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•  Defendant Nicholas hired prostitutes and escorts for himself and customers, representatives, and associates of Broadcom and other businesses entities with which he was affiliated and supplied such prostitutes and escorts with controlled substances. (I get invited to the wrong parties.)

But there’s still nothing like the litany of allegations against Nicholas. Among the charges, consider these eye poppers:

Remember, this is the same guy who famously imposed a spit-and-polish dress code and woe to the unlucky employee who run afoul of his famous temper. As an aside, let’s not forget that last year a contractor sued Nicholas for $150,000 in back wages, claiming he had a secret underground hideaway at Nicholas’ Laguna Hills estate used as a “personal brothel” and for drug use.

You can’t make this kind of stuff up. You just can’t. The newly unsealed grand jury indictment against Henry Nicholas III paints Broadcom’s co-founder as an alleged drug-addled weirdo hell bent on feeding a covert addiction to ecstasy and cocaine.

Remember Jeffrey Papows? He used to be president of Lotus before the press debunked his claims to have shucked off his lowly orphan beginnings to become a Marine aviator with a Ph.D. from Pepperdine University, as well as a black belt in tae kwon do. If that doesn’t say “don’t mess with me, I’m bad-ass,” then nothing does.

•  In or around 2001, defendant Nicholas distributed and used controlled substances during a flight on a private plane between Orange County, Calif., and Las Vegas, causing marijuana smoke and fumes to enter the cockpit and requiring the pilot flying the plane to put on an oxygen mask.” (That’s a lot of cannabis. A lot of cannabis.)

Nicholas isn’t the only former senior technology exec caught up in career-ending scandal. Of course, there’s the garden variety pretexting or stock option finagling. Then there’s the truly bizarre stuff that pops up on the radar from time to time.

Only one problem: it was all a fig newton of Papows’ considerable imagination. Turns out that he was an air-traffic controller while the degree came from an unaccredited correspondence school. And he’s not the second coming of Chuck Norris, either. No tae kwon do black belt. Ditto for the orphan reference; his parents lived close to his home in Massachusetts. But no harm, no foul. He just liked to relate tall tales. (These days, Papows is CEO of Maptuit.)

•  Defendant Nicholas used threats of physical violence and death and payments of money to attempt to conceal his unlawful conduct. (Yikes!)

•  Defendant Nicholas spiked the drinks of others with MDMA (ecstasy) without their knowledge, including, without limitation, the drinks of technology executives and representatives who worked for Broadcom’s customers. (Party on, Garth!)

Along with the usual litany of death threats and illegal conduct with bribes I’ve come to expect from anybody with a Roman numeral after their name, the best part of today’s indictment claims this goof slipped ecstasy into the drinks of unsuspecting tech execs. (What great fodder for a future summer movie treatment: Cheech & Chong meet the technology industry.)

Meanwhile, Nicholas and three former Broadcom confederates face separate charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the backdating of stock options.

Then there was the 1999 arrest and subsequent conviction of former Disney Internet exec Patrick Naughton, who got nailed for crossing state lines with the intent to have sex with an undercover police officer that he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

SUSE Linux Enterprise will allow Invitrogen to more easily manage its complex IT environment, consisting of a mix of different platforms and applications including HP servers, Oracle databases and Web servers, as well as PeopleSoft ERP applications comprised of e-commerce, human resources, payroll and customer relationship management. SUSE Linux Enterprise gives the company the flexibility to run its applications on any platform and better utilize hardware through cost-effective virtualization.

Indeed, the press release calls out Invitrogen’s adoption of Novell’s new PlateSpin technology, which helps companies manage data center virtualization. I’d be interested to know if Invitrogen was initially interested in PlateSpin, and became interested in SUSE by extension, or the other way around. If anyone from Novell cares to comment below, it would be intriguing to know if PlateSpin is helping to drive SUSE sales, or whether it’s facilitating existing interest (i.e, a deal closer rather than a deal opener).

Invitrogen had already been using PlateSpin and the relationship with Novell may have been a factor in them selecting SUSE Linux Enterprise. However, they primarily chose SUSE Linux Enterprise because of the merits of the solution, as it helped them to virtualize their environment, reduce operating system costs and simplify IT management.

Invitrogen is a billion-dollar supplier to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, with 4,700 employees worldwide and a history of supplying many of the world’s leading laboratories in groundbreaking research like the discovery of the AIDS virus.

Update: Charlotte Betterley from Novell PR responded to my question withthe following:

To help promote its innovative work, Invitrogen announced this week that it is standardizing on Novell’s SUSE? Linux Enterprise for its servers. From the press release:

Regardless, it’s an impressive win and a further demonstration that Novell is finding its Linux feet without needing the Microsoft crutch. That’s good news for all.

commentary (Credit:
Novell)

Once installed you've got an easy way to tweak your mail settings in Windows to open up in Gmail instead of Outlook or other default programs.

If you’re a Windows user you know full well the tight integration among Microsoft products that has made the operating system a little less than friendly when it comes to tying in various Web apps. E-mail in particular is one of those actions that will usually pop up Outlook or Outlook Express, forcing you to either install a third-party mail app like Mozilla’s Thunderbird or go in and tweak your registry.

See also: Set Web e-mail as default Firefox e-mail

(Credit:
CNET Networks)

One thing that’s nice is that it’ll simply tack onto whatever browser you’ve got open, or simply open your default one if you don’t have it running. It’ll also suck in multiple files at a time (up to Gmail’s 20MB limit of course).

If you’re a Gmail user, and looking to get that same level of integration in Office documents and elsewhere on your system check out gAttach (download). This simple program will append all your mail extensions, getting them to open up in Gmail instead.

Yahoo mail users can also take advantage of a sister product called yAttach, which will do the same thing, although you can’t have both installed at once.

[via FreewareGenius via Lifehacker]

If you don’t want to control the fireworks display from your laptop computer, this Firelite panel from FireOne will let you trigger up to 39 firing panels manually.

Watching this year’s Fourth of July fireworks display in Seattle, I wondered (not for the first time) how they coordinate the fireworks with the musical soundtrack–the hearts exploding right at the climax of “Unchained Melody,” or the long fizzy streamers during the theremin part of “Good Vibrations,” for instance. Not surprisingly, software’s the answer.

The Seattle display was operated by a company called Pyro Spectaculars based out of Rialto, Calif., which reportedly uses a highly customized or home-built system to coordinate the music to the displays. But other pyrotechnicians might use combined hardware-software systems from FireOne or Infinity Vision.

(Credit: FireOne)

FireOne’s Web site gives some insight into the process of creating a display: the designer starts by creating an audio file composed of the songs that will be used in the display, then importing it into the software as a .wav file. Then, the designer selects from hundreds of shell types in FireOne’s database, matching them up to specific points in the display–FireOne claims its software is accurate up to 0.01 of a second. The software puts a timecode on the music track, coordinates it with the electrical signals necessary to fire the shells, and outputs it as a file with the extension (of course) .fir. Of course, there’s a manual option in case something goes wrong, as it did in Seattle’s New Year’s Eve celebration last year.

If you’re interested in pursuing what sounds like one of the funnest jobs in the universe, you can find out more at the Pyrotechnics Guild International Web site.

In May, Microsoft announced the Xbox had hit 10 million units sold first, a milestone the company said has historically been reached by each console generation’s eventual winner. And in its quarterly earnings release Thursday, Microsoft said it had sold 1.3 million Xboxes during the last quarter. But it’s been clear for some time that the Wii is outselling both the Xbox and Sony’s
PlayStation 3 on a monthly basis. And given that the Xbox has been out a full year longer than the Wii or the PS3, Nintendo’s news is all the more noteworthy.

Additionally, Microsoft and Sony both surely have their own positive spins on NPD’s numbers, though I haven’t gotten those missives yet. Nintendo wins this round, at least, for quickest NPD-related press release (that I got, at least).

And in Kim’s defense, it’s true that most people think of the Xbox and the PS3 as being in a different category of video game console than the Wii, despite all three often being lumped together.

Nintendo’s Wii is now said to be the top-selling next-generation video game console in the United States, having reached 10.9 million units sold during the month of June.

According to Nintendo, NPD’s numbers show that during June, the Wii hit 10.9 million units sold in the U.S.

On Monday morning in Los Angeles, attendees at Microsoft’s E3 press conference heard
Xbox head Don Mattrick “declare” that that video game console would win the so-called next-generation console war.

Either way, you have to tip your hat to Nintendo for the success of the Wii, and for the console’s having reached the top spot in the U.S. For now, at least. Who knows what the next press release will say.

(Credit:
CNET Networks)

But if the latest sales data put out by NPD mean anything, Microsoft’s road to victory could be a little harder. That’s because, according to Nintendo, the
Wii in June surpassed the Xbox 360 to become the best-selling next-generation console in the United States.

Of course, in an interview Tuesday, Shane Kim, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of strategy and business development for Microsoft’s interactive entertainment business unit, told me that Mattrick’s declaration applied only to the battle between the Xbox and the PS3. Mattrick himself didn’t make any such clarifications during the press conference.

Over the years, I’ve noticed something lots of techies have in common–they like things to be black-and-white. Sorry if that offends you, but in my experience, it’s true.

Five keys to effective negotiating

Study precedent. Much of negotiating is about precedent, i.e. if they did it before, they can do it again. Think things through and gather data on precedent from similar situations. Based on that, determine your bottom line (what you must have) and what you’d like to have but are willing to negotiate. Start from the latter, give yourself wiggle room, and never give without getting something in return.

Here are five things you need to know to negotiate effectively. They’ll help you in all your work-related relationships – with peers, managers, subordinates, customers, vendors, everyone. They’ll help you to negotiate better compensation packages, promotions, and even exit packages.

Take the emotion out. Never negotiate in an emotional or agitated state. If it’s something you feel strongly about – as is often the case – you’ll have to find a way to diffuse your emotion. You don’t want it clouding your judgment or biasing your opponent against you. Try to get to the bottom of why you feel the way you do and put things in perspective before entering into negotiations. Better to push things out a day or two than to come in agitated and unprepared.

Bottom line
Negotiations are hairy and scary for everybody, even experienced professionals. No kidding. But just like anything in life, with knowledge and practice comes confidence, skill and ultimately, success. Good luck.

Unfortunately, the real world is gray. Like it or not, living and thriving in a gray world, especially a gray workplace, involves negotiating. None of us are born with negotiating skills. We have to learn them. This will help.

Who knows, they may even help to improve your personal and personal business relationships. After all, so much of family and business life involves negotiating.

Be honest and respectful. If you’re not honest about your requests you risk losing your credibility, and that’s really bad in negotiations. Sure, you can stretch or spin things a bit, but don’t cross a line you’re uncomfortable crossing. You’ll be nervous and it’ll show. Respect the opposing party. I don’t care what some of the books say, a win-win is the best outcome.

Never negotiate with yourself. After you’ve stated what you want and explained why it makes sense, be quiet and wait for the opposing party’s counter-offer. Make sure they’ve responded fully on every term before you counter. That way you’ll have time to think and prepare your response. For example, if they hold firm on one term, then it’s reasonable to ask for more on another.

Support your terms with backup. Always state your case and explain why you deserve what you’re asking for, why it makes sense. Site precedence for credibility. After receiving a counteroffer, and before you respond with your own, state your case again, term by term, emphasizing the points where the counteroffer fell short of your bottom line.

How do I know this stuff? Let’s see, 25+ years in high-tech – 10 of them in executive management and 14 in sales and marketing – 18 years of marriage, 51 years of life … you get the picture. I’ve spent decades learning and honing negotiating skills.

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You can get your Loopfuse-as-a-Service, or as an open source product. I can’t believe these guys haven’t been acquired already.