IBM turns back on servers

As odd as this may seem, IBM is not thinking about servers any more, says The Register.

According to the top minds at Big Blue's Systems and Technology Group - which designs and sells its servers, processors and storage - the future is not about making particular server architectures do jobs and fight for market share against other servers.

The future, it seems, will be about creating hybrid systems comprising different architectures, mixing multiple compute, storage and networking elements together and tuning them for specific jobs.

According to Canadian researchers, an electronic spy network, based mainly in China, has infiltrated computers from government offices around the world, reports the BBC.

They said the network had infiltrated 1 295 computers in 103 countries.

This included computers belonging to foreign ministries and embassies, and those linked with the Dalai Lama - Tibet's spiritual leader. There is no conclusive evidence China's government was behind it, researchers say. Beijing also denied involvement.

Xhead = Nato awards £40m communications contract

Nato has awarded a £40 million contract for the supply of a new communications system for the Nato Response Force to supplier EADS Defence & Security, reports Computing.co.uk.

The system will allow forces to deploy small (up to 20 users) or large (up to 150 users) communications headquarters in the field with both voice and data connections to other Nato forces.

EADS said it will provide a seamless transition with existing services.

When Facebook signed up its 100 millionth member last August, its employees spread out in two parks in Palo Alto, for a huge barbecue. Sometime this week, this five-year-old start-up, born in a dorm room at Harvard, expects to register its 200 millionth user, says CNet.

That staggering growth rate, doubling in size in just eight months, suggests Facebook is rapidly becoming the Web's dominant social ecosystem and an essential personal and business networking tool in much of the wired world.

Yet Facebook executives say they aren't planning to observe their latest milestone in any significant way. It is, perhaps, a poor time to celebrate. The company that has given users new ways to connect and speak truth to power now often finds itself as the target of that formidable grass-roots firepower - most recently over controversial changes it made to users' home pages.