IT Executive news

• AWS October roundup: Hybrid deployments with Amazon's cloud get a boost

  17-11-2016 23:27
  
  You might think Amazon Web Services would have chilled out in the month before its big Re:Invent conference. After all, that show, which takes place at the end of November, is when the cloud provider typically shows off a bonanza of new products and features.But Christmas has come early in October, at least for people who are looking to run hybrid cloud deployments with AWS. Here's the rundown of important news you may have missed. VMware and Amazon team up
  The big bombshell for the month w
  
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• 29% off RTIC 30 oz. Tumbler - Deal Alert

  17-11-2016 23:05
  
  This 30oz. RTIC tumbler is made of 18/8 stainless steel, and is double wall vacuum insulated to keep your drinks ice cold for up to 24 hrs, and hot beverages up to 6. It features a shatterproof crystal clear lid so you always know how much you've got left. It's tall & narrow shape makes it suitable for most cup holders. The RTIC tumbler is currently a #1 Amazon best seller with 4.5 out of 5 stars from nearly 8,000 people (80% rate 5 stars: read recent reviews). Its list price is currently d
  
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• Research chip modeled after the brain aims to bring smarts to computers

  17-11-2016 22:53
  
  The dream of creating intelligent computers has inspired the development of exotic chips based on the structure of the brain, which operates in mysterious ways. Some researchers are making such chips from components found in today's computers.Using components pulled off store shelves, researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have made a chip for intelligent computers that can learn. The chips are structured to discover patterns through probabilities and association, helping wi
  
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• Azure October Roundup: Price drops, data analysis, and more

  17-11-2016 22:33
  
  Put away the Halloween candy, and dust off your stuffed turkeys, folks. October is long gone, as are a fresh set of announcements from Microsoft about changes to its Azure cloud platform. Here's the important news you might have missed.Price drops for a bunch of Azure compute instances
  If there's one constant in the public cloud, it's the back-and-forth between competing providers over who gets to claim that they have the cheapest services. Microsoft fired another shot in that war in October, dr
  
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• Stocking Stuffer Ideas, Deals and Discounts - Deal Alert

  17-11-2016 21:50
  
  Just because it fits in a stocking doesn't make it a good idea, or a smart use of your money this season. Here we've compiled a list of great techie stocking stuffer ideas that are reasonably priced, highly rated, and deeply discounted. We'll update this list throughout the season as we find you more good deals on sensible stocking-stuffers.75% off Phaiser BHS-730 Bluetooth Sweatproof Sport Earbuds, Magnetic
  Bluetooth 4.1 and A2DP stereo transfer protocols to produce bigger bass, lighter-than-a
  
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• Intel chases AI with new chips, but still lacks a potent GPU

  17-11-2016 21:50
  Intel is taking a new direction in chip development as it looks to the future of artificial intelligence, with the company betting the technology will pervade applications and web services.The company on Thursday said it is developing new chips that will handle AI workloads, which will increasingly be a part of its chip future. For now, the AI chips will be released as specialized primary chips or co-processors in computers and separate from the major product lines.But over time, Intel coul
  
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• BrandPost: Users Hold the Keys to Better Mobile Security

  17-11-2016 21:43
  
  According to IDC’s Mobile Security Predictions for 2015, users are a key element of security. With the number of mobile users having surpassed the number of desktop users, securing these devices is greater challenge. Due to common misconceptions, few mobile users are aware of their ability to improve the overall mobile security posture. The three key reasons for this?1.) Perception—Many users believe mistakenly that mobile devices are more secure than a standard computer. Collea
  
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• Azure Stack Portable – The Enterprise Cloud (in a Briefcase)

  17-11-2016 21:16
  
  Azure Stack is Microsoft’s enterprise cloud technology that allows organizations to run Microsoft Azure on their own premise.  During the early adopter testing phase, I needed an Azure Stack host that I could take between my office (by day) and home (on weekends), or to take to client sites to demonstrate.  So I created a portable version of Azure Stack by building a 14-core / 10-terabyte cloud in a briefcase!
  For those who need a background on Azure Stack, please see a couple a
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 steps to a paperless marketing department

  17-11-2016 21:15
  
  Even if you’re an online marketing company, in your office, there are probably piles and piles of paper. From the frayed calendar to the filing cabinet overflowing with invoices, you’re essentially swimming in paper. So, when someone first mentions the idea of going paperless, it’s okay if your first reaction is to laugh. Once the giggles wear off, though, take the time to learn about just how practical and simple going paperless can be.The state of corporate paper consumption
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: If you are a KDE neon user, reinstall your distro now!

  17-11-2016 21:06
  
  The lead KDE neon developer Jonathan Riddell released a security advisory in which he urged KDE neon users to upgrade their systems or reinstall it.TLDR;The package archive of KDE neon was misconfigured, which allowed anyone to upload a package to the archive. It’s not known whether anyone uploaded any packages, but as a security measure they purged the archive, removed the ISOs built from it and they are now rebuilding it. The KDE neon team is urging users to upgrade to the latest p
  
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• BrandPost: Not Gone and Definitely Not Forgotten

  17-11-2016 20:52
  
  It seems nobody is faster to predict imminent death than the IT industry. Tape, mainframes, disks, PCs, smartphones, and the Internet have all survived their obituaries—and now we can add private cloud to the list of technologies buried before their time.
  “Private cloud is a concept propped up by legacy vendors desperate to provide enterprise IT groups a reason to keep buying their servers, storage, and network products—and that’s where the problem lies. It’s a solu
  
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• Intel to invest $250M in self-driving cars

  17-11-2016 20:16
  
  Intel's investment arm, Intel Capital, plans to spend more than $250 million of additional new capital over the next two years to drive the development of autonomous driving technology.
  During a keynote speech at the LA Auto Show's AutoMobility conference this week, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich emphasized how critical the automotive market has become to the company. Intel Corp.Intel Corporation displays its automated driving technology at the Automobility LA conference on Tuesday.To read this artic
  
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• IoT gear will need better security to win a Z-Wave badge

  17-11-2016 19:55
  
  Tighter security will soon be mandatory for IoT devices that use the popular Z-Wave wireless protocol.
  Starting next April, the Z-Wave Alliance will require all products to include its S2 (Security 2) framework before they can be certified as Z-Wave compliant. S2 is designed to prevent hackers from breaking into IoT devices that are on Z-Wave networks.
  Home IoT has recently proved to be a dangerous vector for internet-based attacks, such as the one that corralled thousands of IP cameras and oth
  
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• SAP offers cash for referrals in new cloud channel program

  17-11-2016 19:49
  
  To sell its cloud services, ERP vendor SAP is crowdsourcing its sales team.SAP began offering its 15,000 software partners a share of revenue from cloud services they helped sell back in August, under a program called Cloud Choice Profit. It was a way to reward them for helping businesses migrate from traditional on-premise systems, where partners could capture a larger share of the revenue.At a sales conference in New York on Thursday, it extended the program to offer any businesses, partner or
  
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• Twitter beta adds Snapchat-style QR codes to make following faster

  17-11-2016 19:44
  
  It seems like every good idea gets stolen at some point, especially when it comes to social networks. The latest inspiration comes to Twitter in the form of QR code profile links, a feature that’s been lifted from Snapchat.
  Just as with Snapchat, you can scan someone’s code and immediately follow their account. On iOS, you find your code by going to profile > gear > QR code. On Android, launch the slide-out menu and touch QR code to see it.
  Twitter took heavy “inspiratio
  
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• Server-based open networking taxes the CPU, so offload to an intelligent server adapter

  17-11-2016 19:44
  
  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.
  Networking using commercial off the shelf (COTS) servers has been around for several years, thanks to the proliferation of Linux-based servers and network technologies like Open vSwitch (OVS).  The hope is that the switch world follows the servers’ successful path, hence the birth and popularity of
  
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• Microsoft really has changed, Linux Foundation chief says

  17-11-2016 19:30
  
  Microsoft made a splash in the tech industry on Wednesday when it announced that it had joined the Linux Foundation as a platinum member. While the move felt like a welcome extension of the tech giant's open source strategy to some, others saw it as a threat to Linux.Microsoft's addition to the foundation was a positive step for the open-source community overall, Jim Zemlin, the executive director of the Linux Foundation, said in an interview. In his view, adding Microsoft as a foundation m
  
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• Little-known SaaS provider helps CIOs corral IT costs

  17-11-2016 19:21
  
  SAN DIEGO -- CIOs have long struggled to connect the dots between the cost and value of IT services they delivered to their business partners. This disconnect is bound to widen as IT implements new digital capabilities for business initiatives. To help CIOs cross the chasm and communicate with their business peers, a startup has pioneered what it calls technology business management (TBM).Apptio sells a SaaS analytics platform and applications to help CIOs calculate and benchmark IT costs and va
  
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• Republicans kill FCC plan to cap prices for business data lines

  17-11-2016 19:04
  
  A U.S. Federal Communications Commission plan to cap, and in some cases cut, prices charged for widely used business data lines is probably dead after Republicans in Congress pressured the agency to drop a scheduled vote.For more than a decade, some U.S. businesses and advocacy groups have been pushing the FCC to regulate prices for middle-mile business broadband connections largely owned by AT&T and Verizon. This so-called duopoly has forced customers to pay billions of dollars in inflated
  
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• Chinese smartphone vendors show sales gains as Apple, Samsung sales decline in Q3

  17-11-2016 19:01
  
  Third-quarter smartphone sales showed strength by Chinese vendors but declines of 6% for Apple iPhones and 14% for Samsung smartphones over last year.
  Samsung’s decline is unsurprising, given the furor over the overheated batteries in its Galaxy Note7s that surfaced in late August, leading to a global recall of millions of the devices.
  “The decision to withdraw the Galaxy Note7 was correct, but the damage to Samsung’s brand will make it harder for the company to increase smart
  
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• BrandPost: Leveraging Privileged Identity Management to Support PCI Compliance

  17-11-2016 18:02
  
  The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was created to strengthen controls on cardholder data in order to reduce credit card fraud. PCI DSS provides an additional layer of protection for card issuers by requiring merchants to comply with minimal security levels when storing, processing, and transmitting cardholder data. The card brands and banks, which can impose stiff fines, penalties, and public disclosure, enforce the PCI standard—including the possibility of suspendi
  
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• Hottest Black Friday 2016 deals on Apple iPhones, iPads & more

  17-11-2016 17:42
  
  While Apple itself has yet to reveal any Black Holiday 2016 specials, its retail partners have disclosed dozens of deals on iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches. Mac deals? Not so much.
  Apple traditionally gives retailers little leeway on iPhone, iPad and Mac promotions, even around Black Friday, but retailers do find ways around these restrictions by bundling phones with gift cards and other goodies.
  MORE: 50-plus eye-popping Black Friday tech deals
  (Black Friday watchers such as BFads and&
  
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• Cisco sales tick up, CEO Robbins bullish on data center, security, collaboration

  17-11-2016 17:14
  
  Cisco announced Wednesday that it eked out 1% revenue growth in its fiscal first quarter, compared to the same quarter last year, in what CEO Chuck Robbins described as a “challenging global business environment.”
  Total revenue for the quarter, which ended October 29, was $12.4 billion. Net income was $2.3 billion, off 4% year over year.
  Switching, which represents about 30% of the company’s sales, was down 7% in the quarter compared to last year. In an earnings call with fina
  
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• How IT leaders can define and drive IT innovation

  17-11-2016 15:00
  
  Many intrinsic tensions manifest themselves when IT leaders seek to become more innovative. There is, for example, the question of economy: How long will management tolerate endless whiteboard-wielding brainstorming sessions until the realities of opportunity cost come to the fore? And there are also the inherent problems that arise in trying to create an “innovation culture” when the terms innovation and culture seem so indefinable and subjective on their own.
  Although innovation i
  
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• Are you paying for phony cable programming fees?

  17-11-2016 14:42
  
  Have you looked closely at your cable or satellite TV bill lately? If so, you may have noticed a programming fee called "broadcast TV and regional sport." For Charter and Time Warner Cable subscribers (now one company) that mysterious charge is $8.75 a month.
  You might think it's a government-mandated fee, but it's not. "It's a sneaky way to raise your cable bill without adding it to the advertised price," says Daniel Hattis, an attorney representing a set of consumers who are suing Charter/Tim
  
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• Twitter backs up anti-harassment talk with action

  17-11-2016 14:24
  
  Well, here's a tiny bit of good news: Twitter's finally introducing some tools to stop harassment and abuse and is retraining its front-line customer service personnel to increase understanding of cultural issues so that they have historical and cultural context into how and why certain language or actions constitute abuse.AdvertisingAge.com reports that:
  "… users will be able to mute seeing certain words in their notifications, such as racial slurs and curse words -- an update that was i
  
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• Identity management in de cloud: redding voor de financiële sector

  17-11-2016 14:13
  Door Kevin Gorissen – Banken en verzekeraars liggen onder vuur: ze worden steeds vaker aangevallen door hackers en hebben te maken met malware, virussen en ransomware-infecties. Niet alleen organisaties zelf, ook medewerkers en (zakelijke) klanten zijn het slachtoffer van deze pogingen om data afhandig te... lees meer
  
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• ISPs ordered to block LinkedIn in Russia

  17-11-2016 13:49
  
  LinkedIn's network just got a little smaller: Russia's communications regulator ordered ISPs to block access to the business networking company on Thursday.Roskomnadzor made the order after a Moscow appeal court last week upheld an earlier ruling that LinkedIn breached Russian privacy laws.Tagansky district court ruled against LinkedIn on Aug. 4, following a complaint from the Russian federal service for the supervision of communications, information technology and mass media that its activities
  
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• Report: Surveillance cameras most dangerous IoT devices in enterprise

  17-11-2016 13:46
  
  Networked security cameras are the most likely to have vulnerabilities when it comes to securing Internet of Things devices in the enterprise, according to a new report by Zscaler.
  "I would consider the entire video camera category as particularly dangerous," said Deepen Desai, director of security research at Zscaler.
  Take, for example, the Flir FX wireless HD monitoring camera.
  Researchers found that the camera communicated with the parent company in plain text and without authentication toke
  
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• Next year's premium smartphones may get Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 chip

  17-11-2016 13:30
  
  If you plan to buy a premium smartphone next year, here's an important detail: The handset may be equipped with Qualcomm's next-generation Snapdragon 835 chip, which was announced on Thursday.What does this mean for you? Expect a snappier smartphone. The Snapdragon 835 will be the company's fastest mobile chip, so it'll deliver better graphics, application performance, and faster LTE service.Smartphones based on the chip will be released next year, Qualcomm said. There's a strong possibilit
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: A new Digital CIO must emerge from digital economy disruption

  17-11-2016 13:00
  
  Technology has been changing the world as we know it, and in a quite fast pace. Companies that were born with a digital DNA are now taking over the market. It’s possible to say that ten years ago the world was a completely different place: smartphones, as we know, hadn’t been invented, Facebook was still in its early steps and ExxonMobil was worth six times as much as Apple. Quite a difference a decade makes in his new digital world.A few weeks ago, for a brief period of time, Apple,
  
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• 10 things Google should add to Google Home right away

  17-11-2016 13:00
  
  Google Home feels unfinished, but software updates can fix thatGoogle Home is supposed to integrate the Google Assistant into your life. It does a lot of neat things out of the gate, but Home also feels very unfinished. It needs more features if it's going to be a useful digital assistant instead of a novelty. Here are 10 things Google ought to add to Home as soon as possible to make it an indispensable part of your life.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: On the nature of 'IT' projects

  17-11-2016 12:43
  
  IT projects versus business projects. Confusing the two is more common than you think...and the results are often disastrous. Unfortunately, most stakeholders –managers, end users and IT professionals alike – frequently fail to understand the distinction.What type of project is this?
  I recently sent an SOW (statement of work) to a potential client proposing assistance with a complex business process project – an EHR (electronic health records) implementation that was off t
  
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• 7 cybersecurity best practices that regulated industries deal with

  17-11-2016 12:41
  
  Knowing the regsImage by ThinkstockWhether you work for an organization controlled by compliance standards or you are an independent IT firm looking to build your enterprise business, understanding industry regulations is crucial as it pertains to cybersecurity. Michael Hall, CISO, DriveSavers, provides a few best practices for businesses operating in or with regulated industries.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Awesome tech gifts that cost $50 or less

  17-11-2016 12:30
  
  You've got this gift-giving in the bagYep, it’s hard to believe the holidays are once again upon us, and that means the usual challenge of finding just the right gifts. We’re here to help.When it comes to cool, useful, and often very-affordable products that have the ability to really enhance lives, you can’t go wrong with technology. And we’re not talking about gifts that are only suitable for tech nerds. What you’ll find here are a selection of gifts in the $30 to
  
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• Awesome tech gifts that cost $25 or less

  17-11-2016 12:30
  
  Affordable tech gifts do exist!Image by Rob SchultzGreat tech gifts don’t have to be expensive. Whether $10 or $100, the best ones improve our lives somehow.With the holidays fast approaching (wasn’t it just summer not too long ago?), we’ve assembled a collection of helpful items under $25 that can slip into a stocking or even a fancy wrapped package. These cover wide ground, and mostly span across all divides—it doesn’t matter if your loved ones are Android or iPho
  
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• Fight the talent shortage with citizen developers

  17-11-2016 12:06
  
  If you want to become a developer, it turns out you might not need a background in computer science as more companies are looking to "citizen developers," says Karen Devine, vice president of marketing at QuickBase, a company that develops business apps."Not only do citizen developers exist, they are becoming more and more prevalent. In fact, according to our latest State of Citizen Development report, only 15 percent of citizen developers have basic coding knowledge, yet 76 percent consider app
  
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• SharePoint 2013 cheat sheet

  17-11-2016 12:00
  
  Although many organizations are making their way to SharePoint 2016, a large number are still using SharePoint 2013 as their major corporate collaboration tool. This story is for you.Uploading and interacting with documentsIntegrating SharePoint content with OutlookFive advanced SharePoint 2013 tipsTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Rust language revs up compiler speed

  17-11-2016 12:00
  
  With the release of Rust 1.13, developers have improved compiler performance and security for the programming language. An issue remains, however, with code generation for ARM processors.
  For better compiler performance, Rust 1.13 uses optimization to cache normalized projections during translation. With the generation of the LLVM IR (intermediate representation), the compiler no longer has to recompute concrete instances of associated types each time; instead, it reuses previously computed val
  
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• 10 resume do’s and don’ts for developers

  17-11-2016 12:00
  
  Landing that dream developer job is hard work, but it all starts with the resume. Your code may be tight and you may have a wide range of deep experience, but if you shortchange the time spent on your resume, you may not get recognized in the job marketplace for your true worth. You might even sabotage your chance of being invited for interviews.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Kamini Aisola (AWS): Waarde voor de business

  17-11-2016 10:54
  Waar CxO’s aanvankelijk vooral nieuwsgierig waren naar Amazon Web Services (AWS) als een moderne speler met kennis van de laatste ontwikkelingen, ontpopt het bedrijf zich steeds vaker als een strategische partner. “De technologie die wij leveren vormt een belangrijk onderdeel van hun propositie en... lees meer
  
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• Are checked exceptions good or bad?

  17-11-2016 06:46
  
  Java supports checked exceptions. This controversial language feature is loved by some and hated by others, to the point where most programming languages avoid checked exceptions and support only their unchecked counterparts.
  In this post, I examine the controversy surrounding checked exceptions. I first introduce the exceptions concept and briefly describe Java's language support for exceptions to help beginners better understand the controversy.What are exceptions?In an ideal world, computer
  
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• Facebook acquires facial image analysis startup FacioMetrics

  17-11-2016 04:55
  
  Facebook has acquired a facial image analysis firm FacioMetrics as it tries to give users new features to add special effects to photos and videos.The technology developed by the startup also includes capabilities for face tracking and recognizing emotions, which could potentially open up other applications for Facebook.The financial terms of the acquisition of FacioMetrics, a startup that was spun off from Carnegie Mellon University, were not disclosed. Facebook will discontinue the products, w
  
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• University's IT outsourcing could trigger discrimination lawsuit

  17-11-2016 04:03
  
  A group of laid-off IT workers at the University of California, San Francisco may resort to filing a lawsuit against the school, accusing it of discrimination by outsourcing their jobs to an all Indian staff.
  It's a legal tactic that U.S. IT workers are increasingly considering to try and block employers from allegedly replacing their jobs with foreign workers. 
  In the case of UCSF, the school is dismissing 49 permanent employees from its IT department and contracting the wo
  
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• Intel's drones will draw Disney animations in the sky

  17-11-2016 01:15
  
  Drone shows can be fun to watch, much like fireworks displays. Intel has been flying an army of hundreds of drones that move in a coordinated fashion, creating an effect that looks like a mid-air ballet.The company has created one-off drone shows but is now taking that showcase to the next level. Intel is putting 300 drones in the sky for months, and they will be part of the Starbright Holidays aerial light show that will run during the holiday season at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando,
  
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• AI beating humans? Not in my lifetime, says Google's cloud chief

  17-11-2016 00:56
  
  The head of Google's cloud business says she doesn't expect machine intelligence to exceed that of humans during her lifetime, despite recent rapid progress that has surprised many.Diane Greene, who turns 61 this year, said that while researchers are making strides in programming intelligence into computers, there's still a long way to go."There is a lot that machine learning doesn’t do that humans can do really, really well," she said on Tuesday at the Code Enterprise conference in San Fr
  
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• Don't confront black bears, do fight gender bias

  17-11-2016 00:33
  
  When the conversation turns to gender bias in the workplace, my instinct is to react the same way you're supposed to when you encounter a black bear in the woods: slowly back away.
  I'm not making light of the issue, but I've never felt comfortable with that conversation as a white, middle-aged man who works in publishing -- an industry that's not perfect but is more gender-balanced than most. However, I care deeply about the issue -- not only because CIO.com reports on the tech industry, where
  
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