Imagine the Possibilities Virtual Worlds at Sun

JavaOne and CommunityOne are next week!

We're planning some really cool inworld events! Here's the schedule:

MONDAY - MAY 5, 2008 - CommunityOne General Session Webcast - watch throughout the day online at
http://java.sun.com/javaone/sf/webcasts.jsp

INWORLD EVENTS - All inworld events will be held at the JavaOne Theater at Sun's SIMs in Second Life.

MONDAY - MAY 5, 2008

11:30am-12:00pm - Brian Leonard, NetBeans Technology Evangelist
Brian fields questions on NetBeans' latest release. Join us for an informal Q&A session.

3:00-4:00pm - Roman Strobl, NetBeans Technology Evangelist
Watch the webcast of Roman's Session - NetBeans: What's New and Cool and then join us inworld for an hour of Q&A to find out more about what is happening in the world of NetBeans.

4:00-5:00pm - David Botterill, NetBeans Technology Evangelist
Watch the webcast of "Building Ajax Applications" and then join David inworld for a Q&A session.

5:30-6:00pm - Join us for an interesting update as Rajesh Ramchandani, Sr Market Development Manager, Sun Microsystems and Jeff Barr, Sr Technical Evangelist join us inworld to discuss the Amazon EC2 and OpenSolaris announcement.

TUESDAY - MAY 6, 2008

11:00-12:00pm - Sun in Second Life
Fiona Gallagher, Senior Project Manager, Second Life, Sun Microsystems
Chris Hiett, Project Operations Manager, Second Life, Sun Microsystems
Jessica Orquina, Brand Programs Marketing Manager, Sun in Second Life, Sun Microsystems
Fiona Gallagher and team discuss the past year of Sun's presence in Second Life and what is planned for the near future.

1:00-2:00PM - OpenSolaris OS
Glynn Foster, OpenSolaris Product Manager, Sun Microsystems
The first official release of OpenSolaris OS, 2008.05.05, has now hit the streets. OpenSolaris OS is a first in a new series of 6 monthly releases, with brand new features like an improved installation experience, network package repository and ZFS as the default file-system. This release also includes a more intuitive environment for Linux migrants.

3:00-4:00PM - Using NetBeans in Industry
Paul Clevett, Developer, phj Solutions Ltd
What challenges are faced using Java to develop applications for real life clients? Paul Clevett talks about some of the projects he is responsible for including some of the challenges and some of the successes.

WEDNESDAY - MAY 7, 2008

11:00am-12:00pm - SDN and You: Focus Group
Heidi Dailey, Outbound Marketing Manager, Sun Microsystems
Come discuss the Sun Developer Network: what's working, what's not, and what you'd like to see in the future.

1:00-2:00pm - JavaFX
Nandini Ramadi, Director, JavaFX
The JavaFX family of products comprises a set of runtime environments, widgets, development tools, and scripting environments based on Java technology. Attend this session to learn more about what's on the horizon for JavaFX.

4:00-5:00PM - Club Java
JavaOne Party - Live Tunes, JavaOne Trivia, and Terrific Giveaways. Don't miss it!

THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2008

11:00am-12:00pm - JavaOne Observations with the Writers of java.sun.com
Dana Nourie, Writer, java.sun.com, Sun Microsystems
Laureen Hudson, Editor, java.sun.com, Sun Microsystems
Listen to the writers of java.sun.com as they recount their experiences at JavaOne 2008 including the most compelling sessions and tracks, most interesting interviews, and all the behind the scenes information only these writers can share.

1:00-2:00PM - Author Chat: Michael Czapski
Michael Czapski, Advanced Solutions Architect, Sun Microsystems, SOA/BI/Java CAPS
Join Michael as he discusses his new release: Java CAPS Basics: Implementing Common EAI Patterns. A Q&A session will follow Michael's presentation.

3:00-4:00PM - NetBeans 6.1 IDE
David Botterill and Roman Strobl, NetBeans Technology Evangelists, Sun Microsytems
This session will highlight some of the new features of the NetBeans 6.1 IDE. Some of the features covered will be Javascript enhancements, Spring support, new web service support, javadoc improvements, shareable projects, and window system improvements. The session will include live demonstrations of the new features.

Also, we will have a Java Playground in Second Life too! Come check it out!

April 29th - I woke with real trepidation about the day ahead!!  Our first employee event in Second Life - not only that we were going to stream the event to those employees who could not attend inworld.  

We had roped in Chris Melissinos our Chief Gaming Officer to host the event (that guy is incredible - not only did he do an outstanding job hosting but also acted as DJ, streaming in a few of his favourites sounds during the breaks).  Trinity 3 an incredible jazz band kicked off the day with some incredible live music - dancing at 7am in the morning is definitely good for the soul!. 

Bill MacGowan - EVP People & Places was the first on the agenda, followed by Rich Green - EVP Software, Marten Mickos - SVP Database Group, Scott McNealy - Chairman, Karie Willyerd- CLO & VP Sun Learning Services, Jonathan Schwartz - CEO & President, Don Grantham - EVP GSS, John Fowler - EVP Systems, Lin Lee - VP Global Communities, Mary Cay Kosten - VP Global Customer Services, Liz Matthews - Software Marketing, Mike Dillon - EVP General Counsel, Ingrid Van Den Hoogen - SVP Brand Marketing and finally Hal Stern - DE & VP Global Systems Engineering.

Not only did we have a formal agenda but all through the day employees inworld had the opportunity to have some fun as well, from skiing and skating at Alpine Resort, Racing cars on some of the fastest tracks in SL at Racers Island to participating in building classes, a dukes quest and an egg hunt on our own islands.  (The golden egg has not been found - its still out there hidden on one of our public islands)

We are still experimenting with virtual environments - as someone said to me we took the plunge with this event and it was a totally amazing experience!
 

Just to give you an idea of the size of the build - the complex sat on 4 islands and is reportedly the biggest building in SL

Jonathan Schwartz & Chris Melissinos.

This was not only an amazing experience it created a real buzz around the possibility of these virtual environments.  Keep your eyes open for what is happening in Second Life around JavaOne!

I will leave you with my most embarassing moment of the day.

In preparing the Employee Egg Hunt

Fiona May: "need to sort these eggs out and I will go lay them"

We are holding our second SMI Press Author Chat - April 24, 2008 - 9am SL (PT)! This time, we welcome Darryl Gove, author of Solaris Application Programming.

Solaris Application Programming is a comprehensive guide to optimizing the performance of applications running in your Solaris environment. From the fundamentals of system performance to using analysis and optimization tools to their fullest, this wide-ranging resource shows developers and software architects how to get the most from Solaris systems and applications.

The chat is hosted by Sun Developer Network (SDN) and is being held in Sun's new Andromeda Theatre at the Sun Pavilion in Second Life (SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sun%20Microsystems%201/128/81/71)

Come listen to Darryl talk about his latest book and then participate in a chat with him during the Q&A! There will even be a contest with the prize being a signed copy of Darryl's book - come participate with us and find out more.

Check out Darryl's blog for more information about his expertise and interests. 

Hope to see you there!

Christy (SL: Violet Portola)

This afternoon I signed into SL and teleported to the Employee Home to find Sun in SL mentor Deb Winters chating with Hal Stern talking about animations. He will be participating in our upcoming SL employee event!  Deb introduced me to Hal and he told me about his snowman out

Later this evening I was excited to hear that Hal blogged about his SL experience!  Here's the link to his blog posting:

Getting a (Second) Life

I look forward to seeing Hal inworld again soon!

JAButterfly Sands
(RL: Jessica Orquina)

I'm not one to miss a party, so when I heard that Sun is throwing a big one - I made sure to mark it in my calendar: Tuesday
April 29 in Second Life! (Sun employees ONLY)

It's not often I get to attend an event with Jonathan Schwartz, Don Grantham, Bill MacGowan, and so many other executives, so I'm going to make sure I look and act my best by attending a Sun Employee Second life workshop on customizing my avatar and functioning (walking, communicating). That way, I know I'll be appropriately dressed, unlike some of my colleagues who have inadvertently wound up in Second Life in the buff!

As a newbie to Second Life, I'm sure I'll encounter a few hiccups at the party, but luckily several Sun Second Life mentors will be
available to answer any questions I have. I also heard they'll be passing out welcome packets containing Sun swag, an agenda, and a map of the Sun landmarks, so I feel like I'll have lots of support should I encounter any issues.

But the most exciting aspect of this whole shin dig is that I get to mix and mingle with many old and new Sun employees from around the world. What a great way to make our Sun world feel smaller - and more connected.

Hope to see you there!

Gillian Tucker
Global Employee Communications and Communities (GECCO)

Today Sun had a launch in Second Life!

Rick Hetherington (VP, CTO Microelectronics), Masood Heydari (VP of Engineering, SPARC Volume Systems, Systems Group), and Marshall Choy (Group Manager, Systems Technical Marketing) came inworld to talk about the new T5140 and T5240 servers Sun launched today in NYC. The panel was moderated by John Zhaoying from Dr. Dobbs / CMP Metaverse. Rich, Masood, and Marshall gave an overview of the announcement and then answered questions posed by the audience.

It was exciting to see all the people participating in this event inworld and via the web! For more information on the products announced today please visit the following links:

CMT Wiki

Sun SPARC Enterprise T5140 Server

Sun SPARC Enterprise T5240 Server

Sun's Try and Buy Program

We look forward to having more Sun events in SL soon!  Stay posted for JavaOne in SL details!

Jessica Orquina (SL: JAButterfly Sands)

It sure is! The Sun in Second Life team is putting together a fun interactive quest in Second Life for Sun employees that will help them get familiar with Second Life and the Sun space. It will be fun and educational.

Our host for the quest is Sun's own Duke - he will help to guide you through the quest and interact with you during the process. Also, you can actually ask him any question - we'll be keeping track of what is being asked so that we can also build him up to help employees in Second Life (example: Duke - where do I get a Sun t-shirt? Duke - what is Sun's current vision statement?).

It will be a fun addition for Sun employees - coming soon!

 

Christy (SL: Violet Portola)

I am glad to have been able to participate in Life 2.0 last week. The virtual worlds event hosted by Dr. Dobb's / CMP in Second Life was a wonderful learning experience! This was very unique event! I had the opportunity to attend several sessions, talk to a many different people, and dance at the final party on Thursday night.

It was great to be part of this event. I was proud that Sun was a sponsor and helped make this event such a cool experience! In addition to Nicole Yankelovich's presentation on Project Wonderland (blogged about in the previous post), Sun's Chris Melissinos talked about Project Darkstar on Tuesday afternoon. Sun's booth was filled with information about Sun, our company, and our technologies.

Here are a few more of my observations / thoughts about the event:

It was great to see such a diverse group of residents attend this event. I met several people who have been in SL only a few days, and others who have been residents for a few years. Everyone was there to learn and share. It was really amazing.

People attendance were excited to be at such a cool event.

Now it is time to prepare for and look forward to upcoming events!

Jessica Orquina
(JAButterfly Sands)
 

We had some time to work on a port of Linden Labs latest viewer, code named Windlight.  It is now available as a first look release, version 1.19.1.x.  Though there are still a few minor issues on the Solaris port, the graphics are fantastic.  Here's a shot from the Solaris version of 1.19.1.1 from a private Sun island.  Notice the clouds, water, and surface textures.  They're getting more and more life like!

As soon as he's worked out the kinks Dana will be posting the patches for the Solaris version of the Windlight viewer so that others can make it available outside Sun. Watch Dana's Blog for details.

If you have a good graphics card on your system, install 1.19.1.x, pull up the Preferences, click Graphics, and either adjust the slider towards Ultra or click Custom and play with the knobs. 

 

The first SMI Press Author Talk in Second Life will take place on Monday, March 17th at 9am PT and feature Jonathan Knudsen. Jonathan is the author of the recent SMI Press book entitled Kicking Butt with MIDP and MSA: Creating Great Mobile Applications. Come listen to Jonathan talk about his latest book and then participate in a chat
with him during the Q&A session.

Sun Microsystems
Developer Playground - Cygnus Theater - 9am SL (PT)
SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sun%20Microsystems/135/36/64

Write and Win! 

Attendees of the SMI Press Author Talk with Jonathan Knudsen are invited to compete for a signed copy of his new book. Your job is simple. Tell us what you thought about this chat by blogging on the event, starting a thread about the topic on your favorite forums board, or by sending out a summary of the event via group notice to your favorite SL group. Once you've done that, send the url or notice to Fiona May in Second Life and the Sun SL team will pick 10 winners (funded by Sun Learning Services). What are you waiting for? Get talkin'!

Hope to see you at the chat on Monday!

Christy (SL: Violet Portola)

WE ARE HOSTING A LEG OF THE VIRTUAL MILE IN SECOND LIFE IN SUPPORT OF SPORT RELIEF!!!

What is Sport Relief?
Sport Relief harnesses the power and passion of sport to change lives for the better.  By doing sport, having fun and raising money! ALL the money raised is spent by Comic Relief to help vulnerable people living incredibly tough lives both in the UK and across the world's poorest countries.

Learn more about Sports Relief by watching the following videos on YouTube:

Sport Relief- Where your money goes

Leona Lewis - Footprints in the Sand

How do you get involved?
Sign up to the Second Life group "Sport Relief Fund Raisers" to make sure you are informed on all the activities that will be happening on the 15th & 16th March.

On March 14th pick up your very own official donation bucket from the official sim. The bucket will show your friends how far you have run throughout the weekend. Place your buckets at your SL home or somewhere you have permission. We will be allocating space in the Sun Microsystems sandbox for people to leave their buckets.

Running Machines - some special sponsored running machines have been made and you will be able to find them dotted over SL. Hop on one and start raising money - the more you run the more you raise!!!

On March 15th Run a virtual mile (or more!) across various sims which are hosted by both Sport Relief and partners.  On the Sun sims we are creating an obstacle course - come and check it out! The person who achieves the fastest time across our course will receive L$25,000 from Sun towards their fund raising efforts.

On March 16th  Join the Live Music Festival on the official Sport Relief sims. Remember you need to join the Sport Relief Fund Raisers group in Second Life to take part in any or all of these activities.

You can pick up an information pack from the Sun Microsystems sandbox:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sun%20Microsystems%202/87/144/25

Sport Relief is an initiative of Comic Relief (registered with the charity commission no. 326568). Comic Relief spends the money raised to help vulnerable people living incredibly tough lives both at home in the UK and across the world's poorest countries.

This morning Rich Zippel, VP of Technology in the Chief Technology Office, presented at Dr Dobbs Island.  A large audience came to list to him discuss the research his team is conducting in Sun Labs.  Rich talked about Project Caroline, cloud computing, virtualization, and how his team is finding ways to meet the varied and changing needs of IT infrastructure and users.  It was a great event and I hope everyone enjoyed the talk!  I know I learned a lot!  Here is a snapshot I took during the event:

Here is a link to Rich's blog entry about his introduction to Second Life click here:

Redshift in Second Life

Jessica Orquina (SL: JAButterfly Sands)