Opinion

Withstanding globalization’s impact on IT

A recent survey of enterprise executives has found that — not surprisingly — IT executives are more averse to globalization than their peers from other departments. The survey, summarized in "The Benefits and Challenges of Globalization,"

By Ephraim Schwartz

Jul 8, 2008 4 mins

Threads of copyright abuse

<P>How far will copyright "protection" organizations go in threatening end users with highly-questionable infringement claims? Far enough to claim that victims of counterfeiters are infringers themselves, as the continuing practices o

By Ed Foster

Jul 8, 2008 5 mins

Are you seeing SOA rage?

I'm getting some reports from a few of those charged with making SOA work within some of the larger enterprises. They are experiencing what I call SOA rage. SOA rage is the negative reaction some of the architects are getting from those charged

By Dave Linthicum

Jul 7, 2008 2 mins

Ruby, Rails, and scaling

I've seen several blogs and comments in news stories recently that boil down to the observation that programmers gravitate either to Python or Ruby for scripting, but not both. I guess I'm the exception that proves the rule: I've done

Who’s clicking who?

I read this article on The Register with interest this weekend. It seems that the latest version of AVG anti-virus has implemented a "feature" that clicks links on Web pages for you, scanning the resulting pages for malware. In theory this

Dollars, sense and censorship

The Bush Administration's anti-recession tactics have given rise to an unexpected beneficiary: the Internet pørn industry. According to the Adult Internet Market Research Company, adult sites have been engorged with sales during the nor

Jul 7, 2008 4 mins

What should be in a headhunting contract

Dear Bob … I am looking to read over a typical contract (if there is such a thing) that Headhunters have with clients for services rendered. The reason I ask is I am going to do some recruiting and a potential client asked to see my contract. I am

By Bob Lewis

Ruby on Rails rolls onward and upward

Will Ruby on Rails become the successor to Java? A couple of years ago I would have been jeered for asking that question. But today, scripting languages are the indisputed champs of Web development, and the open source framework Ruby…

By Eric Knorr

Google should defy court order

<P>Has it struck anyone else that Google has been rather weak-kneed in its response to the court order requiring it to turn over YouTube viewing logs to Viacom? Google's entire business is built on our trust that the privacy of all that pe

By Ed Foster

Jul 7, 2008 4 mins

Ruby on Rails IDEs and editors compared

Martin Heller left no stone unturned in today's examination of Ruby on Rails IDEs and text editors (see "Lab test: Climb aboard Ruby on Rails". The nine tools for Windows, Mac, and Linux include both free and commercial products. Foll

By Doug Dineley

Parallels collaborates with HP to deliver container-based virtualization

With a collaboration deal announced between HP and Parallels, Parallels is bringing container-based virtualization to Hewlett Packard's Integrity server line, including the largest 64-processor HP Integrity Superdome servers. The deal will addre

Jul 7, 2008 2 mins

VMware whitepapers – DMZ Virtualization and VI3 with Cisco

VMware recently released two important documents that should make their way on to your reading schedule. One is a 9-page paper from VMware that discusses different scenarios for setting up a DMZ in a virtualized environment. The other is a much large

Two views of progress

Dear Bob …In a recent column you took a shot at George Will as being against progress ("A progressive view of IT," Keep the Joint Running, 6/23/2008).Actually, I think George Will's point is not that progress itself is bad; it's

By Bob Lewis

Jul 6, 2008 2 mins

Tough choices ahead for Red Hat?

I missed Red Hat's fiscal 1Q09 release a few weeks ago, so I went back and read the transcript and dug into the numbers a little. As you can see in the table below, total revenue growth has averaged 31 percent/quarter since fiscal 1Q08. Surprisi

Jul 4, 2008 2 mins

“Ten ways to tell it’s not SOA” — and a few more

Joe McKendrick knocked it out of the park this week with his latest entry, "Ten ways to tell it's not SOA." A few of my favorites: "1) If a vendor tells you that you need to buy a suite to get to SOA … it's not SOA. SOA mea

By Dave Linthicum

Loading a Direct3D mesh from a resource

Why is it that trivial things become hard so often, especially when you're doing API-level C++ programming? Here's an example: I needed to convert a Windows Direct3D benchmark from loading its textures and meshes from files to loading them

Notable no-shows at SourceForge.net Community Choice Award finals

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but not a single project from Microsoft's Codeplex made it to the finals of the SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards (CCAs). When Microsoft was announced as a sponsor, the press release highlighted that th

JBoss plays the choice card

News from Sacha (and covered by InfoWorld) that JBoss Application Server 5.0 is close to GA kicked off a debate at TSS. Some commented that they were "Suspicious of anything that takes three years to develop," while others questioned if the

The 10 days of Vista

Last week I decided to build a high-powered Vista workstation and give it a go for the first time in almost a year and a half. I was genuinely surprised that I actually enjoyed the experience. In fact, though I've largely gone back to my Mac and

Yahoo’s struggle for independence

On this 4th of July weekend, let us celebrate the independence of Yahoo — for however long it lasts. Because just when you thought Microsoft's bid for the Yahooligans was really truly deeply ultimately finally over, it really isn't. At lea

Summer reading: FSJ Options

If you're looking for a light read for the beach or your next cross-country flight, you could do a lot worse than "Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs" by Fake Steve Jobs (former Forbes Senior Editor Dan Lyons, now headed to Newswee

By Zack Urlocker

VMware Server 2.0 now at Release Candidate 1

VMware's free server virtualization product, VMware Server (originally called VMware GSX Server), released to market back in July 2006 after a five-month Beta program. Now, after nearly 8 months in Beta, VMware's second-generation Server pr

VMware’s acquisition of B-hive Networks is complete

As quickly as the initial announcement came in May 2008, the VMware acquisition of B-hive Networks is already completed. Financial terms of the deal have still not been disclosed. The acquisition extends VMware's reach by offering proactive perf

Jul 3, 2008 1 min

Is the Web still the Web?

For developers of RIAs (rich Internet applications), Adobe's announcement that Google and Yahoo will soon be able to index text within Flash movies should come as welcome news. Until now, Flash files have been black boxes; as binary files, searc

By Neil McAllister

Jul 3, 2008 4 mins

Does Microsoft have a new search strategy?

Microsoft's PowerSet buy is a smart move that will help the stumbling software giant get back in the search game.

By Bill Snyder

Jul 3, 2008 4 mins

Partnerships form to help with virtualization and the cloud

To help spread adoption and growth in the virtualization community, partnerships are important. Virtual Appliance maker VKernel just announced a partnership with virtualization service provider Xcedex to help increase market opportunities. Also partn

Jul 2, 2008 1 min

Optimize the slowest thing, take 2

My posting Optimize the slowest thing last week drew quite a bit of feedback, which made me think about the issue again. Let's start with the feedback. DCrosby pointed out that "optimize the slowest thing" is a tenet of Theory of Const

Jul 2, 2008 4 mins

Dear Bob …I'd like your take on "social software" and business. Is there a place for LinkedIn-like social networking, wikis, blogs, forums, Facebook/MySpace, SecondLife, Twitter, Flickr, and so on in business? Or is this just another

By Bob Lewis

Jul 2, 2008 2 mins

Mac Alliance formed to promote Macs in Windows environments

Five enterprise software companies launched a new alliance on Monday to help promote the use of Apple Macs within corporate environments currently managed with Microsoft Windows. Members of the Enterprise Desktop Alliance (EDA) include Atempo, Centri

Jul 2, 2008 2 mins

Symbian Foundation might save Symbian’s future

How many mobile device manufacturers does it take to keep the most successful handset operating system alive? If you guessed "one," you're right. If you guessed "five," you're right. If you're confused, you're

By Tom Yager

Jul 2, 2008 5 mins

Virtualization wars: The empire strikes back

Hyper-V lives! Is Microsoft ready to prove it has what it takes in the virtualization arena? As I mentioned last week, Sun is on board: Read this quote from Sun's Senior Director of xVM, Vijay Sarathy. However, the company challenged Microsoft

By J. Peter Bruzzese

Jul 2, 2008 7 mins

Windows XP: Dead or just resting?

It turns out the reports of XP's death may be slightly exaggerated. Sure, the obits have been posted and the requiems are being sung. The fat lady has already packed up her girdle and gone home with a bucket of KFC. Yet it seems XP — like Bill

Jul 2, 2008 3 mins

Is Sprint voice-mail spam part of a pernicious new trend?

I’d like to hear from readers out there on the issue or rather, growing problem, of marketing solicitations over the cell phone. I would love to be able to nip this trend in the bud with your help. Companies are increasingly sensitive to critic

By Ephraim Schwartz

Jul 2, 2008 2 mins

A classic NT/Windows 7 gem from the blogosphere

One of the best parts of blogging is the opportunity to interact with readers. Through the comments mechanism attached to virtually every blogging platform, both fans of a blog and its detractors have an opportunity to voice their opinions. And somet

By Randall Kennedy

Jul 2, 2008 8 mins

Why the iPhone isn’t for me

To preface, I've used iPhones and I have an iPod Touch that I use constantly. I love the interface, and I dig the device. Initially, I had to resist the urge to just buy an iPhone and deal with these problems, but I didn't, opting to get a

Jul 1, 2008 4 mins

United Airlines & Oracle on pricing

United Airlines, which used to be my preferred carrier, has trumped their earlier price gouging moves to charge passengers who check baggage by now requiring a minimum stay for nearly all US domestic fares beginning in October. Not only is United cha

By Zack Urlocker

Jul 1, 2008 2 mins

Google speaks, sort of

A day after I posted the last update in this sorry saga, Google deigned to communicate with me: Hello, Thanks for providing us with additional information. However, after thoroughly reviewing your account data and taking your feedback into considerat

Jul 1, 2008 1 min

Morph AppSpace clouds for Java and Grails

I just read about Morph, another one of Winston Damarillo's startups. Winston's past startup successes include Gluecode Software, acquired by IBM, and Logicblaze, acquired by Iona Technologies. Based on his track record, Morph is definitely

Jul 1, 2008 1 min

Integrative Thinking and open source

I just finished the third of four week-long residence weeks for school. One more to go and I'll get some semblance of a life back…my wife can't wait. "The Opposable Mind" by Roger Martin was one of the books we had to read as pr

Jul 1, 2008 2 mins

Progress is Hungry for SOA Companies

Download file…

By Dave Linthicum

Jul 1, 2008 1 min

Back-end trouble

In the late 90s I worked for a midsize ISP in the midwestern United States. Like any ISP at that time, we had dialup service, which meant we had a consumer-oriented tech support number. A friend of one of my co-workers was hired for dialup tech suppo

By InfoWorld Anonymous

Jul 1, 2008 3 mins

Data Management

News coverage in crisis on the Net

There's an old show-business joke about a play that is failing. A potential theatergoer calls the box office to find out when the show starts, and the ticket agent responds, "How soon can you get here?" As a trade journalist, I sometim

By Ephraim Schwartz

Jul 1, 2008 5 mins

Bill Gates and PC history

<P>With Bill Gates stepping down from his day-to-day role of running Microsoft, he's been receiving a great number of accolades about the role he played in history of the PC. Much of it is deserved. But some of it definitely ignores the r

By Ed Foster

Jul 1, 2008 4 mins

I had an update recently from ex-JBoss dude Shaun Connolly on what's going on at Ringside Networks. Ringside was founded by ex-Jboss, ex-BlueStone middleware business guru Bob Bickel. And if it's interesting enough to get him out of retirem

By Zack Urlocker

Jun 30, 2008 2 mins

Google’s response, or lack thereof

It's been 18 days since Google decided to disable my AdSense account. Having no Earthly idea why they did this, I've followed their instructions and filled out all the forms, wondered aloud about why they might have done this, and postulate

Jun 30, 2008 1 min

Hyper-V talk around the virtual water cooler

Now that Microsoft is ready to ship its Hyper-V virtualization platform to market, there has been a lot of talk around the water cooler as to what this really means for the industry and its current players. As an example, the big question being asked

Jun 30, 2008 7 mins

Microsoft releases assessment and planning tool – MAP 3.1

I've mentioned this a few times in the past, but if you haven't already signed up for the Beta program, you might be interested to know that Microsoft has now released the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 3.1 to the Web. If y

Jun 30, 2008 2 mins

Billy we hardly knew ye

It feels strange writing this. Starting today, I won't have Bill Gates to kick around anymore. (Or, given that he still plans to visit the Redmond campus once a week, I'll only have 20 percent of him to kick around.) Of all the tech targets

Jun 30, 2008 3 mins

Worst registrar Xin Net: progress, and lack thereof

As I mentioned ten days ago, Xin Net finally started to respond to pressure from ICANN and various other parties. The bad news since then, from Garth Bruen of KnujOn, is that Xin Net has continued to register roughly 100 new illicit sites a day. Acco

Jun 30, 2008 3 mins

Battle of the bare-bones balancers: Barracuda Load Balancer vs. Kemp Load Master

A load balancer for less than $2K? Barracuda Networks offers two models by that description, and Logan Harbaugh tested the posher one, the $1,999 Load Balancer 340. At the same time, he tested the $2,499 Kemp Load Master 1500, likewise a bare-bones l

By Doug Dineley

Jun 30, 2008 2 mins