Think Bigger

I get frustrated by those who take a narrow view of technology, and progress in general. They see things in terms of where they are now, and where they were. But they struggle to see a bit further out. The Internet of Things is a good example of this.

I made the mistake of reading the comments on a recent El Reg article (I know, I know: Never read the comments). I came across this comment about the IoT:

…The innocent child asked “but why would the toaster need to talk to the ‘fridge?” The marketing gurus had no answer and a few years later the outfit went bankrupt. In all the time since, no one has been able to answer that question.

From there the comments devolved into a rather pointless discussion about milk, bread, spam on toast and Twitter. This is a fairly common theme on El Reg articles (along with “cloud has little appeal for 90% of SM server/computing requirements”, but that’s another issue).

I find it frustrating when people take a narrow, short-sighted view when looking at technology trends. We all see things from our own perspective, but it’s good to lift your head Continue reading

At Google I/O, no huge surprises but a honing of critical products

Gone are the days of skydivers landing on the tops of buildings wearing Google Glass, or new Chromebooks, tablets and smartwatches. This year, the focus of much of Google’s big I/O conference was to propel the Android operating system into new areas others have pioneered, like peer-to-peer payments and smart home appliances.There were no new hardware platforms, like Google Glass, Android TV or Android Auto. No new smartwatches like the LG G and Samsung Gear Live that debuted last year, marking Google’s entrance into the watch market.Instead, Google confirmed rumors this week by giving us Brillo, a stripped-down version of Android to power things like smart light bulbs and Internet-connected toasters and let them be controlled by Android devices. It might be radical were it not for Samsung, Apple and Microsoft developing similar systems.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

At Google I/O, no huge surprises but a honing of critical products

Gone are the days of skydivers landing on the tops of buildings wearing Google Glass, or new Chromebooks, tablets and smartwatches. This year, the focus of much of Google’s big I/O conference was to propel the Android operating system into new areas others have pioneered, like peer-to-peer payments and smart home appliances.There were no new hardware platforms, like Google Glass, Android TV or Android Auto. No new smartwatches like the LG G and Samsung Gear Live that debuted last year, marking Google’s entrance into the watch market.Instead, Google confirmed rumors this week by giving us Brillo, a stripped-down version of Android to power things like smart light bulbs and Internet-connected toasters and let them be controlled by Android devices. It might be radical were it not for Samsung, Apple and Microsoft developing similar systems.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google to Cardboard developers: Keep it short and simple, and watch out for nausea

Developers creating content for Google’s Cardboard virtual-reality system should look to short online videos for inspiration and avoid drawn-out experiences.Content for Cardboard should be “snackable virtual reality,” said Jon Wiley, the product’s principal designer, during the I/O developer conference on Friday.“For Cardboard, you want [an experience] to be more like traditional YouTube content,” he said, adding that Google’s VR platform isn’t really designed for “long duration experiences.”Google sees Cardboard as a device that friends can pass around to get a feel for what VR is all about, said Manuel Clement , a user experience designer on Google’s virtual reality team. In that context, shorter content would work better.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

iPexpert’s Newest “CCIE Wall of Fame” Additions 5/29/2015

Please join us in congratulating the following iPexpert students who have passed their CCIE lab!

This Week’s CCIE Success Stories

  • Garrison Botts, CCIE #48589 (Data Center)
  • Craig Stork, CCIE #48824 (Wireless)

We Want to Hear From You!

Have you passed your CCIE lab exam and used any of iPexpert’s self-study products, or attended a CCIE Bootcamp? If so, we’d like to add you to our CCIE Wall of Fame!

The NSA reportedly tried — but failed — to use a Stuxnet variant against North Korea

Right around the time that the Stuxnet attack so famously sabotaged Iran’s nuclear program in 2009 and 2010, the U.S. National Security Agency reportedly was trying something similar against North Korea.The NSA-led U.S. effort used a version of the Stuxnet virus designed to be activated by Korean-language computer settings, but it ultimately failed to sabotage North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, according to a Friday Reuters report, which attributed the information to people familiar with the campaign.The NSA did not respond to a request for comment.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Show 239 – Design & Build #2 – A New Network From Scratch

Eric Dennington @edennington, Steve Occhiogrosso @StephenO86, and Jason Lavoie join the Packet Pushers to chat about building a new network from scratch. We compiled our notes, and decided on a three phase approach.

Author information

Ethan Banks

Co-host at Packet Pushers

Ethan Banks, CCIE #20655, has been managing networks for higher ed, government, financials and high tech since 1995. Ethan co-hosts the Packet Pushers Podcast, which has seen over 3M downloads and reaches over 10K listeners. With whatever time is left, Ethan writes for fun & profit, studies for certifications, and enjoys science fiction. @ecbanks
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The post Show 239 – Design & Build #2 – A New Network From Scratch appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Ethan Banks.

Silk Road mastermind Ulbricht sentenced

The creator and chief operator of the Silk Road has been sentenced to two life sentences in jail for running the online drug marketplace, which federal prosecutors estimated facilitated the sales of more than US$213 million worth of drugs and other unlawful goods between 2011 and 2013.The life sentences are to be served concurrently, along with a five-year sentence for hacking and twenty years for money laundering. The government is also seeking $183 million from Ulbricht based on the profits he made.In February, Ross Ulbricht was found guilty of multiple charges related to the operation of Silk Road, including narcotics conspiracy, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to commit computer hacking and money laundering. The narcotics and criminal enterprise charges carry maximum penalties of life in prison. Under current federal sentencing laws, Ulbricht faced at least 20 years behind bars.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google levels up security at I/O with secure comms tool, better authentication

Google targeted people’s growing digital insecurity at its I/O developer conference this week with a number of new products that aim to protect communications and improve authentication.Project Vault is a new hardware device created by Google’s Advanced Technology and Products (ATAP) lab for people who need the absolute highest security for their communications. The device, which is packed in the form factor of a MicroSD card, is designed to provide encryption for sensitive data at rest, and allow end-to-end protection of streaming data (including streaming video) as well. The Vault card contains its own antenna, processor and operating system, which means that the device can authenticate directly with the Project Vault servers without requiring the use of other potentially insecure hardware.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New NSA phone dragnet proposals blasted as flawed

Two U.S. senators are pushing proposals to extend the National Security Agency’s domestic telephone records dragnet, but a diverse coalition of civil liberties and advocacy groups have called on lawmakers to vote against those plans.Proposals by Senator Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, and Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, to extend expiring parts of the counterterrorism Patriot Act, “contain flaws and omissions that are incompatible with the goal of stopping domestic bulk collection,” the coalition said in a letter to Senate leaders sent Thursday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New NSA phone dragnet proposals blasted as flawed

Two U.S. senators are pushing proposals to extend the National Security Agency’s domestic telephone records dragnet, but a diverse coalition of civil liberties and advocacy groups have called on lawmakers to vote against those plans.Proposals by Senator Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, and Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, to extend expiring parts of the counterterrorism Patriot Act, “contain flaws and omissions that are incompatible with the goal of stopping domestic bulk collection,” the coalition said in a letter to Senate leaders sent Thursday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Enterprise tech a no-show at Google I/O

A parade of top Google executives cycled on and off the stage for more than two hours yesterday at the company's annual I/O developer conference in San Francisco, but because Google is involved in so many projects and markets, the company barely scratched the surface of what it is up to. For example, driverless cars, easily Google's most popular moonshot project, weren't even mentioned until the closing minutes of I/O keynote address. Cloud computing and Google+ weren't mentioned at all. Neither were Google’s plans for the enterprise.+ ALSO AT GOOGLE I/O: Google hypes Android M, Android Pay, Google Photos at I/O 2015 +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How Google took a page from Apple to secure Android Pay

In case you missed it, Google launched a new mobile payment service at its annual I/O developers conference Thursday. It’s called Android Pay. But didn’t Google already have a mobile payment service? Yes, yes, Google Wallet. That’s not going away—in fact, it’s getting a reboot as a peer-to-peer payment service—but Android Pay works a lot more like Apple Pay than Google’s last attempt.That’s a good thing. Google Wallet required you to wake your phone, open the Wallet app, and enter a pin number if you decided to protect the app with a passcode, all before waving your phone near the payment terminal. That’s a lot of work.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: How internet growth is changing business processes

Mary Meeker, a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, has for years released an annual report on where she sees the internet going. Things have changed since she started it. In 1995, the first year of the report, mobile phone penetration was 1% of the population. Today, it's 73%.Latest report The latest report has just come out and within it she's collected pages of fascinating snippets of data and factoids related to changes in our internet-driven lives. She talks of new forms of e-commerce, smartphones, and how Millennials see things differently than older folks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google and Levi’s team up on smart clothes

Google executives have a vision that one day soon your jacket, shirt, pants -- even your socks -- might control your phone, tablet or even the lights in your house.Ivan Poupyrev, Google's technical program lead, received wild applause at a morning session at Google I/O today when he talked about Project Jacquard.The project isn't about a new smartphone or tablet or even a giant humanoid robot. It's about smart textiles that could change the way we connect and communicate with our environment and devices. They can also track health and physical activity. (Yes, your pants will know if you're sitting on the couch instead of doing power squats.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SDN Appears in Cisco Career Certs: The New CCNA (and CCNP) Cloud

Most of us probably don’t sit around meticulously reading the exam topics of vendor certification exams. But if you did, you might have noticed the announcement of a few new career certifications from Cisco this week. And if you look closely at one of the exam blueprints, for the first of two exams related to the CCNA Cloud certification, you’d see a bit of a milestone:

  • The first Cisco career cert exam blueprints that mention ACI
  • The first Cisco career cert exam blueprints that mention SDN

In today’s post, I’ll outline the key facts about the new certs, and look more closely at the exam blueprint for one of the exams. And the most interesting exam topic, given that it’s the first Cisco career cert exam with SDN in it?

“Describe how ACI solves the problem not addressed by SDN”.

Read on!

Quick Overview

Cisco refers to their CCNA, CCNP, and CCIE certifications as career certifications. The CCNA Cloud and CCNA Industrial certifications push the total number of current Cisco CCNA certifications up to 11.

As for an SDN angle – this blog is called SDNSkills, after all - the cloud certs happen to be Cisco’s first career certifications (best Continue reading

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