How Microsoft’s tricky new Windows 10 pop-up deceives you into upgrading

This morning, the unthinkable happened: My wife, an avowed PC user who long ago swore to never touch an Apple device, started shopping around for a Mac Mini. And it’s all thanks to Windows 10. Or rather, the nasty new way that Microsoft’s tricking Windows 7 and 8 users into automatically updating to Windows 10.I adore Windows 10, but I’ve long been a vocal critic of the heavy-handed tactics that Microsoft’s been using to force people into the upgrade, all to hit a goal of migrating 1 billion users to an operating system brimming with freemium services and ads. The annoying “Get Windows 10” pop-up began using deceiving malware-like tactics months ago, but it recently received an overhaul that seems purposefully designed to confuse users who have been wearily slogging through the nagging for half a year now.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

6 ways to add a second line to your smartphone

About a year ago I started a new business offering interactive "escape room" challenges in the Detroit area. Although I'd hoped to keep it strictly an online affair, with an informative website and simple ticketing system, it quickly became clear I'd need a phone line. Customers needed a way to reach me with questions, booking issues and so on.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

7 programming languages we love to hate — but can’t live without

The well-meaning advice to not carry a grudge certainly didn’t come from anyone who’s wrestled with a computer for a living. Toil for anytime with the infernal logic of a programming language and you’ll know the horrors of the inky void where the worst bugs dwell.Sure, everyone loves a computer language when they first encounter it. And why wouldn’t we, with all those “hello world” examples that show how powerful the language can be in three lines of code. Programming languages are defined to be implicitly logical, but that doesn’t mean they spread logic everywhere they go. A pleasant barkeep may make the lives of everyone at the bar happier. A brave firefighter radiates bravery. But the logical mechanisms of programming languages often breed illogic, confusion, and doubt.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Open source job market booming

Recruiting open source talent is a top priority for IT recruiters and hiring managers in 2016. According to the 2016 Open Source Jobs Report released today by IT hiring platform Dice.com and The Linux Foundation, 65 percent of hiring managers say open source hiring will increase more than any other part of their business over the next six months, and 79 percent of hiring managers have increased incentives to hold on to their current open source professionals.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Recruiters increasingly rely on social media to find talent

When you decide to start looking for a new job, Twitter and Facebook might be the last places you'd expect to connect with recruiters. But that's quickly becoming the reality, as more recruiters turn to social media to find viable candidates to fill open job requisitions. Alexander Mann Solutions, a talent acquisition and management service; and Social Talent, a recruiting software and analytics company, released their 2016 Global Recruiting Survey, which shed light on how some recruiters use social media in their efforts.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Lustre to DAOS: Machine Learning on Intel’s Platform

Training a machine learning algorithm to accurately solve complex problems requires large amounts of data. The previous article discussed how scalable distributed parallel computing using a high-performance communications fabric like Intel Omni-Path Architecture (Intel OPA) is an essential part of what makes the training of deep learning on large complex datasets tractable in both the data center and within the cloud. Preparing large unstructured data sets for machine learning can be as intensive a task as the training process – especially for the file-system and storage subsystem(s). Starting (and restarting) big data training jobs using tens of thousands of clients …

Lustre to DAOS: Machine Learning on Intel’s Platform was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

33% off Jaybird X2 Sport Wireless Bluetooth Headphones – Deal Alert

With a regular list price of $180, the current discount makes the Jaybird X2 Sport available for just $120. 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

Intelligent systems market to be worth $2.2 trillion in 2020

There’s an old canard that if you ask market researchers about the future of a specific new technology, they’ll pretty much always tell you that it will be a $10 billion market in 10 years. Given that anything from tinker toys to tater tots seems en route to being a $10 billion market, it makes sense to take optimistic market predictions with a hefty pile of salt. But when you hear numbers at the scale of the latest report from IDC concerning intelligent connected systems—sometimes known as the Internet of Things—you have to pay attention.Trillions, with a T That’s because we’re not talking billions, tens of billions, or even hundreds of billions of dollars. We’re talking trillions, with a “t.” More than $2.2 trillion in just four years, according to IDC's Worldwide Embedded and Intelligent Systems 2015-2020 Market Forecast. Now, that is real money!To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

WiFi Fast Roaming, Simplified

10 more pointless (but awesome) Linux terminal tricks

10 more pointless (but awesome) Linux terminal tricksOne year ago, I put together a list of my favorite “pointless but awesome” Linux terminal tricks—filled with such classics as making a cow talk with “cowsay” and rainbow-coloring your terminal with “lolcat.”  As was correctly pointed out to me at the time, there are a lot of ridiculous (but cool) things you can do in the terminal that didn’t make that list. So, here’s round two. You’re welcome. (Note: Some of these you will need to install using apt-get, zypper or whatever package manager your Linux distribution uses.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The State Of The Modern Meeting

Software-defined networking touches every industry segment

There’s an inside joke in the software-defined networking industry that “SDN” stands for “still done nothing.” People say that because despite the tremendous hype around SDN, many customers remain confused about what it is, how to deploy it and what the benefits are. This is particularly true in the data center where the stakes are high and any kind of mistake can cost an organization millions of dollars.About 21 months ago, Cisco launched its Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) solution and threw its hat in the SDN ring. In practicality, ACI is a much broader solution. It uses the principles of SDNs but deals with much more than the network.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Software-defined networking touches every industry segment

There’s an inside joke in the software-defined networking industry that “SDN” stands for “still done nothing.” People say that because despite the tremendous hype around SDN, many customers remain confused about what it is, how to deploy it and what the benefits are. This is particularly true in the data center where the stakes are high and any kind of mistake can cost an organization millions of dollars.About 21 months ago, Cisco launched its Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) solution and threw its hat in the SDN ring. In practicality, ACI is a much broader solution. It uses the principles of SDNs but deals with much more than the network.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hello HaLow: Your guide to the Wi-Fi Alliance’s new IoT spec

The Wi-Fi Alliance recently announced a new IEEE specification, 802.11ah, developed explicitly for the Internet of Things (IoT). Dubbed HaLow (pronounced HAY-Low), it’s aimed at connecting everything in the IoT environment, from smart homes to smart cities to smart cars and any other device that can be connected to a Wi-Fi access point.Here’s what you need to know about HaLow.1. What are the potential advantages of HaLow?First, HaLow operates in the 900-MHz band. This lower part of the spectrum can penetrate walls and other physical barriers, which means better range than the current 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi bands.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IT’s Disconnect With Connected Users

10 things we love about the new Firefox browser

Loving FirefoxRemember when you ditched Firefox for Chrome and pinkie-swore you’d never go back? Yeah, me too. But recently I needed to test one of our web-based apps in Firefox, so, with some hesitance, I took the plunge and installed it. Turns out, the good folks at Mozilla took their vanishing market share to heart and fought back with one of the most notably improved products I have seen in recent memory. Here are 10 things we love about Firefox. (Read the full story.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Why I switched back to Firefox

Remember when you ditched Firefox for Chrome and pinkie-swore you’d never go back? Yeah, me too. But recently I needed to test a web-based app in Firefox, so, with some hesitance, I took the plunge and installed it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

BMW’s vision for a world of connected cars

As you’re brushing your teeth in the morning you monitor a digital display mirror that shows all your relevant information for the day: Schedule of appointments, weather and battery levels of all your devices, including your phone and BMW i3 electric car in the garage.As you walk into your kitchen and turn on your coffee machine, that’s the cue your car has been waiting for to turn itself on and begin to warm up. Time to go: With a swipe on your touch-enabled car key, the vehicle detaches from its charging unit, pulls out of the garage and up to your front door. It’s already calculated the best route to your first appointment, taking into account traffic and weather.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The future of auto safety is seat belts, airbags and network technology

The 1950s saw the introduction of automobile seat belts; in the 70s, airbags began showing up in cars. Electronic Stability Controlled rolled out in the late 80s, and the last decade has seen the deployment of radar and camera-based backup assist and blind-spot warning systems.Auto safety experts say network technology could be the next major car safety innovation. “Decades from now, it's likely we'll look back at this time period as one in which the historical arc of transportation safety considerably changed for the better, similar to the introduction of standards for seat belts, airbags, and electronic stability control technology," said David Freedman, administrator for the National High Transportation Safety Agency (NHTSA) in 2014.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

10 cool connected car features

Cool featuresImage by ThinkstockCars used to be just for driving. Today they’re equipped with Wi-Fi hotspots, self-parking technology and road hazard detection systems. Check out some of the coolest connected car features available today.RELATED: BMW’s vision for a world of connected cars To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here