CALL-FOR-PAPER ALERT!!!!
You want to give a talk at The City-by-the-Bay; The City that rocks; The City that never stops... well you missed the boat on JavaOne 2004...
(But "Click and Hack, the type-it brothers" didn't. They've got two sessions at JavaOne. Count 'em. One. Two.)
But here's your chance: SunNetwork San Francisco 2004
The SunNetwork San Francisco 2004 Call for Papers is now open!
Please listen carefully:
- If you are a Sun employee, go here. Please FOLLOW the guidelines; if you don't your submission gets disqualified automatically.
- If you are not a Sun employee and you're interested in submitting a paper for the SunNetwork San Francisco conference, you get a personal Sun ambassador to help you through the process. That's right: We're not going to tell you to go to some website and figure stuff out. Oh, no. You get a dedicated resource. Here's how it works... if you know who your Sun rep is (or your MDO rep for all those ISVs out there whom i personally adore), please contact that person and let them know you would like to submit a paper for SunNetwork. Those guys will start pulling strings for you. (no promises, OK people).
- If you don't know who your Sun rep (or MDO rep) is, I will personally help you find that out. Contact me using the following formula: first.last@sun.com. My first name is Mary. My lastname is Smaragdis.
and that's all we've got for you on SunNetwork today....
On to JavaOne Scoop!!
Here's some morsels that are delicious and nutritious:
1.Just found out that TIM BRAY!!!! is joining Simon Phipps at the Inner Circle Roundtable during JavaOne on Tues. 6/29 5-6.30pm at the Argent hotel..."The True Meaning of Open Source Software." There are two other pretty spectacular Inner Circle Roundtables at JavaOne... I'm telling you, folks... membership has its privileges (this is how i got to have breakfast with Gage in Shanghai)... Join Inner Circle to get personal invitations to events like these sent right to your in-box. And that's just the tip-of-the-iceberg when it comes to what you get when you join Sun's premium programs.
2. I'd like to introduce you to Dr. Joshua Bloch and Dr. Neal Gafter
(that's Dr. Josh on the left; Dr. Neal on the right; i'll get them some pocket protectors for Christmas ;-)
... the newest members of that elite group techno celebs who are my personal friends. These guys, known as "Click and Hack, the type-it brothers" and I have something hot-hot-hot in store for you. You just be sure to check back with me on Friday to find out what, precisely. But meanwhile, you need to quick put this on your Amazon wish list for Father's Day: Josh's Book!!
And remember they've got two JavaOne sessions. Count 'em. One. Two.
3. I'll give it to you again, people: Choo. Choo. Don't tell me i'm not working it for you.
and that concludes our JavaOne Scoop for today. check back tomorrow for more.
And our final item on the official agenda today is to announce the winner of Friday Free Stuff!
You'll remember, this was our fabulous prize:
And it goes to Bruce Hopkins who gave the best answer to the question I posed:
Why is it that if you tell people the Universe is filled with bizarre objects such as Quasars, black holes, gamma ray bursts, and Supernovae they will believe you without further proof but if you hang a sign on a park bench that says "Fresh Paint" they need to touch it just to make sure?
Here is
Bruce's answer (edited to protect his identity and mine):
-------- Original Message --------
| Subject: |
Friday Free stuff, Blackholes vs. Wet Paint |
| Date: |
Fri, 11 Jun 2004 10:42:41 -0400 |
| From: |
Bruce Hopkins <SEND MARY EMAIL IF YOU WANT BRUCE's EMAIL > |
| To: |
Mary Smaragdis <first.last@sun.com> |
MaryMary,
By default, human nature makes us to believe things by the following
formula:
(GT + PA) * PH = y
GT: Group Theory. GT=1 if a majority of smart people says that it's
true. GT=0 if not.
PA: Parent's Advice. PA=1 if your parent told it to you. PT=0 if not.
PH: Personal Harm. PH=1 if something bad may happen to you if you test
the theory yourself. NPH=0 if nothing will happen.
y: The Belief Factor: If y=0, then a person will not believe you. If
y>0, then a person may believe you.
Look at the following scenarios:
1. "Don't touch the stove because it's hot."
(0 + 1) * 1 = 1. A person will most likely believe that statement
2. "Don't touch the stove because it's cold".
(0 + 1) * 0 = 0. A person will probably touch the stove, just to see how
cold it is.
3. "Blackholes exist".
(1 + 0) * 1 = 1. A person may believe that statement. The son of a
physicist will definitely believe that statement. :-)
4. "Don't touch the park bench because the paint is wet".
(0 + 1) * 0 = 0. That bench doesn't look wet to me...
5. You see an envelope with a mysterious white powder on a park bench,
after reading an article about Anthrax
(1 + 0) * 1 = 1. You're going nowhere near that bench!
Thanks,
Bruce
http://www.javabluetooth.com
I liked this one best, mainly because i don't really understand it. But you guys are smarter than me, so i figured you might.
And we have a first-runner-up... but unfortunately, i wasn't able to close the loop with him to get his permission to print his entry or his name and the last thing i need is some yahoo coming after me with intellectual property claims on my blog...
So second-runner-up,
Geoff Arnold 
will shoulder the responsibility of filling in for Bruce in the event he can not fulfill his duties as this week's Friday Free Stuff winner. Geoff sent in this (edited to protect his identity and mine):
-------- Original Message --------
| Date: |
Fri, 11 Jun 2004 11:21:02 -0400 |
| From: |
Geoff Arnold <SEND MARY EMAIL IF YOU WANT GEOFF'S EMAIL> |
| To: |
Mary Smaragdis <first.last@sun.com> |
> Why is it that if you tell people the Universe is filled with bizarre
> objects such as Quasars, black holes, gamma ray bursts, and Supernovae
> they will believe you without further proof but if you hang a sign on
> a park bench that says "Fresh Paint" they need to touch it just to
> make sure?
Because the paint is immediately consequential, the cosmology not.
Check out the lyrics to the Al Stewart song "Accident on 3rd Street",
http://www.alstewart.com/lyrics/accidenton3rdst.htm
I asked my local guru the situation and he gave me this reply
While pointing a bony finger up into the general direction of the sky:
"Get on with your own life, it is not ours to reason why"
Said he used to worry about it once when he was young
Now he doesn't even bother to try
He left me with a feeling that what he said was basically sound
Like a black hole in space, or philosophy, useless but profound
Just one of those things,
One of those things.
... and that's all I've got for you guys today...
mary
p.s. i know these blogs are way too long. i'm working on it.