Is Central IT The Web 2.0 Villain?

In This Issue:
1. Editor's Note: Is Central IT The Web 2.0 Villain?
2. Today's Top Story
     - A Million Identities Stolen From Two Financial Services Firms
Related Stories:
     - Firefox, iTunes, Skype Top Most Dangerous List
     - Microsoft To Repatch June Patch
     - Ohio U. Suspends IT Managers Over Data Breaches
3. Breaking News
     - Microsoft And Yahoo Get Instant Messaging Ready To Carry Heavier Freight
     - Ex-CA Executive Pleads Guilty In Bribery Scheme
     - The 64-Bit Solution—AMD Solved SAP Migration Problems
     - UBS Trial: Defense Attacks 'Sloppy' Investigation
     - Report: New Online Employment Ads Up In May
     - Challenging Special Effects Drive Pixar's 'Cars'
     - Key Lieutenant To Microsoft CEO Leaves Company
     - HP To Combine Functions In Ongoing Restructuring
     - Blimp Maker Builds Flying Digital Movie Screen
     - China Report: U.S. Tech Desired, But Still Forbidden
4. Grab Bag
     - MySpace Plans New Age Restrictions (AP)
     - Rivals Skeptical Of Microsoft's New Robot Software (ABC News)
     - Genetic Science Applied To Historic Prints (MSNBC)
     - Microsoft Office Gets Creative Commons Add-In (BetaNews)
5. In Depth: Aye, Robot
     - Germany Rules RoboCup
     - Microsoft Unveils Robotics Studio
     - The Ultimate Summer Gadget Guide
     - Researchers Demo New Robot-Human Interface
     - South Korea Unveils Female Android
     - Race Challenges Robots To One-Up Drivers
6. Voice Of Authority
     - Why U.S. Tech Firms Need More, Not Fewer, Indian Workers
7. White Papers
     - Eight Easy Steps To Finding A New Manufacturing System
8. Get More Out Of InformationWeek
9. Manage Your Newsletter Subscription

Quote Of The Day:
"A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit." — John C. Maxwell

1. Editor's Note: Is Central IT The Web 2.0 Villain?

The Boing Boing blog offers tips to get around Web filters. It offers such advice in case you're subjected to a Web filter by "your employer or corrupt, undemocratic, dictator-based government."

So that's what it's come to—central IT and Kim Jong Il are seen as tech compadres.

But it's not just witty blogs that think leaders of centralized IT need to change their thinking to deal with the mounting wave of Web tools and applications. Ray Ozzie last week, days before taking over as chief software architect from Bill Gates, urged IT pros in a speech to take a less black-and-white view of what's inside and outside the firewall. His comments spoke to the suspicion many IT pros have for any software made for consumers first—a suspicion well-grounded in security problems, management cost, and compliance concerns, just to name a few.

Is this right? It's possible that employees would like to do productive things with Web-based applications that central IT doesn't allow them to do. It might even be that IT would like to allow it, but feel it can't for very real business and technical reasons.

Let us know what you think. Is IT the Web 2.0 buzz kill—or the only grownup in the room? What are the applications employees want most that their companies won't let them have? What are employees trying to use that wreak havoc with IT systems?

Comment at my blog entry.

Chris Murphy
[email protected]

2. Today's Top Story

A Million Identities Stolen From Two Financial Services Firms
The losses took place the old-fashioned way—by a burglar breaking into locked premises and carrying off the computers.

3. Breaking News

Microsoft And Yahoo Get Instant Messaging Ready To Carry Heavier Freight
Microsoft and Yahoo's upgraded IM apps include calling, video, and easier sharing of files. It could make them even more tempting for business use.

Ex-CA Executive Pleads Guilty In Bribery Scheme
Thomas Bennett, a former business development executive at CA, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice. He faces a maximum of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

The 64-Bit Solution—AMD Solved SAP Migration Problems
With its SAP applications bogging down, CLP Power Hong Kong turned to HP servers with AMD's 64-bit chips to speed things up.

UBS Trial: Defense Attacks 'Sloppy' Investigation
A U.S. Secret Service agent came under intense cross-examination in a computer sabotage trial Tuesday. Days after testifying that agents found a printout of malicious code in the defendant's bedroom, the defense spent most of the day hammering the lead investigator.

Report: New Online Employment Ads Up In May
New online job ads rebounded in May after a sharp decline in April, according to a report issued by the Conference Board. However, May is traditionally an up month, and the report warned against expecting any sudden uptick in hiring.

Challenging Special Effects Drive Pixar's 'Cars'
The special effects in Cars, such as lighting and reflections where the sun bounces off cars coated with five layers of metal-flake paint, proved among the most difficult animation the studio has ever undertaken.

Key Lieutenant To Microsoft CEO Leaves Company
Martin Taylor, recently promoted to head of Windows Live marketing efforts, is leaving after 13 years at Microsoft.

HP To Combine Functions In Ongoing Restructuring
Several business units will now have their own supply chain, logistics, order fulfillment, and certain marketing functions, a move away from the centralization of years past.

Blimp Maker Builds Flying Digital Movie Screen
The picture streams from a laptop PC in the airship to the screen mounted on the outside of the blimp.

China Report: U.S. Tech Desired, But Still Forbidden
An American IT expert visiting China finds strong interest in technology, but plenty of barriers, to—mostly from the Chinese government.

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4. Grab Bag

MySpace Plans New Age Restrictions (AP)
Under the changes, announced Wednesday and taking effect next week, MySpace users who are 18 or over can no longer request to be on a 14- or 15-year-old's friends list unless they already know either the youth's e-mail address or full name.

Rivals Skeptical Of Microsoft's New Robot Software (ABC News)
The third annual Robo Business event opened Tuesday morning in Pittsburgh's Station Square with a whiff of controversy, as one established robotics expert dismissed Microsoft's recent foray into the field.

Genetic Science Applied To Historic Prints (MSNBC)
The fundamentals of genetic science may help date centuries-old works by Shakespeare and Rembrandt. It could be a new benchmark for the science world's oddest crossover research.

Microsoft Office Gets Creative Commons Add-In (BetaNews)
Microsoft and nonprofit licensing organization Creative Commons said Wednesday that they had struck a deal to allow Office users to add the group's licensing to their documents.

5. In Depth: Aye, Robot

Germany Rules RoboCup
Germany took the highest number of medals in the event, which set soccer-playing teams of robots against each other.

Microsoft Unveils Robotics Studio
The early release targets academic, hobbyist, and commercial developers with a toolset for building applications that can run on a variety of robotics computing platforms.

The Ultimate Summer Gadget Guide
A robot that mops your floors leaves you more time to get to the beach.

Researchers Demo New Robot-Human Interface
A new interface allows near real-time operation of a robot without invasive incisions to the head and brain. The breakthrough, demonstrated this week in Tokyo, opens up possibilities for new interactions between machines and people.

South Korea Unveils Female Android
The robot can recognize 400 Korean words and can answer questions both verbally and through facial expressions, according to the developer.

Race Challenges Robots To One-Up Drivers
The federal government's next Grand Challenge contest will require robots to navigate through a city environment—and follow traffic laws as they go.

6. Voice Of Authority

Why U.S. Tech Firms Need More, Not Fewer, Indian Workers
Less than one-half of IBM's revenues derive from sales to customers in the United States. Indian outsourcer TCS bagged two deals worth more than $30 million in Latin America. Here's why these two facts show that American tech services firms have to continue adding staff in India and China while trimming down their more expensive U.S. workforce. Paul McDougall explains.

7. White Papers

Eight Easy Steps To Finding A New Manufacturing System
People need more than just product information to make sound accounting and manufacturing software decisions. So in this paper, we've distilled what we've learned for those who are managing manufacturing manually and need to automate, those who are using entry-level software and want to move up, and those who have old systems and are ready for new technology.

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