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The Morning Download: Hybrid Cloud Demands Drive Data Center Growth
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Good morning, CIOs. Data-center operators in key U.S. markets are racing to increase their total power capacity, according to a new report by real-estate services firm CBRE Group Inc. It's the latest proof of how more companies are moving more of their enterprise IT functions to cloud services.
Companies paid for a total of 171 megawatts at facilities in the country’s largest data-center rental markets during the first six months of 2019. That is on pace for a record, says CBRE.
Big cloud-service providers tend to be the biggest customers at co-location services. But Pat Lynch, senior managing director of CBRE’s data center division, tells CIO Journal's Angus Loten that he also is seeing more non-tech companies take a hybrid approach to cloud, handing over parts of their enterprise information-technology system to cloud services, while keeping others in data centers that they rent or control themselves.
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Airbus says its solar-powered drone can stay aloft in the stratosphere for months. Note: Heights of atmospheric layers can vary based on latitude. SOURCES: NASA/Goddard (atmospheric layers); FAI (MiG, U2 record altitudes), Emirates (A380 cruising altitude), Airbus (Zephyr average altitude)
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Drone ambitions soar to the stratosphere. Subsidiaries of Airbus SE, Boeing Co. and Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. are developing stratospheric drones, which could fly unaided for months some 60,000 feet or more from the ground.
Delivering the internet, not packages. Drones are likely to complement existing satellite networks. They could be used as relays between satellites and ground stations to improve data transfer, reducing the infrastructure needed on the ground and in space.
Design challenges. Drones need to be lightweight, but with relatively long wings, so that they can generate sufficient lift while flying slowly in the thin stratospheric air. (WSJ)
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PopBots is a kit researchers use to teach children about artificial intelligence. The robot is made of a mobile phone that shows a face, Lego blocks for the body, Lego motors and a programming interface on a tablet. PHOTO: PERSONAL ROBOTS GROUP AT THE MIT MEDIA LAB
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Call the robot “it.” As a new generation grows up surrounded by artificial intelligence, researchers find education as early as preschool can help avoid confusion about robots’ role, The WSJ's Sue Shellenbarger reports. Ms. Shellenbarger shares tips on how to raise an AI-savvy child. With a bit of tweaking, the tips could also apply to fostering an AI-savvy workforce.
How to Raise an AI-Savvy Child (or Employee)
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Use the pronoun “it” when referring to a robot.
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Display a positive attitude toward the beneficial effects of AI.
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Encourage your child to explore how robots are built.
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Explain that humans are the source of AI-driven devices’ intelligence.
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Guard against AI-propelled toys that presume too much, such as claiming to be your child’s best friend.
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Invite children to consider the ethics of AI design, such as how a bot should behave after winning a game.
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Encourage skepticism about information received from smart toys and devices.
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PHOTO: ALEXANDER POHL/ZUMA PRESS
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Nvidia, VMware address AI cloud challenge. Nvidia Inc., maker of graphical processing units adopted by tech firms to power AI applications, announced software aimed at virtualizing GPUs. The product, vComputeServer, is designed to work with VMware Inc. software that helps businesses move computing work between their own data centers and Amazon Web Services. (Reuters)
U.S. officials move against elections ransomware threat. A division of the Homeland Security Department plans to implement a program that protects databases used to validate the eligibility of voters, systems that were compromised by Russian hackers in 2016. (Reuters)
Big tech's hiring challenge. Salaries remain high, but the lure of Silicon Valley as the coolest place to work may be fading in the wake of scandals, cost-of-living challenges and a growing loathing of long hours. (FT)
Facebook wins appeal against German data-collection ban. The Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf on Monday suspended an order of the German Federal Cartel Office to stop Facebook Inc. from combining data it collects about users across its platforms, as well on as third-party apps and websites. (WSJ)
Pitney Bowes to sell software unit. Syncsort is picking up the mail management company's unit for $700 million. (Reuters)
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Everything Else You Need to Know
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Johnson & Johnson must pay $572 million for contributing to an opioid-addiction crisis in Oklahoma, a judge there ruled in a closely watched trial. The company said it would appeal the judgment. (WSJ)
U.S. stock futures posted modest declines following mixed trading in European markets, after Asian shares jumped on optimism over trade negotiations between the U.S. and China. (WSJ)
Great Lakes communities are working to shore up their defenses as the connected system of lakes remains at high levels amid a historically rainy and wet year. (WSJ)
The National Rifle Association paid for private jets to fly to and from central Nebraska to ferry relatives of the group’s chief executive, Wayne LaPierre. (WSJ)
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