Open Source diversity brings better security

Open Source Software is diverse and therefore it is more secure, claims Trend Micro an antivirus software manufacturer. One reason for this belief is the variety of Linux distributions which makes the spread of a malicious virus more difficult, and containment easier.

"Open source is more secure. Period," says Raimund Genes, chief technical officer for anti-malware at Trend Micro.

via IDABC Open Source Observatory

Commission confirms unpatentability of software

Europe’s long-standing debate over whether new software can be patented or not took a dramatic turn in late May when the European Commission confirmed its position on the unpatentability of new computer software and the right of courts to invalidate software patents granted by the European Patent Office (EPO).

via IDABC Open Source Observatory

Gates stepping down from full-time Microsoft role

Bill Gates is transitioning out of his full-time role at Microsoft, the software giant that's been under pressure due to a sagging stock price, competition from Google and nagging delays in the Vista operating system.

In a press conference held Thursday after the stock markets had closed for regular trading, Gates announced that over the next two years he will gradually step away from his daily responsibilities at the company he co-founded some 30 years ago.

Gates stepping down from full-time Microsoft role @ CNET News.com

Microsoft press release

Sun promises to open-source Java

Sun Microsystems will open-source Java--it just has to figure out how to do it, company executives said Tuesday.

Open-source advocates have urged Sun for years to open-source the Java programming language, but the company has resisted, citing compatibility concerns and fear of losing control. Now the company has promised that Java will become open source.

"At this point, it is not a question of whether, but it is a question of how" Sun will open-source Java, Rich Green, the company's new executive vice president of software, said at Sun's annual JavaOne developer conference here.

Sun promises to open-source Java @ CNET News.com

Connectedness

Social network analysis to accelerate business results. Connectedness

Structural Holes and Collaborative Innovation

As Tom Malone recently put it in The Future of Work, “As managers, we need to shift our thinking from command and control to coordinate and cultivate -- the best way to gain power is sometimes to give it away.” Coordination, cultivation, and collaboration are increasingly the mode of work at every level.

Leadership Development

World Cup Geek Style

Instructions to watch the World Cup live in ASCII trough telnet at http://ascii-wm.net/
or simply try "telnet ascii-wm.net 2006" or "telnet diego.ascii-wm.net 2006"!

Football gets ASCII'd @ The Register

How IT projects really work

How IT projects really work @ Scaryideas.com

Noobs Guide To Pandora's Rip Hack

Hak.5 Noobs Guide To Pandora's Rip Hack

"this app can break"! Are there any other forbidden strings in Notepad?

Do you know that some strings are not 'allowed' in Notepad in Windows?

read more | digg story

Microsoft Office 12 and PDF

Microsoft, which last October announced it would support Adobe's PDF format in its upcoming Office upgrade, has reached an impasse after four months of talks, a Microsoft attorney said Friday. Adobe wants the software giant to remove the PDF "save as" feature from its beta version of Office 2007 or to charge a fee for it, whereas Microsoft wants to offer that feature for free, said Dave Heiner, the deputy general counsel who oversees Microsoft's antitrust cases.


read more @ CNet News.com

Slashdot: Not Your Daddy's IT Force Anymore

The days of high-paying technology-based jobs right out of highschool are over. As writers for ACM report, the skill-sets required for jobs have grown over time. Academia has responded to the evolution with novel programs recruiting women and integrating IT into MBA programs. And as technology finds its way into every aspect of business life, the NSF is creating a grant program to fund service science, a blend of IT into other industries. Researchers at City University of NY are working on an NSF-funded project to infuse technology into Liberal Arts courses taken by students who are in primary tech-producer or tech-consumer majors. What are these crucial modern skills? Knowledge of laws like the DMCA? Interpersonal and group work skills? Experience with different technology platforms? The ability to discriminate between useful and useless information sources?

read more @ slashdot