eWeek articles from September 2005

eWeek archives from September 2005

Techies and Politicians: On Different Networks.(Column)
September 1, 2005... Last week, this column spent a few moments discussing the attitudes and habits of folks in Washington, D.C., who make and enact laws that affect the tech business. It was inspired by a conversation I had with The Gillmor Gang about wireless...

Storage Digest: News from QLogic, DataCore, LSI Logic, Maxtor, Silverback Systems.
September 1, 2005... QLogic will sell its disk-drive controller and tape-drive controller business; DataCore teams with emBoot for iSCSI remote boot capability; LSI Logic offers new 3GB/sec SAS expanders; Maxtor introduces a new network drive; and Silverback...

OSDL to Microsoft: Where's Linux Office?(Interview)
September 1, 2005... Martin Taylor, Microsoft Corp.'s general manager of platform strategy, recently approached Open Source Development Labs Inc., in Beaverton, Ore., to consider ways in which the two could conduct a joint research project to do some facts-based...

Google: It's Not Only Microsoft That Should Watch Out.
September 1, 2005... Many people believe that Google's biggest long-term competitor is Microsoft. They look at Google as a technology company and since Microsoft is the largest and most successful diverse technology company, it must be Microsoft that's in...

Plenty of Choice in Open-Source CMS.(content management systems)
September 1, 2005... There are dozens of Linux distributions, but only one Linux. There are over a dozen open-source Web servers, but only one Apache. When it comes to content management systems, however, there are over a hundred choices, and there is no market...

Yahoo Unveils E-Mail Search Capabilities.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Yahoo is rolling out new capabilities for searching text, photos and e-mail headers and attachments in its Web-based e-mail service, said company officials this week. The new search tools allow users to search by sender, folder,...

Gateway Sets Sights on Small Business.
September 1, 2005... Computer maker Gateway Inc. wants to expand its commercial business by focusing on smaller businesses. Gateway, of Irvine, Calif., kicked off the initiative Thursday with the release of a low-end server and a new line of desktop and...

Microsoft Holding Its Ground on Office for Linux.
September 1, 2005... Some prominent figures in the Linux community believe that as enterprises increase their use of Linux on the desktop, Microsoft Corp. will be forced to consider offering a version of Office for Linux--or at least make its software more...

Google Ads: They're Not Just for Web Sites Anymore.
September 1, 2005... Google Inc., widely considered to be the most powerful search engine and ubiquitous brand on the Internet, is quietly testing a new advertising strategy on an unexpected medium: paper. The search powerhouse makes 99 percent of its revenue...

OSDL Calls Microsoft's Bluff.
September 1, 2005... The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) folks are crafty. Possibly even as deliciously devious as Microsoft. During a supposedly secret meeting last month, Microsoft officials recently asked OSDL CEO Stuart Cohen whether OSDL might consider...

Cisco Launches Corporate Wireless Access Point.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Cisco Systems next week will launch a new wireless access point for corporate customers, sources close to the company confirmed on Friday. The Aironet 1240AG Series Access Point is a dual-band device designed for environments where radio...

Microsoft Ends Services for Unix Product.
September 1, 2005... Microsoft has decided against enhancing its Services for Unix (SFU) product and will not release any new versions of it going forward, according to company officials. SFU is a Unix environment designed to run on top of the Windows kernel....

Katarina Donors Should Beware of Scams.
September 1, 2005... Generous people wanting to help victims of Hurricane Katrina should direct their financial contributions carefully, so that the money isn't diverted by e-commerce thieves. Scammers taking advantage of the disaster don't need much capital...

Massachusetts Mandates Open-Format Documents, Edges Towards Linux.
September 1, 2005... The state of Massachusetts will revamp its digital output during the next 16 months to create only open-format documents and is increasing its use of Linux and free and open source software (FOSS) among its workers, the state's chief...

Vista Feature Protects Data from Reboots.
September 1, 2005... A new technology built into Windows Vista that automatically saves unstored documents when IT managers run patch installations will be a boon to PC users who never turn off their PCs, industry analysts said Thursday. The technology, which...

Toshiba May Delay HD DVD Player Until 2006.
September 1, 2005... TOKYO (Reuters)--Japan's Toshiba Corp. said on Thursday it may delay the year-end launch of its next-generation HD DVD players, potentially undermining its advantage as the first supplier to put such machines on the market. The company...

'Fixed' Isn't Good Enough for Payment Protection.(auditing of CardSystems Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... When credit card processing firm CardSystems announced Thursday that an independent auditor had declared its systems sound, one CardSystems executive said he now wants Visa and American Express to take it back. CardSystems Inc. was at the...

Intel, Philips Tie Up in Home Entertainment Systems.(collaboration with Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.)
September 2, 2005... BERLIN-- Intel and electronics group Philips have joined up to market home entertainment systems with Intel chips, as the world's top chip maker targets the $70-billion-a-year market for consumer electronics semiconductors. Intel will...

Symantec Anti-Virus Tool Puts Server Passwords in Danger.(defects of Symantec Anti Virus Corporate Edition 9.0)
September 2, 2005... Symantec Corp. is investigating a report of a security hole in a version of its corporate anti-virus product that could expose sensitive username and password information, the company acknowledged. The reported security hole affects...

DVD Format War Looms as Blu-Ray Backers Plan Launch.
September 2, 2005... BERLIN-- Chances looked slim that consumers will be spared a DVD format war, as the backers of one standard said on Friday there was no common ground for a unified format and it was on track for a market launch within a year. "If we want a...

Intel Denies Competitive Foul Play Against AMD.(case against Advanced Micro Devices Inc.)
September 2, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO-- Intel Corp. on Thursday defended itself from charges that it manipulated the microchip market, saying smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. caused its own problems by failing to invest in new factories and missing major...

SCO, MySQL Bring MySQL to OpenServer.(collaboration with The SCO Group Inc.)
September 2, 2005... SCO and MySQL announced Friday that the two would be working together to jointly deliver the commercial version of the MySQL database to SCO's latest Unix release, OpenServer 6. Although SCO Group Inc. is known for its IP (intellectual...

Fuel Hikes Pose Challenge for Logistics Systems.(usage of logistics management systems)
September 2, 2005... With major oil refineries in the Gulf region incapacitated by Hurricane Katrina, businesses in other areas of the U.S. are struggling to contain already high fuel and shipping costs, often turning to specialized software for help. Gas...

Secure RSS Courts Enterprise Adoption.(really simple syndication)(Reactivity Inc.'s partnership with SimpleFeed Inc. and FeedBurner)
September 2, 2005... RSS has been the darling of Webloggers and news hounds since it first began appearing in the late 1990s as a way to syndicate Web content. Up to now, however, there have been few applications for the technology within enterprises. That may...

Katrina Public Web Project Wants Volunteers.(voluntary work of Steve Hargadon)(Hurricane Katrina)(Brief Article)
September 2, 2005... A Linux developer is organizing volunteers for a public "Web station" project to assist Hurricane Katrina victims. Steve Hargadon's plan is to create numerous Linux-based public kiosks that boot directly into the Firefox browser and display...

Office 12: Microsoft Pumps Up Productivity Platform.(Microsoft Professional Developers Conference)
September 2, 2005... While Office 12, Microsoft's next-generation desktop suite, is not expected to hit Beta 1 until later this fall, Microsoft officials are set to show off a number of its components at the company's annual Professional Developers Conference (PDC)...

Emcor CIO Makes Business Case for IT.(management of Joe Puglisi of EMCOR Group Inc.)
September 3, 2005... When Emcor Group CIO Joe Puglisi recently decided to upgrade his company's version of Lotus Notes, he quietly "pre-deployed" it with a cross-section of his company's business managers. He plans, he said, on using the favorable comments...

Apple Appears Poised for iTunes Phone Launch.(Apple Computer Inc.)
September 4, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO (Billboard)--The Apple rumor mill swung into overdrive this week when the company reported it would make a big digital music announcement on Wednesday (September 7). Most observers expect Apple Computer to unveil the...

OSDL Stands by Linux.(Stuart Cohen of Open Source Development Lab Inc.)(Interview)
September 5, 2005... Martin Taylor, Microsoft Corp.'s general manager of platform strategy, recently approached Open Source Development Labs Inc., in Beaverton, Ore., to consider ways in which the two could conduct a joint research project to do some fact-based...

Embedded System Hole Goes Unpatched.(defects of QNX)(Editorial)
September 5, 2005... Julio Cesar Fort of Recife, PE, Brazil, found an undocumented feature in QNX (that Real Time Operating System for the PC platform that is so beloved of the embedded systems folk it was even used by NASA to safeguard the shuttle Discovery on its...

Big Bucks Back Next Mobile Frontier: Broadcast TV.(construction of wireless communications network by QUALCOMM Inc.)
September 5, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO (Billboard)--Want to watch TV on your mobile phone? The wireless industry is betting billions that you do. And they're not talking about just downloading or streaming on-demand videoclips to your phone. Efforts are afoot to...

Microsoft Taps Neupert for Global Health Czar Post.(Peter Neupert appointed)(Brief Article)
September 5, 2005... Microsoft has established a new and rather odd post, corporate vice president of global health strategy, and has filled it with a former Softie who once was responsible for Microsoft's OS/2 strategy. That executive, Peter Neupert, also has...

Media Servers Should Skip the Middle Man.(management of NMS Communications Corp.)(Column)
September 6, 2005... The similarity between mobile phones and advertising, not often noted, is fascinating. I was chatting with an old Saatchi vice president the other day (now retired) and he put it like this: "Advertising is an odd business, where the...

F5 Plans to Buy App Accelerator Swan Labs.(F5 Networks Inc.)(application)
September 6, 2005... F5 Networks on Tuesday announced its planned acquisition of WAN optimization and application acceleration provider Swan Labs in a $43 million cash deal. F5 Networks Inc., which has historically focused on applications traffic management,...

Microsoft to Make Its Midsize Business Pitch.(launch of Microsoft Windows Midmarket Server)(Brief Article)
September 6, 2005... For the past few months, Microsoft Corp. has been turning up the volume on its midmarket plans. On Wednesday, the company's top brass is set to unveil Microsoft's comprehensive midmarket product and channel strategy. While Microsoft...

NTFS for Linux.(analysis of new technology file system)
September 6, 2005... There's a fundamental barrier between fans of open-source software and the world of Microsoft Windows, and no, it's not the $299 list price of Windows XP Professional. It's actually a very real communication problem based on differences between...

New Free Software License Takes Aim at Patents.(Free Software Foundation)
September 6, 2005... AMSTERDAM (Reuters)--The free software foundation said on Tuesday it would start adapting rules for development and use of free software by including penalties against those who patent software or use anti-piracy technology. Free software...

Eclipse Makes Moves to Pass Microsoft's Visual Studio.(market share of Eclipse Foundation)
September 6, 2005... As the battle for supremacy in the integrated development environment space more and more becomes a fight between just two camps, Microsoft Corp. better watch out, said one of the leaders from the competing camp. Eclipse is poised to...

Sun Changes OpenOffice.org Licensing.(Sun Microsystems Inc.)
September 6, 2005... Last Friday, Sun Microsystems Inc. quietly announced that it was retiring the Sun Industry Standard Source License, which has been most prominently used in OpenOffice.org, the leading open-source office suite. With SISSL retired, OO.o...

Symantec Patches Corporate AntiVirus.(Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition 9.0 enhanced)
September 6, 2005... Symantec has released a patch for its corporate anti-virus software, after vulnerability was identified last week in a posting on security mailing list Bugtraq. The flaw is in Version 9 of the Symantec Corp.'s AntiVirus Corporate Edition,...

Massachusetts Fights a Losing Battle.(management of Peter Quinn)(Editorial)
September 6, 2005... The decision by the People's Republic of Massachusetts to require an "open" format for the storage of state documents is a curious one. It seems to be as much about punishing Microsoft as it is the laudable goal of making information more...

A Small Linux-Borne Light in Katrina's Aftermath.(Hurricane Katrina)(technology use by Public Web Stations)(Column)
September 6, 2005... There is a darkness in the ruins of New Orleans the likes of which living Americans have never seen. It is a darkness born of hurricane, poor planning, and--inland from the Gulf coast--the slow realization of just how horrid the situation...

Microsoft Brings .Net to Katrina Relief Effort.(Hurricane Katrina)(use of Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1 and Microsoft Visual Basic .NET)
September 6, 2005... Microsoft Corp. is bringing the power of its .Net technology to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, delivering a system to help locate people displaced or missing since the hurricane. A group of Microsoft technologists quickly deployed to...

Siemens Logistics Arm Wins U.S. Post Deal.(Postal Service)(Brief Article)
September 6, 2005... FRANKFURT (Reuters)--German engineering group Siemens has won a contract worth $560 million to help expand the U.S. Postal Service's mail redirection system over the next 28 months, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Siemens' loss-making...

BellSouth: Katrina Damage May Hit $600M.(Hurricane Katrina)(Brief Article)
September 6, 2005... WASHINGTON (Reuters)--BellSouth Corp. on Tuesday said Hurricane Katrina and its aftereffects caused $400 million to $600 million of damage to its network, and the No. 3 U.S. local telephone company it is still surveying its problems. ...

Symbol, Intermec Settle RFID Dispute.(radio frequency identification)(Intermec Technologies Corp.'s suit against Symbol Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 6, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO- Two of the pioneering developers of barcode technology used to track inventories said on Tuesday they had agreed to settle a patent dispute on next-generation wireless systems for tracking goods. Symbol Technologies Inc.,...

GPL Revision Gets Under Way.(general public license of Free Software Foundation)(donations of NLnet Foundation)
September 6, 2005... On Tuesday, the Free Software Foundation announced the creation of the global "GPL Version 3 Development and Publicity Project," which will help create the next version of the General Public License. The Dutch nonprofit NLnet foundation is...

Sun to Detail Next Opteron Servers.(Sun Microsystems Inc.)
September 6, 2005... Sun Microsystems server line will enter a new galaxy next week. The San Jose, Calif.-based hardware maker is expected to unveil a new generation of AMD Opteron-based servers, known by the code-name Galaxy, at an event in New York City....

Apple: No Jobs Keynote at Paris Expo.(Apple Expo Paris, Steve Jobs)
September 6, 2005... Apple on Tuesday announced that its upcoming Apple Expo Paris show won't be opened by a "formal" keynote address, much less one by CEO Steve Jobs. The notice--just a sentence on the expo's Web site--countered recent reports that Jobs would open...

IBM AOP Guru Jumps Ship for Startup.(aspect-oriented programming)(Adrian Colyer resigned from IBM United Kingdom Ltd.)
September 6, 2005... IBM is losing a leader in the area of aspect-oriented programming to an open-source startup. Adrian Colyer, a senior member of the technical staff at IBM's Hursley, England facility, said he resigned his position with the systems giant to...

Ready or Not, Microsoft Expands DBA's Role.(database administrators)(production management of Microsoft SQL Server 2005)(Column)
September 6, 2005... Microsoft hates DBAs. Ask anyone. OK, ask anyone who is a DBA, especially those who don't really support SQL Server. I have attended my share of IOUG and IDUG conferences in my day. I always enjoyed the performance-related presentations...

Paper: Samsung to Launch Dual-Standard DVD Player.(Samsung Electronics Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
September 6, 2005... FRANKFURT (Reuters)--Samsung Electronics Co. will bring out a DVD machine next year capable of playing both Blu-ray and HD DVD if backers of the rival standards fail to agree on a unified format, a newspaper said. Competition between the...

Vonage Reaches a Million Subscribers.
September 6, 2005... Internet phone operator Vonage said Tuesday it now has more than a million customers, marking another milestone for the nascent industry of selling phone calls over Internet connections. The 4-year-old firm, based in Edison, N.J., smashed...

Katrina Applies Supply Chain Stranglehold.
September 7, 2005... More than a week after Hurricane Katrina whipped through the Gulf region, many roads, production plants and warehouses in New Orleans and surrounding areas remain shut, forcing businesses to reroute product shipments elsewhere, either with or...

GNOME Adds Document Reader, Improves Graphics.(GNOME 2.12 to be released)
September 7, 2005... GNOME, one of the most widely used desktop faces for Unix and Linux computers, will release version 2.12 Wednesday, culminating six months of work by members of the project. The latest edition boasts two new applications, a new theme engine,...

Storage Digest: News from HP, Computer Associates, Asigra, NorthSeas and McDATA.(NorthSeas AMT, Kanata , Canada)
September 7, 2005... HP introduces new data protection and archiving products and services; Computer Associates introduces a new version of BrightStor; Asigra's new version of Televaulting supports VMware; NorthSeas introduces an email archiving appliance; and...

Aegis Heats Up Supply Chain Outsourcing.(Aegis Interworld, India)
September 7, 2005... In a flurry of recent activity by supply chain outsourcers, India-based start-up Aegis InterWorld has acquired technology from a couple of different software vendors: Modus Operandi Inc. and InterWorld Holdings Inc. Along with the supply...

New GPL Will Contain Patent Protection.
September 7, 2005... Contrary to recent reports that the next version of the GPL would include penalties against those who patent software or use anti-piracy technology, no such decisions have actually been made. According to FSF (Free Software Foundation)...

HP Chief Hurd Sees "Lot of Work" to Change Company.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters)--Less than six months after taking over at Hewlett-Packard Co., Chief Executive Mark Hurd on Wednesday said there's still "a lot of work to do." "We've got some looseness in our structures and our processes," Hurd,...

First OpenSuSE Linux Distribution Set for October.
September 7, 2005... Novell announced on Wednesday that the first result of its new OpenSuSE project, SuSE Linux 10.0, will be released in early October 2005. Novell Inc. launched its community-based OpenSuSE development in early August. This new distribution...

Microsoft Dynamics Gets Ready to Roll.
September 7, 2005... REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft executives on Wednesday formally announced the role-based Microsoft Dynamics initiative, formerly known by the code name Project Green, as well as confirming that Office 12 was on track to ship in 2006, even though it...

Koran-Spouting Trojan Is First Example of 'Moralityware'.
September 7, 2005... A new Trojan horse program that first appeared in Iran may be the start of a new malicious code trend that might be termed "moralityware," according to antivirus company Sophos PLC. The malicious software, dubbed Yusufali.A, contains a...

Readers Respond: The Road to Broadband.(Letter to the Editor)
September 7, 2005... In your Aug. 22 editorial, "The Road to Broadband," your position is heavily biased against the telephone companies. Ever since Ernestine [comedian Lily Tomlin's telephone operator character], it seems to be good fun to pick on the telcos....

SCO Continues to Lose Money.
September 7, 2005... SCO, the company best known for Linux litigation and its Unix operating systems, reported results for its fiscal third quarter ended July 31, 2005, on Wednesday. The news wasn't good. Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal year 2005 was...

Ballmer Hints at Hosted CRM.(customer relationship management)
September 7, 2005... At Microsoft's Business Summit conference Wednesday, CEO Steve Ballmer intimated that the company is indeed working on a hosted software offering, but declined to provide any meaningful details. "We do believe that there will be a set of...

Cisco Issues Fixes for Vulnerable Web Routers.
September 7, 2005... Cisco alerted its customers Wednesday about a serious security flaw in many of its Internet routers, which serve as key intersections in channeling Web and e-mail traffic from point to point. Cisco Systems Inc., based in San Jose, Calif.,...

180 Solutions Says New Software Will Stop Illegal Downloads.
September 7, 2005... Advertising software bete noir 180 Solutions Inc. said Wednesday that it will release a new version of its client software that will prevent unauthorized installations of the product. 180 Solutions will require its distributors to use the...

Apple's iTunes Phone, iPod Nano Look Big.
September 7, 2005... Apple CEO Steve Jobs at a special "music event" Wednesday unveiled the iPod Nano, an "incredibly small" sequel to the iPod Mini, as well as the anticipated iTunes-enabled ROKR cell phone from Motorola and an update to iTunes. The Motorola...

Microsoft Rebrands Project Green, Outlines New Features.
September 7, 2005... Gone finally is the Project Green code name for Microsoft's metamorphosis of its four midmarket business application suites--Great Plains, Axapta, Solomon, Navision--and in its place is the new commercial name for the combined suites: Microsoft...

Nanotech Advance May Hasten Molecular Machines.
September 7, 2005... DUBLIN (Reuters)--Scientists have made a breakthrough in nanotechnology which could hasten the development of molecular machines that could act as artificial muscles or drug delivery systems in the body. Chemists at Edinburgh University...

Microsoft's Ballmer Promises Midmarket Win-Win.
September 7, 2005... REDMOND, Wash.--With his usual boundless energy and optimism, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took to the stage at the Business Summit here Wednesday to sell the company's vision for the midmarket segment. He fielded a question about how...

CA Patents Made Available to Open-Source Community.
September 7, 2005... Computer Associates, which up until a year ago had no visible involvement in the open-source software world, Wednesday promised the open-source community free access to software covered by 14 of its US patents, including graphical display of...

Former Green Beret Stays Online in Katrina's Wake.
September 7, 2005... A former Army Green Beret, and colleagues at a Web hosting service, are holed up in a commercial building in downtown New Orleans, with weeks of food and water and a diesel-powered electric generator, struggling to keep a segment of the...

Tablets Find Safety at School.
September 7, 2005... Gateway is going back to school, this month, with a new tablet PC. The company on Wednesday introduced a new convertible tablet PC that promises higher performance and better ergonomics for a lower price than its predecessor. Those...

Microsoft Customers Impatient for Midmarket Products.
September 7, 2005... REDMOND, Wash--Microsoft Customers who attended the company's business summit here Wednesday said they are pleased the company is making a major commitment to the midmarket segment. However, they expressed impatience that it would take...

Apple Unveils iTunes Phone.
September 7, 2005... NEW YORK (Reuters)--Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday unveiled a cellphone that works like an iPod music player, in a bid to extend its domination of the digital music market. The color screen, silver device, which was developed with...

Microsoft Appeals EU Order.
September 7, 2005... Microsoft has filed a fresh appeal of the European Commission's decision forcing it to make Windows desktop communications protocols available to competitors. The application for annulment was filed on Aug. 10 with the EU's (European...

IBM Ships New Notes and Domino.(IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 7.0 launched)
September 8, 2005... IBM Wednesday launched the latest iteration of its Lotus Notes and Domino collaborative software. Version 7 is targeted primarily as a server-oriented upgrade, but it also adds some 100 client enhancements aimed at improving user...

MS Patch Day: Can 1 Bulletin Hit the Spot?(Microsoft Windows enhanced)
September 8, 2005... Microsoft on Thursday announced plans to ship one security bulletin on Tuesday, Sept. 13, to provide patches for a "critical" flaw in its Windows operating system. As part of its advance notice mechanism, the Redmond, Wash.-based software...

eBay in Talks to Buy Skype.(Skype Technologies S.A.)
September 8, 2005... WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 8--eBay Inc. is in talks to buy Web telephone phenomenon Skype Technologies SA, a source said on Thursday, prompting a 4 percent drop in shares of the online auctioneer amid concern Skype could crimp...

IBM Looks to Grow OEM Program for Power Servers.(negotiation for original equipment manufacturer deals)
September 8, 2005... IBM is looking into expanding its program to OEM servers based on its Power architecture, in line with larger initiatives to grow the platform. IBM already has OEM relationships with Hitachi Ltd. in Japan and French computer maker Bull...

Carriers Boost Efforts to Restore Service to Gulf Coast.(cellular telephone services)
September 8, 2005... More than a week and a half after Hurricane Katrina struck, wireless carriers were making good headway in restoring service, but the region's landline communications infrastructure, particularly in New Orleans, remained largely in tatters. ...

Massachusetts' Move to Open Format is Close-minded.(information management)(Editorial)
September 8, 2005... My recent column on the State of Massachusetts' plan to require all documents to be stored in an "open" format has drawn considerable comment from readers. It was a difficult column to write because there are so many factors at play and I...

Intel Narrows Revenue Target Range.(Brief Article)
September 8, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 8--Intel Corp., the world's largest chip maker, on Thursday narrowed the range of its quarterly revenue forecast but left the mid-point unchanged, saying business remained within expectations. In a scheduled update,...