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Alas, the final day of JavaOne has come. It's been a great week of meeting (and in some cases, re-meeting, and even meeting for a third time) people throughout the conference halls and in the sessions. And best of all, I learned a ton of great new information at each of the many sessions. Yeah, I know what you're thinking: I get paid to say that. But in this case, it's very true. And yes, I still get paid after saying that as well.
One of my favorite things about conferences are the trinket - I have a daughter that loves them. There were all sorts of trinkets available on the show floor. My favorite was a small Duke doll, primarily because I can squeeze it really hard whenever I'm under a print deadline and I'm typing as fast as I possibly can. I know that I shouldn't admit that I'm abusing our beloved red-nosed mascot like that, but let's face it, there are just some times that you have to de-stress on something. (And hopefully, I'll still get paid after saying that!)
Speaking of the pavilion, I did get a chance to walk through it at a more leisurely pace this afternoon, primarily because I was helping one of my colleagues videotape an interview and I didn't want to make her nervous. One of the more interesting things that I noticed was that there are already two books on the Google Web Toolkit (GWT), one at the Addison Wesley/Prentice Hall stand, and another marked "For JavaOne 2007 Only" at the bookstore. If you haven't looked at GWT yet, it's time to download a copy. Think of GWT as a Java-to-Javascript cross-compiler. It's a great way to get your feet wet with Ajax if you're used to programming in Java.
Also, you may have noticed that people are wearing olive green T-shirts that say "I brought a friend." (Last year's shirt was red and said, "I have a friend," which made us look more socially-challenged.) On the front of that shirt is a picture of Duke riding a Segway. And while you may be tempted to think that Duke just personified his Segway and brought that to the show floor, these shirts were actually given to people that referred a friend to the conference. So, if you didn't get a shirt either this year or last, and want one next year, let one of your friends be referred. No word on the shirt color yet; you'll have to take your chances on that one.
Did you notice the Ultracade machines on the top floor of Moscone South? I'm ashamed to say that I decompressed by playing Donkey Kong for 20 minutes yesterday. Boy did that bring back some memories... no mushroom patches or endlessly scrolling worlds. This was old school Donkey Kong, back when Mario was simply known as Jumpman. It's a great trip down memory lane if you have a few minutes to kill.
So, with that, thank you for attending the 2007 JavaOne conference this year in beautiful downtown San Francisco. And we'll be sure to see you next year in early May for JavaOne 2008!
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