IT Executive news

• IBM brings Watson's cognitive computing to sports

  21-10-2015 23:35
  
  IBM took cognitive computing into the sports world today with a trio of partnerships under which cognitive applications-powered by Watson will help prevent concussions, change the nature of training in golf and transform fans' game-day experiences. The partnerships with Triax Technologies, Spare5 and 113 Industries will use the power of cognitive computing in different ways.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• BrandPost: Which security metrics matter most?

  21-10-2015 23:14
  
  Today’s powerful security vulnerability tools provide organizations with the ability to monitor an almost unlimited number of metrics. However, few organizations have the time or resources to give their full attention to all possible metrics. As a result, it’s important to assess which specific security metrics present the business with the most value. Understandably, the answer depends heavily on the audience.What the IT Ops Team WantsKnowing, for instance, that the IT team tasked w
  
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• Apple updates OS X El Capitan to 10.11.1 with fix for Office 2016 crashes

  21-10-2015 21:55
  
  Apple today released OS X 10.11.1, the first update for its El Capitan operating system, and implied that the refresh includes a fix for the crash problems that users of Microsoft's Office 2016 for Mac have reported for months.
  Among the notations listed in Apple's accompanying update description was one that stated, "Improves compatibility with Microsoft Office 2016."
  Other items on the list ranged from improved reliability when upgrading to El Capitan to resolutions for issues within Mail, th
  
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• Oracle fixes critical flaws in Database Server, MySQL, Java

  21-10-2015 21:46
  
  Oracle fixed 154 vulnerabilities in its latest Critical Patch Update release, eight of which were in Oracle Database Server, 30 in MySQL, and 25 in Java SE. Oracle said 84 of the vulnerabilities fixed in 54 different products were critical, as they may be exploited remotely without authentication.
  The October 2015 Critical Patch Update include a number of fixes for “very severe vulnerabilities,” but none has yet been exploited in the wild, wrote Eric Maurice, software security assur
  
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• Q&A about SunTrust’s cooperation clause

  21-10-2015 20:45
  
  Reader reaction to the story about SunTrust's severance clause for its soon-to-be-outsourced IT workers has been strong, particularly on social media sites. But there are questions. The bank is asserting that the clause is being misconstrued. The full clause is offered below for readers to make up their own minds.
  SunTrust has been gradually shifting work to IT outsourcers. At the end of last month, about 100 IT employees were recently notified of their imminent layoff. It was never announced p
  
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• Here's why Western Digital is buying SanDisk

  21-10-2015 19:40
  
  Western Digital (WD) today announced that it's buying fellow data storage vendor SanDisk in a cash and stock deal worth about $19 billion.
  The move comes as the IT industry is evolving rapidly as companies look for ways to embrace trends such as wearables, the Internet of Things and the cloud. The result has been a recent wave of mergers and acquisitions and investment activity in the data storage market.
  WD's purchase of SanDisk comes on the heals of the data storage market's biggest-ever
  
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• Boards are getting more involved in cybersecurity, but is it enough?

  21-10-2015 19:13
  
  An escalation in the frequency, severity and impact of cybersecurity attacks damaging corporate operations, finances and reputations is forcing boards of directors to take more active roles in their company's defensive posture. However, the level of participation in their companies' risk mitigation strategy remains lacking, according to new research from PwC.Forty-five percent of 10,000 CEOs, CFOs, CIOs and other executives PwC polled said that their boards participated in corporate cybersecurit
  
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• Microsoft's Joe Belfiore will take several months off after Windows 10 Mobile launches

  21-10-2015 19:07
  
  Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore plans to take several months off after the launch of Windows 10 Mobile to spend some time with his family, the executive said late Tuesday night.
  Belfiore, a corporate vice president in the Operating Systems Group at Microsoft, is currently in the final stages of overseeing the mobile version of Windows 10 for public release. Microsoft hasn’t said when the operating system will be officially published, but it should be at about the time the Lumia 950 and Lum
  
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• Mozilla mulls early cutoff for SHA-1 digital certificates

  21-10-2015 19:02
  In light of recent advances in attacks against the SHA-1 cryptographic function, Mozilla is considering banning digital certificates signed with the algorithm sooner than expected.The CA/Browser Forum, a group of certificate authorities and browser makers that sets guidelines for the issuance and use of digital certificates, had previously decided that new SHA-1-signed certificates should not be issued after Jan. 1, 2016.Browser makers have also decided that existing SHA-1 certificates will no l
  
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• Viewing app performance from the outside in is key to digital initiatives

  21-10-2015 18:57
  
  Application Performance Management (APM) is a big topic in IT shops across the board, and one of the hot players is Dynatrace. The company says its customer roster includes nine of the top 10 banks, nine of the top 10 retailers, and 386 of the Fortune 500. Network World Editor in Chief John Dix recently sat down with Dynatrace CEO John Van Siclen to get a sense of where APM is today, where it is going, and how the company is faring since private equity firm Thoma Bravo acquired Compuware and spu
  
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• Twitter adds a proper way to poll your followers

  21-10-2015 18:39
  
  Twitter users will soon be able to poll their followers without having to rely on crude tallying mechanisms.
  Twitter Polls are rolling out over the next few days on iOS, Android, and desktop web browsers. This will allow anyone to create a question and two possible answers, along with a timeframe for responses.
  While Twitter says it has previously offered a few different polling methods, these were clumsy hacks at best. For instance, some polls instructed users to Retweet for one choice and Fav
  
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• Surveys Say: IoT dangers are here, they're real, and they're widespread

  21-10-2015 18:30
  
  Two studies, one from HP, and one from DNS and security vendor OpenDNS, took a look at the dangers IoT devices pose, and both concluded the same thing: They’re real, they’re here, and they’re more widespread than you might imagine. Following are summaries of each study.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• IoT security threats and how to handle them

  21-10-2015 18:29
  
  Smart TVs in conference rooms. Brainy heating and air-conditioning systems. Internet-connected light bulbs. Intelligent devices controlling manufacturing processes. Smart watches and fitness devices everywhere.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Dell and Microsoft announce 'Azure in a box' for $9,000 a month at Dell World

  21-10-2015 18:15
  
  Dell and Microsoft have teamed up to sell a converged system that combines servers, storage and software in an integrated box which they say can connect easily to Microsoft's Azure cloud services.Called the Cloud Platform System Standard, it's aimed at customers building out a hybrid cloud environment, one in which on-premises equipment is linked to the public cloud for services like backup and recovery, or to provide more compute and storage capacity when it's needed.It's a model most of the bi
  
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• Apple employee arrested, charged with buying $1M in company gift cards with fake plastic

  21-10-2015 18:07
  
  A 24-year-old former Apple employee faces up to 15 years in prison for allegedly using recoded credit and debit cards to buy nearly $1 million worth of Apple gift cards, then reselling them on the black market, according to authorities in Queens County, New York.
  "The defendant is accused of using his tech skills to rig the values on both American Express and Visa gift cards and then using them to purchase gift cards from his employer -- The Apple Store," said Richard Brown, the Queens district
  
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• Apple can't and won't give governments back door into new iPhones

  21-10-2015 17:53
  
  Apple talks a big game about its commitment to customer privacy, but the words mean something. This week, the company told a federal judge that it’s actually impossible to unlock a password-protected iPhone running iOS 8 or later.
  The Justice Department has asked U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein to compel Apple to allow the government a back door into iPhones for law enforcement purposes. Apple’s response:“In most cases now and in the future, the government’s reques
  
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• Concurrent improves big data application performance management

  21-10-2015 17:37
  
  Data application infrastructure specialist Concurrent today released the latest version of Driven, its big data application performance management solution. Concurrent is also the primary sponsor of the open source Cascading application development framework for big data.Driven is purpose-built to address the pain points of enterprise application development and application performance management on Apache Hadoop, particularly organizations that have adopted data lakes and now have a multitude o
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 things elite coaches do with top talent

  21-10-2015 17:06
  
  "Destiny is not a matter of chance, but of choice. Not something to wish for, but to attain." --William Jennings Bryan
  I enjoy every moment that I can work with top talent, because I like to see people develop their capabilities and improve their performance over and over again. On the contrary, it can upset me when I see people with potential wasting their time and resources on unimportant or irrelevant activities.Every single human being has a natural aptitude or skill that can make them a to
  
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• BrandPost: Security Implications of the ‘Mobile First’ Workplace

  21-10-2015 16:22
  
  Mobile communications is now a lifestyle for many of us. So CIOs are tasked with creating top-notch mobile experiences for employees and customers alike.Many are turning their attention toward “mobile first” development – creating apps optimized first and foremost for mobile platforms. The approach makes sense. These apps have user interfaces tuned specifically for the screen at hand. The really strategic ones exploit the unique properties of mobile devices and wireless network
  
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• BrandPost: APIs Unleash the Creative Power of the Mix-and-Match Web

  21-10-2015 16:15
  
  It’s been said that the true power of the cloud isn’t in its scalability or cost efficiency but rather in the ability for people and organizations to combine applications in powerful new ways. You see simple examples of this every time you visit a webpage that shows retail sites overlaid on a Google map or click a button to pay for something with PayPal. Developers didn’t need to create those functions from scratch; they merely embedded a call to another program using an applic
  
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• EU fines optical drive cartel $132M for colluding against Dell and HP

  21-10-2015 16:04
  
  Buyers of Dell and Hewlett-Packard PCs may have paid over the odds for their optical drives as a result of a cartel arrangement between eight component manufacturers.The European Commission fined the eight cartel members a total of €116 million (US$132 million) for colluding between 2004 and 2008 to fix the prices of bids to supply optical drives to Dell and HP.Philips, Lite-On and their joint venture Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions got away scot-free for their role in revealing the
  
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• This is why the Nexus 6P is the Android phone you want next

  21-10-2015 15:30
  
  The Nexus 6P is the first smartphone I’ve ever wanted to evangelize. I mean, literally. It makes me want to pull people aside at parties, lean in with almost uncomfortable intimacy, and tell them in my most emphatic quiet voice, You need to get this phone.I was skeptical at first. Nexus-branded phones run pure Android—the operating system as Google intends it to be—but so many previous versions have been underwhelming. Plus, the 6P is manufactured by Huawei, a company that&rsqu
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How do you manage a micro-manager?

  21-10-2015 15:22
  
  One of the most common complaints that I hear in both my executive search and executive coaching practices is: “My boss is a micro-manager (i.e., a control freak) and s(he)’s making my life a living hell. S(he) needs to know every detail of every project I run. It’s affecting my sanity and my team’s morale. How can I function, much less succeed, under this person’s thumb?”Perhaps you last boss was a CIO or COO who valued your contributions, gave you plenty of
  
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• Surface Book Review: Microsoft reimagines the laptop, and it's glorious

  21-10-2015 15:00
  
  You can see why Microsoft's Surface Book is ticking off other PC vendors. Microsoft’s stunning laptop, gives you everything you want—showing up all the vendors who said it couldn't be done.Our review bears that out. Want a true laptop experience that doesn’t compromise? The Surface Book does it in an attention-catching fashion. Want to detach your monitor and use it as a gorgeous, perfectly proportioned tablet with pen support so beautiful it’ll have you sobbing? The Surf
  
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• Microsoft Surface Pro 4 review: It's faster, it's better, and it has more competition

  21-10-2015 15:00
  
  The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has satisfied one expectation: It’s taken the proven success of the Surface Pro 3 and gone even further, offering a substantial performance boost and other improvements.
  Now comes the harder part. The tablet ecosystem has dramatically evolved since the launch of the Surface Pro 3. New Surface clones like the Lenovo Miix 700 and the Vaio Canvas will ship soon. Then there’s the Surface Pro 4's flashy new family member: the Surface Book, a two-in-one bo
  
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• 2 good reasons to avoid Microsoft's Edge browser

  21-10-2015 14:55
  
  Instead of begging people to use its new Edge browser, and making it difficult to switch to other browser options, wouldn't it make more sense for Microsoft to simply make Edge, you know, better? The software giant apparently doesn't see it that way, and an upcoming update to Windows 10 will likely contain an annoying feature that pleads with users to give Edge a break.
  "Fixing" Edge may not be an easy task; it may well be fairly difficult. Microsoft, however, should understand that the browser
  
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• Western Digital to buy Sandisk for $19B

  21-10-2015 14:46
  
  Western Digital has agreed to buy SanDisk for around US$19 billion in cash and stock.The deal, approved by the boards of both companies, will create a storage giant with expertise in hard disks and flash memory, assuring the future of WD as its traditional business of spinning disks is gradually replaced by solid-state chips.WD has recent experience of big mergers, having acquired hard disk rival Hitachi Global Storage Technologies in a $3.9 billion deal. Although the deal closed in March 2012,
  
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• Back to the Future: Remote access technology then and now

  21-10-2015 14:42
  
  The evolution of remote access technologyImage by JMorton and OtoGodfrey/Wikimedia CCGreat Scott! Today marks the day that Michael J. Fox's Marty McFly, along with Doc Emmett Brown and Jennifer Parker, arrive in the future in a DeLorean time machine in the Robert Zemeckis film Back to the Future II.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• 9 tools to help you manage your pet servers

  21-10-2015 14:15
  
  Be realistic about DevOps and automationContainers, orchestration, automation, full remote management, cloud-style distributed app development, continuous developer-continuous deployment and devops are the wave of future IT, and what sophisticated IT departments should be aiming for in the future. But there’s almost certainly at least one server your business relies on that is a unique and special snowflake -- a pet you’ve named, rather than just another head of cattle in your data c
  
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• Shape of mobility to come isn’t clear

  21-10-2015 14:07
  
  The way businesses architect their operations to take best advantage of mobile technology, and the way they manage those mobile devices, are likely to evolve in the near future – but the precise nature of that evolution is far from obvious, according to an expert panel at the M-Enterprise event held Tuesday in Boston.Mark Troester is vice president of product marketing, app development and deployment at Telerik, a mobile app development platform owned by Progress Software. He said that par
  
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• Malvertising – the new silent killer?

  21-10-2015 14:01
  
  Malvertising is the latest way for criminals to infect your computer with malware – and the only thing you need to do to allow it is to visit your favorite website that relies on advertising. That's because they're slipping bad code into ads that are put onto those websites through advertising networks. Big name websites like Forbes, Huffington Post and the Daily Mail have been the focus of attacks.In a recent report by Cyphort found that malvertising has spiked 325 percent in 2014. A
  
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• Day in the life of a social CIO: LPL Financial's Victor Fetter

  21-10-2015 14:00
  
  Victor Fetter, a father of four and CIO of financial services brokerage firm LPL Financial, wakes up around 5:15 a.m. each workday to get an early start, reflect on his top priorities and map out a game plan. Around 6 a.m., he checks Twitter and LinkedIn for 20 minutes to see the day's news and learn about what's generating interest among his colleagues in IT.Get a jump on the day with social
  Before Fetter leaves his home in Charlotte, N.C., for his 30-minute commute, he's already tapped into th
  
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• Judicial Redress Act heads for senate, making new Safe Harbor agreement more likely

  21-10-2015 13:18
  
  The U.S. House of Representatives has waved through a bill that could grant foreigners the same rights to judicial redress as U.S. citizens have if law enforcers violate their privacy.U.S. tech companies operating in the European Union have a particular interest in the bill, as it could help usher in a replacement for the Safe Harbor agreement. That agreement, allowing them to transfer personal data from the European Union to the U.S. for processing in compliance with strict EU privacy laws, was
  
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• 6 traits of up-and-coming IT stars (with video)

  21-10-2015 12:30
  
  All ambitious IT professionals know they need impeccable technical skills, a strong work ethic and a gift for fostering collaboration in order to rise through the ranks. But beyond that, what X factor sets future leaders apart from their colleagues — and what habits can you adopt to put yourself on a similar path?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• How to turn your B players into A players

  21-10-2015 12:29
  
  Recruiting, interviewing, onboarding and training new employees takes time and money --two of any company's most valuable resources. So you might think that after investing new employees, companies would continue to help grow their careers within the business. However, that isn't always the case, and middle managers often find their time is split between A players and C or D players, while B players often go ignored. But there is a cost associated with ignoring B players, because with a little a
  
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• Did Microsoft shove Windows 10 down people’s throats?

  21-10-2015 12:28
  
  CSO covered how “Lack of security in small companies means big risk for the enterprise” because attackers who compromise small concerns in the federated enterprise do so in order to hack large companies.
  Microsoft is helping. The question is who are they helping? While Microsoft touts Windows 10 security enhancements, small businesses and entrepreneurs see another side to Windows 10, the side where Microsoft loads its new OS through automatic updates onto PCs with Windows 7 and Wind
  
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• First look: AWS Mobile Hub fills the potholes

  21-10-2015 12:00
  
  When I reviewed the Amazon Mobile SDK and competing products from Microsoft and Google in March, I said, “While the AWS Mobile SDK does what it sets out to do, developing with it is not for novices, JavaScript programmers, or the faint of heart.” I went on to conclude, “The AWS Mobile SDK might be a good choice for native app developers who already have a commitment to Amazon services. If you want an easy-to-learn and easy-to-use MBaaS, look elsewhere.”To read this artic
  
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• Cybersecurity­ beeld Nederland: groei internetcriminaliteit geen gegeven

  21-10-2015 10:27
  Er lijkt een toenemende perceptie van cybercriminaliteit en hacken als dreigingen te zijn onder het brede publiek. Of er sprake is van groei van daadwerkelijke problemen is echter maar de vraag, aldus het Nationaal Cyber Security Centrum in zijn jaarlijkse rapport, Cybersecurity­ beeld Nederland (CSBN).Het... lees meer
  
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• David Pappie directeur Topsectoren en Industriebeleid bij EZ

  21-10-2015 10:24
  David Pappie wordt met ingang van 1 november 2015 benoemd tot directeur Topsectoren en Industriebeleid bij het directoraat-generaal Bedrijfsleven en Innovatie van het ministerie van Economische Zaken. Hij volgt Guido Landheer op, die sinds 1 juni 2015 werkt als plaatsvervangend directeur-generaal Buitenlandse... lees meer
  
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• Google, Yahoo tighten spam filtering

  21-10-2015 02:46
  
  Google and Yahoo are expanding their use of a successful system for identifying spam.
  The move is part of years-long effort to implement a series of checks designed to figure out if an email really has been sent by the domain it purports to come from.
  Email spoofing has long been a problem since its easy to forge the "from" address, making it more likely the receiver will believe it came from a legitimate source.
  By Nov. 2, Yahoo plans to being using DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication,
  
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• EMC and VMware create Virtustream-based cloud business unit

  21-10-2015 02:13
  
  EMC and VMware today announced the creation of a new cloud computing business unit that will sell technology from both companies, and products from Virtustream, a company EMC bought for $1.2 billion earlier this year.
  The move comes on the heels of plans being announced for Dell to acquire EMC for $67 billion and solidifies the central role Virtustream will play in the combined companies’ hybrid cloud strategy.
  +MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: What Dell buying EMC means for VMware | Why EMC just s
  
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• Microsoft's new Windows 10 build allows you to text from your PC, but it's the bug fixes that impress

  21-10-2015 02:12
  
  Microsoft launched build 10572 of Windows 10 Mobile to its insiders, together with a few nifty improvements on the messaging fronts. But, as before, you’ll still need to first downgrade to Windows Phone 8.1 to take advantage.
  Microsoft did say, however, that this two-steps-back, one-step-ahead approach will soon stop, and users in the Windows Insider program will once again be able to upgrade from Windows 10 preview builds without having to downgrade first.
  But the new build offers severa
  
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• How higher ed IT is staying ahead of the cloud computing curve

  21-10-2015 02:11
  
  Signs that cloud computing is for real are piling up around Carnegie Mellon University’s Tom Dugas, but nothing else brings this home like the fact that the renowned Pittsburgh research school has posted a job opening for its first-ever cloud architect.“Most higher education IT leaders are starting to assign an individual person to be cloud architect or point person for cloud technology,” says CMU’s associate director for client operations.Dugas (@TomDugas) anticipates th
  
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• Tesla shares plunge after Consumer Reports drops Model S recommendation

  21-10-2015 02:10
  
  Tesla shares plunged more than 15% after Consumer Reports announced it was withdrawing its recommendation of the company's flagship Model S P85D electric sedan.
  The price of Tesla shares had climbed by the closing bell, but it still ended the day down 6.6%.
  The consumer products ratings publication gave the $104,000 electric car a "worse-than-average" rating in its latest report about the predicted reliability of new vehicles.
  The new reliability rating, initially announced in Detroit at a
  
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• Leaked Dell ad gets Black Friday tech bargain train rolling

  21-10-2015 02:09
  
  You have to give Dell points for ambition: Not only is the company hosting its annual DellWorld conference in Austin this week, but earlier this month it swung a $67B deal for EMC and supposedly filed a secretive IPO for its SecureWorks unit. And apparently, the company has its Black Friday sale all prepared as well.
  An ad for Dell Home's Black Friday sale started making the rounds Tuesday on bargain-watching sites such as BestBlackFriday and BFAds. Deals -- including free shippi
  
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• BrandPost: 5 Smartwatch Apps You Should Bring to Work

  21-10-2015 01:58
  
  According to Business Insider, the wearable computing market will reach 148 million units by 2019, and each day more companies are throwing more devices throw into the proverbial ring. Apple, Google (or rather, Google's army of OEMs) and Microsoft are all fighting a battle for your wrist, and one of the most important fronts of that battle is the workplace.Enterprise technology isn't just big business: it's HUGE business. And while smartwatches may not have had their watershed moment in the work
  
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• Magento says compromised sites haven't patched older vulnerabilities

  21-10-2015 01:53
  
  Magento said Tuesday there does not appear to be a new vulnerability in its e-commerce platform that is causing some websites to become infected with the Neutrino exploit kit.
  Some of the affected websites appear to not have patched a code execution vulnerability nicknamed the Shoplift Bug Patch, Magento's security team wrote in a blog post. A patch was released in February.
  Other Magento-powered sites have not applied other patches, making them vulnerable.
  The latest attack against Magent
  
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• What’s hot in driverless cars?

  21-10-2015 00:29
  
  Who's drivingImage by REUTERS/Edgar SuThe development of self-driving and autonomous cars seems to be all the rage in the automotive community these days. Certainly lots of work remains to be done around safety and communications technologies but there is a heavy push to make car drones a reality. Here we take a look at some of the most recent developments.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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