Gossip

Java guru travels in time?

Be very careful sending emails to UK employees of Sun; you may get the reply sooner than you expect!

Sniffer wouldn't dream of suggesting that Sun's California head office is full of demanding individuals. However, it does seem that people are prepared to go to remarkable lengths to keep them sweet.

Packets sniffed here at NewsWireless include some email messages from Java guru Simon Phipps to his colleagues in the UK. Incredible though it may seem, Simon's replies arrive several hours before the questions are sent. Of course, the easy explanation for this would normally be: "He's on the West Coast, and so naturally it's nearly four AM where he is." But what is Simon doing up and working at such an outrageous time?

Our sources reveal that this is a "human relations" effort. Simon is, indeed, in the UK. "I like to set my system clock to PST (Pacific) - it makes it easier to remember what time it is in the places I'm talking to," he told a friend.