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Category Archives for "Networking"

BBC eyes worldwide expansion for tiny educational computer

A new educational foundation hopes to introduce children worldwide to coding, using a tiny single-board computer that has changed the way coding is taught in schools across the U.K.You may have already heard of the Raspberry Pi, a US $35 computer the size of a credit card that, with the addition of a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, can stand in for a desktop machine.But this isn't about that. It's about the U.K.'s other single-board educational computer, the micro:bit.The micro:bit is smaller and cheaper than the Raspberry Pi, and it has a built-in keyboard and display, albeit consisting of just two pushbuttons and 25 red LEDs arranged in a five-by-five grid. It was developed for the U.K.'s national broadcaster, the BBC, which gave a million of them to British schools.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SDN groups shack-up to promote standards, open software development

Software Defined Networking standard bearer the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) and ON.Lab have merged with designs on further pushing SDN benchmarks and open source software development of the technology.+More on Network World: Gartner Top 10 technology trends you should know for 2017+According to the groups, the merger will create a single organization under the ONF name. Joint operations will begin immediately, and will be led by ON.Lab founder and executive director, Guru Parulkar. Dan Pitt, an SDN, OpenFlow protocol proponent, left the ONF executive director position recently and ONF technical director Rick Bauer is currently listed as interim executive director but will now serve as ONF’s head of standards. ONF will be governed by an interim board of directors through the end of 2017.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SDN groups shack-up to promote standards, open software development

Software Defined Networking standard bearer the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) and ON.Lab have merged with designs on further pushing SDN benchmarks and open source software development of the technology.+More on Network World: Gartner Top 10 technology trends you should know for 2017+According to the groups, the merger will create a single organization under the ONF name. Joint operations will begin immediately, and will be led by ON.Lab founder and executive director, Guru Parulkar. Dan Pitt, an SDN, OpenFlow protocol proponent, left the ONF executive director position recently and ONF technical director Rick Bauer is currently listed as interim executive director but will now serve as ONF’s head of standards. ONF will be governed by an interim board of directors through the end of 2017.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Review: Lenovo Yoga Book advances the state of digital pen-based input

The scoop: Yoga Book (Android version tested), about $500 (Windows 10 version costs $550), by Lenovo.What is it? The Yoga Book takes its name very seriously – it looks more like a paper-based notebook in size and weight than a traditional computer “notebook” does. The system features two innovative and unique features – a light-up keyboard without any physical keys that uses touch-based haptic feedback to emulate typing; and a writing surface that lets you write with a real pen and paper on the device, with handwriting then digitized on the tablet’s screen. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Introducing the Solutions Marketplace

Traditional enterprise networking is under siege — threatened by choice, by open source, and by open standards. The same revolution that made Linux the standard for server operating systems is now happening to network switching. With over 1.5 million ports in production, 50+ certified hardware platforms across 8 hardware vendors, Cumulus Linux® is the de-facto platform for Open Networking, and a perfect example of what the next generation data centers should include.

But the age-old claim that “It’s Just Linux, you can do whatever you want!” can complicate solving specific problems customers have in the enterprise. Based on feedback from community members, we’ve created the Solutions Marketplace on the Cumulus Networks Community Website. The Solutions Marketplace is a repository of community-submitted projects, user space applications, automation scripts, and extensions to Cumulus Linux. This enables collaboration and fosters innovation through a common platform to develop upon openly and freely using Cumulus VX.

The Solutions Marketplace with Cumulus Linux expedites the path to production due to the availability of existing community expertise. Best practices are shared, which means you don’t have to start from zero when building out your data center. A disaggregated hardware/software model enables flexible environments and leverages Continue reading

T-Mobile reaches $48M settlement with FCC over ‘unlimited’ data claims

The FCC this morning announced an agreement with T-Mobile that will see the carrier pay a fine and provide a basket of restitution benefits worth a total of $48 million for having failed to adequately disclose to its customers that its “unlimited” data plan came with caveats that could result in throttling.“Consumers should not have to guess whether so-called ‘unlimited’ data plans contain key restrictions, like speed constraints, data caps, and other material limitations,” said FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc in a press release. “When broadband providers are accurate, honest and upfront in their ads and disclosures, consumers aren’t surprised and they get what they’ve paid for.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

56% off Executive Office Solutions Portable Adjustable Laptop Desk/Stand/Table – Deal Alert

The Executive Office Solutions Portable Adjustable Laptop Desk/Stand/Table is designed to allow you to set up an office anywhere! It is easy to carry, with a light weight aluminum frame. This device makes a perfect desk for your laptop.  The adjustable legs allow you to rotate 360 degrees and lock it in place at various angles. This desk is also vented and connects to your computer via the  included USB cord to power two quiet CPU cooling fans.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Riverbed searches for the IT Holy Grail

There’s a historical fable about the Holy Grail. Various cultures have different versions, but it’s described as some kind of dish or chalice with miraculous powers that gives the wielder eternal youth, riches or some other wonderful thing. Many people throughout history have spent their lives looking for the Holy Grail, but they never found it because it is, after all, a myth. The world of IT has it’s own Holy Grail and that’s being able to understand how the infrastructure is performing through the lens of the user. In theory, one should be able to monitor the application and use that as a proxy for user experience. In theory, this makes sense and seems easy, but practically speaking it’s extremely difficult to do because the “end user experience” can be impacted by the application, device, network, databases, service or a number of other factors. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Half of American adults are in face recognition databases

Half of all American adults are in a face recognition database, and not one law enforcement agency requires a warrant before tapping into that tech to identify someone.While you might be binge-watching Netflix, cooking, working or sleeping—in other words, minding your own business and doing nothing illegal—law enforcement may be running your photo through a face recognition network, using your face in a virtual line-up to find a person suspected of committing a crime.How did you end up in this digital manhunt? It could be because you have a driver’s license or state-issued ID, since 26 states “enroll their residents in a virtual-line up.” That covers more than 117 million American adults, an investigation found, but since not all drivers are adults, then the total number of drivers in face recognition networks is more than 131 million.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Half of American adults are in face recognition databases

Half of all American adults are in a face recognition database, and not one law enforcement agency requires a warrant before tapping into that tech to identify someone.While you might be binge-watching Netflix, cooking, working or sleeping—in other words, minding your own business and doing nothing illegal—law enforcement may be running your photo through a face recognition network, using your face in a virtual line-up to find a person suspected of committing a crime.How did you end up in this digital manhunt? It could be because you have a driver’s license or state-issued ID, since 26 states “enroll their residents in a virtual-line up.” That covers more than 117 million American adults, an investigation found, but since not all drivers are adults, then the total number of drivers in face recognition networks is more than 131 million.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft is killing Project Spark, its ambitious cross-platform creation game

We saw it coming last fall, and now the reality is here: Project Spark is dead. Microsoft removed its game-creation platform from the Windows Store and the Xbox Marketplace on Friday. Project Spark, which lets users create games with no coding experience necessary, went into “maintenance mode” in September. At that time, Microsoft stopped active development of the platform but continued to operate it as “a free incubation engine.” The company unlocked all previously paid downloadable content—character packs, themes, etc.—and continued to operate the online services for the platform. That will all end soon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Netgear joins the 802.11ad game with Nighthawk X10

Another home networking vendor has joined the 802.11ad Wi-Fi market – Netgear today launched the Nighthawk X10 AD7200. Aimed at users interested in faster data transfers for large file sizes, which includes 4K video streaming and VR gaming, the Nighthawk X10 is powered by a 1.7GHz Quad Core processor and Quad-Stream Wave 2 Wi-FI architecture. The router is now available for pre-order via Netgear for $499.99, with retail availability expected by the end of October.Adding the 802.11ad feature means that users can get faster data transfers via the 60 GHz frequency (aka 60Gig), but in a limited space (about 20 feet, line of sight between the client and the router). Backward compatibility with 802.11ac (and b/g/n) means that you can still use this in your home network, but speeds will drop as you get further from the router. There are a limited amount of clients currently supporting 802.11ad (Acer has a few notebooks and docking stations), but Netgear says it’s preparing for the future as more client devices support 802.11ad for different scenarios. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here