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IT lay-offs in GM revamp may take months to emerge (part 2)

2009-06-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

GM has been losing money since 2005. Its latest quarterly report showed a shareholder deficit of $90bn. The US government stepped in with a $20bn loan, and the new deal gives it a 61% share of the new company in return for its share of $33bn in new funding. The auto maker will aim to break even on (largely US) manufacture and sale of 10 million vehicles a year, rather than the present 15 to 17 million, it said.

GM has asked the bankruptcy courts to approve steps to protect current and new GM customers and ensure uninterrupted operations in the transition to the New GM.

In a statement, the firm said GM dealers will continue to service GM vehicles and honour GM warranties. GM confirmed that all business operations are continuing without interruption outside the US.

GM was founded in 1908, and today manufactures cars and trucks in 34 countries. It employs 235,000 people and sells and services vehicles in 140 countries. In 2008, it sold 8.35 million cars and trucks globally. It owns brands such Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Hummer, as well as Opel, Vauxhall and Saab. On Friday it announced plans to start making a small car in the US.

source by http://www.computerweekly.com

IT lay-offs in GM revamp may take months to emerge

2009-06-01T22:05:00.000-07:00

Author:Ian Grant

It is too soon to tell how many IT workers will be laid off in the restructuring of General Motors, the biggest US car and truck maker, which will emerge from bankruptcy protection in 60 to 90 days.

The slimmer "New GM" will have less debt and lower operating costs, thanks to a $33bn deal struck today between itself, the US and Canadian governments and worker bodies.

The 5,500 workers at GM's UK Vauxhall operation will have to wait for the outcome of negotiations between GM and Magna International, a Canadian motor vehicle maker, which plans to take over Adam Opel which with Vauxhall forms GM Europe. The German government has given Adam Opel a €1.5m bridging loan while talks continue.

According to reports, business minister Peter Mandelson has received assurances that Magna intends to continue production at Vauxhall. However, a Vauxhall spokesman said changes in workforce levels might take several months to come to light.

source by:

2009-05-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

From: Peter

Hidden Secret Browser Google Chrome
In the post-Sep 09, 2008

Netter are using Google Chrome? If not, may be secret behind the browser is Google's latest move could make Netter choose this browser.

Here are some secret hidden Google Chrome:

1. 'incognito' window (Control + Shift + N)
This feature allows Netter for browsing through a secure browser windows, because with this feature Netter not leave impressions such as' search & browser history and cookies. So not sure if Netter akan sites visited or do not want other people at work know Netter visit a site, this feature is certainly useful.

2. Home or Alt + Control + T
Showing all the sites and bookmarks that have been opened by the previous Netter in the form of a thumbnail. This feature is found in the Opera browser and add ons in FireFox. Alt + Home to open a site on the same page, while Control + T on the new page.

3. Control + Shift + T
Reopen the tabs that are not deliberately closed by Netter when browsing. Google Chrome can remember up to 10 tabs you closed by mistake.

4. Control + Tab (Control + Shift + Tab)
Try to use this shortcut to move quickly with the tab, Control + Tab to go and Control + Shift + Tab to move back. Alternatively to direct the position of the lead-up to the series is the shortcut Control + 1, Control 2 to + Control + 9.

5. Opens With Quick Link Site
To open a link to the site quickly, Google Chrome offers the same features with FireFox 3, with a mouse click on the scroll Netter directly or click the link and drag it to the browser tab.

6. Bookmark Site With Fast
Click the star on the left of the address bar of your browser. Chrome address bar can also function as a direct seacrh the page directly to search engines that we want

7. Control + B
Hide and show the Bookmark browser quickly.

8. Control + H
Open all the sites that have been visited (history) quickly. On the right there is the option delete history for this day, if you want to remove Netter history has ever visited the site on that day.

9. Control + A
Open windows download file. Shortcut is the same as in FireFox

10. Shift + Escape
Open the Google Chrome task manager to quickly view the memory consumption and to turn off the tab which has the potential to make the browser freeze (hangs)

11. about: plugins & about: crash
Enter the word about: plugins in the address bar to see what plugins are installed on Chrome. And about: crash to see the tabs which make Chrome crash, freeze or hang. Other features: about: stats, about: network, about: histograms, about: memory, about: cache, about: dns, about: Internets

12. Access menu on Chrome
Netter can access the menus to re-Optimize and customize the browser on the right side. Choose a menu that is image 'key UK' and choose the option. In it there are many options such as Chrome as the default browser, change the default Search, change the language, and so forth.

source by: http://www.gsn-soeki.com/wouw/a001114.php

Computer experts brace for “Conficker” worm (Part 2)

2009-04-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

“It’s not time to hide in the bunker. But it might be prudent to look out the window,” he added.

In February, Microsoft announced it was offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for creating Conficker, saying the worm constituted a “criminal attack.”

FEARS OF ID THEFT

Botnets are a major worry because they can surreptitiously steal identities, log sensitive corporate information, credit card numbers, online banking passwords or other key data users of infected PCs type on their keyboards.

The information is often sold to criminal rings.

“Most malware we see in this day and age is very concerned with stealing information and making money for the author,” said Dave Marcus, a researcher with security-software maker McAfee Inc’s Avert Labs.

Experts said Conficker’s authors might gradually change the way it communicates to avoid attention and to prevent companies from putting in place safeguards such as those used to fight the worm since it first surfaced last year.

Microsoft released a patch to protect against the worm late last year, while anti-virus software companies offer software to sniff it out and destroy it. Such tools can be expensive.
Technology research firm Gartner Inc estimates businesses will spend $13.6 billion on security software this year excluding costs for related labor, services and hardware. While some consumer anti-virus software packages are available for free, others run as high as $80 each.

Security experts suspect Conficker originated in the Ukraine, based on its code. The FBI is working to shut it down but a spokesman declined to comment on its investigation.

“The public is once again reminded to employ strong security measures on their computers,” said Shawn Henry, assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s cybercrimes division.

Independent security firms such as McAfee, Symantec Corp and Trend Micro Inc say they will closely monitor cyberspace on Wednesday to see how the worm mutates but will also watch closely over coming weeks as the hype fades.

“I don’t expect much to happen on April 1st. That’s the one day I would not do it. That’s the one day everybody is watching for something to drop,” said Joe Stewart, director of malware research at SecureWorks. “It’s just another small step in whatever the end game is.”

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Jason Szep, Gary Hill)

source :technologyonlinenews.com

Computer experts brace for “Conficker” worm (Part 1)

2009-04-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

By Jim Finkle

BOSTON (Reuters) - A malicious software program that has infected millions of computers could enter a more menacing phase on Wednesday, from an outright attack to a quiet mutation that would further its spread.Computer security experts who have analyzed the Conficker worm’s code say it is designed to begin a new phase on April 1, and while it’s unclear whether it will unleash havoc or remain dormant, its stubborn presence is rattling businesses with multimillion-dollar budgets to fight cyber crime.

Conficker, believed to reside on 2 million to 12 million computers worldwide, is designed to turn an infected PC into a slave that responds to commands sent from a remote server that controls an army of slave computers known as a botnet.

“It can be used to attack as well as to spy. It can destroy files, it can connect to addresses on the Internet and it can forward your e-mail,” said Gadi Evron, an expert on botnets who helps governments protect against cyber crime.

But like many security experts, he doubts Wednesday will see a big attack.

The virus has been powerful enough to attack infected computers for months by exploiting weaknesses in Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Evron and several other analysts said Wednesday’s change could simply give Conficker enhanced functionality, possibly making it more dangerous.

“This is the electronic equivalent of being told there is a major storm that has a 20 percent chance of hitting,” said Mark Rasch, an executive at Secure IT Experts who spent 25 years prosecuting computer crimes at the U.S. Department of Justice.

source : technologyonlinenews.com

Guide – Overclocking Prosessor Intel Core i7 Part III (part1)

2009-01-14T18:50:00.000-08:00

Myth Voltage Overclocking Intel Core i7
Voltage or voltage is absolutely necessary for overclocking. Tension is not only a role in the achievement of overclocking, but also the effect on the stability of overclocking itself. Myths such as the voltage memory voltage not more than 1.65 volt, because it can damage the processor is indeed true. When viewed from the Core i7 architecture itself, IMC is integrated in the processor, the impact of the excessive voltage memory will be harmful as well as IMC processor itself. This has happened before in AMD. To avoid that the producers restrict the choice of AMD motherboard memory voltage to avoid damage to the IMC processor. Then, how fate memory DDR3 memory that has a voltage above 1.65 volt operation? What can still be used? In the experiment, the author never uses voltage to 1.8 volt in the time period long enough and did not experience degradation in the processor or processors to die. In fact the influence of the voltage memory voltage does not directly affect the other, mainly voltage IOH (or chipset voltage Core Voltage IOH) and QPI / VTT Voltage. IOH Voltage has a default value of 1.2 volt and QPI / VTT Voltage has a default value of 1.1 volt. In the experiment, the effect of increasing the value of this very second voltage stability assist system, especially in the high frequency of memory and a high-voltage memory. The author set on IOH Voltage 1:25 volt and QPI / VTT Voltage at 1.3 volt. At this value is the speed DDR3-2000 with a 1.74 volt voltage running and stable. Screenshots can be seen below.

Design us a star - and win a workstation! (part 2)

2009-01-13T01:24:00.000-08:00

HOW TO ENTER
The contest is about unleashing your creativity, and we want to recognise you, the stars of the digital art community, so your graphic should embody that concept.

The finished artwork should feature a 3D render of a five-pointed star prominently… but exactly how you treat that star is up to you.

To get you started, click the link below to download an EPS file showing a simple five-pointed star. Use this as the basis of your design.

Your image should use the Intel blue as a primary colour; and green as a secondary colour. The exact colour values are as follows:

Primary colour
CMYK – 100/40/0/0 or RGB – 8/96/198

Secondary colour
CMYK – 40/0/100/0 or RGB – 174/197/0

We have also included a number of guides within the download to show the various formats in which your design may be used, which include print ads and online banners. For the banners, it will be necessary to crop in on a smaller part of the graphic.

Bear in mind that, for print use, the image must be supplied at 300dpi resolution.

And finally, don’t include any text on the image.

Once you have completed your image, send it to us by clicking the entry link below. Include your full name and daytime phone number in the body of the email.

(Note: our email server only accepts attachments under 9MB in size).

The sender of the image that, in the opinion of the judges, best fulfils the brief and best demonstrates creativity and technical quality will win a Core i7 workstation with the specification shown at the foot of the page.

The closing date for entries is 12 February 2009.

In order to qualify to receive the prize, you will be required to send us the scene file and other assets for the graphic; and, if necessary, a larger print-resolution version of the image.

source by : www.3dworldmag.com

Design us a star - and win a workstation! (part 1)

2009-01-13T01:21:00.000-08:00

Create a graphic for our upcoming digital art talent contest and you could win an Intel Core i7-powered workstation worth over $5,000

This April, 3D World, in association with Intel, will be launching an international contest to find the most talented digital artists of 2009 – and we’d like you to design the marketing concept used in the publicity material.

In addition to seeing their work used in high-profile adverts, both in print and online, the creator of the graphic chosen to promote the contest will win an Intel Core i7-based workstation worth over $5,000.

For years, Intel technology has been the driving force behind digital content creation, both on Windows machines and the new Intel Macs. But the company’s new Core i7 processors take demanding multimedia and graphics tasks to a new dimension.

Although the i7s are quad-core processors, Intel’s proprietary Hyper-Threading technology splits each physical core into two virtual ones, so the processor appears to the operating system to have eight cores, speeding up demanding 3D tasks.

In our review of the Armari Magnetar NS+, one of the first Core i7 workstations, James Morris commented: “This system beats the multi-threaded rendering performance of any quad-core workstation we’ve seen.”

source by : www.3dworldmag.com

The New IT Alignment Gap (part 2)

2008-12-24T02:51:00.000-08:00

To close this gap, CIOs must take a multidisciplined approach that involves proactive planning.

Optimization of Current Infrastructure: By optimizing your current infrastructure, you can reduce operations costs—typically by 10 percent to 30 percent a year. The challenge is to do this while ensuring the infrastructure continues to meet performance needs for at least three to five years.

Common Platforms and Standards to Improve Agility: The use of common platforms and infrastructure standards enables organizational agility, allows optimization of capacity, and can shorten recovery time in the event of a technology failure. Plus, you will shorten the development cycle and make it easier to maintain cost-effective IT services.

Business Portfolio and IT Management Planning: Understand the initiatives in the business portfolio. Consider what the production turnover will be, what the end-to-end infrastructure requirements will be across all lines of business, and what you will need to support these initiatives on an ongoing basis.

Most IT departments don’t have in-house staff to handle all these initiatives, so it’s important to examine your IT staff’s strengths and find any weak areas that need to be supplemented with outside resources.

Data Center Planning: The average data center was not constructed to handle the power and cooling needs of today’s technologies. Your best strategy for achieving success is proactive evaluation and planning. Ask your team: How many data centers do we need? How will our current data center(s) meet our future business needs? How do we source them?

Skills and Organization: Ask yourself: What skills do I need, and what organizational principles am I going to incorporate in order to establish the best possible IT organization? Where can I look for training opportunities? How can I establish a big-picture approach so I can be more proactive and productive?

Be sure to include application development and IT operations management in each other’s planning initiatives. An open, interactive and proactive environment will yield more efficiencies, greater transparency and optimized performance.

Assessment Summary Scorecard: One way to gain a better understanding of where the gaps are in your IT department is to use a scorecard. (See chart below.)

source by:www.baselinemag.com

The New IT Alignment Gap (part 1)

2008-12-24T02:49:00.000-08:00

The gap between application development and IT operations management is escalating. With the rise of new technologies, the lack of energy spent on maximizing existing IT infrastructure, the lack of coordination between application groups and operations, and the lack of retiring legacy systems and older software, the IT alignment gap is showing signs of being widened by IT itself.

CIOs are continuously challenged to partner effectively with the enterprise’s business side. At the same time, the gap between application development and IT operations management is escalating at an alarming rate. In many organizations, this gap results in a staggering amount of unplanned cost, risk and business disruption. Here’s why:

Businesses expect new business functionality (using new infrastructure) to be introduced at an increased pace.
New technologies continue to emerge at an increased rate, and are often selected by the application development group with little or no input from operations management.
Little time is spent assessing and maximizing existing IT.
Application retirement is almost impossible, so operations must continue to support both aging legacy environments and new infrastructure and technology.
Budget cuts and department reductions require IT staff to work harder with fewer resources.

Most IT organizations are running too fast to evaluate and plan for the substantial changes needed to adequately support ongoing IT operations. Take, for example, the introduction of a new custom application to drive revenue or an upgrade to an ERP system.

Each requires introducing new hardware or operating systems; upgrading database management software; integrating with existing storage and network infrastructures; and establishing appropriate service levels and monitoring services.

In addition, you must address business continuity/disaster recovery and security considerations, and ensure that the data center has adequate power and cooling to support the new capabilities. And you must establish the interdependencies of new software and tools, and develop and scale the skills needed to support the new infrastructure.

source by:www.baselinemag.com

CES Preview: Putting the New in Notebooks (part 2)

2008-12-24T02:29:00.000-08:00

by Cisco Cheng

We all know netbooks are taking the world by storm, but how will PC makers raise the bar at the show? Design is going to be significant, since many of the current netbooks – the MSI Wind, the Acer Aspire One, the Lenovo Ideapad S10 – have the same general, lackluster look. There are glimpses of those who have already upped the design ante, like the Asus eeePC 1002HA, which uses a brushed aluminum frame. Intel is expected to launch a Classmate PC convertible tablet, and someone will have a netbook that will blow CES attendees away.

Multi-touch has been the buzz word ever since Apple launched the iPhone. With laptops, the HP Pavilion TX2 was the first convertible tablet to showcase multi-touch capabilities. Expect at least one other player to launch a multi-touch screen. In the meantime, almost every vendor is incorporating multi-touch functionality into their touchpads. Like the ones on the MacBook and MacBook Pros, you pinch, enlarge, and scroll through various file formats by gesturing with two fingers.

Secondary displays, not Vista's SideShow technology, will show up on a few systems at CES 2009. Fujitsu already announced the Lifebook N7010, with a secondary touch display right above the keyboard. And Lenovo is advertising a secondary display that slides out of the Thinkpad W700.

Is this the year that Blu-Ray will go mainstream? Part of it will be up to laptop manufacturers. The Acer Aspire 6930G-6723 is already shipping with a Blu-ray drive for under a $1,000, and others will follow.

DisplayPort is out to make its presence known, competing against the HDMI format. Apple and Lenovo are already shipping with DisplayPort technologies in their laptops. Others will offer that, or both: DisplayPort and HDMI technology in one chassis.

Is this finally the year WiMax will take off? Sprint and Clearwire recently rolled out their WiMax network in Baltimore, which promises speeds of up to 7 Mbit/s, a range that covers an entire city, and prices that average households can afford. Well, PC Makers aren't waiting for more roll outs; they've seen enough. Expect announcements of numerous WiMax-enabled laptops at CES 2009.

source by:www.pcmag.com

CES Preview: Putting the New in Notebooks (part 1)

2008-12-24T02:26:00.000-08:00

by Cisco Cheng

As you might expect, notebooks will be where the action is at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year.

Sales of notebooks continue to increase, while desktops decline. As a consequence, OEMs continue to drive this market toward new and emerging technologies, all the while competing aggressively on price.

Here's what we expect to see at CES this January. Want to read about the rest of the show? Check out our CES overview.

New form factors for notebook screens will dominate the show, moving from the older 16-by-10 ratio to a 16-by-9 one, as is common in HDTVs. We've already seen a handful of them in the past few months, including the 16-inch Gateway Mc7803u, the HP HDX16t, and the Acer Aspire 6930G-6723. Since they are also cheaper and more efficient to make, laptops with screen sizes such as 14-, 15.6-, and 18-inches will become the de facto standards at CES 2009.

Nvidia is making a huge play with its integrated ecosystem, which is likely to take a decent chunk of market share away from Intel. The Apple MacBook 13-inch and the MacBook Pro 15-inch dual-graphics machine are already utilizing this ecosystem, reaping the rewards of enhanced 3D graphics without the power draw. The Toshiba Portege A600 is another laptop that uses Nvidia's integrated chipset; expect companies like Acer, Asus, Dell, and HP to jump on board. Recently, Nvidia announced its Ion platform, transforming traditional Atom-based netbooks into somewhat gaming-worthy machines. Expect to see the Nvidia GeForce 9400M chipset in future netbook designs as well.

source by:www.pcmag.com

RIP, VHS

2008-12-24T02:11:00.000-08:00

Brennon Slattery

Dec 23, 2008 10:07 pm

The VHS format has finally died. Even though most of us probably thought it was already long gone, its death certificate was signed when Distribution Video Audio of Palm Harbor, Florida--the last major supplier of VHS tapes--shipped the last of its saleable stock.

Distribution Video Audio made $20 million per year selling tons of tapes for cheap, but now the business has vanished. Leftover stock will either be given or thrown away--perhaps even meeting a landfill fate just like those millions of copies of Atari's ET videogame.

VHS stuck around for more than twenty years and may be the longest running survivor of any format war. Even the DVD format may not last as long, says Ryan Kugler, the president of Distribution Video Audio: "The DVD will be obsolete in three or four years, no doubt about it. Everything will be Blu-ray." Depending on who you ask, though, three or four years may be a bit premature--Blu-ray still has a long road ahead.

The end of the VHS era may be sad, but all tech eventually goes obsolete. Look at the floppy disk and its desperate struggle for relevance after the emergence of CDs. Look at the CRT monitors choking the shelves of Salvation Army stores and plugging landfills. You can't help but wonder what be the next to go. DVDs? CDs? MP3 players? Non-touch screen monitors and laptops?

source by:www.pcworld.com

How Hijaab Came To Being (part 2)

2008-12-24T01:54:00.000-08:00

The Quranic tafseer (commentary) upon these mentioned verses can be read within this booklet.

There are more than 70 invaluable ahadith which are concerned with matters regarding Hijaab. From amongst the 7 Quranic verses, scholars are unanimous upon the fact that the verses within Surah Ahzaab were revealed before those of Surah Noor.

Hazrat Umar (R.A) once suggested to the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that the wives of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam should observe the veil as many differing persons of differing manners and natures visit the houses of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. The Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam himself found this a desirable suggestion however, he was unable to turn the suggestion into a practicality as the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was in wait of divine revelation. Shortly afterwards the revelations of Hijaab were revealed successively.

The first of the revelations concerning Hijaab is as follows :

“Do not enter the houses of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam unless you have been granted permission.” Surah Ahzaab.

How Hijaab Came To Being (part 1)

2008-12-18T23:31:00.000-08:00

Islam being an eternal religion has thus catered for man’s life upon this world in the most stringent of ways and so Islam has not only defined the lawful from the unlawful, however, it has also made unlawful all acts/objects which would resultantly procure unlawfulness, i.e. The act of drinking alcohol has been defined as unlawful, in conjunction to this any acts/objects which could lead to the consumption of alcohol are also defined as unlawful for example the selling of alcohol, working within a brewery etc.

In the same manner adultery is unlawful within Islam and so in view of this any such acts which may lead to this e.g. Lustful gazing have also been defined as unlawful. In order that such acts are ruled out the revelations governing Hijaab were ordained upon mankind.

These revelations were revealed unto mankind within the actual era of Prophecy. This era was a period of time which held many highly ranked and pious households whom, through their piety did not allow free mingling of the opposite sex. Thus, the people of this era were the refined and decent of man however, from the very beginning the free mingling of the opposite sex was an act which held dislike and opposition.

The actual date of the revelation governing Hijaab is one of differing opinions however, Hijaab was ordained as compulsory within 3.A.H or 5.A.H.

The Holy Quran contains 7 verses altogether concerning Hijaab, 3 of these are featured within Surah Noor and 4 in Surah Ahzaab.

about Entrepreneurship

2008-11-15T21:44:00.000-08:00

In the Smart Entrepreneurship: Strategic Revolution, Changing the Business Process to detonate Company

Topik: General

For company blast required revolution, the strategy in the era of full competition, because almost all companies have a strategy or a similar convergence strategy. Spiritual intelligence proved effective strategy to make revolution. This book also contains how to create a market that is not limited like a vast ocean blue, so the competition irrelevant. We can also learn from the strategies that companies capable of detonating or company in a short time to control the global market.

source by : msuyanto.com