How industrial IoT is making steel production smarter

A new project between General Electric and Gerdau, a large steel manufacturer in Brazil, had a simple objective: Improve productivity by reducing equipment failure and related problems. Early indications suggest that goal was achieved with flying colors.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Feds provide legal loophole to hacking IoT devices

It was an especially happy Thanksgiving for security researchers, thanks to what they have called long-overdue exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).Those exemptions, which took effect Oct. 28, provide a two-year window allowing “good-faith” researchers to break into the software that controls most consumer and commercial Internet of Things (IoT) devices – those used in everything from “smart” homes to smartphones, cars, medical devices, voting machines and more – without violating copyright laws.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Feds provide legal loophole to hacking IoT devices

It was an especially happy Thanksgiving for security researchers, thanks to what they have called long-overdue exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).Those exemptions, which took effect Oct. 28, provide a two-year window allowing “good-faith” researchers to break into the software that controls most consumer and commercial Internet of Things (IoT) devices – those used in everything from “smart” homes to smartphones, cars, medical devices, voting machines and more – without violating copyright laws.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How Trump will attack the FCC’s net neutrality rules

Repealing the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's less than 2-year-old net neutrality rules appears to be a top tech priority for President-elect Donald Trump, but it may not be an easy road.Trump blasted net neutrality rules in a November 2014 tweet, saying it was a "top-down power grab" that would apparently require broadband providers to give equal time to liberal and conservative media. There are no such requirements in the FCC's net neutrality rules, however; broadband users determine what media they see.Look for Republicans in Congress to re-introduce legislation to repeal the rules early next year, but with only a narrow majority in the Senate, they are likely to be blocked by Democrats, who can filibuster to stall a bill.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How Trump will attack the FCC’s net neutrality rules

Repealing the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's less than 2-year-old net neutrality rules appears to be a top tech priority for President-elect Donald Trump, but it may not be an easy road.Trump blasted net neutrality rules in a November 2014 tweet, saying it was a "top-down power grab" that would apparently require broadband providers to give equal time to liberal and conservative media. There are no such requirements in the FCC's net neutrality rules, however; broadband users determine what media they see.Look for Republicans in Congress to re-introduce legislation to repeal the rules early next year, but with only a narrow majority in the Senate, they are likely to be blocked by Democrats, who can filibuster to stall a bill.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

25% off mophie Power Capsule Charging Case for Wearables, Wireless Earbuds and More – Deal Alert

This compact, easy-to-carry travel case from Mophie has a built-in 1,400mAh battery that keeps your wireless in-ear headphones, fitness trackers or other wearables charged and protected while safely packed away so they’re ready for whatever is next. A durable outer shell with soft-touch, rubberized finish provides protection against drops and falls while the soft, fabric interior keeps your device free from scratches and scuffs. Its list price on Amazon has been reduced 25%, from $40 down to $30. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

37% off Cheetah Mounts Universal TV Wall Mount, Fits 20-75-Inch TVs – Deal Alert

The universal design of this mount fits most 20-75" TVs up to VESA 600 x 400 and 165lbs. The profile is only 1.5" for today's thin TVs, and it tilts to improve viewing and reduce glare. This bundle comes with a 10-foot HDMI cable and a 6-inch 3-axis bubble level. It averages 4.5 out of 5 stars from over 13,000 people on Amazon (read recent reviews), where its typical list price of $41 has been reduced to just $26. See the discounted mount now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: SwiftStack ramps up its hybrid cloud offerings

This week sees Amazon Web Services (AWS) holding its annual re:Invent conference in sunny Las Vegas. Since AWS is the public cloud vendor that everyone agrees rules the roost, it is unsurprising to see a huge proliferation of pitches in my inbox all hanging off the AWS event.Some of these pitches are completely irrelevant to re:Invent (“this new aftershave for men is designed for the public cloud”), while others are far more related to the fundamental change in the way that technology is done that AWS represents.+ Also on Network World: How to make hybrid cloud work + A case in point is SwiftStack's announcement regarding its offerings designed to ease hybrid cloud adoption.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Researchers exploit app flaw and steal a Tesla Model S

In September, Chinese researchers from Keen Security Lab showed how a Tesla Model S could be remotely hacked while it was being driven. The hack demonstrated by Promon, a Norwegian security company, provided “additional functionality” for cyber thugs to control the vehicle, including enabling “keyless driving functionality,” which could allow a crook to drive away with a Tesla without have a key fob present.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Researchers exploit app flaw and steal a Tesla Model S

In September, Chinese researchers from Keen Security Lab showed how a Tesla Model S could be remotely hacked while it was being driven. The hack demonstrated by Promon, a Norwegian security company, provided “additional functionality” for cyber thugs to control the vehicle, including enabling “keyless driving functionality,” which could allow a crook to drive away with a Tesla without have a key fob present.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

20% off Ecobee3 Thermostat with Sensor, Wi-Fi, 2nd Generation, Works with Amazon Alexa – Deal Alert

Ordinary thermostats only read the temperature in one room, but are supposed to deliver comfort in all rooms. Ecobee3 remote sensors deliver the right temperature in the rooms that matter most. Now homekit enabled. Ecobee3 sensors know which rooms are occupied to deliver the right temperature in the right places. And they know whether someone's home to help you save energy and money when you're away. Ecobee3 comes with 1 free remote sensor that measures temperature and occupancy. You can have up to 32 sensors. The more you add, the smarter your Ecobee3 becomes at delivering comfort where it matters and savings where it counts. It averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon, where its typical list price of $249 has been reduced 20% to $198.99 for a limited time.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to Make Your Database 200x Faster Without Having to Pay More?

This is a guest repost Barzan Mozafari, an assistant professor at University of Michigan and an advisor to a new startup, snappydata.io, that recently launched an open source OLTP + OLAP Database built on Spark.

Almost everyone these days is complaining about performance in one way or another. It’s not uncommon for database administrators and programmers to constantly find themselves in a situation where their servers are maxed out, or their queries are taking forever. This frustration is way too common for all of us. The solutions are varied. The most typical one is squinting at the query and blaming the programmer for not being smarter with their query. Maybe they could have used the right index or materialized view or just re-write their query in a better way. Other times, you might have to spin up a few more nodes if your company is using a cloud service. In other cases, when your servers are overloaded with too many slow queries, you might set different priorities for different queries so that at least the more urgent one (e.g., CEO queries) finish faster. When the DB does not support priority queues, your admin might even cancel your Continue reading

IDG Contributor Network: Are we in a golden age of open source or just openwashing?

We are witnessing a golden age of open source. Never in the history of the technology industry have we seen so many developers coding in the open, jointly working on common codebases that can be leveraged by any individual user or company.This trend is a huge step forward, with broad benefits to both the user and vendor community. It is spurring significantly greater innovation and interoperability across solutions. + Also on Network World: The shift in open source: A new kind of platform war + Our entire industry has fallen in love with all things open, especially open source. Linux has become all-pervasive from supercomputers to GoPros to vehicles, and new open-source projects are sprouting like daylilies in the Texas summer. In networking alone we have Open Network Summit, OpenFlow, OpenDaylight, ONOS, OPNFV, OpenNFV, OpenSwitch, OpenvSwitch, Open Virtual Networking, Telecom Infra Project (Facebook), IO Visor Project, FD.io, Open Source Mano and, most recently, Open-O.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here