Tech Watch | InfoWorld Staff | July 2007

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July 2007

July 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Forget the fears that cell phones are killing you. On a recent trip to Oregon with my family, in part a break from technology, I could not get away from the news that cell phones were killing bees.

This fear came to a head when my niece was stung on the nose, not by a threatened bee, but by a hornet while picking berries at Sauvie Island in Portland. (Mind you, she and my 5-year-old son were chasing insects with a miniature bug-catching vacuum for this Habitrail-for-insects thing at home.)

But if cell phones causing bee population declines -- and, as a result, flowering plant population declines -- were not enough, the curse that is modern telecom was slighted again with the news that cell phones were erasing hotel security keys. This was the word from a hotel in Yreka, Calif., where we were staying on our way home.

So, the question raised by these stories becomes: Is all this anti-cell phone news an attempt to claw back to the day when mobile phones did not run our lives? Or is it for real?

Posted by Mike Barton on July 27, 2007 02:02 PM

July 25, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Apple: 270K iPhones in two days

Apple revealed Wednesday it sold 270,000 iPhones in the first two days the device hit the U.S. market.

Yesterday, AT&T said iPhone sales had boosted earnings, but indicated that it activated only 146,000 iPhone subscribers in the first two days. It said more 40 percent of them were new customers.

Tom Yager may be right, given this coup for AT&T, that this lock-in deal is "funny business".

Reality Check on iPhone: Analysts predicted Apple would sell 500,000 iPhones in the first weekend. Notice how the faithful Apple press did not take the same tack as The New York Times business section, which noted "IPhone Use Disappoints; Apple Slides"

Meanwhile, back at the desktop, Apple said Mac sales lifted Apple for $818 million in third quarter profit.

This news comes on the heels of our report yesterday that said Windows Vista use was growing as Mac OS X stayed flat.

Given how far off Blackfriars was in on iPhone sales, I will take a stab and say I think Vista will continue to go up at cost of Mac, given that while it is not great, the choice in term of laptops -- the fastest growing segment, on the PC side puts Apple to shame.

And on price, Apple is way off still. Too bad the quality of Apple gear has slipped too, making the price premium hurt even more. A friend has had two hard drives crash on his Core Duo Macbook, and let's not forget the site macbookrandomshutdown.com.

Posted by Mike Barton on July 25, 2007 03:41 PM

July 24, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SunRocket quick-fix: Forward calls

I was was one of the unlucky SunRocket customers affected by the company going belly up, leaving service -- and VoIP itself -- in doubt.

I jumped to Vonage -- patent lawsuit be damned -- and received my free VoIP box, but it takes 10 biz days to port your old number.

Not a problem. While SunRocket is dodgy at best now for full functionality, call forwarding to a virtual new number (to be replaced by my SunRocket number when porting is complete) can be done at sunrocket.com. It worked instantaneously for me.

And I assume I won't be charged for using it, given I prepaid for a year at $199 (have used it for three months.)

I am assuming my money is lost in this fiasco, but have placed a call with Sherwood Partners, which is handling the belly-up. WIll let you know, Tech Watchers, what I hear on that (holding my breathe).

For the record, SunRocketers have many options for alternative service, and all companies including Vonage are trying to grab SunRocket's share following the company's demise. (See full letter to customers below.) But judging by the coverage on TV news of this, and banter by TV anchormen and women, VoIP just got slammed a big one with consumers. One Sacramento newscaster said she was using Vonage, but it too could just disappear like SunRocket one day, "so who knows with these Internet startups" (or something like that).

Thanks, SunRocket management. You take the cake for worst handling of a matter such as this.

*****LETTER FROM SHERWOOD PARTNERS******

ear Customers,

After significant effort by the Company to avoid this result, SunRocket is in the process of closing its operations and therefore will no longer be able to provide you with the phone service that you have been accustomed to. However, this email provides you with an opportunity to sign up with select service providers who we believe will offer outstanding replacement service.

In order to assist you, we have entered into negotiations with a number of service providers. As a result of those negotiations, we have entered into agreements with 8x8, Inc., provider of the Packet8 service, and Unified Communications Corp., provider of Teleblend service to offer you the best options and we are proud to recommend the following alternatives to you. Please make your decision to move to a new service provides immediately as future service is uncertain.

8x8/Packet8

The Packet8 Internet phone service incorporates patent protected technology from 8x8. Inc., a publicly traded company in business for more than 20 years. The service works in the same way as SunRocket’s and offers a virtually identical feature set.

* No Startup Costs
* FREE activation
* FREE equipment
* FREE shipping
* FREE first month of service
* Quickly port your number at no charge

A Savings of over $100!
Click here to order (or copy and paste the following link into your Internet browser: http://getpacket8.packet8.net/sunrocket/ or call 1-800-868-0068 and mention special offer code SUNROCKET

Unified Communications Corp. / TeleBlend

The TeleBlend Internet phone service incorporates patent-protected technology from Unified Communications Corp., a privately held company in business to provide outstanding customer service and telephony products. Teleblend has been working behind the scenes already to restore and continue service for all Sun Rocket customers. The service works in the same way as SunRocket’s and offers an identical feature set with our Unlimited Transfer Plan.

* No Startup Costs
* FREE activation
* Use your existing Hardware
* FREE shipping
* FREE and Quick transfer of your current number
* UNLIMITED calling to the US, Canada and Puerto Rico

Click here to order (or copy and paste the following link into your Internet browser: http://www.teleblend.com.

Posted by Mike Barton on July 24, 2007 03:10 PM

July 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Microsoft shedding light on Windows 7

Weary of hearing about Windows Vista all year? Well, Microsoft already has begun spreading bits of information on the next Windows client OS, dubbed Windows 7 internally at the company.

"As part of our ongoing outreach to enterprise customers and partners, Microsoft has begun sharing plans for how [it] will continue to deliver value to businesses in the future, including Software Assurance customers in particular," said a Microsoft representative in an emailed statement. Part of this effort involves offering preliminary information on Windows 7 as well as updates on future Windows-related releases such as the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack.

"Microsoft is scoping Windows '7' development to a three-year timeframe, and then the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar," the representative said. "In the meantime, Microsoft is dedicated to helping customers deploy and get the most business value from their PCs using Windows Vista and related technologies like the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, and we’re encouraged by the response and adoption of these products so far."

The company declined to provide specific details Friday about any features planned for Windows 7. But Microsoft previously talked about a follow-up to Vista codenamed Vienna, to feature security improvements including 128-bit, cryptographically signed application secure identities.

Microsoft representatives on Friday afternoon could not confirm whether Windows 7 and the Vienna project are one and the same.

Vista was released on January 30. Windows Server 2008, the next server version of Windows, formerly codenamed Longhorn, is set to be launched in February 2008.

Posted by Paul Krill on July 20, 2007 04:17 PM

July 19, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Java vote draws Apache dissent

While an official Java Specification Request for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 6 was approved this week, the vote was not unanimous.

The Java Community Process Executive Committee for the enterprise and standard editions of Java voted 14 to 1 to pass the measure, officially known as JSR 316. The JSR now goes through the review process, with Java EE 6 expected to be available in late-2008.

The Apache Software Foundation was the lone dissenter while Borland Software did not register a vote.

"The Apache Software Foundation's vote is based on the point of view that this spec lead - Sun - is in violation of the JSPA (Java Specification Participation Agreement)," Apache said in the comments section of vote log. Apache also linked to an April 10 open letter about the issue, pertaining to Apache's inability to get a license for a Java test compatibility kit for the Apache Harmony open source Java project. Apache said Sun was proposing unacceptable intellectual property restrictions on field of use. The restrictions violate the JSPA, Apache said.

While Apache said its vote was not reflective of the technical merits of JSR 316, Apache said Sun should not be allowed to start another JSR until the matter was resolved.

Sun in April said the dispute with Apache was over terms. Sun also noted the open-sourcing of Java.

Intel in its yes vote said "the spec lead has told us there are no 'field of use' restrictions on this implementation of the JSR."

IBM, while also voting affirmatively, said its vote was based on the technical merits of JSR 316 and not on the licensing terms. IBM also expressed issues about JSR 299, pertaining to Web beans.

"We are becoming concerned with the direction that JSR 299 seems likely to take in going beyond its stated charter of integrating JSF and EJB components and believe that continued efforts in this direction could warrant its removal from Java EE 6. We do not believe that our customers would find it easy to adopt a Java EE 6 platform that adds yet another component model definition," IBM said.

Posted by Paul Krill on July 19, 2007 09:43 AM

July 18, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Eclipse Babel project eyed for language translations

IBM and BEA Systems have proposed an open source globalization project at the Eclipse Foundation that would feature a set of tools to make it easier to translate Eclipse projects into many languages.

Called the Eclipse Babel Project, the effort would translate selected projects into languages such as French, Japanese, German and other languages. Tools and activities to enable Eclipse deliverables to run in multiple locales also are part of the plan.

Tools that might emerge from the project could cover areas such as:

* Enablement testing, to run software in different language environments and to handle multiple scripts.

* Translatability testing.

* Preparation for translation.

* Testing of actual translations.

Other features of Babel could include streamlining the development of National Language fragments and translation file preparation tools.

Eclipse currently is collecting community feedback on the Babel proposal.

Posted by Paul Krill on July 18, 2007 03:20 PM

July 17, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Java Community Process to get new chairman

The Java Community Process, for amending the Java platform, is getting a new chairman, according to Sun Microsystems.

Onno Kluyt, chairman of the JCP since July 2004, is stepping down to move onto new roles and responsibilities within Sun, according to a bulletin sent out by Sun on Tuesday afternoon. Replacing him next month is Patrick Curran, a 15-year Sun employee. Most recently, he led the Java Conformance Engineering Team in the Sun Client Software Group.

Curran also has participated in the World Wide Web Consortium and OASIS.

In his blog, Kluyt cited the growth in his responsibilities as reasons to relinquish the chairmanship.

"Over several months I've been collecting additional tasks within Sun (such as our Java open source communities) and so it became time to find a dedicated resource again to head up this community. After some years chairing the JCP it also is good to step aside and let fresh viewpoints take the community forward and I think you'll see that in Patrick we have that," Kluyt said.

The JCP is a multi-party effort to amend Java, although Sun, which developed Java, has remained the dominant player in the Java space. After many industry-wide requests, the company in November 2006 decided to offer up Java to the open source community.

Sun's JCP bulletin also noted the submissions of proposed Java Specification Requests to the JCP for Enterprise JavaBeans ( EJB) 3.1 and Java Persistence 2.0.

EJB 3.1, which is the subject of JSR 318, focuses on the next version of the Java architecture for developing component-based business applications. Simplicity of the architecture is the goal of version 3.1. The focus of the new version will be on core session bean and message-driven component models and their client API, according to the JSR.

The Java Persistence API, developed within EJB 3.0, will evolve under a separate JSR, which is JSR 317, rather than being part of EJB 3.1.

Java Persistence 2.0 pertains to the Java Persistence API for managing persistence and object-relational mapping for Java EE (Enterprise Edition) and SE (Standard Edition) environments. Version 2.0 is expected to include additional object-relational mapping and query language capabilities as well as a criteria-based API.

Approvals of JSRs 317 and 318 by the JCP are expected by the end of the month. Afterward, the proposals would continue to be developed within the JCP.

JSR 316, providing for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition 6, was approved as an official JSR on Monday. Version 6 is expected to be finalized in late-2008.

Posted by Paul Krill on July 17, 2007 03:50 PM

July 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Microsoft adds Office for Mac to patch

Heads up Apple users -- Microsoft has quietly added Office 2004 for the Mac to one of its latest security patches.

On June 12, Microsoft amended the list of affected products covered by its MS07-036 security update to add the Mac iteration of Office. The patch was originally released earlier in the week as part of the software maker's monthly Patch Tuesday bulletin distribution.

The Office for Mac bulletin is ranked as critical, Microsoft's most severe security update rating, and hackers could potentially use exploit the flaw to carry out remote code executions on affected PCs, the company warned.

The bug could specifically allow outsiders to use a specially-crafted Excel file to overwhelm an affected system's memory and take control of the device, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft reported that users whose Office systems are configured to have fewer administrative privileges are at less risk for malware exploitation than users who operate with broader rights. (shocker!)

MS07-036 aims to patch three vulnerabilities -- two of which were rated as critical, and one of which related to a known zero-day flaw. The bulletin repairs bugs in Excel 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2007.

On Tuesday the company issued six security updates for Windows, Office, and .Net Framework, patching a total of 11 vulnerabilities -- five of them rated critical.

The most serious of the batch is MS07-039, which patches a pair of bugs in Active Directory in Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003, the two supported server editions of Microsoft's operating system.

The most dangerous of the two is a vulnerability in the way Active Directory validates an LDAP request. According to Microsoft's write-up, "an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system."

The Active Directory bug can be exploited without any user interaction, and on Windows 2000 Server, the older of the two operating systems, the company said.

Posted by Matt Hines on July 13, 2007 12:43 PM

July 11, 2007 | Comments: (0)

The iPhone: Popular, but will it blend?

The iPhone's hook is that it's a little bit of everything: It's a mobile phone, a PDA, a pocket-sized Web browser, an iPod, a floor wax, and a dessert topping. Its technical merits have been thoroughly discussed by the experts, hackers are already hard at work trying to unlock it, and Joe Public has embraced it with startling quickness.

But amidst all the hype, the predictions, the hype, the long lines, the hype, the reviews, and the hype, one simple question remained unanswered:

Will the iPhone blend?

Well, wonder no longer. The good folks over at high-end blender company Blendtec have put the iPhone to the ultimate test and posted the results for all to see. (Kids, don't try this at home.)

The surprising conclusion? In fact, the iPhone will blend. It probably won't redefine the term "Apple margarita" anytime soon, but it can be transformed from "technological wunderkind" to "smooth concoction" in a manner of seconds. Now that's versatility!

Posted by Pete Babb on July 11, 2007 03:21 PM

July 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Enterprise Java update proposed

A specification has been posted for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 6, which will feature support for frameworks and other technologies that work with the platform.

Java EE 6 is slated to be ready in late-2008.

Java Specification Request 316, found here, notes that in the past eight years, the platform has grown to cover a range of enterprise and Web development needs while fostering a marketplace for additional technologies, frameworks and application that work with Java.

"A major theme for this release is to embrace and support those technologies as part of the overall Java EE landscape, while also continuing to simplify the platform to better target a wider range of developers," the JSR stated.

The platform will feature extensibility for layering or plugging of technologies into Java EE application servers. This includes technologies useful to Web or enterprise developers.

To refocus Java, the specification proposes introduction of Java EE platform profiles, which reference Java EE and may include a subset of platform technologies and additional JCP (Java Community Process) technologies not part of the platform. An expert group is slated to define the first version of Java EE Web Profile, a subset of Java EE for Web application development.

Also, the platform is to be pruned of technologies that are no longer of critical importance. Technologies that may be cut include EJB CMP (Enterprise JavaBeans Container-Managed Persistence), which has effectively been replaced by Java Persistence, and JAX-RPC (Java API for XML-based RPC), replaced by JAX-WS (Java API for XML-based Web Services).

Meanwhile, Java EE 6 will need to consider additional Web services support, to incorporate new versions of technologies. Service Component Architecture facilities may be included in the enterprise Java platform.

Updates to a host of technologies are being considered by Java EE 6, including Enterprise JavaBeans, Java Persistence API and JavaServer Faces. Among the JSRs that may be included in Java EE 6 include JSR-196 Java Authentication SPI for Containers, JSR-299 Web Beans and JSR-311 JAX-RS-Java API for RESTful Web Services.

JSR 316 was submitted by Sun on July 3. It is subject to a ballot process until July 16.

Java EE 5, the predecessor to Java EE 6, was released in 2006.

Posted by Paul Krill on July 9, 2007 12:47 PM

July 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Hackers go Robin Hood?

A new trend has appeared on the cybercrime landscape that makes it seem as if some fraudsters may have a conscience ... or none at all.

According to researchers at Symantec, the security company has observed a growing tendency among cybercriminals to test out their stolen credit card numbers by -- surprise of surprises -- using them to donate money to charities.

While it may seem like the identity thieves are engaging in an uncharacteristic show of kindness, Symantec concludes the obvious, that the criminals have actually identified the process of donating money as a useful test system for checking if their stolen accounts are still up and running, without drawing attention to themselves as quickly as if they used the swiped accounts in other settings.

"In the world of carding, where stolen credit card information is bought and sold, carders need to know if the credit cards they are buying or selling can actually be used," writes Yazan Gable, a researcher in Symantec's Security Response group, in a blog on the company's Web site. "It is sometimes difficult for them to verify this without raising any alarm bells and risking that their cards will be identified as stolen and disabled. As a consequence, a new trend is appearing."

In donating funds to charities online -- notably, the Red Cross -- cybercriminals can verify if their cards are working without raising the same hackles they might if they tried to buy something from an online retailer, as those companies are known to be working closer than ever with banks and card issuers to stop fraud as quickly as possible.

The method may also be useful in evading systems that employ behavior pattern modeling to battle fraud.

"Bank behavior monitors may be less likely to pick up on donations to charities," Gable said. "Legitimate charitable donations are not daily transactions for anyone with a credit card, so it would be difficult to determine if they are out of the norm."

It is unclear whether the charities would retain any of the funds -- which tend to be given over in relatively small amounts, according to Symantec -- once the crimes have been uncovered. One can imagine, however, that if the practice becomes widely used, card companies may want to get their money back rather than simply write it off as their own donation.

Gable said that Symantec researchers expect the problem to proliferate until something is done to prevent it.

"It wouldn't be too surprising to see this trend grow," said Gable. "I guess the one thing to note here, though, is that at least some of the stolen money is going to a good cause."

Posted by Matt Hines on July 6, 2007 02:25 PM

July 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Apache, Eclipse plan Asia conference

With open source becoming more popular in Asia, two prominent open source software organizations are partnering to present what is expected to be the largest open source event to date on that continent.

The Apache Software Foundation and the Eclipse Foundation will present the inaugural OS Summit Asia in Hong Kong's Cyberport IT development zone November 26-30.

Topics to be featured at the event include Apache projects such as Apache HTTP Server, Jakarta and Tomcat, as well as Eclipse projects such as Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools, Web Tools Platform and Eclipse Modeling Framework.

Programming languages such as Java, Perl, Python, Ruby and PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) also will be on the agenda, as will Web services and Web 2.0.

Officials from Apache and Eclipse released statements promoting the event.

"We hope that by showcasing the combined communities behind Eclipse and Apache that we will be able to cultivate a stronger presence for open source in the region," said Justin Erenkrantz, president of Apache.

"This event is not just about technology. It's about the community and culture and inevitability of open source - a movement that creates and maintains a wealth of innovation and ideas. Across Asia interest in open source is building," said Eclipse Executive Director Mike Milinkovich.

The event was organized by Winston Damarillo, who founded GlueCode, an open source company sold to IBM in 2005.

"As Asia moves to become the largest consumer of open source technologies, it is increasingly important that the region is able to experience the open source community process in action," Damarillo said in a statement released by Eclipse and Apache. "We are excited to be able to demonstrate this in the context of the collaboration between Eclipse and Apache."

Posted by Paul Krill on July 5, 2007 03:08 PM

July 04, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Google argues for right to comment on Microsoft case

By Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service

Google still hopes to influence changes that Microsoft plans to
make in Vista's desktop search function, even after the parties involved in Microsoft's 2002 antitrust settlement agreed to alterations to the search system.

On Monday, in response to Microsoft's opposition to an earlier request, Google asked that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia allow it to weigh in as an interested party regarding the way the search function should be changed. The filing comes two weeks after Microsoft and the plaintiffs in the antitrust suit said that they had worked together and agreed to changes.

The concerns about the desktop search function initially arose after Google complained to the plaintiffs and state attorney generals late last year that Microsoft's desktop search put third-party desktop search providers at a disadvantage. According to the terms of Microsoft's antitrust settlement, third parties such as Google must address their complaints about Microsoft's compliance with the settlement to the plaintiffs and the states.

In their quarterly report to the court on June 19, Microsoft and the
plaintiffs told the judge that based on Google's complaint they had agreed on a way for Microsoft to change Vista desktop search to satisfy third party concerns. However, on June 25, the night before the judge was set to meet with the parties to discuss the quarterly report, Google made a filing to the court, asking to weigh in on the case. In addition to the request, Google included the comments that it wanted to file as a third party.

In a response filing, Microsoft called the move an attempt at an "end-run" around the terms of the settlement agreement, which require third parties to work with the plaintiffs, not directly with the court. Microsoft also argued that the matter is settled already and so there's no issue for Google to participate in resolving. It also argued that Google isn't qualified to participate because it isn't a party involved in the antitrust case.

During the discussion of the quarterly report last week, the judge appeared to agree with Microsoft. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly remarked then that the plaintiffs serve as representatives of the consumer and that Google isn't a party in the case.

Google's filing on Monday is in response to Microsoft's filing. Google argues that it can offer an important and useful perspective to the
situation because it is a developer of a desktop search product and
because it initially drew the attention of the plaintiffs to the Vista desktop search issue. Google is also asking for more information about the agreed changes so that it may determine whether they go far enough. If Google thinks the changes aren't enough, it wants to have the opportunity to offer its opinions to the court, according to the filing.

The next step is for the judge to decide whether to allow Google's
participation.

Posted by Mike Barton on July 4, 2007 08:27 AM

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