Articles by Alan Williamson

Cloud Computing Is Real and It's Changing How We in the Software World Work

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:00:00 EDT

Cloud computing is real. Cloud computing is changing how we in the software world work. But it is not everything to everyone and it is definitely not the second coming that will change how we all interact on the Internet. While I respect Stephen Fry hugely, I find myself a little disappointed that he has jumped onto marketing hype and taken his legion of followers off on the wrong direction. I expected more.

Cloud Computing Bootcamp - Updated Simple Java API class for Amazon SimpleDB

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:45:00 EDT

Cloud computing is an opportunity for businesses to implement low-cost, low-power and high-efficiency systems to deliver scalable infrastructure. But moving to a cloud infrastructure is not necessarily as nice and clean as the providers would want you to think. With cloud infrastructures problems don't magically go away; they just shift: you don't have scalability or storage problems any more, but you need to constantly monitor the cloud and your application in it.

Cloud Computing Bootcamp Announced, Learn What All the Fuss Is About

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Everywhere you look, someone somewhere is talking about clouds. Cloud this, cloud that, what on earth is all this fuss about? Well the good news, as with most technologies it's never as complicated as the marketing hype would lead you to believe. We've been working in the 'cloud' world for over 2 years now, with many a large installation under our belts. We've worked with all the major cloud providers and deploying fault tolerant solutions both within and outwith the cloud.

Time for VMWare to Change Its Pricing Model

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:15:00 EDT

The once darling of the software industry, VMWare, is currently struggling to recover to anything close to what it was. With stock once riding high at $124 per share, it is now struggling to break the $40 barrier. VMWare rode the initial wave of the virtualization revolution, producing high quality software to allow you to run and maintain multiple operating systems on one host. They were largely uncompeted for a number of years, but now that the computing world has decided that virtualization is indeed here to stay and will shape our landscape, a number of competitors have appeared, including solutions from Microsoft.

Google Web Toolkit: Finally Java Has Been Put into JavaScript!

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:15:00 EDT

For many years, Java and web developers alike have had to explain to the unwitting that JavaScript had absolutely nothing to do with Java. It was one of the great marketing gaffes of the mid-90s. They were no more alike than chalk and cheese. But in the last six months, I have had to lay down my placard and walk away from the picket line with a smile on my face and skip in my step. Finally Java has been put into JavaScript.

How to Create a Gadget for Google Desktop

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 19:15:00 EDT

Have you played with Google's Desktop tool? This is basically a strip on the side of your screen that lets you house small applications, called Gadgets. The tool is available for Windows, Linux and Mac so no matter your vice there is a flavour for you. There is a wide variety of Gadgets available, ranging from the usual news tickers and clocks right through to games and even being able to vote if a girl is hot or not!

As a Zimbra User I'm Not Sure If This is Good News or Not...

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:15:00 EDT

Yahoo has agreed to purchase Zimbra, the open source enterprise mail server company, for approximately $350M. As a Zimbra user, I am not sure if this is good news or not. Definitely good news for the employees, shareholders and investors for Zimbra. Although, it doesn't sound a lot of money in this day and age of startup buyouts, for a company that has very little of their own IPR, but a great packager of open source components this is quite a bit of change.

Zimbra 5 Takes a Step Closer with Beta 3

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:15:00 EDT

Another big surprise, and to the relief of many a system administrator, is that Apache Tomcat is out. Instead Jetty is the new underlying servlet engine that will make the whole thing tick. I have long ditched Tomcat in favor of Jetty; principal reasons include much faster start up time, lower memory usage and a darn sight easier to configure. I really get bored when I look at a Tomcat installation and think to myself, there is more to life than this endless directory/xml file nonsense.

VMware Virtualization for the Children

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:15:00 EDT

If you're a parent, then you'll have been through it. Your son or daughter wants to play on your computer and before you know it, you've given yourself up to the wonders of CBEEBIES and Club Penguin on MiniClip. This is all fine and dandy until they stray to another site and boom a whole bunch of popups start appearing, and various custom cursors are installed. And this is with FireFox forced as their browser! My boys have access to the internet whenever they want. If our laptops aren't being used, then are free to go on them whenever they way. Whether its playing music, watching YouTube, Skyping with their cousins, there is a whole host of things for them to experience.

Open Source Java? - Why on Earth Would I Want That?

Wed, 23 May 2007 21:00:00 EDT

This week at LinuxWorld Laurie Tolson gave reporters an update on the planned release of Java and its associated tools under an open source license. By the end of the year, javac and the hot spot compiler will be released. The precise license details haven't yet been announced yet - that is the part of the equation they are wrestling with the most since there are components within the JDK that aren't theirs to open source. Politics and licenses aside, let us look at what this means for the humble Java developer, the troops in the trenches churning out code daily.

Sun Swings and Misses Once Again with JavaFX

Sun, 13 May 2007 09:15:00 EDT

It really is our own fault; we have come to expect too much of Sun. They are like that lovable uncle we have. They have the best stories at the dinner table, but if you look around at the other adults, they are all rolling their eyes and laughing politely. They always promise they are going to show up at your major event, but and if they do arrive, it's generally very late and with the most inappropriate gift.

Installing Java ... not for the faint hearted

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 14:00:00 EDT

At the weekend my cousin innocently commented to me that he was having some problems with his Java installation and asked if I could have a look for him. He manages a fleet of lorries that go all over Europe and one of the tools he has is a real time tracker of where every driver and vehicle is. This is given to him via a Java applet within a management web site. It is works beautifully on his machine at work, but wanted to keep an eye on things when he was at home.

Open Source "Spying" On Open Source: The CIA Project

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 02:00:00 EDT

'Commit reporting has been done before,' Micah Dowty tells LinuxWorld Magazine's founding editor Alan Williamson in this exclusive interview at the recent Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco, 'but one of the things that makes CIA really unique is that it brings projects together into a larger community.' There are several large projects that are making use of CIA and showing their support by linking to the web interface, Dowty says. Gaim, AnhkSVN, Enlightenment, Gentoo, Adium, and Beagle are just a few of the larger projects that use CIA and link to it prominently on their web sites.

Kontek Industries Invited to the Prestigious Force Protection Equipment Demonstration at Quantico

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 13:30:00 EDT

Kontek Industries announced today that it has been selected to demonstrate its steel bollards, vehicle barriers, mobile troop housing with mortar shield roof, erectable mortar shield canopy, and .50 caliber armor-proof, blast-tested guardhouse, at the invitation-only 5th Force Protection Equipment Demonstration (FPED) at Quantico Marine Corps Base, Virginia, next week. FPED provides a venue to show state-of-the-art, commercial off-the-shelf force protection equipment to senior leaders and decision makers from the Department of Defense, federal departments, and agencies. For more information about FPED V go to: http://www.fped5.org/ .

CD Group Offers Customers New Choices with Microsoft(R) Business Solutions - Axapta(R)

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 13:00:00 EDT

CD Group, a national consulting firm providing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Business Intelligence (BI) solutions to mid-market and enterprise companies, today announced it has signed an agreement with Microsoft(R) to sell Microsoft Business Solutions- Axapta(R) to clients across North America. The agreement extends CD Group's offerings to its mid-market and enterprise customers to now include the Microsoft Axapta product suite.

Presentación de Swisscom Broadcast Ltd. a través de la tecnología NetCracker

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 12:55:00 EDT

Analysts International to Schedule First Quarter Conference Call After Filing of S-4 Registration Statement With SEC

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 12:30:00 EDT

Analysts International announced today that the Company will schedule its regular quarterly conference call after the Company and Computer Horizons Corp. have filed their Form S-4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing is expected to take place in May.

Renaissance Learning, Inc. Teams Up with Sagebrush Corporation

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 12:01:00 EDT

Renaissance Learning(R), Inc., , a leading provider of learning information systems and school improvement programs for pre-K-12 schools, today announced a partnership with Sagebrush Corporation, which will further strengthen the distribution of its reading products. Sagebrush, a leader in providing technology, services, and educational resources to K-12 schools will distribute Renaissance Learning's reading solutions, including Accelerated Reader, STAR Reading, STAR Early Literacy, Fluent Reader, and Read Now. Renaissance reading solutions have been adopted in more than 63,000 schools.

Swisscom Broadcast Ltd. live mit NetCracker

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 12:00:00 EDT

KongZhong Corporation Appoints Senior Vice President of Finance

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 10:00:00 EDT

KongZhong Corporation , a leading provider of advanced second-generation (2.5G) wireless value-added services in China, announces that Mr. JP Gan has accepted an offer from the Company to be the Senior Vice President of Finance, effective May 16, 2005. Mr. Gan will report to Nick Yang, the Company's Co-founder and President, who will continue to oversee the financial department's day-to-day operations as the Company's acting Chief Financial Officer.

GoldenPalace.com lanza myCitadel

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 08:53:00 EDT

Citadel Commerce Corp, empresa líder de proceso de pagos a través de Internet, ha anunciado que GoldenPalace.com ofrece ahora myCitadel como opción de pago instantáneo en sus páginas web.

DiGi Telecommunications Selects Video Streaming Services From LogicaCMG

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 07:00:00 EDT

LogicaCMG today announced it has won a contract with DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (DiGi), a prepaid mobile market leader in Malaysia, to deploy Next Generation video streaming services in partnership with Nextreaming and Inphosoft.

MTS stellt neue elektromechanische Testlösung vor

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 04:05:00 EDT

ITC^DeltaCom Appoints New Chief Financial Officer

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 21:07:00 EDT

ITC^DeltaCom, Inc. , a leading provider of integrated communications services to customers in the southeastern United States, today announced that Richard E. Fish has been appointed the Company's Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Fish joined ITC^DeltaCom in February 2005 as Chief Administrative Officer and brings more than seventeen years of diverse financial and strategic management, business development and operational experience to the Company.

Bodog.com jetzt mit myCitadel

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 20:24:00 EDT

Citadel Commerce Corp, ein führender Internet-Zahlungsverarbeiter, gibt bekannt, dass Bodog.com jetzt myCitadel als Lösung für Sofortzahlungen auf ihren Webseiten anbietet.

WEGENER Exhibits at NAB 2005

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 20:08:00 EDT

Wegener Corporation , a leading provider of television, radio and data distribution networks worldwide, today is exhibiting their products at National Association of Broadcasters 2005 Exhibition in Las Vegas. The show runs from Monday, April 18 through Thursday, April 21, 2005.

FullTilt Solutions Reports Record Sales Results

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 18:03:00 EDT

FullTilt Solutions, Inc., a provider of Enterprise Product Information Management (PIM) software solutions that make perfect product information possible, today announced record sales growth for the quarter ending March 31, 2005. Revenue bookings increased 200% over the comparable quarter in fiscal year 2004, with major new contract wins in the consumer packaged goods, distribution, MRO and electronics markets.

Carle Foundation Hospital Improves Availability of Medical Care With Marconi's ViPr Virtual Presence System

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:27:00 EDT

Marconi Corporation plc

Adelphia Taps Motorola to Grow High Speed Data and Rollout New Voice Services

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:12:00 EDT

Motorola, Inc. has been selected by Adelphia Communications to provide the Motorola Broadband Services Router (BSR) family of products for deployment of advanced data services. This latest selection further establishes the BSR 64000 as an industry leading carrier-class CMTS/edge router and Motorola as a major supplier of Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) solutions to the top cable systems in the United States.

US LEC Corp. to Broadcast First Quarter 2005 Conference Call Live on the Internet

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:00:00 EDT

US LEC Corp. , a telecommunications carrier serving businesses and enterprise organizations throughout the Eastern United States, today announced it will provide an online Web simulcast and rebroadcast of its first quarter 2005 conference call on Tuesday, April 26, 2005 at 1:00 pm Eastern time.

Bodog.com Launches myCitadel

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:05:00 EDT

Citadel Commerce Corp, a leading Internet payment processor, announces that Bodog.com is now offering myCitadel as an instant payment option on their websites.

LendingTree Settlement Services Gains Momentum by Streamlining Another Segment of the Loan Process

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 14:02:00 EDT

LendingTree Settlement Services, LLC (LTSS), which was created in 2004 through a joint venture between LendingTree, LLC and GreenLink, LLC, has gained considerable momentum in the four months since fulfilling its first order. LTSS provides real estate-secured settlement services that enable lenders and REALTORS(R) to offer consumers competitive prices on title, appraisal, flood, and closing services. This simplifies the process of closing loans by streamlining settlement activities and reducing last-minute closing emergencies.

Chiffre d'affaires du Groupe NEYRIAL premier semestre 1er octobre 2004 au 31 mars 2005

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 13:06:00 EDT

Le chiffre d'affaires consolidé du Groupe NEYRIAL HAUTE TECHNOLOGIE, pour le premier semestre, s'établit à 20,5 millions d'euros contre 19,5 millions pour la même période de l'année précédente.

Summit Strategies a Leading Technology Analyst Recognizes Smart Online as a Top Vendor in Software-as-Services Market

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:02:00 EDT

Smart Online(R), Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: SOLN) announces Summit Strategies has acknowledged the company as a top pure-play net-native vendor in the Software- as-Services (SaS) market in their recent report written by Phil Wainewright, titled 'Software Powered Services: Net-Native Software-as-Services Transforms The ISV Business Model.'

Harris Corporation Introduces Video Networking and Microwave Solution for Global Video Network Operators

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:00:00 EDT

AlertSite weiter mit Netzwerk Monitoring Service auf Expansionskurs: dritte europäische Monitoring Station eingerichtet

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:00:00 EDT

Atmel Introduces New Highly-integrated WLAN 802.11b/g SiGe Power Amplifier With Excellent OFDM Performance

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:00:00 EDT

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML), a global leader in the development and fabrication of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced today the availability of its new WLAN Power Amplifier (PA) for the fast-growing high-volume WLAN market.

Appistry Named 'Cool Vendor' by Leading Analyst Firm

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:00:00 EDT

Appistry has been included in the list of 'Cool Vendors' in the 'Cool Vendors in Application Platforms and Service Oriented Architecture, 2005' report by Gartner, Inc. The report will be available for download on http://www.appistry.com/ .

David Hirschfeld rejoint Asset Control

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:00:00 EDT

Liberty Alliance Extends Liberty Interoperable(TM) Testing Program to Include SAML 2.0 OASIS Standard

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 06:30:00 EDT