News (248)

VMware Australia plays down bug

VMware's Australia and New Zealand division today said the local impact was small from a botched software patch that had left some customers unable to start their virtualised environments. Read more »

Google defends Street View coverage

Search giant Google today defended the incomplete Australian coverage provided by its Street View add-on to its Google Maps and Earth tools, after launching the service early this morning. Read more »

IBM chides security researchers

Technology giant IBM has taken independent security researchers to task for their role in making information about unpublished computer attacks available in an undisciplined manner. Read more »

Kevin Mitnick: Social engineering 101

Kevin Mitnick has proven that the weakest link in any security system is the person holding the information. Read more »

Indian outsourcers feeling the pinch

India's outsourcing giants suffered sluggish growth in contrast to record-breaking spending on global services in 2008. Read more »

BlackBerry PDF flaw exposes corporate networks

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is warning businesses to disable the function which allows a BlackBerry to read PDF files until it can issue an update, after a security flaw was found in the company's software. Read more »

Researcher to expose Intel security flaws

An independent security researcher has flagged plans to reveal a proof of concept security exploit that could work remotely against any machine using Intel processors, including those used in Apple's famously secure Macs. Read more »

UK govt to monitor all telecoms

UK internet service providers will be invited to tender for a British government scheme to monitor all internet communications and telecommunications in the country. Read more »

The GNOME Foundation appoints new executive director

The GNOME Foundation has hired Stormy Peters as executive director to work on strengthening the organisation by drawing in new industry members and contributors. Read more »

Flash becomes more searchable

Adobe Systems has announced it's partnering with search giants Google and Yahoo to increase the quality of search results of dynamic Web content and rich internet applications (RIAs). Read more »

Features (307)

A change of management primer for IT consultants

Determining the ability of the client organisation to cope with a major IT project can help consultants find the most appropriate solution. Learn how evaluating the client's roles, resistance, and resilience can help you gauge their capacity for change. Read more »

An adventure in IT consulting

An outside consultant can provide the voice of disinterested honesty. If the client doesn't like what you have to say, the most you lose is the engagement. If they listen to you and it doesn't work, things could get ugly. You're not part of the protected herd of employees who will be all too happy to blame you. Read more »

Eight resume tips for the experienced IT pro

You think your resume is packed full with great stuff because years ago, you read all the articles on how to build the perfect resume and you've been following most of that advice ever since. Any employer should take one look at your resume and hire you on the spot, right? Think again. Read more »

Effective and affordable User testing

At the recent Web Directions South UX conference in Melbourne, Lisa Herrod, the Principal Usability consultant at Scenario Seven offered advice on usability testing with her presentation -- "User testing for the rest of Us". Read more »

Big trouble for little white IT consulting lies

A prospective client describes the problem. It seems easy enough for your abilities but what happens when the client says: "Oh, and we use technology X. How well do you know technology X?" Read more »

Interview: Simplifying Web app design

Following the Web Directions South UX conference in Melbourne, we interviewed Robert Hoekman Jr in an email on his presentation -- "Essential elements of great Web application design". Read more »

Four issues to consider before becoming a remote IT consultant

This article suggests what issues to consider when deciding whether to become a remote IT consultant. Read more »

Six ways IT consultants can build their reputation

You may be one of the best IT consultants in town, but if no one knows about you, it's impossible to ever be successful. So how exactly do you build a reputation? Read more »

What's more important to become an IT consultant: education or experience?

What does it take to become an IT consultant? You need a good mix of book smarts and on-the-job knowledge -- with a dash of something else. Read more »

Are you only working for the money?

If you didn't need the money, would you do the same work that you're doing today without pay? Read more »

Blog (15)

Q&A with EditMe: A wiki for non-geeks

Brendon Chase [blogs:codemonkeybusiness] -- Finally, a wiki CMS solution that you can safely give to your clients to use. But sshhhh... don't call it a wiki... Read more »

10 PR 2.0 tips for startups

Brendon Chase [blogs:codemonkeybusiness] -- You’ve got a great product and spent much of your budget on developing your software or service and now you’re left with a marginal budget for marketing and PR. Sound familiar? Read more »

Australian twitterati talks malware

[blogs:bootstrappr] -- It was inevitable that micro-blogging service Twitter would become infested with malware, according to a number of high-profile Australian users of the service. Read more »

Silicon Beach Australia

[blogs:bootstrappr] -- A group of Australian Web technology thinkers and entrepreneurs have started a new Google Group to build the Down Under version of California's famous high-tech development locality. They call it: Silicon Beach Australia. Read more »

Discover what you already knew

Staff [blogs:syslog] -- Have you ever thought the metrics measured against you as a code monkey to be unfair or a waste? Well you could be right. Read more »

Simonyi tells programmers to leave the Dark Ages

Staff [blogs:syslog] -- Charles Simonyi -- legendary Microsoft programmer and space tourist -- doesn't have many good things to say about the current state of his own profession, software engineering. Read more »

The most interesting Web OS experiment yet

Staff [blogs:syslog] -- I still don't fully get the whole Web operating system concept. Why run an OS inside a browser when your browser is running in an OS to begin with? But AjaxWindows, a Web OS and application suite that launched today, makes a very good case for the Web OS. Read more »

Ivar Jacobson acquires Aussie consultancy company

Brendon Chase [blogs:codemonkeybusiness] -- The consultancy company led by the software pioneer, Ivar Jacobson, announced overnight it has finalised the acquisition of the consultancy arm of Crag Solutions Pty Ltd. Read more »

Take off your suit pants and jacket -- It's Web 2.0

Brendon Chase [blogs:codemonkeybusiness] -- With the shortage of talented IT staff on hand the smell of dot-com culture has made a comeback. Welcome to Web 2.0 work culture , the future of yesterday. Read more »

The Fud is Flying! (Again)

David McAmis [blogs:theneteffect] -- It seems like that the latest marketing technique for software vendors is to sling a little FUD and see if it sticks. Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt make for some attention-grabbing headlines and are great for scaring potential customers away from a competitors offering. Read more »

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  • Staff Share a keyboard and mouse with Synergy

    Even in the era of virtualization, many IT pros (including myself) have a small army of computers sitting on, under, and around their desks. Read more »

    -- posted by Staff

  • Staff Android devs less than gruntled

    Yet more discouraging news on the Android front. Having hacked off its developer community by releasing updated SDKs to just a small group of chosen devs, Google has now given the brush-off to a petition that called for more to be given to the wider community. Read more »

    -- posted by Staff

  • Staff VMware shows how not to do it

    As a developer there will be a time when you ship a bug -- be it a stub that you left in, or a flaming, crashtastic segfault. The next time this happens and your bosses come baying for blood, point them in the direction of VMware, who this week gave the developer world a great example of how to ship a showstopper bug. Read more »

    -- posted by Staff

What's on?

  • Club Builder: Captain Obvious vs the Crackpots

    In the case of the bleeding obvious, IBM says open source needs good designers; a claim is made that China can activate your phone to snoop on you; and we take a look at the Defcon conference.