Ballpoint pen awarded the Java Developer's Journal editors' choice

Ever since I went to JavaOne with a media pass I’ve been on some interesting mailing lists. Most of these involve press releases from various companies or their PR agencies. Today I got one that went like this:

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — September 11, 2006 — Sun Microsystems, Inc.(Nasdaq: SUNW), the creator and leading advocate of Java (TM) technology, today announced two leading Java technology products - Sun Java Web Start technology and NetBeans (TM) Integrated Development Environment (IDE) 5.0 - as recipients of the Java Developer’s Journal Editor’s Choice Awards. Additionally, Java Developer’s Journal recognized SwingLabs, a Sun-sponsored umbrella project for various open source initiatives that is part of the java.net community…

It went on like that for a couple pages as these things usually do and contained the requisite quotes from executive directors and VPs. It sounded important, but since this was the first I’d heard of the awards and the note didn’t include a URL, I decided to do a little investigating.

At first I thought they were talking about JDJ’s Readers’ Choice Awards, but those aren’t out yet. The Editors’ Choice Awards is simply a list made by three JDJ editors of nine products they felt had made a major impact on their own development and on the Java community as a whole over the past 12 months. Interestingly, two of the three products mentioned in the press release were on Joe Winchester’s list (Joe is an IBM employee and Eclipse committer). Other "winners" included IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse RCP, and Adobe Flex 2. However the very best entry was from Jason Bell, contributing editor:

A4 Journal and a Ballpoint Pen

For me everything starts on paper, whether it be sketch drawings and UML diagrams. I’ve never mentioned it over the years but I’d be really lost without it. I’ve had the delight of looking back through my journals of the past five years and seeing how I’ve developed and how my ideas have developed with it.

Personally, I like the Fisher Space Pen, in the silver bullet shape (shown above). Fits right on my Blackberry belt clip. My friend Bob Janka makes some nice wood-turned pens too, with all sorts of interesting whorls and earthy smells.

Meanwhile, I’m still waiting on the press release from the pen and paper industry about their award. I’m sure they’re writing one up now. On paper, of course.