A congressional panel voted against the Bush administration’s wishes, to shield journalists including advertising-supported bloggers from having to reveal their confidential sources in many situations.

By a voice vote only after politicians spent nearly two hours airing various misgivings, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved an amended version of the Free Flow of Information Act. Chiefly sponsored by Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.), it proposes protection for a wider set of people than previous years’ versions.

Microsoft has succeeded in fracturing the Linux and open-source community with the patent indemnity agreements it has entered into with several prominent vendors, Ubuntu leader and Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth told eWEEK.

The strategy behind that was to drive a wedge into the open-source community and unsettle the marketplace, Shuttleworth said. He also took issue with the Redmond, Wash., software maker for not disclosing the 235 of its patents it claims are being violated by Linux and other open-source software.

Kaspersky Lab, provider of Internet security software solutions that protect against viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware, crimeware, rootkits, phishing, hacker attacks and spam, has launched version 7.0 of Kaspersky Anti-Virus and Kaspersky Internet Security. Offering Triple Protection in a single box, these products deliver the highest detection rates, fastest response to new threats and proactive protection against known and unknown threats. Providing enhanced protection against Internet fraud and online identity theft, Kaspersky Internet Security’s added features now help keep children safe online, as well as providing personal data protection.

The anonymous writer of a prominent blog which lampoons Apple boss Steve Jobs has been unmasked. "The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs," in which the writer pretended to be the Apple chief executive, has become a must-read for technology watchers.

After months of speculation, the New York Times reported that the writer was Daniel Lyons, a senior editor at business magazine Forbes. Despite the unmasking, the diary will continue but on the Forbes Web site.

PeopleCube, provider of on-demand calendaring, resource and event management solutions, announced the latest version of Resource Scheduler, the popular room, resource and office hoteling management solution for organizations of all sizes. This new release, available on-demand or on-premise, includes several usability enhancements to improve reservation workflow and the overall end user experience. Among the highlighted features included in this release is an updated user interface, conflict resolution for recurring meetings, kiosk support for office hoteling and hot desking, lobby display support, and additional enhancements to the Resource Scheduler for Outlook/Exchange module.

Further, this new release supports the new Resource Scheduler API (Application Programming Interface). This new API enables partners, system integrators and other organizations to easily integrate Resource Scheduler functionality into display devices, reservation kiosks, and other third-party applications such as SalesForce.com, facility management systems, and others.

Every workplace has its share of good guys and bad, solo artists and team players. To get ahead–or even just survive–you need to know them all: the good eggs who can become your allies, and the bad apples to avoid (or occasionally placate). Here’s a handy guide to the 10 most common types of office politicians, with tips on how to manage them.

The office is a jungle. That’s why intrepid employees need a field guide to help them spot and identify the most powerful creature in the workplace: the boss. Here are ten common examples of the species, along with care and feeding tips should you encounter a manager in the wild. [Ed.–With the exception of "Our Hero," I’ve worked for just about every one of these types.]

A 10-year-old security problem has come back to haunt corporate IT, a security researcher told an audience at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas.

Dan Kaminsky, director of penetration testing for IO Active, showed how problems in the way browser software works with the Internet’s domain name system could be exploited to give attackers access to any resources behind the corporate firewall.

The commonwealth of Massachusetts has officially thrown its weight behind Microsoft’s Office Open XML format along with the OASIS Open Document Format.

In July, the commonwealth added Microsoft’s format, also known as Ecma-376 or Open XML, to the list of approved standards in a draft of the Massachusetts ETRM (Enterprise Technical Reference Model), an architectural framework used to identify the standards, specifications and technologies that support Massachusetts’ computing environment.

With all the hype being gathered up by Microsoft Office 2007, there is a tendency to forget about Microsoft’s other office suite known as Microsoft Works. For many years, Works has been seen by many as the less-expensive, bare-essentials version of Office. While Works has always been a somewhat attractive option due to its low price, competition from OpenOffice and Google Docs & Spreadsheets has forced Microsoft to do something drastic: release Microsoft Works 9.0 for free.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Search & Advertising, recently said that the upcoming release of Works, presumably titled Works 9.0, will definitely be funded by advertisements. A free, ad-driven version of Works has been in Microsoft’s plans for some time.