IBM Donates Open Source Projects
IBM this week donated more than 30 open source projects to SourceForge.net and has begun a series of online skills-building programs at its developerWorks Web site to kick start and nurture emerging open source projects.
Big Blue has also announced that it will earmark support resources to developers who build Web applications using the PHP language. The recent contribution to open source is one of many that IBM has made within the past several months.
IBM Takes Lead in UNIX Server Market
IBM is touting data from analyst IDC that found Big Blue to be the revenue leader in the global UNIX server market and tied for the number two spot worldwide for x86 Intel servers in 2004. In total, IBM earns the most revenue from its server sales operations than any other vendor.
The IDC study also discloses that IBM is experiencing the highest rate of growth in both the Intel and Linux server product categories among leading vendors on a year-to-year basis. IBM blade server revenue in 4Q04 and FY2004 was also the highest. The study comes as good news for IBM, which earlier this week debuted its mainframe-inspired eServer X3 architecture and "Hurricane" chipset.
Microsoft Soups Up Small Business Site
Looking to displace its competition, Microsoft has turned the notion of "more is less" on its head, and has loaded its Small Business Center Web site with a host of new online resources.
The changes are the result of customer feedback solicited from over 20,000 surveys online. Among the additions to the site are components that Microsoft hopes will "demystify" technology, a more secure computing environment and an expert's exchange forum.
E-Mail Virus Spreads Using FBI Cover
Virus writers are thumbing their nose at law enforcement with a brazen act of social engineering that threatens to infect Internet users with the worm Sober-K.
A virus-laden e-mail disguised as a notice from the Federal Bureau of Investigation tells recipients that they have visited an "illegal Web site" and being monitored by the agency's Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC). The recipients are then instructed to begin a questionnaire, which contains the viral payload.
Premium Accounting 2006 Enters Beta
Peachtree, a maker of accounting software for small businesses, is seeking beta testers for its Premium Accounting 2006 software. Testers must meet Peachtree's selection criteria: business users who can provide a brief overview of their company, commit to following a test schedule, and provide feedback on any issues.
Premium Accounting 2006 weighs in at about 600MB and must be downloaded by beta testers at the beginning of the test period, which runs from early March through May. Peachtree will contact selected particiants by e-mail. To apply for the beta test, visit Peachtree's Web site.
IBM X3, 'Hurricane' Storm the Enterprise
Three years and one hundred-million dollars later, IBM has introduced its eServer X3 architecture servicing Intel Xeon processor-based servers with support for Intel's newest dual core 64-bit processor.
X3, with its "Hurricane" chip, is the third generation of Big Blue's Enterprise X-Architecture and increases four-way performance by 38 percent over the previous generation. The resulting xSeries servers are designed to support 64-bit and 32-bit applications simultaneously, letting enterprises gradually migrate to 64-bit on a need only basis.
Google Book Effort Draws French Ire
The National Library of France is not happy with Google's effort to scan and integrate millions of books into its Web search. Jean-Noel Jeanneney, President of the library, wrote in an editorial that he is concerned Google's initiative to digitalize volumes at five leading libraries will reflect a unipolar worldview dominated by the English language and American culture.
Jeanneney has designed a parallel program as a counterweight against the perceived political and cultural significance of Google's project.
Opera Voice Enables the Living Room
Opera Software, best known for its Web browser, is venturing into the living room. Opera's voice-enabled Electronic Program Guide (EPG), featuring IBM Embedded ViaVoice, fuses together the tasks of many different remote controls into basic voice commands.
With EPG, users tell their DVD player or cable box what they want to happen by talking to it. The announcement comes just weeks before Opera is expected to make available a voice-enabled version of its Web browser.
MS: No Updates for Virtualized Windows
Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation initiative has set off a firestorm of protest throughout the open source community after programmers uncovered a special function in the software dedicated to detecting Wine, a compatibility layer for running Windows programs in non-Windows environments.
WGA authentication is set to become mandatory for all non-critical Windows updates starting in the second half of 2005. Customers must run a program that verifies their Windows license, or they will not have access to Windows Update or the Microsoft Download Center.
Interview: The Future in Grid Computing
INTERVIEW Computing grids are software engines that pool together and manage resources from isolated systems to form a new type of low-cost supercomputer. In spite of their usefulness, grids remained the plaything of researchers for many years. But now, in 2005, grids have finally come of age and are becoming increasingly commercialized.
Sun Microsystems recently unveiled a new grid computing offering that promises to make purchasing computer time over a network as easy as buying electricity and water. Even Microsoft is said to be investing in grids and Sony has grid-enabled its PlayStation 3 for movie-like graphics.
T-Mobile Hack Leaks Celebrity Numbers
UPDATED Hotel heiress Paris Hilton has had her privacy violated yet again. Over the weekend, details of Miss Hilton's private life, personal photos and the phone numbers of A-List celebrities circulated in droves throughout the Web after a hacker gained unauthorized access to the mobile maven's T-Mobile Sidekick II.
Hilton's address book is a paparazzi's dream come true: Rapper Eminem, actress Lindsay Lohan, Pharrel, Usher, Fred Durst, Usher, Christina Aguilera, Vin Diesel, and Anna Kournikova are just a handful of the stars that had their private telephone numbers and e-mail addresses exposed by the leak of Hilton's electronic black book.
IBM Backs Linux with $100 Million
IBM is backing up its ardent advocacy of Linux with cold hard cash. Over the next three years, Big Blue will invest a total of $100 million USD to broaden the use of Linux technologies within its Workplace product family and assist customers in constructing end-to-end Linux-based solutions that fit a variety of devices.
IBM's financial commitment came in response to double digit-growth among customers that deployed the company's collaboration software on Linux in 2004.
Sun Reveals Java Desktop 3
Sun this week at LinuxWorld revealed its Java Desktop 3.0 enterprise Linux desktop environment. Sun has not yet given a laundry list of features, but has indicated that device support and productivity are the foremost attributes of the upgrade.
The new Java Desktop is built atop the Linux 2.6 kernel to build a better base of support for modern hardware, with recent open source components providing for better interoperability with "legacy desktops" and Microsoft Office.
Microsoft Update Testing Set for March
Sources close to testing have told BetaNews that the upcoming Microsoft Update service will enter beta by mid-March. First announced by Bill Gates on Tuesday, Microsoft Update will be a one-stop spot for updates covering Windows, Office and other products. The company plans to broaden its tester base for the Microsoft Update trial.
Since Microsoft is drawing from the same pool of testers as the Windows Update Version 5 (WU5) beta, sample validity becomes a problem, especially when additional products are being tested. Beta coordinators want a tester mix that includes individuals who are proficient in Office, Exchange, and SQL. Beta testers are asked to fill out surveys if they have experience with any of those products, but will not be locked out of the coming beta if they do not.
StarOffice 8 Learns From MS Office
Basking in the limelight of LinuxWorld, Sun used the occasion to show off a working mock-up of the next version of its StarOffice productivity software. In many ways, StarOffice 8 represents the suite's continued maturation.
Built-in usability enhancements conform to the look and feel of industry standard functionality, configuration options and language support is enhanced, and interoperability with Microsoft Office is more comprehensive. Sun has also has thrown in a newly redesigned database engine and software development kit (SDK).
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