Stories by: Linda Leung

IBM opened the doors to its R&D lab in Silicon Valley last week to show off some of the research that is happening around its research facilities in the United States. These include 'IBM's Next Five in Five,' a list of innovations that Big Blue believes could affect the way people work, live and play over the next five years.

Novell is this week is expected to launch on its training Web site an online Linux skills assessment tool that will give you immediate feedback on your level of Linux knowledge and recommend some training and courseware to get you on your way to servicing Novell's Linux platform.

Information security, VoIP, Java and Linux are key growth areas for US training in 2005, according to training provider The Training Camp.

Students and staff at the University of San Francisco failed in their attempt last Saturday to build a supercomputer that would run a benchmark fast enough to secure it a place in the Top 500 list of supercomputers.

As expected, Sun Microsystems Inc. formally unveiled its N1 initiative at its SunNetwork conference last week and also used the show to detail plans to offer Linux-based desktop computers.

IBM's strategy to beef up Linux for the enterprise could increase the tension between the computer giant and the open-source community, according to an analyst.

Cisco Systems, which had been one of the most acquisitive vendors in the IT industry, now says it plans to scale back and be more discriminatory when purchasing other networking companies due to the depressed economy.