Cody Taylor

Many sources are reporting that SpringSource has acquired Hyperic, creating a company that could go after IBM and Microsoft. SpringSource has long dreamed of being able to offer a complete open source solution that accelerates the entire build, run, manage Java application lifecycle, and Hyperic offers the last piece of the puzzle. “Regardless, the SpringSource/Hyperic combination creates a clear and present danger to IBM and Microsoft, two companies that have largely stood alone in the ability to build, run, and manage applications. It’s also a significant boon to companies looking to open source to save money and improve productivity. Is it a sign of good things to come from not only SpringSource, but also open source, generally? Time will tell, but I suspect we’re on the cusp of an aggressive and ambitious new phase in open-source competition.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

New super-sensitive microwave detectors from the National Institute of Standards and Technology may soon tackle the question of what happened immediately following the big bang. “The new experiment will begin approximately a year from now on the Chilean desert and will consist of placing a large array of powerful NIST sensors on a telescope mounted in a converted shipping container. The detectors will look for subtle fingerprints in the CMB [cosmic microwave background] from primordial gravitational waves–ripples in the fabric of space-time from the violent birth of the universe more than 13 billion years ago. Such waves are believed to have left a faint but unique imprint on the direction of the CMB’s electric field, called the “B-mode polarization.” These waves — never before confirmed through measurements — are potentially detectable today, if sensitive enough equipment is used.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Kelson writes “Google’s Mountain View headquarters has fields that need to be kept clear of fire hazards. This year instead of mowing them, they took a low-carbon approach: they hired a herd of goats to eat the grass for a week. ‘It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers,’ wrote Dan Hoffman.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The best way to recover from unexpected data loss is to be properly prepared. With one of the following tools on hand, you’ll always be ready to save your data from the Reaper.

Exposed: the great password scandal How some sites are taking a cavalier attitude to your security : TechRadar UK

The classic adventure game Myst (.99) has arrived in the App Store, now playable on the iPhone and iPod touch.But don’t get too excited just yet, you’ll need some patience, Myst for the iPhone is over 700MB! And due to the way iPhones install apps, you’ll need at least 1.5GB of free space on your iDevice to successfully install.

Go ahead and grab the salt shaker, ’cause this one’s nowhere near carved in stone… or is it? A breaking report from The New York Times has it that Amazon will introduce a larger version of its Kindle e-reader “as early as this week,” one that’s tailored for “displaying newspapers, magazines and perhaps textbooks.”