Operating Systems
A deep dive into Windows 7 (build 6801)
Ed Bott: The deeper I dive into Windows 7, the more I discover, including subtle changes and tweaks that aren't obvious in a first look. In this post and its accompanying image gallery, I'll share some of those details with you.
Product Review Blogs
Polaroid-style film is back
Fujifilm announced today that it will be releasing its Instax 200 instant film camera (and the instant color film, of course) to the U.S. market in late December.
- Is the BlackBerry Storm too 'consumer'?
- 'Fish' = 'Sex'? iPhone can't understand British accent
- T-Mobile announces the cameo wireless photo frame to display camera phone images
- First Core i7 desktops from Dell, Alienware and Gateway
- Zune 3.1 firmware gives you 3 new games, price drops for flash Zunes too
Companies
Microsoft and Novell two years later
Mary Jo Foley: Two years ago this month, in November 2006, Microsoft inked its controversial cross-licensing pact with Novell. Was the patent pact worth it?
Security
Adobe AIR hits 'critical' security turbulence
Ryan Naraine: Buried in today's flurry of feel-good Adobe news is this less flattering nugget: Adobe AIR is vulnerable to several critical vulnerabilities that could expose users to code execution attacks.
IT Management
Outsourcing and the real IT labor shortage
Jason Hiner: The fastest way to raise the hackles of most U.S. IT professionals is to mention offshore outsourcing. However, new evidence shows that the IT offshoring trend is greatly exaggerated.
Enterprise Hardware
Jaquar chases Roadrunner for fastest supercomputer
Cray's XT5 Jaguar supercomputer has narrowly missed displacing IBM's Roadrunner system as the world's fastest supercomputer.
Enterprise Software
Parallels Desktop 4 for Mac or how I lost my socks
Dan Kusnetzky: Parallels demonstrated Windows XP, Windows Vista, Ubuntu Linux, and Mac OS X applications running side by side in separate windows on the same Mac OS X desktop. The performance was outstanding.
Web Technology
Flash coming for WiMo, Android, ... iPhone?
Ed Burnette: Apple isn't exactly known for bowing to pressure, but Mr. Jobs had to be sweating just a little under his turtleneck Monday when Adobe demonstrated Flash Player 10 running on rivals' software.
General News
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 unleashed
Unveiled on Monday by the USB Implementers Forum, the USB 3.0 spec can theoretically support data-transfer speeds of up to 4.8Gbps - 10 times the speed provided by USB 2.0.
Communications
Review: TeleNav Shotgun internet connected personal navigation device
Matthew Miller: The Shotgun takes the tried and true TeleNav navigation software (found on many carrier phones as AT&T Navigator, Sprint Navigation, etc.) and places it on a very nice piece of hardware.
- T-Mobile announces the cameo wireless photo frame to display camera phone images
- Zune 3.1 firmware gives you 3 new games, price drops for flash Zunes too
- Review: TeleNav Shotgun internet connected personal navigation device
- Boingo to provide WiFi service on Washington State ferries
- MobileTechRoundup show #154, A Bold step was taken on the way to the Shotgun wedding
GM takes its bailout case to...Yahoo Finance
Between the Lines by Larry Dignan
While General Motors executives are on Capitol Hill begging for money the automaker is also taking its case to Yahoo Finance's news section. And you can't escape GM's pitch. Based...
Microsoft-hosted Online security-service for business users due in 2010
All about Microsoft by Mary Jo Foley
Microsoft's just-announced free anti-virus/anti-malware service, codenamed Morro, isn't the only new Microsoft security service in the works. There's a Microsoft-hosted security service for businesses in the pipeline, too, and it's...
Fake Windows XP activation trojan goes 2.0
Zero Day by Dancho Danchev
Known as Kardphisher and "in the wild" since April, 2007, last week the malware author of this trojan horse mimicking the Windows XP activation interface while collecting the credit card...
Sneak Peek: BlackBerry Storm
The Apple Core by Jason D. O'Grady
Apple ignited a firestorm of competition when it announced the iPhone in January of 2007. Since then the touchscreen smartphone segment has been ablaze with competition from all the major...
Apple dodges antitrust bullet
Hardware 2.0 by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
A California judge has granted Apple's motion to dismiss Psystar's counterclaims that the company violated antitrust laws by blocking third-parties from selling Mac OS-based systems.
Consumer Watchdog overreacts about Gmail
Googling Google by Garett Rogers
ConsumerWatchdog.org isn't too impressed with the way Gmail works -- they are convinced that Google isn't respecting the privacy of their users. Click here to watch the video Some things...
Can database lock-in be broken
Linux and Open Source by Dana Blankenhorn
It seems to be an Iron Law. As a database structure grows more complex the cost of shifting vendors becomes prohibitive. Free becomes expensive and expensive nearly free.
"Stepford IT: "A vision of utopia
IT Project Failures by Michael Krigsman
In this ideal world, business users gratefully accept whatever techno-babble nonsense IT throws at them, with technology having become utterly divorced from any business purpose whatsoever.
JobBlogs: Facebook for business
Enterprise Alley by Zack Whittaker
I've been a little busy over the last few weeks, but it hasn't all been drinking and partying. I've been looking into JobBlogs, which has a highly innovative SaaS appliance,...
UPS saves $30M and goes Green with new HP printing and scanning handheld
Tech Broiler by Jason Perlow
UPS partnered with Hewlett-Packard on the new sp400 All-in-One wireless handheld laser barcode scanner combo that can print directly onto packages, which saves paper and streamlines UPS's shipping processes....
Merrill Lynch downgrades SAP and Oracle
Irregular Enterprise by Dennis Howlett
It should come as no surprise that investment research at Merrill Lynch sees downgraded assessments of both SAP and Oracle's near terms results. In the last month, Merrill has conducted...
Dell data dump: More energy ammo for the procurement checklist
GreenTech Pastures by Heather Clancy
Two Dell-related green tech proclamations this week: First, the company has done one of those fun green math exercises and is calculating that its customers have saved an estimated $3...
A deep dive into Windows 7 (build 6801)
Microsoft Report by Ed Bott
Microsoft took the wraps off Windows 7 for the first time at the Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles three weeks ago. Since returning from PDC, I’ve been installing and...
Where flash belongs
Storage Bits by Robin Harris
Putting flash into disk packaging, while convenient, is sub-optimal. Disk latency is so great that no one worries about adding a few hundred microseconds to an I/O. But once you've...
It's different, developing to the cloud
Software as services by Phil Wainewright
Platform-as-a-service dramatically it changes the development process. But don't take it from me - Microsoft's cloud platform Windows Azure was itself developed in the cloud, and its developers learnt a...
iPhone vs. Android development: Day 3
Dev Connection by Ed Burnette
This is the 3rd in a series of 5 posts about an iPhone programming course I'm taking this week. The course is presented by Big Nerd Ranch. To make things...
Firefly satellite will study thunderstorms
Emerging Technology Trends by Roland Piquepaille
The Firefly mission is the second project under the new U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) CubeSat program. The goal of this program is to provide a low cost access to...
MySpace comes to Blackberry
The Social Web by Steve O'Hear
It was only a few days ago that I noted how Facebook and social networking as a whole is fueling the mobile web. And news comes today that RIM have...
T-Mobile announces the cameo wireless photo frame to display camera phone images
The Mobile Gadgeteer by Matthew Miller
Do you have a camera-enabled phone, but don't know what to do with all of those captured images? Would you like to share those images with family and friends? Well,...
First Core i7 desktops from Dell, Alienware and Gateway
Laptops & Desktops by John Morris
Now that Intel has officially released its Core i7 processor, fresh desktops are arriving daily. Dell has released four systems with Core i7 processors, including one mainstream Studio XPS desktop...
Google's video chat plugin - a big deal for RIA developers
The Universal Desktop by Ryan Stewart
A couple of days ago Google released a video chat plugin for Gmail. With Google, it's always a little hard to figure out where all of the pieces fit -...
Dick, Jane, and MySQL: why recessions favor open source
Managing L'unix by Paul Murphy
Recessions are good for open source simply because they force non IT management to face the costs of IT -and think a bit about what they know it can do...
Unstructured transparency - the management methodology that pulls us through the crunch?
Collaboration 2.0 by Oliver Marks
I've just spent a couple of fascinating days at the HCL Global Meet in Orlando, Florida. As the name suggests this was a very international gathering of HCL's partners,...
Review: OtterBox Impact and Defender Series cases for the BlackBerry Bold
Smartphones and Cell Phones by Matthew Miller
I picked up a RIM BlackBerry Bold a couple of weeks ago and was extremely happy with the device. The inability to sync with my Exchange account forced me to...
Lanamark Vready
Virtually Speaking by Dan Kusnetzky
Mark Angelo, CEO of Lanamark, dropped by to tell me Vready, a new service his company is offering. I've spoken with representatives with many smaller organizations and think that Lanamark...
Deep down inside, on a subconscious level, the business loves SOA, right?
Service-Oriented Architecture by Joe McKendrick
I recall the words of one observer a couple of years back: "How many businesspeople do you know have ever come begging to you for SOA?" Geek & Poke's Oliver...
Changing business landscape makes identity and access management key to IT security
BriefingsDirect by Dana Gardner
To learn more about how enterprises can begin coordinated identity and access management strategies, BriefingsDirect's Dana Gardner spoke with Dan Rueckert, worldwide practice director for security and risk management in...
- SOA, BPM cozy up to desktop with TIBCO, OpenSpan partnership
- BriefingsDirect analysts review new SOA governance book, propose scope for U.S. tech czar
- Interview: rPath's Billy Marshall on how enterprises can virtualize applications as precursor to cloud use
- IDC research shows enterprise SOA adoption deepens based on certain critical practices
Is the BlackBerry Storm too 'consumer'?
The ToyBox by Andrew Nusca
Enterprise customers getting hold of the long-awaited BlackBerry Storm are discovering that the smartphone isn't quite as "enterprise" as they might have hoped. Is the BlackBerry Storm too "consumer" for...
Fujifilm resurrects the "Polaroid" and announces Instax 200 instant film camera
Digital Cameras by Janice Chen
For those who were sad to see Polaroid discontinue its instant film production, you don't have to wait for the Tomy Xiao to make it to the U.S. or make...
HomePlug revival continues with new Netgear Powerline gear
SOHO Networking by Sean Portnoy
Remember when, not so long ago, home networking using power lines seemed down for the count due to slow throughput rates, especially as Draft N wireless devices entered the...
AMD's Extreme Makeover: What the new roadmaps reveal
The Core Truth by John Morris
Lost in all of the (inaccurate) commotion yesterday about AMD entering the netbook market were much broader changes in the company's product plans as it struggles to regain profitability and...
Circuit City Black Friday ad finally leaks. More yawns.
Home Theater by Sean Portnoy
After Best Buy's Black Friday ad leaked online the other day, bargain hunters were waiting for someone at Circuit City to slip up and its ad to reach the Internet,...
Office 2.0: a digital revolution for students worldwide
iGeneration by Zack Whittaker
With hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people using Google Apps and Zoho, two of the main cloud office suites on the web, Microsoft once again sees an opportunity...
Thanks to Google, writers' lives may be even more thankless, unless....
Rational Rants by Mitch Ratcliffe
The announcement that Google has settled its book scanning lawsuit with The Author's Guild raises all sorts of hopes for digital use of new and previously published books. But without...
Open APIs reach new high water mark as the Web evolves
Enterprise Web 2.0 by Dion Hinchcliffe
Late last week an important milestone for the Internet was quietly reached as the number of available open Web APIs crossed the 1,000 mark, according to the popular API tracking...
Computers make the case for globalization
A Developer's View by John Carroll
The United States has long been sliding towards trade skepticism, a process that has merely been exaggerated by the recent troubles in financial markets. Low-cost computers and its associated market...
Microsoft, Creative Financing, and the Bank of EAC
Enterprise Anti-matter by Joshua Greenbaum
Microsoft’s announcement that it would offer 0% financing to new customers of its Dynamics product line is a welcome offering at a time when the credit crisis requires out-of-the-box solutions...
Microsoft's cloud is more about Notes migration and less about a new IT architecture
IMHO by Tom Foremski
Monday morning I went to Microsoft's launch of new online services. Previously they were only available for large companies now they are available to any size business in the US...
Intel Tops Dow Jones Sustainabilty Index (again)
On Sustainability by James Farrar
The Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) results for 2008 are out, and although I’m not a huge fan of corporate sustainability beauty pageants, this one is probably the most credible...
Barack Obama is male, taken, and CC licensed
Lawgarithms by Denise Howell
While John McCain recently complained about Google's application of the DMCA, Barack Obama has been quietly employing a Creative Commons license for his Flickr photostream.
42% of organizations reported unauthorized access to their Active Directory
IT Facts by AM
Imanami commissioned a survey with Osterman Research to understand the issues related to managing groups in Active Directory, and found that 42% of organizations reported unauthorized access to information from...
Nortel’s Loss, Good News for the Enterprise
Team Think by Dave Greenfield
As I was reading about Nortel’s rerun today, I was thinking that there might be a silver-lining in all of this for enterprise folk. The bad news, of course,...
Giddyap - Oracle Mid-market apps team with Wells Fargo
Software & Services Safari by Brian Sommer
A Treasury Solution to Save Money (not cost more of it) I got a briefing from Oracle's Tony Kender and Wells Fargo's Brad Stewart concerning their new joint plug-in adapter...
Should big brands fear or revere the mommybloggers?
Feeds by Jennifer Leggio
In the case of Motrin, what the mommybloggers have done is taken the powerful army of business consultants it had finally branded itself as, and turned itself into a targeted...
'The devil you know' keeps worried workers in place
The IT Grind by Deb Perelman
So, let's say that you're one of the lucky ones who slip out from under the economic downturn's merciless grip, and you get to keep your job. Aside from keeping...
Unemployed? Five reasons to build your resume with FOSS contributions
Community, Incorporated by Joe Brockmeier
It looks like we've gone from speculating whether we're headed into recession depression, to speculating just what that depression is going to look like. Yihong Ding, over on the Thinking...
Who owns social media?
The Web Life by Andrew Mager
Who really owns your social data? That is the question that will be debated tonight at the headquarters of CBS Interactive in San Francisco, along with many others. The Social...
With Glue, AdaptiveBlue frees us from the tyranny of the site
The Semantic Web by Paul Miller
Glue from AdaptiveBlue has been out since late last month, and various sites have provided reviews of this useful little tool. See, for example, Dan Farber, Chris Morrison, Sarah Perez,...
Is the 'Green' in Green IT dead?
Forrester Research by Doug Washburn
In a number of recent client interactions with both enterprise IT end users and vendors, the question of “Is the ‘green’ in Green IT dead?” has come up. Primarily driven...
Did Microsoft really kill OLPC?
Education IT by Christopher Dawson
I posted a number of pieces Monday about OLPC and its XO laptop (now for sale on Amazon in a reboot of the Give One Get One program), one of...
Members of right-wing UK party exposed
ZDNet Government by Richard Koman
There's turmoil at the right-wing British National Party today after personal information on 10,000 members was published on the Web, The Times reports. Names, addresses, telephone numbers and professions...
CRM 2009 Forecast: How'd I Do in 2008? Gimme A High Four!
CRM by Paul Greenberg
Usually, when I begin my forecast for the coming year, I like to look at how I did the previous year - which is usually disconcerting to say the least. ...
Holding VistA's age against it
Healthcare IT by Dana Blankenhorn
In computing it is common to disparage old code. Old code runs on old machines. Old code is obsolete. Old code must be replaced. This common canard is being pushed...
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Holding VistA's age against it
In computing it is common to disparage old code. Old code runs on old machines. Old code is obsolete. Old code must be replaced. This common canard is being pushed ...
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Is the BlackBerry Storm too 'consumer'?
Enterprise customers getting hold of the long-awaited BlackBerry Storm are discovering that the smartphone isn't quite as "enterprise" as they might have hoped. Is the BlackBerry Storm too "consumer" for ...
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GE plays the embrace and extend game
Now is the time for government to put the hammer down on all medical vendors and demand open, universal, transparent, royalty-free standards. Had we done that with the automakers we ...
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'Fish' = 'Sex'? iPhone can't understand British accent
The new voice-recognition search tool for the iPhone has problems understanding British accents, leading to some bizarre answers to spoken queries, according to a report by Agence France Presse. The ...
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Microsoft-hosted Online security-service for business users due in 2010
Microsoft's just-announced free anti-virus/anti-malware service, codenamed Morro, isn't the only new Microsoft security service in the works. There's a Microsoft-hosted security service for businesses in the pipeline, too, and it's ...
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Can database lock-in be broken
It seems to be an Iron Law. As a database structure grows more complex the cost of shifting vendors becomes prohibitive. Free becomes expensive and expensive nearly free. by Dana ...
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Did Microsoft really kill OLPC?
I posted a number of pieces Monday about OLPC and its XO laptop now for sale on Amazon in a reboot of the Give One Get One program, one of ...
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GM takes its bailout case to...Yahoo Finance
While General Motors executives are on Capitol Hill begging for money the automaker is also taking its case to Yahoo Finance's news section. And you can't escape GM's pitch. Based ...
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Dell data dump: More energy ammo for the procurement checklist
Two Dell-related green tech proclamations this week: First, the company has done one of those fun green math exercises and is calculating that its customers have saved an estimated $3 ...
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VUDU shuns economic reality; targets high-end
$1299? Are they out of their minds? Last week, I posted an entry about VUDU, the company that's selling a $300 set-top box that enables consumers to rent or buy ...
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A vision of IT utopia
In this ideal world, business users gratefully accept whatever techno-babble nonsense IT throws at them, with technology having become utterly divorced from any business purpose whatsoever. by Michael Krigsman
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Will identity be open source?
Not only have project managers had to explain and defend the need for secure identities to a consumer audience which thinks it Big Brother, but they had to navigate among ...
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Review: OtterBox Impact and Defender Series cases for the BlackBerry Bold
I picked up a RIM BlackBerry Bold a couple of weeks ago and was extremely happy with the device. The inability to sync with my Exchange account forced me to ...
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iPhone vs. Android development: Day 3
This is the 3rd in a series of 5 posts about an iPhone programming course I'm taking this week. The course is presented by Big Nerd Ranch. To make things ...
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Great educational websites (and an intro to Diigo)
As promised, I've compiled your suggested educational websites and posted them on Diigo, as well. Diigo, by the way, is a bit like delicious on steroids. It has a really ...
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Giddyap - Oracle Mid-market apps team with Wells Fargo
A Treasury Solution to Save Money not cost more of it I got a briefing from Oracle's Tony Kender and Wells Fargo's Brad Stewart concerning their new joint plug-in adapter ...
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Unstructured transparency - the management methodology that pulls us through the crunch?
I've just spent a couple of fascinating days at the HCL Global Meet in Orlando, Florida. As the name suggests this was a very international gathering of HCL's partners, clients, ...
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T-Mobile announces the cameo wireless photo frame to display camera phone images
Do you have a camera-enabled phone, but don't know what to do with all of those captured images? Would you like to share those images with family and friends? Well, ...
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First Core i7 desktops from Dell, Alienware and Gateway
Now that Intel has officially released its Core i7 processor, fresh desktops are arriving daily. Dell has released four systems with Core i7 processors, including one mainstream Studio XPS desktop ...
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Lanamark Vready
Mark Angelo, CEO of Lanamark, dropped by to tell me Vready, a new service his company is offering. I've spoken with representatives with many smaller organizations and think that Lanamark ...
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A Developer's View
John Carroll
At the intersection between technology and economic policy, John Carroll brings years of experience as a software developer to bear on the latest issues affecting the technology industry.
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All About Microsoft
Mary-Jo Foley
Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley's blog covers the products, people and strategies that make Microsoft tick.
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Between the Lines
Larry Dignan, Sam Diaz, Tom Steinert-Threlkeld
Larry Dignan and other IT industry experts, blogging at the intersection of business and technology, deliver daily news and analysis on vital enterprise trends.
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BriefingsDirect
Dana Gardner
Analyst Dana Gardner examines IT news and trends that impact software strategists to provide insights and outcomes on SOA, app dev, SaaS, enterprise infrastructure and mobile convergence.
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Collaboration 2.0
Oliver Marks
Real world collaboration strategy for enterprises
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Community, Incorporated
Joe Brockmeier
Joe Brockmeier reports on the intersection of commercial interests and communities, and offers information and advice about bridging the gap between companies and communities.
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CRM 2.0: The Conversation
Paul Greenberg
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Dev Connection
Ed Burnette
Who said computers have to be all work and no play? Software developer and author Ed Burnette shares his unique view of industry trends, technologies, and personalities.
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Digital Cameras
Janice Chen
Gadget geek Janice Chen delivers real-world buying advice of the best gear to get.
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Ed Bott's Microsoft Report
Ed Bott
Get outspoken insights and expert advice on Windows, Office, and other Microsoft products from a source who knows these technologies inside and out.
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Emerging Tech
Roland Piquepaille
Emerging trends in technology and new developments in science will affect the way we live. Roland Piquepaille selects and analyzes news about our future that you'll almost never find anywhere else.
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Enterprise Alley
Dennis Howlett & Zack Whittaker
Showcasing the new breed of startup-style vendors who are solving old problems in a fresh way or offering a glimpse into the future of enterprise applications.
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Enterprise Anti-matter
Joshua Greenbaum
Software analyst Josh Greenbaum's opinions on enterprise software have annoyed enough vendors that he now checks under the hood of his PC every morning before he boots up.
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Enterprise Web 2.0
Dion Hinchcliffe
Dion Hinchcliffe on leveraging the convergence of IT and the next generation of the Web.
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Feeds
Jennifer Leggio
Jennifer Leggio delivers news on social media tools and trends and deep dives into business strategies.
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Forrester Research
The View from Forrester Research
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Googling Google
Garett Rogers
Garett Rogers explores the mystery behind the hottest and fastest growing tech company in the world.Google spoilers inside.
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GreenTech Pastures
Harry Fuller and Heather Clancy
As the global warming debate rages, Harry Fuller and Heather Clancy chronicle alternative energy start-ups, green data center projects and other high-tech and political developments shaping the green technology movement.
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Hardware 2.0
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes sieves through the marketing hyperbole and casts his critical eye over the latest technological innovations to find out which products make the grade and which don't.
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Home Theater
Sean Portnoy
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iGeneration
Zack Whittaker
Talking 'bout the next generation of IT users
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Irregular Enterprise
Dennis Howlett
Dennis Howlett analyzing the issues faced by senior business practitioners who work with enterprise software.
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IT Facts
Alex Moskalyuk
Your daily research synopsis is the top resource for business and technology statistics that inform, enlighten and entertain.
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IT Project Failures
Michael Krigsman
Michael Krigsman is passionate about reporting, analyzing, and reducing IT failures.
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Laptops & Desktops
John Morris
John Morris delivers straight talk about notebook and desktop computers.
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Lawgarithms
Denise Howell
Issue-spotting the Live Web, attorney Denise Howell muses about cutting edge technology-related legal issues.