IT Hot News

PRWeb Launches Internet's First Free Photowire Service Using Open Source AJAX Technology

PRWeb Launches Internet's First Free Photowire Service Using Open Source AJAX Technology
PRWeb, the Internet's leading press release distribution newswire, has announced the beta launch of PRWeb Photowire, the Internet's first free news and PR image wire service. PRWeb Photowire allows users to upload their own high-resolution news photos and images, providing a stand-alone resource for quickly delivering news images to the media. In addition, the new service enables images to be tagged with keywords using Open Source AJAX technology. 

Senator seeks information on subpoena of Google (Reuters) 

Reuters - The Senate Judiciary Committee's top  Democrat asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales what steps are  being taken to protect Americans' privacy rights as the Justice  Department demands information about Internet searches.

      

Concurrent and Novell to Offer Real-Time Computing Solution Powered by SUSE Linux
Concurrent, a provider of integrated computer solutions for mission-critical applications, has announced a partnership with Novell to jointly sell and support Concurrent Real-Time Extensions Powered by SUSE Linux, a Linux offering based on Novell's SUSE Linux operating system, designed specifically for real-time computing needs. 

Swiss Miss a hit with Australian Open website users (AFP) 

AFP - Martina Hingis' dramatic career comeback at the Australian Open is generating as much interest online as it is among the Melbourne Park crowds, tournament organizers revealed.

      

AJAX for Mobile Devices Will Be the Hallmark of "Mobile Web 2.0"
Recently, Opera announced the availability of AJAX on mobile devices through their browser. Considering the popularity of Opera in the browser market (especially in the mobile browser market), this announcement is indeed very significant. Having been involved in creating mobile services for a few years now, Ajit Jaokar believes AJAX will replace both Java ME and XHTML as the platform of choice for developing mobile applications. 

Google Pack Is No Computer. Does It Threaten Microsoft?
Is Google Pack the end or the beginning of Google's intrusion into the traditional desktop software market that's been dominated by Microsoft for as long as most people can remember? Offering several free applications via download, the announcement was practically invisible in the glare of the twin annonuncements by Google and Yahoo of their vision of the entertainment future. 

Samsung + Vodafone + Qualcomm = 3.5G HSDPA Cellphone for Europe
Samsung will supply Vodafone with new mobile phones that use Qualcomm chips and take advantage of HSDPA, a next-step technology developed for use over networks based on WCDMA, the world's most popular third-generation (3G) mobile standard. 

Mono Will Be Part Of Fedora Core 5
The Mono open-source development platform based on .Net will be included in the next version of the Fedora core Linux distribution. Fedora users will get Mono and the various Mono-based applications, along with support for new languages like Boo, IronPython and Nemerle. 

Socket Offers Wi-Fi LAN Card for Microsoft Windows Mobile Devices

Socket Offers Wi-Fi LAN Card for Microsoft Windows Mobile Devices
'Socket is committed to providing the best user experience for Wi-Fi connectivity,' said Peter Phillips, vice president of marketing at Socket. 'The Go Wi-Fi! P500 is the fastest, most secure and easy-to-use 802.11g Wi-Fi card available. Users benefit from improved mobile productivity at work, at home, or in rapidly emerging public hot spots.' 

Silicon Valley Report Shows Little Programming Job Growth, Open Source or No Open Source
A new report from Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network will tout the region as a new center of creativity for the global technology community, citing the Apple iPod as a prime example of this creativity at work. In his recent blogpost, SYS-CON's West Coast Bureau Chief Roger Strukhoff reports on this report. 

PRWeb Launches Internet's First Free Photowire Service Using Open Source AJAX Technology
PRWeb, the Internet's leading press release distribution newswire, has announced the beta launch of PRWeb Photowire, the Internet's first free news and PR image wire service. PRWeb Photowire allows users to upload their own high-resolution news photos and images, providing a stand-alone resource for quickly delivering news images to the media. In addition, the new service enables images to be tagged with keywords using Open Source AJAX technology. 

Microsoft Gets Its Act Together With IE 7.0 

Finally, maybe developers can stop complaining about Internet Explorer's lack of support for accepted standards. Rumors are flying that the next version of IE will address these long-held concerns. Mozilla's Firefox may be the hot browser right now, simply because Microsoft has been biding its time. But just as Internet Explorer stole the show from Netscape five years ago, the same will likely occur with the release of Internet Explorer 7. IE 6 is sorely in need of repair, and the quick gains in market share by Firefox and other alternative browsers were probably just the kick in the pants that Microsoft needed to get its act together. So IE lost a few percentage points of market share -- down to just under 90%, according to the latest figures. Big deal. MS has had the benefit of learning from Firefox and incorporating its features. Sometimes being second to market is best, especially when you have an enormous advantage over the competition in the first place. That said, it is always going to be safer to use a browser that isn't being used by 90 percent of the Internet population. 

   

SOA Company StrikeIron Introduces Web Services via Salesforce.com
StrikeIron and salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) announced that StrikeIron will be offering its subscription based Web services to salesforce.com customers via the salesforce.com AppExchange. Salesforce.com customers can now add live business demographics, data verification and cleansing capabilities and a long list of additional functionality simply by adding Web services from the StrikeIron Web Services Marketplace. These Web services are immediately available for test drive and deployment at www.appexchange.com, in conjunction with the Salesforce Winter ?06 release. 

Free website to list programs with spyware (USATODAY.com) 
USATODAY.com - A free website (StopBadware.org) launching Wednesday plans to provide a list of programs that contain spyware and other malicious software. It will also identify companies that develop the programs and distribute them on the Internet. Consumers can then decide if a program is safe to download.

Mainsoft and IBM Software To Aggressively Expand Linux Ecosystem, Ease SOA Deployments
Mainsoft Corporation, the cross-platform development company, has announced it is working with IBM to extend the Linux ecosystem to better enable Microsoft customers to move over to Linux. The program allows Windows Web and server applications to run on Linux across IBM's line of eServer platforms supporting IBM WebSphere Application Servers. Enterprises that prefer the security, scalability and performance of WebSphere software will have greater flexibility to choose Linux as a common operating environment, paving the way to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) implementations. 

"A Watershed Event for Open Source Office Suites": LinuxWorld Magazine Reviews StarOffice 8
On September 27, Sun released StarOffice 8, their cross-platform office suite, which they believe to be the best alternative to the business standard, Microsoft Office. This new product release along with the release of OpenOffice.org 2.0, on October 20, was a watershed event for open source office suites. With a host of new features and increased functionality, both suites have never before offered such a robust and feasible alternative to the undisputed productivity suite leader, Microsoft Office. Sun Microsystems has been developing the product since their acquisition of Star Division, the previous maker of StarOffice, in August of 1999. For the first time in its history, StarOffice (and OpenOffice.org) has the best chance to convert millions of Microsoft Office users as a result of the latest crop of improvements. 

HP Helps Dobson Cellular Systems Manage Wireless Networks for 1.5 Million Customers

HP Helps Dobson Cellular Systems Manage Wireless Networks for 1.5 Million Customers
Dobson Cellular Systems, a subsidiary of Dobson Communications Corporation, has deployed the industry-leading software solution, HP OpenView TeMIP, to streamline network management and provide better service to its Dobson Cellular and Cellular One wireless customers. 

GPL v3 Gets Nearer: "The World's Most Popular Free Software License" Is Being Updated
The first discussion draft of the revised GNU General Public License has been released for comment. 'This project,' says the Free Software Foundation, 'will bring together organizations, software developers, and software users from around the globe during 2006, in an effort to update the world's most popular free software license.' 

Should Search Engines Hand Over Data to the Feds?
So the Department of Justice has apparently asked major search engines to provide it with lists of search terms used at the engines and URLs of Web sites, in an attempt to revive and enforce the Child Online Protection Act,...

Novell Reaffirms Its Commitment to the OpenDocument Format
Novell  today reaffirmed its roadmap for support of the OpenDocument file format in current and future Novell(R) products, which reinforces Novell's commitment to open standards, customer choice and flexibility. Novell has delivered OpenDocument support in its SUSE(R) Linux distribution since March 2005. Novell will deliver complete OpenDocument support in the next edition of its enterprise desktop in 2006. As a result, enterprise customers will be able to create documents using a perpetually open standard and will not have to rely on proprietary formats for future document readability. 

Yahoo-Sponsored Cyber Giving Week Nets More than $4 Million

SEO/SEM Journal: Yahoo-Sponsored Cyber Giving Week Nets More than $4 Million
The Cyber Giving Week sponsored by Yahoo had collected $2.7 million as of 7pm west coast time on January 30. By the week's end, the final tally rose to more than $4.1 million. Although that specific program has now ended, the Network for Good remains open to donations, and sponsors a wide variety of organizations. 

Botnet Operator Pleads Guilty to Internet Crimes (NewsFactor) 
NewsFactor - A California man on Monday pleaded guilty to federal charges related to his assembly of a botnet consisting of hundreds of thousands of computers to spread spam and malicious software, and of profiting from the zombie machines through the unauthorized distribution of adware.

SEO Firm iProspect Advises Change to Paid Search Advertising Bidding Strategies
iProspect, the Original Search Engine Marketing Firm, revealed that online shopping conversion rates and conversion volumes for the holiday season peak ten days prior to Christmas. As a result, online retailers are advised to adjust their paid search advertising bidding strategies accordingly. 

Cape Clear Forges SOA Leadership Position in 2005
Cape Clear Software today announced the company achieved significant corporate milestones in 2005, highlighted by widespread customer adoption, key financial achievements and strategic management appointments, as well as increased awareness and recognition from industry analysts. With 75 new customers and more than 100 percent revenue growth over the previous year, Cape Clear continues to deliver on the promise of a simplified Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) platform for mission-critical deployments. 

RTI Tells Google "No More VoIP"
Since Google is being sued by RTI, they were likely approached by Rates Technology and refused to pay the requested amount. It should be noted that company spokesperson Jerry Weinberger says that RTI does not negotiate, for if they negotiated their fees it would not be fair to the other companies that paid the full amount. There is no ongoing licensing fee for the RTI patents, rather RTI charges a one-time fee based on one of five tiers, each according to highest parent company's worldwide sales. They do not deviate from these tiers. In exchange you get a covenant protecting you from a lawsuit. 

Google Agrees to Censor Results in China (AP) 
AP - Google Inc. launched a search engine in China on Wednesday that censors material about human rights, Tibet and other topics sensitive to Beijing — defending the move as a trade-off granting Chinese greater access to other information.

Jobs' Apple Connection Is Key in Disney-Pixar Megadeal
The Walt Disney Co. will pay US$7.4 billion to buy Pixar, the groundbreaking animation studio co-founded by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The deal is noteworthy not only for the potential future benefits entailed in an Apple-Hollywood link, but also because it immediately vaults Disney back to the top of the industry it all but invented.

Psion Teklogix Annual Conference Focuses on the Future of Mobile Computing Technology
This year's conference titled 'Mission Critical: the Future of Technology, the Future of your Business' is designed to provide customers with the knowledge needed to improve their wireless data-collection processes, how to implement imaging technology into supply chain logistics and mobile computing applications, the business processes required to implement RFID technology, and what to consider when upgrading existing mobile computing solutions. 

New Linux Website Dedicated to "Bringing Together Developers and Users Concerns" Opens

New Linux Website Dedicated to "Bringing Together Developers and Users Concerns" Opens
TheLinuxWhine.com is a newly created website dedicated to bringing the Linux community into a forum to gather and discuss ideas about Linux software improvements. In a statement on the website, the site owner of 'The Linux Whine' Dru says that he had the idea for the website shortly after attempting to configure his new programmable keyboard and 7 button mouse for Fedora 4. 

21 Year-Old Utah Blogger to 'Rocket' to Edge of Space; Wins Space Flight Aboard Russian MIG 25
Twenty-one year old Billy Bones of Orem, Utah is the proud winner of the Game Trust LaunchNow Race to Space Contest.  The office worker (http://www.myspace.com/billy427) will travel to Moscow where he'll strap into a Russian MIG 25 and travel a more than twice the speed the speed of sound to the edge of space.  At the top of the climb, Billy will gaze back at the Earth, a distant blue 'marble,' and experience a view that only a privileged few have enjoyed! 

Mercury Interactive Will Acquire Systinet To Create "Powerful SOA - BTO Product Synergy"
Mercury Interactive Corporation has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Systinet Corporation. Systinet's SOA technology, when combined with Mercury Business Technology Optimization Enterprise offerings, will help enable customers to take a lifecycle approach to optimizing the quality, performance and availability of SOA business services. 

Firm to Launch Ad-Supported Music Videos (AP) 
AP - A company behind a subscription video service for mobile phones has launched an ad-supported, 24-hour free music video channel for Internet-enabled phones, computers and other portable devices capable of playing video.

Google shares hammered after government challenge

After climbing for a year and a half, Google shares fell 8.5 percent on Friday to $399.46 a share. It was the largest one-day percentage drop for the company and the highest . . .

Covalent Offers Commercial Support for Open Source Geronimo
Apache Geronimo, already a fully certified J2EE platform and therefore competitive with other J2EE application servers, received an additional boost today as Covalent Technologies announced it will offer full commercial support for Apache Geronimo 1.0. 

Trolltech's Qtopia Core Series for Embedded Linux Application Development Replaces Qt/Embedded
Trolltech has launched Qtopia Core, a development platform for single-application products built on embedded Linux. Qtopia Core brings the benefits of Trolltech's proven software for the desktop to developers of a broad range of equipment, such as automotive automation, medical devices, point-of-sale, office equipment and image processing machines. Qtopia Core technology is a major step forward and replaces Qt/Embedded as the foundation of Trolltech's embedded product family. 

Faster Gear to Drive Wi-Fi Market
Consumers will snap up products based on the draft 802.11n standard, researcher says.

Mainsoft and IBM Software To Aggressively Expand Linux Ecosystem, Ease SOA Deployments

 Mainsoft and IBM Software To Aggressively Expand Linux Ecosystem, Ease SOA Deployments
Mainsoft Corporation, the cross-platform development company, has announced it is working with IBM to extend the Linux ecosystem to better enable Microsoft customers to move over to Linux. The program allows Windows Web and server applications to run on Linux across IBM's line of eServer platforms supporting IBM WebSphere Application Servers. Enterprises that prefer the security, scalability and performance of WebSphere software will have greater flexibility to choose Linux as a common operating environment, paving the way to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) implementations. 

Zimbra Unveils Innovative, Open Source Collaboration Software and Messaging Server
the Zimbra Collaboration Suite. Built on open source technology, the Zimbra Collaboration Suite will fundamentally change the way people interact with e-mail by fixing the most frustrating problems for users and administrators. Currently available as a Beta, the messaging server and client will be generally available in November. 

CA's Ex-CEO Kumar, VP of Sales Richards Seek to Avoid Prison
Lawyers for Computer Associates' ousted CEO Sanjay Kumar and former executive VP of sales Stephen Richards have been in court lately arguing that federal prosecutors are misinterpreting a criminal statute in prosecuting their clients, exposing the pair to a possible 10-20 years in prison, twice as much time as they would otherwise serve if convicted. 

Windows Vista Beta 2 Coming in April?
Blogger says the release date is set, but the software giant won't confirm the report.

Jobs' Apple Connection Is Key in Disney-Pixar Megadeal
The Walt Disney Co. will pay US$7.4 billion to buy Pixar, the groundbreaking animation studio co-founded by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The deal is noteworthy not only for the potential future benefits entailed in an Apple-Hollywood link, but also because it immediately vaults Disney back to the top of the industry it all but invented.

Alexa Turns Web Services and Search Inside Out with Web Search Platform Beta
Alexa notes that 'the first and perhaps most difficult and expensive piece of (developing a new search idea) is a good Web crawl. Your crawl will need to access a high-speed internet connection, it will need to pull down thousands of pages per second. It will need to manage thousands of connections and process pages to extract links. Then you will need to store hundreds of terabytes of data.' The company aims to fix all of this through a new service. 

Researchers Launch Anti-Spyware Site

Researchers Launch Anti-Spyware Site

AP - A corporate-backed Web site being launched by researchers from Harvard and Oxford universities seeks to become a clearinghouse for Internet users on spyware and other malicious software.

      

Broadband Over Power Lines Gains Steam 

As high-speed Internet access becomes as important to businesses and consumers as other utilities, more options are opening up for how broadband access is delivered. Of course right now the majority of connections are DSL or cable, but emerging technologies such as Wimax and broadband-over-power-line (BPL) have much to offer in the way of convenience, speed, reliability, and even cost savings. The Department of Public Works of the city of Manassas, Va., is one of the first municipalities to get on board with BPL, reports ComputerWorld.

   

More Than Half of Americans Now File Taxes Online 

It's tax time again, and those of you who are filling out paper forms and licking stamps are in the minority for the first time ever. When all returns are in, the IRS expects to have surpassed the 50 percent mark for electronic returns, reports CNET. Why the rush to the Net? Why the promise of quicker returns, of course. And here's something I didn't know: The IRS actually requires CPAs to file returns electronically these days. One possible roadblock to mass adoption, however, is that the IRS doesn't let people file taxes directly through its Web site, but instead offers its "Free File" program that lets taxpayers file electronically through tax preparation software and service providers with whom the IRS has partnerships.

   

Should Search Engines Hand Over Data to the Feds?
So the Department of Justice has apparently asked major search engines to provide it with lists of search terms used at the engines and URLs of Web sites, in an attempt to revive and enforce the Child Online Protection Act,...

Getting a grip on mixed Linux, Windows administration (InfoWorld) 
InfoWorld - As more companies realize the cost benefits of using open source software, mixed Linux and Windows environments are inevitable. Managing those environments, however, can be difficult for traditional IT shops, especially when it comes to getting Linux-based file, print, and Web servers to work well in a Windows network.

Microsoft developers to get dose of 'Live'
Microsoft developer, fret not. Microsoft's "Live" services mantra and branding mission is coming to an IDE near you.   Microsoft program manager John Montgomery on Wednesday posted . . .

Broadband Over Power Lines Gains Steam As high-speed Internet access

Broadband Over Power Lines Gains Steam 

As high-speed Internet access becomes as important to businesses and consumers as other utilities, more options are opening up for how broadband access is delivered. Of course right now the majority of connections are DSL or cable, but emerging technologies such as Wimax and broadband-over-power-line (BPL) have much to offer in the way of convenience, speed, reliability, and even cost savings. The Department of Public Works of the city of Manassas, Va., is one of the first municipalities to get on board with BPL, reports ComputerWorld.

   

Patent Office To Gain More Access To Open Source Code
The US Patent And Trademark Office has partnered with open source vendors like the Open Source Development Labs, Red Hat, IBM and Novell to help software makers secure stronger claims. A three-part initiative includes developing an Open Patent Review program, developing a system that stores source code in an electronically searchable format and creating a Patent Quality Index.      

SOA Company StrikeIron Introduces Web Services via Salesforce.com
StrikeIron and salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) announced that StrikeIron will be offering its subscription based Web services to salesforce.com customers via the salesforce.com AppExchange. Salesforce.com customers can now add live business demographics, data verification and cleansing capabilities and a long list of additional functionality simply by adding Web services from the StrikeIron Web Services Marketplace. These Web services are immediately available for test drive and deployment at www.appexchange.com, in conjunction with the Salesforce Winter ?06 release. 

Oracle's from Mars, Salesforce.com's from Venus

Oracle's big to-do in San Francisco last night was total bust, news-wise.   

Larry Ellison, the headliner, was a no-show. He was replaced by a stream of underlings . . .

AFP Suit Against Google Tests Concept of "Fair Use" 

What constitutes fair use of copyrighted content on the Internet? These boundaries may be shaped by a lawsuit filed recently against Google by the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP). In the most highly publicized suit of its kind, AFP is arguing that Google wrongfully aggregated photos and story excerpts from its news sites in order to populate Google News. Now, the general mode of thinking about content on the Web has always gone something like this: "If the content is out there, and it ain't locked down (i.e., password protected), then you can link to it, aggregate it,  and organize it however you want." In other words, to quote a popular open-source mantra, information wants to be free.

   

Hmmm, Someone Seems to Be Borrowing My Identity

Hmmm, Someone Seems to Be Borrowing My Identity
So a couple of weeks ago, I was perusing recent activity on my American Express card and discovered a charge of $29.99 from a site called AmericanSingles.com. Which was a surprise--if someone was signing up for dating services using my...

Dion Hinchcliffe's SOA Blog: Creating Open Services That Last And Anyone Can Use
I just finished up a podcast discussion this evening on Web 2.0 and Global SOA with David Linthicum that he was kind enough to host on his popular SOA Expert Podcast show. We were discussing how the software worlds are rapidly converging into each other with mash-ups and Ajax helping drive a seemingly unquenchable demand for open services on the Web. All of this while individual organizations themselves are trying to build almost identical service ecosystems behind the firewall and create their own type of mash-ups, known as composite applications. They are also increasingly integrating them into their very own internal business processes. 

Dion Hinchcliffe's SOA Blog: "Why AJAX Is So Disruptive"
Yesterday I wrote an invited response in the Ajax Developer's Journal to Jeffrey Zeldman's off-kilter but widely read (i.e. Slashdotted) take on Web 2.0.  In it I claimed Zeldman had way too much focus on Ajax as a Web 2.0 ingredient. All these trips around the proverbial mulberry bush while we are witnessing a rapidly growing greater awareness of all things Web 2.0 in the mainstream. Heck, even CIO Magazine has started talking about Web 2.0, which means its really arrived if they think people up in the rareified air of executive management need to know about it at all. 

Canberra Student Receives Linux Award in Australia
Linux Australia has announced Pascal Klein as the inaugural winner of the organisation's People's Choice Community Member of the Year award. Klein, a sixteen year old student from Canberra, was selected from a field of over fifteen candidates nominated by the Linux Australia community. His prize consists of a complimentary ticket to the world's premier technical open source software (OSS) conference, linux.conf.au (LCA), and money to help cover travel and accommodation expenses. This year's linux.conf.au is being held at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. 

Hitting the SOA Market Even Stronger, Skyway Software Promotes Within for VP of Sales
Skyway Software, the award winning provider ofSOA design and delivery solutions, announced today that Bill Irwin is nowtaking on the role of Vice President of Sales.  With more than 18 yearsexperience in sales and sales management positions in high technology,Irwin is now responsible for the strategic leadership of the SkywaySoftware sales team. 

Buy an iPod From a Vending Machine
Fun story over at our sister site PlaylistMag.com on a company that makes vending machines that dispense iPods, PSPs, and other tech gadgets. The specific machine mentioned at the top of the story is about a mile from here; I'll...

Gates getting his Groove on in SF

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Chief Technical Officer Ray Ozzie are scheduled to headline a Nov. 1 press event in San Francisco. 

The software maker was vague . . .

Progress Software Includes 64-bit Linux Support
Progress Real Time Division, an operating unit of Progress Software Corporation today released Progress ObjectStore Enterprise Version 6.3, the latest version of the industry's most popular object database, featuring dramatic performance improvements across all environments and support for 64-bit Linux. The ObjectStore Version 6.3 release, which includes ObjectStore PSE Pro (a small footprint, embeddable DBMS), is a proven technology for developing solid, consistent, and high-performance applications. 

Security Hot Issue for Open-Source Database Developers

Security Hot Issue for Open-Source Database Developers
Open-source database deployments rose dramatically in the last half of 2005, and as one might expect, as more IT pros get acquainted with these non-proprietary systems, security is a chief concern.

'Botmaster' pleads guilty to computer crimes (Reuters) 

Reuters - A 20-year-old accused of using  hundreds of thousands of hijacked computers, or "bot nets," to  damage systems and send massive waves of spam across the  Internet, pleaded guilty to federal charges on Monday.

Silicon Valley Report Shows Little Programming Job Growth, Open Source or No Open Source
A new report from Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network will tout the region as a new center of creativity for the global technology community, citing the Apple iPod as a prime example of this creativity at work. In his recent blogpost, SYS-CON's West Coast Bureau Chief Roger Strukhoff reports on this report.