Monday, January 31, 2005

With the rumours that Google is going into the Web Browser market heating up, it could herald a showdown between Google and Microsoft. The stakes are high, more so for Google than for Microsoft.Project Googlefox

Friday, January 28, 2005

Data Leakage, i.e. security and privacy breaches from external and internal sources, is a growing concern of companies, partly because of the fact it is growing and partly because of the privacy legislation that sets the stage for legal actions when leakage occurs.Staying Afloat by Plugging up Data Leakage

Thursday, January 27, 2005

When buying a new laptop with wireless, or setting up a new wireless network, the question arises which protocol is the one to go with - 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g or one of the emerging new ones, such as 802.11n. The short answer is that 802.11b (the original WiFi) is still as good as any for the foreseeable future. g is faster, but most people don't need the speed. n is still unproven and may have compatibility problems as does a.CNN.com - Alphabet soup of Wi-Fi choices - Jan 26, 2005

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Outsourcing has been an issue in the US and particularly during the last election because of the perception that it transfers jobs out of the country. In reality, however, outsourcing has significant benefits for both the country doing the outsourcing and the one on the receiving end. Here's a summary of some of the benefits to India. Two Sides of Outsourcing

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Like many modern e-businesses, Adidas needs to integrate its supply chain. It's adopting Linux as a common platform so it can do this. Here's a short explanation: ITBusiness.ca
XBRL is gaining ground and has considerable promise for the advancement of electronic reporting of business and financial information and interoperability of enterprise systems. Here's an interesting update:Lifting the lid: XBRL seen easing financial analysis - Computerworld

Monday, January 24, 2005

The US Government's Federal Trade Commission has won courrt injunctions against several companies regarding the distribution of pornographic spam. It's considered a significant victory in the ongoing fight against spam especially of this most odious variety. Government Moves to Stop Internet Advertising for X-rated Spammers
Metro Group, the world's third largest retailer, has completed an implementation of RFID tags, and expects to reap substantial benefits from the improved stock control.InformationWeek > RFID implementation > World's Third Largest Retailer Completes Warehouse RFID Implementation > January 20, 2005

Friday, January 21, 2005

Computerland has published a special report on the use of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) which is comprehensive and contains several case studies of the ways in which it is being used. It is projected to expand considerably in use over the next year. Current applications are focusing on cost savings, particularly improving communications within companies while cutting phone costs. Computerworld Networking Special Report

Thursday, January 20, 2005

It's a little known fact that the new Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft makes heavy use of RFID tagging to enable the electronic monitoring of parts on the plane and speed up their maintenance and replacement. RFID has taken off in the past year or two in a variety of e-business applications, many of them devoted to the tracking of various inventory items and maintenance parts.InformationWeek > RFID, radio-frequency identification chips, Airbus, aircraft, jet airliner, FedEx, aircraft maintenance > Airbus Delivers Its RFID-Enabled, Next-Generation Aircraft > January 19, 2005

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Businessweek has come up with Seven IT Trends for 2005. Among them are hi-tech TV, the move of China into chip-making and, encouragingly, an upsurge in hiring in the IT sector, something that has been on the downside for several years, after the bubble burst in 2001BusinessWeek Online: Technology Special Report

Friday, January 14, 2005

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is having a big effect on enterprise systems. It is an approach to loosely linking various software services to achieve greater flexibility for users. A service is a unit of work done by a service provider to achieve desired end results for a service consumer. The following linked article defines it in some detail. webservices.xml.com: What is Service-Oriented Architecture?
Microsoft is moving to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) as are many of the competitors in the enterprise systems sector. It's a big trend, and Microsoft's move will make it bigger. InformationWeek > Microsoft CRM > Microsoft CRM Moving To Services-Oriented Architecture > January 13, 2005

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

The power lines already in place throughout the industrialized world can be a good infrastructure for transmitting data. Researchers at Penn State say they have developed such a technology. If so, and if it proves viable, it could have a major impact on the availability of the internet and data network lines for companies. Converge

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

A significant new study has been released by Pew Internet & American Life Project (available at http://www.pewinternet.org) titled "The Future of the Internet". Resulting from a questionnaire sent out to over 1000 people, the study confirms that the use of the internet over the years to 2014 will grow dramattically, will take over ALL of the media coming onto the home and will be a major driver for new approaches to education. It's worth a careful read.

Friday, January 07, 2005

Google is doing great. It's one of the biggest success stories of recent years. But can it withstand a strategic assault from Microsoft? It's vulnerability lies in the ease with which e-business customers can switch suppliers. Welcome to Technology Review

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Here's another reminder that those e-mails you send need to be written as though they are in the public domain - because they may be! Globetechnology: E-mail used as weapon in court case

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Concern about privacy, security and identity theft are all intermingled and continue to be serious in the minds of many. Computerworld has published a list of top five privacy concerns for 2005, based on a survey by the Ponemon Institute. Phishing and identity theft still rank high on the list. Top 5 privacy issues for 2005 - Computerworld