Bribery investigation sets back Nokia-Siemens deal ... Microsoft shuts out Vista pirates

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Bribery investigation sets back Nokia-Siemens deal
News: Google updates Apps for Domain suite
News: Boeing privacy breach puts U.S. total over 100 million
News: Microsoft updates Vista in latest piracy crackdown
Opinion: AJAX and the hidden cost of ease of use
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
Geek Comic of the Week: Kawaii Not


NEWS UPDATES

Bribery investigation sets back Nokia-Siemens deal
The planned merger of network infrastructure units at Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG won't close by the end of this year as expected because the companies will execute a compliance review of Siemens, spurred by the corruption investigation currently shaking the German technology company.

Google updates Apps for Domain suite
Google is extending its Google Apps for Your Domain hosted-applications suite with a service that walks companies through the selection and registration of a domain name. As part of the service, which costs $10 per year, Google will also link the components of the browser-based suite with the chosen domain.

Boeing privacy breach puts U.S. total over 100 million
A stolen laptop at The Boeing Co. has pushed a widely watched tally of U.S. data breach victims past the 100 million mark. On Tuesday, Boeing disclosed that files containing Social Security numbers, names and home addresses of 382,000 current and former employees were compromised in early December when an unencrypted laptop was stolen from an employee's car.

Microsoft updates Vista in latest piracy crackdown
Microsoft Corp. Thursday released an update to Windows Vista that will shut down unauthorized versions of the OS that allow users to skip the product's activation system.

YouTube yet to answer Japan concerns as deadline looms
The Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) has yet to receive a response from YouTube to complaints raised earlier this month regarding copyright infringement on the popular online video site. In the letter they asked for a reply no later than Dec. 15.

Yahoo to buy Taiwan blog site Wretch
Yahoo Taiwan Inc. agreed to buy popular blog site Wretch.cc in a deal the companies expect to push them into the Web 2.0 era in Taiwan.

Wall Street Beat: IT heavyweights look ahead
Heading toward the end of a better-than-expected year for IT, the good news this week was that there were no big surprises when Hewlett-Packard Co., Cisco Systems Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. laid out strategies at investor and analyst conferences.

IE7's phishing filter gets speed boost
Microsoft Corp. has released a patch for Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) that will boost the brand-new browser's performance on some Web sites.


OPINION

AJAX and the hidden cost of ease of use
By Sean McGrath

The IT industry - always a seething den of buzzword bingo - appears to
be in complete overdrive at the moment. Based on a back-of-an-envelope
calculation, I believe I have had to internalize an average of 1.5 new
buzzwords every working day this week.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Microsoft shuts out Vista pirates ... Skype to start charging for calls in the US ... Grameen outsources development of open-source software


ITWHIRLED

Geek Comic of the Week: Kawaii Not
Kawaii Not bills itself as "the webcomic for cute gone bad," and that's a pretty accurate assessment. The comic is done in the style of the adorable Sanrio characters from Japan, but with a slightly twisted twist, whether it's mistletoe berries that announce their voyeuristic glee or an adorable hammer that declares that it's "coming for your toes."

Google searches patent database ... Sony confident of hitting PS3 targets

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Google now searches U.S. patent database
News: Sony confident of hitting PS3 targets
News: Skype to start charging U.S., Canada users for calls
News: HP and Microsoft challenge IBM with new deal
Tip: Litigation holds require a formal data retention strategy
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Latest advertising technology hits snag


NEWS UPDATES

Google now searches US patent database
If you've ever dreamed up an ingenious new invention and then wondered if someone else has already made it, Google Inc.'s new patent search offering is for you. The new site lets anyone search for U.S. patents by keyword, patent number, inventor and filing date. Users can view a scanned image of the original patent and zoom in on pages.

Sony confident of hitting PS3 targets
Sony Corp. is confident it will hit shipment targets for its recently launched PlayStation 3 game console, its president said Thursday. Prior to the launch of the PS3 in November, Sony said it would ship 2 million consoles this year in Japan and the U.S. and 6 million by the end of its financial year in March 2007.

Skype to start charging U.S., Canada users for calls
Internet phone service provider Skype Ltd. plans to start charging U.S. and Canadian users $29.95 per year for unlimited calls to regular phones in both countries, as the end of a free trial offer looms.

HP and Microsoft challenge IBM with new deal
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) is strengthening ties to Microsoft Corp. to provide a broadened portfolio of business software products to the enterprise market while delivering a competitive blow to rival IBM Corp.

Ingres goes with Infor as first ERP partner
Open-source database vendor Ingres Corp. Wednesday named Infor Global Solutions as its first ERP (enterprise resource planning) partner since Ingres spun off from CA Inc. over a year ago.

Third Word exploit released
Hackers have released attack code that exploits a critical vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.'s Word software -- the third such bug to be disclosed in the past week.

Grameen outsources open-source development to India
The Grameen Foundation has outsourced to Aditi Technologies Pvt. Ltd. the development of open-source software to meet the automation needs of microfinance agencies worldwide.

Symantec launches $15M piracy suit
Symantec Corp. last month filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeking more than $15 million in damages from a network of U.S. and Canadian businesses that are alleged to have sold counterfeit versions of Symantec's products, including Norton AntiVirus, pcAnywhere and Veritas Backup Exec.

Congress wants HP's Hurd to explain stock sale
Two U.S. Congressmen have asked HP CEO Mark Hurd to explain why he sold $1.37 million worth of HP stock just before the company's spying scandal became public.


TIP
Litigation holds require a formal data retention strategy
By David Hill, Mesabi Group

The new changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) will have considerable impact on IT in general and storage administration in particular. Litigation holds are likely to be an especially thorny issue. A litigation hold means that you are required to preserve data that may be the target of a lawsuit against your company so that you can make the necessary information (e-discovery) available if required. But a huge gap exists between your legal department asking you to put a litigation hold on data and your ability to actually do so. And that is your challenge.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
HP, Microsoft team up against IBM ... Google in talks to buy South Korean software company's U.S. subsidiary ... Symantec sues alleged software pirates


ITWHIRLED

Latest advertising technology hits snag
CBS Outdoor was ready to unleash a whole new experience on the staid world of advertising: "Got Milk?" ads in San Francisco bus shelters that emitted the odor of delicious freshly baked cookies. But the city's lawmakers pulled the plug on the campaign after only a day, worried about potential allergic reactions.

IBM, Yahoo launch free enterprise search tool ... HP, Microsoft to unveil enterprise software deal

HIGHLIGHTS

News: IBM, Yahoo launch free enterprise search tool
News: HP and Microsoft to unveil enterprise software deal
News: Google allows employees to auction off stock options
News: Microsoft offers software for building robots
Unix Tip: Adding lines to the ends of files
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Space Shuttle not ready for 'Auld Lang Syne'


NEWS UPDATES

IBM, Yahoo launch free enterprise search tool
IBM Corp. and Yahoo Inc. have developed a free, entry-level, enterprise search application that at least one analyst believes will seriously disrupt the low-end segment of this market where Google Inc. has been selling many of its Mini search devices.

HP and Microsoft to unveil enterprise software deal
Hewlett-Packard Co. and Microsoft Corp. will enter into a new enterprise software agreement to be detailed Wednesday.

Google allows employees to auction off stock options
Google Inc. will allow some employees to auction off their vested stock options to institutional investors, enabling workers to potentially reap greater profits from their options, the company said Wednesday.

Microsoft offers software for building robots
Microsoft Corp. released the commercial version of its software for robots on Wednesday, hoping to shape the market much as it did for PC software a few decades ago.

Skype releases beta for Windows Mobile smart phones
Skype Ltd. released the beta version of Skype 2.2, a software client that allows Windows Mobile smart phones to access the company's VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) service over Wi-Fi connections.

Intel moves Spring IDF to Beijing, drops U.S. conference
Intel Corp.'s annual Spring Intel Developer Forum (IDF) conference will not be held in the U.S. next year, a company official confirmed Wednesday. Instead, the world's largest chip maker is moving the event to Beijing.

'Rock Phish' blamed for surge in phishing
Rock Phish has grown to be one of the most prominent phishing groups in operation. It has developed a variety of new attack techniques that have earned the group a kind of grudging respect among security professionals, who estimate that the criminal organization's phishing schemes have cost banks more than $100 million to date.

Cisco focuses on video, innovation teams
Cisco Systems Inc. executives looked to video, the developing world, and still-emerging technologies as they kicked off the company's C-Scape analyst conference Tuesday.

EBay Express disappoints merchants
Merchants complain that eBay Express doesn't attract sufficient shoppers and generates an inconsequential volume of sales, although eBay Inc. says it is satisfied and remains committed to the site.

Microsoft fixes IE, Windows Media Player flaws
Microsoft Corp. has rolled out its monthly security updates for December, patching critical flaws in Internet Explorer, Windows Media Format and the Visual Studio 2005 development software.


UNIX TIP

Adding lines to the ends of files
By Sandra Henry-Stocker

Let's look at a quick, clever way to add lines to the ends of files on a Unix system. This little Unix trick can be very useful if you are distributing installation directions to customers and want to limit the possible mistakes that they can make in updating important system files. The basis of this trick is the Unix here document -- a special form of I/O redirection that allows you to insert the content to be added between the redirect command and a special marker that is recognized as the end marker for the inserted text.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Microsoft, HP to announce enterprise partnership ... Investigation of LCD industry widens ... Microsoft releases new security updates


ITWHIRLED

Space Shuttle not ready for 'Auld Lang Syne'
As if NASA engineers didn't have enough safety problems to worry about with the aging shuttle fleet, a potential late December mission has them fretting about how the spacecraft's 1970s-era computers will -- or, more likely, won't -- deal with the rollover from one year to the next.

Regulatory probe of LCD market widens ... Salesforce.com gets closer to 'iTunes' vision

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Regulatory probe of LCD market widens
News: Salesforce.com gets closer to 'iTunes' vision
News: Fujitsu claims first 300GB SATA 2.5-inch drive
News: New HP software shows fruits of Mercury acquisition
Tip: Listen to your users, multi-select files in Explorer
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Ten servers that changed the world


NEWS UPDATES

Regulatory probe of LCD market widens
An investigation into possible anticompetitive behavior in the flat-panel display market widened Tuesday, with four more big vendors saying they had been contacted by investigators.

Salesforce.com gets closer to 'iTunes' vision
Salesforce.com Inc. plans to turn its AppExchange Web site into a fully functioning online marketplace for hosted software.

Fujitsu claims first 300GB SATA 2.5-inch drive
Fujitsu Ltd. has developed a hard-disk drive suitable for use in laptop PCs and video recorders with a capacity of 300G bytes, the largest in its class, the company said Tuesday.

New HP software shows fruits of Mercury acquisition
Software announcements from HP Tuesday show how the acquisition this year of Mercury Interactive Corp. may be paying off. The company is introducing a business technology optimization (BTO) software portfolio that brings together Mercury's applications management software with HP's systems and network management software marketed under its Open View software family.

Microsoft releases beta of unified communications hub
Microsoft Corp.'s goal to provide a unified communications infrastructure for the enterprise moved forward Tuesday with the release of a private beta of software it sees as its communications hub.

Intel speeds up introduction of new quad-core chip
Intel Corp. says it has rushed introduction of a new quad-core chip originally scheduled for next year to Monday to meet demand from server manufacturers for the processor.

HP buys data management services company
Hewlett-Packard Co. has agreed to acquire IT services company Knightsbridge Solutions Holding Corp. for an undisclosed sum

Napster Mobile coming soon to Europe
Napster Inc. will launch its first mobile download service for Europe in Ireland later this month on Telefónica SA's O2 Ireland network

U.S. trade commission says Qualcomm violated patent
The U.S. International Trade Commission said that Qualcomm Inc. is infringing on one of Broadcom Corp.'s patents, dealing a blow to Qualcomm in an ongoing patent battle between the companies.

IDC: Americans are cool to mobile data services
U.S. cell-phone users are staying away from mobile data services in droves, according to research company IDC. Almost three-quarters of respondents in an IDC online survey didn't use any data service other than text-messaging in the third quarter of this year.


TIP

Listen to your users, multi-select files in Explorer
By Mitch Tulloch, MTIT Enterprises

I was manning the Ask The Experts booth at a 2007 Microsoft Launch
event the other day when I heard an interesting story from another
Microsoft MVP. He told me that his wife was really excited about a new
feature in Windows Vista that made it a lot easier for her to work on
her computer.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Europe gives approval for UWB ... Intel moves up release of quad-core chip ... African users embrace mobile Internet


ITWHIRLED

She's a 10
Ten servers that changed the world ... Ten best things to say if caught sleeping at your desk ... Ten things you shouldn't buy new ... Top ten most common phobias ... Top ten women of gaming

Infosys to become first Indian company in Nasdaq-100 ... Lower cost rivals challenge VMware lead

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Infosys to become first Indian company in Nasdaq-100
News: New type of memory chip may replace flash, HDD
News: Lower cost rivals challenge VMware lead
News: Project checks Java code for security bugs
Opinion: Bring out the tinfoil hats
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Coding horror: Stop developer-designed UIs now


NEWS UPDATES

Infosys to become first Indian company in Nasdaq-100
When the Nasdaq stock market opens next Monday, Indian outsourcer Infosys Technologies Ltd. will become the first Indian company to be included in its prestigious list of top-100 companies.

New type of memory chip may replace flash, HDD
Flash memory and hard-disk drives could face a challenge from a new chip technology, dubbed phase-change memory, being developed by a group of companies led by IBM Corp.

Lower cost rivals challenge VMware lead
Virtual Iron Inc. and XenSource Inc. both are introducing new virtualization software to undercut on price the dominant player in the field, VMware Inc.

Project checks Java code for security bugs
Fortify Software Inc. and the FindBugs project have launched a free service that will scan open-source Java software for bugs in the code.

Sun goes multilingual with Java SE 6
Over two years in the making, Sun Microsystems Inc. is due to release the latest version of its Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE) software Monday, placing particular emphasis on the application development platform's support for other scripting languages.

Vista to benefit partners more than Microsoft
A new IDC report on the impact of Windows Vista on the industry claims Microsoft Corp.'s business partners stand to benefit more financially from the OS than Microsoft itself will in 2007.

Fujitsu Siemens offers SAN bundle for small businesses
Following a similar move by Hewlett-Packard Co., Fujitsu Siemens Computers GmbH plans to announce a packaged storage area network (SAN) product on Thursday aimed at small and medium-size businesses.

LG.Philips subpoenaed in LCD competition probe
First it was chips, now it's LCDs (liquid crystal displays). Authorities around the globe are investigating possible anticompetitive conduct in the LCD industry, according to activity at LG.Philips LCD Co. Ltd. offices.

Mozilla ships developer release of Firefox 3.0
Mozilla Corp. has hit an early milestone on the road to the next version of its open-source browser, but the final product is still a year away, developers say.


OPINION

Bring out the tinfoil hats
By Dan Blacharski

Many schools and college campuses have been using WiFi technology to allow students to have broader and easier access to the Internet. The technology seems to be everywhere. Airports are giving travelers access, and you can even get it at coffeehouses, so you can log on and check your email while you're swilling down your morning coffee. Hospitals are taking advantage of the technology to permit caregivers to have access to computerized patient records at each bedside. I have to admit, my ancient Windows 95 laptop doesn't have WiFi, but I can see the attraction.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Hackers circumvent Vista's anti-piracy safeguard ... Oracle raises bid for Indian software company ... Intel remains World's largest chip maker

More podcasts
http://www.itworld.com/Tech/5042/


ITWHIRLED

Coding horror: Stop developer-designed UIs now
One of the commonly cited problems with open source software is that it tends to be built to the tastes of developers, not the public at large. To see why that might be a concern, check out the horror show that is the wGetGUI.

Pirates work around Vista's activation feature ... HP settles civil lawsuit over spying

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Security hole found in Windows Media Player
News: Oracle increases i-Flex offer
News: Pirates work around Vista's activation feature
News: HP settles civil lawsuit over spying
Opinion: Two radically different approaches to enterprise application software
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Geek Comic of the Week: Webcomic Crossover & Cameo Archive


NEWS UPDATES

Security hole found in Windows Media Player
Users are being advised to disable a certain type of file in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media Player software following the discovery of a new security hole in the software.

Oracle increases i-Flex offer
Oracle Corp. has increased the price it is willing to pay for an additional stake in i-flex solutions Ltd., a vendor of financial software in Mumbai, India.

Pirates work around Vista's activation feature
Hackers are distributing a file that they say lets users of the corporate version of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista operating system get around the software's anti-piracy mechanisms.

HP settles civil lawsuit over spying
HP has agreed to a $14.5 million settlement in the California civil lawsuit related to the company's spying scandal. Under terms of the settlement with the California attorney general, HP will pay $13.5 million to create a "Privacy and Piracy Fund" for law enforcement activities related to privacy and intellectual property rights operated in the state Attorney General's Office.

Microsoft readies Windows, Visual Studio security fixes
Microsoft Corp. plans to patch its Windows and Visual Studio products next week, but it does not have a fix in the works for a widely publicized flaw in Word, which hackers are reportedly exploiting in targeted attacks.

Microsoft's Office Open XML format becomes a standard
ECMA's General Assembly voted by 20-1 in favor of Microsoft's Office Open XML document format at a meeting in Zurich on Thursday afternoon, and will now submit the format to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for its approval. The vote against came from a representative of IBM Corp.

IBM accuses mainframe company of patent infringement
IBM Corp. says a Sunnyvale, California, company has infringed its patents by creating computers that allow customers to run IBM's System z operating systems and software on mainframes from other vendors.

MySQL, Open-Xchange announce partnership
Open-source players MySQL AB and Open-Xchange Inc. announced a partnership and support agreement Thursday to optimize the interaction between MySQL databases and Open-Xchange groupware functions. Open-Xchange customers won't have to pay extra for product support for MySQL, they said.

Microsoft: 1 million Zune sales by June 2007
Microsoft Corp. has predicted it will sell 1 million Zune devices in its first six months, a figure that would be more than Zune's chief rival iPod sold in its first 14 months but a relatively slow start for the much-hyped MP3 device.

FTC launches program for victims of ChoicePoint breach
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has begun mailing claim forms to more than 1,400 identity theft victims who spent money to clear up identity-theft problems due to a security breach at data broker ChoicePoint Inc. announced in early 2005.


OPINION

Two radically different approaches to enterprise application software
By Sean McGrath

Nothing stays still for long in this business. Every day (or so it
seems) there is some new technological innovation that changes the
business environment. Competitive forces move and shape-shift all the
time. To keep up, you develop/deploy your own technologies that in
turn may change the business environment in which you operate. Around
and around the cycles of change we go...


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
HP will pay $14.5 million to resolve a civil suit in its spying scandal ... Microsoft confirmed a new security flaw in Windows Media Player ... Oracle increased its bid for i-flex solutions


ITWHIRLED

Geek Comic of the Week: Webcomic Crossover & Cameo Archive
Do you ever get the feeling that Web comics are one big running in-joke? Check out this exhaustive list of crossovers and cameos between different Web comics characters and artists.

Google to host e-mail, build portal for BSkyB ... Nintendo investigates flying Wii controllers

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Google to host e-mail, build portal for BSkyB
News: Orange lets mobile users access PC content
News: Nintendo investigates flying Wii controllers
News: Police raid IBM's Moscow office
Opinion: The virtual taxman
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: The iPhone already arrived -- in 1995!


NEWS UPDATES

Google to host e-mail, build portal for BSkyB
Broadcaster and Internet service provider British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC (BSkyB) has asked Google Inc. to host e-mail and other services for its broadband customers in the U.K. Their collaboration could also lead to the creation of targeted TV ads.

Orange lets mobile users access PC content
France Télécom SA, the parent company of mobile phone operator Orange, is offering a service that lets mobile phone users access videos, music and other content from their PCs.

Nintendo investigates flying Wii controllers
Nintendo Co. Ltd. is taking a close look at the wrist-strap on the controller for its Wii console after several reports on the Internet about straps breaking, causing the controller to fly out of the hands of users, its president said Thursday.

Police raid IBM's Moscow office
Speaking Thursday, IBM spokesman Jonathan Batty confirmed that the raid had taken place. However, he wouldn't say if the authorities seized documents or computer equipment.

Elpida, Powerchip to invest $13.9B in DRAM venture
Japanese memory chip maker Elpida Memory Inc. and Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. have announced a broad plan to invest US$13.9 billion over five years to build four new DRAM factories in Taiwan.

Access charges Palm $44 million for Palm OS license
Access Co. Ltd., the Japanese company that purchased PalmSource Inc. last year, has sold a perpetual license for the Palm OS to PDA-maker Palm Inc. for US$44 million, the companies said Wednesday.

Microsoft's 'Blue Dragon' debuts for Xbox 360
"Blue Dragon," one of two eagerly awaited role-playing games for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 games console, made its worldwide debut in Japan on Thursday.

YouTube 'reviewing' Japanese protest
Google Inc.'s YouTube is "reviewing" a letter sent to it on Monday by the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) and 22 others, calling on the operator of the popular Web site to do more to prevent users uploading copyrighted content.

Former telecom firm owner indicted on E-Rate fraud
The former president and owner of ATE Tel Solutions Inc. has been indicted and charged with defrauding a U.S. government program intended to help schools and libraries in poor areas connect to the Internet.


OPINION

The virtual taxman
By Dan Blacharski

I don't play online games, but a lot of people enjoy them. There are
virtual communities, entire virtual lives, filled with people who have
virtual jobs and even make virtual money. I can't imagine what it
would be like to have a virtual life—the real thing is hard enough—but
I suppose it could have advantages. Wouldn't it be great if, in real
life, when you screwed up something, you could just reboot and start
over? No such luck. But one real-life government agency wants in on
the virtual action, and it seems that a virtual taxman is going to be
taking a cut.

Read the full article here.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Nintendo investigated flying Wii controllers ... Elpida and Powerchip Semi invest $14 billion in DRAM plants ... NTT Docomo and Mitsubishi to replace 1.3 million batteries


ITWHIRLED

The iPhone already arrived -- in 1995!
Apple mobile phones and tablet computers are like the Loch Ness Monster to the Mac rumors community -- often whispered about, never seen in stores. But both of these products, and some even odder ones (like the "Wizzy Active Lifestyle Telephone") were produced by Apple in prototype form more than a decade ago.

ATI loses ground after AMD purchase ... Yahoo reorganizes, COO to leave

HIGHLIGHTS

News: ATI loses ground in graphics after AMD purchase
News: Wii sold estimated 372,000 units at launch in Japan
News: Yahoo reorganizes into three groups, COO to leave
News: Microsoft warns of new Word attack
Tip: Sharing DVD drives
GottaGadget: What's your biggest gadget secret?
ITwhirled: Star Wars Kid gets more downloads than Paris Hilton


NEWS UPDATES

ATI loses ground in graphics after AMD purchase
ATI Technologies Inc. lost ground in every major graphics product category during the third quarter, and its acquisition by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is likely to blame, according to Jon Peddie Research.

Wii sold estimated 372,000 units at launch in Japan
Sales of Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii games console hit 372,000 units over its first two days on the market, according to figures from Enterbrain Inc.

Yahoo reorganizes into three groups, COO to leave
Yahoo Inc. will reorganize into three new units, as part of a shake-up that will see Chief Operating Officer Dan Rosensweig leave the company, Yahoo said Tuesday.

Microsoft warns of new Word attack
Microsoft Corp. warned Tuesday of a new, unpatched memory corruption error in its word-processing software, and said that it was investigating reports of "limited" attacks that exploit the problem.

Dell, Microsoft collaborate on storage tech
Dell Inc. and Microsoft Corp. rolled out a new storage system on Wednesday for file and application data that integrates hardware and software from both vendors. The system pairs Dell's PowerVault NX1950, a serial-attached SCSI (SAS) back-end storage array that can use up to 45 drives, with Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003, a file server and package of management tools.

Sametime links up with AIM, Google Talk
IBM Corp.'s Sametime has gained interoperability with public instant messaging networks from AOL LLC and Google Inc., and will interoperate with the one from Yahoo Inc. in a matter of weeks.

2006: The year in PCs and chips
Vendors in the PC and chip industries moved boldly in 2006, changing the marketplace map through mergers, recalls, layoffs and lawsuits. Oh, and they launched some impressive new products too, keeping Moore's Law moving as they built smaller, faster chips and cooler, more efficient computers. Here, in chronological order, we share a sampling of the biggest events of the past 12 months.


TIP

Sharing DVD drives
By Sandra Henry-Stocker

While only the newer Sun systems and higher-end PCs today are equipped
with DVD drives, application software is beginning to arrive on DVDs
because of the tremendous increase in storage capacity. Your typical
CD holds about 700 MB of data. That was a lot of data when system
disks were only a couple of gigabytes in size. DVDs, on the other
hand, may hold 4.3 or 4.7 GB -- and that's just a starting point. If
the multi-layer storage capacity of DVDs is ever fully employed, DVDs
will hold nearly 16 GB of data. With less overhead for data integrity
and more area, it's no wonder that Solaris is being shipped on DVDs
only.

So what do you do if you need to install software that is only
available on a DVD on a system which has only a CD drive? One answer
is to mount and share the DVD from a system with a DVD reader. Since
I had to do that just last week, I'll run through the steps in today's
column.


GOTTA GADGET

What's your biggest gadget secret?
Do you play games on your PDA during boring meetings? Do you have a separate account for gadget purchases that your spouse doesn't know about? Do you use your gadget in an unexpected way?

Share a secret, and enter our drawing to win an Apple iPod (with video capability).


ITWHIRLED

Star Wars Kid gets more downloads than Paris Hilton
Viral Factory, a British firm, declared the famous video of Ghyslain Raza, the Canadian teenager who swung a golf ball retriever around like a light saber, is the most commonly shared Internet video in history, with over 900 million views -- more than twice as many as Paris Hilton's infamous sex video. A decades-old film of an whale being dynamited on an Oregon beach, which was a meme from the early days of the Internet, also made the top ten.

MySpace tries to root out sex offenders ... AMD shrinks desktop chips

HIGHLIGHTS
News: MySpace tries to root out sex offenders
News: Japanese rights holders send protest to YouTube
News: AMD shrinks desktop chips to 65-nm design
News: Toshiba develops 100GB 1.8-inch HDD
News: NEC launches tough laptop PC
Storage Tip: New e-discovery rules mean no more business as usual
ITwhirled: Google code search reveals hidden comment gems


NEWS UPDATES

MySpace tries to root out sex offenders
Stepping up efforts to keep sex offenders off MySpace.com, the popular social networking Web site has partnered with an online identity and background verification company to build a U.S. national sex offender database and dedicate staff to checking the database against MySpace profiles.

Japanese rights holders send protest to YouTube
A broad group of companies and associations covering most of the Japanese entertainment industry is calling on YouTube Inc. to be more proactive in policing its Web site for copyrighted material.

AMD shrinks desktop chips to 65-nm design
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) began selling its top chip for desktop PCs made with a 65-nanometer design on Tuesday, continuing its efforts to keep up with Intel Corp. as the industry migrates from 90-nm design to a faster, more efficient generation of processors.

Toshiba develops 100GB 1.8-inch HDD
Higher capacity music players and laptop computers could be on the way thanks to a new hard-disk drive from Toshiba Corp. that manages a 25 percent jump in storage space over current models.

NEC launches tough laptop PC
NEC Corp. launched its latest laptop PC on Tuesday with a splash. A bottle of water was poured over the computer while it was operating to demonstrate its toughness to harsh environmental conditions.

FCC chief pushes AT&T-BellSouth vote
Kevin Martin, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is trying to get the ball rolling toward a decision on AT&T Inc.'s proposed acquisition of BellSouth Corp.

OSDL refocuses efforts, loses CEO
Open Source Development Labs Inc., the nonprofit Linux development consortium, has laid off just under a third of its staff, with employee numbers in the U.S. and Asia falling from 28 to 19, along with the resignation of Stuart Cohen, the lab's high-profile chief executive officer.

SAP delivers first mySAP 2005 enhancements
SAP AG has delivered the first in a planned series of regular enhancements to the current version of its ERP (enterprise resource planning) software, as the vendor embarks on a new way to deliver ERP applications.

Novell to support Open XML in office suite in January
Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. have wasted little time in demonstrating there is real work being done as part of their recent Linux interoperability pact. Just a month after the historic deal between the companies, Novell said Monday it will support the proprietary document format in Microsoft Office 2007, Open XML, in its open-source version of the OpenOffice productivity suite by the end of January.

MySpace worm uses QuickTime for exploit
The social networking site MySpace.com is under what one computer security analyst calls an "amazingly virulent" attack caused by a worm that steals log-in credentials and spreads spam that promotes adware sites.


STORAGE TIP

New e-discovery rules mean no more business as usual
By David Hill, Mesabi Group

You may not have heard of the changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), but complying with them will have a significant impact on data and storage management. Why is this important? The FRCP rules govern discovery in civil litigation. Discovery means that you must provide legitimately requested company information to those who sue your company. FRCP Rule 26(a) clearly defines electronically stored information as discoverable.


ITWHIRLED

Google code search reveals hidden comment gems
Maybe you'll think twice next time about how you comment your code when you realize that it might end up on Google's code search. A Google open source specialist has found multiple instances of such gems as "you are not expected to understand this," "this shouldn't work," "your mother," and, of course, "windows sucks."

Dell unveils energy-efficient servers ... Qualcomm buys wireless chip companies

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Dell claims new servers save on electric bill
News: Sun enhances mobile delivery platform
News: Ask.com to revamp local search
News: Microsoft supports developers of mobile mashups
Interview: Beyond skill: Building a career in IT
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: 10 Products that set new standards of innovation


NEWS UPDATES

Dell claims new servers save on electric bill
Computer maker Dell Inc.'s solution to the data center energy crisis is to market more energy-efficient versions of its PowerEdge line of servers. The model 1950 and 2950 servers deliver a 25 percent improvement in performance per watt compared to the standard 1950 and 2950, the company claims.

Sun enhances mobile delivery platform
Sun Microsystems is today announcing enhancements to its Sun Java System Content Delivery Server (CDS) at the International Telecommunication Union's Telecom World show in Hong Kong. CDS provides a common infrastructure for delivering all types of content, including Java applications, games, ringtones and wallpaper.

Ask.com to revamp local search
IAC/InterActiveCorp's Ask.com has revamped and renamed its local search service, becoming the latest search engine provider to improve its offering in what is considered one of the most popular search segments for both advertisers and end users.

Microsoft supports developers of mobile mashups
Microsoft Corp. Monday took the wraps off a new service, called Connected Services Sandbox, that offers developers tools and support needed to produce Web-based applications for mobile phones that combine APIs (application programming interfaces) from different sources with telecommunication services.

Qualcomm buys WLAN and Bluetooth technologies
Qualcomm Inc. is making two acquisitions of Bluetooth and WLAN (wireless LAN) chip technologies, allowing it to further the integration of wireless networking capabilities in mobile phones.

IAnywhere beefs up RFID software
IAnywhere Solutions Inc. is adding location tracking capabilities and support for a wider range of sensor technologies in RFID Anywhere 3.0, the latest version of its sensor management software announced on Monday.


INTERVIEW

Beyond skill: Building a career in IT
The IT market and IT technology are constantly evolving, a characteristic that Steve Bjorg, Co-founder, President and CTO of MindTouch believes keeps a career in IT exciting. In this interview, Bjorg discusses the essential elements of a great career in IT.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Qualcomm buys wireless chip companies ... Microsoft mobile phone developer service ... Dell unveils energy-efficient servers ... Ask.com updates local search service


ITWHIRLED

She's a 10
10 Products that set new standards of innovation ... Tiny Lisp course - Lisp in 10 bullets ... The 10 commandments of blogging ... 10 Steps you can take to guarantee failure ... 10 Useful free Windows programs

AMD receives DOJ subpoena ... PlayStation 3 sales drop sharply

HIGHLIGHTS
News: AMD receives DOJ subpoena over graphics processing
News: Business Objects acquires SaaS firm Nsite
News: Storage spending jumps 10 percent in the third quarter
News: PlayStation 3 sales drop sharply on low supply
Opinion: All good things come to those who wait, even Vista and Office 2007
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Most delicious beta test ever


NEWS UPDATES

AMD receives DOJ subpoena over graphics processing
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has subpoenaed Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) as part of an antitrust investigation into the market for graphics processors and graphics cards, AMD said Thursday.

Business Objects acquires SaaS firm Nsite
Business Objects SA will acquire Nsite Software Inc., which develops a software-as-a-service delivery platform, in a move to offer more of its own products over the Internet, the companies announced.

Storage spending jumps 10 percent in the third quarter
Worldwide revenue for external disk storage systems rose to $4.3 billion in the third quarter of 2006, a 9.9 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to the research firm IDC.

PlayStation 3 sales drop sharply on low supply
Sales of the PlayStation 3 console during its first full week of availability in Japan were sharply lower than those during the two days immediately following its launch, according to estimates published this week.

Gates Foundation expands digital divide initiative
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Thursday announced a new, US$328 million plan to provide computer and Internet services through public libraries in developing nations.

Alcatel-Lucent deal closes
Alcatel-Lucent, a global communications giant with combined annual revenue of more than €18 billion ($24 billion), will debut Friday after a sometimes rocky engagement between Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc.


OPINION

All good things come to those who wait, even Vista and Office 2007
By Joel Shore, ITworld

With Windows Vista and Office 2007 now released, what are your customers' expectations, and are you moving to lower them?

One thing we've learned over the years is that businesses are slow to upgrade client operating systems and applications. That happens for a variety of reasons: the software is unproven and risky, acquisition and deployment costs are prohibitive, training dazed and confused end-users is an enormous undertaking, help desk personnel lack intimate familiarity and expertise, or maybe new versions simply aren't needed.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Microsoft launches Vista ... Ken Kutaragi steps aside at SCEI ... AMD readies quad-core Opteron chip


ITWHIRLED

Most delicious beta test ever
Yes, you can participate in the beta testing of some innovative new chip designs -- even if you have no background in electrical engineering! That's because the "chips" in question are deep-fried potato slices dusted with a number of intriguing flavors. Web 2.0 comes to the snack aisle!

Existing malware could affect Vista users ... Intuit to buy Digital Insight for $1.4 billion

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Existing malware could affect Vista users, Sophos says
News: Intuit to buy Digital Insight for $1.4 billion
News: Europe gets an extra version of Vista
News: Vista launch sparks competition between PC vendors
Tip: Do you LUA?
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Driving frustration finds online outlet


NEWS UPDATES

Existing malware could affect Vista users, Sophos says
Microsoft Corp. has touted Vista as a more secure version of Windows, but on the day of Vista's official launch, a security company has identified malware already in circulation that can infect computers running the OS.

Intuit to buy Digital Insight for $1.4 billion
With a promise to create new types of online banking services, financial software vendor Intuit Inc. has agreed to buy financial services provider Digital Insight Corp. for $1.35 billion in cash.

Europe gets an extra version of Vista
When Microsoft Corp. releases Windows Vista to business customers in Europe on Thursday, it will be offering an extra version of the OS to comply with the European Commission's antitrust ruling against the company.

Vista launch sparks competition between PC vendors
As Microsoft Corp. prepares to sell the business version of its Windows Vista operating system, Dell Inc. is beefing up its IT service offerings to compete for customers with Hewlett-Packard Co.

AMD launches four-core "4x4" motherboard
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) today launched a motherboard with four cores, targeting gaming enthusiasts in an effort to keep pace with the release of quad-core chips by rival Intel Corp.

Vista, Office 2007 business launch gets rolling in Asia
Microsoft Corp. kicked off the day-long launch of its Vista operating system, Office 2007 suite and Exchange Server 2007 applications for enterprise users with events at three locations in Asia Thursday.

Asustek readies SideShow laptop for Vista
Asustek Computer Inc. has prepared one of the first notebook PCs to use SideShow, a small display on the outside of the case that works with Windows Vista to allow users to scan e-mails and other information without booting up the laptop.

Sony's PlayStation unit shakes up top management
Ken Kutaragi will leave his position as president of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI), the Sony Corp. unit responsible for the PlayStation family of games consoles, and hand day-to-day control of the company to Kaz Hirai, previously head of SCEI's U.S. unit, the company said Thursday.

HP takes workstation out from under the desk
Financial traders at a London company wear shorts to work because heat from workstations under their desks is so bad. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) has invented technology to take the workstations out from under the desks and replace them with blade-style computers tucked away in a separate data center.

Nvidia ends options probe, takes $127 million charge
Graphics chip maker Nvidia Corp. found some irregularities in past stock-based compensation practices during an internal probe, and took a total of $127 million in non-cash charges over associated expenses, the company said Wednesday.


TIP

Do you LUA?
By Mitch Tulloch, MTIT Enterprises

I've been running with a least-privileged user account (LUA) on my main Windows XP workstation now for over a year. In other words, the user account I use for checking email, browsing the web, writing reports and so on is an ordinary domain user account and is not a member of the local Administrators group on my computer. Why do I do this? Because running with an admin account results in a lot more damage when your machine gets compromised by some malware.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Intel readies 45nm quad-core processor ... Microsoft revamps WGA tool ... Asustek to offer Skype-ready motherboards


ITWHIRLED

Driving frustration finds online outlet
Victim of road rage? Got cut off by someone jabbering on their cell phone? Log on to platewire.com, the site that encourages you to name and shame drivers who are angry, dangerous, or just plain inept.

Novell halts Hula collaboration server project ... No more replies from Google Answers

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Novell pulls plug on Hula collaboration server project
News: EMC looks to get Asian operations back on track
News: U.S. and Russia strike deal to close AllofMP3.com site
News: HP Labs offers server cooling advances
Tip: Why complete and correct backups are even more important
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Japanese job referral company provides robot temp


NEWS UPDATES

Novell pulls plug on Hula collaboration server project
The future of Hula, the open-source collaboration server project initiated by Novell Inc., is in jeopardy since Novell pulled staff and funding from the project, according to a Hula newsgroup posting.

EMC looks to get Asian operations back on track
After several quarters of lackluster financial performance in Asia, EMC Corp. executives are looking to get the company's operations back on track.

U.S. and Russia strike deal to close AllofMP3.com site
Russia has agreed to U.S. demands to close the popular music website Allofmp3.com. The U.S. wants the site closed to fight music piracy, and Russia has agreed to improve its chance of gaining membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

HP Labs offers server cooling advances
Hewlett-Packard Co.'s HP Labs research center has developed a new approach to cooling data centers by adjusting air conditioning systems to changing server loads more precisely than what's available now.

No more replies from Google Answers
Google Inc. is pulling the plug on Google Answers, a service that allows people to submit questions over the Internet that researchers answer for a fee.

BitTorrent makes deals with major studios
BitTorrent Inc. on Wednesday announced deals with several major movie studios and content producers, as the streaming software company moves towards legitimacy instead of being a tool for piracy.

Apple patches AirPort wireless bug
Apple Computer Inc. has fixed a number of flaws in the software that ships with its personal computers, including a bug in its AirPort wireless drivers that was disclosed earlier this month.

3Com to take ownership of Huawei joint venture
3Com Corp. has agreed to buy out Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd's stake in a joint venture the two companies founded in 2003 to build networking equipment for enterprises.


TIP

Why complete and correct backups are even more important
By David Hill, Mesabi Group

If you haven't lost the flexibility of occasionally missing a backup, you may soon. Missing a backup or deciding to bring an online system back up instead of rerunning a failed backup job are no longer options as compliance requirements and the changes in overall corporate governance intensify. That increases the burden on you to get backups done correctly and completely all of the time. Here's why.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Intel's Centrino to get pre-standard 802.11n ... Zune no threat to iPod ... Nokia sees uptick in emerging market sales


ITWHIRLED

Japanese job referral company provides robot temp
Anyone who's ever taken an easy temp gig between permanent jobs, beware: A Japanese staffing company is beginning to offer its clients access to a robot that can greet people, show DVDs, and hand out balloons. "There are jobs that robots are better at," a company spokeswoman said ominously. Don't worry too much, though: Ubiko costs $445 an hour.

YouTube goes mobile ... Nintendo sells 600,000 Wii consoles in 8 days

HIGHLIGHTS
News: YouTube goes mobile with Verizon
News: Software suite aims to speed Linux phone development
News: Nintendo sells 600,000 Wii consoles in 8 days
News: Treo 750 delay hurts Palm forecast
Tip: Three Google searches you must know for security's sake
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Rejected names for Windows Vista


NEWS UPDATES

YouTube goes mobile with Verizon
Online video-sharing service YouTube Inc. is extending its reach beyond PCs to mobile phones through a deal with Verizon Wireless Inc.

Software suite aims to speed Linux phone development
Trolltech AS is offering a suite of products designed to make it easier for mobile phone makers to develop Linux-based smart phones. Called the Qtopia Greensuite, it bundles together several applications and tools that are available separately today from a variety of vendors.

Nintendo sells 600,000 Wii consoles in 8 days
Sales of Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii console surpassed 600,000 in its first eight days on sale. The company has previously said that it plans to ship around 4 million units of the Wii to market before the end of this year.

Treo 750 delay hurts Palm forecast
Palm Inc. has lowered its financial forecast for the current quarter because of delays in bringing its latest Treo smartphone to market. Although its line of smartphones is selling well and the new Treo 750v introduced in Europe is popular, Palm hasn't been able to get the Treo 750 introduced in the U.S. as planned.

Newest Opera Mini eases mobile photo uploading
Opera Software ASA plans to release the third version of the Opera Mini mobile phone browser on Tuesday, adding features that aim to boost its social networking capabilities and improve functionality overall.

LCDs outsell CRTs in Europe
Despite a fall in demand for flat-panel televisions in Europe, liquid-crystal display (LCD) models outsold old-fashioned "tube" televisions for the first time there during the third quarter.

South Korean patent ruling threatens Microsoft Office
Microsoft Corp. may have to pull its Office suite from the shelves in South Korea as a result of losing a patent lawsuit in that country, according to published reports.

Lenovo targets business users with widescreen notebook
Making an effort to compete with Dell Inc. for business users, Lenovo Group Ltd. has launched a widescreen version of its ThinkPad line of notebook PCs.

Printer ink makers, vendors settle with Epson
Seiko Epson Corp. has won assurances from a number of manufacturers and importers of ink cartridges that the companies will end their business with Epson-compatible cartridges.


TIP

Three Google searches you must know for security's sake
By Brent Huston, Microsolved, Inc.

There are three simple yet powerful Google searches that can help attackers virtually "case" your organization as a target for data theft. Try them. They should give you a bird's eye view of your Internet presence and just what the simplest Google-powered attackers will notice at first glance.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Microsoft loses patent suit in South Korea ... UN tackles e-waste problem ... Palm lowers forecast


ITWHIRLED

Rejected names for Windows Vista
We all know that Longhorn became Vista. But what other names were in the running? Windows: Tokyo Drift? MS-DOS v9.0? Windows BORG: Resistance is Futile?

E-commerce companies report a busy weekend ... Google reaches accord with two Belgian press groups

HIGHLIGHTS
News: E.U. battles flood of unwanted e-mail
News: E-commerce companies report a busy weekend
News: Vista adoption to outpace Windows XP, analyst says
News: Google reaches accord with two Belgian press groups
Tip: Creating CDs for Unix or Windows
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: 10 Weird science facts


NEWS UPDATES

E.U. battles flood of unwanted e-mail
The European Commission has warned its member states to beef up their efforts to cut spam, spyware and malicious software, after research showed that up to 85 percent of all e-mail received in the European Union is unsolicited.

E-commerce companies report a busy weekend
While consumers may be opening their wallets to online retailers like never before, there's also evidence they are after bargains like never before. Two online price comparison sites, Pricegrabber.com and Shopping.com, which point consumers to the lowest prices for various items, reported surging traffic.

Vista adoption to outpace Windows XP, analyst says
Adoption of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista operating system will happen at a faster pace than any previous operating system release, with up to 15 percent of PC users moving to Vista within the first year that it is available, software analyst David Mitchell predicts.

Google reaches accord with two Belgian press groups
Google Inc. has reached an agreement with two groups representing authors and photographers in Belgium that had objected to the way the company indexes and displays their content on its Google News Web site.

PlayStation 3, Wii prices falling online
The recently-launched PlayStation 3 and Wii game consoles remain popular on Internet auction sites, but the price they are fetching is falling as launch-related hype dies down.

Electronic Arts looks to Baltics for programmers
Electronic Arts Inc. is looking to hire developers in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania to work at its Swedish subsidiary, Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment (Dice), where about 220 staff currently work on its "Battlefield" game and other titles.

U.N. summit to address issue of growing e-waste
Measures to reduce the millions of tons of electronic waste generated each year by manufactures of computers, mobile phones and other consumer electronic products will be the focus of a United Nations-sponsored conference in the capital of Kenya.


TIP

Creating CDs for Unix or Windows
By Sandra Henry-Stocker

Preparing a CD that displays proper file names whether it is mounted on a Unix system or on a Windows box requires little more than the proper set of arguments to the mkisofs command and software that knows how to work with ISO images. In this week's column, we look at a script that prepares a multi-use ISO image from files in a selected directory.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
E.U. tells Swift to stop violating privacy rules ... Google's lawyers defend Google News ... More digital camera troubles for Sony


ITWHIRLED

She's a 10
Top ten girl geeks ... Top 10 data loss disasters ... Top 10 reasons to pursue a career in plumbing ... 10 Weird science facts you didn't know ... Top 10 investing scams

Google defends against Belgian newspaper copyright case ... Sony finds CCD problem with some digital cameras

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Google defends against Belgian newspaper copyright case
News: E.U. panel asks Swift to stop giving banking data to U.S.
News: French filmmaker sues Google Video
News: Sony finds CCD problem with some digital cameras
Interview: Ex-PeopleSoft CEO talks hosted apps, Oracle
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Geek Comic of the Week: Overcompensating


NEWS UPDATES

Google defends against Belgian newspaper copyright case
Google Inc. launched a robust defense of its practice of caching and summarizing newspaper articles on its news search engine Google News in a Brussels courtroom on Friday.

E.U. panel asks Swift to stop giving banking data to U.S.
An international banking organization violated European Union and Belgian data privacy laws by turning over information to U.S. authorities for terrorism investigations, an independent panel set up by the European Commission has concluded.

French filmmaker sues Google Video
A French film company filed a lawsuit against Google Inc. in the Paris Commercial Court, charging the search giant with copyright infringement.

Sony finds CCD problem with some digital cameras
Problems with the image pick-up in eight models of Sony Corp. digital still camera could mean the inability to take clear pictures or any photos at all, the company said Friday.

New Skype handset doesn't require a PC
A Danish company has begun selling a cordless telephone handset that works with Skype and doesn't require a personal computer.


INTERVIEW

Ex-PeopleSoft CEO talks hosted apps, Oracle
Craig Conway, the former head of PeopleSoft, has kept a low profile in the IT world since his public ouster from the company in October 2004, a few months before the enterprise applications vendor was acquired by Oracle. In this interview, he talks about his new role at enterprise search startup Kazeon, his old nemesis Oracle, and the future of on-demand applications.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Microsoft meets European regulator's deadline ... French Assembly to use open-source software ... U.K. to legalize radio transmitters for portable music devices


ITWHIRLED

Geek Comic of the Week: Overcompensating
This comic bills itself as real things that actually happen to Webcomic artist Jeffery Rowland and his friends, many of whom are Webcomic artists themselves. But we sort of doubt they ever tried to market a line of tequila that comes with a free GED, or took the world's sketchiest limo ride in which the driver tried to sell them a pimp cup.

Google News finds more trouble in Europe ... Firefox vulnerable to password-stealing attack

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Microsoft files more documents to avoid E.U. fine
News: Wanted: Buyer for Siemens enterprise networks group
News: Google News finds more trouble in Europe
News: Firefox vulnerable to password-stealing attack
Opinion: Thousands of wireless access points
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: In defense of difficult clients


NEWS UPDATES

Microsoft files more documents to avoid E.U. fine
Microsoft submitted the latest batch of technical information about its Windows operating system to the European Commission antitrust department Thursday, meeting the last in a string of deadlines imposed by the regulator over the past two years.

Wanted: Buyer for Siemens enterprise networks group
German electronics and engineering conglomerate Siemens AG is discovering that selling products can be much easier than selling parts of the company. Talks to unload Siemens Enterprise Networks, a unprofitable unit that sells communications equipment to businesses, "are continuing" with several interested parties, but no buyer has been found yet, Siemens spokeswoman Monika Brücklmeier said Thursday.

Google News finds more trouble in Europe
Google is facing mounting protests from newspaper publishers in Europe, the impact of which could ultimately affect the amount of content available to end users through search engines.

Firefox vulnerable to password-stealing attack
A flaw in Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox browser makes it easy for cybercriminals to steal user information on Web sites where users create their own pages, such as MySpace.com.

Siemens fraud investigation deepens
The investigation into fraud at Siemens now involves as much as $258 million, ten times the liability previously admitted. Two more Siemens staff have been arrested, with six people now in custody.


OPINION

Thousands of wireless access points
By James Gaskin

How well are you managing your wireless network? Do you know where all your access points are? Do you know how many clients are using those access points at this moment? Now multiply those questions by over 7,000 access points spread across 220 locations, and give me your answers.

That was the problem facing the Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Schools and their plan to provide wireless broadband network access for every classroom across their district. An ambitious and obviously well-funded district, Fairfax County needed immediate support for wireless problems. If a classroom has a problem, and tech support is an hour away, the class will be over before help can arrive. Thus the need for leading edge management.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
U.K. company sells preowned Microsoft licenses in the U.S. ... Palm starts taking orders for new Treo ... Asustek introduces new motherboard for quad-core chips


ITWHIRLED

In defense of difficult clients
You know who we're talking about: the client whose last site was built by his son using FrontPage or the client who doesn't understand your aversion to "click here" links. But this article proposes that such clients might be the best thing that ever happens to you.

IBM, Cray win DARPA supercomputer contracts ... Vista complies with U.S. antitrust ruling

HIGHLIGHTS
News: IBM, Cray win DARPA supercomputer contracts
News: Virtualization takes toll on physical server sales
News: Vista complies with U.S. antitrust ruling
News: Gartner: Mobile phone sales grow - except in Japan
Opinion: The Chinese Internet: No happiness
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Did electronic voting machines eat this man's only vote?


NEWS UPDATES

IBM, Cray win DARPA supercomputer contracts
IBM Corp. and Cray Inc have beat out Sun Microsystems Inc. to win sizable U.S government contracts to design a new generation supercomputer.

Virtualization takes toll on physical server sales
New numbers from Gartner Inc. show that computer server sales slowed in the third quarter, a trend the research company attributes to virtualization.

Vista complies with U.S. antitrust ruling
Microsoft Corp's Windows Vista OS doesn't pose antitrust issues so far, according to the latest status report on Microsoft's compliance with the U.S. antitrust settlement.

Gartner: Mobile phone sales grow - except in Japan
Worldwide mobile phone sales grew 21.5 percent year on year to 251 million units in the third quarter, with India and China driving growth, according to research from Gartner Inc.

Dell beats estimates with AMD chip sales
Dell Inc. Tuesday pointed to its adoption of processors from AMD for pushing it to $677 million in profit for the third quarter, though the company has delayed reporting final numbers due to an accounting investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Microsoft licenses Office UI for free
Microsoft Corp. is licensing the new user interface (UI) in Office 2007 for free so developers can build applications that look similar to the programs in the suite, the company said Tuesday.

Google adds indexing tools for News portal
Google Inc. has developed new tools it says will make it easier for webmasters and publishers of news sites to control how the search engine indexes their content for inclusion in the Google News portal.

Google explores separate test network in SF
Google Inc. has asked for the right to use as many as 1,500 San Francisco light poles for wireless equipment on a test network of its own, separate from the citywide Wi-Fi infrastructure that the company proposed along with EarthLink Inc.


OPINION

The Chinese Internet: No happiness
By Dan Blacharski

I've lived and traveled all over Asia, and love it -- there's nothing quite like strolling by the street vendors peddling fried beetles and chicken heads. In countries like Thailand, where there is relatively more freedom than some other Asian countries, I marveled at the stark contrast of seeing a vendor in her big straw hat selling live fish right outside of a flourishing and modern Internet café.

Over the weekend, Reporters Without Borders reported that Chinese Internet users could no longer connect to the Chinese or English versions of Wikipedia. There's been some back and forth in China around Wikipedia (as well as several other online sites), with China re-opening the English Wikipedia on October 10, and the Chinese version in the middle of November. Has there been a change of heart again by the powers that be? It would seem so, and today, if a Chinese citizen wants to know about the history of American Thanksgiving, what was the longest novel in English ever published, or to read about British game show host Richard Dawson or some other such trivia, they'll have to go elsewhere.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Microsoft won't use Vista activation feature in Office 2007 ... Analysts back Yahoo "Peanut Butter" memo ... Dell reports Q3 results


ITWHIRLED

Did electronic voting machines eat this man's only vote?
Randy Wooten knew he'd get at least one vote for mayor in Waldenburg, Arkansas (population 80) -- his own. But when the final results came in, and there was a big "0" next to his name, his suspicions turned to the electronic voting machines that kept the talley.

JBoss signs research, services deal with Bull ... Alcatel sues Microsoft over digital video patents

HIGHLIGHTS
News: JBoss signs research, services deal with Bull
News: Alcatel sues Microsoft over digital video patents
News: Dell to report Q3 results today despite accounting woes
News: School shoot-out spurs debate on violent PC games
Windows Tip: Robocopy just got better
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Party like it's 1999


NEWS UPDATES

JBoss signs research, services deal with Bull
French systems and services provider Bull SA has formed a broad partnership with JBoss that could see the Red Hat Inc. subsidiary's open-source middleware used more widely in Europe.

Alcatel sues Microsoft over digital video patents
Alcatel SA has accused Microsoft Corp. of infringing seven of its U.S. patents. The patents describe how to implement fast-forward and rewind functions in digital video streams, among other things.

Dell to report Q3 results today despite accounting woes
Dell Inc. plans to report its third quarter financial results later today once the U.S. stock market closes, after delaying the announcement by nearly a week due to accounting troubles.

School shoot-out spurs debate on violent PC games
A long-simmering debate in Germany about banning violent computer games is burning again after an aloof teenager on Monday stormed his former high school, shot five people and later killed himself.

Akamai to buy Nine Systems for media control
Online delivery service company Akamai Technologies Inc. is buying Nine Systems Corp., a multimedia management service provider, expanding its toolset for online content.

GSM operators team on near field communications
Several mobile phone operators are collaborating on an initiative aimed at achieving a common approach to short-range wireless technology in mobile phones that can be used for contactless applications such as ticketing and billing.

PSP software update coming Wednesday
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. will begin offering a software update for the PlayStation Portable on Wednesday that allows it to interoperate with the recently launched PlayStation 3.

Tacos-for-life for a PlayStation 3
People have pushed and shoved for it, queued overnight in the rain for it and its been sold online at great profit. Now the Taco Bell fastfood chain is offering a "lifetime" of tacos in exchange for a PlayStation 3.


WINDOWS TIP

Robocopy just got better
By Mitch Tulloch, MTIT Enterprises

If you're an IT pro you probably have a few favorite tools that you always rely on. One of my favorites is Robocopy, which has been around at least since the Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit and probably earlier (except my brain is too shot right now to remember -- occupational hazard of being in IT).


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
HP offers personalized PC support over the Internet ... Microsoft steps up software-as-service efforts ... Toshiba to ship 8GB SD card


ITWHIRLED

Party like it's 1999
Clear your calendar. Dotcom-style company holiday parties are making a comeback, according to the annual holiday party survey released by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Among the survey's findings: spending will increase an average of 16%, with the additional funds going to alcohol and offsite venues.

Yahoo makes online ad deal with newspapers ... Check Point buys Pointsec

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Yahoo makes online ad deal with newspapers
News: Check Point adds encryption with Pointsec buy
News: Nintendo's Wii goes on sale
News: Microsoft steps up SaaS efforts in Europe
Unix Tip: Comparing files with checksums
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Top ten lies of Web 2.0


NEWS UPDATES
Yahoo makes online ad deal with newspapers
Yahoo Inc. and seven newspaper publishers in the U.S. are partnering to deliver local advertising and search services to online newspaper readers.

Check Point adds encryption with Pointsec buy
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. plans to acquire Pointsec Mobile Technologies AB in an effort to extend its security offering to laptops and other remote access devices.

Nintendo's Wii goes on sale
The next-generation video games battle became a three-console race on Sunday as retailers across the U.S. and Canada put Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii on sale.

Microsoft steps up SaaS efforts in Europe
Microsoft is partnering with managed hosting companies in Europe to provide ISVs with services to help them adapt their applications and businesses to the software-as-a-service model. It will also help ISVs to find a hosting partner and provide them with discounts on licenses for some of Microsoft's software for a limited time.

IBM offers new single sign-on tool for SMBs
IBM Corp. has added a new single sign-on tool to its Tivoli software range to make life easier for small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) to link their Web sites with those of partners and customers.

EMC to offer embedded version of Documentum
EMC Corp. is looking to drum up more market share and revenue for its Documentum enterprise content management (ECM) software. The vendor will announce Monday plans to offer a version of the product specifically designed to meet the needs of application vendors so that they can embed Documentum into their software.

Report: Plea talks in HP case, new director named
Defense and prosecution attorneys in the Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) spying case are scheduled to meet with the presiding judge Dec. 4 to discuss possible plea bargains, the San Jose Mercury News reported Saturday.

U.S. government clears Alcatel-Lucent deal
President Bush has accepted a recommendation that he not suspend or prohibit the planned merger of Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc. on security grounds after an agency that oversees foreign investment said the deal should be allowed, apparently clearing it to go forward.

Reports: AMD to cut 375 jobs in wake of ATI acquisition
Four weeks after beating Wall Street estimates for financial earnings, chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) will lay off 375 workers, according to published reports.


UNIX TIP

Comparing files with checksums
By Sandra Henry-Stocker

Unix systems provide numerous ways to compare files. The most common way to verify that you have received or downloaded the proper file is to compute a checksum and compare it against one computed by a reliable source. MD5 is frequently used to compute checksums because it is computationally unlikely that two different files will ever have the same checksum. Similar commands, such as sum and cksum, also compute checksums but not with as much reliability. Let's look at several checksums and see why.


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Nintendo launches Wii in the U.S. and Canada ... AMD to lay off 375 staff ... President Bush lets Lucent-Alcatel deal move forward


ITWHIRLED

Top ten lies of Web 2.0
As tech stocks start to get a bit giddy again, all of us who went through boom and bust are telling ourselves all kinds of things about why it's different this time -- but deep in our hearts, we aren't so sure.