IT Executive news

• SAP's bold new goal: making precision medicine a reality

  08-12-2015 22:25
  
  After more than 40 years of focusing primarily on software for large businesses, SAP is taking a bold step in a new direction: precision medicine.Targeting healthcare organizations, life sciences companies and research institutions, the German software giant on Tuesday rolled out SAP Foundation for Health, a brand-new platform based on its Hana in-memory engine that's aimed at helping such organizations uncover insights from patient data in real time."Our strategy is very simple but very ambitio
  
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• Facebook kills Creative Labs, shifts innovation strategy

  08-12-2015 22:13
  
  Facebook this week closed its Creative Labs application-incubator division and pulled three experimental Android and iOS apps the team created from Google Play and the Apple App Store. The company will no longer support or update Rooms, a year-old app that lets user anonymously create and join small online communities; Slingshot, an ephemeral, or "disappearing," messaging app; or the group-video app Riff."Since their launches, we've incorporated elements of Slingshot, Riff and Rooms into the Fac
  
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• Microsoft releases major System Center update to the world

  08-12-2015 21:58
  Microsoft released the latest version of its System Center Configuration Manager to the world on Tuesday, giving system administrators new tools to manage fleets of devices across their organizations. The release gives users a bunch of new features, including new ways to deploy Windows 10. That's particularly important, as more companies look into rolling out Microsoft's new operating system. It's also key for Microsoft, since the company wants more and more companies to adopt Windows 10 in
  
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• Microsoft to change Windows Server 2016 licensing rules, will use per-core metric

  08-12-2015 21:26
  
  Microsoft last week announced it will switch the licensing for next year's Windows Server 2016 to a per-processor-core basis, a move analysts said is at least partly a grab for more revenue.
  "Ultimately, the move to cores is a revenue issue, because it certainly does nothing for customers," said Paul DeGroot, the principal of Pica Communications, a consulting firm that specializes in deciphering Microsoft's licensing practices. "Customers have to go through a complex process to count cores to m
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: WiFi calling on cell phones only half the solution

  08-12-2015 20:56
  
  This year WiFi calling has come to US cellphones. T-Mobile launched WiFi calling on BlackBerry devices in 2009, only recently have the other carriers followed suit, with Verizon Wireless, the last supporting this, announcing limited availability now on Android devices and iOS next year. The idea is that WiFi coverage can fill in places where cellular isn’t available. But providing better network access is just half the story. Adding handoff to cellular nets without having to disconnect the
  
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• Cyberattacks will compromise 1-in-3 healthcare records next year

  08-12-2015 20:49
  
  Consumers will see an increase in successful cyberattacks against their online health records next year; supercomputers like IBM's Watson will reduce patient deaths and treatment costs by 10% in 2018; and virtual healthcare will soon become routine.
  Those are some of the predictions made by IDC's Health Insights group in a new report.
  The report claims that because of a legacy of lackluster electronic security in healthcare and an increase in the amount of online patient data, one in three cons
  
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• Google Fiber eyes Chicago and L.A.

  08-12-2015 20:19
  
  Google Fiber could be coming to Chicago and Los Angeles, where more than 6 million people live, Google announced Tuesday.
  The company invited the two cities to get the 1Gbps service, then plans to work with city leaders to collect detailed information on factors that would affect construction, such astopography and city streets.
  “While we can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to bring Fiber to Chicago and L.A., this is a big step for these cities and leaders,” said Jill Szu
  
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• Microsoft's new Bing election site tracks candidates, will predict the next U.S. president

  08-12-2015 20:18
  
  Microsoft’s Bing has launched an election site for those who prefer their nuanced political positions boiled down into easy-to-read charts and graphs—and yes, Bing will try and predict the outcome at a later date.
  On Tuesday, Microsoft launched the Bing Political Index, an informational box that will appear when users access the site through a direct link, Bing.com/elections. But a candidate-specific box will also appear when users begin searching for that candidate’s name, su
  
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• Juniper Networks adds an edge to its router

  08-12-2015 19:58
  
  Juniper Networks this week upgraded its edge routers with hardware and software designed to boost performance and enable network automation.Juniper Networks
  Juniper's MX2020 edge router
  The enhancements to Juniper’s MX series 3D Universal Edge routers are aimed at improving the port density and operational efficiency of the systems as businesses and consumers demand HD video, cloud services and network-based collaboration from their service providers. Larger enterprises building hybrid cl
  
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• Chrome for Android blocks access to malware and scam websites

  08-12-2015 19:51
  
  If you've ever seen the scary red pages in Google Chrome that prevent you from visiting a dangerous website, and wished you had them on your phone, then you're in luck: Google has extended Safe Browsing, the technology behind those security alerts, to Android.Safe Browsing is now integrated into Google Play Services, starting with version 8.1, and apps are able to use it. Chrome for Android is the first to do so.As in the desktop version of Chrome, Safe Browsing protects against websites that ar
  
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• How the gig economy will shape 2016

  08-12-2015 19:16
  
  It's difficult to gauge exactly how large the gig economy is, but judging by the number of 1099-MISC forms received by the IRS -- which employers are required to file when hiring and paying freelance workers -- it's growing fast. Approximately 82 million 1099s were filed in 2010. By 2014 that number grew to an estimated 91 million.
  "CIOs are finding that the gig economy can help them resolve many talent challenges they've struggled with for some time. There's a huge opportunity for businesses h
  
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• Bank-startup brengt ICT-omgeving onder bij Amsterdams datacenter

  08-12-2015 18:47
  Eind november presenteerde ‘techbedrijf met een banklicentie’ bunq zich bij The Datacenter Group (TDCG) in Amsterdam aan het grote publiek.De online bank, die vooral zichtbaar is als mobiele app, heeft zijn gehele ICT-omgeving bij het Amsterdamse datacenter ondergebracht. “We zijn een... lees meer
  
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• Chronological chaos: Twitter experiments with out-of-order timelines

  08-12-2015 18:29
  Twitter is testing an alternative to reverse-chronological order, apparently shuffling tweets by algorithm instead.
  As Motherboard reports, some users have been publicly wondering why their timelines are out of order. In a statement, Twitter confirmed that those users are part of an experiment. “We’re continuing to explore ways to surface the best content for people using Twitter,” the company said.
  Breaking chronology isn’t entirely new for Twitter. In January, the soci
  
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• Cisco's Spark grows into a phone and meeting platform for the cloud

  08-12-2015 18:05
  
  Cisco Systems is rethinking its collaboration tools from the bottom up, turning the lowly Spark text-messaging app into a cloud-based platform that includes videoconferencing and the core features of an enterprise phone system.Spark, which debuted last year as an app called Project Square, is central to the company's strategy of using cloud computing to deliver collaboration to everyone in an organization. Cisco says it's not abandoning its dedicated collaboration products; in fact, it's offerin
  
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• Louis Frank wordt VP business development BPO bij Xerox

  08-12-2015 17:14
  Louis Frank gaat binnen Xerox naar een andere functie en wordt vice president Business Development Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). Frank werkt sinds 2013 voor Xerox en vervulde voorheen de functie van sales & capture executive International Transport & Government.Frank wordt verantwoordelijk voor de sales... lees meer
  
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• Darkode forum is back, but a shadow of its former self

  08-12-2015 16:41
  
  Last summer, law enforcement agencies from 20 countries joined forces to shut down the notorious Darkode hacking forum. Organizers said they would be back, stronger than ever.
  Security researchers have been keeping an eye out for its resurgence ever since and finally found it last week, but instead of being stronger than ever, it's actually insecure and badly configured.
  According to Loucif Kharouni, senior threat researcher at Damballa, it feels like a "bad Darkode imitation" that is "just not
  
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• Persoonlijke idealen moeten aansluiten op werk, vindt hoogopgeleide IT’er

  08-12-2015 16:39
  De meeste hoogopgeleide IT-­professionals (82%) vinden dat zij structureel waarde toevoegen aan het bedrijf waarvoor zij werken. Bovendien is het voor IT’ers belangrijk dat de doelen van de organisatie in lijn liggen met persoonlijke idealen. Onderzoek onder hoogopgeleide professionals door TNS NIPO in... lees meer
  
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• Video, audio streaming gobble up 70% of peak Internet traffic in North America

  08-12-2015 16:38
  Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon make up the lion’s share of broadband-based web traffic, and that’s bad news for a future where everyone has data caps at home. Video and audio streaming accounts for more than 70 percent of all broadband network traffic in North America during peak periods, according to networking firm Sandvine’s semiannual Global Internet Phenomena report.
  Video and audio, what Sandvine calls real-time entertainment, now make up more than double the broadband tra
  
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• How to turn Chrome into a language tutor

  08-12-2015 16:00
  
  There are a lot of exercises you can do to learn a new language, such as listening to radio programs, reading, and watching TV in your chosen target language. But to get that done you have to make an effort to integrate those sessions into your daily life.
  If you’re finding it hard to study, a Chrome app called Language Immersion for Chrome can help get you started or keep up practice on a language you already know.
  All you have to do is give LI a target language and rate your level of kn
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Building a high-performing team starts with getting to know the individuals

  08-12-2015 15:35
  
  I recently worked with a senior leadership team that had become fragmented and was at risk of becoming toxic. Other leaders in the organization could see the slow downward trend on the team, the feedback was clear, this team needed help. However the team members were in denial. Meetings were no longer productive, problem solving, decision making opportunities, in fact team members had started to "dial in" and attend the meetings remotely. Even though they were in the same building as each o
  
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• Apple unveils own battery case for iPhone 6, 6S

  08-12-2015 15:33
  
  Apple today started selling a battery case for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S, a tacit admission that the smartphone doesn't have enough juice to power the increasing demands of some owners, as well as that there's more money to be made in the accessories market.The Smart Battery Case -- priced at $99 -- comes in either white or charcoal gray, and according to Apple, will increase talk time to up to 25 hours, browsing time to as many as 18 hours on an LTE network, and adds an unspecified amount of a
  
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• EU hits Qualcomm with antitrust charge, says it plotted rival's demise

  08-12-2015 15:32
  Qualcomm may have sold its chipsets below cost and then illegally paid a customer to use them in order to force competitor Icera out of business, according to two sets of antitrust charges filed Tuesday by the European Commission.The Commission opened two investigations into Qualcomm's behavior in July, and has now filed formal charges, or "statements of objections," in each.In the first, the Commission alleges that Qualcomm engaged in predatory pricing from 2009 to 2011, selling some chips belo
  
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• Surprise! Mozilla just launched an ad blocker for iOS

  08-12-2015 15:00
  
  Mozilla has released a new content blocker for the iPhone and iPad, continuing its push to provide users with privacy options for their Web browsing.Called Focus by Firefox, the app released Tuesday works a lot like other blockers for Apple’s mobile platform: users download the app from the App Store, and open it to select the sort of content they want to block. After that, they just enable it as a content blocker in their phone or tablet's settings.Focus allows users to block several diff
  
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• How to fix those pesky Windows 10 OS update issues

  08-12-2015 14:47
  
  Unless you pay close attention to technology news, you're likely unaware that Windows 10, Microsoft's latest OS, is designed to update itself over the Web whenever the software giant wants to make fixes or add features. The most timely updates involve security issues, so it's important to download them as soon as they're released.
  Windows 10, however, is a big, complex sort of a beast, and updates don't always go smoothly. Case in point: the major fall 2015 update that rolled down the chute dur
  
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• MapR brings down data silos with converged data platform

  08-12-2015 14:41
  
  Somehow, efforts to tear down silos of data within organizations over the past decade or so have led to the creation of entirely new data silos due to the scattershot proliferation of new analytics tools and the consumerization of enterprise software.On Tuesday, Hadoop distribution specialist MapR Technologies announced its intention to change all that with the MapR Converged Data Platform, which integrates file, database, stream processing and analytics. By natively integrating data-in-motion a
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Get a free Christmas Tree app for iOS

  08-12-2015 14:35
  
  Christmas is nearly upon us, and one of the most fun things to do before the holiday is to decorate a Christmas tree. Sticky Ice Games has a neat, free Christmas tree app that you might enjoy on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The name of the app is, appropriately enough, Christmas Tree.
  Decorate your Christmas tree with tons of ornaments and gifts
  Christmas Tree offers more than two hundred different ornaments, including ribbons, gifts, topers and trinkets. That's plenty to decorate any Chris
  
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• Akamai: DDoS attacks up thanks to criminal misuse of stress-test services

  08-12-2015 14:11
  
  Criminals are tapping Web-based services that are advertised as tools to stress test customers’ networks but in actuality they are using them to launch DDoS attacks against victims, according to Akamai.
  The paid sites can make DDoS attacks a viable option for actors looking to shut down targeted servers, the company says in its “State of the Internet/Security Q3 2015” report. “Many of the sites are simply DDoS-for-hire tools in disguise, relying on the use of reflection
  
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• This chipset may prevent a network cacophony in your smart home

  08-12-2015 14:00
  Choosing smart-home products might get easier a year from now thanks to a Broadcom chipset that will be able to work with several competing network systems.
  There's a long list of protocols and software frameworks going into the Internet of Things for the home, and a lot of them don't work together. The vision of a house full of devices that can automatically find each other and work in perfect harmony is still just that, and it's unlikely any one product will make that possible. But Broadcom i
  
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• Top 10 social media misfires of 2015

  08-12-2015 13:53
  
  The year's worst social media gaffesImage by ThinkstockWhen a brand is in the middle of an ongoing PR nightmare, it's generally not a great idea to hold an open Twitter Q&A session. However, that's exactly what one well-known theme park did earlier this year. This is just one example of the kind of hard-to-believe, what-were-they-thinking social media mistakes that took place in 2015.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Digital transformation spurs tech M&A to close in on record

  08-12-2015 13:00
  
  The digital transformation of business via cloud, mobile and big data technology is fueling IT mergers and acquisitions, which are set to rocket past the record level set back in 2000 as the dot-com era crested.
  Enterprises are adopting cloud and mobile technology to stay competitive, and technology companies are scrambling to keep up with demand. Through the end of October, the value of publicly disclosed technology-related mergers and acquisitions  globally was US$396.4 billion, virtuall
  
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• 3 ways Wi-Fi can help retailers this holiday season

  08-12-2015 12:59
  
  Millions of shoppers will navigate retail aisles this month in search of holiday gifts, many with smartphones in hand — ready to search for reviews, deals and offers before picking their presents. It might seem like a no-brainer for retailers to make a solid in-store Wi-Fi connection a priority in an era of mobile dominance. In reality, however, many have struggled to catch up to consumer Wi-Fi expectations and to take advantage of the growing number of ways Wi-Fi can help them connect wit
  
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• CIO seeks 'disruptive opportunities'

  08-12-2015 12:30
  
  For nearly 150 years, Schindler Group has been moving people. The Lucerne, Switzerland-based company makes, supplies and services elevators, escalators and moving walkways. As it moves toward the future, Schindler is deploying smart equipment capable of sharing information with back-end systems and, among other things, sending alerts about maintenance needs to service personnel.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Top security stories of 2015

  08-12-2015 12:27
  
  More data breachesImage by Flickr: Chris MarquardtHacking Team, Comcast, Ashley Madison… the list goes on of companies who became just another notch in the belt of cybercriminals. Like in years past, data breaches were top of the list for our year in review story. Here are some stories that made headlines in 2015.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Review: M3D's Micro 3D Printer fits in a backpack, quiet as a mouse

  08-12-2015 12:02
  
  You get what you pay for.
  With M3D's Micro 3D Printer, you get a well-made machine that's constrained in what it can make by its smaller-than-a-breadbox size but delivers average to above-average print quality. It sells for $349.
  The Micro 3D Printer started in 2014 as a Kickstarter crowd sourcing project by Bethesda, Md.-based M3D LLC. The effort was wildly popular, raising more than $3.4 million through 11,855 backers.
  M3D was founded by Michael Armani, a researcher with a PhD in materials en
  
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• Attackers are building big data warehouses of stolen credentials and PII

  08-12-2015 12:00
  
  According to McAfee Labs, attackers are linking stolen personally identifiable information (PII) sets together in Big Data warehouses, making the combined records more valuable to cyber-attackers. The coming year will see the development of an even more robust dark market for stolen PII and usernames and passwords, according to McAfee Labs.
  A new type of criminal is combining warehousing and selling stolen data including access credentials and PII that are targeted to specific markets, industri
  
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• Apple finally acknowledges its phones need bigger batteries

  08-12-2015 11:48
  
  Sure, it's just an iPhone battery case, but what marks this one out from the many others is the manufacturer: Apple.The US$99 iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case is the first sign that Apple is ready to acknowledge that its phones are too thin to contain adequate batteries. The case adds 80 percent to the battery life -- and about 100 percent to the thickness -- of an iPhone 6 or 6s.Unlike most third-party battery add-ons, the back of the case isn't flat, but has a bulge in the middle housing the batte
  
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• Legislation requiring tech industry to report terrorist activity may be revived

  08-12-2015 08:14
  Legislation requiring tech companies to report on terrorist activity on their platforms is likely to be revived in the U.S., following concerns about the widespread use of Internet communications by terrorists.A proposed rule that would require companies to report vaguely defined "terrorist activity" on their platforms had been included as section 603 in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016.But Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, removed a hold on the bill only after th
  
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• Micron closing Puerto Rico operation, shifts work to China

  08-12-2015 03:05
  
  Semiconductor maker Micron Technology is closing a manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico and moving the work to China.
  Around 185 jobs are affected by the closure, which is due to be completed by the end of this month, according to a U.S. government filing.
  This is not good news for Puerto Rico, which has an unemployment rate of more than 12% and is now struggling with a debt crisis. But it may be helpful for China; it's trying to increase its semiconductor manufacturing capability by investing
  
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• Google is working on a wearable that could test diabetics' blood sugar levels

  08-12-2015 02:59
  
  Google has filed a patent application for a wearable device that can test diabetics' blood sugar levels without the use of a needle.
  The application, filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office on Dec. 3, is for a wrist-worn device that uses pressurized gas to pierce the user's skin and draw in a "micro-emergence" of blood to be tested.
  The device might not be for diabetics alone. The patent application notes that blood could be tested for various qualities, including hormone levels, prot
  
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• Former Secret Service agent sentenced for corruption in Silk Road investigation

  08-12-2015 02:37
  
  A former Secret Service agent was sentenced Monday to 71 months in prison for stealing bitcoins from vendors on the Silk Road, the now-shuttered underground marketplace he was investigating. Shaun W. Bridges, 33, of Laurel, Maryland, must also forfeit US$650,000, the U.S. Justice Department said.Bridges pleaded guilty on Oct. 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to money laundering and obstruction of justice.He was one of two federal investigators 
  
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• Iran-based hackers may be tracking dissidents and activists, Symantec says

  08-12-2015 02:21
  Hackers based in Iran have been using malware to spy on individuals, including potentially dissidents and activists in the country, according to new research from Symantec.The attacks aren't particularly sophisticated, but the hackers have had access to their targets' computers for more than a year, Symantec said, which means they may have gained access to "an enormous amount of sensitive information."Two groups of hackers, named Cadelle and Chafer, distributed malware that steals
  
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• Google's Life Sciences division is now called Verily

  08-12-2015 01:42
  
  Google's parent company, Alphabet, has renamed its life sciences division Verily and given it the modest goal to "understand disease at the individual level."The division was formed at the Google X lab a few years ago and spun out as an independent company under Alphabet in August. But until Monday, it didn't have a name. Its projects include developing a contact lens with a built-in glucose sensor, but it clearly has bigger goals.GoogleA video posted to a new Verily.com website Monday talks abo
  
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• Internet-connected Hello Barbie doll can be hacked

  08-12-2015 01:17
  
  In news that should surprise no one, connecting a toy to the Internet invites the risk of hacking.
  So it went with Hello Barbie, which lets children converse with the doll over a cloud server connection. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, BlueBox Security and independent researcher Andrew Hay uncovered several vulnerabilities in the toy, the worst of which could allow an attacker to intercept a child’s communications.
  The good news is that ToyTalk, which partnered with Mattel on Hell
  
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• The many faces of tech volunteerism

  08-12-2015 00:19
  
  Techies pitch inTech companies are as creative in their social and charitable works as they are in their businesses. Cleaning up parks, teaching kids about technology, boxing donated food, running races – the projects are too numerous to list. We heard from dozens of tech vendors, big and small, about how they make time for employees to volunteer and participate in fundraising opportunities. While the events are all different, the outcome is universal: Giving back benefits not only the des
  
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