EMC to buy RSA for $2.1 billion ... MS faces class action suit over WGA tool

HIGHLIGHTS

News: EMC to buy RSA for $2.1 billion
News: Microsoft faces class action suit over WGA tool
News: Lawmakers: Two other data breaches at VA
News: Office 2007 delayed
Opinion: File Discovery Gets Easier
ITwhirled: Geek comic of the week: Herzog the Vile

NEWS UPDATES

EMC to buy RSA for $2.1 billion
Continuing its multiyear shopping spree, storage giant EMC Corp. said Thursday it would acquire RSA Security Inc. for about $2.1 billion.

Microsoft faces class action suit over WGA tool
Microsoft Corp. is facing a class action suit over a tool that gathers data on a user's computer in an effort to detect bootlegged copies of its Windows operating system.

Lawmakers: Two other data breaches at VA
U.S. lawmakers said Thursday they have learned of two more data breaches at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) even as the agency announced that law enforcement agencies had recovered stolen computer hardware containing the personal information of millions of U.S. military veterans.

Office 2007 delayed
Office 2007 has hit another delay and will now probably ship a few months later than previously expected, Microsoft Corp. said Thursday.

Wall Street Beat: Networking under pressure
Facing a mature enterprise market and fierce price competition in the telecommunications infrastructure arena, networking vendors are coming under the gun.

Past returns to haunt CA with second delay in results
Seemingly unable to shake its troubled financial past, CA Inc. for the second time is delaying the filing of its final fourth-quarter and full-year 2006 results, the systems management and security software vendor announced Thursday.

OPINION

File Discovery Gets Easier
By James Gaskin

IT folks have always mistrusted people wearing thousand dollar suits. They used to be vice presidents coming to slash the IT budget. Now they're lawyers demanding thousands of files spread across years of data delivered in specific formats in incredibly short periods of time. Who knew we'd miss the budget cutting VPs?

Google launches Checkout payment system ... Yahoo settles click-fraud suit

Today's IT News Audio Update
Google launches Checkout payment system ... Yahoo settles click-fraud suit ... EC suggests telco breakup


HIGHLIGHTS

News: Google to debut Checkout payments system
News: Yahoo settles click fraud suit
News: Researcher publishes details of Amazon.com, MSN holes
News: Red Hat inherits patent claim from JBoss
Research: Mobility Transcends Telephony
ITwhirled: 10 wimpiest cars of 2006


NEWS UPDATES

Google to debut Checkout payments system
Ending more than a year of speculation and rumors, Google Inc. plans to release on Thursday its much-awaited online payments system, likely surprising many because its reach will extend farther than previously thought.

Yahoo settles click fraud suit
Yahoo Inc. agreed to compensate advertisers for click fraud dating back to January 2004 as part of a settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit, the search company said on Wednesday.

Researcher publishes details of Amazon.com, MSN holes
Frustrated with what he calls a lack of response from Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., a security researcher has gone public with details of flaws on the two companies' Web sites.

Red Hat inherits patent claim from JBoss
Red Hat Inc. faces a patent infringement lawsuit this week over an application that came under its wing as a result of its acquisition of JBoss Inc.

Google loses appeal in Louis Vuitton trademark suit
Google Inc.'s French subsidiary has lost its appeal in a trademark case brought by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, which complained that advertisers were using its name unfairly to sell goods online.

Senate panel narrowly rejects net neutrality
A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday, with a tie vote, rejected a proposal that would have required broadband providers to give their competitors the same speeds and quality of service as they give to themselves or their partners.


RESEARCH

Mobility Transcends Telephony
By Dan Blacharski

Business mobility means much more than having a cell phone, but the providers haven't yet delivered what business users need.

IBM tops supercomputer list ... Security flaws persist in e-voting systems

Today's IT News Audio Update
Security flaws persist in e-voting systems ... Microsoft revamps reviled WGA ... Indonesia adopts online system to protect children


HIGHLIGHTS

News: IBM tops supercomputer list, Opteron gains ground
News: For spammers, a picture is better than 1,000 words
News: Novell previews Suse Linux Enterprise
Tip: Remote office backup consolidation centrally made easy
Opinion: Physical and cyber security may be converging, but it has a long way to go
ITwhirled: Tales from the trenches


NEWS UPDATES

IBM tops supercomputer list, Opteron gains ground
The Top500 list of the world's fastest supercomputers was released Wednesday, with IBM Corp.'s BlueGene continuing to reign and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s (AMD's) Opteron processor powering more systems on the list than last year.

For spammers, a picture is better than 1,000 words
Spam is again on the rise, led by a flood of junk images that spammers have crafted over the past few months to trick e-mail filters, according to security vendors.

Novell previews Suse Linux Enterprise
Novell has released a preview version of its upcoming Suse Linux Enterprise distribution, amid a last-minute delay to the software's final release and wider turmoil at Novell.

Aperi consortium boosted by Novell
Aperi, the IBM-founded open source storage consortium, has taken an important step forward Tuesday as SuSE Linux vendor Novell joined up.


TIP

Remote office backup consolidation centrally made easy
By David Hill, Mesabi Group

You have the responsibility for data protection for a number of geographically distributed branch offices or other remote sites. However, you cannot afford to have a dedicated IT professional at each site. The person assigned to the part-time role of backup administrator may not have the necessary skills to handle the complexity of the job -- monitoring backups, moving backup copies offsite, and performing restores. The complex manual process -- a mismatch of skills with typically available hardware/software for the backup/restore process -- is to blame for a continuing thorn in the side of many central IT. What can you do about it? One solution is to manage the remote office data protection processes centrally.


OPINION

Physical and cyber security may be converging, but it has a long way to go
By Brent Huston

There is a chasm of understanding, culture and respect between physical security and cybersecurity teams. But somewhere along the way, you need to make it work and the key is strong executive leadership, determination and a very strong effort on both sides to find a common starting point.

Intel sells comms biz to Marvell ... Sony to ship notebook with flash drive

Today's IT News Audio Update
Intel sells comms biz to Marvell, unveils dual-core chip ... Microsoft lays out communications integration plan ... Sony to ship notebook with flash drive


HIGHLIGHTS

News: Intel sells comms unit to Marvell
News: Nokia joint venture to secure near-field communication
News: E.U. may fine Microsoft €2 million a day
News: Sony to outfit smallest Vaio with flash-disk
Opinion: The Next Best Thing to Knowing Something...
ITwhirled: Lasers to foil pirates

NEWS UPDATES

Intel sells comms unit to Marvell
Intel Corp. will sell its communications and application processor business to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. for $600 million, the companies announced Tuesday.

Nokia joint venture to secure near-field communication
Nokia Corp. has formed a joint venture with a smart card manufacturer to secure electronic payments made using a short-range wireless technology called near-field communication (NFC) useful in financial transactions such as credit card purchasing or public transportation ticketing.

E.U. may fine Microsoft €2 million a day
The European Commission is about to propose a new fine of up to €460 million (US$577 million) against Microsoft for failing to honor the antitrust ruling imposed on the company in 2004, according to people close to the case Tuesday.

Sony to outfit smallest Vaio with flash-disk
Sony Corp. will replace hard disks with flash memory when it launches a new model of its Vaio U laptop next week, it said on Tuesday.

Retailer CompUSA to offer NetSuite's hosted software
NetSuite Inc. believes it has scored a real coup, clinching a deal with CompUSA Inc. announced Tuesday where the technology retailer will offer NetSuite's on-demand business software in all of its U.S. stores.

Nortel to cut pensions and jobs in search of profit
Nortel Networks Corp. will cut 1,100 jobs worldwide and trim its North American pension plans in a move to cut costs and return the company to profitability, it announced Tuesday.

Microsoft unveils code-sharing Web site
Microsoft Corp. is hoping to fire up a community of developers on a code-sharing forum the company has been testing since May but rolled out officially on Tuesday.

Microsoft tests Office 2007 online
In an unprecedented move, Microsoft Corp. Tuesday will allow users to test the next version of Office online without having to download software.

Intel rolls out 'Woodcrest' chip
As it seeks to fend off competitive threats from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., chip maker Intel Corp. Monday released its dual-core Xeon processor, code-named 'Woodcrest,' the first based on its new Core microarchitecture.

Gartner: Notebook PCs still prone to hardware failure
Nearly one-fifth of all notebook PCs will break down over their lifetime, needing a new hardware component to fix the failure, a study reveals.


OPINION

The Next Best Thing to Knowing Something...
By Sean McGrath

There is a saying I have always liked that goes like this: "The next best thing to knowing something, is knowing where to find it."

Somewhere along the line I read that this little gem is attributed to the great Samuel Johnson.

Read the full article here

Buffet gives Gates foundation $30.7 billion ... Oracle releases PeopleSoft version 9

Today's IT news audio update
Buffet gift makes Gates foundation world's largest ... Stringer taps software designers to boost Sony ... Oracle rolls out next Peoplesoft release


HIGHLIGHTS

News: Prospects fading for single European patent regime
News: IBM aims Sametime at Microsoft users
News: Oracle releases PeopleSoft version 9
News: Salesforce.com's latest offering targets partners
Tip: Getting the Water Out of Your Storage
ITwhirled: Robot ethics: Security, safety, and sex


NEWS UPDATES

Prospects fading for single European patent regime
The prospects for a single, European Union-wide patent regime appear to be dimming, as industry groups representing some of the most innovative companies active in Europe are urging the European Commission to abandon its promise earlier this year to make “one final push” to adopt the so-called Community patent.

IBM aims Sametime at Microsoft users
IBM Corp. is revamping its Sametime enterprise IM system so it can venture better armed into Microsoft Corp. enemy territory, IBM plans to announce Monday.

Oracle releases PeopleSoft version 9
Oracle Corp. released version 9 of its PeopleSoft Enterprise application suite on Monday, an upgrade the company said will prepare customers to move toward a service-oriented architecture (SOA).

Salesforce.com's latest offering targets partners
Salesforce.com Inc. is due to officially announce Monday a version of its on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) software targeting companies looking to better manage their direct and indirect sales organizations.

ClearCube challenges HP with new PC blades
ClearCube Technology plans to launch two PC blade servers Monday, in a bid to compete with Hewlett-Packard Co. for customers in finance, insurance, hospitals and the military.

IBM hopes to Eclipse anti-Aperi group
IBM is placing Aperi, its open-source storage management group, under indirect industry authorization. Aperi will join the Eclipse Foundation, the generic open source community. There will be a formal relationship with the storage networking industry organisation (SNIA).

NetApp sells NetCache to Blue Coat
Blue Coat Systems has splashed out some $24 million in cash and $6 million in shares to buy Network Appliance's NetCache business. The deal brings together the number one and two players in the proxy caching market.

LANDesk jumps into BPM market
LANDesk Software Ltd. on Monday launched its first products for business process management since acquiring the assets of BPM vendor NewRoad Software Inc. earlier this year.


TIP

Getting the Water Out of Your Storage
By David Hill, Mesabi Group

Backups and restores take too long, transmitting data over networks uses up too much bandwidth, and disk drives and disk arrays continue to be purchased at what may seem to be too frequent intervals. What can you do about it? The answer is to move and store less data and the action is on eliminating interfile redundancies.