49688021
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
Caixa Econômica Federal Turns to Microsoft Solutions for Cost Savings and Improved Interoperability
Established in 1861, Caixa Econômica Federal is not just a bank, it’s an institution that impacts the lives of millions in Brazil. The 100% public company has a key role in promoting urban development and social initiatives across country, giving priority to sectors such as housing and public services and contributing significantly to improve the lives of citizens, especially those of low income.
Recently, Caixa was looking to significantly revitalize its IT solutions to support growth, accelerate decision making, and take advantage of the transformative benefits of cloud solutions and mobile integration. At the same time, they needed to ensure new technologies would work well with existing IT investments, including open source software.
Caixa decided to implement a robust suite of Microsoft solutions, including Windows Server 2012, Windows 8, and Office, to better support its 118,000 employees and 3,000 branches. Now Caixa is realizing a broad range of efficiency improvements – from streamlined communications to enhanced mobile productivity to significant cost savings.
In one year there have been impressive results, including the migration of 140,000 mailboxes, almost 40,000 desktops running Windows 8, and 100,000 users migrated from ISA Sever to Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) Server using Microsoft Reputation Services (MRS).
Employees and management alike are pleased with the improved functionality and business agility. “I believe this will revolutionize the way we work at Caixa,” said Marcelo Xavier, IT Consultant at Caixa.
Caixa’s new Microsoft solutions integrated well with their existing IT, including some legacy and open source solutions, such as OpenLDAP, Expresso Email, Apache web server and PostGreSQL.
Caixa is representative of a broader trend of previously open source customers embracing Microsoft technologies, or a mix of Microsoft and open source solutions. We’re fortunate to regain their business, as organizations have seen Microsoft investing heavily in work with open source vendors and communities, in supporting standard document formats like ODF, in building rich integration with Linux on the desktop and the server, and in mainstreaming the new stack of web standards like HTML5. They like that we have made a commitment to ensure our technology works well with others, combined with the overall platform value we deliver.
49186785
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
Microsoft Office Mobile is the official Office companion optimized for your Android phone. You can access, view and edit your Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint documents from virtually anywhere. Documents look like the originals, thanks to support for charts, animations, SmartArt graphics and shapes. When you make quick edits or add comments to a document, the formatting and content remain intact.
48755943
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
Those who qualify for TechNet get access to nearly all of Microsoft's software (Office for the Mac being a notable exception), with a limited number of license keys for each application. Microsoft's recently announcement stated that TechNet users could buy or renew a one-year subscription through Aug. 31.
Microsoft hasn't specifically stated that software piracy is the root cause of TechNet's demise. But there's no doubt that a significant number of TechNet subscribers have abused the service. In truth, the program has been rife with petty-level pirating for all of its nearly 20 years.
Back in the early days, packs of TechNet CDs arrived in the mail. It was like manna from the mother ship. And those CDs got passed around.
Today, TechNet's many offerings are simply downloaded as easily copied and shared ISO files. For the most part, the downloads are managed through a sort of honor system. That makes it easy for some subscribers to game the system — i.e., download genuine copies of Microsoft software along with perfectly legitimate keys and then either give the software to family and friends or sell it at the local flea market. Undoubtedly, a few unscrupulous PC resellers sold systems with free TechNet software keys — and charged their customers "discounted" application fees.
47090905
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the police practice of taking DNA samples from people who have been arrested but not convicted of a crime, ruling that it amounts to the 21st century version of fingerprinting.
The ruling was 5-4. Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative, joined three of the court’s more liberal members — Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — in dissenting.
The five justices in the majority ruled that DNA sampling, after an arrest “for a serious offense” and when officers “bring the suspect to the station to be detained in custody,” does not violate the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of unreasonable searches.
46466351
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has sustained Monsanto Co.'s claim that an Indiana farmer violated the company's patents on soybean seeds that are resistant to its weed-killer.
The justices, in a unanimous vote Monday, rejected the farmer's argument that cheap soybeans he bought from a grain elevator are not covered by the Monsanto patents, even though most of them also were genetically modified to resist the company's Roundup herbicide.
Justice Elena Kagan says a farmer who buys patented seeds must have the patent holder's permission. More than 90 percent of American soybean farms use Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" seeds, which first came on the market in 1996.
38677829
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
The latest version of Mozilla's Firefox browser has been taken offline after a security vulnerability was discovered.
Users who had upgraded to version 16 were advised to downgrade to the previous safe release until Firefox developers released a fix.
The vulnerability allowed "a malicious site to potentially determine which websites users have visited", Mozilla said.
The non-profit company said that only a "limited number of users are affected".
The download had been taken off-line within a day of its initial release, the organization's UK spokesman said.
35884517
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
Microsoft’s crusade to lock Linux companies into patent protection deals has netted Redmond’s first service provider.
Amdocs Software Systems is paying Microsoft to license undisclosed Redmond patents in a deal that "provides mutual access to each company’s patent portfolio".
The deal extends to the Linux servers running in Amdoc’s data centres, with the unidentified boxes receiving a licence under Microsoft’s patent portfolio. Specific terms of the deal were not announced, including how much Amdocs will pay Microsoft.
Until now, Microsoft has focused its efforts on device makers whose systems run Android Linux – HTC, General Dynamics Itronix, Onkyo Corp and Velocity Micro – in addition to Acer, ViewSonic and Casio. To our knowledge, this is Microsoft’s first strike at the server market. Amdocs specialises in customer and network management and service delivery systems for operators such as cable TV companies.
34692359
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
Jonathan Mayer had a hunch.
A gifted computer scientist, Mayer suspected that online advertisers might be getting around browser settings that are designed to block tracking devices known as cookies. If his instinct was right, advertisers were following people as they moved from one website to another even though their browsers were configured to prevent this sort of digital shadowing. Working long hours at his office, Mayer ran a series of clever tests in which he purchased ads that acted as sniffers for the sort of unauthorized cookies he was looking for. He hit the jackpot, unearthing one of the biggest privacy scandals of the past year: Google was secretly planting cookies on a vast number of iPhone browsers. Mayer thinks millions of iPhones were targeted by Google.
34429329
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
Google Inc Chief Executive Larry Page has reassured employees about his health, but the company on Friday shed little additional light on an unspecified condition affecting his voice that will sideline him from two high-profile events in the coming weeks.
Page told employees in an email on Thursday that there was "nothing seriously wrong with me," according to a source who had seen an internal staff memo.
The 39-year-old Google co-founder sat out his company's annual shareholders' meeting on Thursday because he had "lost his voice," according to Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, who informed attendees of the news at the start of the event.
33974609
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
Britain's data regulator has reopened its investigation into Google's Street View, saying Tuesday that an inquiry by authorities in the United States raised new doubts about the disputed program.
Steve Eckersley, enforcement chief of the British Information Commissioner's Office, said Google Inc. had questions to answer about Street View, an attention-grabbing project which sent camera-toting vehicles across the globe to create three-dimensional maps of the world's highways and byways.
But the cars weren't just taking pictures: They were scooping up passwords, Web addresses, emails, and other sensitive data transmitted over unsecured wireless networks.
There was outrage on both sides of the Atlantic when the data-slurping was exposed in early 2010, and the Information Commissioner's Office was one of several European agencies which investigated Street View in the aftermath of the scandal. But in November of that year, the ICO gave Google a mere slap on the wrist, saying that while Google had violated British data protection laws it would escape any fines so long as it pledged not to do it again.
At the time, Google insisted that the breach was an accident.
"We did not want this data, have never used any of it on our products and services, and have sought to delete it as quickly as possible," the company claimed back then.
Evidence made public earlier this year by the Federal Communications Commission has since punctured Google's "oops-I-took-your-data" defense.
33722281
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
Microsoft’s decision to remove support for playing DVD movies in Windows 8 has caused some confusion. If the VLC media player can provide DVD support for free, why can’t Microsoft? For starters, Microsoft isn’t French.
Microsoft announced this week that Windows 8 will not support playback of DVD movies unless you explicitly add software that supports that feature.
The economic reasons for doing so are compelling (see Microsoft’s follow-up FAQ for details ), but it’s also a potentially disruptive move for some Windows enthusiasts. So it’s not surprising that some of the initial reactions have been heated and even angry.
I look at the big numbers and walk through the math in a follow-up post; How much do DVD and digital media playback features really cost?
30011253
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
NEW YORK — A U.S. senator has urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate reports that applications on the Apple and Google mobile systems steal private photos and contacts and post them online without consent.
Democrat Charles Schumer's request comes after iPhone maker Apple tweaked its privacy policies last month after prodding from other lawmakers.
The distribution of third-party applications on iPhones and phones running on Google's Android system has helped create a surge in the popularity of those devices in recent years.
Related story: Android apps can snoop photos, too
However, Schumer said on Sunday that he was concerned about a New York Times report that iPhone and Android applications can access a user's private photo collection.
He also referred to a discovery last month that applications on devices such as the iPhone and iPad were able to upload entire address books with names, telephone numbers and email addresses to their own servers.
"These uses go well beyond what a reasonable user understands himself to be consenting to when he allows an app to access data on the phone for purposes of the app's functionality," Schumer said in a letter to the FTC.
Advertise | AdChoices
The lawmaker said it was his understanding that many of these uses violate the terms of service of the Apple and Android platforms. He said "it is not clear whether or how those terms of service are being enforced and monitored."
Related story: iPhone flaw allows apps access to your contacts
As a result, he said, "smartphone makers should be required to put in place safety measures to ensure third party applications are not able to violate a user's personal privacy by stealing photographs or data that the user did not consciously decide to make public".
Schumer said phone makers have an obligation to protect the private content of their customers.
"When someone takes a private photo, on a private cellphone, it should remain just that: private," said Schumer.
29914393
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
Not bad for a day's work. A day after Microsoft posted its Consumer Preview of Windows 8, users have downloaded it 1 million times.
Microsoft broke the news in a tweet on Thursday: "One day later...one million downloads of the consumer preview," it said via its BuildingWindows8 account.
Microsoft unveiled the Windows 8 preview in Barcelona during the Mobile World Congress show, alongside the Windows Phone platform. Windows chief Steven Sinofsky took to the stage at a press event to talk up the "bold re-imagining of Windows."
"Our goal with Windows 8 is to deliver PCs without compromise," Sinofsky said, which means that the OS scales with you depending on how you want to use the OS and with what gadget — tablet, PC, or touch-based PC.
27879292
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
Eastman Kodak Co., the unprofitable 131-year-old camera maker, is weighing options including a bankruptcy filing because of concerns raised by possible buyers of its patent portfolio, said three people with direct knowledge of the process.
Some potential bidders for the patents are wary of proceeding because a purchase may amount to a so-called fraudulent transfer if Kodak is insolvent, said the people, who asked not to be named because the talks are private. Kodak confirmed that it hired Jones Day to advise it on considering options and said it doesn’t plan to seek bankruptcy protection.
“As we sit here today, the company has no intention of filing, and there is no change in our strategy to monetize our intellectual property,” Gerard Meuchner, a spokesman for Kodak, said yesterday. “We’re not concerned about fraudulent conveyance in regards to the sale of our IP portfolio.”
The company will make a $14 million coupon payment due today, he said. Meuchner declined to comment on whether the company had discussed a potential filing with law firms, saying that Kodak is “focused on the fourth quarter and on delivering on our strategy to become a profitable, sustainable digital company.”
A number of suitors, such as Google Inc., have signed confidentiality agreements to examine the assets, said the people. If a sale was judged fraudulent, creditors may sue for more money, said one of the people. A bankruptcy filing may help clear the way for a patent sale, said the people. The sale could fetch about $3 billion, MDB Capital Group estimates.
26706092
submission
Pigskin-Referee writes:
Microsoft said Sunday night that it plans to launch its fall update for its Xbox 360 game console, complete with voice search via Xbox Kinect, this week.
Microsoft also announced a significant number of related content partnerships, bringing most major services to the Xbox platform this week or by early 2012. On Dec. 6, Starting Dec. 6, a free Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone will let also let users find, learn more about and control content from popular entertainment services on Xbox LIVE.
