IT Executive news

• IDG Contributor Network: KDE celebrates 20th birthday and goes LTS

  14-10-2016 23:11
  
  The story of KDE started in October 1996 when Matthias Ettrich started a post in various Linux and X11-related newsgroups. “We quickly assembled 40 or so developers and started hacking together. Since then, the project has grown a lot, both in terms of contributors and in terms of users. And most certainly in terms of the number of applications and lines of source code,” Ettrich once told me.
  Ettrich further added that, “The time was just right in 1996. Linux was popular enough
  
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• Best Deals of the Week, October 10th - October 14th - Deal Alert

  14-10-2016 23:05
  Best Deals of the Week, October 10th - October 14th - Deal AlertCheck out this roundup of the best deals on gadgets, gear and other cool stuff we have found this week, the week of October 10th. All items are highly rated, and dramatically discounted.27% off SanDisk Connect Wireless Stick 200GBThe SanDisk Connect wireless stick is a flash drive with a unique twist -- you can access it wirelessly. Whether it's in your pants pocket, in your bag, or on the picnic table at your campsite, th
  
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• US bans Samsung Galaxy Note7 from all flights

  14-10-2016 22:47
  
  The U.S. government has issued an emergency ban of Samsung's exploding Galaxy Note7 devices from all airline flights, urging users to take advantage of the company's exchange and refund offers.Owners of Galaxy Note7s may not transport the devices on their person, in carry-on baggage, or in checked luggage, Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration said. The smartphones also cannot be shipped as air cargo under the ban, which goes into effect Saturday at noon Easte
  
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• Consumer PCs: Ailing, but not dead yet

  14-10-2016 21:40
  
  Personal computer shipments again contracted in the third quarter, research firms said this week, as consumers continued to refuse to buy replacements for their aged machines.
  IDC pegged the PC downturn at 4% for the quarter ending September 30, while rival Gartner said shipments shrank 6% from the same period the year before.
  Gartner blamed consumers for the two-year slump, the longest decline in the industry's history. "According to our 2016 personal technology survey, the majority of consume
  
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• Microsoft open-sources P language for IoT

  14-10-2016 21:39
  
  Microsoft's P language, for asynchronous event-driven programming and the IoT (internet of things), has been open-sourced.
  Geared for embedded systems, device drivers, and distributed services, P is a domain-specific language the compiles to and interoperates with C, which itself has been commonly leveraged in embedded systems and the IoT. "The goal of P is to provide language primitives to succinctly and precisely capture protocols that are inherent to communication among components," said Eth
  
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• As one lawsuit sinks, Disney IT workers prepare a new fight

  14-10-2016 21:37
  
  The IT employees laid off by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, who alleged a "conspiracy to displace U.S. workers" in a lawsuit, lost a key ruling Thursday and face dismissal of the complaint. But this is a two-part legal fight, and a new lawsuit alleging national origin discrimination may be filed in the next month.
  The first lawsuit followed a decision by Disney to outsource some of its IT services. It hired IT services firms HCL and Cognizant, which are also large users of H-1B visa workers. Be
  
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• Thanks to Facebook, voter registrations surge

  14-10-2016 21:23
  
  Social media is more than posts of cat videos and political rants as Facebook showed by getting hundreds of thousands of people to register to vote this fall.
  "Facebook has demonstrated the power of social media to engage more people to register to vote, helping thousands take a big step to casting a ballot this November," said California Secretary of State Alex Padilla in a statement. "For many who may be new to the political process, an invitation to register can be a powerful nudge to get in
  
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• Report: Google to sell its own Android Wear watch in early 2017

  14-10-2016 20:55
  
  Google is just getting started when it comes to selling its own hardware. Another rumor from the usually accurate Evan Blass points to a pair of Google-built watches that will come early next year.
  Google’s two smartwatches will be released with Android Wear 2.0 in Q1 2017 [image courtesy of: https://t.co/so8uJyEZCy] pic.twitter.com/ruejqXSNSy— Evan Blass (@evleaks) October 13, 2016
  We’ve heard this before, but we have a lot more context now after attending the ”Made by
  
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• BrandPost: Partnerships: Building a Big Data Village

  14-10-2016 20:48
  
  The (big) data village: Get value through fostering internal partnerships
  Within most corporate organizations, many (big) data programs can and will fail to create sustained business value. To avoid this risk, and to gain maximum value from data investments, organizations must overcome a number of stumbling blocks within the analytical supply chain — notably a lack of appropriate people, process or technology. Primarily we must focus on breaking down the social silos that impede efforts to
  
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• Wereldrecord programmeren op basisschool gevestigd, maar onderwijs loopt achter

  14-10-2016 19:50
  Vanmorgen hebben 11.368 kinderen uit groep 7 en 8 uit heel Nederland het wereldrecord programmeren, dat in Australische handen was, verbeterd. Deze opsteker komt goed van pas om aandacht te genereren voor programmeeronderwijs. Het is namelijk hoog tijd te onderkennen dat ons onderwijs hopeloos verouderd is en kinderen... lees meer
  
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• How to fix the executive compensation problem

  14-10-2016 18:48
  
  For a long time, I’ve felt that one of the big problems with U.S. companies is the near blind focus on quarterly results. Particularly annoying is the practice of rewarding CEOs who have gutted their companies or otherwise done their firms massive damage. The departing Wells Fargo CEO who got $134M + over $500K annual sustaining income after creating the fake account scandal is the most blaring and recent example. If we keep this up I’m afraid we’ll all be unemployed because we
  
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• Verizon's miserable customer service is about to get worse

  14-10-2016 18:39
  
  Verizon Wireless isn't exactly known for great customer service — just ask the thousands of customers who say the company recently overbilled them. Now Verizon's customer support will very likely get worse. The company plans to close call centers in five states, a move that will affect 3,200 jobs, or about 2 percent of Verizon's workforce.News of the call center closures follows news that Verizon will consolidate jobs at its retail stores, so instead of workers helping customers
  
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• Acer's swanky Swift 7 launches as the thinnest laptop ever

  14-10-2016 18:03
  
  The battle for barely there computing supremacy continues unabated. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen PC makers brag about releasing the lightest 13-inch laptop ever, the most svelte MacBook ever, and the thinnest notebook of all time (though that last one apparently overlooked 2009’s Dell Adamo). Today, Acer launched the Swift 7, the newest usurper of the “thinnest laptop ever” crown.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• US lawmakers want answers on Yahoo email surveillance

  14-10-2016 17:31
  
  A bipartisan group of 48 U.S. lawmakers wants two government agencies to explain a surveillance program in which Yahoo reportedly scanned all the messages of its email users on behalf of the FBI.After recent news reports of the email scanning program, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence need to brief Congress about the efforts, the lawmakers said in a letter to the two agencies.The first news reports about the program contained "conflicting repo
  
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• Facebook adds Apple TV and Chromecast support as video push ramps up

  14-10-2016 17:15
  
  As more and more clips invade news feeds, it's becoming clear that Facebook isn't kidding about focusing on videos, and now the social network's making it easier to watch them on the big screen. Facebook recently announced that users can “cast” videos from iOS devices or a web browser to an Apple TV or any other AirPlay-enabled device, as well as the Chromecast and Google Cast-enabled devices.
  Soon Android devices will also be able to cast videos to Chromecast. Facebook didn’t
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The chasm between efficient IT and lean IT

  14-10-2016 17:13
  
  “Efficiency is doing things right" -- Peter Drucker"Lean is getting the right things done" -- Pascal Dennis
  Efficiency is about spending less to get the same, whereas lean is about spending nothing on things that don’t matter. We often use these two terms interchangeably; however, in the context of enterprise IT, the contrast between them is remarkable.Traditional enterprise IT was created to support the business of the industrial era by delivering efficient solut
  
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• 63% off TaoTronics LED Desk Lamp, (Dimmable, Touch Control, 5 Color Modes, USB Charging Port) - Deal Alert

  14-10-2016 17:12
  
  The TaoTronics energy-saving LED Desk Lamp comes with vision-friendly, low power consumption LED light source, adjustable color modes, and dimmable brightness settings, making this ideal for your dorm room, home or office. With a slight touch from your finger tips, you can switch between a strong white light to soft yellow light. 5 different color temperatures and 7 brightness levels for you to fine tune your illumination. This new generation of eco-friendly LED lighting consumes 75% less power
  
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• Microsoft HoloLens eyes enterprise adoption amid crowded field

  14-10-2016 16:42
  
  Microsoft has enlisted the likes of Volvo, Lowes, Japan Airlines and ThyssenKrupp to test its HoloLens augmented reality (AR) headset, underscoring the software giant’s early success in wooing enterprises. Given Microsoft's prowess in fostering dominant platforms such as Windows and Office and its global reach you could argue that the software giant has the best shot at establishing the enterprise standard in AR.Gartner analyst Brian Blau, who tracks the AR/VR market, is taking a cautious
  
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• British navy sends robots to sea in military exercise

  14-10-2016 16:31
  
  The Royal Navy is testing just how much robot craft can do by themselves in military exercises off the British coast.Operation Unmanned Warrior 16 is a chance for allied nations and the defense industry to show off their latest maritime autonomous systems, as part of a broader military exercise called Joint Warrior."Fire and forget" torpedoes capable of homing in on the noise emitted by a target -- then sinking it -- have been around since World War II, but the systems involved in this exercise
  
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• BrandPost: How to Thrive in a Digital World (Part 2)

  14-10-2016 16:16
  
  When it comes to digital transformation, the gap between those ahead on this winding, evolving journey and those falling behind is wide. Organizations that are well along the path have been focused on people and human insights, gaining new customers, increasing customer satisfaction, retaining valuable employees, and achieving greater profitability thanks to digital initiatives. The companies that are not keeping up at the speed of business, on the other hand, risk losing ground to their competi
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 3 tips for surviving your current job

  14-10-2016 16:15
  
  It doesn’t really matter what phase of your career you are in. There are any number of reasons you can feel like things aren't quite bad enough to make a change. But you’re tired of dreading work. There’s an annoying discomfort setting in.What should you do? Short of taking a bigger step than you're ready for, here are some approaches that can bring you some relief.1.  Make sure other areas of your life are fulfilling.
  Build satisfaction in areas of your life such as
  
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• GlobalSign certificate revocation error leaves websites inaccessible

  14-10-2016 16:15
  
  Users around the world have had trouble accessing some HTTPS websites due to an error at GlobalSign, one of the world's largest certificate authorities.As part of a planned exercise, GlobalSign revoked one of its cross-certificates that allowed end-user certificates to chain to alternate root certificates. GlobalSign operates multiple roots, which are trusted in browsers and operating systems by default, and links them together through these cross-certificates.The revocation of such a certificat
  
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• Google News battles era of spin with fact check label

  14-10-2016 16:09
  
  Google is making it easier to cut through Internet nonsense with a new Google News tag purpose-built for our era of discontent, fake news stories on social media, and flat-out lies.
  The search giant says you will soon see a “Fact Check” tag next to appropriate news stories in the expanded story box on Google News. The new tag is rolling out to the U.S. and U.K. editions of the Google News website, as well as the Google News & Weather apps for Android and iOS.To read this article
  
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• BrandPost: 3 Ways Manufacturers Can Lower Costs with Cloud ERP

  14-10-2016 15:50
  
  Cloud computing is proving to be more than a mere trend for manufacturers. In fact, those who have embraced ERP technology view cloud as central to their ability to compete. And for good reason. The cost benefits alone make it a compelling strategy—even to those who still believe they are better off “owning” the software. Below are examples of manufacturers who have experienced how cloud ERP helps them lower costs:1. Reduce Scrap and Inventory on HandTo read this article in ful
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why I use Fedora and so should you

  14-10-2016 15:30
  
  I have an emotional relationship with Fedora as it was the first Linux distribution I ever used. But now it's also becoming my favorite desktop Linux distribution.
  Despite being my gateway to the Linux world, I have not been a Fedora user. I have extensively used Debian, Ubuntu, openSUSE and Arch Linux.
  I avoided Fedora for a very long time because my Fedora machines never survived updates. Eventually I gave up on it.
  Things changed with version 19 and now Fedora works flawlessly. In fact it ex
  
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• How blockchain can benefit IT outsourcing providers

  14-10-2016 15:10
  
  Earlier this month IBM and its customer Bank of Tokyo announced that they would begin piloting blockchain technology to automate business transactions between the two companies. The joint experiment is one of the first projects built on the open-source Hyperledger Project (the Linux Foundation-led blockchain platform) to explore contract management, the companies said. It’s also an early example of the benefits of using an existing IT outsourcing engagement to experiment with blockchain te
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Synergies of supply chain management for healthcare

  14-10-2016 15:00
  
  Industries are taking notice of the parallels between advances in manufacturing and advances in healthcare. The similarities are staggering.Organizations utilizing supply chain management (SCM) are taking a serious look at digital for process improvement and enabling collaboration across suppliers. New synergies, fully engaged customers, the ability to scale with new offerings have become sources of renewed value. Does this sound familiar? Healthcare also needs new synergies between providers, a
  
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• Is Twitter's dead developer conference another nail in its coffin?

  14-10-2016 14:37
  
  Twitter has never been very good at showing developers love.Within weeks of being formally re-appointed as Twitter CEO last fall, Jack Dorsey issued a long overdue mea culpa to the company's bruised developer community. Upon his return to the social media organization he cofounded and led until 2008, Dorsey took the stage last October at Twitter Flight, the company's annual developer conference, to apologize to developers, plead for their patience and ask for another chance to reset their relati
  
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• University IT employees fighting for jobs question security

  14-10-2016 13:01
  
  Data security is a simmering issue in offshore outsourcing. The offshore workers who staff help desks, call centers and manage systems are accessing data in the U.S. The University of California IT employees, who will soon lose their jobs to overseas workers, are trying point this out.
  The IT employees say workers in India will have access to UCSF medical and financial information as well as to files with research and study data. The data will reside on hardware based in the U.S.
  They believe t
  
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• 31% off SanDisk Ultra Fit 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive - Deal Alert

  14-10-2016 13:00
  
  From a global leader in flash memory technology, the SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.0 Flash Drive is an ultra-small, low-profile drive with a storage capacity of 128GB, and enough speed to transfer a full-length movie in less than 30 seconds. It's a #1 Amazon Best Seller in its category with 4 out of 5 stars from over 2,500 people (read reviews). Its typical list price of $40 has been reduced 31% to just $28. See the discounted Flash Drive from SanDisk now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to l
  
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• Which third-party apps work with Siri in iOS 10?

  14-10-2016 12:30
  One of the most important changes in iOS 10 is Siri’s new ability to work with third-party apps. In order to control the experience, Apple chose to initially expand Siri commands to only six types of third-party services: audio/video calling, messaging, sending and receiving payments, searching photos, starting workouts, and booking rides. 
  Even though this may seem limited, there are actually dozens of third-party apps already employing the all-new Siri SDK, or SiriKi
  
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• Obama touts tech R&D, fist bumps man with mind-controlled robotic arm

  14-10-2016 12:01
  
  President Barack Obama on Thursday shook hands and fist bumped with a paralyzed man who was using a mind-controlled robotic arm.
  "Today he can move that arm just by thinking about it. He can once again feel the touch of another person," said Obama, speaking to an audience in Pittsburgh. "Researchers will tell you there's a long way to go. He can feel pressure with precision. That's what science does. That's what American innovation can do. Imagine what breakthroughs are around the corner."
  The
  
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• Review: The da Vinci Mini leads as a low-cost 3D printer

  14-10-2016 12:00
  
  XYZprinting’s inexpensive da Vinci Mini focuses on what is most important in a 3D printer: The ability to create good quality models in a short amount of time.
  
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• Efforts to restart smart-gun innovation could misfire again

  14-10-2016 12:00
  
  Jonathan Mossberg is a descendent of a nearly century-old, leading American arms manufacturer, so a couple of months ago when his 21-year-old daughter refused his gift of a handgun because she was afraid an attacker might take it away and use it against her, he realized he'd found a key demographic for a smart gun.
  Sixteen years earlier, Mossberg had been working at his family's namesake company, O.F. Mossberg & Sons in North Haven, Conn., which was founded in 1919 by his great-grandfather
  
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• Bitbucket Pipelines: Continuous delivery in the cloud

  14-10-2016 12:00
  
  Atlassian has moved Bitbucket Pipelines, its cloud-based application development tool focused on continuous delivery and integration, into production. The company envisions the service as a boon for microservices deployments.
  With Bitbucket Pipelines, teams can build, test, and deploy applications without having to set up a CI/CD server. Pipelines supports the entire development workflow, with coding and configuration unified in one environment.[ InfoWorld's quick guide: Digital Transforma
  
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• Backoffice als bron van waarde

  14-10-2016 11:08
  Standaard administratieve taken worden steeds vaker overgenomen door slimme technologie. Toch hoeven de ambitieuze medewerkers in de backoffice nog niet te worden afgeschreven. Op basis van de juiste technologische oplossingen kunnen zij boven zichzelf uitstijgen en van veel grotere waarde voor de organisatie worden.... lees meer
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: IBM readies open standard for high performance interconnect

  14-10-2016 11:01
  
  IBM and partners announced this week another open standard under the umbrella of and analogous to OpenPOWER, which covers processor design. The new standard, OpenCAPI, addresses system interconnect — the links among various system elements at the core of high-performance computers. OpenCAPI specifies an improved, high-speed, reliable way for processors to connect with things like accelerators (graphics and others), advanced memory, networking and storage. 
  The high-bandwidth, open in
  
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• Google, IBM, and others team up to hasten data transfers in computers

  14-10-2016 11:00
  
  Computational workloads are growing, and processors, memory, and storage are getting faster at a blazing pace. Emerging technologies could leave computers choking for bandwidth.The potential chokepoint worries companies like Google, IBM, Samsung, and Dell, which are moving to remedy the problem. New specifications from two new consortia will bring data unprecedented boosts in data transfer speeds to computers as early as next year.OpenCAPI Consortium's connector specification will bring sig
  
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• FalconStor schudt storage-wereld op met pay once model

  14-10-2016 10:53
  Leverancier van software-defined storage FalconStor Software komt met een nieuw prijsmodel. Gebruikers van het software-defined storage platform van de leverancier hoeven alleen maar te betalen voor de primaire kopie van hun gegevens, niet meer voor overige kopieën.Migreren, back-ups en het optimaliseren van... lees meer
  
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• Bedrijven in Benelux slecht voorbereid op GDPR

  14-10-2016 09:40
  Bij bedrijven ontbreekt voldoende kennis van de nieuwe General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) van de Europese Unie. Er heerst onbekendheid met de juiste voorbereidingen en de gevolgen van het niet naleven van de richtlijn voor de dataveiligheid en het bedrijfsresultaat. Hierop duidt een wereldwijde enquête in... lees meer
  
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• HP to cut up to 4,000 jobs in next three years

  14-10-2016 06:36
  HP Inc. is cutting between 3,000 to 4,000 jobs over the next three years as part of a restructuring plan worked out by the company.The PC and printer firm, which was created about a year ago after Hewlett-Packard was split into two companies, said in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday that it expects about “3,000 to 4,000 employees to exit between fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2019.”The company's "printing business is challenged right now but the PC business is h
  
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• The Note7 will cost Samsung another $3 billion in profit

  14-10-2016 04:04
  
  The fallout from the Note7 debacle, which is expected to take a big chunk out of Samsung’s third-quarter profit, will keep hurting its business into next year, the company said.
  The fourth-quarter impact on Samsung Electronics' operating profit will be "in the mid-2 trillion won range," the company said in a press release early Friday. Using the midpoint of 2.5 trillion South Korean won, that would be about US$2.2 billion. The damage will continue in the first quarter of next year, with a
  
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• Survey says many companies want to phase out passwords

  14-10-2016 03:07
  
  Don't be surprised if your company decides to do away with password logins. A new survey has found that most organizations are leaning toward phasing out password authentication.The results comes from Wakefield Research, which surveyed 200 IT decision makers in the U.S. last month. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents said they will probably do away with passwords completely in the next five years.Password login systems, though commonplace, are too vulnerable to hacking, according to SecureAuth
  
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• BrandPost: Chief Data Officer Toolkit: Leading the Digital Business Transformation – Part II

  14-10-2016 02:21
  
  The first part of the CDO Toolkit provided the CDO with a process of identifying, assessing, and estimating the value of the organization’s data in support of the organization’s key business initiatives.CDO also needs a process for capturing, refining and re-using the organization’s analytics in support the organization’s key business initiatives and the use cases. Let’s expand upon what we have already done as part of the CDO Toolkit to create a process and support
  
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• The VMware-AWS deal could drive more companies into the cloud

  14-10-2016 01:48
  
  The cloud partnership AWS and VMware announced Thursday makes Amazon's public cloud even more attractive for enterprises by letting them take the popular virtualization platform with them.The appropriately named VMware Cloud on AWS , announced at a press conference in San Francisco, will bring cloud-optimized versions of vSphere, VSAN and NSX software to the cloud platform. When users spin up a VMware environment on AWS, they'll get a cluster running the entire Software-Defined Data Center stack
  
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• Future Apple Watch model could identify you based on your vein patterns

  14-10-2016 00:18
  
  The Apple Watch may be getting a very unique form of biometric identification.
  According to a new patent application, Apple is developing a next-generation heart rate sensor for the Apple Watch that could identify whoever’s wearing it based on individual vein patterns. In essence, Apple Watch wearers could use this biometric identification to seamlessly unlock their device or activate Apple Pay, similar to how Touch ID relies on your fingerprint to unlock an iPhone.
  The patent, which was
  
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