Columnists’ corner: “Java and .Net turned all existing native software into ticking time bombs, infinitely exploitable by shadowy figures, impossible to hand from the fired to the hired, and rife with blue screens, kernel panics, and divisions by zero. Developers scurried off for retraining, new languages, new tools, new books, new friends, and new employers,” Tom Yager espouses. “It’s time for developers and IT buyers of software and development services to drop the presumption that Java’s and .Net’s training wheels are essential equipment. Java is no longer the only path to writing once and running everywhere, and .Net is no longer the only path to stable and secure Windows applications.” Don’t fear native code. Podcasts: Microsoft and Sun groom their OSes for 10 Gig, and executives from both vendors discuss those visions, in particular the specific capabilities that Longhorn and Solaris have to tap into 10 Gig. The discussions are broken into two separate ‘casts that can be found here. The news beat: After being slapped with a $357 million antitrust penalty, Microsoft asks the EU to quash the fine. SixApart touts blogging software cultivated for the enterprise to bolster internal communications and knowledge sharing. And, on a rather sad note, after a software developer in Japan committed suicide a Japanese court cited overwork as the catalyst. Software Development