The role of the mainframe continues to evolve as enterprises become increasingly dependent on scalable, available and secure IT services capable of supporting large-scale database activity and intense transaction loads. At the same time, people with the skills necessary to effectively manage mainframe platforms are becoming more expensive to hire and more difficult to find. IT organizations are therefore under significant pressure to improve the efficiency and effectiveness with which they govern, manage and secure their mainframe environments.

David Greschler is the director of virtualization strategy, System Center division at Microsoft. He is a director of System Center marketing, and is focused on virtualization management tools for the desktop and datacenter. David came to Microsoft with the July 2006 acquisition of Softricity. Prior to joining Microsoft, he was co-founder of Softricity, developers of SoftGrid and the originator and leading vendor of the application virtualization industry. With more than 20 years of pioneering experience in the computer field, David has held various positions at the MIT Media Lab and The Computer Museum, and holds numerous virtualization patents.

The e-mails were from unidentified people pretending to be UT information technology support representatives. Not knowing this, the receivers of the e-mail scams replied with the wanted information and ultimately became part of a practice called thishing.?The goal of most phishing incidences is to retrieve valuable information from account holders such as usernames and passwords.

Roomlinx Inc., a leading provider of wireless and wired Internet solutions to the hospitality industry, announces the official launch today of its In-Room Media & Entertainment solution for hotels, resorts, and timeshare properties. The Roomlinx system gives guests instant access to the most comprehensive group of interactive services ever created for in-room access. An interactive demo of the system can be scheduled via the company's new Web site, also launched today.

"This investment plan builds on Cisco's 15-year history in the region and demonstrates our commitment to the future of the country. It also firmly establishes the UAE as a center for innovation and not just a user of technology," said Mountford. The other investment plans include expansion of Cisco Networking Academies to further develop an educated local pool of talent that can build and manage sustained networks in the future. Cisco currently operates 39 Academies in the UAE.

A help desk is found throughout the internet on websites that require your input. Web merchants have them. Websites with message boards often have them. Their main point is to allow you the opportunity gather the information you need to finish your task. Let's say that you are in need of a password for a website. If there is an icon labeled help desk, you can click on it. You may have to do a search for the topic you need. You may have to browse through a list of frequently asked questions. But, often it will take you to a web page that you can send an email to the actual help desk. That desk?is a contact that can answer your question for you. While it is not an immediate response, it can be responded to within a day or so. Some websites offer help desks that move much quicker, others slower.

Adequate computer equipment is no longer a problem for most public K-12 schools in the U.S. The national student to computer ratio during the 1999-2000 academic year was 4.9-to-1, down from 9.1-to-1 in 1995. The student to multimedia computer ratio improved even more dramatically, dropping from 21.2-to-1 in 1997 to 7.9-to-1 in 2000. And the number of schools with Internet access tripled from 32 percent in 1997 to 94 percent in 2000. But while the nation's schools spent an estimated $5.67 billion on educational technology during the 1999-2000 academic year - an average of $121.37 per student - just 17 percent of it was allocated for staff development.

Based on the half-dozen business proposals that come across Synerzip CEO Hemant Elhence's desk each month, "2 out of 5 founders are now very interested in outsourcing software development offshore from Day One. Ten years ago, no startup ever thought about doing development offshore," says Elhence. The Dallas-based firm provides offshore software development services to early-stage companies that typically receive VC funds.

Nick Payne, director of strategy, Sunrise Software, said: "The help desk is increasingly becoming an organisational imperative as it helps businesses to deliver competitive advantage through improved customer service. Only by reviewing the help desk with an independent, analytical approach can an organisation effectively measure their help desk performance against set objectives."

Why not? asked Calvin Sun, a consultant from Paoli, Pennsylvania, when he started his Technology Horizons "IT charm school" (www.calvinsun.com) for computer professionals in 1997. IT workers from all walks of lifeveryone from the front-line support staff to system specialist save a hard time getting along with the world outside, says Sun, and teaching employees to don a nice cap can only help boost the bottom line.