Dell expands battery recall ... BEA offers glimpse of WorkSpace 360 tool

Today's IT News Audio Update
http://www.itworld.com/jpitw/itwtodayblog/Tech/5042/daily_news_podcast/index.html
Dell increases battery recall while IBM, Lenovo admit problems ... HP buys VoodooPC for gaming biz ... Google gives data to Brazilian govt


HIGHLIGHTS

News: Dell expands battery recall, Fujitsu considers action
News: BEA offers glimpse of upcoming WorkSpace 360 tool
News: HP buys VoodooPC to boost gaming strategy
News: Toshiba to exchange a further 830,000 Sony batteries
Unix Tip: Mirroring your root partition with Solaris Volume Manager
ITwhirled: A great geek T-shirt could be yours. Hurry! Only 2 days left.


NEWS UPDATES

Dell expands battery recall, Fujitsu considers action
Dell Inc. has increased by 100,000 the number of laptop batteries it is recalling due to a potential fire hazard, while Toshiba Corp. said it would take part in Sony Corp.'s voluntary battery replacement program kicked off Thursday. Fujitsu Ltd. indicated that it was also considering a voluntary recall.

BEA offers glimpse of upcoming WorkSpace 360 tool
BEA Systems Inc. this week offered a rare glimpse of its upcoming SOA (service-oriented architecture) tool set, called WorkSpace 360, with a demonstration of a prototype tool currently under development.

HP buys VoodooPC to boost gaming strategy
As Hewlett-Packard Co.'s top executive testified before a Congressional committee about an ongoing spying scandal, other company executives were in New York to announce new products and a key acquisition for its strategy to enrich consumers' digital lifestyles.

Toshiba to exchange a further 830,000 Sony batteries
Toshiba Corp. is offering to replace 830,000 laptop batteries containing cells made by Sony Corp., it said Friday. The offer covers computers sold worldwide and is separate from a similar announcement made by the company last week.

Microsoft still scrambling to patch July bugs
It has become a familiar pattern: A hacker posts exploit code to a security Web site; Microsoft Corp. follows soon after with a warning to customers.


UNIX TIP

Mirroring your root partition with Solaris Volume Manager
By Sandra Henry-Stocker

Solaris Volume Manager can make easy work of mirroring your root file system, but you have to use the right commands in the right sequence to make easy work of this task. In this week's column, we'll run through each of the commands required to mirror root and show how you can check on what is happening in each step.


ITWHIRLED

Geek Comic of the Week: Intergalactic Law
This strip is just getting under way, and it's already one of our favorites. Can a one-eyed, one-breasted alien be penalized in divorce proceedings because she tried to eat her soon-to-be-ex-husband? Can an intern be forced to help perfect pirate antics? This strip has the answers to these questions and much more.

A great geek T-shirt could be yours. Learn how!

HP's top lawyer resigns ... Accenture hands $3.7B UK health IT contracts to CSC

Today's IT News Audio Update
HP's top lawyer resigns ... Yahoo buys Jumpcut.com ... Intel unveils new notebook platform


HIGHLIGHTS

News: HP's general counsel quits
News: Accenture hands $3.7B UK health IT contracts to CSC
News: BenQ Mobile to file for bankruptcy in Germany
News: Yahoo buys Web video site Jumpcut
News: HP CEO describes a 'rogue' investigation
Tip: File sharing in Windows Vista
ITwhirled: A great geek T-shirt could be yours. Just 3 days left to enter!


NEWS UPDATES

HP's general counsel quits
Another top Hewlett-Packard Co. executive will leave the company, with HP's announcement on Thursday that its general counsel, Ann Baskins, has resigned, effective immediately.

Accenture hands $3.7B UK health IT contracts to CSC
Accenture Ltd. has walked away from two contracts to deliver regional IT systems and services to the U.K. National Health Service (NHS). An alliance led by Computer Sciences Corp. will take over the contracts, the companies announced Thursday. CSC already has contracts to deliver services in two other regions.

BenQ Mobile to file for bankruptcy in Germany
BenQ Mobile GmbH & Co. OHG plans to file for bankruptcy protection in Germany after its Taiwanese parent decided to stop investing in the money-losing operation, the mobile phone maker said Thursday.

Yahoo buys Web video site Jumpcut
Yahoo Inc. agreed to buy Web video editing and publishing site Jumpcut.com on Wednesday, as Internet companies continue to seek ways to compete with YouTube Inc.

HP CEO describes a 'rogue' investigation
Hewlett-Packard Co. chief executive officer (CEO) Mark Hurd blamed the scandal that has besieged his company on "a rogue investigation" that got out of hand, in an advance copy of his Congressional testimony released by a House Subcommittee on Wednesday.

HD DVD coming to Xbox 360 in US, Europe
Microsoft Corp. has expanded on its plans to launch an HD DVD drive for its Xbox 360 console to markets in North America and Europe, the company said at its X06 gaming event in Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday.


TIP

BS generator for a new generation
Anyone who was around during the tech boom of the late 90s remembers the Dack.com BS generator, which produced such gems as "implement killer web-readiness" that you could sprinkle into your conference calls with salivating VCs. Now Emptybottle.org has updated the concept for the new Web 2.0 world, so you can post pearls of wisdom like "integrate long-tail platforms" to your blog, where salivating VCs will read it.

A great geek T-shirt could be yours. Learn how!

Court dismisses part of AMD's case against Intel ... Microsoft offers early fix for critical IE bug

Today's IT News Audio Update
Intel to ship quad-core chips ... Lime Wire sues record companies ... Microsoft patches IE vulnerability


HIGHLIGHTS

News: Court dismisses part of AMD's case against Intel
News: Oracle unveils first core Berkeley DB release
News: Intel to ship quad-core chips in November
News: Microsoft offers early fix for critical IE bug
News: Sophos AV upgraded to block unwanted programs
Security Tip: Keep a lookout for toll call fraud
ITwhirled: A great geek T-shirt could be yours. Only 4 days left!


NEWS UPDATES

Court dismisses part of AMD's case against Intel
A district court judge in the U.S. state of Delaware has dismissed part of Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s lawsuit against Intel Corp. The dismissed claims relate to alleged business practices of Intel that AMD claims affected sales of its own microprocessors.

Oracle unveils first core Berkeley DB release
Oracle Corp. is releasing its first version of the core Berkeley DB embedded database since acquiring the software through its February purchase of open-source developer Sleepycat Software Inc.

Intel to ship quad-core chips in November
Intel Corp. will ship quad-core processors in November for servers and gaming PCs, accelerating its effort to regain momentum in sales of power-efficient chips.

Microsoft offers early fix for critical IE bug
With attackers finding new ways to exploit a critical flaw in Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corp. has released a patch for the problem, ahead of its next scheduled round of security updates.

Sophos AV upgraded to block unwanted programs
Security vendor Sophos PLC has upgraded its antivirus software to allow system administrators to block the installation of file-sharing, VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) and instant-messaging programs, the company announced Wednesday.

Server failure makes Google, others unavailable
The failure of a DNS (domain name system) server at Comcast Corp. caused problems for some Web surfers in the northeast section of the U.S. Tuesday, making several Web sites, including Google, inaccessible.

Signiant offers remote office data solution
Signiant Inc. has addressed the problem of tape data backup in remote offices by removing tape from the enterprise entirely. The company will unveil its Mobilize for Remote Data Protection product at the Storage Decisions Conference that opens Wednesday in New York City.


SECURITY TIP

Keep a lookout for toll call fraud
By Brent Huston, MicroSolved, Inc.

Toll call fraud is a serious concern for organizations today. The FBI and FCC estimate that more than 4 billion dollars are lost each year due to the problem. As information security folks, we are often so focused on the computer networks and threats against them that we tend to forget that the phone system could be used to hurt us too. Avoid toll fraud by watching for these things.


ITWHIRLED

She's a 10
10 NFL Quarterbacks on the hot seat ... The 10 Best Resources for CSS ... Top Ten Best Honeymoon Destinations ... 10 Programming Languages You Should Learn Right Now ... Ten CSS tricks you may not know

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IBM begins services revamp ... Lime Wire turns sues record companies

Today's IT News Audio Update
Microsoft may issue patch to fix IE flaw ... Skype prepares to add enterprise support ... Oracle steps up with support for Itanium 2


HIGHLIGHTS

News: Lime Wire turns tables, sues record companies
News: IBM begins major revamp of its services business
News: Intel invests $40 million in Chinese software vendor
News: Oracle to support Itanium platform
News: Pressure mounts for Microsoft to patch IE flaw
Tip: A hardware approach to storage security
ITwhirled: A great geek T-shirt could be yours. Hurry! Only 5 days left.


NEWS UPDATES

Lime Wire turns tables, sues record companies
Peer-to-peer file-sharing software developer Lime Wire LLC has countersued the biggest record companies, charging them with anti-competitive behavior. The suit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, follows the closing of most of the popular file-sharing Web sites due to lawsuits initiated by record companies. It also comes on the heels of a suit filed by 13 record companies against Lime Wire, accusing the developer of music piracy and demanding damages that could amount to $476 million.

IBM begins major revamp of its services business
IBM is today rolling out the first two of what it terms "service products." The standardized offerings are designed to be used by any IBM customer anywhere, a very different approach from the company's previous focus on providing customized, one-off services to individual users.

Internet problems persist in Zimbabwe
Large-scale Internet connection problems in the African country of Zimbabwe have continued for about a month because of a late payment to a satellite-based telecom provider. Zimbabwe's ISPs still have only about 10% of usual bandwidth available to them after the government-owned TelOne telecommunications provider fell US$700,000 behind on its bill to Intelsat Ltd.

Intel invests $40 million in Chinese software vendor
Intel Corp. plans to invest $40 million in Neusoft Group Ltd. as part of a deal that will see the Chinese software vendor optimize its products for Intel microprocessors.

Wallop says its social network packs a punch
It may seem like tilting at windmills, but Wallop Technologies Inc. expects to shake up the social networking market, currently dominated by entrenched players like News Corp.'s MySpace, Facebook Inc. and Friendster Inc. Wallop is betting that a slick platform based on Adobe Systems Inc.'s Flash multimedia system, an absence of ads and a community of third-party developers will set it apart.

Oracle to support Itanium platform
Oracle joined with officials of the Itanium Solutions Alliance at the first ever Itanium Solutions Summit in San Francisco Monday to announce that Oracle will soon begin certification of its database software to run on Itanium 2 computing processor platforms.

Pressure mounts for Microsoft to patch IE flaw
Hackers are intensifying their attacks on Internet Explorer users, increasing the chances that Microsoft Corp. will patch a critical flaw in the software ahead of its regularly scheduled Oct. 10 security update.

AOL members sue over search data release
Three people have sued AOL LLC over the company's controversial release of member search-engine records, in what their lawyers are billing as the first such lawsuit seeking national class action status.

Add location to your digital camera's metadata
Ever been on a trip where you've visited a dozen places, taken hundreds of pictures but can't quite remember where you shot them? Sony Corp. has developed a pocket-size, GPS (Global Positioning System) device and software that helps you identify the location of every picture you've taken within a couple of meters.


TIP

A hardware approach to storage security
By David Hill, Mesabi Group

The Trusted Computing Group storage working group is working on specifications that manufacturers can use to create trusted platform module-like functionality on storage devices, notably hard disk drives, and high-end flash memory devices. A hard disk is a closed system. Disk drives are intelligent in that they have custom controllers, which have a processor and hidden system memory. Intelligent disk drives have firmware that is not alterable by unauthorized third parties, which means that the bad guys cannot get inside to do damage.


ITWHIRLED

"It's pretty awesome when it works"
Nothing's perfect, not even Steve Jobs' fabled Reality Distortion Field. This funny video collects some of the less-than-shining moments from Jobs' famous keynote speeches, including computer bugs and public speaking flubs.

A great geek T-shirt could be yours. Learn how!

Symantec: Browser bugs surging in 2006 ...New security group patches latest IE bug ... RApple legal 'pod' protection continues

HP EO announces resignation of Chairman Patricia Dunn ... Jailed Chinese journalist plans to sue Yahoo in the U.S. ... IBM likely to support China's Red Flag Linux

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Open-source firewall company ModSecurity gets acquired
News: Symantec: Browser bugs surging in 2006
News: SF claims progress in Wi-Fi negotiations
News: Symantec dismisses Vista security debate
News: Sony shuffles control of electronics group
News: Apple legal 'pod' protection continues
News: New security group patches latest IE bug
News: Google plans product search boost in Q4
Analysis: HP lawyer gives blow-by-blow of leak probe
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update


NEWS UPDATES

Open-source firewall company ModSecurity gets acquired
Breach Security Inc. will acquire Thinking Stone Ltd., which develops and provides support for an open-source Web application firewall called ModSecurity, the companies announced Monday.

Symantec: Browser bugs surging in 2006
Hackers are hitting paydirt in their search for browser bugs. According to Symantec Corp.'s twice-yearly Internet Security Threat Report, hackers found 47 bugs in Mozilla Corp.'s open-source browsers and 38 bugs in Internet Explorer (IE) during the first six months of this year. That's up significantly from the 17 Mozilla and 25 IE bugs found in the previous six months.

SF claims progress in Wi-Fi negotiations
Google Inc. and EarthLink Inc.'s Wi-Fi contract with San Francisco would have a renewable four-year term and would require a proof-of-concept deployment before the full network is rolled out, if progress so far in negotiations holds firm, according to the city.

Symantec dismisses Vista security debate
Symantec Corp. Pacific region Vice President David Sykes has thrown cold water on the Windows Vista security debacle which emerged last week pointing out that it is pointless speculating about software that isn't released yet.

Sony shuffles control of electronics group
Sony Corp. is reshuffling responsibilities in its key electronics group, allowing the head of the division to play a bigger role in Sony's research and development actvities.

Apple legal 'pod' protection continues
Apple is becoming more aggressive in protecting its iPod trademark and is now attempting to establish control of the word 'pod' and, in one case, 'podcast.'

New security group patches latest IE bug
Microsoft Corp. may be waiting until next month to patch a nasty bug in Outlook and Internet Explorer, but security researchers are offering users a more immediate option.

Google plans product search boost in Q4
Google Inc. plans to extend the product search capabilities on its main Google.com Web search engine in the fourth quarter, in time for the holiday shopping season.


ANALYSIS

HP lawyer gives blow-by-blow of leak probe
An attorney hired by Hewlett-Packard Co. to investigate the conduct of HP and outside investigators has provided new details of his firm's investigation of news leaks from the HP board.


ITWHIRLED

"It's pretty awesome when it works"
Nothing's perfect, not even Steve Jobs' fabled Reality Distortion Field. This funny video collects some of the less-than-shining moments from Jobs' famous keynote speeches, including computer bugs and public speaking flubs.