The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Monday, April 6

Camera chip could turn phones into 3D scannersCaltech researchers have developed a camera chip that could let you use your smartphone to take 3D scans of an object, then send the results to a 3D printer to duplicate the thing. The device works by shining perfectly aligned beams of light on a targeted object. It detects subtle differences in the light that is reflected back from that object and uses those differences to build a digital 3D image.U.S.—and IBM—are surging in mobile patents raceThe days are gone when the U.S. was the notable laggard behind Europe in mobile technology: a new report on mobile patents won last year show a sizable increase in the U.S. but a decrease in Europe. And while Samsung still has the biggest mobile patent portfolio, IBM is gaining on it with the most new mobile patentTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Blessay: My New Criteria for Network Design and Architecture

Today you design resilient, redundant networks with what you have. Tomorrow, we need networks that use using software and freedom to be predictable and safe.

The post Blessay: My New Criteria for Network Design and Architecture appeared first on EtherealMind.

New products of the week 04.06.15

New products of the weekOur roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow.APImetricsPricing: APImetrics offers four levels of pricing: Community (free), Developer ($10/month), Professional ($150/month) and Enterprise (custom). To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

What does really MPLS layer 2 VPN mean ?

Couple days before I received an email from one of my readers related with his design. He designed a network infrastructure for his customer and wanted me to take a look as well. But I realized that He has some misunderstanding on the usage of MPLS layer 2 VPNs and I thought just briefly mentioning… Read More »

The post What does really MPLS layer 2 VPN mean ? appeared first on Network Design and Architecture.

Camera chip could turn phones into 3D scanners

U.S. researchers have developed a camera chip that could give smartphones the ability to take 3D scans of everyday objects, a sought-after feature in the 3D-printing world.Engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) said their device is based on a cheap silicon chip less than 1 millimeter square and it can produce 3D scans with extremely fine resolution.The chips could be incorporated into phones and the data could be sent to 3D printers to duplicate scanned objects, eliminating the need to use large desktop devices.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

California sends revenge porn operator to prison for 18 years

The operator of a revenge porn website has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, in what is being described as the first criminal prosecution in the U.S. of the operator of a website of this type.Kevin Christopher Bollaert, 27, of San Diego, was found guilty in February this year on six counts of extortion and 21 counts of identity theft, California’s Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said in a statement. He was arrested in December 2013.U.S. regulators have started clamping down on revenge porn, which generally consists of the posting of nude photos and other explicit content of users without their permission, and then blackmailing them for payment to take it down.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

California sends revenge porn operator to prison for 18 years

The operator of a revenge porn website has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, in what is being described as the first criminal prosecution in the U.S. of the operator of a website of this type.Kevin Christopher Bollaert, 27, of San Diego, was found guilty in February this year on six counts of extortion and 21 counts of identity theft, California’s Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said in a statement. He was arrested in December 2013.+ ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Meet the White House's new open-source happy IT Director +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Troubleshooting Networks: Tips from a Network Detective

For over 30 years I’ve been in the playing in the “world of IT” and wow has that world changed a great deal in those years. But through all that change, there has been a thread, for me, that has always remained constant.

Troubleshooting!

…. For the rest please go to Packet Pushers

http://packetpushers.net/troubleshooting-networks-tips-from-a-network-detective/

Sharp mulls overhaul of LCD business amid fierce competition

Struggling electronics maker Sharp said Monday it is grappling with how to reform its LCD panel business, but has yet to make any decisions.Kyodo News and other media reported that Sharp plans to spin off its business for small and mid-size LCD panels, used in smartphones and other mobile devices, by getting the state-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) to invest ¥100 billion (US$840 million) in a new subsidiary.INCJ would control a roughly 40 percent stake in the LCD subsidiary, according to the reports. Sharp, however, denied that any plans have been made regarding its own business.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Troubleshooting Networks: Tips from a Network Detective

For over 30 years I’ve been in the playing in the “world of IT” and wow has that world changed a great deal in those years. But through all that change, there has been a thread, for me, that has always remained constant. Troubleshooting! The thrill of the “chase” and the challenge of solving the […]

Author information

Denise "Fish" Fishburne

CPOC Engineer at Cisco Systems

Denise "Fish" Fishburne, (CCIE #2639, CCDE #2009:0014) is a team lead with Cisco's Customer Proof of Concept Lab in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Fish loves playing in the lab, troubleshooting, learning, and passing it on.

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The post Troubleshooting Networks: Tips from a Network Detective appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Denise "Fish" Fishburne.

You can’t put the future on hold

Greg Ferro recently participated in an “Ask Me Anything” thread on Reddit. In that thread, user “1DumbQuestion” made this comment:

Last, never finished my CCIE because of what I perceive will happen with SDN in the next coming years.

I’ve seen similar comments from others over the last couple of years. This concerns me because it seems that people are saying “There’s too much change going on here, and I don’t know how it will all work out. So I’ll just do nothing.”

Don’t be one of those people.

You should take a hard look at your career, and try to understand where the industry is going. If you think that CCIE study is not the best use of your time, that’s fine. But you should make a conscious choice about that. Crucially, you must decide where else to invest your time and energy.

If you firmly believe that networking will change dramatically over the next few years, then take active steps to prepare yourself. Think about your current skills, and where you have gaps. Maybe you need to learn more about Linux. Maybe it’s configuration management, or Python scripting. Put your time into Continue reading

CCIE RS study planning, books, notes

Study planning Books, workbooks, videos, software, rack rental tokens, laptop hardware and software have all been purchased; it’s time to get this party started. So, what’s the plan? The urge to dive right into the sexy labs and save the boring planning stuff for later was strong. More than once I had to channel my […]

Author information

quingenerd

Network Engineer at Healthcare Specialty Benefits Management company

Quentin Demmon is network engineer, hobbyist weightlifter (the type you see at the Olympics), and wannabe philosopher. He is excited to be blogging about his CCIE journey in gory, melodramatic detail. Follow him on twitter, facebook, and instagram.

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The post CCIE RS study planning, books, notes appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by quingenerd.

Network Automation Training

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know that last year I left my job to do something that I was intrinsically motivated to do. Unfortunately, because of this, I haven’t been able to write as much as I normally would. I do hope that changes. But, time is money now – literally. My time has been spent driving business, negotiating, writing Scopes of Work, building a website, managing finances, and producing quality work for customers, and I hope all of that continues.

Up until this point, I’ve been focused on providing services to end user customers. Today, I’m happy to say that I’ve officially launched the first, of hopefully many, training courses. This one is focused on foundational skills as it pertains to network automation. More detail can be found here.

Training and Education are paramount for technology adoption and hopefully courses like this can play a small part with empowering network engineers to not only expand their skill set, but realize the value that could be had by these skills for their own organizations and employers.

As always, I’m open to comments and feedback below or through the contact page.

Thanks,
Jason

Twitter: @jedelman8

Griffin 20 pumps up the digital volume

I’ve tried several speaker systems with my iMac and they have ranged from abysmal through to very good but most lack that audiophile quality. Not so the Griffin 20. The Twenty is a digital audio amplifier with a 20 watt per channel output and you can switch the input from its S/PDIF optical port to Bluetooth streaming. It's got traditional speaker connectors (for either speaker wires or cables terminated with banana plugs) and there’s an RCA socket to connect a subwoofer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Bacony goodness + math + 3D printing = an inedible endless Bacon Möbius strip

Apple Watch pre-orders to begin at 12:01 Pacific Time on April 10

Apple on Friday afternoon updated its Apple Watch page with more precise details regarding Apple Watch pre-orders. According to Apple's website, pre-orders for Apple's highly anticipated wearable will begin at 12:01 AM Pacific Time  on Friday, April 10. Of course, this doesn't bode well for prospective buyers on the East Coast who will have to wait up until 3:01 AM in order to get their orders in.The latest reports from the rumor mill suggests that the Apple Watch will not be available to walk-in shoppers. Which is to say, if you want to get your hands (or wrist, as it were) on an Apple Watch, you absolutely must pre-order the device or make a reservation to check one out in-store. Presumably, walk-in sales will eventually be possible once supply is properly calibrated to match demand.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

My CLUS 2015 Schedule for San Diego

With roughly two months to go before Cisco Live starts, here is my preliminary schedule for San Diego.

I have two CCDE sessions booked to help me prepare for the CCDE exam. I have the written scheduled on wednesday and we’ll see how that goes.

I have a pretty strong focus on DC because I want to learn more in that area and that should also help me prepare for the CCDE.

I have the Routed Fast Convergence because it’s a good session and Denise Fishburne is an amazing instructor and person.

Are you going? Do you have any sessions in common? Please say hi if we meet in San Diego.

What’s In My Bag (Hint: not much)

Recently @BobMcCouch posted a photo of the contents of his bags. He’s got a lot of gear, including a hammer, and a dent-puller. He assures us that it’s for lifting tiles, but I’m not so sure. Sounds to me like he’s worried about a few dings in the supermarket carpark.

It all sounded a bit scary. I want to provide a different perspective, that of someone who tries to minimise what they carry. I don’t want young engineers to think that they have to build up a huge toolbox, and the physical strength to lug it around. You might choose to do that, but it’s not the only path.

The Bag Itself

My general rules for a laptop bag are that it should be as small as I can get away with, and it should not look too much like a laptop bag. So pretty much anything from Targus is inappropriate.

Today I use the “ Continue reading

Power up, baby! Cyntur JumpStart Mini: A monster backup battery in a tiny package

The market for portable battery packs to keep your digital life going on the road has become a huge business over the last couple of years and I just got my hands on one of the more versatile and powerful products in this market: The Cyntur JumperPack mini. This is a small (6.0” by 3.3” by 1.3”), weatherproof device that weighs just 0.9 pounds but despite its diminutive size contains a whopping 12,000 mAh lithium-ion battery, enough to jumpstart an eight-cylinder engine. Not only that but it's powerful enough, the company claims, to jumpstart 25 engines in a row (a problem I hope to never have).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Network Break 34 – Fixed

Excerpt: Coffee, virtual doughnuts and networking. A perfect combination.

Author information

Greg Ferro

Greg Ferro is a Network Engineer/Architect, mostly focussed on Data Centre, Security Infrastructure, and recently Virtualization. He has over 20 years in IT, in wide range of employers working as a freelance consultant including Finance, Service Providers and Online Companies. He is CCIE#6920 and has a few ideas about the world, but not enough to really count.

He is a host on the Packet Pushers Podcast, blogger at EtherealMind.com and on Twitter @etherealmind and Google Plus.

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The post Network Break 34 – Fixed appeared first on Packet Pushers Podcast and was written by Greg Ferro.