SAP competitor throws in towel ... A series of unfortunate events hobble Blogger

HIGHLIGHTS

News: SAP competitor throws in towel
News: A series of unfortunate events hobble Blogger
News: Microsoft clarifies Vista licensing; users still irked
News: Another headache for Sony: falling PSP sales
Windows Tip: Managing local users and groups
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Geek Comic of the Week - EMOTICOMICS!


NEWS UPDATES

SAP competitor throws in towel
The air appears to be growing thinner for small suppliers of ERP (enterprise resource planning) software competing against industry giants SAP AG and Oracle Corp. Semiramis Software AG in Hanover, Germany, and Semiramis Software GmbH in Kirchbichl, Austria, have filed for bankruptcy protection, after failing to agree to a plan for turning around their loss-making operations, the companies said Thursday.

A series of unfortunate events hobble Blogger
Google Inc.'s Blogger has experienced availability problems in recent days, continuing a series of mishaps that began several weeks ago.

Microsoft clarifies Vista licensing; users still irked
Microsoft Corp. on Thursday finally attempted to clear up confusion over licensing of Windows Vista for power users who rebuild their PCs on a regular basis. But the answer from the software vendor did little to placate some users, who are still upset about Microsoft's one-machine transfer policy for Vista.

Another headache for Sony: falling PSP sales
As if the laptop battery recall and stumbles towards the launch of the PlayStation 3 weren't enough for it to deal with, Sony Corp. said this week that shipments of its PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld game device are well below expectations.

Wall Street Beat: Net, software buoys Nasdaq
Though earnings season has been a mixed bag, as usual, some encouraging trends are emerging in the Internet and software sectors. While the cost of doing business is high for companies whose business model is based on Internet search and sales, revenue has been rising for key companies.

Software, Xbox sales lift Microsoft to strong Q1
A strong quarter from its software server and entertainment divisions helped Microsoft Corp. beat Wall Street analyst expectations for the first quarter of fiscal 2007, which ended Sept. 30.

Sun Microsystems narrows loss significantly
Stronger sales of its Solaris 10 operating system helped Sun Microsystems Inc. cut its losses significantly in quarterly financial results released Thursday, beating analysts estimates.


WINDOWS TIP

Managing local users and groups
By Mitch Tulloch, MTIT Enterprises

Is being able to manage local users and groups using scripts useful to enterprise administrators? Here's what Ed Wilson, author of Microsoft VBScript Step by Step, and the Microsoft Windows Scripting with WMI: Self-Paced Learning Guide has to say on the topic.

Read the full article here

PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Microsoft confirms licensing changes will hit power users ... IBM finds way to keep chips cooler ... Microsoft sees revenue rise 11 percent

More podcasts

ITWHIRLED

Geek Comic of the Week: EMOTICOMICS!Simultaneously pushing the boundaries of both comics and emoticons, this series of dialogues between characters constructed out of elaborate series of punctuation marks varies from the philosophical to the absurd to the deeply juvenile. Look for special guest appearances by God and the devil (who can't be represented by images, even in emoticon form).

Batteries, PS3 push Sony to Q2 operating loss ... Secunia finds another IE7 bug

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Batteries, PS3 push Sony to Q2 operating loss
News: Scottish school is first to use palm-vein biometrics
News: SAP co-founder Plattner backs new Open Source Forum
News: Bug causes Microsoft to push Vista RTM to Nov. 8
Opinion: The inevitability of cruft
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: GPS system drives obedient German into trouble


NEWS UPDATES

Batteries, PS3 push Sony to Q2 operating loss
The global recall and replacement of millions of laptop batteries, and start-up costs for the PlayStation 3 console, pushed Sony Corp.'s operations into the red for the July to September quarter, despite a jump in sales.

Scottish school is first to use palm-vein biometrics
The cafeteria at Todholm Primary School, in Paisley, Scotland, has gone cashless and students are buying lunches by holding their hands over a palm-vein recognition unit produced by Glasgow-based Yarg Biometrics Ltd.

SAP co-founder Plattner backs new Open Source Forum
Hasso Plattner, the billionaire co-founder of business software maker SAP AG, has teamed with IBM Corp. and Deutsche Telekom AG to host a forum aimed at giving open source software entrepreneurs an opportunity to present their business ideas to venture capitalists and other IT experts.

Bug causes Microsoft to push Vista RTM to Nov. 8
PC manufacturers that expected to get their hands on the final version of Windows Vista on Wednesday have to wait a couple more weeks for the OS, according to sources familiar with the company's plans.

Mozilla team downplays first Firefox 2.0 bug reports
Of the two vulnerabilities in Firefox 2.0 reported since the browser's release on Tuesday, the first was patched in a previous version and the second alleged problem couldn't be replicated during testing, said Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering.

Cisco acquires Orative for $31 million
Cisco Systems Inc. continued its buying spree by announcing Thursday it will acquire privately-held mobile telephony software company Orative Corp. for $31 million in cash.

Capgemini to acquire IT services firm Kanbay
French IT services company Capgemini SA has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Kanbay International Inc., an IT services firm in Rosemont, Illinois, to boost its services delivery from India, and its business in the financial services sector. The deal values Kanbay at
$1.25 billion.

Secunia claims second IE 7 flaw
Just one week after claiming that users of Microsoft Corp'.s Internet Explorer 7 browser could be at risk to an online attack, Danish security vendor Secunia ApS is reporting a new bug in the browser.


OPINION

The inevitability of cruft
By Sean McGrath

The word 'cruft' is a truly excellent word. From the moment the subject of this article entered my head, I knew I wanted to use it in the title. Now I have a dangerous habit of using words because they sound right at the time, even if they are not the right words in the sense of their meaning. Needless to say this can be a problem. Call it a character flaw. I thought it expedient to hit the dictionaries on 'cruft' just to be sure.

Read the full article here


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Oracle to offer full support for Red Hat Linux ... Secunia finds another IE7 bug ... Vista bug won't derail November release

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

GPS system drives obedient German into trouble

An 80-year-old man and his wife were driving near Hamburg with the aid of one of those new-fangled talking GPS systems. They followed the computerized directions faithfully -- right past a barrier and sign that read "closed for construction" and into a pile of sand.

AMD wraps up ATI merger, plans fusion of CPU and GPU ... Mozilla releases Firefox 2.0

HIGHLIGHTS
News: AMD completes ATI merger, plans fusion of CPU and GPU
News: Xen founder says project will stay on top
News: 3G for mobile broadband? Think again
News: Mozilla releases Firefox 2.0
Security Tip: Application security assessment options
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: U.K. man admits 'Web rage' attack


NEWS UPDATES

AMD completes ATI merger, plans fusion of CPU and GPU
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. plans to make chips integrating its x86 with a graphics processor on a single piece of silicon by early 2009. The announcement came as AMD completed its $5.4 billion merger with graphics chip manufacturer ATI Technologies Inc. on Wednesday.

Xen founder says project will stay on top
As virtualization technology gets increasing attention from large enterprises, the founder of the Xen open-source project said on Wednesday that Xen will develop more quickly compared to competitors, including Microsoft Corp and VMware Inc.

3G for mobile broadband? Think again
The GSM Association (GSMA), an industry group comprised of mobile operators, wants to see 3G (third-generation) cellular technologies used for wireless broadband in notebook PCs, but operators will have to change their way of doing business to make that happen.

Mozilla releases Firefox 2.0
The browser wars are back. Just two weeks after Microsoft Corp. delivered its highly anticipated Internet Explorer 7, Mozilla Corp. has shipped a major update to its Firefox browser.

Microsoft comforts PC vendors with Vista upgrade
In an effort to mollify hardware vendors that are scared that delays in the launch of Windows Vista will dampen holiday PC sales, Microsoft Corp. is offering a discount to consumers and small businesses that want to upgrade from Windows XP to the Vista OS.

HP looks to shed strategic partners
In reasonably feisty form, given the boardroom-level spying scandal dogging his company, Mark Hurd, HP's chairman and chief executive officer, laid out HP's moves to reinvent its operations, including reducing its number of partners, in a keynote address at Oracle Corp.'s OpenWorld conference in San Francisco.

MacBook Pros now have Intel Core 2 Duo processors
Confirming the rumors, Apple has updated its entire 17- and 15-inch MacBook Pro range of notebooks to include new Intel Core 2 Duo processors.

BenQ Mobile bankruptcy prompts Infineon to cut jobs
The insolvency of German handset maker BenQ Mobile GmbH &Co. OHG continues to reverberate in the mobile phone sector. On Tuesday, chip maker Infineon Technologies AG said it will lay off workers and take hundreds of millions of dollars in charges after losing BenQ Mobile as a customer.

Program to wean developers off Coke and pizza
Altiris Inc. is trying to break its software developers of their unhealthy habits. Participants accumulate virtual kilometers each time they engage in a positive activity, like exercising and eating healthy, and quitting smoking. The winner will receive a trip for two to a Kakadu safari.


SECURITY TIP

Application security assessment options
By Brent Huston, MicroSolved, Inc.

Modern consumers have come to expect easy access to online services such as shopping, banking, access to healthcare, tax records and the like, but that access comes at a price. Convenience often brings increased exposure to underlying data -- attackers have long focused on the application layer as a source of vulnerability. If application security is not a part of your web commerce plans, it should be.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Microsoft postpones XP Service Pack 3 to 2008 ... Mozilla releases Firefox 2.0 ... Microsoft to offer Vista upgrade coupons for XP PCs

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

U.K. man admits 'Web rage' attack
In another good example of why you should be hesitant about providing personal information online, Paul Gibbons admitted that after he and John Jones exchanged insults in a chat room, Gibbons drove 70 miles to Jones' home and attacked him with a pickaxe handle.

Microsoft releases spyware tool while rivals bicker ... Alcatel and Lucent report rising revenue

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Microsoft releases spyware tool while rivals bicker
News: Alcatel and Lucent report rising revenue before merger
News: Sony details battery problems, replacement program
News: Google readies custom search engine service
Storage Tip: Application classification is not data classification
Opinion: Vista vacuum blowback
ITwhirled: 10 Unneccessary - but cool - gadgets


NEWS UPDATES

Microsoft releases spyware tool while rivals bicker
Microsoft Corp. released the final version of its Windows Defender antispyware tool on Tuesday, while security rivals squabbled about whether the company has given them sufficient access to Windows Vista to build competing products.

Alcatel and Lucent report rising revenue before merger
Telecommunications equipment manufacturers Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc. both reported increased revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30. This will be the last time the companies report their financial results separately: In April, they announced their intention to merge, and now expect to complete the deal by the end of the year.

Sony details battery problems, replacement program
Sony Corp. has provided greater detail about a battery manufacturing problem that is expected to see the replacement of up to 9.6 million laptop computer battery packs.

Google readies custom search engine service
Google Inc. is launching a new service designed to let Web site publishers build their own search engines using Google's massive index of page links.

Dell talks up being green, upcoming quad cores
Taking a line out of server rival Sun Microsystems Inc.'s play book, Michael Dell recommitted his company to doing its best to save the planet by producing more energy-efficient products. Dell also mentioned his company's next move with long-time chip supplier Intel Corp. Within the next few weeks, Dell will start rolling out computers using Intel's "Clovertown" Xeon quad-core chip, he said, with models including PowerEdge 1950 server, Precision 690 workstation and Dell's XPS gaming machines.

French operator follows Apple on mobile music pricing
French mobile phone operator Société Française du Radiotéléphone SA (SFR) will cut the price of its music downloads in half next month, matching that of Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Store. It's no coincidence that the new price matches that of Apple's iTunes Store in Europe, said SFR spokeswoman Caroline Mir. Apple's "is the reference price today," she said.

BenQ posts huge Q3 loss on BenQ Mobile write-down
BenQ Corp. posted its fourth straight quarterly loss in the three months ending Sept. 30, and expects further losses as it writes down debt after pulling funding from its German mobile phone unit.

Microsoft agrees to Arkansas settlement
Microsoft Corp. has agreed to offer US$37.8 million in vouchers for free software and hardware to Arkansas residents as part of a settlement of an outstanding class action suit against the company.

Oracle lays out 11g in broad brushstrokes
In his keynote at Oracle's OpenWorld conference in San Francisco Monday, Chuck Rozwat, an Oracle executive vice president who heads up Oracle's database business spoke in general terms about the next major release of the company's database, Oracle 11g.


STORAGE TIP

Application classification is not data classification
By David Hill, Mesabi Group

Classify your data by application if you wish, but do not think that you have done data classification as well. You must separate data into different classes in order to obtain the benefits of information lifecycle management, such as tiering storage. You may not get all the benefits right away, but you have to start somewhere.


OPINION

Vista vacuum blowback
By James Gaskin

My Vista Budget Vacuum column got Slashdotted, so 500 plus message replies alternate between calling me an idiot and a genius. Unfortunately, the Slashdot headline made it sound like the cost estimates were for just Vista. My point is that Vista is the engine pulling a long train of other products and services some vice presidents will demand. Those are the ones that cost money.


ITWHIRLED

She's a 10
The 10 best unreleased horror movies ... Unneccessary - but cool - gadgets ... Dot-com flops ... Portable grills ... Firefox Web 2.0 add-ons

IBM sues Amazon.com over patents ... AT&T's net income, revenue up in Q3

HIGHLIGHTS
News: IBM sues Amazon.com over patents
News: AT&T's net income, revenue up in Q3
News: Oracle offers $219 million for MetaSolv
News: Nokia gets second chance to stop Qualcomm
Unix Tip: The directory that wasn't
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: The latest to hold a grudge against YouTube: Utube


NEWS UPDATES

IBM sues Amazon.com over patents
IBM Corp. is taking Amazon.com Inc. to court, alleging patent infringement against the e-commerce giant. IBM alleges that Amazon.com knowingly exploits its intellectual property by infringing on several patents that cover, among other things: the presentation of applications in an interactive service; the storage of data in an interactive network; the presentation of advertising in an interactive service; and the ordering of items from an electronic catalog.

AT&T's net income, revenue up in Q3
AT&T Inc. reported net income of $2.2 billion for the third quarter of 2006, up significantly from $1.2 billion before SBC Communications Inc. and AT&T Corp. merged last November.

Oracle offers $219 million for MetaSolv
Oracle Corp. has offered to buy MetaSolv Inc., a developer of operations support software for telecommunications service providers, for $219.2 million in cash, the companies said Monday.

Nokia gets second chance to stop Qualcomm
A U.S. court gave Nokia Corp. another chance Friday to hold off one of Qualcomm Inc.'s patent infringement lawsuits.

$100 laptops to roll off production lines in Q2 2007
The $100 laptop PC at the heart of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative aimed at school children in developing countries will start rolling off production lines in the second quarter of next year.

On heels of IE 7 release, Mozilla readies Firefox 2.0
Not to be outdone by Microsoft Corp.'s recent release of Internet Explorer 7, Mozilla Corp. is planning the second major release of its rival Firefox browser this week.

EMC refreshes storage line
EMC Corp. is adding new features to some of its storage products, with claims of improved performance, energy efficiency and ease of use, to remain competitive with rivals' offerings.

IBM, 3Com team up on IP telephony
IBM Corp. is collaborating with 3Com Corp. to put IP (Internet Protocol) telephony in an IBM server so small and medium-sized businesses can make phone calls more cheaply without adding extra servers to their networks.

Munich Linux scales desktop management
The City of Munich has developed impressive systems for rolling out and maintaining Linux desktops for large numbers of users, according to a British developer who had a close-up view of the system.

IBM completes ISS buy
IBM Corp. has closed its $1.3 billion acquisition of security vendor Internet Security Systems Inc. The acquisition, which closed Friday, is the fifth-largest in IBM's history.


UNIX TIP

The directory that wasn't
By Sandra Henry-Stocker

I recently found myself with a directory that didn't contain the standard "." and ".." directories that would have properly tied it into the file system. To fix the immediate problem, I moved the troublesome directory (using mv) and created a new one. When I tried to remove the (then renamed) directory, I found that I couldn't.First, I tried the obvious. I tried removing the directory with rm, rmdir, rm -f and rm -rf. None of these commands worked for me. Here's the process I took to remedy the problem.

Read the full article here


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Oracle plans to keep shopping ... EMC updates two storage lines ... 10 million $100 laptops to come from Taiwan manufacturer

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

The latest to hold a grudge against YouTube: Utube
Ohio's Universal Tube and Rollerform Equipment Corp. thought that "Utube.com" would be a good URL. That was before red-hot video-sharing site and recent Google acquisition YouTube burst onto the scene. Now, so many people are mistyping YouTube's URL that Universal Tube and Rollerform's servers are down -- and putting "Utube" into Google brings YouTube up as the top result.