Good Friday to you, fine folks. Apologies again for missing last week, couldn’t handle the time change while in Australia. I’m a lightweight. My Pocket app is full of excellent articles I’ve been clipping over the past few days since I’ve had endless time on airplanes and in airports to catch up on reading. However, Pocket is down right now and I’m unable to retrieve these articles. Here are five articles though that are worth your time. Thanks for reading.
5 IT experts reveal their Windows 10 upgrade strategies
Contemplating making the jump from a previous version of Windows to Windows 10? Hopefully by now everyone has migrated away from Windows XP, arguably Microsoft’s most stable and successful platform of all time, and are at least running Windows 7, arguably the second most stable platform Microsoft has created. There are always questions surrounding upgrades, whether or not the time is right, whether or not functionality will be gained or lost etc. Here are five IT experts and their roll out strategy for moving to Windows 10, including enterprise level security concerns. These people know far more than I do about it, so take their advice- not mine (this means you, mom, if you’re reading).
Breaking Bad pilot becomes first 4K content pirated from Netflix
HDCP 2.2 is supposed to be unable to be cracked. It’s supposed to protect content, it’s even in the acronym, but it failed recently as a noted piracy group was able to pilfer the pilot episode of Breaking Bad, one of the best shows in the last 5-10 years. HDCP 2.2 came about after previous releases (2.0, 2.1) were found to be penetrable, meaning we could be looking at a new version of HDCP, although I sure hope not because I can barely remember what version we’re on some days. The file topped out at a stunning 17.7 GB, so it’s not entirely likely that your Average Joe will be looking to acquire the full five seasons in 4k unless they have quite the internet pipe and available storage, still Netflix is investigating, although I don’t have much faith in them finding the culprit.
TSN: Delivering the Promise of IoT
Just about everything connects to the Internet these days, some for reasons unknown to mankind, some for diagnostic information, some to be able to update software on the device to unlock new features. I’m not simply talking about audiovisual technology, rather everyday household items such as washing machines, refrigerators etc. Graeme Harrison, Executive VP at Biamp, pens an article on how TSN – Time Sensitive Networks – can be used to deliver on the promise of IoT. Have a look at this article and see the major players in TSN and how TSN can be leveraged for professional AV and even home integrators.
Facebook Takes a Step Into Education Software
Facebook, the data-mining social media network where too many people spend too much time, has dipped their toe into new waters: educational software. Facebook has assigned eight full time employees to develop software for use with local charter school, Summit Public Schools, which will allow users (students) to learn at their own pace. While this platform is currently only open to students at one public school, if it takes off Facebook could potentially roll it out further and who is to say whether or not it stops at the shores of K-12 education or if it will venture into some sort of higher education solution. I for one am intrigued to see how this develops, and to see if more tech companies venture into assisting educators. I just hope the students using it don’t get inundated with candy crush invitations while they’re trying to learn.
Read More at the New York Times
Samsung’s next-gen SmartThings home hub goes on sale
A little over a year ago Samsung acquired a home automation company and now Samsung’s SmartThings home hub is finally ready to hit the market. Originally slated for an April 2015 release, Samsung had to push the date back. Designed to be a platform solution for home automation, complete with an available developer’s kit, Samsung finally has a competitive product to Apple’s HomeKit. As of today, SmartThings has 200 supported devices.