How to connect the Dots with cool new smartphone-friendly beacons

A Kickstarter project for glowing Bluetooth beacons designed to make your smartphone more useful has blown past its $20K goal with about a week to go.Iota Labs is building physical Bluetooth 4.0-enabled Dots that use location tracking to put your smartphone notifications into context. For example, stick one in the kitchen to prompt you to check food expiration dates or in your car to automatically open up Waze. Put one in the hallway to let you know -- via its LED color as it senses you being in the area -- if a roommate is home and might need a bit of discretion on your part. Or if you want to stretch this initially consumer-oriented product into a business tool, have one alert you to unread emails from your boss as you step into your office. (See Iota's video pitch below.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Slack. Less Bad Than The Rest.

A topic I complain about with some regularity is my inability to keep up with incoming messages. I’m too busy creating something for someone else to consume to bother trying to keep up. That’s the way of things. If I successfully keep up with all the input, I never achieve useful output.

In this world of message misery, Slack is my friend. I find that Slack is better at managing input than most other forms of communication.

As Slack groups form (I’m in 8 now), it allows me to interact with people in a private or semi-private manner in a way that’s less intrusive than Google Hangouts or an iMessages chat room.

Slack groups are far better for me than e-mail. I have a passionate dislike for e-mail, although I’ve gotten better at managing it with process and tools. E-mail remains useful to me because it’s the lowest common denominator of communications. If nothing else works, then I can probably send the person an e-mail.

At the moment, Slack is the “least worst” way to manage communication for me.

  • I can mute as well as tune notifications. I often mute entire channels that do not require real-time interaction. I can also set do not disturb times. I can also Continue reading

Catch the Latest #VMworld 2016 Updates in Our NSX SociaLab

So you missed VMworld 2016…You can still hear about the latest VMware NSX updates in an NSX-focused SociaLab!

Sign up for an NSX SociaLab in your area now.

NSX is the network virtualization platform for the Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC). Bring your own device to this interactive hands-on lab event where our engineering experts will guide you step-by-step through the technical features, functions and business use cases of NSX that were released at VMworld 2016 – all while you test drive the solution for yourself.

During the event, you’ll get to partake in multiple Hands-On Labs featuring logical switching, dynamic routing, distributed firewall, logical network services, all of which were featured at VMworld 2016, and more. You’ll walk away from our SociaLab knowing how to:

  • Create a logical switch and attach virtual machines to it
  • Understand the routing capabilities supported in NSX and the benefit of performing them at the hypervisor layer
  • Explore how the distributed firewall protects a 3-tier application and create rules based on security groups & identity

Now’s your chance to hear what you missed out on at VMworld to meet our technical experts, ask questions and collaborate with peers. Don’t miss this in-person opportunity to learn Continue reading

The Next Wave of Deep Learning Applications

Last week we described the next stage of deep learning hardware developments in some detail, focusing on a few specific architectures that capture what the rapidly-evolving field of machine learning algorithms require. This week we are focusing in on a trend that is moving faster than the devices can keep up with; the codes and application areas that are set to make this market spin in 2017.

It was with reserved skepticism that we listened, not even one year ago, to dramatic predictions about the future growth of the deep learning market—numbers that climbed into the billions despite the fact …

The Next Wave of Deep Learning Applications was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

Worth Reading: Binding to an IPv6 subnet

In the original framework of the IP architecture, hosts had network interfaces, and network interfaces had single IP addresses. The list of active network interfaces, and the manner in which they acquire IP addresses, either by a static configuration or by some dynamic mechanism via a query to the local network, is specified in a boot time configuration file. —Potaroo

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iOS 10 adoption tops last year’s 9 uptake rate in first day

Although Apple stumbled yesterday as it issued iOS 10, the new mobile operating system has gained traction to outpace last year's upgrade by the end of its first full day.At the 24-hour milestone, iOS 10 accounted for 14.5% of all iOS editions detected by Mixpanel, whose metrics platform is widely used by mobile app developers to track usage and user engagement.That was higher than the 12.4% accumulated by iOS 9 last year at the same post-release point, but still significantly lower than the record holder iOS 7, which collected a whopping 29.9% within 24 hours of its 2013 debut.Apple released iOS 10 yesterday at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

This new programming language promises a 4X speed boost on big data

Memory management can be challenge enough on traditional data sets, but when big data enters the picture, things can slow way, way down. A new programming language announced by MIT this week aims to remedy that problem, and so far it's been found to deliver fourfold speed boosts on common algorithms.The principle of locality is what governs memory management in most computer chips today, meaning that if a program needs a chunk of data stored at some memory location, it's generally assumed to need the neighboring chunks as well. In big data, however, that's not always the case. Instead, programs often must act on just a few data items scattered across huge data sets.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

End of the line for Microsoft Band?

Last week when I discussed the latest rumors surrounding Surface All-In-Ones, I added that there was no news on the Microsoft Band front. Now there apparently is news, and it's not the best.Microsoft's Band and Band 2 devices look like they run Windows 10, but they don't. They only run firmware. One of the rumors surrounding future Band products is that they would get the full OS, or at least enough of it to make it functional with PCs. That may not be the case, however. ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley reports that the group working on bringing Windows 10 to Band was disbanded weeks ago. That doesn't necessarily mean Band 3 won't happen; it just means the group working on a Windows 10 port is gone. They could always release Band 3 with firmware just like the first two versions.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Windows 10 Redstone: A guide to the builds

Microsoft never sleeps. Even before the Windows 10 Anniversary Update was rolled out, the company began work on the next two major updates to Windows 10, code-named Redstone 2 and Redstone 3. (Redstone 1 was the code name for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.) Redstone 2 will likely be fully ready in the spring of 2017. It's not yet clear when Redstone 3 will be finished.If you want to test drive the upcoming updates, you don't have to wait until their final releases. As it did with the Anniversary Update, Microsoft has been releasing public preview builds, each a little bit closer to the final version. The updates are being tested and delivered the same way that those for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update were -- first to members of Microsoft's Insider Program via a series of public preview builds and then, when they are final, via Windows Update.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

$29 for This Premium 4-Course Training on Amazon Web Services- Deal Alert

AWS, or Amazon Web Services, is the premier cloud computing platform that services companies worldwide. Master this in-demand platform, and you’re certain to command a hefty paycheck.Unsure where to start? The AWS Mastery Bundle is a 4-course bundle certain to make you an authority on all things AWS--and turn you into a certified cloud guru.The following courses are included in your bundle: AWS Certified Developer Associate Exam Prep - Master all you need to pass the AWS certification exam, a must-have for aspiring AWS pros.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: The need for software archaeology

Having lived in the world of IT for a while, I often find myself having to "call BS" during a vendor briefing. Why is that? Vendor representatives start a conversation with something like "we are the only ones to offer this capability" or "we are the first in the industry to solve this problem" when there are examples of the same capability from technology offered in the in the past. They do this in the hopes of breaking through industry chatter and, as a result, booking a meeting with my team or me.IT really hasn't been around all that long When considered in the abstract, IT really hasn't been around all that long. In that short time, practitioners spoke of "working in the computer department," "working in data processing," "working in information systems" or " working in IT."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: The need for software archaeology

Having lived in the world of IT for a while, I often find myself having to "call BS" during a vendor briefing. Why is that? Vendor representatives start a conversation with something like "we are the only ones to offer this capability" or "we are the first in the industry to solve this problem" when there are examples of the same capability from technology offered in the in the past. They do this in the hopes of breaking through industry chatter and, as a result, booking a meeting with my team or me.IT really hasn't been around all that long When considered in the abstract, IT really hasn't been around all that long. In that short time, practitioners spoke of "working in the computer department," "working in data processing," "working in information systems" or " working in IT."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: The need for software archaeology

Having lived in the world of IT for a while, I often find myself having to "call BS" during a vendor briefing. Why is that? Vendor representatives start a conversation with something like "we are the only ones to offer this capability" or "we are the first in the industry to solve this problem" when there are examples of the same capability from technology offered in the in the past. They do this in the hopes of breaking through industry chatter and, as a result, booking a meeting with my team or me.IT really hasn't been around all that long When considered in the abstract, IT really hasn't been around all that long. In that short time, practitioners spoke of "working in the computer department," "working in data processing," "working in information systems" or " working in IT."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: The need for software archaeology

Having lived in the world of IT for a while, I often find myself having to "call BS" during a vendor briefing. Why is that? Vendor representatives start a conversation with something like "we are the only ones to offer this capability" or "we are the first in the industry to solve this problem" when there are examples of the same capability from technology offered in the in the past. They do this in the hopes of breaking through industry chatter and, as a result, booking a meeting with my team or me.IT really hasn't been around all that long When considered in the abstract, IT really hasn't been around all that long. In that short time, practitioners spoke of "working in the computer department," "working in data processing," "working in information systems" or " working in IT."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

So, You Want to Program Quantum Computers?

The jury is still out when it comes to how wide-ranging the application set and market potential for quantum computing will be. Optimistic estimates project that in the 2020s it will be a billion-dollar field, while others expect the novelty will wear off and the one company behind the actual production of quantum annealing machines will go bust.

Ultimately, whichever direction the market goes with quantum computing will depend on two things. First, the ability for applications of sufficient value to warrant the cost of quantum systems have to be in place. Second, and connected to that point, is the …

So, You Want to Program Quantum Computers? was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

Windows Desktop apps are now in the Windows Store

Developers can now distribute their Windows desktop apps to people shopping through Windows 10's app store, with an update from Microsoft Wednesday.It's a move powered by Project Centennial, which lets developers take older Windows apps (known in Microsoft parlance as Win32 apps), port them to the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), and then sell them on the Windows Store. The first of those apps are rolling out over the coming days, and developers can now submit their Centennial-converted apps for future release.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Law firm CIO: ‘I run more video than CBS’

The challenges as the head of IT for a major international law firm with 700 attorneys, 1,500 total employees and 20 separate offices around the world aren’t exactly small, but Baker Donelson CIO John D. Green is up to the task – even when that task changes a little every day.Different parts of Baker Donelson’s sprawling practice have different needs, said Green, who sat down with Network World Tuesday at Riverbed’s Disrupt event in New York. The real estate practice, tax, and patent and trademark practices, among others, have their own software, all of which Donelson has to support.MORE: Riverbed upgrades set sights on the SD-WAN edge, cloud integrationTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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