IT Executive news

• 71% off Cambridge SoundWorks OontZ Angle 3 PLUS Wireless Bluetooth Speaker - Deal Alert

  24-02-2017 23:24
  
  Designed and Engineered by Cambridge SoundWorks to deliver richer fuller bass; the PLUS delivers surprising bass from such a small speaker, excellent bass performance across each type of music genre.  The PLUS battery technology and power saving design allows this speaker to play up to 30 hours from a full charge with volume set up to 2/3 of maximum playing volume.  IPX5 water resistance makes the unit splashproof, rainproof, dustproof, and sandproof.  Check out the dramatic
  
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• Google shuts Spaces, the content-sharing app you probably never heard of

  24-02-2017 23:15
  
  Last year Google announced a new app called Spaces with a simple goal: simplify the way we share things with people online. Sort of like a virtual room where you could connect with people to engage in specific topic of conversation, the experimental service was one of many in Google’s catalogue that failed to gain many users.
  To the surprise of no one, Google has now announced it will be shuttering Spaces. In a post on Google+, product manager John Kilcine broke the news, saying that whil
  
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• Uber rejects claims it stole Waymo's self-driving car tech

  24-02-2017 23:04
  
  Uber is dismissing allegations that it stole trade secrets from self-driving car rival Waymo, calling them “a baseless attempt to slow down a competitor.”“We look forward to vigorously defending against them in court,” the company said in an email on Friday.The day before, Waymo, a spin-off from Google’s self-driving car initiative, filed a lawsuit against Uber, claiming that the company had stolen designs for a key technology that makes computer-led driving possibl
  
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• Microsoft's support rules for Windows 10 LTSB void allure to enterprise customers

  24-02-2017 22:15
  
  Microsoft has largely invalidated one of Windows 10's signature concessions to corporate customers, said Gartner analysts who recommended that enterprises reconsider running the operating system's most stable and static edition.
  "Microsoft has clarified support plans for LTSB, highlighting restrictions and caveats that could make this an unviable strategy," wrote Stephen Kleynhans and Michael Silver in a Gartner research note to clients earlier this month.
  LTSB, or "Long-Term Servicing Branch,"
  
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• Microsoft Store has slashed the Asus ZenBook Flip's price by $200

  24-02-2017 21:30
  If all you need is a portable laptop that’ll easily handle streaming video, browsing the web, and chatting on Skype, you’re in luck. Right now, the Microsoft Store is offering the 256GB version of the Asus ZenBook Flip for just $500.
  This price matches the lowest we’ve seen for this 13.3-inch 2-in-1 convertible, and currently undercuts third-party sellers on Newegg and Amazon (who offer this same model for $575) as well as Asus’ own store ($600).In addition to the $
  
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• Afraid of AI taking your job? Yep, you likely are

  24-02-2017 21:17
  
  Despite the promise that robots and artificial intelligence actually could help many people do their jobs better, most simply aren't buying it.
  And a lot of people are still afraid that emerging technology will steal their jobs.
  Only 4% of 2,000 people surveyed said they thought emerging technologies would make their jobs easier, while 48% of those familiar with the idea of disruptive technologies fear it will cause layoffs in their industry and more than 38% said it might cost them their jobs
  
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• Apple is investigating an iPhone 7 Plus that ‘blew up’

  24-02-2017 20:53
  
  A Twitter video of a smoking iPhone 7 Plus has gone viral, prompting Apple to investigate.
  On Friday, Apple said that it was working with Brianna Olivas, who shared the video of her iPhone 7 Plus after it “blew up,” to try to find out the cause of the explosion. Olivas wrote that her rose gold iPhone 7 Plus, which she purchased from Sprint in January, “caught fire” while she was sleeping on Wednesday morning.
  Her boyfriend moved the iPhone from the bed to the dresser bef
  
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• How a bad board of directors could kill HPE

  24-02-2017 20:51
  
  HPE just released its financials and the picture is anything but pretty. Not only are almost all of their major businesses in decline, but it reduced its outlook, suggesting things aren’t going to be getting better soon.While some of this may have been an effort to push revenues into the prior quarter to make Meg Whitman, HPE’s CEO, look better when she was placed into Hillary Clinton’s cabinet (a strategy that likely showcases that Whitman is incredibly unlucky when it comes t
  
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• Former CIO sees digital transformations sprinting through DevOps

  24-02-2017 20:43
  
  If agile software development has become the hare to waterfall's tortoise, what does that make DevOps? Answer: A much misunderstood methodology that many believe is simply a way to build software faster.Executed well, DevOps certainly does that, but Sanjay Mirchandani, CEO of DevOps tool provider Puppet, says it’s also a cultural shift that has CIOs rethinking how they must deliver technology services that best serve employees and customers. It's increasingly becoming a requirement in corp
  
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• Android device updates: Sprint, T-Mobile Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge make the leap to Nougat

  24-02-2017 20:43
  
  At long last, Nougat is coming to Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge phones—at least, those from Sprint and AT&T. Nougat is also rolling out to T-Mobile’s LG Stylo 2.
  Meanwhile, Google may have identified an annoying bug that was vexing some Pixel owners.
  Each week, we round up all the major software updates to hit the Android ecosystem, including phones and tablets on U.S. carriers, unlocked phones, smartwatches, and Android TV devices. Make sure your device is running the latest available
  
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• BrandPost: Stuck on Step Zero?

  24-02-2017 20:36
  
  ou've taken the plunge and decided to make the switch to Office 365. The first step was, naturally, completing the licensing purchase. Regardless of how you've made this purchase, there may be a few roadblocks sitting in your way. So let's hope the detour signs are there to help navigate you through. Connection is here on your journey to Office 365 to be that signage—brightly declaring to watch out, activation is just ahead! Let's start with the Enterprise Agreement, Microsoft's flagship a
  
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• BrandPost: Stay Competitive with Speed and Quality

  24-02-2017 20:28
  
  As a small ISV start-up, you truly face a tough task. How can you compete against more established software developers without cutting deeply into your bottom line? Creating new IP takes time, and testing that IP takes even longer. You could cut time by developing your application for only one platform: developing for only iOS will reach a larger subset of clients; while developing for Android may take less time. Focusing on just one platform may save time, but you are also limiting your audienc
  
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• Google discloses unpatched IE vulnerability after Patch Tuesday delay

  24-02-2017 19:44
  
  Google's Project Zero team has disclosed a potential arbitrary code execution vulnerability in Internet Explorer because Microsoft has not acted within Google's 90-day disclosure deadline.This is the second flaw in Microsoft products made public by Google Project Zero since the Redmond giant decided to skip this month's Patch Tuesday and postpone its previously planned security fixes until March.Microsoft blamed the unprecedented decision to push back scheduled security updates by a month on a "
  
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• FCC puts the brakes on ISP privacy rules it just passed in October

  24-02-2017 19:43
  
  The new chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission will seek a stay on privacy rules for broadband providers that the agency just passed in October.FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will ask for either a full commission vote on the stay before parts of the rules take effect next Thursday or he will instruct FCC staff to delay part of the rules pending a commission vote, a spokesman said Friday.The rules, passed when the FCC had a Democratic majority, require broadband providers to rece
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 4 ways IT leaders can get each day off to a strategic start

  24-02-2017 19:31
  
  If you aren’t grasping control at daybreak, you may be setting up your entire day to be all about reacting rather than leading.Let’s face it, the odds are stacked against you. Technology never sleeps. People who depend on technology use it around the clock. And everything is changing all the time.As an IT Leader, you face a continuous stream of new demands appear, new threats, and new opportunities.That’s what makes the job exciting. But also what makes it difficult to manage,
  
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• Toshiba reveals new 3D flash chip that can store 1TB

  24-02-2017 19:29
  
  Toshiba has begun shipping samples of its third-generation 3D NAND flash chip technology, which stacks 64 layers of flash cells and has 65% greater capacity than the previous generation technology, which used 48 layers.
  "This increases memory capacity per silicon wafer and leads to a reduction of cost-per-bit," Toshiba said in a statement.ToshibaBased on a vertical stacking or 3D technology that Toshiba calls BiCS (Bit Cost Scaling), the company's NAND flash memory stores three bits of data per
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How to stop your smart TV from spying on you

  24-02-2017 19:25
  
  I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear the word “spying,” I think of some guy with a camera lurking in the closet.So maybe spying isn’t exactly the right word for what your smart TV is capable of doing.But if you’re watching a smart TV, Roku or any other related internet television device, there’s a good chance it is monitoring everything you watch and reporting that information back to a data collection agency.This information is analyzed and responds ba
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The permanent web for healthcare with IPFS and blockchain

  24-02-2017 19:13
  
  How do you determine if your organization is designing innovating experiences? There is a simple question that provides that answer. Ask yourself, “Is the organization talking about IPFS?” If the answer is yes, you’re likely relevant to the healthcare innovation discussion. If, however, the answer is no, your organization has missed the innovation bus. IPFS, a foundational technology, will transform healthcare by 2020.The relationships between IPFS and blockchain
  The joining of
  
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• Replace SHA-1. It’s not that hard.

  24-02-2017 19:03
  
  Now that SHA-1 has been broken it’s time for enterprises that have ignored its potential weakness for years to finally act, and it’s not that hard.
  The most common use of the hash function is in securing SSL and TLS connections, and to get rid of SHA-1 in that use is to utilize browsers and servers that don’t support it. Depending on the size of an organization, this isn’t onerous, says Paul Ducklin, a senior security advisor at Sophos. (See his excellent description of
  
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• iOS 10.2.1 might be the cure for your iPhone 6 and 6s battery woes

  24-02-2017 18:45
  
  If your iPhone 6s, 6s, 6 Plus, or 6s Plus randomly shuts itself off, you probably thought a faulty battery was to blame. Widespread reports of this problem led to Apple launching an iPhone 6s Battery Replacement Program, but not all iPhones were eligible for the free battery replacement. That’s because the battery issue was a separate one. The random shutdowns plaguing previous iPhone versions are caused by a software bug, one that Apple says it fixed with iOS 10.2.1.
  The problem didn&rsq
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Medical professionals provide improved patient care through artificial intelligence

  24-02-2017 18:30
  
  Today, we are seeing the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare as it helps us integrate disparate data types to answer complex questions that were previously unknown. According to the recent PwC Health Research Institute’s annual report, emerging technologies, including AI, are being deployed in healthcare and have great potential to disrupt in 2017.This is exciting news! But the report stresses that healthcare organizations must coordinate and collaborate across the digi
  
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• Cloudflare bug exposed passwords, other sensitive data from websites

  24-02-2017 17:47
  
  For months, a bug in Cloudflare's content optimization systems exposed sensitive information sent by users to websites that use the company's content delivery network. The data included passwords, session cookies, authentication tokens and even private messages.Cloudflare acts as a reverse proxy for millions of websites, including those of major internet services and Fortune 500 companies, for which it provides security and content optimization services behind the scenes. As part of that process
  
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• LG puts a massive battery in the X Power2, but not much else

  24-02-2017 17:46
  
  LG will be showing its new G6 flagship phone at Mobile World Congress next week, but that's not the only handset the company is bringing to Barcelona. Joining it will be an update to the X Power, the X Power 2. Like its predecessor, the second-gen X Power's X-factor is battery life.
  Part of a new line of affordable phones that “incorporates different exclusive features that are usually found only in premium smartphones,” the LG X Power 2 features a massive 4,500mAh battery that
  
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• 10 mobile marketing trends to watch in 2017

  24-02-2017 17:35
  
  Interest in mobile apps (with the exception of messaging app) appears to be fading. Location-based marketing may help retailers and other brands bring in customers. And the speed at which your mobile website loads is only going to become more important.These are just a few of the mobile marketing trends experts say you can expect to see play out in 2017. To find out what you should be planning for the year ahead, we asked for input from digital marketers. Here are 10 trends these experts predict
  
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• 35% off Razor Hovertrax 2.0 Hoverboard Self-Balancing Smart Scooter - Deal Alert

  24-02-2017 17:32
  
  Step on the deck and go with Razor Hovertrax 2.0, the world’s smartest self-balancing electric scooter. Intelligently-engineered with EverBalance technology, Hovertrax 2.0 is the only board that auto-levels for a safer, easier mount and a smoother ride. Whether you’re coasting, racing, or commuting, Hovertrax 2.0 is always in balance. Indoors or out, Hovertrax 2.0 does the work so you can enjoy the journey. Hovertrax 2.0: technology so advanced, it’s simple. Once you learn how
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Healthcare technology experts contemplate the Trump effect

  24-02-2017 17:30
  
  There's a lot of speculation about what will happen to healthcare innovation and technology under the Trump administration.How will the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) impact healthcare technology? What is the future of innovation in and around value-based care delivery?In a Nov. 10, 2016, post on CIO.com, fellow IDG Contributors Network blogger Paddy Padmanabhan predicted that "A Trump presidency is less likely to enact legislation that will result in a dismantling of any of the IT inve
  
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• Google cloud debuts Intel’s latest Skylake processors

  24-02-2017 17:16
  
  Google today announced that it is the first IaaS public cloud provider to run the newest version of Intel’s chips, named Skylake.
  The news comes just months after Google and Intel announced a partnership in November 2016 to co-engineer new processors for the company’s cloud platform.
  +MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: Battle of the IaaS cloud: Amazon Web Services versus Microsoft Azure vs. Google Cloud Platform+
  Skylake is the code-name for the next-generation silicon beyond Intel’s Broa
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Project consolidation continues at The Linux Foundation

  24-02-2017 16:51
  
  It seems that the Linux Foundation is entering consolidation mode with its growing number of networking projects. In October last year the foundation merged ON.Lab with the Open Networking Foundation (ONF). The foundation is now merging AT&T’s ECOMP and Open Orchestrator Project (OPEN-O) to create a new project called Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) Project whose focus is automating, designing, orchestrating and managing services and virtual functions.To read this article
  
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• Google rebrands Messenger as Android Messages in a move toward a universal texting app

  24-02-2017 16:50
  
  If you fired up your Google Messenger app this morning, you might have noticed something different: It’s now called Android Messages. And while the new name doesn’t actually change anything about the way we use it, it could lead to big things down the road.
  Amir Sarhangi, head of Rich Communication Services at Google, explained in a blog post that the new name is a step toward finally creating a default universal messaging app on Android. As it currently stands, the app formerly kno
  
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• UN steps in to end marketing war over what 5G means

  24-02-2017 15:30
  
  With mobile operators' marketing departments already throwing around claims about their 5G services, the United Nations is weighing in with its definition of what qualifies a network as next-generation.Verizon Wireless will begin delivering "5G" service to select users in 11 U.S. cities in mid-2017, even though some places don't yet have access to 4G. And at the Mobile World Congress 2017 trade show in Barcelona, companies including Intel, Qualcomm and Ericsson will be promoting their moves towa
  
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• Fraud rises as cybercriminals flock to online lenders

  24-02-2017 15:28
  
  Cybercrime is becoming more automated, organized and networked than ever before, according to the ThreatMetrix Cybercrime Report: Q4 2016.
  Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting online lenders and emerging financial services, says Vanita Pandey, vice president of strategy and product marketing, ThreatMetrix.
  [ Related: 8 tips to defend against online financial fraud threats ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Fraud rise as cybercriminals flock to online lenders

  24-02-2017 15:28
  
  Cybercrime is becoming more automated, organized and networked than ever before, according to the ThreatMetrix Cybercrime Report: Q4 2016.
  Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting online lenders and emerging financial services, says Vanita Pandey, vice president of strategy and product marketing, ThreatMetrix.
  [ Related: 8 tips to defend against online financial fraud threats ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Beveiligen clouddiensten kost organisaties hoofdbrekens

  24-02-2017 14:54
  Het vertrouwen in de veiligheid van publieke clouddiensten neemt toe, waarbij de meeste organisaties denken dat publieke services minstens zo veilig zijn als private diensten. Bijna vier op de tien diensten in de cloud worden echter in gebruik genomen zonder medeweten van de IT-afdeling, waardoor de risico’s... lees meer
  
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• Organisaties op achterstand met bouwen van apps

  24-02-2017 14:53
  Organisaties blijken nogal wat moeite te ondervinden bij de ontwikkeling van web apps en mobiele apps. Gebrek aan tijd en budget en vaardigheden zijn de grootste obstakels. Daarop duidt onderzoek door Outsystems, leverancier van applicatie-ontwikkelplatformen.Zestig procent van de ondervraagde IT-professionals zegt... lees meer
  
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• Datalekken complexer, alomtegenwoordiger en schadelijker

  24-02-2017 14:53
  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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• RPA proving its transformational value at Deutsche Bank

  24-02-2017 14:50
  
  Dean Mazboudi has been leading Deutsche Bank’s Innovation Lab in New York for two-and-a-half years, spending his days assessing and experimenting with a host of emerging technologies that could meet the company’s evolving demands. Robotic process automation (RPA) is one technology, he says, that’s proving beneficial to increasing efficiency and effectiveness for back- and mid-office processes.[ Related: Building a business case for offshore robotic process automation ]Basic rul
  
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• Linux Foundation smushes two smaller projects together to form Open Networking Automation Platform

  24-02-2017 14:08
  
  The Linux Foundation announced yesterday that it had combined open source ECOMP and the Open Orchestrator Project into ONAP, the Open Networking Automation Platform, with the aim of helping users automate network service delivery, design, and service through a unified standard.
  Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, said that ONAP should be a boon to enterprise IT departments, thanks to improved speed and flexibility.
  +MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: FCC rolls back net neutrality ISP tr
  
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• Top 3 easiest-to-use activity trackers

  24-02-2017 13:58
  
  Looking for an activity tracker to measure your heart rate or estimate your VO2 max score? This blog post isn’t for you. But if you want a simple, straightforward way to track steps and a few other activities — and you don't know what a VO2 max score is — you’re in luck. Here are three basic activity trackers worth buying.Fitbit ZipWith its retro smiley face, easy-to-read screen and affordable price ($60), Zip is Fitbit’s entry-level activity tracker. Plus, its batt
  
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• Trump expected to cut federal IT spending

  24-02-2017 13:05
  
  President Donald Trump said this week that the federal budget is a "mess" and is promising to make it leaner. This means that federal IT spending -- now at $81.6 billion -- is likely to see cuts, analysts said.
  The Trump administration is still filling top technology policy positions, including replacing former federal CIO Tony Scott, who left last month. Scott, a former CIO of Microsoft and The Walt Disney Co., was appointed by President Barack Obama in February 2015.
  For now, all eyes are on
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Apple: Transgender bathrooms instead of new Macs?

  24-02-2017 12:54
  
  One of the things I liked best about Steve Jobs was that he more or less kept Apple out of partisan politics. Oh sure, everybody knew that Jobs himself was a liberal in terms of politics, but he never used Apple as a platform to push a partisan political agenda.
  Steve Jobs knew quite well that people with all different kinds of politics were Apple customers, so he steered the company away from getting directly involved in politics. This had the beneficial effect of preventing people from resent
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Tip No. 3: Provide coaching and advice as needed

  24-02-2017 12:30
  
  A key success factor in agile data management is self-managing teams. As a leader of self-managing teams, you need to develop a unique set of skills, moving from command and control to communication and enablement.This is the second installment of my series entitled “Five Tips for Leading Agile Data Management Development Teams.” Here I discuss Tip No 3: Provide coaching and advice as needed.Everyone needs coaching
  A leader of self-managing teams should provide coaching at both the t
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Last week's CRM success story started back in 2002

  24-02-2017 12:30
  
  Back in 2002 — the Dark Ages,  by tech standards — customer relationship management was white-hot. Siebel Systems had just hit its peak at 45 percent market share and Salesforce.com (which would later acquire Siebel) was nipping at its heels. Determined not to be left behind, large enterprise software vendors like IBM and SAP had begun building their own CRM solutions as IT analyst firms frantically updated their quadrants and waves.
  Back then, I was a management consultant. My
  
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• 5 things to think about for industrial IoT readiness

  24-02-2017 12:18
  
  Industrial IoT explodingImage by ThinkstockThe number of connected devices is growing exponentially. In fact, current estimates from IDC Research predict IoT spending will reach $1.29 trillion by 2020. Although many of these are consumer devices (such as Fitbits or smartphones), the presence of IoT devices in industrial settings is skyrocketing as well, with manufacturing forecasted to be the industry making the largest investment in IoT. With this increased connectivity, the Industria
  
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• The future of biometrics and IoT

  24-02-2017 12:00
  
  (Insider Story)
  
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• NPM or Yarn? Node.js devs pick their package manager

  24-02-2017 12:00
  
  Mere months since it was open-sourced by Facebook, Yarn has NPM on the run. The upstart JavaScript package manager has gained a quick foothold in the Node.js community, particularly among users of the React JavaScript UI library.
  Known for faster installation, Yarn gives developers an improved ability to manage code dependencies in their Node.js projects, proponents say. It features a deterministic install algorithm and a lockfile capability that lists exact version numbers of all project depen
  
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• Has fraud met its match?

  24-02-2017 12:00
  
  Many prognosticators have pronounced privacy a pipe dream. With the mountains of personal information on social networks and the lack of security awareness by many users, cybercriminals have more than a snowball’s chance to grab anyone’s identity.
  However, there are new ideas for counteracting identity theft that would take into account a person’s physical attributes to add another layer of security. The idea of using a fingerprint reader to log on to a smartphone isn't new, b
  
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• Create your own Slack bots -- and web APIs -- in R

  24-02-2017 12:00
  
  One of Slack's greatest appeals is that it's so extensible. While its main purpose is group collaboration, add-on apps can do everything from answer questions about business analytics to offer project updates from tools like Jira and Trello.Step 3: Host the R API remotelyTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Container-friendly Alpine Linux may get Java port

  24-02-2017 12:00
  
  Alpine Linux, a security-focused lightweight distribution of the platform, may get its own Java port. Alpine is popular with the Docker container developers, so a Java port could pave the way to making Java containers very small.
  A proposal floated this week on an OpenJDK mailing list calls for porting the JDK (Java Development Kit), including the Java Runtime Environment, Java compiler and APIs, to both the distribution and the musl C standard library, which is supported by Alpine Linux.
  
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• US probe of drone collisions with aircraft points to birds

  24-02-2017 08:05
  
  Investigations into reported collisions by drones with civil aircraft found that they were caused instead by birds, wires and posts, or structural failures unrelated to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), a U.S. regulator said.There has been widespread concern about the risks that the flying of drones close to aircraft can pose, and the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that reports of “possible” drone sightings to FAA air traffic facilities continued to increase in fiscal y
  
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• BrandPost: Why HR and IT are now strategic partners

  24-02-2017 02:14
  
  Understanding the workforce
  The latest Future Workforce Study from Dell EMC and Intel has some eye-opening findings for both IT and HR (Human Resources) leaders. Among them: Forty-two percent of millennials are likely to quit a job if the technology they have available to them is substandard. Across most consumer demographics, but especially millennials, most people complain that the technology they have at “home” is more modern and more valuable than the technology they have in
  
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