Where is the Windows Vista Service Pack (SP) 1 beta and the Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate (RC) 0 test builds that many testers expected to have in hand by now? Microsoft isn't saying anything, other than Microsoft promised to get these builds out "in a few weeks" at the start of this month and that the code is on its way. (I was pretty sure that the Windows Client team told me "in two weeks," not "in a few weeks" back on August 29, but OK...) On the server side of the house, some testers said were expecting to get code last week, given that Microsoft delivered to Technology Adoption Program partners an RC0 build a couple weeks ago....

The eHealth Vulnerability study released today sounds self-serving, but does make clear that health IT is something of a technology backwater where security and patching has yet to catch up with supply or demand. The group represents existing players in health care, security and IT, rather than the groups seeking to mandate use of electronic health records. What their report (PDF) finds, basically, is that routine patches often aren't made to hospital programs, that standard security monitors often aren't used, and that no one group has yet established best practices, especially in the area of securing the data. In some ways this is a chicken-or-egg situation. You need a market before you can build the bureaucracies needed to monitor it -- even...

  Apple's just posted details on how to obtain a $100 store credit if you've purchased an iPhone before August 22. What I find interesting is the inclusion of the term "may be eligible." Is that lawyer-inserted CYA? Quite likely yes. If you want to learn how to get that $100 store credit, click here. But I am more interested in the fine-print exceptions. Why? In technology, as well as almost any other business sector, the fine print is more important than the big type. So let's get to the fine print about the exceptions to a $100 iPhone store credit. With that caveat put out there, here are the steps Apple recommends to get $100 back if you paid...

Apple's iPhone has stirred both delight and angst amongst the tech digerati. On one hand, the iPhone is darned cool; on the other, ATT has an exclusive (and expensive) deal to provide cell phone service contracts for the iPhone. As reported by fellow ZDNet blogger Jason D. O'Grady, solutions which break the ATT service lock are now available. Is Apple secretly happy about this? ATT's response to the iPhone hacks is fairly straightforward (from Telecommunications Industry News): ATT spokesman, Mark Siegel, said that could not speculate on the legality of hacking the iPhone, but hastened to remind users that by purchasing the device, they become contractually obliged to ATT. “When people buy the iPhone it’s clear from our materials it’s...

Notable headlines: Robin Harris: Build a $50 DVD burner. Larry Dignan: NTP: We sue the (wireless) world. George Ou: Sun shows 2U 16-core Barcelona server with FSB1600. David Berlind: Insight into why Europeans get multi-factor authentication and we don't. Microsoft awarded patent for watermarking form of DRM. But can it really work? David Morgenstern: Dell and the wish for Apple’s cool. Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac Updated. Jason O'Grady: Let the unlocking begin! Engadget: iUnlock released: the first free, open source iPhone SIM unlock software. Matthew Miller: Software unlock your Apple iPhone for free. Running the numbers on Vista. VMWare: Not just hypervisor revenue. Mary Jo Foley: Microsoft firms up its Viridian hypervisor rollout plans. Citrix and Microsoft make nice...

As most people probably know Sun Microsystems changed its NASDAQ ticker symbol from SUNW to JAVA just a few weeks ago. That change elicited quite a lot of internal comment and relatively little external comment. The more obvious issues raised were, I believe: whether this signalled a major strategic shift at Sun (no); whether Solaris package naming conventions would change too (no); whether not subscribing to the value of Java would be career limiting at Sun (for a while); and whether Sun's customers would care (probably not). The more subtle issues include things like whether a customer seeing a Java label on a third party product would recognise Sun's role in delivering that product (no) and what the word Java...

About a week ago, there was an interesting discussion going on in the Blogoscoped forums about what appears to be a mobile version of Google Docs. Today, Steve Rubel noticed that when he goes to Google Docs on his iPhone, there is a link at the bottom that pointed to http://docs.google.com/m -- usually a good indication of a mobile offering. Now the question is, will it only be for iPhone? I don't think there are many other mobile devices that can handle (or at least that you would want to handle) a full read/write version of Google's word processor or spreadsheet service, but a read-only version could likely be made to work on all mobile devices.

In a previous post I vented about iPhone's recessed headphone jack in the iPhone and mentioned that "I haven’t heard a single rational explanation as to why Apple would do this." A source with contacts at Apple sent me this explanation: Apple found, prior to the iPhone, that a lot of service repairs for iPods were for busted headphone jacks caused by headphone plugs being constrained, pulled, or bent in pockets or other tight areas. This is why they recessed the iPhone's headphone jack into the casing. Phones go through even more abuse than iPods, I'm willing to bet, so getting this right was important. The downside, of course, is that normal headphones don't fit into the iPhone's recessed jack....

Repercussions from the biggest reported data breach incident in history are still being felt. Last month's arrest of a dealer in stolen credit cards in Istanbul is just one example of how information stolen from TJX Companies is still being used by criminals. As I prepare for a talk I am giving at tomorrow's Security Standard event in Chicago I realize that TJX, the holding company that owns TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and a bunch of other retail operations is being less than transparent about the breach they first announced last January 17. According to TJX's official communications through their press releases and an SEC filing they first become aware of the presence of " unauthorized software" on their computer systems...

Apple just released a bunch of new products, including iPods and an upgraded iPhone. But for many people, the new iPhone price cut was more significant than Apple's splashy product announcements. By significantly lowering the iPhone price so soon after its introduction, Apple alienated legions of loyal early adopters. You know the ones: they stand outside Apple stores in rain and sun, waiting to buy new products created by STEVE. These loyal followers felt they were getting royally screwed by Apple, having paid a couple hundred bucks extra just two months earlier. In response to growing criticism, Steve Jobs has placed an apologetic open letter to iPhone owners prominently on the Apple web site. The apology includes store credit...

Today starts a week-long money dance for health care companies as Thomas Weisel and Bear Stearns hold their annual health care conferences. Weisel starts things off today in Boston with over 150 companies presenting. Most are small and private, in keeping with the fact this is a venture capital conference. William Hawkins, the new CEO Medtronic, will be the exemplar of what's possible and the focus of eager business-card wielding entrepreneurs seeking a buy-out. James Surowiecki of The New Yorker will provide the entertainment. Bear Stearns has even more presenting companies -- over 180 -- and they are (by and large) public. The confab will start Monday at the Grand Hyatt, whose outer shell was the Hotel Commodore when built...

Today Virtual Iron is announcing Virtual Iron version 4. John Thibault, President and CEO, and my old friend Mike Grandinetti, chief marketing officer, took time out of their very busy schedules to chat with me about the new release. I've always been impressed with the innovative thinking shown by the folks over at Virtual Iron and this conversation reinforced that feeling. Here's a quick description in of their announcement: Version 4 offers easy-to-use tools for creating, provisioning and managing the complete lifecycle of virtual machines across large numbers of physical servers. Virtual Iron states that "The new release continues to close the feature gap with VMware′s most comprehensive offering and is available at just a fraction of the cost." Version...

There's been no shortage of push and pull lately between those wanting to see smaller, grassroots SOA efforts versus those advocating more calculated enterprise designs. My colleague from the SOA Insights podcasts, Tony Baer, said while he agrees with the concept of "Guerrilla SOA" discussed here last week (inspired by Jim the World Wide Webber), he wonders out loud if the approach doesn't exacerbate the current dilemma facing many SOA efforts. That is, too many unconnected SOA efforts will simply lead to a lot of unconnected SOA efforts, with little to no value for the business at large. Tony also surmises that Guerrilla SOA has been around, at least in spirit, for some time. Lately, the operative term for this...

If a crisp Alsatian Riesling is your plonk of choice, don't read this blog. It'll make you cry. The "Washington Post" today carries a piece on what global warming is doing to the French wine industry. Radically changing the time table is the conclusion. The picture above is of the staff at the Domaine du Clos St. Landelin. The Alsatian winery'e owner talked to the reporter for the Post's story. Here are some of the key points. The vineyard's harvest in 1978 was on October 16. Twenty years later it was on September 14. This year havesting began August 24th, earliest in the family records which go back 12 generations, to 1648. The warmer seasons bring more insect pests....

Computer scientist Peter Gutmann made a name for himself when he published his paper “A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection” and got worldwide attention for outlining some serious concerns about Windows Vista DRM mechanisms.  But Peter Gutmann admittedly doesn't use Windows Vista and he's publicly asked for others to confirm his theories and based many of his key assertions on web forum postings as his source. Note: As of April 2007 on Gutmann's website, Gutmann stated: "Can others confirm this? I don't run Vista yet, but if this is true then it would seem to disconfirm Microsoft's claims that the content protection doesn't interfere with playback and is only active when premium content is present".  Peter Gutmann has...