Companies are already actively using big data. They just don’t call it that. While the phrase has problems, the technology is becoming more intrinsic to business. It turns out that no one knows what the heck big data is, and about the same number of companies are actually doing anything meaningful with it, according to a new study from Dresner Advisory Services. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. After all, despite years of big data prognostication, most companies still struggle to even put little data to use. This isn’t to suggest that…

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MIT researchers have developed a GPU called Eyeriss that could enable algorithms to run locally and instantly, instead of sending raw data into the cloud. This means that a future version of Siri could get you answers much faster. Ask Apple’s Siri, “What does the fox say?” and there’s a notable pause. It’s not because Siri, too, is stumped by the question, but because your speech is raced off to Apple servers in the cloud, where its meaning is analyzed by a collection of processors — known as a “neural network,”…

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Has the landscape of small business security improved over the last few years? This is the question I’m asking myself as we roll into 2016. As a former IT administrator for my friend’s small drafting company, which involved a wide breadth of IT related tasks from managing their five desktop computers to securing their network firewall, I’ve witnessed first-hand the types of IT challenges a typical small business faces on a daily basis. A common phrase echoed by politicians and economists is, ‘Small business is the backbone of the economy.’…

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The plans to track passenger details is also unjustified, even though it’s designed to combat terrorism The EU has called plans to track passenger details of anyone taking a flight in or out of Europe “unreasonable and unjustified.” The EU Passenger Name Record  (EU PNR) would involve personal information being handed over to security officials to help combat crime and terrorism, but the EU says the plans goes against civil liberties. The data provided to authorities, including Interpol, would include travel dates, ticket information, contact details, means of payment, seat…

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Companies are no longer afraid of the cloud. Big talk about security and performance issues has dwindled to small voices as enterprises and SMBs alike adopt cloud services to empower their global impact. Big cloud benefits, however — agility, scalability and on-demand access — are the result of a thoughtful, well-planned move from on-site servers to off-site resources. Here are four key tips for a soft cloud landing: Look Inward Before you go anywhere, stop and take a hard look at existing network infrastructure. While cloud services come with the…

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Just because we can invent something that works with a smartphone app doesn’t mean we should. Too many consumer devices are a solution in search of a problem. Every day, a new and incredible consumer technology pops into our lives. But somewhere at the intersection of cool and amazing lies a simple yet powerful truth: Most of today’s gadgets, gizmos and devices are either frivolous or incredibly overpriced. They are destined to go … absolutely nowhere. Nowhere is the evidence more apparent than at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where hype, hyperbole and…

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