The Coming IT Workforce Shortfall

The Coming IT Workforce Shortfall

Due to approaching baby boomer retirements, the information technology workforce in places like the United States and Europe is expected to shrink dramatically—in fact, IT jobs could outnumber qualified professionals as early as the end of the decade. This might not come as a shock to those who have been reading Bureau of Labor Statistics predictions and other industry forecasts. However, some observers believe this trend will affect countries all over the world, and that it’s already starting to play out in some very unexpected places.

“As workforce growth rates slow in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia, skill shortages are going to begin to mount,” said Brian Kramer, program director for IBM Learning Solutions. “These skill shortages are likely to be particularly acute in the IT industry, because developed, post-industrial nations do not graduate many IT engineers. It’s amazing how that has shifted....

Linux on Windows with CoLinux

Linux on Windows with CoLinux

Some of us still need to use Windows desktops. Your work environment might call for it; your family may only have a Windows machine at home; or perhaps you just plain prefer Windows as a desktop operating system. And that’s OK. But there are situations when you need Linux when you’re running Windows. There is at least one commercial product on the market, EMC’s VMWare Workstation 5 For Windows, which does just that and does a great job, albeit for $200 per copy. If you’re willing to spend the extra money to run any Linux distribution that you want within Windows, it’s a great application to have. But for those of us who are cheapskates, there’s an alternative: Cooperative Linux, or CoLinux for short.

For the rest of the article, click Here

Windows Product Activation (WPA) on Windows XP

Windows Product Activation (WPA) on Windows XP

One new feature in Windows XP that has caused great concern is Windows Product Activation (WPA). There are a great many rumors, and much misinformation, from which you might be led to think that WPA is going to call Microsoft every day and say just what you are doing with your computer; that, if you make any changes at all to your computer hardware, the machine will be instantly disabled; and that WPA is a sneaky way for Microsoft to store personal information about you or your computer, or to begin charging you a monthly fee for your continued use of Windows XP. In fact, all of these rumors are false. WPA is a fairly easy-going check when Windows boots, confirming that it is still installed on the same computer as last time it checked. That’s all. But the rampant misinformation is understandable, because it is hard for the general consumer to find a simple yet comprehensive explanation of just what...

ms nightmare edges closer

Microsoft's nightmare inches closer to reality

As early as May 1995, three months before Netscape Communications' initial public offering sparked the dot-com boom, Microsoft executives were worried that the nascent World Wide Web could one day become a significant threat to the Windows franchise.

In an extensive memo called "The Web is the Next Platform" that was introduced as evidence in Microsoft's antitrust trial five years ago, Microsoft engineer Ben Slivka described a "nightmare" scenario for the software giant.

For the rest of this story click HERE...

IT Career Paths & Changing Job Roles

IT Career Paths & Changing Job Roles

Thanks again to moominboy for suggesting this article.

What’s your job role? Do you feel like it changes almost every day? You’re certainly not alone. As IT organizations have consolidated, almost everyone has to wear more hats. Not only can this give you a headache, but it also can make planning your career a challenge. Where should you invest your time, money and energy? Here’s a four-part strategy that will help supercharge your skills and prepare you for a successful career as an IT leader.

For the complete article, click Here

Lockdown! Securing Your Certification

Lockdown! Securing Your Certification

Since we periodically have discussions about braindumps and other activity that has an impact on certification test validity, I thought this article came along at the right time. -Trip

You are scanning a system user’s bulletin board, when you happen upon a string of messages exchanging inside information about an upcoming exam for system administrators. How would you react?

A. Chat it up to learn more about the exam.
B. Ignore it. You’ve studied for the upcoming exam, so you don’t need to know the actual test questions.
C. Send a message asking the participants to stop leaking exam content. You don’t want to see your certification devalued.
D. Contact the certification program management and inform them of the activity.

For the complete article, click Here

Opera Eliminates Ad Banner and Licensing Fee

Opera Eliminates Ad Banner and Licensing Fee

Opera Software today permanently removed the ad banner and licensing fee from its award-winning Web browser. The ad-free, full-featured Opera browser is now available for download - completely free of charge – at http://www.opera.com. "Today we invite the entire Internet community to use Opera and experience Web browsing as it should be," said Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. "Removing the ad banner and licensing fee will encourage many new users to discover the speed, security and unmatched usability of the Opera browser."

For the rest of the article, click Here

Supplier certification can give you an edge

Supplier certification can give you an edge

Many employers are prepared to invest in training their IT staff in the latest supplier qualifications to keep their skills up-to-date. Although there is a risk that these staff could be poached, most are likely to want to stay with a company that offers training and development. But a growing number of IT professionals are prepared to pay for qualifications themselves, particularly when they are looking to change the direction of their career, or pursue skills that go beyond their current work.

For the complete news story, click Here

Key clicks betray passwords, typed text

Key clicks betray passwords, typed text

Eavesdroppers armed with a shotgun microphone or a small recording device could make off with a computer user's sensitive documents and data, three university researchers said in a paper released this week. The researchers, from the University of California at Berkeley, found that a 10-minute recording of a person typing at the keyboard reveals enough information for a computer analysis to recover nearly 90 per cent of the words entered. The recording can be low quality - the researchers used a $10 microphone - and the system does not need previous samples of a user's typing to perform the analysis. Moreover, the technique can frequently guess a person's password in as little as 20 attempts.

For the rest, click Here

Why Linux needs a mentor program

Why Linux needs a mentor program

I thought this was a very worthwhile read, especially given the fact that some of you may want to learn Linux but are concerned that you might encounter a problem you would be hard pressed to solve.

Imagine you're a new Linux user. You ordered an Ubuntu CD weeks ago and forgot about it. You're surprised it actually comes in the mail. You slap the shiny disc into your PC and cross your fingers. The installation is quite slick. You're impressed by the splash screen and attractive desktop. Wow, you think you're hot stuff -- a Linux user. But the euphoria fades as you realize there's a problem with your modem. Now what do you do? This is what happened to one of my coworkers, who called me to get help with his system after he installed Linux. After we worked through his modem problem (he had the wrong port selected), he asked me a lot of questions about Linux. Some of the answers could have been found in a good...