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Future Technology Leaders Compete In International Code Wars


Boulder, CO (PRWEB) January 13, 2012

Students at a dozen prestigious computer science universities are set to compete in the inaugural Windward International Intercollegiate Programming Championship on January 28, 2012. Boston University, Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Harvey Mudd College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Purdue University, Stanford University, University of Illinois, University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts, University of Toronto and University of Wisconsin are among the schools that have accepted the code-war challenge.

Sponsored by Windward, the champion in easy-to-use reporting, document generation and business intelligence software, the code war is a competition among teams to see who can write the best code. Students race against the clock and each other to analyze a problem, write a solution, test and debug it. After the 8-hour programming deadline, teams go head to head.

“The future of technology is primarily software, and these students are some of the most brilliant programmers in the world,” Dave Thielen, founder and CTO says. “Spending a Saturday writing code for no reason other than the challenge demonstrates they have the curiosity and initiative required to create brilliant new products no one has thought of yet.”

In the contest, Thielen creates a game for which each team writes an A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) player. Each school will have its own playoff, with the A.I.s written by that schools teams doing their best to kill one another off. The top two teams from each school then will run against one another in the final games for the national programming championship.

“We figured this would be a fun contest between the top schools where the competition could be over programming instead of sports,” Thielen said. “Events like this add significantly to the college experience by reinforcing a joy of learning purely for the sake of increased knowledge and providing a more diverse educational experience.”

The competition follows on the heels of the successful first ever collegiate code war, which took place at The University of Colorado in Boulder on August 27, 2011. Check out the upcoming event, can be found at http://windward.net/community_codewars.php.

About Windward

Windward offers business intelligence, enterprise reporting, document generation and Web-based business intelligence solutions. Launched in 2002, Windward is the only full-featured, robust Java and .NET engine to use Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint as a layout tool, putting template design and report and document generation power in the hands of the end user. Any Office user can easily and securely create reports and documents with almost no learning curve. Additionally, OEMs and VARs use Windwards reporting component.

Windward works by merging any XML, SQL or custom data sourceor any combination thereofwith a Microsoft Office report template. It feeds data into the template to create a what-you-see-is-what-you-get report or document that can be generated in DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, PDF, HTML, direct to printer, RTF, XLS, WordML, TXT, and CSV. Windward runs as a standalone application or in an enterprise computing environment. Also unique, Windward implements in hours, offers affordable server-based pricing, and offers prompt, fantastic technical support via a 24/7 support forum and support contracts. A free trial of Windward’s products is available at http://www.windward.net.

The Windward user group spans 70 countries. User applications include financial statements, inventory reports, product-usage reports, purchase orders, invoices, training certificates, timesheets, and licenses. Other applications include reporting to meet requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley, Patriot Act, ARRA, HIPAA, Health Level Seven, Gramm-Leach-Blailey, Basel II, and other U.S. and international acts and accords affecting financial services, real estate, government, and insurance industries and the consultants and integrators serving them.

Press Contact: Annette Grotz

Marketing

303-499-2544 x1191

annetteg(at)windward(dot)net

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In The Spirit! Original Vintage Poster Exhibition at International Poster Gallery


Boston, MA (PRWEB) November 22, 2011

International Poster Gallery (IPG) proudly presents its 18th annual holiday poster show In The Spirit!”, an exhibition of original vintage posters that celebrate the mirth and indulgence of the season. The show, which is free and open to the public, runs December 1, 2011 January 31, 2012, and features over 50 original vintage posters advertising entertainment, fine foods, exotic travel, luxury products and more. International Poster Gallery is located at 205 Newbury Street in Boston and is open daily from 10am 6pm and Sunday from noon 6pm. For additional information, please visit http://www.InternationalPoster.com or call 617-375-0076.

Highlighting the show is a 1902 poster by Maurice Biais advertising a performance of the Australian-born dancer Saharet. The poster features the world-renowned performer dancing a lively can-can, her bright red dress flourishing wildly across the foreground. Married to Jane Avril and a member of Toulouse-Lautrecs circle, Biais knew his subject well, capturing the wild and frenetic spirit of the French cabaret brilliantly. His posters are rare and few in number, and this one in particular reflects an economy and graphic power that is remarkable for the period.

A towering poster for Naples department store Mele by Leopoldo Metlicovitz is also on display. An elegant couple enters a ballroom in one of the most stunningly elegant posters created by Metlicovitz for Mele. The artist created about a dozen posters for the company over roughly a five-year period, and this one reflects his mastery of the art of the fashion poster. The richness of subtle color harmonies, its dynamic composition, and grand scale make this poster a centerpiece for any wall or room. This is one of the rarest of Mele posters, and even more importantly, this impression is free of light stains on the folds, with color as fresh as when it was printed.

Walther Kochs 1906 image of an ice-skater mid-stride is the perfect one to advertise travel to Davos, one of the hottest winter sports destinations in Switzerland. At the time, skating was the most important winter sport as skiing was just in its infancy. The Davos Ice Stadium was famous for its many international skating events and saw a great number of world record performances there as early as 1898. Kochs elegantly serene poster was so successful that it was used for several years, merely overprinted with event information at the bottom.

Next is Henry Le Monniers vibrant 1926 advertisement for the French wine cooperative La Chablisienne. The poster features a beautiful woman draped in a flowing yellow dress, surrounded by grape vines as she perches atop the globe. Le Monnier created dozens of posters, all in a style similar to Cappiello, but with a heightened Art Deco sensibility. Here his cheerful and creative style comes to the fore, with the powerful geometry of the design creating an image still used today by the winegrowers.

Also starring is a playful 1912 advertisement by H.L. Roowy for Michelin, featuring the companys popular mascot Bibendum, known colloquially as the Michelin Man. Bibendum, who first appeared in a 1896 poster by OGalop, is one of the worlds oldest trademarks and still represents the company today. In the ad, the cigar-chomping character pedals merrily along hands-free on a bicycle, dispensing the tires that comprise his mid-section to all he passes. The flying tires appear to leap off the page, crossing the border of the images deep blue background and overlapping the advertising copy and leaving an indelible impression on the viewer.

In addition to gallery shows and special exhibitions, IPGs award-winning website, http://www.internationalposter.com offers one of the largest, most comprehensive online collection of vintage advertising posters in the world. Originally launched in 1998, the site contains nearly 5000 images accessible through a powerful search engine.

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