IT Executive news

• No, it wasn’t just you: Super Mario Bros. is tougher than NP-hard

  31-05-2016 22:53
  
  It’s OK, you’re old enough to admit it – you stunk at Super Mario Bros. The vaunted “feel” of Mario’s movement had you skidding into Koopas and off of cliffs, and the game eventually made you so frustrated that you eventually just played outside instead.
  And hey, now there’s scientific proof that the game really is just that hard, despite what your friend Jesse – who beat the whole thing with sickening ease – told you. A new paper co-written
  
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• Instagram will let you run a business profile if you have a Facebook Page

  31-05-2016 22:36
  
  Soon, business owners will be able to tap into new tools on Instagram, as long as their business has a Facebook Page.
  On Tuesday, Instagram introduced a set of new features to allow business owners to better engage with customers using Instagram. These new business tools include official business profiles, analytics, and the ability for business owners to create sponsored posts directly in the Instagram app.
  “With so many companies using Instagram, and many people on the platform int
  
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• BrandPost: Beyond Backup: The Role of Security and Privacy in Data Protection

  31-05-2016 21:57
  
  Even if there were no bad actors in cyberspace, enterprises still would have to protect their data from power outages, natural disasters, and human error.Unfortunately, there are plenty of bad actors roaming the digital universe in search of companies that are potential hacking and phishing victims – and the bigger, the better. Just last year each of these organizations suffered severe security and privacy breaches:• Anthem Insurance – The health insurance giant’s database
  
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• Samsung now producing world's smallest 512GB SSD; it's half the weight of a dime

  31-05-2016 21:44
  
  Samsung today announced it is mass producing the world's smallest 512GB PCIe SSD that comes in a single ball grid array package and weighs less than a dime.
  Samsung's PM971-NVMe SSD is aimed at ultra-thin notebooks and was manufacturing by combining 16 of Samsung's 48-layer 256-gigabit (Gb) V-NAND flash chips, one 20-nanometer 4Gbit LPDDR4 mobile DRAM chip and a high-performance Samsung controller. Samsung
  The new SSD is just 20mm x 16mm x 1.5mm in size and weighs about one gram, less than half
  
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• 29% off FlashForge Finder 3D Home Printer - Deal Alert

  31-05-2016 21:37
  
  The Finder from FlashForge is a 3D printer designed for the beginner. It averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon (read reviews) and it's $699 list price has been reduced by 29% to just $499. Perfect for home or a school, being both wallet friendly as well as user friendly makes this a good model for anyone who has ever wanted to get hand-on with this cutting edge technology. The unit features a slide-in build plate, assisted bed-leveling, and an intuitive color touchscreen. All heated components a
  
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• Marketo gets scooped up into the private world for $1.79 billion

  31-05-2016 21:15
  
  Marketing-software maker Marketo has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners for $1.79 billion, the company announced Tuesday.Marketo shareholders will receive $35.25 in cash per share -- a sum the company says represents a 64 percent premium over its closing price earlier this month, before reports emerged that it was exploring strategic alternatives.The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016. Marketo's headquarters will remain in San Mateo, California
  
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• IT layoffs at insurance firm are a 'never-ending funeral'

  31-05-2016 21:14
  
  The IT layoffs at MassMutual Financial Group will happen over a period of many months, and it's going to be painful for employees.
  Employees say they are training overseas workers via Web conferencing sessions. There are contractors in the office as well, some of whom may be working on temporary H-1B visas. Employees say they notice more foreign workers in the hallways.
  Approximately 100 employees are affected. They work in IT support and infrastructure, which includes managing operating system
  
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• Kaby Lake starts strong as Intel retools PC strategy

  31-05-2016 21:08
  
  Intel's upcoming 7th Generation Core processor family, code-named Kaby Lake, is off to a quick start.More than 400 devices with Intel's upcoming chip design will reach the market, said Navin Shenoy, corporate vice president and general manager for Intel's Client Computing Group.One of those devices will be Asus' Surface-like Transformer 3, which will ship in the third quarter starting at US$799. The device has a 12.6-inch screen that displays images at a resolution of 2880 x 1920 pixels. It weig
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Efficiency vs. effectiveness within IT

  31-05-2016 21:08
  
  I had the pleasure of speaking with Joseph Raynus about the difference of being “efficient” and being “effective” and its effect on IT productivity and business value. He is the founder of ShareDynamics, a speaker, an author and an expert in business process management and strategic program/project planning.Mr. Raynus said that generally speaking, IT organizations are efficient regarding the ongoing execution of defined production processes and, if solid methodologies are
  
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• Privacy Shield needs improvement, says EU privacy watchdog

  31-05-2016 20:53
  
  Privacy Shield has a new detractor, and that spells bad news for businesses built on the transatlantic transfer of personal data.The Privacy Shield agreement is intended to protect the privacy of European Union citizens when their personal information is processed in the U.S., but it has found few supporters since the European Commission unveiled an unfinished draft of the agreement in January.Even after the Commission published further details, in April, the critics continued to pile on. Last m
  
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• Taking digital tech to the farm

  31-05-2016 20:15
  
  LinkedIn David Black, CIO of CHSTen years ago, a farmer may have found the information he needed to run his farm at the local coffee shop. He may have asked neighbors how their crops did that year, and then made planting and pricing decisions accordingly.  Today, progressive farmers, armed with iPads, can see real-time information on the quality of crops over every inch of their farms. They can apply seed, nitrogen, and irrigation recommendations based on historical yield performance a
  
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• How to craft a security awareness program that works

  31-05-2016 19:59
  
  Employees are often considered the weakest link in organizations' efforts to create a strong security posture. Even organizations with security awareness programs in place struggle to instill strong security behaviors. Steve Conrad, managing director of MediaPro, a learning services company that specializes in information security, data privacy and compliance, says organizations can and should do better.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Apple expected to double base storage on iPhone 7 to 32GB

  31-05-2016 19:47
  
  One of the biggest criticisms of the iPhone 6 and 6S' entry-level models is that they're  well behind the RAM and ROM curve with just 1GB of memory and 16GB of NAND flash. Many rival smartphones offer twice as much or more.
  Apple has chosen to leave its base model memory capacities unchanged since the debut of the iPhone 5 in 2012.
  That, however, is about to change, according to an IHS analyst who described Apple plans to double both the RAM and ROM on the next iPhone release, which is exp
  
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• How Russia's oldest bank found itself on the leading edge of in-memory computing

  31-05-2016 19:43
  
  It's not your average company that can trace its origins back to a nineteenth-century Russian tsar, but then, Sberbank is no average financial institution.Established through a decree by Emperor Nikolai I in 1841, Sberbank is Russia's oldest bank and has played a long and storied role in the nation's history. Today, with more than 16,000 branches in all 83 constituent entities of the Russian Federation -- traversing 11 time zones -- it serves roughly 70 percent of the Russian population.Therein
  
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• 44% off LOOP International Travel Plug with USB Charging and Power Bank - Deal Alert

  31-05-2016 19:35
  
  If you travel internationally, or know someone who does, this may be one to consider. LOOP Electronics travel adapter is an all-in-one travel plug that not only keeps you powered in over 150 countries, but also includes dual USB charging ports and a battery backup (power bank) for when you need power or charging but can't locate a plug. The adapter has a built-in fuse, is made of fire-resistant materials, and comes with an 18-month warranty. It currently averages 4 out of 5 stars from 99 custome
  
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• CFOs are more invested in tech than CIOs think

  31-05-2016 18:57
  
  Ask a CIO what he or she thinks of the CFO and you may hear that finance chiefs obsess over the bottom line and don't understand or care to understand about technology. However, it turns out that CFOs are asking pointed questions about technical architecture because they want to know how to maintain a stable infrastructure that helps their companies to grow and create competitive advantages.“They’re trying to learn and understand what are the things that they really need to know to m
  
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• Microsoft's investing arm is back on the market, but will entrepreneurs bite?

  31-05-2016 18:42
  
  After laying dormant for quite some time, Microsoft has announced that it is getting back into directly investing in startups. Microsoft Ventures has been overhauled, though it’s not clear why Microsoft has decided to get back into investing — or if the company is in it for the long haul.Nagraj Kashyap, the corporate vice president of Microsoft Ventures, laid out his vision for the investing arm in a blog post Monday, saying that the fund will be used to support early-stage companies
  
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• Intel beefs up integrated graphics in Skylake server chips

  31-05-2016 18:34
  If you are not happy with the quality of streaming video, it's perhaps because your providers server doesn't have a good graphics processor.To address that, Intel is improving the integrated graphics processor in its new Xeon E3-1500 v5 family of server chips. Servers with the chips will be able to deliver multiple 4K video streams over the Internet to PCs and mobile devices.The chips are based on the Skylake design and have the Iris Pro Graphics P580, which Intel claims is its best integrated G
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why change control is so critical to project success

  31-05-2016 18:07
  Change control is one of those tasks the project manager must do but usually hates to perform. It's never easy. It can require an iron fist mentality and the willingness to take a hard line with the very customer you are trying to satisfy. Sort of a Catch 22. It can result in increased revenue, but always at the expense of a customer that needs the change to meet a business process need or requirements clarification. It can increase project profitability, but only if you are very accurate in you
  
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• No, Microsoft hasn't backtracked from zealous Windows 10 upgrade tactics

  31-05-2016 18:05
  
  Contrary to scattered reports, Microsoft has not backpedaled from its latest aggressive tactic to boost Windows 10 adoption.
  Accounts claiming that Microsoft has only now introduced a new warning dialog are incorrect: That secondary notice has been part of Microsoft's campaign since at least the first week of May -- before word spread about the company's unusual interpretation of a click on the red "X" in the upper-right corner of a notification that a pre-scheduled upgrade to Windows 10 was im
  
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• HPE wants Oracle to pay $3 billion for breach of Itanium contract

  31-05-2016 18:02
  
  Hewlett-Packard Enterprise is asking a jury to award the company US$3billion from Oracle after the database giant stopped supporting HPE's Itanium-based hardware, even though it allegedly signed a contract to do so.A jury trial in the 5-year-old legal dispute between the tech giants is scheduled to begin Tuesday, nearly four years after a California judge first ruled that Oracle must continue porting its software to HPE's Itanium platform. The new trial is scheduled in Santa Clara Superior Court
  
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• Makani's energy kite is a smarter wind turbine

  31-05-2016 17:54
  
  Kites aren’t just for kids anymore. Just ask Makani Power, which is developing a smart energy kite that can generate up to 50 percent more electricity than a conventional wind turbine.
  The company has been part of Google X since 2013, working to come up with a new, more efficient way to transform wind into energy.
  To do that, Makani has built a craft that actually looks more like a drone but is tethered to the ground like a kite. It has four main components: the kite, the tether, a ground
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The 4 critical questions every member of your IT organization needs to know … and why

  31-05-2016 17:31
  
  If the CEO of your company asked one or more of your team members the following questions, what grades would their answers likely receive?1. What business are we in?
  2. Who are our customers?
  3. What differentiates us from our competition?
  4. What’s our mission statement and core values?Those questions are among the first questions I ask before I begin a new search or a coaching engagement.  The expression on the faces of the people in front of me while they’re considering thei
  
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• Shadow IT 101: Beyond convenience vs. security

  31-05-2016 16:44
  
  Shadow IT, a term that loosely refers to any technology that is used in a company without the oversight of the IT department, isn't a new concept. But companies don't seem to have a better handle on it now than they did when we first started writing about it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Otis Elevator looking to IoT, digital transformation to provide a business lift

  31-05-2016 16:23
  
  Marcus Galafassi was named VP of Information Technology and CIO at Otis Elevator last October, joining the company at a critical time as the venerable firm is looking to make a large investment in technology to improve customer service and pave the way for new capabilities.  Network World Editor in Chief John Dix recently talked to Galafassi about the big picture plans.
  Marcus Galafassi, VP of Information Technology and CIO, Otis Elevator To read this article in full or to leave a comment,
  
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• BBVA gaat strategische samenwerking aan met Red Hat

  31-05-2016 16:20
  De van oorsprong Spaanse grootbank BBVA heeft een strategische samenwerking gesloten met Red Hat om de technologie gedreven innovatieprocessen en de wereldwijde transformatie van de organisatie te versnellen. De wereldwijde overeenkomst, waardoor Red Hat priority partner wordt, is onderdeel van een reeks allianties die... lees meer
  
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• Dice's mobile app aims to add value to your job search

  31-05-2016 16:17
  
  There’s no shortage of apps to help you find a job, but Dice says it wanted to offer something that provided more than job listings and a quick way to apply to postings. It's recently released Dice Careers mobile app is designed specifically for the tech industry to help job seekers feel more in control of the process.[ Also on CIO.com: The 6 hottest new jobs in IT ]Dice Careers takes a lot of the guess work out of job searching, showing competitive job listings in your area, salary data a
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Protecting yourself from Google’s protection racket

  31-05-2016 16:14
  
  About a week ago at Google I/O, Google said it would begin testing in June an alternative to passwords. People have been talking about eliminating passwords for years. They’re hard to remember, particularly when one has dozens of them. Some people have hundreds.
  And people tend to mismanage them — the classic sticky note on the side of the monitor is only the best example. So, Google is proposing to use a mix of biometric and other data from users’ Android phones. This data is
  
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• Bloodiest tech industry layoffs of 2016 so far

  31-05-2016 16:00
  
  The number of non-farm jobs added in the United States in recent months has inched up, and the unemployment rate has held steady at 5%, but that’s not to say the computer and networking industry hasn’t suffered its share of layoffs in 2016 to date.
  Here’s a rundown of some of the more notable layoffs, workforce reductions, resizings or whatever companies want to call them.
  MORE: Laid-off Abbott IT workers won’t have to train their replacements | Looking back at 2015 tech
  
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• ‘Blockchain belangrijkste tech-innovatie sinds internet’

  31-05-2016 15:50
  Zes op de tien leidinggevenden bij financiële dienstverleners die enigszins begrijpen wat blockchain inhoudt, denken dat het de belangrijkste technologische ontwikkeling is sinds de komst van internet. Daarop duidt een wereldwijde enquête in opdracht van Pegasystems en Cognizant.Een overgrote meerderheid... lees meer
  
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• Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter crack down on online hate speech in EU

  31-05-2016 15:44
  
  Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter have agreed to hide illegal online hate speech from European Union users of their platforms within 24 hours of receiving official notification of it.It's a response to the challenge of ensuring that online platforms do not offer opportunities for illegal online hate speech to spread virally, according to the European Commission, which pushed for the agreement.The companies have agreed to create a clear process for receiving and reviewing notifications abou
  
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• Samsung's spacious new 512 GB SSD is smaller than a stamp

  31-05-2016 15:38
  
  Blazing-fast storage just got a whole lot smaller. Samsung said Monday night that it has begun mass producing a new SSD tinier than a postage stamp.
  The PM971-NVMe fits up to 512GB of NAND flash, a controller, and RAM into a single BGA chip measuring 20mm x 16mm x 1.5mm and weighing just one gram, the company said.
  The chip's small size doesn’t mean it’ll be slow, either. Samsungs says the PM971-NVMe will hit 1.5GBps read speeds and 800MBps write speeds.
  The PM971-NVMe is built usin
  
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• 8 quick ways to increase your PM knowledge

  31-05-2016 15:37
  
  With 10 interconnected knowledge areas that incorporate the use of 47 processes organized into five process groups, project management can be a multifaceted maze to navigate. Developing a deeper understanding of this discipline can be an all-consuming and intimidating task at times, and just trying to find out where to turn for training can feel overwhelming.5. Professional books and articlesTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Laptop updaters riddled with security holes

  31-05-2016 15:28
  
  A recent test of pre-installed updater software on 10 laptops showed that every single one had security problems.
  "We went and bought about 10 laptops," said Darren Kemp, security researcher at Duo Security. "And every single vendor had their own piece of software to perform software updates, including the Microsoft Signature Editions, and they were all pretty terrible."
  For example, some laptop manufacturers weren't using encryption in their updaters.
  "We found exploitable vulnerabilities in e
  
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• 80% off XML & Ajax Programming Bootcamp - Deal Alert

  31-05-2016 15:25
  
  Add These Critical Skills to Your Coding Resume with 34 Hours of Training. Discounted for a limited time from $199 to just $39.
  
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• Will your backups protect you against ransomware?

  31-05-2016 14:38
  
  In theory, nobody should be paying any money to the ransomware extortionists. Doesn't everyone have backups these days? Even consumer has access to a wide variety of free or low-cost backup services.
  But the headlines are full of reports about institutions such as hospitals and police departments, organizations that should have business continuity plans in place with solid backup strategies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• The GPS navigation apps Lyft drivers love — and why

  31-05-2016 14:00
  
  On a recent Thursday afternoon, I requested a ride using my Lyft app and hopped into a stranger's black pickup in San Francisco. Twangy country music filled the truck's cabin. I asked the driver where he was from, though I suspected I already knew the answer.
  "Texas," he drawled.
  The next questions I asked were the same ones I asked at least 15 additional Lyft drivers during the past month: Which GPS app did do you use for navigation, and why? Waze was the overwhelming favorite in my infor
  
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• 65 million Tumblr account records are up for sale on the underground market

  31-05-2016 13:45
  
  A few weeks ago, Tumblr notified users of a data breach that resulted in the theft of user email addresses and hashed passwords. The company did not say how many accounts were affected, but recently someone put the data up for sale and the number is: 65 million records.The data is being sold on a Tor dark market website called TheRealDeal by a user named peace_of_mind who also sold 167 million user records stolen from LinkedIn. Recently he also posted offers for 360 million accounts allegedly st
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why I almost quit my job as CMO of a very successful startup

  31-05-2016 13:18
  
  Marketing a recently funded startup is the equivalent of learning to steer a cruise liner after years of combat on a marine assault vessel.
  A good friend of mine, James, is CMO of a tech startup that only 9 months ago received a 20 million dollars funding round; he has subsequently secured a very nice salary raise, and a marketing budget that his peers would die for. He has, by industry standards, landed  the dream job.So you can imagine my surprise when we go out for drinks one evening and
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Exploring the seduction of decentralized prediction markets to improve health

  31-05-2016 13:15
  
  The wisdom of the crowd opens conversations around treatment options, symptoms, and options moving for improved patient care. Thinking and information processing (cognition), coordination (optimization of the utilization), and cooperation (how groups for networks of trust) applies to artificial intelligence, analytics, co-creation, and principles of the sharing economy. Social networks are creating new health information with disease association support groups (think crowd analytics). The collis
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Are you a consistent leader?

  31-05-2016 13:10
  
  A leader is someone who should be able to inspire confidence with everyone in the organization at all times, as opposed to someone who has momentary flashes of brilliance. When a leader is consistent, they are able to inspire trust, whereas a leader who is inconsistent can leave their charges reeling on a daily basis. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Crying ‘Wolf!’ seems to work for security

  31-05-2016 13:00
  
  In the last few weeks, we’ve seen a lot of supposed mega hacks garner big media attention. And why not? We’re talking about more than 1 billion people at risk — if these breaches had been real and current. But that’s not the case.
  The strange thing is that I’m not really upset about this. Normally, I get incensed when I see the media get security stories wrong. But the greater good in the security business counts for something, and it just may be that these overhyp
  
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• 15 tips and tricks to get the most from your HTC 10

  31-05-2016 13:00
  
  Make a good phone even betterImage by Ryan WhitwamHTC knew it had something to prove with the HTC 10, and it's a very good phone. It has solid performance, excellent design, and the latest Sense interface is only a mild change from stock Android. Even with all its good points, you can make your new HTC 10 even better. We've got 15 tips and tricks to make the HTC 10 the best device it can possible be.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Master Class: To deliver more personalized healthcare, ditch the manuals

  31-05-2016 12:30
  
  At St. Joseph Health, David Baker has made it his mission to give patients a more personalized and transparent experience in the way they communicate with the healthcare facility, either through interactions with their doctors or simply setting up their next medical appointment.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Overclockers have pushed Intel's new Broadwell chip to 5.7GHz

  31-05-2016 12:19
  
  Intel's new 10-core Broadwell-E gaming chip is only a few hours old, but already overclockers have pushed a 3GHz version of the chip to 5.7GHz and they say they're only just getting started.Overclocking is the process by which software commands and extreme cooling are used to push processors to run faster than they are typically designed to run -- the chip equivalent of putting your foot on the gas and flooring it while keeping your car under control.At an overclocking event at the Computex trad
  
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• Review: Hot new tools to fight insider threats

  31-05-2016 12:00
  
  In the 1979 film When a Stranger Calls, the horror is provided when police tell a young babysitter that the harassing phone calls she has been receiving are coming from inside the house. It was terrifying for viewers because the intruder had already gotten inside, and was presumably free to wreak whatever havoc he wanted, unimpeded by locked doors or other perimeter defenses. In 2016, that same level of fear is being rightfully felt towards a similar danger in cybersecurity: the insider threat.
  
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• Effective IT security habits of highly secure companies

  31-05-2016 12:00
  
  When you get paid to assess computer security practices, you get a lot of visibility into what does and doesn’t work across the corporate spectrum. I’ve been fortunate enough to do exactly that as a security consultant for more than 20 years, analyzing anywhere between 20 to 50 companies of varying sizes each year. If there’s a single conclusion I can draw from that experience, it’s that successful security strategies are not about tools -- it's about teams.To read this a
  
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• 3 top tools to fight insider threats

  31-05-2016 12:00
  
  Lurking insideImage by Flickr/Dennis SkleyWe tested three products, each concentrating on a different aspect of the insider threat problem. Fortscale did an amazing job protecting a traditional network. Its machine learning capabilities and concentration on access and authentication logs gives it an extremely high accuracy rate. Cloud-based insider threats can be even harder to detect, yet Avanan uniquely protects against threats related to trusted insiders within the cloud. PFU Systems applies
  
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• Apple is said to be extending iPhone refreshes to once every three years

  31-05-2016 08:23
  
  Apple is looking to make evolutionary rather than revolutionary changes to its iPhone this year as it extends the major refresh cycle to once every three years, according to a report in Tuesday's Nikkei newspaper.The change, which the newspaper said Apple is "likely" to make, is due to there being little room left for major advances in smartphone hardware -- at least until an entirely new technology comes on the scene. As chips get faster and software gets better, the benefits seen by annual upg
  
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• Intel beefs up VR ammo with Extreme Edition Core i7 chips

  31-05-2016 08:00
  
  Intel considers virtual reality a key growth vector as it reshapes to survive in a post-PC world, and new Core i7 Extreme Edition chips will play a big role in that transition.The new chips, code-named Broadwell-E, are speed demons with up to 10 cores, a new high for Intel PC chips. Primarily for gaming PCs, the new chips will also go in desktops certified to work with headsets like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.The Core i7-6900 series and 6800 series chips are targeted at enthusiasts looking for the
  
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