Business blog

posted by admin on Aug 29

New security rules on tap for credit-card handlers
Companies that handle credit cards can expect to see revised security rules released in early October, according to the group responsible for maintaining the Payment Card Industry security standard for storage and processing of credit and debit cards.

Google extends Apps Premier credit for Gmail outages
Due to the three outages that Gmail suffered earlier this month, Google will extend a credit to all paying customers of its hosted Apps suite and has vowed to improve its problem-notification methods.

Oracle integrates CRM On Demand with Siebel
Oracle has developed prebuilt integration software for its CRM On Demand product and the on-premise Siebel CRM, providing customers with a single view of their CRM data, the company announced Wednesday.

Chinese democracy meets US justice
Yesterday, FBI agents raided the Los Angeles home of 27-year-old blogger Kevin Cogill and arrested him. Cogill’s crime? He uploaded nine unreleased tracks from the upcoming Guns N’ Roses album to his blog.

Hackers resort to ’sick’ kidnap spam
Hackers are claiming they have kidnapped children in a bid to infect PCs with a Trojan Horse virus, says Sophos.

5 rules for guaranteed failure at SaaS, without even trying
We’re all too familiar with outages in Google’s Gmail, Salesforce.com and the RIM BlackBerry network. Recent failures by Apple MobileMe, Jott and Cuil online-delivered software demonstrate that software-as-a-service — or Software+Services, as Microsoft would call it — isn’t just a matter of putting your software up on the Internet, gathering users and declaring your Version 1.0 ready so you can start charging for services. The three recent examples of MobileMe, Jott and Cuil clearly demonstrate other major pitfalls in trying to deliver online software. Are all online software services destined to repeat these same mistakes, or will we learn from the mistakes of others? I certainly hope the latter.

‘West Wing’ creator may be writing movie about Facebook
A new Facebook profile created for Hollywood screenwriter Aaron Sorkin claims that he has agreed to write a movie about the invention of the popular Facebook social network.

Open Source experts launch free advisory service
Open Source software for business has been much debated over the last couple of years. But with Microsoft’s Vista operating system hardly enjoying a smooth ride since its launch last year, it now looks like Linux is finally gaining traction in the business world.

posted by admin on Aug 29

12 sly Web tricks that put you in control
So it’s Friday afternoon, the weekend is just around the corner, and you’re up to no good. Rather than waste your time turning monitors upside down around the office, why not update your tech arsenal? If you have a computer or cell phone on hand, you’re more than ready to beef up your weapons and spy kit with these 12 sly tricks. We’ll teach you why and how (and with what) to do them, and tell you how well you can expect them to work. And you will forget where you heard this information…

Judge finds Qualcomm in contempt of injunction
 A U.S. federal judge found Qualcomm in contempt of an injunction issued last year preventing the chip maker from selling certain products that rely on patented Broadcom technology.

European court won’t stop U.K. hacker’s extradition to U.S.
The European Court of Human Rights has refused U.K. hacker Gary McKinnon's appeal against demands for his extradition to the U.S.

Salesforce.com makes US$31.5 million acquisition
Salesforce.com has beefed up its Salesforce CRM customer service and support offering, following the company’s US$31.5 million acquisition of InStranet.

5 rules for guaranteed failure at SaaS, without even trying
We’re all too familiar with outages in Google’s Gmail, Salesforce.com and the RIM BlackBerry network. Recent failures by Apple MobileMe, Jott and Cuil online-delivered software demonstrate that software-as-a-service — or Software+Services, as Microsoft would call it — isn’t just a matter of putting your software up on the Internet, gathering users and declaring your Version 1.0 ready so you can start charging for services. The three recent examples of MobileMe, Jott and Cuil clearly demonstrate other major pitfalls in trying to deliver online software. Are all online software services destined to repeat these same mistakes, or will we learn from the mistakes of others? I certainly hope the latter.

Google extends Apps Premier credit for Gmail outages
Due to the three outages that Gmail suffered earlier this month, Google will extend a credit to all paying customers of its hosted Apps suite and has vowed to improve its problem-notification methods.

You don’t know tech: The InfoWorld news quiz
Apple and China, China and Apple — this week’s quiz is dominated by the inscrutable Mandarins of Cupertino and Beijing. Also on tap: a look at Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8, worms enter the space race, Twitter gets in trouble, and Guns N’ Roses flexes its muscles. Think you’ve got the inside skinny on all that? Prove it by scoring 100 on our quiz (10 points for each correct answer). Many try, but only a handful ever attain a perfect score. Now get to it.

Why your project management practices are failing
IT project management practices are stuck in the mud, and they're hindering IT departments' ability to deliver projects successfully. That's the conclusion of a recent Forrester report, "Stretching Your Project Management Muscles," which was published in July.

posted by admin on Aug 29

You don’t know tech: The InfoWorld news quiz
Apple and China, China and Apple — this week’s quiz is dominated by the inscrutable Mandarins of Cupertino and Beijing. Also on tap: a look at Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8, worms enter the space race, Twitter gets in trouble, and Guns N’ Roses flexes its muscles. Think you’ve got the inside skinny on all that? Prove it by scoring 100 on our quiz (10 points for each correct answer). Many try, but only a handful ever attain a perfect score. Now get to it.

European court won’t stop U.K. hacker’s extradition to U.S.
The European Court of Human Rights has refused U.K. hacker Gary McKinnon's appeal against demands for his extradition to the U.S.

5 rules for guaranteed failure at SaaS, without even trying
We’re all too familiar with outages in Google’s Gmail, Salesforce.com and the RIM BlackBerry network. Recent failures by Apple MobileMe, Jott and Cuil online-delivered software demonstrate that software-as-a-service — or Software+Services, as Microsoft would call it — isn’t just a matter of putting your software up on the Internet, gathering users and declaring your Version 1.0 ready so you can start charging for services. The three recent examples of MobileMe, Jott and Cuil clearly demonstrate other major pitfalls in trying to deliver online software. Are all online software services destined to repeat these same mistakes, or will we learn from the mistakes of others? I certainly hope the latter.

Comcast sets monthly bandwidth limit for customers
Comcast, the largest provider of cable-based broadband service in the U.S., will limit residential customers to 250GB of bandwidth a month beginning Oct. 1, the company announced late Thursday.

12 sly Web tricks that put you in control
So it’s Friday afternoon, the weekend is just around the corner, and you’re up to no good. Rather than waste your time turning monitors upside down around the office, why not update your tech arsenal? If you have a computer or cell phone on hand, you’re more than ready to beef up your weapons and spy kit with these 12 sly tricks. We’ll teach you why and how (and with what) to do them, and tell you how well you can expect them to work. And you will forget where you heard this information…

Performance-improvement integral to Windows 7, IE8
Fixing performance issues that have plagued previous versions of its Windows client OS and Internet Explorer (IE) browser are key development goals for the next versions of those products, Microsoft has revealed in company blogs.

Why your project management practices are failing
IT project management practices are stuck in the mud, and they're hindering IT departments' ability to deliver projects successfully. That's the conclusion of a recent Forrester report, "Stretching Your Project Management Muscles," which was published in July.

Google extends Apps Premier credit for Gmail outages
Due to the three outages that Gmail suffered earlier this month, Google will extend a credit to all paying customers of its hosted Apps suite and has vowed to improve its problem-notification methods.