Peter Coffee

When people use the phrase, “last in, first out” (or LIFO), it would be nice if they were talking about warehouse management or inventory accounting. In todays economy, sad to say, the label often refers to people: The staff most recently hired are the first to be let go, putting a damper on the aggressive […]

Shrinking wireless ethernet access to the size of a CompactFlash card, this Proxim 802.11b transceiver is part of the Harmony product line honored as this years Best of Comdex wireless network technology. It offers 11M-bps data rates at up to 460 feet from the nearest access point in unobstructed environments, Proxim officials said. But, at […]

In his keynote speech this month at the Internet World Exhibition in New York, Compaq Chairman and CEO Michael Capellas proposed a dangerously self-serving view of the mission of IT vendors. Predicting greater enterprise emphasis on what he called “rich media,” Capellas said, “Were used to looking at data that has nice rows and columns […]

What could be harder to own than a string of bits? It costs essentially nothing to copy, its unauthorized copying leaves no trace upon the original, the copy probably cant be provably traced to the original—but in most cases, you cant use what you own without exposing it to others who might abuse it in […]

From the next room, I hear a conversation: “I know hes busy now, but he needs that training if were going to do that project in the next cycle.” It sounds like any meeting of IT managers discussing one of their key people, but its two of my sons playing Xicat Interactives PC game “Cultures.” […]

Only 4 by 8 by 1.3 inches, the 10-ounce origami multifunction device combines camera, Web terminal, MP3 player and (with a Bluetooth-linked Mobile Gateway module) videophone capability—just fold it into the shape that suits the task at hand. Shown at Comdex last month by National Semiconductor, the proof-of-concept prototype was co-developed with CoCom International to […]

My latest visit with CBS News was not to chat about antitrust, privacy or e-business. They wanted to talk about game machines: The Toy, The Tool and The Platform, as I call the three contenders in this holiday seasons biggest fight for your wallets. The Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox each represent […]

Law enforcement agencies see a growing share of communications moving from traditional channels to the Internet. In their effort to respond with new collection and monitoring measures that balance security with the expectation of privacy, these agencies face the same dilemma that marked the punishment of the mythical Tantalus, who was condemned to hang from […]

If radio-frequency wireless links are too insecure for your taste, why not move up the electromagnetic spectrum to nearly intercept-proof point-to-point laser? This Freespace Lite laser node, shown at Comdex by British vendor Akhter Computers (www.akhter.com), is ready to keep you connected at Ethernet speed across distances of up to 1,000 feet; high-end Freespace Turbo […]

In this series on enterprise security, eWeek Labs has so far explored the elements of assessment, prevention, detection and response, each of which requires a variety of tools, products and services. In this concluding segment, we focus on the strategies that can quietly prevent a world of security threats from becoming costly and disruptive breaches. […]