Wednesday May 13, 2009
If you're into robotics (and why wouldn't you be, right?), and especially if you're in the younger crowd, you'll likely be as excited as we are about this news: FIRST™ adds Java™ Technology to the First Robotics Competition Tool Kit. Yeah, that's us. It's Squawk.
If you want to know more about FIRST, head over to their website. It's cool stuff, and having Java, and Squawk, as part of it is just too cool!
[ "That must be wonderful! I don't understand it at all." ]
Monday May 11, 2009
So if you haven't used Project Kenai before, you really ought to check it out. Especially if you're a disgruntled user of java.net. Seriously. Here's some impressive stats about Project Kenai.
- They've increased their membership by over 1,000 members in a little over a week's time!
- As of today, they're sitting at 7,206 members and 521 public projects. Let's see if they can we hit 10,000 members before JavaOne!
More cool facts below.
PROJECT KENAI INFORMATION
Project Kenai, is Sun's developer "cloud" onramp. Having gone live back in September of 2008, we have exceeded over 7,000 members and surpassed 500 hosted open source projects. Currently, Kenai offers an integrated suite of productivity services for developers to host their open source code/projects as well as connect with peers of like mind (with additional cloud features to be released in the future); today's features include:
- Evolving integration with NetBeans
- Source Code Management (Subversion, Mercurial, and/or Git)
- Issue Tracking (Jira or Bugzilla)
- Wiki
- Forums
- Mailing Lists
- Download facility for documents
Anyone can join by going to http://kenai.com. And if parties are ready to start hosting a project, they simply need to send an invitation request with a description of their project to: kenai-admin-AT-sun-DOT-com.
I have started a couple of Sun SPOT projects on Kenai, and hope we can migrate our existing projects over there at some point. The interface is clean and the service is fast and responsive. I love it! Try it out today!
[ "The way to make a small fortune in the commodities market is to start with a large fortune." ]
Sunday May 10, 2009
I was actually sort of dreading my flight today. Not because of the usual strip-search tom-foolery that passes for 'security' (don't get me started on the inanity of the TSA's rules-based systems with no room for the application of intelligence), but because I was flying on Southwest which continues to steadfastly refuse to provide in-seat power. Not that even that is all that great, thanks to Apple's design-flawed in-flight power adapter which will just barely run but will not charge, my laptop. But I digress.
But I am, again, pleasantly surprised by Southwest. They are 'testing' an in-flight WiFi system that allows (only slightly-limited) WiFi access while in-flight. The block VoIP (though I have heard you can bypass this even if you are willing to run the Adobe whatever-it-is voice stuff). The performance and throughput is actually quite impressive! I was able to download and install a 6.3MB application update in about 10 seconds or so.
So here I am, happily blogging away from 35,000 feet. I have read some news, watched some YouTube (though they claim that video is not allowed. I guess YouTube isn't 'video'). Done some email, twittered a bit, and am about to post this blog entry. Schweet. I only hope that Southwest decides to keep the service, expand it to all flights, and keep it free. I'll opt for in-flight WiFi on Southwest over in-seat power on American Airlines any day of the week.
[ The world is coming to an end! Repent and return those library books! ]
Friday May 08, 2009
No, not this one, or even one of mine! But this one from my boss, Roger.
So now we're going to have to arrange for a Sun SPOT Engineering outing to Great America in San Jose to get some telemetry off of some of the big-boy rides there.
[ Hardware, n.: The parts of a computer system that can be kicked. ]
Wednesday May 06, 2009
Ok, it's been a while since we've pushed out a Beta -- we've been doing fairly regular Developer Builds -- so it's that time! Version 5 of the Sun SPOT SDK (we call it 'Red') is now available on the Beta site.
Not sure how to get the Beta Software? Here's a quick tutorial.
If you already have the Sun SPOT SDK Installed (and of course you do, don't you?), then start the Sun SPOT Manager Tool.
Go to the 'Preferences Panel:
And select the 'Beta Update Center':
Then go back to the SDKs Panel:
and install the red Beta1. It's really that easy.
And for those of you that like to live on the bleeding edge with us, you can always go back to the Preferences Pane and select the 'Dev Preview' Update Center for regular Developer Builds. Right now, the Beta1 build and the last Dev Preview build are bit-for-bit exactly the same, but just for future reference ... (Note: The SPOT Manager will remember your choice of Beta Update Center or General Release Update Center, but by design it will always 'forget' the Dev Preview selection, just to keep you from accidentally installing a (potentially unstable) Developer Build.).
Enjoy! And please report any issues you may have on the forums. Also note that the Robotics Emulator and lots of other cool stuff is included in this release, so enjoy!
[ Real Users never know what they want, but they always know when your program doesn't deliver it. ]
Tuesday May 05, 2009
Especially if you have some Sun SPOT videos!! Here's a bonus, submit your video and use Sun SPOTs in your video! Just follow the rules here, and get entered for a free pass to JavaOne!
And if you use Sun SPOTs in your video, and get chosen, maybe we can figure something out from us in Sun SPOT land to make it even cooler for you. Who knows ...
So get entered! Like, NOW!
[ "Just remember, it all started with a mouse."
-- Walt Disney ]
Monday May 04, 2009
Chances are, if you 'tweet' you've already seen this one, but if not, you really should. I encourage everyone to 'tweet' in real life. Maybe we should start a "tweet in real life" day like "Talk Like a Pirate" day.
[ How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all? ]
Monday May 04, 2009
As most of you are probably aware, JavaOne, the annual Java Conference, is rapidly approaching. It'll be here before you know it! (Well, actually, it starts on June 2, 2009, but that's coming up pretty fast!)
Also, as many of you know, we here in Project Sun SPOT typically 'do stuff' at JavaOne. In years past we've done tutorials, Technical Sessions, BOFs, booths, etc. This year is no exception, except that we are looking for you to participate with us (ok, so that's not really an 'exception' either). But this year we plan to showcase what you've done with SPOTs.
Roger has posted a message on the Sun SPOT Forums about it, but it's really, really easy. Just post a video of what you have done with Sun SPOTs to YouTube (you know, where all the cool kids post their videos) and tag it with the keyword 'spaughts' and our automatic feed will pick it up. We'll look at it, and we might be showing it (and you!) on the floor at JavaOne to showcase the cool things that are being done with Sun SPOTs.
So break out your video cameras and get shooting!
[ People usually get what's coming to them ... unless it's been mailed. ]
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