Then check out the upcoming OSUM webinar called NetBeans 6.7 – the only IDE you need! This webinar will cover all the NetBeans basics and will also give you the chance to see the IDE in action with some NetBeans demonstrations.

This webinar is scheduled for Thursday, October 8 at 10 a.m. Mountain time. You can use the World Clock Meeting Planner to figure out when this will be in your own time zone.

David Botterill, the Global Technology Manager for Sun’s Campus Ambassador Program will be hosting the webinar. David has worked at Sun for more than 9 years as a software engineer with the Sun Tools team, and as a NetBeans Evangelist.

The webinar – which will be conducted in English – will use the Elluminate Live! Platform which will allow participants to listen to the live audio and ask questions via chat and text! So, to get the most out of the webinar, do your best to attend the live event. But don’t worry if you can’t make it, all OSUM webinars are recorded and filed for replay.

Here are some links to additional resources to get you started with NetBeans!

• Learn Java, NetBeans, OpenSolaris & More!

• NetBeans 6.7 Video

• Activity – Technical Talk – Intro to NetBeans 6.7

If you plan on attending the webinar go to this OSUM page to RSVP. Hope to see you online!

Thanks to the hard-working OSUM folks, Sun’s network connected more than 25,000 students for local SFD events in 30 countries!  The SFD events have been designed to highlight the importance and benefits of open source technologies.  At each event, students will have the opportunity to hear from open source experts from local universities, and participate in installation demonstrations, all while networking with other students, professors, and developers who are passionate about free and open source technologies. 

If you haven’t found an event, check this map to find out whether or not there is SFD party being held in your area! Also, check out the OSUM Software Freedom Day 2009 group or SoftwareFreedomDay.org for more information.

And OSUM leaders, don’t be shy about sharing your success stories after the event!  I am most looking forward to seeing pictures of the hundreds of install fests that take place during SFD. 

Happy Software Freedom Day!

For those who haven’t heard of it before, the SAI offers non-profit educational institutions and students around the world access to free Web-based professional-grade online courses in addition to discounted certifications for the latest Java and Solaris technologies.

SAI program members receive free access to Sun’s extensive portfolio of Web-based courses and ePractice Certification Exams through the SAI Learning Connection as well as an 85% discount off the commercial price on certain Sun Certification Exams!

So, what is so great about that? According to a Certification Magazine Salary survey, Sun Certification can increase your earning power and give you a distinct competitive edge. The survey showed that:

• Sun Certified Programmers earn on average 8.3% more than the average programmer.

• Sun Certified Developers earn on average 14.3% more than the average developer.

• Sun Certified System Administrators earn on average 31% more than system administrators certified on other operating systems.

So check out the new SAI Web site for yourself and get certified!

Along similar lines, today I came across an article that talks about what HR professionals look for in a Programmer’s resume, so I thought I would link to it here. As many of you know, making a good resume takes quite a bit of time and effort along with countless revisions. It is really a never-ending process! But, it is important because it is often what can get you into the actual interview to potentially land a job.

So, give this article a read and really take the time to measure and quantify all of your achievements at your internship, your job, or with any volunteer work you may do. It will also serve you well to capture important events as they happen – don’t wait or you may totally forget about them altogether!

Also check out another related article called “How to Make HR Dump A Programmer’s Resume,” for more great information.

Here are a few reports of successful, recent OSUM-lead on-campus events:

Prakhar Bansal, an OSUM Leader at IMS Engineering College, Ghaziabad, India recently blogged about a PHP workshop he organized for 31 students at his college.  Prakhar coordinated for two lecturers to both introduce the students to PHP, briefing them on basic terminology before teaching them how to create a Web page.  Prakhar noted that in addition to learning the basic commands of PHP including declaring variables, loops, and control statements, the students learned about the many benefits to be had by joining OSUM.

Pradeep Panigrahi, a student at the National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, India blogged about the OSUM Introductory meeting he conducted at NIT at the end of August for freshman and second-year students.  Pradeep reported that the event was a success, with more students in attendance than expected.  Among the topics on the agenda were the benefits of FOSS, the OSUM community, and the NIT JSR OSUM group and their plans for upcoming technical seminars.  He noted that his next event is Software Freedom Day (September 19) so any students in the NIT area should make sure to sign up and attend!

Finally, Kevin Li, a Sun Campus Ambassador and OSUM Leader at the South China University of Technology blogged about an incredibly successful OSUM Freshmen Welcome event held on September 6.  Kevin reported that 300 freshmen came to the event, and more than 150 joined the SCUT OSUM group at the event– amazing! The freshmen were able to watch demonstrations by OSUM SCUT member Feng Zihao, who showed his JavaFX and SunSPOT demo. Kevin also arranged for other OSUM members to talk about a future in IT and introduced the group to OSUM as well as the Sun SAI program.

I am glad to see that several OSUM groups are already holding events, and am sure even more are ramping up for Software Freedom Day on September 19.  Keep up the hard work!

The JavaFX team has stated that the primary objective of the curriculum is to enable developers of rich internet applications to use JavaFX technologies. The team is looking for your feedback and input on the types of topics and tasks to include in the training.

This is your chance to help drive the direction of JavaFX. The survey closes on September 16, so make sure you go here to have your say!

Project Wonderland is a open-source Java toolkit designed to create collaborative virtual worlds. Users within the worlds can communicate with high-fidelity, immersive audio, share live desktop applications and documents which allows them to conduct real business!

Kevin last reported on the OSUM SCUT 3D work in March, when the group had built a virtual classroom building that included conference rooms and learning centers – it was very impressive! However, Kevin reported that because the precision of the 3D models were so high, the client performance was not up to par.

In revisiting the building design, OSUM SCUT focused on controlling the number of polygons and the precision of the 3D models, to ensure, as Kevin noted, “a common modern computer can run it well.” In this blog Kevin posted pictures of a virtual museum that shows both the history and large overviews of the SCUT campus. Kevin noted that when referencing the real museum on the SCUT campus, “the virtual one looks pretty (much) like the real one.”

Click here to check out some screenshots of the virtual SCUT campus created by members of OSUM SCUT. Congratulations to all the OSUM SCUT members on their fantastic efforts; I can’t wait to see the next update! I am glad you are making good use of the open-source Project Wonderland toolkit, I am curious to see whether any other OSUM groups are giving it a try as well?

When asked about the new JavaFX 1.2 release, Tomás said it “can be considered a big step forward on the platform.” Among the changes he found most helpful “are those related to the construction of graphical interfaces, including the new layouts, new components, and components for building graphs.” When asked what feature he would add to JavaFX right now Tomás said: “More visual elements…effects, components, 3D components, components ready to use in mobile devices.”

When asked what he liked the most about JavaFX Tomás said “I like the easy learning and the ability to reuse existing Java Code.” According to Tomás, the reuse of Java code “without additional difficulties,” is one of the biggest difference between JavaFX and other RIA development programs. In addition, Tomás stated: “Its syntax is simple, and the language offers great features. It facilitates integrations with various frameworks and other dynamic languages.”

Looking to the future, Tomás believes the JavaFX Authoring Tool “will be determinant to the success of JavaFX.” He said with the tool enabling the quick and easy building of interfaces while simplifying the use of platform functionalities, “I have no doubt that JavaFX will be a strong competitor among other RIAs.”

To read more of Tomás’s interview in English, click here. To read it in Brazilian Portuguese, click here.

Saturday, September 19 is THE day this year for celebrating Free and Open Source Software as well as inspiring further adoption of FOSS around the world.

Eze Singer has set up a group in OSUM to consolidate information about all the great events that Sun’s Campus Ambassadors and OSUM leaders will be doing to celebrate Software Freedom Day! Check out this map to find an event near you (although I’m not sure the one in the middle of the ocean north of Antarctica will be a hot spot). If you find an event near you that’s great – just contact the organization and/or event leader to score an invite for your OSUM Club.

However, if you can’t find one there is still time to organize your own Software Freedom Day Event! To begin with, join the OSUM Software Freedom Day group! There you will find complete instructions on how to register your event and order the special events kit. Don’t delay though – all kits MUST be ordered by August 31! That is next Monday so make sure you check out the OSUM site as well as the official Software Freedom Day Web site right away to get ready for September 19!

We are looking for students to send pointers to blogs they have written about ANY Sun technology. It can be a blog giving tips for using OpenSolaris or a how-to install article on VirtualBox. It can be a review of OpenOffice or JavaFX. Just make sure it is a blog YOU wrote — no "borrowing" work from others — about a Sun technology. The blogs you send in will have a chance to be featured HERE on this main Sun Web site in the student portal.

Additionally, many of you may have seen the new Q&A + Podcast that has been running here in Student Views and Reviews. With your blog contribution you will qualify for participation in that program, which will be featured on both Student Views and Reviews AND the top of this Sun Web site!

So, if you’ve written a blog in the past — great, send in; if you haven’t, then get busy! So, how do you submit your work? You can either post it to the comments below, leave a message on my OSUM page, or e-mail it to me at maijaliisa.burkert(at)sun.com. I am looking forward to reading your blogs and making the Student Reviews page on Sun.com really top notch with your content!