IT Executive news

• The US Marines are testing a pocket-sized helicopter drone

  08-08-2016 23:15
  
  The U.S. Marine Corps is testing a pocket-sized drone that can deliver live video feeds from three cameras and is small enough that it's almost invisible from the ground.The Black Hornet PD-100 can stay aloft for 25 minutes and has a range of 1.6 km (1 mile). That means Marines can use it for surveillance far beyond their current position.It can fly missions guided by GPS yet fits in a pocket. The cable hanging out the back in this image is an antenna, not a cord for power or data.Thor Lars
  
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• An engineer uses IoT to tackle illness

  08-08-2016 22:53
  Daniel Strabley's day job is helping to protect the U.S. from weapons of mass destruction. He works on a software suite that interacts with sensors to detect chemical and radiation threats. The sensor information, as you may imagine, is complicated, and one of his tasks is to make it understandable to users.
  This means that anyone, from an Army private not long out of high school to a Ph.D.-holding nuclear physicist, needs an interface that is meaningful to their knowledge level.
  The work on de
  
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• Maximizing value from your support services investment

  08-08-2016 22:42
  
  This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter’s approach.
  In the world of support services we are always striving to reach that nirvana state where everything is perfect, and that requires keeping networks running at peak performance while contending with the onslaught of new employee technologies, cloud applications and mobile solutions.
  As the leader of a global s
  
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• Where to find Olympic-themed Apple Watch bands if you're not in Rio

  08-08-2016 22:41
  
  Last month, Apple revealed a collection of Olympic-themed Apple Watch bands depicting the national flags, but you can only buy them from an Apple Store in Rio de Janeiro, the 2016 Olympics host city.
  Now, Apple Watch wearers can show their team spirit without having to travel to Brazil. Accessories maker Casetify has an Olympic capsule collection currently on sale. These 20 bands are also inspired by the flags of national teams competing in Rio, including the U.S., Germany, Japan, Australia, an
  
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• Dust-size sensors could heal you from the inside

  08-08-2016 22:41
  
  Want to skip wearing your Fitbit or Jawbone when you’re out for a run or hitting spin class?
  More importantly, think one day that people with epilepsy could live symptom free or a paraplegic could walk again? Or a soldier who’s lost a leg could control a robotic limb with his thoughts?
  All of those cases could happen because scientists are developing sensors the size of dust particles that would work inside the body to keep track of how much we’re exercising, to stimulate the
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Should CIOs still care about business strategy?

  08-08-2016 22:40
  
  The age-old practice of executive teams convening at off-site retreats for “strategic planning” hasn’t changed much in the last three decades. Amid rounds of golf and scotch tastings, they re-hash revenues, reevaluate business partnerships, marginalize upstart competitors and brainstorm new ideas. Budget conversations are inevitable, as are discussions of innovation and becoming more “data-driven.” On the last evening, the CEO delivers a rousing motivational missiv
  
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• 33% off Kinsa Smart Thermometer - Deal Alert

  08-08-2016 21:38
  
  Kinsa Smart Thermometer takes accurate readings in just 10 seconds. It is also incredibly durable, comfortable, and easy to use.  With the free iOS & Android app it remembers and records fever, symptoms and medications for each family member on your phone so you don’t have to. Keep track for yourself, another caregiver, or your doctor.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Adware turns a tidy profit for those who sneak it into downloads

  08-08-2016 21:12
  
  If you've ever downloaded software, chances are you've experienced an all-too-common surprise: ads or other unwanted programs that tagged along for the ride, only to pop up on your PC uninvited. Turns out there's a highly lucrative global industry making it happen, with "layers of deniability" to protect those involved.That's according to researchers from Google and New York University's Tandon School of Engineering, who will present this week what they say is the first analysis of the link betw
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Making cybersecurity a priority in mergers and acquisitions: due diligence

  08-08-2016 20:45
  
  Let’s say Company X wants to purchase Company Y. If Company X is smart, it will not only be looking at Company Y’s financials, structure, culture and more to determine value and strategic fit. Company X will also be taking a long, hard look at Company Y’s cybersecurity posture.
  How often do the Company Xs of the world — the buyers — take that long, hard look at a seller’s cybersecurity capabilities these days? The short answer is, not often enough. Due dilige
  
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• Should you build, buy or rent your IoT communications stack?

  08-08-2016 20:31
  
  This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter’s approach.
  The Internet of Things (IoT) is shepherding in the next communication revolution – machines communicating with other machines – at a scale and volume unfathomable until only very recently. The Internet comprises some 1 billion sites and around 5 billion devices. Predictions of growth for the next
  
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• 90% off Become an Ethical Hacker With This Complete eLearning Bundle - Deal Alert

  08-08-2016 20:25
  
  With cyberattacks putting everyone on edge, companies are looking for ethical hackers--IT pros paid handsomely to hack their network, expose security flaws, and fix them before someone else breaks in. Learn the tools of the ethical hacking trade with the Become an Ethical Hacker Bundle, now only $44.99 for a limited time.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Google buys Orbitera to improve its cloud app deployment services

  08-08-2016 20:24
  
  Google has acquired Orbitera, a startup that aims to make it easier for software vendors to sell cloud-based products to businesses. The startup gives software vendors a suite of tools for deploying and managing cloud applications, and for billing businesses that use them.Right now, Orbitera supports deploying applications on Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, not Google Cloud Platform. Google said it will continue to support software deployments on platforms other than its own. That'
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The AI-First Cloud: Can artificial intelligence power the next generation of cloud computing?

  08-08-2016 20:02
  
  Is there a next phase for cloud computing? During the past few years, cloud computing has become a mainstream element of modern software solutions just as common as websites or databases. The cloud computing market is a race vastly dominated by four companies: Amazon, Microsoft, Google and IBM with a few other platforms with traction in specific regional markets such as AliCloud in China. In such a consolidated market, it’s hard to imagine a technology being disruptive enough to alter the
  
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• Hackers hit Oracle's Micros payment systems division

  08-08-2016 19:39
  
  Russian cybercriminals have infiltrated systems at Micros, an Oracle division that is one of the world's biggest vendors of point of sale payment systems for shops and restaurants, according to an influential security blogger.
  The hack has affected 700 computer systems at Micros and is thought to have begun with infiltration on a single machine at the company, said Brian Krebs on his Krebs on Security blog on Monday.
  The incident is worrying for the potential size of the hack and the systems af
  
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• Apple Maps is the reason the iOS public beta exists

  08-08-2016 19:38
  Apple is famous for its secrecy, but keeping its products under wraps has some downsides—most notably the Apple Maps debacle of 2012. The company tested Maps internally in Cupertino, but didn’t realize until it was too late that its mapping data wasn’t all that accurate beyond the radius around 1 Infinite Loop.
  “We made significant changes to all of our development processes because of it,” Apple’s Eddy Cue told Fast Company in a wide-ranging interview. &ldqu
  
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• Microsoft adds year to Windows 10 support

  08-08-2016 19:37
  
  Microsoft last week bolstered its claim that Windows 10 will be its last operating system by extending the OS's support lifetime to 2026.
  After the release last week of Windows 10 Anniversary Update -- officially known as 1607 using the year and month label the company has adopted -- Microsoft refreshed the Windows support lifecycle database to signal a one-year extension to Windows 10 Enterprise.
  Enterprise is the only SKU (stock-keeping unit) that comes in a static version that does not chang
  
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• 10 things to know if you’re just getting started with Pokémon Go

  08-08-2016 19:37
  
  Not everything is obvious to new playersImage by Niantic / PokémonI wouldn’t have loaded Pokémon Go on my cellphone if I had known more about how it works. My intention was to kill some time while I was traveling and help my children out by catching some Pokémon in places they couldn’t go. Killing time was no problem; I’m now on Level 24. But I later learned that you can’t trade Pokémon (at least not yet). Hours of game time later, I
  
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• What awareness gamification programs can learn from Pokemon Go

  08-08-2016 19:36
  
  Pokemon Go has become a social icon. It is the subject of major news stories, the butt of many jokes, and has lately become a foundation for many vendors equating the game to their own gamification efforts.
  Most people do not understand gamification, and inevitably vendors and people misuse the term and overuse it inappropriately. Gamification is essentially rewarding people for exhibiting a desired behavior. It is not merely creating a game for people to play, nor making training a game.To rea
  
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• AT&T fined after suspected drug traffickers slip charges into phone bills

  08-08-2016 19:23
  
  AT&T will pay a US$7.75 million fine for allowing suspected drug traffickers to add millions of dollars in bogus directory assistance charges to its customers' land-line bills.The extra charges of about $9 a month were discovered during an investigation of two Cleveland-area companies for drug-related crimes and money laundering, the Federal Communications Commission said Monday."A phone bill should not be a tool for drug traffickers, money launderers, and other unscrupulous third parties to
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How open source makes the big data ecosystem richer

  08-08-2016 18:56
  
  StackIQ is a California based company that offers a server automation platform for clustered, scale-out IT infrastructure. I met up with Greg Bruno, VP of engineering and co-founder of StackIQ, to learn more about the company, its product and the Stacki open source project. Here is an edited version of that interview.
  What is StackIQ?
  StackIQ is a company that was founded on doing full stack automation. Last year, in June, we open sourced the bottom layer of the stack. We call that project Stac
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Should Apple simply hide the handgun emoji?

  08-08-2016 18:51
  Apple’s recent decision to substitute a squirt gun for the handgun emoji has caused an explosion of criticism. Many folks seem to think that Apple has jumped the shark in terms of being politically correct.
  But a recent post at Emojipedia.org points out that there is a real danger that comes from Apple’s decision. What looks like a squirt gun in iOS and macOS, appears as a real handgun emoji on other platforms such as Windows, Android or Linux.
  This has the potential to cause misund
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: What does good look like in IT project management?

  08-08-2016 18:00
  
  It was a brilliant IT project management question from a client."What does good look like?"I breathed in ready to answer, "Ability to adapt to different stakeholder environments seamlessly ... deliver on promises ... good communications ..."BUT then I paused and, after a few seconds of reflection, responded, "Probably failure."You see those things are important but a lot of good project managers do these things as a matter of routine and still rates of project failure remain consistently too hig
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Hands-on: openSUSE Tumbleweed with Plasma on Dell XPS 13 (2016)

  08-08-2016 17:54
  
  The hardwareThis is the latest Dell XPS 13 laptop (2016 model). This review unit comes with i7-6560U processor, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD and QHD+ touch display. It has 2 USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) ports, one SD card reader, Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps bi-directional) port. This unit costs around $2349.99. [ Find it on Amazon – *What’s this?* ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• FTC seeks research help from DEF CON hackers

  08-08-2016 17:54
  
  The Federal Trade Commission made an appeal at DEF CON in Las Vegas this past week in hopes of getting hackers to help them crack down on manufacturers and service providers that leave customers vulnerable.
  Top of the list: ransomware, malvertising, networked cars and security for the internet of things.
  Of particular interest in the case of IoT is preventing one device from compromising a consumer’s entire private network, says Lorrie Cranor, the FTC’s chief technologist.To read th
  
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• Qualcomm-powered Android devices plagued by four rooting flaws

  08-08-2016 16:49
  
  Hundreds of millions of Android devices based on Qualcomm chipsets are likely exposed to at least one of four critical vulnerabilities that allow non-privileged apps to take them over.The four flaws were presented by security researcher Adam Donenfeld from Check Point Software Technologies on Sunday at the DEF CON security conference in Las Vegas. They were reported to Qualcomm between February and April, and the chipset maker has since released fixes for the vulnerabilities after classifyi
  
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• Hacked companies still prioritize innovation over cybersecurity

  08-08-2016 16:00
  
  Eight out of 10 executives surveyed acknowledge that their companies had been compromised by cyber attacks in the past two years, according to a new study by KPMG. Yet less than half of the 403 CIOs, CISOs and CTOs the firm surveyed said that they had invested in information security in the past year.“We’re still seeing companies taking a passive or reactive approach toward cybersecurity, when in fact cyber should be a top-line business issue thought about and practiced company-wide,
  
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• Why (and how) to start planning your HoloLens apps

  08-08-2016 15:59
  
  Augmented reality isn't new. Boeing has been using it since the 1990s to speed up installing the hundreds of miles of writing inside its planes. But those early systems were both clunky and expensive, and, so far, more portable augmented reality wearables like Google Glass haven't taken off. Microsoft's mixed reality HoloLens looks set to change that.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Dropbox Paper collaboration tool shows potential, but ...

  08-08-2016 15:43
  
  Dropbox, the cloud-file storage and sync service Steve Jobs reportedly tried to kill, continues to get stronger. In my opinion, there's no easier, more reliable competitive service out there — and there are plenty of Dropbox rivals, including Apple's still-kind-of-messy iCloud.Dropbox is now trying to break out of its box, by transforming into an online collaboration workspace. Dropbox Paper, currently in beta and available as an online service, as well as Android and iOS apps, could becom
  
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• 60% off SOWTECH HDMI Splitter, Full HD 1080P and 3D Support - Deal Alert

  08-08-2016 15:41
  
  This splitter from SOWTECH takes one HDMI full HD 1080P signal and outputs two duplicate signals, full strength with no signal degradation. Amazon indicates that this is a #1 best seller in its category, is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 120 customers (read reviews), and right now its list price of $36.99 is discounted by 60% to just $14.87. See the discounted SOWTECH HDMI splitter now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Optus and CBA head back to college to solve the cybersecurity skills crisis

  08-08-2016 15:16
  
  The lack of cyber security professionals in Australia is fast becoming a national crisis. A survey released recently found that 88 percent of local businesses were struggling with their lack of skills.
  The government described the “critical shortage” as a “major problem” in its national cyber security strategy. The situation, it said, was “urgent’”.
  Australia’s biggest businesses are taking the matter into their own hands, collaborating with unive
  
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• 4 signs you're a victim of ransomware

  08-08-2016 15:14
  
  The word ransomware conjures images of kidnappers and ransom notes. But that doesn't quite capture the reality of PC ransomware. In fact, "it’s not always obvious when ransomware is the problem," says Mike Cobb, director of engineering at data recovery and digital forensics firm DriveSavers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Cosmos Rings for Apple Watch puts a slick role-playing quest on your wrist

  08-08-2016 14:18
  
  The Apple Watch hasn’t yet become the wearable gaming sensation that some hoped for, with an irregular stream of interesting games and little spotlight from Apple itself. Games like Lifeline and Runeblade have shown that there’s potential to create compelling experiences around the Watch, but for the most part, larger publishers haven’t taken much interest.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Facebook starts testing a Snapchat-style camera with MSQRD selfie filters

  08-08-2016 13:51
  Mark Zuckerberg is having a real Daenerys Targaryen moment this week.
  On Friday, Facebook started testing new features on its mobile apps that famously originated on Snapchat. When some users in Canada and Brazil launch the Facebook app, they will be greeted with a camera-first screen to encourage taking a photo or video. Furthermore, these users will be able to add animated filters and stickers to their selfies. This marks the first time the social network has incorporated technology developed
  
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• Microsoft’s giving you just 10 days to change your mind about Windows 10

  08-08-2016 13:50
  Microsoft has hidden a new downgrade policy within the Windows 10 Anniversary Update: Once you’ve installed it, you’ll only have 10 days to downgrade to an earlier version or build, rather than the 31 days provided before.
  Historically, Microsoft had given users a full month to roll back any updates, including upgrades to Windows 10. Supersite for Windows reported this week, however, that it was unable to downgrade to an earlier build after a 10-day limit had expired, though it
  
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• New Pokémon Go maps show you where to catch 'em all

  08-08-2016 13:48
  
  If you’ve been wondering how to find Pikachu, Scyther, Electabuzz, or any other rare Pokémon, you probably wanted to use the hot new thing: crowdsourced Pokémon Go maps taught players how to find Pokémon in Pokémon Go.
  The problem? Those services are down right now, and almost certainly won't come back, now that Pokémon Go developer Niantic has said it will actively block "tracker" apps from accessing its data to find Pokémon in Pok&eacu
  
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• A supercomputer is taking on humans in a hacking contest at DEF CON

  08-08-2016 13:47
  
  Can a supercomputer beat humans in a hacking contest? We're about to find out.
  For the first time, a fully automated supercomputer is trying to compete with humans in a major hacking contest, and so far the machine is hanging in there.
  The supercomputer, known as Mayhem, is among the teams taking part in this year’s Capture the Flag contest at the DEF CON security conference in Las Vegas.
  The game involves detecting vulnerabilities in software and patching them, and humans have been playi
  
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• Microsoft reduces Windows 10 roll-back grace period

  08-08-2016 13:46
  
  Microsoft has reduced the I-changed-my-mind period in Windows 10 by two-thirds, cutting it from 30 days to 10, the company confirmed.
  Users who upgraded to Windows 10 were able to roll back to the preceding Windows as long as they did so within 30 days. To make that possible, Microsoft stored the older operating system in a special folder on the device's drive, consuming up to 5GB of storage space. After the grace period expired, the folder's contents were deleted.
  With last week's Anniversary
  
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• CASB delivers must-have protection for your SaaS apps

  08-08-2016 13:45
  
  Cloud Access Security Brokers are products that can be described as firewall plus identity management plus anti-malware plus DLP plus encryption control/implementation plus threat management.
  CASB products have becoming increasingly important as enterprises look to extend their on-premises security policies to their cloud-based assets. We looked at three products -- CipherCloud, Bitglass, and Netskope. Each one takes a different, yet ingenious, approach to the task of stopping unauthorized, ina
  
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• How to use Instagram Stories, and why you'd even want to

  08-08-2016 13:44
  
  Instagram was once an incredibly basic way to share photos. Put a filter on it, add a caption, done. But the app has become more complex over time. First, there were videos, then direct messages—and that was before ads arrived. Now the app has an algorithmic feed that prevents you from seeing some of your friends’ photos. And Instagram’s newest and boldest feature, Instagram Stories, may seem like a needlessly complex layer on top of all that, but it’s actually Instagram
  
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• How to detect a fake ransomware letter

  08-08-2016 13:43
  
  Pay up?Image by Flickr/Nick O’NeilIn the 2016 Executive Application & Network Security Survey, among those who have not experienced a ransom situation, the majority say they would not pay a ransom. But among the few who have experienced a ransom attack, more than half in the U.S. did not pay. One respondent indicated that paying did not guarantee that the attacker would do their part.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• How to organize your Mac's menu bar

  08-08-2016 13:42
  Your Mac’s menu bar is a useful tool. It displays “menu bar extras,” little icons that give you status information about your Mac, or that offer quick-access menus to certain settings. For example, you can click the Wi-Fi icon to turn Wi-Fi on or off, or to select a Wi-Fi network. You can click the User icon to go to the login window, or to select a different user and switch to their account. Or you can click the keyboard icon to change input methods, if you work with differen
  
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• How a 96-year-old company modernized its infrastructure by embracing innovation

  08-08-2016 13:40
  
  For more than 90 years, Pitney Bowes has been helping its customers conduct physical and digital commerce worldwide. In this keynote session at the recent IT Roadmap event in New York, James Fairweather, SVP of Technology and E-commerce, talks about his company’s  investment in a digital infrastructure. This change moved across clouds, APIs, data, mobility and collaboration, as well as how they created a “culture of innovation” with developers and designers.To read this a
  
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• Delta Air Lines flights delayed by widespread computer outage

  08-08-2016 12:45
  
  Delta said Monday morning that its flights awaiting departure were delayed because of a widespread computer outage.The airline did not provide details of the computer outage or of the number of flights affected, but said in a statement on its website that the problem had affected flights scheduled for the morning.The extent of the problem appeared to be global because the airline wrote in a number of tweets that “our systems are down everywhere.” “Flights enroute are operating
  
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• 5 types of toxic team members and how to handle them

  08-08-2016 12:04
  
  How to handle toxic coworkersImage by ThinkstockThey slow you down, irritate you and sometimes they're just plain useless. You know who they are -- those toxic team members who never seem to actually contribute anything to projects or to your work environment but who have an uncanny ability to stay employed and come out of every situation smelling like the proverbial rose."While 75 percent of employers rate team work and collaboration as "very important," most employees hate working together in
  
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• Bitfinex asks users to share losses of bitcoin theft

  08-08-2016 06:38
  
  Bitfinex, the digital currency exchange in Hong Kong that reported a bitcoin theft last week, has decided to shave a little over 36 percent from its customers' accounts and assets to make up for losses from the hack.“Upon logging into the platform, customers will see that they have experienced a generalized loss percentage of 36.067%,” Bitfinex said in a blog post Saturday. It promised an announcement later on the details of the methodology used to arrive at the losses."This is the c
  
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