What's happening at IBM? (It's dying)
This is a column I didn’t want to write. Like many of you I am tired of IBM stories and the company that was once an industry leader has become, at best, a poster child for how not to manage the later stages of a corporate life cycle. But because what’s happening at IBM is also happening right now at hundreds of other big technology companies makes it worth covering. So let me be clear: IBM is dying.
Last week a huge round of layoffs hit IBM just as I predicted back in January. The company is releasing as few details as possible. Nobody, for example, knows exactly how big is this layoff -- how many people are being let go? IEEE Spectrum found one source that said the number was 30 percent of the U.S. IBM workforce, a number which IBM says is too high. I also believe 30 percent is too high, especially if you confound it with retirements, contractors being axed, etc.
Microsoft 'Project Rigel' delivers Skype Meeting without Surface Hub -- Logitech is on board
Video conferencing and remote collaboration are hugely important for modern businesses. As more and more employees choose to work from home or at off-site locations, it is imperative that they can interface in a meaningful way. Conference calls and email just won't cut it.
While Microsoft's forthcoming Surface Hub looks great, let's be honest -- it will be expensive and could be a hard sell to company decision makers. Small businesses in particular could be priced-out of that hardware. Today, Microsoft announces Project Rigel -- a way to deliver a similar Skype Meeting-based experience, as shown on Surface Hub, but without the super-expensive hardware.
Verizon will have to pay $1.35m fine over 'supercookie' tracking
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that it has found Verizon Wireless to have deliberately violated the privacy of its users.
Verizon Wireless is the largest US carrier with over 100m subscribers, but failed to disclose the practice of using supercookies in order to violate their users privacy from late 2012 until 2014, violating a 2010 FCC regulation on Internet transparency.
Flickr just lost its appeal -- and the war against Google Photos
Flickr has made a big comeback after giving users a whopping 1 TB of free storage, but now it is ruining everything by making a very important feature of the service available only to paying customers.
Flickr has announced that Auto-Uploadr, the software that enables users to upload photos from a desktop device, will only be offered to Pro and Pro+ subscribers, leaving users on the free tier out in the cold.
New survey identifies OpenStack adoption trends
With continuing demand for private and hybrid clouds, OpenStack remains one of the most popular solutions to implement them.
Cloud management company Talligent has released the results of its first State of OpenStack Report, an independent survey focused on identifying the key use cases, barriers and drivers for OpenStack adoption.
Microsoft hits a new low -- sneaks Windows 10 advertising into an Internet Explorer security patch
It seems there are no depths that Microsoft will not sink to in its relentless quest to get the world using Windows 10. It’s already made the new OS a 'recommended' update for Windows 7 and 8.x, which will see the update download and install automatically on some systems.
But the company's latest sneaky trick is beyond the pale. According to Microsoft’s own documentation, a new security patch for Internet Explorer also "adds functionality to Internet Explorer 11 on some computers that lets users learn about Windows 10 or start an upgrade to Windows 10". In other words, as well as fixing vulnerabilities with Internet Explorer, the security patch will also advertise the new OS to customers. In what world is that acceptable?
Open source database improves protection and performance
Most enterprises rely on databases in some form or another, but they can be vulnerable to attack from people looking to steal information. They can also lead to performance problems as the amount of data stored grows.
Open source database specialist MariaDB Corporation is launching its latest MariaDB Enterprise aimed at tackling the most pressing enterprise data management challenges.
Android Trojan targets customers of major banks and can bypass 2FA
Researchers at security company ESET have uncovered a new strain of Android malware that can steal the login credentials of mobile banking users.
Named Android/Spy.Agent.SI, the malware presents victims with a fake version of the login screen of their banking application and locks the screen until they enter their username and password.
The adoption of flash storage is slowly rising
Flash storage has a bright future ahead, IT decision makers from the UK, US and France agree. According to a new research by Kaminario and Vanson Bourne, the adoption of flash storage, such as solid-state drives, will increase as the performance of these devices improves, and the prices drop.
The research also shows that currently, less than 50 percent of storage media is flash, suggesting that there is a lot of space for growth.
Android Lollipop now reigns supreme, surpasses KitKat
The adoption of new Android distributions rises at a glacial pace so you should not expect the latest -- and, arguably, the greatest -- of the bunch to gain traction quickly. In fact, up until this month, the landscape was dominated by KitKat, which is now two and a half years old, and not Marshmallow, which Google introduced last October.
However, going into March, things have changed. KitKat no longer reigns supreme, as Google reveals that Lollipop is now finally running on more devices than its older brother. The usage share difference is relatively small, however, suggesting that it may take a while before KitKat will be as irrelevant as, say, Ice Cream Sandwich.
Google Docs now exports to ePub format
Google Docs has a new option allowing your documents to be saved directly to the ePub format.
All you have to do is click File > Download as > EPUB Publication. EPUB documents are widely supported across most ebook readers, so this could be a good choice for sharing your work with others.
Enterprises struggle to implement security without harming other business initiatives
While data security has become a priority for management, many businesses are still struggling to incorporate it effectively into their organization.
A new Data Security Survey from Dell reveals that although the C-suite recognizes the benefits of data security, organizations are still struggling to develop programs that effectively incorporate security strategies without detracting from other business initiatives.
TreeSheets: a smarter way to organize your data
TreeSheets is a freeform data organizer, which developer Wouter van Oortmerssen describes as "the ultimate replacement for spreadsheets, mind mappers, outliners, PIMs, text editors and small databases".
Okay, yes, that is a little over-ambitious, but van Oortmerssen -- a software engineer at Google, who formerly worked at Crytek on the original Far Cry -- knows what he’s doing, and TreeSheets delivers far more than we expected.
Do managers really know what's happening in their data centers? [Q&A]
A new survey from Intel Data Center Manager and Dell reveals that around half of IT managers don't really know what's happening in their data centers.
It also finds that only 53 percent of IT managers use DCIM systems, which provide critical info about power and thermal usage, despite the fact that 44 percent experience power issues and 37 percent cooling issues in their data centers on a weekly basis.
Online gamers hit by sexist, racist and homophobic abuse
Nearly a third of gamers say they have been harassed while playing online, figures from a survey by Broadband Genie show. 31 percent of players found themselves on the receiving end of abuse, and 13 percent of respondents said they don’t always feel safe in online games. While it's possible to dismiss some of the harassment as banter (bantz, if you will) this is not true in every instance.
Two thirds of gamers thought abusive comments could be classed as little more than banter, but the prevalence of racist, sexist and homophobic -- as illustrated by the ongoing Gamergate controversy -- serves as a warning not only for gamers, but for the parents of children let loose online. Some harassment is limited to within games, but in five percent of cases, victims said the abuse continued on social media and forums.
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