Sean Michael Kerner

From the ‘They’re Still Around‘ files: Darl McBride, the combative CEO of Linux-litigating Unix vendor SCO is out of a job. In an 8-K report filed with the SEC today, SCO reported that they had eliminated McBride’s position. McBride’s termination marks the end of one of the most ‘entertaining’ aspects of the legal challenge against […]

From the ‘Browser Security‘ files: Over the weekend, potentially tens of millions of users around the world booted their Firefox browser and were told that their Microsoft add-ons were being blocked (see my screenshot left). Specifically, Mozilla began blocking the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) add-on and the .NET Framework Assistant add-on. Both of those add-ons […]

There is a lot of buzz in the tech media world about the upcoming Ubuntu Karmic Koala release, but it’s not the only Linux release on its way from a major vendor. Novell’s (NASDAQ: NOVL) community-driven openSUSE project is nearing completion of its next major release, version 11.2 The first release candidate for openSUSE 11.2 […]

How do you make money from Linux in the cloud? One potential route could be to open a store. As part of its upcoming Karmic Koala release, Ubuntu Linux is set to integrate a number of new cloud technologies. One of the efforts will include a cloud software appliance store to help expedite setup and […]

From the ‘Price to Earnings Multiples‘ files: According to multiple reports this AM, Cisco’s $3 Billion bid for video vendor Tandberg is not being met with approval by all of Tandberg’s shareholders. A group of 21 shareholders, holding 24% of Tandberg’s stock wants more from Cisco. I’m not surprised. A week after Cisco made its […]

For the past decade, Asterisk has prospered as an open source VoIP PBX . Now it’s poised for greater traction, courtesy of a new joint effort with IBM. The work will see Asterisk getting a boost with a tie-in to IBM’s Smart Cube. The six-month-old IBM Smart Cube platform is designed for small- and midsized […]

From the ‘Simple Ideas That Will Change The World‘ files: The risks associated with running outdated and insecure plugins are not trivial. Simply put, if a user is running an old version of a plugin for which an exploit is available, they’re at risk — even if they’ve got an updated browser, operating system and […]

Microsoft isn’t the only vendor out with a mega-load of new security patches this week. Adobe has issued a patch update for 29 security vulnerabilities affecting its Adobe Reader and Acrobat PDF applications. The patches cover a range of issues and include a fix for a zero-day vulnerability that has been exploited in the wild […]

From the ‘Google Hacks’ files: We’ve all known for awhile that Google indexes (nearly) everything, both good and bad. Guys like Johnny ‘I Hack Stuff’ Long have even made a career out of using Google to find site vulnerabilities, an activity commonly referred to as ‘Google Hacking.’ Now at long last, Google itself is getting […]

Cisco today announced it intention to acquire carrier wireless vendor Starent for $2.9 Billion. According to both Cisco and at least one of its primary competitors, the move will change the competitive landscape. From Cisco’s viewpoint, by acquiring Starent, they are now filling in some gaps in their wireless portfolio and will be better positioned […]