Technology Trends for 2014 by Cisco From a Panel of Distinguished Professionals

Cisco has gathered a group of distinguished professionals to share their predictions of technology trends in 2014. You will be pleased to know what is in the future for those who are in the technology sector.


Internet of Everything (IoE) and M2M communications: The Internet of Things, and specifically increased automation in industrial systems and processes, coupled with big data, will bring tremendous advances in predictive diagnostics, with important applications in environments as diverse as retail and automotive safety. By 2022, M2M connections will account for 45 percent of total connections while person-to-machine (P2M) and person-to-person (P2P) will account for the remaining 55 percent. M2M already represents a significant market which continues to grow. Some of the most common M2M applications are telemetry (e.g. utility meters), telematics (e.g. car navigation systems), sales and payment (e.g. vending machines), and fleet management (e.g. cargo tracking).

Multi-vendor Clouds: Public, private and hybrid cloud environments based on static configurations will give way to dynamic and multi-vendor cloud environments. New technologies will allow Cloud service providers across multiple environments to adopt common Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to provide reliable and economical services. Video in ultra-high definition: High definition video systems are becoming rapidly more affordable, presenting us with exciting opportunities for new video experiences on a previously unseen scale. Video technology in ultra-high definition (2160p and 4k - 8k- 4320p) will become imperative for smart phones, augmented reality glasses, tablets and other devices equipped with camera. With a resolution up to 16-times higher than current HD TV (1080p), their impact on the network requires the adoption of new technologies like P2P streaming, federated content distribution networks, HEVC (H.265) or HTTP adaptive streaming.

Context Aware Computing and Collaboration:The mash-up of big data and collaboration applications is going to drive the creation of a new wave of “context-aware” computing and collaboration experiences. Within 12-24 months, we will witness the rise of collaboration applications which automatically present to us information about the people and organizations contacting us. Furthermore, collaboration applications will leverage context-aware information and big data to gather useful historical information (documents, past interactions, recordings of meetings, even Facebook status) which are relevant to how teams work together, thereby preserving intellectual property and strengthening relationships and collaboration.

Real-time analytics: In the era of the data deluge, businesses demand fast access to information and immediate data insights in order to make quick and informed decisions, and to improve financial and operational performance. Real-time analytics have a broad area of application, spanning from financial markets to advertising, automation and security. Analyzing massive amounts of data almost on the fly implies high performance requirements on systems’ hardware and software.

Interactive collaboration through the web: The embedding of rich media collaboration within browsers – promises to transform the way businesses and organizations communicate and engage with customers. Within 12 months, we’re going to see retailers, financial services organizations, and other providers of high value services embedding Web Real Time Collaboration (WebRTC) into their web interfaces to transform the way they engage with customers.

New Internet architectures: With the number of connected devices set to rapidly expand from 10Bn today to 50Bn or more by 2020, current internet infrastructure needs to evolve to support this exponential growth of connected devices. We will see the rise of a new Internet architecture characterized by (a) ‘Fog Computing’ – the convergence of networking and compute at the edge of networks to create a more distributed intelligence that balances the need for centralized mega-scale data centers with more locally-useful computing and decision making capabilities, (b) a new type of networking architecture characterized by open APIs and by the embrace of developer communities who will create applications that optimize the integration of networks and management systems and business applications, (c) we will pass the peak of the SDN hype cycle and see real-world applications emerge in 2014, and (d) a new set of IT skill sets which accompany the convergence of computing, networking, storage and applications will emerge.

Security and Internet of Everything: As more and more devices – from wearable medical devices to devices that carry personal financial information – join the Web, privacy and security become more important than ever. In the coming 1-3 years, we will see a new form of multi-layered security emerge, replacing today’s model of “protecting the perimeter” with a combination of security technologies that includes localized clients embedded within devices or localized connections and centralized cloud-based intelligence which constantly scans to protect.

Self-Organizing Networks (SON): SON refers to a set of capabilities that increases the level of automation in network planning, operations and maintenance of LTE (Long Term Evolution) and next generation mobile networks. Today‘s mobile networks are largely human operated. SON is expected to decrease the capex and opex associated with them. These automated functions aim towards a self-configuring, self-optimizing and self-healing network, increasing network performance and quality by adapting to dynamic changes in network conditions.

http://www.informationweek.in/informationweek/news-analysis/286896/cisco-identifies-multi-vendor-clouds-internet-transformational-trends-define-2014

Would You Like Some Great Tips in Building Secure mHealth Apps?

                                        presentermedia.com

Several  informative tips were shared by a Health IT developer on how to maintain the security of Medical apps. Developers can benefit from the information that was presented in the article.

1. At the very basic level, don’t trust the user. Nearly half feel PINs and passwords are too cumbersome, a third aren’t concerned with risks and 55 percent of adults use the same password for everything. A five-digit pin has 5,904,900,000 combinations, while a pattern combination only has 15,120 combinations, yet pattern locks are still a very common practice among consumers.

2. Do your research and stay current. Security firm viaForensics openly publishes its benchmark list ofmobile security best practices in addition to its research and How-Tos. Jonathan Zdziarski’s Hacking and Securing iOS Apps is another great comprehensive resource. Think of mobile app security in terms of the onion model, and layer security measures to help make exploitation cost prohibitive. This includes keeping your OS and environment up to date.

3. Leverage jailbreak detection. Jailbreaking is a means to provide root access to the mobile OS, allowing the user to download additional applications, extensions and themes that are not available through the official Apple App Store. This also allows a range of exploits both on the device itself and through applications that are downloaded through third party stores. According to a recent study from Axran, more than 50 percent of the 100 top apps in the Apple App Store have been cracked and republished for jailbroken phones on other app markets. In addition to revenue loss, IP theft, fraud and brand erosion for the original company, these apps put the user at risk of malware infection, data interception and identity theft. It’s important that mobile apps be able to defend themselves against static and dynamic analysis at runtime and be made resistant to tampering and reverse-engineering attacks.

4. Know what resources are available. There are a number of tools in the infosec community that can be openly leveraged to help mitigate risks. Despite being relatively new, the iMAS library provides iOS developers with a set of easy-to-use tools to accomplish various security tasks in their apps. On the webdev side, Fiddler is a popular tool for debugging and security tracking. For the beginner, OWASP’s iGoat tool is an intentionally flawed app allowing the developer to explore and implement fixes to common security problems in a safe learning environment.

5. Allow for strong user passwords and authentication. Never store passwords in plain text format, as it undercuts any other security measures. Instead, salt and hash passwords and force users to reset forgotten passwords instead of going through a retrieval process. Additionally, avoid limiting the password length or variety, and if an arbitrary length must be used, use something well beyond the norm. When it comes to loading login pages, load the forms over HTTPS and post to HTTPS as well. Loading over HTTPS and then posting with HTTPS still leaves the login form vulnerable and open to MITM attacks. Better yet? HTTPS everywhere.

6. Implement robust data encryption and transfer protocols. In terms of cryptography, avoid storing any data directly on the device if relying on iOS’ AES 256 encryption, as it can be retrieved rather easily. Instead, developers should leverage database encryption like SQLCipher and transfer information with HTTPS and SSL pinning to prevent MITM attacks. On the server side, use tools like Nessus for vulnerability tracing and the NIST vulnerability checklist database and standards when configuring servers and web frameworks.

7. Establish a bug bounty program, and open disclosure policies. What is particularly surprising from the last two weeks was the initial lack of interest in security practices within the health IT and mHealth communities and the lack of interest in peer review when it comes to public security audits. Security strategy doesn’t end with deployment. Keep lines of communication with users and developers open and honest. It’s interesting to note that Silicon Valley has cultivated a robust white-hat community, encouraging exploit bounties for discovery, while enterprise health IT and the mhealth community lag behind. Bugcrowd’s current list of available security bounty programs includes companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Oracle and IBM to smaller startups like Spotify and Gittip, but no pure healthcare platforms. Typical bounty programs focus on specific aspects of a program or on either security mitigation bypass or defense and may range in reward from $300 to $50,000 or more (as is the case for Microsoft’s program). For many, though, it’s not about the

For many, though, it’s not about the money, and more about the challenge, recognition and community.

8. Know the applicable regulations. Understand what regulatory standards your app may be held to, and thoroughly vet potential partner companies for adherence. This is particularly important in the changing healthcare landscape, where subtle differences in branding and marketing may dictate different levels of government compliance and run the potential for significant fines in the event of a data breach. Also note that security is only one tool for ensuring privacy, and in addition to a comprehensive security strategy, mhealth developers must address the concerns of privacy regulations such as COPPA and HIPAA.

9. Assign responsibility. Make one person in your team responsible for security, privacy and compliance at every stage of development. There’s a tendency to assume someone else is automatically handling security (be an OS, a device manufacturer or another team member, etc.), but holding a single person accountable helps bring the priority forward. This person will be instrumental in understanding the limitations of platform security measures, libraries, APIs and any third party code your app may employ.

10. Be an example. For users, particularly health IT and mhealth community members, be an example of good personal security practices and hold the companies you use to a higher standard. Critically evaluate the necessity of permissions you grant a program, and don’t install apps outside of official OS app stores. Watch out for claims that seem too good to be true or are built on closed, untested or in-house security protocols. Update passwords often, and use a password manager like LastPass and two-factor authentication when available. Enable remote wipe on your device and back up your information regularly. Also consider developing an alternative fake personal dataset since, thanks to Facebook, everyone knows your favorite pet, first car and mother’s maiden name. You’ll know you’re paying enough attention to mobile security when the thought of installing that hot new app makes you a little twitchy.

http://www.mhealthnews.com/news/10-tips-building-secure-mhealth-apps

Could Non-Technical Users Build Software Without Writing Any Code in the Future?

Do you think that the software integration market will embrace a future with solutions that allow users with little training build software without any code?

Deepak Singh Adeptia has written an article that deals with this possibility. We would like to share this article with you.

The enterprise technology market is constantly evolving; the most recent trend has been towards the “consumerization of IT”. With outside influences such as big data, SaaS, mobile and cloud technology converging, business is now changing faster than IT can respond. As a result, companies are seeing both a pressing need and an opportunity to provide more self-service capabilities to their business users.

The reality is that the software integration market has not changed much in the last 15 years. Vendors still view integration software as developer tools versus a critical business component. There has been a failure to think out-of-the-box and a lack of acknowledgement that business users are striving to become more self-sufficient. For the software integration market to appeal to the needs of their customers, a paradigm shift within the industry is critical.

Until now, the software integration market has focused on developing their solutions and technology as developer tools meant to provide architects with a way to build interfaces to customers, partners and applications whether they are internal or in the cloud. However, business managers want a faster way to connect with customers, launch new marketing campaigns and enter new markets. The challenge is that today’s IT teams are too constrained, their to-do lists are too large and their tools too inefficient to respond quickly.

The software integration market needs to take note of trends and offer solutions that allow users with a non-technical background to build these interfaces without writing any code, using a drag-and-drop interface that is accessible to more than just the IT department. Savvy business users and analysts will then be able to create connections, access data, configure triggers and map data formats using visual, web-based applications. This is integration for the Facebook generation. This is the codeless future that will upend the software integration market.

While IT departments may find a move to business user focused software potentially disruptive, increasing the accessibility of software integration tools brings huge benefits. IT should view their role not as entities that control access to data, but as enabling timely data access for business users so they can run their business and make decisions. By optimizing software for the direct user as opposed to an IT professional, businesses will experience a faster customer onboarding process, reduce the time to market and accelerate revenue. Much like how Salesforce revolutionized CRM software, the software integration solution needs to be more like a business application rather than developer tool.

Of course, integration interfaces still need to be created in a way that ensures data security and integrity. IT still has to retain control of the process but they can do so by publishing connectors that hide the complexity of security, data validations and complex mappings while allowing non-technical users to map data to simpler, flat formats. This will allow the IT staff to focus on more productive, high value tasks while off-loading the day-to-day operational work to business users.

Business users want an easy to use interface that enables workflow automation — not a platform that requires advanced knowledge of code and an IT request ticket. Salesforce.com is a great example of a business application that saw challenges within an industry and successfully met them head on. Prior to Salesforce, many CRM systems were often adopted with little consideration for the actual end user or for how sales reps would actually reap the benefits. The primary user of a CRM system is the sales rep — not IT — and Salesforce understood that.

The software integration market would do much better if it appealed to their primary business customer. That will lead to more business flexibility and more efficient IT teams. The question is not if, but when, the business user becomes the focal point of deploying business applications.

http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/12/the-codeless-future/ 

Watch a Video of Developing Chrome Apps on Desktop and Mobile Distribute and Profit

 This video is worth the view to see where Google is headed when it come to web and native apps on the desktop and mobiles.

http://gigaom.com/2013/12/09/chrome-apps-101-video-shows-googles-vision-of-future-web-apps-on-mobile-and-desktop/

Colorpeek --A Chrome Extension Which is A Simple Way to See and Share CSS Colors

Tyler Sticka created a tool called Colorpeek.  In the following article you will explain to you what the web app does and why and then explain how the Chrome extension works to extend that.

"Tyler states,
A while back I found myself engaged in a monotonous task most designers will relate to. Having carefully selected a color palette in whatever design application I favored that day, it was time to share those color values with my collaborators.

I could have dumped a bunch of hex triplets into an email and called it good. But until we all start cultivating an encyclopedic knowledge of the RGB color model, it's probably best to include some sort of image as well.

So I dutifully hauled out Photoshop and made something like this for what felt like the thousandth time:"

Colorpeek helps you quickly see and share colors in whatever CSS notation you're already using. It supports hex, RGB(a), HSL(a), named colors and even some non-standard brand colors. They all get displayed in a simple, responsive layout.


Some examples:
Hex: colorpeek.com/#a899f2
RGB with alpha: colorpeek.com/#rgba(221,78,133,0.5)
Color keyword: colorpeek.com/#lightcoral
Multiple colors (mixed formats): colorpeek.com/#hotpink,rgb(77,196,94),hsl(212,73,67)
Some brand colors: colorpeek.com/#facebook,twitter,youtube


If you're more of a visual thinker and your browser supports drag and drop and the file API, you can add colors by dragging images right into Colorpeek. It'll grab the most prominent colors thanks to Lokesh Dhakar's magical Color Thief script.

http://css-tricks.com/colorpeek-simple-way-see-share-css-colors/ 

Tech Boot Camps is Changing the Way Technology is Taught in the Classroom

Using a combination of "flipped classrooms" that rely on an extensive library of video tutorials, and "Telepresense," TechBootcamps.com thinks they can create Drupal Web Developers in 8 weeks.



The company stated that 53% of college graduates can’t find a job within 4 months of graduation. They also pointed out that the average cost for a private university is over $121,000 for a 4-year degree. The company thinks that’s a big debt to take on without a job.

Enter an entirely new solution, from TechBootcamps.com.

The company promises that their boot camps will take a person from a beginner to an employable Web Developer, as well as give them the hands-on experience and employer contacts that the students need to get a developer position when they graduate. Through their intense 8-week program, students will learn real world skills and produce a portfolio of websites that they can show to prospective employers.

Through TechBootcamps' “Career Days,” the students will be introduced to many employers, face to face. All of these employers will be looking to fill web developer positions. With starting salaries in the technologies taught averaging 50,000 to 60,000 dollars, the company claims their training program can easily pay for itself – and without having to take on a huge student debt.

The company also stated that if a student take a job with any of the employer-partners that participate in their “Career Days,” the company will reimburse the student all or most of his or her tuition. More information is shown on their "Tuition | Application" page.

The total cost of their 8-week program is $5,900 during their launch – and that includes a MacBook Pro. If the student already has a laptop, they can subtract $1,500 and their tuition will be $4,400.

The company says that they also offer $500 scholarships for many individuals, including veterans of the U.S. Military, and females. That would take tuition costs down to $3,900.

To find out more information, the company suggests going to their website at TechBootcamps.com, or via the telephone at 413-821-6993.
http://www.pr.com/press-release/530766

 

SimbaProvider SDK 4.5 Was Released Today by Simba Technologies

                                                         simba.com

 

Simba Technologies Inc., the industry's source for standards-based relational and multi-dimensional data connectivity solutions, announced today the release of SimbaProvider SDK 4.5 - the quickest way to build XMLA, ODBO, and MDX Query language capability for any data source. SimbaProvider SDK enables quick and easy development of high-performance OLE DB for OLAP (ODBO) and XML for Analysis (XMLA) data providers that connect popular Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics products like IBM Cognos, Microsoft Excel and SAP BusinessObjects to data sources.

The innovative technology inside the SimbaProvider SDK powers MDX queries on any data source, including Big Data sources such as Cloudera Impala. Simba first demonstrated MDX queries issued on a real-time OLAP cube in Cloudera Impala in February 2013. This release of SimbaProvider SDK enhances the underlying MDX query language engine and shows Simba's continued investment in OLAP in the Big Data age.

"My two favourite features in this release are the all-new sample provider and the enhanced query and subquery delegation," said Cathy Dumas, the Director of Program Management, Analytics at Simba Technologies," Developers can quickly get up and running with the new sample provider and incrementally extend MDX query language functionality as needed. As a developer's familiarity with MDX and the SimbaProvider SDK grows, he or she can greatly improve the performance by selectively delegating queries and subqueries to the underlying data source. This combination of the computational capabilities in Simba's MDX engine and the power of the developer's data source results in easy-to-use BI models in Microsoft Excel PivotTables or in almost any other BI client."

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/simba-technologies-releases-new-mdx-query-language-toolkit-supporting-high-performance-64-bit-xmla-data-provider-development-for-olap-connectivity-in-conventional-and-web-services-environments-2013-12-02-917

Interesting Tips From a Seasoned App Developer

A self-taught programmer has been producing apps for over 10 years.  He has been successful writing apps and has shared some tips to help app developers.

Satisfy your own needs

My most popular apps are ones that I’ve developed for myself to satisfy my own needs with devices that excite me. If you want a capability on your device, chances are there are other people thinking the same thing. Having a problem you want to solve for yourself means that you are more committed to it and actually understand it. It’s also a lot more fun.

Take feedback and act on it

Without exception it has been feedback from highly engaged users which has allowed my apps to keep developing over the years, to improve and stay fresh. I respond to most customer emails myself and aim to do so quickly. This seems to have a lasting halo effect as customers recommend my apps to their friends. Many people are surprised and very pleased to get an email from the real developer rather than a support minion.

Keep it simple – but not too simple

You’ll typically get most feedback from the highly technical users who want lots of complicated features and options. These guys are great, they have some killer ideas, but they are not the majority of your users. In order to keep the broader base happy, you need to keep things simple. Palm OS used to talk about ‘the zen of Palm.’ They obsessed about letting users act in as few taps as possible. Apple has embraced this desire for simplicity — though, with Apple, making things beautiful can sometimes get in the way of achieving the goal.

Looks matter

When I started developing, apps were called applications, and we cared more about what they did than how they looked. Times have changed. For your app to be a success, it needs to look good. Spend that bit of extra time (and maybe money, if graphic skills aren’t your thing) to give it a bit of polish.

You can’t predict success

Apps are like pop songs. You write the app, you polish it and you release it. You don’t know whether it will be a hit or flop. That is true even after your first successful app. Most pop bands are one-hit-wonders, and most developers will struggle to follow initial success. I had low expectations for the app that would become my most successful project, and others that I was super-excited about disappeared without a trace. You do your best, release your app, then move on if you need to.

Small is good

I have been accused of lacking ambition, but I like my small, low-risk approach. I don’t have employees, I have never spent more than a few thousand pounds to develop, design, and launch an app. Many developers are working towards a big launch on borrowed money, hiring an expensive team of rock star developers and publicists, hoping and hanging on for that ever elusive venture capital or big tech buy-out. I look at most of those app ideas and wonder why they didn’t just build their app in the evenings, launch it, and see what happens. Most will disappear without a trace, but a good idea that fulfills a need will gradually find a market. And probably has as much chance of hitting it big as any other decent app, with a lot less risk.

 http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/18/insights-from-an-app-developer-veteran-think-simple-low-risk/

Check Out the Lastest News on SILO for Web Application Security

                                               authenic8.com

In this age of security leaks and hackers businesses are always looking for promising systems that can protect data and employee devices.

A new company, Authenic8 , has developed the product "Silo". This Silo app has a highly secure containment.  Silo stands out because mobile employees it is valuable when using personal devices over insecure networks.

Authentic8 stated the following their launch of Silo.  "Each time they launch Silo, users get a freshly built browsing environment with SSO links to provisioned apps. All web code is contained within Silo, meaning apps are insulated from exploits, and business data is kept separate from personal browsing. Users interact with a benign display of the web app, keeping all web code off the device. And at session end Silo is destroyed along with all transient browsing data, leaving the device and server stateless. With Silo, your web apps live beyond the reach of network, client-side or web borne exploits."

Ken Hess for Consumerization asked the team of  Authentic8 the following question.:
"What happens if the user hits a site that's been compromised? Can it have any negative affect on the user's device?"
The team answered:
The answer is, "No". And the reason is that your web application isn't running on your device. It runs in the cloud, in a sandboxed environment. Your device is not directly attached to the web service in any way. So, imagine the worst, most devious virus or malware possible that's infected a site that you have setup to access in Silo.

 Watch a video demonstration of Authenic8's Silo in action.

http://www.zdnet.com/authentic8s-silo-the-ultimate-security-solution-7000023271/

Which Mobile Hybrid App is Better For You?

                                             wiki.developerforce.com

Not every app will fit cleanly into a single pattern, they serve as models for understanding the wide range of what’s possible.

Pure Pattern: So-called “pure” hybrid apps consist of a single webview that occupies the entire screen. All the content and navigation controls are implemented in HTML5, and a thin native wrapper exposes native APIs (like Address Book access) to the HTML5 code. PhoneGap (Cordova) apps use this model. Because of the heavy reliance on HTML5, these apps typically have the most code reuse between mobile platforms and require the least level of native programming experience.

Blended Pattern: Blended apps use native components for the main navigation UI (such as the tab bar) but web views for the formatted content. These apps often use multiple web views with native-powered animations between screens. Apple’s App Store app and Google’s Gmail for iOS use this pattern on some screens.

Mullet Pattern: These apps are fully native for early parts of a user flow, such as product browsing, and web-based for later areas like checkout. This is a very common pattern for mobile commerce apps where APIs supporting native screens typically exist for product data but not for the hard to integrate features like checkout and payments. Walmart and Yelp apps for iOS both use this pattern.

Fallback Pattern: In this pattern, the app is mostly native but uses hybrid web views as a fallback for little used or frequently changing content. Facebook’s current app falls under this pattern
.
API Pattern: Not all hybrid apps simply render HTML from a server. API-driven hybrid apps get their data from the server in JSON or XML and instantiate that data into HTML within the app.

A good resource is a free e-book on native, HTML5, and hybrid apps that may help with the different approaches to mobile in the enterprise. The staff at Kinvey wrote the book.

http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/13/the-5-hybrid-apps-you-meet-in-heaven-hhhhhh-mobile/

Oracle Seeks Java Performance Boost

                                          businessweek.com

Oracle, which has already been working with HSA Foundation on projects, finally becomes a member!

Oracle has joined the industry consortium HSA Foundation, which is developing standards to make it easier for programmers to take advantage of GPUs and other processor types for faster code execution.

The Heterogeneous System Architecture Foundation is developing a set of open-source programming tools that will make it easier for programmers to harness the joint power of CPUs, graphics processing units (GPUs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and digital signal processors for better system performance.

[ Also on InfoWorld: Surprise! Java is fastest for server-side Web apps. | Learn how to work smarter, not harder with InfoWorld's roundup of all the tips and trends programmers need to know in the Developers' Survival Guide. Download the PDF today! | Keep up with the latest developer news with InfoWorld's Developer World newsletter. ]

Oracle wants to bring those "heterogeneous compute" capabilities to Java developers, too
"Our work with the HSA Foundation will help provide Java developers with the ability to quickly leverage GPU acceleration, and explore how the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), as well as the Java language and APIs, might be enhanced to allow applications to take advantage of heterogeneous compute," said Nandini Ramani, vice president of development for Oracle's Java Platform, in a statement. Oracle acquired the Java platform when it bought Sun Microsystems.

The not-for-profit foundation was started last year by Advanced Micro Devices, Qualcomm, ARM Holdings and other companies. AMD has collaborated with Oracle on an OpenJDK project called "Project Sumatra," which will bring parallel acceleration to JVMs with Java 8, which will become available in March next year. Sumatra repurposes multi-core Java 8 APIs (application programming interfaces) called Stream or Lambda to enable processing on CPUs and GPUs, but it will need extra layers of code for parallel execution.

Ultimately, JVMs will get native support for parallel acceleration, which will reduce the need for extra layers of code. Native support for HSA's specifications in JVMs is expected with Java 9 in 2015, and Oracle is working with the HSA Foundation to reduce the overlays needed for Java to tap into GPUs and other co-processors.

HSA has released some specifications that pool memory resources and lower the overhead required in dispatching jobs to hardware for execution. HSA also is looking to create industry-standard parallel programming tools on top of existing standards like OpenCL.

Other new members include networking firm Huawei and Linaro, which develops ARM-based software for Linux distributions. U.S. government labs Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have also joined the consortium.

Intel and Nvidia, which offer their own parallel programming tools, are not members of HSA Foundation.

Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's email address is agam_shah@idg.com

http://www.infoworld.com/d/application-development/oracle-seeks-java-performance-boost-joins-hsa-foundation-230712

How Google Hummingbird is Revolutionizing Content Development in the Legal Industry

Google Hummingbird was released in September 2013. For those who have not yet heard of this new way of interacting with users.


Google claims that its Hummingbird algorithm offers a more natural way to use its search engines. In the past month Hummingbird was quietly deployed before any announcement was made. Google senior vice president Amit Singhal said that this is the largest algorithm update in three years, the last update was three years before the "caffeine plan."

Singhal said that the algorithm can make use of more complex search requests and has a better understanding of the concept of human language, rather than a few scattered words. This new algorithm is a big step forward in the Internet history as searches will be more "human friendly" than ever. The algorithm is designed for conversational or semantic search. Google uses its knowledge graph to answer questions users type as a query For example, a query like "how tall is Mount Everest" would return the search result: 29,029' (8,848 m) Mount Everest, Elevation. Although the knowledge graph is a big part of the hummingbird update, it is not the only thing affected. The hummingbird algorithm is estimated to impact 90% of all searches, impacting billions of pages on the web. This means that sites that are more likely to answer the users questions might be favored. With a growing number of mobile users, the hummingbird algorithm had voice search in mind. Hummingbird was designed to understand the users intent and provide the best possible results.

 A recent article speaks how Google Hummingbird can change a content developers writing.

How Does This Lead To Revolution?

Content development has been growing as a marketing tool for the last few years and marketers have learned on how to optimize content for search-engine crawlers. SEO experts have focused on building authority and sharability through link building in guest blogs and social media. These methods will still play a vital part in the future of SEO but one thing is changing dramatically: how Google reads a query and decides what the best result is.

Hummingbird changes from a focus on keywords to a focus on the overall meaning behind the query (the semantic meaning) and then finds the content that best answers the question or inquiry. Therefore, content isn’t about fitting a certain keyword schema and a certain amount of backlinks to get your rank and authority up anymore. Now search engine optimization is about how well your content functions as an answer to the user’s query. If you are developing content for a business, it should be designated towards a specific market. Therefore, you have to find out the wants and needs of the market you are writing for.

Hummingbird means your content has to be original, functional, specific, and well written. These qualities in writing will lead to sharability and, therefore, backlinks. Good content, therefore, is content that works for the user not for Google (although by writing for the user you are also writing content that works for Google). What makes this revolutionized algorithm so great is that it changes what has been the normal marketing strategy in content development : building authority, good keywords, sharability, and backlinks in order to create “good content”. Instead, good content should be good writing that helps a user or client and serves a purpose other than appeasing the omnipotent Google.

How This Will Change Content Developer’s Writing

Since Google is focusing on the semantic meaning of queries, this means content will have to be better at answering the semantic meanings of queries. For content to get indexed and reach high rankings, content developers have to write in a way that will be a helpful experience. Meaning an article that is well organized, informative or useful, and creative.

Google’s updates continue to force the content developer to revolutionize their way of writing from businesses to clients. Instead of getting lost in the technology of page indexing and keyword research, now it’s about finding out which pages generate traffic and give your market the best user experience. So, content development is about creating experience. This means more and more, content development is turning into pure art.

http://www.dailydealmedia.com/google-hummingbird-how-its545-revolutionizing-content-development-in-the-legal-industry/

How Much Do You Know About Web Development With Grails 2.3?

                                           Grails Software



What is Grails?

Grails is an Open Source, full stack, web application framework for the JVM. It takes advantage of the Groovy programming language and convention over configuration to provide a productive and stream-lined development experience.

 It is intended to be a high-productivity framework by following the "coding by convention" paradigm, providing a stand-alone development environment and hiding much of the configuration detail from the developer.

Grails was previously known as 'Groovy on Rails'; in March 2006 that name was dropped in response to a request by David Heinemeier Hansson, founder of the Ruby on Rails framework. Work began in July 2005, with the 0.1 release on March 29, 2006 and the 1.0 release announced on February 18, 2008.

G2One - The Groovy Grails Company - was acquired by SpringSource in November, 2008, and it was later acquired by VMware.

Installing Grails 2.3.x on OS x




www.grail.org
http://www.infoq.com/presentations/web-app-grails-2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grails_(framework)

Crummy Passwords is the Reason that Adobe was HACKED!

                                           news.mindprocessors.com 

This following article should be a wake-up call to computer users in selecting their passwords. Knowing that persons use the same password for every login that they use is opening the door for security breaches and hackers getting your personal information. 




Despite the endless warnings, despite all the advice, despite the plethora of useful articles on the matter, it seems computer users everywhere just can’t help creating really crummy passwords.

Analysis of user passwords gathered from the recent Adobe attack reveal a Top 20 list full of easy-to-remember but equally easy-to-guess passwords, with “123456” topping the chart.

The Adobe hack affected 38 million accounts, though this figure relates only to active users. The security breach actually hit more than 150 million accounts, though most are no longer used.

Adobe has changed passwords on affected accounts and contacted users to let them know how to reset their account with a personally chosen password. It also instructed users to change their passwords on any other website where they may have used the same user ID and password as their Adobe account.

Some of the stolen data has started to show up across the Web, with Internet security researcher Jeremi Gosney uncovering a mass of passwords, despite the U.S. software giant saying they were protected by encryption. However, an Adobe spokesperson said last week that up to now there have been no reports of suspicious activity on user accounts affected by the security breach.

Now that you know “123456” topped the list of 1.9 million passwords, perhaps you can guess what came in at number 2…..“123456789.” Number 3 will be enough to make any Web security advisor consider giving up the day job in despair: “password.”

Crummy passwords

Here are the rest of the top 20 most popular passwords gathered from the Adobe hack: adobe123 / 12345678 / qwerty / 1234567 / 111111 / photoshop / 123123 / 1234567890 / 000000 / abc123 / 1234 / adobe1 / macromedia / azerty / iloveyou / aaaaaa / 654321

The thing is, if someone uses a number like “123456” for their password on one site, it’s a safe bet they use the same number on all the websites for which they have accounts, as you’d only get confused if you had a different number for each site – unless, of course, you keep all your passwords in a big red notebook with “MY PASSWORDS” written on the front. And those who have “adobe123″ as their password no doubt also use “facebook123”, “twitter123”… you get the idea.

Gosney said he’s currently unable to verify the passwords he uncovered, though he’s “fairly confident” of the list’s accuracy. To find out more about how he collected the data, and to see the top 100 passwords as selected by Adobe users, click here.

Meanwhile, if, after looking through the list above, a bead of sweat has formed on your brow as you start to realize how ridiculously simple your passwords are (or should we say “password is”?), then check out this article to find out how to create something a little more secure. Or get an app to help you.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/11/06/123456-adobe-hack-highlights-crummy-passwords/ 

Need Some Advice for Cost-Effective App Production?

We love to share tips from other developers that we deem helpful . Share this article with others so they can benefit from the information in this article.



When selecting content delivery channels, a digital-first publisher can’t ignore the mobile app. Today’s digital-savvy readers expect a market leading publication to have a mobile app. Moreover, advertisers expect to be able reach the most loyal subscribers via the publisher’s app.

This said, as mentioned in an earlier post, the ROI on a mobile app should be carefully evaluated. The key challenges with apps are discoverability and the higher expenses related to building and maintaining the app. While apps are generally superior reading experiences for subscribers, app discoverability is difficult due to the sheer size, fragmentation, and limited search functionality of app stores. As a result, launching a new publication app today requires significant marketing expense to grow an audience. Similarly, building and maintaining an app can be quite expensive, and native apps by definition are not cross-platform solutions, so you’ll need to build separate apps for each operating system that you want to support (iOS, Android, Windows 8, etc.).



Third-Party Provider

First, consider working with a third-party mobile platform provider that is willing to build and host a mobile app for you on a revenue share basis. These platform vendors typically have template solutions that you can leverage to get to market quickly for little cost. Their offerings normally include the key features that you’ll want already built in (e.g., push notifications, sharing functionality, and rich-media advertising). Additionally, these providers will ensure that your apps continually work even on the latest operating system releases, leveraging their scale to quickly update their platform and app environment. The main downside of these solution providers is that their templates may limit your creativity. Additionally, supporting a different CMS can create editorial challenges.

The 'Native Wrapper'

Another approach to building an app in a cost-effective way would be to consider rebuilding your website in HTML5 and then placing it in a “native wrapper” rather than building a pure native app. Some consider this approach the equivalent of “having your cake and eating it too.” Three key benefits of HTML5 are that it is operating system agnostic (e.g., code works for Android and iOS), it offers offline reading capabilities, and, depending upon how it is architected, you can make updates without app releases. HTML5 code in a native wrapper allows you to access native features such as push notifications, in-app purchasing, and native sharing capabilities. You could also consider building this “app” using a responsive/native HTML5 design which could reduce future development costs. That said, I would caution that this approach is not necessarily the panacea some purport it to be in that it’s challenging to build an HTML5 mobile site and there are a lot of nuances that will require an experienced programmer (which are hard to come by). If it’s done wrong, users will see a degradation of app experience in terms of speed and functionality.


Pick One OS

The third cost-effective approach would be to build a native app for only one operating system (e.g., iOS) using your CMS and internal platforms. The value of this approach will depend upon both the concentration of your user base (i.e. is the majority of your readers using one platform over another) and your access to skilled developers, either in-house or contracted).

In the next article, I’ll address some best-in-class approaches to driving app revenue as well as provide some stats on ALM’s app performance.

http://www.foliomag.com/2013/3-tips-cost-effective-app-production#.Unk1Ovlwrmc

Dell to Reveal the 64-Bit ARM Based Copper Server

                                            

This week the officials of Dell will be presenting their version of an ARM-based low-power microserver running the Fedora Linux distribution.  The demonstration will take place on October 29 at the Techcon 2013 in Santa Clara, California. The expectation  for the Dell demonstration is the focus will be on the 64-bit ARM computing in the data center, including dense,low-power microservers.



For example, Calxeda officials announced Oct. 28 that they will unveil the next generation of the company's 32-bit EnergyCore systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) as well as details of a new line of 64-bit chips expected next year. ARM executives for the past several years have eyed the microserver space as a growth opportunity for its low-power SoC designs, which now are primarily found in mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets.

Much of the attention in recent months has been on Hewlett-Packard's Project Moonshot portfolio of small, highly energy-efficient servers aimed at hyperscale environments running workloads such as Web hosting and cloud services. HP officials in April unveiled the first of the Moonshot servers, which run on Intel's 64-bit Atom platform, with the promise of adding systems powered by ARM-based chips from the likes of Advanced Micro Devices, Calxeda and Marvell Technologies.

However, Dell also has been working ARM-based microservers in its "Copper" efforts, and like other OEMs and chip makers, see advantages of the ARM architecture not only in compute but also storage and networking.

"Dell began developing microserver technology back in 2007 and has worked closely with select Dell DCS hyperscale customers to understand their workloads, expectations and requirements," Robert Hormuth, executive director of platform technology and architecture for the office of the CTO at Dell, wrote in a post on the company's blog. "We believe the 64-bit ARM-based processor demonstrates promise for storage and Web front-end environments, where advantages in dollars per gigabyte, watts per gigabyte, performance per dollar and performance per watt are critical."

The Dell system will be powered by Applied Micro's 64-bit ARM-based X-Gene SoC and will run Fedora, with PMC's 16-port, 12G-bps SAS storage solution running Dell storage arrays.

"This is a key milestone for customers seeking to run real-world workloads on 64-bit ARM technology," Hormuth wrote.

The microserver space is expected to be one of several key areas of competition between ARM and Intel. ARM officials see the growing demand for faster, more energy-efficient systems in the data center as a natural fit for their low-power technology. ARM's architecture now is 32-bit, but the company is expected to begin licensing its upcoming 64-bit ARMv8-A technology next year. Applied Micro already has developed a 40-nanometer version of its X-Gene 64-bit ARM SoC, and will begin sampling its 28nm version in the first half of 2014.

Dell and other OEMs believe 64-bit capabilities will be critical to the success of ARM in the data center, but Hormuth said Dell has been using the 32-bit SoCs to its advantage.

"As the ARM server ecosystem is in its early stages, Dell's focus has been on addressing today's market realities—that is, enabling developers and customers to create code and test performance with 32-bit ARM servers," he wrote. "However, as we have been discussing with customers and analysts, 64-bit will be required for broad-based adoption and we are currently developing architectures based upon 64-bit solutions."

Dell plans to deliver a proof-of-concept server based on Applied Micro's 64-bit ARM technology in early 2014. The OEM began seeing Copper servers with Web and hyperscale customers in May 2012.

In addition, in hopes of growing the ecosystem around 64-bit ARM, Dell in October 2012 donated its"Zinc" ARM-based server concept to the Apache Software Foundation. The Zinc system runs on Calxeda's EnergyCore chips.

Dell also is making the Copper and Zinc systems available remotely through its Austin Solution Center hosting site and the Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas, where they can be accessed by academic developers.

"Our current priority is supporting application development and testing of the ARM-based server ecosystem, and we will bring a 64-bit ARM-based server to general availability when customer and ecosystem readiness are aligned," Hormuth said.
 http://www.serverwatch.com/server-news/dell-to-demo-64-bit-arm-based-copper-server.html

Verizon Foundation is Giving Future Application Developers an Opportunity to Show their Stuff.

                                         prweb.com



If you know any middle and high school students that just love web app technology then this is will be a great challenge for them to participate.


The Verizon Foundation, in partnership with the Technology Student Association, has opened the 2013-2014 Innovative App Challenge, giving middle and high school students across the country a chance to develop a concept for a mobile app and bring it to market.

The mobile app design competition aims to engage students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects and empower them to create STEM-related app concepts that solve real-world problems in their community or school. Students have a chance to win Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablets courtesy of Samsung Telecommunications America, cash grants of up to $20,000 for their school, and the opportunity to team up with app development experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab to build and bring their apps to life. Verizon will help winning teams bring their app to the Google Play store, available for download.


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The fastest-growing careers in the United States are STEM-related, yet the country is not graduating enough young professionals in these fields to meet this need. As a result, as many as 3 million STEM jobs have gone unfilled, according to STEMconnector’s “2013 EdTech – Revolution in Education” report.

To address this issue, the Verizon Foundation and TSA launched the inaugural Innovative App Challenge last October. More than 1,000 schools from every state and Washington, D.C., registered for the competition, and 471 teams submitted app concepts. The competition engaged more than 3,000 boys and girls from major cities to rural areas including many underserved communities. Nearly 60 percent of the winning team members were girls.

Justina Nixon-Saintil, director of education and technology programs for the Verizon Foundation, said: “We created the Verizon Innovative App Challenge to encourage students to collaborate, get creative and use their STEM knowledge to come up with powerful answers to local, everyday problems. The inaugural challenge provided all that and more, as we saw some amazing app concepts and heard inspirational stories from students and teachers. We’re eagerly awaiting the fresh, innovative ideas that the student teams will bring to the second challenge.”

What’s New in 2013 – More Ways to Win

This year, the Verizon Innovative App Challenge offers more chances to win for teams of five students in grades 6-12 with a faculty advisor. The winning teams, which will be chosen by an expert panel of judges, will include:

• Twenty-four Best in Region winners from the West, Midwest, South and East. Each Best in Region school will receive a $5,000 cash grant plus virtual training on coding and support from the MIT Media Lab’s app development experts to help it build its app concept.
• Eight Best in Nation winners, selected from the pool of Best in Region teams. Best in Nation schools will receive an additional $15,000 cash grant, and each winning team member will receive a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. Additionally, the MIT Media Lab will provide onsite and virtual training on coding and support to the Best in Nation teams as they develop their apps, and Verizon will help bring their apps to the Google Play store. The Best in Nation winners will present their apps in person – on their new tablets – at the 2014 Technology Student Association National Conference in Washington, D.C., next June.

• Three special Best in Category winners, which will be recognized for their app concepts to help solve problems in education, healthcare or energy management – focus areas for the Verizon Foundation.

Submissions will be accepted now through Dec. 3. Teams can submit their app ideas, access tips and instructional videos on app design, and learn more about the Verizon Innovative App Challenge atwww.verizonfoundation.org/appchallenge.

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/eastex/living/verizon-foundation-launches-app-challenge-for-middle-and-high-school/article_2922238a-2afb-5c8a-b2f5-c5f07ae9e801.html