Search Results for: iolo

How to quickly end the war in Ukraine -- deploy $10 laser pointers

President Zelenskyy of Ukraine is begging NATO for a no-fly zone they can’t risk providing. So I came up with another solution -- $10 laser pointers. 

Buy 100,000 laser pointers and give them to Ukrainian mothers (not kids -- too dangerous). Even the puniest lockable laser pointer (notice the keys?) can temporarily blind a pilot at a distance of more than a mile, so what will 100 non-puny laser pointers do to the same aircraft? It would not only create an effective no-fly zone, it might kill hundreds of Russian pilots before they figure it out.

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Using voice biometrics to stop fraud and deliver a better customer experience

Speech recognition

Cybersecurity pros have an unenviable task: helping businesses mitigate risk and keep consumer data safe, all in the midst of a continually evolving threat landscape. Yet even in the face of daily news stories of data breaches, they manage to spot some silver linings. When it comes to digital security, each year brings a bit of good along with the bad, and cybersecurity professionals celebrate the former while reminding us we need to be constantly improving if we want to protect our customers and our companies.

A look back in the rearview shows 2021 was no different. The bad: by the end of September, the U.S. had already seen more data breaches than all of 2020. Even more concerning, a 2021 Forrester survey of individuals responsible for implementing enterprise passwordless authentication, a proven cybersecurity measure that helps defend against these breaches, showed adoption is lagging with half of the respondents less than three months into the process.

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Joni Mitchell and Neil Young pull their music from Spotify citing concerns over Joe Rogan's COVID vaccine misinformation

Headphones on Spotify logo

Following the lead of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell has asked Spotify to remove all of her music from the streaming platform. Both veteran artists have voiced concerns about Spotify playing host to Joe Rogan who has been using his podcasts to spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccinations.

Young had said that Spotify had to make a choice: "They can have Rogan or Young. Not both". Now Joni Mitchell has spoken out, saying that "I stand with Neil Young".

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Instagram now lets you proudly display your preferred pronouns such as ve, xyr, and zir


Sex and gender are two different things. For many people, these match. Using myself as an example, I was born biologically male and identify my gender as such. I prefer to be called "him" and "he." For some other people, however, their gender does not match their sex. And yes, despite what some ignorant people may think, this is absolutely factual -- sex is biology while gender is a social construct.

This is why you really can't assume someone's gender or pronouns. Just because someone looks to you like they are biologically female, for instance, that doesn't mean the person wants to be referred to as "she" or "her." Heck, some people identify as a gender that is neither male or female. In theory, there are infinite genders -- and infinite pronouns.

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IBM simplifies development for the hybrid cloud

developer

As more and more businesses move to a hybrid cloud model it poses a challenge for developers who need to manage the complexities of the infrastructure alongside coding.

IBM is giving developers new ways to quickly get cloud-native apps up and running with its Cloud Code Engine. This allows the deployment of an application running on a developer's laptop to the cloud in seconds, without additional work required at the developer's end.

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5 amazing new uses for AI in 2021

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has quickly emerged as a game-changing technology, often helping researchers uncover insights much faster than they otherwise could.

Here are five impressive ways that researchers have already capitalized on AI this year.

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Telematics can be a valuable tool in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine

One thing authorities are learning with the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is that data matters. Since the first vials of this medical breakthrough began leaving their factories on highly specialized refrigerated trucks in December last year, there have been numerous reports of seemingly avoidable mistakes.

From a miscommunication between logistics officials and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that left 14 states with vaccine shortfalls to reports of vaccine shipments going to waste or spoiling because of poor timing or confusion over protocols, there is a general state of confusion clouding this initial phase of the distribution effort.  With the CDC reporting more than 16 million cases and 300,000 deaths in the U.S. throughout 2020, the stakes could not be higher, and these mistakes could be avoided.

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2021 Prediction #6: COVID-19, Clubhouse, and The Great High School Reset

To this point in my tech predictions for 2021 I have ignored COVID-19, which we all do at our peril. Now that we know the pandemic is real, that it won’t just disappear, and that half a million people in the US (so far) are dead from it, what are predictable longer-term impacts? I see plenty changing in how we work, how we use social media, and how education has generally failed. Coming out the other side of this mess several aspects of life will be different, but school probably won’t be one of those.

I have an unusual perspective on these times since I am a parent of three sons (19, 16, and 14), I have a background in IT, yet my first job out of college 48 years ago was teaching high school biology, chemistry, physics, and vocational agriculture. Oh, and I home-schooled two of my kids for two years ending about 18 months before the pandemic began.

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Three-quarters of security analysts fear missing alerts

business fear

Almost 75 percent of security analysts are worried about missing out on alerts according to a new study carried out by IDC for FireEye.

The research, which surveyed 300 IT security managers and security analysts in the US, also shows that nearly half of the alerts security analysts receive are false positives, and almost a third get ignored.

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The state of SOCs in a post-COVID world [Q&A]

DevSecOps

The past year and the rapid changes it has brought have placed a good deal of pressure on security analysts and made their work vitally important.

A new report from Respond Software and the Ponemon Institute takes a look at the state of security operations centers (SOCs) and how they're coping.

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My top 5 language AI books

AI speech bubble

Language AI is one of the most challenging areas of artificial intelligence, one where mainstream AI is far from coming near human-level performance, because it needs world knowledge to be solved (AI complete).

The shortcomings of modern machine learning approaches can be explained by the low efficiency of artificial neural networks. Because natural evolution is mainly driven by efficiency, I developed a strong interest for biologically inspired natural language understanding, hence the following book recommendations.

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System Mechanic 21 unveils major facelift alongside new network and process scanning tools

iolo Technologies has unveiled System Mechanic 21, a landmark new version of the venerable -- but still acclaimed -- system tune-up tool for Windows PCs. It’s a noteworthy release thanks to a major user interface update, but also boasts two new scanning tools, step-by-step guides and -- in the Pro release -- improved antivirus protection.

The new redesign is immediately apparent the first time the product is run, accompanied by a streamlined install process, clean and simplified dashboard, and pop-up guides that can steer users through their first run with major parts of the program.

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Sophos launches open AI developments to fight cyberattacks

AI security

Cybersecurity company Sophos is announcing four new open artificial intelligence developments with the aim of improving defenses and making the use of AI in cybersecurity more transparent.

Although in other industries it's become common to share AI methodologies and findings, cybersecurity has lagged which doesn't help understanding of how AI can protect against cyberthreats.

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5 ways AI is improving healthcare post-COVID

Coronavirus

COVID-19 has highlighted the need for change in the healthcare industry. When the pandemic eventually subsides, medical systems will emerge with the knowledge of where they need to improve. AI in healthcare can and will address many of these issues.

Medical AI is nothing new, with 89 percent of healthcare executives reporting that AI is already helping them. Now that healthcare improvement is a more prominent issue, the adoption of this tech will only increase. The post-COVID medical world will rely on these technologies. Here are five ways healthcare organizations will use AI to improve after the pandemic.

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How to enhance security education, training and awareness for employees

Training course

Many organizations struggle to develop education, training and awareness initiatives that are impactful, engaging and resonate with the audience. Typically, a lack of funding forces organizations to run plain, dull, repetitive awareness campaigns, or they just do enough to meet regulatory requirements. This approach to changing security behavior is fundamentally flawed -- however, there are several cost-effective approaches that organizations can use to change, promote and sustain good security behavior.

Firstly, the idea of 'blanket awareness' is dead -- all content needs to be tailored and contextualized to specific role requirements. For example, a senior executive will not experience the same threats as a marketing manager, so why should they both have to complete the same training course? Each employee should be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to identify and respond appropriately to role-specific threats. Security mentor schemes are particularly helpful in upskilling movers and joiners, and a robust threat intelligence and incident management capability can help inform awareness campaigns of emerging and common threats that each role is likely to experience.

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