Новости за 15.12.2015

Best from Reuters

Image by Reuters

The Reuters news service has put together a collection of what it considers to be its best technology and science related photographs taken in 2015. Including robots, 3D printing, solar aircraft, a remarkable face transplant and more, here are some of those pictures.

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released rules governing the registration of drones yesterday that left me slack-jawed – first with disbelief, then with fear. The rules show that the FAA is oblivious to either the risks of drones or the technological measures that could mitigate the risks, or both.

Microsoft has pulled an update to Windows 10 after users reported a wide variety of issues with the upgrade process, according to a post on the company's Answers technical support forum. 

Big data may offer companies a world of untold potential, but realizing the benefits is typically no walk in the park. That's why "big data as a service" platforms have begun to emerge, and it's also why Bigstep is taking a like-minded approach to the increasingly common data lake.

Breaking Qualcomm up is not the best way to turn its performance around, the company's board has decided.

Microsoft has deployed a new tactic in pushing users of older versions of Internet Explorer (IE) to upgrade, telling Office 365 customers that some IE versions would see a "significantly diminished experience."

The year in security research

Image by CSO

Security researchers were busy in 2015 — almost as busy as the criminals whose work they studied.

Among the notable numbers this year: Low tech 'visual hacking' proves to be successful nine times out of ten, most websites had at least one serious vulnerability for 150 or more days, click fraud costs businesses $6.3 billion a year in wasted ad money, and oh so much more!

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Historically, the topics of big data and analytics have been considered “IT” topics, whereas unified communications (UC) has fallen under the purview of the networking teams. Earlier this month, VOSS Solutions made an interesting announcement with a solution that brings these two previously disconnected worlds together.

Leverett, Mass., will improve its existing fiber-optic network by the start of the new year, boosting peak speeds from one gigabit to two gigabits, and dropping the price from $45 per month to $40, according to a report in the local Recorder newspaper.

Dell bought EMC for $67 billion (a move still pending). Hewlett Packard split up and got out of the public IaaS cloud market. Oracle tried to get in.

Over the past two weeks security researchers have seen a surge in attacks using a file-encrypting ransomware program called TeslaCrypt, known for targeting gamers in the past.

I’m a bit reluctant to blog about 2016 cybersecurity predictions, as it seems like everyone is getting into this act. Alas, this end-of-year tradition used to be the exclusive domain of the analyst community and a few industry beacons, but now it seems like every security tools vendor in the world is reaching out to me to tell me what they see in their crystal ball. 

Access to the web is changing how we think, according to a new study. Those who have access to the internet are more likely to consult it rather than their own memories when asked certain questions, the researchers found.

What do you do if you are worried about killer robots? If you are the Pentagon and those killer robots belong to the Chinese and Russians, then you propose a $12 to $15 billion budget to fund your own AI army and next-gen weapon technology.

The past year-and-a-half has seen a steep increase in the rate of adoption of cloud computing applications, with some of the biggest movers found in the government and regulated industries.

Once upon a time, like a lot of people, I was a huge Yahoo user. I spent weeks building the perfect MyYahoo home page that I visited every day. I had a Yahoo Mail account. I found everything from websites to news and gossip at Yahoo.com. I relied on Yahoo Sports for the inside story traditional sports journalists often missed. I stored and shared my pictures on Yahoo's Flickr.

Detachable tablets are growing in popularity as sales for standard tablets wane, according to a recent report from IDC. IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker forecast reports that tablet shipments will reach 211.3 million by the end of this year, which is an 8.1 percent decline from 2014. This marks a three-year trend in declining growth for tablets, while detachable tablets and hybrid devices continue to increase in popularity.

UK police arrest man suspected of Vtech toy hacking

Police investigating the hacking of Chinese toy company Vtech have made an arrest in the U.K.

In the attack on Nov. 14, someone gained access to information about Vtech customers, including names, email addresses, birth dates, photos and weakly encrypted passwords, the company said.

The information was stored in a database for its Learning Lodge app store, used by many of the company's educational toys.

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Police investigating the hacking of Chinese toy company Vtech have made an arrest in the U.K.

It’s that time of year when we ask security executives in a variety of industries what they would like to include on their holiday wish lists.

Windows 10 is the best operating system that's come along from Microsoft in a long time. It's a shape-shifter that changes its interface depending upon whether you're using a traditional computer or a touch-based one. It undoes the damage wrought by Windows 8, including eliminating the awkward Charms bar and bringing back the long-mourned Start menu. A lot more has changed as well, with a new default browser called Edge, the integration of the Cortana digital assistant and plenty more.

Conquering holiday stress

Image by Thinkstock

Workplace stress is a fact of life, especially in the always-on, world of IT. But the holiday season can add an extra layer of anxiety for many who already are stretched to the limit - but there steps you can take to mitigate it.

"For so many companies, this is the busiest time of year. But in addition to the heavier, more frenetic workload, there's the expectation that people will be merry, jolly and having a lot of fun, and that's an added... Читать дальше...

Get your ink on

Image by Image: Michael Homnick

It’s bound to happen. That contract you’ve been waiting for shows up in your inbox and you’re eager to sign on the dotted line. Then it hits you: You’re on your Chromebook. You’ll have to wait until you get back on your “real” computer at the office in order to put digital ink to paper.

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It’s a well-established fact that business performance is tied to good decision-making. (You can read all about this in a landmark study by Harvard Business Review.) Make smart decisions about market trends and international expansion, and your business units will grow. Avoid business intelligence dashboards and wise counsel, and you’ll make bad decisions that drive your business into the ground. In fact, it’s a series of micro-decisions that lead to good strategy. 

While the Internet of Things is gaining in popularity, makers of smart devices like robots, intelligent appliances and online-connected thermostats still need to straighten out their user interfaces. Right now, companies build physical interfaces into their products like dials and buttons, but those aren't great for executing complex commands like "go sweep the living room."