IT Executive news

• 30% off Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum RGB Tunable Gaming Mouse - Deal Alert

  17-02-2017 23:20
  
  The G502 features the most advanced optical sensor for maximum tracking accuracy. Customize RGB lighting or sync it with other Logitech G products, set up custom profiles for your games, adjust sensitivity from 200 up to 12,000 DPI and position five 3.6g weights for just the right balance and feel. The G502 averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 1,000 people on Amazon, where its typical list price of $80 has been reduced to $56. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comm
  
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• 28% off Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum RGB Tunable Gaming Mouse - Deal Alert

  17-02-2017 23:20
  
  The G502 features the most advanced optical sensor for maximum tracking accuracy. Customize RGB lighting or sync it with other Logitech G products, set up custom profiles for your games, adjust sensitivity from 200 up to 12,000 DPI and position five 3.6g weights for just the right balance and feel. The G502 averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 1,000 people on Amazon, where its typical list price of $80 has been reduced to $58. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comm
  
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• Watch Apple's new commercials for the iPad Pro featuring real people's tweets

  17-02-2017 22:37
  
  For its new advertising campaign, Apple is answering Twitter questions about the iPad Pro.
  On Friday, Apple released a new series of iPad Pro commercials that use real tweets to showcase the iPad Pro’s LTE capabilities, as well as tout the device’s virus-free experience. “It’s better than a computer,” reads one of the ads. 
  Each of the 15-second ads uses a real tweet to address a feature of the iPad Pro. One tweet expresses fear over a “nasty”
  
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• Here’s how the US government can bolster cybersecurity

  17-02-2017 22:34
  
  Almost 20 years ago, Chris Wysopal was among a group of hackers who testified before U.S. Congress, warning it about the dangers of the internet.Unfortunately, the U.S. government is still struggling to act, he said. "You’re just going to keep ending up with the status quo," he said, pointing to the U.S. government's failure to regulate the tech industry or incentivize any change.It’s a feeling that was shared by the experts who attended this week’s RSA cybersecurity show.
  
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• Microsoft's decision to scrap February security updates unnerves patch experts

  17-02-2017 22:26
  
  Microsoft this week canceled February's slate of security updates for Windows and its other products, including Office, just a day after saying that the fixes would only be delayed.
  Patch experts struggled with the decision, pointing out that known vulnerabilities will go unpatched and that IT planning had been disrupted.
  "I was shocked," said Chris Goettl, product manager at patch management vendor Ivanti, formerly Shavlik. "I was really expecting [the patches to release] next week."
  On Tuesda
  
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• 6 senators say U.S. firms are hiding their offshoring

  17-02-2017 22:08
  
  Publicly traded companies are required by law to disclose only their global headcount, and that's all the information many of them provide. That keeps certain information a secret. These companies may be shrinking their U.S. headcount as they grow their overseas workforces. Six U.S. senators want to change that.
  These senators -- all Democrats -- are co-sponsoring legislation, introduced Thursday, that would require publicly traded companies to disclose their numbers of employees by location, b
  
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• Ride along to solve these data breaches

  17-02-2017 21:56
  
  (Insider Story)
  
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• Users take the cheese to solve data breaches

  17-02-2017 21:53
  
  Cheese Movers International’s restructuring resulted in some employees being unhappy with either their new role or the new management. And unhappy employees, especially those who know the system well and have access, can become major problems for companies.
  Verizon’s RISK Team was called in because the multinational company had heard rumblings among the disgruntled employees and found some negative comments online. While there was no evidence of a data breach, Cheese Movers' upper m
  
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• 37% off Garmin Forerunner 225 GPS Running Watch with Wrist-based Heart Rate - Deal Alert

  17-02-2017 21:08
  
  In addition to using GPS to calculate distance and pace, the 225 has a built-in accelerometer. This allows it to capture distance and pace data when you’re running on an indoor track or treadmill, with no need for a separate foot pod accessory.  Forerunner 225 is the first Garmin GPS running watch with wrist-based heart rate. Now you have the option to run without a heart rate strap. The 225 tracks distance, pace and heart rate, and featured activity tracking to count steps and calori
  
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• PG&E deploys its first Tesla Powerpack battery storage station

  17-02-2017 20:00
  
  Pacific Gas and Electric has gone live with its first utility-scale, lithium-ion battery storage system.
  The storage substation, located about 50 miles north of Sacramento, is made of 22 Tesla Powerpacks, each the size of a refrigerator. In all, the 500-kilowatt (KW) substation can store up to 2000KW hours (KWh) of power, enough to power up to 380 typical homes. The batteries can discharge at full power for four hours.
  Co-located with PG&E's Browns Valley, Calif. substation, the battery fac
  
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• This $450 Core i5 laptop from HP costs less new than used

  17-02-2017 19:50
  
  Right now, buying a laptop requires a little more thought, what with Intel Kaby Lake processors rolling out and Intel Skylake processors making their exit. Do you dive in now in the hopes of scoring a good deal on a Skylake-powered laptop, or wait for the moderate advantages that Kaby Lake brings?
  In our opinion, if all you need is a reliable laptop for everyday use, Skylake is just fine—particularly if you’re buying at a discount. That brings us to today’s deal: Walmart is cu
  
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• HPE joins Cisco, Juniper with faulty clock technology problem

  17-02-2017 19:47
  
  Hewlett Packard Enterprise is the latest vendor to identify a faulty clocking component of its products that can cause them to crash and not recover.
  HPE joined Cisco and Juniper in identifying the problem, even going so far as to tap the widely-suspected Intel-based clock element as the cause.
  In a statement the company said:“To the best of our knowledge, our customers are not experiencing failures due to the Intel C2000 chip, which is deployed on a limited number of our products. We rem
  
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• Datalekken steeds complexer, alomtegenwoordig en schadelijker

  17-02-2017 19:30
  Inbreuken op gegevens worden steeds complexer en alle afdelingen van een organisatie hebben ermee te maken. De menselijke factor bij inbreuken is onverminderd groot en datalekken laten nogal eens een blijvend stempel achter op een onderneming, zegt Verizon in de laatste editie van zijn Data Breach Digest.Het rapport... lees meer
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 qualities for successful PR pros

  17-02-2017 19:06
  
  If you are in PR or have a friend who is, you know the profession is swiftly evolving, a vastly different practice than it was 20 (even 10) years ago. Long gone are press tours spanning the continent or globe, following a schedule from content and image creation to meetings, follow-up and (hopefully) coverage. Shrinking revenues and extreme ad budget cuts after the dot-com bubble burst led to the shuttering of many print trade publications, including daily paper high tech sections. Social media
  
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• Android device updates: T-Mobile begins rolling out Nougat to Galaxy S7, S7 Edge beta testers

  17-02-2017 18:52
  
  The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are real standouts with their hardware design. The software, however, is another story. Nougat is finally coming to some T-Mobile users after a lengthy beta test.
  Sprint’s HTC One A9 is also getting Android 7.0, and we have the latest report of just how many (or in this case, how few) phones are actually up-to-speed with Nougat.
  Each week, we round up all the major software updates to hit the Android ecosystem, including phones and tablets on U.S. carriers, unloc
  
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• Not investing in employees’ mental health is bad business

  17-02-2017 18:51
  
  I recently had an interesting discussion with Dennis Miller who wrote the book: “Moppin’ Floors to CEO: From Hopelessness and Failure to Happiness and Success.” He referenced a series of studies that pointed to issues based on depression experienced at the bottom and top of virtually all organizations.Apparently, millennials who are entering companies and the CEOs who run those companies have something in common. Both groups are apparently very unhappy and have high incidences
  
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• SAP license fees are due even for indirect users, court says

  17-02-2017 18:50
  
  SAP's named-user licensing fees apply even to related applications that only offer users indirect visibility of SAP data, a U.K. judge ruled Thursday in a case pitting SAP against Diageo, the alcoholic beverage giant behind Smirnoff vodka and Guinness beer.The consequences could be far-reaching for businesses that have integrated their customer-facing systems with an SAP database, potentially leaving them liable for license fees for every customer that accesses their online store."If any SAP sys
  
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• Computer crashed? You could blame forces beyond our solar system

  17-02-2017 18:46
  
  When your computer crashes or phone freezes, don't be so quick to blame the manufacturer. Cosmic rays may be your real foe, or rather the electrically charged particles they generate. While harmless to living organisms, a small number of these particles have enough energy to interfere with the operation of the microelectronic circuitry in our personal devices. It's called a single-event upset or SEU. During an SEU, particles alter an individual bit of data stored in a chip's memory. Co
  
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• Facebook’s latest goal is to connect (and save) the world

  17-02-2017 18:30
  
  For nearly 13 years now, Facebook has been trying to make connections between friends. Now, co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a new - and bigger - plan.
  Facebook will focus on creating a global community.
  "This is a time when many of us around the world are reflecting on how we can have the most positive impact," wrote Zuckerberg in a blog post lateThursday. "We may not have the power to create the world we want immediately, but we can all start working on the long term today. In times lik
  
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• Insecure Android apps put connected cars at risk

  17-02-2017 17:33
  
  Android applications that allow millions of car owners to remotely locate and unlock their vehicles are missing security features that could prevent tampering by hackers.Researchers from antivirus vendor Kaspersky Lab took seven of the most popular Android apps that accompany connected cars from various manufacturers and analyzed them from the perspective of a compromised Android device. The apps and manufacturers have not been named.The researchers looked at whether such apps use any of the ava
  
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• AMD bundles Ashes of the Singularity with FX processors ahead of Ryzen's launch

  17-02-2017 17:28
  The hotly anticipated Ryzen processors are expected to start rolling out in early March, but AMD's still pushing its older FX-series chips folks looking to build a budget gaming PC. Newegg and AMD just revealed a FX processor promotion that bundles a 6- or 8-core chip with the real-time strategy game Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation, the poster child for cutting-edge DirectX 12 technology.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Google wants your help with the development of the next Pixel

  17-02-2017 16:24
  
  We’re still months away from the unveiling of the Pixel 2, but Google is already working on deciding which features to add to the highly anticipated follow-up to its first officially branded phone. And it wants your help.
  No, Google hasn’t launched a Kickstarter page, but it is seeking input from users on what they like about the Pixel and what they want to see improved. In a post on the Pixel User Community board titled "Chamfers, cross-hatch patterns and deep blue - obsessing on P
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The silver bullet for ITSM success

  17-02-2017 16:09
  
  It seems now, to me, that we have an IT Service Management framework and standard out there for every taste and preference. There’s ITIL, the preeminent one, but there’s also CoBIT, ISO 20000, TOGAF, IT4IT, USMBOK, lean IT, agile, DevOps and so on. (You might be thinking that those last two are just for development. I digress.) If there is something to do within IT, someone has thought of something and codified it in a framework.That’s all well and good. In my mind, all of thes
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 types of customer reviews you can leverage

  17-02-2017 16:00
  
  Online customer reviews. They’re both exciting and intimidating. A positive review on the right website is a strong form of social proof, whereas a negative review can leave you fighting negative press. But did you know there are ways to put every customer review to use for your brand?Why do customer reviews matter?Today’s consumers are savvy and resourceful. When going through the buying process, they reference all of the information they have at their disposal. But there’s o
  
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• AT&T jumps on the unlimited data bandwagon with an expensive new plan

  17-02-2017 15:56
  
  AT&T capped off this week’s carrier showdown by releasing its own unlimited data plan following announcements from Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint.
  Prior to this announcement, AT&T only offered unlimited data plans to its DirecTV and U-verse subscribers. Before you get too excited, however, this plan is the most expensive of the bunch for a single line, and has a few drawbacks compared to the other plans.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• 43% off TP-Link Smart LED Wi-Fi Light Bulb, 50W Dimmable and Alexa Compatible - Deal Alert

  17-02-2017 15:33
  
  TP-Link has discounted its 50W smart bulb 43% to just $19.99. Use the Kasa app to turn on/off or dim from anywhere in the world. Set up a schedule, set the mood, and even control with your voice via an Alexa-enabled device such as Echo or Dot. Reviewers rate 4 out of 5 stars (see reviews) on Amazon, where you can get yourself one (or more) for just $20, a good deal considering it typically lists north of $20 and sometimes $30 with various online retailers. See the discounted TP-Link smart LED bu
  
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• Travelport sluit overeenkomst met Tata Consultancy Services

  17-02-2017 15:04
  Travelport, dat een platform voor distributie, technologie, betalingen en andere oplossingen voor de reisbranche levert, is een overeenkomst aangegaan met  leverancier van ICT-diensten Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), dat hiermee wereldwijd de primaire technologiepartner is geworden.TCS zal Travelport helpen te... lees meer
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: IT-as-a-Service model essential in digital transformation

  17-02-2017 15:00
  
  Some issues never seem to go away, including business users’ demands for IT departments delivering against business needs — and doing it quickly to gain or sustain a competitive advantage. Legacy infrastructure and processes make it difficult to achieve. It reminds me of a friend’s dachshund who incurred a slipped disc. The back of a dachshund, of course, is elongated. She could no longer jump or sprint, and when trying to walk straight, the front half of her body went straight
  
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• Is New Balance's RunIQ fitness smartwatch a rival to Apple Watch Series 2?

  17-02-2017 14:40
  
  New Balance is looking to win the fitness smartwatch marathon with its recently introduced Android Wear-based RunIQ. But how does it compare to Apple Watch Series 2, which is also fitness focused and shares some core features such as built-in GPS and heart-rate monitoring? I wore both for more than a week to find out.Cost: RunIQ beats Apple Watch
  RunIQ is $300, while the least expensive Apple Watch Series 2 is $369.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Robotic process automation makes nearshore outsourcing more attractive

  17-02-2017 14:03
  
  The traditional benefits of IT outsourcing to nearshore locations have included geographic proximity, time zone alignment, cultural affinity and shared language. The one area these adjacent providers have not been able to compete with their offshore counterparts on has been price.[ Related: Building a business case for offshore robotic process automation ]But that could change as robotic process automation (RPA) takes hold. The automation itself will begin to chip away at the offshore competitiv
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: What CIOs should consider when taking on new roles

  17-02-2017 13:48
  
  “No good deed goes unpunished.” That was the text I received from a long-term supporter shortly after it was announced I was taking on the role of CIO for Dell in addition to my current role as the CIO of VMware.From someone who has spent over 30 years in IT, I believe that this is a truly exciting time to be in IT. Every year, the value of our function continues to grow exponentially over other functions as companies increasingly depend more on reinventing themselves through techno
  
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• H-1B advocate Sen. Orrin Hatch sets stage for new visa battle

  17-02-2017 13:04
  
  The U.S. Senate's leading proponent for increasing the H-1B visa cap is Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). His previous legislative efforts have infuriated critics of the visa program. Hatch's 2015 visa cap-increasing bill, I-Squared, was so awful, said the IEEE-USA, that it would"help destroy" the U.S. tech workforce.
  Hatch is updating his I-Squared bill with reforms he hopes buy leeway with his critics. That doesn't seem likely.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Apple may cut the (charging) cord completely with the iPhone 8

  17-02-2017 12:01
  
  With each iteration of the iPhone, Apple seems determined to reduce the smartphone's size and the number of physical ports it has.
  The latest speculation -- that the company may introduce wireless charging on its next iPhone -- indicates Apple may be considering cutting wires (and another port) all together.
  Earlier this month,Ming-Chi Kuo, a financial analyst highly regarded for his accurate Apple predictions, asserted that the next iterations of the iPhone will include wireless charging.
  
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• Oracle preps developers for Java 9 upgrade

  17-02-2017 12:00
  
  In preparation for the planned July release of Java 9, Oracle has released guidance for moving applications over to the forthcoming upgrade, which features big changes through modularization.
  The newly released JDK (Java Development Kit) 9 Migration Guide notes that every update brings with it binary, source, and behavioral incompatibilities with previous versions. "The modularization of the Java SE Platform brings many benefits but also many changes," Oracle said. "Code that uses only official
  
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• Google Go 1.8 steps up compilation, garbage collection

  17-02-2017 12:00
  
  Go 1.8, the latest version of Google's popular open source language, is now available.
  Officially released Thursday, version 1.8 focuses on compilation, garbage collection, and HTTP support. "The compiler back end introduced in Go 1.7 [last August] for 64-bit x86 is now used on all architectures, and those architectures should see significant performance improvements," said Chris Broadfoot on behalf of the Go team. "For instance, the CPU time required by our benchmark programs was reduced by 20
  
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• 10 influential game mods that truly changed PC gaming

  17-02-2017 12:00
  
  Changing the gameImage by Long War 2Mods are big part of the reason why PC gaming’s so great, but not all mods are created equal.All fan-made mods released in the Steam Workshop or Nexus Mods deserve to be celebrated. Every visual upgrade, every gameplay tweak, every new costume or campaign or character gives you deeper, more direct control over your gameplay, and that’s worthy of the highest praise possible.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Arrest of Samsung’s Lee may not affect smartphone business in short term

  17-02-2017 10:43
  
  The arrest of Samsung Electronics’ vice chairman Lee Jae-yong on Friday in South Korea may not have a direct impact on the company’s high-profile electronics business, including its smartphones unit, according to analysts.Samsung announced in 2012 the promotion of the executive, also known as Jay. Y. Lee, to his current formal position at Samsung Electronics. But he is largely seen as the de-facto leader of the Samsung Group, running the business on behalf of his ailing father, Samsu
  
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• Experts at RSA give their best cybersecurity advice

  17-02-2017 01:34
  
  Come to the RSA show, and you’ll find plenty of cybersecurity technology. The top vendors from across the industry are here, showing products for fighting ransomware, preventing data breaches and more.But even the best security software is useless if users and businesses aren’t taking the right steps to protect themselves. So we asked experts at the show for their best cybersecurity tips.Joe Stewart, director of malware research at Dell SecureWorks He advises everyone to set up
  
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• RSA: Eric Schmidt shares deep learning on AI

  17-02-2017 00:05
  
  SAN FRANCISCO – Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt says artificial intelligence is key to advances in diverse areas such as healthcare and datacenter design and that security concerns related to it are somewhat misguided. (Alphabet is the parent company of Google).In a wide-ranging on-stage conversation here at the RSA Security conference with Gideon Lewis-Kraus, author of The Great A.I. Awakening, Schmidt shared his insights from decades of work related to AI (he studied AI as a PhD student 4
  
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