MIT researchers discover method to triple wireless speeds

MIT researchers have found a way to transfer wireless data using a smartphone at a speed about three times faster and twice as far as existing technology.The researchers developed a technique to coordinate multiple wireless transmitters by synchronizing their wave phases, according to a statement from MIT on Tuesday. Multiple independent transmitters will be able to send data over the same wireless channel to multiple independent receivers without interfering with each other.Since wireless spectrum is scarce, and network congestion is only expected to grow, the technology could have important implications.ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD 9 tips for speeding up your business Wi-Fi The researchers called the approach MegaMIMO 2.0 (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) .To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

For Your Ears: Citizens of Tech Podcast 40

In this show, we get into what expiration dates on packaged food and drugs really mean. How should you react when the date expires? If you assume, “Throw it out to be safe,” you’d be wrong.

We also chat about dealing with password expiration policies. They must be super complex and changed frequently, right? Maybe not. Super complex and frequently changed means hard to remember, which studies show can lead to less security, not more.

IBM has manufactured an artificial neuron, which isn’t so interesting by itself. We’ve been here before. The interesting bit is the material used to behave like a neuronal membrane. A genuine advance.

Microsoft has announced a smaller XBoxOne S, now with 4K capabilities. Just not gaming 4K capabilities.

Blackberry is on permanent deathwatch now, as they have begun the, “All else has failed, so let’s litigate,” phase of operations.

All that, plus our regular “Content I Like” and “Today I Learned” features.

Expiring Stochastic Passwords – Citizens of Tech 040

ARM Puts Some Muscle Into Vector Number Crunching

If the ARM processor in its many incarnations is to take on the reigning Xeon champ in the datacenter and the born again Power processor that is also trying to knock Xeons from the throne, it is going to need some bigger vector math capabilities. This is why, as we have previously reported, supercomputer maker Fujitsu has teamed up with ARM holdings to add better vector processing to the ARM architecture.

Details of that new vector format, known as Scalable Vector Extension (SVE), were revealed by ARM at the Hot Chips 28 conference in Silicon Valley, and any licensee

ARM Puts Some Muscle Into Vector Number Crunching was written by Timothy Prickett Morgan at The Next Platform.

IDG Contributor Network: Is the IT services industry at a crossroads?

Much ink has been spilled over the changing IT services industry. Indeed, it is an industry well acquainted with—and perhaps even born out of—change. But the velocity of technological advancement happening today is unprecedented.Is the industry truly at a crossroads?The established industry players are dealing with two distinct macro shifts. IT outsourcing provider Infosys calls them “Renew” and “New.” Allow me to explain.+ Also on Network World: $1 trillion in IT spending to be ‘affected’ by the cloud +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

OIG finds security flaws in wireless networks at federal health service data centers

Security holes which could lead to “unauthorized access” to personally identifiable information is not something you want to hear in regards to the wireless networks of a federal agency tasked with collecting and storing financial and health care information. Yet a recent Office of Inspector General report did say it found vulnerabilities in the wireless networks of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS); if exploited, it could lead to unauthorized access and even “disruption of critical operations.”The OIG at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conducted a wireless penetration test on 13 CMS data centers and facilities; CMS, an agency within HHS, administers federal healthcare programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The agency “collects, generates and stores financial and health care information.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

OIG finds security flaws in wireless networks at federal health service data centers

Security holes which could lead to “unauthorized access” to personally identifiable information is not something you want to hear in regards to the wireless networks of a federal agency tasked with collecting and storing financial and health care information. Yet a recent Office of Inspector General report did say it found vulnerabilities in the wireless networks of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS); if exploited, it could lead to unauthorized access and even “disruption of critical operations.”The OIG at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conducted a wireless penetration test on 13 CMS data centers and facilities; CMS, an agency within HHS, administers federal healthcare programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The agency “collects, generates and stores financial and health care information.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Arista expands its telemetry solution to monitor the heartbeat of the network

An interesting thing happened last week that drove home the importance of network telemetry.My wife saw a calendar invite from Arista where they wanted to pre-brief me on their upcoming telemetry launch. In addition to running ZK Research with me by doing most of the back office work, she is also a cardiac nurse and was interested in the content of the briefing because telemetry is a critical element of her job. In her field, cardiac telemetry is used to constantly monitor the heart and can quickly alert the nurse in real time if something bad is going on. If there’s any problem at all, like arrhythmia, they can use the data to take action and save the patient.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Arista expands its telemetry solution to monitor the heartbeat of the network

An interesting thing happened last week that drove home the importance of network telemetry.My wife saw a calendar invite from Arista where they wanted to pre-brief me on their upcoming telemetry launch. In addition to running ZK Research with me by doing most of the back office work, she is also a cardiac nurse and was interested in the content of the briefing because telemetry is a critical element of her job. In her field, cardiac telemetry is used to constantly monitor the heart and can quickly alert the nurse in real time if something bad is going on. If there’s any problem at all, like arrhythmia, they can use the data to take action and save the patient.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Can Constraints Drive Innovation?

By: Oren Binder, Director – Service Provider Marketing Demand for mobile connectivity is growing rapidly, and the required wireless spectrum is a finite resource. In 2015, the FCC took a groundbreaking new approach to spectrum allocation, establishing the new Citizens...

Service chaining, not box chaining, in the WAN

Services are a relatively new concept in WANs. Devices and configurations were traditionally what made up a WAN, with routers, switches, load balancers, firewalls, proxy servers and other components positioned at appropriate points in the network. Enterprises have long grown accustomed to the use of appliances—or “middle boxes” to perform a single function, and the maintenance and management of these devices can be a real headache for IT teams.+ Also on Network World: SD-WAN: What it is and why you’ll use it one day +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Service chaining, not box chaining, in the WAN

Services are a relatively new concept in WANs. Devices and configurations were traditionally what made up a WAN, with routers, switches, load balancers, firewalls, proxy servers and other components positioned at appropriate points in the network. Enterprises have long grown accustomed to the use of appliances—or “middle boxes” to perform a single function, and the maintenance and management of these devices can be a real headache for IT teams.+ Also on Network World: SD-WAN: What it is and why you’ll use it one day +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Steve Jobs resigned as Apple CEO 5 years ago tomorrow

Apple’s post-Steve Jobs leadership era began officially on Aug. 24, 2011 – five years ago tomorrow -- with the announcement of his resignation and the appointment of Tim Cook as new CEO.The news of his resignation, while not unexpected, was momentous.Jobs made the announcement in a letter addressed to “the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community” and posted to the company’s website: I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Why are GitHub and WordPress.com censoring content?

The Great Equalizer. The Great Democratizer. Many such phrases have been used to describe the internet over the years—mostly focusing on the rapid dissemination of uncensored information.Even social media sites (such as Twitter) have played critical roles in real-world revolutions. The ability for the average person to spread ideas, news and information—without corporate or government censorship—has brought about massive power and freedom to the people of the world.But what happens when the key websites and services—the ones we rely upon to spread those messages—censor that content? That’s a bad thing, right? Well, this seems to be happening a lot recently, especially in relation to leaked content (regardless of the type of content or the source from which it originated).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Netgear joins Wi-Fi mesh wave with Orbi system

Over the past few weeks I’ve written about Wi-Fi startups eero and Luma and how their new wireless mesh systems are changing the home network wireless market with easier setup and larger coverage than compared with traditional Wi-Fi routers and range extenders.One of the market leaders in that space, Netgear, is now on board with their own system, which not only validates the concept provided by eero and Luma, but now provides some big-time competition for those two companies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Specialized Supercomputing Cloud Turns Eye to Machine Learning

Back in 2010, when the term “cloud computing” was still laden with peril and mystery for many users in enterprise and high performance computing, HPC cloud startup, Nimbix, stepped out to tackle that perceived risk for some of the most challenging, latency-sensitive applications.

At the time, there were only a handful of small companies catering to the needs of high performance computing applications and those that existed were developing clever middleware to hook into AWS infrastructure. There were a few companies offering true “HPC as a service” (distinct datacenters designed to fit such workloads that could be accessed via a

Specialized Supercomputing Cloud Turns Eye to Machine Learning was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.