Chana IT Services Blog

IBM Acquisition of Emptoris Bolsters Smarter Commerce Initiative, Helps Reduce Procurement Costs and Risks

2012-01-06T10:40:00.000+02:00

IBM Acquisition of Emptoris Bolsters Smarter Commerce Initiative, Helps Reduce Procurement Costs and Risks

ARMONK, N.Y., - 15 Dec 2011: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Emptoris Inc., a leading provider of cloud and on-premise analytics software that brings more intelligence to procurement and supply chain operations with spend, supplier and contract management for Smarter Commerce. Financial terms were not disclosed.
With more than 350 customers in 75 countries, Emptoris is based in Burlington, Mass. with offices in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Australia, India, Brazil and China. Emptoris' global clients span multiple industries including consumer products, financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, chemical/oil/gas, utilities, construction and industrial manufacturing.
The acquisition is the latest addition to IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative, launched in March 2011, which is aimed at helping companies respond to shifting customer buying patterns. Emptoris brings to IBM Smarter Commerce a set of new, flexible and integrated solutions that orchestrate and manage the sourcing and procurement of goods and materials as part of supply chain management. Supply chain intelligence using these solutions enables better inventory management and can create large savings opportunities.
For example, a large global oil and gas company established a centralized sourcing network across its entire enterprise operating in more than 80 countries, which enabled them to focus on the most strategic, highest cost, frequently-purchased items. This brought speed, transparency and simplification to the sourcing process. As a result, the company runs thousands of sourcing events per year managing more than 15,000 suppliers in 10 languages, achieving more than 9 percent reduction on managed categories of goods.

Is Ubuntu's Bleeding Edge Hurting Linux? By Matt Hartley January 3, 2012

2012-01-05T01:03:00.000+02:00

Problems occur with newer Linux enthusiasts who don't realize that installing the latest Linux release isn't always the best way forward.

http://www.datamation.com/open-source/is-ubuntus-bleeding-edge-hurting-linux-1.html

Is Ubuntu's Bleeding Edge Hurting Linux?
By Matt Hartley
January 3, 2012

Like most computer enthusiasts, I find myself seeking out Linux distributions that offer a bleeding edge experience. That said, I'm also careful not to place bleeding edge operating systems onto a desktop machine I rely on for daily use.

After all, why put my daily productivity at risk only to discover possible bugs with a cutting edge OS! Therefore, my bleeding edge Linux experiences tend to be used on my notebook only, thus leaving my desktop free of any surprises.

Unfortunately for many Linux enthusiasts, the above approach isn't always something that's considered. While we do see most IT pros choosing stability over a bleeding edge experience for the workplace, many people outside of the IT realm tend to install the latest Linux releases without a single thought as to stability.

This approach presents a problem, especially with newer Linux enthusiasts who don't realize that installing the latest Linux release isn't always the best way forward.

In this article, I'll explore the disconnect with newer users and distribution development teams. I’ll talk about why I feel both parties contribute to the ongoing confusion as to whether it's best to select stability over a bleeding edge Linux experience.

The end user to developer communication breakdown

It's not a secret to advanced Linux enthusiasts that running the latest release of their preferred distribution is likely going to lead to some bugs along the way. It's the nature of working the kinks out of new software.

Unfortunately, newer users are often under the impression that if a Linux distribution has come out of its beta stage, it's going to be perfectly stable to use. The fact of the matter is that this simply isn't always the case.

I don't believe there is any question that distribution development teams have done everything they can to handle software bugs. However, it's rare that they can get to all of them before the new version is released to the public. Expecting anything else is simply unrealistic. This is why many experienced Linux enthusiasts will opt for an older, more stable release of the same Linux distribution.

Now the problem with this is that most distribution maintainers do a lousy job at explaining the differences between stable vs non-stable releases, and when end users should update and when not to. The only distribution I've ever seen really make a concerted effort to keep people from updating their Linux distributions and software unnecessarily is Linux Mint. There may be others that do a fair job here as well, but none of them are using Ubuntu as a base distribution from which to build from (to my knowledge).

A logical solution to this problem is to make it clear on distribution download pages which releases are bleeding edge, then provide a link that explains how that affects stability, known bugs, etc. Taking this approach would not only prevent the ongoing misunderstandings on various Linux forums, it would also save time for everyone involved.

The attraction of bleeding edge software

So why do some Linux enthusiasts feel the need to jump onto the latest distribution releases in the first place? If you were to ask these users directly, they would say that they want access to the latest software releases available. And when using distributions such as Ubuntu, often you must run a newer release of the distribution in order to get the latest features available.

Let me say this again: Some Linux distributions rely on you upgrading everything to get access to the latest software. This is not to imply that this is the case with rolling releases or other Linux distributions that allow you to manually craft your own Linux experience.

Now in some instances, even with Ubuntu, a motivated enthusiast can get around the need to upgrade their distribution just to enjoy the latest software. Depending on the application in question, sometimes adding an Ubuntu PPA archive is enough to bring a target application to its more recent release. But when it comes to desktop environments, along with various frameworks like MLT, using a supported distribution release is often the best route to take.

If you're an advanced user, this would be a moot issue for you as you've likely customized your distribution to meet your specific needs. For other Linux users, however, this issue presents a bit of a paradox. This is especially true when the affected user finds there's a bug in the software that's resolved in a newer release of the same application.

Does that user chance an upgrade to the potentially less stable newer release of the Linux distribution? Perhaps instead, it's best to just wait awhile and make do with things as they are.

Bleeding edge software consequences and solutions

The answer to this problem is right there in front of us. We need to advocate heavy testing with Linux LiveCDs before actually installing the distribution.

Copyright 2012 QuinStreet Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service | Licensing & Permissions | Privacy Policy
About the IT Business Edge Network | Advertise

Is Ubuntu's Bleeding Edge Hurting Linux? : Page 2
By Matt Hartley
January 3, 2012
I realize this sounds painfully obvious, however for countless users out there, the message isn't being conveyed effectively. Newer users need to do heavy testing with networking and resolution settings, among other common issues they might run into. Nothing frustrates me more than reading about a newer user who blindly upgraded to the next "big release," only to break their wireless connection or create an unstable desktop experience. This sort of nonsense is avoidable and we need to stop expecting people to just "know" this stuff.

New users aren't mind-readers and they certainly aren't going to spend weeks reading through random forum posts or poorly marked help pages before upgrading. It's time for distributions wanting a larger market share to step up to the plate and deal with this problem head on.

Do you think I'm overstating the issue? Fine, visit this Ubuntu download page and show me where any sort of warning or disclaimer is posted? The best we have is the offer of "long term support" without really explaining why this is important. While Ubuntu is certainly not the only distribution guilty of this lax effort on release details, they are the most popular.

Use a Wizard, Harry!

Why in the world isn't there a "Linux Release Wizard" posted on the download pages of popular Linux distros? I realize it might seem like a lot of work, but clearly, it's a needed feature.

The goal of such a wizard wouldn't be to help individuals select one distribution of Linux over another. No, instead the goal would be to help Linux users select the best currently supported release to best match their specific expectations.

Keep in mind that most new Linux users don't have the slightest idea which release of a Linux distribution is best matched for their needs. They do, however, have a firm grasp on how certain software titles are to be used in the first place.

Are any of these issues going to topple the current successes for Linux on the desktop? Of course not, as experienced Linux enthusiasts are already aware of the status quo in this space. But as new users find their way over to the Linux platform, some important decisions about disclaimers will have to be made. Because eventually it all comes down to what kind of reception we're interested in getting back from new Linux users.

Page 2 of 2

Ginni at IBM

2011-11-04T11:17:00.001+02:00

Dear IBM Business Partner

On 25 October, IBM's board of directors elected Virginia M. Rometty president and chief executive officer of IBM, effective 1 January 2012. Ginni, as she is known to many, is currently IBM senior vice president and group executive for sales, marketing and strategy. She succeeds Samuel J Palmisano, who currently is IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer. Mr. Palmisano will remain chairman of the board.

In a written statement, Mr. Palmisano said, "Ginni Rometty has successfully led several of IBM's most important businesses over the past decade - from the formation of IBM Global Business Services to the build-out of our Growth Markets Unit. But she is more than a superb operational executive. With every leadership role, she has strengthened our ability to integrate IBM's capabilities for our clients. She has spurred us to keep pace with the needs and aspirations of our clients by deepening our expertise and industry knowledge. Ginni's long-term strategic thinking and client focus are seen in our growth initiatives, from cloud computing and analytics to the commercialisation of Watson. She brings to the role of CEO a unique combination of vision, client focus, unrelenting drive, and passion for IBMers and the company's future. I know the board agrees with me that Ginni is the ideal CEO to lead IBM into its second century."

As IBM's global sales leader, Ginni, oversees IBM's sales community including the Global Business Partners and Midmarket organisation. She is accountable for revenue, profit and client satisfaction in the 170 global markets in which IBM does business. She is responsible for IBM's worldwide results, which exceeded $99 billion in 2010. She also is responsible for leading IBM's global strategy, marketing and communications functions. Previously, Ginni was senior vice president of IBM Global Business Services. In that role, she led the successful integration of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting—the largest acquisition in professional services history, building a global team of more than 100,000 business consultants and services experts. She has also served as general manager of IBM Global Services, Americas and of IBM's Global Insurance and Financial Services Sector.

I have known and worked with Ginni for many years. She is an exceptional leader and an expert in the disciplines that are critical to our future success. She is a proven advocate of our Business Partner community and understands the importance the channel brings to IBM. I look forward to her continued support and leadership as IBM moves into its second century.

Rich Hume - IBM

Tech Giants Sizing Up Yahoo Bid/ Yahoo NOT Sold yet!

2011-10-24T11:34:00.001+02:00

October 23, 2011, 9:33 pm
Tech Giants Sizing Up Yahoo Bid from nytimes.com
By MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED and EVELYN M. RUSLI
ps: Israeli Radio said Google is buying Yahoo, Not True Yet!! (s.c.)

As a host of potential bidders circle Yahoo, several of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies are considering whether to jump into the fray themselves.

Microsoft and Google are both weighing whether to participate in the bidding. Each has its own business reasons for wanting to see the continued existence of Yahoo, which despite its financial struggles still has a monthly audience of almost 700 million unique visitors.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News

But there’s one thing the technology giants have in common: Not one of them wants to actually buy or run Yahoo.

Instead, Microsoft and Google are considering lending financial support to private equity firms or others weighing a bid, according to people briefed on the matter.

Microsoft is the furthest along, having held discussions with a number of leveraged buyout firms, these people said. Under one possible combination, Microsoft would chip in billions of dollars in financing as part of a consortium led by the private equity firm Silver Lake and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, three of these people said. That group would be backstopped by billions of dollars in bank financing as well.

Google, for its part, has had conversations with two private equity firms about backing a takeover, according to another person briefed on the matter. Such discussions are in the early stages and may not lead to a bid, this person said.

Representatives for Microsoft, Google, Silver Lake and Yahoo declined to comment on any potential bidding.
rest of article at nytimes.

Microsoft Posts Gain Despite Soft PC Sales

2011-10-24T11:27:00.002+02:00

October 20, 2011 nytimes.com
Microsoft Posts Gain Despite Soft PC Sales
By NICK WINGFIELD

SEATTLE — Microsoft said its net income rose 6 percent in its first fiscal quarter, but the company’s results continued to reflect weak growth in PC sales.

The PC market, especially the part representing the companies using Microsoft’s Windows operating system, has suffered lately as economic uncertainty has crimped spending on information technology. Newer types of devices like tablets and mobile phones have sapped some of the business as well.

Microsoft said net income rose to $5.74 billion, or 68 cents a share, from $5.41 billion, or 62 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 7 percent, to $17.37 billion, from $16.2 billion a year ago.

Analysts estimated that, on average, Microsoft would earn 68 cents a share on revenue of $17.24 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. Microsoft’s shares fell 1 percent after it released the financial results at the close of normal trading.

Microsoft said its revenue from selling Windows rose less than 2 percent during its first quarter, which ended Sept. 30. That reflects the fact that shipments of new PCs grew only 3.6 percent globally in the quarter, which ended Sept. 30, according to the research firm IDC. Apple defied the trend, reporting a 26 percent increase in the number of Macs sold during the same period, the company said on Tuesday.

Brendan Barnicle, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, said the company’s revenue from Windows sales was weaker than he had expected. “We’ve now had a year where Windows hasn’t come in in-line with analyst expectations,” he said. “It’s less of a miss than in the past.”

The Microsoft division that includes its Office suit of applications fared better than Windows, with a revenue increase of almost 8 percent. That division — Microsoft’s largest, representing a third of total revenue — got a boost from a new version of Office released last year that continues to sell well for the company, despite competition from free and low-cost online applications from Google and others.
The rest of this article on nytimes.

2011-10-19T10:14:00.000+02:00

Waze- I use it

haaretz themarker Latest update 04:54 19.10.11

Israeli start-up Waze draws investment from Chinese billionaire

Hong Kong's Li Ka-shing, greater China's richest man, invests in Israeli navigation technology start-up.

Steve Jobs talks Thin Clients in 1997 | The Candid Root

2011-10-12T18:39:00.001+02:00

Steve Jobs talks Thin Clients in 1997!

Steve Jobs talks Thin Clients in 1997 | The Candid Root

Watch Steve Jobs in 1997 discuss network based computing. Listen for mentions of “Thin Clients” and “stateless devices” (between 2:00 and 4:00). Steve discusses the same benefits and concepts behind the solutions we provide at DisklessWorkstations.com with LTSP. Call it VDI, call it Cloud Computing, call it Thin Clients, at the of the day the concepts are all the same.

2011-09-20T12:05:00.000+03:00

Mint Cast: The Popular Ubuntu Derivative:

Episode 83: The Wonderful World of Linux

News & Personal Updates

The Linux Foundation suffers a major hack and is still down as of recording time
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/some-linux-foundation-crack-attack-details-emerge/9535

Fedora is looking for a codename for Fedora 17: Hugo or Shakespeare
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTkwNA

Proposed Kernel 3.1 logo change
https://lkml.org/lkml/2011/9/10/24
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2011-09-13-009-41-SY-SM-HU

Non-News…!

IBM sells Google 1,023 patents for Android legal defense
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/google/ibm-sells-google-1023-patents-for-android-legal-defense/3317

What’s coming in Ubuntu’s new Unity Linux desktop
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/whats-coming-in-ubuntus-new-unity-linux-desktop/9519

Official NASA Futuristic Space MMO May Come to Linux
http://www.ubuntuvibes.com/2011/09/official-nasa-futuristic-space-mmo-may.html

Main Topic

http://www.mintcast.org/2011/09/episode-83-the-wonderful-world-of-linux/

The Wonderful World of Linux:

IBM to Acquire i2 and Algorithmics

2011-09-13T11:47:00.000+03:00

ARMONK, N.Y., - 31 Aug 2011: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a definitive agreement to acquire i2 to accelerate its business analytics initiatives and help clients in the public and private sectors address crime, fraud and security threats. Financial terms were not disclosed.

With more than 4,500 customers in 150 countries, i2 is a leading provider of intelligence analytics for crime and fraud prevention based in Cambridge, UK with U.S. headquarters in McLean, Va. i2’s clients span multiple sectors globally such as banking, defense, health care, insurance, law enforcement, national security and retail. i2 solutions are currently used by 12 of the top 20 retail banks globally and eight of the top 10 largest companies in the world.

Organizations in both the public and private sectors today are facing an exponential increase in “big data” -- information and intelligence coming from disparate and unstructured sources including social media, biometrics and criminal databases. When it is accessible to the people who need it, this information can be used to anticipate potential problems, make better, faster decisions, and coordinate resources to deliver exceptional service to citizens and customers. IBM Press Releases.
IBM to Acquire Algorithmics

IBM Accelerates Business Analytics into Financial Risk Management
ARMONK, N.Y., - 01 Sep 2011: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Algorithmics for $387 million, subject to price adjustments at closing. Algorithmics is a risk analytics firm with operations in Toronto, Canada. Algorithmics risk analytics software, content and advisory services are used by banking, investment and insurance businesses to help assess risk, address regulatory requirements and make more insightful business decisions. Algorithmics is a member of Fitch Group, which is majority owned by Fimalac, a holding company based in Paris, France.

This acquisition expands IBM's business analytics capabilities in the financial services industry by helping clients quantify, manage and optimize their risk exposure across a range of financial risk domains, including market, liquidity, credit, operational and insurance as well as economic and regulatory capital.

Linux, Open Source & Ubuntu: Linux Turns 20: Open-Source OS Changes Course of IT History

2011-09-06T23:05:00.000+03:00

Linux Turns 20: Open-Source OS Changes Course of IT History

Link above with Slideshow about Linux today.

On Aug. 25, 1991, Linux Torvalds announced a new project on the comp.os.minix newsgroup. He described a "free operating system" that resembled Minix, an operating system based on Unix, and asked for feedback on what people thought worked and didn't work. Torvalds was not aiming high with this project, noting that his new project would be "just a hobby" and not "be big and professional like gnu." Now 20 years later, the OS has exceeded its creator's expectations as it is now available for practically every processor architecture and can power mobile devices, computers, mainframes and supercomputers. The free operating system that Torvalds just gave away to anyone may never supplant Windows or Mac OS X on the desktop, but it is appearing in practically every other computing device, including set-top boxes, cloud servers, social networks, tablets and mobile phones. A vast majority of users may never download the operating system, but the odds are likely they are using a product based on it. Now eWEEK takes a look at some of the biggest achievements of the little operating system over the past 20 years.

Security Controls and Lessons Learned from the Financial Crisis

2011-08-26T01:17:00.005+03:00

Security Controls and Lessons Learned from the Financial Crisis (IBM)

Bryan Casey | Today 10:43 PM | Tags: financial mortgage security ibm crisis
Comments (0) | Visits (61)

Youknow one of the interesting things I've noticed, and it's not reallyspecific to security, is that the more interconnected the worldbecomes, the harder it is to find the root cause when something goeswrong. If we look at thefinancial/mortgage crisis for example, if you wanted to point thefinger at one person or event, could you do it? I've wanted to for a long time, tracing this chain back to some single point of failure, but it's really not possible. Whensomething like this happens, where there isn't one root cause,accountability becomes a big mess because everyone can push the problemonto someone else. The problem is that if everyone pushes around problems, problems never get solved. So,the way that we need to look at it is that instead of there beinglimited accountability, there needs to be a lot of accountability.

This type of complex interconnected failure isn't so different from what we see in the news around data breaches. Peoplewant security to be simpler and they want to find that single point offailure, and sometimes it's there, but often times, it's really not. Ourtechnology world has grown to become a complex systems of systems wherelegacy systems are communicating with new systems, the notion of aperimeter is dissolving, new consumption and delivery models arepopping up all the time and we have to secure all of this.

Let's face it, the majority of attacks today don’t operate in little silos. They can cross users and endpoints, applications, networks, databases, etc. Sodespite the fact that you might have different teams responsible forall of these areas of your system, and you might see them as separate,attackers see this as one, connected system. Asa result, when breaches happen, often times it is often a combinationof insufficient security controls, problematic policy and even thingslike a lack of user education. When we live in a world of complex andnetworked technologies, the notion of a single point of failure isdisappearing.

So what do we do about this? Obviously a layered defense is imperative. Youneed to think about your data, how it moves, where it rests, how itgets accessed, which data is most important and how you can applysecurity controls all along the way. Movingaway from just the technology, one of the other things that people talkabout is accounting for the human element in security. Whenpeople are talking about this they are generally referring to the factthat users will click on just about anything, so security has toacknowledge that users are going to constantly put their organizationsat risk. But there's another sideof that human element that I think is important, and that isestablishing a culture in your organization that security needs to betop of mind, and that everyone is responsible. Whetheryou are a developer, a DBA, an executive who might be targeted or an ITmanager, security is something you need to consider. Yes,new technologies will help, but changing culture and process, whilenever easy, is almost always an essential element of dealing withsystemic issues, whether they be financial markets or security concerns.

Thelast bit worth acknowledging is the dangers of ignoring something thatappears broken, but ignoring it because it hasn’t actually broken yet. Soin this case we’re talking about warning signs around the economy butthe market still going up, and IT decision makers saying, "well wehaven’t been breached, so we must be secure," regardless of theiractual security posture.

Despitewhat we would all like, these aren’t issues you can just sweep underthe rug and cross your fingers hoping that a problem won’t pop up. Organizations need to confront these issues.

The future of IT will be reduced to three kinds of jobs

2011-07-30T16:42:00.000+03:00

The future of IT will be reduced to three kinds of jobs
from techrepublic

By Jason Hiner

July 22, 2011, 10:04 PM PDT

Takeaway: The IT profession and the IT job market are in the midst of seismic changes that are going to shift the focus to three types of jobs.

There’s a general anxiety that has settled over much of the IT profession in recent years. It’s a stark contrast to the situation just over a decade ago. At the end of the 1990s, IT pros were the belles of the ball. The IT labor shortage regularly made headlines and IT pros were able to command excellent salaries by getting training and certification, job hopping, and, in many cases, being the only qualified candidate for a key position in a thinly-stretched job market. At the time, IT was held up as one of the professions of the future, where more and more of the best jobs would be migrating as computer-automated processes replaced manual ones.
Unfortunately, that idea of the future has disappeared, or at least morphed into something much different.

The glory days when IT pros could name their ticket evaporated when the Y2K crisis passed and then the dot com implosion happened. Suddenly, companies didn’t need as many coders on staff. Suddenly, there were a lot fewer startups buying servers and hiring sysadmins to run them.
Around the same time, there was also a general backlash against IT in corporate America. Many companies had been throwing nearly-endless amounts of money at IT projects in the belief that tech was the answer to all problems. Because IT had driven major productivity improvements during the 1990s, a lot of companies over-invested in IT and tried to take it too far too fast. As a result, there were a lot of very large, very expensive IT projects that crashed and burned.
When the recession of 2001 hit, these massively overbuilt IT departments were huge targets for budget cuts and many of them got hit hard. As the recession dragged out in 2002 and 2003, IT pros mostly told each other that they needed to ride out the storm and that things would bounce back. But, a strange thing happened. IT budgets remained flat year after year. The rebound never happened.
Fast forward to 2011. Most IT departments are a shadow of their former selves. They’ve drastically reduced the number of tech support professionals, or outsourced the help desk entirely. They have a lot fewer administrators running around to manage the network and the servers, or they’ve outsourced much of the data center altogether. These were the jobs that were at the center of the IT pro boom in 1999. Today, they haven’t totally disappeared, but there certainly isn’t a shortage of available workers or a high demand for those skill sets.
That’s because the IT environment has changed dramatically. More and more of traditional software has moved to the web, or at least to internal servers and served through a web browser. Many technophobic Baby Boomers have left the workforce and been replaced by Millennials who not only don’t need as much tech support, but often want to choose their own equipment and view the IT department as an obstacle to productivity. In other words, today’s users don’t need as much help as they used to. Cynical IT pros will argue this until they are blue in the face, but it’s true. Most workers have now been using technology for a decade or more and have become more proficient than they were a decade ago. Plus, the software itself has gotten better. It’s still horribly imperfect, but it’s better.
So where does that leave today’s IT professionals? Where will the IT jobs of the future be?

1. Consultants

Let’s face it, all but the largest enterprises would prefer to not to have any IT professionals on staff, or at least as few as possible. It’s nothing personal against geeks, it’s just that IT pros are expensive and when IT departments get too big and centralized they tend to become experts at saying, “No.” They block more progress than they enable. As a result, we’re going to see most of traditional IT administration and support functions outsourced to third-party consultants. This includes a wide range from huge multi-national consultancies to the one person consultancy who serves as the rented IT department for local SMBs. I’m also lumping in companies like IBM, HP, Amazon AWS, and Rackspace, who will rent out both data center capacity and IT professionals to help deploy, manage, and troubleshoot solutions. Many of the IT administrators and support professionals who currently work directly for corporations will transition to working for big vendors or consultancies in the future as companies switch to purchasing IT services on an as-needed basis in order to lower costs, get a higher level of expertise, and get 24/7/365 coverage.

2. Project managers

Most of the IT workers that survive and remain as employees in traditional companies will be project managers. They will not be part of a centralized IT department, but will be spread out in the various business units and departments. They will be business analysts who will help the company leaders and managers make good technology decisions. They will gather business requirements and communicate with stakeholders about the technology solutions they need, and will also be proactive in looking for new technologies that can transform the business. These project managers will also serve as the company’s point of contact with technology vendors and consultants. If you look closely, you can already see a lot of current IT managers morphing in this direction.

3. Developers

By far, the area where the largest number of IT jobs is going to move is into developer, programmer, and coder jobs. While IT used to be about managing and deploying hardware and software, it’s going to increasingly be about web-based applications that will be expected to work smoothly, be self-evident, and require very little training or intervention from tech support. The other piece of the pie will be mobile applications — both native apps and mobile web apps. As I wrote in my article, We’re entering the decade of the developer, the current changes in IT are “shifting more of the power in the tech industry away from those who deploy and support apps to those who build them.” This trend is already underway and it’s only going to accelerate over the next decade.

2011-07-25T19:27:00.000+03:00

Microsoft and SUSE extend Microsoft's controversial Novell Linux pact

Summary

Microsoft and SUSE announced they are extending the 2006 Microsoft-Novell Linux patent-protection agreement, and that Microsoft is buying $100 million worth of SUSE Linux Enterprise certificates for its customers.

In November 2006, Microsoft inked its controversial cross-licensing pact with Novell. In exchange for Microsoft distributing to its customers certificates for Novell’s SUSE Linux, Novell paid Microsoft patent-licensing royalties for Linux.
The original pact was due to expire in 2012. On July 25, Microsoft and SUSE announced a year ahead of that expiration date that they’re extending their partnership.
Microsoft is buying $100 million in additional SUSE Linux Enterprise certificates and the pair are going to continue to collaborate on interopability solutions through January 1, 2016. The SUSE certificates are designed to insure Microsoft customers who are implementing Linux that they won’t be caught in any Microsoft-Linux patent crossfire.
In the years following the original Microsoft-Novell agreement, a lot happened. In February 2007, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated the deal between Microsoft and Novell was proof that open-source vendors need to respect Microsoft’s intellectual property. One month later,Microsoft licensing officials claimed publicly that Linux and other free software violated 235 Microsoft patents. Microsoft convinced a few smaller Linux vendors to sign patent-licensing deals with the company.
In 2010, Attachmate ended up purchasing Novell for $2.2 billion, and Microsoft and a handful of other tech companies bought 800 or so Novell patents as part of the arrangement.
In more recent months, Microsoft has increased its IP licensing pressures on Linux and Android vendors and has convinced quite a few, including Amazon, General Dynamics, Onkyo and Velocity Micro, to sign patent-licensing agreements. Barnes & Noble, maker of the Linux-based Nook, is fighting Microsoft over its attempt to exert its IP claims.
Microsoft and SUSE said that the agreement is benefiting customers and partners who need interop guarantees to do things like run SUSE guests on Microsoft’s Hyper-V hypervisor.from zdnet 25th july 2011

Learning from Amazon's cloud collapse, (Mashable)

2011-04-24T12:45:00.000+03:00

Learning from Amazon's cloud collapse

(Mashable) -- Call it Cloudgate, Cloudpocalyse or whatever you'd like, but the extended collapse of Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2) is both a setback for cloud computing and an opportunity for us to figure out how to stop it from happening again.
Amazon may be best-known for its online shopping site, but it also has a substantial cloud computing business. It provides a scalable, flexible and particularly efficient solution for companies to store and deliver massive amounts of content.
Its model of only paying for what you consume was a radical innovation when it launched in 2006.
In fact, Amazon Web Services has been so affordable and reliable that thousands of companies from Foursquare to Netflix utilize the company's cloud computing technology and servers to run their businesses.
They put their faith in Amazon's cloud because there was no reason to think that it would falter. One of cloud computing's key tenants is reliability through redundancy of both servers and data centers.
Then on Wednesday, Amazon's northern Virginia data center started experiencing problems that caused major latency and connectivity issues.
The trouble was apparently due to excessive re-mirroring of its Elastic Block Storage (EBS) volumes -- this essentially created countless new backups of the EBS volumes that took up Amazon's storage capacity and triggered a cascading effect that caused downtime on hundreds (or more likely thousands) of websites for almost 24 hours.
The collapse took its share of victims. Among the most prominent companies affected were Foursquare, Quora, Hootsuite, SCVNGR, Heroku, Reddit and Wildfire, though hundreds of other companies big and small were affected.
Luckily, one of Amazon's most prominent customers, Netflix, didn't experience problems because it's built for the loss of an entire data center, while companies relying on Amazon's four other global data centers didn't experience too many issues.
A learning moment
FathomDB founder Justin Santa Barbara has a detailed post on his blog about what may be the biggest problem to come out of this week's collapse: Amazon's cloud redundancies failed to stop a mass outage.
Its Availability Zones are supposed to be able to fail independently without bringing the whole system down. Instead, there was a single point of failure that shouldn't have been there.
This week's disaster in the cloud is a reminder to startups to build redundancy into their applications and their own systems, but as Santa Barbara points out, most startups don't have the time or resources to engineer for multiple cloud systems (each Amazon global region/data center has its own rules and features, making a simple "switch" to another center difficult).
These companies trusted Amazon to keep them online, and Amazon failed to deliver.
Catastrophic issues will always occur, but in the pre-cloud era, downtime only affected a single computer or website. Today, a catastrophic event takes down thousands of websites, causing millions or even billions of dollars in lost revenue and productivity.
This incident is no reason for us to shun cloud computing, though. Its benefits (scalability, cost reduction, device independence, performance and more) far outweigh its cons.
We do need to take a hard look at how we structure our cloud infrastructure though and find new ways to either prevent single points of failure or quickly move content off failing clouds faster, especially as the world's computing power is consolidated into fewer and fewer systems.
Cloud computing is still in its infancy, and today's events make it clear that we still have a lot of work to do. It could be a whole lot worse next time if we aren't prepared.

See the original article at Mashable.com.

IBM Cloud Computing

2011-04-14T01:59:00.000+03:00

The world is changing. A new reality is emerging for organizations of every size from every part of the planet. It’s called the cloud—a profound evolution of IT with revolutionary implications for business and society, creating new possibilities and enabling more efficient, flexible and collaborative computing models.
IBM is helping clients excel in cloud computing, providing secure and reliable Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (Paas) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions.

The 5 Best Cloud Clients/ Brighthub.com

2011-03-08T21:35:00.002+02:00

Article by Arun Kumar, MVP at brighthub.com
Cloud clients refers to the cloud service providers that offer cloud computing services. Based on their popularity and feedback on Internet, I have handpicked some of the best cloud clients so that you can decide which one suits your needs.

Read full article here: http://www.brighthub.com/environment/green-computing/articles/100564.aspx#ixzz1G2RC20jT

#1 Microsoft Cloud Storage

#2 Google Cloud

#3 IBM Cloud Computing

#4 Ubuntu Cloud Computing

#5 Mozy Cloud Computing

Together, Nokia and Microsoft Renew a Push in Smartphones-nytimes

2011-02-13T11:46:00.000+02:00

February 11, 2011

Together, Nokia and Microsoft Renew a Push in Smartphones

By KEVIN J. O’BRIEN

LONDON — Nokia, the struggling world leader in mobile phones, said on Friday that it would discard its own cellphone operating system and begin using software made by Microsoft, in an alliance to shore up the halting efforts in smartphones of two market leaders.
The announcement by Stephen Elop, the former Microsoft executive hired by Nokia in September as the company’s first non-Finnish chief executive, was an admission of failure by Nokia, which had helped define the mobile phone age in its infancy.
The alliance is also a gamble, perhaps a last-ditch effort for both Nokia and Microsoft to gain a lasting foothold in the booming market for sophisticated smartphones, where Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android software are leading the way in technology innovation.
“Nokia is at a critical juncture, where significant change is necessary and inevitable in our journey forward,” Mr. Elop, a Canadian who led Microsoft’s business software division before moving to Nokia, said in a statement. “Today, we are accelerating that change through a new path, aimed at regaining our smartphone leadership, reinforcing our mobile device platform and realizing our investments in the future.”
Microsoft’s operating system software dominates the PC industry. But mobile devices like smartphones are expected to surpass desktop and laptop computers this year as the main way to gain access to the Internet. Microsoft has only 2 percent of the global market for phone software.
At least at the outset, the alliance may “Microsoft will have the rationale to really double down with its investment in the smartphone platform and ecosystem,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst at IDC.
One measure, in addition to market share, of how far Microsoft trails in building that ecosystem is the number of software applications developers have created for the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 operating system. The Microsoft applications store, though growing rapidly in recent months, has about 8,000 applications, Mr. Hilwa said. By contrast, more than 350,000 applications have been developed for Apple’s iPhone.
“It’s a big win for Microsoft today,” said Pete Cunningham, an analyst with Canalys, a research firm in Reading, England. “Windows Phone 7 is no one’s priority. But now Microsoft has a leading vendor committed to use the platform. For Nokia, the big question is how quickly can the company execute on this. That has been one of the major issues.”
Nokia held meetings with Google and considered Android, Mr. Elop said in an interview, but was concerned that Google, not Nokia, would benefit from a alliance. Android, which Google gives away to phone makers, is widely used by Samsung, LG, HTC, Huawei, Motorola and Sony Ericsson.
Nokia risked becoming a commodity maker of mobile phones by ceding software to Google, Mr. Elop said. An alliance with Google, he said, “felt like giving up, not like fighting back.” With Microsoft, Mr. Elop said, “this is now a three-way horse race.”
Microsoft, analysts said, most likely offered Nokia more generous support than Google in paying for engineering assistance, revenue-sharing terms on mobile advertisements, search and map services. In 2007, Nokia paid $8 billion for Navteq, a mobile mapping service, which Google undermined by offering Google Maps free.
“It looks like a good deal for Microsoft, but far riskier for Nokia,” said David B. Yoffie, a professor at the Harvard Business School. “It’s choosing a new platform and an unproven one in Microsoft’s smartphone software.”
Dropping Symbian, Nokia’s operating system, will be temporarily disruptive to Nokia’s product plans. About 200 million phones around the world use Symbian and the company expects to sell another 150 million more before halting its development and switching to Windows. Investors were skeptical of the Nokia-Microsoft partnership. Nokia shares dropped 14.2 percent in Europe. Microsoft shares closed down 0.9 percent.

Mark Sue, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets who attended the investors’ conference where the announcement was made, compared the alliance to “two unpopular kids in high school with rich parents suddenly becoming prom king and queen.” He added: “It was clear that Nokia needed to do something different. But there is a lot of skepticism about whether this will work.”
During a joint interview with Mr. Elop, Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, dismissed the initial market reaction and skepticism surrounding the alliance. “Objectively, is today a better day or a worse day for Microsoft?” Mr. Ballmer asked. “Objectively, is today a better day or a worse day for Nokia? Ding! It’s a better day for both. So whatever people thought yesterday, they should think something a lot more positive today.”
Mr. Elop also sidetracked Nokia’s one-year collaboration with the chip maker Intel, called MeeGo, to produce a new generation of Nokia smartphones. It will become a long-term open-source project designed to develop new kinds of devices, Mr. Elop said. The collaboration failed to produce a cellphone in its first year.
Nokia’s share of the global handset market, once more than 50 percent, is now falling rapidly as its rivals close in. According to the Gartner research firm, Nokia’s global share fell to 29 percent in 2010 from 36 percent a year earlier as Apple and Research In Motion, maker of BlackBerry, both posted gains.
The announcement left some big questions unanswered. Mr. Elop declined to say when Nokia and Microsoft would sell the first handsets, later clarifying in a presentation to analysts that significant numbers would be ready by 2012. He also said he was not prepared to say if and when Nokia and Microsoft would collaborate on a tablet computer.
He said the alliance would coincide with “significant” job cuts, the scope of which he said remained to be determined after talks with its unions. Nokia employed 132,427 people at year-end.
During his two-hour presentation with financial analysts, Mr. Elop, who usually comes across as earnest and serious, had the audience laughing when explaining the new organizational chart of his leadership team, with his name at top. “If this works, I will be C.E.O.,” he joked, pointing to his name.

In Memory of DEC Founder Ken Olsen | Cloud Computing Journal

2011-02-08T11:07:00.000+02:00

In Memory of DEC Founder Ken Olsen | Cloud Computing Journal

"There was no reason for news of Ken Olsen's death to hit me hard. I never worked for the man; heck, I never even met him. But he was a big influence on my life and industry.

Ken wasn't some charismatic guy that people would crowd into convention centers to see. But he was the original dragon-slayer, the Man who slew the myth of IBM invincibility. The world has never been the same.

Long before Steve Jobs announced the Macintosh on Super Bowl Sunday 1984, portraying IBM as Big Brother in the process, Ken Olsen became IBM's little brother in the important business of business computing.".....

Read on Link above

Sam

My Top Five Cloud Computing Predictions for 2011: John Savageau | Cloud Computing Journal

2011-01-11T10:03:00.001+02:00

My Top Five Cloud Computing Predictions for 2011: John Savageau | Cloud Computing Journal

My Top Five Cloud Computing Predictions for 2011: John Savageau

ESBaaS Will Emerge in Enterprise Clouds.
Enterprise service bus as a service will begin to emerge within enterprise clouds to allow common messaging within applications among different organizational units. This will further support standardization within an enterprise, as well as reduce lead times for applications development.
Enterprise Cloud Computing will Accelerate Data Center Consolidation.
As enterprises and governments continue to deal with the cost of operating individual data centers, consolidation will become a much more important topic. As the consolidation process is planned, further migration to cloud computing and virtualized environments will become very attractive – if not critical – to all organizations.
Desktop Virtualization.
As we become more comfortable with Google Apps, Microsoft Office 365, and other desktop replacement environments, the need for high-powered desktop workstations will be reduced to power users. In addition to the obvious attraction for better data protection and disaster recovery, the cost of expensive workstations and local application licenses makes little sense. The first migration will be for those who are primarily connected via an organizational LAN, with road warriors and mobile users following as broadband becomes more ubiquitous.
SME Data Center Outsourcing into Public Clouds. Small companies requiring routine data center support, including office automation, servers, finance applications, and web presence, will find it difficult to justify installing their own equipment in a private or public colocation center. In fact, it is unlikely savvy investors will support start up companies planning to operate their own data center, unless they are in an industry considered a very clear exception to normal IT requirements.
Cloud Computing and Cloud Storage will Look to PODs and Containers.
Microsoft and Google have proven the concept on a large scale, now the rest of the cloud computing and data center industry will take notice and begin to consider compute and storage capacity as a utility. As a utility the compute, storage, switching, and communications components will take advantage of greater efficiencies and design flexibility of moving beyond the traditional data center concrete. This will further support the idea of distributed cloud computing, portability, cloud exchanges, and cloud spot markets in 2012…

The 10 Good things of 2010. My Choice.

2010-12-31T18:10:00.000+02:00

1) Best Movie from Israel in 2010 Ajami.
I live in Ajami and after seeing Movie bought the DVD.
2) Oracle bought SUN and JAVA continued to be the most popular Computer Language.
Oracle Database and IBM DB2 are both 100 % Java.
3) Linux in 2010 Became Mainstream in 2010 from Notebook thru Servers To most powerful Super Computers. Ubuntu Linux on Desktop is Popular.
4) Best Wines from Israel Dalton and Ramat Hagolan Winery.
5) Youtube my choice for Social Network Website followed by Blogger.com that this is written on.
6) Best Book I have John Grisham The Broker, Everbody is hunting him including Israeli Mossad.
7) "Grand Torino" Movie with Clint Eastwood.
8) Best Restaurant Deal in Tel Aviv. King George, Fish and Chips.
9) Best TV Series The Sopranoes , Sex in the City. Srugim, Migdalim BaAvir,
Polishuk and Haborer.
10) Come Back of "Thin Client" Technology. Safer and more Standard Module for Computer Architecture.

These are my Choices you are invited to to Comment

ההפסד של מיקרוסופט מול לינוקס

2010-12-29T23:21:00.001+02:00

גם בישראל התחילו להבין שיש פה מלחמה של ממש - תשאלו אותנו על לינוקס

ההפסד של מיקרוסופט מול לינוקס

"אתה באמת חושב שאני אתקין פה שרת לינוקס במקום Windows?".

זו אחת השאלות שרבים מהוותיקים בעולם הלינוקס שמעו ונשאלו בעבר. בעולם שנשלט ע"י מיקרוסופט, SUN ועוד התקנת לינוקס היתה עניין שמצריך לא רק ידע טכני אלא גם המון שכנועים, במיוחד בחברות גדולות. אחרי הכל, מנהלים רבים רצו תמיכה רשמית וזה שיש איזו חברה בקרוליינה שקוראים לה Red Hat או חברה בגרמניה שקוראים לה SuSE לא ממש הרשימה אותם.

ואז בא הבום הגדול ואחריו עוד כמה בומים שלינוקס התחיל לתפוס תאוצה ולהיכנס לא רק בדלת האחורית כשרת קטנטן אלא גם בדלת הקדמית. חברות התחילו להבין שהלינוקס הזה דבר לא רק שהוא חינמי, הוא אפילו יציב, ולא דורש רמת תחזוקה כמו המתחרים מרדמונד. עוד חברות גדולות התחילו להשתמש, IBM נכנסה למשחק, עולם ה-Main Frame פתאום קיבל זריקת החייאה (תודות לכמה חבר'ה גרמניים, אגב) כשב-IBM הבינו שאפשר למכור עוד הרבה מפלצות מסוג System Z (שהמחירים שלהם נעים בסביבות ה-7 ספרות וצפונה, בדולרים) עם לינוקס.

ואז התעוררו במיקרוסופט להבין שהלינוקס הזה לא הולך להיעלם.

אז איך מיקרוסופט מגיבים? באימוץ המתחרה? מה פתאום! השמצות זו אחלה אסטרטגיה! מוציאים פרסומות שחברה כזו כזו זנחו תוכנית לאמץ לינוקס ובמקומה התקינו את הווינדוז סרבר האחרון מבית מיקרוסופט (כאילו שזה ממש ישכנע מנהלי IT לזנוח תוכניות לאמץ לינוקס). אחר כך חתכו מחירים וניסו להתחרות, אבל כרגיל אצל מיקרוסופט, שהם מתחרים עם לינוקס, הטמטום שולט! בלינוקס משוואת ה-LAMP מנצחת? נציע Windows Web Edition בתשלום קטן (ולא חשוב שהגירסה מקוצצת כנפיים מכל צד שמסתכלים עליה). עזר משהו? לא עזר.

אז מה מיקרוסופט עושים? עוברים לאיומים. "תשמעו", הם אומרים בראיונות, "ליבת לינוקס מפירה 833 פטנטים שלנו, ואנחנו ננקוט צעדים". מהם ה-833 הפטנטים? אולי יוציאו רשימה שהקהילה תתקן את זה איכשהו? שלילי. מיקרוסופט שומרת את הרשימה צמוד לחזה ומדי פעם היא מוצאת חברות קטנות ושולחת להם מכתב רשמי שבגלל שהם משתמשים בלינוקס, אז הם מפרים פטנטים כאלו וכאלו, אי לכך ובהתאם לזאת, נא לשלוף פנקס צ'קים ולכתוב צ'ק שמן .. לפקודת מיקרוסופט. בתמורה נניח לכם, לבינתיים.

מכיוון שלינוקס זה ברוב המקרים קוד פתוח, גם שאר השוק התחיל לאמץ אותו. מערכות משובצות התחילו להתעניין בלינוקס הזה שתומך בכל מעבד רציני שקיים בשוק. חלק קטן מהחברות מנסה לאמץ את לינוקס על שולחנות העבודה, חברות כמו Autodesk לדוגמא, מפיצות רד-האט מקורי + תוכנות תלת מימד בעשרות אלפי דולרים פר תחנה, אבל שוק הדסקטופ מאמץ את הלינוקס די באיטיות. במיקרוסופט שמחים, הם לא רואים מצב שלינוקס משתלט על הפרה החולבת (Windows XP, Vista, 7) שלהם..

אבל כמו תמיד בחיים, הפתעות צצות מתחת לאדמה: ב-2007 חברת סטארט אפ קטנה נרכשת ע"י גוגל. אותו סטארט אפ ממשיך לפתח מערכת הפעלה לינוקסאית לטלפונים סלולריים. הם מוותרים על כל עניין ה-X, על KDE או GNOME ומפתחים מכונה וירטואלית שתריץ אפליקציות JAVA ב-VM מיוחד. למערכת ההפעלה החדשה קוראים: אנדרואיד.

גוגל מוציאה יחד עם T-Mobile ו-HTC את ה-G1, טלפון סלולרי עם מקלדת ועם אנדרואיד. השוק בהתחלה לא מראה התלהבות ומעדיף לנהור לכיוון אפל, עם ה-iPhone הנוצץ, אבל גוגל לא מרימים ידיים. הם ממשיכים לפתח את האנדרואיד, לשחרר אותו כקוד פתוח ולתת לכולם לשחק עם זה.

ב-2008 התמונה מתחילה להשתנות: בתוך החברות המייצרות מכשירים (כמו LG, סמסונג, מוטורולה ואחרים) המפתחים משחקים עם אנדרואיד ומתלהבים. מוטורולה, אחת היצרניות היותר גדולות מבינים שיש להם משהו ענק ביד והמנכ"ל החדש מחליט לחתוך עניינים בצורה מיידית: חטיבות הסימביאן, Windows Mobile מבוטלות וכולם עוברים לפתח ולהכין טלפונים עם אנדרואיד ותוך זמן קצר מוטורולה מתחילה להרוויח הרבה יותר עם Droid, אחד הטלפונים שנמכרים בכמויות הכי גדולות שמוטורולה ידעה מאז זמן רב. סמסונג לא יודעים אם לעבור ומכינים אסטרוגיה נוספת עם מערכת הפעלה שנקראת BADA אך ב-2010 הם הופכים את אנדרואיד למערכת העיקרית שלהם ונוחלים הצלחה חסרת תקדים עם גלאקסי S. נוקיה מתעלמת מהאנדרואיד ומיקרוסופט ממשיכה לפמפם את ה-Windows Mobile שלהם, שהוא סיוט ממדרגה ראשונה ליצרני הטלפון: המערכת הגרפית של מיקרוסופט כל כך איטית, עד שהיצרנים מעדיפים לפתח ממשק משלהם ולא לתת למשתמש הקצה לסבול את האיטיות של Windows Mobile בגירסאות 6, 6.1 ו-6.5.

ומה קורה בשוק? רבעון אחרי רבעון מיקרוסופט מפסידה אחוזים בשוק הטלפונים החכמים, גם נוקיה מפסידה, אפל מרוויחה בגדול ב-2007-2009 אבל אנדרואיד תופס יותר ויותר אחוזים וב-2010 השוק של מיקרוסופט בטלפונים הניידים מגיע למספר מגוחך של 3 ומשהו אחוז. נכון לרבעון האחרון, טלפונים חכמים מבוססי אנדרואיד נמכרים יותר מאשר אייפונים מ-אפל, בשוק בארה"ב ובעולם כולו.

מה מיקרוסופט עושים? פה אין אנשי IT לשכנע, אין ציבור לשכנע לרוץ לקנות טלפונים עם Windows Mobile שלא מציע אפילו רבע ממה שאייפון דור ראשון מציע, אז הם מגיעים לנשק האולטימטיבי: תביעות על הפרת פטנטים. זוכרים את הפטנטים שכביכול מופרים ע"י לינוקס? בדיוק באותו טריק משתמשים הפעם על יצרניות הסלולר. הקורבן הראשון: HTC (לא חשוב ש-HTC הם יצרן גדול של טלפונים מבוססי Windows Mobile ועכשיו Windows Phone, צריך לתקוע סכין בגב לשותף המניאק שמרוויח מכל חגיגת האנדרואיד!). את גוגל אי אפשר לתבוע (גוגל משחררת קוד ולא מוצר שהם מרוויחים עליו. גוגל מרוויחה כשהיצרן משתמש בשרותי גוגל כמו דוא"ל, יומן ומפות, וכאן אין למיקרוסופט אפשרות לתבוע כי גוגל רכשו רשיון על פטנטים ממיקרוסופט על דברים כמו סינכרון).

אז את מי מיקרוסופט מחליטים לתבוע? את אחת החברות הותיקות ביותר בשוק הטכנולוגיה. את מוטורולה. מוטורולה מסתכלים על התביעה ומחייכים. מיקרוסופט לא תראה מהם שום סנט, והם מבקשים מכמה מהנדסים שישבו עם המחלקה המשפטית על הפטנטים שיש להם (למוטורולה) ויראו מה מיקרוסופט מפירה פטנטים במוצריה (תזכרו משהו אחד: מוטורולה הם לא מי יודע מה בשיווק, אבל כשזה מגיע לפיתוחים טכנולוגיים, הם מעולים!). התוצאות מעניינות: תוך יום אחד מוטורולה תובעת את מיקרוסופט ב-2 בתי משפט (פלורידה ו-וויסקונסין, שיהיה מעניין) על לא פחות מ-16 פטנטים על מגוון מוצרים של מיקרוסופט: החל מ-XP, שרתי Windows, ה-XBOX, מסנג'ר, המערכת החדשה Windows Phone ואפילו על Kinect ששם מוטורולה מדגישים שיש להם כמה פטנטים בתחום וידאו ואינפרה אדום, ולקינוח, מוטורולה מבקשת מארגון ה-ITC לבדוק את התלונות שלהם על מיקרוסופט. מיקרוסופט עכשיו ממש בבעיה. הימור שלי: המשפט יפסק באמצע, ושניהם יחתמו על עיסקת Cross Licensing.

בעוד יומיים מסתיימת שנת 2010 ולינוקס עם אנדרואיד ממשיך לתפוס תאוצה. סוני ישבו עם גוגל בחודשים האחרונים כדי שגוגל יוסיפו API לפיתוחי משחקים (והתוצאות נמצאות ב-Gingerbread החדש) מכיוון שסוני הולכים להוציא את Xperia Play (ביי ביי PSP/PSP2), טלפון אנדרואיד שחלקו התחתון הנשלף הוא .. ג'ויסטיק למשחקים. שאר היצרנים צעקו על גוגל "טאבלט!", ובמרץ הקרוב גוגל תכריז על אנדרואיד 3.0 שמכיל את Fragments, שיאפשר לפתח אפליקציה שתופיע בצורה מסויימת בטלפונים סלולריים ובצורה אחרת לגמרי על טאבלט. שם הקוד לגירסה 3.0 יהיה: Honeycomb, כשבעקבותיו יוצף השוק על ידי כל יצרן אפשרי בטאבלטים בגודל 7 אינטש ומעלה. מה רץ בכל טאבלט בשכבה הבסיסית? לינוקס..

ידידתי רכשה את הגלאקסי S החדש, והיא מתקינה בו דברים על ימין ועל שמאל: טפטים "חיים", ווידג'טים, אפליקציות, משחקים, שירים, היא שולחת ומקבלת מיילים, מנהלת יומן והנסיון שלה במחשבים מאוד זעום. היא מרוצה עד השמיים מהטלפון ואומרת שהוא מאוד קל לשימוש. אני משתמש ב-Nook והתקנתי את Optware כך שאני יכול להריץ אפאצ'י, OpenSSH ושאר דברים על ה-Nook (שזה אגב דבר מעולה לבוני אתרים שרוצים להציג ללקוח פיתוחים: מתקינים Apache על ה-Nook, מריצים אותו ופותחים את הדפדפן של הנוק ומציגים ללקוח, כך אפשר לחסוך את העניין של סיסמאות, דברים מוחבאים ואין אפילו צורך בתקשורת אינטרנט). מילא אני שמכיר לינוקס ומשתמש בזה יום יום, אבל גם ידידתי משתמשת בלינוקס עם מעטפת מאוד ידידותית ונוחה והיא נהנית מהיציבות והכמות הענקית של אפליקציות ותוכן מבלי לדעת אפילו מה זה לינוקס. ידידתי היא אדם אחד, אבל סמסונג מכרו 10 מיליון גלאקסי S בחודשיים האחרונים, תחשבו עוד כמה אנשים משתמשים עכשיו בלינוקס. תחשבו כמה עוד ישתמשו בלינוקס כשהשוק יוצף בחודשים הקרובים בטאבלטים. רואים איך לינוקס תופס יותר ויותר חלקים מהשוק?

לינוס טורוואלד וברוס פרנס התבדחו על World Domination עם לינוקס. עם קצב ההתפתחויות הנוכחי, אני חושב שלינוקס ישתלט תוך זמן לא רב.

Symbio Technologies News: Stateless Computing: The Antidote to WikiLeaks

2010-12-14T09:40:00.001+02:00

Symbio our long time partners for Thin Client Solutions:
Stateless computing can help ensure that events like WikiLeaks never reoccur. The key to securing information is to make it physically impossible for people to download it. Then, they cannot remove it from a secure location and share it with others who should not see it.
What makes stateless computing unique is that all data and applications remain on the server. Nothing is downloaded or saved to the desktop, not even IP addresses.
So, if the network used by the army private who gave information to WikiLeaks had been stateless, he never would have been able to burn information onto the CDs he used to sneak material out of the office.

"Stateless Computing" refers to computing devices that do not store any unique software configuration or state within them. Any configuration necessary comes from outside the device - the device being used solely for its computational resources.
To put it simply, devices that save state need to be maintained - stateless devices do not. Devices that save state can introduce security holes in your network - stateless devices may not.
IT professionals will welcome the reduced downtime, ease of maintenance, and network security that come with stateless devices. Money managers will embrace the vastly reduced total cost of ownership of the network at large and the dramatic impact of money spent on the performance of the network as a whole.
See below for more reasons why we say:

Keep it Simple. Keep it Stateless. Keep it Symbio.

Five Essential Storage Technologies

2010-11-26T01:20:00.000+02:00

Shuttleworth's Ubuntu makes like Space Shuttle I'm a Rocketman. Again

2010-11-25T11:09:00.001+02:00

Original URL: http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2010/11/25/ubuntu_server_takes_off/

Shuttleworth's Ubuntu makes like Space Shuttle

I'm a Rocketman. Again

By Timothy Prickett Morgan

Posted in Enterprise, 25th November 2010 05:00 GMT

Free whitepaper – The benefits of choosing a Hosted Security Solution

It looks like astronaut and tech magnate Mark Shuttleworth's investment in the Ubuntu commercial Linux distribution is about to pay off. Ubuntu is taking off like a rocket, and the sale of Novell [1] to Attachmate plus the higher prices [2] Red Hat is charging for its Enterprise Linux 6 are probably going to fuel Ubuntu's adoption even more in the data centers of the world.
The third Long Term Support release, Ubuntu 10.04, came out in April and seems to have been a turning point for the Ubuntu distribution. With that release, Canonical demonstrated that it could tame the Debian variant of Linux and put together a polished desktop and server operating system with commercial-grade support options like those available through Red Hat and Novell. On the server front, the server variant of the 10.04 LTS release had all of the new or impending x64 processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices baked into it as well as a fully integrated variant of the Eucalyptus cloud framework for creating cloudy infrastructure for applications to romp around.

Neil Levine, vice president of corporate services at Canonical, said that the initial LTS release, 6.06, put a stake in the ground, establishing the five-year support guarantee for servers and three-year term for desktops. LTS 8.04 saw a healthy uptake among corporations looking for alternatives to Solaris, RHEL, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and even Windows sometimes and proved the quality of the distro that Canonical could bring to market. With the 10.04 LTS release, Canonical proved to companies that the two-year cadence for new LTS releases was real and that Ubuntu could be trusted to run with the big boys.
So how is Canonical doing money-wise now that 10.04 LTS has been out for seven months? Stellar, apparently.
"We see a great, great year financially for my division," Levine told El Reg in an interview. The prior two LTS releases as well as the interim releases are being deployed by programmers and system administrators as companies build out applications - the same way that proprietary minicomputers, Unix machines, and Windows boxes all made their way into the data center in their successive waves over the past three decades. "When people realize they have a hundred servers running Ubuntu, they realize they need a commercial relationship with Canonical."
And thus, for the past three calendar quarters, the number of support contracts for Ubuntu's desktop and server distributions collectively have been doubling each quarter. Levine is projecting a three-fold increase in support revenues at Canonical in the company's current fiscal year, which ends in March 2011. Interestingly, the server revenue stream is growing a lot faster these days than the overall support contract revenue growth, says Levine, and is approaching a 50-50 split.
Server support contracts cost a lot more and are therefore driving that revenue growth. This was the long-term plan that Shuttleworth always had, of course. Step One: Build a Windows alternative for desktops, seed the market with Ubuntu enthusiasts. Step Two: Build a Unix and Windows alternative for servers, seed the market with more enthusiasts. Step Three: Profits!
As you know, Canonical does not put call-home programs in its Ubuntu Server editions, so it actually is clueless how many people are using Ubuntu Server. And being a private company, it is certainly not going to share the revenue numbers and customer counts it has for companies that have bought Ubuntu Server support contracts. But Levine did provide El Reg with some outside data from Netcraft, the Web server counters, to show how Ubuntu is doing at least as well as El Reg's world-famous PARIS [3] Vulture 1 paper spaceplane.

The numbers

Here's some trend data on Linux-based hosts worldwide, but the Linux variant they use to host one or more Web sites:

[4]

Worldwide Linux-based Web sites, by distro (click to enlarge)

The Netcraft data counts up the total hosts supported by a Web server. Rd hat is flatlining out there on the Intertubes as far as Web site count is concerned, and in the past several months, Ubuntu has hockey-sticked so aggressively that if this was an actual hockey game Canonical would be called for high sticking.
You want to see some stratosphere? Take a look at the same data for just the EMEA Web server space:

[5]

EMEA Linux-based Web sites, by distro (click to enlarge)

Novell's SUSE Linux has done better than RHEL for Web serving because it was at least a European distro, even after Novell bought it. But after a very aggressive ramp since the second Ubuntu Server LTS release in 2008, Canonical's Linux reached parity with RHEL and SLES in terms of Web site count and in the past two months has exploded almost straight up.
Maybe Attachmate should have bought Canonical?
Counting clouds
When Ubuntu Server 10.04 LTS was launched back in April, Levine said that as far as Canonical could tell from watching unique IP addresses hitting its image repository the first time customers fired up its Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud variant, there were 12,000 clouds running its code. (UEC embeds the Eucalyptus framework into the server edition for deploying Xen or KVM virtual machines for hosting virtual server images in a manner that is compatible with Amazon's EC2 compute cloud.) Obviously, the great majority of those UEC clouds were prototypes and proofs-of-concepts, but it is nonetheless a very large number. Levine says that since 10.04 LTS came out in April, the monthly install rate looks to be around 1,200, which means by the end of this year, another 10,000 or so clouds will be fired up.
Even though Canonical will be putting in support for the OpenStack alternative to Eucalyptus with the 11.04 release next year, Levine said that Eucalyptus was the first to market and was more established and is therefore still in demand. It will be interesting to see if over the next few years, Eucalyptus suffers the same fate as the Xen hypervisor, which has been usurped by KVM for both Red Hat and Canonical in their Linux distros.
Levine cautions against such analogies, saying that OpenStack and Eucalyptus "are addressing very different parts of the market." Canonical's philosophy is that whatever customers want to use to build clouds, it wants them to do it with Ubuntu, not RHEL or SLES.
In a related announcement, Canonical and open source virtualization tool maker Convirture are teaming up to take on the ESX Server hypervisor and vCenter console combination from VMware, offering a fully open source alternative. While Canonical has the Landscape tool for managing server images and Ubuntu has the libvirt and virt-manager tools for managing virtual machines, the latter tools are more like applets than they are virtualization management consoles.
And so, Canonical has added the ConVirt 2.0 Open Source console to the Ubuntu Partner Repository, which is the first step perhaps to including it in the full Ubuntu distribution in the future like the Eucalyptus framework is now. ConVirt is a console for provisioning, managing, and monitoring Xen and KVM virtual machines, and as El Regalready told you back in July [6], it now comes in an Enterprise Edition that has some closed-source features that Ubuntu shops probably want. We're talking about timetable-based provisioning and decommissioning of VMs; role-based access control for admins and multi-tenant security; a command line interface and programmable APIs; high availability and disaster recovery overlays for the Xen and KVM hypervisors; resource limiting; a virtual appliance catalog for self-service VM deployment; and alerting and notification features to bug admins.
If Canonical wanted to do something interesting, it would buy Convirture and merge the Enterprise version of ConVirt 2.0 with its Landscape management tool and embed the open source version in Ubuntu Server. Clearly, Shuttleworth has the money, after shelling out $31.5m for a New York apartment [7]. ®

Trend Hunter Sets the Trend in Tel Aviv-Yafo Today

2010-11-16T12:47:00.000+02:00

Trend Hunter Sets the Trend in Tel Aviv-Yafo Today
trendhunter.com

'Complexity kills': Can Microsoft, and all of IT, simplify?'

2010-10-27T04:28:00.000+02:00

Enterprise IT projects are complex squared and many times management makes it more complex.
Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s former chief architect, has penned another visionary memo about the post-PC world where he talks about the post-PC world, complexity and how the software giant can adapt to it.
By Larry Dignan | October 25, 2010 zdnet.com
Ozzie arrived at Microsoft with big ideas that were largely implemented—Azure, Office 365, SharePoint etc.—but he couldn’t communicate them well generally speaking. His exit blog post talks about how Microsoft has to prepare for a post-PC world.
Last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer played down Ozzie’s departure somewhat. He said Ozzie’s big thinking is now Microsoft’s strategy. Microsoft is all in on the cloud and the services that go with it. Later, however, Ballmer noted that Windows 8 could be the company’s riskiest product. Sounds like a bit of a post-PC world worry to me.
More: Microsoft’s outgoing Chief Software Architect on the ‘post-PC world’

Here’s the pertinent part of Ozzie’s post:

But as the PC client and PC-based server have grown from their simple roots over the past 25 years, the PC-centric / server-centric model has accreted simply immense complexity. This is a direct by-product of the PC’s success: how broad and diverse the PC’s ecosystem has become; how complex it’s become to manage the acquisition & lifecycle of our hardware, software, and data artifacts. It’s undeniable that some form of this complexity is readily apparent to most all our customers: your neighbors; any small business owner; the ‘tech’ head of household; enterprise IT.
Success begets product requirements. And even when superhuman engineering and design talent is applied, there are limits to how much you can apply beautiful veneers before inherent complexity is destined to bleed through.
Complexity kills. Complexity sucks the life out of users, developers and IT. Complexity makes products difficult to plan, build, test and use. Complexity introduces security challenges. Complexity causes administrator frustration.
And as time goes on and as software products mature – even with the best of intent – complexity is inescapable.

That passage was notable because it’s not just a tech issue. It’s a management issue. Can Microsoft really become less complex? Can it develop less complex products? And what does that mean for longevity—Ozzie also noted that Microsoft has benefited from complexity. One thing is certain: Complexity is everywhere in tech. Enterprise IT projects are complex squared and many times management makes it more complex.

MAYOR BLOOMBERG- New PARTNERSHIP WITH MICROSOFT

2010-10-27T04:03:00.000+02:00

MAYOR BLOOMBERG DISCUSSES THE CITY’S GROUNDBREAKING PARTNERSHIP WITH MICROSOFT FOR A MORE EFFICIENT CITY GOVERNMENT IN WEEKLY RADIO ADDRESS
(My Comment integrated with Oracle Portal and SUN Servers!?)
The following is the text of Mayor Bloomberg's weekly radio address as prepared for delivery on 1010 WINS News Radio for Sunday, October 24, 2010
"Good Morning. This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
"Mayor Ed Koch once said that New York City is the place 'where the future comes to audition.' And that's something our Administration takes very seriously. In fact, we're bringing the spirit of innovation to every corner of the city. And by thinking creatively - by flipping the conventional wisdom on its head - by having the courage to try new things - we're gaining new ground on some of our most complex, longstanding challenges - like fixing our schools and protecting our environment.
"We're also using innovation to change the way government itself does business - making us more efficient and more effective than ever before. A great example of this came to fruition last week when we unveiled a groundbreaking partnership with Microsoft. The technology giant has a long history of working with our schools and our government, but our latest partnership - the first of its kind - elevates our commitment to innovation to a whole new level.
"Central to this agreement is a new licensing contract that significantly lowers our technology costs. In the past, the City's numerous agencies would each negotiate their own licenses and purchase their own software individually. But by leveraging City government's tremendous buying power, we've now been able to consolidate these dozens of agreements into one single license covering more than 100,000 City employees.
"And instead of us purchasing a bundle of products for every employee, Microsoft has also agreed to charge us based on which applications our City workers actually need and use. Together, these improvements will produce an incredible $50 million in savings for the City over the next five years.
"This new agreement also gives us access to Microsoft's latest tools and products - like 'cloud computing,' which is becoming an increasingly popular way for people to collaborate and access information. By storing some of our information on Microsoft's data servers, our employees are going to be able to work together online - regardless of where they are in the world. This will also take some pressure off the City's own computer servers, which means we won't need as much hardware or use as much energy - which will save us even more money.
"And that really goes to the heart of what innovation can do for City government. By harnessing the power of data and technology, we're not just making government leaner, faster, and more responsive. We're also making government more cost effective - and that's something that all New Yorkers can appreciate.
"This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Thanks for listening."

McAfee announces new antivirus developments/ Israel Export Institute Reports

2010-10-04T00:23:00.000+02:00

Israeli Exporters Catalog

Business Matching

Economic & Trade Representatives

Israel Trading Companies

Aerospace & Homeland Security > News
McAfee announces new antivirus developments
19/09/10
Information security giant McAfee's research labs have developed a new antivirus technology, the company has announced. McAfee's new antivirus technology is part of the company's Global Threat Intelligence battle and allows two key solutions to work together to fight extended malware attacks. First, McAfee's researchers can actively search for new online threats by using the millions of computers worldwide that run McAfee software. Secondly, researchers can produce more advanced defenses than the traditional malware "fingerprint." McAfee's labs have seen malware levels hit new records every year – in the first half of 2010, over 55,000 examples of malware were received by the lab every day.

HP`s Deep Trouble: 10 Reasons Why HP is Struggling - Hewlett Packard news from Channel Insider

2010-09-13T20:32:00.000+02:00

from http://www.channelinsider.com

HP finds itself in a somewhat unlikely position right now. With no CEO at the helm, its former leader at a top competitor, and little vision for what the future will look like, the wheels are coming off. And the chances of the company reversing its fortune anytime soon seem slim. Realizing that, it’s probably time to call some of HP’s decisions into question. Getting rid of Mark Hurd without a fully effective non-compete agreement in place was a mistake. And allowing the company to look bad in the process has proven to be even worse. Simply put, HP is in deep trouble right now. And here’s why:

HP`s Deep Trouble: 10 Reasons Why HP is Struggling - Hewlett Packard news from Channel Insider

Oracle Mergers & Acquisitions: Who’s Next?

2010-09-13T20:13:00.001+02:00

Sam: This is a shortened Summary of this interesting Article.
I wiil comment later.

"by Stephen Jannise, ERP Software Advice

" "ERP Software Advice" would link to: http://www.softwareadvice.com/

By: Stephen Jannise Stephen Jannise

ERP Market Analyst at Software Advice
(512) 364-0130
stephen@softwareadvice.com

ERP Market Analyst, Software Advice
on 8/3/2010

A few weeks ago, we started a poll asking which company Oracle will acquire next. Thanks to all the bloggers in the community who got the word out, we received a staggering 1,250 responses before closing the poll. This is what you had to say.

The favorites were two of our “fairly straightforward ideas,” Informatica and Teradata, each with 14% of the votes. This suggests that 28% of our voters believe Oracle will play it safe the next time around and strengthen their already formidable data warehousing and business intelligence offerings.
However, more than a few of you were a little bolder with your predictions, arguing that Oracle is going to make one or two “pricey buys in hot markets.” With VMWare getting 143 votes and Salesforce.com getting 115, 20% of our readers feel that the Sun deal is merely the first in a series of game-changing buys for Oracle.

Read more: http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/enterprise/oracle-mergers-acquisitions-whos-next-1080310/#ixzz0zQzobcZe

Why Ubuntu Linux Is a Good Business Choice

2010-07-31T11:13:00.000+03:00

Why Ubuntu Linux Is a Good Business Choice

By Ken Hess, PC World

Chances are good that if someone walked into your office right now and peeked over your shoulder, they would see a Windows operating system on your computer. But, did you know that you have a choice of something other than Windows for that computer on your desk, and that you have the same choice for the servers in your data center?
One of those choices is Ubuntu Linux, a greatly enhanced Debian-based Linux distribution that installs easily, has the familiar Windows look and feel, and operates well on older hardware (expensive upgrade not required). Linux fans tout the positive attributes, often at high decibel levels, of Ubuntu Linux, which is perhaps the world's most popular Linux distribution. But, is it business worthy?
Let's first consider Ubuntu as a replacement for your Windows desktop or laptop operating system. Computer owners generally use an Internet browser, a word processing program, the occasional spreadsheet, an email application and almost nothing else. These computer owners may not realize that they're paying $150 to $300 for the OS and another $300 or more for the office suite--most of which they'll never use. Why add hundreds of dollars to a computer system that has a life expectancy of three to four years? Software costs often exceed hardware costs by two or three times. Small businesses resort to piracy or doing without needed software to compensate for those costs. Neither is a good choice.
The alternative puts you at odds with the accepted philosophy that Windows is your only choice for desktop computers and servers. The Linux concept requires that you step outside the standard box that Microsoft has placed you in, and realize that you have a choice that makes sense for you, your bank account, and your business.
Your Windows computers need an anti-virus program that hinders performance, anti-spyware software that you have to run manually to scan for all the nasties that invade your computing habitat, and a personal firewall to ward off those over-the-network attackers.
Alternatively, Ubuntu is free. You can download any version of it and use it for any purpose. Upgrades are also free. There's no need for any anti-virus software or anti-spyware applications on Linux, which comes with a personal firewall, if you want to use it.
Linux also comes to you with a free office suite, OpenOffice.org that includes Microsoft-compatible applications. They look and behave so much like Microsoft's office suite that you may never realize any difference between the two.
The rest of the article at PC World.

US Army Plans Private Cloud

2010-07-30T23:58:00.000+03:00

Army Plans Private Cloud

APC2, the Army Private Cloud, will be a cornerstone of a broader data center consolidation initiative that aims to reduce the number of Army data centers from 200 to less than 20.

By J. Nicholas Hoover
InformationWeek
July 30, 2010 08:00 AM

The Army is pushing forward with plans to deploy a private cloud computing environment. Last week, it issued a request for proposals for the project, which will be one of the cornerstones of a broader data center consolidation initiative that aims to reduce the number of Army data centers from 200 to less than 20. The Army Private Cloud, also known as APC2, will be contracted out in two separate pieces, and could cost as much as $249 million over the five-year lifespan of those contracts, according to the RFP and associated documents.

Adding Zemanta to Tools of our IT Blog

2010-07-25T09:22:00.000+03:00

Adding Zemanta to Tools of our IT Blog

Lenovo rolls out IdeaCentre A700 and B305 all-in-one desktop PCs | ZDNet

2010-07-10T13:49:00.000+03:00

Lenovo rolls out IdeaCentre A700 and B305 all-in-one desktop PCs | ZDNet

Lenovo has rolled out a ton of new computers today, so let’s kick things off with the debut of the IdeaCentre A700 and B305 all-in-one desktop computers.

Targeted towards individuals and families rather than businesses, Lenovo has put a good deal of emphasis on design when it comes to its new A700 and B305 desktops.

Packaged in a curvy, aluminum casing, the A700 keeps things focused on home entertainment with JBL speakers with Dolby technology, DirectX 11 graphics and HDMI in/out support to connect and stream from various HD devices.

Lenovo has designed the B305 to target the gaming community as well, with the options of an AMD Athlon II X4 Quad-Core processor and optional DirectX 11 graphics.

There’s also a lot of room for customizing on each new Lenovo PC, with choices in memory, hard drive space and processor speeds. Here’s some of what you can get on both IdeaCentre computers.

10 More Smartphones That Will Fade Away Before 2011 - Mobile and Wireless from eWeek

2010-07-10T00:08:00.001+03:00

10 More Smartphones That Will Fade Away Before 2011 - Mobile and Wireless from eWeek
Microsoft announced earlier this week that it has discontinued its Kin smartphones after just six weeks of availability. The devices, which focused heavily on social-networking activities, failed to live up to the hype Microsoft built for the Kin One and Kin Two. But the Kin smartphones aren't the only devices that will fail in 2010. Read on to see 10 other smartphones that, like Microsoft's Kin, will fail in 2010.

An all-in-one desktop from HP.

2010-07-09T11:08:00.000+03:00

An all-in-one desktop

HP has introduced an energy-efficient, space-saving and clutter-free desktop PC, the HP All-in-One200, which reduces the number of cables required from 13 to one.

The HP All-in-One200 offers the performance of a traditional tower and monitor solution in one sleek, integrated design.

The All-in-One200 is simple to set up and fits easily in a kitchen, family room, home office or into a small business environment. Its features include:

A 54.6 cm (21.5”) diagonal, 1080-pixel, LED backlit, high-definition display(2)
Display tilts up to 30 degrees and swivels from side to side
Integrated wall mount solution
Reduction of cables to 1 power cable from up to 13 cables
An integrated webcam and built-in microphone
Built-in wireless LAN (802.11 b/g/n), enabling users to surf the web quickly and easily(3)
Integrated premium stereo speakers
Wireless keyboard and mouse
Optional TV tuner
Optional Win7 Pro edition for SoHo/SMB
The HP MediaSmart software suite, which offers a fun and easy way to enjoy digital content – including watching TV or movies, sharing photos via Snapfish by HP,(2) and burning music and videos to DVDs(4)
The HP All-in-One200 desktop PC starts at €699 and will be available at retail stores at the end of June

Sun xVM Virtualization - VDI: Virtual Desktop Infrastruct...

2010-06-26T14:39:00.001+03:00

An Example of Thin Client Safe Technology from Oracle/SUN

Why has Microsoft seemingly stopped innovating?/ from Quora

2010-06-25T19:38:00.000+03:00

Rob Glaser: on Quora
This is a great question and one I've thought about for a long time. As some probably know, I was at Microsoft from '83-93, still have some talented friends who work there, and have a residual fondness for the place.

First, in fairness, it does need to be noted that in recent years Microsoft has demonstrated a number of interesting innovations -- e.g., Project Natal -- and has created at least one new successful business innovation -- XBox Live, which has an estimated 10 million paying subscribers (@ $50/year that's a very high margin $500 Million business).

Having said that, there's no question in my mind that Microsoft's per capita ability to get effective innovations into the market in 2010 is much more like IBM's or HP's than like Google's or Apple's. So I buy into the question's core premise.

So, why? I'd boil my answer down to a four core points:

1. PC Software Centricity: Microsoft was, and still is at core, a company built on and financed by a paradigm of PC software.

The two core economic engines at Microsoft -- Office and Windows -- are PC software products. So is Microsoft's 3rd best business -- Server Software. While they go through 2 different primary channels -- Office and Server get sold to enterprises, and Windows principally gets sold through PC OEMs -- the core business is the same, getting paid per unit sold.

As Bill (Gates) has said many times, "I like businesses where there's a high fixed cost of building something and a very low variable cost per unit." Implicit in the latter, of course, is that one is paid substantially more per unit than the variable cost of making it.

2. Post-PC World: Most of the action in technology innovation nowadays is taking place in areas where (i) PC software strength by itself is not sufficient, and (ii) the business models that lead to success are very different that the model that Microsoft was build on and is still at the core of Microsoft's DNA.

The biggest sources of value-creating innovation in the past 5 years have been:

(a) Search delivered to consumers/end users on the Web for free, supported by extremely valuable targeted ads (Google)

(b) Integrated Hardware/Software/Service device plays monetized both by selling the device and then selling services on top of the device (Apple, RIM)

(c) Social Network Platforms that are free to consumers, based on user-generated information put into highly integrated and extensible structured frameworks, monetized a few different ways (Facebook)

Although Microsoft made serious plays in the first two of these, were very late to the party and allowed the leader to establish a massive competitive advantage and super high market share. Moreover since the leaders (Google, Apple, RIM)) have been very competent and hard charging, Microsoft's catch-up efforts (Zune, Bing) have not been able to get significant traction.

A note about Android as a competitor to Apple in mobile and tablet devices (b) and Microsoft's attempt to compete in "sort of" the same way (selling a platform). Google's approach to (b) is to treat it as a business that's fundamentally subservient

to the (a) business and business model. On the other hand, Microsoft's efforts have been plagued by friction associated with Microsoft trying to sell Windows Mobile/Phone/etc for a positive price versus Google's "Free/Open Source with strings" approach.

Moreover, Microsoft has a path of debris associated with its decade-long effort to establish Windows Mobile. So even though Microsoft nominally has a large Windows Mobile installed base, from a developer (and hence consumer) standpoint, the Windows Mobile installed base is not a coherent target in the same way that the iPhone and Android bases are.

To be fair, there is one non-PC area where Microsoft has been successful, and that's Xbox. In that business Microsoft got in relatively early (9 years ago), took an integrated hardware/software/service approach, and made enough commercial traction in its first generation that it could get its 2nd generation (Xbox 360) to critical mass in at least some major markets, and hence profitable. But, at least so far, Xbox is an outlier rather than a repeatable part of the Microsoft playbook.

3. Monopoly Economics and Culture: Microsoft's 2 core businesses -- Windows and Office -- are natural winner-take-all monopolies. What it takes to maintain these businesses in a financially successful way is very different than what it takes to create successful new businesses.

This further reinforces the dominant culture, and requires extraordinary effort and focus to overcome, especially how fundamentally different the biggest adjacent business opportunities are from Microsoft's core financial engines. Moreover, because the two monopolies are so profitable, any new business will suffer by comparison to these monopolies for many years, especially if there is a viable incumbent already in place.

4. Leadership: Any discussion of this topic would have to note that Microsoft has had a different leader for the past decade that it had for its first 25 years. Having known both Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates for 27 years, I certainly have strong opinions on their relative strengths and weaknesses. Both are super smart and hard charging. But there are 2 critical differences, in my view.

(a) Listening and openness to any feedback. In my decade of working with him, Bill would always challenge opposing views, often aggressively and sometime caustically. If you didn't know your stuff, you were toast. If you didn't like his at times aggressively confrontational style, you would likely have your feelings hurt, and you might quit. But if you had thick skin and lots of passion, you could make your case and often really move the meter technologically and/or strategically. And when you did, you knew you had really made your case well. In other words, Microsoft with Bill at the helm was a company that always tolerated, and often fostered, many different ideas and points of view, including views that the CEO was known to disagree with.

I never worked for Microsoft with Steve as the CEO, so my views here are based on 2nd hand data of Steve as the CEO combined with first hand data that's mostly at least 17 years old. Moreover, Steve was literally the person who hired me at Microsoft and was helpful to me on multiple occasions while I was there. Having said all that, getting Steve to change his mind once his mind was made up was always extraordinarily difficult and often seemed literally impossible. Moroever, even trying was often very unpleasant, even by Microsoft standards. As a result, I saw many people, including lots of good people, just "go along" with Steve rather than fighting for what they believed in.

(b) Loving consumer businesses. Bill was (and is) a polymath who has legitimate intellectual curiosity for almost any topic. This may be one of his 2-3 most remarkable traits. Steve, on the other hand, was always a guy who loved B2B businesses but, in my view, had less of a passion for Microsoft's consumer businesses. That may have changed over the past 15 years, I certainly don't know. But, at least circa 1983-1993, Bill was the chief sponsor of pretty much all of Microsoft's consumer initiatives while Steve was a guy who loved business but seemed less enamored of the whims, fashion, and capriciousness of consumers.

Others have observed these differences as well, for instance http://www.fastcompany.com/magaz...

In making these 4 points, I am trying to convey that Microsoft's current situation is not simply the result of one factor, and that there is not a simple quick fix. But I do think there are valuable lessons that we can all learn from this situation, hence this rather lengthy (War and Peace like) note.

Red Hat (Linux) 1Q profit rises with revenue growth

2010-06-23T10:48:00.001+03:00

Red Hat 1Q profit rises with revenue growth

Tue Jun 22, 4:45 pm ET

RALEIGH, N.C. – Red Hat Inc. said Tuesday that its fiscal first-quarter profit climbed as demand rose for its open-source software. The company's adjusted earnings met analyst estimates, while revenue was higher than expected.
For the quarter ended May 31, Red Hat's net income rose 30 percent to $24.1 million, or 12 cents per share, from $18.5 million, or 10 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier.
When excluding one-time items, Red Hat earned 18 cents per share, matching estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
Revenue rose 20 percent to $209.1 million, beating analysts' estimate of 202.9 million. Subscription revenue rose 20 percent to $179.1 million, while training and services revenue climbed nearly 18 percent to $30.1 million.

Novell Wipes the Floor with SCO | Linux

2010-06-11T03:00:00.001+03:00

Novell Wipes the Floor with SCO | Linux
In Short: Full story in link above (S.C) pity SCO was a very Good Xenix Company in the 80's I sold some of there products then. Long Before Linux.

SCO Thursday lost its bid to get the jury verdict awarding Novell the Unix copyrights overturned along with its bid to get the copyrights despite the jury decision. It also lost its right to sue IBM for copying Unix code into Linux.

Unless it decides to appeal, it's all over for SCO and it's not clear SCO has the financial staying power to last through an appeal. The legal bill for another appeal is already paid; it's SCO basic viability that's in question.

A call to SCO's general counsel went unanswered. The decision ultimately rests with the bankruptcy trustee in charge of SCO.

ARM, IBM & Friends Form Company to Tidy Up Linux/ from linux.sys-con.com

2010-06-05T12:28:00.001+03:00

ARM, IBM & Friends Form Company to Tidy Up Linux-Linaro

from linux.sys-con.com
ARM, with backing from IBM, Freescale, Samsung, ST-Ericsson and TI, has set up a not-for-profit open source software engineering company called Linaro to bring some order to the Linux operating systems running on the welter of different ARM-based System-on-Chips (SoCs). Evidently a tidy packet worth tens of millions is going into this thing. Well, it is meant put a stick in Wintel’s rounder wheel. The idea is to smooth out the kinks in ARM’s ecosystem, reduce the engineering time spent on non-differentiating, low-level software that touches the silicon, cut time-to-market and improve performance. read more

Apple passes Microsoft to be biggest tech company/bbc

2010-05-29T13:08:00.000+03:00

Apple passes Microsoft to be biggest tech company

Page last updated at 11:52 GMT, Thursday, 27 May 2010 12:52 UK

Apple's innovations have inspired a vast following

Apple has pushed past arch-rival Microsoft to become the world's biggest technology company.

Changes in the share price values of the two in Wednesday's choppy trading left the total value of Apple at $222bn (£154bn).
Microsoft is now valued by investors at $219bn.
However, Microsoft still enjoys higher profits than Apple. Its most recent annual net profit was $14.6bn (£10bn), compared with $5.7bn for Apple.
Microsoft also reported bigger full-year revenues of $58.4bn, with Apple on $36.5bn.
Apple's shares closed Wednesday trading down 0.4% at $244.11, while Microsoft fell by 4% to $25.01.
iPhone boost The value of a listed company, known as market capitalisation, is calculated by multiplying the number of shares in a company by the current share price.

MICROSOFT V APPLE

Annual revenues: Microsoft $58.4bn, Apple $36.5bn
Annual net profits: Microsoft $14.6bn, Apple $5.7bn
Earnings per share: Microsoft $1.62, Apple $6.29
Price/earnings ratio: Microsoft 12.8, Apple 24.

Apple, which makes computers, iPods, iPhones and now iPads, almost went out of business in the 1990s.
Its growth is partly owing to the launch of the iPod in 2001.
Although the iPod works with computers running Microsoft's Windows operating systems, it encouraged more people to to buy one of Apple's computers.
The big popularity of the iPhone, which has become a big seller since it was first released in 2007, has further boosted Apple's profits and revenues.

It's a long game, we have good competitors... we too are a very good competitor

Steve Ballmer Microsoft chief executive

The handset has brought internet access on the move to the mass market, and led to an explosion in downloadable mobile "apps" - applications that enable a huge range of activities, from map reading to booking restaurants.
A new version of the iPhone is expected to be unveiled next month.
Meanwhile, this week sees the launch in the UK and eight other countries of Apple's iPad tablet computer.
This has already proven to be a big seller in the US, so much so that the UK launch was postponed to enable Apple to keep up with demand in the US.
Heyday Apple has to look back to late 1989 to see the last time it was a bigger company than Microsoft.
Microsoft makes most of its money from operating systems and software Microsoft, whose operating system runs on more than 90% of the world's personal computers, has not been able to match growth rates from its heyday of the 1990s.
Microsoft continues to make the majority of its earnings from its software and operating systems, and has struggled to successfully diversify into other products.
However, Microsoft has achieved success with its XBox games console.
Questioned on the news that Apple was now a bigger company, Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer said his firm would continue to follow a long-term strategy.
"It's a long game, we have good competitors... we too are a very good competitor," he said.
"We are executing very well and that is going to lead to great products and great success."

Oracle Buys Secerno, Adds Heterogeneous Database Firewall to Oracle Database Security

2010-05-23T10:45:00.000+03:00

On May 20, 2010, Oracle announced the acquisition of Secerno, adding a heterogeneous database firewall to Oracle's industry-leading database security solutions. This combination is expected to further enable customers to reduce the cost and complexity of securing their information throughout the enterprise with a protective perimeter around Oracle and non-Oracle databases.
Secerno's products are expected to expand Oracle's portfolio of security solutions to ensure data privacy, protect against insider threats, and enable regulatory compliance. Together, Oracle and Secerno's technologies are expected to further extend Oracle's comprehensive database security solutions to safeguard critical business information across the enterprise.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of June 2010. Until the deal closes, each company will continue to operate independently.

Read the press release at Oracle

New Nokia Smart Phones C6

2010-04-13T12:41:00.000+03:00

The Two Words Bill Gates Doesn't Want You to Hear...

2010-03-10T01:59:00.002+02:00

From Motley Fool Rule Report:
The Two words are "Cloud Computing"

Format for Printing

The Two Words Bill Gates Doesn't Want You to Hear...

Plus, the 2 companies poised to rule the post-Microsoft world

On October 30, 2005, something incredible happened...

In Redmond, Washington, one of the world's richest -- and most powerful -- businessmen sent an urgent memo to his top engineers and most-trusted managers.

It sounded the alarm that a very disruptive "wave" was about to wash over the entire world -- forever changing the way we get information and do business.

It also warned this would wipe out the $200 billion business empire he'd spent his life building.

Meanwhile, a few hundred miles south, on the banks of the Columbia River, a mysterious outfit known only as "Design, LLC," quietly constructed two massive windowless warehouses.

This mammoth undertaking was code named "Project 2," and the International Herald Tribune described the towering monolithic structures as "looming like an information-age nuclear plant."

This may sound like something out of a Tom Clancy novel, but you'll want to have all the facts because...

Merrill Lynch estimates this "wave" has grown into a $160 billion tsunami.

And experts say it's going to upend a $1 trillion industry. Yet very few investors understand just how huge it's going to be.

That's why it's crucial to take the next few minutes to read this report in its entirety.

At the very least, you'll get the full story so you can decide for yourself if you'll be front and center when the big money starts rolling in.

But be warned, the smart money is on the move...

A handful of investors are already quietly positioning themselves to cash in on this incredible economic shift. Soon, tens of thousands will be rushing to join them.

One of the most lucrative investment opportunities we'll ever encounter

The next great technological revolution is already under way.

And now that the last pieces are falling into place, the floodgates are beginning to open.

Which is exactly where you come in...Just ask David Gardner, co-founder of The Motley Fool. He's convinced that this technological shift will dump millions of dollars into the portfolios of investors just like you.

You've probably seen David on CNBC discussing his favorite growth stocks with some of the nation's other top-tier equity analysts. Or perhaps you've read one of his many best-selling investment books...

Or maybe you're just familiar with some of his remarkable stock recommendations... eBay in 1999... Starbucks in 1998... AOL in 1994... Amgen in 1998... Amazon in 1997.

Regardless, it's not hard to see why Money.com says he's "among the most widely followed stock advisors in the world."

And surely you can understand why anytime David gets excited about an investment opportunity, people stand up and take notice...

He's been closely tracking the development of this blockbuster technology and the 3 dominant players heading the revolution.

These are the companies he believes will rule their respective industries over the next 5 to 10 years and hand investors life-changing wealth along the way.

Recent developments have him particularly excited about one of the companies. Right now he considers it the No. 1 way to profit from this coming technological boom. And he's telling his followers to snap up shares immediately.

To see why he's so convinced about this company, you must learn the six traits he looks for in a growth stock -- and how they have led him to companies that have soared 231%, 233%, 375% and even 478% in just the past four years.

But first, a little bit more about this amazing technology and why, once again...

Page:

A Motley Fool Rule Breakers Special Report
To claim your special RISK-FREE offer, visit us online at:
www.RuleBreakers.Fool.com

IBM Unveils New Products, Services And Strategy

2010-03-01T03:03:00.001+02:00

IBM outlined an enhanced strategy for virtualization with integrated service management and launch new 'building blocks' -- software and services -- that allow clients to exploit physical and digital assets for improved operations, new products, and reduced costs at its Pulse 2010 channel and customer event.LAS VEGAS: Having set its sights on being a prime contractor, if not the architect, of the smarter planet, IBM has outlined an enhanced strategy for virtualization with integrated service management that focuses on four priorities: consolidation, management, automation and optimized delivery.

The company also rolled out new 'building blocks' -- software and services -- that allow clients to exploit physical and digital assets for improved operations, new products, and reduced costs. The announcements were made at Pulse 2010, to 5,000 attendees, including 1,000 from IBM's channel.

Quoting IDC, IBM says the revenue for the virtualization-related ecosystem is expected to exceed $46 billion by 2013. With the data center’s boundaries expanding beyond traditional IT assets to include physical assets embedded with intelligent technology such as building facilities, water mains and office equipment, more than one trillion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2011, and digital data is expected to grow tenfold from 2007 to 2011.

Tnuva goes to advanced ERP with Oracle

2010-02-23T11:00:00.001+02:00

This is in Hebrew, Tnuva that changed ownership recently is changing ERP Strategy too Oracle: from Oracle Israel:

תנובה הצטרפה לטרנד העולמי ובחרה באורקל
אלברטו מרנפלד, סמנכ"ל פתרונות עסקיים באורקל ישראל:
עכשיו זה כבר לא סוד. כולם יודעים שתנובה, חברת המזון הגדולה בישראל, עוברת בימים אלה לאפליקציות העסקיות של אורקל. בתנובה מצטרפים לטרנד עולמי של חברות שבוחרות את אורקל לפלטפורמת מחשוב ארגוני

תנובה היא ארגון הקמעונות הגדול בישראל. היא הוקמה ב-1926, ונשלטת ע"י אייפקס (56%). היו"רית היא זהבית כהן מאייפקס, המנכ"ל הוא אריק שור, וה-CIO הוא יעקב רבינוביץ'. במהלך השנים התרחבה תנובה בתעשיית המזון, והיא מחזיקה בפעילות ייצור (מחלבות), שיווק, ניהול לוגיסטי ושרשרת הפצה מורכבת.

לאחרונה, החלה תנובה בפרויקט יישום מערכת ERP של אורקל. תחום מערכות התוכנה הארגוניות הגדולות אינו זר לתנובה. במשך השנים, השתמשה החברה במערכות של ספקים שונים בכל חלק מהפעילות - פיננסים, ניהול משאבי אנוש, לוגיסטיקה וייצור.

הבחירה של תנובה באורקל מהווה חיזוק משמעותי להצלחה המתמשכת של אורקל ישראל בשנים האחרונות. תנובה מצטרפת לכ-35 לקוחות חדשים בתחום ה ERP בשנתיים וחצי האחרונות. החברה בחרה באורקל כפלטפורמה למערכות מידע לאפליקציות עסקיות לעשור הקרוב. הפרויקט החל בתחילת נובמבר האחרון. בחברה מותקנים כיום פתרונות נוספים של אורקל, כגון מערכת איחוד דוחות כספיים של היפריון ומערכת CRM של Siebel.

תנובה מצטרפת לטרנד עולמי של חברות CPG וכן של תעשיית ה-Food & Beverages, שבוחרות את אורקל לפלטפורמת מיחשוב ארגוני. בין השמות הגדולים של חברות שביצעו את המעבר לטכנולוגיית אורקל ניתן למנות את חברת נסטלה העולמית, אשר כל מערך ה-CRM שלה עבר לאורקל, חברת יוניליבר, פפסי, הייניקן, חברת המיצים welchs, המחלבה הגדולה הבריטית dairy crest, חברת המיצים האמריקנית טרופיקנה, חברת דנונה הארגנטינאית והרשימה עוד ארוכה.

למה החברות הללו בוחרות באורקל? ישנן כמה סיבות עיקריות. אורקל מביאה פתרונות ייחודיים לתעשייה זו בתחום ניהול תחזיות, ניהול שרשרת אספקות, ניהול קשרי לקוחות, ניהול מבצעים, ייצור תהליכי ופתרונות ייחודיים. בנוסף, באורקל קיימת רמת שירות גבוהה ומחויבות עמוקה של החברה ושל צוות הניהול בפועל להצלחה של הפרויקט. עניין זה מחזק את ההובלה של אורקל במגזר העסקי. הפורטפוליו של אורקל גדל ומאפשר לכל מי שהשקיע באורקל, חידושים טכנולוגיים ואפליקטיביים. החידושים הללו וקצב העדכון וההתאמה על פי צורכי הלקוח, מאפשרים ללקוחות שקט נפשי וריכוז במטרות החברה, בזמן שאורקל דואגת שהחברה תעמוד בקצב השינויים.

תפקידה של חברת אורקל היא להבטיח שה-CIO יידע תמיד להציע לחברה פתרונות לתהליכים העסקיים וכן תמיכה מלאה בדרישות המשתנות. האסטרטגיה של אורקל מוכיחה את עצמה. בסופו של דבר, אורקל מציעה פתרון בכל תחום עסקי ובצורה מוצלחת.

Did you get an e-mail from Microsoft like this!!

2010-02-16T02:11:00.002+02:00

On two computers I have with Legal Windows, VISTA on this computer and XP on a netbook
They are both Stuck I dowloaded 7 RC onto a disk legally and ran it sometimes usualy on SUN virtual Box I am also for Legal Software but do I deserve this:
It’s time to upgrade from the Windows 7 Release Candidate

While most people who tested Windows 7 have now moved to the final version, some are still running the Release Candidate. If you haven’t moved yet, it’s time to replace the RC.

Starting on March 1, 2010 your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Your work will not be saved during the shutdown.

The Windows 7 RC will fully expire on June 1, 2010. Your PC running the Windows 7 RC will continue shutting down every two hours and your files won’t be saved during shutdown. In addition, your wallpaper will change to a solid black background with a persistent message on your desktop. You’ll also get periodic notifications that Windows isn’t genuine. That means your PC may no longer be able to obtain optional updates or downloads requiring genuine Windows validation.

To avoid interruption, please reinstall a prior version of Windows or move to Windows 7. In either case, you’ll need to do a custom (clean) install to replace the RC. As with any clean installation, you’ll need to back up your data then reinstall your applications and restore the data. For more details about replacing the RC, see the Knowledge Base

Linux Mint 9 Isadora in May

2010-01-29T12:09:00.001+02:00

Linux Mint 9: “Isadora”

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:18:12 +0000

Linux Mint 9, based on the upcoming Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx, will be released in May this year under the codename “Isadora”. Of Greco-Latin origin, “Isadora” means “Gift from Isis”.

Microsoft Warns About 17-Year-Old Windows Bug

2010-01-22T23:44:00.000+02:00

Microsoft Warns About 17-Year-Old Windows Bug
By Stuart J. Johnston
January 22, 2010

Microsoft acknowledged that a security researcher has located a 17-year-old hole in Windows that could be used to take over a user's system and said it plans a patch.

However, compromising a user's PC would not be easy, requiring physical access to the machine as well as authenticated password access, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) said in a Security Advisory Wednesday.

The hole, which originated with the release of Windows NT back in 1993 and is present in every 32-bit version of Windows since, including Windows 7, was discovered by Tavis Ormandy, a Google security team member in Switzerland.

Ormandy claimed in a posting to the Full Disclosure security mailing list earlier this week that the hole is in a portion of Windows originally meant to enable NT to run 16-bit MS-DOS applications.

The problem lies in what is known as the Virtual DOS Machine or VDM, which is meant to allow NT-based versions of Windows run 16-bit x86 programs. By manipulating what's called the kernel stack, an attacker can elevate his or her user privileges to an administrator’s level in order to take over the user's system.

Ormandy said that he notified Microsoft of the hole in June but, after receiving no response other than an acknowledgement, decided to publish his discussion as well as a proof-of-concept exploit.

That got Microsoft's attention and, on Wednesday, the software giant released the Security Advisory regarding the problem.

Microsoft noted that the proof-of-concept has not triggered any real world attacks so far. Partly, that is related to the requirement that any attack be carried out locally, not remotely. For that reason, the hole is not as dangerous as most zero-day vulnerabilities. Some Windows users are not at any risk

One piece of good news is that users of 64-bit versions of Windows are not affected. Many new PCs sold today are shipped with 64-bit Windows 7 preloaded, meaning they are not at risk, according to Microsoft's Security Advisory.

Microsoft's Security Advisory contains a workaround, which is to disable the use of the 16-bit VDM. That should have little impact on most users since the feature is rarely used today.

Even Ormandy played down how broad the hole's effect might be.

"The primary audience of this advisory is expected to be domain administrators and security professionals," Ormandy's post stated.

Microsoft normally patches zero-day vulnerabilities as quickly as possible, especially if they critically affect users' security.

For example, Microsoft patched a previously unknown zero-day that surfaced last week in attacks on Google China with an "out-of-band" fix Thursday.

Microsoft said it is working on a patch for the problem but hasn’t decided yet whether it will be released as an out-of-band fix or during a regular Patch Tuesday cycle.

However, since it took 17 years to discover the bug in the first place, and the additional requirement that a hacker be physically in control of a PC being attacked, Microsoft's security response team may view the hole as less likely than most to be seriously exploited.

Stuart J. Johnston is a contributing writer at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals

It is all Linux- Android- Google Phone -Chrome OS

2010-01-06T11:59:00.002+02:00

http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html
It is all linux and Thin Clients and sometimes Disinformation about this.
Android , Google Phone Nexus One. Google Chrome OS.

Oracle Claims Victory Over EC; Says Sun Will Sell Clouds- from sys-con.com

2009-12-22T02:03:00.002+02:00

Oracle Claims Victory Over EC; Says Sun Will Sell Clouds

Oracle Keynote at Cloud Expo

Cloud Computing Expo - Oracle expects the European Commission to wave its acquisition of Sun through next month MySQL and all without any annoying conditions.

Oracle president Safra Catz, who’s been wrestling with the EC, said so when the company posted its fiscal second-quarter results Thursday, another reason Oracle’s going to have a Merry Christmas.

Catz took a bunch of Oracle users to an EC hearing a week ago to buttress the company’s claims that the EC had put words in users’ mouths to support the theory of harm it manufactured to try to stop Oracle from getting MySQL.

Oracle Named Exclusive Diamond Sponsor of Cloud Expo 2010

The meeting was backed by a write-in campaign from hundreds of users as well as a letter from the US Senate and a public statement from the Justice Department.

A grateful Catz said, “I want to thank all of our customers for the overwhelming support they have given us during this process.”

After further discussions with the agency over the weekend Oracle Monday made a few relatively non-restrictive promises regarding MySQL so the EC could leave the stage with its dignity intact. It still has until January 27. It will be curious to see it takes that long.

Oracle’s CEO Larry Ellison, who blamed the EC’s foot-dragging for Sun losing $100 million a month to rivals said he expects “Sun to rapidly improve both its market share and margins once this merger closes,” claiming that “Sun’s new Sparc Solaris system and Sun’s new Exadata database machine both run the Oracle database faster than IBM’s fastest computer.”

Ellison reckons the Exadata-style business is the future of computing and worth billions of dollars.

During a conference call Ellison said Sun had no talent for selling high-volume, low-margin x86 machines and would leave that business to Dell and HP. Instead it will focus on the high-performance end peddling SMP machines and private clouds based on both Sun Solaris operating system and Oracle’s Unbreakable Linux and complete with integrated storage and networking.

Oracle’s Q2 beat the Street and the numbers hint that enterprise spending might be coming back into fashion again.

Oracle earned $1.46 billion, or 29 cents a share, up 15%, on revenues up 4% to $5.9 billion, pushing past the $5.69 billion expected. On a non-GAAP basis it realized 39 cents a share, three cents better than expected.

New software license revenues were up 2% to $1.7 billion, versus the $1.54 billion expected. Software updates and support revenues were up 14% to $3.2 billion.

The company’s operating income was up 10% to $2.2 billion and operating margin was up 200 basis points to 37%. Operating cash flow on a trailing 12-month basis was $8.7 billion, up 7%.

In a prepared statement, CFO Jeff Epstein said, “We delivered results which were substantially better than we expected on both the top and bottom line, growing non-GAAP operating margins by 280 basis points to 49%, the highest Q2 non-GAAP operating margin in our history.”

Oracle claimed it took market share from SAP in every region around the world for the fourth consecutive quarter. President Charles Phillips said that in constant currency, “our applications business grew 1% in the Americas and 2% in Asia Pacific versus a negative 35% and negative 34% respectively for SAP.”

Catz said Sun, for all its losses, is still expected to bring Oracle $1.5 billion in operating income. Leaving Sun out – Oracle will redo its predictions next month – she forecast software license revenues to grow this quarter somewhere between minus 1% to up 9% and revenue to be up 3%-6% with non-GAAP ESP of 36 cents-38 cents

In 2 years very fast WIFI

2009-12-08T11:32:00.005+02:00

The future of WiFi: gigabit speeds and beyond

Now that 802.11n has been officially ratified, attention is turning to the next big thing in wireless networking: gigabit WiFi. Ars explores the future of WiFi and how it may give gigabit Ethernet a run for its money.

By Glenn Fleishman | Last updated December 7, 2009 8:15 AM
Press Title for full article

In a couple of years, crossing the 1Gbps threshold with a WiFi access point will be routine. That access point will likely have two radios, one for each major spectrum band, and support a host of older flavors for compatibility. Eventually, WiFi will approach the robustness and speed needed to make it a completely viable replacement for Ethernet for most users.

In today's pipeline are optional enhancements to 802.11n that have been in the works since the standard stabilized at the IEEE engineering group nearly three years ago. These enhancements will increase range and performance by up to a couple orders of magnitude, offering raw data rates of 450 Mbps and 600 Mbps.

The slated improvements will also correct for black holes, where current 802.11n gear's signals don't reach unless an excessive amount of overlapping devices are installed at relatively high expense. Even better, the boosts to 802.11n are just the start. A new IEEE committee is working on fast WiFi that will hit a raw encoding rate of 1 gigabit per second (Gbps).

(more at the Original article on the link above)

Oracle Announces Oracle® Rapid Planning

2009-11-20T18:43:00.003+02:00

Oracle Announces Oracle® Rapid Planning

New Value Chain Planning Product Promotes Real-Time Decision-Making

Redwood Shores, Calif. – November 16, 2009

News Facts

To improve companies’ ability to quickly adapt to unplanned supply chain events, Oracle today announced the availability of Oracle® Rapid Planning.

With Oracle Rapid Planning, customers will benefit from real-time, event driven planning and simulation that delivers quick, predictive and actionable intelligence, enabling planners to react quickly to changes.

Complementary to the existing suite of Oracle Value Chain Planning applications, Oracle Rapid Planning features out-of-the-box integration with the Oracle E-Business Suite and Oracle’s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. It also supports integration with ERP systems such as SAP or other legacy systems. This enables customers to leverage their existing IT investments, lower installation costs and maximize value.

Oracle Rapid Planning Drives Real-Time, Profitable Supply Chain Decisions

Companies must react quickly to events such as a sudden increase in demand, an urgent engineering change, an unexpected production shortfall or a supplier quality issue. Oracle Rapid Planning enables customers to benefit from:

Improved Planning Speed and Flexibility

Fast, event-driven, simultaneous material and capacity planning enables quick decision-making.

Rapid incremental simulation and embedded analytics enables user-driven “what-if” scenario analysis and plan performance evaluation and comparison.

Mass edit and manipulation of items, bills, routings, resources, capacity, supply and demand data promotes quick, user-driven “what if” capabilities, without requiring changing data in the ERP system.

Increased Planner Productivity

Next generation productivity enhancing spreadsheet style user interface supports configurable workspaces, filters and saved queries, and simultaneous analysis of exceptions, supply chain pegging, performance indicators and material and resource requirements.

Comprehensive Modeling Capabilities

Comprehensive configurable exception management increases planners’ productivity and response by focusing on the most important problem first.

Comprehensive supply chain constraint modeling and decision automation with support for alternates (resources, process, facilities, ship methods, components), substitution, lead times, order modifiers, and priority-based ranking enables improved plan quality.

Standards-based Solution

Standards-based technology enables scalability and lower cost deployment.

A nice Blog in Hebrew about Social Network Marketing

2009-11-13T22:36:00.002+02:00

Lipaz Mooskat
http://lipazmooskat.blogspot.com I discovered today and Hebrew Readers will like.

IBM launched the IBM Cloud Academy

2009-11-10T11:54:00.001+02:00

IBM today launched the IBM Cloud Academy, a global forum for educators, researchers and information technology (IT) personnel from the education industry to pursue cloud computing initiatives, develop skills and share best practices for reducing operating costs while improving quality and access to education

Dvir Reznik on Talking Innovation at IBM

2009-10-27T04:41:00.003+02:00

From Dvir:

"Do smarter people make smarter search engines?
Is it all about context?
Shouldn't non-techies be able to create online applications?"

USB stick converts PC to thin client

2009-10-10T12:25:00.003+02:00

October 07, 2009 Thin Client News www.thinclient.org

Customers simply plug the Converter into a PC and boot from it. The Igel firmware is automatically installed on the hard drive and a converted PC can then be managed as a thin client.

Continue reading "USB stick converts PC to thin client"

Opera 10 Since 1st September

2009-09-02T22:55:00.002+03:00

New in Opera 10

Exclusive Opera Turbo compression boosts slow connection speeds

Innovative visual tabs displays Web sites in thumbnails
Intuitive, sleek design
Easy-to-personalize Speed Dial visual bookmarks
Everything built-in, no need for extensions
It's free!

Free Software Foundation Attack MS Windows 7

2009-08-30T10:54:00.004+03:00

Windows 7 Sins: The case against Microsoft and proprietary software

from windows7sins.org by FSF

The new version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, Windows 7, has the same problem that Vista, XP, and all previous versions have had -- it's proprietary software. Users are not permitted to share or modify the Windows software, or examine how it works inside.

The fact that Windows 7 is proprietary means that Microsoft asserts legal control over its users through a combination of copyrights, contracts, and patents. Microsoft uses this power to abuse computer users. At windows7sins.org, the Free Software Foundation lists seven examples of abuse committed by Microsoft.

1. Poisoning education: Today, most children whose education involves computers are being taught to use one company's product: Microsoft's. Microsoft spends large sums on lobbyists and marketing to corrupt educational departments. An education using the power of computers should be a means to freedom and empowerment, not an avenue for one corporation to instill its monopoly.

2. Invading privacy: Microsoft uses software with backward names like Windows Genuine Advantage to inspect the contents of users' hard drives. The licensing agreement users are required to accept before using Windows warns that Microsoft claims the right to do this without warning.

3. Monopoly behavior: Nearly every computer purchased has Windows pre-installed -- but not by choice. Microsoft dictates requirements to hardware vendors, who will not offer PCs without Windows installed on them, despite many people asking for them. Even computers available with other operating systems like GNU/Linux pre-installed often had Windows on them first.

4. Lock-in: Microsoft regularly attempts to force updates on its users, by removing support for older versions of Windows and Office, and by inflating hardware requirements. For many people, this means having to throw away working computers just because they don't meet the unnecessary requirements for the new Windows versions.

5. Abusing standards: Microsoft has attempted to block free standardization of document formats, because standards like OpenDocument Format would threaten the control they have now over users via proprietary Word formats. They have engaged in underhanded behavior, including bribing officials, in an attempt to stop such efforts.

6. Enforcing Digital Restrictions Management (DRM): With Windows Media Player, Microsoft works in collusion with the big media companies to build restrictions on copying and playing media into their operating system. For example, at the request of NBC, Microsoft was able to prevent Windows users from recording television shows that they have the legal right to record.

7. Threatening user security: Windows has a long history of security vulnerabilities, enabling the spread of viruses and allowing remote users to take over people's computers for use in spam-sending botnets. Because the software is secret, all users are dependent on Microsoft to fix these problems -- but Microsoft has its own security interests at heart, not those of its users.

Examine the patent that made selling Microsoft Word a crime

2009-08-14T21:48:00.002+03:00

August 12th, 2009

Examine the patent that made selling Microsoft Word a crime

Microsoft is barred from selling any Microsoft Word products that can open XML files (.xml, .docx and .docm), according to a U.S. District Court ruling in favor of i4i, a small Canadian company that sued the software giant for patent infringement.
from zdnet http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=22595
PS. I thought XML is a Open Standard?!
Please Comment

Microsoft sees size as search answer in Yahoo deal

2009-08-04T10:23:00.002+03:00

From AP and Yahoo News,

Microsoft sees size as search answer in Yahoo deal

REDMOND, Wash. -
By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Technology Writer - Mon Aug 3, 2009 4:48PM EDT

Microsoft is hoping that a long-term partnership with rival Yahoo will give it the size and insight it needs to bring in more traffic, more advertisers and ultimately more revenue.

By handling Yahoo Inc.'s searches along with its own, Microsoft Corp. can learn more quickly what works and what doesn't. A smarter search engine might draw more Internet users, and more advertisers could follow, driving up prices.

Size, though, may wind up being far from the magic bullet that Microsoft is counting on in forging a 10-year partnership to power all Yahoo searches.

Search leader Google Inc. has had a head start in technical development, and Microsoft already has had plenty of search queries to analyze — yet it remains stuck at No. 3. Adding more data might not make a difference.

"They have lots of scale. They have lots of traffic. Even being the third-place player, they have huge amounts of data to understand their own relevancy," said Danny Sullivan, editor of the search news site Searchengineland.com. "I just don't know why they keep putting that argument out."

The deal still needs regulatory review on such issues as whether it will promote or hinder competition and how the two companies will share the personal data collected in searches.

If approved, Microsoft's technology will process Yahoo's searches behind the scenes. The only nod to Microsoft will appear — with credit placed at the bottom of the page — when a user gets results from a Web search.

In exchange, Microsoft will keep 12 percent of the ad revenue those searches generate. That's a better deal for Yahoo than most agreements of this sort, though the terms go up for review halfway through the deal.

Microsoft has yet to turn a profit on its search and advertising business despite having invested billions.

The software maker's stockholders so far have been guardedly positive about the deal, perhaps because it did not require a $9 billion upfront payment to Yahoo, a condition of a similar deal proposed last year. If Microsoft can't use this partnership to improve its search finances, though, they will eventually run out of patience.

Microsoft expects to spend up to $700 million to get the arrangement up and running, something that could take two years to fully deploy worldwide. It may spend up to $200 million within the next 12 months alone.

But the company believes it's worth it.

With the partnership, Microsoft will funnel Yahoo's nearly 3 billion monthly Web searches. Add that to the 1 billion Microsoft gets on its own, and the software maker will quadruple the queries it processes, allowing its search engine to gain even more insight into how to improve the experience.

Every move a search user makes is fed back into the system, so when the next person comes along with a similar problem, the search engine is a little bit smarter about solving it. For example, if five people in a row click on the fifth link on the results page for "Seattle Space Needle," the search engine — a sophisticated computer program — might try moving that link up to the top.

When search results give people what they're looking for right away, they're more likely to come back. It's a case of the sum totaling more than its parts: The deal is about more than simply combining search traffic from the two sites.

More people doing more searching on Microsoft-powered sites should then attract more companies wanting to peddle their products through short text ads next to search results. Some may not have bothered advertising on Microsoft and Yahoo separately, because as separate sites their audiences were too small to make up for the hassle of recreating Google search ad campaigns on a second and even a third system. Those advertisers may be enticed by the convenience and reach of this partnership, or by the idea of having a solid second place to spend their ad dollars to keep Google in check.

A bigger number of ads in the hopper gives Microsoft's technology a better chance of plucking out one that entices someone to click. The more times Microsoft watches someone click an ad — or not — the better its formula becomes for making the right match.

And because search ads are sold auction-style, more advertisers vying for those spots should drive up prices, ultimately helping Microsoft eke out a bit more from every ad it sells.

Right now, Microsoft estimates that Google gets 7 cents in ad revenue for every search, while Yahoo gets 4.3 cents and Microsoft gets 3.9 cents, according to a PowerPoint slide Microsoft mistakenly posted online.

Once Microsoft is handling Yahoo's searches, Microsoft predicts revenue per search for both companies will rise to 5 cents. Subtracting the commission Microsoft will pay Yahoo, Microsoft expects to start making a "decent" return of $400 million.

"The number of searchers is a vital driver of success," said Tim Cadogan, CEO of online advertising company OpenX and a former senior vice president in Yahoo's advertising division. "Being able to get nearly 30 percent catapults Microsoft from a tougher position to a more viable place from which they can build."

And build it must. Google gets about two-thirds of U.S. search queries, according to comScore Inc. Yahoo handled about a fifth of U.S. searches in June, and Microsoft fielded less than half of that. The partnership would bring the two companies' combined share to nearly 30 percent, still less than half of Google's total.

Staying a distant second to Google will leave Microsoft perpetually playing catch-up while Google keeps getting better. In other words, there are almost never enough data.

And that assumes size is all that's holding Microsoft back, a premise that Gartner analyst Andrew Frank described as "an overly simplistic view of Google's accomplishments."

Google had a head start on Microsoft and Yahoo in fine-tuning its search advertising system based on what works and what doesn't, making note of everything from the number of ads on a search results page to their exact size, placement, spacing and color.

When someone does a Web search, Google does more than simply spit out an ad that matches the keyword. Google weighs many factors to figure out how likely a user will click on an ad. An oft-clicked ad on a common search might be shown first, even if it brings in less revenue than a less popular but more lucrative one.

Microsoft has smart computer scientists working full-time on the same puzzle, but Google's lead is formidable, and Microsoft's devotion to search pales compared with cash cows like Office and Windows.

Ultimately, the Redmond, Wash.-based software maker may have to settle for something less tangible.

Google has been making incursions onto Microsoft's home turf, the software that makes computers run and helps people get their work done. By stepping up its game in search, Microsoft may ultimately force Google to focus on its core search engine rather than its fledgling software business, including a recently announced Chrome operating system that could challenge Windows.

Microsoft may be able to claim victory even if it cannot turn size into dramatic search revenue growth.

IBM Survey Claims Linux Desktops Easier to Deploy Than Expected

2009-05-24T10:34:00.003+03:00

IBM is waving around a study that it commissioned from Freeform Dynamics showing that Linux desktops go down better if the right group of users is targeted for deployment such as those who have moderate and predictable use of e-mail and office tools like transaction workers and general professional workers, folks who "aren't emotional" about their desktop.

The study confirmed that adoption of Linux on the desktop is driven primarily by cost reduction. Those surveyed indicated that both Windows and Linux can be adequately secured - it's just cheaper to secure a Linux desktop and maintain it that way.

IBM's VP of Linux and open source Bob Sutor claims Windows shops are going to have to evaluate the cost of migrating to Microsoft's next desktop and see that the Linux desktop as a PC investment will actually save money during this downturn.

"We see the recession fueling open source on the desktop," he said.

The research was done online in the UK, U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe and the Nordics and 90% of the study's respondents had direct experience with desktop Linux deployment in their business.

Thanks to : http://linux.sys-con.com/node/974706

Facebook Boosts Security After Dual Phishing Attacks

2009-05-20T11:27:00.001+03:00

Facebook Boosts Security After Dual Phishing Attacks

Patricia Resende, newsfactor.com Patricia Resende, newsfactor.com Fri May 1, 12:18 pm ET

Facebook has brought in some soldiers to fight the war against malware and phishing scams on the social-networking site. After two different malware attacks this week, Facebook announced it would begin using San Francisco-based MarkMonitor's antifraud services as an additional layer of protection against attacks.

"Our deep commitment to the safety of our users requires a strong proactive security strategy, best-of-breed technology, and active engagement with industry leaders," said Ryan McGeehan, threat analyst at Facebook. "MarkMonitor demonstrated that it understood the complexity of the phishing issue we were facing, so it was a natural next step for us to bolster our own security systems with their anti-malware solution."

Users Victimized

This week some of Facebook's 200 million users were victims of phishing attacks. One attack took control of users' accounts, sending messages to their friends telling them to check out a specific Web site, fbstar.com. The other incident pointed victims to fbaction.net.

Andy Cutler, a partner in Cutler and Company, was not aware his account had been under the control of a hacker until he received several e-mail and text messages alerting him that his account been phished.

"The first thing I did for survival was to go into my Facebook account and change my password," Cutler said. "I just figured if someone hacked my account, I was not going to tear down the page but to change my password, and I did post a notice on Facebook saying I had been phished and apologized."

Cutler's hacker did some damage by sending a total of 19 different messages averaging 20 different people per message. For Cutler it could have been a communications disaster, as he has 495 friends in his Facebook account.

Trust Breached

While the attack didn't cause any major problems to Cutler and his friends, it did hurt Facebook's reputation.

"I tell you what it did do for me -- it put Facebook in a different light for me than other social-network tools," Cutler said. "I'm pretty active in Twitter and Facebook has been a way to keep up with people in my networks, but I have to say I was disappointed in Facebook that this can get through their security system."

Aarin Morrow of Denver thought she was pretty tech-savvy until she became a victim of the fbaction.net attack.

"What happened is a friend of mine was a victim the day before with fbaction.net and I'm very computer tech-savvy and still clicked on it and stupidly logged in," Morrow said. "I said this is weird and e-mailed my friend and asked about the link, and he said he didn't send it."

Morrow became a victim again the next day with the fbstar.com attack. A total of 45 of Morrow's Facebook friends received the message "Look at This," pointing the friends to the fbstar.com Web site.

"What is unfortunate about this is that MySpace got spammed with stuff like this and Facebook never had those problems, but no one is exempt from having this issue happening," she said. "In the future I will be more cautious."

Obligation To Users

"I think FB has an obligation to its users to say please don't fall for this scam," Cutler said. "By allowing the system to be hacked, it created a catch-22 for them. People now have negative feelings toward the company and it impacts the way people view them and their communication because they don't know if they can trust their communication."

This isn't the first time Facebook has had to deal with malware issues. In February, users were dealing with another scam where hackers took control of users' accounts and sent out messages to their friends asking for financial help after being robbed. In some cases, Facebook had to disable the accounts and users had to create new accounts.

"The meteoric success of Facebook makes it a natural target for malware attacks that seek to capitalize on their trusted and recognizable brand," said Frederick Felman, chief marketing officer of MarkMonitor.

"The MarkMonitor technology and 24/7 security operations center are key to helping Facebook fight phishing and malware," said Te Smith, a spokesperson for MarkMonitor.

When MarkMonitor verifies a malicious site, it updates phish-site block lists for its network of popular browsers, security vendors, and e-mail providers. Then it takes down the malicious site to get it off the Internet.

News From Symbio and Argus- Secure Thin Clients.

2009-05-18T20:29:00.002+03:00

Argus Systems and Symbio Technologies Deliver the Ultimate MLS Server Security Solution

May 13, 2009--Symbio Technologies (www.symbio-technologies.com), provider of state of the art Stateless Computing Solutions and Argus Systems Group (www.argus-systems.com), provider of Multi-Level (MLS) Operating Systems and Services, today announced their full collaboration to provide MLS server-centric stateless computing solutions. Utilizing Symbio's Stateless Thin Client and Boot Stick solutions, and Argus's PitBull MLS solutions for Solaris 10, users may now work in a totally secure MLS environment, while retaining high security levels at the client side.

The combined solution provides the ultimate package of MLS server security, providing ironclad security at, to, and from the server as well as reducing risk at the client access end points. Attempts at malicious use or access of confidential or secret information is further mitigated by the use of Symbio's stateless solutions, leaving no viable information at the end points where it can be compromised, while Argus's PitBull for Solaris 10 provides the MLS server protection.

Customers will be able to connect to highly secure systems using a number of methods. Existing computing infrastructure such as any desktop computer, laptop, or netbook can be utilized via the Symbio Boot Stick to provide secure Virtual Network Connections (VNC) to the PitBull Protected MLS server. Additionally, thin client desktop solutions from Symbio can be implemented using the same technology. VNC connections can also be accepted by the PitBull protected server via wireless connections. This provides the security of remaining stateless at the client side, protected by Argus's MLS PitBull, all while being fully mobile and without the hassle of being physically connected to the network.

Additionally, customers will be able to retain the highest levels of data security at the source and at the end points, while embracing the future of server-centric computing and the green initiative. The solution provides reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO) through reduced power requirements at the client side, and the reduction of associated infrastructure and maintenance costs of having full systems at the client side. Full leveraging of the combined Symbio and Argus solution will greatly increase information data security, and reduce the costs of maintaining the IT infrastructure.

Argus Systems Group will be at the DoDIIS Worldwide Conference 2009 in Orlando, Florida providing a full working demonstration of the combined capabilities of Symbio's stateless solutions, and Argus's ironclad MLS server security. Come to booth #941 for a demonstration and to get specifics on this exciting new technology.

About Symbio Technologies

Symbio Technologies is a leading developer and marketer of security-centric stateless computing which reduces the complexity and cost of deploying and maintaining networks. Symbio's products are available worldwide through a network of distributors, value-added resellers and integrators in Australia, Canada, Chile, Egypt, Mexico, Pakistan, South Africa, and the U.K., as well as throughout the U.S.

Smarter Planet- Special Mid-Market

2009-05-12T12:38:00.004+03:00

Smarter Planet for the Mid-Market with IBM and Chana Systems

PartnerWorld

Something meaningful is happening today. The world is getting flatter, smaller and smarter. And, as an IBM Business Partner, you are part of this revolution - and the solutions. Through you, companies can work smarter and uncover new value in technology - especially in the mid-market, where opportunity is greatest.
IBM Smarter Planet IBM.com/smarterplanet

Works with Linux. Thanks to jerusalemonline. Good Things Under the SUN

2009-04-26T10:43:00.002+03:00

Thanks to jerusalemonline.com we can watch tv2 News Round Up in English and as you can see it works on Linux, Not like some MS only Websites.

SUN bought up happily by Oracle and not by IBM.
Hope our customers will use Linux SUN Oracle IBM with our help.
To Prepare for Tomorrows Business.

Ehud Tenenbaum at it again???

2009-03-26T19:24:00.001+02:00

Israeli hacker suspected of $10m theft

Ehud Tenenbaum, a notorious Israeli hacker arrested in Canada last year in relation to the theft of around $1.5 million, is now suspected of breaking into the systems of four US institutions as part of a global "cashout" conspiracy that resulted in the loss of at least $10 million.

In 1998 Tenenbaum gained notoriety as "The Analyzer" after being arrested following hacks on computer systems used by the Pentagon, Nasa, the Israeli parliament and Hamas.

In August he made the news again as one of four gang members arrested by Canadian police for allegedly stealing C$2 million by hacking the database of a Calgary-based business and loading money onto pre-paid cards.

The gang allegedly compromised the company's computer system and loaded money onto the pre-paid debit cards before withdrawing the cash at ATMs in Canada and several other countries.

He was granted bail by a Canadian court but was detained after US authorities asked for him to be kept in jail while they worked on extradition.

Details of the US allegations have now emerged after Wired magazine obtained an affidavit filed by officials with the Canadian court handling Tenenbaum's extradition case.

According to the affidavit, in January and February 2008 a US Secret Service investigation into a computer hacking "conspiracy" against banks and other firms, uncovered attacks on the systems of Texas-based OmniAmerican Credit Union and pre-paid card distributor Global Cash Card.

The attacker allegedly gained access using a SQL injection before stealing credit and debit card numbers that were then used to withdraw more than $1 million from ATMs around the world.

In April and May 2008, authorities investigated further SQL injection attacks on 1st Source Bank in Indiana, and pre-paid debit card processor Symmetrex, which resulted in losses of over $3 million.

The Secret Service traced the attacks to servers in Virginia acting as a routing point for systems at Dutch Web hosting company LeaseWeb.

Authorities in the Netherlands were asked to track and intercept traffic from three servers, resulting in the discovery of communications thought to be between Tenenbaum - using the e-mail address Analyzer22@hotmail.com - and other known criminals discussing the four hacks as well as moves against "many other" financial institutions.

According to the affidavit, in an MSN instant messenger conversation, on 18 April 2008, Tenenbaum revealed that he was responsible for hacking into the network of Global Cash Card, adding "yesterday I rechecked [Global Cash Card] they are still blocking everything. so we cant hack them again."

He also exchanged over 150 compromised card numbers stolen from Symmetrex.

On 20 April, the affidavit says he received updates on a "cashout" operation, where accomplices used stolen card data to withdraw money from ATMs in the US, Russia, Turkey and Canada, among others.

"Tenenbaum stated that after paying his cashers, he earned approximately "350 - 400," which, based on this investigation, most likely refers to 350,000 to 400,000 dollars or euros," says the affidavit.

Authorities say identifying Tenenbaum as Analyzer22@hotmail.com was surprisingly easy - he used his real name and date of birth to register for the account.

In addition, someone using an IP address registered to Internet Labs Secure, where he was a director, accessed the hotmail account. The address was also used to access the network of Global Cash Card and check and increase the balances of compromised accounts.

IBM Gets into Thin Clients with Wyse

2009-03-24T17:55:00.005+02:00

IBM Gets into Thin Clients with Wyse

DATE: 2009-03-23By Lawrence Walsh Channel Insider

Add This Article To:

As part of the Virtualized Infrastructure Access (VIA) initiative, IBM will resell Wyse Technology thin client devices and software. IBM and Wyse are looking to replace conventional desktop and notebook PCs in certain settings, putting IBM back in the PC business.

In a slim way, IBM is getting back into the personal computing business through a new partnership with Wyse Technology, the market leading provider of thin client systems. Under a new alliance, IBM will resell direct and through partners Wyse thin client technology in service-oriented engagements.

IBM has been focused on building out its Virtualized Infrastructure Access (VIA) initiative, a series of solutions designed to optimize and enable data center driven application delivery and simplified systems management.

Wyse’s desktop and notebook thin client technology fills a critical gap in IBM’s VIA strategy by providing both the software layer and hardware devices for arm business users with thin client computing, streaming applications and virtualized desktop environments.

“IBM is responding to customers’ wishes to deploy thin client technologies, but can afford the data center deployment on something like the Citrix model,” says Jeff McNaught, chief marketing and security officer at Wyse.

In addition to reselling Wyse products, IBM will work with Wyse to develop thin client solutions, application streaming applications and new client hardware that extend the usability and value of thin client architecture.

Wyse’s thin client operating system and technology provides a useful layer that extends the life of legacy systems while capturing the benefits of thin client economies, says Jan Jackman, vice president of global end users services at IBM Global Technology Services. Virtualization is consolidating and optimizing the data center, but many of the existing applications require modification before they can be streamed to desktops and end points. Wyse’s technology can stream legacy apps, giving users valuable time to make changes to their applications.

“Thirty years of applications have been written for a fat client and they can’t be rewritten overnight,” she says. “Application stream allows for the use of the current applications while legacy apps are rewritten for a SOA [service oriented architecture],” Jackman says.

Over the past 12 months, thin client computing has gained interest among business technology consumers looking to decrease their costs in physical devices, endpoint management and power. Thin clients have a TCO savings of 20 percent to 40 percent on reduced electrical consumption. Additionally, management is simplified and reduced since all maintenance happens in the data center and images are standardized.

Security is an added benefit to thin clients, particularly in financial institutions and health care environments, where privacy and data integrity is enhanced by the lack of disc-drives and USB ports on the thin client end point.

“A lot of clients don’t have the technical capacity and would like to buy computing as a service,” Jackman says. “As this trend evolves and more services move to the cloud, the virtualized client will take on greater interest.”

Ironically, IBM’s partnership with Wyse will pit it against its former PC business unit now owned by Lenovo. IBM and Wyse say their VIA solutions will look to replace PCs in certain environments, such as call centers and banks. While thin clients are experiencing a bit of a renaissance, PC manufacturers are experiencing steep declines in PC sales – both desktop and notebooks – as business consumers extend the life of existing clients. Analyst firm Gartner predicts PC sales will decline nearly 12 percent this year.

“You probably could argue that with the promotion of the desktop thin client model, especially since the beginning of the year, so you have to ask where the thin client market overlaps with the conventional PC market,” says Charles King, an analyst at Pund-IT.

While IBM is targeting PC users with its thin client solutions, it rejects the notion that it’s competing directly with PC manufacturers such as Lenovo.

“We sold the PC business because it’s a commodity business and our desires to move toward business in services and applications,” Jackman says. “The Web has changed everything to be more services oriented.”

She adds, “This isn’t going to replace every PC, but it will replace PC deployments in certain user groups and build out from there.”

Wyse is a leader in thin client devices and software. It competes directly and indirectly with Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sun Microsystems and Lenovo.

“A lot of the vendors believe thin clients is the place to be over the next 12 to 24 months, so they’re looking to embrace it,” King says

IBM will sell Wyse products and jointly developed thin client solutions through its direct sales force as well as channel reseller partners.

French Police Save Millions With Ubuntu, OpenOffice

2009-03-22T02:12:00.002+02:00

A recent report has revealed that France's national police force has saved an estimated 50 million euros since 2004 by adopting open source software and migrating a portion of the organization's workstations to Ubuntu Linux. They plan to roll out the Linux distro to all 90,000 of their workstations by 2015.

When job seekers invade Facebook. Social Networking.

2009-03-08T20:29:00.004+02:00

When job seekers invade Facebook

summary of article on: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com

The increasing popularity of online social networking is changing not only the way people manage their careers but social networking itself.

MARCH 2009 • Soumitra Dutta and Matthew Fraser

As the downturn continues, millions of corporate managers—gripped by the job jitters—are rushing to join online social networks in a scramble to build their social capital. The popularity of sites such as LinkedIn is soaring: less than a year ago the site had little brand profile and was seen mostly as a venue for corporate suits trolling for professional contacts while plotting their next career move. Facebook, by contrast, has largely attracted individuals seeking a compelling site for fun social networking.

Today LinkedIn’s year-on-year growth is up nearly 200 percent in the United States and it now has more than 35 million members—many of whom were formerly employed within the hard-hit financial sector. And it’s just one of the many sites to which recession-struck managers are flocking: Xing (based in Germany), with its 7 million members and special Lehman Brothers alumni section, and Meet the Boss (based in the United Kingdom), which restricts membership to C-level financial types, are also experiencing burgeoning membership levels.

Red Hat Moves to Expand Server Virtualization Interoperability

2009-02-28T21:33:00.001+02:00

Red Hat Moves to Expand Server Virtualization Interoperability

Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Microsoft Windows Server to be validated and supported on the companies' corresponding virtualization platforms

RALEIGH, N.C. - February 16, 2009 - Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced that, in response to strong customer demand, it has signed reciprocal agreements with Microsoft Corporation to enable increased interoperability for the companies' virtualization platforms. Each company will join the other's virtualization validation/certification program and will provide coordinated technical support for their mutual server virtualization customers. The reciprocal validations will allow customers to deploy heterogeneous, virtualized Red Hat and Microsoft solutions with confidence.

"The world of IT today is a mixture of virtualized and non-virtualized environments. Red Hat is looking to help our customers extend more rapidly into virtualized environments, including mixed Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Windows Server environments," said Mike Evans, vice president, Corporate Development at Red Hat. "Red Hat listened when our customers asked us to provide interoperability between our respective guest and host virtualization solutions. We are excited to announce these agreements today as the result of our collaboration with Microsoft."

With the efforts being undertaken today through this announcement, Red Hat and Microsoft customers will have the ability to run Microsoft Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux virtual servers on either host environment with configurations that will be tested and supported by both virtualization and operating system leaders.

The key components of the reciprocal agreements are:

Red Hat will validate Windows Server guests to be supported on Red Hat Enterprise virtualization technologies.
Microsoft will validate Red Hat Enterprise Linux server guests to be supported on Windows Server Hyper-V and Microsoft Hyper-V Server.
Once each company completes testing, customers with valid support agreements will receive coordinated technical support for running Windows Server operating system virtualized on Red Hat Enterprise virtualization, and for running Red Hat Enterprise Linux virtualized on Windows Server Hyper-V and Microsoft Hyper-V Server.

"Customers are rapidly adopting Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and in doing so are interested in support for running more operating systems on Hyper-V in their virtualized environment, including those from Red Hat," said Mike Neil, general manager of Virtualization Strategy at Microsoft. "We welcome Red Hat's participation in our Server Virtualization Validation Program and look forward to ongoing collaboration with them to bring the benefits of coordinated technical support to our customers for their heterogeneous IT environments."

"Physical hardware doesn't care what operating system is installed on top of it, and virtual hardware provided by a hypervisor should be no different," said Gary Chen, Research Manager, Enterprise Virtualization Software at IDC. "Most customers run heterogeneous networks and having interoperability between these two major platforms will make virtualizing these environments much easier for enterprise customers. IDC research shows that Windows and Red Hat Enterprise Linux are two of the main operating environments deployed by enterprises, accounting for 80% of the x86 operating systems running on hypervisors. It is great to see two of the big platform vendors put aside their competitive differences and put the customer first."

The agreements establish coordinated technical support for Microsoft and Red Hat's mutual customers using server virtualization, and the activities included in these agreements do not require the sharing of IP. Therefore, the agreements do not include any patent or open source licensing rights, and additionally contain no financial clauses, other than industry-standard certification/validation testing fees.

Validations for Red Hat and Microsoft server virtualization solutions included in the reciprocal certification and support agreements are underway today, with the first results expected later this year.

Dangerous Worm on Windows

2009-02-15T00:57:00.001+02:00

January 22, 2009

Downadup/Conficker worm

We saw a large amount of infections from the Downadup worm last month. This worm is also known as Conficker or Kido and is able to spread very quickly because it uses 3 effective ways to propogate:

Exploits a Windows vulnerability MS08-067. The patch was released a long time ago but there are still a lot of unpatched computers.
Exploiting network shares with weak or no passwords. The worm contains a list of common passwords - a good reason to use strong passwords.
Copies itself to removable media, usually USB sticks. Using the AutoRun function (creates autorun.inf file)

The first versions of Downadup were seen at the start of December 08 and until now we have observed more than 300 different variants. All known variants are detected and healed by AVG. Besides spreading, the worm can also download other malware and can redirect legitimate URLs access to various other malicious webpages.

We strongly recommend that you install all of the latest security patches for your version of Windows.

Lotusphere from Dvir of IBM

2009-02-03T11:54:00.001+02:00

http://dvirreznik.blogspot.com/2009/02/channelweb-17-scenes-from-lotusphere.html

Oracle on saving costs with linux

2009-01-24T01:27:00.001+02:00

http://www.oracle.com/technologies/linux/linuxcutcost.html
" Cut Costs Now
With decreasing budgets and increasing demands, IT professionals are under constant pressure to do more with less. And as an open source operating system, Linux is an attractive enterprise choice for several reasons-portability across a variety of commodity hardware architectures, an active community of contributors, and zero license cost."

US Security Experts Fear 'Cybergeddon'

2009-01-11T03:24:00.000+02:00

US Security Experts Fear 'Cybergeddon'
Agence France Presse (01/07/09)

Shawn Henry, cyber division assistant director at the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), says that beyond weapons of mass destruction, cyberattacks pose the greatest threat to the United States. U.S. experts warn of a "cybergeddon" in which an advanced society that has most of its major infrastructure systems linked to or completely controlled by computers is sabotaged by hackers. Henry says terrorist groups are working to create a virtual 9/11 that would inflict the same kind of damage to the U.S. as the 9/11 attacks did. Last year, Russian hackers allegedly launched a major offensive against Internet networks in Estonia and Georgia, and Palestinian sympathizers have coordinated attacks against hundreds of Israeli Web sites over the past few days. "We're seeing that the folks on the cutting edge of this tend to be the bad guys," says the FBI's Donald Codling. "It's extraordinarily difficult for us to catch them." The FBI's Christopher Painter says cyberattacks are particularly dangerous because the threat is largely invisible and not always taken seriously as a result. "It's hard to get your head around the threat," Painter says. "We often discover a company has been attacked and we tell them that and they don't know."

Information Technology and Gaza Operation

2009-01-11T01:34:00.003+02:00

Media Matters: Cloudy skies over Gaza :Jpost

Chanasys: Technology not the Same in Gaza Conflict compared to 2006 Lebanon 2

From the Jerusalem Post

Jan. 8, 2009 Media Matters: Cloudy skies over Gaza
Ruthie Blum Leibowitz , THE JERUSALEM POST

As missiles from Gaza continue to bombard the South, the entire country is being blitzed by another airborne force: the news. This is as natural as it is necessary.

Operation Cast Lead is the story - the only one, other than the weather report, that anyone is really interested in right now. Proof of this lies in Channel 10's decision to take the hit, Survivor - the second season of which began with a bang, so to speak - off the air "until further notice."

This future date could be, say, when there's a cease-fire, or another reason for reality shows to resume receiving higher ratings than reality itself. You know, the point at which the parents of combat soldiers, whose cellphones are confiscated before they enter the battle zone, no longer need to rely on reports from the field to feel connected to their sons. That this connection is a bit of an illusion, since crews have been reporting from the home front, not from inside Gaza, makes little difference. As one worried father put it this week, "I'm like a junkie who can't tear myself away from the TV, even though it tells me nothing of my boy's actual whereabouts or condition."

He is not alone in his addiction. And the media are dutifully supplying the national drug.

So much for why the news barrage is natural. Why it is necessary goes even deeper.

The media have become a chief branch of society, government and even of the IDF, whichever way you slice the pie chart.

This is not to say that the press is controlled by any of the above. On the contrary, if anyone has been calling the shots in recent years it's been the "watchdogs of democracy." Well, they and their rival for influence on politicians - the polls.

There is no getting around the fact that the media have become central players in all dramas-of-state, whether that state is democratic (in which case the production is improvised) or totalitarian (in which case it is staged).

Nor can anyone deny that modern technology is as responsible for the phenomenon as it is manipulated by it. When amateurs and professionals alike have access to digital equipment and the Web, photos, footage and ongoing commentary fly around cyberspace as freely as Kassams, Grads and Katyushas do over Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beersheba and Nahariya, to name but a few of the locales within Hamas and Hizbullah rocket range.

As a result, a country like Israel, which has been under physical and ideological assault since its establishment, is in a constant quantitative and qualitative information predicament. And never is this predicament more apparent than when the country is engaged in an actual war.

Quantitatively, Israel is at an information-dissemination disadvantage by virtue of its small size and that of the sum of its supporters worldwide. This is not new, nor is it the main problem. Public diplomacy on the part of people unwilling to lie in order to convey a message simply has to be heavier on the brains than on the brawn. It's a challenge, to be sure, but one that is as accepted as it is assumed.

It's the qualitative predicament that presents the larger quandary. As a democracy with a free press - and a foreign one greeted with a welcome mat and red-carpet treatment - Israel is like an open book. This means that it has many editors and even more critics.

We wouldn't have it any other way. But neither would those who don't have its best interests at heart.

HERE IS where the army enters an arena that we in the media normally would view as our sacred space, never to be invaded. Under any other circumstances, the curtailing of our freedom of expression would be construed as a ground invasion into our sovereign territory.

Indeed, even under the current circumstances, correspondents and editors often are chagrined when the Military Censor's Office exercises its might. At best, we feel inconvenienced by being coerced into submitting our work to a body viewed by many of us as anachronistic in the age of the Internet. It seems silly to remove certain details from an article or a broadcast, when the very same ones are being revealed elsewhere for all to see. Even more ridiculous: An item that is given the heads-up one day by the censor's office might be nixed the next, depending on the staff member whose shift it is.

Still, we also recognize and respect its task: to prevent the leakage of information that could endanger individuals, jeopardize national security or - no less important - cause emotional pain to families of fallen soldiers or civilians. It is for this reason that, in spite of our bitching and moaning, we uphold the written law as we would an unspoken code of honor.

This wasn't always our behavior. During the Second Lebanon War, clashes between journalists and the censor erupted over coverage of troop movements and casualties. There was a lack of coordination and rumors ran wild. There were even cases of parents learning that their sons had been wounded or even killed through TV channels, rather than military ones.

Among other lessons supposedly learned from the failures of that war was the importance of caution and restraint where exposing details of military operations is concerned. This is why extra care is being taken by reporters not to reveal the exact location of missile hits, for example - a rule the censor insists is golden, as is keeping quiet about which missiles turned out to be duds, which fell into the sea and which struck strategic targets or IDF bases. According to guidelines released by the censor's office at the start of Operation Cast Lead at the end of December, the purpose of the above is to prevent the "other side" from being able to adjust its rocket launchings, based on details of their landings.

KEEPING A haze over the precise goings-on of the operation may be responsible journalistic practice, but it creates a different kind of difficulty for members of the press, particularly those on screen. Which brings us back to the original point.

Filling up hours upon hours of airtime with the news everyone so craves these days is no easy feat when much of that news is censored. This has led to the phenomenon of there being more punditry provided than actual reportage. One can't help but feel sorry for the likes of Channel 1's Yoav Limor and Yinon Magal - for instance - standing in the cold, on camera, with a vague, dark Gaza skyline in the background, trying to blah-blah their way intelligently through entire broadcasts.

Then there are the endless interviews in the studio with ex-generals and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome experts, Mideast analysts - and regular appearances by the Home Front Command's Col. Gil Shenhar, reiterating procedures for the public follow prior to, during and after an attack.

This should only be our worst problem in the upcoming days.

Chanasys: Do Google on Generation Facebook by Mona Eltahawy

I call it Overcoming the FaceBook War.

Amazon says 2008 holiday season was 'best ever'

2008-12-27T03:42:00.003+02:00

SEATTLE - Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. called this holiday season its "best ever," saying Friday that it saw a 17 percent increase in orders on its busiest day — a rare piece of good news in a season that has been far from merry for most retailers, including online businesses.

Amazon customers ordered more than 6.3 million items on Dec. 15, compared with roughly 5.4 million on its peak day last year, the company said. It shipped more than 5.6 million products on its best day, a 44 percent rise over 2007, when it shipped about 3.9 million on its busiest day.

The company did not provide dollar figures and wouldn't say whether the average value of orders had changed, and the jumps it reported Friday are in line with increases Amazon has seen since it started releasing the figures in 2002.

Amazon's best-sellers included the Nintendo Wii game console, Samsung's 52-inch LCD HDTV and Apple Inc.'s iPod touch.

Analysts agreed Amazon's report was good news for the online shopping giant, but they were divided over whether the results indicate strength in online commerce in general.

Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru said Amazon's experience shows the current economy is favoring discount retailers, both online and offline.

"The Amazon story doesn't surprise me because Amazon has always traditionally been a leader on price, and they're one of the first places consumers go when they're looking for things online," Mulpuru said. "In many ways they're like the Wal-Mart of the online world."

Wal-Mart is one of very few traditional retailers where revenue has risen this holiday season over last.

Holiday sales typically account for 30 percent to 50 percent of a retailer's annual total, but rising unemployment, home foreclosures, the stock market decline and other economic worries led many shoppers to slash their shopping budgets this year.

SpendingPulse — a division of MasterCard Advisors — said its preliminary data show that online sales fell 2.3 percent compared with the 2007 holiday season, while retail sales overall fell 5.5 percent to 8 percent, including sales of cars and gasoline. The decline was 2 percent to 4 percent when auto and gas sales are excluded.

Online shopping may have gotten a boost from winter storms during last two weeks before Christmas, which made travel to brick-and-mortar stores more difficult.

And, although Amazon's orders rose, the company didn't say whether orders were, on average, worth more or less than last year. Spokeswoman Sally Fouts said the company would release revenue results in its fourth-quarter earnings report, due in about a month.

But she said this was Amazon's "best season ever."

Orders to Amazon on the peak day of its holiday season have jumped in the double-digit percentage range for at least the past 5 years, according to data released by the Seattle, Wash.-based company since 2002. Last year, Amazon's orders spiked 35 percent to 5.4 million at their peak, from 4 million in 2006.

Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Scott Devitt said online retailers' sales tend to grow much faster than those of brick-and-mortar retailers, but he said that difference narrowed this year. That's in part because shoppers tend to go to stores for necessities and online for discretionary purchases, he said. And in an economic downturn, consumers focus on their most-needed purchases and cut back on more frivolous items.

Devitt said Amazon benefited from a vast infrastructure that allows for faster, more reliable shipping than most of its online peers offer. He called Amazon's announcement an "extremely positive data point" and said the company is "uniquely positioned to do well in an environment like this."

That environment has left many retailers in a tough position. NPD Group senior retail analyst Marshal Cohen said they will be forced in coming weeks to take still more drastic measures to drive sales and raise whatever cash flow they can.

Amazon's shares gained 34 cents to close Friday at $51.78, a 0.7 percent rise.

___

AP Business Writer Lauren Shepherd contributed to this story from New York.

Haaretz: YouTube allows Web users to interview Israel's future prime minister

2008-12-23T10:40:00.001+02:00

w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m

_{Last update - 01:36 23/12/2008}

YouTube allows Web users to interview Israel's future prime minister

_{By Oded Yaron, Haaretz Correspondent}

The 2009 elections appear to be the first in which the political system has been invaded by the internet and its tools. With more and more resources being invested in Israel in online campaigning, and with politicians' blogs and videos being virally disseminated via email, the influence of the recent U.S. election is apparent.

Now, a Channel 2 news initiative, in cooperation with the popular video sharing website YouTube, is riding the America-style elections trend with a new interactive Web page devoted to the upcoming general elections.

The page, (http://www.youtube.com/Elections09), invites internet users to upload 25-second videos addressing Israel's political candidates with questions. The page's viewers will be able to vote on the uploaded videos, and the most popular entries will be aired on Channel 2 and answered live by the candidates themselves.

In addition, the project promises that the winning entrants will be invited to the Channel 2 news studio to take part in a live interview with the prime ministerial candidates.

Related articles:

Elections 2009 YouTube video sharing page

Anti-Defamation League joins YouTube to fight online hate

VIDEO / YouTube pranksters have Hitler raving about Obama, Xbox

eweek:Ubuntu Remains Best Linux Distribution for Desktops

2008-12-03T20:11:00.002+02:00

Ubuntu Remains Best Linux Distribution for Desktops

The latest version of Canonical’s Linux distribution, Ubuntu 8.10, still outshines the Linux desktop offerings from Red Hat and Novell, and is the best open-source alternative to Microsoft and Apple operating systems. However, both Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux and Novell’s SUSE distributions are ahead of Ubuntu 8.10 in the server space.

Canonical's Ubuntu 8.10, the latest version of the popular Linux-based operating system for desktops and servers, hit the Internet in early November bearing a modest assortment of updates to the open-source software components that compose it.

Based on my tests of Ubuntu 8.10—which is more fancifully known as the Intrepid Ibex—I maintain that Ubuntu is, without question, the best Linux distribution available for desktops, and the ablest open-source rival to the more broadly used desktop operating systems from Microsoft and Apple.

That's because, while most Linux distributions come with the same software components, Ubuntu distinguishes itself with its attention to usability, its large selection of ready-to-install software packages, and its large community of users and contributors.

Check out eWEEK Labs' walk-through of Canonical's Ubuntu 8.10.

If there's a piece of Linux-supporting software that you wish to run, the chances are good that it's available in prepackaged form for Ubuntu. The same goes for hardware components, where Ubuntu's support is among the broadest of any Linux distribution.

What's more, through its various platforms for facilitating communication and collaboration among its users and developers, the Ubuntu project does a good job corralling the questions and answers, bug testing, and integration grunt work of its large community into a body of knowledge and solutions that's readily accessible from your search engine of choice.

For instance, I tested Ubuntu 8.10 with an MSI Wind U100 netbook, which ships with a Realtech wireless adapter that none of the Linux kernel's built-in drivers supports. I searched for a suitable driver for Ubuntu, for Red Hat's Fedora and for Novell's OpenSUSE distributions, and found compilation instructions for a suitable driver for all three. However, for Ubuntu, I also found a precompiled, packaged and ready-to-install driver that had been produced by a volunteer community member.

Among alternate desktop Linux options, Ubuntu 8.10's stiffest competition is the distribution's elder sibling, Ubuntu 8.04, which is also known as the Hardy Heron release. Version 8.04 was a Long Term Support release, which Canonical pledges to provide with updates and support for three years in its desktop incarnations, and five years in server installations.

Ubuntu 8.10, in contrast, will be supported for 18 months before its update pipeline closes, requiring users to upgrade to a newer version. Fortunately, Ubuntu is very easy to upgrade, either from a bootable CD or USB media, or in-place, using the system's Update Manager.

Wikipedia goes to Ubuntu/Computerworld

2008-10-10T22:40:00.004+02:00

Wikipedia simplifies IT infrastructure by moving to one Linux vendor

It's moving 400 servers to Ubuntu Linux from a mix of Red Hat and Fedora

Todd R. Weiss

October 9, 2008 (Computerworld) Since the free, online Wikipedia user-created encyclopedia began in 2001, the Linux-based IT infrastructure behind it has been expanded and lassoed together to keep up with the demands of the popular Web site.

That meant that often it was haphazardly expanded by tossing in a new server with a different operating system each time. Over five years, the servers were running a variety of versions of Red Hat Linux and Red Hat Fedora, making it more complicated to install applications and maintain the servers.

Soon, that problem will be gone.

In a few months, Wikipedia will finish a major transformation by moving from a combination of versions of Red Hat products to Ubuntu Linux Version 8.04 on all 400 of its servers that support the Web site.

The changeover began in 2006 as the growth of the site took off, said Brion Vibber, CTO of the San Francisco-based Wikimedia Foundation Inc., the nonprofit group that supports the online Wikipedia encyclopedia and other projects.

“We had a mix of things: some Red Hat 9, some Fedora – several different versions,” Vibber said. The group used a custom-scripted installation procedure, but found that having a multitude of versions was more difficult to maintain for its small five-person IT staff around the world.

The move to all-Ubuntu was primarily done with the goal of “making our own administration and maintenance simpler,” he said. “We decided that we want to standardize on something.”

The switch has been done over time, starting with caching proxy servers in 2006 and moving on to other servers in segments. Today, the group is continuing to transition its main application Web servers to Ubuntu as part of its regular maintenance schedule, Vibber said.

Most of the group’s 400 servers are in a data center in Tampa, Fla., while a few reside in secondary data centers in South Korea and Amsterdam.

“It definitely has gotten a lot simpler,” Vibber said. Mass upgrades can be done more easily, and the data center can be managed as a unit, he said.

“We can run the same combination everywhere, and it does the same thing” and runs the same software, Vibber said. “Everything is a million times easier.”

Related Blogs

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols: Ubuntu scores major Wikipedia win

The mixture of Red Hat operating systems was created as Wikipedia quickly grew, backed by a group of volunteer IT people who created it out of what they had available. In 18 months, the original site went from around 15 servers to 200, making maintenance and operations a whole different ballgame, Vibber said.

Gordon Haff, an analyst at Illuminata Inc. in Nashua, N.H., said Wikimedia’s switch from Red Hat to Ubuntu is also likely a result of Ubuntu’s making the enterprise server and consumer desktop versions of its operating systems available for free to all users, with no lightening of the systems for nonpaying customers.

Red Hat used to do that years ago, but then moved to a model where its free and paid versions differed in some features and abilities, he said. Now the Fedora community Linux project is separate from the flagship enterprise version of the operating system, adding to the factors that must be considered by users, he said.

The problem with having multiple paid, unpaid and community versions is that a customer then has a menagerie of products that may or may not be as easily compatible, Haff said.

Wikipedia could just as easily have made the switchover to all Red Hat, but that would have cost more money, he said. “It would seem to me that if money weren’t an issue here, there wouldn’t be anything keeping them from upgrading everything to Red Hat.”

The collaborative Wikipedia encyclopedia is written by volunteers around the globe. The project includes 75,000 active contributors working on more than 10 million articles in 250 languages, including more than 2.5 million articles in English, according to the group. The site has about 684 million visitors a year. The Ubuntu changes affect all Wikimedia Web sites

Happy New Year with Israeli Hitech as Reported on BBC

2008-10-07T18:27:00.002+02:00

Collaboration ( from an article on bbc today about Israeli Hightech)

You can find further evidence of fruitful collaboration on the outskirts of Jerusalem, home to a joint Israeli-Palestinian company, G.ho.st.

The brainchild of serial entrepreneur, Zvi Schreiber, G.ho.st stands for Global Hosted Operating System, a free web-based virtual computer which, as the company puts it, offer users a personal desktop, files and applications "available from any browser, anywhere".

Uniquely the company operates across the physical and psychological barriers that divide the country, with 40 employees based in Ramallah, and six in Jerusalem. This is not about outsourcing - the employees on both sides are shareholders in the company and are paid competitive salaries.

Despite the logistical challenges - the only full company meeting so far took place in a petrol station restaurant on the Dead Sea - Ori Weinroth from G.ho.st's Jerusalem office believes the business model "seems to be working smashingly".

And some believe this is exactly the kind of creative innovation that could make a contribution towards helping to resolve the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

With economists identifying key challenges including the soaring cost of occupation and a growing "brain drain", companies like G.h.ost that can bring the two communities together are being watched closely by leaders the world over.

Linux Thin Client Report. Growth in Sales

2008-09-21T00:09:00.001+03:00

According to a 2008 IDC report the Linux thin client market will grow from nearly 1 million units in 2008 to 1.8 million units in 2011. Linux will reach a 30.5 percent share of all operating system shipments on thin client devices by 2011. The ever-increasing market penetration of Linux-based thin clients is due to their ability to lower total cost of ownership, while helping enterprises gain a more secure and flexible computing environment. Additionally, in emerging areas such as desktop virtualization, the operating system used by client devices is becoming less relevant, as long as it is an enabler of virtualization technologies, and not the limiting factor.

HP wants to be Different?!

2008-09-09T17:35:00.002+03:00

Sorry this article is in Hebrew from themarker: It says that HP wants to be Different and is checking up on Linux too:

HP רוצה להיות מיוחדת

מלחמת העצמאות של HP. מחשב ה-TouchSmart | צלם: יח"צ

החברה מעוניינת לפתח רכיבים ייחודיים למחשבים האישיים, ואף החלה לבחון דרכים להפוך את חלונות ויסטה לידידותית יותר למשתמש. במקביל נבדקת האפשרות לפתח מערכת הפעלה חדשה מבוססת לינוקס

08.09.08 | 17:42 פז וייסמן
Microsoft | Hardware | Apple | Software

חברת HP יצרנית המחשבים האישיים הגדולה בעולם, שוקלת לפתח רכיבים ייחודיים למחשבים האישיים מתוצרתה ואף מערכת הפעלה ייחודית משלה, כך פורסם בשבועון BusinessWeek. המהלך מגיע על רקע חשש מהתחרות של HP עם חברת אפל עקב הגידול המכירות מחשבי המקינטוש והכרסום הפוטנציאלי בפלח השוק של HP.

"מחשב HP TouchSmart למשל מכיל תוכנה שנכתבה במיוחד עבורו המאפשרת לנהל את כל כלי הבידור בממשק מגע. בפועל המערכת מחליפה את המדיה סנטר המובנה במערכת חלונות"

על פי הפרסום, HP הקימה קבוצת מהנדסים, שמטרתם לבחון דרכים להפוך את חלונות ויסטה ליותר ידידותית למשתמש. המהלך יעשה כנראה באמצעות הוספת רכיבי תוכנה לוויסטה שיכתבו על ידי HP. אותם רכיבי התוכנה יותאמו לתמוך בחומרה של מחשבי HP, ואמורים לספק חוויית שימוש טובה יותר. יתר על כן, ב-HP אף שוקלים להקים מערכת הפעלה עצמאית מבוססת קוד פתוח - לינוקס. שימוש במערכת הפעלה מבוססת לינוקס יקטין את התלות של HP במיקרוסופט, ויסייע בבידול המחשבים שלה מול אלה של דל או יבמ.

יצרנית המחשבים דל כבר אימצה את מערכת ההפעלה לינוקס, והיא אף מספקת מחשבים בהם לינוקס מגיעה מותקנת מבעוד מועד (Preinstalled). מלבד דל, גם יבמ הודיעה בעבר כי בכוונתה לפתח מחשב "נטול מיקרוסופט" שיבוסס על קוד פתוח. המחשב יפותח תוך שיתוף פעולה עם חברות הקוד הפתוח Canonical (החברה המפתחת את מערכת Ubuntu Linux), רד האט ונובל. כיום מערכות הפעלה מסוג קוד פתוח נפוצות במחשבים האולטרה ניידים כמו Eee של חברת אסוס.

HP כבר פיתחה בעבר תוכנות ייחודיות למחשבים מתוצרתה. מחשב HP TouchSmart למשל מכיל תוכנה שנכתבה במיוחד עבורו המאפשרת לנהל את כל כלי הבידור בממשק מגע. בפועל המערכת מחליפה את המדיה סנטר המובנה במערכת חלונות. הצורך בפיתוח תוכנות משלימות למערכת חלונות נובע מהצלחת מחשבי המקינטוש של חברת אפל, שכן אפל הצליחה לבדל את מחשבי המק מיתר המחשבים האישיים בין השאר בזכות התוכנות השונות. לפי נתוני חברת המחקר IDC מכירות מחשבי מקינטוש מתוך כלל מכירות המחשבים במחצית השנה הראשונה של 2008 הינו 2.9%, בעוד נתח השוק של HP הינו 19.2%. אולם מה שמדאיג את בכירי HP הינו שיעור הגידול במכירות של מחשבי המקינטוש. אלה עלו ב25% ביחס לשנה שעברה, בעוד שגידול מכירות מחשבי HP עלה ב7% בלבד ביחס לתקופה המקבילה אשתקד.

בישראל נמכרו, לפי חברת המחקר IDC, במחצית הראשונה של השנה 204 אלף מחשבים, כאשר החדירה של מחשבי המק נמוכה מהממוצע העולמי. בעוד שבעולם נתח השוק של אפל קרוב ל3%, בישראל הוא עומד על 1.8%. מצבה של HP בישראל טוב יותר שכן, נתח השוק של החברה גדול מנתח השוק העולמי שלה. בישראל נתח השוק של HP, לפי נתוני המחצית הראשונה של 2008 הינו 21%, כאשר החברה הציגה גידול נאה של 15% לעומת התקופה המקבילה אשתקד.

I'm a Mac, I'm a PC & I'm an HP / מאת פז וייסמן

"בידול זה שם המשחק: אפל הצליחה ליצור מצב בו מחשב המשמש לעריכה גרפית בעזרת תוכנת פוטושופ המריץ מערכת אופן אופיס, כבר לא נקרא PC אלא מקינטוש, למרות ש-PC עושה את אותן הפעולות בדיוק, ואפילו משתמש באותן התוכנות"

9 מכל 10 מחשבים אישיים בעולם מריץ את אחת ממערכות הפעלה של מיקרוסופט. על שוק המחשבים האישיים נלחמות מספר רב של יצרניות גדולות כמו HP, דל, אייסר, לנובו וגם מספר רב של יצרניות קטנות יותר כמו LG, סמסונג, אסוס ועוד. אחת הבעיות של יצרניות המחשבים היא הבידול - כיצד יוצרים שוני בין המחשב שלהם ובין המחשבים של המתחרים. נכון להיום השוני בין המחשבים השונים איננו טמון כמעט ברכיבי החומרה ובטח שלא במערכת ההפעלה, שכן כל היצרנים רוכשים רישיונות תוכנה ממיקרוסופט.

התחרות בין יצרניות המחשבים מתבססת על מחיר ועל איכות השירות כמו האחריות וטיב השירות לסקטור העסקי. באופן טבעי חברות מחפשות דרכים בכדי לבדל את עצמן מהיתר, ושהמחשב לא יהפוך לקומודיטי (סחורה אחידה). חברת אפל הצליחה לעשות מהלך מיתוג מרשים בכך שהצליחה לבדל את מחשב המקינטוש ממחשבי ה-PC. אפל הצליחה ליצור מצב בו מחשב המשמש לעריכה גרפית בעזרת תוכנת פוטושופ המריץ מערכת אופן אופיס, כבר לא נקרא PC אלא מקינטוש, למרות ש-PC עושה את אותן הפעולות בדיוק, ואפילו משתמש באותן התוכנות. לכן, אחד הפתרונות היחידים הוא ליצור בידול ברמת התוכנה, בדיוק כמו שאפל עשתה.

עוד בנושא - מק מול PC: עשרת הסרטונים המצחיקים ביותר ברשת | hp מחזירה לחיים את המותג קומפאק בישראל | תעודת הזהות של מדינת החשכ"ל |

Link to IBM Software Solutions

2008-08-30T00:50:00.002+03:00

chanasys.com has been enhanced with our Partners at IBM Software Solutions

Our Partners

Proven success of a new type of Microsoft-free PC - Linux

2008-08-06T23:14:00.002+03:00

“The slow adoption of Vista among businesses and budget-conscious CIOs, coupled with the proven success of a new type of Microsoft-free PC in every region provides an extraordinary window of opportunity for Linux,” said Kevin Cavanaugh, vice president for IBM Lotus Software, in a press release issues Tuesday night. “ We’ll work to unlock the desktop to save our customers money and give freedom of choice by offering this industry leading solution.”

Lenovo ultraportable x300 available in Israel

2008-06-25T22:42:00.002+03:00

Get in touch for special Deals for Lenovo ultraportable x300 in Israel

News on SmartCards

2008-05-31T20:10:00.002+03:00

Article Title: Bihar govt picks Bartronics smart cards
------------------------------------------------------------

MUMBAI, INDIA: Bihar government's Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) has selected Bartronics India Limited (BIL), a provider of solutions based on AIDC technologies, to provide smart cards for health insurance coverage.

The RSBY scheme aims at providing health insurance cover to below poverty line population of the state.

The cards will facilitate portability of benefits and cashless medical cover up to Rs 30,000 for the unorganized sector worker and his family (unit of five) per annum.

The scheme will cover over 39 lakh families across eight districts of Bihar and will launched in June 2008. The scheme allows each participating state to cover 20 per cent of their respective districts each year.

Almost every large state government has expressed its intention of joining the scheme and many have already issued tender notices.

In Bihar, Oriental Insurance Company Limited is spearheading the effort with Medicare TPA Service (I) Ltd. as the implementation partner.

Spring Cleaning Special Deals

2008-04-14T12:22:00.008+03:00

מבצע מחשבים לאביב
Cleanup for Spring Lower Prices on Lenovo
Add Linux to your Plate this Spring
Special Computer Deals with Linux.

Extra NEW Special Big Hit Portable
ASUS eeePC in Israel at a Good Price
with LINUX (or Windows XP)
and our Support

Yahoo! comes to Israel

2008-03-11T18:10:00.001+02:00

_{On the Radio I heard this News Today:
Last update - 02:06 14/01/2008}

Yahoo! comes to Israel

_{By Raz Smolsky and Maayan Cohen haaretz.com}

Internet giant Yahoo! is coming to Israel, and not only over the Net. The company is taking its battle for survival against Google and Microsoft to Israel on two levels. It will open a research and development center in Haifa, and will also enter the content side of the business here for the first time through a cooperation agreement with Walla!, which is partly owned by Haaretz.

Yahoo! is following Google, which set up R&D centers in Tel Aviv and Haifa, as well as establishing a marketing center that also deals in joint content arrangements with Israeli portals. Microsoft, meanwhile, has set up a sales and marketing branch in Ra'anana, as well as R&D centers in Tel Aviv and Herzliya.

Yahoo! is now negotiating office space in the Matam high-tech park in Haifa; and is expected to open its research center within a few months.

Google kicked off in the Middle East with its Haifa R&D center in July 2006, despite the Second Lebanon War at the time; the center was its first in the region and only its fourth outside of the U.S. Other well-known companies in the Matam industrial park include Intel, Microsoft, Elbit and Zim.

Yahoo!'s first foray into the Israeli content market is based on a strategic deal signed with portal Walla!. The goal is to threaten Google's hegemony in the Israeli search market for the first time and the real challenge is to compete in search-based advertising.

Under the long-term deal signed between Yahoo! and Walla!, the technology and databases will come from Yahoo!, but the search engine will be branded as Walla! Search, the name of Walla!'s present engine.

Only six months ago there were reports that Walla! was negotiating with Google in the search market, but no agreement was ever reached. Google usually partners with a local search engine by providing the technology and the advertisements, while the revenues are split.

The joint Walla!-Yahoo! venture will continue using Walla!'s AdVantage platform. This will allow Walla! to continue to manage the advertising itself, and it will receive a higher percentage of the revenues than in a deal that also included advertising, such as Google proposed.

According to Walla! CEO Ilan Yeshua: "The search and advertising in search results sector is one of the fastest growing in the world, and also in Israel. The agreement with Yahoo! allows us to offer Walla!'s surfers an excellent search product ... for the Israeli user. The agreement will help Walla! increase its market share in the search-based advertising market. The existence of another strong player in the search and textual advertising sector will contribute to competitiveness , both in the search experience and in the range of possibilities available to advertisers."

Yahoo! and Walla! had previously discussed technological cooperation in the past, but nothing serious came of it. Walla!'s previous management, replaced in 2006, was never willing to allow outsiders to share its advertising revenues.

Israeli Internet advertising was estimated at $90 million in 2007, 10% of the total advertising pie. Of this figure, search engine advertising took about half, $40-50 million, the large majority of which went to Google.

Independance for Yahoo!

2008-02-12T09:34:00.000+02:00

Hope Yahoo! stays Independent.

Linux at Renault:

2008-01-30T23:52:00.000+02:00

Linux News: 12:01 Jan 30, 2008
Microsoft and Novell Provide Renault With Interoperability
Under the agreement, Microsoft will deliver to Renault more than 1,000 certificates for priority support subscriptions to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from Novell ( R), as Renault consolidates existing Linux* distributions to SUSE Linux

And you thought Java is Dead...!?

2008-01-17T15:29:00.001+02:00

And you thought Java is Dead...!?

Subject: Java as a language is dead - What now?
From theserverside.com: Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:04:12 GMT
Dear Samuel,
For years we've heard that Java is dying - that it's a bloated language that
has served its purpose and is on its way out. But, as the dawn of dozens of new
programming languages, all written FOR the JVM have proven - Java as a platform
has only begun to show its potential. To truly harness the power of Java, you
need more than J2EE programming skills.

Get them at TheServerSide Java Symposium.

http://go.techtarget.com/r/2898492/3239708

ENTER NEW APPLICATION DOMAINS

In 'Boldly Go Where the Java Language has Never Gone Before,' Sun Java Champion
Geert Bein offers demonstrations of how: Terracotta brings clustering to Java
apps by distributing the characteristics of the Java Memory Model; Google Web
Toolkit allows you to write and debug Ajax applications in Java that execute as
DHTML and JavaScript on the client-side; Google Android converts Java byte code
to an instruction set optimized for mobile phones; RIFE turns method calls
into continuations to more
safely and easily create stateful Web applications and event-based systems.

http://go.techtarget.com/r/2898493/3239708

Last year I wrote :Welcome 2008- Now 2009

2007-12-30T11:28:00.001+02:00

You are probably using Linux in 2007, if not then you will in 2008!
And if you use the Internet then most Servers are with Linux.
End of 2008: Interest in Ubuntu is growing. This is Kubuntu 8.10.

Chanasys.com Our New Website

2007-12-15T20:09:00.000+02:00

http://www.chanasys.com From December 2007
Your Link to Advanced IT From Chana Systems

Forrester Calls Desktop Linux a Credible Threat to Windows

2007-11-29T00:41:00.000+02:00

Forrester Calls Desktop Linux a Credible Threat to Windows
November 14, 2007
By Peter Galli from eweek.com

Linux is becoming a credible threat to Windows on the desktop, and will grow over the next year as its distributors continue to work hard at making it an enterprise-class offering, research group Forrester predicts.
ADVERTISEMENT

"Will desktop managers continue down the path of standardization on the Windows platform, and will Linux not exist on enterprise desktops? Not a chance," Forrester analyst Benjamin Gray says in a report released Nov. 12 and titled, "How Windows Vista Will Shake Up The State Of The Enterprise Operating System."

RELATED LINKS

Vista vs. Desktop Linux: One Year In
Microsoft Looks to Holidays to Lift Vista's Prospects
Businesses Still in No Rush to Upgrade to Windows Vista
Windows Vista SP1 Beta Set to Debut
Microsoft Partners to Keep Windows XP in Play

"The high volume of client inquiries for Linux on the desktop clearly indicates it's not going away any time soon. Expect Linux to experience growth over the next year as the distributors work hard to make it an enterprise-class offering,"

But Windows Vista will be deployed across at least one-quarter of PCs in North American and European enterprises next year as desktop managers start moving away from the Windows XP platform, which will still run the majority of PCs within corporate environments, Gray predicts.

To read more about why businesses are still in no rush to upgrade to Windows Vista, click here.

The study was based on a survey of 1,001 hardware decision-makers at North American and European enterprises. Some 43 percent were from large businesses with between 1,000 and 4,999 employees; 35 percent were from very large enterprises of 5,000 to 19,999 staff, and 22 percent were from Global 2000 enterprises with 20,000 or more employees.

Nearly half of the enterprises surveyed said they have concrete plans to deploy Windows Vista, and 7 percent will have started their deployments by the end of 2007. That figure rises to 32 percent by the end of 2008, with another 17 percent planning to deploy Vista in 2009 or beyond.

But the report also acknowledges what everyone already knows: that Vista adoption within the enterprise has been extremely slow, currently standing at just 2 percent. "The era of Windows Vista within enterprises has officially started, with a whimper," Gray says in the report.

Read more here about Windows Vista SP1.

"But think of it as the snowflakes before the storm. Vista adoption has been cautious at best in the first six to eight months since its initial release, hovering at just 2 percent…North American and Global 2000 enterprises are leading the adoption with 3 percent of PCs currently running the operating system, while European enterprises have yet to begin deploying it. Many are waiting for news on SP1, which Microsoft has confirmed will be released in Q1 of 2008," he said

The study also says that while 90 percent of enterprises have become Windows XP shops, a surprising 9 percent remain Windows 2000 shops.

"The success of Windows Vista will largely be judged on the rate at which Windows XP shops upgrade to it, but, more immediately, Windows 2000 shops have essentially already hit this fork in the road. Will these enterprises make the jump straight to Windows Vista, or will they incrementally upgrade to Windows XP? And if they move to Windows XP, is it because they're not yet ready to deploy Windows Vista or a calculated decision to avoid that operating system?" he asks in the report.

Microsoft is looking to the holidays to lift Vista's prospects. Click here to read more.

The answer, the study found, was that only 38 percent of enterprises with more than half their PCs running Windows 2000 have specific Windows Vista deployment plans, and they are also not likely to move to Windows Vista in the near-term.

Only 4 percent are planning a deployment before the end of 2007, with just 20 percent looking to begin their rollout before the end of next year, the report said.

In contrast, Windows XP shops have more aggressive deployment plans, with just under half looking to deploy Windows Vista in 2010 or beyond, it found.

Linux Deal This Month:

2007-10-16T01:03:00.000+02:00

Lenovo Laptops and Desktops with or without Linux this Month in 2008
Linux News:
According to Haaretz the Israeli Ministry of Education signed a three year Deal with SUN
for Open Systems including Thin Clients.
****************************************************************************
Did you read about 200 $ Computer with Ubuntu Linux Sold out at Wall-Mart?
Thin Client Solutions are more secure cost less and are popular in large organizations
and use a lot less energy. We can offer leading Thin Client Computers.
Any Questions? Send us an e-mail with "Linux Solutions" as subject.

Lenovo Laptop from 4596 Shekel Lenovo 3000 N200
with Windows Vista or XP and
Linux with our expert Support
Get in Touch for similar Packages for Business and Desktop Computers

Linux Deal This Month
Buy a New Computer from Chana Systems with Windows and we will add Linux
as Dual Boot and give you the Support you need.
Ubuntu, Mandriva, Red Hat and all Leading Linux Distributions.
From Home Users, Small Business up to Enterprise and Goverment Solutions.

Lenovo Thinkpads, Desktops and other leading Brands.
Special Package Deal.
Also Thin Client Solutions.

What's New, How can Chana Systems Help You?

2007-10-04T13:08:00.000+02:00

Today 4th October 2007 in the New York Times there is an article called "The Next Leap for Linux"
About Desktop Linux. Linux used to be strong in Midrange Computers for Small Business, Recently Linux has taken over on the Largest Systems (Servers) from Linux Like Mother UNIX. Linux is ready today for the DeskTop and Laptops.
We can help you in this field.
Samuel Cohen
Jaffa

Chana IT Services Blog

IBM Acquisition of Emptoris Bolsters Smarter Commerce Initiative, Helps Reduce Procurement Costs and Risks

IBM Acquisition of Emptoris Bolsters Smarter Commerce Initiative, Helps Reduce Procurement Costs and Risks

Is Ubuntu's Bleeding Edge Hurting Linux? By Matt Hartley January 3, 2012

Ginni at IBM

Tech Giants Sizing Up Yahoo Bid/ Yahoo NOT Sold yet!

Microsoft Posts Gain Despite Soft PC Sales

Israeli start-up Waze draws investment from Chinese billionaire

Hong Kong's Li Ka-shing, greater China's richest man, invests in Israeli navigation technology start-up.

Steve Jobs talks Thin Clients in 1997 | The Candid Root

Steve Jobs talks Thin Clients in 1997!

Mint Cast: The Popular Ubuntu Derivative:

Episode 83: The Wonderful World of Linux

News & Personal Updates

Main Topic

http://www.mintcast.org/2011/09/episode-83-the-wonderful-world-of-linux/

IBM to Acquire i2 and Algorithmics

Linux, Open Source & Ubuntu: Linux Turns 20: Open-Source OS Changes Course of IT History

Security Controls and Lessons Learned from the Financial Crisis

Security Controls and Lessons Learned from the Financial Crisis (IBM)

The future of IT will be reduced to three kinds of jobs

1. Consultants

2. Project managers

3. Developers

Microsoft and SUSE extend Microsoft's controversial Novell Linux pact

Summary

Learning from Amazon's cloud collapse, (Mashable)

Learning from Amazon's cloud collapse

IBM Cloud Computing

The 5 Best Cloud Clients/ Brighthub.com

#1 Microsoft Cloud Storage

#2 Google Cloud

#3 IBM Cloud Computing

#4 Ubuntu Cloud Computing

#5 Mozy Cloud Computing

Together, Nokia and Microsoft Renew a Push in Smartphones-nytimes

Together, Nokia and Microsoft Renew a Push in Smartphones

By KEVIN J. O’BRIEN

In Memory of DEC Founder Ken Olsen | Cloud Computing Journal

My Top Five Cloud Computing Predictions for 2011: John Savageau | Cloud Computing Journal

My Top Five Cloud Computing Predictions for 2011: John Savageau

The 10 Good things of 2010. My Choice.

ההפסד של מיקרוסופט מול לינוקס

Symbio Technologies News: Stateless Computing: The Antidote to WikiLeaks

Five Essential Storage Technologies

Shuttleworth's Ubuntu makes like Space Shuttle I'm a Rocketman. Again

Shuttleworth's Ubuntu makes like Space Shuttle

The numbers

Trend Hunter Sets the Trend in Tel Aviv-Yafo Today

'Complexity kills': Can Microsoft, and all of IT, simplify?'

MAYOR BLOOMBERG- New PARTNERSHIP WITH MICROSOFT

McAfee announces new antivirus developments/ Israel Export Institute Reports

HP`s Deep Trouble: 10 Reasons Why HP is Struggling - Hewlett Packard news from Channel Insider

from http://www.channelinsider.com

Oracle Mergers & Acquisitions: Who’s Next?

Why Ubuntu Linux Is a Good Business Choice

Why Ubuntu Linux Is a Good Business Choice

By Ken Hess, PC World

US Army Plans Private Cloud

Army Plans Private Cloud

Adding Zemanta to Tools of our IT Blog

Lenovo rolls out IdeaCentre A700 and B305 all-in-one desktop PCs | ZDNet

10 More Smartphones That Will Fade Away Before 2011 - Mobile and Wireless from eWeek

An all-in-one desktop from HP.

An all-in-one desktop

Sun xVM Virtualization - VDI: Virtual Desktop Infrastruct...

Why has Microsoft seemingly stopped innovating?/ from Quora

Red Hat (Linux) 1Q profit rises with revenue growth

Red Hat 1Q profit rises with revenue growth

Novell Wipes the Floor with SCO | Linux

ARM, IBM & Friends Form Company to Tidy Up Linux/ from linux.sys-con.com

ARM, IBM & Friends Form Company to Tidy Up Linux-Linaro

Apple passes Microsoft to be biggest tech company/bbc

Apple passes Microsoft to be biggest tech company

MICROSOFT V APPLE

See also

Hotmail makeover targets rivals

Windows 7 buoys Microsoft profit

Apple iPad sells 300,000 on debut

Apple sees profits increase 50%

A Motley Fool Rule Breakers Special Report
To claim your special RISK-FREE offer, visit us online at:
www.RuleBreakers.Fool.com