Wizard API updated!
Tim Boudreau has released a new version of the Swing Wizard library (version 0.997) that fixes the WizardException bug reported in JavaWorld's recent Open Source Java Project profile. The article's examples have been reworked to test out the new, improved WizardException. Thanks, Tim, for this helpful fix!
Open Source Java Projects: The Wizard API

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Ring fever: A first-hand look at Java-powered jewelry

<em>JavaWorld</em> columnist and former JavaSoft engineer Chuck McManis gets a serious case of technology fever

By Chuck Mcmanis, JavaWorld.com, 04/01/98

JavaOne: A lot of hype, not a lot of technical details. That was my impression of the four days following the third-year anniversary of Java's Internet debut for public consumption (March 23, 1995). And yet, one thing stood out at the conference and captured my imagination: The Ring. Not just any ring, mind you. No, this was the Java Ring, and unlike the umpteen million bulky class rings from forgotten alma maters that it might resemble, the Java Ring ring is special. It runs Java code. Yup, read that again: It runs Java code.

The mind whirls and disbelief sets in. "You mean it stores code that can be run by another program, right?" No, I mean it actually executes its own form of Java bytecode, right there on the ring. I'll pause for a moment and let that sink in...

OK, welcome back. Yes, it's a nerd's holiest-of-holy toys. It's a secret decoder ring that actually decodes. And then the second bombshell hits: It does world-class encryption. Not that letter-substitution stuff that the ring you got out of yesterday's Cheerios box did. It can do 1024-bit RSA public key encryption. Whoa, the head spins. (No, not like the infamous spinning-heads applet. I feel the spinning.)

A sordid tale of sleepless nights (in four acts)

Day 1: The beginning

I live in the "south bay," that part of the San Francisco Bay Area that really isn't on the peninsula but still wants to seem more upscale than San Jose. We call it the south bay, and its only 45 miles or so from the Moscone Center, the site of JavaOne. Of course, most tourists tend to think San Francisco is the Bay Area -- but Silicon Valley is the true heart of the Bay Area, and north of here is the City.

Java Ring with ring reader



What that means for me is that JavaOne is close enough that I can't get my company to put me up in a hotel, and far enough that it takes some planning to get there on time. For that, we've got the Caltrain. A commuter rail service that runs up through the southern part of the Bay Area to a train station that's just far enough away from the Moscone Center to make for an annoying walk or an overpriced cab ride. I walked on Tuesday morning and got to Moscone on time, only to realize that the line out the door was for pre-registered folks such as myself: So much for making the beginning of the keynote speech. So I stand in line, get my badge and finally rush into the "overflow" room to watch the keynote on TV. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of paying ,200 to go to a conference just to watch the keynote address on TV. All the same, halfway through James Gosling's talk (voted Best Keynote by yours truly), he asked who among the audience had their ring.

"What ring?" I said.
"The one that runs Java," said James.

Well, out the door in a flash, and back to the materials center. "Have you heard about the ring?!?" I present my badge and ticket and voilà!, I'm looking at my new Java Ring. Back to the big TV room just in time to catch James explaining how the ring can hold your business card information and we'll all soon be running the Fractal game on it.

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Resources
  • The iButton home page (The Java Button is a form of Crypto iButton.) http://www.ibutton.com
  • Dallas Semiconductor "Appnote 74" describes the serial programming of the iButton http://www.dalsemi.com/DocControl/PDFs/app74.pdf
  • Very useful links to figure out how to use the Java iButton http://www.ibutton.com/java.html
  • The Java smart card architecture and implementation http://java.sun.com/products/javacard/index.html
  • The Java communications framework (early access) http://developer.javasoft.com/developer/earlyAccess/communications.html
  • A finger print verifier that knows how to talk to smart cards http://www.identix.com/TLock.htm
  • "Sun's Scott McNealy and Alan Baratz discuss preliminary ruling in MS/Sun suit" (JavaWorld, April 1998) http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-04-1998/jw-04-lawsuit.html
  • "iButtonsThe first ready-to-buy 2.0 Java Card API devices" http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-04-1998/jw-04-ibuttons.html
  • "An introduction to Java Card" http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-02-1998/jw-02-javacard.html
  • "An Introduction to the Java Ring. Learn about the inner workings of this secure, durable, wearable Java-powered electronic token." http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-04-1998/jw-04-javadev.html