Database and Network Journal articles from February 2005

Database and Network Journal archives from February 2005

The meaning of OLAP.(DATABASE INTELLIGENCE)(on-Line analytical processing)
February 1, 2005... The term, OLAP, stands for 'On-Line Analytical Processing'. But that is not only not a definition, its not even a clear description of what OLAP means and certainly gives no indication of why you would want to use an OLAP tool, or even what an...

Database-Desktop or server?(DATABASE INTELLIGENCE)(Database management systems)
February 1, 2005... Selecting a database platform for your organization's infrastructure can be an overwhelming project. IT professionals faced with this daunting task may have no prior database experience and are suddenly thrown into an arena full of vaguely...

Mandrakesoft Linux products.(DATABASE INTELLIGENCE)
February 1, 2005... Mandrakesoft announced today the availability of two new products geared toward business customers; Corporate Server and Corporate Desktop. These two Linux systems have received specific development efforts to make them 'enterprise-ready". The...

Future software.(VIEWPOINT)
February 1, 2005... Part 1 Staring in my crystal bail for a look at the future of software I see a couple of areas which are overdue, and where we can expect better software to emerge Better Utilities The current file-handling utilities of Windows...

The missing data problem.(VIEWPOINT; data warehousing )
February 1, 2005... One of the huge problems of data warehousing and database in general is: how do you deal with missing data? For example, statisticians love to work with moving averages, and almost any statistical analysis worth anything is going to be...

Eliminating the uncertainty of IT projects.(DATABASE INTELLIGENCE)
February 1, 2005... Why are software projects so uncertain? Why is it that the terms 'on-time, predictable outcome, measurable, well- managed, good requirements, stable design, and within budget," rarely come to mind when thinking about software development...

Code folding--a solution looking for a problem.(DATABASE INTELLIGENCE)
February 1, 2005... Years ago, when I was programming in GFA Basic on my untrusty old Atari ST (GFA Basic was one of the 'modern" BASICs that *gasp* didn't use line numbers, and seemed more like Pascal), I used to love the editor's code folding ability. Sometimes...

What are Mock Objects?(DATABASE INTELLIGENCE)
February 1, 2005... It took me a while to understand Mock Objects from the early papers (and articles that were written about them. What's more, since I have figured them out and started working with them, I've developed a way of thinking about them that I've...

Aspect Oriented Software Development--AOSD.(DATABASE INTELLIGENCE)
February 1, 2005... Software development is changing. The opportunities of the Internet, computerized businesses, and computer-savvy consumers, the exponential decline in the cost of computation and communication, and the increasingly dynamic environment for...

Desktop Linux- a VB & Access developers view.(DATABASE INTELLIGENCE)
February 1, 2005... Applications, device drivers, easier installation, improved cross application compatibility... these are just a few things that are steadily improving in Desktop Linux. Additional enhancements would be good, but overall there isn't really that...

The present and future for past languages--COBOL.(DATABASE INTELLIGENCE)
February 1, 2005... The usual title for an article like this is, "is COBOL dead?" But that was a silly question when I first heard it 20 years ago. And today, with tens of billions of lines of COBOL code still in use, that question is even sillier. As this feature...

Killing the five myths against Linux.(DATABASE INTELLIGENCE)
February 1, 2005... Over the past few years, I have tried to focus almost exclusively on helping small companies and inquisitive users move to Linux, I realize that much of the hesitation to apply Linux in the business and home setting extends from five core...

Actinic business multiuser upgrade.(DATABASE INTELLIGENCE)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Actinic has announced the forthcoming release of a multiuser version of Actinic Business, its mid-range ecommerce solution for more advanced and higher volume ecommerce which was developed to meet the needs of growing ecommerce business....

OpenICDL.com eases migration to Linux desktop.(DATABASE INTELLIGENCE)
February 1, 2005... Questar have announced OpenICDL.com, an online training solution for basic computer skills based on open source and desktop Linux. ICDL, which stands for the International Computer Driving License (also known as ECDL, European Computer Driving...

Company values improve.(Database and Network News and Products)
February 1, 2005... According to company valuations specialists Plimsoll, there is good news for the UK Computer Software industry as we enter 2005.67% of companies in the industry have seen their values increase in the last 12 months, some by as much as 50%. ...

Secure tranport for multimedia comms.(Database and Network News and Products)
February 1, 2005... Visual Nexus has launched its second generation transport solution to enable secure video, voice and data communication between remote locations, and between enterprise's secure networks. Targeted at Service Providers or enterprises who wish to...

Healthy consumer demand in 2004 for U.K. PC market.(Database and Network News and Products)
February 1, 2005... In line with forecasts, the U.K. PC market expanded by 16.9% year on year in the final quarter of 2004, leading to full year growth of 17.9% overall. Concluding what has been a strong year for the industry, over 2-6 million units were shipped...

Rapid growth in European governments' spend on IT.(Database and Network News and Products)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A recently published IDC study shows that all Western European governments are growing their spending in IT services, though the levels of online service sophistication and citizen readiness varies from country to country. As the deadlines for...

TrafficDriver.(IT Products)
February 1, 2005... Fasthosts' new TrafficDriver offers website owners a range of powerful tools to boost their search engine positions. Available to all Fasthosts web hosting customers and resellers, TrafficDriver combines automated monthly search engine...

Rad tool for Linux business APPS.(IT Products)
February 1, 2005... Team Developer 2005 for Linux provides ISVS, VARs and corporate IT departments a tool that can be used to build Linux business applications. It is a comprehensive RAD development solution including a full-featured graphical code editor...

GeoCluster 4.4.(IT Products)
February 1, 2005... Sunbelt System Software, provider of Windows system administration tools and enterprise solutions, have announced that its exclusive partner NSI Software has released a new version of GeoCluster. Version 4.4 provides increased data and...

TeVISTA performance manager.(IT Products)
February 1, 2005... Chevin, have a new network management tool with integrated 'Synthetic User' capabilities to monitor user experience and specific network performance and software applications. Called TeVISTA Performance Manager, the package's synthetic...

Nag Fortran Library now has over 1,500 routines.(IT Products)
February 1, 2005... The latest version of the NAG Numerical Library now includes over 300 new functions, taking the total number of routines in Mark 21 to 1500. which covers the world's most widely used numerical and statistical algorithms. New functions include a...

Sorbot worm targets MYSQL.(Security)
February 1, 2005... Virus experts are warning computer users about a new variant of the Forbot worm which targets MYSQL open-source database software on Windows computers connected to the Internet. MYSQL is a popular alternative to Microsoft's SQL Server database...

Mass--mailing suspect arrested in Spain.(Security)
February 1, 2005... The Spanish Civil Guard has announced that it has detained a 20-year-old man in Ejica, near Seville, in connection with creating and spreading the 'Tasin' computer worm. The Tasin worm (also known as W32/Anzae) spread via email in November...

Blaster-B author sentence 18 months.(Security)
February 1, 2005... Jeffrey Lee Parson, the teenager from Hopkins, Minnesota, who wrote the Blaster-B internet worm which launched an attack against Microsoft's website has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and 10 months community service by a US District...

E-mail virus pulls funny face.(Security)
February 1, 2005... A new worm demonstrates the ancient British art of gurning, the tradition of pulling a funny or scary face, as it infects computers with a backdoor-Trojan. The Wurmark-F worm spreads via email, pretending to be from addresses such as...

New virus diguised as Saddam Hussein death.(Security)
February 1, 2005... A new worm is posing as photographic evidence that Saddam Hussein has been killed following an attempted escape bid from custody. The Bobax-H worm spreads both via email and using a Microsoft security vulnerability in the style of the infamous...

Trojan steals usernames and passwords.(security measures while playing the game Lineage)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A new Trojan horse, LegMir-Y, is designed to steal usernames and passwords from players of a massive multi-player online role-playing game, 'Lineage'. "Lineage' is a medieval themed fantasy game played over the internet and claims to have...

New worm poses as breaking news.(Security)
February 1, 2005... A new worm poses as information on the latest news stories-Crowt-A. (W32/Crowt-A) takes its subject lines, message content and attachment names from headlines gathered in real-time from the CNN website. It attempts to send itself by email to...

Virus masquerades as BitDefender.(enhanced product)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A new, as yet unnamed mass-mailer is in the wild. It comes in an e-mail message with a spoofed "from" field (support@bitdefender) and prompts users to download harmful executables from the http://playb ago.ro website The hosting company of the...

Tsunami donation plea is virus.(Security)
February 1, 2005... A mass-mailing worm poses as a plea for donations to help with the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster. The VBSun-A worm (W32/VBSun-A) spreads via email, tempting innocent users into clicking onto its malicious attachment by pretending to be...

Cellery worm plays Tetris.(report on action game)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A new worm, Cellery-A (W32/Cellery-A), poses as a playable version of the classic Russian computer game Tetris as it attempts to spread across networks. The Cellery worm, which gets its name from a message it displays saying 'Chancellery',...

Top ten viruses reported in January 2005.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A report compiled from Sophos's global network of monitoring stations, shows that Zafi-D, which appeared at the end of 2004, maintains its position at the top of the chart for a second consecutive month. The top ten viruses in January 2005...

Top twenty viruses reported to Kaspersky in January.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... 1. Email-Worm.Win32.Zafi.d 26.57% 2. Email-Worm.Win32.Zafi.b 19.10% 3. Worm.Win32.NetSky.q 13.97% 4. Email-Worm.Win32.LovGate.w 6.5% 5. Email-Worm.Win32.NetSky.b 4.47% 6. Worm.Win32.NetSky.aa 3.35% 7. Email-Worm.W ...

Most dangerous types of spyware increasing.(Security)
February 1, 2005... Quarterly review of consumer PCs shows triple digit growth in system monitors and Trojans; Total scans for 2004 top 4.6 million and detect 116.5 million instances of spyware and potentially unwanted software. The most malicious forms of...

First Trojan to attack Microsoft anti-Spyware product.(Security)
February 1, 2005... Sophos have discovered the first piece of malware to attack Microsoft's new anti-spyware product, currently still in beta. The BankAsh-A Trojan horse is designed to steal online banking passwords from unsuspecting Windows users. The Trojan...

Sophos joins Cisco program.(Cisco Systems Inc., partnership)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Sophos has joined the Network Admission Control (NAC) program. This Cisco-led industry initiative uses network infrastructure to help enforce security policy compliance on all devices which attempt to access a company's network computing...