Practical Technology

for practical people.

October 11, 2010
by sjvn01
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Is Windows Phone 7 really a threat to Android or the iPhone?

Maybe it’s a slow news day. Maybe people want to find nice things to say about Microsoft’s rather dismal recent history. But, for some reason or the other, people actually seem to be excited about Microsoft’s launch of Windows Phone 7. Yawn.

How many times do we have to go through this? Whether Microsoft calls it Windows CE, Pocket PC, or Windows Mobile, Microsoft has never done that well in the mobile device or smartphone space. The company’s market-share has been declining for years. Specifically, Windows Phone’s slice of the market pie has been shrinking fast even before Android started grabbing so much of the smartphone business.

In a way, it’s a shame. From what I can see of Windows Phone 7 in action, it doesn’t look bad. But, it’s too little, too late.

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October 11, 2010
by sjvn01
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Oracle and IBM join together on OpenJDK

Oracle and IBM announced on Oct. 11 that the companies will collaborate on the OpenJDK reference implementation. OpenJDK is an open-source implementation (most of it under the GPLv2) of Java Standard Edition (SE) 6.

In a press conference, IBM and Oracle officials said that the collaboration will center on the OpenJDK project and its related Java Development Kit (JDK) and the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). At the same time though, the Java Community Process (JCP) will continue to be the primary standards body for Java specification work and both companies will work to continue to enhance the JCP.

OpenJDK was founded by Sun in 2006. In many ways, OpenJDK was Sun keeping its promise to open-source Java. In the meantime, other projects, such as Apache’s Harmony sought to create its own open-source version of Java SE 6. IBM, and many other companies and open-source groups had also supported Harmony.

That’s not to say that OpenJDK didn’t also have its supporters. Red Hat and Canonical were early OpenJDK supporters. So why is IBM now supporting OpenJDK?

"IBM, Oracle and other members of the Java community working collaboratively in OpenJDK will accelerate the innovation in the Java platform," said Rod Smith, IBM’s VP of emerging technologies. "Oracle and IBM’s collaboration also signals to enterprise customers that they can continue to rely on the Java community to deliver more open, flexible and innovative new technologies to help grow their business."

What that means for Harmony, according to Smith, is that while "IBM will continue to support Harmony, but our main interest will be in OpenJDK."

In a blog posting, IBM’s VP of Linux and open source, Bob Suitor, further explained, "We think this is the pragmatic choice. It became clear to us that first Sun and then Oracle were never planning to make the important test and certification tests for Java, the Java SE TCK [Technology Compatibility Kit], available to Apache. We disagreed with this choice, but it was not ours to make. So rather than continue to drive Harmony as an unofficial and uncertified Java effort, we decided to shift direction and put our efforts into OpenJDK. Our involvement will not be casual as we plan to hold leadership positions and, with the other members of the community, fully expect to have a strong say in how the project is managed and in which technical direction it goes."

IBM hadn’t done this earlier because, Smith said, "In the past, while Sun expressed interest in having IBM join, IBM didn’t see a real dialogue. Under Oracle, doors have opened and we’re pleased to work together now on OpenJDK."

In addition, Smith said, "We want to focus our efforts and double down our work to increase innovation in Java. It may sound boring, but also by working on OpenJDK, we’ll be able to commit bug fixes directly and advance improvements in Java more quickly."

At least one major Java player is looking forward to IBM and Oracle joining forces in OpenJDK. Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation, said, "Today’s announcement is clearly good news for Java, and by extension the Eclipse community. It will strengthen the platform, increase the pace of innovation and solidify the value of the Java ecosystem."

As for Harmony, it appears the Apache Software Foundation may be willing to close its doors. In a blog posting by Tim Ellison, one of Harmony’s senior members, Ellison wrote, "So what’s best for the Java ecosystem? I believe that compatibility is vital, and rather than risk divergence the right thing is to bring the key platform development groups together on a common codebase. Lessons learned on Project Harmony will be of value to OpenJDK, and I know there is immense mutual respect between the IBM and Oracle engineers."

October 8, 2010
by sjvn01
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Xmarks Lives!

When the news broke that Xmarks, my favorite Web browser bookmark service and utility, was going under, I was really ticked off. It turned out I wasn’t the only one. So the company asked people would they be willing to pledge that if they made Xmarks into a pay service that they’d sign up for it .

The people, about thirty-thousand, have spoken, and it looks like that’s convinced another company to buy Xmarks and keep the service going. Hurray!

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October 8, 2010
by sjvn01
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Google TV, Apple TV, & Roku’s Biggest Enemy: A lack of Internet Bandwidth

I’m sure the future of TV is on the Internet. It used to be that you needed to be an audio/visual pro to set up an Internet/TV connection . Now, Google TV, mark two of the Apple TV, and the Roku XDS make it easy for anyone to do it. Better still, on many new HDTVs and high-end DVD players, like my own Sony BDP-S570 Blu-Ray Disc Player, come with Internet video built-in.

So, which is the best? That’s a question for another day. My concern today is that for any of these to work they need a serious Internet broadband connection. You may have one today–I currently have a 20Mbps cable connection–but what happens when everyone needs one and when ISPs start placing bandwidth caps on home accounts?

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October 7, 2010
by sjvn01
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The new Ubuntu is netbook and Windows friendly

When you think of Canonical’s Ubuntu Linux, what do you think of? Well, you probably think of a smooth, easy to use desktop Linux. You also wouldn’t be surprised to know that it came designed to work and play well with netbooks. I bet you would be surprised to know though that part of it, Ubuntu One, the personal cloud service for Ubuntu users, will soon work with Android, iPhone, and Windows.

That’s exactly what Canonical is planning through for Ubuntu 10.10, which will be available for download on Sunday, October 10. I’ve already reviewed Ubuntu 10.10 and I like it a lot. Give it a try. I think you’ll like it.

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October 7, 2010
by sjvn01
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You must be at least this Secure to ride on the Internet

My friend Richi Jennings is fond of the idea that users with malware-infected PCs should be cut off from the Internet. To this, I say not just “Yes,” but “Hell yes.” And, as he pointed out, other people are getting behind this idea of helping to clean up the litter of spam, malware, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that junks up the Internet highway.

Comcast, as Jennings pointed out, will be letting imalware-nfected users know that they’ve got garbage on their hard disk, but not keeping them off the net. Darn it.

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