IDG Contributor Network: Puppet aims for the sky, appoints new CTO

Puppet CEO Luke Kanies has seen a lots of change since he founded Puppet.The company, whose goal is to make the deployment of IT infrastructure quicker and easier than before, came about around the time widespread adoption of virtualization occurred. This adoption called for a new way of working: instead of physically racking and stacking machines and installing software on them at the same time, the ability to programmatically set up servers called for a new way to set up the software that runs on them. This is the area that Puppet and its arch-rival Chef are focused on.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cybersecurity Plan for POTUS 45

Okay, the presidential primaries are winding down, and while I expect lots of name calling, insults and general sophomoric behavior this summer and fall, it’s time for both parties to step up with a strong plan for cybersecurity.Cybersecurity?  You’d really never know that it’s a national issue based upon the proceedings so far.  Governor Bush put out a two-page overview while Dr. Ben Carson’s team drafted a high-level proposal.  Neither one of these documents really dug into existing policies, domestic challenges, or International issues.  With the exception of John McAfee, no one has gotten into any detail on this topic.Now I know that cybersecurity can be the geekiest of geeky topics so the Presidential candidates need to address it at the right level.  The best plan will appeal to voters’ personal interests, offer financial incentives and opportunities, and demonstrate U.S. leadership in International affairs.  Additionally, the plan should align cybersecurity issues with technology innovation and a changing economy.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cybersecurity Plan for POTUS 45

Okay, the presidential primaries are winding down, and while I expect lots of name calling, insults and general sophomoric behavior this summer and fall, it’s time for both parties to step up with a strong plan for cybersecurity.Cybersecurity?  You’d really never know that it’s a national issue based upon the proceedings so far.  Governor Bush put out a two-page overview while Dr. Ben Carson’s team drafted a high-level proposal.  Neither one of these documents really dug into existing policies, domestic challenges, or International issues.  With the exception of John McAfee, no one has gotten into any detail on this topic.Now I know that cybersecurity can be the geekiest of geeky topics so the Presidential candidates need to address it at the right level.  The best plan will appeal to voters’ personal interests, offer financial incentives and opportunities, and demonstrate U.S. leadership in International affairs.  Additionally, the plan should align cybersecurity issues with technology innovation and a changing economy.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

50% off Anker Portable Charger PowerCore – Deal Alert

The powerful 20000mAh PowerCore 20100 from Anker weighs just 12.5 oz, but fully charges most phones and tablets to 100% several times over without needing to be recharged. It charges the iPhone 6s seven times, the Galaxy S6 five times or the iPad mini 4 twice. Industry leading output of 4.8 amps provides enough power to simultaneously charge any combination of devices at full speed. Surge protection, short circuit protection and more advanced safety features keep your devices safe. For additional peace of mind, the Anker PowerCore 20100 comes with an 18 month warranty and easily accessible customer service. It currently averages 5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 3,200 people (85% rate it 5 stars -- read reviews). With a regular list price of $79.99, Amazon has it discounted by $40, making it available right now for just $39.99. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How Intel knocked itself out of the smartphone chip market

Intel's decision to pass on making chips for Apple's iPhone back in 2007 now looks like a huge mistake. Former CEO Paul Otellini admitted as much in a 2013 interview with The Atlantic. Intel has now bailed out of the smartphone chip market while Apple is flying high with its iPhones, based on its own A-series chips. Intel has cancelled its upcoming Atom chip lines for smartphones, including Broxton and the Sofia 3GX, Sofia LTE and Sofia LTE2 commercial platforms. That decision ends close to a decade of futility with Intel trying to outmaneuver rivals like Qualcomm, Apple, and Samsung, which make mobile chips based technology licensed from ARM.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AMD gets back into SSDs with value Radeon R3 drives

AMD is jumping back into the solid-state drive (SSD) market with Radeon drives for laptops and desktops.The SSD offerings are four Radeon R3 drives with storage capacities of 120GB, 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB. AMD launched Radeon R7 drives in 2014.The new drives are affordable, with the entry-level 120GB SSD priced at US $40.99. The drives will plug into a computer's 2.5-inch drive slot and are compatible with the SATA III 6GB interface. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Former insider’s book explores morality of offshore outsourcing

In New York City, IT employees of EmblemHealth recently staged a protest over the decision to outsource their jobs. CEO Karen Ignagni told the employees the company needed to modernize its platforms and didn't have the money or expertise to do this work.Among those at this protest was Phillip Tsen, a former outsourcing project manager. It was once his job to move IT work to outsourcing firms.By joining the demonstration, Tsen wanted to show his support for EmblemHealth workers losing their jobs. Emblem's justifications for its wholesale layoff of its IT employees are similar to those Tsen once made as an outsourcing project manager. The difference is that he just doesn't believe in those arguments anymore.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

More PowerShell: Hash tables

In this next installment of my ongoing PowerShell series, I want to focus on putting PowerShell objects to work for you. Let me warn you in advance, however: Put on your advanced thinking caps for this piece, especially if you are a non-programmer or non-developer and are used to pointing at things and clicking them once or twice to accomplish some tasks. I'm going to get abstract with you here but, as far as I know, there is no way around it.Using multiple properties with hash tablesTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

More PowerShell: Hash tables

In this next installment of my ongoing PowerShell series, I want to focus on putting PowerShell objects to work for you. Let me warn you in advance, however: Put on your advanced thinking caps for this piece, especially if you are a non-programmer or non-developer and are used to pointing at things and clicking them once or twice to accomplish some tasks. I'm going to get abstract with you here but, as far as I know, there is no way around it.Using multiple properties with hash tablesTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

13 fabulous frameworks for Node.js

13 fabulous Node.js frameworksNode.js may be several years old now, but it's still in the spring of its life. The options are multiplying, as everyone experiments with new and better ways to deliver information from the platform. These efforts translate into dozens of frameworks for Node.js enthusiasts and newbies to explore, and new growth everywhere.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Kansas City gets ‘smart’: New streetcar line opens amid free public Wi-Fi zone

Many smart city proponents speak in vast generalities. They talk about the ways that Internet of Things sensors and big data will improve life for citizens while conserving water and energy resources and reducing traffic congestion.Not so Bob Bennett, the recently installed chief innovation officer for Kansas City, Mo. He's a combination of CIO, city planner and futurist with a quick grasp of technical details about what smart city technology can do. Bennett arrived at his job just four months before the city's planned opening on Friday of a shiny new downtown streetcar line offering free rides and the deployment of public Wi-Fi that spreads over two square miles, an area of more than 50 square blocks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Kansas City gets ‘smart’: New streetcar line opens amid free public Wi-Fi zone

Many smart city proponents speak in vast generalities. They talk about the ways that Internet of Things sensors and big data will improve life for citizens while conserving water and energy resources and reducing traffic congestion.Not so Bob Bennett, the recently installed chief innovation officer for Kansas City, Mo. He's a combination of CIO, city planner and futurist with a quick grasp of technical details about what smart city technology can do. Bennett arrived at his job just four months before the city's planned opening on Friday of a shiny new downtown streetcar line offering free rides and the deployment of public Wi-Fi that spreads over two square miles, an area of more than 50 square blocks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Report: CIOs face ‘massive gap’ in talent acquisition

Only 11 percent of IT executives said they have a “robust” talent acquisition pipeline, according to a recent survey of 133 IT executives conducted by the CIO Executive Council (CEC). That’s a big problem in an increasingly competitive talent market, where corporate IT shops compete not only with each other for talent but also with cloud vendors and Silicon Valley.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Who is a target for ransomware? Everyone

Target on youImage by Andreas DantzAccording to the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology, ransomware campaigns only care about the payout rather than the individual target. Ransomware, whether purchased or developed, is relatively cheap and delivery is virtually free.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Who is a target for ransomware? Everyone

Target on youImage by Andreas DantzAccording to the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology, ransomware campaigns only care about the payout rather than the individual target. Ransomware, whether purchased or developed, is relatively cheap and delivery is virtually free.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

8 challenges affecting software project management

Managing projects of all sizes and levels of complexities is part of business, regardless of what vertical industry you’re talking about. Software development is no different. New in-house software development and implementations, infrastructure related projects, enhancements or upgrades, and the increasing development of web-based solutions and mobile apps are a constant within the software industry.The software industry is in an endless and rapid state of flux, influenced greatly by the globalization of a plethora of product and service offerings. There are various types of projects undertaken by the software industry and equally as many challenges, including the following:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

DDoS costs, damages on the rise

Peak-time distributed denial-of-service attacks cost organizations more than $100,000 per hour, said half of the respondents to a new survey of mid-sized and large corporations in the U.S. and Europe.And for a third of respondents, the average peak hourly revenue loss was more than $250,000.However, shutting down attacks took time. Only 26 percent said it took them less than an hour, while 33 percent said it took between one and two hours, and 40 percent said it took more than three hours.MORE ON CSO: How to respond to ransomware threats By comparison, a year ago, only 32 percent of companies said that they would lose more than $100,000 an hour, and 68 percent said it took them less than two hours to respond to an attack.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

DDoS costs, damages on the rise

Peak-time distributed denial-of-service attacks cost organizations more than $100,000 per hour, said half of the respondents to a new survey of mid-sized and large corporations in the U.S. and Europe.And for a third of respondents, the average peak hourly revenue loss was more than $250,000.However, shutting down attacks took time. Only 26 percent said it took them less than an hour, while 33 percent said it took between one and two hours, and 40 percent said it took more than three hours.MORE ON CSO: How to respond to ransomware threats By comparison, a year ago, only 32 percent of companies said that they would lose more than $100,000 an hour, and 68 percent said it took them less than two hours to respond to an attack.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Are you ready for peak hiring season?

It's (almost) summertime and the hiring's easy -- or, at least, it's easier in May, June and July than at other times of the year, according to internal data from recruiting and hiring software platform Smart Recruiters.SmartRecruiters polled 700 companies and approximately 100,000 employees and gathered data between January 2015 and January 2016. They found May, June and July were the most strategic hiring times for companies, because those months offered the highest number of job seekers. The fewest candidates were available in October and November. For job seekers, the SmartRecruiters' data suggested that the best time to search for a new job was January, February and March when there is the highest number of open positions.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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