IBM Takes Over Ounce Labs

Armonk, New York-headquartered IBM Corporation has announced the acquisition of a privately-owned software company that operates in the source code analysis domain. When the formalities of takeover are complete, this small company will merge with IBM’s Rational software business. The cost of the acquisition has not been made known.

Founded in 2002 by Jack Danahy, Lawrence Rose and Ryan Berg, Ounce Labs Inc is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, with another office in London, UK. It is presently headed by Gary Jackson, President and CEO.

The company is an industry leader in enterprise static application security testing (SAST). For the just ended quarter, Q2 2009, the company had reported an y-o-y quarterly bookings of over 80%. Its flagship product, Ounce 6, is an application security testing solution that scans source code to detect vulnerabilities, and also suggests remediation action that drills down to individual lines of code. The software also helps organizations verify regulatory and policy compliance, such as PCI DSS, FISMA, HIPAA and others.

Ounce Labs’ softwares and expertise have been put to use by IBM for its own application securities. The company has a few patents in this domain to its credit.

Read more about the latest acquisition of a software company by IBM, here.

HP Acquires Data Storage Technology Company

Palo Alto, California-headquartered Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP has announced the acquisition of Billerica, Massachusetts-headquartered IBRIX Inc.

IBRIX is a data storage technology company that has been a HP partner since 2006. The company specializes in developing file-serving softwares. Its flagship product is the IBRIX Fusion, which is an enterprise-class software suite comprising parallel file system with data protection features that can be installed on any server with connection to any storage device. Because of its server agnosticity, customers can switch between server hardware without having to change their entire data storage equipment. The product does not require a central metadata server or distributed lock manager.

Founded in 2000, IBRIX has 53 employees and a 175-strong enterprise customer base. The company’s software is currently deployed on a number of HP’s products such as ProLiant Servers, BladeSystem, ProCurve and StorageWorks.

Once the legal formalities have been completed, the company will be integrated into the StorageWorks division in HP’s Technology Solutions Group. The value of the acquisition is not known.

For HP, the acquisition implies that its offering in storage-related solutions becomes more competitive and also promises tighter integration with its storage products.

Read more about the latest acquisition by Hewlett-Packard, here.

East India Company

I love games that involve building an empire and establishing trade within your own nation and the nations of the rest of the world. It is a thrill to bring a nation from mass poverty and give it a highly successful economy. East India Company by Paradox Interactive and Nitro Games Ltd. allows me to do just that. It has been rated T for Teen by the ESRB for mild blood and violence.

This strategy game supports up to eight players. It is due for international release on 8/14/09. Building a trading empire isn’t all fun and games (okay, well maybe in this case it is!), it takes plenty of hard work. Gamers are able to choose from the following: British, Dutch, French, Danish, Portuguese, Swedish, Spanish and Holy Roman Empire. Regardless of whom gamers pick, they will be in a vicious battle for trading might against the other six he or she did not select.

The type of ships players decide to use will affect how well their empire operates. There are ten types to choose from. You can choose from cutters to small sloops. The East Indiaman is available, along with a number of war ships. Players have the option to command their nation in a RTS mode or by taking on a single ship. Hiring capable fleet commanders to protect trade routes is very important. As they progress in their career, the fleet commanders will gain new and valuable skills. East India Company is a great game for players of all ages!

Bookworm Adventures 2

Growing up in the video game generation, I was constantly reminded of the ills of gaming. My parents told me to “put that game down, and do your homework”. A lifetime (albeit short thus far) of gaming has rewarded me with enhanced hand-eye coordination and heightened problem solving skills. I am a true believer that video games can result in good things, especially when they are used for educational purposes. Moms and dads of the world, say hello to Bookworm Adventures 2 from Pop Cap. It is due to be released on 7/30/09.

Young children will delight in this game. They will learn and gain knowledge while having so much fun that they don’t even realize they are learning. Players will take on the role of Lex the Bookworm as he explores several books and hundreds of fictional characters. Forming words from tiles of letters will help Lex get stronger and help him to do a better job of fending off enemies. While this is certainly an educational game, it is not without action.

In total there are three books (“Fractured Fairytales,” “The Monkey King” and “Astounding Planets”) for gamers to explore in Bookworm Adventures 2. Each book has a total of 10 chapters. There are over 130 monsters and enemies to defeat. There are six mini games for players to enjoy. Characters from the game aren’t all bad; some will join Lex and fight by his side! Bookworm Adventures 2 is a great game for young players  and will help to enhance their language skills.

Mafia Wars

The life of a gangster seems like an exciting one. Since most of the things they do are highly dangerous and illegal, we live vicariously through video games and movies to see what their lives are like. We have all seen movies like Scorcese’s Casino and GoodFellas, but what if you’re looking for your daily gangster fix? Look no further than Zynga Inc’s Mafia Wars!

Mafia Wars is a game that can be played through the popular social networking websites MySpace and Facebook. It can also be played via Yahoo! and the Apple Iphone. Players vie to be the top crime family in New York, and later in Cuba. One of the main goals of this game is grow your mafia by adding friends. When fighting, the larger mafia will usually win. Several “clans” have formed to help gamers reach the maximum mafia size of 500. The old saying goes that no matter how big you are, there is always a bigger fish. That statement is very true for Mafia Wars.

Skills are divided into several categories. They are Attack, Defense, Health, Energy, and Stamina. There are many tiers of jobs such as Enforcer, Capo, Hitman, Underboss, and many more. Gamers have several achievements that can be gained, such as “Cashing Out”. That one is earned by selling 50 Mega Casinos. Mafia Wars earned a People’s Voice Webby Award in 2009. I’ve spent countless hours fighting and doing missions on this game. Mafia Wars is an excellent game for players of all ages!

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