Sean Michael Kerner

From the ‘They Told Us So’ files: Apache today officially resigned from the Java Community Process (JCP), after weeks of threatening to do so. Earlier this week, I spoke with Apache’s Geir Magnusson about the recent approval of the Java 7 and 8 specs, which Apache voted against. At the time, Mangusson said a decision […]

For more on cloud computing and the enterprise, visit Internet.com’s new cloud computing site. They’re buzzwords, for sure, but how much interest are corporate IT buyers really showing in cloud computing and virtualization? With the release of a pair of new global surveys, Cisco has tried to put some numbers behind the adoption curve. As […]

From the ‘Don’t Try This At Home‘ files: According to SANS, one of the key tools being used as part of the Wikileaks driven DDOS attacks is something called JavaLOIC. That tool is a port of the open source LOIC – Low Orbit Ion Canon – stress testing tool that is freely available in the […]

For HP, the new Energy Efficient Ethernet standard is something like a win-win. The firm is bringing to market a series of switches based on the newly ratified IEEE 802.3az standard that promise both performance improvements and significant reductions in power consumption. With the 10 new switch module releases for its E8200 zl and E5400 […]

Salesforce is doing all that it can to stay in the headlines this week, announcing a significant acquisition just a day after it launched a major new database initiative. The customer-relationship management specialist is buying Heroku, a Ruby vendor whose cloud service counts more than 105,000 applications. With the $212 million purchase, set to close […]

From the ‘Super-charged V8‘ files: One of the big tech features of Google’s Chrome browser is the V8 JavaScript engine. Now with a new overlay for V8 called. ‘Crankshaft’ Google is claiming a 50 percent performance boost for what was already a blazing fast engine. “Crankshaft uses adaptive compilation to improve both start-up time and […]

From the ‘Update Now or be PWND’ files: It’s seem like just yesterday, WordPress updated its wildly popular open source blogging software (it was actually last week). As it turns out, they missed one flaw in the 3.0.2 release and that’s why 3.0.3 is now out. With the 3.0.3 release, WordPress is addressing an XML-RPC […]

Java 7 and 8 are officially a go, but is the community heading for a schism? The new releases handily won Java Community Process (JCP) approval in an executive committee vote, but some members expressed significant concerns about the open source licensing provisions, inviting the possibility of the Apache Software Foundation forking the language. Apache […]

The critical vulnerabilities of the Domain Name System ably documented by Dan Kaminsky brought into sharp relief the importance of implementing the security technology known as DNSSEC. But that process is neither simple nor cheap. In an effort to help domain registrars make the transition, VeriSign is rolling out a new DNSSEC Signing Service, automating […]

From the ‘Fragment This’ files: In July of 2008, the Linux Foundation started the process for standardizing Linux with the Linux Standards Base 4.0 spec. This week, after a couple years of official availability the Linux Foundation is set to formally announce that all of the leading commercial Linux vendors have now certified to LSB […]

In a bid to bulk up its security portfolio, Juniper Networks has acquired Altor Networks in a $95 million all-cash deal that has already closed. With the purchase, Juniper adds a portfolio of virtualized network security technologies to its arsenal. Juniper is particularly keen on Altor’s introspection technology that monitors and analyzes virtual machine traffic. […]

SAP is looking to bring enterprise collaboration to the cloud. The firm has leveraged virtualization technology from Novell to deliver a Linux-powered software appliance it’s calling the StreamWork Enterprise solution. SAP is billing StreamWork as a solution to “ad hoc” work situations, providing collaboration support for activities like brainstorming or developing a budget that are […]