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05/23/2013 07:13:22 Daily, December 14Productivity And Security To The Max
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In This Issue:
1. Editor's Note: Productivity And Security To The Max
2. Today's Top Story
- Rising Energy Prices Drive Consumers Online
Related Stories:
- E-Retailers Step Up Discount Offers
- Item-Level RFID Tagging Aims To Curtail Counterfeiting
3. Breaking News
- MTV, Microsoft To Develop Online Music Service...
- ...As Microsoft's SUS Bug Makes Admins Go Manual
- E-Prescribing Push Intensifies As Medicare Prescription-Drug Plan Nears
- Explosive Growth Expected For VoIP Monitoring Tools
- It's Still 'Employer's Market' For Jobs
- RFID Market To Reach $3 Billion By 2010
- Major Internet Search Engines Still Growing
- Intel's Next-Gen Mobile Platform Promises Efficiency
- General Dynamics Buys Anteon International For $2.2 Billion
- White House, Congress Flunk On Cybersecurity, Group Says
- DirecTV To Pay Record $5.3 Million To Settle Telemarketing Charges
4. Grab Bag: News You Need From Around The Web
- Tokyo Exchange Struggles With Snarls In Electronics
- BlackBerry Patent Fight Spooks Some Customers
- Scientists Question Possible Nanotech Risks
5. In Depth: IT Workplace Trends
- New Masters Program Could Help Tech Pros Navigate Legal Issues
- Opinion: Self-Evaluation: How'd You Do In 2005?
- Tech Careers Need Makeover
- Fewer, More Versatile IT Pros Needed
6. Voice Of Authority
- AMD Declares Victory, But Battle Will Continue
7. White Papers
- Developing A Business-Intelligence Strategy For CRM/ERP Data
8. Get More Out Of InformationWeek
9. Manage Your Newsletter Subscription
Quote of the day:
"There's a big difference between busy and real work." -- Tom
McGreal, Iowa farmer
My colleague Larry Greenemeier posted a blog entry about Microsoft's plans in the
collaboration arena.
This is the part of Larry's missive that stopped me cold: "If
Microsoft has its way, you may never again be able to duck
another phone call or claim that your company's spam filter
gobbled up an important E-mail." In the "new and improved" world
that Microsoft foresees for us all, we're going to be able to
collaborate and communicate 24-by-7 and never again face a
situation where a co-worker is gone for coffee, engaged in a
hallway conversation with the boss, or, heaven forfend, taking a
lunchtime walk around the building to clear his or her head.
I have to wonder: How much "productivity" is a good thing? Is
productivity measured by always doing something, no matter
how well it's done, or by achieving something that's actually
worthy of doing? Are we now going to have to worry about our
computer "watching" us--so now we'll have to "look busy" at all
times? Quick, type something!
Microsoft's new tool, called Office Communicator Web Access and introduced
at this week's Interop show, is all about group facilitation.
That's a large potential market for Microsoft, with its bid to
become an even bigger player in the world of enterprise
applications. (For more about the company's plans in this arena,
check out this Q&A with the head of Microsoft's
collaboration software group.)
Just like there are limits to collaboration, I feel there's no
such thing as totally foolproof security unless one lives in a
locked vault. And even then, it can be harmful to set up an
expectation of such. Along these lines, there's an interesting
story about something going on in Japan, where technology often
debuts long before it's available here. Some children in Yokohama
City are wearing RFID chips on their clothing and
parents can track the kids as they walk to school. If there's a
problem, the kids can press a call button on the tag to alert
parents.
What do you think? To read more about these issues, or to
comment, check out my blog entry.
Johanna Ambrosio
Rising Energy Prices Drive Consumers Online
Related Stories:
E-Retailers Step Up Discount Offers
Item-Level RFID Tagging Aims To Curtail Counterfeiting
MTV, Microsoft To Develop Online Music Service...
...As Microsoft's SUS Bug Makes Admins Go Manual
E-Prescribing Push Intensifies As Medicare Prescription-Drug Plan Nears
Explosive Growth Expected For VoIP Monitoring Tools
It's Still 'Employer's Market' For Jobs
RFID Market To Reach $3 Billion By 2010
Major Internet Search Engines Still Growing
Intel's Next-Gen Mobile Platform Promises Efficiency
General Dynamics Buys Anteon International For $2.2 Billion
White House, Congress Flunk On Cybersecurity, Group Says
DirecTV To Pay Record $5.3 Million To Settle Telemarketing Charges
John Soat With 'Microsoft Minute' In The Current Episode Of The News Show
Also in the current episode:
Ivan Schneider With 'Family Finances'
Sacha Lecca With 'Technology De Toilette'
IT Security In China
Subscribe To Your Favorite Authors
-----------------------------------------
Tokyo Exchange Struggles With Snarls In Electronics (New York Times, reg. required)
BlackBerry Patent Fight Spooks Some Customers (USA Today)
Scientists Question Possible Nanotech Risks (CNN)
New Master's Program Could Help Tech Pros Navigate Legal Issues
Opinion: Self-Evaluation: How'd You Do In 2005?
Tech Careers Need Makeover
Fewer, More Versatile IT Pros Needed
AMD Declares Victory, But Battle Will Continue
Developing A Business-Intelligence Strategy For CRM/ERP Data
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InformationWeek Daily Newsletter
1. Editor's Note: Productivity And Security To The Max
jambrosio@cmp.com
www.informationweek.com
More than half of all consumers plan to make fewer trips to the
mall, and 3 in 10 will do more shopping online than in stores,
the Conference Board reported.
Online sellers are offering deals a bit ahead of schedule, but
nontravel spending is already up 23% over last year--and this,
the busiest E-shopping week, has yet to be tallied.
Vue Technology and Symbol Technologies on Wednesday said they'll
jointly develop and offer an item-level radio-frequency identification
software and hardware package for retailers and manufacturers.
The service, dubbed Urge, will be integrated into the next
version of Microsoft's Windows Media Player and will offer more
than 2 million tracks for sale individually or as part of a
subscription package.
Microsoft has run into another problem with its updates, this
time a bug in its aging Software Update Services server software
that turns previously approved updates into "unapproved."
Private companies lead the way in offering financial incentives
to doctors to use electronic prescription applications, but the
government is expected to follow with its own plan.
Vendors such as Agilent Technologies, Brix Networks, Empirix,
OSiSoft, and Qovia make tools that solve problems or point to
bottlenecks, sometimes before they cause poor phone
communications.
It's still an employer's market, according to a poll at an
HR-focused Web site, which found that less than 10% of applicants
turn down job offers.
A Gartner analyst pegs the industries with the greatest
opportunities to use RFID as retail, aerospace, and defense,
while the health-care, logistics, and pharmaceutical industries
will adopt the technology the fastest.
The biggest change was with Ask Jeeves, which increased search
volume 77% and catapulted into the No. 5 spot.
Napa, the company's new mobile-computing system, offers
significant improvements in power efficiency and performance,
including a 28% reduction in average power usage, an Intel
executive says.
Like rival defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Northrop
Grumman, General Dynamics wants to lessen its dependence on the
military hardware market by pushing technology services.
The Cyber Security Industry Alliance, which includes big-name
security companies such as Symantec, McAfee, and RSA, blasted the
government's progress in keeping the United States safe from cyberattacks.
It's the largest civil penalty ever imposed over a
consumer-protection issue, and the message is to mind those
federal telemarketing rules, the FTC says.
Microsoft releases Internet Explorer patches, enters into a joint
venture with MCI, and releases new instant-messaging software.
New software allows head of household to track the family
finances in real time.
A look at a high-tech toilet seat. Apparently, Mark Cuban is a
fan--he recently invested big bucks in the company that makes the product.
----- The latest research, polls, and tools -----
Compare the security practices and investment plans of 700
Chinese sites against the strategies and experiences of 2,540
U.S. companies in InformationWeek's research report, China-U.S. Information Security 2005.
Are you a fan of Fred Langa? Are there other InformationWeek
authors that you view as must-reads? Then check out our all-new
authors directory; each author has his or her own page and RSS feed.
4. Grab Bag: News You Need From Around The Web
Last month, a computer glitch shut down trading on the exchange,
and last week a typographical error generated a $330 million loss.
Some companies in the market for handheld phones are looking
elsewhere, even if they originally had considered the BlackBerry.
Sure, scientists manipulating matter at the molecular level have
improved on hundreds of everyday products in recent years and are
promising dramatic breakthroughs in medicine and other
industries. But relatively little is known about the potential
health and environmental effects of the tiny particles--just
atoms wide and small enough to easily penetrate cells in lungs,
brains, and other organs.
5. In Depth: IT Workplace Trends
The new degree offering will debut in January 2007 and will help
tech pros better understand the business risks and legal aspects
in technology transfers and pursuing commercialization of
technology developments.
Look back at your work year via these questions and see how you score.
Do it before you take out that second mortgage, Bob Evans suggests.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce launches effort to make science and
technology more attractive to teachers and students.
Look outside many companies' IT departments and you'll notice a
growing number of key employees with deep IT knowledge.
Advanced Micro Devices has declared itself the winner of the
self-proclaimed "dual-core duel challenge" it issued to Intel
back in August. Although the win comes in some respects by
default, or TKO, as Intel has declined to be drawn into the
skirmish, and is indicative of the growing momentum at AMD, the
microprocessor championship belt remains in Intel's grasp.
Darrell Dunn explains.
Read about strategies for building a BI system and an underlying
data warehouse for processing CRM and ERP data managed by
application packages.
8. Get More Out Of InformationWeek
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