If Cisco Systems has its way, the Oakland Athletics’ new ballpark in Fremont will be the stadium of the future. Fans will swipe electronic tickets stored on cell phones. Bleacher bums will view instant replays at their seats with laptop computers. And digital advertising displays will be able to switch images based on the buying habits of the people walking by through data embedded in their cell phones. That was the vision that A’s owner Lew Wolff laid out to Fremont City Council members this week in a pitch for Cisco Field, a planned ballpark featuring the company’s technology, Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman said Thursday.

With Microsoft’s Vista and Office 2007 released to manufacturing, the software giant is preparing to adapt the products for the Web-dominated era, Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie said Wednesday. Ozzie spoke at the Web 2.0 Summit, where he said the company overall is making a transition to designing software that takes advantage of the PC–as it has historically done–as well as online services.

Sherpa Software announced key archiving enhancements to their database management solution, Database Attender for Lotus Notes 6.2 that will address compliance requirements and increase product performance while still offering a one-stop tool for managing database design, usage, ACLs and content. Database Attender Version 6.2 introduces new archiving functionality that can move critical documents to archive databases on other servers or NAS/SAN/WORM/DVD storage devices. Whether archiving is motivated by storage or compliance concerns, Database Attender can easily locate documents using retention criteria such as database size, document age, last modification/access date, creator/modifier or content and move them to a secure archive database. Once retention rules are established, they can be applied on a scheduled basis and information can be continuously archived without any further intervention.

IBM announced that it has completed its acquisition of Palisades Technology Partners, a privately held company based in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. The acquisition builds upon IBM’s ongoing strategy to leverage business consulting, IT services and software to develop integrated, replicable solutions that help clients optimize and transform their businesses. It will also enable IBM to deliver enhanced solutions to its clients in the finance and banking sectors.

Intradyn announced that it has expanded its line of appliances to now meet the email management needs of larger enterprises. Its new models have disk capacity of 1.5 and 3.7 terabytes. The ComplianceVault eSeries email archiving appliances also feature enhanced usability functions, even more powerful software, and the ability to now support a virtually unlimited number of mailboxes. Each is a complete, application-specific, plug-and-play network server optimized for high performance and high availability, with an easy-to-use web interface.

Allen Concepts has introduced the new KEYKatcher Magnum, the most advanced keystroke recording device on the market. The KEYKatcher Magnum is a stealthy, powerful, features-loaded, hardware device that allows you to monitor employee computer usage and content. Simply plug it in to the keyboard port and the KEYKatcher Magnum will record every keystroke. It’s the easiest and most efficient way to monitor workplace activity. The KEYKatcher Magnum records all keystrokes used in emails, instant messaging, correspondence, Web addresses, keyword searches, chat rooms and more. With a storage capacity that will capture 4MB about 2,500 pages of data, secure 128-bit encryption, patent-pending TrueStamp time/date stamp, NetPatrol and customized usage/productivity reports, the KEYKatcher Magnum hardware keylogger has what it takes for the most demanding monitoring tasks.

In a sign that quality control problems at Google persist, the Google Video team sent an email to about 50,000 recipients yesterday that may have contained a virus. The email was sent to a discussion list focused on its Google Video blog.

Has a software application "saved your life?" Has technology made you more productive or helped you to become a hero in your company? Basex, the technology analyst firm in the knowledge worker marketplace, wants to know, and is sponsoring The Office Worker Challenge to find out. The online contest, judged by Basex analysts, seeks the best examples of how office workers have adapted technology in creative ways. Entrants are encouraged to share success stories of how they were able to push the technology envelope, making an individual or company more successful, productive, agile and/or profitable. The three top submissions will win a brand new Palm Treo 680, Palm’s hip new quad-band smartphone. The best stories will be included in an upcoming book on office productivity; entrants can request a complimentary executive summary of the book.

The open-source Mozilla foundation released a batch of highly critical updates for the Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey brands and warned that unpatched users face the risk of PC takeover attacks. The Firefox update applies to Firefox 1.5x and does not affect the newer Firefox 2.0 version. Mozilla says Firefox 1.5.0.x will be maintained with security and stability updates until April 24, 2007. After that, support will only be extended to Firefox 2 users.

Dell, trying to demonstrate some innovation in a sector where it seeks to pick up market share, introduced a new removable disk-based storage device for data backup and restore that the company says combines the speed of a hard disk with the portability of tape. Aimed squarely small and midsize businesses, branch offices and individual power users, the PowerVault RD1000 is a removable disk drive designed for savvy business users, not IT professionals. They work specifically with Dell PowerEdge servers and Dell Precision workstations.