InfoWorld articles from October 2002

InfoWorld archives from October 2002

HP repackages apps stack : Focus sharpens on Web services management as BEA, Microsoft partnerships mature and OpenView services strategy unfolds.
October 7, 2002... TURNING ITS BACK on critical middleware application development, Hewlett- Packard is attempting to build momentum around its efforts to repackage itself as a Web services management player. Months after conceding it would abandon the...

Classic messaging gateways and connectors promise to be a prominent feature of the distributed services landscape.
October 7, 2002... NOW THAT WE ALL AGREE Web services must converse in a loosely coupled and asynchronous manner, it's clear that message-oriented middleware has a vital role to play. SOAP traffic usually cruises the HTTP highway, but it doesn't have to. We've...

Battle of the shopping carts : Brick front to online, CTOs are redefining their businesses and technologies to capture customers.
October 7, 2002... WHEN YOU'RE A chief technologist for an online retailer, is it gauche to shop other sites? Not if you're human. And not if you're interested in innovation, says Neil Roseman, vice president of software development at Amazon.com. ...

Custom built.(RagingWire Telecommunications Inc.)(Interview)
October 7, 2002... RagingWire CTO says targeting key customers and delivering flexible solutions bring outsourcing success OUTSOURCING IS A WAY of life for many companies, but what distinguishes managed service providers in this climate? RagingWire...

Sharing security secrets (Part two of a four-part series).
October 7, 2002... Concerns about liability and vulnerability keep most CTOs from formally sharing information about attacks on corporate networks. Copyright (c) 2002 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.

Reaching for the provisioning ring.
October 7, 2002... The identity market spins as users seek efficient management solutions "I [was] getting significant push-back every time I rolled something out," said Scott Ogawa, CTO of Boston-based Children's Hospital. "It starts becoming a security...

Who, what, where : The challenges of automating identity management and provisioning only begin with architecture and integration.
October 7, 2002... WITH THE PROLIFERATION of Web-based, extranets, self-service portals, and heterogeneous enterprise systems, the development of automated identity management and provisioning systems is becoming a high priority. Almost everything's an...

BI crowd extend data reach : Cognos, SAS, Comshare to detail upgrades designed to leverage enterprise data.(Product Announcement)
October 7, 2002... ATTEMPTING TO BOLSTER corporate performance with BI (business intelligence) data, vendors this week will announce upgrades designed to help customers align business operations with strategic goals. Cognos, SAS, and Comshare will separately...

Novell exteNds app dev, preps strategy overhaul.(Version 4 of its exteNd Web application development suite)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
October 7, 2002... Novell will next week roll out Version 4 of its exteNd Web application development suite, acquired from SilverStream Software in July. exteNd 4 features full support for J2EE 1.3, designed to ensure cross-platform compatibility for. The release...

Microsoft talks Titanium.(Exchange messaging platform)(Brief Article)
October 7, 2002... Microsoft will preview the forthcoming release of its Exchange messaging platform, code-named Titanium, next week at its annual Microsoft Exchange Conference. New capabilities aimed at lowering total cost of ownership and improving ease-of-use...

Kontiki FORGES XML.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2002... Attempting to protect videos and documents at the desktop level, content- delivery vendor Kontiki has developed an XML network connector to VeriSign's AMS (Access Management Service). The integration brings automated authentication and...

IBM tightens systems grip : Tivoli pursues automation vision with ID management, security, storage technologies.
October 7, 2002... DELIVERING ON PROMISES to fuse cross-management, automation, integration, and security functions, IBM and Tivoli are seeking to relieve the strain of systems management operations. This week at the Gartner Symposium IT Expo in Orlando,...

Safeguarding storage : Storage device authentication, data encryption options on the horizon.
October 7, 2002... ATTEMPTING TO ADDRESS critical storage concerns, a host of companies are rolling out new security appliances that secure stored data and manage certificate-based authentication between storage devices. Startups Decru, NeoScale Systems,...

Reboot, restore, resume : Though setup is time-consuming, the CoreRestore PCI card adds a twist to ultrafast recovery of ATA drives.
October 7, 2002... PROBABLY ONE OF the most annoying recurring tasks for the help desk is restoring a PC with damaged software to pristine condition. A virus is one of the most common threats, and often new pathologies can slip through corporate defense lines. In...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: A few ugly rounds.
October 7, 2002... MY OLD FRIEND Murph is back, and this time around he is roping me into a round of golf -- not exactly my favorite pastime. "Come on, Cringe, you can practice your slice," Murph said. That's what I am afraid of. A warranty issue Looks...

To the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
October 7, 2002... Cutting cold calls IN CTO CONNECTION, Chad Dickerson outlines how he handles sales calls (see "Calling the shots," Sept. 23). Here's my method. I stepped into a CxO position after a significant downsizing -- of staff, not...

THE OPEN SOURCE: When time matters : Building a TV recording system exemplifies the time-and cost-saving benefits of open source.
October 7, 2002... SOME OF THE benefits of working with open-source solutions are not obvious. I was reminded of this recently when I decided to build a TV time-shifting box for use at home. We really don't watch too much TV, but the few shows we do watch seem to...

WINDOW MANAGER: XP and a product key : You may have both, but Windows XP's new Service Pack 1 may have ideas of its own.
October 7, 2002... WHAT IF YOU booted your PC, and it booted you back? That's what many Windows users dread these days. They've heard that Service Pack 1 for Windows XP "phones home" -- and may refuse to install. Many of the fears are unfounded or the...

SECURITY ADVISER: Criminal confession : Hoping for lenience, P.J. admits his crimes, throws himself on the mercy of the court, and vows to behave.
October 7, 2002... I AM A computer criminal. I figure that it's better to simply 'fess up, come clean, and hope that the court, in its wisdom, will have mercy and recognize that it was an act of youthful impulse -- I haven't engaged in such conduct for years...

STORAGE INSIDER: Expanding on tapes : ADIC and StorageTek add backup products at opposite ends of the storage spectrum.(ADIC Scalar 24 and StorageTechnology T9940B)(Product Announcement)
October 7, 2002... SOLVING DATA protection woes for an IT department and its users calls for more than just faster backup devices. In fact, many vendors are exploring more comprehensive solutions that essentially provide integrated hardware and software...

WIRELESS WORLD: The end at hand : Palm's financial troubles are symptomatic of consumers' dwindling interest in handheld devices.
October 7, 2002... ALTHOUGH THERE are those who would like to blame Palm for its 20 percent decline in third-quarter sales, perhaps the downturn is just a leading indicator of what's to come for the other handheld manufacturers. And I include in this dismal...

ENTERPRISE STRATEGIES: Privacy and risk : Think those DRM mandates and rules won't affect you when accessing the Web at work? Think again.(digital rights management)
October 7, 2002... IF AN EMPLOYEE or contractor uses your network to trade music or pick up pirated software, your company could be liable -- that's the hidden catch in the DRM (digital rights management) discussions. An ISP can claim that it can't police all...

CTO CONNECTION: Securing the homeland : Government report on cyberspace security offers some critical recommendations for IT executives.
October 7, 2002... WITH HOMELAND security a hot topic and computer security always on the minds of IT professionals, "The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace," recently released by the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board and introduced by...

SURVIVAL GUIDE: Speaking M&A code : If you want to lead your team through a successful merger, make sure it is in their interest to do so.
October 7, 2002... ONE OF MY CLIENTS is a newly merged company. To prepare for the engagement, I did what any self-respecting consultant would do: I called people who have been through a merger themselves. One related this bizarre story: The leaders of one of...

THE GRIPE LINE: Register, or else ...: One reader's horror story about how failing to register an OS upgrade within 30 days killed his PDA.(Casio)
October 7, 2002... WHAT'S THE NEXT step beyond software product activation? How about hardware deactivation? A reader we'll call Mr. Fields recently purchased a Casio Cassiopeia BE- 300, a PDA he was thinking of using to distribute a custom application to...

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: We the people ... : One reader says technology didn't create our copyright problems -- bad laws that steal from the public domain did.(Column)
October 7, 2002... I RECEIVED THE following response to a recent column (see "Fighting the last war," Sept. 23). The author, David H. Lynch Jr., graciously allowed me to use as much of this as I needed. Here it is, trimmed only slightly for space: I rarely...

ABOVE THE NOISE: Security solutions in a complex world : From identity provisioning to government initiatives, a look at the security landscape.
October 7, 2002... FINANCIAL, TECHNOLOGICAL, AND personnel resources are increasingly being scrutinized and called into question in today's economic climate. Contractors and customers often require access to network files and services to do their jobs and use...

Sun serves Linux : LX50's Control Station support makes it a good fit in Solaris shops.
October 7, 2002... SUN MICROSYSTEMS presents its new LX50 server as a solution for companies that want the scalability typical of 1U Intel servers with the manageability typical of servers from Sun. The company sweetens the pot with a wealth of bundled software...

Whirlwind romance : Sun accepts PC servers, Linux but puts them in a small cage.
October 7, 2002... With the introduction of its LX50 rack-mounted server (see "Sun serves Linux,") and its desktop Linux initiative, Sun has become one of the big names to get behind Linux. As is Sun's habit, it arrives at the party late, claiming it has been...

Servers balance the load : Smaller players take the lead in delivering datacenter technology.(OpForce Testing Infrastructure Automation and Think Assure)(Product Announcement)
October 7, 2002... AS DOMINANT hardware providers forge separate visions of an automated datacenter utopia, smaller vendors are stepping into the void with technologies that optimize resource utilization and reduce operating costs. Companies such as Jareva,...

CRM meets MapPoint.(Brief Article)
October 7, 2002... E.piphany announced this week the integration of Microsoft's MapPoint .Net geographic mapping system into its sales software suite. With the integration, end-users will be able to have the sales module call the Web service to map customer...

Vordel eases integration.(Vordel Secure Partner Integration Solution)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
October 7, 2002... Vordel this week launched Secure Partner Integration Solution. The solution will offer XML-based security for financial services institutions that "dip their toe" in Web services environments and require secure transactions between multiple...

Building a better browser - Smart client-side apps bolster services- oriented computing.
October 14, 2002... THE INTERNET'S SERVERCENTRIC model is demonstrating itself too slow and too static for the medium to advance beyond a document warehouse. Static forms are persistently cornering server resources. Round-trip server calls hog bandwidth and hinder...

Integration lightens up - Enterprises turn to 'EAI lite' for less costly, smaller-scale options.(enterprise application integration)
October 14, 2002... WITH INTEGRATION and security toping IT priority lists, it's no surprise that enterprises are furiously seeking the right technology to help them link legions of disparate systems. But enterprise wariness about traditional EAI platforms'...

Security by fiat (Part three of a four-part series).(Brief Article)
October 14, 2002... The CTO community is almost equally split on whether the federal government should mandate security and business continuity best practices. Copyright (c) 2002 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.

Enterprise play - The gaming and entertainment industries have surprising technology solutions to offer enterprise CTOs.(Seth Berger, CTO, Estco Medical )
October 14, 2002... SETH BERGER draws on his experience as a game developer in his role as CTO of Estco Medical, a Bethesda, Md.-based Web site developer for the medical industry. "In both the video game and enterprise environment there's a large-scale production...

Entertaining links.(Linda Beck, EarthLink's executive vice president of operations)
October 14, 2002... EarthLink's chief technologist is peering with partners to manage increasing demands for rich options SERVING NEARLY 5 million subscribers who demand game downloads and more, EarthLink executives are keenly watching developments in the...

Playing the broadband market - Gaming publisher Gigex turns to real- time broadband to manage fees for unpredicted traffic spikes.
October 14, 2002... Dateline: July 4 -- World Wide Web THE U.S. ARMY launches a special "Recon" version of America's Army, a 10-level, realistic, military role-playing and simulation game being used as a "wired" recruitment tool, after a barrage of publicity....

Microsoft to share code.(Passport authentication technology)(Brief Article)
October 14, 2002... Microsoft has announced it will share a portion of the source code for its Passport authentication technology, hoping to spur adoption of its SSO (single sign-on) software among corporate developers. Beginning in November Microsoft will share...

J2EE, .Net in dead heat.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2002... A survey conducted by Evans Data found that the more than 600 developers surveyed virtually split on development plans for Java and .Net. The survey, completed in September, found that 40 percent of developers surveyed are currently building...

HP, Critical Path team up.(to offer hosted services)(Brief Article)
October 14, 2002... Hewlett-Packard and Critical Path have aligned to offer hosted services, including email, instant messaging, wireless access, group scheduling, and file storage. Starting in the first quarter of 2003, the companies will jointly sell and support...

Web services lockdown - Vendors to tighten enterprise security via ID management, PKI history.(Netegrity introduces TransactionMinder)(Product Information)
October 14, 2002... SECURITY VENDORS deeply ROOTED IN PKI, AUTHENTICATION, ENCRYPTION, AND WEB ACCESS MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY ARE RAMPING UP NEW WARES TO PLUG SECURITY HOLES IN WEB SERVICES INFRASTRUCTURE. Vendors, including Entrust, RSA Security, and Netegrity,...

Microsoft touts Office vision - XDocs, Jupiter drive Office agenda to capture business processes with XML.(Product Information)
October 14, 2002... ATTEMPTING TO FORTIFY its Office suite as a rich interface for Web services, Microsoft has announced a set of technologies designed to embed business process functionality into the core of its software stack. The Redmond, Wash.-based...

Media projecting further - Rich content and digital media companies take on network congestion.(Kontiki and CenterSpan )
October 14, 2002... BOASTING INNOVATIVE delivery models and tightened security, digital media and streaming content are poised to kick down enterprise doors and take up residence behind the firewall. Vendors Kontiki and CenterSpan are among those companies...

DRM knocks at the enterprise door.
October 14, 2002... So far, enterprise IT isn't mired in the DRM swamp. For the most part, the content that DRM aims to control is produced by the entertainment industry and consumed in the home. But as licensing regimes creep into the technical infrastructure, IT...

ABOVE THE NOISE: CTOs learn to play a rich-media game - What the the gaming and entertainment sectors can offer for the enterprise.
October 14, 2002... ONCE MARGINALIZED IN the technology industry, games developers are becoming a sought-after commodity. Their understanding of complex technology issues and peer-to-peer networking make them the ideal developers in today's enterprise...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: Not quite resting easy.
October 14, 2002... I SEEM TO BE stricken with a bout of insomnia of late. "What is it that is keeping you awake, Bobby?" Amber asked. I wish it were easy to answer, my dear. I think I just need to get back out on the Harley lest the whole summer fade away before...

To the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
October 14, 2002... Brainstorming storm I WANTED TO share my rules for brainstorming after reading Bob Lewis' Survival Guide (see "Brainstorm no-brainer"). Nobody says anything negative for an hour (humor or screwball ideas are allowed). The path to...

WINDOW MANAGER: Turn off auto-update - If you can't stand the idea of Windows morphing on you, here's the information you need.
October 14, 2002... FOR THE PAST two months I've written about patches, service packs, and the update process for Windows XP and 2000. Several readers have responded that they no longer feel comfortable letting Windows automatically download such changes. If...

THE OPEN SOURCE: It drive(r)s me crazy - Don't let the unfounded fear of having to hunt down elusive drivers deter you from using Linux.
October 14, 2002... EVERY TIME I buy a piece of PC hardware, I take a trip down memory lane. As I unpack the box, I generally find the device (whatever it is), an instruction booklet, and a driver diskette or CD. Ah, a driver disk. I remember those days. I...

SECURITY ADVISER: Dewie or don't he? Cybersecurity mascot mockable at first glance, but will likely score big with the small-fry.
October 14, 2002... EVEN WHEN THE anticipated war with Iraq fills the headlines, a wise bureaucrat knows that the way to get ink is to bring up the woeful state of computer security. Whether you're discussing the private sector or institutional problems -- such as...

STORAGE INSIDER: Moving on up - It's high time to consider moving Oracle to clustered Linux, with Sistina's help.
October 14, 2002... ALL THE LINUX-centered "wows" for the foreseeable future will probably be sparked by the recent Red Hat 8.0 release and stretch the never- ending debate: Is Linux ready for the desktop? Just to be different, we would like to direct your...

WIRELESS WORLD: Peek at iPaqs to come - Tomorrow's iPaqs range from a model built for value to one primed for wireless computing.(HP personal digital assistant plans)
October 14, 2002... EARLIER THIS MONTH, I met with Cindy Box, Hewlett-Packard's worldwide marketing director for smart handhelds, and she was kind enough to give me a peek at the HP iPaq road map. Normal operating procedure is for vendors to ask reporters for a...

ENTERPRISE STRATEGIES: Too rich or too thin - The rich interfaces that replace browsers and text can't be controlled by vendors.(Column)
October 14, 2002... YOU HAVE TO pity anyone forced to use a text terminal. Green screens are as outrE as rotary phones: flat, static, unaesthetic, unexpressive. Yet it's easy to forget that in many applications, green screens are the norm. The huge, modern...

CTO CONNECTION: The show must grow on - As rich content streams into the enterprise, CTOs must be savvy in the ways of media delivery.(streaming media)
October 14, 2002... AS TECHNOLOGY becomes less about data processing and more about enabling communication and information delivery -- whether it's headline news or a Webcast to your shareholders -- most companies are now accidental media outlets. This is forcing...

SURVIVAL GUIDE: PDAs are here to stay - IT managers need to end obstructionist practices and start integrating PDAs into the enterprise.
October 14, 2002... TWO YEARS AGO I predicted hard times for Palm. Hard times have arrived, in the form of plummeting market share and negative profits. It was not a difficult prediction. When I wrote the column, Palm hadn't given customers any reason to buy a...

THE GRIPE LINE: Since you asked ... Thoughts on a software company's marketing research questionnaire about product activation.(anti software piracy)(Column)
October 14, 2002... A FEW WEEKS ago I was contacted by a market research firm working on a project for an unnamed software company. Their client wanted "a better understanding of how the market perceives anti-piracy initiatives, especially as they relate to...

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: In my own dream - 'Nightmare on DRM Street' has an eerily familiar plot, but don't blame me if it's already copyrighted.(Column)
October 14, 2002... LAST NIGHT I HAD a strange dream. The DRMocrats have just been re- elected, sweeping all three houses of government in a virtual landslide. When MBC/Disney declares the victory at 7 a.m. EST -- 10 seconds after the polls open -- Supreme Court...

Sun bolsters Solaris.(Solaris 9 9/02 Unix operating system)(Brief Article)
October 14, 2002... Sun last week released an incremental upgrade of its Solaris Unix OS for the Sparc platform. Solaris 9 9/02 features MPO (Memory Placement Optimization), which optimizes memory placement in large multiprocessor servers to take advantage of...

Borland to acquire Starbase.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2002... Borland will acquire fellow application development software maker Starbase for $24 million in cash, the companies announced last week. Borland said the purchase will help it offer a single, fully featured software set for managing all phases...

IBM spruces up clustering software.(ships AIX 5L 5.2)(Brief Article)
October 14, 2002... IBM announced last week a new version of AIX 5L that can carry out workload balancing. Designed for IBM's eServer pSeries systems, Version 5.2 lets programmers carve up servers into smaller "virtual" servers running either Unix or Linux....

Dell and Compaq: A tale of two chip sets.(Dell PowerEdge 2600; Compaq ProLiant DL-580)
October 14, 2002... A look inside the Dell and Compaq systems reviewed (see "Fast and flexible") reveals that the differences between them are more than skin-deep. The Compaq ProLiant DL-580 trades raw performance for manageability and availability, whereas Dell's...

To protect and serve - Vendors marry security offerings with management expertise.
October 14, 2002... TOP-TIER SECURITY vendors are blending management and services with their product offerings in an effort to defuse security-related wild- goose chases and reduce customers' discovered security events to meaningful and digestible chunks....

IBM pushes new services unit.(IBM Engineering and Technology Services for electronic industry)(Brief Article)
October 14, 2002... With sights set on the multibillion-dollar semiconductor design market, IBM announced this week the creation of a new services unit called IBM Engineering and Technology Services. Big Blue will leverage its geographical breadth and IT services...

Commerce One to cut staff.(Brief Article)
October 14, 2002... Commerce One will lay off 400 of its current 1,100 staff by the end of this year, the company recently announced. The 36 percent staff reduction will cut costs during the current market downturn. The company's net losses so far this year total...

More than musical? Apple's iPod may be the best MP3 player on the market, but as a PIM it leaves a lot to be desired.(Hardware Review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
October 21, 2002... THE WORLD OF high-tech gadgetry is awash with multifunction handheld devices. As we await the single unit that will do it all (don't hold your breath), device manufacturers, including Apple Computer, are determined to add functionality to their...

Apple gets Bluetooth bug - iSync could transform cell phones into powerful data-access devices.
October 21, 2002... HIDDEN BEHIND Apple Computer's summer rollout of protocols and software -- dubbed iSync, iChat, and Rendezvous -- is a set of strongly held beliefs about the future of pervasive devices. Senior management at the Cupertino, Calif.-based...

CTOs en masse - Far-flung enterprises and complex technical needs have inspired some large enterprises to design org charts with multiple CTO tiers.(Air Force Research Lab virtual private network deployment)
October 21, 2002... DESIGNING A VPN can be a daunting task for any enterprise, especially for a military laboratory with 22 locations nationwide supporting 5,900 employees whose missions range from designing new conventional weapons to researching the next...

That unifying voice - Webley CTO designs the platform for a voice-based integrated communications system.(Alex Kurganov )(Interview)
October 21, 2002... WEBLEY SYSTEMS IS a communications company, headquartered in Deerfield, Ill., that integrates office phone, home phone, cell, fax, e-mail, and other services from one interface. As CTO, Alex Kurganov is principal architect of Webley's...

Benefits of sharing (Part four of a four-part series).(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... Caution and benefits are CTO watchwords for any public or private program designed to share information about corporate network and systems security. Copyright (c) 2002 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.

Facing the future - Carriers zero in on the services side of telecom as wireless picks up speed.(Industry Overview)
October 21, 2002... Delivering the opening keynote address at last month's NetWorld+Interop conference in Atlanta, Sprint President and COO Ronald LeMay deftly proclaimed, "Confusion, it seems, prevails everywhere today." LeMay's remarks described the current...

Messages and media - Could device-savvy SIP finally bring computers and telephony together?(Session Initiation Protocol)
October 21, 2002... ONE NICE THING about communications protocols is that there are so many. No matter what you want to do, you can find a protocol that will allow it. Of course, as new communications technologies are introduced, they are accompanied by even more...

IBM stokes autonomic fire - Group formed to integrate autonomic technology into diverse product offerings.(Autonomic Computing Organization)
October 21, 2002... ATTEMPTING TO accelerate delivery of autonomic computing-based products, IBM next week will announce a multipronged initiative to embed the technology into its entire software and hardware stack. The Somers, N.Y.-based company has formed...

WS-I to expand its board.(Web Services Interoperability Organization )(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... The Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) has announced it plans to elect two seats to its board of directors next March, a move that may help heal a rift between the group and Sun Microsystems. The member companies elected by the...

Tibco details BAM vision.(business activity monitoring)(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... Following its September acquisition of BAM (business activity monitoring) player Praja, Tibco has outlined a strategy for serving up real-time enterprise information. In the next six weeks, Tibco will roll out a stand-alone version of Praja's...

Apple reports net loss.(fiscal year 2002)(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... Apple Computer has reported a $45 million net loss for the completion of its fiscal year and a 14 percent drop in shipments of its flagship Macintosh computers, as compared to the fourth quarter a year ago, when Apple reported a profit of $66...

ERP targets midmarket - Microsoft, Oracle, Baan to improve front- office, back-office ERP integration.
October 21, 2002... RISING TO MEET midmarket demand for integrated front-and back-office systems, Microsoft, Oracle, and Baan are separately revving new enterprise software applications designed to reduce integration costs. Microsoft next week will unveil two...

No worms here - Xserve, Jaguar a well-matched team.(from Apple Computer)(Hardware Review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
October 21, 2002... WHEN WE REVIEWED Mac OS X Server last fall, we noted that Apple had a credibility problem (see "A low-end alternative" ). The company lacked a decent hardware platform on which to run a promising operating system. At the time, the best an IT...

ABOVE THE NOISE: Polishing the Apple for the enterprise - The darling of the alpha geeks may also be sparking corporate interest.
October 21, 2002... APPLE COMPUTER -- longtime darling of the education, graphics, and desktop publishing markets -- is pushing the enterprise envelope. A powerful server, a commitment to open standards, and killer innovations such as FireWire are slowly nudging...

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: It's the same old story.
October 21, 2002... "YOU KNOW, BOBBY, all you ever want to do these days is ride that Harley," Amber complained. "It's fun to do other things sometimes, too." It's OK with me if she thinks that way, so long as she comes along for the ride. Service pack...

To the editor.
October 21, 2002... Who owns your words? ALTHOUGH I AGREE with some of what was written in Steve Gillmor's Ahead of the Curve column, I find some of the guest author's statements deplorable(see "We the people"). For example, consider, "Intellectual...

THE OPEN SOURCE: Expand your infobase - Support staff struggling to answer questions about open-source products should try a Net search.(Column)
October 21, 2002... EVERY ONCE in a while, I get a message from someone who says "We had such-and-such problem under Linux. We called our vendor support line. They suggested a couple things that did not help. They said they would look at it, but they could not...

WINDOW MANAGER: Services with a smile - Windows 2000 and XP have processes galore, but most can be turned off if you know the secret.(Column)
October 21, 2002... WINDOWS 2000 and XP do a lot of things. Fortunately, if you don't like the things they do, you can turn some of them off. I wrote last week that one Windows user -- a devoted PC games player -- has done a remarkable job of picking apart the...

SECURITY ADVISER: Time for an e-mail call - Taking a break from unpacking boxes and moving, P.J. catches up on correspondence.
October 21, 2002... THE INFOWORLD Test Center lab didn't move to San Francisco on my back, but that's how it feels after three weeks of unpacking. I'm not sure which is tougher, shaking my newfound addiction to extra-strength aspirin or reading a few months' worth...