Jim Rapoza

When some new disease or potential epidemic hits the newsstands, people inevitably start doing things they think will protect them. Of course, this isnt anything new—people always react strangely when a threat emerges. And the things people do to ward off new threats are usually simply amusing—such as not eating cooked chicken to prevent catching […]

Its long been commonplace to find open-source portals that rival or better their commercial counterparts in features and capabilities. And for a few years now, open-source portals have featured intuitive and flexible browser-based administration interfaces. Click here to read the full review of Liferay Portal 3.6.1. 2 Its long been commonplace to find open-source portals […]

Way back when i was an undergraduate, I dated a girl for several months who was basically everything a young college guy could want: pretty, fun, adventurous and a little dark. She reminded me of a classic femme fatale. (And, yeah, she smoked.) Eventually, we ended up taking the same class. At first, I thought […]

Youll have to forgive me if this column seems a little jumpy or disjointed. Im writing it using a stylus and a tablet PC, and Im trying to get used to them. Aw, who am I kidding? There is no way I would write anything as long as this column using a stylus and a […]

Making predictions is a tough business, and youre just as likely to be wrong as you are to be right. But, as a columnist, sometimes I just have to go out on a limb. About a year ago, for example, I wrote a column about the mistakes I thought Microsoft was making with the Internet […]

Is the latest version of Macromedia Inc.s Studio suite a swan song before its eventual absorption into Adobe Systems Inc.s Creative Suite? Or is Studio 8 simply what it appears to be—a major upgrade that significantly improves the two core components of the suite while removing an old component and adding some new ones? Click […]

After expressing frustration in past columns about some damaging and idiotic law or policy, Ive sometimes stated that things would be a lot different if I were Lord Emperor of the Earth. I have no doubt the world would be a better place if I were ruling over all humankind with an iron, er, velvet […]

A couple of games designed to help developers learn the ins and outs of good coding have recently been released. This is a great model, as games can be terrific learning tools. But it did get me wondering: Why hasnt anyone developed such a game for IT managers? Ive taken it upon myself to fill […]

It turns out that Im a really naive person. I thought I was arguing in favor of innovation when I was writing columns attacking software patents. It seemed obvious to me that software patents served mainly to stop innovation by real developers, who have come to fear teams of lawyers arguing that the coders projects […]

Bring up the term “corporate blogging” in a group of technology workers, and theres bound to be a few snickers as images are conjured of lame and infrequent executive-level blogs or marketing campaigns disguised as blogs. Click here to read the full review of WordPress 1.5.2. 2 Bring up the term “corporate blogging” in a […]