IT Executive news

• HPE is bringing Optane storage to Unix servers

  12-05-2017 22:53
  
  In the next year or two, Hewlett Packard Enterprise will add support for Intel Optane memory and storage to its latest Unix servers.Optane is a new form of storage and memory that could replace today's SSDs and DRAM. It is significantly faster and denser than both.One new system that can be configured with Optane is HPE's new Integrity i6 server, which was released this week. Integrity i6 is based on Intel's Itanium 9700 processors, code-named Kittson, and runs the HP-UX OS. The server can also
  
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• HP rolls out patch to fix keylogging bug in certain laptops

  12-05-2017 22:13
  
  Consumers with HP laptops that have been accidentally recording their keystrokes can easily address the problem with a patch from the PC maker.More than two dozen HP laptop models, including the EliteBook, ProBook and ZBook, have an bug in the audio driver that will act as a keylogger, a Swiss security firm said Thursday. A list of affected products can be found here. Fortunately, HP began rolling out fixes through its support page, and in a Windows update, starting on Thursday, HP Vice Pre
  
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• Why you need to stop comparing Snap to Facebook

  12-05-2017 22:03
  
  Snap faced the music in a new and very real way this week. The company’s first earnings report, after going public in March, disappointed investors and fell short of expectations on almost every metric.The makers of Snapchat reported a $2.2 billion loss in the first quarter on almost $150 million in revenue and user growth slowed to its lowest rate in years. Shares took a nosedive and remain down by more than 20 percent at the week’s end.[ Related: Snap soars on IPO, now what? ]To re
  
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• Google wants to solve the Android update problem once and for all with Project Treble

  12-05-2017 21:55
  
  If there’s one thing we hate about our non-Pixel Android phones, it’s the lack of regular and speedy updates. Whenever a new version of Android comes out, even just a small one, it takes LG, Samsung, Sony, HTC, and everyone else months to push out an update to their latest phones. And if you don’t have a flagship phone, you’re lucky to get an update at all. But a major change coming to Android O might make our hand-wringing a thing of the past.In a post on its developer&r
  
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• Surface Laptop vs. Surface Book: The prices and features of two premium laptops, compared

  12-05-2017 21:46
  
  With the debut of the Surface Laptop, Microsoft has a stylish cousin to its brawny Surface Book—similarly shaped, but very different otherwise. It can be a tough choice if both premium products have caught your eye. We haven't tested the Surface Laptop yet, but it's on preorder leading up to its June 15 ship date. Until we can review it, we can take a look at the specs and help you consider the two choices more closely.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click h
  
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• Google will review web apps that want access to its users' data

  12-05-2017 21:39
  
  In response to recent attacks where hackers abused Google's OAuth services to gain access to Gmail accounts, the company will review new web applications that request Google users' data.To better enforce its policy regarding access to user data through its APIs (application programming interfaces), which states that apps should not mislead users when presenting themselves and their intentions, Google is making changes to the third-party app publishing process, its risk assessment systems and the
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Being upfront about the future of television monetization

  12-05-2017 20:53
  
  How many times have you heard that television is dead? Gone are the days of MASH, when television shows were an event. It’s all about going digital, they say.While many are cutting the cord, it’s not time to give up on the power of TV. TV advertising remains a highly effective advertising medium -- one that digital complements well. In fact, according to ARF, out of 3,200 advertising campaigns, TV advertising was “the most effective vehicle for driving ROI, and adding digital t
  
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• Microsoft posts PowerShell script that spawns pseudo security bulletins

  12-05-2017 20:48
  
  A Microsoft manager this week offered IT administrators a way to replicate -- in a fashion -- the security bulletins the company discarded last month."If you want a report summarizing today's #MSRC security bulletins, here's a script that uses the MSRC Portal API," John Lambert, general manager of the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center, said in a Tuesday message on Twitter.Lambert's tweet linked to code depository GitHub, where he posted a PowerShell script that polled data using a new API (ap
  
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• Hands-on: How Microsoft's mixed-reality devices could learn a lesson from the HoloLens

  12-05-2017 20:43
  
  At Microsoft’s Build conference this week, Microsoft set up what it calls a “shared immersive experience”: a group of HoloLens users perched high up in a virtual sky, directing another group of mixed-reality users on the “ground” through a short maze. It’s easy to see this as a metaphor to describe the relationship between the two devices.And in some ways, it works. Microsoft’s HoloLens is priced at a lofty $3,000 for commercial partners and developers;
  
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• Q&A: Microsoft Cosmos DB creator lays out vision for planet-scale database

  12-05-2017 20:37
  
  Microsoft has fired a shot heard around the globe, so to speak, in data management with the debut of Azure Cosmos DB at the recent Microsoft Build 2017 developer conference in Seattle. The cloud database is positioned for elasticity and globally available data, supported on the Azure cloud. The project was founded in 2010 by Microsoft’s Dharma Shukla, who holds the title of distinguished engineer at the company.InfoWorld Editor at Large Paul Krill spoke with Shukla during the conference to
  
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• How a logistics firm leverages SD-WAN for competitive advantage

  12-05-2017 20:01
  
  A gamble on a relatively unknown technology four years ago is paying off for a logistics company, which is using the software to shave millions of dollars off its bandwidth connectivity costs. Today freight forwarding company JAS Global is leveraging a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) to run cloud applications, according to JAS CIO Mark Baker. Eventually, Baker hopes to use the SD-WAN as the backbone of a predictive analytics strategy to grow the business.SD-WANs allow companies to se
  
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• Google adds Street View images to directions so you can see exactly where to turn

  12-05-2017 19:39
  
  Street View is finally ready for its closeup. Earlier this week, Google announced a new certification program for 360-degree cameras, letting anyone shoot and upload their interactive experiences right to Maps. And now, Google is looking to use those images and videos to help get you from point A to point B.The next time you go to start a new drive, you’ll notice something a little different about your route. A new tweak to the Google Maps interface puts a greater emphasis on Street View,
  
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• A ransomware attack is spreading worldwide, using alleged NSA exploit

  12-05-2017 19:22
  
  A ransomware attack appears to be spreading around the world, leveraging a hacking tool that may have come from the U.S. National Security Agency.The ransomware, called Wanna Decryptor, struck hospitals at the U.K.’s National Health Service on Friday, taking down some of their network.Spain’s computer response team CCN-CERT has also warned of  a "massive attack" from the ransomware strain, amid reports that local telecommunications firm Telefonica was hit.To read this article in
  
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• Android device updates: Android Nougat finally comes to the unlocked Galaxy S7 Edge

  12-05-2017 19:18
  
  It’s the quiet before the storm in the world of Android. Google I/O is next week, when we’re likely to hear more about Android O and other initiatives going on at the Googleplex. In the meantime, owners of the unlocked Galaxy S7 Edge and Huawei Wear both received their long-sought updates. Let’s get to the details.Each week, we round up all the major software updates to hit the Android ecosystem, including phones and tablets on U.S. carriers, unlocked phones, smartwatches,
  
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• Apple invests $200 million in Corning to innovate on Gorilla Glass

  12-05-2017 18:55
  
  Apple wasted no time putting its $1 billion U.S. manufacturing fund to work, announcing Friday that it will invest $200 million into Corning’s Harrodsburg, Kentucky glass-making plant.Corning, as everyone knows, manufactures the glass that Apple has used in iPhones and iPads since day one.“Corning is a great example of a supplier that has continued to innovate and they are one of Apple’s long-standing suppliers,” Apple COO Jeff Williams said in a Friday statement announci
  
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• England hospitals hit by coordinated ransomware attack

  12-05-2017 18:53
  Hospitals across England have fallen victim to what appears to be a coordinated ransomware attack that has affected facilities diverting patients to hospitals not hit by the malware.The attackers are asking for $300 in Bitcoin to decrypt affected machines, payable within 24 hours or the ransom doubles. If the victims don’t pay within seven days, they lose the option to have the files decrypted, according to U.K. press reports.While multiple healthcare facilities have been hit, the country&
  
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• 25% off GoPro HERO Session - Deal Alert

  12-05-2017 17:23
  
  HERO Session packs the power of GoPro into a convenient, grab-and-go, everyday camera. Perfect for the first-time GoPro user, or as a second camera, HERO Session is simple and easy to use. A single button powers on the camera and starts recording automatically, then when you stop recording, the camera automatically powers itself off. With 1080p60 video and 8MP photo capture, HERO Session delivers the stunning image quality that has made GoPro famous, and its rugged, waterproof design eliminates
  
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• New ransomware Jaff demands $3,700 payments

  12-05-2017 17:08
  
  Attackers behind the highly successful Locky and Bart ransomware campaigns have returned with a new creation: A malicious file-encrypting program called Jaff that asks victims for payments of around $3,700.Like Locky and Bart, Jaff is distributed via malicious spam emails sent by the Necurs botnet, according to researchers from Malwarebytes. Necurs first appeared in 2012 and is one of the largest and longest-running botnets around today.According to an April analysis by researchers from IBM
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: How GE Healthcare migrated 500 applications to the cloud

  12-05-2017 16:38
  
  At the OpenStack Summit, Jonathan Bryce, the executive director of the OpenStack Foundation talked about a new consumption model ‘remotely managed private cloud’ that’s gaining traction. GE Healthcare is already using that model through Rackspace.During his keynote speech, Patrick Weeks, senior director of cloud, automation and operations at GE Healthcare (pictured above), detailed the work that the company has done over the last couple of years to move its healthcare enterpris
  
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• Coca Cola’s investments in startups is the real thing for innovation

  12-05-2017 15:55
  
  SAN MATEO, CALIF. – Coca-Cola as an incubator for fast-growing startups? It may seem an odd match, but Alan Boehme, chief innovation officer at the $42 billion beverage giant, says it’s a smart move.[ Related: 8 tech startup trends to watch in 2017 ]“You can’t innovate in a vacuum, you need to reach out to partners and customers,” Boehme said at the CIO Perspectives conference here this week. “We scan the broad spectrum of trends, and get inspiration from -- n
  
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• Get ready to say goodbye to T-Mobile

  12-05-2017 15:19
  
  Have you noticed how much better things are for customers of the major wireless carriers these days? Not many years ago, consumers were locked into two-year contracts, monthly charges kept going up, and there weren’t a lot of new services on offer. That’s changed, and a good deal of the credit belongs to T-Mobile.Its “uncarrier” campaign sounded the death knoll for lock-in contracts, its aggressive pricing touched off a spate of competition in a once-stagnant market, and
  
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• Why we must prepare for the rise of the machines

  12-05-2017 15:16
  
  While at DellEMC World this week [Disclosure: DellEMC is a client of the author] there was an interesting panel, led by The Institute of the Future, on how increasingly more intelligent machines will interact with humans by 2030. The panel included experts on millennials, human machine interfaces and two future facing analysts (otherwise known as futurists).   Given this is a topic that will likely define us as a race and drive products and services more and more as we exit this decade
  
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• Germany will allow self-driving, but not driverless, cars on its roads

  12-05-2017 14:49
  
  Add Germany to the list of places where businesses can test their self-driving cars on the open road -- as long as they have a driver sitting at the wheel ready to take control at any time.That's one of the restrictions imposed by a new law voted by the German Federal Council (Bundesrat) on Friday. The move will be a welcome one for Germany's automotive industry, allowing manufacturers such as Audi to test self-driving vehicles in their home country, rather than taking them all the way to C
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why Conway, Spicer and Huckabee Sanders deserve appreciation

  12-05-2017 13:28
  
  PR and marketing communications people experience occasional gaffes and nightmare situations. It’s how we learn. I've certainly faced my fair share of face palm circumstances with clients. Thankfully, I’ve been fortunate for it to happen before an interview so I’ve been able to formulate a strategy ahead of time, or it’s been with a journalist friend willing to cut me some slack and give me more time to overcome the laughable incident.The current White House? Not so much.
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Can Amazon maintain its AI dominance?

  12-05-2017 13:22
  
  Amazon is winning the home assistant wars, and the tech company took another step forward on Tuesday by unveiling the Echo Show, a touchscreen version of the Amazon Echo. The Echo Show practically combines the Echo with a tablet, meaning that it can play videos, perform video calls, and even display the lyrics to the a song it is playing.The Echo Show has prompted some privacy concerns as well as controversy about whether Amazon ripped off a partner’s product to build the Echo Show. But re
  
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• Mixed reviews for Trump’s Executive Order on cybersecurity

  12-05-2017 13:00
  
  The reviews of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order (EO) on cybersecurity were coming in within hours of its signing yesterday afternoon, and they were most definitely mixed.There was general agreement that the intent of the EO – delayed more than three months from late-January, when it was originally scheduled to be signed – was good.Several experts called it “a good start,” and a few, including Jacob Olcott, vice president at BitSight and former legal advisor
  
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• Q&A Citrix CSO: How to deal with security across multiple generations of employees

  12-05-2017 12:35
  
  Citrix’s CSO Stan Black has been in the cybersecurity field for 20 years. He has seen generations of employees come and go at the software and data security company. There are three generations working side by side at Citrix – and a fourth on the way. Citrix has 9,500 employees with 51 percent being Millennials. With each generation comes a new security challenge that employers need to be overcome so that eventually enterprise security is second nature by the time future generations
  
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• 3D printing, married to traditional metal casting, could reshape manufacturing

  12-05-2017 12:21
  
  Autodesk has partnered with a Michigan foundry in a 3D printing proof-of-concept project that resulted in a new magnesium commercial airline seat frame so light it could save an airline more than $200 million in fuel costs.Autodesk used its Netfabb 3D design software to produce a complex geometric model for a new aircraft passenger seat frame just as strong as a traditional seat, but vastly lighter.The CAD program created a file used to 3D print in plastic the seat frame, which was then coated i
  
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• A third of virtual servers are zombies

  12-05-2017 12:01
  
  New research finds that 25% of all physical servers -- and 30% of all virtual servers -- are comatose. These are systems that have no activity in the last six months.The problem with comatose, or zombie, physical servers is well known. Past studies have routinely put the number of undead enterprise physical servers in the 20% to 30% range. But this latest research looked at virtual servers as well, and they may represent a significant cost to IT departments.[ Further reading: The march toward ex
  
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• This Mother’s Day, a look at women in IT

  12-05-2017 12:00
  
  Mother’s Day is just around the corner. It is a time to celebrate the women who have helped shape our lives, and to recognize their achievements. For women in tech, those successes happen both in the office and at home (and sometimes work and home overlap). For the past three years, Computerworld has asked IT pros who are also moms for their tips and tricks for balancing work life with home life, and to share some stories about when the two worlds collide.This Mother’s Day, we are ta
  
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• The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update's best new features

  12-05-2017 12:00
  
  The future of WindowsImage by MicrosoftThe feature-packed Windows 10 Creators Update hasn’t even hit every PC yet but Microsoft’s already taken the wraps off of its successor.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Review: Tableau takes self-service BI to new heights

  12-05-2017 12:00
  
  Since I reviewed Tableau, Qlik Sense, and Microsoft Power BI in 2015, Tableau and Microsoft have solidified their leadership in the business intelligence (BI) market: Tableau with intuitive interactive exploration, Microsoft with low price and Office integration. Qlik is still a leader compared to the other 20 vendors in the sector, but trails both Tableau and Power BI.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Android smartphones: Which one is right for you?

  12-05-2017 12:00
  
  Choose your new smartphoneImage by DbrandIn this complex and tech-rich society, most of us have become dependent on our smartphones to help us get through our workday -- and after. As a result, the introduction of a new phone is considered an event worthy of attention. New devices are presented to us with a mass of advertisements and news coverage; announcements of how many people stood on line to be the first to own one; and proclamations about how this phone is the best yet.To read this articl
  
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• Waymo, Uber dispute referred to US attorney for investigation

  12-05-2017 07:21
  
  A lawsuit by Waymo, alleging the use by rival Uber Technologies of stolen trade secrets relating to autonomous vehicle technology, has been referred by a federal judge to a U.S. attorney, raising the possibility of a criminal prosecution.“This case is referred to the United States Attorney for investigation of possible theft of trade secrets based on the evidentiary record supplied thus far concerning plaintiff Waymo LLC’s claims for trade secret misappropriation,” wrote Judge
  
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• Certain HP laptops are found recording users' keystrokes

  12-05-2017 00:49
  
  Over two dozen HP laptop models have been secretly recording users’ keystrokes, possibly by mistake, according to a Swiss security firm.The keylogger is found within the PCs' audio driver software and has existed since at least Dec. 2015, the security firm Modzero said in a Thursday blog post.   The audio driver was designed to identify when a special key on the PC was used. But in reality, the software will capture all the keystrokes and write them in an unencrypted file located
  
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