What IT Isn't Going to See Happen in 2009

What IT Isn't Going to See Happen in 2009
February 12, 2009 at 9:12 pm
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Automation, green IT initiatives, system performance predictablity will not get cut out of budgets; big capital projects, and over-simplified network tools that require a lot of manual control will be out as we roll along in 2009.
- Most IT people have opinions about what is likely to happen in 2009 as a result of the new U.S. president and a struggling worldwide economy. At this time, not a lot of folks are optimistic that conditions will be turning around anytime before the end of the year. In answer to that, let's twist...

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How to Use Google Spreadsheets for No-Cost Data Analytics
February 12, 2009 at 6:32 pm
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Most users are unaware that Google Spreadsheets, a part of Google Docs, the online productivity suite that's free for individuals, has a majority of the features users look for in Microsoft Excel. Google Spreadsheets' analytics capability can instantly enhance your use of business, organizational or personal information. Knowledge Center contributor Oudi Antebi explains how Google Spreadsheets can satisfy virtually all of your daily spreadsheet needs, including how to use Google Spreadsheets for no-cost data analytics.
- In some ways Google Spreadsheets goes beyond Microsoft Excel and can actually extend the enterprise user's capabilities. Google Spreadsheets can help users in the enterprise with collaboration, visualization and analytics. Here are some examples: 1. Collaboration Google Spreadsheets allows multipl...

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Microsoft to Roll Out Retail Stores
February 12, 2009 at 6:23 pm
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Microsoft says former Wal-Mart executive David Porter will join the company as corporate vice president of Retail Stores, where he will lead the company in rolling out new Microsoft-branded stores. Microsoft said it is opening these stores to create deeper engagement with consumers and continue to learn first-hand about what they want and how they buy.
- Microsoft announced Feb. 12 that David Porter is joining Microsoft as corporate vice president of Retail Stores. Porter will lead the company in rolling out Microsoft-branded stores. quot;Defining the time frame, locations and specifics for planned Microsoft-branded retail stores will be Porter...

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Microsoft's 10 Unlucky Breaks
February 12, 2009 at 6:02 pm
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It's Friday the 13th, the unluckiest day of the year. How has Microsoft's luck been over the past 34 years? The company's rise through the 1980s and 1990s was really a series of lucky breaks combined with business savvy and execution on the vision of one PC on every desk. But Microsoft's luck started running out in the mid-1990s. We've selected 10 unlucky breaks based on the scope of their impact on the company, counting up to No. 1.
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Security Researcher Tells Unpatched Google Android Users to Avoid Web Browser
February 12, 2009 at 5:42 pm
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Officials at Google say a vulnerability affecting the open source Google Android operating system has been fixed, and T-Mobile will push a patch out to G1 users. Details of the bug were made public last week at the ShmooCon 2009 conference in Washington, D.C.
- A security researcher is recommending users take a cautious approach towards the browser on the T-Mobile G1 phone until a patch for a recently publicized vulnerability is deployed. Charles Miller, who revealed technical details of the bug at last week's ShmooCon 2009 conference in Washington,...

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10 Desktops and Laptops That Won't Break Your IT Budget
February 12, 2009 at 5:29 pm
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With the recession ravaging enterprise spending plans, IT administrators are trying to figure out how to make their PC dollars go farther. Component makers are coming out with cheaper products, and OEMs are working hard to make systems that are cheaper to buy, more energy-efficient and easier to manage, all with an eye to reducing overall PC costs. Many IT managers are reusing or repurposing aging desktops and laptops, but if you have some money to spend on refreshing older systems, here are 10 good options.
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Los Alamos Lab Missing Almost 100 Computers
February 12, 2009 at 5:15 pm
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The United States' primary nuclear weapons testing lab is again involved in an embarrassing security gaffe. Watchdog group POGO reveals that the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has lost 13 computers in 12 months and that 67 other computers are currently missing.
- The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico the United States' primary nuclear weapons testing lab is under fire again for lax security practices following the theft of three computers from the home of a Los Alamos employee. In the last 12 months, 13 computers have been stolen or lost and t...

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How Technology Companies Can Survive the Financial Crisis
February 12, 2009 at 4:59 pm
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In these tough economic times, technology companies need to protect themselves and better prepare for the stormy months ahead. It is now imperative for managers to examine all areas of the firm's operations in order to reduce expenses and ensure financing availability. Knowledge Center contributors Bob Pearlman and Bob Strasser discuss eight tools and approaches that can help technology companies through the current economic downturn.
- Fallout from the current financial crisis has made its way from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, where technology companies are battling a myriad of problems, including frozen IT budgets, layoffs, stagnant R amp;D spending and a lack of capital. Negotiating the stormy seas of these recessionary times,...

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XioTech's Emprise 7000 Storage Package Offers Easy-to-Manage SAN
February 12, 2009 at 4:36 pm
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The elegantly designed XioTech Emprise 7000 SAN solution focuses on preserving and duty cycling physical drives to boost availability and decrease service costs. It also has the added benefit of the Virtual View management software, which vastly simplifies management of virtual machine storage.
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Opera Speeds Up Mobile Browsing
February 12, 2009 at 4:21 pm
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Opera Software plans to debut Opera Turbo, which it calls its new, turbo-charged way to surf the Internet, at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona. Reducing bandwidth consumption by compressing data being sent to a mobile phone or PC by up to 80 percent will allow operators to reduce network traffic and save on data transmissions, Opera says.
- Opera Software plans to debut Opera Turbo, its new, quot;turbo-charged quot; way to surf the Internet, at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona held Feb. 16 to 19. Opera Turbo will be available for business customers, and will work with Opera Desktop, Opera Mobile and the Opera Devices S...

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Google to Exit Radio, Explore Streaming Audio Ads
February 12, 2009 at 4:15 pm
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Google will close down its Google Audio Ads and AdSense for Audio products, sell its Google Radio Automation business, and focus on delivering ads for online streaming audio, which it describes as an emerging advertising space. Some 40 staffers may be laid off.
- Google announced in a Feb. 12 blog posting that it was closing down its Google Audio Ads and AdSense for Audio projects and selling its Google Radio Automation business, in order to focus on delivering ads for online streaming audio. Google's exit from the broadcast radio business comes almost ...

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New Document Management, Anti-botnet and VOIP Solutions Top eWEEK's 'Products to Watch'
February 12, 2009 at 4:02 pm
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eWEEK editors recommend that IT pros keep CNG-Online, the ShorePhone IP 230g, Engate Hosted Anti-Botnet Security, Emulex LightPulse CNAs, Intelligent IT Search, Data Integration Suite 4.0 and Capacity Analyzer 3.0 on their radars.
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Java Fundamentals I and II (Video Training) 4
February 12, 2009 at 3:35 pm
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With the powerful videos included in this LiveLesson, youll learn at your own pace as Deitel guides you through Java's fundamentals, object-oriented programming, and event-driven programming.
- Video Content....

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Microsoft Windows Vista (Video Training) 1
February 12, 2009 at 3:35 pm
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Learn Vistas most powerful features and techniques visually: just watch! Youll master Vista at your own pace--and get specific answers and solutions immediately, whenever you need them!
- Video Content....

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Microsoft Windows Vista (Video Training) 3
February 12, 2009 at 3:35 pm
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Learn Vistas most powerful features and techniques visually: just watch! Youll master Vista at your own pace--and get specific answers and solutions immediately, whenever you need them!
- Video Content....

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Blackberry Road Map Revealed
February 12, 2009 at 2:17 pm
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David Heit, Director of Enterprise Product Management for RIM sits down with eWEEK reporter Nicholas Kolakowski to discuss the roadmap for RIM for enterprise over the next three-to-four years, focusing in particular on device integration into the enterprise, the RIM Enterprise Server 5.0, and a bit of VoIP.
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How to Choose a Managed Hosting Provider for Your SAAS Solution
February 12, 2009 at 2:14 pm
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Selecting the right managed hosting provider for your software as a service solution requires a number of important considerations. Since each application service provider's software as a service offering is highly-variable and differentiated, it's important to ensure you are partnering with a managed hosting provider who will get to know your culture, understand your needs and help grow your customer base. Knowledge Center contributor Larry Steele explains what you need to know to select the right managed hosting provider who will implement a software as a service solution to help you meet your business goals.
- The software as a service (SAAS) market is poised for strong growth through 2011, when worldwide revenue is expected to reach $11.5 billion. The rapid SAAS expansion and the sheer number of companies touting their SAAS hosting capabilities is making it harder for application service providers (ASPs)...

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Storage Simplified
February 12, 2009 at 1:57 pm
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In this eWeek podcast hosted by Mike Vizard, FalconStor director of marketing, Fadi Albatal, explains why IT organizations need a simple, yet robust, way to manage storage now more than ever.
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Carbon Counting
February 12, 2009 at 1:49 pm
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In this eWeek podcast hosted by Mike Vizard, Groom Energy CEO Jon Guerster explains why IT organizations will soon be called upon to develop applications that help their organizations track carbon emissions in order to comply with a host of worldwide regulations.
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Data Center Diagnosis
February 12, 2009 at 1:46 pm
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In this eWeek podcast hosted by Mike Vizard, Tideway CEO Richard Muirhead talks about how IT organizations can save massive amounts of money simply by leveraging tools that automate the process of discovering redundant systems and unneeded software licenses.
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Microsoft Teams with Industry Leaders from AOL to Symantec to Fight Conficker Worm
February 12, 2009 at 1:41 pm
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Microsoft and a number of industry leaders - including ICANN, VeriSign, Symantec and AOL - have joined forces to fight the spread of the Conficker worm. As part of the effort, Microsoft announced a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved with the spread of the malware.
- Microsoft has teamed with Symantec, AOL and other industry leaders to battle the Conficker worm. Working with security researchers, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and operators within the domain name system, Microsoft has coordinated a response designed to disable do...

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openSUSE 11.1 Takes On Ubuntu, Fedora
February 12, 2009 at 1:25 pm
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Novell's openSUSE, one of the Linux world's most prominent distributions, hit Version 11.1 late last year, sporting a renewed focus on community involvement. Check out this slideshow to see if the latest version of openSUSE has what it takes to win mindshare from Canonical's Ubuntu and Red Hat's Fedora Linux distributions, and stay tuned for eWEEK Labs' full review of OpenSUSE 11.1.
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Garmin, Asus Smartphones Add to Dell, Acer Frenzy in Spain
February 12, 2009 at 12:49 pm
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With Dell, Acer and other smartphone makers possibly planning on using the World Mobile Congress show in Barcelona as a launchpad for their own mobile products, Garmin and Asus look to stand out with the newly announced nüvifone M20 and nüvifone G60 smartphones. For Asus, which is better known for its low-cost Eee PC mini-notebook, the leap into the smartphone market could prove a game changer for the company.
- The World Mobile Congress conference, which kicks off Feb. 16 in Barcelona, Spain, will definitely see the debut of two new smartphones from a pair of up-and-coming IT vendors: Garmin and Asus. On Feb. 12, Asus, which is better known for its Eee PC mininotebook, and Garmin, which has made a na...

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How to Green Your Business with Software-based Unified Communications
February 12, 2009 at 11:33 am
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Unified communications helps businesses address environmental concerns with teleconferencing, remote collaboration tools and more. Unified communications as software rather than special purpose hardware frequently requires less energy to deliver the same functionality. Here, Knowledge Center contributor David Schenkel discusses a few ways that software-based unified communications can help your business save money while helping the environment.
- Going green with unified communications is easier than most people think. IT administrators and their solution providers looking to green their networks should seriously consider software-based unified communications. These solutions include built-in fax and voiceconferencing capabilities, which n...

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Google Plans Data Center at Finnish Paper Mill
February 12, 2009 at 10:40 am
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Google is planning to build a new data center at the site of an old Finnish paper mill, the search engine giant said this week. The paper mill closed down in 2008 after more than 50 years in business.
- HELSINKI, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Google said on Thursday it aimed to build a data center at an old paper mill in southeastern Finland that it bought from Stora Enso for 40 million euros ($51.7 million). quot;We are currently considering to build a data center at this site, quot; said Google spoke...

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Report: Increasingly Mobile SMBs Are a Wi-Fi Market Opportunity
February 12, 2009 at 10:00 am
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Two surveys suggest small businesses are increasingly mobile entities and are looking for products and services that give them Wi-Fi connectivity wherever business opportunities take them.
- With the number of Wi-Fi enabled devices, including the enormous range of smartphones, increasingly finding their way into small to medium-size businesses, it is hardly surprising to expect vendors and wireless Internet service providers to cater to midmarket companies. However, a report from AB...

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VMware a Compelling Pursuit for Cisco
February 12, 2009 at 9:32 am
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Is Cisco pursuing a deal for virtualization giant VMware? Many on Wall Street do believe that Cisco has its eye on VMware and that Cisco is actively looking for a way to buy VMware from parent company EMC. The deal could give Cisco a much bigger role in how businesses go about building their internal IT infrastructures and use virtualization technology within the data center.
- NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cisco System's pursuit of virtualization software maker VMware could be more serious than many on Wall Street believed, as the network equipment maker searches for new sources of growth. Cisco has long coveted VMware, whose software helps computer servers run more efficient...

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Microsoft Gives the Green Light to Nvidia`s Ion
February 12, 2009 at 9:06 am
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Nividias Ion platform is now certified by Microsoft and for the Windows Vista operating system. This means that PC vendors are likely to start offering "netbooks" and other mini-notebooks that use the Nvidia Ion platform soon. The Nvidia Ion platform uses the companys own graphics processor technology along with Intels Atom processor.
- Microsoft has cleared the way for new types of "netbooks" and other mini-notebooks based on Nvidias Ion platform by certifying the graphic makers technology for Windows Vista. Read the rest of this article and more about Microsoft and the Nvidia Ion platform at PC Magazine here. ...

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Sirius XM in Merger Talks with DirecTV, Liberty
February 12, 2009 at 8:39 am
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Satellite radio provider Sirius XM is in merger talks with several other companies, according to a number of different media reports. Sirius XM, home to Howard Stern's radio show, is reportedly talking to DirectTV and Liberty Media about a merger that would hold off a bankruptcy.
- NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sirius XM Radio's Chief Executive Mel Karmazin has approached DirecTV Group and Liberty Media in an effort to fend off bankruptcy as well as a bid by EchoStar's Charlie Ergen, media reports said on Wednesday. The reports come as Sirius XM faces heavy debt payments ahead, and...

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Videogames Seen as Good for Children
February 12, 2009 at 8:28 am
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Videogames can be good for children, encouraging creativity and cooperation, a European Union report concluded Wednesday which ran counter to the violent reputation of some titles.
- BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Videogames can be good for children, encouraging creativity and cooperation, a European Union report concluded Wednesday which ran counter to the violent reputation of some titles. In conclusions that may either surprise or reassure parents of game addicts, the study by the...

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Sun Launches JavaFX Mobile
February 12, 2009 at 1:06 am
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Sun Microsystems has announced the availability of the JavaFX Mobile platform, which enables the Java wireless ecosystem to create solutions that leverage the Java Platform Micro Edition (Java ME). Sun also announced that several leading handset manufacturers, service providers and independent software vendors (ISVs) are working with Sun to ship JavaFX Mobile handsets.
- Sun Microsystems has announced the availability of the JavaFX Mobile platform, which enables the Java wireless ecosystem to create solutions that leverage the Java Platform Micro Edition (Java ME). Param Singh, senior director of Java marketing at Sun, said what differentiates JavaFX on mobile devi...

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How to Mitigate Insider Threat without Disrupting Business
February 11, 2009 at 9:28 pm
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Mitigating insider threat has emerged as one of the most serious IT security challenges. Many organizations still debate about how best to secure their IT infrastructure from the inside, and to address the problem without alienating employees and IT administrators. Using a process-based system, Knowledge Center contributor Jeff Nielsen explains how an organization can follow an airtight set of security processes that does not disrupt workflow or alienate IT administrators.
- One of the most fundamental methods of controlling insider threat in a company is to manage and monitor both user and privileged access to critical systems and data. Very commonly, companies rely on the trust-based approach to quot;manage quot; access control. Simply trusting IT administrators with...

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Malware Writers Use Multiple Botnets to Spread Valentine's Day Heartache
February 11, 2009 at 9:04 pm
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Valentine's Day is not just for lovers; it's for malware writers, too. At the center of the recent surge in spam related to Valentine's Day is the Waledac botnet, successor to the Storm botnet, but other botnets have joined the fray as well, security researchers warn.
- Valentine's Day may be a time for love, but spammers and malware writers are having their fun too. While reports of the percentage of spam related to Valentine's Day versus overall spam have been varying somewhat from vendor to vendor, what the security community seems to agree on is that a botn...

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Cuba Launches Own Linux Variant to Counter U.S.
February 11, 2009 at 6:26 pm
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A Linux operating system variant called Nova, introduced in Cuba at a computer conference on technological sovereignty, is part of an effort to replace the Microsoft software running most of Cuba's computers. The Cuban government views the use of Microsoft systems as a potential threat because it says U.S. security agencies have access to Microsoft codes.
- HAVANA (Reuters) Cuba launched its own variant of the Linux computer operating system this week in the latest front of the communist island's battle against what it views as U.S. hegemony. The Cuban variant, called Nova, was introduced at a Havana computer conference on quot;technological sove...