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The OverAchiever: Mountain o' Mounts in Northrend
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we continue the Mountain o' Mounts grind in Northrend. Bad news, folks: Once you've made your way through your own faction's basic ground mounts and the array of options available in Outland, you've largely exhausted the supply of factions that will offer you tons of mounts just because they like you. The closest you'll get is the Argent Tournament, which offers lots of mounts but a relatively long grind for most of them, even if you're already exalted with your home factions. Past this point, count on doing reputation grinds for only a few mounts at most. However, the bite doesn't feel as bad in Northrend, in no small part because Dalaran and Argent Tournament quartermasters will sell you Commendation badges for the Argent Crusade, Ebon Blade, Kirin Tor, Sons of Hodir, and Wyrmrest Accord in return for 16 justice points. Each badge gives you 520 reputation, and it's a great way to bleed off extra JPs you're sitting on, if spending lots of time in Northrend isn't on your to-do list. Also read: Combining The Ambassador and Mountain O' Mounts and Mountain O' Mounts in Outland
Google hires Java founder James Gosling amid Oracle infringement suit - ah, snap!
And the war wages on... We've been reporting on the showdown between Oracle and Google over Java-related patent infringement since its inception, and now El Goog's throwing a little extra excitement into the fray by hiring Java founder, and former VP of Sun Microsystems, James Gosling. When Oracle acquired Sun last year, Gosling, who refused to take part, wasn't shy about expressing his views, calling Oracle's Larry Ellison "Larry, Prince of Darkness." On a post to his blog, which has since crashed, Gosling was vague about his new duties saying simply, "I don't know what I'll be working on. I expect it'll be a bit of everything, seasoned with a large dose of grumpy curmudgeon." That's just the kind of smack talking this scuffle needed to keep things interesting. Long live James Gosling!
IcedRobot Android fork to sidestep legal battle between Oracle, Google
We'd prepared ourselves for a drawn-out legal battle between Oracle and Google when we heard the former was suing the latter for Java-related copyright infringement, but fortunately for Android enthusiasts, not everyone was so resigned. A team of developers are working on an Android fork called IcedRobot (yep, that's the logo) to separate the offending Dalvik Virtual Machine from the OS, hopefully circumventing this epic argument altogether. The project seeks to create a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that is based on OpenJDK (an open-source implementation of Java), avoiding Oracle's Apache Harmony, and to allow Android to run on just about any PC with the use of Hotspot, another device non-specific JVM using open-source Java. It's a tall order, and the devilish little Android has already gained a healthy amount of tech industry skepticism, but we're interested to see if these guys can make it work. Either way, we're pretty sure we've still got years of legal volleying to go before Google and Oracle can play nice again -- this ain't no People's Court, folks.
Bloomberg: RIM working to let BlackBerry PlayBook run Android apps, but Dalvik's not the way
We'd heard sweet, sweet rumors that RIM would include a Java virtual machine in the BlackBerry PlayBook and even bring Android apps on board -- and lo and behold, Bloomberg's corroborating those claims with no fewer than three anonymous sources. Where the new rumor diverges is that the Dalvik virtual machine used in Google's OS reportedly won't be part of the formula; RIM considered it, these sources say, but decided it didn't want to get involved in the Oracle / Google legal fracas. Apparently, the company's working on this secret project in-house and targeting a possible release in the second half of the year. We have to say, the ready availability of roughly 200,000 Android programs could be quite the shot in the arm if WebWorks and AIR don't produce killer apps right away.
Android source code, Java, and copyright infringement: what's going on?
So it's been a fun day of armchair code forensics and legal analysis on the web after Florian Mueller published a piece this morning alleging Google directly copied somewhere between 37 and 44 Java source files in Android. That's of course a major accusation, seeing as Oracle is currently suing Google for patent and copyright infringement related to Java, and it prompted some extremely harsh technical rebuttals, like this one from ZDNet and this one from Ars Technica. The objections in short: the files in question are test files, aren't important, probably don't ship with Android, and everyone is making a hullabaloo over nothing. We'll just say this straight out: from a technical perspective, these objections are completely valid. The files in question do appear to be test files, some of them were removed, and there's simply no way of knowing if any of them ended up in a shipping Android handset. But -- and this is a big but -- that's just the technical story. From a legal perspective, it seems very likely that these files create increased copyright liability for Google, because the state of our current copyright law doesn't make exceptions for how source code trees work, or whether or not a script pasted in a different license, or whether these files made it into handsets. The single most relevant legal question is whether or not copying and distributing these files was authorized by Oracle, and the answer clearly appears to be "nope" -- even if Oracle licensed the code under the GPL. Why? Because somewhere along the line, Google took Oracle's code, replaced the GPL language with the incompatible Apache Open Source License, and distributed the code under that license publicly. That's all it takes -- if Google violated the GPL by changing the license, it also infringed Oracle's underlying copyright. It doesn't matter if a Google employee, a script, a robot, or Eric Schmidt's cat made the change -- once you've created or distributed an unauthorized copy, you're liable for infringement.* Why does this matter? Because we're hearing that Oracle is dead-set on winning this case and eventually extracting a per-handset royalty on every Android handset shipped. In that context, "those files aren't important!" isn't a winning or persuasive argument -- and the more these little infringements add up, the worse things look for Google. Whether or not these files are a "smoking gun" isn't the issue -- it's whether Android infringes Oracle's patents and copyrights, since the consequences either way will be monumental and far-reaching. Ultimately, though, the only person who can resolve all of this for certain is a judge -- and it's going to take a lot more time and research to get there. -- *They're not directly comparable, but think about the Psystar case for a second. Even though Psystar desperately wanted to argue that Apple's OS X license agreement was invalid, the judge never got there -- he simply ruled Psystar wasn't authorized to copy and distribute OS X, and swung the hammer. It really is that simple sometimes.
Oops: Android contains directly copied Java code, strengthening Oracle's case (updated)
Florian Mueller has been killing it these past few months with his analysis of various tech patent suits on his FOSSpatents blog, and today he's unearthed a pretty major bombshell: at least 43 Android source files that appear to have been directly copied from Java. That's a big deal, seeing as Oracle is currently suing Google for patent and copyright infringement in Android -- which isn't a hard case to prove when you've got 37 Android source files marked "PROPRIETARY / CONFIDENTIAL" and "DO NOT DISTRIBUTE" by Oracle / Sun and at least six more files in Froyo and Gingerbread that appear to have been decompiled from Java 2 Standard Edition and redistributed under the Apache open source license without permission. In simple terms? Google copied Oracle's Java code, pasted in a new license, and shipped it. Now, we've long thought Google's odd response to Oracle's lawsuit seemingly acknowledged some infringement, so we doubt this is a surprise in Mountain View, but we're guessing handset vendors aren't going to be so thrilled -- especially since using Android has already caused companies like HTC and Motorola to be hit with major patent lawsuits of their own. We'll see what happens, but in the meantime you should definitely hit up Florian's site for the full dirt -- it's some 47 pages worth of material, and it's dense, but if you're into this sort of thing it's incredibly interesting. Update: It appears things aren't this simple, but they're still not great. Check here for the latest.
Perfect World launches Legend of Martial Arts
The MMO machine that is Perfect World Entertainment has churned another title off the publishing assembly line. The new game is called Legend of Martial Arts (formerly known as Kung Foo! during beta) and it's now live and available for direct download or via bit torrent. The game features various martial arts disciplines, a demonic race called Reavers that offer players a choice between Berserker and Oracle classes, and a unique transformation mechanic that ranges from the aesthetic to the practical (via character attribute buffs and skills). Legend of Martial Arts also boasts a PvE dungeon matchmaking system, PvP-specific dungeons, and a legendary weapon system that features leader boards and the chance to earn unique items. Check out the official website for more details on the free-to-play title.
Java isn't dead on OS X as Apple contributes to OpenJDK
Were you worried about Apple's commitment to Java? Today's press release from Cupertino may make you feel a little better. It seems Oracle (who bought Sun and thus Java back in 2009) and Apple are going to support the OpenJDK project going forward. You can read the full press release below, but the practical upshot is that Java on the Mac is far from being dead. It's a good thing, too, because Java is still widely used for writing applications that need to be easily deployed across a multitude of platforms. Show full PR text REDWOOD SHORES and CUPERTINO, California-November 12, 2010-Oracle and Apple® today announced the OpenJDK project for Mac OS® X. Apple will contribute most of the key components, tools and technology required for a Java SE 7 implementation on Mac OS X, including a 32-bit and 64-bit HotSpot-based Java virtual machine, class libraries, a networking stack and the foundation for a new graphical client. OpenJDK will make Apple's Java technology available to open source developers so they can access and contribute to the effort. "We are excited to welcome Apple as a significant contributor in the growing OpenJDK community," said Hasan Rizvi, Oracle's senior vice president of Development. "The availability of Java on Mac OS X plays a key role in the cross-platform promise of the Java platform. The Java developer community can rest assured that the leading edge Java environment will continue to be available on Mac OS X in the future. Combined with last month's announcement of IBM joining the OpenJDK, the project now has the backing of three of the biggest names in software." "We're delighted to be working with Oracle to insure that there continues to be a great version of Java on the Mac," said Bertrand Serlet, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. "The best way for our users to always have the most up to date and secure version of Java will be to get it directly from Oracle." Apple also confirmed that Java SE 6 will continue to be available from Apple for Mac OS X Snow Leopard® and the upcoming release of Mac OS X Lion. Java SE 7 and future versions of Java for Mac OS X will be available from Oracle. Java is a general purpose software development platform that is specifically designed to be open and enable application developers to "write once, run anywhere." The Java platform is most widely used in business software, web and mobile applications.
Apple contributing to OpenJDK project, ensures continued Java availability on OS X
As of just a few weeks ago, Java's legacy of write once, debug everywhere was looking in doubt. Apple's flavor of the Java 6 runtime was deprecated and all those .class and .jar files on Macs were looking like they'd swirl to a lingering death in the great coffee pot in the sky. That all changes today with an announcement from both Apple and Oracle that Cupertino developers will "contribute most of the key components" for OpenJDK Java SE 7 implementations on 32- and 64-bit flavors of OS X, with runtime virtual machines set to cover both Snow Leopard and the upcoming Lion release. Additionally, Apple will continue to make the SE 6 version of Java available, while Oracle will take over responsibility for ownership and distribution of version 7 and those to come. Makes sense -- Apple might be pulling away from the enterprise and server markets, but there are lots of Java devs using Mac OS X out there, and it's only natural for Oracle to pick up support for them.
Apple quietly deprecates OS X's factory-fitted Java
In an announcement on developer.apple.com, Apple states that "As of the release of Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3, the version of Java that is ported by Apple, and that ships with Mac OS X, is deprecated." It now seems likely that OS X 10.7 will not have a Java install built into the OS, although the current runtime will continue to be supported during the regular support cycles for Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6. This is not all that surprising. In the early days of OS X, Apple was keen on Java, supporting it as a full-fledged alternative to Objective C for application development. Over the years, though, its enthusiasm waned; we saw longer and longer gaps between updates and an official discontinuation of the Java-Cocoa bridge in 2006. Client-side Java on OS X has been effectively moribund for a long time now (with one standout exception in recent times). Update: commenter David Emery quite rightly points out that NeoOffice is significant too. Server-side Java on OS X, however, is a small but non-zero market. Currently, Oracle (which acquired Java developer Sun in 2009) offers Java installations for Windows, Linux, and Solaris; it remains to be seen if it or one of the handful of third-parties offering JVMs (like IBM) will step up and ship an OS X version of their product. There are also open source implementations that flesh out the not-quite-complete OpenJDK distribution to make it fully usable and Java SE 6 compliant, like IcedTea; none of those yet exist as packages for Mac OS X, but that could certainly change. Thanks to Hendrik Schreiber for sending this in.
Google responds to Oracle's Android patent lawsuit, we break it down
It's been just over a month and a half since Oracle first sued Google for infringing various Java-related patents in Android, and the big G's just filed its official response to the lawsuit after calling it "baseless." For the most part, it's a pretty standard answer to a patent complaint: Google says Android doesn't infringe any of Oracle's patents, and even if it does, those patents are invalid and / or unenforceable for a variety of reasons anyway, so, you know, shove it. That's basically all Google -- or any patent defendant -- needs to say in the answer, and if that was it, we'd just note it and move on with our lives. But we were struck by the factual background section, which reads to us like Google's geared up for war: it basically accuses Sun and Oracle of not playing fair when it comes to Java's open-source license situation and directly implies that parts of Android are based on code that might require a patent license. It's a little wonky, but let's break it down:
Dell's Looking Glass tablet gets another chance to shine (video)
The elusive Looking Glass might have dodged the zoom lenses yesterday, but luckily, the good folks at Oracle managed to tape Michael Dell's lightning demo (pun totally intended) with a close-up shot. From what we can see, the volume rocker is located at the top side of the tablet, right next to what could potentially be a switch for screen rotation lock or silent mode; the headphone jack appears to be on the left-hand side of the device, which makes sense -- we can't imagine this beastly device fitting into a pocket of any sorts, otherwise. Sadly, we can't confirm whether this 7-inch Android tablet uses the same PDMI port as featured on the Streak, nor can we see what's on the back -- we caught a glimpse of something shiny, but the leaked spec sheet we came across some time ago doesn't mention a back camera. Anyhow, you can catch this big daddy in action right after the break -- about 1:27 into the clip.%Gallery-103167%
Michael Dell teases new 7-inch Android tablet, says Streak to land in Best Buy next month (update: pic)
Oh Michael, such a teaser you are. Word has it that the head honcho of Dell Inc. has just pulled out yet another Android tablet from his pocket, only this time it's a 7-inch whopper. Sadly, Mr. Dell left us high and dry with dates and specs (and the lack of photos from the event doesn't help, either), but we'll bet you that this is the long-rumored Looking Glass. On a more solid note, Dell also announced that the smaller Streak is heading to Best Buy next month. That's great, except some of us would rather see the tabletphone getting its share of Froyo sooner -- here's hoping that this bigger tablet won't disappoint us with an outdated OS. Update: As it just so happens, Reuters snapped a pic of Mr. Dell himself holding the tablet on stage, and sure enough, it resembles that leaked Looking Glass even from quite a distance away.
HP and Oracle kiss, make up, agree that Mark's better off with Larry
Guess it wasn't "virtually impossible" for Oracle and HP to work together after all -- the two companies have settled their little tiff over disgraced former HP CEO Mark Hurd. According to the statement we just received, Oracle and HP have "reaffirmed their long-term strategic partnership" and have decided that ol' Mark can "protect HP's confidential information while fulfilling his responsibilities at Oracle." Mark will also visit HP every other weekend and attend at least 50 percent of its Little League games. Honestly, we're kind of sad this is over, since that means Larry Ellison won't have any reason to call everyone "idiots" anymore. On second thought, he'll probably figure something out. Update: Our friend Kara Swisher at All Things Digital reports that Mark's given up the $30-40m worth of stock options he got in his severance from HP. Sad... until you realize he gets to keep at least $12m in cash and work for Oracle directly competing with the company that ran him out of town. Nice.
HP sues former CEO Mark Hurd, doesn't want him working at Oracle
Hey, remember when HP fired former CEO Mark Hurd for fudging his expense reports in connection with some shady potential hanky-panky surrounding a former marketing contractor? And then gave him a $40-50m severance package that included $12m in straight cash to keep his mouth shut and not sue anyone? And then Oracle CEO Larry Ellison called HP's board "idiots" for firing Hurd? Well, over the weekend Larry put his money where his mouth is and hired ol' Mark as Oracle's new president, and that seems to have been the last straw for HP -- the company just announced that it's suing Mark Hurd for breach of contract and "threatened misappropriation of trade secrets." HP says that Hurd was deeply involved in creating HP's business plans for the next two years, including specific plans to compete with Oracle in the enterprise market, and that there's no way Hurd can do his job at Oracle without revealing trade secrets and other confidential information he agreed to keep under wraps when he signed his employment contract with HP. What's more, he reaffirmed those commitments when he signed his severance package, so that's a double whammy -- and although California is usually pretty hostile to noncompete agreements, HP's trying to say Hurd violated one of those, too. HP's asked the court to prevent Hurd from working for Oracle or any other competitors at all, so we're guessing this one's going to be a fight -- we'll let you know if Larry Ellison says something bonkers again anything good happens. P.S.- The WSJ piece linked in More Coverage says there's no noncompete agreement in play here, but we're reading the complaint and HP specifically references a protective covenant forbidding Hurd from working for a competitor under certain conditions -- that certainly looks like a noncompete clause to us.
Google calls Oracle Android lawsuit 'baseless,' says Java goes 'beyond any one corporation'
Oracle's decision to sue Google for infringing its patents and copyright on Java in Android has certainly stirred up a hornets' nest of commentary and analysis on the web today, but it's only just now that we've received Google's official statement, in which the search giant calls the suit "baseless" and vows to "defend open-source standards." Them's fightin' words -- and considering the Dalvik virtual machine at the heart of the Android OS is the centerpiece of this dispute, we wouldn't expect either side to back down quietly here. Get ready for years of litigation, friends. Here's Google's full statement: We are disappointed Oracle has chosen to attack both Google and the open-source Java community with this baseless lawsuit. The open-source Java community goes beyond any one corporation and works every day to make the web a better place. We will strongly defend open-source standards and will continue to work with the industry to develop the Android platform.
Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android
It's no secret that Android and the Dalvik virtual machine it uses are heavily based on Java, and it looks like Oracle isn't so happy about it: the database giant (which acquired Java when it bought Sun) just announced that it's suing Google for copyright and patent infringement. The suit alleges Android violates some seven patents and contains copies of Sun's original Java code -- a damning accusation given that Google CEO Eric Schmidt once led the Java team before leaving Sun and eventually arriving in Mountain View. Oracle says Google's known about these issues for around five years now, so it's clear that whatever licensing negotiations these two were having have broken down -- we've got a feeling this case will drag on for years to come, but we'll definitely keep an eye on it. [Image courtesy of Chris Onstad and Achewood]
Ce-Oh no he didn't!: Larry Ellison likens HP board to 'idiots' at Apple
Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO and regular tennis buddy of the disgraced (and now former) chief of HP Mark Hurd, has decided to share his thoughts on the matter of Hurd's departure in an impassioned email to the New York Times: "The H.P. board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago. That decision nearly destroyed Apple and would have if Steve hadn't come back and saved them." The communique, also obtained by the Mercury News, included other tasty tidbits such as Ellison describing HP's disclosure of the apparently unfounded sexual harassment claim against Hurd as "cowardly corporate political correctness," and dismissing the financial irregularities that forced the former CEO's resignation as "petty expenses report errors." So, in short, the world according to Larry is populated by messianic CEOs who shouldn't be held up to the same petty standards as the rest of us.
Secunia ranks Apple first in software insecurity, Safari said to have AutoFill vulnerability
Bad news, Oracle. You've slipped to second place for the first time in years. The good news is that it's in Secunia's ranking of the top ten companies with the most software vulnerabilities, which is now topped by Apple -- Microsoft remains in third place, followed by HP and Adobe. According to Secunia, Apple's vulnerabilities are mostly not in OS X, but in Safari, iTunes and other applications. What's important to note, however, is that Secunia's definition of "vulnerability" doesn't simply include dangerous, exploitable vulnerabilities, so the rankings don't necessarily indicate which software is the most insecure from a user's point of view. One vulnerability that is potentially serious, however, is an issue with Safari's AutoFill feature recently discovered by Jeremiah Grossman of WhiteHat Security. According to Grossman, a malicious website can exploit the feature to pull data from a user's address book without their knowledge, which has been demonstrated to take "mere seconds" by a bit of proof of concept code (you can try out yourself if you're feeling trusting). Grossman also says he's informed Apple of the vulnerability but hasn't received a response, and suggests that the only "fix" in the meantime is to turn off the AutoFill feature completely. Update: AllThingsD has a statement from Apple on the AutoFill issue -- a spokesperson says "we take security and privacy very seriously," and that, "we're aware of the issue and working on a fix."
Official: Dalaran Children's Week quests not repeatable this year
Blizzard has officially stated that the issue with not being able to complete the Dalaran Children's Week quests this year, if you did them last year, will not be resolved before the holiday is over. They are not saying this is how it is supposed to work, but that they cannot fix it in time. Bornakk -- Dalaran Children's Week Quest Line Issue We are aware of the issue that is currently affecting the Children's Week quest line in Dalaran which does not allow players who have completed the quest line last year to take part in it again this year. We do not currently have a fix planned to address this issue at this point in time. source Bashlok -- Dalaran Children's Week Quest Line Issue To clarify, this issue won't be able to be resolved for Children's Week this year. If you completed the quest previously you won't be able to complete it again for the other pet this year. source