Software

SCRAPPY, YOUNG WEB START-UPS making apps for iPhones may be the darlings of the tech world, but enterprise software companies remain kings of the innovation economy in Massachusetts. And Parametric Technology Corp., a 27-year-old Needham company, is at the top of that heap. A pioneer of computer-aided design software for engineers, PTC - as it prefers to be known - has in the last few years pushed into new areas of manufacturing. The company's products help make sophisticated devices like smartphones smarter, but it's also behind a whole different class of household...

Scott Thompson, the former CEO of Yahoo, has also resigned from the board of software maker Splunk Inc. Thompson stepped down from his post at Yahoo Inc. earlier this month after just four months on the job. His departure was triggered by the revelation that his resume included a college degree in computer science that he had never received. Media reports have also said that Thompson told Yahoo's board that he has thyroid cancer. "In regard to recent health issues, we wish Scott all the best for a fast and full recovery," Splunk Chairman and CEO Godfrey Sullivan said in a statement...

THERE'S THE BANKER who turned her family tragedy into a crusade against violence. The hiker who lost his legs, then built a bionic ankle system that is helping war veterans walk and run. The athlete who banned soda and junk food from an urban school and taught the kids to love their vegetables. These are The Boston Globe's 2012 Most Innovative in Massachusetts- a dozen pioneering individuals who embody the creativity and ambition that distinguish our state. We found them with your help.

THERE'S THE BANKER who turned her family tragedy into a crusade against violence. The hiker who lost his legs, then built a bionic ankle system that is helping war veterans walk and run. The athlete who banned soda and junk food from an urban school and taught the kids to love their vegetables. These are The Boston Globe's 2012 Most Innovative in Massachusetts- a dozen pioneering individuals who embody the creativity and ambition that distinguish our state. We found them with your help.

Some entrepreneurs try to introduce new technologies into the cubicles of the Fortune 500, the battlefield, or the operating room. But the truly intrepid develop products for the classroom. Teachers don't have time to evaluate new software. Principals control the purse strings, and superintendents want to see proof of educational merits, usually in the form of improved test scores. "It's incredibly challenging, even when you're trying to sell to schools that have money to spend," says Melissa Pickering, founder of Boston-based iCreate to Educate, which makes animation software.

In late 2009, Dassault Systèmes, France's largest software company, launched a search for a location to establish a headquarters for its rapidly expanding operations in North and South America. It already had operations in Los Angeles, Charlotte, N.C., and Auburn Hills, Mich. But ultimately, the global technology firm decided there was only one place to be: Route 128. Dassault creates software that helps companies conceive, design, make, and improve products, and Route 128 has become the world's undisputed epicenter of this fast-growing technology, known...

Former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi has been diagnosed with cancer in his tongue and lymph nodes, his family confirmed Friday, a disease that can be fatal if not detected early. DiMasi, a onetime political power now serving eight years in a Kentucky prison for corruption, was diagnosed last month after he discovered a suspicious growth, a family friend said. It's unclear where DiMasi will be treated, but there is a prison medical facility specializing in cancer treatment in North Carolina.

A Walpole nonprofit company, largely funded by the federal government, is inadvertently providing child pornographers, drug dealers, and other criminals around the world with software that allows them to remain anonymous on the Internet. The little-known organization, Tor Project Inc., says its free program is designed to help people protect themselves from Internet surveillance. Users include those speaking out against oppressive political regimes in other countries, corporate whistle-blowers, law enforcement officials, and domestic abuse victims.

WASHINGTON - A senior executive at a technology company that makes monitoring software secretly installed on 141 million cellphones said yesterday that the FBI approached the company about using its technology but was rebuffed. The disclosure came one day after FBI Director Robert Mueller assured Congress that agents neither sought nor obtained any information from the company, Carrier IQ. The company's statement will likely inflame suspicion about the monitoring tool and its usefulness to the US government.

WASHINGTON - Those blurry but revealing airport body scanner images that caused a public uproar last year are being replaced by a gray, cookie-cutter image of the human form. After six months of testing at three airports, including Reagan National, the Transportation Security Administration said yesterday that the new software would be installed on 241 units at 41 airports that use millimeter wave technology. Software for an equal number of units that use backscatter technology is still being developed, the TSA said.

SCRAPPY, YOUNG WEB START-UPS making apps for iPhones may be the darlings of the tech world, but enterprise software companies remain kings of the innovation economy in Massachusetts. And Parametric Technology Corp., a 27-year-old Needham company, is at the top of that heap. A pioneer of computer-aided design software for engineers, PTC - as it prefers to be known - has in the last few years pushed into new areas of manufacturing. The company's products help make sophisticated devices like smartphones smarter, but it's also behind a whole different class of household...

YOU'RE A SMALL BUSINESS reaching out to customers online. How can you create loyalty the way Amazon.com does, tapping into people's likes, favorites, and Web-browsing habits to deliver an experience customized for each online visitor? David Cancel, chief product officer at the marketing software maker HubSpot in Cambridge, believes he has the answer. "We are trying to give small businesses the same kind of marketing technologies that companies like Amazon, Google, and Netflix have," he said.

Illegal copying of computer programs in Asia cost businesses $21 billion in lost sales last year and China was on course to set a dubious new record — overtaking the U.S. in losses caused by software piracy. Asia's figure for lost sales was higher than any other region and an increase from $19 billion in 2010, according to the Business Software Alliance's annual report released Wednesday. Software piracy is growing faster in developing nations where individuals and companies are buying more personal computers but are less willing to spend on software when cheap pirated versions are...

BMC advanced 8.7 percent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. The Houston company, a maker of software to manage corporate computer networks, reported that it adopted takeover defenses after Elliott Associates LP acquired a stake of more than 5 percent in BMC. The so-called shareholder rights plan "is designed to ensure that all stockholders of the company receive fair and equal treatment in the event that an unsolicited attempt is made to acquire the...

REGARDING THE article " In one ear and in the other: Firms debate headphone use " (Page A1, May 7): As a software engineer who recently moved from cubicles with fabric-covered three-quarter-height walls to a workspace with half-height non-padded walls, I can tell you that such a noisy work environment is not conducive to productivity and creativity. Think back to what it was like doing your homework for the hardest math course you took in high school or college. Now imagine doing that homework all day with people walking past you every 10 minutes.

Hedge fund Elliott Management nominated five candidates for the board of BMC Software Inc. and told the business software developer that its future will be "increasingly difficult" if it chooses to remain a stand-alone company. The hedge fund said in a letter to BMC Software's board Tuesday that it should immediately start looking to sell the company. BMC Software on Monday said it had a "poison pill" shareholder rights measure after Elliott acquired more than 5 percent of the company's outstanding shares.

Needham-based PTC, formerly Parametric Technology Corp., a software firm that helps companies with product development, said yesterday that Tommy Bahama, the island-themed lifestyle clothing maker, has selected a PTC lifecycle management product to help improve operational efficiencies. "We are excited" Bahama has "chosen to work with PTC as a market leading and forward looking company," said Beth Borland, director of PTC's retail and consumer market strategy.

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- Oracle Corp. chief executive Larry Ellison knows all about battles with old friends. After all, Oracle just pulled off high-profile takeovers of PeopleSoft Inc. and Siebel Systems Inc. -- a pair of rival software makers run by former subordinates who turned against him. Now, Ellison is straddling another set of fractured friendships in a drama unfolding around Salesforce.com Inc. and NetSuite Inc. ...

American Public Education Inc. slumped after it forecast a slowdown in new student sign-ups, saying ID verification software used to prevent abuse of federal funds has deterred potential students from enrolling. The software checked students' background but had measures that put students on hold instead of enrolling them. The company has made changes and enrollment has improved, it said.

The cheap signs smashed into lawns and along the corners of busy intersections are hard to miss. "We Buy Junk Cars!" ''Cash for Your House!" ''Computer Repair. " The eyesores have vexed Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober for the past few years as he wastes valuable resources plucking up the signs only to watch them pop up in even greater numbers. While stopped at a red light a few months ago, Bober studied the unsightly signs and came to a realization that would help him fight their proliferation: The criminals had left their calling cards in the form of business phone numbers.