Multi-touch technology is going mainstream. Researchers have been talking about the power of multi-touch technology for quite some time. It’s often referred to as “Minority Report” technology, as a multi-touch interface was used by characters in the movie, but it’s been around for much longer.

It got another burst of attention last year thanks to Jeff Han’s demo of a multi-touch screen at the TED conference. However, it’s always been in the realm of science fiction or research departments until recently. Apple famously is using a multi-touch interface on the iPhone, and tonight Microsoft announced a multi-touch interface for its new Microsoft Surface products — which are more along the lines of what Jeff Han demonstrated.

Basically, it’s large screen-focused systems for interacting with content using a multi-touch interface. It’s not quite down to the consumer level yet, as it appears Microsoft’s first customers are mainly for commercial kiosks. Actually, almost all of the original customers are casinos — with the one exception being T-Mobile, who will use it as a kiosk for providing info on mobile phones.

However, what’s pretty clear is that big tech companies are adopting the multi-touch interface in a big way — and that likely means that we’ll start seeing it in many more areas, especially within consumer devices. This doesn’t mean an end to the mouse and keyboard as core input devices — but multi-touch certainly opens up a whole new way of interacting with computing devices that can make them much more useful in ways that simply weren’t possible with just a mouse and keyboard.

Terrorists, vandals and other villains skulking in the shadows should take note of Cisco Systems’ recent acquisition of BroadWare Technologies.

The BroadWare deal, while small in dollars, highlights the rising demand for companies that make video surveillance gear. Driving that trend is the confluence of homeland security concerns in the U.S. and the spread of sophisticated security networks based on Internet technologies.

In 2006, for example, following the lead of London and other cities around the world that use high-tech tools to monitor vital infrastructure, New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority signed a $212 million contract with Lockheed Martin for the defense contractor to develop a video surveillance system to monitor the city’s subways, bridges and tunnels. Other cities, such as Cleveland, Dallas and Akron, Ohio, plan similar projects.

Such demand has caught the attention not only of Cisco, but also of other tech giants such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard and EMC, which are expected to make acquisitions to delve into the video surveillance market.

“We’re going to see more (mergers and acquisitions) from the likes of IBM and Cisco,” said Dilip Sarangan, a research analyst with Frost & Sullivan, a San Antonio-based technology consulting firm. “A lot of the previous M&A activity has been from traditional security players, but now it’s a growth market for information technology firms.”

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Concerns are surfacing about a new virus infection able to do its harm through Microsoft’s security patch update downloads. Some are able to bypass the user’s firewall, hijacking the machine undetected.

Malware ‘hijacks Windows Updates’
The trojan could hijack Windows security patches

Virus writers may be able to smuggle malicious files onto a computer using Microsoft’s security patch updates, experts say.

At least one program is in circulation that can hijack a key component of Windows Update to introduce malicious software that could be used to hijack a computer. The method bypasses users’ firewall, allowing files to download undetected.

Microsoft said it was aware of reports of the attack. Using BITS to download malicious files is a clever trick because it bypasses local firewalls Elia Florio, Symantec

Security expert Frank Boldewin said on his website reconstructer.org that he had recently noticed an e-mailed trojan - a type of program or message that looks benign but conceals a malicious payload - which was exploiting a Windows program known as the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS).

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Claming that open source software programs (including Linux) violate hundreds of its patents, Microsoft will be seen as the bully once again as it seeks monetary adjustments.

Microsoft Wants to ‘Kill’ Open Source
The Redmond giant said open-source software violates hundreds of its patents; bloggers ask which ones, and how it plans to collect

by Aaron Ricadela

Now that the computer industry has its first accounting of how many patents Microsoft says are violated by open-source software, the question for many tech vendors is how aggressively the software giant will begin enforcement. And judging from the reaction in the blogosphere, the new disclosures inspire fear.

Microsoft has already begun collecting payments and gaining access to the patent portfolios of companies that use the open-source Linux operating system in their products. The list includes Novell (NOVL), Fuji Xerox, and Samsung Electronics.

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Despite bold plans to roll-out wi-fi internet service to a handful of municipalities, experts argue its failure it imminent. Although Earthlink holds these contracts with select cities, most fear its history of unreliability will secure its doom.

Municipal Wi-Fi: A Failure To Communicate
Municipal Wi-Fi networks don’t quite deliver on the promise of wide-ranging access

The first rule for promoting a new technology is to make sure it works. So it’s a surprise when a four-person team from EarthLink Inc. (ELNK ) tells me that the wireless broadband service the company is rolling out for the city of Anaheim, Calif., won’t work in a coffee shop there. This is the same Starbucks (SBUX ) where the EarthLink folks had just spent an hour pitching their Feather service. “The walls are too thick,” explained Cole Reinwand, vice-president of products strategy and marketing.

In fact, thick walls are only one of the hurdles EarthLink needs to lick before it can deliver Wi-Fi to cities that are clamoring for cheaper broadband Internet service. With 13 cities under contract and systems in various stages of operation in Anaheim, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, among others, EarthLink is the early leader among municipal Wi-Fi providers.

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With the personally identifiable information stored deep within the hard-drives of most unsuspecting PC users’ machines, what is it that should be done prior to disposal? In fact, what would be an environmentally friendly decision regarding such disposal, not to mention an option to secure older and often forgotten personal information? Microsoft to the rescue…

Windows Home Server to be sold sans hardware
System builders can use it to convert old PCs into servers
Gregg Keizer

May 16, 2007 (Computerworld) — In a speech yesterday at WinHEC 2007 in Los Angeles, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates confirmed that users will be able to retrofit older PCs themselves with Windows Home Server (WHS) when it ships later this year.

Originally, the new server operating system was expected to be available only as part of turnkey home servers delivered by the likes of Hewlett-Packard Co. and Gateway Inc. But Microsoft recently hinted that it might reconsider that idea, leading to Gates’ announcement that the software would indeed be sold to system builders. The move will allow end users to recycle older PCs as servers.

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Intel and A.M.D. are each claiming that their chip technologies are best. Expect the boasting to continue as each company tries to gain ground in the notebook technology marketplace.

From Intel and A.M.D., Rival Boasts of Technology

By LAURIE J. FLYNN

SAN FRANCISCO, May 9 — The fierce rivalry between the chip makers Intel and Advanced Micro Devices is ratcheting up as both companies claim superiority in technology used for notebook computers.

On Wednesday, Intel introduced an upgrade to its popular Centrino chip set for notebook computers that it says is far more energy-efficient, uses a faster processor and features much improved graphics.

The new chip set, which Intel called Santa Rosa while it was under development, also supports a new version of Wi-Fi that executives say can be five times as fast as the current version and can communicate over twice the distance.

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Sun Microsystems is seeking to bring back the glory days of Solaris whose popularity peaked nearly a decade ago.

Stephen Shankland for News.com

SAN FRANCISCO — In an effort to spur adoption of Solaris, Sun Microsystems has begun a project code-named Indiana to try to give its operating system some of the trappings of Linux.

The project is one of the items on the to-do list of Ian Murdock, founder of the Debian version of Linux and as of March Sun’s chief operating systems officer. Though he wouldn’t confirm the name of the project, Murdock — who’s from Indiana — discussed the project’s essence here at the JavaOne conference here Monday, and Sun spokesman Russ Castronovo confirmed the name.

Sun has been trying for years to restore the luster of Solaris, a version of Unix that peaked in popularity in the late 1990s, but that since has faced a strong challenge chiefly from Linux. Sun has worked to reinvigorate Solaris by boosting its performance, offering it as a free download, making it an open-source project called OpenSolaris, and pushing a version that runs on servers using Intel’s and AMD’s mainstream x86 processors.

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ISCDFW.com May Newsletter
Information Support Concepts (ISC) announces the launch of a new product: The Alert-A-Rack.

The Alert-A-Rack bundles two great products together to achieve a great price on a server cabinet with temperature and humidity sensors.
The Alert-A-Rack is available in three heights and two depths. Each cabinet has the following features:

Adjustable stainless steel vertical mounting rails with U markings and square untapped holes
Fully perforated locking front and rear doors
Solid side panels with quick latches
Casters and levelers
Vented top panel that can host a dual fan unit (optional)
30 M6 cage nuts and screws

Added to the cabinet is the SH-2+ sensor hub with temperature and humidity sensors. The resulting combination is a cabinet optimized for high density servers, that can alert you in the event either the temperature and humidity exceed your pre-determined parameters for normal operation. See this month’s feature article on high density servers.

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I have an old rackmount cabinet, and I need to get new vertical mounting rails for it. Can I purchase as set of WRK or ERK rails for this application?

We frequently get questions like this, with clients inheriting or purchasing a used cabinet, and then being confronted with the problem of making it work. The short answer is that vertical mounting rails are specific to their particular cabinets. For example ERK rails only work in an ERK cabinet. Even though the WRK cabinet is made by the same manufacturer (Middle Atlantic), the rails are not universal. The difference is the various widths of the different cabinets.

In order to have the correct lateral spacing for a 19� rackmount the vertical mounting rails must be a specific width, and fit into a specific cabinet. This is the only way to ensure a correct fit.

Having said that, if the “mystery� cabinet can be measured to determine the interior width at the point the vertical rack rails are to be mounted, then we can compare that dimension with that of our “control� cabinets. If the dimensions are very close, then rails from the “control� might work in the unknown cabinet. Some washers might have to be used to “shim� the rails in order to get the 19� racking width correct.

In summary, the best solution is to get the manufacturer’s product to retrofit one of their cabinets. If all else fails, compatible rails might be available