IT Executive news

• IDG Contributor Network: Being nice is the key to winning teams and projects

  07-07-2016 23:19
  
  I just read an interesting article about Google spending years trying to figure out the winning formula for successful teams. It ended up like this – just be nice. I've stated that “Nice Guy Project Managers Finish First” and it turns out that I was right! So let's now look at this a slightly different way...how being nice can be the key to running successful projects and having cohesive, successful teams.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How one nonprofit is making tech education open to everyone

  07-07-2016 23:04
  
  Corinne Warnshuis is the Executive Director of an organization called Girl Develop It that is dedicated to teaching women about web and software development. I sat down with Warnshuis at Red Hat Summit last month to learn more about the organization, its core value that tech education should be open to everyone, and how they're working to get more women into open source. What follows is an edited transcript of that conversation.
  Can you tell us about Girl Develop It?
  Girl Develop It is a non-pr
  
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• Wendy's hack was bigger than thought and exposed credit card data

  07-07-2016 23:03
  
  A data breach that hit Wendy's fast food restaurants was more than three times bigger than originally disclosed and exposed customer credit card data.The company said Thursday that malware installed in point-of-sale systems was discovered at over 1,000 of its franchised U.S. restaurants -- a big jump from the "fewer than 300 stores" it said in May had been affected.Hackers gained access to the machines using remote access credentials of a third-party service provider, Wendy’s sai
  
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• BrandPost: How Manufacturing Intelligence Leads to More-Informed Decisions

  07-07-2016 22:48
  
  Analytics and business intelligence (BI) give manufacturers the ability to break down the silos that separate departments, divisions, and processes, and galvanize their business around customers. Here are just a few ways manufacturing intelligence breaks down silos and leads to more-informed decisions.Creating One Version of RealityToo often there are hundreds—and in larger manufacturers, thousands—of dashboards and scorecards that often are based on different databases or legac
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Dell’s Precision 5510 mobile workstation combines XPS looks with hard-core business capabilities

  07-07-2016 22:45
  
  The Dell Precision 5510 mobile workstation is part of Dell’s latest efforts to combine the attractiveness of their premium notebooks with their business friendly capabilities, improved security and features. Dell gave me the opportunity to pound on their latest version of the Dell Precision line-up with the Dell Precision 5510 which is part of the company’s efforts to bring more attractive mobile workstations to the commercial and enterprise. I spent the last three months using the P
  
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• 6 'data' buzzwords you need to understand

  07-07-2016 22:15
  
  Take one major trend spanning the business and technology worlds, add countless vendors and consultants hoping to cash in, and what do you get? A whole lot of buzzwords with unclear definitions.In the world of big data, the surrounding hype has spawned a brand-new lingo. Need a little clarity? Read on for a glossary of sorts highlighting some of the main data types you should understand.1. Fast data The shining star in this constellation of terms is "fast data," which is popping up with inc
  
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• Siri takes control as Apple's macOS Sierra beta arrives

  07-07-2016 22:00
  
  Less than a month after its unveiling at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, macOS Sierra arrived today for beta testers who have signed up to try Apple's new desktop operating system. This is the third year in a row Apple has offered a public beta of an upcoming desktop OS.
  This year the Mac platform gets some significant enhancements, with Sierra bringing one notable feature that promises to change how users interact with their Mac. After teasing users in 2015 with a revamped Spo
  
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• Facebook device could bring Internet to four corners of the earth

  07-07-2016 21:58
  
  Facebook has taken another step toward trying to bring connectivity to people around the world.
  The social networking giant announced on Wednesday that it has designed and tested an open-source wireless access platform with the goal of improving connectivity to rural areas.
  And Facebook's plan is that it will fit inside a shoebox.
  Dubbed OpenCellular, it reportedly can offer connectivity to about 1,500 people who are sending and receiving voice calls and SMS messages. It provides basic 2G data
  
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• Apple previews macOS Sierra to the public

  07-07-2016 21:24
  
  Apple today released the first public preview of macOS Sierra, this year's upgrade to the operating system formerly known as OS X.
  The preview arrived a week earlier than Computerworld's forecast; that prediction was based on the span between the developer unveiling and public beta of last year's OS X El Capitan.
  This was the third year straight that Apple has made previews available to the general public. The Cupertino, Calif. company restored the beta program in 2014 with OS X Yosemite after
  
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• 24% off TP-LINK AC1900 Wireless Wi-Fi Dual Band AC Router - Deal Alert

  07-07-2016 20:32
  
  The AC1900 router from TP-LINK supports 802.11ac, the latest Wi-Fi tech. It operates on the 5GHz band as well as 2.4 for older devices. Dual USB 3.0 and 2.0 let you easily share files and media across your network. The AC1900 strives to create a stronger, faster and more reliable network that efficiently manages many connected devices simultaneously. Amazon currently has it listed for 24% off its typical list price of $170, so you can buy it now for $130. Over 2,700 customers rate it 4.5 ou
  
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• 4 tips for buying cloud management software

  07-07-2016 20:25
  
  Managing clouds can be a challenge given that virtual machines and storage are running in two different environments simultaneously. A crowded industry of cloud management platforms (CMP) has emerged to help.
  Gartner Research Director Mindy Cancila says the CMP market is young and maturing; customers should understand the limitations of various options.
  Here are four tips from Cancila for organizations considering cloud management products.
  IaaS needs its own toolsMany organizations began their
  
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• The truth about those 'progressive' parental leave policies

  07-07-2016 19:46
  
  What good is parental leave if no one uses it? Cities including San Francisco and New York recently passed mandatory paid family-leave legislation, yet most U.S. workers still rely on employers to provide the benefit. These new laws are awesome … but societal norms still need to catch up.The IT industry likes to tout its progressive, innovative nature. Companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Apple all publicize their generous parental leave policies, as well as their intentio
  
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• NASA reconnects with Mars rover Curiosity

  07-07-2016 19:34
  
  After several days of Curiosity being in safety mode, NASA engineers have resumed communication with their Mars rover.
  NASA announced that engineers are working to restore the robotic rover, which landed on Mars in August 2012, to full working mode.
  Curiosity is stable and not in danger.
  The rover, which discovered that ancient Mars held key chemicals needed for life as well as evidence of ancient water flows, put itself into safe mode on July 2.
  NASA said Curiosity's team has not yet pinpointe
  
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• iOS 10 public beta is live: Here's everything you need to know

  07-07-2016 19:23
  
  So far today is shaping up to be software Christmas. First Apple dropped the public beta of macOS Sierra, which was exciting enough. But don’t let your iPhone and iPad feel neglected, because Apple is also launching the public beta of iOS 10.
  Now, a beta is a beta. Don’t get swept up in the excitement and forget that this software isn’t final and could have bugs, so you might want to think twice about putting it on your everyday iPhone. That said, developers are on t
  
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• 27% off Canon EOS Rebel T6 Digital SLR Camera Kit with EF-S 18-55mm and EF 75-300mm Zoom Lenses - Deal Alert

  07-07-2016 19:02
  
  The 18.0 megapixel Canon EOS Rebel T6 Digital SLR Camera Kit is currently discounted by 27% on Amazon from $749.99 down to $549.  The complete bundle includes EF-S 18-55mm and EF 75-300mm Zoom Lenses.  It also has built-in Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity, providing easy sharing to compatible smart devices, select social media sites and the Canon Connect Station CS100 device.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• 27% off Canon EOS Rebel T6 Digital SLR Camera Kit with EF-S 18-55mm and EF 75-300mm Zoom Lenses

  07-07-2016 19:02
  
  The 18.0 megapixel Canon EOS Rebel T6 Digital SLR Camera Kit is currently discounted by 27% on Amazon from $749.99 down to $549.  The complete bundle includes EF-S 18-55mm and EF 75-300mm Zoom Lenses.  It also has built-in Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity, providing easy sharing to compatible smart devices, select social media sites and the Canon Connect Station CS100 device.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Tesla fires back over ethics accusation after fatal crash

  07-07-2016 18:58
  
  Tesla Motors has responded to a magazine article that questioned the all-electric carmaker's ethics in handling the aftermath of the first recorded fatal crash involving a Model S sedan using autonomous driving technology.
  The Fortune article, published on Tuesday, called out Tesla and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for not disclosing the May 7 accident for nearly eight weeks.
  The accident became public June 30 when the NHTSA announced its investigation.To read this
  
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• Researchers add software bugs to reduce the number of… software bugs

  07-07-2016 18:58
  
  Researchers are adding bugs to experimental software code in order to ultimately wind up with programs that have fewer vulnerabilities.
  The idea is to insert a known quantity of vulnerabilities into code, then see how many of them are discovered by bug-finding tools.
  By analyzing the reasons bugs escape detection, developers can create more effective bug-finders, according to researchers at New York University in collaboration with others from MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory and Northeastern Uni
  
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• OLPC redux: Spin-off delivers successors to XO hardware

  07-07-2016 18:42
  
  Non-profit One Education has an ambitious plan in a competitive PC market: to sell Windows 10 tablets and laptops inspired by the innovative spirit of One Laptop Per Child, which designed groundbreaking low-cost PCs almost a decade ago.One Education, an OLPC spin-off, is making what it considers successors to OLPC's XO devices, which are now out-of-date. OLPC released its first XO laptop in 2007, but the organization is now splintered and focusing on education tools.The first One Education produ
  
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• Report: Google is building a pair of Android Wear watches

  07-07-2016 18:12
  
  Get ready for the Nexus Watch line.
  A report from Android Police, which offers a pretty solid track record in the rumor department, says Google is building two such wearables that will serve as a showcase for the company’s new Google Assistant.
  Both watches are said to have a circular display without the “fat tire” found on wearables like the Moto 360. It could look similar to the Huawei watch (pictured above). One watch, using the codename “Angelfish” (Google goes
  
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• Apple is launching the iOS 10 public beta today

  07-07-2016 17:59
  We’re just two developer beta releases into iOS 10, and Apple is already pushing a prerelease version of its next-generation iPhone software into the wilds of public testing. The public beta rolls out today, and it’s open to everyone. You can sign up for the beta program here.
  Apple started letting the public into its iOS beta tests last year. Before iOS 9, you had to be a developer (and pay $99 for a yearly developer subscription) to test drive prerelease versions of iPhone softwar
  
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• Technologietrends op basis van Meetup-data visualiseren

  07-07-2016 17:21
  Door Walter van der Scheer – Trendrapporten zijn over het algemeen samengesteld op basis van de opinie van experts en geven dikwijls een weinig realistisch beeld van de praktijk van alledag. Door de toegenomen snelheid van innovatie zijn experts vaak niet direct in staat om opkomende trends aan te wijzen. Tijd... lees meer
  
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• Here's how secret voice commands could hijack your smartphone

  07-07-2016 17:03
  
  Kitten videos are harmless, right? Except when they take over your phone.
  Researchers have found something new to worry about on the internet. It turns out that a muffled voice hidden in an innocuous YouTube video could issue commands to a nearby smartphone without you even knowing it.
  The researchers describe the threat in a research paper to be presented next month at the USENIX Security Symposium in Austin, Texas. They also demonstrate it in this video.
  Voice recognition has taken
  
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• 4 tools for managing firewall rules

  07-07-2016 16:59
  
  Firewall devices are only as good as the hundreds, or even thousands, rules that govern them. Misconfigurations, unused rules and conflicting rules can cause firewalls to fail in their crucial missions. Firewall security management products can help security managers monitor compliance, orchestrate device policies, optimize rules and manage firewall changes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Mozilla aims to combat the closed web by baking smart, open discovery into Firefox

  07-07-2016 16:57
  
  Mozilla has a new plan to battle the increasing dominance that companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter have over the web. Firefox's maker says it's building a new recommendation system for the web that helps you discover handy content based on what you’re doing online.
  Dubbed the Context Graph, the new system comes up with its recommendations based on content that other users have found useful. The Context Graph will also look at how one page relates to another page online.
  “Lo
  
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• BrandPost: CIO Interview with Shawn Edwards, CTO, Bloomberg LP

  07-07-2016 16:46
  
  How are disruptive technologies like cloud computing, mobility, big data, and social media impacting your work as CTO?Let’s focus on cloud. Bloomberg is actually a cloud service provider, and we have a very sophisticated internal cloud that helps my team move faster. It used to take us over a month to get new servers provisioned, but our cloud has dropped that down to minutes now. That lets us experiment more easily. If someone in my group wants to explore a new idea, they can just spin up
  
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• 10 ways multichannel companies can build trust with customers

  07-07-2016 16:45
  
  One of the cornerstones of a successful business, especially a multichannel or online business, is trust. If consumers don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you or do business with you. So what can you do to show you are trustworthy, and make visitors comfortable shopping on your ecommerce? Here are 10 suggestions.[ Related: 8 Ways to Create a Successful Multichannel Customer Experience ]1. Use SSL encryption and post trust certificates/logos. “Privacy and security continue to b
  
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• New Mac backdoor program steals keychain contents

  07-07-2016 16:35
  
  Researchers have identified a new Mac backdoor program that's designed to steal credentials stored in the OS-encrypted keychain and give attackers control over the system.
  Dubbed OSX/Keydnap by researchers from antivirus vendor ESET, this is the second backdoor program targeting Macs found by antivirus firms in the past few days.
  It's not clear how Keydnap is distributed, but it arrives on computers in the form of a zip archive. Inside there's an executable file with an apparently benign extens
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How virtual reality changes health care

  07-07-2016 16:30
  
  Until recently, Virtual Reality (VR) has only really been seen as a technology for the gaming and entertainment industries. However, given recent advancements, this immersive, 3D experience of space and geometry is no longer just for fun. According to Bloomberg, some of the world’s biggest tech companies have invested over $4 billion in virtual and augmented reality since 2010, and health care plays a big part in these investments.VR headsets make you feel like you’re actually in the
  
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• Microsoft COO Kevin Turner leaves to head a financial trading company

  07-07-2016 16:23
  
  Microsoft COO Kevin Turner is leaving after 11 years in the role. He won't be replaced.Employees learned of the move Thursday in an email message from CEO Satya Nadella, in which he outlined his plans for reorganizing the company's senior leadership team.Nadella highlighted the importance of having "one feedback loop" across the company to reinforce customer value and satisfaction. To achieve this, he said, he will more deeply integrate the sales, marketing and services group with the rest of th
  
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• BrandPost: Standing Strong: How CIOs Can Prepare for Today’s Security Challenges

  07-07-2016 16:06
  
  Cybersecurity has long been a tough issue for CIOs to tackle. In today’s increasingly complex web of data and cloud-based tools and BYOD, however, those challenges have greatly intensified, according to the 2016 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey, the Creative CIO. One startling finding from the new survey was that only a fifth (22 percent) of CIOs feel confident their organization is very well prepared to identify and respond to cyber-attacks, compared to nearly a third in 2014.Why the two-year
  
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• Business collaboration a hidden motivation in Microsoft, LinkedIn deal

  07-07-2016 15:43
  
  Nearly a month after Microsoft's blockbuster bid to buy LinkedIn, another reason why the companies joined forces has become more apparent: effective enterprise collaboration depends on community and tools. LinkedIn has a large, motivated community of 433 million registered users, but its business tools are lacking.LinkedIn's weak enterprise utilities were one of many contributing factors that led the two companies to merge. Turning that weakness into strength is something only a few companies co
  
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• 4 signs it's time to look for a new job

  07-07-2016 15:31
  
  Everyone has a bad day at work now and then, but when those bad days start to outnumber the good ones, it’s time to consider looking for a new job. As the economy continues to improve, there’s no reason to stay with a company that’s struggling to survive, or to settle for a role in which you’re not happy, says Howard Seidel, Partner at executive leadership and career consulting firm Essex Partners.
  “I think there are two ways to look at this -- from an external per
  
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• Twitter fails to impress with Wimbledon live stream

  07-07-2016 15:21
  
  Twitter took its first swing at streaming live sports this week, but the company didn't do much to differentiate its stream experience from others. Twitter has big plans for streaming live sports, and it's preparing to distribute live feeds from 10 NFL games this coming season. However, the company lobbed its way into Wimbledon with little fanfare and no surprises.
  The live stream that began on the ninth day of Wimbledon competition appeared at the top of a dedicated Twitter page next to a scro
  
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• Antivirus merger: Avast offers $1.3 billion for AVG

  07-07-2016 14:01
  Antivirus vendor Avast Software has agreed to buy rival AVG Technologies for US$1.3 billion in cash.The deal will give Avast access to over 400 million "endpoints," or devices running its and AVG's software, 160 million of them phones or tablets, the company said Tuesday.Avast hopes the deal will make the combined company more efficient, as well as allowing it to take advantage of new growth opportunities such as securing the internet of things."This combination is great for our users. We will h
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How to get cheap movies in iTunes in July

  07-07-2016 14:00
  
  iTunes sometimes has some very good deals on music, apps, and movies. During the month of July the iTunes movie store is offering one movie per day for just $5. And some of the movies being offered are blockbusters that should have a place in the collection of any film buff.I opened the iTunes app on my Mac today and went into the movie store. Sure enough, I found the popular movie Dances With Wolves for just $5. That’s a very good deal for such a film, even if it’s not a recent rele
  
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• Merchants slow to migrate to EMV, see rising fraud costs

  07-07-2016 13:59
  
  The cost of paying for fraudulent credit card transactions, previously covered by the credit card companies, shifted to the retailers themselves last October -- unless they upgraded their payment terminals to accept new chip-based cards.
  According an April report by The Strawhecker Group, small and midsized merchants saw a 31 percent increase in the number of chargebacks right after the liability shift took effect.
  The shift was first announced in 2011, so merchants had plenty of time to upgrad
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The payoff from a rigorous software selection

  07-07-2016 13:19
  
  Rigorous software evaluations are a lot of work, and the payback only comes once the new software has been in production for a while. With a major software purchase, that can be months or years in the future. So what are the benefits of doing all this work?The primary advantage of a rigorous evaluation and selection process is that you identify the software that best meets your particular needs. By definition, this software will return the greatest ROI. However, although a rigorous process minim
  
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• 10 tips to make your OnePlus 3 the best phone it can be

  07-07-2016 13:00
  
  It's time to tweak your OnePlus 3Image by Ryan WhitwamThe OnePlus 3 is the upstart Chinese manufacturer's third attempt at offering a flagship-level phone for a midrange price, and this might be its best phone yet. The OnePlus 3 has a lot going for it out of the box, but there are a few features and settings you should acquaint yourself with early in order to get the most out of the phone. Here are the 10 things you should check out as soon as you liberate the OnePlus 3 from its packaging.To rea
  
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• Master Class: 3 ways to fast-track your journey to the cloud (with podcast and video)

  07-07-2016 12:30
  
  When David Bray arrived in 2013 to lead IT at the FCC, he found a department in a certain amount of disarray.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• What cloud security challenges keep CISOs up at night?

  07-07-2016 12:26
  
  Wide awakeImage by Flickr/ Alyssa L. MillerThe cloud is now a mainstream IT platform. Through its unlimited economies of scale and its ability to deliver IT resources dynamically whenever users need them, the cloud’s popularity permeates through businesses of all sizes and industries.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• What I learned playing prey to Windows scammers

  07-07-2016 12:00
  
  “I am calling you from Windows.”
  So goes the opening line of the well-known phone scam, where a person calls purporting to be a help desk technician reaching out to resolve your computer problems. These Windows scammers feed off people’s concerns about data breaches and identity theft to trick them into installing malware onto their machines. The scam has been netting victims for years, despite the fact that none of what the callers say makes sense.[ Also on InfoWorld: 11 sign
  
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• The enterprise is in an arm's race with cybercriminals

  07-07-2016 12:00
  
  It is always easier to destroy than it is to build, easier to harm than to heal. It will always be easier for attackers to burrow themselves into the criminal underground and from there carefully and precisely worm their way past enterprise defenses, ultimately taking root next to data stores and syphoning off valuable information until they grow fat with the financial benefits of their labors.
  The enterprise is in an arms race with cyber criminals. Organizations must constantly build up defens
  
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• Boston is nation’s top tech-talent exporter

  07-07-2016 12:00
  
  The San Francisco Bay Area added 120,500 tech jobs in the last five years, for a growth rate of 61.5% percent. Major U.S. cities, generally, all saw double-digit growth in tech employment, according to a new report.
  There is a fair chance that good number of San Francisco's tech workers came from the Boston area, according this study, 2016 Scoring Tech Talent by CBRE, a real estate services firm.
  This report puts the nation's tech population at 4.8 million, and says tech employment has grown by
  
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• METRI werkt samen met CAST voor verbeterd inzicht applicatieontwikkeling

  07-07-2016 11:13
  IT-adviesorganisatie METRI gaat samenwerken met CAST, leverancier van hulpmiddelen voor het doormeten van softwarecode. Het bedrijf ziet de overeenkomst als een strategische en logische uitbreiding op bestaande benchmarking en supplier performance measurement-activiteiten in het applicatiedomein.Organisaties helpen... lees meer
  
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• US house passes bill banning access to porn from federal computers

  07-07-2016 10:33
  The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that would prohibit employees from accessing pornographic or explicit websites from federal computers, unless it meets an investigative objective.The legislation, H.R. 901, was passed on Thursday morning.The bill, called Eliminating Pornography from Agencies Act, was recommended by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to which the house had referred the legislation.In September 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Of
  
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• Investigation into Hillary Clinton’s personal email system closed without charges

  07-07-2016 06:07
  
  An investigation into the use of a personal email system for official communications by Hillary Clinton, while she was U.S. secretary of state, has been closed with no charges filed, U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said Wednesday.The move comes after FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday said he did not recommend bringing charges against her although he described as “extremely careless” the use by her and her aides of unsecured email networks for distribution of  very
  
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• Samsung's blazing fast UFS storage cards could replace micro-SD media

  07-07-2016 04:01
  
  Samsung has announced super-fast removable data storage cards that could one day replace the slower micro-SD cards in devices.The UFS card, based on the Universal Flash Storage 1.0 Card Extension standard, will come in capacities from 32GB to 256GB. The storage media could be used in cameras, drones, robots, virtual reality headsets and ultimately, even mobile devices.There is a need for faster and high-capacity removable storage in electronics, and UFS media fits that requirement. UFS card
  
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• NASA and GM glove gives workers robotic hands

  07-07-2016 03:38
  
  A robotic glove, developed out of a partnership between NASA and General Motors, will be used to make human factory workers more efficient, while reducing user fatigue and preventing injuries.
  Dubbed the RoboGlove, the battery-powered wearable device initially was created as part of the nine-year effort to build Robonaut 2, a humanoid robot that is living and working onboard the International Space Station.
  Now GM is working with Bioservo Technologies AB, a Swedish medical technology company, t
  
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• Here's how secret voice commands could hijack your smarthphone

  07-07-2016 03:03
  
  Kitten videos are harmless, right? Except when they take over your phone.Researchers have found something new to worry about on the internet. It turns out that a muffled voice hidden in an innocuous YouTube video could issue commands to a nearby smartphone without you even knowing it.The researchers describe the threat in a research paper to be presented next month at the USENIX Security Symposium in Austin, Texas. They also demonstrate it in this video.Voice recognition has taken off
  
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