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Certifying Linux technicians is a developing trend. The Linux OS is growing up. This is pushing many computer engineers and IT professionals to prove their skills as programmers and systems administrators While not quite a common job requirement yet, some employers and high-level software developers are looking for Linux-certified employees. This i...

While they are instrumental in disseminating information and raising environmental consciousness, our dependence on digital electronics is also putting ever greater strains on us and our environment "Manufacturing a desktop computer and 17-inch CRT monitor uses at least 240 kg (530 lbs) of fossil fuels, 22 kg (50 lbs) of chemicals and 1,500 kg (3,...

The U.S. government is putting plans into motion to help consumers who have analog TVs continue to receive broadcasts on Feb. 17, 2009 -- the date when most television stations are scheduled to start sending digital signals exclusively. Without taking special steps, those relying on analog broadcasts will find their screens have gone dark On Tuesda...

The Recording Industry Association of America has dumped a load of mud into the already murky waters surrounding the personal use of copyrighted music The trade group, which represents the U.S. recording industry, is taking legal action against Jeffrey Howell of Scottsdale, Ariz., for allegedly sharing music files via the Kazaa file-sharing network...

Qualcomm began the new year by scrambling to deal with an old problem. The mobile chip maker will appeal a judge's injunction barring it from selling products found to infringe on patents held by rival Broadcom San Diego-based Qualcomm intends to push hard to finalize development of work-around alternatives to the disputed technology, but it acknow...

In an effort to get ahead of the curve with "emerging storage opportunities," IBM purchased XIV, an Israeli storage technology company headed by a big name in the storage industry: Moshe Yanai Big Blue did not disclose the purchase price, but Israel's financial daily Globes reported IBM spent between US$300 million and $350 million. IBM's stock pri...

The holiday selling season has come and gone, and the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD war is still on The HD DVD camp came out strong with a hard jab when Toshiba's HD-A2 DVD players sold for a rock-bottom price of US$98.97 at Wal-Mart and other outlets like Best Buy in late October, but since then prices have remained well over $200 for both HD DVD and Blu-ray...

2008 may be the year the outsourcing function or process in a business becomes as standardized and mainstream as, say, accounting or human resources Outsourcing, of course, has been an integral part of the global economy with countless firms handing off to third party providers their contact center operations, payroll, manufacturing and even resear...

The pressure to increase top-line revenue growth is uniting sales and marketing executives to focus resources on aligning their two groups. In October, Aberdeen Group surveyed over 250 companies to identify the strategies, capabilities and enablers that Best in Class (BIC) companies are using to improve sales and marketing alignment BIC companies a...

When it comes to creative works, such as a drawing or a piece of writing or music, the law is pretty clear about what is a derivative work and what isn't. Not so much with software If the software is open source -- that is, licensed under the GNU General Public License or a similar license -- the waters get even murkier....

"Web 2.0" was one of the computing industry's biggest catch phrases of 2007. Much like a software upgrade, Web 2.0 brings to mind images of bug fixes and new features. In reality, however, Web 2.0 is nothing more than a new round of Internet functionality bolted onto a very tired and old World Wide Web infrastructure The rise of Web 2.0 technologie...

In the ultimate game of bait-and-switch, several Web sites try to pass off a bot as a bod. That is to say that Live Chat is offered to users, but there's no flesh-and-blood person on the line, there's only a chat bot making a robotic guess at what the user might want to know. Few are fooled by the switcheroo, but nonetheless, could the tactic be working?...

There are an estimated 44 million Baby Boomers roaming the Net, and legions of marketers looking for ways to reach them. That's because, as a target market, Boomers have what it takes to make hucksters salivate: money "It's a generation with wealth -- (US)$2 trillion in disposable income -- and they have an incredible appetitive to keep connecting,...

These days, just about every business -- from the corner store to Wal-Mart -- has a Web presence. While the Internet's vast expanse provides companies with the ability to reach more potential customers, it also pits them against more competitors than ever before. As a result, it has become increasingly difficult for companies to convert site visitors into buying customers. To complicate matters, nine out of every 10 users log off without buying anything, according to some estimates...

There are many reasons why a company might opt to conduct virtual meetings rather than face-to-face ones. Cost is one, particularly with fuel costs soaring; having a widely dispersed base of employees, clients or partners is another common one An increasing number of companies are also meeting up in the virtual world because of concern about the en...

The familiar adage that the consumer is always right has taken on a new meaning in the Internet age. Rather than talk with a store manager, consumers are now making their feelings about different products known on message boards and blogs ...

As evidenced by the phenomenal success of Google, search has evolved from an interesting sideline into a primary function for many, if not most, Internet users. Consequently, more and more companies are putting content up on their Web sites to attract the attention of search engines "You can have really great information on a site, but if a potenti...

Consumers hoping to safeguard their holiday memories by storing pictures on their Windows Home Servers (WHS) may instead want to save those files on their PCs' hard drives. A post made on Microsoft's WHS blog warns users that WHS contains a heretofore undiscovered file corruption bug Although engineers are busily trying to solve the problem, Micros...

Already, YouTube has conquered your PC and mobile. However, what happens if YouTube conquers your living room, too -- and in high-definition television quality? With IPTV (Internet protocol television), that is possible, and the race to see who will be best-positioned in the digital living room of the future has already started. IPTV is being called the "fourth TV broadcasting channel," after satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcasting...

It is difficult to avoid the talk of a potential recession in 2008. Even firms whose product set or market niche are well suited for tight times don't like the thought of slow sales and bleak economic forecasts RightNow Technologies, an established Software as a Service CRM vendor, is one of those companies. Greg Gianforte, CEO, president, chairman...