Reacting to real security threats

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1. Reacting to real security threats - 2007-06-27 03:15:06-04
   The threats I talked about yesterday call for an intelligent reaction - and ignoring these kinds of issues isn't a smart choice. So what can you do? It obviously depends a lot on what country you're in - but I see three kinds of actions CIOs and the IT managers who report to them can undertake: (1) repatriate any systems work you've out-sourced to providers whose work isn't carried out by people you can identify and trust. Basically, if you're American, hire Americans - and if you're German, hire Germans. It will cost more to do software that way; but, obviously depending on what you have in place, you may be able to achieve net savings by switching to...
   
2. Study: speciality IP telephony management tools best for enterprise VoIP costs - 2007-06-27 04:08:45-04
   In Network World, Nemertes Research executive vice president and senior founding partner Robin Gareiss provides highlights of a study that quantifies the cost savings of specialty IP telephony management tools for enterprises that are deploying VoIP. "What we have found, " Robin writes, "is companies that buy specialty IP telephony management tools — such as those from Infovista, Integrated Research (better know by its product name, Prognosis)- (depicted at top of post-Russ) Fluke Networks, NetIQ, NetQOS, and several others — spend less per employee to operate their VoIP system than those who rely on PBX or no tools at all." Robin then describes the methodology of Building the Successful Virtual Workplace, a study in which 120 IT executives were...
   
3. Unyte Meeting 8 released: now offers videocasting, upgraded audiocasting - 2007-06-27 04:26:49-04
   Multimedia conferencing company WebDialogs Inc., has just upgraded its Unyte Meeting online conferencing service to version 8.0. Unyte Meeting, incidentially, is compatible with Skype and other Internet telephony services. Four main enhancements can be found in v8.0: An enhanced interactive UI with new icons that provide more specific info about conference attendee connectin status: Web-only, Web and PSTN, PSTN-only or some other connection; Videocasting options for hosts and presenters. These include Webcam-derived ability to broadcast live images of themselves to participants; Upgraded audiocasting function, requiring less bandwidth by virtue of a higher compression rate, and: Expanded ability to record presentations via a newly implemented recording function. Presentations can then be archived and sent to those who may have missed...
   
4. Poll: iPhone offers on eBay up to $1,400: how much would you pay? - 2007-06-27 05:55:28-04
   At the time I write this, we're coming up on 36 hours until the iPhone goes on sale. Thought I would visit eBay to see how much the iPhone offers are going for now. As you can see by the grab at the top of this post, the top offer is $1399.99. None of these eBay sellers actually have the iPhone yet. Keyword=yet. It's just that they are so assured they will have it that they are putting themselves on the line. Plus, you don't have to pay until they actually say they have them available. Now I thought of a poll, not so much about whether you would buy an iPhone over eBay but how much you would...
   
5. InfoVista's VistaInsight for Servers A Windows on Your Enterprise - 2007-06-27 06:00:15-04
   Hello, I'm Roger Sakowski, one of Dan Kusnetzky's colleagues at the Kusnetzky Group. Dan and I had a conversation with InfoVista recently and this post is a quick summary of that conversation. When is an enterprise or a landscape of enterprises delivering its potential? The question is at the heart of ROI and performance considerations. Bad choices lead to Frankenstein patchworks sure to haunt system architects and eventually lead to system failures. Good choices lead to cost-effective, agile and scalable systems. My colleague, Dan Kusnetzky, and I had the good fortune to chat with Beth Ruck, Marketing Director for InfoVista to learn more about their product, VistaInsight for Servers. We hope that she recovers from grilling she experienced during...
   
6. News to know: iPhone reviews; Pink Dell; Enterprise Facebook - 2007-06-27 07:09:16-04
   iPhone Watch iPhone Reviews: Not perfect, but worthy of the hype Engadget: How does the iPhone stack up in total cost? Mary Jo Foley:The iPhone will be compatible with Microsoft Exchange, after all ZDNN: Switching carriers for the iPhone Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: iYawn - It's not a tool, it's a shiny bauble Russell Shaw: Analysts predict minimal iPhone impact on BlackBerry sales, stock Images: Dude, that Dell's flamingo pink Dell adds color to notebook competition Dennis Howlett: Facebook for the Enterprise = Facebook Ellison: Oracle to continue acquisitions spree Jason Wood: Oracle struts its way into FY08 Garett Rogers: Google Docs redesign looks great David Berlind: LinkedIn just now embracing APIs? Thank the competition, not 'open' thinking GigaOm: Xing buys &...
   
7. Rumor: iPhone to support Microsoft Exchange Server - 2007-06-27 08:23:36-04
   Fellow ZDNet Blogger Mary Jo Foley has it on good authority that iPhone will be compatible with Microsoft Exchange Server. Word is that Apple make the announcement as soon as today that: ...it has licensed the Exchange ActiveSync licensing protocol. Via the licensing arrangement, Apple iPhone users will be able to connect to Exchange Server and make use of its wireless messaging and synchronization capabilities. Mary Jo also points out that a number of phone vendors, including Nokia, Palm, Motorola and Sony Ericsson, already already sync with Exchange using ActiveSync. Still no word on when it would happen or whether Apple is also speaking to Blackberry and Good, but the next few days and weeks will be interesting to say...
   
8. iPhone FAQ: warranty, insurance, discounts and return policy - 2007-06-27 08:39:08-04
   AT&T has posted a "What you need to know" page about iPhone. While most of the information is marketing related hoopla cribbed from Apple, some important questions about the warranty, insurance, corporate discount and return policies are answered: iPhone is covered by the Apple warranty. No word on whether an extented AppleCare warranty is available. There is no eligibility for the wireless phone insurance program. iPhone and associated wireless service are not eligible for corporate discounts and are available only to consumer accounts. You can return your iPhone to the original point of purchase within 14 days for a full refund, but there is a 10% restocking fee if the box has been opened.
   
9. Next-gen Windows Live services to provide software plus a service - 2007-06-27 09:03:33-04
   After months of near silence, Microsoft's Windows Live team is starting to talk about the consumer-facing element of its Software+Services strategy. Software+Services (S+S) is Microsoft's alternative to software-as-a-service (SaaS). Unlike Google, Salesforce.com and other pure-play Web 2.0 companies, Microsoft is making sure that there's both a services and a software component to all of its products, going forward. That's the crux of S+S. On the Windows Live side of the house, Microsoft's S+S story hasn't been very clear. But with its public acknowledgement of two new Windows Live services -- Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Folders -- Microsoft is trying to remedy this lack of information. On July 27, Microsoft kicked off closed, private betas of Windows Live...
   
10. Microsoft makes available a new Windows Server 2008 test build - 2007-06-27 09:34:57-04
    On June 26, Microsoft pushed out a new Community Technology Preview (CTP) test build of Windows Server 2008. The build is not for any and all testers; it is for a smaller select set of technical beta participants, according to a post on the Windows Server team blog. The new build is the first Microsoft has provided to testers since it delivered Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 two months ago. (More than 200,000 testers have downloaded Beta 3, the Softies say.) What's new in the new CTP? From the Server team blog: "So what's new in this CTP? Well, consider that Beta 3 was technically our "feature complete" milestone, so you shouldn't expect to see much in the way of...
    
11. Web 2.0: Where "low-fi is the next high-fi" - 2007-06-27 10:57:48-04
    My audience [will] live a happier, easier life here on the web! Well, you're gonna be a rock star with this! Simple, entertaining, funny, and informative! ... and my personal favorite You made it so simple, even my parents could understand it. These are a sampling of comments received by the folk at CommonCraft. CommonCraft has mastered the art of simplifying the complicated. They call it paperworks, and "believe lo-fi is the new hi-fi." Let's say that tomorrow you need to give a presentation to your non-technical boss on the value of wikis. You could start with the Wikipedia definition of "wiki" -- or you could start your presentation with this video.   Human communication fails when people speak different languages and do not have a translator or a common...
    
12. Apple posts iPhone Q&A, pictures of dock and headset - 2007-06-27 11:10:56-04
    Furthering their strategy to make us all insane by slowly releasing information on their silly little phone, Apple posted an iPhone Questions and Answers section on their Web site today. Most of the information is already known, but the picture above is the best photo yet of the iPhone dock, which includes a slot for charging the Bluetooth headset and the pass through holes for the iPhone's microphone and speaker. Oh, and there's a newer stumpy little 30-pin dock connector on the end of the cable. Other nuggets of interest from the iPhone Q&A: You can protect your iPhone with a four-digit password, which is required whenever iPhone is turned on or wakes from sleep. iPhone supports virtual private...
    
13. iPhone keyboard video posted - 2007-06-27 11:33:55-04
    I am going to need a vacation after the iPhone launch. Whoops, did I just type that? Anyway, Apple has posted another iPhone video on their Web site, this time it's about the keyboard. The video comes in small, medium and large streamable versions and a 67MB downloadable verion. In today's video, we learn that iPhone: Comes with a built-in dictionary pre-installed for auto correction Learns the words that you type most often, including proper names and everything in your address book Adapts its key layout for different applications (could this be a hint that a landscape keyboard is coming?) In less than a weekly you'll likely be typing faster than any other small keyboard There's a cool looking...
    
14. Raon Everun ultra-portable PC boasts 7 hour battery life - 2007-06-27 11:35:16-04
    I try to post as many entries here as I can on how you can work where you want to be and be productive on the go. One way to accomplish work on the go is by having a portable PC with you and one of the latest cool devices that actually has my interest as a possible future purchase is the Raon Everun ultra portable PC. This very small Windows XP PC boast a very long battery life of 7+ hours, has Bluetooth and WiFi radios, and has a unique QWERTY keyboard. Chippy was lucky enough to get one in his hands and posted a video preview on UMPCPortal.com. Credit: Dynamism.com The device sports an AMD Geode processor (in...
    
15. BBC takes political hits for rejecting open source - 2007-06-27 11:57:46-04
    The BBC wants to put its shows on the Web, and made a deal with Microsoft for the technology required to do that. (That's the Tardis, from Dr. Who, one of many fine BBC programs.) This has the BBC in political hot water. Boingboing says it's a DRM issue, but the country's Open Source Business Consortium has complained to the EC, calling it an attempt to cement Microsoft's monopoly: A report from the BBC Trust states that, for the first two years, services will be unavailable to consumers who neither use Microsoft software nor have an up-to-date version of the Windows operating system. The OSC believes that, if the BBC were to proceed with its plans, licence fees will be spent promoting...
    
16. Code execution hole haunts RealPlayer, HelixPlayer - 2007-06-27 11:58:48-04
    RealNetworks has issued a security fix for a gaping hole in its flagship RealPlayer software but, strangely, the company has not issued a security advisory to warn its millions of customers. Instead, the required warning came from the researchers at iDefense Labs who found a remotely exploitable security hole affecting both RealPlayer and HelixPlayer. The last security warning on RealNetworks' security page dates back to March 22, 2006. From the iDefense advisory: Remote exploitation of a buffer overflow within RealNetworks' RealPlayer and HelixPlayer allows attackers to execute arbitrary code in the context of the user. The issue specifically exists in the handling of HH:mm: ss.f time formats by the 'wallclock' functionality within the code supporting SMIL2. An excerpt from the code...
    
17. Facebook: The rise of social applications - 2007-06-27 12:18:10-04
    Besides the iPhone and whenever Google sneezes, Facebook continues to be the talk of the town, at least in the echo chamber of Silicon Valley. Let me give you a simple example of why Facebook merits attention, besides Dennis Howlett's post yesterday on how Facebook could play in the enterprise. Take Facebook Carpool, an application from Logan Green and Rajat Suri. It's green friendly and the authors of the app state the mission as "reducing the barriers to a mainstream ride-sharing culture, where everyone can find ride-sharing partners in an easy and safe way." You can view ride sharing in your network, search for rides, submit requests, track miles, check Google Maps and check profiles of carpoolers. Facebook Carpool is...
    
18. Most Presidential candidates use open source - 2007-06-27 12:26:22-04
    Douglas Karr at the Marketing Technology Blog decided to survey the Web sites of Presidential candidates, finding out what software they were running and where they were hosted. (Why is this fellow here? All will be revealed soon, grasshopper.) Karr's methodology was not rocket science. He used Netcraft. You can do it, too. Karr was expansive in defining candidates. He included several non-candidates, including Newt Gingrich, Al Gore, Wesley Clark, Chuck Hagel and (as of now) Fred Thompson. What no Bloomberg? (Linux and Apache at Rackspace.) Thus we have Mike, and his signature, at the top. Of the announced candidates, most run open source. Nine run Linux, two run FreeBSD. The rest run Windows Server 2003. It's curious that open source...
    
19. Screen shots here from new BlackBerry browser due this fall - 2007-06-27 12:35:44-04
    According to a tip sent to and now being published by BlackBerry Cool, a new BlackBerry browser is on the way this fall. Likely to be part and parcel of the new BlackBerry Pearl 2 (a.k.a. Komet), this new browser is going to offer tabbled browsing support, a home screen with a listed history, as well as search provider services from Google, Yahoo, Dictionary.com, IMDb.com (Internet Movie Database) and Wikipedia. Let's look at some screen shots: Starting a Wikipedia search. Yes, BlackBerry. Let's learn what Wikipedia has to say about the BlackBerry- on a BlackBerry. 'Nuff of that. Let's try some New Tab browsing, shall we? Here's where we've been. For the articles. Not the pictures :-) The forthcoming new...
    
20. Yahoo Messenger MIA - 2007-06-27 12:37:25-04
    I use Yahoo Messenger as my primary instant messaging client. This morning it won't wake up, and it doesn't even carry a beta label. I can find no information on Yahoo about what is going on. The Yahoo Messenger blog doesn't have any information about an outage or problem with the service that tens of millions of people use. This is unacceptable. At least salesforce.com has a page you can check to find out about major service problems. More to come...