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Brocade makes two signiicant network virtualization innovation announcements at VMworld

August 26, 2013, 7:03 pm
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Brocade made two significant network virtualization collaboration outcome announcements at VMworld today.
  • The first is a new gateway that enables customers to connect the virtual network with the physical assets in the data center. The Brocade VDX® switch family, running VCS Fabric technology, serves as the foundation for the new Brocade VCS Gateway for the VMware NSX™ network virtualization platform.. At the event, Brocade is demonstrating the VCS Gateway with an EMC storage VNX series.
  • The second is integration of Brocade SAN Analytics into VMware’s vCenter Operations Management Suite, to improve SAN management control of virtualized data centers by correlating SAN health with VM performance. Brocade Fabric Vision technology is the foundation for this integration, by delivering diagnostic, monitoring, and management capabilities that maximize network uptime, simplify SAN management, and provide unprecedented visibility and insight across the storage network.
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Computer Security Updates Week 5 of Aug 2013

August 27, 2013, 12:54 am
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Refer to Computer Security Updates Week 3 of Aug 2013; the biggest news was that Reuters reported that U.S house of rep rejected bid to curb spy agency data collection.

For this week / last week, here are / were the biggest news.
  • McAfee Data Center Suite provides elastic security for hybrid Data Centers.
  • Reuters: Two charged with stealing source code from NY trading firm.
  • Reuters: Web-based apps pose tricky problem for Saudi monitors.
  • Chinese Ransomlock Malware changes Windows login credentials.
  • Sophos brings high performance and simple management to server protection.
  • Yahoo: China probes IBM, Oracle, EMC after Snowden leaks.
  • HP Autonomy Automates and Streamlines Data Protection with Release of LiveVault 7.7.



VMworld, SAN FRANCISCO / SINGAPORE, —Aug. 27, 2013 – McAfee Data Center Suite Provides Elastic Security For Hybrid Data Centers

Today, McAfee announced a new version of the McAfee Data Center Server Security Suite, its data center security solution.

The new McAfee Data Center Server Security suite allows organizations to:
  • Discover all workloads to provide the security administrator with complete visibility of the security status
  • Protect every physical and virtual machine in the hybrid data center
  • Expand compute capacity securely

Get more details.

Reuters - Aug 26, 2013 - Two charged with stealing source code from NY trading firm

Reuters reported that two men were charged with intelectual properties pertaining to financial trading firms which include trading strategies, valuation algorithms and source code.

Get more details.

Reuters - Aug 22, 2013 - Web-based apps pose tricky problem for Saudi monitors

Reuters reported that Saudi regulator, the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), ruled on March that Skype, Viber and WhatsApp are not compliant with regulations. This was followed by banning of Viber on June 2013.

Get more details.

Aug 22, 2013 - Chinese Ransomlock Malware Changes Windows Login Credentials

Although ransomware has become an international problem, we rarely see Chinese versions. Recently, Symantec Security Response noticed a new type of ransomlock malware that not only originates from China but also uses a new ransom technique to force users into paying to have their computers unlocked.

This threat is written in Easy Programming Language and is spread mostly through a popular Chinese instant messaging provider. Once a computer is compromised, the threat changes the login credentials of the current user and restarts the system using the newly created credentials. The login password is changed to “tan123456789” (this was hardcoded in the sample we acquired) but the malware author may update the threat and change the password. The account name is changed to “contact [IM ACCOUNT USER ID] if you want to know the password” (English translation)so that once the computer has restarted, and the user is unable to log in, they will see the account name/message and contact the user ID in order to get the new password.

If the victim contacts the provided user ID, who is more than likely the malware author, they will see a statement on the profile page asking for approximately 20 Chinese Yuan (US$3.25). The statement says that the login password will be sent as soon as the money is received and that if the malware author is pestered by the user they will be blocked.

Symantec detects this threat as Trojan.Ransomlock.AF. For users already infected with this threat, there are several ways to restore system access:
  1. Use password “tan123456789” to log into the system and reset the password (as mentioned before, this might not always work as the password may be changed by the malware author)
  2. Use another administrator account to log into the system and reset the password
  3. If your current account is not a super administrator account, enter safe mode and log in as super administrator and then reset the password
  4. Use Windows recovery disk to reset the password

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 21, 2013 – Sophos Brings High Performance and Simple Management to Server Protection

Sophos today announced Sophos Server Protection– an easy to use and flexible server antivirus solution that defends data without sacrificing performance. It is the latest entry in a Sophos arsenal that provides simple, yet complete security for servers, the network and end-user devices.

Increased migration to virtual servers and the ever-growing threat of attack on critical data are presenting new challenges to IT professionals, as they look to maintain high performance and density of servers, without compromising on security. Sophos Server Protection addresses these challenges by integrating agentless antivirus for vShield and full antivirus clients for Windows, Linux, Mac and UNIX into one centrally managed product.

Get more details.

Yahoo - Aug 17, 2013 - China probes IBM, Oracle, EMC after Snowden leaks

It emerged that according to official Shanghai Securities News, China is preparing to investigate IBM, Oracle and EMC over security issues. This is believed to have been triggered by the leaks of Edward Snowden.

Get more details.

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 14, 2013 - HP Autonomy Automates and Streamlines Data Protection with Release of LiveVault 7.7

HP Autonomy today unveiled Autonomy LiveVault 7.7, a comprehensive and easy-to-use cloud-based solution with integrated VMware vSphere support that unifies data protection and recovery across both virtual and physical environments. LiveVault 7.7 provides organizations with a fully managed, secure cloud backup solution that automates, streamlines, and reduces the cost and complexity of enterprise-class data protection.

LiveVault 7.7 brings enterprise-class data protection to the cloud by providing organizations with a single interface from which to manage data protection across both physical and virtual machines. This helps organizations reduce costs, simplify backup management processes, and eliminate the need to have employees trained on multiple products to protect their environments.

Get more details.
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Apps For Nokia Lumia 625

August 27, 2013, 4:00 pm
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Nokia Malaysia announced the availability of its new device – the Nokia Lumia 625– in Malaysia. The Bigger, Better and Faster, Nokia Lumia 625 comes with the biggest screen to date on all Nokia Lumia devices and sports gentle curves with colourful changeable shells. The device will be priced at an RRP of RM939 and will be available starting next week in the Klang Valley and early September for the rest of Malaysia.

The apps available for Nokia Lumia 625 are:
  • Skype - make free video and voice call; instant messaging.
  • Vevo - watch music videos, stream live concerts, and discover new artists for free.
  • Viber - make free video and voice call; instant messaging.
  • Vimeo - watch videos for free.
  • Keek - watch videos for free.
  • Instance - The only fully featured Instagram client on the market.
  • Smart shopper - find out which retailer has the best price for your grocery, toiletries or fresh products.
  • MyPeribahasa - is a collection of Malay proverbs which contains more than 3,800 proverbs.
  • Phaze - Be updated about the current air quality index.
  • Temple run - games.
  • Rayman - games.
  • Royal Revolt - games.

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Mobile Internet Consumer Report 2013

August 28, 2013, 4:31 pm
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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 26 August 2013 –Vserv.mobi, a leading Global Mobile Ad network, released The Mobile Internet Consumer Report - Southeast Asia 2013, developed in conjunction with The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). The report provides a regional and country-specific insight into mobile internet usage across six Southeast Asian countries namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.


With customer experience as one of the top priorities for every brand, the ability to leverage consumer insights provides key opportunities to drive higher engagement and recall. According to the report, the Southeast Asian mobile internet user is young, employed and possesses a high spending power. Some of the insights from the report include:

Demographic Profile on South East Asia:
  • More than half of mobile internet users are generally young; below 24 years of age
  • More than a third possess graduate and postgraduate degrees
  • Over 70% of users are working professionals, with a high spending power that includes frequent visits to restaurants, shopping malls & movie theatres

South East Asia's Consumption Habits:
  • Mobile Internet users are content and information hungry, often turning to mobile advertising to fulfil these needs
  • Consumers love mobile ads that provide downloadable content (55%), followed by those that help discover great deals (42%)
  • Apps and games are the most downloaded form of content followed by, videos and music



Demographic Profile Malaysia:
  • Only one out of eight mobile internet users in Malaysia belong to the youngest age group (less than 18 years)
  • Majority of mobile internet users in Malaysia hold diplomas or are undergoing undergraduate studies
  • Malaysia has one of the highest proportion of full-time employees in the mobile internet user base in Southeast Asia (46%)

Malaysia's Comsumption Habits:
  • In order of popularity, the type of content consumed by mobile internet users in Malaysia is similar to that of a typical Southeast Asian user. However, the number of users downloading games and apps (59%) is relatively lower than Southeast Asia average
  • The penetration of consumer durables is the lowest in Malaysia (29%)
  • The penetration of computers (37%) and tablets (29%) is on par with the Southeast Asia average

Full reports on South East Asia and Malaysia.

Check out the last known similar survey published on 2011.
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WeChat launches on BlackBerry 10 OS

August 29, 2013, 3:30 pm
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Kuala Lumpur, 28 August 2013 – According to the Mobile Internet Consumer Report 2013, the mobile Internet industry is a young industry where users in SEA consist of 50% of below 24 years of age - it is evergreen and vibrant due to teenagers moving up the age ladder.

On Jan 2013, Tencent announced WeChat 1.0 For RIM's Blackberry - a simplified version of WeChat.

Today, Tencent announced the launch of WeChat for the new BlackBerry® 10 OS platform.

Designed for the re-invented and re-engineered BlackBerry 10 OS platform, WeChat for BlackBerry 10 integrates with BlackBerry Hub providing a seamless user experience. Free to download, the app allows users to text each other, swap voice messages with its “Hold to Talk” feature, and share images. Included in WeChat for BlackBerry 10 are animated emoticons and the location-based service to meet and find new friends.



WeChat also comes with comprehensive privacy setting functions, enabling users to adjust their security levels as needed.

With the introduction of WeChat on BlackBerry 10, WeChat further extends its reach to business users and consumers and demonstrate its commitment to provide a new and innovative way to communicate.

With over 100 million registered user accounts worldwide, WeChat is the most downloaded mobile social app in many markets.

WeChat for BlackBerry 10 is now available on BlackBerry® Z10, BlackBerry® Q10 and BlackBerry® Q5 smartphones and can be downloaded for free on BlackBerry® World.

This news is most interesting because in Apr 2013, we performed an analysis on the proliferation of IM apps for mobile and it was concluded that BlackBerry's messaging app (BBM) was the one which had got all of these started in the first - had Blackberry made BBM available for all platform back then - before the launch of iPhone - the smart phone world would have been different now.

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Computer Security Updates Week 1 of Sep 2013

September 1, 2013, 9:44 pm
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Refer to Computer Security Updates Week 5 of Aug 2013; the biggest news was Yahoo reported that China to probe big IT firms after Snowden leaks.

For this week / last week, here are / were the biggest news.
  • Symantec: Cynical spammers exploit deepening Syria crisis.
  • Fortinet Blog: Implementing Wireless Security.
  • Reuters: New York Times, Twitter hacked by Syrian group.
  • Eset Blog: Mobile banking apps pose “serious” safety risks, financial watchdog warns.
  • HP helps enterprises accelerate software security assessment, assurance and protection.
  • Yahoo News: Facebook says no to Putrajaya’s request for details on 197 users.
  • Trend Micro's 'Trend Ready' Cloud Security Verification Program gains momentum.



Aug 30, 2013 - Cynical Spammers Exploit Deepening Syria Crisis

As the international community coordinates its response to the deepening crisis in Syria, scammers have once again demonstrated their skill at using current, high-profile events to their advantage.

Symantec Security Response has recently identified a scam message that claimed to be from The Red Cross. The message explains how the conflict is creating a humanitarian crisis and urges people to support The Red Cross and The Red Crescent.

Curiously, the email includes a link to the actual British Red Cross website, but urges that donations over £500 GBP ($775 USD) be sent through MoneyGram or Western Union money transfer services. The British Red Cross does currently have an appeal for donations for victims of the conflict in Syria but it does not use these payment services.

Anyone considering supporting charities should be cautious and make sure that they are using the charity’s official website.

Symantec has also seen other scams claiming to be from people in Syria, looking for help in moving money out of the country, ostensibly to protect their wealth or to start up a business. These scams promise a share of the sender's vast fortune and use the seriousness of the situation to try to solicit a prompt reply.

Get more details.

Fortinet Blog - Aug 29, 2013 - Implementing Wireless Security

Fortinet Blog detailed a few basic best practices for wireless security implementation.

1.) strong and robust passwords.

2.) change the default Service Set Identifier (SSID) on the router access point (AP) to something that doesn’t provide any clues to the company’s name or location.

3.) Implement device management solution - to manage which device can do what.

4.) Implement additional security fundamentals such as Web filtering, anti-spam, application control, anti-virus, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), data loss prevention (DLP) and VoIP support.

Get more details.

Reuters - Aug 28, 2013 - New York Times, Twitter hacked by Syrian group

Reuters reported that Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) claimed credit for the Twitter and Huffington Post hacks in a series of Twitter messages.

Obviously political driven, the attack disrupted the service of the web sites by redirecting users to other servers which produced no output.

CloudFlare published an article which gave us insights on the happenings for this incident - great job done.

In a nutshell,  here are few key points to take note:

  • The registry for NYTimes.com was hacked; its name servers at the registry listed as ns5.boxsecured.com and ns6.boxsecured.com. The correct name servers should have been DNS.EWR1.NYTIMES.COM and DNS.SEA1.NYTIMES.COM.
  • At the registry, Verisign rolled back changes to the name servers and added a so-called registry lock to NYTimes.com.
  • The registrar of the primary domain the Syrian Electronic Army was using as a name server for the domains they hacked revoked the domain's registration this afternoon.
  • This was a very spooky attack. MelbourneIT is known for having higher security than most registrars.
  • An e-mail obtained by Matther Key, an independant journalist, indicates that the hackers used a MelbourneIT domain reseller account as part of the attack.

Get more details.

Eset Blog - Aug 28, 2013 - Mobile banking apps pose “serious” safety risks, financial watchdog warns

According to a post on Eset Blog, the Financial Conduct Authority, a British watchdog, is to conduct a study on risks posed by banking apps.

Apps is the way for mobile computing. Apps not only simplify tasks, most also provide means for access to low level resources such as disk storage as well as many behind-the-scene security and authentication process.

Hence, security for mobile apps is critical for the whole industry to pay attention to.

Get more details.

Aug 28, 2013- HP Helps Enterprises Accelerate Software Security Assessment, Assurance and Protection

HP today announced HP Fortify Static Code Analyzer (SCA) 4.0, delivering a new approach that enables organizations to assess the security of software up to 10 times faster than previous versions of the solution through more accurate and parallelized static application security testing.

It is marketed as a tool for software security testing.

The explosive growth in new cloud and mobile technologies has significantly increased the demand for new software development. This in turn has put a strain on many organizations’ ability to do thorough security testing prior to application deployment. As a result, secure development practices have declined, decreasing the effectiveness of software vulnerability discovery.

Some time earlier, certain quarters have been calling for software vendors to take up responsibilities for software security vulnerabilities which include bearing the damage costs than just supplying software patches and being sorry about it.

Get more details.

Yahoo News - Aug 28, 2013 - Facebook says no to Putrajaya’s request for details on 197 users

Yahoo News reported that Facebook had rejected, on 7 occasions, requests from Putrajaya for information on 197 users in a Global Government Requests report published by Facebook themselves.

The report's illustration shows that Malaysian government made the most requests comparing with ASEAN countries like Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Cambodia.

Get more details.

CUPERTINO, Calif. and SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 27, 2013 - Trend Micro's 'Trend Ready' Cloud Security Verification Program Gains Momentum

Trend Micro's "Trend Ready for Cloud Service Providers" program was established in 2012 as a testing ground to verify compatibility of the Trend Micro's security solutions with well-known global cloud providers.

The "Trend Ready" designation indicates that the installation, activation and functionality of Trend Micro solutions will seamlessly operate within each cloud provider's ecosystem. By participating in the program, cloud service providers are confirming to their customers that their cloud infrastructures will work with Trend Micro security products.

Get more details.

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ICT Happening Updates Week 1 of Sep 2013

September 2, 2013, 4:14 am
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The most significant news for Week 5 of Aug 2013 was that the announcement of the planned retirement of Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer.

For this week / last week, here are / were the biggest news.
  • Ninetology launches its Flagship Touch Point at Plaza Low Yat.
  • Reuters: Worldwide PC shipments to fall 9.7% this year.
  • ExactView released flagship Mobile App.
  • Reuters: China to become e-commerce market leader in a decade.
  • Ericsson ConsumerLab: Place-shifting newest TV and video viewing habit.



Aug 30, 2013 - Ninetology Launches its Flagship Touch Point at Plaza Low Yat

In conjunction with Malaysia’s 56th Independence Day, ASEAN mobile device technology company Ninetology Malaysia is proud to announce the official launch of its flagship Touch Point at Plaza Low Yat. With a concept like no other, Ninetology’s flagship Touch Point offers consumers an experiential touch point for today’s lifestyles and culture as well as a product showcase.

Michael Lee (General Manager, Property Management and Operations of Plaza Low Yat)and Ninetology Chief Executive Officer with Celebrity Friend, Sasi the Don, Z-Chen and Iqwal Hafiz. Ninetology Flagship Touch Point at Plaza Low Yat


Ninetology’s flagship Touch Point celebrates the freedom of expression with a wide offering of smartphones that caters to consumers with a wide variety of interests including technology, fashion, sports and so forth. At the Touch Point, products were not only showcased, but it is a place where consumers can learn how to use a smartphone to enhance their lifestyles and interests. The flagship Touch Point serves as a youth and culture training hub to spread the urbanite culture that is cultivated by Ninetology.

Get more details.

Reuters - Aug 29, 2013 - Worldwide PC shipments to fall 9.7% this year

Reuters reported that according to IDC, worldwide shipments of PCs are likely to fall 9.7% this year. IDC has earlier forecast an annual drop of 7.8%.

This is good news for PC buyers as market pressure is expected to pull down the pricing of branded PCs, business users in particular.

Get more details.

Aug 29, 2013 - ExactView released flagship Mobile App

Performance Horizon Group are excited announce the release of our ExactView mobile app . This app is currently available via the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad, with an Android version following later this year.

The ExactView mobile app allows brands, agencies and performance partners who are already using Performance Horizon Group’s ExactView the ability to keep up to date with their key reports on the move.

In keeping with PHG’s aim to make data available as completely and conveniently as possible, they believe that providing partners with anytime, anywhere access to their performance marketing data will give users an advantage in the market. So, they've developed a market leading mobile app to supplement their market leading web app!

Get more details.

Reuters - Aug 28, 2013 - China to become e-commerce market leader in a decade

Reuters reported that findings from management consultancy firm Bain & Company found that within a decade, China online shoppers will account for 50% of e-commerce market share.

It was quoted that nearly 50% of the country's 1.3 billion populations have access to Internet and, out of which 80% are utilizing mobile devices.

Get more details.

Aug 28, 2013 - Ericsson ConsumerLab: Place-shifting newest TV and video viewing habit

This is the fourth annual report looking at consumer trends in the TV area.
  • 72% of respondents watch TV and video on mobile devices each week
  • Content watched in separate chunks of time, but seamlessly on different devices and in different situations
  • More than 40% of respondents over age 65 watch on-demand content
  • Consumers rank "à la carte" video content as a top-five aspect of their viewing experience

Get more details, full report.

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SOFTEC Asia 2013

September 3, 2013, 6:06 pm
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Petaling Jaya, 3 September 2013 (Tuesday) – Today with the rapid integration of businesses in ASEAN, many Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in the region are facing challenges in making IT systems work seamlessly across borders.

At the recent SOFTEC Asia 2013 that was held from the 2nd to 5th September at Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa, CIOs were presented with an opportunity to share about these challenges through a CIO Roundtable event which discussed software quality perspectives for C-Level business executives and its ROI propositions.

SOFTEC Asia 2013, a regional-level conference on software testing was organised by the Malaysian Software Testing Board (MSTB) under the auspices of the Malaysia Software Testing Hub (MSTH) initiative, a public-private collaboration to develop a new source of economic growth for the nation.

(L-R) Puan Azizah Hamzah, Director K-Economy, Economic Planning Unit (EPU), Prime Minister’s Department;Puan Mastura Abu Samah, President of Malaysian Software Testing Board (MSTB);Yang Berbahagia Senator Dato' Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department;Yang Berusaha En. K. Yogeesvaran, Deputy Director-general, Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department;Encik Amiruddin Jaafar Sidek, Director, Malaysian Software Testing Board (MSTB)

SOFTEC Asia 2013, meanwhile, was officially opened by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dato' Seri Abdul Wahid Omar. SOFTEC Asia 2013 is being held at the Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa from 2nd to 5th September.



Q-Lab to Join the Top Ranks of Software Testing Facility

The Q-Laboratory, an advanced software testing facility, is set to join the ranks of globally recognised top-level testing laboratory with its impending Level 5 certification by the TMMi Foundation.

This was revealed at the official opening of inaugural SOFTEC Asia 2013 conference, held in Petaling Jaya today. The four-day regional conference on software testing is hosted and organised by the Malaysian Software Testing Board (MSTB) under the auspices of Malaysia Software Testing Hub (MSTH).

Pending the official ratification by TMMi Foundation, the Q-Laboratory (Q-Lab) will be only the third software testing facility in the world to be certified at Level 5 - the highest certification under the Test Maturity Model integration (TMMi) model

TMMi provides a framework for assessing the maturity of the test processes in an organisation, and so providing targets on improving maturity. It is developed and managed by the TMMi Foundation. The Q-Lab has been assessed to TMMi Level 5 by United Kingdom-based accredited TMMi assessor Experimentus Ltd in August 2013.

The Q-Lab was established at an initial cost of RM11 million under MSTH initiative, a Public-Private collaboration aimed at developing the software testing industry as a new source of economic growth for the nation. The Q-Lab and was officially opened in 2010 and since then, it has steadily gained recognition from the domestic and international software testing fraternities. The Malaysian Software Testing Board (MSTB) is entrusted with the task of planning and implementing MSTH programmes.

Get more details.
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EMC Survey Reveals Big Data Adoption Trends in Malaysia

September 5, 2013, 7:36 pm
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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia– September 5, 2013 - EMC® Corporation today released the findings of a survey that asked I.T. decision makers in Malaysia for their perspective on the challenges and opportunities that Big Data and I.T. transformation – and related skills – can present to their companies. The Malaysian results will be added among the thirty-six country-level survey results being collected through EMC Forum events taking place around the world between June and November 2013.

EMC Malaysia Managing Director  Cheam Tat Inn addressing the attendees at EMC ForumTom Zack, President - SEA, EMC  Corporate at EMC Forum Malaysia


Survey details.

Key Findings:

In Malaysia, Big Data is giving rise to markedly improved decision making and is having a significant impact on companies’ competitive differentiation and ability to avert risk.
  • 88% of Malaysian businesses surveyed reported that better use of Big Data will lead to better decision making
  • 69% of respondents believe that Big Data will be a key factor in determining winners and losers in their industry
  • 40% have already achieved a competitive advantage as a result of Big Data analytics technology
  • 69% believe that those industries that succeed will be the same ones using Big Data tools
  • 67% of respondents also agree that Big Data technology will prove vital in identifying and protecting against cyber-attacks
  • 89% agree that data center automation will be crucial to innovation and agility over the next three years



However, in Malaysia - 41% of companies surveyed have no current plans for implementing Big Data technology While budget considerations was the most important factor for overall business decision making (38%), the most common reason cited as an inhibitor to Big Data adoption is a lack of clear business case or proven ROI (58%).

As companies in Malaysia continue to look to I.T. innovation to compete locally and on the global stage:
  • 81% agree that their business sees technology investment as a strategic way of achieving its goals The top two drivers for the transformation of IT systems and infrastructure in Malaysia are: Enhancing customer experience/engagement/communications (90%), and improved governance and compliance (85%)
  • 81% of respondents from Malaysia report that their business believes technology investment is a strategic way to achieve its goals. 82% of respondents report that they have the correct level of skills and knowledge in place to complete their business priorities successfully.
  • 68% of respondents in Malaysia report that ensuring skills keep pace with the rate of I.T. innovation will be a challenge for their organizations over the next three years.
  • 82% of respondents agree that I.T. is now equipped to handle the most essential business priorities – and that now, the biggest barrier is cultural.

New EMC VNX Shatters the Definition and Economics of Midrange Storage

During the forum, EMC also announced the new multi-core optimized VNX storage that accelerates virtual applications and file performance to up to 4 times.

EMC VNX is a SAN and NAS combined technology, coined as unified. As of Sep 2013, the technology is now optimized and supports virtual environment, comes with automation feature, caters for high performance via Gain Flash and MCx™ multi-core optimization,equipped with built-in disaster recovery technology and supports flash storage.

Fyi, SAN (Storage Area Network) caters for high-speed network storage.

A SAN switch will connect server to storage devices directly via fibre. The communication protocol is SCSI.

SAN works like DAS (Direct Attached Storage), both operate as block level data storage. SAN can be regarded an extension of DAS for the network.

If a SAN switch and Ethernet switch are connected to form a network, then there will be a mapping layer to cater for communication using various protocol standards such as HyperSCSI? , mapping of SCSI over Ethernet

NAS (Network Attached Storage) operates as file level data storage via the network.

SAN and NAS are different in terms of protocol. SAN operates faster than NAS because it operates at a lower level.

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Tata Comm. Case Study: Powering 67 million unique users at Formula1.com

September 6, 2013, 8:01 pm
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On race day, every second counts. With enthusiasts around the world glued to Formula1.com, the smallest technical glitch or performance issue could have a huge impact on both fans and the Formula One Management organisation.

Formula1.com is the official website of Formula 1®, representing the brand around the world.

The website is a highly interactive and engaging platform for fans that depend on it to stay updated on all things F1®. While the site sees substantial traffic on any given day, the traffic to the site increases exponentially on race days. These typically see spikes of up to 100 times the usual number of visitors accessing the site, using multiple devices including laptops, handheld devices such as tablets, and mobile phones; as well as from multiple platforms and web browsers. This diversity demands that the web systems provide consistent performance and user experience across a multitude of network bandwidths and rich media-capable devices.


With an ever-increasing number of fans using the website, Formula One Management challenged Tata Communications to deliver a flawless experience for Formula1.com and provide fans a more innovative web experience in the future. The requirement was for a content acceleration that provided:

Consistent delivery of content to users accessing the site from anywhere in the world, on even slow connections (such as 2G or dialup) Instant-on delivery and highly reduced latency



The solution

As the Content Delivery Network Provider for Formula 1®, Tata Communications has designed and integrated a complete bundle of services onto one platform for improved synergy. This provides Formula One Management with a global Content Delivery Network (CDN), global IP network and on-site engineering, all from a single supplier for consistency and flexibility.

This built-in flexibility is demonstrated in the Formula1.com website, which can easily scale - from handling off-season traffic, to coping with millions of hits during a race weekend and still deliver a consistent level of performance. During the race weekend, a vast amount of real-time data is shared with up to seven million simultaneous viewers in over 188 countries. Tata Communications is able to deliver that content to a variety of devices, including PCs, tablets and mobile devices.

The inside view...

“With such a challenging and dynamic client, failure / work-around was never an option. Our solutions are constantly being updated and expanded, which has meant that the customer - with its fast-moving requirements - has benefited from these enhancements throughout the process. It’s a win-win situation when something we have designed gets implemented smoothly and meets the customer’s objectives.” - Mangesh Pimpalkhare, VP, Product Management - CDN, Tata Communications

The customer speaks...

“Our website is critical to bringing Formula 1® to a global audience, keeping them in touch with the latest action from races around the world.

The ability for Formula1.com content to be delivered quickly and at a high quality is of paramount importance. It is also the defining factor when we are deciding on the features and content of Formula1.com. Consistently high quality global access is the key to giving us the maximum possible freedom to upgrade and introduce new features without compromise due to the technical limitations of delivery. Tata Communications is there to provide us with a CDN solution for Formula1.com that helps us to offer the best experience to our users wherever they are.” - Eddie Baker, Chief Technical Consultant, Formula One group.

Benefits
  • Global quality. Fans around the world, from India to Brazil, enjoy a consistent quality and website experience thanks to the Tata Communications global Tier 1 network, global CDN presence and broad device support
  • Instant insight. Detail is extremely important and that is why Formula1.com enjoys near real-time fast facts and figures about how its website is being used. This sort of insight will help drive a joint programme of improvements to enrich the online experience for every fan

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ICT Happening Updates Week 2 of Sep 2013

September 8, 2013, 8:27 pm
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The most significant news for Week 1 of Sep 2013 was the announcement of acquisition of Nokia by Microsoft.

For this week / last week, here are / were the biggest news.
  • The Star Online: Public Service D-G advises social media users to online prudently.
  • HTC unveils new, mid-range HTC DESIRE 500
  • HSIS Enterprise Applications Division extends to Southeast Asia.
  • Brocade names Bill Lipsin as VP of Worldwide Channel and Global Systems Integrator Sales.
  • Daimler aims to launch self-driving car by 2020.
  • HP expands capacity with new Scitex ink manufacturing plant@Israel.
  • Bosch revolutionizes conferencing with IP-based solution, DCN Multimedia.
  • Intel unveils new technologies for efficient cloud data centers.



The Star Online - Sep 10, 2013- Public Service D-G Advises Social Media Users to Online Prudently

The Star Online reported that the incumbent trends of going online to express dissatisfaction over work place has become norm these days.

Public Service director-general Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidi Zainal advised public servants to refraint from it.

It is part of the law and action will be taken against those who found guilty.

My advise to social media users: do it smartly,elegantly and gentlemanly.

Get more details.

In another report by The Star, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was quoted that public servants who engage in personal matters during working hours may be categorised as having committed corruption; for instance, Facebooking during office hours.

Get more details.

MALAYSIA, September 9, 2013 – HTC Unveils New, Mid-Range HTC DESIRE 500

HTC, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today extends its acclaimed Desire series with the launch of the HTC Desire 500. A powerful mid-range model featuring a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, HTC Blinkfeed and Video Highlights, which collates your images into a 30-second themed video reel, the HTC Desire 500 is designed for those who demand a superior mobile experience at an affordable price.

HTC Desire 500 is available in Glacier Blue and Passion Red in all HTC retail outlets from now onwards with the recommended pricing of RM899.

Get more details.

Kuala Lumpur, September 09, 2013 – HSIS Enterprise Applications Division Extends to Southeast Asia

Hitachi Sunway Information Systems Sdn. Bhd (‘HSIS’), a leading IT services and solutions provider in Southeast Asia, today announces that the company has entered into an agreement with S & I Systems Pte. Ltd. (S & I Systems) to take over S & I Systems’ maintenance, development and service support of Oracle JD Edwards customers in Singapore.

Mr Eric Sng, CEO of S & I SystemsMr Cheah Kok Hoong, Group CEO, HSIS


The takeover of these activities for Oracle’s JD Edwards customer base in Singapore will be by HSIS’ Enterprise Applications division, as part of HSIS strategy to expand its Enterprise Applications business footprint into SEA.

Oracle JD Edwards, the business world’s leading comprehensive integrated suite of enterprise resource planning applications, is the core offering and specialization of HSIS’ Enterprise Applications business division.

Get more details.

KUALA LUMPUR - Sep 9, 2013 – Brocade Names Bill Lipsin as VP of Worldwide Channel and Global Systems Integrator Sales

Brocade, today announced the appointment of Bill Lipsin to the position of Vice President of Worldwide Channel and Global Systems Integrator Sales. Mr. Lipsin is responsible for the overall direction and management of all sales, marketing and business development operations for Brocade’s channel organization, and the strategic direction and operational management of the company’s Global Systems Integrator (GSI) team. Mr. Lipsin will report directly to Brocade’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales, Jeff Lindholm.

In his new role at Brocade, Mr. Lipsin will be responsible for developing go-to-market strategies and working with the company’s global sales and marketing organizations to define and accelerate channel recruitment and sales programs. Critically, his task will be to enable partners and GSIs to leverage key industry trends such as data center virtualization, cloud computing and software-defined networking to drive revenue. Within the GSI space, Mr. Lipsin will position Brocade as the de facto networking vendor of choice, and work with partners to ensure that customers benefit from Brocade’s industry-leading portfolio of solutions.

With more than 30 years of experience in the high-tech industry, Mr. Lipsin has held a number of sales and marketing leadership positions at networking and telecommunications technology companies. Most recently at Arbor Networks, a provider of network security and management solutions for enterprise and service provider networks, he served as Global Vice President of Channels and Alliances where he was responsible for establishing a new go-to-market strategy for the company, taking a traditionally direct sales model and creating a partner sales strategy from the ground up.

Reuters - Sep 8, 2013 - Daimler aims to launch self-driving car by 2020

Reuters reported that Daimler plans to launch vehicle with self-driving automation by end of this decade.

Such technology is already available.

On May 17, 2013, Intel reported that Romanian teenager Won top prize for Low-Cost, self-Driving car innovation for its annual Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Get more details.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, September 6, 2013 — HP Expands Capacity with New Scitex Ink Manufacturing Plant

HP today announced the opening of a 32,000 square foot (3,000 square meter) HP Scitex ink manufacturing plant that will produce HP Scitex UV inks for the new HP Scitex FB10000 Industrial Press announced in July.

This expanded manufacturing capacity demonstrates HP’s commitment to helping print service providers and corrugated converters move from analog to digital printing processes. The plant implements advanced manufacturing processes with automated production, providing strict quality control for batch-to-batch color consistency and high-quality color matching. A new lab, designed to support manufacturing development and quality assurance, provides an innovative work environment for HP Scitex developers.

The facility achieves top performance in sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. Located next to the existing HP Indigo ink manufacturing facility, both ink plants are the first in HP, as well as in Israel, built according to the strict environmental Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, a recognized global standard for green building. Both facilities are also ISO 14001 certified, demonstrating HP’s commitment to measuring and helping to improve environmental impact.

The location of the plant is at Israel.

Get more details.

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 5 September 2013 – Bosch revolutionizes conferencing with IP-based solution, DCN Multimedia

Bosch Security Systems today introduced its all new Digital Congress Network (DCN) multimedia, a revolutionary conference system designed to be compatible with Android devices -IP-based OMNEO media networking architecture and user-friendly touch screen conference devices based on the AndroidTM operating system.

The system is designed to provide unmatched sound quality, an interactive user-interface and diverse practicality which enables superior technical proficiency to facilitate effective communication and caters to use in city and regional councils, businesses as well as for government and corporate boardrooms.
The new DCN multimedia is a revolutionary conference system that utilizes IP-based OMNEO media networking architecture.Live-testing of the new DCN multimedia conference system.


Jacky Chuan, General Manager of Security Systems Division at Robert Bosch Sdn Bhd said, “DCN Multimedia is our latest range of conference systems that once again showcases the innovative edge of Bosch in developing holistic solutions for digital technology in the conference room. The system’s unmatched sound quality, interactive platforms and diverse practicality enables superior technical proficiency to facilitate effective communication.”

Get more details.

Sep 4, 2013- Intel Unveils New Technologies for Efficient Cloud Data Centers

Intel Corporation today introduced a portfolio of datacenter products and technologies for cloud service providers looking to drive greater efficiency and flexibility into their infrastructure to support a growing demand for new services and future innovation.

These include:
  • The Intel® Atom™ C2000 processor family is the first based on Silvermont micro-architecture, has 13 customized configurations and is aimed at microservers, entry-level networking and cold storage.
  • New 64-bit, system-on-chip family for the datacenter delivers up to six times1 the energy efficiency and up to seven times2 the performance compared to previous generation.
  • The first live demonstration of a Rack Scale Architecture-based system with high-speed Intel® Silicon Photonics components including a new MXC connector and ClearCurve* optical fiber developed in collaboration with Corning*, enabling data transfers speeds up to 1.6 terabits4 per second at distances up to 300 meters5 for greater rack density.

Get more details.
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NCR Introduces APTRA Interactive Teller to Transform Branch Banking Experience in SEA

September 9, 2013, 4:51 pm
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Singapore. September 9, 2013 - NCR Corporation today launched NCR APTRA™ Interactive Teller, a new ATM-based technology that makes everyday banking transactions easier for customers by allowing them to complete more than 95 percent of typical branch transactions at the ATM assisted by a live remote teller, well beyond operating branch hours.


NCR APTRA Interactive Teller will help banks in South East Asia to take a new approach to grow their geographic footprint and focus on transforming their branch location into a more effective service and sales environment. It will allow banks to offer after-hours full teller services in areas that are not served by branches, while taking advantage of the advanced features of NCR ATMs such as intelligent deposit, bill pay, new account opening and loan initiations.

Beyond talking to a teller, Interactive Teller offers more services than can be conducted on an ATM or other self-service devices. For instance, customers can perform secure transactions without using a traditional ATM card and, like branch tellers, remote tellers can provide customers access to cash in their accounts in amounts over the standard ATM daily cash withdrawal limits. An internal study done by NCR shows that the implementation of NCR’s interactive video technology can result in a 33 percent reduction in transaction time and 40 percent savings for the cost-per-transaction, as compared with a branch teller transaction.



“Bank branches remain an important selling tool and revenue driver for financial institutions, but they are costly and make it difficult for banks to expand their footprint. NCR APTRA Interactive Teller is a solution to the challenges around expansion and provision of banking services to the unbanked populations in rural areas, helping banks to augment their branch footprint, deliver teller services to underserved areas and provide their branch promises,” said Stelios Fragkos, vice president global sales, Financial Services, NCR Corporation.

“NCR is committed to continue investing in Indonesia with innovative solutions that address key challenges faced by banks today. Our dedicated sales team backed by our extensive partner network comprising ASABA, Multipolar and SMS reinforces our commitment as we strive to serve our customers better,” said Fragkos.

NCR showcased a host of innovative banking technologies at the “NCR Financial Innovation” road show in Jakarta last week including NCR APTRA OptiCash - a cash cost optimization application that balances demand for currency at each cash point against operational expenses. By optimizing all competing float and transportation costs daily, OptiCash enables banks to generate huge annual savings from their existing ATM and branch networks, and prevent cash outages and apply cash only when and where needed. By applying sophisticated mathematics, OptiCash drives higher availability with less cash across the entire currency supply chain. Directly related to the cash management intelligence of OptiCash, another innovative branch banking technology on display was the NCR Cash Recycler– which automates the acceptance, authentication and validation of bank notes to improve productivity of the teller’s role; allowing them to speed up transactions, reduce wait times and improve customer interactions.

“At NCR we understand that rethinking a bank’s retail network strategy may seem like a massive step, which is why our solutions let banks adopt an incremental approach that increases branch efficiency, improves the customer experience and maximizes the profitability of the branch network,” said Bob Tramontano, vice president and general manager, NCR Corporation. “With 80 percent of product sales still being closed at the branch, it is more important than ever that financial institutions offer an excellent customer experience. NCR is all set to help financial institutions in South East Asia transform their retail network to achieve transaction automation, customer satisfaction, sales enablement and above all, customer retention.”

NCR also showcased its suite of innovative software and service management solutions at the show including NCR APTRA eMarketing - that enables targeted email marketing messages, multi-channel marketing messages, campaigns on demand to drive incremental revenue; NCR APTRA Vision– a multi-vendor self-service ATM management system that puts operational performance into context in relation to consumer experience; INETCO Insight - a highly scalable self-service management and monitoring solution amongst others and NCR Predictive Services, a unique monitoring solution that predicts ATM hardware failures before they occur so as to maximize ATM uptime and provide a better customer experience.
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Computer Security Updates Week 2 of Sep 2013

September 10, 2013, 4:44 pm
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Refer to Computer Security Updates Week 1 of Sep 2013; the biggest news was a report by Reuters about the hacking of New York Times, Twitter by Syrian group.

For this week / last week, here are / were the biggest news.
  • Kaspersky Lab wins AV-Test Innovation Award for securing online financial transactions.
  • Sourcefire achieves strong partner ecosystem growth across APAC Region.
  • U.S tapped into networks of Google, Petrobras, others.
  • McAfee delivers updates 2014 Core PC security products.
  • Kaspersky Lab: First ever case of mobile Trojan spreading via ‘alien’ botnets.



PETALING JAYA, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 - Kaspersky Lab wins AV-Test Innovation Award for securing online financial transactions

Kaspersky Lab is pleased to announce it has received a coveted AV-Test Innovation Award for its protection of online financial transactions.

The experts at AV-Test were unanimous in recognizing the overall effectiveness of Kaspersky Lab’s ability to protect financial transactions performed online. The award is primarily down to Kaspersky Lab’s Safe Money technology. Already available in Kaspersky Internet Security and Kaspersky PURE, the technology is about to be released as a stand-alone solution for banks, enabling them to protect their clients from targeted attacks.

Kaspersky Lab products and Kaspersky Internet Security in particular regularly receive top marks from AV-Test. The most recent results were published in August following a six-month period of testing in which Kaspersky Internet Security was recognized as one of just three security solutions (out of a total of 24) capable of providing the highest level of protection and usability.

In the same month, Kaspersky Internet Security demonstrated excellent results in a separate assessment by AV-Test, blocking 100% of attacks that exploited vulnerabilities in legitimate software.

AV-Test is not the only organization to recognize the quality of Kaspersky Lab products: they regularly receive top awards from reputable organizations such as MRG Effitas, AV-Comparatives, Dennis Technology Labs, and others.

Get more details.

Kuala Lumpur – Sep 10, 2013 – Sourcefire Achieves Strong Partner Ecosystem Growth Across Asia Pacific Region

Sourcefire, a leader in intelligent cyber security solutions, today announced increased momentum of partners and distributors across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region that have selected Sourcefire as a partner of choice for customers seeking threat-centric security solutions.

Sourcefire’s success in both Malaysia and the Asia Pacific underscores the company’s commitment to its more than 600 partners worldwide that help customers achieve protection across the full attack continuum – before, during and after a threat. These partners offer Sourcefire’s leading security solutions including FirePOWER™, a network-based platform for Next-Generation Intrusion Prevention Systems (NGIPS) and Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) solutions. Partners also offer the company’s Advanced Malware Protection solutions to address malware across the extended network, which also includes mobile, virtual and endpoint.

Get more details.

Reuters - Sep 9, 2013 - U.S tapped into networks of Google, Petrobras, others

Reuters reported that according to a leaked U.S documents, evidence suggests that the U.S NSA spied on the presidents of Brazil and Mexico, as well as Google, Petrobras and others.

It was reported that the evidence consists of slides which guide new agents on spying techniques.

Get more details.

SANTA CLARA, Calif./SINGAPORE—09 Sept. 2013 – McAfee Delivers Updates 2014 Core PC Security Products

McAfee today announced its new 2014 line of core PC security suites delivering increased power and performance with a lighter and faster footprint resulting in an improved user experience.

The line includes McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2014, McAfee Internet Security 2014 and McAfee Total Protection 2014. The enhancements to PC protection are also utilized in a recently released version of McAfee LiveSafeTM service, the first-of-its-kind cross-device solution that comprehensively protects consumers’ data, identity and all of their PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets.

With enhancements to its recently upgraded malware scanning engine – McAfee AM Core – first introduced with the 2013 line, McAfee’s 2014 PC products offer increased detection capabilities to protect against today’s most advanced threats with the following features:
  • New engine provides fast and efficient scanning and real-time intelligence to help dynamically defend against the latest digital dangers
  • Specific product components have been reengineered to improve scanning speed by reducing the size of threat signature files and better CPU utilization
  • McAfee’s core PC security products have also recently received effectiveness certification by third party testing lab, AV-Test, as well as advanced certification from AV Comparatives in its real-world protection test
Get more details.

PETALING JAYA, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 - First ever case of mobile Trojan spreading via ‘alien’ botnets

Over the last three months Kaspersky analysts have been investigating how the Obad.a Trojan, a malicious app for Android, is distributed. It transpires that the criminals behind the Trojan have adopted a new technique to spread their malware. For the first time in the history of mobile cybercrime, a Trojan is being spread using botnets controlled by other criminal groups. It also became clear that Obad.a is mostly found in CIS countries. In total, 83% of attempted infections were recorded in Russia, while it was also detected on mobile devices in Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

The most interesting distribution model saw various versions of Obad.a spread with Trojan- SMS.AndroidOS.Opfake.a. This double infection attempt starts with a text message to users, urging them to download a recently received text message. If the victim clicks the link, a file containing Opfake.a is automatically downloaded onto the smartphone or tablet.

The malicious file can only be installed if the user then launches it; should that happen, the Trojan sends further messages to all the contacts on the newly infected device. Clicking the link in these messages downloads Obad.a. It’s a well-organized system: one Russian mobile network provider reported more than 600 messages containing these links within just five hours, pointing to a mass distribution. In most cases the malware was spread using devices that were already infected.

Get more details.
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Enlogic : the PUE can be misleading

September 11, 2013, 9:17 am
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While PUE does provide an effectiveness metric of the facility services to the IT equipment; it does not provide any meaning in relation to IT equipment efficiency, and in fact can become quite misleading.

“Take an extreme example; imagine a data centre full of thousands of computer servers sitting idle, but consuming energy. Suppose such a data centre has a well-managed facility with a PUE of 1.4; would one believe this is an efficient date centre despite no computing work being done?” quoted Eddie Desouza, Head of Business Operations, APAC for Enlogic.

While reducing total energy consumption is ultimately more important than reducing the PUE, many managers are setting their individual and facility performance goals based on improved PUE, not necessarily reduced energy which is harder to quantify.



“The most energy efficient data centres are actually reducing overall energy consumption and costs by looking holistically at PUE in conjunction with IT performance per watt type metrics.”

Enlogic is now calling for companies to stop using PUE alone but in combination with more modern solutions, like intelligent PDUs, and performance-related metrics to accurately measure energy consumption and enable real energy consumption savings initiatives.

In other words, since the PUE calculation is a ratio of total-energy-Input over total-energy-output; if we take 100% of the input energy and facilitate almost 100% of it to outputs, then a perfect PUE=1 will be achieved.

Nevertheless, if 100% of those outputs are running on idle servers, then it raises another concern.

To measure which equipments should wake up or go to sleep intelligently, one would need to rely on performance-related metrics and intelligent PDUs.

More on the state of data center and other details.
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splinter blog : Salaries for Developers and Designers across the world

September 13, 2013, 5:16 am
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Malaysia is amongst the lowest in the world, this explains for many things - no passion, no motivation, no will to succeed, and always wanted to start own business.

And so if you want to consider yourself to be the best software engineers in the world with the best pay, these are the company you should send your resume to:

Amazon, Apple, Cisco, eBay, Facebook, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Microsoft, Oracle, Qualcomm, Yahoo, Zynga.

The highest based salary per year for 2012 was from Google: $128,336.

To gauge oneself, if you are an entrepreneur in software industry, and assuming that you are able to get a project with a paycheck of RM 130,000 per year, then perhaps there is no need to send your resume to Google - you're doing fine actually.

Good luck!

Check out details and here.
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Search

Pi and Fortune In Malaysia-Indonesia PR Alliance

September 13, 2013, 6:08 pm
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KUALA LUMPUR, JAKARTA, 13 September 2013 – Locally established PR agency - Pi PR Consultancy Sdn Bhd announced its latest partnership alliance with Southeast Asia's leading integrated strategic communications company, PT Fortune Pramana Rancang also known as ‘Fortune PR’. The partnership alliance was formed in the recently signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fortune PR, making Pi the focus PR agency in Malaysian market for Indonesia’s largest independent public relations and strategic communications consultancy in effort to derive more project leads from Malaysia’s increasing trend of local and MNC companies expanding into the vast Indonesia market.

Fortune PR was started in the 1980's as a subsidiary of FORU (IDX-listed communications group) and was one of the earliest public relations consultancies in Indonesia. In FY2012, Fortune PR recorded an annual revenue over 10 million US Dollar and was the second fastest growing PR firm in the world, according to 2013 World PR Report published by The Holmes Report. The firm has more than 100 headcounts in Jakarta office alone and has recently started boutique consultancy in Singapore.



Managing Director of Pi PR Lee Ting Ting says, ‘Fortune PR is major IT focused PR in Indonesia, is currently holding accounts like Oracle, D-Link, LinkedIn, Seagate, Tencent Mobile’s WeChat, and Changhong amongst others. Therefore it makes sense for Pi to partner with Fortune in order to synergise our joint subject-matter expertise in the PR field.’ She adds that with this partnership, Pi is now able to confidently service all of its existing and new customers who require media engagements and PR activities in Indonesia. Managing Director of Fortune PR, Indira Abidin, says, “We hope that this partnership with Pi will also help to advocate Fortune PR’s brand and credentials in the Malaysian market as the Indonesia PR agency to go to.” Vice versa, Pi’s established reputation as a top IT PR agency in Malaysia will be furtherance to our strategy in capturing more PR projects from MNCs and local companies headquartered in Malaysia.” In 2012, Fortune PR was crowned as the Southeast Asia Consultancy of The Year by The Holmes Report and also as Southeast Asia PR Agency of The Year by Campaign Asia-Pacific.

The MoU was signed on 5th September 2013 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

About Pi PR Consultancy

Established in 2009, Pi PR Consultancy is a boutique Tech PR agency that specializes in technology accounts and handles a plethora of IT-related MNC and local IT brands such as Sourcefire, AIMS Group, Oracle, Fujitsu, Exabytes Networks, National Internet Exchange (MyIX), Seeburger, Motorola Solutions, Outsourcing Malaysia, Malaysian Software Testing Board (MSTB), Hitachi Sunway Information Systems (HSIS), Barracuda Networks, AIMS Data Center amongst others. Pi operates by the PR mantra that ‘Brand Market Awareness equals Business Growth’ and helps propagate its clients’ messages effectively throughout the market via the best media channels.

For more information, visit www.pipr.com.my

About Fortune PR

PT Fortune Pramana Rancang (Fortune PR) was started in the 1980's as a subsidiary of FORU (IDX-listed communications group) and was one of the earliest public relations consultancies in Indonesia. Due to its success in managing corporate reputation and crisis handling of various local and international clients, Fortune PR has been consistently named as the most reputable strategic communications consultancy in Indonesia throughout the years. In 2011, Fortune PR rebranded itself into an integrated communications consultancy by developing not only PR services, but also integrated communications campaigns with in-house advertising, brand activation, social marketing and digital teams. In 2012, Fortune PR was crowned as the Southeast Asia Consultancy of The Year by The Holmes Report and also as Southeast Asia PR Agency of The Year by Campaign Asia-Pacific. In 2013, Fortune PR Singapore Pte Ltd was started to offer regional-scale communications campaign.

For more information, visit http://www.fortunepr.com/
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vb.net convert hex to decimal - Beware of overflow

September 19, 2013, 6:21 am
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First thing to do is to understand hex or hexadecimal.

To understand hex, the first rule is to know that it is a numbering system and hence it consists of a series of number represented by 0-9, A-F.

Hence, it starts from 00,01, 0F,10... FF

So, what happens after FF ?

The answer is, since FF is equivalent to 255, what comes next is 256.

Using scientific calculator, 256 (decimal)--> 0100 (hex).

For example, manual conversion of a hex number from B372837E to decimal representation, using MS Excel can be calculated as:

= [11*POWER(16,7)] + [3 * POWER(16,6)] + [7 * POWER(16,5)] + [2 * POWER(16,4)] + [8 * POWER(16,3)] + [3 * POWER(16,2)] + [7 * POWER(16,1)] + [14 * POWER(16,0)]

In terms of programming in VB.NET or C#.NET, to convert a hex to decimal, just need to use 'System.Convert.ToInt32' function.

However, please take note that the tricky part is always about overflow.

In retrospect, the decimal equivalent of B372837E is 3010626430 or 3,010,626,430.

Hence, if you perform System.Convert.ToInt32(tempStrHex, 16), it will result in a funny negative number, this is because Int32 is actually a signed integer; the maximum positive number is 2,147,483,647.

The solution is to make use of 64 bits integer. 

Dim tempNum as UInt64

tempNum = System.Convert.ToInt64("B372837E", 16)

It will work.

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Google wages war against illegal online marketing, SEO and etc

September 19, 2013, 4:43 pm
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For many years since 9 years ago, people emailed me requesting for links exchange and etc.

Now, this blog received emails from the same people requesting for removal - it is quite annoying actually.

It turns out the following to be true.

Referring to the link schemes guidelines from Google.

1.) Unnatural comments - need to enable comment moderation.

2.) Unnatural links - other people shall not create link to your sites without your knowledge, only the web owners shall create contents and request to be published on other web sites with incoming links.

In other words, it is better not to link to other web sites even if you find something interesting. If you have to, get the permission from the content owners.

Alternatively, just do the followings:
  • Adding a rel="nofollow" attribute to the tag
  • Redirecting the links to an intermediate page that is blocked from search engines with a robots.txt file



3.) Press release - what about press releases ? Can anyone give me guidelines ? Can I publish press releases without informing the content owners ?

With all respect to Google, I feel that they should allow the whole Internet community ample time to adapt to these requirements -  people have been doing link exchanges since the beginning of Internet search engine revolution, since 1995 I believe so. Personally, I feel that for those who are not involved with 'illegal' SEO activities, it is just ain't fair to label them as 'unnatural' overnight with steadfast changes to certain policies.

I respect what Google is trying to achieve in order to clean up the Internet and to exert more manageability onto the vast universe of the Internet. Nonetheless, please give people more time to adapt to it. Local workshops should be conducted all over the world to educate people on this new directive.

And with my utmost utterly humbling opinion, it is totally unjust to label remote link posts as low-quality -  it is quite a bully.

This is quite life changing!!!
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To uphold net-neutrality and fight for free speech

September 21, 2013, 5:30 pm
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I see a web site that I like, I blog it and I hyperlink it - that was the net neutrality that I know for many years since the inception of Internet in my country, I believe that to be around year 1995 - 1996.

Hence, for many years, we have been doing hyperlink and link exchange, tell me now unnatural that could be ???

Following Google's directive link schemes guidelines, IT-Sideways will have to make certain changes moving forward.

1.) All uninvited linkage to external URLs will not be hyperlink tagged.

This is important to protect myself.

It will simply be a text. For instance, the; Google's Link Schemes directive,no-follow,https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66356?hl=en.

It is quite old fashion and messy...

2.) Dropping the branding of Tech Blog Malaysia.

IT-Sideways has ranked no.1 for this search key word for many years on Google, Yahoo and MSN. Now I feel it is an appropriate time to move forward.

This blog aspires to become more globalized, vibrant, adopt more varieties and support more functions.



3.) All comments will be moderated.

I have no issue with receiving comments.

The Internet as a free medium should be open-minded. Nonetheless, we do not want to be accused of hosting spams.

This is expected to bring a dip to the web traffics - no choice.

4.) Opinion based writings.

References to external information will be specifically mentioned as from who and personal opinion based undertone such as 'I read from Reuters that ...' - to keep things natural.

In my humblest opinion, I think it is absolutely ridiculous to say that a personal opinion or thought is unnatural as if we are living under the state of martial law - cyber-bullying.

5.) Promote net neutrality and free speech.

Please join me to uphold the integrity of net neutrality and to protect the survival of freedom of the Internet, away from certain groups of people who wants to control what we see from the Internet.

I actually see more importance in independent journalism which future may rely on citizen journalism.

The media industry requires a new business model away from advertisement and vendors-sponsored. 

More to come - IT-Sideways will never stop.

Finally, I appreciate your readership and support, thank you.
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SAM's Groceria First Premium Urban Grocer at Gurney Paragon, Penang

September 22, 2013, 4:22 pm
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Press release - 22 SEPTEMBER 2013 - PENANG:

First retailer in the Asia-Pacific region to introduce the use of the Personal Shopping System by Motorola Solutions that is set to provide an even more convenient and hassle-free shopping experience.

SAM’s Groceria, the latest premium urban grocer to hit the Malaysian market was officially launched today by Dato’ Hasan bin Malek, the Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives, and Consumerism at the Gurney Paragon Mall. Also present at the launch was Datuk Wira (Dr) Haji Ameer Ali bin Mydin, Executive Director of SAM’s Groceria and Dato’ Khor Teng Tong, Executive Chairman of Hunza Properties Bhd.

Minister of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism, Dato’ Hasan bin Malek ‘checks-out’ with his purchases at SAM’s Groceria Gurney Paragon Mall. Looking on are Anand Mehta, the Retail Director of Motorola Solutions, Asia Pacific (second from left), Touch ‘n Go Chief Executive Officer, Abdul Karim Md Lassim (third from left) and SAM’s Groceria Executive Director, Datuk Wira (Dr.) Haji Ameer Ali bin Mydin

With a total investment of RM34 million, SAM’s Groceria marks homegrown wholesale and retail titans, MYDIN’s first venture to capture the high-end grocer segment.

Equipped with this portable mobile computer device that comes with an integrated bar code scanner, customers will be able to self-checkout items by themselves.



With all the necessary information already scanned into the device, they can swiftly pay for their purchases without having to wait in long queues and burdened with unloading the shopping cart and re-bagging their purchases, helping to save time.

The store at Gurney Paragon is the first of three premium grocers set to open within the next year with a second grocer – to be launched also in Penang - opening its doors by mid 2014. The third will be launched within the second quarter of 2014 at an undisclosed location in Kuala Lumpur.

Original reference.

Media Contacts:

Sam’s Groceria:
Leisha Manan
Livescape Asia
PR Executive
E: leisha@livescape.asia
M: 012.615.0009


Jason Kong
Livescape Asia
Head of PR
E: Jason.kong@livescape.asia
M: 013.388.8453


Motorola Solutions:
Annabel Ng
Communications
Motorola Solutions Malaysia
E: annabel.ng@motorolasolutions.com
T: +603 7809 0306

Visithra Manikam
PiPR Consultancy Sdn Bhd
E: visithra@pipr.com.my
T: +603-77241719/ +6012-2661679
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