IBM, Yahoo launch free enterprise search tool ... HP, Microsoft to unveil enterprise software deal

HIGHLIGHTS

News: IBM, Yahoo launch free enterprise search tool
News: HP and Microsoft to unveil enterprise software deal
News: Google allows employees to auction off stock options
News: Microsoft offers software for building robots
Unix Tip: Adding lines to the ends of files
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Space Shuttle not ready for 'Auld Lang Syne'


NEWS UPDATES

IBM, Yahoo launch free enterprise search tool
IBM Corp. and Yahoo Inc. have developed a free, entry-level, enterprise search application that at least one analyst believes will seriously disrupt the low-end segment of this market where Google Inc. has been selling many of its Mini search devices.

HP and Microsoft to unveil enterprise software deal
Hewlett-Packard Co. and Microsoft Corp. will enter into a new enterprise software agreement to be detailed Wednesday.

Google allows employees to auction off stock options
Google Inc. will allow some employees to auction off their vested stock options to institutional investors, enabling workers to potentially reap greater profits from their options, the company said Wednesday.

Microsoft offers software for building robots
Microsoft Corp. released the commercial version of its software for robots on Wednesday, hoping to shape the market much as it did for PC software a few decades ago.

Skype releases beta for Windows Mobile smart phones
Skype Ltd. released the beta version of Skype 2.2, a software client that allows Windows Mobile smart phones to access the company's VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) service over Wi-Fi connections.

Intel moves Spring IDF to Beijing, drops U.S. conference
Intel Corp.'s annual Spring Intel Developer Forum (IDF) conference will not be held in the U.S. next year, a company official confirmed Wednesday. Instead, the world's largest chip maker is moving the event to Beijing.

'Rock Phish' blamed for surge in phishing
Rock Phish has grown to be one of the most prominent phishing groups in operation. It has developed a variety of new attack techniques that have earned the group a kind of grudging respect among security professionals, who estimate that the criminal organization's phishing schemes have cost banks more than $100 million to date.

Cisco focuses on video, innovation teams
Cisco Systems Inc. executives looked to video, the developing world, and still-emerging technologies as they kicked off the company's C-Scape analyst conference Tuesday.

EBay Express disappoints merchants
Merchants complain that eBay Express doesn't attract sufficient shoppers and generates an inconsequential volume of sales, although eBay Inc. says it is satisfied and remains committed to the site.

Microsoft fixes IE, Windows Media Player flaws
Microsoft Corp. has rolled out its monthly security updates for December, patching critical flaws in Internet Explorer, Windows Media Format and the Visual Studio 2005 development software.


UNIX TIP

Adding lines to the ends of files
By Sandra Henry-Stocker

Let's look at a quick, clever way to add lines to the ends of files on a Unix system. This little Unix trick can be very useful if you are distributing installation directions to customers and want to limit the possible mistakes that they can make in updating important system files. The basis of this trick is the Unix here document -- a special form of I/O redirection that allows you to insert the content to be added between the redirect command and a special marker that is recognized as the end marker for the inserted text.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Microsoft, HP to announce enterprise partnership ... Investigation of LCD industry widens ... Microsoft releases new security updates


ITWHIRLED

Space Shuttle not ready for 'Auld Lang Syne'
As if NASA engineers didn't have enough safety problems to worry about with the aging shuttle fleet, a potential late December mission has them fretting about how the spacecraft's 1970s-era computers will -- or, more likely, won't -- deal with the rollover from one year to the next.