Even though Java Applets are a somewhat rare sight these days, I still run across a web site or two (like iShares.com) that has a useful embedded Java Applet. Since Microsoft no longer distributes their own JVM, most web sites direct users to download the giant and clumsy JVM plugin from Sun.
But you don't have to! You can still find Microsoft's JVM out there on the net for download. Apparently, developers who have written apps in MS Visual J++ (hey wait a sec, that's me!) have the right to redistribute the JVM, and many have posted the JVM for download on their site. See http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA012735/vm_en.html, for example.
Even though Microsofts JVM is older, it still runs most Java Applets you'll find, and it is much much faster and more integrated with IE than Sun's bloated plugin (meaning: won't hang the browser like Sun's plugin).
Update - 01/09/05
You can also very easily remove the MS Virtual machine by opening a command line (or File/Run) and typing:RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection java.inf,UnInstall
That'll do the trick, but you'll also want to delete some registry and file system gruft. More details can be found here: http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsXP/howto-21.html
This winter, we spent a couple of weeks in Japan ![[WikiPedia]](http://www.mikeyp.com/css/external.gif)
exploring and enjoying the country. Even though I had been to Japan before, I was on business and I never had a chance to really see the country.
We initially asked our local travel agents for Japan travel info, and they all pointed us to packages from JTB. Thinking economically, we decided to cut out the middleman and call JTBUsa in San Francisco directly. They were fantastic to deal with. Our representative at JTB was able to give us the least expensive air fare, and even managed to give us an extra night's stay in Tokyo. Everywhere we went in Japan, we were greeted individually by a JTB agent and personally escorted to the next leg of our trip. Our Japan vacation was a zero-stress experience, thanks to JTB.
If you plan to travel to Japan as a tourist, I highly recommend considering JTB for your travel plans.
Ever since the 2004 election, the terms Red State and Blue State have entered our popular lexicon. Red State and Blue State pre-election polls and final electoral results were superbly tracked on the web site http://www.electoral-vote.com (maintained by Andrew Tanenbaum... yes, the Andrew Tanenbaum).
There is a lot of very interesting data on the web site, but my favorite is a graph of red and blue counties. I think the county graph is even more telling about the political (and other) divisions in our country than the graph of the states. Check out the number of red counties inside blue states such as California and New York.
Say it ain't so! The NYT is reporting that IBM plans to sell its entire PC division, including the legendary ThinkPad laptop brand, to a mainland Chinese PC manufacturer named Lenevo.
For those "in the know", there simply isn't a more reliable and indestructable PC laptop on Earth as good as a ThinkPad. And IBM's support is nearly unbeatable, even for legacy machines. I can't imagine how another company could pick up the ball and continue IBM's tradition (even knowing that ThinkPad manufacturing has almost always been outsourced). I guess we'll just have to hope for the best.
