A security flaw in software that ships with two of Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet printers could open a door for cybersnoops, HP has warned. The vulnerability lies in the Toolbox software that comes with HP’s Color LaserJet 2500 and 4600 printers, the company said. The flaw could allow a remote, unauthorized malicious user to retrieve arbitrary files from a Windows computer when the software is running in the default configuration. The Toolbox is software that installs on a PC along with the drivers.

Red Hat has dismantled the Fedora Foundation, an initiative conceived as an entity to provide intellectual-property protections to the open-source realm but whose mission grew impracticably broad. Fedora Core is Red Hat’s free hobbyist version of Linux, designed to mature technologies quickly for use in the premium Red Hat Enterprise Linux product and to sate developers’ appetite for new features. When Red Hat announced the foundation in June 2005, the company said it had "the intent of moving Fedora project development work and copyright ownership of contributed code to the foundation. Red Hat will still provide substantial financial and engineering support, but this move will assure broader community involvement in Fedora-sponsored projects." A Red Hat explanation of the foundation’s cancellation describes a narrower initial mission: "To act as a repository for patents that would protect the interests of the open-source community."

IBM late last week quietly celebrated the 10th anniversary of its acquisition of Tivoli Systems, marking a 10-year roller coaster ride in the network and systems management market. Although IBM in the early years made significant profit on its $743 million acquisition, it struggled with internal integration headaches along with even bigger customer integration headaches that caused deployments to stretch for as long as 24 months. Tivoli General Manager Al Zollar discusses the ups and downs of the past and the challenges that lie ahead for IBM’s management software unit.

TLCC (The Learning Continuum Company) has three new Domino 7 distance learning courses, JavaScript in Notes Domino 7, Beginner LotusScript for Notes Domino 7, and Intermediate LotusScript for Notes Domino 7. These courses are easily downloaded and installed on the student’s computer in their office or home (or both.) An expert instructor to provide assistance as needed via an integrated discussion database. As with all TLCC courses, there are many demonstrations and activities that are done right in Notes and Domino to provide hands-on experience.

AedifiComm announced a new tool: RepCAT for Domino. Domino server clusters are an excellent way to provide for failover in the event of a server break down. But they are useless if the servers are not kept in sync. With RepCAT you can pro-actively monitor your clusters or even replicated servers. RepCat also takes care of creating replica’s on other servers.

Intermedia.NET, leader in hosted Microsoft Exchange for small and medium businesses, launched a counter-offer following IBM’s offer of a bounty for users migrating its Lotus software platform. Where IBM offered $20 per seat, up to a maximum of 1000 seats, for migrations from Microsoft Exchange to Lotus Domino, Intermedia.NET will offer a flat $20 per company migrating from Lotus to Intermedia.NET’s hosted Exchange service. Although the offer is lower than IBM’s, Intermedia.NET believes that it is still more attractive, given the superior technology and user-friendliness of Microsoft Outlook and Exchange. Overwhelmingly preferred by businesses for corporate email and collaboration, Microsoft Exchange has grown to lead the market–with over 50%–while Lotus Domino has declined in share.

With major enterprise resource planning application developers Oracle, SAP and Microsoft in the midst of developing their respective next-generation suites based on service-oriented architecture concepts–all due in the 2007 to 2008 timeframe–users may soon find themselves in a quandary: Pay for an "upgrade" or look to the competition. A new study released by Gartner Group analyst Yvonne Genovese March 27 takes a critical look at the costs of at least one upgrade path–to Oracle Fusion from the Oracle E-Business Suite, or the PeopleSoft or JD Edwards suites, each of which will have some functionality in Fusion.

Lava Software is now shipping PC-Mac-Net FileShare v6.0, a fast and efficient file sharing, data backup and remote media playback controller which operates over LANs and the Internet. Versions are available for Windows, MacOS X, MacOS Classic and Linux. This new version offers incremental data backup with scheduling, improved remote folder synchronization, greater robustness in transferring large groups of files, better diagnostics for setting up Internet file transfers, significant fixes in the Linux and MacOS Classic versions, superfast launch times, reduced CPU utilization, an enhanced user interface, and increased compatibility with non-English Windows operating systems. It is a free upgrade for all users.

IBM announced a major upgrade to IBM WebSphere Portal designed to help customers make better decisions and execute transactions with greater speed and accuracy. The new version simplifies working with composite applications, making it faster and easier for businesses to realize the benefits of integrated applications and reusable services. Composite applications enable the integration of information from multiple applications, providing end users with the content they need based on their role and task. Through the workflows, templates, and content management capabilities in WebSphere Portal Version 6.0, IBM is helping customers realize enhanced productivity and efficiency through composite applications. The latest version of WebSphere Portal includes a workflow builder, enabling business process owners to create and modify departmental workflows to meet their needs. As most workflows involve the creation or completion of a form, WebSphere Portal Version 6.0 integrates with the advanced electronic forms capabilities of IBM Workplace Forms. Electronic forms are presented in a standard portal interface, enabling users to easily access information from other applications and collaborate to create, edit, or view electronic forms. Once completed, the e-form can be automatically routed to the next person in the process or stored in a repository. The latest version of WebSphere Portal also includes IBM Workplace Web Content Management Version 6.0, making it easier to create and deploy Web and portal content. For authors, the creation process is simplified with enhanced rich text editors, and inline authoring capability. For administrators, enhancements include a joint administrator’s console for WebSphere Portal and Workplace Web Content Management, template customization, and support for Cascading Style Sheets. With the latest version, IBM is closely aligning WebSphere Portal with WebSphere Portlet Factory. WebSphere Portlet Factory is a comprehensive portlet development environment that automates the process of creating, deploying, and maintaining SOA-based portlets. With WebSphere Portlet Factory, developers can quickly draw on their company’s existing applications to create portlets that become the building blocks for composite applications. Once composite applications are created, WebSphere Portal Version 6.0 enables users to save them as templates.

DYS Analytics announced that its flagship CONTROL! software received the 2006 Lotus Advisor Editors’ Choice Award, sponsored by Lotus Advisor magazine, a unit of Advisor Media. Both the Enterprise and Standard editions of DYS’ CONTROL! software were honored in the Performance Analysis and Reporting administration category. This is the second year in a row where DYS Analytics received a Lotus Advisor Editor’s Choice award. The annual program recognizes the most innovative development and administrative solutions for IBM Notes Domino. Winners are chosen by an objective panel of technical editors, industry analysts, and other experts.