IT Executive news

• IDG Contributor Network: 7 reasons why content is still king in 2017

  27-03-2017 23:10
  
  Content has dominated the marketing industry for several years, as brands strive to reach today’s customers where they spend the most time: online. Whether it’s regular blog posts on your own website, guest posts on high-profile online publications, or visuals you share on social media, content is still the best way to connect with your customers.“Content is the backbone of any drive to interact with your readers or customers. It is the most important opportunity you have to im
  
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• Best Places to Work in IT: Search the archives 1994-2016

  27-03-2017 22:45
  
  Every year since 1994, Computerworld has published a list of the 100 Best Places to Work in IT. Want to see if a potential employer has ever been on the list, or which organizations have earned a spot on the list in multiple years? Use the search box to find a specific organization name, or browse the listings below.
  To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• MIT researchers set out to create self-assembling chips

  27-03-2017 22:34
  
  One of the hottest topics in robotics is self-assembly, and any technique that requires no human intervention is of special interest.The technology is also highly desirable for chips. Computing devices are shrinking thanks to smaller chips, which are reaching their physical limits.Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago have come up with a unique technique for self-assembling that could be used to cram more features onto small chip geometries.The
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How to keep ransomware from human resources

  27-03-2017 22:15
  
  Ransomware is not your friend. It’s lurking out there to take over your computer and business systems to extort money from you. Keeping this wolf from your door takes some doing.The sneak attacks come attached to emails. When opened, these attachments infect your computer and lock it up until you pay the ransom demanded. According to Infosec Institute, “Small businesses usually lack sophisticated computer defenses thus making them very vulnerable. An overwhelming majority, some repor
  
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• Microsoft paces delivery of Windows 10 upgrades

  27-03-2017 22:12
  
  If Microsoft orchestrates next month's Microsoft Windows 10 upgrade as it did 2016's mid-year Anniversary Update refresh, it will take about three months for the latest version to reach most eligible devices.According to advertising network AdDuplex, 60 days after the Aug. 2, 2016, introduction of Windows 10 1607 -- aka Anniversary Update -- just 35% of measured Windows 10 PCs were running the upgrade. By the 90-day mark, however, that number had soared to 80%, showing that Microsoft, after a pu
  
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• Samsung may retake momentum with the S8 smartphone

  27-03-2017 22:09
  
  Samsung has a lot riding on its next smartphone, the Galaxy S8, which debuts on Wednesday at an event in New York City.Reports on new features of the S8 have been unusually abundant. Many of the reports were confirmed by Computerworld with seven industry insiders who spoke on the condition they not be named.According to these sources, both the S8 and S8 Plus:will be larger than the last generation;
  will have no physical home button;
  will have facial recognition, in addition to a fingerprint scan
  
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• Consumers sue Microsoft, allege Windows 10 upgrade destroyed data, damaged PCs

  27-03-2017 21:48
  
  Three people from Illinois last week sued Microsoft, claiming that the free Windows 10 upgrade they had installed on their PCs caused "data loss and damage to their computers."Lawyers for the trio asked a Chicago federal court Thursday to grant the case class-action status, which would allow other Americans to join the litigation."Many consumers have had their hard drives fail because of the Windows 10 installation," alleged the complaint. "Many consumers have had their existing software and dat
  
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• Apple wins China patent battle over iPhone 6 design

  27-03-2017 21:43
  Apple has fended off a claim that the iPhone 6’s design infringed a patent from a little-known local company in China.Shenzhen Baili had claimed that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus bore striking similarities to the products from its parent company, Digione. But on Friday, Beijing’s intellectual property court disagreed and ruled in favor of Apple.The product designs of the two companies contain differences, the court said. For instance, Apple’s iPhone 6 contains a symmetrical exterior
  
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• Proliferation of digital leaders brings confusion, power struggles

  27-03-2017 21:39
  
  Companies are banking on digital technologies to bring them closer to their customers. But the growing spread of digital responsibilities among CIO, chief digital officer, chief innovation officer, chief marketing officer and other roles can lead to confusion and power struggles in the C-suite, adversely impacting the corporate performance, according to Digital McKinsey.A third of 700 IT and business executives polled by the consultancy said that they didn't know which leader in their company wa
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: County and municipal cybersecurity, Part 1

  27-03-2017 21:33
  
  The cybersecurity risk to local government
  Weak or nonexistent cybersecurity programs represent a massive organizational risk for county and municipal government agencies in the United States. County and municipal executives are often unaware of these risks because they assume that their IT director, their CIO or an external vendor is managing security and addressing the risks. It is rare that such an assumption is correct.While the Ponemon Institute[i] found that “federal organizations ha
  
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• Intel's next-gen hyperfast Optane SSDs for PCs to ship in April

  27-03-2017 20:21
  
  Intel will begin shipping its next-generation non-volatile Optane memory for PCs beginning April 24.
  Intel, which developed the Optane memory with its partner Micron under the name "3D Xpoint," said the new storage will allow PCs to boot twice as fast and increase internal storage performance by 14 times.
  Additionally, Intel claims the mass storage devices will launch applications faster. For example, Microsoft Outlook will launch up to 5.8 times faster; games will launch up to 67% faster; and
  
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• Micron to ship Intel Optane competitor later this year

  27-03-2017 19:43
  
  Intel's spanking new high-capacity Optane SSD is cool, but drives from other storage vendors based on the 3D Xpoint technology could be coming later this year.Micron will start shipping its 3D Xpoint memory technology -- branded QuantX --  later this year, which will go into SSDs offered by storage makers. The company made that announcement during an earnings call on Friday.Intel and Micron co-developed 3D Xpoint. Intel says Optane is significantly faster and could replace conventional SSDs
  
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• 3D-printed partial liver transplants targeted for 2020

  27-03-2017 19:42
  
  In as little as three years, patients awaiting a liver transplant may be able to donate healthy cells and have them replicated through a 3D printer into a dollar-sized piece of tissue that can extend their lives.
  San Diego-based bio-printing company Organovo has already shown that its 3D printed liver tissue patches have continued to function when implanted into mice. Next step: human beings.
  The 10-year-old company developed a bioprinting process that can be tailored to produce tissue in a var
  
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• If you think ransomware is a user failure, you’re a failure

  27-03-2017 19:41
  
  In the last week, I saw several articles stating that users are responsible for most ransomware infections. It is a very specious argument in that, yes, a user inevitably has to click on a link or download a file that then is activated and encrypts the hard drive. There are no common worm-like ransomware variants that infect systems without user interactions.
  Given that, it is therefore easy to blame users for causing ransomware infections of their own systems. However, the reality is that for
  
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• Apple's 2016 supplier sustainability report shows labor, environmental improvements

  27-03-2017 19:25
  
  Apple takes environmental sustainability seriously, but producing electronic devices that don’t cause harm to the earth or the people who make those devices requires the efforts of Apple’s suppliers, too. That’s why the company enforces standards for its partners, and according to Apple’s 11th annual supplier sustainability progress report, 2016 saw dramatic improvements.
  Apple audited 705 suppliers and found 98 percent compliance with a 60-hour maximum work week, a new
  
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• Samsung announces plan to refurbish and resell some Note7s that didn't explode

  27-03-2017 19:18
  
  Don’t be alarmed if you happen to see someone using a Galaxy Note7 over the summer. Ahead of this week’s Galaxy S8 unveiling, Samsung has announced a three-point program for recycling of its failed phablets, and some of them will eventually make their way back into consumers’ hands.
  The press release doesn’t specify how many of the phones will be returned to the wild, but Samsung confirms it will be using some returned devices as “refurbished phones or rental
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why APIs are key to closing the IT delivery gap

  27-03-2017 19:08
  
  I believe that we’re witnessing a new revolution take hold: The Fourth Industrial Revolution, where companies can spring up in a matter of weeks, scale globally and turn entire industries upside down. In this technological revolution, no company, large or small, is safe from disruption. Large organizations with calcified processes and monolithic infrastructures are especially at risk. To effectively compete with fast-moving startups, large organizations must learn how to drive agility and
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: The rise of the data marketplace

  27-03-2017 18:50
  
  It’s heady times for data. Big data, data lakes, data-as-a-service, data breaches—a week can’t go by without a headline mentioning data.  Certainly, businesses are aggressively investing in harnessing their data as an asset to drive strategic insights, automate complex processes, and personalize customer experiences.  Companies are doubling down on data security, and at the same time starting to package insights as information products.All this energy is turning up th
  
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• Skype for Business admins get tool to diagnose call problems

  27-03-2017 18:48
  
  IT administrators who manage a fleet of Skype for Business users will have an easier time of diagnosing and fixing problems that may arise for them. Microsoft unveiled the beta of a new Call Analytics Dashboard on Monday, which is supposed to provide admins with a diagnosis of issues that users are having on a call.
  There are several different issues that could arise and cause a degradation in call quality, which is why these analytics are helpful. If a user complains about a call only working
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 5 key components in getting IT projects approved

  27-03-2017 18:15
  
  IT managers and CIOs can struggle when it comes to getting their projects approved. It's usually because they lack one or more of the key pieces you need to get an IT project approved and funded.Think of this scenario for just a moment:The CEO of a small company sees his CIO walking down the hall and toward his office to talk with him. The CEO quite often wants to find a way out of the room to avoid having this conversation.Why?Because he knows two things are going to occur in this meeting with
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Will Apple ever update the Mac mini?

  27-03-2017 18:02
  
  Apple’s Mac mini has never gotten the attention or prominence awarded to the company’s iPhone or iPad devices. Yet the Mac mini has served many users quite well over the years, and it has provided a cheaper entrance into Apple’s desktop ecosystem.But, as I write this post, it has been 893 days since the last Mac mini was released in October of 2014. At this point the popular MacRumors Buying Guide has the Mac mini listed as a “Don’t Buy” product, and I don&rsq
  
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• 5 burning questions with new IETF Chair and Cisco Fellow Alissa Cooper

  27-03-2017 17:56
  
  When the Internet Engineering Task Force meets this week in Chicago it will have a new chair – Cisco Fellow Alissa Cooper. Cooper will be the first woman to hold the position as the standards-setting body continues its work to improve all things internet technology-related.
  The Stanford and Oxford graduate comes to the job having worked with Cisco since 2014 in its collaboration business and the IETF since 2008.
  Jonathan Rosenberg, Cisco Fellow and Vice President, CTO for Cisco's Collabor
  
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• 10 powerful, obscure Windows keyboard shortcuts you should know

  27-03-2017 17:40
  
  We’re big fans of keyboard shortcuts. Memorizing key combinations takes some work, but once you have, shortcuts make using an operating system so much more efficient.
  Many people know the everyday keyboard shortcuts, such as how to copy, cut, and paste text with the keyboard, how to close a window, and how to lock a PC.
  That’s a solid start—but there are even more powerful keyboard shortcuts lurking beyond the basics. Here are some of our favorite less commonly used shortcuts.
  
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• 21% off Roku Premiere+ Streaming Media Player - Deal Alert

  27-03-2017 16:09
  
  Get powerful performance, stunning 4K and HDR picture quality, and an advanced remote for an amazing streaming experience. The new Roku Premiere+ is for HD & 4K Ultra HD TVs. It delivers ultra-smooth quad-core streaming, brilliant 4K resolution at 60fps, vibrant HDR color, access to 450,000+ movies and TV episodes across 4,500+ paid or free channels, and a handy point anywhere remote.  The Roku Premiere+ list price has been reduced a significant 21% to $79. See the deal now on Amaz
  
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• 46% off HDMI Female to Female Coupler 2-Pack, Gold Plated High Speed Adapter - Deal Alert

  27-03-2017 16:06
  
  Here's an adapter that's always good to have on hand. Pop one of them on the end of an HDMI cable and extend your back-of-the-tv HDMI port around front where it's easier to access. Or use them to couple multiple HDMI cables together for extended reach. Supports 3D and 4k signals. The list price of $10.99 has been reduced 46% to just $5.89 for the two-pack. See this deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Acquisition signals increasing role of AI in outsourcing

  27-03-2017 16:02
  
  With its announcement last week that it will purchase enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) and automation vendor Rage Frameworks, Genpact became the first IT and business process service provider to acquire an AI platform.[ Related: Questions to ask before choosing an automation partner ]The addition of Rage Frameworks, which has been applying machine learning and language processing to build intelligent automation platforms for financial services, capital markets and supply chains, “wi
  
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• H-1B: A good system gone bad

  27-03-2017 15:56
  
  No one knows what the Trump administration will do about the H-1B visa program. Certainly it is in need of reform. Just as certainly, though, it needs to be retained. Visa holders admitted to the U.S. under an H-1B visa program with the right controls very much represent the type of immigration the U.S. should be encouraging.
  In 1990, when Congress expanded the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, it created the H-1B visa program. Its intention was to allow U.S. employers to hire foreign profe
  
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• 15% off Xbox One S 1TB Console, Halo Wars 2 Bundle - Deal Alert

  27-03-2017 15:33
  
  Real-time strategy makes an explosive return to the Halo universe with Halo Wars 2: Ultimate Edition, included as a full game download for Xbox One and Windows 10. This bundle also comes with the Halo Wars 2: Season Pass, featuring six months of additional content, plus Halo Wars: Definitive Edition, an enhanced version of the real-time strategy classic-all as full game downloads for Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. Watch 4K Blu-ray movies and stream Netflix in 4K Ultra HD. Experience richer, more lu
  
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• 7 hot marketing certifications and how they pay off

  27-03-2017 14:39
  
  Hot marketing certifications and how they pay offImage by ThinkstockCertifications aren't a replacement for experience, but they are a great way to highlight your skillset and strengthen your professional brand. Holding certifications can also signal to recruiters and hiring managers that you have the specific skills they're looking for in a certain role.Using a methodology similar to its compensation trends reports, PayScale pulled salary trends around the most popular certifications in the mar
  
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• SDN solves a lot of network problems, but security isn't one of them

  27-03-2017 14:00
  
  As the digital enterprise struggles to find the best security solutions to defend their ever-expanding networks, many are looking to next generation tools that offer interoperability capabilities.
  Software defined networking (SDN) holds lots of promises. By consolidating the control planes of multiple devices into a single controller, that controller becomes the omnipotent decision maker over the entire network.
  That's a lot of power, yet developers still don't have security at the forefront of
  
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• 6 soft skills employers should be looking for in tech talent

  27-03-2017 13:56
  
  Forget experience and hard skills -- tomorrow's best talent will need soft skills, and it's fact that sourcing and recruiting pros need to be prepared to address.
  "From our own LinkedIn research last May, we know that, of 291 hiring managers we surveyed, their employers struggle to find candidates with the right soft skills for 59 percent of their open jobs, and 58 percent said the lack of soft skills among candidates was 'limiting their company's productivity,'" says Jennifer Shappley, senior d
  
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• Why SMBs need to get project management right from the start

  27-03-2017 13:37
  
  IDC's Top 10 Predictions for Worldwide SMB, 2017-2020 study reports that "what has been the relatively fragmented and improvisational nature of SMB IT spending will begin to echo the coordinated and managed approaches seen among larger firms." That said, if small and midsize business spending is to mimic larger firms, so too should their project management practices.
  IDC goes on to say that in 2017 small business IT spending will top $20 billion, with both traditional 2nd Platform (PC, server, n
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Subscriptions are more than just flipping a switch

  27-03-2017 13:00
  
  One of the great things about working in technology is the never-ending challenge of working in an industry that is continually shifting under your feet. Like navigating stepping stones across raging rapids, very real technological change drives the need to keep moving or perish. And, nobody loves to talk up the next wave of change like people in tech. Each one creates a fundamental shift that requires re-examining assumptions and re-thinking the art of the possible.Right now, one of these waves
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How Neon Roots reinvented itself by putting marketing first

  27-03-2017 13:00
  
  Apps have become an important part of marketing a business. Whether it’s for entertainment or information, a good app can increase customer loyalty. In addition to marketing businesses, some companies make money off the apps themselves, providing a solution that customers will pay to use. As busy as app development firms have been in recent years, though, often many businesses find they pay to design apps, only to discover customers aren’t engaging with them.Neon Roots is a Los Angel
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Crisis communications must be ongoing, not project-based

  27-03-2017 13:00
  
  In the wake of the tragic fire at the Oakland warehouse known as the Ghost Ship, the city recently hired a public relations firm for a “6-month deal worth up to $90,000, to serve as official media consultants and spokespeople.” Comments and news reporters have noted that while it’s expected for businesses to hire a PR firm, using public funds for costly PR for a specific reason just doesn’t seem right, and it’s not surprising that some citizens are outraged. In this
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: 3 reasons to encourage employees to take risks

  27-03-2017 12:35
  
  The professional world is a ball of contradictions sometimes. While they’re busy filling job vacancies, leaders generally seek out people whose resumes demonstrate thoughtfulness, creativity and a pioneering spirit. The perfect candidate always gets hired — but far too often we end up telling those bold few to color carefully inside the lines.
  That might sound a bit dramatic, but the truth is real risk-taking is essential in this world. If you’re not encouraging risk-taking in
  
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• Experian CIO embraces APIs and microservices to improve data transfer

  27-03-2017 12:30
  
  Data is the lifeblood of Experian, a global business that handles staggeringly large volumes of financial and consumer information. But when Barry Libenson arrived as CIO in June 2015, he found that the company didn’t distribute data between its divisions and to its customers as fast or as efficiently as it should. To address the situation, he launched several IT initiatives, such as implementing application programming interfaces (API), to improve data transfer, create other efficiencies
  
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• Virtual beacons challenge Wi-Fi for in-building, location-based supremacy

  27-03-2017 12:00
  
  In-building location and tracking is possible today thanks to the Wi-Fi- and Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices that have become indispensable for organizations and consumers alike. Both wireless technologies can provide great accuracy, and a broad and growing range of security, marketing, and other location-based applications are already at work.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Mist CTO Bob Friday: 'Beacons are reaching critical mass'

  27-03-2017 12:00
  
  Bob Friday’s role within wireless communications over the past 30 years has been nothing short of pivotal. He was chief scientist with metro-scale wireless pioneer Metricom (the Ricochet network), co-founder and chief scientist with enterprise Wi-Fi powerhouse Airespace (acquired by Cisco), vice president and CTO with Cisco, and now CTO and co-founder at Mist Systems.
  Mist is also an enterprise-class Wi-Fi supplier, focusing on bringing the benefits of machine learning to contemporary Wi-
  
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• C++ toolkit helps shorten the path to AI apps

  27-03-2017 12:00
  
  Hoping to spread development of artificial intelligence applications, neural network platform builder Neurala is offering a toolkit that uses C++ for building AI applications.
  The Neurala Developers Program includes C++ APIs, testing tools, code samples, and a working program with source code to integrate the Neurala Brain deep learning platform into applications. While mostly working with Linux, Neurala also offers wrappers for Google Android and Apple iOS application development.[ Roundup: Te
  
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• 9 lies programmers tell themselves

  27-03-2017 12:00
  
  Programmers have pride with good reason. No one else has the power to reach into a database and change reality. The more the world relies on computers to define how the world works, the more powerful coders become.
  Alas, pride goeth before the fall. The power we share is very real, but it’s far from absolute and it’s often hollow. In fact, it may always be hollow because there is no perfect piece of code. Sometimes we cross our fingers and set limits because computers make mistakes.
  
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• Review: VMware vSphere gets much-needed facelift

  27-03-2017 11:10
  
  VMware’s vSphere 6.5 virtualization platform fixes many issues we had with vSphere 6.0 and delivers significant improvements in management, security and high availability. There are also first steps toward vSphere-Docker integration.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• UK official wants police access to WhatsApp messages

  27-03-2017 06:02
  
  A senior U.K. official is asking that law enforcement should be given access to encrypted messages on WhatsApp and similar services, a demand that is likely to fuel an ongoing debate over whether companies should create backdoors into their encryption technologies for investigators.Khalid Masood, the terrorist who killed four people outside Parliament on Wednesday, had sent a message on WhatsApp a little before the attack, according to reports.“We need to make sure that organizations like
  
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