Stories by Computerworld Staff

Briefs

BEA Systems Inc. in San Jose has unveiled WebLogic Commerce Server 2.0, a new component-based e-commerce transaction server and development environment. Based on the Java 2 Enterprise Edition standard, the server includes components for building online catalogs, shopping carts, order entry functions and inventory management services. WebLogic will be available in April for Windows NT and Solaris. Pricing starts at $40,000 per CPU.

Talk About Talking Heads

Do you want this animated character delivering your news? An L.A.-based startup is betting you will.

BoldFish Inc.

Location: 471 El Camino Real, Suite 110, Santa Clara, Calif. 95050

At Deadline

False Merger Posted On Biotech Firm's Site

Briefs

NetDelivery Corp. in Boulder, Colo., recently rolled out two new Web-based software platforms, NetDelivery Consolidex and NetDelivery Ceradex, for the safe and secure delivery of electronic documents. Available immediately, Consolidex is an end-to-end package for sending, tracking and monitoring electronic bills and financial documents, the company said. Due next month, Ceradex will manage the delivery of sensitive or high-value documents through an application service provider model.

Briefs

Hewlett-Packard Co. posted first-quarter revenue of $11.7 billion, up 14 percent from the same quarter last year. Net income for the quarter, ended Jan. 31, was $794 million, down from $882 million in the same period last year. The results include charges related to HP's spin-off of testing equipment division Agilent Technologies Inc. in Palo Alto, Calif. Those charges will be calculated when the spin-off is complete, HP said. It said its computer business grew 15 percent for the quarter in year-over-year terms.

Briefs

New York-based Kozmo.com Inc., an online delivery service company, has announced a five-year co-marketing agreement with Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. The deal will garner Starbucks $150 million from Kozmo.com and will provide the Internet retailer with publicity in Starbucks' coffee shops. In return, Kozmo.com will sell Starbucks coffee over the Internet.

Briefs

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shut down its Internet connection last week after receiving word that its main computer systems were easily hacked into by investigators from the General Accounting Office. The vulnerability, if left unchecked, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and expose trade secrets, the GAO said. Members of the House Commerce Committee made the incident public.

Shark Tank

LIVING DANGEROUSLY IT operations pilot fish, counting the hours till his "mucho fantastic date," is interrupted by a request: Could he process and print user reports urgently needed Monday morning? Pilot fish dutifully cancels hot date, and at 4 a.m. Sunday, finishes printing a small mountain of reports. Bright and early Monday, user shows up, selects one slim file and discards the rest - duplicates. Seems the programmer running the reports repeatedly canceled jobs but failed to kill them in the printer queue.

Briefs

Malin Systems in Manchester, England, has announced the MalinWitness face verification and identification software development kit (SDK). The kit offers facial analysis via feature verification and recognition, feature location and modeling techniques. By utilizing a 20-byte facial template, the SDK can also make a photo-realistic re-creation of a face. Off-the-shelf applications for mug shot verification and identification, surveillance modules and a client/server version of Malin Witness are expected to be released later this year. Prices start at $3,995, and a free 15-day downloadable trial version is available.

Conferences

Directions: Value Propositions for e-Business 2.0

A Glossary of Windows 2000 Terms

Can't see the forest for the noncontiguous subtrees? Understanding Win 2k terminology might keep your staff out of the woods.

CA to Buy Sterling for $4B

Computer Associates International Inc. said this morning that it plans to acquire e-commerce software vendor Sterling Software Inc. in a $4 billion stock deal.

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