CIO —
1. "Oracle Deal Could Hurt Hyperion Users, Say Customers, Analysts," Computerworld, March 1
Word that Oracle is buying business intelligence vendor Hyperion for $3.3 billion was followed with customers and analysts publicly expressing concern that the deal isn’t going to be so good for Hyperion users. A key concern is that Oracle has been on a buying binge, having also bought Siebel, which competes in that same market space, and so customers and analysts say they find options are increasingly limited. Customers who don’t care to have all of their technology investments tied up with one vendor seem particularly worried. Some also have concerns that Hyperion products will be tinkered with by Oracle, even while acknowledging that Hyperion’s planning, budgeting and consolidation software covers a gap in Oracle’s business apps strategy when it comes to competing with SAP.
2. "Lenovo Recalls 208,000 Notebook Batteries,"
CIO.com, March 1
After five customers complained to Lenovo that laptop batteries overheated after computers were dropped or hit, the company announced a recall of 208,000 notebook batteries worldwide. The recall involves the nine-cell, extended-life version of a battery pack from Sanyo. Lenovo sold the packs from November 2005 to February 2007 as an option in some version of ThinkPads in the R, T and Z series model lines. Lenovo is advising customers whose laptops have the faulty packs to immediately remove the batteries and power them up only with the AC adapter and power cord. The company will replace the faulty batteries.
3. "Black Hat Hears of Data Leak Dangers,"
InfoWorld, March 1
The risks of using Wi-Fi networks were underscored at the annual Black Hat conference this week, with security researchers demonstrating how those who connect to the Web in public places such as airports and coffee shops are a hacker’s dream. Researchers showed how a software application they developed—a "sniffer"—can easily intercept data from devices connected publicly to the Internet and that even the most innocuous data can be used to create a detailed profile of users and how they use the Web, and even to find out information on their employer’s IT network. To make their case, they intercepted an e-mail sent to a reporter in a different conference session as they spoke—the e-mail included a password for an application in it. It’s the collection of information, rather than single pieces of data, that are of concern, the researchers said.
4. "Green Grid Powers Up to Save Energy,”
CIO.com, Feb. 26
The Green Grid opened for business Monday as a group of technology companies has joined to collaborate on ways to improve energy efficiency in data centers. The group will promote development of energy-efficient processors, servers, networks and other technology and also will promote best practices in data center operation. Eleven companies are founding members of The Green Grid, and they invite users to sign up to help the cause.
