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As was written in this space last month, Sun is hosting a series of half-day educational sessions targeting developers and technologists interested in expanding their application of Sun technologies in their day-to-day development.

Yesterday, the first such session was held at Sun’s campus in Burlington, MA with great results. A strong crowd turned out to watch the evangelist overflowing with “Java Passion,” Sang Shin, demo and detail exciting Sun technologies including, JavaFX, GlassFish, and MySQL.

Below is the remaining event schedule (click on the link to register) as well as some pics I snapped at yesterday’s session! If Sun’s Tech Days will be in your area soon, be sure to join us, you won’t regret it.

June 11 - Somerset, NJ
June 12 - Hollywood, FL
June 16 - Rochester, NY
June 17 - McLean, VA
June 18 - King of Prussia, PA
June 19 - Columbus, OH
June 23 - Chicago, IL
June 24 - Atlanta, GA
June 25 - Raleigh, NC
June 26 - Cleveland, OH

By all measures, last week’s JavaOne Conference was a huge success. JavaOne Communities across Facebook and Twitter count over 46,700 members and “JavaOne” was one of the top 10 most discussed topics on Twitter. 

The Javone Twazzup is a real time social media window that aggregates JavaOne Tweets and allows you a peek into the JavaOne TwitterSphere!

Channel Sun is chocked full out of great videos for you to catch a glimpse inside all the action at JavaOne. “The JavaOne Insider” videos feature host Chris Melissinos hitting the conference floor and offer an eyeful of some very cool Java powered technologies.  Over the course of 3 days Chris checks out JavaFX TV, Neil Young's LINCVOLT, and even gives a shout-out to the P.I.E. Theory guys!

And for your convenience, JavaOne General Session video replays are available, as are those from CommunityOne. Technical sessions from CommunityOne are also great resources for all to check out. Enjoy!

Tonight’s “After Dark” Bash is a great opportunity to sample some complimentary food and drink (two tickets per person, which can be picked up at registration) as well as have a bit of fun.  The bash has been moved to the Marriott on 4th and Mission.  The party goes from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM (doors open at 6:30). CommunityOne attendees are also invited to the "After Dark" Bash.

And we’ll even include a few pictures from the past two days at JavaOne. Poker? Rock Band?  It looks like Java Utopia is all that it’s cracked up to be and more!  It’s also good to see that those P.I.E. guys, Baron and Hector, haven’t been kidnapped with all the madness they've been up to.

At the JavaOne Conference we announced several technology updates to the Sun GlassFish(TM) Portfolio and early access of GlassFish v3 containing a full preview of the forthcoming Java(TM) Platform Enterprise Edition 6 (Java EE 6) specification.

Catch a live preview by going into one of Sun Booths for a live demo.

Or for questions, comments or conversations about GlassFish or Java EE6 find the Fedoras. They can help!

As you all know by now Sun GlassFish(TM) Portfolio is the most complete, open source, high-performance Web application platform. It is comprised of leading open source technologies including: OpenESB, OpenMQ, Liferay Portal, GlassFish Web Stack, as well as GlassFish(TM) – the industry's most downloaded application server.

Briefly enhancements to the GlassFish Portfolio include:

Sun GlassFish Web Stack has been updated with new versions of leading open source projects, and now provides a new, comprehensive UI-based management tool to simplify single and multiple instance deployments. Essentially, enterprises implementing dynamic languages have access to the latest technology versions in a fully supported, cross platform offering.

Sun GlassFish Web Space Server has been enhanced to support the Secure Web Access. With this feature you can create VPN links to content without any client installation. That means –reduced costs and simplified and secured portal and other Web application access.

Sun GlassFish Portfolio now provides a full preview of the Java EE 6 specification (JSR 316) in the early access of GlassFish v3. You can now customize Java EE choosing from the full stack or lightweight containers for specialized, manageable options.

For technical sessions visit here.

But wait, there’s more!

Meet the GlassFish team for demos, discussions and drinks. For food and fun.
This evening (June 03) between 5-7pm go into to Gallery I Ballroom at the St Regis Hotel on 125 3^rd Street, San Francisco, California. (See map)

P.I.E. is an acronym for Paranormal Investigations Experts and represents a network founded by Baron Rude and Hector Macchiato to research both the paranormal and the unexplained.

With that, Baron and Hector offer JUMP theory, which states that every great technological, scientific, or agricultural advancement throughout history has been preceded by unexplained phenomenon. With research grounding their theory about these strange visitations, Baron and Hector think recent sightings suggest that another event is about to occur, signaling a change in mankind’s direction. The P.I.E. Wiki offers more.

Certainly, strange things are afoot, as video on the P.I.E. Network You Tube channel proves.  The oddness on the P.I.E. guy’s Flickr photostream also lends support to the idea that perhaps Baron and Hector are onto something.  P.I.E. Theory is big . . . no matter where you are, there’s info. . .like Facebook and MySpace.

But, we’ll let you in on a secret, P.I.E. Theory is an "alternate reality" online game built completely with JavaFX RIA technology. How cool is that? You can play - just go to the site, download your "paranormal tools"  (JavaFX SDK, and Netbeans IDE!) and lend a hand to all the amateur paranormal thrill seekers who have already taken the P.I.E. challenge.  Just don’t blame us if otherworldly things start happening.  We warned you.  Right?

Following on from the recent series of Java events hosted by James Gosling, we are holding a developer workshop with John Pampuch, Director, Software Engineering in the Java Platform Group at Sun.

John leads the engineering teams responsible for the Java Virtual Machine in Java SE. This includes just-in-time compilers, garbage collectors, and run-time components. He also manages Sun's real-time and embedded Java SE development.

The workshop will cover

• Java 6, JDK7 roadmap
• Java SE for Business
• Java Real-Time System
• JavaFX

There is more information and how to register for the Java for Business Developer's Workshop here. In addition you can see the presentations by James Gosling and others at the earlier developer event or view a short introduction to JavaFX. 

As you already know by now, the MySQL User Conference is less than one week away!  Hope you are registered and ready to go. While you are there, be sure to visit Sun's booths (208 and 408) and our Partner Services booth:   Booth 115.

We can give you information about Sun's partner program and offerings including GlassFish Product Portfolio and all the benefits that come along with program membership. Sun GlassFish Product Portfolio is a complete open source stack for web application platforms. With flexible, subscription based pricing, the GlassFish Product Portfolio works across platforms and is agile enough to allow IT departments to use key technology, like MySQL.

And, just for you,  we have an expert lined up to answer your questions in our booth.   Jennifer Glore is an ISV engineer for Sun (don't miss her blog: http://blogs.sun.com/JenniferGlore/) who has a lot of experience working with integrating ISV applications - like yours - with GlassFish and MySQL.   She can address your technical questions, talk with you about your environment, and help you understand how to get certified with both GlassFish and MySQL Enterprise.

We'll be at the booth during the entire event...Jennifer will be at the booth on both Tuesday and Wednesday between 11:45am -12:30pm, and again in the afternoon between 2-3pm.

For more details on the MySQL Conference & Expo visit here.

We here at Web and more thought it would be helpful to point out Sun Radio on BlogTalkRadio.  TechCrunch recently highlighted the increasing number of enterprises that are enabling their employees to create, syndicate and publish their own shows and podcasts.  Sun Microsystems Radio features news, views, and perspectives from Sun leaders and technology influencers.  It is our hope that this content will be a useful and engaging way for ISVs and Sun partners alike to interact and grow with Sun.

Some examples of current programming available include a Sun News feed, Socially Speaking which focuses on social media with host Sumaya Kazi, Senior Social Media Manager at Sun, Shift Radio which features talk about video games, gadgets and technology, and NewGen Tech, a show that tackles technology and pop culture.  Check out direct links to specific shows as well as explore different Sun feeds available here. 

In a guest post written for OStatic, Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz focuses on the future of open source.  Jonathan touches on the global economic situation and how the market is open for those willing to listen to new ideas.  He also offers that in his day-to-day he’s seeing open source gain momentum among the Fortune 500 and others, undoubtedly creating vast opportunities for companies like Sun who’ve pioneered the market.

Jonathan goes on to remark, “free distribution and access to source code is our investment in the global developer community. Together, the community of developers builds on our ideas, improves and expands their potential and grows the ecosystem. Open drives innovation, innovation drives preference, preference drives adoption.”

Jonathan also highlights last week’s announcement about Sun’s Cloud being build atop open source platforms like ZFS, MySQL and Glassfish.  In addition, the API's and file formats for Sun's Cloud will all be open under a Creative Commons License.  Check out the complete post for more.

With JavaFX you can build RIA applications that provide a rich immersive application experience which can be deployed across a range of different screens, all while building on the core Java skills many developers already have.

So why don't you show us, and the world, what you can do by submitting a JavaFX application designed by you to our JavaFX Coding Challenge and give yourself the chance to win up to $25,000.

Collaborative coding in the cloud with Project Kenai is the topic of a useful blog entry by Robin Goldfarb Wilensky.

For any Web 2.0 company or one looking to grow an online community, collaboration is key as it promotes completion of tasks faster, cheaper, and more efficiently.  Project Kenai allows you to take advantage of shared resources and embraces the concept of developers working together across the Internet.

Project Kenai is a platform and ecosystem where developers can:

o    Freely host up to 5 open source projects and code
o    Connect, collaborate, communicate and code with peers
o    Eventually deploy applications and services to clouds easily

Project Kenai has additional built-in features developer’s need like code repositories, issue tracking, administrative roles, and document hosting.

As a reminder, don’t forget about tomorrow’s (March 18th, 2009) free webinar being hosted by the Sun software group. The primary focus of tomorrow’s session is everyday provisioning with Sun Identity Manager. The webcast starts at 10am PST / 1PM EST (registration is required) and will address regulatory and compliance challenges facing enterprises as they evolve.  Come learn how the appropriate provisioning solution can help organizations solve these everyday challenges in a timely and cost-effective way.

Be sure to register and listen as Craig McDonald, Senior Product Manager, discusses the capabilities and roadmap for Sun Identity Manager. Also, check out the other available webcasts, which you can replay at your convenience.

Sun’s Onsite Datacenter Assessment can!

Details of the Assessment can be found here – what’s more it’s free!! Register here to receive a made to order report of your environment and find out the many ways Sun can help you, while helping you reduce costs!

Did I mention that it won’t cost you anything?

As discussed in an InformationWeek article, open source deployments are on the rise according to an informal survey of 50 developers at a recent software development conference.  

44% of those surveyed said they were using more open source software than they were a year ago. Unfortunately, with this good news comes issues as management policies for open source software often lag development goals.  Too frequently, developers are unaware of the licensing conditions attached to the code they are using.

You can feel secure in knowing that Sun, as the world’s largest open source contributor, embraces proactive management policies around open source. Contributor agreements, commit procedures, and coding conventions are key pieces to Sun’s management policies.  Happy development!

Web and more is pleased to pass along word about a meeting of the New England Open Solaris User Group (NEOSUG).  The meeting will take place on March 11, 2009 from 6:00PM to 9:00 PM at the Sun Microsystems Campus in Burlington, Massachusetts.  Come one, come all, as this event is open to partners as well as existing and potential customers.

The meeting will take you on a tour of the features that were included in OpenSolaris 2008.11, as well as highlight some of the work already available in developmental builds for the upcoming 2009.06 release.  Registration is required, so be sure to RSVP to Linda Wendlandt at lwendlandt@arrow.com.