The Umbrella JSR for the J2SE 6.0 (“Mustang”) release has a review ballot. The themes for this release are: Compatibility and Stability, Diagnosability, Monitoring, and Management, Ease of Development, Enterprise Desktop, XML & Web Services, and Transparency. Not as drastic a release as 5.0?

Read more: JSR 270: J2SE 6.0 (“Mustang”) Release Contents

David Flanagan on Java 6.0 sneak peak

JSR 270: J2SE 6.0 (“Mustang”) Release Contents

[/.] PGP Corp. is moving to a stronger SHA Algorithm (SHA-256 and SHA-512) as consequence of the research conducted by the team at Shandong University in China who broke the SHA-1 algorithm. (See this earlier story for more information on the SHA-1 vulnerability.)

Slashdot | PGP Moving To Stronger SHA Algorithms

[/.] MondoMor writes “Apparently, the atmosphere above Earth’s strongest storms acts like a particle accelerator, according to a UC Santa Cruz paper. TGFs (Terrestrial Gamma ray Flashes) may occur as seldom as 50 times a day, ‘but the rate could be up to 100 times higher if, as some models indicate, TGFs are emitted as narrowly focused beams that would only be detected when the satellite is directly in their path.’ I’m glad the gamma-ray bursts are directed into space.”

Slashdot | Large Storms On Earth Are Particle Accelerators

Comnmunicator style smartphone running Linux Kernel 2.6.x (site is german, but who cares)

ROAD – Die Zukunft des Mobile Computing

[/.] Deinhard writes “Space.com is reporting that ‘[a] pair of NASA scientists told a group of space officials at a private meeting here Sunday that they have found strong evidence that life may exist today on Mars, hidden away in caves and sustained by pockets of water.’ It is all based on methane signatures and not direct observation. Now plans for using the Genesis Device on Mars are out … unless this is just a particle of preanimate matter caught in the matrix.”

Slashdot | The Indirect Case For Life On Mars