Never Eat Alone's Conference Commando

If you have not read "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi, it is a must read for any business person. It is definitely not your ordinary networking book. It is very entertaining and practical. It also produces real results. My favorite chapter was Conference Commando. It has really changed the way I think about conferences or any gathering of like minded people for that matter. I now take advantages of any gathering of technology folks I can. So, I was excited that I noticed that Keith is offering a free download of his 15 Conference Commando tips at http://keithferrazzi.com/.

Central Ohio Java User Group (COJUG) Podcasts

Listening to podcasts are a great way to pass the time or keep up to date especially with technology. That's why I started the COJUG Podcast. For years people have been asking me to record the monthly COJUG meetings as video or audio. Unfortunately with the challenges of equipment, costs, production time and other logistics it just is not feasible. So, instead, I have decided to interview the monthly speaker after the meeting so those who can not attend can still have an opportunity to hear some thoughts from the speaker on the topic. You can check out COJUG Podcast for more information.

The M&M car in an upcoming Disney Cars movie?

Curious what the M&M car might look like in an upcoming Disney Cars sequel? I think he would make a nice addition to the already popular cast.

"It Is You" song is a hit

BJ Allmon, a good friend, gifted musician and song writer, recently released a great Christian track entitled "It Is You". I have listened to the song nonstop since I got it. If you want to hear this great worship song, you can go to http://www.vineyardmusicusa.com/usa/ and hear a sample of "It Is You" found on the Fascinated Club Vineyard #61. The rest of the CD is good to. I especially like "Not Of Our Hands" too.

Does it make sense to write a technical book?

I have been blessed to have co-author and published two technical books, Enterprise Java Development on a Budget and Pro Eclipse JST as well as author a children’s book, Bearable Moments. So, I am often asked by others interested in writing a technical book if it is a good idea to pursue. The answer is it depends on what your goals are. If your goal is to make a lot of money, it is not likely you will unless your book is a runaway bestseller and with all the competition in the market it is tough. In addition, compare to writing articles or tutorials for some web magazines the hourly rate break down just does not make writing a book worth it. The other advantages of writing web magazine articles are they take less time to write so you are not stuck with a single topic for 6 months to a year while technology keeps progressing and you feel like you fall behind, your work is searchable via Google and web magazines typically do not charge readers so it is likely to be read by more people.

However, if your goal is a personal challenge or instant credibility than maybe the grueling late nights could be worth it. Authoring a book can open many new doors and provide access to new clients and interesting people.

Ultimately, I am glad I have had the experience and I really enjoyed working with Apress, my publisher. I wish you good luck if you are planning on writing a computer book.

Poor Bluetooth support in J2ME Wireless Toolkit

I am current developing a couple of J2ME applications that use Bluetooth. My disappointment in the current support for what the wireless toolkit refers to as simulated Bluetooth is that it only works between two J2ME application running in the toolkit (ktoolbar). It is critical for Sun and/or the community to add support for connecting to external Bluetooth devices or at least other Java SE applications to make testing easier.