New to our site: As security information management products and practices become more accepted in the enterprise, Curtis Franklin explains, so too has the need to understand criteria for selecting SIMs. “It’s important to briefly consider the difference between SIM, SEM, and anomaly detection software,” Franklin recommends before proceeding to outline just such criteria, including ease of installation and configuration, what it takes to share information with other applications, and how long you can look at highlighted incidents, just to name a few. Buyers’ Guide: Security information management also features a directory of SIM vendors and their solutions. Related Test Center review: Symantec SIM brings friends. Careers: Leave it to Nick Corcodilos to find the link between a job and a heart attack. “If you wait til the last minute, you’re almost begging for great pain and a bad outcome,” he writes in Is there an emergency exit? “The only [one] when you lose your job is the front door. If you have another job waiting, that’s great. But, if you don’t, what matters is where you will go in the meantime. Are there people out there who would quickly refer you to their boss — because they already know your value? Would you want to start asking around for a good cardiologist while your heart is going into arrest?” Ongoing coverage: Highlights from CES 2008. Best of the blogs: In reaction to Microsoft’s $1.2 billion move for Fast Search and Transfer, Bill Snyder espouses that Microsoft is trying an end run around Google. And a hefty one at that, weighing in at 5.9-times Fast’s sales and 5.5 percent of Microsoft’s cash reserves. Google, of course, dominates search but since “the deal has obviously been cooking for a while, we may not have to wait too long to see how much of a difference it will make.” Related news: Microsoft bids to buy Fast Search and Transfer. Security