Web Headlines

Headlines from around the Web for Monday, Feb. 11, 2008
Compiled by Melanie Bender

2008 IT Spending Forecast Again Cut by Forrester

ComputerWorld

The worsening U.S. economic situation has moved analyst firm Forrester Research Inc. to lower its expectations for U.S. and global IT spending for the second time in less than two months. The company predicts that U.S. business purchases of IT goods and services will grow by 2.8 percent, down from an expected 4.6 percent growth rate that Forrester predicted in December.

Welcome to Cyberwar Country, USA

Wired

With billions of dollars in contracts and millions in local spending on the line, 15 military towns are vying to win the Cyber Command, throwing in offers of land, academic and research tie-ins, and, in one case, an $11 million building with a moat. At a time when Cold War-era commands laden with aging aircraft are shriveling, the nascent Cyber Command is universally seen as a future-proof bet for expansion, in an era etched with portents of cyberwar.

Taking Control of IPv6

Government Computer News

THE ARRIVAL of IPv6 will eventually give agencies better security, more flexible networking and a number of available IP addresses so large it can make your head hurt just trying to grasp how many there will be. But how well agencies take advantage of IPv6 will depend in large part on how well administrators manage their newfound wealth of IP address spaces, experts say.

Powerful New Antiphishing Weapon Emerges

NetworkWorld

Spoofers, spammers and phishers, beware. There’s a new gun in town, and some of the Internet’s most powerful companies -- including Yahoo, Google, PayPal and AOL -- are brandishing it in the ongoing battle against e-mail fraud.

Web 2.0: Too Good to Be True?

CIO Insight

The collaborative tools of Web 2.0 are overloading employees and killing productivity â€" to the tune of $588 billion a year, according to a January study by Basex, a collaboration technologies consulting firm. And that assumes knowledge workers make $21 per hour â€" a conservative estimate â€" meaning the damage could exceed a half-trillion dollars.

Abandoned Computer Servers in D.C. Explained

The Washington Post

Two D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue computer servers were abandoned as trash by an unidentified woman who decided it would cost too much to ship them out of state to the buyer, according to witnesses. City records indicate that the equipment had been purchased at an auction.

Proposal Could Cut Costs of State IT Services

The Rocky Mountain News

Gov. Bill Ritter and a group of bipartisan lawmakers unveiled legislation that would consolidate 1,200 information technology employees around the state under a new technology branch. The Office of Information Technology brings together previously disparate departments that were spending about $250 million a year. Eventually, workers hope to reduce spending by millions.

As Toll Dodgers Get Creative, Eyes of E-ZPass Are Watching

The New York Times

The E-ZPass Service Center on Staten Island examines about 1,500 photos a day to identify the license plate numbers of the cars and trucks that go through E-ZPass toll booths without the electronic tags, or with ones that were broken or expired. Toll dodgers -- witting and unwitting -- can cost municipalities millions of dollars each year.

Criticism of L.A. County's Voting System Grows

The Los Angeles Times

According to the office of Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Los Angeles is the only county in the state that requires decline-to-state voters to fill in an additional bubble on a ballot if they choose to vote in the Democratic or American Independent primary. Bowen said she was "astonished to see a ballot design this poorly thought out."

Midshipmen Design Biometric Programs for Car

The Baltimore Sun

Two Naval Academy midshipmen are working on a facial recognition system that powers up the car only after a Web camera scans drivers' faces to make sure they are authorized to take it out for a spin.