Under-pressure CIOs fret about their digital project skills
There's a cultural tension between IT's desire to do things clearly and in a predictable way and the way you need to operate with digital projects, Gartner Fellow and vice president Dave Aron said. "Traditional IT people like certainly and clarity and there's not a lot of that in the digital world," he said. "What's happening now is CIOs have to continue to provide that really professional, solid core infrastructure but they also have to deal with their company's need to succeed in an increasingly digital world."
Fridge sends spam emails as attack hits smart gadgets
About 25% of the messages seen by Proofpoint researchers did not pass through laptops, desktops or smartphones, it said. Instead, the malware managed to get itself installed on other smart devices such as kitchen appliances, the home media systems on which people store copied DVDs and web-connected televisions. Many of these gadgets have computer processors onboard and act as a self-contained web server to handle communication and other sophisticated functions.
The Disruptive Potential of Artificial Intelligence Applications
AI is working across many different industries, but I have detailed three examples below of technologies that many people do not realize are already being enabled through artificial intelligence. These cases are also illustrated by examples of technology that you may be very familiar with, but unfamiliar with the data-gathering techniques and artificial intelligence technology behind these systems. This is very important for business leaders across industries to take note of, as the opportunity to differentiate in a mobile and digital world will become increasingly crucial.
REST Services - Security Best Practices
REST is an architectural principle and is not a standard by itself, but recommend the use of standards such as HTTP, URI, XML and JSON and formats such as GIF, MPEG, etc. ... REST services being based on HTTP specifications is prone to all the security vulnerabilities as that of a web application. Thus REST implementation while it is the easier choice due to its inherent advantages, should also be implemented with due considerations to a combination of compensatory security practices
Can we build an artificial superintelligence that won't kill us?
Another reason for a rapid transition from human control to machine control is the one first described by I.J. Good, what we now call recursive self-improvement. An AI with general intelligence would correctly realize that it will be better able to achieve its goals — whatever its goals are — if it does original AI research to improve its own capabilities. That is, self-improvement is a "convergent instrumental value" of almost any "final" values an agent might have, which is part of why self-improvement books and blogs are so popular.
UK Government Takes Control Freak Approach To Tech
“The big spenders are still under control and only work with the big systems integrators,” Chan says. “The small guys can’t get a foothold in big government contracts, and while we still think of multimillion pound contracts and big gesture politics, rather than things that can work in a small way, this will always happen.” Speaking on digital rights, Loz Kaye, leader of the Pirate Party UK, tells Forbes that it would be political suicide to actually legislate for something as unpopular as Cameron’s web filter. But this filter itself is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a deep misunderstanding or mistrust of technology.
New China-developed OS takes aim at Android, Windows
The Linux-based COS, which stands for China Operating System, is just the latest OS to come out from the nation, at a time when Android and Windows are found on most smartphones and PCs in the country. The makers of the software have been vocal in wanting to break the U.S. hold over China's software market. "The operating system has already risen to become a national security matter," said Shanghai Liantong Network Communications Technology in a statement on its website.
Machine to machine communications and the security of things
If someone compromises a physical device, then its contents, software, and settings are also compromised. Before you purchase an IoT solution or devices, you have to ask the question, "What information is available to a tech savvy thief?" Hopefully the answer is "none" but don't expect that to be the answer you get. Expect that any of your devices can be compromised and any data on them can be accessed. Be sure that your device vendor is aware of physical security and that you've covered the bases with him or her.
CIO considerations for digital transformation in 2014
Now is a golden age for pioneering CIOs to work in close collaboration with their C-suite counterparts to innovate corporate business models and processes using disruptive technologies to transform how work gets done. As we move swiftly into 2014, what are the top considerations for CIOs in terms of embarking upon their digital transformation agendas? Does the mission just require the powerful elements of the disruptive trends, and a strategy for leveraging their combination, or will it require more? How does one begin the digital transformation process and where’s the best place to start?
Non-functional Requirements in Architectural Decision Making
In software engineering, a tight relationship exists between nonfunctional requirements (NFRs) and software architectures (SAs). As early as 1994, Rick Kazman and Len Bass asserted that SA is intimately connected to NFR achievement. This idea has pervaded software development over the years and explains why development projects invest a lot into fulfilling NFRs. This general statement becomes more concrete when we consider how the concept of SA has evolved from a simple structural representation to a decision-centric viewpoint.
Quote for the day:
"A business of high principle attracts high-caliber people more easily, thereby gaining a basic competitive and profit edge." -- Marvin Bower
There's a cultural tension between IT's desire to do things clearly and in a predictable way and the way you need to operate with digital projects, Gartner Fellow and vice president Dave Aron said. "Traditional IT people like certainly and clarity and there's not a lot of that in the digital world," he said. "What's happening now is CIOs have to continue to provide that really professional, solid core infrastructure but they also have to deal with their company's need to succeed in an increasingly digital world."
About 25% of the messages seen by Proofpoint researchers did not pass through laptops, desktops or smartphones, it said. Instead, the malware managed to get itself installed on other smart devices such as kitchen appliances, the home media systems on which people store copied DVDs and web-connected televisions. Many of these gadgets have computer processors onboard and act as a self-contained web server to handle communication and other sophisticated functions.
The Disruptive Potential of Artificial Intelligence Applications
AI is working across many different industries, but I have detailed three examples below of technologies that many people do not realize are already being enabled through artificial intelligence. These cases are also illustrated by examples of technology that you may be very familiar with, but unfamiliar with the data-gathering techniques and artificial intelligence technology behind these systems. This is very important for business leaders across industries to take note of, as the opportunity to differentiate in a mobile and digital world will become increasingly crucial.
REST Services - Security Best Practices
REST is an architectural principle and is not a standard by itself, but recommend the use of standards such as HTTP, URI, XML and JSON and formats such as GIF, MPEG, etc. ... REST services being based on HTTP specifications is prone to all the security vulnerabilities as that of a web application. Thus REST implementation while it is the easier choice due to its inherent advantages, should also be implemented with due considerations to a combination of compensatory security practices
Can we build an artificial superintelligence that won't kill us?
Another reason for a rapid transition from human control to machine control is the one first described by I.J. Good, what we now call recursive self-improvement. An AI with general intelligence would correctly realize that it will be better able to achieve its goals — whatever its goals are — if it does original AI research to improve its own capabilities. That is, self-improvement is a "convergent instrumental value" of almost any "final" values an agent might have, which is part of why self-improvement books and blogs are so popular.
UK Government Takes Control Freak Approach To Tech
“The big spenders are still under control and only work with the big systems integrators,” Chan says. “The small guys can’t get a foothold in big government contracts, and while we still think of multimillion pound contracts and big gesture politics, rather than things that can work in a small way, this will always happen.” Speaking on digital rights, Loz Kaye, leader of the Pirate Party UK, tells Forbes that it would be political suicide to actually legislate for something as unpopular as Cameron’s web filter. But this filter itself is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a deep misunderstanding or mistrust of technology.
New China-developed OS takes aim at Android, Windows
The Linux-based COS, which stands for China Operating System, is just the latest OS to come out from the nation, at a time when Android and Windows are found on most smartphones and PCs in the country. The makers of the software have been vocal in wanting to break the U.S. hold over China's software market. "The operating system has already risen to become a national security matter," said Shanghai Liantong Network Communications Technology in a statement on its website.
Machine to machine communications and the security of things
If someone compromises a physical device, then its contents, software, and settings are also compromised. Before you purchase an IoT solution or devices, you have to ask the question, "What information is available to a tech savvy thief?" Hopefully the answer is "none" but don't expect that to be the answer you get. Expect that any of your devices can be compromised and any data on them can be accessed. Be sure that your device vendor is aware of physical security and that you've covered the bases with him or her.
CIO considerations for digital transformation in 2014
Now is a golden age for pioneering CIOs to work in close collaboration with their C-suite counterparts to innovate corporate business models and processes using disruptive technologies to transform how work gets done. As we move swiftly into 2014, what are the top considerations for CIOs in terms of embarking upon their digital transformation agendas? Does the mission just require the powerful elements of the disruptive trends, and a strategy for leveraging their combination, or will it require more? How does one begin the digital transformation process and where’s the best place to start?
Non-functional Requirements in Architectural Decision Making
In software engineering, a tight relationship exists between nonfunctional requirements (NFRs) and software architectures (SAs). As early as 1994, Rick Kazman and Len Bass asserted that SA is intimately connected to NFR achievement. This idea has pervaded software development over the years and explains why development projects invest a lot into fulfilling NFRs. This general statement becomes more concrete when we consider how the concept of SA has evolved from a simple structural representation to a decision-centric viewpoint.
Quote for the day:
"A business of high principle attracts high-caliber people more easily, thereby gaining a basic competitive and profit edge." -- Marvin Bower
