Knowledge Base for Programmers

VirtualBox: A Clean Sandbox for Your Linux Desktop

2011-09-06T23:06:00.002+05:30

Putting a virtual OS inside your Linux desktop is easy with Oracle's VirtualBox. Setup is a breeze, and the user is given plenty of options when setting up the new virtual environment. It has its limitations, but for the most part, VirtualBox can't be beat when it comes to running a completely different OS inside the one you use everyday.

Constantly testing software and tinkering with a variety of Linux operating systems puts my multiple test-bench computers to constant use. Granted, Linux comes with a lot fewer security risks. But dealing with unknown factors and beta glitches can be time consuming to correct when they take down an entire box.

A much safer and quicker way to deal with such potential harm is to spare the physical machines and run the new stuff in a virtual machine instead. Oracle's (Nasdaq: ORCL) VM VirtualBox 4.0 is a handy app for doing just that. It runs nicely in a variety of Linux distros.

Oracle's VM software is not the only choice for running other OSes inside a particular Linux distro. But it is one of the easiest solutions. For example, you can install Parallels, Qemu, KVM (Kernel's Virtualization Machine) and VMWare.

These options are not an equal fit. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses. But if your goal is to run something else without having to shut down your currently running OS and dual boot or turn on a second computer, VirtualBox is a very solid option to choose.

Virtual Info

VirtualBox runs on both x86 and AMD64/Intel64 systems and is suitable for enterprise or home use. Enterprise users will appreciate its feature-rich, high-quality performance. Home users will recognize its simplicity to use without poring over documentation.

Besides being Linux-friendly, Oracle's VirtualBox runs on Windows, Macintosh and Solaris hosts and supports a large number of guest operating systems including, but not limited to, Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), Solaris and OpenSolaris, OS/2, and OpenBSD.

It is a general-purpose full virtualizer that targets server, desktop and embedded use. VirtualBox 4.0.8 was released on May 16 as a maintenance upgrade. Version 4.0, released last December, was a big step forward in adding features to VirtualBox.

The current 4.0 line introduced a two-fold product distribution to better address user needs. The base package is a fully functional release. Extension Packs add further feature refinements that provide more specialized solutions.

Download and Get Going

I have used earlier versions of VirtualBox on other versions of the Ubuntu Linux OS. I put this latest version through its paces on Ubuntu 11.04 running the classic rather than Unity desktop option.

Normally, I install software packages through the Ubuntu Software Center when it is available. VM VirtualBox is available through Ubuntu's repository.

But I wanted to ensure that I had the latest version, so I downloaded the .deb package from the the virtualbox.org wiki site noted above. Not having to unarchive the package or compile it was much appreciated. It installed through the package manager with no issues.

The Setup Scenario

Much like using word processors or spreadsheets, virtual machine apps are very similar in their look and feel. You follow the same basic process to run a VM app within a host OS.

For instance, you first have to create the virtual environment and set certain parameters. The virtual machine must share processor and memory resources with the host.

If you over-tax the VM app, the host's performance suffers. The goal is to be able to run programs or processes within the isolated VM environment while still being able to run the host's applications. So it becomes a balancing act.

After setting up the virtual machine to run inside the physical computer, you then install one or more OSes to run inside the VM. VirtualBox does this very handily by suing two separate wizards.

Get Started

The setup process is very straightforward with VirtualBox. Once you have the first run process completed, all you have to do is run the app and click on your installed options. Here is how it works.

First, press the New button in the main tool bar at the upper left of the VirtualBox window. This loads the New Virtual Machine Wizard. Then press the Next button at the bottom of the window.

Now enter a name for the VM session and select the OS Type from the drop-down windows. The choices are MS Windows, Linux, Solaris, BSD, IBM (NYSE: IBM) OS/2, Mac OS X or other.

Next, select the amount of base memory (RAM) in megabytes you want to allocate to the virtual machine. The recommended amount is 256MB, which is the default setting on the slide bar. Then click Next.

Finally, select the type of Virtual Hard Disk the virtual machine will use as the boot hard disk. You have two choices: create a new one or use an existing one. The default is create new. Then click Next again.

Moving On

The second part of the first use process is creating the virtual disk on your physical system. The VirtualBox window now displays the Create New Virtual Disk Wizard window. Start it by clicking the Next button.

Now you need to decide on the hard disk storage type. Again, you have two choices.

The default is dynamically expanding storage. This lets the VM machine start out with a small storage area on the physical hard drive and expand it as needed.

The other choice is a fixed-rate storage. This is a finite amount of storage stored. It consumes about the same size as the size of the virtual hard disk.

Be careful here. The creation of a fixed-sized storage can take a long time depending on the storage size and the write performance of your hard disk. You can click the Back button or Next button to continue.

Almost There

Next comes setting the Virtual Disk location and size. The Location window shows the name you already entered for the current VM session. You can change it or click the file manager-like button to select the desired location.

Next you must use the sliding scale to set the virtual hard disk size in megabytes. This size will be reported to the Guest OS as the maximum size of this hard disk. When ready, click the Back or Next buttons.

Carefully view the summary window. If you want to make changes, click the Back button. Otherwise, click the Finish button. A second summary window appears. Almost instantly, the VirtualBox Manager window replaces the previous summary window.

How to Use It

The first use setup is now finished. All that remains to be done is putting the guest OS in the virtual machine.

To start this installation, put the installation medium in the drive or find out its storage location on the physical hard drive. Then click the New button in the VM VirtualBox Manager window.

Follow the prompts. The process repeats the steps of the second wizard above.

To run the VM installation, click on the Guest OS label in the left panel of the VirtualBox Manager. The guest OS will run in its own self-contained sandbox window on the desktop. When you are finished, you can suspend the VM status to resume in a next session or quit that session.

Meanwhile, the host environment returns to full resource capabilities once you exit the Virtual application. This sure is better than having to interrupt what you are doing in the host Linux desktop so you can reboot/dualboot the system two or three times.

Bottom Line

The VM VirtualBox is close to being effortless. It is easy to set up and has a great failsafe mechanism. If you goof, just cancel the VM session. Nothing you do within the VM window affects the host installation.

VirtualBox -- just as the other VM choices -- has its limitations. For example, you need the original installation disks to run commercial OSes such as Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) OS X and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows. And your hardware may not support all of the virtual app's features, such as USB access or mouse pointer integration.

That said, VirtualBox is as close to hassle-free as running a virtual machine can get. It is an idiot-proof VM solution.

Microsoft defends use of ribbon in Windows 8

2011-09-06T23:03:00.000+05:30

Microsoft's choice to add the ribbon interface to Windows 8's Explorer has triggered some complaints, but the company is sticking by its decision.

Posting another installment of the "Building Windows 8" blog last Friday, Windows and Windows Live Division president Steven Sinofsky responded to user feedback over some recent blogs, including one from August 29 in which the company revealed that Windows Explorer would sport a ribbon interface.

That bit of news prompted a fair number of user comments, especially from many unhappy with the ribbon.

"We chose the ribbon mechanism, and to those that find that a flawed choice, there isn't much we can do other than disagree," Sinofsky wrote. "We were certain, and this proved out, that the dislike of the ribbon is most intense in the audience of this blog."

Despite the complaints, Sinofsky claims that satisfaction with software that uses the ribbon is much higher and that its usage is broader and deeper. But still, the company seems to be resigned to the fact that some people just don't like it.

"We also know a very small set of people remain unhappy," Sinofsky said. "That was true in versions before the introduction of the Ribbon mechanism, though obviously for different reasons. It might be the case that no matter what we do, there will be a small set of people that are not satisfied?"

Sinofsky did admit that there's been a lot of "back and forth" at Microsoft about the ribbon, specifically whether it's geared for beginners or more advanced users.

Looking at the history of how a user interfaces with Windows, menus used to be designed for beginners, while the keyboard was adopted by power users, according to Sinofsky. Context menus (popup menus triggered by a click of the right mouse button) were originally geared for advanced users but grew popular with everyone. And now Microsoft finds that menus and toolbars are favored by more advanced users.

The goal at Microsoft, says Sinofsky, has been try to unify all these different ways of interfacing with Windows to make things simpler and the screen less cluttered, one reason the company has gravitated toward the ribbon.

Google Buys G.Co To Create An Official URL Shortcut For Google Products

2011-07-19T18:03:00.002+05:30

Google joins Internet biggies Twitter (T.Co) , Overstock (O.co) and Amazon (A.Co, Z.Co and K.Co) today in taking over the G.Co domain name, buying the TLD in order to build the official URL shortcut for Google products like GMail, Documents and Photos. While representatives from the .Co registry wouldn’t comment on the specific pricing of the deal, .Co-founder Juan Diego Calle recently told Reuters that in general single letter domains costs more than $1.5 million.

Google says it will use the domain in order to create a shortcut for all its products and services using the format g.co/[XYZproduct/service] and that the domain will be live sometime later in the afternoon today. ”You can visit a G.CO shortcut confident you will always end up at a page for a Google product or service,” said Google VP of consumer marketing Gary Briggs in a release.

Run out of Colombia (and with the support of the Colombian government), the .Co domain is hard core targeting itself towards tech companies big and small. Also announced today is the 500 Startups‘ .Co rebranding; the incubator will be moving from 500Startups.com to 500.co this fall. While not as mainstream, the 500 Startups move is probably just as monumental as the Google news, as it give the domain street cred and solidifies that idea that the “Co” in .Co means companies.

Emphasizing this point, 500 Startups co-founder Dave McClure said that he recommends the .Co domain to all his now 150 startups, ” “With .Co, startups can launch businesses and brands on a short, cool, credible domain name — without having to shell out a million bucks to do it.” “CO is quickly becoming the hot new geek TLD in Silicon Valley,” he said.

The .Co domain registry is two days away from the first anniversary of its public launch and most recently hit 1 million registered domains after ten months of existence. Its marketing and advertising push has been aimed at tech companies who have thus far had to settle for a lame mainstream .com domains — i.e. no vowels, weird spelling, etc — or have had to shell out tons of VC cash for the domains that they want. The new enough .Co offers a viable alternative.

“We want to be inspiring people with big dreams and big ideas to do it on a .Co.,” .Co Director Lori Anne Wardi told me about the registry’s aspirations on the phone earlier, “We want to be a platform for the world’s next great businesses.”

Google Adds Another Brick to Its Communications Monolith

2010-09-25T13:24:00.000+05:30

Google's latest addition to its communications lineup is a voice-calling feature that lets people call any number in the U.S. or Canada for free from their Gmail accounts. The familiar Gmail interface is likely to draw in consumers in larger numbers than Google Voice, which has a steeper learning curve, suggested Boston University business professor N. Venkatraman.

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has rolled out a new service that allows Gmail account holders to make voice calls to any traditional phone number from their Gmail account. It will require the installation of a voice and video plug-in, but users won't need to have a special phone number assigned to them.

Google already has a similar service -- Google Voice -- that lets users make and receive mobile phone calls in the U.S. and Canada for free, and internationally at relatively cheap rates.

This new service targets people and businesses that want to make calls from their desktop -- or who find themselves without good phone reception, Google said.

The Google Experience

Offering different options for communication has become Google's modus operandi.

"Google wants to make itself as much of a household name as possible," Laura DiDio, principal of ITIC, told the E-Commerce Times. "It is already the de facto go-to search engine, and it has productivity applications such as Google Docs."

With offerings such as Voice and Gmail calling, it is expanding even further.

"What they are trying to do is embed themselves with the consumer and then move onto the corporate environment," DiDio said.

No one uses laptops or computers just for work or just for pleasure anymore, she noted. Usually, they are all purpose machines.

"If Google can get consumers to use this, I think they believe it will make inroads into the corporate community too," predicted DiDio.

This all-encompassing approach means Google doesn't have any one particular vendor in mind for competition -- such as Skype, she said. "I think they are throwing down the gauntlet to all of the players in the communication market."

Unified Communications

While Google's new service will clearly compete with Skype, Google is most likely eyeing the entire unified communications space with this offering, N. Venkatraman, a business professor at Boston University, told the E-Commerce Times.

"That is where Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is with Sharepoint, and Google clearly wants to be there," he said. The Gmail-based phone functionality has the added appeal of pushing Google Voice further into the market.

Google might even buy Skype if the price is right, Venkatraman speculated.

"Not many have subscribed to Google Voice -- in large part, because they are unclear as to how it works," he noted. Gmail, though, anybody can understand.

Small Business

If and when the Gmail service does wend its way into the corporate sector, it will no doubt go through small businesses. That has been Google's forte, said Fran Powell, SVP and managing director of interactive with Wahlstrom.

These services add a level of sophistication and efficiency to Google's small business offerings. This means Google will continue to solidify SMB loyalty and drive interest in its advertising products -- "a fruitful end benefit," Powell told the E-Commerce Times.

While increased ad revenues from more-engaged small businesses may be a side benefit, Venkatraman doesn't think that is Google's main financial goal for the service.

"I see Google continuing to morph away from advertising based on search to monetizing different logics of interactions and collaboration," he said.

Original Source

New test build of Windows 7 SP1 goes to select Microsoft partners

2010-08-31T12:10:00.001+05:30

Microsoft has released a beta refresh of its Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack (SP) 1 to selected PC and Technology Adoption Program (TAP) partners, company officials confirmed on August 30.

Microsoft made the refresh build — the build number of which is said to be Build No. 7601.17077 — available to a select group of testers on August 27. There’s no word (so far) on whether there is anything new in that refresh.

“A private interim release went out Friday as part of our normal feedback loop with a small group of our testers – our TAP and OEMs,” a company spokesperson told me via e-mail when I asked about the refresh.

The spokesperson said Microsoft would not comment on whether the company will release to the public another interim SP1 build before the first service pack is released to manufacturing. Microsoft officials said earlier this summer that the company is planning to deliver the final SP1 code in the first half of 2011, and the spokesperson said on August 30 that Microsoft is still on track with that stated release date.

Many Microsoft watchers, partners and customers had been expecting Microsoft to deliver the final SP1 bits before the end of calendar 2010. Microsoft officials have stressed that the client version of SP1 does not include any new features or funcitonality. (Windows 7 SP1 includes a few pieces of functionality that Microsoft hasn’t made available via Windows Update or through various security patches. Company officials said these are “enhancements,” rather than new features.These “enhancements” include things such as support for more third-party federation services; improved HDMI audio device support; and XPS printing fixes.)

The server version of SP1 includes two new virtualization-focused features: RemoteFX and a dynamic-memory adjustor for Hyper-V. I’ve heard speculation that the server version of SP1 is what’s holding back the delivery of the client version, but have not heard this from any Microsoft officials.

Microsoft released a public beta of SP1 in mid-July.

Microsoft officials have been adamant that consumers and business customers don’t need to wait for SP1 to deploy Windows 7 and/or Windows Server 2008 R2. Still, a number of business customers use the release of SP1 as a milestone in terms of planning their deployments of a new operating system.

Windows 7 Gets a Bye on Latest Patch Tuesday

2009-11-12T00:00:00.000+05:30

As usual, Microsoft pushed out a set of bug fixes for Windows on the second Tuesday of the month, but none of the security fixes were aimed at Windows 7, it's newest operating system. That may not last for long -- "Attackers will take more time to figure out ways of breaking into Windows 7," according to Symantec's Ben Greenbaum.

Microsoft's newest computer operating system has survived its first few weeks on the market without needing any security fixes.

Microsoft plugged several security holes Tuesday, but none are aimed at Windows 7, which was released Oct. 22.

Give It Time

That's to be expected, said Ben Greenbaum, a researcher at the antivirus software company Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC). "Attackers will take more time to figure out ways of breaking into Windows 7," he said.
Computer users can get the patches through Microsoft's automatic-update service, or by visiting microsoft.com/security.

One of the fixes Microsoft marked "critical," its highest severity rating, would thwart an attacker from infecting all the PCs on a local network after gaining access to just one.

In other words, even if most people in the office are good at avoiding clicking on unknown links or opening mysterious documents, if one person's computer is compromised the attacker could take over the rest.

Locking Down Attackers

The software maker also fixed flaws in its Excel and Word software that would give an attacker control of a PC if its owner opened a tainted spreadsheet or document.

It also patched problems in several older versions of Windows, including XP and Vista, that would give an attacker who already has control of a computer access to more of its functions.

Tips for Buying digital cameras

2009-09-24T12:58:00.000+05:30

Choices

Digital cameras come in many sizes, shapes, and price ranges. Since you will be living with your decision to purchase a particular make and model for many years, it is a good idea to carefully weigh the various options available before buying a camera. Break the decision down into a checklist of factors to help determine which camera is best for you. Consider image quality, performance, ergonomics, features, and price. Also consider whether you will just be taking family snap shots or something more elaborate.

First decide how much you are willing to pay for a digital camera. You may need to adjust this figure up if you want and need a lot of manual control and features. Decide on camera body size, and features that you may actually use. Then look for a camera in your price range.

Digital cameras can be grouped into four types:

Compact, Ultra compact, Super zoom, Enthusiast, and digital SLR, or D-SLR.

Compact
This is by far the most popular camera category. It represents the best value for the average user. Cameras in this group take reasonable quality pictures and have a good set of features. However, these cameras don’t have many pre features or perform as well as more expensive cameras. Unless you need a higher-end or smaller camera, you should consider this type of camera first.

Ultra compacts
Are small enough to fit into tiny bags or pockets but performance is usually sacrificed in the interest of style and size. Not a good choice if you want decent pictures.

Enthusiast
These full-sized models offer more precise controls, better lenses, and more features. They produce better images, suitable for larger prints. They often include zoom lenses, faster performance, exposure bracketing, high resolution, and manual controls for shutter speed, f-stop, and white balance. This category is a good choice if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a more expensive camera but still want a fair number of advanced features.

Super zooms
These cameras are the same as “enthusiast” except that they include at least 10X optical zoom lenses. Some of these cameras can correct for camera shake by using image stabilization software. This is a great feature for long zooms.

D-SLR
D-SLRs are the high end of digital cameras, with true reflex through-the-lens viewfinders, interchangeable lenses, good control over exposure and color, and lots of accessories.

The many professional features and functions these cameras possess almost match those of conventional 35-mm film cameras. They also produce the best images of any digital camera type.

Avid amatures and pros are the typical users for this class of camera. However, unless you plan to use the many manual features you will not get your moneys worth. Choose a camera in this class if you want the best print quality at 8x10 or higher.

Features

Mega pixels
You would think that a 6MP camera would produce better images than a 5MP one but that is not always the case.

Mega pixels are a measure of quantity (the amount of data captured), not quality. A digital camera's image quality is not based solely on mega pixels, but on an entire system. More important than the number of pixels is the actual pixel size. The bigger the pixel size the better they can record detail in the shadows and highlights. Larger sensors generally produce greater dynamic range, higher sensitivity, and better signal-to-noise ratio, mostly because they have room for bigger, more light-sensitive pixels.

So instead of just going for the largest mega pixel count when comparing cameras, ask about other important factors such as image quality.

Image quality
Image quality is a more useful measure than the number of mega pixels. Most digital cameras will produce good images, with color, sharpness, and dynamic range that will satisfy most people.

If all you want to do is e-mail your photos or make small or low quality prints at home then any digital camera will do. However, if you want good quality professionally looking 8x10 prints or larger, then the camera’s image quality is very important. Make sure you tell the sales person what you intend to do with the images so that you will be shown the most appropriate camera for your needs. A good guide is to go for at least 3MP or better and ask about image quality.

Digital cameras are slow
Most digital cameras take time to start up and be ready to shoot. They also have a recycle time between each shot. This can be annoying if you need to react fast and shoot a number of frames quickly. Make sure you can live with a camera's picture taking speed by testing it out in the store before buying.

Is the feature set right for your needs?
Taking digital pictures can be as simple as pointing the camera and pressing the shutter button. But digital camera models are available that provide as much control over exposure, color, dynamic range, and so on as you choose to use. It is recommended that you choose a camera that has the key features that you might actually use and takes better images, rather then one that has a ton of features but takes poorer quality images.

Ergonomics and style
Take time to practice holding and using a camera in the store to get a feel for how easy and comfortable it is to use. How does it feel to hold? How about the size and weight? Does it feel sturdy or flimsy? Are the controls easy to reach and understand? Are menus easy to understand and navigate? And finally, how stylish does the camera look?

Top 10 buying tips when buying digital cameras

Deciding which digital camera to buy can be difficult because of the vast array of features available. Here are some tips that should help you find a camera that meets your needs, budget, and level of photo taking experience.

Select a digital camera recommended for the largest print size you're likely to print at. If you want to make 8x10 inch prints, choose a 4-mega-pixel model, though a 3MP camera will do a fair job. If you need up to 16x20 inch prints you will need an 8MP camera. If all you want is to send images by e-mail or Web posting, even a 2MP camera will do. Remember, mega pixels correspond only to image size, not quality.
Make sure the camera has the right features for your needs, such as an optical zoom lens and a certain amount of useful manual controls. If you wear glasses but prefer to take pictures without them, make sure that your camera has an adjustable dioptre. This will allow you adjust the focus of the viewfinder so that you can see your subject clearly.
Choose a camera with a bright LCD. This will allow you to better see the LCD image in bright sunlight. Having a large LCD screen will help you compose and review your images on the camera.
When comparing costs, be sure to calculate extras that may or may not be included, such as rechargeable batteries and charger, and a large enough memory card that can hold all your pictures until you can download them to a computer.
Most digital cameras come with a USB interface to transfer digital photos from camera to computer. If you will be transferring large high quality photo files, try to get USB 2.0 to speed things up.
When considering digital cameras with a zoom lens, what’s important is the optical zoom distance and not the digital zoom distance. Digital zoom uses software to crop and magnify an image, resulting in a loss of image quality.
If you don't know a lot about cameras, a digital camera with lots of modes and manual settings will be overkill. Don’t buy a camera that is higher in price and more difficult to use if all you really want to do is point-and-shoot.
A good option, if available, is a pocket-sized instruction manual instead of one on CD. You can take it with you when you're out shooting.
If you have difficulty using your hands, look for a camera with a limited number of large buttons that are easy to reach and press.
Test how fast the camera performs. Look for a camera that takes 4 seconds or less to get ready to shoot and 6 seconds or less between shots.

Glossary of terms

Aperture
An adjustable opening through which light enters through the camera’s lens. The larger the aperture is, the greater the camera's photosensitivity. A smaller aperture, however, gives greater depth of field to a picture. The aperture setting is called the f-stop. A small aperture has a relatively high f-number, such as f8 or f11, and a larger aperture has a smaller number, such as f2.8. The aperture setting must be balanced against the shutter speed. The faster the shutter speed, the larger the aperture must be, and vice versa, to admit the right amount of light to the image sensor for proper exposure. These adjustments are done automatically by the camera or manually by the operator.

Compression
A process that reduces the amount of data representing an image so that the file takes up less space in your camera, memory card, or computer. Smaller files are quicker to use for e-mail and on the Web. When a file is too compressed, however, image quality can seriously suffer.

Depth of field
Indicates how much of a scene will be sharp and in focus. A greater depth of field implies an increased distance between well-focused background and foreground, with everything in between properly focused. A narrow depth of field concentrates the area of sharp focus within a small range, based on the main subject's distance from the camera.

For instance, if your subject is standing in an open field, using a narrow depth of field will make most of the scene in front and behind look blurry; only the main subject will be focused. This effect is achieved when using long zoom lens. Using a wide-angle lens will produce a greater depth of field, thereby keeping the whole scene in focus.

Image sensor
The semiconductor chip or Image Sensor is what captures the photographic image. It collects the light of a scene or subject, which it turns into digital data that we see as a photo in the camera or on the computer. There are two main types of image sensors CCD (charge-coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor). The CCD is the most popular. CMOS is used in very low and high end cameras.

Interpolation
A process that increases image file size and can take place either in the camera or by computer software. Interpolation is used to magnify a picture but does not improve image quality and in fact it can decrease sharpness.

LCD viewfinder
A small screen on the back of a camera that displays what the lens sees. It is used to compose the picture, choose settings, focus and frame an image in macro mode. It is also used to view photos stored on the memory card.

Mega pixel
A measure of a digital camera's resolution. A three-mega pixel rating means that the camera can capture up to 3 million pixels, or points of data.

Memory card
A removable storage device that holds the images a digital camera captures. It is a good idea to have an extra one on hand so that when one card is full it can be swapped for another allowing you to continue shooting.

Pixel
A point of data in a digital image; the word is short for picture element. A digital camera's resolution is a measure of the number of pixels it can capture on its image sensor.

Shutter speed
A measure of how long a camera allows light to fall on the image sensor (expressed as a fraction of a second). Though some digital cameras have both electronic and mechanical shutters, inexpensive models will utilize an electronic shutter to turn off the photosensitivity of the image sensors.

Microsoft's Latest Threat: VMware

2009-09-22T16:09:00.000+05:30

VMware will make a big push into the desktop and notebook market, with technology to allow users to do work even when not connected to a network. In data centers, VMware wants to demonstrate that the next frontier beyond hardware savings is the reduced operating costs that result from increasing the number of servers that are "virtualized."

Microsoft 's No. 1 rival is a household name, Google. But a strong candidate for No. 2 is a company scarcely known outside the technology industry: VMware.
"VMware is definitely a threat," said Gary Chen, an analyst at IDC, a research firm. "After Google, it is the company Microsoft fears most."

Google and VMware, which is based in Palo Alto, California, pose a broadly similar challenge to Microsoft, by potentially undermining the dominance of its most lucrative desktop software and operating systems. Google represents the attack from above, while VMware is the assault from beneath.

Google, the search giant, is offering free and advertising-supported software for e-mail, word processing, calendars and spreadsheets online as alternatives to Microsoft's popular Office products. For Web-based programs like these, it is the browser -- not an operating system like Windows -- that is the vital layer of software on the computer.

VMware is the leader in so-called virtual machine software, which allows a computer to run two or more operating systems at once. Its software resides on top of the hardware and beneath the operating system.

But as VMware's technology becomes more powerful and adds more features to its products, it is starting to supplant the operating system from below -- just as the browser can from above.

VMware's leadership adds an edge to its challenge. A year ago, Paul Maritz, a former senior executive at Microsoft, took over as chief executive. In the late 1990s, he was regarded as Microsoft's third-ranked executive, the person with the most responsibility and authority after Bill Gates and Steven A. Ballmer.

Mr. Maritz walked away from Microsoft in 2000 a very wealthy man, and he focused mainly on philanthropic work like microfinance, conservation and rural development, especially in Africa (he was born and raised in Zimbabwe). In 2003, he founded a small Web start-up company, but his business interests were a far cry from the mainstream of corporate combat.

The lure at VMware, Mr. Maritz explained, was the chance to lead a company riding a wave of disruptive, game-changing technology. "It's a rare opportunity to be part of a paradigm shift," he said. "That's what attracted me."

In January, Mr. Maritz was joined by Tod Nielsen, another former Microsoft executive, who became VMware's chief operating officer.

As 11,000 business partners, developers and customers gather in San Francisco for the start of the company's VMworld conference on Monday, the strategy under Mr. Maritz is clearly taking shape. This month, the company said it planned to pay $420 million to acquire SpringSource, a maker of open-source software development tools, some of which analyze and tweak the performance of software applications. Adding such features could allow VMware's technology to essentially sidestep an operating system like Windows.

So far, virtualization technology has been used mainly to achieve cost savings in data centers, where it lets companies handle computing chores with fewer machines, using less energy and floor space. Now, companies are increasingly starting to use virtual software to manage desktop software that is being delivered to their workers on PCs across the corporate network.

VMware plans to make a big push into the desktop and notebook market, introducing technology next year to better handle high-end graphics and allow users to do work even when not connected to a network.

In data centers, VMware wants to demonstrate that the next frontier beyond hardware savings is the reduced operating costs that result from increasing the number of servers that are "virtualized."

Today, VMware says companies typically have one human administrator for every 50 server computers, while data centers with more than half of their machines virtualized can fairly quickly increase that to one to 200.

"We have to go beyond capital costs to speak to doing more for our customers by using virtualization to reduce operating costs and operational complexity," Mr. Maritz said. "We are entering a significant turn in this market."

And, he observed, "We do have the footsteps of Microsoft behind us."

Indeed, Microsoft is coming. And its game plan is a rerun of the strategy it used in the Web browser market -- bundle its free virtual machine software into its operating system. Last July, Microsoft introduced its HyperV virtual machine in Windows Server 2008. New features that help it catch up to VMware will be introduced in October.

"Our strategy is to integrate virtualization into our product line in Windows, with our management software and the familiar Microsoft developer tools," said Mike Neil, a general manager in the Windows server division.

Microsoft has a long way to go. At the end of last year, more than 80 percent of virtualized computing workloads ran on VMware, analysts estimate, with the remainder shared by Microsoft, Citrix Systems' Xen, Virtual Iron and others. But only 15 percent of servers have been virtualized, and with that percentage likely to at least double or more over the next five years, there is still plenty of opportunity in the market.

There is considerable interest in Microsoft's bundled offering, analysts say. A recent report by Gartner projected that Microsoft's share of installed virtual machine software would increase to 29 percent by the end of 2012 from 8 percent at the end of last year.

"Microsoft is going to be very formidable in this space," said Stephen F. Shuckenbrock, president of Dell's large enterprise division, which is a partner of both VMware and Microsoft. "Many customers, at the very least, are intrigued by the free virtualization software bundled by Microsoft."

Adobe Hosts Platform Services To Distribute Flash Apps

2009-09-22T16:08:00.000+05:30

Adobe Systems is hosting Flash Platform Services to distribute Flash-based applications to social networks, desktops and mobile devices. Adobe announced the services at an Interactive Advertising Bureau conference. Adobe is partnering with Gigya for social distribution and will likely use analytics from its recent acquisition of Omniture.

Adobe Systems announced Monday new services that will allow advertisers and content publishers to "promote, measure and monetize" Flash-based applications over "social networks, desktops and mobile devices."
Called Flash Platform Services, the hosted set of offerings is intended to provide advertisers, game makers, publishers and others with a distribution solution and a management tool for measuring, distributing and creating revenue streams from Flash applications and games. In particular, the services will make it easier to share, track, and monetize the Flash-created content through social media, including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and others.

Partnering with Gigya

The new service was announced at the Interactive Advertising Bureau MiXX Conference and Expo, currently taking place in New York. Adobe is partnering with Gigya, a social media-distribution platform, to provide the services.

The growth of application use and distribution through social networks is a key driver. Adobe said later this year it will release its Social service, which will allow developers to write a single application. Users will be given a choice of which social network they want to access through the app.

Using the platform service, apps can be distributed to multiple mobile platforms. Users wanting to install the app can click on a link in a SMS message, and Adobe's distribution service can determine which device is making the request and provide the application for that device.

The platform also offers various analytical tools for measuring customer usage and distribution of a given application or mini-application. And cross-promotion of other Web applications is provided, so downloading one application could lead to another being offered.

The services include ad hosting for shared applications, using either ads available through other providers or through Adobe. Distribution, tracking, creating campaigns, and enabling ad hosting can all be managed through the service's Distribution Manager.

To use the service, applications will be built in Flash Professional or Flex Builder. Dreamweaver can be used to place the Share menu adjacent to the application on a Web page.

Why Not 'Get Into This Game?'

Jeffrey Hammond, an analyst with industry research firm Forrester, said Flash Platform Services makes sense for Adobe, especially in light of its recent acquisition of Web analytics provider Omniture.

He noted that, as the platform allows companies and developers to track and monetize their Flash widgets, Adobe is essentially getting into a viral market that its technology has helped to create.

Adobe had to be asking themselves, Hammond said, "'Why don't we get into this game ourselves?'" Some of the services, he noted, have been offered by companies like Clearspring.

One company working with the Adobe platform is The Wall Street Journal. The Journal's WSJ Radio Network will provide a widget with Web tools for its 370 radio station affiliates to use on their own sites. The widget will offer content from WSJ Radio and the Journal, including podcasts and live audio business updates, and users can share the widget through social-networking sites and through blogs.

Microsoft's New Zune Tries to Catch Up

2009-09-22T16:05:00.000+05:30

Of course, there's an elephant in this particular room, and it's called the Apple's App Store. Oh, the Zune has an app store, all right. As of today, there are exactly nine programs in the Zune App Store. A calculator. Weather. A Space Invaders game. Microsoft says that more are coming. It promises, furthermore, that they will all be free.

Over the years, mention of the word "Microsoft " has triggered a variety of emotions. Some consider how Microsoft achieved its success and feel anger. Some consider how Microsoft borrows other companies' ideas and feel indignant. Some consider some recent battle with Windows and feel frustration.
But when you try out Microsoft's new Zune HD music/video player, you may feel a whole new emotion that most people don't associate with Microsoft: sympathy.

Why? We'll get to that.

The Zune, which replaces the old models, is Microsoft's version of the iPod Touch -- a gorgeous multi-touch screen dominates the front. Its handsome, beveled metal case weighs next to nothing yet still feels expensive and solid in the hand. It is nearly buttonless: You operate it as you do the iPod Touch -- you navigate by tapping things on the screen, magnify photos or Web pages by spreading two fingers apart, rotate images by turning the player 90 degrees, and so on. The software design is fluid, beautiful and incredibly responsive.

The new Zune has an incredibly bright, sharp and colorful OLED screen (organic light-emitting diode, not that that helps). Finger-grease streaks are an ugly problem, at least when the screen is off.

The Zune HD is narrower and shorter than the Touch, and a hair thicker. It's available in black or silver; online, you can order a Zune HD with any of several fancy artist-designed back panels. The 16-gig model is $220; the 32-gig model is $290. The "HD" means two things. First, like its predecessors, this Zune can tune into FM radio, but now it can tune into HD radio stations, too.

The Zune HD's name also refers to the hi-def (720p) movies that you can buy on Microsoft's online store. The store is a big new push for Microsoft; the same music, television shows and movies will eventually be available for Xbox, Zune and even Windows Mobile cell phones. Buy a movie on one gadget, watch it on another. Alas, for now, the selection is relatively puny. The store offers a choice of six million songs, 10,000 television shows and 500 movies.

The Zune's own screen isn't fine enough to show you hi-def video. But when you set the player into the $90 Zune Dock, you can play your hi-def Zune movies in hi-def on your television. The Dock can also play your photos, music and radio stations through your home-entertainment system. All of it looks and sounds great, and is effortless to control with the included remote.

Music is still at the Zune's heart, especially if you sign up for Microsoft's $15-a-month, all-you-can-download music-store plan. Now, you could argue that those subscriptions are something of a rip-off; the day you stop paying that monthly fee, you lose your entire music collection.

The Zune Pass, though, eases the sting: You get to keep 10 songs a month forever (90 percent of Microsoft's songs are not copy -protected). Better yet, you can listen to your infinite playlist by logging into Zune.net from any Mac or PC, anywhere you go.

The Wi-Fi Web browser, and its accompanying iPhone-style on-screen keyboard, is new to the Zune. When you are in an Internet hot spot, you can call up Web sites, zoom in to magnify text and so on, just as on the iPod Touch or iPhone. It generally works well, though it is basic: You can open only one page at a time, and it can't play YouTube videos, Flash animations or Pandora radio stations. There is no e-mail program on the Zune, either.

Of course, there's an elephant in this particular room, and it's called the Apple's App Store. Oh, the Zune has an app store, all right. As of today, there are exactly nine programs in the Zune App Store. A calculator. Weather. A Space Invaders game. Microsoft says that more are coming. It promises, furthermore, that they will all be free, which is nice. Unfortunately, for now, Microsoft intends to write all of these programs itself -- it isn't inviting the world's programmers to participate -- so the Zune app store will remain relatively tiny.

There are other minor disappointments. For example, adjusting the volume requires a step too many: You have to press a side button to bring up on-screen controls. There are 1.0-style bugs and glitches, as when my PC wouldn't see the Zune until after a couple of restarts. When you're playing a movie, there's no Rewind to Start button. And there is no speaker at all, not even a feeble one. But overall, Microsoft has done a truly beautiful job with this player and its software.

All right, then: So why sympathy? Because, after three years, hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising, and, yes, a lot of real innovation , the Zune has managed to claim a measly 1.1 percent of the music-player market.

The problem is the iPod's head start: Its catalogs of music, movies, apps and accessories are ridiculously superior to the Zune's -- and the Zune's reputation as the player for weirdos and losers. Among the under-25 set, "Zune" is a punch line.

It's an outdated joke. The Zune HD player itself is every bit as joyful, polished and satisfying as its rival. The question is whether Microsoft will stick it out long enough to close the catalog gap, the ecosystem gap and the image gap.

Motion-Detecting Earphones Offered by Sony Ericsson

2009-09-22T16:04:00.001+05:30

Motion-detecting MH907 earphones from Sony Ericsson let mobile-phone users listen to music and take calls by removing an earbud. Sony Ericsson's MH907 earphones turn on music when both earbuds are inserted. The MH907 earphones use Sony Ericsson's SenseMe technology and only work with newer Sony Ericsson phones.

Sony Ericsson is giving consumers a way to talk and bee-bop to their favorite song. The handset maker has developed motion-detecting earphones that allow mobile -phone users to listen to music and take mobile calls by placing and removing earbuds.
The London-based company has created marketing materials to promote its MH907 earphones, including a cartoon step-by-step demonstration of a barefoot boy sitting on a bus listening to music, receiving and ending a call, then popping the earbuds in again to resume listening to music.

The earphones turn on music once the user inserts both earbuds. The user can pause the music by removing one of the earbuds.

What happens when a user is listening to music and the phone rings? The user needs only to remove one earbud to answer the call, according to Sony.

"With the MH907, consumers can pocket their phone but still stay connected all day, every day by simply plugging in or removing their earbuds -- there is no need for a remote control or any buttons," said Jacob Sten, senior vice president of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications. "At Sony Ericsson we believe it is important to listen to what our customers need, and introducing the world's first-ever motion-activated headphones highlights our commitment to offer our customers a complete communications experience."

Motion Detection

The company uses its SenseMe technology to detect when an earbud has been placed in the user's ear, so a user cannot accidentally answer a call when the earbud is in a pocket or purse because it is only activated by body contact.

SenseMe is the same technology used in Sony Ericsson's W910i device, which feels its owner's mood and suggests music.

Overall, blog posters are happy with Sony's innovation . Some, however, have pointed out that keeping both earbuds in creates safety issues for runners or walkers not listening for beeping horns or other emergency sounds.

Others have pointed out that the device is only compatible with newer Sony Ericsson phones, which leaves out users with older phones.

Fun Interaction

The new device fits with Sony Ericsson's realigned brand strategy to build fun and inclusive interaction for customers, according to Sten.

Color choices for the earphones are yellow/white and titan chrome. They can only be used with Sony Ericsson phones that have a fast port connector.

Sony Ericsson has not released any details on when the device will be available or how much it will cost, but some reports place the cost at about $55.

"As of this time a carrier has not been announced and we can't comment on price," said Lauren Haralson, a Sony Ericsson spokesperson.

Netflix Launches Second $1 Million Search Contest

2009-09-22T16:03:00.001+05:30

Just after announcing the winner of its $1 million Netflix Prize for improving Netflix search, Netflix announced a second challenge. The first Netflix Prize went to a team that improved the Netflix movie-recommendation system. Netflix Prize 2 focuses on a tough challenge: Predicting movie enjoyment by members who don't rate movies often.

Netflix on Monday announced the winner of its $1 million search contest. Just moments later, Netflix launched a new million-dollar challenge to encourage engineers, computer scientists, and machine-learning communities to keep working on improvements.

After three years and submissions by more than 40,000 teams from 186 countries, Netflix awarded the $1 million prize to the team that most improved the Netflix movie-recommendation system. Specifically, the teams set out to improve upon the company's ability to accurately predict Netflix members' movie tastes by 10 percent -- a hurdle Netflix scientists were not able to overcome on their own over the last decade.

Netflix cofounder and CEO Reed Hastings said it was a bona fide race to the end, with teams that had previously battled it out independently joining forces to surpass the 10 percent barrier. "New submissions arrived fast and furious in the closing hours," Hastings said, "and the competition had more twists and turns than The Crying Game, The Usual Suspects, and all the Bourne movies wrapped into one."

Improving Netflix

When Netflix launched the Netflix Prize in October 2006, it made 100 million anonymous movie ratings -- ranging from one star to five stars -- available to contestants. All personal information that could identify individual Netflix members was removed from the prize data. The data contained movie titles, star ratings, and dates, but no text reviews.

Accurately predicting the movies Netflix members will love is a key component of the Netflix service. Neil Hunt, Netflix chief product officer, said this extreme level of personalization is "like entering a video store with 100,000 titles and having those that are most interesting to you fly off the shelves and line up in front of you."

Netflix Prize 2 focuses on a much tougher problem: Predicting movie enjoyment by members who don't rate movies often, or at all, by taking advantage of demographic and behavioral data carrying signals about the individuals' taste profiles.

Netflix's Five-Star Move

Unlike the first challenge, the new contest has no specific accuracy target. That's because Netflix and contest judges have little idea how far experts can push the data to drive useful predictions. For this reason, $500,000 will be awarded to the team judged to be leading after six months, and an additional $500,000 will be given to the team in the lead at the 18-month mark, when the contest is wrapped up.

Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, called the Netflix contest a great move all the way around.

"Crowdsourcing the Netflix algorithm, getting a better user experience as a result, and all the positive PR from the contest. It's an example of Web 2.0 best practices, although that term is now passé," Sterling said. "One million dollars is nothing to Netflix, and it's a big enough prize to get some top-notch folks involved. It could potentially even result in some engineering hires down the line."

Windows 7: Will Its Features Impress You?

2009-09-22T16:01:00.000+05:30

One completely new feature you'll be confronted with in Windows 7 is Libraries. In essence, libraries are folders that can point to files or resources in a number of separate physical locations. You can create a library called "my documents," for instance, that aggregates files from your local C drive as well as from external or network drives.

Now less than two months from world-wide release, Microsoft 's Windows 7 is bound to make the legions of existing Windows users wonder whether they should upgrade. And it will make those who have put off hardware purchases in anticipation of the new operating system wonder whether the time is right to hand over their hard-earned cash. Windows 7 has already won over the majority of those who have been beta testing the product for over a year now. So there's really just one question that remains: will it impress you? To give you a head start on deciding, here's an overview of what are likely to be the most talked-about new features of Windows 7.
Speed and Stability

Promises of greater speed and stability are likely to interest the majority of Windows users. But it's helpful to remember that every major release of Windows in memory has arrived with similar assurances. And each time, the reality of the operating system, once unleashed onto the millions of computers around the world, has fallen short of expectations.

Will Windows 7 actually be different? In terms of performance, most benchmarks put the release-to-manufacturing version of Windows 7 roughly on a par with both Windows XP and the first service pack release of Windows Vista. But Windows 7 is noticeably speedier in areas that matter a lot to most users: startup is faster, as is Windows shutdown, and most disk-intensive tasks are at least on a par with the speed of Windows XP.

In terms of stability, only time will tell. Anecdotal reports of Windows 7 running nonstop for a month or more without requiring a reboot are rampant around the Web, which is good. But there are also plenty of reported incidences of Explorer crashes and other glitches occurring in the new operating system, just as with Windows Vista. Do not, in short, expect miracles out of Windows 7 in either speed or stability. The good news is that in neither of these areas does the new operating system appear to be worse than the ones it will replace.

Installation

Installation is much improved in Windows 7 over any previous version of Windows. If you purchase an upgrade or a full retail version of the new operating system, you'll likely be delighted at how seldom the operating system interrupts the installation process for input from you. And you'll be pleasantly surprised at how many components of your PC Windows 7 recognizes automatically, finding and installing the correct device drivers in the process.

Compatibility

Microsoft took backward compatibility seriously with Windows 7, and the result is an operating system that will be compatible with the majority of existing Windows applications, regardless of which version of Windows they were originally designed to run under.

One of the secrets to Windows 7's impressive compatibility is the new Windows XP compatibility mode. With this feature, you can run any application that works under Windows XP within Windows 7 by using what amounts to a virtual Windows XP machine within the confines of Windows 7 itself.

Simplicity

Windows 7 has done away with much of the most annoying clutter and intrusiveness of the Vista interface. Gone are the gadgets bar, the Welcome screen, and many of the most objectionable aspects of the User Account Control (UAC), which in Vista impeded users at almost every turn. It's also very easy to turn off UAC altogether in Windows 7.

The taskbar has been impressively improved in Windows 7. Right away you'll see that Windows 7 groups multiple windows of the same application by default on the taskbar, so your taskbar won't be cluttered by, say, eight instances of Internet Explorer. Also nice about the automatic grouping feature is that allowing your mouse cursor to hover over a taskbar icon will result in pop-up thumbnails of the contents of the open applications, so you can move to the window you want without any guessing.

Some taskbar icons are also graced with a built-in status indicator in those cases where minimized applications are performing some time-consuming functions. For instance, the taskbar icon for a minimized Windows Explorer that is busy copying files will get progressively greener as the file copying proceeds.

The new operating system is by no means as uncluttered and workmanlike as the Windows XP interface. But Windows 7 does a decent job of merging Windows XP's utilitarian bent with the conveniences that emerged along with the interface changes unveiled first in Windows Vista.

Libraries

One completely new feature you'll be confronted with in Windows 7 is Libraries. In essence, libraries are folders that can point to files or resources in a number of separate physical locations. You can create a library called "my documents," for instance, that aggregates files from your local C drive as well as from external or network drives. You tell the library container where to look, and it does the job of assembling the files. You can access libraries directly from Windows Explorer. Merely double-clicking a library name accesses the underlying files.

Improved Search

Searching for existing data is every bit as important on the desktop as it is on the Internet. And Windows 7 improves on the strides made by Windows Vista in the search arena, thanks to a feature dubbed Federated Search. In essence, with Federated Search, the near real-time search capability unveiled in Windows Vista now extends to network drives and other remote storage repositories in Windows 7. Search in Windows 7 is also quite customizable. With so-called search connectors, for example, you can even perform searches on Web sites such as Twitter right from your Windows 7 desktop.

There are plenty of other pleasant surprises hidden within Windows 7, but these headline features are likely to be what tempts you to give Microsoft's new operating system a try. Just remember that a good deal of hype always precedes the release of a new Microsoft operating system. While Windows 7 makes some significant strides in important areas, there's no law against sticking with Windows Vista or even XP if those operating systems are serving you well.

10 Critical Trends for Cybersecurity

2009-09-22T15:58:00.001+05:30

The Internet, private networks, VPNs, and a host of other technologies are quickly weaving the planet into a single, massively complex "infosphere." These connections cannot be severed without overwhelming damage to companies and even economies. Yet, they represent unprecedented vulnerabilities to espionage and covert attack.

"Cybersecurity is the soft underbelly of this country," outgoing U.S. National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell declared in a valedictory address to reporters in mid-January. He rated this problem equal in significance to the potential development of atomic weapons by Iran.
McConnell does not worry so much that hackers or spies will steal classified information from computers owned by government or the military, or by contractors working for them on secret projects. He is afraid they will erase it and thereby deprive the United States of critical data. "It could have a debilitating effect on the country," he said.

With this concern in mind, Forecasting International undertook a study of factors likely to influence the future development of information warfare.

Real-world attacks over the Internet also are possible. In March 2007, the Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory conducted an experiment to determine whether a power plant could be compromised by hacking alone. The result was a diesel generator smoking and on fire due to some malicious data that could easily have been sent to it over the Internet from anywhere in the world. In January 2008, a CIA analyst told American utilities that hackers had infiltrated electric companies in several locations outside the United States. In at least one case, they had managed to shut off power to multiple cities.

We conclude that information warfare will be a significant component in most future conflicts. This position is in line with both U.S. military doctrine and white papers published by the Chinese People's Army. One study affirms that as many as 120 governments already are pursuing information warfare programs.

Repeated reports that Chinese computer specialists have hacked into government networks in Germany, the United States, and other countries show that the threat is not limited to relatively unsophisticated lands. A 2007 estimate suggested that hackers sponsored by the Chinese government had downloaded more than 3.5 terabytes of information from NIPRNet, a U.S. government network that handles mostly unclassified material. More disturbingly, The Joint Operating Environment 2008: Challenges and Implications for the Future Joint Force (the JOE) comments that "our adversaries have often taken advantage of computer networks and the power of information technology not only to directly influence the perceptions and will of the United States, its decision-makers, and population, but also to plan and execute savage acts of terrorism."

Many factors guarantee that the role of information warfare in military planning and operations will expand greatly in the next two to three decades. These include the spread of new information technologies such as Internet telephony , wireless broadband, and radio-frequency identification (RFID); the cost and negative publicity of real-world warfare; and the possibility that many information operations can be carried out in secret, allowing successful hackers to stage repeated intrusions into adversaries' computer networks.

10 Critical Trends for Cyberwar

Forecasting International [rates] the following as the 10 most significant trends that will shape the future of information warfare. This ranking is based largely on the responses of our expert panelists, but also on our own judgment, developed over 50 years of trend analysis and extrapolation in military and national-security contexts. In nearly all cases, these two inputs agreed.

1. Technology Increasingly Dominates Both the Economy and Society

New technologies are surpassing the previous state of the art in all fields. Laptop computers and Internet- equipped cell phones provide 24/7 access to e-mail and Web sites.

New materials are bringing stronger, lighter structures that can monitor their own wear. By 2015, artificial intelligence (AI), data mining, and virtual reality will help most organizations to assimilate data and solve problems beyond the range of today's computers. The promise of nanotechnology is just beginning to emerge.

Ultimately, speculations may prove correct that we are approaching the "Singularity's event horizon." At that time, our artifacts will be so intelligent that they can design themselves, and we will not understand how they work. Humanity will be largely a passenger in its own evolution as a technological species.

Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: The growing domination of technology is the ultimate foundation for cyberwar. Complex, often delicate technologies make the world a richer, more-efficient place. However, they also make it relatively fragile, as it becomes difficult to keep industries and support systems functioning when something disrupts computer controls and monitors, and the opportunities for disruption proliferate rapidly.

A frequently overlooked scenario is the use of infotech by organized crime, according to consulting futurist Joseph F. Coates. "It is 2015, and the Mafia electronically wipes out the records of a modest-sized bank in Texas or Nebraska, and then quietly visits a small group of large financial services organizations with a simple message: 'We did it-you could be next. This is what we want, to protect you.'"

Futures-studies scholar Stephen F. Steele notes, "Cyber systems are not simply information, but cyber cultures. Coordinated cyberattacks at multiple levels will be capable of knocking out the macro (national defense systems), meso (local power grids), and micro (starting an automobile) simultaneously."

2. Advanced Communications Technologies Are Changing the Way We Work and Live

Telecommuting is growing rapidly, thanks largely to e-mail and other high-tech forms of communication. However, the millennial generation has already abandoned e-mail for most purposes, preferring to use instant messaging and social-networking Web sites to communicate with their peers. These and other new technologies are building communities nearly as complex and involved as those existing wholly in the real world.

Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: This is one of the two or three critical trends that give information warfare and operations their significance.

As our institutions integrate their operations, their connectivity makes them more vulnerable to unauthorized access. As they redesign their operations to take advantage of the efficiencies that computers offer, they also open them to disruption by technologically sophisticated adversaries.

Disruption may not be overt or easily detected. With manufacturing systems increasingly open to direct input from customers, it might be possible to reprogram computer-controlled machine tools to deliver parts that were subtly out of spec-and to rework the specifications themselves so that the discrepancies would never be noticed. If the tampering were carried out with sufficient imagination and care on well-selected targets, the products might conceivably pass inspection, yet fail in the field. This could have significant military implications.

"The Internet is a mess, open to all kinds of uses, misuses, antisocial material, irksome intrusions from ads, identity theft, international swindles, and on and on," observes Coates. "For these reasons, as well as the potential for national-security interventions and general hell raising, it is time to plan, design, and execute over the next five to seven years a replacement for the Internet."

Infotech and business management consultant Lawrence W. Vogel calls attention to the impacts of cloud computing (third-party data hosting and service-oriented computing) and Web 2.0 applications (social networking and interactivity). "The cybersecurity implications associated with cloud computing, whether a public or private cloud, are significant," he says. "As more companies and the government adopt cloud computing, they become more vulnerable to disruption and cyberattacks. This could result in disruption in services and the ability to rapidly access critical software applications. And with the widespread use of Facebook, blogs, and other social- networking applications in our personal lives, government organizations are seeking similar capabilities for communicating and interacting with their stakeholders. Once the government permits interactive, two-way communications over government networks, the chance for cyberattacks dramatically increases."

3. The Global Economy Is Growing More Integrated

Critical factors here include the rise of multinational corporations, the relaxation of national distinctions (e.g., within the European Union), the growth of the Internet, and computerized outsourcing of jobs to low-wage countries.

Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: The Internet, private networks, virtual private networks, and a host of other technologies are quickly weaving the planet into a single, massively complex "infosphere." These nearly infinite connections cannot be severed without overwhelming damage to companies and even to national economies. Yet, they represent unprecedented vulnerabilities to espionage and covert attack. This is another major trend for information warfare and operations.

"Another thing to think about here [is that] the sheer volume of information racing through the 'infosphere' enhances the opportunity for cyberwar operators to embed encrypted information within routine data flows," says law enforcement strategic planner John Kapinos. "This could take the form of system-disabling viruses, or secret message traffic concealed within an ocean of regularly transmitted, legitimate data. Sophisticated data-monitoring programs designed to detect unusual patterns would be needed to counteract such a scheme."

Futurologist Ian D. Pearson adds that, as interactions become more complex, "it will be harder to spot points of vulnerability. Fraud and cyberterrorism will increase."

The actors in cyberwarfare now include non-state entities, points out strategic-planning consultant Frank Sowa of the Xavier Group Ltd. "Corporations in the twenty-first century are borderless and are not geopolitical," he argues. "The key to actively thwarting cyberwarfare is to recognize corporations and organized religions on the same-or even higher protocol-than geopolitical governments and borderless, non-geopolitical terror and extremist operations."

4. Research and Development Play a Growing Role in the World Economy

Total U.S. outlays on R&D have grown steadily in the past three decades. Similar trends are seen in China, Japan, the European Union, and Russia.

Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: This trend is responsible for the accelerating technological advances seen in recent decades. It is another critical factor in the development of information warfare.

The chief product of R&D is not clever new merchandise or technologies, but information. Even the most sensitive output from research results is routinely stored in computers, shipped through company intranets, and usually transmitted over the Internet. This accessibility makes it a prime target for espionage, whether industrial or military. This problem has been growing nearly as quickly as the mass of information available to prying. It will be a still greater concern for security specialists in the years ahead.

Many R&D programs promote the dissemination of research results, observes public-policy specialist Mark Callanan of the Institute for Public Administration in Dublin. "While this is of course entirely sensible for the vast majority of research, the emphasis on getting as much information out there [as possible] may pose additional security dilemmas in terms of cybercrime," he argues.

Pearson adds that "the downside is that R&D also occurs in weapons tech, so there is always a background arms race. High-capability technologies will present enormous threats to mankind in the second half of this century."

5. The Pace of Technological Change Accelerates with Each New Generation of Discoveries and Applications

In fast-moving engineering disciplines, half of the cutting-edge knowledge learned by college students in their freshman year is obsolete by the time they graduate. The design and marketing cycle-idea, invention, innovation , imitation-is shrinking steadily. As late as the 1940s, the product cycle stretched to 30 or 40 years. Today, it seldom lasts 30 or 40 weeks.

The reason is simple: Some 80% of the scientists, engineers, technicians, and physicians who ever lived are alive today-and exchanging ideas in real time on the Internet.

Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: As new technologies arrive, industry will be forced to hire more technology specialists and to train other employees to cope with new demands. Some support functions may be moved offshore, where technically knowledgeable adversaries might have greater access to them, opening the way to disruption.

"It is important in the discussion not to neglect the large amount of information technology now obsolescent or obsolete, but [still] in place," observes Joe Coates.

The advance of machine intelligence will also have confounding implications for cybersecurity. According to knowledge theorist and futurist Bruce LaDuke, "Knowledge creation is a repeatable process that is performed by humans and could be performed by machines exclusively or in systems built to interact with humans ('man-in the-loop' systems). Artificial knowledge creation will usher in [the] Singularity, not artificial intelligence or artificial general intelligence (or technology advancing itself). Artificial intelligence has already been achieved by any computer, because intelligence is appropriately defined as knowledge stored that can be retrieved (by human or computer). The first arriver to [artificial knowledge creation] technology will drive the entire paradigm shift."

6. The United States Is Ceding Its Scientific and Technical Leadership to Other Countries

In June 2009, a U.S. National Security Agency-backed "hacking" competition pitted 4,200 programmers from all over the world in algorithm coding and other contests; of the finalists, 20 were from China, 10 were from Russia, and only two were from the United States, reports Computerworld. "We do the same thing with athletics here that they do with mathematics and science there," says Rob Hughes, president of TopCoder, the software development company that operates the annual competition. Hughes argues that the United States needs to put more emphasis-and earlier-on math and science education.

"The scientific and technical building blocks of our economic leadership are eroding at a time when many other nations are gathering strength," the National Academy of Sciences warns. "Although many people assume that the United States will always be a world leader in science and technology, this may not continue to be the case inasmuch as great minds and ideas exist throughout the world."

R&D spending is growing in raw-dollar terms, but, when measured as a percentage of the total federal budget or as a fraction of the U.S. GDP, research funding has been shrinking for the last 15 years. Only half of U.S. patents are granted to Americans, a proportion that has been declining for decades.

More than half of U.S. scientists and engineers are nearing retirement. At the rate that U.S. students are entering these fields, the retirees cannot be replaced except by recruiting foreign scientists.

Implications for Information Warfare and Operations:

To whatever extent the United States loses its leadership in science and technology, it falls behind other countries in the intellectual and personnel base required for information warfare and operations. If this trend is not reversed, the United States could find itself at a significant disadvantage in this strategically and tactically important area.

"The strength of the United States is in knowledge creation under the auspices of innovation and invention that has been applied in all kinds of technologies," argues LaDuke. "Ceding existing technology as technology converges and rises exponentially is not as significant as not creating the knowledge that is empowering future advances in technology."

Pearson adds, "The increased power of smart individuals is more of a problem, especially in NBIC [nanotech, biotech, infotech, and cognitive science] areas. Unabomberstyle activity from inconspicuous people within a community is more of a danger than hostile states or terrorist groups."

Steele warns that, "not only is the United States ceding the 'left brain' sciences, but the continuation of a linear, industrial model for education has [it] ceding a growing need for 'right brain'-creative and synergistic -- thinking."

7. Technology Is Creating a Knowledge-Dependent Global Society

More and more businesses-and entire industries-are based on the production and exchange of information and ideas rather than exclusively on manufactured goods or other tangible products. At the same time, manufacturers and sellers of physical products are able to capture and analyze much more information about buyers' needs and preferences, making the selling process more efficient and effective.

Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: Increasing dependence on technology effectively translates to growing fragility. Disrupt essential information or communications systems, and a company, government agency, or military unit could be dead in the water, or at least cut off from oversight and coordination with its partners. Telecommuting systems, for example, offer several obvious opportunities to disrupt the operations of the company or agency that depends on them.

"The 'bunker-buster' ammunition that could be brought to bear within the context of cyberwar has not yet been deployed (or at least apparently not yet in a manner that has worked well)," says Cynthia E. Ayers, a security specialist and visiting professor at the U.S. Army War College's Center for Strategic Leadership. "How knowledge-dependent populations react-or how 'new media' societies are capable of reacting-when such weapons are deployed may ultimately determine their fate. The chaos that could be caused either under a limited (homemade) EMP [electromagnetic pulse] scenario or as a result of one or more high-altitude nuclear blasts would be devastating to a Western population in many ways. The losses incurred would make the current economic downturn seem like a mere irritant."

Lt. Col. Kevin Gary Rowlatt of the Australian Army observes that "countermeasures to cyberthreats developed by us will impede our ability to work effectively, let alone efficiently. Firewalls, authentication, and encryption programs have the potential to slow the flow of information. An enemy would love to slow down some decision cycles. This approach would allow them to achieve the aim simply by presenting a threat, be it credible or virtual. We become distrustful of information contained or processed within cyber networks."

8. Militant Islam Continues to Spread and Gain Power

It has been clear for years that the Muslim lands face severe problems with religious extremists dedicated to advancing their political, social, and doctrinal views by any means necessary. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the American occupation of Iraq has inspired a new generation of jihadists, who have been trained and battle-hardened in the growing insurgency.

Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: Information systems are another category of attack that Muslim radicals could mount against their chosen enemies in the West. One likely source of such an attack would be India, a land with a substantial Muslim minority (about 150 million people) and strong computer and communications industries.

As Ayers observes, "It has long been noted that radical Islamists have been using the Internet to preach, recruit, glorify suicide-bombers, and perform training on a global basis. The 'e-possibilities' for Islamic militants are obviously limited only [by] the imagination, just as they are for more harmonious or legitimate activities. The cyberworld offers a wealth of opportunity to engage in the spread of Islam, followed by -- or in conjunction with -- a cyberwar that would be seen as just in the Islamic tradition."

9. International Exposure Includes A Growing Risk of Terrorist Attack

Terrorism has continued to grow around the world as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan proceed, even as the rate of violence in Iraq itself has declined. Nothing will prevent small, local political organizations and special- interest groups from using terror to promote their causes.

On balance, the amount of terrorist activity in the world will continue to rise, not decline, in the next 10 years. In fact, terrorist attacks have risen sharply since the invasion of Iraq, both in number and in severity.

Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: Until the terrorist problem is brought under control- which will probably not happen for at least a generation-we will face a growing threat that Muslim extremists will master computer and Internet technologies and use their skills to disrupt essential communications and data. The impact will be seen in U.S. corporations, research laboratories, universities, utilities companies, and manufacturing. Cyber operations will be at best second choices for many terrorists, who prefer the newsworthy gore of attacks with bombs and firearms. However, their potential for maximum economic impact with minimum risk eventually will make them irresistible to forward-looking extremists.

"National security needs to address the freedom that big business has in moving its IT services off shore," says Rowlatt. "If a business is a major contributor to a nation's GDP, then what right does it have to expose its 'cyber underbelly' to a foreign power, which in turn, exposes the nation to unnecessary cyber risks? Look at how terrorists targeted Mumbai, the cyber center for India, which serviced many international organizations' IT needs."

10. The World's Population Will Grow To 9.2 Billion by 2050

The greatest fertility rate is found in those countries least able to support their existing people-the Palestinian Territories, Yemen, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda. In contrast, populations in most developed countries are stable or declining. The United States is a prominent exception.

Implications for Information Warfare and Operations: The world population's growth in itself is less significant than where that growth is concentrated. India already has the largest supply of English-speaking [people]," observes Francis G. Hoffman, research fellow at the Marine Corps Center for Threats and Opportunities. "The educational systems in the latter will not support the advancement of knowledge workers to any degree, and could be swamped by poor governance, lack of services, and chronic disorder. Many places in Asia will experience some of the same downsides of large population growth without adequate governance, services, and education."

Steele adds that the disparities in population growth will widen the gap between developed and developing worlds, producing "environments of anomie and alienation as a breeding ground for terrorist ideology." Moreover, increased education and technological sophistication in the developing world could compound these problems. Steele argues, "A growing proportion of the world's population (including the developing world) is gaining primary and secondary-school-equivalent education. The diffusion of cyber systems in the developing world increases opportunity for global cyberwar."

Conclusion: Lessons for Avoiding Cyberwar

Our major concern is no longer weapons of mass destruction, but weapons of mass disruption. The cost of "going nuclear" is simply too high for atomic weapons to be used by any but a rogue state unconcerned with its own survival. Cyberweapons may kill fewer people, but they can have enormous economic impact. A particularly clever opponent might even carry out a devastating attack without ever being identified or facing retribution. Information has become the battlefield of choice. It will remain so well into the future.

Lesson number one: As the world becomes more dependent on information technology, it becomes more fragile. It is possible to make any specific site or network more secure, but not the "system" as a whole. As network connections proliferate, electronic controls-for example, of petroleum refineries, chemical plants, or electrical grids-become more complex and interlinked, and the number of users grows, the opportunities to interfere with its operations expand exponentially. There is a growing possibility that even accidental missteps could cause significant harm. This damage would not necessarily be limited to data but could strike at real-world infrastructure , with potentially devastating effects. Economic losses could be severe, and loss of life is possible.

Lesson number two: Cybercrime could be as significant as cyberwar. Four members of our panel cited profit-motive information crimes as a problem of potential importance. An information "protection racket" aimed at financial institutions could entail serious economic risks, and perhaps security risks as well. These crimes might use many of the same techniques as information warfare and could be difficult to distinguish from it. Indeed, in a world where rogue governments have supported themselves in part through counterfeiting major currencies, there may be no useful distinction. However, it is not clear that cyberwar and cybercrime will be amenable to the same countermeasures.

Lesson number three: The rise of artificial intelligence will change the nature of cyberwar. As computer systems "learn" to imitate human reasoning and skills, the nature of cyberwar will change. Instead of relying on human hackers to carry out their attacks, antagonists will automate their information warfare, relying on AI systems to probe opposing defenses, carry out attacks, and defend against enemy AI. This competition will quickly outstrip human control, or even monitoring. This is one aspect of the hypothetical "Singularity," the time when artificial intelligence exceeds our own and it becomes impossible even in theory to predict what will happen in the further future.

Lesson number four: The United States is losing its leadership in critical technologies. As other countries build up their technological capacity, the United States is allowing its own to deteriorate. As China and India turn out more scientists, engineers, doctors, and technicians, the United States has been producing fewer. As other lands spend more on research and development, the United States has been spending less. And as other countries devote more of their research budgets to fundamental science, where breakthroughs happen, the United States has focused increasingly on short-term applications. All this may put America at a serious disadvantage in future cyberwars.

In the spring of 2009, the U.S. government undertook new steps to meet this threat. The Pentagon is in the process of creating a Cyber Command center with the aim of protecting the Department of Defense's 17,000 networks and 7 million computers from attack. President Obama also announced a new "cyber czar" position within the administration. Scott Charney, former head of security at Microsoft , is said to be on the top of the shortlist. The question of how effective any one cabinet official can be against a cyberattack remains unanswered.

"They're still trying to fight this problem within the traditional command and control structure," says Patrick Tucker, senior editor of THE FUTURIST. "How does a czar take down an international, unaffiliated network of anonymous attackers? It's like using a hammer against killer bees."

Many questions about information warfare remain to be answered. What are the most likely targets? How would they be attacked? What are the probability and potential impact of each attack? What would the consequences be in terms of human lives, economic cost, and continuing disruption? How could we tell such an attack was coming? And most importantly, what could we do to stop it? These future-critical questions urgently need further study.

Password Managers: Your Key to Safe Surfing

2009-09-22T15:56:00.001+05:30

Passwords that are at least eight characters long and are a combination of letters, numerals, and symbols are the best. One common tip these days for creating secure passwords is to think of a sentence you're unlikely to forget -- such as "I was born in 1945" -- and then create a password consisting of the first letter of each word.

Take all of the antivirus, anti-spyware, and anti-phishing software in the world. None of it can protect you if you surf the Internet with weak or weakly-protected passwords.
Just imagine the consequences if hackers were able to obtain one or more of your passwords. Would they be able to access your bank accounts, online shopping accounts, credit cards, and more? Even one compromised password could be big trouble.

Most people know this. Yet many, recent reports suggest, continue to use the same password for most if not all of their online accounts.

A recent study by U.S.-based communications firm @www found that over 60 percent of Internet users employ the same password for all of their online accounts. Other recent studies resulted in similar findings. So what's the solution?

Password Managers

Password managers can be a great solution to the problem of trying to create and remember passwords. There are dozens on the market, but two stand out on most people's lists as best-of-breed: RoboForm and Lastpass.

Roboform (http://www.roboform.com) has been around for many years. It has evolved from a first-class form filling application -- with a free version as well as a commercial "pro" version -- into a combination password-form filler that integrates into your browser by means of a toolbar. It's fast, easy to use, and contains no annoying pop-ups or adware.

The main knock against Roboform has been that the process of synchronizing your passwords on one machine with those on another is less than elegant. An add-on product, RoboForm2GO, is required to take your password and form filling data with you to another machine. And yet another associated product, GoodSync, can help to keep passwords, form data, and other common application data in sync automatically, assuming the computers are connected or that you carry around a flash drive with the latest updates.

What's really missing, though, is the ease of use that would come with being able to synchronize passwords, form data, and other data over the Internet. Such a system uses the Internet as an intermediate storage location. That way, when you log on with your second or third computer, you can quickly and easily synchronize your passwords by accessing the synchronization file online.

The programmers at SiberSystems, makers of RoboForm, are addressing this shortcoming with the introduction of RoboForm Online (https://online.roboform.com), currently in beta. RoboForm Online works its magic by allowing you to store your passwords and data on servers supplied by SiberSystems. That way, no matter where you are or which computer you're using, RoboForm Online will automatically keep your passwords up to date by fetching the latest passwords and other data from the server online.

RoboForm Online is no doubt a welcome enhancement for veteran RoboForm users. But RoboForm Online is actually playing catch up to relative newcomer Lastpass (https://lastpass.com), also available for free.

Lastpass was built from the ground up with easy synchronization in mind. Essentially a Web-based application, Lastpass stores an encrypted copy of your passwords and other Internet data in your online Lastpass account. Go to a new computer, and all you have to do is log in to your Lastpass account to get your passwords installed on the new machine.

Lastpass, like RoboForm, attempts to do much more than just store passwords. It's also a form filler, allowing you to create multiple identities for different types of form filling activity. RoboForm's form filling capabilities are a bit more robust than those of Lastpass. RoboForm allows the creation of unlimited custom fields that the program should automatically recognize and fill, for example. But Lastpass's form-filling features are enough for most, and the program's ease of use and elegant synchronization method stand out.

Security Issues

While online password synchronization is clearly an important feature -- and the direction in which password managers are going -- many might justifiably be concerned about how safe their password data is on someone else's server.

Both Lastpass and RoboForm state that no unencrypted password or personal information is ever sent over the Internet through their applications or stored on their computers. The only way for a third party to be able to see your data is to have an unencryption key, which is something you create and is never transmitted along with your encrypted data. Now, if you don't want to be one of those who tests the veracity of one these companies' claims, then you may want to stick with the less portable RoboForm -- or even create your own passwords.

Do It Yourself

If the idea of a password manager doesn't appeal to you, you can create secure passwords that are tough to crack. But you need to follow some guidelines.

First, avoid creating passwords that are common names, years (as in year of birth), or words that can be found in the dictionary. Also avoid names -- especially the name of your spouse, your kids, or your pet.

Passwords that are at least eight characters long and are a combination of letters, numerals, and symbols are the best. One common tip these days for creating secure passwords is to think of a sentence you're unlikely to forget -- such as "I was born in 1945" -- and then create a password consisting of the first letter of each word, and include any numbers. So for the example above, your password would be "iwbi1945." Experts suggest mixing numbers or symbols in-between letters for extra security.

Once you have a secure password, use it for one site -- and one site only. Remember that if you tend to use the same password for everything, a skillful hacker could get into all of your online accounts by guessing just one password. You'll want to avoid that at all costs.

Finally, don't write your passwords down. You'd be surprised at just how many people live with passwords written on sticky notes that are close to their computer -- there for anyone to uncover.

But if creating and remembering multiple, secure passwords seems to you to be a daunting task, that's because it is. These days, a password management add-on is really a necessity.

Microsoft Opens Office Web Apps for Selective Testing

2009-09-22T15:50:00.002+05:30

Microsoft will allow a select group to test its Office Web Apps online. Invitees to the Office Web Apps Technical Preview program will be able to access lightweight versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Microsoft said Office Web Apps will be integrated with Office 2010 to deliver productivity across PCs, mobile devices, and browsers.
Microsoft took the cover off its Web-based versions of the Microsoft Office suite on Thursday, at least partially. The software giant offered what it calls the Office Web Apps Technical Preview program that will allow a select group to give the software a test drive before the official beta rolls out later this year.
Invitees will receive access to a lightweight version of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint on the Web through Windows Live. Microsoft also announced the formal name for the Web-based applications: Office Web Apps. The suite includes Word Web App, Excel Web App, PowerPoint Web App, and OneNote Web App.

Microsoft's aim with Office Web Apps is to allow people to access, share and work on Office documents from virtually anywhere with an Internet connection.

"Our mission with the upcoming release of Microsoft Office 2010 is to deliver a great productivity experience, improving upon what customers depend upon today, and innovating on what they'll expect tomorrow. Office Web Apps are a key part of our vision for Office 2010," said Michael Schultz, director of marketing for Microsoft Office Services.

Anywhere Productivity
Schultz said the Office 2010 release is designed to deliver a productivity experience across PCs, mobile devices, and browsers. Office Web Apps will be integrated with Office to give users the ability to save open documents on the Web directly from Microsoft Office 2010.

Microsoft is offering Office Web Apps through Windows Live because the company sees it as a strategic hub for people to store and share information such as photos, contacts, calendars and documents on Windows Live SkyDrive.

"The latest statistics tell us two-thirds of the worldwide population is online at least once a month, and in the United States, 89 percent of the top 100 companies offer telecommuting," Schultz said. "That means people are on the move and need to stay productive with access to their information, no matter where they are. Office Web Apps empower people to access information and edit and share documents in a familiar environment from practically anywhere, on virtually any device."

The full feature set for Office Web Apps will be available in the first half of 2010, and offered in three ways. Windows Live customers will have access to Office Web Apps on Windows Live SkyDrive. Office Web Apps will be available to Office 2010 volume-licensing business customers, hosted with a Microsoft SharePoint Server on-premises. Businesses will also have access to Office Web Apps through Microsoft Online Services.

Better Than Google Apps?
Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, said Office Web Apps appears to give end users an almost identical experience to what they will get with Office 2010. And he points to a job well done with document fidelity.

"There's round-tripping, so if you open a document online and you also decide to open it in your local version of Office and make changes, those changes will be saved back to the online version," Rosoff said. "It really made it pretty transparent to the end user."

The big question: How does it compare to Google Apps? Rosoff said Office Web Apps offers more functionality than the free version of Google Apps.

"Google Apps has a 500k maximum upload size. So if you have any images or if you have a long text document with formatting and images, that's not going to work in Google Apps," Rosoff said. "With these Office Web Apps, you get 25 gigabytes of storage per user. It's pretty generous for a free service."

Twitter's Legal Challenges: Lessons for Startups

2009-09-22T15:33:00.001+05:30

Not every startup can achieve success to match the speed and scale of Twitter's ascent, but every startup can learn some important lessons from Twitter's experience. For example, it's never too early to protect your intellectual property. Taking proactive steps is better than waiting until a lawsuit rears its head.

On March 21, 2006, Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey sent out the first tweet: "Just setting up my twittr."
A mere three years later, in February 2009, Twitter had approximately 4 million visitors. At that point, Twitter set an audacious goal of one day reaching 1 billion users and becoming "the pulse of the planet."
A mere six months later, Twitter's user base had grown exponentially from 4 million to 20 million in the United States, and almost double that to 37 million worldwide.
With such rapid growth, reaching a billion people one day all of sudden seems less an impossible task and more a reachable target. However, as Twitter cements its status as the Internet's next big thing, the company faces the inevitable legal challenges that come with its increased popularity.

Long Litigation Road Ahead
One legal battle emerging companies such as Twitter often face involves patent litigation. For Twitter, the first lawsuit of what surely will be many such lawsuits was filed on August 4, 2009. A Texas company, TechRadium, sued Twitter in the Southern District Court of Texas, alleging infringement of three of its patents, which relate to a technology that sends out mass notifications via telephones, faxes and wireless systems.
These types of "we did it first" lawsuits will only escalate with Twitter's increasing prominence and expanding user base. Given its enormous popularity, Twitter no doubt has been anticipating these types of lawsuits.
In fact, Twitter recognized in its internal meetings that it would likely be sued for patent infringement repeatedly and often.
Twitter is probably more ready to defend itself in these lawsuits than some other startup companies that may have been unaware of such threats. Above and beyond being prepared for these types of lawsuits, Twitter is considering taking a more aggressive step to hire patent attorneys to go after patents proactively.

'Tweet' Trademark Tussle
In addition to patent protection, another proactive step startup companies should consider taking as early as possible is obtaining trademark protection. Twitter provides an object lesson in the need for prompt action. It may have been too late in seeking trademark registration.
Twitter filed for a trademark on "tweet" on April 16, 2009. But by that time, three other companies -- TweetMarks, Cotweet, and Tweetphoto -- had already applied for trademarks containing "tweet." On July 1, 2009, the United States Patent and Trademark Office preliminarily denied Twitter's trademark application, citing those three pending trademark applications, all of which were filed prior to Twitter's application.
While obviously not affecting Twitter's common law trademark rights, Twitter's delay in seeking trademark registration may present an obstacle in its own enforcement activities. On the morning of July 1, 2009, Twitter made public an email sent to a developer, asking that person to find a new name for his application.
Twitter also reassured the Internet community that it does not plan to go after the use of "tweet" when associated with the Twitter brand, but will do so to protect the brand if the use of "tweet" is confusing or damaging. Until the Patent and Trademark Office grants Twitter's application, however, Twitter does not hold the registered trademark to "tweet" and will be limited in its remedies when enforcing any alleged violation.

Winning the Verification Game
In addition to those patent and trademark issues, Twitter also faced a legal challenge involving the issue of right of publicity, a person's right to control the use of his name and likeness. A lawsuit was filed against Twitter in May of 2009 by St. Louis Cardinals manager, Tony La Russa. In his complaint, La Russa alleged that someone pretending to be him created a fake profile and that the unauthorized page damaged his reputation and caused him emotional distress.
The fake La Russa tweets made light of the deaths of Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile and Cardinals reliever Josh Hancock. Though the fake account was shut down, La Russa sought damages for the misappropriation of his name and likeness, trademark infringement and trademark dilution, among other charges.
In early June of 2009, the case took a strange turn when La Russa announced that Twitter settled with him and agreed to pay his legal fees as well as make a donation to his charity. Twitter, on the other hand, blogged that it was "not playing ball," and stated that "Twitter has not settled, nor do we plan to settle or pay." On June 26, 2009, the case was finally voluntarily dismissed by La Russa, with prejudice.
It appears that Twitter may have won that round. The dismissal clearly states that "no payment was made by Twitter to La Russa in exchange for this dismissal."
Twitter, however, is taking this opportunity to improve the Twitter user experience through its Verified Accounts concept. Instead of simply removing the fake accounts once alerted to them, Twitter apparently is going one step further to verify user accounts. Twitter has begun Beta testing the Verified Accounts. The first group of user accounts that may receive a verified account badge will be "well-known accounts that have had problems with impersonation or identity confusion" (e.g., famous artists, athletes, actors, public officials, public agencies etc.). For instance, President Obama's Twitter account is verified.
Twitter's response to the La Russa lawsuit indicates its willingness to change and adapt its technology to an evolving legal landscape. To succeed, emerging companies need to be similarly reactive.
While it is difficult to predict the next Twitter, one thing is certain: To succeed, startup companies need to protect their intellectual property with patents and trademarks, anticipate and be prepared for potential litigation over their intellectual property rights, and react quickly to those challenges on both the legal and technical fronts.

5 Keys for Full Recovery in the Cloud

2009-09-22T15:31:00.001+05:30

The cloud is a natural solution for disaster recovery, but careful consideration must be given before entrusting you data to a sky-high backup repository. Can you recover workloads from the cloud? How well does it scale? What's the nature of its billing system? Is its infrastructure secure? And will it offer complete protection?

While cloud computing is a familiar term, its definitions can vary greatly. So when it comes to online backup, the cloud is an important feature that can play a large role in securing and protecting during a disaster, which I like to refer to as "cloud recovery."
In order to be worthy of this cloud recovery title, a solution should have the following five features, which I have outlined below.

1. Recover Workloads in the Cloud
There is an old saying in the data protection business that the whole point of backing up is preparing to restore. Having a backup copy of your data is important, but it takes more than a pile of tapes (or an online account) to restore. You might need a replacement server, new storage, and maybe even a new data center, depending on what went wrong.
The traditional solutions to this need are to either keep spare servers in a disaster recovery data center or suffer the downtime while you order and configure new equipment. With a cloud recovery solution, you don't want just your data in the cloud -- you want the ability to actually start up applications and use them, no matter what went wrong in your environment.

2. Unlimited Scalability
If you were buying disaster recovery servers for yourself, you would have to buy one for each of your critical production servers. The whole point of recovering to the cloud is that they already have plenty of servers.
The ideal cloud recovery solution won't charge you for those servers up front but is sure to have as much capacity as you need, when you need it. Under this model, your costs are much lower than building it yourself, because you get the benefit of duplicating your environment without the cost.

3. Pay-Per-Use Billing
I love pay-as-you-go business models because they force the vendor to have a good product. Plus, this make the buying decision much easier -- just sign up for a month or two (or six), and see how it goes.
Removing the up-front price and long-term commitment shifts the risk away from the customer and onto the vendor. The vendor just has to keep the quality up to keep customers loyal.
We also know that data centers are more cost-efficient at larger scale, especially the management effort, and they require constant improvement. In your own data center, you might have some custom configurations, but in the data recovery data center, you just need racks, stacks of servers, power and cooling. You are much better off paying a monthly fee to someone who specializes.

4. Secure and Reliable Infrastructure
Lots of people like to bash cloud providers for security and reliability, but I think they hold the providers to the wrong standard. Although it is fine, in the abstract, to point out all the places where cloud providers don't achieve perfection in security and reliability, as a customer evaluating a cloud vendor, it seems better to compare them to your own capabilities.
I believe that most of the major cloud providers' infrastructures are more secure and more reliable than those of most private data centers. The point is that security and reliability are hard, but they are easier at scale. Having control over your own data center isn't enough -- you also have to spend the money to buy the necessary equipment, software , and expertise. For most companies, infrastructure is a necessary evil. Companies like Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Rackspace do infrastructure for a living, they and do it at huge scale. Sure, Amazon's outages get reported in news, but do you think you can outperform them over the next couple of years?

5. Complete Protection
Remember the "preparing to restore" line? For me, it really comes home in this idea of complete protection. If your backup product asks you what you want to protect, I am already suspicious. My vote is, "get it all." I see lots of online products offering 20GB plans, and to me, they look like an accident waiting to happen. I don't want to know which files I need to protect -- I want to click "start" and know that any time I want, I can click "recover", and there won't be any "please insert your original disk" issues.
The places people normally get bitten by this are with databases (do you have the right agent?), configuration changes (patched your server, or added a new directory of files?), and weird applications (the one that a consultant set up, and you don't really understand how it works). Complete protection means that all of these things can be protected without requiring an expert in either your own systems, or with the cloud recovery solution.

Opera to Web developers: Come to MAMA

2008-10-16T17:29:00.000+05:30

Opera's new Metadata Analysis and Mining Application search engine indexes data about Web site structures

Opera Software on Wednesday revealed a search engine that indexes structural information about Web pages so Web developers and standards bodies can see what technologies are being used to build Web sites and how they are being used.

The Metadata Analysis and Mining Application search engine -- "MAMA" for short -- is being tested by the company and should be released in an invitation-only beta by the end of the year, said Snorre Grimsby, vice president of quality assurance at Opera in Oslo, Norway.

MAMA grew out of tests Opera routinely does to make sure its own browser software products work well with existing Web pages that use the most commonly used Web site-creation technology, he said.

"We realized internally that we needed to be able to find lots of live sites out there that used certain technologies in certain combinations so we could test our browser on them," Grimsby said.

The resulting search engine crawls the Web, but instead of indexing the content of Web sites, as most search engines do, it discards the content and indexes the types of technologies being used on sites, such as CSS, HTML, XHTML, and the like, Grimsby said.

This information is helpful for Web developers, who can use MAMA to identify sites that are using certain kinds of technology and see how other developers have implemented it, he said.

"It's a known fact that Web developers borrow ideas from each other," Grimsby said. If developers are working with a Web application that needs, for example, a new menu system, MAMA can help them find sites that use the technology being considered to build the system to get ideas for their own implementation.

Developers also can use MAMA to see how well sites conform to current World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) specifications for commonly used Web standards, such as CSS, HTML and others. The W3C oversees the creation and maintenance of specs for many of the most prevalent Web-site development technologies.

Grimsby said that in Opera's own use of MAMA, Opera found that the average Web page has 47 discrepancies in how the site renders W3C-maintained technologies and the W3C specifications themselves.

MAMA also can be useful for the W3C and other standards bodies to help them set priorities for developing specifications. For example, if a technology is used a certain way on the majority of Web sites, or not used very much at all, the W3C "can change the spec or take something out of the spec," Grimsby said.

During an interview Wednesday, Grimsby demonstrated MAMA in real time by using it to crawl an International Data Group Web page, http://www.idg.net/idgns, to find out what technologies the site used.

According to the search engine, the site is running on version 2.2.8 of the Apache Web Server on a Windows 32-bit hardware server, has 56 hyperlinks and uses XHTML (Extensible HTML) 1.0 and CSS, he said.

In the next eight weeks Opera expects to publish a series of articles on its developer Web site about its own internal use of MAMA, noting key findings, statistics and trends the search engine discovers, he said.

By the end of the year, the company will invite key people within standards bodies to test the search engine, with a goal of releasing it publicly to developers sometime in the first or second quarter of next year, Grimsby said.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Vista's 'Unqualified Success'

2008-10-16T17:00:00.000+05:30

Despite the negative attention it's been subjected to, Vista is a huge success in the eyes of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. "It doesn't mean that people aren't still picking on it, but we've sold 180 million copies, something like that, of Vista," he said. Consumer product marketing, however, needs some work, he added.

As chief executive of Microsoft Latest News about Microsoft, Steve Ballmer heads a company that's not just a PC software giant but also a growing presence in the broader consumer electronics industry.

In less than 10 years, Microsoft has become a major player in video games, mobile phones, set-top boxes and Internet search and advertising Learn how you can enhance your email marketing program today. Free Trial - Click Here..

However, the company is nowhere near as dominant in consumer electronics as it is in operating systems. It has spent billions of dollars establishing its various electronics businesses with only limited success.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 Latest News about Xbox 360 has lost its lead to Nintendo's Wii Latest News about Wii and is losing ground to Sony's PlayStation 3 Latest News about PlayStation 3, despite debuting a year earlier than either. Smartphones such as Research In Motion's Latest News about Research In Motion BlackBerry and Apple's Latest News about Apple iPhone are stealing share from Windows Mobile devices. Microsoft's Zune MP3 players are an afterthought in a market dominated by Apple's iPods. In search, the company's MSN Latest News about MSN is a distant third behind Google Latest News about Google and Yahoo Latest News about Yahoo.

During a visit to Silicon Valley late last month, Ballmer talked with the Mercury News about Microsoft's consumer electronics efforts and the challenges it has faced. Here is an edited transcript of his remarks.

Question: How do you assess the state of Microsoft's consumer businesses today?

Answer: We've got various businesses that are in various states. If you needed to have one word that fit all, I think you would say, "very present." Almost everything is entering into kind of a cycle of improvement, which is interesting.

Consumer products are as much about the way they're marketed as the way they're built -- and we have some work to do, I'd say, on the marketing side.

Q: If you look at what they've done in the last year or two, do you view any of your consumer products as unqualified successes?

A: I certainly would say the work that we've done around Xbox is an unqualified success. No question about that.

Q: How so?

A: The product is selling very well. The Xbox is an absolute home run.

Q: But sales of the Xbox have slowed markedly. It's been overtaken by the Wii. The PS3 is starting to catch up. You cut the price on it, which some might say is an indication you have run out of ideas to boost sales.

A: No, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard anybody say. All consoles start at higher prices. They always come down through the long cycle.

Q: The story in July at E3 was that you had many bullets left in your holster that you could use to juice Xbox sales. You had all these great games that were coming out for the fall, and you didn't need to cut price to juice sales -- but now, two months later, you've cut the price.

A: Price is not something you discuss externally. Nobody ever does. So, whether we were planning on cutting price the next day or in six months or a year, we're not going to discuss price changes.

If you ask me, Xbox Live is going gangbusters. The console is selling well.

Q: What else would you say has been an unqualified success of late?

A: Since [we updated it], I'd also refer to Vista as an unqualified success. It doesn't mean that people aren't still picking on it, but we've sold 180 million copies, something like that, of Vista. The quality, the compatibility [and], particularly from the consumer market, the level of acceptance -- I'd call it an unqualified success over the last six months or so.

Our Media Room software for set-top boxes, [Internet protocol]-connected set-top boxes, is certainly an unqualified success amongst those people who have it.

Office 2007. The changes we made in the user interface, the approachability of the product, the ability for people to get deeper -- I would call that an unqualified success.

Q: What are some of the challenges that have faced Microsoft as it has gone from its base in operating systems and productivity software to more consumer-oriented businesses, such as Xbox or Zune?

A: In some senses, what you're seeing is a renewal of our consumer [business]. If you look at where we kind of built the original strength of Windows and the original strength of Word and Excel, it was on the consumer side of the business.

Q: But isn't there a difference between convincing a computer manufacturer to install Windows -- even going over their heads to the consumers -- and directly selling products to consumers?

A: The muscles are all a little different. The muscle around Windows is a little bit different than the muscle around Office and Word and Excel. It's a little bit different than the kind of muscle you need to have around MSN or Live or Search. In the case of Xbox, [it's] a little different because now we've got hardware and promotion, retail display -- and a lot of that stuff becomes more important.

Q: What do you see as challenges for Microsoft in marketing your products to consumers?

A: The way you ask the question implies there's something systemic in Microsoft that is a challenge to doing it. Every one of these things has their own battle.

Another guy's got 70 percent in search and we've got 10. Anytime the other guy's got 70 and you've got 10, you've got challenges.

In the case of Windows Mobile, we had some unique challenges. The [Windows] flag's always there, but people aren't always really thinking, "What I want here is a Windows Mobile" phone.

So, I'd kind of relate them to each battle, more than I'd relate them to anything systemic at our place.

Q: You've said that Microsoft's core competency is software. If that's the case, then why is it necessary for Microsoft to be in such diverse businesses as hardware, Internet search and advertising?

A: When I say our core capability is software, it means developing and commercializing. And sometimes, the best way to commercialize software innovation might be through advertising, through transactions, through hardware, through embedding in other guys' hardware. We have to be open to various delivery models for what are essentially software experiences.

Q: The 10th anniversary of the antitrust case is coming up. How have the restrictions imposed by it affected your ability to compete in the consumer markets you're in?

A: Look, Apple integrates everything. It's not a terrible model. Would we do more integration without the consent decree than we do today? The answer, of course, is yes.

Microsoft Aims to Spread BI Throughout the Enterprise

2008-10-16T16:59:00.000+05:30

Microsoft is bolstering business intelligence functionality in SQL Server with the upcoming release of Kilimanjaro, its latest version of the database management system. The goal is to push BI functions across the enterprise through existing applications.

Microsoft News about Microsoft gave audience attendees at the 2nd annual Microsoft Business Intelligence conference a sneak preview of its forthcoming SQL Server this week, code named "Kilimanjaro." It was an appropriate venue for its debut, given its increased emphasis on BI.

New functional areas of emphasis in the server Rackspace is the expert when it comes to delivering Windows and Linux hosting solutions. Click here to learn more. match Microsoft's vision for BI, which is to make it pervasive throughout the enterprise World Class Managed Hosting from PEER 1, Just $299. Click here., Fausto Ibarra, director of product management for SQL Server, told CRM Buyer.

"The goal is to allow more users to have access to BI," he said, pointing to industry figures that show an average of 20 percent of users able to tap this functionality.

For example, consider a CRM application that has embedded BI technology, he said. "Users can get better insight about customer behavior by having scorecards or data mining Latest News about data mining functionality embedded directly in the line of business."

Kilimanjaro Specs

Kilimanjaro, which is scheduled to be generally available some time in 2010, will be embedded with new analysis capabilities that are expected to facilitate managed self-service Latest News about self-service reporting and content sharing, collaboration and management capabilities. This new line of functionality evolved from Microsoft's Project Gemini, an IT managed infrastructure developed to help users develop, produce, use and collaborate on their own BI projects.

Microsoft is also incorporating advanced data warehousing Latest News about data warehousing functionality -- currently under development in a project code-named "Madison" -- with SQL Server. Under this initiative Microsoft will develop an appliance-like product in collaboration with hardware partners Dell, HP, Unisys, Bull Systems and EMC, that will leverage SQL Server to extend scale out into the hundreds of terabytes. It will also be available in 2010.

Growing Demand

Microsoft's product pipeline in this area is a timely one as there is growing demand for BI in workaday applications and hardware, Mark Feverston, general manager of Microsoft Solutions Marketing at Unysis, told CRM Buyer. "Over the last number of years we have more customers asking for assistance in leveraging SQL in analytical applications."

The demand, he said, has dovetailed nicely with Microsoft's growing emphasis on this function. As the Server moved from version 5 to version 8, "we have noticed that BI is becoming more flexible."

OpenOffice 3 Debuts to Server-Crashing Demand

2008-10-16T16:53:00.000+05:30

So many people rushed to download the third version of OpenOffice that it overwhelmed the download servers. The new suite adds Mac OS X compatibility and offers extensions that add functions some people might want without weighing down the core suite with extra baggage.

The third full OpenOffice suite is out in the wild and attracting plenty of attention. OpenOffice.org 3.0 was released Monday -- and already, demand has been high enough to overwhelm the download servers and cause them to crash.

The software suite, designed as an open source Rackspace is the expert when it comes to delivering Windows and Linux hosting solutions. Click here to learn more. Latest News about open source alternative to Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft Office, offers everything from word processing and spreadsheet creation to presentation and databasing tools. Added in the 3.0 release is a host of extensions to allow a more customized user experience.

Apple Appeal

The new OpenOffice will have extra appeal for Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Latest News about Apple users: In addition to supporting Windows and Linux, the 3.0 release is the first version with native support World Class Managed Hosting from PEER 1, Just $299. Click here. for the Mac OS X platform. Past releases worked only with X11 and required additional tools for OS X use.

"That opens up a whole new market for us," John McCreesh, marketing Learn how you can enhance your email marketing program today. Free Trial - Click Here. project lead for OpenOffice.org, told LinuxInsider.

The program's look gets a major makeover with its third incarnation as well. The start center, splash screen, and icons are all refreshed with an updated appearance. But it's the features beneath the surface that are the developers' true focus.

What's New

The suite's word processing tool adds a new multi-page display mode that features a slider control. The result? You can zoom in and out while editing. There's also a built-in utility for Web-based wiki document editing and expanded notes options. When it comes to the spreadsheet, OpenOffice.org 3.0 boosts its capacity to 1,024 columns, adds multi-user collaboration options, and tacks on improved equation solving capabilities. Perhaps most noteworthy of all, though, are all the new features that you can choose -- or choose not -- to get.

"People complain about office suites getting bigger and bloated," McCreesh commented. "With extensions, we allow people to add on bits of functionality that are important to them."

Some of those bits include things like a PDF importing and editing tool, a slide previewing tool for presentations, and multiple language support. The key, the OpenOffice team believes, lies in the choice.

"For people who need [those features], they're absolutely wonderful -- but for people who don't need them, then they're not cluttering up their hard disk," McCreesh pointed out.
The Server Situation

As for availability, OpenOffice.org is working hard to make sure its servers stay up and running. They're experimenting with a few options to keep the site from buckling under the heavy demand and are hoping users can remain patient.

"It's amazing -- on the one hand, we're delighted that we've gotten such a huge response. On the other hand, we'd much rather all these people were successfully downloading rather than crashing the site," McCreesh said.

In the end, though, the team couldn't be more pleasantly surprised with the interest its open source solution is finally seeing.

"It's an unprecedented response," McCreesh admitted. "We've never seen anything like it."

Mono 2.0 Spreads .Net to Linux and Mac

2008-10-16T16:44:00.000+05:30

The Mono Project has unveiled version 2.0 of its development framework, which helps devs migrate .Net-based apps to Linux and Mac OS X. Many developers want to -- or must -- develop in .Net or C#, but they want to deploy on Linux. Mono 2.0 is designed to bridge the gap.

For developers who have fallen in love with .Net/C#, but aren't married to running their applications on Windows Rackspace is the expert when it comes to delivering Windows and Linux hosting solutions. Click here to learn more., the Mono Project aims to let Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft .Net-based apps run on Linux and Mac OS X, among several other platforms. Sponsored by Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) Latest News about Novell, the Mono Project has released Mono 2.0 of its cross-platform, open source Latest News about open source .Net development framework.

Basically, Mono 2.0 lets users run both client and server applications on Linux, and helps developers figure out which changes they may need to make to their applications for .Net-to-Linux migrations.

"While Mono doesn't have the same wide usage as Java Latest News about Java or Windows-bound .Net, I do come across people who use it often however, like MindTouch, who builds products with Mono because they wanted to develop in .Net/C# but wanted to deploy on Linux," Michael Coté, an industry analyst for RedMonk, told LinuxInsider.

"That scenario is what really appeals to people: Even though Mono is not a complete one-to-one match to .Net, the idea that you can deploy on Linux, Windows, and even Macs appeals to developers," he added. It's a good model for independent software vendors that want to sell on both platforms, he noted.

In addition, Mono 2.0 is great for developers who were trained in .Net programming but who want to extend those skills into organizations that want to leverage other operating systems.

Inside 2.0

While Mono 2.0 increases its compatibility with the .Net framework, bringing it closer to Microsoft's .Net 3.5 than ever before, what's missing is Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation, and Windows Communication Foundation.

On the plus side, Mono 2.0 brings significant performance improvements and an improved C# compiler, among dozens of other tweaks.

Novell's Angle in All This

"Mono was originally started by Miguel de Icaza, currently vice president of development platforms at Novell and maintainer of the Mono project, while he was at Ximian," Joseph Hill, product manager at Novell, told LinuxInsider. "At the time, the primary purpose of Mono was to enable Linux developers to be more productive by bringing C# to the platform. When Novell acquired Ximian, it continued to support World Class Managed Hosting from PEER 1, Just $299. Click here. the project for this reason, and Novell ships many applications on its Linux desktop today that were developed with Mono.

"Beyond promoting development on the Linux desktop, though, Novell's support of Mono enables many customers and ISVs (independent software vendors) with both server and desktop applications that would previously only run on Windows, to choose Suse Linux Enterprise," he added.

Rising Interest

While Mono may appeal to smaller development organizations, it's seeing rising interest in a variety of enterprises and organizations.

"Aside from the great Gtk# applications that are now available on the Linux platform, such as Banshee and GNOME Do, Mono is also seeing wide deployment on the server through ISVs such as MindTouch, which is built on Mono, and sees more than 90 percent of deployments of its Deki collaboration platform on Linux," Hill said.

"Mono is also turning up in many other exciting and unexpected places, too. Recent successful deployments of Mono include Linden Lab's server migration of their own in-house scripting language for their Second Life project (LSL) to Mono, as well as Unity3D's use of Mono in their game engine and tools, which has Mono being deployed in their games on Nintendo Latest News about Nintendo Wii Latest News about Wii and the iPhone, as well as Windows, OS X and soon Linux," he explained.

On the enterprise application development front, Jeffrey Hammond, a senior analyst of application development for Forrester Research, told LinuxInsider that he's seeing interest in Mono, even from large app dev shops that plan to make continued investments in .Net and who would like to maximize that investment.

"I'm also seeing specific interest in Moonlight as a Linux target for Silverlight," he added. "The biggest issue is that .Net is moving pretty fast, and potential adopters are a bit wary, wondering if Mono can keep up with the latest versions of .Net," he said.

Gates explains why Microsoft needs Yahoo

2008-02-21T08:04:00.000+05:30

PALO ALTO, Calif.--For a man a few months away from leaving his job, Bill Gates has a lot on his mind.

The Microsoft chairman is looking ahead to the time later this year when he will be focused full-time on fighting disease and poverty, while also trying to do everything he can to help his software company in its battle against Google. These days, that includes trying to sell Microsoft's $40 billion plus offer for Yahoo, not only to Wall Street, but also to all those Yahoo folks that Gates has his eye on.

Gates spoke to CNET News.com on Tuesday about how Microsoft needs Yahoo's engineering talent, how Windows 7 will make the keyboard and mouse less essential, though far from obsolete, and what journalism will look like in the future.

Q: You mentioned in some of the phone interviews earlier today that Microsoft isn't really looking to up its bid for Yahoo. I was hoping you might be to talk about why acquiring Yahoo is important, what is it that they have that they could bring to Microsoft? And then as a follow-up, do you think the company is ready to go the proxy fight route? Is that what's needed to get the deal in front of shareholders?
Gates: We have a strategy for competing in the search space that Google dominates today, that we'll pursue that we had before we made the Yahoo offer, and that we can pursue without that. It involves breakthrough engineering. We think that the combination with Yahoo would accelerate things in a very exciting way, because they do have great engineers, they have done a lot of great work. So, if you combine their work and our work, the speed at which you can innovate and get things done is just dramatically more rapid. So, it's really about the people there that want to join in and create a better search, better portal for a very broad set of customers. That's the vision that's behind saying, hey, wouldn't this be a great combination.

So, it's not a scale question but more a people question?
Gates: With people, you get scale in terms of the number of brilliant engineers and the speed of innovation that they're really driving. If you take mobile and video and neat new things for advertisers with targeting, and just the basic search algorithms, and the kind of computational platform we're building that we're using for search and we're going to use for cloud computing generally, the amount of computer science it's taken to do that is phenomenal. As you get more scale of engineering, you can just pursue that agenda more rapidly.

It's really about the people there that want to join in and create a better search, better portal for a very broad set of customers. That's the vision that's behind saying, hey, wouldn't this be a great combination. So, yes, the advertisers and the number of end users is good, but we'd put the people in the engineering as the key thing that we say, yes, what can we get when we put their brilliant people and our brilliant people together.

Since you mentioned the people, how big of an issue do you think the cultural difference is? Because, I mean, obviously the key to retaining people is making sure that they actually want to work for Microsoft. Do you think there are significant cultural differences?
Gates: We've had an extremely successful group here in Silicon Valley that's done brilliant product work like Mediaroom and PowerPoint, and we have a research lab down here. Yahoo wants to do breakthrough software. The engineers there want to compete very effectively against Google or any other thing that comes along. So, I don't think there's really a different culture. If Yahoo had gone the direction of just being a media company, and not said that software innovation was important to them, then, no, there wouldn't be that intersection, because we're about breakthrough software. And that's where you can take search, portal, and these other things, and really bring them to a whole new level.

(Yahoo CEO) Jerry Yang, to his credit, has kept a lot of very top engineers that have just been doing their work and improving those things, and that's why we see the combination as so powerful.

One of the things that you've been talking a lot about is this idea of the new digital decade. What are some of the things that we can't do today that we're going to be able to do in the coming years through digital technology?
Gates: Well, everything is evolutionary in that things that start with a few people, get very widespread, and then eventually at least among younger people in the more developed markets just become common sense that that's the way things get done.

A cell phone that does photography; that's easy for your photos to just be shared and available. A cell phone that you can talk to and it will find the information that you're interested in. The next 10 years will have a lot of those (things) where they're not very commonplace today. If you look hard, you could find a little bit of location-based software or a little bit of interactive TV. But over a period of a decade, these increases become dramatic enough that it's a qualitative change, that you almost laugh at why did we have physical film, why did we have TV that was very channel-oriented.

There are a lot of these things about books, and note-taking, and TV watching that are basically unchanged by the digital revolution today, even though there are some avant-garde users. Whereas 10 years from now, the mainstream users will act like, well, of course, it was always supposed to be this way.

So, the notebook, the TV, and a couple of other things are things that we're just going to laugh about in a few years. Any others that strike you as things that are just hopelessly outmoded, that are maybe one technological breakthrough away from obsolescence?
Gates: If you look at the ones that have already gone away, like the CD, it took about five years from when at first people said that it wouldn't happen. Now it hasn't happened, but the writing is on the wall in terms of those trends. With the encyclopedia, it took a long time from when we started doing Encarta, the Wikipedia guys started doing their thing, before now you really can say, hey, the depth, the richness, it's completely changed; likewise with photography. A decade is a good period of time to take because for many of these things, that's where you go from avant-garde to common sense.

There are some schools today where all the kids use tablet personal computers. They are a small percentage of the schools, but the lessons we're learning in those schools in terms of how do you get it into the curriculum, how do you get the teacher comfortable with it, where is it better, how do you make sure the class is still concentrating in an appropriate way…those lessons have been learned. And so as you get the price down and younger teachers are embracing it, then it can spread quite rapidly.

Video on the Internet...is video mainstream in the Internet today? Well, you can sort of say it is. People go up and watch a lot of clips, and yet there's still this bifurcation between your high-popularity video off cable/satellite, and your sort of broad lower-resolution type that's Internet-oriented.

The PC and the TV are very different today. Even the way you move between the phone and the PC is very different today.

So, one of the things that overlies all this is the cloud, the intelligence in the Internet, and how that gets used. Another thing that overlies all of it (are) the software breakthroughs and the sensors (that) let us do natural interface--the touch screen, and the camera, (and) the microphone.

Are newspapers on that list of things that are on the verge of going away in their present form; and if so, do you have any thoughts on how journalism gets paid for? Is that something that can be paid for in the digital economy?
Gates: Certainly (with) the paper-based form of newspapers in the United States and some other countries, readership has been going down for a long time; even before the Internet came along. Give TV the credit for the fact that there's been a real change there. It's probably being accelerated now by the Internet, that you can go and get so much news online.

The version after Vista is a big step forward in terms of speech. It's a big step forward in terms of ink. It's a big step forward in terms of touch. And particularly if you take the younger demographic, the quality of online news sites--Microsoft and dozens of other people in the broad sense, and then more vertical providers like CNET in a focused sense--it's unbelievable. You know, you want to see a new gadget, hey, there's a couple sites that you really ought to go to and they do an incredible job, versus any type of print thing that is going to come out later and not let you kind of disassemble it and animate it and compare it. It's a lot like the encyclopedia where in a sense you can say, yes, of course, this is going to change.

Now, the ability to charge for the online version, either through advertising or a subscription fee, (raises) a lot of questions. As you have tail content, the advertising model just isn't going to generate much in the way of revenue. And for the encyclopedia, it turned out that a volunteer model was able to do quite a reasonable job.

For journalism, there are a lot of things that I doubt that alone will give us the kind of in-depth professionalism, persistence that we'd really like to see, and so you'd like some form of the financial reward to be there. I hope that readers will be willing to pay subscriptions or watch ads or things that will keep the high quality and breadth of journalism alive and (make it) even better than it is today. In some ways, we have better journalism today. In some things these bloggers, and the fact that you don't have to just work for a particular newspaper, in some ways it's better. (With) in-depth, certain kinds of journalism...there's still a question of how that gets funded.

What are some of the big technical challenges to getting to the type of technology that you talk about? When you think of the top two or three technical hurdles that we're working against today, what are some of the things that jump to mind?
Gates: Obviously, natural user interface requires software. I was just reviewing the next version of Windows and the great advance they make in that. Will that be enough that everybody will obviously want to use it? Well, it didn't happen last time except in modest numbers, a few million, but that's still not mainstream. We've got vision software in the Surface, and we're trying to get that not just into retail stores but into homes and offices.

You've got touch, which is going to come in, and that's fairly inexpensive. We worked with some partners to do some really great things on the touch technology. So, I think that can move mainstream fairly quickly.

(In) speech recognition, it's many decades of work and building up the databases and just learning where the mistakes happen to get made. That was part of the great thing TellMe had. They had been doing directory assistance for a lot of the big phone companies, so their database of information of how people utter things was quite broad. And applying machine learning to improve the quality of that was a great synergistic opportunity. So, there are huge software improvements, and, of course, we need our chip guys to give us the memory and speed to be able to execute these natural interface things.

So, I'd say that's one whole area that's very important. There are some things about how we write software and prove its correctness...We've got to make it a lot easier to write complex software, not just because we want to write bigger things, but because we're relying on software in a more fundamental way for key infrastructure and private information.

Will the next version of Windows move natural language interface beyond the niche thing, or do you think it will still be a niche thing when we're talking about whatever comes after Vista?
Gates: The version after Vista is a big step forward in terms of speech. It's a big step forward in terms of ink. It's a big step forward in terms of touch. I'd say that the likelihood is that touch will become mainstream on certain form factors very quickly, because we're working hand-in-hand with the hardware companies.

With speech and ink, it's a little harder to say. I'm a big ink lover, and so I'm hoping that that's where every student decides, yep, this is the time I want to get not just a portable Windows machine but a machine that I can put in notebook mode and use the pen as well. We have OneNote, which has been a great advance in terms of showing people the application software that works with that. That's what these schools are building their curriculum around. Now we're getting feedback on that. Anoop Gupta has our educational vertical--our group that is taking and doing enhancements of OneNote and doing enhancements to SharePoint to try and drive that. So, with ink I'd say it's unproven. I would vote yes, but I have a known bias.

Source

Yahoo's New Social Net Lets Users Tweak Each Other's Profiles

2007-09-21T16:47:00.000+05:30

Taking aim at a younger and more fun-loving audience, Yahoo is testing a social networking site known as "Mash" that allows users to mess around with each other's profile pages. While it already has a social networking offering, Yahoo is reportedly trying to inject more fun into the equation. Mash also will offer more traditional social networking features such as photo and game modules.

Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) is beta testing a new social networking site that, among other things, allows users to annoy their friends.

One of the unusual features of the new service -- currently called "Mash" and available by invitation only -- is the way it lets members fool around with other members' profile pages. In fact, according to a Yahoo blog about the site, people can take it upon themselves to create "starter profiles" for friends without them even knowing it.

While these types of shenanigans would certainly cause problems in the real world -- imagine somebody painting your house chartreuse without your approval -- Mash gives users the ability to accept or reject any profile changes made by their friends. It also allows them to bar anybody from messing around with a profile whatsoever.

A New Approach
Mash will be "a new approach to online profiles," said Will Aldrich, the head of the site development team. While he assured prospective Mashers that they'll find the site easy to understand if they've been involved with other online profile services, Aldrich said Yahoo's latest foray into the field includes "some new twists that make things a little interesting and, we think, a lot of fun."

Yahoo will be offering a "growing gallery" of modules, such as photos and games, which can be used by those owning a profile, or their friends, to customize the sites, he said.

Aldrich's blog is the only official acknowledgment by Yahoo that Mash exists. He is careful to warn those who get invited that the site is far from ready for prime time.

"One last note before you jump in: Mash is still pretty raw -- there are bugs and we haven't gotten to several of the features it really should have," wrote Aldrich.

He asked those who are experimenting with Mash to leave suggestions and comments on the blog site, in his Mash profile or on the Mash suggestion board. "We're listening," assured Aldrich.

More Fun than 360
Most of the comments posted in reaction to Aldrich's blog entry were requests for invitations. A number voiced concern that Yahoo would be abandoning its current social networking service, Yahoo 360. While Yahoo 360 is still up and running, Yahoo reportedly is unhappy about its level of success, and some observers suggest the service, while useful, just wasn't much fun.

Yahoo seems to be banking heavily on the fun aspect with Mash and it hopes the surprise factor of friends having access to each other's profiles -- Wikipedia fashion -- will be the spark. The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) labeled Mash "The Social Network for Graffiti Lovers."

Invitations to the network are likely to come from existing members who already created a Mash profile of the person they've invited, Aldrich explained.

"When a friend invites you, he or she can also add or edit different parts of your profile even before you get to view it," wrote Aldrich. "So even though you have never made or seen this profile, it is in fact yours. Until you decide to keep it, the profile created for you will not be visible to the Mash network, nor will you appear in the contacts of your friends."

Eyes of the Beholder
As anybody who's ever had their shrubbery covered with toilet paper on the night before Halloween can attest, good-natured teasing can often be perceived as annoying vandalism or worse. Gartner (NYSE: IT) Research Director Elroy Jopling is one person who wonders if the Mash idea will backfire for that reason.

"It's the old expression, 'It's not what you write, it's what people read. It's not what you say, it's what people hear,'" Jopling told TechNewsWorld. "Interestingly, when you get into that kind of social interacting, you may have your own interpretation of what you say, write or portray, but the person who sees it can have a totally different interpretation."

While the Mash idea is somewhat "dangerous" and leaves "a lot of room for abuse," Jopling said he believes it could succeed.

"It's so easy to come in on something like that, depending on what your age is," said the analyst. "More than likely, I'm older than the people who be doing that. My perspective is ... it would be kind of intrusive. But to the generation who may be doing it, it could be a different situation altogether."

The Young and the Goofy
Yahoo is in dire need of a social network, said IDC analyst Karsten Weide. The fact that Mash might be attractive to silly young people is a good thing, he said.

"I could see how that could be attractive to the prime target audience," Weide told TechNewsWorld. "We believe the trick to get a successful social network up is to really target youngsters. Then, later, you open the service to older demographics. We believe Yahoo direly needs a big social network. Yahoo 360 does have a lot of users but not a a whole lot of traffic , and the same goes for Windows Live Spaces."

Weide said IDC believes social networks "will be the key component of any Web-based service in the future because users increasingly expect any Web-based service to have social networking functionality."

Cyber-Crooks Ape Business Best Practices

2007-09-21T16:46:00.000+05:30

Cyber-crime is a flourishing big business, and although the individuals driving its success may be keeping to the shadows, their handiwork is not. The latest malware tools causing headaches for legitimate businesses and users alike are the products of increasingly professional developers who offer such perks as regular updates and service agreements.

A software tool is released with a performance guarantee and the promise of periodic updates. Another commercial application for the market? Not quite. Rather, this is emblematic of how malware writers are doing business these days.

"We definitely see much of the illegal online activity becoming more professional and adopting behavior and practices you would see in a legitimate company," said Javier Santoyo, senior manager of emerging technologies for Symantec Security Response.

This insight into online criminal behavior is revealed in Symantec's (Nasdaq: SYMC) newly released Internet Security Threat Report. One of its main findings is that cyber-criminals are adopting commercial practices in the development, distribution and use of malicious code and services.

Quality Assurance and Service Agreements
"There is quality assurance testing on these tools, for example," Santoyo told TechNewsWorld. "Many are even providing services . . . like updating the application or tool every time a new exploit is discovered."

Such updates are the reverse of what consumers receive from their antivirus protection vendors -- that is, instead of updating the software to protect against an exploit, the malware virus writers update the application to exploit the vulnerability.

One example is MPack, a professionally developed toolkit that installs malicious code on thousands of computers around the world and then monitors the success of the attack through various metrics on its online password-protected control and management console, Symantec said.

Phishing toolkits have also become commercialized, with the top three most widely used phishing toolkits responsible for 42 percent of all phishing attacks detected during the reporting period, which ran from January to June 2007.

Attackers are also learning to adapt to the protective measures put in place by companies and consumers. Instead of trying to break through anti-malware defenses, Symantec found, they have been seeding malware on trusted sites that are widely visited, such as popular financial, social networking and career recruitment Web sites. Symantec said that 61 percent of all vulnerabilities disclosed were in Web applications.

Meeting a Need
These virus writers see themselves as providing a necessary service, Santoyo said. "They know that their tools will be used for illegal activities, but they see the end users -- the people who actually use their products -- as the real criminals."

Some of this insight was gathered through a series of interviews Symantec conducted with one of the hackers behind MPack. It is an occasional tactic the company uses to complement its own research on current malware trends, said Santoyo.

"They never give information that could reveal their identities or could help us thwart their activities," he noted. "Still, though, the interviews are invaluable in helping us keep a handle on what is happening."

Why Application Security Is Often Overlooked

2007-09-21T16:44:00.000+05:30

Most IT and security professionals recognize the importance of the applications we support. We also realize that applications -- no matter whether they're Web based, client/server, or mainframe -- can have security flaws. However, when the rubber hits the road, many firms fall down when it comes to building and executing a strategy for application security.

It sounds tremendously obvious to say it this way, but applications are everywhere. Think about it -- your office suite, your e-mail reader, even the software you're using right now to read this -- these are just a fraction of the thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of applications you use daily both personally and professionally.

For those of us in IT, we recognize that applications are critical to our business . If the right employees can't get access to the right applications at the right time, business stops. When you really boil it down, most of what we do in IT is about making sure that the applications in our firm stay up and available.

Given the complete reliance that our firms have on the applications that we use, we would assume that the discipline of application security -- i.e., validating those applications to be free from security-related flaws -- would be somewhere very near the top of the priority list for IT managers and security pros.

Unfortunately, that's too often not the case. There are some very real business dynamics that sometimes push application security down an IT manager's priority list. However, spending some time understanding why this happens (and what we can do about it) can be a very useful way to getting a leg up.

What Is Application Security?
Strictly speaking, application security -- as a discipline -- is any methodology designed to ensure that the applications in scope (for example, within a particular firm) adhere to and enforce the security requirements and policy of the environment in which they live.

This can mean a number of things. It can mean, for example, implementing strategies designed to minimize security flaws such as exploitable bugs. It can also mean taking on strategies designed to meet particular goals -- facilitating encryption of data when it is stored, for instance, or ensuring that data sent between components of the application is authenticated and free from tampering.

In other words, application security is concerned with both preventing unwanted events (like flaws in the code that an attacker can exploit) as well as ensuring desired events (like making sure confidential data is encrypted). This is true for both applications we build in-house as well as applications we buy off the shelf.

To satisfy application security goals, there are a number of approaches that we can use. Manual and automated approaches such as application vulnerability scanners or manual penetration testing attempt to scan the application and identify issues so that they can be fixed; source code analysis done either with automated tools or by developers trained to find common logic/programming errors attempt to parse the source code looking for mistakes.

In addition to this, educational programs targeted at making developers and implementers aware of coding errors and security policy so that the applications they write are designed and written with security in mind.

So Why Not Applications?
Most IT and security professionals recognize the importance of the applications we support. We also realize that applications -- no matter whether they're Web based, client/server, or mainframe -- can have security flaws.

However, when the rubber hits the road, many firms fall down when it comes to building and executing a strategy for application security. There are a number of reasons for this, but the primary problem is the diversity of application types and the complexity of the underlying technologies used to build them.

There are all sorts of applications out there (Web apps, legacy mainframe apps, client/server) built using any number of programming languages (Java, C/C++, Visual Basic, Perl). In order to address security within those applications in a comprehensive way, we need to understand both the way that the application stores and transmits data, and also the underlying language and technology used to build the application.

In other words, evaluating a Web app written in Java (for example using servlets) is a completely different exercise than evaluating a CICS application written in COBOL. For applications built in-house, finding and employing individuals with sufficient expertise in all of the platforms in scope is a pretty tall order. For applications we buy off the shelf, we may not even know (or want to know) everything about the underlying technology in use.

However, there are other complexities as well.

In a large enterprise, the number of apps and the interaction points between them can make for tremendous complexity. Each application may interact with dozens of others, and in most cases there is a veritable spiderweb of shared data and application interfaces, and a hodge-podge of legacy components, in play. It's difficult just trying to catalog the applications, let alone evaluate, prioritize and remedy potential security problems.

Smaller firms have different challenges. While there are likely to be fewer applications to worry about in a smaller firm, there is also correspondingly less money and fewer IT staff members. Within that context, hiring a specialized technologist with specific experience in application security may not be an option given budget and headcount.

What Can We Do?
No short article like this one can give you a full plan of action for how to approach application security in your firm. Putting together a complete strategy requires tremendous effort, thought, discussion and resources.

However, IT managers who understand why application security is sometimes overlooked (and what the challenges are) can employ some low-cost "biggest bang for the buck" strategies to get the ball rolling and give them a head start on moving security forward in the application space.

A Triage Unit
As IT managers, we know that we have limited time and resources -- and we need to choose carefully where to deploy resources. In order to do this, we need to be able to prioritize from the applications that exist in the environment.

Unfortunately, there may not be a central catalog or inventory of applications. There may be "stealth" applications "lost in the shuffle," and organizational changes (e.g., mergers) may make some applications hard to pin down.

The first step then, is finding out where the applications are, what they do, who owns them, and what their relative priority is. However, creating an inventory is expensive; therefore, look to "piggy-back" on work already being done to get the inventory.

Initiatives like Business Impact Assessment (done as part of Business Continuity Planning) or compliance-related planning (e.g. SOX/PCI audits) usually require getting a picture of the application landscape. Why not use that as a chance to get an inventory for application security as well?

Evangelize and Leverage
Use the resources and expertise within the firm and apply them to your agenda. For firms with a lot of in-house development, look to the development community to help you forward your application security goals. Train them in security policy so that they understand what goals are important to you and train them about common security flaws in application code.

By "deputizing" the development community, treating them as partners and giving them a role, you get both their attention (so they are less likely to introduce a security flaw in the first place) as well as the benefit of their expertise (so they are more likely to find, report and fix security issues in the software they maintain.)

For firms that have more commercial software and less in-house development, look to the integrators and support teams to help you identify potential issues. After all, nobody knows the applications better than the folks who work with them on a day-to-day basis. Explain to them what types of application security issues you're looking for. Perhaps they already know about a bunch of application security issues and can help you right off the bat; worst case scenario is they can keep their eyes open as they perform their daily jobs and alert you to issues that might crop up.

Google Ratchets Up Fight for Desktop With PowerPoint Rival

2007-09-21T16:43:00.000+05:30

Google is amping up its pressure on Microsoft with Presentations, the latest addition to its suite of free, Web-based productivity applications. The tool, which provides functionality similar to that of PowerPoint, allows collaborators to work together on developing a slide show.

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has added the third leg to its online suite of office applications. The new addition, dubbed "Presentations," is analogous to Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) PowerPoint. Now that Google has a full-fledged productivity suite, it has shortened its name from "Google Docs and Spreadsheet" to simply "Google Docs."

After logging in to access the suite, users will find presentation files listed alongside documents and spreadsheets in the Google Docs list. They can be edited, shared and published using the Google Docs interface.

As with the other Google applications, Presentations allows several collaborators to work on a slide deck simultaneously. When it's time to make a presentation, participants are connected through Google Talk to follow the slide show. The Presentations application is available in 25 languages.

Google incorporated the presentation, creation and document conversion technology it acquired from one of its many recent acquisitions -- Tonic Systems, which is based in San Francisco and Melbourne, Australia. Presentations' main selling point is its online accessibility, which is Google's specialty.

"We've already freed those of you working in teams from the burdens of version control and e-mail attachment overload when going back and forth on word processing and spreadsheets," Sam Schillace, engineering director, wrote in a blog posting in April, when news of the forthcoming Presentations was first announced.

"It just made sense to add presentations to the mix," he added. "After all, when you create slides, you're almost always going to share them. Now students, writers, teachers, organizers, and, well, just about everyone who uses a computer can look forward to having real-time, Web-based collaboration across even more common business document formats."

PowerPoint Killer?
Of course, it took little time after Google made its initial announcement for the market to speculate on the impact Presentations will have on Microsoft Office. The simple story line has been that Google is seeking to establish parity with Microsoft on the desktop with the development of its own office suite of productivity applications.

To a certain extent, Microsoft is feeling competition -- and not just from Google.

"It is interesting that Google makes its announcement the same week that IBM is expected to roll out its Symphony application suite," Charles King, principal with Pund-IT Research, told TechNewsWorld. "There is a growing number of Web-based or open source alternatives to Microsoft Office."

Smaller companies, in particular, are likely to be intrigued by the offerings, he continued. "If a company is using Office currently and looking out at the eventual cost of migrating not only to Office 2007 but also to Vista, the option of moving to a free or Web-based application like Google Docs can be appealing."

Limits to Enterprise Adoption
However, Microsoft Office's mainstay -- the enterprise -- is unlikely to be swayed by Google Docs, according to King. "I have trouble imagining the largest companies shifting to Google Docs, at least as it stands right now."

Google Docs is likely to play more of a supporting, or complementary, role in the enterprise, predicts Greg Sterling, principal of Sterling Research.

"There are certain preferred uses for the Google software -- the idea of one-to-many collaboration among them," he told TechNewsWorld. "Also, its resolution is very good, considering it is an online application."

It's unlikely that Google Docs will become a replacement for Microsoft Office on the desktop, in Sterling's view. However, some of the developers of niche meeting applications may have cause for worry.

"You can use Google Docs to run a conference call for instance," he said.

Another potential class of users may consist of people who are less than thrilled with the glitch-prone presentation software currently on the market.

"Personally, I'm ecstatic to hear that Google is considering a presentation addition, and I would be among the first in line to try it out," Chuck Sanchez, director of public relations for Haute PR, told TechNewsWorld.

"Prior to -- and often during -- every big meeting, there are technical difficulties that turn what should be a simple plug-and-play into a convoluted delay," he explained. Common mishaps include delays while searching for the correct plugin, finding a misplaced flash drive or locating the correct cord to connect a laptop to a projector.

"Allowing large presentations to live online means that they can be as portable as every respectable room with Internet access -- let alone a conference room," he said. "No one will be able to forget the disk or CD with their presentation, and if Google does things correctly, there shouldn't be the extreme delay of waiting to transfer, or even open, a huge Powerpoint presentation."

Great Linux Sites for Developers

2007-09-21T16:39:00.000+05:30

Today's Linux developers are much better armed with a variety of support opportunities, noted HP's Bdale Garbee. They have access to project revision boards that open a whole new level of support not available to individual proprietary software developers, he explained. Ultimately, there is no reason a Linux developer should feel isolated and without help.

What's a poor, lonely Linux developer to do? Where are all the good support sites? How am I going to fix that troublesome bug?

These are questions that even novice code writers no longer have to ask. The classic view of a lonely, isolated programmer writing code for some obscure open source project in a back room is no longer an accurate view of the work environment in which Linux developers toil.

Open source programs have become so mainstream that the boundaries are blurring between proprietary, commercial and public domain software. Many software companies offer both open source and commercial versions of business-class programs.

"Open source communities have built amazing response systems to developers' needs," Bdale Garbee, chief technologist for open source and Linux at HP (NYSE: HPQ) , told LinuxInsider.

Many Sources
Support sites for Linux developers are extremely important, agreed William Hurley, chief architect of open source strategy for BMC Software. The only thing more important than support is documentation, he said, noting that documentation is often a weakness found in most open source projects.

"Most Linux developers use IRC (Internet relay chat) channels and mailing lists, both absolute musts if your company is trying to support Linux developers," Hurley told LinuxInsider.

Linux developers today do not suffer from a lack of support sites and collaborative outlets. In fact, code-writers have many alternatives to community-based Web sites.

For instance, there are LUGs (Linux User Groups), DevCamps, BarCamps, SuperHappyDevHouse, and countless local meet-ups where developers can mingle with like-minded individuals offline, in the real world, according to Hurley. These events also strengthen the local development community, which is integral to spreading the adoption and support of Linux and other open source projects, he said.

Better Support
Today's Linux developers are much better armed with a variety of support opportunities, noted Garbee. They have access to project revision boards that open a whole new level of support not available to individual proprietary software developers, he explained.

These additional support outlets include Web design forums and e-mail lists. Ultimately, there is no reason a Linux developer should feel isolated and without help.

"Very early in the process, Linux developers need access to wiki technology," Garbee said.

Proprietary Reversal
Linux developers do not face unique needs that isolate them from the information sources available to software developers for other platforms. Rather, suggests Hurley, it's the other way around. It's the proprietary developers who more often have unique needs.

"It's usually very easy to get an answer to an open source development question. Proprietary companies, on the other hand, charge for development programs and support. Also, proprietary developers are conditioned to think proprietary, i.e., they are more competitive and less willing to share knowledge or contribute freely. Open source developers have a mentality of cooperation. Communities share knowledge freely, even with competitors," Hurley said.

Support Directory
LinuxInsider asked industry experts to recommend some of the best support Web sites for Linux developers. Here is a list of the most popular suggestions:

Kernel.org One of the ultimate Linux developer goals is to gain access to a Kernel.org account. However, this Holy Grail for open source code writers is not easily achieved. Kernel.org does not grant account status unless the developer is making a reasonable amount of contributions to the Linux kernel and has a good reason for wanting and needing access. Those who feel qualified can plead their case for an account via the Web site's link to ftpadmin.

Kernel.org deals primarily with the Linux kernel and its various distributions and larger repositories of packages. It does not mirror individual projects and software. Even if Kernel.org grants a newcomer account status, the administrative team generally does not provide help in solving programming issues because of a lack of resources.

A better starting point is becoming involved with the Kernel Newbies Web site. This is a community of people actively involved with improving and updating their kernels and those of aspiring Linux kernel developers. Here, newcomers may find experienced developers more willing to share their knowledge.

Also check out the Linux Documentation Project.

The Apache Software Foundation Perhaps playing the role of Big Brother to individual Linux developers, The Apache Software Foundation provides support for the Apache community of open source software projects. Code writers involved in Apache projects are often keenly interested in collaborative exchanges and have a desire to create high-quality software that leads the way in its field.

The Apache.org community sees its role as extending beyond that of a traditional hoster of projects connected by a common server. It is a vibrant community of developers and users. However, newcomers need to approach the community with caution. Membership is reserved for those Linux developers who have demonstrated a commitment to collaborative open source software development through sustained participation and contributions within the Foundation's projects.

Sourceforge.net One of the newest open source developer help spots is Sourceforge.net, which offers support for a broad base of software categories. Code writers can find communities for clustering, database, desktop, development, enterprise, financial, games and hardware. Sourceforge.net also has community support for multimedia, networking, security and storage.

This past July, Sourceforge.net launched a Community Section with tools to help developers talk to Sourceforge leadership and other developers.

There you will find forums for discussing topics not directly related to particular software projects, a blog with posts from the Sourceforge.net regulars, and a calendar of upcoming events.

The Linux Foundation Another relative new group for Linux movers and shakers is The Linux Foundation (LF). LF is a nonprofit consortium founded earlier this year by the merger of the Open Source Development Labs and the Free Standards Group. Its leadership is bent on fostering the growth of Linux and is supported by a growing list of leading Linux and open source companies and software developers from around the world.

Linux code writers will find a base here for neutral collaboration forums that focus on helping companies and individuals work together to solve the challenges facing the Linux platform. The Linux Foundation Advisory Councils provide forums for end users, members, vendors and community developers to discuss shared issues, collaborate on projects of common interest and decide how best to direct resources in support of the development community.

Mozilla.org Here, Linux code writers can find all things related to Web site issues and the open source browser world. Mozilla.org can provide a wealth of community contacts for Linux developers working on projects that integrate with Mozilla projects such as the Firefox browser.

One handy information source is the Microsummaries. These are regularly-updated succinct compilations of the most important information on Web pages. Site and third-party developers provide them.

The Mozilla Development Center provides information on new developer features in Firefox 2 for application developers, XUL developers and extension developers.

Bush Wants Spy Law Changes Set in Stone

2007-09-21T16:38:00.000+05:30

President Bush is urging Congress to renew the Protect America Act, which is set to expire Feb. 1, 2008. "The threat from Al-Qaeda is not going to expire in 135 days," Bush warned during a visit to the National Security Agency. "Unless the FISA reforms in the act are made permanent, our national security professionals will lose critical tools they need to protect our country," he said.

President Bush wants to renew and expand the controversial temporary surveillance legislation he rushed into law last month.

The law, also known as the "Protect America Act," updates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by permitting warrantless surveillance of any targets located abroad, even if they are communicating with someone in the United States. Because of a sunset clause, the law is due to expire Feb. 1, 2008.

"The threat from Al-Qaeda is not going to expire in 135 days," Bush warned during a Wednesday visit to the National Security Agency (NSA) in Fort Meade, Md.

"Unless the FISA reforms in the act are made permanent, our national security professionals will lose critical tools they need to protect our country," he said. "Without these tools, it'll be harder to figure out what our enemies are doing to train, recruit and infiltrate operatives in our country. Without these tools our country will be much more vulnerable to attack."

'Liability Protection'
In addition to urging Congress to renew the current legislation, Bush also asked for additional measures he originally proposed last April that would protect companies that have come under fire for their role in government wiretapping programs. AT&T (NYSE: T) , for instance, is involved in a lawsuit brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for its assistance in the NSA's broad-scale wiretapping efforts.

"It's particularly important for Congress to provide meaningful liability protection to those companies now facing multibillion-dollar lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted in efforts to defend our nation following the 9/11 attacks," Bush said. "Additionally, without this protection, state secrets could be revealed in connection with those lawsuits -- and our ability to protect our people would be weakened."

Many Democrats were uneasy with the legislation Bush forced through just before Congress's August recess, and the sunset clause was included in the law as a way to ensure that it would be revisited.

Civil liberties groups, meanwhile, continue to vociferously oppose it.

'A Terrible Message'
"Our view is that based on the information that has been made available to the public, the case has grown for better oversight and accountability for electronic surveillance efforts by the United States," Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), told the E-Commerce Times.

"The critical issue people need to understand is that effective national security requires effective oversight of government activities," Rotenberg explained. Regarding the proposed liability protection for telecommunications firms, meanwhile, "it sends a terrible message for the administration to in effect suspend the privacy laws that protect the rights of Americans," he added.

National security and privacy protection for American citizens are not mutually exclusive, the Center for Democracy and Technology maintains.

"Congress can provide exactly what Mike McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence, says he needs while also including protections for the privacy of Americans, but the Protect America Act fails to do that," David McGuire, spokesperson for the Center for Democracy and Technology, told the E-Commerce Times.

Fear Tactics
"Our firm belief is that there is a way to enact a surveillance law that closes the technological loopholes that have been mentioned and makes it possible to engage in legitimate surveillance -- both on foreign suspects and, with appropriate court approval, American ones -- while also ensuring that ordinary Americans are not swept up in investigative dragnets," he said.

Bush concluded his speech at the NSA by emphasizing that "the decisions Congress makes will directly affect our ability to save American lives" -- an assertion the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called nothing short of "fear-mongering."

"As part of the PR effort to gut the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Bush Administration has pulled out every scare tactic in the book, including exaggeration and outright fibbing," said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the Washington legislative office of the ACLU.

"This goes hand-in-hand with the usual fear-mongering," she said, "all designed to get Congress to vote to suspend the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans."

Stress Reliever

2007-09-17T20:44:00.000+05:30

Stress Reliever # 1

Wife: You always carry my photo in your handbag to the office. Why?

Hubby: When there is a problem, no matter how impossible, I look at your picture and the problem disappears.

Wife: You see, how miraculous and powerful I am for you?

Hubby: Yes, I see your picture and say to myself, "What other problem can there be greater than this one?"

Stress Reliever # 2

Girl: When we get married, I want to share all your worries, troubles and lighten your burden.

Boy: It's very kind of you, darling, But I don't have any worries or troubles.

Girl: Well that's because we aren't married yet.

Stress Reliever # 3

Son: Mom, when I was on the bus with Dad this morning, he told me to give up my seat to a lady.

Mom: Well, you have done the right thing.

Son: But mum, I was sitting on daddy's lap.

Stress Reliever # 4

A newly married man asked his wife, "Would you have married me if my father hadn't left me a fortune?"

"Honey," the woman replied sweetly, "I'd have married you NO MATTER WHO LEFT YOU A FORTUNE"

Stress Reliever # 5

Father to son after exam: "let me see your report card."

Son: "My friend just borrow! ed it. He wants to scare his parents."

Stress Reliever #6

Girl to her boyfriend: One kiss and I'll be yours forever.

The guy replies: Thanks for the warning.

Stress Reliever # 7

A wife asked her husband: "What do you like most in me - my pretty face or my sexy body?"

He looked at her from head to toe and replied: "I like your sense of humour.

Why Call Center Guys are paid so much?

2007-09-17T20:43:00.000+05:30

People wonder why the the call centre guys are paid so much for just being on the phone. Take a look at some of the conversations between Technical Support executives and customers on phone.

Case 1

Tech Support: "I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop."
Customer: "Ok."

Tech Support: "Did you get a pop-up menu?"
Customer: "No."

Tech Support: "Ok. Right click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?"
Customer: "No."

Tech Support: "Ok, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?"
Customer: "Sure, you told me to write 'click' and I wrote 'click'."

Case 2

Customer: "I received the software update you sent, but I am still getting the same error message."
Tech Support: "Did you install the update?"

Customer: "No. Oh, am I supposed to install it to get it to work?"

Case 3

Customer : "I'm having trouble installing Microsoft Word."
Tech Support: "Tell me what you've done."

Customer: "I typed 'A: SETUP'."
Tech Support: "Ma'am, remove the disk and tell me what it says."

Customer: "It says '[PC manufacturer] Restore and Recovery disk'."
Tech Support: "Insert the MS Word setup disk."

Customer: "What?"
Tech Support: "Did you buy MS word?"

Customer: "No..."

Case 4

Customer: "Do I need a computer to use your software?"
Tech Support: ?!%#$(welll pretend to smile)

Case 5

Tech Support: "Ok, in the bottom left hand side of the screen, canyou see the 'OK' button displayed?"
Customer: "Wow. How can you see my screen from there?"

Tech support: ##### ***

Case 6

Tech Support : "What type of computer do you have?"
Customer: "A white one."
Tech support : ******_____####

Case 7

Tech Support: "What operating system are you running?"
Customer: "Pentium."

Tech support: ////-----+++

Case 8

Customer: "My computer's telling me Iperformed an illegal abortion."
Tech support: ??????

Case 9

Customer: "I have Microsoft Exploder."
Tech Support : ?!%#$

Case 10

Customer: "How do I print my voicemail?"
Tech support: ??????

Case 11

Customer: "You've got to fix my computer. I urgently need to print document, but the computer won't boot properly."
Tech Support: "What does it say?"

Customer: "Something about an error and non-system disk."
Tech Support: "Look at your machine. Is there a floppy inside?"

Customer: "No, but there's a sticker saying there's an Intel inside."

Tech support: @@@@@

Case 12

Tech Support: "Just call us back if there's a problem. We're open 24 hours."
Customer: "Is that Eastern time?"

Case 13

Tech Support: "What does the screen say now?"
Customer: "It says, 'Hit ENTER when ready'."

Tech Support: "Well?"
Customer: "How do I know when it's ready?"

Tech support: *** ---- ++++

The Best of the Lot

Case 14

A plain computer illiterate guy rings tech support to report that his computer is faulty.

Tech: What's the problem?
User: There is smoke coming out of the power supply.

Tech:(keeps quite for moment)

Tech: You'll need a new power supply.
User: No, I don't! I just need to change the startup files.

Tech: Sir, the power supply is faulty. You'll need to replace it.
User: No way! Someone told me that I just needed to change the startup and it will fix the problem! All I need is for you to tell me the command.

Tech support: 10 minutes later, the User is still adamant that he is right. The tech is frustrated and fed up.
Tech support:(hush hush)

Tech: Sorry, Sir. We don't normally tell ourcustomers this, but there is an undocumented DOS command that will fix the problem.
User: I knew it!

Tech: Just add the line LOAD NOSMOKE.COM at the end of the CONFIG.SYS. Let me know how it goes.

10 minutes later.

User: It didn't work. The power supply is still smoking.
Tech: Well, what version of DOS are you using?

User: MS-DOS 6.22.
Tech: That's your problem there. That version of DOS didn't come with NOSMOKE. Contact Microsoft and ask them for a patch that will give you the file. Let me know how it goes.

1 hour later.

User: I need a new power supply.
Tech support: How did you come to that conclusion?

Tech support : (hush hush)

User: Well, I rang Microsoft and told him about what you said, and he started asking questions about the make of power supply.
Tech: Then what did he say?

User: He told me that my power supply isn't compatible with NOSMOKE.

Height of All (Too Good)

Case 15

Customer care officer : I need a product identification number right now and may I help you in finding it out?
Custtomer: Sure

Customer Care Officer: Can you left click on start and do you find 'My Computer'?
Customer: I did left click but how the hell do I find your computer?

Types of Computer Women

2007-09-17T20:23:00.000+05:30

Virus Woman
She installs in your apartment and play the boss. If you try to uninstall, you loose some stuff. If you don't, you'll loose everything.

Internet Woman
You have to pay to have access.

Server Woman
Always busy when you want her.

Windows Woman
You know that she have many bugs, but you can't live without her.

Macintosh Woman
Attractive, almost perfect, costs more money, but not so compatible with others. Only 5% of men have the pleasure to get her.

PowerPoint Woman
She’s ideal for party presentations, business meals, etc.

Excel Woman
They said that she knows many things, but you have her only for basic things.

Word Woman
Always she waits you with surprises and there is nobody can understand her.

DOS Woman
Everybody has her once, but nobody wants her now.

Backup Woman
You think that she have enough, but when you want to try her, she's missing something.

Scandisk Woman
We know that she's good and willing to help you, but she really dosen't know anything.

Screensaver Woman
Useful for nothing, but she amuse you.

Paintbrush Woman
She's all makeup, but nothing in rest.

Harddisk Woman
She knows anything, all the time.

User Woman
She doesn’t make anything good and always ask you something.

E-mail Woman
From 10 sentences she talks, 9 are bullshit.

Silly & Funny Interview Questions

2007-09-17T20:20:00.000+05:30

Story I

Employer: Do you have a boyfriend?
Candidate: I have.
Employer: Is he working locally?
Candidate: No. He is working Overseas.
Employer: Sorry, my company cannot employ you!
Candidate: Why?
Employer: You will not be able to settle down here permanently. And my company doesn’t want to pay extra expenses on the overseas calls just because of you.

Story II

Employer: Any girl friends?
Candidate: No.
Employer: So far chased any before?
Candidate: Have, but not successful.
Employer: Ever think of getting a job first then start looking for a girlfriend?
Candidate: Career is first priority. Currently didn't want to consider this personal issue.
Employer: Sorry, my company cannot employ you.
Candidate: Why?
Employer: You are lacking of public relation skills and confidence!!

Story III

Employer: Any girlfriends?
Candidate: Yes.
Employer: Is she pretty?
Candidate: Not quite.
Employer: Sorry, my company cannot employ you.
Candidate: Why? Will this affect your company's reputation?
Employer: No, it does not affect the company's reputation but because my company is dealing with arts, our company requested an artist.

Story IV

Employer: Any girlfriends?
Candidate: Yes.
Employer: Is she pretty?
Candidate: yes
Employer: Is she your first lover?
Candidate: Yes.
Employer: Sorry, we can't employ you because you lack of fighting spirit.

Story V

Employer: Any girlfriends?
Candidate: Yes.
Employer: Is she your first lover?
Candidate: No. Have a few already.
Employer: Sorry, my company cannot employ you because you are a "grasshopper"! (Job hoper!)

Story VI

Employer: Any boyfriends?
Candidate: Yes.
Employer: Is he rich?
Candidate: No.
Employer: Then sorry, my company cannot employ you because our Company is dealing with money and you will seduce.

Story VII

Employer: Any boyfriends?
Candidate: Yes.
Employer: Is he rich?
Candidate: Yes, very rich. He owns a company.
Employer: Sorry, we cannot employ you because your boyfriend don't even want to employ you, neither do we!
Candidate: But, there is no position in his company.
Employer: Then, what is your qualification?
Candidate: Secretary!
Employer: Sorry, we still cannot employ you because your prettiness will affect your managers' working spirits.
Candidate: But, I am not pretty at all.
Employer: It is even worse because my managers will not be interested in you!!

Craziest Interviews

2007-09-17T20:12:00.000+05:30

Interview 1

Interviewer: If we give you a module which consists of new technology, how will you proceed with it?
My answer: I will first understand the module and learns the technology and develops the code after doing design ASAP.

Interviewer: What will you do if we give you one day for doing all this?
My answer: I will do it one day.

Interviewer: What will you do if you are not able to complete in one day?
My answer: If the work is not getting completed after end of the day, I will request for some more time.

Interviewer: What if we insist you to complete it on the same day?
My answer: I will spend 24 hrs and complete it. I am ready to cook food at office and work as if I am working in call center. (I am getting irritation at this point).

Interviewer: What will you do if no documentation is available for this new technology?
My answer: I will ask for knowledge transfer from my seniors.

Interviewer: What will you do if no one had worked on this technology before?
My answer: I will request for some more time to acquire knowledge and complete the work.

Interviewer: What if we force you to complete the work in one day without documentation, support?
My answer: If you can at least give me a computer to do things, I know how to do it without documentation, support and time.

Is it really worth asking this kind of questions? What a person can do if he needs to work on new technology, with no documentation, no support and no time? I am not God, of course, I am developer. Am I wrong with my answers?

Interview 2

Interviewer: If we give you a module which consists of new technology, how will you proceed with it?
My answer: Learn technology on the fly..(as is expected from today’s IT professionals) as soon as possible and understand the module. If possible I would like to get trained in that technology if training provided by company.

Interviewer: What will you do if we give you one day for doing all this?
My answer: I will estimate the ETC(Estimated time of completion) and if I think the time given is less than my estimated time I will inform you and try and extend the ETC.

Interviewer: What will you do if you are not able to complete in one day?
My answer: My first priority to complete the task with in the ETC if I am not able to complete within that time my attemp would be to get it done ASAP without further extending the ETC any longer. Also I would inform about this extended ETC to the concerned authority I am reporting to.

Interviewer: What if we insist you to complete it on the same day?
My answer: To be honest if I am not able to deliver on time I would prefer to inform you in advance that the expected time of completion does not match with my estimated ETC rather than accepting do deliver and later failing to do so.

Interviewer: What will you do if no documentation is available for this new technology?
My answer: Now this is a stupid question. A new technology with no documentation?

Interviewer: What will you do if no one had worked on this technology before?
My answer: Take it as a good learning experience and I think it is always good to work on the latest technology.

Interviewer: What if we force you to complete the work in one day without documentation, support?
My answer: I will try my best given all above facts!

Interview 3

Interviewer: If we give you a module which consists of new technology, how will you proceed with it?
My answer: I'll review the requirements for the module, learn the technology and then confirm that it's the correct technology for job. Very often new technology is overused because it's "cool" even when not appropriate, this called the "new buzzsaw" problem, somewhat akin to the "golden hammer" problem.

Interviewer: What will you do if we give you one day for doing all this?
My answer: Hope that it takes a day to complete. I'll provide an estimate at the start and if I think it will be longer than one day, I'll let you know.

Interviewer: What will you do if you are not able to complete in one day?
My answer: If it's because I'm incapable of completing it in one day but believe that some else could, likely sometime in the early afternoon I'll realize this and ask for help. If it's not realistic for anyone to complete it in one day, then I will raise the concern along with my estimate.

Interviewer: What if we insist you to complete it on the same day?
My answer: There is a principle called the engineering triangle consisting of time, resources, and scope. You can pick any two. Here you are trying to contrain all three and that is not realistic. I would address the issue of constraints with the appropriate party.

Interviewer: What will you do if no documentation is available for this new technology?
My answer: Seek out information, from the web, or from others both inside the company and out. I would also raise a concern about using undocumented technology.

Interviewer: What will you do if you can't find any information on this technology? (Note: I changed the wording to be equivalently responsive to my prior answer.)
My answer: I will seriously question the desire to use the technology in light of this limitation. If we must, then I will make sure we include learning time in the estimate. I will also look for other ways to reduce risk in the project to trade-off the increased technology risk.

Interviewer: What if we force you to complete the work in one day without documentation, support?
My answer: I'd probably deliver a substandard product and would quit over my frustration with the incompetent management.

Interview 4

Interviewer:What if i ask you to work on new technology?
Me:It will be nice to have exposure to new technology.(I will have another thing to brag about in my resume.)

Interviewer:What if there is not any support/documentation?
Me:I can still do it. In my previous project i was working alone(Because nobody was able to understand what i said, and i was not able to interpret what was written in documentation).

Interviewer:What if there is only 24 Hr time?
Me: So what? I can still deliver it.(Then it will be your headache to listen to client's complains) You see, the mighty aussies, after 5 back to back defeats, they are going to World Cup without any time to improve.

Interviewer:What???? They lost the last match also???
Me: Not yet..Game is in progress.. Its a close match.Can go either way.

Interviewer:My God!!! What has happened to ausies?
Me: Dunno..may be they were getting bored of winning every time.

Interviewer:So what's the score?
Me: last 5 overs remaining New Zealand need 40 runs ..blah blah blah..

Interviewer:Which site do you see the live scorecard?
Me: espnstar.com

Interviewer: Damn ... espnstar.com is blocked in my office. Cant even track the score once i am in the office.
Me:What espnstar.com is blocked in your office? Damn!!! I guess we should end here.

Interviewer: Ya you wont like in here. By the way is there any position open with your current employer?
Me: Ohh yes...why not they are looking for.....blah blah blah... Ok so tell me what would you do if your manager gives you unrealistic deadlines, no support, non-sufficient resources etc etc....

Interviewer:Ummm.. thats a real tricky one...

Google's Press for Global Privacy Fans Flames

2007-09-17T19:27:00.000+05:30

GOOGLE CALLED FOR A SET of global standards for protecting consumer Web privacy at a recent United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) ethics conference. Although privacy counsel Peter Fleischer pegged the move as part of Google's job as an Internet leader "to show some leadership and be constructive," insiders say it's a thinly veiled attempt to get ahead of the privacy woes that have dogged its pending DoubleClick buy.

"It's clear that this is motivated in part to dampen the growing opposition to the DoubleClick takeover," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD). "Google is attempting to head off a global regulatory digital train wreck."

In the U.S., the FTC is investigating the $3.1 billion acquisition from an anti-competitive standpoint, but concerns about Google's search data collection and retention policies (and melding them with DoubleClick's) have also factored into the scrutiny.

Meanwhile, in July, pressures from the EU led the search giant to scale back the length of time it would retain user data (from indefinitely to no longer than 18 months), although European regulators now have their eyes on the DoubleClick deal as well.

CDD is scheduled to participate in already scheduled press briefing today on "Google, Online Advertising, and Privacy" along with representatives from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).

"Google is under enormous pressure from many countries around the world who are fed up with their arrogance and their unwillingness to make meaningful changes to their business practices," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of EPIC. "They are also trying desperately to push the acquisition of DoubleClick through the Federal Trade Commission. And they've met enormous resistance."

Fleischer addressed the criticism directly, at a press conference (in Strasbourg, where the UNESCO meeting was held), saying: "By supporting global privacy standards, there will be a debate and part of that debate will be what our motives are." He added that Google would be pushing for the standards "regardless of whether DoubleClick were part of the equation or not." He also added that CEO Eric Schmidt would be publicly underscoring the company's stance on user privacy and protection some time in the future.

Nonetheless, the conference provided an International forum for Google to reinforce its 'don't be evil' mantra--and the search giant did it by endorsing a set of privacy standards established by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

The APEC Privacy Framework focuses on "preventing harm" to users--by emphasizing security safeguards and imposing limitations on how much personal information can be collected. Google acknowledged that the APEC standards are only a starting point--as they were drafted and approved by 21 members of APEC in 2004, and need to be adapted for global use and acceptance three years later.

Fleischer added: "It is absolutely imperative that these standards are aligned to today's commercial realities and political needs, but they must also reflect technological realities."

Critics argued that the search giant gave no specifics for how to move forward with a global implementation--calling it another sign that the endorsement was just Google posturing for the FTC.

"Mr. Fleisher is lobbying to get a privacy Band-aid placed over an ever-growing flow of personal data being squeezed from consumers (by Google and others)," said Chester.

According to Jonah Stein, Web privacy expert and senior SEM director, Alchemist Media, the search giant has a vested interest in helping to establish International privacy standards that goes beyond the DoubleClick deal.

"Google certainly wants to make sure the deal goes through with the FTC, but we do need global standards, and they are a global player," said Stein. "When you look at the EU and some of the other legal entities they have to deal with, it's not unreasonable for them to try to find an international standard that everyone else can agree on."

Stein also said that the move should not have come as a surprise. What may be less surprising is that even in the midst of this announcement, the search giant was facing government and media scrutiny in Canada--with speculation as to whether Google's Street View map feature will violate Canadian privacy laws.

The feature that shows still video footage of locations when users click on map markers has not gone live in Canada yet, but caused skeptics to wave the privacy flag in the U.S. when the shots were found to contain glimpses of pedestrians' faces in detail.

Criminals target trusted websites

2007-09-17T19:24:00.000+05:30

Canada ranks second worldwide as top source of malicious Internet activity

Trusted websites have become the patient zero for some viral epidemics in the virtual world with sophisticated cyber-criminals using them to lure unsuspecting computer users into spreading their malicious code.

And Canada is a key global player in the dark side of the Internet, now ranking second worldwide after Israel as the top source of malicious Internet activity.

These are among the findings of Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report Trends for the first six months of this year, released today.

"The Web is becoming patient zero for infections and we are now faced with situations where even the guys you would normally trust have an issue," said Dean Turner, director of Symantec's global intelligence networks. "The Web has really become the focal point.

"Instead of the bad guys going to you, you are going to them."

The threat comes from the increasing number of trusted websites being hacked by the professional criminals who have sophisticated commercial tools that allow them to operate vast networks of infected computers.

Even government websites are not immune from the hackers.

"What we found was that governments are the targets and the victims of the same thing as enterprises are when it comes to hosting phishing sites," said Turner.

Phishing is a technique used by cyber-criminals to acquire sensitive personal data such as credit- card and banking information.

Turner said 23 per cent of all government websites hosting phishing sites were on government domains in Thailand. And the study found that four per cent of all malicious activity detected during the first six month of 2007 originated from Internet Protocol space registered with Fortune 100 companies.

"Fortune 100 companies control seven per cent of all IP space worldwide, so it is pretty significant when we see that activity coming from the Fortune 100 - that's a lot of IP space."

Turner said that figure is likely explained by criminals capitalizing on the unused IP space of the companies.

"The bad guys know," he said. "If they are looking for activity on this IP space and they are not seeing any, they know it is fertile ground."

Turner said Canadians spend the most time online of any computer users in the world, a trend he said could explain this country's high ranking in malicious Internet activity.

Among other findings of the report:

- Bot networks, networks of infected computers that are controlled by criminals, have a lifespan of 19 days in Canada, the longest lifespan of bot networks anywhere in the world.

- The U.S. was the target of the most denial of service (DOS) attacks, accounting for 61 per cent of all such attacks worldwide in the first half of this year.

- The U.S. also was the top country of origin for attack, accounting for 25 per cent of all global attacks.

- The education sector topped all sectors for data breaches that could lead to identity theft, accounting for 30 per cent of all such data breaches over the first six months of 2007.

- The theft or loss of computer or other data-storage medium made up 46 percent of all data breaches that could lead to identity theft in the first half of this year.

- Credit cards, at 22 per cent of all items, were the most common commodity listed in the underground economy and 85 per cent of the cards being sold were issued by banks in the U.S.

Verizon Sues To Block Open Access to Spectrum

2007-09-17T19:23:00.000+05:30

With Verizon suing to block the open-access rules -- a move that Google has called "regrettable" -- industry observers are beginning to weigh in on whether the spectrum auction will take place on schedule. Philip Verveer, a Washington attorney specializing in the wireless industry, said Verizon faces a difficult time in trying to undo the FCC rules.

Verizon threw a wrench in plans for a quiet run-up to the Federal Communication Commission's January auction of the valuable 700-MHz spectrum. The telecom company filed a petition with a court of appeals to overturn the FCC's decision to attach open-access rules to part of the spectrum.

The filing does not state any specific grounds for review, asserting merely that the FCC's rulemaking exceeds its authority under the Communications Act, the Constitution, and the Administrative Procedure Act, and is "arbitrary, capricious [and] unsupported by substantial evidence."

In July, the FCC passed a plan for the auction that imposes open-access rules on the so-called "C" block of the spectrum, encompassing roughly a third of the spectrum to be auctioned. Under the rules, the C block spectrum must be open to all devices and applications.

Google Calls Action 'Regrettable'

Google, which had pressed for even greater rules for open access, has announced its intention to bid in the auction. Bidding starts at $4.5 billion and the winning bid is expected to wind up over $9 billion.

Writing on a Google blog, Chris Sacca, head of special initiatives, wrote, "The nation's spectrum airwaves are not the birthright of any one company. They are a unique and valuable public resource that belong to all Americans." Sacca went on to say that it is "regrettable" that Verizon has decided to use the court system "to try to prevent consumers from having any choice of innovative services."

Google might not have that much to worry about. Verizon faces a "very difficult" time in trying to undo rules the FCC has promulgated, Philip Verveer, a partner with the law firm of Willkie, Farr & Gallagher in Washington DC, said in a telephone interview. As an antitrust lawyer for the Justice Department, Verveer was instrumental in the breakup of the old AT&T.

"Agency action goes to appellate court with the presumption that the agency is correct," he explained. In addition, courts tend to defer to executive agencies in technical matters. "This matter is one where the FCC's discretion under the statute is very broad. Any appeal of agency action is going to have a very difficult time," he said.

Spectrum Auction Delay Unlikely

Because of the statutory requirement for the start of the auction, "it's going to be very difficult to convince the court of appeals" to delay the auction, Verveer added. To make matters worse for Verizon, "the more technical the rulemaking, the harder it is" to get it overturned, he said.

Verveer noted that Verizon has not yet tipped its hat as to its legal arguments. "As a practical matter, they may be trying to have a place at the table," he said. It's possible that the Frontline group, led by former FCC Chair Reed Hunt, would also appeal the FCC rules, arguing that the FCC "didn't go far enough." By appealing now, Verizon might be positioning itself to balance those arguments with the claim that the FCC went too far, Verveer said.

Verizon's next step will likely to be to ask the FCC to reconsider its decision and stay the start of the auction. The agency "almost never grants" such requests, Verveer said. Verizon would likely reveal its legal theories at this reconsideration stage.

Could all of this set back the scheduled start of the auction on January 16? "The FCC is going to be extraordinarily reluctant to let this affect the timeline," Verveer said. "Unless Verizon has a legal point that creates tremendous anxiety at the FCC, it will continue on its timetable."

Microsoft Escapes Patch Tuesday Drama

2007-09-17T19:21:00.002+05:30

There were only four fixes released on Patch Tuesday, but the updates affect several types of users, especially because of the Messenger fix. "Since instant messaging software is installed by home users as well as corporate users, it affects everyone," noted Amol Sarwate, manager of the Vulnerability Research Lab at Qualys.

After its fair share of zero-day vulnerabilities and scores of patches over the past few quarters, Microsoft 's September Patch Tuesday might seem uneventful for I.T. admins. Still, there is some work to do this month with four patches in the hopper.
One critical patch fixes a bug in Windows Server 2000 that potentially allows a hacker to take control of a victim's computer from a remote location. Another security bulletin, rated important, describes a vulnerability for Windows Services for Unix and the subsystem for Unix-based applications. The second important patch affects Microsoft Visual Studio, while the third important update fixes a flaw that affects MSN Messenger and Windows Live Messenger.

"Users of Windows Server 2000 Service Pack 4 should be paying most attention to Microsoft's patches," said Dave Marcus, security research and communications manager at McAfee Avert Labs. "However, we don't foresee a lot of exploitation of the Windows 2000 vulnerability. Not many people will use those legacy systems to surf the Web, which would be the primary attack vector."

Messaging Clients Targeted

Viruses spread through instant messaging are seeing a lot of press lately. Skype suffered highly publicized attacks this week, and now Microsoft is trying to avoid the same storyline by patching a vulnerability its messaging client. According to Andrew Storms, director of Security Operations for nCircle, the Messenger fix, which patches a remote code execution bug in the video chat functionality of the messaging client, is the most interesting update this month.

"This exploit was first announced several weeks ago and Microsoft moved very quickly to get this fix out. I'm sure this is because of the recent flush of exploits that target IM clients," Storms said. "We have seen two bugs in Yahoo Messenger, one of which was almost identical to this MSN Messenger chat vulnerability. IM clients are the hot, new vector for exploits and this trend will definitely continue for the foreseeable future."

The remaining patches affect "power users," or users with administrator or developer roles, including the one critical vulnerability described in security bulletin MS07-051. Specifically, this patch affects a Microsoft agent that displays animated characters, such as "Clippy," the Microsoft Office talking paperclip.

"While critical, it is important to note that it only affects Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 users, not those running Windows 2003, XP, or Vista operating systems," noted Amol Sarwate, manager of the Vulnerability Research Lab at Qualys. "If vulnerable, there is the potential for remote code execution under a Web-based attack scenario."

Broad Set of Users Affected

The remaining two vulnerabilities are labeled important by Microsoft. Security Bulletin MS07-053 describes a Windows services update that affects advanced users who integrate Windows with Unix. This update is designed to fix a zero-day exploit made public last month.

MS07-052, meanwhile, affects Crystal reports .RPT files. If advanced users and developers browse to a malicious Web site or open an .RPT file sent as an e-mail attachment, it could open the door to an attack.

Even though there were only four fixes altogether, September's Patch Tuesday affects several different types of users, especially because of the Messenger update. "Since instant messaging software is installed by home users as well as corporate users, it affects everyone, while the remaining patches address systems and applications used by administrators and developers," Sarwate said.

Google Files Patent Application for Mobile Payments

2007-09-17T19:21:00.001+05:30

In what could be described as Google taking a page straight out of the PayPal playbook, Google filed for a patent that describes a mobile commerce system that is similar to existing mobile payment systems, including the mobile version of PayPal. The patent application is leading to renewed speculation about Google's wireless ambitions.

Someday, "to gpay" might mean making a payment using a text message over a mobile device. That's the form of e-commerce for which Google has filed a patent, in which the terms "gpay" and "gbuy" are used.
The application is leading to renewed speculation that Google has its sights set on a more active role in the mobile-device marketplace.

First filed in February of 2006, patent application number 20070203836 was published late last week. "The payment process may occur through the simple composition by the payor of a text message," such as a short message service (SMS), the application stated, with payee identification and payment amount then sent to a payment processing system" for debiting, crediting, or transferring funds.

Road Side Fruits and Vegetables

Some indications of Google's intended markets might be gleaned from several scenarios presented in the application.

In one scenario, at a farmer's market or a flea market, individual or family vendors sell low-priced products and typically only take cash. But such vendors are "also likely to have a cellular telephone or similar mobile device," Google's application noted, and, if given a preference, might prefer not to deal only with cash.

Instead of using cash, Google envisioned, both the fruit seller and the buyer use their mobile devices. The vendor would have an account with an online payment service and an identifier, such as a phone number or a screen name like "veggiegirl." The buyer can enter the vendor's identifier and the amount to be paid, and the vendor receives confirmation on her mobile device.

If the vendor feels the buyer is trying to "spoof" the system, the vendor can log on to the online payment system through her own device and confirm the transfer of funds. Google noted that the online payment system might be able to handle micropayments, and have attached bank, credit, or debit accounts.

Lucy, Mowing Service, Thirsty Student

Another possible scenario mentioned is an entrepreneurial "young lady," with apparent references to Lucy in the Peanuts comic strip, who offers psychiatric help at a street stand for a nickel per session. She might use the mobile device to organize and analyze her finances, as well as receive payments. And she might post two identifiers, so as to separate sales that require taxes and those that do not -- in effect, two cash registers.

In other scenarios, Google suggested the payment system might have an escrow feature. This could be handy, the application stated, if a young person's mowing service can be hired by a homeowner who might be wary of the quality of work and might want to present payment, but hold back delivery until the job is satisfactorily completed.

Other suggested scenarios include a "thirsty college student" paying at a soda vending machine, or a community honor system, where a mobile payment system relieves a worker of monitoring occasional transactions at, say, a community stamp box.

Feds: Iceman Was Internet ID Thief

2007-09-17T19:19:00.000+05:30

According to a criminal complaint unsealed this week, one person told investigators he received tens of thousands of credit cards from Max Ray Butler. In the affidavit, federal agents said Butler used the aliases "Iceman," "Aphex," "Darkest" and "Digits" on his forum and when hacking into financial institutions.

A man who used the Internet alias "Iceman" stole credit card and identity information from tens of thousands of people by hacking into the computers of financial institutions and credit card processing centers, federal authorities said Tuesday.
Max Ray Butler, 35, of San Francisco, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on three counts of wire fraud and two counts of transferring stolen identity information. He could face up to 40 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine if convicted on all charges.

Butler was charged in Pittsburgh because he sold more than 100 credit card numbers and related information to a Pennsylvanian who is cooperating with the investigation, said Margaret Philbin, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan of Pittsburgh.

Authorities said Butler also operated a Web site that served as an online forum for people who steal, share or use others' credit card information illegally in a practice known as "carding."

Federal court records do not list an attorney for Butler, who was arrested in California on Sept. 5 on a criminal complaint filed under seal in Pittsburgh.

Butler remains in federal custody in California. It was not immediately clear when he would return to Pittsburgh to face the charges. A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday in San Francisco.

The indictment charges Butler with e-mailing people about buying stolen card numbers and selling them for several hundred dollars per batch.

According to the criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday, one person told investigators he received "tens of thousands of cards" from Butler. In the affidavit, federal agents said Butler used the aliases "Iceman," "Aphex," "Darkest" and "Digits" on his Internet forum, in e-mails with other carders or when hacking into financial institutions.

Witnesses told agents they were present as Butler moved to various hotel rooms where he would use a high-powered antenna to intercept wireless communications. From there he allegedly hacked into financial institutions and credit card processing centers to obtain confidential card information.

One witness told agents that Butler hacked into the Pentagon Federal Credit Union, Citibank and a government employee's computer.

Philbin could not immediately say which kinds of credit card numbers were sold or whether authorities planned to alert cardholders of potential problems.

Microsoft Delays Windows Server 2008

2007-09-17T19:18:00.000+05:30

Mark Margevicius, a research director at Gartner, said the delay of Windows Server 2008, codenamed Longhorn, was "not surprising." Microsoft has a "reputation for being late," he said, but added that "there's a lot in Longhorn" and noted that "server software has critical components" that Microsoft has to get right.

On the same day that Microsoft announced that the first service pack for Windows Vista would come out later than some had expected, it also quietly announced that the release of Windows Server 2008 has been pushed back to the first quarter of next year.
The earlier announced target for the release of Windows Server 2008, formerly codenamed Longhorn and first made available in beta in 2005, was the end of this year.

The public announcement of a delay was made on Wednesday in the second paragraph of an entry on the Windows Server Division Weblog.

'More Time to Bake'

The entry, by group product manager Helene Love Snell, noted that the blog is intended to provide "an open and honest dialogue about the development process of a product of this magnitude."

So, Helene continued, "this seems like the best place to let you know that Windows Server 2008, which we have been saying would Release to Manufacturing (RTM) by the end of the calendar year, is now slated to RTM in the first quarter of calendar year 2008."

The reason? Helene wrote that Microsoft is happy with the feedback it's getting from the latest product builds but wants to spend more time to reach the expected "high quality bar."

She quoted a Microsoft program manager as saying that Server 2008 is "like a brisket." It just needs "a little more time to bake."

Launch Event

A launch event for Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2008 has been planned for February 27 in Los Angeles. Assuming Windows Server 2008 is not ready for release by February 27, the other products featured at the event might be delayed.

Snell was quoted by PC World as saying that the anticipated Windows Server Virtualization add-on will have its actual ship date affected, but, as planned, it will still have a beta available for the RTM of Windows Server 2008 and will ship within 180 days of release.

Microsoft officials have reportedly said that scheduled end-of-this-year beta releases of other products based on Longhorn, such as the midsize business server bundle called Centro and the small business server called Cougar, will not be affected.

Mark Margevicius, a research director at Gartner, said the delay was "not surprising." Microsoft has a "reputation for being late," he said, but added that "there's a lot in Longhorn" and noted that "server software has critical components" that the company has to get right.

Microsoft Defends Stealth Windows Updates

2007-09-17T19:15:00.000+05:30

Paul Henry, Secure Computing's VP of technology evangelism, said that although Microsoft's stealth updates have not yet created any reported issues, the ramifications could be significant. With no way of turning off Windows Update, he said, the use of a compromised update process could become an attractive vehicle for a would-be hacker.

Microsoft has crossed the line with some Windows users by secretly deploying software through Windows Update -- even to users who had turned off automatic updates. Microsoft has issued an apology, of sorts, but some security experts are still warning that the practice of updating Windows without user consent could lead to dire consequences.

As its name suggests, Windows Update is a service that primarily delivers updates to Windows. To ensure ongoing service reliability and operation, Microsoft must update and enhance the Windows Update service itself, including its client-side software.

However, Microsoft discussion boards this week revealed that Redmond was updating Windows without permission. Specifically, Windows Update has updated nine files in both Windows XP and Windows Vista over the past few weeks, according to reports.

Disaster Waiting To Happen?

Paul Henry, Secure Computing's vice president of technology evangelism, verified the stealth updates on a Windows machine in his own lab. Henry said that what initially struck him as unusual is that Microsoft began the updates without any end-user notification. Beyond this, he said, there are larger security concerns.

"First, with no way of turning off Microsoft updates, it makes the use of a compromised update process a very attractive vehicle for a would-be hacker," he explained. "Second, this also raises concerns for law enforcement." Henry pointed out that a great deal of caution is exercised to maintain stability in certain environments. For example, documented Microsoft installs in computer forensics are necessary to assure that potential evidence isn't compromised.

Henry said that although the Windows process has not yet created any reported issues, the ramifications of Microsoft's stealth updates have the potential to be significant. He said he can easily imagine a patch being automatically deployed that causes things to break and go terribly wrong in a Windows environment.

"Just look what happened to Skype in the last month," he explained. "An update was released by Microsoft that caused so many PCs to reboot and reinitialize simultaneously that it impacted Skype's ability to reconnect its worldwide network."

Microsoft Defends the Updates

For those who want to know why Microsoft updated the files automatically, even if users had not opted for automatically installing updates, Redmond offered an explanation.

"Any user who chooses to use Windows Update either expected updates to be installed or to at least be notified that updates were available. Had we failed to update the service automatically, users would not have been able to successfully check for updates and, in turn, users would not have had updates installed automatically or received expected notifications," said Nate Clinton, program manager for Windows Update, in a statement.

In addition, Clinton said that the result of not updating the files would have caused users to believe that they were secure even though there was no installation or notification of upgrades. To avoid creating such a false impression, he continued, the Windows Update client is configured to check for updates whenever a system uses the service, independent of the selected settings for handling updates.

"The point of this explanation is not to suggest that we were as transparent as we could have been; to the contrary, people have told us that we should have been clearer on how Windows Update behaves when it updates itself," Clinton concluded. "This is helpful and important feedback, and we are now looking at the best way to clarify Windows Update's behavior to customers so that they can more clearly understand how Windows Update works."

Dell and Alienware Offer Samsung 64-GB SSDs

2007-09-17T19:14:00.000+05:30

With Dell and Alienware now offering Samsung's 64-GB SSDs for selected notebook PCs, Samir Bhavnani, research director at Current Analysis West, said that at 64-GB capacity, there is enough storage for most business users' applications and documents, but he noted that 64 GB might not be enough capacity for the SSDs to catch on with consumers.

For those awaiting the day when solid state drives (SSDs) are commonplace options on desktops and laptops, the good news is that Samsung announced on Monday it is shipping its 2.5-inch SATA, 64-GB SSDs for Dell and Alienware notebooks. The bad news is that the drives are an expensive option.

They cost $920 when added to a Dell laptop. The 64-GB SSD is available initially on Dell's XPS M1330 ultraportable notebook, and, later this year, on other models in the XPS line, as well as on Latitude corporate notebooks and Dell mobile workstations.

For Alienware, users can choose dual 64-GB SSDs in RAID 1 or RAID 0 configuration, or a 64-GB SSD in combination with a magnetic drive for the Area-51 m9750 high-performance gaming notebook. Prices start over $1,000 for the SSD additions.

Currently, Dell and Alienware both offer the smaller-capacity 32-GB SSD as a less-expensive option.

Customers 'Demanding' More Reliability

Customers are demanding more reliable and durable mobility solutions, which SSDs can offer, said Dell's Tom Pratt in a statement. Industry analysts -- and SSD makers themselves -- have said that the pricey solid state drives are a good solution for road warriors and similar users for whom durability and reliability are worth the added cost.

With no moving parts, solid state drives are silent, generate little heat, and can handle shocks and vibrations more effectively than standard hard drives. Data transfer rates can be faster than hard drives, and booting a large operating system such as Windows Vista can be quick work for SSDs. In addition, SSDs consume less power compared to traditional hard drives, and are quieter and lighter.

Hard drives are still much larger in capacity, and their cost-per-gigabyte is a fraction of what it is for SSDs. But a report from research firm iSuppli has predicted that 60 percent of laptops sold by the end of 2009 will have SSDs, compared to less than one percent in the first quarter of this year.

Dell Has 'Broadest Range'

At 64-GB capacity, said Samir Bhavnani, research director at Current Analysis West, there is enough storage for most business users' applications and documents. Dell is taking a leading position in introducing SSDs, he noted, as it is currently offering "the broadest range of systems with SSD options of any computer maker."

As the largest corporate notebook provider, Dell's SSD options and relatively wide choice of systems could spur more sales among business users, said Bhavnani, who pointed out that SSDs for consumer machines might not have enough capacity to become popular. "It's still not enough capacity for your music and pictures," he noted.

But the steep price difference -- about $15 per GB for SSD and less than $1 per GB for hard drives -- could be worth it for some business users who want the shorter boot times, longer battery life, and added ruggedness, Bhavnani concluded.

Hard Drives Can Survive Fire, Floods

2007-09-17T19:13:00.000+05:30

Owners of flood- or fire-damaged PCs typically assume their data is unrecoverable. Not necessarily, computer experts say, noting that at least some data can be recovered from virtually any faulty or damaged storage device. And as the computer industry has grown, so has the number of companies doing that restoration work.

As flood waters filled their basement, Larry and Nancy MacLennan hastily moved their computer to the first floor before evacuating. But the water continued to rise, eventually filling most of the two-story house and submerging the computer for hours.
For the next several days the family worried about the damage to their Minnesota City, Minn., house. When they remembered that the computer held thousands of photos, including some about 70 years old, the MacLennans feared those precious files were lost forever.

But their daughter, 35-year-old Jenna MacLennan, had heard that data-recovery firms now sometimes find data on extremely damaged hard drives. Within days, engineers had recovered all the MacLennans' files.

"We were extremely happy about that," said Jenna MacLennan, an account manager for an electronic-equipment manufacturer. "With the water, the mud, everything, we just didn't know what kind of corrosion or damage might have occurred."

Hard drives typically fail when mechanical parts wear out, but the drives tend to be remarkably resilient to external elements such as flood water, said Richard M. Smith, an Internet security and privacy consultant at Boston Software Forensics.

"If you look at a hard drive, it's hermetically sealed," Smith said. "In most cases water wouldn't get into the drive itself."

Owners of flood- or fire-damaged computers typically assume their digital tax forms, photos and passwords are unrecoverable. Not necessarily, computer experts say, noting that at least some data can be recovered from virtually any faulty or damaged storage device. And as the computer industry has grown, so has the number of companies doing that restoration work.

"We've done data recovery on a laptop that was dropped from a helicopter, on a laptop that had been submerged in the ocean for a year," said Todd Johnson, vice president of operations at Kroll Ontrack Inc., whose engineers helped the MacLennans. "One time there were even bullet holes in the hard drives."

Kroll Ontrack is a division of New York-based Kroll Inc., a risk-consulting company whose technology operations announced second-quarter revenue in August of $141 million.

As a service to victims of last month's floods in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio and Oklahoma, Kroll Ontrack is waiving some costs and charging them a flat recovery fee of $850, with 10 percent to be donated to the Red Cross.

The 20-year-old company, based in Eden Prairie, Minn., is one of several offering similar services and prices, including SalvageData Recovery Lab Inc. in Stamford, Conn., and First Advantage Data Recovery Services in Irving, Texas. The companies charge from $400 to $2,500 for a standard recovery, with the price varying depending on several factors including the proportion of data that can be recovered.

Data-recovery companies use proprietary methods to recover data, pulling files into their own environment, where engineers can determine which are salvageable. The recovery process involves digging below the operating system, Johnson said.

Data can be salvaged from Windows-based computers and Apple Inc.'s Macs, and even from fully loaded iPods or cell phones. Engineers then ship the files back on CDs, DVDs or on a new hard drive.

Typical computer users know they should back up their data, Johnson said, but many keep their backup files so close to their computers that secondary files are destroyed at the same time as the computer. He recommends that backups be kept at a distance, perhaps even in a safe-deposit box at a bank.

That experts can recover data from hard drives damaged by water, fire or even a sledgehammer is a mixed blessing. Sometimes a person disposing of an old computer actually wants the hard drive destroyed to thwart would-be hackers looking for private information. So how can one be sure the hard drive is rendered permanently inaccessible?

Some experts suggest running a data-erasing program that repeatedly overwrites information with ones and zeros. Others suggest keeping the hard drive and disposing of the rest of the computer. The most extreme option would be to physically shred the hard drive and dispose of pieces in multiple locations.

As Jenna MacLennan looks at recovered digital photos of her grandmother and grandmother's parents, she says the data recovery was a bright spot in a tragedy that left her parents' home as a roof balanced on stripped two-by-fours.

"When you're able to recover your history, your photographs, there's a sense of gaining back something that's yours," she said. "It's something you can look at as good amongst everything else, that your memories aren't all gone."

IBM Claims New Nanotech Breakthrough

2007-09-17T19:12:00.000+05:30

To explain how much storage capacity IBM's new breakthroughs in nanotech might mean somewhere down the line, IBM said that storing data on small clusters or individual atoms could mean that almost 30,000 feature-length movies, or all of the millions of videos on YouTube, could be stored on a device the size of an iPod.

If you already think your fingers are too big for some of today's small electronic devices, you likely won't be happy to know that new discoveries from IBM could make such devices much, much smaller and more powerful.

On Thursday, the Armonk, New York-based company announced what it called "two major scientific breakthroughs." Its researchers took a big step toward figuring out how to get individual atoms to hold a specific magnetic direction, which would allow them to store data. And they got closer to developing a logic switch between molecules, and even between individual atoms inside a molecule, which could lead to molecular or submolecular processors.

The research, detailed in two reports in the journal Science, does not mean that we'll soon be seeing a supercomputer the size of a grain of sand. But the research does take several important steps in that direction.

All YouTube Videos on an iPod

The work toward getting a single atom to store data involves measuring a property called magnetic anisotropy, which is how well an atom can maintain a specific orientation, representing the one or zero used in digital storage. The company said that, before the new breakthrough, no one had been able to successfully measure the magnetic anisotropy of individual atoms.

To understand how much storage capacity that could mean, it would be best if you were sitting down. IBM said that storing data on small clusters or individual atoms could mean that almost 30,000 feature-length movies, or all of the millions of videos on YouTube, could be stored on a device the size of an iPod.

"We are now one step closer to figuring out how to store data at the atomic level," said Gian-Luca Bona, an IBM manager of science and technology.

Speck of Dust

In addition to highlighting the storage breakthroughs, the researchers pointed the way to enormous processing power in extremely small sizes by developing a single-molecule switch that "can operate flawlessly without disrupting the molecule's outer frame."

Keeping the outer molecule intact is a critical advance of the new research. Among other things, it enabled researchers to use atoms inside one molecule to switch atoms in another, nearby molecule -- a basic logic switch. Earlier research at IBM and other labs has been able to switch inside single molecules, but it always changed their shape -- something you don't want to do if you're building logic gates or memory elements.

If single-atom storage didn't take your breath away, consider submolecular switches as the basis for logic gates and electrical circuits. IBM said some researchers speculate that such miniaturization could mean computer chips as small as a speck of dust.

While shopping for the fastest new piece of dust on the market is still some years away, researchers are moving on to the next step for the switches -- building a circuit, and then figuring out how to create a chip.

World Now Has Four Billion Phone Lines

2007-09-17T19:10:00.000+05:30

The increase in phone use has been especially strong in developing countries that have been able to provide cellular phone service to tens of millions of people much more cheaply than having to wire up homes and offices for fixed-line telephones. As a result, 61 percent of the world's mobile subscribers are in developing countries.

Largely because of the mobile phone boom in developing countries, telephone service has quadrupled in the past decade to 4 billion lines worldwide, according to a report Tuesday from the U.N. telecommunications agency.
The International Telecommunications Union counts 1.27 billion fixed lines and 2.68 billion mobile accounts. The total number of people represented by those figures is unclear because many people, particularly in industrial countries, have both kinds of service.

The increase has been especially strong in developing countries that have been able to provide cellular phone service to tens of millions of people much more cheaply than having to wire up homes and offices for fixed-line telephones.

As a result, 61 percent of the world's mobile subscribers are in developing countries, the ITU said. China and India, for example, together added almost 200 million mobile subscribers to the global total in the first three months of this year.

In 1996 there were fewer than 1 billion fixed-line and mobile phone subscribers altogether. Fixed-line subscriptions have grown slowly since then, but mobile has taken off, showing "spectacular success," said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, one of the report's authors.

The report also said more than 1 billion people in the world use the Internet.

Although the least developed countries lag in telecom service, growth is picking up in Africa, thanks to advances in technology that enable broadband connections over mobile phones.

Improved access is also coming in what the telecommunications industry calls "next-generation networks" -- using either fixed or mobile connections to offer services including television and inexpensive voice-over-Internet long-distance. But the report said countries may need to change their regulatory requirements if the benefits of newer networks are to be realized.

"In many countries, licensing practices would prohibit operators from offering a popular `triple play' of voice, broadband and (Internet-based TV)," said Susan Schorr, chief author of the report.

Big Blue Joins Forces with OpenOffice.org

2007-09-17T19:07:00.000+05:30

IBM's commitment to ODF might actually represent a greater blow to Microsoft's ambitions than Redmond's recent defeat in an ISO vote that would have put Open XML on the fast track for becoming an international standard for documents. But IDC's Pers Anderson said he believes Microsoft's ISO setback is minor with respect to the private sector.

IBM said it is joining the OpenOffice.org community to collaborate on software development for the Open Document Format (ODF), an ISO standard that governs the creation, storage, and exchange of documents.

Mike Rhodin, general manager of IBM's Lotus division, said IBM expects the collaborative effort to "provide tangible benefits to users of OpenOffice.org technology around the world" through the creation of "an even broader range of ODF-supporting applications and solutions." He said that by leveraging OpenOffice technology in its own software products, IBM hopes "to deliver innovative value to users of IBM products and services."

OpenOffice.org marketing project lead John McCreesh welcomed IBM's future commitment to package and distribute new works that leverage the OpenOffice.org technology supporting ODF. "ODF is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the I.T. industry to unify round a standard, and deliver lasting benefit to users of desktop technology," McCreesh said.

Improving Accessibility

Initially, IBM will be contributing the code that it has been developing as part of its Lotus Notes software product, which includes accessibility enhancements that just might help OpenOffice.org reach parity with what rival Microsoft currently offers handicapped workers through its Office business productivity suite.

Accessibility is still a huge issue, especially with governments, noted Gartner Client Computing vice president Michael Silver. "There were a lot of eyes on accessibility during the development of OpenOffice.org version 2 and the improvements were big, but not sufficient for many," Silver explained.

Silver said he thinks IBM should have become an official part of the OpenOffice effort long before now. Still, "having IBM's help with this will surely help OpenOffice.org," he said.

Rhodin indicated that, over the long haul, IBM would be dedicating software engineering resources that would be making ongoing contributions to the feature richness and code quality of the ODF-based productivity suite. The collaboration effort might be just what OpenOffice.org needs to encourage more organizations worldwide to embrace its ODF-based technology.

Emphasis on Pragmatic Issues
"ODF has been an ISO standard for some time now, but adoption is still very slow," said IDC Nordic Group managing director Per Anderson. "There are a limited number of companies and organizations looking at ODF, and most of them are just considering it."

By contrast, IDC's latest survey shows that several companies and organizations are actively implementing Microsoft's competing Open XML format, particularly in Europe. "Our recent survey shows that commercial companies put more emphasis on pragmatic issues like long-term document viability and backwards compatibility rather then whether the standard is a formal open standard," Anderson explained.

IBM's commitment to ODF might actually represent a greater blow to Microsoft's ambitions than its recent defeat at the ISO in a vote that would have put Open XML on the fast track for becoming an international standard for documents.

Anderson said he believes the ISO setback is minor with respect to the private sector. "It could be slightly more significant in the public sector, but this will be dependent on the ISO's next voting round," Anderson explained.

Nevertheless, a considerable number of obstacles to ODF's adoption still need to be addressed. "What will help will be the potential results, not just having the IBM name in the mix," Silver said.

10 Great SEO Tips

2007-09-17T18:55:00.000+05:30

There was a time when companies could simply boot up a Web site and their content would immediately begin showing up in various search engines. For better or worse, those days are long gone. To have content displayed, corporations need to understand what the search engines are looking for and then provide it to them. If one company does not want to do that, a competitor certainly will.

As evidenced by the phenomenal success of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) , search has evolved from an interesting sideline into a primary function for many, if not most, Internet users. Consequently, more and more companies are putting content up on their Web sites to attract the attention of search engines.

"You can have really great information on a site, but if a potential customer can't find you, what good is it?" asked George Aspland, president of eVision.

Chances are that most times a person won't find the company. If a user types in a simple query today, tens of thousands, millions and even billions of results come pouring back in an instant. In most cases, a user will sift though a couple of pages -- basically a few dozen links -- and either re-enter the query or give up the search in disgust.

Those First Few Pages
Consequently, companies are trying to make sure that their sites show up on those first few pages. In response, a booming cottage industry creating search engine optimization (SEO) specialists has emerged. What follows are five tips from such experts that a company can use to increase the likelihood that its name will pop up quickly.

1. Keep tabs on search engine rules. The search engine vendors would like to make it easier for themselves to collect information. Consequently, they have devised Web page design guidelines that help their software index new Web pages.

"The search companies expect to see basic items, such as a site map, so their Web crawling software -- as well as your customers -- can find information on different pages," George Chaney, president of SEO King, told TechNewsWorld.

Repetition is another item that these vendors value. "Keywords belong in page titles, image names, headlines, body content and links," Todd Follansbee, vice president at Web Marketing Resources, told TechNewsWorld. In certain cases, following this guideline may diminish the graphical appeal of a page or not follow business writing rules, but that is a price a company has to pay to be displayed on those first few search pages.

2. Pay special attention to the title of a page. Search engines list a company's title at the top of search results, so it is not surprising that they examine titles carefully. An obvious item -- but one sometimes overlooked -- is that companies need to put titles on all pages, not just main entry points on their Web site. Also corporations need to be direct, rather than clever, when crafting their titles because the Web crawling software does not have a sense of humor.

Brevity is an important consideration in regards to the title -- the search engines want companies to limit text to less than 80 characters, which translates to one short sentence. All caps should be avoided because it detracts rather than enhances reading comprehension.

3. Label graphical content. Increasingly, companies are putting more graphical and video elements on their Web sites. "Currently, most search engines are not able to understand and rank thumbnail pictures and video content," Andrew Frank, a research vice president at Gartner (NYSE: IT) , told TechNewsWorld.

Since they cannot understand the information, they simply pass on indexing it -- although their algorithms are getting better at working with such information. If a company has a number of these items, there are alternative tags that can be used to describe them. When a company uses one of these tags, it should include keywords in the text and clearly label the item. Generic descriptions, such as pix1, and abbreviations should also be avoided because search engines do not value them highly.

4. Support link exchanges. Search companies have taken on the communal characteristics found in the Internet. If a number of other sites link to a company's Web page, then the engines give it more credence. "Companies should include link bait, phrases or pages on Web site that others can use to link to it," eVision's Aspland told TechNewsWorld. Also, a company can search for sites similar to its own, contact the creators and build a new community. Another option is to join a webring, a string of linked sites dedicated to a certain topic. There are plenty of them on the Web, and more arising daily.

5. Be prepared to tweak Web content consistently. Search companies, such as Google, determine which items to display by relying on ranking algorithms, formulas they have developed that decide which Web pages best match each user's query. With the dynamic nature of the content and the vendors' desire to deliver the best page out of millions and billions of possibilities, these algorithms are constantly being scrutinized.

Daily, vendors' engineers work busily to make them more precise. After undergoing a test phase, changes are put into production. No one knows when this occurs -- observers expect it at least once every three months -- because companies like Google never announce them. The only time it becomes clear is when a company's page rankings change dramatically. Consequently, firms need to track their rankings and make changes when they are needed.

There was a time when companies could simply boot up a Web site and their content would immediately begin showing up in various search engines. For better or worse, those days are long gone. To have content displayed, corporations need to understand what the search engines are looking for and then provide it to them. If one company does not want to do that, a competitor certainly will.

Garnering the attention of the search engine vendors requires a delicate balance. While there are some steps that companies can take to improve their ranking, there are other items that lower the company's search rankings, and can even result in them being blacklisted in some cases. Consequently, they need to maintain a proper balance.

Search engines have taken on the role of parents doling out rewards as well as punishment to companies building Web sites. The punishment comes from two sources. For one, the search engines are flawed, often unable to work with various types of information.

"At one time, search engines could not make sense of PDF data, but that was one shortcoming that the vendors were able to overcome," said Andrew Frank, a research vice president at Gartner (NYSE: IT) .

The other set of problems comes from companies bending -- and in many cases, knowingly breaking -- rules in order to have their results displayed more prominently. "Because of the high stakes involved in search, scams have become rampant in the industry," George Chaney, president of SEO King, told TechNewsWorld.

Avoiding the Punishment
Part 1 of this two-part series features five tips on how a company can increase the likelihood that its name will pop up quickly and high on search pages.

What follows are five steps that a company can take to avoid being punished by search engines:

6. Submit Web pages to search engines judiciously. When the Internet was first booming, search vendors had rudimentary techniques to identify new Web pages. Consequently, they often appreciated it when companies submitted new Web pages to them.

Much has changed in the past few years. If a company puts a new page up, a search engine will find it. That statement assumes that a corporation has made other groups aware of its site. When it puts up a new site, a firm needs to register itself with a domain name services provider so the page makes its way into the Internet's global network index.

If a company is nervous, wants to be on the safe side, and decides to submit its content to a search engine, that step should only be taken once. If it is done repeatedly, the search engines may deem the material as spam and blacklist it, removing the site from all search mentions.

7. Make sure Web links lead somewhere. Links to other sites help a company gain a higher site rating, so many sites have them. However periodically, search engine suppliers will check to make sure a link is working, so companies have to make sure that their referenced content has not moved or been taken offline.

Some unscrupulous companies have pushed the idea of embedded links a bit too far. They include bogus Web links on their pages in order to generate higher site ratings. While there is a link, it leads to a blank page in some instances or in other cases will circle back on itself -- thereby creating an infinite number of links. Search engine vendors are not particularly fond of such links and blacklist sites known for them.

8. Minimize use of flash. Flash is a programming tool used to add video-like animation to a Web site. These animations are small programs that can be embedded into HTML pages and provide cool visual effects, often close to video.

"While flash can be compelling, it is not something that search engines can easily recognize and categorize," Gartner's Frank told TechNewsWorld. Consequently, many search engines do not read or catalog any flash content. If a company wants to use flash, it needs to make sure that similar textual content is available so search engines can work with the data.

9. Do not react to every algorithm change. The search engine vendors are constantly trying to fine tune their algorithms and make them more accurate. "A company can drive itself nuts reacting to each change that the search vendors make," George Aspland, president of eVision, told TechNewsWorld.

After they make a change, search engine vendors then examine how well it works. In certain instances, the change hurts rather than helps the company deliver appropriate content to users. As a result, the search engine company will pull the change and go back to its original algorithm. Rather than rush back and forth through such exercises, it is better for companies to wait about three or four weeks after noticing a change before making their own alternations.

10. Limit use of pop-ups. Pop-ups have become items that help companies gather information quickly and effectively. These items are still associated with spamming sites, so search engines flag sites with excessive numbers of pop-ups as spammers. In designing a Web site, a company should limit the number of pop-ups.

Garnering the attention of the search engine vendors requires a delicate balance. While there are some steps that companies can take to improve their ranking, there are other items that lower the company's search rankings, and can even result in them being blacklisted in some cases. Consequently, they need to maintain a proper balance.

Microsoft Introduces New Breed of Portable Mice

2007-09-17T18:54:00.000+05:30

Microsoft struck again in the consumer hardware space Wednesday, rolling out new hardware with special emphasis on notebook computers. Two new mice are focused on laptop use, and one of the new webcams the company unveiled is designed for notebooks as well. One of the mice features Bluetooth connectivity, while the other has a transceiver containing a 1 GB thumb drive.

With its eye on notebook users and photo-sharing fans, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) on Wednesday rolled out three new wireless mouse products and two new webcams.

First, citing increasing U.S. retail notebook PC sales , Microsoft unveiled the Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 and the Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse 7000, both designed to make notebook computing more productive and to reduce touchpad fatigue.

"These additions to our product line showcase how Microsoft delivers the tools that match consumers' computing needs -- providing comfortable tools for the growing number of notebook users to get the job done on the go," said Ivan Meljac, product marketing manager for Microsoft hardware. "The Hardware Group focuses on ease of use, and these mice are no exception, with simple, quick and reliable wireless connections."

Bluetooth-Ready
The Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 is designed to work seamlessly with Bluetooth-ready computers without the need for any external transceiver or extensive setup process. High-Definition Laser Technology is designed to provide smoother tracking, more responsiveness and better precision, Microsoft said.

The Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse 7000, meanwhile, features a shape based on that of the best-selling Microsoft Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000. It offers 2.4GHz wireless, a snap-in transceiver and instant access to the Windows Vista Flip 3D feature, which lets users flip through open windows and quickly switch among applications.

The Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 will be available in October, while the Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse 7000 will be widely available in September; both will have an estimated retail price of US$49.95.

Built-In Memory
Next, the Microsoft Mobile Memory Mouse 8000 is the industry's first rechargeable notebook mouse with 1 GB of flash memory built right into the transceiver, Microsoft said. The single transceiver is a three-in-one tool that lets users simultaneously work wirelessly, save important files and recharge the mouse without sacrificing performance -- all through one USB port.

"With the continued rise in notebook sales, there is a huge demand for smart peripherals that help mobile users get their work done more efficiently, and the Mobile Memory Mouse 8000 combines three key tools into one stylish device," said Matt Barlow, worldwide director of marketing and partner development at Microsoft hardware.

"Adding a gigabyte of memory to the mouse transceiver is truly a computing milestone," Barlow added. "We've packed more memory into the transceiver than an entire computer had 25 years ago."

With magnetic charging and the option to connect via either Bluetooth or 2.4GHz wireless, the Microsoft Mobile Memory Mouse 8000 will be widely available in October for an estimated retail price of $99.95.

Sharing Photos
Finally, Microsoft's two new webcams include a desktop unit, the LifeCam VX-7000, and a notebook unit, the LifeCam NX-3000. Both connect to Photo Swap, a feature that allows consumers to share digital photos with friends and family and see their reactions in real time, and both work closely with Windows Live Messenger.

"The Photo Swap feature is a perfect illustration of what a video call should be about: keeping in contact with loved ones, sharing memories and having fun," said David Fortin, senior director for consumer product management at Windows Live.

Both LifeCams will be widely available in September. The VX-7000 will have an estimated retail price of $99.95, while the NX-3000 will be $59.95.

Sleepy Mice?
Bluetooth technology has some "inherent problems that make it painful to use," Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst with Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld.

While each generation of Bluetooth peripherals gets better, "traditionally Bluetooth peripherals have had fairly serious problems with regard to latency," he explained. "The mice are better than the keyboards, but the problem is they tend to go to sleep."

Proprietary products tend to be better than Bluetooth ones, Enderle added.

"The issues are declining, but if I have a choice, I probably wouldn't pick Bluetooth, especially for a keyboard or mouse."

The Port Crunch
The addition of storage in the Microsoft Mobile Memory Mouse 8000, on the other hand, is "a nice value-add," Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst with Parks Associates , told TechNewsWorld.

"Laptop sales are overtaking desktop sales, and in a lot of homes the laptop is the first computer of choice," Scherf said. "I think this is an interesting idea, and a gig is a pretty robust amount of storage in terms of a flash device."

There's a convenience factor as well, Scherf added, in reducing the number of flash drives mobile consumers need to keep in their pockets.

Good Value
Finally, sharing photos is one of the primary reasons people use home computers and the Internet , Scherf noted, so by rolling out the new webcams, "Microsoft is delivering a blended experience."

The webcams may have a hard time competing with competitive offerings, particularly those from Logitech, Enderle noted. For the price, however, "Microsoft's products are a good value, with good quality that works well out of the box," he said.

Indeed, Logitech is "the company to beat" in the peripherals market, Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies, told TechNewsWorld.

"Mice, keyboards and cameras are the main peripherals for PCs, and even though the markets are static, they're large and can't be ignored," Kay added. "Microsoft has to keep updating to stay competitive."

Social Networks: Eying a Baby Boomer Bonanza

2007-09-17T18:52:00.000+05:30

"What we've heard loud and clear from Boomers is that while they do want information, they do want resources, what they really want to be able do -- and what the Internet is perfect for -- is letting them connect with each other," said Linda Natansohn of Eons. "That's where we've found a sweet spot in the market, where there has been a great unmet demand."

There are an estimated 44 million Baby Boomers roaming the Net, and legions of marketers looking for ways to reach them. That's because, as a target market, Boomers have what it takes to make hucksters salivate: money.

"It's a generation with wealth -- (US)$2 trillion in disposable income -- and they have an incredible appetitive to keep connecting, to keep learning and to keep graduating to new things," Linda Natansohn, senior vice president for strategic development for Eons in Boston, told TechNewsWorld.

Eons was one of the first Web developers to go after Boomers by creating an online social network for them -- a sort of "Facebook with wrinkles," as Matt Richtel, of The New York Times, put it.

"Boomers have been using the Internet , but they've been nomadic," Natansohn observed. "Until now, there hasn't been a destination created for them, which is what we set out to do when we created our company in 2005."

Venture Money
Since that time, Boomer-oriented Web sites have mushroomed, and the coffers of venture capitalists, looking for the next MySpace , have opened to them.

This month, for example, VantagePoint Ventures reportedly led a $16.5 million round of financing for Multiply. Last month, Shasta Ventures led a $4.8 million round for TeeBeeDee, a site just coming out of testing.

Despite the enthusiasm of the money people, there are skeptics of the idea of bringing MySpace-style social networking to online Boomers.

Dire Prediction
"In our surveys and in our research, we see that Baby Bommers are much less likely than teenagers, for instance, to participate in social networks," Mark Best, an analyst with JupiterResearch, told TechNewsWorld.

He acknowledged, however, that "whether that's because the social networks are marketed toward teenagers or Baby Boomers are not interested in using a social network, that's up in the air."

Chuck Nyren, author of Marketing to Baby Boomers, published by Paramount Books, and principle in the Nyrenagency, of Snohomish, Wash., made a dire prediction about Boomer social networking sites.

"This is all going to cave in soon," he told TechNewsWorld. "I don't think people over 45 or 50 are that much into virtual socializing unless it's around a specific topic, like travel or health."

Money Worth Grabbing
Needless to say, Natansohn disagrees.

"What we've heard loud and clear from Boomers," she said, "is that while they do want information, they do want resources, what they really want to be able do -- and what the Internet is perfect for -- is letting them connect with each other.

"That's where we've found a sweet spot in the market, where there has been a great unmet demand," she added.

Why that demand was allowed to go unmet was because online Boomers were able to evade the crosshairs of marketers for a long time, maintained Terry Cochran, president of A2 Multimedia, of Ann Arbor, Mich., which counts in its stable of Web sites Boomernet, launched in 1995.

"There are certainly more sites today than when we started Boomernet," he told TechNewsWorld. "That's because more people finally decided that the Boomers have money that's worth trying to grab. They were ignored for a long time."

Untested Reasoning
Boomer networking sites are afflicted with the same problem that's plagued all social networking sites, Cochran noted.

"I don't know that anybody has actually done well monetizing that market yet," he said. "I don't know if there's any economic success there yet for anybody, as far as I can tell."

In the minds of marketers, unlike teenagers, who tend to be fickle and financially challenged, Boomers are creatures of habit and flush with wealth, so if they're herded into a social networking site, they should be fat for slaughter.

That reasoning remains untested, though, according to Cochran.

"I don't know that there's been some special result proven so far that even though Boomers have the bucks, that they're willing to spend them any more than any other demographic would," he observed.

Chipmakers Lock Arms to Create Cell Phone Standards

2007-09-17T18:51:00.000+05:30

Nokia, Sony, Texas Instruments and four other global chipmakers reached an accord Friday wherein each will cooperate with an industry organization to create an industry standard for cell phone chips. The new specification to be focused is dubbed Universal Flash Storage. The target performance level is expected to be a significant advancement beyond that of the various flash cards popular today.

Seven major global chipmakers have reached an agreement to cooperate with an industry association to create an industry standard for chips used in cell phones and digital cameras by 2009.

This is a major step towards industry-wide efforts to harmonize various technology standards and reduce inconvenience for consumers.

Open Standards
In a joint statement released on Friday, the seven chipmakers -- Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) , Nokia (NYSE: NOK) , Samsung Electronics , Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY) , Spansion, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) -- said that they would support the creation of a far-ranging industry specification for removable memory cards and embedded memory solutions under the leadership of the JEDEC Solid State Technology Association (JEDEC), a leading open standards organization in the semiconductor industry.

The new specification to be focused is dubbed Universal Flash Storage (UFS), which is designed to meet the industry's need for a universal memory solution with higher memory capacities and performance.

Fast Downloads
The UFS will provide a "revolutionary leap" in the industry's efforts to develop next-generation semiconductor chips that support very low access times required for memories, enable high-speed access to large multimedia files, and reduce power-consumption in consumer electronic devices, they said in the statement.

The target performance level is expected to be a significant advancement beyond that of the various flash cards popular today.

With the new technology standard, users can access a 90-minute high-definition movie within a few seconds compared with three minutes at present.

Google Puts Its Money on the Moon

2007-09-17T18:50:00.000+05:30

Google has created the Google Lunar X Prize, a $30 million contest to fly to the moon. "The Google Lunar X Prize calls on entrepreneurs, engineers and visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity," said Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation.

Less than a month after it launched Sky in Google Earth with astronomical images from around the universe, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) announced on Thursday that it is taking its space fascination a step further by sponsoring a contest to fly to the moon.

Offered in partnership with the X Prize Foundation, best known for the US$10 million Ansari X Prize for private suborbital spaceflight, the Google Lunar X Prize is offering $30 million in prizes to private companies that can land a robotic rover on the moon, roam the surface, and transmit data back to Earth. The goal is to challenge and inspire engineers and entrepreneurs to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration, Google said.

"The Google Lunar X Prize calls on entrepreneurs, engineers and visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity," said Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation. "We are confident that teams from around the world will help develop new robotic and virtual presence technology, which will dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration."

Three Prizes
The $30 million prize purse is segmented into three components. To win the $20 million Grand Prize, a team must successfully soft-land a privately funded spacecraft on the moon, rove on the lunar surface for at least 500 meters, and transmit a specific set of video, images and data back to Earth.

The $5 million Second Prize will be awarded to a team that can land a spacecraft on the moon, rove and transmit data back to Earth.

Bonus prizes will be awarded to teams that successfully complete additional mission tasks such as roving distances longer than 5,000 meters; imaging man-made artifacts on the moon, such as hardware leftover from Apollo; discovering water ice; or surviving through a frigid lunar night, which lasts approximately 14.5 Earth days.

After Dec. 31, 2012, the Grand Prize will drop to $15 million until Dec. 31, 2014, at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X Prize Foundation. The second place prize will be available until the end of 2014, unless extended.

Lunar Potential
Twelve men explored the moon in the 1960s and 1970s, culminating with the mission in 1972 by Apollo 17. By launching this new challenge, Google aims to begin "Moon 2.0," the next phase of lunar exploration -- and "this time we will go to the moon to stay," it said. Possible benefits of lunar exploration include solutions to environmental problems such as energy dependence and climate change, the company added.

"Why does Google love space? Well, for one thing, we just think it's cool," wrote Alan Eustace, senior vice president of engineering, on the official Google blog. "More seriously, space exploration has a remarkable history of producing technological breakthroughs, from ablative heat shields and asteroid mining to invisible braces and Tang; the X-Prize, too, could lead to important developments in robotic space exploration, a whole host of new space-age materials, precision landing control technology, and who knows what else.

"Finally, we hope the contest will help renew public interest in fields like math, engineering and computer science, especially among the young people on whom we'll all be depending to tackle tomorrow's technical challenges, whether they're on the web or among the stars," Eustace said.

Global Participation
"Having Google fund the purse and title the competition punctuates our desire for breakthrough approaches and global participation," Diamandis said. "By working with the Google team, we look forward to bringing this historic private space race into every home and classroom. We hope to ignite the imagination of children around the world."

Strategic alliances involved in the competition include Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), which is offering competing teams an in-kind contribution and is the first preferred launch provider for this competition; the Allen Telescope Array, operated by the SETI Institute, which will serve as a preferred downlink provider for communications from the moon to the Earth; the Saint Louis Science Center, which serves as the Foundation's official education partner; and the International Space University, based in Strasbourg, France, which will conduct international team outreach and facilitate an unbiased judging committee.

"This may help some existing commercial lunar projects get funding," James Oberg, a retired rocket scientist who is now an author and full-time media consultant, told TechNewsWorld. "It may help Russian commercial launch services, too -- the Dnepr (rocket) looks about the right size for this kind of payload, and it's a bargain."

'Definitely Interested'
Indeed, at least one private commercial space company is already interested.

"This is a great program, and last night I sent a request for information about how to submit a team," Geoff Sheerin, president and CEO of PlanetSpace, told TechNewsWorld.

PlanetSpace is in the process of building an orbital vehicle, and plans to make space flight available to the public within 24 months. "We're definitely interested," Sheerin said.

A Daunting Challenge
Potential benefits aside, though, the challenge is a daunting one, Paul Czysz, professor emeritus of aerospace engineering at St. Louis University, told TechNewsWorld.

"If you want to put one pound of rover on the moon, it will cost you roughly 210 pounds of rocket on Earth to get it off the ground," Czysz explained. "What that means is that even a small rover will take a pretty big liftoff mass here, and it has to be staged," so that pieces are jettisoned one by one.

Vehicles traveling to the moon can either orbit it first, as U.S. missions have done, or they can make a direct shot and land immediately, Csysz added. Both approaches have pros and cons, but one challenge either way is that any vehicle must not only get close to the moon, it must also be able to slow down and land in one piece so that the roving and data transmission can be done.

Orbiting the moon first allows a more precise selection of a landing site, but even then, human navigation has historically been needed, Czysz said. "When Neil Armstrong did the first landing, he was heading toward the edge of a crater and had to manually re-fly to be able to land on something flat," he explained. "It's really quite an issue -- if you're not careful, you might end up at the bottom or on the edge of a crater."

The Right Stuff
Robotic vehicles that compete in the Lunar X Prize won't have the benefit of human intervention, he noted.

The cost of success, Czysz estimates, will come in at a minimum of $300 million, far outweighing the value of the resulting prize.

What will it take to make it happen? "A bunch of people who are driven to experiment and to try things that other people say can't be done," Czysz concluded.

In other words, with the right stuff, it just might happen.

MS to Users: You Can't Handle the Truth

2007-09-17T18:49:00.000+05:30

One might think that turning off the feature that allows Windows Update to automatically download and execute new patches would, in fact, disable automatic updates. Apparently, one would be wrong. This behind-the-back updating, said Microsoft, is necessary in order to avoid misleading customers. Some users found it rude, and others said it could even potentially upset criminal cases.

Users of Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows operating system may be surprised to learn that Microsoft has been secretly updating their PCs even after they've activated a feature that seemingly prevents automatic updates.

So far, discovery that Microsoft is changing code on users' PCs without their knowledge is limited to a single program -- the Windows Update program that goes online to check for, and initiate the download of, other Windows updates.

"The upshot is that a longstanding procedure in Windows Update requires it to self-update before it is able to recognize that new updates are available," noted Nick White, a Microsoft product manager, on the Microsoft Windows Vista Blog.

"This self-updating is done regardless of whether the user has enabled automatic checking, download and/or installation of updates. It does so in an effort to avoid WU misleading the user to think s/he is up-to-date simply because s/he was not receiving notification that updates are available," he wrote.

For more detail, White pointed to a post from the Microsoft Update Product Team Blog, where Nate Clinton, Microsoft's Windows Update program manager, failed to offer any true technical reason Microsoft couldn't let end users manually start a Windows Update process on their own, at their own discretion.

"Had we failed to update the service automatically, users would not have been able to successfully check for updates and, in turn, users would not have had updates installed automatically or received expected notifications," he wrote.

For tech professionals, Microsoft's explanation may ring hollow. It may be easier for Microsoft to automatically update Windows Update, but it is by no means the only technical way to get the job done.

Truth and Consequences
While the practice of secret automatic updates may seem relatively benign, it can have severe consequences.

"The most concerning part of this is the potential for instability within in your environment. Historically, we've had problems with patches from Microsoft in the past where they would break things," Paul Henry, vice president of technology evangelism for Secure Computing, told TechNewsWorld.

"Within the enterprise space, most customers don't automatically update -- they prefer to user a lab environment to test the updates to make certain they don't break anything. That's been taken away from us with Microsoft treading down this path of automatic updates. Personally, I find it rather frightening," he explained.

Potential for Havoc
Even if a Microsoft update doesn't break an application, it can have far-reaching ramifications outside of the PC's plastic case.

"I know a great many people are concerned -- I have friends in the forensic community that are very concerned that an update could make a change to a platform that is being used in a forensic investigation that could potentially alter the outcome of that investigation," Henry said. PCs used in forensic investigations must be very tightly controlled so that no evidence can be altered, and even a possible opening for such alterations could compromise the use of the evidence in a criminal case.

"Some people in law enforcement are now considering blocking access to Microsoft's update servers to prevent this in the future," Henry noted.

Public Awareness
The biggest issue with the update seems to be that Microsoft didn't provide a clear public notice of how the update process works, leading to uncertainty about how it may be used in the future.

"I think what people are fearing is that, if you read Microsoft's license agreement very carefully, Microsoft retains the right to automatically update their code," Henry explained. "Today, Microsoft is updating the update program itself -- tomorrow are they going to be updating my operating system?"

More Faux Pas Than Tech Problem?
"Personally, I don't think it's inappropriate for Microsoft to keep Windows Update updated so that it continues function," Stephen O'Grady, an industry analyst for Redmonk, told TechNewsWorld.

"What is inappropriate is to not be overly transparent in logistical terms, because customers that have chosen non-automatic updating should not be surprised in this fashion," he said.

Most distributions of Linux, O'Grady said, automatically update themselves too. "My Ubuntu [installation], for example, keeps itself updated," he said.

Could a user turn it off entirely?

"Certainly," O'Grady said. "Like most things in Linux, updating is configurable. But out of the box, it keeps itself updated. The difference is that most users are inclined to trust Linux distributions further than Microsoft because there are no licensing or DRM issues involved."

Sun, Microsoft Forge IT Detente

2007-09-17T18:46:00.000+05:30

Once bitter enemies, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems are getting friendly -- or at least becoming business allies. Sun has agreed to distribute Microsoft Windows Server on its hardware. The companies also agreed to work together to develop virtualization tools to make Windows Server and Solaris work together on the same machines.

Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: JAVA) , the company whose former CEO used to denounce Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) as often -- and as sarcastically -- as possible, is now selling Windows.

The Santa Clara, Calif., IT pioneer has signed on to become a Windows Server OEM (original equipment manufacturer), meaning it will install Microsoft Windows Server 2003 in its hardware running on x64, 64-bit architecture.

Additionally, Microsoft and Sun jointly said they will collaborate "to further enable deployment of Windows Server on Sun x64 systems" and to work jointly on virtualization technologies that support interoperability of their products.

Road to Recovery
Sun, still recovering from being crushed by the Internet bubble's burst, has embraced a more cooperative approach to dealing with its competitors. The current deal with Microsoft is an expansion of a landmark 2004 cooperation agreement between the companies.

In the new agreement, not only will Sun offer Windows Server on its x64 hardware but it said it will also provide "additional utilities and value-added software offerings to server systems carrying Windows Server." Sun will make Windows Server 2003 available on Sun x64 systems within about three months.

Microsoft "recognizes Sun's compelling x64 server and storage products in the market today," the company said. The companies agreed to continue testing and validating the Windows platform on the Sun systems "for scale-up enterprise computing."

Expanded Net TV Alliance
The companies also announced an expansion of their Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) partnership. They said they will continue collaborating to advance deployment of the Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV and multimedia platform on Sun servers and storage systems.

The deal is an example of Redmond's commitment to 64-bit computing, said Bog Muglia, Microsoft's senior vice president of the server and tools division. Sun's hardware "is an excellent foundation for Windows-based enterprise solutions, such as Microsoft Virtual Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Internet Protocol Television Edition," he said.

The agreement will give Microsoft's customers additional choices, Muglia noted.

Both Are Leaders
Sun's current more cooperative business approach is part of its goal to be a one-stop shop for enterprise technology. "Sun is now a single source for today's leading operating systems -- Solaris and Windows -- on the industry's most innovative x64 systems and storage products," said Sun Systems Group Executive Vice President John Fowler.

Sun's customers can now "take advantage of the virtualization benefits" of both Windows and Sun's Solaris operating system on Sun's x64 systems, Fowler said. He suggested that Microsoft's willingness to partner with Sun amounts to recognition of the "superior system design at the heart of our product portfolio."

New Opportunities
News of the agreement was welcomed by some in the business of selling Sun products, including Mike Thompson, president and CEO of Groupware Technology, a Campbell, Calif., technology solution provider.

"I think it's great," Thompson told TechNewsWorld. "It's going to create new opportunities for us."

It's important for Microsoft and Sun to acknowledge that many enterprises want to pair their products, Thompson said. "Formalizing the relationship, in essence, makes it more appealing to customers because they know that they will have support," he said.

Burying the Hatchet
For some veterans of the Sun/Microsoft battles, its a strange new world, but one they applaud.

Laura Hughes, president of Jooven8 Marketing and Consulting, worked almost 10 years as marketing director for MOCA, Sun's main distributor. She clearly recalls some of former Sun CEO Scott McNealy's sharp-tongued taunts of rival Bill Gates.

"It used to be that Scott McNealy couldn't give a speech without bad-mouthing Microsoft," said Hughes. "It's refreshing to see the teaming approach with a common goal in place. Sun and Microsoft are the leading innovators in the technology space. Formalizing a relationship in the server space makes sense and will further propel their ability to innovate as a team. This is a positive move for all of us."

Dare to Hack an iPhone?

2007-09-17T18:43:00.000+05:30

Remember when the iPhone was first released? In those olden days of three months ago? There were all those lists, circulating on the Web, of features that people wished had been included in the iPhone. Those lists may not yet have shrunk to zero, but the currently available hacks have substantially shortened them. That's in less than 3 months from iPhone's release.

In the classic scene from "Marathon Man," an ex-Nazi dentist (played by Laurence Olivier) menacingly asks Dustin Hoffman (who is strapped to a chair): "Is it safe?"

It's the same question being asked these days by a growing number of iPhone users. Unlike Olivier, these users have no evil motive behind the question. Instead, they simply want to know: Is it safe to hack my iPhone? Do I need to worry about losing my data or damaging the phone so that it no longer works? Must I first take a course in programming or Unix before I can perform the necessary surgery?

Answering iPhone hacking questions is a bit like trying to take a photograph of a race car while it zooms by at 200 m.p.h. By the time you press the button to snap the shot, the car is gone. That's how fast the world of iPhone hacking is changing. Still, I can now offer a definitive answer to the "Is it safe?" question. The answer is "Yes."

Easier by the Day
To be clear, by hacking, I mean modifying and customizing your iPhone so as to add to its capabilities. I am not talking about hacks that involve breaking into someone else's iPhone.

If this column had been written two months ago, I would have advised not to even attempt hacking your iPhone, unless you were familiar with Unix and/or did not worry about potentially turning your iPhone into a paperweight. Even so, I would have said it wasn't worth the risk or effort. It would likely take you at least several hours to do the needed research, accumulate the "tools" and actually carry out the task. The reward for all this work would have been minimal. There was not much you could do with a hacked iPhone, other than admire your own handiwork.

If I had written this column one month ago, I would have admitted that hacking was now a viable task for mere mortals. Utilities such as iFuntastic removed much of the heavy lifting, such as automating the critical task of jailbreaking (the name hackers gave to the changes needed to gain access to the iPhone from applications other than iTunes). Plus, there were now at least a few useful and fun things you could actually do with a hacked iPhone, such as adding custom ringtones or taking screenshots of your iPhone.

However, you were still required to work in Terminal, changing file permissions and entering other Unix commands. It was easy to make mistakes and the process sometimes failed even if you did it all correctly, even if you had a step-by-step tutorial to guide you (such as this one by Chris Breen and Ben Long).

Regular Rehacks Required
Writing this column today, I can unequivocally state that hacking an iPhone can be easily and safely done by almost any Mac user. You can do it all without ever having to launch Terminal or know a single Unix command. If you feel competent to use Mac OS X utilities such as TinkerTool, you are skilled enough to hack your iPhone. Even better, the number of useful things you can do with a hacked iPhone keeps growing every day. For starters, you can add a Finder-like utility, a launcher, a text editor, an AIM program and a variety of games.

There is only one remaining hassle: Whenever Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) releases an iPhone software update, the update will initially fail to install. This is because, when the update installer recognizes that system files have been hacked, it refuses to proceed. You can still update your iPhone. However, you will need to do so by restoring your iPhone, rather than merely updating it.

Restoring is a considerably more time-consuming task than updating. You have to resync all your content (including all your music, video, and photos). However, the real kicker is that all your hacking modifications are wiped out by the restore. You have to do them all again. Fortunately, the hacking process is now simple enough that this should not be a big deal. I expect that even this obstacle will be overcome soon, as someone figures out a one-step method to reinstall hacks after an update.

Hacker Beware
The only real "danger" from installing an update is that Apple may include changes designed to prevent existing hacks from working. So far this has not happened, and I expect this to remain the case. My guess is that Apple is content to let the hackers have their fun. It doesn't hurt iPhone sales nor does it affect the vast majority of users who will never consider hacking their phone.

Caveat: There is always a small risk that a given hack will cause some unexpected problem. That's why most hacks include a warning such as "This software comes with absolutely no warranty of any kind. If it should cause any harm to your iPhone or data, we shall not be held responsible." You should take the warning seriously. Still, I know of no instance where a problem has occurred that could not be remedied by restoring the iPhone. Just make sure you have a current sync of your phone before you begin your hacking attempts.

How to Hack
OK. I've convinced you to give hacking a try. How exactly do you go about it? I'm not going to provide a detailed step-by-step tutorial here (it would require another column!). However, here is an overview that should be sufficient to get you started:

The first step is to get a free Mac OS X application from Nullriver Software called AppTappInstaller (sometimes just referred to as Installer.app). Connect your iPhone to your Mac, quit iTunes if it is open, and launch AppTappInstaller. Follow the instructions and, when you are done, an application named Installer will appear among the icons on your iPhone's home screen. Tap it to launch it. From here, assuming you are connected to the Internet , via EDGE or WiFi, you can install virtually any existing iPhone program. Just select what you want from the list of programs Installer provides. At this point, a wired connection between your iPhone and your Mac is no longer required.

One option you will certainly want to install is Community Sources. This adds a wealth of additional software to Installer's list, software not created by the Nullriver Software. Next, install a tool such as Launcher, which allows you to access applications beyond the maximum of four icons that can add to the iPhone's home screen.

If you are at least a bit technically inclined, you will want to add OpenSSH. This will let you use a Mac OS X FTP utility (such as Fetch or Transmit) to transfer files back and forth between your iPhone and your Mac. Doing this also requires that you know the iPhone's IP address (obtained from the WiFi settings section on your iPhone), user name (root) and password (dottie, by default) for the iPhone account. More details regarding these settings are covered elsewhere, such as in the Chris Breen article I cited above.

Dead Simple
After that, start having fun. Choose whatever you prefer from among the ever-expanding variety of games and utilities that are listed. One of the first programs I installed was Dock, a launcher application that (in its latest version) includes an option to take iPhone screenshots and store them in the iPhone's Camera Roll folder.

Should anything you install not work as you expected or if you simply decide you don't want it, you can use Installer's Uninstall feature to remove the software. Installer also automatically notifies you of updates to any software you have installed.

AppTappInstaller is truly the first "killer app" of iPhone hacking. It's the program that has pushed iPhone hacking over the tipping point, where anyone can now do it.

Note: Although I have not had a chance to test this out yet, I expect that these same hacking techniques will work with the new iPod touch. However, some modifications to the software may be needed to work with the likely different firmware on the touch. Stay tuned.

Remember when the iPhone was first released? In those olden days of three months ago? There were all those lists, circulating on the Web, of features that people wished had been included in the iPhone. Those lists may not yet have shrunk to zero, but the currently available hacks have substantially shortened them. From custom ringtones of any music you own to Web-independent games to file transfers, you can do it all. That's in less than 3 months from iPhone's release. Imagine where we will be a year from now. Heck, at the rate things are going, imagine where we will be week from now.

IT Recruiting in a Web 2.0 World

2007-09-17T18:41:00.000+05:30

Companies such as HP that venture deeper into the world of Web 2.0 technologies to find new hires may find themselves disappointed, at least initially. Despite the low turnout the company's Second Life recruitment trial balloon yielded, however, HP's Betty Smith is not deterred. She says she sees a lot of potential for using Second Life for recruiting.

In mid-May, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) participated in a virtual job fair using Second Life tools from Linden Lab in San Francisco. HP had been invited by one of its external recruiters, TMP Worldwide Advertising & Communications in New York. During the virtual event, recruiters and job applicants alike created avatars, or personas to represent themselves in the virtual world.

At least that's how it was supposed to unfold. Four HP recruiters were slated to spend four hours a day on the site for three consecutive days to interview 40-plus applicants. Fewer than 20 avatars showed up, however.

"Some candidates who didn't show turned out to be inexperienced with [Second Life], didn't have their avatars created in time or weren't interested," says Betty Smith, manager of university recruiting for HP in San Diego. Two of those who did take part warranted follow-up interviews, though HP hasn't extended job offers to either candidate yet, she says.

Standing Out
HP's willingness to step into the Web 2.0 world for recruiting differentiates the company. In Computerworld's latest Vital Signs survey, none of the 233 IT professionals responding reported using Second Life for recruiting.

A scant 4 percent said they used blogs or social networking sites like Facebook to engage potential IT job candidates. Only 15 percent reported using professional networking sites such as LinkedIn. Moreover, 52 percent of the respondents said they don't use any Web 2.0 tools for recruiting.

It seems that most IT organizations are missing out on a huge opportunity to connect -- particularly with the talented twentysomethings who inhabit the virtual world. These Gen Yers are "tribal" and accustomed to the "very collaborative relationships" that Web 2.0 tools enable, says Tom Casey, senior vice president and workforce transformation leader at Kingwood, Texas-based consultancy BSG Concours.

Hooking Up
However, a few companies do see the potential. The IT leadership team at Quicken Loans, for example, is ahead of the curve. In February, it rolled out a recruiting Web site that includes a blog called "The Diff" (addressing the gap between average and outstanding performance), which employees use to articulate why Quicken Loans is such a great company to work for. One of the chief benefits of the blog is that it helps company workers connect with potential employees in a genuine way, says e-commerce marketing director Matt Cardwell.

So far, more than half of the blog posts discuss what's cool about working for the online mortgage lender; the others highlight external people or companies that Quicken Loans employees admire. "It's about connecting people up," says Cardwell.

Mirror, Mirror
The use of Web 2.0 tools can help job hunters screen companies and vice versa. It starts with a well-designed Web site that enables potential employees to learn nearly everything about a company, including its ethics and culture -- which helps socially conscious job candidates make informed decisions about pursuing IT employment.

Other tools can help companies separate the likely hires from the rest. Wall Homes, an Arlington, Texas-based home builder, typically receives thousands of hits for IT positions it places on recruitment sites like Monster.com, says CIO Andrew Brimberry. So his IT management team takes advantage of professional networking sites such as LinkedIn to locate and screen recruits on the basis of job skills, geography and academic background.

Companies such as HP that venture deeper into the world of Web 2.0 technologies may find themselves disappointed, at least initially. Despite the low turnout the Second Life trial balloon yielded, however, Smith is not deterred. She says she sees a lot of potential for using Second Life for recruiting.

Gen Yers "are so tech-savvy, we think it's a great way to reach out where they're already comfortable," says Smith. "If we can find a way to add value, they'll think about HP as a company that thinks about them."

Getting Harder
Of course, Web 2.0 is only one piece of the recruiting puzzle, says Casey. "There is no company I have spoken to that has cracked the 'DaVinci Code' of attraction," he says.

New IT recruits are more difficult to land. In the Vital Signs survey, 27 percent of respondents said it's tougher to recruit college graduates now than it was two years ago.

Complicating the challenge, some say, is that the current crop of newbies is different from previous generations in several respects. For instance, many twentysomethings are accustomed to receiving a lot of handholding and attaboys, says Adrian Gostick, co-author of The Carrot Principle and a consultant at O.C. Tanner, an employee recognition advisory firm in Salt Lake City.

The wants and needs of this new generation can induce managerial headaches for IT leaders who hire the wrong candidates. "We've cut the [IT] workforce down in the last 10 years to make them more efficient," says Neal Ganguly, CIO at CentraState Healthcare System, a Freehold, N.J.-based healthcare provider with a 32-person IT staff. "One person who is too needy can drag the whole workforce down. We just can't afford that."

High Maintenance, Sometimes High Returns
Gordon Gregory can relate. The vice president of technology at Mazuma Credit Union in Kansas City, Mo., says the company hired a few younger IT workers in recent years who didn't pan out. "A couple of them were what I'd call 'high maintenance' -- they had high egos and needed a lot of attention, and they weren't always adept at working with people and customers," he says.

More than previous generations, today's crop of younger IT workers also values, even expects, flexible work hours. "They want to work when they want to work, but we still need them in at certain hours to work on teams," says M. Lewis Temares, CIO at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla.

To the extent that he can, Temares grants IT staffers flexible hours and equips them with home PCs and BlackBerry devices so they can do their jobs whenever and wherever they're able.

"There's no question you're going to get the returns back on these investments," he says.

He does. Many younger workers on Temares' 300-person IT staff put in an eight-hour day and then grind out another four hours overnight. In fact, the university now posts notices about server downtime at least a week in advance. "You never know who needs what" during the middle of the night, says Temares.

Low Tech, High Touch
There are also low-tech recruitment techniques that IT executives don't exploit nearly enough. One is piggybacking business trips with visits to colleges, says David Foote, chief research officer at Foote Partners in New Canaan, Conn. Such visits give students a chance to quiz IT leaders about what it's really like to work at a company, says Foote. "It's consistently the best way to hire people out of school."

Tellabs CIO Jean Holley has used that technique. To help feed an internship program for college graduates with SAP (NYSE: SAP) , life-cycle development and broad-based Web skills, Holley and two colleagues visited the University of Missouri -- Rolla in March to conduct preliminary interviews with students enrolled in the school's MBA-ERP program. "Getting an MBA intern is a little unique for us, but it maps to a need we have" for ERP skills, says Holley, who nabbed an intern during the trip.

Introducing Competition
Engaging college students in programming and problem-solving contests has proved to be an effective exercise at Quicken Loans. Last winter, the IT department held a contest for college students to solve one of its business problems -- the need for an automated script that could search for specific text on the company's Web site. The contest, which required students to review source code and write code, generated dozens of entries and provided senior IT management with insight into the way potential employees think and how quickly they could solve problems, says CIO Frank Laura.

Laura looks at four criteria in job candidates: a cultural fit with Quicken Loans, a desire to learn, the ability to learn and technical skills, in that order.

"We have a saying here," says Laura. "'You're like a tree: You're either growing or dying.'"

How to Start a Company Without an IT Professional

2007-09-17T18:39:00.000+05:30

The bank has all of your data, and you aren't worried about them giving it away. The phone company also knows a lot about you. Your credit card company knows a frightening amount. What's the difference? SaaS companies should be under the same constraints for protecting your company's privacy as banks and telephone firms are. So far, they all seem to be doing a fine job.

Imagine a world in the not-too-distant future where anyone can work from anywhere, using whatever communication device they have at their disposal (laptop, iPhone, etc.). This type of world is not hard for us to imagine.

After all, many professionals are finding that they have less and less of a need to be in an office to get work done, and the automated business systems that they use are accessible from anywhere via the Internet.

Many consultants are already living this dream lifestyle. More than ever before, small companies are now opting not to have a central office, but to allow their five, 10 or 50 employees to work from home, thereby creating a "virtual" company.

Going Remote
This trend signals the end of the line for certain kinds of IT workers, because not only are employees going remote, but increasingly, back office systems are going remote too -- via the Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model.

Many of those IT professionals aren't going to miss some of the work that's going away. Frankly, some of it is no fun at all. Have you ever noticed that IT professionals are grumpy?

Some might say it's the recluse factor: IT professionals, like programmers, often prefer computers to people. Computers do what you tell them (unless they're running Vista -- but that's another story), but people have free will. IT professionals hate free will. Free will is very annoying unless it's your own. Free will causes outages. People uninstall things, unplug things, trip on things or otherwise utilize their free will to cause IT headaches.

Yet, while all this is true, the more likely explanation for IT grumpiness is that their job is not much fun.

Typical Day
So, what is the typical day in the life of an IT professional like?

An IT professional comes to work to start his day. This is the call he won't get: "Hey IT professional, just calling to say that everything is working okay today and you're a great guy!"

No, the calls he gets are typically more like this: "Hey IT professional, why is it that the only messages our spam filter catches are our sales leads? Luckily, however, it does let all the Viagra ads through, which is good because it gives us something to read while we're not selling anything. Did they have classes in spam filtering at the college you supposedly went to?"

Working in IT is somewhat like being a fireman. You can never respond to the fire fast enough, no matter what you do. Spam is a particularly difficult arms race fought between spammer and IT department where everyone loses.

In short, the IT profession includes many hard, thankless jobs. However, these days, you can do something to mitigate this tragic story for future generations. You can eliminate this sort of job from your company altogether.

Maybe you can't save the whales or cure cancer, but you can obviate the need for the IT professional's job, allowing him to do another job. You can do this by making a commitment to bring no more software -- and no more server machines -- into your company.

Data Hosted Online
Someone who is starting a company today should consider forgoing a local server in order to avoid either acting as or hiring an IT professional. Rather, such a person can have data hosted online on someone else's server through SaaS.

A new company can easily use a customer relationship management (CRM) tool like Salesforce.com, a contact management solution like SugarCRM and an accounting application like Quickbooks Online Edition. E-mail services can be outsourced to someone like Amicus.com, and document storage to another provider.

In a nutshell, a person who is starting a brand new company today would do well to have no servers at all, thereby sailing past the stale Linux/Windows debate. Without servers and their accompanying headaches, one can focus on serving his customers instead of building technology infrastructure that is, at this point, redundant.

Servers require updates, maintenance, backups and more backups, which translates into plenty of work. Very few companies, regardless of their size, do a good job with backups. Disks have grown faster than tapes have and this is causing a real problem: Where is one supposed to put all the data? Not only that, but all disk drives fail eventually, and it is never, ever convenient.

SaaS Survives
Consider this: if a tornado obliterated all of your servers right now, how long would it take you to get it all going again? How do you know the tapes will work? Where are they? Not in the same room as the servers, let's hope. Did you know that tapes can sometimes be written to but not read from due to the technology of the tape drive and the error rate on the tape itself?

Are the types of servers you originally bought still for sale so you can buy replacements for the ones that were destroyed? Where would you get that copy of the operating system you were running? Just precisely what version of the OS was that machine running, and how would you know? How many millions of patches from Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) did it have on it again? How long will it take to install them?

Wait a minute. "What if a tornado destroys the SaaS site of my chosen vendor?" you ask. That's a great question.

At my company, Journyx, we have hundreds of customers who run their business on our SaaS site. If we weren't up and running pretty much immediately after such an event, we would be out of business, and I would be out of a job.

That frightening vision is very motivating to me. So much so that we have redundant hardware, lots of backups, tapes in a salt mine, multiple sites for data, etc. No one can do a better job of keeping our application up and running than we can.

Data Security
"But what if someone steals my data and gives it to my competitor?" you ask.

The bank has all of your data, and you aren't worried about them giving it away. The phone company also knows a lot about you. Your credit card company knows a frightening amount. What's the difference? SaaS companies should be under the same constraints for protecting your company's privacy as banks and telephone firms are. So far, they all seem to be doing a fine job. Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) has a lot of customers, and there hasn't been an instance of sales lead data theft so far.

If you're starting a new company today, go SaaS. Get a laptop. Set up an office at Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) . If your time, data security , and peace of mind are worth anything, it's definitely cheaper.

New MySQL Enterprise Suite Due Soon

2007-09-17T18:36:00.000+05:30

Any business that has been shaken by server outages knows the value of monitoring capabilities. In the early days of open source, business managers worried most about the risk of finding out too late that promises of support from open source vendors would be paper-thin. The monitor service being offered at MySQL continuously monitors MySQL servers and raises alerts of special problems.

In a busy two days of announcements last week, MySQL, the Sweden- and U.S. West Coast-based vendor of the open source MySQL database, said that business users can expect an enriched Enterprise Edition collection of software, service and support, called "MySQL Enterprise."

The other leg of the announcement is that alpha and beta versions of open source software products will be available in late September. Included in that group will be the "release candidate" of MySQL 5.1, an upgrade of the database server .

Rounds of Bug Fixes
"A release candidate signals that we're almost ready to ship the software. All the new features are in and we've been through several rounds of beta bug fixes," Steve Curry, MySQL director of corporate communications, told LinuxInsider.

A key part of the new Enterprise package is the MySQL Enterprise Monitor.

Any business that has been shaken by server outages knows the value of monitoring capabilities. In the early days of open source, business managers worried most about the risk of finding out too late that promises of support from open source vendors would be paper-thin. The monitor service being offered at MySQL continuously monitors MySQL servers and raises alerts of special problems.

Open Source Database Outlook
More than 70 percent of organizations are going to be using open source databases by next year, predicts Gartner (NYSE: IT) . With that kind of outlook, MySQL is not slowing down marketing and technology ploys for market share.

The company's teams have been preaching the concept of "scale-out architecture." MySQL promotes the message of the "database scale-out approach," where growing businesses can avert big investments up front in database systems and licenses; instead, they can get more database horsepower on an as-needed basis, with replicated servers on low-cost hardware.

Scaling Options
One such customer who bought the message is a case in point.

"By scaling-out with MySQL, we were able to add 3 million new users in less than a month," said Nat Brown, CTO of iLike. Brown's company is a Web-based, social music discovery service. Consumers get personalized recommendations and follow what their friends are listening to.

MySQL's approach was chosen because it was cheaper and easier, Brown told LinuxInsider.

"To handle the read load, you have the option of buying and upgrading a bigger and bigger server that can handle the volume of reads or replicating the database or a portion of it to multiple read-only slaves which handle the reads from many front end web servers," he said.

"We chose the latter -- it is cheaper, easier to maintain and repair, quite fault tolerant, and easy to scale by adding more web front ends and more slave databases using simple commodity hardware," he said.

Paying for Growth
Earlier on, the business was running the free open source version of MySQL; then iLike moved up as a paying customer for the Enterprise edition.

"We had begun hitting some scaling issues," Brown said, "and there were fixes we could use in future enterprise binaries which were not yet in the community releases."

The other deal-maker, he added, was his team's test-drive of the Enterprise edition's "dashboard" tools.

High-Volume Targets
MySQL, which bills itself as the world's most popular open source database, is clearly targeting similar organizations that need to power high-volume Web sites.

"Frankly, if users need the Rolls Royce of databases, they're probably already using and paying significant amounts for Oracle or DB2. We aim to be the Toyota or Honda," Curry said.

"We're developing a new market for modern, Web-based applications that need to manage high traffic and high growth," added Curry.

Jostling in the Wings
Don't expect MySQL to take center stage without some jostling, however, from contenders such as Ingres, another open source database vendor.

"Our business is steadily growing. We are gaining traction in a number of new markets," Deb Woods, Ingres vice president, product management, told LinuxInsider. "Customers who need a high performance optimizer, parallel queries, partitioning, and a strong backup and replication environment find Ingres to be a logical choice."

If MySQL is a contender for the most popular open source database title, Ingres is crafting its presence as the "information management" company.

"Ingres is an open source information management company and will continue to be so. We help customers manage their information whether it is in tracking airline tickets, managing payroll systems, providing BI solutions, or providing solutions for the healthcare industry," Woods said.

What Is the Difference Between Data Deduplication, File Deduplication, and Data Compression?

2007-09-06T14:27:00.000+05:30

Data deduplication is one of the hottest topics in storage. eWEEK IT expert W. Curtis Preston, vice president of Data Protection for Glasshouse Technologies, explains how it differs from other storage technologies.

Q: Can you explain the differences between compression, file deduplication and data deduplication?
A: All of these products fit into an overall market and technical concept, which is capacity optimization or data reduction. This refers to a broad group of products that seek to reduce the amount of data that has to be stored. Roughly speaking, you can rank these techniques by the amount of data reduction they yield. Compression might typically get you a 2-to-1 reduction. File deduplication, which is commonly known as content addressable storage or CAS, might yield a 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 reduction. But data deduplication—which is deduplication at the level of individual disk blocks or "chunks" rather than entire files—can often give you a 20-to-1 reduction or better, depending on the type of data. Remember, we're talking about the aggregate reduction in the total amount of data stored on your backup storage device, not necessarily the reduction in any particular file or block, which can vary considerably.

Q: Why is data deduplication so much more effective in reducing data than file deduplication?
A: Data deduplication examines all your data on the block level and eliminates redundant blocks. So obviously it will take care of entire files that are redundant, but unlike file deduplication it will also eliminate the redundant pieces that occur when many slightly different versions of the same file are created by users or by applications like Microsoft Exchange. If users have been e-mailing back and forth a PowerPoint file while making minor changes, you can end up storing 10 or 20 files whose content is 95 percent identical. Data deduplication will catch that.

Q: When should you use data deduplication and when should you use file deduplication?
A: A very short answer would be that file deduplication is often used for backup solutions in so-called ROBO environments (remote office, branch office). Data deduplication can be used either in the data center itself, as a software function installed on the intelligent disk target, or on the backup client side in a ROBO environment.

Q: Who are some of the more commonly used data deduplication vendors?
A: There are plenty of vendors, because data deduplication is a very hot area these days, especially now that the VTL (virtual tape library) vendors are getting involved. There is Avamar (acquired by EMC), Symantec Puredisk, Asigra, Data Domain, Diligent Technologies, Falconstor, Sepaton, Quantum. Network Appliance has a product in beta.

Q: Who are some of the more commonly used file deduplication or content addressable storage vendors?
A: EMC has the Centera product line. Then there is Archivas (recently acquired by Hitachi Data Systems) and Caringo.

Q: What accounts for the difference in yield between compression and file deduplication?
A: With compression you are using some algorithm or other to reduce the size of a particular file by eliminating redundant bits. But if your users or applications have stored the same file multiple times, then no matter how good your compression method is your backup storage will end up with multiple copies of the compressed files. File deduplication goes a step further and eliminates these redundant copies, storing only one. So it gives you more reduction than just compression alone.

Q: Where does delta block optimization fit in?
A: This is another capacity optimization technique. It's used by incremental remote backup products like Connected (acquired by Iron Mountain) and EVault (acquired by Seagate). When you go to back up the most recent version of a file that has already been backed up, the software looks at it and tries to figure which blocks are new. Then it writes only these blocks to backup and ignores the blocks in the file that haven't changed. But again, this technique has the same shortcoming compared with file deduplication as compression. If two users sitting in the same office have identical copies of the same file, then delta block optimization will create two identical backups instead of storing just one like file deduplication.

Are Open-Source Databases Ready for Production Applications?

2007-09-06T14:24:00.000+05:30

Open source in the enterprise is growing steadily, but for what applications? eWEEK IT expert Kevin Closson, chief software architect for PolyServe-HP, answers the question.

Q: Are open-source databases like PostgreSQL, Ingres and MySQL becoming serious alternatives to Oracle for enterprise applications?

A: Yes, more and more, depending on the application.

Oracle became the leading database in the 1990s because it ran better on high-end SMP Unix servers. But in those days most applications were still just dumb terminals talking to the big Unix box. So the database software had to be very sophisticated to perform well.

But in modern multi-tier applications you have a lot of intelligence in the application server tier and even in the browser on the user's desktop. If the database server goes down, all is not lost, because you have persistence in the front-end and the middle tier. After a certain delay you will be able to reconnect and finish your transaction.

In that situation it may not make sense any more to spend $40,000 or even $60,000 per license for a database like Oracle 10g when MySQL or Postgres or Ingres could do the job. They might not be good enough for a 911 emergency call center.

But if your application is a Web store that sells widgets, they might be fine. Given the high MTBF [mean time between failure] on the servers and disks that are available now, you might only get one or two unplanned outages per year, and for many small or mid-size businesses, that is perfectly acceptable.

But today I see even high-end IT shops asking these questions, too.

IT Workers Second-Guess Career Choice

2007-09-06T14:20:00.000+05:30

Analysis: In general, IT workers are feeling unsettled about the state of the IT workplace.

Though it has come a long way from the gloom-and-doom days of the dot-com bust, the state of the IT workplace isn't shiny and happy.

If you ask an IT pro what they think of their chosen career path, a surprising number might pause before giving you a litany of reasons that the technology workplace leaves them feeling unsettled.

They love what they do, but they're not sure IT is a great place to be doing it anymore. Even worse, they're not sure that they would encourage their own computer-inclined children to pursue the same line of work.

Fortunately, this isn't the case for everyone. Several reports point to the vigor of the IT job market, the overall health of the U.S. IT sector, the preponderance of bright students in the talent pipeline and soaring salaries in some sub sectors.

Yet, good news can only go so far to undo the damage wrought by some cold, hard IT workplace facts.

No matter how many stories crop up in which CIOs confess "outsourcing didn't work for me," the trend toward the commoditizing of IT and development work, not to mention sending IT overseas to save money, shows little sign of letting up.

Will their jobs be next? IT workers worry everyday. Technology company CEOs predicted that their use of offshore services would increase over the next several years, according to a 2007 CEO Survey released by Deloitte, a Swiss company, on May 1.

Nearly half (45 percent) of the respondents stated that they were currently offshoring and 55 percent said they planned to in the coming years, so much so that nearly one-third expected to have 10 percent of their work force offshore in five years time.

The good news on the offshoring front is a little more difficult to track down, but it mostly involves senators stepping forward to offer protection to victims of the global talent market and coming down on firms that abet companies that disregard protections for U.S. workers.

However, as long as outsourcing lays down onshore and nearshore roots, its not likely that IT professionals will be feeling any extra job security.

Is there a shortage of IT professionals? Is there not? It depends on who you talk to. Yet if you speak to enough people, one message becomes clear: There is a shortage, but it's of workers with the most highly sought-after skill sets. Everyone else is having a harder time finding work.

In a way, there are two IT work forces: those whose salaries and opportunities climb due to head-turning percentiles each year, and those whose skill sets are left behind, and whose heads spin when they read another account of the "vibrant health" of IT.

In the first category, there is a shortage. Companies scramble to find IT workers with SAP skills or project management skills, and end up paying premium prices for them. In the latter category, those having trouble finding work are often not able to find the companies looking for them, which are often small and lack the resources of a big tech HR department. In both categories, the luck of the draw seems to reign supreme.

Any person not living under a rock has watched the writing appear on the wall: Housing prices are falling into a crisis zone; the credit market is collapsing; the Fed even cut the discount rate. It could only be a matter of time before this recession takes its toll on IT workers, a population still scarred from the dot-com bust.

A recession seems to be looming for the U.S. economy this fall, and no matter how many glowing reports about the IT job market are released, the slipping economy will inevitably have its way with IT professionals.

The view isn't much brighter from the top. A report released Aug. 30 by ExecuNet, an executive recruiting firm in Norwalk, Conn., evidenced the dovetailing of confidence in the executive employee market since the spring. The confidence rate is down to 55 percent from 80 percent in April.

As user technology advances by leaps and bounds, logic stands that this would make the jobs of IT professionals easier. In reality, this is not the case: For IT pros, technology advances mean more security risks, more demands on their time and more to worry about.

Driven by the consumerization of technology, the effectiveness of centralized IT has slipped, argued an Aug. 6 report by the Yankee Group, as 50 percent of employees reported that their personal technology was more advanced than their workplace's technology.

The report reasoned that that IT could either ban employee technology, creating an endless game of whack-a-mole, or they could manage both the technology and the rogue employee.

While analysts agreed that the latter had the potential to improve long-term internal customer satisfaction, there is little doubt that IT professionals know that the IT care co-op model is just more work for them.

A July 30 article in the Wall Street Journal on the topic of IT limitations of employee technology took more of a guerrilla warfare approach, providing readers with a how-to manual to make an end-run around the IT department, and painting IT pros as control freaks.

While IT professionals raged against the article, others took a more forward-reaching approach.

This quieter minority reasoned that because users already know how to use Google to find out how to circumvent their technology regulations, smart IT departments should take steps to bridge the gap between what users want and what they knew is safe.

If the dot-com bust was the first nail in the IT work force's coffin and offshore outsourcing the second, the decline in student enrollments in computer science programs and a dearth of qualified candidates may just be the third. Worse yet, many IT professionals admit that they don't feel comfortable ushering their own children down a career path so fraught with land mines.

Recruiters facing difficulties finding the right IT candidate for a job bemoan the fact that after the dot-com boom parents told their kids not to go into technology and haven't changed their message since. Yet the issue runs deeper than parents disregarding that IT may be back and healthier than ever.

"The shine is off the apple," one told eWEEK. "Outsourcing… H-1Bs… the commoditization of the IT workforce. Other career paths seem a safer bet."

Microsoft fails to win global standard approval

2007-09-06T14:17:00.000+05:30

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Microsoft Corp (Charts, Fortune 500). has failed in a first step to win enough support to make the data format behind its flagship Office software a global standard, the International Standards Organization said Tuesday.

This weekend's vote by national standards agencies from 104 nations did not provide the two-thirds majority needed to give Microsoft's format the ISO stamp of approval. But they will meet again in February to try to seek a consensus, and Microsoft could win them over at last.

ISO approval for Microsoft's Open Office XML would encourage governments and libraries to recognize the format for archiving documents, which in turn could help ensure that people using different technologies in the future could still open and read documents written today in Open Office XML.

Approval of its system as a standard would also help Microsoft tamp down competition from the OpenDocument Format, created by open source developers and pushed by such Microsoft rivals as IBM Corp. (Charts, Fortune 500)

Massachusetts state government stirred huge interest in the matter when it advocated saving official documents for long-term storage in the nonproprietary ODF format. That prompted Microsoft to seek recognition of Open XML by the global standards body.

The company has offered to license Open Office XML for free to anyone who wants to build products that access information stored in Office documents.

It claims the format is richer than ODF because, being based on XML computer language, it can store the layout of spreadsheets and legal documents created with Office 2007.

But Shane Coughlan of the Free Software Foundation Europe, a group of open source developers, questioned whether Open Office XML would truly live up to its name and be open to all.

Coughlan said it was unclear whether some of the code requires Microsoft's permission to be used. "It is important that everyone owns their data, that access does not depend on any one company," he said. "Any serious corporation or government should be dubious about using it if the legality is unclear."

Publishing an open standard means it will be available to everyone, a sort of Rosetta stone that makes sure the key documents of today -- whether they be legal texts, novels-in-progress or accounting spreadsheets -- don't become unreadable hieroglyphics to future generations.

Despite losing the initial round of voting with ISO, Microsoft was confident of future success, saying many of the ISO members that did not vote for the format said they would do so when certain criticisms have been addressed.

"This preliminary vote is a milestone for the widespread adoption of the Open XML formats around the world for the benefit of millions of customers," said Microsoft's general manager for interoperability, Tom Robertson. "We believe that the final tally in early 2008 will result in the ratification of Open XML as an ISO standard."

According to ISO, Microsoft had 53 percent of the votes in favor -- instead of the 66 percent it needed.

The ISO process is essentially a debate that tries to fix outstanding problems so a format can win sufficient support. But Coughlan said Microsoft's heavy lobbying for Open Office XML had showed that ISO selection needs to be reviewed to make sure one voice could not shout louder than others.

Coughlan and others have alleged that Microsoft unduly influenced the industry committees that advise national standards bodies on ISO votes.

Race for ‘next big thing’ in Silicon Valley

2007-09-06T14:15:00.000+05:30

Silicon Valley’s annual coming-out season for tech start-ups is about to turn into a stampede.

In the next few weeks, the wraps will be removed from some 150 new companies and products at a handful of events in California competing to identify the tech industry’s Next Big Thing.

The race to find the Valley’s hottest new idea reflects growing investor interest triggered by the high prices paid for recent internet start-ups such as YouTube, as well as the increasingly fierce Darwinian struggle among the newcomers to get noticed.

The large number of companies formed around hot trends such as web search, social networking and online video has added spice to the importance of the autumn events, according to entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

“At this stage of the frothiness, it’s extremely difficult to get attention,” says Munjal Shah, founder of Like.com, an image search engine.

“The capital cost of starting a business today is very low,” says Chris Shipley, producer of Demo, one of the first tech events. “We’re seeing a lot of ideas make it from the spare bedroom to a showcase or the marketplace very quickly.”

Like.com was the sole start-up featured two years ago at a party thrown by Mike Arrington, whose widely read TechCrunch blog has made him the Valley’s latest kingmaker.

For his first formal conference this month, Mr Arrington has just doubled the number of companies presenting to 40 because, according to his website, there are “just too many strong start-ups”.

Other events that hope to unveil hot companies and products in the coming weeks include the Web 2.0 conference, the event that gave its name to the latest wave of online innovation, and Demo, which has expanded to two events a year.

The scramble for attention is another symptom of Silicon Valley’s latest start-up boom. The amount of venture capital being invested in the US is at its highest level since 2001 and it has led to a rash of “me-too” companies.

The flood of copycat companies is a sign of the over-heated phase of the investment cycle, according to observers.

However, for most of those that make it to the big showcase events, the attention from being in the spotlight is likely to be fleeting.

Being named “the coolest, hottest thing” can produce a “drug-induced traffic high” as users rush to try out the latest websites.

Once that initial surge of interest falls off, the hard work of building a lasting business really begins.

Japan to fight Google search dominance

2007-09-06T14:14:00.000+05:30

Tokyo, alarmed by the global dominance of Google and other foreign internet services, is spearheading a project to try to seize the lead in new search technologies for electronic devices.

The push has been sparked by concerns in Japan that the country’s pre-eminence in consumer electronics has faded and value in the technology industry is moving away from hardware.

As South Korean and Taiwanese electronics companies churn out products nearly identical to those of the Japanese majors, there are fears in Tokyo that the country’s manufacturers are falling behind in innovation.

“The question is how Japanese companies like Sharp and Matsushita can be encouraged to provide services. They clearly have the know-how to build things,” says Toshihide Yahiro, director of the information service industry division at the ministry of trade. “The key to Japan’s competitiveness has been our core technology but we need to create a new value-added service that is personalised.”

The shift of focus away from hardware echoes attempts by some of the biggest personal technology companies to become stronger in software and services. In one of the most prominent examples, Nokia last week outlined plans for an online music store and other services.

Tokyo hopes to use Japan’s strength in developing devices, such as mobile phones and car navigation systems, to create proprietary search and information retrieval functions. But some question whether a state-led project is capable of overhauling Google.

The Japanese project is comprised of 10 partnerships, each tasked with a specific next-generation search function. For example, the government has matched NTT Data with Toyota InfoTechnology Center and Toyota Mapmaster to create an interactive, personalised car navigation system. Other partnerships involve NEC, Hitachi and Sony Computer Science Laboratories. The ministry of trade has allocated Y14bn-Y15bn (€89m-€95m) to the project.

“Seventy per cent of car navigation systems are made in Japan. There is scope for more personalization,” says Mr Yahiro. “There is a need for car navigation systems that are capable of searching for which bathrooms are equipped with baby-changing stations and other necessities.”

Some blame Japan’s copyright laws for holding back the development of web services. Services such as Google hold copies of other companies’ web pages on their servers. Because Japanese law forbids the duplication of copyrighted works without the rights holders’ permission, Yahoo Japan, Google Japan and other search engines offered in Japan operate from US-based servers.

The specific focus on search reflects the prominence that this service has achieved since the rise of Google, while also reflecting broader international concerns about US dominance of an important information business.

France and Germany launched a plan of their own to seed development of a “next generation” European search engine nearly two years ago, though Germany pulled out of the plan.

Source

Computer Scientists Take the “Why” out of WiFi

2007-09-06T14:10:00.000+05:30

Why isn’t my wireless working? Is yours? – Computer Scientists Respond

“People expect WiFi to work, but there is also a general understanding that it’s just kind of flakey,” said Stefan Savage, one of the UCSD computer science professors who led development of an automated, enterprise-scale WiFi troubleshooting system for UCSD’s computer science building. The system is described in a paper presented last week in Kyoto, Japan at ACM SIGCOMM, one of the world’s premier networking conferences.

“If you have a wireless problem in our building, our system automatically analyzes the behavior of your connection – each wireless protocol, each wired network service and the many interactions between them. In the end, we can say ‘it’s because of this that your wireless is slow or has stopped working’ – and we can tell you immediately,” said Savage.

For humans, diagnosing problems in the now ubiquitous 802.11-based wireless access networks requires a huge amount of data, expertise and time. In addition to the myriad complexities of the wired network, wireless networks face the additional challenges of shared spectrum, user mobility and authentication management. Finally, the interaction between wired and wireless networks is itself a source of many problems.

“Wireless networks are hooked on to the wired part of the Internet with a bunch of ‘Scotch tape and bailing wire’ – protocols that really weren’t designed for WiFi,” explained Savage. “If one of these components has a glitch, you may not be able to use the Internet even though the network itself is working fine.”

There are so many moving pieces, so many things you can not see. Within this soup, everything has to work just right. When it doesn’t, trying to identify which piece wasn’t working is tough and requires sifting through a lot of data. For example, someone using the microwave oven two rooms away may cause enough interference to disrupt your connection.

“Today, if you ask your network administrator why it takes minutes to connect to the network or why your WiFi connection is slow, they’re unlikely to know the answer,” explained Yu-Chung Cheng, a computer science Ph.D. student at UCSD and lead author on the paper. “Many problems are transient – they’re gone before you can even get an admin to look at them – and the number of possible reasons is huge,” explained Cheng, who recently defended his dissertation and will join Google this fall.

“Few organizations have the expertise, data or tools to decompose the underlying problems and interactions responsible for transient outages or performance degradations,” the authors write in their SIGCOMM paper.

The computer scientists from UCSD’s Jacobs School of Engineering presented a set of modeling techniques for automatically characterizing the source of such problems. In particular, they focus on data transfer delays unique to 802.11 networks – media access dynamics and mobility management latency.

The UCSD system runs 24 hours a day, constantly churning through the flood of data relevant to the wireless network and catching transient problems.

“We’ve created a virtual wireless expert who is always at work,” said Cheng.

Within the UCSD Computer Science building, all the wireless help-desk issues go through the new automated system, which has been running for about 9 months. The data collection has been going on for almost 2 years.

One of the big take-away lessons is that there is no one thing that affects wireless network performance. Instead, there are a lot of little things that interact and go wrong in ways you might not anticipate.

“I look at this as an engineering effort. In the future, I think that enterprise wireless networks will have sophisticated diagnostics and repair capabilities built in. How much these will draw from our work is hard to tell today. You never know the impact you are going to have when you do the work,” said Savage. “In the meantime, our system is the ultimate laboratory for testing new wireless gadgets and new approaches to building wireless systems. We just started looking at WiFi-based Voice-Over-IP (VOIP) phones. We learn something new every week.”

Source

The State of the Desktop

2007-09-06T14:07:00.000+05:30

The desktop computer market is facing a replenishment phase. Continued purchases of desktop PCs will be primarily made by existing desktop owners who need to upgrade their hardware, though more and more frequently, those consumers will seriously consider and in fact decide to spend their money on a fully powered laptop instead.

The laptop computer has been gaining on traditional desktop PCs for some time. Replacing one's desktop completely with a portable computer that has enough power to handle any common task is now a feasible option for consumers, and more are heading that direction. Laptops are siphoning off sales Email Marketing Software - Free Demo of desktops.

As more and more customers look to smaller computing solutions, desktops are undergoing a transition. With many models, manufacturers are turning away from big, clunky, energy-hogging boxes to smaller, thinner and more energy efficient solutions.

The desktop computer market is facing a replenishment phase. Continued purchases of desktop PCs will be primarily made by existing desktop owners who need to upgrade their hardware, though more and more frequently, those consumers will seriously consider and in fact decide to spend their money on a fully powered laptop instead, according to industry analysts.

"Customers want the best use of their dollar for the PC they buy. We've addressed customer pain points with ergonomic designs. Companies are starting to question if they need all the bells and whistles. Customers want to buy the right system Stay on budget with simple to install HP server technology. and forget it for three or four years and then replace it again," Tom Tobul, executive director of emerging products marketing at computer maker Lenovo Latest News about Lenovo, told TechNewsWorld.
Shrinking Stateside Market

About a decade ago, computer manufacturers had few new roads to explore, having sold PCs to nearly all of the 850 million people worldwide who wanted and could afford a machine, according to Stephen Dukker, chairman of NComputing and former CEO of Emachines. Citing a Gartner (NYSE: IT) Latest News about Gartner Research report, Dukker said there is a potential for 755 million new computer users who can't afford desktops as they are priced today.

"The desktop market has not been growing until recently with the rise of developing countries," Dukker told TechNewsWorld.

A shrinking list of PC makers is voraciously pursing these potential foreign buyers, thinning out the amount of available sales. However, some manufacturers are seeing signs of renewed interest over new desktop sales.

Learning Desktops
One of the biggest developing PC markets in the U.S. is education, according to Dukker. It represents 15 to 17 percent, based on one computer for every five students. So there are lots of new users waiting for a product they can afford to buy, he noted.

By far, however, the best hope for tapping into a steady stream of new customers for desktop computers lies in foreign markets, other PC makers assert.

"We are seeing some resurgence of desktop opportunity in the U.S. market. [Compare that to a] 38 percent market share for desktops in China," countered Tobul. "We are also seeing very positive growth in India."
Desktop Greenery

Desktop manufacturers are facing a double-edged sword. While the desktop market sloughs through a replenishing phase, companies are discovering that green PC initiatives -- efforts to make computers that require less electricity to run -- are increasing the costs.

"Green PCs use less power and give more performance," Steve Bulling, senior product manager for professional desktops and displays for Gateway (NYSE: GTW), told TechNewsWorld.

For instance, new technologies are reducing power specifications for desktop PCs from 95 watts to 60 watts while still maintaining performance, he explained.

Related to the green PC influences are shifting attitudes over outfitting every computer user with top-of-the-line performance. There is a growing viewpoint in corporate management circles that few workers need maximum features and power to do their jobs, Bulling said.

"Consumers are starting to want smaller form factors and are becoming receptive to energy efficiency with the ability to put the box under the desk or behind other items on the desk surface," suggested Bulling.

Desktop Trends
There will always be users who need tall towers with maximum computing power, conceded Tobul. Still, Lenovo and other desktop manufacturers are developing new designs from the ground up, he said.

One focus is on acoustics, for example. This includes new boxes to better integrate with a worker's cubicle environment and meet new concerns over thermal and physical footprints and energy efficiency, he explained.

A growing acceptance of the Linux operating system over a forced upgrade to Windows Vista may also impact on desktop trends, Bulling predicted. First, though, IT managers have to want to change, which is not happening yet in large numbers because many are generally content with existing applications.

"We are starting to see more use of Linux, but still a ways off. We may start to see more movement towards Linux on the desktop with reduced hardware needs once companies have to decide about upgrading to Vista, because XP support ends in a few years," he said.
New Products

"People have to consider trade-offs. Computer makers have to make desktops more sellable for the small- to medium-sized business market," Tobul said.

To that end, Lenovo is planning a major new desktop announcement regarding its ThinkCentre line in a few weeks. Tobul declined to discuss specifics other than saying the new line combines form factors and design features totally new to the ThinkCentre line.

Consumers may expect similar desktop line adjustments from other desktop PC makers over the next year.

Courting Innovation
Perhaps one of the more radical changes in the desktop computing concept is a solution developed by NComputing. It reinvents an older concept based on the thin client model. Its goal is to reduce the cost of buying multiple desktop computers.

"Emachine took the (US)$800 PC and sold it for $400. That was the last major expansion in user base. People still pay today about $700. The cost to build hasn't changed. Only the performance has changed," Dukker explained.

By comparison, today's PCs are supercomputers with 1,000 times more power than 10 years ago, he said. Now PC makers have to worry about a trend for all applications going to the Web.

"Nobody can make any money selling desktops. The margin is 6 percent. There is so little money that Emachines had to sell out to a competitor in a similar fashion to Compaq being absorbed by HP," Dukker said.

A Different Take
Dukker's desktop solution is a new twist on the thin client concept. However, the term "thin client" is not something he likes to use to describe his desktop alternative, he said.

The product uses two components. One is software for a terminal server running six or seven Linux distros and Windows. The other is the hardware device itself, consisting of a keyboard, a mouse, a flat display screen, speakers and a connection bridge to a standard base computer.

The X Series connects through a hardware connection up to 30 feet from a shared PC. The network card can support up to seven users. It does not require separate virtualization Learn how SAN/iQ technology works with VMware. software because the chip that handles the process lives on the network card in the shared desktop PC.

It draws only 1.5 watts of power per user and can be powered from the base PC much like a USB Latest News about USB interface powers the USB device. It costs $11 to build, and Dukker sells the system for $70 per seat.

The L Series, which costs $35 to build and sells for $149 per seat, uses an Ethernet connection to a remote Manage remotely with one interface -- the HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server. server. It can be used much like a standalone unit anywhere that has access to a wired broadband connection to the server. Up to 30 L series terminals can run on seven $800 desktop computers to give each tethered user a full PC experience, Dukker said.

Cost Reduction
Power consumption for the L Series is 6 watts. Compared to the standard 200 watts that powers a desktop PC, at 8 cents per kilowatt hour, NComputing's solution can pay for itself in 18 months, according to Dukker.

Neither model has a hard drive for program or data storage. The X Series has a USB port on the network card that allows the user of the thin client to connect to an external storage device via a long cable. The L Series has a USB port at the thin client location.

In both cases the USB external device can be seen by the shared PC. The thin client can also see the internal hard drive of the shared PC.

MS Says Vista SP1 Is Almost Baked

2007-09-06T14:04:00.000+05:30

Microsoft talked up Vista Service Pack 1 on a company blog Wednesday, promising a beta version in the next few weeks and a full version in Q1 of next year. The first service pack of a Microsoft operating system represents a milestone of sorts, as some businesses use the occasion as a signal to begin enterprise-wide deployment of the latest OS.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft on Wednesday announced details and a timeframe for the release of Vista's first service pack, giving a heads-up to businesses waiting on information needed to plan possible deployment of the company's latest operating system Stay on budget with simple to install HP server technology..

"Now is the time and the time is now: Let's talk about Windows Service Pack 1 (SP1)," Nick White, Vista product manager, wrote on the Windows Vista Blog. "Much has been made of what will or will not be included in SP1 and when it will be released -- some accurate, some otherwise.

"I'm here to set the story straight: We're in the process of developing and deploying a beta version of SP1," he continued.

Missed Anniversary
The Redmond, Wa.-based company said it will release a beta version of the Vista service pack in "a few weeks." The final version of Vista SP1, Microsoft said, should be available during the first quarter of 2008.

The scheduled release of SP1 is late and should have been available at the latest by November, Michael Silver, an analyst at Gartner (NYSE: IT) Latest News about Gartner, told TechNewsWorld.

"It would have been nice if it could have been available for the 11/30 enterprise availability anniversary," he stated.

Circle of Life
For PC users and IT managers, service packs have become regular milestones in the life of a Windows operating system. They are, according to White, part of Microsoft's "commitment to continuous improvement." For Windows XP, the company released two service packs, each of which contained significant alterations and enhancements to the software.

While consumers look forward to service packs to fix pesky glitches in their applications, desktop managers have been anxious for Microsoft to make a Windows Vista SP1 announcement because it directly affects their plans for deploying a new operating system, Benjamin Gray, a Forrester Research analyst, told TechNewsWorld.

"Regardless of whether this is justified or not, experience tells desktop managers to not deploy a new Windows operating system until SP1," he said.

Kicking Enterprises Into Action
This, he continued, has proven particularly true with Windows Vista not only because of the ever-expanding number of devices and applications needing certification but also due to the importance of said applications. Vista has had compatibility issues with applications, including virtual private networking (VPN) and antivirus applications.

"A few major software vendors have been somewhat sluggish to get their enterprise-class applications certified for Vista," he explained. "So what good is a new OS if, for example, the VPN connection doesn't work for remote access or the antivirus software can't run?"

Since Vista's launch, more than 70 major enterprise software makers have released applications compatible with Vista, including Adobe, Citrix, Oracle, Sun, HP, LANDesk and IBM, according to Microsoft. SP1 will also include support for technologies such as flash memory storage Learn how SAN/iQ technology works with VMware. and consumer devices that will use the exFAT file system, support for Secure Digital (SD) Advanced Direct Memory Access (DMA) as well as support for Direct3D 10.1

"SP1 is technically important because it will add support for emerging technologies, devices and standards and will address some early end-user feedback, but it's also symbolically significant for enterprises that have temporarily held off evaluating or deploying Vista," Gray pointed out. "After SP1 starts shipping by the major OEMs in Q1, I expect full-scale enterprise adoption to really kick off in mid-2008 -- in line with the natural PC refresh cycle of enterprises."

The Big WU
Technology and tools included in Vista, however, have slightly altered what Microsoft includes in its service packs and when they are deployed. With the addition of the new Windows Update (WU) tool Free white paper on customer satisfaction metrics. Click here., the software maker no longer relies exclusively on its SPs as the primary method to disseminate system fixes and enhancements.

Instead, Microsoft can use the WU online service to deliver system repairs and other improvements. The new system alleviates the waiting game many enterprises and home users had to withstand as the company rolled its corrections into a single service pack. On Wednesday, Microsoft released an update using WU to improve two separate fixes to bump up Vista's reliability and performance.

"WU makes service packs less important because many important updates will be available long before the SP," Gartner's Silver noted. "But SPs are still important because they mark when the clock starts ticking for the end of support of the previous SP."

With mainstream deployment of the OS already underway, Silver said, it will pick-up after the release of SP1. "Most organizations will still need a few months to test the SP and integrate it into the process."
Upping Quality

Among the improvements included in the upcoming SP security Webroot AntiSpyware 30-Day Free Trial. Click here., reliability and performance are top priorities.

Users frustrated with Vista's sometimes sluggish performance may see a boost after installing the SP. It's designed to improve the speed of extracting and copying files and shorten the time needed to switch from "Hibernate" and "Resume" modes to become active. Domain-joined PCs will function more quickly when operating off the domain.

Surfing the Internet will take on new speed with improvements to Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Vista with the reduction of CPU (central processing unit) utilization and increasing JavaScript parsing speed. Notebook battery life will also receive a bump up as CPU utilization is reduced by not redrawing the screen as frequently on certain computers.

On the security front, SP1 will provide security software vendors with a more secure method to communicate with Windows Security Center. It will include application programming interfaces (APIs) by which third-party security and malicious software detection applications can work with kernel patch protection on x64 versions of Vista. The API, Microsoft said, will help ISVs develop software that extends the functionality of the Windows kernel on x64 computers without disabling or weakening the protection offered by kernel patch protection.

SP1 will also improve the security of running RemoteApp programs and desktops by allowing Remote Desktop Protocol files to be signed, thus allowing users to differentiate user experiences based on the publisher's identity.

In terms of reliability, Microsoft said it continues to look at some of the most common causes of crashes and hangs in order to give users a more consistent experience. In this category, many of the planned improvements will specifically address issues identified in feedback provided by the Windows Error Reporting tool.

The service pack, Microsoft said, will improve reliability and compatibility of the OS when used with cutting-edge graphics cards in several scenarios and configurations as well as bump up reliability in networking configuration scenarios and for systems upgraded from Windows XP to Vista. Laptops used in conjunction with external displays will be more reliable as well. Vista will provide more compatibility with printer drivers. SP1 will also increase reliability and performance as the OS moves from sleep to active use and vice versa, according to Microsoft.

IBM Takes Baby Steps Toward Atomic-Level Data Storage

2007-09-06T14:02:00.000+05:30

Researchers at IBM said research into the magnetic properties of atoms has uncovered ways to possibly create electronics on an extremely small scale. Theoretically, such research could pave the way to dramatically minimizing storage space. The entire library of YouTube, for instance, could exist on a device the size of an iPod. That sort of technology, though, is decades away at best.

In two big breakthroughs on the smallest scale, IBM (NYSE: IBM) Latest News about IBM researchers say they've made discoveries about the nature of individual atoms and molecules that could someday lead to dramatic improvements in computing and other consumer technologies.

In Friday's edition of the journal Science, the nanotechnology researchers report they have discovered new ways to measure the magnetic properties of individual atoms and also how to use a single atomic molecule like a miniature electronic switch, such as those found in computer chips Latest News about computer chips.

It could be decades -- if ever -- before devices based on the technology are available. However, the researchers say the discoveries could be key to developing new types of semiconductors and data storage devices.

All of YouTube on an iPod
Using atoms or clusters of atoms to store data magnetically, for instance, could allow a device the size of an iPod to store nearly 30,000 feature-length movies or the entire contents of the YouTube Latest News about YouTube video-sharing Web site.

Using single molecules to replace integrated circuits on computer chips could help usher in another new age of ever-smaller computers, cell phones or other electronics.

"We are working at the ultimate edge of what is possible --- and we are now one step closer to figuring out how to store data at the atomic level," Gian-Luca Bona, manager of science and technology at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif., said in a statement.

Using a special scanning tunneling microscope, IBM researchers were able to arrange individual iron atoms on a copper surface and measure their magnetic properties.

In doing so, they took a step toward being able to manipulate such atoms to represent a "1" or a "0" -- the basis for magnetic storage Learn how SAN/iQ technology works with VMware. and digital data today.

Decades Out
IBM researchers in Switzerland, meanwhile, say they've determined how to use molecules formed from hydrogen atoms as logic switches, much like the "gates" used in today's integrated computer circuits to turn electric currents on and off.

Creating molecule-sized gates could let semiconductor engineers design ever-smaller microprocessors, the "brains" of any electronic device.

IBM researcher Cyrus Hirjibehedin said if IBM's new technology makes it out of the lab and into real-world production, it could be a decade or more before devices at such small scale and with such storage capacity hit the market.

Given the pace of existing technologies, though, it would take as much as five decades to reach similar levels, he said.

Microsoft Adds Linux Concession to Silverlight Release

2007-09-06T14:00:00.000+05:30

Microsoft and Novell are working together to develop a Linux version of the Silverlight video plug-in, which is slated as a contender to Adobe's Flash. Redmond, which has historically been no friend of the open source movement, is increasingly sharing with the community, said Miguel de Icaza, lead Mono project developer and Novell vice president of developer platforms.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft on Wednesday announced that its cross-browser plug-in, Silverlight will eventually appear on Linux.

Silverlight, a challenge to Adobe's (Nasdaq: ADBE) Latest News about Adobe Flash, means Microsoft will have to convince Web users they can really "light up the Web," with Silverlight, as the ad copy states, and view high-quality video.

The announcement was paired with news that Microsoft has partnered with Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) Latest News about Novell to produce a future release of a Silverlight Linux version, dubbed Moonlight, which should be available in about six months.
No Zero-Sum Game

The collaboration goes against the perceived "zero-sum game mentality" that has gone on between free software and Microsoft camps, Miguel de Icaza, lead Mono project developer and Novell vice president of developer platforms, told LinuxInsider.

Novell-supported Mono has been working on the Moonlight implementation.

"We should be working together," de Icaza said. He called the collaboration between Microsoft and Novell developers historic.

"I think historically, the birth of Linux and the creation of a completely free operating system Stay on budget with simple to install HP server technology. was positioned by the press and the world as being a zero-sum game between Microsoft and the free software world," he said.

"Folks presented Linux as the operating system that would destroy Microsoft. The reality is that this is not a zero-sum game, that we can all grow the market together."

De Icaza pointed to Microsoft's steps toward collaborations. "They are starting to open source fairly important projects and starting to adopt open source collaboration practices, IronRuby, for example," he said, pointing to the .NET implementation of the Ruby programming language, which Microsoft is developing under the Microsoft Permissive License.

Desktop Linux

The "Moonlight" Linux announcement, though, is a first, he told LinuxInsider. "This was the first time that Microsoft would put a significant set of resources into making a product that would directly benefit Linux on the desktop."

Novell, nonetheless, see challenges. Collaborations with Microsoft are easily taken in a positive light by corporate customers, said Justin Steinman, marketing Email Marketing Software - Free Demo director for open platform solutions at Novell.

"When we talk about making directories, virtualization Learn how SAN/iQ technology works with VMware., and documents communicate across Windows and Linux, they like that," he said. "At the same time, there are some in the community who don't like our agreement with Microsoft. So that's made our communications challenges with the community more difficult."

Novell's Goal
Novell's Linux goal and Microsoft collaborations worked hand in hand, Steinman said. "We are increasing Linux adoption and making it work better with Windows. Our overarching goal is interoperability. That's what customers want. And we're delivering that."

The more applications on Linux, the more attractive it becomes, Steinman stated.

"I would argue that the announcement around Moonlight is very much supportive of an open information world," he said.

Nokia Opens Doors to the Internet

2007-09-04T11:25:00.002+05:30

In a paradigm shift, Nokia today introduced 'Ovi', its new Internet services brand name.

'Ovi' means 'door' in Finnish, and promises to enable consumers easily access their existing social networks, communities, and content.

As part of 'Ovi', Nokia has announced the Nokia Music Store, N-Gage, and Nokia Maps. As such, 'Ovi' at http://www.ovi.com will act as the gateway to all of these Internet services.

It will be an open door to Web communities, enabling people access their content, communities, and contacts from a single place, either directly from a compatible Nokia device, or from a PC.

The first version of Ovi.com is slated to go live in English during Q4 2007, with additional features and languages expected to go live during the first half of 2008.

Part of 'Ovi', the Nokia Music Store at http://music.nokia.com will offer millions of tracks from major artists, and independent labels, as well as local artists, available only through Nokia.

The store can be accessed via a desktop computer, or directly from a compatible Nokia device such as the Nokia N81 or Nokia N95 8GB multimedia computer.

Consumers will be able to browse for new music, buy what they want, or add a song to their wish-list to download later. They will also be able to transfer purchased songs to their mobile devices. With the built-in music player, they will be able to create playlists on the go and manage their music collection.

The store will open across key European markets this fall, with additional stores in Europe and Asia opening over the coming months.

In Europe, individual tracks will cost 1 euro and albums will be upwards of 10 euros, with a monthly subscription for PC streaming of 10 euros.

Also part of 'Ovi', N-Gage will offer an easy way to find, try, and buy great quality games directly from compatible Nokia devices.

By selecting the N-Gage application on compatible Nokia devices, users will be able to preview available games, connect with friends, read reviews, or download free demos.

Games can be bought either with a credit card, or by charging to the user's monthly phone bill. Electronic Arts, Gameloft, etc, are making some of their big brands available through N-Gage.

The application is expected to be available for download at http://www.n-gage.com in November 2007.

Meanwhile, Nokia Maps, as the name suggests, will offer maps, city guides, and more directly to compatible mobile devices.

Commenting on Nokia's shift from mobile to Internet services, Olli Pekka Kallasvuo, president and chief executive officer of Nokia, said that the industry is converging towards an Internet-driven experience, and that 'Ovi' represents Nokia's vision in combining the Internet with mobility.

Microsoft to acquire group chat provider Parlano

2007-09-04T11:25:00.001+05:30

Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday it will buy a small Chicago-based technology company and add its group-chat software to a broad vision for integrated office communications programs.

Microsoft and Parlano did not disclose financial details of the deal but said they expect it to close in October. Executives for the two companies said they do not yet know if any of Parlano's staff will be laid off, or if the company will relocate to Redmond, Wash., where Microsoft is based.

Parlano, a seven-year-old company with 50 employees, makes the MindAlign group chat program, which lets users log on to a permanent chat room and send messages in real time, or search through an archive of the conversation later.

Microsoft has been working to integrate software for e-mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, office and mobile phones. Under this ''unified communications'' vision, PC users will be able to see whether the person they want to contact is available by IM but not by phone, for example, or move seamlessly from an e-mail to an IM conversation to a video chat.

One of the key pieces of software, Office Communications Server 2007, is slated to launch Oct. 16.

Call centre workers often frustrated and under stress

2007-09-04T11:20:00.001+05:30

The phone rings off the hook, callers are often in foul moods and the pressure to end the call as quickly as possible is enormous. Work in a call centre can be stressful. Call centre agents can expect to field between 50 and 200 calls a day, many of them in the evening. Many people complain of health problems. On top of that comes time pressure, bad work environments and low salaries.

"But it's a field that's exploding," says Erich Welthe, head of the ver.di Service Workers Union in Neubrandenburg-Greifswald. In the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania alone, around 13,000 people are employed in call centres, selling products, taking complaints or conducting surveys.

"The working conditions are difficult," says Welthe. Gross pay is between 5-6.5 euros ($7-9) an hour. But with only 30 hours a week, most employees rarely manage to scrape 800 euros together a month.

"Most call centre agents have to round off their income with state support."

But its not just the low pay that annoys Welthe. The hours of work are unacceptable, he bemoans.

Working conditions in call centres leave a lot to be desired, says labour economist Bernd Bienzeisler of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering in Stuttgart. Large rooms with 150 workers are standard.

"It's very stressful work. People can't be expected to be on the telephone for more than four hours consecutively."

Mental stress also runs high. "Call centres stipulate how long it should take to solve a customer's problem," explains Bienzeisler. Agents are often expected to solve a problem within 90 seconds. But customers can be frustrated and vent their anger on the agents.

Around 30,000 workers are employed in call centres across Germany, and the numbers are growing. Bienzeisler says no training is required to become an agent. Many of those employed in call centres are housewives or students trying to earn a little on the side.

"But now there's a trend towards qualified personnel, who have experience in the field," he says.
The high number of sick days call centre employees clock up indicates the enormous pressure exerted on them.

Last year, around 5.75 percent of workers with AOK, Germany's biggest health insurance company, called in sick, says Klaus Pelster, deputy director at the Institute for Advancement of Workplace Health in Cologne.

"That's a full percentage point higher than the average for the entire Rheinland region in Germany."

On an average, every call centre employee is officially registered as sick twice a year - which Pelster attributes mostly to stress and time pressure.

Of those workers who called in sick - around 25 percent suffered from respiratory problems. "They included cold symptoms, but also lung infections," said Pelster, who suspects people are straining their voices.

"The second biggest problem was muscular pain. Two thirds of all diagnoses point to back problems."

Beate Beermann, scientific director at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Dortmund, advises not to sit at a computer and telephoning continuously.

"There should be a 5-10 minute break every hour." Companies should allow employees access to rooms for relaxation.

"After all, customers notice when the agents are stressed." Regular education and diction training also encourages workplace motivation.