A great turnout (40+) at BostonPHP.org this month. To paraphrase someone from our "less-structured" discussion afterward, "Mitch and Joomla! rock".

Thanks to Mitch Pirtle for making the pilgrimage up from NYC and his tremendous efforts to bring everyone up-to-speed on Joomla! It was an ambitious agenda and Mitch did a phenomenal job providing a "sip from the Joomla! fire hose". For those who missed Mitch, and/or those who want to hear more, he's graciously offered to return in April (coincident with LinuxWorld) to provide Joomla! part deux. This time, he'll delve directly into the PHP code, exploring Joomla! v 1.1 and the Zend framework. Mark your calendar and synchronize your watches - liftoff in T minus 3 months.

While you've got your calendars out, you won't want to miss next month's meeting:

AJAX: thick client feel in a thin client wrapper

AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is one of the hottest buzzwords on the web 2.0 landscape today (see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AJAX). Does the "steak" measure up to the "sizzle"? Our panel explores AJAX as it relates to PHP and your client's (pun intended) UI experience. Please visit BostonPHP.org for more info and to RSVP.

The team
Adam Peller - IBM
Max Carlson - OpenLazlo
Steve Zimmerman - Optaros
Gabe Ricard - iMaxWebSolutions.com

The agenda

• What is AJAX
• Basic advantages of the Ajax approach
• Strategic implications of Ajax
• Design principles for Ajax applications
• PEAR's HTML_AJAX system
• OpenLaszlo as an AJAX platform
• OpenLaszlo/PHP database connector demo
• What does AJAX mean to IBM
• What's going on in IBM Emerging Tech

The place
IBM/Lotus
1 Rogers Street
Cambridge 02142

The date
Tuesday, February 07, 2006 At 6:30 PM

Health coverage via BostonPHP

As mentioned earlier, BostonPHP is exploring insurance options for its members. We have located a company (Yurcor) that looks interesting, and are pursuing discussions further. Below is an elevator pitch describing their offering:

• Payroll tax deduction, free life and disability insurance, coverage under Yurcor's professional insurance policies
• Access to their online systems for self-service reporting.
• Participation in their expense program - work related expenses are used to lower taxable income.
• Access to group health, dental & vision insurance and retirement plans.
• Coverage as W-2 employees under their General Liability, Errors & Omissions and Workers Compensation Insurance.

We will provide more information as it becomes available.

Joomla! + osCommerce = a wicked kewl shopping experience

BostonPHP has just published josCommerce v1.0.1 (an osCommerce port to Joomla!) as a release candidate. This prospective release addresses several bugs (see the forge) and can be seen at www.josCommerce.com. The code itself can be checked out (of subversion) from the branches/1.0.1 repository.

We have a winner!

After 3 months, the BostonPHP logo has landed (see top of this page). Thanks to everyone who participated. Be on the lookout for all kinds of BostonPHP garb and paraphernalia - available online (courtesy of josCommerce of course).

Until then...