Tag: events

hack {cyprus} *12

I’ve heard the hack {cyprus} *12 announcements for a few weeks now, but unfortunately was too busy with my own projects to attend.  If you missed all the noise, hack {cyprus} *12 is a hackathon-type event, where a bunch of people get together decide on a few ideas they want to implement and jump into coding.  They usually go at it non-stop for approximately 24-48 hours, after which they present the results.

These are quite common in all the countries where programmers live.  Now, we can proudly say that programmers live in Cyprus too.  The picture above is from a few minutes ago.  Just for the record, it’s Saturday night, after 1:00am!  That’s nothing but impressive.

The event seems to be quite well organized, with its own website, Facebook page, Twitter, and more.  (Have a look at their live stream page for latest updates.)  It is also being sponsored by quite a few companies, including Microsoft, Cyta, and Cyprus University of Technology.

As I said, unfortunately I was preoccupied with something else to book my attendance for this event.  However I am planning to go see the presentations tomorrow (care to join me?).  According to the schedule, some time around 5-5:30pm the teams will show off what they have managed to achieve in such a short time.

Geroskipou Beer Festival

I came across the announcement for the Geroskipou Beer Festival somewhere in my Facebook stream.  Being a big (literally) fan of beer, I couldn’t not post it.  Even with the heavy heart after all the previous beer festivals I’ve been to in Cyprus.  This one seems to follow the general pattern: 5 EUR entrance buys you one beer.  You’ll pay for the rest, and there are about 40 different ones to taste.

As these festivals usually go, you’d probably overpay for the beers, and the variety won’t really be of 40 different brands.  Judging from previous experiences, small can of Keo, large can of Keo, small bottle of Keo, large bottle of Keo, and a draught Keo – are five different varieties and not one.  Heck, I’m not even sure I can list 40 different brands even if I’ll remember all the beers I ever drank or saw on sale in Cyprus!

Just for the fun of it, I’ll try .  First of all, the local ones, obviously: Keo, Carlsberg, and Leon.  Mythos from Greece.  Then the usual suspects: Hoegaarden, Guinness, Krombacher, Stella Artois, Warsteiner, Veltins, Heineken, Beck’s, Budweiser, Pilsner Urquell.  Then slightly less usual suspects: Kilkenny, Caffreys, Erdinger, Konig Ludwig and Konig Ludwig Dunkel, Weissbier, Franziskaner, Amstel, Grolsch, Fosters and Bavaria.  Then a few Belgian beers: Blanche, Duvel, Kwak, Leffe (blonde, dark, and red), Chimay. A touch of Mexico with Corona and Sol. Ciders, although not technically beers, are almost always present at beer festivals – Magners, Strongbow, Woodbecker and Somersby.

How many are these? 38.  Throw in a couple of non-alcoholic names that I don’t know, a coupe of Asian (Chinese and Japanese names that I cannot remember), and, just to get rid of any doubts, a couple of nice ones from Bavarian Delikatessen shop – those names are tough even for Bavarians.  There you go – 40 or so varieties.  Now, can you imagine all of them in one place?  I can’t.   Not even in supermarkets which offer a great variety these days.

Somehow, the more I think about this festival, the more I think it’ll be like the others.  What do you think?  Is it worth driving all they way over to Geroskipou just to get the same beers you can get in any Limassol pub or supermarket?

Bill Clinton in Cyprus

The former president of the USA, Bill Clinton is visiting Cyprus.  Cyprus Mail reports that he will be giving a lecture on the economic crisis:

FORMER president of the United States Bill Clinton will give a lecture on the economic crisis, at European University Cyprus on Saturday.

Clinton is the Honorary Chancellor of Laureate International Universities, which the European University is connected to, and he offers advice on social responsibility, youth leadership and increasing access to higher education.

“President Clinton will share his ideas with our students, faculty, administration, alumni and the community in the (university’s) Cultural Centre at 4pm, in a public address on ‘The Current Global Economic Situation”, the university announced.

Clinton is due to exchange views and ideas with the audience.

The website of European University Cyprus also has some information, as well as the map.

Update (July 22, 2012): If you missed the event, read this Cyprus Mail coverage.  And this.

Update (August 12, 2012): There’s now also a YouTube video (via Economists of Cyprus).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zkJS_egIYM]

First Cyprus hackaton

The guys from The Cypriot Enterprise Link are organizing the first ever hackaton in Cyprus.  In case you don’t know what a hackaton is:

hackathon, noun : An event where engineers, designers & ideators come together to intensively and collaboratively build awesome things over a short amount of time.

Neither the venue, nor the exact date and time are announced, but it’s going to take place some time in September.  But if you are a programmer, designer, and/or entrepreneur, you should probably follow the news on this one and attend.  Even if you don’t want to do anything with coding right now, an event like this will probably be brilliant for networking.