On the Ibuildings techPortal today they've posted the latest podcast in their DPCRadio series - Elizabeth Naramore's presentation on technical debt.

Technical debt is something that most project teams or independent developers have to deal with – we take shortcuts to push out releases, we don’t focus on quality, deadlines need to be met, quick fixes slowly become the standard. Whatever the reason, if we don’t manage our technical debt (not unlike financial debt), before too long our applications are technically bankrupt, and we are forced to completely refactor and start anew.

She talks about what technical debt is, when it's okay and when it's not, managing it, how to minimize it and how to address it as both an individual and team. You can either listen via the in-page player or download it directly. She's also posted her slides to her blog.

If you've been wanting to attend this year's Dutch PHP Conference (June 10th through 12th) but don't think you could come up with the price for the tickets, you're in luck! Lorna Mitchell has posted about a new contest they're running to give away one ticket to the event allowing the winner access to the main conference days.

We’ve been busy putting everything in place for the event and our schedule is now available over at http://phpconference.nl/schedule. So now you’ve seen the schedule, you probably want to join us! [...] We have a ticket to give away which will grant access to the main conference days at the Dutch PHP Conference!

To put your name in for a chance to win the free pass, simply comment on this post on the Ibuildings techPortal with a valid email address attached and you'll be entered. The contest ends March 16th, so be sure to make your comment before then!

Lorna Mitchell, heading up this year's Dutch PHP Conference, has released the official schedule for the event happening June 10th through the 12th.

The wait is over! The Dutch PHP Conference schedule is now available. [We've even gotten] someone complaining that the schedule is too good and he can't see everything he wants to!

Topics range from writing extensions and designing for reusable code to technical debt and stress-free deployment

You can find out more about the conference on its site and you can save your space by registering here. You can get a full three day ticket for 500 Euro, a "tutorials only" pass for 300 Euro and a "conference only" pass for 200 Euro.

If you hadn't heard (and were up in the air on attending this year's event) the Dutch PHP Conference has put their tickets on sale as a part of a "big blind bird" discount, but it's only good before the schedule for this year is released.

In previous years, we always had 'early bird' discount on our DPC tickets. This year, we'll have early bird discounts as well, but we're adding an extra level of discount. Since the schedule isn't available yet (our Call for Papers is still running), we're launching the ticket sales with a 'blind bird discount'. For those of you that know that whatever the schedule is, DPC10 is going to be awesome anyway.

The passes are discounted for a limited time - you can get a full conference pass for 500 Euro (marked down 150 Euro) and a "Tutorial Only" ticket for 265 Euro (a discount of 85 Euro). Sound good? Head over and purchase your tickets

For those wanting to submit their ideas to for this year's Dutch PHP Conference, you'd better hurry! Their Call for Papers has officially opened and will close at the end of the month, January 31st 2010.

Good news! The Call for Papers for DPC (Dutch PHP Conference) 2010 is now open! [...] This year we're excited about many different topics, perhaps the best way to describe it is to say that if its related to PHP and you are excited about, then we want to hear it! It doesn't matter who you are, this event is all about the technologies. DPC has an established reputation as the best place to expand a developer's skill set and improve existing practice and that remains our focus for this year.

TO submit your ideas, stop off at their Call for Papers page and submit your contact information and the abstract for your talk!