Microsoft / Windows - Microsoft confirms next XP service pack

Microsoft has revealed plans to release a third service pack for its Windows XP operating system.

"There will be a Service Pack 3 for Windows XP," Bernard Ourghanlian, technical and security director at Microsoft France, confirmed, revealing that Microsoft's OS is set for another major update.

Windows XP's Service Pack 2, which came out last September, deeply modified the operating system by updating its security.

Windows XP SP3 will be available sometime next year--after the launch of Windows Vista, which "is the priority for the development teams," according to Microsoft France.
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+confirms+next+XP+service+pack/2100-1016_3-5886274.html

*ware - The New Weblogic Server 9.0

BEA recently released WebLogic Server 9.0, and this newest edition of the J2EE technology-based server brings leading service-orientated technologies to enable the agile enterprise. It provides tools to integrate disparate data sources, bridge legacy systems through interoperable open standards, accelerate new product development, and ensure that enterprises are responsive to their customer needs. This JavaOne 2005 presentation covers the latest WebLogic Server advances, including a new extensible portal administration console, complete with a diagnostics framework and scripting shell tools that let administrators identify and resolve issues in real time; enterprise Web services, including reliable messaging to support true asynchronous conversational applications; and enhanced performance messaging, with enterprise-grade store-and-forward and unit-of-order features.
http://www.bea.com/dev2dev/events/javaone/ts1073/index.html

*ware - Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.7 Released

http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird

Sports - Extreme Ironing

extreme ironing - the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt.
http://www.extremeironing.com/

Google - XooMLe: Google in XML

XooMLe gives the ability to query Google and get your results in basic XML (or plain-text for spelling suggestions and the complete page for cached pages).
http://www.dentedreality.com.au/xoomle/

Misc - When you need to get off the phone

http://www.sorrygottago.com/

Misc - World Statistics

http://worldometers.info/

*ware - OpenOffice.org 2.0 RC released

The first Release Candidate of OpenOffice.org 2.0 can now be downloaded. Our thanks to all who worked on the Betas. But now is the time to test the RC, and we urge all to download it, test it, and file issues with the QA project on what you discover.
http://www.openoffice.org/

POJ - Implementing SOA with JBI

Learn how Service Oriented Architectures can be implemented on a Java Business Integration platform
http://sun.hongkongmarket.net/javachina/download/PaulCheung-JBI-SOA-03.pdf

Misc - Java Poem by José Palmeiro

All Java programs start with Main,
Nevertheless they don't smell like Gain

The Garbage Collecting is part of Gain's job,
as Duke is just a stupid dirty fog

Fog is an amount of droplets,
As J2EE is an amount of servlets,
One is water vapor suspended in the air,
and the other is messy code suspended in the contain(air),

All this products are dirty, heavy, and hard to breed,
Therefore, all powerless to Gain's cleaning greed.

As with Struts all applications complexity grows,
With Gain all Java complex application flows.

inspired by : http://www.gainlaundry.com/site/index.html (so he says...)

Ajax / CSS - Ajax Anywhere

AjaxAnywhere is designed to turn any set of existing JSP components into AJAX-aware components without complex JavaScript coding.
In contrast to other solutions, AjaxAnywhere is not component-oriented. You will not find here yet another AutoComplete component.
Simply separate your web page into multiple zones, and use AjaxAnywhere to refresh only those zones that needs to be updated.

# Less JavaScript to develop and to maintain. Absence of commonly accepted naming convention, formatting rules, patterns makes JavaScript code messier then Java/JSP. It is extremely difficult to debug and unit-test it in multi-browser environment. Get rid of all those complexities by using AjaxAnywhere.
# Easy to integrate. AjaxAnywhere does not require changing the underlying application code.
# Lower technical risk. Switch whenever you need between AJAX and traditional (refresh-all-page) behaviour of your web application. Your application can also support both behaviors.
# Free open source license.

http://ajaxanywhere.sourceforge.net/

Google - Google and Nasa in space venture

Web search firm Google has formed a partnership with US space agency Nasa in an effort to harness new technology which could boost the space programme.

Google is to build a new office complex on the site of Nasa's research facility in California, close to its own headquarters in Silicon Valley.

The two companies will co-operate in a range of areas including IT solutions, data management and nanotechnology.

It would look to "bring entrepreneurs into the space programme", Nasa added.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4292458.stm

Google - Google Wi-Fi in NYC

http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2005/9/27/1263192.html

Google - Domains Registered to Google Inc.

Google Browser ?
Gbrowser.com
Gbrowser.net
Gbrowser.org

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/txt/google_dom.html

*ware - Skype v1.4 for Windows released

Some new features include: call forwarding, test calls, 21 new emoticons, online profile pic selection, ringtone manager, new APIs, avatars, advance links, and more!
http://www.skype.com/products/skype/windows/

Misc - The Scala Programming Language

Scala is a modern multi-paradigm programming language designed to express common programming patterns in a concise, elegant, and type-safe way. It smoothly integrates features of object-oriented and functional languages.
- Scala is object-oriented
- Scala is functional
- Scala is statically typed
- Scala is extensible
- Scala interoperates with Java and .NET
http://scala.epfl.ch/index.html

Misc - BEA Acquires M7

BEA announced today at BEAWorld that it has acquired the company M7--makers of the popular NitroX Eclipse tools for JSP, Struts, and JSF development. The NitroX tools will be a key component to BEA's product lineup and will accelerate the delivery of BEA's Eclipse based developer tools.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050928/sfw084.html?.v=26

*ware - NetBeans IDE 5.0 Beta Now Available

NetBeans IDE 5.0 introduces comprehensive support for developing IDE modules and rich client applications based on the NetBeans platform, the new intuitive GUI builder Matisse, new and redesigned CVS support, Weblogic9 and JBoss 4 support, and a lot of editor enhancements.

http://www.netbeans.org/community/releases/50/index.html

Misc - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs has been MIT's introductory pre-professional computer science subject since 1981. It emphasizes the role of computer languages as vehicles for expressing knowledge and it presents basic principles of abstraction and modularity, together with essential techniques for designing and implementing computer languages. This course has had a worldwide impact on computer science curricula over the past two decades.
http://swiss.csail.mit.edu/classes/6.001/abelson-sussman-lectures/

Misc - Atmospheric Optics

Light playing on water drops, dust or ice crystals in the atmosphere produces a host of visual spectacles - rainbows, halos, glories, coronas and many more.
Some can be seen almost every day or so, some are once in a lifetime sights.
Find out where to see them and how they form.
http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/atoptics/phenom.htm

Misc - Learn How to Tie a Tie

Assuming no previous knowledge on your part, I will be using colored and easy-to-follow diagrams as well as simple step-by-step instructions to help you on your way to become a real master at tying ties in no time. That way, learning how to tie a tie will be fun and about as easy as coloring by numbers!
http://www.tie-a-tie.net/

Misc [pt] - TMN até já

A TMN, empresa do Grupo Portugal Telecom, apresenta hoje à Comunicação Social a sua nova marca.

A designação TMN mantém-se, o logótipofoi alterado com base em códigos gráficos mais actuais, de onde se destacam a cor azul (o azul do mar), que nos transmite simultaneamente força e tranquilidade, e o "t", que de letra se humaniza e se transforma em símbolo, interagindo e participando activamente na comunicação da marca.

http://www.tmn.pt/

Misc - The Generator Blog

This blog is not about those machines used to change mechanical energy into electrical energy. It's about software that creates software. Software to play around and have fun with.
http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/

Microsoft / Windows - JBoss and Microsoft Outline Interoperability Goals

JBoss Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today announced plans to explore enhanced interoperability between their respective JBoss Enterprise Middleware System (JEMS) and Microsoft Windows Server products and deepen JBoss support for the Windows Server operating system.
http://jboss.com/pdf/press/microsoft.pdf

Misc - First Giant Squid Captured in Wild (on Film, That Is)

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/27/science/27cnd-squid.html?hp&ex=1127880000&en=3fe80be6ccc23999&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[pt] http://www.publico.clix.pt/shownews.asp?id=1234007&idCanal=10

[images] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/photogalleries/giant_squid/index.html

Web App Frameworks - RIFE 1.1 released

RIFE is a full-stack web application framework with tools and APIs to implement most common web features. Each of its toolkits is usable by itself and together they offer powerful integrated features that boost your productivity. RIFE ensures that every declaration and definition is handled in one place in the code. This simplifies the developer's task by reducing code replication, enforcing consistency, and easing maintenance.
http://rifers.org/

Microsoft / Windows - Office 2003 Service Pack 2

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=57e27a97-2db6-4654-9db6-ec7d5b4dd867&DisplayLang=en

Misc - Web 2.0 ?

Explaining Web 2.0 to Non-Geeks - http://marshallk.blogspot.com/2005/09/explaining-web-20-to-non-geeks.html

Visualizing Web 2.0
http://web2.wsj2.com/visualizingweb20.htm

Misc - CyberCafé Organizer

CybOrg, the Cybercafe Organizer, is a point of sales and administration system for internet cafes distributed under the GPL.
It has a web-based interface and is written in Perl using Template Toolkit and a RDBMS. CybOrg uses a Win32/Linux client to lock workstations.
http://cyborg.sourceforge.net/index.html.en

Misc - Design Tutorials

Learn how to use Paint Shop Pro or Dreamweaver

http://www.designsbyjoy.net/

Misc - How to Use Rails With Subversion

http://wiki.rubyonrails.com/rails/pages/HowtoUseRailsWithSubversion

Misc [pt] - Eclipse Solar dia 3 de Outubro

No próximo dia 3 de Outubro, Portugal estará na rota de um eclipse do Sol anular, cuja linha central passará pelas regiões do Minho, Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, avançando depois para Espanha e África.
Os observadores que, na manhã desse dia, se encontrarem num local abrangido por uma faixa com largura máxima de 138 quilómetros, poderão, se usufruírem de céu limpo ou pouco nublado, testemunhar a passagem da Lua em frente ao Sol, que, no entanto, não chegará a ocultá-lo completamente. No máximo do eclipse, ver-se-á um anel luminoso a rodear o disco negro da Lua - e daí a designação de "eclipse anular". Os observadores espalhados pelo resto do território de Portugal poderão testemunhar um eclipse parcial.

http://www.oal.ul.pt/oobservatorio/vol11/n7/pagina4.html

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEmono/ASE2005/ASE2005.html

POJ - Apache Jakarta Commons Email 1.0 released

Commons-Email aims to provide a API for sending email. It is built on top of the Java Mail API, which it aims to simplify. All help is gratefully received.

Some of the mail classes that are provided are as follows:

     * SimpleEmail - This class is used to send basic text based emails.
     * MultiPartEmail - This class is used to send multipart messages. This allows a text message with attachments either inline or attached.
     * HtmlEmail - This class is used to send HTML formatted emails. It has all of the capabilities as MultiPartEmail allowing attachments to be easily added. It also supports embedded images.
     * EmailAttachment - This is a simple container class to allow for easy handling of attachments. It is for use with instances of MultiPartEmail and HtmlEmail.

http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/email/

Databases - MySQL 5.0 Release Candidate Available

"Dear user of MySQL,

I'm proud and excited to announce the first Release Candidate of MySQL 5.0. This milestone signals that we are nearing what is certainly the most important release in MySQL's history.

MySQL 5.0 has new functionality that I hope will be welcomed, adopted, and put to productive use by the community of MySQL users -- you. On the commercial side, MySQL AB is getting a lot of good vibes from new enterprise customers who are beginning to understand the impact MySQL can have on their IT infrastructure and costs of running mission-critical applications. "

Key new features of MySQL 5.0 come in three groups:

a) ANSI SQL standard features formerly unknown to MySQL
b) ANSI SQL standard compliance of existing MySQL features
c) New MySQL Storage Engines, Tools and Extensions

The new ANSI SQL features include:

     * Views (both read-only and updatable views)
     * Stored Procedures and Stored Functions, using the SQL:2003 syntax, which is also used by IBM's DB2
     * Triggers (row-level)
     * Server-side cursors (read-only, non-scrolling)

Implementing ANSI SQL standard ways of using existing MySQL features means there will be fewer unpleasant surprises ("gotchas") for those migrating to MySQL from other database systems:

     * Strict Mode: MySQL 5.0 adds a mode that complies with standard SQL in a number of areas in which earlier versions did not; we now do strict data type checking and issue errors for all invalid dates, numbers and strings as expected
     * INFORMATION_SCHEMA: An ANSI SQL-compliant Data Dictionary for accessing metadata, in parallel to the MySQL specific SHOW commands
     * Precision Math: A new library for fixed-point arithmetic, giving high accuracy for financial and mathematical operations
     * VARCHAR Data Type: The maximum effective length of a VARCHAR column has increased to 65,532 bytes; also, stripping of trailing whitespace no longer occurs

New MySQL Storage Engines, Tools and Extensions are:

     * XA Distributed Transactions
     * ARCHIVE Storage Engine for storing large amounts of data without indexes in a very small footprint, intended for historical data that may be needed for future audit compliance (Sarbanes Oxley or otherwise)
     * FEDERATED Storage Engine for accessing data ín tables of remote databases rather than in local tables (only in MAX version)
     * Instance Manager: a tool to start and stop MySQL Server, even remotely

http://www.mysql.com/news-and-events/news/article_959.html

*ware - NanoVM initial release

NanoVM is a tiny (less than 8 kB of code including simple native classes and a bootloader) implementation of the Java VM. It currently runs on Linux and the AVR microcontroller family. Unix/Linux is supported as the main development and testing platform, whereas the VM is primarily intended to be used on tiny embedded devices such as the AVR. The VM can very easily be ported for other targets.
http://www.harbaum.org/till/nanovm/

POJ - Apache Axis2 0.92 Released

This release includes the following features:

1. Complete XML infoset support for AXIOM
2. AXIOM, a SOAP specific streaming XML infoset model for SOAP 1.1/1.2 messages
3. Support for one-way messaging and request response messaging
4. Modules, mechanism to extend the SOAP processing model
5. Archives based deployment model
6. WSDL2Java code generation tool for stub and skeltons
7. XMLBeans based data binding support
8. Support for WS-Addressing, both the submission and final versions
9. Client API
10. REST web service support
11. HTTP transport support
12. SMTP transport support
13. TCP transport support
14. MTOM/SWA attachments support
15. SAAJ implementation
16. WS-Security support using WSS4J
17. Support for context hierarchy serialization
18. and numerous bug fixes after 0.91 release

The release include following tools:

1. Admin Web App
2. WSDL2Java, eclipse Plugin/Command line version
3. Service Archive Wizard, eclipse Plugin
4. Module Archive Wizard, eclipse Plugin
5. Service Archive Wizard, IntelliJ IDEA Plugin

http://ws.apache.org/axis2/download.cgi

*ware - JSEclipse - Javascript Editor

JSEclipse is a freeware Javascript plug-in for the Eclipse environment. Designed to help web developers edit JavaScript files with ease, it has built in support for:

     * Code completion for JavaScript function and classes.
     * Code completion for JavaDoc.
     * Function and class names are displayed in the Outline panel for the currently open file.
     * Open declaration
     * Error reporting
     * Warning reporting
     *Code wrap

http://www.interaktonline.com/Products/Eclipse/JSEclipse/Overview/

POJ - Ristretto 1.0 Released

Ristretto aims to be the low-level alternative to SUN's Java Mail. Unlike Java Mail where the protocols can only be accessed in a non-transparent way, Ristretto lets you access all protocol features. This enables developers to easliy create high-performance and feature-rich mail enabled Java applications which would not be possible with Java Mail.

The key features are:

* Support of IMAP4, POP3, ESMTP, SASL and SSL
* Transparent implementation of many standards
* High-Performance and High-Tolerance parsers
* Mature codebase
* In daily use by thousands of users

http://columba.sourceforge.net/index.php?option=com_mjfrontpage&Itemid=76

Ajax / CSS - Architecting CSS

http://www.digital-web.com/articles/architecting_css/

Google - Google Recruiting Video

http://video.google.com/videopreviewbig?&docid=-8618166999532839788

Databases - SQL Dependency Viewer Beta 1

SQL Dependency Viewer analyzes Microsoft SQL 2000 and SQL 2005 databases and produces an interactive dependency diagram.
This version of SQL Dependency Viewer is free.
To run SQL Dependency Viewer, you will need .NET 1.1 and MDAC 2.8.
Download it from http://www.red-gate.com/downloads/SQLDependencyViewer.exe

http://www.red-gate.com/products/sql_dependency_viewer/

Google - Open source code search engine

Koders.com is the leading search engine for open source code. Our source code optimized search engine provides developers with an easy-to-use interface to search for source code examples and discover new open source projects which can be leveraged in their applications.
http://www.koders.com/

Google - DNKA - remote desktop search tool

DNKA 0.45 - search tool for remote computer. It acts as a web server (search server) by interacting as a layer between Google Desktop Search (Enterprise) and user. And allow other users to search, view and download your files, emails, chats and web history.
http://www.dnka.com/

*ware - Apache Tomcat 5.5.12-alpha released

The Apache Tomcat development team has announced the release of version 5.5.12-alpha. "This version contains several bug fixes, including an import change to session attribute storage concurrency that is required by the upcoming Servlet Specification v2.5." The team will also be moving shortly from CVS to subversion for versioning control as well as moving the entire project to become a top level Apache project from Jakarta.
http://www.apachenews.org/archives/000735.html

Ajax / CSS - Ajax XSLT (Google)

AJAXSLT is an implementation of XSL-T in JavaScript, intended for use in fat web pages, which are nowadays referred to as AJAX applications. Because XSL-T uses XPath, it is also an implementation of XPath that can be used independently of XSL-T.

http://goog-ajaxslt.sourceforge.net/

Web App Frameworks - Spring and WebWork, together

http://blogs.opensymphony.com/webwork/2005/09/spring_and_webwork_together.html

Google - GMail skins

SkinGmail.com is a new online resource for the growing number of adventurous GMail skinners. At present the method we use to get this done is only supported by Mozilla FireFox but we are looking into cross browser or individual browser supported methods as well.

http://www.skingmail.com/

Microsoft / Windows - Bill Gates - Coke Commercial

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2428643356101239067