IT Executive news

• MIT unifies Web development in a single, speedy new language

  24-12-2014 21:10
  
  Building a moderately complex Web page requires understanding a whole stack of technologies, from HTML to JavaScript. Now a researcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has wrapped these technologies into a single language that could streamline development, speed up performance and better secure Web sites.The language, called Ur/Web, provides a way for developers to write pages as self-contained programs. It incorporates many of the most widely used Web technologies, freein
  
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• Google, Microsoft, Sony make 'The Interview' available online

  24-12-2014 20:50
  
  The controversial movie “The Interview” is now available online through Google and Microsoft services as well as a Sony Pictures website, the companies announced separately on Wednesday.This development follows Sony’s decision to screen the comedy in select U.S. cities on its original release date of Christmas Day after initially canceling those plans.A satire that depicts how two U.S. journalists would carry out an assignment to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, “The Inter
  
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• Your New PC Needs These 22 Free, Excellent Parograms

  24-12-2014 20:30
  New hardware needs new softwareMore than a mere blank slate, a new PC is a fresh opportunity—a collection of components that, with the right software installed, could accomplish anything from balancing your household budget to helping to cure cancer.Yes, stocking your PC is an intensely personal task. Even still, some programs are so helpful, so handy, so useful across the board that we heartily recommend them to everybody. These are the programs you want to install on a new PC first.To read t
  
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• Romanian version of EU cybersecurity directive allows warrantless access to data

  24-12-2014 19:40
  
  More than a dozen Romanian non-governmental organizations are protesting new cybersecurity legislation passed by the parliament last week that would force businesses to provide the country’s national intelligence agencies with access to their data without a court warrant.The law could also impact businesses from Europe and beyond, as Romania is a hub for IT outsourcing and software development. Many multinational corporations including Amazon, Microsoft, Adobe Systems, Siemens and Intel hav
  
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• Stanford Launches 100-Year Study of Artificial Intelligence

  24-12-2014 18:46
  
  What will intelligent machines mean for society and the economy in 30, 50 or even 100 years from now?
  That's the question that Stanford University scientists are hoping to take on with a new project, the One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100).
  The university is inviting artificial intelligence researchers, roboticists and other scientists to begin what they hope will be a long term – 100 years long – effort to study and anticipate the effects of advancing artificial in
  
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• Rackspace DNS recovers after DDoS brings system down

  24-12-2014 17:15
  
  Managed cloud service provider Rackspace has recovered from a DDoS attack that crippled the company’s DNS servers for 11 hours earlier this week.The DNS (Domain Name System) connectivity issues began Monday, according to a Google Plus post from Rackspace on Monday.“We are monitoring a connectivity issue impacting our DNS environment that began at approximately 01:10 CST December 22nd,” the post says. “Our engineers have taken steps to mitigate impact from this issue, however some of o
  
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• Skype Group Chat Hits Word and PowerPoint Online Apps

  24-12-2014 16:47
  If you've been dying to hold group chats while working on collaborative Word and PowerPoint documents inside Office Online, the feature is now live. Following Microsoft's announcement in late November that Skype-powered group chat was coming, Skype recently rolled out the functionality to Office Online.
  When two or more people are working on the same document, a chat button will appear, allowing you to communicate with your collaborators. The new feature is not yet available in Excel or OneN
  
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• BrandPost: U.S. Department of Homeland Security Has Issued a Cybersecurity Alert for Windows Server 2003

  24-12-2014 16:39
  The US Department of Homeland Security issued a cybersecurity alert this month for Microsoft’s Windows Server 2003, support for which is ending this July 2015. With over 12 million physical servers still running this 11-year-old operating system, organizations will face significant cybersecurity concerns if they continue to run this server OS after July 14, 2015. The impact to both public and private companies running Windows Server 2003 after Microsoft ends support on this product could po
  
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• $1 Spent on State Government Tech Saves $3.50, Study Finds

  24-12-2014 16:27
  
  The federal and state governments, in political contests, are routinely accused of being too big and bloated. But a new study says that IT spending reduces state government expenditures, even as new technologies help expand the role of government.
  Researchers at three universities found that IT investments are making government more efficient, productive and transparent, leading to a reduction in state expenditures.
  State government CIOs will say that of course IT investments bring financial
  
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• BrandPost: iOS 8 Is Open for Business

  24-12-2014 15:09
  Here’s a riddle. What do the Apple® iPad®, iPod® Touch, and iPhone® have in common with your workplace? The answer? iOS® 8. With a whopping 56% install rate on compatible devices* since it became available approximately 2 months ago (it’s December 13rd 2014 as I write this), it’s pretty safe to assume someone working nearby has a device using iOS 8 at their desk.Imagine, if you will, what that adoption number means for a moment. There are literally millions of iOS 8 compatible devi
  
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• IoT groups are like an orchestra tuning up: The music starts in 2016

  24-12-2014 14:15
  
  If the Internet of Things didn’t quite proliferate in 2014, at least IoT industry groups and standards bodies did.At least five efforts at bringing order to IoT began in 2014, and another that launched in late 2013 found its legs this year. That caused some confusion in an industry that was vast and multifaceted already. Unfortunately, all those groups will probably be here a year from now, too—maybe even more of them.IoT involves linking devices that in many cases have never been connect
  
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• IoT Is Like an Orchestra Tuning Up: The Music Starts in 2016

  24-12-2014 14:15
  
  If the Internet of Things didn’t quite proliferate in 2014, at least IoT industry groups and standards bodies did.At least five efforts at bringing order to IoT began in 2014, and another that launched in late 2013 found its legs this year. That caused some confusion in an industry that was vast and multifaceted already. Unfortunately, all those groups will probably be here a year from now, too—maybe even more of them.IoT involves linking devices that in many cases have never been connect
  
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• Is EMV the Silver Bullet to Credit Card Fraud?

  24-12-2014 14:05
  
  Your holiday shopping experience will be different next year -- at least in how you pay. By October 2015, most retailers in the U.S. will have switched to accepting EMV (EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, and is already a standard worldwide).But EMV, which relies on a chip in a credit card instead of a magnetic strip, is not going to be the magic cure for stopping credit card fraud, experts say. It will tamp down some efforts by hackers, but fraud will still continue -- just elsewhe
  
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• 10 Apps for Creating Your Own Holiday Traditions

  24-12-2014 14:00
  
  Stop me if this sounds familiar: One of my family’s holiday traditions involves all of us sitting around the table fiddling with our phones, occasionally looking up to eat or drink, while my mother (futilely) attempts to get us to talk to each other. Er…yeah.
  Holiday traditions are usually great for bringing families together—but not if those traditions include technology, according to my mother. But your iPhone can be used for good—if you know where to look. Here are ten apps that c
  
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• Court Reaffirms: Think Before You Email

  24-12-2014 13:54
  
  A recent ruling is another wake-up call for email users in this post-Snowden era of email privacy — or lack thereof. It makes it clear that hitting the delete button does not mean that the email no longer exists or is no longer accessible. And it reaffirms the need to think before you put information in an email. Once it is written, you have already lost control.
  In a decision that will protect the rights of email account holders to access their stored email and that will affect how eviden
  
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• Uber says Korean service legal, despite indictment of CEO for illegal taxi operations

  24-12-2014 13:30
  
  Would iconic ride-hailing startup Uber Technologies CEO still be worth its US$40 billion valuation if founder and CEO Travis Kalanick were in prison?That’s a question the company may have to face following reports Wednesday that South Korean prosecutors have indicted Kalanick for flouting local taxi laws.Uber has raised $1.4 billion this year to expand its ride-hailing operations to new places. Using a mobile app, it puts passengers in 250 cities in contact with drivers for hire, and takes
  
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• Crimeware-as-a-Service Offers Custom Targeting

  24-12-2014 13:30
  
  Are you a criminal looking for vulnerable computers in a particular geographic area so that you can, say, attack a specific bank based in that region?
  Or do you need some compromised computers to serve as proxies or relays?
  The old days, where you had to go out and infect the computers yourself, are over. These days, you can rent part of an existing botnet for your nefarious purposes, using simple Web-based interfaces to commit your dastardly deeds.
  One example is that of Vawtrak, a banking
  
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• The Best Android Games of 2014

  24-12-2014 12:30
  Simply the bestIt was an excellent year to be an Android gamer in 2014. More developers embraced the platform—which means not only more games, but also timelier releases. And the selection gets better and better by the week, with an array of excellent cheap titles and deeper-dive premium games that justify the added expense. Even the free-to-play market generated some serious winners this year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Barclaycard Trials Contactless Payment Gloves During Christmas Shopping Rush

  24-12-2014 12:23
  
  Barclaycard is trialling contactless payment gloves that it says "make paying quicker and easier when laden with shopping bags".
  In a survey by Barclaycard, which quizzed 2,000 people on their Christmas shopping behaviour, "gloves you could pay with" were voted the most popular wearable item consumers wanted to see created. They were followed by rings in second place and bracelets in third. Contactless handbags, scarves and hats were also in demand, according to the survey.
  One might ask how
  
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• Great Last-Minute Gifts You Can Send by Email Right Now

  24-12-2014 12:12
  
  It’s December 24. Do you know where all your holiday presents are? If you still haven’t crossed off everyone on your list—or maybe your list suddenly expanded because your nephew is bringing his new girlfriend to Christmas dinner, or a coworker surprised you with a thoughtful gift—there’s still time to get something for them. Gift cards let them pick something out for themselves, and yeah they’re kind of boring, but thankfully those aren’t even your only options at this extreme
  
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• Santa (Well, Santa Tracker) Helps Google Test its Dev Tools

  24-12-2014 12:10
  
  As the time for St. Nick's big ride quickly approaches, kids of all ages can track his progress delivering presents around the world with Google's Santa Tracker website and app.
  The Santa Tracker is a holiday gift from Google to its users, but the software is also used to test the company's other development tools.
  "We look at Santa Tracker as a way to test and work with some of the new cutting-edge developer products or APIs that we're going to be putting out there," said Andres Ferrate, m
  
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• The 20 Best iOS Games of 2014

  24-12-2014 12:00
  Best of the bestEach week, we serve up a recommendation of an iOS game we think is worth checking out—well, consider this the ultimate list of games You Should Play from 2014. We covered many of these great experiences over the course of the year, while others we enjoyed on our own time. Finally, we have a great opportunity to sing all their praises together at once. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Moove it! Tracking the Common Cow

  24-12-2014 12:00
  
  Farmers are tracking the health of their cows with technology that uses accelerometers, the same sensor that orients a cellphone screen. The sensors used in farming are not unlike those also found in wearables worn by people.
  The collar is placed on a cow and the accelerometer records up and down movement as well as acceleration. The information generated by the sensor in the collar, developed by Silent Herdsman, a U.K.-based startup in Scotland, provides data for analysis.
  
  
  
  
  
  The cow's h
  
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• How to Track Santa's Christmas Eve Journey From Any Device

  24-12-2014 12:00
  
  We've come a long way since the days when the only way you could track Santa's annual trek across the globe was by radio and telephone. Now there's no better way to figure out how close Santa is to your chimney than by hopping online.
  Whether you want to track Kris Kringle on your mobile device or PC, here are the details you need.Why kids track Santa’s journey
  
  Any Santa tracking article has to start here with the original Santa trackers, the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
  NORA
  
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• Ireland wants US to use treaty to access Microsoft held emails

  24-12-2014 09:00
  
  “Respect Irish sovereignty,” Ireland has told a court that is hearing a dispute over access for U.S. law enforcement to email communications held by Microsoft in Dublin.“Ireland respectfully asserts that foreign courts are obliged to respect Irish sovereignty (and that of all other sovereign states) whether or not Ireland is a party or intervener in the proceedings before them,” according to an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief filed Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for th
  
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• Rockstar sale of patents latest sign of cooling in smartphone litigation

  24-12-2014 05:30
  
  Rockstar Consortium, the Apple-backed company that bid successfully for the patents of bankrupt Nortel Networks, has agreed to sell more than 4,000 of these patents to RPX, a company in San Francisco that helps reduce the risk of patent litigation for its clients.RPX Clearinghouse, a RPX subsidiary, expects to recover most of its investment from simultaneously licensing the portfolio to more than 30 technology companies, including Cisco Systems and Google, thus holding out the possibility tha
  
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• Apple Deploys First-Ever Automatic Patch to Fix NTP Flaw

  24-12-2014 04:05
  
  Apple on Monday used an automatic security update mechanism for the first time to deploy a fix for a critical vulnerability in NTP, or Network Time Protocol, that was uncovered by a Google engineer.
  The update for OS X Mountain Lion, Mavericks and Yosemite will be automatically downloaded to and installed on Macs whose owners have not changed a default setting in the operating system's preferences, Apple confirmed today.
  "In light of a security threat to Unix-based systems including OS X, we
  
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• US trade agency will investigate Nvidia complaint by Samsung

  24-12-2014 02:35
  
  The U.S. International Trade Commission will investigate complaints by Samsung that Nvidia has infringed some of its patents covering graphics chip technology, the agency said Tuesday. Samsung’s complaint was filed in November and was in response to an earlier decision by the same court to investigate a patent infringement complaint by Nvidia against Samsung.“This is typical legal ping pong,” David Shannon , chief administrative officer at Nvidia, said in a statement on the company’s
  
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• Cherry Street exceeds final challenge goal - Chanute Tribune

  24-12-2014 02:34
  
  Cherry Street exceeds final challenge goal
  Chanute Tribune
  “At Cherry Street we are really rejoicing over it,” Executive Director Chase Reed said. “We are so thankful to the community … they gave way more than we expected.” Reed said the center continues to accept monetary donations, but donating time is just ...
  
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• Snake Monster robot takes a spidery approach to walking

  24-12-2014 00:35
  
  It’s more spider than snake, but a robot called Snake Monster can dial up the creep factor when it crawls around on six legs.The latest creation to come out of the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Biorobotics Laboratory, Snake Monster can scuttle across the floor and clamber over piles of loose debris. When it wriggles around quickly, it might make you reach for a fly swatter.But this overgrown robo-bug is an example of how machines based on a modular architecture of interconnecting parts c
  
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