Facing federal and state pressure to raise retention and graduation rates, dozens of colleges and universities are developing analytics tools to help students make better decisions about everything from courses to social activities.Purdue University has notified its 7,300 incoming freshman about a new web application that could help them better acclimate to life on campus. Administrators at the West Lafayette, Ind., school view the software as a critical tool for an institution whose graduation rate hovers at around 50 percent.Called Forecast, the software is designed to anticipate the danger of students performing poorly by analyzing the time they spend in class and on campus, as well as how often they access coursework. "We're looking at how student engagement is impacting the overall prediction of success on campus," says Brent Drake, Purdue's chief data officer, who's leading the initiative.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The ZIPP MINI delivers 360° sound no matter where in your home you take it. Enjoy your music and audio content streamed to your ZIPP MINI wireless speaker using your home WiFi network, or directly from your device using Bluetooth. Pair up to 6 of them together in one room for an immersive listening experience. The intuitive touch controls let you control everything directly from the ZIPP MINI speaker, or you can easily control and configure it all from the Libratone mobile App. ZIPP MINI supports Spotify Connect, as well as AirPlay and DLNA so you can output audio from apps like Netflix. It averages 5 out of 5 stars on Amazon and its list price of $250 has been reduced 40% to $150. See it on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
NEW YORK -- Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield has an audacious goal: Turning his messaging and collaboration platform into an uber virtual assistant capable of searching every enterprise application to deliver employees pertinent information. And if Slack succeeds, it could seal the timeless black hole of wasted productivity enterprise search and other tools have failed to close."I think the team-level virtual assistant is the next software product category for enterprise that is on the order of [Microsoft] Office in terms of longevity and value," says Butterfield, who spoke to CIO.com at the office of shared workspace provider WeWork. "That’s a long shot for us because you have Baidu, Facebook, Microsoft and Google and a whole bunch of companies that have interested heavily in machine learning and search."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The U.K.'s spy agencies breached the European Convention on Human Rights for years by secretly collecting almost everything about British citizens' communications except their content, a U.K. court has ruled.However, now that the U.K. government has admitted what it is doing, the collection is legal, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruled Monday.It has yet to rule on the issue of proportionality, or whether the agencies' actions were reasonable given the threat they sought to counter.Responding to a June 2015 complaint by campaign group Privacy International, the tribunal said the secret intelligence agencies had breached the ECHR for years because of the way they gathered bulk communications data (BCD) and bulk personal data (BPD).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Virtual reality has taken another step towards the mainstream, with gaming giant Sony now in the fray with its PlayStation VR headset. Launched last week for $399, the PS VR gives gamers the chance to experience VR in the comfort of their own living rooms. In terms of the VR space, it’s a system that is a jump from the Google Cardboard and Samsung VR experiences, while less expensive than the higher-end systems like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive gear.Sony sent me the PS VR last week, right before the public launch of the system. After spending a few days with the equipment, I’m left with mixed feelings about the system and VR in general. Certainly, this will be a hit of the holiday shopping season (my kids absolutely loved trying it out), but you can tell that we’re still at a starting point in VR with some of the glitches, gaming experiences and how VR should fit in with the rest of the gaming ecosystem.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced algorithms are at the heart of an emerging digital world.That was one of the chiefs components of Gartner’s Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president and global head of Research opening remarks at today’s Gartner Symposium/ITxpo show in Orlando.More on Network World: Will future developments in the realm of Artificial Intelligence be like the wild west or a more controlled situation? +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Given it’s national cybersecurity awareness month, I hope all cybersecurity professionals are familiar with the Cybersecurity Canon. For those who are not, the goal of the cybersecurity canon is as follows:
To identify a list of must-read books for all cybersecurity practitioners—be they from industry, government or academia—where the content is timeless, genuinely represents an aspect of the community that is true and precise, reflects the highest quality and, if not read, will leave a hole in the cybersecurity professional’s education that will make the practitioner incomplete.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Personal computer shipments again contracted in the third quarter, research firms said this week, as consumers continued to refuse to buy replacements for their aged machines.
IDC pegged the PC downturn at 4% for the quarter ending September 30, while rival Gartner said shipments shrank 6% from the same period the year before.
Gartner blamed consumers for the two-year slump, the longest decline in the industry's history. "According to our 2016 personal technology survey, the majority of consumers own, and use, at least three different types of devices in mature markets," said Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa in a statement. "Among these devices, the PC is not a high priority device for the majority of consumers, so they do not feel the need to upgrade their PCs as often as they used to."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The U.S. government has issued an emergency ban of Samsung's exploding Galaxy Note7 devices from all airline flights, urging users to take advantage of the company's exchange and refund offers.Owners of Galaxy Note7s may not transport the devices on their person, in carry-on baggage, or in checked luggage, Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration said. The smartphones also cannot be shipped as air cargo under the ban, which goes into effect Saturday at noon Eastern Time.Passengers who attempt to evade the ban by packing their phone in checked luggage are "increasing the risk of a catastrophic incident," the agencies said in a press release. Anyone violating the ban could face criminal prosecution and fines.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Web browsers are amazing. If it weren’t for browsers, we wouldn’t be able to connect nearly as well with users and customers by pouring our data and documents into their desktops, tablets, and phones. Alas, all of the wonderful content delivered by the web browser makes us that much more frustrated when the rendering isn’t as elegant or bug-free as we would like.When it comes to developing websites, we’re as much at the mercy of browsers as we are in debt to them. Any glitch on any platform jumps out, especially when it crashes our users’ machines. And with design as such a premium for standing out or fitting in, any fat line or misapplied touch of color destroys the aesthetic experience we’ve labored to create. Even the tiniest mistake, like adding an extra pixel to the width of a line or misaligning a table by a bit, can result in a frustrating user experience, not to mention the cost of discovering, vetting, and working around it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Log management software helps IT managers understand and act on the flood of log data spewing from IT systems — to investigate security problems, prevent outages and improve the online customer experience. In essence, logs are a specialized source of business intelligence, while also providing an audit trail for regulatory compliance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
For today's overworked, time-strapped IT employees, bots are more than simply apps that perform automated tasks, like delivering weather reports or taking pizza orders. Rather, they're a respite from endless help-desk calls, constant software updates and tedious server maintenance jobs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
Best jobs in IT and engineeringImage by ThinkstockMany jobs fall under the umbrella of tech these days, each with its own unique focus and skillset. CareerCast looked at the wage potential, growth outlook and relevance to the constantly evolving job market to determine the best jobs in tech market.
With a growing interest in analytics, data, cloud, hardware and software in the enterprise, technology jobs are at the forefront of job satisfaction and growth, making it a great time to get into the industry if you have the right skillset. If you're looking to get into tech, or make a change, or want to see how your current role ranks, here are the top 10 jobs in IT and technology, according to CareerCast's data.
Data scientistImage by ThinkstockTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It’s no longer about whether or not you’ll get attacked, it’s about knowing what the repercussions are and if you have the right controls to minimize or completely eliminate the fallout. In order to be able to do this effectively, you need be attuned with your network controls and architecture. Asking the right questions can get you there and also ensuring that network architects are aligned with business and security goals.VArmour CEO Tim Eades offers a few questions decision makers should be asking to ensure they keep their organizations from being the next Yahoo.If we were subject to a data breach, how would our controls and processes appear when described on tomorrow’s front page news?
Why is this important?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In today’s business world, nothing is static. Business is constantly in motion, reconfiguring operations to take advantage of new opportunities and responding to customer needs. For an enterprise with multiple sites, that means that what works today from a networking perspective may not be adequate tomorrow.Meeting the needs of branch offices and remote sites depends on high-speed, powerful wide area network (WAN) capabilities. But for many organizations, the ability to meet peak demands means they would have to invest in capabilities that will at other times be underutilized.Enterprise IT managers are dealing with virtually insatiable demands for broadband. IDC data shows that more than 53% of enterprises expect to support a 20% yearly increase in WAN bandwidth, but within the constraints of flat budgets for connectivity and managed services.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Businesses striving to achieve new levels of agility and the flexibility to pursue new opportunities are often running up against the restraints of legacy network infrastructure. It can be difficult to envision the pathway to the future.IDG Research Services surveyed more than 100 business and IT decision makers to explore the drivers and obstacles impacting network connectivity strategies. Most are eager to modernize their networks but feel constrained by financial considerations and the fear of getting locked into proprietary solutions.Overcoming network burdensThe typical enterprise today must absorb or outsource a huge burden of installing, configuring, and running wide area network (WAN) hardware that includes switches, routers, load balancers, VPNs, accelerators and firewalls.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Do you remember when we used multi-protocol routing for IPX, AppleTalk, and TCP/IP running on the same network? In the 1980s and early 1990s many enterprises had multiple protocols running on the physical network infrastructure as “ships in the night”. Cisco routers became highly adept at multi-protocol routing and the company grew in prominence as a result. Then in the early 1990s, TCP/IP won out and the internet took shape as the global network we enjoy today.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
Check Point has long been known as a firewall company but it is reaching beyond its roots with a new series of protective technologies under its SandBlast line.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
New products of the weekOur roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow.ScreenBeam 960Key features: ScreenBeam 960 is an enterprise-grade wireless display receiver for business professionals, medical practitioners and educators who need wireless display connectivity to collaborate, create and communicate. More info.§ For medium-to-large scale deployments§ Designed specifically for commercial applications and dense wireless environments§ No Wi-Fi network required§ Supports Windows 7/8, 8.1 and 10To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Amongst all of the things in our digital lives there’s one that’s increased exponentially over the last few years: Status data. Even though many services and devices are highly reliable we still need to keep an eye on everything so we need to monitor our network connections for availability and throughput, our servers and web apps for status, our log files for errors, our sales systems for orders, our trouble ticket systems for backlogs … the list grows every day and because each data source is a silo, we wind up with a ridiculous number of isolated status reports to routinely check . What we need is a dashboard to integrate all of our data sources.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here