InfoWorld articles from June 2006

InfoWorld archives from June 2006

InfoWorld CTO 25: David Ting - CTO and founder, Imprivata.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Single sign-on, a deceptively simple concept with a long history of failed attempts, may have finally met its match in David Ting. Ting, founder and CTO of Imprivata, created an appliance he calls OneSign ESSO (Enterprise Single Sign-On)...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Mike Stonebraker - CTO and co-founder, StreamBase Systems.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... It may have been "a million years ago" that he co-built Ingres and Postgres, but Dr. Mike Stonebraker is no dinosaur. Today, he's co- founder and CTO of StreamBase Systems, a company on the cutting edge of CEP (complex event processing) for...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Roland Whitehead - Global director of technology, Bonhams.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... When your IT department has successfully accommodated five M&As in the past four years, you must be doing something right. For Roland Whitehead, global director of IT for the elite auction house Bonhams, the secret lies in custom development,...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Tim Stanley - Senior vice president and CIO, Harrah's Entertainment.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... As senior vice president and CIO of Harrah's Entertainment, Tim Stanley's game of choice is "operational CRM," a combination of technologies the company deployed in 2005 to bring CRM closer to real time. Based on up-to-the minute customer info,...

Get a head start on NAC - A standard architecture for policy-based access control means you can plan ahead.(network access control)
June 5, 2006... In the past two years a consensus architecture has emerged for providing policy-based control over access to networks. Led by the development of the Trusted Network Connect (TNC) specifications, this architecture provides a framework for all...

NAC appliances reveal whose rapping at your network door - NAC boxes from Caymas, Lockdown, Nevis, and Vernier separate valid users from troublesome intruders.(network access control)
June 5, 2006... As the NAC (network access control) market matures, the solutions are becoming more sophisticated at identifying users and assessing the security compliance of host devices. Answering questions such as how snugly they fit into the existing...

IBM releases promote global software delivery - Software delivery, governance on tap at Rational Conference.
June 5, 2006... Increasingly, enterprise app dev projects span the globe. To govern such sprawling collaborations, IBM is rolling out 12 products developed by its Rational Software division. IBM claims that its new ALM (application lifecycle management)...

Microsoft to update Office for business intelligence - ProClarity wares turn Office into BI platform.(Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007)
June 5, 2006... Microsoft plans to clarify its business intelligence strategy with the unveiling of Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007, a new addition to its Office lineup, on Tuesday. PerformancePoint Server combines a business analysis engine...

Ubuntu ventures into enterprise Linux - Company will focus on good OSS relations.
June 5, 2006... According to Wikipedia, the African word "Ubuntu," from which the Ubuntu Linux distribution takes its name, has many possible translations. Among them: "humanity towards others," "I am because we are," or "A person is a person because of other...

VA data loss could prompt federal privacy law - Lost data on 20 million vets to spur action.
June 5, 2006... A massive security breach at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) this month may refocus Congress on stalled data breach legislation, some backers of the legislation said. The VA data theft, involving the unencrypted personal...

VMware: New ESX rocks the datacenter - Silo Killer ... qu'est-ce que c'est?(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... VMware on Monday launched the first major upgrade of its flagship server virtualization and management software in nearly two years along with several new software tools it says will help IT administrators wring more savings out of enterprise...

Salesforce launches AppExchange for OEMs - Benioff: Mashups are the future of computing.
June 5, 2006... Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff unveiled plans to transform his company into the iTunes of the business application world and laid the groundwork for AppExchange OEM Edition, the company's newest service. Using his company's first-ever...

OPEN ENTERPRISE: Ubuntu makes a bid for the enterprise - New version of "Linux for humans" touts enterprise readiness, five-year support.(Column)
June 5, 2006... Mark Shuttleworth is really sticking his neck out this time. Conventional wisdom says that enterprise Linux customers should stick to one of the "Big Two" suppliers -- Novell or Red Hat -- to be sure they get the support and accountability they...

EDITOR'S LETTER: InfoWorld's CTO 25 winners have the right stuff - Today's most successful CTOs know how to deliver real business value.(Editorial)
June 5, 2006... Five years in, and the quality keeps improving. I'm talking about InfoWorld's CTO 25 award winners, our annual crop of high achievers who have pushed their companies' IT efforts to new heights over the past year. In this incarnation of the...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: Microsoft app squeals, Apple loses appeal - Helping you get in touch with your inner pirate.
June 5, 2006... Cringester David S. was not pleased when a recent "critical" Windows Update asked him to sign a click-wrap EULA so it could install beta software on his PC. Apparently he was one of several lucky XP owners picked at random to try out Windows...

FROM THE ANALYSTS: Are you significant? By some accounts no, so check the fine print for that pesky margin of error.
June 5, 2006... You know how political polls always mention a "margin of error" of so many percentage points? So Candidate X may be 3 percent up in the polls, but that's actually "a statistical dead heat." Well, the technology research world needs some...

SECURITY ADVISER: Hacking ignorance isn't bliss - Just because you haven't been hacked doesn't mean you can't be.
June 5, 2006... I teach and penetration test for a living. I find it disturbing how many system administrators think their networks and systems are secure just because they aren't often attacked. What launched me on my latest rant was an AS/400 penetration...

STORAGE INSIDER: Bringing CAS to the masses - The technology's inventor reveals a software-only content addressable storage solution that's sure to spark some buzz.
June 5, 2006... Back in 2001 when EMC bought Belgian startup FilePool, only a few people knew what CAS (content addressable storage) was. Even fewer people knew that FilePool's Paul Carpentier was the mind behind CAS. Nevertheless, CAS was (and still is)...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Snap up SNP for a server boost - Scalable Networking Pack for Windows 2003 Server promises at least a minimal performance increase.(Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SNP )
June 5, 2006... The recent Microsoft WinHEC was a throwback to last year's developer and small business partner trade shows: new announcements by the bushel. Microsoft was tossing so many new acronyms around that newbies were getting dizzy and passing out. (It...

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Intel pulls a no-show - Spring Processor Forum is prime strutting ground for chipmakers, so where was Intel?
June 5, 2006... Intel's present drumbeat around the upcoming Core Microarchitecture, multicore technology, and low power utilization is intended to give Intel a major PR boost in the CPU battle with AMD. A fresh coat of paint on a retreat to a mobile...

STRATEGIC DEVELOPER: Don't upgrade Web software, just keep improving it - A well-intentioned overhaul that takes away functionality is the worst possible outcome.
June 5, 2006... When I logged in to my bank's online system to pay some bills last night, I was greeted with the following message: "Bill payment system upgrade completed." Uh-oh. That's a message I don't want to see. Thin-client software delivered...

REALITY CHECK: Outsourcing vs. shared services - Two competing trends help companies get more value out of IT operations.
June 5, 2006... There are two current trends in IT with diametrically opposed points of view that are worth looking at. The first is shared services, wherein the IT organization becomes the internal service provider to the rest of the company. The second is...

OFF THE RECORD: Recipe for career suicide - When your boss thinks function calls and DLLs are mysterious mumbo jumbo, you have problems.
June 5, 2006... By Anonymous My first job in the states was working for a company that sold database applications to hospitals. The president, "Mr. Charles," had written the main applications himself using a programmable DBMS. Originally its programming...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Bob DeRodes - Executive Vice President and CIO, The Home Depot.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Bob DeRodes used to be a long-snapping center, but he says he missed his shot at the NFL. Instead, he became executive vice president and CIO of The Home Depot. After joining the company in 2000 and quickly getting promoted to his current...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Dan Canzano - Vice President of IT, Paychex.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... To Dan Canzano, there's more to being the vice president of IT at Paychex than understanding technology. "I am not a technologist per se," he says. "I have a master's in business and I've been smart enough to surround myself with very capable...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Fred Dillman - CTO, Unisys.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... A 25-year Unisys veteran, CTO Fred Dillman has seen lots of changes in how IT operates. "When IT was growing, it was all about making improvements in the business, but after a while they got enamored with their own technology," Dillman says....

InfoWorld CTO 25: Gerhard Eschelbeck - CTO, Webroot.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Gerhard Eschelbeck has never been one to shy away from a tough assignment. As CTO of Qualys, Eschelbeck oversaw the development of that company's on-demand vulnerability scanning service, despite widespread skepticism. Qualys, which is gearing...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Matt Bross - CTO, BT.(British Telecommunications PLC)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Telecom firms have traditionally developed their services in technology silos. But Matt Bross, CTO of BT (formerly British Telecom), sees no reason to continue investing in legacy infrastructure, not when the Internet offers vast new...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Russell Daniels - CTO and vice president, HP Software.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... As CTO and vice president of HP's software business, Russell Daniels has a service-oriented perspective normally associated with applications -- rather than, say, his flagship OpenView product. "Historically, the enterprise management...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Todd Brennan - CTO and co-founder, Bit9.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Dr. Todd Brennan, CTO and co-founder of Bit9, is a renaissance technologist whose credentials include a doctorate in electrical engineering and a research stint in MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. It was at Lincoln, while working on satellite...

InfoWorld CTO 25 - From hundreds of entries, we cull 25 leaders who exemplify the best in IT management and innovation.(Editorial)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... The top technology slot in the enterprise has changed. Once, forward- looking CTOs and CIOs scanned the horizon for new technologies that would improve the lot of IT. Today, as many of this year's top 25 CTOs can tell you, technology leaders...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Bruce Fleming - Divisional Technology Officer, Verizon Federal Network Systems.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Patience and persistence always pay off. In Bruce Fleming's role as "go-to guy" for the divisional technology office of Verizon's federal arm, he applies both those skills as he shepherds complex projects through the military and other large...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Greg Framke - CIO and Executive Vice President, ETrade Financial.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Greg Framke, ETrade's CIO and executive vice president, likes being first. He was instrumental in the company's becoming the first financial institution to offer all its customers an RSA SecurID token to supplement username-password pairs....

InfoWorld CTO 25: Keith McGarr - Global CTO, Reed Elsevier.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Reed Elsevier -- with businesses including Harcourt and LexisNexis -- publishes more than 15,000 journals, books, and reference works, and boasts more than 500 online properties. As Global CTO, Keith McGarr focuses on the development of...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Mark Foster - CTO and Senior Vice President, NeuStar.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... In 1996, the idea of letting customers move their cell phone numbers from one provider to another was revolutionary -- or, if you asked the carriers, impossible. But government pressure forced the move, and Mark Foster was the guy who figured...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Mark Goodge - CTO, National Naval Medical Center.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Mark Goodge, CTO of the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) understands the importance of technology. He'd better: As a health care enclave for all four branches of the U.S. armed forces, NNMC spans 5,000 network users across 5,000 miles in...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Amichai Shulman - CTO and founder, Imperva.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Amichai Shulman, CTO and founder of Imperva, heads Imperva's Application Defense Center (ADC), a research arm of the company devoted to building "the most advanced... security knowledge base in the world." A tall order, but Shulman has...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Andrew Nash - CTO, Reactivity.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... During his 10-year stint at RSA security, Andrew Nash worked hard developing identity and access management technologies, wrote a book on PKI (Public Key Infrastructure), and co-authored several security standards. But one day, in the middle of...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Beth Perlman - Senior vice president and CIO, Constellation Energy Group.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Beth Perlman is an agent of change in an industry not exactly known for nimbleness: regulated utilities. When she joined the Constellation Energy Group in 2002, she became its first CIO. "I called it 'the 90-year-old startup company,'"...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Frank Modruson - CIO, Accenture.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Business needs always change, but it's hard to focus on meeting them when you're distracted by operations. Accenture CIO Frank Modruson came up with a novel solution: He moved his operations staff -- about 80 percent of the IT headcount -- into...

InfoWorld CTO 25: John Smith - Vice president of technology, Benefitfocus.com.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... What do you do when your CIO asks you to build a new data management system because a client can't handle its volume of data? If you're John Smith, you take a deep breath and gamble that you can not only develop a system in four months but that...

InfoWorld CTO 25: John Stankey - CTO, AT&T.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... These are interesting times at AT&T. The company's merger with SBC in November was a $16 billion deal that had "integration nightmare" written all over it, but CTO John Stankey has led the charge to combine the companion networks swiftly into a...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Niraj Patel - Executive vice president and CIO, Capmark Financial Group.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Niraj Patel's rise to CIO at the Capmark Financial Group (formerly GMAC Commercial Holding Corp.) was more than meteoric -- it was nearly an overnight leap, from working at the help desk in his first job out of college in 1994 to running the IT...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Scott Metzger - CTO, TrueCredit.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Scott Metzger, CTO of TrueCredit, calls his early days at the company a "trial by fire." In typical startup fashion, "many promises were being made that couldn't be kept. I showed up with a gun to my head on Day One." Drawing on his...

InfoWorld CTO 25: Suzanne Peck - CTO, District of Columbia.(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Suzanne Peck signed on as CTO for Washington, D.C., in summer 1998. At the time, the city had a crazy quilt of 370 obsolete systems and no Y2K program in place. "We had 8,000 rotary telephones, no wide area network, and several e-mail systems,...

Nsite 6.0 serves up small-scale CRM add-ons - Offering customizable sales management extensions, Nsite suits CRM for SMBs.
June 12, 2006... Effective sales management can be an overwhelming challenge to small businesses. Lacking IT savvy and budget to automate, many SMBs are still mired in an error-prone mix of manual e-mail, spreadsheets, and word processing applications. Add...

Longhorn Beta 2 is an impressive package - Improved server OS offers simplified admin, client security boost for Windows enterprises.
June 12, 2006... Enterprise IT folks aren't exactly champing at the bit to get Vista into their shops; many are only now distributing Windows XP Service Pack 2, and there are plenty of copies of Windows 2000 Professional still around. But Windows Server 2003...

Google gets Groove-y with Spreadsheet - Invite-only Alpha Software is no Excel killer ... yet.
June 12, 2006... It's not often that alpha releases of new software get written up in Tech Watch, let alone alpha versions of spreadsheet software, a category that reached its peak of innovation around the time Bill Clinton won his return trip to the Oval...

Microsoft to update Office for business intelligence - ProClarity wares turn Office into BI platform.(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... Microsoft plans to clarify its business intelligence strategy with the unveiling of Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007, a new addition to its Office lineup, on Tuesday. PerformancePoint Server combines a business analysis engine...

IBM set to unveil DB2 Viper after five years in the making - Native XML support lays foundation for hybrid apps.(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... After almost two years of testing, IBM says it is finally pulling the covers off DB2 Version 9, the next iteration of its flagship database server, on July 28. Formerly known by the code name "Viper," the new version is the result of a...

Computex: Intel puts chip set on the table - Key component of vPro platform due in July.
June 12, 2006... The days of the shiny gold bunny suits are long gone at chipmaker Intel, what with the dot-com bubble burst, reports of supply problems in key product lines, and stiff competition from Advanced Micro Devices. The company, however, is hoping...

Reactivity adds Auto-Discovery - New tools streamline SOA Services.(Brief article)
June 12, 2006... What role should the network play in SOA? Every time that question comes up, the answer seems to get longer. A new tool from Reactivity promises to make it longer still. The company on Monday unveiled Auto-Discovery for Services, a...

STORAGE INSIDER: NetApp embraces HPC for data management - Long-awaited integration of Spinnaker's clustered architecture with Ontap OS finally arrives.(high- performance computing)
June 12, 2006... I don't see other storage vendors sitting still, but it's undeniable that Network Appliance has been extra busy lately. Without digging out all the announcements made in the past 12 months or so, it's fair to say that NetApp has been adding...

STRATEGIC DEVELOPER: Open source education - Community-driven software presents a unique opportunity for hands-on developer training.(Column)
June 12, 2006... Graham Glass wrote a blog entry this week that touched on two of my favorite themes: open source and education. In the middle of a project based on the red-hot Ruby on Rails platform, he took time out to explain how he found, and worked around,...

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: PPW: Watts all the fuss? The performance-per-watt campaign for CPUs is ridiculous and misleading.
June 12, 2006... The popular new PPW (performance per watt) measure of value for CPUs is snake oil, no matter which vendor's brochures and billboards hawk it. At least IT has the convenience of a two-variable formula to determine where your hardware dollars...

OPEN ENTERPRISE: Oracle: The biggest Linux vendor you've never heard of - With its new certification program, Oracle aims to dispel the myth that it doesn't do Linux.
June 12, 2006... Quick -- name a company that has invested heavily and continuously in open source, is one of the top contributors to Linux kernel development, and offers full enterprise support for Linux to thousands of customers. Were you thinking of...

OFF THE RECORD: Confessions of an offshore developer - Sometimes deciding who's the good guy and who's the bad guy is harder than it looks.
June 12, 2006... By Anonymous I'm the guy you're afraid of. I was born in India, and in 2000, fresh out of college, I was working for an engineering services company in Pune -- one that helped design and build manufacturing plants worldwide. The company...

EDITOR'S LETTER: IT stats, IT salaries - Pay is up across the board, but the numbers tell only part of the story.(Editorial)
June 12, 2006... We dress it up with a fancy title, the InfoWorld 2006 Compensation Survey, and gussy it up with pages of trend analysis and cross-indexed data. But the bottom line -- the first thing almost all of you are jonesing to know -- is whether you're...

REALITY CHECK: Slow progress for 802.11n standards - Next-generation Wi-Fi is bogged down by a tedious standardization process.
June 12, 2006... The IEEE 802.11n standard has been three years in the making, and from the looks of it, it has at least another year to go. That's a shame because it offers a lot of benefits, including higher throughput than the current Wi-Fi standard -- about...

SECURITY ADVISER: Tackle malicious Web code without infecting yourself - Malware defense efforts need to balance speed with risk, from using less-common browsers to full virtual machines.
June 12, 2006... How do you investigate potentially malicious Web page code without infecting yourself? As a computer security defender, I'm often in a position where I need to investigate a potentially malicious Web link. Maybe it arrived as a really...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: Windows Genuine Advantage a poor bet, bank snags domain from pet - Luckily for me I have no secrets -- or, at least, not for long.(Internet service providers and their information management)(Morgan Stanley accused Meow for domain dispute)
June 12, 2006... Not content with tapping our phones, Uncle Sam wants online services to voluntarily store subscriber data for a minimum of two years. The DoJ claims the data is essential in the fight against terrorism, child porn, and whatever else they feel...

FROM THE ANALYSTS: How do you tell humans and computers apart? In the online world, it's harder than you think, but CAPTCHA aims to change that.(Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart)
June 12, 2006... CAPTCHA me if you can! No, it's not my Boston accent rearing its ugly head again. There's a new IT acronym, CAPTCHA, that really rolls off the tongue and that enterprise security folks ought to know about if they don't already. While...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Vista may just mark an OS revolution - A slick interface, cool features, stronger security, and more make for a promising new version of Windows.
June 12, 2006... I'm obstinate. It's a character flaw. But it's deeply ingrained, so when everyone started pumping out Vista Beta 2 reviews I was determined to hold my head up high and not bother. Until someone in command pointedly asked me why I'd ignore...

Salary survey: Myriad factors fuel IT salary increases.
June 12, 2006... Senior managers capitalized on adding responsibilities to their job description, whereas middle managers relied more on standard increases Copyright (c) 2006 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.

Salary survey: Bonuses for all in IT.
June 12, 2006... Profit sharing and completed projects proved key to this year's modest increase in bonus awards Copyright (c) 2006 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.

Salary survey: IT challenges on the horizon.
June 12, 2006... Hiring freezes, layoffs, and increased reliance on outsourcing are growing concerns among survey respondents Copyright (c) 2006 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.

Salary survey: IT employment opportunities.
June 12, 2006... Executives are seeking to move up, middle managers appear content to stay put, and staff are feeling underpaid Copyright (c) 2006 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.

Salary survey: IT management misperceptions.
June 12, 2006... Perceptions among business executives as to the value of IT is affected by factors such as outsourcing and overinvestment Copyright (c) 2006 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.

Salary survey: Reasons why IT workers fear the ax.
June 12, 2006... Fear of offshoring spread up the company ladder, as more managers felt the rise in overseas initiatives have left jobs vulnerable Copyright (c) 2006 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.

Salary survey: IT reliance on outsourcing remains.
June 12, 2006... Tapping external sources to get the job done shows no sign of slowing, while one in three initiatives is undertaken offshore Copyright (c) 2006 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.

2006 InfoWorld Compensation Survey: IT salaries are back on track and headed north - Salaries are climbing, but long hours, outsourcing, and a slew of contract jobs continue to fuel job security anxiety.
June 12, 2006... A near-forgotten term is back in the lexicon of IT compensation: opportunity. And tech workers are making the most of it. Salaries are on the rise. Promotions are not just title changes in lieu of a raise. Surfing the want ads is more than an...

Lexmark builds a better mutlifunction printer - Superior to its predecessors, the X646e prints, copies, faxes, and scans to network.
June 12, 2006... The $2,999 price tag on Lexmark's X646e monochrome MFP (multifunction printer) makes a fast printer/copier available at a painless fraction of the $10,000 you might spend for a high-quality stand-alone office copier. Most office copiers have...

Cedars-Sinai cures storage ills with clustered NAS - Clustered system reduced downtime, allowed easier expansion.(Network attached storage)
June 19, 2006... If your job is a daily fight against time to save lives, the vagaries of a storage system should not get in your way. This is the problem that Dr. Parag Mallick faced at the Cedars-Sinai Center for Applied Molecular Medicine in Los Angeles,...

The new NAS: Fast, cheap, and scalable - New network attached storage technologies keep unstructured data under control.
June 19, 2006... There are many reasons to complain about storage, but lack of variety is not one. Never before has the market offered so many different NAS (network attached storage) solutions, ranging from consumer-grade desktop boxes to sophisticated...

When plain NAS beats clustering - Unique characteristics of clustered NAS aren't advantages in every situation.(Network attached storage)
June 19, 2006... If clustered NAS is the way to go, why do traditional NAS systems still account for the majority of deployments? For many CIOs, the limitations of conventional NAS systems are a nonissue because their applications fall well below those...

Microsoft announces Office Line of Business service - TechEd news adds detail to "People-Ready" vision.
June 19, 2006... "People-Ready" is the latest slo-gan Microsoft is trotting out to describe its business vision. Like its predecessors (remember Win 95's "Where do you want to go today?"), the catchy phrase, which CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled in March, is...

Gates to step down from Microsoft - Will wind down through 2007, Ozzie to take chief architect role.
June 19, 2006... With the planning and forethought that seem to accompany most of Microsoft's big corporate shifts (think "The Trustworthy Computing" memo), Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates' surprise announcement that he plans to leave...

Yahoo worm demonstrates AJAX threat - AJAX a force multiplier in outbreak.
June 19, 2006... There are few of us in life who really want to dig into the nitty gritty details of how things work -- to visit the proverbial "sausage factory" that makes our favorite food, assembles our cars, or puts cheap gadgets on the shelves at Best Buy...

Microsoft weighs strong app IDs for Windows future - Crypto signatures part of future app reputation services.
June 19, 2006... Microsoft has plans to introduce stronger security for third-party applications that run on future versions of Windows, including "Vienna," the planned successor to Windows Vista. With the next versions of the Windows desktop operating...

OPEN ENTERPRISE: Patent overload hinders open source innovation - Even a major player like Sun has to struggle through intellectual property entanglement to push its open source DRM initiative.
June 19, 2006... Open source gives you choices. Not happy with commercial software? Try the open source alternative, and work to add the features you need. If no open source project already exists, start your own. Chances are, other folks have the same itch and...

EDITOR'S LETTER: Life after Gates - What kind of software will Microsoft build under Ray Ozzie?(Bill Gates)(Editorial)
June 19, 2006... Give Microsoft credit. What other company could pull off a stop-the- presses announcement on news that its No. 2 guy was stepping down... in two years? That's a lifetime in the software industry. Yet with a slew of new Microsoft products and...

SECURITY ADVISER: Privacy protection: The government is no help - Is hacking Congress the only way to make the point that data protection laws are woefully weak?
June 19, 2006... Does a day go by in which there are no stories about millions of confidential records stolen or lost? Several sources indicate that the number of confidential client records stolen in the last few years is many tens of millions. Edentify,...

FROM THE ANALYSTS: Waffling on grid computing - Management's lack of interest may help explain limited demand for grid-enabled apps.(Editorial)
June 19, 2006... When I think of grid computing, for some reason I think of my waffle iron. In addition to being grid-shaped, it makes high-performance waffles -- nice and crisp with perfectly shaped ridges just waiting for the Vermont maple syrup layer. It's...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: Microsoft validation hell, Google outexcels Excel - It's hard to move quickly when you've shot yourself in both feet.
June 19, 2006... Referring to the Windows Genuine (dis)Advantage validation tool, reader Peter K. asks, "Why would Microsoft want to p**s off everyone?" Other Cringesters report that Windows won't download updates until WGA is installed (so much for it being a...