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Simon writes:

In other words, Sun provides services, hardware, and software over and above the base level of value provided by its open-source software. Though Simon doesn’t explicitly state this–he notes that “each software team at Sun interprets this model in a slightly different way”–such additional value may well include proprietary software, like the MySQL Enterprise Monitor.

Sun appears to be intelligently walking this line, ensuring that its software is open but not, in every case, free (as in price and as in all-inclusive-perfect-software-that-obviates-the-need-for-the-customer-to-ever-pay-anyone-for-value-received). The extra value is optional–users can still get exceptional value from MySQL, for example, without paying Sun a dime. But Sun’s idea is that enough people will want this optional value that it can create a significant business with free software.

This is, of course, not a break with MySQL’s past, but rather a continuation of it. It’s also a fair trade-off, in my view, between customers that want to seriously scale Sun technology: if Sun/MySQL can offer value-added services that augment that scale and deployment, but don’t diminish others’ ability to achieve these results given enough time and money, who is hurt by this?

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Delivering value can take many forms, and nothing is absolutely forbidden unless it creates a barrier between download and deployment in any way.

Simon Phipps, chief open source officer at Sun Microsystems, has clarified the company’s business model for open-source software, including its MySQL database, suggesting that Sun’s revenue hinges on delivering, “for a fee, the means to create value between deploy and scale, for those who need it.”

These new tools are at the heart of Battle, a simple Flash game being released Thursday by the Multiverse Network, a virtual worlds middleware company.

One other important element of the toolset Multiverse provides, Bridges said, is a rendering engine that allows developers to generate Flash assets using the items from their 3D virtual worlds.

Developers of 3D virtual worlds and multiplayer games may soon have access to tools that would allow them to build connected, promotional 2D, Flash versions of the same games.

“The real benefit of this is that nobody’s ever created one tool that lets you have two views,” both 2D, in Flash, and 3D, into the same game, said David Fox, vice president of technology at casual games developer, iWin. “This lets (game designers) have a free trial version on the Web and a download for the 3D experience without having to create everything again.”

A simple Flash game that runs on Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, and Kongregate, Battle is really the showpiece behind new Multiverse technology that could, for the first time, make it possible for developers using its platform to build full-scale downloadable, virtual worlds or online games to create scaled-down, 2D, browser-based versions of the same titles and let players compete between them.

“The true innovation” of the Multiverse tools, Haik said, “is that it’s sort of an agnostic client, where if someone is in the Flash application, and someone else is in the 3D client, they can interact, and it doesn’t matter what the other one is running.”

“We’ve got a very small handful of our existing developers taking their (in-development) 3D worlds,” Bridges said, “and these developers are making a window into those worlds that can be done in Flash, and that’s a pretty interesting new way of thinking about a virtual world experience.”

“It’s really cool,” said Bridges. “We have a Web-based automated system where a development team just uses a Web page, uploads a 3D model, and back comes the generated Flash files. It’s a really quick way to convert a 3D game into a Flash game and make it look really, really good.”

Indeed, he added that he sees the 2D to 3D cross-over element of the tools being a good way to get players hooked on a game concept before convincing them to upgrade to a full 3D version. Yet, they would be able to play against people running the full 3D game in order to get a sense of what the entire experience might be like.

And while, as a platform company, Multiverse isn’t in business to create games itself, Bridges said Battle shows that a wide selection of games that previously had to be played using a downloadable client could now be played in the browser.

To some observers, the best thing about the technology underpinning Battle is the marketing opportunities game like it can offer larger, more complete 3D, downloadable multiplayer games and virtual worlds.

The immediate appeal to game developers of this innovation is being able to use the Multiverse tools to bring a wide variety of existing types of games to Flash, games that in the past required downloadable clients. And that could mean opening up such titles to far larger audiences, since many people don’t want to have to install special software in order to play casual games.

At the same time, Battle is also an example of what Multiverse co-founder Corey Bridges said was one of the first-ever multiplayer, real-time, action- or combat-based Flash games. To date, nearly all Flash multiplayer games have been turn-based, meaning only one person plays at a time, or have very basic game mechanics.

(Credit:
Multiverse Network)

And he said, Multiverse brings serious server technology to the table that runs separate from the various social networking sites, like Facebook and MySpace, and that is what enables the rich crossover experience.

Still, Bridges said he differentiated Multiverse’s tools by their ability to create real combat action in a game like Battle.

“This demonstrates that Flash is well on its way to becoming the default real-time interaction platform for the Web,” said Raph Koster, founder of Areae, which is making Metaplace, a platform that lets anyone design their own Flash-based virtual world, “and it enables more kinds of games than people generally think possible.”

Multiverse’s tools, he suggested, are geared mainly toward producing full-scale virtual worlds or massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), and therefore have much more scope for being used to create crossover between rich 3D games and 2D Flash versions.

Fox did add that he was “dubious” that Multiverse could deliver on that promise but, not knowing very much about the initiative, said, “the proof is in the pudding.”

Peter Haik, a co-founder of the virtual worlds development company, Metaversatility, which is using Multiverse’s tools in some of its projects, agreed with Bridges’ assessment of the Flash games market.

Haik said there are other multi-player Flash games, but they tend to be casual titles aimed at kids.

But Bridges indicated that proof is just around the corner.

As a tools company, Multiverse is not in the business of building games. But Bridges said the point of its building Battle itself was both to show off the latest set of features the platform offers, and to go through the process of using its own tools, so those inside the company know what its clients’ experiences are like.

Koster said that it’s clear that Multiverse is making important strides in developing new kinds of real-time, multiplayer Flash games, but said that others, including Metaplace itself, have created games enabling such types of play.

“Now, you can have proven genres of video games, really popular games, like shooters, real-time strategy, sports and things that exist on consoles or specially installed games,” Bridges said, and “those types of games can live in your Web browser without a download.”

‘Battle’ is a 2D, real-time, combat-oriented, multi-player, Flash game that will be the showpiece for a series of innovations for Multiverse Network, among which will be to give people the ability to interact between 2D and 3D versions of the same game.

Multiverse offers its development platform free of charge to anyone who wants it, and hopes to make money by levying a commission on any game made with its tools that charges a fee to play. To date, there are no publicly-launched games built with the Mutiverse tools, though Bridges said several are in beta and are close to being launched.

As of today, Metaplace is in closed beta, but hopes to be opening up to the general public before too long.

A handful of conference goers interviewed following Tuesday’s final keynote address from Apple cautiously endorsed the idea of an Apple-less Macworld, but said a lot would depend on how the show itself is constructed.

Click here for more Macworld Expo
coverage from CNET News.

Northern California resident Peter Speros, a cable technician in San Bruno, figured he would definitely stop by next year’s show, since it’s basically in his back yard. Speros has attended several Macworld Expos to get tips and information regarding his photography hobby, not so much for the Apple experience itself. Still, “it will be a shame not having Apple,” he said.

Macworld has always been about more than Apple to a certain degree: it’s a gathering place for the famously tight Mac community to swap stories, ideas, and have fun, said Sterett Prevost, leader of the Tucson, Arizona,
Mac users group. “I go to Macworld Expo for the Mac community, rather than Apple,” he said.

(Credit:
Tom Krazit/CNET News)

That means if IDG can find a way to keep Macworld profitable without Apple’s contributions, there might be a way to keep a small core group of Mac loyalists coming to San Francisco each January for Macworld. Macworld 2011 will probably have to be in something much smaller than the cavernous Moscone Center, which might bring the community closer together but would likely doom the show’s chances of remaining a must-see destination on the technology media calendar.

We might get an idea Wednesday evening, when IDG World Expo plans to hold a town-hall style meeting open to Macworld attendees to solicit ideas for the future of the show. Apple stunned IDG in December with its decision to pull out of the show completely. It also pulled CEO Steve Jobs from his usual starring role and had Phil Schiller deliver what was widely considered one of Apple’s most lackluster Macworld keynote speeches in years.

Test your Apple IQ

Photos: Inside Macworld 2009

Think you know all there is to know about Apple’s history? Put your knowledge about the Cupertino tech icon to the test.

But if Apple isn’t there to bankroll Macworld–the company is estimated to spend $25 million on the show and its booth is easily four times the size of any other–will there still be a place for the community to go? Lili Hampel, who came all the way to San Francisco from Melbourne, Australia, for Macworld 2009, isn’t so sure.

Macworld Expo will go on in 2010 without Apple’s participation, but what will it look like? And will anybody show up?

IDG will have some big shoes to fill without Apple at Macworld: will people still want to come?

“It’s different without Apple; it would be a big difference,” she said. Her partner, Les Posen, gives technical presentations on Apple’s Keynote software during Macworld, and their attendance at future events would depend at least in part on whether the instructional sessions that are a big part of Macworld would continue.

Take the quiz

Still, “we come here to meet people,” Hampel said.

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But it’s not just about large enterprises, as Fowler suggests:

Fowler goes on to explain how this particular company’s internal open-source experiment works. Needless to say, enabling internal code reuse through open-source processes can help enterprises save time and wring costs out of their internal development projects.

Let’s imagine a pretty world of SOA-happiness where the computing needs of an enterprise are split into many small applications that provide services to each other to allow effective collaboration. One fine morning a consumer service needs some information from a supplier service. The twist is that although the supplier service has the necessary data and processing logic to get this information, it doesn’t yet expose that information through a service interface. The supplier has a potential service, but it isn’t actually there yet.

In an ideal world the developers of the consumer service just asks the supplier service to develop the potential service and all is dandy. But life is not ideal - the sticking point here is that the developers of the supplier service have other things to do, usually things that are more important to their customer and management than helping out the consumer service team….[So one company took] a leaf out of the open source play-book and made all their services into internal open source systems. This allows consumer service developers write the service themselves.

In an interesting twist, however, Martin Fowler points to a different way to engage in open-source development that is unlikely to cause angst among one’s JD-ridden colleagues: intra-company open-source projects.

In a recent discussion with enterprise CTOs, I asked why they don’t contribute more code back to open-source projects. There were a variety of answers, but one of the biggest sticking points was a preference for avoiding their legal departments.

Think about it. A company like GE employs over 300,000 people, with wide-ranging subsidiaries and departments. A project built by GE Finance might have direct relevance to GE’s NBC Universal unit, for example, and greater efficiency can be created by providing open-source development methodologies within large companies. Indeed, this is what Collabnet and other open-source development infrastructure companies have long promised large enterprises.

Built-in navigation allows multiple units to work in robotic unison, thus doubling, and even tripling, indoor reconnaissance capacity, according to the Israel-based company. In fact, the standard kit comes with two complete units. It could replace K-9s in attack mode and other dangerous duties (PDF).

Release the fleas! SWAT and other urban assault teams could soon be deploying packs of all-seeing, hopping robots armed with mini missiles to ferret out the bad guys.

ODF plans to produce an armed version in cooperation with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, another Israeli outfit, that could carry up to 16 miniature rockets. What constitutes miniature? Four .3-inch diameter rockets in a quad launcher only weigh a little over half a pound, and that includes 40-gram warheads.

This 5-pound all-terrain mini mite can be tossed–or dropped–from up to about 10 feet and is dual-side operable, which means it’s self-righting. The “hopper” feature is optional. It allows the EyeDrive to hop over 3-foot obstacles, enhancing its observational capabilities, according to the developer.

(Credit:
ODF)

The EyeDrive unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) uses remote-controlled 360-degree panoramic video technology and a patented Point & Go sensor guidance mode to run down and “instinctively eliminate” human targets at ranges of up to 90 feet, according to ODF Optronics.

Don’t get too excited.

Green Earth Technologies claims that it’s come up with a motor oil that is friendlier toward the environment.

Green Earth Technologies also claims that its G-Oil exceeds the “Ultimate Biodegradability” standard (60 percent biodegraded within 28 days) of the international standards organization ASTM.

G-oil is a more sustainable option than regular motor oil brands because it’s made in part from beef slaughter byproducts, namely animal fat, according to the Stamford, Conn.-based company.

The company says more than 90 percent of used G-Oil will biodegrade in just nine days. That’s a considerable claim. Used motor oil from one oil change dumped into the ground contaminates about 1 million gallons of fresh water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which has been encouraging the recycling of used motor oil for years.

That’s good only for use in small-engine machines such as tractors, generators, pressure washers, and lawn motors.

(Credit:
Green Earth Technologies)

While the company says it’s awaiting approval for a
car and truck motor oil, and has tested a race car-worthy version, as of right now, Green Earth Technologies only a 2-Cycle G-Oil and a 4-Cycle 10W-30 G-Oil.

Green Earth Technologies launched its product at about 2,000 stores in the United States at the end of January. Popular retailers such as Home Depot, Amazon.com, and Ace Hardware are among its carriers.

G-Oil from Green Earth Technologies offers a 'green' alternative for your lawn mower's needs.

An unpatched security hole in Internet Explorer that is being exploited affects all versions of the browser, making it more serious than originally believed when it was first publicized two days ago, Microsoft says.

People visiting trusted sites could be affected as well from sites targeted by SQL injection attacks through which malicious code is injected into sites, Microsoft says.

“The exploit sites we’ve seen so far drop a wide variety of malware–most commonly password stealers like new variants of game password stealers like Win32/OnLineGames, and Win32/Lolyda; keyloggers like Win32/Lmir; trojan horse applications like Win32/Helpud along with some previously unseen malware which we generically detect as Win32/SystemHijack,” the Malware Protection Center blog says. “We fully expect the variety of malware being dropped by this exploit to broaden as the exploit code starts to circulate around the Internet underground.”

The company recommends setting the Internet zone security setting to “high” and using access control lists to disable Ole32db.dll to provide the most effective protection against an attack.

Microsoft has seen several hundred detections of exploits from around the globe, though the sites taking advantage of the vulnerability appear to be hosted on Chinese domains, Microsoft said in a Microsoft Malware Protection Center blog.

“Our latest information is that there are still limited attacks seeking to load malicious software on vulnerable systems,” Christopher Budd writes in the Microsoft Security Response Center blog.

A Microsoft spokesman said he could not say when a fix would come. The next Patch Tuesday is scheduled for January 13.

Microsoft’s updated advisory lists a number of mitigating factors: Protected Mode in IE 7 and
IE 8 in
Windows Vista limits the impact of the vulnerability; IE on Windows Server 2003 and 2008 runs in a restricted mode known as Enhanced Security Configuration that sets the security level for the Internet to high; the attacker could only gain the same user rights as the local user; known attacks can not exploit the issue automatically through e-mail.

Microsoft is investigating reports of attacks against a new vulnerability in IE but said in an update to a security advisory issued late on Thursday that all versions of IE are potentially vulnerable.