Tech companies want ICANN transition to happen as planned

The U.S. government's plan to end its oversight of the internet's domain name system should move forward as promised, despite last-minute efforts by some Republican lawmakers to derail the process, a coalition of tech companies and trade groups said.The U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) should end its supervision of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on Oct. 1 as planned, said a letter signed by Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Amazon and more than 20 other companies and trade groups.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

40% off HooToo 64GB Lightning Connector USB 3.0 Drive for iOS – Deal Alert

This small, rugged and blazing fast USB 3.0 key features 64GB of storage and an extended lightning connector that will fit all of your iOS devices, even with their cases attached. Quickly move files between your devices. Pack it with audio and video files and HooToo's built-in media app effortlessly plays them directly to your iPhone or iPad in most major formats including .mkv, .avi, and .mp4. Its aluminum alloy design is roughly the size of a house key and weighs only .25oz. This Amazon #1 best seller averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 100 people (87% rate 5 stars: read reviews). Its typical list price of $99.99 has been reduced 40% to $59.99. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

This Week: Solarwinds ThwackCamp 2016

Solarwinds ThwackCamp 2016 begins tomorrow, Wednesday September 14th.

I’m sharing this information in case it’s of interest, so here are some questions and answers in case you are curious.

What is ThwackCamp?

ThwackCamp is an annual, online, free training event offered by Solarwinds. It is organized into two streams, a “How-To” track which is more technical, and an “IT Industry” track which offers training with a slightly more holistic twist to it. There are 10 sessions offered over two days, and although my registrations are mostly How-To sessions, I did find an IT Industry session slipping in there; you can mix and match as you please.

How do I sign up for ThwackCamp?

Register on the Solarwinds ThwackCamp home page. Disclosure: I get 25% commission on every dollar you spend on ThwackCamp registrations using this link. You need to register for a free Solarwinds account if you don’t already have one, and you have to be logged in before you can register for the sessions you want to attend. Emails will arrive shortly thereafter with meeting invites attached so you can populate your calendar easily with session reminders. Remember: there are no travel costs involved, no registration cost and no hotel required. I mean, if you want to fly somewhere Continue reading

22% off Jaybird X2 Sport Wireless Bluetooth Headphones – Deal Alert

With a regular list price of $149.99, the current discount makes the Jaybird X2 Sport is now available with a 22% discount for this deal. Features include: Premium Bluetooth Audio For Skip-Free Music Outdoors 8 Hours of Music + Calls With Complete Remote Controls Secure Over/Under-Ear Fit Options Lifetime Sweat proof Warranty Includes Comply Premium Sport Memory Foam Ear Tips, Patented Secure-Fit Ear Fins, Friction-Fit Silicone Sport Carrying Case, Silicone Ear Tips, Charging Cable & Cord Management Clips. Jump to Amazon now for additional details, and to explore buying options.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

H-1B bill advances in House — as does anxiety about it

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday will vote on H-1B legislation aimed at closing a loophole that has made it inexpensive to replace U.S. workers with visa holders.But the bill, introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), and Scott Peters (D-Calif.), is worrisome, as well. It may do little to protect U.S. workers from displacement, say critics, who fear the legislation -- if approved -- could be used as a cudgel against more comprehensive H-1B reforms.The “Protect and Grow American Jobs Act,” (HR 5801) is intended to tighten, but not eliminate, a 1998 loophole in the law.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

25 iOS 10 features that will change your life

Dive into the feature-packed iOS 10Packed with new features, hidden functionalities, and third-party app integrations, iOS 10 has plenty to explore. Here are our favorite bells and whistles you can try for yourself once the official release is finally out.Facial recognition that's not creepyImage by AppleTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

6 questions to ask about containers

Shoring up containersImage by ThinkstockContainer technology promises greater agility and efficiency when it comes to building and deploying applications, a critical ability in this age of zero tolerance for downtime and great expectations for capabilities on demand. But with any new technology comes new risk, and security professionals must be able to accurately determine the risk-reward balance of containers for their organizations. Lars Herrmann, general manager, Integrated Solutions Business Unit at Red Hat, poses six questions CISOs must ask when evaluating container platforms.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Is your security awareness training program working?

Employees at Axe Investment, the fictional firm of biollionaire Bobby Axelrod in Showtimes new series, Billions, were downright angry when they learned that surprise SEC raid was only a test. Axelrod, though, found the mock raid fruitful as it revealed the internal weak links of his organization.These are metrics that enterprises should be using to evaluate the success of their security awareness programs. In order for awareness training to work, it has to keep everyone in the enterprise, well, aware. A recent Wombat report revealed that in addition to the ever growing problem of phishing, employees across industries struggle with oversharing on social media, unsafe use of WiFi, and company confidential data exposure. Those ubiquitous posts pose serious risks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Should you upgrade to iOS 10?

Let’s cut right to the chase: iOS 10 looks great, works really well, and does more to freshen up the iOS experience than any update before it. It brings some pretty significant changes like the all-new lock screen behaviors, but iOS 10 still feels familiar enough that the new gestures become old hat after just a few days.The apps that got the biggest overhauls are, frankly, the apps that needed them: Music and Maps. The former is less of a mess in general, and the latter is easier to use en route especially, with big easy-to-tap buttons to change the view, toggle the audio cues on and off, or just find a darn cup of coffee or gas station along the way.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Aerohive introduces the software-defined LAN

The term “software-defined” has been applied to a number of technologies, including networking, WAN, security, storage and data center. One area it has yet to be associated with is the local area network (LAN). But what exactly does “software-defined” mean and should it extend to the LAN? Just because something runs in software, it doesn’t make it any different than running in hardware.That’s just one component of being software-defined. Other factors including having centralized control, being programmable and agile, and providing visibility to gain new insights. Most important, a software-defined system should be able to automate configuration changes as the applications’ needs change. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Aerohive introduces the software-defined LAN

The term “software-defined” has been applied to a number of technologies, including networking, WAN, security, storage and data center. One area it has yet to be associated with is the local area network (LAN). But what exactly does “software-defined” mean and should it extend to the LAN? Just because something runs in software, it doesn’t make it any different than running in hardware.That’s just one component of being software-defined. Other factors including having centralized control, being programmable and agile, and providing visibility to gain new insights. Most important, a software-defined system should be able to automate configuration changes as the applications’ needs change. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Empower your employees by embracing shadow IT

Shadow IT is often viewed as something that opens up businesses to data and security threats, leaving IT without control over business apps and services. But that attitude is changing as more businesses adopt a friendly attitude towards unconventional IT practices."Some CIOs certainly see 'shadow' IT as a negative, hence the less flattering terms 'feral' or 'rogue' IT, but more progressive CIOs know that, given today's technology and the increasing savvy of the business, it's in their best interest to embrace shadow IT," says Tracy Cashman, senior vice president and partner of WinterWyman Executive Search.Cashman says it's time for IT to embrace the fact that they can't control everything and instead, help drive innovation around IT practices so that they align with the modern reality of technology. It's about empowering users because otherwise, they'll go around IT and download the software they want to use anyway.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Making a career in DevOps

Variety is the spice of life, and it's also what makes a DevOps career endlessly fascinating and intriguing. But while DevOps requires an intimate knowledge of a myriad of technologies -- software, infrastructure, middleware, as well as business processes and operational best practices -- the most important skills to have for a successful DevOps career aren't technical at all: They're interpersonal, says Eric Sigler, head of DevOps at incident resolution software platform company PagerDuty."Critical thinking, problem-solving, communication and collaboration are the foundation for what makes DevOps work. Empathy in particular is a must-have for those building a career around DevOps. True DevOps engineers have a high degree of compassion and will use it to enable those around them. By being open to alternative points of view, you can pick and choose the best practices and skill sets available to solve the problem at hand," Sigler says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Autonomous cars? How about airliners?

Imagine if US Airways Flight 1549 out of New York – operating without a pilot -- had hit the same flock of birds, landed itself on the Hudson River, and saved the lives of 153 passengers and flight attendants.Well, there would be no movie called “Sully” playing in theaters right now.Pilotless airliners? Far-fetched, you say. Not so, according to Tim Robinson, editor-in-chief of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s magazine Aerospace, who tells the BBC:   “So with pilots relying on autopilots for 95% of today's flights, the argument goes, why not make the final 5% – take-off and landing – automated?” says Robinson. “Computers fly ultra-precise, repeatable trajectories, do not fly drunk, do not get tired, do not get distracted and so the thinking goes could be safer than human pilots in the future.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Wi-Fi speeds will triple, get more range with MegaMimo 2.0

Coordinating multiple access points simultaneously, all on the same frequency and without generating interference, is the premise behind a new form of Wi-Fi called MegaMimo 2.0. When released commercially, as its inventors say it soon will be, it will allow data to be shot through at three times the speed that it travels now and twice as far, the researchers claim.The Wi-Fi technology, supposedly immune to bottleneck-causing interference, works by letting a number of distinct transmitters send same- and similar-frequency data “to multiple independent receivers without interfering with each other,” the computer scientists, led by Professor Dian Katabi from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL), say in their news release.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco/Apple bolster WiFi, business apps and voice collaboration with iOS 10 release

The Cisco and Apple partnership has yielded a ton of new business features that include improved Wi-Fi connectivity, business app prioritization capabilities and the tighter integration of voice for collaboration – all via the today’s release of iOS 10 for Apple’s iPhone and iPad.Today’s announcement is a reflection of how important and integral mobile smartphones have become to businesses. For example Cisco earlier this year stated that smartphone traffic would exceed PC traffic by 2020. In 2015, PCs accounted for 53% of total IP traffic, but by 2020 PCs will account for only 29% of traffic. Smartphones will account for 30% of total IP traffic in 2020, up from 8% in 2015, Cisco wrote in its 11th annual Visual Networking Index in June.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco/Apple bolster WiFi, business apps and voice collaboration with iOS 10 release

The Cisco and Apple partnership has yielded a ton of new business features that include improved Wi-Fi connectivity, business app prioritization capabilities and the tighter integration of voice for collaboration – all via the today’s release of iOS 10 for Apple’s iPhone and iPad.Today’s announcement is a reflection of how important and integral mobile smartphones have become to businesses. For example Cisco earlier this year stated that smartphone traffic would exceed PC traffic by 2020. In 2015, PCs accounted for 53% of total IP traffic, but by 2020 PCs will account for only 29% of traffic. Smartphones will account for 30% of total IP traffic in 2020, up from 8% in 2015, Cisco wrote in its 11th annual Visual Networking Index in June.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Nvidia Claims Its Software Kit Enhances Deep Learning Performance

Nvidia says JetPack 2.3 doubles users’ deep learning performance.

SDN Matures – via the Federal Government…

Based on industry research and market assessments such as the most recent from Allied Market Research, we know software-defined networking is growing crazy fast and has a huge upside. The question is…is it maturing to the point the Federal Government will make it a priority?

I think the answer is YES, based on what Lt. Gen. Alan Lynn, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency has said publicly. And, it appears cyber-security is one of the biggest areas he sees SDN helping out. He explains how SDN can provide the ability to create networks on-demand and make them harder to attack.

In order to help Lt. General Lynn, we needed to get past an issue I like to call, “Barrier of Implementation”. The barrier is an approved DISA STIG for SDN. In order for federal agencies to implement a SDN solution it has to go through some sort of security accreditation. Most of all security accreditation rely on DISA STIGs for the checks and balances.

With our announcement yesterday, “VMware Receives STIG-Approval for VMware NSX to Operate on U.S. Department of Defense Networks from Defense Information Systems Agency,” VMware NSX network virtualization became the Continue reading

How OpenStack And Containers Are Reshaping Networking