Microsoft is hosting an education-focused event in New York City on May 2, and the tech titan is expected to reveal new software and hardware. The company sent out invitations a day after it launched the Windows 10 Creators Update, the latest major feature release for its current operating system.Microsoft is working to make its devices and services appeal to educators, especially as the company faces increased competition from Google’s G Suite and Chromebooks. Both companies are locked in a war over which business will power the future of productivity, and education is a major battleground for each. Microsoft
Microsoft attached this image to the email it sent inviting journalists to its May 2 education event.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
You don't need to go searching for a Commodore 64 on Ebay to relive the vintage PC's glory days.Avid gamer Petri Wilhelmsen is providing a way to write and run C64 programs on Windows PCs for tech-savvy gamers who want to go old-school.Wilhelmsen has put up a primer on Github for coding Commodore 64 applications for Windows PCs. Wilhelmsen holds a day job as a senior program manager for gaming at Microsoft.The guide provides basic instructions on how to put a game together by writing applications, creating graphics and compiling music.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Microsoft made a splash in the application container market this week with its purchase of Deis, a company that helps customers manage clusters of containers.The move is significant for a number of reasons. First of all, it shows Microsoft’s commitment to supporting Linux containers and specifically its willingness to invest in making it easier for customers of its Azure cloud platform to use containers at scale. Microsoft is also seemingly giving customers multiple options in how they can use and manage containers in the Azure cloud. Choice for end users is always a good thing.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Oh, now this is peachy. Thanks to a four-year, $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research, Cornell University researchers plan to develop a robot surveillance system that would involve robots sharing “information as they move around, and if necessary, interpret what they see. This would allow the robots to conduct surveillance as a single entity with many eyes.” This would be done allegedly to “protect you from danger.”According to the robot surveillance project paper "Convolutional-Features Analysis and Control for Mobile Visual Scene Perception,” researchers want to develop a surveillance method that could do more than any surveillance to date, as it would “operate autonomously and robustly under unknown, and possibly disconnected, topologies.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The M65 PRO RGB is a competition-grade FPS gaming mouse with the technology you need to win, the flexibility to make it your own, and the build quality to last. The high-accuracy 12000 DPI sensor provides pixel-precise tracking and advanced surface calibration support, and the aircraft-grade aluminum frame gives it low weight and high durability. Use the advanced weight tuning system to set the center of gravity to match your play style, and harness the power of CUE for advanced button configuration, macro programming, and three-zone RGB backlighting customization. The gaming mouse averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 520 people on Amazon (read reviews), where its typical list price of $59.99 has been reduced 33% to $39.99. See this deal on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
IT professionals who want help getting a handle on a potential cloud migration have a new tool from Microsoft. The company is offering a Cloud Migration Assessment service that walks customers through an evaluation of the resources they currently use, in order to determine what a move to the cloud would cost.Microsoft’s cost calculation is driven in part by the Azure Hybrid Use Benefit , which lets customers apply their existing Windows Server licenses with Software Assurance to virtual machines running in Microsoft’s cloud. That means customers only have to pay the base price for the compute resources they use.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Build and program your own robot. The Jimu Robot BuzzBot & MuttBot Kit is a do it yourself, robotics building kit with Bluetooth. The BuzzBot & MuttBot Kit includes a central control unit, six digital servo motors that allow movement, wiring, a rechargeable lithium battery and power adapter, 249 interlocking parts with easy snap-in design and quick links to the Jimu App that shows you how to build and program easily. The Jimu App gives you step-by-step building instructions with 360 degree pan, tilt, and zoom capability. The models provided in the App will help you learn how to build all the robots, from beginner to advanced robots. There are pre-programmed actions for you to choose from, manipulate, and make uniquely your own. The App works with both iOS and Android devices. The digital servo motors allow the robot to perform amazing movements from the menu of pre-programmed actions or new actions you create and save with the action capture function in the app. The kit's typical list price of $149.99 has been reduced 17% to $124.99. See the deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
About a year ago, Cisco embarked on a new branding campaign, telling its customers there’s “Never Been A Better Time” to become a digital organization and create new experiences for employees and customers. However, the path to becoming digital may not be that obvious, as we are connecting more things to our network, costs are escalating, the skills gap is widening, and IT is becoming more dynamic and distributed. + Also on Network World: Cisco targets digital business transformation with new certifications +
Put this all together, and CIOs face a difficult situation. Digital transformation requires businesses to use technology to move fast, but IT complexity is clearly on the rise. Technology leaders are now in a situation that seems to be untenable: Accelerate business transformation while trying to completely revamp the way IT is run within the organization. I’ve heard the analogy that it’s like changing the wings on a plane while it’s flying, but it’s more like changing the entire plane and the people flying it while flying. So, where can businesses turn for help?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Firewalls have been on the front lines of network security for 25 years. Over time they’ve evolved beyond simple packet filtering to take on a wider and deeper variety of tasks to block modern threats. Today, two of the top enterprise firewalls are Cisco’s Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Fortinet’s Fortigate, according to reviews by users in the IT Central Station community.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
Microsoft released its monthly security-patch bundle Tuesday, fixing 45 unique vulnerabilities, three of which are publicly known and targeted by hackers.The top priority this month should be given to the Microsoft Office security update because one of the fixed flaws has been actively exploited by attackers since January to infect computers with malware. Over the past few days this vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2017-0199, has seen widespread exploitation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A third-person tactical shooter combining genre-defining ballistics and emergent stealth tactics across the largest and most diverse environments ever seen in a Sniper Elite game. 1-2 player, dedicated co-op, and adversarial multiplayer modes.
Dallas city officials have added extra encryption and other security measures to the outdoor warning sirens hacked early Saturday.The hack also prompted the city to evaluate critical systems for potential vulnerabilities, City Manager T.C. Broadnax said in a statement late Monday. City officials are reviewing security for financial systems, a flood warning system, police-fire dispatch and the 911/311 system.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
While 2016 saw U.S. tech salaries remain essentially flat year-over-year, key skills, especially in the areas of storage and networking, did warrant increases, according to the annual tech salary report from careers site Dice.com.Their recent survey polled 12,907 employed technology professionals online between October 26, 2016 and January 24, 2017. The survey found that, overall, technology salaries in the U.S. were essentially flat year-over-year (-1 percent) at $92,081 in 2016, a slight dip from $93,328 in 2015. However, there are some notable exceptions across the country and for specific skills areas like storage and networking seeing increases, says Bob Melk, president, Dice.com.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
If you regularly use a Windows 10 PC and an Android phone or tablet, there are several Android apps you can install that can seamlessly link the flow of information between the two. For instance, you can start a quick note on your phone, then finish it later on your Windows 10 PC, or you can receive the same alert on both devices for an appointment.The following Windows 10-friendly Android apps are all from Microsoft -- and all free. To get the kind of interoperability described above, you need to be signed into each of the apps on your Android device with the same Microsoft online account you use to sign into your Windows 10 computer.1. Cortana: Sync reminders between your Windows PC and Android device
The Cortana app for Android lets you create reminders that will sync with, and send notifications to, your Windows 10 PC. To set a reminder in the Cortana app for Android, tap the icon on the lower-left of the app’s main screen (it’s the grid icon with 9 squares), tap the “New reminder” icon, type in a name for your reminder, and set the time when you want to be sent a Continue reading
Artificial intelligence will be a critical driver of U.S. economy. This package shows how three companies are using IBM’s Watson A.I. in innovative ways.GlaxoSmithKline is using Watson to better connect with customers. GSK is rolling out a Watson-based question-and-answer feature first for its Theraflu cold and flu medication, enabling customers to ask questions by voice or text through GSK's online ads.Staples is testing a smart assistant device that looks like its Easy Button, but that customers can use to order products, track shipments and help with returns. Staples sees the Watson-fueled service as an aid to office managers by having the device handle the brunt of their ordering and delivery tracking, so they can work on other tasks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The countdown to the United Kingdom’s separation from the European Union began in late March when U.K. prime minister Theresa May officially triggered the “Brexit.” With just less than two years until the U.K. is officially out of the EU, the date of departure is one of the few certainties regarding the situation. “No country has ever travelled this path, and there is no turning back,” says Craig Wright, managing director for business transformation and outsourcing advisory firm Pace Harmon.[ Related: Brexit: a project doomed to fail ]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
With Windows Server 2016, Microsoft has introduced a lengthy list of improvements to Hyper-V. Along with functional additions like container support, nested virtualization, and increased memory and vCPU limits, you’ll find a number of new features, including production-grade checkpoints and the ability to hot-add memory and network adapters, that ease administration.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
It’s common knowledge that healthcare organizations are prime – and relatively easy – targets for ransomware attacks. So it is no surprise that those attacks have become rampant in the past several years. The term “low-hanging fruit” is frequently invoked.But according to at least one report, and some experts, it doesn’t have to be that way. ICIT – the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology – contends in a recent whitepaper that the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) can “crush the health sector’s ransomware pandemic.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Networking and other technology businesses are among the highest paying companies in America, according to a new report from jobs marketplace Glassdoor. And if you find yourself out of a tech job, well, there’s always consulting, where the pay isn’t too shabby either. In fact, the top two companies on the list, A.T. Kearney and PwC’s Strategy&, are both consulting firms, and two others are on the Top 25 List as well. A.T. Kearney and Strateg& offer median total compensation of $175K and $172K, respectively, according to the Glassdoor study, which is based on self-reported data by Glassdoor members. The report reveals total and base compensation, with the difference between the two often in the $15K-$30K range once you factor in commissions, bonuses, etc. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The global seafood industry is over $190 billion. Millions of fishers take to the oceans each day to feed local communities and a growing global appetite for seafood.How can the demand for fish be met while maintaining healthy oceans? A new IoT-based solution holds promise.Background: The challenge of monitoring fishing boats
Over half of the world’s seafood is exported from developing countries. Much of the catch is from small fishing boats, which are difficult to monitor and protect. Commercial fishing in developing regions typically occurs within 30 miles from land. Establishing a communication channel that can support hundreds of fishing boats spread out over a large area is a challenge. Boats are small and lack dependable power. Devices have to be both affordable and rugged.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here