I read in the release notes that VirtualBox 3.0 has experimental support for DirectX – this is neat since some Windows games maybe able to now run inside a Windows guest running under VirtualBox. The fine print in the 3.0 manual however mentions you need to install the Guest Additions into Windows when it’s running in safe mode otherwise the DLLs get overridden.
Is Google’s App Engine redefining what we know as App Servers?
Java App servers are the do-it-all platforms for running hosted Java applications. Over the years they have grown with Java and the evolution of the EE APIs to provide services for everything including the kitchen sink.
Google’s AppEngine has been around for a while but I haven’t paid much attention up until now when they recently added support for Java applications. What is unusual at first glance though is this is not your typical Application Server hosting. This is not a EE server where you can upload your EAR ready to deploy. Google are taking a much more back to basics approach and providing their own implementations of APIs, including the JPA API for example to allow you to host a Java based application on the Google infrastructure and take advantage of Google’s technology.
I’m wondering depending on how successful this turns out to be whether this is going to grab the attention of the Java world as a whole, as make us start asking questions about the inherent complexity of building and deploying EE applications. It really shouldn’t be as hard as it is today, and I wonder if this is the start of a new direction for Java?
Microsoft resorts to vomit joke to market IE8
I’ve no idea what this ad is about. However, does Microsoft make me sick to the stomach every time I have to use Windows? Yes. Pretty accurate ad then I guess.
Palm Pre or an iPhone 3g S? Let The Register decide for you
The Register has an excellent point by point comparison of the Palm Pre and the iPhone 3G S. I must admit I was tempted by the Pre’s hardware keyboard, but this review says that the iPhone’s new onscreen keyboard in landscape mode is much better than the Pre.