See the new features for yourself at the demoground in the Hilton Ballroom. Oracle experts will present demos of the latest features on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9:30am to 5:00pm. 

If you haven't registered for JavaOne yet and need a nudge, here's a chance to hear from some of the great speakers coming to the premier Java conference. Content Chair Stephen Chin is interviewing speakers to discuss what they will be presenting.

First up, Gerrit Grunwald (@hansolo_) on his eight (8!) JavaOne sessions. This interview includes a sneak peak of a slick new #JavaFX UI he is building for monitoring device sensors, and answered some questions from the live participants about the upcoming Java 8 Embedded release.

Follow @SteveOnJava to learn about upcoming interviews. All videos will be posted on the YouTube Java Channel, playlist JavaOne 13. 

JavaOne is the premier Java technical conference, with a focus on technical content. One previous attentee told us: "All sessions I attended were excellent.  Good technical content, absolutely no product pitches." Register today for JavaOne and save $200 off the onsite price.

Duke is the official mascot of Java technology. Each year, Oracle releases a new Duke personality. This year we offer "Scientist Duke." Much like a genius developer would with Java technologies, Scientist Duke is engaged in developing, mixing, testing the latest ingredients to create the greatest formula/product/innovation ever. 

Last year, Adventure Duke was off on a mission of adventure and discovery to find the latest Java wonders around the world.  2011 unveiled Future Tech Duke, moving Java forward into new technology and platform arenas. In 2010 it was Surfing Duke, who tagged along for the ride at the Java Road Trip: Code to Coast. In 2006, Duke was officially "open sourced” under a BSD license. Developers and designers were encouraged to play around with Duke and for the first time had access to Duke’s graphical specifications through a java.net project at http://duke.kenai.com. 

You'll be able to have your picture taken with a living, life-size Duke at the JavaOne developer conference in San Francisco. Also, I heard that Duke can't wait for JavaOne and may be visiting some coffee shops in the Bay Area in the next few weeks!

If you don't know the history, back in the early days of Java development, the Green Project team created its first working demo—an interactive handheld home entertainment controller called the Star7. At the heart of the animated touch-screen user interface was a cartoon character named Duke (think clippy but better!). You can learn more at java.net.

The Nanjing Java User Group will hold their first event on Aug 24! As one of global celebration events for Java EE 7 launch, this event will focus on Java EE and related JSRs. Learn more on weibo.

The July/August issue of Java Magazine is all about performance. A prime example: Twitter. Learn how Twitter migrated to the JVM and now supports (at last count) 400 million tweets a day. How Oracle Team USA relies on a wireless Java system for real-time data to improve performance on the racecourse. How MapReduce allows Java developers to write programs to process, transform, and derive insights from petabyte size datasets. 

Also in this issue:

• JavaOne Preview - Get ready for JavaOne! The conference returns to San Francisco, September 22–26.
• Understanding the Java Hotspot VM Code Cache 
• Q&A: Java Performance Tuning - A talk with Kirk Pepperdine.
• Java 8: Lambdas - Get to know lambda expressions with Ted Neward.
• NetBeans IDE - Learn how to use NetBeans IDE to take advantage of Java EE 7.

Java Magazine is a FREE, bi-monthly, online publication. It includes technical articles on the Java language and platform; Java innovations and innovators; JUG and JCP news; Java events; links to online Java communities; and videos and multimedia demos. Subscriptions are free, registration required.

Do you have feedback about Java Magazine? Send a tweet to @oraclejavamag.

A new article, now up on otn/java, by Deepak Vohra, titled “Trying Out Lambda Expressions in the Eclipse IDE,” demonstrates how to take advantage of lambda expressions in Java SE 8 using the Eclipse IDE and virtual extension methods.

Vohra begins with the basics:
“Lambda expressions, also called closures, are a short-form replacement for anonymous classes. Lambda expressions simplify the use of interfaces that declare a single abstract method, which are also called functional interfaces. In Java SE 7, a single method interface can be implemented with one of the following options.
* Create a class that implements the interface.
* Create an anonymous class.”

Vohra explains that while lambda expressions can be used to implement a functional interface without creating a class or an anonymous class, they can be used only with interfaces that declare a single method.

Benefits of lambda expressions include:
* Concise syntax
* Method references and constructor references
* Reduced runtime overhead compared to anonymous classes

Vohra gets under the hood to explain the basics of lambda syntax, along with the nature of functional interfaces and target types, offering copious examples. All in all, the article offers a first-rate primer on how to make use of lambda expressions and virtual extension methods using the Eclipse IDE.

Check out the story here.

You've heard that Java EE 7 makes it easier to code, to create scalable, dynamic HTML 5 web apps, and much more. What does that mean, really? Here's how you can dig into details:  

1) Download the Java EE 7 SDK.

2) Watch these 15 - 20 minute technical overviews of the new JSRs. They are available on the Java EE 7 Launch Technical Breakouts playlist.

We hope this makes you feel ready to take advantage of all power that Java EE 7 provides.

The 2013 Duke's Choice Award poll is live now at java.net (on the right-hand column). All members of the Java community (that's you!) are encouraged to cast your vote today for the second annual Community Choice award category.  All winners will be announced at JavaOne, via press release and in Java Magazine's September/October issue.

Vote now as the poll will close Monday August 12th. 

What is the developer community like in China? I put this question to several members of the Java developer community while at JavaOne Shanghai. "Big!" "Passionate!" "They asked good technical questions." "Eager to learn." Find out what JUG leaders and Oracle had to say on this topic. You can view the entire JavaOne Shanghai playlist and lots of other videos on the Java YouTube channel. 

Anissa Lam, member of the Java EE team, describes her activities at JavaOne Shanghai and her thoughts about the Java developer community in China.

Jim Jiang speak to Kang Sze Lin, leader of TaiWan JUG, Leo Yu (余知权) @余知权Leo, leader of Shanghai JUG, and JianHao Mo (莫建豪) @坤谷, leader of GreenTea JUG. (In Chinese.)

View entire JavaOne Shanghai Playlist. For resources in China, visit 

• oracle.com/technetwork/cn
• eweibo.com/javacommunity
• The Java Channel on YouKu 甲骨文视界 

Do you want to have your video listed on the YouTube Java Channel? Visit bit.ly/YouOnJavaChannels for details.