The NYJAVASIG website reports that tonites meeting with notable Java Performance Tuning Expert, Kirk Pepperdine, has been filled to capacity. The meeting will occur at Sun Midtown Office - 101 Park Ave 4th Floor. Kirk will be discussing Java Performance Tuning with topics covering tooling, methodology, architecture, best practices, benchmarking, and memory management, all relating to real-world scenarios and problems. Frank Greco, another Java Champion, is the NYJAVASIG's founder and current JUG Leader. Kirk is in New York City for a Performance Tuning Workshop through the Sun Learning Services Group. We hope to have more info -- Post Meeting

Stephen Chin (widgetFX.org) announces that there is a community forum for developers in the San Francisco Bay Area to learn, discuss, and extend the JavaFX platform. We meet monthly in person with presentations on JavaFX tutorials, topics, and bleeding edge news. Our meetings are always free to attend or watch online

The Java Users Group of the Federal District of Brazil in Brasilia – DFJUG (www.dfjug.org) was established in 1998 out of a need for qualified Java professionals. Today, with 46,983 members, DFJUG is considered one of the largest Java User groups in the world. It is DFJUG's educational focus which is the main driver that keeps this community together and growing --- Why?

Daniel deOliveira (currently working at the Brazilian Ministry of Planning) explains, that in Brazil, there is a shortage of IT professionals. There are currently 40,000 java-related jobs that are open and unfilled in Brazil. Furthermore, Brazil's formal educational sector (universities, colleges, technical and IT schools) has not been able to meet the demand. So, DFJUG began searching for answer(s) and asking questions like: Where does one find individuals that fit the IT developer profile? Where to find these “geniuses” that, without any formal or academical training, are capable of disassembling and reassembling a cell phone or even program these devices?

Recently, Sun's Scott McNeally was interviewed by businessweek.com “Next: An Internet Revolution in Higher Education”. There is a connection between this article and what groups like DFJUG have been doing with student developers. (i.e ...Web technology being used to shake-up education, the way it rocked newspapers and the music industry...). What was not mentioned in the article was Sun's contribution in founding/funding the Java Education and Development Initiative (JEDI) which is an open-source education curriculum at the University of the Philippines.

JEDI seemed like DFJUG's answer. So naturally, good community leaders tend to gravitate to each other, and the JEDI professors met Daniel as Java Champions at JavaOne in 2006, one thing led to another and JEDI-Brasil was created. Today, the program has (9) open source course modules focused on Java programming which is now serving over 39,000 students online. The initial training provides a foundation for future Java training and potential certification.

To see more about JEDI-Brasil check out DFJUG's online website, which serves as a online training platform for free video-based training modules (in Portuguese). Sun has donated a SunFire T2000 server in 2009 to help the JEDI-Brasil effort. Daniel can be reached via the website and will be coming to the U.S. in late 2009 to work on his doctoral thesis.

[There was this] "...huge tension between those who advocated for the adoption of free software by Brazil and those who thought we should do the sameness of always, buying, paying for others inteligence[sic] and, thank God, prevailed in our country the issue and the decision of free software. We had to choose: or we were going to the kitchen to prepare this dish the way we wanted to eat, with the seasoning that we wanted, to give a Brazilian taste to our food, or we would eat what Microsoft wanted us to eat. Prevailed, simply, the idea of freedom...." -- President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva of Brasil at FISL 10 2009 --- (english transcript of Lula's speech here)

Java User Groups (JUGs) can join the JCP for free!
Act NOW and you will get the benefits of JCP membership and MORE!
* Special Education discount for Java training classes with Sun Learning Services
* Speaking opportunities support: are you planning an event for your JUG members and need a speaker? Would you like to speak and represent the JUG Community at an JCP event in your area?
* Meeting support: is your next JUG meeting in need of logistical support?
* Special JUG gathering/JCP event at JavaOne
* Promotional support: would you like to promote your next month's session in the JCP Program Member Newsletter
Contact the JCP PMO at pmo-at-jcp.org for more details on these special benefits for JUGs or go to the links above