In less than a month since being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump has struck an emotional chord with tech companies, generating an unparalleled unifying force of opposition. The Trump administration’s executive order banning all people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from the entering the United States has created a rift between political and business interests, and one that many technology leaders consider a threat to their very existence.A group of 127 technology companies last week filed an official friend-of-the-court brief in the lawsuits opposing the administration’s executive order in Minnesota and Washington. Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Snap and Twitter are all on board, but there are some conspicuous absences. Enterprise leaders IBM and Oracle haven’t joined the effort and all of the major telecom and cable providers have held out thus far as well. Amazon was asked not to join the filing because it’s a witness in the original lawsuit, according to Mashable.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google has turned a database service that it uses to run some of its mission-critical products into an offering for its public cloud customers.On Tuesday, the company launched Cloud Spanner, a new, fully managed database that’s supposed to provide the transactional consistency of a traditional database plus the scalability and performance of a NoSQL database. It’s based on the same systems that run the company’s own Spanner database internally.Usually, businesses have to pick either a traditional or a NoSQL database, and each comes with particular trade-offs. Traditional databases provide better transactional consistency, but can be hard to scale. NoSQL databases are better at scaling but sacrifice consistency.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, known as KAUST, is a fascinating place. A literal and figurative oasis about an hour north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, KAUST is a tier-one research university with a mission to inspire discoveries that address global challenges and to serve as a beacon of knowledge that bridges people and cultures for the betterment of humanity.Last week, KAUST brought together nearly 100 leaders from industry, government, education and other research institutions to help it craft its forward-looking IT strategy. But more than just helping craft their strategy, this summit proved to be a model for executing a digital transformation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple joining the Wireless Power Consortium in advance of the group's conference this week in London, combined with new research out of MIT designed to safeguard wireless charging, has to be encouraging news for iPhone and iPad users tired of being tethered.Apple showing up on the Wireless Power Consortium's member list took place without any fanfare from the vendor itself, but the revelation did add strength to analyst claims that wireless charging could be coming to the iPhone 8 (or iPhone X) and other new Apple smartphones this year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Microsoft is calling for a Digital Geneva Convention, as global tensions over digital attacks continue to rise. The tech giant wants to see civilian use of the internet protected as part of an international set of accords, Brad Smith, the company’s president and chief legal officer, said in a blog post.
The manifesto, published alongside his keynote address at the RSA conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, argued for codifying recent international norms around cyberwarfare and for establishing an independent agency to respond to and analyze cyberattacks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It all started with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Prior to VoIP, the PBX was totally independent with its own server connected to proprietary endpoints (telephones) over a proprietary network. VoIP enabled telephony to co-mingle with other servers, networks and endpoints.Telephony grabbed hold of the concept of unified communications (UC) and made “PBX” a legacy term. A single UC client could support voice, voicemail and instant messaging (IM). UC APIs offered communications capabilities to other applications.+ Also on Network World: Office, Outlook, Slack, Handoff: The digital workplace reborn +
While the UC industry has done a great deal with multi-modal communications, it has not been successful at unifying communications. In many ways, we are more connected and converse more than ever before, but most of these conversations occur outside of the UC suite.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The bundle includes a new slim 500GB PlayStation 4 system, and a matching DualShock 4 Wireless Controller. It's discounted 17% on Amazon at the moment, so you can buy it for $250 instead of $300. See the discounted PS4 bundle now on Amazon.
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Hackers have probably had a harder time slipping past your security software, thanks to an alliance between some of the top vendors in the industry.The Cyber Threat Alliance, a group of security firms that often compete, says its efforts to share intelligence on the latest hacking threats have been paying off. Rivals including Fortinet, Intel Security, Palo Alto Networks and Symantec originally entered into the alliance over two years ago, even as doubts arose over whether it’d last.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Malware attacks that recently put the Polish banking sector on alert were part of a larger campaign that targeted financial organizations from more than 30 countries.Researchers from Symantec and BAE Systems linked the malware used in the recently discovered Polish attack to similar attacks that have taken place since October in other countries. There are also similarities to tools previously used by a group of attackers known in the security industry as Lazarus.The hackers compromised websites that were of interest to their ultimate targets, a technique known as watering hole attacks. They then injected code into them that redirected visitors to a custom exploit kit.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Today Kaspersky Lab and HackerOne released the report, “Hacking America: Cybersecurity Perception.” Some of its revelations include that most Americans wouldn’t want to be a customer of their employers since they don’t trust their employers to protect their personal data; also, almost half the people surveyed think America is more vulnerable to cyber-espionage/nation-sponsored cyberattacks with Donald Trump as president.The study, based on answers provided by 5,000 US adults who were surveyed in December 2016, revealed that despite all the cybersecurity news coverage, American consumers and businesses still need a better understanding of cyberthreats and how to protect their personal and sensitive business data online.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Intel is bringing more options to improve gaming and virtual reality experiences on Windows PCs with official support for Vulkan APIs (application programming interfaces).Vulkan is similar to DirectX 12 and can be used for many applications, but it is most relevant to visual applications like games.Games and VR applications written in Vulkan will work with GPUs integrated into Intel's 7th Generation chips code-named Kaby Lake and 6th Generation chips code-named Skylake. It will also support the Intel HD Graphics 505 GPU in Pentium chips code-named Apollo Lake.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple has joined the consortium behind the Qi wireless charging system, supercharging rumors that owners of future an iPhone could live tangle-free.Last week, a financial analyst claimed Apple will release three new iPhones with wireless charging capabilities this year, reviving an on-again, off-again rumor about the next-generation iPhone's capabilities.The appearance of Apple's name on the membership list of the Wireless Power Consortium, Qi's creator, over the last week adds credence to that rumor. Its name was not on the list cached by Google's search engine last Tuesday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Royal Vopak N.V. is a leading independent tank storage provider for the oil and chemical industries, operating 67 terminals in 25 countries. Chris Sheldon, Terminal Manager for the company’s operation in Savannah, GA, recently oversaw the implementation of an Internet of Things deployment that is enabling the terminal to minimize energy usage, which should lead to significant cost savings. Sheldon shared the story with Network World Editor in Chief John Dix. Vopak
Chris Sheldon, Terminal Manager, Vopak Terminal Savannah, Inc.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Super Bowl LI will be remembered for a number of things. The Patriots had the largest comeback in Super Bowl history. Like all Atlanta sports teams, the Falcons choked when it mattered most. Also, Tom Brady won his fifth Super Bowl to cement his place as the second greatest QB of all time, behind the illustrious Joe Montana. More importantly though, Super Bowl LI was the most connected and engaged sporting event to date, as the fans in NRG Stadium in Houston appeared to be very busy using their phones to take pictures, Tweet, Facebook, send messages and other activities. A year ago, I wrote a post about how the network performed for Super Bowl 50, so I thought it would be worth looking at how things changed between then and now. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered people of Japanese descent, many American citizens, to be relocated to internment camps. Even those with as little as one-sixteenth Japanese blood were interned. Over 110,000 Japanese Americans from California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona were affected. Many had just six days to sell all their possessions before being interned!President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act in 1988, which apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government. The legislation admitted that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The high-performance Cree LED XM-L2 chip delivers 50,000 hours of intense brightness at a true 1300 lumens. Sweep bright light beyond the length of two football fields. The Anker Bolder torch has a full range of light modes for every situation: a powerful high-beam, balanced medium-beam, energy-saving & less dazzling low-beam, high-visibility strobe, and emergency SOS. It's rechargeable battery generates 6 hours of undiminishing light on a charge. It's body is constructed of professional durable materials, and is IP67 rated for water resistance. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 100 people on Amazon (84% rate a full 5 -- see reviews here), its $112 list price is reduced 57% to just $47.99. See this deal on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Charge your iPhone and battery case simultaneously, and when you're on-the-go, enjoy increased talk time up to 26 hours, and internet use up to 22 hours. The case preserves the lightning port so nothing is blocked. On the inside, a soft microfiber lining helps protect your iPhone. With the smart battery case on, the intelligent battery status is displayed on the iPhone lock screen and in notification center, so you know exactly how much charge you have left. The case averages 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon, where its typical list price of $99.99 has been reduced 14% to $84.99. See the discounted Apple charging case on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Ever since cloud computing was introduced a decade or so ago, there has been much gnashing of teeth and wailing about the security risks that the cloud introduced. Back in the old days, these arguments were pretty simple and revolved around control. Since then, however, as cloud adoption has become more widespread, we have had more nuanced views about cloud risks.
But still, there are those traditional IT folks who balk at the very mention of the cloud. To them, cloud is anathema that is diametrically opposed from their stated objective of delivering the best outcome with the highest levels of safety for the business.
Of course, many people would suggest that a significant proportion of those bemoaning the risks of the cloud are actually bemoaning the fact that their career prospects look less rosy in a cloudy world, and that it is self-interest that drives this message.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
While the move toward truly digital environments provides IT with an exciting opportunity to contribute to the organization’s future, it also increases the workload on IT infrastructure. And when resources are taxed, mistakes are made. Unfortunately, the process of building storage environments capable of satisfying the demands of the new digital economy isn’t exempt.Some mistakes are understandable, painless, and easy to correct. But others can be harmful enough to put your company on the path to failure – especially if left unaddressed. Here are three prime examples of common storage mistakes and how you can avoid them.Mistake 1: Undervaluing the role visibility plays in today’s digital environment.
When always-on performance is a prerequisite, failing to embrace visibility tools means that you are essentially operating in the dark and surviving on chance. Dynamic visibility tools combined with a Fibre Channel-based storage fabric can give you the ability to rapidly troubleshoot current or looming problem areas.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Most organizations experience growth in fits and starts, with alternating periods of expansion and contraction. IT used to have to react to those twists and turns on the fly. But now, with a role more tightly aligned with business, IT is instead helping lead through such changes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)