January 31, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Podcasts: "Service-oriented architecture as a notion is being limited by the number of what some of the analysts are calling competing visions," explains David Linthicum. "In other words, everyone has their own definition and users are confused." Indeed, there are myriad misconceptions about SOA. One: SOA is new. Not true. Two: You must use Web services to build SOA. Nope. Three: ESB equals SOA. You get the idea here, I'm certain. Tune into SOA Report.
Columnist's corner: If you suspect the fact that Sun is once again using Intel chips represents the first nail in AMD's fate, think again. "As they say in my business, this whole Intel-eating-AMD's lunch angle doesn't have legs," espouses Tom Yager in Don't stick a fork in AMD. "AMD has more relevant new technology to bring to the table than Intel's road map portends."
Q&A: A Microsoft exec counters concerns that Office 2007 will demand increased end-user training. Corporate vice president Chris Capossela, in this interview with Carol Sliwa of Computerworld, explains that the average Office user will get up and running very quickly. After a short time, Capossela suggests, users will never want to give the product up. They also discuss user feedback, Office Open XML, and stopping casual hackers.
The news beat: The U.S. government gets a big fat 'D' in cybersecurity, primarily for not taking the security of sensitive information, the reliability of critical infrastructure and government information assurance seriously enough, as deemed by the CSIA trade group. Gemalto plans to release a smart card that fights phishing attacks at next week's RSA Conference. And SAP launches xAPP Sales and Operations Planning, slated for March availability.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 31, 2007 11:09 AM
January 31, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Vista: time to take action is now. Also, U.S. Coast Guard searches for missing Microsoft researcher, Devicescape unveils free software for hooking into Wi-Fi hotspots, Peugeot steers Linux onto desktops, and more
LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 31, 2007 07:46 AM
January 31, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Vista and its many pain points
Best of the blogs: Vista is now widely available, true, but that doesn't mean that Bob Garza will walk around recommending it to clients. "Six different flavors of the new OS? Ugh, I see support headaches galore," he writes in The pain of Vista begins. "I do find it curious that Vista comes with Windows Defender to protect it against spyware and other potentially malicious software, but it doesn't come with integrated anti-virus. Which, I'm sure, will be leading to more pain." Full coverage: Vista: the next generation.
Columnist's corner: When the CIO lacks experience with Citrix ICA, server virtualization and, umm, SANs, most IT pros would reckon the best way to move through a multi-beast of an upgrade would be one step at a time. But not the CIO in this week's Off the Record who decides to slay the monster's eight heads simultaneously -- and in one week. The rollout started Friday evening, and in no time at all "the level of chaos was so intense nobody knew what to test first." I'd love to report an ending replete with vindication, but...
The news beat: Sony settles with the FTC over its rootkit debacle by agreeing to disclose limitations on consumers' use of its music CDs and reimburse customers for damaged PCs, among other points of consent. Seagate details a wireless storage device, which holds up to 20GB, and enables users to share digital files among mobile phones, PCs. And Adobe president and CEO Shantanu Narayen discusses his company's multiplatform runtime environment, code-named Apollo and slated for beta testing later this year, in this interview.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 31, 2007 04:21 AM
January 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Columnist's corner: IT has commitment issues -- only it's not your typical relationship-phobic men this time. Women, instead, are leaving for greener fields. A wee dram more than one-quarter of tech workers are women, down from 35 percent in the mid-80's. If you're male and thinking "good, more opportunities for me," editor-in-chief Steve Fox interjects with "over the short-term, sure. But ultimately it spells trouble for the profession."
Best of the blogs: Arming users with tools for generating content is, in the words of Ephraim Schwartz, "all the rage at Demo." But does it have any value? Schwartz asks in Reality Check. "The facts speak louder than any debate."
The news beat: Google enhances the security and search capabilities of its Mini search device with version 2.2. AMD claims to be unfazed by Intel's news of 45-nanometer processors and the resurrected deal to supply Sun Microsystems with chips. And a California judge dismisses state charges against Bryan Wagner, the private eye Hewlett-Packard hired during its pretexting scandal, since he already pleaded guilty to similar federal charges.
Video: The Vista buzz isn't over just yet. As the new OS went on sale in Tokyo yesterday, hundreds of people lined up in the chilly night to be among the first get their hands on the software and necessary hardware. Darren Huston, CEO of Microsoft Japan, remarks, "I feel great. It's the dawn of a new era for the personal computer." Watch it here. Related: Gates brings Vista and Office 2007 to Europe.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 30, 2007 10:58 AM
January 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Windows Vista has arrived. Also, Ballmer aims to dispel rumors that Vista is last client OS, hardware OEMs unwrap new PCs, AT&T has IPTV blues, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 30, 2007 07:26 AM
January 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Operating systems: Today is the day Windows Vista is officially available for sale in stores. Speaking in New York, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates likened it to a predecessor. "Windows 95 was key to its era, and Vista is key to the era we have today." CEO Steve Ballmer, meanwhile, said that he expects Vista to sell five times as many copies as Windows 95, adding that Vista is not the final client OS. "We've got a very long list of stuff our engineers want to do ... There are so many areas where we need innovation." As is typical of new OS releases, Microsoft trumpeted right along with its harem of hardware vendors -- AMD, Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Lenovo, among others -- all of whom are somehow involved in creating faster and more capacious PCs in accordance with Vista. Related: Ongoing coverage of Vista: the next generation.
Columnist's corner: Turning his skeptic's eye toward the recent marriage of Open Source Development Labs and the Free Standards Group, Neil McAllister suspects the real motive is somewhat less than philanthropic. "The Linux Foundation isn't really about open standards and it isn't about open source," he writes in this week's Open Enterprise. "It's an industry trade organization, the likes of which we've seen countless times before. Judging by its charter, its true goal is little more than plain, old-fashioned corporate marketing."
SOA: Confusion is stirring about loose coupling and SOA. Whereas the advantages are known to IT pros who have built architectures in the past, the business value is not as apparent, points out David Linthicum in Real World SOA. For one, IT "can change business systems as needed, with much more agility than if the architecture/systems was more tightly coupled."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 30, 2007 04:40 AM
January 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Talkback: Should AMD be worried?
Tom Yager writes in Don't stick a fork in AMD: With all the vigor and exactness of stock market analysts explaining a one-point shift in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, pundits are penning obits for AMD in the aftermath of Sun Microsystems' recent decision to buy chips from Intel. Poor AMD: first Core microarchitecture, the looming doom of quad-core Core, and now the defection of its sole first-tier monogamous mate. Talk about your slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
I invite my colleagues in the media to run their AMD cover stories with Titanic metaphors now and get it out of their systems. As they say in my business, this whole Intel-eating-AMD's lunch angle doesn't have legs.
Agree or disagree? Intel's latest breakthrough on 45-nm chips should be more of a worry.
Is AMD in trouble with the Sun deal or Intel's latest one-uppance?
Posted by Mike Barton on January 30, 2007 03:20 AM
January 29, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: With Microsoft's highly-evangelized OS officially becoming available tomorrow, we've got another tip for IT. This one concerns locking down those sometimes-pesky downloads. "There's one lil' problem that the option presents: users can upgrade too," Oliver Rist explains. Previous tips were in last week's posts, but Mr. Rist snuck one in over the weekend as well about Dreamscape, the new feature that lets users set videos as wallpaper, which can be "a little painful if you use the wrong video."
Q&A: Women have some unique challenges in the IT realm. Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, knows that and shares some secrets of her success. The core of her advice: "Don't carry other people's prejudices as your burden. Don't sell your soul in the process. First of all, you have to be yourself."
Podcasts: Virtualization, at least according to SWsoft and VMware, soared to new heights last year. Bearing that in mind, David Marshall looks at what to expect in 2007, with some IDC perspective thrown in. Tune into Virtualization Report.
The news beat: Borland details its application lifecycle management strategy, dubbed Open ALM, as well as shipments of Borland Gauntlet software. IBM buys Softek Storage Solutions for its data mobility technology. And Symantec scoops up Altiris, maker of asset management wares.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 29, 2007 10:55 AM
January 29, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Countdown to Windows Vista: lock down. Also, YouTube to pay users for content, Symantec buys Altiris, IBM swallows Softek Storage Solutions, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 29, 2007 08:15 AM
January 29, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Cast iron, 45 nm chips and OS security
Screencast: Martin Heller demonstrates how to configure the Cast Iron Integration Appliance. The walk-through includes database end-points, layouts for flat files, and others, as well as how to test what you've done. Watch it here.
Columnist's corner: All operating systmes are not created equal, and that holds particular truth when it comes to security. No matter, though, because distrusting (or merely disliking) Windows does not sanction one to ignore basic security principles. "Windows is just as secure as any other popular OS, if not better, despite knee-jerk criticism to the contrary," posits Roger Grimes in this week's Security Adviser. "Many Linux, BSD, and Solaris administrators I know are excellent security caretakers. But they also know that you have to follow basic security guidelines regardless of what OS you run."
The news beat: Employment is once again growing in Silicon Valley, providing evidence that the downturn is over, with venture capital investment in renewable energy and clean technology on the rise. Linden Lab's CEO Joe Miller explains in this interview that Second Life has the potential to be a new kind of operating system, replete with social interactions, commerce and entertainment. And Intel takes chips a step forward into the 45-nanometer realm which will ultimately translate into "extremely high compute power at extremely low power usage."
Poll: Seeking the answer to what's right and what's wrong in the debate sparked when News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox subpoenaed YouTube for the identities of those who posted unaired clips of "24," Eprhaim Schwartz asks should YouTube and its parent company, Google, reveal the name of ECOtotal or not? Send in your comments.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 29, 2007 05:05 AM
January 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Operating systems: What with 4 days until Windows Vista hits store shelves, time's a tickin'. So here's our second tip: Brush up on Mahjong. You read that right, I mean the game. "We all thought pinball was going to be the killer time-wasting app when Windows 2000 came out. But Solitaire remained the chief bane of the pay-by-the-hour set. I think that's going to change in Vista," Oliver Rist writes in this Test Center Daily post. "Mahjong rules." And, of course, there's a little something for IT managers, too.
Ongoing coverage: Plenty of nearly-eleventh-hour buzz is emerging about Vista as well. European groups claim that Vista breaks the same antitrust laws as XP and will create an environment devoid of choice for users while marking the initial step in "Microsoft's strategy to extend its market dominance to the Internet." Ouch. Security firm DriveSentry, meanwhile, says that half of the circulating pirated versions of Vista are Trojan horses. Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC claims that Vista won't bolster PC sales in 2007. Partners and retailers, nonetheless, are gearing up for the Jan. 30 launch by readying financial, security and management applications. The onslaught continues in this special report Vista: the next generation.
Notes from the field: It's not all bad for Microsoft. The dour Mr. Cringely, in fact, introduces this week's correspondence with the words "for once I think the Microsoft sloganeers have it right." Rather naturally the flattery ends there. SCO CEO Darl McBride makes a guest appearance, this time amid rumors suggesting something about him hopping onto the NASCAR circuit. Who knows, it might be friendlier to him than open source tracksters. Vista straight ahead, is SCO dead?
Podcasts: As profiling your infrastructure becomes increasingly important, Akorri's BalancePoint Suite 1.3 is a management application that "doesn't come cheap," but brings "potential benefits too good to pass up." Tune into Storage Sprawl.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 26, 2007 11:03 AM
January 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
A tip about Windows Vista's games, MS and partners back new antiphishing technology, Oracle revs its e-Business Suite, hackers exploit a Word vulnerability, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 26, 2007 08:46 AM
January 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
App dev: IBM plays out its Jazz strategy for collaboratively building software with new Rational products slated for the first half of this year that it is tuning for Web 2.0 and AJAX interfaces.
Best of the blogs: Speaking of IBM, the news that Irving Wladawsky-Berger is leaving Big Blue after 37 years prompts Greg Nawrocki (and a whole host of others, I'm certain) to ask What's next for the friend of grid? Nawrocki explains that neither grid in general nor the Globus Tookit "would be where they are today without his hand shepherding the technology."
Video: At Linux.Conf.AU 07 in Sydney, IDG Australia looks at a $100 notebook PC from MIT's One Laptop Per Child program, which was the real showstopper of the event. Watch it here.
The news beat: Webroot says Microsoft's Vista Defender antispyware fails to catch 84 percent of a malware sample -- a claim Microsoft refutes. With all the information breaches occurring these days tech firms are swarming to protect data and a cadre of products is due out in the coming months. And Palm, after years of effort, will make push e-mail available next week in the form of Treo 680 and 700p Smartphones.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 26, 2007 04:44 AM
January 25, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: Most SOA consulting firms have some sort of methodologies in place, be those formal or informal. But they're all different and, according to Dave Linthicum, most need some work. "What I'm proposing is that they come together as a standard 'open methodology,' driven by the SOA practitioners and not just the vendors or consultants, very much like a wiki," he offers in Real World SOA. "As such, it evolves into something more practical and useful, with real experience that's shared."
Columnist's corner: David Margulius delves into the world of "huge shadow operations and underworld overtones." No, not the realm of economic hit men, undercover narcs, or KGB agents. I'm talking rogue IT here -- as in a medical doctor who is developing electronic medical records with Java, Oracle and Unix. "He's the kind of rogue that IT needs to embrace and support -- someone powerful enough to communicate the importance of IT to colleagues who may be reluctant to change," Margulius writes.
Podcasts: Dissecting what SMBs should look for when working to optimize your Web site for search engines, Oliver Rist explains what SEO is, and lays out some tactics. Then, Mr. Rist looks back on the fond time he spent at CES. "I don't know if you realize this but Jesuits swear and drink." A bit of digression, indeed, but he gets right back on track. Tune into Emerging Enterprise.
The news beat: Siemens plunks down a cool $3.5 billion for UGS, a provider of product lifecycle management software. IBM details plans to hand off its printing division to Ricoh, which initially will acquire 51 percent and obtain the remainder over the next three years. And Cisco discloses a trio of router problems that impact TCP packets, IPv6 router headers, and the Crafted IP option.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 25, 2007 10:50 AM
January 25, 2007 | Comments: (0)
A tip about Windows Vista's dirty little secret, Apple faces potential lawsuit over iTunes DRM in Norway, the Pope criticizes violent video games LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 25, 2007 07:56 AM
January 25, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: Banners in Japan are advertising Windows Vista with only the word 'Wow'. "Considering we couldn't figure out what they were for I am going to bet that the subtlety will be lost in translation. The best part is that all of the banners have the date of 1/30 for launch and every electronics store in Shibuya is already selling it," reports Dave Rosenberg in Open sources. "I may buy it just for the entertainment value of watching a PC blow-up."
Operating systems: With only 5 days until the OS hits store shelves, let the countdown to Windows Vista begin. We're kicking it off with a tip: Vista has a dirty little secret.
Columnist's corner: The old guard media types, i.e. those paper-based and seemingly antiquated magazines and newspapers, have in myriad ways been outdone by the Internet. So the question Tom Yager poses, and answers, in this week's Ahead of the Curve is why does traditional media still dominate? For starters, "information and opinion are delivered the same way they have been since the 1950s." Oh yes, and then there is the technology problem.
The news beat: AMD puts its faith, and hopes of profitability, on the forthcoming quad-core Barcelona processor. Startup 30 Second Software issues a free mobile shopping application for BlackBerrys. And Norway gives Apple until March 1 to agree to change its DRM policy for iTunes.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 25, 2007 05:17 AM
January 24, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Virtualization merger disguised as itself
Podcasts: About a year ago, SWsoft bought Parallels. Only thing is: they didn't tell anyone. Or at least not very many people until this week. Why reveal that now? Well, they wanted to quell the rumors swirling that the two companies were going to combine. Odd, I know. David Marshall explains why they kept quiet in Virtualization Report.
Columnist's corner: When you move to Office 2007 it will want more than just SharePoint Server 2007, as Oliver Rist points out in this week's installment of Enterprise Windows. Think Project Server 2007 and Groove Server 2007. For now, Mr. Rist is focused on Project Server -- two client versions and a server. There are issues, such as one that "makes Project Server cry like a little girl," but overall "our lab experience ran nicely."
Best of the blogs: Stranded by proprietary software? Then you're not alone. Matt Asay shares the saga of a CIO who is frustrated from seeing "exceptional technology locked up in a small company." This is not merely emotional, either. "The problem is that this company is missing out on external development in its growth, and community continuation of the code beyond its corporate lifetime," Asay writes in Great technology, crappy business model.
The news beat: Oracle says it will unleash a Web 2.0 interface before month's end. With the OS not already out the door, Microsoft is already plotting Vista's first service pack. And Vodafone details a service that will enable users to profit from sharing videos.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 24, 2007 11:00 AM
January 24, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Metro Wi-Fi beats cellular in independent testing, SAP touts mid-market apps, Sun posts first profit in more than a year, Apple plugs QuickTime leak, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 24, 2007 08:51 AM
January 24, 2007 | Comments: (0)
The pointy-haired boss and you
Careers: A self-described Dilbertesque Pointy-haired boss writes in to Advice Line seeking perspective on a common management dilemma -- having to supervise one employee while still managing to complete his own 'real work.' Bob Lewis cuts to the point: "Even when you have too little time, you still have to decide where to invest it." Figuring that out, though, isn't so easy.
Best of the blogs: The only thing that Matt Asay does not find interesting about IBM's social networking intentions for Lotus Notes is the foundational technology. "If you've ever used Lotus Notes, you'll understand what I'm talking about. It's as old and creaky as IBM," he writes in IBM makes kid software for grownups. But as is the case with Big Blue's competitors, Mr. Asay asserts, "you're out of luck if you just want a little piece of the grand vision."
Video: Linux creator Linus Torvalds speaks with Computerworld Australia at the Linux.Conf.AU.07 in Sydney, about his role in Linux today. "I concentrate on the technology and the vendors do the support that I would be horrible at," Torvalds explains. Watch the interview.
The news beat: Microsoft makes available its AJAX tool, formerly known as Atlas, which it describes as a free framework for building interactive Web experiences. Both Microsoft and OpenOffice.org release toolkits pushing their document file formats and, thus, their respective suites. And Sun Microsystems returns to quarterly profitability after more than a year in the red.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 24, 2007 04:26 AM
January 24, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Talkback: Is new media all that?
In InfoWorld chief technologist Tom Yager's column today, he writes of the Net's great expectations to replace traditional media, concluding: "The Internet is the right vehicle for carrying information to the masses, but traditional media, as technologically backward and restrictive as it is, can't die out until the masses value immediacy and interactivity to the point of need, and everyone can get access to the Net for the price of a subscription to the local paper."
Well, hang on a sec. The really big stories I see still come from near day-long reporting for the big dailies. Immediacy is nifty, but quality reporting takes time.
Tom says he reads newsweeklies, apparently finding them of high value. I think dailies serve the same function to the immediate-Web as weeklies do for the more-immediate dailies. In other words, they need each other.
Let's hope that never dies. My rant is over. What do you think about where online fits in the media landscape: Replacement in wait, or additional source?
Posted by Mike Barton on January 24, 2007 03:42 AM
January 23, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: Most folks from time to time experience something close to that state of near-exhaustion that deprives one of performing at peak level. But how to best this obstacle? In Advice Line, Bob Lewis suggests starting with a test, and doing so tomorrow. He goes on to explain that "true burnout has (I think) quite a bit in common with depression - it's in control of you and you need to find a way clear of it."
Columnist's corner: "Offshoring is about to hit a wall," Ephraim Schwartz begins, in Offshore attrition on the rise. You see, the idea may feel new, to IT anyway, but that does not mean it's protected from basic economics. "Despite all you may have heard about how many computer science majors graduate from Indian universities annually, there is a finite talent pool." And, as one reader points out in the comments section, in at least some cases Indian outsourcers are already charging more than competitors in Europe.
Test Center review: Admitting a certain degree of apprehension about Oracle's SOA Suite 10g Release 3, James Borck found its "comprehensive scope and breadth of well-integrated component set" to be exciting. So much so, indeed, that he labels it "a top-notch toolset well-culled from a variety of sources without much sacrifice to aptitude or usability." Read the full review here.
The news beat: Hewlett-Packard restructures its storage and server software into the new ESS, or Enterprise Storage and Server unit. The Liberty Alliance unveils the openLiberty.org portal for helping developers use identity management technology. And Microsoft offers an Australian software engineer a contract to edit Wikipedia entries about ODF and OOXML.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 23, 2007 11:31 AM
January 23, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Sun returns to Intel chips, consumer groups in Europe pressure Apple over iTunes, Alcatel issues profit warning, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 23, 2007 08:49 AM
January 23, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Solaris' superiority over Linux
Open source: Neil McAllister has a few ideas for how Sun can attract Linux customers and, in so doing, win back the market share Solaris once enjoyed. Easier said than done, of course, particularly since "all the momentum still seems to be behind Linux," he adds. But one thing Sun has in its favor is that "Solaris is the technologically superior OS." Seven ways Solaris can beat Linux.
Columnist's corner: Management, sometimes, can get fixated on the wrong ideals, particularly when it comes to purchasing enterprise software, as our Off the Record author learned in When will companies stop producing awful software? In this case, the boss overruled the evaluation. "All of my instincts said 'Run very fast.'" This tale ends with not-so-mournful toasts to "idiots on parade."
The news beat: Google's Firefox toolbar exposes private data, including usernames and passwords, by posting them to a phishing blacklist the company compiles. Symantec says that the Storm Worm has infected approximately 3000,000 PCs, thus making it the worst since 2005. And according to a survey conducted by Kelton Research 65 percent of Americans prefer their computer over their spouse. Sick.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 23, 2007 05:51 AM
January 22, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Tech affecting your conscience?
Survey: The notion that technology makes it easier for people, IT and otherwise, to lie in their professional lives has made something of a splash lately. But the latest IT-Exec-Connect poll determined that fifty-nine percent of members claim that 'technology doesn't affect my conscience.' Moreover, 3 percent indicated that technology-fueled dishonesty actually makes them feel more guilty.
Best of the blogs: Calling a recent IDC report "an awakening to reality," David Linthicum agrees in Help us change ... to SOA that demand for CM services related to SOA is on the rise and will keep growing into the future. "While the relatively new notion of SOA is driving that awakening, it's really about tired and static architectures becoming more adaptable to business," he writes.
The news beat: The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) is pulling together a cadre of Web companies, educators and human rights groups to protect privacy and freedom of expression on the 'Net. Oracle unwraps Linux management software, a move seen by some as striking out at Red Hat's revenue streams. And Unisys issues a suite for calculating how to bill enterprise departments for the resources they consume in a virtual environment.
Slideshow: InfoWorld.com's best of the week includes Salesforce.com's Winter '07 release, the ongoing HP spying scandal, and the Test Center's blade server shootout. View it here.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 22, 2007 10:27 AM
January 22, 2007 | Comments: (0)
OSDL and FSG join together, IBM tells of social networking features to land in Lotus Notes, Sun to use Intel chips, Microsoft's Allchin proposed supporting Apple's iPod, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 22, 2007 08:54 AM
January 22, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Columnist's corner: Internet criminals almost never get caught -- even though they steal tens of millions of dollars daily. "Which is more likely to happen in the future: criminals will steal more, or criminals will steal less?" Roger Grimes asks. "We all know the answer. And while everyone reading this column cares, society in general doesn't." But Grimes has a proposal: a new Internet in which attackers could be easily identified and exposed. Moreover, "all the parts to make it happen are probably already in place."
Best of the blogs: While admitting admiration for IBM's ability to remain innovative and competitive, Ephraim Schwartz looks back across a few decades of covering the company to realize that some things never change. Printers in the 80's. Web conferences today.
The news beat: A Trojan posing as email containing information about storms is circulating and, according to Sophos, has infected thousands of PCs. Antitrust documents reveal that outgoing Microsoft executive Jim Allchin suggested opening a dialogue with Steve Jobs to discuss Microsoft potentially supporting the iPod. And Cisco admits to a problem with its iPhone licensing.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 22, 2007 04:54 AM
January 19, 2007 | Comments: (0)
The new 'SOA Practitioner's Corner'
Podcasts: David Linthicum is opening up his voice mail to anyone looking to implement SOA, or consultants working on such a project for end-user organizations. The way it works is simple: Call in and leave a 3-minute (tops) message and contribute your tales, make suggestions for other SOA developers, comment on issues or ask questions. Find guidelines, plus phone and Skpye numbers here.
Notes from the field: Robert X. Cringely, on behalf of one fan, suggests that OnRebate be rechristened with the more fitting moniker ConRebate. Of course, OnRebate's CEO says it just follows orders. The company is not quite as above reproach as Apple CEO Steve Jobs who, despite his involvement in the stock options scandal, seems to remain secure in his post. Ol' Cringe has a suggestion for what havoc Jobs would have to wreak before Apple would consider cutting him loose -- involving nuns and fire. HP fraudster cops a plea; OnRebate responds to me.
The news beat: MySpace, it appears, is headed for cloudy legal ground as a new round of lawsuits is filed alleging that it failed to protect minors. Microsoft says it is helping to combat online child abuse in India, working in conjunction with the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. And Belgian newspapers accuse Yahoo of copyright violations.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 19, 2007 11:17 AM
January 19, 2007 | Comments: (0)
HP execs offered deal in pretexting scandal, Microsoft teams with Google and Yahoo to promote free speech, Apple to reap 50 percent margins on iPhone, IBM's profits rise on middleware sales, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 19, 2007 08:12 AM
January 19, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Open source license attribution problem
Best of the blogs: The attribution debate. Dave Rosenberg is tired of it. "End-users aren't in the business of redistributing software, so they needn't fret about the restrictions (or benefits) of the GPL. But again, that's rationality talking. The legal staffs of many enterprises aren't rational when it comes to open source. But that will change as the world continues its unstoppable move to open source," he espouses.
Columnist's corner: Everyone knows that sex sells, but the lesser-known truth is that the practice also applies to IT. As David Margulius points out, in fact, "there's no limit to how sexy you can make technology sound, if you put some creativity into it." The bigger point is that "although much of IT is really cool -- and we know that -- you've got to sex it up a bit to appeal to a wider audience." Even in IT, sex sells.
Podcasts: Is storage management past its prime? That question is the foundation of the latest Storage Sprawl. It's not an easy one to answer, but one things that's clear is IT needs a way to remedy the complexity.
The news beat: California's Attorney General offers to drop the felony charges against former Hewlett-Packard chairman Patricia Dunn and three others in exchange for a guilty plea to one misdemeanor charge. At least from a stock perspective, IT is off to a rocky start this year, with myriad companies' share prices and markets on the decline. And Silicon Valley company Opti is suing Apple over patented technology in Macs.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 19, 2007 04:20 AM
January 18, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: By restructuring the IT department, one reader's CEO and COO blew it, explains Bob Lewis in Making a forced reorganization work. That's not to say reorgs never work, but "it sounds like they made one of the most common mistakes in management -- expecting a reorganization to solve a problem without first thinking through what's broken." To start, Lewis advises taking a thorough inventory. Then start divvying tasks up. And that's just the beginning.
Columnists' corner: It seems that Office 2007 is ready for production, but "it's turning out that Exchange still has some issues," reports Oliver Rist. Rist, in fact, has four specific problems with the product, beginning with the need for 64-bit hardware and the server headache that is destined to cause. All that said, "overall Exchange 2007 offers some great benefits."
The news beat: Sun rolls its 16-core Rock processor closer to completion, slated for the second half of 2008. Intel says it will invest in ClickandBuy, the online payment system provider that can handle multiple currencies. And European registrars for the .eu domain get a new tool to make investigations into spam-related activities easier.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 18, 2007 10:57 AM
January 18, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Sprint talks 'open' WiMax, Sun steps toward 16-core chip, HP retains PC shipments lead, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 18, 2007 08:43 AM
January 18, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Hardware: Investing advice is not my realm at all. But Ephraim Schwartz has a thought. "If I was allowed to buy stock in a high tech company -- which I am not due to the fact that I cover most of them -- I would buy into a manufacturer of thin clients. The more I cover SaaS [Software as a Service] the more I am convinced that over time the need for a fat client on the desktop will become unnecessary," he explains in SaaS will make fat clients thin. "I'm telling you, buy thin."
Best of the blogs: What with the announcement Sun Microsystems made this week that its Linux support subscriptions are now less expensive than similar programs from Red Hat, Matt Asay is scratching his head (figuratively, anyway). "I continue to find it highly ironic that [Red Hat] competitors proclaim cost savings for their customers by shaving pennies from the least expensive part of the stack -- the operating system," he writes in Open Sources.
The news beat: Sprint envisions an open model for WiMax, in which its 4G services will more closely resemble broadband than cellular styles. Microsoft details premium versions of Windows Vista that will become available on Jan 30. And TJX companies, the retailer that owns several chains, including Marshalls and T.J. Maxx, says it experienced a massive computer breach exposing credit card, debit card, check and merchandise transaction both in the U.S. and abroad.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 18, 2007 04:32 AM
January 17, 2007 | Comments: (0)
From the feature well: SOA has been in existence long enough now that the lessons learned are both solid and bountiful. "An SOA has so many moving parts, it's often difficult to step back and isolate the guiding principles that can keep an initiative heading toward success," David Linthicum writes in Five surefire ways to make your SOA a success. The beginning: understand the pain.
Podcasts: While I'm at it, Linthicum's latest SOA Report poses the question where will the money be spent in 2007 considering service oriented architecture? "There was a significant surge in 2006, and this is going to continue in 2007. There's some danger here: lack of foresight and insight will spur many enterprises to divert too many dollars to areas that will prove less fruitful in the long-term. In other words, they'll buy the house before they know where they're going to put it."
Best of the blogs: Not a fan of the Hollywood happy ending, I can appreciate a tale with hope. And Martin Heller has one. Better news about Visual Studio 2005 SP1. "The short story is that my installation of Visual Studio 2005 now starts up normally. The longer and more interesting story is how we fixed it, and how you could fix your own installation at need," he writes.
The news beat: Cognos buys Celequest for its business-intelligence dashboard technology. Adobe issues a version of its Flash Player 9 for Linux, thus enabling developers to reach Web surfers with the open source OS on their desktops. And Second Life boosts its voice and search capabilities.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 17, 2007 11:26 AM
January 17, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Talkback: iPhone up to BlackBerry e-mail challenge?
Tom Yager writes in A glimpse at a true superphone that a mobile messaging device, no matter how fancy, must meet the standard for reliable mobile e-mail set eight or nine years ago by the two-way pager, and alive today in BlackBerry devices.
Is iPhone just a lightweight push e-mail player, and not up to the Blackberry challenge? Do you need such real-time e-mail, and are you willing to pay for it with your cellular provider (certainly a consideration for many, and considered by Apple in not going the BlackBerry Connect route)?
Have your say, below.
Posted by Mike Barton on January 17, 2007 11:05 AM
January 17, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Symantec touts zero-day tool, Oracle issues 51 security patches, violent video games may be outlawed by EU, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 17, 2007 08:06 AM
January 17, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Columnist's corner: Peeking into the future of rich Internet applications, a.k.a. RIAs, Ephraim Schwartz predicts that enterprise IT will adopt Tabblo's model for storing and editing photos and text online. "The technology behind Tabblo's RIA is not unique," Schwartz explains in this week's installment of Reality Check. "The more I look at companies such as Tabblo and at SaaS as a delivery model, the more I begin to see that we are being inexorably driven into the cloud."
Video: Executive editor Eric Knorr interviews Adam Gross, the vice president of developer marketing at Salesforce.com, who details Apex, the company's programming language for creating SaaS applications on Salesforce's platform. "What's new with Apex code ... you can now make applications smart." Watch the video here.
The news beat: Sun undercuts Red Hat on support pricing, and details subscriptions it claims cost half as much as similar plans from its rival. Symantec delivers new security software, dubbed SONAR, to hunt down zero-day attacks. Hewlett-Packard takes the next step in its ongoing reorganization by creating a new unit that consolidates its BI and information management practices. And Intel's profits drop 39 percent; the chipmaker sites reorganizational costs, slow chipset and motherboard sales.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 17, 2007 04:56 AM
January 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Q&A: This Newsmakers interview is not with a typical IT guy. In fact, when documentary filmmaker Brian Conley went to Baghdad, he admits, "I didn't know what a blog was, much less a video blog. I had a friend here in Boston who's kind of a Web guy." Conley, who went on to create citizen news site Alive in Baghdad, speaks with senior editor Paul Roberts about the experience, his latest project, and the future of independent media.
Columnist's corner: The boss starts promising customers a major new release of your product in fewer than six months -- and it's the first time he's told anyone -- complete with an advanced architecture not already in place. Well, disaster looms. And when he says it will be best to skip beta testing altogether, corporate catastrophe follows in this week's installment of Off the Record.
Best of the blogs: Can't wait to get your hands on Vista? Microsoft, through its Virtual Labs, is offering an online trial version, and David Marshall has taken it for a test drive. "My experience with the actual hands-on Vista desktop interaction was quite slow..."
The news beat: Zend, in collaboration with Microsoft, readies a certified version of PHP for Windows in collaboration with Microsoft. Salesforce.com launches its Winter '07 release which brings a real-time messaging and integration bus. And BEA says it will show off its Builder, Runner and Graffiti software for tagging, presenting and searching enterprise data in early March.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 16, 2007 10:50 AM
January 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Special edition: Senior editor Paul Roberts interviews Brain Conley, the documentary filmmaker and blogger who founded citizen news site Alive in Baghdad LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 16, 2007 08:24 AM
January 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Open source built on Microsoft
Open source: What? Open source applications built on Microsoft software? The notion may be oxymoronic at best, but Aras is an oddball in both the enterprise and the open source community, Neil McAllister reports, in that it is built exclusively on Microsoft. Lest I forget, it's still free. "An enterprise software company that spends more energy on software than on the hard sell. What proprietary vendor can say that?" Soft sell for open source apps.
Columnist's corner: Trains, trucks and devices. Last week's CES show gave David Margulius pause, just thinking about how a mere 150 years ago "nobody had any devices whatsoever." At least no notebooks, PDAs, iPods, Gameboys, et. al. "For IT professionals, it's easy to lose sight of the dramatic changes that can occur in mere decades," he writes in this week's installment of Enterprise Insight. Then again, as Margulius points out, throwbacks to the 1800's still prevail in the tech realm. Take railroads, for instance, which are in some cases winning the ROI wars over trucks.
The news beat: IBM this week is announcing the first two in a series of SOA Leadership Centers for building local expertise in service-oriented architecture. A Google partner in China gets accused of encouraging piracy by the Motion Picture Association. And AMD's CTO Phil Hester discusses hardware advances, graphics convergence, the home media center, in this interview.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 16, 2007 04:54 AM
January 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: Not everyone, it seems, is instantly enamored with the iPhone that Apple introduced this week -- and I'm not just referring to Cisco, either. "I'm sure lots of people will buy them, but I doubt many business users will be happy," writes Matt Asay in Skip the Apple-only iPhone. "What really chafes me is that there will be no third-party applications on the iPhone ... Apple has just cut off its ecosystem at the knees." Of course, there are quite a few reader comments strongly disagreeing with Mr. Asay.
Columnists' corner: It sounds like a horror flick, only this one is all too true. When vendors refuse to patch. "I can't believe my eyes," Roger Grimes begins this tale from the security crypt. "Eudora WorldMail Mail Management Server has an open exploit hole and Qualcomm says they have no plans to patch." Qualcomm, of course, is not the only guilty party, but it did win the leading role in Grimes' column. "The next time Qualcomm pitches your company a software product, don't expect them to support it for even two years."
Notes from the field: The question atop the curious Robert X. Cringely's brain this week, for something of a change, is not directly technology-related. 'When will Steve Jobs lose those black turtlenecks? And what of the blue jeans?' But the big offenders are Disney and Lenovo. Something about the law firm Goofy, Grumpy, McDuck, and a lack of support for IE7. Apple goes mobile, Disney's less than noble.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 12, 2007 10:56 AM
January 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Private eye to plead guilty in HP scandal, U.K. schools advised to hold off on Vista, Oracle gives advance details of security patches, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 12, 2007 07:45 AM
January 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Podcasts: While converged communications devices and consumer-oriented products are garnering tons of attention at CES, the enterprise-worthy hybrid drives are coming into their own as well. And, they just might give you one more reason to wait before deploying Vista. Tune into Storage Sprawl.
Gov't: Net neutrality has come back this week with two U.S. senators proposing legislation to prohibit broadband providers from favoring access, and yesterday FCC chairman Kevin Martin says at CES that the notion 'means different things to different people.' He adds that consumers should have access to everything available for free on the Internet, but slipped in his thoughts that operators ought to be able to charge for premium services. In other words, he's straddling both sides of the hotly-contested debate for the time being.
Slideshow: Storage and Net neutrality are not the only news at CES, of course. The latest coverage includes a wide array of new products and happening at the show. Just think: an iPod dock that doubles as toilet paper holder. Weird, indeed, but somebody out there actually made it. (I'll skip any jokes about focus groups.) The EPA talks tech recycling. Plus, new cameras, projectors, leaf-like lights. View the slideshow here.
The news beat: Microsoft details Titan, the next version of its Dynamics CRM software, slated to ship in summer '07. Oracle provides advance notification of what customers ought to expect when it releases the next security update on Tuesday. And the U.S. trails Europe and Japan when it comes to exporting technology goods to China.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 12, 2007 04:34 AM
January 11, 2007 | Comments: (0)
SOA: While analyst house Forrester says that SOA and BPM are converging, David Linthicum has just a single word: Duh. Well, technically, he's got more words than one in Real World SOA. "Truth of the matter is that from the beginning BPM has been systemic to SOA. SOA is not worth much without the notion of process management, and process management, if you ask me, is not worth much without the notion of SOA, or at least integration."
Outsourcing: Despite the doom and gloom predictions of American jobs being lost to overseas corporations, the Software and Information Industry Association, a.ka. SIIA, found in a survey that offshoring does not cost developer jobs. Instead, it is used as a form of expansion, not replacement, and occurs primarily because of a shortage of both engineers and H-1B visa workers here in the States.
Best of the blogs: Grammar is not a common topic that InfoWorld contributors write about (though we practice it daily). Nevertheless, it is a part of everyone's work day, IT or not. With that in mind, Sean McCown offers a couple simple rules for proper grammar.
The news beat: An HP investigator is charged with identity theft as part of the company's spying scandal, for which he could face prison time. What with all the phone and telly buzz at the show enterprises are on the back burner at MacWorld this time around. And Sophos buys Endforce to obtain its network access control software.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 11, 2007 11:20 AM
January 11, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Tibco injects ESB with BPEL, Cisco sues Apple over iPhone name, Adobe issues security patch, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 11, 2007 08:05 AM
January 11, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Data management: DBAs need not be passive and, as Sean McCown instructs, being proactive can improve your company -- and your career. "One thing I like to do is pretend everyone in the company is an external customer, and I'm a contractor. As a contractor, my income depends on how much business I can bring in. So, while I'm talking to users, I see what I can do to drum up their business," he writes.
Careers: For IT pros who struggle to hold onto jobs, or even those who might be on the cusp, Bob Lewis has some advice. "If you've lost more than one job by 'speaking your mind,' you might want to ask yourself whether the problem was with the organization, or with your message, or with how you delivered it." It's about doing what you're paid to, Lewis insists in Disagreement on a style of management, or a disagreeable style of management?
The news beat: Here's one pretty much anyone who saw Cisco's iPhone announcement could tell was imminent: Cisco sues Apple over iPhone name, a registered trademark of Linksys. Two U.S. senators say that the U.S. government data mining needs some oversight, particularly to ensure that the administration follows the law. And Microsoft partners are working to extend digital connectivity into automobiles.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 11, 2007 04:40 AM
January 11, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Talkback: Offshoring not costing developer jobs?
Offshoring of software development by software companies is not costing Americans jobs, according to a report being announced Thursday by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).
"[Offshoring] was used almost entirely as a form of expansion, not as a replacement," Thomas said.
"There's a lot of negative talk," that is particularly political, about offshoring costing American jobs, Thomas said. "That's not really the case."
Do you agree? Have a story about losing your job, or one that is supportive of this survey? Have your say, below.
Posted by Mike Barton on January 11, 2007 04:39 AM
January 10, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: Oliver Rist is reporting live from the show floor at CES, where he is peering under the covers at a Flybook, Jawbone, a deal from Packet8, and Buffalo Technology's new TeraStation.
Columnists' corner: Heading into the (somewhat) unexpected, IT shops have taken to altering policy themselves, without third-party technology providers in the room, explains Tom Yager in IT is calling the shots again. "Green computing, consolidation, and virtualization looked like easily co-opted missions, but IT insisted on tackling these its own way, and no two organizations are running the same playbook," he writes. "This will be a year during which vendors adjust to the fact that convenience, risk aversion, and status quo are not permanent IT priorities."
The news beat: Microsoft confirms that the NSA helped with the security in Windows Vista, a fact that some say could be reason for concern. The One Laptop Per Child program shows off $130 notebooks at CES and maintains that it intends to sell systems for $100 by 2008. And Apple's iPhone sends worldwide handset stocks down, including those of RIM and Palm.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 10, 2007 11:19 AM
January 10, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Talkback: Concerned over NSA involvement with Vista security?
New today that the NSA helped Microsoft make Vista secure have raised concerns about possible 'back-door' access to data by the spy agency.
Are you concerned? Will this affect Vista adoption plans?
Posted by Mike Barton on January 10, 2007 08:34 AM
January 10, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Net neutrality is back, Apple unwraps iPhone, AppleTV, U.S. slams China over 3G, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 10, 2007 07:32 AM
January 10, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Mobile devices and security problems
Columnist's corner: As mobile devices become more prevalent they bring plenty of conveniences but, more important, they pose security threats to enterprises. In Managing mobility, however, Ephraim Schwartz presents an idea. "My solution might go against the grain of everything an MBA has ever learned about how to run a business, but I think new times require new ideas. For me, the secret to managing mobility is to create a single point of contact."
Gov't: The DoD certainly has some secrets. Among the restricted areas, apparently, is the co-ax cabling that lurks in its ceilings. That and the fact that "all cabling had to be done by the DoD's own electrical department," as our Off the Record author learned. Even when something went haywire, security concerns prevented the contractors from checking those cables -- enforced by guards threatening lethal action. "Obviously the DoD's electrical team had never been trained in laying network coaxial cable and was unaware of the issues involved."
The news beat: Confirming months of rumors, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone. Microsoft patches critical vulnerabilities in Office, Outlook and Windows with yesterday's Patch Tuesday release. And two U.S. senators rekindle the Net neutrality debate, to prohibit broadband providers from blocking, impairing, or degrading legal Internet content.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 10, 2007 05:00 AM
January 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best way to boost your IT career
Best of the blogs: I confess that I couldn't resist pinching that headline from the illustrious Matt Asay's post. If you're a regular reader of Mr. Asay, well then you probably already know his answer, or can at least take a stab. But you might not know why it is what it is. "The reason is simple economics," he explains. "If you're a would-be employee, you want to be wanted."
Podcasts: Are you building a real SOA? That question is the basis of David Linthicum's latest. "People are doing a lot of work out there in terms of Web-services enabling their existing systems, but are they really building a services-oriented architecture?" The answer is somewhat elusive because SOA itself is still evolving. "It's going to take a long-term commitment to the ideals of changing the way you're doing the current enterprise architecture so that it aligns with something that is a bit more agile and a bit more valuable." Otherwise, it's JBOWS, a.k.a. just a bunch of Web services. Listen to Real World SOA.
Slideshow: CES is in full swing, with oodles of consumer-oriented news coming out. View the highlights here, including Gates keynote, Samsung's double-sided LCD (kind of reminds me of the wood blocks on which Leonardo da Vinci painted separate works on both front and back), and a 1TB hard-disk drive.
The news beat: Sophos unwraps a Web filtering appliance, the WS1000, which the company claims can prevent users from infecting their own PCs with malware. Samsung says it will inject services from Yahoo and Google into its mobile phones sometime early this year. And as the Democrats take over, it's becoming increasingly clear that companies hoping to hire H1-B workers had better act quickly.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 9, 2007 10:07 AM
January 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Talkback: Are iPhone, AppleTV revolutionary?
Apple's Steve Jobs announced the stunning iPhone and AppleTV, saying that in 1984, Apple (no longer Apple Computer; name changed to break the chains of being a PC company) introduced the Macintosh, and changed the computer industry. In 2001, Apple introduced the iPod, and changed the entire music industry. "Well, today, we're introducing three revolutionary products of this class," Jobs said. "The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. The third is a breakthrough Internet communications device."
Apple has easily upstaged CES with its jaw-dropper phone in a halo effect coup and a serious contender for a seat in the world's living room at a time that CES advocates argue has come, but are the devices and deals revolutionary or simply evolutionary?
Posted by Mike Barton on January 9, 2007 08:49 AM
January 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Brocade buys Silverback, Apple may unveil cell phone today, Brazil telco blocks YouTube access, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 9, 2007 07:35 AM
January 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)
From the feature well: With a new year underway, pretty much every IT shop has a budget to stick to, and a whole raft of demands to render that challenging. But there are ways to make the most of your dollars. Take agile scripting, for instance, but budget appropriately. We've got 7 such project types where you're most likely to either overindulge or come up short in 2007.
Best of the blogs: Martin Heller calls the prototype property "one of the most interesting parts of the JavaScript language," adding that "this is extremely powerful. It is also extremely dangerous. Using prototyping, an attacker can hijack standard functions in a way that breaks security without causing any error message." He goes on to explain just how it works in Subverting AJAX: Prototype highjacking.
The news beat: Hewlett-Packard offers two new touchscreen PCs for Windows Vista. Nokia introduces a mobile phone designed specifically for bloggers. And Brocade buys Silverback Systems for its processors that speed up data movement via the iSCSI protocol.
Live chat: Author John West, "The Only Trait of a Leader", joins associate editor Richard Gincel at 11 a.m. PST to discuss the fundamental skills required to become an IT leader. The hour-long chat will take place in the InfoWorld IT Exec-Connect careers room. (Free registration required.)
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 9, 2007 04:48 AM
January 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Columnist's corner: Not many enterprise-class storage products got their roots in open source but, as Neil McAllister points out in this week's installment of Open Enterprise, Cleversafe's ambitions are so sky-high that open source was the only option. "It eliminates the need for expensive, high-end storage equipment. Because the reliability and availability is built into the design of the storage middleware itself, a Cleversafe grid can be built with cost-effective commodity hardware," McAllister adds.
Best of the blogs: Second Life purveyor Linden Labs, meanwhile, open sources its client. Matt Asay welcomes them to the realm in Second Life's second life ... as open source. "The potential for something like this, in the hands of the global community that makes up the Second Life citizenry, is exciting and a fascinating test for open source."
Video: Bill Gates speaks with Marc Ferranti of the IDG News service before his keynote yesterday at the CES show in Las Vegas to discuss his vision of the connected home as well as his plans once he transitions into a part-time Microsoft employee. Watch it here.
Show of the week: CES is in full force already -- with Intel debuting three new quad-core chips, Yahoo adding a search application to its Yahoo Go for Mobile 2.0, and AMD bringing its Live to notebook PCs. Or, for full coverage see our special report: Consumer gadgets abound at CES 2007.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 8, 2007 10:47 AM
January 08, 2007 | Comments: (