After all the fuss over the AACS trying to censor a certain 128-bit number that now has something over two million hits on Google, the folks at Freedom to Tinker would like to point out that you too can own your own integer.

They’ve set up a script that will generate a random number, encrypt a copyrighted haiku with it, and then deed the number back to you. You won’t get a copyright on the number or the haiku, but your number has become an illegal circumvention device under the DMCA, such that anyone subject to US law caught distributing it can be punished under the DMCA’s anti-trafficking section, for which the DMCA’s Safe Harbor provisions do not apply.

Source: Slashdot

When Sun announced its new Java FX scripting language Tuesday at the JavaOne trade show here, it looked to some like the company was trying to re-create what’s already being done more widely with Adobe Systems’ Flash and that Microsoft hopes to accomplish with its Silverlight software.

But Java FX, which is geared to make it easier to build flashy Web sites and Java desktop applications but which isn’t yet released as a final product, stands out from those competitors, Sun Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz argued at a news conference.

Java is already used on the servers that power many Internet sites and on the devices people use to tap into those systems, and businesses need that connection, Schwartz said.

At the JavaOne conference in San Francisco, Robert Brewin, Sun’s CTO of software, and NASA’s Patrick Hogan show off a new open-source geospatial browser that implements Java and incorporates NASA’s visualization technology. The new software also allows developers to create mashups.

As it rolled out its revamped Windows Live Hotmail Monday, Microsoft also promised it would deliver replacements for the Outlook Express and Windows Mail desktop clients along with new software to integrate Web mail with the corporate Outlook program.

Windows Live Mail will replace Outlook Express on Windows XP and Windows Mail on Vista in “the coming weeks,” said Microsoft. The program, which will handle POP, IMAP, and Windows Live Hotmail accounts, was characterized as a faster, more robust version of Windows Live Mail desktop beta, which has been in testing for Windows XP. The beta will be retired.

According to a Windows Live Mail blog, the new client will sport features from Outlook Express, Windows Mail, and the Windows Live Mail desktop beta.

Sun Microsystems Inc. announced Tuesday it has finished the process of making the bulk of its core Java technology available as open-source software under the GNU general public license version 2 (GPLv2). The vendor made the announcement at its JavaOne conference in San Francisco.

However, Sun hopes the open-source community will help it resolve the issue of Java source code that remains “encumbered,” where Sun doesn’t hold enough rights to release the code under GPLv2, according to Rich Sands, community marketing manager for OpenJDK community at Sun. While he declined to put a percentage on how much of Java’s 6.5 million lines of code are encumbered, Sands said the issue was primarily with Java 2D graphics technology, particularly around font and graphics rasterizing. While open-source alternatives are already available, they don’t currently support all the necessary features of the Java 2D API (application programming interface).

Scientists are eyeing the jet stream, an energy source that rages night and day, 365 days a year, just a few miles above our heads. If they can tap into its fierce winds, the world’s entire electrical needs could be met, they say.

The trick is figuring out how to harness the energy and get it down to the ground cost-effectively and safely.

Dozens of researchers in California and around the world believe huge kite-like wind-power generators could be the solution. As bizarre as that might seem, respected experts say the idea is sound enough to justify further investigation.