Sohu threatens to sue Google over copycat software ... Debian 'Etch' finally sees light of day

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Sohu threatens to sue Google over copycat software
News: Nokia keeps selling despite patent dispute
News: IRS head: All laptops to be encrypted in weeks
News: Salesforce.com wants to be a content management player
Unix Tip: Mail loops back to me
ITwhirled: Runaway python terrorizes Google offices
Podcast: U.S. to bring WTO complaint against China ... Google apologizes to rival Sohu ... Intel gets more time to explain missing e-mails


NEWS UPDATES

Sohu threatens to sue Google over copycat software
Sohu.com Inc. Tuesday threatened to sue Google Inc. for violating its intellectual property rights, and renewed a demand for the company to stop downloads of a Chinese software tool based, in part, on one of its own databases.

Nokia keeps selling despite patent dispute
An end to the heated patent licensing dispute between Qualcomm Inc. and Nokia Corp. is nowhere in sight, with both companies still far apart in their positions to renew terms of a licensing pact, which expired Tuesday.

IRS head: All laptops to be encrypted in weeks
After an auditor found serious security problems in the way it handled sensitive data on laptops, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service said it will have all laptops encrypted within the next few weeks.

Salesforce.com wants to be a content management player
On-demand software vendor Salesforce.com Inc. Tuesday announced plans to enter the content management market via the acquisition of Web 2.0 content collaboration startup Koral Inc.

Debian 'Etch' finally sees light of day
After several months of delays, Debian developers have released Debian 4.0, code-named "Etch."

LG, Volkswagen tie on Beetle MP3 player
LG Electronics Inc. is teaming up with car-maker Volkswagen AG on a digital media player styled along the lines of the New Beetle car.

DRAM prices continue to plunge
Prices for the most popular DRAM (dynamic RAM) chips continue to fall in the first half of April, DRAMeXchange Technology Inc. reported Tuesday, and have dropped below the cost of production for many manufacturers.

Over 2,000 sites now exploit .ani security flaw
More than 2,000 unique Web sites have been rigged to exploit the animated cursor security flaw in Microsoft's software, according to security vendor Websense Inc.

Krugle powers SourceForge search
SourceForge hopes to make it easier for developers to find existing open-source projects through an agreement with Krugle Inc. that boosts the search capabilities on SourceForge.net.

Apple offers AirPort Base Station security fix
Apple Inc. has published a firmware update for its Airport Extreme Base Station that fixes two security flaws in the Wi-Fi router.

AMD hits Intel with price uppercut
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. announced further price reductions on some of its best desktop PC microprocessors on Monday, a sign there is still no end in sight to its price war with rival Intel Corp.

Sony launches its first laptop with a flash drive
Sony Corp. is refreshing its lightweight Vaio Type-G laptop and has begun offering a solid-state flash drive as an option.


UNIX TIP

Mail loops back to me
By Sandra Henry-Stocker, ITworld.com

Many systems administrators have run into errors in their syslog files that complain that mail is looping back, suggesting a possible MX problem. The common cause of this problem is that a server is receiving email for a domain that it doesn't recognize as its own. Then, when the server looks up the MX address for the intended target (in order to send the mail on its way), it notices that the MX record is one that identifies the mail exchanger as the system itself.


ITWHIRLED

Runaway python terrorizes Google offices
Even Google's notoriously laid back office culture got a little ruffled by a runaway giant snake. The python -- an employee's pet that managed to slither away -- roamed around the search giant's Manhattan offices for a while before being recaptured. Fortunately, nobody was eaten.

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PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
U.S. to bring WTO complaint against China ... Google apologizes to rival Sohu ... Intel gets more time to explain missing e-mails

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Google apologizes for using rival's software ... Intel launches quad-core chip for desktop gamers

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Google apologizes for using part of rival's software
News: Intel launches quad-core chip for desktop gamers
News: Google fixes security hole in Chinese software tool
News: India faces hurdles in winning chip factory investments
Security Tip: ID theft in under 15 seconds
ITwhirled: British jerk to ruin last unspoiled place on Earth with cell phone call
Podcast: Google admits it used third-party database in Chinese software ... Hacked HD video keys expired ... Intel releases quad-core desktop chip for gamers


NEWS UPDATES

Google apologizes for using part of rival's software
Google Inc. Monday issued a brief apology for using part of a software application developed by rival Sohu.com Inc. in a recently released Chinese software tool of its own.

Intel launches quad-core chip for desktop gamers
Intel Corp. is launching a quad-core chip for desktop gamers on Monday, continuing a barrage of new products the company has announced in the past week.

Google fixes security hole in Chinese software tool
Google Inc. has closed a security hole in a recently released Chinese-input software tool that lies at the heart of a dispute with Chinese Internet company Sohu.com Inc.

India faces hurdles in winning chip factory investments
A decision by Intel Corp. to build a $2.5 billion chip factory in China represents a key loss for India, which won't likely see any chip factory projects from major companies this year due to its poor infrastructure, a Gartner Inc. analyst said in a report Sunday.

SanDisk, Yahoo release Wi-Fi MP3 player
SanDisk Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are the latest companies attempting to take on Apple Inc.'s iPod, Monday releasing the Wi-Fi-enabled Sansa Connect.

PG&E extends rebate program to storage
Pacific Gas & Electric Co., a California-based energy utility, is extending an energy-savings rebate program, already available for servers, to disk storage equipment.

Microsoft releases IM for XBox 360 online
Microsoft Corp. Monday announced Windows Live Messenger instant messaging software for the XBox 360, in another step towards making the game console a home Internet access device.

Sparring begins over high-def movie hacks
A cat-and-mouse game between the guardians of the copy-protection system on next-generation DVDs and those intent on hacking it has kicked off with the first revocation of a descrambling key used in a popular software application.

Shops, including SonyStyle, drop cheaper PlayStation 3
The cheaper of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.'s two PlayStation 3 consoles is getting harder to find in the U.S. The 20G-byte version, which costs $500, has been taken off-sale by retailer BestBuy and Sony's own online store displays an error message when the page for the model in question is requested.


SECURITY TIP

ID theft in under 15 seconds
By Brent Huston, MicroSolved, Inc.

I just attended a conference for payment system security and identity theft, and two themes were clear. One, identity theft is easier, faster and more profitable than ever, and two, attackers are more organized, capable and technology savvy.

Subscribe to Security Strategies - Tips and technologies to protect your enterprise.


ITWHIRLED

British jerk to ruin last unspoiled place on Earth with cell phone call
The movies, the subway, fine restaurants -- it seems like there's nowhere that you can avoid the constant tinkle-tankle of cell phone rings. It's almost as if you'd have to climb the 28,000 feet to the top of Mount Everest to get away from it the annoying chatter! Oh, wait.

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PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Google admits it used third-party database in Chinese software ... Hacked HD video keys expired ... Intel releases quad-core desktop chip for gamers

More podcasts

Qualcomm talks tough on Nokia ... Microsoft to release more critical patches

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Acer takes the number 3 spot in mobile PCs
News: Qualcomm says it doesn't need Nokia patents
News: Qualcomm document talks tough on Nokia
News: Microsoft releases SDK for Windows Home Server
Blog: An iPod virus?
Geek comic of the week: f8d
Podcast: Qualcomm threatens to keep Nokia from using its patents ... New Google software bears striking similarities to rival ... Microsoft to release more critical patches next week


NEWS UPDATES

Acer takes the number 3 spot in mobile PCs
Acer Inc. unseated Toshiba Corp. from its third-place spot in worldwide mobile PC sales during the fourth quarter of last year, according to market researcher iSuppli Corp. Hewlett-Packard Co. saw the strongest year-on-year growth and retained first place.

Qualcomm says it doesn't need Nokia patents
Qualcomm Inc. threatened to forbid Nokia Corp. from using its patents forever, the strongest blow yet in the ongoing battle between the mobile technology companies. At the heart of this threat is a new assertion by Qualcomm that turns the current negotiations between the companies on its head.

Qualcomm document talks tough on Nokia
Qualcomm Inc. is using its Web site for the latest shove against Nokia Corp. in the companies' ongoing legal dispute. A document on Qualcomm's site presents what the company calls contradictory statements that Nokia has made regarding technology licensing.

Microsoft releases SDK for Windows Home Server
Microsoft Corp. on Thursday released a beta of documentation for a free software development kit (SDK) that helps developers build applications for its forthcoming Windows Home Server product.

Google evades question about software similarities
Google Inc. has commented on a new software tool it released in China this week, although it did not address allegations that the software bears more than a passing resemblance to a rival's product.

After emergency fix, more Microsoft patches ahead
Microsoft Corp. isn't finished with its security fixes for the month. Next week the software maker plans to release five more sets of patches fixing critical flaws in Windows and the Microsoft Content Management Server.

Vendors push Fibre Channel on Ethernet
A group of data-center vendors has proposed a standard for putting Fibre Channel traffic on Ethernet networks, saying it could simplify management and cut costs.

Consumer groups call for spectrum auction conditions
A coalition of consumer groups wants open access for a portion of valuable wireless spectrum to be auctioned by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in early 2008.

Not always encrypted, but IRS PCs do phone home
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may not be doing a very good job of encrypting data on its laptops, but it does have a way to recover its lost equipment.


BLOG

An iPod virus?
By Robert McMillan

Kaspersky Labs says it's discovered the first virus written for the iPod. A great headline, but a really lame virus.

It's called Podloso, and even Kaspersky admits it "does not pose a real threat." It has no malicious payload and cannot be launched automatically, heck it can't even spread, Kaspersky says.

Subscribe to Blog Insights - A weekly recap of what bloggers are saying about information technology.


ITWHIRLED

Geek comic of the week: f8d
Have you ever wanted to use Courier New or a similar fixed-width font on your tombstone -- you know, so you could include some ASCII art? Do you try to stave off the day when you'll issue the commands rm -f hopes; rm -f dreams on your life? Then we think you and f8d will get along just fine.

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PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Qualcomm threatens to keep Nokia from using its patents ... New Google software bears striking similarities to rival ... Microsoft to release more critical patches next week

More podcasts

Software AG to buy webMethods ... Nokia makes $20M payment to Qualcomm

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Software AG to buy webMethods for $546 million
News: Nokia makes $20M payment to Qualcomm for patents
News: Microsoft e-mail upgrade glitchy for some
News: Google delivers maps mashup tool for non-techies
Hot jobs: Program manager
ITwhirled: Giving due praise to famous pranks
Podcast: Apple offers quad-core 3GHz Xeon systems ... Microsoft wanted Vista SP1 details removed from site ... AMD to ship 3GHz dual-core Opteron chips


NEWS UPDATES

Software AG to buy webMethods for $546 million
Software AG has agreed to buy SOA vendor webMethods Inc. for $546 million in cash, the companies announced Thursday.

Nokia makes $20M payment to Qualcomm for patents
Nokia said Thursday that it has paid Qualcomm $20 million to license some of its patents related to 3G mobile phones through the second quarter of 2007. The two companies are in the process of renegotiating a patent licensing agreement that expires on April 9.

Microsoft e-mail upgrade glitchy for some
Some of the beta testers for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Live Hotmail service are getting an increase in storage, but the extra capacity isn't being introduced as smoothly as some of them might hope.

Google delivers maps mashup tool for non-techies
Google Inc. has created a tool to let non-technical users create Google Maps mashups, extending this capability beyond the realm of software developers.

Google to build $600M data center in South Carolina
Google Inc. plans to invest $600 million in a new data center in South Carolina, the state government said on Wednesday. The new data center will be built on a 210 hectare site at the Mt. Holly Commerce Park in Berkeley County near Charleston.

Researcher has new attack for embedded devices
Barnaby Jack, a security researcher at Juniper Networks Inc. says he plans to demonstrate a new class of attack that can be used to compromise electronic devices like routers or mobile phones.

Nintendo again revises earnings outlook higher
Japan's Nintendo Co. Ltd. has revised its full-year earnings outlook higher for the second time. The Kyoto-based company said strong sales of its Nintendo DS handheld game device and software for the machine would help push sales for the year to ¥966 billion.

Video of Thai King removed from YouTube
The government of Thailand blocked access to the YouTube Web site on Wednesday because of a video that it deemed insulting to the nation's revered monarch.


CAREERS

Hot jobs: Program manager
A decade ago, most IT initiatives could be undertaken as single projects. Not anymore. The reason: the complexity of IT resources and assets and their impact on a company's business operations. IT initiatives today often require a programmatic approach to ensure proper execution and coordination. This is where the program manager steps in. Program managers are experts in structured frameworks for provision of IT services and in methods for managing processes. Using a disciplined approach, they define needs, establish budgets and manage progress.


ITWHIRLED

Giving due praise to famous pranks
Did the Swedes really believe that their black-and-white televisions could be turned into color sets by the use of pantyhose? Did the Brits believe that spaghetti was grown in Switzerland? Celebrate April Fool's day by reading more.

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PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Apple offers quad-core 3GHz Xeon systems ... Microsoft wanted Vista SP1 details removed from site ... AMD to ship 3GHz dual-core Opteron chips

More podcasts

Borders fracture iTunes offerings in Europe ... Microsoft issues emergency Windows patch

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Borders fracture iTunes offerings in Europe
News: Intel looks to bury AMD's 'elegant' Barcelona chip
News: Don't use WEP, say German security researchers
News: Microsoft issues emergency Windows patch
Opinion: Storage Survey
ITwhirled: You can always build a better mousetrap -- or Post-It
Podcast: Microsoft releases emergency patch ... EEye replaces CEO ... US H-1B visa limit reached in record time


NEWS UPDATES

Borders fracture iTunes offerings in Europe
The European Commission's complaint against Apple Inc. and the major record labels over a possible violation of European rules on cross-border trade has served to highlight the inconsistencies in how music is released and priced online.

Intel looks to bury AMD's 'elegant' Barcelona chip
Intel Corp. is betting on a combination of manufacturing prowess and pragmatic chip design to outsell Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s upcoming quad-core Barcelona processor.

Don't use WEP, say German security researchers
The Wi-Fi security protocol WEP should not be relied on to protect sensitive material, according to three German security researchers who have discovered a faster way to crack it. They plan to demonstrate their findings at a security conference in Hamburg this weekend.

Microsoft issues emergency Windows patch
With attackers finding more ways to exploit a critical flaw in its Windows operating system, Microsoft Corp. has published an emergency software patch. The update, released as expected Tuesday morning, actually fixes seven separate Windows vulnerabilities, but security experts are most concerned about a bug in the way Windows processes .ani Animated Cursor files.

Cisco targets SMBs with unified communications products
Cisco Systems Inc. is aiming ever lower with its network gear for small businesses, rolling out a set of products on Tuesday to meet growing demand in that segment for unified communications.

Sun gives UltraSparc a power boost
Sun Microsystems Inc. has brought new, faster UltraSparc IV+ processors to market, continuing to promote its homegrown chips even as it sells servers with processors from rivals Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Security vendor eEye drops CEO
EEye's board of directors has asked CEO Ross Brown to leave the company after just over six months on the job, replacing him with Kamal Arafeh, the company's senior vice president of sales and marketing.

BT to help SMBs build online presence
BT Group PLC is testing an online service to help small and medium-size businesses build an online presence with nifty features such as blogs, podcasts and click-to-call capabilities.

Licensing deal with Marvell a first for Sun's new unit
Sun Microsystems Inc. is licensing its multithreaded 10G-byte Ethernet networking technology to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. in Sun's first deal since the creation of a separate Microelectronics group within the company one week ago.


OPINION

Storage Survey
By James Gaskin, ITworld.com

HP just paid for a survey of 1,200 mid-sized firms with between 100
and 1,000 employees spread across seven countries. According to the
executive summary, respondents want to improve customer satisfaction
(86 percent) and improve product quality (81 percent). How storage can
do that, I don't know, but companies also worry about business
continuity, upgrading servers, and price. But the details between
countries in the survey surprised me.

Read the full article here.

Subscribe to Enterprise Networking - Strategies for designing, implementing and securing enterprise-level networks.


ITWHIRLED

You can always build a better mousetrap -- or Post-It
A group of freshman engineering students, working in a competition to improve an everyday object, took something seemingly perfect -- the sticky note -- and made it better: you can write on their version without using a pen or pencil.

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PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Microsoft releases emergency patch ... EEye replaces CEO ... US H-1B visa limit reached in record time

More podcasts

Blog details Vista SP1 plans ... E.C. sues Apple, others over pricing

HIGHLIGHTS
News: European Commission sues Apple, others over pricing
News: British UFO hacker loses extradition appeal
News: Microsoft sues over resold school software
News: Blogger posts Windows Vista SP1 fixes on Web site
Storage Tip: Choosing what data to protect with encryption
ITwhirled: Driving while intexticated
Podcast: Blog details Vista SP1 plans ... EMI to offer DRM-free music ... JavaScript attack code gets out


NEWS UPDATES

European Commission sues Apple, others over pricing
The European Commission has charged Apple Inc. and several big record companies with restrictive pricing practices in the European Union, a spokesman for the Commission confirmed on Tuesday.

British UFO hacker loses extradition appeal
A British hacker who broke into U.S. military computers looking for evidence of UFOs lost another extradition appeal on Tuesday in London's High Court.

Microsoft sues over resold school software
Microsoft Corp. has filed nine lawsuits against companies for allegedly reselling software that was originally sold under discounted educational licenses for schools in Jordan.

Blogger posts Windows Vista SP1 fixes on Web site
The owner of a blog dedicated to software patches has posted online more than 100 fixes he said are expected to be included in Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), Microsoft Corp.'s first major update to its latest Windows client OS.

XenSource expands its virtualization capabilities
A new version of the XenSource Inc. virtualization hypervisor, released Monday, now works on servers running the Windows 2000 operating system from Microsoft Corp.

FCC strengthens rules against pretexting
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has prohibited telephone and mobile phone carriers from releasing customer records over the phone without a password in an effort to protect against the practice of pretexting.

Jobs unlikely to push for lift of video DRM
Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs may be pushing for music labels to lift copyright protection on digital music but he doesn't appear so eager to do the same for video content, despite his position as the largest shareholder in Walt Disney Co.

JavaScript botnet code leaked to Internet
Software that could be used to turn a Web browser into an unwitting hacker's tool has been posted to the Internet, after it was downloaded by a quick-thinking attendee at last month's Shmoocon hacker conference.


STORAGE TIP

Choosing what data to protect with encryption
By David Hill, Mesabi Group

Planning what to do about encryption should be part of an overall data governance planning process that can also address issues such as data quality and master data management as well as how to meet requirements for responding to the changes in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for civil litigation. Here's what you need to know.

Subscribe to Storage Strategies - Tips for effective storage management, technology updates and best practices.


ITWHIRLED

Bad idea of the week: Driving while intexticated
Never mind talking on your cell while you drive; that's old news. Does the idea of trying to send a text message from your phone while operating a car strike you as kind of insane? Nationwide insurance estimates that 20% of Americans do it -- 33% of those between 18 and 34. New Jersey is moving towards being the first state to outlaw the practice.

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PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Blog details Vista SP1 plans ... EMI to offer DRM-free music ... JavaScript attack code gets out

More podcasts

EMI to offer DRM-free music through iTunes ... MySpace bug hunt off to a slow start

HIGHLIGHTS
News: EMI to offer music without DRM through iTunes
News: MySpace bug hunt off to a slow start
News: AT&T wants $3.5 billion Telecom Italia stake
News: With attacks increasing Windows patch coming early
Tip: "Risk" is the next new security label
ITwhirled: Ten ways being a geek makes you more attractive
Podcast: eEye releases Windows patch ... ICANN rejects .xxx domain ... New version of Minimo browser released


NEWS UPDATES

EMI to offer music without DRM through iTunes
EMI Group has announced a plan to sell its music through online retailers without copy protection technologies, a significant move that should give consumers greater freedom in the way they can listen to music purchased online.

MySpace bug hunt off to a slow start
A group of hackers has kicked off its month of MySpace vulnerabilities, which it hopes will make more of a splash than January's month of bugs for Apple Inc.'s software.

AT&T wants $3.5 billion Telecom Italia stake
AT&T Inc. announced Sunday its intention to take an indirect stake in Telecom Italia S.p.A. The company plans to buy one-third of holding company Olimpia S.p.A, which holds 18 percent of Telecom Italia's shares, pending regulatory approval, AT&T said.

With attacks increasing Windows patch coming early
Microsoft has decided to rush out a fix for a flaw in its Windows operating system, saying that the problem has become too serious to ignore.

AMD releases M690 chipset for embedded designs
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. introduced its M690 chipset for embedded devices on Monday, rounding out the company's first chipset line that integrates technology from ATI Technologies Inc.

Intel got its new China fab for a bargain, analyst says
Intel Corp. may have received up to $1 billion in incentives from the Chinese government to build its new chip factory in the country, a Gartner Inc. analyst said on Monday.

Microsoft offers new Vista enterprise licenses
Microsoft Corp. is offering two new licensing options for Windows Vista enterprise customers that want to take advantage of emerging scenarios for large data centers. The first gives enterprise users the ability to run the Windows Vista Enterprise client on a diskless computer. The second option, called the Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop, lets users run a client version of Windows on servers in a data center so the OS can run locally via virtual machines.

Acquisitions quadruple size of Brocade's market
Executives of Brocade Communications Systems Inc. say their acquisition strategy has given the company access to an estimated $7.2 billion market in 2008 for its storage hardware, software and services technology, four times the market it serves today.


TIP

"Risk" is the next new security label
By Brent Huston, MicroSolved, Inc.

As I look into the blogosphere and other areas of forthcoming knowledge and expression -- I see that "risk" is the next label to be applied to every new and old security product. Suddenly products will be re-branded as "risk reducing", "risk mitigating" or "risk strategy compliant".

Subscribe to Security Strategies - Tips and technologies to protect your enterprise.


ITWHIRLED

She's a 10
Ten ways being a geek makes you more attractive ... Top 10 useless sports traditions ... Top 10 Skype hacks ... The top ten most expensive board games in the world ... The top 10 beat-em-up games of all time

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PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
eEye releases Windows patch ... ICANN rejects .xxx domain ... New version of Minimo browser released

More podcasts

New virus disguised as IE 7 download ... Dell to delay filings, investigation finds misconduct

HIGHLIGHTS
News: New virus comes disguised as IE 7 download
News: EEye publishes fix for Windows zero-day vulnerability
News: Dell to delay filings, investigation finds misconduct
News: Red Hat says Yahoo relationship intact
Opinion: Identity management and virtual worlds
Geek comic of the week: Numaf
Podcast: Dell finds accounting irregularities, delays results ... Red Hat says Yahoo relationship is strong ... Microsoft shows prototype mobile browser


NEWS UPDATES

New virus comes disguised as IE 7 download
If you receive an e-mail offering a download of Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2, delete it. A new virus is making the rounds that comes disguised as a test version of Microsoft Corp.'s current Web browser.

EEye publishes fix for Windows zero-day vulnerability
With online criminals exploiting an unpatched flaw in Windows, security vendor eEye Digital Security Inc. has come forward with an unofficial patch that fixes a bug in the way Windows processes Animated Cursor files.

Dell to delay filings, investigation finds misconduct
An internal investigation at Dell Inc. has found evidence of misconduct and accounting errors, forcing the company to delay filing its annual earnings report with stock market regulators, it said Thursday after the U.S. stock market closed.

Red Hat says Yahoo relationship intact
Tough competition appears to be driving profits down for Red Hat Inc. but the company has hung on to one marquee customer, Yahoo Inc., despite recent reports to the contrary.

ICANN votes against '.xxx' top-level domain again
The overseer of the Internet's addressing system rejected for the second time the creation of a ".xxx" top-level domain, supported by some as a way to isolate adult content on the Internet.

Yahoo given go-ahead to buy Taiwanese blog site
A purchase of popular Taiwanese blog site Wretch.cc by Yahoo Taiwan Inc. will not adversely affect competition in the local Internet market, Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission ruled Thursday, paving the way for the completion of the deal.

Microsoft unveils 'Deepfish' mobile Web browser
Microsoft Corp. late Wednesday unveiled a mobile Web browser aimed at making surfing the Internet on wireless devices as convenient and feature-rich as browsing on a PC.


OPINION

Identity management and virtual worlds
By Sean McGrath

Virtual worlds are on the rise all over the world. The "new" thing
called the Web has met its first serious challenger in the form of
immersive, 3D environments that underlay Second Life, There, Habbo
Hotel, World of Warcraft etc. Use some of these for a while and the
Web can seem rather flat - physically and metaphorically - by
comparison.

Subscribe to E-business in the Enterprise - Observations about business, the Internet, and cool technologies.


ITWHIRLED

Geek comic of the week: Numaf
A collaboration between an artist and a philosophy major that they call "the nerdiest project we’ve ever done," Numaf stars a robot named Axiom that travels through the moody and atmospheric metaphysical plane, challenging ideas made concrete. Be sure to start at the beginning, and check out the alt text for each cartoon.

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PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Dell finds accounting irregularities, delays results ... Red Hat says Yahoo relationship is strong ... Microsoft shows prototype mobile browser

More podcasts

Dell to offer Linux systems ... Sony planning 80GB PS3

HIGHLIGHTS
News: SAP executive changes may leave leadership gap
News: Sony planning 80GB version of PlayStation 3
News: Yahoo opens up Web mail APIs
News: Dell promises Linux on notebooks and desktops
Windows Tip: Using FR and RUP in mixed environments
ITwhirled: Video games can help the eyes
Podcast: Intel readies 3GHz Penryn chips ... STMicro to sell Chinese microprocessor ... Dell to offer Linux systems


NEWS UPDATES

SAP executive changes may leave leadership gap
SAP AG is losing one of its younger, vibrant executives who was slated to become co-CEO of the company in a change that one analyst says marks a return to the old guard.

Sony planning 80GB version of PlayStation 3
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is planning a new version of the PlayStation 3 game console with a higher-capacity hard-disk drive, according to a U.S. regulatory filing made by the company.

Yahoo opens up Web mail APIs
Yahoo Inc. is opening up its Web mail platform to external developers, so that they can create plug-ins, utilities and applications for the popular Yahoo Mail service.

Dell promises Linux on notebooks and desktops
Based on customer feedback Dell began soliciting last month, Dell said that top of mind among customers was that the company should begin offering Linux as an alternative to Windows on its personal computers, according to a posting on a company blog. Dell said it "has heard" what customers said and will act accordingly.

U.K. lays down first rules for VOIP providers
VOIP providers in the U.K. will have to provide clearer information about the services they offer under new rules announced Thursday by the U.K. telecommunications regulator.

Silicon Valley VCs predict tech winners, losers
In what has become an annual Silicon Valley ritual, leading venture capitalists have made their predictions about which technologies will thrive and which will take a dive in the near future.

GPLv3 third draft: Linus likes it, ACT hates it
Initial reactions to the latest proposed draft of a popular license for free and open-source software (FOSS) have been wide-ranging, with the changes winning some kind words from the creator of Linux and a critical bashing from an industry association.

YouTube adds features, test site
New services available on YouTube could reflect growing influence of its parent company Google Inc. The popular video Web site now allows users to organize clips around designated categories and, in typical Google fashion, lets them test new services before their commercial launch, according to information posted on the YouTube Web site.

Intel promises fast Penryn chips in 2007
Intel Corp. will begin producing its next-generation "Penryn" processors by the end of 2007, using greater power efficiency to push improved Core 2 and Xeon chips to speeds over 3GHz, the company said Wednesday.

HP targets SMB markets with new hardware
Hewlett-Packard Co. is adding new entry-level hardware to a product line aimed at buyers in emerging global markets as well as small-to-medium sized businesses.


WINDOWS TIP

Using FR and RUP in mixed environments
By Mitch Tulloch,MTIT Enterprises

Folder Redirection (FR) and Roaming User Profiles (RUP) are two
separate but complementary methods for enabling users to roam between
different computers on your network and access their desktop
environments together with their personal data and settings. Here's a
tip that provides recommendations on how to implement FR and/or RUP in
mixed Vista/XP environments.

Subscribe to Windows in the Enterprise - Tips for how to maximize Windows safely and securely.


ITWHIRLED

Video games can help the eyes
If your parents always told you that playing video games would ruin your eyesight, rejoice! Researchers at the University of Rochester have determined that playing for about an hour a day can actual improve your visual acuity.

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PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Intel readies 3GHz Penryn chips ... STMicro to sell Chinese microprocessor ... Dell to offer Linux systems

More podcasts

HP sues Acer for patent infringement ... Microsoft to launch higher-spec Xbox 360

HIGHLIGHTS
News: HP sues Acer for patent infringement
News: Microsoft to launch higher-spec Xbox 360
News: Report names Microsoft among DoubleClick suitors
News: Arrest deals blow to Siemens' IT services division
Unix Tip: The language of power
ITwhirled: Bad idea of the week: $38 billion gone in a keystroke
Podcast: HP sues Acer for patent infringement ... GPL license draft due today ... Yahoo offer unlimted e-mail capacity


NEWS UPDATES

HP sues Acer for patent infringement
Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's largest PC vendor, filed suit against its fastest growing rival on Tuesday, alleging the infringement of five patents.

Microsoft to launch higher-spec Xbox 360
Microsoft Corp. will begin selling in April an upgraded version of its Xbox 360 console that packs a higher capacity disk drive and high-definition video interface not present on current models and is still cheaper than the rival PlayStation 3.

Report names Microsoft among DoubleClick suitors
Online advertising sales and hosting company DoubleClick Inc. is up for sale, and Microsoft Corp. could be a buyer, according to a report Wednesday.

Arrest deals blow to Siemens' IT services division
The arrest of a top-ranking Siemens AG official responsible for its IT services business will not affect daily operations at the unit, according to a company spokesman, but the publicity could hardly have come at a worse time.

Nortel, Microsoft lay ground for hosted services
Microsoft Corp. and Nortel Networks Corp. are extending their unified communications partnership to carrier networks, laying the groundwork for hosted services.

Cisco to acquire network processor company
Cisco Systems Inc. has agreed to buy SpansLogic Inc., a privately held designer of network processing chips based in Mountain View, California, for an undisclosed sum.

TSMC making WiMax chips for Intel
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., the world's largest contract chip maker, is producing wireless and WiMax-related chips for Intel Corp., the companies said on Wednesday.

Google Apps' Gmail faces downtime problems
For at least the third time this month, Google Inc. is grappling with performance and availability problems in the Gmail service of Google Apps, the suite of hosted services that many consider a potential threat to Microsoft Corp.'s Office suite of desktop software.

Metasploit hacking tool now Windows friendly
Metasploit 3.0, released early Tuesday morning, has been rewritten in the Ruby programming language to make the software faster and less buggy for Windows users, who make up the great majority of the software's users.

VMware enters the Linux kernel
The next revision of the Linux kernel is to include a virtualization feature developed by VMware, called VMI. The stable update, version 2.6.21, will then allow para-virtualized operating systems -- Linux itself -- to run inside virtual machines on top of, and to some extent sharing, the Linux kernel.


UNIX TIP

The language of power
By Sandra Henry Stocker

If you have any role in dealing with the power provided to the systems you manage, it's useful to be familiar with the terminology used to describe power and power devices such as UPS systems. Let's examine some of the terminology that you are likely to hear when people are talking about power provided to computer systems.

Subscribe to Unix in the Enterprise - Tips and tricks for managing your Unix systems.


ITWHIRLED

Bad idea of the week: $38 billion gone in a keystroke
Imagine you're a computer tech working for the government of Alaska and you accidentally formatted a hard drive where information was kept about the $38 billion Alaska Permanent Fund, which pays out shares of the state oil revenues to residents, is kept. No problem: you can always restore from the backup drive! Well, except that you formatted that too. OK, so there are always the tapes! Um, but those are unreadable. Now the real fun starts.

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PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
HP sues Acer for patent infringement ... GPL license draft due today ... Yahoo offer unlimted e-mail capacity

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Delayed GPLv3 draft to debut Wednesday ... PayPal asks e-mail services to block messages

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Delayed GPLv3 third draft to debut Wednesday
News: PayPal asking e-mail services to block messages
News: Yahoo launches mobile ad network
News: Static starts to clear on mobile TV
Tip: Create a security awareness program in three steps
Podcast: Early Vista sales outpace XP ... Samsung plans larger solid-state drives ... ICANN to vote on .xxx domains
ITwhirled: Mathematicians claim to solve problem nobody can explain


NEWS UPDATES

Delayed GPLv3 third draft to debut Wednesday
Months later than had been expected, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) intends to release the third draft of its GNU general public license version 3 (GPLv3) on Wednesday. The organization now also plans a final "last-call" draft following feedback on the third draft.

PayPal asking e-mail services to block messages
PayPal, the Internet-based money transfer system owned by eBay Inc., is trying to persuade e-mail providers to block messages that lack digital signatures, which are aimed at cutting down on phishing scams, a company attorney said Tuesday.

Yahoo launches mobile ad network
Yahoo Inc. launched new services on Tuesday to help publishers put their content on mobile phones and take advantage of an emerging medium for advertising.

Static starts to clear on mobile TV
As a mobile TV service from one major U.S. carrier gets rolling, vendors at the CTIA Wireless show this week in Orlando, Florida, will be highlighting video as a key emerging technology to make the mobile experience -- and service providers -- richer.

Samsung to ship higher capacity solid state disk drive
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. plans to begin shipping a solid-state disk drive in the second quarter that will have double the capacity of its current highest-capacity drive, it said Tuesday.

Optimus keyboard faces another delay
The much-talked-about Optimus Maximus keyboard project is facing another problem. The manufacturer of the OLED displays that are intended to be fitted inside each key is having "serious financial troubles and is not able to deliver displays at all," designer Artemy Lebedev wrote on the Optimus project's blog. But the keyboard should still be available this year.

Cisco adds 3G to branch router
3G (third-generation) wireless will grow up at the CTIA Wireless show in Orlando this week, finding its place in Cisco Systems Inc. business routers.

Adobe overhauls suite for design professionals
Adobe Systems Inc. on Tuesday said it had completely revamped its tools suite for high-end graphics and Web designers by combining, for the first time, products from the former Macromedia and its own portfolio.

Code posted for IE attack
New software has been published on the Internet that could be used to exploit a recently patched flaw in Internet Explorer.

Microsoft: Vista intro outsold XP
Sales of Vista during the first month that the newest Windows operating system was available to consumers were more than double the sales that Windows XP racked up in twice the time, Microsoft Corp. said.


TIP

Create a security awareness program in three steps
By Brent Huston, MicroSolved, Inc.

Security awareness programs may seem like they should be easy to implement, but in reality, they require skills that most security teams don't regularly practice. To help you on your way towards a brighter security future, we've identified three steps required to create an effective awareness program.

Subscribe to Security Strategies - Tips and technologies to protect your enterprise.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Early Vista sales outpace XP ... Samsung plans larger solid-state drives ... ICANN to vote on .xxx domains

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ITWHIRLED

Mathematicians claim to solve problem nobody can explain
A group of mathematicians have mapped an incredibly complex theoretical object called the "Lie group E8." The solution is so complex that if hand-written it would cover the island of Manhattan, and the project leader admits that "to say what precisely [the problem] is something even many mathematicians can't understand." Now, we're not saying that this is some colossal put-on, but if we were to try to pull a hoax like this, this is how we'd do it.

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Microsoft details network hack in Windows ... Symbian adds support for TV, cameras, databases

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Microsoft details network hack in Windows
News: Symbian OS v9.5 adds support for TV, cameras, databases
News: SANS to test programmers' security sense
News: Intel to build $2.5 billion chip plant in China
Windows Tip: Determine bandwidth using WMI script
Podcast: Intel to build $2.5B fab in China ... MIcrosoft puts brakes on Soapbox ... IBM shows optical chipset
ITwhirled: The top 10 funniest tech videos on YouTube


NEWS UPDATES

Microsoft details network hack in Windows
Microsoft Corp. is warning of an attack that could be used to divert someone's Web traffic through a malicious proxy server by placing a malicious WPAD.dat file in the Domain Name System (DNS) or the Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS).

Symbian OS v9.5 adds support for TV, cameras, databases
Symbian Ltd. has updated its operating system for mobile phones, improving support for digital TV, cameras, database applications, location-based services and roaming between Wi-Fi and 3G (third-generation) networks.

SANS to test programmers' security sense
Amid growing Internet crime enabled in part by faulty programming, the SANS Institute will introduce a series of four exams for developers to test how well they can write secure code.

Intel to build $2.5 billion chip plant in China
Intel Corp. President and CEO Paul Otellini Monday confirmed the company plans to build a $2.5 billion chip plant in China. The plant, to be built in Dalian, on China's northeastern coast, will enter production during the first half of 2010.

TSMC extends lead over IBM, other chip rivals: Gartner
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) took the top spot in the contract chip manufacturing business again in 2006, and extended its lead over some rivals, such as IBM Corp.

Virtual Iron joins HP partner program
Virtual Iron Inc., the open source underdog to virtualization industry leader VMware Inc., has been chosen to join a Hewlett-Packard Co. partnership program and has landed the travel Web site Priceline.com Inc. as a customer.

Iona adds repository tool for SOAs
Iona Technologies Inc. is broadening its suite of Artix infrastructure software with a new tool announced Monday for managing software services in an SOA environment.

Rackable Systems offers data center in a box
Server maker Rackable Systems Inc. is introducing a data center-in-a-box product that bears a resemblance to the Project Blackbox portable data center coming from Sun Microsystems Inc.

Study: Online advertising fraught with malicious code
An analysis of more than 10 million unique URLs, based on live web traffic recorded in the U.K., by security firm Finjan found that online advertising hosts 80 percent of all instances of malicious code.


WINDOWS TIP

Determine bandwidth using WMI script
By Mitch Tulloch, MTIT Enterprises

Did you know that you can use WMI to measure your machine's network bandwidth using a script? To use this script, copy the text provided in this article into Notepad (with Word Wrap turned off) and save it as ReportBandwidth.vbs. To run this script on a Windows Vista machine, open an elevated command prompt and type cscript reportbandwidth.vbs /? to view a list of different arguments you can
use with this script.

Subscribe to Windows in the Enterprise - Tips for how to maximize Windows safely and securely.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Intel to build $2.5B fab in China ... MIcrosoft puts brakes on Soapbox ... IBM shows optical chipset

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ITWHIRLED

The top 10 funniest tech videos on YouTube
Spring has sprung, and with it, you may be experiencing a bout of spring fever. Here's a cure, or at least a temporary remedy: "The top 10 funniest tech videos on YouTube" links to some "hilarious parodies, spoofs and jokes related to IT and computers." But if you're in tech support, get ready to be skewered; a lot of the jokes come at your expense, like the Norwegian television show excerpt depicting a medevial help desk.

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Maintenance contracts at heart of Oracle, SAP dispute ... Palm profit drops

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Maintenance contracts at heart of Oracle, SAP dispute
News: Palm profit drops despite strong smartphone sales
News: IBM finds way to keep chips running cooler
News: NBC, News Corp. team up on YouTube rival
Storage Tip: Intelligence for unstructured data
ITwhirled: MySpace finishes conquest of human social life, now set to destroy journalism
News Podcast: Oracle sues SAP for corporate theft ... NBC, News Corp. to launch YouTube rival ... Bill Gates finally gets his degree


NEWS UPDATES

Maintenance contracts at heart of Oracle, SAP dispute
Software maintenance--who provides it and at what price--is at the heart of the corporate theft lawsuit Oracle Corp. filed against arch-rival SAP AG, one expert said.

Palm profit drops despite strong smartphone sales
Amid rumors that the company could be acquired, Palm Inc. reported Thursday that its third-quarter profit was $16.5 million, down from $19.8 million for the same quarter last year.

IBM finds way to keep chips running cooler
Scientists at IBM Corp.'s Zurich Research Laboratory have developed a glue-application technique used to assemble chips that will keep them running cooler, the company said.

NBC, News Corp. team up on YouTube rival
News Corp. and NBC Universal will challenge Google Inc.'s YouTube for online eyeballs and advertising dollars by launching a video-streaming Web site by the third quarter, News Corp. announced Thursday.

FCC to examine net neutrality
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday launched an inquiry into how broadband providers manage their traffic, again getting involved in a debate over network neutrality.

Novell, Red Hat compare desktop Linux programs
Open-source rivals Novell Inc. and Red Hat Inc. are each highlighting initiatives to bring Linux-based functionality to the desktop.

Broadcom says Qualcomm violated duty to standards group
A U.S. jury ruled that a failure by Qualcomm Inc. to disclose two patents to a video standards group means the company waived its rights to enforce the patents, which are now part of the H.264 video compression standard, Broadcom Corp. said Thursday.

Belgian company loses lawsuit against Google
A Belgian court dismissed a lawsuit filed by a company that said a feature for Google Inc.'s search engine offers up password-cracking tools and serial numbers to unlock their software.

Private equity fund Blackstone Group considers IPO
Blackstone Group, a large private equity group whose shareholdings include some major IT names, is planning an initial public offering. The group's filing with the SEC didn't disclose the proposed value of the offering, but U.S. media reported the issue will raise about $4 billion.


STORAGE TIP

Intelligence for unstructured data
By David Hill, Mesabi Group

IT organizations have the skills to deal with the data growth caused by unstructured data - and deal with the growth you must. But just as with previous data revolutions (first to a focus on online transaction processing systems, which use structured data, and then to semi-structured information, such as e-mail, office productivity, and HTML documents), the heightened awareness and utility of unstructured information can only make the place of data even more central to an enterprise.

Subscribe to Storage Strategies - Tips for effective storage management, technology updates and best practices.


ITWHIRLED

MySpace finishes conquest of human social life, now set to destroy journalism
Wired Magazine claims to have acquired inside documents that show that MySpace is cooking up a Digg- or Reddit-style social news site. No word yet on whether users will be able to customize their news pages with eye-searing black-text-on-pink-background layouts, or if crappy Nu metal music will start playing when you visit the site.

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.



PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Oracle sues SAP for corporate theft ... NBC, News Corp. to launch YouTube rival ... Bill Gates finally gets his degree

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Nokia ships N95 phone with GPS

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Nokia ships N95 phone with GPS
News: Motorola cuts Q1 estimate, shakes up management
News: Hitachi to close HDD plant in Mexico, slash workforce
News: Online searching for PS3 bargains proves popular
News: Compatibility woes make UK firms wary of using Vista
News: Broadcom asks US to ban Qualcomm phones
ITwhirled: Top 10 myths about family vacations


NEWS UPDATES

Nokia ships N95 phone with GPS
Nokia Corp. has started shipping its N95 mobile phone in Europe and Asia, the first in an expected series of devices from the Finnish company with built-in GPS (global positioning system) capabilities.

Motorola cuts Q1 estimate, shakes up management
Motorola Inc. replaced a top executive and warned that sales would be lower than expected for the quarter and the year.

Hitachi to close HDD plant in Mexico, slash workforce
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Inc. plans to close a manufacturing plant in Mexico and lay off around 11 percent of its 40,000-person global workforce in a bid to shore up its hard disc drive (HDD) operations.

Online searching for PS3 bargains proves popular
Market researcher Hitwise has reported that last week the PlayStation 3 (PS3) overtook the Nintendo Wii as the most searched-for gaming console online.

Compatibility woes make UK firms wary of using Vista
U.K. firms show little enthusiasm for the Windows Vista operating system, with nearly six out of 10 businesses saying they have no plans to deploy it, research has revealed.

Broadcom asks US to ban Qualcomm phones
Broadcom Corp. officials called on the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban the import of mobile phones containing high-speed Qualcomm Inc. processors because of patent infringement.


ITWHIRLED

She's a 10
Top 10 unforgettable hoops shots ... Top 10 movie creatures ... Top 10 Ikea hacks ... 10 weird places to stash your cash ... Top 10 myths about family vacations

Dell launches low-cost PC in China

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Dell launches low-cost PC in China
News: Another Microsoft-Alcatel patent flap to be probed
News: BenQ sees mobile phone ops turning a profit in Q3
News: Liberty releases new client ID specifications
News: IDC: Acer could surpass Lenovo as No. 3 PC maker
News: Micron opens first chip plant in China
News: IBM wins contract to transform Indian mobile operator
ITwhirled: 10 weird places to stash your cash


NEWS UPDATES

Dell launches low-cost PC in China
Dell Inc. has launched a new low-cost desktop PC aimed at grabbing market share in China. Instead of Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows Vista OS, it runs Windows XP.

Another Microsoft-Alcatel patent flap to be probed
The U.S. International Trade Commission is going to investigate allegations by Microsoft Corp. of patent infringement by the French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent SA.

BenQ sees mobile phone ops turning a profit in Q3
There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for BenQ Corp. and its long running mobile phone troubles. A rebound in its Taiwan mobile phone division could see it turn profitable by the third quarter of this year, the company says.

Liberty releases new client ID specifications
The Liberty Alliance released a new set of specifications aimed at protecting identity information transmitted by mobile devices during Web-based transactions.

IDC: Acer could surpass Lenovo as No. 3 PC maker
Acer Inc. could be in position to "slingshot" ahead of rival Lenovo Group Ltd. to become the world's third-largest PC maker during the first quarter, an industry analyst said Wednesday.

Micron opens first chip plant in China
Micron Technology Inc., one of the world's largest memory chip makers, opened its first chip factory in China on Tuesday, the company said in a statement.

IBM wins contract to transform Indian mobile operator
IBM Corp. has bagged a 10-year business transformation contract from a large Indian mobile services operator, Idea Cellular Ltd. The contract, awarded on a risk-reward revenue sharing model, is expected to bring to IBM revenue of between US$600 million and $800 million over 10 years, Idea said Wednesday.

ITWHIRLED

She's a 10
Top 10 unforgettable hoops shots ... Top 10 movie creatures ... Top 10 Ikea hacks ... 10 weird places to stash your cash ... Top 10 myths about family vacations

IPTV groups forms, minus Microsoft and Alcatel ... BenQ chairman offers to resign over mobile troubles

HIGHLIGHTS
News: BenQ chairman offers to resign over phone troubles
News: IBM, Cisco release crisis response service
News: IPTV groups forms, but without two key players
News: FTC stays part of Rambus case
ITwhirled: Bad idea of the week: Selling drugs on Craigslist
Unix Tip: Power outage 2007


NEWS UPDATES

BenQ chairman offers to resign over phone troubles
The chairman of BenQ Corp. offered his resignation on Tuesday over losses caused by the company's inability to make its former German mobile phone subsidiary profitable. BenQ's board of directors refused to accept the offer, however, demanding that he remain in his role and turn the company around.

IBM, Cisco release crisis response service
IBM Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. on Tuesday announced a new one-stop service designed to help businesses and government agencies respond to and recover from disasters, the companies said.

IPTV groups forms, but without two key players
Several big telecommunication carriers and equipment suppliers hope to accelerate the deployment of Internet-based television services by agreeing to a set of interoperable technology specifications. Two key suppliers of IPTV technology are absent from the group, however: Microsoft Corp. and Alcatel-Lucent SA.

FTC stays part of Rambus case
A U.S. agency has modified its own ruling, freeing Rambus Inc. to collect royalties for past uses of its memory chip technology despite charges that the company holds a monopoly in the industry, the company said Monday.

Dynamics users: Microsoft is listening more
Microsoft Corp. is spending more time soliciting and responding to feedback from users of its Dynamics business applications, according to attendees at the vendor's recent Convergence show in San Diego.

Vista's tunnelling protocol poses risk
Windows Vista's implementation of a tunnelling protocol called Teredo can be added to the list of security problems posed by the operating system, according to recent research from Symantec Advanced Threat Research.

EMC partners with NIIT to bridge storage training gap
EMC Corp. has partnered with Indian training company NIIT Ltd. to train storage professionals in 32 countries. The alliance is the first of its kind by EMC, and aims to fill a shortage of storage and information management professionals worldwide, Manoj Chugh, EMC's country manager for India, said on Tuesday.

Dell opens Chinese blog, lauds Taiwan
Dell Inc. opened its first Chinese language blog on Monday in a bid to make sure its communications keep pace with its growth and enable it to better serve customers, the head of the new blog said in the first entry.

Microsoft offers small-business promotions
Microsoft Corp. is offering small businesses promotions for free software trials and business tools, as long as they are willing to ensure that they are running genuine copies of Windows.

MySpace politics site: Large potential audience
MySpace launched a U.S. presidential campaign site Monday, and it has the potential of reaching millions of people who don't otherwise go to political Web sites, one analyst said.


UNIX TIP

Power outage 2007
By Sandra Henry Stocker, ITworld.com

The power was gone and the UPS was keeping the systems up, but without
air conditioning, the computer room was already heating up. "What", I
asked myself as I surveyed the computer room that morning, "are my
priorities?". I could wait for the auto-shutdown script, set to be
triggered by a low-battery event issued by the UPS, to kick in and
begin the graceful shutdown of servers. "But how hot", I
wondered, "will the room be by then?" Better to run the script
manually and the sooner the better.

Subscribe to Unix in the Enterprise - Tips and tricks for managing your Unix systems.


ITWHIRLED

Bad idea of the week: Selling drugs on Craigslist
If you were a drug dealer, you probably wouldn't advertise on TV, or in the newspaper, or in some other venue where law enforcement would be likely to see it, would you? But surely the Internet is a whole different story! A New York man decided that Craigslist would be a great way for him to sell some crack cocaine in his possession, with predictable results.

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.

Salesforce.com unveiles Spring 07 update ... Google buys in-game ads company

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Hackers selling IDs for $14, Symantec says
News: Adobe releases first Apollo code to developers
News: Google buys game advertising, statistics software
News: Salesforce.com readies its take on MySpace
Opinion: Management maps
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: 10 weird places to stash your cash


NEWS UPDATES

Hackers selling IDs for $14, Symantec says
Identity thieves are offering a person's credit-card number, date of birth and other sensitive information for as little as $14 over the Internet, said a new report on online threats released Monday.

Adobe releases first Apollo code to developers
Adobe Systems Inc. is giving developers a free preview of its forthcoming runtime code-named Apollo on Monday, releasing an alpha version of the technology on its Adobe Labs site.

Google buys game advertising, statistics software
Google Inc. has acquired Adscape Media, an in-game advertising company based in San Francisco, for an undisclosed sum, Google announced Friday. Adscape offers technology for placing advertisements in video games for PCs, gaming consoles and mobile phones.

Salesforce.com readies its take on MySpace
Salesforce.com Inc. Monday joined other corporate software players trying to take the concepts behind the highly successful social networking site MySpace and apply them to the business world. AppSpace is a hosted portal which forms part of the Spring 07 release of the Salesforce hosted CRM software.

Fujitsu offers flash-based notebooks
Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp. is fortifying two models in its notebook line by offering the option of solid state drives for rugged applications like health care and aviation, the company said Monday.

Expert: Supreme Court copyright ruling invites chaos
The 2005 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Grokster v. MGM case is partly responsible for Viacom Inc.'s dispute with Google Inc. ending up in court, an expert on copyright law said in a Sunday opinion piece in The New York Times newspaper.

Hackers promise month of MySpace bugs
Two hackers going by the names of Mondo Armando and Müstaschio promise to begin disclosing security vulnerabilities in MySpace, News Corp.'s popular social networking site, every day next month.

Apple offers to re-price options for employees
Apple Inc. has offered to re-price stock options for some employees who received them at incorrect prices. In a filing Friday with the SEC, Apple said 114,695 options, issued between 1997 and 2002, were erroneously assigned grant dates that preceded the finalization of those grants.

Broadcom, Qualcomm settle more disputes
Qualcomm said on Friday that it had agreed with Broadcom to dismiss patent infringement claims and trade secret misappropriation charges asserted by the companies in two lawsuits.


OPINION

Management maps
By James Gaskin

Why do executives look so disappointed when they visit the operations center? Because the TV program 24 shows us a NOC with network maps linked to satellites able to drill down and watch Jack Bauer run around town. You've got log files, and if you're lucky, a reproduction of a router face plate with blinking LEDs.

Time to spiff up your presentation for executive eye candy as well as provide better management. Take a look at the new FireScope (.com) Dashboard now integrated with Google Maps and drill down to street level. You won't see Bauer running around, but you will see your remote locations in physical context with their environment.

Subscribe to Enterprise Networking - Strategies for designing, implementing and securing enterprise-level networks.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Salesforce.com unveiles Spring 07 update ... Google acquires in-game ads company ... ID thieves selling identities for $14 ... Adobe releases Apollo runtime

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

She's a 10
Top 10 unforgettable hoops shots ... Top 10 movie creatures ... Top 10 Ikea hacks ... 10 weird places to stash your cash ... Top 10 myths about family vacations