58,000 gallons of oil were released into San Francisco Bay, and only around 12,000 gallons have been contained, according to CNN.  Google comes into the matter with a post on the LatLong blog; James DeBoer writes, “The San Francisco Chronicle’s map provides numerous pictures of the slick and cleanup.  The KCBS map also shows areas affected and roughly how far the oil has travelled.”

Of course, that announcement amounts to a relatively minor role; it’s the users of Google’s software that are doing the heavy lifting.  The search giant is probably proud of this, though, since it means that things are moving forward without money and a PR machine behind them.

Google Maps and Google Earth have now been used to cover fires, floods, and a bridge collapse (in addition to the oil spill).  Various news programs employ the software on what seems like a daily basis, as well.  Google’s not omnipresent quite yet, but it’s definitely getting there.

Google Maps and Google Earth have been helpful in other emergencies; both the flooding in England and the bridge collapse in Minnesota saw them receive international attention.  Now, it’s possible that information available on the two programs will save some lives.

The Google LatLong Blog points to a KPBS map “that includes up-to-date news on the spread of the fire and shows the location of evacuated areas, Red Cross evacuation centers, and closed highways.”  It’s likely that firefighters will use the information to plan their activities.  At the very least, the map should, as in those previous instances, keep everyone aware of the ongoing issues.

There are also maps featuring imagery from the U.S. Forest Service and NASA, as well as one showing time-lapse animations.  Yahoo’s even getting in on the story thanks to Flickr, where hundreds of photos related to the fires have been posted.

The only unfortunate thing about the Internet companies’ involvement is a Google Trends report; searches related to Stevenson Ranch are common enough to have been called “on fire.”

For Eons, 24 is a significant number – it equals about one-third of the company’s personnel.  But don’t think poorly of those who are left; Xconomy’s Robert Buderi writes, “The perception is that the company – bloated in staff, with too many projects taking too many resources – is finally ‘focusing in on what works and jettisoning all the stuff that didn’t work,’ according to our source.”

Eons, by the way, is a social network for folks over the age of 50.  Icons on the homepage lead to sections about people, fun, love, money, body, “lifepath,” obits, games, and travel.  The most morbid of those – obits – is being viewed as dead weight, as is the area in which there are so many focused competitors – travel.

Aspects of the organization seem quite logical, then, and in no way should this development be seen as a sign that Eons is failing; just six months ago, the social network received $22 million in funding.

Still, it’ll be interesting to see what sort of lifespan – and what sort of success – the company experiences.  In the “About Us” section, founder and CEO Jeff Taylor writes, “Let’s Live to Be 100 (or die trying)!”

Microsoft’s general counsel and senior VP Brad Smith issued a statement in answer to the threats of fines made by the EC. Smith referred to technical documentation submitted to the EC, and said the EC had not even “read or reviewed these new documents.”

“We think it would have been reasonable for the Commission and the Trustee at least to read and review these new documents before criticizing them as being insufficient,” Smith said in the statement.

That alleged insufficiency could lead to the EC fining Microsoft over $2 million per day, an outcome Microsoft said it wants to avoid and has been trying to do so. “We continue working quickly to meet the Commission’s new and changing demands. Yet every time we make a change, we find that the Commission moves the goal post and demands another change.”

Smith cited the persistent concern that Microsoft has regarding the opening of its code to third parties:

Microsoft plans to appeal the latest developments in the case to the European Union’s legal system. The code disclosure issue alone could keep the case going well into 2006, when Microsoft releases the Vista operating system, if the EC continues to demand more documentation.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

Google Maps Hybrid mode combines the features of Google Maps with Google Earth, allowing the user to zoom in on a target and simultaneously see an aerial view with road maps superimposed.

While some have remarked on the exceptional utility of MSN VE (one notable feature is the ability to use a mouse scroll to zoom in and out and pan across), an amateur searcher may have trouble finding anything outside of the United States, and definitely won’t see any landscape shots.

Additionally, someone not so skilled in the mouse-handling department may find the easy scrolling difficult to manage (I’m pretty good with a mouse and ended up overshooting a few times).

Ask VE to find Japan, and it takes you to Missouri. Ask Google Maps to do the same thing and you not only get remote locations, but you can zoom down far enough to see the rivers and mountains and even the crater atop Mt. Fuji (Fuji-san, to the locals).

This was good timing on Google’s part. The hybrid version should be impressive and utilitarian enough to knock the wind out of MSN’s sails.

In response to Microsoft’s lawsuit; which was a response to Google’s hiring of a then Microsoft employ; Google has requested a court discard the MS suit. According to The Inquirer, Google claims Microsoft’s suit amounts to intimidation and has no grounds to proceed.

Microsoft filed their lawsuit after Google announced the hiring of Dr. Kai-Fu Lee to head the soon-to-be established Google Chinese research and development facility. Microsoft claims Dr. Lee violated signed noncompete agreements by accepting the Google position.

ZDNet’s article contains a quote from Google’s associate general counsel Nicole Wong, who says:

“It’s about intimidation pure and simple. Their actions in trying to prevent Dr. Lee from joining Google is clearly an illegal restraint of trade.”

Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest search news.

Earlier today, it was reported that Google would be opening a new research and development facility in China while taking Dr Kai-Fu Lee with them. Before joining Google (and I mean directly before), Dr Lee was running Microsoft’s Chinese R&D facility. Essentially, Dr. Lee jumped ship from Microsoft to Google, something his previous employer is quite upset about.

According to BetaNews.com, Microsoft is so displeased with Dr. Lee’s decision that they are going to pursue legal avenues in order to prevent Google from hiring him. After Google’s announcement of their research facility and Dr. Lee’s hiring, Microsoft countered with a statement indicating Dr. Lee was breaking established confidentialities and non-compete agreements, which were signed when Lee took his position at Microsoft.

BetaNews features a quote from Microsoft’s statement, which says:

He has accepted a position focused on the same set of technologies and strategies for a direct competitor in egregious violation of his explicit contractual obligations

Google has not responded to Microsoft’s claim as of this time.

Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest search news.

Forget about external RFID middleware. Sun’s RFID Java Micro Edition takes the filtering and processing of RFID data to the edges of the network.

The RFID ME software installs on RFID readers, where it makes contact with the numerous RFID tags present in a business. Instead of being a conduit for the information gathered from those tags, the reader itself processes the information.

The intent will be to minimize network impact and congestion that could result from a large influx of RFID data. But reports from trials conducted by the likes of IBM for METRO Group haven’t discussed any problems like that.

RFID is a booming market. Large companies and governments worldwide are expected to spend $6 billion on RFID hardware, software and services by 2010, according to Datamonitor. Additionally, Venture Development Corporation says the device market alone will be worth $700 million in 2005.

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, has widely implemented RFID through its supply chain. Its impact has been great enough to drive its vendors to adopt RFID technology.

At the Java One Developers Conference, Sun presenters discussed further potential uses of RFID in an enterprise. A tag might be able to relay its physical location, useful in a warehouse should an item become misplaced.

Or, it could relay its temperature, warning administrators if a critical item becomes too hot or cold.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

This comes after Oracle claimed that they would only keep the best employees of each company though they mainly stuck to firing PeopleSoft people.

“Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Tad Piper believes Oracle still intends to reach its original target of 6,000 layoffs, but expects the company to make the remaining job cuts very gradually.

Oracle began delivering the layoff notices Friday, but some of the affected workers might not learn of their fate for up to 10 more days. The company said it will retain 90 percent of the engineers that develop and support products, but didn’t provide other details about what types of jobs are being cut. Industry analysts expect the layoffs to be concentrated among PeopleSoft’s 11,225 employees. ”

“Oracle’s goal in acquiring PeopleSoft was to pick up the customers and not the technology, so on the whole it is no surprise that Oracle has kept only those PeopleSoft employees needed to keep the customers happy.”

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Fires occur when we refuse to analyse the mistakes of past projects, when we refuse to learn from mistakes which others have already made. When you analyze the reason for the fires in the past projects, you should order them, pick up the Top 3 causes and device mechanisms to eliminate them from your projects. Do this continuously and you will find suddenly that many of your projects are smooth and peaceful.

A database of past projects’ risks, their avoidance and /or mitigation mechanisms makes life easier for future projects. Brainstorming, with inputs from all stakeholders, for possible risks that can occur also helps.

You can get a good overview of Project Risks Management at the SEI web site http://www.sei.cmu.edu/programs/sepm/risk/

Read the 7 principles of Risk Management at: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/programs/sepm/risk/principles.html

What you can do as a team member or project manager to ensure that the risks identified help avoid project fires:

1. Establish Trust with your client and stakeholders. Refer to Article #4 “5 Steps to Better Manage Your Customers’ Expectations” which teaches you to do this (customer aspect)

2. Involve the team members, treat them as stakeholders Article #3 “Reduce Schedule Pressure for Greater Employee Satisfaction” mentions 10 Steps which help you empower your team members to identify and remove the bottle-necks in the project’s progress and success (team aspect)

3. Learn effective ways to identify, plan, monitor, track the progress of work at individual and project level. Invest time in learning sound proven methodologies, tools and techniques that help ease your project management tasks.(project aspect)

4. Be a learner always. Keep your eyes open to identify and implement new and proven ways of doing things. Keep an eye on Time and Life Management techniques, Positive thinking, Your physical and mental health.(self aspect)

For effective Risk Management, you should enhance all these 4 areas equally. Strengthen your knowledge, implement good, sound techniques in these 4 areas and you will be able to make a success of your career.

Naseem Mariam is the editor of “Management that Soars” Newsletter & author of “Project Serenity – How to gain happiness and peace”. Her ritings draw life from her 18 years experience as software Project Manager. Let her guide you towards Faster All Round Success and a Stress Free, Joyous Life. Her free ebook and Newsletter tell You How. Subscribe with mailto:projectdioxide@sendfree.com Visit her at http://www.123projectmanagement.com