[@701]
Spam Challenge Cédric is testing a simple challenge/response anti-spam method. Great! A simple system like that is definitely needed. The problem with Cédric's approach (and other challenge/response systems) is that they still leave a few problems unsolved. Requiring people to respond to the challenge is fine if they are the ones emailing you. There should be no challenge if someone is responding to an email you sent them. This is not an easy problem to fix because everything happens on the email client side.

[@911]
Steve is telling me that ASK addresses this issue by embedding a key in all outgoing messages. Although it did not work for me. Apparently Steve's key is his signature, which Thunderbird automatically removed when replying.

As Cédric mentioned, a whitelist is required to ensure that certain addresses or domains are never filtered. Spammer have gotten a lot smarter in the last few months. The sender's email address is often a valid address from the same domain as the recipient. How do you fight this? I get a lot of spam pretending to be from my wife @ thauvin.net, and I'm not about to bounce all mail coming from her. Company mail is even worse.

[@630]

[@942]
Told you so… Diego is eloquently explaining why they stopped using Java Web Start with Clevercatus Share. This is a perfect example of what I was talking about last Friday. Mobidrone? I'm thinking about porting mobibot to Drone. I really like the modular API. Now I just need time… EclipseME If you're doing mobile development, you oughta check Craig's EclipseME plugin. I used it on BlueMonger (); it is blissfully simple to use.

[@630]
Spidey 2 We went to see Spider-Man 2 last night. I think I liked it a tad better than the first one.   Where'd it all go? One year ago, Jonathan said Sun (and partners) would spend hundreds of millions of dollars to promote the Java platform. Excuse me for being blunt, but… Where did it all go? A new logo and website hardly seems worth that much. Someone mentioned they saw a Java commercial, once, during a Hockey game. Is that it?

[@453]

[@693]

[@685]
Contributions

Scott is saying that IBM hasn't contributed to Java nearly as much as Sun has. I say bullshit. It's not about how much you contribute but how good of a contribution you make.

IBM has created some amazingly useful Java-based technology. Proven technology too. The Enterprise world is eating it up. IBM is making a killing in the Enterprise Market. Sun is constantly left in the dust.

Scott, put your $ where your mouth is. Oops… I forgot… You got none left.

[@693]
Btw, Scott. IBM never said they would open source DB2. If you catch my drift.

It takes some serious marbles to refuse to listen to the company that is eating most of the pie you've baked, or maybe it's just plain stupidity.

[@647]
5.0???

What's with the new version number anyway? Isn't Java 2 at version 1.4 already confusing enough? What's next? Java Lite and Java Pro?

Johnathan, please try to keep your brain farts to yourself. Pretty please.

[@642]
3 steps forward, 5 steps back

Java 5.0 is a joke, seriously. Sun is pushing for Java on the desktop, but the next version of Java brings nothing to the table. Whether the improvements to the core language are useful to developers or not is irrelevant.

Java is a first-class citizen on the server, yet a third-class citizen on the desktop.

Java 5.0 doesn't improve the user experience one bit. It is still painful to use on the desktop. Executable launching is pathetic. Web Start is confusing to most. Platform integration is non-existent.

Sun is wasting efforts with whiz-bang projects like EmptyLooking Glass. Please fix Java's desktop usability and then, you may have a slim chance to make a dent on the desktop.