eWeek articles from April 2004

eWeek archives from April 2004

Search Engine Google to Offer Free E-Mail.
April 1, 2004... MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Search engine Google Inc. announced Wednesday it would launch a free, Web-based e-mail service to compete against popular services from rivals Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Google's service, called "Gmail," will...

Borland Brings Requirements Management 'to the Masses'.
April 1, 2004... Borland Software Corp. Wednesday announced the availability of a new version of its requirements management tool, Borland CaliberRM. David Walker, product manager for CaliberRM at the Scotts Valley, Calif., company, said CaliberRM 6.0...

Japan Joins Global Pressures on Microsoft.
April 1, 2004... TOKYO (AP)--The surprise raid by Japanese anti-monopoly authorities on Microsoft Corp.'s Tokyo offices was impeccably timed--barely a month before the European Union slapped a $613 million fine on the company. The message from this...

Who's More Secure Than Whom?(Linux v. Windows)
April 1, 2004... Many thanks to my colleague Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, editor of our Linux & Open Source Center, for referring a recent Forrester Research report to my attention. As Steven's own story on the report shows, the main finding,...

"Spim" Taking Over Instant Messaging.(Spam sent over instant-messaging networks)
April 1, 2004... Spam sent over instant-messaging networks, also known as "spim," is on the rise, researchers say. Whether or not the "spim" moniker sticks around, IMs containing spam are likely not going away anytime soon. Spam-loaded IMs will jump from...

Linux Loyalists Leery.(Rick Carey views)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Two years ago, when Rick Carey was chief technology architect at Merrill Lynch, he was crazy about Linux and especially about Red Hat, the leading Linux distributor. At the time, he was leading the charge to migrate all of the computer systems...

Accenture Procures New Business Line.(Accenture Procurement Solutions)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Technology consulting company Accenture announced today a new business process outsourcing company that focuses specifically on procurement processes. The new business line, Accenture Procurement Solutions, offers outsourced...

IBM Buys Candle.(International Business Machines Corp., Candle Corp.)
April 1, 2004... In its latest move to bolster its on-demand offerings, IBM today scooped up longtime partner Candle Corp. Candle, a privately held company in El Segundo, Calif., makes tools to help companies build, run and manage their IT infrastructures....

iDefense Alert: Cisco Web Administration DDoS Vulnerability.(distributed-denial-of-service, Cisco Systems Inc.)
April 1, 2004... Security intelligence firm iDefense Inc. on April 1, reported that remote exploitation of a design error vulnerability in Cisco Systems Inc.' 600 series Web Administration service allows for a distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) condition. The...

Why SCO Thinks It Can Win.(The SCO Group Inc., Darl McBride, Chris Sontag)(Interview)
April 1, 2004... LINDON, Utah--In many pro-Linux circles, it's a given that The SCO Group Inc. can't possibly win in court. Obviously, SCO disagrees. In an exclusive interview, eWEEK.com Linux and Open Source editor Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols visited SCO...

Will Local Search Live Up to its Hype?(future growth of local advertising)
April 1, 2004... SANTA CLARA, Calif.--While it may be making headlines, local search remains in its formative days as search engines and traditional yellow-pages companies figure out how to attract users while also snagging often-elusive local advertisers,...

Improved WiFi Repeaters Due in 2005.(WiDeFi Corp. developed chips)
April 1, 2004... A Florida-based WiFi startup is developing chips to enable full-duplex WiFi repeaters, a step up from the half-duplex repeaters in use today. WiDeFi Inc. of Satellite Beach, Fla., said Thursday it has raised $6.8 million in venture capital...

Gateway Shutters Storefronts.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... POWAY, Calif. (AP)--Troubled computer maker Gateway Inc. announced Thursday it will shutter all of its 188 retail stores next week, eliminating 2,500 jobs. The company, based in the San Diego suburb of Poway, said its 188 stores will close...

Configuresoft's New ECM Can Go Mobile.
April 1, 2004... Configuresoft Inc. on Monday will turn its desktop-configuration sights on the safekeeping of mobile clients when it launches the next release of its Enterprise Configuration Manager. The new release, which provides change and configuration...

Gateway Puts Itself in Fighting Shape.
April 1, 2004... In the interest of full disclosure, Dell, IBM, HP and Gateway are all clients of mine. With the closure of Gateway's stores and other quick moves, the company's acquisition of eMachines is quickly turning into a reverse acquisition. That's...

Gateway Pulls Plug on Retail Operations.
April 1, 2004... Gateway Inc. is closing its 188 retail stores and laying off 2,500 employees as the shakeout of the acquisition of eMachines Inc. continues. Executives with the Poway, Calif., company announced Thursday they will continue to expand its...

WebEx Ties Web Conferencing with IP Phones.(WebEx Communications Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... In a move furthering the reach of Web conferencing, WebEx Communications Inc. announced Thursday that it has integrated its online meeting service with a major telephony vendor's IP communications platform. WebEx has tied its MediaTone...

Tech Tools Try to Derail Scammers.
April 1, 2004... NEW YORK--As Internet scams, also known as phishing, proliferate, companies are sharpening technological tools to counter them. Education alone, many agree, isn't enough. Anti-phishing software is apt to soon be added to the arsenal of...

Study: Virus Attacks Up But Infections Hold Steady.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Last year more viruses raced across the Internet than ever, according to a new study from ICSA Labs. The approximate 300 companies surveyed in the ninth annual ICSA Labs Virus Prevalence Survey reported 2.7 million virus encounters in all of...

Set-Top Boxes May Put a Lid On Rewritable DVDs.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Cable companies want rewritable DVDs in future set-tops to archive video, but studios are lobbying the network providers to build a security mechanism into the DVD players, according to Ken Morse, vice president of client architecture at...

A Cybersecurity Role for Uncle Sam.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The nation's top software companies this week conceded that new government regulations may be needed to strengthen the nation's vital computer networks from online attack, a shift away from their traditional stance against regulation. The...

Fortinet Branches Out, Launches Client Solution.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Fortinet Inc. this week introduced a new VPN client software that will provide users with a complete suite of new features, including an IPSec VPN client, personal firewall, antivirus protection, intrusion detection and Windows registry alerts....

Olixir Mobile DataVault FastRestore SE.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
April 1, 2004... When disaster strikes, it's important to get up and running as rapidly as possible. Unfortunately, tape backup is expensive and slow, so a few alternative solutions are emerging for small-business- and departmental-backup needs. One...

HIPAA Insecurity.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996)
April 1, 2004... If Chris DeVoney hustles, he can stay one step ahead of the hackers he fears are going to steal patient records. But he doesn't dare rest. He is the computing director at the clinical research center of the University of Washington Medical...

Microsoft Starts Next Phase of Yukon Beta.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... On Thursday, Microsoft notified some of its SQL Server 2005 testers that they are eligible to join the next phase of the "Yukon" beta program. As noted in a beta tester e-mail note posted on the ieXbeta Web site, Microsoft is seeking...

Offshore Opt-Out.(customers decide whether to deal with off-shore or US agents)
April 1, 2004... When online lender E-Loan Inc. said it would use processing agents in both India and the United States, it may have signaled a need to disclose how its work is managed. Pleasanton, Calif.-based E-Loan last month launched a pilot program...

ROI: How Well Do You Work with the Business?(return on investment)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... * 84% of CIOs say they calculate ROI for the initial justification of IT projects * 46% of CIOs say they calculate ROI after projects are completed * 32% say their payback projections are not credible to the business * 17% say they generally...

Microsoft Seeks to 'TAP' Elite Beta Tester Pool.(Technology Adoption Program (TAP))(Brief Article)
April 2, 2004... On Thursday, Microsoft Corp. notified some of its SQL Server 2005 testers that they are eligible to join the next phase of the "Yukon" beta program. As noted in a beta tester e-mail note posted on the ieXbeta Web site, Microsoft is seeking...

Industry Urges Tech Security Upgrades.
April 2, 2004... WASHINGTON (AP)--In a surprise shift, leading software companies acknowledge in a report to the Bush administration that government might need to force the U.S. technology industry to improve the security of America's computer networks. ...

EU Orders Legislation on Spam, Cookies.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2004... BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP)--The European Union ordered eight countries Thursday to enact privacy legislation governing "spam" e-mail and Internet "cookies." It was the second warning sent to the countries, which have two months to comply or...

Sun Settles With Microsoft, Cuts Jobs.
April 2, 2004... The second time's a charm. Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. resolved their legal issues in a $1.6 billion settlement announced Friday that calls for the two companies to work together over the next 10 years. Sun, obviously not...

Volunteer Security Pros Launch Free Vulnerability Database.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2004... A group of volunteer security professionals has compiled what is likely one of the larger freely accessible vulnerability databases on the Internet. The OSVDB (Open Source Vulnerability Database) is meant to serve as a central collection point...

What's Next: McNealy to Kiss Gates' Ring?(Brief Article)
April 2, 2004... The initial shock is over. Sun Microsystems and Microsoft agreed on Friday to settle all outstanding antitrust and patent issues between the two, in exchange for Microsoft shelling out $1.6 billion-plus to Sun. Now the real questions begin:...

Google Emerges as Formidable Yahoo Adversary.
April 2, 2004... It's curious why it took so long for Yahoo Inc. to discover that it was nurturing an adversary during all of the years that it hosted Google Inc.'s search engine. Long before Yahoo finally switched search engines in February, Google was...

Torvalds Did Want to See SCO's Code.(The SCO Group Inc.)
April 2, 2004... Linus Torvalds, Linux's founder and leader, doesn't agree with The SCO Group Inc. CEO Darl McBride's characterization of Torvalds as being unwilling to look at SCO's Unix source code because "he didn't want to be tainted by it." McBride...

Sun and Microsoft Kiss and Make Up.
April 2, 2004... Disclaimer: IBM, HP, and Microsoft are all current clients of mine. In what has to be a section out of "News of the Weird" Sun and Microsoft today announced they had settled and would cooperate going forward. What is particularly amazing is...

Security Alert: Multiple OS IP Fragmentation Memory Exhaustion Vulnerability.(internet protocol)
April 2, 2004... Editor's Note: A security alert is presented daily to eWEEK.com readers by iDefense Inc., a security research company based in Reston, Va. Severity: High Analysis: (iDEFENSE US) Remote exploitation of a new IP fragmentation attack...

Perna Points DB2 Toward the Future.(Interview)
April 2, 2004... Janet Perna has seen IBM's data management business evolve from being a relatively small unit heavily weighted toward a DB2 relational database for the mainframe to being a billion-dollar software business with database, content management and...

Interop Push Crowns Sun, Microsoft Settlement.
April 2, 2004... Instead of voting Scott McNealy off the island, Sun Microsystems Inc. has decided to forge a secret alliance with archrival Microsoft Corp. in the latest, strange twist in the technology-industry reality game. And not just any old...

Sun Weighs Open-Source Options.
April 2, 2004... MENLO PARK, Calif.--Sun Microsystems Inc. is pondering the possibility of open-sourcing more of its software--this time with its next-generation 3-D windowing system, called Project Looking Glass, which is under development. When...

Sybase acquires XcelleNet.
April 2, 2004... Sybase Inc. took a giant step toward expanding the reach of its mobile device capabilities on Friday by agreeing to purchase mobile device management provider XcelleNet Inc. for approximately $95.2 million in an all-cash deal. XcelleNet...

Microsoft Readies Redmond for Most Valuable Pros Summit.
April 2, 2004... Microsoft Corp. next week will host about 1,500 of its Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) at its Redmond campus, where the software titan plans to announce big changes to how it incorporates their feedback into its product life cycles. The...

Ballmer Outlines Sun Agreement Terms for Microsoft Employees.
April 2, 2004... Editor's Note: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sent a company-wide e-mail to Microsoft employees on Friday, outlining for them the terms of the $1.6 billion Sun settlement/technology pact between the two companies. Here is the text of...

MS, Sun Deal Could Aid Federated ID Efforts.
April 2, 2004... The long and bitter relationship between Microsoft Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. entered a new chapter Friday when the two companies announced a $1.6 billion settlement of Sun's antitrust and patent issues with its chief rival. Click...

Neoware, VIA Team on Thin-Client Apps.
April 2, 2004... Thin-client vendor Neoware Systems Inc. and embedded-hardware specialist VIA Technologies Inc. announced Friday that they are teaming up to develop thin-client appliances for the enterprise. Neoware already uses VIA processors in some of...

Schwartz on the Deal: Sun's No. 2 Speaks.(Interview)
April 2, 2004... In the wake of Sun and Microsoft's stunning settlement, Sun also announced the elevation of software chief Jonathan Schwartz to president and chief operating officer. In a conversation with eWEEK's Steve Gillmor, Schwartz talked about where the...

Oracle Wraps Up Case to E.U.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2004... European antitrust regulators on Thursday wrapped up two days of inquiry into Oracle's proposed takeover of PeopleSoft. The European Commission, which has until May 11 to rule on the takeover, heard arguments from customers, competitors and...

Praying for a Job.(Brief Article)
April 2, 2004... As the unemployment benefits run out for Mark Kishbaugh, the unemployed, 49-year-old Oracle DBA has joined the Northwest Bible Church jobs ministry to get down on his knees to pray--and to network. Experts always give such networking a...

Sun, Microsoft Promise End to Patent Feud.
April 2, 2004... Intellectual property and patents are at the heart of the $1.6 million settlement between Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp., with more than half of Microsoft's payments to Sun coming from patent disputes involving Java technology. ...

Sun to Announce Management Shakeup.(appointments)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2004... Sun Microsystems Inc. is expected to announce on Monday that it has promoted John Loiacono, the vice president of its operating platforms group, to executive vice president of software. That move follows Sun's announcement on Friday that...

Veterans Affairs gets IT House in Order.
April 4, 2004... Spanning almost two decades, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pumped almost half a billion dollars into a pair of nearly still-born efforts: one to improve the processing of disability and pension claims filed by former military...

What Sin City Can Teach Tom Ridge.
April 4, 2004... For decades, no city has attracted more dubious characters into its buildings than Las Vegas. The lure of quick scores has made Sin City the most vigilant and diligent user of advanced surveillance, identification, background-checking and...

NORA and ANNA.(non-obvious relationship awareness, anonymized data, data searching methods)
April 4, 2004... Non-obvious relationship awareness (NORA) software probes databases in any language, searching for obscure matches between relevant information. Anonymized data (ANNA) software uses the same technology to investigate data that has been...

Viisage Technology: Face Invaders.(Company Profile)
April 4, 2004... Viisage Technology is a company both James Bond and Donald Trump could love: Its systems help government agencies and casinos finger a wide assortment of scoundrels--everyone from card cheats to suspected terrorists. Customers using Viisage's...

A Knight E-Rant.
April 5, 2004... "The pen--or, in this case, the e-mail--seems mightier than the sword," mused the Mouser as he skimmed Bill Gates' heroic-sounding security update letter to Microsoft customers. In words worthy of a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order...

New Version of Sober Worm Spreading in Europe.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... A new variant of the Sober worm, Sober.F, is spreading in Europe, and some anti-virus companies are raising their threat levels for the worm due to its success. Sober.F arrives in an e-mail sent by the worm's own SMTP engine. According to...

LTO Leading Tape Library Rebound.(Linear Tape-Open )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Adoption of the LTO tape format is pulling the tape library industry out of an economic slump despite the arrival of low-cost disk drives as an alternative to tape backup, according to a recent study from Freeman Reports, analyst firm focused...

Green Resigns from Sun.(Rich Green leaves Sun Microsystems Inc.)
April 5, 2004... As the dust settles after last week's news of Sun Microsystems Inc. settling its differences with Microsoft Corp., some of the fallout includes pro-Sun, pro-Java personalities such as Rich Green, Sun's vice president of developer platforms. ...

Security Alert: NetSky.S Worm Discovered in the Wild.
April 5, 2004... Editor's Note: A security alert is presented daily to eWEEK.com readers by iDefense Inc., a security research company based in Reston, Va. Severity: Medium Analysis: NetSky.S is a new NetSky worm variant that was discovered the...

Lindows Can't Block Microsoft From Foreign Courts.
April 5, 2004... As expected, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour made a quick decision on Lindows.com Inc.'s request for an injunction to stop Microsoft Corp. from continuing its international legal campaign against the Lindows name and trademark. It wasn't...

ISVS Seek Federal Security Help.(independent software vendors)
April 5, 2004... After years of imploring government officials to stay out of their way, some security industry executives have reversed their position and are asking for Washington's input to improve software quality and network security. How serious they...

Microsoft, Sun Reach Settlement.(legal issues of sun Microsystem Inc and Microsoft Corp. )
April 5, 2004... The second time's a charm. Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. resolved their legal issues in a $1.6 billion settlement announced Friday that calls for the two companies to work together over the next 10 years. Sun, not satisfied...

EMC, HP Zero in on Fast Backup.(Hewlett-Packard Co.)
April 5, 2004... EMC Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. are each readying disk-based storage alternatives that the companies said will meet demands for faster backup and recovery of data at a price lower than traditional disk arrays. At the Storage Networking...

SAS Takes Analysis Mainstream.(SAS Institute Inc.)
April 5, 2004... SAS Institute Inc.'s upgrade to its namesake platform will give front-line business users predictive analysis capabilities. The SAS 9 platform, which the company formally rolled out at its headquarters here last week, offers ease-of-use...

U.S. Goes to Bat for Microsoft.
April 5, 2004... While they take issue with European sanctions, the litany of pro-Microsoft Corp. statements from the Bush administration and a handful of members of Congress are aimed at this side of the Atlantic as much as they are the European Commission,...

Taking on RFID Challenge.(radio frequency identification)
April 5, 2004... Software developers TIBCO Software Inc., WebMethods Inc., Oracle Corp. and Microsoft Corp. are each preparing IT infrastructures to handle the flood of data that's expected to be generated by massive radio-frequency identification deployments....

What's Spyware? Let's Ask Congress!
April 5, 2004... Spyware doesn't get discussed enough for a number of unfortunate reasons. For most people, the distinction between spyware and some other malware installed on their system is too subtle to bother with. Even experts are vague with their use of...

Block Spam! Save Millions! Feel Better!(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... If ever a problem seemed designed to showcase the value of electronic security to an organization, that problem is spam. Unsolicited e-mail saps productivity and bandwidth, carries viruses, and can offend workers by its often-salacious nature....

Getting Ready for RFID.(radio frequency identification)
April 5, 2004... Attention, Wal-Mart shoppers: If the quantity of data that eventually pours out of RFID technology is half as voluminous as the recent spate of vendor announcements and their concurrent hot-air hype, every DBA in the land should take cover. ...

IBM Packages Compliance Tools.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... In its drive to assist companies facing compliance with more than 100 national and international rules and regulations, IBM on Monday rolled out three new software packages designed to ease the tracking and management of compliance-related...

Microsoft Releases Source Code on SourceForge.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... On Monday, Microsoft released some of its code under an open-source license, and posted it on SourceForge, the open-source code repository. To date, Microsoft has made its source code available under a variety of licensing mechanisms, all...

Storage Networking Show Puts SMBs in Spotlight.(Small-and-medium sized businesses)
April 5, 2004... PHOENIX-Storage technology vendors will highlight products that are now within reach of small-and-medium sized businesses (SMBs)at Storage Networking World (SNW) Spring 2004 here. Prominently displayed at the show will be new storage...

Storage Vendors to Get SMI-S Stamp of Approval.(Storage Management Initiative-Specification)
April 5, 2004... In a major step toward solving interoperability within storage environments, at Storage Networking World Conference on Tuesday the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) is expected to unveil a select list of hardware and software...

New BI Offerings Stress Integration, Ease of Use.(Genalytics Inc.)
April 5, 2004... Products for helping enterprises glean more information from their data are expanding this week as MicroStrategy Inc., Business Objects SA and Genalytics Inc. all introduce new offerings in the business intelligence space. MicroStrategy on...

MyOrigo Prototype Tackles Smart-Phone Faults.(Product/Service Evaluation)
April 5, 2004... You run into the most interesting things as an emerging-technology analyst. This week, it was a set of technologies from a company called MyOrigo Ltd. out of Finland. MyOrigo demonstrated the first smart phone I've seen that could obsolete both...

Press to Pass.(APC Biometric Password Manager)(Brief Article)
April 6, 2004... The APC Biometric Password Manager doesn't just put your online passwords at your fingertips, it uses your fingerprints to remember passwords for you. Compatible with Windows XP, Me, 2000, and 98, this USB device can store an unlimited number...

Avoid Accidentally Replying To Spammers.
April 6, 2004... If you use Microsoft Outlook, here's a tip that may help eliminate some spam. Unless you check all the setting options in Outlook, you might unknowingly be replying to spammers. How? Select Options from the Tools menu, click on the E-mail...

Understanding Directory Harvest Attacks.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2004... Think you can protect your in-box by carefully guarding your e-mail address--not posting it in online forums or Usenet messages, using disposable e-mail addresses to register for Web sites, or even leaving it off your business cards? Now's the...

The Lookout: MyDoom Hobbles E-Mail.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2004... A powerful worm known variously as w32/Novarg.A, w32/Shimg, w32/Mydoom, or w32/Mimail.R began devastating personal and corporate e-mail systems across the globe in late January. This fast-moving, mass-mailer Internet worm apparently started...

Free Reporting for Microsoft SQL Shops.(Product/Service Evaluation)
April 6, 2004... Database administrators and programmers working on the Microsoft SQL Server platform have had to turn to other tools (such as Crystal Reports) for their reporting needs. But with the arrival of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, Redmond...

EU Backs Its Microsoft Antitrust Ruling.(European Union)
April 6, 2004... BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP)--Last week's stunning $1.6 billion settlement with Sun Microsystems Inc. was unlikely to impact the antitrust actions against Microsoft Corp. in Europe, officials and legal experts said Monday. The European...

Asians Team Up on Emerging Technologies.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2004... TOKYO (AP)--Japan, China and South Korea will work together on developing new technologies, including fourth-generation mobile phones, digital broadcasting, computer security and open-source software, a Japanese official said Monday. Talks...

Makers of Phone Program Skype Go Mobile.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2004... STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP)--The peer-to-peer phone program Skype, which lets computer users make free calls to each other anywhere in the world, is going mobile, with a version being released Tuesday for Wi-Fi-equipped digital assistants. ...

Security Alert: Sharepoint Vulnerability Could Lead to Theft of User Credentials.(Brief Article)
April 6, 2004... Editor's Note: A security alert is presented daily to eWEEK.com readers by iDefense Inc., a security research company based in Reston, Va. Severity: Medium Analysis: Remote exploitation of a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in...