IBM, Vermont Electric spawn intelligent energy software company

IBM today said it would partner with Vermont Electric Power to create Utopus Insights to research develop and product intelligent analytic software for the energy industry.IBM said Utopus will bring to market a full-featured energy analytics platform, built for cloud (SaaS), on-premises and distributed Internet of Things (IoT) operation.+More on Network World: NASA embraces IBM’s Watson for future space, aerospace technology development+The platform will be built with open APIs that allow integration of third party tools and will include applications that enable best-in-class renewable forecasting, grid asset health and network risk analysis, and Distributed Energy Resource management, according to IBM Fellow, Dr. Chandu Visweswariah, who will be President and CEO of Utopus.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Join us this year at OCP Summit

It’s that time of the year again! And no, we’re not talking about the arrival of the Spring Equinox (although we’re pretty excited about that too). It’s time for OCP Summit — one of our favorite events of the year. Why you ask? We are committed to the open compute project and we love sharing that passion with others in the industry. This year our summit schedule is chock-full of presentations, booth demos, networking and a multitude of discussions covering how organizations can go web-scale with Cumulus Networks.

What we’re doing at OCP Summit

First off, if you are attending Open Compute Project Summit this year, please stop by our booth for an up close and personal look at Backpack running Cumulus Linux. If you stop by, you’ll also be lucky enough to watch our cofounder and CTO, JR Rivers, demo the product and answer all of your burning questions.

This year we decided to treat attendees to everyone’s favorite fluffy snack — yup, we’ll have our very own cotton candy machine, so stop by during that post-lunch slump for a quick sugar hit. When you come by the booth, you’ll have a chance to enter our giveaway for a Continue reading

71% off Cambridge SoundWorks OontZ Angle 3 PLUS Wireless Bluetooth Speaker – Deal Alert

Designed and Engineered by Cambridge SoundWorks to deliver richer fuller bass; the PLUS delivers surprising bass from such a small speaker, excellent bass performance across each type of music genre.  The PLUS battery technology and power saving design allows this speaker to play up to 30 hours from a full charge with volume set up to 2/3 of maximum playing volume.  IPX5 water resistance makes the unit splashproof, rainproof, dustproof, and sandproof.  Check out the dramatically discounted OontZ Angle 3 PLUS from Cambridge Soundworks now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

A quick note about iconoclasm

I'm an iconoclast [*]. Whenever things become holy, whereby any disagreement is treated as heresy, then I disagree. There are two reasonable sides to every argument. When you vilify one of the sides in the argument, then I step into defend them -- not that they are right, but that they are reasonable.

This makes many upset, because once a cause has become Holy, anybody disagreeing with orthodoxy (like me) is then, by definition, a horrible person. I get things like the image to the right.

(Please don't harass/contact this person -- she believes what many do, and singling her out would be mean).

For the record, I'm rabidly feminist, anti-racist, pro-LGBT, pro-civil-rights. It's just that while I care a lot, I'm not Orthodox. I likely disagree with you about the details. When you vilify those who disagree with you, I will defend them.

...which is the best troll, ever. Admitting somebody is wrong, but defending them as reasonable, seems to upset people more than just arguing the other side is right.

Apple is investigating an iPhone 7 Plus that ‘blew up’

A Twitter video of a smoking iPhone 7 Plus has gone viral, prompting Apple to investigate.On Friday, Apple said that it was working with Brianna Olivas, who shared the video of her iPhone 7 Plus after it “blew up,” to try to find out the cause of the explosion. Olivas wrote that her rose gold iPhone 7 Plus, which she purchased from Sprint in January, “caught fire” while she was sleeping on Wednesday morning.Her boyfriend moved the iPhone from the bed to the dresser before going to the bathroom. When he came back, the iPhone was “steaming” and making a “squealing noise” so he tossed it in the bathroom. That’s when the iPhone 7 Plus “blew up and more smoke started coming out.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

I come to bury SHA1, not to praise it

Most cryptography is theoretical research. When it is no longer theoretical, in practice it can become a harmful exploit.Google and Dutch research institute CWI proved that the SHA1 hash method, first introduced 20 years ago, could produce a duplicate hash from different documents using a technique that consumed significant computational resources: 6,500 years of CPU computation to complete the attack first phase and 110 years of GPU computation to complete the second phase. The exercise was computationally intensive but proved it is within the realm of possibility, especially compared to a brute force attack that would require 12 million GPU compute years.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

I come to bury SHA1, not to praise it

Most cryptography is theoretical research. When it is no longer theoretical, in practice it can become a harmful exploit.Google and Dutch research institute CWI proved that the SHA1 hash method, first introduced 20 years ago, could produce a duplicate hash from different documents using a technique that consumed significant computational resources: 6,500 years of CPU computation to complete the attack first phase and 110 years of GPU computation to complete the second phase. The exercise was computationally intensive but proved it is within the realm of possibility, especially compared to a brute force attack that would require 12 million GPU compute years.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google discloses unpatched IE vulnerability after Patch Tuesday delay

Google's Project Zero team has disclosed a potential arbitrary code execution vulnerability in Internet Explorer because Microsoft has not acted within Google's 90-day disclosure deadline.This is the second flaw in Microsoft products made public by Google Project Zero since the Redmond giant decided to skip this month's Patch Tuesday and postpone its previously planned security fixes until March.Microsoft blamed the unprecedented decision to push back scheduled security updates by a month on a "last minute issue" that could have had an impact on customers, but the company hasn't clarified the nature of the problem.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google discloses unpatched IE vulnerability after Patch Tuesday delay

Google's Project Zero team has disclosed a potential arbitrary code execution vulnerability in Internet Explorer because Microsoft has not acted within Google's 90-day disclosure deadline.This is the second flaw in Microsoft products made public by Google Project Zero since the Redmond giant decided to skip this month's Patch Tuesday and postpone its previously planned security fixes until March.Microsoft blamed the unprecedented decision to push back scheduled security updates by a month on a "last minute issue" that could have had an impact on customers, but the company hasn't clarified the nature of the problem.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FCC puts the brakes on ISP privacy rules it just passed in October

The new chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission will seek a stay on privacy rules for broadband providers that the agency just passed in October.FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will ask for either a full commission vote on the stay before parts of the rules take effect next Thursday or he will instruct FCC staff to delay part of the rules pending a commission vote, a spokesman said Friday.The rules, passed when the FCC had a Democratic majority, require broadband providers to receive opt-in customer permission to share sensitive personal information, including web-browsing history, geolocation, and financial details, with third parties. Without the stay, the opt-in requirements were scheduled to take effect next week.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FCC puts the brakes on ISP privacy rules it just passed in October

The new chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission will seek a stay on privacy rules for broadband providers that the agency just passed in October.FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will ask for either a full commission vote on the stay before parts of the rules take effect next Thursday or he will instruct FCC staff to delay part of the rules pending a commission vote, a spokesman said Friday.The rules, passed when the FCC had a Democratic majority, require broadband providers to receive opt-in customer permission to share sensitive personal information, including web-browsing history, geolocation, and financial details, with third parties. Without the stay, the opt-in requirements were scheduled to take effect next week.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco unveils Hierarchy of Needs for the digital enterprise

The European edition of Cisco Live took place this week in Berlin, which is a fitting location given the amount of innovation happening in that city right now. If you ever find yourself in Berlin, be sure to check out Cisco’s Open Berlin innovation center where inventive start-ups are building and showcasing solutions that run on Cisco technology. Innovation and digital transformation are linked together like Kirk and Spock. You can’t have one without the other. At this week’s event, Ruba Borno, Cisco vice president of growth initiatives and chief of staff for the office of the CEO, gave her first-ever keynote to a Cisco Live audience. Not surprisingly, she focused on digital transformation. However, unlike many keynotes I have seen, Borno didn’t just talk about digitization at a high level. Instead she was more prescriptive and gave the audience a guide on how to proceed with making the shift to a digital enterprise. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco unveils Hierarchy of Needs for the digital enterprise

The European edition of Cisco Live took place this week in Berlin, which is a fitting location given the amount of innovation happening in that city right now. If you ever find yourself in Berlin, be sure to check out Cisco’s Open Berlin innovation center where inventive start-ups are building and showcasing solutions that run on Cisco technology. Innovation and digital transformation are linked together like Kirk and Spock. You can’t have one without the other. At this week’s event, Ruba Borno, Cisco vice president of growth initiatives and chief of staff for the office of the CEO, gave her first-ever keynote to a Cisco Live audience. Not surprisingly, she focused on digital transformation. However, unlike many keynotes I have seen, Borno didn’t just talk about digitization at a high level. Instead she was more prescriptive and gave the audience a guide on how to proceed with making the shift to a digital enterprise. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco unveils Hierarchy of Needs for the digital enterprise

The European edition of Cisco Live took place this week in Berlin, which is a fitting location given the amount of innovation happening in that city right now. If you ever find yourself in Berlin, be sure to check out Cisco’s Open Berlin innovation center where inventive start-ups are building and showcasing solutions that run on Cisco technology. Innovation and digital transformation are linked together like Kirk and Spock. You can’t have one without the other. At this week’s event, Ruba Borno, Cisco vice president of growth initiatives and chief of staff for the office of the CEO, gave her first-ever keynote to a Cisco Live audience. Not surprisingly, she focused on digital transformation. However, unlike many keynotes I have seen, Borno didn’t just talk about digitization at a high level. Instead she was more prescriptive and gave the audience a guide on how to proceed with making the shift to a digital enterprise. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Fraud rises as cybercriminals flock to online lenders

Cybercrime is becoming more automated, organized and networked than ever before, according to the ThreatMetrix Cybercrime Report: Q4 2016.Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting online lenders and emerging financial services, says Vanita Pandey, vice president of strategy and product marketing, ThreatMetrix.[ Related: 8 tips to defend against online financial fraud threats ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Fraud rises as cybercriminals flock to online lenders

Cybercrime is becoming more automated, organized and networked than ever before, according to the ThreatMetrix Cybercrime Report: Q4 2016.Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting online lenders and emerging financial services, says Vanita Pandey, vice president of strategy and product marketing, ThreatMetrix.[ Related: 8 tips to defend against online financial fraud threats ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here