Adobe will begin releasing security patches on a predictable monthly basis next year, according to a spokesperson at the company. Adobe’s manager of secure software engineering, Adrian Ludwig, spoke of the plans at a security roundtable discussion. Adobe has not released an official statement. The monthly security updates will begin sometime next year and are expected to cover most, if not all, of Adobe’s products. Currently Adobe releases patches on an ad-hoc basis.

Makers of the Ruby on Rails software released version 1.0 of their open-source Web development kit. Ruby on Rails is a set of tools, or a "framework," for building Web applications with the scripting language Ruby. Started by David Heinemeier Hansson, Ruby on Rails has received accolades for the productivity it brings to developers. Heinemeier Hansson said that the project is already working on version 1.1. In a previous interview, Hansson said that the open-source project will focus on making it easier to deploy and administer Web applications.

Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Ray Ozzie may have made his reputation in the collaboration and communication arena, but he doesn’t see those technologies as panaceas. In a lengthy and detailed Q&A with ACM Queue, Ozzie shares his views on collaboration, RSS, AJAX, data-mining, and more.

Anti-spyware software companies are adding features to their products that spot rootkits and other malicious programs that operate at the Windows "kernel," or core processing center. The new kernel-mode features are a response to new, sophisticated spyware. However, they have raised warnings from security analysts about instability in Windows and conflicts with anti-virus programs that also work at the kernel level.

The CRM system at Avendra isn’t just central to the business–in many ways, it is the business. Which is what makes the company’s focus on user adoption and data quality so important. The company, based in Rockville, Md., provides procurement, logistics, and supply chain management services for its customers across the United States, primarily in the hospitality industry. With user adoption and the importance of accuracy so central to the success of the ERM system, Avendra has developed several steps to ensure participation. Avendra establishes a baseline for accuracy and then sets goals for business users on improving on that accuracy, awarding cash bonuses at the end of the year. The program has been so successful that Avendra is now focused on maintaining, rather than improving its data accuracy.

System administrators should consider keeping minimum log records and brushing up on privacy laws to better protect employees’ right to free speech, according to an attorney with the non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation. While IT shops can use computer logs to spot malicious activity on machines, they can also be used as part of a "very effective" surveillance tool against individuals and companies. Sysadmins should pare down their log files, which may run counter to a company’s culture that frequently encourages saving each and every data file in the event an item, however obscure, is needed for business–and quickly. Keeping detailed logs is also considered an essential part of regulatory compliance. But such copious data stores also make the company more susceptible to secret intelligence and police sweeps.

This two-part article offers a thorough introduction to IBM Rational Method Composer, IBM’s next-generation process management tool platform and conceptual framework for authoring, tailoring, and deploying development processes. Part One, presented here, offers a high-level understanding of the key capabilities of RMC, and it provides an overview of key concepts and typical RMC usage scenarios.

IBM on Tuesday unveiled a specially tailored cross-licensing program for venture capitalists and their start-ups, as it seeks to populate emerging businesses with its technology. Under the IBM Ventures in Collaboration program, venture capital firms and their portfolio companies will have access to a two-tiered licensing program. The program is designed to lower licensing costs for IBM products and simplify the licensing process for young companies.

You don’t want unauthorized people accessing your iSeries, so it’s a good idea to monitor invalid log-on attempts. By doing so you can see who simply mistyped and who had no business trying to log in.

The automatic performance adjustment on the iSeries can help you keep your system in step with workload changes. But if your workload changes very quickly, the auto-tuner may need some help from you. Dan Reusche shows you what you can do to assist it.