I'm still trying to get the hang of this bizarre summer academic schedule with all of two classes, and yet more extracurricular distractions and interruptions than you could shake a metaphorical stick at.

First, though, I'd like to go on a bit of a tangent and echo my mentor regarding the upcoming Joomla! Pizza Bugs and Fun event, the gist of which involves rigorous testing and bug-fixing to ready Joomla! 1.5.4, the up-and-coming latest and greatest iteration, for release in the next month.  I can envision having several bright and eager Georgia Tech programmers gathered together during that weekend, huddled in some dim corner of the library, or camped out in the bookstore sipping on StarBucks coffee and munching on our staple of pepperoni pizza.  More information about this event is available on the wiki page, such as how to register a venue, and where the IRC room will be.

I'm just not sure of my schedule, as my Dad is having his surprise 50th birthday thrown that weekend.  Shhh, don't tell anyone!

Regarding OpenSocial, I have had a lot of tips lately that have pointed me in some excellent directions in implementing the OpenSocial API within Joomla!.  I will, however, be progressing at this point without the assistance of Google's FriendConnect service.  I will continue to pursue membership there, but at this point waiting for a positive response is only going to delay the overall project even more than it has been already.

I have set up the proper SVN repository structure and am connected to all the necessary Joomla! resources.  Recent laptop issues aside, I've already begun work on how to best design a Joomla! extension that will encapsulate the OpenSocial API.  My focus will be on MySpace for the summer, but with an eye towards generalizing that compatibility with any OpenSocial site.  The users will be able to log into the Joomla! website from an OpenSocial site and have access to OpenSocial applications and friends from that social networking website (in this case, MySpace).

The critical focus here is going to be making sure my knowledge of Joomal! is flawless.  Yes, OpenSocial is JavaScript, but there is so much example code and commonly executed tasks out there that implementing the API shouldn't be too terribly difficult.  Most of the work will take place in the Joomla! environment anyway, so that is where I must place my focus.  The OpenSocial Project Wiki will be an extremely useful resource, but first and foremost I must master Joomla!.

In order to do so, I will continue with a simple extension I have been creating for 1.5.3, as well as upgrading my fraternity's website from 1.0.11 to the latest, 1.5.3.  Both endeavors should teach me quite a bit about the Joomla! core.

More posts to come. ;)