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55 articles, 2016-03-12 12:02 1 PCIe SSD roundup 2016: Some stall while others progress The PCIe SSD market is still important but PCIE flash drive makers are split between those that continue to develop their products and those for whom product evolution has stalled 2016-03-12 12:02 2KB www.computerweekly.com 2 Security flaw affecting thousands of apps and IoT devices uncovered Flaw in glibc open source code library leaves Linux-based devices open to malware,Cloud and Infrastructure,Open Source,Software,Operating Systems ,Linux,security,Internet of Things,IoT 2016-03-12 12:02 3KB www.v3.co.uk 3 Big data in big numbers - it's time to forget the 'three Vs' and look at real-world figures The term 'big data' has lost its meaning, says Sean Jackson, who offers some numbers to explain its impact in the here and now,Business Software ,Big Data and Analytics,Exasol,in- memory database,Gartner,Moore's law,Google,Facebook,Analytics,Internet of Things 2016-03-12 12:02 1KB www.computing.co.uk 4 offers free-to-use SQL Server Express on Azure cloud platform Monitoring for Azure Data Factory also thrown in,Cloud and Infrastructure,Software ,Cloud,Cloud and Infrastructure 2016-03-12 12:02 2KB www.theinquirer.net 5 Never learnt to program your Spectrum, Amstrad or BBC? Step this way... Publisher Usborne re-releases 15 computer coding books from the 1980s as free PDF downloads,Software ,software,BBC 2016-03-12 12:02 1KB www.theinquirer.net 6 Virtual reality on the rise as HTC Vive nets 15,000 pre-orders The Vive was sold at a rate of 25 per second despite its hefty cost ,Gadgets,Hardware,Software ,HTC,connected devices,Valve,video games 2016-03-12 12:02 2KB www.computing.co.uk 7 Microsoft tempts Oracle customers with free SQL Server 2016 licences Microsoft says firms can save by switching, but they must be signed up for Software Assurance licensing,Applications,Licensing,Big Data and Analytics ,Microsoft,Oracle,SQL Server,databases,SQL,licence 2016-03-12 12:02 4KB www.computing.co.uk 8 Blockchain: not the Messiah Blockchain is an ingenious technological development, but it's far from being the saviour many are looking for,Business Software ,Internet of Things,GBG,authentication,encryption,blockchain,identity and access management,Bitcoin,GDS,Fintech,Tom Loosemore,in-depth 2016-03-12 12:02 1KB www.computing.co.uk 9 Google's AlphaGo AI smashes top professional at ancient game of Go First Chess, now Go. What next? Buckaroo? Ker-Plunk?,Software,Internet of Things ,Artificial Intelligence,Google,AlphaGo,DeepMind 2016-03-12 12:02 2KB www.theinquirer.net 10 Windows 10 Mobile gets another update, Windows Insiders get to taste a new ring Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 10586.107 delivers another bunch of bug fixes,Software,Mobile ,,Microsoft 2016-03-12 12:02 2KB www.theinquirer.net

11 Canonical to bake OpenZFS into Ubuntu 16.04 'Perfect' file system for containers to be fully supported in April's Ubuntu release,Software,Operating Systems,Cloud and Infrastructure ,Ubuntu,Canonical 2016-03-12 12:02 2KB www.computing.co.uk 12 Amazon Web Service's Ts & Cs upgraded for zombie apocalypse AWS EULA keeps all bases covered,Cloud and Infrastructure,Software,Applications ,Amazon,Lumberyard,AWS,EULA,zombie 2016-03-12 12:02 2KB www.computing.co.uk 13 Microsoft and Rakuten sign patent licensing agreement REDMOND, Wash., and TOKYO — March 9, 2016 — Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC and Rakuten Inc. on Wednesday signed a worldwide patent cross-licensing agreement covering each company’s respective consumer electronics products, including Linux and Android-based devices. “Our agreement with Rakuten reinforces the opportunities that cross-licensing can bring to companies across... 2016-03-12 11:33 2KB news.microsoft.com 14 FileHippo News - powered by FeedBurner The allegations were made using Google’s Google+ social networking platform, and also on Google Maps. When the reviews claiming that infants were not safe in the nursery were found by the small business, the owners originally approached Google and asked them to remove the offensive and untrue content. But the... 2016-03-12 05:41 24KB feeds2.feedburner.com 15 Expand short links with httpres Link shorteners like bit.ly, tr.im and T.co offer a convenient way to share URLs, but they also hide their real destination. Is it a malicious site? Who knows? Link shorteners like bit.ly, tr.im and T.co offer a convenient way to share URLs, but they also hide their real destination. Is... 2016-03-12 08:19 2KB betanews.com 16 Microsoft delivers enterprise-class ERP to the cloud REDMOND, Wash. — March 9, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday announced that its next-generation cloud ERP solution, AX, built on and for , is now available in 137 markets in 40 languages. The enterprise-class business application brings the power, speed and intelligence of cloud computing to... 2016-03-12 04:43 7KB news.microsoft.com 17 Upstream oil and gas companies spend smarter on digital technologies to drive value, reduce costs in downturn, Accenture and Microsoft survey finds HOUSTON — March 9, 2016 — As upstream oil and gas companies scrutinize every dollar invested, they’re spending smarter today on digital technologies, seeking to drive value and reduce costs amid low oil and gas prices, a new survey by Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) reports. Respondents to the... 2016-03-12 03:52 6KB news.microsoft.com 18 Microsoft Cloud strength highlights second quarter results REDMOND, Wash. — January 28, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the following results for the quarter ended December 31, 2015: During the quarter, Microsoft returned $6.5 billion to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends. “Businesses everywhere are using the Microsoft Cloud as their digital platform to... 2016-03-12 03:52 8KB news.microsoft.com 19 E-School for Girls partners with NYU and Microsoft for entrepreneurship event NEW YORK — Feb. 4, 2016 — Pre-college entrepreneurship program E-School for Girls partnered with New York University, Microsoft Corp. and Natalie Zfat for an inspirational and educational event, What It Takes to Be a Successful Entrepreneur, on Feb. 3, 2016, at the NYU Stern School of Business. “Microsoft is... 2016-03-12 03:52 3KB news.microsoft.com

20 Go-playing software beats human champ for 3rd straight time SEOUL, South Korea— Google's Go-playing software defeated a human champion for the third straight time Saturday to clinch the best-of-five series and establish its superiority in an ancient Chinese game long thought to be the realm of humans. South Korea's Lee Sedol, one of the world's best Go players, remained... 2016-03-12 03:49 1KB www.cnbc.com 21 How to stop harassment in video games NEW YORK— Many women say popular video games such as "World of Warcraft" and "Halo" are rife with harassment, stalking and sexism that game companies don't police effectively. "One of the things that would be really cool to see is if all companies adopted similar standards for what constitutes harassment... 2016-03-12 03:00 3KB www.cnbc.com 22 Bitcoin issuers face 7 years in Russia's jails An amendment to a proposed law in Russia will see those issuing surrogate currencies - such as Bitcoin - face up to seven years in prison. The new amendment also introduces fines of up to £25,000. 2016-03-12 02:20 2KB www.neowin.net 23 Using JSTL to Enhance JSP Functionality - Developer.com Explore some of the key aspects of JSTL that highlight the convenience of using it over scriplets. 2016-03-12 00:00 3KB www.developer.com 24 Unikernels, The Next Big Thing - Developer.com Discover the nature and use of unikernels. Also, you can compare the advantages and disadvantages of using them. 2016-03-12 00:00 5KB www.developer.com 25 Understanding the Android Platform Architecture - Developer.com Explore the architectural components of the Android platform, an open source software platform for mobile devices built on top of the Linux Kernel. 2016-03-12 00:00 1KB www.developer.com 26 Python Study Guide: Installing Python - Developer.com Python is the third most commonly used language on GitHub. You should be learning it. 2016-03-12 00:00 4KB www.developer.com 27 Top 10 Tips to Make Your Android Phone App a Best Seller - Developer.com Explore tips for making your Android Phone App a best seller! 2016-03-12 00:00 3KB www.developer.com 28 Google's mobile focus testing is the least creepy use of a white panel van Offering apps, not candy 2016-03-11 23:00 2KB www.techradar.com 29 Longtime VC Michael Goguen was just hit with an explosive lawsuit Michael Goguen, a longtime partner at Sequoia Capital who joined the tony Sand Hill Road firm roughly 20 years ago, has been named in an extraordinary breach.. 2016-03-11 20:16 5KB techcrunch.com 30 Amazon Alexa can now pay your Capital One bill Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa, embedded in devices like the Echo speaker and Fire TV, is today taking on a new role: she's now a banking assistant, too... 2016-03-11 20:16 2KB techcrunch.com

31 5 housing communities changing the way we live Living communities and the people who build them are unique, but they share many common threads: a of private and community spaces, a set of shared rules.. 2016-03-11 20:16 3KB techcrunch.com 32 AI is closer than we know Artificial intelligence is one of the hottest subjects these days, and recent advances in technology make AI even closer to reality than most of us can.. 2016-03-11 20:16 5KB techcrunch.com 33 Astronaut Scott Kelly will retire from NASA next month After his nearly year-long mission on the International Space Station (ISS) and 20 years of service with NASA, Astronaut Scott Kelly will retire from the.. 2016-03-11 20:16 4KB techcrunch.com 34 Snapchat has a secret team possibly building a pair of smart glasses Snapchat has been known for some bold (and perplexing) moves in regards to content features, attempting to revamp event marketing through Stories, redefine.. 2016-03-11 20:16 3KB techcrunch.com 35 DoorDash says its new service fee isn’t really a new fee Consider this a public service announcement for DoorDash customers. In the coming weeks, you're going to start seeing something new on your bills — a.. 2016-03-11 20:16 1KB techcrunch.com 36 WOF: Will you be buying a Samsung Galaxy S7? By now you’ll have probably read quite a few articles about the Samsung Galaxy S7, and no doubt they’ll have praised the smartphone and its Edge variant. We gave the Edge a well-deserved score of 95 in our review, calling… 2016-03-11 18:45 1KB www.techspot.com 37 Scotts Miracle-Gro unveils open 'Gro' Internet of Things platform for the connected smart yard When you think of the internet of Things, or IoT, indoor items likely spring to mind -- lamps, refrigerators, thermostats, etc. But When you think of the internet of Things, or IoT, indoor items likely spring to mind — lamps, refrigerators, thermostats, etc. But “things” exist outdoors too. As the spring and... 2016-03-11 18:33 3KB betanews.com 38 Why cloud security should be a part of software development The slogan The slogan “there is no cloud, it’s just someone else’s computer”, accompanied by an image of a worried looking cloud, has been doing the rounds for some time now. It’s overly simplisti… 2016-03-11 18:19 4KB betanews.com 39 Listen as these astronomers witness stunning solar eclipse from 35,000 feet For those lucky enough to witness the one and only total solar eclipse of 2016, the event was breathtaking. But it was Mike Kentrianakis and nearly a dozen other eclipse-chasers that arguably had the best view possible as they soaked… 2016-03-11 18:00 1KB www.techspot.com 40 How to free up RAM from the command line Most memory Most memory “optimizers” are a pointless waste of time, more likely to slow you down than offer any noticeable performance benefit. But if you think your PC is using more RAM than it sh… 2016-03-11 16:18 3KB betanews.com 41 HPE struggles as server market grows The fourth quarter of 2015 saw an increase in servers shipped worldwide, compared to a year before, with revenue also rising. Those are the results seen in Gartner’s latest report on worldwide shipments of servers. The fourth quarter of 2015 saw an increase in servers shipped worldwide, compared to a... 2016-03-11 16:10 2KB betanews.com 42 More images of the HTC 10 leaked online More images of HTC's yet to be announced flagship, believed to be the 10, have leaked. The photos are of an actual device, and show the Gold option that should be available at launch. 2016-03-11 15:46 1KB www.neowin.net 43 MixRadio offers one last mix before they say goodbye We've known for a few weeks now that MixRadio is being shut down by its current owner, LINE. The MixRadio team is now offering one last mix before they shut down their servers forever. 2016-03-11 15:22 1KB www.neowin.net 44 Microsoft's Lumia 650 is now available to pre-order for $199 in the US and Canada Following its launch last month in various European markets, Microsoft has now quietly opened pre-orders for its newest Windows 10 Mobile handset, the Lumia 650, in the United States and Canada. 2016-03-11 14:44 1KB www.neowin.net 45 Tim Sweeney: Microsoft's UWP needs to emulate the open nature of Win32 Epic games co-founder expands on his idea of what Microsoft should and shouldn't do with the distribution model of Universal Windows Platform apps, and how it should be more like Win32. 2016-03-11 14:28 2KB www.neowin.net 46 How to fix Microsoft Edge's worst problems Microsoft is definitely on the right track with Edge -- its new browser is a big improvement over , but there’s still a long way to go until it’s good enough to challenge the likes of Firefox and Chrome. Extension support is still missing, although I hear from a... 2016-03-11 14:15 4KB betanews.com 47 Pay What You Want for this Hardcore Game Dev Bundle valued at $1,601 Pay What You Want via Neowin Deals for this Hardcore Game Dev Bundle. Consider coding your Call of Duty: 10 courses (108+ hours) on Unity3D, JavaScript, SpriteKit and more. 2016-03-11 14:02 2KB www.neowin.net 48 Dell releases new XPS 13 Developer Edition, launches Linux-based Precision laptops worldwide On the laptop side, Dell may be best known for its Windows devices, but, as some of you may already know, it also offers some killer Linux-based alternatives for prosumers. It all started out nearly four years ago with Project Sputnik, which led to the release of the first- gen XPS 13 Developer... 2016-03-11 13:56 3KB betanews.com 49 Three weeks after launch, Lumia 650 UK price begins to fall; now available from £149.99 Microsoft launched the Lumia 650 in the UK last month for £159.99. Three weeks later, the country's top device retailer has cut its price by £10, and similar reductions are available elsewhere too. 2016-03-11 13:46 2KB www.neowin.net 50 UK government launches a fast online identity verification service A new service has launched in the UK, which will allow the country’s citizens to easily verify their identity online. Called CitizenSafe, it is the brainchild of global specialists in identity data intelligence, GBG. A new service has launched in the UK, which will allow the country’s citizens to easily verify their identity online... 2016-03-11 13:34 2KB betanews.com

51 Nest introduces family accounts and a new way to track your activity Nest, a company now owned by Google, makes products that home automation enthusiasts sometimes salivate over. What began with a thermostat has expanded somewhat to include such things as smoke detectors. Nest, a company now owned by Google, makes products that home automation enthusiasts sometimes salivate over. What began with... 2016-03-11 13:21 2KB betanews.com 52 General Motors buys self-driving car software company The Detroit-based manufacturer declined to say how much it paid for the startup, reports USA Today. 2016-03-11 13:03 3KB www.cnbc.com 53 Fighting censorship: Edward Snowden, Amnesty International, AdBlock and Pussy Riot Online advertising is incredibly divisive, and for World Day Against Cyber Censorship, AdBlock is opting to replace banner ads that would normally be blocked with links to Amnesty International. The human rights group is fronting an anti-cyber-censorship campaign, joined by Edward Snowden, Pussy Riot (famous for rubbing up Russia's President... 2016-03-11 12:55 2KB betanews.com 54 Microsoft slashes 58% off LG Lancet Windows Phone, now priced at just $74.99 Microsoft has been selling the LG Lancet for $179 - considerably more than the handset's $119.99 price at Verizon - but it has now slashed $104 off the device, significantly undercutting the carrier. 2016-03-11 12:22 2KB www.neowin.net 55 67 percent of enterprises will increase spending on software defined infrastructure Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI) involves the virtualization of all hardware resources, combined with elastic scaling and management automation, server virtualization is usually the starting point for SDI, but additional approaches have emerged in recent years, including software-defined networking (SDN) and software-defined storage (SDS). Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI) involves the virtualization... 2016-03-11 12:10 2KB betanews.com Articles

55 articles, 2016-03-12 12:02

1 PCIe SSD roundup 2016: Some stall while others progress Computer Weekly’s 2015 review of PCIe SSD products focused on consolidation in the market. At the time, a range of acquisitions had taken place and some suppliers left the market altogether. In 2016, we see a divide between suppliers that continually evolve their server flash products and those that appear to have stalled in provision of updates to their offerings. HGST, SanDisk and Micron appear to have slowed their product releases and instead focused on other product ranges – such as traditional flash drives – or on developing base technology for their products, which is the case for Micron with 3D Nand and 3D XPoint on the horizon. The other suppliers in our survey have pushed on with products that deliver increased capacity and performance. Only Samsung appears to have evolved to use new technology, with the PM1725 and PM953 based on 3D TLC Nand. NVMe support isn’t consistent. Typically, only suppliers releasing products have moved to support the NVMe standard. There do, however, seem to be more products available using the M.2 , including Sandisk’s X400 M.2 2280 at only 1.5mm thick. The PCIe SSD market doesn’t seem to have evolved as fast as the traditional drive-format market. This is presumably because PCIe SSD hardware had a significant price mark-up over their SAS / Sata -format counterparts. Therefore, customers are more likely to push these products until the end of their useful lifetime. The more widespread adoption of TLC flash may see this change, as it offers suppliers the ability to deliver products to a lower price/capacity point. This refresh may coincide with more suppliers releasing NVMe supported products, as they play catch-up with leaders such as Intel and Samsung. 2016-03-12 12:02 Chris Evans

2 Security flaw affecting thousands of Linux apps and IoT devices uncovered Red Hat and Google’s security team have uncovered a security flaw in a widely used computer code library that has left hundreds of thousands of devices vulnerable to malware when performing domain-name lookups. The bug was found in the GNU C Library, colloquially known as glibc, which offers developers a collection of open source code to act as the foundation of an app and can be found in many distributions of Linux. A buffer overflow bug, which causes programs to try to read and write more data than their allocated memory allows, was located in the getaddrinfo() function of glibc, which performs searches for IP addresses using domain name servers (DNS). Google’s security team explained that when the getaddrinfo() function tries to communicate with a web domain or server controlled by a malicious party, or if the query is intercepted by a hacker, it is possible for malicious code to be inserted into vulnerable devices or cause them to crash. Versions of glibc above 2.9 are vulnerable to the bug. “The glibc DNS client side resolver is vulnerable to a stack-based buffer overflow when the getaddrinfo() library function is used. Software using this function may be exploited with attacker- controlled domain names, attacker-controlled DNS servers, or through a man-in-the-middle attack,” the team said in a blog post. The bug has since been patched by the maintainers of glibc. But given that it was introduced in 2008 and has avoided detection until now, the number of machines and devices that may have been infected by malware making use of the bug could be vast. This is further compounded by the fact that Linux is used as the foundation operating system for many smart and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, notably routers. These devices are not updated as often as laptops, PCs and smartphones, so the vulnerability may be difficult to wipe out. App and hardware developers could also be in for a nasty surprise as they may need to rework their apps with the patched version of the glibc code library. The bug serves as a warning that, while open source tools offer an affordable and flexible way to build apps and embed functional operating systems into devices, they are also reliant on the community that maintains them. Google explained that the bug was identified several years ago but appeared not to have been patched. “To our surprise, we learned that the glibc maintainers had previously been alerted of the issue via their bug tracker in July 2015,” the security team said. It also highlights security concerns around the IoT and the increase of internet-connected devices . 2016-03-12 12:02

3 Big data in big numbers - it's time to forget the 'three Vs' and look at real-world figures We have all heard the term "big data" but what does it mean - and what do we define as big? Many people try to define it in terms of size, although opinions vary; for some a dataset over a terabyte is... 2016-03-12 12:02

4 Microsoft offers free-to-use SQL Server Express on Azure cloud platform Microsoft has introduced a free version of SQL Server to its Azure cloud platform, enabling customers to use it for building applications, test and development, along with a monitoring and management app for the Azure Data Factory data integration service - paying only when their applications go live. SQL Server is one of the most widely deployed database management systems, and Microsoft is making it easier for developers to build apps for the cloud by making images of SQL Server Express with Tools 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2 available in the Azure Marketplace . SQL Server Express can be used at no charge for testing and development, and for web and mobile apps with lightweight relational database needs, or "micro workloads", Microsoft said. However, while licensing is free, customers will be charged for running any virtual machine instance that contains it. Microsoft advised customers to pause the virtual machine when they are not actively using it to maximise cost savings. Microsoft has also added a monitoring and management application for Azure Data Factory to make it easier for customers using the data integration service as part of a big data project to keep closer tabs on the status of the data pipelines feeding into it. Azure Data Factory is Microsoft's cloud-based data integration service that orchestrates and automates the process of ingesting, preparing, transforming and analysing data, using other services such as Azure HDInsight and Azure Machine Learning. "Based on customer feedback, we have re-imagined the monitoring and management experience in Azure Data Factory to make it more effective and intuitive for data developers and data scientists," said Gaurav Malhotra, Microsoft's Azure Data Factory programme manager, on the company's Azure Blog . The app is designed to present information in a simpler way and provide better insights into a customer's data pipelines, as well as letting data professionals enable batch processing actions in Azure Data Factory to improve developer productivity. The new Monitoring and Management App improves efficiency for new and advanced users, offering a more intuitive experience, Malhotra said. Computing's sister site V3 is hosting a Cloud and Infrastructure Live summit on 20 and 21 April discussing numerous aspects of the cloud and how to best use it in your organisation. Sign up now to find out more. 2016-03-12 12:02

5 Never learnt to program your Spectrum, Amstrad or BBC? Step this way... Educational publisher Usborne has re-released 15 of its top computer programming titles from the 1980s - and made them available as free PDF downloads. The initiative was made to coincide with the launch of a new range of "learn to code" titles, so that parents can finish learning to program the Sinclair Spectrum they grew up with, while their children learn something a little bit more advanced. The programming titles offer instructions and type-in-yourself game listings for classic eight-bit computers from the 1980s. In addition to the Spectrum, Usborne has also re-released titles for the Commodore 64, Commodore Vic 20, MSX standard machines, Amstrad CPC-series and the BBC Micro. The publishing house, fondly remembered for its titles as broad as French phrase books and lessons in spycraft, has emphasised that the techniques in these books are, in essence, obsolete. But if your childhood ZX Spectrum 48k has long since been consigned to landfill, you could always buy the recreated ZX Spectrum , which was released last year and proved a big hit at Maplin. 2016-03-12 12:02

6 Virtual reality on the rise as HTC Vive nets 15,000 pre-orders HTC has sold 15,000 of its Vive virtual reality (VR) headsets in just 10 minutes when the devices went available for pre-order yesterday. Selling through the popular Steam games website and its own website, the Vive sold for a hefty £689 in the UK - plus £57.80 for shipping and tax - and at a rate of 25 per second for the first minutes, indicating that there is an eager appetite for VR despite the high cost of entry. Sales of the devices via Steam were helped by the work that Valve Software, owner of Steam, did to have new games software developed to work on the device in time for launch. The Vive package currently comprises the headset, two wand-like controllers, and external sensors to map movements in a virtual space. It also comes with three VR games: Google’s Tilt Brush, Job Simulator, and Fantastic Contraption. Early-adopters would appear not to be concerned that the Vive launches with only a few games and apps immediately available that have been specifically built for it. However, given the Vive is powered by SteamVR on the software side, more games with high- production values, and apps that enable content creation are likely to be on the horizon. The current suite of apps are still a solid introduction to the type of VR that enables people to move around in a virtual environment through movements in the physical world, rather than relying on a games console controller. That being said, the Vive is a rather challenging proposition is some ways, as even if the cost of the headset is removed from the equation, a gaming-grade PC or laptop is needed to power the Vive, costing anywhere between £600 to £1,500. Then there is the problem of space; to get the most out of the Vive, users will need to have around 10ft square of free space in which to move around. In an average city flat, finding such an area may be challenging. However, when Computing ’s sibling site The INQUIRER put the Vive to the test , it was very impressed with immersion the headset offers and the level of interactivity and physicality the system allows within a virtual setting. 2016-03-12 12:02

7 Microsoft tempts Oracle customers with free SQL Server 2016 licences Microsoft is hoping to convince enterprise firms to migrate from other database platforms to SQL Server 2016 by offering free licenses as part of a new promotion. The catch is that they need to be signed up to Microsoft's Software Assurance licensing scheme to qualify. The new programme was disclosed at the firm's Data Driven event in New York this week, which kicked off a series of activities intended to build customer interest around SQL Server 2016 ahead of its general availability sometime later this year. Microsoft's new scheme, which aims to help more customers adopt SQL Server 2016, is billed as a programme for organisations currently running applications or workloads on 'non- Microsoft paid commercial relational database management systems' but is clearly targeted at Oracle database customers. The web page where customers can claim their free licences is headed "Break free from Oracle" and invites organisations to "Follow the leader and migrate from Oracle to SQL Server - with free licenses". On the , this could be a tempting proposal for many organisations, with Microsoft offering support services to kick-start their migration, plus access to its SQL Server Essentials for the Oracle Database Administrator training. Oracle's licensing has long been a bone of contention for many of its customers, not just because of high costs but with some customers claiming that licensing is often so complex that it is difficult to understand how many licenses they require. The firm is also often accused of strong-arm tactics, with Specsavers global CIO describing it as a "gun-to-the-head methodology". However, firms considering such a migration need to carefully weigh up the implications before signing up. Microsoft is making a condition of the offer that organisations must have signed up for its Software Assurance subscription licensing, under which customers pay an annual fee in exchange for the rights to new software releases and support services. Software Assurance has itself been criticised for offering poor value in some cases, especially as Microsoft does not guarantee that new versions of products will be delivered in the period covered by the subscription agreement. There are also additional restrictions, with Microsoft warning that to qualify for this offer, customers must have an SCE (Server and Cloud Enrollment) license for SQL Server. In other words, any customer that meets the criteria for free SQL Server licences will be an organisation that is already deeply committed to volume licensing of Microsoft products. It is also questionable whether the licenses are really 'free' in this case, although customers with Oracle license agreements may be able to save by switching. Meanwhile, SQL Server 2016 is expected to be a significant upgrade, bringing capabilities such as always encrypted data, expanded support for in-memory database operation, and the ability to take advantage of the increasing prevalence of cloud services in today's IT environment. "We built SQL Server 2016 for this new world, and to help businesses get ahead of today's disruptions," said the corporate vice president of Microsoft's Data Group Joseph Sirosh. "It supports hybrid transactional/analytical processing, advanced analytics and machine learning, mobile BI, data integration, always encrypted query processing capabilities and in-memory transactions with persistence. It is also perhaps the world's only relational database to be ‘born cloud-first,' with the majority of features first deployed and tested in Azure, across 22 global data centres and billions of requests per day. It is customer tested and battle ready," he added. Microsoft also disclosed this week that it is developing a version of SQL Server for Linux. This is due for availability sometime next year, after SQL Server 2016 for Windows ships. 2016-03-12 12:02

8 Blockchain: not the Messiah The word "disrupt" is never far away from any mention of blockchain; "revolutionise" puts in a regular appearance too. And so does the word "save", both as in saving money ("Here's how blockchain will... 2016-03-12 12:02

9 Google's AlphaGo AI smashes top professional at ancient game of Go Google's AlphaGo artificial intelligence computer program has claimed its top human scalp at the ancient game of Go by beating challenger Lee Sedol in the first of five bouts. It follows a win in October last year for AlphaGo against Fan Hui, a lower ranked player, which was only publicised in January. While IBM's DeepThought beat a human at chess back in 1997, the wider range of branching moves makes Go a harder proposition for AI to master. Sedol had initially been confident of wiping the floor with his silicon challenger, although he seemed more apprehensive as the date approached. It was a close match, according to those who tuned-in to the live webcast, and many were surprised by the result, including Sedol himself. " I was very surprised because I did not think that I would lose the game. A mistake I made at the very beginning lasted until the very last ," he said, according to a report in The Guardian. Sedol conceded that AlphaGo played a very good game tactically. The latest four-hour contest was streamed on YouTube (see below) although it was, by all accounts a bit dull unless you're really into Go. AlphaGo may, perhaps, have been motivated by money. The winner will scoop a $1m prize. It's not known whether AlphaGo has been told that if it wins, the pot will be donated to charity. DeepMind, the unit of Google that developed AlphaGo, is based in London. Demis Hassabis, the founder and CEO of DeepMind, was full of praise for Sedol before the start of the match but very pleased with the win for artificial intelligence. Google has provided a short write-up of its victory, allowing some praise for the human. "AlphaGo takes the first game against Lee Sedol. They were neck-and-neck for its entirety in a game filled with complex fighting," said the firm in a Google Asia Pacific blog post. "Lee Sedol made very aggressive moves but AlphaGo did not back down from the fight. AlphaGo took almost all of its time compared to Lee Sedol who had almost 30 minutes left on the clock. " They may beat us at Chess and now Go, but the machines still have some way to go before they can challenge humans at football. 2016-03-12 12:02

10 10 Windows 10 Mobile gets another update, Windows Insiders get to taste a new ring Microsoft has delivered the latest update to Windows 10 Mobile, Build 10586.107, which is now available to Windows Insiders in the Slow Ring and features a fresh batch of bug fixes amid a number of new features. The company has also added a third ring to its Windows Insiders programme, called Release Preview, enabling daredevil testers to get their hands on forthcoming software earlier. Windows 10 Mobile debuted on the new Lumia 950 and 950 XL handsets from Microsoft at the end of 2015, but owners of other Windows Phone devices wanting to upgrade have had to wait. Microsoft has struggled to bring to market Windows 10 Mobile, which it had initially planned to release at the same time as full-fat Windows 10 at the end of July. A stream of preview releases have brought fixes for numerous issues brought-up by testers on the programme. The latest release, Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 10586.107, delivers another bunch of bug fixes. These address problems such as some users experiencing missing tiles on the Start screen, changes to the device reset process when Device Encryption is enabled, and improved support in Narrator to speak in multiple languages. Build 10586.107 was released to Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring earlier this week, but has now been rolled out to those on the Slow Ring as well. Microsoft has has also added a new Release Preview Ring to the Windows Insider programme. This applies to Windows 10 releases on both the PC and mobile platforms. The software giant is inviting Windows Insiders who want early access to updates but with minimal risk to their device to try out its newly available ring. It is targeting those who want to stay on the Current Branch, which at present is made of releases that take the Build 10586 release as their base, but continue to receive early access to application and driver updates. The Fast Ring is for Insiders who enjoy being the first to get access to builds and feature updates, and who are prepared to accept some instability. The Slow Ring was for those happy to receive previews at a less frequent pace in exchange for greater stability. * from Microsoft's Windows blog: " The 3 Windows Insider rings are : 2016-03-12 12:02

11 Canonical to bake OpenZFS into Ubuntu 16.04 Canonical is planning to build ZFS, the resilient combined file system and logical volume manager originally developed by Sun Microsystems, into its forthcoming 16.04 release of the Ubuntu operating system, codenamed "Xenial Xerus". Support for OpenZFS was added as a technical preview to Ubuntu 15.10, which was formally released at the beginning of May 2015. Users will still need to download and install the appropriate package, though - zfsutils-linux. Xenial Xerus is scheduled to be released on 21 April and will likely include the Unity 8 graphical user interface and Mir. " ZFS is one of the most beloved features of Solaris, universally coveted by every Linux sysadmin with a Solaris background. To our delight, we're happy to make OpenZFS available on every Ubuntu system," revealed Canonical product and strategy team member Dustin Kirkland in a blog post this week. "Killer" features, according to Kirkland, include snapshots, copy-on-write cloning, continuous integrity checking against data corruption, automatic repair and efficient data compression. "These features truly make ZFS the perfect files ystem for containers," he added. However, these features come at a cost in terms of memory - ZFS can be highly resource intensive, requiring 1GB of memory, as a rule of thumb, for every 1TB of storage under management. Ubuntu 16.04 will also dump the not especially well-loved Ubuntu Software Centre in favour of Gnome Software. Unlike app stores for the Apple iOS operating system and the Google Play store, the sale of paid-for apps didn't prove to be a ginormous money-spinner for Canonical and the service has slowly deteriorated. ZFS was originally developed as open-source software, although the ZFS name is trademarked to Oracle. 2016-03-12 12:02

12 Amazon Web Service's Ts & Cs upgraded for zombie apocalypse People frequently complain about software and cloud EULAs - end-user licence agreements - but think about it from the side of the company: especially with cloud, it has to take account of every last stupid thing someone might be motivated to do with its software and/or services. That, perhaps, partly accounts for the latest changes to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Ts and Cs. It has just thrown open its games development platform Lumberyard - based on Crytek's CryEngine so it ought to be good - and updated its Service Terms accordingly. "The Lumberyard Materials are not intended for use with life-critical or safety-critical systems, such as use in operation of medical equipment, automated transportation systems, autonomous vehicles, aircraft or air traffic control, nuclear facilities, manned spacecraft, or military use in connection with live combat," it states. Fair enough. It continues: "This restriction will not apply in the event of the occurrence (certified by the US Centers for Disease Control or successor body) of a widespread viral infection transmitted via bites or contact with bodily fluids that causes human corpses to re-animate and seek to consume living human flesh, blood, brain or nerve tissue and is likely to result in the fall of organised civilisation. " Some might argue that's already occurred, citing the US Presidential Election as proof, with all that's missing the certificate from the CDC. 2016-03-12 12:02

13 Microsoft and Rakuten sign patent licensing agreement REDMOND, Wash., and TOKYO — March 9, 2016 — Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC and Rakuten Inc. on Wednesday signed a worldwide patent cross-licensing agreement covering each company’s respective consumer electronics products, including Linux and Android-based devices. “Our agreement with Rakuten reinforces the opportunities that cross-licensing can bring to companies across the technology spectrum,” said Nick Psyhogeos, president of Microsoft Technology Licensing. “We’re pleased to have found a mutually beneficial path of collaboration that will ultimately benefit consumers.” “This agreement gives us the freedom to bring our customers new and exciting products, while jointly recognizing the value of patented innovation,” said Akio Sugihara, managing executive officer and director of Rakuten. The terms of the agreement are confidential. Microsoft’s commitment to licensing IP The patent agreement is another example of the important role intellectual property (IP) plays in ensuring a healthy and vibrant technology ecosystem. Since Microsoft launched its IP licensing program in December 2003, it has entered into more than 1,200 licensing agreements. More information about Microsoft’s licensing programs is available at http://www.microsoft.com/iplicensing . About Rakuten Inc. Rakuten, Inc. (TOKYO: 4755) is one of the world’s leading Internet companies, offering a wide variety of services for consumers and businesses with a focus on e-commerce, finance, and digital content. Since 2012, Rakuten has been ranked among the world’s ‘Top 20 Most Innovative Companies’ in Forbes magazine’s annual list. Rakuten is expanding worldwide and currently operates throughout Asia, Europe, the Americas and Oceania. Founded in 1997, Rakuten is headquartered in Tokyo, with nearly 12,000 employees worldwide. For more information: http://global.rakuten.com/corp/ About Microsoft Technology Licensing Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC was formed in 2014 to acquire, manage and license Microsoft’s patent portfolio. About Microsoft Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. 2016-03-12 11:33 By Microsoft

14 FileHippo News - powered by FeedBurner The allegations were made using Google’s Google+ social networking platform, and also on Google Maps. When the reviews claiming that infants were not safe in the nursery were found by the small business, the owners originally approached Google and asked them to remove the offensive and untrue content. But the search titan refused to do so, using the argument that the posted material came under the auspices of freedom-of-speech, and therefore they were not obliged, or could find a justification for removing them. The unnamed nursery’s lawyer told TechCrunch that: “The judge balanced the interests of privacy against the interest of reputation (of this nursery). However, it considers the interests of protecting the reputation more important than the interests of Google to the interest of privacy of the Google Reviewers.” Speaking after he made his ruling, the judge in the case, CM Berkhout, differed substantially with the US firm’s point of view, instead finding that the reviews were indeed fake and damaging. He ordered Google take down the reviews. Berkhout also made a provision in his ruling that Google would have to provide details about the reviewers so that the nursery could, if it so wished, face the posters of the reviews and allegations in court. He said afterwards: “In my opinion, it was stunning that Google allowed this, as the practice of using someone else’s profile picture without consent is unlawful and infringing on portrait rights… and it only helps fake reviewers to hide behind a ‘trusted face.’ Hopefully, this decision will make Google rethink their own policies and the way they enforce their policies.” Google’s response was characteristically brief , utilizing their normal brevity in matters that have gone against them: “We’ve received the ruling and are currently reviewing it.” The post Dutch Court Orders Google To Hand Over Fake Reviewers IP Addresses appeared first on FileHippo News . It seems like you can’t do anything these days without dealing with the bureaucracy of it all. Forms to fill out, regulations to follow, miles and miles of red tape…and of course, the ever- present and usually outdated technology. Everyone from schools to retailers to even the government has to suffer under the weight of policies and procedures. Unless you’re a terrorist organization, in which case you can apparently toss all your information on a memory stick and leave it lying around an office somewhere. That’s the case with an ISIS faction, at least, and the end result was the loss of 22,000 registration forms for its members after a memory stick with the information was taken from the office of their head of security. These forms contained names, addresses, birth dates, phone numbers, even blood types on individuals who’d been recruited or volunteered for the terror organization. According to the Guardian , “The documents, thought to be from a border crossing into Syria , are questionnaires of each would-be recruit. There are 23 questions, including names, date and place of birth, hometown, telephone number, education and blood type.” Two different sources both claim to have possession of the information. A German intelligence agency acquired the forms, and Sky News reports being given the unencrypted memory stick after it was stolen by a former member who became disillusioned with the terror network’s practices. While security watchers were aware of a number of the names on the registration forms, there were also more than a few surprises. What is known is there were specific numbers of US, UK, and Canadian citizens who’d signed on to join ISIS’ efforts. Members from more than forty different countries were included in the leaked data. As with any data breach, the real concern now is what happens with the information. In a standard consumer data breach, citizens have to worry about monitoring their credit reports for any signs of suspicious financial activity; it’s not hard to imagine what the repercussions will be after handing over the names and addresses of known ISIS members and their families to the government. The post ISIS Struck By Internal Data Breach appeared first on FileHippo News . At more than a trillion dollars and what sometimes seems like a trillion glitches, and a trillion bad headlines, the latest issue with the F-35’s software has been found in the software responsible for the Radar it uses. The solution however is quite simple and straightforward, and one that IT Support staff have relied upon for years to solve problems in first line troubleshooting: Turning it off, and then on again. In the latest publicly released report on the joint strike fighter, US Air Force major general Jeffrey Harrigian states that: “What would happen is they’d get a signal that says either a radar degrade or a radar fail— something that would force us to restart the radar.” The latest report into the troubled development of the new fighter jet has been described as damning, listing as it does a multitude of deficiencies that seem to routinely being found as development of the fighter plane creeps ever closer to deployment. Many of the failures causing headaches for the US military and its designers is the fact that many of the issues are primarily due to buggy software. Not as crazy as it sounds It really isn’t. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, built by Lockheed Martin, is currently one of the most advanced and heavily software-driven warplanes ever designed and built. It is therefore also one of the most complicated and difficult IT projects ever undertaken. But it’s not just the software and onboard computer systems that Lockheed Martin have struggled with. The plane has also struggled with its apparent vulnerability to lightning strikes, landing gear issues, weight issues, and bomb bay door faults, depending on climatic issues in the hotter areas of the world. Hacker proof? Apparently not. The F-35 has yet to undertake any serious cyber security testing, something that could be a real possibility with cyber warfare an increasing threat across the world. something that has caused concern among buyers who have the joint strike fighter on back order, including branches of the US military, and the United Kingdom The latest Pentagon report quoted above stated that glitches were found … “…in fusion, electronic warfare, and weapons employment result in ambiguous threat displays, limited ability to respond to threats, and a requirement for off-board sources to provide accurate coordinates for precision attack.” Speaking to the Guardian newspaper , Keith Joiner, the man responsible for the final evaluation for procurement by the Australian Defence Force, said that “the only system that has done cyber security, vulnerability and penetration testing is the logistics software. So ordering spares. And it didn’t go very well.” The post F-35 Radar: Have You Tried Turning It On And Off Again? appeared first on FileHippo News . Google’s DeepMind division has pulled off an unforeseen victory that goes far beyond the rules and strategies of any game. Its AI software AlphaGo, which made headlines for its pending match-up against the reigning world champion of the ancient Chinese strategy game Go, has now defeated its human opponent in the first of five scheduled games. South Korean Lee Sedol has long been considered the world’s Go master, even from his prodigy status as a professional player at age twelve. His loss on Wednesday was a shock to both game fans and AI experts, who’d originally predicted that the complexities and required human emotional aspect of the game would mean artificial intelligence would require years of fine tuning in order to beat a human opponent at this level. Interestingly, the factor that may have most helped AlphaGo defeat Sedol could be those same human emotions that critics argued are vital to winning the complex game. Reportedly, both the software and the human player made critical mistakes early in the game, but unlike a human opponent, AlphaGo was unhindered by its error and (oversimplifying things, here) simply readjusted its strategy. That ability to remain emotionally detached from a mistake–something that could easily cause a human player to overadjust or question every further move–could have played a role in the software’s strategies moving forward. While Sedol has been very gracious about what many experts predicted would be a non-event, Google’s DeepMind has got to be ecstatic. Its “reinforcement learning” concept has meant that AlphaGo has a mechanism other AI attempts haven’t had, and that’s the ability to teach itself through intense trial and error. That innovation has certainly proven itself worthy for now, but there are still four more Go matches ahead of it. The post Game-Changing Victory For Google’s AI Software appeared first on FileHippo News . “Today I’m excited to announce that I’ve joined Google.” Commonly known as “moot” online, Poole began building the 4chan site in 2003 at the tender age of just 15. In the 12 consecutive years, he turned his bedroom enterprize into a 22 million active user image-sharing community with topics that were as diverse as pictures of cute kittens to hardcore porn. The idea behind the channel was that it was all anonymous. While 4chan was a winner for online freedom of expression, it also led to the common association with 4Chan and offensive and abusive material. It was also widely credited as being the epicentre of 2014’s leaking of images of nude celebrities following the now famous hack of Apple’s iCloud service. The incognito 4Chan however also served as a focal rallying point for online activism from groups such as Anonymous, and others. RickRolled The diverse and often anarchically themed 4chan community was also responsible for some the web’s more memorably popular and creative memes over the years, including both LOLcats, and the it was funny once, Rickrolling phenomenon that at one point seemed to dominate virtually every YouTube video going. In September 2015, 4chan was sold to a Japanese entrepreneur. Impressed “When meeting with current and former Googlers, I continually find myself drawn to their intelligence, passion, and enthusiasm — as well as a universal desire to share it with others. I’m also impressed by Google’s commitment to enabling these same talented people to tackle some of the world’s most interesting and important problems.” Chris Poole retired as administrator of 4chan back in January 2015. While no details of his actual job role have been released or confirmed, other than that he has been hired by Google, he is expected to be involved with the social networking side of Google, an area where the browser giant has failed to compete with the likes of Facebook, et al. “I can’t wait to contribute my own experience from a dozen years of building online communities, and to begin the next chapter of my career at such an incredible company.” The post Google hires 4chan Creator appeared first on FileHippo News . A spokesperson for the Raytheon Company, Mike Doble, where Tomlinson still worked as a principal scientist said that Tomlinson was a… “true technology pioneer… the man who brought us email in the early days of networked computers.” Tomlinson was one of the early inductees to the Internet Hall of Fame, with his biography on the site stating that his invention of the modern style email program was: “…a complete revolution, fundamentally changing the way people communicate, including the way businesses, from huge corporations to tiny mom-and-pop shops, operate and the way millions of people shop, bank, and keep in touch with friends and family, whether they are across town or across oceans. Today, tens of millions of email-enabled devices are in use every day. Email remains the most popular application, with over a billion and a half users spanning the globe and communicating across the traditional barriers of time and space.” Tomlinson created and amended the protocols that allowed him to send the first email in 1971, on the ARPANET system. ARPANET was a computer network created for the US government that is widely considered as an essential forerunner to the internet. “I chose to append an at sign and the host name to the user’s (login) name. I am frequently asked why I chose the at sign, but the at sign just makes sense. The purpose of the at sign (in English) was to indicate a unit price (for example, 10 items @ $1.95). I used the at sign to indicate that the user was ‘at’ some other host rather than being local.” Ray Tomlinson was the recipient of several awards for his work and held electrical engineering degrees from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and MIT. He is also ranked number 4 on the MIT list of the top 150 innovators to have studied at MIT. He began work for Bolt Beranek and Newman, known as BBN, in 1967. When the company was later aqquired by Raytheon Co, Tomlinson stayed on. The post Ray Tomlinson, Inventor Of Email, Passes Away @ 74 appeared first on FileHippo News . You know what’s missing from your workday? Losing access to a number of your key files after accidentally downloading some ransomware. Nothing makes the day go smoother than receiving a message, telling you to pay the Bitcoin ransom if you want to get your files back. Unfortunately, that was the reality for some users who’d downloaded Transmission BitTorrent Installer. This software for MacOS X (Linux version available, bundled with Ubuntu) doesn’t take up a lot of space so it runs in the background to install torrents quickly. It can even be operated remotely via the web. Sadly, versions of the software that were downloaded anytime on March 4th and 5th may have also been infected with KeRanger ransomware. First discovered by Palo Alto Networks, this ransomware was found on two versions of Transmission 2.90. Since Transmission is a fully open-source project, the researchers have speculated that the download website itself was compromised. According to their post on KeRanger by Claud Xiao and Jin Chen, the ransomware encrypts individual files to lock you out of them, a process that they’ll undo for a fee. The encryption process itself is pretty slick: “To encrypt each file, KeRanger starts by generating a random number (RN) and encrypts the RN with the RSA key retrieved from the C2 server using the RSA algorithm. It then stores the encrypted RN at the beginning of resulting file. Next, it will generate an Initialization Vector (IV) using the original file’s contents and store the IV inside the resulting file. After that, it will mix the RN and the IV to generate an AES encryption key. Finally, it will use this AES key to the contents of the original file and write all encrypted data to the result file.” But be warned: further investigation into the mechanism behind KeRanger uncovered an alarming feature, namely that it looked like there were processes involved that hadn’t been completed. Undetected, it’s possible these features could have been activated at a later date. “It seems like KeRanger is still under development. There are some apparent functions named ‘_create_tcp_socket’, ‘_execute_cmd’ and ‘_encrypt_timemachine’. Some of them have been finished but are not used in current samples. Our analysis suggests the attacker may be trying to develop backdoor functionality and encrypt Time Machine backup files as well. If these backup files are encrypted, victims would not be able to recover their damaged files using Time Machine.” Fortunately, Transmission’s developers have released a new version that fixes this vulnerability. For those who may already have been infected, Palo Alto Networks has complete clean up instructions here. The post Transmission Installer Update Fixes Ransomware Flaw appeared first on FileHippo News . With near-daily headlines about hacking events, data breaches, and new forms of internet scams, it’s a wonder anyone can go online anymore. Sadly, data is already showing that the majority of tech users have resigned themselves to the fact that their identities will probably be compromised, which is backed up by the reports that show most individuals’ identifying information is already floating around “out there.” Fortunately, there are steps individuals can take to minimize the impact of any compromising internet activity. While groups like the Identity Theft Resource Center push vigilant account and credit card monitoring and a number of software developers promote strong tech protections against malicious software, Avira Scout is working to keep your everyday internet activity from causing you further harm. According to the company’s plan for its secure browser, “Scout is built with your security and privacy as a central focus. Our award-winning technology, directly integrated into the browser, automatically blocks infected and phishing websites for you.” By calling on its extensive database of suspicious websites, Scout warns users before entering a potentially malicious site or phishing scam. Even more interesting than just warning you of scammy-looking websites, Scout automatically forces websites to use the https protocol. That’s especially important for one of the other warnings that security experts give: using public wifi. While internet users have long been warned not to connect in a coffee shop or airport for anything more sensitive than downloading an update for Candy Crush, Scout rewires your internet activity to help you safely take advantage of available public connections. Best of all, the privacy protections this browser affords you means no more tracking and no need for an add-on ad blocker. While it stops major-name tech giants from gathering up your activity data to see what you shop for and what you’re searching online, the browser itself is one of the few that does not gather and store any user data. The overall stated purpose is to produce a cleaner, worry-free web experience that protects your privacy and secures your internet use. The post Avira Scout Browser: Provides A Safer Web Experience appeared first on FileHippo News . This is the news that all Locally stored data on Amazon Fire devices using the latest Fire OS is no longer encrypted, and hasn’t been since last year. Anyone upgrading a Kindle Fire, or any Fire OS device to Fire OS 5 will be left really vulnerable to attacks from hackers. As well as this, any information left by users on their Fire device will be stored in plain text. While Amazon’s Fire OS 5 garnered generally positive reviews and was praised for its refreshing new look and extra features, it now seems that Amazon also removed device encryption support. Amazon contend that it has maintained security features between Amazon’s cloud service, and also device communication, but that will come as scant consolation for anyone concerned about the protection of their own personal and private data stored on Fire devices themselves. Amazon have responded to recent criticism with the following statement: “ In the fall when we released Fire OS 5, we removed some enterprise features that we found customers weren’t using. All Fire tablets’ communication with Amazon’s cloud meet our high standards for privacy and security including appropriate use of encryption.” Users do not, unfortunately, have many options available to them if they want to keep their Fire devices encrypted. They can if they want, not update to Fire OS 5 and retain device encryption, something that will not help anyone who has already upgraded. But this then leaves them vulnerable as they will not receive security updates. Another option is to, well, just upgrade, and hope that nothing bad happens. And of course, users could just stop using Fire devices. I appreciate this last option won’t help anyone who actually has a Fire machine. Amazon’s move seems to have gone against the current grain considering that almost all of its competitors are moving in the other direction and are making encryption on their devices as standard, and available as default. However, drawing a connection with Fire OS 5, and the current Apple and FBI iPhone legal battle, as several other websites have, would be wide of the mark, as Amazon released the OS a good few months before Apple fell foul of the FBI. Amazon’s decision to remove encryption protocols may however seem somewhat ironic given that Amazon has answered Apple’s call to arms against government intrusion, though unlike Google, and Microsoft, has itself failed to file an amicus brief in support of the iPhone maker. The post Amazon Disabled Encryption For Latest Fire OS appeared first on FileHippo News . Social media photo and video site Snapchat has had its share of headline-grabbing, embarrassing security issues over the years, some intentional and some due to its own inability to plan. When a hacker warned and then exposed nearly 5 million users’ accounts because of a bug that left the info vulnerable, that was bad enough. But when 100,000 or so shared videos and photos were accessed and released online (despite the company insisting that it doesn’t store the messages its users send, while forgetting that the cellular providers’ servers do store that information) some experts wondered if that might have been enough to seal Snapchat’s fate as an untrustworthy platform. But the news last week that Snapchat has experienced a whole new data breach only highlights what too many companies refuse to accept: your biggest security threat may very well be someone on your payroll. In an apology post on February 28 , Snapchat admitted that an employee had willingly handed over highly sensitive information on the company’s employees–everything needed to steal their identities–because of a phishing attack. The email appeared to come from the company’s CEO Evan Spiegel, requesting the payroll records of all employees. Unfortunately, at this time of year, that’s not an unheard of request since the tax filing deadline for individuals is next month. The recipient dutifully submitted the information; four hours later, Snapchat was on the phone with the FBI to report the breach. If Snapchat can take any consolation from this, it’s that human error is behind an increasing number of breaches, especially now that more and more companies are realizing (and believing) the need for tighter antivirus and anti-malware software across their entire networks. This is largely why “boss phishing” is becoming more and more common; as low-level hackers find themselves blocked at every turn, what’s easier than masquerading as the boss and getting an hourly-wage employee to hand over the information they want? A phishing email was behind one of the most infamous recent data breaches, the Target retail chain breach that affected as many as 121 million customers. The source of the bug that infected the store’s POS credit card system (thereby stealing credit card information) was spread via a link in a malicious email sent to one of Target’s air conditioner repair companies. Who needs to worry about pesky security protocols and tightened cybersecurity when you can get a secretary to install the bug for you by clicking on a link to a cat video? Unfortunately, the response in these cases is almost always the same: we’re shocked…we don’t know how this happened…we never thought one of our employees would do this. But that begs the question: Why not? Why don’t more companies realize that their workforce is made up of individuals who may or may not have the necessary training to prevent an attack or the right motivation to keep company data secure? More importantly, why are companies still surprised? The post Snapchat Breach And The Biggest Security Flaw Ever appeared first on FileHippo News. 2016-03-12 05:41

15 Expand short links with httpres Link shorteners like bit.ly, tr.im and T.co offer a convenient way to share URLs, but they also hide their real destination. Is it a malicious site? Who knows? Websites like LongURL or CheckShortURL will usually expand short links for you, as long as they’re using a supported service. Httpres is a portable tool which provides the same information -- and a little more -- on the Windows and Mac desktop. The program works at the HTTP level, showing headers, response code and contents from HTTP requests. This makes it more technical than the URL-expanding websites, but you do get more information, and it’s still easy enough to use. All you have to do is enter the URL you’d like to investigate -- a short link, maybe, or other address you don’t entirely trust -- and click "Go". Within a few seconds httpres displays the website response in its upper pane. If this is a short link you’re hoping to expand, you’ll probably see "HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently", and a "Location:" line that shows you the real destination URL. The lower pane displays the HTML code of your target URL. It won’t render it, so if there’s some malicious script then it won’t be executed, and you’ll be able to browse the code to get a feel for what it contains. There are options to set custom user agents -- Chrome, Firefox, Safari, iPhone and more, on various operating systems -- allowing you to see how a website changes its behavior for different browsers. Httpres can also save its responses as text files, for analysis later. This isn’t a program built for regular use. It doesn’t live in your system tray or integrate with any applications, it can’t detect when URLs arrive in the clipboard, there’s no "Find" option to search a URL’s HTML code, you can’t even hit "Enter" after typing a URL to process it: nothing whatsoever happens until you click "Go". Despite that, it can provide valuable information about a URL, and if you only need to use the program occasionally then it may be worth a look. Httpres is a free application for Windows XP+ and Mac. 2016-03-12 08:19 By Mike

16 Microsoft delivers enterprise-class ERP to the cloud REDMOND, Wash. — March 9, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday announced that its next-generation cloud ERP solution, Microsoft Dynamics AX, built on and for Microsoft Azure, is now available in 137 markets in 40 languages. The enterprise-class business application brings the power, speed and intelligence of cloud computing to people and organizations to achieve more. “Customers from around the world are using the cloud in incredible ways to accelerate and transform their business,” said , executive vice president, Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise. “Today’s release is an exciting milestone extending Microsoft’s business cloud offerings. It’s now possible for organizations to run their entire business in the cloud with Microsoft — from productivity with Office 365, to business analytics with Power BI and Cortana Analytics Suite, customer engagement with Dynamics CRM and business operations with Dynamics AX.” Customers across the globe are already using Dynamics AX to run their business processes in the cloud — from single domains like human resources and manufacturing to end-to-end business. Companies already live in production include Hagler Systems , Haldex , Icon , Renault Sport Formula One Team , Priva , Smiles , Travel Alberta and Umbra Group. The new Dynamics AX moves beyond traditional business solutions and brings ERP, business intelligence, infrastructure and database services together in a single offering, empowering organizations to run industry-specific and operational business processes that are extendable with specific solutions from partners. Wednesday, Microsoft announced more than 50 ISV solutions that are available on the Azure Marketplace. These Microsoft-curated, pre-configured industry and vertical solutions help customers discover and implement the solution they need quicker than ever before and, like Dynamics AX, enable fast consumption of updates and improvements. In addition to the 50-plus solutions already available, hundreds are in development today. The new Dynamics AX takes the capabilities of Lifecycle Services (LCS) to the next level. Businesses will be able to combine the best practices for their mission-critical apps with the flexibility and simplicity of upgrade via the cloud. With LCS, Dynamics AX will formalize the concepts of development, test and production, making the ongoing upgrade quicker to implement and deploy and easier to manage. “Lifecycle Services represents a shift in how companies manage the life cycle of an ERP system in a way that’s never really been done before,” said Josh Greenbaum, principal analyst, Enterprise Application Consulting. “The ability to test in the cloud and use the cloud’s natural elasticity and functionality to take the test, flip a switch and make it the actual production environment, that truly is magic.” Harnessing the power of the Azure cloud, Dynamics AX provides enhanced security along with global availability and scale, enabling businesses and people to work more safely anywhere, anytime while respecting the data sovereignty requirements of global customers no matter where in the globe they operate. “We do everything through Dynamics AX now; we manage virtually all of our operations,” said Thomas Mayer, chief operating office, Renault Sport Formula One Team. “Having what I need to run my business available anywhere in the world is invaluable.” “We are bringing massive amounts of data into our business to help control building climates and horticulture environments. That is a huge business transformation, and the cloud was the only way forward for us to make that real,” said Paul Ossewold, vice president, Digital Operations, Priva. “To manage our company with 10 offices around the world, we need systems that are fast. That is what Dynamics AX in the cloud is giving us, and we couldn’t be more excited to be one of the first customers on board to take advantage of this new solution.” Modern solution for modern businesses Dynamics AX delivers a simple, beautiful, and modern user interface that is touch-enabled for the devices people use today. People can interact with the system with ease, as Dynamics AX works like other Microsoft applications that people are used to, increasing adoption and usage. The new intelligent user experience is also optimized to deliver value to organizations through the ability to make smarter decisions with increased speed. “ERP is core to our business operations and critical to building and delivering products to our customers,” said Ben Hagler, co-founder, Hagler Systems. “We chose Dynamics AX because of its robustness. The UI is amazing and available anywhere. It makes us device-independent. We can get work done everywhere with increased speed.” Dynamics AX delivers the proven business logic of a complete business suite, enhanced with new constructs such as Workspaces that provide a collaborative canvas unifying key performance indicators, business intelligence, views of critical data, processes and actions to power business user productivity. The Financial Period Close Workspace, for example, dramatically streamlines this critical, complex process. Software vendors that partner with Microsoft have expressed their excitement over the potential this new solution offers the industry, representing a turning point in the ERP industry as cloud ERP solutions are adopted by customers to run their business-critical operations. “This release is further proof that Microsoft is leading the charge with innovations not just in ERP but in cloud,” said CEO Peter ter Maaten from Microsoft partner HSO. “Dynamics AX will be a game changer for enterprise customers.” Customers can sign up for the service today as the new release is available as a monthly subscription in three simple versions that include a self-serve user, a Task user and an Enterprise user. Businesses can get up and running quickly and match their business growth easily by adding business processes and users with this simple and transparent pay-as-you-go model. More information can be found by visiting the Dynamics AX website. Those who want to see the product in action and the impact it is having for businesses can view the Dynamics AX virtual launch event. Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts . 2016-03-12 04:43 By Microsoft

17 17 Upstream oil and gas companies spend smarter on digital technologies to drive value, reduce costs in downturn, Accenture and Microsoft survey finds HOUSTON — March 9, 2016 — As upstream oil and gas companies scrutinize every dollar invested, they’re spending smarter today on digital technologies, seeking to drive value and reduce costs amid low oil and gas prices, a new survey by Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) reports. Respondents to the “ 2016 Upstream Oil and Gas Digital Trends Survey” included international oil companies (IOCs), national oil companies (NOCs), independents and oilfield services firms. Over the next three to five years, 80 percent of upstream oil and gas companies plan to spend the same, more, or significantly more (30%, 36%, and 14%, respectively) on digital technologies as they do now, according to the survey, now in its fifth edition. This continued investment in digital is due to respondents’ confidence that digital technologies can continue to help them drive leaner, smarter organizations. More than half (53 percent) of respondents said digital is already adding high to significant value to their businesses. Cost reduction was identified as the biggest challenge that digital technologies can most address today, respondents said. In addition, respondents reported that making faster and better decisions was the greatest benefit digital technologies can deliver (56 percent) and that one of the biggest barriers to realizing value is the lack of a clear strategy or business case, not the technology itself. Today’s digital investments focus more on mobility, with almost three-fifths of respondents (57 percent) reporting having invested in mobile, compared to 49 percent of the respondents in last year’s survey. Next is investing in the Internet of Things (IoT) (44 percent) this year vs. 25 percent in 2015 and the cloud (38 percent), up 8 percent from last year. Over the next three to five years, these investments are expected to shift more to big data and analytics (38 percent), IoT (36 percent) and mobile (31 percent). “In the current challenging environment, the upstream oil and gas industry is focusing digital technologies on areas that help them work smarter and deliver significant efficiencies and savings in the short term while enabling them to make better decisions faster,” said Rich Holsman, global head of Digital in Accenture’s Energy industry group. “So, in the short term we expect these companies will continue to invest in areas that help lower operations costs through technologies like increased worker productivity with mobility, lower infrastructure costs through the cloud and drive better asset management through analytics.” Respondents said digital’s biggest impact to date on the upstream oil and gas workforce has been increased employee productivity and engagement followed by better training and reskilling opportunities. They see the greatest impact from IoT in enabling connected field workers, with 60 percent of respondents planning to have field workers and assets digitally connected with smart devices. The use of the cloud, respondents said, has shifted from being used primarily for infrastructure to an enabler of mobile tools. This trend is expected to increase in the next three to five years, as companies keep using the cloud to get faster and more value from other digital technologies. “By taking advantage of the intelligent cloud, greater use of analytics and IoT go hand in hand with what we are seeing in our business today — the advent of the industrial Internet enabling the power of digital across the oil and gas landscape,” said Craig Hodges, general manager of the Gulf Coast District at Microsoft. “You can see this trend gaining traction from connected wells and intelligent pipelines to highly- efficient digital refineries.” While two thirds (66 percent) identified analytics as one of the most important capabilities for transforming their company, only 13 percent felt their firm’s analytical capabilities were mature. Almost two-thirds (65 percent) plan to implement more analytic capabilities in the next three years to help address this need. The “2016 Upstream Oil and Gas Digital and Technology Trends Survey,” sponsored by Accenture and Microsoft and conducted by PennEnergy Research in partnership with the Oil & Gas Journal, surveyed upstream professionals worldwide, including engineers, geologists and mid-level and executive management. About Accenture Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 373,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com. Accenture Digital , comprised of Accenture Analytics , Accenture Interactive and Accenture Mobility , offers a comprehensive portfolio of business and technology services across digital marketing, mobility and analytics. Learn more about Accenture Digital at www.accenture.com/digital . About Microsoft Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. 2016-03-12 03:52 By Microsoft

18 Microsoft Cloud strength highlights second quarter results REDMOND, Wash. — January 28, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the following results for the quarter ended December 31, 2015: During the quarter, Microsoft returned $6.5 billion to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends. “Businesses everywhere are using the Microsoft Cloud as their digital platform to drive their ambitious transformation agendas,” said , chief executive officer at Microsoft. “Businesses are also piloting Windows 10, which will drive deployments beyond 200 million active devices.” The following table reconciles our financial results reported in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) to non-GAAP financial results. Microsoft has provided this non-GAAP financial information to aid investors in better understanding the company’s performance. All growth comparisons relate to the corresponding period in the last fiscal year. “We delivered double-digit operating income growth in non-GAAP constant currency while investing in key strategic areas that position Microsoft for continued long term growth,” said , executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft. Revenue in Productivity and Business Processes declined 2% (up 5% in constant currency) to $6.7 billion, with the following business highlights: Revenue in Intelligent Cloud grew 5% (up 11% in constant currency) to $6.3 billion, with the following business highlights: Revenue in More Personal Computing declined 5% (down 2% in constant currency) to $12.7 billion, with the following business highlights: “It was a strong holiday season for Microsoft highlighted by Surface and ,” said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. “Our commercial business executed well as our sales teams and partners helped customers realize the value of Microsoft’s cloud technologies across Azure, Office 365 and CRM Online.” Business Outlook Microsoft will provide forward-looking guidance in connection with this quarterly earnings announcement on its earnings conference call and webcast. Webcast Details Satya Nadella, chief executive officer, Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Frank Brod, chief accounting officer, John Seethoff, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary, and Chris Suh, general manager of Investor Relations, will host a conference call and webcast at 2:30 p.m. Pacific time (5:30 p.m. Eastern time) today to discuss details of the company’s performance for the quarter and certain forward-looking information. The session may be accessed at http://www.microsoft.com/investor. The webcast will be available for replay through the close of business on January 28, 2017. Adjusted Financial Results and non-GAAP Measures During the second quarter of fiscal year 2016, GAAP revenue, operating income, net income, and earnings per share include the net impact from revenue deferrals. For the second quarter of fiscal year 2015, GAAP revenue, operating income, net income, and earnings per share include the recognition of previously deferred net revenue and charges related to integration and restructuring expenses. These items are defined below. In addition to these financial results reported in accordance with GAAP, Microsoft has provided certain non-GAAP financial information to aid investors in better understanding the company’s performance. Presenting these non-GAAP measures gives additional insight into operational performance and helps clarify trends affecting the company’s business. For comparability of reporting, management considers this information in conjunction with GAAP amounts in evaluating business performance. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, the measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP Definitions Revenue Deferrals. Microsoft recorded a net $1.9 billion revenue deferral during the three months ended December 31, 2015, primarily related to Windows 10 and Halo 5. Microsoft recognized a net $326 million of previously deferred revenue during the three months ended December 31, 2014, primarily related to sales of bundled products and services. Integration and Restructuring Charges. Integration and restructuring expenses were $243 million during the three months ended December 31, 2014. Integration and restructuring expenses include employee severance expenses and costs associated with the consolidation of facilities and manufacturing operations related to restructuring activities, and systems consolidation and other business integration expenses associated with the acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services business. Constant Currency Microsoft presents constant currency information to provide a non-GAAP framework for assessing how our underlying businesses performed excluding the effect of foreign currency rate fluctuations. To present this information, current and comparative prior period non-GAAP results for entities reporting in currencies other than United States dollars are converted into United States dollars using the average exchange rates from the comparative period rather than the actual exchange rates in effect during the respective periods. The non-GAAP financial measures presented below should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, the measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. All growth comparisons relate to the corresponding period in the last fiscal year. About Microsoft Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this release that are “forward-looking statements” are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors such as: For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with Microsoft’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of Microsoft’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by contacting Microsoft’s Investor Relations department at (800) 285-7772 or at Microsoft’s Investor Relations website at http://www.microsoft.com/investor . All information in this release is as of January 28, 2016. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the company’s expectations. For more information, press only: Rapid Response Team, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, (503) 443-7070, [email protected] For more information, financial analysts and investors only: Chris Suh, general manager, Investor Relations, (425) 706-4400 Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news /. Web links, telephone numbers, and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. Shareholder and financial information, as well as today’s 2:30 p.m. Pacific time conference call with investors and analysts, is available at http://www.microsoft.com/investor . 2016-03-12 03:52 By Microsoft

19 E-School for Girls partners with NYU and Microsoft for entrepreneurship event NEW YORK — Feb. 4, 2016 — Pre-college entrepreneurship program E- School for Girls partnered with New York University, Microsoft Corp. and Natalie Zfat for an inspirational and educational event, What It Takes to Be a Successful Entrepreneur, on Feb. 3, 2016, at the NYU Stern School of Business. “Microsoft is committed to empowering entrepreneurs at all stages of their lives, and excited to see more girls and women taking advantage of the rapidly changing technology landscape to bring their ideas to reality,” said Kristina Libby, consumer public relations lead at Microsoft. Speakers at the event included Teaching Garage CEO Janice Chong, Microsoft Consumer PR Communications Lead Kristina Libby, Council of Economic Education CEO Nan J. Morrison, Motivate Design CEO Mona Patel, E-School for Girls Founder and Program Director Allison Wright and entrepreneur Natalie Zfat, who gave lightning talks to a crowd of 100 decision- makers, media, faculty and students. “Over the past three years, E-School for Girls has developed into a premier pre-college program serving the community and our young women as they become female entrepreneurs and our future leaders,” said E-School for Girls Director Allison Wright. “It is my personal mission to ensure that our students get to experience entrepreneurial success, build their skills and confidence, and learn how to support themselves and each other no matter their gender or socioeconomic background. We are developing a new group of female entrepreneurs and leaders in each E-School for Girls class, and I’m excited to grow the program even further in partnership with Microsoft.” Now approaching its third year, E-School for Girls was created in partnership with NYU College Advising Corps and provides underserved high school juniors and seniors with a premier summer pre-college program. The experiential two-week program takes young women through a journey of self-exploration while developing an entrepreneurial enterprise, which includes ideation, business planning, team building, personal branding, pitching, and an introduction to a network of academics, businesspeople and mentors. Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. E-School for Girls/NYCPromise Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions to E- School for Girls/NYCPromise Inc. in the United States are tax-exempt to the extent provided by law. Note to editors : For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts . 2016-03-12 03:52 By Microsoft

20 Go-playing software beats human champ for 3rd straight time SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Google's Go- playing software defeated a human champion for the third straight time Saturday to clinch the best- of-five series and establish its superiority in an ancient Chinese game long thought to be the realm of humans. South Korea's Lee Sedol, one of the world's best Go players, remained winless against AlphaGo, Google DeepMind's artificial intelligence machine, after another close match in Seoul. Despite losing the series, Lee is scheduled to play twice more against AlphaGo, on Sunday and Tuesday. The highly anticipated showdown between human and machine crushed the pride of Go fans, many of them in Asia, who believed Go would be too complex for machines to master. Some thought it would take at least another decade for computers to beat human Go champions. Many top Go professionals commented that AlphaGo displayed unorthodox, questionable moves that initially befuddled humans but made sense in hindsight. 2016-03-12 03:49 CNBC

21 How to stop harassment in video games NEW YORK (AP) — Many women say popular video games such as "World of Warcraft" and "Halo" are rife with harassment, stalking and sexism that game companies don't police effectively. But there are some steps the game industry, social media and law enforcement could take to combat harassment. A UNIFIED STANDARD FOR ENFORCEMENT Video game companies create their own rules for acceptable behavior, and some players complained that they didn't know what resulted from their reports of bad behavior. "One of the things that would be really cool to see is if all companies adopted similar standards for what constitutes harassment and behavior so they work more in tandem," says Kate Edwards, executive director of the International Game Developers Association. Players can mute, block or report users who bother them. But some say that's not enough: Avoiding a problem doesn't solve it or change how people act with others. Several experts credit Riot Games, the company behind popular online game "League of Legends," for building a system that aims to improve the culture of the game and change player behavior. If a player is punished, the company's system tells them why they were reported and shows them the specific comments that other players didn't like. HIRING AND DIVERSITY Video game developers remain overwhelmingly male, and companies could make a conscious effort to diversify their workforces, Edwards says. Doing so might result in games with broader appeal. The industry is paying attention to criticism. At the June 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, video game conference, companies featured more games with prominent women characters. There were also more women attending and representing the industry than there had been in previous years. SOCIAL MEDIA Harassment isn't limited to game platforms. It spills out onto Twitter and other social media. After criticism, some sites have taken steps to try to curb abuse. Twitter has tried to make it easier to report threats and abuse, adding staff and trying to streamline reporting and blocking. In February, the company formed a "Trust & Safety Council" with outside groups to help develop tools and policies to fight abuse while still allowing people to speak freely. Last year, the free-wheeling online discussion board Reddit adopted new guidelines that prohibit publishing people's private information (such as stolen pictures or home addresses), harassment, abuse and comments that incite violence. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, says that if companies aren't willing to build in filtering functions for harassing messages, they should let outside developers do so. PROSECUTION Federal law and many states prohibit stalking and threatening someone online. Law enforcement can pursue people who make threats by collecting user information from Twitter and other services. But such cases can be challenging. It has to be a "true threat," says Wesley Hsu, an assistant U. S. attorney in Los Angeles. "There is a difference, under the law, between 'I hope someone comes and kills you' and 'I'm coming to kill you.'" It can also be difficult to track people who make online threats, Hsu says, given the prevalence of tools for staying anonymous on the Internet. 2016-03-12 03:00 By TALI

22 Bitcoin issuers face 7 years in Russia's jails Russian news agency Interfax reports that Russia's Ministry of Finance has prepared an amendment to a law which could see issuers of surrogate currencies, such as Bitcoin, face up to four years in jail. Executives of banks and financial service companies would face harsher punishment, up to seven years in prison. Additionally, executives who would break this law would face restrictions on holding similar jobs in the future. Previously, the bill was much softer on offenders, in which those releasing surrogate currencies would face one year of "corrective labour". Organised groups would face two years. Aside from the prison sentences, the new amendment also includes fines for those issuing a money surrogate: fines range from 500,000 rubles (£5,000) to 1,000,000 rubles (£10,000). Execs face fines of up to 2,500,000 rubles (£25,000). Views on crypto-currencies in the transcontinental state vary. Russia's finance ministry believes that the use of money surrogates create prerequisites for citizens and legal entities to get involved in illegal activities including money laundering. On the other hand, the head of Sberbank believes surrogate currencies are not something that need to be banned. In September, Russia's central bank set up a special working group to study blockchain technology to see what it could be used for in the country. Elvira Nabiullina head of the Central Bank of Russia said the institution is suspicious about cryptocurrencies but not about crypto- technology such as the blockchain. Source: Interfax via Coindesk | Image via eWallpapers 2016-03-12 02:20 Paul Hill

23 Using JSTL to Enhance JSP Functionality - Developer.com JSTL stands for JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library; it provides a set of core Web page functionality that can perform many of the tasks, such as conditional and iterations of structural elements, manipulating XML documents, and support for internationalization tags to more sophisticated processing of SQL elements. JSP is better known for scriplets, yet it is highly discouraged since the inception of JSTL and EL (Expression Language). The reason is that scriplet element within JSP violates many of the basic principles of good engineering practices. The article delves into some of the key aspects of JSTL that highlight the convenience of using it over scriplets. Look into some of the problems that arise due to the scripting elements (those written within ). There are just too many. Let's get a quick overview of a few of them and the rest you can infer very easily. However, a few simple scriplets within JSP is a mark of convenience but still business logic written within JSP scriplets is a strict no-no, not because it cannot be written but because it is a bad omen (difficult to maintain). The code convention from JSP 1.2 Specification recommends the use of the JSP Standard Tag Library in Web application. It would help reduce the need for JSP scriptlets in JSP pages. Pages that use JSTL are, in general, easier to read and maintain. Refer to Code Convention for JSP Technologies.... Apart from JSTL, there are other ways to overcome some of the aforesaid problems such as using Java bean components for writing business logic,and so forth. But, let's forego those details and stick to what JSTL has to offer. JSTL tags can be grouped into five categories. Each of them can be used for a specific purpose. For example: Refer to the API documentaion for JSTL 1.1 library for more information on tag details of each category. The example demonstrates how JSTL can be used to write a simple CRUD application without even writing a single scriplet element in the JSP page. Note that this program is a workable but rudimentary implementation. Data validation and error handling is omitted for brevity. The eye candy CSS part is also not given in the following code section for the same reason. Figure 1: The program in execution The program uses a MySQL database at the back-end. The SQL code to create the table is as follows. Figure 2: The page's workflow chart By using JSTL, we can conveniently overcome the disadvantage of scripting elements in a JSP page. The code becomes simple and more readable. JSTL, however, cannot replace the flexibility of scripting. But, as a rule of thumb, a programmer should refrain from writing scriplets, especially in situations when other techniques such as JSTL suffice their needs. 2016-03-12 00:00 Manoj Debnath

24 Unikernels, The Next Big Thing - Developer.com Over the last 50 years, enterprise computing has evolved from session sharing on mainframes to supporting thousands of microservices using containers that run on virtual machines. Yet, virtual machines are not the last stop in this evolution. There is a new technology on the horizon, a technology that will allow for greater flexibility and more efficient use of data center hardware. That technology is the unikernel. A unikernel is a unit of binary code that runs directly on a hypervisor, very much in the same way that a virtual machine runs on a hypervisor (see Figure 1). Figure 1: Many virtual machines can run on a single computer, thus increasing hardware efficiency However, unlike a virtual machine, which carries its own operating system, utilities, and applications, a unikernel is much leaner, containing only the parts of an operating system that are required by a single program. Also, that single program is meant to represent a single service. One of the drawbacks of a virtual machine is that resource usage is static after the VM is created. For example, if you create a virtual machine that is allocated 4 GB of RAM from a host system that contains 12 GB of RAM, that 4 GB is dedicated to the VM for the life of the virtual machine. There is no giving the memory back. One technology that addresses this underutilization of hardware resources is containers. Containers, which are deployment units that run in an isolated process, with a distinct root level file system, share the resources of the host system. Applications and dependencies are represented as container images. Container activity is coordinated by a container manager. Docker is one of the more popular container managers (see Figure 2). Figure 2: Container technology uses host computer technology more efficiently by using only the hardware resources needed at the moment. The value of containers is that they are more versatile and lightweight than VMs. But, a container still has the overhead that goes with supporting a full blown operating system as well as the security issues that pertain to using container images that are made by other parties. Unikernels are more lightweight than containers and provide more efficient use of hardware resources. As mentioned earlier, at the very elementary level, a unikernel is a compiled, binary deployment unit that sits right on top of a hypervisor, just as virtual machine does (see Figure 3). Figure 3: Unikernel technology runs directly on the hypervisor as a very small compiled binary, using the notion of Just Enough Operating System Instead of carrying the overhead of a complete operating system, a unikernel has only the parts of the operating system that are essential to its operation. Applications that are best suited to run as a unikernel don't need a plethora of device drivers, file management utilities, text editors, or shell. All such an app needs are those things that are absolutely necessary to make the app work. This concept is called Just Enough Operating System, or JeOS. The result is that you get a deployment unit that is very small and fast loading. For example, a unikernel for a DNS server weighs in at around 449 KB, a web server at ~674 KB. That's right; we're talking sizes at the kilobyte level! Because unikernels are small, you can load thousands onto a single piece of hardware. And, because they are fast loading, they lend themselves well to microservices, particularly transient microservices that have a load, operate, and unload lifetime of seconds. Unikernels are designed to be immutable, thus there is an implicit level of security that is not present in other environments. As mentioned above, the deployment unit is a compiled binary. (Think compiling your C++ code into an exe. Now, imagine compiling your whole computing environment into something like an exe.) Thus, you cannot add and remove parts on whim. When you want to upgrade a unikernel, you need to compile new one and deploy that sole artifact. Binary code is a lot harder to penetrate then some script sitting exposed to the desires of an unwanted intruder. Lastly, unikernels are green. Computers need electricity to run. A computer running thousands of unikernels, operating at high efficiency, is going to get a lot more work done per watt than a single machine running underutilized VMs or containers running bloated images. However, unikernels are not presently a panacea for modern computing. Remember, please, that unikernels are meant to represent a single service. Thus, applications that are varied and meant to support multiple users are not grist for the unikernel mill. Unikernels are going to require a different approach to programming and debugging, particularly when it comes to programming language support. Thus, there is a significant learning curve to be overcome. Unikernels might be small and fast, but until there is significant programming activity with all popular languages in the space, along with robust debuggers, the technology will be boutique. The potential around unikernels is enormous. The technology addresses much of the shortcomings that exist in Virtual Machine and Container technologies, particularly around security. Small foot prints and fast loading times mean that the unikernels might make the promise of microservices primetime. However, the technology is still in it infancy in the general population. Once issues of programming versatility and debugging are addressed, the technology will be a formidable presence on the technical landscape. Russell Pavlichek's Presentation on the Power of Unikernels . 2016-03-12 00:00 Robert Reselman

25 Understanding the Android Platform Architecture - Developer.com Mobile application development is now quite popular, and Android is one of the most popular mobile device platforms. The Android platform allows developers to write managed code using Java ( http://www.developer.com/java ) to manage and control the Android device. Android is a Linux based software stack initially developed by Google that is organized into the Android operating system, the middleware components, and the key applications. The Android operating system is open source and its source code was released under the Apache license. The design goals of the Android platform include: platform neutrality, open source, flexibility, and rapid development. This article presents an overview of the architecture of the Android Platform—a popular platform for mobile devices the world over. The Android operating system provides many services that include support for security, virtual memory, multitasking, and threads—all features of modern day operating systems. This section discusses the architecture components of the Android platform. Each Android application uses its own file system and is packaged in one.apk file. The Android platform is organized into the following sections: The Android operating system is comprised of a collection of software components organized into dilayers. This article presented an overview of the architecture of the Android platform. Happy reading! 2016-03-12 00:00 Joydip Kanjilal

26 Python Study Guide: Installing Python - Developer.com Want to learn Python? Who wouldn't want to learn a programming language whose name was inspired by Monty Python's Flying Circus! There are plenty of other reasons Python is loved by developers worldwide, of course. It is simple, straightforward, and easy to learn and excellent as a first language. But, it's also powerful, providing a full quiver of features for experienced developers. No matter what your platform, it's there with numerous implementations on Windows, Mac, Linux, and more. Python was created by a Dutch programmer named Guido van Rossum in the early 90s. It has since become one of the most popular languages in the world. It's in the top ten of the most requested languages in job postings. And in 2011, it became the third most commonly used language on GitHub. It is actively used by Google, Yahoo, NASA, Industrial Light and Magic, YouTube.com, and many, many others. Python is open source and is freely used in projects of all kinds, including commercial projects. Although Guido van Rossum is still actively involved, the language's ongoing development is community driven, from ideas to prioritization to implementation. There are tons of programming languages out there. What makes Python different? Van Rossum sums up his philosophy for development of Python in a document called the Zen of Python. It includes core design principals stated in simple (and sometimes comical) aphorisms. Among them… As you can see, his focus was clearly on developing a practical, straightforward language that kept its syntax simple. This is better for learning, better for development, and better for long-term maintenance. Python has a clear philosophy on powerful new extensions to the language: It avoids them. Instead of making the core language ever bigger and more complex, Python opts instead to make it very easy to create extensions to the language in the form of libraries. That gives the developer the option of selecting the library that best suits their needs, rather than bending a language feature to do something it was not quite designed for. Python does come with a powerful standard library that makes it easy to do a great many common tasks. Another important beast in the corral: The Python Interactive Interpreter. With it, you to enter code and immediately execute it and see the results, rather than going through the standard edit/compile/run/test cycle. This makes it easy for those new to the language to try out syntax before using it in their code. It's also good for more experienced developers to work through tricky problems more quickly. If you're fairly new to programming, go ahead and skip this section. However, if you are an experienced programmer and want a technical run-down of the language, here it is: Python is a modern, object-oriented programming language that fully supports numerous paradigms, including functional programming, aspect-oriented programming, and design by contract. It handles its own memory management and garbage collection. It provides dynamic variable/method name binding. Python was created as an interpreted language; however, there are Just-In-Time (JIT) implementations, including PyPy and Iron Python (on the. NET platform). There are also native-compiled implementations like py2exe. Interpreted Python may be used in combination with C++ for portions of code that need speed. Python is commonly used as a scripting language for Web applications. It's also used as an embedded language within other products to provide customization and extension. Examples include 3ds Max, Maya, GIMP, Inkscape, and ArcGIS. Many languages today offer incredible power. But at a cost—incredible complexity! Python chose the road less traveled—simplicity. Coding with a straightforward syntax makes for quicker learning, quicker development, and quicker/more flexible maintenance. Remember, complexity is the path to the Dark Side. Search your feelings. See the truth, you will… 2016-03-12 00:00 Bill Hatfield

27 Top 10 Tips to Make Your Android Phone App a Best Seller - Developer.com Who does not want their Android Phone App to be a best seller? Everyone does, and the competition is fierce to stay at the top. Here are some of the strategies to make your Android Phone App a best seller. Rather than mimic a best seller, try to find a core problem that users have and try to solve for that. There are distinct advantages that come with the first mover advantage. Look at Amazon, which built an e-commerce platform. It is now the de facto retailer. Don't limit devices where your applications will work. You can do this by making sure your app supports as many screens as possible. By being responsive, you will make sure that your application reaches the most users. Before you build new features, make sure all defects are fixed in current features. These defects can be either user reported or from the reviews that users provide for the application or from self-testing. There is no way better to learn about an application. Instrument each and every aspect of your application. This will provide you with finer details of how users interact your application and will help you prioritize bugs and features on your roadmap. You will get user feedback from various sources (complaints, feedback, app reviews, metrics). Use this information to address any concerns users have on your application and build on it. Look at the Play Store to identify competition and its features. With proper tagging and categorization, when users search for your application, look at what Google Play suggests as alternates that the user might want to look at. You also can look at top apps in the category to see what features and user experience they provide. Learn from your competitors and use that information to build features that can improve customer experience. If you want to get more users to use your Android phone app, consider going the freemium route, providing a basic experience for free and allow users to unlock more features via in-app purchases. Don't make it hard for the user to use your Android phone app by asking for registration. If possible, defer app registration until there is a necessary reason that requires user information. When initial registration is required, try to just ask for email or a user ID to create account and avoid asking for billing information until it is needed. Also, if you use third-party registration like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, or Facebook, there will be reduced friction for user registration. To provide for a great experience on various types of Android devices, provide alternate resources for layout and drawable resources that allow for a delightful experience on all devices. In this article, you learned about various tips to make a best selling Android phone app. Vipul Patel is a technology geek based in Seattle. He can be reached at [email protected]. You can visit his LinkedIn profile at https://www.linkedin.com/pub/vipul- patel/6/675/508 . 2016-03-12 00:00 Vipul Patel

28 Google's mobile focus testing is the least creepy use of a white panel van Google is coming to a state near you and it wants to throw you into the back of its white van. No this isn't a kidnapping attempt, the search company just wants you to try some apps. The company is using the van to help it break out of its Silicon Valley bubble. The van will make multiday stops in seven states, stopping near colleges, libraries, parks and some of Google's own regional offices in hopes of finding out how average Americans are using the company's multitude of digital offerings. Its custom-built, white van drive on a cross country roadtrip in an effort to break out of its Silicon Valley bubble. according to the Associated Press. The van will make multiday stops in seven states, stopping near colleges, libraries, parks and some of Google's own regional offices in hopes of finding out how average Americans are using the company's "multitude of digital offerings. " Google hopes to invite 500 would-be volunteers inside to interact with apps and other Google products on their smartphones, all so that researchers can non-creepily watch them. It'll take anywhere between 15 and 90 minutes, and there's no mention of a two-way mirror. In fact, in exchange for being observed as the illusive everyman, volunteers will get some sweeting Google swag including T-Shirts and gift cards. The urban experiment is all part of a goal to take Google's Silicon Valley laboratory out on the road and get the opinions of people outside of the San Francisco Bay area. "We are trying to understand the whole end-to-end experience," Google researcher Laura Granka, said to the Associated Press. "Which is why we are trying to get out to more locations and see more people. " The Google Van will start its trip in New York and travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, from March 14- 18; Clemson, South Carolina, March 21-22; Atlanta, March 23-25; Boulder, Colorado, April 4-8; Salt Lake City, April 11-15; Reno, Nevada, April 18-20; and South Lake Tahoe, California, April 21-22. Google said if the trip proves to be insightful, it may send more mobile labs to other cities across the US and even hit the road in other countries. It's like the Google Maps project all over again. (You can find an image of the van on The Associated Press ) Via Gizmodo Article continues below 2016-03-11 23:00 By Kevin

29 Longtime VC Michael Goguen was just hit with an explosive lawsuit Michael Goguen, a longtime partner at Sequoia Capital who joined the tony Sand Hill Road firm roughly 20 years ago, has been named in an extraordinary breach of contract lawsuit that accuses him of sexually mistreating a woman he met in 2001, then refusing to honor a financial arrangement they made in more recent years to keep her from suing him. Filed in San Mateo County court earlier this week, Goguen is accused of having abused the plaintiff, named Amber Laurel Baptiste, “sexually, physically and emotionally for over 13 years.” More centrally, states the complaint: When Baptiste “could no longer tolerate his behavior,” Goguen signed a contract to pay her $40 million “as compensation for the horrors she suffered at his hands.” But “after paying her $10 million, Mr. Goguen refused to honor the rest of his agreement.” Baptiste could not be reached for comment. Her attorney, Patricia Glaser of the L. A.-based litigation firm GlaserWeil, is traveling in Israel, according to her office; she has not responded to an emailed request for comment. Goguen’s attorney, Diane Doolittle, the co-chair of the national trial practice at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, meanwhile wrote us a statement tonight, saying: “On Monday, we will be filing a legal cross-complaint against [Baptiste] alleging extortion. The cross complaint will include an enormous amount of evidence, and cite contemporaneous emails and texts, that will help paint a full and complete picture of this entire matter. We will rely on all of this evidence to mount the most vigorous defense possible in court.” Either way, Goguen looks to be out of a job suddenly. Reached earlier tonight for more information, a Sequoia spokesman wrote us that, “We first learned of these claims yesterday. We understand that these allegations of serious improprieties are unproven and unrelated to Sequoia. Nevertheless, we decided that Mike’s departure was the appropriate course of action.” In Baptiste’s complaint, she is described as a “victim of human trafficking since she was 15.” It says that she was “brought to America in 2001,” “sold as a dancer to a strip club,” and that shortly after her arrival, she met Goguen at a Texas strip club and was soon submitting to his “constant sexual abuse” and “relying on his promise that he would help her break free of the human traffickers who held her in perpetual debt.” Continues the complaint, “Unbeknownst to Ms. Baptiste, Mr. Goguen was a worse predator than the human traffickers who were keeping her in bondage.” Some of the accusations against Goguen — with whom Baptiste had a sexual relationship for 12 years and across his three former marriages, says the complaint — are highly graphic. Among them, the complaint states that in “late 2011, Ms. Baptiste discovered that Mr. Goguen had infected her with several high risk strains of the Human Papillomavirus (” HPV”), putting her at risk of various cancers, including cervical cancer, which could require a hysterectomy and prevent her from being able to bear children.” Another alleged action left Baptiste “bleeding and alone on the floor of a hotel room in a foreign country,” says the complaint. Eventually, it states, Baptiste and Goguen struck on a financial arrangement. In 2012, when Baptiste “discovered she had contracted several high-risk strains of HPV,” she “confronted Mr. Goguen, her only sexual partner at the time.” Later, it states, Goguen “agreed to pay Ms. Baptiste’ s expenses as compensation for the sexual abuse and infection she contracted from him.” The complaint states that Goguen “paid her expenses for roughly a year, until mid -2013 when he refused to continue the payments.” Baptiste was then “forced to hire an attorney” and “prepared to sue Mr. Goguen for the years of physical abuse, emotional trauma, and damage to her health.” After receiving the draft complaint, it continues, Goguen instructed her to fire her attorney and used his attorneys instead to draft a settlement agreement that arranged for him to pay $40 million to Baptiste in four equal payments. Which leads us to the crux of the lawsuit (and, we’d hazard to guess, Sequoia’s decision to part ways with Goguen). The complaint states that Goguen paid the first of the four $10 million payments to Baptiste on May 30, 2014 — then he stopped. Rather than write another check, it states, “On or about 21 December 19, 2014, Mr. Goguen sent a letter to Ms. Baptiste refusing to make the second payment, purporting to rescind the contract, and claiming the Settlement Agreement was null and void as procured under extortion.” Baptiste is seeking the enforcement of that settlement agreement, along with attorney’s fees and other compensatory damages. What happens next is anyone’s guess, but Goguen had evidently done very well financially as a partner at Sequoia. A late 2012 story about a home of Goguen’s on Whitefish Lake in Montana applauded him for providing $10 million to local law enforcement crews so they could purchase two state-of-the-art helicopters. He reportedly spent another $10 million on a trail system in Whitefish. Expect to hear much more about the case Monday morning when the countersuit of Goguen is filed. You can read the full suit here. 2016-03-11 20:16 Connie Loizos

30 Amazon Alexa can now pay your Capital One bill Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa, embedded in devices like the Echo speaker and Fire TV, is today taking on a new role: she’s now a banking assistant, too. Capital One announced this morning the rollout of a new “skill” (like an app for Alexa-powered devices), which will allow consumers to do their banking by voice, including checking balances, reviewing transactions, making payments, and more. To use the this voice-activated service, Capital One customers have to first add the skill to their Amazon device via the Alexa mobile application, then connect their account by providing their username and password. The Alexa app is available for Fire tablets, iOS and Android. Afterward, they’ll be able to manage their finances through their Amazon device, be it the Amazon Echo, newly launched Amazon Tap or Dot, or Fire TV. For example, explains Capital One, customers could then ask Alexa questions like: “Alexa, ask Capital One for my Quicksilver Card balance.” “Alexa, ask Capital One for recent transactions on my checking account” “Alexa, ask Capital One when is my credit card payment due?” “Alexa, ask Capital One to pay my credit card bill.” Alexa will use your pre-linked funds to pay the bill, and will simply pull up your account information and reply to your questions for the other items. Of course, this is the kind of skill you probably only want to add to your home device, not one in a shared environment or workplace, for obvious reasons. And even then, it does raise questions about how secure and smart it is to allow Alexa the ability to access your finances – especially considering that the voice technology is still in its early days and far from foolproof. Earlier this week, for instance, there were reports of Amazon Alexa going haywire and resetting a user’s connected thermostat to 70 degrees because it heard its name in a radio program that was playing near its speaker. Then there’s the matter of parent company Amazon’s stance on security technologies in general that may need to be considered. As Apple fights for user privacy rights with the U. S. Government, it was revealed that Amazon had quietly removed device encryption from its Fire OS mobile operating system. The company only reversed that decision after user outcry. That said, if convenience outweighs risks – and frankly, it should not but often does – you might want to give the Capital One skills app a try. 2016-03-11 20:16 Sarah Perez

31 5 housing communities changing the way we live Living communities and the people who build them are unique, but they share many common threads: a mix of private and community spaces, a set of shared rules and a commitment to friendliness and warmth rather than the anonymity and awkwardness of a typical residential high- rise. Changing the way people live together is an incredibly difficult but high-reward proposition; several groups have pushed the boundaries into the communities of the future. Here are a few: Serenbe Spread across the Georgia countryside, Serenbe first opened in 2004 and is now home to 400 residents. Described by The New York Times as an “experiment in New Urbanism,” Serenbe offers a mix of country homes and townhomes, as well as a 25-acre organic farm, coffee shops, farmers’ markets, art galleries and regular events. Far from being soulless exurban sprawl, Serenbe is redefining what a master-planned community can become. Maderas Village What started as a hotel and resort has turned into an artists’ colony and way of life: #maderaslife has more than 11,000 posts on Instagram alone. Surfers, creatives and foodies escape for a week or months to the village in the Pacific hills of Nicaragua. Guests are invited to live together in shared rooms or book their own private cabanas, providing a variety of options for diverse lifestyles and budgets. The culture is all about sustainability, surfing and living at your own pace. Camp Grounded Adult summer camps are back in vogue, and many adults are making the summer camp circuit a part of their yearly routine. Perhaps the most well-regarded of the camps is Camp Grounded, a completely sober weekend without access to any form of technology. It has two unique rules: You can’t talk about work and you have to pick a new name. Somewhat unique to living communities, Camp Grounded has robust corporate and team offerings; they’ve worked with companies ranging from Airbnb to Yelp to Tom’s Shoes to help their employees relax and disconnect. YesNomads YesNomads is a curated Facebook group of more than 500 global nomads who move fluidly from places like New York City to Los Angeles to London to Berlin to Tulum to Ibiza to Jackson Hole and back. Trust is high, rent is pretty reasonable and house swapping is encouraged. Summit Summit is invitation-only, but once you are invited you have a home away from home at Powder Mountain, where you are transported into a world of engaging speakers, organic meals and meaningful conversations. Originally started as a destination event series for entrepreneurs and creatives (and still most well-known for their Summit at Sea series), Summit is now building a permanent community in Utah dedicated to “innovation, entrepreneurship, arts, and altruism.” These programs are creating their own variations of community — some free-spirited and open, others more focused and exclusive. But all of them are doing something outside the norm, appealing to people who have soured on the status quo and desire a more nomadic, more creative lifestyle. 2016-03-11 20:16 Brad Hargreaves

32 AI is closer than we know Artificial intelligence is one of the hottest subjects these days, and recent advances in technology make AI even closer to reality than most of us can imagine. The subject really got traction when Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and more than 1,000 AI and robotics researchers signed an open letter issuing a warning regarding the use of AI in weapons development last year. The following month, BAE Systems unveiled Taranis , the most advanced autonomous UAV ever created; there are currently 40 countries working on the deployment of AI in weapons development. Those in the defense industry are not the only ones engaging in an arms race to create advanced AI. Tech giants Facebook, Google, Microsoft and IBM are all engaging in various AI- initiatives, as well as competing on developing digital personal assistants like Facebook’s M, Cortana from Microsoft and Apple’ Siri. Mark Zuckerberg even wants to create his own version of Jarvis from Iron Man to run his home. At this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos it was stated that artificial intelligence is ushering in the fourth industrial revolution, which will change society as we know it and cost five million jobs by 2020. Robots are no longer limited to traditional blue-collar jobs, fully automated assembly lines and high-frequency trading algorithms. White-collar jobs are ripe for automation, and robots are replacing bank tellers, mortgage brokers and loan officers in the financial industry. These examples follow strict repetitive rule-based routines, and a machine easily can perform them without any human interaction. However, a recent development is the beginning of a new era of AI, in which AI can perform complex tasks and must no longer rely on pre-programmed rules for decision-making. Robo- advisor services like Betterment and Wealthfront are rising in popularity, and the hedge fund industry is launching AI-controlled funds that operate completely without human interaction. The co-head of one of these funds predicts that the time will come that no human investment manager will be able to beat the computer. But how is it possible for AI to operate autonomously without any human interaction? Machine learning, one of the fundamentals behind AI, was defined by Arthur Samuel in 1959 as the science of getting computers to learn and act without being explicitly programmed. This technology is integral in the development of self-driving cars, IBM Watson and speech and image recognition, as well as solving some of our most challenging tasks, like making sense of the human genome. Machine learning has its roots in statistical pattern recognition, and is fundamental in many everyday applications and services, like spam filters and web search algorithms. The fundamental aspect of machine learning is letting the computer program learn from examples. To accelerate machine learning development, Google released its machine learning system, TensorFlow, on GitHub, which led to Microsoft following up shortly thereafter. Deep learning takes the concept of machine learning even deeper (pun intended), and can model complex non-linear relationships consisting of many layers. Deep learning is often mentioned interchangeably together with artificial/deep neural networks , which can be viewed as a biologically inspired programming paradigm that enables a computer to learn from observational data. Deep learning is considered the technique we apply to learn in neural networks. Quantum computing is the latest and hottest in AI development. Google states they have in collaboration with NASA a quantum computer that is 100 million times faster than a traditional computer. The D-Wave 2X could theoretically complete calculations within seconds to a problem that might take a digital computer 10,000 years to calculate. However, Google states that quantum computing might not be suitable for deep learning. While traditional computers rely on bits that are either 1 or 0, a quantum computer is based on qubits that can hold a superposition and be both 1 and 0 simultaneously. This state enables quantum computers to crunch data at an exponential rate. While quantum computing may not be suited for deep learning , it could revolutionize the field of optimization in logistics, investment strategies and energy production and consumption. The road to true artificial intelligence is not paved with a single discipline, but rather a collection of specialized subject matters, techniques and theories that together interact to create some form of intelligence. I have limited this post to include only a selection of the technologies and techniques applied in AI research and development. For further insight, I recommend looking into evolutionary computing and logic programming (even though I still hold a grudge against Prolog for making me feel too stupid to really understand how it works when I played around with it many years ago). 2016-03-11 20:16 Christoffer O.

33 Astronaut Scott Kelly will retire from NASA next month After his nearly year-long mission on the International Space Station (ISS) and 20 years of service with NASA, Astronaut Scott Kelly will retire from the agency, effective April 1st. In total, Kelly flew in space 4 different times, beginning with a trip to service the Hubble Space Telescope in 1999. With his final flight, Kelly broke the record for the most cumulative time in space for an American with a total of 520 days. The world record for this feat is held by Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka for his whopping 879 days achieved over 5 spaceflights. When Kelly returned from his mission on March 1 st , he was immediately required to complete an hour-long physical test, much like an obstacle course, in order to analyze his general condition. Health of astronauts once they’ve come back to Earth is a high priority because spending an extended period of time in a weightless environment is hard on the human body. Without the heavy downward force of gravity, astronauts can experience muscle atrophy and bone loss, among other problems. Astronauts often experience back pain, for example, because their spines will elongate in weightless conditions. During Kelly’s time spent in orbit, he grew about 2 inches taller. Growth spurts occur because the vertebrae in our backs act like a giant spring and are able to be stretched and compressed. Under the force of gravity, our vertebrae are coiled tightly. On the ISS, where the astronauts feel weightless, spines have the ability to elongate up to 3 percent of their total length. While Kelly was about 2 inches taller during his time in orbit, he returned to his normal height within a few days of his return. Now that Kelly is back on Earth, a new phase a research and analysis begins. The purpose of the One-Year Mission was to study the medical, psychological and biomedical challenges a human would face during long-duration spaceflight. And although Kelly will be retired, he’ll continue to participate in a number of research studies in the months ahead. On Instagram, Kelly revealed that the post-flight analysis has already begun. Part of the reason Kelly was selected for the One Year Study was because his identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, is also an astronaut. During Scott Kelly’s time in orbit, his brother Mark Kelly was down on Earth acting essentially as a control subject. The two twins have been participating in NASA’s Twin Study in which 10 different investigations are already underway. Using a combination of pre-flight, intra-flight, and post-flight data, these investigations are comparing the brothers on the molecular level in addition to their physiology, microbiology, behavioral health. Results from these studies will help scientists understand how humans change when they spend an extended period of time in outer space. This knowledge will support the Journey to Mars initiative, through which NASA plans to send humans to the red planet in the 2030s. The dangerous amount of time astronauts must spend in the harsh, radiation-filled environment of deep space coupled with the technology required to get there makes a potential human mission to Mars a difficult challenge. Traveling to Mars would take astronauts up to 9 months, and that doesn’t include time in orbit, on the Martian surface, or the equally long trip back to Earth. With the One Year Study and the Twin Study, NASA hopes to move the needle and bring the scientific community closer to solving the human side of this long-duration spaceflight challenge. 2016-03-11 20:16 Emily Calandrelli

34 Snapchat has a secret team possibly building a pair of smart glasses Snapchat has been known for some bold (and perplexing) moves in regards to content features, attempting to revamp event marketing through Stories, redefine journalism through Discover and rethink the selfie through Lenses. They’ve tackled software features, but now they may be looking to master hardware. When you’re valued at $16 billion… why not? A report from CNET details a crop of hirings from major augmented reality groups like Microsoft’s HoloLens, PTC’s (formerly Qualcomm’s) Vuforia and eye-tracking tech maker Eyefluence that point to Snapchat’s possible development of a pair of smart glasses. The company showed interest in augmented reality during the last hype wave surrounding Google Glass. Vergence Labs, which produced a pair of glasses equipped with an embedded camera, was acquired by Snapchat for $15 million in March of 2014. The acquisition accompanied a larger $50 million acquisition of Scan.me, a QR code-scanning/creating technology that would later manifest itself it the company’s Snaptags feature. Snapchat did not openly advertise these acquisitions then, details of it were leaked in the Sony data hack in December of 2014. It was an especially odd-sounding move then, but fast-forward a couple of years past the acquisitions and the company has added a few billion dollars to its valuation, as well as a variety of mainstay features like its Discover tab and geofilters. The real question is whether Snapchat is using these hires to attempt to learn more about augmented reality tech and more effectively adapt its platform for usage on smart glasses or whether the engineering folk are actually just building glasses with the goal of a consumer release. Sophisticated consumer gadgets might make zero sense for Snapchat at the moment, as their current consumer products include a beach towel , a deck of playing cards and a backpack. Admittedly, for most people, Snapchat in itself makes zero sense, so this could perhaps be very on-brand for them. That being said, I’d definitely suspect the company is focusing more on looking at technologies to more effectively optimize AR technology for its apps. The employee from Eyefluence (who recently left) in particular is interesting as the eye-tracking company focuses heavily on engineering more intuitive interface gestures. In an interview with Forbes in January 2014 (just a couple of months before the Vergence Labs purchase), Thomas Laffont, the managing director of Coatue (which led Snapchat’s $50 million Series C), spoke a bit about the platform’s relationship with interfaces on AR devices. “People haven’t thought about use cases on new computing platforms,” said Laffont. “In one tap you take a photo, one more and you can share it. Imagine [the difficulty] trying to post on Instagram from a Google Glass device.” Input for augmented reality is kind of a shit show right now, with most companies experimenting with a wide variety of hand-tracking, eye-tracking, motion-tracking and head-tracking tech to control their devices. If Snapchat can use their AR-minded team to make advances in furthering the ease of content absorption on the platform, there would be some obvious benefits to the company moving forward. 2016-03-11 20:16 Lucas Matney

35 DoorDash says its new service fee isn’t really a new fee Consider this a public service announcement for DoorDash customers. In the coming weeks, you’re going to start seeing something new on your bills — a service fee. However, a spokesperson for the food delivery service said it’s not actually a new fee, and the total cost won’t change. Instead, it’s a new way to present the fees you were already paying. While some restaurants pay DoorDash a commission for each delivery, others don’t, and when you order from the ones that don’t, DoorDash charges you a little extra. Previously, DoorDash incorporated that extra cost into the price of each menu item. So the prices in DoorDash were different from the ones you’d see in the restaurant, but you knew exactly how much you were paying. Now, in response to customer feedback and internal testing, the company will just show you a separate fee (which will vary from restaurant to restaurant). Okay, end of PSA. You can go back to talking about DoorDash’s valuation now if you’re into that kind of thing. 2016-03-11 20:16 Anthony Ha

36 WOF: Will you be buying a Samsung Galaxy S7? By now you’ll have probably read quite a few articles about the Samsung Galaxy S7, and no doubt they’ll have praised the smartphone and its Edge variant. We gave the Edge a well-deserved score of 95 in our review , calling it “an outstanding phone on the Edge of perfection” – it really is that good. Of course, like most high-end smartphones, this cutting-edge hardware doesn’t come cheap. And Apple fans will point out that iPhone 6s performs better than the S7 in several benchmark tests. Personally, after having my S7 Edge for a few days, I think it’s an incredible device and worth the premium price tag. For this Weekend Open Forum, we’re asking if you'll be buying a Samsung Galaxy S7/Edge. Maybe you’ve already got one, or perhaps you’re happy with your current device and don’t feel the need to upgrade. Whatever your thoughts on the S7, do let us know. 2016-03-11 18:45 Rob Thubron

37 Scotts Miracle-Gro unveils open 'Gro' Internet of Things platform for the connected smart yard When you think of the internet of Things, or IoT, indoor items likely spring to mind -- lamps, refrigerators, thermostats, etc. But "things" exist outdoors too. As the spring and summer seasons approach, more and more people will spend time in one of the most treasured parts of their property - - the yard. Yes, many homeowners have yards -- grass, gardens, ponds, and more -- where they can enjoy the outdoors and spend time with family. If the inside of your home can be "smart", why can't your yard? Well, good news, folks -- Scotts Miracle-Gro is launching an open IoT platform, called 'Gro', that focuses on the outdoors. Yes, the connected smart yard is here. "Scotts Miracle-Gro's Connected Yard platform will know what the recent weather and rainfall has been, what types of plants are most likely to succeed in each location, what the local soil type is, and what to do at each stage of the season. Previously complex tasks will be presented instead as bite-sized, highly visual, personalized instructions. We will offer the same type of advice a friendly, expert gardener would suggest, if they lived next door. We will give people the confidence to try new things", says Scotts Miracle-Gro. The company further says, "the Connected Yard is an open platform, and Scotts Miracle-Gro is eager to align with companies and particularly start-ups in the smart water and gardening space who want to connect their imaginative hardware solutions to Gro. Launch partners include smart water controllers Blossom, Rachio, Green IQ and Lono, and soil sensor companies PlantLink and Parrot. These technologies enable the careful monitoring and control of watering levels, adjusting for the soil's moisture content and the weather forecast. No longer will sprinklers run when it is raining. No longer will people over or under water". While there is definitely a cool factor here, the real win is beyond mere convenience. True, having a connected yard can save people time and money, but more importantly, it can save precious water. In many places around the world, water shortages are a real crisis. By preventing water from being wasted, it can help to alleviate this epidemic. What makes this platform particularly intriguing, besides being open, is that it doesn't simply rely on sensors. Its pairing with local weather data means that the platform can work even smarter. It will even know the types of bugs and soil in your area. By linking this all to the iOS app, end users can gain even better control of their yard. Are you excited by the concept of a connected yard? Tell me in the comments. 2016-03-11 18:33 By Brian

38 Why cloud security should be a part of software development The slogan "there is no cloud, it’s just someone else’s computer", accompanied by an image of a worried looking cloud, has been doing the rounds for some time now. It’s overly simplistic but it neatly sums up the mistrust that some computer users have about cloud technology. The inference being that people who trust the cloud and believe the hype are in some way naïve. The extension of which is that, if you’re giving your data to someone else, how can you be sure it’s safe? This is why cloud security needs to be part of the software development lifecycle. Security: The Biggest Issue for Cloud Adoption Security concerns are undoubtedly the major hurdle for widespread cloud adoption; indeed, a massive 90 percent of firms surveyed by Information Security in 2015 stated security was the biggest factor preventing organizations from moving to the cloud. No one is about to wave a magic wand in 2016 and make that go away. As more people adopt cloud services, we’re going to see more high profile breaches. It’s a case of two steps forward, one step back. Cloud providers are fully aware of this hurdle. By default right now, the major cloud providers deliver high levels of security control to the user. So it becomes a question of who is responsible for appliances control? Anyone can buy an account on Amazon and start up a cloud environment. But the big question is: do you have enough skills to do this? Why Is Cloud Security an Issue? Cloud security is an issue because sometimes clients forget essential patch management (out of sight, out of mind). We often observe situations when an old server that is still available in the cloud with a version of Tomcat or PHP, or any other software framework or application server, which might put client data at risk. In 2015 we saw a situation where a client was in a cloud environment that was compromised and the hacker was using their cloud machines to mine Bitcoins. In another case a guy hacked a company that had infrastructure in the cloud and then blackmailed the company. So the Black Hat guy emailed the chief security officer of that company. The security officer was so scared that he decided to cooperate with the blackmailer and they paid money. But of course this is a risk, because there is always the possibility that the cyber terrorist will leave a backdoor so they can connect to the server at any time in their future and start to blackmail again. Two Approaches to Security: Reactive and Proactive Taking the proactive approach means putting security controls in place to avoid the possibility of situations arising. If such situations happen then we have to get everything up and running again, which is the reactive approach of Incident Forensics and Response. With the existing security threats (in particular, unauthorized access, hijacking, and malicious insiders) and numerous breaches, the importance of raising cloud security awareness among staff to decrease the human factor in security incidents, is growing. Looking After Your Cloud One of the best remediation approaches is to set up Security Information and Event Management or a Security Operation Centre. Here you have people dedicated to monitoring your cloud environment and can register attacks against your cloud infrastructure and react properly to block an attacker or stop an attack. Or if an attacker successfully penetrates, to track them and stop the attack inside the perimeter. Larger companies will set up on premise solutions, but smaller firms would be advised to use security-as-a-service. How do you avoid these problems in the first place? My recommendation is to pay security due respect and have it tightly integrated with all stages of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) rather than being conducted post-factum, whether you develop your applications in house or outsource. Nazar Tymoshyk, security consultant lead, Research & Development at SoftServe . Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved. Photo Credit: Jirsak / Shutterstock 2016-03-11 18:19 By Nazar

39 Listen as these astronomers witness stunning solar eclipse from 35,000 feet For those lucky enough to witness the one and only total solar eclipse of 2016, the event was breathtaking. But it was Mike Kentrianakis and nearly a dozen other eclipse-chasers that arguably had the best view possible as they soaked in the experience while on a flight from Anchorage to Honolulu (along with more than a hundred other passengers). Joe Rao , an associate astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium, realized about a year ago that Alaska Airlines Flight 870 would intersect the darkest shadow of the moon as it passes over the Earth – a phenomenon known as totality. The only problem was that the flight was scheduled about 25 minutes too soon, thus missing the big reveal. Amazingly enough, the astronomer was able to talk the airline into adjusting the flight time so they'd be able to witness the eclipse at just the right time. How accommodating! The video above comes courtesy of Kentrianakis and as you can hear, it was everything he hoped it would be (and probably more). Group photo courtesy Alaska Airlines , thumbnail via Mike Kentrianakis 2016-03-11 18:00 Shawn Knight

40 How to free up RAM from the command line Most memory "optimizers" are a pointless waste of time, more likely to slow you down than offer any noticeable performance benefit. But if you think your PC is using more RAM than it should, then there is one small and very simple tool which might be able to help. Empty Standby List is a free command line application -- from the developer of Process Hacker -- which provides various ways to free up RAM. If you’re normally console-phobic, don’t worry, the program accepts only four commands. You can set it up to run from a shortcut or a batch file in a few seconds (just make sure it’s set to run as an administrator). Here’s the first command. EmptyStandbyList.exe workingsets This tells Windows and your applications to cut memory usage by all user and system processes, and is the technique most commonly used by other memory "optimizers". It will free up RAM, but you may also find some processes immediately start swapping back data from the paging file, slowing you down overall. The next command also has risks. EmptyStandbyList.exe modifiedpagelist This flushes modified pages to disk, then frees up that RAM. It could generate a lot of disk activity, which may cause problems. But Windows would have carried out those writes anything, so if you’d like to get them out of the way, so they won’t randomly interrupt you later, then it might useful. If you’d like something safer, this may be better. EmptyStandbyList.exe priority0standbylist Standby pages are RAM which used to belong to a process, but doesn’t any more, and are really being kept "just in case". This command frees up the lowest priority standby pages, those which Windows thinks are least likely to be needed again. It won’t necessarily recover much memory, but the technique is also very unlikely to have any noticeable performance penalty later. Finally, if you’re more demanding: EmptyStandbyList.exe standbylist Here Empty Standby List frees up all standby pages, whatever their priority. Some people find it recovers a vast amount of memory with no unwanted side-effects at all, but there are no fixed rules or guarantees: try it and see. If you’re not exactly sure how your RAM is being used, and so don’t know where to start, check out Sysinternals’ RamMap. It displays a host of facts and figures about your PC’s memory allocation, and -- if you prefer to test your RAM tweaks using a GUI -- also has menu options to free up working sets, standby lists, modified page lists and more. Empty Standby List is a free application for Windows Vista and later. 2016-03-11 16:18 By Mike

41 HPE struggles as server market grows The fourth quarter of 2015 saw an increase in servers shipped worldwide, compared to a year before, with revenue also rising. Those are the results seen in Gartner’s latest report on worldwide shipments of servers. According to Gartner, Q4 2015 saw a jump in shipments of 8.2 percent year-on-year, with revenue up 9.2 percent. Looking at the year as a whole, shipments are up 9.9 percent, and revenue is up 10.1 percent. The Asia-Pacific region has shown biggest growth in terms of units shipped, 20.1 percent, followed by North America with 8.5 percent and Western Europe, 4.3 percent. All other regions have recorded a decline in vendor revenue. Asia-Pacific grew 19.7 percent, North America 9.7 percent and Western Europe eight percent. The most interesting data is related to the newly-formed Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Its revenue declined 2.2 percent in Q4, but it is still leading the market with a 25.2 percent share. HPE was the only vendor, out of the top five, that didn’t grow in the quarter. Gartner says this can be attributed to a global weakness in the Windows-based x86 servers. "The real growth driver for the quarter in terms of absolute value was the other vendors category", said Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice president at Gartner. "This collection of unspecified vendors that includes original design manufacturers (ODMs), like Quanta and Wistron, contributed over $750 million in revenue and over 170,000 server unit shipments for the period. This demonstrates that the growth of hyperscale data centres, like those of Facebook, Google and Microsoft, continues to be the leading contributor to physical server increases globally". Gartner’s full report on the state of server revenue can be found on this link . Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved. Photo Credit: dotshock / Shutterstock 2016-03-11 16:10 By Sead

42 42 More images of the HTC 10 leaked online New images of HTC's upcoming new flagship Android phone have begun circulating the internet , being attributed to a Disqus user going by Angt29. The photos are of a real, apparently working device and do a good job of highlighting HTC's new design philosophy. The device is shown front and back, like the previous leak , but because of the gold colour we do see a few new details. The gold colouring will extend to a slight trim around the front of device, framing the screen quite nicely. The lack of speaker grill filled metal bezels makes the device look a lot more subtle, and less of a departure from other high selling phones. The back retains many of the features from the M9 with a change of the camera sensor as well as more defined edges. It is expected that HTC will announce the 10 in short order and is rumoured to contain a Snapdragon 820 SoC with 4GB RAM powering a 5.15" QHD display. Source: Angt29 2016-03-11 15:46 Christopher Dupres

43 MixRadio offers one last mix before they say goodbye It's been almost a month since the shocking announcement that MixRadio would be closing its doors. The owner of MixRadio, LINE, said that it would shut down in a few weeks. Well, now, it's the end of the line, and the firm is offering one last mix before it rides off into the musical sunset. MixRadio has had a bumpy ride along the way. Originally called Nokia Music (which had a "mix radio" selection), Nokia then branded it as MixRadio. When Nokia's devices and services division was purchased by Microsoft , MixRadio went with it. MixRadio ended up being purchased by LINE. Still a Windows Phone only application at the time, the service launched on iOS and Android last Summer. It was reportedly the only free streaming service that allowed users to take music offline. Then the news came in mid-February that MixRadio would be shutting down in a few weeks. Fans, particularly old-school Nokia fans, were crushed. Some of the mobile apps still seem to be working, particularly the iOS and Windows Phone apps. The Android app shows a message that says that MixRadio is closing, along with a button that says "Cue the music" to offer that one last mix. From the Editors: MixRadio will surely be missed by many. At Neowin, we have grown to know many of the MixRadio employees over the years, and we wish them all the best in the future. 2016-03-11 15:22 Richard Woods

44 Microsoft's Lumia 650 is now available to pre-order for $199 in the US and Canada With none of the excitement and buzz of a launch event, Microsoft unveiled the Lumia 650 last month in a blog post. But the company has kept its North American launch even more low-key than that, quietly opening pre-orders for the device on its site with no announcement. You can now pre-order the Lumia 650 SIM-free and off-contract from the in the United States for $199 USD ; and in Canada, where it will cost $199 CAD . Its key specs include: The Lumia 650 will begin shipping in both the US and Canada on April 1. Details of carrier availability in North America have not yet been revealed, but it seems likely that in the US at least, it will be joining Cricket's range. Microsoft also revealed this week that the device will soon be available in Mexico, priced at 4,399 pesos. Meanwhile, over in the UK, the 650 went on sale three weeks ago, but its price has already started to drop . Source: Microsoft Store - US / Canada | via Windows Central 2016-03-11 14:44 Andy Weir

45 Tim Sweeney: Microsoft's UWP needs to emulate the open nature of Win32 Last week, Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney wrote an editorial in The Guardian, in which he was very critical of Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform , claiming that it is only a step in a broader strategy to lock down the desktop ecosystem. Microsoft's Xbox head Phil Spencer took to Twitter to defend UWP, pointing out a blog post in which he explains the company's efforts to create more developer opportunities regardless of the store used for distribution, including a "broad range of tools", referring to and a number of software bridges such as Project Islandwood and Project Centennial . Tim Sweeney responded yesterday in a new piece on VentureBeat, in which he appreciates Microsoft for being "courteous, level-headed, and free from corporate PR-speak" in how it took his criticism, which is helpful towards a constructive discussion that also keeps the public in the know when it comes to what is going on behind the scenes of UWP. The Epic Games co-founder goes on through the history of UWP, recognizing the merits of its technical implementation, explaining how sandboxing, removing the backwards-compatibility layer, and a new set of more simple Windows APIs can offer a more secure environment for consumers. While he agrees with these core ideas of the UWP model, he thinks that the Redmond giant has introduced some unnecessary additional steps in Windows 10 for publishing apps to the Windows Store, as well as side-loading them, raising the question of whether or not Microsoft really made UWP as open as it should have. Tim Sweeney thinks this is too big a departure from how the Win32 distribution model worked, explaining that UWP needs to emulate that Microsoft really wants to make it an open ecosystem, as well as offer the ability to use Windows Store services in other stores, such as Valve's Steam and Adobe's Creative Cloud . He offers several bullet points arguing in favor of using PKI ( Public Key Infrastructure ) for signing UWP apps, easier app side-loading for consumers, not requiring Microsoft's approval and Windows Store DRM, as well as ceding control over software updates and payments to developers: Be sure to let us know your thoughts on this in the comment section below. Do you think Microsoft should open up UWP more, and why? Source: VentureBeat via WinBeta 2016-03-11 14:28 Adrian Potoroaca

46 How to fix Microsoft Edge's worst problems Microsoft is definitely on the right track with Edge -- its new browser is a big improvement over Internet Explorer, but there’s still a long way to go until it’s good enough to challenge the likes of Firefox and Chrome. Extension support is still missing, although I hear from a Microsoft source that it will be coming to a Windows 10 Insider Preview very, very soon (and to the rest of us when the Redstone update for Windows 10 rolls out in June/July). If you’re using the new browser and having problems, here are some solutions for the most common Edge issues. SEE ALSO: How to fix Windows 10's most annoying problems Can't change the default search engine You’re not alone. Microsoft has made moving away from Bing as difficult as possible. It can be done, but the process for doing so is far from obvious. To do it, you firstly need to go to the search site you want to set as the new default, like www.google.com , and click or tap the ellipses (…) in the top right corner of the browser and select Settings . Scroll down and select View advanced settings . Scroll down to Search in the address bar with , select Bing (www.bing.com) and then Add new . Google should appear in the list of search engines. Select it and click/tap Add as default. Can’t find or clear browsing history Tap on the Hub button at the top (three lines) and click on the clock icon. The standard keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+H works in Edge too. You can browse your history, and wipe it entirely by clicking the Clear all history link at the top. You’ll be given the option to remove Browsing history, Cookies and saved website data, and Cached data and files (all three are selected by default), as well as optionally clearing Download history, Form data, and Passwords. Click Show more and you’ll also be able to clear Media licenses, Pop-up exceptions, Location permissions, Full screen permissions and Compatibility permissions. Text in Edge appears too small You can increase the size of text on a page using the Ctrl+ and Ctrl- key combinations, or click the ellipses and use the zoom there. To change the size in Reading View, click the ellipses and select Settings. Scroll down to Reading and change the font size. Edge is running slowly Try clearing out cached data and loading the site again. Click the ellipses (…) and go to Settings. Click Choose what to clear under Clear browser data and delete your browsing history and cached files. Restart Edge and see if that fixes the issue. It’s also worth trying to open the problem page in InPrivate mode. Websites won’t load Try loading the same sites in a different browser. If that works, it’s not your internet connection that’s at fault. Follow the same steps listed for the previous problem and clear browser history and cached data, then restart your browser and try again. Flash content isn’t playing Edge comes with Flash Player installed. You can check it’s enabled by clicking the ellipses and opening Settings > Advanced Settings You’ll see Use Adobe Flash Player listed. Make sure it’s set to On. Can’t change downloads location Changing the default downloads location is done not in the browser -- where you'd expect -- but in File Explorer. Launch it and you’ll see a Downloads folder on the left. Right-click it and select Properties. Click the Location tab, and enter the new path where you want downloads saved to. Click Apply. If you want to move the existing folder (taking any completed downloads with it), click on Move , choose a new folder location and say Yes. Image Credit : alphaspirit / Shutterstock 2016-03-11 14:15 By Wayne

47 Pay What You Want for this Hardcore Game Dev Bundle valued at $1,601 Today on offer via our ELearning section of Neowin Deals, you can Pay What You Want on a Hardcore Game Dev Bundle. Consider coding your Call of Duty : 10 courses (108+ hours) on Unity3D, JavaScript, SpriteKit and more. With the Pay What You Want bundles, you can get something incredible for as little as you want to pay while making the world a better place. And if you beat the average price, you’ll receive the fully upgraded bundle! Included in this Pay What You Want deal, are the following courses: The bundle represents an overall retail value of $1,601 but you can Pay What You Want. Please note that as of writing, a minimum of $10.50 is required to unlock the full bundle , any amount under (which is also possible) unlocks the last two courses noted above with an asterisk. Make the Top of the Leaderboard at ANY point during the sale and gain five entries to win a chat with New York Times Best-Selling author Ramit Sethi and take control of your personal finances! Make it onto the leaderboard at ANY point during the sale and gain one entry to the giveaway! 10% of the profits from your purchase will go towards the charity S ave the Children , which invests in childhood – every day, in times of crisis and for our future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. By transforming children's lives now, we change the course of their future and ours. Full terms for each package in the bundle and above giveaway can be found here. That's OK. If this offer doesn't interest you, why not check out other giveaways on the Neowin Deals web site? There's also a bunch of freebies you can check out here. We also have a Makerbot 3D Printer giveaway or a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7" giveaway you can enter for a chance to win. If you aren't a Samsung fan, try your luck on the $1000 Apple Store giveaway over on Neowin Deals! How can I disable these posts? Click here. Disclosure : This is a StackCommerce deal or giveaway in partnership with Neowin; an account at StackCommerce is required to participate in any deals or giveaways. For a full description of StackCommerce's privacy guidelines, go here. 2016-03-11 14:02 Steven Parker

48 Dell releases new XPS 13 Developer Edition, launches Linux- based Precision laptops worldwide On the laptop side, Dell may be best known for its Windows devices, but, as some of you may already know, it also offers some killer Linux- based alternatives for prosumers. It all started out nearly four years ago with Project Sputnik , which led to the release of the first-gen XPS 13 Developer Edition, a Ubuntu-flavored version of the popular ultrabook, in late-2012. Fast forward to today and Project Sputnik is more than just a one device effort, as Dell has expanded the reach of the program to also include some of its professional-grade laptops. Now, the company steps it up a notch by introducing the Intel Skylake refresh of XPS 13 Developer Edition, and making the Ubuntu-toting Precision laptops available worldwide. What are the highlights of the new XPS 13 Developer Edition? Well, Project Sputnik lead Barton George says that it can be had with sixth-generation Core i7 processors, with a Core i5 option also on the cards, solid state drives with up to 1 TB of storage, up to 16 GB of RAM, InfinityEdge display (with fullHD and QHD+ versions), Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Long Term Support) and all the "necessary hardware drivers, tools and utilities" one might need. If you are not familiar with what LTS actually means, it is a branch of Ubuntu which Canonical supports for five years from its release. In contrast, the standard version of the operating system is guaranteed to receive updates for at least nine months. LTS is, therefore, a better option for Project Sputnik devices, because such laptops are aimed at professionals who seek reliability over cutting-edge software features. George notes that Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (codenamed Xenial Xerus) will make its public debut in April, but there is no "date for when factory installation will become available" although support is planned. Those who wish to upgrade are advised to follow Canonical's instructions, which are available here. Among the changes that Ubuntu 16.04 LTS brings are Linux 4.4, Python 3.5 and Golang 1.6. When I first talked about Project Sputnik, I noted that Dell made a popular choice by opting for Ubuntu. This distribution is still among the most popular, currently ranking third on Distrowatch.com , behind Mint and Debian. The new XPS 13 Developer Edition can now be purchased in US , with Canadian and European availability "being ready for launch as we speak", according to George. Prices start at $1,549 for a sixth-generation Core i7-6560U version with 8 GB of RAM, a 256 GB SSD and the QHD+ InfinityEdge display. Regarding the worldwide availability of Ubuntu-based Precision laptops, Dell says that we are looking at Precision 5510, Precision 3510, Precision 7510 and Precision 7710 workstations. These devices can all be customized depending on the customer's needs, but only the first two are available as of right now; the other two models will be offered "within a week", according to George. George also says that customers will see a number of over-the-air patches for these systems, which were not available early enough to be included in the shipping software. 2016-03-11 13:56 By Mihăiță

49 Three weeks after launch, Lumia 650 UK price begins to fall; now available from £149.99 Last month, Microsoft announced the Lumia 650 , with little fanfare, in a blog post on its site. In the UK, the 650 was priced at £159.99 unlocked and off-contract, and went on sale there on February 18. But while Microsoft continues to sell the device at that price , the Lumia 650's price is already starting to fall at other retailers. Three weeks after its launch, leading independent device retailer Carphone Warehouse is now selling the 650 for £149.99, and similar reductions are becoming available elsewhere too. Expansys, for example, is offering the black Lumia 650 for £150.99 , although the white version is still being sold at the full price of just under £160. Amazon's price for the black 650 is now £148.99 ; however, the device is currently out of stock from Amazon itself, but independent sellers there are also offering the device for just over £150, albeit in limited quantities. Given how quickly and frequently even the high-end Lumia 950's price was cut in the UK - dropping by 24% from its original list price in just a few months - it might be worth waiting a bit longer to see if prices fall further if you're considering picking up the new Lumia 650. The Lumia 650's key specs include: The company said in its announcement that the new Windows 10 Mobile was "built for business", although besides its sleek, ultra-thin, premium design, there's little evidence of what makes it more uniquely suited for business than other devices in its range. Notably, it lacks the PC-like Continuum feature that Microsoft has been promoting towards business customers. And while the 650's predecessors - the Lumia 640 and 640 XL - both launched with a free Office 365 subscription , there's no such offer for the Lumia 650. Other features on the 650 that Microsoft has highlighted as "the smart choice for your business" - including Office apps, Cortana and OneDrive - are available on other Windows phones, and even on iPhone and Android devices. Our full review of the Microsoft Lumia 650 is coming soon. In the meantime, check out our unboxing and first impressions of the Windows 10 Mobile device. 2016-03-11 13:46 Andy Weir

50 UK government launches a fast online identity verification service A new service has launched in the UK, which will allow the country’s citizens to easily verify their identity online. Called CitizenSafe, it is the brainchild of global specialists in identity data intelligence, GBG. CitizenSafe was created after a survey had shown that people expect to access government services easily and securely online, and that online identity verification was a key step. It will be integrated within the UK government's gov.uk Verify service, and GBG says it will cut the time needed to verify an identity to mere minutes. Suzy Thomas, head of CitizenSafe’s Customer Experience, commented: "Technology is changing everything around us and everything we do. Our ambition for CitizenSafe is to transform government services. Gone are the days of queuing with your passport and ID in order to prove who you are. You can now simply do everything online, whenever is most convenient". "But as the ease and speed of accessing services is prioritized, CitizenSafe is working to ensure that security and online safety are not compromised. Through gov.uk Verify, the UK government is helping to fight the growing problem of online identity theft; it’s the first of its kind in the world, stopping criminals pretending to be you", added Thomas. The survey mentioned earlier revealed that 81 percent of British citizens expect to access key government services as easily as they access banking services. Those include filing tax returns, managing pensions, and claiming redundancy pay. It also found that 80 percent of respondents already used online banking outside usual office hours. Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved. Image Credit : Gunnar Pippel / Shutterstock 2016-03-11 13:34 By Sead

51 Nest introduces family accounts and a new way to track your activity Nest, a company now owned by Google, makes products that home automation enthusiasts sometimes salivate over. What began with a thermostat has expanded somewhat to include such things as smoke detectors. One drawback with the system was the way Nest's app works. If you have a family then controlling things could be a problem, and that's something Nest has set out to solve by introducing Family Accounts. Now you, the spouse and the kids can all control the system. The company is also adding a Home/Away feature so that it knows if someone is present. It does so by tracking your phone for geolocation, though there's a bit more to it than that. For instance, if someone is home the heat may go up. If not, it will dip slightly. "Family Accounts let up to 10 people access the Nest products in your home using the Nest app with their own Nest Accounts. No more sharing logins or passwords. It’s easy to add and remove people from your Family Account. So now the whole family can control the Nest Thermostat, get notifications from Nest Protect, see what’s happening at home with Nest Cam, and get their own copy of the monthly Home Report", Nest announces. As for Home/Away, it uses more than just geofencing, which can be inaccurate -- it can assume you're home when you're down the block at a friend's house. So Nest "uses learning algorithms and activity sensors built into Nest products". All of this is available now, you just need to download and install the latest update to the Nest app. 2016-03-11 13:21 By Alan

52 General Motors buys self-driving car software company General Motors said Friday it has turbocharged its effort to win the self-driving car race with an acquisition. The automaker — which is racing against tech giants Google and Apple , not to mention traditional car makers — said it has purchased San Francisco-based Cruise Automation, a software company dedicated entirely to self- driving car technology. The Detroit-based manufacturer declined to say how much it paid for the startup, which has backing from Silicon Valley venture investors Y Combinator and Signia Venture Partners. But the acquisition suggests GM is shifting into high gear when it comes to rolling out cars that will either largely or entirely move through traffic using sensors and other technology. "We have a timeline that we are not announcing today, but I will say we are moving very, very fast," Kyle Vogt, founder of Cruise Automation, told USA TODAY of the integration and testing of Cruise's software in GM vehicles. GM CEO Mary Barra has vowed to keep the automaker ahead in the self-driving car race, acknowledging that the company must be agile and willing to adapt its business model to survive the coming revolution in the auto industry. GM is already developing self-driving versions of the Chevrolet Volt semi-electric vehicle on its sprawling Tech Center campus in Warren, Mich. The company also plans to introduce automated technology that allows a new Cadillac to steer itself on the highway later this year. The company recently invested $500 million in ride-hailing firm Lyft as experts predict that self- driving cars will first catch on with ride-hailing and taxi companies like Lyft and Uber before consumers begin buying them. "Fully autonomous vehicles can bring our customers enormous benefits in terms of greater convenience, lower cost and improved safety for their daily mobility needs," GM President Dan Ammann said in a statement. Ford Motor , Tesla , Toyota and other companies are also developing cars that will drive themselves. On Friday, Ford announced the creation of a new subsidiary, Ford Smart Mobility, a unit dedicated to building new smart technology for cars, including autonomous cars. Cruise Automation will operate as an independent, San Francisco-based unit within GM's recently formed Autonomous Vehicle Development Team, led by Doug Parks, one of Barra's long-time confidants. GM expects to close the deal in the second quarter. GM global product chief Mark Reuss said the company plans "to invest significantly" in Cruise's team, suggesting their investment in Cruise is far from over with Friday's acquisition. Vogt declined to expand on planned hiring except to say that the company currently has a team of 40 people and "we are hiring very aggressively. " 2016-03-11 13:03 Kaja Whitehouse

53 Fighting censorship: Edward Snowden, Amnesty International, AdBlock and Pussy Riot Online advertising is incredibly divisive, and for World Day Against Cyber Censorship, AdBlock is opting to replace banner ads that would normally be blocked with links to Amnesty International. The human rights group is fronting an anti-cyber-censorship campaign, joined by Edward Snowden, Pussy Riot (famous for rubbing up Russia's President Putin the wrong way) and Ai Weiwei. The aim of the campaign is to promote freedom of speech online but highlighting examples of free speech being censored -- not just in obvious places like China and North Korea, but also the United States and the United Kingdom. Government control of the internet is something that many think is restricted to limiting what journalists are able to publish online, but as the campaign highlights it's a problem that can affect anyone. In order for there to be censorship of the internet, there has to be surveillance -- and this is one of the reasons Snowden is involved. The former NSA contractor succinctly says: "Even if you're not doing anything wrong, you're being watched and recorded". Amnesty International explains : Governments are avidly seeking the power to control ever greater aspects of online communication. While some governments seek laws empowering authorities to carry out intrusive mass surveillance and censor what people see online, others are trying to acquire technologies that allow them to spy on people, hack their devices, or censor free expression online. The decision by AdBlock to promote the campaign by pushing through ads to its users will no doubt be seen as controversial, but CEO Gabriel Cubbage feels that it is a very worthy cause: With big names such as Edward Snowden, Pussy Riot and Ai Weiwei involved, the campaign has a lot of appeal. World Day Against Cyber Censorship is 12 March, so keep an eye out for the campaign from tomorrow. 2016-03-11 12:55 By Mark

54 Microsoft slashes 58% off LG Lancet Windows Phone, now priced at just $74.99 Last May, LG unveiled the Lancet , its first Windows handset since it abandoned the platform to focus on its Android devices, before the launch of Windows Phone 8 in 2012. LG's return to the platform wasn't exactly a full-hearted embrace of Microsoft's mobile OS - the Lancet was available exclusively in the United States, and only on Verizon, and the company soon launched an Android version of the same device as well. Verizon priced the Lancet at $119.99 without a contract, but the Microsoft Store has also been selling the device, albeit at the much higher price of $179. Microsoft has now slashed its price by 58%, making it considerably more affordable than buying direct from the carrier. Its price cut brings the Lancet down to just $74.99 off-contract - that's $104.01 less than it was previously offering the device for, and $45 (38%) less than Verizon's price . The Lancet's specs are a bit of a mixed bag - it has a very capable processor, a decent camera and 4G LTE support, but its relatively small low-res display won't be to everyone's tastes: Still, Windows Phone fans on Verizon aren't exactly spoilt for choice - the only other handsets available from the carrier with Microsoft's OS are the Lumia 735 (which Verizon released over nine months after it was originally announced ) and the ageing HTC One M8 for Windows . It's also worth noting that the LG Lancet is officially supported by the Windows 10 Mobile Insider Program - so if you're looking for an affordable CDMA device on which to test new builds, or even for testing app development on the new OS, it may well be worth a look. Source: Microsoft Store 2016-03-11 12:22 Andy Weir

55 67 percent of enterprises will increase spending on software defined infrastructure Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI) involves the virtualization of all hardware resources, combined with elastic scaling and management automation, server virtualization is usually the starting point for SDI, but additional approaches have emerged in recent years, including software-defined networking (SDN) and software-defined storage (SDS). Whatever the route taken SDI is growing in popularity. According to the latest data from 451 Research , 67 percent of enterprises will increase their SDI spending this year. Improved agility and flexibility is cited by 65 percent as the top benefit of SDI. Spending on SDN is set to increase in 37.4 percent of companies, and on SDS in 26.9 percent. Less than 3 percent are planning to curb budget allocations for these two technologies. The leading SDI vendor is VMware (66.3 percent), followed by Cisco (39.2 percent) and Microsoft (28.1 percent). "As every business becomes a digital business, decision-makers are looking to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of their overall IT environment; this is encouraging decision- makers to explore new IT delivery models", says Simon Robinson, Vice President of Research at 451 Research. Despite plans to increase spending, just 21 percent of organizations surveyed have implemented SDI in their environments today, and there are hurdles to broader adoption. For senior management, low maturity is the top barrier to SDI adoption while for non-senior management, lack of internal skills tops the list. "To achieve successful implementation, decision-makers should first conduct an audit of their internal skills and look to fill any gaps," says Nikolay Yamakawa, Senior Analyst at 451 Research. "Meanwhile, vendors should aim to play a more proactive role in communicating requirements and presenting case studies to help overcome these barriers". You can find out more about the findings in a webinar to be held on March 22. Photo Credit: wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock 2016-03-11 12:10 By Ian

Total 55 articles. Created at 2016-03-12 12:02