| |
Tue, 3 Nov 2009 4:21:15 PST
Java Store β: payment and a new client
Put an accountant, a lawyer, an MBA and a software engineer together into a room... Sounds like the lead-in to a bad joke, but it's the exercise that the Java Store team has been living through for the past several months.
At the PayPal conference today
Eric Klein
did an
announcement and demo of the next phase in the Java Store's development. We've been working with PayPal on this for some time, using their new PayPal X platform. It always amazes me how complex it is to deal with all the details of global finance. And even so, the store today only handles US issues. But the framework is in place to go global as fast as the lawyers and accountants can work through the details — but it'll take a while. There's a new client application for shopping in the store, and a new
warehouse site for developers to upload products.
Even with the current US-only restriction, that's about 65 million desktops for a target market. Please check it out, kick the tires, let us know what you think: we'd like to get it out of beta and do a real large scale consumer launch as soon as we can.
Tue, 3 Nov 2009 4:21:15 PST
The Network Is
 Yet Another Happy Birthday Intertubes!! Today marks 40 years of the internet, although there's some debate as to the actual date. I consider myself a latecomer: I didn't get my first real internet email address until 1977, C410JG40@CMUA. I was "jag" on various Unix systems before then, but it wasn't until 1977 that the ARPAnet and email really took over my life. I soon realized that the only real-world friendships I kept up with were folks that I could send email to. I disappeared from my brother and sister's lives until they got email addresses 20 years later. Of course now it's gotten to the point where restaurants don't exist unless they're on
OpenTable :-) I wrote the original Unix Emacs in 1978 and because of that by sometime in 1980 I had the unusual distinction of having login IDs on every non-military host on the ARPAnet (I kept track - it had become sport).
When I joined Sun in 1984 (yikes! Has it been that long?) one of the big attractions was Sun's position on networking: every machine had a network connection. At the time, that was considered pretty weird. I had known Bill and Andy for years. They had both tried to get me to join Sun at the beginning in 82, but I foolishly didn't. "The Network is the Computer" was a pretty odd tagline at the time, and it didn't make sense to most people, but it had geeky appeal. A lot could be done when you tied machines together: from harnessing the compute power of clusters of machines, accessing filesystems remotely via NFS, remote graphics access, and a whole lot more.
But the network had more than mere geek appeal for me. It felt important in a world-changing kind of way. This crystalized when I read
Robert Axelrod's 1984 book The Evolution of Cooperation.
This is a reasonably accessible game theory book that discusses experiments involving
the Prisoners Dilemma. I won't repeat what you can find by
reading the
Wikipedia article (which I urge you to do; read the book too). But by the end of the book, there is a strong conclusion that as the frequency of interaction increases, the optimal strategy shifts from hostility to cooperation. This really appealed to my 60's peacenik leanings because it suggested that all you needed to do was to get people communicating, and inevitably peace would break out. It doesn't matter much the form the communication takes, all is good.
At that point in my life, the network went from a geeky toy to a moral good. I don't know how to express how thrilled I am at how it has all played out. From the effects of the network in keeping the news flowing during the
1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, to FaceBook, Twitter, Blogging and all of todays social media.
These days I think that Sun should shorten its tagline from "The Network is the Computer" to simply "The Network Is".
My biggest disappointment with the internet is that it seems that the "killer app" that makes the economics of the Internet work is advertising...
Tue, 3 Nov 2009 4:21:15 PST
JavaCard 3 hits the streets!
 The
JavaCard team have been cranking away. Development on the 3.0 version is finally (almost) finished, and it's pretty
amazing. Java Card 3 is available in two Editions.
- Classic Edition
-
This is the same as Java Card 2 with some
enhancements/bug fixes. It is almost 10 years young and is the most popular platform for the SIM and ID markets.
- Connected Edition
-
This is the next generation Java Card technology:
- JDK6 Compatible VM: Except for floats, it support class file version 50.
- Full Java Language support: Java Card 2 has restrictions on the language itself. But JC3 has no
limits. You can use all language features like annotations, enhanced for-loops
etc... (except floating point)
- Rich API: This is mixture of CLDC, GCF, Servlet, JavaCard2 API, Sockets,
Threads, Transactions ...
- Three application models and two library models, which makes it
possible to have virtually any kind of secure application on JC3:
- Servlets, extended-Applets, Classic-Applets
- Extension-Library and Classic-Library
- Servlet Container with Servlet 2.5 support.
- HTTP and HTTPS interface: No need for special client programming. Use any web client to
reach JC3.
- Still tiny(!!):24K RAM, 128K EEPROM, 512K ROM with a 32 bit processor
- It is not just "Card" any more: With the newly added USB interface this technology can go
beyond
Smart Cards into devices like secure USB tokens, Secure Personal Databases, Embedded
Servers, WebDAV compliant thumb drives and more.
- Last but not least, there is a Netbeans Plugin for easy development. Nightly builds of NetBeans point to the latest JavaCard plugin.
The team has a Kenai project that started recently
Sat, 7 Nov 2009 1:30:50 PST
☝ Music for a Bad Week
It may just be that you need some free music to soothe away the bad taste from a bad week. There are a bunch of pointers on my personal blog.
Sat, 7 Nov 2009 1:30:50 PST
☞ Copyright Fascists
-
Michael Geist put the evidence together from the available "leaks" and shows us all why ACTA is anti-open, anti-freedom. If democracy means anything today we need to mobilise popular opposition to this disgusting travesty before it's too late.
-
EFF's title sums up the purpose of ACTA nicely. It's a secret work by the copyright fascists to lock down their business model before we all realise what's going on, and to do so at a trans-national level so that no country is empowered to challenge it. Dirty, dirty, dirty.
-
Once you're past the tabloid sensationalism, there's an insight in this piece - that the copyright fascists tend to concentrate on monetising a cult of personality whose actual music doesn't stand too much scrutiny.
-
Could prove useful, although I couldn't make the list of places work.
Sat, 7 Nov 2009 1:30:50 PST
☞ Random Monday Grab-bag
-
Important to understand how this model works as it will be at the core of the disruption all technology businesses face from Google over the coming years.
-
Dinosaur alert.
-
Looks like the extension capability in Chrome is already getting plenty of exercise. If the ones I'm hooked on in Firefox show up, maybe Chrome will get more of my attention.
-
I'll be opening this conference (which is mainly in English) in the splendid town of Bozen (or Bolzano). Come for the wine (the local Lagrein grape is great) if not for the tremendous content, which includes Sam Ruby.
-
And naturally this will be the story with internet downloads as well. All the fuss from the big media companies - and their manipulation of legislation through their powerful joint lobbying with the pharmaceutical and software industries - will be shown to have been based on false assumptions depending more on a desire to retain their oligopoly than on any benefits to society.
-
A thing of beauty, not to say obsessiveness.
Oracle OpenWorld - A Guide for JavaOne Folks
I've gone to many
JavaOne
conferences at the
Moscone Center
but today was my first experience of a
Oracle OpenWorld.
I was very curious and I found the experience very interesting.
Although the two conferences are in the same physical space, the two experiences
are very different.
I only have an "exhibitor" pass, so I've not been able to attend any of the technical sessions
but, with those caveats, below are some observations; feel free to add
additional observations as comments to this entry.
Also check my
Flickr set.
•
OOW is significantly larger in attendance.
I've heard about 40K-45K; J1 was, at its peak, 20-25K (afair).
•
OOW uses not just Moscone North and South, but also West, and they close Howard street.
•
The tent is an integral part of the event, used for lunches, drinks and as a lounge.
•
The dress code at OOW are suits...
and very few body piercings :-)
•
Most attendees at OOW
seem to use (smart)phones to stay connected (to their admin assistants?).
•
The (internet cafe-like) area with stations to check email / browse at OOW is much smaller
than at J1
•
The expo and keynote areas are reversed between Moscone South and North.
•
The Expo at OOW is very busy, with all the big names in SIs, hardware, software, etc.
•
No more bean bags at the bottom of the stairs.
•
The developer track is 6 blocks away, at the San Francisco Hilton.
Really, the two conferences can't be more different.
Also check out
some pictures I took.
Virtual Box y VDI para ofrecer un nuevo nivel de productividad y seguridad - al igual que Sun hizo para 21.000 escritorios virtuales en la JavaOne de este año.
La gestión de IT constantemente le
pide que haga más con menos. Tradicionalmente, la atención se ha
centrado en el hardware: retorciendo más productividad de los
servidores, la consolidación de sistemas para reducir costos, y así
sucesivamente. Pero también hay oportunidades para ahorrar dinero y
mejorar la eficiencia permitiendo a la gente hacer más con menos -
en particular cuando se trata de la gestión de entornos de
escritorio.
Visualizar un entorno virtualizado
En
el servidor de la misma manera y sistemas de almacenamiento pueden
ser virtualizados para aunar recursos y mejorar las tasas de
utilización, los entornos de escritorio puede ser virtualizado para
mejorar la productividad del usuario final, manejabilidad y
seguridad.
A través de productos de virtualización como el
software VirtualBox, un único escritorio puede alojar múltiples
sistemas operativos y realizar diferentes tipos de puestos de
trabajo. Así, un PC con Windows ya no es sólo un PC - También
puede ejecutar el sistema operativo de Macintosh en una ventana, en
otra Linux, OpenSolaris, y en otro.
Por otra parte, con VirtualBox el
dispositivo de escritorio ya no se limita al número de CPU físicas.
Puede ser configurado con CPUs virtuales (hasta 32 CPUs virtuales en
un único sistema) o puede aprovechar la potencia de procesamiento de
grandes servidores.
Y con VirtualBox el dispositivo de
escritorio ya no está sujeto a las amenazas a la seguridad lo mismo
que un ordenador, porque los entornos virtuales están aislados del
medio natural y pueden ser desechados en cualquier momento. Así, los
usuarios pueden sentirse libres para probar un nuevo software o
descargar programas en un entorno virtual sin correr el riesgo de
contaminación de la máquina anfitriona.
Puedes incluso
probar un nuevo sistema operativo, como Windows 7 o la última
versión de OpenSolaris, o iniciar una instancia de un sistema
operativo heredado, como OS / 2, sin alterar nada o de poner los
recursos en riesgo.
Piense en el dispositivo de escritorio
como una casa con habitaciones diferentes para propósitos
diferentes: una "oficina" donde el trabajo se mantenga
separado del material de origen; "habitaciones familiares",
donde cada miembro de la familia tiene su propio espacio y pueden
hacer / romper cosas a voluntad zonas (ideal para los adolescentes);
"segura" donde se pueden hacer transacciones financieras
con total seguridad, incluso un "gabinete de limpieza" que
limpia los otros espacios en el fondo.
Igualmente importante,
a través de la capacidad de gestión de productos como Virtual
Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), la administración de los entornos de
escritorio virtual puede ser centralizado y racionalizado, ahorrando
tiempo y gastos administrativos. Desde equipos de sobremesa son el
centro anfitrión, sólo la pantalla, se envía al dispositivo
cliente, los datos críticos nunca sale de la red de la empresa y
puede ser administrado y respaldado por IT.
Ejemplo: Sun VirtualBox y Sun VDI en
JavaOne
Para comprender mejor el real potencial mundial de
VirtualBox de Sun y Sun VDI, miremos el ejemplo en cómo Sun
gestionó 21.000 escritorios virtuales para los asistentes de la
conferencia JavaOne de este año en San Francisco.
Sun instaló cientos de Sun Ray en
todas las zonas del Centro Moscone, donde se celebró la conferencia
JavaOne.Cada asistente se le dio una tarjeta
inteligente, como parte de su registro kit de bienvenida. Para
acceder a su casa o escritorios de trabajo de las Sun Rays, todo lo
que tenía que hacer era insertar la tarjeta inteligente en el más
próximo Sun Ray y elegir el tipo de escritorio virtual que querían:
Windows 7, Ubuntu Linux, o de OpenSolaris.
La primera vez que el usuario hizo la
elección, y elegió la máquina virtual de escritorio (VM) se ha
creado sobre la base de una plantilla de Sun VDI. La configuración
de máquina virtual se almacena en una base de datos MySQL, y la
imagen de disco virtual fue rápidamente clonado a partir de la
plantilla. Luego, Sun VDI eligió un servidor VirtualBox, puso en
marcha la nueva máquina virtual en el servidor, y autenticado en el
disco virtual. Cuando el usuario retira su tarjeta inteligente, la
máquina virtual se suspende después de un corto período de tiempo,
liberando recursos para otros usuarios. Re-inserción de la tarjeta
inteligente re-lanzado el escritorio virtual creado previamente, y la
máquina virtual fue restaurado desde el disco.
Como muchos
administradores están obligados a gestionar estos 21.000 escritorios
virtuales? Un gran total de dos.
Y el hardware de cuánto de alta
potencia se necesita para ejecutar todo? Un solo rack, con cuatro
servidores VDI (servidores Sun Fire X4450, cada uno con cuatro CPUs y
64 GB de memoria), cinco servidores VirtualBox (servidores Sun Fire
X4450, cada uno con cuatro CPUs, seis núcleos por CPU y 64 GB de
memoria). Esta configuración, por cierto, resultó ser excesiva para
las necesidades!
A Smarter Way to Manage Desktops
Many folks reading this will be familiar with Sun's Virtualbox desktop hypervisor. With an install base of over 16M and more than 1M new downloads each month, this free (for personal use) Open Source Type 2 hypervisor is quickly becoming an attractive alternative to more established closed source offerings. VirtualBox is fast, extremely lightweight, runs on virtually all host operating environments and supports over 30 different guest OSes. The latest 3.0.6 release download for my Intel equipped MacBook Pro was just under 63 MBytes in size, significantly smaller than either Parallels or VMware Fusion.
Perhaps less well known is how Sun has combined VirtualBox with our Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and stateless Sun Ray thin-client technologies to offer a highly integrated, low-cost virtual desktop solution. Sun showcased this technology at this year's JavaOne conference in San Francisco by hosting 21,000 virtual machines with the choice of Windows 7, Ubuntu Linux, or OpenSolaris desktop environments. Even more impressive is that Sun managed to support this entire environment with only 2 system administrators.
As enterprises embrace desktop virtualization as a way to improve security, lower administrative costs, decrease hardware footprints and increase server utilization, VirtualBox combined with Sun's VDI and Sun Ray technologies should be on the short list of candidates for those on a limited budget and especially for those interested in creating a Windows Desktop as a Service offering with support for remote clients attaching over the public Internet. VirtualBox's built-in RDP support allows remote RDP clients full access all the way down to each guest Virtual Machine's console. Sun's VDI infrastructure communicates with the client using RDP but talks to the Sun Ray Thin-client using the highly efficient ALP Sun Ray display protocol which greatly improves display performance over WAN distances. Together, these features provide unique advantages both for enterprises and for this emerging desktop service business model.
|
|
