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• Technology Values...Best Practices
• Technology Due Diligence
• Information Security
• Security Incident Response and Management
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• Business Process Outsourcing
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 Consulting
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• Project and Programme Management
• Interim Management
• Mentoring & Coaching |
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• Life After Windows
• IBM, SciNet Partner to Build Supercomputer
• eDiscovery Assists with Electronic Evidence
• Google Gadgets a Door for Hackers
• Gartner Ranks Oracle Among MDM Leaders
• MSN China Users Face Censorship
• Hackers Fire Shots in Georgia - Russia Conflict
• Symantec Introduces Norton Safe Web
• Japan Investigating Overheating Nanos
• AVG is Microsoft Gold Certified
• Hijackings Lead to Fake Security Software
• DefCon Highlights Hacker Technology
• AbeBooks.com Using Oracle Coherence
• Study Indicates Value of Talent Management
• ThinkQuest Garners Two Awards
• Symantec Purchases PC Tools
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 Microsoft will only say it’s an incubation
project, but
already there is much talk about the operating system that could
someday
replace Windows. Called Midori, it is believed to be a lightweight,
portable
operating system that can easily be packaged up and used on many other
devices
in addition to the PC.
As more and more people rely on mobile technology and
internet-based applications that can be accessed anytime and anywhere,
it’s
thought the idea behind Midori is to create an operating system that
can
be virtualized and used with other devices. This would make the home PC
more
compatible with consumers’ growing array of information devices.
The one fly in the ointment for
Microsoft could be how a
technological landscape not dependent on Windows operating systems
packaged
with retail PCs could affect the company’s bottom line. A whopping 80
percent
of Windows sales occur when consumers buy a new PC.
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IBM,
SciNet Partner to Build Supercomputer
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Canada will become home to the world’s most powerful
supercomputer outside of the U.S., according to an announcement by IBM
and
SciNet Consortium. Construction is scheduled to get underway
immediately and
the supercomputer, which will be capable of performing 360 trillion
calculations per second, should be fully operational by summer 2009.
The supercomputer will employ a hybrid design utilizing
IBM’s iDataPlex and POWER6 systems. It will also be one of the first
computers
to use the Future Intel® Nehalem processors, which are
slated to be
introduced early next year.
Among the projects
anticipated to take advantage of the new
supercomputer are those related to research of aerospace, astrophysics,
bioinformatics, chemical physics, climate change, medical imaging, the
global
ATLAS project, and the mystery of mass.
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New
eDiscovery Assists with Electronic Evidence
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 In an age
when it seems anyone and everyone is a target for
litigation, IBM has introduced new software to help companies and
organizations
manage their e-documents. Called eDiscovery, the new Enterprise Content
Management (ECM) software solution is fully integrated with IBM’s
auto-classification and records management technology, enabling IT
departments
to efficiently manage electronic information potentially vital to
industry
compliance regulations and legal proceedings.
EDiscovery utilizes IBM’s email archiving solutions,
allowing IT users to search, cull, hold and export case-relevant email
evidence. It is a key component of IBM’s Compliance Warehouse for Legal
Control
and extends their ECM software platform, providing organizations the
opportunity to independently manage electronically stored information
while
reducing costs, improving responsiveness to litigation, and decreasing
exposure
to risk.
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Google
Gadgets a Potential Open Door for Hackers
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According to two security experts at the Black Hat
conference in Las Vegas, people that use those little Google “gadgets”
– like
calendars, weather updates, photo feeds and all sorts of other add-ons
designed
to spice up their home pages on Google – may be creating a security
risk for
themselves. Those little gadgets, according Robert Hansen, chief
executive of
security consultant SecTheory, and Tom Stracener, senior security
analyst with
security testing software maker Cenzic Inc., if maliciously programmed
can be
used in variety of attacks designed to steal information.
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Gartner
Places Oracle's MDM Applications Among Leaders
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 Oracle’s
Siebel Universal Custom Master (UCM) earned
placement in the Leaders Quadrant in the latest report from Gartner’s
Magic
Quadrant for Master Data Management for Customer Data. UCM is Oracle’s
leading
customer data application for Master Data Management, enabling users to
manage
customer data over the entire customer lifecycle.
"Oracle’s Master Data Management applications enable
organizations to centralize information from heterogeneous systems,
creating a
single view of customer information that can be leveraged across all
functional
departments and analytical systems,” said Pascal Laik, vice president,
Master
Data Management Strategy, Oracle.
Completeness of vision and ability to execute on that vision
are the criteria Gartner’s Magic Quadrant uses to rank vendors within a
particular market segment.
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MSN
China Users Face Censorship
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Bloggers using Microsoft’s MSN net service in
China have to
be careful about the topics they address and the words they use. Words
and
phrases such as freedom, democracy, demonstration, human rights, and
Taiwan independence
are banned from use.
China also recently introduced regulations requiring all
blog owners to register their sites with the state and identify
themselves to
the proper authorities.
Microsoft joins Google and Yahoo as other technology giants
who have succumbed to censorship in exchange for the opportunity to tap
into
the huge Chinese market. Both Google and Yahoo have already been
criticized for
restricting what their users can search and read online.
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Hackers
Fire Shots in Georgia - Russia Conflict
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The Associated Press reports that Russian hackers created a
flood of bogus emails that were overwhelming government and news sites
in the
tiny nation of Georgia as the small nation found itself engaged in
military
conflict with its powerful northern neighbor in mid-August. Among the
sites hit
were that of Georgia’s president Mikhail Saakashvili and the site of
Georgia’s
parliament.
Tulip Systems, Inc. of Atlanta, Ga. In the U.S. transferred
the sites to its servers and managed to block most of the malicious
traffic,
which outnumbered legitimate use by 5,000 to 1. Tulip’s founder and
chief
executive, Nino Doijashvili, is a native of Georgia.
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Symantec
Introduces Norton Safe Web
|
 Symantec
has announced the addition of Norton Safe Web beta
to its array of computer security software. Norton Safe Web is a
website rating
service that delivers visual site ratings within a user’s preferred
search
engine, such as Google, Yahoo, and Live Search. A warning will appear
before
users visit a site with potentially malicious content. Symantec also is
providing a free online version of Norton’s Safe Web (http://safeweb.norton.com) that
can used
to check an individual site if the user knows the URL.
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Japan
Investigates Overheating iPod Nanos
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 Amid two
reports of overheating Nanos, the Japanese
government is in touch with Apple to investigate the defect, which was
suspected to be related to the Nano’s lithium-ion battery. A similar
report
surfaced in Japan in March when a Nano overheated to the point it was
shooting
sparks. Apple has had problems with lithium-ion batteries before,
recalling 1.8
million Sony-made laptop batteries in 2006 due to overheating.
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AVG
is Microsoft Gold Certified
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 AVG
Technologies last month earned status as a Microsoft
Gold Certified Partner with a competency in ISV/Software Solutions. AVG
is a
leading provider of security software for personal and small to medium
business
Internet users. Partners with a certification in ISV/Software Solutions
demonstrate an outstanding history of developing and delivering packed
software
based on Microsoft Technologies. In addition to retail programs such as
Anti-Virus, Anti-virus plus Firewall, and Internet Security, AVG also
distributes AVG Free, a basic security product that recently surpassed
five
million downloads in one week from Cnet download.com.
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Hijacked
Clipboards Lead to Fake Security Software
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The BBC reports that some security firms have issued a
warning about a web attack that exploits Adobe Flash files employed to
create
display ads to hijack a user’s copied text clipboard. Once in the
system, the
attack code continually flushes the contents of the clipboard and
replaces it
with a link to a website selling bogus security software. Both Mac and
Windows
users of the Firefox web browser have been victims of the attack. The
code
responsible for the link has been discovered in flash-based ads on a
number of
legitimate websites.
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DefCon
Conference Highlights Cheaper Hacker Technology
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As technology becomes more powerful and ever smaller, more
and more hackers are finding the evolving resources for computer
espionage are cheaper
and easier than methods they previously employed. That was one of the
main
messages heard at the DefCon conference held in Las Vegas in August.
To hammer home the point, numerous hackers and industry
experts gave demonstrations such as programming Apple iPhones to scan
wireless
networks for security holes and deploying miniscule digital bugging
devices
that record keystroke sounds. Such technology is allowing hackers a
less risky
and effective means by which to physically attack computer networks.
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AbeBooks.com
Begins Use of Oracle Coherence
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 AbeBooks.com,
among the world’s largest online new and used
book marketplaces, announced last month that it is using Oracle
Coherence to
enhance customer checkout functions and improve scalability and overall
performance of its entire website.
A component of Oracle Fusion Middleware, Coherence is designed
for Extreme Transaction Processing (XTP) Environments. It provides fast
and
reliable access to frequently used data by automatically and
dynamically
partitioning data in-memory across multiple servers.
AbeBooks.com’s XTP needs are created by up to 30,000 orders
processed per day and millions of near real-time daily inventory
updates.
AbeBooks.com lists over 110 million books from 13,500 booksellers. All
this
information must be processed and available for customers in near real
time.
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Study
Indicates Value of Effective Talent Management
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According
to a worldwide study by IBM and Human Capital
Institute, effective management of people and their skills can pay huge
dividends in workforce effectiveness and financial performance.
Unfortunately,
the study also reveals only 42 percent of public and private
organizations
around the world actually utilize any effective people management
strategy.
Highlights of the study’s findings include the observation
that organizations that implement talent/people management strategies
outperform their competitors that don’t, resulting in increased
financial
returns. Also, industries such as technology, electronics, and
professional
service are more likely to employ talent management strategies than is
the
public sector.
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ThinkQuest
Garners Two Awards
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ThinkQuest,
an online educational resource for students,
recently garnered two prestigious awards. The Association of
Educational
Publishers tabbed ThinkQuest for it Golden Lamp Award for Technology,
while the
Software and Information Industry Association selected ThinkQuest for
an award
as Best Education Reference or Search Service.
The Oracle Education Foundation sponsors ThinkQuest, which
challenges students worldwide to create educational websites and
publish them
in the ThinkQuest Library.
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Symantec
Purchases PC Tools
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Symantec
announced last month that it has reached an
agreement to purchase PC Tools, a software provider specializing in
products
that provide security for Windows users. PC Tools will continue to
market their
software under the PC Tools brand name and will maintain separate
operations
within Symantec’s existing consumer division. The deal is expected to
be
finalized and completed by year’s end.
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