DevOps means Test Automation (too)
You have started down the road to DevOps. You have re-structured your teams and you are experimenting with DevOps tools and processes. You now understand that DevOps is a continuum that starts with planning and development and ends with deployment into operations. So where do you start your DevOps initiative?
DevOps projects tend to start in only one part of the continuum. Often, DevOps teams start with application build automation (development) or they start with automating the deployment of apps into operations. When the driver for DevOps is in the test organization, it is called Continuous Integration. However, it is also important to work to continuously expand automation across the continuum because for DevOps to pay off, there needs to be continuous automation from development all the way through to operations.
Open source framework enables native mobile app development
Although HTML5 has allowed apps to work across platforms, there's still demand for companies to develop native apps for the major mobile platforms.
Progress Software is launching the latest version of NativeScript, an open source framework on the Telerik platform, enabling developers to use JavaScript to build native mobile apps running on the major mobile systems.
EU GDPR: Get your data privacy act together
The moment of reckoning is on its way for companies that collect or store data on European Union citizens. Last week EU legislators signed data privacy regulations into law, creating what may be the most stringent data protection law in place today. The requirements will not be easy for many companies to meet and will demand financial and personnel resources. There is sure to be criticism that the EU stifles technology innovation. In reality, the GDPR demonstrates a progressive approach to data transactions and the digital economy. The introduction of the regulation states, "The protection of natural persons in relation to the processing of personal data is a fundamental right…".
Essentially, the law codifies the concept that data transactions come with responsibility on the part of the collector. As technology continues to advance, establishing this foundation of trust is a necessary step. Complying with the regulation may seem onerous, but think from the consumer’s perspective. Organizations gather more data than ever. Huge headaches and hardships arise when data is stolen or lost. The regulation puts in place best practices to ensure companies offer a necessary level of security and treat personal data with the respect it deserves.
Best Windows apps this week
One-hundred and seventy-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.
More and more full price games are coming to the Windows Store. This week alone saw the release of the long awaited Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, as well as Shadow Complex Remastered, and The Escapists: The Walking Dead.
Take, annotate, process and share your screenshots with Photon
Photon is a free PC screen capture tool for Windows Vista and later. The program’s core capture engine is basic, but good sharing support and some unusual processing options make it worth a closer look.
Install Photon, press PrtSc, and you’re prompted to draw a freehand rectangle. There’s no full screen capture type, no "active window", no ellipses or anything advanced, unfortunately (like we said, it’s basic).
Five ways to take your passwords to the next level
World Password Day is apparently a day for “taking our passwords to the next level”, so here are five traditions the crooks and password crackers really, really don’t want us to start.
In 2007, Dinei Florencio and Cormac Herley at Microsoft Research looked into the password habits of half a million users in their large-scale study of website password habits. They found that the average user needed about 25 distinct passwords but only had about six.
Apple continues iOS enterprise ascension with SAP partnership for iPhone and iPad
When it comes to business devices, employees can often have a big impact on decision-making. In other words, they can influence IT and executives by expressing a desire for the same type of device they use at home. When Blackberry devices, for instance, fell out of favor with home users, they soon lost their luster in the enterprise too.
iPhone and iPad devices are wildly popular in the enterprise, but not only because employees love them. They are also very secure, thanks to things like touch ID and regular operating system updates. Apple has even partnered with world-class companies, such as IBM, which bolstered the positive perception for iOS. Today, Tim Cook and company announce yet another monumental partnership, this time with SAP.
BBM finally gets video calling on Android, iOS
In an effort to remain competitive with rival messaging platforms, BlackBerry has decided to bring video calling to its cross platform BBM messaging apps.
Last week, it was unveiled that the Android variant of BlackBerry Messenger would be receiving the ability to make video calls as a beta feature. Now the company has announced that this feature will also be appearing on Apple’s iOS.
Xiaomi Yi 2 action camera now official
Xiaomi Yi is among the most attractive action cameras for consumers on a budget. For just under $80, you get pretty much everything you could hope for. The only thing that is missing is 4K support, which is now starting to show up in more and more devices in this segment. Its successor, however, addresses this shortcoming.
Yi Technologies, the company behind Xiaomi Yi, has officially announced the second-generation of its action camera, called Yi 2. It packs a new chip, formally known as Ambarella A9, that enables 4K video recording at up to 30 FPS and 1080p video recording at up to 120 FPS.
Microsoft buys Internet of Things company Solair
Microsoft has just announced that it has acquired the IoT service Solair -- based out of Italy -- though the financial details surrounding the transaction have yet to be released.
The company was founded in 2011 and it uses Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to deliver its services. This will allow Solair to easily be integrated into the Azure IoT suite.
Restrict access to individual Android apps with Avira AppLock+
Android’s lock screen is a strong first layer of protection for your mobile, keeping snoopers firmly locked out of your device. But once you’re in, just about everything else is freely accessible. And if you’d like others to browse your photos, but not anything else, that could be a problem.
Avira AppLock+ offers one solution, enabling PIN-protection for individual apps or entire groups.
SCOSCHE unveils MagicMount PowerBank for Android and iPhone
Removable phone batteries used to be a very important thing to me. It is one of the reasons, at least initially, I shunned the iPhone for Android smartphones. Over time, however, this became less important, thanks to USB battery packs. Ultimately, I bought an iPhone and couldn't be happier.
The problem with these battery packs, however, is that the cable creates a bit of a mess; it looks unsightly to have a wire dangling from your pocket. Meanwhile, battery cases are often bulky, ruining the svelte nature of the phone. Now, SCOSCHE unveils its MagicMount PowerBank for Android and iPhone. By utilizing magnets, it can be easily affixed to the rear of the phone when needed, and removed when not. The super-short cable will prevent tangling too.
Don't want Windows 10? Good news -- the nagging will end soon
Microsoft today stated that the free upgrade period for Windows 10 will end on July 29 and after that if you want the new OS, your options are to buy a new PC running it, or to purchase a copy for $119.
If you have no interest in Windows 10, and are happy to stay with Windows 7, or 8.1, the good news is the end of the free period will also mean no more nagging to upgrade to the new OS. Or it will reduce at least, as the software giant will be removing the 'Get Windows 10' app from systems.
LAPD hacks iPhone 5s, but how?
The iPhone 5c belonging to San Bernadino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook is not the only iPhone that the US authorities have managed to hack this year. According to a report by Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Police Department has "bypassed the security features" of an iPhone 5s.
The iPhone 5s in question was used by April Jace, the wife of The Shield actor Michael Jace, who is facing murder charges, being accused of killing his partner on May 19, 2014. And, according to court documents reviewed by the publication, on March 18 the LAPD claimed to have found a "forensic cellphone expert" who could hack the device, which is believed to hold important evidence in the trial.
Microsoft says Windows 10's free upgrade offer is coming to an end soon, but questions remain [updated]
When Microsoft announced Windows 10 back in 2014, it confused people in a couple of ways. Firstly, everyone was expecting it to be called Windows 9, and, secondly, when Terry Myerson, Microsoft's executive vice president of Operating Systems said the OS would be free for the "first year", which left pretty much everyone wondering what that actually meant.
Talk of "Windows as a service" had people thinking that Windows 10 might follow the same yearly subscription model as Office 365, but as we now know, that wasn’t the case. Windows 10 is currently a free upgrade to users of Windows 7 and 8.1, but that offer is drawing to a close.
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