IT power grab: Should you be a Machiavellian manager?

Ready to toss aside that meek service mentality and step up your game? Several savvy CIOs explain how to grasp the reins of IT power.

Two recent works from leading analyst firms throw down the gauntlet to CIOs: Once IT leaders fully embrace the power they hold in the enterprise, they can stop taking orders and start giving advice.

Gartner's contribution is an e-book from analyst Tina Nunno, The Wolf in CIO's Clothing: A Machiavellian Strategy for Successful IT Leadership, summarized in this Gartner release.

Forrester's contribution is a report from research director Khalid Kark and researcher Andrew Smith, The Disruptive CIO: CIOs Must Master Business Agility, An Offensive Posture And Customer Obsession.

These analysts have a common thread to their advice: Years of striving for IT/business alignment have resulted in a service provider mentality within IT, one that casts the business as the customer who's always right. These pundits say this strategy is destined to fail, and exhort CIOs to grasp the reins of leadership instead.

The question is how? NiccolA2 Machiavelli, the 15th century politician and writer, endorsed manipulation and political intrigue to gain advantage -- tactics deemed counter-productive by the CIOs interviewed for this story. Nevertheless, those same IT leaders embrace the idea of grasping power and wielding it -- and even of being disruptive when the situation calls for it. Consider this the CIO's guide to the new rules of power.

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IT Gifts for your Mother on Mother's Day

Find a Mother's Day gift with a techie vibe

Mother’s Day is coming up, and we’ve found Twenty Five gifts inspired by tech, science and math for geek-minded matriarchs.

Tablet stand
For sleek tablet viewing on the go, Rain Design’s iSlider pocket stand ($49.90 via Amazon) is lightweight and portable. The base slides out of its aluminum casing and can be adjusted to the user’s preferred viewing angle.

iPad kitchen stand
The Smart Tools for iPad set ($199.95) from Williams-Sonoma gives a tablet its own place in the kitchen so you can watch cooking shows, browse for recipes, or video chat while you’re cooking. The Kitchen Stand supports a tablet horizontally or vertically in four different positions. The three-piece set also includes a Bluetooth speaker that nests under the Kitchen Stand and a removable Screen Shield to protect the screen from splatters.

Hidden heart mug
Show some heart with a ceramic cup that reveals a heart shape when it’s filled. The Hidden Heart Espresso Cup ($35) is made by Daniel Chamberlin, who has a shop on 3D printing company Shapeways.

3D-printed bag
The 3D-printed Geometric Urban Code Bag 01 has an architectural quality, like a city façade. Best suited for holding documents, it has a slot for a phone and detachable handles. It’s available from Geometric, a storefront on Shapeways, in nylon plastic ($535.82).

Leafy phone case
Christopher Beikmann is the artist behind Da Vince Case. His vibrant Green Leaf set ($44.95) includes a zippered wristlet and a matching iPhone case. The artwork, titled “Leaf of Knowledge,” is by Beikmann, who makes and ships the cases from his studio outside of Denver.

Vessel pendant
Plenty of jewelry makers are inspired by natural forms and complex geometries, but I’m partial to the interpretations by design shop Nervous System. The founders are Jessica Rosenkrantz (who holds degrees in biology and architecture from MIT and Harvard Graduate School of Design) and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg (who majored in mathematics at MIT). The crescent-shaped Vessel pendant ($39.99 for the 3D-printed nylon version) was inspired by the formation of veins in leaves.

Lineage art
After studying his own family history, graphic designer Michael Allen started making customized family trees that have a fresh, modern vibe. The Lineage style (pictured; $50) shows four generations, and you can choose from a number of color combinations. More styles are available at Allen’s Etsy shop, ModernTrees.

Astronomer’s cuff
For all those period she pleased you at nighttime, check out this cuff bracelet ($18) inscribed with a line from a poem by 19th century British poet Sarah Williams (and often attributed to Galileo), “I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” The author of the brass bracelet is Kelley DeLaney from Etsy shop StarryBasementCo.

Portable power
If mom needs power on the go, Anker has her covered. Anker’s second-generation Astro portable external battery ($29.99 via Amazon) packs 6000mAh of power into a candy-bar shaped pack, and the even tinier Astro Mini ($19.99 via Amazon) slips easily into a bag or pocket.

Pillow places
A map can make mom think of a special place -- a former home, a favorite vacation spot, a place she wants to visit. Etsy shop My Bearded Pigeon renders maps on pillow covers. Pictured is a vintage map of Pittsburgh ($52.54), printed on organic cotton. The owners of My Bearded Pigeon, Cath and her husband Neil, live on the east coast of Australia.

High-tech cooking app
Is mom intrigued by the math, science and physics of cooking? If the six-volume, $446 "Modernist Cuisine" set is too much cookbook, check out another option from techie author Nathan Myhrvold, who was Microsoft's first CTO. “Modernist Cuisine at Home” is geared for home cooks, and it’s available in hardcover ($106.55) and app form (the ebook is $79.99; individual chapters are $4.99).

Modern birdhouse
Add a modern touch to mom’s backyard with a handcrafted birdhouse from Etsy shop Twig & Timber of Seattle. Choose from the Modern Craftsman style (pictured; $70) or a number of minimalist alternatives. Each structure is individually handcrafted.

DNA print
This made-to-order watercolor painting ($25) is inspired by the genome of Haemophilus influenza, a bacterium, and the colored bars in the circular genome represent potential protein-coding regions. The artist, Sandra Cullito, is inspired by the simplicity of the circle and the complexity of genomics. She runs an Etsy shop and is based in Rosaryville, Md.

Star pendants
Choose two birthdays -- such as a mother and her child’s birthdays -- and Dyo will combine the constellations from their astrological signs to create a pendant. The Dyo jewelry line is an offshoot of Matter.io, a 3-D printing start-up launched by MIT graduates Dylan Reid and Greg Tao. The starscape pendants are available in brass ($75) or silver ($100) via The Grommet.

Smart planter
Increase mom’s odds of gardening success with Smartpot from Click & Grow. Battery-operated sensors and software measure soil conditions and control the supply of water. Smartpot with Basil (pictured, $79.95) is one option; starter kits with strawberry, chili pepper, mini tomato and other plants are also available.

Science beaker terrarium
A trio of glass Erlenmeyer flasks, planted with Dicranum mood moss, makes for a cool terrarium ($59) for a science-loving mom. The tapered shape of the flasks keeps moisture inside and reduces the need for frequent watering, says Patricia the creator and owner of Etsy shop Doodle Birdie Terrariums, based in Eagan, Minn.

Smart air conditioner
Help mom keep cool this summer with a smart air conditioner that raises the bar on design. The Aros window unit from Quirky can “learn” from mom’s budget, location and schedule to automatically maintain her ideal temperature without going over budget. Plus it can be controlled from a mobile device using the Wink app. It’s available for pre-order on Amazon ($300).

It’s in the mail
Is mom nostalgic for the old days of handwritten correspondence? Give her an iPad case made out of upcycled mail bags ($55 from Uncommon Goods). The inside of the canvas cases is lined with ultrasuede to protect devices from scratches.

Hand-quilted city map
They’re pricey, but stunning. City quilts from Haptic Lab are hand-stitched to depict cities around the world. Pictured is Washington, D.C. ($450).

Geometric heart
A heart-shaped hanging mobile ($93) is a modern take on a Finnish tradition. It’s called a Himmeli, from the Swedish word “himmel,” meaning sky or heaven, according to designer Melissa of Etsy shop Hruskaa. She’s based in Grand Rapids, Mich., and specializes in Scandinavian-inspired designs.

Compass necklace
Even when you’re far from home, mom can look in your direction with a functional compass necklace ($26) from JustBeDesigns, an Etsy shop run by Bianca Fleischman in Pawling, N.Y.

Reusable glass cup
Appeal to mom’s earth-loving side with Joco, a reusable glass cup that’s durable, lightweight, and perfect for savoring a cup of coffee. Each Joco cup comes with a silicone thermal sleeve and a lid for splash-free sipping. The 12-ounce cups ($24.95) are available in many colors via The Grommet.

Architectural mug
Adam Nathaniel Furman, an artist and designer based in London, was inspired by Gothic fan vaults to create his ceramic Fan mug ($62.62 via Shapeways). “… the great gift of the morning brew is elevated to positively ecclesiastical heights in its own inverted cathedral,” writes the artist.

Moon pendant
Give your mom the moon with a bronze-infused stainless steel pendant ($55 via Shapeways), designed with visible print lines and a rough feel for topographic effect. The 3D-modeler and designer, Urbano Rodriguez, is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Jane Eyre book scarf
Help mom get wrapped up in a great tome with a book scarf from Storiarts, a line of wearable literature created by designer Tori Tissell. My personal favorite is the Jane Eyre book scarf (pictured; $42). There are plenty of other literary classics to choose from, including Pride and Prejudice and Sherlock Holmes. You can also opt for fingerless gloves, pillow covers and t-shirts. (If mom is more of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 kind of gal, check out this scarf.)

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Windows 8.1 Update 1 does keyboard and mouse proud

Deploying Windows 8.1 with Update 1 makes more sense for business machines with no touch screen
The latest release of Windows 8.1 adds new mouse and keyboard controls plus other features that make it a much better choice for businesses that don’t want to spring for touch-screen computers and whose end users crave the familiarity of traditional Windows navigation. There are a string of small changes that make the operating system much friendlier to those used to Windows 7 or something earlier. Here are a few of these new features.

More apps on the Desktop taskbar
One thing mouse-and-keyboard users miss a lot in Windows 8.1 is use of the traditional Desktop view and all its functionality. Here you see the newly updated Desktop. Note the aqua mountain-skyline with sun icon in the taskbar, which denotes the Photo app. It is a Metro app (now known as a Windows Store app), and in the previous version of Windows 8.1 such apps could not be pinned to the task bar. Now they can, making them easier to find for traditional Windows users who use the Desktop as their center of operations. The taskbar displays both pinned apps and all open apps.

Power button on the Start screen
Turning off Windows 8.1 PCs has been more complicated than it needs to be – click to reveal the charms bar, click to choose power, and click to choose Shut Down. Now with the latest update on the Windows Start screen there’s a power button. Click on it and choose Shut Down. This eliminates one step and makes it easier for anyone looking for the power button to find it.

Search icon on the Start screen
Searching a Windows 8.1 computer requires simply typing the search query while the Start screen is displayed, but this isn’t intuitive to traditional desktop users. To help them out, Microsoft has added the magnifying-glass search icon to the start page. (You can see it in the previous slide.) Right clicking on it reveals the Search window as shown in this screen capture.

Hidden title bar
A title bar and an X-to-close button appear at the top of the screen in Windows Store apps when the cursor is moved off the top edge of the display. They look much as they do in traditional desktop apps. Clicking on the X button closes the app; right clicking on the icon in the upper left reveals options to split the screen with another app on either the left or right half of the screen, minimizing the app or closing it. Similarly, the taskbar jumps up when the cursor runs off the bottom of the screen.

Dialog box to modify tiles
Right clicking on application tiles as they appear on the Start screen reveals a dialog box with options including pinning or unpinning the app, uninstalling it or changing the properties of the tile itself. All these functions are possible using touch commands or left-mouse clicks, but they’re neither obvious nor intuitive to keyboard and mouse users new to Windows 8.1.

Popup for essential device info
Date, time, battery life and network connectivity are all standard parts of the traditional Windows Desktop, but were lacking on the Windows 8.1 Start screen. In fact there was no simple way to gather all that information. With Windows 8.1 Update 1 this information appears to the left on the Start screen whenever the hidden charms bar is exposed by running the mouse into the upper or lower right-hand corners.

Boot to desktop
If the machine running Windows 8.1 Update 1 doesn’t have a touch screen, it will automatically boot to the Desktop, so no more having to click in the bottom left corner or finding the Desktop tile to click on.

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Beyond the usual suspects: 10 hot programming languages on the rise

From Ceylon to Egison, these 10 languages tackle tough programming problems in unique and increasingly popular ways

Beyond the usual suspects: 10 programming languages on the rise
The sheer number and diversity of programming languages in use today is immense. For better or worse, however, most organizations settle on a small subset, the usual suspects, to tackle whatever programming problem comes their way. Java, C++, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby -- time and again, developers shoehorn code to do the best they can with the tried and true.

Some problems require new approaches and new tools. Here are 10 programming languages gaining significant traction for newfound, newly created, or reimagined utility. They run the gamut from general purpose to highly specific, and have roots that range from Lisp to Java, but each could have meaningful impact on modern programming as it evolves.

Ceylon 1.0.0
Resembles: Java (but it isn't a version of it)
License: Apache v2
What's it all about: Once upon a time developers at Red Hat got together and said, "Man, Java would be great if only it didn't do this, and if only it did do that." Several wish lists later, Ceylon was born. The language runs on the JVM and Node.js, while doing away with many of Java's more notorious pain points. Instead of XML, it uses a JSON-like declarative syntax for tree-structured data, and it features static typing, a module system, and support for some structures that don't exist in Java, such as sequence, intersection, and union types.

Clojure 1.6
Resembles: Lisp
License: Eclipse Public License 1.0
What's it all about: One way to think about Clojure is that it's Lisp for the JVM, given that it runs on the JVM and has full access to Java's frameworks and libraries. Clojure's creators advertise the language as a tool for functional programming that is also designed for concurrency -- in other words, well-suited to multicore or widely distributed applications. InfoWorld's Andy Oliver looked at Clojure in the context of Ruby and Ceylon, and he felt it best suited for programmers coming from a math or science background. But with the functional programming paradigm on the rise, Clojure deserves a closer look beyond computational science.

Egison 3.3.3
Resembles: Lisp
License: MIT
What's it all about: Egison is a functional language aimed at performing pattern matches against a range of data types. Egison's creator, Satoshi Egi, claims that pattern matching in existing programming languages is supported only when the data is stored in a structured form like a list. Egison was designed to allow pattern matches to be expressed in different ways based on data types (for lists vs. sets); to handle nonlinear patterns, such as multiple occurrences of the same variable in a pattern; and to create functions that both receive and return patterns.

Groovy 2.2
Resembles: Java
License: Apache License 2.0
What's it all about: Call it "Java plus," since Groovy is essentially a syntactical extension of Java that runs on the JVM and can make use of Java library classes. But Groovy bristles with features not found in Java natively: static and dynamic typing, mainly, but also operator overloading, native regular expression support, and -- my favorite -- a "?" operator to allow for the safe checking of null objects without wrapping expressions in tons of syntactic sugar. It's also found uptake with some fairly big names: LinkedIn and Wired have used Groovy (and Grails, a Groovy Web framework) for their websites, and major IDEs like Eclipse and IntelliJ now support it.

Hack 1.0
Resembles: PHP
License: PHP/Zend licenses
What's it all about: Facebook had already created its own runtime for PHP, known as HHVM -- so why not go a step further and fork PHP itself? Hack, Facebook's new spin-off language, keeps PHP's rapid development cycle and ease of use, adds static object typing and lambda expressions, and was written in OCaml for safety and durability. Much existing PHP code will run in Hack, making it theoretically easier to migrate from PHP to Hack, but right now, outside of Facebook's own bullpens, it's hard to say if Hack will enjoy the kind of massive uptake PHP has enjoyed.

Jeeves
Resembles: ML, but implemented directly in Scala and Python
License: MIT
What's it all about: Jeeves was created to help programmers do one thing: enforce privacy policies for how data moves through an application. As explained in the readme for the Python implementation of the language, this goes beyond ascertaining whether a given user can see a value to determining whether that user can see values derived from that value. Policies for how such data flows are created and managed separately from the program itself. Given how important data security has become as a matter of programming practice, projects such as Jeeves may be receiving a good deal more attention in the future.

Julia 0.2.1
Resembles: Python
License: MIT
What's it all about: Julia was designed for technical and scientific computing, where parallelized and distributed number-crunching is a way of life. Julia compiles to machine code with the aid of an LLVM-based compiler, and on some key benchmarks it outperforms Matlab, Mathematica, and R -- which were also developed for math and science work -- by a wide margin. It even supports a Lisp-like macro function for expanding the functionality of the language. Also, existing fans of Python's math and science libraries need not feel shut out, since Julia can optionally make use of those libraries as well.

Nimrod 0.9.2
Resembles: Python, Pascal
License: MIT
What's it all about: The Nimrod homepage describes the language as "a statically typed, imperative programming language that tries to give the programmer ultimate power without compromises on runtime efficiency." Nimrod compiles down to C (with C++ and Objective-C as options) and does not need a virtual machine or runtime. Its creator intends for it to be used for systems programming, because it can access hardware directly and has pointers to both garbage-collected and manually managed memory. The language also lets the user define operators and macros, and bindings have been written for many popular libraries and third-party applications: Windows and POSIX APIs, GTK2, OpenGL, and so on.

OCaml 4.01
Resembles: The ML theorem-proving language, and to some degree Lisp
License: Q Public License
What's it all about: Most programming languages generally tend to fall into one of three buckets: functional (Lisp), imperative (C), or object-oriented (Java). OCaml does all of those things, and some recent OCaml projects have made waves, including Hack (Facebook's recent fork of PHP, mentioned previously) and the Xen Project's Mirage OS. Its statically typed design may not win over those solidly invested in the dynamic-typing camp, but one sign of how seriously it's worth taking is how other languages are now beginning to arise in its wake as well: Microsoft's F#, for instance.

Racket 6.0
Resembles: Lisp, Scheme
License: LGPL
What's it all about: A variant of Scheme, which itself is a variant of Lisp, Racket was designed to be powerful enough for creating languages, but also straightforward and robust enough to be used for traditional application programming -- Naughty Dog uses it for scripting in several of its games, and the Hacker News website was developed using Scheme. Unlike other Lisp-like languages, Scheme's macro system includes the compiler itself, so features can be added to the language as if they were native Racket constructions.

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Go time traveling with Google Maps

Google adds new time machine feature to let users see older images of favorite places, buildings

Google is giving users something of a time machine in a new feature on Maps.

The company is adding past images of places noted in Street View for the desktop version of Google Maps. The goal is to give users the ability to see how places have changed over time.

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"We've gathered historical imagery from past Street View collections dating back to 2007 to create this digital time capsule of the world," wrote Vinay Shet, Google's Street View product manager, in a blog post. "Now with Street View, you can see a landmark's growth from the ground up, like the Freedom Tower in New York City or the 2014 World Cup Stadium in Fortaleza, Brazil."

With Google's new time machine-like feature in Maps, users can follow the construction of the Freedom Tower in New York City. (Photo: Google)

Google also says the new feature can serve as a digital timeline of recent history, enabling users to follow the reconstruction underway in Japan after the devastating tsunami and earthquake in 2011.

Users also can use the new feature to see what cities would look like in different seasons. Looking to take a bike tour of the French countryside or the green mountains of Vermont? Now users can get a glimpse of them at different times of the year to help them decide when to go.

The feature is gradually being rolled out to users. Users will know if the feature is available if they see a clock icon in the upper left-hand portion of a Street View image. They can click on it and move the slider through time and select a thumbnail to see that same place in previous years or seasons, Shet said.

Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with ZK Research, said Maps' new feature is "cute" but doesn't offer much benefit to most users.

"It's just a gimmick," Kerravala said. "They're only going back six years so that's not a huge amount of time. Real estate firms, law firms, etc. may have some use, but otherwise I don't believe it's all that sticky of an application."

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Browser Security: Most Effective Browsers Against Socially Engineered Malware

NSS Labs recently released the results and analysis from its latest Browser Security Comparative Analysis Report, which evaluated the ability of eight leading browsers -- Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Kingsoft Liebao, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Qihoo 360 Safe Browser, and Sogou Explorer -- to block against socially engineered malware (SEM). The use of social engineering to distribute malware continues to account for the bulk of cyber attacks against both consumers and enterprises, thereby making a browser's ability to protect against these kinds of attacks an important criterion for personal or corporate use.

Microsoft Internet Explorer continues to outperform other browsers. With an average block rate of 99.9 percent, the highest zero-hour block rate, fastest average time to block, and highest consistency of protection over time percentages, Internet Explorer leads in all key test areas.

Google Chrome remained in the top three, but its average block rate fell significantly to 70.7 percent, down from 83.17 percent in the previous test.

Cloud-based endpoint protection (EPP) file scanning provides substantial defenses when integrated with the browser. Kingsoft Liebao browser utilizes the same cloud-based file scanning system used by Kingsoft antivirus and had the second highest overall block rate at 85.1 percent, ahead of Chrome by almost 15 percentage points.

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Google's Safe Browsing API does not provide adequate SEM protection. Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox both utilize the Google Safe Browsing API and were the two lowest performing browsers in this latest test. Both also saw significant drops of around 6 percent in their average block rates -- Safari from 10.15 percent to 4.1 percent and Firefox from 9.92 percent to 4.2 percent.

Chinese browsers tested for the first time prove viable. This year, three browsers from China were included in testing for the first time, and Kingsoft's Liebao browser jumped ahead of Google Chrome with an overall protection rate of 85.1 percent. Sogou Explorer had the fourth highest average block rate at 60.1 percent.

Commentary: NSS Labs Research Director Randy Abrams
"Selecting a browser with robust socially engineered malware protection is one of the most critical choices consumers and enterprises can make to protect themselves. Microsoft's SmartScreen Application Reputation technology continues to provide Internet Explorer the most effective protection against socially engineered malware," said Randy Abrams, Research Director at NSS Labs. "This year NSS added three browsers from China. The Kingsoft Liebao browser displaced Chrome from second place by using a combination of URL filtering with the cloud-based file scanning technology that Kingsoft uses for their antivirus product. Sogou Explorer, another browser from China, was the only other tested browser to exceed 50 percent protection against socially engineered malware. Firefox and Safari failed to achieve five percent effectiveness and leave less technical users at considerable risk."

NSS Labs recommendations
Learn to identify social engineering attacks in order to maximize protection against SEM and other social engineering attacks.
Use caution when sharing links from friends and other trusted contacts, such as banks. Waiting just one day before clicking on a link can significantly reduce risk.
Enterprises should review current security reports when selecting a browser. Do not assume the browser market is static.

Microsoft’s mobile moves: Still your father’s technology company

Microsoft created a virtual assistant, made Windows free on small devices, and brought back the Start button – but it’s still playing catch-up

This has been a big week for Microsoft, with a flood of new announcements and changes of direction. Along with its Build conference, new CEO Satya Nadella has made a number of moves designed to reverse the public perception that the company is an aging also ran in the technology races.

The changes include
Rolling out its new Cortana digital voice assistant
Announcing that Windows would be free to manufacturers of devices with small screens
Coming out with "universal" Windows technology that helps developers build apps that run on multiple versions of Microsoft's operating system
Reviving the popular "Start" menu for Windows 8.1

Though some of those moves are more important than others, they're all good things. Unfortunately, I don't think they'll be enough to solve Microsoft's problem of being seen as your father's technology vendor. Here's why:

Consumers vs. IT
As noted above, Microsoft's issues right now revolve around how the company is perceived by consumers, and it's unlikely that these initiatives will be enough to change those perceptions. While all useful, none of them are truly new. Instead, they're playing catch-up to existing products and services from Microsoft's competitors, perhaps with incremental improvements, or acknowledgements that previous Microsoft strategies simply weren't working out.

Technology professionals will welcome these changes, but the IT community isn't where Microsoft's problems lie. In my experience,, enterprise IT generally likes and trusts the company. Microsoft's challenges lie in convincing fickle consumers that it's as cool and innovative as Apple and Google. I can't imagine these moves being exciting enough to do that.

Better, but not better enough
While initial reports suggest that Cortana is a credible or even superior alternative to Apple's Siri and Google Now, the fact remains that other companies pioneered the voice assistant idea. Cortana would have to be light-years better than its already-in-place rivals to truly give Microsoft a significant advantage.

Similarly, making Windows free for mobile devices may help spark more device makers to adopt the platform, but it's not like it will make an immediate difference to consumers. Besides, Android is already free to license. Once again, Microsoft is playing catch up.

Universal Windows app development may pay off with more app choices in the long run, but it's a pretty geeky concept for most end users. Finally, bringing back the Start menu will ease the transition to Windows 8 for some holdouts, but let's face it, the cool kids aren't really interested in desktop Windows at this point.

Put it all together and you've got a collection of tweaks and that could change the substance of what Microsoft does, but won't dent the way most people think of the company.

More, please!
Still, there's a big ray of hope here. The fact that Microsoft was willing and able to make these changes could signal that more are on the way. If Microsoft can keep shaking things up and continue to show that things really are different now, eventually people will begin to notice and perhaps change their minds about the company. And then it truly won't be your father's Microsoft any more.

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