InformationWeek Daily Archives
05/22/2013 10:52:12 Daily, March 19Focus, Focus, Focus
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In This Issue:
1. Editor's Note: Focus, Focus, Focus
2. Today's Top Story: Latest Court Rulings
- Judge Dismisses Google Copyright Case (Reuters)
- Oracle Fights Off Clustering Software Patent Suit
3. Breaking News
- Make Mine Mobile: When Your Laptop Is Your Main PC
- New Zero-Day Bug Crashes IE
- Apple Patches Patch
- Trade Group Attacks RFID Virus Claims
- Lockheed Martin Leads The Way For FBI Sentinel Project
- RFID World Still Reacting Strongly To Virus Research
- As Child Porn Industry Grows, Coalition Launches Counterattack
- Analysis: How Real Are Microsoft's Live Video, Voice?
- Genesys Offers Emergency Conferencing Service
- Microsoft Releases Team Foundation Server To Manufacturing
- Print Publisher Buys U.K. Price-Comparison Site
4. Grab Bag
- Hacking Made Easy (Washington Post)
- The Net's New Age (BusinessWeek)
- Student Recites 8,784 Digits Of Pi Wed (The Roanoke Times)
5. In Depth: International
- SoftBank Pays $15 Billion For Vodafone's Japanese Unit
- Chinese Bank Hosts Phishing Site
- European Project To Unify Mobile Wireless Access
- Lenovo To Lay Off 1,000 In Restructuring
- Cuban On Hunger Strike For Internet Access
- Stockholm Taps Tech To Reduce Traffic Congestion
- European Embedded Program To Spend $3 Billion
6. Voice Of Authority
- Cisco Enters The Ring On Net Neutrality
7. White Papers
- Protect Your Perimeter Security
8. Get More Out Of InformationWeek
9. Manage Your Newsletter Subscription
Quote of the day:
"Monday, Monday
Can't trust that day
Monday, Monday
It just turns out that way"
-- Mammas and The Papas
Location, location, location. That's the golden rule in real
estate. In high tech, it ought to be focus, focus, focus. Too
often vendors get caught up in personality clashes, obsessions
with beating or matching competitors, and technological zealotry.
All can blind even the best companies to the real issues that
need attention. Over and over we see vendors lose their
positioning and products miss their mark because executives
focused on the wrong thing.
I was reminded of this by several news reports this week, which
once again drove home the need to keep your eye on the ball--not
your competition or your critics--and steady your focus on
working out the kinks.
For example, the world's richest man might want to spend less time knocking the highly commendable $100 laptop project and more time revising his ultracompact Ultra-Mobile PC. While
Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was losing the battle with his
competitive streak earlier last week, the Gartner Group was busy dissecting "Origami."
Gartner characterized Origami as "more promise than real" and
said the device was too big to be a personal digital assistant,
yet too small to be a useful notebook. Moreover, Gartner pointed
out that some of the technology Microsoft needs to fulfill its
vision for the Ultra-Mobile PC isn't available today and could be
as much as two years off. In short, Gartner concluded that "the
low battery life, high price and non-Vista operating system will
likely hurt the UMPC's market acceptance in this first go-round,
and the negative backlash could damage its future chances."
Mainstream acceptance, meanwhile, is another three years away,
the researchers predicted. Microsoft had better get busy.
RFID supporters and new converts like the Israeli army, DHL, and Visa might want to hit pause--at least in the
short term--until they figure out how much there is to several
recent reports in the mainstream and high-tech press pointing to
security issues with RFID chips.
And India, too, had better keep a close watch over its shoulder.
China, apparently, is breathing down its neck. You can read more
about the threats bearing down on these markets by going to my blog here. Taken together, these are
just a few examples of why it never pays in high tech to get too
comfortable with your successes, or too obsessed with your critics.
Patricia Keefe
Judge Dismisses Google Copyright Case (Reuters)
Oracle Fights Off Clustering Software Patent Suit
Make Mine Mobile: When Your Laptop Is Your Main PC
New Zero-Day Bug Crashes IE
Apple Patches Patch
Trade Group Attacks RFID Virus Claims
Lockheed Martin Leads The Way For FBI Sentinel Project
RFID World Still Reacting Strongly To Virus Research
As Child Porn Industry Grows, Coalition Launches Counterattack
Analysis: How Real Are Microsoft's Live Video, Voice?
Genesys Offers Emergency Conferencing Service
Microsoft Releases Team Foundation Server To Manufacturing
Print Publisher Buys U.K. Price-Comparison Site
In the current episode:
John Soat With 'What Else Is New?'
Larry Greenemeier With 'Steve Ballmer On: People, People, People'
Paul Kapustka With 'VoIP Line'
InformationWeek 500 Entry Call
NEW WEB SITE! -- TECHSEARCH.COM
Subscribe To Your Favorite Authors
-----------------------------------------
Hacking Made Easy (Washington Post)
The Net's New Age (BusinessWeek)
Student Recites 8,784 Digits Of Pi Wed (The Roanoke Times)
SoftBank Pays $15 Billion For Vodafone's Japanese Unit
Chinese Bank Hosts Phishing Site
European Project To Unify Mobile Wireless Access
Lenovo To Lay Off 1,000 In Restructuring
Cuban On Hunger Strike For Internet Access
Stockholm Taps Tech To Reduce Traffic Congestion
European Embedded Program To Spend $3 Billion
Cisco Enters The Ring On Net Neutrality
Protect Your Perimeter Security
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InformationWeek Daily Newsletter
1. Editor's Note: Focus, Focus, Focus
pkeefe@cmp.com
www.informationweek.com
2. Today's Top Story: Latest Court Rulings
Judge Surrick's ruling found that Google enjoys projection under
an exemption to the Communications Decency Act for online service
providers acting as an automatic redistributor of published material.
MangoSoft brought the suit in 2002 seeking $500 million in damages.
A laptop isn't just a desktop PC with a handle on it--it's got
its own advantages and disadvantages. If your main computer is
(or will be) a notebook, here's how to get the most out of your
all-laptop life.
Security firms are warning about another zero-day bug.
Apparently, Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser crashes when
attacked through a new unpatched vulnerability.
Days after rolling out a Mac OS X fix, Apple is polishing that
patch with another fix. Dubbed a "correction," it targets owners
of PowerPC-equipped Macs.
Researchers claimed to have discovered a way to infect an RFID
chip with a virus, but in fact they just built a poorly designed
system, said an RFID trade association.
An inspector general's report says FBI planning provides
"reasonable assurance" that the new program can avoid the
problems that plagued its botched Virtual Case File project.
A researcher who suggested that computer viruses could be spread
by RFID technology sets off a firestorm of debate. Industry
sources weigh in.
To fight smut peddlers, a coalition of law enforcement agencies,
financial services companies, and child protection groups has
launched a campaign to stem the flow of cash to the criminals
behind the problem.
A Microsoft executive this week gave the first public
demonstration of a PC running the Live Mail client, during which
he initiated a video call by clicking on an icon in the
software's contact list. Although he was clear that the tools are
still in beta, the demo was limited all around.
Emergency Meeting Center is a streaming conferencing service that
can handle thousands of participants at the same time, according
to the provider. It's designed to serve as a central command
center during times of crisis to ensure business continuity.
The server software adds an assortment of collaboration and
project-management functions to Microsoft's set of developer tools.
The purchase is the second online business Scripps has bought in
less than a year and reflects a trend of mainstream media
companies buying Web-based firms.
----- The latest research, polls, and tools -----
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4. Grab Bag: News You Need From Around The Web
Automated tools gather victims' keystrokes, and upload passwords to
an illicit database in what security experts are calling one of the
more brazen and sophisticated Internet fraud rings ever uncovered.
Technology that aims to revolutionize how surfers use the Web is
fueling a new wave of Internet investment and challenging
established media
A high school student Tuesday recited 8,784 digits of Pi--the
nonrepeating and nonterminating decimal--likely placing him among
the top Pi-reciters in the world.
SoftBank, Japan's largest broadband Internet provider, has been
setting its sights on Japan's $78 billion mobile market for a
while as it moves to offer a combination of broadband, mobile,
and Internet services and content.
A Chinese bank's server is hosting spoofed sites that phishers
are using to dupe customers of American banks, an Internet
monitoring company said Sunday.
GOLLUM backers hope to reduce the development time and cost of
mobile multimedia platforms, as well as improve their
functionality and interoperability.
Over the next 12 months, corporate operations will be moved from
Purchase, N.Y., to Raleigh, N.C., and desktop operations will go
to China.
Guillermo Farinas, a 41-year-old psychologist, went on a hunger
strike on January 31st to press Cuba's communist authorities to
respect his right to freedom of information and allow him
Internet access.
During the system's first month of operation, it prompted 25% of
drivers, or 100,000 vehicles, off the roads during peak business
hours, increasing mass transit users by 40,000 daily.
Artemis, a major research program part funded by the European
Union and which includes Europe's leading chip and systems
companies, aims to spend 2.7 billion euro (about $3.25 billion)
in research between 2007 and 2010.
Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers has joined the carrier echo on
network neutrality. Blocking and impairing is bad, freedom to
manage crowded networks and create quality-of-service agreements
with content providers is good (and different from the first).
Don't legislate against hypotheticals. J. Nicholas Hoover reports.
This complimentary report explains that remote control of
workstations and servers is becoming increasingly attractive to
users, but personal remote control could dismantle a company's
perimeter security. Use Gartner's two-part decision framework to
determine what type of remote control is best for you.
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