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The InformationWeek October 2006 Archive « September 2006 | Main | November 2006 » |
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If last night wasn't scary enough for you, what with ringing doorbells, impatient kids, costume crises, and the specter of yawning cavities, we're here to remind you that you don't have to wait for Halloween to be scared. Especially if you're in IT.
Continue reading "What Scares You, And Who Scared Them?..."
There are two good reasons for MySpace and YouTube to purge copyrighted video from their sites. One is, of course, that the clips in question are patently illegal and their distribution without their owners' consent violates copyright law. The other is that they take up an enormous amount of virtual and psychological space, and cleaning them out might create a vacuum on those popular social sites that could be filled by genuinely creative original works--a commendation that digital retreads of South Park and The Daily Show clearly don't qualify for.
Continue reading "Making Space At MySpace..."
We asked you what your smartphone experiences were, and wow did you have a lot to complain about! Nobody's denying that a smartphone is a good productivity tool--in theory. But in reality, the smartphone manufacturers and operating system makers have their work cut out for them. If they want proof, I have over 50 complaints sitting in my in-box that I've compiled into a list. The most common complaints are included here, so read on.
Continue reading "Smartphone Frustrations Revealed..."
In today's daily news podcast, we present a story on Microsoft's response to users' Vista license concerns, report on how international standards body ECMA has established an Office Open XML standard that's free from proprietary measures, and investigate how E-Trade and TD Ameritrade were both victims of an online brokerage scheme. In addition, we have an in-depth report on investment in China, and the comments of the day are about whether the Internet Governance Forum will get beyond talk and into action.
Your host today is Alice LaPlante.
The upstart barter site Swapthing.com seems to have more in common with online retail behemoth Amazon.com than with IBM. Swapthing and Amazon are part of a wave of online companies with no brick-and-mortar roots redefining how consumers buy (or barter) products. But when it comes to the patent infringement suit IBM last week brought against Amazon, Swapthing CEO Jessica Hardwick equates her fledgling business with Big Blue.
Continue reading "Tiny Web 2.0 Firm Identifies With Big Blue..."
The first meeting of the United Nations' Internet Governance Forum, or IGF, began yesterday in Athens and is promoting a very worthy agenda. Some of the critical issues to be discussed include: Who has access to the Internet? Who has control? What are the best ways to combat spam, phishing, and child pornography? How can we protect freedom of speech online--especially in countries with repressive regimes?
The biggest issue, of course, is whether the forum can move past the "town meeting" format, as Chairman Nitin Desai has called it, to one that will actually result in action.
Continue reading "The Internet Governance Forum: Will Theory Lead To Action?..."
In today's podcast: Red Hat's CEO says the company won't cut prices because of Oracle's announcement to provide low-cost Linux maintenance, as Oracle proves to the world how important Linux is to its strategy and Red Hat's stock price tumbles as a result; Microsoft mandates a piracy check for Office users; Apple posts a fix for MacBook's sudden shutdowns; Google's Blogger service outages spark a user firestorm; nearly 1.5 million back-office U.S. jobs are seen moving abroad; Sun Microsystems posts a narrower loss as revenue rises; and private conversation is the aim of new blogging software.
Today's In Depth is about smartphones, and our editorial is about stupid computer tricks.
Your host today is Johanna Ambrosio.
In the last episode of the ongoing soap opera, "As The EULA Turns," Microsoft was trying to explain what the End User License Agreement for Windows Vista really meant when it said you couldn't run Vista in a virtual machine. Today we hear Microsoft say, "No, when the EULA says you can only move Vista from one machine to another once, it actually means 10 times."
Continue reading "Do You Use Vista Or Does Vista Use You, Continued..."
I came away from Wired's take on the future of the battery with a conclusion depressingly similar to our own coverage: Even battery innovators don't expect breakthroughs anytime soon.
Continue reading "Better Batteries Not Included..."
So I went to renew my driver's license and was told that the Registry's computer couldn't handle my multisyllabic, hyphenated last name and that I'd have to work with the Social Security Administration to change my moniker or figure out which one the U.S. government will know and tax me by.
To be clear, this isn't a limitation on the license itself. No, there's plenty of room on the little laminated card for what I was requesting. Instead, it was the computer system that ran out of space. Apparently, if your last name is longer than, say, 17 letters, something's gotta give. And it isn't the Registry's computer.
Continue reading "Commonsense Systems: Not!..."
The marriage between the cell phone and the PDA has resulted in the smartphone, a wireless productivity tool that many businesses can't live without. In fact, many consumers are also addicted to smartphones, relying on them for wireless e-mail and on-the-go Web access. But with a new model coming out (what feels like) each week, different form factors, and tons of new features, choosing the right smartphone can be overwhelming. If you're an IT manager looking to equip your workers with one of these, here's some advice to make the process a little easier.
Continue reading "5 Steps To Getting A Handle On The Smartphone Explosion..."
In today's daily news podcast, Sony said a recall of up to 9.6 million of its personal computer batteries was overwhelming its production capacity, AOL has released a fix for a flawed ActiveX control, "World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade" won't be released until January, and YouTube users who post copyrighted material are more likely to become defendants in very expensive lawsuits. Meanwhile, the Editor's Note looks at the difficulty that small companies have in getting their products noticed.
Your host today is Barbara Krasnoff.
The invention of the phishing scam marked the first time in the history of computer viruses and malware that people could make serious money off of security attacks. Think it's easy to launch a phishing scam? It's not. But there's a big-time payoff for those who can successfully navigate through the following steps, as laid out by Andrew Klein, Everdream's director of product marketing.
Continue reading "Anatomy Of A Phishing Scam..."
There's a human tendency to root for the underdog--to hope that the losers who start at the bottom of the heap, who have the odds stacked against them, can fight their way to the top and stand tall in victory while the credits roll. Thus, the popularity of Rocky, the Mets, and, yeah, Firefox.
However, most of the time, things don't work the way they do in the movies. Just this morning, I received e-mail from a reader who had just found a story we did back in February comparing four Web browsers: IE7, Firefox, Opera, and Maxthon. He wanted to explain about why he preferred Maxthon to the more well-known browsers. You've heard about Maxthon, right? You haven't?
Continue reading "Lost In The Shuffle..."
In today's daily news podcast, we spell out promised enhancements to Oracle's E-Business Suite of applications and plans the company is divulging for the migration to Fusion, its integrated line of applications products. Microsoft is offering a tool to help customers migrate applications from XP to Vista; we've got the details. We review--and comment on--a hack that promises to open up iPod and iTunes to third-party music players and stores. It's a reverse-engineering effort to be taken seriously, since it comes from the notorious hacker DVD Jon. Also, check out the 16 reader photos I selected as the best of the bunch, and vote for your favorite. Finally, AMD outlines plans to integrate the graphics acceleration it acquired with ATI Technologies into its own "Fusion" line of chips.
I'm your host for today's podcast, Tom Smith.
The news story about the Los Angeles Area Boy Scouts' cooperation with the Motion Picture Association of America to create a merit badge for respecting copyrights points up just how badly the entertainment industry needs new ideas. Handing out merit badges for docile consumerism isn't going to cut it if the music and movie businesses are going to have a future in the Internet Age.
Continue reading "A Merit Badge For Docile Consumerism?..."
If you use "google" as a verb, GoogleTM would like to correct your grammar. GoogleTM, you see, has become so successful that its trademarked name is in danger of becoming a generic term for searching online.
As a post today on the Google blog points out, zipper, baby oil, brassiere, trampoline, thermos, cellophane, escalator, elevator, and dry ice made the transition from trademarked term to the vernacular. The same fate awaits GoogleTM, or so the company fears.
Continue reading "Google Warns Not To 'Google' On Yahoo..."
A few IT body shops seem to be coercing their H-1B visa-holding employees from quitting with the threat of legal action.
Continue reading "Maltreated H-1B Visa Holders: Fact Or Fiction?..."
A few weeks back, I invited readers to submit photos of places and activities they've experienced that are squarely outside the realm of their IT careers.
Continue reading "Readers' Best Photos..."
DVD Jon has struck again. The notorious hacker who's been helping people copy stuff that big companies don't want them to has found a way to unlock the code that blocks iPod users from playing songs from music download stores other than iTunes. Among other critics, blogger Cory Doctorow recently railed on this site against Apple and the level of control inherent in its FairPlay technology. He wasn't just criticizing Apple, but other digital rights management approaches, too.
Continue reading "Jonny Can Play Fair..."
Listen to the InformationWeek Daily Podcast. In this report: IT salaries are on the way up, and Microsoft is offering Vista discounts to holiday shoppers and launching the complete version of Windows Defender. Google is letting publishers create custom searches on their own sites. Our in-depth report features privacy, security, and cybercrime, including a look at how the Hewlett-Packard "pretexting" scandal is raising questions about the twilight world of corporate intelligence. And we launch our search for the Chief of the Year--send your nominations to cjmurphy@cmp.com, or leave a message on this blog post.
Your host: Mitch Wagner.
Oracle has added 482 features to the beta 11g version of its database. It's a reflection of that enduring Oracle philosophy that its database is the center of the universe and everything revolves around it.
Continue reading "Oracle, An Expanding Universe..."
Since Microsoft last released a roll-up of fixes for Windows XP Service Pack 2 in 2004, the pace of changes to the operating system has accelerated beyond any expectation. Windows Update on the XP machine closest to where I'm sitting shows 101 updates have been applied since it went into service on July 15, 2005. That's a huge number.
Continue reading "No SP3 For XP? Ehnhnhnhnh. Thank You For Playing, Microsoft..."
Last week, I invited readers of this blog to e-mail me with accounts of how they've personally been affected by outsourcing. I received many responses (several of them of unprintable). Below are excerpts from a few, with names withheld. Regardless of where you stand on the outsourcing issue, it's undeniably causing pain on an individual level.
Continue reading "U.S. Tech Workers Share Their Outsourcing Pain..."
The great ones can change your life--teachers, coaches, advisors, and, yes, bosses. Our annual Chief of the Year recognition has spotlighted some incredible talents. But we don't know everyone in this industry, and we might not know enough about the person guiding your IT shop. If you work for an inspired leader, tell us, and tell us why.
Continue reading "Do You Work For A Great CIO? Tell Us About It..."
In today's daily news podcast, we present a story on where Microsoft will first roll out its next-generation operating system, Vista (in Canada), as well as look into the skepticism that's building about whether Microsoft can actually pull off the launch.
In addition, we have an in-depth report on the best places to locate data centers, and the comments of the day are about how even remote parts of the country are becoming technically sophisticated enough to support technology companies.
Your host today is Alice LaPlante.
Listen to today's InformationWeek Daily Podcast. In this report, we ask, is the Metasploit hacking tool too good? Also, businesses are applying new metrics to measure IT's value. Breaking news headlines look at Firefox, YouTube, and Microsoft. And our editorial comments on the news of the day look at measuring business effectiveness by analyzing e-mail.
Your host today is Mitch Wagner.
It's official. Not only are Americans increasingly fleeing both right and left coasts in favor of the heartland in search of affordable housing, less traffic congestion, safer communities, and higher standards of living, but corporations are likewise moving their data centers to the middle of the country for many of the same reasons.
Indeed, there's ample evidence that we're seeing a leveling of technical infrastructure--both physical and human--across the country. What used to be concentrated in a few isolated meccas to which the faithful had to travel--often long distances--is now becoming ubiquitously available.
Continue reading "Left, Right, And (Now) Center: The High-Tech Equalization Of America..."
Last week I wrote in this space that "The Spamhaus-e360Insight Case Isn't Just One Bad Decision, It's Several." The worst of them all was the plaintiff's proposal that the judge order ICANN to pull Spamhaus.org's domain name, which promised to precipitate what some were calling a "constitutional crisis" for the Internet. I'm happy to report that federal judge Charles Kocoras had a better idea: He denied the plaintiff's motion.
Continue reading "A Better Idea In The Spamhaus Case..."
Metasploit publishes tools to automate developing exploits that take advantage of security holes in software products. Is that right? Take our poll and let us know, and leave your $0.02 below.
Imagine two workers with the same job--call them Al and Bob, recruiters at an executive headhunting firm. Both rely heavily on e-mail to conduct business. Who would have more success finding executive recruits? Al, who relies on a well-worn list of contacts, or Bob, who not only has his own heavily used contact list, but also participates in a social network? The answer seems obvious: Bob. Now, however, their performance can be measured.
Continue reading "Researchers Measure E-Mail's Potency As Business Tool..."
Today's daily news podcast looks at the first flaw found in Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7. The flaw was found just hours after the browser's release. Breaking news includes Intel previewing its quad-core Xeon MP, tech firms topping the government's list of best commuting workplaces, HP passing Dell as the top PC maker worldwide, and Opera saying it can still compete in the browser battle.
Today's In Depth looks at the week's personal tech news, as well as a week's worth of reviews. The Editor's Note looks at the flood of reader questions and comments that came in for our interview with Carly Fiorina, the former head of HP.
Your host today is Curtis Franklin Jr.
The news that Microsoft has finally released a newer, perhaps less risky version of Internet Explorer should bring a song to my lips and a spring to my step. But my heart is heavy. Why? Because of the nine PCs within my reach, only two will run the newer, safer IE. The other seven run Microsoft operating systems that Microsoft has stopped supporting and won't release a version of IE7 for.
Continue reading "The Internet Explorer 7 Glass Is Definitely Half Empty..."
Joe Stewart, senior security researcher at SecureWorks, has posted an analysis of a Trojan program called SpamThru on his company's Web site. As far as malware goes, it's a marvel.
Continue reading "Spam Bot Rivals Commercial Software..."
If you've got a well-paying IT job in one of the traditional centers of technology like Boston, New York, or San Francisco, you and your coworkers have had to withstand the increasing outsourcing of jobs to emerging nations in recent years. But it may be more likely you'll be losing your job to someone in Omaha, Neb.
Continue reading "IT Jobs In Jeopardy To Enemy Within..."
It might be official now: The days of triumphant Windows releases are gone. Instead, Microsoft's next operating system is limping toward the starting line.
Continue reading "Microsoft Answers Brussels..."
If you want to know how our readers feel about something, you just have to ask. You're not a shy lot. I like that about you.
Last week, I asked readers to tell me what questions they wanted me to ask former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. I was flooded with responses. Many of the questions were well-thought out and insightful. And I asked them of her. If I'd asked some of the other questions readers suggested, though, I'm sure I would've heard the click of a disconnected line, if not a few choice words about my lineage first. Let's just say more than a few people have some anger issues when it comes to the former head of HP.
Continue reading "Fiorina: You Love Her Or You Hate Her..."
In today's daily news podcast, our top story focuses on Microsoft and Vista--we now know the time and place of the event to officially launch the operating system that's the Redmond giant's future. Breaking news includes Palm's answer to RIM's latest, a worm that's found in some of Apple's iPods, and the latest report on how well the federal government is securing personal information stored on its computers.
The In Depth report looks at the latest round of financial results from some leading hardware and software vendors, and the editorial is on education, learning, and the technological fate of nations.
Your host for today is Curtis Franklin Jr.
The Hewlett-Packard "pretexting" scandal continued to be a hot topic in our blog comments area this past week, with readers also generating interesting comments on the Spamhaus lawsuit and the expensive cost of printer ink.
InformationWeek's editor-at-large did a blog post commenting on his big, in-depth feature on expensive IT blunders. He compared IT organizations to the Mets, saying they should be more like the champion 2006 team, not the hapless 1962 organization.
Reader Christopher quoted Samuel Johnson: "Nothing will be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome."
He added, "Good IT is finding the balance between 'Analysis paralysis' and recklessly charging ahead. Usually, the key differentiator is understanding what needs to be done, what does not need to be done, yet, and knowing how to cover as many risks as possible."
Continue reading "Readers Talk Back On HP Pretexting Scandal, Spamhaus, And Printer Ink 'Black Gold'..."
Today's daily news podcast features a Q&A with Firefox co-creator Blake Ross, an update on Firefox 2.0, and a report on a new hacker toolkit that cloaks browser exploits. Also, Sony recalls its batteries, we review Sony's all-in-one PC, EMC plans layoffs, Google is urged to fix YouTube's copyright troubles, CIOs say their views on HP won't alter business plans, and Microsoft opens its virtual drives for free and plans a fourth-quarter debut of its mobile operating system. The Editor's Note looks at ethics in business.
Patricia Keefe is your host.
Links highlighted in this podcast include:
Review: Sony's All-In-One PC Tries To Catch Your Eye
For years the joke has been, "It's Bill Gates' world, we just live in it." Microsoft has published the End User Licensing Agreement for Windows Vista, and it's not a joke anymore. It's just how things are going to be. Get over it.
Continue reading "What Do You Need Most To Run Vista? Microsoft's Permission..."
I received a one-line letter from a reader today, and I couldn't agree with him more: "Do you realize that if anyone has to ask about ethics, they shouldn't be doing the job to begin with?"
Amen, brother.
I had a similar reaction when listening to the recent congressional grilling of HP CEO Mark Hurd and ex-chairwoman Patricia Dunn about the company's tactics when investigating a media leak within its board.
Continue reading "Ethics 101..."
The New York Times has a piece on the looming tech labor shortage in India, and it includes a stunning conclusion from a report from the IT services industry trade group Nasscom: Only one in four engineering grads in India is employable, based on tech skills, English fluency, and teamwork and presentation skills.
Continue reading "The Unemployable Majority: India's Talent Shortage..."
In today's daily news podcast, we present stories on how Microsoft has finally agreed to link to rival security software in Vista, why MacBook users are preparing a class-action lawsuit against Apple, and how the Yahoo pyramid time-capsule plans are in ruins.
In addition, we have an in-depth report on AT&T's proposed merger with BellSouth, and InformationWeek.com Executive Editor Mitch Wagner's comments of the day focus on Firefox 2.0.
Your host today is Alice LaPlante.
One of the tech industry's true heavyweights, IBM is the very definition of a multinational corporation. Its operations span the globe, and it's committed to building out its workforce in emerging countries like India and China. But there's growing evidence that the company's U.S. workers are feeling left behind, and that can't be good for IBM or its customers.
Continue reading "IBM's Global Ambition Draws Fire From U.S. Workers..."
I've been using Firefox 2.0 since Release Candidate 1 came out a couple of weeks ago, and I'm pretty satisfied with it. There are no major new capabilities to the browser, but there's a couple of nifty new minor features. Combine that with Firefox's improved stability, and that means existing Firefox users will want to upgrade right away, as soon as the version hits final release.
However, because there are no big new capabilities, I don't think the new version will win Firefox much new market share.
What's new in Firefox 2.0?
Continue reading "Firefox 2.0: You'll Like It If It's The Kind Of Thing You Like..."
In this report, we look at what Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2.0 mean to businesses, Microsoft Vista security, the return of the Sony Walkman, and tech blunders.
Your host today is Mitch Wagner.
In case you haven't been following the news, a United States federal judge for the Northern District of Illinois recently issued a proposed order that instructs ICANN to place a hold on the domain name of The Spamhaus Project, a nonprofit firm based in England. The international political ramifications of such an order, should it be enforced, are obviously quite severe and are the cause of much valid concern. But while the judge is stretching the bounds of reason and temperance with this order, he also left an "out" for Spamhaus, which the organization blithely chose not to take. If we are to avoid an international incident here, Spamhaus is probably the one that should blink.
Continue reading "Spamhaus Needs New Lawyers..."
A federal court ruling last month in favor of an "e-mail bulk marketer" appears to be a spectacularly bad decision. But it's hardly the only one in the case. Spamhaus sparkplug Steve Linford made another when he decided not to defend against the suit. But the judge may make the worst decision of all if he follows through on a proposal to order ICANN to pull Spamhaus' domain name to force Spamhaus to comply.
Continue reading "The Spamhaus-e360Insight Case Isn't Just One Bad Decision, It's Several..."
I don't know about you, but every time that "ink low" warning comes up on my printer driver, my day gets a little bleaker. Ink and toner cartridges (known as "consumables"--probably because printers eat 'em up like candy) are one of those expenses that few of us can avoid. You have a printer? You need ink. And the printer manufacturers are happy and eager to sell you some--in fact, one of the reasons so many printers have dropped in price lately is that consumables are the great cash cow of the printer industry.
Continue reading "Printer Ink--The New Black Gold..."
"Can't anyone here play this game?" That's what Casey Stengel famously asked about his hapless 1962 New York Mets. The same question might be posed to those running big-time corporate and government IT projects, given the frequency with which such efforts end in tears. In Monday's InformationWeek, we put the spotlight on eight infamous tech disasters that resulted in major financial losses, damaged careers, and abrupt interruptions in business operations for those involved. Things have obviously gotten better for the Mets lately. But the winning percentage for grandiose tech initiatives remains anemic. What the heck is going on here?
Continue reading "Tech Disasters Are Just Waiting To Strike Your Organization..."
Today's podcast opens with news that Oracle will change the way it posts patches to its software, as it adds priority rankings to the bug fixes. Breaking news focuses on ex-HP CEO Carly Fiorina and her new book, where she talks about her time at the computer giant. There's also information on Microsoft's just-released licensing plan for the upcoming Windows Vista operating system. The commentary comes from Mitch Wagner's blog, where readers offer their views on Vista, Firefox, HP, and other pressing issues.
Your host today is Curtis Franklin Jr.
I installed Microsoft's Windows Vista RC1 Beta a couple of weeks ago and started a list of things about it that really impressed me. The graphics are really whizzy, for one thing: That Aero 3-D interface is very pretty. And...well, it's only been a couple of weeks. I'm sure my list will get longer. But in the meantime, I got a chance this week to see what's on Microsoft's list when Mike Sievert, corporate vice president of Windows client marketing at Microsoft, pitched Vista to the crowd at the Digital Life 2006 trade show in New York City.
Continue reading "What Does Microsoft Think Vista Is Good For?..."
Google is putting its Writely word processing into an online application suite. I look forward to the day when a Web app suite is available and I won't have to send any more dollars to Bill Gates for Office upgrades. But that day still hasn't arrived.
Continue reading "Web Applications: Just Out Of Reach..."
We're starting something new at InformationWeek: Every week, we'll do a quick roundup of reader feedback on our articles and blog posts. This week, readers talked back on Vista, Hewlett-Packard, Firefox vs. Internet Explorer, and robots milking cows.
Continue reading "Readers Talk Back On Vista, Hewlett-Packard, Firefox Vs. IE, Robots Milking Cows, And More..."
Remember VisiCalc? For those too young to remember the dawning of the PC age in the late '70s and early '80s, VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet app for personal computers and credited with turning the PC from an expensive toy into a serious business tool. But the PC spreadsheet as a key app to drive value in many businesses may have reached its limits, according to a study to be released next week.
Continue reading "The Spreadsheet: 1979-2006. May It Rest In Peace?..."
In today's daily news podcast, we present stories on how Microsoft is offering reference specs for building apps around Office 2007, explain how a U.S. court order could boost spam by 50 billion daily, and analyze why critics are fighting approval of AT&T's BellSouth acquisition. In addition, we have an in-depth report on outsourcing to India, and the comments of the day focus on time capsules.
Your host today is Alice LaPlante.
Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani takes exception to media reports that India's outsourcing industry is rife with data thieves and hackers. During a conversation I had with Nilekani Wednesday morning, the chief of India's second largest outsourcer insisted that information security in his country is at least as strong as it is in the United States, and that hacking and identity theft are global problems.
Continue reading "Infosys CEO: Data Security In India As Strong As In U.S...."
In today's podcast, Symantec says the worm and virus problem is solved. We'll tell you what it says comes next. We're also taking a look back at the life of Ray Noorda, the "grandfather" of network computing, and we're looking at the wide-ranging reactions to the Google-YouTube marriage. A study tells us that teleworkers know, but ignore, security risks, and Yahoo is going to beam a digital time capsule into space.
Your host today is Curtis Franklin Jr.
Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff seemed almost resigned to the question asked by the press this week at the company's Dreamforce '06 user conference: When would the on-demand CRM application vendor expand by offering on-demand ERP apps, such as financial or supply chain management software, through either acquisitions or internal development?
Benioff, with a touch of exasperation in his voice, said it's never been in the company's DNA to offer such apps. Such efforts to "be all things to all people," he said, are doomed to failure. Benioff has never been accused of understating his ambitions for his company, so when the flamboyant CEO says he doesn't want to expand into ERP, it's a pretty good bet he means it.
Continue reading "No ERP For Benioff, He's Thinking Bigger..."
Judging from our Web traffic, our contemporary readers are just as fascinated by the idea of time capsules as people from previous millennia. The story that Yahoo is beaming a digital time capsule into space by projecting it onto an ancient pyramid in Mexico has been our most popular story since the piece debuted earlier this week.
Continue reading "Time Capsules: Lost, Found, And (Now) Virtual..."
In brainstorming about a browser article this week, I threw out to my colleague that nearly all businesses will just go with Internet Explorer 7 for simplicity and lock out other options such as the new Firefox browser, also due this month. But will they? Or better question, can they, even if they wanted to?
Continue reading "Is It Time For A Browser Free-For-All?..."
Carly Fiorina is speaking out.
The woman who was fired 20 months ago from her post as Hewlett-Packard's CEO has written a book about her rise through the business world, her work at HP, her dismissal, and the media frenzy that swirled around her in the weeks after.
Now she's opening herself up to questioning. I'll be interviewing Fiorina late Wednesday afternoon. Here's your chance. Have a topic you'd really like to see her talk about? Have a question you'd love to ask her yourself? Give me your suggestions, and I'll throw the best ones into the mix.
Continue reading "What Would You Ask Carly Fiorina?..."
In today's podcast: Google is set to acquire YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock, Web video search site Blinkx signs a pact with Microsoft, we offer a first look at Windows Vista RC2, Gartner says Microsoft should pay for Vista's anti-piracy hassles, IBM cuts 400 engineering jobs at U.S. development centers, Microsoft's IE7 may beat Firefox 2.0 to market, Apple manages the damage from its options probe, and Salesforce.com will offer a programming language for building on-demand applications.
Today's In Depth is about batteries, and our editorial is about Vista adoption.
Your host today is Johanna Ambrosio.
As Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla.org's Firefox round the clubhouse turn and head toward the release of new versions, it's interesting that Firefox continues to get press for increasing its share of the browser market from month to month (the latest story puts Firefox at 12.5%, up for the third month in a row). Maybe it's because we all love an underdog. But is Firefox's reputation as a giant killer deserved, or wishful thinking?
Continue reading "If Firefox Is Actually Gaining On Internet Explorer, Automatic Update Will Fix It..."
Vista is inevitable, just like generations of Windows upgrades before it, and so I confess I don't really understand what the gnashing of teeth has been all about. If it's delayed another six months, so what? As they always have, customers will implement new software when it makes financial sense for them to do so.
And if they need to wait because of a Microsoft delay, what choice do they really have anyway?
Continue reading "Death, Taxes, And Vista..."
Today's podcast explores cooperation between Mozilla and Microsoft toward better Firefox security in the Vista operating system. Also: The FTC is cracking down on pretexters (who ever heard that word three months ago?), more Sony laptop batteries are being recalled, and Chinese hackers have breached U.S. Commerce Department computers. Speaking of laptop battery woes, the commentary of the day suggests users actually care more about battery life and other functional issues.
Your host today is Tom Smith.
Continue reading "Daily Podcast For Monday, Oct. 9..."
Administrators at Wikipedia delete some 2,000 articles a day--that's about half the 4,000 entries added daily to the online encyclopedia. How do those administrators decide which articles stay and which ones get cut? The evaluation process begins with suggestions from volunteers as to what makes a person or organization "notable."
Continue reading "Deleted: What's Not Up To Snuff For Wikipedia..."
"Feature creep" is a problem familiar to corporate developers. It describes what happens to applications that never get finished because their feature set is a moving target. But Windows Vista is apparently being hit by a different kind of feature creep: Its performance is being slowed down by some of its features. And not the ones anybody seems to care much about at that.
Continue reading "A Different Kind Of Feature Creep Hits Vista Performance..."
Less than 24 hours since InformationWeek went live with its exclusive pointing to evidence of bot infiltration within computers of federal and state government agencies, the reaction has been strong. Based on feedback to my colleague Tom Claburn's blog posting and through Slashdot, readers clearly understand the gravity of the situation and the need to do something about it. Plenty of finger pointing--at the government, at Microsoft, even at the media--but, above all, a message that it's people, not technology, that are to blame for the bot problem. People are to blame for creating the bots, and people are to blame for not adequately defending themselves.
Continue reading "Bots Bad, People Worse..."
Was it chutzpah or ignorance behind an ad posted on Dice specifically seeking H-1B visa holders to fill IT jobs in metropolitan Atlanta?
Continue reading "Help Wanted: H-1B Visa Required..."
In today's daily news podcast, Trend Micro is working on a study that lays out how PCs, including many computers in defense agencies, are infected with software bots; Microsoft takes tougher measures against users of counterfeit software; a Sony executive says we'll get to a point where consumers won't mind paying for content; and Wall Street remains unshaken by Apple's admission of its mishandling of stock options. The commentary of the day is on the new--free--AOL.
Your host today is Barbara Krasnoff.
Continue reading "Daily Podcast For Friday, Oct. 6..."
We've seen and heard about laptop computers exploding or catching fire in airports and conference halls. One such explosion is believed to have burned a truck. Another is blamed for torching a home. But if there has been a significant public outcry to make immediate changes that would eliminate the potential for future problems, I must have been taking that day off.
Continue reading "Longer Battery Life, Not Explosions, Top Laptop Concern..."
Everybody has an AOL story. Mine took place several years ago, when my parents were still on a dial-up connection and used AOL as their main conduit to e-mail and the Web. My father realized he needed to make an important call and signed off. However, AOL, as was its habit, took that opportunity to do a major upgrade (without, of course, asking whether it was convenient to do so). After waiting for several minutes, and with no idea how long the upgrade was going to take, my father finally broke the connection.
It took about a week to get his computer working again.
Continue reading "The Saga Of America Online..."
In Thursday's daily news podcast, we cover the increasingly ugly HP scandal, in which charges have been filed against the company's former chairwoman and several other players in the affair. Google is making snippets of code that perform a variety of functions available for independent Web sites, Fujitsu is now recalling Sony notebook batteries, and Microsoft will reportedly offer XP users discounts to encourage migration to Vista. The daily commentary is focused on the problem--real or imagined--of bots.
Your host for today's podcast is Tom Smith.
Continue reading "Daily News Podcast For Thursday, Oct. 5, 2006..."
How's Windows Genuine Advantage working for you? A correspondent of mine says WGA has forced him to reinstall Windows twice on different PCs. I haven't heard of widespread problems like this with WGA, but if there are, now's the time to get them out in the open because Microsoft has just announced that the anti-piracy controls in Windows Vista will make its current WGA efforts look indulgently permissive.
Continue reading "WGA Compulsion Becomes, Er, Compulsory..."
You don't have to believe in YouTube's business prospects to believe there's a place for Web video in your company.
Continue reading "YouTube Or Not, Make Your Web Video Plans..."
October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, which perhaps explains the generally poor state of computer security. We'd be far better off with Cyber Security Awareness Year, observed annually, all day, every day between January 1st and December 31st.
The problem is bots, malicious code that takes control of computers and gives it to someone else. Once a computer has been infiltrated by bot code, it has essentially left the building. It can be fitted with keylogging and screen-capture software to record passwords and other sensitive information. It can be used to send spam, conduct distributed denial-of-service attacks, host Web sites, and spread malware.
Continue reading "The Bot Invasion..."
Operations at many of India's major outsourcing companies ground to a halt Wednesday after public-sector workers in the tech hub of Bangalore went out on strike. But contrary to some predictions, the sky didn't fall. Most of the affected vendors simply shifted work to parts of the country that were untouched by the labor action, proving that India's outsourcers are maturing to a level on par with major multinationals like IBM and EDS.
Continue reading "Bangalore Strike Shows India's Outsourcing Industry Has Come Of Age..."
Since mid-2001, the number of IT managers in the United States has grown by 119,000. To get ahead in this crowded field, you must understand how corporate America is changing. Homa Bahrami spends a lot of her time thinking about this, and in this podcast the University of California organizational behaviorist explains why these changes are occurring and how you can take advantage of them.
Continue reading "Getting Ahead In IT: The Whys And Hows..."
In today's daily news podcast, we present stories on a quad-core processor forecast, a Firefox flaw demo that was itself flawed, and McAfee complaining that by locking access to the kernel in Vista, Microsoft is blocking security vendors' access to the operating system core.
In addition, we have an in-depth report on information management, including the risky business of data deletion and new laws and technologies affecting encryption adoption. Today's editorial ponders the question of whether companies will rethink how they handle corporate investigations in light of the mess HP has found itself in.
Your host today is Curt Franklin.
Continue reading "Daily News Podcast For Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006..."
The Hewlett-Packard scandal shines a spotlight on the world of corporate intelligence. Private investigators. Surveillance. Pretexting. Using Social Security numbers that employees had entrusted to the company. It's been a bright light on what's appearing to be a pretty shady world.
How much will that world change now? Will companies rethink their investigative tactics now that it's glaringly clear their sneaky deeds might end up on the front page or in front of a congressional hearing? Will executives ask investigators for written agreements that laws won't be broken? Maybe more importantly, will executives keep tabs on who's being investigated and how it's being done?
Is it time for corporate intelligence to change its MO?
Continue reading "Will HP's Troubles Change The MO Of Your Own Corporate Investigations?..."
In today's daily news podcast, we present stories on newly discovered Windows flaws, a Netflix-sponsored contest with a $1 million prize, and how increasingly sophisticated search engine results will allow e-tailers to reap substantial revenues in the fourth quarter of 2006.
In addition, we have an in-depth report on all the defective batteries that major laptop manufacturers have been shipping with their products. The comments of the day focus on how searching for more energy-efficient ways of running the data center isn't just the right thing to do for the environment, but it's also the right thing to do for business.
Your host today is Alice LaPlante.
Continue reading "Daily News Podcast For Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2006..."
Microsoft is said to be thinking about leaving the development of podcast management tools for its forthcoming Zune to third-party developers. My guess is that this fleeting thought has about as much life expectancy as a fox standing in the door of a henhouse thinking about becoming a vegetarian. If I were a developer, I'd read up on what Microsoft is doing to security vendors and run away from the Zune player as fast as I could.
Continue reading "Is Microsoft Playing Its Own Game Of Chicken With Zune?..."
Green computing isn't just the right thing to do, it's fast becoming a business necessity.
IT needs to start implementing energy-efficient means of running the data center. Sure, energy prices have gone down in the past month, but to treat the uncertainty surrounding the continued availability of energy as a temporary blip shows not only social irresponsibility, but bad business sense.
We've run a number of articles that dramatize the urgency of this issue in the past months. Just last week, Gartner issued a stern warning that CIOs must take immediate action to reduce IT's spiraling consumption of energy.
Continue reading "Going Green: The Writing Is On The Wall For IT..."
In today's daily news podcast: Microsoft will patch the newest Internet Explorer flaw, Hewlett-Packard gets taken to the woodshed, and our editorial comments on the news of the day look at how blogging, podcasting, and other outreach can help your career.
Your host today is Mitch Wagner.
Continue reading "Daily Podcast For Monday, Oct. 2..."