Thursday, October 21, 2010

Square Snare

My dad makes and sells keychains for Square readers. He attaches a keyring to a 3.5mm jack. Make your own or order one pre-made for $5:

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Long Live Java

The JCP EC elections opened today, and I'm running.

After Doug Lea's resignation and subsequent replacement with Hologic, Inc., maintaining individual representation is more important than ever to Java's future. Individuals stand to account for only 13% of the SE/EE EC. Please vote for me and hold the ground for non-corporate interests.

Voting

If you're a JCP member, you received voting instructions in an email from pmo@jcp.org with the subject line "JCP Elections 2010: vote today." The email contains a link and a password. If you have any problems, email admin@jcp.org or call 1-866-543-8750 (US or Canada) or 1-202-207-0529 (International).

Why vote for me?

You're no doubt aware that a bargaining impasse between Apache and Sun/Oracle has virtually halted progress within the JCP over the past five years. Openness of Java SE is critical in the fight against its real competition: .NET, V8, Erlang, Flash, et al. I'll do everything I can to ensure an open future for Java, but we can't let one JSR grind the JCP to a halt. Life must go on.

Just last year, in the midst of this kerfuffle, I led the fastest-executing, most open JSR in the history of the JCP:

If you blinked, you might have missed it. JSR 330, Dependency Injection for Java, completed the shortest development cycle of any Java Specification Request on record within the Java Community Process (JCP) program, a feat that looked only theoretically imaginable on paper until Bob Lee proved it could be done. As co-Spec Lead of JSR 330, Bob wasn't focusing specifically on agility when he pushed the envelope. "While I'm glad JSR 330 executed quickly, I'm even prouder of our specification's quality. I think we raised the bar," he says.

How is it possible to achieve both speed and superiority? Doesn't something have to give? In fact, Bob gave a lot to make this happen, and other Spec Leads can learn a lot by retracing his steps. He attributes the short execution time and enhanced quality to a number of factors, including a crack team of Experts, an aggressive schedule that hacked the normal process, transparency, limited scope, and a willingness to collaborate, compromise, question assumptions, and think outside the box.

If you elect me...

I'll continue this record of innovation and pave the way for more JSRs like 330. I'll introduce an abbreviated process for Open JSRs. JSRs that meet our criteria for openness will be able to follow an easier, faster, simpler specification process. This process will motivate more open JSRs. It will free spec leads up to focus more on the technology and less on the process. It will attract more experts to the JCP and ensure a bright future for Java.

Thank you,
Bob Lee