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Java

Apache Resigns From the JCP Executive Committee 136

Posted by timothy from the I'll-resign-my-commission dept.
iammichael writes "The Apache Software Foundation has resigned its seat on the Java SE/EE Executive Committee due to a long dispute over the licensing restrictions placed on the TCK (test kit validating third-party Java implementations are compatible with the specification)."

Comment Not as bad as Apple... (Score 1) 968

by Scyth3 (#34486298) Attached to: Google Wants To Take Away Your Capslock Key
We're making a huge deal about the caps lock key being removed on an ultra-portable laptop. On Apple's Macbook Pro the "backspace" key was renamed to "delete" and the delete key itself is completely gone. I think that's far worse then the caps lock key going away, especially since you can still use shift keys to capitalize text.
The Internet

Bookmark Synchronizer Xmarks Hangs Up Their Hats 225

Posted by CmdrTaco from the marked-for-death dept.
krulgar writes "On January 10, 2011, Xmarks will be closing their doors. A free service being replaced by free software. It would still be nice to have a single way to keep my bookmarks from my work machine in sync with my home machines and my mobile devices without exerting much effort. Xmarks seemed to be the only ones with that clear vision, maybe the replacement tools can grow into this space, but it's still a little sad to see a useful tool wave goodbye."
Image

Recession Cuts Operation That Uses Hair To Clean Up Oil 119

Posted by samzenpus from the hair-today-gone-tomorrow dept.
Matter of Trust, a nonprofit that uses human hair scraps to make mats to clean up oil spills, finds itself with 18,000 pounds of hair and nobody to process it. Lisa Gautier, who runs the organization, says that the recession has closed many of the textile makers that produced the mats and the warehouse that stored them. Unfortunately for Lisa the hair keeps piling up. From the article: "Hair is good at soaking up oil because, up close, the strands are shaped like a palm tree with scalelike cuticles. Drops of oil naturally cling inside those cuticles, says Blair Blacker, chief executive of the World Response Group. A pound of hair can pick up one quart of oil in a minute, and it can be wrung out and reused up to 100 times, Mrs. Gautier says."

Comment Re:AV on POS computer?? (Score 2, Interesting) 233

by Scyth3 (#31956192) Attached to: McAfee Retracts Lowball Bug Damage Estimate
Typically the POS desktops are talking directly to a server in the backroom. The server in the backroom is typically where a manager will check their emails (via Outlook), take training via a web site, etc. and it's also where the database for the POS client desktops is stored. Every night that small store server submits the data to a main server at the "home base". So, if the virus scan is on the server (typically is), and the machine goes down, then the business is effectively closed. It's not that the POS machines had a virus scanner on them, it's that the server does since it's used as a work machine for the manager as well. That's how one of the biggest auto part chains in the US operates. It wouldn't surprise me to see this elsewhere.
Image

College To Save Money By Switching Email Font 306

Posted by samzenpus from the smallest-things dept.
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has come up with an unusual way of saving money: changing their email font. The school expects to use 30% less ink by switching from Arial to Century Gothic. From the article: "Diane Blohowiak is the school's director of computing. She says the new font uses about 30 percent less ink than the previous one. That could add up to real savings, since the cost of printer ink works out to about $10,000 per gallon. Blohowiak says the decision is part of the school's five-year plan to go green. She tells Wisconsin Public Radio it's great that a change that's eco-friendly also saves money."

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