In Depth

In Depth

• Smart implants could ease Parkinson's disease

  Implants in the brains of people with neurological disorders could help in developing treatments for people with Parkinson's disease, obsessive compulsive disorder and depression.  Continue Reading

• Shockingly easy to take down the US power grid

  Predicting how rumours and epidemics percolate through populations, or how traffic jams spread through city streets, are network analyst Jian-Wei Wang's bread and butter. But his latest findings are likely to spark worries in the US: he's worked out...  Continue Reading

• IT Blog Awards 2009: Individual IT Professional Female

  IT Blog Awards 2009: Individual IT Professional Female - category information.  Continue Reading

• IT Blog Awards 2009: CIO / IT Director

  IT Blog Awards 2009: CIO / IT Director - category information.  Continue Reading

• IT Blog Awards 2009: IT Twitter User of the Year

  IT Blog Awards 2009: IT Twitter User of the Year - category information.  Continue Reading

• IT Blog Awards 2009: IT Security

  IT Blog Awards 2009: IT Security - category information.  Continue Reading

• IT Blog Awards 2009: IT Consultant and Analyst

  IT Blog Awards 2009: IT Consultant and Analyst - category information.  Continue Reading

• IT Blog Awards 2009: Individual IT Professional Male

  IT Blog Awards 2009: Individual IT Professional Male - category information.  Continue Reading

• IT Blog Awards 2009: Company / Corporate - Large Enterprise

  IT Blog Awards 2009: Company / Corporate - Large Enterprise - category information.  Continue Reading

• IT Blog Awards 2009: Company / Corporate - SME

  IT Blog Awards 2009: Company / Corporate - SME - category information.  Continue Reading

• IT Blog Awards 2009: Sustainable IT

  IT Blog Awards 2009: Sustainable IT - category information.  Continue Reading

• New improved Hubble spies a whole new celestial treasure trove

  The new and improved Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a dragon-shaped cosmic mirage and other celestial wonders, showing it is working better than ever following its latest repairs in May.  Continue Reading

• Black holes outperform earth-bound particle colliders

  One day our descendants will reach the limit of particle accelerator technology. We'll surely run out of space and money long before the smallest building blocks of the universe can be probed with machines, because of the massive energies required.  Continue Reading

• Moon sings to a different tune with meteor impacts

  A steady barrage of small meteorite impacts on the moon should cause it to "ring", but no seismometers sent there have been sensitive enough to hear it. So Philippe Lognonné at the Institute of Earth Physics of Paris and colleagues decided to work ...  Continue Reading

• Plugging the mainframe skills gap

  Mainframe blogger Trevor Eddolls, managing director of iTech-Ed, started working on mainframes in 1979, and now runs the Virtual IMS Connection mainframe user group. He says, "In the 60s, 70s and 80s, the mainframe was the place to be. Previously ...  Continue Reading

• IBM lowers mainframe costs with specialty processors

  Since mainframe software is charged based on the usage of the core mainframe processor, IBM has developed "specialty" processors, which provide a way for...  Continue Reading

• Is the time right for a mainframe renaissance?

  Every few years, industry pundits predict the death of the mainframe. But these big iron systems, represent the IT lifeblood of major enterprises. Far from being killed off, the mainframe is being re-incarnated as a modern system for internet ...  Continue Reading

• Data center infrastructure: In-house hosting versus outsourcing

  Selection between in-house hosting and data center colocation is a complex decision for Indian organizations. What is the right infrastructure call?  Continue Reading

• Slimebot: programming the single-cell organism

  A team at the University of the West of England (UWE) has secured £228,000 in funding to turn single-cell organisms into engineering robots.  Continue Reading

• SearchCIO.in Advisory Board

  Meet the IT leaders who are helping to guide our website and its content.  Continue Reading

• Video: Pneumatic chip runs on thin air

  The latest in a long line of weird computers runs calculations on nothing more than air.  Continue Reading

• How tech staff helped saved lives in Iraq

  Nearly six-and-a-half years ago, IT engineers were among the first of the armed forces to arrive in Iraq when the war started. They were also among the...  Continue Reading

• Quantum maths on a silicon chip

  A quantum calculation able to crack one of the most common forms of data encryption has been performed on a silicon chip for the first time.  Continue Reading

• Wi-Fi weighs in as cost cutter for airlines

  Shedding pounds isn't just a preoccupation of dieters, it is a prime concern for aircraft builders too. In a bid to reduce weight to the minimum they are considering the controversial move of getting rid of the huge quantity of copper wiring used in...  Continue Reading

• Keep the coins in the matrix out of line with their opposites

  This the only possible layout, not counting reflections and rotations. Try more Puzzlers >>  Continue Reading

• Green IT: Software for counting carbon and controlling costs

  Reports early in 2009 about the ICT sector's carbon dioxide emissions must have caused embarrassment to senior board members. In one case, it was suggested that a North American datacentre belonging to a major search engine might need as much power ...  Continue Reading

• Top interviewing tips: Part 6 - how to handle aggressive interviewers

  When the going gets tough in an interview you need to have your wits about you and deal calmly and confidently with negative issues and sensitive subjects such as gaps on your CV or salary expectations.  Continue Reading

• Lionbridge's IP SAN-powered storage strategy for content services

  Content services provider Lionbridge opted for an IP storage area network (SAN) in its Mumbai data center to overcome file server management complexity.  Continue Reading

• The DAS-to-SAN business-growth formula at Cafe Coffee Day

  A look at how data growth and business needs led the direct-attached storage (DAS)-to-storage area network (SAN) migration project at Cafe Coffee Day.  Continue Reading

• Features: Storage (October 2009)

  Content synopses and information about the storage features that will run through October 2009 at Computer Weekly.  Continue Reading

• Radiation-based medical testing gives huge dose

  X-rays and CT scans expose a minority of Americans to radiation levels comparable to working in a nuclear power plant. Are such scans worth it?  Continue Reading

• Neon makes IBM z-series glow

  Neon Enterprise Software has been providing software to the mainframe markets to optimise systems management, application and database performance since 1995.  Continue Reading

• SMI-S storage standard breaks supplier lock-in

  There is work to be done, but the Storage Management Initiative - Specification (SMI-S) standard promises best-of-breed storage systems, easily provisioned by informed users.  Continue Reading

• Indian lunar probe: broken in under a year

  India's first lunar probe has lost contact with Earth, and the mission has been declared over more than a year earlier than intended. It is not yet clear what caused the communications failure, but mission members suspect it was exacerbated by the ...  Continue Reading

• Little brother of the LHC could come up with the answers first

  With the Large Hadron Collider still in the repair shop, the race to find the Higgs boson particle has become a lot tighter, thanks to the older and less powerful - but nonetheless working - Tevatron collider near Chicago.  Continue Reading

• AI is a dream we shouldn't be having

  Robotics expert Noel Sharkey used to be a believer in artificial intelligence, but now thinks AI is a dangerous myth that could lead to a dystopian future of unintelligent, unfeeling robot carers and soldiers.  Continue Reading

• Empower the business with Unified Communications

  Today’s increasing business pressures are obliging organisations to deal with changes in economic circumstances, changes in business methodologies and changes in the places in which they do business.  Continue Reading

• Guess that kit competition: Terms and conditions

  Terms and conditions for our Guess that kit competition, closing date 30th September 2009.  Continue Reading

• Puzzles from Computer Weekly's Puzzler

  Maths puzzles from Computer Weekly's maths puzzle column.  Continue Reading

• Overcoming succession planning challenges

  India's explosive growth has created a lot of opportunity for rising IT managers to find new jobs elsewhere. Three CIOs offer advice for creating a succession planning strategy that paves a path for top internal talent.  Continue Reading

• Beagle 2 did not crash and burn

  What happened to the UK's Beagle 2 Mars probe on Christmas Day 2003 is once more unclear.  Continue Reading

• Help find a planet: Adopt a star

  Hard-up astronomers are raising funds for research by selling the only wares they have: the stars.  Continue Reading

• Download free text to PDF converter: Zilla TXT To PDF Converter

  The Zilla TXT To PDF Converter converts PDFs to Word, RTF, Text, HTML, BMP, JPG, TIF, GIF, PNG and SWF.  Continue Reading

• Oldest computer predates Christ

  From Swiss Army knives to iPhones, it seems we just love fancy gadgets with as many different functions as possible. And judging from the ancient Greek Antikythera...

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• Public service IT faces budget challenges

  It is going to be a very difficult time for local government in the years ahead, writes Simon Moores, Conservative district councillor for Westgate-on Sea.

  I...

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• Download free doubleTwist media converter

  doubleTwist is a new social networking multi-platform media management tool where you can share music and video between your Nintendo DS/DSi, PSP, Blackberry, Palm, iPhone and over 100 other devices.You can even publish a video to YouTube, upload ...  Continue Reading

• Expert advice on top interviewing tips

  Lisa Jobson, director of talent at Harvey Nash, gives top tips for landing a job.  Continue Reading

• Linux server migration next on Usha Martin's open-source roadmap

  With desktop migration from Windows to Linux complete, the manufacturer has now set its sights on switching server platforms.  Continue Reading

• A trawl through the archive reveals a minimum trio of squares

  The minimum Barnetson triad is: 17, 32 and 32, producing the respective squares of 49, 49 and 64.

  Paul, who died last year, was a well-known computer...

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• Can the IT department survive Web 2.0?

  Risk-averse IT departments that are too cautious in their approach to Web 2.0 technologies such as social networking, online applications and cloud computing could be signing their own death warrants.  Continue Reading

• Even presidents can learn from Steria's governance model

  There aren't many IT industry figures that calmly drop into the conversation that they have been dining with French president Nikolas Sarkozy, but Francois Enaud, CEO of French outsourcing giant Steria can make the claim.  Continue Reading

• SMEs pull wool over NASA's eyes

  Fraud by SMEs continues to rob NASA of funds 17 years after such scams were first uncovered, according to its Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington...  Continue Reading

• Black hole: bigger, faster, stronger

  The black hole at the centre of the M87 galaxy may be twice as big as originally thought - possibly large enough to measure directly.  Continue Reading

• Global warning could tilt world off axis

  Warming oceans could cause Earth's axis to tilt in the coming century, a new study suggests. The effect was previously thought to be negligible, but researchers now say the shift will be large enough that it should be taken into account when ...  Continue Reading

• Darwinism theory of evolution applied to technology

  Barely four years after the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, the Victorian novelist Samuel Butler was calling for a theory of evolution...  Continue Reading

• Smartphones: Is there anything they can't do?

  My wife is standing at the door to the bathroom, watching me time my toothbrush routine using an application downloaded to my iPhone.  Continue Reading

• Eight top tips to ensure your business continuity plan is upto scratch

  In the event of a widespread outbreak of swine flu expected this autumn is your IT department ready and what are your business planning assumptions? Here are eight top tips to ensuring business continuity.  Continue Reading

• Computing demand pressures the datacentre at Southampton University

  "In common with many people in academia, the datacentre was was built in 1975/76 - trying to put 21st century equipment into an old factility meant that cooling was one of our key issues."  Continue Reading

• Making the most of your storage resources: Improving storage utilisation

  Learn about data storage utilisation and ways to improve storage utilisation rates using good design, good policies and good capacity management processes.  Continue Reading

• Features: Enterprise Software (September 2009)

  Content synopses and information about features published in Computer Weekly in September 2009.  Continue Reading

• The Unix server strategy that powers Honda Motor India

  Here's a look at how Honda Motor India banks on a mix of Unix and Windows servers to gain a competitive edge in the Indian market.  Continue Reading

• An SME’s guide to virtualisation

  Virtualisation is now seen as essential in enabling organisations to manage their vital IT resources more flexibly and efficiently. Yet how challenging is it to successfully deploy virtualisation, especially at an SME?  Continue Reading

• Video: How mobile CRM can improve your business

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• Nokia Ovi mail goes global

  Downtime was delighted to hear that Nokia's Ovi Mail service, basically mobile phone-based email for people who don't have PCs, has attracted over one million...  Continue Reading

• High-availability server strategies at NCDEX

  India's leading commodity exchange believes in a heterogeneous server strategy using VOS, AIX, Linux and Windows platforms for high-availability trading.  Continue Reading

• Video: Robotic flies rely on the vibes being good

  Last year, a team at Harvard University released a video demonstration (below) of a robotic fly they had developed, showing it flapping its wings and levitating up a pair of guide wires. But a curious effect might upset their plans.  Continue Reading

• Two-factor authentication: Next step to secure online transactions?

  A look at how Indian banks are dealing with RBI's directive to implement two-factor authentication for securing online "card not present" transactions.  Continue Reading

• Separate the triplets by their value once more

  81T1319638473T6495874625T29725 In order to render the solution unique, it was necessary to position the 10s at T at the outset. Otherwise there are...  Continue Reading

• Open source software - Essential Guide

  Free and open source software is seeing steady adoption among small to large UK businesses, as they begin to take it to the heart of their organisations for key enterprise applications in a bid to lower IT costs.  Continue Reading

• Energy management systems – Essential Guide

  Enterprise energy management systems can help to lower an enterprise’s carbon footprint and make the data centre more environmentally friendly, with the ultimate aim to reduce operational costs through more efficient use of IT resources.  Continue Reading

• Does Bluetooth have a future? – Essential Guide

  Bluetooth, the wireless radio technology for short distance mobile communications, has become pervasive in mobile computing, used in laptops and headsets as well as popular smart phones such as the BlackBerry, and even in Radio Frequency ...  Continue Reading

• CRM solutions – Essential Guide

  Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions and CRM products are a particular breed of business software application that allows a company to measure and control all of its contacts with customers.  Continue Reading

• Lower your software licence fees

  The downturn has given organisations the opportunity to revisit their software licences and maintenance contracts to make cost savings.  Continue Reading

• Software audits organisation's carbon footprint

  The green sensibility has been on the march for many years, but as far as the IT industry has been concerned the debate has focused mainly on the concept...

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• Using business intelligence to steer through the recession

  Business intelligence is one of the few areas in the IT sector to have remained buoyant during the economic downturn, as organisations use the technology to help them reduce costs and optimise operations.  Continue Reading

• A guide to storage virtualization

  Few technologies are more confusing than storage virtualization. Without a guide to explain the different storage virtualization solutions, storage administrators who want to deploy this technology will be lost.  Continue Reading

• Business intelligence: Collaborative decision-making

  The internet's academic roots lay in collaboration, but the rise of client/server computing favoured a more hierarchical way of working. However, the rise of Web 2.0 platforms has both revealed and tapped into a desire for knowledge sharing and ...  Continue Reading

• IT jobs freefall slows in Q2

  Amid the worst UK recession since the computer was invented, the decline in the job market is continuing, but slowing  Continue Reading

• Business Intelligence: the case for predictive analytics

  The idea of having a tool that can help organisations forecast the future is an appealing one, especially when living through the uncertainty of today's recessionary climate.  Continue Reading

• Find the only way to complete the nine-digit line

  Early research carried out in the 1800s, without the benefit of computers, showed there is only one way to plug the numbers 1 to 9 (no zero) into this expression...  Continue Reading

• Business intelligence: where is BI heading?

  Despite all the money invested in IT systems over the years, a study by IBM reveals that two-thirds of UK mid-market businesses still rely on error-prone manual processes when it comes to dealing with data, the lifeblood of any effective 21st ...  Continue Reading

• Network monitoring – Essential Guide

  Network monitoring systems and network testing technologies have evolved greatly over time, offering more automation, more ways to test servers and systems, and more ways to alert network administrators, sysadmins and IT managers of problems with ...  Continue Reading

• Email security – Essential Guide

  Email security is a priority for all businesses, with the growing threat of hackers, viruses spam, phishing and identity theft, as well as the need to secure business information.  Continue Reading

• IT outsourcing for small businesses (SMEs) – Essential Guide

  IT outsourcing can help small businesses reduce IT costs and access new technologies. It begins understanding which IT operations could benefit from being managed by a third party service provider, which could be an offshore outsourcer or someone ...  Continue Reading

• Point of Sale (POS) software - Essential Guide

  Point of Sale (POS) software, also known as electronic Point of Sale (ePOS), is an essential application for retail or hospitality businesses because it manages checkout operations and is what the customer sees when they make a transaction.  Continue Reading

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software suppliers – Essential Guide

  Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software suppliers come in all shapes and sizes, with the vital business process software available as a client server application, a hosted ERP service or even via a web-based portal.  Continue Reading

• Enabling business while minimising risk

  In the first part of a report from an exclusive Computer Weekly roundtable, in association with Oracle, Joe O'Halloran discovers how IT security professionals are coping with unprecedented demands for their services.  Continue Reading

• Disclose the single prime digits to solve the sum

  There are very few equations of the type PxPPP=PPPP (four only, I understand). Once these are found, the solution soon reveals itself as follows:  Continue Reading

• Small business servers – Essential Guide

  Small business servers, both server hardware and server software, is designed to help any small business planning to grow its operations.  Continue Reading

• Computer security for small businesses – Essential Guide

  Computer security for small businesses can be multi-layered, using desktop security products such as antivirus, antispam and firewalls, and network intrusion detection, and hardware technologies such as security tokens, disk encryption and biometric...  Continue Reading

• Cloud-based simulation cuts engineers' design costs

  One of the big challenges in computer-based design is the amount of processing power required to simulate how designs will perform in the real world.  Continue Reading

• How to set up your small business computer network - Essential Guide

  Setting up a small business computer network has become easier over the years with technology improving, and with storage and networking peripherals evolving to incorporate plug and play features  Continue Reading

• The best software for small businesses (SMEs) - Essential Guide

  The best software for small businesses is software designed to help them to run their operations better, cut costs and replace paper processes. The most popular software packages include accounts, office productivity, email and communications, but ...  Continue Reading

• Making a small business mobile

  LTT Vending has improved its bottom line with a BlackBerry mobile integration system, supplied by T-Mobile and rolled out by the in-house IT team.  Continue Reading

• Outsourcing contracts: Getting started - Essential Guide

  Outsourcing contracts can be complex affairs, but a good outsourcing contract will examine service level agreements, penalties and rewards, timeframes and measurements, regular reviews, and exit strategies.  Continue Reading

• Tech start-ups thrive at UK universities

  According to BERR, there are currently around 4.7 million SMEs in the UK today, but where are the new technology start-ups coming from? Steve Gold looks at the University of Manchester's commercial incubators and some of their business offspring.  Continue Reading

• Apollo 11: 40th Anniversary special report

  Today we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing back on July 20 1969. The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon.  Continue Reading

• Apollo 11: The computers that put man on the moon

  It is hard to appreciate the technical challenges involved in putting a man on the moon, but 1960s computer technology played a fundamental role.  Continue Reading

• Top seven data loss issues

  Eighteen months on from the HMRC data loss scandal - where contractors lost the details of 25 million Britons - Stephen Pritchard investigates why there is little evidence that the rate of privacy breaches is falling.  Continue Reading

• Internet law – Essential Guide

  Internet law is closely related to the laws that relate to other similar areas of broadcasting, retail, and information handling, and in many cases, internet laws are identical to those covering the offline world for such things as data protection, ...  Continue Reading