Apple to release MacBook Pro models with 32GB of RAM this year

When Apple released its line of revamped MacBook Pros late last year, the response was surprisingly lukewarm. Even though Apple's new flagship notebook introduced us to the TouchBar, even the most die-hard Apple enthusiasts couldn't help but notice that Apple's new notebooks were a little underpowered and incredibly pricey.One of the more common complaints, at least from power users, was that Apple's new MacBook Pro maxed out at 16GB of RAM. While 16GB of RAM is more than enough for most users, folks who work with complex video and photography workflows will glady take all the memory they can get their hands on. And while Apple can arguably get away with a 16GB RAM limit on its MacBook and MacBook Air line, some pondered why Apple's Pro level notebook was subject to what was presumably an arbitrary ceiling.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Response: Saving you bandwidth on Google+ through machine learning

Image compression reduces network requirements in a major way.

1. Smaller files means less bandwidth
2. Less round trips for faster page rendering
3. reduces load on network function like proxies, IDS, etc.

And its already in production for Android devices using Google services.

To help everyone be able to see the beautiful photos that photographers share to Google+ in their full glory, we’ve turned to machine learning and a new technology called RAISR. RAISR, which was introduced in November, uses machine learning to produce great quality versions of low-resolution images, allowing you to see beautiful photos as the photographers intended them to be seen. By using RAISR to display some of the large images on Google+, we’ve been able to use up to 75 percent less bandwidth per image we’ve applied it to.

Saving you bandwidth on Google+ through machine learning

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Intel thinks IoT will have a firm place in the stores of the future

Intel wants to level the playing field between online retailers and brick and mortar shops by introducing IoT technologies into physical stores. Currently, online retailers have access to information on what sorts of merchandise consumers look at, what they purchase, and what they don't. And Intel argues physical stores should have the same information.  In a Monday editorial on the company's site, Intel CEO, Brian Krzanich wrote:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

China tightens control over app stores

China is requiring that all app stores operating in the country register with its Cyberspace Administration in an effort to battle malware but also to tighten control over uncensored content.The rules took effect Monday, in a country where domestic third-party app stores -- not from Apple or Google -- are serving billions of downloads to Android smartphones. Chinese internet companies such as Baidu, Tencent and a host of smaller, shadier local app stores have been feeding the demand, at a time when Google has largely pulled out of the market.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

China tightens control over app stores

China is requiring that all app stores operating in the country register with its Cyberspace Administration in an effort to battle malware but also to tighten control over uncensored content.The rules took effect Monday, in a country where domestic third-party app stores -- not from Apple or Google -- are serving billions of downloads to Android smartphones. Chinese internet companies such as Baidu, Tencent and a host of smaller, shadier local app stores have been feeding the demand, at a time when Google has largely pulled out of the market.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Constructing your CCDE practical exam strategy

I passed the CCDE practical in November 2016 along with some of the finest engineers I know, from whom which I’ve learned a few things that I wanted to share with you. This two-part blog series is meant to be a descriptive (not prescriptive) enumeration of the different study strategies and tools you’ll have at your disposal. These strategies are not often discussed but are important in achieving the CCDE. Specifically, this first blog discusses the study strategy component. —Cisco Learning Network

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What will the Internet look like in 10 years? Help us answer that question

Video: Fark Google on TWIT

I was a guest On This Week In Tech 357 yesterday and they extracted this piece where I am being critical of media companies who can’t run their businesses properly. Its one of my better rants about CEOs being stupid. 

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NDSS 2017 Deadlines Approaching

End User Involvement, Governance, and Expert Help Drive Success in the 10 Best Intranets of 2017

January doesn’t just mean the start of a new year for me – it also means an opportunity to review the Nielsen Norman Group’s Intranet Design Annual. The 10 Best Intranets of 2017 were officially announced on January 7, 2017. Even though it’s a little weird to call these the best intranets of 2017 – especially because the submissions were completed in June of 2016 – the report has a lot of interesting and helpful information and design trends that intranet design teams should consider. A word of caution as you review the full report, just because a feature was used in an “award winning” intranet doesn’t mean it needs to show up on your intranet! Megamenus continue to be a popular method for intranet navigation – and about half of the award winners use megamenus for global navigation. But that doesn’t mean your intranet must have a megamenu! You do, on the other hand, need to make sure that your users can find what they need easily. But, that doesn’t mean you must choose a megamenu as your navigational approach. On the other hand, if you don’t have a plan for ongoing governance, you can pretty much be Continue reading

Longshot Arris-Brocade Theory Still Lives

Reuters reports that the deal could be worth as much as $1B.

Blogging Workflow

A lot of folks start out to blog, and then quit soon after. Since I started blogging mainly as a way to build some discipline in my writing, I was determined not to let my blog become a cob web, a page that was not updated on a regular basis, I started blogging determined to build a process, or a blogging workflow. I should emphasize at this point that blogging, as all writing, is a habit and a discipline. It’s not just “something that happens on its own.” If you are going to blog, start with the same mindset—focus on the habits and discipline first, the blog second.

I (mostly) build all the content for ‘net Work on Saturday mornings. Sometimes it slips to Sunday or Monday, depending on what is going on, but I normally spend no more than about 2 to 3 hours a week on keeping this blog up and running, including normal maintenance. There are times when I spend much more—for instance, if I’m switching platforms, or switching themes. There are other times when I need to spend time in code, or researching something specific, for a blog post (or a set of posts), but Continue reading

Managing and Securing the WAN is a Struggle for Companies

The branch network and WAN remain a challenge for most enterprise IT teams.

Cisco Throws Yet Another Punch at Arista

At Cisco's request, the US Customs agency revoked its own prior ruling in favor of Arista.

Critical flaw lets hackers take control of Samsung SmartCam cameras

The popular Samsung SmartCam security cameras contain a critical remote code execution vulnerability that could allow hackers to gain root access and take full control of them.The vulnerability was discovered by researchers from the hacking collective the Exploiteers (formerly GTVHacker), who have found vulnerabilities in the Samsung SmartCam devices in the past.The flaw allows for command injection through a web script, even though the vendor has disabled the local web-based management interface in these devices.The Samsung SmartCam is a series of cloud-enabled network security cameras that were originally developed by Samsung Techwin. Samsung sold this division to South Korean business conglomerate Hanwha Group in 2015 and the company was renamed Hanwha Techwin.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Critical flaw lets hackers take control of Samsung SmartCam cameras

The popular Samsung SmartCam security cameras contain a critical remote code execution vulnerability that could allow hackers to gain root access and take full control of them. The vulnerability was discovered by researchers from the hacking collective the Exploiteers (formerly GTVHacker), who have found vulnerabilities in the Samsung SmartCam devices in the past. The flaw allows for command injection through a web script, even though the vendor has disabled the local web-based management interface in these devices. The Samsung SmartCam is a series of cloud-enabled network security cameras that were originally developed by Samsung Techwin. Samsung sold this division to South Korean business conglomerate Hanwha Group in 2015 and the company was renamed Hanwha Techwin.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Ekholm Takes Helm of Ericsson, Frykhammer Will Serve as an Advisor

The Cisco-Ericsson partnership is one bright spot for Ekholm.

Worth Reading: how to wade through 100’s of articles

Know why you read. Ignore content that doesn’t align with your personal consumption goals. Ignore content with clickbait titles. These articles are purposely designed to drive traffic, generating salable ad impressions. Most of the time, they are content-free and safely ignored. Have no fear of declaring amnesty. Missing out doesn’t matter. Read it now; you probably won’t read it later. Don’t let articles pile up for when you have a better time. Use tools effectively. You can get through content more quickly and share or save the best stuff easily. —Ethan Banks

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FPGA Frontiers: New Applications in Reconfigurable Computing

There is little doubt that this is a new era for FPGAs.

While it is not news that FPGAs have been deployed in many different environments, particularly on the storage and networking side, there are fresh use cases emerging in part due to much larger datacenter trends. Energy efficiency, scalability, and the ability to handle vast volumes of streaming data are more important now than ever before. At a time when traditional CPUs are facing a future where Moore’s Law is less certain and other accelerators and custom ASICs are potential solutions with their own sets of expenses and hurdles, …

FPGA Frontiers: New Applications in Reconfigurable Computing was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

Cisco calls on Arista to stop selling products in US after agency reverses patent finding

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency has revoked its November 2016 finding that Arista’s redesigned products don’t infringe a key Cisco patent -- as a result Cisco called on Arista to stop importing those products and recall others sold with redesigned software.The finding is the latest round in a high-stakes battle between Cisco and Arista over patents and copyrights that has been going on since 2014. In the summer of 2016 the US Trade Representative began an import ban as well as a cease and desist order covering Arista products imposed by the International Trade Commission in June where it ruled that Arista had infringed on a number of Cisco’s technology patents.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here