wikipedia

Gen Y demands new tech at the office

Judi Hasson — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:04:13 -0400

As CIOs begin to hire a new generation of IT workers--that Generation Y crowd born roughly starting in 1982--they might be wise to get with the times and give these tech savvy employees the latest communications technologies. Ron Alsop, author of the new book, "The Trophy Kids Grow Up," said that many recent workforce entrants face a shock in some corporate cultures that avoid new technologies due to security concerns or budgetary issues.

"Companies really need to loosen up a bit and not play Big Brother too much by worrying about blocking certain social networking web sites," Alsop said. He added that some companies are making an effort, noting that recent MBA graduates hired by Johnson & Johnson successfully lobbied the company to create an internal social network that has grown to include virtual classrooms for training and a career counseling center.

Capital One Financial Corp. is creating internal discussion boards and its own version of Wikipedia in an effort to improve worker collaboration. Linda Gravett, author of "Bridging the Generation Gap: How to Get Radio Babies, Boomers, Gen Xers, and Gen Yers to Work Together and Achieve More," noted that the folks from the younger generation that she interviewed for her book were very clear in their reluctance to work for a company that lacks Web 2.0 and other emerging technologies.

For more on what Gen Y wants:
- see this CIO.com article

Details of Palin email hack emerge

Paul Mah — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:30:44 -0400

The private email account of Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin has been hacked. This break-in was significant, as it has been disclosed that the governor's administration was using Yahoo email accounts as an alternative to government email. It has since emerged that the "hack" didn't require that much sophistication. The hacker essentially reset Palin's password by supplying her birth date and ZIP code, as well as correctly answering the security question for her Yahoo account--the date which she met her spouse. All of the above information was answered within an hour via Wikipedia, a number of Google searches and some intelligent guessing.

To find out more about the Palin email hack:
- check out this IDG News article

Britannica experiments with user-generated content

Paul Mah — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:17:44 -0400

Clearly, Encyclopaedia Britannica is not adopting a "wisdom of the crowds" approach. It often leads the charge against sites such as Wikipedia--which relies on user-contributed content--and now, Encyclopaedia Britannica is implementing a "tightly controlled system" that leverages on user-generated content.

What will happen, according to a set of blog posts outlining the new policy, is that contributors will be encouraged to create profiles highlighting their qualifications and a listing of related works. Encyclopaedia Britannica will furnish these experts with a "reward system" to generate new content, comment on existing entries or possibly furnish updated versions of content. All contributions to Encyclopaedia Britannica's core content will continue to be vetted by their editorial staff before publication.

For more about the shift over at Britannica:
- check out this Ars Technica article

Forrester predicts tech 'populism'

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:59:58 -0500

A new Forrester study says there will soon be a proliferation of "technology populism." That means that IT professionals will be rethinking how they currently evaluate, provide and support collective and collaborative software and services. Forrester says this change will increase the pressure to throw out the traditional methods by which technology is deployed. "Technology Populism is driven by people's needs to interact," said Forrester Research Principal Analyst Matthew Brown. "For many employees, the telephone and email are being replaced by text messaging, instant messaging, and mobile devices, such as iPhones and BlackBerrys, and Social Computing tools like Facebook and Wikipedia," Brown said. Is this true at your workplace? Let us know what is happening and what you think of this new trend in the comments.

For more on this trend:
- See this Fox Business article

How to: Re-purpose an old PC as a webapp machine

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:59:52 -0500

Yesterday, we told you how to save some boot time by using the HyperSpace mini operating system. If you're truly impatient, however, you might want to have a separate PC at the ready, just for running common web apps like Gmail, Wikipedia and Facebook. Say hello to "gOS," a free, Ubuntu-based operating system that can turn an outdated PC into an efficient webapp cruncher.

Web 2.0 changes the way we connect

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:59:59 -0400

Meanwhile, Rob Carter, CIO of FedEx, told a roomful of technology executives at the SIMposium 2007 that Web 2.0 technologies are changing the way that people view connectedness and networking. Sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Second Life are defining "the notion of virtual place" and represent how people are beginning to break down the idea "that community is defined by face-to-face interactions," Informationweek reports. He also noted that Internet-based, community-oriented platforms like Wikipedia would impact how people work in the future. Pitfalls in this area include questions over intellectual property. "We have a long way to go before we clarify what IP is all about," he said. In terms of Carter's take on the CIO role: "I actually think I have the best job in business," Carter said.

For all the details:
- read the blog in InformationWeek

Sprint to announce WiMAX network tomorrow?

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 06:59:59 -0400

If you believe the blogs today, then for Sprint, there's no WiMAX, there's only Xohm. Engadget heard from an anonymous source that Sprint will announce the branding for its WiMAX service tomorrow at its analyst summit, and a sneak peek at the posters show the brand for the service could be the cryptic "Xohm." If the mark of an ideal, new brand these days is that it does not yet have its own Wikipedia page, then Xohm fits the bill. However, at first blush, the word is difficult to pronounce, not to mention nonsensical. It must be "ZOME," right?

Sprint plans to rollout its WiMAX service in select cities by the end of 2007, so an announcement in mid-August regarding the branding of that service is fitting. Sprint spokesman John Polivka neither affirmed nor denied the Xohm brand as Sprint's WiMAX service, but reiterated the company would provide a market update tomorrow as planned. Stay tuned.

For more on Xohm:
- check out this post over at Engadget

Wikipedia founder shares five keys to collaboration

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 20:01:37 -0400

As online collaboration becomes an even bigger key to effective corporate operations, Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales tells CIO Magazine his thoughts on how groups can work together more effectively online. In the interview, Wales addresses dealing with bad apples in an online community, having a shared vision in online collaboration, why flat hierarchies are effective and more.

For more on Wales' Wiki-vision:
- learn more in this full CIO magazine write up. Article

ALSO NOTED: Is Microsoft's .NET the perfect SOA solution?; Hands on with the Airport Extreme;

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 19:01:38 -0500

> A hands-on review of Apple's 802.11n Airport Extreme base station. Article
> Bloggers get all worked up over a supposed Wikipedia ban. Article
> Cisco just keeps on extending Apple's deadline for a response to the pending iPhone lawsuit. Article
> Is Microsoft's .NET the perfect SOA solution? Article
> Apple's rumored ultraportable has a name: the "MacBook Mini." Article

And Finally... A hard drive enclosure that looks like a...hard drive? Photos

How to: Simplify general info searches on Google

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:01:32 -0500

Most of us know a few Google tricks; using a colon to search a specific domain, for example. Here one that I had never seen before, though: using a word like "info" to pair down your results to general information on the topic, with Wikipedia results appearing at the top of the results page.