From The Rational Edge, this book review endorses Brian Eubanks’ "Wicked Cool Java," a creative, yet technical, approach to learning the Java language and leveraging Java skills.

From The Rational Edge, you’ll find a review of Chris Pine’s easy-to-read introduction to computer programming, Learn to Program, based on the Ruby language.

Time and balance are critical factors in getting an SOA (service-oriented architecture) implementation right, according to executives at European insurance company Helvetia Patria Group. SOA describes how to create and manage IT systems through reusable software and services. "One thing to understand is that the implementation of SOA takes time, it’s a journey," Didier Beck, the head of eBusiness Center at Helvetia Patria, said.

IBM and the Computer Science Teachers Association announced they will collaborate to accelerate computer science and technology skills among high school students. This marks the first time the CSTA has partnered with an IT vendor to co-develop customized courseware for secondary school audiences. IBM and CSTA will provide more than 36,000 teachers with free access to computer science resources in an effort to improve teachers’ expertise and help students acquire necessary skills for jobs in the 21st century.

When all of the messages in a user’s mailfile had suddenly turned red, intrepid Nancy Hand was called in to help. Read this article and you can find out how to keep your messages from turning red once they’re read. It’ll help you avoid getting a red face.

Read this DominoPower article.

DLI.tools announced that DocLogic Document Manager was awarded the 2006 Lotus Advisor Editors’ Choice Award in "Document and Content Management" for the second straight year. DocLogic Document Manager won by providing core document management functionality through an intuitive Web-based user interface featuring true in-place file editing, file drag and drop, Advanced Presence Awareness, and Notes mail and Windows desktop application integration. The Lotus Advisor Editor’s Choice Awards recognize innovative IBM Lotus Notes and Domino solutions that solve real-world business needs. Winners are chosen by an objective panel of technical editors, industry analysts, and other experts.

Learn how policies, first introduced in Lotus Notes/Domino 6, have been enhanced to include the powerful new Mail Settings policy document that lets you administer calendar and mail settings for your users.

Online purchases from sites like Amazon.com and eBay may seem to arrive in a state of untaxed bliss. But the law actually requires shoppers to pay their own state’s sales tax rate–the concept is called a "use tax"–and voluntarily cough up the exact amount owed each year at tax time. Tax bureaucrats for years have lamented the difficulty of collecting use taxes on catalog and mail order sales. Now, with online shopping growing rapidly and nearing $100 billion a year in consumer sales, tax collectors are adopting more aggressive tactics.

A recent survey by Money Magazine and Salary.com ranked the top job titles in the United States and found that software engineer positions are at the top of the list, followed by college professors and financial advisers. The survey of 26,000 U.S. employees with 166 different job titles took into account such factors as potential growth, compensation, flexibility and stress levels, among others. Software engineers make an average yearly salary of $80,500, with a 10-year growth rate of 46 percent and an average of 44,800 jobs opening yearly, according to the survey. Computer IT analysts took the seventh ranking, with average yearly salaries of $83,500, a 10-year growth rate of 36 percent and an average of 67,300 job openings per year, according to the survey.

Oracle plans to acquire Portal Software, a company that offers billing and revenue management software to communications and media firms, for roughly $220 million, or $4.90 per share. A new communications business unit within Oracle will be created with Portal’s current management and staff, and it will focus mainly on the management of billing and revenue. According to Oracle, Bhaskar Gorti, a senior vice president of worldwide sales, services and marketing with Portal, will head up the new unit as general manager, and Portal’s founder and chief executive officer, Dave Labuda, is to become the new division’s chief technology officer.