- Microsoft Deepfish beta runs dry
- WS-I eyes secure Web services
- Apple Boot Camp does Vista
- IBM seeks JBoss migrations
- Software Factories touted
- Beleagured Governor leaks donor data
- Cisco launches IP-based surveillance cameras
- Google packing more into Google Pack
- Microsoft makes tools buy
- InfoWorld folds print mag to focus on online and events
March 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft Deepfish beta runs dry
Demand for a beta version of Microsoft's new "Deepfish" Web browser for mobile phones appears to have far outstripped the company's limited supply. After unveiling the new software at O'Reilly's eTech conference late Wednesday, and offering a free demo version for download, the company was overwhelmed with requests, according to a post on the Deepfish download Web site. Judging by user feedback comments -- which many aspiring beta applications used to vent at Microsoft for its limited beta program -- the supply of beta versions of Deepfish lasted about 12 hours before being exhausted.
"Please remove the download link if you already know you won't let me download it. It just wasted my time." wrote a visitor to the Deepfish download site who used the name "Shamus"
"Disappointed! ... whats the point in offering a download link if you aren't really going to let me download it?" wondered another visitor using the handle "x-man."
According to Microsoft, Deepfish is different from most mobile browsers now in use because it allows formatting rich Web sites to display as they were intended, rather than forcing them into a single-column format that reformats existing pages by repositioning content to fit the limited screen size. Deepfish users can zoom in or out of a Web site on Deepfish, viewing the layout the way designers intended, the company said.
Deepfish runs on Windows Mobile Smart Phones or Pocket PCs that run Windows Mobile 5.0. So far, Microsoft is keeping mum about whether it will turn Deepfish into a product. In a company Q&A, LiveLabs director Gary Flake said that Deepfish is a prototype technology, and that Microsoft is not announcing specific plans for making the product more widely available.
Judging by comments, users were impressed with the browser's ability to preserve Web page formatting and with the ability to zoom in and out of pages, but also reported that Deepfish needs work - including the ability to save Web page cookies that are used to store login information for password protected Web sites.
Posted by Paul Roberts on March 30, 2007 10:16 AM
March 30, 2007 | Comments: (0)
The Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) plans to hold a news briefing Tuesday on secure, interoperable Web services.
Presenters will offer up news on WS-I Profiles and insight into upcoming developments, according to a bulletin from the organization. The bulletin states that secure Web services are a "critical requirement" for many enterprises, but it has been impossible until now to have Web services that are both interoperable and secure.
With multiple standards and a list of Web services security methods available, it is becoming more difficult to ensure that service-to-service interactions are interoperable and protected from the "unscrupulous."
Because of this situation, WS-I continues to make security a top priority in interoperability efforts, WS-I said in its bulletin.
Michael Bechauf, president and chair of WS-I, and Paul Cotton, chair of the WS-I Basic Security Profile Working Group, will discuss mechanics of secure interoperable Web services during the presentation.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 30, 2007 07:46 AM
March 29, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Apple delivered a new beta of Boot Camp, 1.2, yesterday, complete with support for 32-bit Windows Vista.
Rather than updating my Boot Camp install, I wiped out my old partition and reinstalled and it was as smooth as can be. A new drivers CD complete with support for iSight in Vista is the next step, and this was smoother than in the past too.
After all, I was up and running, with Vista's Aero Glass feature at full speed on my Core 2 Duo MacBook with 1.5GB of RAM.
Vista has been supported by Parallels for a while, but as I understand from the blogosphere, Aero is not working in that virtual setup. I am not sure, and have not tried to "map" Parallels to my Boot Camp Vista install yet.
I tried to get Parallels to run using my Boot Camp install as the drive and it would not work, but a Parallels spokesman said the engineering team would be delivering an update to enable it shortly -- firm date not yet set.
I recently tried VMware's latest Fusion beta, which touts the ability in Windows XP to support DirectX natively while running virtually, potentially giving VMware a leg up on Parallels for one primary reason anyone would want Windows on a Mac: gaming.
But it is currently experimental and only works with XP Pro. Fusion is well behind Parallels Desktop in many other areas, but I would expect it to catch up soon.
I personally find booting into Vista to be no big deal for my home machine -- and that would seemingly be the faster performer; however, on my work Mac I need Parallels so that I can run IE6 inside Mac OS.
Boot Camp 1.2 beta's support of Vista could provide the best of both worlds... Will report back. But Anyone out there running such a setup and able to confirm Parallels mapped to new Boot Camp is getting better GPU performance, or if it even works yet?
Posted by Mike Barton on March 29, 2007 12:17 PM
March 29, 2007 | Comments: (0)
IBM and Covalent Technologies announced on Thursday that they have contributed technology to the Apache Geronomo community to help enterprises migrate from the rival open source JBoss application server to the open source Apache Geronimo application server.
The migration tool converts applications form JBoss to Geronimo by generating configuration files.
"The contribution of this tool to the Apache Community is a direct result of feedback we are hearing from our customers," said Paul Buck, director of IBM WebSphere Open Source, in a statement released by IBM and Covalent. "The recent momentum behind products based on Apache Geronimo is indicative of customers' desire to use collaboratively built open source technology backed by commercial support to meet business goals."
Apache Geronimo was described by IBM and Covalent as a lightweight J2EE-compatiable open source application server. It features components to help Java developers, small and mid-sized businesses and departmental users reduce application development complexity by pre-integrating common services for building Java applications.
The IBM WebSphere Application Server Community Edition is based on Apache Geronimo.
The free tool will be available for download soon under the Apache license here.
The IBM-Covalent initiative was called "uninteresting" by Shaun Connolly, vice president of product management in the JBoss division of Red Hat.
"How I view it is it validates at least from the JBoss standpoint that we're really more of the mass market middleware leader out there," Connolly said.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 29, 2007 07:40 AM
March 28, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft's Software Factories and Domain-Specific Language (DSL) technologies were touted as medicine for what ails software development, by a presenter at the VSLive conference on Wednesday.
During the presentation, Kevin McNeish, president of Oak Leaf Enterprises and a Microsoft MVP, offered statistics such as one that states only 16 percent of US software projects are completed on time and within budget. Meanwhile, 31 percent of projects are canceled due to quality problems, creating losses of $81 billion, McNeish said.
"Lots of folks are choosing outsourcing as an option," he said. And this is being done because "software development in the US as we know it is a failure in many different ways," said McNeish.
Developers, he said, must cope with issues such as rapidly evolving platform technologies, increasing customer expectations and, simply, too much technology to deal with. Most software is developed by hand from scratch, which is slow and expensive.
Meanwhile, there is a shortage of .Net developers.
Unified Modeling Language documentation is prone to obsolescene, McNeish said. Agile programming, which relies on harvesting the practices of a few of the most productive developers, also does not fully solve the problems of software development.
Microsoft's Software Factories concept, however, provides a configuration of languages, patterns, frameworks and tools that can be used to rapidly build an open-ended set of unique variants of software products, according to McNeish.
Benefits include a high degree of reuse, a uniform architecture and automation of error-prone and tedious tasks, he said. Developers also can work at a higher level of abstraction.
"Software Factories is where Microsoft is headed," McNeish said. Software Factories exist such as a Web Service and Smart Client Software Factories.
An audience member said he expects to use Software Factories.
"We can see [where] the direction of everything is headed and everything is going toward doing things more visually," with drag-and-drop, said Jason Mesches, software engineering manager with IBS Interprit.
In addition to Software Factories, DSL tools enable development of domain-specific diagrams for generating code. Users, for example, can create forms using DSL capabilities in Windows Forms, said McNeish.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 28, 2007 02:30 PM
March 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Beleagured Governor leaks donor data
It hasn't been a fun two months for Massachusetts' new Governor, Deval Patrick. After running a stellar, grass roots campaign to defeat Republican Lt. Governor Kerry Healy and become the first African American governor of Massachusetts, Patrick -- a former Clinton Administration official and Coca Cola executive -- has stumbled out of the gates BIG time with serial scandals over his decision to lease a pricey Cadillac as his official transportation as opposed to the standard Chrysler, redecorate his office to the tune of more than $27,000 in taxpayer money (including $12,000 drapes), and hire a $70,000 a year personal secretary for the state's first lady -- itself a "first" in state history. So high were the hopes for Patrick and so ham fisted have been his moves since taking office that he's become the subject of out of town coverage in the Washington Post and elsewhere. The controversy has even spawned a dedicated conservative blog: devalpatrickwatch.com, which provides blow by blow coverage of the new Governor's rude awakening to the realities of public life.
Sadly, Patrick is continuing to provide fodder for attacks. His latest bumble involves the release of personally identifiable information, including home addresses of supporters on a Web site, Devalpatrick.com, that he launched to try to "get his message out." But, in a classic case of the message biting the messenger, Patrick had no sooner posted the new site than he was hearing it from Secretary of State William Galvin over the publishing of donor data.
According to the Boston Globe, visitors to the site who entered another person's last name or phone number could see the home address of anyone with that name, including unlisted phone numbers.
"We go to great lengths to protect the confidentiality of voting lists from vendors and sales people, and we're concerned there is information out there that shouldn't be, for instance, police officers' residential addresses, deceased voters, apartment numbers of elderly voters," Galvin said in a Boston Globe article. Some of the names listed are individuals with restraining orders, Galvin noted.
As he was forced to do with the drapes, car and secretary, Patrick found himself on the defensive and had his campaign remove most address information from the site and explain his actions.
The Web site, which was created to rally supporters and prompt civic engagement, was another example of how loosely secured Web sites. Security experts at Symantec said, in their most recent Threat Report, that 66 percent of new security holes target Web applications.
Posted by Paul Roberts on March 27, 2007 08:09 AM
March 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Cisco launches IP-based surveillance cameras
Networking giant Cisco Systems has moved its push into the market for physical security one step further, introducing its first-ever IP-based video surveillance camera.
The company is betting that large enterprises will soon be ready to reinvest in their facilities management infrastructure in the name of linking cameras, door readers and other location-based security systems back into their IT networks.
Ultimately Cisco believes that most large firms will move to replace their old-school analog security hardware with devices such as its new Video Surveillance IP Camera in the name of advancing applications for transporting, sharing and analyzing the footage that such systems collect.
Door readers and other physical locking systems will be linked to IT networks to help provide multi-layered authentication, the company maintains, such as through integrating on-premise and computer ID applications.
Much of the company's video focus is based around technologies it inherited via its March 2006 buyout of SyPixx, which specialized in video surveillance software and hardware that allow existing analog surveillance systems to operate as part of an IP network.
Those technologies essentially serve as a bridge that will help firms begin to adopt new network-based security applications without replacing their old gear all at once.
Enter the new Cisco Video Surveillance IP Camera.
Launched at the ongoing ISC West conference in Las Vegas, the camera promises to provide an expandable video recording and storage platform that can be linked directly into IP-based neworks either via cable or wireless connection. The device carries software that is meant to allow it to integrate quickly with both legacy and newer surveillance and storage systems, and to help ease migration from analog to network-based infrastructure.
"Our vision for physical security and access control is to unlock video using IP networks so that you can view live video or playback from anywhere in the network," said Mark Farino, general manager of Cisco's Converged Security Infrastructure Business Unit. "Customers have been asking us to help them deploy IP-based cameras to replace analog, so this is our first effort to address that."
Available in May 2007, the first Cisco-built video camera boasts D1 (720 x 480) resolution using MPEG4 encoding, along with 802.1X authentication and power-over-ethernet (PoE) connection capabilities.
Cisco also announced a new Storage Services Platform for linking video recording devices to external storage arrays, and a handful of upgrades to its Stream Manager Video Surveillance Software package, including links for alarm systems, synchronized multi-camera playback, and support for higher video compression ratios.
"We've been successful with our efforts thus far based on the momentum built by the SyPixx acquisition -- they had built products that allow network-based video surveillance systems to be dropped into any analog environment," Farino said. "We wanted to add services to build an intelligent information network that can scale to as many cameras as needed; it will take us time to convince customers to invest and to build an end-to-end solution, we're laying the groundwork but still have more work to do."
Posted by Matt Hines on March 27, 2007 07:58 AM
March 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Google packing more into Google Pack
Google said on Tuesday that it is packing more stuff into its Google Pack software bundle. In an e-mail message, the company said that it was adding a number of new programs to "satisfy users fun and sensible sides." Among the additions:
Google Photos Screensaver, a program taht allows users to "turn their screen into a digital picture frame that displays the latest photos from friends, family, and favorite photographers." (Wait -- doesn't Windows already offer this?) The Screensaver links with Picasa Web albums or photo feeds from other sites.
Symantec's Norton Security Scan, a basic computer virus scanner.
PC Tools Spyware Doctor Starter Edition, an antispyware program that is free but offers "limited active protectioN"
Google introduced the Google Pack in January of 2006 for Windows XP and Windows Vista users. The free package of software that is vetted by Google and is intended to enhance users desktop experience and includes a bunch of Google software, including Google Desktop Search, Google Talk, Google Earth and the Google Toolbar for IE. It also includes free downloads like the Mozilla browser and Adobe Reader, as well as the new additions.
Posted by Paul Roberts on March 27, 2007 07:51 AM
March 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft announced on Monday its acquisition of devBiz Business Solutions, which makes TeamPlain.
TeamPlain Web Access is a Web interface for Microsoft's Team Foundation Server collaboration server for application lifecycle management.
Microsoft has posted a question-and-answer document on the acquisition here.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 26, 2007 09:25 AM
March 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
InfoWorld folds print mag to focus on online and events
Yes, the rumors are true. As of April 2, 2007, InfoWorld is discontinuing its print component. No more printing on dead trees, no more glossy covers, no more supporting the US Post Office in its rush to get thousands of inky copies on subscribers' desks by Monday morning (or thereabouts). The issue that many of you will receive in your physical mailbox next week -- vol. 29, issue 14 -- will be the last one in InfoWorld's storied 29-year history.
But let me dispel any other rumors. InfoWorld is not dead. We're not going anywhere. We are merely embracing a more efficient delivery mechanism --the Web -- at InfoWorld.com. You can still get all the news coverage, reviews, analysis, opinion, and commentary that InfoWorld is known for. You'll just have to access it in a browser (or RSS reader) -- something more than a million of you already do every month.
Frankly, the editorial staff foresaw the demise of print from a long way off and began making preparations for that inevitable day. Now that it is here, InfoWorld is well positioned to serve our readers, both through InfoWorld.com and our burgeoning events business. Keep in mind that for several years now, we have been posting all of the magazine's content online first, sometimes as early as six days before the print issue arrived anywhere. But that content was just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to the articles we had prepared for print, our staff and contributors create and post the equivalent of a full magazine online every day, featuring 25 blogs, bundles of daily online-only news stories, columns, articles, regular videos, slideshows, and podcasts. The limited confines of a print magazine, with 32 pages of editorial content each week, simply couldn't begin to address the needs of an information-hungry IT audience.
Now, I don't want to sound glib about print's demise. I've worked on print publications for nearly 30 years, and I enjoy the physical feel of a magazine, its portability, the way you can spread it out in your lap and dog ear pages for future visits. Online bookmarks may be more efficient, site searches retrieve information faster, but it's hard to beat a magazine for its tactility and visceral thrill. On a personal note, I'll miss creating covers, working with my art director and other editors to develop a concept, then reviewing the sketches and tweaking until everything works. And it's hard to imagine I'll never have to create another InfoWorld "coverline" -- the only-in-magazine-style type that graces each cover, combining equal parts information and tease. For an editor, few jobs are as satisfying, especially when the finished product arrives, all shiny and new.
InfoWorld, though, is a for-profit business not unlike the businesses many of you run or work for. I am an editor, which means I answer to the readers, not the advertisers. That will never change. Nonetheless, I also know how the business works, or in some cases, doesn't work. The ad-driven economic model that supported print magazines for years (publishers deliver a steady stream of highly qualified readers, and advertisers pay for the privilege of putting ads in front of them) is unraveling. Given the alternative, advertisers want more immediate gratification and measureable results than print can afford them. On the Web, they can know who and how many people are viewing their message; they can target specific audiences and know exactly what they are getting. They can engage potential customers directly in ways print magazines never allowed. There's no more guesswork.
And what if advertisers want even more intimate face-to-face contact? They can sign on as sponsors for events, which puts them in front of several hundred influential, spectacularly targeted attendees. InfoWorld.com is benefiting greatly from this business shift; InfoWorld Events is also prospering. InfoWorld print simply couldn't keep up with the rest of our product line.
So this is publishing's immediate future, and I expect other trade publications will be following InfoWorld's lead soon enough. Some things shouldn't change, however: The basic principle of separation of church and state -- that advertisers must not influence what editors say, write, or cover -- is still sacrosanct. We remain committed to holding that line and serving our audience, whether they are readers, video viewers, podcast listeners, or conference attendees.
I'd like to make this more of a dialog than a soliloquy. So tell me what you think, or share any memories of InfoWorld print here. Let the conversation begin.
-- Steve Fox, Editor in Chief, InfoWorld
Posted by Steve Fox on March 26, 2007 06:00 AM
March 23, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft is retiring its Visual J# product and the accompanying Java Language Conversion Assistant, according to a company posting on the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web site from earlier this year.
The Visual J# language and Java Language Conversion Assistant have been Microsoft's offerings for moving Java code over to the Microsoft .Net platform. But there has been lessening interest in these, according to Microsoft.
"Due to a decline in customer interest, Microsoft made the decision to discontinue investment in developing future versions of Visual J#," a Microsoft representative said in an email on Friday afternoon.
"Visual J# customers will continue to enjoy the standard Microsoft support cycle: 10-year support cycle (five years' Mainstream Support and five years' Extended Support). Microsoft is committed to supporting customers with investments in Visual J# and is planning to release a 64-bit version of J# later this year," the representative said.
The Visual J# Web page on MSDN said customers have told the company that the existing feature set largely suffices.
"Since customers have told us that the existing J# feature set largely meets their needs and usage of J# is declining, Microsoft is retiring the Visual J# product and Java Language Conversion Assistant tool to better allocate resources for other customer requirements. The J# language and JLCA tool will not be available in future versions of Visual Studio," the company said.
Specifically, Java Language Conversion Assistant is a tool converting existing Java-language code into Microsoft Visual C# for developers to move existing applications to the .NET Framework. Visual J#, meanwhile, is a programming language in the same fashion as Visual C# and Visual Basic.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 23, 2007 04:32 PM
March 23, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Yes, there are security issues with AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) but they can be overcome, an IT official said at TheServerSide Java Symposium on Thursday evening.
"The usability benefits of AJAX are tremendous and as we've seen, the inherent security limtations of AJAX are no greater than the inherent security limitations of Web 1.0," said Ted Goddard, senior software architect at Icesoft.
Security measures to be taken include not hand-coding SQL in a manner such that user input going through SQL would open up a vulnerability to SQL injection attacks. Also, arbitrary user input should not be permitted to come out via HTML into the page, because this opens up a vulnerability to JavaScript injection, Goddard said.
Developers should use the Java persistence layer together with a framework. AJAX frameworks such as Dojo or Icesoft's Icefaces can assist with security. But each framework varies as far as its security strengths, according to Goddard.
"It has to be the case that the framework that you use naturally leads people to build secure apps," Goddard said.
During a presentation on Thursday, Goddard noted security issues that can occur with Web applications, such as denial of service attacks and cross-site scripting vulnerabilities.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 23, 2007 08:40 AM
March 23, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Oracle buying grid software maker
Oracle announced on Friday plans to acquire Tangosol, a provider of in-memory data grid software.
This software increases application performance by offering fast, distributed access to frequently used data, according to Oracle.
Tangosol's product, Coherence Data Grid, enables "extreme transaction processing," or XTP, and is an enabler for the XTP space in businesses such as financial services, telecommunications and the travel and logistics industries, Oracle said.
Oracle plans to couple the software with Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle TimesTen and the Oracle Database to serve businesses moving to this model of transaction processing, the company said.
"Together, Oracle and Tangosol create the industry's most comprehensive middleware for building applications that perform real time data analytics, grid-based in-memory computations and high-performance transactions," said Oracle Senior Vice President Thomas Kurian, in a statement released by the company.
"Tangosol adds significant customer value to the Oracle Fusion Middleware infrastructure where rapid customer adoption of SOA, Web 2.0 and Event Driven Architecture (EDA) built on Oracle Fusion Middleware is driving the need for high performance, continuously available shared data services to offload and buffer analytic, compute and transaction processing cycles from backend core data processing services," Kurian said.
"Modern architectures like SOA, Web 2.0 and EDA are enabling more agile business processes and applications," said Tangosol CEO Cameron Purdy in a statement. "However, those same architectures are driving the demand for high-performance access to shared data, creating a very heavy burden on backend data processing services. Oracle and Tangosol can together address the need for a comprehensive data virtualization strategy that can both relieve the load on backend infrastructures while maintaining or increasing performance."
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close next month.
Both Purdy and Kurian are scheduled to appear at TheServerSide Java Symposium in Las Vegas on Friday.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 23, 2007 07:59 AM
March 22, 2007 | Comments: (0)
AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) in the enterprise faces many challenges, including security and questions on whether it actually is a better application deployment choice, according to panelists at TheServerSide Java Symposium on Thursday.
"When it comes to protecting the application and what lies behind it from the user, I don't think AJAX really changes the security story at all," said panelist Glenn Vanderburg, a self-employed consultant. "It's a mistake to send data up to the browser that the user shouldn't see."
But the question AJAX raises is how to protect the user from the application, he said. "An AJAX application can do things for itself without explicit interaction and explicitly being told by the user."
AJAX requests to the server should look like a traditional request, Vanderburg said.
Panelist Edward Burns, senior staff engineer at Sun Microsystems, cited the Java sandbox as a mechanism for application security. There is such a sandbox for JavaScript, but there are questions about its adherence to specifications, Burns said.
AJAX applications do create issues, said Steve Maryka, CTO of Icesoft. If there is difficulty testing large pieces of JavaScript, there will be difficulty in verifying that it is a secure application, Maryka said.
On the subject of scalabilty, panelist Dion Almaer, a co-founder of the Ajaxian Web site, said AJAX offered superior scalability. Panelist Neal Ford, application architect with ThoughtWorks, said AJAX applications can be more scalable and tunable.
Browsers of tomorrow, meanwhile, will be superior, Almaer said. Future browsers will allow real development and handle heavier loads. "We're going to have to rethink the way that we do all this stuff," Almaer said.
He reiterated what he said two weeks ago at the Desktop Matters conference about desktop applications and Web applications moving closer together. "We just had a show, Desktop Matters. Our contention is all of the worlds are kind of mixing together," Almaier said.
But he said he would bet on the "open" Web winning out.
Web applications are attractive for commerce, according to Vanderburg. "If you can lure them into your Web page, you might have somebody locked in as your customer for life," he said.
But Ford said some complex desktop applications were meant for the desktop. "Something like Adobe Photoshop, you could never create an AJAX version of Photoshop because it's so rich," Ford said.
Also at the show, another set of panelists discussing open source were curious about the upcoming GNU General Public License (GPL) 3 and the existing Lesser GNU General Public License (LGPL).
"There are certain restrictions that [GPL 3] places on hosters and certain restrictions that it places on things like digital rights management and stuff like that that people just feel uncomfortable with," said panelist John Newton, CEO and chairman of Alfresco, in an interview after the session.
The LGPL raises concerns about linking of different pieces of software, Newton said.
Also on the agenda for Thursday afternoon was a session on Rife, an open source component framework for building Java Web applications.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 22, 2007 05:20 PM
March 22, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Plugging a USB drive for missing children
The AmberAlert.com portal -- which serves as an online resource for information about children who are reported missing -- is pushing for more businesses, state programs and community organizations to sponsor efforts to buy its Child ID Kit USB storage drives.
The ID Kits -- which are being built through a partnership with Kingston Technology, and retail from the site at $29.99 apiece -- consist of a USB flash memory stick that is meant for use by parents to store information on their children, including their physical appearance and photos, along with any medical conditions.
The device, which fits on a key chain, plugs into any USB-capable computer and asks parents to fill out a series of forms that cover a wide variety of information, from their home address to their family relations, which is also protected from any unwanted eyes by a password and onboard encryption.
In the case that their children should ever go missing, parents using the AmberAlert.com ID Kits would be able to get their kids' details into the hands of law enforcement officials more quickly, greatly abetting efforts to track down the missing individuals, according to the site.
One of the obvious but key selling points of the device is that it can be regularly updated with new information as children grow or change, including their latest photos and medical conditions. In addition to its portability, the USB device also figures to be fairly rugged (it is waterproof) compared to other forms of media, even traditional pictures.
As part of its pitch, AmberAlert.com also recommends that parents keep information on the devices up-to-date with their children's MySpace pages, instant messaging accounts and blogs. Such social networking sites and online communities have been exposed as potential hangouts for pedophiles, and places where children might post information unknown to their parents that can be useful if they go missing.
Posted by Matt Hines on March 22, 2007 04:01 PM
March 21, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Data leakage concerns run deep
According to a newly published report commissioned by software maker Provilla, corporate IT administrators and other technology pros are worrying about the exposure of sensitive company information now more than ever.
The results are unsurprising considering the rash of high-profile data leakage events that have been reported by well known companies -- such as retailer TJX Companies -- over the last several years (and since, you know, Provilla sells data leakage prevention [DLP] applications).
According to the survey of 114 IT pros working at companies with over 500 employees, conducted in December 2006 by Boston-based researchers Simon Management Group, some 78 percent of respondents said they were "very concerned" about data exposure.
Among the many different methods that could be employed by individuals seeking to make off with sensitive information, respondents ranked removable USB storage drives, corporate e-mail systems and Web mail sites as the three formats they are most concerned about.
Other methods of data loss, including Wi-Fi leaks, printed materials and CD-based storage formats also ranked among respondents top worries.
Respondents also admitted that they realize that protecting one avenue of potential data loss often leads to people using other unaddressed methods.
Posted by Matt Hines on March 21, 2007 12:00 PM
March 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Report: Google execs counter phone rumors
Maybe Google is developing a phone. Maybe it isn't, judging by comments attributed to a couple of the company's highers-ups.
"At this point in time, we are very focused on the software, not the phone," The Australian Financial Review quoted Richard Kimber, Google's South-East Asia managing director of sales and operations at the Search Engine Room conference in Sydney, according to reports. The report attributes a similar comment to the company's chief Internet evangelist.
OK. Fine. In the grand scheme of all things Google, it doesn't really matter whether the search behemoth comes out with a phone as it vies for further dominance of the Internet ad market. Google's goal with a phone wouldn't be to generate revenue the way Apple seeks to with the iPhone. Like I said yesterday, Google's business is putting as many Internet ads in front of as many eyeballs as it possibly can. That's how it's made its billions. Providing a wireless Net device would just be a means to that end.
So maybe Google's not going to deliver the physical device which with Joe Mobile will log on. But the company has made it clear that it's ready to dole out free wireless Internet access, and if it doesn't make a phone of it's own, it's surely going to partner with device-makers to optimize users' online-Google experience. All the better to connect them with ads.
Posted by Ted Samson on March 20, 2007 11:54 PM
March 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)
In a bombastic presentation at SD West 2007 on Tuesday, Robert Martin, an author and president of Object Mentor, stressed craftsmanship as the goal for software developers.
To this end, Martin, author of "Agile Software Development: Principles, Patterns and Practices," cited the importance of short, iterative development cycles and testing of code.
Developers are impeded by issues such as ambiguous requirements for their applications. The craftsman must find a way to solve this problem, Martin said.
"The answer? Short iterations," said Martin. He recommended two-week development cycles.
Developers should show their software to the customer frequently to define requirements, even if what is shown is "dead wrong," he said.
"If it leads to better definition, we have made progress," Martin said. The feedback loop with customers should begin as early as possible, Martin stressed.
Also, developers should only add architecture as needed. "We want to do very simple architecture and evolve that architecture as appropriate," he said.
Martin also cautioned against redundant code. "Redundancy kills projects. Redundancy makes for terribly sloppy code," he said.
He cited laws for test-driven development, including urging that no more production code be written than is sufficient to pass a unit test.
Debugging, meanwhile, is something that does not need to be done a lot, he said. "I don't use debuggers much," said Martin, stressing that debuggers slow down developers.
Quality assurance persons, meanwhile, should not be finding bugs, Martin said. He also warned against testing code through the GUI, unless it is the GUI that is being tested.
Martin cited time concerns that prompt developers to write bad code. But it is bad code that slows them down, he said.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 20, 2007 02:02 PM
March 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Google phone just a step toward Net-advertising dominance
The rumors of Google's plans to release an Internet-optimized, BlackBerry-like device have not only created quite a buzz; they've been confirmed, at least according to some reports.
"According to Nomura phone analyst Richard Windsor, the company has confirmed the project. 'Google has come out of the closet at the CeBIT trade fair admitting that it is working on a mobile phone of its own,' he said in a note. 'This is not going to be a high-end device but a mass market device aimed at bringing Google to users who don't have a PC,'" directtraffic.org reports.
Meanwhile, engadget.com also claims to have new info about the device, which it refers to as the Google Switch. The site even includes what could be a screen image of the phones contact program.
Google corporate, however, continues to neither confirm nor deny the report.
Still, that Google will deliver a phone is a possibility, and the question remains: "Why would Google want to mess with the phone business?"
Dan Nystedt at the IDG News Service posed the question the other day, and came up with this: "The commentaries have been mostly about rumors, and they lack a good motive for such a move. Google makes software, not hardware, and rumors that it was developing a PC a few years back turned out to be wrong -- it was simply making software for PCs."
Well, I have a different perspective, with all due respect to Mr. Nystedt. Google wants to make a Google-y phone for the same reason it wants to give free WiFi to Mountain View, San Francisco, and -- as observed in a fascinating article on Daily Wireless -- perhaps the entire nation.
The Daily Wireless article lists eight signs that Google is planning to build a national wireless network. Among them (and in addition to the free WiFi in Mountain View and offer to San Fran), the article notes that: Google is investing heavily in dark fiber (dark fiber has such an ominous ring to it. I bet the Death Star was laden with that stuff); it's investing in power-line based broadband technology; and it's planting datacenters left and right.
So then: If Google is sowing the seeds for a nationwide wireless network -- perhaps even a free one -- why would it do so? The company could launch such a venture under the guise of delivering knowledge to the people, and perhaps that truly is part of the Google ambition. But it certainly wouldn't just be a charitable endeavor. Google surely realizes that the more people in the U.S. (and beyond) who get online and use Google services, the more money Google makes through advertising. And what better way to generate more Net users, AKA ad-clickers, then giving away wireless service to the masses?
Internet-ad revenue is, after all, Google's bread and butter, and the company is introducing more and more ways to deliver targeted ads aimed squarely at your cerebral cortex via your eyeballs. Do a Google search for info; get an ad. Do a Google Maps search for, say, pizza; get an ad. Check your Gmail; get an ad. Access files via Google Apps; get an ad. Hop over to YouTube (which Google bought last year); get an ad. Log in to an online game, and soon enough, I expect you'll find Google-delivered ads, because Google recently scooped up AdScape, an in-game advertising startup.
Of course, the notion of offering free Internet access, essentially paid for by advertisers, isn't a new one. You may recall that NetZero gave it a whirl back in the early days of the Internet Age. Alas, the venture was a flop, arguably because the Net had yet to prove itself as a successful medium for businesses to advertise to consumers. Thus, the company couldn't support the infrastructure and deliver a useful, reliable service.
But now we know just how lucrative the world of Internet advertising is. Suddenly, NetZero's original business model looks quite viable, though updated to the current state of the Internet Age.
And Google can certainly afford to build up a wireless Internet infrastructure and deliver Net access, gratis, along with delivering all the fabulous aforementioned services, just like NBC and ABC and other major TV stations can bring you daily programming for free. The cost of the hardware and development is all paid for through advertising.
So there you have it. Google can practically hand out Google-optimized smart phones through which you and I can access the free wireless GoogleNet to partake in just about any (Google-delivered) service we might want or need, from e-mail and calendar to maps to entertainment like streaming video -- again, for free.
OK, so not entirely free. If that above scenario were to play out, and you're a business that depends on Net advertising, you may find that Google really is the only company that can bring your message to the masses, and you'll really have no choice but to pay a premium for that privilege.
And personally, I still find it all just a little bit troubling.
Posted by Ted Samson on March 20, 2007 12:56 PM
March 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Virtual worlds 'worth $1B'? Oh no!
With news on Monday of Google buying in-games advertising firm Adscape Media, it should come at no surprise, really, that the market for massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) in the West is said to now be worth more than $1 billion.
BBC.co.uk reports on research by analysts Screen Digest, which says that millions of people are flocking to inhabit virtual online worlds.
But it is a surprise to me, much like the faddish rush to Second Life for corporate giants and media outlets.
It must have taken Google a bit by surprise as well, as it is now chasing Microsoft, which last year acquired in-game ad company Massive for $200 million.
The BBC report notes that a number of new MMOG genres are emerging, including:
-- Virtual world building games, such as Second Life -- Virtual pet rearing games, such as Neo pets -- More casual MMO puzzle games -- Sports games in which you have to buy items and build up your character
Where is this all headed? With falling newspaper sales as the clarion call for the media industry, a big reshaping is in the works. User-generated is all the buzz now, but with Reuters on-board in Second Life, is mainstream media all aboard for another ride into the unknown as it makes desperate moves to reach the cagey new generations of game players who eschew movies and traditional media?
I say hold on. I tend to think this is a lot of hooey. Over time, good old human nature will kick in, as people look past whiz-bang for the solid nuggets of information that the information age is short on.
SeekingAlpha has a good post up that cites the limitations of user-gen, and a look at where it is working, with news giant Gannett.
I just hope the neato 3D world hoopla does not replace real media. Having worked at New Media magazine, which predicted CDs would reshape the media landscape on launch, it all sounds a bit been-there.
That's not to say online media cannot cherry-pick from the best new ideas in delivery. SeekingAlpha's post posits that old media can adapt by producing its rich text and other media as an anchor and let users generate content around that.
Now, that sounds reasonable. I'd hate to see what the world would be without real reporting on issues such as the Walter Reed hospital scandal in the Washington Post. It's a case study of "anchor" content -- drop the bomb, and turn over the whistleblowing to the public for where else the problem lies. No whiz-bang or virtual world need apply.
Or maybe virtual worlds are the great escape from such a scary world of war and government malfeasance? What do you think?
Posted by Mike Barton on March 20, 2007 09:49 AM
March 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft charts Orcas for ALM
Orcas, a planned major upgrade to Microsoft's Visual Studio application development platform, also encompasses the company's application lifecycle management products, too.
These include Visual Studio Team System and its collaboration server component, Team Foundation Server, said Brian Harry, Microsoft product unit manager for Team Foundation Server, at the SD West 2007 conference on Monday evening in Santa Clara, Calif. Microsoft plans to ship Orcas later this year.
While Harry did not offer details on what to expect on the Team System client side, he noted improvements are planned for Team Foundation Server such as continuous integration build support and enhancements in setup, administration and operations. Also planned is improved performance.
"We're doing a whole bunch of really good stuff," Harry said.
Drop management, which is the ability to determine how long specific drops, or builds, of applications stay around during the development process, is planned for Orcas. This helps clean up disk space, said Harry.
After the Orcas release, Microsoft plans to bolster the collaboration server with the ability to manage Team Foundation Server server farms as a single server, to boost convenience.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 20, 2007 07:03 AM
March 19, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Debian Linux founder joins Sun Microsystems
Where to turn if you're committed to building a top-notch open source operating system but are frustrated with the logistics of pure community-driven development? In Ian Murdock's case, the answer is to join Sun Microsystems. Sun announced today that Murdock has come on board as the company's new Chief Operating Platforms Officer.
Murdock is better known to the Linux community as the founder of Debian. In addition to being the Linux distribution that places the most emphasis on the Gnu GPL and Richard Stallman's concept of Free Software, Debian has long been known as the most democratic distribution. But in a recent interview with Linux Format, Murdock reveals that he might have preferred a more top-down approach.
"I believe that open source projects are no different from businesses or any other kind of organization in that to get any meaningful work done, there has to be strong leadership," he says.
Now it seems that Murdock may have found the organizational structure he's been itching for. In his blog, he admits that he has "always loved" Sun, and the company's new emphasis on open source must have something to do with his decision to sign up. But what does Murdock's move to Sun bode for the future of Linux and, potentially, Solaris? So far, both Sun and Murdock have been fairly tight-lipped. Nevertheless, the possibilties are intriguing.
"While Ian is not giving out too much information yet about what he will be doing, we can tell you that he will be responsible for building a new strategy to evolve both Sun's Solaris and GNU/Linux," says Sun PR rep Bob Wientzen.
A union of Debian and Solaris code could be an intriguing development for the Linux and Free Software community. Sun has had an on-again, off-again relationship with Linux, generally preferring to tout the merits of Solaris over the competition (in particular, Red Hat). But Debian has arguably the best package management software of any Unix-like OS, and a growing number of Linux distributions are basing their offerings on the Debian core, including Linspire and the fan-favorite Ubuntu. Doubtless the speculation will be flying fast and furious in the coming months as to what Murdock's contribution may mean and how this latest development might affect Sun's relationship to the Linux market.
Posted by Neil McAllister on March 19, 2007 01:15 PM
March 15, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Office Live: Microsoft's gateway drug?
The news that Microsoft is offering financial incentives to enterprise customers that adopt its new Live Search engine seems to be about data.
As part of the arrangement, companies using Live Search agree to send search data (presumably anonymized) to Microsoft, which should help Ballmer's boys figure out how to optimize the platform -- and maybe even make some money from it. That kind of continuous data flow has worked well for Google, which offers users advanced features in exchange for sharing their data when they install the Google toolbar.
But I suspect that this move isn't about search per se. Let's be realistic: Microsoft isn't going to unseat Google, which holds a massive lead in the search market. This is more about gaining a toehold for the fledgling Windows Live services. Think of Live Search as a gateway drug that will give potential customers a taste of a whole new MS portfolio of products.
Live Search, though it can be run in standalone mode, is part of the Windows Live platform of online apps and services. You can personalize it (see MyYahoo) and use it to search your desktop (a la Google Desktop or the search that's built intoVista). Many users will also be tempted to run their search from the Live Toolbar, which is offered as part of the larger Windows Live ensemble. It's only a small step from Live Search to getting the whole shooting match.
So this is about paying for exposure, which ultimately can lead to habituation. Microsoft's engineers have built a passel of handsome, modern looking Web-based applications. It even has "gadgets" (an answer to OS X's widgets). These offerings may not be best of breed -- going up, as they do, against Google's online office apps -- but familiarity is a powerful force. People tend to stick with whatever makes them comfortable.
The hosted online applications business could ultimately dwarf the search market, since people use search on occasion, but they live in their apps. MS has made a fortune selling desktop apps; if even some of that user base moves to the Web, Microsoft must be there to capture the business. Live Search is just one more way to lead them gently to that promised land.
Posted by Steve Fox on March 15, 2007 06:38 PM
March 15, 2007 | Comments: (0)
WellPoint's missing data shows up
Executives at WellPoint -- the nation's largest managed health care services provider -- are breathing a lot better today, and not just because they're keeping an eye on their diet and maintaining an optimal level of physical fitness.
Last week, the Indianapolis-based firm began the process of informing some 75,000 of its customers that it had lost a CD that carried unencrypted data including their health records and other personal data, however, the company claims it has now found the missing information.
In a statement released late Wednesday, the firm's New York-based Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance unit said that the missing CD, which had been shipped to business partner Magellan Behavioral Health Services via UPS, by Health Data Management Solutions (HDMS), a third party vendor to Magellan, was discovered.
The company offered few details of the recovery other than to say that the CD had merely been misplaced in transit. Something tells me that WellPoint might swap overnight companies from Big Brown to FedEx, or fire some of its mailroom employees.
The incident highlights the challenges faced by corporations in meeting the increasingly strict terms of emerging data exposure reporting laws. As part of the statement on the misplaced -- and more importantly unencrypted -- CD the company couldn't help but give itself a little pat on the back saying that it "accelerated member notification as our members' security and trust are our highest priority."
Kudos to the firm for not actually losing the information, but it could have easily avoided the entire situation by somehow protecting the data. However, Empire Blue Cross said that it did have policies in place to prevent such incidents.
"The information was not transferred in accordance to our contractual terms with Magellan, who did not require HDMS to encrypt or password protect the data," the company said. "We are addressing these issues and we have made it clear to both HDMS and Magellan that their security practices with respect to the data transfer were unacceptable."
Magellan will now only transmit personal health information electronically over a secure network, eliminating CDs and the use of a delivery service, WellPoint said.
I'm betting that the employee who failed to follow said rules is somewhere considering their job options right now.
Posted by Matt Hines on March 15, 2007 05:39 PM
March 15, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Everybody agrees that data integration is a difficult task. But could it ever be accomplished via SaaS (Software as a Service), with integration services being provided online?
Pervasive Software believes it can. The company in the next 12 months plans to offer integration via a SaaS model, said Mike Hoskins, chief technology officer at Pervasive.
He served on a panel at the OpSource SaaS Summit 2007 event Thursday that discussed SaaS in the enterprise and integrating it with behind-the-firewall systems. Panelists acknowledged this is a tough subject. One audience member, meawhile, recalled an incident in which a friend of his recently wanted to integrate with a SaaS application.
"What came in the door was a CD with 10 consultants," the audience member said. He then asked if integration would ever be offered as a service.
"The short answer is, yes, there will be integration as a service," but the endpoints almost always involve some legacy applications behind the firewall, Hoskins said.
Afterward, he noted Pervasive's SaaS plans will include integration. He had called integration around SaaS "a huge opportunity" during the panel session.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 15, 2007 03:39 PM
March 15, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Cisco buying WebEx for $3.2 billion
Cisco Systems Inc. continued its push into the unified communications and collaboration space Thursday, agreeing to buy WebEx, an on-demand collaboration apps vendor, for $3.2 billion.
In a statement, Cisco said it will pay $57 a share for WebEx and hopes to use the WebEx technologyt and services portfolio to complement its own unified communications and collaboration products. WebEx will also give Cisco a toe hold in the SMB market, according to Charlie Giancarlo, Chief Development Officer at Cisco.
"As collaboration in the workplace becomes increasingly important, companies are looking for rich communications tools to help them work more effectively and efficiently. The combination of Cisco and WebEx will deliver compelling solutions accelerating this next wave of business communications," Giancarlo said.
Stay tuned....
Posted by Paul Roberts on March 15, 2007 07:22 AM
March 14, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft will not be releasing a successor to its Visual FoxPro 9 developer tool, the company said this week.
The company will continue to support Visual FoxPro 9 through 2015 and will release Service Pack 2 for the product this summer, featuring enhancements in reporting and bug fixes. But there will be no version 10, Microsoft said on its MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) site.
The company is, however, working on a project codenamed Sedna that is built using the extensibility model of Visual FoxPro 9 and provides features such as enhanced connectivity to SQL Server and integration with parts of the .Net Framework.
Microsoft said the community has been using the company's CodePlex open source project site to enhance Visual FoxPro with improvements such as an object-oriented menu system and an enhanced class browser.
"To reiterate, today we are announcing that we are not planning on releasing a VFP 10 and will be releasing the completed Sedna work on CodePlex at no charge. The components written as part of Sedna will be placed in the community for further enhancement as part of our shared source initiative. You can expect to see the Sedna code on CodePlex sometime before the end of summer 2007," Microsoft said.
Visual FoxPro has been geared toward making 32-bit database applications and components. In recent years, the company has been emphasizing its Visual Studio development environment.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 14, 2007 07:13 AM
March 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Good software security is not something that happens by accident, a security expert told the audience at the EclipseCon 2007 conference on Thursday morning.
In a presentation entitled, "Software Security: Uncut and Uncensored," Herbert Thompson, chief security strategist at People Security and an author on the subject, drove home the reality that software security is a difficult endeavor. A focused effort is required to make an application secure, he said.
Critical changes are happening in the industry, he added. "The way applications communicate with each other is really changing pretty substantially," with much data flowing over a single port, that being Port 80, Thompson said.
Another change is regulatory compliance and its consequences. Customers are demanding different things in software, such as the ability to encrypt log files, Thompson said.
Now, companies have to inform the public of software security issues. Meanwhile, stealing identities has become a profitable business, Thompson said.
"Competition among bad guys has driven the price of an ID down to a buck," said Thompson.
Often, security competes with other project goals, such as finishing the project, he said. Security needs must be balanced with other goals, said Thompson. But security expertise is lacking amongst code writers.
"Most people [have] not taken a security class," Thompson said.
To boost security, he advised peer reviews to find issues with quality, gathering of customer security requirements and thinking broadly about where a software product might be deployed. Regulatory requirements also must be factored in, as well as perhaps additional auditing capability.
Also, developers should be educated on how to think about security; code reviews should be performed on critical components.
"Threat modeling is also incredibly effective," Thompson said.
Developers even can think of an "abuse case" for a piece of code to test it out, he said. Fuzz testing, to feed an application with inputs that might reveal bugs, also is a good idea.
Other recommendations from Thompson included developing a secure deployment guide, documenting security assumptions and learning from mistakes.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 8, 2007 01:09 PM
March 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Lefkowitz cites open source oddities
Open source software strategist Robert Lefkowitz, who spent more than 30 years as a software architect and systems designer in places such as Wall Street, brought his observations to the EclipseCon 2007 conference on Wednesday.
Lefkowitz, also known as r0ml, pondered situations of open source, such as noting that free software will put out of business anything that is of worse quality. To charge money, the software has to be better than what is free.
Citing a recent survey that said the Eclipse IDE was last in user satisfaction, Lefkowitz said by definition it has to be of poor quality because it is free.
"At equilibrium, the open source software is always the crappiest software you can get," he said.
The open source software movement arose when Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation sought out source code for a malfunctioning printer driver but could not get it. "It offends Richard because he wants to fix the bug himself," Lefkowitz said.
Open source, is about "taking the law into your own hands," so users can fix the software themselves. Open source is useful when users do not trust the vendor to provide quality software, according to Lefkowitz.
Ironically, both Microsoft commercial software licenses and the GNU General Public License carry disclaimers against liability, he said.
Lefkowitz also noted ironies in patents, in that they are approved of for pharmaceutical companies but frowned on in software. Tongue in cheek, he said "greedy" persons such as Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine, never helped humanity. Showing a photo of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, Lefkowitz said the software industry instead has "noble, good-hearted people."
But Lefkowitz also displayed a photo of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has taken up philanthropy on a large scale lately. Using further sarcasm, Lefkowitz said it was inconceivable that someone who made billions of dollars in software would just give away billions of dollars to fight disease.
Lefkowitz also speculated that in the future, an IDE will be a rich media document with pictures, text, chaptered headings and tables of contents and that it will be simple enough because it will need to be used by everybody. He then displayed a photo of a product box for Microsoft Word 2000, suggesting that could be the prototype IDE.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 8, 2007 08:50 AM
March 07, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Opsware plus iConclude: Automate the automation
In a phone call yesterday afternoon, Opsware CTO Tim Howes offered three reasonable reasons for Opsware's acquisition of IT process automation vendor iConclude, which the company announced earlier that morning.
First, customers often want to draw additional value out of Opsware's provisioning and configuration management solutions by integrating them with ticketing, monitoring, and other IT management solutions, and iConclude helps glue all of these things together.
Second, on top of the glue, iConclude allows customers to automate high level process flows; for example, a change management process might open a trouble ticket, instruct the monitoring system to cease monitoring, instruct the load balancer to take the target servers out of the queue, prompt the patch manager to apply the patch, and then reverse through all of these steps and close the ticket.
Third, for organizations adopting the ITIL process methodology, iConclude completes the three-part story for Opsware, adding general process automation to the existing change management and CMDB offerings.
Opsware and iConclude have been partnering for some time, and they share many customers in common. Many of those customers are large shops, but Howes said that process automation is not strictly a big man's game. "You don't have to get that big before you realize you have a problem that automation can solve," he noted.
Andi Mann, senior analyst with Enterprise Management Associates, believes the acquisition gives Opsware a level of orchestration or process automation that clearly exceeds direct competitors such as Opsware, and may even eclipse the process automation capabilities of the "big four," namely BMC, CA, HP, and IBM.
"The acquisition certainly brings Opsware up into the realm of say Symantec or even to an extent IBM Tivoli, in terms of being able to compete at that level of the market," Mann said.
Posted by Doug Dineley on March 7, 2007 03:06 PM
March 07, 2007 | Comments: (0)
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is seeking browser vendors, application developers and content designers to help design the next version of HTML.
The organization is announcing on Wednesday a new W3C HTML Working Group, which will solicit participation from W3C members and others.
"HTML started simply, with structured markup, no licensing requirements, and the ability to link to anything. More than anything, this simplicity and openness has led to its tremendous and continued success," said Tim Berners-Lee, W3C director and inventor of HTML, in a statement released by W3C. "It's time to revisit the standard and see what we can do to meet the current community needs, and to do so effectively with commitments from browser manufacturers in a visible and open way."
In detailing the history of HTML, W3C said that after publication of HTML 4 and following a 1998 workshop, W3C planned to turn HTML into an XML-based format called XHTML. Because of the legacy of Web content that was some variant of HTML, traditional browser vendors moved slowly to adopt XHTML. Content developers had little motivation to adopt XHTML for the desktop.
Leaders in the Web developer and design communities urged W3C to renew its commitment to HTML by adding new features. Now, W3C will re-launch work on HTML.
Also, W3C said XHTML has proved valuable in markets such as mobile devices and enterprise applications. Design aims for XHTML 2.0 include keeping it as generic as possible and reusing applicable XML standards such as XForms.
With W3C's charting of the XHTML 2 Working Group, meanwhile, W3C will continue work on the language at the same time it considers re-branding the technology. W3C also has re-chartered the HTML Coordination Group and Forms Working Group. The Forms group will continue work on the XForms architecture.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 7, 2007 07:08 AM
March 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)
It may be quite a while before there is a major upgrade to the base Eclipse platform. But developers of Eclipse technology and others attending the EclipseCon conference this week already have some good ideas on what they would like to see.
Participants in a Tuesday evening session about the future of Eclipse detailed a laundry list of proposed improvements for what was called the 4.0 version of Eclipse. Among these include a ribbon-like interface similar to Microsoft's new Windows Vista platform. Improved scalability, including accommodations for multi-core processors, also was suggested. Increased software componentization may be part of an upgrade as well.
A suggestion of an API replacement drew applause, but one speaker noted that breaking the API is very challenging for consumers. Java improvements also could be added to Eclipse, along with simpler ways to construct Eclipse plug-ins.
"If we want to talk about what the next Eclipse should be, it should be one that will [suit] us for the next five years," said Kevin McGuire, a member of the Eclipse Project's project management committee.
But it looks like this wish list will take time. In an interview on Tuesday, Eclipse Executive Director Mike Milinkovich said he did not see any Eclipse 4.0 being released before 2009.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 6, 2007 08:55 PM
March 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft offers Vista fixes for Visual Studio
Microsoft posted on Tuesday Visual Studio fixes geared to Windows Vista and an interview with a key executive touting Vista as a platform for application development.
The interview features S. "Soma" Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Developer Division. Release of the interview coincides with the availability of Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Update for Vista. The update, found here, fixes some problems with using Visual Studio to build Vista applications. Although initially planned for release late in the week, the Vista update is ready now it was completed sooner than expected.
"With this update to Visual Studio, our goal was to ensure developers have the best possible experience on Windows Vista, and that the features developers are using in Visual Studio work as expected," Somasegar said. "We fixed a number of significant issues around debugging and profiling, and around creating ASP.Net applications for IIS on the developer machine."
"Windows Vista gives developers a whole new canvas for creating cutting-edge applications, and we are already seeing a lot of exciting third-party solutions coming to life, including ultra-realistic 3-D programs, novel mini-applications called 'gadgets,' engaging high-definition, animated programs and Web sites, and innovative applications from new-media, retail and education companies," he said.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 6, 2007 03:29 PM
March 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)
"Dilbert" creator charms at EclipseCon
EclipseCon attendees were treated on Tuesday to an entertaining presentation by Scott Adams, author of the "Dilbert" comic strip, featuring Adams showing some memorable entries in the strip and detailing his rise to prominence in his field.
Although rejected as a child by what he called the "Famous Artists School for Young People," Adams persisted in his craft during years of working in corporate America at the Pacific Bell telephone company and at a bank. His observations showed up in his strips, including a direct quote from a company executive's memo, which got him in trouble during a time when his budding cartoonist career overlapped with his employment at Pacific Bell.
"I didn't think he'd notice it," Adams said.
He also said he has upset parties ranging from square dance callers to persons with the family name, "Dork." These complaints sometimes have generated sarcastic apologies in follow-up strips.
In one strip, he wrote about ant farms, only to hear from an attorney representing Uncle Milton Industries, which had trademarked the term, ant farm. Dilbert then responded with a strip that disparagingly compared lawyers to ants.
Commenting on the notion of luck, Adams argued that those with luck actually may be those who spot the right opportunity.
"People who expect luck get it," Adams said.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 6, 2007 02:15 PM
March 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Forgotten passwords top help-desk calls
IT admins may be heartened to know that at least 20% of end-users don't write their passwords on sticky notes and affix them to their monitors or foreheads; they forget them and call the help desk instead.
OK, so maybe I am reading too much into the results of a study released today by technology-problem-resolution company SupportSoft called SupportSoft IT Headache Index. But the company found that 20% of calls to the help desk pertained to "password problems," include requests for password resets and application unlocks.
Tied for second/third were "system issues" and "enterprise apps," each representing 16% of calls for help. The former includes hardware failures ("Did you know my computer isn't coffee-resistant?"), memory problems ("My laptop forgot my password."), and system-performance issues ("Ever since I executed this e-mail attachment from China this morning, my computer has been crawling."). Enterprise apps, of course, alludes to software problems, including custom apps ("Could you make the UI prettier?").
Numero four: "connectivity issues." Twelve percent of users calling the help desk have trouble with setting up remote access, VPN complaints, and the like ("I'm in the middle of a World of Warcraft dungeon siege and my wizard is lagging.")
Last on the list is "e-mail problems," claming 11% of support calls. Users predominatly phone in with setup problems and issues sending and receiving messages. ("I just called my boss a nincompoop in e-mail and hit Reply All. How do I undo that?")
SupportSoft's IT Headache Index was compiled by analyzing the total volume of call drivers of nearly 2 million call logs from more than 20 large corporations, according to the company.
Posted by Ted Samson on March 5, 2007 03:10 PM
March 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Symantec's Vista research not so damning after all
Despite their best efforts to highlight problems with the security features Microsoft has added in Windows Vista, Symantec researchers are admitting that much of the work done to protect the new OS is pretty effective.
Speaking at the Black Hat DC 2007 conference last week, Ollie Whitehouse, a researcher with Symantec's Security Response team, walked show attendees through the various tests he and his team put Vista through.
Whitehouse specifically focused on research his company compiled on two technologies -- Vista's anti-buffer overflow system, known by its flag name "GS," and the product's address space layout randomization (ASLR) feature -- which is designed to obscure programs stored in the OS' memory to make it harder for attackers to locate any vulnerabilities in the programs.
And while the researcher isolated specific problems with each system -- namely an ability to predict which types of files might or might not be protected by GS, and a malfunction in ASLR that limits some of the tools' randomization capabilities -- in outlining the issues Whitehouse repeatedly noted that the features worked better than he had originally expected.
The problem with GS is that a hacker could potentially find the types of files it does not protect and attack them, which is hardly an indictment of the technology itself. The ASLR problem has been reported to Microsoft -- who said it would fix the glitch whenever it produces a Service Pack 1-type follow up to the OS -- which again doesn't represent damning criticism given that the tool appears to work fine otherwise.
In leafing through all four of the Vista reports produced thus far by Symantec's research team -- which are to be followed by a new report due today from the AV software maker regarding the security implications of changes made by Microsoft in the OS' network stack -- it's actually pretty clear that Microsoft's overall security efforts with the product have been pretty successful.
For another example of the type of back-handed compliments sprinkled throughout the reports you can look to the section on Vista's kernel patch protection (KPP) features, inarguably the most controversial set of tools added by Microsoft, which touched-off a massive row between the software giant and many third party Windows security vendors, led by Symantec.
While Symantec contends that the KPP features, which are aimed at blocking root kits, can potentially be circumvented, it also notes: "The implementation of these protections achieves many of the security goals that Microsoft had envisioned."
So there you have it. Symantec concedes that Microsoft has been proven to be fairly successful with most of the security measures it attempted to take in Vista.
Meanwhile, Symantec, and most others -- including Microsoft, maintain that Vista users still need additional protection in the form of aftermarket security applications.
At the end of the day the only argument in this whole scenario that really appears to rage on is which of the two companies you'll choose to buy those tools from in the future.
Posted by Matt Hines on March 5, 2007 10:47 AM
March 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft readies Vista tools update
Microsoft this Friday or next Monday morning plans to offer an update to its Visual Studio 2005 development environment to tackle issues with building applications for Windows Vista.
The Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack Update for Windows Vista tends to issues such as debugging and profiling and creating ASP.Net applications for Internet Information Server, said Jay Roxe, Microsoft group product manager for Visual Studio. All told, 25 issues are addressed, including a problem with confusing error messages.
"It's a very contained update designed just for [Vista]," Roxe said.
Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2005 came out in early-January. Rather than postpone the Service Pack and wait for the Vista fixes, Microsoft decided to release it and do the Vista update later, Roxe said. This decision was based on customer feedback, he said.
"The update for Vista is many, many, many times smaller than Service Pack 1," said Roxe.
Vista became available for developers on November 7, 2006 with business access following on November 30 and the consumer release on January 30, 2007. Vista focuses on building better user experiences using Windows Presentation Framework and also features enhancements for SOA and Web services and security improvements. Integrated search also is a Vista highlight, Roxe said.
Microsoft also plans next week to post an interview with S. "Soma" Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Developer Division, about development of applications on Vista.
Posted by Paul Krill on March 5, 2007 09:03 AM
March 03, 2007 | Comments: (0)
NYT: Cisco will buy social network Tribe.net
The New York Times is reporting that networking giant Cisco Systems will announce that it is purchasing social networking site Tribe.Net next week.
The paper, citing anonymous sources, said that Cisco is purchasing the "underlying technology" assets of Tribe, an early mover in the social networking scene, but will not take over management of the Tribe.net social network.
Cisco will combine Tribe's technology with software it acquired in February with Five Across to help its customers -- such as TV networks and cable TV companies, create online environments for their employees and for their customers.
It's not clear, from the Times article, when Cisco will announce the acquisition, but it's likely that it will be part of SVP Charlie Giancarlo's speech at next week's VoiceCon Conference, where he will "discuss how companies use technology to enhance meaningful collaboration and gain a competitive advantage," and "provide insight into the evolving communications experience within the workplace and will highlight next-generation technologies that are enabling new capabilities and categories of communications and collaboration," according to the Cisco Web site.
That all sounds well and good, but there's skepticism already that Cisco has what it takes to play in the trendy social networking space. The times quotes Internet legend Marc Andreessen, now of Ning saying "The idea that Cisco is going to be a force in social netwokring is about as plausible as Ning bein ga force in optical switches."
Posted by Paul Roberts on March 3, 2007 06:28 AM