When Will AWS Move Up The Stack To Real Applications?

Imagine how little fun online retailer Amazon would be having on its quarterly calls if it had not launched its Amazon Web Services cloud almost eleven years ago. The very premise of Amazon was to eliminate brick and mortar retailing, cutting out capital expenses as much as possible, to deliver books and then myriad other things to our doorsteps.

How ironic is it that Amazon pivoted to one of the most capital intensive businesses on earth – running datacenters – and has been able to extract predictable and sizable profits from it to prop up its other businesses and strengthen …

When Will AWS Move Up The Stack To Real Applications? was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

IDG Contributor Network: Is SD-WAN as stupid a term as the cloud?

Terms and technologies come and go. Some seem to stick around a bit longer than we’d like. I thought that it was time to retire hybrid WAN and give SD-WAN its due. Not everyone seems to agree.I received a great email from Scott Pickett, who argued in the most compelling, polite way possible that he thought I was smoking too much of that substance Massachusetts just legalized (not exactly, but grant me the literary license here). He argued that SD-WANs should be relegated to that same place as the next least-favorite term of ours—the cloud.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Is SD-WAN as stupid a term as the cloud?

Terms and technologies come and go. Some seem to stick around a bit longer than we’d like. I thought that it was time to retire hybrid WAN and give SD-WAN its due. Not everyone seems to agree.I received a great email from Scott Pickett, who argued in the most compelling, polite way possible that he thought I was smoking too much of that substance Massachusetts just legalized (not exactly, but grant me the literary license here). He argued that SD-WANs should be relegated to that same place as the next least-favorite term of ours—the cloud.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Python – Argparse Part II

In my previous post on Argparse I had some issues with validating values and printing help output for values that are out of range. I got some great suggestions from my smart colleagues Mikkel Troest and Patrick Ogenstad who are far more advanced in their Python knowledge.

We started out with the following code in the last post:

#!/usr/bin/env python
# import Argparse
import argparse
# import sys
import sys
# create main function
def main():
    # create ArgumentParser object
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Daniel's ping script v0.1")
    # add arguments
    parser.add_argument("-version", "--version", action="version", version="%(prog)s 0.1")
    parser.add_argument("-c", "--c" , help="Number of packets", action="store", type=int, choices=xrange(1, 1000), metavar=("(1-1000)"))
    parser.add_argument("-s", "--s" , help="packetsize in bytes", action="store", type=int, choices=xrange(56, 1500), metavar=("(56-1500)"))
    parser.add_argument("-t", "--t" , help="ttl for icmp packets", action="store", type=int, choices=xrange(1, 255), metavar=("(1-255)"))
    parser.add_argument("-w", "--w" , help="timeout in seconds", action="store", type=int, choices=xrange(1, 10), metavar=("(1-10)"))
    parser.add_argument("-ip", "--ip", help="ip address", action="store", required=True)
    # parse command-line arguments
    parser.parse_args()

if __name__ == "__main__" and len(sys.argv) < 2:
    print "use the -h flag for help on this script"
else:
    main()

First let’s clean up this a bit since the length of the lines are more than 80 characters Continue reading

33% off CanaKit 5V 2.5A Raspberry Pi 3 Power Supply / Adapter / Charger – Deal Alert

2.5A is now a requirement for the Raspberry Pi 3. The CanaKit 2.5A Raspberry Pi power supply / adapter has been specially designed and tested for the new Raspberry Pi 3 and incorporates an inline noise filter for highest stability and reliable operation. This power supply differs from typical standard 5V USB power supplies in the market in that it can deliver a full 2.5A and still output a voltage well within the USB minimum voltage specifications. Standard 5V USB power supplies in the market have a high voltage drop when the full current is drawn from them which may cause the Raspberry Pi to reboot unexpectedly. With this power supply, you can power the Raspberry Pi 3 at full load as well as up to 1.2A across the four USB ports. This item averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 760 people on Amazon (read reviews). With the current 33% off deal, the CanaKit power supply is listed for just $9.99. See it on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Bits and pieces: Quick-hit review time!

With all of my recent testing in the wireless home Wi-Fi mesh space, I’ve still had some time to try out some smaller items. This post/review highlights a bunch of them. There’s no rhyme or reason as to why I’m bundling them together, other than this is the “clean up your desk” column!  mJoose Front and back views of the mJoose smartphone case.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How IBM plans to expand MobileFirst for iOS program

Apple and IBM’s program for iOS mobile app development in the enterprise is broadening its reach this year as more businesses pursue apps that can transform how their employees work, according to IBM. “We are engaged with more than 1,000 clients across the world,” says Mahmoud Naghshineh, IBM’s general manager in charge of the MobileFirst for iOS partnership with Apple.IBM also plans to integrate Watson analytics and cognitive differentiation to its growing portfolio of iOS apps in 2017, according to Naghshineh. Once a new app is deployed and it becomes valuable for the business, the next step is to make it smarter, he says.Hundreds of businesses have deployed apps to date and more are in development or at least in the sales cycle that leads to design and testing of new apps, according to Naghshineh. Changing the way people work, which was the original goal of Apple and IBM’s partnership, is also resulting in rapid digital transformation for many businesses, he says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Welcome to the next generation of wearables

Innovative apparelImage by Keoni Cabral / FlickrTime was, you could slap a couple of sensors and a battery into a plastic wristband, layer some software around it, tell the world you were in the wearables business, and watch the money roll in. Those days are long gone (although there are still the inevitable bottom feeders fighting for scraps). Now, wearables are actually doing useful and interesting things, with lots of innovation on display.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to secure Active Directory

Under attackImage by ThinkstockA report recently released by Microsoft shows the antivirus suite included in Windows 10 detected a 400 percent increase in the number of ransomware encounters from December 2015 to July 2016. These vulnerabilities create opportunities for hackers to access one of the most important applications to an organization, Microsoft Active Directory. If breached its blast radius can be devastating.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How AI is stopping criminal hacking in real time

Almost every day, there’s news about a massive data leak -- a breach at Yahoo that reveals millions of user accounts, a compromise involving Gmail phishing scams. Security professionals are constantly moving the chess pieces around, but it can be a losing battle.Yet, there is one ally that has emerged in recent years. Artificial intelligence can stay vigilant at all times, looking for patterns in behavior and alerting you to a new threat.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How AI is stopping criminal hacking in real time

Almost every day, there’s news about a massive data leak -- a breach at Yahoo that reveals millions of user accounts, a compromise involving Gmail phishing scams. Security professionals are constantly moving the chess pieces around, but it can be a losing battle.Yet, there is one ally that has emerged in recent years. Artificial intelligence can stay vigilant at all times, looking for patterns in behavior and alerting you to a new threat.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

In DevOps Maturity, Ops Lags Behind

Operations maturation in DevOps is happening, but the tools and capabilities that support it are slow to be created. In this episode of Talking DevOps, Josh Atwell, Developer Advocate for NetApp SolidFire, examines the reasons for the operations lag and how to overcome the resulting skills gap.

6 things software vendors need to know about HIPAA compliance

Maintaining HIPAA compliance Image by ThinkstockMany people are loosely familiar with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and usually associate it with hospitals, clinics and health insurance companies. However, it can be less clear how HIPAA compliance standards apply to countless other software vendors, SaaS providers that work with healthcare-related businesses or handle protected health information (PHI). In recent months, the Office for Civil Rights has been coming down hard on HIPAA violators, doling out some of the large fines – upwards of $5 million. So in order to ensure your business is protected and to maintain your brand reputation, it is vital to know the ins and outs of HIPAA compliance. With this in mind, Dizzion provides suggestions for ways vendors can maintain HIPAA compliance while still focusing on their primary business objectives.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

6 things software vendors need to know about HIPAA compliance

Maintaining HIPAA compliance Image by ThinkstockMany people are loosely familiar with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and usually associate it with hospitals, clinics and health insurance companies. However, it can be less clear how HIPAA compliance standards apply to countless other software vendors, SaaS providers that work with healthcare-related businesses or handle protected health information (PHI). In recent months, the Office for Civil Rights has been coming down hard on HIPAA violators, doling out some of the large fines – upwards of $5 million. So in order to ensure your business is protected and to maintain your brand reputation, it is vital to know the ins and outs of HIPAA compliance. With this in mind, Dizzion provides suggestions for ways vendors can maintain HIPAA compliance while still focusing on their primary business objectives.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple to start assembling iPhones in Bangalore by April

Apple plans to start assembling the iPhone in Bangalore by end April under a contract manufacturing arrangement with Taiwan's Wistron.The move by the company comes even as it awaits approval from the federal government for some of its proposals for lowering the import duties on components and for creating an ecosystem of local manufacturers who can supply components for the smartphones, according to sources close to the situation.The Karnataka state, of which Bangalore is the capital, has announced Apple’s intentions to make the iPhone in the city.Priyank Kharge, state minister for information technology, confirmed on telephone that the company had been cleared to make the phones in Bangalore and said it was a validation of the state's industry-friendly policies. Having a leading tech company making its products in the state could also have spin-off benefits in terms of app development and work in the area of artificial intelligence by the state's highly-skilled manpower, he added.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Snap is paying Google $400M a year for cloud services

Over the next five years, the company behind Snapchat will pay Google at least US$2 billion in cloud bills.On Thursday, Snap revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it signed a five-year contract to pay Google at least $400 million a year for cloud services. That's a steep figure, considering that Snap made roughly $404 million last year. In return for the massive commitment, Snap will receive reduced pricing, though it’s not clear how deep the company’s discounts will be. Sinking a bunch of money into Google Cloud makes sense, because Snapchat began its life built on top of Google’s AppEngine platform-as-a-service offering.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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