Why is IBM declaring war on Cisco?

IBM is buying Blade Network Technologies (BNT) and people are bemused beyond belief, especially a correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous but is close-ish to IBM.

He thinks that the BNT purchase might be “Juniper on the cheap” and if so is “totally stupid.”

He characterises IBM CEO Sam Palmisano as a CEO who “doesn’t collect companies.” Instead he pursues “margin expansion with modest revenue growth,” and is “getting out of commoditising markets.”

He says “IBM has been building multi-processor systems for three decades, so [is] more than capable of glueing stuff together for low latency without having to buy anyone, at a development cost.” Also “IBM spending time on [IEEE 802.1]Qbg can only be to help commoditise this space.”

In the Z11 mainframe area it is “beyond curiosity why would anyone care who manufactures the LAN switch inside its cabinet.”

IBM’s networking strategy has been poor. O

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Can Your Phone Replace a Doctor’s Visit? Plus Apps to Use and to Avoid

Yeah, we know: there’s an app for that. But in the category of medical apps, you might be surprised at what you find. Far from just counting calories or reminding people to take their meds, these apps promise to teach CPR and monitor diabetics’ insulin levels. On a less life-threatening level, they can help couples conceive, clear acne, relieve headaches, and even induce sleep. And it’s not just Apple’s ubiquitous iOS platform; Android and BlackBerry boast their share of grandiose medical apps as well. We asked a panel of experts just how effective (and safe) these apps can be.

See our picks for the best medical apps and the wackiest medical apps.

Touch in Case of Emergency

One way to gauge the legitimacy of an app is to check its origins. Pocket

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Top 10 Mobile Gadgets You Can’t Buy in the U.S.

When it comes to small and innovative new devices, Americans often the get short shrift from manufacturers. Perhaps our love of oversized 15-inch laptops is to blame, or maybe U.S. retailers are just much more conservative than those in other countries. Whatever the case, there are a slew of exciting tablets, netbooks, and MIDs that are selling in Europe or Asia, but not in the United States. We hope some of these goodies will eventually make their way here, but until then, you may just be able to get one on eBay.

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WeTab

This 11.6-inch, 1366×768 resolution tablet is the first to feature Intel’s Meego operating system.

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Fujitsu starts building 10 petaflops Sparc64 super

Server and chip maker Fujitsu is starting to ship the Sparc-based supercomputer server nodes that are part part of Japan’s “Kei” 10 petaflops supercomputer.

As El Reg previously reported, back in January 2006 Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) hired indigenous server makers NEC, Hitachi, and Fujitsu to share in the development and manufacturing of a 10 petaflops massively parallel supercomputer.

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10 Ways to Make a Notebook Look Cheap

Every year at LAPTOP, we test hundreds of different notebooks. That’s hundreds of keyboards to type on, touchpads to stroke, buttons to press, and webcams to stare at. After playing with so many systems over the years, I’ve gotten a good sense of what makes a notebook feel like a premium product and what should give a buyer pause.

Many notebooks with these issues are still good products, and I’ll even recommend some of them. However, I’m dismayed that in order to save a few pennies many manufacturers decide to cut corners at your expense. Here are some of the most egregious offenses.

1. Flexing

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