Explicitly and without apology a marketing vehicle MaryMaryQuiteContrary

Ich bin ein Berliner!

Proof:

• The European debut of the SunNetwork Conference was held in Berlin. Check out the SunNetwork Berlin site to see for yourself.
  
• The Financial Times Germany is my favorite publication of all time, featuring insightful, thorough reporting that has no equal. Anywhere. In the world. Period.

:-)

mary

p.s. I get by with a little help from my friends. I have a new friend. Harald Gessner is an extraordinary professional who I am privileged to call a colleague, and now a friend.

hey everybody,

it's all the buzz.

NetBeans 4.0.

Lifted without attribution from James Gosling's blog: "I know I'm biased, but the NetBeans 4 folks have done a great job. I've been playing with the Q builds all along, and they just put out their beta1 release. Lovely."

James Gosling calls it "Lovely." That's almost as good as when Click and Hack signed a personal email to me using the word "Kisses."

What is NetBeans? Funny you should ask. There's an awesome article on that very topic as we speak on java.sun.com (written by Dr. Qusay H. Mahmoud ; we call that out because 1. i like his name and 2. he's got a goatee.)

about that very topic. Here's a quick overview that I deliver to you using my favorite marketing technique (that's taken years to hone) copy; paste:

NetBeans IDE, which is sponsored by Sun Microsystems, is a free and open source IDE that enables you to develop cross-platform desktop, web, and mobile/wireless applications. Using NetBeans IDE, developers get their work done in a fun development environment that enables them to concentrate on the business logic of their applications. It provides productivity tools that simplify the life of the Java developer.

Hey, i'm all for a simplified life. Indeed I am in the process of radically simplifying my own life. My initiation as a Sun Ray girl is evidence of this.

But (concluding the official agenda and seamlessly transitioning into a personal update) my life is about to get complicated again. Because tonight is Back-to-School night. Number 1 is a first grader. And Number 2 starts preschool. And that means I'm about to embark on a very aggressive campaign to:

1. Know by name every child that is my kids' classes
2. Elbow out all of the other type-A mothers and secure for myself the coveted distinction of Room Mother

You see, I'm hell-bent on making sure I have a complete understanding of what's going on in my kids' lives. (I've already priced night vision goggles for when they get to middle school). In order to have meaningful conversations when I ask them: "How was school today?" I need to know who they're talking about. And I need to have enough of a finger on the pulse of what's going on at school so that I can give them scoop. This give me credibility.

It's all part of a calculated plan to make my home (and our family) the epicenter of activity. I'm going to do this by feeding all the neighborhood kids junk. That's right, junk. Sodas, chips, candy. Once I get them hanging out here, I'll back-into organic strawberries and carrot sticks. That would be called bait-and-switch.

Of course, I've got some hurdles to work around -- like the fact that I will never permit streaming media in the form of that brain-numbbing contraption they call a TV into this home. I've got to figure out a way to make board games and books just as fun to a bunch of kids who spent more time in front of the tube than they have playing outside. But I'm creative. I'll figure it out.  

Meanwhile, I've got some work to do... Like figuring out how to make this...

into a delicious bannana cake that I can present to the teacher at back-to-school night as a token of our very  sincere appreciation. There is no nobler profession than to be a teacher. So here's an empassioned plea for you... make an effort to show your appreication to a teacher. (but be sure to download NetBeans 4.0 beta first)

;-)

i just crack myself up.

mary