computer network

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Data Specialist Spends All Day Getting 'Smart' Kettle to Work

Twitter heats up before the kettle does

(Newser) - English data specialist Mark Rittman just wanted hot water for his 9am tea, but one thing led to another and it wasn't until dinnertime that he managed to fully diagnose the problem with his WiFi-enabled "smart" kettle, hack a workaround, and use voice control to tell his kettle...

Snowden Used Cheap Software to Rob NSA

He pilfered top-secret documents using something like Googlebot

(Newser) - Well, this is embarrassing: Edward Snowden stole NSA documents using widely available software that "scraped" the agency's computer networks, the New York Times reports. "We do not believe this was an individual sitting at a machine and downloading this much material in sequence," a top intelligence...

Next Year, You Might Actually Get a Raise

Ten jobs likely to benefit from the improving economy

(Newser) - Unsurprisingly, 2009 was a grim year for many an employee’s wallet, with 85% of big companies doing away with across-the-board merit pay, but 2010 already looks a lot brighter. More than half the companies who froze salaries this year tell Fortune they plan to defrost them next year. Here’...

Health Care by Computer Has Failed in the UK
Health Care by Computer
Has Failed in the UK
OPINION
Jul 18, 2009 6:19 PM CDT

Health Care by Computer Has Failed in the UK

(Newser) - Like all liberals, President Obama likes big, controlling systems. Like British politicians, he hopes to manage health care with a nationwide supercomputer. As Britain failed, so too will the United States, Fraser Nelson and Irwin M. Stelzer write in the Weekly Standard. Not only has Britain's medical database failed after...

Hackers Expose Holes in Air Traffic Safety

Vulnerabilities abound ahead of planned $20B FAA upgrade

(Newser) - Civilian air traffic computer networks are riddled with security holes, and hackers have breached them several times in the past few years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Intruders could gain access to operational systems by first hacking into administrative areas using 763 separate “high risk” holes in those systems,...

US Seeks 'Ethical Hackers' to Combat Cyber Threats

(Newser) - To combat the rising threat of attack on the nation’s computer networks, the US government is turning to the dark side for help, the AP reports. A call has gone out for so-called “ethical hackers” who “think like the bad guy” to work with Homeland Security to...

'Google-like' System to Link US Intelligence Agencies

Overhaul includes databases, email

(Newser) - The computer databases of the 16 US intelligence agencies soon will be linked, the Wall Street Journal reports. The system comes nearly 5 years after the spy agencies got heat for failing to "connect the dots" before the Sept. 11 attacks. Analysts will be able to search through secret...

How to Detect Earthquakes From Your Desk

A SETI-like network of laptops can trump seismometers

(Newser) - Seismologists have found a way to harness the power of a built-in feature of many laptops and create a new wide-ranging earthquake-detection system, the Economist reports. The "Quake-Catcher Network" capitalizes on laptops' accelerometers, little devices that detect when the computer is falling or shaken, to provide widespread—and highly...

Laptops May Help Sense Quakes
 Laptops May Help Sense Quakes 
Apr 22, 2008 1:57 PM CDT

Laptops May Help Sense Quakes

Personal, work computers enlisted as Calif. researchers aim to plug gaps in detection

(Newser) - Laptop computers are the key to a new earthquake-sensing project in California, the MIT Technology Review reports. Researchers are working to connect home and business computers in a network that could monitor activity and even provide early warning of big quakes. Motion detectors would report shaking to a central server,...

Denmark's Economy 'Most Networked'
Denmark's Economy 'Most Networked'
Apr 9, 2008 4:42 PM CDT

Denmark's Economy 'Most Networked'

US takes 4th, behind Sweden and Switzerland

(Newser) - Denmark is the most IT-savvy country on Earth, according to the World Economic Forum, which today released its list of the world’s “most networked” countries. The list ranks 127 countries based on their ability to use new information and technologies, the BBC explains. It was Denmark’s second...

China's Military Boost Angers US
China's Military Boost Angers US
Mar 4, 2008 12:00 PM CST

China's Military Boost Angers US

Beijing eyes space, cyberspace and Taiwan

(Newser) - The US and China are clashing over Beijing's increasing defense expenditures, its posture toward Taiwan and its threat to US space hardware, reports the BBC. Beijing officials say they plan to up defense spending by 18% to $59 billion—but a Pentagon report claims the true amount of Chinese military...

Cisco Unveils A Much Faster Switch
Cisco Unveils A Much Faster Switch
Jan 28, 2008 1:25 PM CST

Cisco Unveils A Much Faster Switch

Capable of transferring 90,000 Netflix movies in 38.4 seconds

(Newser) - Cisco is introducing a network switch today that can handle much greater quantities of data traffic than its current products. Aimed at corporations working with large amounts of Internet and remote data, as well as ISPs, the Nexus 7000 switch would be capable of transferring all 90,000 of Netflix’...

New Cisco Unit First Based Abroad
New Cisco Unit First Based Abroad
Dec 26, 2007 10:10 PM CST

New Cisco Unit First Based Abroad

Will aim to wire entire cities in Middle East, China, India from Bangalore HQ

(Newser) - Dozens of new cities are to be built in China, India, and the Middle East in the coming decade and Cisco Systems wants to network them top-to-bottom, the Financial Times reports. The networking equipment giant is setting up a new business center in Bangalore, India, as part of its push...

Cisco Goes Green with Energy Gauging
Cisco Goes Green with Energy Gauging
Dec 26, 2007 10:42 AM CST

Cisco Goes Green with Energy Gauging

Networking company to measure power use from data centers

(Newser) - Green-minded Cisco Systems is looking to improve energy efficiency by monitoring power consumption, operating temperature, and more from its enterprise data network. With energy costs and global warming worries escalating, Cisco plans to expand beyond communications and use its data network to help companies manage their power use and prevent...

Cisco Profits Up, But Murky Outlook Drags Stock Down

Networking giant posts solid first quarter; prospects dimmer for next one

(Newser) - Cisco touted a 37% increase in its first-quarter profits, but it wasn’t enough on Wall Street to overcome a pessimistic outlook for the company's current quarter. The network equipment maker said its revenue-growth forecast of $9.79 billion will fall just short of the $9.81 billion most analysts...

Feds Prepare for Cyberwar
Feds Prepare
for Cyberwar
Sep 27, 2007 7:57 AM CDT

Feds Prepare for Cyberwar

Attack by hackers, likely from China, could cut communications, power, banking

(Newser) - Readying for a new cyber doomsday in which Americans wake to find the power off, cell phones dead, and no access to cash, the Bush administration is considering creating an agency to protect critical public and private computers. Experts say that any attack, which would likely originate in China, would...

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