Scio Hires New VP of Business Development

Scio Consulting, a provider of Nearshore Outsourced Product Development (OPD) for ISVs, SaaS and Web companies, has announced a key addition to their executive management team.

Scio CEO, Luis Aburto, said that the company hired former MassMutual and Kanbay (now CapGemini) executive Jeremy Beck as VP of Business Development to be responsible for growing sales in the North America region. Mr. Beck, 35, will begin working at the Mexico-based nearshore development center immediately.

OnlyWire 2.0 Adds 20,000 Users to Their Bookmarking Aggregation Tool in Its First Month

OnlyWire, a SNiPiTRON, LLC company, is a turbo-charged Bookmark Aggregator and Syndication tool that allows users to auto submit content to the highest ranked bookmarking sites, at the same time, with the click of a button. OnlyWire supports automated feeds to sites like Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Linkatopia and over 15 others. OnlyWire provides feeds to only the highest ranked bookmarking services on the Internet in order to maximize web traffic for its users. Spamming on the system is both prohibited and policed.

 

OnlyWire has a revenue model called the "Pay or Promote" system where users can purchase the solution for $2.99 per month ($24.99 if paid annually @ 30% off). Alternatively, users can "promote" OnlyWire 2.0 and therefore use it for free. This requires the user to place the Bookmark & Share button on their website.

Within its first month of launching OnlyWire 2.0, it added 20,000 new users -- giving it over 70,000 active users. OnlyWire's Bookmark & Share Button drove over 10 million page views its first month. The Company is anticipating exponential growth trajectory in 2009. The owners of OnlyWire are seasoned Internet veterans who sold their first Internet based software company to CNET Networks (now CBS Corporation) in 2000.

 

To sign up for OnlyWire 2.0, Click Here.

Self-Repairing Data Center Automation Solution Released

Following 5 years of research and development under the technical direction of its long time author Mark Burgess (a professor of Network and System Administration at Oslo University College), the recently formed support company Cfengine AS today released a major upgrade of the Open Source, self-repairing software cfengine based on its innovative Promise Theory technology.

Unlike would-be alternatives, cfengine is not about producing alarms and reports to notify about errors and misalignments in the Data Center: it is a fully self-repairing maintenance engine capable of fixing them without human intervention. Cfengine users know that systems are compliant and maintained even when humans are unavailable, because they have made all the important decisions in advance.

With probably a million existing cfengine installations already worldwide, this major upgrade will have a big impact in improving data center operations at some of the largest data centers in the world, says CEO Thomas Ryd.

Cfengine has always been at the leading edge of research in its field and one of the important innovations in the new release is integrated knowledge management. As a tool that separates human decisions from machine implementation, cfengine historically freed humans from manual labour to indulge in proactive decision-making and strategic planning - something that relies on clear enterprise knowledge. Cfengine 3 now integrates a knowledge engine based on ISO standard Topic Maps making it easier than ever to follow the strategic intentions behind data centers operations. Cfengine ties IT and business-processes together in a way many companies and compliance-auditors will find powerful and appealing, CEO Thomas Ryd continues.

 

 

Cfengine is not a quaint dashboard for users - it is a powerful engine for datacenter engineers. Version 3 introduces an innovative new language to the trusted technology, with a simpler syntax and sophisticated pattern description features. It brings technology to manage the essential large scale infrastructure and resource clouds of the next decade.

Cfengine 3 will work side-by-side with existing versions of cfengine to provide a minimum-disruption, incremental upgrade path to existing users. Gradual adoption has always been the cornerstone of cfengine's success, setting it apart from alternative disruptive roll-out systems. While other solutions require weeks or months of training with downtime and a major impact on existing infrastructure and applications, Cfengine works unobtrusively behind the scenes, according to Mark Burgess.

Cfengine AS added support and consulting services to the mix this year, with a strong business management team to complement Burgess's well known research credentials. CEO Thomas Ryd summarizes the main reasons for using cfengine 3 in Data Center Automation:

1) It is the only truly scalable self-repairing solution.

2) Its open source code base is broadly tested by a community of expert users.

3) Its state of the art technology for voluntary cooperation delivers scalability and security and users set their own pace for change.

About Cfengine AS

Cfengine was founded June 2008 in Oslo, Norway. Its software solution, Cfengine, is the standalone, open-source datacenter management platform run by leading enterprises since 1993. The company is committed to reducing costs for its customers, improving efficiency and delivering higher return on investment for the lowest cost of adoption in the industry.

Recession Slams Global Semiconductor Sales

Worldwide semiconductor sales fell in November, as the economic downturn continued to hammer chipmakers, industry figures released Friday showed.

Sales of semiconductors declined 9.8% to $20.8 billion from November 2007, when revenue hit $23.1 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported. Sales were 7.2% lower than the $22.4 billion in October.

 

Excluding memory products, which have suffered all year from overproduction and weak demand, the industry did much better, but still saw revenue fall. Sales excluding memory fell 4.8% year to year to $17.3 billion from $18.2 billion.

"The worldwide economic crisis is having an impact on demand for semiconductors, but to a lesser degree than some other major industry sectors," SIA president George Scalise said in a statement.

Overall sales for the first 11 months of 2008 were $232.7 billion, an increase of 0.2% from the same period last year, the SIA said. Excluding memory products, year-to-year sales for the same period rose 5.6%.

The SIA numbers were just the latest bad news for the semiconductor industry, which is reeling from a worldwide drop in consumer electronics and PC sales because of the economic recession.

The industry is expected to see its first revenue decline in seven years in 2008, according to market researcher iSuppli. Global revenue is expected to fall by 2% to $266.6 billion from $272 billion in 2007.

The new figure is a dramatic drop from the research firm's September forecast of 3.5% growth and will be the first year-to-year decline for the industry since the dot-com bust of 2001 that sent revenue plummeting by 28.7%.

RIM Extends Takeover Bid For Certicom

In the latest development of Research In Motion's takeover bid of security-specialist Certicom, RIM said it will extend its expiry date of its offer from Jan. 15 to Jan. 27.

The acquisition once seemed like a natural fit because RIM already licenses Certicom's Elliptic Curve Cryptography products for its line of BlackBerry smartphones. The smartphone maker has been in acquisition talks since February 2007, but those proved fruitless. In early December, RIM made a takeover bid of about $53 million.

InformationWeek blogger Alex Wolfe catches the vibe at the July 11 New York City launch of Apple's 3G iPhone, with a guest appearance by CBS News analyst Jeff Greenfield.

"As we are unable to engage Certicom management in a meaningful dialogue to advance the terms of a potential transaction, we believe it is in the best interests of our respective shareholders, employees and customers to make this attractive offer directly to Certicom shareholders," said RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie, in a statement.

But Certicom's management felt the offer was too low, and it vowed to fight the acquisition. The company purchased ad space in local newspapers against the takeover, and it urged stockholders to vote against the bid.

"RIM's hostile bid undervalues both Certicom's valuable and unique industry-leading data encryption technology and the recent progress the company has made in implementing its strategic plan," Certicom said in a letter to stockholders in December. "RIM is attempting to acquire almost $2.00 in cash and potential tax benefits for $1.50, and would not be paying fair value for the valuable assets and operations of your company."

Certicom has also asked the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to block the bid, and a hearing is scheduled for Jan. 9. The security company also said RIM violated confidentiality agreements and it has requested the Ontario Securities Commission to cease trade order. RIM said it is "vigorously opposed" to these actions, and it will be bringing its own proceedings before the court and regulatory body.

Windows 7 Reviews Mixed On Pirate Bay

An early version of Windows 7, Microsoft's successor to the widely maligned Vista operating system, is drawing mixed reviews from users of a popular, though legally questionable, file-sharing site.

"I'm using this OS as I type," wrote a Pirate Bay user going by the name "al966g." "Looks like it's OK to me, not too much different than Vista but a few new items," the user wrote. Asset Management has always been a critical part of management the life cycle of your IT infrastructure. Avocent CTO Ben Grimes walks us through a hands-on look at how his company's technology helps.

Al966g noted that he had Windows 7 running on a relatively underpowered Pentium 4 computer with only 768 MB of RAM. Vista, by contrast, was widely criticized for steep hardware requirements that forced users to upgrade their PCs.

Another Pirate Bay user, "bren72," said the Windows 7 beta version he's using works well for games. "I can mount all my games, which are playing incredibly well for my older hardware," he wrote. "It looks like Microsoft took note of some of the problems with Vista and made changes."

Other users weren't as impressed. "What's the point of this vs. Vista, it looks the same," said "stevenrm87." The beta version of the OS, reportedly Windows 7, build 7000, can be downloaded from several infamous torrent sites often used to share pirated content.

Microsoft isn't planning to officially release beta copies of Windows 7 until its MSDN developers' conference in January. A final version of the OS isn't expected until late 2009 or early 2010.

Microsoft may not be overly displeased with the leaks.

The company is urging partners to begin work on Windows 7 product development as soon as possible to avoid the sort of compatibility problems that plagued the launch of Windows Vista in January 2007.

Earlier this month, Intel released a preproduction version of Windows 7 drivers for graphics chipsets. The WDDM1.1 graphics driver is designed for "enabling the full Windows 7 experience," Intel said, noting that the driver is the result of ongoing collaboration with Microsoft.

When Vista launched in January of last year, many hardware makers--including Intel--did not have fully compatible drivers ready. The problems marked the beginning of a slew of bad press for Vista that ultimately led many businesses and consumers to reject the OS.

Microsoft for the first time unveiled Windows 7 features at its Los Angeles Professional Developers Conference in October and appears anxious to release the OS as soon as possible. The company has formally said that Windows 7 won't ship until early 2010, but the January release of a beta disk is the latest sign that Windows 7 could debut in late 2009.

Microsoft is hoping Windows 7, which includes native support for touch screens, will help erase memories of Vista, which has been a disappointment for the company.

Swoopo - eBay's (more) evil twin

We have never expected much out of a Silicon Valley startup with a name that sounds like a baby word, but Swoopo is a rare exception. It's an online auction site with a dastardly twist.

When you bid on products at Swoopo, you don't specify a price. You pay 75 cents for the bid, and that bid increases the price of the item by 15 cents, while extending the auction for around 20 seconds. When the clock runs out, the auction is over. By this mechanism, the winning bidder can buy, for example, a brand new Nintendo DS game system for around $30, when the item is valued at well over $100.

And Swoopo cashes in on all of the losing bidders who drop 75 cents every time they fail to win. If you don't want to spend your time giving this company your money, you can activate their automatic Bid Butler, as lightening your wallet is a task best left to machines (a fundamental law of the internet first proven by Google).

Most of the items up for bidding are real products like TVs, computers, and iPods. But to make things interesting, Swoopo has some specialty auctions, such as "FreeBids," where bidders bid on bids. Since they're valued at 75 cents a piece, Swoopo can sell bids like real products. Even better than that, they run auctions for cash – where users spend their money trying to win a couple hundred dollars.

This is very close to gambling, but the nondeterminism comes directly from the actions of other users, not the randomness of a dice roll or a deck of cards, so while Swoopo hasn't quite crossed the line, they can see it from where they stand.

JPG Magazine shutting down next week

JPG Magazine, a print and Web publication featuring pictures contributed by amateur and professional photographers, is shutting down.

JPG Magazine editor-in-chief Laura Brunow Miner, in a post on the magazine's blog on Thursday, said that jpgmag.com would close next week and publication of the print version of the magazine would be halted.

"We've spent the last few months trying to make the business behind JPG sustain itself, and we've reached the end of the line," Miner wrote.

"We all deeply believe in everything JPG represents, but just weren't able to raise the money needed to keep JPG alive in these extraordinary economic times," she said. "As a result, jpgmag.com will shut down on Monday."

Nearly 200,000 photographers have contributed material to JPG since it was taken over more than two years ago by 8020 Publishing, now known as 8020 Media.

Contributors submitted photos on various themes and members of the community of JPG users voted on the best to be displayed in the print magazine, published six times a year with a circulation of 50,000 according to The New York Times.

According to the Times, 8020 Media, which describes itself on its website as a "revolutionary new hybrid media company, bringing the best of magazines and the web together," is shutting down.

The Times quoted 8020 chief executive Mitchell Fox as saying in a letter that the company had fallen victim to the economic crisis and the slump in advertising which is also hammering traditional US media outlets.

"In the face of these extraordinary economic times, in a devastated advertising climate, we can no longer continue to operate the business due to lack of funds, and hence we have to close 8020 Media effective immediately," the Times quoted Fox as saying.

An 8020 Media travel magazine called Everywhere closed in August.

8020 Media, backed by Halsey Minor, who also founded the Internet news agency CNet, is one of a number of media start-ups experimenting on the Web with user-generated content.

On its website, 8020 Media says it "empowers its communities to participate in all aspects of the magazine's content creation, thereby dramatically increasing reach, lowering costs, and engaging a knowledgeable, global community.

"What was once 'the audience' has been invited to participate in and lend its expertise to the editorial process by contributing content and critique online," it says.

 

Wikipedia reaches 6-million-dollar fundraising target

Online encyclopedia Wikipedia announced on Friday that it had attained its fundraising goal of six million dollars, enough to cover operating expenses for the current fiscal year.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said more than 125,000 people had donated a total of four million dollars since he made an appeal for funds on July 1.

"In addition, we've received major gifts and foundation support totaling two million dollars," Wales said in a thank you letter on the website of his non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.

"This combined revenue will cover our operating expenses for the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 2009."

Wales said the money would pay for "day-to-day operations: servers, hosting, bandwidth, our staff of just 23 people" and "continued development and improvements of open source software that powers all Wikimedia projects."

Wales said any further donations beyond the six-million-dollar goal would be placed in a "reserve fund, which will help us to offset operating costs beyond the current fiscal year."

"Your continued support will also serve as a much-needed financial safety net if economic conditions continue to worsen globally," he said.

In his donation appeal, Wales said that over the past eight years, more than 150,000 volunteers have contributed over 11 million articles in 265 languages to wikipedia.org.

"More than 275 million people come to our website every month to access information, free of charge and free of advertising," he added.

Wales's online encyclopedia allows anyone with an Internet connection to make entries and edit content.

Much Ado about Zune's New-Year's Bug

Microsoft posted a quick fix on New Year's Day for the glitch that made some of its Zune digital music players freeze up the day before, thanks apparently to a leap-year problem encountered by the Zune's internal clock. Since 2008 had an extra day, including February 29th, the calendar/clock on some Zunes got confused about when the new year was about to start.

"It doesn't appear for most users that this was super-serious," Gartenberg said. "If you waited until New Year's Day to plug in your device and charge it back up, most users were fine."

On the other hand, Gartenberg pointed out, it's still embarrassing for Microsoft that the Zune would freeze up at all. The glitch, he said, shows a lack of quality control, and "it definitely is not the type of thing that enhances Microsoft's reputation as a pioneer in consumer electronics."

The Four-Step Fix

On its Zune Web site, Microsoft outlined four steps for owners of the frozen 30-gigabyte Zune players:

First, disconnect the Zune from its USB and AC power sources. Because the player is frozen, its battery will drain, which is a good thing.

Then, wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black. If the battery was fully charged, this might take a couple of hours.

Wait until after noon GMT on January 1, 2009 -- 7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time in the U.S. (now a moot point, since that time has passed).

Connect the Zune to either a USB port on the back of a computer or to AC power using the Zune AC Adapter and let it charge.

Once the battery has sufficient power, the player should start normally.

For owners of the Zune 30 who did not encounter the problem, Microsoft says not to worry. The players should continue to work fine, at this point, without needing the fix.

What about rights-managed content stored on the Zune? Microsoft said it would "most likely" not be affected by the issue. However, the company said it's a good idea to synch the device to a computer once the freeze has been resolved to make sure usage rights are up to date.

Another Not-So-Good Approach

Before Microsoft offered a fix, a Zune.net forum user named Dmodegirl claimed to have solved the problem, recommending the Zune needed a "hard reset." The user suggested using a small screwdriver to pop off the plastic shielding where the Zune cable plugs in and remove the two screws on either side of the plug.

Some users reported success with the hard reset, but when they plugged back into the charge the Zune froze again because the reset didn't resolve the leap-year glitch.

Microsoft frowned on that practice, calling it a bad idea. Microsoft doesn't recommend opening the Zune, which voids the warranty. However, for consumers who took Dmodegirl's advice, Microsoft offered some follow-up instructions: Wait 24 hours from the Zune reset and then sync with a computer to refresh usage rights, or delete the player's contents using the Zune software and then synchronize.

While the Zune bug irked some otherwise happy Zune users, and may have embarrassed Microsoft a bit, there's an upside as well. The glitch proved to be a minor inconvenience for most, with an easy fix, and at the same time, brought the Zune back into the limelight for the first time since its launch in November 2007.