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InformationWeek Analytics, the leading service for peer-based IT research and analysis, today announced the release of its "Research: 2010 State of Database Technology" report. More than 750 business technology professionals weigh in on their database strategies. Report author Richard Winter is founder and president of WinterCorp, an independent consulting firm that specializes in the performance and scalability of data management systems. Research Summary: Our first InformationWeek Analytics State of Database Technology Survey reveals serious fault lines beneath the critically important enterprise database and data warehousing markets. The 755 business technology professionals taking part in our poll express discontent with rising...

Oracle, now the keeper of the Java flame through its acquisition of Sun Microsystems, has decided that Google has sullied Java through its modifications for the Android platform. For that, Google must pay, and it must pay Oracle. At least that's the way Oracle sees things. Microsoft must be laughing at this turn of events. Recall that Sun went after Microsoft in the 1990s for similar transgressions against the purity of Java. Sun's catch phrase of the hour was "Write Once, Run Anywhere". The changes Microsoft made in the Java VM allowed Java apps to access Windows-specific functionality if they...

Oracle has responded to HP's lawsuit against new hire Mark Hurd. In short, Larry Ellison is ready to fight! Here's the statement: “Oracle has long viewed HP as an important partner,” said Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. “By filing this vindictive lawsuit against Oracle and Mark Hurd, the HP board is acting with utter disregard for that partnership, our joint customers, and their own shareholders and employees. The HP Board is making it virtually impossible for Oracle and HP to continue to cooperate and work together in the IT marketplace."

It took Hewlett-Packard less than a day to file a lawsuit against its former chief executive, Mark V. Hurd, over his decision to join its rival and partner Oracle as a co-president. H.P. filed its lawsuit on Tuesday in the Superior Court of California in Santa Clara, claiming that Mr. Hurd had breached his contract with the company. The lawsuit said that Mr. Hurd could use his intimate knowledge of H.P. and its trade secrets to aid Oracle and harm H.P. The two companies compete in the market for computer servers, storage systems and business software. Mr. Hurd resigned from...

Oracle hires HP's former chief Mark Hurd Credit: Reuters/Fred Prouser/Files By Megan Davies and Ritsuko Ando NEW YORK | Tue Sep 7, 2010 9:32am EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Silicon Valley technology giant Oracle Corp has hired Mark Hurd, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co who resigned amid a scandal, as president. Hurd, a close friend of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison will replace Charles Phillips, who has resigned, Oracle said in a statement on Monday. Phillips was co-president alongside Safra Catz, who remains in her role. Ellison had slammed HP's decision to oust Hurd, calling the actions of HP's...

Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu Linux, says Oracle's move is "going to be a significant setback for their relationship with the broader open source community." Before it was purchased by Oracle, Sun Microsystems enjoyed a strong relationship with the open source community, particularly for its Java programming language, which the company evolved over time to adapt to an open source framework. But last week Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) surprised the open source community with a patent infringement suit against Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), over the search giant's use of Java in Android, its open source mobile operating system. Datamation reports on...

Two Silicon Valley heavyweights are about to reenact the Java wars: this time, in a court room. Oracle issued a press release late Thursday saying it has filed suit against Google for infringing on copyrights and patents related to Java, which Oracle acquired along with Sun Microsystems earlier this year. The terse release claimed Google "knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle's Java-related intellectual property." A copy of the complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, says that "Android (including without limitation the Dalvik VM and the Android software development kit) and devices...

BERLIN - Some Germans are calling for a public roasting of the oracle octopus who correctly picked the winner of all six of their national soccer team's World Cup matches -- including a bitter defeat to Spain on Wednesday. Paul, a two-year-old octopus in a German aquarium, turned into a global celebrity for his uncanny ability to predict the winner of all Germany's matches -- even a group stage defeat to Serbia and an ousting by Spain in the semi-finals.... Not an ordinarily superstitious people, Germans became believers in Paul's possible psychic powers. The country was shocked and distraught when...

Just a day after several media sites, including this one, had Larry Ellison minutes away from a microphone to announce he was going to buy the Golden State Warriors-- came the news that the deal is off. Instead, Comcast Sports Net, the Bay Area News Group, and CNBC are reporting that Joe Lacob, managing partner at private equity firm Kleiner Perkins, and Peter Guber, chairman of Mandalay Entertainment and producer of "Batman," have won the bid for the team. Their winning bid, according to CNBC, was a record $450 million. That was apparently enough cash to cause Ellison to fold...

Your long, tightwad-ownership nightmare is reportedly over, Warriors fans. The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that software tycoon Larry Ellison has won the bidding process and will soon be announced as the new owner of the Golden State Warriors. KNBR and the Chronicle are both reporting the official announcement will come by the close of business today. The dollar amount of Ellison's winning bid is not yet public, but the Oakland Tribune reports that he beat out a $350 million offer from 24-Hour Fitness owner Mark Mastrov. Ellison has long been the Bay Area's favorite obnoxious and ruthless billionaire. His...

Spain worried about safety of new world star Paul the Octopus Posted : Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:42:23 GMT By : Wolfgang Dahlmann Oberhausen, Germany - Paul the Octopus has turned into a global superstar revolving around the 2010 World Cup, with top political leaders in Spain even worried about the oracle mussel-eater's safety. /snip Two glass cubes are baited with mussels and marked with flags of Germany and Uruguay. The mussel Paul chooses first is viewed by his handlers as his prediction. While Spanish football supporters are in heaven about La Roja reaching their first World Cup final, politicians...

A lot of people believe that Oracle last week left no doubt that it will wield MySQL as a potent weapon to fight Microsoft for database market share. The company announced several new MySQL products at a conference in California and reaffirmed its commitment to the open-source software it acquired from Sun Microsystems earlier this year. As reported by Reuters, "In a bid to woo customers from rival Microsoft Corp, Oracle Corp will boost investment in the widely used MySQL open-source database." A ZDNet blogger said Oracle MySQL head honcho Edward Screven noted that "more customers deploy MySQL on Windows...

OpenOffice 3.2 is available for download. Improvements in the latest release of the open source office suite include faster start-ups, improved compatibility with other office programs, and several new features (with special attention to the Calc spreadsheet program.) At the same time, the OpenOffice.org team is celebrating its tenth anniversary and a claimed total 300 million downloads of the office software since its initial launch. They say that just over a year since its launch, OpenOffice 3 has logged over one third of those downloads from the central server alone. (Thanks in a large part to Germans, Czechs, and Poles,...

Click Link www.sun.com sigh....

Obama economic advisor and Oracle tech exec Charles Phillips allegedly lied to his mistress. When they starting dating in 2001, Phillips, 50, told YaVaughnie Wilkins he was separated. Two years later, he told her the divorce had been finalized. Making $20M a year, he whisked Wilkins around the world and in 2008 moved her into an $11M San Francisco mansion, near his wife's $6M spread. Jilted Wilkins had billboards erected near Times Square and Atlanta, displaying the two lovers, and directed onlookers to a Web site which chronicles their love affair.

Oracle president Charles Phillips' dirty laundry hung up in Times SquareBy Patrick May Updated: 01/23/2010 11:33:54 AM PST Their ill-fated romance seemed to cry out for a tabloid headline: TECH TITAN BURNED IN BIG APPLE BY JILTED GAL PAL After days of thickening innuendo across the Internet, Oracle co-president and Obama adviser Charles Phillips acknowledged Friday that he had had a long affair with the woman whose smiling mug was plastered beside his all week on New York City billboards. The one overlooking Times Square stretched three-stories high and featured the married former U.S. Marine captain with YaVaughnie Wilkins, a...

Reporting from San Francisco - A prominent Silicon Valley executive with ties to the Obama administration has admitted to an extramarital affair after his former mistress plastered romantic pictures of the two of them on giant billboards in three major cities. "I had an 8½-year serious relationship with YaVaughnie Wilkins," said Charles E. Phillips, co-president of Oracle Corp. and a member of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. "The relationship with Ms. Wilkins has since ended, and we both wish each other well." Wilkins, a writer and actress, this week had a three-story-tall sign put up near Times Square in...

On first glance, it could be the ultimate Valentine's Day card -- a gigantic billboard that towers over New York's Times Square, featuring a happy couple with the text: "You are my soulmate forever, Charles & YaVaughnie." But as every scorned lover knows, looks can be deceiving. This billboard -- which also has gone up in Atlanta and San Francisco -- is the ultimate act of revenge -- a very public retaliation by a dumped mistress aimed at a very wealthy, and married, businessman who is an adviser to President Obama. YaVaughnie Wilkins posted the signs after she learned that...

John Kerry, Orrin Hatch and 57 other senators have written to the European Commission accusing it of taking too long to approve Oracle's takeover of Sun in order to deliberately damage US business. In an open letter Senator John Kerry (Mass) said: "The EC is within its sovereign rights to set the rules for operation in its market [thanks John], but with our Department of Justice having made a compelling case that the merger does not pose a threat to competition, it is fair to ask the EC for the basis on which a delay on decision making is warranted...

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison commissioned the fabricators at Kirkham Motorsports to build the ultimate, cost-is-no-object roadster. After years of labor, they've completed the all-billet aluminum Cobra. Click "more" to see them build one of the most spectacular custom cars ever.