I'm becoming a stats freak. First thing in the morning I'm checking the registration numbers for the summit. They look good, but not as fantastic as I would like them to be. In the past years I had learned that these curves are following a 'hockey-stick-curve'. This curve has been discussed in the so called Hockey Stick Controversy as you might know.

Anyway, if you don't have your ticket yet, you should. Just for my peace of mind!

And then – pack and get ready. Hotel room booked? Train ticket printed? Shirts ironed? Shoes polished? Running shoes packed for Chris' 5k morning run? An extra bag for all the books you'll buy from the Microsoft library café? Aspirin to battle the issues created by the Instantiation beer bash?

If you need any assistance, let me know. We won't be able to help much with the shirts and the shoes. But we might have some more ideas regarding a room.

Ralph

Please help us to promote ESE 2009.

Here are a couple of ideas:

Twitter about #ese and @EclipseSummit

Blog about it

Add a banner to your blog or web site

Or very traditional: Print our poster above and glue it to mailboxes, announcement boards, airline ticket counters, cash registers and car bumpers and the likes!

Thank you for your effort!

Ralph

Just wanted to bring your attention to these upcoming Eclipse related events:

Braunschweiger Eclipse-Stammtisch, 22. September 2009, 19:00
Bredex GmbH, Mauernstr. 33 38100

Alexandra Imrie sends me the following description: The Braunschweig Stammtisch is an opportunity to share what you're building with Eclipse, what problems you might have encountered and solutions you've discovered.  The format involves a short presentation about Eclipse topics then the group moves on to a local pub for some food and drink. If you would like to present something about Eclipse, please send a short overview to eclipsestammtisch@bredex.de and your talk will be scheduled for the next available time.  For more information and to register, email eclipsestammtisch@bredex.de - and feel free to invite your friends!

Eclipse Insurance Day, 30. September, Cologne
Information and registration available through http://eclipse-insurance.org

Ralph

Thanks to our new ESE sponsor Microsoft, we can play with a new idea at ESE.

What is it: We want to build a space like a bookstore. Or a Café. Or a mix of both. A place where the ESE participants can sit, enjoy a freshly brewed coffee and browse through books. Where does the coffee come from? That's provided by the our sponsor Microsoft, as well as the chairs and couches.

Where do the books and magazines come from? Well, that's where you come into the picture. We already go some media sponsors that are interested in filling the shelves. But we all would love to have more! Do you have an idea whom we should ask? Let me know, and we will contact them!

Ralph

We reached the next milestone on the road to Ludwigsburg. The program has been finalized, and -wow- did Hendrik and his guys do a good job!

The main conference program is starting on Wednesday with a keynote from Don Syme, Microsoft. He will talk about functional programming becoming mainstream. Pretty interesting: Do I need to change my programming paradigm once again? The we got a full 4 tracks for the day, and the day will conclude with a reception, posters and the obligatory party.

Thursday's keynote will be business-oriented: I look forward to introducing Prof. Toni Bailetti from Carlton University in Ottawa, Canada. He will inform us about his research on the Open Source Maturity Curve and Ecosystems Interactions. Be prepared to learn something new. I've known Toni for a couple of years now, and I'm always impressed by his thoughts and results! And again, 4 tracks of sessions will follow until we conclude at 5pm.

I should also mention the program before: As every year, we will start of on Tuesday with our symposias – register for them as soon as possible: There's only limited space. And we were listening to your feedback: We also added tutorials to the Tuesday program. Come and listen to the experts like Ed Merks, Jeff McAffer and Dan Rubel.

Now it's up to you: Register yourself and join us in Ludwigsburg – until the last bus leaves!

And check the news by following http://twitter.com/EclipseSummit

Ralph

Here is the link for you:

http://www.certpal.com/blogs/author/certpal/

Ralph

Summer holidays are coming to an end in some parts of Central Europe, and submission rate for Eclipse Summit is going up. Unfortunately, I don't see many proposals from the projects yet. So I guess it's time to get on the phone or send some emails out. If you don't know it yet: You can check out the submissions on the Eclipse Summit website, and you can follow http://twitter.com/EclipseSummit on Twitter.

So – if you want to do the program committee a favor, here is their wish list:

• Customer stories

• Embedded technologies

• Cool talks from the projects, with lots of demos

New sponsors are trickling in. The last one (BSI-AG) comes from Baden, Switzerland. Though we still need a couple more, the numbers are getting better. It also appears that we landed a big fish. But since the ink is still missing under the contract, we have to keep it a secret. More hopefully soon.

Ed Merks thinks that we have a dry summer. So he thought it would be a good idea to meet at a waterhole next week in Berlin. If you are interested, come join us. Why should he be the only one to get a free drink from the Foundation?

That's it - I go back to my summer nap nap nap . Despite of what Ed thinks, it seems to be too wet out there.

PS: If you don't see the links in this post, go to http://ralph-mueller.blog.de.

Ralph

Some commentators on the daily news claim that we currently have the worst summer ever here in Germany. Rain, more rain. And then one or two really hot days. I personally don't find it too bad, except for the many thunderstorms that are hitting our village.

Now what can you do on such days? Doesn't make sense to go to Italy either, because it's too hot or too rainy down there. So here is an idea: Make yourself heard. How: Just press on the link and submit a talk for Eclipse Summit Europe 2009. The last days of October are typically very nice, we call it the 'golden October'.

And you have a few days left to think about your proposal. The submission deadline is August 18th.

Ralph

Two interesting days in Berlin come to an end. Yesterday and most of today I was a guest of Empolis GmbH in the fantastic Bertelsmann building Unter den Linden.

In summary, it was like taking an advanced course in computer linguistics and information retrieval with a special focus on the applicability in research, in the intelligence community and in production environments. Oh – and how can we actually make components and products active bearers and collectors of information about themselves and the environment that they are experiencing:
In the near future the frozen pizza will talk to your cell phone and tell you: 'The good news is that I have Spanish sausage and tons of cheese on me, the bad news is that I have been exposed to temperatures that might spoil me. So it's your choice, buddy.'

Another talk was about a system where a European intelligence agency uses SMILA and Eclipse RCP to analyze and condense all the information that they are gathering through various channels. The more I heard the more I was wondering if SMILA is one more hidden gem in the Eclipse technology portfolio.

I was even more happy about my day when empolis management told me that they'll become a sponsor for Eclipse Summit Europe.

Now with my computer broken I'm sitting in the Berlin Story Salon, using their internet and drinking their coffee.

Later I will go and join the Eclipse Demo Camp here in Berlin. I was planning to do a small presentation, but it looks like it will be just a brief talk – no slides. If you can make it, come and join us at the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft.

Ralph

If there were any doubts left - they are gone now.

Eclipse is mainstream. The proof?

The IDE and its shortcomings get discussed in the very regional newspapers like in this article!

Ralph