The Tech that Turns Each of Us Into a Walled Garden

 

How we treat each other is based on empathy. Empathy is based on shared experience. What happens when we have nothing in common?

Systems are now being constructed so we’ll never see certain kinds of information. Each of us live in our own algorithmically created Skinner Box /silo/walled garden, fed only information AIs think will be simultaneously most rewarding to you and their creators (Facebook, Google, etc).

We are always being manipulated, granted, but how we are being manipulated has taken a sharp technology driven change and we should be aware of it. This is different. Scary different. And the technology behind it all is absolutely fascinating.

Divided We Are Exploitable

Chrome bug triggered errors on websites using Symantec SSL certificates

If you've encountered errors over the past month when trying to access HTTPS-enabled websites on your computer or Android phone, it might have been due to a bug in Chrome.The bug affected the validation for some SSL certificates issued by Symantec, one of the world's largest certificate authorities, as well as by GeoTrust and Thawte, two CAs that Symantec also controls.The bug was introduced in Chrome version 53, but also affected the Android WebView component that Android apps use to display Web content, said Rick Andrews, senior technical director at Symantec in a blog post Friday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Chrome bug triggered errors on websites using Symantec SSL certificates

If you've encountered errors over the past month when trying to access HTTPS-enabled websites on your computer or Android phone, it might have been due to a bug in Chrome.The bug affected the validation for some SSL certificates issued by Symantec, one of the world's largest certificate authorities, as well as by GeoTrust and Thawte, two CAs that Symantec also controls.The bug was introduced in Chrome version 53, but also affected the Android WebView component that Android apps use to display Web content, said Rick Andrews, senior technical director at Symantec in a blog post Friday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Navigating the Pentest World

The demand for penetration testing and security assessment services worldwide has been growing year-on-year. Driven largely by Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) concerns, plus an evolving pressure to be observed taking information security and customer privacy seriously, most CIO/CSO/CISO’s can expect to conduct regular “pentests” as a means of validating their organizations or product’s security —CircleID

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OpenAI releases Universe, a platform for training AIs to play games, use apps

OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research company, wants to let AIs loose in their own universe, where they can learn to play games, use apps and interact with websites.Universe is the name of OpenAI's tool for training AIs on, as it puts it, "any task a human can complete with a computer." Using a VNC (Virtual Network Computing) remote desktop, it allows the AI to control the game or app using a virtual keyboard and mouse, and to see its output by analyzing the pixels displayed on the screen. It's essentially an interface to the company's Gym toolkit for developing reinforcement algorithms, a type of machine learning system.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Denon + Marantz delights streaming music listeners with Oracle Service Cloud and IoT

Are you listening to streaming music right now?Spotify, SoundCloud or Pandora?You’re not alone. Streaming is the most popular way to listen to music. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reports that music streaming services are its biggest source of revenue—ahead of digital downloads and CDs.The streaming music trend is a challenge and opportunity for the music industry. D+M Group (also often referred to as Denon + Marantz Electronics), with over 100 years of audio heritage, is no stranger to changing trends. It designs, manufactures and sells consumer and professional audio, video and media equipment. Its amplifiers and speakers and multi-room audio are used around the globe.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Major IT outsourcing acquisition will have mixed impact

The announcement that outsourcing consultancy Information Services Group (ISG) will acquire competitor Alsbridge marked the biggest M&A announcement in the IT services advisory industry since KPMG bought EquaTerra in 2011. The two large independent outsourcing advisors are joining forces to create a 1,300-person firm with offices in 20 countries revenues targeted at between $285 and $300 million in 2017.[ Related: Cloud services now account for a third of IT outsourcing market ]The combined firm, with its expanded services, data and market intelligence, could put pressure on the big consultancies who offer IT outsourcing advisory services. “ISG's principle competitors — KPMG. Deloitte, EY and PwC — now have a bigger, badder ISG to contend with that can not only undercut them on fees but also can boast competencies in the emerging area of RPA, where the Big Four are currently winning out,” HfS Research CEO Phil Fersht recently wrote in a blog.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Capital One rides the cloud to tech company transformation

LAS VEGAS -- Capital One Financial Corp. is taking big steps in its transformation into a tech company.The Fortune 500 company, one of the top 10 largest banks in the U.S. with $313 billion in total assets, wants to be a tech company that also is a top financial services provider.It's a change in strategy and focus, said Rob Alexander, CIO of Capital One, based in McLean, Virginia. Among its plans as it transitions to a "tech" company are an open, collaborative workspace, IT workers with new skill sets, fast-paced apps and a service evolution, and a focus on leading with cutting-edge technologies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Should you go with Google’s Go?

2016 was full of surprises, but in the world of programming, among the biggest was the breakthrough of Go. Once a tiny niche tool, Go has officially joined the ranks of real programming languages, evidenced by its meteoric rise up the Tiobe index, a complex amalgam of search rankings and programmer preferences. Still a ways behind stalwarts like Java, C, and Python, Go hit 16th in October 2016, up 49 spots from a year prior. That’s a big change that’s caught the eye of programmers and project managers alike.Go’s jump is likely due in large part to Docker, a package management system for deploying code that is taking over stacks everywhere. The fact that one of the hottest dev technologies in years is written in Go in a positive sign for the language’s viability. A better one may be the fact that Docker is quite solid and very successful. That’s bound to win over converts by showing that the language can support real infrastructure.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Customer insights: Digital is changing who you compete against

If you want to get serious about transforming your business digitally, start with recognizing all of your competitorsIt is time to acknowledge that our customers’ digital experience expectations are being increasingly influenced by both their everyday B2C experiences, as well as by disruptive experiences that are jumping industry boundaries.Brands and businesses are now judged not only on how well they perform in their industry, but also on how well they perform based on overarching categories such as relevancy, social awareness, ease of use and engagement. Gone are the days of solely using the Net Promoter Score to measure customer experiences of your brand. It’s just not good enough.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Ransomware as a Service fuels explosive growth

Believe it – you too can become a successful cyber criminal! It’s easy! It’s cheap! It’s short hours for big bucks! No need to spend years on boring things like learning how to write code or develop software.Just download our simple ransomware toolkit and we can have you up and running in hours – stealing hundreds or thousands of dollars from people in other countries, all from the comfort of your home office – or your parents’ basement. Sit back and watch the Bitcoin roll in!OK, that’s not the literal pitch coming from the developers of ransomware. But, given the rise of Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) – a business model in which malware authors enlist “distributors” to spread the infections and then take a cut of the profits – it sounds like it could be a candidate for the kind of “direct-response” TV ads that made the late pitchman Billy Mays famous.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Ransomware as a Service fuels explosive growth

Believe it – you too can become a successful cyber criminal! It’s easy! It’s cheap! It’s short hours for big bucks! No need to spend years on boring things like learning how to write code or develop software.Just download our simple ransomware toolkit and we can have you up and running in hours – stealing hundreds or thousands of dollars from people in other countries, all from the comfort of your home office – or your parents’ basement. Sit back and watch the Bitcoin roll in!OK, that’s not the literal pitch coming from the developers of ransomware. But, given the rise of Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) – a business model in which malware authors enlist “distributors” to spread the infections and then take a cut of the profits – it sounds like it could be a candidate for the kind of “direct-response” TV ads that made the late pitchman Billy Mays famous.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Building Intelligence into Machine Learning Hardware

Machine learning is a rising star in the compute constellation, and for good reason. It has the ability to not only make life more convenient – think email spam filtering, shopping recommendations, and the like – but also to save lives by powering the intelligence behind autonomous vehicles, heart attack prediction, etc. While the applications of machine learning are bounded only by imagination, the execution of those applications is bounded by the available compute resources. Machine learning is compute-intensive and it turns out that traditional compute hardware is not well-suited for the task.

Many machine learning shops have approached the …

Building Intelligence into Machine Learning Hardware was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

6 tips for negotiating a better executive IT offer

Congratulations -- you've got an offer for an executive level role! Whether it's your first foray into upper management or you've been a C-suite stalwart for years, negotiating a compensation package can be nerve-wracking. And while the mechanics of the negotiation might be similar whether you're an entry-level worker or a C-level executive, there are specific components of executive compensation that could throw you for a loop if you're not careful, says Howard Seidel, partner, Essex Partners."In a lot of cases, executives can have a lot more leverage when negotiating an offer, and they also can have a lot more options to consider when putting together the terms of their compensation package. What I always tell my clients is that they have to have a strategy in place to decide what their priorities are when entering into negotiations," says Seidel.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 disruptive technologies to track in 2017

Digital transformation is sparking change on many fronts, which means IT professionals have a lot to tackle as they head into 2017. As part of this march toward IT-driven reinvention, tech leaders are keeping watch on several emerging technologies that they believe will be catalysts for long-term innovation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Security pros most worried about clouds, mobile

Companies were least prepared to assess the security risks of cloud and mobile technologies, according to a survey of cybersecurity professionals released this morning.Around 60 percent of companies were able to assess security risks in cloud environments, down 7 points compared to last year. Mobile devices scored at 57 percent, down by 8 percentage points compared to last year.Overall, the confidence levels of security professionals that their cyber defenses were meeting expectations dropped from 76 percent last year to 70 percent in this year's survey, according to the report, which was produced by Annapolis, M.D.-based CyberEdge Group, and sponsored by Tenable.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Security pros most worried about clouds, mobile

Companies were least prepared to assess the security risks of cloud and mobile technologies, according to a survey of cybersecurity professionals released this morning.Around 60 percent of companies were able to assess security risks in cloud environments, down 7 points compared to last year. Mobile devices scored at 57 percent, down by 8 percentage points compared to last year.Overall, the confidence levels of security professionals that their cyber defenses were meeting expectations dropped from 76 percent last year to 70 percent in this year's survey, according to the report, which was produced by Annapolis, M.D.-based CyberEdge Group, and sponsored by Tenable.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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