IT Executive news

• Smartwatches wear out their welcome with Motorola

  01-12-2016 23:58
  
  Android Wear has had a rough year. What started with a promising announcement of Android Wear 2.0 at Google I/O has ended with a delayed launch, an utter lack of new models and now, a disillusioned manufacturer. In an interview with the Verge, Shakil Barkat, Motorola’s head of global product development, said in no uncertain terms that the company has soured on smartwatches and doesn’t “see enough pull in the market” to release a new model anytime soon.To read this artic
  
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• What happens when you send a text message to a landline telephone?

  01-12-2016 23:55
  A reader asks: “What happens when you send a text message to a landline telephone? Does their phone ring, does it show up on caller ID, or do they pick up and hear something like a dial-up modem?”Most of the time, your message will just disappear into the ether—it won’t be delivered or received. However,some wireless and landline carriers support text-to-landline messaging. If this applies, your message will result in the recipient’s phone ringing and your mes
  
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• Western Digital releases series of Raspberry Pi disk drives

  01-12-2016 23:37
  
  Western Digital (WD) today introduced a new series of storage devices designed specifically for use with Raspberry Pi, a single-board micro PC.
  The WD PiDrive Foundation Edition drives include a microSD card preloaded with the custom New Out of Box Software OS installer.
  Raspberry Pi's official OS, Raspbian PIXEL, can be installed directly from WD's microSD card without an Internet connection, the company stated. In addition, the drives include Project Spaces, independent partitions of the driv
  
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• No courage: Microsoft still requires audio jack port in Windows phones

  01-12-2016 23:03
  
  Apple said it took "courage" to remove the audio jack port from the iPhone 7 and replace it with wireless audio. Microsoft hasn't yet mustered the courage to cut the aging port.Microsoft has retained the headphone jack as a minimum hardware requirement for Windows 10 Mobile smartphones. The company declined to comment if it would make the headphone jack an optional port.The headphone jack port isn't a requirement for other Windows devices, including laptops, desktops, tablets, or IoT devices.App
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: What your CEO needs to know about securing the Internet of Things

  01-12-2016 22:15
  
  The recent Internet of Things-based DDoS attack on Dyn heralded the beginning of a new era for businesses. For better or for worse, industry experts’ warnings about the need to consider all “endpoints” rather than limiting security efforts to workstations and servers were vindicated.The event should be a wake-up call. Already six in 10 organizations report having some form of Internet of Things (IoT) initiative underway, and only 15 percent of businesses have no plan to adopt I
  
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• Windows 10 posts user-share gains after multi-month stall

  01-12-2016 22:14
  
  After a two-month stretch of no growth, Windows 10 in November gained user share, powering more than a quarter of all Windows PCs for the first time, data published today showed.
  According to U.S. metrics vendor Net Applications, Windows 10 gained 1.1 percentage points of user share last month, ending with 23.7% of all personal computers. Windows 10 ran 26.1% of all Windows machines: The difference between the user share of all PCs and only those running Windows stemmed from the fact that Windo
  
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• Major cybercrime network Avalanche dismantled in global takedown

  01-12-2016 22:06
  
  Law enforcement agencies have dismantled a major cybercriminal network responsible for malware-based attacks that have been harassing victims across the globe for years.The network, called Avalanche, operated as many as 500,000 infected computers on a daily basis and was responsible for delivering malware through phishing email attacks. Avalanche has been active since at least 2009, but on Thursday, authorities in the U.S. and Europe announced they had arrested five suspects allegedly invol
  
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• GM's self-driving tech will stop the car if you're inattentive

  01-12-2016 22:01
  
  A letter sent from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to GM revealed some of the details about how the "Super Cruise" advanced-driver assistance system (ADAS) will function, including its ability to enable hands-free operation for extended periods.
  In March, GM asked the NHTSA if its "Super Cruise" system's ability to stop a vehicle and automatically activate hazard lights would pass safety regulations.
  In a response made public Monday, the NHTSA gave GM the thumbs
  
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• AWS Lambda adds C# support

  01-12-2016 21:51
  
  AWS Lambda, Amazon Web Services' event-driven compute service in the cloud, is adding support for Microsoft's C# language.
  Using the .Net Core 1.0 runtime, developers can build AWS Lambda functions using C#. "The easiest way to get started is with the AWS Toolkit for Visual Studio, which includes project templates for individual C# Lambda functions, full C# serverless applications, and also tools to publish both projects types to AWS," Amazon said in a bulletin on Thursday morning.To read this
  
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• BrandPost: 7 Tracking and Reporting Techniques to Improve Inventory Accuracy

  01-12-2016 21:24
  
  Inventory traceability and tracking is all about matching electronic records to physical reality. Today, that typically means scanning barcodes to track inventory movement. Scanning is much more timely than manual reporting and is proven to reduce errors.Most companies manually record the basics: purchase receipts, issues from stock to production, and shipments to customers. This may feel sufficient, but manual or paper-based recording often creates timing problems and inventory accuracy concern
  
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• The mysteries of the GPU in Apple's iPhone 7 are unlocked

  01-12-2016 20:30
  
  Users have praised the performance of Apple's A10 Fusion chip in the iPhone 7, but its underlying graphics architecture may not be so new after all.The GPU in the iPhone 7 uses a custom version of the PowerVR GT7600 GPU, which is based on the same graphics processor architecture as in last year's iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, according to an analysis by The Linley Group, which specializes in semiconductors.Apple has claimed that the A10 Fusion CPU is two times faster than its predecessor, the A9, and t
  
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• Visa and Mastercard extend deadline by three years for chip cards at fuel pumps

  01-12-2016 20:18
  
  Visa and Mastercard separately announced Thursday they will delay by three years -- to Oct. 1, 2020 -- the mandated date for implementing chip card payments at millions of automated fuel pumps in the U.S.
  The move comes after years of concerns by merchants about the implementation of chip cards at payment terminals at millions of U.S. store locations.
  Technology challenges are even more complex for using chip cards at the nation's outdoor fuel pumps when compared to indoor payment terminals in
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: What you don't know about cloud adoption doesn't have to hurt you

  01-12-2016 20:18
  
  The verdict is in on cloud computing. Today’s leadership question for companies is no longer “if” they will adopt the cloud into their IT strategies but “how” it will fit. With over 95 percent of companies in the United States now using some type of cloud-based resource in their IT strategies, the technology is here to stay. Yet, as many corporate IT leaders are discovering, the challenge was never about adoption. Utilizing the cloud in a general sense is as simple
  
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• Data-wiping malware strikes Saudi government agencies

  01-12-2016 20:12
  
  Saudi Arabia's government agencies were hit with a cyberattack that security researchers are blaming on a worm-like malware that can wipe computer systems, destroying data.Several government bodies and vital installations suffered the attack, disrupting their servers, the country's Saudi Press Agency said on Thursday. The transportation sector was among the agencies hit by an actor from outside the country, the press agency said.Security firms say the attack involved malware called Shamoon or Di
  
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• Linium Leads Loan IQ System Rollout Implementation for Global UK Bank

  01-12-2016 20:05
  
  Linium, a world-class provider of business services that empower the entire enterprise, announced today that it has successfully led a major Loan IQ system rollout implementation for a global UK bank. 
  
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• Apple now takes your old Apple Watch for free recycling

  01-12-2016 20:02
  After upgrading to the Apple Watch Series 2, people now have another option for what to do with their old smartwatches.
  This week, Apple added the Apple Watch to the Apple Renew program, which aims to get people to send their old devices to be recycled properly free of charge. But Apple is not offering store credit or a gift card in exchange for sending in an old Watch.
  Typically, customers who trade in iPhones, iPads, and Macs via Apple Renew receive a credit for the Apple Store. For example,
  
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• AWS tries to protect its customers from DDoS attacks with new service

  01-12-2016 19:23
  
  One of the big stories in security over the past year has been the rise of devastating distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks that have hit sites and organizations like DNS provider Dyn, the BBC and the website of security journalist Brian Krebs.Amazon Web Services is trying to help protect its customers with a new service aimed at mitigating DDoS impacts. It's called Shield, and the free entry-level tier is enabled by default for all web applications running on AWS, starting on Wedne
  
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• 2016’s notable deaths in technology, science & inventions

  01-12-2016 18:41
  
  Paying respectsImage by Network World staffThe worlds of networking, computing, science and inventions have lost pioneering and influential figures in 2016, from those who brought us networked email to the earliest PCs to movie icons. Here’s our modest tribute to these innovators worth remembering. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• American Heart Association looks for cure in the cloud

  01-12-2016 18:21
  
  LAS VEGAS -- Executives at the American Heart Association are betting that the cures for heart disease, stroke and diabetes lie in the cloud.
  The heart association(AHA), a nonprofit organization that funds research on heart disease and promotes public health policies, is working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to set up a cloud-based system where scientists from around the world can store, share and analyze research data.
  Making that data available in the cloud could accelerate research and lead
  
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• Motorola looks to pair Moto Z for a dance with Tango

  01-12-2016 18:17
  
  The Moto Z might not have the gotten the same attention as the Samsung Galaxy S7 or the Google Pixel, but it’s one of the most promising handsets of the year. Especially the more affordable, long-lasting Moto Z Play. The first phone to bring a mature modular concept to market, the Moto Z has loads of potential, and now Motorola is looking to expand on its burgeoning ecosystem of add-ons with a Tango module.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• BrandPost: Become a Supply Chain Planning Master and Kick Your Microsoft Excel Habit

  01-12-2016 17:46
  
  Microsoft Excel is one of the most popular business tools throughout the world, and its power as a reporting and short-term analysis tool is undeniable. While many skilled professionals use it to perform complex data management tasks, they could unknowingly cost their company a fortune if they use it for demand and supply chain planning (SCP).Let’s say you work at a small- to mid-sized company and you oversee sales, operations, supply, and demand planning. You rely on Excel for analysis si
  
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• Google App Maker aims to ease enterprise development

  01-12-2016 17:44
  
  Google this week announced a new service for businesses, called App Maker, that's designed to take some of the heavy lifting out of application development. The company says it wants to lower the barrier to entry for enterprise apps with a low-code development framework that can be used to build custom apps for business. 
  Enterprises that use G Suite, Google's set of productivity apps, can now request early beta access to the service. You simply drag-and-drop modules into a visual editor w
  
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• Save 53% Plus an Extra $15 on Oral-B Pro 5000 Bluetooth Rechargeable Toothbrush - Deal Alert

  01-12-2016 17:36
  
  The Oral-B Floss Action rechargeable electric toothbrush features a dentist-inspired round head and MicroPulse bristles for a superior interdental clean. The specialized bristles are designed to reach deep between teeth and remove more plaque than a regular manual toothbrush. A Visible Pressure Sensor on the PRO 5000 lights up to alert you when you are brushing too hard, which may cause harm. Download the Oral-B App on your smartphone and use Bluetooth technology to get real-time feedback
  
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• A year after terrorist attacks, phone privacy laws unchanged – but watch out for Trump

  01-12-2016 17:23
  
  One year ago, 14 people were killed and 22 injured by a husband-and-wife pair of domestic terrorists who attacked a training session of government employees in San Bernardino, Calif. Although the perpetrators were killed in a gun battle with law enforcement within hours of the attack, the FBI’s interest in one terrorist’s iPhone precipitated a public standoff with Apple that captured its own share of national headlines.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click
  
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• Nokia turns to Android for its smartphone rebirth

  01-12-2016 17:16
  
  Back when the first Android smartphones rolled off the assembly line in 2009, they weren’t just competing against Apple. Feature-phone pioneer Nokia commanded a large chunk of the market, and it was hard at work on its own open-source touchscreen platform. We all know how that story ended. Android and Apple took over the market and Nokia floundered for years with half-baked handsets until Microsoft mercifully put Nokia’s smartphone segment out of its misery after acquiring the busin
  
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• BrandPost: IT Trailblazers: Why There’s No Such Thing as an IT Project

  01-12-2016 17:04
  
  Andy Baer is a 30-year veteran of the IT sector, including more than five years spent as the CIO of Comcast Cable. There he was responsible for transforming the communication company’s IT strategy across all its customer care, front-line employee support, and corporate systems by introducing cutting-edge solutions to support both growth and customer experience improvements. For this edition of “IT Trailblazers,” Baer, now SVP for the Global Communications and Media Industry Gr
  
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• BrandPost: Salesforce CIO Ross Meyercord on the Future of Coding (and How IT Is Like a Therapist)

  01-12-2016 17:00
  
  I joined Salesforce as CIO four years ago after a 22-year career in consulting. With my long history in technology, I can confidently say that we’re living in one of the most exciting times for developers. It seems like every year we’re creeping closer and closer towards a codeless future, as technology evolves to favor low-code and no-code development. But sophisticated developers needn’t fear for their careers — there’s room for everyone on the coding continuum.
  
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• BrandPost: IT Trailblazers: How to Get IT a Bigger Seat at the Table

  01-12-2016 16:56
  
  You may recognize Brown-Forman not by its name, but by the spirits and wines in its brand portfolio. Among them are Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Southern Comfort, and Herradura Tequila. Founded in Kentucky in 1870, the company’s products are now sold in more than 160 countries. Brown-Forman has long been committed to cultivating a collaborative culture of diversity and inclusion for its 4,000 employees. When the CIO appointed Toby Lester as VP of Technology Architecture and Inno
  
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• Notebooks could learn something from HP's ridiculously rugged school laptops

  01-12-2016 16:39
  
  Chromebooks may be the rising stars of the education world, but computer makers are still pushing lightweight Windows PCs. Case in point: HP just introduced its latest Windows 10 laptop for students, the ridiculously tough HP ProBook x360 11 G1 Education Edition. The 11-inch student-grade device is seeing the light of day at the same time as HP’s 13-inch Spectre x360.
  The education version doesn’t have much in common with its flashier consumer-centric cousin. Both devices are conver
  
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• Implantable medical devices can be hacked to harm patients

  01-12-2016 16:26
  
  It's possible to transmit life-threatening signals to implanted medical devices with no prior knowledge of how the devices work, researchers in Belgium and the U.K. have demonstrated.By intercepting and reverse-engineering the signals exchanged between a heart pacemaker-defibrillator and its programmer, the researchers found they could steal patient information, flatten the device's battery, or send malicious messages to the pacemaker. The attacks they developed can be performed from up to five
  
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• Firefox recovers from near-death experience

  01-12-2016 16:03
  
  Mozilla's Firefox backed further from the brink last month, and Mac owners continued to abandon Apple's Safari, new data released today showed.
  Also, last month, Microsoft lost another 23 million Internet Explorer and Edge users.
  According to analytics vendor Net Applications, Firefox's user share -- an estimate of the proportion of all personal computer users who ran that browser -- climbed eight-tenths of a percentage point last month to finish at 11.9%, its highest mark since December 2015.
  
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• 27% off WakaWaka Solar-Powered Flashlight and Smartphone Charger - Deal Alert

  01-12-2016 15:55
  
  Perfect for emergencies, traveling or for anyone who spends time outdoors, the WakaWaka Power+ is a rugged, ultraefficient solar flashlight and charger designed to help people plug into the sun for power and light. It has full battery life after about 12 hours in the sun or 4 hours charged from a wall outlet. From there, the WakaWaka Power+ can get you out of a jam by completely charging your smartphone or USB device in about two hours. And the brilliant Dutch designed Power+ flashlight gen
  
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• Who's responsible for data compliance? 25% of executives don't know

  01-12-2016 15:47
  
  According to the 2016 State of Compliance survey conducted by data management and integration provider Liaison Technologies, one-quarter of top executives are unclear who in their organization is responsible for compliance. And nearly half (47 percent) of respondents to the survey of 479 senior and C-level executives said they don't know which compliance standards apply to their organizations.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Accenture expands AWS Business Group

  01-12-2016 15:42
  
  Noting that customers are increasingly turning to the cloud to make their operations more agile, Accenture yesterday announced that it will expand its Accenture AWS Business Group to enhance its application migration, development and management offerings. Enhancements around the internet of things (IoT), transformation and analytics and big data are also in the plans."We have found that agility of operations is fast becoming the a top business objective for companies migrating to the cloud &mdas
  
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• CIO battles nuclear industry regulation in digital shift

  01-12-2016 15:30
  
  When Bharat Amin began his job as CIO of Newport News Shipbuilding in 2014 he was surprised to learn that no smart devices were permitted on premises. The 130-year-old maker of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers prohibited photography of any kind, a policy intended to ensure information security for a manufacturer operating under the watchful eye of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).Clint Boulton Bharat Amin, CIO of Newport News Shipbuilding.To read this article in full
  
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• 7 ways to support IT diversity this holiday season

  01-12-2016 14:14
  
  After Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes Giving Tuesday -- this year it was November 29. And in the interest of putting my money where my mouth is this holiday season, I've been researching nonprofits and organizations that help girls and women, people of color and other underrepresented groups explore careers in STEM. Obviously this isn't a comprehensive list, by any stretch of the imagination, so I apologize if I've missed anyone.
  If you would rather support an organization local to you, that
  
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• Scholars, infosec experts call for action on Russian hacking

  01-12-2016 14:03
  
  In the wake of reports about Russian involvement in fake news and hacks against political targets leading up to the recent presidential election, scholars and security experts are calling for federal action.
  As of Sunday, 158 scholars have signed an open letter calling for a congressional investigation.
  "Our country needs a thorough, public Congressional investigation into the role that foreign powers played in the months leading up to November," the letter said.
  Democrats in Congress have also
  
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• Why ecommerce hasn't taken off on social media

  01-12-2016 14:00
  
  Shopping is still not common on social media, and social sites are unlikely to become major destinations for buying any time soon. Social media has clear potential for facilitating purchases, but the major platforms haven't invested seriously in shopping, and users don't seem particularly interested in spending on social networks, according to analysts.Social media intersects with commerce to varying degrees on certain sites and at various stages of the purchase process, but users today simply d
  
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• Find lost items faster with Chipolo Plus Bluetooth tracker

  01-12-2016 14:00
  
  Thanks to some useful new tech, items gone missing around the house or office can announce their locations with chirpy ditties — as long as they have Bluetooth trackers attached and you're close enough to hear the trackers' songs. Chipolo Plus, a new Bluetooth tracker, boats the loudest audio output of all its competitors, at 100 decibels (dB), according to a company spokesperson. (Curiously, Chipolo's website claims only 90 decibels). To trigger the sound, you simply locate your tagg
  
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• 12 tech gifts that should be on your holiday wish list

  01-12-2016 14:00
  
  Great gifts for geeksImage by ThinkstockHow can you wow that special techie on your gift list this holiday season? Or perhaps more importantly, how can you find the perfect gift for yourself? We pondered these questions and picked a select list of products we tested (and loved) during 2016, all of which are guaranteed to please.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Report: Only 6% of businesses use DMARC email authentication, and only 1.5% enforce it

  01-12-2016 13:00
  
  In a study of 1 million corporate domains, only 60,000 had made any attempt at DMARC email authentication, and of those, only a quarter actually had enforcement mechanisms in place, according to a report released today by ValiMail.
  DMARC -- domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance -- is an open standard that helps secure domains against impersonation.
  That protects both customers and employees from phishing emails that pretend to come from official corporate email accounts
  
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• 5 ways data classification can prevent an education data breach

  01-12-2016 12:48
  
  Class is in sessionImage by ThinkstockThe explosion of data in the education sector can help institutions streamline and improve access to student and user records, as well as creating new efficiencies that reduce administrative tasks, while reaching more students with better and more targeted curriculum. But despite the multitude of benefits, this groundswell of information can also have negative impact if mismanaged.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Payment systems evolve to keep pace with a changing economy

  01-12-2016 12:35
  
  The business world isn’t the same as it was 20 years ago. Technological advancements have changed most commercial aspects. The same advancements have given rise to different types of businesses that didn’t exist until a few decades ago.Business has changed
  Earlier, businesses were localized and served only a fixed community. With advances in transportation, manufacturing and communication, small businesses gradually started expanding to multiple locations across countries.Globalizati
  
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• 7 ways new sys admins can boost career trajectories

  01-12-2016 12:31
  
  (Insider Story)
  
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• Burning Man's tech director brings full-scale IT to Black Rock City

  01-12-2016 12:30
  
  Most IT executives inherit an existing technology environment; Heather Gallagher gets to build her own every year. Gallagher is director of technology for Burning Man, an annual weeklong gathering dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. Gallagher and her team build, run and dismantle the IT infrastructure needed for Burning Man's temporary metropolis, dubbed Black Rock City. Additionally, she oversees the Burning Man nonprofit organization's
  
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• IT Resume Makeover: Presenting an executive image

  01-12-2016 12:17
  
  If you're going for a role that is technically a step up from your current position -- for example, in executive leadership -- you need to get strategic to make your resume stand out. That was the case for resume makeover candidate William Torres (whose name has been changed for this article). He wanted to demonstrate his suitability for senior executive leadership roles, but wasn't sure what to include and what to leave out. When Stephen Van Vreede, IT and technical resume writer at ITtechExec
  
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• Some tech firms welcome Trump’s H-1B reforms

  01-12-2016 12:01
  
  IT services firms that hire U.S. workers and don't offshore work are looking forward to President-elect Donald Trump's crackdown on H-1B visa use.[ Related: Trump presidency could sound death knell for offshore outsourcing ]This includes firms such as Rural Sourcing Inc. (RSI), an Atlanta-based domestic software development company. RSI employs about 350 people and doesn't hire workers on temporary visas. It has four development centers in Augusta, Ga.; Mobile, Ala.; Jonesboro, Ark.; and in Albu
  
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• Visual Studio toolkit will build bootable apps

  01-12-2016 12:00
  
  The Cosmos open source OS "construction kit" is looking to create fast, small-footprint applications that are less dependent on hardware. In development since 2006, the kit is not yet ready for production work, though, as the 1.0 version isn't due until next year.
  Cosmos executes code faster because it doesn't have the overhead of switching tasks at the CPU level. "It's actually a set of Legos for building OSes using .Net," said project co-founder Chad Hower, a former Microsoft developer evange
  
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• First look: Android on Chrome OS is a poor fit

  01-12-2016 12:00
  
  Peanut butter and chocolate it's not. Android apps running on Chrome OS comprise an unpleasant mess, a highly uneven and limited experience that is below the quality level you'd expect even in beta mode -- a designation Google likes to apply to de facto shipping products to avoid commitment to users.
  Some important Android apps won't run in Chrome OS, many apps that do run work only in smartphone-size windows, and still others don't work reliably. Given that an Android tablet can do the job alr
  
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• 20 years ago: Hot sci/tech images from 1996

  01-12-2016 11:44
  
  Pulling cableImage by Reuters/Gregg NewtonVice President Al Gore gives the OK sign as he and President Bill Clinton participate in an Internet demonstration at Ygnacio Valley High School with students Luke Rockwell (L) and Julie Allen. The president and vice president earlier helped wire the school so the connection with the Net was possible.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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