Tri - Slashdot User

Submission + - Microsoft struggling to gain endorsement for OOXML (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by Tri on Thursday August 09, 2007 @08:12AM

Tri writes: The Open Source Industry of Australia (OSIA) has formally contacted Standards Australia, requesting that Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) format not be endorsed by the body as an ISO standard.

"Quite apart from the technical problems with OOXML, the main problem from OSIA's point of view is a substantive one — the 'standard' is designed so that it can only be implemented by a single vendor", said Brendan Scott, Director of Open Source Industry Australia. "So, while in theory a third party could create an independent implementation, in practice it is very unlikely", he said.

Submission + - Aussie phone spammer fined $150k (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by Tri on Monday July 23, 2007 @03:40AM

Tri writes: The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has hit DC Marketing Europe Limited with a $150,000 fine, the biggest penalty it has issued since the Spam Act came into force in April 2004. This is hopefully the first of many to come.

Submission + - 12 IT skills that employers can't say no to

Submitted by StonyandCher on Wednesday July 18, 2007 @07:17PM

StonyandCher writes: Have you spoken with a high-tech recruiter or professor of computer science lately? According to observers across the country, the technology skills shortage that pundits were talking about a year ago is real.

The market for IT talent is hot, but only if you have the right skills. If you want to be part of the wave, take a look at what eight experts — including recruiters, curriculum developers, computer science professors and other industry observers — say are the hottest skills of the near future.

Submission + - Google and Yahoo battle for print-ads domination

Submitted by StonyandCher on Wednesday July 18, 2007 @06:48PM

StonyandCher writes: Google has expanded its Print Ads so that anyone subscribing to its AdWords program can purchase print advertising from a growing network of newspapers.

Both Google and rival Yahoo have deals with a network of newspaper companies to sell print advertising through their respective Web-based search advertising services.

With Google Print Ads clocking up more than 225 newspapers and Yahoo with 264 newspapers in its consortium, will there be a clear winner in this battle of the ads?

Submission + - Matthew Szulik: The culture of Red Hat (cnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 18, 2007 @06:34PM

An anonymous reader writes: Red Hat takes community seriously, to the extent that it tries to bake open source processes and ethos into the company's operations. Matthew Szulik talks about the value of free software to the industry, and how hiring and firing the right people leads to strong open source businesses.

Submission + - Are we ready for a cashless society? (smh.com.au)

Submitted by skegg on Wednesday July 18, 2007 @06:07PM

skegg writes: Following a security scare, a major Australian bank cancelled thousands of credit cards belonging to its customers. The article mentions one customer unable to leave a store as she spent 40 minutes on the phone trying to sort out the mess. Do incidents like this teach us anything about preparing for a cashless society? Is a purely cashless society even possible by today's technology standards?

Submission + - Federal court denies Internet Radio appeal

Submitted by StonyandCher on Thursday July 12, 2007 @08:59PM

StonyandCher writes: A U.S. federal appeals court has denied a petition from music webcaster associations for an emergency stay of new royalty rates that Internet radio companies have to start paying on Sunday.

The stay, if granted, would have delayed the July 15 due date of the increased royalty payments that are owed by music webcasters to SoundExchange, the nonprofit organization set up by the Recording Industry Association of America to collect so-called digital performance royalties for recording artists and record companies.

"If Internet radio goes silent, I will fight to make sure the silence is brief," Inslee said in a statement sent via e-mail. "One thing is sure: After July 15, national pressure for a resolution of this travesty only will increase. We are not going away."

Submission + - Nathan Myhrvold on patent mongers and business

Submitted by StonyandCher on Thursday July 12, 2007 @07:07PM

StonyandCher writes: In this interview, Nathan Myhrvold (boss of Intellectual Ventures), details his business strategy and defends himself from those who call him "the most feared man in Silicon Valley" and "a very large patent troll."

From the interview: "The primary reason that one would fear someone who owns patents is because they believe they're currently cheating that person. I believe the attitude about patents that has existed for many years in the technology industry has lead to a tremendous amount of infringement. I think this is just a function of the development of the industry.

Submission + - Microsoft admits all 360s sold so far are flawed

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 12, 2007 @04:01AM

An anonymous reader writes: CNN reports that Microsoft has admitted all xbox 360 consoles sold in the past 19 months suffer from a design flaw. But it does not have any plans to start a recall program.

It seems like everyone with a functional (like myself) are lucky. This seems to be a bad time for Microsoft. But as a 360 owner, I am glad they actually admitted this instead of denying and repeating their line on how the actual failure rate is very low.

Submission + - IBM grants universal and perpetual access to IP

Submitted by StonyandCher on Wednesday July 11, 2007 @09:30PM

StonyandCher writes: IBM is making it easier to utilize its patented intellectual property to implement nearly 200 standards in SOA, Web services, security and other spaces.

Under a pledge issued by the company Wednesday, IBM is granting universal and perpetual access to intellectual property that might be necessary to implement standards designed to make software interoperable. IBM will not assert any patent rights to its technologies featured in these standards. The company believes its move in this space is the largest of its kind.

Among the technologies included on IBM's list, are various standards pertaining to SOAP, SAML, XML Schema, and Service Component Architecture.

"These are what I could call the core infrastructure standards that people now use around such things as SOA," said Bob Sutor, IBM vice president of open source and standards. Web 2.0 applications also could be developed, for example. The company seeks to spur development of software that leverages these standards.

Submission + - Lawsuit claims Xbox 360s scratch discs

Submitted by StonyandCher on Tuesday July 10, 2007 @06:22PM

StonyandCher writes: A class action suit in Florida claims that Xbox 360s can scratch game discs, making them unusable.

Just days after Microsoft took a more than US$1 billion earnings charge to fix hardware problems in Xbox 360 consoles, a class-action suit says that the consoles also damage game discs.

Filed on Monday in the U.S. District court for the Southern District of Florida, the suit claims that Xbox 360s scratch game discs, making them unusable. Thousands of people have been affected by and have complained to Microsoft about the problem, the suit claims. The suit asks for damages over US$5 million and the repair of Xbox 360s that cause the scratching and replacement of damaged discs.

Submission + - What Google bought in the past 12 months (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by Stony Stevenson on Tuesday June 05, 2007 @08:10PM

Stony Stevenson writes: Computerworld is running an article on what Google has bought in the past 12 months and what it means for Google's quest to rule the technology world.

In all, Google has agreed to make at least 11 purchases of companies or technologies in the past year. Google usually doesn't release financial terms of small deals, but the big ones are substantial: US$1.65 billion for YouTube and US$3.1 billion for DoubleClick (the latter deal is pending a federal investigation). A little bit more than a year ago, Google spent US$1 billion for a 5 percent stake in AOL.

Submission + - Bruce Momjian talks about PostgreSQL

Submitted by Da Massive on Wednesday May 23, 2007 @09:42PM

Da Massive writes: In this video, PostgreSQL community leader, Bruce Momjian talks about why Postgres is ready for business use and why it equals, if not betters its competitors. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/fp;2;fpi d;10000;o;0;id;528329100

IT Departments Fear Growing Expertise of Users 499

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 20, 2007 @04:42PM from the illusion-of-control dept.

flatfilsoc recommends a long article in CIO magazine on users who know too much and the IT leaders who fear them. Dubbing the universe of consumer technology the "shadow IT department," the article highlights the extent to which the boundary between users' workplace and home have broken down. It notes the increasing clash — familiar to anyone who works in a company with an IT department — between users' home-grown productivity boosters and IT's mandate to protect corporate data. The inherent tendency of the IT department to want to crack down and control technology that it doesn't supply should be resisted at all costs, according to CIO. The article outlines strategies for co-existence. It just might persuade some desperate CIO somewhere not to embark on a career-limiting path of decreeing against gmail and IM.

Submission + - Illinois Bill to Ban Social Networking Sites

Submitted by

AlexDV

on Tuesday February 13, 2007 @06:36PM

AlexDV writes: "Library blogger Michael Stephens is reporting that Illinois Senator Matt Murphy (R-27, Palatine) has filed a senate bill which "Creates the Social Networking Web site Prohibition Act. Provides that each public library must prohibit access to social networking Web sites on all computers made available to the public in the library. Provides that each public school must prohibit access to social networking Web sites on all computers made available to students in the school." The bill's full text can be found here.

What is it with politicians introducing crazy Internet-related legislation lately? Could this bill have something to do with the fact that prominent Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John Edward are using social networks as a core component of their campaigns? Hmm..."

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