This little carbon-sucking machine could crack DACs big energy problem
Direct air capture (DAC) features prominently in the climate plans of many world governments, and has drawn billions of dollars in private investment. And yet, as the costs of the technology remain prohibitively high, some doubt whether we can depend on it at all. Mission Zero Technologies, a startup based out of the UK, believes we can but by doing things a little differently. It has developed a modular, carbon-sucking machine that it says is cheaper and more efficient than the contraptions currently under development. The device pulls in air from the atmosphere and passes it over a water-based This story continues at The Next Web
Nvidia AI developer conference kicks off with new chips in focus
Nvidia kicked off its annual developer conference with investors focused on new chip announcements from CEO Jensen Huang
How to pin a website to the taskbar in Windows
The Windows 11 Start Menu and its taskbar are good for programs, but pinning websites is tricky. Learn to access sites via taskbar on Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
IT Essentials: Library learning and silo stomping
It's time to pull our collective socks up and talk to peers when breached.
Apple to pay Norfolk and others 385m after five-year legal battle
Tech giant Apple has conceded defeat to Norfolk County Council in a legal battle, agreeing to a staggering settlement of $490 million (385 million) in response to allegations of shareholder deception.
DevOps Excellence Awards 2024 - in pictures
The Computing DevOps Excellence Awards 2024 was a celebration of all that's forward looking and innovative in software development. As we all know, software runs the world, so it's all the more important that those developing and implementing it are at the top of their game. Prizes went to companies, projects, products and of course people: the beating heart of DevOps. Guests were treated to a hilarious stand-up routine by Mickey Overman, who also hosted the awards - and, it has to be said, coped remarkably well with all the jargon! See the full list of winners here .
Apple Researchers Working on MM1, a Family of Multimodal AI Model With Up to 30 Billion Parameters
Apple researchers have shared their work on building a multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM), in a pre-print paper. Published on an online portal on March 14, the paper highlights how it was able to achieve the advanced capabilities of multimodality and make the foundation model train on both text-only data as well as images.
How to salvage a dark or blurry photo with Adobe Lightroom
While you may not be able to completely restore a dim or blurry image, here is a short and a long way to make the flaws less obvious, using Adobe Lightroom
Google Chrome now better protects you against risky websites and weak passwords
Google's Safe Browsing protection will warn you about malicious websites in real time, while the Password Checkup will alert you to weak and reused passwords.
Riddled with debt, Swedens Embracer sells Star Wars game maker for $500M
Swedish gaming company Embracer Group has sold a big chunk of one of its biggest subsidiaries, US-headquartered Saber Interactive, in a deal totalling $500mn. The buyer is Beacon Interactive, a holding company recently formed by none other than Sabers own co-founder Matthew Karch. In a letter shared with Bloomberg, Karch said he was buying back the rights to his company and many of its studios because they represent the best of what Saber is and can be. Saber Interactive is currently overseeing the development of 38 games, including Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, John Carpenters Toxic Commando, and Jurassic Park: This story continues at The Next Web
ASML backs 110M Dutch deeptech fund for quantum, semiconductors
The pride and joy of the Dutch tech ecosystem, ASML, has featured heavily in the news this past couple of weeks, after news broke the government was scrambling to keep the company in the country. However, ASMLs plans to potentially relocate due to difficulty securing talent and infrastructure bottlenecks does not mean it is not still actively supporting the Dutch tech ecosystem. The company has just contributed an undisclosed amount to Eindhoven-based DeepTechXLs 110mn fund. The VC is looking to invest in deeptech startups in the fields of quantum technologies, photonics, semiconductors, and other complex mechanical engineering. DeepTechXL is much This story continues at The Next Web
Winners announced at the DevOps Excellence Awards 2024
The DevOps Excellence Awards 2024, held last night in London, celebrated the top achievements in the world of software development over the last 12 months. Computing's annual DevOps Excellence Awards brought together industry leaders, experts and innovators to celebrate in style. Gathered together at the Montcalm, Marble Arch, diners were treated to a hilarious turn by the evening's host, the award-winning comedian Mickey Overman. Then it was on to the serious business of the awards themselves, which the judges found particulary hard to choose this year owing to the uniform excellence of the entries. But winners had to be selected. Here are those winners, and honourable mentions, in full: Best Implementation of DevOps-as-a-Service Winner: Accedia JSC, Accedia DevOps AI Capability Centre for the UK Hospitality Sector Best AI/Automation Project Winner: RSA-Deloitte, Home Replatforming Highly Commended: Bridgeworks, PORTtrockIT Best AIOps/MLOps Tool Winner: Dynatrace, The Dynatrace Platform Best Continuous Delivery Product Winner: CloudBees, CloudBees CD/RO Highly Commended: Copado, Copado Quality Integration Framework Best DevOps Consulting Firm Winner: HeadChannel & SEMP Highly Commended: Expert Thinking Consulting Ltd Best DevOps Security Tool Winner: Appdome, ThreatScopeTM Mobile XDR and MOBILEBot Defense Best DevOps Services Company Winner: RiverSafe Limited Highly Commended: Godel Technologies Europe Ltd, Delivering DevOps Excellence Best DevOps Team Winner: National Grid ESO in partnership with IBM & Capgemini, Open Balancing Platform Highly Commended: HSBC, Global Mainframe Developer Engineering (GMDE) Best DevOps Transformation Winner: Hymans Robertson, Continuous Improvement of Releases Highly Commended: Sandhata Technologies in partnership with Vodafone UK Best Implementation of DevSecOps Winner: ClearBank, How ClearBank security has kept the same fast-paced growth Best Use of Cloud-Native-Technologies Winner: DNEG and Red Hat, DNEG's Cloud-Native Architecture Transformation with Red Hat Highly Commended: Admiral in partnership with Endava, Milestone-1: GKE & Memorystore - Moving to a Mature Google Cloud Platform Most Successful Cultural Transformation Winner: Sandhata Technologies in partnership with Vodafone UK DevOps Rising Star of the Year Winner: Colette Rodrigues, IBM DevOps Professional of the Year Winner: Neil Millard, HMRC Highly Commended: Rafael Gomez, Innovation Group EMEA Ltd DevOps Leader of the Year Winner: Mike Thompson, HSBC Highly Commended: Shawn Ahmed, CloudBees DevOps Tool/Product of the Year Winner: Perforce Software, Puppet by Perforce Highly Commended: PopUp Mainframe DevOps Project of the Year Winner: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) & esynergy Highly Commended: Tata Consultancy Services in partnership with Lloyds Banking Group - Intelligent Gateway DevOps Vendor of the Year Winner: Perforce Software
Data breached at Scottish NHS board
A focused and ongoing cyber attack has disrupted services and may have compromised patient data at one of Scotland's 14 NHS regions.
UK fusion startup trials plasma-stabilising laser for holy grail of energy
British startup Tokamak Energy is testing a new type of laser that it says is crucial to stabilising fusion reactions the same atom-fusing process that powers the Sun and promises to deliver virtually limitless, clean energy. The Oxford-based company is building ST40, a donut-shaped machine that in 2022 became the first privately-owned fusion reactor to reach 100 million C six times as hot as the core of our closest star. This is generally regarded as the temperature threshold whereby fusion reactions can become self-sustaining. During fusion, atoms merge together. This produces huge amounts of power in the form This story continues at The Next Web
AI interview: Chunk wisely to avoid RAG hell
Almost any developer worth their salt could build a RAG application with an LLM, once they understand the basics of it, said chief product officer at DataStax, Ed Anuff.
HP Spectre x360 14 Review |A future-proof performance powerhouse
Starting at 1,64,999, the HP Spectre x360 14 is powered by Intels new Meteor Lake Core Ultra CPU, which combines the processing capabilities of a CPU, GPU, and NPU into a triple engine powered by AI
Women in Tech Excellence Awards 2024: Nominations are open!
Nominations close on 26th April so don't hesitate!
Government unveils 1.1 billion plan to bolster future skills
The UK government has unveiled a funding package aiming to upskill thousands of individuals in fields including AI, quantum computing, 6G and medicine.
BJP targets young voters with short videos highlighting government initiatives
The BJP is targeting young and first-time voters with engaging short videos centred around the Modi government's initiatives in a variety of sectors
US agency probes risks of foreign satellite use by handheld devices
The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday it is investigating if the use of Russian and Chinese foreign satellite systems by U.S. mobile phones and other devices poses security threats.
French MoD taps 5 startups to develop fault-tolerant quantum computer
Quantum computers have an almost mythical status among data scientists and researchers. The dream of emerging out of the NISQ (noisy intermediate-scale quantum) era into a world of fault-tolerant qubits generating unbreakable encryption or solving climate change keeps many startups going despite difficult investment propositions with longer return horizons. But quantum technologies dont only inspire wonder and excitement they are also a growing geopolitical concern. More and more countries are setting up ambitious quantum strategies, and the US has placed export controls on equipment that supports quantum technology development to China. As part of its 1bn National Strategy for This story continues at The Next Web
French scar leaves another mark on TikToks painful week
TikToks rough week in the west went from bad to worse today when Italian authorities slapped the app with a 10mn fine over a viral challenge called the French scar. The game invites users to pinch their cheeks until they leave a lasting bruise. It became particularly popular in Italy, which prompted scrutiny from the countrys competition regulator. Following a probe, investigators concluded that TikTok had failed to protect users from the potentially dangerous content. The watchdog warned that the French scar threatened the psycho-physical safety of users particularly minors and vulnerable people. Moreover, this content is systematically re-proposed This story continues at The Next Web
Why did 'Help to Grow Digital' fail?
A post-pandemic 296 million government scheme to subsidise software investment by SMEs announced in 2021, spent barely 7% of that by the time it was quietly abandoned in December 2022.
Microsoft the latest to waive cloud egress fees
Microsoft will no longer levy an egress charge when customers remove their data from Azure when to switch to another cloud provider or on-premises datacentre.
How to download YouTube videos for offline viewing
Our guide will teach you how to download YouTube videos on PC, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Mac, and educate you on the ethics of doing so.
How to deactivate your Instagram account (or delete it)
Growing tired of scrolling through photos and videos on Instagram? You can deactivate your account. Here's how to temporarily disable or permanently delete it.
Princess Kate photo scandal triggers calls for watermarking untouched images
A distinctly British scandal caused by sloppy photo editing has sparked calls for watermarking untouched images. The pleas come after a picture of Princess Kate intensified wild rumours about her whereabouts. Kates representatives issued the image this week to subdue gossip about her recent absence from the public eye.Newspapers and websites promptly plastered the snapshot across their pages. But the photo only heightened the speculation. Online sleuths soon spotted clear signs of manipulation. One of Kates hands, they noticed, was peculiarly blurred. Her daughters jumper was missing a portion of the cuff. Her sons fingers had an unnatural position. News This story continues at The Next Web
Britain commits 35mn to join EU's semiconductor research programme
Britain has announced its decision to join the European Union's efforts aimed at developing and manufacturing advanced semiconductors within Europe.
Embrace change at the 2024 UK IT Industry Awards
The UK IT Industry Awards are the country's largest and most well-recognised awards show honouring the companies, projects, products and people at the forefront of the tech sector. In the evolving technology landscape, mastering IT is crucial. With concepts like artificial intelligence, green technology and cloud-native tools gaining traction, IT professionals are at the forefront of change. The UK IT Industry Awards , now back for 2024, honour and showcase the organisations, teams, projects, technologies and individuals shaping the future of IT and digital society. Amidst the plethora of events acknowledging success in the tech sector, the UK IT Industry Awards stand out as the premier platform. Hosted by Computing and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT , the awards boast unmatched professionalism and industry insight. From essential apps to life-saving innovations, modern IT has a profound impact on our daily lives, and the awards exist to recognise and celebrate that impact - as well as the people behind it. Enter now What sets the UK IT Industry Awards apart? Not only are they the largest celebration of IT in the country - with thousands of entries every year - but the judging process is strictly, rigorously expert.Unlike mere paper assessments, the judging involves face-to-face evaluations by independent panels of IT leaders, ensuring winners are recognised for genuine achievements - not just marketing prowess. Categories span a diverse range, from recognising outstanding individuals to celebrating groundbreaking projects. From the newer awards for AI projects and inclusive technology innovations, to the massive Vendor of the Year and IT Leader of the Year categories, the UK IT Industry Awards honour true leaders in the field. The awards serve as an annual beacon of excellence for the industry, spotlighting those shaping the future of technology and driving positive change in our digital world. So don't wait - submit your entry now to tell the world about your success. Not sure which category to enter? Click here for a full list .
YouTube on your TV gets more interactive, and you can shop, too - sort of
This redesigned YouTube app lets you shrink the main viewing content and bring comments and other elements to the front. Here's how it works.
DevOps on mainframe at HSBC, DevOps Excellence Awards finalist
In the realm of modern software development, the principles of DevOps have become synonymous with agility, efficiency, and collaboration. Yet, when it comes to mainframe environments, embracing DevOps practices presents a unique set of challenges that demand innovative solutions. DevOps on mainframe? Mainframes, with their robust architecture and heritage application and infrastructure estate, present a challenge on the path to implementing seamless DevOps pipelines across an organisation. However, overcoming these hurdles can unlock substantial benefits and productivity gains via the integration of non-mainframe tooling. The mainframe conundrum Mainframes have long been the backbone of critical business operations, supporting vast amounts of data and processing power. However, their traditional development methodologies often rely on rigid, sometimes monolithic structures that may hinder rapid iteration and deployment. The transition to a DevOps model requires a fundamental shift in mindset and processes, which can be particularly daunting in the mainframe environment and for traditional development teams. One of the primary challenges stems from the complexity of mainframe applications and the intricate interdependencies among various components. Unlike modern cloud-native architectures, mainframe systems often lack the flexibility and modularity required for seamless integration into automated DevOps pipelines. Navigating heritage landscapes with DevOps Introducing DevOps onto the mainframe platform requires a strategic approach that balances the need for innovation with the constraints of heritage systems. One key strategy involves leveraging emulation and abstraction layers to bridge the gap between mainframe environments and modern DevOps toolchains. By encapsulating heritage functionalities within containerised environments, organisations can integrate mainframe applications into CI/CD workflows seamlessly. Furthermore, the adoption of infrastructure-as-code (IaC) principles enables teams to manage mainframe configurations programmatically, streamlining provisioning and deployment processes. Tools like Ansible offer declarative approaches to infrastructure management, abstracting the complexities of mainframe administration and promoting consistency across environments. Benefits of non-mainframe tooling in DevOps While mainframe environments present unique challenges, the incorporation of non-mainframe tooling offers significant benefits and productivity gains through automation. By embracing cloud-native technologies and open-source frameworks, organisations can unlock new levels of agility and efficiency in their development workflows. These tools can integrate into traditional Software Configuration & Application Lifecycle Management tooling, such as the ever-popular Endevor from Broadcom, and existing processes. Continuous integration and deployment Non-mainframe CI/CD tools can provide robust automation capabilities that streamline the build, test, and deployment processes. By orchestrating workflows across heterogeneous environments, these platforms enable rapid feedback cycles and accelerate time-to-market for mainframe applications. Orchestration tools, such as Jenkins, allow the scripting of processes to fully automate the mainframe DevOps pipeline and give power to the elbow' for Developers and Infrastructure teams alike. Automated regression/unit testing, using tools such as Topaz for Total Test (now BMC AMI DevX Total Test), is a must-have in any mainframe Application-based DevOps pipeline and may provide the biggest bang-for-your-buck'. Continuous monitoring and observability Effective monitoring and observability are essential components of any DevOps initiative, providing real-time insights into system performance and reliability. With the proliferation of open-source monitoring solutions such as Grafana and AI-Ops, organisations can gain visibility into mainframe workloads and proactively identify bottlenecks or anomalies. Conclusion In conclusion, while introducing DevOps on mainframe platforms poses formidable challenges, the benefits and productivity gains offered by automation and non-mainframe tooling far outweigh the complexities. By embracing innovative strategies and leveraging cloud-native technologies, organisations can navigate the heritage landscape and unlock new levels of agility and efficiency in their mainframe development workflows. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, embracing DevOps on mainframe will be essential for organisations seeking to remain competitive in an ever-changing marketplace. I'm Mike Thompson, global head of mainframe developer engineering at HSBC. I've spent a career working on and around the mainframe platform, mainly as a COBOL, CICS and DB2 Developer of over 25 years. I gained a First Class Honours degree in Computer Science at Teesside Polytechnic, following five years as a Mechanical Engineering Draughtsman at British Steel. My first IT role was at a County Council, then moved into the private sector at Midland Bank, later HSBC, Experian and HBoS, and as a consultant at HSBC, Santander, Caterpillar and Royal Mail. I currently run a global team across seven countries.
Interview: Richard Dalziel, Hymans Robertson, DevOps Excellence Awards finalist
Computing's DevOps Excellence Awards showcase outstanding achievements from organisations, personalities and solutions that have successfully applied DevOps methodologies. This year's winners will be announced at a live awards ceremony on Thursday, 14th March in London. Among the finalists are the Hymans Robertson, who have jointly reached the shortlist for two categories: Best DevOps Transformation and Best DevOps Team. We caught up with Richard Dalziel, principle software engineer. Richard has been a software engineer at Hymans Robertson for 8 years. He's been been a part of the CIR (Continuous Improvement of Releases) team since it formed in 2018. Together they've enhanced their release automation process and have streamlined their change management process. This has led to significant improvements in the release cadence. Outside of work Richard likes to keep an active lifestyle. Balancing running, the gym and hiking to maintain a reasonable level of fitness. He'salso guilty of taking the odd software side-project to 50% completion! Conputing: What are your/their thoughts about DevOps? RD: At Hymans Robertson, our commitment to delivering high-quality software efficiently is underpinned by our belief in the power of multi-disciplinary teams. We strive for high performing teams and whilst this extends further than DevOps, the integration of development and operational capability within development teams is pivotal for the safe, efficient release of software. DevOps, in our experience, extends further than the collaboration between developers and operations. It represents a cultural shift and a commitment to ongoing communication, continuous improvement and automation. This approach is especially critical as we navigate the rapidly evolving landscapes of technology, marked notably by the current evolution of AI technologies. The dynamic nature of these changes necessitates a proactive approach to tool evaluation with a particular keen eye on the operational implications to ensure smooth, scalable production deployments. Why is DevOps important in your/their role? In striving to deploy code more frequently, the principles of DevOps become the linchpin of our operational efficiency and agility. As one of the founding members of our initiative to continuously improve our release processes, my involvement has given me a firsthand perspective of the transformative impact of DevOps on our firm. The adoption of DevOps has not only streamlined our deployment pipelines but also contributed to a culture of continuous improvement across our development teams. This shift has granted us, as engineers, a considerable degree of autonomy, empowering us to deliver faster, more reliable, feature-rich software solutions for our clients. How is DevOps evolving? DevOps has been evolving with the introduction of Platform Teams and more recently the emergence of AI Technologies for automation. The challenge for DevOps will be integrating platform teams and AI without compromising the core values of collaboration and agility. Balancing new technologies with DevOps principles is key to sustaining the empowerment and autonomy of our development teams which is fundamental to our delivery success. What are your/their key achievement within DevOps In collaboration with the rest of our CIR team, I contributed to a transformative increase in our release capacity, scaling from 300 to 2000+ releases annually by introducing our tiered release process which empowers our development teams by giving them ownership of their deployment processes. This achievement is underpinned by the development of over 50 custom pipeline extensions, designed to enforce best practises across the development teams. We approached these extensions with the same rigor as client-facing products, incorporating integration tests, and regular updates for dependencies and security. Additionally, I'm proud of our comprehensive Analytics Dashboard, which provides real-time insights into our production environments, ensuring they align with our strategic objectives and maintain operational excellence. This tool has become integral to our capability to assess and enhance the reliability and efficiency of our services which reflects on our commitment to continuous improvement and to clients. DevOps Excellence Awards will take place on 14th March in London. Click here to view the shortlist. Richard Dalziel is principal software engineer at Hymans Robinson.
DevOps at Nationalgrid ESO - the Balancing Mechanism revolution
National Grid ESO is the electricity system operator for Great Britain. We move electricity round Great Britains system to keep homes and businesses supplied with the energy they need 24/7, 365 days a year.
DevOps in action: Empowering justice with the Crown Prosecution Service
EU finally adopts AI Act, marking a new era for artificial intelligence
The EU has officially adopted the AI Act, the worlds first comprehensive rulebook on artificial intelligence. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) overwhelmingly endorsed the regulation on Wednesday. The law passed with 523 votes in favour, 46 against, and 49 abstentions. Europe is NOW a global standard-setter in AI, Thierry Breton, the blocs commissioner for the internal market, wrote on X. Bretons claim was echoed across the tech world although not always with praise. Supporters praised the acts attempt to reduce AI risks, but critics warn that the rules will inhibit innovation. Still, both sides expect the legislation to This story continues at The Next Web
The European Union has officially adopted the AI Act, a comprehensive legal framework for overseeing artificial intelligence.
Apple submits to EU pressure on app downloads
Apple confirmed yesterday that iPhone users within the EU will from later this Spring be able to download apps directly from websites
Microsoft Patch Tuesday fixes two critical bugs
Microsoft fixed 60 vulnerabilities, including 18 remote code execution flaws in its March Patch Tuesday update.
Exclusive: Behind the scenes of DWP's ambitious tech transformation
Under new leadership, the Department for Work and Pensions is transforming its IT infrastructure, adopting agile methods and AI integration to eliminate tech debt and boost efficiency.
Is there a Walmart Plus free trial? Get a month of free delivery
You can get your groceries and anything else you need delivered for free with a Walmart+ Free Trial.
Brain stimulation tech wins 5M to fight depression at home
Depression affects approximately 280 million people all over the world, and disproportionately affects the female population it is 50% more common in women than men. Treatments range from psychotherapy and lifestyle adjustments to antidepressants and more experimental concepts: brain stimulation therapies. Sooma, a medtech startup based in Helsinki, Finland, is focused on the latter. The company has developed a portable brain stimulation device for Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). Its neuromodulation device is already the most prescribed tDCS therapy worldwide, with over 20,000 people having received treatment. Sooma announced today it has secured additional growth funding of 5mn to This story continues at The Next Web
This startup taps quantum, AI to fast-track discovery of new materials
From batteries and semiconductors to energy storage, the transition to green technologies requires the development of new, sustainable materials at an unprecedented pace. German startup Quantistry believes it can fast-track the discovery of such materials using a mix of quantum tech, physics-based simulations, and machine learning. By automating the process, it looks to sidestep the high costs, fragmented expertise, and slow innovation inherent to classical R&D. Quantistry has developed a cloud-based platform powered by small-scale quantum computers and AI, that allows users to determine material and molecular properties in simulation, rather than in real-life. This removes much of the trial This story continues at The Next Web
Greening the software lifecycle: DevOps as a sustainability catalyst
From streaming services to productivity apps, software powers our world. But this convenience comes with a hidden environmental cost. DevOps, the practice of streamlining software development and operations, potentially holds the key to unlocking greener, more sustainable software products across industries. Let's break down a few of the DevOps principles and see how we can weave in sustainable approaches and how they can help us bring down the environmental impact of our software products. Collaboration and culture shift Sustainability champions: Designate individuals or teams as sustainability champions alongside traditional DevOps roles. They'd advocate for green software considerations and educate others across the organisation. Shared sustainability KPIs: Include sustainability metrics (energy use, carbon intensity, etc.) alongside traditional operational KPIs. This aligns the goals of both Dev and Ops teams for a holistic impact. Automation Carbon efficient tools: seek automation tools that themselves have sustainability built-in or can report on the energy footprint of processes they execute. Power-aware scheduling: automate builds and deployments during off-peak hours or when renewable energy sources are more abundant on the power grid. CI/CD Green builds and testing: evaluate the environmental impact of CI/CD tools and make choices based on efficiency. Encourage energy-conscious test design. Dependency analysis: assess the sustainability of third-party libraries and consider alternatives with a lower environmental footprint. Infrastructure as Code Cloud preference: prioritise cloud providers with strong sustainability commitments and transparent reporting on their environmental impact. Templating for efficiency: Design IaC templates (Terraform, etc.) to default to energy-efficient configurations and right-sized resources, preventing unnecessary over-provisioning. Monitoring and feedback Sustainability dashboards: Include key metrics like the Software Carbon Intensity (SCI) of applications, alongside traditional performance metrics. Alerts for inefficiency: Set up alerts for unusual spikes in resource consumption or patterns that might indicate unnecessarily wasteful code. Customer-Centricity Transparency: If feasible, give customers visibility into the sustainability efforts of your product/service. This aligns with consumer values and can be a selling point. Green features: Survey customer needs for features that prioritise sustainability or provide them with ways to optimise their own resource usage within the software. Conclusion DevOps isn't just about faster releases, it's about smarter releases. By baking sustainability into the development lifecycle, businesses across sectors can create more environmentally friendly software products. Sustainability is smart business as the energy efficiency from putting the DevOps principles mentioned in this article into practice directly translates to lower infrastructure and operational costs, benefiting the bottom line. It should also free resources and talent to focus on building innovative, eco-conscious products and features that align with customer values. To find out more I would recommend Green Software Foundation to utilise their resources and align with their principles within your DevOps processes Take an iterative approach and introduce sustainability gradually, measure the impact, and constantly refine. If you are interested in acquiring more knowledge in this space I strongly suggest the Green Software for Practitioners training for anyone involved in software products. Steve Hawkins, principal engineer at ClearBank , drives innovation in financial services through his expertise in cloud computing, platform engineering, and developer experience. He champions sustainable technologies to help organisations grow responsibly. Steve actively shares his knowledge, inspiring a sustainable tech-conscious future through speaking and community engagement.
Google publishes plans for post-quantum cryptography
Google has published a threat model for the arrival of quantum computers that can crack commonly used cryptosystems such as RSA and ECC.
Reddit seeks $6.5bn valuation from float
Reddit has revealed that it is aiming for a $6.5bn valuation when it floats on the New York stock exchange towards the end of this month. This seems a lot for a company which is still posting significant losses.
Government fails to grasp scale of UK's e-waste 'tsunami'
A government committee responsible for auditing other departments' sustainability policies has said the government does not understand the scale of the e-waste problem facing the UK.
Empowering women in tech: Bridging the digital skills shortage
As the technology industry continues to grow, the demand for top tech talent increases- except we're lacking enough trained candidates to fill the job roles. The digital skills crisis is here to stay and it's causing major issues for businesses that are trying to keep up with the pace of the industry. But what is contributing to the ever-growing digital skills gap?
Interview: The Crown Prosecution Service & esynergy, DevOps Excellence Awards finalist
DevOps is widely acknowledged as bringing agility, innovation, and resilience to businesses, providing numerous benefits within the industry.
Interview: Richard Bundock, HeadChannel, DevOps Excellence Awards finalist
DevOps is a methodology that aims to streamline work throughout the software development lifecycle, facilitating faster, more efficient and secure delivery of business value to an organisation's end customers.
5 ways to boost your salary as a software developer in 2024
For much of the 21st century, software development has been an attractive career option. Now, however, there are perceived threats on the horizon as new tools seem set to fill the software development skills gap. Generative AI models are evolving quickly with the ability to generate functioning code from a few text prompts. Meanwhile, no-code and low-code tools and services which offer people with minimal or even no development skills the ability to design and manipulate their own software applications are becoming more sophisticated and widespread. Gartner predicted in 2021 that, by 2025, as much as 70% of This story continues at The Next Web
How Space Aye is putting Scottish space tech on the map
The space sector is growing faster in Scotland than any other part of the UK, thanks to geographically advantageous satellite launch sites and a plethora of local engineering skills. This has spawned a number of hardware and software startups, among them the geographically rooted and affirmatively named Space Aye.
Ada Ventures secures 63mn for Inclusive Alpha fund
It is no secret that VC investing has a diversity and inclusion problem. Fortunately, there are funders out there who are committed to ushering in positive changes. This includes Ada Ventures, a UK-based VC firm with a portfolio that is 14x more diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity than the countrys average venture fund. Today, it just announced the close of its oversubscribed 63mn second fund. Ada Ventures is also top of the chart amongst other impact-driven funds, with 1.4x higher diversity than the average. As many as 74% of portfolio founders are from an underrepresented background, 48% of This story continues at The Next Web
Dutch cybersecurity startup bags 36M amid spike in online attacks
Dutch startup Eye Security has raised 36mn as it looks to defend European businesses from cyber criminals. Founded in 2020 by a group of Dutch intelligence and security experts, the Hague-based outfit provides cyber protection, incident response, and cyber insurance services to small-to-medium sized companies. The funding round, which brings Eye Securitys total amount raised so far to 57.5mn, was led by JPMorgan, the private investment arm of American financial giant JPMorgan Chase. Eye Security plans to use the cash to consolidate its presence in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. It also aims to expand into other European nations. Eye This story continues at The Next Web
Appdome - DevOps Excellence Awards finalist, Best DevOps Security Tool
Appdome is the one and only Unified Mobile App Defense Platform. When we started the company in 2016, our vision was to develop a DevOps tool designed for mobile app security. Were honoured to be a DevOps Excellence Awards finalist, as it reflects the success of our product and the tangible benefits weve been able to provide mobile brands.
Watch: Declassified footage of UK DragonFire laser weapon in action
The UKs Ministry of Defence (MoD) has released declassified footage of its DragonFire laser weapon. DragonFire shoots a high-power beam at the speed of light. Its so precise, it can fry a target the size of a coin from a kilometre away. This never seen before footage and imagery shows the laser cannon in action at a site in the Hebrides, a remote archipelago off the coast of Scotland. The video also includes CGI footage of the laser weapon zapping military drones out of the sky one of DragonFires potential real life use cases. DragonFire is being developed for This story continues at The Next Web
Changing the game: The evolution of DevOps to DevSecOps
Digital transformation, supported by cloud migration and modern DevOps practices are essential to organisations' drive to accelerate innovation to attract and retain customers. But these trends come at a price. As technology stacks become more complex and development cycles accelerate, it is increasingly difficult for human teams alone to keep up. DevOps teams must manage and secure data, platforms, and applications across a more dynamic and distributed landscape, where change is the only constant. To succeed, organisations need to adopt DevSecOps-driven automation practices. However, many are struggling to establish such a culture, despite a widespread understanding of the benefits of DevSecOps. Tackling growing complexity Organisations are faced with growing security risks as they attempt to keep up with the pace of digital transformation and shift to the cloud. In fact, research reveals that more than two-thirds (68%) of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) say the complexity of their software supply chain and cloud ecosystem has led to vulnerability management difficulties. DevOps teams are struggling to prioritise vulnerabilities due to insufficient context about the risk posed to their environment. Consequently, teams may spend days chasing false positives or non-critical issues, neglecting urgent risks and leaving them unnecessarily exposed. Manual application security processes and fragmented DevOps toolchains also impact how teams prioritise their work. Despite using numerous tools to maintain application security, DevOps teams struggle to respond quickly to resolve vulnerabilities as they are detected. This is because many solutions aren't designed or integrated with cloud complexity in mind. Teams are forced to rely on disparate sources of observability and security data, leading to visibility gaps across different platforms in their hybrid stack. They are therefore often required to manually analyse thousands of security alerts to identify, assess, and prioritise their response efforts to emerging vulnerabilities. This creates a lot of noise, which is increased by duplicate alerts from different tools, alongside false positives highlighting threats that don't carry any significant risk. Security teams need AI solutions that can help to prioritise their efforts by separating the most urgent vulnerabilities from those that are less critical to the business. Adopting automation To empower DevOps teams and to amplify the impact of DevSecOps on innovation, organisations should prioritise automation and adopt a unified approach to observability and security. This will break down silos between different sources of data and create a single, comprehensive source of truth to drive automation. With the integration of trustworthy AI alongside this data source, DevOps teams can unlock the insights they need to support end-to-end DevSecOps automation across the software delivery lifecycle (SDLC). For instance, they can automate IT service management (ITSM) workflows and create an automatic support ticket as soon as a vulnerability is detected, which is then sent to the relevant team to resolve. Streamlining this process eliminates the need for DevOps teams to manually intervene, therefore saving time and resources. Embracing the potential of DevSecOps As organisations evolve to meet customer demands through faster innovation, they must address the security risks created by this speed and agility. Success hinges on DevOps teams embracing a more intelligent approach to application security, supported by DevSecOps automation. Unlocking the full potential of DevSecOps automation relies on a culture shift within organisations to fully understand the benefits of holistic monitoring. By taking a more unified approach to observability and security, organisations can minimise the burden of vulnerability management on their DevOps teams. This allows these teams to prioritise higher value strategic tasks that drive business growth and create a lasting competitive edge. Ben Todd is senior director security, EMEA at Dynatrace. Ben has more than 20 years of experience in the tech industry, and has specialised in cybersecurity since 2014. He has worked for the likes of Cisco, Dell and Nomidio and joined Dynatrace in January 2021. In his role as Senior Director Security, EMEA, Ben is responsible for the build and scale out of the Dynatrace Security business in the EMEA market.
Microsoft says source code stolen in Russian hacking escalation
Microsoft finds itself embroiled in a cybersecurity crisis as it disclosed further details about a sophisticated espionage campaign orchestrated by Russian state-sponsored hackers.
IT Essentials: Technosolutionism on steroids
Oh my, how politicians love AI! It really is the answer to all their prayers. Tricky decisions can be taken off the balance sheet like so many bad debts, shunted into the never-never and left to machines of loving grace. Fan boy politicos get to unleash their inner geek and rub knees with their Silicon Valley idols, swapping buzz phrases and bon mots that one suspects neither really understand. Skills shortages? It's what AI was built for. Unemployment? Ditto. Budget deficits? An optimisation problem. Climate change - no need to worry about that anymore. Poverty? Schmoverty. Potholes on the A24? Just wait til you see what Robofiller can do (and what a fab hi-viz photo opportunity too). So it was with interest that we followed Jeremy Hunt's budget announcements for the NHS. First up was fitting MRI scanners with AI capabilities. Fair enough. Without knowing anything of the detail, harnessing the acknowledged pattern matching powers of AI to a machine that produces a mountain of data sounds like a solid use case. Then we had the news of that Hunt would fund a 3.4 billion programme to modernise NHS IT systems, in full. Great, until the line he undoubtedly needed to include to sell it to his colleagues: But it helps unlock 35 billion of savings, 10 times that amount. Really? Inevitably AI takes centre stage, by slashing the 13 million hours lost by doctors and nurses every year to outdated IT systems and potentially cutting by half form filling by doctors. At which point the wow should turn to how?. How exactly is all this going to happen? What are the trade-offs? Projections like these are somehow allowable ecause AI. AI is technosolutionism on steroids. But is it really any more than the new 'lick your forefinger and stick it in the air'? As IT leaders constantly remind us, change is about people, process and technology, in that order. But AI conveniently allows politicians to ignore the first two, or to somehow imply that AI will make up for deficiencies in them. We've been here before, of course. The National Programme for IT (NPfIT), the cost of which ballooned to 12 billion, was meant to connect GP practices and medical records centrally, made possible by the pace of technological advance. Rushed through against the wishes of most doctors and health experts (people), the programme was badly managed from the start, lacking clear direction, proper project management or an exit strategy (process). In the end the only winners were the big integrators. A few days earlier we saw another example of AI solutionism: government trials using AI to reduce the size of the civil service . Described by deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden as potentially a silver bullet to solve problems across government, it was derided as magical thinking by Stochastic Parrots author Emily Bender, who pointed out that the term silver bullet is generally used as negation, as in: There is no silver bullet that will solve this problem, which is undoubtedly more accurate. Is the civil service too big? Quite possibly. Could the NHS be more efficient? Most definitely. Does AI have a role in increasing the productivity of public sector organisations? Absolutely. But the NHS and the civil service are highly complex organisations with a remit to serve the whole population rather than a small number of shareholders. AI might indeed prove extremely useful in optimising and redesigning processes, and revolutionising our public services for the better. But to quote a sage from a different age: you say you want a revolution, we'd all love to see the plans.
Meta reveals WhatsApp and Messenger interoperability strategy
Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp and Messenger, has revealed its strategy for implementing interoperability with third-party messaging services, aligning with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) enforced by the European Union.
Digital panels Draft Bill to elude relief for news publishers
Draft Bill silent on the aspect of ushering in bargaining guidelines for news publishers against Big Tech
UK fusion startup breaks pressure record using giant gun machine
A British startup has set a new pressure record using the worlds strongest pulsed power machine, as it looks to forge a cheaper, faster path to fusion energy. First Light Fusion launched a projectile at over 20 kilometres per second (72,000 kph) into a piece of quartz crystal producing pressure upwards of 1.85 terapascals almost four times the pressure found at Earths core. The startup achieved the feat using the Z Machine, a nuclear-era device located in Albuquerque, US. With a peak power of 80 trillion watts more than the worlds entire electricity grid it electromagnetically This story continues at The Next Web
Sharing the AI journey: Amplifying female founder voices
In October last year, researchers at the Alan Turing Institute sounded the alarm that there was an urgent issue of gender imbalance in artificial intelligence investment. No one, unfortunately, was surprised. However, it is always good to have the data. The report found that female-founded companies accounted for only 3% of AI startup VC funding over the past decade. While the study focused solely on the UK, similar findings have been reported in other countries. With the boom in generative AI, the importance of diverse founder perspectives to counteract bias in a technology set to become ever more omnipresent throughout This story continues at The Next Web
International Womens Day is the perfect time to ask some searching questions about the gender pay gap, including whether it exists at all.
Asian Tech Roundup: Samsung's cunning chip rebadging
Welcome to Computing's fortnightly roundup of tech news in Asia. This time we look at Samsung's curious policy of relabelling 3nm chips 2-nano, Google's Indian U-turn, and the resignation of NTT's CEO after a data leak.
The EUs DMA is a new take on tech regulation but that doesnt mean itll work
It happened, after years of chin-wagging and back-and-forth and bad blood, it finally happened: the compliance date for the Digital Markets Act arrived on March 7th. From here on out, big tech needs to follow the regulations laid out by the EU and this has the potential to usher in a sea change for the sector. While the rules laid down by the governing body are complex and multifaceted, the overall aim is pretty clear: to increase competition and break the monopoly of techs gatekeepers. These are defined by the EU as huge companies that have become core platforms, This story continues at The Next Web
Why I'm optimistic on International Women's Day - despite the frustratingly slow pace of change
Although gender equality is still nowhere near where it should be, as we celebrate another International Womens Day I put myself in the optimistic camp.
Red Sea cable cut by anchor from Houthi ship attack, says internet firm
Several subsea communications cables in the Red Sea were cut on Saturday, temporarily affecting a quarter of all data traffic flowing between Asia and Europe. Some have blamed the Houthi rebels for intentionally sabotaging the cables. The group, which has conducted a number of attacks on cargo vessels in the Red Sea in recent weeks, has denied any responsibility. The real picture, however, looks a little more complex. According to German internet firm DE-CIX, which rents capacity on one of the cables affected, the damage was caused by an anchor from a ship that Houthi rebels had attacked. The UK-owned This story continues at The Next Web
Google Drive Brings Improvements to Video Playback, and Search Experience on iOS
Google Drive is getting a couple of updates that will improve the usability of the cloud-based storage platform. The tech giant is adding a new transcode to improve the playback speed and rebuffering of videos played within the Drive. It is also improving the search functionality on iOS and adding query filters to help users quickly get to the desired file.
Spain halts Sam Altmans eyeball-scanning startup Worldcoin over privacy concerns
Spanish regulators have ordered Worldcoin to pause operations over fears that the companys eyeball-scanning technology may intrude on users privacy. Worldcoin co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in 2019 uses orbs to scan peoples eyes in exchange for a digital ID and some cryptocurrency. According to the order issued by Spains privacy watchdog yesterday, Worldcoin must stop collecting and processing personal data in the country. It must also stop processing any data it previously collected there. The agency said in a statement that it had received various complaints against the company that range from gathering the personal information This story continues at The Next Web
Startup searching for holy grail of encryption raises $73M
French startup Zama has raised $73mn to commercialise the holy grail of cryptography: fully homomorphic encryption (FHE). Conceptually simple but practically complex, FHE enables computations on encrypted data without having to first decrypt it. As a result, companies can provide services without seeing their customers information.The users, meanwhile, wont notice any difference in the function. To visualisethe process, imagine the encrypted data as a locked box andthe computations as paint. By painting over the box, you can also paint over the data inside. But the changes inside the box will remain hidden from prying eyes. This means sensitive information can This story continues at The Next Web
Patch VMware vulnerabilities, admins urged
Systems administrators are being urged to patch or deploy workarounds for four vulnerabilities in VMware virtualisation software.
Dutch government launched secret task force to keep ASML in Netherlands, report says
The Dutch government has reportedly launched a secret task force to keep chip giant ASML in the Netherlands. Dubbed Operation Beethoven, the task force was formed to allay ASMLs fears about the local business climate, according to De Telegraaf. Citing anonymous sources, the Dutch newspaper said the company was considering an expansion outside the Netherlands. France was mooted as a potential destination. Such a move would leave a deep impact. ASML is Europes most valuable tech company. Its also the worlds only manufacturer of EUV lithography machines, which are essential to producing the most advanced computer chips. These unique capabilities This story continues at The Next Web
Spring Statement 2024: What does it mean for tech?
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled a Budget for long-term growth on Wednesday, with headline measures including a 2p reduction in National Insurance contributions and the abolition of the on-dom tax for residents with permanent citizenship outside the UK.
Digital bank Monzo raises 340M amid UK push to remain fintech leader
Amid tough market conditions, digital bank Monzo has raised 340mn (409mn) in new funding, reaching a post-money valuation of 4bn (4.7bn). The round was led by new investor CapitalG, the growth fund of Googles parent company Alphabet. GV (Google Ventures, Alphabets venture capital investment arm) and HongShan Capital (a ChineseVC firm that split from Sequoia Capital last year) also participated, alongside existing investors including Passion Capital and Tencent. Monzo says that the fresh capital will accelerate its business growth, product development, and expansion plans. It will also allow the London-based fintech startup to relaunch in the US, Monzos CEO TS This story continues at The Next Web Or just read more coverage about: Fintech
Nobel winner behind graphene hails new wonder materials for smart contact lenses
A Nobel Laureate who co-created graphene has made another discovery that could turbocharge numerous futuristic applications, from smart contact lenses to rapid disease detection. Konstantin Novoselov, who won the2010 Nobel Prize for Physics, is among a group of scientists behind the breakthrough. The team announced today that theyve unearthed unique properties in two unusual compounds: rhenium diselenide and rhenium disulfide aka ReSe2 and ReS2. The duo comes from the same family of 2D structures as graphene: the thinnest, strongest, and most thermally conductive material known to exist. ReSe2 and ReS2 also have special attributes. Both of them cancreate a This story continues at The Next Web
Google announces changes to comply with EU DMA
Google has announced several changes as it seeks to comply with the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) which comes into force today.
AWS scraps egress fees for cloud migration
AWS has announced it is waiving egress fees for customers looking to move to a new cloud provider.
Apple addresses two new zero-day flaws in iOS
Owners of some of the newest iphones advised to update them at the earliest opportunity
Ammonia production is filthy. This nitrolyzer could clean it up
Ammonia is perhaps best known as a household cleaner or the chemical that makes your pee smell. Few might realise, however, that half of the worlds food production relies on ammonia-based fertilisers produced in just a handful of countries. This clear, foul-smelling chemical is largely made by superheating water, air, and natural gas under pressure a process that emits vast quantities of carbon dioxide. Ammonia synthesis is by far the dirtiest chemical manufacturing process in the world, responsible for about 1.8% of global CO2. Thats more than the UKs total emissions last year. In a bid to clean up This story continues at The Next Web
'It just suddenly narrows at the top': Advice for women seeking the C-suite
Companies are moving forward on diversity, but theres still a long way to go at the top.
Facebook and Instagram down across the world
Facebook and Instagram are both down for many users around the world.
Startup behind central nervous system for hotels becomes latest Dutch unicorn
Amsterdam-based Mews, a cloud-based property management system (PMS) for the hospitality industry, has become thelatest Dutch unicorn. In a fresh funding round, the startup which is also a TNW community member achieved unicorn status after raising $110mn (101mn) at a valuation of $1.2bn (1.1bn). Mews was founded in 2012 by Richard Valtr, an ex-hotelier on a mission to accelerate the digital transformation of the hospitality space. Digital transformation is challenging for many hospitality brands because too many run their systems with legacy, on-premise technology, Valtr told TNW. This hampers so much innovation within the sector and limits the This story continues at The Next Web
Samsung Spring Sale: Save on monitors, phones, TVs, and more
The Samsung Spring Sale is offering amazing discounts on many of the brand's devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Samsung S95C OLED 4K TV.
Autonomous auto racing promises safer driverless cars on theroad
The excitement of auto racing comes from split-second decisions and daring passes by fearless drivers. Imagine that scene, but without the driver the car alone, guided by the invisible hand of artificial intelligence. Can the rush of racing unfold without a driver steering the course? It turns out that it can. Enter autonomous racing, a field thats not just about high-speed competition but also pushing the boundaries of what autonomous vehicles can achieve and improving their safety. Over a century ago, at the dawn of automobiles, as society shifted from horse-drawn to motor-powered vehicles, there was public doubt about This story continues at The Next Web
BBC News marks content 'verified' to counter disinformation
BBC News has started marking third-party images and videos on its website as verified.
Wix Launches AI-Powered Website Builder That Can Create Websites Using Simple Text Prompts
Wix, a cloud-based website development platform, has launched its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot that can generate a customised website using simple text prompts. The AI website generator was first announced by the company in July 2023 but was not made available to the public. After seven months, Wix has launched the feature globally and users can begin ...
Epic Games hacker isn't a hacker, at all
The 'ransomware' gang that allegedly breached Epic Games last month now says it's not a ransomware group, at all.
This startups silicon anodes could change the battery game
Lithium-ion batteries have transformed everything from consumer electronics to electric vehicles and energy storage. But to power the next wave of tech from planes to smartphones they need to get denser. One option is to replace the graphite anodes within them with silicon ones. Silicon anodes can store 10 times the amount of lithium ions that graphite can and they take up a lot less space. That means more efficient batteries that last longer. Dutch startup LeydenJar has been touting the benefits for years. The company has bagged a healthy 100mn in funding to date a vote This story continues at The Next Web
Government urged to ban ransom payments to cybercriminals
Ciaran Martin, the founding CEO of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), has renewed calls for a ban on ransom payments to hackers, likening the practice to financing terrorist activities.
EC fines Apple 1.5 billion over App Store rules
The European Commission fined Apple 1.84 billion (roughly 1.5 billion, or $1.95 billion) for violating EU antitrust rules by abusing its dominant position in the app store market.