Hotel California and the Internet's future
When the Eagles released "Hotel California" in 1977, they were singing about drugs and the grip that addiction can hold over people. "We are all just prisoners here of our own device" is a stark reminder of how our own actions can end up trapping us, from which "we can never leave". But in the 21st century, these lyrics have taken on a new meaning. Look around any crowded place nowadays and it’s quite clear that many of us have become prisoners of literally our own devices -- smartphones, tablets, laptops, anything and everything with an Internet connection. Our lifestyles practically require us to always be on and connected to everyone else.
The Internet is our digital drug, and while it has proven immensely useful as a communications utility and public good, it has also enabled a select handful of powerful companies to take advantage of that need by monopolizing the Internet and segmenting it -- and us with it -- into silos under their control.
Dropbox is killing Carousel and Mailbox, and I am heartbroken
Dropbox is my absolute favorite cloud storage service. Even though I can get free storage to meet much of my needs from other providers, such as Microsoft, I still pay for the Dropbox Pro service. Why? Well, it is the only true cross-platform solution, working well with Ubuntu, Windows, iOS and Android -- all operating systems I use regularly. Not to mention, I love the interface style and constant improvements made to the service.
My most important files, you see, are my family photos. My memories are more precious than anything. This is where Dropbox really shines for me, as I can easily upload my photos to the cloud. My favorite app is Carousel, which ties into Dropbox so I can easily view and share these photos. Today, Dropbox announces that is is killing Carousel. Its popular email client, Mailbox, is being killed too, after a long period of neglect.
What's the most popular IT asset management software?
IT asset management (ITAM) software manages the lifecycle of hardware and software. It can help influence decisions about which assets need to be purchased, redistributed, or disposed of.
There is a lot of choice in the market when it comes to picking the right ITAM software for your company, but Camterra has made it easy by rating the top 20 IT asset management software solutions as measured by total customers, users, social presence and vendor size.
Twitter to display your selfies and cat photos better
Now that most smartphones take brilliant photos, it is convenient for people to take and share pictures. Back in the day, you would have to upload photos from your desktop or laptop to the web. Hell, many of us lived in a time where we had to scan our paper photographs -- yuck!
Sharing photos can be the most fun aspect of photography, and social media is ideal for that. Unfortunately, Twitter was designed to be a text-only service, so the additions of photo and video sharing, historically, have not been the best experience. With photos, for instance, they are often cropped in feeds, and must be clicked on to be seen in full. No more. Today, Twitter announces that it will end the evil cropping of uploaded images.
Microsoft tries to predict your future, no flying cars foreseen
It's that time of the year where predictions start flying. Most companies have a roadmap for what will really happen, but predictions about what's possible are always fun. It's shocking how many old science fiction books got it right with things like video phone calls and more. Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov did an especially good job nailing things down.
Now Microsoft is getting in on the action, with predictions for 2016 and beyond. These come from Microsoft's technology and research division, so it gets more attention, given these are the people working on these things.
Would you give up chocolate for better application performance?
Application performance is critical to business performance according to 98 percent of businesses, yet 89 percent of executives say the poor performance of enterprise applications has negatively impacted their work, and 58 percent say it impacts their work at least weekly.
This is the key finding of application performance specialist Riverbed Technology's Global Application Performance Survey 2015. 71 percent of respondents say they have felt frequently 'in the dark' about why their enterprise applications are running slowly, highlighting a disconnect between IT teams and business executives, and 27 percent would sacrifice chocolate for peak app performance.
To avoid a data breach, look to your employees first
Nearly half of IT and security professionals across global businesses and government agencies have suffered a security breach in the last 24 months. Headline grabbing hacks such as Talk Talk and Sony are putting both personal and corporate data increasingly at risk as growing numbers fail to keep personal information secure.
Recent news has seen data breach after data breach including those of communications giant TalkTalk, whose customer information was compromised due to a data breach by a third party, and even the Sony hack, where a lack of secure computer systems led to a release of confidential data. Whether a result of malicious intent or simple human error, it is clear that mismanagement of sensitive information is commonplace. A data breach puts your businesses reputation at risk, damages consumer trust and can impact the bottom line. So who exactly is to blame when a data breach occurs?
New solution helps enterprises manage web applications
The shift towards the cloud means that running applications is now often done in a browser. While this is convenient for the end user it can make life difficult for IT departments who need to know what's being used and where.
To address this browser management company Browsium, is releasing a new web application inventory and analytics solution for enterprises.
The most important Windows 10 Mobile smartphone is now available
When you look at which smartphones are most-popular with the Windows Phone crowd, you will not see many mid-range or high-end offerings making the top 10. That is because low-end devices, like Lumia 520, dominate the charts, a trend that is unlikely to change with the launch of Windows 10 Mobile.
This makes Microsoft's new Lumia 550 the most important Windows 10 Mobile device for the foreseeable future. Officially available starting today, it is first being released in Europe, with other major markets across the globe to follow shortly.
Ho, ho, oh no! Top tips for backing up your personal data this Christmas
Christmas time is a time for presents! As in years before, mobile devices like smartphones, tablets and notebooks are expected to top the Christmas gift charts, bringing joy to young and old throughout the world. While the older generation is enjoying the unwrapping and thinking about best installation practices, the younger "generation digital" has already set up their smartphones and shot selfies in front of the Christmas tree. But, no matter if young or old, digital-advanced or computer-basic, every one of them has precious and unique digital data on their devices that has a high personal value to them, like rare family photos with the grandparents, videos of a child’s first steps or the first date SMS by the beloved husband. Alas, all this precious data can easily fall victim to data loss, if the device gets stolen, broken or damaged.
To make sure that all your data stays safe and sound -- wherever it resides and whatever happens to the mobile device -- it is important to always backup your data. Follow these six easy steps to be prepared for the worst:
Run your own license plate recognition system with OpenALPR
IP cameras have always been marketed as security tools, but you probably don’t have time to watch them, and they wouldn’t give you much information, anyway.
OpenALPR is an open source software library which changes all that, by transforming an ordinary camera into your own automatic license plate recognition system.
How to disclose a security breach
The days and weeks after a major security breach can be trying, even for veterans of the security field. Chaos inevitably erupts as the organization attempts to assess and contain the damage. Often far down the list of priorities is the disclosure of the breach, but this can be one of the most critical steps for an organization to get right.
It is vital for financial reasons, to the recovery of the brand and for the viability of the company. It is not an easy task when customer’s personal information has been stolen. The reaction from customers is almost always the same: swift and highly critical of the organization and how it manages the aftermath.
How to enable Potentially Unwanted Application protection in Windows 8 and Windows 10
Enterprise users are always looking for ways to protect their systems, and Microsoft recently unveiled a new opt-in feature to protect against Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUA). PUA is a broad term that covers everything from adware to browser extensions, and users of Windows 8 and Windows 10 can enable the feature to block such nasties at a download level.
PUAs are described by Microsoft as "a threat classification based on reputation and research-driven identification", and includes unwanted components bundled with legitimate software. Venture into the registry, and a tweak can be used to enable protection against such unwanted elements.
Samsung updates Lollipop firmware to show Android security patch level
Responding to a spate of Android vulnerabilities and exploits, Samsung was one of the first companies to announce a move to monthly security updates for its handsets. This is great news for those concerned about the security of their phone, but for people running Lollipop there has been no way to check that the latest updates are installed.
Now this changes. Samsung is bringing the previously Marshmallow-only "Android security patch level" information to Lollipop handsets such as the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+. With just a few taps, it is now easy to check which month's security updates have been installed.
Windows Server 2016 switches to per-core licensing
Microsoft has always licensed Windows Server on a per-socket basis, but with the 2016 release this is due to change. When Windows Server 2016 launches in the second half of next year, things are being shaken up. As well as the two versions -- Standard and Datacenter -- including different features, there is also a move to per-core licensing.
In a couple of PDF datasheets, Microsoft reveals not only the change in licensing, but also that Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016 Standard and Datacenter Editions are scheduled for release in Q3 of 2016. The licensing change is unlikely to be welcomed by many, as it complicates a system that had become familiar -- and could also push up pricing.
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