A year ago when I wrote that former Microsoft manager — and current VMware CEO – Paul Maritz was getting the old band back together, I had no idea how many members would end up reuniting.

Maritz is now CEO of VMware. Another former Softie, Charles Fitzgerald, is now Vice President of Product Management with Decho, a startup that encompasses Maritz’s former Pi Corp. And on January 6, VMware announced yet another former member of the old Microsoft gang — Tod Neilsen — is now Chief Operating Officer with VMware.

Nielsen’s been around. Most recently he was President and CEO of Borland Software. Before that, he did stints with Oracle and BEA Systems. (BEA bought his company Crossgain — a company which put him in Microsoft’s non-compete crosshairs for a bit.) At Microsoft, where he worked for 12 years, Neilsen held a number of positions, including, according to the VMWare press release, general manager of database and developer tools, vice president of developer tools, and, vice president of Microsoft’s platform group.

Sanyo Electric Co. plans to cut up to 1,000 jobs in the lead up to its purchase by Panasonic. Panasonic stated last month it would acquire Sanyo Electric for up to $9 billion.

The Nikkei Newspaper Daily reports that out of 20,000 regular employees in Japan, Sanyo is planning to cut 500 individuals primarily from the semiconductor division. Several hundred people from the semiconductor division will be cut under an early retirement program. Total layoffs including temporary workers, is expected to reach about 1,000 people.

Sanyo Electric has seven semiconductor plants overseas in countries such as China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The company plans to reduce the number to two. A company spokeswoman vaguely stated changes are coming but did not elaborate with specific details, “As we have announced with Panasonic, we must pursue structural reform. But at this point in time, no firm decision has been made.”

Comcast says that, as of December 31, it has turned over a new leaf, network management practices-wise. The new-and-hopefully-improved “protocol agnostic” system the company unveiled to the Federal Communications Commission in September is now in effect.

“We have deployed the new technique throughout our network and turned off the P2P-specific technique everywhere in the network,” Comcast spokesperson Sena Fitzmaurice told Ars.

The company informed the FCC of the changes in a statement filed on Monday. “Comcast will continue to refine and optimize these congestion management practices to deliver the best possible broadband experience for our customers,” company Vice President for Regulatory Affairs Kathryn A. Zachem promised the Commission. The announcement also discloses updated acceptable use rules for Comcast customers.

A vulnerability in a widespread digital certificate technology has lit a fire under major Internet stakeholders, prompting moves by Microsoft, the Mozilla Foundation and others to prevent attackers from using the hack to endanger secure Web sites.

Researchers yesterday announced they had found a flaw in MD5, or Message-Digest algorithm 5, a cryptographic technique used in a variety of security applications, including secure Web site certificates. Digital certificate vouch for the safety of numerous types of secure online communications, like e-commerce transactions.

In response, Microsoft and Mozilla each said they are working with affected certification authorities, or CAs, to ensure they update their issuing processes to prevent this threat from harming users of the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers. CAs act as trusted third parties to issue online certificates guaranteeing that the certificate’s owner, an e-commerce site, for example, is who it claims to be.

You may never have heard of Daemon author Leinad Zeraus, but get ready to hear a lot about Daemon author Daniel Suarez.

A computer systems consultant and fan of computer games, Suarez self-published his debut techno thriller in 2006 using a pseudonym he created by reversing the spellings of his first and last names.

Thanks to Daemon’s growing underground popularity with techies and bloggers, followed by an April 2008 Wired magazine article about Daemon’s snowballing fan base, Suarez got a two-book contract with a major New York publishing house. Dutton will publish Daemon on Thursday.