mainstream

22 traits that make you a geek

Judi Hasson — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:05:59 -0400

Are you the ultimate techie, a real geek in the true sense of the word and at the forefront of innovation and change? So much that was once considered the providence of the geek is now common place with the masses: Facebook, Twitter and other Web 2.0 apps. Add to that smartphones, sites like Digg and Slashdot and on the enterprise front, even open source is going mainstream.

CIO.com, in honor of geeks everywhere, compiled a list of 22 defining traits that may or may not apply to you. Among these telling geek traits: you have a way higher salary than most people your age and spend your money on gadgets and tech toys; your wardrobe consists entirely of T-shirts with messages like "There's no place like 127.0.0.1" and "s/windows/linux/g"; you think that you are a character in User Friendly; you ask someone out on a date because you think you would interface well; your primary method of communicating with your significant other is through texting, IM, Facebook or Twitter even when you're in the same room; and you spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about your avatars and handles.

For more on geeks:
- check out this CIO.com article

The last goodbye from Bill Gates

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:59:59 -0400

Bill Gates gave a farewell speech to developers at Microsoft's company's annual TechEd conference on Tuesday, talking about how modeling will transform the way the software development lifecycle is managed.

"Over time, code gets complicated, and you want to be agile and change it," he said. "This is definitely an area that's open for improvement." Gates also discussed how Microsoft is looking to mainstream robotics development techniques, noting that robotics is at a stage similar to where the PC industry was when Microsoft first started.

For more of Bill Gates' insights:
- see this InformationWeek.com article

Via goes mainstream with new Isaiah processor

Paul Mah — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:24:56 -0400

Via Technologies is preparing its first high performance x86 chip, targeted squarely at the mainstream. Historically, Via focused in niches like that of ultra-compact PCs, or small mobile devices such as the OQO. Codenamed Isaiah, the new processor is thrifty in the area of power consumption, yet features superscalar, out-of-order execution on just 3.5 watts of power. Three years in the making, it is designed by Via subsidiary Centaur Technology and packs between two to four times the performance of Via's current C7 processor. The vice president of corporate marketing at Via, Richard Brown, noted that the Isaiah is "very, very close" to Intel's Core 2 Solo offering.

For more on Via Technologies:
- check out this CNET News article

Intel and AMD quads go head-to-head

Mehan Jayasuriya — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:46:08 -0400

Benchmarking is a common ritual in CPU geek circles, but it's not that often that you see two brand-spanking-new slabs of silicon put to the test, side-by-side, in a battle royale of processing. However, that's exactly what ExtremeTech has done, testing the AMD Phenom X4 9850 and the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 simultaneously, and comparing the results. On the surface, the two chips have a lot in common: both sport four processor cores, clock in at 2.5Ghz and are aimed at the high-end workstation and x86 server markets. Intel's offering, however, is manufactured using a 45nm process, while AMD's uses the older 65nm process. Overall, it looks like the Phenom X4 has the edge in price and heat production, while the Core 2 Quad takes the cake in terms of performance. "We're looking forward to the day [AMD] can start shipping CPUs built on 45nm," ExtremeTech writes. "For now, however, Intel continues to dominate in CPU performance in both high end and mainstream CPUs."

For more on the CPU showdown:
- see this ExtremeTech article

Enterprise social networking 101

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 06:59:59 -0400

What do corporate CIOs and media magnates have in common? A growing fascination with the power of social networking. News Corp's Rupert Murdoch turned the concept into a mainstream element in the media mix when he bought MySpace for $580 million, and--as we have reported with increasing frequency in this newsletter--CIOs are scrambling to figure out how they can leverage strategic value in the enterprise. This week Rich Lyons, a Chicago-based consultant on enterprise social network initiatives, provided Baseline magazine with suggested approaches that businesses can take to deploying social networks effectively. He recommends starting with a structured effort to leverage the corporate brand as a way to organize discussions and solicit input to drive user generated content--a model that many publishing companies are trying. He also notes that businesses should encourage discussions that stimulate innovation. For this, Baseline offers as an example the efforts of AAR, an aviation equipment and services company based in Wood Dale, Ill. The company established a discussion forum to encourage collaboration by providing an environment in which employees can offer solutions to specific pain points.

For more on his blueprint for embracing social networking:
- learn more in the Baseline article

Mobile payment trials begin in Memphis, Jackson

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 20:01:39 -0400

While mobile payment and product search technologies have been discussed for years, two new trials were recently announced that could help bring the technologies into the mainstream. Cellular South in Jackson, MI, and USA Technologies in Malvern, PA, announced a two-city consumer trial of WirelessWallet, a service that will let consumers make purchases and payments from a cell phone. The trial involves 75 customers who will test the concept at 50 retail locations in Memphis and Jackson. Following completion of the trial, a rollout is scheduled for early 2008. Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel and New York-based GPShopper LLC last week announced Slifter, a product search application that relies on GPS technology to help consumers find products. With Slifter, users can enter a keyword, product name, model number or UPC code to find a product, and they can then view its availability, price and promotional information.

For more on mobile payments:
- see this ComputerWorld article

The expanding role of the CIO

Thu, 17 May 2007 20:01:39 -0400

More midmarket CIOs are taking on other parts of the business, including finance, facilities management, sales and human resources. That's because today, CIOs are viewed as people who are running a shared service, so executives are looking at other shared services in the company and asking why CIOs can't handle them. There is plenty of logic to the additional roles assigned to IT and CIOs--such outside roles can mainstream IT in the eyes of the rest of the business, and can help legitimize IT as a critical component of the business. Experts believe that the expanding role of the CIO is a good thing, as long as those new roles fit strategically with the overall goals and responsibilities of the CIO. For example, CIOs with responsibility for business process outsourcing may think more about how can IT help the business side of the house.

Learn more about the changing role of the CIO:
- read the article at SearchCIO

ALSO:
- read this on how the CIO role is expanding beyond technology
- this on moving beyond the CIO role
- this on the changing role of the modern CIO
- and this on CIOs managing business and IT

SOA and SaaS: The Dream Team?

Sun, 06 May 2007 20:01:38 -0400

There are many good reasons to combine Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). SaaS is about delivering a single piece of software to many users, and SOA is about building software that's flexible and reusable. Together, you get a SaaS solution that uses SOA technologies to more quickly adjust to changing market conditions and customer needs. Some vendors, in fact, have made SaaS a part of SOA by building a SaaS framework that exposes defined business processes for integration within SOA applications. But you can take it a step further by using SOA as a way to connect an enterprise to an externally hosted SaaS application. Whether SOA is acting as a foundation for a SaaS application or serving as a means of connecting corporate assets to that SaaS application, one thing is clear: These two software concepts are anything but mutually exclusive.

Read more about the combination of SOA and SaaS:
- read the article at InformationWeek

ALSO:
- read this on getting the most out of SOA
- this on what SOA is all about
- this on SaaS: A view from the trenches
- and this on SaaS hitting the mainstream

ALSO NOTED: Business-focused IT degrees; Is resistance to outsourcing futile?;

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 20:01:38 -0400

> Universities and employers back new business-focused IT degrees. Article

> Longhorn enters public beta. Article

> Outsourcing: Is resistance futile? Article

> Experts warn of .doc attacks. Article

> Is the mainstream ready for Software as a Service (SaaS)? Article

> Hard drive failures are surprisingly frequent. Article

> NASCIO discusses government transformation through change management. Article

> Resource center: Managed services. Article

And Finally… Beware geeks seeking jobs. Article

Mobility has its price

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:01:38 -0500

As mobile devices become more prevalent in the corporate world, it has become critical to ensure that these devices are fully secure and compatible with the rest of the corporate infrastructure. While the issues for the most common of these devices, such as laptops and Blackberrys, have been worked out, new mobile devices are entering the mainstream, challenging IT departments. Examples include Apple's iPhone and OQO's Model 02 mobile PC--a laptop replacement with a 5-inch display that can run either Windows Vista or Windows XP Professional. CIOs should do what it takes to ensure that the security and compatibility issues that these consumer-oriented devices introduce into the enterprise are addressed.

Read more about consumer-oriented mobile devices in a corporate world:
- read the article at ComputerWorld