IT Executive news

• Deep learning wins the day in Amazon's warehouse robot challenge

  05-07-2016 23:38
  
  Amazon is always on the lookout for new robotic technologies to improve efficiency in its warehouses, and this year deep learning appears to be leading the way.That's according to the results of the second annual Amazon Picking Challenge, which has been won by a joint team from the TU Delft Robotics Institute of the Netherlands and the company Delft Robotics.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Rumors: Microsoft Surface, Band updates could lead a fall splash of Windows hardware

  05-07-2016 22:49
  New reports indicate that Microsoft plans to issue new Surface hardware in the next few months. But what exactly Microsoft has in mind remains unclear. Here’s a rundown of the rumors. 
  Both ZDNet and Windows Central report that Microsoft is leaning toward a small hardware event this fall, where there may be “minor revisions” to the Surface lineup. Both reports indicate, however, that the improvements will be relatively minor, such as a speed bump or increased storage
  
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• Microsoft pitches Windows 10 upgrade to holdouts with full-screen intrusion

  05-07-2016 22:28
  
  Microsoft has deployed another Windows 10 upgrade weapon from an arsenal once thought empty.
  Last week, Microsoft began serving some Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users with a full-screen notice that reminded them of the July 29 end to the free Windows 10 upgrade offer and urged them to accept the deal.
  The full-screen notification appeared when users unlocked the OS at the log-in screen. "Sorry to interrupt, but this is important," the notice stated. "Windows 10 free upgrade offer ends July 29." T
  
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• DOE scientists' discovery may boost solar cells' energy output by up to 40%

  05-07-2016 22:20
  
  In what is being called a "surprise discovery," researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have found they may be able to boost energy conversion rates in one type of solar module by as much as 40%.
  The research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Energy.
  Using an atomic microscope, the researchers observed multifaceted surfaces like a gemstone in solar cells made with the mineral perovskite. Some of the grains, which were about 200 micron
  
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• Sorry, kids, the oldsters are moving in on Snapchat

  05-07-2016 22:08
  
  Sorry, kids, but you won’t have Snapchat all to yourselves anymore.
  It seems the adults are crashing the party.
  While Facebook and Twitter have been the bastions for people who are well passed their teen years and early 20s, Snapchat and Instagram have been home to younger users.
  Those younger users wanted social networks where they wouldn't find their parents, aunts, uncles and even grandparents.
  Now that social oasis for the younger generation may be vanishing.
  Three years ago, Snapchat
  
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• Democrats support ‘ambitious’ tech investment

  05-07-2016 22:01
  
  The just-released draft of the Democratic party platform calls for increasing investments in science and technology research. It supports net neutrality and expansion of high-speed broadband networks. But its biggest push is in the areas of clean energy and infrastructure investment.
  The platform says nothing about the offshore outsourcing of IT jobs and other types of work susceptible to offshoring. It is silent on the use of H-1B visa, similar to the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Cl
  
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• Like smartphones, IoT communications going long distance

  05-07-2016 21:38
  
  The world's newest mobile telecoms network went into operation this week, but it's not for smartphones. The network, built by South Korea's SK Telecom, is dedicated to gadgets that connect to the so-called internet of things.
  Today, most of those devices communicate over Bluetooth or WiFi, which are low power but short range, or over conventional cellular, which has better coverage but is more expensive and consumes more power.
  The Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) network built in South Kore
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 Ways to spice up your visual content marketing strategy

  05-07-2016 21:15
  
  Is your content marketing strategy missing something? If you feel like you’re lacking a key component in 2016, it’s possible that your visual content strategy isn’t up to par.If so, it may be time to spice things up with a variety of popular techniques.The human brain and the rise of visual content
  In case you haven’t noticed, we — as a global society — are on a path to visual domination. In terms of marketing, this rise is characterized by the dramatic increa
  
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• Microsoft gives businesses a free tool for online meetings

  05-07-2016 21:13
  
  Microsoft is giving small businesses a new way to hold meetings online with the launch of a free Skype Meetings product that's aimed at providing professional communication tools for free.Skype Meetings is free to use, and people can launch meetings for up to 10 people during their first 60 days of using it. After that, they're limited to only hosting meetings for three or fewer people. Those meetings can take advantage of a bunch of features, including the option to bring in participants using
  
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• How to tell if your company needs a chief digital officer

  05-07-2016 21:11
  
  Companies in all industries are being pulled into the digital age. Customers now expect seamless experiences with the online products and services they use, and they will leave behind businesses that aren't able to meet those digital expectations. Companies such as Uber and Lyft are pushing out traditional taxi companies, for example. Cable companies feel pressure from cord-cutters. The ad industry is in flux due to ad blockers. And the list just goes on. If your organization doesn't make the ri
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The two main pitfalls of business intelligence as we know it

  05-07-2016 20:34
  
  Business Intelligence, or as it’s more commonly known as in today’s lexicon “BI,” is one of the first things that pops into professionals’ minds when anything data-related in the workplace is brought up. Whether you’re on the information technology side of the business or a P&L owner, the answer to any information problem is to typically throw a BI solution at it.But, to be completely straightforward, this needs to stop.As observed with the rise and fall o
  
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• Fearing surveillance, man allegedly shot at Google and set self-driving car ablaze

  05-07-2016 20:07
  
  A man who told police he feared surveillance by Google has been arrested and charged with arson after one of the company's self-driving cars was destroyed in an attack in June.Raul Murillo Diaz of Oakland was stopped by police after Google security spotted him driving around the company's headquarters campus in Mountain View, California, just after midnight on June 30. They became suspicious because his car matched that spotted at the scene of several attacks on the company over the preceding si
  
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• Raspberry Pi roundup: The Raspberry Baron takes to the skies; big talk about voice; thin client scuttlebutt

  05-07-2016 19:54
  
  In possibly the coolest news for aviation geeks who cover the technology sector – so, you know, basically just the author of this article – a former University of Cincinnati doctoral candidate has created a Raspberry Pi-powered AI that can fly simulated fighter aircraft.
  ALPHA, according to retired Col. Gene Lee, is “the most aggressive, responsive, dynamic and credible AI I’ve seen to date.” Lee, according to the University of Cincinnati magazine that originally p
  
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• As Windows 10 free deal nears end, growth slows slightly

  05-07-2016 19:53
  
  Windows 10 growth slowed slightly last month but remained robust enough to push the nearly-one-year-old OS over the 21% share bar, according to new data from metrics vendor Net Applications.
  In June, Windows 10 powered 21.3% of all Windows PCs, a 1.9-point increase over May. Net Applications measures user share -- an estimate of the percentage of the global personal computer inventory that runs a particular operating system -- by tallying unique visitors to clients' websites.
  June's gain was le
  
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• Compliance Dictionary aims for a simpler life

  05-07-2016 18:54
  
  Compliance is hard. Globalization, an ever-growing corpus of regulations and increasing business complexity all conspire to make it challenging to understand, implement and prove regulatory compliance. With the Compliance Dictionary, Unified Compliance Framework (UCF) is aiming to change that.Most authority documents — laws, regulations, international standards, contractual obligations, etc. — use custom terms. For instance, 'Personally Identifiable Information' (PII) was defined leg
  
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• Google is working to make every website viewable in VR

  05-07-2016 18:20
  
  Reading your favorite website may be a whole new experience in the near future. As part of its Chromium project Google is apparently working at bringing virtual reality support to its browser.
  According to Google’s François Beaufort, the Chrome Beta and Chrome Dev channels have a setting that “allows users to browse the web while using Cardboard or Daydream-ready viewers.”
  There’s an an experimental flag found at chrome://flags/#enable-vr-shell that enables a
  
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• Would you subscribe to Windows?

  05-07-2016 18:09
  
  Microsoft apologists insist that the company wasn’t really trying to push Windows 10 on users when it recently did stealth OS updates on their PCs. There’s only one problem with this: Users disagreed. Now, as the clock runs out on Microsoft’s offer of free Windows 10 “upgrades,” it appears the company is readying another approach to get you to move from older versions of Windows: subscriptions.
  Surprise!To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please cli
  
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• FBI faults Clinton's personal email system, but doesn't recommend prosecution

  05-07-2016 18:02
  
  Hillary Clinton was "extremely careless" in her use of a private email server while she was U.S. secretary of state, but the FBI isn't recommending any charges be brought against her for mishandling classified information.Speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, days after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed the presidential candidate, FBI Director James Comey said his investigation had uncovered numerous instances of the system being improperly used for classified informa
  
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• Microsoft's rolling out an intrusive full-screen Windows 10 upgrade nag for final push

  05-07-2016 17:09
  Mere days after Microsoft ended its dirty tricks for Windows 10 upgrade pop-ups, the company is adding a full-screen nag to try and convince you to upgrade to Windows 10 before the free offer ends on July 29.The new notification is similar to the screens you see during a Windows installation or upgrade process, as pictured here.The new Windows 10 upgrade prompt: full-screen edition.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 capabilities that should be in the next version of your favorite IoT PaaS

  05-07-2016 16:42
  
  In recent years, platform as a service (PaaS) incumbents have rapidly built up their internet of things (IoT) capabilities and started to become very competitive in the space. Just in the last year, IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon have each released very sophisticated IoT platforms as well as a complementary number of strategic alliances with IoT manufacturers and system integrators that have brought credibility to their IoT offerings. Different from previous trends like mobile, PaaS incumbents have
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: iPad Pro: How to disable multitasking

  05-07-2016 16:39
  When Apple added Split View and Slide Over multitasking to iOS, both features were appreciated by many iPad Pro users. But it turns out that not everybody needs or wants to multitask on their iPad Pro tablets.For some users multitasking can actually be annoying since tapping and swiping from the right side of the iPad Pro’s screen can inadvertently activate iOS’ multitasking feature.If you’re one of those users, don’t worry. It’s very easy to disable multitasking on
  
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• Google teams with UK eye hospital on AI disease diagnosis

  05-07-2016 16:38
  
  Google's DeepMind AI business unit is hoping to teach computers to diagnose eye disease, using patient data from a U.K. hospital.Using deep learning techniques, DeepMind hopes to improve diagnosis of two eye conditions: age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, both of which can lead to sight loss. If these conditions are detected early enough, patients' sight can be saved.One way doctors look for signs of these diseases is by examining the interior of the eye, opposite the lens
  
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• 8 ingredients of an effective disaster recovery plan

  05-07-2016 16:26
  
  Earlier this month, a monkey caused a nationwide power outage in Kenya. Millions of homes and businesses were without electricity. Which just goes to show that “not all disasters come in the form of major storms with names and categories,” says Bob Davis, CMO, Atlantis Computing.“Electrical fires, broken water pipes, failed air conditioning units [and rogue monkeys] can cause just as much damage,” he says. And while “business executives might think they’re saf
  
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• How to decide when to buy software and when to build it

  05-07-2016 16:24
  
  The appeal of the cloud has long been that you don’t need to do everything yourself, leaving you more time and resources to concentrate on what makes your company stand out. A classic example is that you buy electricity from the grid rather than running your own fleet of generators because having electricity doesn’t make you unique. The same is true of internal software, which you need to be efficient and reliable, but in most cases you don’t need it to set you apart from your
  
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• Best Deals of The Month - Deal Alert

  05-07-2016 15:51
  
  Best Deals of The Month - Deal AlertCheck out this roundup of the best deals on gadgets, gear and other cool stuff we have found in the past month. All items are highly rated, and dramatically discounted.58% off RAVPower FileHub Wireless Hard Drive, WiFi Bridge & Sharing Media StreamerYou may find many uses for this versatile and powerful file hub from RAVPower, currently discounted 58% on Amazon from $75.99 down to just $31.99.  This hub Let up to 5 devices wirelessly connect
  
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• How auto repair chain accelerates networking with SD-WAN

  05-07-2016 15:22
  
  Businesses needing broadband connectivity while rapidly expanding are finding an alternative to traditional wide area network infrastructure. Service King Collision Repair Centers, for example, is using software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) to support new auto repair centers, a move that has helped reduce the company's operational costs even as it grows its footprint across 23 states.Service King's CIO Derek Kramer.Service King's store locations have grown to more than 300 todayfrom 100 in
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Understand supply and demand to manage client expectations

  05-07-2016 14:45
  
  One of the keys to success in IT management is being able to manage your client’s expectations.To manage your client’s expectations, you need to know some things about the concept of “supply and demand” and how it applies within an IT support organization.Demand is the technology support needed by your clients to address their business needs and issues.Supply is your IT organization’s capability and capacity to deliver IT support.You have to understand the dynamics
  
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• Is your car secure? Maybe not, but enterprise users can still learn something

  05-07-2016 14:17
  
  If you're looking for a good lesson in enterprise security, there might be a few sitting in the parking lot. The automotive field is a glaring example of "worst practices" in security, say several automotive experts. And, the problem is only getting worse, not better.
  Over the past few years, the cars have come under fire for many things -- constant recalls, safety hazards, and diesel-engine tricks to name a few-- but security experts have noticed a disturbing trend.
  While it might be hard to b
  
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• EU plans $2B investment in cybersecurity research

  05-07-2016 13:48
  The European Union is stumping up €450 million ($500 million) to fund research into cybersecurity -- and wants industry to contribute three times that.The EU's executive body, the European Commission, is concerned about the vulnerability of the EU economy to cyberattacks, warning in a report Tuesday that they "could undermine the digital single market and economic and social life as a whole."The $2 billion cybersecurity public-private partnership (cPPP) is intended boost cross-border resear
  
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• How to make Google Drive apps look and work more like Microsoft Office

  05-07-2016 12:38
  As much as I love Google Docs, I’ve come to accept it’s still largely a Microsoft Office world. So many businesses still run on Office, particularly with an Office 365 subscription as a popular choice for all of one’s cloud storage needs.
  If you’re in the same boat, inhale a couple of times and take heart from knowing that you don’t have to abandon the ease and save-as-you-type convenience of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for Microsoft’s Office suite.
  By ch
  
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• Examining man-in-the-middle attacks

  05-07-2016 12:05
  
  Caught in the middleImage by LookoutDoes the screen above look familiar? It should. Millions of people around the world connect to public Wi-Fi networks on their mobile devices as they travel and try to stay connected. The problem is, not all networks are official. The image above is that of a fake, or spoofed, hotel Wi-Fi network, but you can’t tell just by looking at it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Top 10 advanced endpoint protection tools

  05-07-2016 12:00
  
  Endpoint protectionThe days of simple endpoint protection based on traditional anti-malware tools are over. There are now advanced endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools that go beyond proactive monitoring and endpoint protection. They evaluate threats in a larger ecosystem, combining the best aspects from network intrusion detection and examining the individual process level on each computer. That is a tall order, and the 10 products tested are all very capable. However, no one product doe
  
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• Review: OnePlus 3 is a flagship phone for careful spenders

  05-07-2016 12:00
  
  The OnePlus 3 smartphone raises two difficult questions: Just what is a flagship product? And why should you care?
  Flagship phones -- the ones with the fastest processors, best screens and slimmest profiles -- tend to cost about $800 and often still tie you to carriers. The OnePlus 3 costs just $399 (vendor price) and packs tech that's as powerful as any of them. It gets you 95% of the way to a deluxe smartphone for half the price. And it comes unlocked and without bloatware.
  Physically, the ph
  
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• How to buy endpoint security products

  05-07-2016 12:00
  
  In our testing of 10 endpoint security products, we found that no one product does everything. You will have to make compromises, depending on what other security tools you already have installed and the skill levels of your staff. While there is no single product that can suit all situations, endpoint configurations and IT requirements, there are a few key things to consider in your purchase:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Enterprise NPM users to get help with security, licensing

  05-07-2016 12:00
  
  NPM Inc, which oversees the popular NPM registry of JavaScript modules is enlisting outside help to provide guidance on security, code analysis, and licensing issues.
  Under an expansion of NPM Enterprise to be detailed today, NPM Inc. will partner with third parties to take care of auditing of modules via its NPM Enterprise add-ons service. The current NPM Enterprise product takes the NPM open source registry code base and allows large companies to use it behind their firewall, sharing and reus
  
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• 7 trends in advanced endpoint protection

  05-07-2016 12:00
  
  After extensive testing of 10 advanced endpoint protection products, we have identified a series of broad industry trends:
  1. Virus signatures are passé. Creating a virus with a unique signature is child’s play, thanks to the nearly automated virus construction kits that have filled the internet over the past several years. Instead, many of today’s advanced endpoint protection products make use of security news feeds that report on the latest attacks such as VirusTotal.com an
  
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• 11 signs your kid is hacking -- and what to do about it

  05-07-2016 12:00
  
  I've shared a lot of security knowledge in my tenure as InfoWorld's Security Advisor. But what I've never shared before is that much of my initial computer security defense knowledge, which I turned into my first book, came from trying to stop my teenage stepson from being a malicious hacker.
  I was newly dating his mother and he was a precocious 15-year-old who liked messing around with electronics and computers. He and his closest friends also flirted with malicious hacking, including har
  
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• 10 cutting-edge tools that take endpoint security to a new level

  05-07-2016 12:00
  
  The days of simple endpoint protection are over. Scanning and screening for malware has become a very complex process, and most traditional anti-malware tools only find a small fraction of potential infections.We tested Sentinel on a series of VMs, both running the server and various Windows endpoints. The collection server will need a very hefty 64GB of RAM and two separate gigabit network cards. When you install the server on a CentOS machine, it sets up a Web-based dashboard and management co
  
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