Category: Comments & opinions

You’ve been hearing a lot about cloud computing these days. If the many definitions of the Cloud seem a tad abstract and esoteric – you’re not alone. Go to any IT tradeshow or consulting conference and you’ll see liberal references and pictures of the Cloud. Many messages are often mixed with cloud enabling technologies like Software-defined Storage (SDS), hyper-converged/hyper-scalable virtual Server SANs, and the many different flavors of Flash. Let’s not forget vendor messages around Big Data, Virtualization and 2nd to 3rd Platform transformation to Mobile Computing. It’s no wonder…

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Lawmakers want search business separated from other commercial services The European Parliament is to vote on a motion calling for search giant Google to be split up this Thusday. The non-binding resolution, which was unveiled last week, could see the firm split its search business from its other commercial operations in a bid to reign in its dominance in the search market. The motion was launched by MEPs Ramon Tremosa and Andreas Schwab. “In case the proceedings against Google carry on without any satisfying decisions and the current anti-competitive behaviour continues…

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Website shows footage of babies sleeping in cots, offices and even a pub Webcam and CCTV owners are being urged to secure access to surveillance devices after it emerged a Russian website is making the footage available for anyone to view online. The website, called Insecam, streams live video from thousands of webcams without the owners’ permission. The owners also have no idea their premises are being spied on. In the UK, around 584 webcams are available to view, including feeds from offices, factories and even a pub in Egham.…

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To maximize the experience of CRM, you need to start from the outside in. “Outside” in this case refers to starting with the customer and working from there back into the heart of the CRM system. The goal is to develop a truly customer-centric enterprise with the focus fixed firmly on the customer. The result is higher customer satisfaction, more profitability and more customer loyalty. The starting place for outside-in CRM is the customer and the customer’s wants and desire. To begin to truly understand the customer you have to…

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The prototype platform uses ship traffic signals to track fishing activity Google has helped launch an ambitious project combining cloud computing, big data and satellite networks to monitor global fishing activity with an eye to curb overfishing. Global Fishing Watch, formed with environmental groups Skytruth and Oceana, is described as the first global view of commercial fishing based on satellite data analysis. It’s intended to “give citizens a simple, online platform to visualize, track and share information about fishing activity worldwide,” according to a release from Oceana. A prototype of the…

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The Nokia smartphone brand is officially dead. After a year of keeping the Nokia branding on its newly acquired mobile phone unit, Microsoft has unveiled the first  model—the Lumia 535—that ditches Nokia’s logo and stands on its own as a product from the Redmond, Wash., software giant. But aside from this branding milestone, it’s rather odd that the Lumia 535 is getting so much attention, given its specifications. The device is designed for budget-conscious shoppers who are seeking entry- to mid-level smartphones. Usually a device of this class wouldn’t get…

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Microsoft has sent out an email to Windows Phone developers, informing them that after December 31st, Windows Phone 7.x devices will no longer be able to unlock for app testing purposes. This move is intended to convince app developers who are still coding Windows Phone 7.x apps (for some odd reason) to update their apps to the latest operating system (Windows Phone 8.1). For those of you who are not familiar, developers are able to unlock their device for app testing. This allows app developers to hit a button in Visual Studio while…

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University researchers hail advances in light technologies that could lead to creation of all-optical systems University researchers have uncovered a way to manipulate glass that could help radically speed up computer data transfer and processing times by drawing on the power of light. The material could potentially allow computers to transfer information using light and, in turn, speed up system processing speeds, researchers from the University of Surrey, University of Cambridge and the University of Southampton have announced. Using a process called ion doping, the researchers were able to alter…

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The spectrum, in the 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz bands, is mostly in the hands of the Ministry of Defence right now, but will be up for grabs in late 2015 or early 2016. British mobile carriers and their customers should get more capacity in the coming years – the country’s communications regulator, Ofcom, has launched a consultation (PDF) on the auction of valuable radio spectrum that’s already being used for mobile broadband in countries such as India, China and Australia. All going well, the spectrum will go up for auction in late 2015…

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New research shows that “123456” is a good password after all. In fact, such useless credentials from a security standpoint have an important role in an overall password management strategy, researchers at Microsoft and Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, have found. Rather than hurt security, proper use of easy-to-remember, weak credentials encourages people to use much stronger passwords on the few critical sites and online services they visit regularly. “Many sites ask for passwords, but they require no security at all,” Paul C. Van Oorschot, a Carleton professor and a co-author…

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