IT Executive news

• 20% off Pre-order of Mass Effect Andromeda - Deal Alert

  08-03-2017 22:49
  
  Mass Effect Andromeda will be releasing on March 21, 2017 and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon. If you're an Amazon Prime Member (or have a free trial -- get one here) you'll see the price drop an extra 20% on Mass Effect Andromeda (PC, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One). Price drop activates when you add it to your cart, and sinks the price from $59.99 to $39.99.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Facebook, Microsoft target faster services with new AI server designs

  08-03-2017 22:48
  
  Facebook on Wednesday rolled out some staggering statistics related to its social networks. Each day, users watch 100 million hours of video, 400 million people use Messenger, and more than 95 million photos and videos are posted on Instagram.That puts a heavy load on Facebook's servers in data centers, which help orchestrate all these services to ensure timely responses. In addition, Facebook's servers use machine learning technologies to improve services, with one visible example being image r
  
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• 5G and beyond: National Science Foundation plunks down $6 million for advanced wireless research

  08-03-2017 22:15
  
  The National Science Foundation today announced that it would hand out a total of $6.1 million in research funding for Northeastern University and US Ignite, Inc in a partnership designed to hasten the development of advanced wireless technologies.
  US Ignite is a non-profit dedicated to creating uses for futuristic wireless technology, and it will pair off with Northeastern University to create the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research project office, working to perform vetting, documentatio
  
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• What's Microsoft after with Windows Server on ARM?

  08-03-2017 22:10
  
  It was unclear today exactly what kind of edge Microsoft might gain by partnering with Qualcomm and others to run Windows Server on ARM processors, an analyst said.
  "Microsoft must see something that is interesting enough to port over Azure and Windows," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, in a Wednesday interview. "But Qualcomm has not provided any details other than how many cores it has and that it's 10-nanometer, so I can't give any empirical comparison
  
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• In shift, more homeowners are buying solar panels than leasing them

  08-03-2017 21:52
  
  More homeowners now choose to buy solar panel systems rather than lease them, according to a new report.
  Solar leases, which typically last up to 20 years and keep the ownership of solar rooftop panels in third-party supplier hands, peaked in 2014, with 74% of solar-panel home customers choosing that option. In the fourth quarter of 2016, however, the market that had been quickly moving away from leases jumped the shark, and only 47% of homeowners chose leasing, according to a report from GTM R
  
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• Security holes in Confide messaging app exposed user details

  08-03-2017 21:51
  
  Confide, a messaging app reportedly used by U.S. White House staff, apparently had several security holes that made it easier to hack.Security consultancy IOActive found the vulnerabilities in Confide, which promotes itself as an app that offers “military-grade” end-to-end encryption.But despite its marketing, the app contained glaring problems with securing user account information, IOActive said in a Wednesday post.The consultancy noticed it could access records for 7,000 Confide u
  
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• Google Cloud exec talks courting enterprises, competing with Amazon and Microsoft

  08-03-2017 21:14
  
  Tariq Shaukat doesn’t have the typical background you’d expect from someone leading the sales and professional services division at Google’s Cloud. Before becoming president of customers, Shaukat was chief commercial officer for Caesar’s Entertainment, the vast hotel and casino chain. As Google is attempting to court enterprise clients, Shaukat is bringing a customer-centric view to the business. And by the way, he’s no tech novice: He’s got undergraduate and
  
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• Leaked docs suggest NSA and CIA behind Equation cyberespionage group

  08-03-2017 20:39
  
  Purported CIA documents leaked Tuesday appear to confirm that the U.S. National Security Agency and one of CIA's own divisions were responsible for the malware tools and operations attributed to a group that security researchers have dubbed the Equation.The Equation's cyberespionage activities were documented in February 2015 by researchers from antivirus vendor Kaspersky Lab. It is widely considered to be the most advanced cyberespionage group in the world based on the sophistication of its too
  
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• Google touts its enterprise chops in cloud keynote

  08-03-2017 20:26
  
  Enterprises: Google wants you. That's the message coming out of the first keynote address at the company’s Google Cloud Next conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. The tech titan's cloud team really wants enterprises to know that it's serious about serving their needs.Diane Greene, the senior vice president of Google Cloud, showcased a suite of partnerships and customer announcements that provided concrete results for the enterprise-focused strategy that Greene kicked off when she joine
  
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• How to manage introverts and extroverts

  08-03-2017 20:16
  
  The tech world can be a haven for people who enjoy solitary, focused work, and it often attracts people who gravitate toward the quiet end of the introvert-extrovert spectrum. For managers, the challenge is how to make the most of introverts’ and extroverts’ strengths. Team diversity can be a tremendous asset if companies are prepared to accommodate divergent work preferences.
  Another approach is to create speaking roles in meetings, says Shobhna Upadhyaya, senior manager, business
  
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• BrandPost: The Integration of Human and Digital Labor

  08-03-2017 19:54
  
  Doom and gloom scenarios for massive unemployment usually put the blame square on emerging cognitive technologies, including Robotics Process Automation (RPA), artificial intelligence and machine learning. This disruptive digital destiny is predicted by some to affect two-thirds of the knowledge worker marketplace and eliminate millions of jobs from the economy.However, automation can also create new jobs and enhance human skills and expertise. Certainly, as businesses and governments seek to st
  
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• Like in PCs, Microsoft and ARM look to topple Intel in servers

  08-03-2017 19:50
  
  Intel's TV marketing campaign says the company is driving 98 percent of the cloud. That statistic will come under attack with some chip and OS announcements on Wednesday.The most significant announcement: Microsoft's Windows Server OS now running on ARM chips. The OS was exclusive to x86 chips, but now customers can consider ARM chips to run Windows Server.Microsoft did not announce an official date for an ARM version of Windows Server, though the software company is using such systems internall
  
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• IBM fits a bit on an atom, eyeing ever-smaller devices

  08-03-2017 19:22
  
  While many IT departments grapple with big data, IBM says it has the smallest data in the world: one bit on one atom.Researchers at IBM’s Almaden lab in San Jose, California, have written and read a bit of data on a single atom using magnetism, a feat they say is a world first. It could lead to storage that’s hundreds of times denser than anything available now, able to hold the entire Apple iTunes library of 35 million songs on a device the size of a credit card, the company says.Mu
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why Netflix didn’t sink when Amazon S3 went down

  08-03-2017 19:20
  
  On Tuesday, February 28, 2017, a typo brought many websites and online applications to their knees. A simple human error at Amazon S3, the backend for 150,714 websites, caused an outage.The S3 billing system had been acting sluggish, and associates were trying to debug it. One of them executed a command to remove a few servers from one of the subsystems that the S3 billing process used. With the errant stroke of a finger, he or she caused collateral damage, taking out more servers than intended.
  
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• Fears of election hacking spread in Europe

  08-03-2017 19:13
  
  France has followed the Netherlands in placing its faith in paper-based voting systems ahead of key elections later this year, following allegations that Russian hackers influenced last year's U.S. presidential election.
  The French government will not allow internet voting in legislative elections to be held in June because of the "extremely elevated threat of cyberattacks." The move follows a recommendation from the French Network and Information Security Agency (ANSSI), it said Monday.
  The mo
  
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• Apple has already fixed most of the iOS exploits the CIA used

  08-03-2017 18:54
  
  WikiLeaks is back at it again, this time with more than 8,700 leaked documents apparently from inside the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence. According to those documents, the CIA had knowledge of zero-day exploits it could use to hack iPhones. But Apple said many of those bugs have already been patched with the latest version of iOS.
  The WikiLeaks documents didn’t include details of the bugs or whether the CIA has actually used them, so it’s unclear if or how Apple knows the
  
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• Senators push FCC to keep its net neutrality rules

  08-03-2017 18:02
  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission should reverse course and keep the net neutrality rules it passed just two years ago, several Democratic senators said Wednesday.The FCC has not yet moved to repeal the regulations prohibiting broadband providers from selectively blocking or slowing web traffic, but the agency's new chairman, Republican Ajit Pai, has called the rules a "mistake."Broadband customers, however, still need the protections of the net neutrality rules, several Democratic memb
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: iPhone 8: Overpriced Ripoff Edition?

  08-03-2017 17:46
  
  We’re well into the usual rumor mill when it comes to the iPhone 8. One of the biggest Apple rumor sites has a couple of juicy tidbits about what the iPhone 8 might be called and how much it might cost.Husain Sumra reports for MacRumors:
  Apple may call the 2017 iPhone 8, rumored to be announced alongside the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus at a September event, the "iPhone Edition," according to a new report from Japanese website Mac Otakara. The name would reportedly signal that the phone is a high
  
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• Comey: Strong encryption “shatters” privacy-security bargain

  08-03-2017 17:37
  
  FBI Director James Comey told a Boston audience this morning that “ubiquitous strong encryption” – the kind now available on most smartphones and other digital devices – is threatening to undermine the “bargain” that he said has balanced privacy and security in the US since its founding.
  Actually, he went further, declaring that such default encryption “shatters” the bargain.
  “This is a big deal, and I urge you to continue to engage in a har
  
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• Teradata releases data lake platform to open source

  08-03-2017 17:16
  
  Teradata today released its data lake management software platform to the open source community. The project aims to help organizations address common challenges in data lake implementation, including skill shortages for engineers and administrators, learning and implementing governance best practices and driving data lake adoption beyond engineers.Teradata is offering the new open source Kylo project under the Apache 2.0 license, and plans to offer services and support for the platform.Data lak
  
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• Future iPhones to get 4K with new PowerVR graphics architecture

  08-03-2017 17:00
  
  A new PowerVR graphics architecture from Imagination Technologies will give a serious graphics boost to Apple's future iPhones, including 4K graphics.Imagination is announcing Furian, the first major graphics architecture upgrade since Rogue, which was announced in 2010. Apple's iPhone 7 currently has graphics based on the Rogue architecture.The Furian architecture also sets up future iPhones for graphics-intensive applications like virtual reality. Furian will be used in new PowerVR GPUs like t
  
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• How to close the digital leadership gap

  08-03-2017 15:55
  
  The 2017 New Rules for the Digital Age report from Deloitte found that only 5 percent of the companies surveyed said they have strong digital leadership development programs and a clear majority (65 percent) said they have no significant program to drive digital leadership skills.Josh Bersin, a principal at the Bersin by Deloitte research group, says the challenge is that companies don’t realize how much more complicated digital transformation is than simply acquiring new technology.[
  
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• If the CIA can sidestep encryption, what makes you think cyberthieves can’t?

  08-03-2017 15:48
  
  Having just spent much of the day browsing through Wikileaks’ latest batch of documents from the intelligence community — in which government agents discussed ways to circumvent mobile encryption and to listen in on conversations near smart devices including smart TVs — it’s clear that government agents have long had the ability to grab mobile content before it’s encrypted.
  Some of the tactics have names that are quite explicit about their function, such
  
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• Microsoft's Windows Server OS runs on ARM, with help from Qualcomm

  08-03-2017 15:25
  
  Microsoft has warmed up to Qualcomm to make a Windows 10 PC based on its ARM chip, and now the companies are bringing Windows Server OS to ARM.
  For the first time ever, Microsoft is expected to show the Windows Server OS running on an ARM server. The server runs on Qualcomm's Centriq 2400, an ARM-based chip designed for cloud servers.
  The server is being shown at the Open Project Compute Summit being held in Santa Clara, California, on Wednesday and Thursday.The ARM-based Windows Server ha
  
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• How CRM buyers can negotiate the best deal

  08-03-2017 14:52
  
  CRM software buyers should choose wisely the first time because the software becomes so embedded in the organization that switching to a different vendor is unlikely, according to procurement analysts at market research firm IBIS World Inc.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The problem with the end-user computing environment

  08-03-2017 14:30
  
  At Everest Group, we’ve been looking at the end-user compute environment, the IT service desk area. Why? Because end-user compute is the IT area that garners the most dissatisfaction among business users. Interestingly, it’s also the lens through which IT’s success and value is most often viewed by the business executives, as it indicates customer satisfaction. The problem is it just doesn’t work well; in fact, it doesn’t make sense. The end-user computing environm
  
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• CIA false flag team repurposed Shamoon data wiper, other malware

  08-03-2017 14:29
  
  The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency documents published by WikiLeaks Tuesday shows that one of the agency's teams specializes in reusing bits of code and techniques from public malware samples.According to the leaked documents the Umbrage team is part of the Remote Development Branch under the CIA's Center for Cyber Intelligence. It maintains a library of techniques borrowed from in-the-wild malware that could be integrated into its own projects.To read this article in full or to leave a commen
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: What the Snap IPO means for the future of cloud infrastructure

  08-03-2017 14:27
  
  Millions of words have probably been written about the public market debut last week of Snap Inc., the parent of the social media service Snapchat.[ Related: Snap soars on IPO, now what? ]The IPO was the first tech-related issue of 2017, raised $3.4 billion, and when its first day of trading closed on Thursday, Snap’s $24.48-per share price valued it at north of $33 billion, making it the biggest debut since China’s Internet giant Alibaba debuted in a 2014 offering valued at $167 bil
  
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• Here’s how Microsoft has rethought its approach to email

  08-03-2017 13:30
  
  Two years ago, Microsoft made a massive shift in the way it approached the email market. In January 2015, the company launched Outlook for iOS and Android, free professional-grade email apps for two platforms that Microsoft previously underserved in that regard.
  Outlook for iOS and its Android sibling were special, because they supported Gmail, Yahoo and iCloud email, in addition to Microsoft’s Outlook.com, Office 365 and Exchange email offerings. While connecting to third party emai
  
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• These super-high-res aerial photos of Apple Park are stunning

  08-03-2017 12:52
  
  Apple’s new headquarters, Apple Park, is finally set to open to employees next month. We say “finally” because its construction has been a pretty epic process—its first mention on Macworld was way back in 2011, when Steve Jobs himself presented the initial plans to the Cupertino City Council.
  Now you can get a glimpse at that process in these high-res aerial images provided by Australian firm Nearmap—just click one to enlarge it, or go here to see the whole set. Th
  
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• Smackdown: Office 365 vs. G Suite collaboration

  08-03-2017 12:00
  
  Ever since I can remember, Silicon Valley has been enamored with the idea of group editing of documents. Very little good writing gets done that way, of course. It’s like the joke that a camel is a horse designed by committee. Office 365 vs. G Suite: Meeting collaborationTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Ryzen CPUs explained: Everything you need to know about AMD's disruptive multicore chips

  08-03-2017 12:00
  
  After a decade of fielding ho-hum FX-series processors, AMD’s finally released its highly disruptive Ryzen chips, throwing down the gauntlet and challenging Intel’s supremacy in high-end computing.
  AMD’s new Ryzen chips include several CPUs (and CPU families) of various levels of potency. What’s more, Ryzen introduces a completely new motherboard platform, and the processors require different memory and coolers than their predecessors. There’s a lot to sift through
  
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• Microsoft introduces new tools for Visual Studio, .Net Core

  08-03-2017 12:00
  
  Microsoft is making moves this week to improve tooling for both its Visual Studio IDE and .Net Core open source runtime.
  Ahead of the official debut of its Visual Studio 2017 IDE, which occurred Tuesday, Microsoft released its Power Productivity Tools for the IDE. The extensions include Custom Document Well, which provides configurable behavior for the Visual Studio document well; Solution Error Visualizer, which highlights errors and warnings in the Solution Explorer project view tool; Power C
  
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• Lifelong learning is no longer optional

  08-03-2017 12:00
  
  Years ago, a college degree virtually guaranteed the holder a good job and a good income. Times have changed. As the velocity of business and technology change continues to accelerate, the value of a college degree has shifted. Today, a college degree only helps new graduates enter the workforce; it is no longer sufficient for long-term career success. Soon, individuals will need to embrace lifelong learning to remain relevant in virtually every field.To read this article in full or to leave a c
  
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• Acer's Chromebook 11 N7: Tough and economical

  08-03-2017 12:00
  
  Do you need a rugged laptop that can stand up to being dropped, shaken and doused with water -- but you can't afford the price tag? Acer's answer is its touchscreen Chromebook 11 N7 (C731T), a hardened system that meets many (although not all) of the Army's rigorous MI-STD 810G requirements. And at $280 -- one-tenth what even a typical Windows 10 rugged tablet costs -- it's a tough bargain to beat.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Op de drempel van de cloud

  08-03-2017 11:59
  Nu steeds meer bedrijven de stap naar de cloud zetten (of dat overwegen), groeit de behoefte aan best practices en weldoordachte adviezen voor een soepele overgang. Van het inzetten van scrumteams tot het inrichten van een aparte ‘API-factory’: vier lessen die elke organisatie met cloudambities ter harte... lees meer
  
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• Onzekerheid de baas met hyper-converged 2.0

  08-03-2017 11:59
  Nu bedrijven hun groeistrategieën weer uit de kast hebben gehaald door de aantrekkende economie, mogen ze hun IT-infrastructuur niet verwaarlozen. Deze moet wel gelijke tred houden met de groei van de organisatie. Hoe zorg je ervoor dat de IT hierop berekend is?Economische groei en technologische vooruitgang... lees meer
  
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• What's the value in attack attribution?

  08-03-2017 11:55
  
  For those who pursue forensic analysis with the hope of identifying and prosecuting an attacker, they likely will find that the time spent on attack attribution is fruitless.
  If, however, they are looking to use what they gain through attack attribution to inform their overall security procedures from prevention to response, the effort yields valuable results.
  Many experts in the industry have questioned whether there is any value to attribution. SafeBreach CTO & co-founder Itzik Kotler sai
  
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• 6 cloud computing savings you may be missing out on

  08-03-2017 11:22
  
  Hidden costs?Image by ThinkstockAs more organizations deploy applications in the cloud to meet demand spikes, cost is a major consideration. Often, businesses start comparing service charges and the cost of renting or buying nodes, making a list of all of the things that matter to each option: computing in the cloud, renting compute capacity for some amount of time, or adding servers to the permanent arsenal. While these contributing factors may seem obvious and the math relatively straightforwa
  
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• How pay transparency and equity help employers retain workers

  08-03-2017 11:00
  
  More than ever, companies are updating their compensation strategy and practice to build more trusting relationships with their workforce, emphasizing pay transparency and equity, according to the 2017 Compensation Best Practices Report from cloud compensation services company PayScale.
  The 2017 Compensation Best Practices Report (CBPR) is based on data from 7,700 executives, line of business managers, human resource leaders and compensation practitioners, and reflects current attitudes about co
  
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• US senator probes into CloudPets smart toy hack

  08-03-2017 09:07
  A U.S. senator is probing reports of a breach of data from smart toys from Spiral Toys, writing to the company’s CEO a letter with ten questions about the issue, including about the company’s security practices.Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, wrote in a letter Tuesday to CEO Mark Meyers that the breach raises serious questions concerning how well the company protects the information it collects, particularly from children.Nelson also said that the incident raises questions about the
  
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• US Senate resolution aims to roll back privacy rules for ISPs

  08-03-2017 07:55
  
  A resolution introduced in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday aims to roll back privacy rules for broadband service providers that were approved by the Federal Communications Commission in October.The rules include the requirement that internet service providers like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon should obtain "opt-in" consent from consumers to use and share sensitive personal information such as geolocation and web browsing history, and also give customers the option to opt out from the sharing of non
  
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• Microsoft's Visual Studio 2017 hits general availability

  08-03-2017 03:42
  
  Microsoft’s tools for developers hit another milestone Tuesday, when the company made Visual Studio 2017 generally available. As the name implies, this is the next major release of Microsoft’s integrated development environment.
  It’s aimed at providing tools for developers to create modern apps for the cloud, mobile platforms and more. The software gained a Xamarin Forms previewer that lets users view a mobile user interface for iOS and Android apps as they’re writing XA
  
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• CIA-made malware? Now antivirus vendors can find out

  08-03-2017 03:15
  
  Thanks to WikiLeaks, antivirus vendors will soon be able to figure out if you have been hacked by the CIA.
  On Tuesday, WikiLeaks dumped a trove of 8,700 documents that allegedly detail the CIA’s secret hacking operations, including spying tools designed for mobile phones, PCs and smart TVs.
  WikiLeaks has redacted the actual source code from the files to prevent the distribution of cyber weapons, it said. Nevertheless, the document dump -- if real -- still exposes some of the techniques th
  
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• Nvidia's Pascal-powered Jetson TX2 computer blows away Raspberry Pi

  08-03-2017 03:00
  
  The Raspberry Pi may be the most widely know board computer being sold, but Nvidia's Jetson TX2 is one of the fastest.The Jetson TX2, unveiled Tuesday, is a full Linux computer on a tiny board the size of a Raspberry Pi. It's designed to help make robots, drones and other devices that rely on computer vision applications.The board's main attraction is a GPU based on Nvidia's latest Pascal architecture, which is also in the company's fastest GPUs, like the Tesla P100. The Pascal GPU brings comput
  
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