Business Technology: Competitiveness, Truth, And Today's Universities
When blame is assigned for the current shortage of U.S. graduates with degrees in engineering or computer science, universities always seem to get away without even a harsh word. But not anymore -- a fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution thrashes university presidents for their lack of leadership in this area of vital strategic national interest. Bob Evans wonders if it might be time for the ivory towers to get a taste of some free-market discipline.
Now, By Golly, PHP Has Got Marc Andreessen
PHP used to be little known outside a small circle of open source developers. No large company advertised it or gave it top billing at computer shows. It had only the little tool-making firm that originated it, Zend Technologies Inc., as a booster.
Now it's got Marc Andreessen.
No Such Thing As A Stupid Question
What's that term they use to describe a question that's put forward clearly and simply? Oh yes, I just remembered: "in plain English." Wouldn't it be cool to make database queries in plain English? Well, it looks like you may be able to.
Take The 'Web' Out Of 'Web Services'?
There's been a lot of blogging lately about the notion that the word "Web" should be dropped from "Web services" leaving only "services" to describe the technology. Jeremy Geelan, of Sys-Con, first raised the issue, quoting a plethora of sources from 19th century philosophy John Stuart Mill to Sun's Jonathan Schwartz and Bill Gates. Among other conclusions he comes to is this one:
Microsoft wants to chain "Web services" to the realm of th
The Open-Source Majority
So if you're a BI practitioner who doesn't trust open-source software applications for your intelligence work, here's something you should know: You're in the minority.
Microsoft's Next Office Suite Shapes Up
The covers are finally coming off the next version of Office, which will start finding its way into the hands of beta testers this fall. It'll be another year-plus before Office 12 arrives on your company's PCs, but it's not too early to see what's in store.
I Feel Lucky
An evening with Google's Marissa Mayer
Alan Williamson attended a presentation from Marissa Mayer, a product manager at Google, and blogged it. Highlights:
1. The prime reason the Google home page is so bare is due to the fact that the founders didn't know HTML and just wanted a quick interface. In fact, it was noted that the submit button was a long time coming and hitting the RETURN key was the only
Compliance Appliance: I Like The Sound Of That
I also like the fact that these devices could be a boon for small- and medium-sized businesses. This group in particular seems to have the most trouble meeting SOX requirements, and more and more compliance vendors are targeting this sector with less-expensive products that are easier to deploy, use and administer.
Milblogs: A Very Thin Line Indeed
Military blogs serve many purposes--for both the individual soldier and society at large--and there is a way of balancing operational security and freedom of speech.
Google Pursues Legal Fight Against Microsoft In Federal Court
It appears that Google doesn't much care for Microsoft's offer to settle its lawsuit to enforce former researcher Kai-Fu Lee's employment agreement. The search company on Friday filed additional documents in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., arguing against Microsoft's motion to dismiss Google's federal countersuit.
Regretting The Switch From Windows To Mac
Why I Might Switch Back
Russell Beattie clearly woke up Thursday morning and said to himself, "You know, I don't think I get enough hate mail." That's when he posted a blog entry describing why, after seven months of using the Mac, he's thinking of switching back to Windows.
Google Goes Las Vegas
"Google Goes Las Vegas: An AdWords Experiment Shows Why at Google, the House Always Wins"
Interesting article where Robert X. Cringely hypothesizes that Google is punishing merchants for reducing spending on adwords.
Maritime Security: More Questions Than Answers
The United States has traditionally seen the seas as an open highway for commerce and immigration. Of course, these waterways are also used to smuggle contraband and, more recently, have the potential to become an avenue for a terrorist attack. The shadowy nature of terrorism turns conventional national defense strategies on their ear.
When Writers Attack
I understand why the Authors Guild is so concerned about Google's book-copying initiative: This is unexplored legal territory, and many of the details remain open to debate. Yet instead of accepting what most legal experts already know -- Google's approach is reasonable, even if it is flawed -- the Guild is pursuing a lawsuit that only a fiction writer could love.
Before We Educate The Foreigners, Let's Fix Things At Home
My colleague Tish Keefe argued yesterday that she hoped U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez misspoke when he said that fighting intellectual property theft was a top priority for the Bush administration. She notes that there are plenty of other, more pressing issues that should be higher concern for the federal gove
Why In The World Would Big Companies Use Open Source?
A little over a month ago, I set out to find out just how popular open-source software has become within big business. These are companies that have the money to spend on the biggest, most complex packages that IBM, Oracle, and other enterprise software makers have to offer. They're also companies with armies of IT professionals highly proficient in writing and maintaining their own applications. Why in the world would they use open source? Actually, the question has become: why in the world
Safeguarding IP: Show Them The Money
I certainly hope that Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez misspoke (dontcha love these bureaucratic words?) when he announced this week that President Bush has made fighting the theft of intellectual property "a top priority throughout the administration."
GoogleTV
Do you have "experience developing or launching products in one or more of the following areas: interactive TV, set-top-boxes, personal video recorders, video-on-demand, IP TV or cable TV technologies"?
If so there may be a job waiting for you at Google, particularly if you're a computer science PhD.
Google, it seems, is searching for someone to "provide leadership o
SEC's Latest Reprieve Opens Door For Better Automation
It probably didn't jump out as a big surprise when the SEC voted yet again to extend the Section 404 filing deadline for small-cap companies by yet another year. The commission's Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies investigated enough comments and complaints about the undue financial burden of SOX's Section 404 compliance on smaller public companies that a second extension was near
Little White Lies
Let's be honest. Customers who think carefully don't make sales guys' lives any easier. But customers who fail to think carefully don't make their own lives any easier. What's true in the used car trade happens to be true in the data warehouse trade as well. And that's what one of our stories this week is all about.
Writers Battling Uphill Against Google
As many of us expected, Google has been sued for digitizing library books without seeking permission from copyright holders. The Authors Guild and three writers sued the search-engine giant in a New York federal court, claiming Google's actions amounted to a "massive copyright infringement."
Q&A With 'Wormologist' Vern Paxson
One of the industry's foremost worm experts, Paxson developed the open-source intrusion-detection tool Bro and has conducted studies on the genesis and propagation of worms and other malware.
IBM Goes For Broke On SOA
This week, IBM put its money where its mouth has been for quite some time: on service oriented architectures (SOAs).
As part of a massive reorganization of its software and services portfolio, IBM finally announced its long-anticipated enterprise service bus (ESB) that has been in the works for years.
Google Wireless
Google has begun beta testing software called Google Secure Access that, as its name suggests, provides secure access to wireless networks. The software connects to Google's VPN server.
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