News

Cryptography expert: Lots of security software is ‘snake oil’

Interview: Bruce Schneier discusses the effectiveness of security products and the psychology of security

Discord overshadows Lenovo’s Olympic torch

Controversy over the recent Chinese crackdown in Tibet has had an impact on Olympic sponsors

SugarCRM, NetSuite get boost from BT deal

Deal with BT is an important validation for SugarCRM and NetSuite and could help give open source software more exposure

Microsoft claims of multi-tenancy for Dynamics CRM in doubt

Microsoft appears to be tap dancing around the multi-tenant issue; one industry vendor says Dynamics CRM is nothing less than vendor lock-in dressed in a new suit

Photobucket opens API, seeks developers

Sister company to MySpace will allow external developers to create applications using its API for about 50 Photobucket photo and video functions

China faces severe botnet problem

Report blames lax computer security for the fact that 3.6 million Chinese computers were infected by software that allowed them to be controlled as part of a botnet in 2007

iPhone moves a step closer to getting IM

Recent patent filing indicates Apple is getting closer to adding its own instant messaging client to the iPhone

Report: Apple plans nonexclusive iPhone deal in Italy

Steve Jobs modifies Apple's distribution strategy and signs a nonexclusive deal to distribute an iPhone in Italy compatible with 3G

What India’s tax net could mean to the U.S.

Should IT shops be held to the same standard as external providers?

Dynamics CRM Online now available

Microsoft's move into on-demand CRM has prompted speculation over whether it will also introduce a similar offering for ERP

Samsung’s last Ultra-edition handset goes on sale

Samsung has offered no details yet on a successor to its successful Ultra range of cell phones

Lessons the Green 15 can share

Lessons the Green 15 can share

HP’s Upline hosted storage service remains down

Hewlett-Packard's new online storage service has been suspended for almost a week due to technical issues with one user's account

Mac hack contest bug had been public for a year

Apple incorporated the PCRE 6.7 software library into its program and then did not properly add all the latest bug fixes

Microsoft data show Web attacks taking off

Attackers have changed tactic, dropping malicious e-mail in favor of spam messages that trick victims into visiting malicious Web sites

IBM tackles IT energy efficiency in a Big Green way

2008 Green 15: Fueled by $1 billion annually, sweeping Project Big Green initiative aims to serve itself and customers

OLPC low-power laptop empowers and inspires

2008 Green 15: XO's innovative ecofriendly design raises the bar for green computing while opening new opportunities for underprivileged children

Bryant University datacenter built to scale efficiently

2008 Green 15: Efficient blades and cooling combine to fulfill school's sustainability vision

IBM tackles IT energy efficiency in a Big Green way

2008 Green 15: Fueled by $1 billion annually, sweeping Project Big Green initiative aims to serve itself and customers

GM2 Logistics marries SANs and sustainability

2008 Green 15: Energy-efficient storage consolidation project yields savings, high availability for London paper companyt

Miami-Dade pinches PC power consumption

2008 Green 15: Power management system saves Miami-Dade County Public Schools millions through scheduled shutdowns of idle computers

BT Group retrofits to reduce carbon footprint

2008 Green 15: Breathing fresh air into legacy datacenters, British telecom cuts energy use while turning up the heat on outdated standards

NetApp manages to keep its cool

Green 15 2008: Upgrading to a higher-density datacenter calls for a smart, energy-efficient cooling strategy

Digital Realty mines energy savings from LEED Gold

2008 Green 15: First LEED Gold-certified renovation of an existing building leads to efficient datacenter

Dell to offer premium support for consumers

The new service will offer paying consumers a dedicated support team to help with problem troubleshooting

Microsoft says XP SP3 complete, available imminently

The final SP3 code has been released to manufacturing and will be availabile via Automatic Update on April 29

Mashups a hot item at Web 2.0 show

Serena, JackBe, Kapow ready mashup products and services, including hosted offering and an online marketplace

Building-block data centers may reshape IT

Modular datacenters might help drive a shift to online compute clouds and could revolutionize IT the same way container-based shipping changed the freight industry

Top OLPC executive resigns after restructuring

Walter Bender, the former executive director of MIT's Media Lab, played key role in developing and deploying open source software for OLPC's low-cost XO laptop

Update: Blue Coat to acquire Packeteer for $268 million

Blue Coat will integrate Packeteer's traffic prioritization technology into its own Blue Coat ProxySG line of WAN acceleration appliances

Pro software developer: An oxymoron?

How to turbocharge your Web site by dumping your database

Terracotta's open-source Java clustering solution addresses the fact that databases are still a significant bottleneck for many Web applications

Daily news beat for April 21, 2008

802.11n wireless gear to shine at Interop

Wireless LAN vendors will unveil a slew of draft 2 IEEE 802.11n access points, controllers, and management features at next week's Interop show

Psystar office exists, but not yet open to the public

Controversial seller of Mac clones is apparently setting up for business in Miami McDade County

Ubuntu Linux takes on enterprise server market with new OS

Ubuntu's first truly enterprise-ready server OS offers support for virtualization, enhanced performance, and certification on an assortment of Sun hardware

Is IT ready for the coming brain drain?

With baby boomers set to retire, IT managers need to start planning for knowledge transfer and mitigate the risks from loss of intellectual property

Vodafone goes green, will cut CO2 by 50 percent

Vodafone aims to help users lessen their burden on the environment by introducing solar-powered phone chargers for its handsets

How video threatens networks

Review: Adobe AIR 1.0 breaks out of the browser

Asustek says Eee PC sales hit by battery shortage

Asustek expects the global shortage of laptop PC batteries to abate by June

Skype announces $9.95 flat rate for international calls

Skype's new packages show VoIP becoming a commodity, but opening up Skype's proprietary environment is not on the agenda, exec says

Rock Phish gang adds second punch to phishing attacks

Phishing sites linked are being rigged with a 'drive-by download,' which can infect a PC with malicious software without any interaction by the user

Macs keep cropping up in the enterprise

Sony shows razor-thin prototype OLED screen

Sony's prototype 3.5-inch OLED screen is just one-fifth of a millimeter thick and ranks as the thinnest yet developed

You don’t know tech: The InfoWorld news quiz

Match your weekly tech news wits against our snarky quiz master

Asus to launch Eee PC with Intel’s Atom in June

Designed for ultramobile PCs, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), and other small devices, Intel's processor finds good fit in Asus' low-cost laptop

Microsoft bungles antipiracy detection tool update

OGA update for Office suite was distributed too widely and under a 'critical' label