Daily Tech Digest - December 23, 2017

What Metrics Should You Evaluate When Looking at Hyperconverged Infrastructure?


When it comes to hyperconverged infrastructure, some in the IT industry view the merits of hyperconverged infrastructure through the storage lens. This seems logical because hyperconverged technology offers many benefits on how we provision, consolidate, and manage storage. But the metrics that those select few look at are too focused on storage-specific features, such as the number of nodes or terabytes, rather than VM-related measurements commonly used for other software-defined infrastructures such as the cloud. Since hyperconverged infrastructure shifts the paradigm from managing infrastructure components to managing VMs, there should also be a shift in the metrics used to measure it. But with bias present among the vendors, how will customers find the true hyperconverged metrics that matter?



5 Sectors Blockchain Is Disrupting That Are Not Cryptocurrency

5 Sectors Blockchain Is Disrupting That Are Not Cryptocurrency
For a few years now, "blockchain" and "cryptocurrency" have gone hand-in-hand. The blockchain concept is complicated, and involves constant-growth record lists linked together and secured through cryptography (think of the Cryptex from The Da Vinci Code). Each block of the chain envelops a hash pointer relating to the previous block, as well as transaction data and a timestamp. The idea of a blockchain isn't relegated to the infant-era cryptocurrency revolution. Massive worldwide corporations are beginning to incorporate blockchain technology into their systems. The technology behind the blockchain is far more valuable on a global scale than any market capitalization of cryptocurrencies. Here are five large sectors currently being disrupted by the potential of this technology


Europe Unveils Its Vision for a Quantum Future

The commission clearly expects large-scale quantum processing using one or more of these technologies within five to 10 years. Whether this will be done in Europe first is much less clear. Quantum simulation is the third area of investment. Simulating complex quantum properties on an ordinary computer is close to impossible. But quantum systems can be made to simulate aspects of other quantum systems more or less perfectly. Physicists are toying with various ways of doing this. The basic idea is to find a quantum system that is well understood, and easy to manipulate and measure, and then use that to simulate a system that is hard to manipulate and measure. The well-understood systems include ultra-cold atoms and molecules, ions trapped in magnetic fields, and superconducting circuits.


Events, Flows and Long-Running Services: A Modern Approach to Workflow Automation


The idea is backed by the Domain-Driven Design (DDD) community, by providing the nuts and bolts for leveraging domain events and by showing how they change the way we think about systems. Although we are generally supportive of event orientation, we asked ourselves what risks arise if we use them without further reflection. To answer this question we reviewed three common hypotheses:
Events decrease coupling; Central control needs to be avoided; and Workflow engines are painful. ... A more sensible approach to tackle this flow is to implement it in a dedicated service. This service can act as a coordinator, and send commands to the others -- for example, to initiate the payment. This is often a more natural approach, as in this case we would generally not consider this a good design if the Payment service had knowledge about all of its consumers by subscribing to manyfold business events triggering payment retrieval.


Here's What Two Millennial Blockchain Founders Have To Say About Cryptocurrency

With so many different reports, it can be hard to make sense of the cryptocurrency landscape. One thing’s for certain—Bitcoin is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many promising blockchain projects sprouting up with millennials leading the way. From 24-year-old Vitalik Buterin who founded Ethereum, now the world’s second largest cryptocurrency to 26-year-old Justin Sun, who seeks to reinvent how digital creators get paid for their online content with TRON. ... “We don’t think you even need to hold dollars or pounds in the future we think people will literally be spending with their Mona Lisa tokens or with their gold or with their Apple stock, only what they want to hold not what they think they need to hold simply because it’s the only thing that’s accepted. People will literally be able to walk into McDonalds and pay with their Mona Lisa tokens and that’s why we created this company,” Gelderman says


Can RegTech Really Save Banks Billions Each Year?


The global investment banking industry is worth a few hundred billion dollars annually, as are both the audit and legal professions. And since the last decade or so, increased regulation has forced banks to devote around 10% of their salary costs to employing an army of compliance controllers to ensure that their transactions and processes meet the standards required by the law. And the stakes are high. Rogue traders, breaches of confidentiality, and reckless financial positions can expose financial institutions to fines, cripplingly negative publicity, and even prison sentences, not to mention huge financial losses. These stakes are what make banks the earliest adopters of many technological innovations. Banks are turning to Regulatory Technology (RegTech), chiefly Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Intelligence (IA) but also other developments in computing like blockchain


While Bitcoin Price Soars, Technological Advancements Continue in the Background

While Bitcoin Price Soars, Technological Advancements Continue in the Background
As such, it helps to assimilate any new or additional information in the context to help make more sense of it in comparison to other experiences. For example, imagine your buddy invites you to "catch some waves" and to your surprise, after two hours on the road you finally pull up to an indoor resort water park where they have one of those cool new "wave pools;" the waves are generated mechanically and are meant to impress, but not utterly frighten well-meaning vacationers. This is not the same as a trip to the beach right. The same can be said of traditional investment vehicles vs. cryptocurrencies and assets. Some key interactions with each are very familiar; however, the context of operating within a purely virtual universe where the data is publicly distributed and infrastructure is community owned is very important to how you choose to engage.


Our top 7 cyber security predictions for 2018

predictions crystalball
The Equifax and Anthem breaches were wake-up calls for many consumers, who are now asking questions about the safety of their online accounts. Most still have no idea about password alternatives or enhancements like multi-factor authentication (MFA) or risk-based authentication, but they are more aware that passwords alone no longer are enough. In fact, research done by Bitdefender shows that U.S. citizens are more concerned about stolen identities (79 percent) than email hacking (70 percent) or home break-ins (63 percent). This is important, because companies often cite a lack of demand for stronger authentication as a reason for not offering it. ... State-sponsored attacks might also spur countries to form alliances to fight them. “Increased attacks on critical infrastructure will drive countries to begin discussing cybersecurity alliances. Establishing these alliances will provide mutual defense for all countries involved and it will allow for the sharing of intelligence in the face of attributed nation-state attacks, not to mention agreements to not attack each other,” says Eddie Habibi, CEO of PAS Global.


Agile for Marketing and Communication

Agile ensures movement, flexibility, and connection, and ensures that the right people are involved in communication. It also provides communication professionals with tools to keep a grip on the development of communication and the use of resources within the field of internal stakeholders. This way you can cope better with change and be more in control of the project schedule and state. It also provides self-organizing teams that take their own responsibility and add value to the product that’s being delivered. Therefore, it helps to finish assignments in a short period of time by focusing and making prior choices. During the preparation of the event RIVM Kennisparade for example, I only interfered one time with the progress when I was asked by the product owner. Because we’ve directly involved users, stakeholders and the necessary other organizational disciplines in the process, we have ensured support during the whole organization of the event. And that is a very good way to add value to our products.


The internet is broken

The internet was built on decades-old technology. Today, the internet comprises billions of devices, every one of which is more powerful than those upon which the internet and the web were built. Storage is exponentially cheaper and wireless technologies mean that countries are developing web infrastructures that aren't built on undersea cables. Our phones can scan our fingerprints and faces, making payments secure. Emerging technologies such as the blockchain enable experiments in new models for file sharing and value exchange. So let's consider a thought experiment: if we were to reset the internet - shut everything down and start again, using 30 or so years of experience - would it still look the same? Or would we design something different… even better?



Quote for the day:


"The sign of a beautiful person is that they always see beauty in others." -- Omar Suleiman


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