IT Executive news

• Google Jacquard’s denim Levi’s jacket proves smart clothing isn’t a dumb idea

  14-03-2017 22:11
  When Google announced plans to make smart clothing back in 2015 with Project Jacquard, I was intrigued but skeptical. I’ve worn sensor-filled clothes before, and they end up being more gimmicky than practical. But after trying on the first Jacquard product, a denim Levi’s jacket, I’m a believer.
  My biggest issue with wearable technology is that devices tend to be focused more on technology than wearability. But the Jacquard jacket is a piece of tech you’ll actually want
  
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• Google Hangouts won't disappear for consumers despite enterprise focus

  14-03-2017 22:03
  
  While Google Hangouts is making a shift to serve enterprise users, it won’t be vanishing for consumers.
  Last week, the company announced that it would be splitting the chat and videoconferencing service into Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat, which raised questions about what would happen for those people who still use it in their personal lives.
  Consumers will still be able to access Hangouts using their personal Google accounts. Hangouts will still appear in the Gmail sidebar on the deskt
  
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• AWS follows Google with Reserved Instance flexibility changes

  14-03-2017 21:50
  
  Customers who have Reserved Instance contracts with Amazon Web Services will be able to subdivide some of their Linux and Unix virtual machine instances while maintaining their capacity discounts, thanks to pricing changes announced Monday.Reserved Instances allow customers to lock themselves into paying AWS for a certain amount of compute capacity with the company's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) in exchange for a discount off its list price. To read this article in full or to leave a comment
  
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• US Army shows off its 'hoverbike' delivery drone

  14-03-2017 21:31
  
  It's been a year since the U.S. Army began researching the use of a British-built hoverbike as an autonomous delivery drone for battlefields, and it recently showed off its progress.The Army is hoping to develop the drone so that it can fly supplies to troops in combat zones, removing the need for risky ground transport missions.It boasts some impressive stats for carrying out such missions: The drone, dubbed the Joint Tactical Aerial Resupply Vehicle (JTARV) in military-speak, has four rot
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Has the Holy Grail of batteries finally arrived?

  14-03-2017 21:31
  
  There has been a lot of talk recently about how technologies like the Internet of Things and AI will change things for everyone. But while those changes are important, 2017 could also be the year where major advances in battery technology change our lives as well.In fact, most of us deal with lithium-ion batteries more than we deal with AI or the Internet of Things. You probably remember the Samsung Galaxy Note debacle last year, where the phones exploded and set on fire precisely because of fau
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why adopting microservices is easy in theory, but not reality

  14-03-2017 21:19
  
  Enterprise CTOs have microservices on the mind. After relying for years on monolithic stacks, these IT leaders are trading in their old architectures for independently deployable systems and granular, lightweight services.Speed and agility are what these CTOs are after, and microservices can deliver—phenomenally, in fact. Microservices can empower companies to leave behind large, slow-moving teams and complex deployments, and to shift to agile, independent teams delivering on their own cad
  
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• Microsoft stays security bulletins' termination

  14-03-2017 21:17
  
  Microsoft today postponed the retirement of the security bulletins that for nearly two decades have described in detail the month's slate of vulnerabilities and accompanying patches.
  The bulletins' last stand was originally scheduled for January, with a replacement process ready to step in Feb. 14. Rather than a set of bulletins, Microsoft was to provide a searchable database of support documents dubbed the "Security Updates Guide" or SUG.
  But just hours before February's security updates were
  
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• BrandPost: Protectionism and Outsourcing: Brace for Impact

  14-03-2017 21:16
  
  Consider 3 factors: Risk, Automation and Power of Social MediaThe new U.S. administration has made it clear that protectionist policies and immigration reform are important priorities. As a result, organizations dealing with strategies regarding the use of offshore resources have been carefully watching what transpires, from campaign promises and press conferences to the President’s tweets. The question is, what do these potential policy changes mean for organizations using third-party ser
  
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• Thieves steal Petya ransomware then use it for free

  14-03-2017 20:57
  
  Crooks are stealing code from the purveyors of Petya ransomware and using it to extort money from innocent victims, stiffing the creators of the malware out of the cut they are supposed to get.
  Rather than following the rules of licensing Petya, another criminal group is stealing and modifying the ransomware so they can use it without paying, according to the SecureList blog by researchers at Kaspersky Lab.
  +More on Network World: DARPA fortifies early warning system for power-grid cyber assaul
  
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• BrandPost: Automation and AI are coming for IT jobs. Here’s how to keep yours.

  14-03-2017 20:54
  
  Cloud computing was the first major attack on IT teams.  It shattered our role as “procurement gatekeepers” for every new technology purchase, forcing us to find new ways to add value to the business.Now, an even greater threat is coming.  Forrester predicts that by 2025, technologies like robots, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and automation will replace 7% (or 22.7 million) jobs in the US alone.  It won’t just be blue-collar jobs operating fact
  
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• FAQ: What in the wireless world is CBRS?

  14-03-2017 19:43
  
  First off, CBRS is an acronym for Citizens Broadband Radio Service, and the upshot for enterprise IT pros is that it could result in improved LTE services from service providers as well as enable enterprises to build their own private LTE networks (See also: "The big CBRS promise: Private LTE networks"). Here’s a primer on CBRS — because you are going to want to know about this.
  Citizens Band/CB, as in CB radio?
  No, good buddy, this has nothing to do with the Citizens’ Band ra
  
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• DOJ: No, we won't say how much the FBI paid to hack terrorist's iPhone

  14-03-2017 19:31
  
  The U.S. Department of Justice yesterday argued that it should not have to reveal the maker of a tool used last year to crack an alleged terrorist's iPhone or disclose how much it paid for the hacking job, court documents showed.
  That tool was used last year by the FBI to access a password-protectediPhone 5C previously owned by Syed Rizwan Farook, who along with his wife, Tafsheen Malik, killed 14 in San Bernardino, Calif., in December 2015. The two died in a shootout with police later that day
  
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• 42% off AcuRite 5-in-1 Pro Weather Station with Remote Monitoring - Deal Alert

  14-03-2017 19:24
  
  This high-precision 5-in-1 wireless weather sensor from AcuRite accurately measures the temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction and rain. PC Connect feature interfaces with a Windows computer via USB, allowing you to remotely view your weather from anywhere. Set up programmable weather alarms for temperature, humidity, wind, rain, dew point, heat index and storm alerts, as well as email and text alerts to notify you when conditions change or your presets are reached. The weather s
  
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• Hackers use dangerous Petya ransomware in targeted attacks

  14-03-2017 19:06
  
  In a case of no honor among thieves, a group of attackers has found a way to hijack the Petya ransomware and use it in targeted attacks against companies without the program creators' knowledge.A computer Trojan dubbed PetrWrap, being used in attacks against enterprise networks, installs Petya on computers and then patches it on the fly to suit its needs, according to security researchers from antivirus vendor Kaspersky Lab.The Trojan uses programmatic methods to trick Petya to use a differ
  
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• You can now send and receive money right in the Android Gmail app

  14-03-2017 18:53
  
  If you’ve ever been writing an email on your Android phone and wished there was a way to send or request money without switching to the Venmo, Square, or Google Wallet apps, your prayers have been answered. Rolling out today via a Play Store update, Google will now allow you to easily attach payments to Gmail messages.
  While the feature has been available in the Gmail web client for several years, it’s new to the Android app. And it’s not limited to your contacts that have a G
  
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• Prime Members Get 67% off NETGEAR N150 Wi-Fi Range Extender - Deal Alert

  14-03-2017 18:41
  
  If your home has dead zones or areas where coverage is weak, boost your existing WiFi coverage with the Netgear N150 WiFi extender. For a limited time Amazon will sell it to Amazon Prime members (or anyone with a free trial, located here) for a significant 67% off its list price, or just $14.67. See this deal now on Amazon. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Open-source BeagleBone Blue board aims for robots, drones

  14-03-2017 18:26
  
  Before Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone was the go-to low-cost developer board for enthusiasts. It's still used by many, and a new BeagleBone board is now being targeted at robots.The US $79.95 BeagleBone Blue from BeagleBoard.org is a credit-card sized board with all the components needed to operate a robot or even a drone. It is open source, as its schematics have been published, and developers can replicate the board.Robots have unique requirements, and some computer boards specialize
  
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• Five tips to be ‘security smart’ this tax season

  14-03-2017 18:13
  W2 pleaseImage by ThinkstockTax season is upon us and, as individuals and companies alike prepare for April 15, it’s important that they take steps to ensure their most valuable information remains secure. In an effort to get Social Security numbers and other sensitive data, hackers may target privileged users such as HR or finance personnel, or even look outside the company to breach the accounts of vendors or other third-party providers. Phishing attacks are also increasingly common duri
  
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• 48% off ZeroLemon ToughJuice USB-C 30000mAh Power Bank Charger for Apple MacBook, iPhone, Google Pixel XL, Samsung & More - Deal Alert

  14-03-2017 17:07
  
  ZeroLemon describes their ToughJuice power bank as the world's toughest external battery pack, with 30000mAh capacity and a rugged anti-shock exterior. With enough juice to get you up and running again and again on a single charge, ToughJuice provides up to ten charges to a smartphone, two charges to a tablet or multiple charges to nearly any other device. It features four USB ports (1 QuickCharge 2.0 port, with legacy 5V/2A support and 3 Ports for 1A charging) but more importantly it
  
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• Samsung is finally moving to monthly updates for unlocked Galaxy phones

  14-03-2017 17:04
  All Samsung phones are not created equally, and as such, each has its own update schedule. Each carrier sells its own model that is updated on its own terms, but you can also buy unlocked versions that get updates straight from the company. You’d think the latter phones are prioritized for Android updates, that’s not the case. But it looks like that’s about to change.
  While every major carrier has pushed its own Nougat update for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge over the past couple
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: macOS: How to enable Night Shift

  14-03-2017 16:56
  
  Staring at a computer screen late at night can be bad for your sleep. Flux is an application that many Mac users have used to change the colors of their display so they see warmer colors after dark. I've used it for a long time on my iMac and it has worked very well for me.
  Now Apple has created its own version of Flux called Night Shift that lets you do the same thing. To use Night Shift you need macOS Sierra 10.12.4, which is still in beta as I write this post. But once macOS Sierra 10.12.4 i
  
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• The NSA's foreign surveillance: 5 things to know

  14-03-2017 16:55
  A contentious piece of U.S. law giving the National Security Agency broad authority to spy on people overseas expires at the end of the year. Expect heated debate about the scope of U.S. surveillance law leading up to Dec. 31.One major issue to watch involves the way the surveillance treats communications from U.S. residents. Critics say U.S. emails, texts, and chat logs -- potentially millions of them -- are caught up in surveillance authorized by Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligen
  
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• The big CBRS promise: private enterprise LTE wireless networks

  14-03-2017 16:45
  
  If you can get past that unappealing acronym, you just might find that CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) is worth paying attention to as a serious wireless network alternative for enterprises in the not-too-distant future.
  It’s been hard to ignore CBRS of late, as everyone from Google to the big carriers to GE has been touting the potential benefits of indoor and outdoor LTE services within shared 3.5 GHz spectrum opened up by the FCC for commercial use. We’re talking carrier-
  
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• Microsoft ratchets up group chat competition with Teams launch

  14-03-2017 16:41
  
  Microsoft’s work chat app Teams hit general availability on Tuesday, as part of the company’s push to compete with Slack, HipChat, Google and other players in the group chat market.Teams is designed to help groups of people collaborate at work by letting them communicate in real time. Users can take part in multiple Teams, which provide space for group conversations in a series of channels.Each channel can include integrations of third-party developer content, so users can do things
  
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• Microsoft Teams readies for battle in highly contested collaboration space

  14-03-2017 16:36
  
  Microsoft today released its app for enterprise collaboration in a bid to solidify its Office 365 suite with a chat-based workspace that integrates with other Microsoft apps including OneDrive, Word, Excel and others. Microsoft Teams, which has been in beta since November, is now widely available to all Office 365 customers in 181 markets and in 19 languages.
  "Microsoft Teams completes our universal toolkit in Office 365 for collaboration," says Ron Markezich, corporate vice president in charge
  
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• Review: Microsoft Teams almost as bad as its beta

  14-03-2017 16:30
  
  For months now, we’ve been hearing about Microsoft Teams, Microsoft’s much-heralded Slack killer for corporate chat. It’s now in official release (what Microsoft calls “general availability”) as part of Microsoft’s Office 365 enterprise plans. Sadly, Teams is underwhelming in its formal debut and definitely not a match for the hype Microsoft has been providing since October 2016. For a product so late to market, Microsoft should have delivered much more.To re
  
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• Microsoft Teams: What to expect if your company switches

  14-03-2017 16:30
  Microsoft Teams may be the new chat application that you don’t even know you’re going to use. Beginning Tuesday, businesses who subscribe to Office 365 have access to Teams, Microsoft's free app addressing the rise of real-time chat for interoffice communication. At any minute, you could get an email saying your office is moving to this app. We spent some time using it so you'll know what to expect.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Sto
  
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• Head-scratching ways companies screw up Wi-Fi

  14-03-2017 15:55
  
  Network World has been covering network technologies for 30+ years now, and sometimes we assume that everyone knows what they’re doing when it comes to installing, configuring and using this stuff. But then we run across some examples where consumers and businesses are still not completely familiar with the gear.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45: Hands on with the swankiest Wear watch of all

  14-03-2017 15:48
  
  Somewhere on the grand continuum of gadget nerdlery, there’s a consumer who will buy a very expensive—almost recklessly expensive—Android Wear watch. TAG Heuer had a surprise hit with its original TAG Heuer Connected, and now it’s embracing Android Wear 2.0 with the Connected Modular 45, an incredibly swank, finely machined, lusciously tactile smartwatch.
  No, make that a family. It’s a smartwatch family. No, scratch that. It’s a smartwatch system. Officially
  
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• More iPad screen sizes unlikely to stop slump

  14-03-2017 15:44
  
  Apple would be smart to make good on speculation about new iPad screen sizes, a pair of analysts said today.
  "The tablet has evolved from a general-purpose device to more of a specialized device," argued Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst at Technalysis Research, when asked about long-circulating rumors of a coming expansion to the iPad line. "Certain sizes are better optimized for more specialized applications."
  Talk of additional iPads -- notably one with a 10.5-in. screen -- has circulated for mon
  
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• 27% off Corsair STRAFE RGB Mechanical Gaming Backlit Multicolor Keyboard - Deal Alert

  14-03-2017 14:54
  
  The Corsair STRAFE RGB mechanical gaming keyboard features 100% Cherry MX gaming key switches - Unique gold-cross point contacts for incredible reliability, durability, and precision.  Cherry MX Red key switches are extremely responsive, with a smooth, linear response and a wide actuation zone, and no audible click or tactile “bump”.  The keyboard features multi-color dynamic backlighting - Brilliant RGB backlighting that immerses you in the game with virtually unlimit
  
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• How one CIO closed the IT-business gap

  14-03-2017 14:37
  
  CIOs often lament the gap between business and IT, a common paradox that frequently creates inefficiencies that bog down business operations. Sankara “Vishi” Viswanathan, CIO of Day & Zimmermann, tackled such a challenge last year, bolstering a shared services model to better serve customers across the $2.8 billion company’s four distinct business lines."We're going to ensure our people providing services in the back-office can be digitally enabled to provide answers to the
  
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• Slechte administratie softwaregebruik potentieel groot risico voor Nederlandse bedrijven

  14-03-2017 14:33
  Sinds 2001 zijn de bedrijfsuitgaven aan software met 80% gestegen (CBS). Bij het grootste deel van de Nederlandse ondernemingen is echter niet bekend wat hun software kost. Er bestaat amper inzicht in het daadwerkelijke gebruik, er wordt weinig geadministreerd en er is nauwelijks aandacht voor risicobeheer. Daarop... lees meer
  
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• Why the subscription economy is the future of business

  14-03-2017 14:09
  
  Zuora aims to win the next IT stack war – but it’s probably not the stack war that’s comes most readily to your mind. Tien Tzuo, CEO and co-founder of Zuora, wants to own the application stack that drives your subscription business and he believes that virtually every company will be a subscription business before long.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• 10 ways Google improved its cloud at NEXT

  14-03-2017 13:21
  
  Google cloud is seen by analysts as an up and comer. Company executives will even admit that the past few years Google has not had everything it needs to compete for enterprise customers in the IaaS public cloud market against Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and even IBM.
  But they will also tell you that Google is ready now.
  +MORE FROM NETWORK WORLD: Google Cloud President of Customers talks courting enterprises, competing with Amazon and Microsoft +
  Last week Google held NEXT, its user co
  
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• Mark Cuban on pitching, predictions, and the President: ‘Disrupters are everything’

  14-03-2017 13:20
  
  The focus of Mark Cuban’s Q&A at South by Southwest was supposed to be about government disruption, and he was supposed to hype up the Austin-based insurance company The Zebra, one of his newest investments. But Cuban, everyone’s favorite love-to-hate billionaire entrepreneur and Shark Tank star, had a few other topics in mind. You might say that the charismatic Cuban disrupted his own session. Here are the five standout anecdotes, stories, and lessons he decided to share. 
  
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• MapR unveils platform for IoT analytics at the edge

  14-03-2017 13:05
  
  At Strata + Hadoop World in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, MapR Technologies took the wraps off a new small footprint edition of its Converged Data Platform geared for capturing, processing and analyzing data from internet of things (IoT) devices at the edge.MapR Edge, designed to work in conjunction with the core MapR Converged Enterprise Edition, provides local processing, aggregation of insights at the core and the ability to then push intelligence back to the edge.To read this article in full or
  
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• Playing the name game with Intel’s object recognition software

  14-03-2017 13:00
  
  Intel does a lot of the heavy lifting to power some of our most-used products, working silently behind the scenes to make things run. But South by Southwest is far from a subtle, behind-the-scenes kind of place—and Intel’s pop-up lounge was full of demos that showed off what the company is doing in the AI space.
  My favorite demo may not have been flashy, but it showed off a key component of machine learning: object recognition. I held up a series of photos showing a wide variety of
  
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• It's time to turn on HTTPS: the benefits are well worth the effort

  14-03-2017 13:00
  
  After Edward Snowden revealed that online communications were being collected en masse by some of the world's most powerful intelligence agencies, security experts called for encryption of the entire web. Four years later, it looks like we've passed the tipping point.
  The number of websites supporting HTTPS -- HTTP over encrypted SSL/TLS connections -- has skyrocketed over the past year. There are many benefits to turning on encryption, so if your website not yet support the technology it's tim
  
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• Are truly wireless earbuds (like AirPods) safe?

  14-03-2017 13:00
  
  "Truly wireless" Bluetooth earbuds, like Apple’s AirPods, are cool and convenient. AirPods are both a runaway success, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Slice Intelligence, and a runway success — check out how Kristen Stewart rocks her AirPods.But does inserting tiny transmitters in your ears expose you to cancer or other health risks? It’s a timely question. While AirPods can still be hard to get (expect a six-week shipping delay when ordering from Apple’s website), ot
  
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• 10 cities with the happiest CIOs

  14-03-2017 12:27
  
  Cities with the happiest CIOsImage by ThinkstockThe role of CIO has never been more important as companies across every industry embrace cloud infrastructures, artificial intelligence and automation. It's an exciting time to be a CIO, but three things can make it even better: Location, location, location.Where you live has a more to do with your happiness than you might think. Robert Half Technologies surveyed over 2,500 CIOs in the U.S. in 25 major metropolis areas to find where the happiest CI
  
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• Why Intel put a smartphone chip in Tag Heuer's $1,600 smartwatch

  14-03-2017 12:15
  
  Do smartwatches need upgrades every few years like PCs? It's not clear yet, but Intel's powerful chip in the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45, a US $1,600 luxury smartwatch, will ensure the wearable isn't outdated anytime soon.The smartwatch, which runs Android Wear 2.0, uses Intel's Atom Z34XX, a smartphone chip. The Atom processor seems like overkill but extends the wearable's shelf life and adds processing power for artificial intelligence, a feature Google is building in Android Wear.The
  
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• How to get diversity initiatives right

  14-03-2017 12:07
  
  Despite the increased attention paid to diversity in tech, problem persists, according to new research from job search site Indeed, and that's negatively impacting companies' bottom lines. Addressing the issue requires a focus not only on diversity, but on inclusion to create a welcoming environment where talent can truly thrive.
  Indeed polled 1,002 U.S. technology workers in December 2016, and found that 24 percent of respondents felt they had been personally discriminated against at their curr
  
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• Windows Vista has just 30 days to live

  14-03-2017 11:30
  
  In a month’s time, Microsoft will put Windows Vista to rest once and for all. If you’re one of the few people still using it, you have just a few weeks to find another option before time runs out.
  After April 11, 2017, Microsoft will no longer support Windows Vista: no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options, or online technical content updates, Microsoft says. (Mainstream Vista support expired in 2012.) Like it did for Windows XP, Microsof
  
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• How CIOs cope when mobile app development goes rogue

  14-03-2017 11:00
  
  When Independence Blue Cross released its first mobile app in 2012, it simultaneously embraced the tech trend of the moment and perpetuated the legacy of shadow IT.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• 10 must-ask questions for evaluating EDR tools

  14-03-2017 10:59
  
  Endpoint detection and response (EDR) products give IT staff visibility into endpoints for detecting malicious activity, analyzing data and providing appropriate response. EDR is part of a burgeoning security market, peppered with well-known vendors such as Carbon Black, Cisco, CrowdStrike and FireEye.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Mirai is the hydra of IoT security: too many heads to cut off

  14-03-2017 01:30
  Efforts to stop Mirai, a malware found infecting thousands of IoT devices, have become a game of whack-a-mole, with differing opinions over whether hackers or the security community are making any headway.
  The malicious code became publicly available in late September. Since then, it’s been blamed for enslaving IoT devices such as DVRs and internet cameras to launch massive distributed denial-of-service attacks, one of which disrupted internet access across the U.S. in October.
  The good n
  
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• Despite 5G, LTE will be even bigger five years from now

  14-03-2017 00:13
  
  In 2022, even after 5G has officially launched, 4G will be bigger than ever.An ABI Research report released Monday reinforces what mobile operators and network builders have been saying about the move to 5G: It will be a gradual transition, not a wholesale replacement. Over the next decade or more, LTE will remain in use and and offer some of the same benefits as 5G. In some cases, it might be hard to tell the difference.LTE carries about 67 percent of all mobile traffic now, ABI says. By 2022,
  
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• Electric Eve is a vision of the autonomous car future

  14-03-2017 00:04
  
  Chinese startup Nio says it will have autonomous electric cars on U.S. roads by 2020. The company made the announcement at the SXSW conference on Friday, on the same day that it showed off its Eve concept car. Eve is both autonomous and electric. The vehicle is governed by an AI agent named Nomi that continuously learns about passengers' preferences and needs. The car can fit up to six individuals and its glass windows can display both video for entertainment as well as gauges for when the car i
  
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