Should the European Commission endorse an opt-in policy for junk e-mail that would allow companies to send commercial messages only if requested by the user, or should it endorse an opt-out policy requiring users to unsubscribe from commercial mailings that they never asked to receive? The issue could be settled in a commission meeting tomorrow in Brussels, and, as The Register points out: “Because of the status of the Citizens’ Rights and Freedoms, Justice and Home
Affairs Committee, whatever it decides tomorrow is likely to be rubber-stamped by
the full Parliament.” With ten nations backing opt-out and only five behind opt-in, the decision as to what will be adopted is depressingly obvious.

San Jose, California – July 10th, 2001 – Qbizm Technologies, Inc., a leading visual component framework provider, today announced that it has joined the growing number of tool vendors building extensions to Sun Microsystems’ Forte[tm] for Java[tm] integrated development environment (IDE). Qbizm’s “dynamic face” component framework HyperQbs[tm] extends the Forte for Java product to provide customers with a single platform for developing and assembling server-side user interface components from visual graphical user interface (GUI) components. When constructing a web site that provides a complex GUI, developers often create special purpose infrastructure that simplifies re-using form parts and facilitates the process of applying sweeping changes to style and behavior to all of a site’s GUI elements. Over time, the specialized infrastructure created to support all of these tasks tends to take on a life of its own. Unfortunately the idiosyncratic qualities of a particular site’s GUI software make it difficult to take advantage of generic purpose programming tools and environments, leaving developers with inefficient, tedious and hard-to-maintain code. Qbizm Technologies addresses these issues with its award-winning component framework HyperQbs and dynamic face technology.

“Joining Sun?s Forte for Java Extension Partner Program is a natural step in complementing our JavaServer[tm] Faces framework with a widely adopted visual development tool,” said Peter K. Ulrich, CEO and president of Qbizm Technologies, Inc. “We are excited to work together with Sun Microsystems in bridging the current market gap and being one of the first to market in implementing the new JavaServer Faces specification described in JSR-127, which is under development in the Java Community Process[SM].”

“The quality and innovation of Qbizm’s visual component framework made the company an ideal candidate to enhance the Forte for Java product,” said David Taber, director of portal and business development, Forte Tools, Sun Microsystems. “Now our users have direct access to a wide selection of modules and components from within the Forte for Java IDE. We are also impressed with Qbizm’s dynamic face technology, providing a new dimension to server-side GUI component architecture.”

Qbizm Technologies, Inc. (http://www.qbizm.com) is an infrastructure company enabling developers to develop and non-programmers to visually assemble enterprise scale front-end applications from reusable GUI components. Its world class dynamic face component framework, HyperQbs[tm], extends Java[tm] 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition-compliant application servers while providing them a a single platform standardized approach to rapid front-end development, assembly and maintenance. The unique and future-proof dynamic face technology automatically adjusts application?s visual content representation and behaviour based on users? browsing devices and personalization profiles (HTML browser, PDA, WAP, SMS, voice, Flash etc.) reducing development costs significantly even for yet non-existent devices and protocols. Qbizm is a privately held company headquartered in the heart of California?s Silicon Valley with R&D labs located in Central Europe.

# # #
Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, JavaServer and Forte are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

HyperQbs is a registered trademark of Qbizm Technologies, Inc. All other names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information refer to:

Qbizm Technologies, Inc.
2033 Gateway Place
Suite 500
San Jose, California 95110
USA
press@qbizm.comhttp://www.qbizm.com
http://www.hyperqbs.org

The Register: “German techies Fully Licensed GmbH claim – convincingly – to have unravelled
the Windows Product Activation (WPA) system used in the latest versions of
Microsoft software, including Office XP and Windows XP. The bottom line,
according to the company, is that WPA is not particularly intrusive, does not invade
anybody’s privacy, and is a lot more forgiving of hardware changes than has been
speculated.”

ZDNet News: “People who downloaded Netscape Communications’ SmartDownload software are not
bound by an online contract because they did not specifically agree to it, a federal judge
has ruled.

The decision, which touches on the validity of commonly used Web contracts known as
click-wrap licenses, clears the way for the plaintiffs to sue Netscape for tinkering with their
computers without their consent.”

SF Gate: “If the recording industry thought Napster was a
headache, it’s going to get a genuine migraine from the
latest version of Gnucleus, a free Windows-based open
source software program released last month for the
Gnutella file-sharing network. Because it can’t be shut down, the new Gnucleus
software promises to finally force a day of reckoning for
the music industry.”

Sun Microsystems has discovered a problem with some Sun Ray 1 network devices that can cause the system to fail and/or emit a small amount of smoke. The company has started an exchange program to provide replacement systems for affected customers. The defects do not impact the Sun Ray 100 or 150 models. Full story from eWEEK.

Patrick Mullen writes “The Duke of URL has posted its review of Abit’s Siluro MX400. Abit’s Siluro MX400 is based on the GeForce2 MX400 chipset and sports 64 MB of 5.5 ns DDR SDRAM. The review covers benchmarks of both Linux and Windows performance.”

If, for some reason, you feel compelled to order Windows XP, Amazon.com won’t take your pre-order. ZDNet News reports that Microsoft pressured the Seattle-based online retailer to stop taking advance orders for the operating system, which doesn’t officially go on sale until October 25. An Amazon spokesperson said pre-ordering was halted because pricing hadn’t yet been confirmed, not because of anything Microsoft said or did.

Reuters (via ZDNet News): “U.S. officials scrambled to assure
businesses Friday that their confidential data had not
been compromised by a government Web site that
allegedly contained security holes.” The site, hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, was set up to encourage businesses to enroll in a program that would enhance their own online security services.

GBdirect, a Linux and Open Source training service provider,has posted a short report and a few pictures from Linux Expo London 2001. It’s a quick report, noting that there were fewer exhibiors this year, but noting that vendors who did make this year’s show were quite popular — especially the Kylix booth.