IT Executive news

• 47% off CyberPower CSP600WSU Surge Protector 6-AC Outlet Swivel with 2 USB (2.1A) Charging Ports - Deal Alert

  15-11-2016 23:10
  
  The CyberPower Professional Series CSP600WSU Surge Protector is ideal for Home/ Office protection with 1200 joules, 6 swivel outlets, 2 USB charge ports (2.1 Amp shared), and a convenient wall tap design. The surge protector is ideal for protecting personal computers, phones/ fax/ modems, printers, stereos, and other electronics. Its two USB are perfect for keeping tablets, smart phones, and other rechargeable electronics ready to use.  With Amazon's current discount of 47% you can bu
  
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• 23% off MagicFiber Microfiber Cleaning Cloths For Screens and Other Delicate Surfaces, 30 Pack - Deal Alert

  15-11-2016 23:05
  
  This extremely soft, high-quality 6x7 microfiber cloth from MagicFiber absorbs and safely removes dust, oil smudges, fingerprints, and dirt from eyeglasses, camera lenses, computer screens, televisions, and other delicate surfaces without any harsh chemicals. It's machine or hand washable, and is built to last. The cloths are highly rated on Amazon, where it currently averages 4.8 out of 5 stars from over 8,300 people (90% rate 5 stars: read recent reviews). Its typical list price of $29.99 has
  
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• 3D printer owners rate the best 14 machines

  15-11-2016 22:11
  
  Online user community 3D Hubs has published its third annual 3D Printer Guide for 2017, based on reviews from 8,624 verified 3D printer owners of 513 different 3D printer models.
  Fourteen machines separated into five categories made it into the guide's top 3D printers list for 2017. The categories include Budget, Plug-N-Play, Prosumer, Workhorse and SLS or selective laser sintering machines, which is a new commercial-grade category.
  3D Hubs used a wide range of parameters to measure the user ex
  
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• True agile software development requires DevOps

  15-11-2016 21:50
  
  Enterprises are quickening the pace with which they build and roll out software to better satisfy customers who expect new features as often as smartphone application upgrades. But enterprises that wish to reap the potentially rich rewards of getting IT and business line leaders to build software together in agile fashion must also embrace the DevOps model, says Fannie Mae CIO Frederic Veron.Combining agile and DevOps requires implementing a set of processes and automation tools that allow progr
  
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• Reprisals against Apple in a U.S.-China trade war would be indirect

  15-11-2016 21:35
  
  If the Chinese government retaliated against tariff increases by the United States, it would not take direct aim at Apple, an economist argued today.
  "For China, the best target is Boeing," said Caroline Freund, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
  Freund was responding to questions after Global Times, a Chinese Communist Party-supported newspaper, warned of reprisals if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on a campaign pledge to dramatically increase
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Jennifer Cloer on working with Linus Torvalds, open source and women in tech

  15-11-2016 21:12
  
  I have known Jennifer Cloer from the very early days, even before the Linux Foundation was formed. She is among the most influential women in the tech world, especially in the open source world. I have been planning to start a series of interviews of those women who made it into CIO’s most influential women in Tech list. When I approached Jennifer, I learned about a development in her career that made this story even more interesting. Cloer is moving out of the Linux Foundation and ventur
  
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• Google levels up its cloud machine learning with new services

  15-11-2016 21:00
  
  There's an arms race among public cloud providers to provide businesses with the best machine learning capabilities. Enterprises are increasingly interested in creating intelligent applications, and companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Google are rushing to help meet their needs.Google fired its latest salvo on Tuesday, announcing a set of enhancements to its existing suite of cloud machine-learning capabilities. The first was a new Jobs API aimed at helping match job applicants with the right o
  
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• Intel's latest Xeon chips based on Skylake due next year

  15-11-2016 20:30
  
  Intel has moved to a new architecture called Kaby Lake for its PC chips, but it isn't done with the previous generation Skylake yet.
  The company will release new Xeon server chips based on Skylake in mid-2017, and they will boast big performance increases, said Barry Davis, general manager for the accelerated workload group at Intel.
  The Skylake Xeon chips will go into mainstream servers and could spark a big round of hardware upgrades, Davis said.
  Xeon chips aren't as visible as Intel's PC chi
  
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• Intel packs more horsepower in its monster 22-core processor

  15-11-2016 20:30
  
  CPU performance increases were ignored for years, but AMD put them back on the map with its upcoming Zen chip. This has rubbed off on Intel in a good way.Intel's taken its fastest server chip, the top-line 22-core Xeon E5-2699 v4 chip, and made some tweaks to squeeze out more CPU performance. It has created a new chip called the 22-core Xeon E5-2699A v4, which is about 5 percent faster.While 5 percent may sound like a small number, it's big for those installing thousands of servers running on th
  
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• Hortonworks Data Cloud optimized to spin up (and down) for AWS

  15-11-2016 20:14
  
  Hortonworks today announced the general availability of Hortonworks Data Cloud for AWS, a new cloud service specifically optimized for enterprise ephemeral workloads on AWS. It is designed to integrate with AWS services including Amazon S3, RDS and EC2.AWS customers have been able to deploy Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) on AWS for years, but the new service is designed and optimized for ephemeral workloads that are spun up and down quickly. The data resides in Amazon S3, so when you shut down
  
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• BrandPost: Recognizing and Combating Cybercrime

  15-11-2016 20:09
  
  Being able to recognize potential threats means being able to understand what motivates the criminals who are trying to invade your environment. It’s fair to say that a criminal is going to value your wallet. The question then is, what data in your environment has the greatest value?Answering that question will help you to recognize some potential threats, but certainly not all of them. Social engineering tactics are convincing and highly successful.In fact, Verizon’s Data Breach Inf
  
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• Super Mari-owned: Startling Nintendo-based vulnerability discovered in Ubuntu

  15-11-2016 20:05
  
  A vulnerability in a multimedia framework present on Version 12.04.5 of Ubuntu can be exploited by sound files meant to be played on the venerable Nintendo Entertainment System, according to security researcher Chris Evans.
  The vulnerability is the result of a flaw in an audio decoder called libgstnsf.so, which allows gstreamer Version 0.10 to play the NSF files that the NES uses for music. NSF files, when played, use the host system’s hardware to create a virtualized version of the NES&r
  
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• New CIO appointments, November 2016 edition

  15-11-2016 20:05
  
  The recent U.S. presidential election was the most technologically advanced in history. Regardless of party affiliation, the candidates used technology to help attract newly registered voters, provide targeted polling analysis, and they largely executed their campaigns via viral social media. The campaigns showcased many peaks and valleys, but it's nothing but upward trajectories for the following newly appointed CIOs!Barry Simpson was promoted from Coca-Cola's global head of business unit IT se
  
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• BrandPost: Cyber Responsibility, the Trickle-down Effect

  15-11-2016 19:56
  
  Buckling your seatbelt for a single car ride doesn’t make for safe driving practices. Buckling your seatbelt for every car ride is a safer bet. Best practices in cyber security demand that executives use and integrate policies that work consistently and coherently toward a collective defensive strategy among all users. There was a time when cyber security was the sole responsibility of IT, but those days are long gone. Today’s executives know better than to presume themselv
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How IT leaders communicate can affect success

  15-11-2016 19:28
  
  We have all done it. The phone rings, and we can see exactly who is calling, yet we let it go to voicemail. After an appropriate delay, we respond back to the caller via text.I had this guy leave me a voice mail at work so I called him at home and then he e-mailed me to my BlackBerry and so I texted to his cell and then he e-mailed me to my home account and the whole thing just got out of control. –Mary, “He’s Just Not That Into You”There are a whole lot of us working les
  
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• iPhones in China are randomly shutting down, owners say

  15-11-2016 19:20
  
  A consumer protection group in China is asking Apple to investigate problems with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s units automatically shutting off.Recently, iPhone customers in the country have been complaining about the problem to the China Consumers Association, the group said in a statement on Tuesday. The shutdowns occur when the phone’s battery charge drops to between 60 and 50 percent.The problem will persist despite upgrading to the latest version of iOS. It will also occur in both cold envi
  
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• New tech jobs in top demand in 2017

  15-11-2016 18:42
  
  This contributed piece has been edited and approved by Network World editors
  The technology sector isn’t just expanding, it’s exploding. Thanks to the development of new technologies like cognitive computing, virtual and augmented reality and the Internet of Things (IoT), the technology industry is experiencing massive job demand and growth.
  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of tech and computer occupations is expected to grow 12% by 2024, greater than the
  
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• Twitter beefs up its mute tools and abuse policies to help you proactively silence trolls

  15-11-2016 17:55
  
  Twitter is bulking up its tools to combat online hate and harassment. In recent months, critics have called out Twitter for not doing enough to stop online abuse. Now Twitter is fighting back against the growing impression that social the network is becoming far too vitriolic.
  First up: An expansion of Twitter’s mute tool that will be rolling out in the coming days. The new filtering will allow users greater control over what ends up in their notifications section by preventing specific k
  
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• Shooting the supermoon

  15-11-2016 17:39
  
  Heaven for photographers Image by ReutersFull moons are catnip for photographers under ordinary circumstances, but slap a name like supermoon on one, note that it’s the largest of the century, and the cameras will be out in full force. Here’s a selection of images provided by Reuters.New York CityImage by REUTERS/Eduardo MunozTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• F5 readies ADCs for public cloud

  15-11-2016 17:17
  
  F5, considered the market-share leader in application delivery control (ADC), today released new versions of its flagship BIG-IP product that make it easier to use the company’s load balancer, firewall and other application delivery services not only in data centers but in the public cloud.
  The maturation of BIG-IP represents a broader shift among ADC vendors to embrace public cloud. Traditionally these ADC products have been optimized for applications that are hosted on infrastructure co
  
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• OpenAI will use Microsoft's cloud, as Azure gains more features

  15-11-2016 17:08
  
  Microsoft's continued investment in artificial intelligence and machine learning technology is paying dividends. The company has partnered with OpenAI, a non-profit company founded earlier this year to advance the field of machine intelligence for the benefit of humanity. As part of the deal, announced Tuesday, OpenAI will use Microsoft Azure as its primary cloud provider, an important win for Microsoft as it competes with the likes of Amazon, Google, and IBM to power the next generation of
  
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• Best Apple Watch deals for Black Friday 2016

  15-11-2016 16:53
  
  With the market for smartwatches plunging this year, you'd better believe that Black Friday 2016 deals can be found on Apple Watches.
  Apple holds the biggest share of the market, according to IDC figures released in October, but even Apple sold far fewer of its touchscreen watches in Q3 (1.1 million vs. 3.9 million in Q3 2015).
  MORE: Best Black Friday 2016 deals on Apple iPhones, iPads & more
  Apple itself hasn't disclosed Black Friday deals yet -- it usually waits until right before Thanksg
  
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• WhatsApp finally launches video calling

  15-11-2016 16:19
  
  Finally. 
  In a move that many of its users have been eagerly waiting for, WhatsApp is adding video calling to its apps. The Facebook-owned company says the new feature is rolling out worldwide in the coming days. WhatsApp’s more than one billion users will be able to use the new feature on Android, iPhone, and even Windows Phone devices (we presume that means Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 10 Mobile).
  As with all features from the service video calling will be free. The new feature ar
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Apple picks the best Touch Bar apps for the 2016 MacBook Pro

  15-11-2016 16:18
  
  Apple’s 2016 MacBook Pro's biggest new feature is the Touch Bar. The Touch Bar replaces the function keys at the top of the MacBook Pro, and it changes automatically depending on the application that you are using.But in order to get the most out of the Touch Bar, you'll need apps that have been updated to use it. Apple has released a helpful roundup of the best apps in the Mac App Store that have been enhanced for the Touch Bar.I’ve compiled a list of these apps below, with links to
  
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• GE is on an IoT buying spree

  15-11-2016 16:00
  
  It turns out GE Digital’s acquisition of ServiceMax on Monday and its Meridium buy in September weren't the company's only recent moves to expand its industrial IoT expertise.Two deals for small startups, completed recently and announced on Tuesday, add interesting technologies that should help the company develop new capabilities and help enterprises meet challenges in industrial IoT. Both were announced at GE Digital’s Minds + Machines conference in San Francisco and didn’t c
  
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• GE Digital is taking Predix out to the edge of IoT

  15-11-2016 16:00
  
  Along with freedom and cost savings, cloud computing brings complexity. Dividing up data and processes between private data centers and the cloud can be complicated.It’s even more true with the internet of things, which usually includes specialized remote devices and layers of gateways. On Tuesday at its Minds + Machines conference, GE Digital introduced a system for enterprises to spread out IoT tasks to be more effective.The new set of capabilities, called Predix Edge System, turns the c
  
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• BrandPost: Understanding NIST Regulations and MFA

  15-11-2016 15:53
  
  The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently updated its guidelines on two-factor authentication, including a statement that out-of-band verification methods using PSTN, SMS, or voice calls are deprecated. What does this mean, and why is it important? Most importantly, how can organizations implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) that complies with the NIST regulations?In two-factor authentication, users are required to present something they know (such as a password) a
  
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• 27% off All-New Echo Dot and WeMo Smart Plug Bundle - Deal Alert

  15-11-2016 15:35
  
  Right now if you buy a WeMo Smart Plug along with an all new Echo Dot, you'll save 27% and get them both for $73 versus buying them separately for $100. Simply plug WeMo into any standard outlet, and control your appliances from anywhere in the world using your smartphone. Program on/off times for your lights, A/C or a fan. Put it in "away mode" while you're on vacation and it will randomly turn on/off throughout the day to mimic someone in the home and confuse would-be intruders. You'll th
  
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• Facebook wants to sway your purchases — but not your politics

  15-11-2016 15:25
  
  The leaders of Facebook, the world's largest social network, which reaches 1.18 billion people every day, want to absolve the company from any responsibility for the potential proliferation of misinformation on its platform. As the dust settles following a polarized presidential election, Facebook is trying to defend itself against claims of impropriety and unchecked influence on American politics.The social giant is taking hits from all sides of the political spectrum and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is
  
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• 3 ways to regain control of Windows 10 updates

  15-11-2016 15:23
  
  Forced or unexpected Windows software updates can be a massive pain.Back in the days before Windows 10, I was writing in an airport lounge. Just as my flight was called and I started to shut down, I got the pushy, "Don't turn off your PC" popup. Windows insisted on installing an update, even though it was a very awkward time for me. After that delightful experience, I changed my Windows settings so I had an option to delay future updates.Unfortunately, that's no longer an easy task in Windo
  
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• Comparing AI tools in Salesforce Einstein and Dynamics 365

  15-11-2016 15:16
  
  Machine learning features have the potential to transform your marketing and customer support, but they’ve been out of reach for most companies. Now both Microsoft and Salesforce are building them into their cloud CRM tools, putting AI within the grasp of most enterprises.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• 10 last-minute holiday strategies for e-tailers

  15-11-2016 15:10
  
  While most online retail businesses spend months planning for the holiday season, if you are not one of them, take heart. There are plenty of things owners (or managers) of online stores can do between the middle (or even the end) of November and the end of the year to help drive traffic to your site and increase sales.[ Related: 8 keys to ecommerce success ]1. Create last-minute holiday buying/gift guides
  “Create inspirational buying guides – Top 10 Gifts for Dad, What to Buy the Pi
  
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• Sisense brings its analytics platform to chat bots

  15-11-2016 15:00
  
  Analytics firm Sisense has brought its business intelligence platform to chat bots, allowing customers to ask natural-language questions about their data while in Slack, Skype, Facebook Messenger or Telegram.
  "It lets you use [those interfaces] to literally interact with your data in a 'human-being' method -- not SQL but English," CEO Amir Orad said in a phone interview.
  For example, Orad said, a business user could log into Skype and ask, "What is my current revenue number this quarter?" The u
  
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• Half of banking customers now using fintech

  15-11-2016 14:58
  
  Financial technology (fintech) products and services are picking up tremendous steam, particularly with younger, tech-savvy and affluent customers, according to the World FinTech Report 2017 (WFTR), recently released by Capgemini, LinkedIn and Efma (a global nonprofit organization composed of banks and insurance companies). But even as fintech firms reshape the financial services landscape, customers are struggling to trust them.
  "We're seeing adoption across the globe," says Bill Sullivan, hea
  
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• 42% off Vacu Vin Wine Saver Pump with 2 x Vacuum Bottle Stoppers - Deal Alert

  15-11-2016 14:42
  
  The Wine Saver is a vacuum pump that extracts the air from an opened wine bottle and re-seals it using a rubber stopper. The airtight vacuum inhibits the oxidation process that is responsible for the deterioration of wine. The vacuum is created by placing a stopper into the neck of the opened bottle and pumping it until resistance is detectable. The pump incorporates a patented 'click' mechanism that indicates when a sufficient airtight environment has been established. Currently averages
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 ways your marketing team can help your customer service department

  15-11-2016 14:21
  
  Most businesses build their departments as silos: self-contained units that operate independently of each other, with one directorial vision aligning them. However, sometimes it’s better for these independent sectors to work in unison with one another for mutual benefit.Marketing and customer service
  This phenomenon is perhaps most evident in your marketing and customer service departments. One is designed to attract people who have never heard of your brand before and turn them into custo
  
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• Trump presidency a step back for diversity in America

  15-11-2016 14:16
  
  Yesterday morning we all awoke to find that America had elected Donald Trump president. The country's new president-elect wants to deport a vast number of Hispanic people, wants to block Muslims from entering the country, has promised to roll back protections for LGBTQ people, and normalizes discrimination, harassment and sexual assault.
  Donald Trump also promised to loosen libel laws and strip the media of any power it has left. Personally, I'm terrified of what this means for me as a woman. I
  
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• 10 tech skills that will boost your salary

  15-11-2016 14:06
  Tech skills that will boost your salaryImage by ThinkstockIt's no secret that IT careers are some of the most in-demand and highest-paying out there. But the breakneck pace of digital transformation and constant innovation means professionals with certain skills can demand even greater compensation than others, whether at "pure" technology companies or in IT roles within other industries."Tech positions are needed everywhere, but some can command a premium in pay based on the skills. And the boo
  
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• Google taps into your life to personalize its streaming music

  15-11-2016 12:33
  
  Google is using the power of big data and machine learning to deliver users the songs they want, when they want them.
  Google announced this week it is updating its streaming music service, hopefully helping distinguish Google Play Music from its rivals in the streaming music category.
  To do that, it's using its wealth of user data -- what music you have listened to before and what music you keep going back to, along with music you check out on YouTube, and which artists and genres you search fo
  
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• The 7 worst tech gifts you absolutely shouldn't buy this holiday

  15-11-2016 12:30
  
  What not to buy for the holidaysImage by Evil ErinClueless? Yeah, we get it. Every year we have to figure out what to buy our significant others, and a great tech gift often tops the list.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Healthcare, retail industries give blockchain a try

  15-11-2016 12:30
  
  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services hopes to put a new technology to use in its ongoing effort to improve the health and well-being of Americans. The technology in question isn't something one might expect to see in the healthcare IT toolkit; rather, it's blockchain, the technology that underpins cryptocurrency and has primarily been associated with bitcoin. HHS sees blockchain as a potential salve for ills that plague the increasingly complex world of digital health records.To rea
  
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• Merendeel organisaties doet te weinig aan fraudepreventie

  15-11-2016 12:29
  Grote organisaties in Nederland doen onvoldoende aan het voorkomen van fraude. Meer dan vier op de vijf CEO’s van Nederlandse multinationals noemen het eigen beleid niet effectief. Dit hangt nauw samen met een gebrek aan ‘readiness’ voor digitalisering. Ondertussen ervaart een derde van deze... lees meer
  
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• How automated investigation can accelerate threat detection

  15-11-2016 12:26
  
  Finding threats quickerImage by ThinkstockCyber‫ security analysts are overwhelmed with the pressure of keeping their companies safe. Not only do they need to filter through countless alerts, many of which turn out to be false positives, but also the volume of real threats is growing exponentially. They quickly need to triage and move on, stopping the most pressing threats – but not always the most dangerous. Cyber analysts need a new, holistic approach to threat detection that
  
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• Trump’s coal revival plan won’t work; clean energy tech is already cheaper

  15-11-2016 12:13
  
  While President-elect Donald Trump hopes to revive the coal industry by slashing CO2-reducing regulations, industry analysts say clean energy has become so cheap it will continue to increase its domination of the energy industry.
  Trump is likely to roll back several of the current administration's clean energy policies, such as the 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar power deployments, the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan (CPP) and U.S. support for the 195-nation Paris A
  
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• The long decline of online freedom

  15-11-2016 12:00
  
  The internet, for many of us who are fortunate enough to access it on a daily basis, has become an integral part of our lives. Virtually everything we do is tethered to this online platform, and it has transformed many aspects of our economic, social and cultural lives. But while we may take the ease with which we can access and use the internet for granted, a new report from Freedom House highlights the unsettling fact that billions of people around the globe are not so fortunate. 
  &ldquo
  
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• Hottest Black Friday 2016 Windows PC, tablet and game deals

  15-11-2016 10:01
  
  Big dealsWhile Windows phone deals are non-surprisingly almost non-existent for Black Friday 2016, there are plenty of Microsoft Windows desktops and laptops, Surface tablets and Xbox gaming deals being touted this holiday shopping season. Come Nov. 25, and even earlier for many retailers, here are some of the best deals around.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• HP's power-packed Z2 Mini desktop takes on Apple's aging Mac Mini

  15-11-2016 06:05
  
  HP has been hoping that sleek, powerful hardware will lure Apple Mac aficionados to switch to its PCs, and now is aiming the new Z2 Mini mini-desktop at Mac Mini users.The Z2 Mini packs the computing power of a full-size desktop into a box that can be held in one hand. Starting at $699, it will be available worldwide starting in December.HP has been excelling in PC design, with innovative desktops like Pavilion Wave, a cylindrical desktop, and Elite Slice, a modular mini-desktop onto which compo
  
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• Google will not place its ads on sites distributing fake news

  15-11-2016 04:05
  
  Google plans to update its AdSense program policies to prevent placement of its ads on sites distributing fake news.False news stories have become a sore point after the U.S. presidential elections with critics blaming internet companies like Twitter and Facebook for having had an influence on the outcome of the elections as a result of the fake content.The controversy also reflects concerns about the growing power of social networks to influence people and events, as well as help people to comm
  
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• Google, Facebook will not place ads on sites distributing fake news

  15-11-2016 04:05
  
  Google plans to update its AdSense program policies to prevent placement of its ads on sites distributing fake news.Facebook also said Monday it had updated the policy for its Audience Network, which places ads on websites and mobile apps, to explicitly clarify that it applies to fake news.“In accordance with the Audience Network Policy, we do not integrate or display ads in apps or sites containing content that is illegal, misleading or deceptive, which includes fake news,” Facebook
  
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• Microsoft, Nvidia work to speed up AI platform powering Cortana

  15-11-2016 04:00
  
  Thanks to artificial intelligence, we have autonomous cars, chat bots, and speech recognition. Microsoft's CNTK (Cognitive Toolkit) is one among many platforms that trains computers to learn, and it's getting an upgrade.CNTK drives the Microsoft services Cortana and Skype language translation, and it boasts more than 90 percent accuracy in speech recognition tasks. Microsoft will soon release an upgraded CNTK toolkit, and one hardware maker wants to ensure the toolkit works best o
  
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