BCS Founder Dies

BCS Founder Dies

Roy Newell, a founder member of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, has died less than a month short of his 83rd birthday.

An active and popular member for more than 50 years upon his joining the Institute in 1958, Roy made a sustained contribution at Branch and Council level. Throughout his membership, he also helped forge relationships for BCS with a host of organisations, particularly in areas of education and with wider political communities.

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-Ken

CompTIA and Certification Partners Join Forces to Create New Certification for CTP's

CompTIA and Certification Partners Join Forces to Create New Certification for Convergence Technologies Professionals

New CTP+ certification addresses skills requirements for fast-growing technology segment

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CompTIA, the non-profit trade association for the information technology (IT) industry, announced today it is collaborating with Certification Partners, LLC, owners of the Convergence Technologies Professional (CTP) certification, on a new credential that validates skills and standards-based knowledge in today's convergence technologies.

The new CTP+ certification available Aug. 30 combines elements of the CTP and CompTIA Convergence+ certifications and is designed to address the rapidly changing landscape of new network convergence products and solutions.

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-Ken

IT in 2020

Discussions on the future of IT are always popular on here so i thought these articles on Computer World might be interesting reading for some.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/350671/IT_Careers_2020

Intel to Acquire McAfee

Intel to Acquire McAfee

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 19, 2010 – Intel Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire McAfee, Inc., through the purchase of all of the company’s common stock at $48 per share in cash, for approximately $7.68 billion. Both boards of directors have unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close after McAfee shareholder approval, regulatory clearances and other customary conditions specified in the agreement.

The acquisition reflects that security is now a fundamental component of online computing. Today’s security approach does not fully address the billions of new Internet-ready devices connecting, including mobile and wireless devices, TVs, cars, medical devices and ATM machines as well as the accompanying surge in cyber threats. Providing protection to a diverse online world requires a fundamentally new approach involving software, hardware and services.

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Home computers discover rare star

Home computers discover rare star

By putting their home computers to work when they would otherwise be idle, three "citizen scientists" have discovered a rare astronomical object.
The unusual find is called a "disrupted binary pulsar"; these pulsars can be created when a massive star collapses.

The discoverers, from the US and Germany found the object with the help of the Einstein@Home project.

It asks users to donate time on their computers, allowing them to be used for searching through scientific data.

This type of project is known as "distributed computing". Einstein@Home harnesses the power of home machines in order to process large amounts of data.

Credited with the discovery are Chris and Helen Colvin, both information technology professionals from Iowa, US, and systems analyst Daniel Gebhardt from Mainz in Germany.

Their computers, along with 500,000 others from around the world, are being used to analyse data for...

Virus writers hit Google Android phones

Virus writers hit Google Android phones

A malicious application that can steal cash via phones running Google's Android operating system has been found.

The program poses as a media player but once installed starts sending premium rate text messages.

The service being sent messages is operated by the malicious app's creator, who scoops up the fees.

Discovered by Kaspersky Labs, it is believed to be the first booby-trapped application for Android.

In a security advisory Kaspersky said that the virus - Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.FakePlayer.a - is being spread by text message. The message prompts users to install an application, 13KB in size, which purports to be a media player.

The virus was most prevalent among Russian Android users. The risk to Android owners worldwide is believed to be low.

Read the full story : HERE

Deadline looms for iPhone iOS 4 users needing Exchange Online access

Deadline looms for iPhone iOS 4 users needing Exchange Online access

Exchange administrators should relay a message to their Apple iPhone iOS 4.0.0 users that
unless they update their devices by July 29 they will lose access to Exchange Online-based
email and calendaring.

Apple released an update for the iPhone iOS 4.0,0 operating system this week to fix serious performance issues with Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) that caused heavier than normal loads on servers and sync issues with email, calendar, and contacts.

Mike Crowley, an Exchange administrator for a major U.S.-based Microsoft integration company, said every Exchange deployment he has done recently, from Exchange Server to Exchange Online via the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), has included iPhone users in some capacity, so this is an important update.

Full Story...

Firm scrambles to patch vBulletin software flaw

Firm scrambles to patch vBulletin software flaw

A serious flaw in software widely used to power online discussion sites could allow hackers to harvest reams of personal data, the BBC has learned.

The flaw in a specific version of the vBulletin software allows anyone to easily access the main administrator username and password for a site.

Full story here

Thankfully CF doesn't use this version

£35m a year for the Business Link website? Really??

£35m a year for the Business Link website? Really??

Even if the Business Link website was any good, how is it possible to spend that much on it?

Opinion seems to have been split when new business minister Mark Prisk announced the Government was pulling the plug on Business Link: although many business owners have long considered it a total waste of taxpayers’ money, others sing its praises. But we suspect that whatever camp you’re in, you’ll be as horrified as us to learn that its (fairly unimpressive) website has apparently cost the taxpayer an extraordinary £105m over the last three years – despite getting just 1m visitors a year. As they say online: OMG.

It’s a huge sum, for what isn’t even a very good site. According to the BBC’s Rory Cellan-Jones, the costs break down like this: £6.2m on strategy and planning (meetings, essentially; they must be racing through those chocolate Hobnobs), £4.4m on design and build (is the company...

DIY apps: Google's secret weapon in the battle of the smartphones

DIY apps: Google's secret weapon in the battle of the smartphones

Now you don't have to be a geek to create an app...

It looks like the war between Google and Apple over the top spot for mobile platforms is about to hot up: the search company has unveiled new software which allows users to develop their own apps for its mobile operating system, Android. Best of all, Google’s App Inventor for Android doesn’t require any knowledge of programming language – which means ordinary people will suddenly have the power to make their own mobile apps. There’s no doubt the number of Android apps will rocket – but is playing the numbers game a winning strategy in the fight for smartphone users?

Full story : HERE