ITGumbo: spicing IT up

The SOA in Action virtual conference is still going on today, and if you're not right there in the virtual venue right this second, then I don't know where your priorities are, mister. I suppose like our hero here it takes some folk a while to get the hang of a virtual conference. I mean, all that conference. In virtual reality. I might have to go lie down.

After a recent industry conference, it seems that there is still some confusion over SOA and how it differs from BPM and other buzz-word acronyms (or as I like to say, bacrozyms). While it's half the battle to realize that SOA stands for Service Oriented Architecture, as distinct from Business Process Management, it's a different thing entirely to know what you're implementing when you're implementing it. This is the challenge our hero faces in this installment of Mumbo Gumbo. It looks like he needs SOA In Action and fast!

Our heroes have really learned a lot about SOA over these last four weeks, but some facts are still unclear. Like why does every vendor present his strategy via individually branded office toys? And which one is the best?

For more fun SOA-related giveaways, including a chance to win an iPhone, visit SOA In Action.

Now that our comic heroes have gotten psyched up about SOA, it's time to bring in a real professional to show them how its done. And who better to do the job than the internet's famous Greg the Architect? But will the colliding of two fictional comedic worlds rupture the space time continuum???? Probably not. Click here to see. And learn more about SOA here.

Third in our series of imagining what if Celebrities made the new iPhone commercials, we present Lindsay Lohan, fresh out of her stint in Utah and back in Hollywood just in time to hawk the iPhone.

Note: no celebrities went unfed in the making of this comic.

Despite current speculation over whether she does or doesn't have one or multiple buns in the oven, JLo has been going about her usual business of booking concerts, walking fashion shows.... and making iPhone commercials? Well, the last one is simply imagined for your amusement.

In this new series of iPhone ads, regular people like you and me talk about what they like about their iPhones. PSYCHE!!! I mean Actors paid to talk like regular people talk about how those particular segments of regular people might enjoy the iPhone. Haha, tricked ya didn't I? Well, April fools. I mean, happy Columbus day.

In this survey, ebizQ has gotten to the heart of the IT business world's most divisive issue: how to pronounce the acronym for Service Oriented Architecture: SOA.

In this week's installment of the mumbo gumbo comic, our heroes grapple with this important question. And then play rhyming games.

Microsoft just launched three new models of its Zune digital media player. Among the improvements? Wireless syncing with your computer and more TV shows automatically downloaded to your device.

While iPods outsold Zunes last year by 100 to 1, these improvements, plus new hot colors, could give the Microsoft a big boost. And heat up the never-ending office war between Mac and PC users.

Last month, a certain famous celebrity slid through a tragedy of errors that culminated today in the loss of custody of her two children. While nothing is funny about this sad situation, there is a certain academic comparison we can float between the way in which certain celebrities fail, and the way in which many internet startups fail. This comic gives us a brief sum-up of the biggest custody / startup errors.