IT Executive news

• Intel Xeon chips rebranded to sound like credit cards

  04-05-2017 23:02
  
  After about half a decade, Intel is wiping the confusing E5 and E7 monikers off its Xeon chips and rebranding them to bring more clarity about the performance and features that come with the processors.Xeon chips are used in servers and workstations like Mac Pro. Xeon chips being released mid-year will be broken down into Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze processors.The naming scheme -- derived from metals -- is a mix of Olympic medals and branding of credit cards from companies like Delta. A p
  
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• Data scientists compete to create cancer-detection algorithms

  04-05-2017 22:23
  
  Data scientists are using machine learning to tackle lung cancer detection. Beginning in January, nearly 10,000 data scientists around the world competed in the Data Science Bowl to develop the most effective algorithm to help medical professionals detect lung cancer earlier and with better accuracy.[ Analytics 50: Call for 2017 entries ]In 2010, the National Lung Screening Trial showed that annual screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) — a scanner that uses computer-processed co
  
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• How Brexit helped Credit Suisse prove the value of AppDynamics' monitoring tools

  04-05-2017 22:20
  
  AppDynamics' application monitoring tools played an important role in ensuring that Credit Suisse's FX trading platform was able to handle the market price fluctuations brought about by the UK Brexit vote, just two weeks after a major outage took its systems offline.The Swiss financial services firm conducted its 'proof of value' (PoV) of the AppDynamics tools in the run up to the EU referendum, and the increased financial market volatility helped prove the return on investment immediately.When
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Is data for good really that good?

  04-05-2017 22:18
  
  Sometimes you look at the world and you just want to have a good cry. Other times you decide you have to do something.Grass-roots goodwill efforts have been around ever since the Good Samaritan hauled a stranger out of the road, proving that upper body strength could be effective currency back in the day. Giving is satisfying. But grass-roots goodwill efforts don’t always scale.For instance, imagine if three carpenters agreed to help an underprivileged family repair their rundown house. In
  
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• 68% off Anker SoundCore Nano Bluetooth Speaker with Built-in Mic, Just $15.99 - Deal Alert

  04-05-2017 22:18
  
  SoundCore nano is incredibly compact and has a battery that supplies up to 4 hours of continuous play. Stick it in a pocket or purse, or clip it to your backpack to party anywhere. Incredibly slim and compact, but pumps out crystal-clear sound via a 3W audio driver. Sleek aluminum-alloy shell is both elegant and resilient. Available in 4 finishes to perfectly match your phone. Right now its typical list price of $49.99 has been reduced by 50% on Amazon to $24.88, but if you enter the c
  
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• Cloud can ease burden of data protection compliance, Google execs say

  04-05-2017 22:06
  
  The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is fast approaching but with significant resource investment required, many organisations are struggling to meet the May 2018 deadline. According to Google executives, moving data to the cloud will help take some of the pain out of upgrading security practices and data protection standards in line with the regulations.GDPR is the biggest change to data protection regulations in two decades, and is a major challenge for many businesses. A survey
  
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• Microsoft asks Windows 10 Enterprise customers to test new anti-exploit tech

  04-05-2017 21:58
  
  Microsoft today asked enterprise customers to test a new anti-malware, anti-exploit technology in Windows 10's baked-in browser.Windows 10's latest preview, tagged as build 16188 and released Thursday, includes Windows Defender Application Guard, a virtualization-based feature that isolates the contents of a tab in Edge, the OS's default browser, from the rest of the system.[ Further reading: Fighting ransomware: A fresh look at Windows Server approaches ]While Application Guard was announced in
  
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• China adds a quantum computer to high-performance computing arsenal

  04-05-2017 21:02
  China already has the world's fastest supercomputer and has now built a crude quantum computer that could outpace today's PCs and servers.Quantum computers have already been built by companies like IBM and D-Wave, but Chinese researchers have taken a different approach. They are introducing quantum computing using multiple photons, which could provide a superior way to calculate compared to today's computers. The Chinese quantum computing architecture allows for five-photon sampli
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Is blockchain technology secure for your company’s transactions?

  04-05-2017 21:00
  
  Blockchain technology is hard to ignore as practically everybody’s talking about it. That’s understandable because it’s predicted to disrupt the value flows that underpin business transactions and economies as well as create new business models. It has enormous power to solve business problems. But is a blockchain “distributed ledger” secure?Blockchain is still in its infancy, so company leaders are naturally concerned about whether it can be manipulated. Organizati
  
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• Financial cybercrime group abuses Windows app compatibility feature

  04-05-2017 20:05
  
  When Microsoft made it possible for enterprises to quickly resolve incompatibilities between their applications and new Windows versions, it didn't intend to help malware authors as well. Yet, this feature is now abused by cybercriminals for stealthy and persistent malware infections.The Windows Application Compatibility Infrastructure allows companies and application developers to create patches, known as shims. These consist of libraries that sit between applications and the OS and rewrite API
  
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• BrandPost: What’s Driving the Move to the Cloud?

  04-05-2017 20:05
  
  Few transformational technologies have generated as much hype and confusion as the cloud. Companies have concerns about security and performance and are nervous about handing control of their infrastructure over to somebody else. That hasn’t stopped the acceleration of cloud adoption, as small organizations and the largest global enterprises alike are increasingly turning to the cloud for some, and sometimes all, of their company’s infrastructure and software. ­It’s easy to
  
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• AppDynamics explains logic behind that $3.7 billion Cisco acquisition

  04-05-2017 19:46
  
  Following a $3.7 billion acquisition, AppDynamics is already looking to access Cisco's enterprise customer network as it plans to keep up the pace with the big hitters in the new wave of enterprise software vendors.Cisco completed the acquisition of AppDynamics in March this year for a reported $3.7 billion (£2.86 billion), nearly double its pre-IPO unicorn valuation of $1.9 billion (£1.47 billion).Speaking at the AppD Summit in London recently, CEO David Wadhwani said that the prima
  
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• BrandPost: Conditional Access Explained

  04-05-2017 19:38
  
  Recently, we have heard a lot of buzz from our customers around conditional access questions and requirements. We understand that securing access to company resources is vital to every organization. With the explosion of available cloud services and mobile devices, the way in which users access company resources has certainly changed. This requires a new approach to security. Microsoft is investing in their conditional access platform framework and now has a few different solutions availabl
  
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• Cybercrime is biggest threat to small and medium-size firms ‘by far’

  04-05-2017 19:33
  
  The UK's definition of an SME -- a small to medium enterprise -- is any business with up to 250 employees, but no upper floor on the financial threshold. Speaking at the Counter Terrorism Expo in London's Olympia today, the Federation of Small Business' Home Office and MoJ Policy Unit Chair Richard Parlour laid out just why cyber security is so critical for the sector.According to Parlour, there are 5.8 million businesses in the UK and a staggering 99 percent of them count as SMEs. The FSB's job
  
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• BrandPost: Get the Latest Stats on Mobility

  04-05-2017 19:29
  
  Curious about what the coming year has in store for enterprise mobility? We recently partnered with industry-leading research firm IDG to see what the latest stats reveal. Do you know what the latest trends are in mobile app development? According to IDG, a third of organizations are developing mobile apps in house, but almost half are using a mix of in house and outsourcing. How does your organization compare?It’s a Wireless WorldToday, the world has gone mobile and your organization need
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Big data, algorithms and the future of advertising

  04-05-2017 18:47
  
  There are plenty of words online about how big data will change every facet of our lives, and a substantial chunk of those words are devoted towards how big data will affect advertising. But instead of haphazardly leaping on the change bandwagon, advertisers need to sit down and understand what big data has changed and yet what still remains the same.At its core, advertising is about communication as it seeks to inform consumers about a business’s product and services. But different consum
  
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• GOG and Steam are offering major discounts on classic Star Wars games

  04-05-2017 18:44
  May the Fourth be with you. In celebration of the made-up Star Wars holiday, both GOG and Steam have put many classic Star Wars games on sale. There are numerous games available, like the original Battlefront II, Knights of the Old Republic, Republic Commando, TIE Fighter Special Edition, X-Wing Alliance, and X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter.Both stores have great prices on these classic games. It isn't quite the deal you could get two years ago with the original Humble Star Wars Bundle, but this sal
  
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• Samsung sweetens Galaxy S8 purchases with 6 months of Netflix, other goodies

  04-05-2017 18:39
  
  If you’ve been on the fence about purchasing a Galaxy S8—or just want to get your mom the best Mother’s Day present of all time—Samsung is offering a pretty sweet deal on new purchases.Anyone who buys an S8 or S8+ between May 3 and May 16 is eligible to receive an Entertainment Kit for free. The bundle includes an S-View Flip Cover, a 64GB SDXC EVO+ memory card, and a six-month subscription to Netflix. All said, the value of the package is around $150, making it a pretty
  
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• How collaboration improves IT outcomes

  04-05-2017 18:33
  NEW ORLEANS -- The perception of IT among employees who aren’t involved in the technology centers within their organization is generally bad and the onus is on technology leaders to rectify those problems, Blackstone CTO William Murphy said at the Collision conference this week. “People have been disappointed over IT many times,” he said. “It’s not necessarily the fault of technologists, but technologists have not stood up for themselves.”IT still bears the bl
  
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• Extreme offers glimpse of integrated Avaya, Brocade technology future

  04-05-2017 18:18
  
  In detailing its third quarter 2017 financial discussion Extreme CEO Ed Meyercord said the company was “locked and loaded” as it worked toward combining and integrating the two companies – Avaya and Brocade it is in the process of purchasing.Extreme a lot of work ahead as it combines Brocade's data center business and the network technology of Avaya Holdings– which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy – both of which it said it would acquire in March. Extreme added that it h
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: United Airlines discovers the complexity of talent management

  04-05-2017 18:17
  
  On Sunday, April 9, 2017, passenger David Dao was forcibly removed from United Airlines flight 3411 after being randomly selected because the flight was overbooked. Videos of the incident went viral, causing immediate backlash. The public response was swift and voluminous: according to Google Trends, the number of Google searches for the term “United Airlines” spiked to a ten-fold level relative to normal.In addition to the potential brand impact, this incident may have a substantial
  
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• Qualcomm may consider asking US to ban iPhone imports

  04-05-2017 18:02
  
  Qualcomm, in a smartphone chip licensing spat with Apple, will reportedly ask a U.S. government agency to ban the import of iPhones into the country.Qualcomm plans to ask the U.S. International Trade Commission to ban imports of iPhones, which are built in Asia, according to a Bloomberg Technology report. The news report cited an unnamed person familiar with Qualcomm's strategy. A Qualcomm spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the news report.The USITC has th
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Which deep learning network is best for you?

  04-05-2017 18:00
  
  In “Big data – a road map for smarter data,” I describe a set of machine learning architectures that will provide advanced capabilities to include image, handwriting, video, and speech recognition, natural language processing and object recognition. There is no perfect deep learning network that will solve all your business problems. Hopefully, the below table with the accommodating descriptive outline will provide you insights towards the best fit for purpose framework for you
  
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• Using Salesforce to access SAP? Pour yourself a stiff drink

  04-05-2017 17:59
  
  The week after a U.K. court favored SAP in a US$70 million licensing dispute, the software developer took another brewery to arbitration in the U.S., this time seeking damages of over $600 million.The disputes -- both are ongoing -- bode ill for companies using platforms such as Salesforce.com to indirectly access data held in SAP systems subject to named-user licensing."SAP investors may welcome this litigation, but it's yet one more reason why new customers are fleeing to the hills, choosing A
  
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• Banking bots highlight conversational commerce trend

  04-05-2017 17:49
  
  A new generation of consumers connecting with their friends via messaging platforms expects the same conversational tools from their favorite brands. Financial services firms are giving it to them.Western Union joined MasterCard and Wells Fargo among the financial services leaders to announce chatbots for Facebook Messenger at the social network giant's F8 Facebook developer conference last month. The company's money transfer bot allows Facebook Messenger users in the U.S. to digitally wire mone
  
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• Buyer’s Guide: Mobile app development services can be risky

  04-05-2017 17:01
  
  About 200,000 firms offer mobile app development services in the U.S. – and 96 percent of them are mid-sized or small firms. Many have four employees or fewer. Consequently, buyers should keep an eye on the vendor’s financial health, according to procurement analysts at IBISWorld, Inc. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Hulu Live goes live with 50 channels for $40 a month

  04-05-2017 16:45
  
  There are more choices than ever for folks who like to watch TV but hate to pay that big cable bill every month. The latest offering for cord cutters comes from Hulu, which just launched its long-promised live TV service.For $40 a month, you get access to more than 50 live channels plus Hulu’s extensive library of movies and TV shows. The offering is akin to conventional cable, but the bundle is “skinny,” you don’t have to sign a contract, and it can be streamed on a vari
  
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• Career advice: Moving into DevOps

  04-05-2017 16:37
  
  Ask a Premier 100 IT LeaderHakan KaramanliTitle: Executive vice president and CIOCompany: Tam FaktoringKaramanli is this month’s Premier 100 IT Leader. If you have a question you’d like to pose to one of Computerworld’s Premier 100 IT Leaders, send it to [email protected] Faktoring Tam Faktoring CIO Hakan KaramanliTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Google beefs up security in Android Gmail app following Docs phishing scam

  04-05-2017 16:29
  
  After millions of people were targeted in a Gmail phishing attack this week that used a fake Google Doc to trick users into handing over access to their email account, Google is taking steps to make sure the next attack isn’t so widespread.In a post on the G Suite Updates blog titled, “Making email safer with anti-phishing security checks in Gmail on Android,” Google explains that it will be introducing a new security feature in its Android app this week that will help identify
  
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• SpaceX urges lawmakers to support broadband satellite plan

  04-05-2017 16:15
  
  As lawmakers turn their attention to ways to boost the expansion and adoption of high-speed broadband networks, SpaceX is urging them to look to the sky.A senior official at the company best known for its rocket launches offered a detailed blueprint of SpaceX's ambitious plan to blanket the sky with more than 4,000 satellites to provide affordable, ubiquitous broadband service with speeds that would rival commercial fiber networks."These will provide high-speed, low-latency and affordable broadb
  
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• 10 content marketing and customer experience all-stars

  04-05-2017 15:51
  
  I don’t go to marketing and tech conferences for the food, though the afternoon cookies can be delicious. I go for the tips and strategies, the latest trends and, most of all, the examples of companies trying new things and succeeding. From the recent Adobe digital marketing conference, here are 10 examples of brands (and in one case, an Australian entrepreneur) that are killing it with their content marketing and/or customer experiences.[ Download CIO's guide to marketing automation softw
  
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• Cisco bolsters analytics clout with Saggezza buy

  04-05-2017 15:35
  
  Cisco kept the checkbook open by making a second purchase in less than a week, this time grabbing the analytics and data science technology from Saggezza for an undisclosed amount.On May 1 Cisco padded its SD-WAN portfolio with SD-WAN player Viptela for $610 million.Saggezza is a privately held company founded in 2006. The name Saggezza derives from the Latin word for wisdom, or insight, according to the company’s website. It’s products, TruVantage – aimed at financial institut
  
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• Raspberry Pi roundup, Star Wars edition: Holochess, blasters, and, obviously R2-D2

  04-05-2017 15:06
  
  Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, the second of the two “star” franchises that form such a foundational part of nerd culture. Consequently, this is a special Star Wars edition of your faithful Raspberry Pi roundup.It’s easy to see what Star Trek “means” as a part of nerdery – it’s a mostly hopeful vision of the future, where the adults mostly act like adults and the better angels of our natures win out much more often than our demons. Star W
  
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• BlackBerry returns with a surprisingly decent business phone: The KEYone (with video)

  04-05-2017 15:03
  
  Here are some words I never thought I'd be writing again: There's a new phone from BlackBerry that you might be interested in. This time, it's called the KEYone.It's not that I'm biased against BlackBerry. I strapped the first one to my hip when it came out in the early 2000s, before smartphones were invented and the only other way to get your email when you were away from your computer was on a two-way pager. (Kids, gather 'round. Gramps is telling his stories again...)To read this article in f
  
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• The BlackBerry KeyOne - a surprising phone with a hardware keyboard

  04-05-2017 15:00
  
  Here's a surprise: BlackBerry is back with a new handset and it's pretty good.I know, I know, you've heard this before. Several times over the last few years BlackBerry has attempted to make a comeback and each time it's come to nothing, so what's different now?For the first time the iconic BlackBerry hardware keyboard has been married with Android in the BlackBerry KeyOne. Combine those with several software apps from BlackBerry and the KeyOne is worth a look if you're shopping for a new smartp
  
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• Open-source chip mimics Linux's path to take on closed x86, ARM CPUs

  04-05-2017 15:00
  
  If you're buying a PC or server, you've likely considered chips based on x86 or, perhaps less often, the ARM architecture.But like Linux in software, an open-source chip project is out to break the dominance of proprietary chips offered by Intel, AMD, and ARM.The RISC-V open-source architecture, created by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2010, is open to all who want to use it. The RISC-V design can be modified for PCs, servers, smartphones, wearables, and other de
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why is stigmergy a good platform for swarm intelligence?

  04-05-2017 15:00
  
  Have you ever examined the path on which you find yourself standing today along with all the antecedent steps that brought you to the current moment? The modern path of artificial intelligence is a mix of cognitive science, psychology and dreams.Is there a secret to how organisms collaborate? Methods to coordinate aren’t only found in science labs and the basements of research buildings. Universal coordination mechanisms can be found in many places, if we look. Environmental traces, mass c
  
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• 5 reasons the Galaxy S8 will make you ditch your iPhone

  04-05-2017 13:35
  
  The Samsung Galaxy S8 has taken the tech industry by storm as the best Android smartphone you can buy. The display is gorgeous, the design is unmatched and the performance is top notch. The Galaxy S8 finally delivered everything I needed to cut the Apple cord and jump ship to an Android smartphone.I do miss iMessage, but there's enough about the Galaxy S8 to soothe the loss of Apple's simple and seamless messaging app. Here are five reasons why I made the switch from iOS to Android and I'm not l
  
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• More diversity in tech means less talk, more action

  04-05-2017 13:15
  
  Data and analytics reinforce what women, people of color and the LGBTQ community have been saying for years: Tech has a problem with racism, sexism and bullying, and it's driving people away. Ask anyone in tech -- who's not a cis-gendered, straight, white male -- and they'll tell you this is the case. But because we undervalue the voices of women, POC, LGBTQ and other underrepresented groups, we seem to listen only when their assertions are backed up by hard data. Well, here's some more.The Kapo
  
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• Java module system may stall platform’s next release

  04-05-2017 13:01
  
  Java 9, the next edition of the platform, might actually be delayed by objections raised recently by Red Hat and IBM over the workings of its module system.Java Development Kit 9, the next edition of standard Java, had been proceeding toward its planned July 27 release after earlier bumps in the road over modularity. But now Red Hat and IBM have opposed the module plan. “JDK 9 might be held up by this,” Oracle’s Georges Saab, vice president of development for the Java
  
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• Four Android apps that put SMS on your desktop

  04-05-2017 13:00
  
  When you’re cranking away on the computer, stopping to answer a text message can be an annoying interruption. Yes, it’s very much the definition of a first-world problem, but that doesn’t mean it’s not something worth solving.The fix is to join in with a service that syncs your text messages with your PC. This way you can get the message, type a response, and get back to what you were doing. There is no native Android solution, but here are four rather solid options for d
  
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• How to strike ransomware out

  04-05-2017 12:33
  
  Swing and a missImage by Victor GrigasMost businesses are ill prepared to handle a ransomware attack. In fact, according to a new study released by Carbonite, 68 percent of survey respondents believe their company is “very vulnerable” or “vulnerable” to a ransomware attack. Respondents stated that if their company didn’t pay ransom, it was because they had a full and accurate backup. Without backup, they have no other way to get their most valuable asset b
  
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• What's the key to surviving as a cybersecurity startup?

  04-05-2017 12:30
  
  It’s always a gamble to establish a startup, but if you were to choose any sector where you’d fancy your chances of success, it would surely be cybersecurity.After all, the cybersecurity market is estimated to grow to $224.48 billion by 2022, according to Statistics MRC, while CB Insights reports that venture capitalists (VC) invested $3.1 billion in a record 279 cyber-security start-ups last year, a far cry from the $833 million invested in 117 firms in 2010.To read this article in
  
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• 4 Chrome extensions that make you more productive in Gmail

  04-05-2017 12:30
  
  While Gmail alone can dramatically improve your email efficiency,Gmail and Chrome togethermake a one-two productivity punch that’s hard to beat. Here are four Chrome extensions that help reduce the time you spend in your inbox so you can focus on the work that really matters.Send from Gmail
  Typically when you click on an email address link, it will open your default email client and you have to toggle between it and your browser to compose your message and cut-and-paste any links.Send from
  
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• It’s World Password Day but passwords may be headed for extinction

  04-05-2017 12:28
  
  Today is World Password Day but a range of alternative authentication methods is challenging passwords so that within the foreseeable future the day of awareness could become obsolete.Biometrics  and cell phones are important to this replacement, with ongoing trials of how effective they might be. There is a flurry of activity in these areas to do away with passwords:The Samsung Galaxy S8 phone has an upgraded retinal scanner that can be used to unlock the phone, but that could be used as a
  
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• Phone smarts: 6 essential tips for Android users

  04-05-2017 12:00
  
  If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my years of covering Android, it’s that most people don’t know half the stuff their phones can do—even when it comes to the platform’s most basic features.For business users in particular, some of Android’s foundational options can enhance productivity and eliminate annoyances. So look over this how-to collection and see if there’s anything you’re missing or maybe forgot—then hang onto it as a re
  
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• Homebrew MacOS package manager gets easier to use

  04-05-2017 12:00
  
  An upgrade to the Homebrew package manager for MacOS unveiled this week emphasizes ease of use, as well as improved availability and quality of software while making a number of deprecations.Homebrew 1.2.0 deprecates most taps (package repositories) in the Homebrew GitHub organization and moves currently buildable software to Homebrew/homebrew-core. By moving taps to homebrew-core, Homebrew should be easier to use, lead maintainer Mike McQuaid said.[ The art of programming moves rapidly. InfoWor
  
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• FAQ: 3D XPoint memory – NAND flash killer or DRAM replacement?

  04-05-2017 12:00
  
  As the first new non-volatile, mass-marketed storage technology since NAND flash, 3D XPoint made a huge splash when it was first announced in 2015 by development partners Intel and Micron. It was touted as being 1,000 times faster than NAND flash with up to 1,000 times the endurance.In reality, the performance claims were only true on paper; 3D XPoint turned out to be about 10 times faster than NAND, which requires existing data to be erased before new data is written.The new solid-state me
  
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• India’s Supreme Court hears challenge to biometric authentication system

  04-05-2017 08:57
  
  Two lawsuits being heard this week before India’s Supreme Court question a requirement imposed by the government that individuals should quote a biometrics-based authentication number when filing their tax returns.Civil rights groups have opposed the Aadhaar biometric system, which is based on centralized records of all ten fingerprints and iris scans, as their extensive use allegedly encroach on the privacy rights of Indians. “Aadhaar is surveillance technology masquerading as secur
  
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• Apple joins 'Made in America' trend with $1 billion fund to promote U.S. manufacturing

  04-05-2017 04:40
  
  Manufacturing jobs (any jobs, really) are a hot-button topic these days, and our President has made no secret of his desire for big companies, and Apple in particular, to make more products here. In a Wednesday interview with Jim Cramer on CNBC’s Mad Money, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple is creating a fund to promote advanced manufacturing in the United States, and seeding it with $1 billion to start.CBNC.com has the video and a complete transcript of the wide-ranging conversation
  
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