If you're lucky, it's an atmospheric curiosity. If you're not, it's time to tally up the damages and call your insurance agent. Oh, and HailStorm is also the name of Microsoft's latest .NET initiative. You've got to love that Redmond sense of metaphor. If you limit yourself to the Microsoft's presentation of HailStorm this Monday, it sounds like a pretty good deal.
Developers get new tools for leveraging existing Web services and building services of their own.
Consumers get a personalized Web experience, a free taste of how Web services can improve their lives, and will only have to pay for the more sophisticated services if they want them. Well, there are a few areas that give one concern. Time will tell how many choices you'll actually have under this new .NET initiative. Of course, my fears could be unjustified. Yet even at the risk of agreeing with David Coursey, I must confess misgivings on the security aspects of HailStorm.