Friday, March 30, 2007
What’s your going rate? IT work orders by state
What’s your going rate? IT work orders by state by ZDNet's Larry Dignan -- OnForce, an information technology labor marketplace, has rolled out a new feature called MarketView that answers a simple question: What are you worth? MarketView puts IT labor into a stock market presentation and classifies workers by region and category. For instance, the 90-day average work order for an IT support worker in Alabama [...]
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Bush and Clinton cameo at wireless show
Speaking to a packed house of roughly 5,000 people at the CTIA Wireless trade show, the former presidents took to the stage separately and then sat down together to answer a few questions. The two have worked closely over the past couple of years raising money for victims of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Asian tsunami.
During his speech, Clinton pointed out the benefits of the technology and communications boom of the 1990s, highlighting his own role in signing into law the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which paved the way for cable companies and others to enter the telecommunications market.
But while millions benefited from the boom, Clinton said, many people in the world have remain out of reach of such prosperity. He noted that half the world's population still lives on just $2 a day. Communications technology, in particular mobile phones, could help improve the lives of the world's poorest by enabling people to reach new markets and make connections in ways that didn't formerly exist, he said.
On the flip side, he also talked about how the same technology used to foster economic development in poor regions of the world, can be used by terrorists to organize and plot attacks.
He urged people in wireless communications businesses to widen their circle of influence to not only grow their industry for their own personal gain, but to help poor people throughout the world get access to communications technology, and to also use this technology to help educate people and break down destructive identity barriers that split the world apart and foster terrorism.
"You don't want historians to look back and say they had this wonderful technology which enabled people to communicate, but all it did was reinforce divisions of the 20th century," he said.
The communications industry would rather the story be that its technology helped benefit everyone--rather than serving to divide people into different groups or identities, being used instead to unite people throughout the world, he said.
Bush also highlighted how technology could be used to influence the world. Specifically, he talked about how technology can help spread democracy.
He relayed a story he had heard from former Canada Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who said that in the early 1980s, then-West Germany Chancellor Helmut Kohl had predicted the fall of East Germany. Bush explained that Kohl was convinced that Germany would soon be reunified because people living in the east were seeing through television how prosperous and free the west was.
"Thanks to the technology, the genie was already coming out of the bottle," Bush said.
Bush added that more modern technology, such as the Internet, is also influencing China in similar ways. Bush, who has visited China 14 times since leaving the presidency in 1992, said he has seen drastic changes there over the years as technology creeps deeper into society connecting the Chinese people to the rest of the world.
There are more human rights and examples of capitalism "than anyone would have dreamed possible," he said. "And your industry will have a large part to play in more freedoms that lie ahead in China."
During his speech, Clinton pointed out the benefits of the technology and communications boom of the 1990s, highlighting his own role in signing into law the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which paved the way for cable companies and others to enter the telecommunications market.
But while millions benefited from the boom, Clinton said, many people in the world have remain out of reach of such prosperity. He noted that half the world's population still lives on just $2 a day. Communications technology, in particular mobile phones, could help improve the lives of the world's poorest by enabling people to reach new markets and make connections in ways that didn't formerly exist, he said.
On the flip side, he also talked about how the same technology used to foster economic development in poor regions of the world, can be used by terrorists to organize and plot attacks.
He urged people in wireless communications businesses to widen their circle of influence to not only grow their industry for their own personal gain, but to help poor people throughout the world get access to communications technology, and to also use this technology to help educate people and break down destructive identity barriers that split the world apart and foster terrorism.
"You don't want historians to look back and say they had this wonderful technology which enabled people to communicate, but all it did was reinforce divisions of the 20th century," he said.
The communications industry would rather the story be that its technology helped benefit everyone--rather than serving to divide people into different groups or identities, being used instead to unite people throughout the world, he said.
Bush also highlighted how technology could be used to influence the world. Specifically, he talked about how technology can help spread democracy.
He relayed a story he had heard from former Canada Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who said that in the early 1980s, then-West Germany Chancellor Helmut Kohl had predicted the fall of East Germany. Bush explained that Kohl was convinced that Germany would soon be reunified because people living in the east were seeing through television how prosperous and free the west was.
"Thanks to the technology, the genie was already coming out of the bottle," Bush said.
Bush added that more modern technology, such as the Internet, is also influencing China in similar ways. Bush, who has visited China 14 times since leaving the presidency in 1992, said he has seen drastic changes there over the years as technology creeps deeper into society connecting the Chinese people to the rest of the world.
There are more human rights and examples of capitalism "than anyone would have dreamed possible," he said. "And your industry will have a large part to play in more freedoms that lie ahead in China."
Microsoft confirms Windows zero-day, drive-by exploits
Microsoft confirms Windows zero-day, drive-by exploits by ZDNet's Ryan Naraine -- [UPDATE: March 29, 2007 @ 1:15 PM Eastern] Microsoft has confirmed that this is indeed a zero-day flaw that will require a security update. Although Internet Explorer is the primary attack vector, this is a vulnerability in the way Windows handles animated cursor (.ani) files. From Redmond's security advisory: The threat is caused by insufficient [...]
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Rackable's portable data center goes on sale
Rackable Systems has begun selling a data center packed into a modular storage container, getting to market ahead of a rival system from Sun Microsystems.
Called Concentro, the system squeezes as many as 1,200 servers along with power and cooling equipment into a 40-foot shipping container. It can be mounted on a truck for portability. The company argues that it's the bee's knees when it comes to energy efficiency, dense packing of computing power and rapid setup of ordinarily complicated computing gear.
The idea is similar to Sun's Blackbox, but Rackable's shorter servers can face toward the central aisle; Sun's full-length models fit sideways on racks that slide into the aisle. Concentro is available for order now, and the Milpitas, Calif.-based company said it has "several new orders pending."
Sun's rival product isn't far from reality, though. "We're finalizing the first deals. We'll have Blackbox on customer properties in the next six to eight weeks," said Dave Douglas, Sun's vice president of eco-responsibility, at a media event on Friday.
Rackable's Concentro uses Intel's quad-core Xeon 5300 "Clovertown" processors, two of which can fit into each of the 1,200 servers. Concentro also can be used to house storage--as much as 30 terabytes of capacity.
Sun and Rackable both are racing to promote products that simplify data center design. But neither was actually first--at least when it comes to portable data center prototypes. American Power Conversion started rolling around its demonstration system in 2005, a data center on a truck.
Concentro uses direct-current (DC) power, an element in Rackable's energy efficiency.
Called Concentro, the system squeezes as many as 1,200 servers along with power and cooling equipment into a 40-foot shipping container. It can be mounted on a truck for portability. The company argues that it's the bee's knees when it comes to energy efficiency, dense packing of computing power and rapid setup of ordinarily complicated computing gear.
The idea is similar to Sun's Blackbox, but Rackable's shorter servers can face toward the central aisle; Sun's full-length models fit sideways on racks that slide into the aisle. Concentro is available for order now, and the Milpitas, Calif.-based company said it has "several new orders pending."
Sun's rival product isn't far from reality, though. "We're finalizing the first deals. We'll have Blackbox on customer properties in the next six to eight weeks," said Dave Douglas, Sun's vice president of eco-responsibility, at a media event on Friday.
Rackable's Concentro uses Intel's quad-core Xeon 5300 "Clovertown" processors, two of which can fit into each of the 1,200 servers. Concentro also can be used to house storage--as much as 30 terabytes of capacity.
Sun and Rackable both are racing to promote products that simplify data center design. But neither was actually first--at least when it comes to portable data center prototypes. American Power Conversion started rolling around its demonstration system in 2005, a data center on a truck.
Concentro uses direct-current (DC) power, an element in Rackable's energy efficiency.
Support for XBAP in Mozilla Firefox is coming
Support for XBAP in Mozilla Firefox is coming by ZDNet's Ryan Stewart -- At an event today on Microsoft's campus, Ian Ellison-Tayler, the WPF Product Unit Manager mentioned that XBAP support is coming to Mozilla Firefox as part of the .NET Framework 3.5 update that will ship with Visual Studio "Orcas". This means that RIA developers can deploy browser based WPF applications to both IE and Firefox. WPF just got a big boost as a browser technology.
Metasploit 3.0 ships with 177 exploits, 104 payloads
Metasploit 3.0 ships with 177 exploits, 104 payloads by ZDNet's Ryan Naraine -- HD Moore's open-source Metasploit Framework has been rewritten from scratch and released with 177 exploits, 104 payloads and new modules to exploit Wi-Fi driver vulnerabilities in the Windows kernel. Version 3.0 of the point-and-click hacking tool, which is used for pen testing and to verify patch installations, is now available as a free download. Photo [...]
Want a job? Clean up your Web act
Employers are increasingly checking out online personal information about candidates when making recruitment decisions.
Net reputations built up through online activities--such as blogging, posting videos to YouTube, or using social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.com--can have a significant effect when applying for a job, according to a report from business social network Viadeo.
According to the research, released Wednesday, one in five employers finds information about candidates on the Internet, and 59 percent of those said it influences recruitment decisions.
A fourth of human resources decision makers said they had rejected candidates based on personal information found online. Most people, however, remain unaware of the effect their Net reputation can have on their job prospects.
Examples of online information that has been shown to create negative information include MySpace pages that reveal excessive drinking or disrespect for work.
One survey respondent said his company rejected a candidate based on activities found online that "did not fit ethically" into the organization.
But information found online can also work positively when applying for a job, with 13 percent of HR decision makers having decided to recruit people in light of what they found.
Positive information could include achievements not already known, Internet skills demonstrated through a Web site and extra skills not revealed by a corporate application form.
Peter Cunningham, a U.K.-based Viadeo manager, said the results should be a wake-up call to anyone who has ever posted personal information online.
"The rise of search engines such as Google means that potential employers are never more than a few clicks away from information about you," he added in a statement.
The research surveyed more than 2,000 consumers and more than 600 employers via an online interview.
Net reputations built up through online activities--such as blogging, posting videos to YouTube, or using social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.com--can have a significant effect when applying for a job, according to a report from business social network Viadeo.
According to the research, released Wednesday, one in five employers finds information about candidates on the Internet, and 59 percent of those said it influences recruitment decisions.
A fourth of human resources decision makers said they had rejected candidates based on personal information found online. Most people, however, remain unaware of the effect their Net reputation can have on their job prospects.
Examples of online information that has been shown to create negative information include MySpace pages that reveal excessive drinking or disrespect for work.
One survey respondent said his company rejected a candidate based on activities found online that "did not fit ethically" into the organization.
But information found online can also work positively when applying for a job, with 13 percent of HR decision makers having decided to recruit people in light of what they found.
Positive information could include achievements not already known, Internet skills demonstrated through a Web site and extra skills not revealed by a corporate application form.
Peter Cunningham, a U.K.-based Viadeo manager, said the results should be a wake-up call to anyone who has ever posted personal information online.
"The rise of search engines such as Google means that potential employers are never more than a few clicks away from information about you," he added in a statement.
The research surveyed more than 2,000 consumers and more than 600 employers via an online interview.
GPL getting tougher on patent deals
The third draft of General Public License version 3 includes provisions to toughen the license's stance on patent deals between software providers.
The Free Software Foundation posted draft 3 of GPL 3 on its Web site, as expected, Wednesday.
Modifications were made since the second draft, which came out in July 2006, to address a patent deal between Microsoft and Linux seller Novell, under which Microsoft agreed not to sue Suse Linux customers for patent infringement.
"The recent patent agreement between Microsoft and Novell aims to undermine (software users') freedoms. In (the third) draft, we have worked hard to prevent such deals from making a mockery of free software," Richard Stallman, president of the FSF and principal author of the GPL, said in a statement Wednesday.
Novell and Microsoft on Wednesday said that the added patent provisions of the third GPL 3 draft will not derail their partnership.
"It is unfortunate...that the FSF is attempting to use the GPL 3 to prevent future collaboration among industry leaders to benefit customers," Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft's vice president of intellectual property and licensing, said in a statement.
Novell said it will continue to participate in open-source software projects and remains committed to its partnership with Microsoft.
"If the final version of the GPL 3 does potentially impact the agreement we have with Microsoft, we'll address that with Microsoft," Novell spokesman Bruce Lowry said.
In supporting documents to the new draft, the FSF said it has not yet decided whether the patent addition will apply to all such commercial arrangements or only to those signed in the future. The latter option would let the existing Novell-Microsoft agreement stand.
The basic idea of the GPL is unchanged: Anyone may use, modify and redistribute GPL software, but a party that redistributes GPL software must publish any changes that are made.
One change in GPL 3 governs patents. An earlier draft required an organization that distributed GPL software to grant rights to its patents related to the software. But the new draft is narrower, requiring only that it grant rights to patents relating to any contributions it makes to that software.
Another change is a narrower scope for a section that had concerned digital rights management (DRM), technology that can be used to restrict users' access to software or content. The new version avoids reference to the DRM concept and requires that installation instructions be provided to permit users to install modified software. However, a company doesn't have to supply support, warranty and updates if the user modifies the software, and the instructions don't need to be supplied
Also new in the third draft are simplified terms to make GPL 3 more compatible with GPL 2, which is used for thousands of open-source software products, including the Linux kernel, Java and MySQL.
Previous drafts of GPL 3 have drawn mixed reviews, including major reservations from Linux founder Linus Torvalds and a majority of the Linux kernel developers.
Earlier this year, Torvalds panned GPL 3, saying the new version seeks to promote the Free Software Foundation's philosophy rather than produce a pragmatic legal foundation.
"The GPL was designed to ensure that all users of a program receive the four essential freedoms which define free software," Stallman said of the philosophy behind the open-source license. "These freedoms allow you to run the program as you see fit, study and adapt it for your own purposes, redistribute copies to help your neighbor and release your improvements to the public."
Version 3 has been more than a year in the making, with its first public presentation in January 2006.
The next step to completing GPL 3 is a 60-day comment period, followed by a "last call" draft. The final GPL 3 will arrive 30 days after that, according to the FSF.
The timing pushes back by about three months the original deadline of March for a new version of the license.
The Free Software Foundation posted draft 3 of GPL 3 on its Web site, as expected, Wednesday.
Modifications were made since the second draft, which came out in July 2006, to address a patent deal between Microsoft and Linux seller Novell, under which Microsoft agreed not to sue Suse Linux customers for patent infringement.
"The recent patent agreement between Microsoft and Novell aims to undermine (software users') freedoms. In (the third) draft, we have worked hard to prevent such deals from making a mockery of free software," Richard Stallman, president of the FSF and principal author of the GPL, said in a statement Wednesday.
Novell and Microsoft on Wednesday said that the added patent provisions of the third GPL 3 draft will not derail their partnership.
"It is unfortunate...that the FSF is attempting to use the GPL 3 to prevent future collaboration among industry leaders to benefit customers," Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft's vice president of intellectual property and licensing, said in a statement.
Novell said it will continue to participate in open-source software projects and remains committed to its partnership with Microsoft.
"If the final version of the GPL 3 does potentially impact the agreement we have with Microsoft, we'll address that with Microsoft," Novell spokesman Bruce Lowry said.
In supporting documents to the new draft, the FSF said it has not yet decided whether the patent addition will apply to all such commercial arrangements or only to those signed in the future. The latter option would let the existing Novell-Microsoft agreement stand.
The basic idea of the GPL is unchanged: Anyone may use, modify and redistribute GPL software, but a party that redistributes GPL software must publish any changes that are made.
One change in GPL 3 governs patents. An earlier draft required an organization that distributed GPL software to grant rights to its patents related to the software. But the new draft is narrower, requiring only that it grant rights to patents relating to any contributions it makes to that software.
Another change is a narrower scope for a section that had concerned digital rights management (DRM), technology that can be used to restrict users' access to software or content. The new version avoids reference to the DRM concept and requires that installation instructions be provided to permit users to install modified software. However, a company doesn't have to supply support, warranty and updates if the user modifies the software, and the instructions don't need to be supplied
Also new in the third draft are simplified terms to make GPL 3 more compatible with GPL 2, which is used for thousands of open-source software products, including the Linux kernel, Java and MySQL.
Previous drafts of GPL 3 have drawn mixed reviews, including major reservations from Linux founder Linus Torvalds and a majority of the Linux kernel developers.
Earlier this year, Torvalds panned GPL 3, saying the new version seeks to promote the Free Software Foundation's philosophy rather than produce a pragmatic legal foundation.
"The GPL was designed to ensure that all users of a program receive the four essential freedoms which define free software," Stallman said of the philosophy behind the open-source license. "These freedoms allow you to run the program as you see fit, study and adapt it for your own purposes, redistribute copies to help your neighbor and release your improvements to the public."
Version 3 has been more than a year in the making, with its first public presentation in January 2006.
The next step to completing GPL 3 is a 60-day comment period, followed by a "last call" draft. The final GPL 3 will arrive 30 days after that, according to the FSF.
The timing pushes back by about three months the original deadline of March for a new version of the license.
With desktop camera, your face can be your password
A Canadian company on Wednesday announced a new camera that functions as both a Webcam and a security system that scans a face in three dimensions.
Toronto-based Bioscrypt claims an industry first with its 3D DeskCam. The 3-inch tall, half-inch wide camera uses infrared along with a lens to scan a face in three dimensions and authenticate users accessing computers, the company said.
The camera uses about 40,000 identification points, looking primarily at a person's forehead, eye sockets and nose bridge, said Ryan Zlockie, director of product management at Bioscrypt. The facial-recognition system has passed tests with identical twins and professional face molds, Zlockie said. A person registered with facial hair who subsequently shaves doesn't have to be reregistered, but somebody who undergoes plastic surgery does, he said.
The 3D DeskCam can remove the need for passwords, tokens or smart cards to log on to a computer or online services, according to Bioscrypt.
For consumers, the 3D feature can also help create avatars that look like an individual for use in gaming and instant-message applications, Zlockie said.
Bioscrypt pitches facial scanning as a user-friendly alternative to other biometric security systems that scan a finger or an iris.
"3D face recognition is much quicker and you don't have to be as close as with iris scanning," Zlockie said. Also, people don't have to touch anything or worry about greasy fingers, he said.
The camera, priced at $350, is slated to be available in the second half of this year. Initially, Bioscrypt is targeting business users, but the device could be available to consumers by the end of the year or early next year, Zlockie said. When produced in higher volume, the price should come down to around $200, he said.
Toronto-based Bioscrypt claims an industry first with its 3D DeskCam. The 3-inch tall, half-inch wide camera uses infrared along with a lens to scan a face in three dimensions and authenticate users accessing computers, the company said.
The camera uses about 40,000 identification points, looking primarily at a person's forehead, eye sockets and nose bridge, said Ryan Zlockie, director of product management at Bioscrypt. The facial-recognition system has passed tests with identical twins and professional face molds, Zlockie said. A person registered with facial hair who subsequently shaves doesn't have to be reregistered, but somebody who undergoes plastic surgery does, he said.
The 3D DeskCam can remove the need for passwords, tokens or smart cards to log on to a computer or online services, according to Bioscrypt.
For consumers, the 3D feature can also help create avatars that look like an individual for use in gaming and instant-message applications, Zlockie said.
Bioscrypt pitches facial scanning as a user-friendly alternative to other biometric security systems that scan a finger or an iris.
"3D face recognition is much quicker and you don't have to be as close as with iris scanning," Zlockie said. Also, people don't have to touch anything or worry about greasy fingers, he said.
The camera, priced at $350, is slated to be available in the second half of this year. Initially, Bioscrypt is targeting business users, but the device could be available to consumers by the end of the year or early next year, Zlockie said. When produced in higher volume, the price should come down to around $200, he said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
