IT Executive news

• HBO’s Silicon Valley returns this weekend

  18-04-2016 23:46
  
  The last episode of Silicon Valley’s previous season began with the protagonist giving an uplifting talk about why the gang got into this mess in the first place – “to build cool s**t” – as an injured man endured a 127-hours-esque ordeal on a live video stream using software that they had designed.“The quality is great!” enthuses one.+ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Catastrophic cyber attack on U.S. grid possible, but not likely + Secretive Intel quietly woos mak
  
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• BrandPost: Three Components of a Smart Connected Enterprise

  18-04-2016 22:43
  
  Traditional plant floor operations rely on paper-based, manual processes for almost every aspect of the business. From inventory management to quality checks, everything is done by hand. These error-prone processes are inefficient and lead to inaccurate data. However, manufacturers with a smart connected enterprise are overcoming inefficiency and finding success on the plant floor. Here are three components that every manufacturer needs to implement for a smart connected enterprise.
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• Akitio's combines two speedy technologies in blazing external SSD

  18-04-2016 22:18
  
  If you have US$1,299 to spend, Akitio's external Thunder3 PCIe SSD storage system will deliver blazing speed and more.The Thunder3 combines two technologies that help it deliver unprecedented data transfer speeds for an external drive. A 1.2TB Intel 750 SSD, based on the super-fast NVMe storage, connects to a PC through a Thunderbolt 3 port.When the NVMe storage and Thunderbolt port are combined, the external storage drive delivers data transfer speeds of up to 2.5GB per second, Akitio
  
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• BrandPost: SQL Server 2016: The Buzz Beyond Security

  18-04-2016 21:40
  The highlights of the newest version of Microsoft’s SQL Server 2016 take security and visibility upgrades of earlier versions and move toward availability, simplicity, and consistency. With only a few days to go before the end of support for SQL Server 2005, IT professionals are talking a lot about upgrades. While security is an important factor to consider, other improved features bring a lot to the table for SQL Server 2016 in Microsoft’s quest to meet the needs of today’s mo
  
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• BrandPost: Is Your Disaster Recovery Plan Up to Date?

  18-04-2016 21:35
  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that IT is now the lifeblood of most companies. Yet it’s alarming how many IT shops still don’t have a handle on disaster recovery, let alone have a clear picture of just how much downtime and data recovery risk their organizations can afford. Read on to discover just how important a comprehensive disaster recovery plan is to your organization.Myriad industry reports paint downtime as a major problem that's nearly impossible to ignore.
  
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• News Corp. files antitrust charges against Google in Europe

  18-04-2016 21:19
  
  News Corp. is fighting Google at the European Commission over what it calls improper scraping of content for use in search results, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.The owner of the Times of London, the New York Post, the Journal and many other media properties around the world has filed a formal complaint with the Commission, the European Union's executive body, the report said. The story cited an unnamed source familiar with the allegations.News Corp. charged that Google takes news from
  
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• NASA plans major test of drone management system

  18-04-2016 21:07
  
  A NASA-developed air traffic control system for drones could take a major step forward this week when up to 24 drones take to the skies from locations across the U.S. in the agency's first coordinated test.
  Called UTM, for unmanned aircraft system traffic management, the platform is seen as a key safety system that would allow greater numbers of drones to fly in the sky and avoid mid-air collisions with piloted aircraft and other drones.
  It allows drone operators to enter a fligh
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Do you begin an enterprise transformation with the business or with IT?

  18-04-2016 20:55
  
  Enterprise transformation can be defined as the fundamental change to the way an organization operates, whether that be moving into a new market or operating in a new way. It is an approach that attempts to align an organization's activities relating to people, process and technology more closely with its business strategy and vision. This fundamental change aims to meet long-term objectives.For the past year or so I've been delivering TOGAF certification workshops. TOGAF stands for "The Open Gr
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Open Container Initiative addresses Docker, CoreOS image problem

  18-04-2016 20:43
  
  The Open Container Initiative (OCI), a Linux Foundation Project, has finally decided to address one of the biggest criticisms of Docker containers -- lack of an open, standard container image format. In response to market demands, OCI has created a container image format specification project to create standard specs. The project is hosted on GitHub.It’s a positive outcome of the pressure CoreOS has been putting on Docker and OCI to address issues like security, naming and an open ima
  
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• Sony cranks up optical disc storage to 3.3TB

  18-04-2016 20:42
  
  Optical discs like Blu-ray are losing favor, but Sony and Panasonic don't seem to care. The companies have cranked up the storage capacity on optical media to a stunning 3.3TB.That's a big advance in Sony's optical storage, which is based on technology used in Blu-ray. The 3.3TB disc is targeted at studios, filmmakers, and broadcasters that store large volumes of video, and at large companies that store infrequently modified data.For example, video streaming companies could hold a large library
  
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• AI + humans = kick-ass cybersecurity

  18-04-2016 20:39
  
  Neither humans nor AI has proven overwhelmingly successful at maintaining cybersecurity on their own, so why not see what happens when you combine the two? That's exactly the premise of a new project from MIT, and it's achieved some pretty impressive results.
  Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and machine-learning startup PatternEx have developed a new platform called AI2 that can detect 85 percent of attacks. It also reduces the number
  
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• Why bimodal IT kills your culture and adds complexity

  18-04-2016 20:26
  
  CIOs practicing bimodal IT are making a strategic mistake. They split their IT department's focus and take their eye off of the crucial goal of winning new business in the digital age. That's because creating a two-class system in which companies slowly builds stability in back-office systems while rapidly rolling out digital products does not support the broader business, process and organizational changes required to augment the customer experience, says Forrester Research."[Bimodal IT] works
  
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• When is WWWDC 2016? Just ask Siri

  18-04-2016 20:23
  
  The official dates for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference have yet to be formally announced by the company. But if you ask Siri, as Re/code’s Ina Fried did, you’ll find out the dates.
  Apple hasn't officially posted details of its June developer conference but Siri will tell you if you ask her. pic.twitter.com/sR7QbNAGzc— Ina Fried (@inafried) April 18, 2016Based on the schedule for the Moscone Center, it’s been speculated by the media and others that WWDC woul
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Improve your business writing with text-to-speech proofreading

  18-04-2016 19:47
  
  Although this has nothing to do with enterprise software per se, almost everybody in business does lots of writing, and proofreading that writing is always a pain. I know this pain first hand after once being hauled over the coals in a performance evaluation for the errors and typos in my emails. Let me share a technique that I have found to be very effective for both proofreading and improving writing.While grammar-checking tools are a huge help when it comes to catching writing mistakes,
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 3 stats that will force you to re-examine your email marketing strategy

  18-04-2016 19:39
  
  I have here some piping hot statistics on email marketing. Econsultancy recently released their 10th Annual Email Marketing Industry Census and overall, the report is quite on the up and up for email marketing. Even though the report is quite expansive and exhaustive with 80+ pages of insights, I’m going to focus on three very crucial email marketing statistics that will force you to re-examine your email marketing campaign and shake things up a bit.So without further ado, here are the thr
  
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• New electronic display is 10 times thinner than human skin

  18-04-2016 19:31
  
  Japanese researchers have developed a thin-film electronic display that is a magnitude of order thinner than the human epidermis, allowing it to be laminated on to a person's skin without the wearer knowing it's there.The University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Engineering developed a mechanical flexibile and stretchable "e-skin" film through the use of an organic light-emitting diode display. Creative Commons Lic.A red seven-segment PLEDs displayed on a hand.To read this article in full or to
  
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• IT employees at EmblemHealth fight to save jobs

  18-04-2016 19:08
  
  IT employees at EmblemHealth are organizing to stop the New York-based employer from outsourcing their jobs to offshore provider Cognizant.
  Employees say the insurer is on the verge of signing a contract with Cognizant, an IT services firm and one of the largest users of H-1B workers. They say the contract may be signed as early as this week.
  They fear what a contract with at IT services offshore firm may mean: Humiliation as part of the "knowledge transfer" process, loss of their jobs or a "re
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Differentiate or die: Your survival guide to make it in a saturated technology market

  18-04-2016 18:46
  
  You see your feature set as the most robust on the market, your security protocol is virtually hack-proof and your interface is second to none. You can spout the advantages of your solution while you sleep, so why aren’t you getting 100% of the opportunities and closing each and every one of them?Now more than ever, it’s not enough to build the perfect product.That’s not to say that specs aren’t important – they are. But in an increasingly competitive marketplace wh
  
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• Teradata forms Global IOT Analytics special ops team

  18-04-2016 18:24
  
  At the Teradata Universe 2016 event in Hamburg, Germany today, Teradata took the wraps off a new unit that it likens to the Navy SEALs of Internet of Things (IoT) analytics.
  The new special ops team of data scientists, data engineers and software designers — dubbed the Global IoT Analytics unit within Teradata Labs — are tasked with building new, cloud-based analytics solutions and services to simplify advanced analytics, data movement and database management for the IoT.
  "The smart
  
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• Introducing the new Citrix

  18-04-2016 17:58
  
  Kirill Tatarinov took over as CEO of Citrix in January, a key piece of a company reorganization demanded by activist investor Elliott Management, which had acquired a 7.5% stake in Citrix.  Tatarinov, a 13 year veteran of Microsoft, where he was most recently Executive Vice President of the Microsoft Business Solutions Division, is putting the finishing touches on the company’s new plan, which will be introduced at the company’s large user conference in May, but he sha
  
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• The nightmare of rogue USB-C cables and adapters will end soon

  18-04-2016 17:51
  
  The wave of rogue USB-C products that poses risks to PCs and mobile devices hasn't gone unnoticed, and the USB Implementers Forum has taken steps to eradicate the issue once and for all.A new specification announced by the USB 3.0 Promoters Group, which is part of USB-IF, aims to eliminate rogue cables, ports and chargers. The USB Type-C Authentication protocol will verify and ensure a USB-C connection won't fry a port or damage a device.A host device like a smartphone or PC will first verify th
  
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• Supreme Court rejects challenge to Google book-scanning project

  18-04-2016 17:23
  
  The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a copyright infringement case against Google for its now 12-year-old effort to scan books and allow people to search them online.The Supreme Court, without comment, rejected an appeal by the Authors Guild to overturn an October 2015 appeals court ruling finding that the massive Google books program falls under so-called fair use exemptions to copyright protections.Fair use allows limited reuse of copyright-protected works for criticism, parodies, e
  
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• New crowdfunding campaign wants to bring Amazon's Alexa to smartwatches

  18-04-2016 16:40
  
  Amazon hasn’t announced any plans to make its own smartwatch, but a new Indiegogo campaign is promising the next-best thing.
  CoWatch claims to be the ”world’s first Amazon Alexa integrated smartwatch.” Much like the Amazon Echo connected speaker, CoWatch will tap into Amazon’s voice services for controlling smart home devices, ordering rides from Uber, adding things to your shopping list, and asking for traffic and weather reports, among other uses.To read this art
  
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• Thrilled that AI is no longer a dirty word

  18-04-2016 16:06
  
  Cognitive computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning are here to stay and promise to benefit both consumers and the organizations that exploit these advanced technologies.That was the sentiment from “Dawn of the Cognitive Era” panelists representing mostly startups (startup wannabe IBM being the exception) at the annual TiE StartupCon event in Boston this past week.MORE: 10 Internet of Things Companies to WatchWhereas it wasn’t long ago that the public’s view
  
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• 15 ways to improve your email marketing campaigns

  18-04-2016 15:52
  
  Despite many years of predictions that email marketing would be replaced or fade away, that day has yet to arrive. In fact, email marketing remains one of the most effective ways of reaching prospective and existing customers.[ Related: 14 digital marketing mistakes to avoid ]Of course, there is always room for improvement with any marketing method. So to find out how businesses, especially small and midsized ones, can increase the effectiveness of their email campaigns dozens of email marketers
  
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• Up to 64% Off Belkin Surge Protectors Today Only - Deal Alert

  18-04-2016 15:50
  
  For today only, Amazon is featuring deals on highly rated surge protectors from Belkin that will save you up to 64%. Use the links below to see which model is right for your application:Belkin 12 Outlet Home/Office Surge Protector with 10-Foot cord and Phone/Ethernet/Coaxial Protection plus Extended Cord.Price: $49.99  $17.98 (save 64%)
  Belkin 3-Outlet SurgePlus Mini Travel Swivel Charger Surge Protector with Dual USB Ports (2.1 AMP / 10 Watt)
  Price: $29.99  $13.99
  
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• Network woes? The cloud is coming to the rescue

  18-04-2016 15:00
  
  Cloud computing is changing the game for one of the hardest problems in IT: running a network.
  Users are counting on fast, secure access more than ever, even as networks get more complex and threats more dangerous. Often, there’s a lot of data available about the state of a network and its performance, but more data by itself can't solve a problem. So startups are turning to the growing power of the cloud for answers.
  Nyansa, based in Silicon Valley, emerged from stealth mode on Monday wi
  
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• HP wants to turn your Mac into a 44-core Windows PC

  18-04-2016 15:00
  
  If your Mac isn't fast enough to edit 3D video, HP has a workaround to make it possible.HP's new remote graphics tool will allow Mac users to tap into the massive computing power of HP Z workstations, which can have up to 44 CPU cores.The Remote Graphics Software (RGS) turns the Mac into a remote desktop tuned for graphics. A "sender" plugin on the HP Z links to a receiver on the Mac, allowing the computers to share screens and applications. "HP is upgrading your Mac," said Christian Jones,
  
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• Don’t be surprised when Microsoft Android shows up

  18-04-2016 14:38
  
  Microsoft has been trying to get the world to use Windows as a mobile operating system since the days of Windows CE, way back in 1996. For 20 years, it has failed, over and over again.
  The latest cratering could spell the end at last. Windows Phone shipments nose-dived in the third quarter last year, plummeting 35% year over year. By Gartner’s count, that gave Microsoft a whopping 1.7% of the smartphone market. Of course, before that, Microsoft had bought a major smartphone company, Nokia
  
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• Network analytics startup provides insight into wireline and wireless traffic

  18-04-2016 14:29
  
  Startup Nyansa Inc. today launched a SaaS-based IT network analytics service that can inspect, analyze and correlate wireline and wireless data to help large campus IT shops speed network problem resolution and create performance baselines that can be used for network tuning, gauging the impact of network changes, and justifying new network investments.
  The CEO and co-founder of the company, which has raised $12 million in venture backing, is Abe Ankumah, onetime Senior Director of Products and
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The value of free: how businesses benefit from giving stuff away

  18-04-2016 13:16
  
  It might sound counterintuitive, but some companies have discovered they can benefit from giving away products and services they paid to produce. From the consumer end, we often see this – in the supermarket, on websites and in stores.So how do businesses benefit from giving stuff away? The benefits of free
  Everyone loves the word “free.” There’s something about getting free stuff that gets most people’s blood pumping. That’s why you see people do st
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How a CIO can help the CEO drive business growth

  18-04-2016 13:12
  
  Last week I facilitated a lunch session with almost 20 of Sydney’s leading CIOs to discuss their changing roles in the digital world. Topics ranged from using new digital technologies to enhancing client’s businesses and how slow traditional vendors are to transition to new digital services. We also talked about the need for IT departments to redesign their operations and how the role of the CIO fits into the future.CIOs were most interested in how to use new and emerging digital tec
  
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• Is the patient the cure to AI healthcare ills?

  18-04-2016 13:02
  
  Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) works best on large volumes of data. One would think that with all its complexity and its mountainous volumes of data, the medical industry would be the perfect place for AI to be a disruptive force.The problem isn’t that AI isn't acquiring enough data to be a disruptive force. The problem is that it’s not acquiring the right data to solve some of the most egregious cost increases in the history of health care industry.In 2014, the U.
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Is the patient the cure to AI healthcare ills?

  18-04-2016 13:02
  
  Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) works best on large volumes of data. One would think that with all its complexity and its mountainous volumes of data, the medical industry would be the perfect place for AI to be a disruptive force.
  The problem isn’t that AI isn't acquiring enough data to be a disruptive force. The problem is that it’s not acquiring the right data to solve some of the most egregious cost increases in the history of health care industry.
  In 2014, the
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why IT needs, and even likes, lawyers

  18-04-2016 13:00
  
  I admit it. I don't read anything in a contract in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS unless I absolutely have to. It is not because I can't read. (I can.) It is not because it feels like the contract is shouting at me. (It is.) It is not because the language does not need to be read. (It does!) It is because the parts of a contract in all capital letters should be read by a lawyer or at least by an expert in contract law.The parts of a contract in capital letters typically deal with warranties, remedies, inde
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Cognitive automation gives employees the freedom to innovate

  18-04-2016 13:00
  
  When creating a culture of innovation, many organizations face hurdles related to talent, capital and time. CIOs and the enterprises they lead are now at an inflection point in the way that humans and technology work together in the business ecosystem, with companies utilizing cognitive automation as a way to shift workflow dynamics and unleash the potential for every employee to be an innovator.The opportunity for cognitive automation is so great that industry analysts predict that by 2020
  
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• 15 tips and tricks to get the most from your LG G5

  18-04-2016 13:00
  
  LG took a lot of risks with the new LG G5—it's got a metal chassis, unusual modular "friends," and no app drawer. There are some great features built in, but there are also a few shortcomings that you'll need to address in order to have the best experience possible. No phone is perfect, after all. So, we've got 15 tips and tricks to make your G5 the best phone it can be.Knock codeUse a few taps to wake and unlock your G5.
  LG started offering the Knock Code security feature a few years ago
  
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• Why curious people make better employees

  18-04-2016 12:55
  
  Curiosity isn't reserved for childhood. It's a powerful characteristic that keeps you engaged and sharp at work. And, at the right company, being a curious person might land you a job over someone who may look more qualified on paper. At least, that's the case for Tony Vartanian, co-founder of Lucktastic, a division of the mobile game design company Jump Ramp. Vartanian has grown his company by hiring qualified, curious candidates over people who simply have an impressive background, but don't d
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The first 4 tech applications every startup needs

  18-04-2016 12:55
  
  When you launch a business, there’s a lot going on, from networking to finding the right workspace. With so many details to oversee, it can be hard to know which technologies are worth spending time on and which you can live without. With that in mind, here are four pieces of tech that every startup should get in the first few days of hanging out their shingle. Getting these in place right away can help streamline other tasks, smooth communications, and free up brain space.Password manager
  
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• 4 IT leaders share the mobile apps they use every day

  18-04-2016 12:48
  
  Smartphones have become more than anyone could have imagined. We use them as a communication device, to pull analytics reports, to connect with colleagues on social media, and even to help monitor core IT services. Yet, it can be hard to know which apps are the most valuable to keep around or rely on during a hectic schedule.To give you some ideas, CIO.com asked several CIOs which apps they use each day, the ones they rely on the most as part of their routine. Some of the apps they use are surpr
  
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• EU investigating Google’s contracts with phone makers, operators

  18-04-2016 12:45
  
  The European Commission is still investigating whether Google’s Android operating system and Amazon’s contracts with e-book publishers have broken antitrust rules, its Competition Commissioner said Monday in Amsterdam.Margrethe Vestager’s remarks come amid reports that the European Commission could formally press charges in the form of a "statement of objections "against Google as early as this week. Her speech suggests that formal charges into both Google’s Android opera
  
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• Send in the Microsoft Surface clones

  18-04-2016 12:41
  
  Copy catsSeveral new Windows 10 tablet computers have either been released, or announced to be released soon, that copy the industrial design of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 and Pro 4. Like the Surface tablets, most of these clones have a kickstand that you flip out to prop them up on a flat surface; and they use a keyboard which can fold over onto the tablet’s display to protect it. While the Surface Pro 4 starts at $899 and can cost as much as $2,699, these clones are generally less e
  
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• 10 supremely useful Microsoft OneNote add-ins and tools

  18-04-2016 12:30
  OneNote can do it allIf you embrace all of Microsoft OneNote’s capabilities, you’ll find that it can do just about anything to help you stay organized and productive. That utility doesn’t end with the core features. OneNote hooks into a ton of different services, so it’s easy to save everything from meeting notes to recipes and even emails to your digital notebook. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• 10 whaling emails that could get by an unsuspecting CEO

  18-04-2016 12:29
  
  WhalingWhaling threats or CEO fraud continues to grow with 70 percent of firms seeing an increase in these email-based attacks designed to extort money. There has been an uptick of activity lately as fraudsters spend the first few months of the year taking advantage of tax season, targeting finance departments with emails that look like they are coming from a company’s senior executive. Case in point are Snapchat and Seagate as companies that inadvertently gave up employees’ personal
  
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• Why even Google can't connect Cuba

  18-04-2016 12:00
  
  When President Obama said in Havana last month that Google would be working to improve Internet access in Cuba, I wondered what Google might do in Cuba that other companies could not.
  Today, Cuba is an Internet desert where only 5% of trusted elites are allowed to have (slow dial-up) Internet connections at home, and a paltry 400,000 people access the Internet through sidewalk Wi-Fi hotspots. These hotspots have existed for only a year or so. Also, some 2.5 million Cubans have government-create
  
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• The pain of training your replacement

  18-04-2016 12:00
  
  At New York Life, IT employees are training overseas workers to do their jobs. It's a difficult task that takes an emotional toll, and there are odd rules and processes to follow.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Fake iCloud scam site wants your Apple ID and password

  18-04-2016 12:00
  
  Scammers these days often go to very elaborate lengths to convince gullible users to hand over their Apple IDs and passwords. One of the latest scams has users getting fake text messages that tell them to log into a scam site to stop their iCloud account from being deactivated.The Mac Kung Fu blog has more details:
  An extremely convincing iCloud phishing scam site has surfaced. The site uses the URL http://signinicloud.com (DON’T visit it!) and looks and feels just like Apple’s exist
  
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• How a giant like GE found home in the cloud

  18-04-2016 12:00
  
  For Jim Fowler, CIO of General Electric, there’s a simple reason he is marching the company toward the cloud: “I’m not going to sell another aircraft engine because I run a global compute factory very well; I’m not going to sell another locomotive because I figured out how to engineer the user experience really well for my developers; I’m not going to sell an oil and gas pump because I’ve figured out how to do self-service,” he said at last year's Amazo
  
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• Deep-dive review: For the iPad Pro, smaller is big

  18-04-2016 12:00
  
  Over the last few years, Apple's mobile product cycle has revolved around "bigger and thinner." Now that mantra has been flipped on its head by Apple's latest releases -- the 9.7-in. iPad Pro and the 4-in. iPhone SE -- that emphasize the notion that smaller might just be better.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• 5 more timeless lessons of programming 'graybeards'

  18-04-2016 12:00
  
  The HR departments and hiring managers in Silicon Valley have a challenge. They can’t ask an applicant’s age because their companies have lost brutal discrimination lawsuits over the years. Instead, they develop little tricks like tossing in an oblique reference to “The Brady Bunch” (“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!”) and seeing if the candidate gets the joke. Candidates who chuckle are deemed a poor cultural fit and are tossed aside.
  Alas, the computer industry has
  
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