Attending
JavaOne 2009 Conference at San Francisco was a wonderful, learning
experience. As a part of Sun Microsystems's Campus Ambassador Program,
they nominated five CA's from all over the world who would get an
opportunity to attend the JavaOne 2009 Conference, fully sponsored by
them. Let me now share my JavaOne 2009 experiences with you all.
Let me start with the day when we reached San Francisco. Three of us – Ashwin Bhat from Mangalore, Angad from Delhi (Both of them are Tech Leads) and I – landed at San Francisco on Sunday, the May 31 afternoon, It was one of the "most awaited moments" of my life. When I reached the hotel lobby (Hotel Nikko, where we were put up), Gary was there to receive us. He had told us that we would meet-up for dinner at 6 p.m. Besides me, other three CAs, Tom, Hyejin, Felipe had also checked in at the hotel around the same time. After the dinner, he told Tom, Hyejin, Felipe and Me that all four of us would be on stage with David Douglas during his Keynote session the next day! Wow! This news was thrilling…. To be in front of 3000 audience (delegates) was unimaginable!
On June 1st (Day-1), we were ready with our "two sentences" that we were supposed to answer to David on the Stage. In the course of his Keynote Address, David invited all four of us (CAs) to the Stage. After welcoming me to JavaOne, David asked, "What OSUM looks like in India". That was simple. I answered, "As Campus Ambassadors, we have set up OSUM Clubs in various Universities in India, where we conduct Tech Demos, Contests for the Student Communities. It’s all about promoting Free and OpenSource Softwares to the Students. For more details, please visit osum.sun.com"
It was truly amazing to be on the Stage - not as speakers but to be rewarded :). I was extremely delighted when I looked back on the Stage…. Our University name was up on the big screen! Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham declared its presence, on the world-map!!
JavaOne was a huge convention. It was Java, Java and Java, all the way. Everywhere there was Java in some or the other form. The Pavilion opened up at around 3 p.m. When I went in, there were a number of stalls/lounge put up by different companies, individuals, or anyone who use Java in some or other form. I was given the responsibility of manning the "OSUM Lounge" - a stall/lounge for students to come in and learn or join the OSUM Community. The entry to JavaOne Conference was free for the students so we had many coming in! It was nice to meet a lot of students and exchange the thoughts. At the OSUM Lounge, we had a "Scavenger Hunt" where we gave out small cards to the students with a list of "must attend" technical session, lectures beneficial to students. To verify they attend the session, a person from the stall would stand in front of the hall for stamping. And at the end of the day, if a student has a minimum of 4 stamps, they are entitled for the Raffle where "IPod Touch" or "SunSpot" were given out! This helped students participate efficiently in the JavaOne event by providing the schedules ahead of time. Fun while you learn….!
Apart from OSUM Lounge, we had the OpenSolaris Install Lounge, Sun Cloud, Zembly, Intel, Sony, BlackBerry, JavaFX and many other stalls. There was also an interesting stall titled "Create Your Custom T-Shirt". When you give a caption like, for example, "Java + Community = Powerful", you will have this printed on your Java T-Shirt. It was fun!
The 2009 JavaOne Conference opened on Tuesday (June 2, 2009) morning with the Sun General Session. Hosted by the Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz, the session ended with an appearance by Sun Chairman and Co-founder Scott McNealy, who introduced surprise guest Larry Ellison, Co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation. Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems, announced in April, is expected to be finalized in the next few months.
Schwartz opened the 14th JavaOne conference with a trip down the memory lane. It was fabulous. My day went in interviewing people - for JavaOne Minutes, asking them about their experience at JavaOne and running around in the Pavilion grabbing my "GOODIES". I got loads of them. I also had an opportunity of talking at an Exclusive JavaOne Radio Coverage with Lin Lee, Vice President Global Communities, which was streamed online.
My next best moment at the Sun Party was when I got a rare opportunity of standing with James Gosling, the Founder of Java for a photograph. It was great; I am going to preserve this photograph life-long! A real memoir, of course!!
The next day, I went on attending the sessions, manning the OSUM Lounge, running around and so on. The best part of the day was when we CAs were called for a video shooting as part of The Global Communities Teams Success Stories, which works directly with Influencer Worldwide who shape how billions of people use and will be impacted by technology. After that, we had a dinner party with Lin Lee and some more Sun Employees who help with the Student Communities around the world. Here, Gary surprised us (Tom, Hyejin, Felipe and me) by presenting a very nice glass cube memento to each one of us. It was really awesome with our name and "Campus Ambassador Program - Outstanding Results Award" carved on that. Thank you Sun!
Thursday was usual - attending sessions. In the second half, Gary took us all - Angad, Ashwin, Kevin, Felipe, Tom, Hyejin, David Botterill and me - on a San Francisco tour. It was again a great one. Thanks a bunch Gary!
On the last day, James Gosling's annual whirlwind Toy Show at the JavaOne conference displayed not only technical excellence and innovation, but also excellence in generating technology that serves humanity. He gave out the "Duke's Choice Award" - The award for the most innovative concept / idea done using Java. The event was well attended, and the audience was enthusiastic as ever.
What a learning experience….! Learning never stops. In all, it was a great opportunity that I got from Sun. Sun Microsystems is an amazing Organization. I am so much influenced by the people and the technology @ Sun that it’s hard to leave them all. I just cant complete without thanking (in no particular order) - Lin Lee, Gary Serda, Ganesh, Vijaya Santosh, Ajay, Rajesh, Kumar Abhishek, David (who was with us all the time entertaining us), Pratibha (Travel Desk), and Veena Damodaran (sorry if I have missed someone). I am greatly indebted to my College for creating this opportunity for me and for the support. In particular, I want to thank my professor, mentor, guide and friend Vipin Pavithran Sir who was the source for me to reach up to this level. He inspired me; ignited my thoughts and took me to the right direction. Finally, thanks to my parents, for their encouragement and support in my endeavors. Thank you everyone.
Here are some Links:
Photos
1. http://avinashjoshi.co.in/my-
2. http://avinashjoshi.co.in/my-
3. http://avinashjoshi.co.in/my-
Video on my blog
http://avinashjoshi.co.in/
Welcome to CommunityOne, General Session, June 1, 2009
http://link.brightcove.com/
Exclusive JavaOne Radio Coverage with Lin Lee (Vice President, Global Communities, Sun Microsystems)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/
Video shooting as a part of The Global Communities teams success stories
http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/
http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/
All Connected Students Media
http://slx.sun.com/media/6245
Watch Welcome to CommunityOne, General Session, June 1, 2009
http://developers.sun.com/
http://developers.sun.com/
Let me start with the day when we reached San Francisco. Three of us – Ashwin Bhat from Mangalore, Angad from Delhi (Both of them are Tech Leads) and I – landed at San Francisco on Sunday, the May 31 afternoon, It was one of the "most awaited moments" of my life. When I reached the hotel lobby (Hotel Nikko, where we were put up), Gary was there to receive us. He had told us that we would meet-up for dinner at 6 p.m. Besides me, other three CAs, Tom, Hyejin, Felipe had also checked in at the hotel around the same time. After the dinner, he told Tom, Hyejin, Felipe and Me that all four of us would be on stage with David Douglas during his Keynote session the next day! Wow! This news was thrilling…. To be in front of 3000 audience (delegates) was unimaginable!
On June 1st (Day-1), we were ready with our "two sentences" that we were supposed to answer to David on the Stage. In the course of his Keynote Address, David invited all four of us (CAs) to the Stage. After welcoming me to JavaOne, David asked, "What OSUM looks like in India". That was simple. I answered, "As Campus Ambassadors, we have set up OSUM Clubs in various Universities in India, where we conduct Tech Demos, Contests for the Student Communities. It’s all about promoting Free and OpenSource Softwares to the Students. For more details, please visit osum.sun.com"
It was truly amazing to be on the Stage - not as speakers but to be rewarded :). I was extremely delighted when I looked back on the Stage…. Our University name was up on the big screen! Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham declared its presence, on the world-map!!
JavaOne was a huge convention. It was Java, Java and Java, all the way. Everywhere there was Java in some or the other form. The Pavilion opened up at around 3 p.m. When I went in, there were a number of stalls/lounge put up by different companies, individuals, or anyone who use Java in some or other form. I was given the responsibility of manning the "OSUM Lounge" - a stall/lounge for students to come in and learn or join the OSUM Community. The entry to JavaOne Conference was free for the students so we had many coming in! It was nice to meet a lot of students and exchange the thoughts. At the OSUM Lounge, we had a "Scavenger Hunt" where we gave out small cards to the students with a list of "must attend" technical session, lectures beneficial to students. To verify they attend the session, a person from the stall would stand in front of the hall for stamping. And at the end of the day, if a student has a minimum of 4 stamps, they are entitled for the Raffle where "IPod Touch" or "SunSpot" were given out! This helped students participate efficiently in the JavaOne event by providing the schedules ahead of time. Fun while you learn….!
Apart from OSUM Lounge, we had the OpenSolaris Install Lounge, Sun Cloud, Zembly, Intel, Sony, BlackBerry, JavaFX and many other stalls. There was also an interesting stall titled "Create Your Custom T-Shirt". When you give a caption like, for example, "Java + Community = Powerful", you will have this printed on your Java T-Shirt. It was fun!
The 2009 JavaOne Conference opened on Tuesday (June 2, 2009) morning with the Sun General Session. Hosted by the Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz, the session ended with an appearance by Sun Chairman and Co-founder Scott McNealy, who introduced surprise guest Larry Ellison, Co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation. Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems, announced in April, is expected to be finalized in the next few months.
Schwartz opened the 14th JavaOne conference with a trip down the memory lane. It was fabulous. My day went in interviewing people - for JavaOne Minutes, asking them about their experience at JavaOne and running around in the Pavilion grabbing my "GOODIES". I got loads of them. I also had an opportunity of talking at an Exclusive JavaOne Radio Coverage with Lin Lee, Vice President Global Communities, which was streamed online.
My next best moment at the Sun Party was when I got a rare opportunity of standing with James Gosling, the Founder of Java for a photograph. It was great; I am going to preserve this photograph life-long! A real memoir, of course!!
The next day, I went on attending the sessions, manning the OSUM Lounge, running around and so on. The best part of the day was when we CAs were called for a video shooting as part of The Global Communities Teams Success Stories, which works directly with Influencer Worldwide who shape how billions of people use and will be impacted by technology. After that, we had a dinner party with Lin Lee and some more Sun Employees who help with the Student Communities around the world. Here, Gary surprised us (Tom, Hyejin, Felipe and me) by presenting a very nice glass cube memento to each one of us. It was really awesome with our name and "Campus Ambassador Program - Outstanding Results Award" carved on that. Thank you Sun!
Thursday was usual - attending sessions. In the second half, Gary took us all - Angad, Ashwin, Kevin, Felipe, Tom, Hyejin, David Botterill and me - on a San Francisco tour. It was again a great one. Thanks a bunch Gary!
On the last day, James Gosling's annual whirlwind Toy Show at the JavaOne conference displayed not only technical excellence and innovation, but also excellence in generating technology that serves humanity. He gave out the "Duke's Choice Award" - The award for the most innovative concept / idea done using Java. The event was well attended, and the audience was enthusiastic as ever.
What a learning experience….! Learning never stops. In all, it was a great opportunity that I got from Sun. Sun Microsystems is an amazing Organization. I am so much influenced by the people and the technology @ Sun that it’s hard to leave them all. I just cant complete without thanking (in no particular order) - Lin Lee, Gary Serda, Ganesh, Vijaya Santosh, Ajay, Rajesh, Kumar Abhishek, David (who was with us all the time entertaining us), Pratibha (Travel Desk), and Veena Damodaran (sorry if I have missed someone). I am greatly indebted to my College for creating this opportunity for me and for the support. In particular, I want to thank my professor, mentor, guide and friend Vipin Pavithran Sir who was the source for me to reach up to this level. He inspired me; ignited my thoughts and took me to the right direction. Finally, thanks to my parents, for their encouragement and support in my endeavors. Thank you everyone.
Here are some Links:
Photos
1. http://avinashjoshi.co.in/my-
2. http://avinashjoshi.co.in/my-
3. http://avinashjoshi.co.in/my-
Video on my blog
http://avinashjoshi.co.in/
Welcome to CommunityOne, General Session, June 1, 2009
http://link.brightcove.com/
Exclusive JavaOne Radio Coverage with Lin Lee (Vice President, Global Communities, Sun Microsystems)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/
Video shooting as a part of The Global Communities teams success stories
http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/
http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/
All Connected Students Media
http://slx.sun.com/media/6245
Watch Welcome to CommunityOne, General Session, June 1, 2009
http://developers.sun.com/
http://developers.sun.com/
When
NASA decided to build Mars Exploration Rovers at a cost of several
hundred million dollars, it chose free and open source software to
power the robots. Launched on the Martian surface in 2003, the rovers
are still going strong today. When Amrita decided to build a complex
ERP software solution for its 1300-bed specialty hospital AIMS, the
decision was taken to use a free and open source operating system and
database. Free and open source software (FOSS) is now a world-wide
movement; many computer companies are investing their resources to
support the effort.
Conceived
and organized by students, the conference had extensive support from
the Amrita faculty and administration. Nearly a hundred non-Amrita
delegates -- students, faculty members and professionals from industry
-- in addition to hundreds from Amrita, participated. "We wanted to
promote the awareness of FOSS and take steps to create a user base
competent in the use of this technology," stated Avinash Joshi, the
student coordinator. Avinash will graduate with an engineering degree
from Amrita next year; he was the one to first float the idea about the
conference a few months ago. "I am happy that we have met these
objectives," he added.
Multiple
sessions on blogging were included. "I learned to blog late in my
life," stated Mr. Chandrasekharan Nair, a retired jawan, now a farmer.
Mr. Nair helps other farmers through his blog; he publishes correct
rubber statistics and campaigns against genetically modified crops. "I
am glad I could attend his talk," said Swapna Laxman, B Tech student.
"The talk was moving and inspirational. Mr. Nair’s experience proves
that age is not a bar for learning new technologies." Additional
sessions on blogging were conducted by 'Uncle' Chandrakumar who
contributes to community service through his blogs, Anand Subramaniam,
a professional blogger and Arun Basil, a student, whose blogging has
brought him fame and fortune.
Java Desktop Applications
