News (136)

IT suffering 'dire shortage' of core skills

The lack of core IT skills is a major impediment to modernising key IT assets, according to a survey by application-management company Micro Focus. Read more »

Coders win from Android Market

Google officially opened its Android Market Wednesday in the US and promised that beginning next year, programmers would get the lion's share of revenue from applications sold on the download site for the company's mobile phone operating system. Read more »

Machine talkers fail Turing test

Artificial intelligence took a step closer to becoming a reality on Sunday as machines edged closer to passing the Turing test. Read more »

Net neutrality is an 'American problem'

The leaders of three of Australia's largest ISP's have declared the Net neutrality debate as solely a US problem — and further, that the nation that pioneered the internet might want to study the Australian market for clues as to how to solve the dilemma. Read more »

Google denies disassembling Vista code for Chrome

The source code underlying Google's Chrome web browser suggests Google used a reverse-engineering technique called disassembly to figure out how to use a useful Windows Vista security feature, but the company has denied doing this. Read more »

Berners-Lee opens doors to 'Web for all' foundation

Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee on Sunday unveiled the World Wide Web Foundation, an initiative to spread the Web to developing countries and maintain its openness. Read more »

Ubuntu gets user interface team

Canonical, the leading backer of the Ubuntu version of Linux, this week said it would hire a team to help make open source software on the desktop more appealing and easier to use. Read more »

Chrome was inevitable: Mozilla CEO

Mozilla CEO John Lilly today waxed philosophical about the release of Google's new Web browser, Chrome, despite it signalling an attempt by the search giant (Mozilla's major financier) to become its biggest competitor. Read more »

NASA hacker pushes for UK jail term

The solicitors of self-confessed NASA hacker Gary McKinnon have formally requested that the US give assurances that he serve any prison term in the UK. Read more »

NASA hacker loses legal challenge

UK resident Gary McKinnon has lost his legal challenge against extradition to the US to face charges of hacking NASA and military installations. Read more »

Features (156)

The benefits of agile development

I recently spoke to Scott Ambler, Practice Leader Agile Development, Rational Software from IBM about the benefits of the agile development method. Read more »

The 7 most important communication skills an IT leader should have

Everyone wants to tell IT pros that they need to develop people skills, but no one really tells what those skills are. Here are the most important skills an IT leader should have and how to develop them. Read more »

How to achieve real diversity in IT

While just hiring people who look different may satisfy internal mandates or passing fads, the truly beneficial form of diversity comes from a diversity of ideas and experience. Read more »

10+ things you should know about rootkits

Malware-based rootkits fuel a multibillion dollar spyware industry by stealing individual or corporate financial information. If that weren't bad enough, rootkit-based botnets generate untold amounts of spam. Here's a look at what rootkits are and what to do about them. Read more »

Inside the San Fran network lockout

A strange sort of techno-drama is playing out in the city of San Francisco, California right now. The blame for the fiasco may not be as easily assigned as it at first appears. Read more »

Iterating through tables and databases in SQL Server

We look at two very useful stored procedures that live in the master database but are not mentioned in SQL Server Books Online. These system procedures come in very handy for jobs such as determining the space used, the number of rows, the indexes on the user tables, and so on. Read more »

Dig for more data in the /proc directory

One of the most interesting directories on any Linux system is /proc, a virtual filesystem that provides a plethora of information on the hardware of the running system, and of the various processes running. 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 »

Explore Oracle 10g's updated sample schemas

Each new release of Oracle database brings with it new features to explore. It can be a challenge to create adequate sample tables to play with a given feature. 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 »

Video (1)

Using Aussie mind control to talk to machines

At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, the company's Justin Rattner talks to Emotiv Systems President Tan Le about new interface technologies that are making humans more like machines. In a demo for conference attendees, Le shows a headset Emotiv developed that can track electrical signals in the brain... Read more »

Blog (13)

Down to Semantics

Lana Kovacevic [blogs:webanatomy] -- At this year's Web Directions South conference in Sydney, David Peterson presented "Semantic Web for Distributed Social Networks". Read more »

Scott McNealy's tips for a successful start-up

Staff [blogs:syslog] -- If you're itching to take your struggling start-up to the big time, you could do worse than take Sun Microsystems' Chairman and co-founder Scott McNealy advice to heart. Read more »

Perils of outsourcing

Staff [blogs:syslog] -- This edition of the Weekly Roundup looks at what happens when outsourcing companies are robbed, there's more Google news than one can poke a stick at, Samba has a new version and we see what endorsement Mark Taylor has signed on for. Read more »

Outsourcing made wrong – a real case

Staff [blogs:syslog] -- A few days ago I wrote about how outsourcing goes wrong. Now I will explain more in detail with a real case. Read more »

Google Developer Day yet to fill

Chris Duckett [blogs:betaliving] -- Past experience would suggest that if Google restricts access then people will clamour for it -- remember GMail invites back in the day? It is therefore surprising that places for Google's Sydney Developer Day have not been snapped up. Read more »

Unlocking the Wii's hidden potential

Staff [blogs:syslog] -- In a collection of videos, notable for their lucid explanations, Johnny Lee, a Ph.D. graduate student from CMU's Human-Computer Interaction Institute shows exactly how versatile the "Wiimote" system can be Read more »

How Microsoft beat Linux in China and what it means for freedom, justice, and the price of software

Staff [blogs:syslog] -- Thanks to some major concessions on source code and a precipitous price drop, the Chinese government has now thoroughly embraced Windows and Office, what does this mean for the world? Read more »

iPhone root password cracked in three days

Nick Gibson [blogs:byteclub] -- It's been out just three days, but already the Apple iPhone has been taken apart both literally and figuratively. The latest: inquisitive Apple fans have hacked into the firmware and discovered the master root password to the smart phone. Read more »

Think Wiimote to engage users?

Brendon Chase [blogs:codemonkeybusiness] -- Nintendo's Wii remote control proves that bigger, faster, and louder aren't necessary to build the best experience for end-users. Read more »

Irwin.Grieve(smhStory);

Paul Ayre [blogs:controlaltdefeat] -- Tutorial: How to write an application to grieve for you whenever SMH tells you to. Read more »

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