Shopping!

So we did a "What not to wear"/makeover shopping event for my friend, Bob. I thought it was an awesome experience of really showing that it is easy and affordable to look great. When you look great on the outside, it really gives you confidence, and affects how you feel on the inside. It's not about changing who you are but enhancing and just finding clothes that fit and look good on you. The hard thing about most people is that they just don't have the patience to look for clothes or know where to start. We went to Filene's Basement as our first store, and just having 3 people pick out clothes and go through racks for you is a huge step!

Some of the hot buys?

• Paper Denim & Cloth jeans -- SOOO awesome in dark wash. E, C, and I were sooo jealous.
• Kenneth Cole Reaction black jacket for fall for $24!!
• Awesome Diesel sneakers!
• I think in total:
• 3 pairs of jeans
• Black trousers
• Dark brown trousers with a little pinstripe
• Charcoal trousers with crosshatch texture
• Navy linen pants
• Couple pairs of casual shorts
• Multiple dress shirts, with the most awesome one being dark brown, with light blue stripes, and in the blue stripes, a light pink one
• Multiple summer shirts: one of them being a white linen-y shirt
  
• 3 pairs of shoes: diesel sneakers, Cole Haan leather sandals, pair of black casual shows to wear with jeans or pants
• And probably a lot that i'm forgetting... :p
  

Was so much fun--can't wait to see pictures!

JavaOne - Cattle, Sheep, or Lemmings

So, I think JavaOne is really a complex logistical system, or some people may call this as people herding. Okay, that some people is me, I admit. I guess there is a whole thing on "herd behavior" in humans. But, my question is on whether humans (in this case JavaOne geeks) are like cattle, sheep, or lemmings. I guess it also depends on the hunger factor (i.e. if it is breakfast or lunch). Personally, I think geeks are more like cattle or sheep. That we usually have something that we want to do, but will be herded to some other place because of sheep dogs (i.e. conference coordinators).

JavaOne - Social Aspects

So, I'm actually one of those people who turns to the people next to me at sessions and introduces myself and asks them what they are doing, etc. Maybe we chit chat about where they are or how the session applies to them. Okayyyy, I admit that I did this at the beginning, and then towards the end I was just anti-socially playing my PSP.

Anyways, I would say approximately 60% of the responses are good ones. I.e. people will respond and you will have a mini conversation. But, those aren't the interesting ones. The interesting ones are when people start shaking and stuttering when you start talking to them, and you can't help but feel bad. Are people so lacking in human interaction that they can't talk?

And, there was this other person I introduced to, and the conversation went like:
Me: Hi, my name is Brandy.
Other: My name is blah.
...We shake hands...
Me: Where do you work?
Other: At Blah in Blah.
.... and yeah... end of conversation.
About 20 minutes later, I see him pick his nose... I broke out my anti-bacterial hand wipes fast.

Fashion @JavaOne

Pretty much, there's not really fashion at JavaOne. Again, there was that guy in some video with a camera taped to his forehead--is that what's called good fashion? Also, what's up with women who go up on stage and present with their hair all frizzy. Okay, so sometimes I don't brush my hair in the morning, but if I knew I was presenting something, I'd at least make my hair look shiny and glossy and not a huge frizzy mess. I mean, I guess if you are the CTO of blah blah super huge company, you don't have time for these things? But, there are lots of Frederik Fekkai hair products out there that I am sure can make you have shiny glossy hair in less than 2 minutes.

Oh, and in some general session, the "cool" fashion was a NASA jacket and Duke surfing. Okay, so the geek in me thinks that they are pretty cool, but... not really. And, I am happy to say I have seen at least 5 or 6 women carrying designer handbags! Yay! Must be a couple of Louis Vuitton, couple of Burberry (ok if I don't count, then just make that count 1), and one vintage Gucci. Unfortunately, as I've told my friend, it was vintage because it was old, not because it was vintage.

Butt cracks--need I say more? Just don't do it. Wear a belt... this goes for men as well as ladies.

My hair. How many people have commented on my purple hair? One. And, that was someone who works the conference and doesn't attend it. :) When I was in NYC just walking around, I swear I got 3 comments on my hair in one day. I guess JavaOne attendees just don't care about hair.

Ok, I guess that is it for my initial fashion update at JavaOne.

JavaOne - Some other general session

So I went to some other general session in the afternoon on Tuesday, May 8.

First they started out with an more in depth explanation of Java FX Script--a scripting language that allows for super rich client experience without writing a lot of code. It looks pretty slick to be honest. Useful?, at least in products that I work with, I don't really think so. One key thing they were talking about is treating the "web as a platform". And, along those lines, I went to a GWT (google web toolkit) session where they were saying that the web should behave like the web. While Java FX Script is something I would love to play with, and is super sexy, it just doesn't feel like the web to me.

Java SE -- lots of stuff coming in Java 7. They described a much quicker adoption rate of Java 6 even over Java 5. Well, that's cool--wish my company would move to Java 5. So, what I'm doing is putting together a list of compelling business reasons why we should move to Java 5. As far as Java 7 is concerned, there are upcoming concepts like superpackages and superJARS that better handle interoperability, versioning, and dependencies.

Open source JDK--that is another huge thing. What it really means... that's to be seen. Other miscellaneous "big" things are JRuby (on Rails), jMaki, Phobos, etc. ... all in the scripting realm. Also, Glassfish seems like a pretty lightweight web application server that can do everything.

So, it's a really exciting time for new concepts and (finally?!) solutions to some problems. On the other hand, I'm not sure what the handful of sticking technologies should be.

:)

Taking a break

I had to walk out of another session today. This is only my second one out of the whole conference, so I think I'm doing pretty well so far. Just posted my thoughts about the JavaOne general session from Tuesday. I'll post more stuff throughout the rest of today and tomorrow. By the way, why is it colder in San Francisco than in Boston?

JavaOne General Session

These are my thoughts on the general session on Tuesday, May 8, 2007.

Technology wise, the new buzzwords/concepts/whatever were Glassfish, Open Source, Java FX Script (including Mobile), Mobile, TV/Multimedia, Java Real Time, open platform, rich internet. I'll have more thoughts on the technologies and things later, as I post more blogs about the other weeks. But, as with all of the sessions that people attend everyday, it's a mixed bag of really cool concepts and technology, with things that are just plain hype (or things that just don't apply). It's a strange dichotomy of "network in your hands", but well, Java is a tool for that. Sun is dependent on other companies/people to get Java in the hands of consumers and users.

I was pleased to also see a "social responsibility" theme towards Java technology. I mean, American Idol had their benefit for needy children, why can't Java/Sun? They talked about eco-friendly (carbon neutral conference), engineers without borders, and free curriculum around the world (curriki.org). There was a UN speaker at the conference, and it was kind of great to see him up there at a technology conference. Geeks are people too, and we need to help out others in the world using what we do best. On the other hand, I doubt Java is going to save the world. Though, maybe AJAX will.

Oh, and another thing. When did JavaOne become a cool rock concert type thing? Though, have to admit that the techno DJ at the beginning of the session was pretty cool (anon-music.com) or something.

Things I'm sure to be sick about at the end of the conference? Well... script wars. Scripting framework wars. Java FX Script looks really awesome, but is it hype, or for real?

JavaOne

I left for JavaOne on Monday, May 7th--had a great flight on JetBlue, and actually slept a good amount. But still, JetLag certainly caught up with me yesterday. When I left, I noticed that the trees were in full bloom, and now I see it is going to ran. So, I'm going to miss the flowers on the cherry trees. I'm very disappointed I didn't take pictures of them this year.

So, before I left, I had this dream/nightmare that for some strange reasons, I kept on not being able to attend the technical sessions. For instance, I would have to go to the post office for important documents and travel from Waltham to Cambridge without a car (yes, I know the conference is in San Francisco--this is a dream, remember?). So what happens my first day? One of my sessions gets rescheduled to late Friday afternoon! But... it was good since it gave me time to get my mini schedule thingie. I went through a lot trying to get it--this desk and that desk, to wind up at the original desk I was at, and yes, they did have them there. UGH!

As you've noticed, I just started this blog... so more to come later.