Opinion

Dealing with an autocratic change agent

Dear Bob …I would appreciate your thoughts on the following situation. Our company recently started a program to implement "radical change" in a particular business area. They hired an external contractor to create the program. This perso

Intel pulls a no-show

Spring Processor Forum is prime strutting ground for chipmakers, so where was Intel?

Don’t upgrade Web software, just keep improving it

A well-intentioned overhaul that takes away functionality is the worst possible outcome

SOA 2.0? Don’t be Silly.

Here we go again, while the paint is still wet on the new Web 2.0 stuff, now many of the SOA vendors are calling their market "SOA 2.0." It's one of the most silly things I've heard of in a long while, and both the analysts and ve

Homegrown Ultra40 Results

Just a few days ago I put the finishing touches on the homegrown Ultra40 project. In response to many folks who mentioned that while the Ultra40 was quite an impressive workstation, you could build one for far less. So I did. I chose solid server-cla

How to leave IT

Dear Bob …I'm the one who wrote asking about non-IT professionals crossing over into IT and vice versa ("IT background, careers, and how they're connected," Advice Line, May 23, 2006). Your advice made a lot of sense.I have 9 ye

Outsourcing vs. shared services

Two competing trends help companies get more value out of IT operations

Recipe for career suicide

When your boss thinks function calls and DLLs are mysterious mumbo jumbo, you have problems

Hack Tales: Virtualization helps swing an Exchange upgrade

Microsoft's thorny install path was no problem with the help of virtual servers

Send us your hacks

Also: Readers weigh in on a world without Microsoft

Hack Tales: Air-gap networking for the price of a pair of sneakers

Cheap USB storage and a little ingenuity made all the difference

Hack Tales: Network auditing on a shoestring

Complete map of network shares and access rights kept business auditors happy

Tales of heroic hacks and inspired work-arounds

Hands-on experts make IT miracles happen in surprising ways

Free Software Foundation: Free as in “do what I say”

Stallman-headed group's increasing politicization leaves a sour taste

Hack Tales: E-mail archiving the home-brew way

Custom code allowed one company to sidestep costly management solutions

Hack Tales: Keeping track of tools the wireless way

This Wi-Fi hack meant tools need never go missing again

Hack Tales: Keeping thin clients synced from coast to coast

Ingenuity and creative Perl did away with laborious system configuration

When the boss becomes detached

Dear Bob …Let me preface this submission with that statement that my boss has been very fair, very accessible, and a pleasure to work for – until recently.  At about that time, our group began a very large and highly visible project.Everyt

Big Consulting is Awfully Silent on SOA

I was thinking today about my days working at a big consulting firm. That's a great job, by the way, for somebody just beginning their career. You indeed get about 3 years of experience in one, as you move from client to client working with a v

Bruce Schneier: Channeling common sense

This mastermind's teachings and advice lead back to a singular goal: a common-sense approach to security

Tech jobs take stress to whole new levels

Feeling the strain? A new study suggests you’ll just have to get in line

The Smackbook

If you have a MacBook or PowerBook with the embedded motion sensor, you have to see Erling Ellingsen's SmackBook. Desktop paging with a tap of the hand; so very cool. I normally see things like this and appreciate the inventive nature of the aut

Yes, Virginia, there is an Office server

A sneak peek at MOSS 2007 reveals that the latest cycle of Office may be worth the upgrade hassle

Was Veritas sleeping with the enemy?

Either company could win the Symantec-Microsoft dispute, but you and I will certainly lose

SaaS and SOA…Clearly the Flavors the Month for VC

I've been working in the VC world for about the last 60 days. Having been an officer of two publicly traded companies, I've never had to get VC cash, and this experience is opening up my eyes to some truths about this space and how it&#039

Easing app deployment with an open source sandbox

Simple administrative tools help a small university experiment and explore its application needs

Shut down technology’s black market

Make software and system counterfeiting impossible first, then negotiate to make it illegal

IT background, careers, and how they’re connected

Dear Bob …I read an article today (http://www.computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,110724,00.html?nlid=CAR ) about people changing careers into IT jobs.  I've seen a lot of this first-hand over the years and have always been a

OpenVPN for IPCop

Since I was playing around with my IPCop firewall anyway to do the gkrellmd work, I decided to upgrade it to 1.4.10 and install the ZERINA OpenVPN addon. Even though this isn't an official IPCop addon, it works very well, has a simple installer,

Join a challenged project or not?

Dear Bob …I am systems engineer and architect and recently have been offered a position with the architecture group of a large-scale information systems project. This project is about halfway through its contract period. It has been late on its fir

When someone is stealing your hardware

To catch a thief, this IT manager became a private investigator. Too bad no one was willing to listen

Imagining a day without Microsoft

If the company we love to hate disappeared tomorrow, we'd be in for still more headaches

“The State of That Stack: Where Web Services Standards Are Today”

Last week I was asked to speak at the Info World SOA Executive Forum in NYC, as well as sit in on the "Technology: The State of That Stack: Where Web Services Standards Are Today." panel, with:…

gkrellmd for IPCop

The thought occurred to me the other day that it might be cool to have a gkrellm monitor on my main workstation displaying throughput on my IPCop firewall. I couldn't find a gkrellmd addon for IPCop, so I put one together. This is based on gkrel

False Positives in IT Equal Wasted $$$

IT careers: It’s not just about the title

A series of successful assignments is often viewed as preferable to a string of titles

Sun still not answering the call to open source Java

Despite hints to the contrary, Sun is unlikely to give up lucrative license fees

Lessons in learning

Ongoing education can be an effective employee retention policy.

High-tech MBAs target the IT pro

Reaching the next level in a global environment means integrating constantly changing technology into core business functions

Developing your IT staff demands new thinking

The boundaries are blurring between formal education programs and innovative on-the-job learning environments

Five technology skills for the global economy

Changing with the times demands acquiring skills spanning business barriers and cultural divides

Dealing with undesirable responsibilities

Dear Bob …My wife works at a plant nursery, the boss often has tea with friends. The boss now tells my wife that part of her job is to clean the kitchen after the private tea. My wife feels that an adult should clean up after herself instead of som

NetSuite gets the boot, E3 nixes birthday suits

Pay no attention to the man behind the voting booth curtain

Datacenter power crunch

Soaring energy costs are fueling server consolidation and systems virtualization

Wrestling with Windows’ hidden “features”

Windows-IE desktop integration issues may not be huge security risks, but they're still a bit scary

Open Source Giving Customers More Leverage Against Management Vendors

More on MIMEDefang

Another little tweak for dealing with MIMEDefang problems. Recently, someone sent me a large attachment via email. As we all know, this is a clear violation of the Geneva Convention, but there it was. Or rather, wasn't. Large attachments haven&#

Symantec looks beyond storage

Post-Veritas acquisition, Symantec trumpets its battle plans for total datacenter management at Vision 2006

Windows Server 2003 R2 makes printer management a snap

Enhanced features ease setup and deliver a one-screen view of printers on your network

SOA Expert Podcast Show 38…Connecting to the Global SOA Talk

SOA Expert Podcast Show 38…Connecting to the Global SOA Talk Listen to the latest SOA Expert Podcast Presentation can be found here: Download file…