Platforms: The problems with Leopard just keep on coming. “If you’re a Java developer or a user of Java applications, Leopard may not be for you, at least not yet, and possibly not ever,” Martin Heller explains in Java flawed on Leopard. Heller points to a piece by Michael Urban of JavaLobby titled So long Apple, the party’s over, in which Urban points out that Apple not only shipped Leopard sans Java 6 but also didn’t bother to tell its customers why or when the OS would have that support, if it even will. “Caveat upgrader.” Indeed. The news beat: Mozilla Labs’ Prism project blends the Web with desktops to let users strip a Web app from its browser and, ultimately, work with the app as if it were a desktop program. The Storm Trojan dupes users with a Halloween jig. Critics say the U.S. FTC should investigate online advertising practices as consumer groups complain about invasive targeted ads. And Google denies ranking hanky-panky after a screenshot listing dollar values for each link raises eyebrows about how it ranks Web sites. Tech’s Bottom Line: No one can control the weather, good or bad. Meet WeatherBill, a San Francisco startup that offers a way for smaller businesses to “insure” themselves against the ravages of weather. Those quotes around weather, Bill Snyder explains, are there because the company does not offer insurance; rather, it purports to be the first to sell a financial instrument knows as a weather derivative used to hedge against the havoc weather can wreak on business. The odds on rain. “Although it sounds like you could have a good time betting on the weather, [CEO] Freiberg, a former Google exec, says that can’t happen. WeatherBill demands proof that customers are a business with a net worth of at least $1 million,” Snyder explains. Software Development