Pamela Dingle, from Calgary’s Nulli Secundis, is known as one of the world’s foremost advocates of Microsoft CardSpace as well as being a driving force behind integration of the major user-centric identity systems (CardSpace, OpenID, the Bandit Project, etc.) through her “PamelaWare” alter ego. In her spare time, she blogs on identity issues and other aspects of life on a blog d믭 “Adventures of an Eternal Optimist.” Her optimism was challenged recently.
The idea of open source based products penetrating the WAN is not an entirely new phenomenon. For example, companies have a lengthy history of using freeware network management tools such as MRTG (Multi Router Traffic Grapher), Qcheck and TCPDUMP. What is new about open source, in addition to the fact that the user gets access to the code, is that vendors are now introducing open source based PBXs and routers.
Recently there was a minor flap over patent issues and user-centric identity systems. Someone had discovered that Dick Hardt and Sxip Identity had applied for some U.S. and U.K. patents covering identity systems that appeared to cover technology used in the OpenID system.
While you would expect a handpicked customer panel at a vendor user group meeting to favor the vendor's product, it was interesting to hear the breadth of benefits cited by LANDesk customers at the company's Interchange conference in Florida last week.
Linux users who applied Ubuntu's most recent software upgrade were given a reminder of the early days of Linux; a flaw in the code rendered the graphical user interfaces on the machines useless, forcing users to navigate directories and run programs through - gulp! - the command line interface (CLI) of Linux.
In my May 2007 article Use Client Service Intelligence to Get Proactive, I wrote about a relatively new category of IT management tool that measures the performance of end user computing assets (i.e, desktops and notebooks) from the end user’s perspective. Tools in this category help you understand how people use their computers (“working patterns”), and how well the computers perform their required tasks. Knowing this kind of information can help reduce your support costs, help you plan and execute
"What are you doing?" That's the central question behind Twitter, the uber-popular microblogging/social networking service--and, at this point, cultural phenomenon. In 140-characters or less--brevity's a virtue, just ask Jack Dorsey, Twitter's cofounder and CEO--users enter status messages about what they're doing, reading, researching, pondering, whatever; and others comment or post their own "tweets." If it sounds simple, or basic, that's because it is.
A simple ownership structure, good financial backing and shorter distance has given the TEAMS submarine cable an advantage over EASSy and SEACOM, according to research by IDC.
IDC announced its server market share figures last week. Server factory revenue grew almost 1% to $12.3 billion in the second quarter of 2006. IDC says server factory revenue represents those dollars recognized by multi-user system and server vendors for industry standard servers and upgrade units sold through direct and indirect channels.
It's a simple promise that Charles Schwab & Co. makes to its customers, but one with security ramifications that ripple throughout the company: "Schwab will cover 100% of any losses in any of your Schwab accounts due to unauthorized activity."
Extreme Networks says it has switch software that stops a simple, yet dangerous hack used to surmount many common network access technologies used on LANs.
Amazon's hosted Simple Queue Service (SQS) has encountered performance problems this month that have prompted users to question its overall stability and its viability for commercial applications.
I'm a big fan of Tom Peters. Right - the Tom Peters who wrote In Search of Excellence and The Brand You. When Tom turned 60, he packaged up a list of 60 things he believes in in a book called Sixty. Many of the things are simple but frequently forgotten. It's useful to go back through these ideas every so often to remind ourselves what we should be focusing on. Because you are still getting a feel for this column, I thought I would discuss things I believe about security.
Keeping you informed and keeping you well ahead of the curve - Network World Webcasts - Always on time! Featured Webcast:
Networks become the primary business platform. As the global network becomes the primary platform for business processes, networks are being built with strategic capabilities that go beyond simple switching and routing. This Webcast describes an emerging business model in which the network elevates performance and reduces costs by handling complex interactions with applications. Join us
Earlier this month, Tango Networks announced the addition of enhanced IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) functionality to its Abrazo product suite. The Abrazo system is an enterprise fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) solution designed for employees to share a single phone number for both their cellular phone and their office phone, along with providing the capability for the user to make and receive calls through the PBX from their cellular phones no matter where the employee is located. The handoff between phones
In last week’s newsletter, security expert Sean Steele of infoLock Technologies gave some pointers of what to look for when you are choosing a full disk encryption solution for your company. This week we’ll continue with more of Sean’s practical advice. His company has evaluated several products in terms of technical features and capabilities, ease of administration and support, and the user experience. As a security systems integrator, infoLock has extensive experience in implementing many types of
The largest mobile operators in China, Japan, and Korea have agreed on common standards for touch-card technology, clearing the way for travellers across East Asia to user their phones for travel and payments.
For years, we've used caller ID as an example of a "secure" identification, especially in comparison to the more "open" capabilities of IP and SMTP. For instance, it's common knowledge that one may set one's own IP address (even though it may or may not work in your network), and it's beyond "Simple" to spoof the "from" field in Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).
The honeymoon period is clearly over for Sprint and Nextel. Their $36 billion marriage at the end of 2005 was supposed to result in a wireless powerhouse with strong average revenue per user (ARPU). But Sprint Nextel Monday said its earnings for 2007 will fall below earlier expectation; its revenue will be flat and that it will lay off 5,000 employees to cut costs.
Former One Laptop Per Child President of software and content Walter Bender has launched Sugar Labs, an organization that will promote the development of the open-source user interface originally developed for the XO laptop.
If Internet governance isn't handed over to a world body such as the United Nations, it could well be taken away by simple configuration changes (such as establishing alternate DNS root servers), which could cause huge problems for U.S. businesses and consumers.
About two years ago, DePaul University’s IT staff began plans to replace its Nortel 81 and Meridian Mail PBX communications systems that serve some 4,500 users at the university. Like many conversions, the shift to IP telephony (IPT) was designed to take several years and was going to be phased in by user-group. The new messaging system needed to provide interworking between the new IPT system and the legacy TDM PBX and it needed to provide full integration with Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory.?
Steve recently made a shift from "residential DSL" to "business DSL" service, and that discussion will be followed up in another newsletter. But for today, we're taking a step back into the history of telecommunications. Why? Because, being a typical "bleeding edge" adopter of new technology, Steve had to decommission his old DSL modem. And this happened to be a model that supported a user input of either Ethernet or ATM-25.
Have you ever had to use someone else's PC at work - either to complete a quick task, or as a substitute machine for a short period of time? The experience is never pleasant - foreign desktop settings, grimy keyboards, crazy font sizes and odd wallpaper - it's liken to borrowing someone's swim trunks. If you're a Linux desktop user and are forced to use someone's Windows machine, the experience may be more on par with borrowing a toothbrush.
Jack Welch, retired GE CEO, recently responded to a question about outsourcing in his weekly column Winning. The question: How can we change things in the United States so we don't have to outsource to India and other countries anymore? His response was a simple - we can't and we shouldn't.