Canceling the OVS Cookbook Project

In my list of proposed 2017 projects, I mentioned that I wanted to launch an open source book project. In late February, I launched The Open vSwitch Cookbook, an unofficial—as in not formally affiliated with the Open vSwitch (OVS) project—effort to gather together OVS “recipes” into an open source book. Today, I’m shutting down that project, and here’s why.

It really comes down to wanting to be a better member of the OVS community. I honestly hadn’t anticipated that the OVS community might prefer that the information I was going to gather in these “recipes” be collected in the OVS documentation (which has undergone a tremendous transformation). Instead of creating yet another source of information for OVS, I’ll focus my efforts on expanding the upstream documentation. This will take some effort on my part—I’ll need to learn reStructuredText and spend some time understanding how the docs are organized now—but I think that it’s the better long-term option for the OVS community as a whole.

And what about my goal for launching an open source book project? I’ll continue to evaluate options on that front to see if it makes sense, and I’ll post here if and when something happens.

Apple releases iOS 10.3 for iPhone and iPad owners

After a steady dose of multiple betas, Apple today finally introduced a final version of iOS 10.3 for both iPhone and iPad users. While most iOS updates in between major numerical releases don't often bring much to the table, iOS 10.3 is certainly an exception. Most notably, iOS 10.3 introduces a new file system dubbed Apple File System -- or APFS for short -- which brings with it stronger encryption along with better optimization for accessing flash storage.That aside, there are more than  a few consumer-facing features that are worth checking out, including new animations when opening up an app and a new "Find My AirPods" feature for those who enjoy Apple's relatively new wireless headphones.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Amazon Prime Members Get Up To $75 off Kindle E-Reader Bundles Through 4/3 – Deal Alert

Amazon has quietly released another good set of deals on its popular Kindle series of e-readers, and this time the discount runs through 4/3 only.  $30 off: Paperwhite, Kindle, and Kindle for Kids Bundle $50 off: Voyage and Paperwhite Essentials Bundle $75 off: Voyage Essentials Bundle To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco Talos warns of Apple iOS and MacOS X.509 certificate flaw

Cisco Talos today warned of a flaw in the X.509 certificate validation feature of Apple macOS and iOS that could let an attacker remotely execute code and steal information.X.509 security certificates are widely used and integral to many Internet protocols, including TLS/SSL, which is the basis for HTTPS, the secure web browsing protocol.+More on Network World: 5 burning questions with new IETF Chair and Cisco Fellow Alissa Cooper+“For most people, securely connecting to a website seems as simple as checking to make sure the little padlock in the address bar is present. However, in the background there are many different steps that are taken to ensure you are safely and securely connecting to the websites that claim they are who they are. This process includes certificate validation, or making sure that the servers that users are connecting to present “identification” showing they are legitimate. This helps to protect users from fraudulent servers that might otherwise steal sensitive information,” Talos wrote.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco Talos warns of Apple iOS and MacOS X.509 certificate flaw

Cisco Talos today warned of a flaw in the X.509 certificate validation feature of Apple macOS and iOS that could let an attacker remotely execute code and steal information.X.509 security certificates are widely used and integral to many Internet protocols, including TLS/SSL, which is the basis for HTTPS, the secure web browsing protocol.+More on Network World: 5 burning questions with new IETF Chair and Cisco Fellow Alissa Cooper+“For most people, securely connecting to a website seems as simple as checking to make sure the little padlock in the address bar is present. However, in the background there are many different steps that are taken to ensure you are safely and securely connecting to the websites that claim they are who they are. This process includes certificate validation, or making sure that the servers that users are connecting to present “identification” showing they are legitimate. This helps to protect users from fraudulent servers that might otherwise steal sensitive information,” Talos wrote.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Stanford Brainstorm Chip to Hints at Neuromorphic Computing Future

If the name Kwabena Boahen sounds familiar, you might remember silicon that emerged in the late 1990s that emulated the human retina.

This retinomorphic vision system, which Boahen developed while at Caltech under VLSI and neuromorphic computing pioneer, Carver Meade, introduced ideas that are just coming around into full view again in the last couple of years—computer vision, artificial intelligence, and of course, brain-inspired architectures that route for efficiency and performance. The rest of his career has been focused on bringing bioinspired engineering to a computing industry that is hitting a major wall in coming years—and at a time

Stanford Brainstorm Chip to Hints at Neuromorphic Computing Future was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

Intel’s next-gen hyperfast Optane SSDs for PCs to ship in April

Intel will begin shipping its next-generation non-volatile Optane memory for PCs beginning April 24.Intel, which developed the Optane memory with its partner Micron under the name "3D Xpoint," said the new storage will allow PCs to boot twice as fast and increase internal storage performance by 14 times.Additionally, Intel claims the mass storage devices will launch applications faster. For example, Microsoft Outlook will launch up to 5.8 times faster; games will launch up to 67% faster; and files stored in memory can be located up to four times faster.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Consumers sue Microsoft, allege Windows 10 upgrade destroyed data, damaged PCs

Three people from Illinois last week sued Microsoft, claiming that the free Windows 10 upgrade they had installed on their PCs caused "data loss and damage to their computers."Lawyers for the trio asked a Chicago federal court Thursday to grant the case class-action status, which would allow other Americans to join the litigation."Many consumers have had their hard drives fail because of the Windows 10 installation," alleged the complaint. "Many consumers have had their existing software and data rendered inoperable by the Windows 10 installation."All three of the plaintiffs asserted that after accepting the free Windows 10 upgrade -- a one-year deal that ran from 2015 to 2016 -- some data on their Windows PCs had been destroyed. One said that she had had to purchase a new personal computer after the one upgraded to Windows 10 was crippled.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco announces cornucopia of product updates at Enterprise Connect

The industry’s largest collaboration show, Enterprise Connect, gets underway this week in Orlando, Florida. The show has become the place for vendors to show off the latest and greatest, and the week started off with Cisco announcing some new products and updates to existing ones. Cisco’s collaboration business has been on quite a roll of late, as it has released a number of new solutions, including the game-changing Spark Board, which was unveiled earlier this year. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco announces cornucopia of product updates at Enterprise Connect

The industry’s largest collaboration show, Enterprise Connect, gets underway this week in Orlando, Florida. The show has become the place for vendors to show off the latest and greatest, and the week started off with Cisco announcing some new products and updates to existing ones. Cisco’s collaboration business has been on quite a roll of late, as it has released a number of new solutions, including the game-changing Spark Board, which was unveiled earlier this year. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Carnegie Mellon hacking contest aims to get IT security talent started young

Carnegie Mellon University this week launches its third annual online capture the flag (CTF) contest aimed at introducing middle and high school students to the world of IT security — and just maybe attract some of them into a segment of the job market hungry for talent.Anyone can register to play the free picoCTF online hacking contest beginning on March 31 and ending April 14, but only U.S. students in grades 6-12 are eligible for some $30K in prizes. CMU says about 30,000 people have partaken in picoCTF, a game in which participants must reverse engineer, hack, decrypt and do whatever it takes to solve a challenge.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Carnegie Mellon hacking contest aims to get IT security talent started young

Carnegie Mellon University this week launches its third annual online capture the flag (CTF) contest aimed at introducing middle and high school students to the world of IT security — and just maybe attract some of them into a segment of the job market hungry for talent.Anyone can register to play the free picoCTF online hacking contest beginning on March 31 and ending April 14, but only U.S. students in grades 6-12 are eligible for some $30K in prizes. CMU says about 30,000 people have partaken in picoCTF, a game in which participants must reverse engineer, hack, decrypt and do whatever it takes to solve a challenge.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple WWDC ticket lottery registration countdown is on

You have until Friday, March 31 at 10am pacific time to register for a chance to buy tickets to Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which takes place at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose from June 5-9.Oh, and make sure you have $1,600 to spare for a ticket in case you do get selected. You must be a member of the Apple Developer Program or Apple Developer Enterprise Program as of February 16, 2017 to register for the lottery. Last year, those who were picked in the lottery started getting notifications within a few days of the lottery deadline.MORE: You'll see right through this iPhone 8 concept designTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The real reason shadow IT is so widespread

At your company, who’s responsible for what technology is bought and implemented?It’s a critical question, with deep implications for how your company leverages technology to get things done and drive competitive advantage. A recent survey from Spiceworks takes a stab at answering this question. But while the survey offers a number of insights, it leaves out perhaps the most important constituency in the procurement process.+ Also on Network World: Struggling with shadow IT? Maybe re-evaluate the IT department +  As you can surmise from the title—ITDMs and BDMs: Tech Purchase Superheroes—the Spiceworks survey was taken mostly from the standpoint of vendors trying to sell you hardware, software and services. It focuses on teasing out the differences between two key groups: IT decision makers (ITDMs) and business decision makers (BDMs). Amidst perceptions that the balance of power is shifting from IT to the business, the survey attempts to find out if the two groups work together in a smooth, well-oiled process or if they struggle to coordinate separate agendas. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The real reason shadow IT is so widespread

At your company, who’s responsible for what technology is bought and implemented?It’s a critical question, with deep implications for how your company leverages technology to get things done and drive competitive advantage. A recent survey from Spiceworks takes a stab at answering this question. But while the survey offers a number of insights, it leaves out perhaps the most important constituency in the procurement process.+ Also on Network World: Struggling with shadow IT? Maybe re-evaluate the IT department +  As you can surmise from the title—ITDMs and BDMs: Tech Purchase Superheroes—the Spiceworks survey was taken mostly from the standpoint of vendors trying to sell you hardware, software and services. It focuses on teasing out the differences between two key groups: IT decision makers (ITDMs) and business decision makers (BDMs). Amidst perceptions that the balance of power is shifting from IT to the business, the survey attempts to find out if the two groups work together in a smooth, well-oiled process or if they struggle to coordinate separate agendas. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple iOS 10.3 packs 20-plus new features & is available now

Apple has made iOS 10.3 publicly available and the software update for its iPhones and iPads is packed with a Find-My-AirPod feature as well as a slew of Siri, CarPlay and other additions.You probably know the routine by now: Head over to the General icon on your device, then hit Software Update and you'll be given the option to grab iOS 10.3 (a bit over 611MB on my iPhone) either over the air or via iTunes on a Mac or Windows PC. Unless you want to wait it out a bit and make sure Apple hasn't mucked anything up. Bob Brown/NetworkWorld Bob Brown/NetworkWorld Not to be overlooked in iOS 10.3, even though it works behind the scenes, is support for the Apple File System (APFS) that the company introduced last year at its Worldwide Developers Conference. APFS is designed to work better with flash storage and has improved encryption support.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here