Amazon soll versuchen, Slack zu übernehmen. Das Enterprise-Messaging-Startup für professionelle Anwender wird mit über 9 Milliarden US-Dollar bewertet. (Videotelefonie, Instant Messenger)
Quelle: Golem
Die Gesetzesprüfer halten die Kostenschätzungen der vorgesehenen Regeln für Plattformen zum schnelleren Löschen strafbewehrter Inhalte für "nicht nachvollziehbar". Die Bundesregierung weist dies und Kritik aus dem Bundesrat zurück.
Quelle: Heise Tech News
Die Bundesregierung will Mikroelektronik hierzulande bis 2020 mit einer Milliarde Euro subventionieren; davon profitieren unter anderem Globalfoundries, Infineon und Bosch in Dresden.
Quelle: Heise Tech News
Maybe it's gotten a new haircut? Banned some trolls?
Giphy
You'll be able to access your profile, additional accounts, settings, privacy, Twitter Moments, and Lists from the menu.
Twitter said in a blog post that the menu is meant to declutter the browsing experience on its iPhone app. The company had already introduced the menu to Twitter for Android last year, according to its blog post.
But not on the low-bandwidth version Twitter Lite or on the desktop site. In the past, you'd see updates to the count if you refreshed the page.
Previously, the Twitter app opened links in its own browser, which meant you would have to enter your usernames and passwords for any paywalled site (ahem, Wall Street Journal) that you visited via a Twitter link. Now, if you're already logged into a site on Safari, you won't have reenter that information.
Twitter said in a statement that it changed the arrow symbol to a speech bubble in hopes of helping new users, especially first-timers, better understand the social network.
The company wrote that it changed its fonts to be more consistent, and added bolder headlines to “make it easier to focus on what's happening.”
The speech bubble is highlighted in purple, the font in green, and the profile pics in yellow.
You turn Reader View on by clicking the lines to the left of the URL in Safari on iOS. Twitter said it made Reader View and stronger contrasts available to help people with visual impairments use its app.
Quelle: <a href="The Twitter App Is Getting A Slight Facelift Today“>BuzzFeed
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed News
The “pro” tablet is like a spork, which I've said before and will happily say again. Gadgets in this category have typically been unexceptional at both of their jobs: 1. being a tablet and 2. serving as a laptop replacement. Tablets offer neither the portability of that other touchscreen device in your pocket — your phone — nor the performance of a desktop computer.
But Microsoft and Apple are trying to convince us otherwise. Each company released new versions of their respective high-performance tablets recently: the fifth generation Surface Pro starts shipping today and the 10.5-inch iPad Pro hits shelves this week. Curious. 🤔
So, if a tablet has “Pro” in its name, does that mean you can get real work done on it? After reviewing this year’s Surface Pro and iPad Pro, I’ve discovered that yes, it’s possible, but it might not be the most efficient or pleasant way to get that work done — and it largely depends on the type of work you’re doing. If you’re wondering whether you need a tablet at all, or which one you should buy, here’s a guide to the pros and cons of each.
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed News
1. People who have $$$$ to burn, bruh! Tablets are amazing luxury devices. They’re giant phones that make Facebook and Hulu and basically any app look uh-mazing. Plus, they’re fun for when you feel like holding a big ol’ slab of glass above your head in bed. FYI: you’ll end up spending close to a grand for a high-end one with a nice screen.
2. If you use digital textbooks or read/annotate lots of PDFs, get a tablet. Big touchscreens make it easy to zoom in and out of text, and get up close to the media, in a way that makes doing the same thing on a phone feel cramped. If reading is your primary activity, you can probably get away with a regular tablet (like the cheaper iPad or new Galaxy Tab) with a third-party keyboard case and stylus. But if you *also* need to do some word processing (emailing, essay writing, and the like) and, occasionally, other stuff (playing games or watching HD movies) on the device, consider a pro tablet.
3. The styluses on these tablets are getting insanely good, and are even used by professional illustrators. If you’re interested in drawing or handwriting, these devices can be an alternative to paper sketchbooks/notebooks.
Touchscreens attract lots of finger grease (gross) and neither of the devices I reviewed for this article are particularly good for typing on laps, if that’s your thing.
Think about whether you really need a touchscreen. There are lots of ultra lightweight laptop options (including this year’s Macbook and Surface Laptop, which each weigh about a pound) that might be more suited to your needs.
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed News
On the outside, the devices seem like they haven’t changed much, but thanks to processor upgrades, the new versions are as powerful as many laptops on the market.
If you’re a power user and can afford it, you won’t go wrong with this year's models. But you could save a few hundred bucks by getting last year’s tablets (the 9.7 iPad Pro or Surface Pro 4), and spend the saved money on extra luxuries, like accessories or additional storage. You won’t miss too much.
You can read my full review of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, but here’s the short version: It has a slightly bigger screen that can accommodate a full-sized keyboard, a faster processor (nearly double the speed compared to last year’s 9.7-inch iPad Pro), and a new feature called ProMotion, which makes all motion — scrolling, zooming, etc. — much more smooth and detailed.
As for the new Surface Pro, the details are below, but the bottom line is this: It has a bigger battery, faster processor, and a new stylus (the Surface Pen) that’s updated to be more accurate and much more pressure sensitive (you can now tilt to shade, but only in the Sketchpad app for now).
Okay, let’s dive in.
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed News
That’s because the Surface Pro runs a desktop operating system, Windows 10, instead of a limited mobile operating system. You can stack multiple windows on top of each other, instead of just two apps side-by-side. You can also run the full version of Adobe Photoshop (a must for some designers and illustrators) and use browser extensions. There’s a trackpad built into the Surface Pro’s keyboard cover (sold separately), which makes precise actions that aren’t as easy with your finger, like selecting text, less of a pain.
The keys are satisfyingly bouncy. I had no problem using it all day to type (and typing is 95% of my job). It has backlit keys (helpful for dark classrooms!) and shortcuts for sound, brightness, PrtScn, etc. — all the buttons you’d expect on a full-fledged computer.
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed News
Unlike the iPad Pro, it’s much more comfortable to work on at a desk if you’re using it for significant amounts of time. But you’ll need accessories to make it more ergonomic.
The Surface Pro has a port (mini DisplayPort) to connect it to an external monitor, which not only means you can see more things on screen at once, but it puts that content at a more comfortable eye level too, so you don’t feel like you’re going to sprain your neck from craning over to look at a little screen. And if the Surface Pro’s tiny trackpad makes your thumb cramp, you can pair a wireless mouse.
There’s also a super-stable kickstand built-in that can be upright while typing or recline to 15 degrees, which happens to be a great angle for drawing.
It's been a minute since I last used Windows, and I was nervous about having to re-learn the operating system. But, as it turns out, it's super easy to use the device right out of the box. I signed into the Chrome browser, and everything I needed — my saved passwords, bookmarks, extensions — were all synced and ready to go with little setup. It’s helpful that I work mostly with web apps (Google Docs, Gmail, BuzzFeed’s CMS) and software that essentially works the same across platforms (Slack and Adobe Photoshop/Premiere).
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed News
There’s a USB port and a microSD reader built into the Surface Pro. It’s great for connecting a backup drive or dumping images from a camera. If you need to present something, cable adapters that connect the Surface Pro’s display to a projector (with a VGA or HDMI connection) are widely available and can be bought from Microsoft (~$40) or Amazon Basics (~$11) for fairly inexpensive prices.
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed News
There’s a new Surface Pen stylus (now sold separately at $100) for writing and drawing. It has an even stronger magnetic connection, so you can securely snap it to the Surface Pro without worrying it’s going to end up in the bottom of your bag (unlike the older version). And if you want to be extra cautious, there’s a $5 Pen Loop with an adhesive side that sticks to the side of your keyboard cover.
You’ll, of course, need to pay for that top-tier computing power (prices below). If you’d rather poke your eyeball than read about ~specifications~, skip to the next section, Surface Pro Cons. 👇
The following is really for people who need help choosing the right Surface Pro configuration for them.
There are three Intel processors to choose from: Core m3 (for really basic computing like web browsing, writing documents), Core i5 (for Photoshop-ing, multi-tasking with a lot of tabs), and Core i7 (for video editing, gaming). You also have various storage options.
These are the latest chips from Intel (seventh generation Kaby Lake), and they’re faster and more battery-efficient than the previous version. I tested a maxed out Surface Pro (with a Core i7, 512 GB of storage, and 16 GB of RAM). It was absolute overkill, though editing 1080p video in Adobe Premiere was fun.
The Core i5 model with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will be the sweet spot for most, but those truly using the Surface as their primary device will want more storage (256GB) because a full desktop OS takes up a surprising amount of space (approximately 10 gigabytes).
Even after shedding the keyboard, the tablet part of the Surface Pro, at over a pound and a half, feels much heavier and bulkier than the one-pound iPad. It’s also much bigger (at 12.3 inches versus 10.5). For the tiny-wristed (hi, it me), it takes some arm strength to hoist the tablet up in the air.
And, for those who opt for the most powerful of the three models ― the Core i7 ― you’ll hear and feel the air running from the fan inside the device. It also runs warm when it’s working hard. The core m3 and core i5 models are fanless (read: quieter) and will run cooler.
In my first battery test, I put the Pro in overdrive and, as I expected, didn’t get the 13.5 hours Microsoft promised. In my real world high stress test*, I got closer to 7.5 hours of battery life before needing to plug in. With a less stressful test — including battery saver turned on and using Microsoft’s Edge browser instead of Chrome — I got closer to 9 to 10 hours. But you’ll have to use Edge to get that kind of battery life which, ugh.** There’s also some battery drain overnight, even when the device is asleep, and it takes about two hours to fully charge.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the 13.5 hour claim is based on playing videos stored locally (not streamed), and said I received varied results because of various factors, like an active Wi-Fi connection, background processes, and browsing, which utilizes the CPU.
*I downloaded a software update, plugged the device into an external display, connected a wireless mouse, and had 16 Chrome browser tabs (a serious battery hog on any device), OneNote, and Slack open simultaneously.
**Edge also began crashing randomly, for no reason at all. TG for Google Doc auto-save. 🙏
You can’t even rely on the trusty Microsoft Word alt+0151 code to type an em dash on the Surface Pro. You need to lift your arm, tap the touchscreen keyboard icon, switch to the numbers/symbols keyboard, and longpress the the hyphen key to conjure the mythical em dash. Also, the emoji keyboard is limited. I am annoyed.
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed News
Windows overcomplicates even simple tasks. For example, there’s a Settings app *and* a Control Panel app, and some settings options are in one and not the other, and vice versa. And even though I tested a top-of-the-line Surface Pro, there’s a weird delay between tapping a taskbar menu icon and the menu appearing, which means there’s lag …by design?? Details like that make the operating system feel clunky and slow.
Specifically, it doesn’t have the versatile USB-C port, which can power the device, connect it to an external display, and offer super fast data transfer speeds with a single cable. Those who have newer Thunderbolt 3 displays and accessories will need to buy adapters.
Microsoft has done a significant amount of work to toughen up its security, and Windows 10 is much more secure than older versions like XP, but it’s still not as secure as iOS, which only allows Apple-signed and certified apps to be installed. Bad actors are immediately revoked. Additionally, it’s incredibly difficult for malicious apps to execute code in the background in iOS (like a keylogger that records everything you type), because the system is designed to run one app at a time, and only allows certain functions to run in the background, like music, location, and downloading small amounts of content.
In terms of privacy, the Electronic Frontier Foundation came out strongly against Windows 10 for the amount of telemetry, or the data a computer sends to a company about itself, that Microsoft collects by default. The privacy policy reveals how sweeping this collection can be, especially with Cortana, the digital assistant built into Windows 10. It’s all or nothing with Cortana's location tracking, for example, (you can't use the assistant if you don't share it) and Edge sends your browsing history to Microsoft to help Cortana produce better responses. Microsoft responded to the criticism by adding a setting that reduces data collection, but doesn't eliminate it completely.
Nicole Nguyen / BuzzFeed News
If you take a look at the specs, the Surface Pro’s screen actually has a higher pixel density (or pixels per inch) than the 10.5-inch iPad Pro’s, but the iPad’s display feels way better. Fonts on the Surface Pro look just kind of crappy? Janky? Outdated? They're smoother and more attractive in iOS somehow.
Slide to compare fonts on the iPad on the left vs. Surface on the right:
The new iPad Pro also has that new ProMotion tech, which makes Safari webpages look like they’re attached to your finger when you scroll. Motion lag is virtually imperceptible, and it’s almost disarming when you use it for the first time.
Quelle: <a href="A Guide To High-Performance Tablets: Surface Pro Vs. iPad Pro“>BuzzFeed
In the previous two blogposts (Part 1 and Part 2) we demonstrated how to create a dynamic Ansible inventory file for a running OpenStack cloud. We then used that inventory to run Ansible-based validations with the ansible-playbook command from the CLI.
In the final part of our series, we demonstrate how to run those same validations using two new methods: the OpenStack scheduling service, Mistral, and the Red Hat OpenStack director UI.
Method 2: Mistral
Validations can be executed using the OpenStack Mistral Unified CLI. Mistral is the task service on the director and can be used for doing everything from calling local scripts, as we are doing here, to launching instances.
You can easily find the available validations using Mistral from the openstack unified CLI. The command returns all the validations loaded on director, which can be a long list. Below we have run the command, but omitted all but the ceilometerdb-size check:
[stack@undercloud ansible]$ openstack action execution run tripleo.validations.list_validations | jq ‘.result[]’
…
{
“name”: “Ceilometer Database Size Check”,
“groups”: [
“pre-deployment”
],
“id”: “ceilometerdb-size”,
“metadata”: {},
“description”: “The undercloud’s ceilometer database can grow to a substantial size if metering_time_to_live and event_time_to_live is set to a negative value (infinite limit). This validation checks each setting and fails if variables are set to a negative value or if they have no custom setting (their value is -1 by default).n”
}
…
Next step is to execute this workflow by using the “id” value found in the Mistral output:
$ openstack workflow execution create tripleo.validations.v1.run_validation ‘{“validation_name”: “ceilometerdb-size”}’
The example below is what it looks like when run on the director and it contains the final piece of information needed to execute our check:
Look for the “Workflow ID”, and once more run a Mistral command using it:
$ openstack workflow execution output show 4003541b-c52e-4403-b634-4f9987a326e1
The output on the director is below:
As expected, the negative value in metering_time_to_live has triggered the check and the returned output indicates it clearly.
Method 3: The Director GUI
The last way we will run a validation is via the director UI. The validations visible from within the UI depend on what playbooks are present in the /usr/share/openstack-tripleo-validations/validations/ directory on the director. Validations can be added and removed dynamically.
Here is a short (60-second) video which demonstrates adding the ceilometerdb-size validation to the director via the CLI and then running it from the UI:
Pretty cool, right?
Where to from here?
As you write your own validations you can submit them upstream and help grow the community. To learn more about the upstream validations check out their project repository on github.
And don’t forget, contributing an approved commit to an OpenStack project can gain you Active Technical Contributor (ATC) status for the release cycle. So, not only do you earn wicked OpenStack developer cred, but you may be eligible to attend a Project Teams Gathering (PTG) and receive discounted entry to the OpenStack Summit for that release.
With the availability of Ansible on Red Hat OpenStack Platform you can immediately access the power Ansible brings to IT automation and management. There are more than 20 pre-supplied TripleO validation playbooks supplied with Red Hat OpenStack Platform 11 director and many more upstream.
Ansible validations are ready now. Try them out. Join the community. Keep your Cloud happy.
Thanks!
That’s the end of our series on Ansible validations. Don’t forget to read Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven’t already.
Thanks for reading!
Further info about Red Hat OpenStack Platform
For more information about Red Hat OpenStack Platform please visit the technology overview page, product documentation, and release notes.
Ready to go deeper with Ansible? Check out the latest collection of Ansible eBooks, including a free samples from every title!
And don’t forget you can evaluate Red Hat OpenStack Platform for free for 60 days!
The “Operationalizing OpenStack” series features real-world tips, advice and experiences from experts running and deploying OpenStack.
Quelle: RedHat Stack
Offenbar will Facebook sämtliche Daten von WhatsApp in eigene Datenzentren verschieben. IBM verliert damit einen großen Cloud-Kunden.
Quelle: Heise Tech News
Der schwedische Konzern Spotify bleibt weiterhin der mit Abstand erfolgreichste Anbieter im Wachstumsmarkt Musik-Streaming. Mit insgesamt 140 Millionen aktiven Nutzern pro Monat liegt der Dienst klar an der Spitze und weit vor Apple Music.
Quelle: Heise Tech News
With IT budgets shrinking and customer expectations rising in a congested market, IT departments are under increasing pressure to maintain and improve customer service.
How can this be achieved when 60 to 70 percent of IT budgets are already consumed keeping existing systems running?
It’s time to optimize how IT budgets are spent and take a fresh view of IT infrastructure. There are three key tenets for considering how to reduce IT costs, release resources to focus on better customer experience and bolster competitive advantage:
1. Keep control of your data
In an industry where regulations such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) have increasing influence and significant potential ramifications, data sovereignty and compliance are vital considerations when running operations in the cloud.
The level of transparency required is only rising in support of a focus on customer needs and privacy. This means that organizations need full visibility of the location and governance of their data – on short notice – to have confidence in full accountability should an enquiry come into play. The cost of not meeting these standards is severe, and in many cases, surveys have shown that it could put brands out of business.
The important thing here is that organizations own the data, regardless of its location. Security, resilience, flexibility and processing speed are also key factors in the data location decision-making process. IBM currently has three data centers providing in-country back up, restoration and disaster recovery with zero cost within data center high-bandwidth networks. This capacity will soon double to six data centers, representing the largest UK footprint and providing a full availability zone to many organizations.
Why is this important? Now more than ever, brands need the flexibility to decide where their data is stored, whether that be in public, private or hybrid solutions.
2. Remember service is king
With the rise of e-commerce comes an exponential growth in site visitors, transactions and peak trading. This retail model is expanding across different sectors, too, and with it comes rising consumer expectations. Consumers expect the same from their bank as they do from their retailer and other favorite brands. This rising experiential benchmark means that brands must provide a seamless digital experience to maintain loyalty.
Whether you represent a retailer anticipating thousands of orders each day or a finance organization looking to streamline the loan approval process, a managed service with clear service-level agreements in place removes the operational headaches of IT management and frees up resources for more innovative activity. For example, a financial organization was able to increase loan approval rates by 5 percent, increase system availability by 20 percent and take a 15 percent cut in operating costs.
DIY cloud is important during development, but not for production systems where reliability and consistency are key. Service-level agreements are vital and many organizations are extending their teams with managed services.
3. Don’t pay more for key licenses
It may be old news to many, but running Oracle database workloads on some clouds can be more costly, due to it discontinuing cloud agreements with some major cloud vendors. This increase does not apply to all clouds however, and IBM has always designed cloud systems with OVM and Oracle certifications on hardware for RAC, so license costs remain at prior levels.
Given the broader costs of IT, a continuing drain on resources and some companies’ lack of flexibility to invest in innovative projects, having the right infrastructural foundation can be a game changer for any organization.
Learn more about cloud managed services.
The post 3 ways to deliver better customer service with cloud appeared first on Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud
In part 1 of the “OpenShift App Development with Red Hat Development Suite” video series, Veer Muchandi gives an introduction to local application development using JBoss Developer Studio (JBDS) and OpenShift Container Development Kit (CDK).
Quelle: OpenShift
