Twitter monetizes millennial nonsense with Pepsi-themed 'Promoted Stickers'
While I am technically not a millennial, I border on the cut-off. Actually, I think I am considered Generation Y, but I digress. Still, I can understand some of these young folks' likes and behaviors. While I cannot grasp the popularity of Snapchat, for instance, I totally love emoji.
Speaking of emoji, Twitter recently introduced "Stickers" which are really just emoji overlays for photos. In other words, you can jazz up your pictures on the social network with virtual stickers. Yes, it is arguably millennial nonsense, but it is actually quite fun. Today, Twitter announces 'Promoted Stickers' -- a way to monetize the feature. The first partner is Pepsi -- a sugar-water seller which once billed itself as "The Choice of a New Generation".
How to verify your HIPAA compliance
Keeping patients’ confidential records secure is of utmost importance to healthcare organizations and the vendors who work alongside them. Not only is the proper safeguarding of information a good practice, it’s the law.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) seeks to protect the sensitive data of patients and to empower healthcare practitioners to keep that information safe through strong security and privacy policies.
Technology at the Rio Olympics
The 2016 Rio Olympics is well and truly underway and technology is now playing a more prominent role -- both for the athletes and fans -- than ever before.
John Rakowski, director of technology strategy at AppDynamic, takes a look at the different types of technology being used in Rio during this Olympics season, featuring payments, video streaming and data.
ThiEye i60 4K action camera review
The GoPro Hero4 Black has triggered a 4K craze in the action camera market. Just about any new device that comes out these days seems to have 4K video recording listed in its specs sheet. What's interesting is that many of these products are offered at some unbelievable prices, significantly lower than what you would have to spend for a premium action camera, like GoPro's flagship. So, you can understand their appeal.
The ThiEye i60 4K is good example, being one of the most affordable 4K action cameras on the market today. It ticks all the right boxes in terms of specs, boasting a built-in display on the back, 4k video recording at 25FPS and 1080p video recording at 60FPS, but it can be had for less than $100. The bang for the buck factor is quite certainly very appealing, as it delivers some of the best features of the Hero4 Black -- the 4K video recording -- and Hero4 Silver -- the screen -- at a much more reasonable price point. But just how good is it really? I've put the i60 4K to the test to find out.
Microsoft announces Special Edition NFL Type Covers for Surface Pro tablets
NFL pre-season football is in full swing, meaning regular season games will be here before you know it. It is a league where anything can happen. Injuries (which are prevalent in USA football) can change rankings in the blink of an eye. If you participate in Fantasy Football, for instance, you know how things can change from week to week.
While many folks compete in fantasy leagues and track their favorite teams using smartphones nowadays, nothing trumps a full-fledged PC experience. This is what Microsoft's Surface Pro line of tablets can deliver. If you do use a Surface Pro 3 or 4 computer, and you love the NFL, Microsoft has something that will make you giddy -- Special Edition NFL Type Covers. Yes, all 32 teams are represented. This includes my favorite team, the J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS!
Minecraft Windows 10 Edition Beta gives the game an Oculus Rift-friendly VR makeover
Last year, Microsoft announced that a virtual reality version of Minecraft was in the works. Today Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta gains VR support, as Microsoft works with the Oculus Rift team to produce a more immersive version of the game.
In terms of controlling the VR version of Minecraft, you have the option of using a keyboard and mouse, or sticking with your trusty Xbox One controller. There are also a host of new VR-specific options to work with.
Firefox 49 for Linux gains plugin-free support for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video
Another plugin bites the dust. The Windows and macOS versions of Firefox have supported the Widevine video protocol for a little while now, and the upcoming Firefox 49 for Linux gets the same treatment.
What this means is that streaming video services that use the Google-owned protocol -- including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video -- can be watched without the need for plugins.
3 ways to secure your hybrid datacenter
To unleash the power of the hybrid cloud, enterprises need to create increasingly complex environments using a growing number of resources on top of Infrastructure-as-a-service platforms (IaaS). However, creating robust network topologies on top of IaaS is challenging and complicated. So, how can organizations implement a true, connected, secured hybrid cloud datacenter solution? A hybrid networking environment may look the same, but actually acts differently. Cloud providers’ tools and configuration often limit flexibility, jeopardizing visibility with poor network control.
Building a proper hybrid datacenter requires a deep understanding of the provider environment to connect, secure, segment, configure routing and enable access policy with a mix of internal and external subnets. What follows are three options for securing a hybrid cloud datacenter built on Amazon Web Services. If you don’t have a hybrid cloud datacenter with AWS, you can learn more about implementing one here.
New key hack exposes 100 million Volkswagen cars
Back in the day, people had to walk into a bank in order to rob it. They also had to walk into a car in order to steal it. Nowadays, people rob banks from the comfort of their home (or their parents’ basements), and it’s only a matter of time before they start hijacking cars the same way.
According to a couple of researchers, whose work has been covered by Wired recently, we’re already halfway there -- a new vulnerability has been found which allows hackers to remotely unlock 100 million Volkswagen cars.
New UK taskforce will tackle online abuse and harassment on Twitter, Facebook and beyond
Online hate crimes are to be targeted in the UK by a new specialist police team. Based in London, the small team of five officers will be tasked with identifying online abuse and helping victims.
In addition to this, the taskforce will use its two-year pilot program to educate and train other police officers and community groups about how to deal with online abuse and harassment, particularly on social media.
Apple gets green light to build Irish data center
After months of back and forth, Apple has finally gotten the approval to build its first data centre in Ireland. The approval was given by the Irish planning body -- An Bord Pleanala -- last week, despite being opposed by a couple of individuals and local businesses.
The planning body said the 197-hectares data center, to be built in a forest on the west coast of Ireland, will significantly boost local economy. The opposition says the building will have a negative effect on the local wildlife, and could have a negative effect in terms of flooding.
The increasing role of AI in cyber security [Q&A]
As attacks become more frequent and sophisticated, conventional security techniques and human analysis struggle to keep pace.
As a result many companies are turning to artificial intelligence methods to help them defend their systems effectively. We spoke to Peter Gyongyosi product manager of security intelligence specialist Balabit to find out more about how AI is increasingly the future of cyber security.
Europe wants to control the likes of WhatsApp and Skype like telcos
The EU is looking to exert greater control over online messaging tools such as WhatsApp and Skype. Documents seen by the Financial Times suggest that Brussels wants to treat such services more like traditional telecoms companies.
The proposals come amid mounting privacy concerns about data handling, particularly the "security and confidentiality provisions" from companies like Microsoft and Facebook.
UK law firms will be able to profit from pursuing cyber criminals
A pilot scheme from the City of London police means that private law firms will be able to profit from the pursuit of suspected cyber criminals. Rather than handling cases of online crime themselves, police will instead pass details on to private agents.
These firms will then able to use civil -- rather than criminal -- courts to seize the profits of cybercrime. It is thought that police forces are spending too much time and money fighting online crime, and that private agencies might be better equipped to deal with the problem.
If you cheat at Pokémon Go you could be banned... permanently
The relentless popularity of Pokémon Go continues and shows little sign of abating. Despite the threat of privacy issues and malware, millions of gamers continue in their mission to catch 'em all.
But if you were feeling tempted to use one of the various techniques that have been developed for cheating at the game, you might want to reconsider. Developer Niantic is now handing out permanent bans to cheaters after updating its terms of use.
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