Xbox 360 Ushers in Exclusive New Worlds of Entertainment for Most-Anticipated Franchises Ever at X06

Microsoft partnership with Peter Jackson creates two new interactive entertainment series for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.

On the shores of one of the world’s most artistic and progressive cities, Microsoft Corp. today thrilled attendees at its annual X06 event with announcements and gameplay experiences by inviting everyone to play the next generation now on the Xbox 360™ system. The announcements highlight how the world’s greatest game creators are stretching the bounds of what’s possible in high definition and online storytelling and included the following:

• A landmark partnership announced between Academy Award-winning writer, director and producer Peter Jackson, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Fran Walsh, and Microsoft Game Studios will create two new interactive entertainment series exclusively for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live®. The first series will be a collaborative effort with Bungie Studios to co-create the next great chapter in the “Halo®” universe. The second series will be an entirely original property targeted at bringing new audiences into the captivating world of interactive entertainment. In addition, Microsoft Game Studios will partner with Jackson and Walsh to establish Wingnut Interactive, a studio dedicated to the creation of world-class interactive entertainment.

• “Halo Wars” is an all-new real-time strategy game based on the legendary “Halo” universe and designed exclusively for Xbox 360 by Ensemble Studios, creators of the “Age of Empires®” franchise.

• Rockstar and Take-Two announced they will provide Xbox 360 gamers with exclusive access to two downloadable, epic episodes of “Grand Theft Auto IV” via Xbox Live, each with hours of entirely new gameplay and available only on Xbox 360 just months after the release of the title.

• Ubisoft confirmed that the next “Splinter Cell” title, the next installment in the series after “Splinter Cell Double Agent,” will be a console-exclusive on Xbox 360, a testament to the ability of Xbox 360 to deliver a complete experience no other console can match.

• 2K Games confirmed that “BioShock,” a revolution in the genre that will forever change the expectations for first-person shooters, will be released exclusively on Xbox 360 and Microsoft® Windows® next spring.

• “Project Gotham Racing® 4,” the latest addition to the best-selling racing franchise from Bizarre Creations exclusively for Xbox 360, was unveiled. “Project Gotham Racing 4” promises to continue the “Project Gotham Racing” pedigree of innovation by introducing exciting new experiences to racing fans worldwide.

• The beloved “Banjo-Kazooie®” franchise will breathe new, high-definition life on Xbox 360 exclusively from famed developer Rare Ltd.; astonishing next-generation visuals and presentation reunite beloved characters Banjo, Kazooie and Gruntilda — among other fan favorites — with their sharp wit and hilarious sense of humor.

• Microsoft Game Studios announced its highly anticipated new massively multiplayer online game, “Marvel Universe Online” for Xbox 360 and the Windows Vista™ operating system, developed by industry luminaries Cryptic Studios, creators of the smash hit “City of Heroes.”

• Two additions to Xbox Live Arcade were announced: the first-person shooter that pioneered the network-gaming era, “DOOM®,” from acclaimed developer id Software and Activision, is available today for download via Xbox Live Arcade. The game includes the original four-episode, single-player game, four-player split screen (cooperative and deathmatch) and four-player cooperative and deathmatch over Xbox Live. Also coming to Xbox Live Arcade soon is “Sensible World of Soccer” from Codemasters. Based on the classic 1994 Amiga title, “Sensible World of Soccer” will let gamers choose between the original graphics or an updated, high-resolution look and feel — while still capturing the original’s entire world of football.

• Arriving at retailers in North America, the U.K, France and Germany in mid-November 2006, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player will retail for $199.99 in North America (estimated retail price)* and €199.99/£129.99 (estimated retail price)* in the U.K., France and Germany. The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player comes with the Universal Pictures’ blockbuster film Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” on HD DVD (for a limited time) and the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote.


“Xbox 360 is changing the way developers are telling stories today — from the industry’s most beloved franchises to exciting new properties,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “We are inspiring the imaginations of the entertainment industry’s best and most creative talent to take their franchises in exciting directions, while also spinning new tales for everyone.”

“We are incredibly pleased to be here in Barcelona to talk about the next chapter of Xbox and how Xbox 360 continues to deliver on the promise and potential of the next generation,” said Chris Lewis, regional vice president of the Home and Entertainment Division, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), at Microsoft. “As we prepare to launch some of our biggest global titles and best regional content both right now and well into the future, consumers will have much to choose from with a system designed for high-definition and online entertainment. We are the only next-generation experience that seamlessly connects players to their games, friends and entertainment content.”

Xbox 360 Stretches Popular Franchises in New Directions

Xbox 360 continues to expand the interactive entertainment landscape, enabling industry superstars to take beloved franchises in exciting new directions. Microsoft Game Studios announced its partnership with Peter Jackson to herald in a new age of interactive entertainment that can only be realized on Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. The goal of this partnership is to create new stories and redefine the way they are told. The first part of this long-term relationship is for Jackson, Walsh and team to bring to life two new interactive entertainment experiences exclusively for the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. The first project is to co-write, co-design and co-produce a completely new and original chapter in the “Halo” universe in collaboration with Bungie Studios. The second project is an entirely original property from the team in New Zealand that will not only bring a whole new interactive story to life, but will also captivate new audiences that have yet to discover the power of interactive entertainment.

In addition, in collaboration with Microsoft Game Studios, Jackson and Walsh are creating Wingnut Interactive. The two will create a world-class interactive entertainment studio that fuses the strength of Microsoft’s technology and interactive entertainment experience with the creative and imaginative excellence of the Wingnut Interactive team.

“Microsoft has built an amazing living canvas with Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, which allows the storytellers of our time to express themselves in a new medium. They have fundamentally changed how people think about games,” Jackson said. “My vision, together with Microsoft Game Studios, is to push the boundaries of game development and the future of interactive entertainment. From a movie-maker’s point of view, it is clear to me that the Xbox 360 platform is the stage where storytellers can work their craft in the same way they do today with movies and books but taking it further with interactivity.”

In addition to demonstrating its leadership in the next-generation of games through exclusive alliances, Microsoft Game Studios announced “Halo Wars,” an all-new real-time strategy game based on the legendary “Halo” universe and built exclusively for Xbox 360 by Ensemble Studios, the creators of the “Age of Empires” series. “Halo Wars” places the player in command of human UNSC armies as they deploy for mankind’s first deadly encounter with the enemy Covenant forces.

In addition, Microsoft Game Studios provided first details surrounding “Project Gotham Racing 4,” the latest addition to the premiere racing franchise from Bizarre Creations and the reunion of Banjo, Kazooie and Gruntilda in an all-new addition to the “Banjo-Kazooie” franchise from industry veterans Rare.

Microsoft and Ubisoft announced that the next “Splinter Cell” title will be created exclusively for Xbox 360. Based on the increasingly proven potential of the Xbox 360 hardware and its online promise, Ubisoft confirmed that Xbox 360 will be the exclusive platform for the next iteration of its influential and massively popular espionage franchise. Through the power of Xbox Live, the series that revolutionized online cooperative and competitive gameplay promises to transform and modernize online gaming once again.

New details regarding the exclusive, epic episodic content for the upcoming and highly anticipated “Grand Theft Auto IV” from Rockstar and Take-Two were also revealed; Rockstar Games will offer two downloadable episodes, each with hours of entirely new gameplay, extending the experience of an already immense game. Both chapters will be exclusive and available only to Xbox 360 gamers via Xbox Live. “Grand Theft Auto IV” will be available to Xbox 360 gamers on its first day of availability: Oct. 16, 2007, in North America and Oct. 19, 2007, in Europe. Release dates for the two downloadable episodes have not yet been announced.

Xbox Live Arcade made a surprise unveiling today of one of the greatest games of the 3-D era: “DOOM” (id Software) is now available for download for 800 points. The game brings legendary “DOOM” mayhem to gamers, who for the first time ever can relive the classic demon-blasting fragfest in both single-player and two-to-four player co-operative and deathmatch modes over Xbox Live. Also a new, multititle relationship with Codemasters was announced, with the first title being the classic, fast-action soccer game, “Sensible World of Soccer.”

Xbox Live is a thriving online game community, connecting more than 3 million members across nearly 25 countries to enjoy hundreds of social games, as well as on-demand game demos, Xbox Live Arcade games, and music and movie content. With more than 10 million downloads to date and nearly 100 independent, classic and original development titles available by next summer, Xbox Live Arcade is a fast-growing phenomenon.

Most Affordable Way for Xbox 360 Owners to Jump Into the Next-Generation of DVD

At X06, exciting details about the highly anticipated Xbox 360 HD DVD Player were also revealed. Available in mid-November 2006 in North America for $199.99 (estimated retail price)*, in the U.K., France and Germany for €199.99 (£129.99) (estimated retail price)* and other territories in 2007, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player comes with the Universal Pictures blockbuster film Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” on HD DVD (for a limited time) and the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote. Users can just add Xbox 360 HD DVD Player to Xbox 360 to create the ultimate home-theater experience.

“The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player is the best high-definition movie experience and value on the market,” Moore said. “The reviews, the word of mouth and the consumer response have all been crystal clear — HD DVD is the format of choice. We’re not forcing movie technology on game players but are instead letting them choose how to personalize their experiences. If they want HD DVD, there’s no better value out there.”

The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player offers up to six times higher resolution than DVD, and as part of the fall 2006 console update all Xbox 360 consoles will have the ability to output native resolution 1080p games and movies. Users can enjoy blockbuster HD DVD releases, with more than 150 titles available by the holidays from major movie studios including HBO, Paramount Pictures, StudioCanal, Universal Studios, New Line Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

The Industry’s Most Anticipated Titles Are Coming to Xbox 360

In addition to taking popular franchises in new directions, developers are finding new life through Xbox 360 with exciting new content and are delivering many of the industry’s most praised and anticipated titles.

Arguably the most anticipated title of 2006, “Gears of War” from Epic Games and Microsoft Game Studios is a third-person tactical action/horror game available exclusively on Xbox 360. “Gears of War” will be the only game to blend a deep and disturbing story of human survival against hordes of nightmarish creatures with a next-generation tactical combat system and unsurpassed visuals and special effects. “Gears of War,” which will be available Nov. 12, 2006, in the U.S. and Nov. 17, 2006, in Europe, has garnered numerous industry awards and accolades including the Game Critics Awards Best Console and Best Action Game of E3 2006, IGN’s E3 2005 Best Xbox 360 Game, and GameSpot’s E3 2006 People’s Choice Award.

From leading U.K.-based developer Rare and Microsoft Game Studios comes “Viva Piñata™,” an original game concept and the latest innovative gaming experience for gamers of all ages and types. “Viva Piñata” invites gamers to create an immersive world where living piñatas inhabit an ever-changing environment. “Viva Pinata,” which has won several industry awards including Best Graphics from Nick Jr. Magazine and IGN’s Runner-Up for Best Strategy Game of E3 2006, is scheduled to be available this holiday.

Underlining the Xbox 360 platform strength, Microsoft and Ubisoft today confirmed that “Assassin’s Creed,” the eagerly anticipated action title set in medieval times, is also coming to Xbox 360 day and date with the game’s release on other platforms. “Assassin’s Creed” is a next-generation action-adventure/stealth title from the highly talented and critically acclaimed team that brought gamers “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.” “Assassin’s Creed” will place gamers in the role of a ruthless and skilled Assassin as he tracks his victims through the historical era known as the Crusades.

Last week at the Tokyo Game Show in Japan, “Lost Odyssey” wowed audiences with its incredible graphic style and epic storyline. From famed Japanese developer Hironobu Sakaguchi, “Lost Odyssey” will be shipped in Japan in 2007, and in the U.S. and Europe at a later date.

Few games have generated more interest than “BioShock” (2K Games) in the past year, and Microsoft confirmed today that the highly anticipated first-person shooter will be exclusive to Xbox 360 and Windows when it launches in spring 2007.

Looking into the coming year, X06 showcased a montage video trailer demonstrating the dazzling power and versatility of the Xbox 360 platform, promising gamers a choice of titles and genres coming this spring season, including the Microsoft Game Studios titles “Crackdown™” (Real Time Worlds), “Too Human” (Silicon Knights), “Mass Effect” (BioWare Corp.), and “Forza Motorsport™ 2” (Turn 10). In addition to these titles from Microsoft Game Studios, games from today’s leading publishers round out what is already a robust library of offerings for the Xbox 360 platform, including “John Woo Presents Stranglehold” (Midway), “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” (Capcom) and “Pro Evolution Soccer 6” (Konami).

Microsoft underscored the continued momentum behind Xbox 360 with more than 5 million consoles sold since launch, the fastest console launch ever. Microsoft remains on track to deliver 10 million consoles worldwide, with a library of 160 games, by end of year. The Xbox Live community continues to grow and is on track to double in size to 6 million gamers by June 2007. Those numbers are supported by the most impressive number of all: Xbox 360 is now available in more than 30 countries since the console launched last November. By the end of this year, Xbox 360 will launch in even more countries, including South Africa and in Europe where plans are set in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

Microsoft also provided attendees with an update on Games for Windows and announced several exciting new Games for Windows titles, including “BioShock” and “Marvel Universe Online.” Starting this September with “LEGO® Star Wars® II: The Original Trilogy” from LucasArts and “Company of Heroes” from THQ, games will carry the Games for Windows branding after meeting a set of technical guidelines designed to provide consumers with a consistent, reliable gaming experience on Windows XP and Windows Vista. The guidelines include easier game installation, improved reliability and support for key Windows Vista features such as the Games Explorer and Parental Controls. They will also support wide-screen gaming, will launch from within Windows Media® Center, be compatible with 64-bit consumer versions of Windows, and will support the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (for games that enable gamepads).

Attendees were given a glimpse of the exciting upcoming Games for Windows titles including “Hellgate: London” (NAMCO BANDAI Games), ”Rail Simulator” (Electronic Arts) and “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures” (Eidos/Funcom), as well as Microsoft Game Studios titles “Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs,” “Alan Wake,” “Zoo Tycoon® 2: Marine Mania®,” “Flight Simulator X,” “Shadowrun™,” “Halo 2” for Windows Vista and the newly named “Marvel Universe Online,” a massively multiplayer online game for Xbox 360 and Windows Vista from Cryptic Studios.

Zmanda Launches First Comprehensive Backup Solution for MySQL

Zmanda, the leader in open source backup and recovery software, today introduced the first comprehensive, enterprise-class backup and recovery solution designed specifically for MySQL databases. Zmanda Recovery Manager (ZRM) for MySQL is the first backup and recovery solution that meets the unique requirements of MySQL database administrators (DBAs) and also provides enterprise-class backup and recovery features. ZRM for MySQL is an open source solution and includes a full set of backup and recovery tools in an integrated, easy-to-use and low-cost offering.

"With more than 10 million active installations, including top Internet and Web 2.0 businesses, MySQL is clearly one of the world's most pervasive databases," said Chander Kant, CEO of Zmanda. "ZRM for MySQL provides a business-ready backup and recovery solution that will further accelerate the adoption of MySQL as a database of choice for mainstream enterprise applications."

With ZRM for MySQL, DBAs can prevent the serious damage caused by data loss in the event of system or database failure. It includes essential, enterprise-class functionality for MySQL DBAs, such as granular recovery capability, an automatic backup scheduler, the ability to set backup retention policies, and reporting and monitoring. ZRM for MySQL integrates with a variety of network-based data protection solutions, such as Amanda Enterprise software.

"As MySQL gains widespread adoption and moves more broadly into the enterprise, ZRM for MySQL addresses the growing need among database administrators to protect their digital assets with a comprehensive backup and recovery solution," said Marten Mickos, CEO of MySQL AB. "Zmanda is a valued member of MySQL's ecosystem, and their open source backup solutions are an excellent complement to MySQL's open source database offerings."

ZRM for MySQL meets the requirements of the MySQL DBA with features such as:

MySQL storage engine awareness: ZRM for MySQL detects the specific storage engine that is being used by MySQL and then implements a backup process that is optimized for that storage engine.

Local and remote configuration support: ZRM for MySQL can be implemented on the database server or can manage backups of the database server from a remote system.

Granular recovery: ZRM for MySQL can recover a database easily to any point in time or to any particular database event between two backups.

Backup analysis: ZRM for MySQL enables the DBA to analyze backup performance measurements and their impact on application operations.

ZRM for MySQL also includes enterprise-class backup and recovery features such as:

Automatic backup scheduler: ZRM for MySQL can schedule full and incremental backups of MySQL database. These backups can be logical or raw.

Backup Policies: ZRM for MySQL allows the DBA to set retention policies that meet compliance requirement or corporate governance standards.

Monitoring and reporting: ZRM for MySQL provides pre-defined, user customizable reporting and as well as real time monitoring of backup activity.

Network integration: ZRM for MySQL is easy to integrate with any existing network backup solution, such as Amanda.

"Zmanda is leveraging their expertise to provide solutions that address data backup issues throughout the enterprise," said Joshua Greenbaum, principal of Enterprise Applications Consulting. "Backup and recovery software that meets the rigorous requirements of enterprise-class MySQL implementations has been sorely missed in the MySQL market. ZRM for MySQL fills this need with a low-cost package that will strengthen MySQL as a choice for business-critical enterprise applications."

ZRM for MySQL is open source software, available in an enterprise version and a community version. The enterprise version is available as part of a paid subscription to the Zmanda Network that includes certified and pre-compiled software, technical support, knowledgebase access, software updates and security alerts. The community version is available at no cost and can be downloaded at http://www.zmanda.com/downloads.html

Zmanda also offers a robust, open source network backup solution, Amanda Enterprise. Launched in April, Amanda Enterprise is a business-ready version of Amanda, the world's most popular backup software. For more information about the ZRM for MySQL, the Zmanda Network and Amanda Enterprise software, please go to the Zmanda website at www.zmanda.com

Web 2.0 Industry and Ajax Community Boosted by OpenAjax Alliance

OpenAjax Alliance, an open industry collaboration dedicated to developing and expanding Ajax, today announced new partners and initiatives around the Ajax Community, signaling continued momentum for Ajax-based Web technologies.

The group has almost doubled its membership since the launch in February of 2006. The newest OpenAjax Alliance members include: The Ajaxian, American Greetings, Bling Software, Curl, edge IPK, eLink Business Innovations, ENOVIA, MatrixOne, Finetooth, The Front Side, Ikivo, ILOG, IN2, IT Mill, Javeline, JWAX, Merced Systems, Nitobi, OpenLink Software, Seagull Software, Sitepen, Sun Microsystems, Vertex Logic, Vircon, Webtide and Zoho.

The existing group of Alliance members include: Adobe, Backbase, BEA, Borland, the Dojo Foundation, Eclipse Foundation, Fair Isaac, Google, IBM, ICEsoft, Innoopract, Intel, JackBe, Laszlo Systems, Mozilla Corporation, Nexaweb, Novell, Openwave Systems, Opera, Oracle, Red Hat, SAP, Scalix, Software AG, Tibco, XML11, Zend and Zimbra.

"The momentum and benefits of the OpenAjax collaboration are important factors in advancing the adoption of Ajax technology across the industry," said Jon Ferraiolo, acting director of OpenAjax Alliance. "Ajax is a major phenomenon in the computer industry and will be the foundation of the next generation of the Web. Our mission is to accelerate customer success with Ajax through our technical and marketing activities."

The Alliance launched its Web site at www.openajax.org which outlines the group's strategic goals and publishes its first technology white paper. OpenAjax Alliance is also developing an OpenAjax Hub which represents a key part of the technical work and goals of the alliance. The OpenAjax Hub is a set of standard JavaScript functionalities defined by the OpenAjax Alliance, with strong focus on being small and fast, that addresses key interoperability issues that arise when multiple Ajax libraries are used within the same Web page. Version 1.0 of the OpenAjax Hub is targeted for early 2007.

OpenAjax Alliance's goal is to serve as an industry catalyst so that an Ajax-enabled Web 2.0 can happen as quickly as possible. Through its technical committee activities, the alliance will address key Ajax interoperability issues so that developers can successfully use multiple Ajax technologies within the same Web application. Through its marketing activities, OpenAjax Alliance will educate the community on how to achieve success with Ajax using cross-platform open technologies.

The set of technologies known as "OpenAjax" being developed and facilitated by the alliance will provide the following benefits to Web developers:


Lower development costs and faster delivery of Web 2.0 innovations;
Vendor choice and interoperability;
and richer Web experience and greater collaboration that can be added incrementally to existing HTML Web sites or used for creating new applications.
The alliance will have its second group meeting in Silicon Valley, the first week of October, to elect its steering committee, set 2007 agenda goals, address other procedural issues and plan its activities for the coming months.
About OpenAjax Alliance

The OpenAjax Alliance is an organization of leading vendors, open source projects, and companies using Ajax that are dedicated to the successful adoption of open and interoperable Ajax-based Web technologies. The prime objective of the group is to accelerate customer success with Ajax by promoting a customer's ability to mix and match solutions from Ajax technology providers to help drive the future of the Ajax ecosystem. To learn more about OpenAjax Alliance, please visit: www.openajax.org.

Member quotes:

edge IPK

edge IPK is keen to help accelerate the global adoption of Ajax and work alongside other technology leaders in the OpenAjax Alliance in promoting Ajax operability and standards. edge IPK is committed to improving the speed and ease in which Rich Internet Applications are developed. The inclusion of Ajax into leading Open Presentation Platform, edgeConnect, not only provides the richness of usability that Ajax affords applications but does so in a way that developers need not know anything about Ajax development. "I believe the ability to create Rich Internet Applications without writing any programming code will greatly accelerate the adoption of dynamic user friendly applications enabled by Ajax," said Dharmesh Mistry, CTO, edge IPK.

The Front Side Software

"As a provider of cutting-edge Web technologies, The Front Side is eager to see an environment in which a strong Ajax ecosystem can emerge. We support the work of the OpenAjax Alliance in building that environment," said Charles Lowell, President of The Front Side Software, Inc.

IBM

"IBM is seeing an increased demand from our clients for Web 2.0 technologies, including Ajax. Ajax is high up on the list for many businesses because technology that helps create a rich user experience can lead to attracting new customers and increased revenue," said David Boloker, IBM CTO for Internet Emerging Technology. "Today's announcement is a significant milestone for the continued growth of the OpenAjax Alliance and the Ajax community. IBM is excited to be a part of this community and to help accelerate Ajax's adoption and advancement."

ILOG

"As a leading graphics provider, we are extremely excited by the challenges ahead in helping to ensure the creation of next generation Web applications and Web 2.0. ILOG's graphics and standards expertise can be a great asset for the OpenAjax community in helping build visually rich Web displays supporting Ajax behaviors," said Jean François Abramatic, Chief Product Officer, ILOG.

Innoopract

"As the leader of the Rich Ajax Platform (RAP) project, Innoopract is pleased to be a part of the OpenAjax Alliance. RAP is an open source, Eclipse-based project that represents an effort to extend the reach of the Eclipse development model with plug-ins, extensibility and a workbench concept to the Web. Innoopract has been on the forefront of developer solutions for improving how Java Web applications are being built. Ajax provides new opportunities as well as new challenges which the OpenAjax Alliance will help the industry to address."

IT Mill

"Ajax is today the most influential technology that drives the development of new generation user interfaces. Being part of OpenAjax Alliance helps us to make our software development tools for Java better utilize Ajax and ensure their interoperability also in the future," said Joonas Lehtinen, CEO, IT Mill Ltd.

JackBe

"Ajax technology is the key to delivering desktop-like interactivity and usability within Web-based applications. Ajax, when combined with Service Oriented Architecture, will empower enterprise users with the same Web 2.0 benefits delivered in consumer-facing applications. We are excited to see the OpenAjax Alliance continue to grow and are committed to supporting the organization in its efforts to further the adoption of enterprise Web 2.0," said John Crupi, CTO, JackBe.

Mozilla Corporation

"Ajax applications and practices have shown how effective the Web development model can be in delivering innovative, powerful experiences to users all over the world. Mozilla is pleased to join the other members of the OpenAjax Alliance to help people get the most out of the Web technologies of today, and lay the foundations for the improvements that are yet to come. We've used Ajax techniques to build industry-leading applications like Mozilla Firefox for most of the last decade, and we're keenly interested in helping others take advantage of the power of Web technologies as well," said Mike Shaver, Mozilla co-founder and Director of Ecosystem Development at Mozilla Corporation.

Nexaweb

"Ajax is one of the key technologies for enabling Web 2.0. At Nexaweb, we are focused on providing enterprise Web 2.0 solutions, of which Ajax plays a key role in our ecosystem," said Coach Wei, Chairman and CTO, Nexaweb. "We are committed to the cause of OpenAjax, and looking forward to bringing Web 2.0 to reality for enterprise environments."

Nitobi

"Nitobi is proud to be working alongside industry leaders and innovators in the OpenAjax Alliance. These efforts to create high performance and loosely coupled tools and frameworks for the larger development community through an open source project are to be commended. Ultimately the OpenAjax Alliance is going to benefit Internet users everywhere with a better and more rewarding user experience. I am very excited and honored to be part of such a capable and talented team of volunteers," said Andre Charland, President and Co-founder of Nitobi.

OpenLink Software

"As one of the first companies to promote the technology integration which is evolving into the Semantic Web, OpenLink is pleased and excited to continue that leadership with and through the OpenAjax Alliance," announced Kingsley Idehen, Founder and CEO of OpenLink Software. "OpenLink extends its dedication to platform independent technologies through the OpenAjax Alliance. Renewing our commitment to open standards and specifications, OAT, the OpenLink AJAX Toolkit, is and will remain fully OpenAjax compliant," he added.

SAP

"SAP has a strong commitment to providing Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) for business users, and Ajax is a very significant technology for RIAs," said Michael Bechauf, vice president of industry standards, SAP. "The OpenAjax Alliance should provide frameworks and best practices for integration and interoperability of Ajax capabilities, simplifying development and providing better experiences for end users."

Software AG

"As a global provider of enterprise-class solutions based upon Ajax, we are very pleased to see the increasing momentum of the OpenAjax Alliance," said Dr. Peter Kuerpick, Member of the Board of Software AG and responsible for cross vision. "We believe that businesses are seeking a lightweight alternative that will enable them to quickly and easily compose practical applications. The broad adoption of approaches such as Ajax is extremely critical to this new vision for the future of business technology."

Sun Microsystems

"As a company founded on the core principle of 'The Network is the Computer', Sun Microsystems is excited to be part of the OpenAjax Alliance," said Vivek Nagar, Technical Director of Ajax Engineering at Sun Microsystems. "Sun is participating as part of this assembled group of leading industry advocates to help ensure open and interoperable technologies continue to proliferate. As a result, we expect this effort will help developers more easily produce the next generation of innovative solutions that will power the latest network infrastructure build-out."

Zoho

"Zoho is proud to be a contributing member of the alliance and is committed to help foster interoperability and wider adoption of the rich benefits of Ajax," said Ian Wenig, Director Business Development, Zoho Inc.

Unfinished Tolkien Work The Children of Hurin To Be Published In Spring 2007

J.R.R. Tolkien'a son Christopher Tolkien has edited an unfinished tale by J.R.R. Tolkien into a completed work and will be released next spring, the U.S. and British publishers announced Monday.

Christopher Tolkien has spent the past 30 years working on "The Children of Hurin," an epic tale his father began in 1918 and later abandoned. Excerpts of "The Children of Hurin," which includes the elves and dwarves of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and other works, have been published before.

Microsoft’s Zune Delivers Connected Music and Entertainment Experience

Marking the next big milestone for its Connected Entertainment vision, Microsoft Corp. today unveiled details of the first products to be released under its Zune™ brand. Designed around the principles of sharing, discovery and community, Zune will create new ways for consumers to connect and share entertainment experiences. The Zune experience centers around connection — connection to your library, connection to friends, connection to community and connection to other devices.

“The digital music entertainment revolution is just beginning,” said J Allard, vice president, design and development, at Microsoft, who is leading the charge for building the family of Zune products. “With Zune, we are not simply delivering a portable device, we are introducing a new platform that helps bring artists closer to their audiences and helps people find new music and develop new social connections.”

The Zune Experience

Available this holiday season in the United States, Zune includes a 30GB digital media player, the Zune Marketplace music service and a foundation for an online community that will enable music fans to discover new music. The Zune device features wireless technology, a built-in FM tuner and a bright, 3-inch screen that allows users to not only show off music, pictures and video, but also to customize the experience with personal pictures or themes to truly make the device their own. Zune comes in three colors: black, brown and white.

Every Zune device creates an opportunity for connection. Wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing lets consumers spontaneously share full-length sample tracks of select songs, homemade recordings, playlists or pictures with friends between Zune devices. Listen to the full track of any song you receive up to three times over three days. If you like a song you hear and want to buy it, you can flag it right on your device and easily purchase it from the Zune Marketplace.

Zune makes it easy to find music you love — whether it’s songs in your existing library or new music from the Zune Marketplace. Easily import your existing music, pictures and videos in many popular formats and browse millions of songs on Zune Marketplace, where you can choose to purchase tracks individually or to buy a Zune Pass subscription to download as many songs as you want for a flat fee.

To get started with great music and videos out of the box, every Zune device is preloaded with content from record labels such as DTS, EMI Music’s Astralwerks Records and Virgin Records, Ninja Tune, Playlouderecordings, Quango Music Group, Sub Pop Records, and V2/Artemis Records.




Zune Accessories

To enhance the Zune experience, three accessory packs help Zune users enjoy their music where they want to, at home or on the road. The packs and the individual accessories, all designed exclusively for Zune, will be available at launch:

• The Zune Car Pack includes everything needed to hit the road with a Zune device, such as the built-in FM tuner with AutoSeek and the Zune Car Charger.

• The Zune Home A/V Pack enhances your experience in the home through five products that integrate Zune with the TV and music speakers: Zune AV Output Cable, Zune Dock, Zune Sync Cable, Zune AC Adapter and the Zune Wireless Remote for Zune Dock.

• Zune Travel Pack is a set of five products designed to keep friends and family entertained on the road: Zune Premium Earphones, Zune Dual Connect Remote, Zune Gear Bag, Zune Sync Cable and the Zune AC Adapter.


Providing consumers with additional options to customize and personalize their Zune experience, Microsoft is also working with leading accessory manufacturers Altec Lansing, Belkin Corp., Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO), Dual Electronics, Griffin Technology, Harman Kardon and JBL, Integrated Mobile Electronics, Jamo International, Klipsch Audio Technologies, Logitech, Monster Cable Products Inc., Speck, Targus Group International Inc. and VAF Research

The Future is Bright

In addition to the features available at launch, built-in wireless technology and powerful software provide a strong foundation to continue to build new shared experiences around music and video. As Zune evolves, the device can be easily updated. The Zune software on your PC will let you know when these updates are available for download.

About Zune

Zune is Microsoft’s music and entertainment platform that provides an end-to-end solution for Connected Entertainment. The Zune experience includes a 30GB digital media player, the Zune Marketplace music service, and a foundation for an online community that will enable music fans to discover new music. Inspired by the vast and varied community of music fans, Zune focuses on helping emerging artists shape the digital canvas. Zune is part of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division and supports the company’s software-based services vision to help drive innovation in the digital entertainment space

Pike Conference 2006 to be held this October in Riga, Latvia

Conference to feature a four day programming tutorial and the release of the first Pike book, "Pike: An Introduction."

Calling all Pike users and web application developers!

The annual Pike language conference will be held at the University of Latvia in Riga, October 18th-22nd, 2006.

Users and developers of all levels of experience are invited to beautiful Riga, Latvia to attend the year's biggest Pike event. Presentation and workshop topics will include the Caudium, Open sTeam and Roxen web servers, LPC and many other Pike-related tools. This year's conference will feature a daily Beginner's Tutorial and the unveiling of the new book, "Pike: An Introduction." The book's editors, H. William Welliver III and Martin Bähr, will be on hand to sign copies and answer questions.

The Call for Papers and Registration are open and can be found at: http://conference.gotpike.org/

About the Pike Language
While the Pike programming language and its predecessors have provided the "heavy lifting" of many Internet services for almost two decades, it is only now receiving the attention it deserves. Pike made its mark on the World Wide Web as the foundation for the powerful Roxen web server, and has since expanded its reach to the desktop. Pike is best known as the foundation for the Roxen and Caudium web servers and the Open sTeam collaborative learning platform, but has expanded into all areas of computing.

Pike is a open source, dynamic, object-oriented language with a C-like syntax. It is strictly and loosely-typed, and like Java, is converted to byte code by its interpreter prior to execution. Pike offers a compelling alternative to Java, Python, Perl, PHP and Ruby for writing multiprotocol Internet applications.

The Pike language: http://pike.ida.liu.se
The Caudium web server: http://caudium.net
The Open sTeam platform: http://www.open-steam.org

About the University of Latvia

The University of Latvia (www.lu.lv/eng/ ) opened its doors in 1919 after Latvia declared its independence, and is Latvia's top academic institution. The Pike Conference 2006 is being organized with the University of Latvia Linux Centre (linux.edu.lv), which will be celebrating its one year anniversary one week before the conference. The Linux Centre exists to serve three functions: to popularize Free and Open Source software and break the stereotype that it is only for use by computer specialists; to serve as a repository of open source knowledge and tools; and finally, to distribute open source software in Latvia via mirrors and a software directory.

About the Republic of Latvia

Latvia is a new EU member state and was one of the most technologically-advanced regions of Europe prior to World War 2. It is the birthplace of the Minox miniature camera and once had the most sophisticated telephone network in Europe. Its capital Riga is one of the architectural gems of Northern Europe, and its beautiful countryside is endowed with many remarkable palaces and castles. For more information, visit latviatourism.lv

IBM Unveils New Offerings for the Open Source Community

EclipseWorld -- Reinforcing the company's strategy around open source business models, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new software and resources to help customers leverage their investments in open source development tools and resources. The new offerings will help software development teams build Eclipse-based open integrated development environments that are technologically diverse and vendor neutral.

IBM is also unveiling today a new customer support program, IBM Rational Elite Support for Eclipse, that will provide hands on technical assistance to the more than 2.3 million users* of Eclipse worldwide. Available in Q4 2006, users of Eclipse-based tools, including those distributed by eclipse.org or other providers, can purchase world-class support for Eclipse -- a service no other major software vendor currently provides.

"IBM is responding to the growing needs of customers and the open source development community, by addressing the requirement for commercial vendors to complement the current open source community model," said Bola Rotibi, Senior Analyst, Ovum.

With today's set of announcements, IBM is nurturing the next phase of Eclipse adoption -- expanding its focus on development tools to now include the development of standards-based cross platform business applications for desktops and servers. IBM is unveiling new software and resources to help developers embrace open source and Eclipse Callisto:


New Eclipse Callisto-based software development tools -- IBM is rolling out a comprehensive set of Eclipse Callisto tools to help clients quickly design, develop and test applications. IBM Lotus Designer is a rapid application development tool that helps clients to quickly build new components that run in WebSphere Portal 6.0, delivering a vision of "situational application" development to this environment. IBM plans to release a no-charge public downloadable beta in late-September from developerWorks at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/workplace/products/designer/ By mid-October, IBM will open up IBM Rational Software Architect and IBM Rational Functional Tester version 7 for beta testing. Clients participating in the beta program can experiment with new and improved features that help implement service oriented architectures, systems development, and geographically distributed applications. To pre-register for the open beta, visit http://www.ibm.com/rational/beta/v7/

New Eclipse Callisto resources -- developerWorks, the skills-building hub of IBM's developer community with nearly 5.5 million registered users, offers a wide range of free Eclipse-focused tools to help developers build and maintain their Eclipse skill-set. As the latest addition to its expanding portfolio of Eclipse resources, developerWorks recently unveiled a new educational tool designed to help Eclipse users learn about V3.2 enhancements. The "Building Cheat Sheets in Eclipse V3.2" tutorial will allow developers to view interactive tutorials from within the Eclipse Workbench and learn how to perform complex Eclipse tasks. For more information, please visit the Eclipse Project Resources on developerWorks at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/top-projects/eclipse.html

"With this announcement, IBM continues to help clients enhance the value of their investments in open source by delivering enterprise class tooling based on the latest distributions of Eclipse and by providing the first enterprise class support offering for organizations heavily invested in Eclipse," said Danny Sabbah, general manager, Rational Software, IBM Software Group. "These new offerings will further empower developers to have the flexibility they desire while also helping our clients better govern their software development investments within a broader organizational context."
For more information, visit http://www.ibm.com/software/

GNOME 2.16 Released

GNOME 2.16 is the latest version of the GNOME Desktop; a popular, multi-platform desktop environment for Linux™, UNIX™ and other platforms. Based on Free and Open Source Software, GNOME provides all of the common tools computer users have come to expect of a modern computing environment, as well as a flexible and powerful platform for software developers.

The GNOME Desktop is released every six months with many new features, improvements, "bug" fixes and translations. GNOME 2.16 continues this tradition and includes many interesting new features and fixes for hundreds of reported bugs. To learn more about GNOME and the qualities that distinguish it from other computer desktop environments (like usability, accessibility, internationalization and freedom) visit the About GNOME page on our website.

The GNOME 2.16 release contains all of the applications needed to provide basic user functionality including system menus, file management, web browsing and email. It also includes lots of common accessories like a calculator, dictionary, document reader, image viewer, multimedia player, text editor and UNIX terminal emulator. Thanks to its excellent developer platform, many other excellent Free and Open Source applications are also available for GNOME, included but not limited to Abiword, a fully featured word processor; Gnumeric, a powerful spreadsheeting application; the GNU Image Manipulation Program, a popular image editor similar to Photoshop; and Inkscape, a flexible vector graphics application. You can find out about these and other great GNOME applications from the
GNOME Project Listing or GNOMEfiles.org.

Windows Vista RC1 Impresses Critics November Release Date Looks Safe

Early feedback from testers already using Windows Vista RC1 (Release Candidate 1) report that the OS (operating system) is more stable than expected, which bodes well for Microsoft's plan to have Vista out according to its current schedule.

Microsoft has said since March it will release Windows Vista to business customers in November and to consumers in January 2007. Although many have suspected that the release will slip further, testers now say there's a good chance the company will meet its goal if the condition of RC1 is any indication.

Read the rest here

BORC: The Developer Tools Group of Borland Software Announces the Immediate Availability of the New Turbo Products

The Developer Tools Group of Borland Software announced the immediate availability of its new line of Turbo™ products, offering low-cost, rapid application development capabilities for students, hobbyist developers, occupational developers and individual professionals. Turbo Delphi® for Win32®, Turbo Delphi for .NET, Turbo C++ and Turbo C# are single language versions of Borland Developer Studio, a development environment for Microsoft® Windows® and .NET applications.

The Turbo products combine easy learning with significant productivity gains, providing a fun and accessible environment for developers to rapidly build high performance GUI, Database, Web, and Web Services applications for Microsoft Windows. Turbo Delphi for .NET and Turbo C# also support the Microsoft .NET and ASP.NET platforms. Turbo Delphi, Turbo Delphi for .NET, Turbo C++ and Turbo C# are available immediately in English, French, German and Japanese. For more information, development tips and ideas, or to purchase the Turbo products, visit www.turboexplorer.com

Each Turbo product is available in two editions:

Turbo Explorer editions, available as a free download, are fixed, all-in-one solutions that let programmers learn and develop in a single language and platform environment.
Turbo Professional editions, priced at US$399, are extensible and customizable with over 200 pre-built drag-and-drop components. They are also designed to accept any of thousands of compatible third-party tools, components and plug-ins.
Academic pricing discounts are available to make the Turbo products more accessible to students and educational institutions for cost-effective software development training and education. Student and academic pricing for the Turbo Professional editions begins under US$100.

Robert F. Teitel, a professor in the statistics department at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., recognized the potential value of Turbo for his students’ education. “The new Turbo products suggest renewed vigor in the continued development and support of the Delphi line of software development environments,” said Teitel. “Of course, I’m personally very excited about the return of the free, downloadable explorer version – which I’ve always called the “student edition” – of the single personality products. I’m planning to teach a multi-lingual [Delphi and C++ for the Win32 platform] introductory computer science course this fall using BDS2006 in the computer laboratory, and anticipate that my students will download the matching explorer editions.”

“The enthusiastic response to Turbo’s return has been overwhelming from professional developers, hobbyists and educators around the globe,” commented David Intersimone, vice president of developer relations and chief evangelist of Borland’s Developer Tools Group.

About the Developers Tools Group
The Developers Tools Group at Borland delivers innovative, high-productivity development tools for a wide spectrum of software developers ranging from individuals to enterprise teams. Products enable developers to freely develop on their platform of choice while focusing on simplifying complex technologies and tasks so they can concentrate on application design, not infrastructure, to ensure on-time project delivery.

Microsoft Releases .NET Framework 3.0 - Release Candidate

The Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 (formerly known as WinFX), is the new managed code programming model for Windows. It combines the power of the .NET Framework 2.0 with new technologies for building applications that have visually compelling user experiences, seamless communication across technology boundaries, and the ability to support a wide range of business processes.

These new technologies are Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation, and Windows CardSpace (formerly code named "Infocard"). Microsoft plans to ship .NET Framework 3.0 as part of the Windows Vista operating system. In addition, Microsoft is making these technologies available on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The following Community Technology Preview of .NET Framework 3.0 enables you to continue experimenting with early builds of these technologies, get acquainted with the development experience, and provide feedback to Microsoft


Installation To start the installation process, you will need to run the download file; this will initiate the installation of the .NET Framework 3.0 Release Candidate; If you have troubles with the download manager, you can download the entire package for x86 or for x64 which are both .EXE files.

This release supports Visual Studio 2005 RTM and is compatible with 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 Technical Refresh. The Microsoft® Windows® SDK contains documentation, samples, and tools designed to help you develop managed applications and libraries using .NET Framework. You can install the SDK that corresponds to this release here.

Open Life: The Philosophy of Open Source a newly published book about Open Source ideology and business models

'Open Life: The Philosophy of Open Source' is a newly published book about Open Source ideology and business models.
It is divided into 4 parts covering the topic from different angles. Part one introduces the general concept of openness, part two Open Source ideology and values, along with prominent personalities like Linus Torvalds and Richard Stallman, part three is an exhaustive study in Linux businesses and their business models and finally part four is an introduction into the emerging trend of applying Open Source ideology and methods to non-technical fields, like Wikipedia or Creative Commons.



"One goal of the book was to introduce Open Source thinking to people who may not yet have been that exposed to it, perhaps because they are not experts in the field of computing. There is currently a strong trend of Open Source methods being applied in all kinds of fields, and I wanted to write in a style understandable to everyone, yet interesting enough also to people who already know a lot about Open Source would like to read it too", the author, Henrik Ingo, explains the books backgrounds.

The book is published through the print on demand self publishing service Lulu.com. "Print on demand is a nice fit to publishing in the internet age. I uploaded a PDF, got a proof copy, make corrections, and there you go. The Lulu.com print quality is actually very high, perfect I would say. but the website itself could probably streamline the process a little bit. Self publishing like this is also very Open Sourcish: When I tried to offer my manuscript to some publishers in Finland, the general or philophically oriented publishers did not really understand what it was about, whereas publishers specializing in computing correctly noted that it isn't really a computing book. With the help of digital printing and self-pbulishing, the book had no problem finding its audience and I actually sold much more I could ever had hoped for. So who needs publishers anymore?"

Open Life: The Philosophy of Open Source is a translation of an original Finnish publication in May 2005, 'Avoin Elämä: Näin toimii Open Source'. In Finland it was the first book ever published online for free and with an Open Source style Creative Commons license. Talouselämä, Finland's main financial magazine, aptly gave it the recommendation: "It is certainly a business book well worth its price."

Open Life too is available online from the books website at www.openlife.cc



About the Author

Henrik Ingo is 29 year old and lives in Espoo, Finland. While working for a training company called Tieturi he taught a multitude of Internet and Open Source related programming languages. He has also researched e-learning at Helsinki University of Technology. Today he works as a software designer for Sesca Technologies. Though Sesca's headquarters are in Pietarsaari, Henrik works at the Helsinki office.

Henrik first came in thouch with Linux in 1996, when working as trainee for an internet service provider. A year earlier he had first used the internet, using IRC and email without knowing what it was.

Avoin Elämä: Näin toimii Open Source was Henrik's first book.

With the exception of the Epilogue, and the cover image, the contents of this book have been released into the public domain. You are therefore free to copy and distribute it either wholly or partially as is or in an altered form.
This book can be read or copied from the Internet address: http://www.openlife.cc

PornoTube The YouTube Of Porn Breaks Into Alexa Top 800 Within 2 Months

Take a good concept apply porn to it and bingo...$$$$$.
Who says sex doesn't sell? What's next porno.licio.us and other web2.0 sites, maybe we should name this the beginning of porn2.0

Alexa Traffic Rank for pornotube.com: 752 (up 1,099,202)

In case you need/want to check it out here is the URL http://www.pornotube.com/

SAMSUNG Heralds New Era Of Entertainment; The World's First Mass-Market Blu-Ray Disc Player BD-P1000

The future of home entertainment has begun with Samsung's world's first Blu-ray Player. The new device let consumers take full advantage of high-definition displays, playing content at native 720p, 1080i or 1080p video resolutions. In addition, the BD-P1000 offers full 1080p output via HDMI for the best available resolution and up-conversion capabilities for improving the picture of standard DVDs. The player has been launched in U.S. market from June 25th and will be introduced in European market from mid-October.

The BD player includes a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) output, an industry-supported, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface on a single cable, allowing users to easily connect the Blu-ray player to their existing home televisions. It will also decode standard multi-channel audio.

"Samsung's Blu-ray player will be the first available to consumers, and we will continue to innovate it" said President Geesung Choi of Samsung Electronics' Digital Media Business. "Samsung is demonstrating its leadership in driving the next generation optical format."

Samsung developed major key components of the BD-P1000 internally. Samsung's unique technology - one pickup with two lenses - allows it to also play standard DVDs and CDs in addition to Blu-ray discs while allowing for more cost-effective production. The supported DVD formats include DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD-R. Additional features of the BD-P1000 include 10 in 2 memory card reader, Dolby digital, DTS and pop-up; a full colour high-definition animated button; and improved bitmap and text subtitles.

The increased storage capacity of Blu-ray discs allows the Samsung BD player to offer an astounding 25 GB of content on a single-sided disc (50 GB per dual layer) - nearly six times the capacity of traditional DVDs and enough space for two hours of high-definition movies or recorded content (see chart below).

Blu-ray
Capacity Single Layer : 25 GB
Dual Layer :50GB
Compression MPEG2/VC-1/H.264
Data Transfer Rate 50 Mbps
Recording Time HD 2Hours(25GB)
Max. Resolution HD (1920 x 1080)
Output 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080P

DVD
Capacity Single Layer : 4.7 GB
Dual Layer : 8.5GB
Compression MPEG2
Data Transfer Rate 10.08 Mbps
Recording Time SD 2Hours(4.7GB)
Max. Resolution SD (720 x 480)
Output 480p, 480i


The Blu-ray next-generation optical disc format was created by a group of the world's top consumer electronics companies, including Samsung. This format was intended to meet intense consumer demand for playing and recording high-definition content, which far surpasses the video quality DVD can handle. With remarkable high quality video and crisp audio clarity, Blu-ray is unsurpassed in high-definition entertainment. Other applications including gaming and interactive media will take even greater advantage of the format.
Connectivity includes CVBS Output, S-Video Output, component output, HDMI and both digital and analog audio outputs. Supported audio formats include 192KHz LPCM, Dolby digital, DTS and MP3. BD-P1000 also has a memory card reader supporting Compact Flash, Micro Drive, SD, Mini SD, MMC & RS-MMC, Memory stick, Memory stick pro, Memory stick pro duo and Memory stick duo (all TM).

BD-P1000
Terminals/Video Composite video out, S-video out
HDMI (480p/720p/1080i/1080p)
Component(480i/480p/720p/1080i)

Terminals/Audio Stereo out(L/R), 5.1ch analog audio out, Coaxial, Optical

David Heinemeier Hansson (Ruby On Rails) VS Joel Spolsky (Joel On Software)

I am going to enjoy this little ‘war’
Joel Spolsky wrote an entry called Language Wars where he claimed that Ruby on Rails is not scalable, is slow and that there is not a lot of experience in the world building mission critical web systems in Ruby on Rails

To that David Heinemeier Hansson posted on his blog the following

"It's one of the purest forms of FUD I've ever seen against Ruby and Rails.


Fear:
I for one am scared of Ruby because (1) it displays a stunning antipathy towards Unicode and (2) it's known to be slow, so if you become The Next MySpace, you'll be buying 5 times as many boxes as the .NET guy down the hall. Those things might eventually be get fixed but for now, you can risk Ruby on your two-person dormroom startup or your senior project, not for enterprise stuff where Someone is Going to Get Fired.

Uncertainty:
I'm really not sure that you won't hit scaling problems, or problems interfacing with some old legacy thingamabob, or problems finding programmers who can understand the code, or whatnot. So while Ruby on Rails is the fun answer and yes I've heard of 37 Signals and they're making lovely Ruby on Rails apps, and making lots of money, but that's not a safe choice for at least another year or six.

Doubt:
Ruby is a beautiful language and I'm sure you can have a lot of fun developing apps it in, and in fact if you want to do something non-mission-critical, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun, but for Serious Business Stuff you really must recognize that there just isn't a lot of experience in the world building big mission critical web systems in Ruby on Rails.
"

You can read the Spolsky article here
You can read the David Heinemeier Hansson piece here