- What IT jobs are hot right now?
- InfoWorld Daily Podcast
- IT backlogs as metric for SOA?
- Take a bite out of Vista services
- InfoWorld Daily Podcast
- Placing IT effectiveness on the org chart
- Spyware, not virus or worm attacks, takes malware crown
- InfoWorld Daily Podcast
- Open source companies hitting their stride
- In the throes of an outsourcing deathmarch
November 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)
What IT jobs are hot right now?
Careers: The question of what jobs are most promising in today's market is legitimate, to be certain. But the asking reveals a lot about a person. "It tells me they're motivated externally rather than internally. They want what's hot, but they're not hot themselves," Nick Corcodilos writes in this Ask the headhunter post. "If you want to be hot yourself, get better at the thing you like doing. Be one of the best. Be so good that when someone needs what you do, they think of you first." To that end, the better question to ask is what 'track' in IT will make you hot, he adds, because "what's hot in the job market is ephemeral. Tomorrow it will be something else."
Notes from the field: Another Friday, another geek week in review. That's right, and this time Cringe is harping on the planet-overtaking army of robots Microsoft is currently creating, the 411 on 419, hackers attacking Al Gore's Web site and ... none other than SatLav. That's a service you text to find the nearest toilet. What can I say?
InfoWorld News Quiz: Think you're up to date on technology's current events? Prove it right here. The first question involves MoveOn.org, Facebook, sheep and Barack Obama. Another one has Microsoft in Siberia. Give yourself 10 points for each correct answer and, yes, partial credit will be given.
The news beat: Google asks for help finding malicious Web sites and posts an online form for surfers to report them. With an eye on competitor Lenovo, Dell plans to expand in China, moving beyond the 45 cities where it now has a presence -- an announcement that comes as market researcher iSuppli says that HP and Acer beat up on Dell in Q3 laptop rankings. And LG insists that the flaming cell phone battery did not kill a Korean worker but, instead, it was an industrial accident that did.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 30, 2007 10:36 AM
November 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Google asks for help in eradicating malware sites, AMD CEO says it might build manufacturing plant in China, New Zealand police raid home of botmaster blamed for 1 million infections, second Nokia cell phone battery bursts into flames, and more 
LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 30, 2007 08:00 AM
November 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)
IT backlogs as metric for SOA?
SOA: The fact remains that measuring SOA success is not easy. One proposed manner is to look at the backlog of IT requests. That has David Linthicum writing that, "in thinking about the ROI around SOA we need to think at a bit more sophisticated level," noting that using IT backlogs is a bit after the fact, in this Real World SOA entry. "The fact of the matter is that the core benefit of SOA is agility. If you have agility, then you have the ability to change the architecture as the business needs changes. Thus, if you have IT backlogs, naturally they will decrease because it's easier to make these changes."
Columnist's corner: Are VCs stiffing enterprise technology? Perhaps. Research from Goldman Sachs, based on interviews with venture capitalists, determined that "from 2004-2006, VCs reduced their funding of enterprise-type technologies including storage, servers, software, and networking equipment in favor of the sexier Web, wireless, video, and SMB technology areas," David Margulius offers in A cooling economy chills innovation. "How much should enterprises care what VCs do, anyway? These ivory-tower moneymen actually missed the single biggest enterprise vendor success story of the decade anyhow: VMWare (turned it down)."
Sustainable IT: Practicing green IT can, sometimes, have a monetary advantage, while other times the bonus is plain old eco-friendliness, Ted Samson points out in Case study: Clean-energy plan proves too risky for 365 Main customers. 365 Main attempted to create a datacenter fueled by natural-gas-powered generators but found that, even though it would not cost prospective clients a dime, customers were unwilling due to uptime concerns. "The lesson in all this appears to be that, despite the interest in environmental stewardship espoused by so many companies, many of them aren't as eager to push the green envelope if there's even a minute risk to affecting the bottom line."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 30, 2007 04:31 AM
November 29, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Take a bite out of Vista services
Platforms: What with the recent buzz about how Windows Vista is slower than its predecessor, XP, Randall Kennedy points out that, "Microsoft has saddled this latest incarnation with layer upon layer of Windows Services." Some are vital, others are not. But figuring out which are necessary is a downright daunting task. "Fortunately, there's help to be had," he writes in this Enterprise Desktop post. The folks at blackviper have prepared a guide outlining which services it's safe to disable and potential consequences, though it's mostly geared for home users and gamers. "Enterprise support personnel might still find a few buried nuggets in the mix. When you consider how far behind the performance curve Vista is vs. Windows XP, every little bit helps."
The news beat: A Nokia cell phone battery exploded in the night and burst into flames while recharging. Yahoo and Adobe team up to put dynamically-generated ads into PDF files; prior to this partnership only static ads could be used in PDFs. Apple says its Boot Camp beta ends on December 31 but vows that Windows partitions already installed on Macs running Tiger will remain operational after the cutoff. And Google expunges malware sites from search results, in effect eliminating thousands that wiggled their way into legitimate search results.
Best of the blogs: SeeToo is an Isreali startup that just might be onto something with its variation of instant messaging and file sharing. "Instead of music, SeeToo customers will be able to share home videos with a friend, or maybe a group of friends, instantly, using only a browser and a tiny client," Bill Snyder explains in Build it and they will watch. "There are a number of companies building out the IM model (Meebo comes to mind), but I don't think any of the others offer the same type of functionality. That could change, of course."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 29, 2007 11:05 AM
November 29, 2007 | Comments: (0)
SANS says security flaws rampant in client-side applications, ruling that says Microsoft and AutoDesk must pay Michigan company millions for patent infringement is upheld, Google launches beta location service that doesn't require GPS, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 29, 2007 07:52 AM
November 29, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Placing IT effectiveness on the org chart
Careers: Do any organizations have an IT Effectiveness manager and, if so, where in the org chart does that position fit? A readers asks of Bob Lewis. "Not that I know of, but ... " That hefty task, after all, is "a core responsibility of the CIO and IT management team," Lewis answers in this Advice Line post. Not that it's an altogether bad idea. ITIL, systems management efforts, and other implementation projects are often put into separate units. "I suppose you could view the project teams as temporary departments."
Hardware: "I've been reading that satellites are tracking a massive Spider riding in with a Canadian cold front, and a plot of its trajectory has it reaching my address tomorrow morning," Tom Yager begins. The spider to which he refers, of course, is that of AMD. "I am told that it's pointless to try to stop it. I must let it in and watch a horrific scene play out: Everything here with an Intel logo on it will fling itself at the invader, cocksure of victory, but will end up writhing in an impenetrable web, stunned and wrapped to be made a meal at Spider's whim." Yager claims not to be squeamish. I say we'll just see about that. AMD Spider weaves its own worldwide web. "Spider already has me in its clutches."
Data management: With its series of technical previews, Microsoft is baking more BI into SQL Server 2008, thereby "reducing the breathing room for tools vendors who have stayed focused on reporting," Sean Gallager explains, referring also to IBM buying Cognos, Oracle acquiring Hyperion and SAP nabbing Business Objects. "Microsoft refers to the collective BI features of SQL Server 2008 as Pervasive Insight." The forthcoming iteration will bring new tools for creating more optimized analysis cubes and cross-database aggregations, added atop a pile of potentially performance-boosting technologies that SQL Server could really use. Those and other new goodies, "just might be enough to keep [novice users] from wandering off to find something else."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 29, 2007 04:54 AM
November 28, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Spyware, not virus or worm attacks, takes malware crown
Security: A Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) survey found that 55 percent of respondents experienced larger numbers of spyware attacks over the last 12 months as other threats have cooled -- though the organization advised companies against becoming complacent about any types of attack. "Asked to identify the types of security attacks they expect to be most troubled by in three years time, viruses and worms (20 percent) still topped the list, followed by spyware (14 percent), wireless threats (9 percent), e-mail-borne exploits (9 percent), phishing (5 percent) and issues related to remote access (5 percent)," Matt Hines explains in this Zero Day Security entry. CompTIA also found that respondent companies "plan to increase spending across all areas related to security."
Best of the blogs: It was the peak of those glory days known as the dotcom boom. Naturally, the travel agency our Off the Record author worked for was gobbling up Mom-and-Pop shops "from Seattle to Miami." So they sent him up to evaluate a recently acquired one in Seattle that boasted a supposedly superior IT guy, Eric. "This was a true IT operation," and Eric "took time to give me specifics on the networking setups, spanning tree-enabled or not, and their redundant setups. He also described each server and its function," enough to impress. Until our author suggested sliding an NT4 box into the bottom rung of a rack, to which Eric laughed, snickering that would make the e-mail slow, really slow. "See, data flows faster downhill. You should always put servers at the top of a rack with switches below." Eric wouldn't budge on this, either. No joke. A call to the team leader later, and Eric was out. "We unearthed thousands of problems (virus, file corruption, and so on) and a nice stash of porn on those Windows 95 servers as we converted them."
The news beat: Dell targets the enterprise with new multi-core workstations that also feature multithreading capabilities. Microsoft thus far won't confirm a proxy configuration flaw, discovered by a hacker, that appears to exploit an eight-year old hole in Windows. The One Laptop Per Child program gets slapped with a lawsuit by a Massachusetts company, Lagos Analysis, claiming patent infringement. And, according to a new report from the Ponemon Institute, the cost of data breaches keeps rising.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 28, 2007 10:35 AM
November 28, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Verdict on Vista SP1: Enterprises should wait for Windows 7, stick with XP SP3. Also, Verizon plan to open network to outside devices and apps may foreshadow intent for wireless spectrum, Google could unveil Gdrive storage service, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 28, 2007 08:23 AM
November 28, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Open source companies hitting their stride
Open source: It appears that "most open source companies" are headed into a strong end-of-year finish, Zack Urlocker writes. "Open source is no longer considered as 'good enough' when you don't have budget. In fact, I'm seeing a lot of cases where companies are choosing open source because of significant technical advantages in the offerings. Usually this comes down to better performance, ease of use, and scalability," he explains in this Open Sources post. "Of course, since open source does not always have all the features, you still need to make sure that your needs are met." (Full disclosure: Mr. Urlocker is the executive vice president of products at open source database company MySQL.)
Green IT: Hewlett-Packard today announced that it will use solar power for a datacenter it's building in San Diego, and wind for facilities in Ireland, Ted Samson reports. "The solar installation won't belong to HP; rather, it will be financed and owned by a third-party financier. That means HP won't put down a dime in upfront capital costs," Samson explains in HP taps solar, wind power. The vendor projects that will save it $750,000 over the next 15 years, and its contract with a renewable energy provider in Ireland will cut costs by $40,000 this year while reducing carbon output by 40,000 tons.
Best of the blogs: The iPhone launches today in France and the rest of Europe and when it does, unlike here in The States, users will have the option to purchase one that is unlocked. "Of course, consumers will have to pay dearly for the right to have a warranted, unlocked iPhone," Ephraim Schwartz explains in iPhone, what's good for U.S. is not good for Europe. In France that means it will run 650 euros ($964 in U.S. dollars) and in Germany it's 1,000 euros ($1,484 U.S. dollars). Ouch. Schwartz does see an alternative to the high ticket, though. "With the exchange rate extremely favorable to European shoppers some may get creative and fly to the U.S. buy an iPhone here, take it back and hack it so it can be used in Europe with a local SIM chip."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 28, 2007 04:38 AM
November 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)
In the throes of an outsourcing deathmarch
Careers: With the already-stated termination data of December 31st, an InfoWorld reader writes in seeking advice from Bob Lewis. He's one of the IT people being laid off and replaced with outsourcers, and management wants him to complete an application upgrade by year's end. Problem is, the last one took two weeks of 100 work hours each, and then some. This time around, there's no hope for a bonus, comp time, or any other reward. "I'm salaried, and I understand that sometimes I have to work more than forty hours in a week. But something is very off about this situation and I have no idea what to do other than buckle down and spend a few long, sleepless weeks." Not so, Lewis answers in Outsourced during a death march. "You have an obligation to be professional about how you handle your current assignment. That obligation is to yourself, not to anyone else. You'll feel better about yourself if you handle things professionally. You also have an obligation to yourself to look out for your own interests. Nobody else in this equation will do so."
The news beat: Verizon Wireless plans to open its network to outside devices, such as mobile handsets and applications, by the end of next year. Yahoo says that users will soon be able to run a structured search around specific items, which it hopes will make the Web easier to navigate. Tibco upgrades its Rendezvous messaging software with lower latency that, it claims, results in better performance for SOA or financial services environments. And Mozilla fixes a handful of security bugs in Firefox, including the widely-publicized problem in the way the browser processes files compressed in the .jar format.
Columnist's corner: In speaking with Andy Lippman, co-director of MIT's Communications Future Program, Ephraim Schwartz found that, "what I enjoyed most about our conversation is Lippman's ability to switch between the highly practical, applied science, to the way-out stuff such as telepresence and hyperconnectivity." Hyperconnectivity, Lippman explains, will enable controlling of "stuff on Mars" or surgery from 3,000 miles away. The future of communications. Lippman, it just so happens, is currently on a year of sabbatical, spending that as a fellow at Nortel's R&D group. And he's seen engineering courses change considerably. "When I went to school, a lot of what you studied was how can you do something given certain constraints," Lippman says. "Now students are asked to write a computer program where memory is free, disk space and processing cycles are unlimited ... we can challenge students to stretch their minds."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 27, 2007 11:04 AM
November 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)
SaaS takes new, model-altering twist, MS works with gov't in Siberia to boost IT there, Unix server shipments fall while revenues rise, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 27, 2007 07:18 AM
November 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)
InfoWorld's 7 must-have gadgets
From the feature well: Children are the not only ones consumed by thoughts of toys this time of year. No, adults too dream of receiving great gifts, and geeks are no exception. If you want something that not everyone else has already discovered, we've got seven such items for you. InfoWorld's must-have gadgets. We're not talking iPhones or Parallels Desktop here, either. For starters, Sun Microsystems Project Sun Spot, a developer kit for sensors and robotics, is one example. Amazon's Kindle e-book reader is another.
Test center review: As I promised yesterday, the full review of Apple's Leopard client is live. And it's the first time InfoWorld has ranked a product with a perfect 10. Ever. "Seldom does reality exceed expectations. When it does by such a wide margin, you have to call it the way you see it," editor-in-chief Eric Knorr explains. So, how did Apple do it? Tom Yager answers that with two words: focus and motivation. "Apple hasn't reserved any of the Mac platform's goodies for itself, and users don't need to wait (or spend) for apps that expose the platform's richness in productive ways," Yager adds. Related: Editor's Letter: Leopard lands a perfect 10.
Notes from the field: Robert X. Cringely is still feeling the holiday hangover, just a bit, and figures this is as good a time as any to troll through the ol' reader mailbox and "share a little of what Cringesters have been telling me outside the confines of this blog." Readers write (and bite) back. Topics include Google's possible bid for wireless spectrum, his ribbing of Deputy National Security Director Donald Kerr, and the fact that his recent Gobbler Awards did not include Vista. "In general, I find pretending to be stupid is an excellent way to mask actually being stupid," Cringe confesses. Related: Gobble gobble: Biggest turkeys of 2007.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 27, 2007 04:40 AM
November 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Vista may never be right for enterprise
Platforms: After waiting for the arrival of Service Pack 1, Randall Kennedy writes that he is now ready to make his formal pronouncement, in The Post-SP1 Vista verdict: Wait for Windows 7. Factors for that decision include poor performance, lack of value, and the existence of Windows XP. "When the choice is between a buggy, bloated, immature OS with no tangible value add vs. a lean, clean and reliable (if somewhat dated) OS that has the broadest support base in the history of personal computing -- plus performance to burn -- there really is no contest."
The news beat: A list of features in Microsoft's next IM version is leaked, revealing SPIM, a security feature that reports users who send spam. A U.S. federal court clears the way for Broadcom to pursue an injunction against Qualcomm after a long-standing dispute over cell phone patents. And China Mobile is testing a 3G Windows Mobile handset and says it expects to finish building 3G networks in eight cities by year's end.
Columnist's corner: Just what every Visual Studio aficionado might add to a holiday gift list, Visual Studio 2008 has gone gold. "That means one of two things: Don't bother showing up for work after the holiday break unless you know it cold, or start planning that 'training' junket for early in actual 2008," Tom Yager advises in Microsoft's homework for the holidays. "Visual Studio 2008 goes a long way toward erasing arbitrary boundaries that Microsoft created between .Net, Web, and native apps, and for the first time in a long time, there is a reasonable, Microsoft-blessed pathway to targeting the Mac. But some boundaries remain firm." It's a 32-bit toolset, for instance.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 26, 2007 10:12 AM
November 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Security software looks more and more like a liability all its own. Also, court permits Broadcom to pursue injunction against Qualcomm, Taiwan develops ultramobile PC with Wimax support, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 26, 2007 08:29 AM
November 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Refuting the dire need for more H-1B visas
Best of the blogs: While the myths that the U.S. is not graduating enough science and engineering majors and overall performance of high school students is declining in math and science typically serve as evidence presented by those calling for more H-1B visas, a study by The Urban Institute refutes those claims. "U.S. students have generally performed above average in comparisons with students in other industrialized nations," the report states, adding that "the education system produces qualified graduates far in excess of demand." Ephraim Schwartz points out that, "this doesn't seem to stop the steady drumbeat from high tech executives who keep saying over and over again that there is a shortage both in qualified computer science graduates now and in the pipeline in our schools to meet future needs."
Test Center review: The full review of Leopard is here and, in Tom Yager's words, it surpasses Tiger, which no one was unhappy with at all. "Leopard is a rung above perfection. It's taken as rote that the Mac blows away PC users' expectations. Leopard blows away Mac users' expectations, and that's saying a great deal." Perfecting perfection: Mac OS X Leopard, part 1. What's more, Yager adds, "consideration for the user permeates to every nook of this remarkable operating system, as you'll see in the second and final part of this review."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 26, 2007 04:54 AM
November 21, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Careers: Despite the countless books boasting tips and tricks to use during interviews, one simple truth remains constant. Companies don't typically hire for your interview skills; they hire you because you can do the job. "This brings us to an obvious but forgotten interview strategy. Use the same skills you apply at work to win your next job. That's right. Use your work skills in the job interview," Nick Corcodilos urges in No stupid interview tricks.
Notes from the field: In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Robert X. Cringely festively kicks off a brand spankin' new tradition: The Gobbler Awards, 2007. The dubious distinction goes to those "individuals and organizations who truly need to go get stuffed," he explains, adding that, "like the holiday bird, they invariably come with side dishes -- partners in malfeasance and stupidity who share equally in the dishonor." Comcast and Cox, Star Simpson and the city of Boston, and, of course, TJX and Visa, are among the, umm, honorees.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 21, 2007 10:01 AM
November 21, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Mozilla sends Firefox 3.0 into beta, says it will patch long-standing bug. Also, Philips named in worldwide CRT cartel, researchers present mixed predictions for online shopping this year, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 21, 2007 10:00 AM
November 21, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Columnist's corner: What with all the acquisition activity in the business intelligence fray -- IBM buying Cognos, SAP snapping up Business Objects -- Ephraim Schwartz points out that, "BI will disappear as a separate application category soon enough." While that may be inevitable, the remaining vendors "don't subscribe to my bleak view of their future." Pure-play BI vendors strike back. Take MicroStrategy, for instance, and a new focus other vendors are putting on operational, rather than strategic or managerial, business intelligence applications. "Perhaps point-solution BI vendors will not only survive but flourish and the recent acquisitions by the giants only serve to reinvigorate rather than replace the pure-plays." Related: IBM Cognos deal highlights resurgence in upgrading the database, and SAP's Business Objects acquisition: The death knell for point solutions?
Gripe Line: "It's always disturbing to find a vendor playing a little too fast and loose with confidential information about its customers," Ed Foster begins. In this case, that's DirecTV, which was bandying about some customer info such that another could see it -- and claimed it could not inform the violated customer as part of some privacy protection tactic. In short: a reader received a bill with someone else's name and account number on it. "I asked why giving his account information to me was OK in their eyes since it was their mistake, but correcting their mistake was a problem? I was told that I would be 'transferred to their Internet people' whereupon the call was disconnected." DirecTV won't correct privacy gaffe. Now, our reader still has access to that other person's account. "Since he has no intention of taking advantage of the situation, perhaps no harm will come if he does nothing," Foster writes. "What if the original mistake is due to endemic problems with DirecTV's system that bad folks are already exploiting?" What should our reader do in this, his moral quandary? Talkback below or at the link above.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 21, 2007 04:35 AM
November 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)
On the limited value of corporate cheerleaders
Careers: Why do so many managers confuse cheerleaders with team players? One reader asks that of Bob Lewis. "I suppose one of these days I should really write an apology to all cheerleaders. Real cheerleaders are excellent athletes who work very hard at their trade. Unlike those in the corporate world to whom we apply the metaphor," Lewis explains in this Advice Line post. "Cheerleading is an important role for both leaders and team members, but it's an ancillary role, not the main event. Anyone who counts cheerleading as their most important contribution needs to gain some additional skills."
From the feature well: Google is aiming to disrupt fat client computing on the desktop. It's strategy is called Google Apps. "So is Office as we have known it for the last 20-odd years doomed?" Randall Kennedy poses in Thin vs. fat: Google's plan to kill Microsoft Office. Not so fast. "We heard similar prognostications when the Web first appeared. Netscape and its ilk were going to change the desktop-bound world -- but they didn’t. Then again, Netscape never quite managed the momentum that Google has. "Google is a tidal wave. The talent. The cash. The swagger. If anyone can make cloud computing a reality, and thus take a serious run at Microsoft, Google can." Microsoft, however, is not sitting idly by. "When it launches Workspaces as a beta release on December 10, Microsoft could even usurp its competitor's position as the cloud-computing trendsetter." Related: The sound and fury of Google vs. Microsoft.
Columnist's corner: Using the best programming tools for the job has not always been accepted by even Fortune 500 companies. Take the case of this week's Off the Record author, who found himself stuck in the virtual stone age as the company insisted on BASICA. "What they wanted was brutally simple to whip out in any real language. I happened to dabble in dBase and Clipper in my spare time and offered to bring a prototype the next day." Choosing the best code for the job. It worked, quite well in fact, and he managed in a single Clipper line what had taken four days in BASICA. "You'd think this was a story with a happy ending but unfortunately it takes a dark turn." Stodgy management went so far as to threaten legal action against the programmer, who nearly got fired. That dragged on for months, time spent living in fear of consequences. "I'm still here, but I'm keeping my bright ideas to myself."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 20, 2007 10:50 AM
November 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Sun boosts interoperability of OpenSolaris and Windows, SAP says TomorrowNow CEO resigns, Cleveland man pleads guilty to swatting, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 20, 2007 08:17 AM
November 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Is Windows Vista slower than XP?
Platforms: Delivering bad news for Windows fans, of which is he counts himself, Randall Kennedy writes that those nagging performance issues plaguing Vista are here to stay, at least from the looks of the first service pack. Vista SP1 a performance dud? "Exhaustive testing confirms that Windows Vista is at least twice as slow as Windows XP when running on the same hardware. So it's doubly painful to learn that the rumored performance tweaks Microsoft has been hinting at for SP1 simply never materialized."
From the Test Center: Coyote Point Systems' Equalizer E550si is not the least expensive load balancer out there, but it's more affordable than competitive systems. Though it does not have all the features, namely compression and traffic acceleration, that they do, "it does offer all the features needed to deliver Web-based applications," Logan G. Harbaugh writes. "The Equalizer should work well for any corporate Web-based applications or Web farms supporting sites less heavily trafficked than, say, Amazon.com." But for sites where hundreds of 100-megabit or gigabit connections hitting the app simultaneously, Citrix NetScaler or Juniper, "would be a better choice." Read the full review.
SOA: Orchestration is a requisite when building an SOA. "The best way to consider both notions of service and orchestration (and process integration in general) is to think of them as independent layers," David Linthicum explains in How to consider orchestration. "Orchestration, in context to a SOA, is strategic, leveraging business rules to determine how systems should interact and better leverage the business value from each system through a common abstract business model."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 20, 2007 04:41 AM
November 19, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Simple steps to protect against outside threats
Security: While end-users certainly get their share of attention for presenting enormous danger to your networks, outside threats are real and many. "The idea that a remote attacker can launch a series of bytes against your computers, then gain control over them, always brings the greatest fear to administrators," Roger Grimes espouses in Protect against external threats. But you can take action, beginning with inventorying your network, then disabling unneeded services, just to get started.
From the Test Center: To Blaze Adviser 6.5, Fair Issac has added more than 20 new features and improvements, one of the most useful being the verification and testing framework. "For large scale, enterprise-wide applications, Blaze Adviser is a top choice due to the breadth and depth of the feature set," Steven Nunez writes. That said, Nunez explains that, "Some of these features, most notably the rule lifecycle maintenance tools, are still a bit immature." Read the full review.
The news beat: AMD launches Spider, its platform for boosting graphics, performance-per-watt, and high-definition video. Dell shows off an all-in-one computer, the XPS One, which houses the monitor and CPU in one. EarthLink hints that it might sell the municipal Wi-Fi unit that created networks in Philadelphia and other cities. And Mozilla says it will patch a 9-month old bug in Firefox after security researches demonstrated that the vulnerability was more serious than originally thought.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 19, 2007 09:36 AM
November 19, 2007 | Comments: (0)
AMD unleashes Spider platform, Google could be facing showdown with Sun, EarthLink hints it might sell municipal Wi-Fi unit, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 19, 2007 09:25 AM
November 19, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Storage: In storage, like networking and hardware, speed turns heads. That holds particularly true for high-performance computing, otherwise known as HPC, which Mario Apicella calls the racing cars of IT. "Whereas finding practical use for a racing car outside of competition is difficult, without HPC systems many companies would fall flat," he writes in Storage built for HPC speed. To that end, SGI and DataDirect Networks recently announced somewhat complementary solutions in the form of a database accelerator and a storage array. Both, Apicella urges, are worth a look. "After all, there's nothing wrong with kicking the tires, even if you don't need a car right now."
Careers: With an eagle eye, perhaps, Nick Corcodilos finds hope in Electronic Engineering Times. "I see light and funding coming down the tunnel," he explains in this Ask the headhunter post. "While you might come up with 15 reasons why it's a mirage, I intend to watch these trends carefully." Within is also a confession of sorts. "Yah, I worry about the tech industry. I'm often just as cynical as many of you are. But, I keep an eye on the hardware."
Gripe Line: Best Buy, CompUSA, Good Guys and GE are all under the gun for dubious wrangling with customers who bought flat-panel TVs along with extended warranties only to find that, in the experience of one reader, "Best Buy says they get to take as long as they want to try to repair it ... they did finally agree to come pick it up, but it took them six weeks to fix it." Ed Foster explains that "a big part of the problem is extended warranties are often serviced by third parties like GE that might have little incentive to keep the customer happy and can also have their own interpretation of what is covered." Part-by-part extended warranty torture. "Unfortunately, I think what executives of Best Buy, GE, etc. understand is that a lot of their profits depend on customers not ever collecting on pricey extended warranties."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 19, 2007 04:47 AM
November 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: There's nothing quite like finding, and getting stuck in, a new kind of limbo. Save maybe when that involves trying to wipe Vista SP1 off your system, only to realize it's better to abandon all hope. "Sometimes I just can't win," sighs Randy Kennedy in My Vista SP1 nightmare. It began with his trying to get Ubuntu to behave on a Dell notebook, a problem that got so bad he had to give up his quest for full-time migration away from Windows. "Then this week I get bit by an even nastier bug in Vista SP1." So he tried to uninstall the service pack. That's what landed him in this purgatory -- begging someone, anyone, to fix the ACPI suspend-resume bug in Gutsy Gibbon so he can get out of Windows altogether. The only option left? Reinstall. "There goes my weekend."
InfoWorld News Quiz: Test your news knowledge with ten tough questions. Bet you don't who the AT&T Avengers are, or the Verizon Vigilantes! You don't know tech. What's that? You think you do? Then prove it. Related: Test your geek IQ.
Notes from the field: Cringe comes through, as he does every Friday, with another geek week in review (this just might help you with the aforementioned quiz; no promises, though). First up: ABC, the acronym, not the network, and no I don't mean anything to do with bubblegum. Rather, it's G-men, G-women and Google's Android Developer Challenge. Next: telecom before the storm, and virtual reality, Dutch-style.
The news beat: Oracle and BEA are under scrutiny as the market slumps amid overall economy concerns. Dell says it will acquire Everdream and its on-demand software and managed desktop services offerings. Microsoft delays WinHEC, its Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, by six months. And an Abu Dhabi firm takes a $622 million stake in AMD which the chipmaker will use for R&D and manufacturing.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 16, 2007 10:40 AM
November 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Oracle sours on BEA acquisition, MS delays WinHEC, Abu Dhabi firm takes $622 million stake in AMD, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 16, 2007 09:27 AM
November 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)
How ID management and SOA interact
Video: The industry as a whole is struggling with identity management and the ways it meets SOA in the enterprise are no exception. "There are established ways of access management for humans," Eric Knorr points out. The same is not so true for services, though. While many companies are still investigating the opportunities, "there are those who are full-scale addressing identity issues with their SOA deployments, particularly with regulatory compliance or for dealing with financial transactions," says Pete Yao of Accenture. On the risks that SOA adds, Rich Sharples of Sun Microsystems explains that "there are often competing standards, so it's really important to chose and choose well ... There are major benefits of taking strategic view of identity management and SOA, acting locally, taking up small pieces at a time." Watch it here.
Sustainable IT: SMBs, just like their enterprise counterparts, can benefit from green IT practices. A number of these smaller companies cite energy as the biggest cost increase over the last two years, at least according to IBM. So, poses Ted Samson, "what's a well-intentioned CEO of an SMB to do to cut those energy bills?" Six green strategies for the little guy. That list begins with, yes, you guessed it, virtualization. Next up: manage PC power better, invest in greener systems and well, I'll not spoil the ending.
Columnist's corner: The city of San Francisco is suing a voting machine company for breach of contract after chaos that saw the Secretary of State insist on all ballots being counted by hand. "What's scariest is listening to the politicians on the radio talking about the technology. They wouldn't know a hard token if it fell out of the sky onto their head. They probably think 'authentication' means finding out whether someone has had plastic surgery or Botox," David Margulius writes in Wanted: Some nice German voting software. That's German as in software maker SAP. "If they can make Corporate America’s core transactional systems run like a well-oiled machine, surely they could make this problem go away in a jiffy."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 16, 2007 04:47 AM
November 15, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Is a world of application segmenting upon us?
Best of the blogs: In deploying Google Apps for 165 of its 2,500 customer server agents, Capgemini is "segmenting users making a decision on which application to deploy based on what best suits that group," Ephraim Schwartz writes in this Reality Check post. Schwartz explains that although all 80,000 Capgemini employees need word processing, they don't all need the same application -- particularly not when there is a low-cost choice available. In this case, Google Apps will cost Capgemini $50 per user per year. "Google Apps may not answer all a company's needs. That is the point I'm trying to make. But with little need for support, a low barrier to training and enough capability to keep a large segment of the company happy, we will see segmentation not only in productivity applications but in other kinds of applications as well.
The news beat: IBM details Blue Cloud, its initiative to turn datacenters into computing clouds such that resources are available wherever needed. Apple patches a whopping 41 bugs in Mac OS X, 10 in Safari and upgrades several other applications. Michael Dell foretells of a reference architecture to help customers go green and makes the bold proclamation that his company will be carbon-neutral by next year's end. And Oracle CEO Larry Ellison describes the next iteration of Fusion, which will bring what he calls second-generation sales force applications.
Tech's bottom line: Everyone knows the market is not always rational -- and the way in which Apple and VMware took the rap for Cisco's warning and Oracle's virtualization announcement proves it. "Part of the reason for the slide: momentum players. These are hedge funds and other institutions that trade directionally over the short run. When a stock moves down, short sellers can get into the game, and suddenly the stock is really tumbling," Bill Snyder writes in Don't get caught in the stampede. "Take a deep breath and look closely before you sell. Indeed, the dip in VMware's value might well have been an opportunity to buy some shares at a nice discount."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 15, 2007 10:59 AM
November 15, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Dell plans reference architecture to help customers go green, IBM unveils Blue Cloud virtual resources, Oracle CEO foretells of next Fusion with salesforce functionality, and more LISTEN
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 15, 2007 08:20 AM
November 15, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Magic formula for IT budgeting
Careers: Responding to a reader's question about budgeting in such a way that is quantifiable, Bob Lewis calls it by name: Functional Point Analysis. "Not for the faint of heart. I can't endorse it myself," he writes in this Advice Line post. That said, Lewis concedes that he knows practitioners who claim it allows them to estimate with high levels of precision. "My personal opinion: The best way to estimate projects is to break them into small chunks with go/no-go gates in between." There's another alternative, too.
Columnist's corner: The current writer's strike all over the media got Tom Yager reflecting about how many IT creations generate revenue long after the work is done. "I can't count the number of companies that hired me to create solutions for them, then fired me as soon as I got the solution working and documented," he writes. If Hollywood screenwriters worked in IT. Then again, Yager adds, "every IT worker who gives blood while being paid for water has also jumped jobs for a big raise. It's smart to get what you can, but for all of us, the most valuable residuals from employment are continued employment."
Notes from the field: Crying it like he sees it, once again, the indefatigable Robert X. Cringely calls out the U.S. government on its double standard for privacy. Just like a snooping relative who pours through your e-mail, Web surfing and lord knows what other online accounts when you're not looking, the Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Donald Kerr, "staked a claim to all of your Internet records," Cringe reports in My nosy Uncle. "My Uncle is your uncle, and his name is Sam." The counter argument? "Terrorism trumps everything. But I don't buy that. There's always an 'ism.' Before terrorism there was communism. Before communism there was anti-Americanism and generic xenophobia."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 15, 2007 05:03 AM
November 14, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Video: For a dose of real-world, politically incorrect opinions, David Linthicum discusses the benefits and deficits of SOA. "That's my job -- to be the designated buzzkill," Linthicum explains. "We're living very much in a confusing and changing world in that SOA has different definitions depending on who you're talking to ... One of the difficult things I find is to get beyond the hype that's in this space." To that end, he offers what not to do, then follows with several steps to embark on the journey. Watch part one of 5 things to avoid with SOA. If you don't have the commitment at the C-level, in the budget, don't do it, he advises. "You're not going to be successful." Related: Nortel readies SOA and communications push.
Apps: With IBM putting Symphony in its second beta phase and boasting that 88 percent of those 250,000 who have downloaded it are existing Microsoft Office customers, Big Blue, it appears, is also ratcheting up the competition with Microsoft and Google in the hosted apps fray, Sean Gallagher reports. "The chances of a free Symphony desktop suite displacing Office in the corporate world are close to nil," Gallagher adds in IBM's Symphony: Will anyone listen? "And while a hosted version might be interesting to organizations still using Lotus Notes, it's doubtful that it would upset anyone's applecart, aside from Google's efforts."
The news beat: Oracle executives discuss the company's Web 2.0 intentions and Fusion's timeframe at its user conference. The U.S. House passes a broadband statistics bill that would provide detailed measurements of availability. VeriSign says it will hone its focus on two core businesses, managing DNS infrastructure and selling SSL certificates, then divest three other lines. And Microsoft plans to offer a major upgrade to its Windows Live OneCare security suite next week.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 14, 2007 10:25 AM
November 14, 2007 | Comments: (0)
IBM boasts 88 percent of Symphony downloads done by Microsoft customers, Microsoft plans major upgrade to Windows Live OneCare, VeriSign to focus on core businesses, divest others, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 14, 2007 10:06 AM
November 14, 2007 | Comments: (0)
The tech who almost shot Saddam
Columnist's corner: An IT cowboy, who once reset an entire corporate file server system granting only himself rights to all files, surfaced at our Off the Record author's company. "Bill was a Texan through and through and claimed to have served black ops for the government since he was about 15. He said he had been hand-picked by the then-President George Bush Sr. for a secret mission." That was only the beginning. Two years of tall tales, including a Purple Heart from Bill Clinton, dinner with Bill Gates, and some $6 million in the bank, resulted in a paint ball game gone wrong, replete with Saddam masks. "Our masks and his early defeat caused him to never came back to work. He e-mailed his resignation, claiming a hostile work environment."
Hands-on preview: E-mail has never been a good way to transfer large attachments. Then again, FTP has its own set of issues. Accellion's Secure File Transfer Appliance, however, is "an effective solution that combines the use of e-mail attachments with efficient data transfers and robust monitoring and security features," Mario Apicella writes. "It may not come cheap but the Accellion Virtual Appliance solves the thorny problem of large e-mail attachments with responsive and efficient agents and well thought management tools." The hitch, if you will? Companies that can already handle such transfers via e-mail won't find it useful. "Otherwise, you should give some thoughts to reserving a virtual machine and some disk space on your VMware servers for this intriguing virtual appliance." Read the full preview.
Reality check: If you buy software every 10 years and pay 25 percent in maintenance fees then you're ultimately paying 2.5 times the original license just to maintain the app, Ephraim Schwartz reports in Stop overpaying for support. If that sounds familiar, "you are burning a big wad of cash," Schwartz asserts. There is an alternative, though, in the form of third-party support from the likes of Rimini Street and TomorrowNow. A Forrester analyst says that customers get the same or better performance from such third-parties. Schwartz offers this to consider: "Remind those vendors that when the time comes to adopt that next generation of enterprise software, your company will have a long memory of who its friends really are."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 14, 2007 04:38 AM
November 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Vendors fail to communicate, customers pay
Gripe Line: On the day AT&T was supposed to turn on a reader's company's new T3 telecom service, he found that the carrier "has so many people involved that no two of them have a clue what is going on." Mixed signals started early, to be sure. AT&T fails to communicate. Two weeks before the big day, AT&T documents stated the previously identified frame relay circuits were to be ATM. After myriad confirmations, the reader doesn't even get frame relay, but PPP. And the disasters keep on coming, such that days later only part of the new service was up. "It's not just AT&T. IBM contractors are giving me the same types of headaches -- six people on a conference call and none of them actually DO anything. They are all project managers that don't really get it."
Best of the blogs: Google's Android mobile development platform is ambitious, yes, but the odds for success are long. "Android's mission is so astonishingly broad that it will likely take years before it is realized in a handset," Tom Yager asserts in this Tech Watch post. The early SDK addresses a significant pain point for cross-platform mobile application developers: the GUI. Of course it's still young and, as such, has a somewhat limited set of widgets. "Google's aspirations are admirable, but the likelihood of Android succeeding as a full metal-to-screen platform, while parallel efforts are being worked by vendors with traction and experience, is fairly slim."
The news beat: Microsoft readies the Stirling console for managing all its Forefront enterprise security products for desktops. At Oracle OpenWorld, Cisco announces the RDS (Reliable Datagram Sockets), a protocol it developed with Oracle to run databases over large server clusters. Apple and a Chinese telecom are in talks to sell the iPhone in China, though China Mobile's CEO does not like handset makers' desire to share revenue with operators. And Microsoft and the GSM association promote 3G laptops by hosting a contest challenging companies to design mobile phone-like connectivity into easy-to-use notebook PCs.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 13, 2007 10:39 AM
November 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)
HP CEO says we're on cusp of another consolidation wave, Apple in talks to offer iPhone in China, Adobe CEO to step down, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 13, 2007 09:06 AM
November 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Special report: Each year we celebrate the IT organizations that made the best use of technology in pursuit of business goals, whether that involves ushering legacy systems into the modern era or revolutionizing how their companies harvest IT. This year's winners prove that blazing a new path can yield large rewards. 2007 InfoWorld 100 Awards. Or view the top 10 IT projects in this slideshow.
Security: Sometimes IT has to protect end-users from themselves. "Are we supposed to ignore the largest threat to our computer systems simply because our end-users disregard everything we tell them? Can I let my company get exploited over and over again, but tell my boss my hands are clean and I'm a success because I 'secured' their computer systems?" Roger Grimes poses in Protecting the end-user. "Once you note that some insecure technology or program is taking over your environment, either spend all your efforts to eradicate it, or accept it. If you have to accept it (because, for example, the CEO just posted his resume to Facebook), work to make it as safe as possible."
SOA: A services-oriented architecture might not rank up there with carbon footprints or recycling old PCs, but David Linthicum insists enterprise architecture is a corporate responsibility. "The core issue is that EA is and was a neglected area in most enterprises, and needs to be fixed ... I'm not advocating focusing only on the strategic; you have to create a balance. Right now we're making a mess, and are not making plans to clean it up." Not everyone agrees with Linthicum, though. Follow-up: Reaction to SOA as a corporate responsibility.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 13, 2007 04:42 AM
November 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Open source: Several days into his Ubuntu plunge, Randall Kennedy has learned that "when something doesn't work the response is most often to point fingers. Assign blame," he writes in Why Desktop Linux fails: a first-hand account. "This entire experience simply reaffirms what I believe is a key barrier to the widespread desktop adoption of Linux: A lack of accountability." Contrast this with Microsoft Windows, Kennedy adds, and you begin to appreciate just what a Herculean feat the Redmond giant has accomplished. "Pass the buck. Great for political rallies and Linux love-ins. Not so hot for enterprise desktop computing." Related: Taking the Ubuntu plunge, Day 1.
The news beat: IBM buys Cognos, one of the last standalone BI vendors. Google releases the Android SDK so that programmers can create cell-phone apps for its mobile platform. Microsoft says it is not happy with AV software performance, citing ongoing growing pains, though a company executive maintains that OneCare and Forefront have helped it combat malware. And the MySpace malware problems began days before the Alicia Keys hack, and such issues are likely to continue.
Notes from the field: Firing back at iPhone unlockers, Apple released version 1.1.2 of its OS which relocks the devices and kills third-party apps users may have installed. "But wait, it gets better," Cringe writes in The score so far: Hackers 2, Apple 2. Hackers shot back and managed to rebreak the app for activated iPhones, such that it takes about 10 minutes. "I don't know what's more galling for Apple -- having weeks of dev work scotched in less time than it takes to eat a hamburger, or being gamed by people whose nicknames make them sound like Teletubbies." Google might actually come to the rescue with Android, Cringe suggests. "A person can dream, can't he?"
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 12, 2007 11:20 AM
November 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Intel unveils Penryn and hardware vendors back chip with new machines, IBM buys Cognos, Microsoft announces Longhorn pricing, and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 12, 2007 08:49 AM
November 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Storage: To grasp what a grid OS does, Mario Apicella explains, "you have to think beyond the solitary machine -- the natural habitat for a conventional OS -- and instead consider the datacenter as your playing field." Living off the grid OS. Apicella goes on to explain that 3Tera is developing just such an operating system. "The benefits of a grid OS are considerable, allowing you to allocate more computing power to an application in a heartbeat and with seamless effort."
The news beat: Microsoft reveals Windows Server 2008 pricing and the Hyper-V brand, the commercial name for its virtualization product. A hacker pleads guilty to creating botnets that infected hundreds of thousands of PCs. Dell revamps its PowerEdge line of servers with Intel's new Penryn chip, released yesterday. And Northeastern University sues Google for patent infringement over distributed database technology.
Video: In this installment of The week ahead with Gina Smith, she looks at Google's Android SDK. "Developers have been on the edge of their seats ... but can any technology live up to this level of hype?" she asks. Also on tap is Oracle OpenWorld, and Cringely weighs in on Facebook. Watch it here.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 12, 2007 06:04 AM
November 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Seventeen people are charged in an ID-theft bust, TSMC reports record chip sales, the Nigerian government favors Linux over Windows, MySpace pages are being hacked, and more.
LISTEN!
Posted by Caroline Craig on November 9, 2007 09:22 AM
November 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)
How Dell's support upgrade doubles as a profit center
Best of the blogs: Dell's Support Center 2.0 helps support Dell support, in the words of Ed Foster. A reader received an alert from Dell saying he needed to upgrade but after doing so a blank pop-up DOS screen sprang into his screen every five minutes, and with each log on came the Dell support folder rearing its head. Dell said the problem was probably a virus. But when our reader explained his upgrade predicament, the rep informed him it would cost $29.95 to continue the conversation. "I guess this is a good way for Dell to earn a little extra money -- have everyone install a buggy Support Center upgrade and then charge them all when they call to report the problem," the reader writes. In this Gripe Line post Foster adds that the reader is not the only one to encounter this. "It's one thing for a vendor to take an aggressive approach to helping its customers, but it's quite another if the aggression is really aimed at drumming up business for its paid support."
Green IT: Digital Realty became the first company to earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for its datacenter facility. But what's most interesting about the achievement is that the building was constructed in 1917 as a printing plant. "Like so many sustainable technology efforts, a LEED endeavor results in significant long-term cost savings through waste reduction," Ted Samson explains in Taking the LEED on building green. Digital Realty is not alone, either. Adobe and Qualcomm, for examples, have both enjoyed significant savings from reduced energy waste. "One of the common threads among these projects is the IT components, such as tools for monitoring and managing heat and lighting through a network. Once again, it demonstrates just how critical a role IT plays in helping organizations undergo green transformations."
Notes from the field: Donning a Paul Revere cap and cloak, Robert X. Cringely calls out a similar warning, albeit of the cyber sort: the e-jihadists are coming, the e-jihadists are coming! In which Mr. Cringely is referring to Electronic Jihad 2.0. "Despite the software's silly name, I was curious whether this might be something worth worrying about. So I did a little more digging. The software is real -- in fact, I downloaded a copy of it yesterday off an archived copy of al-jinan.org. But if this is a serious terror threat, I'm Arnold Schwarzenegger." Instead, Cringe muses, it could be a publicity campaign, a recruiting tool for noobs, or even an attempt to prove just how gullible we Westerners truly are.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 9, 2007 05:03 AM
November 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Open source: Comfortable in his new digs and actually starting to enjoy himself, Randall Kennedy begins The Ubuntu Plunge Day 3 with, "a funny thing happened to me on the way to the Web this morning." That would be an alert coming from Windows Defender that led to, well, panic, and then time spent scanning until he earned a clean bill of health. "Then it hit me: I had just wasted over an hour of my life chasing down a phantom malware infection. It was a disturbing sensation, more so since I hadn't experienced anything like it in several days -- ever since I started my odyssey into Linux-land." Now, to be fair, Kennedy points out Windows is the target it is because it's everywhere. Even still, "I can't help but think of all the things I'm missing since booting back into my 'Gutsy Gibbon' install: spyware; viruses; and (most importantly) fear."
Columnist's corner: What with its new mobile device platform, otherwise known as Android, Google is hoping to tap into untold creativity and innovation that has thus far been stifled by the wireless carriers. "This news should be like ringtones to your ears -- except that Google is so wrong on this one, so wrong," David Margulius asserts in My Google phone hangup. "Google didn't give the people what they wanted -- a gPhone would turn out to be a true iPhone competitor. But instead, what we got was an idealistic press release and a vision of a messy cornucopia of software (and ads) competing for pixels on everyone's mobile screen. I think I'll stick with my current mobile setup for now." Related: Microsoft CEO Ballmer says Android is just words on paper.
Tech's bottom line: Dell's bid to acquire EqualLogic marks not only Dell's biggest takeover but also a radical shift. "It's a smart move. The acquisition has dinged both EMC and its daughter company, VMware, as well as Network Appliance," Bill Snyder writes in Dell reinvents itself. There's the rub: Dell "doesn't invent much, other than a once-great business model." The real value of the deal, according to one analyst at least, is that EqualLogic figured out iSCSI and virtualization are two great tastes that taste great together.
The news beat: Red Hat teams with Amazon to deliver Linux on demand, with a private beta available now and a public one due by year's end. Processor maker ARM's CEO Warren East talks of iPhone, Android and Acorns in an interview with the IDG News Service. IBM touts new datacenter management tools it claims can reduce costs. And AMD brings GPU technologies to high-performance computing with a new chip package, the FireStream 9170.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 8, 2007 10:36 AM
November 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Red Hat releases Linux on demand via Amazon EC2, AMD introduces HPC chips with parallelism, MS CEO Ballmer says Google's Android is just words on paper and more LISTEN!
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 8, 2007 08:39 AM
November 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)
The problem with Intel inside Macs: Recovery
Platforms: After losing a month's work, research and creative projects, to say nothing of registration keys and activation, Tom Yager has this to write: "I can barely contain my glee at having so grand an opportunity as this to learn a new way." The problem, you see, is that the MacBook Pro Apple loaned him slipped into what Yager calls a coma -- and be blames the Intel chip. "This wouldn't happen to a PowerPC Mac." The new road to recovery is worse than the old one. So he took to the cloud, went browser-based and lightweight mobile to avoid a similar loss in the future. The lesson in all this? "I now know that my recoverability expectations for Macs should not exceed those that I associate with PCs."
Open source: In the Ubuntu plunge Day 2 Randall Kennedy admits to feeling spoiled. "After years of enduring one questionable Microsoft UI decision after another, I'm having a blast tweaking and re-skinning gnome under Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon," he writes. Not that it's entirely smooth, bug-free, or lacking application weirdness, just that "the reward is worth it: I now have a nice, pseudo-Mac OS X-ish UI with a nice, funky icon set." Only two days and the blueblood Windows user has his day-to-day environment established and ready for work. "I'm actually starting to enjoy my new digs." Related: The Ubuntu plunge, Day 1: VM madness, and Why Ubuntu (still) sucks, part 5.
Networking: With two new switches Cisco is, in the words of Paul Venezia, giving "admins and network architects plenty to get excited about." Those are the Catalyst 4500 E-series and the Catalyst 6500. Speed boosts, Virtual Switching Systems, improved diagnostics, the Supervisor 720-10G, Multi-chassis EtherChannel, are some of the highlights. "If the new supervisor for the 6500 series does what Cisco claims, it will mark a turning point in redundant networking." Read the full analysis.
SOA: David Linthicum reports from the InfoWorld SOA Executive Forum in New York City, where the morning highlight was a keynote titled "Laying the SOA Foundation" delivered by Pfizer's Martin Brodbeck. "He was very data focused, which I think took the audience back. I mean, why talk about data when you can talk about services? The truth is data becomes services, thus the starting point of data," Linthicum explains.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 8, 2007 04:50 AM
November 07, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Taking the mystery out of IT budgeting
Careers: To answer one reader's quandary about communicating with internal accountants Bob Lewis probes into the deep, chaotic and murky waters of IT budgets, personnel specifically. "Have I snorted too much coffee, resulting in total malfunction of my two remaining synapses?" the reader wonders. After addressing the snorting practice, Lewis tackles the matter at hand. The fist step "is to segment IS, because different areas of responsibility have different staffing drivers," he offers. Major projects and discretionary infrastructure are just two of those. Other areas of responsibility will depend on how your particular company is organized, but "you can apply the same sort of thinking to these as well."
The news beat: Microsoft moves Windows Live services out of the beta testing phase and into the real world, so now users can download and access several services, though two key offerings remain in beta. Symantec lays out its integration plan for Vontu, after acquiring the data-loss prevention vendor Monday. Big Blue's Rational unit deepens its ties to IBM's mainframe systems with modernization applications, the first in a series of releases to come during the next 6 months. And Senator Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who previously criticized a government contract with Sun Microsystems, says the corresponding GSA investigation is incomplete and poorly organized.
Video: Nick Barber of the IDG News Service examines Google's Android open-development platform for mobile phones, which has already gained the backing of many heavyweight handset makers, and what it all means. "Really, the question is, do the networks get fast enough to deliver a full Web browser experience without having to wait?" asks Joshua Martin, analyst with Yankee Group. "The 3G networks need to be built out." Watch it here.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 7, 2007 11:15 AM
November 07, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft ushers Windows Live out of beta testing, lawmaker charges Yahoo with aiding in arrest of Chinese journalist, Microsoft fires CIO, Salesforce.com falls prey to phishi