52764979
submission
Shaneco writes:
Luke Skywalker had it right when he shut off his targeting computer before blowing up The Death Star. As gadget addiction continues to take a serious toll on stress, attention spans and self confidence, Star Wars' overarching message — use technology only for good and never let it replace your own human "Force" — is more relevant than ever. The dark side of technology use isn't just about cyber spying or hacking or theft. It's also about bullying on social media, excessive self-promoting and gossiping, and spreading violent or lurid content. If this is you, Darth Vader is hiring. Instead, take a lesson from a great Jedi warrior. Push the screen away from time to time and give your mind and personality a chance to shine.
49007393
submission
Shaneco writes:
Comedy. Tragedy. Triumph. Despair. PEBCAK. Systems administrators know them all — as evidenced by these tales from IT pros recognized on National SysAdmin Day. Be sure to take a moment today, and most other days, to thank the unsung heroes who keep networks safe and politely remind you — for the tenth time — that you must be connected to the VPN to use that app.
47117815
submission
itwbennett writes:
While Bateman is technically still an 'undeclared humanities' major, the former Family Ties star, now a college freshman, is intent on switching her major to computer science. She's posted bits of her code on her Tumblr so you can check on her progress. But she must be doing something right: she's scored a summer internship at Symantec.
46973711
submission
itwbennett writes:
'The takedown of Liberty Reserve and the arrest of Mr. Budovsky, didn't eliminate a spam-spewing botnet, dismantle a shadowy cyber crime group or stop China's Unit 61398 – it's true. But its impact on the cyber crime world may be far more profound,' writes security blogger Paul Roberts. And here are a couple of key reasons why: 1) Unlike other botnet takedowns, this one got to the gooey center of how criminals move money; and 2) There was international cooperation — even including a 'see no evil' south American government.
46948663
submission
ultrasawblade writes:
Android is leading the marketplace, and that's a good thing ... for Google. Not so much for HTC these days. With its sales making up only 5% of new smartphone purchases worldwide, and Blackberry's recent offerings further adding competition to an already crowded and saturated marketplace, is Windows Phone a viable way for HTC to return to some semblance of its former (Windows Mobile-esque) glory? A quote from TFA: "Branching out and offering a line of Windows Phones would be a good start to get some diversification for HTC. They could put Windows Phone software on their existing hardware with few modifications, and should Windows Phone take off then HTC would be at the forefront of the Windows Phone success ..." Because it worked out so well for HTC when Windows Mobile was starting to get subsumed by iPhone and Android in 2007 ...
46948649
submission
itwbennett writes:
Despite some backlash against Google's hands-free wearable computing device, the use cases for such technology are mounting. Mobile device management (MDM) specialist Fiberlink, for example, is betting big on 'wearable tech being used and proliferating in the post-PC era,' says Jim Szafranski, senior vice president of Customer Platform Services. 'Even though we're in the beginning days, we've got a lot of field applications that our customers are interested in,' he says. 'Right now, we've got guys climbing telephone poles holding tablets.'
46946331
submission
aurtherdent2000 writes:
Wired reports that robots at Cornell personal robotics lab can predict future human actions, and perform pro-active tasks such as opening doors and pouring beer when you need it. They used Microsoft Kinect to track humans, and by looking up into a database of human activities using machine learning algorithms figure out what the human is likely to do in the next 1 to 10 seconds. Here is a Youtube video.
46944431
submission
itwbennett writes:
In follow-up to 17-year old Robert Kugler's claim that PayPal denied him a bug bounty because he was under 18, the company now says that it is 'investigating whether it can lower the qualifying age for vulnerability rewards for those who responsibly report security problems.' The company also said that the vulnerability had already been reported by another researcher — although they didn't mention that in the email to Kugler telling him he wouldn't be receiving payment.
46944113
submission
CowboyRobot writes:
Perhaps the most intriguing — and potentially frightening — technology on display at Google's recent I/O developers conference was a collection of networked wireless sensors that were deployed inside San Francisco's Moscone Center. Rather than just let attendees soak up the atmosphere at I/O, Google decided to measure, analyze and report on that atmosphere. It used 525 wireless devices that detected noise levels, humidity, temperature and other variables. The network, which comes out of Google's Data Sensing Lab, was made up of cell-phone-sized circuit boards connected by a ZiGBee wireless network managed by Etherios. If we don't create social and legal rules to establish how that knowledge can be used and by whom, the job will be done for us by default. Or by Google.
46942595
submission
jfruh writes:
Google has for years released its Nexus line of phones, Google-branded Android handsets that lack phonemakers' "value-added" cruft. But at the recent Google I/O conference, the search giant announced that it would also be offering a vanilla-Android version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 for $650 unlocked. The question is: beyong a small community of developers and Android purists, who would care enough to buy these phones? And are there are enough potential buyers to make it worth Google's trouble?
46916423
submission
itwbennett writes:
Are good developers really that hard to find? Cambridge, MA-based inbound marketing company HubSpot seems to think so. The company has upped its developer referral bonus from $10,000 to $30,000 — and you don't have to be an employee to get in on the deal. Beats a free puppy.
