IT Executive news

• Data shows Tesla vehicle crashes dropped 40% with Autopilot

  19-01-2017 23:53
  
  After closing an investigation into a fatal crash between a Tesla driver using Autopilot and a tractor-trailer, the U.S. Department of Transportation has found no safety issues with the semi-autonomous driving technology.
  The federal investigation by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), which included crash rate data provided by Tesla, found that vehicles using Autopilot features were actually 40% less likely to crash.
  The NHTSA examination did not identify any defect
  
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• Inside Intel's bold plan to personalize live 3D sports broadcasts

  19-01-2017 23:11
  
  Viewers may soon see a big change coming in the way they experience the chills and thrills of live sports broadcasts. It'll be customizable, interactive, and it will put them at the center of the experience.If it goes as envisioned, Intel's multi-year plan will allow viewers to tailor their own live sports broadcasts, and watch events as if they were on the field.The live sports broadcasts will be available for VR headsets, PCs, and even TVs. The experience will be unlike live sports today, in w
  
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• Assange seeks to discuss his US extradition with the feds

  19-01-2017 23:06
  
  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said he stands by an earlier pledge to face trial in the U.S., but he is first urging federal investigators to name the exact charges against him."I stand by what I said," Assange stated during a webcast on Thursday. "We look forward to having a conversation with the DOJ (U.S. Department of Justice) about what the correct way forward is."Assange previously made his pledge on the condition that President Barack Obama grant clemency to Chelsea Manning, a forme
  
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• LinkedIn releases major website redesign

  19-01-2017 22:55
  
  LinkedIn has a new look. The professional social network today launched a redesign of its desktop app that designed to reduce clutter and puts conversations and content in a more prime location. LinkedIn LinkedIn's new design aims to reduce clutter and put conversations and content in a more prime location. (Click for larger image.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• China reminds Trump that supercomputing is a race

  19-01-2017 22:41
  
  China intends to develop a prototype of an exascale supercomputer by the end of 2017, tweaking an exascale delivery date that's already well ahead of the U.S. The timing of the announcement, reported by an official government news service, raised the possibility it was a message to President-elect Donald Trump.
  China's announcement comes the same week Trump takes office. The Trump administration is bringing a lot of uncertainty to supercomputing research, which is heavily dependent on governmen
  
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• Mozilla's new corporate logo evokes URL lingo

  19-01-2017 22:29
  
  Mozilla yesterday unveiled a new logo for the company and foundation, one that includes typographical elements of a standard URL to "design the language of the Internet into our brand identity."
  The move dismissed the old dinosaur image and "Mozilla" typeface that the organization had relied on for decades.
  Mozilla's new logo -- the characters "moz://a" with the colon and two slashes nabbed from a traditional URL -- was one of several semi-finalists revealed in August. The logo submissions that
  
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• BrandPost: Taking Control of Cloud ERP

  19-01-2017 22:19
  
  Today’s maturing and evolving Cloud ERP solutions allow organizations to streamline their financial operations and business processes — with employees able to access and support the organization from anywhere, at any time. Easy access, however, also means increased risk. Unfortunately, many companies struggle to strike a good balance between business enablement and security protections, and proceed without a clear direction. “Moving to Cloud ERP introduces new complexities
  
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• 53% off WizGear Universal Air Vent Magnetic Car Mount Holder with Fast Swift-Snap Technology for Smartphones - Deal Alert

  19-01-2017 22:18
  
  Setting your phone on a mount in your car has never been easier! WizGear Air Vent Car Mount for smartphones saves you the hassle of placing your smartphone securely to make sure it doesn’t fall just push it in the air vent! The WizGear Air Vent Mount features a magnetic technology, which means your smartphone will be secure and have no chance of falling. When a phone is secure in place, it becomes easier to use for GPS navigation too.  With over 12,000 reviews on Amazon, it averages 4
  
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• Robot reporter gets first article published in China

  19-01-2017 21:57
  
  Reports are out that a Chinese robot has written and published its first newspaper article.
  That's right... a robotic reporter.
  The news comes the same month as a Japanese insurance company announced it was replacing 34 workers with an artificial intelligence system.
  "This is absolutely a wake-up call," said Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with ZK Research, who added that it's time for people to think about their careers and if a robot or A.I. system could easily replace them.To read this article in
  
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• Developers invited to try out Rust Language Server alpha release

  19-01-2017 21:31
  
  The Rust Language Server, which enables IDEs and other tools to accommodate the Rust programming language, has moved to an alpha release stage.
  In this release, RLS allows tools to access capabilities including auto-completion, find all references, rename/refactor, show errors, and goto-definition. RLS leverages Language Server Protocol, a Microsoft- and Red Hat-backed effort to extend IDEs and code editors to multiple languages.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click h
  
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• Autonomous robots are about to deliver your lunch in D.C. and Silicon Valley

  19-01-2017 21:12
  
  When customers in Washington and San Francisco order from two delivery companies, they may not see a human bringing their order to their doors.
  It may be a six-wheeled, autonomous robot bringing dinner.
  Starship Technologies, the company building a fleet of autonomous delivery robots, has signed deals with meal delivery companies Postmates and DoorDash.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Avaya says bankruptcy is a step toward software and services

  19-01-2017 21:08
  
  Networking and collaboration vendor Avaya declared bankruptcy on Thursday, calling the move part of its transition from a hardware to a software and services company.Avaya emerged from Lucent Technologies in 2000 with a focus on phone switches, enterprise networking gear, and call-center systems. But with the shift toward mobile phones and cloud-based tools for communication, and a tight market for enterprise network equipment, the company has been changing its focus.It plans to keep operating d
  
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• As with PCs, you can now customize Raspberry Pi-like computers

  19-01-2017 20:20
  
  The Raspberry Pi 3 is a great product, but it can't be customized. People may desire more storage or a faster processor, but have to settle for features on the board computer.The lack of customization with board computers is driven by their low prices. Buyers get features commensurate with the low price of boards like the US$35 Raspberry Pi and $15 Pine64.No one's complaining about the low prices, but the one-size-fits-all nature may not be for everyone. Taking a page from PC makers, V
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why timing is everything when it comes to disruption

  19-01-2017 19:40
  
  “The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.” - Joshua Harris a pastor from Maryland This year on Black Friday, I went into Best Buy to check out the deals on the latest TV sets in the market – so many to choose from, so many technologies, and so many price points – although all mostly affordable for an average middle class family standpoint.Then a stupid thought crossed my mind. These days we do not ask the salesperson if the TV set in question includes a remot
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Is customer-centric marketing the way of the future?

  19-01-2017 19:30
  
  You’ve heard the term customer-centricity before, but are you aware that it’s the future of marketing? Today’s customers are looking for transparency and personalization. If you can’t deliver it to them, they’ll go elsewhere. But how do you meet these needs without compromising your brand’s message?Understanding customer-centric marketing
  There are many definitions for the term customer-centric marketing, but Custora has developed what most would consider to b
  
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• Google reveals its stealthy moves to keep Android phones free from malware

  19-01-2017 18:55
  
  Way back when Android 4.2 Jelly Bean was released, Google added a feature called Verify Apps that sought to protect users who inadvertently may have downloaded a piece of malware and attempted to side-load it onto their phone. The service, which is enabled by default on all Android devices, scans apps that are installed from sources other than the Play Store, and warns the user if they may be potentially harmful.
  It’s so silent and unobtrusive, most users don’t even know Verify Apps
  
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• How to build a sustainable, value-focused data culture

  19-01-2017 18:05
  
  For many financial services organizations, the role of chief data officer (CDO) has evolved in response to the current regulatory focus on data. Much money and effort has been spent to comply with new regulations, but tangible benefits for the business aren’t accruing fast enough to justify sustained investment.As a result, CDO longevity has been anything but, and organizations are starting to “reboot” their role and the focus of the CDO. The “tick the box” regulato
  
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• 'Best-kept secret in SD-WAN' publicly rolls out managed service

  19-01-2017 17:57
  
  A Maryland-based EchoStar subsidiary best known as a provider of network management services announced today that it will offer a managed SD-WAN product as part of its HughesON lineup.
  Hughes Network Systems’ new Hughes Managed SD-WAN is aimed at distributed businesses that mostly use broadband communications, simplifying the management of those connections and ensuring that demanding applications like video run smoothly.
  MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: Switches coming out this year will drive ope
  
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• 27% ASUS VivoStick TS10-B017D Intel Atom Z8350 - Deal Alert

  19-01-2017 17:43
  
  The innovative ASUS VivoStick plugs directly into an HDMI port to turn any HDMI monitor into a productive Windows 10 PC or any TV into an enhanced Smart TV. With 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, VivoRemote mobile app and USB 2.0 & 3.0 ports, VivoStick uniquely combines versatility and portability, and measures only 5.3” x 1.4” x 0.6”. See the discounted VivoStick on Amazon, where its typical list price of $119 has been reduced to $87.To read this article in full or to leave a
  
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• CMO, CIO embrace social media, IoT to win customers

  19-01-2017 17:38
  
  Behavioral changes in modern commerce, exemplified by millennial generation shoppers, are forcing consumer packaged goods (CPGs) companies to take a more targeted tack in their efforts to build lasting customer relationships. But crafting brand loyalty through personalization is no mean feat for Clorox and other CPGs companies that are struggling to build engagement in an age where ecommerce is spoiling consumers with convenience.In a move to rise to the challenge, Clorox has created a ninja tea
  
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• BrandPost: DevOps salaries: Puppet’s report reveals salary trends are up

  19-01-2017 17:37
  
  Originally posted on the Puppet blog, and republished here with Puppet's permission.Interested to see how DevOps salary trends are changing? Download Puppet’s DevOps Salary Report, which offers analysis about DevOps salaries from the 4,600-plus people we surveyed for the 2016 State of DevOps Report. By the way, if you haven't read the State of DevOps report yet, it's a compelling dive into how much better DevOps organizations are doing, compared with their peers — and how they achiev
  
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• China Oceanwide, IDG Capital agree to acquire IDG

  19-01-2017 17:20
  
  China Oceanwide Holdings Group and China-based IDG Capital have agreed to acquire tech journalism pioneer International Data Group, publisher of PCWorld, Computerworld, and hundreds of other tech publications worldwide.Tech analyst firm IDC and venture capital firm IDG Ventures are included in the deal, announced Thursday. The size of the deal was not officially released, although a Wall Street Journal story put the price at less than US $1 billion.To read this article in full or to le
  
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• EU antitrust regulators praise audiobooks deal from Apple, Amazon

  19-01-2017 17:17
  
  Antitrust regulators from the European Union have welcomed an agreement between Apple and Amazon to end exclusivity deals for audiobooks.
  The agreement between Apple and Amazon and its Audible service to remove the exclusivity obligations allows Audible to supply its downloadable audiobooks to third-party platforms beyond iTunes, the European Commission said Thursday. In addition, the agreement will allow Apple to source audiobooks from new suppliers and will allow publishers to enter into
  
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• Encrypted email service ProtonMail is now accessible over Tor

  19-01-2017 17:17
  
  The creators of encrypted email service ProtonMail have set up a server that's only accessible over the Tor anonymity network as a way to fight possible censorship attempts in some countries.ProtonMail was created by computer engineers who met while working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The service provides end-to-end encrypted email through a web-based interface and mobile apps, but the encryption is performed on the client side, and the ProtonMail servers never have
  
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• BrandPost: Today's 5 New Phone System Must-Haves

  19-01-2017 16:52
  If your organization is considering a new phone system, you may already have a long list of required features in mind. But this list may be incomplete, especially if you use an existing, on-premise phone system as the starting point.Communications tools—and the expectations of employees for how they work and stay in touch—have likely changed dramatically since your last phone system RFP.Think about how your organization could benefit from these five essential capabilities, all delive
  
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• Attackers start wiping data from CouchDB and Hadoop databases

  19-01-2017 16:17
  
  It was only a matter of time until ransomware groups that wiped data from thousands of MongoDB databases and Elasticsearch clusters started targeting other data storage technologies. Researchers are now observing similar destructive attacks hitting openly accessible Hadoop and CouchDB deployments.
  Security researchers Victor Gevers and Niall Merrigan, who monitored the MongoDB and Elasticsearch attacks so far, have also started keeping track of the new Hadoop and CouchDB victims. The two have p
  
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• Unconscious bias hurts more than diversity

  19-01-2017 15:10
  
  Training to eliminate unconscious bias is the norm nowadays, at least in Silicon Valley firms struggling to hire diverse workforces. But biases don't just impede your efforts to hire diverse candidates, they hurt results across all candidates, according to Dr. John Sullivan, an HR-thought leader, speaker, author, consultant and a professor of management at San Francisco State University (basically, if there's such a thing as an HR celebrity, he fits the bill).
  Sullivan makes a great point that u
  
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• Switches coming out this year will drive open networking forward

  19-01-2017 15:00
  
  Two moves by open networking vendors this week are likely to chip a little bit more off the monolith of proprietary, appliance-like equipment that still moves most packets around enterprise data centers.On Thursday, network OS supplier Cumulus Networks introduced turnkey switches based on standard hardware from Edgecore Networks running Cumulus software. They’re designed to allow customers who are new to open networking to get started quickly and easily.Earlier in the week, on the cutting
  
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• LinkedIn overhauls its desktop website

  19-01-2017 15:00
  
  LinkedIn’s desktop interface is getting a fresh coat of paint. The professional social network unveiled Thursday the largest overhaul to the desktop version of its website since the service launched.
  The redesign is all about bringing changes from the company’s mobile app to its desktop experience, according to Chris Pruitt, LinkedIn’s director of engineering. Users will see a redesigned feed, tweaked profiles, new messaging capabilities and a revamped search box.
  The company
  
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• Is antivirus getting worse?

  19-01-2017 15:00
  
  Is anti-virus software getting worse at detecting both known and new threats?
  Earlier this week, Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of security awareness training company KnowBe4, looked at the data published by the Virus Bulletin, a site that tracks anti-virus detection rates. And the numbers didn't look good.
  Average detection rates for known malware went down a couple of percentage points slightly from 2015 to 2016, he said, while detection rates for zero-days dropped in a big way - from an average of 80 p
  
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• 21% off Polaroid ZIP Mobile Photo Printer with ZINK Zero Ink Printing Technology - Deal Alert

  19-01-2017 14:49
  
  Enjoy the power and fun of a Polaroid camera without the Polaroid camera. This little standalone photo printer connects to your phone or tablet via Bluetooth, and is powered by a rechargeable lithium polymer battery, so it's designed to be portable, easy and fun to use. On a single charge the gadget will print 25 photos -- without ink. Instead, it uses heat to produce deep, vibrant colors that are completely smudge-proof, on 2x3 paper that is waterproof, tear-proof and backed with adhesive
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Google positioning to bring smart homes to the mainstream

  19-01-2017 14:36
  
  Tech analysts and investors are expecting big things from the smart home and the internet of things, and four companies are currently expected to dominate the market. CNET reports that market research firm Juniper projects that smart home sales will reach $83 billion in 2017 and $195 billion by 2021, with Amazon, Google, Samsung and Apple being the “Big Four.”Google is working on expanding its international reach in the smart home market as it announced yesterday that its smart home
  
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• Realm revives object database for mobile dev

  19-01-2017 14:30
  
  Realm is introducing version 1.0 of its Realm Mobile Platform, which uses the company's object database for synchronizing data on mobile devices. It supports development of "offline first" native mobile experiences.
  The platform features the Realm Mobile Database, which is an embedded object database supporting Android and Apple iOS clients, and Realm Object Server, for object synchronization and event handling to synchronize data across devices. The Object Server can be deployed on servers or
  
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• Facebook plans new data center in Denmark

  19-01-2017 14:15
  
  Facebook has chosen Odense in Denmark as the site of its third data center outside the U.S.Denmark's moderate climate will allow the company to use outdoor air and indirect evaporative cooling to keep temperatures in the data center down, and servers will be powered entirely with renewable energy, the company said Thursday.Most of Denmark's renewable energy comes from wind power, a highly variable resource. On one day in 2015, it was able to satisfy the nation's entire electricity demand with wi
  
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• Meet me in the parking lot: Walking meetings hit their stride

  19-01-2017 13:00
  
  “Software engineer” might sound like a sedentary role, but it doesn’t have to be. Janice Lan schedules walking meetings to break the sitting habit.
  “Walking meetings are preferable for one-on-ones because it actually gives you a break from staring at a computer screen,” says Lan, a software engineer at Sift Science, which develops machine learning technology to detect fraud. “I walk with either a manager or a peer, usually when we talk about high-level t
  
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• You still can’t turn off Windows 10’s built-in spyware

  19-01-2017 12:54
  
  Microsoft is promising that, come Windows 10 Creators Update this spring, it will reduce how much information it sucks down from your Windows 10 PC if you choose the Basic settings. There’s only one little problem. Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s top Windows executive, didn’t spell out the details.
  Now maybe you can become president of the United States by making big, bold claims without any, you know, real plans, but software doesn’t work that way. Microsoft is asking us to
  
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• 7 (more) security TED Talks you can’t miss

  19-01-2017 12:54
  
  (Insider Story)
  
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• Want to run your own Amazon 'region'? Stratoscale shows you how

  19-01-2017 12:00
  
  Stratoscale is a small company with a very big ambition: to turn your datacenter into an Amazon Web Services (AWS) region. Forget OpenStack, forget VMware. Stratoscale aims to help IT shops get beyond device-level virtualization and deliver the same app-friendly building blocks AWS provides. In the process, the company promises to cut the cost of operating datacenters by more than 80 percent.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Trump turns to H-1B advocates for advice

  19-01-2017 12:00
  
  In his campaign for president, Donald Trump tapped into the viral anger over H-1B use. The outsourcing of high-skill jobs is a "tremendous threat," he said. Disney workers who trained visa-holding replacements spoke at some of his rallies.
  But soon after the election, President-elect Trump assembled a 16-member team of CEO-level executives to advise him on job creation, including many from firms that send jobs overseas and have advocated for an H-1B cap increase.
  [To comment on this story, visi
  
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• Bjarne Stroustrup mines generic programming for a better C++

  19-01-2017 12:00
  
  Bjarne Stroustrup is on a mission to simplify generic programming.
  In a recently published paper titled "Concepts: The Future of Generic Programming," Stroustrup makes the case for concepts as a foundation for generic programming. In concepts, Stroustrup sees the solution to the interface specification problem that has long dogged C++, the language he founded more than 35 years ago.[ Find out how to get ahead with our career development guide for developers. | The art of programming is changing
  
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• 6 tips to find and retain freelance tech workers

  19-01-2017 10:23
  
  It's easier than ever to take on freelance work thanks to apps and sites dedicated to connecting temp workers with hiring companies. On the employer side, hiring freelancers can help fill gaps in skills and expertise without hiring a full-time employee. However, while finding qualified freelance talent is one step, retaining your best workers and establishing a reliable base of gig-workers takes time and effort.
  In the case of Darren Kall, managing director of Specific Clairity, a UX design cons
  
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• CIA updates rules for collecting and retaining info on US people

  19-01-2017 08:38
  
  The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency on Wednesday updated rules relating to the collection, retention and dissemination of information of U.S. persons, including putting a limit of five years on holding certain sensitive data and introducing restrictions for querying the data.The announcement by the spy agency comes a couple of days before a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump takes charge, and could address to an extent concerns expressed by civil rights groups about the colle
  
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• First CIO on Workplace by Facebook talks collaboration in the enterprise

  19-01-2017 01:55
  
  Ralph Loura says he has been using Workplace by Facebook longer than anyone outside of the company. “I’m told that I was the first CIO, the first company to use what [Facebook] then called Facebook at Work like four years ago,” he says of his time as vice president and CIO at The Clorox Co.Ralph Loura Loura joined the skincare company Rodan & Fields as CTO in early 2016 and has since shifted the company’s employees from various messaging and collaboration apps to Work
  
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