Jim Rapoza

Engineering Adventures Straight2web 2.02 is a Web site creation and design tool that has more in common with form-based content management systems than it does with traditional WYSIWYG authoring tools. To create a site with Straight2web 2.02, released last month, users follow a step-by-step process to design a site layout and pages, add content, and […]

An interesting thing happened during the past year or so, basically since Microsoft Corp. announced it was getting out of the stand-alone browser suite market: So-called alternative browser suites, from Mozilla to Opera, have introduced some of the most compelling innovations, new features and capabilities the market has ever seen. Click here to read the […]

You cant say I didnt warn you, software vendors. Time and again, I—and many other columnists and security pundits—have pointed out that if you didnt get your act together when it came to securing your product and writing quality code, your customers would eventually hold you accountable. Well, guess what: That time has come, and […]

The rise of JavaServer technology, XML and Web services, all of which have been adopted by major portal vendors, has made it easier to move portlets among portals. But developing in portals can still be a problem, especially with standard tool sets. Many portals have excellent development environments, but these can be hard for some […]

Load-testing tools can help Web site developers and managers get a good idea of how their sites will perform under virtually generated peak-traffic loads. But these tools arent as useful when a site goes live—then the IT staff needs to know how a site is performing for real, not with virtual users. Click here to […]

If you think a proposed bill designed to give consumers the right to make backup copies of DVDs doesnt have much to do with your day-to-day IT operation, youre wrong. H.R. 107, the Digital Media Consumers Rights Act of 2003, was introduced by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and is designed to ensure fair-use rights for […]

When it comes to building Java server applications, a good enterprise messaging system is a core technology for providing stable communications in the application framework. However, because messaging—and Java Message Service, specifically—is a core technology, it is often included with Java application servers. Click here to read the full review of SonicMQ 6.0. 2 When […]

When a company finds that Web site performance isnt meeting expectations, the typical response is to throw more hardware at the problem. But businesses can also turn to software accelerators that improve performance by caching requested content. eWEEK Labs looked at accelerators from Warp Solutions Inc. and Stampede Technologies Inc. Warps SpiderCache has steadily gotten […]

One of my all-time favorite things about Microsoft is the code names it uses for its upcoming products. Throughout the years, it has used everything from city names (Chicago) to negative weather conditions (HailStorm). I love that one can almost always find two meanings in the code name—one Microsoft clearly intended and one that doesnt […]

XML has become the lingua franca of business-to-business communications, but a lot of content is not created as XML. And many companies may want to convert invoices, reports and data files into XML without having to invest in an entire BPM platform to do so. Datawatchs VorteXML Version 3 provides an effective, easy-to-use, Windows-based GUI […]

Its the beginning of your regular workday. You sit down at your desk and start going through the breaking tech news and looking through e-mail alerts. A big story about a new and dangerous Internet worm immediately catches your attention because the worm exploits an old security problem in Windows servers and you know that […]

Those who are developing Web services often lack the testing and management tools that are taken for granted in other development environments. Also, many Web services projects are low on the company radar and in trial phases, so it can be tough to get the budget to purchase a high-end system to manage them. Thats […]