P-to-P users expose US government secrets

HIGHLIGHTS

News: P-to-P users expose US government secrets
News: SourceForge unveils the winners of the 'open-source Oscars'
News: Making sense of AMD's processor road map
Related Reading: AMD unveils strategy to 'Bulldoze' the competition
News: Cisco to acquire equity stake in VMware
News: BLACK HAT: With Black Hat approaching, a rush to patch iPhone
News: Microsoft describes technology behind software plus services
News: Aruba, Alcatel-Lucent deepen mobility partnership
News: AirMagnet analyzes 802.11n Wi-Fi
News: Storm worm gets smarter
News: Google, Sprint team on WiMax mobile services
ITWhirled: Geek Comic of the Week: Bag of Toast


NEWS UPDATES

P-to-P users expose US government secrets
Contractors and U.S. government employees are sharing hundreds of secret documents on peer-to-peer networks, in many cases overriding the default security settings on their P-to-P software to do so, according to a company that monitors the networks.


SourceForge unveils the winners of the 'open-source Oscars'
Popular open-source software development site SourceForge.net hosted the equivalent of the open-source Oscars on Thursday evening, billing the event as a big party, not a painfully long and formal awards ceremony.


Making sense of AMD's processor road map
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) Thursday gave journalists and analysts a peek at its road map of upcoming processors, including more details on the company's quad-core processors and plans for a family of server chips with 16 cores.

Related Reading: AMD unveils strategy to 'Bulldoze' the competition
Executives at Advanced Micro Devices Inc. are pursuing a new strategy to combine CPUs and graphics processors into one unit and put them into everything from workstations to HDTVs to wireless phones.


Cisco to acquire equity stake in VMware
Cisco Systems Inc. plans to acquire a 1.6 percent equity stake in virtualization software player VMware Inc., mirroring a step Intel Corp. took earlier this month.

BLACK HAT: With Black Hat approaching, a rush to patch iPhone
With security researchers set to reveal details of a critical security flaw in the iPhone at the Black Hat 2007 conference next week, Apple Inc. now has fewer than seven days to patch a critical vulnerability in the product.


Microsoft describes technology behind software plus services
Microsoft Corp. gave some of the clearest examples yet on Thursday of its vision for software plus services.


Aruba, Alcatel-Lucent deepen mobility partnership
Alcatel-Lucent SA plans to extend enterprise security into cellular networks through its own fixed-mobile convergence systems and Aruba Networks Inc.'s "follow-me" security technology as part of a planned joint venture.


AirMagnet analyzes 802.11n Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi management company AirMagnet has launched an 802.11n laptop analyzer, ready for the host of performance issues expected from the emerging fast wireless LAN standard.


Storm worm gets smarter
Newer variants of the widespread Storm worm have introduced a new technique for evading security experts -- detecting when they are running in a virtual environment and changing their behavior if they are.


Google, Sprint team on WiMax mobile services
As part of its strategy to increase its presence in as many Web-enabled mobile devices as possible, Google Inc. has agreed to collaborate with Sprint Nextel Corp. to offer a range of Internet services to users of the U.S. operator's planned new WiMax network.


ITWHIRLED

Geek Comic of the Week: Bag of Toast
If robots and cyborgs coexisted, would they run political campaign ads smearing one another? Is there any point to practicing with Wii controllers? Does time travel automatically involve Abe Lincoln and dinosaurs? This whimsical comic answers these questions and more.

Google Earth Enterprise data now in browsers

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Google Earth Enterprise data now in browsers
News: Web hosting outage a teachable moment on backup power
News: Identity framework moves into next phase
News: Mozilla ponders separate organization for Thunderbird
News: Lenovo opens manufacturing plants in Mexico and India
News: Nasscom wants Indian outsourcers to innovate
News: Researcher publishes attack code for Mozilla flaw
News: User pressure leads SugarCRM to adopt GPLv3
News: Cisco announces third-generation data center
News: US standards committee still undecided on Open XML
Feature: WORLDBEAT: The old man and the Internet
Feature: DIGITAL GEAR: Wireless USB makes a splash
ITWhirled: NASA makes public spelling goof


NEWS UPDATES

Google Earth Enterprise data now in browsers
Google Inc. will release on Thursday an upgrade to its Google Earth Enterprise mapping system that for the first time will let users display two-dimensional (2D) geospatial data from the product on a Web browser.


Web hosting outage a teachable moment on backup power
The Web hosting company The Planet.com Internet Services Inc. tests its backup generators monthly and some employees ask if that's really necessary, said manager Urvish Vashi. The blackout in San Francisco Tuesday explains why.


Identity framework moves into next phase
The Liberty Alliance Project has started developing technical specifications for how companies can protect sensitive personal data within their IT systems and securely share that data with other organizations.


Mozilla ponders separate organization for Thunderbird
The Mozilla Foundation is thinking about creating a separate organization to take control of its Thunderbird e-mail application, allowing it to concentrate on development of the Firefox Web browser.


Lenovo opens manufacturing plants in Mexico and India
Lenovo Group Ltd. plans to ramp up its PC production by spending US$30 million on two new manufacturing and fulfillment plants in Mexico and India, the company said on Thursday.


Nasscom wants Indian outsourcers to innovate
Indian outsourcers have typically been associated with strong processes for services delivery rather than with innovation. A trade organization now wants IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO) companies to focus on innovation to increase revenues.


Researcher publishes attack code for Mozilla flaw
Mozilla Corp. is working on patching its Firefox browser after a hacker posted details of a flaw that could let criminals run unauthorized software on a victim's machine.


User pressure leads SugarCRM to adopt GPLv3
SugarCRM Inc. is to adopt version 3 of the GNU general public license (GPLv3) for the next release of its open-source CRM (customer relationship management) software after coming under pressure from its user community to move away from its own Sugar Public License.


Cisco announces third-generation data center
Cisco has announced a platform to provision server, storage and network resources as virtualized services in the data center. It is part of its Data Center 3.0 strategy, one aimed at the real-time, dynamic orchestration of infrastructure services from shared pools of virtualized server, storage and network resources, while optimizing application service-levels, efficiency and collaboration.


US standards committee still undecided on Open XML
A key U.S. standards committee remains undecided about whether it will support a document standard proposed by Microsoft Corp., even while the company asserted that the committee has already signalled its "yes" in an upcoming vote.

FEATURES

WORLDBEAT: The old man and the Internet
On a lazy June afternoon an old man with a suntanned and weather-beaten face wanders the beach introducing himself to visitors. He tells them about the beach, a little about the marine life to be found just a few meters from the shore and he makes small bracelets and necklaces from string and dead coral that he gives as souvenirs.


DIGITAL GEAR: Wireless USB makes a splash
Cables connecting USB devices to PCs may soon disappear thanks to Wireless USB, a short-range wireless communications technology developed by nonprofit USB Implementers Forum Inc. (USB-IF), which also developed the USB 2.0 standard.

ITWHIRLED

NASA makes public spelling goof
The space shuttles are named after ships that are famous for exploring the seas; that's why the most recently built shuttle is named the Endeavour, after a British ship (and thus with the British spelling). But someone at NASA forgot, or maybe just relied too much on an automatic spellchecker, with embarrassing results.

HP service helps keep data centers cool

HIGHLIGHTS

News: HP service helps keep data centers cool
News: Users urged to patch serious hole in BIND 9 DNS server
News: Google's privacy chief backs t-shirts, not ties
News: BLACK HAT: Researchers: Forensics software can be hacked
News: Power outage hits parts of San Francisco
News: Infosys expands in Europe through Philips deal
News: MySpace hosted 29,000 sex offenders
News: Intel claims breakthrough with 40Gbps optical component
News: Intuit expanding outside U.S. into emerging markets
News: Overbuilding to keep memory chips cheap
News: NXP steps up research efforts for Wireless USB chips
ITWhirled: Top 10 best ways to manage Firefox taps


NEWS UPDATES

HP service helps keep data centers cool
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) is getting more detailed in how it analyzes the energy-efficiency of its customers' data centers.

Users urged to patch serious hole in BIND 9 DNS server
A security researcher has reported a serious vulnerability in BIND 9, the software widely used in the Internet's DNS addressing system.


Google's privacy chief backs t-shirts, not ties
Google Inc.'s global privacy counsel, Peter Fleischer, wants to see t-shirts replace the tie as standard business attire, saying the tie "constricts circulation to the brain."


BLACK HAT: Researchers: Forensics software can be hacked
The software that police and enterprise security teams use to investigate wrongdoing on computers is not as secure as it should be, according to researchers with Isec Partners Inc.


Power outage hits parts of San Francisco
A power outage in parts of downtown San Francisco Tuesday affected office computers, lights and a hosting company for several Web sites.


Infosys expands in Europe through Philips deal
Indian outsourcer Infosys Technologies Ltd. has bagged a US$250 million business process outsourcing contract from Royal Philips Electronics N.V. in an unusual deal in which Infosys will also acquire Philips’ services delivery centers in India, Thailand, and Poland for US$28 million.


MySpace hosted 29,000 sex offenders
News Corp.'s popular MySpace.com social networking site hosted Web pages for at least 29,000 known sex offenders as of July 2007, North Carolina's Attorney General said Tuesday.


Intel claims breakthrough with 40Gbps optical component
Intel Corp. researchers are a step closer to creating chips that transmit data at high speeds using light instead of electrons, but products based on the technology appear to remain over the horizon.


Intuit expanding outside U.S. into emerging markets
Intuit Inc., which derives almost all of its revenue from the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., is attempting to tap new markets. The financial software company in Mountain View, California is evaluating new markets in India, China, Russia, and Brazil, said Nilesh Thakker, Intuit's director of product development, and country manager for India, on Tuesday.


Overbuilding to keep memory chips cheap
Several memory chip makers are scrambling to increase spending on new factories even as chip prices remain in the doldrums. Users stand to benefit most because as the new factories ramp up production, the fresh output should keep chip prices down.


NXP steps up research efforts for Wireless USB chips
NXP Semiconductors will invest €90 million (US$124 million) over the next five years to expand the development of Wireless USB products at its research and development (R&D) center in Singapore, the company said Tuesday.


ITWHIRLED

She's a 10
Top 10 best ways to manage Firefox taps ... The top 10 things learnt at E3 2007

IBM, University of Florida team up on smart devices

HIGHLIGHTS

News: IBM, University of Florida team up on smart devices
News: Quanta mum on reported iPhone, Dell smartphone orders
News: Intel fires fresh salvo at AMD in price war
News: Strong wireless sales, including iPhone, boost AT&T earnings
News: China busts large piracy syndicate with FBI's help
News: Nokia buys Twango, plans Seattle office
News: IEEE group settles on faster Ethernet plans
News: Intel network chips get up to speed
News: P-to-P application causes police security disaster
News: Linspire agreement 'undermines GPL rights'
News: iPass offers corporate home broadband
News: UK retailer to sell wooden PC
News: DIY Trojan tool discovered for sale
News: Fox News server found unsecured
ITWhirled: Tony Blair sends first text message


NEWS UPDATES

IBM, University of Florida team up on smart devices
IBM Corp. and the University of Florida believe they've come up with middleware that will allow doctors to remotely monitor the health of their patients.


Quanta mum on reported iPhone, Dell smartphone orders
Quanta Computer Inc., the world's largest contract laptop PC maker, is reportedly gearing up to make iPhones for Apple Inc. and a new smartphone for Dell Inc., but the company isn't talking.


Intel fires fresh salvo at AMD in price war
The world's largest chip maker slashed prices on a handful of microprocessors after the company's battle to retake market share from rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) took a turn for the worse.


Strong wireless sales, including iPhone, boost AT&T earnings
Profit and sales jumped in the second quarter at AT&T Inc. as the U.S. communications giant signed up more wireless customers, including new iPhone users, and sold more Internet services to enterprises.


China busts large piracy syndicate with FBI's help
A flurry of raids and arrests in China over the last two weeks have ended what is estimated to be the world's largest piracy syndicate in operation for more than six years.


Nokia buys Twango, plans Seattle office
Nokia Corp. is getting into the social networking market and establishing a presence in Seattle with the acquisition of Twango Inc., the companies announced late on Monday.


IEEE group settles on faster Ethernet plans
A technical group working on the next generation of Ethernet has agreed to disagree and will now work on a single standard that covers both 40G bps (bit-per-second) and 100G bps speeds.


Intel network chips get up to speed
Intel Corp. later this year will help server network interfaces take advantage of the major recent advances in data centers: multiprocessor systems, multicore processors and virtualization.


P-to-P application causes police security disaster
A policeman in Japan has been sacked after a P2P application on his PC caused highly confidential information on criminal investigations to reach the Internet.


Linspire agreement 'undermines GPL rights'
The no-lawsuit agreement reached in June between Linspire and Microsoft earlier this year is almost useless to Linspire customers because of tight restrictions on what the deal covers, according to a high-profile open source legal commentator.


iPass offers corporate home broadband
Corporate remote access provider iPass has launched a service that bundles home broadband with its service, to make it easier for IT departments to support staff working at home.


UK retailer to sell wooden PC
A supposedly zero carbon PC is being developed by U.K. retailer PC World, featuring wood casing for keyboard, screen and mouse. Use of recycled materials and low electricity needs will reduce its carbon footprint to 85 percent of a standard PC.


DIY Trojan tool discovered for sale
A new kit for building and customizing Trojan malware has been discovered for sale on the Internet.


Fox News server found unsecured
Security analysts spotted a gaping security hole in Fox News Network LLC's Web site on Monday, revealing file directories and sensitive content, although it appears the problem has been fixed.


ITWHIRLED

Tony Blair sends first text message
Despite serving as Prime Minister during a decade when Britain became a texting-mad society, Tony Blair only acquired his first mobile phone last October, and only sent his first text message after he retired from office. Humiliatingly, his initial foray into the world of texting netted him the reply "Who are you?

Security team claims successful iPhone hack

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Security team claims successful iPhone hack
News: Microsoft, Ask.com pressure Google on privacy
News: VMware benchmark tool raises fairness questions
News: HP to acquire Opsware for $1.6 billion
News: Intel signs up vendors for Classmate PC in India
News: Acer files patent counterclaim against HP
News: New US WiMax partners aim to match 700MHz
Q&A: Google finds R&D opportunities, pitfalls abroad
ITWhirled: CEO taunts rival company online, then buys it


NEWS UPDATES

Security team claims successful iPhone hack
A team of security experts in Baltimore, Md., said it has found a flaw in Apple Inc.'s iPhone handset that can be used by attackers to access private data stored on it.


Microsoft, Ask.com pressure Google on privacy
Microsoft Corp. is joining Ask.com in offering Web surfers a way to use its search engines anonymously, and the two companies are now calling on the search and online advertising industry to develop a common set of privacy practices.


VMware benchmark tool raises fairness questions
VMware Inc. is making a free benchmarking tool available to IT professionals Monday to evaluate the performance of virtualization technology in their data centers. Meanwhile, it seeks to assure competitors that the benchmarking standards will be fair to all of them.


HP to acquire Opsware for $1.6 billion
Hewlett-Packard Co. plans to buy data center automation software vendor Opsware Inc. for about US$1.6 billion.


Intel signs up vendors for Classmate PC in India
Intel Corp. has tied with three large Indian PC vendors to assemble the Classmate PC, a PC specially designed for schools. The three vendors -- HCL Infosystems Ltd., Wipro Ltd., and Zenith Computers Ltd. -- will start shipping the product to Indian schools next month.


Acer files patent counterclaim against HP
Acer Inc. has filed a patent counterclaim against rival Hewlett-Packard Co. as part of its response to two HP lawsuits.


New US WiMax partners aim to match 700MHz
With wider national coverage than either company could have had on its own, Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. say they can achieve on their joint WiMax network some of what Google Inc. and others want to see in the prized 700MHz band.

Q&A

Google finds R&D opportunities, pitfalls abroad
Kannan Pashupathy, the director of Google Inc.'s international engineering operations, oversees the company's growing network of international R&D centers.


ITWHIRLED

CEO taunts rival company online, then buys it
Over a period of seven years, a user named "rahodeb" posted messages on Internet financial forums claiming that the stock for Wild Oats Markets was overpriced. Now, as Whole Foods is in the midst of attempting to buy Wild Oats, it has come out that rahodeb is in fact Whole Foods CEO John Mackey -- who would have a vested interest in keeping Wild Oats' share price down. Hijinks will almost certain ensue.