Java Standard Edition 7 Finally Released by Oracle

Oracle has finally shipped Java Platform Standard Edition 7, otherwise known as Java SE 7, in what is the first major update to the programming language in over five years. Oracle let news of this out in a company announcement yesterday. This is also the very first release of Java SE under the ownership of Oracle.

According to Oracle Chief Java Architect Mark Reinhold in a webcast earlier in the month, "We all know for various business and political reasons that this release has taken some time."

According to an estimate by Oracle, some 9 million developers from around the globe use Java. Tiobe Software also estimates that Java is the most widely used programming language in the world, bumping off C and obliterating C++ with twice as many users. Over 3 billion devices around the world run Java and it is deployed by 97% of enterprise desktops worldwide. In addition to that, the Java runtime is downloaded over a billion times each year.

Since Oracle acquired Java as part of its January 2010 acquisition of Sun Microsystems, the company has come under a lot of scrutiny from a plethora of different quarters for its management. Back in December, the Apache Software Foundation withdrew its participation from the Java Community Process, stating that Oracle did not govern Java as a truly open specification. Oracle has also sued Google for "inappropriate use of Java" in Google's Android mobile OS.

According to Senior Director of Engineering for Red Hat's Middleware Business and Red Hat's Primary Liaison for the JCP Mark Little, however, "The new release is solid, though it is more of an incremental release than anything else."

The new version of Java addresses many of the trends that have overtaken the field of computer programming over the past 10 years. It offers increasingly improved support for the growing number of non-Java dynamic languages that are designed to run on Java Virtual Machine. In addition to that, it also features an API for simplifying the task of running a program across multiple processor cores. Also, the range of actions that programs can take with file systems has been vastly improved as well.

Source: Computer World - Oracle releases Java SE 7

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Google Discontinuing Toolbar Support for Mozilla Firefox

Things between Firefox and Google have taken a turn for the awkward. Since its inception, Mozilla has always received a lot of funding from the search giant. However, analysts have been expecting Google to drop out of that role ever since the company launched its very own web browser, Google Chrome. Ever since Chrome was released and those analysts made their predictions, they have all been sorely disappointed, until now.

Google has just announced that the company will no longer include support for new versions of Firefox with its Google Toolbar. Many analysts' predictions have finally come true though this may spark another prediction, one that announcse that a new browser war has just been started.

However, that seems highly unlikely. The main reason Google is dropping support is due to the fact that Firefox already offers a lot of the benefits that the Google Toolbar offers, whether it be natively or through the immense amount of add-ons that Firefox offers.

Google is being very courteous about the dropping of support. The company will continue to offer Google Toolbar for older versions of Firefox and even created a webpage that was designed to help former users of Google Toolbar find similar functions in Firefox 5 and later versions yet to come. The Google Toolbar Blog has the full announcement if you are interested.

What do you think? Are you upset about Google dropping Google Toolbar support on later versions of Firefox? Or does the browser have enough of its own features to fill the gap? If you really can't live without the Google Toolbar, you can always switch to Google Chrome. It works well enough for me to work on every day.

Source: MaximumPC - Google Dumps Toolbar Support For Firefox

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Rent Computer Peripherals From Rentacomputer.com

Sometimes you only need computer technology for a short time, perhaps to augment your business's computing capacity during peak business seasons. Purchasing technology to meet such a temporary need involves taking on unnecessary expenditures, and inevitably leaves you or your business with a lot of superfluous technology after the need is fulfilled. So renting computer technology makes perfect sense for such ephemeral needs.

Not only can Rentacomputer.com procure any computer rental you might need, but they can also configure temporary solutions and technology packages that include computer peripherals as well.

What are Computer Peripheral Rentals?

Computer peripherals are any accessory items that you might want or need with your computer rental, whether you are renting a laptop, desktop, or tablet computer. Having the right accessory items with your rental can be crucial, and it is often the case that renters do not already have many of the accessories they might need to make their rental function in the capacity that they need it to.

Gigabit Switches

If your you Computer Rental consists of several or more computers that will be operated simultaneously by various users, then you might very well need a gigabit switch. This will allow you to connect your laptop rentals to one LAN source, which is invaluable if you need to have multiple users simultaneously connecting to the web. Our Tech Travel Agents typically recommend either an 8 Port 100/1000 Gigabit Switch or a 24 Port 100/1000 Gigabit Switch, depending on how many computers you are renting.

Wireless Routers

Wireless Routers are also a very important peripheral if you need to wirelessly connect your Computer Rental. These especially become valuable when you are putting together interactive trade show booths, or require event planners and maintenance personnel to stay connected via laptops or tablet computers. Wireless routers are also invaluable if you are setting up a temporary office. Our agents usually recommend a Cisco/Linksys 4 Port Wireless Router.

Computer Cable Locks

Security can often be an issue, especially if you are setting up a booth or kiosk with your computer rentals, where a lot of traffic will be passing by. You can ease your worries about the security of your rentals by adding cable locks to your rental configuration, so that you can lock down each unit and protect against theft.

Conference Phones

A very handy accessory to have when you need to keep in touch with multiple collaborators is a conference phone, whereby you can speak with the people you need to speak with all at once and expedite project logistics. Our Tech Travel Agents recommend getting a Polycom Soundstation for your conference speakerphone rental.

Wireless Presentation Mouse & Remotes

If you are getting a Laptop Rental for presentation purposes, then you should also consider getting a wireless mouse or remote added to your rental configuration. With these accessories you can have a lot more freedom while giving your presentation, instead of being tied down to wherever your computer is stationed.

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Google+ Making Some Big Developments

Just a few weeks out of the gate and Google+ is already becoming highly popular among its early adopters. It is estimated that as many as 5 million users are already a part of the service's user base with many websites opting to adopt the +1 button. However, despite all that, it is still unclear as to whether or not Google+ is here to stay or if it will fail just like Google's other attempts at social networking.

In the meantime, things are looking positive for Google+. If you have not signed up yet, or have been unable to, then you might want a little peek at what is going on inside the pages of the service. Here are five notable developments pertaining to Google+ since it launched.

Increase in Google+ Share Buttons
While Google+ may be nowhere near Facebook, it is giving Twitter a run for its money. According to different sources, there are already more Google+ Share buttons, or +1 buttons, on the internet than Twitter share plugins. In a search of the 10,000 most viewed websites, nearly 4.5% have +1 buttons while only 2.1% have Twitter buttons.

MySpace and Digg Heavy on Google+
Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, recently reported that he would be moving his domain, KevinRose.com, to his Google+ page, which will move his online activity to that network as well. In addition to Kevin Rose, MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson also has an extensive Google+ presence. Anderson's presence is so prevalent that he even used the service to write a blog post praising Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg for the site's recent integration of Skype.

Invites Stabilizing
Google+ was being so inundated with invites and such that Google started a habit of randomly turning the invites feature on and off, and it was getting rather annoying. Users also griped about how they would invite friends and when those individuals finally got around to checking out the network, the invite feature would be turned off. However, all that seems to have stabilized, for now at least. The invite link has remained unchanged and working since Saturday.

Tips and Tricks from Users
Some of the more dedicated users of Google+ have already joined forces and created a tips and tricks guide for Google+ known as Google+: A Collaborative Document, which can be found on Google Docs. The document is over 40 pages long and covers everything like creative ways to use circles, tips on privacy, how to send private messages and an extensive guide for Chrome and Safari. In addition to that, the guide, which is in English, is being translated into Chinese, German and Russian.

Business Pages Coming Soon
A lot of enterprises are supposedly very anxious to get into Google+ and Google is planning on opening up its social experiment to business pages in the "near future". A lot of people are wondering if when Google+ offers business pages, if Google Offers, Google's form of Groupon and Facebook Deals, will expand into Google+ as well.

So there you have it, five of the top things that have been happening on Google+ since it launched. If you haven't gotten an invite yet, you might want to start making more friends or find some way to get on the network. Even though Google+ is in a somewhat of a trial stage, it is already gaining immense popularity.

Source: PC World - Google+: 5 Big Developments

Power Point Projectors
Most business class projectors will do a good job displaying your PowerPoint presentation. If you have a small presentation group, a 2000 lumen LCD projector will be able to produce a nice and clear picture. For larger audiences you should consider a 5000 lumen LCD projector.

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Microsoft Increases Security of Outlook Hotmail Connector

Microsoft has recently boosted the security of a certain tool that allows Outlook users to send and receive messages via Microsoft's web-based Hotmail service. The new Outlook Hotmail Connector now supports HTTPS, a protocol which encrypts all traffic between the email client and the Windows Live Hotmail service.

Back in November of 2010, Microsoft added an all-HTTPS option to Hotmail, due in part as a reaction to Firesheep, a Firefox add-on released the month before which allowed anybody to scan an unsecured WiFi network and hijack other people's access to Facebook, Twitter and a whole bunch of other websites.

The update to the Outlook Hotmail Connector that was released this week is simply a follow-up to Microsoft's move back in 2010. According to Microsoft's Outlook team, "Using a connection with HTTPS helps you be even more confident that your account is safer from hijackers, and that your private information remains private."

This new tool encrypts communication between Outlook and the Windows Live email, calendar and contact services. Google's Gmail beat out Hotmail to the HTTPS by more than a few years. Gmail users have had this option of encrypting all Gmail traffic since 2008. However, in mid-January of 2010 Google enabled HTTPS by default on the same day it accused hackers from China of breaking into its systems and trying to access the Gmail accounts of human rights activists who lived in the country at the time.

In addition to this, Microsoft has also updated the consumer-grade Windows Live Mail to support HTTPS as well. Unlike its Outlook Express predecessor, which just so happened to be bundled with Windows XP, Windows Live Mail is an optional download for Windows Vista and Windows 7. Outlook Hotmail Connector can be downloaded in 32-bit or 64-bit versions for Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010 on Windows. There is no similar tool for outlook 2011, which was included with Office for Mac 2011.

The Windows Live Essentials update, which includes the HTTPS-enabled Windows Live Mail, is available here or on Microsoft's download website as well.

Source: Computer World - Microsoft beefs up Outlook-to-Hotmail security

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