With federal dollars for infrastructure increasing, the technology could have additional public sector applications. But how big a difference can robots make? Is it too little too late for long-overlooked infrastructure problems? And is the regulation of autonomous systems keeping pace with the technology? To answer these questions and more, I connected with Jake Loosararian, CEO and co-founder of Gecko Robotics, which leverages robotics as a service to perform industrial inspections in critical industries such as power, oil and gas, and defense....

According to the measurement company, 2021 saw total PC shipments reach 341 million units, a 15% rise over the 2020s already strong sales, 27% higher than 2019’s, and the highest single-year figure since 2012. Even more impressive is the fact that this was accomplished with relatively little growth during the fourth quarter’s holiday season, which only saw a 1% year-over-year rise compared to 2020. Despite shipments only rising 1% during the fourth quarter, global PC market revenues shot up 11% to $70 billion, while full-year revenue rose 15% to $250 billion in 2021....

However, what’s also clear is that the pandemic – and pandemic-era working – has prompted more employees across all levels of seniority to think about what parts of their job they want to change, or what they would do differently if they had an opportunity to start again. According to a survey of more than 1,000 professionals by software firm Skynova, financial decisions, learning and developing skills, and exploring different career paths top the list....

In conjunction to automating routing transactions, the bank also announced it will introduce a flat rate of 1.1% for all in-store card transactions and 1.5% for all online payment transactions, regardless of the interchange rate or the type of card. The bank noted that eligible small business customers with turnover equal or less than AU$250,000 will see the new rates automatically applied from October 2021, while businesses with revenue higher than the threshold will be able to opt-in....

“It was great to see that the AI principles sat really neatly with the control and governance frameworks that the bank already had in place. Things like the safe management of data, customer privacy, and transparency have been central to the way we operate since long before the advent of AI,” CBA chief decision scientist Dan Jermyn told ZDNet. “But the pace, scale, and sophistication of AI solutions mean we need to ensure we are constantly evolving to meet the demands of new technology, which is why collaboration with our partners across government and industry is so important....

“Work smarter, not harder.” Of course, it’s easier said than done, but once in a while, a device comes along that really can change the way you work. Actually, make that two devices. You can now bundle the Mobile Pixels Duex Max with a Mini Mouse for 7% off. With this combo, you won’t just have an extra screen you can pair to most any device. You’ll also have an innovative way to interact with it....

For the study, researchers built a machine learning model that looked for patterns and characteristics in ChatGPT responses that could help distinguish them from human-generated text. Two experiments prompted ChatGPT to generate restaurant reviews and also prompted it to rephrase the original human-generated text reviews, according to the study. The observations showed that ChatGPT describes experiences rather than sharing feelings. It avoids personal pronouns, uses some unusual words and, interestingly, never uses aggressive or rude language....

CISA created a landing page for all Log4j vulnerability content and is providing insight alongside the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative that includes multiple cybersecurity companies. CISA added the Log4j vulnerability alongside 12 others, with four having remediation due dates of December 24 and the rest having June 10, 2022, as the date. The ones slated for remediation by Christmas include the Zoho Corp. Desktop Central Authentication Bypass vulnerability, Fortinet FortiOS Arbitrary File Download vulnerability and Realtek Jungle SDK Remote Code Execution vulnerability....

The total includes budgets on shared and dedicated infrastructure. A major driver of growth was spending on shared cloud infrastructure, which made up $12.5 billion (68%) of the total. That sub-category was also up 15.7% compared to Q1 2021, according to tech analyst IDC. With growing demand for shared cloud spending in particular, IDC expects spending on shared cloud infrastructure to overtake non-cloud spending in 2022 – for the first time....

According to researcher IDC, spending on cloud infrastructure across dedicated and shared environments increased 6.6% year on year to $18.6 billion in Q3 2021. The growth put spending back on track with the seven consecutive quarters of growth since Q3 2019, with the exception of the 1.9% decline in Q2 2021. The main boost in cloud spending happened in Q2 2020, which saw 38.4% year-on-year growth. SEE: Cloud computing: Spreading the risk with the multicloud approach Cloud, whether dedicated or shared, is expected to continue to eat into traditional hardware spending in the future....

Students interested in personal growth, refreshers on particular topics, or professional development can take individual courses. There’s no need to enroll in a full-scale degree or certificate program. Popular learning platforms include Blackboard, Canvas, and Moodle. Course delivery may be asynchronous (accessible 24/7) or synchronous, meaning you log into a virtual classroom at scheduled times. Courses may include discussion boards for interaction with classmates and instructors. Read on to learn about top platforms, free courses, and the best classes in popular topics such as business and computer science....

Reskilling workers is critical not only for the global economy to recover from the pandemic, but also for sustainable long-term growth and an inclusive future workforce. Unless G20 countries invest in addressing the skills gap, they could miss out on an estimated $11.5 trillion in cumulative GDP growth by 2028. Demand for developers is soaring - and employers are struggling to hire I sat down with Salesforce’s Chief Innovation Officer, Simon Mulcahy, for his insight on what’s driving the digital skills shortage and how companies can contribute to closing the gap....

The study found that despite 59% of banking customers expecting their financial institutions to improve their financial health, only 47% of financially healthy consumers have received advice. Of the remaining 53% of consumers, 28% of vulnerable consumers, 16% of over-extended consumers, and 9% of stressed consumers reported receiving advice. According to J.D. Power, financially healthy consumers are consumers who can cover immediate financial needs while still planning for the future....

To be exact, Miller added code that would delete the file system of any computer with a Russian or Belorussian IP address. Then, its maintainer added the module as a dependency to the extremely popular node-ipc mode. Node-ipc, in turn, is a popular dependency that many JavaScript programmers use. And it went from annoying to a system destroyer. The code has undergone several changes since it first appeared, but it must be regarded as highly dangerous....

Researchers at cybersecurity company Group-IB analysed activity on underground forums and said there’s been a sharp increase in the number of offers to sell access to compromised corporate networks, with the number of posts offering access tripling between 2020 and 2021. Crooks are claiming to offer access to compromised Virtual Private Network (VPN) and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) login credentials, as well as web shells, reverse shells, Cobalt Strike penetration testing tools and more....

Project Shield is Binance’s third endeavor to provide greater security to those who use the crypto exchange trading platform after their security research and investigations program and user-accessible security tool. According to Binance, Project Shield provides a thorough audit of projects against strict security, legal and regulatory compliance standards and ongoing performance reviews. The Singapore-based world’s leading crypto-asset exchange claims that this is the first time a crypto exchange has implemented this level of protection....

Also: Live blog: The best early Cyber Monday deals 2022 in real time With the Ring Video Doorbell, you’ll get live video feed of what’s happening at your door on your smartphone, tablet or PC. The latest model of the Ring Video Doorbell features improved motion detection, privacy zones and better night vision. In addition to seeing what’s happening, you can also talk to whoever is at the front door, even if you aren’t home....

Texas has more than 42,000 open cybersecurity positions, one of the highest rates in the country. Cybint is partnering with universities and colleges like Houston Baptist University to offer the Cybint cybersecurity bootcamp to military and veteran students. Roy Zur, Cybint’s CEO, told ZDNet he was inspired to start the program by his time in the Israeli military, where he was part of a cybersecurity unit that re-skilled 18-year-old cadets who recently joined the army....

The company in question is WSpot, which provides software that enables businesses to secure their on-premise Wi-Fi networks and allow password-free online access to their customers. The exposure was discovered by security research firm SafetyDetectives. Some 226,000 files were exposed in the incident, the researchers noted, including personal information from approximately 2.5 million individuals who connected to the public Wi-Fi networks provided by WSpot clients. The company’s client portfolio includes Pizza Hut, financial services provider Sicredi, and healthcare firm Unimed....

The second that other Linux distributions caught wind of how Deepin had pretty much taken the market by storm, they decided it was time to get serious about competing with the new kid on the block. Now, when I install Deepin Linux, I don’t get that same feeling I had when I first experienced it. What the Deepin Desktop offers is now more commonplace than it was. That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s not a highly polished desktop operating system....