JFall

Today I visited JFall, a one day java conference organized annually by the Dutch Java Users Group. The conference was a good chance to catch up on the latest technologies (with a bias towards Adobe products, as they were the main sponsor of the event this year), and also meet up with some old colleagues of mine.

In the end I attended sessions on:

• Webservices security (a necessary evil)
• Adobe AIR (bringing flashy internet sites to the desktop, for example eBay Desktop)
• New features in Java 6 & 7
• JavaFX (a new scripting language for Java user interfaces)
• Concurrency

The conference was for the most part well organized, with the exception of the bus service which was provided from the train station to the conference venue - 2 7-seaters which were hopelessly under capacity to carry everyone. Since there were no signs indicating where the buses could be found, it was a good thing that an all male group of computer programmers is hard to miss.

All in all, though, an enjoyable day which was both educational and social, and gave me a good opportunity to practice my Dutch. I'm looking forward to their next conference, held in April.... JSpring!

With 26 days to go...

... it's time to start the countdown to Namibia in earnest. Today I visited the outdoor centre again to take advantage of the fact that they have an in-house travel doctor, who is available on the first sunday of the month, as well as during the week. 3 jabs later I have a rather sore arm! Still need to buy a few items, namely the mosquito net and water purification tablets, but with my itinerary organized and a drawer full of supplies, I'm beginning to feel a little more prepared.