Hybrid technology degrees emerging

As demand for college graduates with technical degrees soars, new majors are emerging that are hybrids of computer science, information systems and computer engineering. Penn State University, for example, created the College of Information Science and Technology a decade ago as an interdisciplinary program that combines engineering and business courses. The college offers three bachelor's degrees: a B.S. and a B.A....

Read more »

Seagate upgrades hybrid drive family, adds desktop model

Seagate today announced upgrades to its 2.5-in. laptop hybrid drives and released its first 3.5-in. desktop hybrid drive. Hybrid drives combine a relatively small amount of NAND flash with traditional spinning disks along with firmware that determines where data resides on the disk based on application performance requirements. Because the hybrid drives use spinning disk, they can provide terabyte-plus capacities, but because...

Read more »

Academy Cube aims to tackle IT skills shortage with online learning platform

Software vendors, academic institutions and government agencies united on Tuesday to tackle European youth unemployment and the IT skills shortage with a new online education platform. Academy Cube, developed by SAP with the support of the European Commission, will focus on teaching IT skills and matching students with job vacancies. It runs on a learning management system developed by SuccessFactors, a company SAP acquired...

Read more »

NASA Mars rover Curiosity on road to recovery

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is out of safe mode and back on active status after computer trouble hadsidelined the vehicle for nearly a week. The space agency reported that Curiosity is now running on its backup computer system, known as its B-side. It's been taken out of its minimal-activity safe mode and ready to return to full operation. "We are making good progress in the recovery," said Mars Science Laboratory...

Read more »

EBay develops 'miles per gallon' metric for data centers

There's a maxim in the data center business that you can't manage what you can't measure, and eBay has come up with the mother of all measurement systems for calculating data center efficiency. The online auction giant has devised a methodology that looks at the cost of its IT operations in dollars, kilowatt hours and carbon emissions, and ties those costs back to a single performance metric -- in eBay's case, the number of...

Read more »

Computer History Museum to induct Pixar co-founder not named Steve Jobs into Hall of Fellows

The Computer History Museum on Monday announced its Class of 2013 includes Ed Catmull, a computer scientist and Pixar co-founder, along with two PC pioneers: Harry Huskey and Robert W. Taylor. These accomplished technology industry professionals will be inducted into the museum's Hall of Fellows on April 27 in Mountain View. While their names might not be household ones, they join a roster of technology bigwigs from...

Read more »

Facebook legal notice could get you cash, so don't trash it

Facebook recently sent a legal notice to users that may appear daunting at first glance, but before you relegate it to the trash bin you ought to take a look at it -- it could mean cash in your pocket. The notice is meant to notify some of its U.S. members that their names, profile pictures, photographs, likenesses, and identities were unlawfully used to advertise or sell products and services through Sponsored Stories without...

Read more »

Twitter's Vine ripe with users of video sharing service

Twitter launched Vine recently and it appears the video sharing service that lets you post clips up to six seconds long is already a hit with users. Vine is a completely public and compelling medium that gives you a brief window into what people all over the world are seeing, or the kinds of things they're thinking about. You can share the brief videos on Twitter and Facebook. Just like Facebook's Instagram turns regular...

Read more »

The iPad mini: 2013's next big business tool?

Not long after the iPad mini launched last fall, Cameron Yuill, the founder of AdGent Digital, started using the device to make business presentations. Convenience was one reason: The iPad mini has all the capabilities of its bigger predecessor, including wireless AirPlay mirroring that allows him to project the tablet's screen onto a nearby TV. But salesmanship was a factor, too: There's nothing like arriving at a meeting,...

Read more »

Acquisition math: Belkin CTO predicts outcome of Linksys deal will be "1+1=3"

News that Cisco intended to divest its Linksys home-networking business unit broke last December, but Belkin's decision--announced last Thursday--to acquire that division came as a surprise. Belkin's intentions are even more interesting: The company isn't just buying a prestige brand to slap on its existing home-networking product line; it plans to market networking products under both brands. When...

Read more »

Winzip 17 adds integration with Box cloud storage

Winzip has been a household name in file compression for two decades. WinZip 17 takes file compression and management to the cloud with Google Drive, SkyDrive, and Dropbox integration--and now a new update is available that adds Box to the mix. WinZip was a pioneer of the freemium software business model--basically providing the software for free, and relying on the moral compass of customers to pay for...

Read more »

Pentagon to add thousands of new cybersecurity jobs

The Pentagon is planning to expand its cyber security force nearly five fold over the next several years in a bid to bolster its defensive and offensive computer capabilities. The plan is to add about 4,000 more troops and civilians to the existing 900 personnel in the Defense Department's Cyber Command, the Washington Post reported today citing several unnamed sources. The planned expansion is in response to growing threats...

Read more »