IT Executive news

• Cisco positions Spark at the heart of enterprise work

  02-11-2016 22:55
  
  The closely watched launch on Wednesday of Microsoft's Teams, a rival to chat platforms Slack and HipChat, shows how important this kind of collaboration is for any company that wants to dominate workday life. Cisco Systems is no exception.On Tuesday at Cisco’s conference for channel partners, the company laid out an ambitious goal for its Spark chat platform and announced two moves to make it more attractive to enterprises.Spark is now the centerpiece of Cisco’s collaboration portfo
  
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• Broadcom doesn't want all of Brocade, so what will happen to the leftover Ethernet business?

  02-11-2016 22:54
  
  News of Broadcom buying Brocade for an estimated $5.5 billion comes with some caveats: Most notably, chipmaker Broadcom isn’t planning to keep Brocade’s Ethernet business. So what will happen to it?
  When announcing the deal, Broadcom made its plans to sell Brocade’s IP networking business clear. “Broadcom, with the support of Brocade, plans to divest Brocade’s IP Networking business, consisting of wireless and campus networking, data center switching and routing, a
  
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• Black Hat Europe: IoT devices can hack phones

  02-11-2016 22:25
  
  The Internet of things (IoT) has already been used to launch the biggest DDoS attacks ever, but now it represents a potential path for attackers to compromise cell phones.
  Flaws in Belkin WeMo devices - electrical switches, cameras, light bulbs, coffee makers, air purifiers, etc. – enabled Invincea Labs researchers to not only hack into the devices, but to use that access to attack an Android phone running the app that controls the WeMo devices.
  “This is the first instance we’
  
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• 29% off Litom Solar Outdoor Motion Sensor Security Lights, 2 Pack - Deal Alert

  02-11-2016 22:05
  
  This Amazon #1 best selling solar security light is super bright and easy to install wherever you need it. It features 3 modes: (1) Always on, (2) Dim until motion is detected, and (3) Off until motion is detected. It's designed with a large sensor that will detect motion over a larger distance, and 20 LED lights that the company claims are larger and more powerful than the competition offers. Being weatherproof, this is a light you can mount anywhere you need it outdoors. The Liton outdoor moti
  
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• Hands-on: Microsoft Teams brings the best and worst of Office to team-building

  02-11-2016 21:51
  
  Microsoft’s Teams app reinvents communication and collaboration in a way that’s typically Microsoft: tons of features, numerous options, with some of that complexity unfortunately pushed onto the user.
  The obvious product to compare Teams to is Slack, which I use daily, or HipChat. Within Teams, users can chat in groups or one-on-one, share files, communicate via Skype video calls, and even interact with bots and third-party apps.
  By the way, if you thought Microsoft Yammer was Micr
  
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• New smartphone attachment can detect cancer

  02-11-2016 21:47
  
  Researchers at Washington State University have developed a portable sensor that uses a smartphone's camera to detect a biological indicator for several types of cancers with 99% accuracy, yielding laboratory quality results.
  The sensor, a light spectrometer, can process up to eight blood or tissue samples at the same time (or one sample in eight wells) and can detect the human protein  interleukin-6 (IL-6). That protein is a known biological marker for lung, prostate, liver, breast and ep
  
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• US government warns China to play fair in the chip market

  02-11-2016 21:44
  
  A battle between the U.S. government and China is now brewing in the market for semiconductors, the foundation of electronics.The U.S. alleges that China is rigging the semiconductor market in its favor by indulging in unfair trade practices."This unprecedented state-driven interference can distort the market and undermine the innovation ecosystem," Penny Pritzker, U.S. secretary of commerce, said during a Wednesday event organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.The Chines
  
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• Another 40M bolt from Microsoft's browsers

  02-11-2016 21:30
  
  Microsoft's browsers hemorrhaged another 40 million users last month, according to analytics vendor Net Applications, pushing the year's total number of deserters near the one third of a billion mark.
  Net Applications pegged the combined user share of Internet Explorer (IE) and Edge at 28.4% for October, a fall of 2.3 percentage points. The month's decline was the second-largest ever for Microsoft's browsers, behind only May's plummet of 2.7 points.
  Unlike in most previous months, Microsoft's b
  
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• Social nets push Americans to get out and vote

  02-11-2016 21:12
  
  Facebook, Twitter and Google are continuing their push to get Americans to the polls for next week's presidential election.
  Facebook, which has been credited with aiding in a surge of voter registrations this fall, is running a new feature that shows users what's on the ballot in their state. The information includes which candidates are running in federal, state and local races, ballot initiatives and where the candidates stand on issues?FacebookA sample of information provided to California v
  
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• ExtraHop package captures files before ransomware encrypts them

  02-11-2016 20:33
  
  The best defense against ransomware has been comprehensive backup, but ExtraHop is introducing a way to capture files just before ransomware encrypts them, making it possible to restore them but without relying on the backups.
  +More on Network World: Cisco: Potent ransomware is targeting the enterprise at a scary rate+
  A software upgrade to ExtraHop’s Ransomware Detection bundle picks up on precursors to ransomware encrypting files and captures them before the malware has the chance to en
  
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• Executives still mistrust insights from data and analytics

  02-11-2016 20:29
  
  Data and analytics are increasingly becoming central to business decision-making, especially in areas such as driving customer growth, improving productivity and managing risk. But even as organizations push to make their decision-making more data-driven, business leaders accustomed to making decisions based on gut-instincts and experience are having trouble trusting insights from data and analytics (D&A).Forrester Consulting, commissioned by the Data and Analytics Global team at professiona
  
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• What can you get in a $99 laptop this holiday season?

  02-11-2016 20:15
  
  If you're looking for dirt-cheap Windows 10 laptops, many will be available this holiday season, but don't expect superior hardware.Dell appears to be the first major PC maker making a move in the holiday price wars. In the U.S., the company will sell its Inspiron 11 3000 for $99.99, starting at 6:00 p.m. ET on Nov. 24. It'll be available in limited quantities, and the price will go back up to $199.99 after the sale period ends.The Inspiron 11 3000 has an Intel Celeron processor, Windows 10 Home
  
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• BrandPost: High-Tech Manufacturing: Next-Gen Plants for Next-Gen Workers

  02-11-2016 19:53
  
  When it comes to recruitment, the U.S. manufacturing industry has taken a multi-decade hit. High school and college institutions have reduced the emphasis on skills-based education and public perception has been tarnished by recessions and layoffs—not to mention the inaccurate perception that manufacturing is outdated, dirty, repetitive work. This couldn’t be further from the truth.Today’s manufacturing plant floor is a vibrant network of people, materials, and high-tech equipm
  
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• BrandPost: The Science of Sitting

  02-11-2016 19:18
  
  As I discussed in my last post, sitting for prolonged periods of time is quickly becoming one of the most underrated health threats. Lack of movement increases fatigue, reduces focus, and makes it harder to manage stress. Adding just a bit more low-level activity—such as standing or walking—to your day preserves good health; plus it can help manage chronic conditions.We recently spoke with Betsey Banker, Vertical Marketing Manager for Wellness at Ergotron about the risks of a sedenta
  
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• BrandPost: MPSA Online Services At-a-Glance

  02-11-2016 19:11
  
  The Microsoft Product and Services Agreement (MPSA) At-a-Glance allows customers to purchase not only licenses, but also License and Software Assurance (SA), and online services like O365 under one agreement—enabling a more elastic setup. One of the main draws to having all these license and subscription options in one place is having one agreement to manage and one site to view and review licenses. This site is called the Business Center, and in it customers have the ability to quickly pr
  
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• BrandPost: Sit, Stand, Go!

  02-11-2016 19:03
  
  These days, so many of us spend our workdays sitting. Maybe we get up a few times: for coffee breaks, to stretch our legs, or to speak to our colleagues, but still most of the time, we’re sitting at our desks, typing away. It’s not great news, then, that recent research has suggested that there are some health concerns associated with prolonged sitting that can affect our overall health and well-being. After all, your work has to get done, right? You don’t have time to get up a
  
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• Leadership: From dictator to enabler

  02-11-2016 18:54
  
  Effective leadership isn’t what it used to be, because what it was doesn’t work any more.
  That declaration comes from one who ought to know – one of the US military’s most prominent and celebrated leaders of the past decade – retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, former commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in Iraq and commander of US and international forces in Afghanistan.
  McChrystal, who gave the opening keynote at the UNITED2016 Rapid7 Security Su
  
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• BrandPost: Transform Your Data Center

  02-11-2016 18:52
  
  A new generation of appliances is changing the way organizations work, communicate, and run their IT operations. There’s never been a better time to modernize your data center.Watch our video and discover how Connection and Cisco Nexus can help you navigate a digital strategy, prepare for the future, and start your digital transformation today.Watch NowTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Microsoft to patch Windows bug that Google revealed

  02-11-2016 18:51
  
  Microsoft on Tuesday said it would patch a Windows vulnerability next week that Google publicly revealed just 10 days after notifying Microsoft.
  Microsoft also identified the attackers, asserting that they were the same who had been accused by authorities of hacking the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
  "All versions of Windows are now being tested ... and we plan to release [the patches] publicly on the next Update Tuesday, Nov. 8," wrote Terry Myerson, the head of the Windows and devices g
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Open Source leader Nithya Ruff joins the Linux Foundation Board of Directors

  02-11-2016 18:43
  
  Nithya Ruff, director of Western Digital’s Open Source Strategy Office, has joined the Board of Directors of the Linux Foundation. In addition to Ruff, the Linux Foundation has also appointed Erica Brescia, co-founder and COO of Bitnami and Jeff Garzik, co-founder of Bloq, to its Board of Directors.
  Ruff runs the open source program office for WD and also leads the gender diversity efforts through the WD Women’s Innovation Network Board, which is an Employee-led group that advocates
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How AI will shape the future of Industrial IoT

  02-11-2016 18:24
  
  Artificial Intelligence (AI) has had a major resurgence in the past few years. If we look at the history of AI, we see a repeated cycle – it was at the forefront in the 80's too – it has been going through cycles of over-promise, investment, under delivery and investment reduction. However this time around, the technology advancements, scale and attention being paid to AI are much larger than before. The advances in big data technologies combined with cheap massively scalab
  
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• Thread Group aims its IoT mesh network at enterprises

  02-11-2016 18:21
  
  The still-fragmented internet of things is slowly converging on protocols that may someday work in both homes and enterprises.
  The latest move to standardize how IoT devices talk to each other is a push by the Thread Group into industrial and commercial systems. Its Thread protocol, with roots in Alphabet’s Nest division, defines a low-power wireless mesh network. The organization hopes Thread will bring systems with proprietary network technologies into the Internet Protocol world, letti
  
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• BrandPost: Still Thinking about Flash Storage?

  02-11-2016 18:15
  
  By now, you probably know the big benefits of flash storage and solid state drives—faster, more reliable performance and quicker access to important data. But maybe your organization thinks it doesn’t really need that extra performance. Things are probably rolling along just fine in your old server closet. Day to day operations are completed on time, and your equipment still functions properly. Unfortunately, that might not be enough.Spinning disk, or hard disk drives, have very near
  
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• The long, slow death of private cloud continues

  02-11-2016 18:04
  
  I must have touched a nerve with my last post, as I was contacted by two vendors that wanted to share their perspective on private cloud computing. Even though I don’t consider myself an analyst and therefore typically avoid “briefings,” I thought it would be interesting to see what they had to say.Both vendors covered what I consider well-trod ground: Organizations use private clouds for reasons of security/compliance, data sovereignty, data gravity (i.e., there is lots of dat
  
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• BrandPost: Increase the Health of Your Organization

  02-11-2016 18:00
  Last time we talked about the health problems associated with a sedentary work day. Eight hours (or more!) in front of a computer can exacerbate all kinds of health problems. Many organizations are looking into ways to help ensure their employees stay healthy—and productive on the job.If your organization has or is implementing a wellness program, Ergotron sit-stand solutions can be a great addition. I can say first hand, and data states that users of sit-stand workstations tend to feel mo
  
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• Microsoft goes after Slack with new Teams service

  02-11-2016 17:48
  
  Workplace collaboration has become increasingly focused on chat in the past couple of years, and Microsoft is jumping into the new space with both feet, launching a new product it calls Teams.Teams allows groups within a company to divide into subgroups and then set up individual channels to discuss their work. The chat-based workspace is designed to integrate deeply with the rest of Microsoft's Office 365 productivity suite, including OneDrive and Skype, for file sharing, voice and video chat.
  
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• Ford to use Blackberry QNX software in autonomous cars

  02-11-2016 17:17
  
  Ford Motor Co. has inked a deal for expanded use of BlackBerry's QNX and security software, which will ultimately allow the automaker to provide connected vehicles and secure mobile platforms for its customers. As part of the agreement, BlackBerry will dedicate a team to work with Ford on expanding the use of BlackBerry's QNX Neutrino Operating System, Certicom security technology, QNX hypervisor and QNX audio processing software.
  The terms of the deal are confidential, a spokesperson said.To r
  
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• Your very own canary for the wireless coal mine: Cape’s new Wi-Fi monitor

  02-11-2016 17:14
  Announced today, the Cape Sensor is a simple device that can be installed anywhere in a company’s campus, and behaves just like any other Wi-Fi client being used in that area – the idea being that any wireless issues experienced by actual clients should be seen by the Cape Sensor operating in the same place.
  ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Hottest Enterprise Networking & IT Startups of 2016 + Cisco says it'll make IoT safe because it owns the networkTo read this article in full or to lea
  
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• Cisco seeks faster time to discovery for breaches, compromises

  02-11-2016 17:04
  Cisco has announced security upgrades to cut the time compromises go unnoticed on endpoints, giving attackers less time to do damage if they get past preventive security measures.
  Unveiled at the Cisco Partner Summit this week, the new AMP for Endpoints comes with a lightweight agent to gather data that is analyzed in the Cisco AMP cloud. This lifts the processing burden from customers’ infrastructure.
  And the platform now includes an agentless feature for devices that can’t take an
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Apple’s 2016 MacBook Pro: Is it worth buying?

  02-11-2016 16:59
  
  Apple’s new MacBook Pros have already generated tons of comments and news articles online. Now full reviews of the 2016 MacBook Pros have started to trickle out from major tech sites, and reviewers didn't pull any punches when covering the pluses and minuses of Apple's new laptops.I’ve compiled a number of them here to help you decide whether or not you should buy a MacBook Pro. Be sure to click through to read the full reviews for many more details about the 2016 MacBook Pros.Ars Te
  
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• Holiday buying guide: 10 tablets under $500

  02-11-2016 16:51
  
  10 tablets that cover the price spectrumTablets have boomed in popularity in recent years, with devices that run the gamut in performance, size and price. You can pick from entertainment devices best-suited for causal browsing, basic apps and entertainment to full-fledged PCs ready to replace your notebook. You'll also quickly find they can cost anywhere from $50 to well over $1,000.But you don't have to break the bank to get yourself, or your loved ones, a new tablet this holiday season. Here a
  
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• Slideshow: Brace yourselves, commercial drones are coming

  02-11-2016 16:35
  
  Las Vegas Commercial UAV Expo Image by Magdalena Petrova Now in its second year, the Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas attracts companies who what to integrate drones into their workflows. Industries range from security, to construction, to surveying and mapping. Let's check out some of the drones that darted across our radar. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Broadcom bids billions for Brocade in order to break it up

  02-11-2016 16:30
  
  Chip maker Broadcom wants to buy storage vendor Brocade Communications Systems, stripping out its Fibre Channel business and selling the rest.
  Broadcom has agreed to pay around US$5.5 billion for Brocade, it said Wednesday.
  But it doesn't want all of it: After the deal closes -- between May and October 2017, Broadcom hopes -- it plans to sell off Brocade's IP-based wireless and campus networking, data center switching and routing, and software networking products.
  The bit Broadcom wants to keep
  
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• 6 trends that will shape cloud computing in 2017

  02-11-2016 15:03
  
  Cloud computing has helped many enterprises transform themselves over the last five years, but experts agree that the market is entering something of a second wave, both for public cloud and private cloud services built and hosted in corporate data centers. The cloud market will accelerate faster in 2017 as enterprises seek to gain efficiencies as they scale their compute resources to better serve customers, says Forrester Research in a new report.“The No. 1 trend is here come the enterpri
  
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• Inside a hyperscale data center (how different is it?)

  02-11-2016 14:47
  
  A hyperscale cloud data center looks different from an enterprise data center, or even a large hosting provider. The problems they face are different from the problems you face. And your approach to everything from how you choose a site to how you manage power to how long you keep servers is not their approach.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• LinkedIn aims to take the guesswork out of salary negotiations

  02-11-2016 14:00
  
  Discussing salaries at work can be tricky. LinkedIn is trying to take the guesswork out of calculating fair compensation by giving users the ability to view aggregate data about salary trends by profession.
  The new LinkedIn Salary service will show users of the enterprise social network a graph of the total compensation for a particular title in a particular location. For example, they could look up how much a software engineer makes in New York City. (Spoiler alert: it's a lot of money.) After
  
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• How to find the best Wi-Fi router for a home office

  02-11-2016 13:00
  
  Does your home office Wi-Fi router's lackluster performance hamper your productivity? Do you constantly deal with wireless connectivity issues that drive you crazy? And do the problems get worse as you add more wireless devices to the network? If you answered yes to any of these questions, an upgrade of your aging, overloaded Wi-Fi router may be the only guaranteed solution.Before you buy that bargain basement router or even splurge on the most expensive model, it's wise to make sure you underst
  
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• The new MacBook Pro isn't just a laptop, it's a strategy shift

  02-11-2016 12:25
  
  There was a time when differentiating between Apple’s pro and consumer lines was easy. Even after Apple stopped painting its entry-level Macs with candy-flavored colors, there was always a clear separation between the machines meant for professionals and the ones for everyone else. They didn’t just look the part, they delivered the power, performance and features the majority of people didn’t need but pros demanded (and could afford).
  As the first major revision in more than 4
  
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• It’s time to regulate baby monitors

  02-11-2016 12:00
  
  The internet was designed to withstand a nuclear attack. But its creators never imagined that baby monitors, toasters and smart TVs could bring it to its knees. We need to make sure that the devices that make up the internet of things can’t be used in the kind of attack that almost broke the internet late last month.
  For reasons that I will explain later, that probably means regulating the devices.
  First, though, some internet history. At the height of the Cold War, in the early 1960s, th
  
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• Fixing the communications breakdown between IT security and the board and c-suite

  02-11-2016 11:37
  
  In the months before an unexpected crisis, IT security requests specific tools, training, and additional staff to keep enterprise data safe, but does not substantiate the need in terms the business can understand. The c-suite denies the requests, pointing to the investments they have already made in security technologies. Suddenly, hackers strike with a massive cyber attack.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• 10 cybersecurity questions Trump and Clinton should answer

  02-11-2016 11:08
  
  Cybersecurity getting little attentionImage by REUTERS/Jim YoungThis election has been more about style than substance, more about the candidates’ pasts than their plans, more personal attacks than policy proposals. Even the debates, where the moderators attempt to discuss issues in need of decisions and actions, have been more notable for the ferocity of attacks than the shrewdness of the strategies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Review: Google Pixel hobbled by Android 7.1

  02-11-2016 11:00
  
  The Pixel is a major step up for Google's Android hardware, but Android 7.1's networking woes overly complicate corporate usage
  
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• Document-style language aims for citizen developers

  02-11-2016 11:00
  
  Can programming put humans first? Developers of the Eve language want to find out.
  In the Eve language and IDE, programs look more like Word documents than code files. "From code embedded in documents to a language without order, [Eve] presents an alternative take on what programming could be -- one that focuses on us instead of the machine," the project's webpage reads.[ Find out how to get ahead with our career development guide for developers. | The art of programming is changing rapidly. We
  
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• CEO's message a jolt to IT workers facing layoffs

  02-11-2016 11:00
  
  IT workers in the infrastructure team at Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) were notified recently of their layoff. They expect to be training replacements from India-based contractor HCL. The layoff affects more than 500 IT workers, according to the insurance firm.
  This familiar IT story began a little differently. A few days before employees were notified in mid-October of their layoff, HCSC CEO Paula Steiner talked about future goals in an internal, company-wide video.
  Steiner's comments
  
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• Race issues emerge as a challenge for tech companies like Uber, Facebook

  02-11-2016 07:24
  
  Lawmakers on Tuesday objected to a Facebook feature that allows advertisers to target housing ads to exclude certain racial and ethnic groups from promotions and marketing.In another race-related development that affects tech companies, the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said a study had indicated a pattern of discrimination by drivers of ride hailing apps against both African Americans and women.“We are writing to express our deep concerns with reports t
  
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• Novelty seeking and networking

  02-11-2016 06:52
  
  You’re seated in a restaurant you’ve never visited before, and the waiter hands you the menu. As you scan the items, do you look for something familiar you know you’ll like? Or do you want something you’ve never tried before?
  People respond differently to new situations and opportunities, sometimes with opposite reactions. “Better safe than sorry,” caution some, while others urge, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
  Such reactions, engrained deep
  
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• Cisco says it'll make IoT safe because it owns the network

  02-11-2016 05:02
  
  Cisco Systems is making a play for the fundamental process of putting IoT devices online, promising greater ease of use and security as enterprises prepare to deploy potentially millions of connected objects.
  Thanks to a dominant position in Internet Protocol networks, Cisco can do what no other company can: Change networks that were not designed for IoT in order to pave the way for a proliferation of devices, said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president and general manager of the IoT & Appli
  
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• Flexible solar panels are vastly increasing drone endurance

  02-11-2016 01:53
  
  Flexible, thin-film solar panels from a Silicon Valley company are allowing drone makers to keep their craft in the sky for hours longer than is possible with batteries alone.The panels, from Alta Devices in Sunnyvale, are produced on thin plastic sheets that can be stuck on the top frame of drones like the Bramor ppX, developed by Slovenia's C-Astral Aerospace.On Tuesday, the two companies showed off a version of the drone with six solar panels affixed to its top. The basic drone can
  
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• Police across the globe crackdown on darknet marketplaces

  02-11-2016 01:32
  
  Law enforcement agencies across the globe staged a crackdown on so-called darknet web sites last week, targeting marchants and thousands of customers who were looking to obtain illegal drugs and goods.From Oct.22 to the 28th, the agencies took action against merchants and customers that used these sites for illicit items, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement on Monday.Unlike other websites, these underground marketplaces reside within the darknet -- a sort of pa
  
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