DragonMicro

Europe’s Largest IT Company To Ban Internal Email

DragonMicro — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:11:10 +0000

“Thierry Breton, CEO of Atos, Europe’s Largest IT Company, wants a ‘zero email’ policy to be in place in 18 months, arguing that only 10 per cent of the 200 electronic messages his employees receive per day on average turn out to be useful, and that staff spend between 5-20 hours handling emails every week. ‘The email is no longer the appropriate (communication) tool,’ says Breton. ‘The deluge of information will be one of the most important problems a company will have to face (in the future). It is time to think differently.’ Instead Breton wants staff at Atos to use chat-type collaborative services inspired by social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter as surveys show that the younger generation have already all but scrapped email, with only 11 per cent of 11 to 19 year-olds using it. For his part Breton hasn’t sent a work email in three years. ‘If people want to talk to me, they can come and visit me, call or send me a text message. Emails cannot replace the spoken word.’”

Free Software Activists Take On Google Search

DragonMicro — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:00:30 +0000

“Free software activists have released a peer-to-peer search engine to take on Google, Yahoo, Bing and others. The free, distributed search engine, YaCy, takes a new approach to search. Rather than using a central server, its search results come from a network of independent ‘peers,’ users who have downloaded the YaCy software. The aim is that no single entity gets to decide what gets listed, or in which order results appear. ‘Most of what we do on the Internet involves search. It’s the vital link between us and the information we’re looking for. For such an essential function, we cannot rely on a few large companies and compromise our privacy in the process,’ said Michael Christen, YaCy’s project leader.”

Terahertz Wireless Chip Will Bring 30Gbps Networks

DragonMicro — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:59:26 +0000

“Rohm, a Japanese semiconductor company, has created a silicon chip and antenna that’s currently capable of transmitting 1.5Gbps, with the potential to scale up to 30Gbps in the future. While this is a lot faster than anything currently on the market, the significant advance here is the reception and transmission of terahertz waves (300GHz to 3THz) using a chip and antenna that’s just two centimeters long. Rohm says it will only cost $5 when it comes to market in a few years — a stark comparison to current terahertz gear that’s both large and expensive. The problem with terahertz transmissions, though, is that it’s highly directional — with a submillimeter wavelength, it’s more like a laser than a signal. Terahertz waves might enable awesome device-to-device networks, but it isn’t going to bring 30Gbps internet to a whole city block. More interestingly, submillimeter terahertz radiation is the next step up from the gigahertz radiation used in full-body millimeter wave scanners. Terahertz waves can not only see through clothing, but can also penetrate a few millimeters of skin.”

Making a Privacy Monitor From an Old LCD

DragonMicro — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:59:01 +0000

“Instructables Member ‘Dimovi’ utilized a spare LCD monitor and converted it into a ‘privacy’ monitor. He took apart the monitor’s plastic frame, cutting out the polarized film with a utility knife and removed the film adhesive from the glass panel before reassembling the monitor, which now shines a bright white regardless of what is actually being displayed on the screen. He then removed the lenses from a pair of theater 3D glasses, and replaced it with the polarized film he had just removed from the monitor. Now, he is the only one who can see what he is doing on his computer.”

Apache Flaw Allows Internal Network Access

DragonMicro — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:58:14 +0000

“A yet-to-be-patched flaw discovered in the Apache HTTP server allows attackers to access protected resources on the internal network if some rewrite rules are not defined properly. The vulnerability affects Apache installations that operate in reverse proxy mode, a type of configuration used for load balancing, caching and other operations that involve the distribution of resources over multiple servers.”

UK ISP Disconnecting Filesharers

DragonMicro — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:57:30 +0000

“A small VPN service, Koppla, has had its service terminated by its host, Santrex Hosting Solutions. Despite actively advertising their services to be oriented toward file-sharing including torrents and XDCC, even going so far as to put ‘Seedbox Hosting | An Effective Solution’ in the title of their contact page, the UK based Santrex will independently act to terminate users who are thought to be distributing content that they don’t own the copyright to. This is regardless of whether the infringement is done by a third party, as is the case with a VPN service such as Koppla.”

Next Apple iPhone To Have a 4 Inch Display?

DragonMicro — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:57:08 +0000

“According to reports from Macotakara, Hitachi Displays Ltd and Sony Mobile Display Corporation has started shipping the screens for the iPad 3 and a 4-inch LCD screen for an unnamed iOS device. It would be fairly safe to assume that the 4-inch display will be for the next iPhone – the iPhone 5.”

London Wires Up For 2012 Olympic Games

DragonMicro — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:56:15 +0000

“While London’s massive Olympic park is still very much a frenetic construction site, IT engineers are fine-tuning the equipment that will be used to transmit scores, let athletes send e-mail, and broadcast high-definition video of the Games. The Olympic Games are set to kick off on July 27 next year and will be followed by the Paralympic Games. Test athletic events are already under way, which are being used to evaluate the resiliency of high-speed data networks costing millions of pounds. Acer has a large role in the 2012 Olympics and will provide much of the IT hardware, including 11,500 desktops running Windows 7; 1,100 laptops; 900 servers, and other parts including SAN storage systems, touchscreen monitors and standard monitors.”

Why Everyone Hates the IT Department

DragonMicro — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:55:23 +0000

“Why are IT staff treated with near universal contempt? This article discusses why everyone hates the IT department. From cultivating a culture of ‘them and us,’ to unrealistic demands from end users and senior management, to the inevitable tension created when employees try and bring their own equipment into the office, there are a variety of reasons for the lack of respect for IT.”

BT Fiber Infrastructure Plans ‘Fatal’ To Competition

DragonMicro — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:12:35 +0000

“BT today revealed it is to start selling its Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) for fiber broadband product to other providers later this month, but the announcement was met with one particularly cold response. Geo Networks, which is helping deliver superfast networks in Wales in partnership with the Welsh Assembly, said it was going to withdraw bidding for Government-provided BDUK funds and in all next-generation access sales. ‘Inadequacies of the current PIA product are fatal to infrastructure competition,’ he added. ‘The Government’s stated desire for a competitive market in the provision of new optical fiber infrastructure is at risk of complete failure.’”