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

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/ 

Merchants Can Have Access to Tools to Better Control on How Their Information is Presented Online

                                          www.locationtraffic.com

How can a merchant be sure that the locations of their business is correct on search engines, websites and mobile apps? There are some great tools that they can use to clean up location data.



1. Placeable: Control location data through a unified dashboard.
Agencies and brands with multiple locations can use Placeable’s new Placeable Plot feature to ensure the accuracy of their business data across hundreds of websites, mobile apps, and third-party sites like maps, networks, and directories. Businesses can import their location data from spreadsheets, and then clean up that data using Placeable’s tools. Once the local data has been “normalized,” Placeable puts it into a standardized format and sends it to location-based platforms like Facebook and Google Places. Placeable charges clients a $299 “monthly platform fee,” and $2 per location, per month.

2. Locu: A data-cleansing solution for small and medium-sized businesses.
Locu works with small and medium-size businesses to ensure their contact and product information is accurate. Restaurants, home service providers, and personal care services can manage their business listings, menus, product lists, and company photos from within Locu’s digital platform. This information is then shared across the web—to publishing partners like Yelp, Facebook, Foursquare, TripAdvisor, YP, OpenTable, and CitySearch—each time an update is made. Locu offers its basic plan for free. Users can upgrade to Premium accounts for $25 per month.

3. Yext: Instantly updating local information on 50+ websites, maps, and apps.
Yext offers a location data cleansing solution that’s scalable for businesses of all sizes. Businesses can run a scan to see how their listings look when customers search online, and Yext will pinpoint how many “location data errors” it finds. Businesses can fix those errors by entering the correct information into Yext’s PowerListings system, and the company will automatically push those updates across a network of 50+ websites, maps, and apps.Pricing for Yext’s PowerListings packages ranges from $17 to $67 per month.

4. MomentFeed: Merging and deleting duplicate entries for multi-location brands.
Large brands with multiple locations can use MomentFeed’s PinSync tool to improve engagement and discoverability at the local level. By utilizing the correct latitude/longitude coordinates (also known as “geocodes”) for each of a client’s physical locations, MomentFeed is able to pinpoint outdated listings, adjust inaccurate geocodes, merge duplicate listings, update listings with correct address information, and upgrade local pages on platforms like Facebook, Google, and Foursquare. Pricing for MomentFeed varies depending on the number of locations being monitored.

5. SweetiQ: Identify inconsistencies in local listings.
SweetiQ is an all-in-one location-based marketing platform for agencies, brands, and franchises. One of the vendor’s key features is its local business listings management tool, which clients can use to find out how their business listings are presented across the web and make unified corrections to any inaccuracies. Businesses can also see how their listings are ranked in search engine results, and which keywords are most likely to bring those listings up. SweetiQ offers a free 14-day trial. Paid plans start at under $100 per month.

6. Universal Business Listing: Take ownership of your online profiles.
Businesses can use UBL to unify the information that shows up about their companies on local directories and search engines. Inaccurate phone numbers, addresses, and website links are updated within UBL’s platform and then pushed out to 150 “points of distribution.” These updated listings will appear as “verified” or “claimed,” depending on the site. By partnering with anchor databases like Infogroup, Factual, and Dun & Bradstreet, UBL is able to expedite the process of having its clients’ old listings removed or changed. UBL’s listings packages range in price from $79 to $799 per year.
http://streetfightmag.com/2013/10/08/6-tools-merchants-can-use-to-clean-up-location-data/