Daily Tech Digest by Kannan Subbiah

January 14, 2015

Obama Cybersecurity Plan Seen Needing More Company Incentives
Most of what Obama will propose isn’t new. He’ll renew calls for Congress to pass stalled proposals, such as a federal data-breach notification law and legislation giving companies legal protections for sharing information about hacking threats with each other and the government. However, the concerted push has given industry officials who support the proposals reasons to be optimistic that they will finally be implemented, potentially setting the stage for even more progress this year.

Is banning encryption a crazy plan or an absolute necessity?
Comments this week by UK prime minister David Cameron have re-ignited the debate about how to weigh individuals' online privacy against the needs of law enforcement to be able to detect and prevent crime. "In our country, do we want to allow a means of communication between people, which even in extremis, with a signed warrant from the home secretary personally, that we cannot read?" said Cameron in a speech. "Up until now, governments of this country have said no, we must not have such a means of communication."

The Cultural Impedance Mismatch Between Data Professionals and Application Developers
It is well known that there is a technical impedance mismatch between object-oriented technology and relational database technology. It is also well known, although not as well recognized, that there is a cultural impedance mismatch which refers to the politics between the developer community and the data community. Specifically, these politics are the difficulties of developers and data professionals experience when working together, and generally to the dysfunctional politics between the two communities that occurs within IT organizations and even the IT industry itself. Worse yet, this impedance mismatch has become even more pronounced between the agile and data communities.

Facebook Unveils Facebook At Work, Lets Businesses Create Their Own Social Networks
The product puts Facebook head-to-head with the likes of Microsoft’s Yammer, Slack, Convo, Socialcast, and a huge number of others who are trying to tackle the “enterprise social network” space. Even LinkedIn conveniently let drop last night that it too was looking at building a product for coworkers to communicate and share content (but not chat, as a LinkedIn spokesperson tells me). Not all of these have been a hit: Lars Rasmussen, the engineering director at Facebook who is heading up the project, had in his past once headed up one of the failed efforts at an enterprise social network, Google Wave.

Use the Windows 8 registry to reduce CPU cycle waste
The Windows 8 registry is a big repository for the operating system to store its volatile and nonvolatile information. A Microsoft OS cannot operate without the registry database. Several actions are performed in Windows, depending on what is configured in the registry. In addition to using Registry Editor for desktop configuration, you can tweak two types of registry settings to improve the overall performance of Windows PCs. Let's start by looking at how to disable the background checks and other OS activities through the Windows 8 registry.

4 ways for IT to connect better with customers
IT workers who truly understand the business are better able to design systems to support and advance the organization's mission. And what better way to help IT workers gain that understanding than by bringing them together with the users they serve? In fact, according to Computerworld's 2015 Careers Survey, IT professionals report that the ability to interact with business colleagues is the top skill outside of technical expertise that will make them more valuable. Here's how leading IT shops model their workflows and business processes to incorporate communication and interaction between IT and its customers, and how that setup benefits the company — and the careers of IT professionals.

3 Common SQL Mistakes You are Probably Making as a Java Developer
Java developers also need to understand project requirements, design and develop a prototype for the assigned project, keep themselves updated with the latest changes happening in the programming industry and also have basic knowledge of other languages like HTML, SQL and many more! Professional life for Java developers is not a bed of roses and they have to try and meet each and every challenge head on. Even the best Java developers, at times, fall prey to some mistakes that could be avoided. Take for example the mistakes they make while writing SQL. These can definitely be avoided.

Keeping Skynet at bay: How humans can keep AI in check
"Perhaps the most salient difference between verification of traditional software and verification of AI systems is that the correctness of traditional software is defined with respect to a fixed and known machine model, whereas AI systems - especially robots and other embodied systems - operate in environments that are at best partially known by the system designer. "In these cases, it may be practical to verify that the system acts correctly given the knowledge that it has, avoiding the problem of modelling the real environment," the research states. The FLI suggests it should be possible to build AI systems from components, each of which has been verified.

A Manager’s Guide to Executive Coaching: 10 Questions and Answers
At some point in a manager’s career there may be an opportunity to consider hiring an executive coach. I’ve been coached, coached others, and managed executive coaching programs for a number of companies. Based on that experience, along with the advice of others, here are 10 questions and answers that managers may have about executive coaching.

Learning Fast in Design, Development and DevOps
User testing is of course another key element in the product manager's tool box. We don’t do it systematically but month after month we test our assumptions better, by observing users interacting with our products in conditions as close as possible to the real situations. Those practices and tools may seem pretty obvious now but it still a big cultural shift from 'thinking we know best what our users want and are willing to pay for' to relying more on discovery and user testing. This movement is still ongoing, but we had really impressive improvements recently! We also favor practices that maximize learning for all the actors whether they are fromproduct, devs, or ops:

Quote for the day:

"The one quality that can be developed by studious reflection and practice is the leadership of men." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

January 13, 2015

Using COBIT 5 to Deliver Information and Data Governance
Part of doing this successfully involves ensuring the availability of reliable and useful information for decision making. This clearly involves keeping the ratio of erroneous or unavailable information to a minimum. Limiting erroneous decision making also involves ensuring that reporting is complete, timely and accurate.2 Measuring performance here involves looking at the percent of reports that are not delivered on time and the percent of reports containing inaccuracies. These obviously need to be kept to a minimum. Clearly, this function is enabled by backup systems, applications, data and documentation. These should be worked according to a defined schedule that meets business requirements.

Computers may soon know you better than your spouse
To judge the effectiveness of the computer algorithms, researchers gave questionnaires to friends and relatives of some participants. The survey results and computerized assessments were then compared with the self-assessments from the subjects. With just 10 likes, the computer would know someone as well as a work colleague. With more than 70, it would get to the level of a friend or roommate, and with more than 300 to the level of a spouse or close relative. The study is notable because of its large sample size, said Jennifer Golbeck a computer scientist at the University of Maryland, College Park and the director of the University of Maryland Human-Computer Interaction Lab.

New Form of Memory Could Advance Brain-Inspired Computers
Phase-change memory is expected to hit the market in the next few years. It can write information more quickly, and pack it more densely, than the memory used in computers today (see “A Preview of Future Disk Drives”). A phase-change memory chip consists of a grid of “cells” that can each switch between two states to represent a digital bit of information—a 1 or a 0. In IBM’s experimental system, each “synapse” is represented by a pair of memory cells working together. Computer scientists have been working for some time on chips that crudely mimic neurons and synapses. Such “neuromorphic” designs are radically different from the chips we use today.

5 ways to give IT recognition
We all like to know that our efforts are appreciated. For people working in IT, recognition is too often neglected, simply because so much of what IT workers do is behind the scenes and goes unnoticed by the majority of employees. Click through to see five things that Paul Ingevaldson, author of The 9 ½ Secrets of a Great IT Organization, did when he was the CIO at Ace Hardware that cost little to nothing and that you can implement today.

Google Launches Cloud Application Performance Tool
Google Cloud Trace can perform a sort of "replay" analysis of a process stream to identify which users experienced slow request response times and then compose a report that identifies where the time is being spent in the system. Some slowdowns affect only a handful of users but nevertheless produce urgent complaints. Developers often have trouble identifying what's different about the response they obtained from the application versus other users. Cloud Trace is intended to speed the process up. Cloud Trace can break the steps of a single request down into the number of milliseconds that each part takes, pinpointing for developers the likely location of the slowdown.

Samsung, SmartThings and the open door to the smart home (Q&A)
In effect, Samsung is readying for the Internet of Things (IoT), the term for the concept of using sensors and other technologies to hook just about anything you can think of into the Internet. Analyst firm Gartner predicts the number of networked devices will surge to 26 billion units by 2020 from about 900 million in 2009, turning formerly "dumb" objects into smart ones that can communicate with each other. IDC reckons the IoT market will hit $3.04 trillion that same year. Samsung acquired smart-home startup SmartThings in August to help with its push. SmartThings' technology helps consumers to control their appliances with their smartphones, smartwatches and other devices, and SmartThings has been viewed as key to Samsung's smart-home and Internet of Things efforts.

DiversityMediocrityIllusion
When interviewing, we make a point of ensuring there are women involved. This gives women candidates someone to relate to, and someone to ask questions which are often difficult to ask men. It's also vital to have women interview men, since we've found that women often spot problematic behaviors that men miss as we just don't have the experiences of subtle discriminations. Getting a diverse group of people inside the company isn't just a matter of recruiting, it also means paying a lot of attention to the environment we have, to try to ensure we don't have the same Alienating Atmosphere that much of the industry exhibits. One argument I've heard against this approach is that if everyone did this, then we would run out of pink, sparkly marbles.

EU countries that set data retention rules must ensure they comply with e-Privacy Directive
In its opinion, the European Parliament's Legal Services unit said EU countries, since the CJEU's judgment, have had the option of either repealing their own laws on data retention or maintaining them. However, it said that should countries choose to maintain the rules then those rules must adhere to the e-Privacy Directive. ... The e-Privacy Directive sets out rules that generally protect the privacy of electronic communications and data associated with those messages, 'traffic data'. One specific provision places a general prohibition on the unauthorised storage of communications and traffic data.

The Future of Scaling and Strategy
One way that scaling strategies work is by distributing products and services through existing platforms. An existing network or platform may be able to replicate a product or service. This is especially helpful for non-profit programs who are already limited in regard to resources, but want to reach as many of those who would benefit from the program as possible. A small non-profit may be able to piggyback on an existing network, especially with the availability of cloud computing to get their message to a wider audience than they could otherwise.

Data Acceleration: Turning Technology Into Solutions
The landscape of solutions that foster data acceleration and enable a successful data supply chain has grown more complex than ever. Executives need to fully understand the technology components available on the market, because each supports data acceleration in unique ways. They also need to recognize that these components deliver maximum value only when they are combined in ways that capitalize on their complementary advantages. Only then can they decide which configurations may be best for their organization’s needs and discuss prospective solutions with vendors – and ultimately achieve returns from their analytics and big data investment.

Quote for the day:

"A good general not only sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible." --Polybius

January 12, 2015

Obama to propose new laws to protect consumer data, privacy
Obama will propose a new national standard that would require companies to tell consumers within 30 days from the discovery of a data breach that their personal information has been compromised, the White House said. The standard would need approval from Congress, where lawmakers have struggled to come up with a way to replace a patchwork of differing state regulations. As part of the law, Obama will also propose to criminalize overseas trade in stolen identities, the White House said. Obama will also resurrect a "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights" that the White House created in 2012. He will ask lawmakers to codify the bill into law.

Uptime Simplifies System and Server Monitoring
With its agents, Uptime also has the ability to automate some common self-healing tasks. You can set up profiles, for example, to detect when a Web server is down and can then automatically restart it without any need for operator intervention. This is a very powerful feature. You can also build scripts that can restart certain Windows services: these can run on the central monitoring station rather than as part of the agent code. Like other systems management tools, there is a wide collection of user roles that can be set up in a very granular way. These roles can be applied to specific elements or action profiles, with the ability to view, add new ones, or change existing ones

Wearables go niche and narrow in the search for consumer relevance
Thanks to Fitbit, Jawbone and a slew of new smartwatches, we tend to think of wearable tech as living on the wrist. But at CES, some wearable makers tried to distinguish themselves by moving their hardware to other parts of the body. In doing so, they stand less chance of being rendered obsolete by increasingly sophisticated smartwatches and fitness bands. The most oddball example is Belty, a smart belt that aims to track users’ waistlines and provide extra comfort. The belt’s mechanical strap automatically loosens and tightens as you sit and stand, and uses tension sensors to figure out your ideal level of comfort over time.

2015 Enterprise Dev Predictions, Part 2: Convergence, Security, Automation and Analytics
What this means for enterprise developers, Gardner said, is that they must contribute to the decision making process at the architectural level to ensure that developer requirements don't get short shrift. "They will have to advocate for themselves in a wider environment of decision making," he said, "so that concerns about things like security and deployment flexibility in the hybrid cloud don't obviate the needs and concerns of developers. They need to learn to explain their past decisions and current needs in such a way that they are respected in the larger picture." Which is not to say that you should go charging into the CIO's office with a list of demands.

Why Apple Pay won't be the death of Google Wallet
According to Jordan McKee, an analyst at 451 Research, Google's primary challenge is its name. The search giant is just that, a search giant, so most of its revenue comes from advertising. McKee said this can make merchants wary of Google's intentions. "Google is after data, and merchants remain hesitant to give that up," McKee said. "Many view working with Google as making a deal with the devil, fearing their data may be used against them for things like competitive offers." Both Apple and Google said that they do not share your credit card number with merchants who accept their respective payment systems.

Using Agile Retrospectives for Organizational Change
In agile, retrospectives are used for a team that works together and wants to learn from their joint past. For example it is a Scrum team wanting to learn from the last Sprint. Participants of a retrospective for organizational change are typically not members of the same team and do not share necessarily a joint past. Yet the retrospective for organizational change still allows them to bring different perspectives together, learn from one another’s past, and define experiments that allow dealing with complex change. Thus, a retrospective for organizational change is more about preparing for the future by enabling change than reflecting on the past.

Manjaro Linux: A few of my favorite things
Similar to the Gnome3 settings utility, but smaller and simpler, just a handy place where you can take care of things like administering user accounts, selecting the Linux kernel (more on this in the next point), checking hardware and configuring the keyboard type and language, and selecting what kind of notifications you want to get. This handy little utility is even customized with different content for the KDE and Xfce versions. I realize that this one might seem kind of trivial at first glance, but it has grown on me very quickly as I have been going through the initial setup and configuration of Manjaro on a number of different systems.

Peer into the Analytics Crystal Ball for 2015
We had a very good discussion on the call about how a CAO differs from a CDO and why an organization might look into putting both in place. We at IIA expect these roles to continue to proliferate in 2015. However, I have personally seen a lot of confusion with respect to these two roles. Many people seem to consider them interchangeable or accidentally mix and match the requirements of the two roles together so that it is hard to tell what exactly they are looking for.

Amazon Data Center Construction Fire Linked to Welding Mishap
The workers on site were welding roof components from inside the structure, “which ignited nearby combustibles,” the official statement read. The combustibles were construction materials stored on the roof. An AWS spokesperson confirmed this morning that the fire happened at the site where a third party contractor was building a data center for the cloud services company. The data center was not in production, so the fire did not affect any AWS users, she said. The contractor’s name was not disclosed.

3 Warning Signs to Watch for When Evaluating Vendors
Vendors become disingenuous for several reasons. The first is that circumstances change, they intended to do what they promised but conditions they had no control over caused them to change their minds. That is going to happen to everyone from time to time, change is a part of this industry. However, you want to look closely at how they deal with change because it typically goes one of two ways. ... The second reason is that often the folks you are talking to are out of the loop. In this instance, no one is being untruthful, but it does showcase a command and control problem inside the firm consistent with failure. If the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing the company won’t execute well.

Quote for the day:

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." -- Aristotle Onassis

January 11, 2015

Ranking the disruption potential of industry forces
We’re applying some Gigaom Research resources to mapping out the dynamics of industry disruption to create a framework for our readers and clients for identifying and characterizing disruptive forces so that they can drive them for their own success, or defend against being overwhelmed by them. ... We received over 100 responses, and we’ll be using that input as one of the drivers for our research. Overall, over 80 percent of respondents agreed “the economy as a whole was in a disruptive state with multiple strands of change.”

Breaking new ground for supporting the software-defined infrastructure (SDI)
To enable a unified view across software stacks, as well as support greater choice, HP experts plan, design and architect open SDI solutions based on open architectures such as HP Helion OpenStack across physical and virtual infrastructures. ... HP takes Datacenter Care to new heights by including capabilities for Helion OpenStack, DevOps, SAP HANA and multivendor systems, as well as additional support within Flexible Capacity. With HP, your IT infrastructure and application development teams benefit from faster access to infrastructure resources and global expertise, as well as increased IT stability.

9 Must-Have Skills to Land Top Big Data Jobs in 2015
The secret is out, and the mad rush is on to leverage big data analytics tools and techniques for competitive advantage before they become commoditized. If you’re in the market for a big data job in 2015, these are the nine skills that will garner you a job offer.

Will Enhanced Servers Do Away With Need For Switches?
“We’re getting rid of layers: layers of switches, layers of links between switches,” says MH Raza, Fiber Mountain founder and CEO. “Switching as a function moves from being inside a box called a switch to a function that co-resides inside a box we call a server. If we put the switching function inside a server, it’s the same logic as a rack front-ending a number of servers; it’s the housing of a server with a switch in it front-ending a bunch of VMs. Why can’t that decision be made at the server? It can be made at the server.” Raza says he knows of a vendor – whom he wouldn’t name – offering an Intel multicore server motherboard with a Broadcom Trident II switch chip and a high capacity fiber connector.

Cloud Integration Issues? Look to the Enterprise Architects
The core opportunities lie with the enterprise architect, and their ability to drive an understanding of the value of data integration, as well as drive change within their organization. After all, they, or the enterprises CTOs and CIOs (whomever makes decisions about technological approaches), are supposed to drive the organization in the right technical directions that will provide the best support for the business. While most enterprise architects follow the latest hype, such as cloud computing and big data, many have missed the underlying data integration strategies and technologies that will support these changes.

The Inside Story of How Sony Handled the Biggest Hack in History
"People relied on each other and it's a good thing they relied on each other, because there wasn't a lot of assistance coming out of the community, except for the FBI," Lynton said. While most Sony employees already were on the Everbridge emergency notification system, workers recruited the rest to sign up. If he had to do it again, Lynton said he would have made it mandatory to already be on it. Senior managers created text and phone trees to communicate and held twice-daily meetings. Thirty to 40 people worked day and night through the Thanksgiving holiday. When employees arrived to work on Monday, one week after the Nov. 24th hack, a "concierge"-like desk greeted them to help get them signed onto a temporary email system set up by the technology team.

Machine-Learning Maestro Michael Jordan on the Delusions of Big Data
It’s true that with neuroscience, it’s going to require decades or even hundreds of years to understand the deep principles. There is progress at the very lowest levels of neuroscience. But for issues of higher cognition—how we perceive, how we remember, how we act—we have no idea how neurons are storing information, how they are computing, what the rules are, what the algorithms are, what the representations are, and the like. So we are not yet in an era in which we can be using an understanding of the brain to guide us in the construction of intelligent systems.

Top 5 IT Resolutions for 2015
2015 is finally here and as most of the corporate world returns to work this week, it’s time for executives to come up with some New Year’s Resolutions of their own. While you’ve no doubt (I hope) already come up with your IT budget for 2015, there are a few housekeeping items that should be on your New Year’s Resolution list for your business when it comes to your technology. Drawing a blank on how to improve your situation in 2015? Here are our top 5 IT resolutions for 2015.

Apache Spark 1.2.0 Supports Netty-based Implementation, High Availability
Apache Spark 1.2.0 was released with major performance and usability improvements in the Spark core engine. It represents the work of 172 contributors from over 60 institutions and comprises more than 1000 patches. Spark 1.2.0 is fully binary compatible with 1.1 and 1.0 and includes a Netty-based implementation, which significantly improves efficiency. Spark streaming adds support for Python and High Availability via Write Ahead Logs (WALs). In addition there is a set of machine learning APIs called spark.ml.

The debate about good governance
The World Bank’s work on good governance addresses economic institutions and public sector management, including transparency and accountability, regulatory reform, and public sector skills and leadership. The United Nations highlights democratic governance and human rights, aspects avoided by the Bank. The IMF declares that “promoting good governance in all its aspects, including by ensuring the rule of law, improving the efficiency and accountability of the public sector, and tackling corruption, are essential elements of a framework within which economies can prosper.”

Quote for the day:

Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them. -- John C. Maxwell

January 10, 2015

M-Files: A better SharePoint than SharePoint
First, M-Files is very easy to install and configure. That is a refreshing difference compared to some of M-Files' competitors that have very complex requirements and lengthy installation procedures. Second, your information is stored by what it is and where it rather than where it is. Storing information by what it is saves you time and effort in locating a document later on. Think about trying to remember a document name three or six months after you first used it. How many folders will you have to search through to find it when you can't remember its name?

Why Once-Successful Companies Fail
In many cases, executives believe that if there is a control system in place, it will do the job for which it was intended. However, in many organizations, systems and policies are constructed for day-to-day transactions but not for analyzing the abundance of raw data – think Big Data – to make sense of what it all means. Long-term sustained performance is based on transforming data into analyzable information for insight and foresight to support decision making. This is where business intelligence, business analytics, and enterprise and corporate performance management systems with embedded analytics fit in. Software technology is no longer the impediment for performing investigation and discovery.

Office fitness trackers: Fun perk or creepy leash?
“Corporate wellness programmes are well-funded, well-respected and well-liked, particularly in the United States, despite the lack of hard evidence on their effectiveness,” said Jonathan Collins, principal analyst for ABI Research. He estimates that around 13m trackers will be brought into corporate programmes in the US alone by 2018, compared with only around 200,000 in 2012. Much of this is driven by the high cost to companies of health insurance in the US. “In the future when you get hired to work at a company they’ll say, ‘you're going to be enrolled in our wellness programme.’

Technology to improve India's shocking health indicators
There is finally some good news though. India is waking up to the fact that something must be done urgently to rectify its healthcare. And the country is taking the right approach. Authorities are looking at various ways in which technology can be used to better the ground realities. The best part of this is that, the initiatives are not just from the government side. Private parties are chipping in too. ... RA Mashelkar, the former Director General of CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) agrees. “We need technology for addressing issues like the high incidence of anemia prevalent among women in rural India, and such others”. He feels technology can definitely play an important role in resolving healthcare issues in rural India.

IoT for Home Automation
The Internet of Things, IoT, is upon us in a huge way and people are rapidly inventing new gadgets that enhance our lives. The price of microcontrollers with the ability to talk over a network keeps dropping and developers can now tinker and build things inexpensively. Developers and hardware enthusiasts no longer need to wait on others to invent or build all the "cool" stuff! The value of IoT is in both data and control. With home automation it is nice to have a log of events to know when a family member did something like got home or when they turned on the fireplace.

The Hacker's Manifesto turns 29 years-old
"Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for. I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual, but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike." It's been twenty-seven years since I first read those words, twenty-nine since they were written. If encouraging curiosity, accumulating and sharing knowledge, keeping an open mind and judging others on their deeds and not their circumstance or looks, or being a hacker means I'm a criminal – then I'll wear that title proudly for the rest of my days.

Intel's diversity goals face many challenges
It will be incredibly hard to change the status quo, train managers to hire people who aren't from similar backgrounds, and ultimately get people to admit the tech industry isn't the meritocracy it should be, said Ginny Clarke, an executive recruiter for talent firm Knightsbridge who works with tech companies on diversity hiring and retention. "We're really talking about a culture transformation," Clarke said. Change needs to take place at the deep core of a company. "I'm skeptical ... I'm not cynical yet, however, and I want to see it work."

Intel CEO Krzanich unveils wearable processor Curie
Intel noted that it introduced Edison, a computer the size of a postage stamp designed for wearables. Krzanich unveiled Curie, a computer about the size of a suit button. Intel's wearable strategy revolves around partnerships. Curie is just out of the labs and a prototype, but will land in the second half of 2015. "This changes the game on wearables," he said. ... "Everything that was once standalone is now becoming smart and connected," said Krzanich. Intel's CEO highlighted how the company could integrate security and RealSense in ADP security systems. Think authentication to get into your house.

Data Science And Statistics: Colleges Must Evolve
We generally find that specific majors aren't a perfect fit – and are often pleasantly surprised by "non-predictor" candidates who connect the academic/commerce dots in the interview process. Often it's the research and internship work that seals the deal. Computer science and math majors can be great but can also be overly theoretical, while students without pertinent work experience may not have the requisite data and computation skills. Several recent physical/natural science majors with strong research backgrounds have become capable apprentices.

An implementation of a list splicing and traversing library
The goals of this exercise was to write a set of useful list functions while exploring the possibilities of what using a list data structure provided. The basic operations were to be able to add or remove items from a list and to make changes to the list. I looked to the splice() function provided by php as a model for the Splice() method implemented in this package as well as to the C++11 Standard Template Library for a model for applying algorithms to the elements of a list. In order to make the If types of methods - FindIf(), FindIfNext(), ForEachRemoveIf(), etc. - more useful and flexible,

Quote for the day:

"Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson