Technology

The term DevOps references the combined efforts of software developers and information technology operations to speed up how software is developed while still delivering fixes, updates and new product features. The ultimate goal is to build a system that creates the necessary tools based on how the business is growing or changing.

Big Data refers to the huge data piles most organizations have collected and encourages teams to find new and helpful ways to leverage the data to make better products or services.  

Applying DevOps concepts to Big Data can unlock great insights for an organization and help them act on exciting opportunities. Collaboration between developers creating code and analyst who understand algorithms can help provide valuable operational perspective to business leaders. But, marrying the two does present some unique challenges.

The Challenge of Coordinating the Dev with the Op

DevOps operations is a growing movement that essentially combine the activities of developers with that of operational staff.

No longer are software developers just coding and leaving the implementation or delivery to other team members. Likewise, the operational workers aren’t just waiting until the code is written. Program development now sees a collaborative effort from tech minds on both ends of the spectrum.

But the challenges are abundant – why? The specific reason is because many organizations with a large team of both software developers and IT operations staff tend to be huge and coordinating efforts can be challenging. Additionally, analyzing data can be a new skill and asking the wrong questions or pulling the wrong data can lead to an incorrect answer.

Big data means big projects – let the team come together for a more cohesive workflow.

Automate the Process, Produce Better Products

Producing a superior product isn’t just about having the right talent – in many cases, it is about having the right platform for talents to use. This is especially true for big data projects where there can be huge amounts of data.

In order to release software faster and cheaper, more big data companies are now looking to automate their DevOps projects.

For example, cloud platforms designed to support the development of major technologies in all stages of the software lifecycle can support massive workforces, even if they’re distributed. From management of core files to streamlining work under a single system, cloud platforms do a lot. Automating the data going in can help get code built reliability and deployed in a consistent manner.

Workers who are accustomed to using different systems and handling different parts of the product lifecycle can come together more seamlessly on a platform designed to help them all work together.  Pairing massive cloud computing with machine learning, bigger, more complicated computations can be done quickly and accurately.

Cloud automation makes DevOps environments more efficient, with the only challenge being understanding what to automate.

How the DevOps Environment Facilitates Better Use of Data

Let’s say a big data company’s analytics reveal more success with one program over another. In a DevOps automated environment, programmers can use this data to produce better products.

Operational workers can then use this data for their next move, which can in turn present opportunities for more coding innovation, showing how both can facilitate productivity in the other.

These are just some of the advantages of automating workforces in a DevOps culture, and the benefits it can provide to product development.

Top 29 U.S. tech companies to work for in 2019, according to Glassdoor

Glassdoor, the renowned career job site, has released its annual report of 100 best places to work in the U.S. in 2019 under the name “Employees’ Choice Awards.” The compiled list of 100 companies to work for, includes 29 companies that belong to the technology sector.

Organizations were ranked based on employee ratings across several factors, such as overall satisfaction, career opportunities, corporate culture, transparency, compensation and benefits, work-life balance, culture, values, and business outlook.

Based on employees’ reviews, companies received overall ratings on a scale of one to five, with five signifying the most satisfied employees.

It has been a rather tough year for tech big-wigs like Facebook, Google, Tesla, and Salesforce, who were marred with scandals and controversies. As a result, it has hampered their overall ranking, which saw Facebook fall from the first position last year to the seventh overall rank. Also, the search giant, Google dropped down from second overall position to eight overall ranking

While you can check the entire list of Glassdoor here, let’s have a look at the top 29 tech companies to work for in 2019:

Zoom Video Communications

Overall ranking: #2

Company rating: 4.5

About: Zoom Video Communications provides remote conferencing services using cloud computing.

An employee says: “Honesty, this is the best company I have ever worked for, hands down. Our CEO practices what he preaches with Delivering Happiness. Management is great, no micromanaging, and always willing to help. The sales floor is competitive, but not toxic at all. Everyone is more than happy to help each other. We realize we are all a part of something special right now, and that this should be a team effort.”— Zoom Account Executive (Santa Barbara, California).

Procore Technologies

Overall ranking: #4

Company rating: 4.5

About: Procore Technologies is a construction project management software company.

An employee says: “From the day I started working at Procore, I’ve felt welcome, engaged, and energized. The work is challenging and fast-paced, but the people and culture make coming to the office something I look forward to every day. Procore truly lives its values of Ownership, Optimism, and Openness.” — Anonymous Procore Employee (Carpinteria, California).

LinkedIn

Overall ranking: #6

Company rating: 4.5

About: LinkedIn Corporation is a social networking website specifically designed for people in professional jobs and for recruiting professionals.

An employee says: “Linkedin has a very strong emphasis on employee wellness and goes the extra mile to care how employees feel and does everything to make them more productive in their daily work. Linkedin offers best quality food, continuous wellness programs, clear paths to advance careers and everything else necessary for happiness.” — Anonymous LinkedIn Employee (Mountain View, California).

Facebook

Overall ranking: #7

Company rating: 4.5

About: Facebook is the world’s biggest online social networking service and website.

What employees say: “Learning from great software engineers and/or researchers in AI. Too many political debates inside the company.” — Facebook Research Scientist (New York, New York).

Google

Overall ranking: #8

Company rating: 4.4

About: Google Inc. is an American multinational corporation that is best known for running one of the largest search engines on the World Wide Web (WWW) and also creates cloud computing, hardware, and software products, and more.

An employee says: “If you’re a software engineer, you’re among the kings of the hill at Google. It’s an engineer-driven company without a doubt (that *is* changing, but it’s still very engineer-focused).” — Google Software Engineer (New York, New York).

Salesforce

Overall ranking: #11

Company rating: 4.4

About: Salesforce is an American cloud computing company that helps companies manage their sales, marketing, and application programming projects.

An employee says: “Supportive and inclusive environment, clear and reasonable expectations, challenging environment, awesome corporate mission, lots of room and support for professional growth.” — Salesforce Solutions Engineer (Cincinnati, Ohio).

HubSpot

Overall ranking: #16

Company rating: 4.4

About: HubSpot is a developer and marketer of software products for inbound marketing and sales.

An employee says: “I’ve been at HubSpot now for almost 4 years and there’s nowhere else I’ve even thought about working in that time. Why? HubSpot is a great place to work. I feel like I’m valued. I have a lot of autonomy in how and when and where I work. I feel strongly about the mission of the company.” — Anonymous HubSpot Employee (Cambridge, Massachusetts).

DocuSign

Overall ranking: #17

Company rating: 4.4

About: DocuSign provides electronic signature technology and digital transaction management services for facilitating electronic exchanges of contracts and signed documents.

An employee says: “We’re on a good path with no signs of slowing down and a lot of untapped market potential. This is great news. Because the company is growing fast, there’s a lot of opportunity to grow your career and step up into new roles.” — DocuSign Enterprise Corporate Sales(San Francisco, California).

Ultimate Software

Overall ranking: #18

Company rating: 4.4

About: Ultimate Software is an American technology company that develops and sells UltiPro, a cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solution for businesses.

An employee says: “Amazing company. It’s the only payroll / HCM organization that truly cares about the customer – and while it’s not easy – the organization has maintained an amazing culture all in an effort to provide the best support to the customer. I love that.” — Ultimate SDM

Paylocity

Overall ranking: #20

Company rating: 4.4

About: Paylocity is a provider of cloud-based payroll and human capital management software solutions for medium-sized organizations.

An employee says: “Great company culture. People that really believe in what we do, and investment in technology to push the envelope.” — Paylocity Account Executive (Tampa, Florida).

Fast Enterprises

Overall ranking: #26

Company rating: 4.4

About: Fast Enterprises provides software and information technology consulting services.

An employee says: “Fast, even at the 1000+ size it is, still cares deeply about each and every employee. Their benefits, even the way they help people move, the way they bring individuals AND their spouses/families into the culture, it super impressive and I love that about Fast.” — Fast Enterprises Implementation Consultant (Boston, Massachusetts).

SAP

Overall ranking: #27

Company rating: 4.4

About: SAP is a multinational software corporation that develops enterprise software to help manage business operations and customer relations.

An employee says: “We have yoga and meditation classes, mindfulness workshops. Many invited guests from technology industries to provides you with information. Leadership women workshops, global coaching, mentoring programs, and flexible work environment.? It is truly a top-notch company that will give back to their employees.”— SAP Manager (Montreal, Québec).

Adobe

Overall ranking: #30

Company rating: 4.4

About: Adobe Inc. is an American multinational computer software company best known for its design and photo-editing solutions.

An employee says: “Relentless commitment to customer success. This is the core of most day to day decisions and the North Star for all activity. This makes it a place to be proud to work. Incredible products. Amazing benefits and culture that draws incredibly talented individuals.” — Adobe Learning Specialist (San Jose, California).

Compass

Overall ranking: #32

Company rating: 4.4

About: Real estate agency and platform for buying, selling, and renting a home.

An employee says: “Having recently joined Compass, all I can say about the company, its mission, and the people in it is… ‘simply amazing.’ Compass is a unicorn. It is that rare company that combines passion, focus, execution, vision, and has a heart and a soul.” — Anonymous Compass Employee (San Francisco, California).

Microsoft

Overall ranking: #34

Company rating: 4.4

About: Microsoft Corporation (MS) is an American multinational technology company that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.

An employee says: “Respect for the individual, constant stressing of core cultural values of letting everyone be heard, etc. Decent work/life balance, though it’s hugely dependent on the individual to enforce. Individuals are encouraged to engage with managers at any level (for example with your manager’s manager’s manager…). There’s a general high-level of passion for the products we make.” — Senior Microsoft Electrical Engineer (Redmond, Washington).

NVIDIA

Overall ranking: #36

Company rating: 4.3

About: Nvidia Corporation designs graphics processing units (GPUs) for the gaming, cryptocurrency, and professional markets, as well as system on a chip units (SoCs) for the mobile computing and automotive market.

An employee says: “I’ll be up front and say that it has always been my dream to work here. With that in mind, I came in telling myself to look at this place as objectively as possible to not cloud my judgement. After working here for over a year, I must say, the hype is real.” — Senior Nvidia Systems Engineer (Santa Clara, California).

Intuit

Overall ranking: #38

Company rating: 4.3

About: Intuit Inc. is a business and financial software company that develops and sells financial, accounting, and tax preparation software and related services for small businesses, accountants, and individuals.

An employee says: “Incredible company that has market dominance, yet also has so much room to grow. Management constantly preaches disruption, and its reflected in our priorities and work.” — Intuit Data Scientist.

TaskUs

Overall ranking: #40

Company rating: 4.3

About: TaskUs is a global outsourcing company that provides back-office support and customer care solutions.

An employee says: “Taskus puts their people first, they understand that their people are the ones who make their company! I have gone through many interviews with other companies and Taskus is the first one who truly shows it!” — TaskUs Digital Content Moderator (San Antonio, Texas).

Cengage

Overall ranking: #41

Company rating: 4.3

About: Cengage is an educational content, technology, and services company for the higher education, K-12, professional, and library markets worldwide.

An employee says: “The leadership of the company has been jaw-droppingly motivated, visionary, and transparent. They have turned a company haunted by downturns in the market into a trendsetter that is adapting profitably. Along the way, they have been committed to employee growth and job satisfaction. I am thrilled with what we are doing for learning.” — Senior Systems Analyst (Rapid City, South Dakota).

Kronos Incorporated

Overall ranking: #44

Company rating: 4.3

About: HR, payroll, recruiting, and timekeeping software.

An employee says: “The culture is positive. Employees are hard working and care. Leadership cares for employees and their experience. The company also cares for their customers.” — Anonymous Kronos Employee (Denver, Colorado).

VMware

Overall ranking: #51

Company rating: 4.3

About: VMware, Inc. is a subsidiary of Dell Technologies that provides cloud computing and platform virtualization software and services.

An employee says: “Lots of smart and talented coworkers who are happy to share information you will learn a lot in a short amount of time but are expected to contribute. Slackers need not apply. If you’re a slacker you won’t survive the high stress and fast pace.” — VMware Technical Support (Broomfield, Colorado).

AppDynamics

Overall ranking: #58

Company rating: 4.3

About: AppDynamics is an application performance management (APM) and IT operations analytics (ITOA) company that focuses on managing the performance and availability of applications across cloud computing environments as well as inside the data center.

An employee says: “Great encouraging and supportive leadership. Promotional opportunities every quarter. Family atmosphere, where everyone has a genuine interest in you as an individual and employee.” — AppDynamics Business Development Representative (Dallas, Texas).

Paycom

Overall ranking: #62

Company rating: 4.3

About: Paycom is an online payroll and human resource technology provider.

An employee says: “This is honestly the best job I think I’ll ever have. The benefits are amazing and the pay is more than I ever thought I could get. BE WARNED this job is hard. Never in my life have I had so much stress. That’s the reason why it pays so well. Be prepared to be stressed every day and have heavy daily workloads and have new procedures constantly thrown at you from management. But guess what it’s your job so you either adapt or you don’t make it.” — Paycom Specialist (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma).

Cisco Systems

Overall ranking: #69

Company rating: 4.3

About: Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational technology that develops, manufactures and sells networking hardware, telecommunications equipment, and other high-technology services and products.

An employee says: “Military Friendly Culture empowers and gives transitioning veterans the opportunity to learn develop self to full potential. As a Military Retiree I feel there could not have been a better company to transition to than Cisco and the leadership team is very understanding and appreciative of what we bring to the table.” — Cisco Program Manager (Austin, Texas).

Apple

Overall ranking: #71

Company rating: 4.3

About: Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services.

An employee says: “The company is AMAZING. There are limitless advancement opportunities. You work with some very cool people and the leadership cares about your development. You may get coaching but you never get battered or belittled.” — Apple At Home Advisor (Lakewood, Colorado).

NetApp

Overall ranking: #82

Company rating: 4.2

About: NetApp, Inc. is a hybrid cloud data services and data management company that offers hybrid cloud data services for management of applications and data across cloud and on-premises environments.

An employee says: “Great team chemistry. Interesting work. This company cares about its employees a lot and there are numerous events at work and outside work which show this.” — NetApp HPC Solutions Architect (Sunnyvale, California).

HP Inc.

Overall ranking: #87

Company rating: 4.2

About: HP Inc. is a provider of a wide variety of hardware components as well as software components.

An employee says: “HP’s global footprint makes it unique in allowing you to have a BIG impact. Senior leaders are quality execs who’ve proven their mettle. Lots of opportunity to contribute given the size of the businesses.” — Anonymous HP Employee.

Expedia Group

Overall ranking: #92

Company rating: 4.2

About: Expedia Group is an American global travel technology company.

An employee says: “Expedia is the best place to work. I have been here for 11 months and enjoying every single day. The culture is upbeat, leadership is transparent, clear on direction, very well organized process oriented company. Awesome work life balance.” — Expedia Software Engineering Manager (Chicago, Illinois).

World Wide Technology

Overall ranking: #99

Company rating: 4.2

About: World Wide Technology, Inc. (WWT) provides technology and supply chain services with a focus on the enterprise commercial, public and telecom service provider sectors. The company provides planning, procurement and deployment of IT products and solution selling.

An employee says: “Bar none, THE BEST place I have ever worked.” — World Wide Technology Senior Consultant (Denver, Colorado).

With tons of new technology coming out in the 21st century, it’s extremely important that you know what each of these terms means. You don’t want to be looking like a complete fool when your tech-savvy buddies are going around using these terms and you have no idea what they are talking about.

Even if you don’t like technology that much, knowing these insider terms can get you into a lot of new conversations and they will help you connect with many new people.

Read the terms, write them down, make a Quizlet out of them. Do what you got to do to learn them. Just know them.

1. Asset

An object that is valuable to a person or an organization.

2. Authentication

A process used to verify people to confirm their identity.

3. Brainjacking

Brainjacking is the term used for hacking into brain implants. In the future, we may all have brain implants but they come at the risk of getting hijacked, altering pain levels and even behavior.

4. Certification Body

A separate, independent organization which gives certification services to its customers.

5. Machine Bias

Machine bias is when the data in an algorithm machine gets influenced over time by human bias and prejudices from the people whom the data was collected from.

6. Crowdturfing

Crowdturfing is when you hire someone to write reviews for you. This is getting used in large scale by attackers and it makes it very hard to separate what is fake from what is real.

7. AI Cyber-Attacks

AI chatbots are being used to trick people into giving up private information like their credit card information, private documents, and passwords.

8. Computer Hallucinations

Self-driving cars and AI technology rely on cameras and algorithms to figure out what things are and how to navigate around obstacles. The problem is that the AI doesn’t always recognize things properly and it is possible that cars with computer vision could get attacked.

9. Encryption

A process that allows one to convert data into a secure form to hide its content.

10. Instant Messaging

Allows conversations between multiple people through typing on devices.

11. Keyboard Logger

A software the records all keys pressed, usually used to reveal credit card details and private information.

Keyloggers can be extremely dangerous because usually when they are installed they come equipped with trojans to help attack your computer.

Make sure you check out the conclusion to this article to learn how to defend against these kinds of dangerous malware with the best antivirus solution.

12. Macro Virus

A macro virus is a special type of malware that uses regular spreadsheet and word document software to infect a computer.

These Terms are Cool But A Quality Antivirus is Superior

Antivirus has multiple layers of antivirus protection and it has the ability to completely defend your computer from the malware listed above.

When it comes to antivirus protection, Norton Antivirus is essential in cybersecurity. They have won many awards for their superior antivirus protection.

Next Apple iPhone may have a hole in its display, patent reveals

Apple who started the “notch” design standard that saw every other Android OEM incorporating in its smartphone is looking to trend set another legacy.

The Cupertino giant who had filed a patent back in June for a camera cut-out in the display has finally been approved. The patent titled “Integrated Camera Window” was approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on November 8.

The folks at LetsGoDigital who discovered Apple’s new patent shows an iPhone with a hole for the camera in the display. In other words, Apple is looking to place the iPhone’s front camera under the device’s screen in its future phones, thereby killing the notch design.

With this patent, Apple joins the list of companies such as Samsung, Asus, and LG who have filed similar patents in the past. However, Apple’s patent is a bit different from its contemporaries.

According to the patent, Apple wants to fit the camera window with a ‘cover glass’ where cover glass refers to the display. This display technology is presently applicable only to the LCD screen.

“Apparatus, systems, and methods for camera integration with a cover glass and for processing cover glass to provide a camera window for an electronic device are disclosed. A camera window can be integrated into the cover glass. The apparatus, systems, and methods are especially suitable for cover glasses, or displays (e.g., LCD displays), assembled in small form factor electronic devices such as handheld electronic devices (e.g., mobile phones, media players, personal digital assistants, remote controls, etc.,” the patent description reads.

Besides iPhones, other electronic devices such as portable computers, tablet computers, displays, monitors, televisions as well as iPads, MacBooks, and iMacs could see in-display camera technology soon.

While patents are filed all the time, it is not necessary that every patent is converted into a finished commercial product or even a prototype. Whether or not, Apple will go ahead and implement the display technology in its future devices, only time will tell.

NVIDIA announces mid-range Quadro RTX 4000 with Turing GPU, 2304 Cores and 8 GB VRAM

NVIDIA announced its new Quadro RTX 4000 graphics card for workstation professionals at the annual Autodesk University Conference in Las Vegas yesterday. This is the company’s first mid-range professional GPU in Quadro RTX family that is powered by the NVIDIA Turing architecture and the NVIDIA RTX platform.

The Quadro RTX family already consists of the Quadro RTX 8000, RTX 6000, and RTX 5000. The single-slot design of the new Quadro RTX 4000 allows the GPU to fit in a variety of workstation chassis.

“Meet today’s demanding professional workflows with GPU accelerated ray tracing, deep learning, and advanced shading. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000, powered by the NVIDIA Turing architecture and the NVIDIA RTX platform, delivers best-in-class performance and features in a single-slot PCI-e form factor. Design and create like never before with faster time to insight and faster time to solution,” NVIDIA said.

According to specifications provided by NVIDIA, the graphics card has 36 RT cores to enable real-time ray tracing of objects and environments with physically accurate shadows, reflections, refractions, and global illumination.

Further, it packs 2,304 CUDA cores, 288 Turing Tensor Cores for 57 TFLOPS of deep learning performance, and comes with 8GB of ultra-fast GDDR6 memory that provides over 40 percent more memory bandwidth than the previous generation Quadro P4000. It also supports video creation and playback for multiple video streams with resolutions up to 8K.

In addition, it provides hardware support for VirtualLink, improved performance with VR applications, including Variable Rate Shading, Multi-View Rendering and VRWorks Audio, and more.

In terms of performance, the Quadro RTX 4000 offers up to 43T RTX-OPS and 6 Giga Rays/s. The FP32 compute performance is estimated at 7.1 TFLOPS, which translates into a boost clock of around 1540 MHz. The TU106-based Quadro has a 160W rated TDP and has been enclosed into a single-slot cooling solution, which should easily fit in any workstation case. It draws power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector.

Ernesto Pacheco, Director of Visualization at the global architectural firm, CannonDesign, which is one of the early users of the Quadro RTX 4000 said, “Our designers need tools that unleash their creative freedom to design amazing buildings. Real-time rendering with the new Quadro RTX 4000 is unbelievably fast and smooth right out of the gate — no latency and the quality and accuracy of the lighting is outstanding. It will enable us to accelerate our workflow and let our designers focus on the design process without the technology slowing them down.”

The Quadro RTX 4000 will be available starting December on nvidia.com at an estimated price tag of $900. It will also be available from leading workstation manufacturers, like Dell, HPE and Lenovo, as well as its authorized distribution partners in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

‘Shakti’ is India’s first indigenous microprocessor

Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) have designed India’s first Microprocessor that will help reduce the country’s dependence on imported systems in communications and defense sectors.

The processor, called Shakti, has been developed at an outlay of about Rs 11 crore and is said to be on par with its international counterparts. It can be used in various consumer electronic devices, mobile computing devices, low-power wireless systems, and networking systems.

“The microprocessor can be used by others as it is on par with International Standards”, a statement from IIT-M said. “The microprocessor will not get outdated as it is one of the few ‘RISC V Microprocessors’ in the world now.”

The ‘SHAKTI’ family of microprocessors was fabricated at Semi-Conductor Laboratory of Indian Space Research Organizations (ISRO) in Chandigarh, making it the first ‘RISC V Microprocessor’ to designed and completely made in India, IIT-M said.

The microprocessor’s design is based on an open Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) named RISC-V, noted Professor Kamakoti Veezhinathan, Lead Researcher, Reconfigurable Intelligent Systems Engineering (RISE) Laboratory, Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT-M. This means anyone can design, manufacture, and sell chips based on this architecture.

The most critical aspect of such an indigenous design, development and fabricating approach is reducing the risk of deploying systems which may be affected by the back-doors and hardware Trojans.

This achievement will get huge implication when systems based on Shakti processors are accepted by strategic sectors such as defense, nuclear power installations, government agencies, and departments.

“With the advent of Digital India, there are several applications that require customizable processor cores. The 180nm fabrication facility at SCL Chandigarh is crucial in getting these cores manufacturers within our Country,” Veezhinathan said.

The project originally began in 2011 and was afterward granted a funding of Rs.11 crore ($1.5 million) from the Government of India in 2017.

“We have proved that a microprocessor can be designed, developed and fabricated in India. This is important for the country. All the countries would like to own the design part. Even from the security point of view, indigenous design gains importance,” noted Veezhinathan.

“The impact of this completely indigenous fabrication is that India has now attained independence in designing, developing and fabricating end-to-end systems within the country, leading to self-sufficiency.

Veezhinathan and his team are also working on a microprocessor for supercomputers, named ‘Parashakti,’ which is likely to be released by the end of the year.

IBM purchases software company Red Hat in a $34 billion deal

IBM has agreed to purchase U.S. open-source software company, Red Hat in a blockbuster deal of $33.4 billion in its largest deal ever, and the third-biggest in the history of U.S. tech. This deal is aimed to expand the company’s subscription-based software offerings in the fast-growing and profitable cloud market.

In an agreement expected to be finalized in the second half of 2019, IBM will purchase all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Red Hat for $190 per share in cash, which is a 63% premium over the company’s Friday’s closing share price.

“The acquisition of Red Hat is a game-changer. It changes everything about the cloud market,” said Ginni Rometty, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IBM, said in a press release announcing the deal.

“IBM will become the world’s number one hybrid cloud provider, offering companies the only open cloud solution that will unlock the full value of the cloud for their businesses.

“Most companies today are only 20 percent along their cloud journey, renting compute power to cut costs. The next 80 percent is about unlocking real business value and driving growth. This is the next chapter of the cloud. It requires shifting business applications to the hybrid cloud, extracting more data and optimizing every part of the business, from supply chains to sales.”

Paul Cormier, Red Hat’s vice president and president of products and technologies said, “Today is a banner day for open source. The largest software transaction in history and it’s an open source company. Let that sink in for a minute. We just made history.”

IBM said Red Hat will continue to build and improve Red Hat’s current partnerships, including those with major cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba and more, in addition to the IBM Cloud. Simultaneously, Red Hat will benefit from IBM’s hybrid cloud and enterprise IT scale in helping expand their open-source technology portfolio to businesses globally.

“IBM is committed to being an authentic multi-cloud provider, and we will prioritize the use of Red Hat technology across multiple clouds,” said Arvind Krishna, Senior Vice President, IBM Hybrid Cloud. “In doing so, IBM will support open source technology wherever it runs, allowing it to scale significantly within commercial settings around the world.”

The combination of IBM and Red Hat should quicken cloud adoption by large customers who still must connect old technology with new, added Arvind.

Once the acquisition deal is closed, Red Hat will become a unit of IBM’s Hybrid Cloud division, with the goal of maintaining the “independence and neutrality” of Red Hat’s open-source development heritage.

Jim Whitehurst, President and CEO of Red Hat along with its current management team will continue to lead the company. Whitehurst also will join IBM’s senior management team and report to Rometty.

“Open source is the default choice for modern IT solutions, and I’m incredibly proud of the role Red Hat has played in making that a reality in the enterprise,” said Whitehurst. “Joining forces with IBM will provide us with a greater level of scale, resources, and capabilities to accelerate the impact of open source as the basis for digital transformation and bring Red Hat to an even wider audience – all while preserving our unique culture and unwavering commitment to open source innovation.”

IBM has plans to maintain Red Hat’s headquarters, facilities, brands, and practices.

“IBM’s commitment to keeping the things that have made Red Hat successful – always thinking about the customer and the open source community first – make this a tremendous opportunity for not only Red Hat but also open source more broadly,” said Cormier.

“Since the day we decided to bring open source to the enterprise, our mission has remained unchanged. And now, one of the biggest enterprise technology companies on the planet has agreed to partner with us to scale and accelerate our efforts, bringing open source innovation to an even greater swath of the enterprise.”

Most of the top-performing CEOs of 2018 are ones with engineering degrees and not MBA degrees

In an annual ranking released by Harvard Business Review (HBR) on Monday showed that the top-performing CEOs around the globe had an engineering degree as opposed to the finance-and strategy-focused MBA degree, reports Washington Post. This is the second time in a row that showed the best-performing CEOs in the world have an engineering degree.

For those unaware, HBR’s ranking examines the change in market capitalization and total shareholder return, adjusted by both country and industry, over the entire tenure of CEOs in the global S&P 1200, and adds in data that rates the company’s performance on environmental, social and governance issues during the CEO’s time in charge.

According to the HBR report, 34 of the top 100 CEOs in 2018 had an engineering degree, in comparison to 32 who had an MBA degree, while 8 of the top CEOs had both degrees.

HBR had started tracking the degree question from 2014. And the first time that fewer MBAs were found than engineers was in 2017 that had 29 CEOs with MBA degrees and 32 with engineering degrees.

While the top position does not belong to an engineer, this year’s survey had 10 of the top 20 ranked CEOs who have an engineering degree, including No. 2-ranked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, compared with four MBAs.

So, why is there a sudden increase in the number of technology CEOs? The most likely explanation is that the technology industry has seen tremendous growth in recent years. For instance, the list had only 8 technology CEOs in 2014, but this number increased to 22 in 2018. The other reason could also be the methodology used by HBR.

According to Dan McGinn, a senior editor at HBR, the company had made a change to its methodology in 2015, when it added the ESG (environmental, social and governance) component to its analysis and the list became somewhat more populated by European companies.

The data shows that European CEOs hold more engineering degrees, while a majority of the U.S. CEOs hold MBA degrees. This could contribute to the fact of differing educational backgrounds in different regions.

Holding an engineering degree doesn’t mean that its skills cannot be applied in management roles. When HBR first started asking about educational degrees, McGinn said that it spoke with management experts who said that engineering focuses on problem-solving, analytical skills and structural methods of thinking.

“That has obvious advantages if you’re running an I.T. company, but it probably also has advantages if you’re trying to problem-solve in everyday business situations,” McGinn said.

Jeffrey Sprecher, the CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, and one of the CEOs on this year’s list, holds both an MBA and an engineering degree. In a video posted on Facebook by his alma mater, University of Wisconsin, said that he has never worked on a job that is related to his chemical engineering degree.

Still, he said, it “taught me about problem-solving, and complex systems and the way things relate to each other, and business is really just that.”

Others were of the opinion that there could be a day where we could see more CEOs with that background, and have more people coming out of school with those degrees considering that technology and digitization have been become increasingly important for every IT as well as non-IT company.

Robert Sutton, a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University, said that it’s becoming more important for executives to have some knowledge of computer science.

Also Read– Top 10 websites to learn Computer Science for Free

“This is not a surprise given that technology, especially computer science, is so important,” he said. “Every organization I talk to says they’re doing ‘digitization.’ ”

While HBR’s ranking looks at the educational backgrounds of only the 100 top-performing CEOs around the world, educational data for CEOs in the S&P 500 and Fortune 500 show a slightly different view.

An annual report generated by executive search firm Crist Kolder Associates shows that 26.4 percent of those CEOs had engineering degrees in 2018, which is somewhat less from 27.4 percent in 2017 and 28.4 percent in 2016.

Peter Crist, the firm’s chairman, said “it’s a terrible generalization, but I think boards will look at people with engineering degrees and basically make the assumption that they’re smart. I constantly caution them on ‘has that lent to their accomplishments?’ Have they grown a business? Don’t get hung up on the pedigrees.”

Steve Mader, a retired vice chairman of the search firm Korn Ferry, said he hasn’t noticed a huge change in sensitivity by boards toward CEOs with engineering backgrounds, even though it is openly accepted.

According to him, the relationships that are built during an MBA program are still more valuable. However, once the discussion turns to a CEO job, what’s learned in either degree really isn’t important.

“By the time you’re selecting a chief executive officer, there are far more relevant issues to compare and contrast,” he said. “The degree virtually never comes up.”

Real-time translation is coming to all Google Assistant-optimized headphones and Android phones

When Google launched the Google Assistant-enabled Pixel Buds last year, one of the highlighted features of the headphone was its ability to translate in real-time using Google Translate. However, until now this feature was exclusive only to Pixel Buds paired with a Google Pixel smartphone.

Google is now opening up the feature to more users and bringing real-time translation capabilities to all Google Assistant-powered headphones, according to a report from Droid-Life.

Google has updated the support page for the Pixel Buds that reads “Google Translate is available on all Assistant-optimised headphones and Android phones. The Google Assistant on Google Pixel Buds is only available on Android and requires an Assistant-optimised Android device and data connection.”

Check out the video demonstration from the 2017 Made By Google event that shows how Google translate works on the Pixel Buds:

Some of the few headphones that are equipped with the Google Assistant include the Pixel Buds, Bose Quiet Control 35 II, Sony WI-1000X, Sony WH-1000XM2, Sony WH-1000XM3, JBL Everest 710GA, JBL Everest 110GA, OnePlus Bullets and a few more come with built-in Google Assistant.

If you are interested in trying out the feature, all you need to do is say “Hey Google, help me speak (name of the language)” to the Google Assistant on your earphone or device.

‘World’s fastest camera’ that freezes images at 10 trillion frames a second is unveiled

Researchers from Quebec University’s Institute national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), have developed what they claim as the world’s fastest camera capable of capturing 10 trillion (1013) frames per second. On the other hand, an average smartphone camera manages to capture around 30 per second. The project was led by Caltech’s Lihong Wang along with Jinyang Liang, INRS professor, and ultrafast imaging specialist and his colleagues.

Dubbed as T-CUP, the new device is so quick that it literally makes it possible to freeze time to see phenomena such as light itself behave in extremely slow motion.

To build their camera, the researchers looked at compressed ultra-fast photography (CUP), a technique that can capture images at a speed of around 100 billion frames per second. T-CUP’s system is based on a femtosecond (one quadrillionth of a second) streak camera that also involves a data acquisition type used in applications such as tomography.

“We knew that by using only a femtosecond streak camera, the image quality would be limited,” said Professor Lihong Wang, the Director of Caltech Optical Imaging Laboratory (COIL) in a statement. “So to improve this, we added another camera that acquires a static image. Combined with the image acquired by the femtosecond streak camera, we can use what is called a Radon transformation to obtain high-quality images while recording ten trillion frames per second.”

According to the team, T-CUP has set a world record for real-time imaging speed and could be used to power a new generation of microscopes for biomedical, materials science, and other applications.

This camera represents a fundamental shift, making it possible to analyze interactions between light and matter at an unparalleled temporal resolution.

The very first time the ultrafast camera was used, it broke new ground by capturing the temporal focusing of a single femtosecond laser pulse in real time.

This process was recorded in 25 frames taken at an interval of 400 femtoseconds and detailed the light pulse’s shape, intensity, and angle of inclination.

“It’s an achievement in itself. But we already see possibilities for increasing the speed to up to one quadrillion (10 to the 15) frames per second. Speeds like that are sure to offer insight into as-yet undetectable secrets of the interactions between light and matter,” says Jinyang Liang, the leading author of this work, who was an engineer in COIL when the research was conducted.

The finding of the research was published in the journal Light: Science & Applications.