Computer Weekly articles from March 2008

Computer Weekly archives from March 2008

Career Moves.(British Computer Society and Institution of Engineering and Technology signed memorandum of understanding )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... The BCS and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will see the two organisations work more closely together in the future. One aims behind this signing is the joint...

Career Moves.(Graham Wright)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... BCS fellow and chair of the BCS Health Informatics Forum, Graham Wright, has been admitted to the Royal Society of Medicine as a fellow. "This is a great honour for me as they only admit doctors of medicine and distinguished academics, and...

News.(engineers unprepared for large-scale complex IT projects)
March 4, 2008... The UK engineering population is currently unprepared for large-scale, complex IT projects, Stuart Jobbins from Rolls Royce told attendees at a recent BCS Thought Leadership debate. Definitions of complex systems have to incorporate the...

News.(AVG Internet Security 8.0)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... AVG has upgraded its security protection software for SMEs and consumers with the release of AVG Internet Security 8.0. The product protects users against a broad spectrum of security threats including web exploits, malware, rootkits,...

News.(banking company Abbey's new banking system)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Abbey is integrating its in-house e-invoicing platform into its core banking system, in a move that will offer businesses faster invoicing and what Abbey describes as a new form of financing. The bank is integrating its Supplier Payments...

News.(IT graduates cannot assure business continuity in the event of a disaster)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... New IT graduates would not be able to assure business continuity in the event of a disaster, a new study claims. The SteelEye Technology Business Continuity Index, a survey examining adoption levels, best practice and attitudes regarding...

News.(trends in cybersquatting)
March 4, 2008... Top brands face up to 10,000 "brandjacking" incidents a week from cybersquatters who are trying to pass off fake sites as genuine, according to new statistics from researcher MarkMonitor. The direct cost of removing each one using a Uniform...

News.(European Commission to enhance children's safety online)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... The European Commission is to spend [pounds sterling]42m on a programme to enhance children's safety online. It said the programme will fight illegal content and harmful behaviour such as bullying and grooming that use Web 2.0 tools, such...

News.(Cisco Systems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to develop integrated solutions)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Cisco and Microsoft will develop joint architectures that combine Windows Server 2008 with Cisco WAN Optimisation programs for branch office environments. The Cisco-Microsoft system will enable customers to accelerate access to centralised...

News.(Dreams uses 3G mobile technology and Voice over Internet Protocol for expansion)
March 4, 2008... Dreams, a bed and bedding retailer, is using 3G mobile technology and voice over IP (VoIP) as part of a rapid expansion programme that will see it open 50 stories at the rate of one a week. Lee Felton, Dreams IT director, said the firm...

News.(EMC Corp. integrates its products with VMware)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... EMC has announced an extension of capabilities for VMware Infrastructure environments with tested storage and server systems for virtualised applications. EMC has integrated its applications with VMware to support best practices for...

News.(European Commission fined Microsoft )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... The European Commission has fined US software firm Microsoft [pounds sterling]680m for failing to comply with a 2004 order to stop its monopolistic practices. The ruling, which applied to how Microsoft sold server software and products...

News.(Easyjet deploys web application service for hotel bookings)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Easyjet has deployed a suite of Windows Server 2008 products to design and host a web application that will allow customers to make hotel bookings using Microsoft Virtual Earth. Paul Curtis, head of software delivery at easyJet, said...

News.(Technology use will boost law enforcement according to Ronnie Flanagan )
March 4, 2008... Standardisation and better use of technology to cut red tape could put the equivalent of 3,000 bobbies on the beat, Sir Ronnie Flanagan told MPs this week (26 February). Flanagan was giving evidence to the Home Affairs select committee...

News.(Liverpool Victoria's new web-based financial advice services)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Financial services provider LV has created a web portal to offer advice to the public. The Friendly Society, formerly known as Liverpool Victoria, offers a range of financial products such as pensions and investments, as well as insurance....

News.(F-Secure Anti-Virus launched)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... F-Secure has launched the latest version of its F-Secure Anti-Virus for Windows Servers system. F-Secure AV for Windows protects against the 1,300 viruses created daily, said F-Secure. F-Secure Anti-Virus for Windows Servers version 8...

News.(Home Office laptop computer sold on eBay )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... A Home Office laptop computer with a confidential encrypted disc was sold on eBay to a member of the public who discovered the disc when he sent the unit for repairs, say news reports. Police are now investigating. Lee Bevan of...

News.(Hackers control more than 8,700 File Transfer Protocol server credentials says Finjan)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Hackers have control of more than 8,700 FTP server credentials, with a number of top global domains helping to make up the list, says web security firm Finjan. In its latest Malicious Page of the Month report, Finjan reveals the...

News.(Permission must be given before government can access individual personal information says Meg Hillier )
March 4, 2008... People will have to give explicit permission for the government to access their personal details held on government and private sector databases before they can get a national identity card, ID card minister Meg Hillier told MPs this week. ...

News.(National Health Service's new patient records database)
March 4, 2008... Tony Collins tony.collins@rbi.co.uk A new national database of confidential patient records is being opened to access by unqualified NHS staff, despite official assurances that records will only be accessed by specialists who are...

News.(Newcastle Building Society to issue 5,000 smart pre-payment cards for financial transactions)
March 4, 2008... Newcastle Building Society is to be the issuing bank for a pioneering study that will see an initial 5,000 smart pre-payment cards replace cash and cheques for financial transactions. The [pounds sterling]4.4bn lender will work with...

News.(Nichols implements electronic document management and imaging software)
March 4, 2008... Soft drinks group Nichols, maker of drinks including Vimto and Sunkist, is saving [pounds sterling]100,000 a year after rolling out electronic document management and imaging software. The software has been central to consolidating the...

News.(Office of Communications issues deadline for O2 Ltd's third generation services compliance )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Ofcom today issued O2 with a deadline for meeting its 3G roll-out obligation and what steps it proposes to take should the mobile phone operator still not be in compliance. The obligation requires each of the five holders of a 3G licence to...

News.(Cambridge University Computer Laboratory's researchers assess Chip and Pin machines' security)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Researchers at Cambridge University Computer Laboratory, have shown that Chip & Pin machines are not as secure as the banking industry claims. Researchers have said that two widely deployed models fail to protect customers' card details...

News.(Salesforce.com launches toolkit for Adobe Air and Flex)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Salesforce.com has announced the availability of the Force.com Toolkit for Adobe Air and Flex, which enables the development of rich internet applications (RIAs) on the Force.com platform. Developers will be able to combine the capabilities...

News.(Steria pulls out it's bid as contractor for Home Office's ID card procurement framework)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... European systems integrator Steria is the latest bidder to pull out of the competition to become a main contractor for the Home Office's [pounds sterling]4.3bn ID card procurement framework. The move, a month after Accenture and BAE Systems...

News.(TUI Travel implements server and storage virtualisation)
March 4, 2008... TUI Travel, formed from the merger of Thomson Holidays and First Choice Holidays, is set to save 20% on datacentre costs in the next three years through server and storage virtualisation. The company is to reduce the 270 servers across four...

News.(VMware showcases products at VMworld Europe show)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... VMware is ramping up its virtual desktop technology offering with key products showcased at this week's VMworld Europe show. The products will allow organisations to scale virtual desktop deployments to thousands of users at once, and let...

News.(Wyse Thin OS and Linux with built-in for VMware Virtual Desktop Manager 2 )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... VMware desktop virtualisation is now available on Wyse thin clients, to simplify desktop delivery. The Wyse thin clients based on Microsoft Windows XP embedded, Wyse Thin OS and Linux will now ship with built-in support for VMware Virtual...

News.(Dell and VMware partnered to simplify server virtualisation)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Dell and VMware are broadening their relationship to simplify server virtualisation offerings to customers. The alliance will deliver Dell PowerEdge servers embedded with VMware ESX 3i hypervisor. Dell will begin the process of putting...

News.(Vanco announced contracts with other companies)
March 4, 2008... Virtual network operator (VNO) Vanco has announced a series of contracts with companies at its annual press and customer event in Barcelona. It has announced contracts with Premier Foods, Specsavers, Eurosport, security firm Brinks, and...

News.(service level agreements)
March 4, 2008... Companies looking to sign virtual network operator contracts in an attempt to slash their communications costs must write tight service level agreements (SLAs) into their contracts to avoid problems, says a major VNO customer. Vesuvius, a...

News.(trends in data warehousing and business intelligence software's usage)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Data warehousing and business intelligence increasingly important The use of data warehousing and business intelligence software is still on an upward curve at firms, says research commissioned by software procurement firm the Evaluation...

News.(Police will have access on central database of confidential health records says Ben Bradshaw)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... A government minister has said that data on a central database of millions of confidential health records will be made available to police where there is an "overriding public interest". Ben Bradshaw, the minister in charge of the NHS's...

News.(hacker group releases Goolag Scan)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Companies are being warned to protect their data from a new Google hacking utility. Security firm Cyber-Ark has warned companies to protect their data using all available resources, following news that the Cult of the Dead Cow hacking...

News.(MindManager software use expedition management)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Arctic explorer Jim McNeill is using project management software to support an expedition to explore the North West Passage, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. McNeill's Ice Warrior Project team will plan the itinerary of their...

News.(Konica Minolta uses SAP NetWeaver Mobile)
March 4, 2008... The UK division of document systems company Konica Minolta has abandoned using the off-the-shelf packageSAP NetWeaver Mobile to communicate with its field engineers following a sharp drop in productivity. Konica Minolta UK introduced SAP...

News.(European Commission to fund a research and development project )
March 4, 2008... The European Commission is setting up a [pounds sterling]1.8bn pool to fund a 10-year research and development project into embedded or "pervasive" computing in the hopes of capturing a larger slice of a market growing at 14% a year and already...

News.(spam email distribution)
March 4, 2008... Only a small amount of spam reaches users' mailboxes, but the threat it poses to corporate security and bandwidth costs is growing because the absolute amount of spam is growing, says a new study. The European Network and Information...

Special Report.(Best Places to Work in IT Awards 2008)
March 4, 2008... The Best Places to Work in IT Awards 2008 were celebrated at the Intercontinental Hotel, Park Lane on 22 February. Here we profile the winners, whose effective and innovative employment practices have put their IT departments at the top of the...

Business & Technology.
March 4, 2008... Danny Bradbury computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk What do government intelligence spooks and YouTube have in common? Not much, on the face of it, except that they have both bought into the same fundamental principle of what we have come to call...

Business & Technology.(Web 2.0)
March 4, 2008... Four years on from the first serious attempt to define it, there is no firm consensus about what constitutes Web 2.0. Within the past few months, it has been described by senior industry commentators as "a major trend that is building...

News.(government continues to fund IT projects)
March 4, 2008... With the threat of an economic slowdown hanging over many parts of the private sector, the public sector looks like a recession-proof refuge for IT staff. Following the Gershon Review looking at how the public sector can be made more efficient,...

Career Moves.(Python programming language)
March 4, 2008... Nick Langley computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk What is it? According to the Tiobe Community Index - a list based on hits on the major search engines - Python is now the seventh most popular programming language. By Tiobe's measure, Python...

News.(BEA Systems Inc. and VMware Inc. collaborated on the development of Java virtualisation)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... BEA has expanded its relationship with VMware to deliver Java virtualisation for the enterprise. The BEA LiquidVM VI Client Extension simplifies the creation and configuration of Java virtual machines in a VMware virtualisation...

News.(Communications Management Association on Office of Communications)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... The Communications Management Association has slammed Ofcom for failing to represent the ICT needs of businesses in drafting regulations. Speaking at the CMA's 2008 Annual Conference in London today (26 February), Carolyn Kimber, chariman...

News.(EasyJet Airline Company Ltd. redesigns website)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... John-Paul Kamath john-paul.kamath@rbi.co.uk EasyJet is redesigning its website using Web 2.0 technologies to allow customers to plan complete holiday itineraries, rather than just book flights. Paul Curtis, head of application...

News.(EasyJet Airline Company Ltd. redesigns website)
March 4, 2008... EasyJet plans Web 2.0 travel engine to increase sales - by John-Paul Kamath EasyJet will redesign its website using Web 2.0 technologies to allow customers to plan complete holiday itineraries rather than just book flights within the next...

News.(International Business Machines Corp. develops optical network technology )
March 4, 2008... IBM has unveiled a green optical prototype network technology for sharing huge files in seconds. The technology is designed for sending items such as high-definition medical images, movies and other data in an energy-efficient way, said...

News.(Information Technology Infrastructure Library)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Two-thirds of firms have used the ITIL best practice framework for IT service delivery. A survey of 370 CIOs across 14 countries by Dimension Data shows that 66% of organisations have engaged with the Information Technology Infrastructure...

News.(Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust implements IT for office management)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has started a pilot of new office working practices to use IT to improve efficiency Paul Curley, consultant surgeon and clinical director of surgical services at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said, "We...

News.(employment forecast in financial services )
March 4, 2008... Demand for IT professionals in financial services is starting to drop, as the credit crunch causes turmoil in the markets. Computer Weekly's quarterly survey of the IT jobs market, conducted by SSL, reveals that the number of jobs...

News.(UK issues work permits to foreign IT staff )
March 4, 2008... UK work permits issued to foreign IT staff rose 14% in 2007 on the previous year with Indian applications making up approximately 83% of all approved permits, according to the Home Office. The figures have prompted fears from experts that...

News.(Microsoft lowers Windows Vista price prior to the release of Service Pack 1)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Microsoft is slashing the cost of retail versions of Windows Vista as it prepares the channel for the release of Service Pack 1 of the operating system. The price decreases come just a year after Vista's launch, and will help resellers...

News.(trends of internet telephony in UK companies)
March 4, 2008... IP telephony is still growing among UK firms, but they are struggling when it comes to rolling out unified communications. A survey of senior IT managers at 100 UK firms, commissioned by comms firm TeleWare, found that there was a high...

News.(foreign nationals in UK will lose right to stay if they boycott biometric identity card )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Foreign nationals living in Britain who boycott the introduction of a biometric identity card later this year, could lose their right to stay under government proposals, reports The Guardian. A Home Office consultation paper also says that...

News.(BitDefender Lab's malware list)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... BitDefender Lab's latest malware list highlights common packing methods used by hackers. A variety of threats, rather than a specific virus, features in the BitDefender Top 10 Malware List for February 2008. When grouped together by...

News.(Owen Thorn Walker charged with breaking into computers )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... An alleged teen zombie botnet boss has appeared in a New Zealand court, charged with breaking into computers worldwide. Owen Thorn Walker, an 18-year-old computer programmer, has been charged with two counts of accessing a computer for...

News.(Brewin Dolphin will use Datanomics )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Brewin Dolphin, an independent private client investment firm, has begun using software from Datanomics to support its effort to comply with the third EU Money Laundering Directive. The directive requires financial institutes to screen its...

News.(Birmingham City Council signs up National Land and Property Gazetteer )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Birmingham City Council is providing the last piece in the UK's national property ID scheme jigsaw. The National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) is a national address database that accurately pinpoints every property type, including...

News.(hackers targets social networking sites)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Buffer overflow attacks are targeting the Facebook and MySpace social networking sites. Security firm Fortify says a buffer overflow technique has allowed hackers to exploit the Aurigma ActiveX image uploading software used by the two...

News.(Cambridgeshire Constabulary implements remote service portal )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Cambridgeshire Constabulary has implemented a remote service portal to make its IT systems accessible to members of neighbourhood policing teams and other staff outside its secure network. Tracey Hipperson, head of ICT at Cambridgeshire...

News.(organizations lacks understanding of corporate information)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... [embargoed March 4] Public and private sector organisations are missing out on billions of pounds in lost opportunities and savings because of a lack of understanding of corporate information, Capgemini has found. The consulting firm...

News.(Cattles deploys MeetingZone's audio conferencing services )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Cattles, a leading UK financial services company, has successfully deployed MeetingZone's audio conferencing services to cut costs by half. MeetingZone's system has also enabled Cattles to improve its internal and external communications...

News.(Centre of Office and Information Technology)
March 4, 2008... The prospects of a slow-down in IT spending is expected to overshadow many of the attendees at Cebit 2008 next week. The IT industry's largest annual exhibition will reflect concerns over a global recession that could put pressure on...

News.(trends in companies' usage of data warehousing and business intelligence software )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Data warehousing and business intelligence software is being increasingly used by businesses, says research commissioned by software procurement firm the Evaluation Centre. The use of data warehousing and business intelligence software has...

News.(recession leads to IT cost cutting)
March 4, 2008... IT managers should now prepare to cut IT costs in preparation for an impending recession, says analyst Gartner. IT organisations should not wait for an official declaration that a recession has begun before undertaking IT cost-cutting...

News.(Intellect to conduct study to help business users go green)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Intellect has announced it will conduct a study with the University of Warwick to help business users go green. John Higgins, director general of Intellect, said there are four main areas where businesses need education, including what...

News.(Merril Lynch opens IT support centre in Surrey )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Merril Lynch has opened an IT support centre in Surrey to back up its operations in the EMEA region, with 400 people required for the facility. The centre in Camberly will be a regional support centre and will contain Merrill Lynch's...

News.(programming interfaces in Microsoft's products opened up for interoperability )
March 4, 2008... Microsoft's plans to open up hidden programming interfaces in its Office and Windows products, should make it easier for IT directors to combine open source with Windows platforms. The firm's newly announced interoperability strategy will...

News.(Novell acquires PlateSpin )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Novell is to acquire virtual datacentre technology firm PlateSpin for [pounds sterling]103m to enhance its next-generation datacentre offering. PlateSpin offers systems for the management of heterogeneous workloads that encapsulate data,...

News.(trends in Novell Inc's company sales)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Novell has returned to profitability thanks to a big surge in open-source Linux-based software sales. For the first quarter ended 31 January, the firm reported sales of [pounds sterling]116m, compared to the [pounds sterling]109m for the...

News.(data breach costs millions for UK companies says Ponemon Institute)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Privacy and information management research firm the Ponemon Institute says the average total cost to UK companies of a single data breach incident is more than [pounds sterling]1.4m. Ponemon's 2007 Annual Study: UK Cost of a Data Breach...

News.(Schroders enhances in-house portfolio construction tool)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Global asset management firm Schroders has enhanced its in-house portfolio construction tool. The Smart (Schroders Multi-Asset Risk Technology) system is a highly flexible, open architecture toolset application that produces optimal...

News.(Opus Energy plans to implement smart metering technology)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... An electricity supplier has announced a plan to save UK small and medium-sized enterprises millions of pounds using smart metering technology. Opus Energy's [pounds sterling]5m plan to give its more than 40,000 customers energy-saving...

News.(Vianet's electronic billboard )(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... There has been a high tech theme to 29 February, the day that lovestruck women propose to their sweethearts. Rather than women, Vianet set up an electronic billboard at Victoria station in London using machine-to-machine (M2M)...

News.(Northern Telecom Ltd.)(Polycom Inc.)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Hospitals and other medical facilities will be able to offer better patient care virtually anywhere with the latest healthcare telepresence systems from Nortel and Polycom. The technolgies will enable healthcare providers to create...

News.(Siemens AG)(Volkswagen AG)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... Volkswagen is using Siemens PLM (product lifecycle management) software for its entire worldwide design and manufacturing process. Up to 45,000 people will use the software and all future vehicle projects will be developed using Siemens'...

Opinion and Letters.(government funding for student qualifications)
March 4, 2008... Last summer, universities secretary John Denham announced an end to funding for students taking qualifications equivalent to or lower than those they already possessed. Apart from a narrow list of exempt courses, the government had withdrawn...

Radar.(European Organization for Nuclear Research's technological innovations)
March 4, 2008... John-Paul Kamath john-paul.kamath@rbi.co.uk In March 1989, Tim Berners-Lee submitted a proposal for an information management system to his boss, Mike Sendall. "Vague, but exciting", were the words that Sendall wrote on the proposal,...

Radar.
March 4, 2008... Company security is an absolute. Whether it is data or the physical IT infrastructure, if there is one weak link, the company is not secure. Even the most virtual of organisations have physical assets, such as storage systems, that need to...

Business & Technology.
March 4, 2008... It is still early days for the real-world adoption of Web 2.0 technologies and applications to help businesses drive revenues, improve productivity, get closer to customers and reduce costs. Web 2.0 is already producing leaders - Facebook,...

News.
March 4, 2008... A hospital in South Africa is rolling out a web-based healthcare system already in use in the UK and 24 other countries to improve the quality of care in its HIV/AIDS treatment centre to an increasing number of patients. The TrakCare...

News.(Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd.)(Brief article)
March 4, 2008... An upgrade to a telephone banking system for business customers caused some HSBC retail customers problems on Saturday (24 February). An HSBC spokesman said that some customers could not complete some debit transactions. "The issue was...