The Perfect and the Good

Perfect and good: one is just an extension of the other, right?

When I was 16 (a long, long, long time ago), I was destined to be a great graphis—a designer and/or illustrator of some note. Things didn’t turn out that way, of course, but the why is a tale for another day. At any rate, in art class that year, I took an old four foot spool end, stretched canvas across it, and painted a piece in acrylic. The painting was a beach sunset, the sun’s oblong shape offsetting the round of the overall painting, with deep reds and yellows in streaks above the beach, which was dark. I painted the image as if the viewer were standing just on the break at the top of the beach, so there was a bit of sea grass scattered around to offset the darkness of the beach.

And, along one side, a rose.

I really don’t know why I included the rose; I think I just wanted to paint one for some reason, and it seemed like a good idea to combine the ideas (the sunset on the beach and the rose). I entered this large painting in a local Continue reading

SK Telecom pushes for interoperable quantum crypto systems

SK Telecom and Nokia have developed a prototype quantum cryptography system that combines the South Korean company's quantum key server with an encryption device from Nokia.The system, shown Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, was put together to demonstrate interoperability between the two vendors and comes as SK Telecom kicks off a push to get telecom carriers and equipment vendors working together on next-generation quantum-secured networks.Quantum cryptography involves the transmission of encryption keys across fiber optic networks. It relies on the principles of quantum mechanics to detect if an eavesdropper has viewed a key en route.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SK Telecom pushes for interoperable quantum crypto systems

SK Telecom and Nokia have developed a prototype quantum cryptography system that combines the South Korean company's quantum key server with an encryption device from Nokia.The system, shown Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, was put together to demonstrate interoperability between the two vendors and comes as SK Telecom kicks off a push to get telecom carriers and equipment vendors working together on next-generation quantum-secured networks.Quantum cryptography involves the transmission of encryption keys across fiber optic networks. It relies on the principles of quantum mechanics to detect if an eavesdropper has viewed a key en route.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SK Telecom pushes for interoperable quantum crypto systems

SK Telecom and Nokia have developed a prototype quantum cryptography system that combines the South Korean company's quantum key server with an encryption device from Nokia.The system, shown Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, was put together to demonstrate interoperability between the two vendors and comes as SK Telecom kicks off a push to get telecom carriers and equipment vendors working together on next-generation quantum-secured networks.Quantum cryptography involves the transmission of encryption keys across fiber optic networks. It relies on the principles of quantum mechanics to detect if an eavesdropper has viewed a key en route.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Research: The Business Bene ts of Automation and Orchestration – Cisco

Whitepaper from Cisco SPBU that nicely sums the advantages of orchestration and automation. Although its focussed on the service provider market, you could easily use this for an Enterprise proposal and make the case.

The overall savings in time and motions ranged from 60 to 70 percent, with the related OpEx avoidance from 50 to 70 percent. Over five years, that translated to an ROI of 383 percent and savings of $3 to $16.7 million for Tier 3 to 5 providers. The data for Tier 1 and 2 operators shows an estimated savings over five years that exceed $70 million.

Link: The Business Bene ts of Automation and Orchestration – http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/cloud-systems-management/network-services-orchestrator/white-paper-c11-738289.pdf

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IDG Contributor Network: 5 ecommerce fraud predictions for 2017

As the number of consumers turning to online shopping increases, the rise of online fraud is also rising.Those committing internet crimes are depriving their victims of either funds, interests, personal property and/or sensitive data. As the threat escalates, consumers and companies alike are seeking various methods to tackle the phenomenon.Ecommerce fraud has a long and controversial history. Thus, providing a forecast for the months ahead can help retailers adopt an adequate solution to confront the many challenges in 2017.1. Identity theft and friendly fraud The main threat will remain identity theft. Fraudsters will seek your personal information. Their main goal is to use a different identity and, for example, place an online order. Identity theft also includes a concept known as man-in-the-middle attacks where credit-card data is intercepted and copied as it is transferred online. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: 5 ecommerce fraud predictions for 2017

As the number of consumers turning to online shopping increases, the rise of online fraud is also rising.Those committing internet crimes are depriving their victims of either funds, interests, personal property and/or sensitive data. As the threat escalates, consumers and companies alike are seeking various methods to tackle the phenomenon.Ecommerce fraud has a long and controversial history. Thus, providing a forecast for the months ahead can help retailers adopt an adequate solution to confront the many challenges in 2017.1. Identity theft and friendly fraud The main threat will remain identity theft. Fraudsters will seek your personal information. Their main goal is to use a different identity and, for example, place an online order. Identity theft also includes a concept known as man-in-the-middle attacks where credit-card data is intercepted and copied as it is transferred online. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to remain relevant in a changing IT world

Brian LeClaire exercises, in his words, “like there’s no tomorrow.”And while he does, LeClaire tracks his workout stats through Polar and FitBit workout devices, which tie back to Go365, Humana’s new health and wellness app. The more his heart rate hits, say, 60 percent of its maximum for 30 minutes, the more rewards he reaps.[ Related: Fitness apps moving up to the big leagues ]But this isn’t some executive perk: Go365 is one of the latest initiatives that Humana, the $54-billion healthcare insurance provider, has launched in its ongoing focus on customer experience driven by technology. Humana, like its major competitors in the healthcare space, have faced monumental challenges in recent years as both current and potential customers have begun demanding that their providers offer services that mirror the technology they use in their personal lives.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Save 38% on the TP-LINK Wi-Fi Smart Plug, Works with Amazon Alexa – Deal Alert

The TP-LINK HS100 smart plug is quite simply a power outlet that you can control from anywhere. Using your smartphone, you can turn devices on & off, set programs to turn them on & off at set times while you're away, or engage a "countdown timer" which powers the switch off after a set amount of time. Installation is simple -- just plug a device into your smart plug and connect to your wifi network. The HS100 is also compatible with Amazon Alexa, for voice control. Buy multiple plugs and get creative.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The 3 biggest challenges facing augmented reality

Until the massive success of Pokémon Go in 2016 when augmented reality (AR) was catapulted into the public’s consciousness, AR was overshadowed by its cousin, virtual reality (VR). Many were more optimistic about the applications of virtual reality compared to augmented reality.  However, as AR and VR have evolved over the past year, it has become evident that AR offers more practical daily use cases. From retail to education to manufacturing, AR is positioned to drive business value across sectors. With that, there are still several challenges that lie ahead for the mass adoption of AR in the short term. Here's a look at three:1. Augmented reality hardware Today, no AR headsets are available for consumers. Microsoft HoloLens and Meta 2 have released developer versions, but they have not yet announced when we can expect their devices to ship to consumers. Even more, HoloLens and Meta still boast hefty price tags at $3,000 and $949, respectively. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cog Systems offers more secure version of HTC A9 smartphone

It sounds like a smartphone user's worst fear: Software that starts up before the phone's operating system, intercepting and encrypting every byte sent to or from the flash memory or the network interface. This is not some new kind of ransomware, though, this is the D4 Secure Platform from Cog Systems. The product grew out of custom security software the company developed for governments, and which it saw could also be put to use in the enterprise as a way to make smartphones more productive while still maintaining a high level of security. It includes a Type 1 hypervisor, a virtualized VPN and additional storage encryption that wrap the standard Android OS in additional layers of protection largely invisible to the end user.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cog Systems offers more secure version of HTC A9 smartphone

It sounds like a smartphone user's worst fear: Software that starts up before the phone's operating system, intercepting and encrypting every byte sent to or from the flash memory or the network interface. This is not some new kind of ransomware, though, this is the D4 Secure Platform from Cog Systems. The product grew out of custom security software the company developed for governments, and which it saw could also be put to use in the enterprise as a way to make smartphones more productive while still maintaining a high level of security. It includes a Type 1 hypervisor, a virtualized VPN and additional storage encryption that wrap the standard Android OS in additional layers of protection largely invisible to the end user.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Business Case for Serverless

You can’t pick a technical direction without considering the business implications. Mat Ellis, Founder/CEO of Cloudability, in a recent CloudCast episode, makes the business case for Serverless. The argument goes something like:

  • Enterprises know they can’t run services cheaper than Amazon. Even if the cost is 2x the extra agility of the cloud is often worth the multiple.

  • So enterprises are moving to the cloud.

  • Moving to the cloud is a move to services. How do you build services now? Using Serverless.

  • With services businesses use a familiar cost per unit billing model, they can think of paying for services as a cost per database query, cost per terabyte of data, and so on.

  • Since employees are no longer managing boxes and infrastructure they can now focus entirely on business goals.

  • There’s now an opportunity to change business models. Serverless will make new businesses economically viable because they can do things they could never do before based on price and capabilities.

  • Serverless makes it faster to iterate and deploy new code which makes it faster to find a proper product/market fit.

  • Smaller teams with smaller budgets with smaller revenues can do things now that only big companies could do Continue reading

Worth Reading: A fistful of bitcoins

The point forcefully made in ‘A Fistful of Bitcoins’ remains true today – Bitcoin offers little in the way of anonymity. In fact, we get better and better at techniques for de-anonymising block chain transactions over time. See for example ‘Data-driven de-anonymization in Bitcoin.’ The Mt Gox and Silk Road communities discussed in today’s paper both spectacularly disappeared though. Mt Gox ceased trading in February 2014, after losing about $350M ($473M?) worth of Bitcoin (‘Mt Gox: The History of a Failed Bitcoin Exchange‘). —The Morning Paper

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Iraq Downs Internet To Combat Cheating…Again!

Earlier this morning, the national fiber backbone of Iraq was taken offline in an effort to combat cheating on 6th grade placement exams.  It was the fourth such outage in the past five days.   2017 marks the third year Iraq has used government-directed internet blackouts to combat cheating on student exams.

These recent outages are a continuation of a growing (and somewhat puzzling) trend by governments in many developing parts of the world to cut communications services in a desperate attempt to staunch rampant cheating on high-stakes student exams.

Iraq’s Exam Blackouts

In the summer of 2015, we broke the story of periodic early-morning outages of the national backbone of Iraq’s internet.  These were the first such government-directed national internet outages to combat cheating on exams and were subsequently covered by publications such as Ars Technica and The Daily Beast.

Last year, Iraq shut down the national fiber backbone ten times in May.  Iraq then conducted a second round of outages in August for make-up exams and then finally directed a third round of outages to coincide with yet another round of make-up exams in October.  (A copy of the government order is pictured above. Continue reading

Intel isn’t yet done with x86 smartphone chips

Smartphones with Intel-based x86 chips aren't dead yet. Intel may have stopped making Atom chips for smartphones, but a partner is keeping that effort alive.Chinese chip maker Spreadtrum is still making x86 smartphone chips based on the Atom architecture named Airmont. The company will ship a powerful eight-core Atom variant for smartphones in the second half of this year.Smartphone makers will be able to use the Spreadtrum SC9861G-IA chip in mid-range handsets. It will have a PowerVR GT7200 graphics core and support 4K video and displays with resolutions up to 2560 x 1440 pixels.It's far more powerful than the original Atom smartphone chips made by Intel. Handsets with the chip were shown at Intel's booth at the ongoing Mobile World Congress trade show.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Python: Real World Hacking on StackStorm (Network Engineer Focussed)

It’s miserably cold, raining (the kind that gets you really wet) and a strange dark grey light covers the UK. Some would say a typical day on this island. That said, I have a coffee in hand and some thoughts to share!

For the last year working for Brocade, I’ve been heavily focussed on delivering talks, demonstrations and knowledge on the excellent StackStorm open-source project (referred to as ST2 from this point onwards for brevity). This post does not go in to what ST2 is, but for those who don’t know, it’s an event driven workflow engine. Input, decision/s, output. Simple! The ST2 website itself is a great resource for information as well as other well known blogs. ST2 is quite feature rich and under constant development. One would say it’s an agile tool for a growingly agile world.

So What Have You Been Making?

I can’t spoil what it is I’ve been building, but one of the challenges was to use the built in key-value (KV) store (currently built on Etcd with a ST2 specific abstraction layer) to use as a point of data convergence. What does this mean in real terms? I have multiple things happening and I Continue reading

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