IT Executive news

• Eric Schmidt plays good defense at the Oracle-Google trial

  10-05-2016 23:50
  
  Eric Schmidt took the witness stand Tuesday in Oracle’s copyright infringement lawsuit against Google, and he gave little ground during some tense exchanges with Oracle’s attorney.The chairman of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, was the first witness called in the trial, in which Oracle accuses Google of infringing its Java copyrights in Android.Schmidt was initially questioned by Google's own attorneys, and testified that Google did not believe it needed a license to use 37
  
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• Nikola Motor Co. to release 2,000HP hybrid semitrailer truck

  10-05-2016 23:19
  
  The Nikola Motor Company emerged from silent mode today to unveil plans for the first-ever 2000 horsepower (HP) electric class 8 semi-truck, dubbed the Nikola One (named after Nikola Tesla).
  The company also announced plans to release a 520HP 4x4 utility vehicle (UTV) that will boast more than 480 foot pounds of torque with a 125-mile range.Nikola Motor Co.The Nikola Motor Company has designed, engineered and is finalizing assembly of the most powerful production model UTV ever built. The  
  
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• T-Mobile, Qualcomm get FCC approval to test LTE-U

  10-05-2016 23:03
  
  A controversial new wireless technology is closer to widespread use, after Qualcomm and T-Mobile got an official green light from the FCC to test LTE-U in four U.S. locations late last week.
  Qualcomm has had limited testing underway with Verizon since January, but the new authorization from the FCC means that the T-Mobile implementations will be of greater scope. T-Mobile will trial LTE-U (see explainer on LTE-U here) infrastructure in Richardson, Texas; Bellevue, Wash.; Simi Valley, Calif.; an
  
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• Why banks are finally cashing in on the public cloud

  10-05-2016 22:48
  
  The financial services industry has avoided entrusting its data to public cloud vendors, even as Amazon Web Services quietly acquired thousands of business users. Banks and insurance firms feared rigorous regulatory scrutiny should their data become compromised in a breach at one of their cloud vendors.Not anymore. More banks are coming around to the public cloud even if they’re not shouting the fact from the rooftops, says Jim O’Neill, senior analyst with Celent’s banking prac
  
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• BrandPost: Igniting Faster Analytics With the SMACK Stack

  10-05-2016 22:44
  
  As their mastery of big data evolves, enterprises are getting better at using the Hadoop platform for batch processing in analytics applications. This capability is helping business leaders gain rear-view insights into business trends, which is good, however, not good enough. For customers to know and understand what happened one week ago is a must, however, the business now needs to know what happened 1 hour ago, one minute ago, and often times within a split second in order to gain the necessa
  
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• Opera offers iPhone users free VPN, with strings attached

  10-05-2016 22:04
  
  Opera Software yesterday released a free VPN (virtual private networking) app for Apple's iOS, the mobile operating system best known for powering the iPhone.
  Tagged as "Opera VPN," the app relies on the same backbone -- the Toronto-based SurfEasy, which the Norwegian browser maker acquired in March -- as does the firm's Opera desktop browser for disguising location, avoiding online tracking, and circumventing blacklists maintained by countries, corporations and schools.
  Opera VPN's offers just
  
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• Apple Pay is now a useful way to pay in Canada

  10-05-2016 20:28
  
  Apple Pay rolled out in Canada last November, but its existence was so limited that it was barely useful. Only AmEx cards were supported at launch, leaving out most Canadian iPhone users. That changed Tuesday with the addition of two major Canadian banks, with more coming soon.
  Apple’s mobile payment system now supports MasterCard, Visa, and AmEx cards from Royal Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, in addition to those banks’ Interac debit cards, with Bank of Montreal, Toro
  
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• UK court declines to force alleged British hacker to decrypt his data

  10-05-2016 19:55
  The U.K.'s National Crime Agency (NCA) failed in its attempt to use what critics described as a legal backdoor to force a suspected hacker to provide the decryption key for data on multiple devices.Lauri Love, 31, was arrested by U.K. authorities in 2013 under suspicion of hacking into computers belonging to multiple U.S. government agencies including NASA, the FBI, the Federal Reserve, and the Army.Love is the subject of separate indictments in courts in New Jersey, New York, and Virginia and f
  
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• The REAL 'real reason' Apple made the Apple Watch

  10-05-2016 19:25
  
  If you think Apple's goal with the Apple Watch was to boldly enter the burgeoning smartwatch market with a sleek-looking gadget that oozes cool factor, and then slowly steal market share, shape consumer expectations and methodically Hoover up dollars in a quest for (even more) obscene profitability, you are embarrassingly mistaken — at least according to a new article on Time.com, titled "The real reason Apple made the Apple Watch." Time.com columnist Tim Bajarin wants you to believe
  
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• Windows 10 upgrade nag: DOA or still kickin'?

  10-05-2016 19:19
  
  Microsoft today declined to confirm that it will end the on-screen campaign that pesters Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users into upgrading to Windows 10.
  Last week, BetaNews reported that Microsoft would halt the campaign after July 29, citing a company statement.
  "On July 29 the Get Windows 10 app that facilitates the easy upgrade to Windows 10 will be disabled and eventually removed from PCs worldwide," Microsoft told the website.
  Get Windows 10, or GWX in Microsoft shorthand, is the app that th
  
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• 5 security experts share their best tips for ‘fringe’ devices

  10-05-2016 19:09
  
  What is a ‘fringe’ device in IT?For some, it’s a gadget everyone has forgotten about — a printer in a corner office, an Android tablet in a public area used to schedule conference rooms. A fringe device can also be one that’s common enough to be used in the office yet not so common that everyone is carrying one around or has one hooked up to the Wi-Fi every day.As with any security concern, many of these devices are overlooked. There might be security policies and s
  
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• Microsoft expands its Azure cloud platform to South Korea

  10-05-2016 19:00
  
  Microsoft is expanding the global footprint of its cloud platform to South Korea, and it has officially launched its previously announced data center in Canada, the company announced Tuesday. In South Korea, Microsoft's cloud will be getting two new regions, including one in Seoul. They're aimed at serving both customers of the company's Azure cloud platform, and also its other services, including Office 365 and Dynamics CRM Online. Customers also now have full use of two Microsoft Azu
  
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• Privacy advocates want protections for US residents in foreign surveillance law

  10-05-2016 18:36
  
  Congress should limit the ability of the FBI and other agencies to search for information about U.S. residents in a database of foreign terrorism communications collected by the National Security Agency, privacy advocates say.The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act, which allows the NSA to collect foreign Internet communications, expires in late 2017, and Congress should require that the communications of U.S. residents swept up in the controversial Prism and Upstream pro
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 key terms to know for vendor contracts

  10-05-2016 18:28
  
  Mobile, social, cloud and big data, each a disruptive force, together change everything related to how employees, vendors and customers access and use information. The risk around these touch points is best mitigated when you understand five key areas of contract negotiation. CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, and other risk and security professionals should familiarize themselves - or refresh their recollections - around Price and Payment, Proprietary & Confidential Info, Changes in Scope and Deliverables,
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Will healthcare play nice with data science?

  10-05-2016 18:00
  
  At its core data science is meant to challenge the common wisdom. Susan Lindquist, a geneticist and biochemist at MIT, states, “If you’ve been studying in a field all your life, having someone from a completely different field come and tell you something important could be rather irritating. It’s just human nature.” Part of the problem is a turf issue, she noted, but also a gap in understanding because experts in other fields “don’t get why my ideas work.&rdqu
  
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• Enterprise networkers have organized: Here are their demands

  10-05-2016 18:00
  A user group for enterprise IT managers is taking on software-defined networking, calling for new technologies they say would better serve enterprise needs.On Tuesday, the Open Networking User Group (ONUG) announced initiatives behind four technologies that it says would help enterprises build and run their networks better.There’s no shortage of platforms and protocols for software-defined infrastructure, including things like OpenFlow, OpenStack and ONOS (Open Network Operating System). B
  
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• Dropbox goes off to college with new Education service

  10-05-2016 18:00
  
  Dropbox launched a new service on Tuesday to help graduate students, college faculty and staff collaborate on files while they’re at school. Schools can now pay $50 per user, per year for Dropbox Education, a version of the cloud storage company’s premium offering for organizations that’s tailored to the cost-sensitive education market. Dropbox is trying to sell more paid services, but its offerings have been aimed primarily at businesses. Dropbox Education will cost
  
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• Facebook denies hiding conservative news posts

  10-05-2016 17:38
  
  Facebook says it isn't anti-conservative when it comes to highlighting stories in its Trending Topics section. The world’s most popular social network’s comments were in response to a Gizmodo story that said Facebook’s human curators were often encouraged to suppress news stories and sources important to conservatives. This happened even when the story or outlet was trending—being shared a lot—among Facebook’s users, according to Gizmodo's story.
  But Facebook
  
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• BrandPost: Take the Pulse of Networking Trends

  10-05-2016 17:03
  Recently, we partnered with research firm IDG to ask your peers some probing questions about their networking goals and challenges. We received some great responses that really help illustrate today’s networking trends. For instance, over half of the respondents, 54%, chose security breaches as one of the top challenges they face, while 52% are also struggling to increase bandwidth requirements. Looking ahead, 58% plan to focus on reducing downtime, outages, and system failure. Security,
  
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• BrandPost: How to Make a Smooth Microsoft Exchange Transition

  10-05-2016 16:57
  With better integration in the Microsoft environment and an increase on storage, the reasons to implement the latest version of Exchange 2013 are plentiful.  The latest version of Exchange offers data security, compliance, eDiscovery, mobile and BYOD devices use, and IT management.Exchange 2013 and Microsoft Office 365 are incredibly easy to use, but getting there from Exchange 2003 can be difficult, but manageable. If you have been holding out on making the move, your transition will
  
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• BrandPost: The Future of Enterprise Mobility

  10-05-2016 16:53
  Are you curious about what the coming year has in store for enterprise mobility? PC Connection collaborated with IDG the world's leading IT Research Company, and asked IT decision maker’s three questions about the latest trends in mobility. What did your peers have to say? Here are some of the highlights from the survey:Almost 60% of IT decision makers report network vulnerabilities are among their top ranked mobile security concerns
  58% of IT decision will continue supporting BYOD in 201
  
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• Containers vs. virtual machines: How to tell which is the right choice for your enterprise

  10-05-2016 16:51
  
  Name a tech company, any tech company, and they're investing in containers. Google, of course. IBM, yes. Microsoft, check. But, just because containers are extremely popular, doesn't mean virtual machines are out of date. They're not.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• 18 most powerful wireless networking companies

  10-05-2016 15:35
  Wireless big shotsIt’s a wireless world, of course, and one only likely to get less dependent on physical connectivity in the future – but what that future looks like will depend a lot on the companies exerting the strongest influence on the industry. We checked in with analysts and tapped our own institutional expertise to create this list of the companies that, in our opinion, are the biggest influencers in enterprise wireless networking and beyond.To read this article in full or t
  
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• What humans need to learn about machine learning

  10-05-2016 15:08
  
  Artificial intelligence, machine intelligence, cognitive computing — whatever you want to call machines that are capable of understanding and acting upon their environment — is no longer solely the purview of highly credentialed lab directors and deep-thinking computer scientists. It has entered mainstream consciousness, and the public expects IT to play a leadership role as machine learning enters our workplaces, our living spaces and our lives. Will you be ready?Chances are th
  
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• SAP design chief talks details of Apple deal

  10-05-2016 15:01
  
  SAP isn't necessarily known for its design chops or world-class user experience, but the enterprise software giant hopes its new partnership with Apple can change that. "We felt that a partnership with Apple can take that to the next level, both with Apple's expertise in design, but also the ability to optimize those designs natively on iOS devices," says Sam Yen, SAP's chief design officer.Apple and SAP began exploring potential partnerships more than a year ago, according to Yen, and their res
  
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• 5 key requirements of successful big data projects

  10-05-2016 15:01
  
  VANCOUVER, BC - Successful big data projects have five key requirements, says Amy Gaskins, a data scientist with more than a decade of experience designing and implementing data and intelligence projects for the private sector, government agencies and the U.S. military.In her keynote presentation at the Apache: Big Data North America conference in Vancouver on Monday, Gaskins stressed that five factors can make or break big data projects:Buy-in. It's commonly acknowledged at this point that big
  
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• Public sector embraces bigger, longer outsourcing deals

  10-05-2016 14:31
  
  Over the past five years, as outsourcing in the commercial sector has grown steadily but modestly, the annual contract value of outsourcing deals in the public sector has more than doubled, according to analysis by outsourcing consultancy ISG. Today, public sector outsourcing deals account for two-thirds of the annual contract value in the market overall.Much of the activity is happening in the U.S., which consists almost entirely of information technology work and driven in large part by Depart
  
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• Cambridge kiest voor Red Hat

  10-05-2016 14:18
  De Universiteit van Cambridge heeft een overeenkomst gesloten met Red Hat, leverancier van opensource-oplossingen, om haar op OpenStack gebaseerde high performance computing (HPC) initiatieven te ondersteunen.De onderwijsinstelling gaat haar Red Hat OpenStack-platform inzetten voor HPC-as-a-Service mogelijkheden,... lees meer
  
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• 6 traits engineers need to succeed as IT leaders

  10-05-2016 13:42
  
  Engineers and developers often make the best IT leaders. Not only are they forward-thinking and tech-savvy, but they've already have the trust and the loyalty of your IT team and they know the ins-and-outs of a great culture. If you're looking for good IT leadership, you should start from within your own ranks, says Kathy Harris, managing director of technology executive recruitment firm Harris Allied. Not only will this foster greater trust and engagement, it can be a powerful recruiting tool f
  
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• Forrester calls for CIOs and CMOs to improve their relationship

  10-05-2016 13:27
  
  Not long ago, CIOs and CMOs didn't have much to talk about. The former was traditionally more focused on the technological infrastructure of the corporation, while the latter focused on the customer experience and brand image. Marketing technology has changed all of that.
  Forrester released a report that looks at the partnerships between CIOs and CMOs, and how the relationship is becoming vital to businesses. Researchers at Forrester interviewed companies such as Intel Security, IBM, Equifax and
  
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• The best keyboards for Android

  10-05-2016 13:00
  
  5/10/2016: Updated to reflect recent improvements to Google Keyboard.
  Android is awash in great keyboards. If you don’t like what comes as the default typing tool on your new phone, it’s easy to swap it out for one of the excellent keyboards from Google, SwiftKey, Swype, or others.
  In fact, we’re probably at a high point when it comes to this particular genre of apps, as what was once a niche idea has attracted the attention of nearly all the major tech companies.
  What defines
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Should Apple remove sandboxing from the Mac App Store?

  10-05-2016 13:00
  
  Back in 2012 Apple announced that it would begin sandboxing apps submitted by developers to the Mac App Store. Apple made this decision to improve security and help protect Mac users from potentially malicious activity by software applications.Here is Apple’s definition of sandboxing from its App Sandbox Design Guide document for developers:
  A non-sandboxed app has the full rights of the user who is running that app, and can access any resources that the user can access. If that app or the
  
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• Where to cut corners when the security budget gets tight

  10-05-2016 12:30
  
  Whenever creating a budget, there is always the rainy day fund or the contingency account in case of unexpected circumstances. But what if those circumstances are a data breach that is bigger than you could have ever imagined? And you don’t have cyberinsurance?Look to open sourceTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• 7 ways to get the most from your vendors

  10-05-2016 12:30
  
  Vendor management once meant squeezing service providers for the lowest costs. That approach won't fly today.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Bangladesh central bank hack may be an insider job, says FBI

  10-05-2016 12:05
  The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has found evidence that at least one employee of Bangladesh’s central bank was involved in the theft of US$81 million from the bank through a complex hack, according to a newspaper report.The number of employees involved could be higher, with people familiar with the matter suggesting that a handful of others may also have assisted hackers to negotiate Bangladesh Bank’s computer system, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.Bangladesh Ba
  
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• Windows Continuum: What happened when I used a Windows 10 phone as my PC

  10-05-2016 12:00
  
  I’m sitting at my desk on a Monday afternoon,ready to smash something. I’ve spent the past four hours trying to finish a task that usually takes less than half that time. But this isn’t a typical day. It’s the first day in a week where I vowed to work exclusively in Windows 10 Mobile’s desktop Continuum mode via myLumia 950instead of on my proper PC. Goodbye AAA games, traditional desktop applications, and easy multi-tasking. Hello, mobile software and a struggling
  
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• The vendors that got you here may not get you there

  10-05-2016 12:00
  
  IT departments eager to meet their goals for digital transformation should evaluate whether their traditional IT vendors are adapting to new technologies fast enough or whether to enlist a new crop of more innovative vendors, says research and advisory firm IDC.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• JavaScript road map: Smaller, more frequent updates ahead

  10-05-2016 12:00
  
  Developers of ECMAScript, the official specifications underlying JavaScript, are moving forward with plans for upgrades, with the 2016 release most likely set for approval next month. Thanks to a process change, new releases will arrive more frequently even if the new features are few for any specific version.
  Part of a planned annual release cadence, the upcoming ECMAScript 2016 specification features an Array.Prototype.includes method, to determine if an array includes an element, and exponen
  
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• IBM's Watson is going to cybersecurity school

  10-05-2016 12:00
  
  It's no secret that much of the wisdom of the world lies in unstructured data, or the kind that's not necessarily quantifiable and tidy. So it is in cybersecurity, and now IBM is putting Watson to work to make that knowledge more accessible.Towards that end, IBM Security on Tuesday announced a new year-long research project through which it will collaborate with eight universities to help train its Watson artificial-intelligence system to tackle cybercrime.To read this article in full or to leav
  
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• Microsoft shutting down its MSN portal in China

  10-05-2016 08:50
  
  Microsoft is shutting down its MSN portal in China from June 7, as pressure appears to be building up on content services from foreign companies in a country that already bans access to Facebook and Twitter.The Redmond, Washington-based software giant, however, continues to be committed to the Chinese market, offering a range of products including Windows 10, cloud services, and hosting the largest research and development center outside of the U.S, it said in a statement released to news outlet
  
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• A clue to how much more Uber would have to pay drivers as its employees

  10-05-2016 07:43
  
  A proposed settlement between Uber and drivers in California and Massachusetts may have saved the company over US$600 million in payouts to drivers on work-related expenses.Uber agreed to pay the drivers an initial $84 million and a $16 million top-up depending on the company's valuation if it goes public.But the settlement in the class-action lawsuits sidesteps the core issue of whether the drivers should be classified as employees, which could have increased the amount Uber would have to pay t
  
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• HPE/Aruba buys networking analysis company Rasa Networks

  10-05-2016 03:16
  
  HPE/Aruba confirmed today that the company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Rasa Networks, a network performance management and analytics startup, for an undisclosed amount.
  As Network World reported last month, HPE/Aruba had been planning the move for several weeks. An internal communique to employees stated that Rasa’s technology would become a part of the company’s Clarity wireless management software, and that Rasa workers would be integrated into Aruba’s R&
  
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• Newspaper IT employees 'angry as hell' over foreign workers

  10-05-2016 03:14
  
  For McClatchy Company IT employees who will lose their jobs once their work is moved to India, there are fury and questions.
  As many as 150 IT employees at the chain, which runs some 30 newspapers, will be losing their jobs. (See: "Newspaper chain sending IT jobs overseas.")
  A government form, called the Labor Condition Application (LCA), is being posted on bulletin boards at the offices of various newspapers in the chain. This form alerts workers that at least one H-1B worker is being used.
  Ph
  
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• The Oracle-Google jury includes at least one person with an aversion to tech

  10-05-2016 01:27
  
  A lawyer, an accountant and a retired CFO are among the eight women and two men who were selected Monday to decide Oracle’s huge copyright infringement case against Google.
  With the 10-member jury sworn in, lawyers for each side will make their opening statements Tuesday morning, kicking off a high-profile trial that’s expected to last four weeks.
  It's a technical case, and at least one of the jurors seems likely to have trouble keeping up. She’s a retired woman from Berkeley
  
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• How the skills shortage is transforming big data

  10-05-2016 00:10
  
  In the early days of computing, developers were often jacks of all trades, handling virtually any task needed for software to get made. As the field matured, jobs grew more specialized. Now we're seeing a similar pattern in a brand-new domain: big data.That's according to P.K. Agarwal, regional dean and CEO of Northeastern University's recently formed Silicon Valley campus, who says big-data professionals so far have commonly handled everything from data cleaning to analytics, and from Hadoop to
  
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