Amazon’s Alexa gains support for Outlook calendars

Users of Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant can now ask it questions about the contents of their Microsoft-hosted calendars. On Wednesday, the assistant gained the ability to interact with calendars from Outlook.com and Office 365, similar to how it works with Google Calendar.Amazon didn’t make an announcement for the new feature. When asked about the change, a spokesperson for the company said that it was designed to only work with personal calendars.That said, it was possible for me to connect my Office 365 calendar, which is provided through an enterprise subscription. When asked about what’s on my schedule, Alexa answered with the contents of my work calendar. It’s unclear if Amazon plans to continue supporting that functionality, and it may break at any time.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Intel’s ticking time bomb

It started somewhat innocently. Cisco released a field notice that there was an issue with some signal clocks on a range of their networking devices. This by itself was a huge issue. There had been rumblings about this issue for a few months. Some proactive replacement of affected devices to test things. Followed by panicked customer visits when the news broke on February 2nd. Cisco looked like they were about to get a black eye. —The Networking Nerd

The post Worth Reading: Intel’s ticking time bomb appeared first on 'net work.

IDG Contributor Network: Why big data projects fail and how to make 2017 different

Major shifts are happening in our ecosystem as companies strive to become fully data-driven in the digital era. Gathering insights from data has become increasingly complicated due to a tidal wave of enterprise applications generating data.In addition, billions of users and trillions of connected “things” generate exponentially more data outside the enterprise. At the center, enterprises deploy cloud, mobile, and analytics technologies to hopefully turn that data into insight. Unfortunately, Gartner predicts that 2017 will see  60 percent of big data projects fail. They won’t go beyond piloting and experimentation phases, and will eventually be abandoned. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tech groups gear up for FISA surveillance fight

A controversial provision in U.S. law that gives the National Security Agency broad authority to spy on people overseas expires at the end of the year, and six major tech trade groups are gearing up for a fight over an extension.Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires on Dec. 31, and Congress almost certain to extend it in some form. The tech trade groups, including BSA, the Consumer Technology Association, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association, are asking lawmakers to build in new privacy protections for internet users. "It is critical that Congress takes a balanced yet focused approach with respect to Section 702," the groups said in a letter sent to top lawmakers Wednesday. "We urge your committees to ensure that any reauthorization includes meaningful safeguards for internet users' privacy and civil liberties."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tech groups gear up for FISA surveillance fight

A controversial provision in U.S. law that gives the National Security Agency broad authority to spy on people overseas expires at the end of the year, and six major tech trade groups are gearing up for a fight over an extension.Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires on Dec. 31, and Congress almost certain to extend it in some form. The tech trade groups, including BSA, the Consumer Technology Association, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association, are asking lawmakers to build in new privacy protections for internet users. "It is critical that Congress takes a balanced yet focused approach with respect to Section 702," the groups said in a letter sent to top lawmakers Wednesday. "We urge your committees to ensure that any reauthorization includes meaningful safeguards for internet users' privacy and civil liberties."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How Philips is turning toothbrushes and MRI machines into IoT devices

The Philips FlexCare Platinum Connected toothbrush is more than just a device for keeping your mouth clean – it’s an IoT machine. Wireless sensors measure the location, pressure and scrubbing patterns of the 31,000 strokes-per-minute vibrating bristles. The data is transferred via Bluetooth to a mobile app that provides a three-dimensional post-brush analysis of coverage, recommending areas of the mouth that should be “touched up” or given extra attention. There’s an option to send a month-long history of brushing patterns to your dentist to keep them informed of your brushing habits. And all of this data, along with many of Philips’ other connected device efforts, run out of Amazon Web Services’ cloud. It’s a new era of Intenet of Things-enabled machines, and Philips wants to be on the cutting edge of offering its consumer and business customers access to more data, which they hope will help keep patients more healthy and the machines running more smoothly.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

63% off Kidde Battery-Operated Carbon Monoxide Alarm with Digital Display – Deal Alert

The KN-COPP-LPM is an essential device to help warn you and your family of dangerous carbon monoxide levels in your home. This alarm measures the exposure to carbon monoxide over time; it is designed to sound at 85 decibels at 10 feet when it detects 70 ppm (parts per million) of CO for 60 to 240 minutes, 150 ppm for 10 to 50 minutes, or 400 ppm for 4 to 15 minutes. The easily visible digital display indicates the level of CO that the unit is sensing, and it updates the status every 15 seconds for timely and accurate readings. Its free-standing design allows for attachment to a wall or placement on a counter or nightstand for convenient and comprehensive protection. This device has an expected 7-year lifespan and comes equipped with a five-year manufacturer’s limited warranty. It averages 4.6 out of 5 stars from over 2,100 people on Amazon (read reviews), where the list price has been reduced 63% to just $19.98. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Private jets and private clouds

What’s your reaction when you learn that a company keeps a fleet of private jets? Does it suggest that the company is generally frugal and prudent with shareholder money? Or does it raise concerns that perhaps the company is spending in ways that wouldn’t withstand closer scrutiny? Given the tremendous expenses involved, objective financial analysis usually recommends against it, instead using commercial air travel services, maybe with upgrades in certain exceptional circumstances.Similar concerns should arise when you learn that a company keeps private data centers. Objective financial analysis of owning and operating such complicated systems increasingly shows that other choices make more sense. That’s because of the growing availability of so many attractive commercial information technology services, ranging from software-as-a-service to public cloud infrastructure.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Private jets and private clouds

What’s your reaction when you learn that a company keeps a fleet of private jets? Does it suggest that the company is generally frugal and prudent with shareholder money? Or does it raise concerns that perhaps the company is spending in ways that wouldn’t withstand closer scrutiny? Given the tremendous expenses involved, objective financial analysis usually recommends against it, instead using commercial air travel services, maybe with upgrades in certain exceptional circumstances.Similar concerns should arise when you learn that a company keeps private data centers. Objective financial analysis of owning and operating such complicated systems increasingly shows that other choices make more sense. That’s because of the growing availability of so many attractive commercial information technology services, ranging from software-as-a-service to public cloud infrastructure.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Python – Kirk Byers Course Week 2 Part 3

This post will describe the exercises and solutions for week two of Kirk Byers Python for Network Engineers.

The next excercise is to work with output from “show ip bgp”:

III. You have the following four lines from 'show ip bgp':

entry1 = "*  1.0.192.0/18   157.130.10.233        0 701 38040 9737 i"
entry2 = "*  1.1.1.0/24     157.130.10.233        0 701 1299 15169 i"
entry3 = "*  1.1.42.0/24    157.130.10.233        0 701 9505 17408 2.1465 i"
entry4 = "*  1.0.192.0/19   157.130.10.233        0 701 6762 6762 6762 6762 38040 9737 i"

Note, in each case the AS_PATH starts with '701'.

Using split() and a list slice, how could you process each of these such that--for each entry, you return an ip_prefix and the AS_PATH (the ip_prefix should be a string; the AS_PATH should be a list):

Your output should look like this:

ip_prefix             as_path                                           
1.0.192.0/18          ['701', '38040', '9737']                          
1.1.1.0/24            ['701', '1299', '15169']                          
1.1.42.0/24           ['701', '9505', '17408', '2.1465']                
1.0.192.0/19          ['701', '6762', '6762', '6762', '6762', '38040', '9737']

Ideally, your  Continue reading

Unified communications firm Fuze hires well-traveled CEO to lead it to IPO promised land

Fuze, the Cambridge, Mass., unified communications-as-a-service company that recently scored an additional $104 million in funding, has named 25-year-plus tech industry veteran Colin Doherty as its CEO.Most recently Doherty oversaw internet performance management and DNS service provider Dyn during exciting times: He joined in October, later that month the company got hit with a massive DDoS attack and then Oracle bought the vendor in November. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Large-Scale Quantum Computing Prototype on Horizon

What supercomputers will look like in the future, post-Moore’s Law, is still a bit hazy. As exascale computing comes into focus over the next several years, system vendors, universities and government agencies are all trying to get a gauge on what will come after that. Moore’s Law, which has driven the development of computing systems for more than five decades, is coming to an end as the challenge of making smaller chips loaded with more and more features is becoming increasingly difficult to do.

While the rise of accelerators, like GPUs, FPGAs and customized ASICs, silicon photonics and faster interconnects …

Large-Scale Quantum Computing Prototype on Horizon was written by Jeffrey Burt at The Next Platform.

Maryland lawmaker seeks to unveil H-1B employers

Over the years, state lawmakers and governors have tried to deter the use of foreign workers, mostly with legislation or executive orders prohibiting state work from being completed overseas. But a Maryland lawmaker has what may be a unique approach with a bill now scheduled for a what could be a contentious legislative hearing. The legislation, HB 1366, has a simple requirement that's stirring a big pot. If it becomes law, Maryland employers will have to report the number of employees they have who are working on H-1B or L-1 visas.[ Join the discussion at Computerworld's H-1B & IT Outsourcing group on Facebook. ] That's all the bill requires.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Windows Update issues may be at root of February’s patch delay

Microsoft was closed-mouthed yesterday about why it postponed the month's security updates, but a patch expert argued that it was probably due to one of more problems with the company's update service infrastructure, not a single flawed fix."Something is broken in the infrastructure, in Windows Update or the [Microsoft Update] Catalog, is my guess," said Chris Goettl, product manager at patch management vendor Ivanti, formerly Shavlik.Goettl contended that a back-end snafu was the most likely cause for the unprecedented delay, which Microsoft announced yesterday, because other potential causes made less sense.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IT leaders say it’s hard to keep the cloud safe

IT managers are finding it difficult to keep their applications and data safe in the cloud, and many are slowing cloud adoption because of it.That was one of the findings of an Intel cloud security report that surveyed 2,000 IT professionals in different countries and industries last fall.The issue isn't with the cloud itself, since trust outnumbers distrust for public clouds by more than two to one, according to Intel's survey.IT professionals told Intel that shadow IT and a shortage of cybersecurity skills are causing the most problems.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IT leaders say it’s hard to keep the cloud safe

IT managers are finding it difficult to keep their applications and data safe in the cloud, and many are slowing cloud adoption because of it.That was one of the findings of an Intel cloud security report that surveyed 2,000 IT professionals in different countries and industries last fall.The issue isn't with the cloud itself, since trust outnumbers distrust for public clouds by more than two to one, according to Intel's survey.IT professionals told Intel that shadow IT and a shortage of cybersecurity skills are causing the most problems.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft quietly prolongs life of original Windows 10

Microsoft earlier this month quietly extended the life of Windows 10's debut edition, the version launched in July 2015.Rather than end support for Windows 10 v. 1507 -- Microsoft labels the OS by year and month -- in March, as announced last year, the company will issue the version's final security updates in May, probably May 9, that month's Patch Tuesday.[ Further reading: Support family and friends with Windows 10’s new Quick Assist app ] The new date was posted as a revision to a mid-January blog post by Nathan Mercer, a senior product marketing manager for Microsoft. In the original entry, Mercer had tapped March 26 as the end of 1507 "servicing," a company synonym for updating and patching.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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