Explicitly and without apology a marketing vehicle MaryMaryQuiteContrary

It was the Lollapalooza of the techno world, packed (literally) into the Manhattan Penthouse.

Complete with..


.... live entertainment.

Everybody who was anybody was there, including



Mark Stahlman, father of the phrase "Network Computing," (got that little tidbit from Hal Stern, who was also there)

hey, did you see that NY Times story Monday? read it. and you'll see the connection.



here's me with Hal. love that guy!

I'm telling you, peopole... you could't go two steps without running into techno celebs...



(Ramsey isn't so much a techno celeb but he was really nice so he gets to be in the blog)

We had techno celebs...



... doing demos.

We had the techno celebs holding court...



... on new features that are coming in Solaris 10, including ZFS and..



DTrace.

Some of these guys were getting seriously into the conversation...



there was passion in the room, people.

And also hands-on access

 

to some really killer demos. literally. this was a game where you went around and killed everybody. it's very popular (apparently). i can't remember what it's called. but all you hip youngsters know what i'm talking about. here it's running on Sun Java Desktop System on one of our new x86 boxes.

It was loads of fun.

The best part: Free JavaOne 2005 Full Conference Pass (value: ~$2K; can't remember exactly and too lazy to look it up).

more on that later...

mary

ok, you guys...

i got so much to tell you...but there is so little time...

quick things you've got to do so you'll be up-to-speed for next time...
1. Check out the Network Computing quarterly launch event. (web)
2. Get all the details on the huge big announcements today.
3. Check out computing pay-per-use cycles

and when we synch up again we can chat about all the stuff that's going on over here. hot techno celeb sightings. plenty of scoop. i just don't have time to write up at this veyr minute.

Because I'm late. Right now, I've got to boogy over to the hotel and change. Big Techno Celeb party tonight! Everybody who's anybody is going to be there.

i've got the camera!

this is going to be such fun.

mary

Jonathan Schwartz challenged employees -- all of us -- to innovate in everything we do.

He challenged us to make everything we do a competitive differentiator.

Let me show you how the top tier professionals that make up the ranks of our PR organization do this.



So we've got members of the press here at this event in NY.

They need press kits -- containing copies of the press releases we released today.

Check out what our press kits look like.




USB drives. The press kit is loaded onto the USB drive. No paper.

We innovate around here, people. We innovate with our spectacular portfolio of products. We innovate with break-through business models. We innovate with creative marketing programs. We innovate in everything we do. Everything.

Here's a USB drive ...



....plugged into the laptop of a reporter who was here to cover the event.

Message to our competitors: go ahead; imitate. You guys are good at that.

(but you really can't, can you? you don't have an operating system.  Solaris, Solaris, Solaris)

We innovate around here. And when you imitate our innovation, we consider that the sincerest form of flattery.

mary

Is this a legal spot?



New Yorkers can dial 311 to find out. This service provides New York city with an easy way to obtain important non-emergency services through one central, all-purpose phone number, quickly and effectively.

Guess what?

Powered by Sun.

So let's just take a look-see...

cette place, est-elle legale?



je crois que...



...non.

that's New York for you.

:-)

mary

be still my beating heart.

Laura is here.



i got all neverous.

that's why the picture's a little blurry.

my hands were shaking.

mary

So we had a little issue this morning. I didn't bring the charger for my Java Powered mobile phone with me to NY.

I had to buy one. ($25.99; what a racket)

Every cloud has a silver lining -- I made two new friends...

meet...



Dante...

and



Jay!

(Exist Mobile; 25 East 17th Street; it's the MaryMaryQuiteContary preferred mobile phone charger supplier)

Hey, what's Jay got in his hands there??



It's Java Powered stickers. Jay (and Dante) happen to be selling loads and loads of Java Powered phones over there at Exist Mobile, my preferred mobile phone charger supplier.

He said he'd stick the sticker on his very own personal phone.

pretty neat, eh?

now all we need to work on is the rest of the inventory.

i got lots of stickers.

;-)

mary

p.s. Dante... he's a Java developer. Queens College. It's all about the Java platform at Queens College.

So i'm staying in an unbelievable dump of a hotel here in NY.

It's disappointing and kind of yucky. but it's going to make for a great story.

The entire city is sold out. There is not a hotel room to be had on this island. (UN General Session).

So unless I'm prepared to sleep underneath the late summer sky on a park bench, there's really not a lot I can do about it.

And guess what? This whole situation translates into an opportunity for you.

That's right, you.

I will be sending some really hot free stuff -- including but not limited to ....



a leather encased USB drive and the entirety of all the free stuff that I'm able to secure here in NY.

And it goes to the person who can guess what it costs to stay in this NYC dump of mine. Whoever comes closest to the actual price without going over, wins. Post your guesses as comments to this blog entry. Sun employees can play, but aren't eligible for any prizes.

OK. Join me for a tour of the dump...

To get there....


...you go down this really dimly lit hallway... (it looks bright because of the flash on the camera; which sent some critters scattering when it went off)...

let me show you my favorite part of my hotel room....



... the sink in the closet.

I also have....


... air conditioning to keep me cool....

or i can use the....



phone books provided by the establishment to keep the window open for a bit of fresh air...

of course, it wouldn't be a NY dump if it didn't have one of these...



person who comes closest to guessing how much it's costing me (Sun, actually) to stay here wins a bunch of free stuff. Remember, you can't go over. It's closest without going over.

guess away!

mary

p.s. pls guess in US dollars

my boss tried to warn me.

she told me -- don't stay at that hotel. it's "flithy and disgusting" i think were her words.

so i tell her, i've stayed at more than my fair share of dumps. not to worry, i'd be just fine. 

bravado. i deserve my fate.

my room key is actually a key. on a plastic keychain that has my room number melted into it. crudely. and there's sticky stuff on it. tune in tomorrow. i'll have pictures.

and wish me luck. i've got to go back there and sleep now...

:-(

mary

quick reminder: *Friday Free Stuff prize is still on the table.

Dr. Josh and Dr. Neal will let us know when we've got a winner.

massive prize package this week.



you gotta play to win*

mary

p.s. *Friday Free Stuff is not a contest. It's me giving away stuff that I personally own to somebody I choose. I pay for shipping with stamps that I buy at the post office.

OK.

huge big deal.

I'm headed to NY today.

I'm going to be there for a certain huge big deal.

I'm getting to go because:

1. I am very good at smiling sincerely and thanking people for joining us as I hand them their badge at the registration table.
2. I live sort of close to NY so getting this tight little bod (desired state) to NYC is cheaper than flying somebody out from California.
3. I blog on the side. (but don't tell anybody)
4. It's not what you know but who you know.

and soooooo....

I get to go!

I'm in my element when I'm doing live event coverage, people. This is going to be good. I promise.

So that's the big news for today.

On the personal front, I'd like to announce that I am personally married (and have been for the last nine years) to the most spectacular man on the face of this planet.

mary

guess who's going to be in NY next week?

guess who else?

:-)

it's going to be techno celeb mania, people.

and you know me. i camp out in the bleachers when the techno celebs are getting ready to walk down the red carpet.

i'll bring the camera.

so excited!

mary

A friend I haven't met yet: David Tong. Any friend of Calvin's is a friend of mine.

And my second-favorite blogger and other new friend -- Chris Calkins

mary

i'm going to knock your socks off this week people.

(next week, i'm going to knock your socks and your shoes off.. but let's live for the moment)

this week's prize package includes

• A leather Kenneth Cole PDA holder
• A leather business card holder
• A watch (slight issue with keeping time but doesn't actually keep it from being a must-have fashion accessory for the fall)
• A t-shirt
• 3 Java collector's pins (hottest thing going in Olympic village)
• A bunch of Duke on a surf board (temporary) tatoos
• A pen with one of those clips things that rock climbers use (in case you wanted to jot something down on your way up that big rock in Yosemite which i can't excatly remember the name of right at this minute.)
• A card that you can use to get a free ringtone on java.com
• Java Powered stickers on for your Java Powered phone (get on the horn and tell those carriers that you want to see the Java logo on your Java Powered phone. That the coolest thing about your phone is the fact that it's running Java. And since it's already running Java, you want your logo, damn it!).
• 
• And last but certainly not least, a must-have foam "armchair" that you can use to cradel that Java Powered phone on your desk. (or give to your kids; great Barbie chairs.)
  

oh, can you even believe it?!

but wait, there's more... we got a bonified puzzler this week people. Straight from the personal email account(s) of Dr. Josh Bloch and Dr. Neal Gafter addressed to me.

that's right, me.

Be still my beating heart.

And we're going to get straight to it...

right after I remind you:

1. To buy Dr. Josh's Book, Effective Java -- it's as near and dear to the hearts of Java developers as Dianetics is to people who follow Scientology
2. To download Tiger. Beat the rush.
   
3. *Friday Free Stuff is not a contest. It's me giving away stuff that I personally own to somebody I choose. I pay for shipping that stamps that I buy at the post office. Sun employees can play but they can't win* the prize*
   
   

Here's our puzzler. Post your answers to the comments of this blog entry for your chance to win* the fabulous prize package shipped directly to you free of charge.

Unfortunately, there are a few chinks in the armor. For example, serialization can break this encapsulation. As explained in Effective Java Items 54 and 55, making a class serializable and accepting the default serialized form causes the class’s private private instance fields to become part of its exported API. Changes in the private represntation can then lead to runtime exceptions or erratic behavior.

But what about compile-time errors? Can you cause a client of a final class to fail to compile simply by adding a private member to the class? (By "client" we mean a class in a separate package that invokes public constructors or methods of the class, or accesses its public fields.)

you know what to do.

happy Friday!!

mary

I'd like to introduce you to Lazarus.



The kids call him Goldie.

But his real name is Lazarus. He refuses to stay dead.

I bought Lazarus for $1. But it in the 9 months we've had him, he's actually cost me $237.42, not that we're tracking it closely.

And you know what? I'm pretty unsatisfied with the whole situation to be honest with you. I've spent a whole lot of money. And at the end of the day, I'm not really happy about how things are going.

(If you're an IBM customer, you know what I'm taking about here.)

Which leads me to Sun Java Enterpsie System.

Radical simplification.

No more staffing teams of lawyers to understand how and where you can use the technology you've paid for.

A licensing agreement you can read over a cup of coffee

No more using your business as a QA lab for software vendors -- stop serving as the point of integration for multiple products which work (or don't) in multiple environments.

A single, synchronized release schedule that's tested and interoperable up and down the stack. Standards based. Swap out pieces like legos.
 
No more trying to figure out how much components cost by counting CPUs, directories, mailboxes, etc.

Radically simplified pricing. $100 per employee per year*

(Editor's note: that's less than what you spend on coffee -- if you're still buying them coffee)

Now all we need is a pricing model like this in the goldfish world. And I'd be golden.

mary

*No hidden costs. Includes upgrades, professional services, training and support.

p.s. the moral of the story: don't challenge me. there is absolutely nothing that's so orthogonal that i can't weave it into this blog. ;-)

Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy said Wednesday that a lot of work has been going on in the background to prepare the first round of interoperability between Sun and Microsoft products, part of an agreement the companies reached in April, ending one of the technology industry's longest-running feuds. Next month, the companies will provide single-sign-on capability for Microsoft's Active Directory and the Java Enterprise LDAP Directory. "Companies are dealing with compliance issues, password-management issues, directory-interoperability issues, and we're trying to address all of those," McNealy said in an interview with InformationWeek.

get the whole story here..

mary

p.s. here's my favorite picture of the "Big Boss" and one of  his pals...