Timothy Dyck

There is depressingly little that can be done to mitigate the negative impact of security patches, but there are steps IT managers can take to avoid problems in the first place. The cardinal rule is to test patches before rolling them out. The best way to avoid patching problems, however, is to not need a […]

An old Net adage is that the best way to get a quick answer to your question is to post a wrong answer to it. Nothing draws the lurkers out like the chance to correct someone elses mistake. Posting benchmark results online are a prima facie example—on first glance, most people who feel that their […]

The latest release of DB2, IBMs flagship database, strengthens its ability to stay able-bodied and available under demanding workloads and through administrative changes that previously disrupted service. DB2 8.1—there is no Version 8.0—started shipping late last month and provides a number of fit-and-finish and performance updates to the products core engine, as well as new […]

The next big upgrade of the Linux kernel, now known to be Version 2.6, will provide significant performance gains on higher-end machines as well as more responsiveness on the desktop. The kernel is expected to be declared stable by the middle of next year. On the desktop, users should notice a smoother computing experience with […]

Component-oriented technologies (such as Java 2 Enterprise Edition and .Net Framework) and the hierarchical XML data format have natural synergies with databases that allow developers to store complex objects in their original formats. These synergies are boosting the fortunes of databases that have engine-level support for nonrelational data types. InterSystems hybrid object-relational database, Caché 5, […]

eWEEK Labs fourth OpenHack online security test provided a number of lessons on how to protect corporate data. It also offered further proof that when it comes to security, the devil truly is in the details. OpenHack is an interactive security evaluation, where a heterogeneous deployment of corporate IT products is evaluated for its ability […]

Hear that giant sucking sound? Its all the IT data that employees create that gets laboriously created, checked and formatted, and then is never used again. Word processors and spreadsheets are the top offenders here, and whole industries (such as search engine products and content management systems) have grown up to help improve data reuse […]

As software grows larger, ways to test that software need to keep pace. Microsofts Programmer Productivity Research Center has developed a way to use binary comparisons between two versions of a compiled program to infer which software tests should be run on it. “We built a test prioritization system,” said Microsoft Distinguished Engineer Amitabh Srivastava. […]

Altova GMBHs XML Spy has long been a strong player in the XML space, and Version 5 of the XML editor raises the bar even higher. Of all the XML editors eWEEK Labs has seen—and weve seen a lot—the $990 XML Spy 5.0 Enterprise Edition provides the best overall combination of editing power and usability, […]

Last month, I met with Microsofts James Hamilton, an architect of Microsoft SQL Server, to be briefed on upcoming security changes in the next release of SQL Server, code-named Yukon, which is expected to begin beta testing in the first half of next year. The most significant security change in Yukon—and one that hadnt been […]