Thoughts and Ideas: August 2020

Monday, August 31, 2020

Facebook Could Block Sharing of News Stories in Australia

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/technology/facebook-block-news-stories-australia.html
September 01, 2020 at 03:05AM

The move, a response to pressure to pay publishers when their stories are posted on the social network, could add to internet silos springing up around the world.

Drone Delivery? Amazon Moves Closer With F.A.A. Approval

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/business/amazon-drone-delivery.html
September 01, 2020 at 02:17AM

The agency said it had issued a certificate clearing the way for the company to use drones to fly packages to its customers’ doorsteps.

TikTok Deal Faces Complications as U.S. and China Ratchet Up Tit-for-Tat

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/technology/tiktok-export-us-china.html
September 01, 2020 at 12:58AM

China’s new export rules, which could delay or scuttle a sale of TikTok, have further turned giant companies into pawns in a geopolitical struggle.

What if Facebook Is the Real ‘Silent Majority’?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/technology/what-if-facebook-is-the-real-silent-majority.html
August 29, 2020 at 12:08AM

Right-wing influencers are dominating the political discussion on Facebook, raising questions about whether it will translate into electoral success in November.

Benefit of Google के फायदे

Source: http://digitalmediabulletin.com/benefit-of-google-%e0%a4%95%e0%a5%87-%e0%a4%ab%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%af%e0%a4%a6%e0%a5%87
August 31, 2020 at 08:14PM

गूगल ये एक ऐसा नाम है जिसने इंटरनेट के उपयोग का तरीका ही बदल कर रख दिया है। Google का Full form (Global Organization Of Oriented... The post Benefit of Google के फायदे appeared first on...

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Apple’s App War Needs Peace

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/technology/apple-app-war-peace-plan.html
August 31, 2020 at 08:12PM

Changes to Apple’s app store could make developers’ lives — and our smartphones — better.

Humans Take a Step Closer to ‘Flying Cars’

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/us/japan-flying-car.html
August 29, 2020 at 06:22PM

A Japanese company said it had completed a manned flight of its electrical vertical takeoff and landing machine. Experts say the technology needs work and that it will be expensive.

Big Oil Faded. Will Big Tech?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/technology/big-oil-faded-will-big-tech.html
August 31, 2020 at 04:50PM

Not that long ago, it was American oil powers — not tech giants — that ruled the economy and influenced world events.

Preaching Equality, Start-Up Didn’t Practice It With Employees

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/business/carta-workers-inequality.html
August 30, 2020 at 12:00PM

Current and former workers at Carta, a hot Silicon Valley fintech company, said they were belittled, excluded and punished if they spoke up.

Myriam Sarachik Never Gave Up on Physics

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/science/myriam-sarachik-physics.html
August 31, 2020 at 12:00PM

The New York-based scientist overcame sexism and personal tragedy to make major contributions to the field, for which she received recognition this year.

Saturday, August 29, 2020

TikTok Deal Is Complicated by New Rules From China Over Tech Exports

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/technology/china-tiktok-export-controls.html
August 29, 2020 at 09:01PM

In an 11th-hour twist, Beijing raised a potential hurdle for a sale of TikTok, further roiling the race to buy the Chinese-owned app.

Kubernetes Backgrounder: What to Consider Before Deployment

Source: https://gigaom.com/2020/08/29/kubernetes-backgrounder-what-to-consider-before-deployment/
August 29, 2020 at 08:00PM

Enterprises of all sizes are embracing hybrid cloud strategies that are becoming more complex and structured. But they want the flexibility to choose where applications and data should run dynamically, depending on business, technical, and financial factors.

The use of Kubernetes brings this vision within reach of most organizations, but you need the right integration with infrastructure layers, such as storage, to make it happen.

How should organizations set up their storage infrastructure to make using Kubernetes—and the enterprise efficiencies it enables—achievable?

Below, we look into what makes Kubernetes so powerful and important to today’s enterprises, and outline the structures and technology needed to create the perfect setup for this technology.

Lock-In Danger Promotes Hybrid Solutions

Every enterprise faces different challenges when deploying business-critical systems. A common problem is lock-in, where the selection of certain business systems creates conflicts with other technologies used by the business. Interoperability can be compromised if certain proprietary systems are used that, for example, result in costly workarounds.

Not surprisingly, enterprises are keen to avoid this, though they want to use similar feature sets across different on-premises and cloud infrastructures.

They often choose the public cloud for its flexibility and agility, though on-premises infrastructures can still be a better option in terms of efficiency, cost, and reliability. In this type of scenario, it is highly likely that development and testing would take place on the public cloud, while production could be on-premises, in the cloud, or both, depending on the business, regulatory, economic, and technical needs of the particular enterprise.

Containers and Microservices Changed Everything

Containers, and microservices in general, have radically changed how applications are developed and deployed. Applications and operating system dependencies, like system libraries and configurations, are now abstracted from the actual operating system.

A container image can be deployed easily, updated, and moved quickly when necessary, thanks to its small footprint. Developers have embraced this model for new applications, and many organizations have started refactoring older ones when possible. This trend has contributed to the rapid adoption of containers in enterprise environments, resulting in an increased demand for enterprise-grade solutions that can work well with existing traditional infrastructures.

More and more stateful applications—databases or key-value stores—are migrating to these platforms, requiring additional resources and performance.

Why Kubernetes Matters

The trend towards containers, and the advantages of using them, has catapulted Kubernetes into a position of real importance in enterprise technology. This is because Kubernetes is a container orchestrator. Applications are organized in sets of containers (called pods), and the orchestrator continuously works to assure that enough resources are allocated to provide the level of service required by the application and its users. This includes application availability, load balancing across the infrastructure, and scalability.

To do this, and because of the nature of microservices themselves, containers are frequently spun up and down or moved to different locations across the cluster. The number of operations in a large cluster could be massive, not only in terms of IOPS but also for fast resource provisioning and deallocation. These types of workflows (system operations) and workloads (IO operations on several small data volumes) put a lot of pressure on the storage system, which can quickly become a bottleneck and undermine the overall performance and reliability of the entire infrastructure.

CSI: Exposing Storage

The interface between the containers managed by Kubernetes and the underlying storage infrastructure is obtained through Container Storage Interface (CSI). CSI is a standard, developed with the goal to expose block and file storage systems to containerized workloads on container orchestration systems, including Kubernetes.

By adopting CSI, third-party storage vendors can write and deploy plug-ins that expose their storage systems in Kubernetes without ever having to touch the core Kubernetes code, as illustrated in Figure 1. CSI gives Kubernetes users more options for storage and makes the system more flexible, secure, and reliable. Similar interfaces are available for networking, the Container Network Interface (CNI) and for container runtimes, the Container Runtime Interface (CRI).

Figure 1: How Kubernetes Manages Containers

Deployment Considerations

Kubernetes can help to simplify and manage a complex storage environment with multiple applications. But deployment of a Kubernetes ecosystem requires infrastructure to be taken into account and examined carefully.

What should organizations consider before deciding to implement Kubernetes? Three key factors are:

Persistent and reliable data storage – Efficient use of Kubernetes depends on the number of operations the storage system can handle at the control plane level. Fast resource provisioning and removal are crucial to sustaining Kubernetes requests.
Data management – Kubernetes is designed to support applications with specific resiliency and availability characteristics, so operations are more focused on application and data management levels, and less on the physical infrastructure layer.
Security – With data and applications moving across on-premises and cloud environments, it is important to maintain a consistent set of security features across different infrastructures.

The goal is to provide a common data storage layer that is abstracted from physical and cloud resources, with a standard set of functionalities, services, protection, security, and management.

Conclusion

Kubernetes has been a game-changer: Combined with the power of containers, it has created the perfect tool to manage modern hybrid environments, incorporating the different storage and software solutions used by most modern enterprises.

Setting up the storage solutions correctly can help to increase the efficiency of Kubernetes and the effectiveness of business-critical systems.

Humans Take a Step Closer to ‘Flying Cars’

Friday, August 28, 2020

Newsroom: Insider Intelligence Names Zia Daniell Wigder SVP of Content

Source: https://www.emarketer.com/newsroom/index.php/insider-intelligence-names-zia-daniell-wigder-svp-of-content/
August 24, 2020 at 07:01AM

Seasoned research vet joins company from Shoptalk, where she oversaw research and content August 24, 2020 (New York, NY) â€“ Insider Intelligence today announces that Zia Daniell Wigder is joining […]

Newsroom: Insider Intelligence Names Zia Daniell Wigder SVP of Content

Will More Data Make Us Healthier?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/28/technology/health-tracking-technology.html
August 28, 2020 at 08:09PM

Trackers can collect all sorts of information on our health, sleep and fitness. But then what?

In Bid for TikTok, Microsoft Flexes Its Power in Washington

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/28/technology/microsoft-tiktok-lobbying.html
August 28, 2020 at 05:40PM

The tech giant, once an example of how not to operate in the nation’s capital, now has a successful influence operation there.

The Lesson We’re Learning From TikTok? It’s All About Our Data

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/technology/personaltech/tiktok-data-apps.html
August 28, 2020 at 04:20PM

We should minimize how much we share with all of our favorite and not-so-favorite apps. Here’s how.

Why Does Walmart Want to Buy TikTok?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/28/technology/tiktok-walmart-ecommerce.html
August 28, 2020 at 01:30PM

The app’s Chinese version, Douyin, is trying to become a mobile marketplace where video stars promote products. That could be a model for the U.S. retail giant if it acquires TikTok.

Newsroom: Insider Intelligence Names Zia Daniell Wigder SVP of Content

Thursday, August 27, 2020

What if Facebook Is the Real ‘Silent Majority’?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/technology/what-if-facebook-is-the-real-silent-majority.html
August 28, 2020 at 12:57AM

Right-wing influencers are dominating the political discussion on Facebook, raising questions about whether it will translate into electoral success in November.

Nebulon Storage Composability Infrastructure

Source: https://gigaom.com/2020/08/27/nebulon-storage-composability-infrastructure/
August 27, 2020 at 09:06PM

I had the chance to meet with storage startup Nebulon recently and have been thinking about the company’s solution and value proposition. It is very difficult to figure out where they belong in the market, but in the end I decided that their product should be included in the composable storage category. Here’s why.

Nebulon’s product consists of two components: A hardware layer and a software system. Let’s explore these in turn.

The hardware layer is called the services processing unit (SPU), which is a disk controller on steroids that you install on a standard x86 server to provide sophisticated data protection and other services. This node can also be connected to other nodes and share resources to form a sort of virtual array called nPod. The controllers are PCI-based and connect through standard high-speed network interfaces. The storage resources in the back end, installed on the servers, can be all-flash or hybrid. This storage can be accessed directly from the servers themselves, like local disks. Servers can boot directly from the virtual devices or they can use these devices to store VMs or containers. This is all very cool.

The software consists of an intriguing SaaS-based management system. In practice, the cards are managed by a single SaaS application, a cloud-based controller plane call Nebulon ON, that can perform every type of operation—initial setup, configuration, you name it. It can even do firmware upgrades of back-end disks for all your cards, no matter where they are installed. The level of control and automation possible through this interface is very good, but it’s the API that takes it to the next level and enables users to operate the hardware at scale. A couple of demonstrations during Storage Field Day 20 really showed what is possible.

Composable Infrastructure: Why Nebulon?

I’ve already written about infrastructure composability, and I love the concept. Unfortunately, except for in a few niche use cases, it has been slow to take off. There are several reasons for this, including the fact that NVMe/TCP protocols are very new and NVMe-oF, in particular, needs expensive networking equipment to run properly. As I’ve said, the idea is good but we are not there yet, for practical and cost reasons.

On the other hand, a solution like Nebulon can bring very similar results, and more, at a fraction of the cost. The infrastructure can be simplified and standardized on ordinary x86 boxes, with cost-effective commodity Ethernet connectivity. All the magic is delivered via the cloud, giving the user a consistent experience with full control over large, globally distributed server estates.

Closing the Circle

Nebulon is not generally available yet. You’ll have to wait a few months to get your hands on it, and then it will be available only as a component in the configurator of your server manufacturer (and it is not 100% clear yet who those manufacturers will be). The idea is powerful, though, and I’m looking forward to seeing this technology in action.

At the same time, I don’t want to get too excited. Most aspects of Nebulon still need to be verified and further analyzed, but the idea has promise and I think it deserves attention from users looking for new technology to shrink costs and improve infrastructure operations.

Walmart Joining Microsoft in TikTok Bid

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/technology/walmart-tiktok-deal.html
August 27, 2020 at 08:15PM

The retail giant said it was teaming up with Microsoft, which has been negotiating for weeks to buy the popular Chinese-owned video app.

Big Oil Faded. Will Big Tech?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/technology/big-oil-faded-will-big-tech.html
August 27, 2020 at 07:30PM

Not that long ago, it was American oil powers — not tech giants — that ruled the economy and influenced world events.

Intel Slips, and a High-Profile Supercomputer Is Delayed

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/technology/intel-aurora-supercomputer.html
August 27, 2020 at 12:00PM

The chip maker was selected for an Energy Department project meant to show American tech independence. But problems at Intel have thrown a wrench into the effort.

TikTok Chief Executive Kevin Mayer Resigns

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/technology/tiktok-kevin-mayer-resign.html
August 27, 2020 at 08:15AM

Less than four months after joining the video app, Mr. Mayer said he was leaving. TikTok has been under pressure from the Trump administration.

Asked and Answered:

Source: https://gigaom.com/2020/08/24/asked-and-answered/
August 24, 2020 at 05:28PM

Robotic process automation (RPA) lets businesses quickly transition analog, human-led activities into automated digital actions.

What differentiates RPA from tools that have complementary or overlapping capabilities is the ability to implement computer-initiated actions that would typically require human intervention. Examples of such actions include pulling information from an unstructured document, using a visual interface to enter or query data, extract information from printed forms, or evaluate voice input. Without this capability, digital automation is not possible and, therefore, neither are the benefits associated with such automation.

RPA is democratizing automation—empowering employees and increasing efficiency within organizations. But the implementation of RPA processes within a business can be difficult—and often there are alternatives that are more cost-effective and better aligned with business needs.

In this report, we lay out the questions and considerations an organization needs to examine before choosing RPA integration. We look at:

Situations best suited to RPA deployment
Where alternative solutions might be considered
How RPA compares to low-code tools
Pricing
Security
Staff expertise

Can RPA Support the Entire Enterprise, Or Only Front-Office Automation?

RPA has an advantage through visual and low-code development capabilities that enables citizen developers and non-IT staff to automate routine front-office tasks. And IT teams can easily write automation functions for back-office integration in high-level programming languages. Moreover, today’s serverless platforms and PaaS vendors allow developers to focus on the specific integration task while leveraging cloud services.

This means IT can respond very quickly to basic API-based application integration tasks, leveraging low-cost platforms and services. In contrast, most RPA platforms incur additional license overhead on a per-bot basis to scale and operate bots in parallel.

Back-office integration will typically see transaction ratios of 30:1 or higher when compared to front-office integration, so coding the integration becomes much more economical.

What Problems Could RPA Solve?

Here are some of the key use cases for RPA:

Assisted Data Capture – RPA tools can review the information being entered into a form in real time and assess for accuracy. They can also pull information from other systems to fill in fields, and enable new mobile and voice-based systems by taking care of detailed form entry within the bot.

Assisted Customer Service – RPA tools can monitor message boards, email boxes, social media, and other sources where customers may be seeking assistance or raising concerns about products and services. This capability is significantly enhanced in those that have democratized AI with access to natural language processing facilities to go beyond common terms and infer context.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) – Many RPA tools can help analyze multiple input sources and either immediately address the need, for example to pay a claim, or place the request into an exception-handling queue to be addressed by a human. This significantly reduces the number of humans required to process large volumes of transactions daily.

Can RPA Tools Replace iPaaS and Associated Integration Tools?

RPA can automate many functions, but if the goal is significant data remapping and restructuring, iPaaS tools will provide a better overall solution.

iPaaS platforms tend to be licensed on a server basis whereas RPA tools are usually e licensed on a per-bot basis, allowing iPaaS tools to scale in a more cost-effective manner than RPA.

However, if transaction volumes are low, or if the automation is a combination of both front-office and back-office tasks—for example, pulling data off the web and updating a CRM or ERP application via an API—the business may benefit from the simplicity of having RPA complete the entire task.

Can RPA Tools Provide Low-Code Capabilities?

Today’s RPA tools often overlap with low-code tools; however, RPA tools typically do not address user experience and are used to create headless services or “bots,” whereas low-code tools focus on web and mobile applications development.

Some RPA tools allow you to augment the visual workflow with traditional programming. This capability can be very useful for handling some complex tasks. However, it also opens a can of worms regarding long-term support for the bot.

If you need to build a complex task, your business would best be served by developing it as a separate microservice and then calling the microservice from within the RPA application. For some businesses, this may lessen the value of using an RPA solution rather than IT to alleviate the backlog of automation work.

Can Automation Tools From Amazon and Microsoft be Used in Place of RPA?

Cloud service providers, such as Amazon and Microsoft, have a diverse set of services available to developers that can be provisioned and operated through a set of programming interfaces. This makes them very accessible and easy to combine to deliver automated business processes.

Moreover, there are products, such as PowerApps and Flow from Microsoft, that democratize the use of powerful services like natural language processing, image recognition, optical character recognition, and database access through visual modeling. While these tools cannot automate existing user interfaces, they do offer usable alternatives to using RPA to create unattended bots for routine tasks, such as responding to email or searching social media and the web.

What Pricing Model is Most Appropriate?

While SaaS pay-as-you-go might offer better overall pricing, it may not be suitable for working with an organization’s internal applications without expensive connectivity options.

Pricing models vary widely when it comes to RPA products. Most have support for deployment in owned data centers and as SaaS. They also offer licensed runtime capabilities and pay-as-you-go subscriptions.

Organizations need to consider how the pricing model will affect their ability to parallelize certain bots if they want to scale.

Many RPA tools have some limits they place on execution of bots, and often the schedulers enforce serialized execution. Overcoming this limitation usually requires additional licensing.

Businesses may also be constrained by the need for integration with other software applications.

What Should I Worry About Regarding Security?

The potential for leakage of confidential information or enabling systems to be breached more easily increases significantly with the introduction of the citizen developer. To combat this, we advise creating a center of excellence (CoE).

One of the key tasks of a CoE is to ensure bots adhere to governance related to security. Here are some factors a CoE should include in its governance requirements:

No embedded credentials
Proper use of privileged access management (PAM) and vaults
Minimize risk of unauthorized users accessing a system in attended mode
Ensure bot design does not interfere with system operations

Are There Enough Skilled Individuals to Support the Rapid Growth of RPA?

Due to vendors’ investments in publicly available software and education, many system administrators and programmers have been trained to use RPA tools. However, interest in automation is growing rapidly and there will be continued need for those who can manage the RPA environment, build centers of excellence, and drive governance around the use of RPA in the enterprise, as well as those that can help companies evaluate existing processes and incorporate RPA where appropriate.

Conclusion

Introducing RPA into a business is not simply a matter of technical implementation; it is a strategic and business-focused process that centers on an organization’s needs, targets and budgets.

RPA can make a big difference to organizations large and small, but it needs to be aligned with the strategic goals of each business. IT leaders must be sure that its implementation will bring business benefits and ROI that could not have been achieved otherwise with more easily accessible or cheaper tools and processes.

RPA streamlines repetitive tasks, freeing up employee time and increasing productivity—but this can only be achieved if it is implemented for the right processes and if you have trained staff who can successfully manage and incorporate it correctly.

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Three Charged With Leaking Movies as Part of Global Piracy Ring

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/business/media/piracy-ring-movies-internet.html
August 27, 2020 at 02:33AM

U.S. officials said members of the Sparks Group, an elite piracy network, fraudulently obtained and distributed movies ahead of release dates.

Asked and Answered:

Source: https://gigaom.com/2020/08/24/asked-and-answered/
August 24, 2020 at 05:28PM

Robotic process automation (RPA) lets businesses quickly transition analog, human-led activities into automated digital actions.

In this report, we lay out the questions and considerations an organization needs to examine before choosing RPA integration. We look at:

Situations best suited to RPA deployment
Where alternative solutions might be considered
How RPA compares to low-code tools
Pricing
Security
Staff expertise

Can RPA Support the Entire Enterprise, Or Only Front-Office Automation?

Back-office integration will typically see transaction ratios of 30:1 or higher when compared to front-office integration, so coding the integration becomes much more economical.

What Problems Could RPA Solve?

Here are some of the key use cases for RPA:

Can RPA Tools Replace iPaaS and Associated Integration Tools?

RPA can automate many functions, but if the goal is significant data remapping and restructuring, iPaaS tools will provide a better overall solution.

iPaaS platforms tend to be licensed on a server basis whereas RPA tools are usually e licensed on a per-bot basis, allowing iPaaS tools to scale in a more cost-effective manner than RPA.

Can RPA Tools Provide Low-Code Capabilities?

Can Automation Tools From Amazon and Microsoft be Used in Place of RPA?

What Pricing Model is Most Appropriate?

While SaaS pay-as-you-go might offer better overall pricing, it may not be suitable for working with an organization’s internal applications without expensive connectivity options.

Organizations need to consider how the pricing model will affect their ability to parallelize certain bots if they want to scale.

Many RPA tools have some limits they place on execution of bots, and often the schedulers enforce serialized execution. Overcoming this limitation usually requires additional licensing.

Businesses may also be constrained by the need for integration with other software applications.

What Should I Worry About Regarding Security?

One of the key tasks of a CoE is to ensure bots adhere to governance related to security. Here are some factors a CoE should include in its governance requirements:

No embedded credentials
Proper use of privileged access management (PAM) and vaults
Minimize risk of unauthorized users accessing a system in attended mode
Ensure bot design does not interfere with system operations

Are There Enough Skilled Individuals to Support the Rapid Growth of RPA?

Conclusion

Introducing RPA into a business is not simply a matter of technical implementation; it is a strategic and business-focused process that centers on an organization’s needs, targets and budgets.

The Lesson We’re Learning From TikTok? It’s All About Our Data

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/technology/personaltech/tiktok-data-apps.html
August 26, 2020 at 05:21PM

We should minimize how much we share with all of our favorite and not-so-favorite apps. Here’s how.

What’s a Palantir? The Tech Industry’s Next Big I.P.O.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/technology/palantir-ipo.html
August 26, 2020 at 12:00PM

A tech start-up named for objects in “The Lord of the Rings” has become a major government contractor. But what it does is not easy to understand.

How TikTok’s Talks With Microsoft Turned Into a Soap Opera

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/technology/tiktoks-microsoft-deal-soap-opera-trump.html
August 26, 2020 at 10:00AM

Neither side wanted a big deal. But what began as talks about a small investment ballooned with interventions from President Trump.

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

How the Hollywood Fix Cornered the Influencer Paparazzi Market

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/style/hollywood-fix-influencer-videos.html
August 26, 2020 at 12:53AM

Fletcher Greene, 38, used to photograph all sorts of celebrities. But when the pandemic hit, the A-listers hid while Gen Z’s rising stars stayed in plain sight.

In South India, Amazon Builds Its Largest Office Yet

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/business/amazon-hyderabad-india.html
August 25, 2020 at 05:22PM

As Amazon signals its growth in India with its office in Hyderabad, its largest in the world, local business owners are pushing back.

Facebook Plans Legal Action After Thailand Tells It to Mute Critics

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/world/asia/thailand-facebook-monarchy.html
August 25, 2020 at 02:45PM

After a warning from the government, the company restricted access to a Facebook group critical of the Thai monarchy. But it said it would challenge the order.

Ant Group, the Alibaba Payment Affiliate, Files to Go Public

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/technology/ant-alibaba-ipo-filing.html
August 25, 2020 at 12:45PM

The company, whose flagship Alipay app has helped drive the boom in mobile payments in China, is planning to list shares in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

With Hacks and Cameras, Beijing’s Electronic Dragnet Closes on Hong Kong

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/technology/hong-kong-national-security-law.html
August 25, 2020 at 12:00PM

Under a new national security law, the police are targeting the social media accounts of executives, politicians and activists. American internet giants are struggling to respond.

To Fight Apple and Google’s Grip, Fortnite Creator Mounts a Crusade

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/technology/fortnite-creator-tim-sweeney-apple-google.html
August 25, 2020 at 10:00AM

Tim Sweeney, chief executive of Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, has railed against tech power. “The market is out of control,” he said.

Monday, August 24, 2020

Asked and Answered:

Source: https://gigaom.com/2020/08/24/asked-and-answered/
August 24, 2020 at 05:28PM

Robotic process automation (RPA) lets businesses quickly transition analog, human-led activities into automated digital actions.

In this report, we lay out the questions and considerations an organization needs to examine before choosing RPA integration. We look at:

Situations best suited to RPA deployment
Where alternative solutions might be considered
How RPA compares to low-code tools
Pricing
Security
Staff expertise

Can RPA Support the Entire Enterprise, Or Only Front-Office Automation?

Back-office integration will typically see transaction ratios of 30:1 or higher when compared to front-office integration, so coding the integration becomes much more economical.

What Problems Could RPA Solve?

Here are some of the key use cases for RPA:

Can RPA Tools Replace iPaaS and Associated Integration Tools?

RPA can automate many functions, but if the goal is significant data remapping and restructuring, iPaaS tools will provide a better overall solution.

iPaaS platforms tend to be licensed on a server basis whereas RPA tools are usually e licensed on a per-bot basis, allowing iPaaS tools to scale in a more cost-effective manner than RPA.

Can RPA Tools Provide Low-Code Capabilities?

Can Automation Tools From Amazon and Microsoft be Used in Place of RPA?

What Pricing Model is Most Appropriate?

While SaaS pay-as-you-go might offer better overall pricing, it may not be suitable for working with an organization’s internal applications without expensive connectivity options.

Organizations need to consider how the pricing model will affect their ability to parallelize certain bots if they want to scale.

Many RPA tools have some limits they place on execution of bots, and often the schedulers enforce serialized execution. Overcoming this limitation usually requires additional licensing.

Businesses may also be constrained by the need for integration with other software applications.

What Should I Worry About Regarding Security?

One of the key tasks of a CoE is to ensure bots adhere to governance related to security. Here are some factors a CoE should include in its governance requirements:

No embedded credentials
Proper use of privileged access management (PAM) and vaults
Minimize risk of unauthorized users accessing a system in attended mode
Ensure bot design does not interfere with system operations

Are There Enough Skilled Individuals to Support the Rapid Growth of RPA?

Conclusion

Introducing RPA into a business is not simply a matter of technical implementation; it is a strategic and business-focused process that centers on an organization’s needs, targets and budgets.

TikTok Sues U.S. Government Over Trump Ban

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/24/technology/tiktok-sues-us-government-over-trump-ban.html
August 24, 2020 at 08:49PM

The suit escalates a bitter back-and-forth between the popular video app and American officials.

Asked and Answered:

Source: https://gigaom.com/2020/08/24/asked-and-answered/
August 24, 2020 at 05:28PM

Robotic process automation (RPA) lets businesses quickly transition analog, human-led activities into automated digital actions.

In this report, we lay out the questions and considerations an organization needs to examine before choosing RPA integration. We look at:

Situations best suited to RPA deployment
Where alternative solutions might be considered
How RPA compares to low-code tools
Pricing
Security
Staff expertise

Can RPA Support the Entire Enterprise, Or Only Front-Office Automation?

Back-office integration will typically see transaction ratios of 30:1 or higher when compared to front-office integration, so coding the integration becomes much more economical.

What Problems Could RPA Solve?

Here are some of the key use cases for RPA:

Can RPA Tools Replace iPaaS and Associated Integration Tools?

RPA can automate many functions, but if the goal is significant data remapping and restructuring, iPaaS tools will provide a better overall solution.

iPaaS platforms tend to be licensed on a server basis whereas RPA tools are usually e licensed on a per-bot basis, allowing iPaaS tools to scale in a more cost-effective manner than RPA.

Can RPA Tools Provide Low-Code Capabilities?

Can Automation Tools From Amazon and Microsoft be Used in Place of RPA?

What Pricing Model is Most Appropriate?

While SaaS pay-as-you-go might offer better overall pricing, it may not be suitable for working with an organization’s internal applications without expensive connectivity options.

Organizations need to consider how the pricing model will affect their ability to parallelize certain bots if they want to scale.

Many RPA tools have some limits they place on execution of bots, and often the schedulers enforce serialized execution. Overcoming this limitation usually requires additional licensing.

Businesses may also be constrained by the need for integration with other software applications.

What Should I Worry About Regarding Security?

One of the key tasks of a CoE is to ensure bots adhere to governance related to security. Here are some factors a CoE should include in its governance requirements:

No embedded credentials
Proper use of privileged access management (PAM) and vaults
Minimize risk of unauthorized users accessing a system in attended mode
Ensure bot design does not interfere with system operations

Are There Enough Skilled Individuals to Support the Rapid Growth of RPA?

Conclusion

Introducing RPA into a business is not simply a matter of technical implementation; it is a strategic and business-focused process that centers on an organization’s needs, targets and budgets.

Sunday, August 23, 2020

Twitter Flags Trump Tweet for Dissuading Voting

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/23/technology/twitter-trump-tweet-warning.html
August 23, 2020 at 09:40PM

The social media service hid the president’s post about ballot drop boxes, saying it violated Twitter’s election integrity rules.

Electric Vehicle Makers Find a Back Door to Wall Street

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/23/business/electric-cars-spac-wall-street.html
August 23, 2020 at 12:00PM

Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are helping them and other fledgling companies raise money and gain coveted stock listings.

Threatened by Facebook Disinformation, a Monk Flees Cambodia

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/23/world/asia/cambodia-facebook-disinformation.html
August 23, 2020 at 10:00AM

A smear campaign linked to the Cambodian government went viral on the social media platform, sending an activist Buddhist cleric into exile to protect himself.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

TikTok to Challenge Trump Administration Over Executive Order

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/22/technology/tiktok-lawsuit-trump-executive-order.html
August 23, 2020 at 01:23AM

The popular video app, which is owned by a Chinese internet company, said it had been deprived of due process when President Trump moved to block it in the United States.

Friday, August 21, 2020

Palantir, Tech’s Next Big I.P.O., Lost $580 Million in 2019

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/technology/palantir-ipo-580-million-loss.html
August 21, 2020 at 09:21PM

The Silicon Valley company could be the next in a string of tech outfits to go public long before they have turned a profit.

Jeff Wilke, Amazon’s Chief of Consumer, to Retire Next Year

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/technology/jeff-wilke-amazon-retire.html
August 21, 2020 at 06:22PM

Mr. Wilke, who has been a key lieutenant to Jeff Bezos, is departing after building the e-commerce business for two decades.

Facebook Braces Itself for Trump to Cast Doubt on Election Results

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/technology/facebook-trump-election.html
August 21, 2020 at 05:26PM

The world’s biggest social network is working out what steps to take should President Trump use its platform to dispute the vote.

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Mark Zuckerberg Questioned Under Oath in F.T.C. Antitrust Inquiry

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/technology/facebook-zuckerberg-ftc-questioned.html
August 21, 2020 at 12:46AM

It was the first known time that regulators directly interviewed a chief executive of one of the tech companies being scrutinized for potential antitrust violations.

Ann Syrdal, Who Helped Give Computers a Female Voice, Dies at 74

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/technology/ann-syrdal-who-helped-give-computers-a-female-voice-dies-at-74.html
August 20, 2020 at 11:57PM

As a researcher at AT&T, she helped lay the groundwork for modern digital assistants like Siri and Alexa.

Former Uber Security Chief Charged With Concealing Hack

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/technology/joe-sullivan-uber-charged-hack.html
August 20, 2020 at 10:56PM

Joe Sullivan, who led Uber’s security team through the company’s most tumultuous period, was fired by the company’s newly installed chief executive in 2017.

Uber and Lyft Threaten to Shut Down in California

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/technology/uber-lyft-california-shutdown.html
August 20, 2020 at 07:33PM

The companies, under legal pressure to reclassify their drivers as employees, said they would halt rides unless an appeals court gives them permission to continue.

Kamala Harris's Big Tech Connections

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/technology/kamala-harris-ties-to-big-tech.html
August 20, 2020 at 07:06PM

Silicon Valley has enthusiastically backed Ms. Harris since she first ran for state attorney general in California a decade ago.

Protect Your Privacy and the Environment While Upgrading Your Gear

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/technology/personaltech/smartphone-iphone-computer-recycle.html
August 19, 2020 at 04:00PM

Got a new phone, tablet or computer and want to repurpose or responsibly recycle the old one? Here’s a guide to moving on.

British Grading Debacle Shows Pitfalls of Automating Government

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/world/europe/uk-england-grading-algorithm.html
August 20, 2020 at 01:06PM

The uproar over an algorithm that lowered the grades of 40 percent of students is a sign of battles to come regarding the use of technology in public services.

Bryce Hall, TikTok Influencer, Has Power Shut Off by Los Angeles

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/style/la-party-power-cut-tiktok.html
August 20, 2020 at 06:28AM

This month, Mayor Eric Garcetti said that Angelenos who violated the city’s guidelines on gatherings during a health crisis would have their water and power turned off. Today, he followed through.

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Airbnb, a ‘Sharing Economy’ Pioneer, Files to Go Public

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/technology/airbnb-ipo.html
August 20, 2020 at 01:04AM

The home rental company, which was privately valued at $31 billion, is trying to go public after its business was crushed by the pandemic.

QAnon Groups Removed by Facebook

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/technology/facebook-qanon-groups-takedown.html
August 20, 2020 at 12:47AM

The social network also said it was restricting another 1,950 groups, 440 pages on Facebook and more than 10,000 accounts on Instagram related to the conspiracy group.

You Can’t Find a Laptop. Now What?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/technology/how-to-find-a-laptop.html
August 18, 2020 at 07:41PM

Why laptops are sold out, and what to do.

Trump Says Oracle Could ‘Handle’ Owning TikTok

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/technology/trump-oracle-tiktok.html
August 19, 2020 at 07:06PM

President Trump, who has been pushing for a sale of the Chinese-owned video app, did not say whether Oracle would be a better buyer than Microsoft.

Trump Says Oracle Could ‘Handle’ Owning TikTok

Internet and Power Outage? It's Storm Season

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/style/coned-blackouts-spectrum-hurricanes.html
August 19, 2020 at 07:04PM

Bad weather and blackouts now destroy our ability to work, see family and friends, buy things and generally pretend that 2020 is normal.

Social Justice Guides Are All Over Instagram

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/style/instagram-activism-graphics-zines.html
August 19, 2020 at 06:26PM

Artists, activists and academics are dropping knowledge and resources on Instagram in an effort to democratize access to information.

Apple Is Worth $2 Trillion, Punctuating Big Tech’s Grip

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/technology/apple-2-trillion.html
August 19, 2020 at 06:24PM

Apple is the first U.S. company to reach $2 trillion in value, capping a staggering ascent that began in the pandemic.

Alabama’s High Stakes Experiment: Reopening Universities as Virus Looms

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/business/alabama-uab-coronavirus-tests.html
August 19, 2020 at 02:20PM

The state is betting its robust student testing and technology program will be enough to hinder campus outbreaks, even as universities in other states abruptly close.

Big Tech’s Domination of Business Reaches New Heights

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/technology/big-tech-business-domination.html
August 19, 2020 at 12:00PM

As the economy contracts and many companies struggle to survive, the biggest tech companies are amassing wealth and influence in ways unseen in decades.

With Virtual Reality, Caregivers Can Become Patients

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/health/virtual-reality-caregivers-older-patients.html
August 19, 2020 at 12:00PM

Carrie Shaw’s struggle with her mother’s dementia led her to create a company that allows users to experience the struggles of growing older.

How Your Phone Is Used to Track You, and What You Can Do About It

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/technology/smartphone-location-tracking-opt-out.html
August 19, 2020 at 07:34AM

Smartphone location data, often used by marketers, has been useful for studying the spread of the coronavirus. But the information raises troubling privacy questions.

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Amazon Sticks With Office Expansion Plans in New York and Elsewhere

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/technology/amazon-office-expansion.html
August 19, 2020 at 12:52AM

The additional space and workers, envisioned before the pandemic, are a sign of how large tech companies continue to prosper.

What Is QAnon, the Viral Pro-Trump Conspiracy Theory?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-qanon.html
August 19, 2020 at 12:09AM

Explaining the “big tent conspiracy theory” that falsely claims that President Trump is facing down a shadowy cabal of Democratic pedophiles.

What's the Deal With That Strawberry Dress on TikTok?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/style/strawberry-dress-tiktok-instagram-who-designed-where-to-get.html
August 18, 2020 at 10:08PM

How fantasies about the pastoral, lost innocence and future festivity converged in one diaphanous pink $490 garment.

You Can’t Find a Laptop. Now What?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/technology/how-to-find-a-laptop.html
August 18, 2020 at 07:41PM

Why laptops are sold out, and what to do.

Inside Research: People Analytics

Source: https://gigaom.com/2020/08/12/inside-research-people-analytics/
August 12, 2020 at 07:53PM

In a recent report, “Key Criteria for Evaluating People Analytics,” distinguished analyst Stowe Boyd looks at the emerging field of people analytics, and examines the platforms that focus on human resources and the criteria with which to best judge their capabilities.

Stowe in the report outlines the table stakes criteria of People Analytics—the essential features and capabilities without which a platform can’t be considered relevant in this sector. These include basic analytic elements such as recording performance reviews, attendance monitoring, and integration with other HR tools.

The report also defines the key criteria, or the features that actively differentiate products within the market and help organizations to choose an appropriate solution. These criteria include:

Full employee life cycle tracking
Support for different employee types (seasonal or freelance workers)
Employee surveys
Diversity and inclusion monitoring

Stowe also looks at the rapid innovation and emerging technologies within the sector. He points to scenario planning and combining business and people data as two of the most important new technologies. These will, he argues, be used by organizations to engage their workforce, plan for difficult events, and help to find workplace efficiencies that benefit staff, customers, and business.

Finally, the report defines the criteria Stowe recommends for evaluating people analytics platforms. A key suggestion is to consider platforms that allow organizations to set goals and progress targets for employees, which is a great way to boost employee engagement and increase productivity.

The people analytics market is seeing enormous change and innovation, Stowe states, and will leverage AI and analytics heavily in the future for the good of individuals, their teams, and the business itself.

Toxic Trade-Offs at Facebook

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/17/technology/facebook-qanon.html
August 17, 2020 at 08:12PM

Facebook groups led to the rise of QAnon. We can only imagine what could happen with encryption.

Uber and Lyft Consider Franchise-Like Model in California

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/technology/uber-lyft-franchise-california.html
August 18, 2020 at 12:46PM

Under pressure to classify their freelance drivers as full-time employees, the ride-hailing companies are discussing another option.

America Has Two Feet. It’s About to Lose One of Them

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/science/foot-surveying-metrology-dennis.html
August 18, 2020 at 09:30AM

For decades, U.S. metrologists have juggled two conflicting measurements for the foot. Henceforth, only one shall rule.

Monday, August 17, 2020

Trump Administration Widens Huawei Dragnet

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/17/technology/trump-huawei-commerce-chips.html
August 17, 2020 at 08:12PM

The Commerce Department placed new restrictions on the Chinese tech giant’s ability to work with the global chip industry.

Toxic Trade-Offs at Facebook

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/17/technology/facebook-qanon.html
August 17, 2020 at 08:12PM

Facebook groups led to the rise of QAnon. We can only imagine what could happen with encryption.

Trump’s Attacks on TikTok and WeChat Could Further Fracture the Internet

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/17/technology/trump-tiktok-wechat-ban.html
August 17, 2020 at 06:57PM

The president’s restrictions on Chinese tech may be part of an eye-for-an-eye logic called reciprocity. The price could be a global patchwork of online fiefs.

Coronavirus Doctors Battle Another Scourge: Misinformation

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/17/technology/coronavirus-disinformation-doctors.html
August 17, 2020 at 05:44PM

Physicians say they regularly treat people more inclined to believe what they read on Facebook than what a medical professional tells them.

Sunday, August 16, 2020

You May Not Know This Pandemic Winner, but Your Tween Probably Does

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/16/technology/roblox-tweens-videogame-coronavirus.html
August 16, 2020 at 10:31PM

Millions of children have flocked to the online gaming site Roblox since March. That’s helping game developers, some as young as 16, make a lot of money.

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Kamala Harris and Disinformation: Debunking 3 Viral Falsehoods

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/technology/kamala-harris-disinformation.html
August 15, 2020 at 01:20AM

False and misleading information about Ms. Harris has surged in the days since she joined the Biden ticket.

Friday, August 14, 2020

Pinterest Employees Demand Gender and Race Equality

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/technology/pinterest-walkout-equality.html
August 15, 2020 at 01:53AM

More than 200 said they stood in solidarity with three former co-workers who have accused the company of discrimination.

How Apple’s 30% App Store Cut Became a Boon and a Headache

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/technology/apple-app-store-epic-games-fortnite.html
August 15, 2020 at 01:21AM

App makers like the game company Epic and the music service Spotify are challenging Apple’s right to a large cut of their sales. Regulators have taken notice.

Debunking 3 Viral Falsehoods About Kamala Harris

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/technology/kamala-harris-falsehoods-debunking.html
August 15, 2020 at 01:20AM

False and misleading information about Ms. Harris has surged in the days since she joined the Biden ticket.

A playbook for combating QAnon

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/technology/qanon-internet-companies.html
August 13, 2020 at 07:44PM

QAnon can no longer be ignored. What internet companies could do to stop its spread.

A Steal Might Actually Be a Raw Deal

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/technology/apple-netflix-bundles.html
August 14, 2020 at 07:58PM

Netflix, Apple and the rest must figure out what bundles we love, and which we’ll grow to hate.

Trying to Make It Big Online? Getting Signed Isn’t Everything

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/style/influences-tiktok-management-brittany-broski.html
August 14, 2020 at 05:46PM

Young people come to Los Angeles in droves with dreams of fame and fortune. Once they’re discovered, it’s not always sunny.

A Third of TikTok’s U.S. Users May Be 14 or Under, Raising Safety Questions

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/technology/tiktok-underage-users-ftc.html
August 14, 2020 at 12:39PM

Three current and former employees expressed concerns about the Chinese-owned app’s safeguards for preteen children.

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Labor Dept. Lawyer Says Trump Appointee Intervened in Oracle Case

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/business/economy/oracle-settlement-scalia.html
August 13, 2020 at 10:53PM

A litigator asserts that she faced reprisal after saying Secretary Eugene Scalia was set to settle a discrimination suit for a sum she found too low.

Apple Bans Fortnite From Its App Store

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/technology/apple-fortnite-ban.html
August 13, 2020 at 10:51PM

The hugely popular gaming app was removed by Apple after it said Fortnite’s creator, Epic Games, violated its App Store guidelines.

What if QAnon Is the New Tea Party?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/technology/qanon-tea-party.html
August 13, 2020 at 08:05PM

Followers of the pro-Trump conspiracy theory are winning elections and worrying moderate Republicans. Sound familiar?

A playbook for combating QAnon

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/technology/qanon-internet-companies.html
August 13, 2020 at 07:44PM

QAnon can no longer be ignored. What internet companies could do to stop its spread.

Inside Research: People Analytics

Source: https://gigaom.com/2020/08/12/inside-research-people-analytics/
August 12, 2020 at 07:53PM

The report also defines the key criteria, or the features that actively differentiate products within the market and help organizations to choose an appropriate solution. These criteria include:

Full employee life cycle tracking
Support for different employee types (seasonal or freelance workers)
Employee surveys
Diversity and inclusion monitoring

Inside Research: Scale-Out File Storage

Source: https://gigaom.com/2020/08/10/inside-research-scale-out-file-storage/
August 10, 2020 at 05:18PM

In a new Key Criteria report, GigaOm analyst Enrico Signoretti looks at how file storage—one of the most popular ways to store data—has been adapted for modern scale-out systems, and how this helps large enterprises achieve their ends.

“Key Criteria for Evaluating Scale-Out File Storage” examines the history of file storage and shows how its strengths—ease of use, cost-effectiveness, and its importance for legacy systems—allow it to maintain continued relevance in today’s crowded storage market. In the report, Enrico also explains how these systems work, including their structure and basic components, and the differences between scale-up and scale-out systems.

In this Key Criteria report, Enrico defines the evaluation metrics that enterprises should use to judge the quality and relevance of file storage systems:

Scalability
Flexibility
Performance
System lifespan
Usability
TCO and ROI

The report looks at the table stakes—the basic requirements—of a scale-out file storage system, which include file protocols, data services, and a two-tier architecture. It also shows how vital flexible licensing and support have become to any deployment of a scale-out file system.

The main body of the report details the features that differentiate vendor solutions and help enterprises identify the correct solution for their needs. Enrico addresses several features but especially focuses on integrations with both block storage and public cloud as being essential to the long-term usability of any scale-out file storage system.

Finally, the report examines the emerging trends that will define good solutions in this space over the next two to five years. Enrico believes one particularly important trend is the emergence of AIOps—using machine learning to keep administrators on top of what’s happening in their systems and identify problems before they cause catastrophic failures.

If you’d like to learn more about this report, which will help you understand the wider market and the ways to judge the capabilities of vendor solutions, click here.

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

North Korean Hacking Group Attacks Israeli Defense Industry

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/world/middleeast/north-korea-hackers-israel.html
August 13, 2020 at 02:16AM

Israel says the attack was thwarted, but a cybersecurity firm says it was successful. Some officials fear that classified data stolen by North Korea could be shared with Iran.

Google, Facebook and Others Form Tech Coalition to Secure U.S. Election

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/technology/google-facebook-coalition-us-election.html
August 13, 2020 at 01:07AM

The move formalizes discussions that the companies and government agencies have been holding to fight disinformation on social media.

Amazon Is So Much Bricks and Mortar

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/technology/amazon-warehouses.html
August 12, 2020 at 07:37PM

E-commerce is not a purely online activity. It affects our real world, too, in both constructive and potentially harmful ways.

Inside Research: People Analytics

Source: https://gigaom.com/2020/08/12/inside-research-people-analytics/
August 12, 2020 at 07:53PM

The report also defines the key criteria, or the features that actively differentiate products within the market and help organizations to choose an appropriate solution. These criteria include:

Full employee life cycle tracking
Support for different employee types (seasonal or freelance workers)
Employee surveys
Diversity and inclusion monitoring

We Tested Instagram Reels, the TikTok Clone. What a Dud.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/technology/personaltech/tested-facebook-reels-tiktok-clone-dud.html
August 12, 2020 at 12:00PM

TikTok might not be winning over President Trump, but it sure beats its Instagram copycat for making and sharing short videos.

QAnon Followers Are Hijacking the #SaveTheChildren Movement

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/technology/qanon-save-the-children-trafficking.html
August 12, 2020 at 12:00PM

Fans of the pro-Trump conspiracy theory are clogging anti-trafficking hotlines, infiltrating Facebook groups and raising false fears about child exploitation.

Inside Research: Scale-Out File Storage

Source: https://gigaom.com/2020/08/10/inside-research-scale-out-file-storage/
August 10, 2020 at 05:18PM

In this Key Criteria report, Enrico defines the evaluation metrics that enterprises should use to judge the quality and relevance of file storage systems:

Scalability
Flexibility
Performance
System lifespan
Usability
TCO and ROI

If you’d like to learn more about this report, which will help you understand the wider market and the ways to judge the capabilities of vendor solutions, click here.

Deploying Value Stream Management

Source: https://gigaom.com/2020/08/05/deploying-value-stream-management/
August 05, 2020 at 10:04PM

Value Stream Management (VSM) began on production lines in the 20th century, with manufacturers using multiple, small increases in efficiency to reduce costs, tackle common problems, and increase profits. That increasing efficiency resulted from examining the processes involved in creating the product or service, figuring out the steps involved in each process, and then determining how to maximize the value of each step and each process.

These steps are known as a value stream. Examining a process in terms of its value to the organization—and value can have many meanings—allows a more holistic understanding of the process. VSM brings clarity and gives organizations the ability to improve the time to value at every stage of the process.

The application of VSM principles to DevOps has taken hold in the last few years, and is seeing widespread adoption across the software development world. But what does it mean, in practice, to use VSM in a DevOps process? How are developers applying these principles in the field doing so, and what benefits and challenges are they facing?

We spoke to Harbinder Kang, Global Head of Developer Operations at Finastra, about his experiences using VSM, He offered some clear insights into the process of implementing VSM and what it can achieve.

Using Value Stream Maps

“Value Stream Maps allow us to take a step back, forget the technology, the process, and the people for a second, and just map out what’s going on and discover what the set of constraints are that are actually affecting us, rather than anecdotally what we feel may be the case,” Harbinder says.

This discovery helps organizations understand where waste exists in the environment, and as Harbinder notes, “it may not necessarily be where stakeholders ask you to focus.”

Harbinder continues: “Creating a Value Stream Map also breaks a siloed approach to thinking because, by necessity, you are going to different stakeholders across the value stream and getting different versions of the value stream. You then put it all together into a consistent view,” he explains. “From there we get into, ‘This is where we are, what do we want to do?’”

Here’s what Harbinder and his team consider:

Is this long-lived software? In these cases, we look to optimize margins and profitability and productivity, as there is no goal to change the software architecture investment. We are optimizing and the technical debt isn’t going to change.
Or is it a new project? In these cases, the organization has aspirations for growth and wants Internet scale. We look to bring in ideation, continuous delivery, and aim to have the system available at all times.
In the middle, you’ve got products that have been successful in one model, typically software that was sold in a licensing situation, and the client has an aspiration of moving it across into a managed service and that’s a really interesting challenge at that point.

“I’ve found using the VSM framework allows me to attack all three of these problems,” Harbinder says.

Setting Expectations for Everyone

For Harbinder, using VSM not only helps him work with his stakeholders to set expectations, it gives him insight into the mindset of those stakeholders, and allows him to be ready for the challenges and limitations of a project.

“In DevOps, there’s a set of constraints you need to be aware of, within what you need to do, and it’s not always in your hands in terms of the outcomes the business wants. For example, you can throw all the DevOps tooling and automation at a product, but if it’s a very lumpy, heavily customized product, there’s only so far you’re going to get in operational performance if you’re not looking at the cost of ownership: It may not be a profitable model. It’s a very nuanced conversation.”

Conclusion

Harbinder is using VSM to create conversations, clarify his team’s goals and parameters, and build understanding with his stakeholders. This dialogue, resulting from the value stream mapping his company undertook, helps to set expectations and increase the chances of a successful project, as it defines the scope and scale of the project before work begins and encourages constant evaluation of development throughout the project.

As Harbinder says: “The Value Stream is a great way to talk to the business—it takes the jargon out of the conversation, it doesn’t require you to understand the technicalities, it lets you have a very balanced conversation that is very easy to understand.”