IT Executive news

• How to create enterprise apps employees want to use

  11-04-2016 23:57
  
  Mobile apps have become a cornerstone in the enterprise as a way to connect business leaders, clients and employees. A major contributing factor to this shift, according to Adam Fingerman, cofounder and chief experience officer of ArcTouch Mobile & Connected Experiences is our reliance on our mobile devices; there's even a name for this phenomenon, "nomophobia."This reliance on technology has fundamentally affected businesses that have adopted a "if you can't beat them, join them" attitude a
  
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• New solar cell turns raindrops into electricity

  11-04-2016 23:26
  
  Researchers from two Chinese universities have developed a solar cell that can produce electricity from light and water, enabling a solar panel that works in the sun or rain.
  The scientists from Ocean University of China in Qingdao and Yunnan Normal University in Kunming developed a highly efficient and flexible dye-sensitized solar cell and then coated that cell with a one atom-thick layer of electron-enriched graphene.
  The new all-weather solar cells can be excited by light on sunny days and
  
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• You'll be able to get tickets from Ticketmaster directly on Facebook later this month

  11-04-2016 21:15
  
  Every concert-goer has had at least one Ticketmaster horror story, so now the company is looking to make the ticket-buying experience less painful by integrating with Facebook.
  On Monday, Ticketmaster announced that it would start selling select event tickets directly on Facebook by the end of April. When browsing an official event page on the Facebook iOS and Android app, you’ll be able to place your Ticketmaster order by clicking on the new “Buy Tickets” link.
  In addition, y
  
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• The battle between LTE and Wi-Fi may have left LTE-U out in the cold

  11-04-2016 21:07
  
  After more than a year of rancor over whether it would hurt Wi-Fi, a technology that lets LTE networks use unlicensed spectrum may have already missed its window of opportunity.LTE-Unlicensed is designed to improve cellular service by tapping into some of the frequencies used by Wi-Fi and other unlicensed technologies. But almost as soon as LTE-U was proposed in late 2014, Wi-Fi supporters pounced. They charged that it would drown out Wi-Fi signals because LTE didn’t know how to make room
  
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• Microsoft endorses EU-US Privacy Shield data sharing pact

  11-04-2016 20:23
  Microsoft is throwing its weight behind the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield agreement, which is intended to safeguard the privacy of European Union citizens when their personal information is exported to the U.S. for processing.But a document leaked late last week suggests the proposed agreement does not have the backing of EU data protection authorities, who are meeting this week to finalize their position on it.Microsoft will seek approval to conduct data transfers under the agreement, its Vice Preside
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Can an algorithm remove gender bias?

  11-04-2016 20:17
  
  Diversity (or lack of it) in the tech industry is one of today's hottest topics. And many reports suggest that human intervention leads to bias towards males. Can machines do better? Holberton School thinks so.
  The San Francisco. Calif.-based Holberton School has as its mission "to train the best software engineers of their generation." The school offers a two-year program for students to become full-stack software engineers. And, according to its website, the school's "selection process is bas
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Both sides of the big data debate

  11-04-2016 19:46
  
  A multi-ethnic, mostly male crowd teemed in and out of windowless meeting rooms and the sprawling vendor exhibit hall. Some stood mesmerized like disciples before large LED screens. Others wandered between booths, munching on popcorn or nursing craft beers. Many lounged in crowded common areas, discussing graph databases and Hive. Another day, another tech industry event in Silicon Valley.Or was it? There was a DJ spinning club music (I think I caught Skrillex’s pumping remix of GTA's 
  
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• This little robot wants to help you shop

  11-04-2016 19:45
  SoftBank's Pepper robot may still be the better-known contender, but a new humanoid device from Hitachi aims to be the in-store sales rep of the future.Called EMIEW3, the roughly 3-foot-tall unit can determine when customers need help and then approach them autonomously, Hitachi said on Friday. Using what it calls "remote brain" technology, the company developed the robot with customer service in mind for use in stores and other public venues.EMIEW3 is actually the latest iteration in a ser
  
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• Scientists could use DNA to shrink a data center into a sugar cube

  11-04-2016 19:29
  
  Microsoft and University of Washington (UW) researchers have demonstrated the ability to use synthetic DNA as a form of archival storage for data.
  If the technology can be made robust enough for mainstream use, it would be possible to take a Walmart-sized supercenter filled with today's highest capacity data storage devices and shrink it to the size of a sugar cube, the researchers said.
  "We think the time is ripe to consider DNA-based storage seriously and explore system designs and architectu
  
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• How to get Bash running on Windows

  11-04-2016 19:15
  Unix command line users around the world rejoiced when Microsoft announced recently it would be bringing the popular Bash shell to Windows 10 with a forthcoming update. Last Wednesday, the company released a beta build of its operating system that finally had support for the new functionality.
  To get it working, users have to jump through a few hoops. First, the system is only available right now for users who have build 14316 of Windows 10. To get it, a PC has to be a part of the Windows Insid
  
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• Zombie OS: Windows XP still powers 181M PCs two years after support ends

  11-04-2016 19:05
  
  Even though Microsoft retired Windows XP two years ago, an estimated 181 million PCs around the world ran the crippled operating system last month, according to data from a web metrics vendor.
  Windows XP exited public support on April 8, 2014, amid some panic on the part of corporations that had not yet purged their environments of the 2001 OS. Unless companies paid for custom support, their PCs running XP received no security updates after that date.
  Consumers were completely cut off from patc
  
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• Experts crack Petya ransomware, enable hard drive decryption for free

  11-04-2016 18:56
  
  Security experts have devised a method that allows users to recover data from computers infected with the Petya ransomware program without paying money to cybercriminals.Petya appeared on researchers' radar last month when criminals distributed it to companies through spam emails that masqueraded as job applications. It stood out from other file-encrypting ransomware programs because it overwrites a hard disk drive's master boot record (MBR), leaving infected computers unable to boot into the op
  
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• BlackBerry 10 devices are probably dead

  11-04-2016 18:55
  
  While the BlackBerry 10 operating system will live on for at least a couple more years, we’ve likely seen the last of its hardware.
  Speaking to Gulf News and The National—two English-language newspapers published in United Arab Emirates—BlackBerry CEO and Executive Chairman John Chen said the company has stopped producing BlackBerry 10 smartphones. The company is now focusing on its Android phones, with the goal of being the “most secure Android smartphone for the enterp
  
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• Global construction company uses analytics to make pricing local

  11-04-2016 18:38
  
  Dayton Superior is a global B2B company that has turned to analytics and optimization to align its prices with local markets.You may not be familiar with Dayton Superior, but you know its work. Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, the 115-year-old global nonresidential concrete construction company has supplied the concrete and other materials for bridges, canals, buildings and stadiums around the world, including the Panama Canal, new World Trade Center Towers and Trump Ocean Club."We're very muc
  
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• Consumers want more value from home IoT products

  11-04-2016 17:53
  U.S. consumers are slow to embrace home-based Internet of Things products, with many wary of their cost and usefulness, according to a new survey.
  Many consumers are skeptical about the value proposition behind home IoT products, according to the survey from market research firm IDC.
  Reliability was the top concern among those people who expressed interested in home IoT devices. On a one to 10 rating scale, reliability rated nearly a nine when people were asked what home IoT issues needed to im
  
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• Upcoming Windows 10 features revealed in Microsoft’s official roadmap

  11-04-2016 17:33
  
  Microsoft has pulled back the curtain on future Windows features, publishing an official roadmap on its website.
  As of now, the roadmap includes several features that Microsoft didn’t announce as part of the Windows 10 “Anniversary Update” coming this summer. Many of those features focus on greater connectivity between phones, PCs and other devices, and while the roadmap is ostensibly for businesses, there are plenty of noteworthy nuggets for consumers as well.To read this art
  
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• This man's Fitbit may have saved his life

  11-04-2016 17:00
  Some people are so unhappy with the performance of their Fitbit activity tracker they’re willing to sue. But at least one person can credit his wristband with dramatically improving his health. A 42-year-old man was recently admitted to the emergency room at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, New Jersey with an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia) suffered in the wake of a seizure—a condition that doctors treated with an electrocardioversion after consulting historical dat
  
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• 5 things you should know about the blockchain

  11-04-2016 16:31
  
  Talk of blockchain technology is everywhere, it seems -- but what is it, and what does it do?1. Don't call it "the" blockchainThe first thing to know about the blockchain is, there isn't one: there are many. Blockchains are distributed, tamper-proof public ledgers of transactions. The most well-known is the record of bitcoin transactions, but in addition to tracking cryptocurrencies, blockchains are being used to record loans, stock transfers, contracts, healthcare data and even votes.2. Securit
  
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• Free Google Fiber is not in Kansas anymore

  11-04-2016 16:20
  The free ride is over for new Google Fiber subscribers in Kansas, as Google drops the free “Basic Internet” option from its plans.
  Google has offered the free plan since Fiber first launched in July 2012. Compared to Google’s $70 per month Gigabit Internet offering, the free plan was considerably slower, with just 5 Mbps download speeds and 1 Mbps upload speeds. It also required a hefty $300 construction fee, which Google waived for paying customers who signed on for at least
  
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• 6 cloud services for growing your small business

  11-04-2016 15:56
  
  Most startups don’t have the budget, or the need, for enterprise software – or an elaborate website. But as your business grows, adding products or services, as well as customers and employees, it makes sense to invest in technology to help manage that growth. Does that mean you need to invest in an ERP or supply chain management system? Probably not. At least not right away. But these six cloud services, all targeted at SMBs, can make scaling your small ecommerce or bricks-and-morta
  
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• 63% Discount on Garmin fenix 2 GPS Watch - Deal Alert

  11-04-2016 15:51
  
  The $399.99 list price on the Garmin's fenix 2 GPS Watch is currently discounted by a staggering $200. At 63% off, you can pick this one up on Amazon for $149.99. The fenix 2 currently averages 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon by over 410 people (see reviews).The watch features high-sensitivity GPS positioning, and a 3-axis compass with altimeter and barometer, and is designed for a multi-sport athlete. Take it with you running, climbing, hiking, riding, swimming, skiing -- the fenix 2 quickly sw
  
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• Microsoft ships first Windows 10 upgrade to corporate PCs

  11-04-2016 15:49
  
  Microsoft last week promoted Windows 10's November 2015 upgrade to the Current Branch for Business release track, the first time since the operating system's debut it has approved a build for corporate customers.
  "The Windows 10 version 1511 feature update (build 10586), released in November 2015, has been officially declared as Current Branch for Business (CBB), ready for organizations to begin deploying broadly," said Michael Niehaus, a director of product marketing, in a post to a company bl
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why I dumped the iPhone 6s for the 6s Plus

  11-04-2016 15:16
  
  The release of the iPhone SE sparked a “back to small” mentality in me, and I took my venerable iPhone 6 Plus to the local Apple Store. I traded it in for an iPhone 6s, and then tried using the 6s as my daily driver phone for about a week and a half.It didn’t work.In fact, my experiment with moving back to a smaller iPhone was more or less a total failure. And it was a good lesson for me in trying to avoid getting caught up in the hype of a new Apple product.The iPhone 6s: More
  
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• Wordpress.com turns on default encryption for hosted domains

  11-04-2016 15:00
  Website hosting platform Wordpress.com will automatically enable HTTPS for all the custom domain names that its users have associated with their websites.Run by Automattic, WordPress.com allows users to easily create and manage websites based on the hugely popular WordPress content management system. Users of the free service get a subdomain under wordpress.com to use as an address for their website, but paid plans allow hosting a custom domain.Implementing HTTPS for wordpress.com subdomains was
  
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• Open source code is common, potentially dangerous, in enterprise apps

  11-04-2016 14:58
  
  The Open Source Vulnerability Database shut down this week posed yet another security challenge for developers who routinely inject massive amounts of free off-the-shelf code into new software.
  As the name suggests, OSVD was a resource where non-commercial developers could look – free - for patches to known vulnerabilities.
  +More on Network World: 10 best cloud SLA practices+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why value trumps price when buying enterprise software

  11-04-2016 14:13
  
  The corporate procurement process traditionally focuses on achieving the best purchase price. While this may be the right approach when buying commodity items, when it comes to buying enterprise software it is completely wrong. A far better approach is to focus on the value provided by the software rather than its price.To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin “The bitterness of poor functional fit remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten.” If you pay too much for sof
  
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• Support for SQL Server 2005 ends Tuesday - are you ready?

  11-04-2016 14:04
  
  Tuesday marks the end of support for Microsoft SQL Server 2005, and that means companies relying on it are just about out of time. There will be no more updates from Microsoft, so staying with the software could open you up to a host of risks.
  Microsoft encourages users to move to SQL Server 2014 or Azure SQL Database, but those aren't the only options. Either way, the transition is going to take some time. If you haven't already been working on it, the most important thing now is to act quickl
  
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• Tips on how to communicate with the board

  11-04-2016 13:52
  
  A company’s board of directors and its executives are increasingly gaining the realization that the preservation of network security and the robust overall cybersecurity infrastructure of their company is an essential task.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• 5 career-killing conversations to avoid at work

  11-04-2016 13:35
  
  No matter how progressive, open and casual your workplace, there are some conversations that should be off-limits no matter what. A new study from corporate and leadership education and training firm VitalSmarts found that of 775 respondents to a recent VitalSmarts survey on workplace behavior, 83 percent of employees witnessed their colleagues say something that has had catastrophic results on their careers, reputations and businesses.
  The study also found that 69 percent of employees admit to
  
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• Malware is getting nastier, but that shouldn’t matter

  11-04-2016 13:27
  
  Oh, my God! Some BBC reporters got a phishing email with their home addresses within them! Stoke the fearfest. Then watch as other Chicken Littles join in and proclaim that this “new” way of delivering ransomware is endangering us all.
  Please. Get a grip.
  The payload, Maktub Locker, is new, but the ways it can infect you date to the days of AOL email addresses.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• 3 ways IoT security concerns are taken out of context

  11-04-2016 13:18
  
  This Saturday was like most every other day for me.  I opened my  RSS Internet of Things (IoT) news feed and there were three more articles telling me that consumers don’t trust IoT security.  IoT security alerts have been so frequent and regular for so long now that just like a “check engine light” in an old car I am beginning to ignore them.  Recently I have seen a slight pivot in the stream of warnings in the form of survey data:  Data is good. 
  
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• 4 biggest misconceptions about hiring data scientists

  11-04-2016 13:10
  
  When you think of the perfect candidate for a data science role, a few preconceived notions come to mind. You want someone who is analytical, detail-oriented and intuitive -- all important qualities in a data scientist. But there is more to data science than being good with numbers -- the core of a data scientist's role involves influencing decision-makers within the business and guiding the future of the company.
  While there are a lot logical traits that make a good data scientist, there are pl
  
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• At F8, Facebook's chatbots look to change communications

  11-04-2016 13:01
  
  Facebook is expected to announce chatbots, among other things, at its annual F8 developer conference in San Francisco this week, in pursuit of its continuing goal of luring back younger users.
  Chatbots are programs that largely use artificial intelligence to simulate conversations with humans; the technology will likely be included in the company's Messenger app. The goal is to change the way we communicate with businesses, and with each other, on the Internet.
  "Bots are conversational so they
  
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• Are IT executives blind to cybersecurity threats?

  11-04-2016 13:00
  
  Is your company’s cybersecurity keeping you up at night?If you're an IT professional, the answer to that question is probably yes. If you're an IT executive, the answer to that question might be no – even if you work at the same company.What we're seeing, says Jack Danahy, co-founder of Barkly, a Boston-based endpoint security startup company, "is a breakdown in communication."That's what Barkly found in its "Cybersecurity Confidence Report." In it, Barkly surveyed of 350 IT professi
  
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• 7 steps to biometric bliss

  11-04-2016 12:42
  
  Every time you access your phone via fingerprint reader, you’re using biometric identification technology. So, while biometrics on the consumer side has become commonplace, a number of barriers have blocked widespread biometric adoption in the enterprise.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• This list will help you painlessly recover from disaster

  11-04-2016 12:31
  
  Evacuation planImage by REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah Just like an evacuation plan at your home when a fire strikes, you need a disaster recovery blueprint set aside so that everyone in the company knows what to do and where to go when disaster strikes the network. Here’s a list of 10 tips that will help keep things calm.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• SSD shootout: PCI Express blows away SATA and M.2 in throughput testing

  11-04-2016 12:15
  
  For the better part of a decade now, the traditional interface for hard drives has been Serial ATA (SATA). With the advent of the solid state drive (SSD), new interfaces have come into play designed to speed up throughput, because the SATA interface has rapidly become the bottleneck in drive speed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Fitbit Blaze review: Don't call it a smartwatch

  11-04-2016 12:00
  
  When Fitbit announced its new activity-tracking band at CES in January, the company’s stock plummeted. At first glance, the Fitbit Blaze looked like an Apple Watch clone, with a touchscreen, notifications, and interchangeable leather, sport, and link bands to boot. Had Fitbit’s executives lost their minds? But after spending a few weeks with the Fitbit Blaze, I see the potential in a slightly intelligent fitness band. I just wish this one had looks to match its smarts.
  The Fitbit Bl
  
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• Experts tout 'small' data that gets results in smart cities

  11-04-2016 12:00
  
  A big concern for smart city innovators is how to turn data generated by Internet of Things sensors and modules on highways, railroads and elsewhere into valuable information that can be used right away.
  "When you talk about IoT and sensors and smart cities, it is not about big data but about small data, where you take that massive amount of data that things are providing to give us actionable data," said Chris Gutierrez, president of KC SmartPort, in an interview. The group promotes economic d
  
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• A smart home that's really smart

  11-04-2016 12:00
  
  "The network is the computer."
  That's the old Sun Microsystems slogan coined by Sun computer scientist and researcher John Gage. The slogan predated cloud computing, but it's a great way to envision the cloud idea.
  The slogan for today should be: "The house is the Internet of Things appliance."
  OK, that's not nearly as elegant as the Sun slogan. But I think the successful model for home automation is where the home has intelligence built in, and where the house itself is "smart," with sensors a
  
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• 22 insults no developer wants to hear

  11-04-2016 12:00
  
  The technology world is a bit different than the pretty, coiffed world of suits and salesdroids where everyone is polite, even when they hate your guts and think you’re an idiot. Suit-clad managers may smile and hide their real message by the way they say you’re doing “great, real great pal,” but programmers often speak their minds, and when that mind has something unpleasant to say, look out, feelings.Parsing, unpacking, and sorting the insults that developers sling take
  
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