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Submission + - Oracle deteriorating: Sony Pictures CIO

Submitted by daria42 on Wednesday March 14, 2007 @06:28PM

daria42 writes: Sony Pictures chief information officer David Cortese has slammed Oracle's aquisition strategy claiming customer service levels have dropped and its products have become "stale". Cortese's application portfolio in recent years has included PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Demantra and Hyperion. All have been acquired by Oracle in the last few years. "The good thing is I only have to write one cheque instead of four. The bad news is it's Oracle," he said.

Submission + - Man Sues Viacom for Sponge Bob Rights

Submitted by

mposth

on Wednesday March 14, 2007 @06:03PM

mposth writes: "A Bay Area man is suing Viacom for $1.6 billion over rights to Sponge Bob Square Pants. Cartoonist Troy Walker claims he created Bob Spongee, an unemployed cartoon sponge, in 1991. Walker created a comic strip and sold 1,000 "Bob Spongie" dolls. Viacom's attorneys have said in court documents that "Sponge Bob" is different from "Bob Spongee." But Walker says: "It is more than ironic that two working class sponges are named Bob. Both characters are unemployed. Both characters live in a house concept.'' Walker filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against Nickelodeon, Viacom Inc., Paramount Studios and Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob. Just Tuesday, Viacom slammed Google's YouTube with a $1 billion copyright infringement suit. http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/l ocal/16872168.htm"

Submission + - If you could do it all over, would you choose IT?

Submitted by on Wednesday March 14, 2007 @04:58PM

An anonymous reader writes: Given some of the complaints against IT and software as careers (long hours, offshoring, visa workers, ageism, boring projects, etc...), what would you do differently if you could do it all over again? Knowing what you know now, would you choose the same college major and the same career?

Submission + - Genetic origin found for autism

Submitted by

etherlad

on Tuesday February 20, 2007 @12:21PM

etherlad writes: "Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children and the Offord Centre for Child Studies in Hamilton teamed with scientists and clinicians from centres elsewhere in Canada and eight other countries to scan the entire human genome for autism-related genes. The consortium of scientists — 137 from 50 centres worldwide that make up the Autism Genome Project — analyzed DNA from about 1,600 families with autistic children to try to zero in on a specific group of brain cells and the genes that affect their development and function. Their analysis led them in part to a region on chromosome 11, as well as to a gene known as neurexin 1, part of a family of genes believed to be important in communication between neurons, particularly during the brain's development."

Submission + - CIO Jobs Morph Into Strategy

Submitted by

Carl Bialik from WSJ

on Tuesday February 20, 2007 @11:55AM

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes: "The job of CIO is being transformed from technology manager to corporate strategist, the Wall Street Journal reports. From the article: 'As the longtime chief information officer for Northrop Grumman Corp., Tom Shelman's duties mainly consisted of managing the defense contractor's vast network of computer systems. So he was shocked when the company suddenly changed his job description several years ago. Mr. Shelman was asked to be more "strategic" and "transformational." He was told he would be expected to meet with customers, use technology in new ways and help win new business — in short, to help the Los Angeles-based company grow. "I had to sit down and do some soul-searching," says Mr. Shelman, 48 years old. "It was a significant change; it sounded exciting, but it also scared the hell out of me." '"

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