Tim Bray, the director of Web technologies at Sun, said at the OpenOffice.org conference in Slovenia late last week that the file format developed by standards body OASIS has the potential to transform the world as much as the World Wide Web did.

In a conversation that began as a request to include the SAS Transport Layer in the mainline Linux kernel, there was an interesting thread regarding specifications. Linux creator Linus Torvalds began the discussion saying, "a 'spec' is close to useless. I have _never_ seen a spec that was both big enough to be useful _and_ accurate. And I have seen _lots_ of total crap work that was based on specs. It's _the_ single worst way to write software, because it by definition means that the software was written to match theory, not reality."

"You probably don't visit /var/log every day, or take care to ensure its contents - program log files - are safe. Most people see log files as a record of events: something that has to do with the past rather than something with an impact on the present or the future. In reality, effective log file management is critical for high system availability."

The next beta version of Microsoft's operating system is expected in November. The new beta version of Vista will have its graphic component a little bit readier than before as it's already time to start working on a user interface and the gaming part of the API.

It is evident open-source software has and will continue to impact the software industry and the business models of new and existing companies, as both start-ups and large entrenched players vie to keep ahead of open-source projects. For instance, Marc Fleury's JBoss came out of the blocks as a poster child for the open-source movement.

This series of articles teaches you about creating applications using Java technology, Eclipse, and the SWT and JFace libraries. In SWT and JFace Part 3 find out how to use tabular tree, canvas, styled text, slider, spinner, scale and other controls, as well as stack layouts. You might want to look at previous articles in this series. In SWT and JFace Part 1 learn how to to create simple SWT GUIs using Eclipse, Java, basic JFace controls and layouts. In SWT and JFace Part 2, learn how to use combo, list, table, and tree controls, as well as form layouts and reusable helper methods.

The Scrum methodology can pose a challenge for software testers who are used to more traditional waterfall-inspired development processes. Jonathan Kohl relates his experiences working on Scrum teams who found some clear advantages in changing their methods.

Ravindra Okade explores three different approaches to creating a .NET service: a timer-based service, a service using a single worker thread, and a service using multiple worker threads.

"Well, they've done it again. In prime-time. With malice aforethought. The duplicitous droogs, the denizens of deep-doodoo, I'm talking about Bill Gates' Microsoft: caught in a bald-faced lie about HD DVD-ROM discs. This is news? Not any more than the fact it's hot in Texas this summer or that Katrina caused a lot of damage. It is, after all, the Microsoft way: dishonesty in all things."

Another pre-release build of Mac OS X 10.4.3 was among the software seeds reportedly released by . Now at build 8F31, the third maintenance release to Tiger is is approaching 110MB in size and includes well over 500 minor fixes and enhancements. The frequency in which Apple has released new builds of the update indicates that a release is on tap for the first half of October.

E-Ink, the pioneering electronic paper developer that's been announcing handheld devices "in a year or so" since 2001, has quietly found a manufacturer for its screens, and is not only offering developer kits, they've got an actual mass-market product set to launch in China q4. The folks at Hong Kong-based Jinke, makers of the $299/E250 E-Ink devices, are so excited, they're talking a V2 model running Linux with an SDK that allows for user-created apps before next summer. Read more.

Microsoft and Intel last week tried to swing the computing, consumer electronics and entertainment industry toward HD DVD in a format war to establish a higher-capacity successor to today's DVD. It didn't work.

"No matter what strides the new generation of open-source companies make, they all owe a big debt to Torvalds. In 1991 the Finnish programmer started Linux as a project at the University of Helsinki. Fourteen years later the reverberations are still being felt." In this email interview Torvalds discusses his thoughts on where open source is heading and the challenges the Linux community faces.

"YellowTAB is proud to announce the immediate availability of the ZETA Demo CD. The CD gives users the chance to test ZETA without having to install any software. This lets prospective customers convince themselves of speed, security and simplicity of ZETA before purchasing the full version. The ZETA Demo CD costs EUR 9.95 ($12,-) and is available from regular ZETA resellers."