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Salesforce.com Announces East Coast's Largest Cloud Conference--Should Midsize IT Even Care?

Salesforce.com is an enterprise leader in cloud computing and customer relationship management (CRM). Dreamforce--its massive vendor technology conference--already draws huge crowds. Now, CEO Marc Benioff has announced Cloudforce in New York city, taking place October 19 at the Javits Center. ...

Embodied Intelligence: Is IT Paying Attention?

Embodied Intelligence (EI) holds that intelligence emerges from brain, body, and mind. And perhaps most important is their interaction with the environment. Also known as Embodied Cognition, EI emerged out of limitations of classical AI, which assumes intelligence resides in ...

Using an Enterprise-Ready Content Management API Improves IT Collaboration

Many companies already offer cloud-based services. Now another company is jumping into the field and offering its own content management service-as-a-software (SaaS) package for free. The company--Alfresco--has recently teamed up with Salesforce.com to release its Connector application. IT managers at ...

Rideshare App Companies Innovate, Then Told to Cease and Desist

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently told start-up rideshare app companies SideCar, Tickengo, and Lyft to cease and desist, claiming that the companies are acting as "charter-party carriers" because they are transportation companies. In an Ars Technica article, SideCar ...

iPad Mini Still Coming This Month?

Apple is pretty good at doing integrated hardware and software. And it is even better at generating consumer buzz. Which is why you might want to circle October 23 on your calendar. One often well-informed website is reporting that day ...

Skype Dorkbot Worm Chats up Victims Then Holds PCs for Ransom

Security research firms Trend Micro and Sophos report a malicious worm spreading via Skype instant messaging. Identified as "Dorkbot," the worm initiates a click fraud scheme to lock Skype users out of their PCs, threatens to take control of valuable ...

Dell Offers Windows 7 In Challenge To Windows 8

Microsoft's new touch-oriented Windows 8 operating system may be getting all the buzz. But Dell says that it will push back against touch mania by continuing to offer Windows 7. Redmond presumably won't be happy. But gamers--and midsize businesses--will be ...

Think BYOD Is Bad? Get Ready For BYON

A lot of IT managers at midsize firms would say that the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend has been one big security headache. But a bigger one could be on its way: bring your own network, or BYON.Mobile-device users can now easily ...

Quantum Computers Closer to Reality? Physicists Win Nobel Prize

Physicists Serge Haroche and David Wineland were recently announced as recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Their research in the control and interaction of photons and atoms makes it possible for scientists to directly observe quantum phenomena, something that ...

Google's Latest Version of Web Page Speed Technology Sets Business Standards High

Google's mod_pagespeed 1.0 is now live. The corporation removed the Beta label after two years of refinements and multiple versions. The web page speed technology is already used by many companies and the release news will likely increase its use ...

Cloud Monitoring Service Launched by Rackspace

Rackspace Inc. has taken the wraps off its new public cloud monitoring platform that enables IT managers keep tabs on the health of their cloud infrastructure irrespective of where it is located. Rackspace Cloud Monitoring service helps IT admins spot ...

1010data Launches Big Data Marketplace

The privately held cloud vendor 1010data has launched Analytical Dataspace, a cloud-based community that essentially serves as a marketplace for buying and selling big data as well as platform for accessing analytics applications and tools.Although the company is not new ...

Popularity of Google Wallet and Apple's Passbook Increase Demands on IT Professionals

Google Wallet (GW) and Apple's Passbook offer huge appeal to consumers for ease of electronic transactions and purchases. Demands on IT professionals at midsize businesses increase as these specialists need to integrate the popular services into existing Websites and apps ...

Facebook Gifts Has Potential for Midsize Businesses

Back in June, Facebook launched a paid status feature for businesses that allowed groups to pay a scaled amount of money for greater prominence in subscribers' news feeds. While the business community cheered the move, it didn't exactly work the ...

Statistics Show Tablet Computing is replacing PCs

The personal computer has had a good run that may be coming to an end. For the first time since 2001, PC shipments declined, and they were down substantially. Tablet shipments are exploding. Tablet computing is replacing desktop and laptop ...

RSA Europe 2012 Highlights Our Security Failings

Just a glance at the ever growing number of cyber crimes may lead one to wonder about the state of IT security in an increasingly interconnected world, and it's just that subject that led many IT luminaries to question what ...

Wikipedia Founder on IT Security: The Public is "Clueless"

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales isn't shy about sharing his opinion on Internet privacy and access. In short, he doesn't support increased government nose-poking into personal data, but also takes a jab at Internet users: they're "clueless" when it comes to ...

BYOD Moves From Fad to Inevitability

The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) movement has really been picking up steam in the past few years, and new reports show that at this point the concept is inevitable for a majority of businesses. With the cost and productivity benefits outweighing the ...

Windows 8: No More Service Packs?

As most IT professionals should know, service packs (SPs)--bundles of hot fixes, or patches, developed to repair bugs and add new, or improve existing, features or applications--can have a huge impact on the overall performance of an operating system. Windows ...

Should IT Personnel Use Cloud Printing Services?

Despite the overall importance and use of digital documents in the IT departments of midsize firms, IT personnel still need to print forms, diagrams, or PowerPoint documents. At times, IT managers might need to print a large number of technical ...