IT Executive news

• Your own motion could one day power your cell phone

  09-12-2016 22:56
  
  Looking forward to the day when you don't have to charge your cell phone or activity tracker?
  That day might not be as far away as you think.
  Researchers at Michigan State University have developed a device they've dubbed a nanogenerator that lets motion charge a mobile device or a wearable.
  A cell phone using this technology, for instance, would need no battery. Your own motion would provide power.
  "What I foresee, relatively soon, is the capability of not having to charge your cell phone for
  
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• Complexiteit in de IT-omgeving terugdringen? Zó doe je dat!

  09-12-2016 22:55
  De business heeft hoge verwachtingen van IT. Medewerkers verwachten dat de IT-afdeling snel levert, de operationele efficiëntie verhoogt en meer flexibiliteit mogelijk maakt. En dat terwijl IT het eerste is waarop wordt bespaard. En waar het voor eindgebruikers steeds eenvoudiger wordt, geldt voor het beheer van... lees meer
  
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• Trump says mergers like AT&T/Time Warner ‘destroy democracy’

  09-12-2016 22:31
  
  When President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month, one of the biggest items awaiting his Justice Department will be the antitrust review of the proposed $85 billion merger of AT&T and Time Warner, a deal that could have major ramifications for online video and TV distribution arrangements.Trump addressed the proposed acquisition when it was announced in October while on the campaign trail, saying in no uncertain terms that he opposed the deal on the grounds that the combined entity w
  
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• Michigan approves cars without drivers or steering wheels on its roads

  09-12-2016 22:29
  
  The governor of Michigan today signed into law a series of bills that allows fully autonomous vehicles, including those without drivers and steering wheels, to begin using public roadways.
  Flanked by a Ford Model T and a self-driving Ford Fusion, Gov. Rick Snyder signed four bills as part of the autonomous vehicles legislative package that allows the operation of autonomous vehicles on Michigan public roads. Before, only testing of the vehicles by manufacturers was permitted.
  "As far as I know,
  
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• AirPods miss is not Apple's first holiday sales flub

  09-12-2016 22:03
  
  Apple's inability to ship its new AirPods wireless ear buds before the holiday sales season wasn't its first misstep in providing product at the end of a year.
  Even so, one analyst discounted the damage done. "I think it's a minor blow to the brand, but not a big one, long term," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. "[But] if there are continued hiccups then this, of course, changes."
  When Apple in September introduced the $159 AirPods alongside the iPhone 7
  
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• Could politics pull Zuckerberg away from Facebook?

  09-12-2016 21:44
  
  What would Facebook be like without co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the helm?
  That's the question raised by an interesting line in a proxy Facebook issued earlier this year.
  A section of the proxy, issued before the company's annual meeting, reads: "... Mr. Zuckerberg's leave of absence or resignation would not constitute a Voluntary Resignation if it were in connection with his serving in a government position or office..."
  It's a statment that has some wondering whether Zuckerberg, who
  
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• 5G will give you blazing fast broadband at home

  09-12-2016 21:44
  
  You’ve probably heard the breathless hype about the new wireless standard called 5G. As I’ve written before it’s not exactly on our doorstep. But trials by a number of major carriers have gone well, and some industry analysts are predicting that the ultra-fast technology will start to be deployed as soon as 2020.[ Related: 5G could require cell towers on every street corner ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Rails web framework dumps jQuery

  09-12-2016 20:45
  
  Builders of Ruby on Rails, the Web development framework that has been around for more than 12 years, have removed the popular jQuery JavaScript library from the default Rails stack in favor of a Ruby gem using vanilla JavaScript.
  Thusly, jQuery is not a Rails dependency anymore. The gem, rails-ujs, was created by developer Dangyi Liu as part of the Google Summer of Code event.[ Discover the career hacks for becoming the developer everyone wants in InfoWorld's Deep Dive. | Keep up with hot topi
  
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• Follow-up: MS-DOS lives on after all

  09-12-2016 20:16
  
  It sure looked like Microsoft was putting MS-DOS out to pasture. Now it’s saying that the MS-DOS command prompt cmd will continue to live on.
  According to a Microsoft spokesperson, “Microsoft is not removing Cmd from Windows, but rather changing the default shell, launched via File Explorer and the [Win] + [X] power-user menu, from Cmd to PowerShell. Users can opt to change the default shell back to Cmd via Settings and can continue to launch whichever shell they prefer, be it Cmd,
  
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• Intel, Microsoft going long distance with Cortana on Windows 10 PCs

  09-12-2016 20:03
  
  Intel and Microsoft are working on technology allowing you to shout out commands to Cortana or activate a Windows 10 PC from sleep mode without being all that close to it.
  The chipmaker is working with Microsoft to add "far-field speech recognition" technology, where one can shout out Cortana commands to a Windows PC from longer distances.
  "Soon, you’ll be able to speak to your PC from a distance and access all of your information on the device and in the cloud," Navin Shenoy is senior vi
  
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• Obama orders review of election hacks as Trump doubts Russia's role

  09-12-2016 19:46
  President Barack Obama has ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct a full review of the cyberattacks that allegedly tried to disrupt this year's election, as his successor Donald Trump casts doubt over Russia's possible involvement. Obama's homeland security advisor Lisa Monaco first mentioned the need for the review while speaking to reporters on Friday morning, according to Politico."We may be crossed into a new threshold, and it is incumbent upon us to take stock of that, to r
  
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• Ransomware attacks against businesses increased threefold in 2016

  09-12-2016 18:43
  
  The number of ransomware attacks targeting companies increased threefold from January to September, affecting one in every five businesses worldwide.According to a new report from security company Kaspersky Lab, the rate of ransomware attacks against businesses increased from one every two minutes to one every 40 seconds during that period. For consumers it was even worse, with the rate reaching one attack every 10 seconds in September.During the third quarter of the year, there were 32,091 new
  
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• Android device updates: Android 7.1.1 brings a batch of goodies to Google's Pixel and Nexus

  09-12-2016 18:39
  
  It’s hard to declare a smartphone perfect, but the Pixel is starting to feel pretty darn close with the latest update pushed out this week. With Android 7.1.1, you get a nice lift-to-wake and screen knock feature that vastly improves the convenience.
  Along with those updates, both Pixel and Nexus devices get a number of bug fixes that should bring you an even smoother experience.
  Each week, we round up all the major software updates to hit the Android ecosystem, including phones and table
  
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• The future of AI is humans + machines

  09-12-2016 18:07
  
  I had an interesting chat with Michael Fauscette, the chief research officer for G2 Crowd, a site that focuses on reviewing business software and services. His research identified a major trend, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) for HR. I have a degree in this area, and my first career path, which didn’t survive college, was supposed to be in HR so the topic interested me.As we chatted it became clear that Michael and I were in agreement about the future of AI. We both believ
  
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• More Samsung foldable phone rumors: The first one may arrive in 2017

  09-12-2016 17:44
  
  Samsung foldable phone rumors might be forming a bit more solidity. As originally reported by the South Korea-based Electronic Times and spotted by Android Headlines, the company is developing a pair of foldable dual-screen phones for possible release next year. The company seems eager to move beyond traditional handset designs—and perhaps away from products associated with exploding batteries. 
  Like the curved Galaxy Round and the original Note 4 Edge, Samsung ap
  
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• Attackers use hacked home routers to hit Russia's 5 largest banks

  09-12-2016 16:58
  
  Botnets made up of hacked home routers were used to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks against the five largest financial organizations in Russia.
  The attacks occurred on Monday, Dec. 5, and were detected and mitigated by Rostelecom, Russia's state-owned telecommunications company. The attacks peaked at 3.2 million packets per second (Mpps) and the longest attack lasted for over two hours, Rostelecom reported Friday.
  The company did not provide a bandwidth measurement for the attacks,
  
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• Volvo lures McDonald's CDO to drive digital transformation

  09-12-2016 16:36
  
  Volvo Cars, seeking to rev up digital projects such as autonomous driving and concierge services, has hired Atif Rafiq as its senior vice president IT and chief digital officer (CDO). Rafiq is joining the Swedish car maker from McDonald's, where he became the burger chain's first CDO in 2013. He replaces Klas Bendrik, senior vice president of IT, who will assist with the transition and leave the company.Volvo said in a statement that Rafiq will oversee the company’s digital transformation,
  
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• Merchant sites open door to Visa fraud

  09-12-2016 16:13
  
  Security researchers have confirmed that Visa has no mechanism to prevent attackers from using multiple merchant sites to make unlimited guesses on the values for fields such as CVV2. The potential for real harm from coordinated attacks is huge, but such attacks could also be blockable, now that the flaw has been identified.
  Mohammed Ali, a Ph.D. student in Newcastle University’s School of Computing Science and lead author of an IEEE paper on the topic, said the security ho
  
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• 22% off ASUS Chromebook C202 11.6" Rugged Water Resistant Design, 180 Degree Hinge - Deal Alert

  09-12-2016 15:51
  
  The highly rated Chromebook C202 from ASUS features a 180-degree hinge, a spill-resistant keyboard, and a reinforced rubber wrapped frame that meets the daily rigors and intense usage that can happen in and outside the home or classroom. The ASUS Chromebook C202 uses a 360 degree WIFI antenna featuring latest generation 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi which provides strong reception to minimize poor signal connection while you are on-the-go. With a built-in HDMI, USB ports, and a SD card read
  
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• Microsoft and LinkedIn aim for ‘logical’ integrations

  09-12-2016 15:35
  
  Microsoft’s $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn has officially closed, and the CEOs at both companies are sharing some of the early plans for integration across product lines.
  The largest deal in Microsoft’s 41-year history will combine the “world’s leading professional cloud and the world’s leading professional network,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote in a blog post. Both companies share a common mission to “help professionals transform how they wo
  
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• Building a business case for offshore robotic process automation

  09-12-2016 14:34
  
  For years, business case for the offshore captive IT center model — whereby companies set up their own wholly owned IT service centers abroad — has centered on the benefits of labor arbitrage to generate cost savings. However, as the return on salary differentials has dwindled and the pressure on captive centers to create additional value, companies are looking to other sources of lower costs and increased efficiencies.[ Related: Robotic process automation – Will you be a leade
  
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• How this analyst targeted a phisher

  09-12-2016 12:40
  
  Not unlike any other threat analyst, Marc Laliberte's email inbox fills up minute by minute. Some of which has made its way past the spam filter. The WatchGuard employee decided to finally act upon a certain phishing attempt in hopes of teaching the bad guys a lesson.  Spear phishing is a type of phishing attack in which the perpetrator customizes their attack to a particular individual or group of individuals. The attacker gathers information on the victim and then tailors the attack to b
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Accidental ITIL and DevOps

  09-12-2016 12:35
  
  A couple of years back, I had the privilege of working on a project that delivered 'service desk’ services to the U.S. military. I came in as the owner of service design and, to be honest, at the time I thought that the way the project was laid out seemed off. I thought nothing of it after getting in stride. I did my design work as best as I could, and the project was basically working well (or as well as a government project can run).Anyhow, the project ended (funding stopped, basica
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How to get big data expertise on a budget

  09-12-2016 12:29
  
  Big data professionals are in big demand, with the need for data processing outpacing the supply of trained data analysts on the job market. As a result, salaries have shot upward, putting them out of the reach of many businesses that don’t have the funds to dedicate to a full-time data scientist. Businesses fully realize that if they want to remain competitive they need access to the same up-to-date data that their competitors have, but are in a fix about how to get there.Fortunately, you
  
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• Microsoft brings F# to Jupyter Notebooks on Azure

  09-12-2016 12:00
  
  Microsoft's Azure Notebooks cloud service is adding support for F#, the Microsoft-developed "functional-first" language.
  Azure Notebooks, a free service for sharing documents that contain live code and equations, features the Jupyter Notebook web application and is geared to data analysis and data processing scenarios. Previously limited to the R and Python languages, the service can be used for building machine learning models for deployment to Azure.[ The cloud storage security gap — an
  
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• Awesome tech gifts that cost less than $100

  09-12-2016 12:00
  
  Wow the ones you loveImage by Rob SchultzIf you’re having trouble finding cool gifts for every single person in your life, you’re doing it wrong. In the tech sector alone, there are some great gift-worthy products at every price point—suitable for a variety of personality types, interests, and even tech-savviness (or lack thereof).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• 7 hiring trends for 2017

  09-12-2016 12:00
  
  Hiring is a challenge for CIOs, and it won’t get much easier in the coming year, particularly for IT departments that are trying to fill key security and networking roles.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• 32 tips and tricks for Google Photos

  09-12-2016 12:00
  
  Google Photos is a great way to store your personal photos and make them available across different devices -- and with the holiday season upon us, the potential for generating lots of photos is at an especially high level. But the service is far more than just a virtual cloud locker.
  Photos has oodles of options, features and possibilities for viewing, manipulating and managing your digital memories. And many of them aren't immediately obvious. Take a few minutes to scan through these tips and
  
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• 10 essential PowerShell security scripts for Windows administrators

  09-12-2016 12:00
  
  PowerShell is an enormous addition to the Windows toolbox that gives Windows admins the ability to automate all sorts of tasks, such as rotating logs, deploying patches, and managing users. Whether it's specific Windows administration jobs or security-related tasks such as managing certificates and looking for attack activity, there is a way to do it in PowerShell.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Een op de drie grote bedrijven wereldwijd niet klaar voor transformatie

  09-12-2016 11:52
  Een derde van grote bedrijven wereldwijd is slecht voorbereid op de digitale transformatie. Zes op de tien bedrijven denken dat ze op de goede weg zijn, en 7% hiervan denkt dat hij klaar is met zijn transformatie. Daarop duidt een uitgebreid onderzoek door researchfirma Ovum.De financiële sector is het meest... lees meer
  
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• US mulls rules for airlines that plan in-flight Wi-Fi voice calls

  09-12-2016 05:59
  
  The U.S. Department of Transportation is considering making it mandatory for airlines to inform passengers before purchasing tickets if they will allow voice calls using mobile wireless devices on board their aircraft, thus hoping to placate customers who could object to having co-passengers talking away on their phones in an enclosed space.An alternative measure would be to ban all voice calls on domestic and international flights to or from the U.S., the DOT said in a proposal for which it has
  
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• Georgia says it's traced an attempted voter hack to DHS

  09-12-2016 02:30
  
  Georgia's secretary of state says the state was hit with an attempted hack of its voter registration database from an IP address linked to the federal Department of Homeland Security.
  The allegation by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp is one of the more bizarre charges to come up in the recent spate of alarms about voting-system hacks. He said in a Facebook post on Thursday that he had been made aware of the failed attempt to breach the firewall protecting Georgia's voter registration data
  
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• AMD packs more horsepower into GPUs with new Radeon ReLive software

  09-12-2016 00:01
  
  AMD has called its latest Crimson edition the GPU software update of the year and rightfully so. Called Crimson ReLive, it squeezes more horsepower out of the latest Polaris and older Fury GPUs and makes gaming and VR experiences more compelling.
  The Crimson ReLive edition is a must-have for AMD GPU owners. Prominent games like Batman Arkham Knight and Deus Ex: Mankind will look and perform better, and VR images will look much sharper on headsets.
  There are many new features in Crimson ReL
  
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