IT Executive news

• Pets' electronic medical records can fetch health data

  04-03-2016 23:14
  
  As the healthcare community continues to struggle to implement patient electronic medical records (EMRs) for humans, a new mobile app has been created to do the same for pets.
  Pawprint, a free EMR app for your pet, sources official records directly from the vet and provides online access to the pet's vitals.
  By bringing all pet care vital records to one place, Pawprint hopes to simplify pet care for owners and veterinarians. PawprintsThe Pawprint app provides a myriad of information, including
  
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• New Windows 10 beta brings Cortana to new countries

  04-03-2016 21:26
  Microsoft is bringing its virtual assistant Cortana to Brazil, Mexico, and French-speaking Canadians with a major update to the Windows 10 beta on Friday. The new build will allow people in those countries to take Cortana for a spin and test not only the virtual assistant's voice recognition but also its grasp of local culture. For example, the new Mexican Spanish Cortana has an accent to match the local dialect.These localizations of Microsoft's virtual assistant are just the beginning, an
  
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• MIT's new 5-atom quantum computer could make today's encryption obsolete

  04-03-2016 21:12
  
  Much of the encryption world today depends on the challenge of factoring large numbers, but scientists now say they've created the first five-atom quantum computer with the potential to crack the security of traditional encryption schemes.In traditional computing, numbers are represented by either 0s or 1s, but quantum computing relies on atomic-scale units, or “qubits,” that can be simultaneously 0 and 1 -- a state known as a superposition that's far more efficient. It typicall
  
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• Six Flags to provide virtual reality on roller-coaster rides

  04-03-2016 20:09
  
  Want to battle Lex Luthor or space aliens while riding a roller coaster?
  Well, now you can -- or at least you can feel like you are.
  This summer, when thrill seekers go to nine different Six Flags theme parks, they'll be able to combine the adventure of a roller coaster ride with a virtual reality (VR) experience.
  Six Flags announced today that it is working with electronics giant Samsung to allow people who are riding its Superman roller coasters to don wireless VR headsets. The idea is to syn
  
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• AMD hopes Zen chips will bring back the Intel faithful

  04-03-2016 19:28
  
  PC enthusiasts prefer either AMD or Intel chips -- there's often no middle ground. But AMD believes its upcoming Zen chips will have crossover appeal for even the Intel faithful.AMD is betting its future on the upcoming Zen chips, which are based on a new architecture built from scratch. Zen wipes out inefficiencies that hurt older chips, which performed poorly and damaged AMD's reputation as an innovative chip maker.There are still AMD enthusiasts, though many have moved on to Intel, whose chip
  
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• Linux usage on Steam continues to fall

  04-03-2016 18:55
  
  Valve's considerable efforts on behalf of Linux-based gaming just aren't paying off. Valve and its hardware partners released the first Steam machines running the Linux-based SteamOS about four months ago. And there are now more than 1,900 games available for Linux on the Steam store. But Linux usage on Steam just keeps falling. Steam machines haven’t stopped the slideThe evidence comes from Valve’s Steam Hardware Survey. It reveals that machines running Linux—i
  
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• Relatives of victims, law enforcement groups support FBI in iPhone unlocking case

  04-03-2016 18:43
  
  Law enforcement groups and family members of victims of December's San Bernardino mass shooting have backed the FBI and opposed Apple in the court fight over an iPhone used by one of the shooters.Family members of the shooting victims "seek to remind all parties of the terrible crime -- an act of terrorism -- the United States must investigate to its fullest," wrote lawyers for family members of five victims and one witness to the shooting. "Ultimately, this is a situation where no stone can be
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: IT executive sponsors need to articulate a compelling vision

  04-03-2016 18:43
  
  A friend recently asked for help shaping her new title and job description. On the surface it was a straight-forward ask: put together a compelling set of activities and outcomes summarizing all she does, then assign it a snappy name. Like most C-level technology executives of a large enterprise, she owns a wide span of control across IT operations, Risk, finance, suppliers, and innovation. I asked her what she felt was the highest, best use of her time in the organization. She thought about it
  
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• Apple launches new @AppleSupport channel on Twitter

  04-03-2016 18:42
  
  Apple is finally warming up to social media and this week took to Twitter with a new customer service and outreach tool. Apple's @AppleSupport account went live yesterday, and within 24 hours it amassed 125,000 followers and tweeted more than 2,400 times, an average of roughly 5,200 new followers and 100 tweets per hour. Apple says the account will be live every day from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m PST. Support representatives will answer questions and provide tips, tricks and other information. One of
  
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• This wacky Twitterbot uses deep learning to out-Trump Trump

  04-03-2016 18:08
  
  Anyone who's ever shaken their head over the utterances coming out of Donald Trump's mouth will surely be glad to know that they're now being improved with deep learning. The only catch: It's not Trump doing the learning, but rather a Twitter robot.
  DeepDrumpf is a Twitterbot created by a postdoctoral researcher in MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab that uses a deep-learning algorithm to make even Trumpier statements than Trump himself. Based on an artificial-intelligence al
  
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• Five things you need to know about ransomware

  04-03-2016 17:42
  
  Over the past few years millions of PCs from around the world have been locked or had their files encrypted by malicious programs designed to extort money from users. Collectively known as ransomware, these malicious applications have become a real scourge for consumers, businesses and even government institutions. Unfortunately, there's no end in sight, so here's what you should know.It's not just your PC that's at riskMost ransomware programs target computers running Windows, as it's the most
  
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• Intuit sells Quicken to private equity firm in management buyout

  04-03-2016 16:46
  
  Intuit yesterday said it had sold its Quicken personal finance software unit to H.I.G. Capital, a Miami-based private equity firm.
  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  The announcement put an end to a sales process that went public last August, when Intuit told customers it was unloading three parts of its business -- Quicken, QuickBase and Demandforce -- to focus on its most profitable software and services, the QuickBooks small business accounting division and the seasonally-skewed
  
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• Freebird helps you quickly rebook cancelled or delayed flights

  04-03-2016 16:06
  
  In about two weeks, winter 2016 will be history. That's not a moment too soon if you're a frequent flyer. January's East Coast blizzard alone prompted thousands of flight cancellations during a single weekend, from New England to the Carolinas.Of course, significant flight disruptions happen every day, regardless of the season. So what can you do when your flight is seriously delayed or cancelled? Freebird, a startup based in Cambridge, Mass., wants to help.Freebird is essentially a flight reboo
  
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• Donald Trump vs. Steve Jobs: The tale of two con artists

  04-03-2016 15:37
  
  Two turnarounds I’ve studied in depth are Apple’s under Jobs and IBM’s under Louis Gerstner. Both were largely successful because the message was well ahead of the reality. What has often frustrated me, and likely others with marketing backgrounds, is regardless of success, these lessons too often go unlearned. Even within companies that have managed a successful turnaround, once the CEO/CMO who drove the change is gone the firm will revert to a less successful model and when f
  
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• Cerber ransomware sold as a service, speaks to victims

  04-03-2016 15:36
  A new file-encrypting ransomware program called Cerber has taken creepiness for victims, but also affordability for criminals, to a new level.In terms of functionality Cerber is not very different than other ransomware threats. It encrypts files with the strong AES-256 algorithm and targets dozens of file types, including documents, pictures, audio files, videos, archives and backups.The program encrypts file contents and file names and changes the original extensions to .cerber. It can also sca
  
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• UN human rights chief warns of worldwide privacy implications of Apple-FBI case

  04-03-2016 15:22
  
  A ruling ordering Apple to help the FBI access the iPhone of San Bernardino mass shooter Syed Rizwan Farook could make it impossible for the company or any other major international IT vendor to safeguard users' privacy anywhere in the world, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said Friday.A decision against Apple would be "potentially a gift to authoritarian regimes, as well as to criminal hackers,” Zeid said. Authorities in other countries have already mad
  
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• 'Serious risk' that Apple-made iPhone cracking code will leak

  04-03-2016 13:40
  
  Security experts yesterday said that there is a "serious risk" that the special iPhone-cracking software sought by the FBI would fall into the wrong hands if Apple is forced to assist the government in accessing the data on an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters.
  "Keeping the Custom Code secret is essential to ensuring that this forensic software not pose a broader security threat to iOS users," seven security experts said Thursday in a "friends-of-the-court" brief filed with a Ca
  
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• 4 principles that will shape the future of IT

  04-03-2016 13:15
  
  Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to attend a number of conferences, ranging from the most establishment events you can think of all the way to highly technical yet informal meetups. The dress at the events ranged from suits and ties to t-shirts and shorts. During the year, I’ve talked with an enormous range of IT people. Some work at vendors. Some at service providers. I’ve spoken to many analysts, associated from the very largest firms down to one-person shops
  
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• Trump says ‘I’m changing’ H-1B position -- then says he isn’t

  04-03-2016 13:09
  
  Early in his quest for the Republican nomination for president, Donald Trump promised major H-1B reforms. But Thursday night, at a debate in Detroit with his fellow Republican candidates, Trump said he was "softening" his position.
  The move created an instant mess for Trump. So early this morning, his campaign issued a statement condemning the H-1B program and stressed the need to "hire Americans first."
  But the damage was done.
  Norm Matloff, a computer science professor at the University of Ca
  
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• Lenovo Ideapad 100S-11 review: A promising portable with storage issues

  04-03-2016 13:00
  
  Sight unseen, what would be your expectations for a laptop that costs only $180? Come on, be honest. Probably lower than dirt. Well, if I were talking about the Lenovo Ideapad 100S-11, you'd be dead wrong—at least until you ran up against its inadequate storage.It fooled meI came at the 100S-11 from the opposite direction. I was hands-on long before I knew the price, so it came as a surprise. There’s no cheap or plastic vibe to this product, and the performance, while far from scint
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: iPhone 7 Pro: Is Apple about to jump the shark in naming its products?

  04-03-2016 13:00
  The iPhone 7 will most likely be released in September and lots of folks can't wait to get their hands on one. But rumors are flying all over the web that there might be different versions of the iPhone 7, and one of them might be called the iPhone Pro.Todd Haselton reports for TechnoBuffalo:
  Apple is reportedly working on several versions of the iPhone 7, including two versions of the iPhone 7 Plus, one of which might have some of the company’s latest camera technology. That’s a rum
  
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• Review: 3 Bluetooth headphones for travel, work and play

  04-03-2016 12:30
  
  Whether you're in seat 24B flying to Cincinnati, getting some work done in your local coffee shop or toiling away in a cubicle farm, headphones are essential equipment if you don't want to bother -- or be bothered by -- those around you.
  I decided to try out (for details, see the "How I tested" section) three recent Bluetooth headphones that were light enough to carry along with you, good enough so that you could enjoy your music and carry on a business conversation, and something other than st
  
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• Is DevOps the Holy Grail for information security?

  04-03-2016 12:28
  
  DevOps refers to the “integration of development, IT operations, security, and quality assurance under a single automated umbrella”. In short, it is a cross-business effort to turn software development on its head with shorter cycle times, faster testing times, more automation – and better (and more secure) code.
  DevOps looks to do this by establishing a continuous loop where teams across the business work together to plan, code, build, test, deploy, operate and monitor.By doi
  
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• San Bernardino prosecutor raises concerns about ‘cyber pathogen’ in terrorist's iPhone

  04-03-2016 09:37
  The district attorney of San Bernardino County, Michael Ramos, has raised concerns about the possibility of a 'dormant cyber pathogen’ in the iPhone 5c used by a terrorist in attacks in the county on Dec. 2.Security experts are questioning whether such a thing as a cyber pathogen at all exists.The submission was made in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Eastern Division, which recently ordered Apple to help the FBI unlock by brute force the iPhone used by terr
  
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• Intuit selling Quicken to private equity firm HIG Capital

  04-03-2016 08:05
  
  Intuit is selling its Quicken personal finance software to private equity firm H.I.G. Capital, with the current head of Quicken, Eric Dunn, continuing to run the business under the new owners.The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.Intuit said in August last year it was divesting from its Quicken, Demandforce and QuickBase product lines to better focus on small businesses, and doing the “nations’ taxes” in the U.S. and Canada.Demandforce was sold to Internet Brands i
  
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• Amazon disabled encryption on its tablets and phones because nobody used it

  04-03-2016 03:35
  
  Amazon caught flack on Wednesday for disabling the encryption capabilities of its Fire phones and tablets with a software update. The company says its reasoning was simple: people didn't use it."In the fall when we released Fire OS 5, we removed some enterprise features that we found customers weren’t using," Amazon spokeswoman Robin Handaly wrote in an email.Those "enterprise features" included one that allowed users to encrypt their entire device with a PIN that would erase all their dat
  
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• Mac owners in no rush to adopt OS X El Capitan

  04-03-2016 02:48
  
  Adoption of Apple's OS X 10.11, aka El Capitan, continues to lag behind its two predecessors, new data released this week showed.
  One measurement put El Capitan's uptake at just 75% of its forerunner, 2014's Yosemite, according to statistics from U.S.-based analytics vendor Net Applications.
  In the 153 days between its Sept. 30, 2015 launch and Feb. 29, 2016, El Capitan's user share of all OS X editions grew to 47.9%, or approximately 0.31 percentage points per day. On a per-day basis -- from i
  
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• Hacking back will only get you in more trouble

  04-03-2016 02:43
  
  The online theft of U.S. intellectual property (IP) by other nation states continues to be a big problem, a panel of experts agreed this week at the RSA conference in a session titled, “Responses to state-sponsored economic espionage.”
  That much is obvious – awareness of economic cyber espionage has reached the mainstream, with CBS-TV’s newsmagazine “60 Minutes” even doing a segment on it last month, labeling it, “the great brain robbery of America.&rdq
  
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• AT&T, Verizon call for federal action on encryption policy

  04-03-2016 02:40
  
  The nation's two largest telecom companies, AT&T and Verizon, have both taken strong positions supporting encryption, while AT&T took the added step Thursday of filing an amicus brief supporting Apple in a pending federal case.
  The two carriers are directly affected by any outcome affecting encryption policy that could come from the nation's courts or Congress. Both are regularly required to honor court-ordered warrants to produce records of communications by suspects in criminal matter
  
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• Biological supercomputer uses the 'juice of life'

  04-03-2016 02:39
  
  Using nanotechnology, proteins and a chemical that powers cells in everything from trees to people, researchers have built a biological supercomputer.
  The supercomputer, which is the size of a book, uses much less energy, so it runs cooler and more efficiently, according to scientists at McGill University, where the lead researchers on the project work.
  "We've managed to create a very complex network in a very small area," said Dan Nicolau Sr., chairman of the Department of Bioengineering at Mc
  
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• HPE will take on Nutanix and Cisco with hyperconverged system

  04-03-2016 02:25
  
  Hewlett Packard Enterprise will enter the fast-growing but crowded market for hyperconverged systems with a new product that it plans to unveil this month.CEO Meg Whitman spilled the beans on the product during HPE's quarterly earnings call Thursday. She took aim at Nutanix, one of the startups that pioneered the category."Later this month, we’ll announce a new, market-changing hyperconverged offering based on our Proliant virtualization server," Whitman said. "Our new solution will offer
  
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