami Code or what is H2SO4.

Some questions will have easy answers.

Some questions will be harder and require some knowledge.

Some will be so weird that no team will be able to answer in the allotted time, which will prompt four possible answers for all the teams to try and guess.

Like the number of minutes in a leap year.

So how are the 16 pairs chosen?

Regularly, we'll display a problem on this website. You'll have some time to solve the problem and submit the answer; the faster you are, the higher the score you get (assuming you provided a correct answer).


We know you have some questions.


Q: If I provide a wrong answer, what should I do?

A: First, you should realize your answer was wrong; second, you need to submit the right answer. Note that both answers and times are overridden, so it's really no use submitting a wrong answer in the hopes of later correcting it.


Q: How many problems will be posted?

A: 5 or 6. We haven't made up our minds yet.


Q: If I miss one of the problems, do I still have a chance of getting in?

A: Yes. Missing one of the problems may not be a deal breaker. Missing two of the problems... We're not really sure :-)


Q: How are the scores calculated?

A: Correct answers give you points; faster correct answers give you more points. Scoring will be posted periodically.


Q: So what do I really need to do to be on the Quiz Show?

A: You need to be among the 16 top participants on this series of problems. If you are (and assuming you are approved to attend Codebits), you'll be asked to select one of the other participants (out of the 600) as your team mate.


Q: Wait, does that mean I can't form a team with someone else from those 16?

A: You can. You can team up with someone who has also been selected for the Quiz. The 17th candidate would then be asked to form a team.


Questions will be posed in English, so that anyone can participate.

And the first one should be about to be unleashed...

SAPO Codebits's Quiz Show, impairing productivity since 2008.

As we're working on the schedule and several satellite events, it's worth noting two things:

1 - It's now been a week since we opened registrations;

2 - At the time of this writing we have received 495 applications.


With that in mind, we're now starting to approve some candidates.

Stay tuned to @codebits, as candidates who have filled their Twitter handle will receive their own public confirmation.

We imagine that you have several questions in mind, so we'll try to address a few:


Q: How many candidates are you approving today?

A: About 50.


Q: Are you going to select the best 50 today?

A: No, we're just going to approve 50. They won't be the best, they won't be the worst; they will simply be 50 of the final 600.


Q: I don't have much karma. Should I be worried?

A: Don't worry, be happy. Karma is just a mixture of several aspect that we hacked together (and then re-hacked) to help us browse the list of candidates, but at no point will someone be rejected just for having a low karma score. However, keep in mind that a *very* low karma could be an indicator that something is missing. Have you written your bio yet?

Q: OK, so what if I'm not accepted today?

A: Well, it doesn't really mean anything at this point. If we keep on accepting batches of 50 people at a time, we'll have to do it 12 times to get the 600 participants.

Q: Got it. That means if I don't receive an email today I shouldn't be worried.

A: That's... not really a question, is it?

Stay tuned, your name could come up.

We always have several new things at Codebits, and this year will be no exception.

Retro Computing is one of these things.

If you have a ZX Spectrum, a Commodore 64, an Amiga 500, a Dreamcast, a PlayStation (one), an Atari 2600, a GameCube, an Amstrad or an IBM PC with some really old games or something along those lines, it's time to blow out the dust of that relic and see if it still works.

It probably does.

We're really sorry if it doesn't; we'll try to get you some chocolate cake.

But since it probably will run, put it in your "things to take to Codebits" bag and bring it along for the event (don't forget to add that information to your profile). Also, get in touch with us (codebits at sapo dot pt), to make sure we know, and let us know if you need any extra material (a TV or something else). Do that as soon as possible, to that we have plenty of time to peruse eBay.

We'll have a space reserved for Retro Gaming/Computing.

We'll even bring our own Arcade machine.

There's just so many things we still have to tell you...

There's so many speakers, activities, spices, changes to the format of the 24 hour competition, so many, many things...

Let's start with the location.

This year Codebits is taking us all to Pavilhão Atlântico, Tejo Hall.

This venue, located at the Parque das Nações, is definitely one of the best in town.

The room is large and the location is wonderful.

There are lots of trains, subways, buses and taxis nearby, at Gare do Oriente.

Stepping outside the venue you'll immediately see the Vasco da Gama Bridge, the longest bridge in Europe

A 5 minute walk to the right will take you to the Oceanarium (the largest tank alone has 5,000 cubic meters of water)

A 5 minute walk to the left will take you to a large concentration of restaurants and bars.

A 5 minute walk to your back will take you to the Vasco da Gama shopping center, where you'll be able to find all sorts of stores.

Provided that you remember to go around the building, of course.

If you don't, you'll be back inside.

We added a page to the website with a map and some pictures of the venue and its surroundings.

There's also a link for directions on how to get there.

We believe that Karma is an important thing, and thus we're going to use it (among other things) for candidate selection.

What is Karma?

It's the result of a formula that looks at several different aspect of your Codebits application and profile.

How is it calculated?

No one knows for sure. The universe tells us what the number is.

Where can I see it?

On each candidate's page, including yours.

So the higher the number the higher the chances of getting in?

You could say so, yes.

But what can one do to get a higher karma?

Things.

What happens when I click on my Karma number?

Who knows!

Have fun.