This site contains materials from a 13 week course for learning Python and CGI. Suited for self-study. More info

Perforce Software announced the availability of the SDK for the Perforce Defect Tracking Gateway. Using the SDK, customers and vendors can develop improved integrations to commercial and in-house issue tracking systems, strengthening project management capabilities throughout the development lifecycle. The SDK is part of the newest version of Perforce's Fast Software Configuration Management (SCM) system, Perforce 2007.3. Christopher Seiwald, president and chief technology officer of Perforce Software said, We believe SCM is at the core of ALM and is the hard part of the technology proposition to get right. From small development shops to massive installations, our customers view Perforce's ability to integrate tightly with other tools as a major asset in building their custom ALM solutions. According to Jim Duggan, vice president of research at Gartner, Inc., 'Large companies often have multiple technology lifecycles to manage and coordinate. An ALM solution woven from integration-friendly best-of-breed solutions is an important option, improving visibility and control without major disruptions to the development process.' More info

'Organizations of all shapes and sizes can get access to Google's industry leading security and compliance technologies,? said Scott Petry, Google's director of product management, as Google this week announced a series of security products Powered by Postini that deliver message filtering, encryption and archiving for any business environment. More info

It's unlikely, however, that Google, the target of the proposed merger, can do much of anything other than raise dust - like its move over the weekend to raise the specter of Microsoft's possible monopolization of the Internet and its illegal leverage into 'new, adjacent markets.' As the Journal observes, Google would have a tough time making a bid for Yahoo itself because its owns too much of search and Internet advertising to clear the regulators, and even the alternatives - underwriting another white knight or helping Yahoo stay independent by guaranteeing 'revenue in return for a Yahoo advertising outsourcing pact' - would probably meet with regulatory headwinds. More info

Microsoft stuck a shiny piece of coal in VMware's Christmas stocking Thursday morning when it sent its competitive - hithertofore repeatedly delayed - hypervisor-based server virtualization technology Hyper-V out for a surprise public beta. The Hyper-V beta wasn't supposed to come out until the first quarter. It hasn't changed final release though. It's still penciled for within six months of when Windows Server 2008 RTMs. VMware, which had almost clawed its way back to $100 a share after half-real, half-imagined competition fears knocked it down to close to 70 bucks right after Thanksgiving, lost $3.23 to settle at $96. More info