IT Executive news

• Microsoft backtracks, returns free OneDrive storage

  11-12-2015 21:54
  
  Microsoft, a company that says it is sorry about as often as Donald Trump, today apologized for its recent high-handed reduction of free OneDrive storage, and bumped the free limit back to its original level of 15GB, up from the 5GB it had offered.If you're a current customer, you need to opt-in on Microsoft's website before the end of January or you won't get the free 15GB of storage. A link on the OneDrive page also lets existing users retain the 15GB camera roll bonus for photo
  
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• Anonymous says it took down Trump Tower website

  11-12-2015 21:25
  
  The online activist group Anonymous said it took down the Trump Tower website on Friday after it warned presidential candidate Donald Trump about his statements on banning Muslims from entering the U.S.The site was unavailable during early afternoon, New York time, and according to media reports had been down for about an hour earlier in the day. Around 9 a.m. Friday there, the Anonymous Twitter account @YourAnonNews posted tweets saying the group had taken down the site.
  Trump Towers NY site ta
  
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• Five things you need to know about Hadoop v. Apache Spark

  11-12-2015 21:01
  Listen in on any conversation about big data, and you'll probably hear mention of Hadoop or Apache Spark. Here's a brief look at what they do and how they compare.1: They do different things. Hadoop and Apache Spark are both big-data frameworks, but they don't really serve the same purposes. Hadoop is essentially a distributed data infrastructure: It distributes massive data collections across multiple nodes within a cluster of commodity servers, which means you don't need to buy and maintain ex
  
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• Ford to add 13 electric vehicles to its lineup

  11-12-2015 20:39
  
  Ford has announced plans to increase its spending on electric vehicle (EV) development by $4.5 billion over the next five years, and it plans to roll out 13 new EVs over that time.
  By 2020, 40% of Ford's vehicles will include EV models, the company said. The move represents Ford's largest-ever EV investment in a five-year period, it said.Ford
  Ford also announced a new Focus Electric, which features a new direct current (DC) fast-charge capability that can charge a vehicle to 80% capacity in aro
  
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• Microsoft will let you keep your free 15GB of OneDrive storage, if you claim it

  11-12-2015 20:34
  Microsoft has grudgingly agreed to let current OneDrive users keep their 15GB of free cloud storage and 15GB of free Camera Roll “bonus” storage, rather than dropping you to 5GB as previously stated, but only if you’re aware of the offer and don’t mind a bit of spam.
  To take advantage of the offer, visit this Microsoft page. Microsoft representatives said the company does not have a supplementary explanatory blog post or statement to add at the present, but they did
  
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• Cyberspy group repurposes 12-year-old Bifrose backdoor

  11-12-2015 18:02
  A group of hackers that primarily targets companies from key industries in Asia is using heavily modified versions of a backdoor program called Bifrose that dates back to 2004.The group, which researchers from antivirus vendor Trend Micro call Shrouded Crossbow, has been targeting privatized government organizations, government contractors and companies from the consumer electronics, computer, healthcare, and financial industries since 2010.The group's activities are evidence that engaging in&nb
  
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• Cybersecurity startup hires CIO to accelerate growth

  11-12-2015 18:02
  
  CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity startup, has hired as its first CIOColin Black, who will help scale out internal systems and processes for a threat-detection software company that has seen considerable growth. Black's appointment brings a built-in advantage that should help fortify the startup's sales pitch to corporate and government clients: He used Crowdstrike’s threat-detection software this year while working as CIO of defense contractor Kratos Defense and Security Solutions.
  Also on CIO
  
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• IT pros don’t fear rise of the robots

  11-12-2015 16:43
  
  Robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomics —which can automate a number of IT tasks and enable those outside of IT to create software and intelligently manage IT infrastructure — have been touted as an alternative to traditional human-based IT services outsourcing for years. This automation of IT and business functions traditionally performed by skilled professionals has been called a job killer.To read this article in full or to leave
  
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• T-Mobile tempts Verizon users to switch with a free one-year Hulu subscription

  11-12-2015 16:26
  
  There’s nothing T-Mobile loves more than trolling the competition with offers aimed directly at customers of specific rivals. The latest target is Verizon. T-Mobile is giving away a free, one year Hulu subscription to any Big Red customers who switch their number to T-Mobile between Friday and next Thursday, December 17.
  After signing up, switchers receive a text message with a Hulu gift code worth $100 that must be used before January 31, 2016.
  The latest Verizon deal is part of T-Mobile
  
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• Facebook at Work chief shares details on its new social enterprise tools

  11-12-2015 16:01
  
  Facebook at Work isn't just another app or service from the maker of the world's largest media and communications platform. Facebook is entering a new arena: the enterprise. And the move requires different strengths, a shift in sales strategy and a modified business model, according to Julien Codorniou, the company's director of global platform partnerships, and leader of the Facebook at Work team. "We spent the first 11 years of the company connecting people in their personal lives, and no
  
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• How to prioritize your Facebook news feed content

  11-12-2015 14:27
  
  If you have friends, family and Pages that matter more to you than others, a Facebook feature now widely available lets you prioritize their posts over everything else in your news feed. Starting this week, Facebook will show users a note at the top of their account prompting them to select friends and pages whose content will appear higher than other posts in their news feed. “We care about showing you posts from people who matter to you,” the note reads. “We’ve mad
  
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• 'Get Windows 10' prompt adopts malware-like tactics to lure you into upgrading

  11-12-2015 14:00
  Do you want to download Windows 10 now or now? That’s the question I found myself faced with when I opened an irregularly used Windows 8.1 laptop last night.
  Once a small box begging for a reservation in the corner of the screen, the “Get Windows 10” pop-up prompt has morphed to consume the majority of the display, and worse, it only presents users with two clear actionable buttons: Upgrade now, and Start download, upgrade later. There’s no immediate “No thanks&rdq
  
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• 15 social networks with the most active users in 2015

  11-12-2015 14:00
  
  Social media in 2015Image by ThinkstockFacebook owns and operates four of the top six social networks in the world based on monthly active users (MAU). Only two other social media services, both owned by China's Tencent, are even close to giving Facebook a run for its money. The following list details the year's most used social networks, and provides specific MAU numbers (where available).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• 3 apps guaranteed to liven up your next holiday party

  11-12-2015 13:43
  
  Aside from the gifts and food, the things I enjoy most at holiday gatherings are, in no particular order, stories other people tell; the photos others take; and the wine and cocktails. If you're of a like mind, the following three free apps can enhance your next holiday party — especially if you're with close friends and family.Vivino helps you pick the right wine
  You can almost never go wrong at a holiday get-together by showing up with a great bottle of wine. But how do you find the most
  
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• OM Dinershow: 32.500 euro aan prijzen uitgereikt

  11-12-2015 13:31
  Carlo Schreurs (Royal FrieslandCampina), Jacobs Douwe Egberts, en Schuberg Philis hebben donderdagavond, tijdens de drukbezochte Outsource Magazine Diner Show in de Koepelkerk te Amsterdam, de TOMMIES ofwel Tommie Awards gewonnen. Er was een eervolle vermelding voor Schiphol. Bovendien wonnen Jeroen van Grondelle,... lees meer
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Should Apple allow f.lux in iOS?

  11-12-2015 13:00
  One of the worst things about using a computer or mobile device at night is how bluelight can screw up your sleep patterns and possibly affect your health in a bad way. f.lux is an app for OS X that changes the color of your Mac's screen to reduce or eliminate the bluelight that is fine during the day but bad for users at night.Currently f.lux is not available in the iOS app store, though some users have installed it by jailbreaking their devices. But not everybody wants to deal with the headach
  
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• Sen. Ted Cruz wants minimum H-1B wage of $110,000

  11-12-2015 12:45
  
  U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, has morphed from a vocal supporter of the H-1B program to a leading critic of it. He has done so in a new H-1B reform bill designed to raise the cost of hiring temporary visa workers.
  This bill, released late Thursday, sets a minimum wage of $110,000 for H-1B workers, who currently can be paid well less than half that amount in some U.S. regions under prevailing wage rules. This base salary will adjust annually
  
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• Endpoint security still inadequate despite growing threats

  11-12-2015 12:41
  
  Endpoint security solutions today are lacking in spite of significant gaps, vulnerabilities in security and heightened fear of a security breach, says Promisec, endpoint security and compliance vendor.
  According to Promisec data, 89 percent of VP and C-Level IT leaders who responded in a Promisec survey have a heightened fear of a breach over the next year while only 32 percent of respondents have advanced endpoint security in place.
  The fact that 73 percent of the respondents agree that endpoi
  
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• A free, almost foolproof way to check for malware

  11-12-2015 12:00
  
  No single antimalware engine can keep up with all the malware out there. But how about 57 of 'em?
  In this video, you'll learn how to download and run Windows Sysinternals Process Explorer to test all currently running executables on your Windows system against VirusTotal's 57 antivirus engines, which together offer the best accuracy you can ever get (with a small percentage of false positives that are pretty easy to spot).Neither the Sysinternals Process Explorer softwa
  
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• Schiphol Group neemt data science infra op basis van open source en Microsoft in gebruik

  11-12-2015 09:12
  Schiphol Group gaat big data inzetten om zijn bedrijfsvoering te verbeteren. Daartoe heeft het onlangs zijn data samengevoegd in een schaalbare data science suite, een open source dataplatform op basis van Cloudera CDH, op Microsoft’s cloud-platform Azure. De luchthaven beschikt nu over de eerste... lees meer
  
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• With machine learning, you can finally make politicians say what you want them to

  11-12-2015 02:50
  
  Anyone who's watched a political debate has probably wished they could influence the words coming out of a candidate's mouth. Now, machine learning is making that possible -- at least to some extent.
  Researchers at the University of Washington have found a way to create fully interactive, 3D digital personas from photos albums and videos of famous people such as Tom Hanks, Barrack Obama, Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush. Equipped with those 3D models, they could then impose another person's v
  
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• Zuckerberg uses Facebook to support Muslims

  11-12-2015 02:46
  
  Mark Zuckerberg is using Facebook for the reason he created it -- to share ideas and opinions.
  Facebook's co-founder and CEO said in a post on Wednesday that Muslims will always be welcome on the social network and he is willing to fight to protect their rights.
  "After the Paris attacks and hate this week, I can only imagine the fear Muslims feel that they will be persecuted for the actions of others," Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page. "As a Jew, my parents taught me that we must stand up
  
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• The latest IoT network builds on a power-grid foundation

  11-12-2015 01:54
  
  New networks being built with far less fanfare than cell towers will connect objects that in some cases have never been linked before, like street lights and traffic signals. The latest, called Starfish, is now debuting in Silicon Valley.
  The many new dedicated networks for the Internet of Things aren't as fast as LTE or Wi-Fi, but they're designed to reach devices across an entire region with lower cost and power consumption. That's part of the equation that's supposed to make IoT work.
  But as
  
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• This Japanese security drone will chase intruders

  11-12-2015 01:38
  Security guards in Japan have a new tool to deter intruders: a drone that will chase down and follow people without human intervention.Made by Secom, Japan's biggest security company, the drone goes on sale Friday to organizations that need to protect large parcels of land. It will launch whenever suspicious cars or people are detected on the property by other security equipment.The drone will snap pictures and send them to a Secom monitoring center where it can determine the threat. Today, the
  
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