Tech Blog

Now It's the EU Harping on Huawei, ZTE
May 16, 2013

What next, Antarctica? Citing illegal subsidies, the European Commission is considering trade duties against Chinese telecommunications equipment makers Huawei and ZTE. This is but the latest headache for Huawei and ZTE. Between them, the U.S., Canada, Australia and India have all publicly voiced concerns about the duo.

Linux: The Gold Standard of Code
May 16, 2013

There are few things more gratifying to those of us here in the Linux blogosphere than seeing the many and varied virtues of our favorite operating system get officially recognized. It happens with increasing regularity these days, of course -- after all, there are so very many virtues to consider -- but recently an example emerged that has been warming FOSS fans' hearts ever since.

German Court Orders Google to Clean Up Autocomplete
May 15, 2013

A federal court in Germany has told Google that it must remove offensive or defamatory suggestions from its autocomplete function when it receives a complaint. The case that prompted the ruling started with a German businessman who, upon culling through Google.de, found that he was associated with scientology and fraud.

What's Behind the Hybrid Cloud Hype?
May 15, 2013

Hybrid cloud technology is garnering much attention of late -- whether for cutting-edge development and the continuous integration and release processes achieved through devops, or for traditional enterprise-proven approaches to infrastructure and applications. There's more to hybrid clouds than hype. The growth outlook for all types of cloud computing is strong.

France Considers Tech Tax to Fund Arts
May 14, 2013

Francois Hollande, France's president, is mulling a potential tax on smartphones, laptops and tablets in order to fund the nation's cherished cultural exception. The revenue generated from such a tax would be earmarked for the cultural exception, which supports French music, film and visual art. France currently spends north of $130 million a year funding these endeavors.

CRM's Stairway to Stardom
May 14, 2013

Although the acronym "CRM" has been around for a long time, most people have no idea what it means. That's kind of a shame, because they brush up against the effects of CRM every day in their interactions with the businesses they patronize. As a result, when I say I write about CRM, I'm often asked to explain what it is. That leads me to think a lot about a practical definition of "CRM."

China Bashes Apple for Tax Evasion
May 13, 2013

China has been having a good go at Apple lately, having slammed the company in March for substandard post-sale service and quickly following that up with charges of copyright infringement. The latest accusation: tax evasion. Oh, and pornography. Apple's online stores in China reportedly are not paying proper import taxes for software sold to Chinese customers.

Joe Tucci's Magic Turnaround Formula
May 13, 2013

I've been focused on and off on turnarounds since I covered IBM's from the inside out in the 1990s, so I don't know how I missed this, but EMC²'s turnaround was clearly a success, and its unique resulting organizational structure is incredibly subtle. The company is actually far more similar in breadth to HP than most folks realize, largely because they mix up EMC and EMC².

Ubuntu Strikes Out on Its Own Again
May 13, 2013

If Canonical has shown anything over the past few years, it's that it's not afraid of doing things differently. Ever since the arrival of Unity in Ubuntu 10.10's netbook edition back in 2010, it's been clear the company is "marching to the beat of its own drum," as they say, with a growing focus on mobile and convergence. Well, last week brought yet another example of Canonical's independent-mindedness.

High-Tech Plot Leads to Record-Breaking Heist
May 10, 2013

In what is believed to be one of the biggest robberies ever executed, cyberthieves stole nearly $50 million from a pair of Middle Eastern banks. Far from bullying their way into vaults, members of this crime ring reportedly hacked into credit card processing firms and withdrew money from ATMs in 27 different countries.

From BI to KPIs to Benchmark Success in the Cloud
May 10, 2013

Organizations of all sizes across an assortment of industries are using a growing set of cloud analytics solutions to address their Big Data, business intelligence and data integration challenges. Escalating competitive pressures and customer expectations are forcing organizations to find new ways to tap internal and external data sources to achieve their business goals.

Huawei Founder Speaks
May 09, 2013

Ren Zhengfei, the founder and CEO of Huawei Technologies, spoke to the media for the first time on Thursday. Ren, formerly a member of the Chinese military, has been the focal point of Western skepticism toward Huawei -- which resulted in the company being barred from a broadband project in Australia, as well as being labeled as untrustworthy in a U.S. House Intelligence report.

Linux, Freedom and Cold Cash
May 09, 2013

Well it's spring storm season in many parts of the world, so it should come as no great surprise that we've had some storms here in the Linux blogosphere as well. The latest example? None other than an intriguing poll about paying for Linux. Could you, would you, do you pay for Linux? the poll asked. The question had barely hit the airwaves when the stampede began.

Chinese Authorities Net 11 in Piracy Bust
May 08, 2013

Police in Beijing arrested 11 suspects believed to be involved with a major high-definition downloading ring. The website, silu.com, was running what has been called an "unprecedented" operation. It reportedly boasted more than 400,000 registered members and offered under-the-table downloads for nearly 19,000 films and TV series.

Where Your Social Media Accounts Go When You Die
May 08, 2013

One of my childhood friends, who was also a Facebook friend, died in 2009. Yet I still get messages from Facebook encouraging me to connect with his Facebook page. Has that ever happened to you? Or have you ever sent an email to a colleague, only to learn from other sources that the person is deceased? What happens to their digital content?

Taiwanese University Sues Apple... Again
May 07, 2013

National Cheng Kung University may not have a fight song -- but it is definitely willing to fight. For the second time in a year, the Taiwanese university has sued Apple. The most recent suit is for alleged infringement of the university's patents relating to video compression technology in Apple software such as FaceTime and QuickTime.

Tap CRM to Give Your Customers a Pleasant Surprise
May 07, 2013

So you have your CRM application in place and humming, collecting information about customers and potential customers and organizing it -- but how are you using it? Most companies pour it back into sales, marketing and support to keep feeding those machines, which is good. It's the way you realize the value from your CRM investment.

Hacking Software Guru Faces the Music in US Court
May 06, 2013

Hamza Bendelladj, an Algerian national known by his alias "Bx1," appeared in an Atlanta court last week, where he faced a 23-count indictment stemming from his alleged participation in the cybercrime consortium responsible for hacking software known as "SpyEye." Bendelladj, 24, was the target of a three-year manhunt that ended in a Bangkok airport in January.

How HP Could Become the Next Apple
May 06, 2013

I was given a task the other day, and this happens every once in a while, to imagine a sequence of events that would turn HP from an industry problem to an industry leader in Apple's class. Apple went from being in far worse shape than HP's in now to become more valuable at its peak than even oil companies, so this isn't an impossible goal.

The Bank, the Budget and the OS Shocker
May 06, 2013

Well the FUD continues to flow fast and furious here in the Linux blogosphere, where local pharmacists have recently noticed a sudden surge in demand for blood pressure medications. No sooner did Linux fans begin to calm down after the recent attack on open source in general, in fact, than a fresh report arrived from down under that caused tempers to flare up all over again.