Articles by Jack M. Germain

Today LinuxInsider introduces a bimonthly news column to summarize some of the Linux and open-source consumer and enterprise events scattered around the Linux Sphere Look forward to an assortment of topics that will keep Linux users and open-source supporters up to speed with new developments. We will cover items of interest for Linux desktop users...

Social media giant Facebook has a new name -- Meta. But the old name will remain the face on the digital conversation book CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday announced the company's name is changing to reflect its growing focus on the metaverse. But the social platform's users and detractors will not see much in the way of restructuring its operation....

Misconceptions and poor inventory are confusing potential electric vehicle (EV) buyers. Education and marketing are needed to repair those problems Online car-shopping marketplace Cars.com went virtual on Thursday to help shoppers explore electric vehicle ownership. The website maintains a charged collection of information on all things EV to corre...

A new Forrester survey commissioned by Capgemini, Salesforce, and MuleSoft reveals companies face the same recurring customer experience (CX) struggles. They lack an integrated single source of truth for customer data and are strapped with subpar personalization capabilities Forrester surveyed 426 directors and above in marketing, IT, and line-of-b...

Amazon heralded its shifting strategies to help sellers expand with new tools during its two-day Accelerate Seller Conference this week. The e-commerce giant announced its growing success with American small and medium-sized businesses empowerment this year, its glowing Sellers Report, and the results of its unique CRM tools for SMBs....

Everyday stress at work and home sometimes seems like a health issue you just have to tolerate. But doing nothing to relieve routine stress usually winds up causing sleep and illness problems as well. Now, a wellness technology company has a wearable device that just might bring more good vibes your way When Feelmore Labs approached me with an offe...

A new fraud ring called Proxy Phantom is using sophisticated credential-stuffing attack methods to take over customer accounts for U.S.-based e-commerce merchants The latest research from digital trust and safety firm Sift demonstrates fraudsters' relentless innovation and reinforces retailers' need to double down on fraud protection as the holiday...

Canonical on Thursday released Ubuntu 21.10, Impish Indri. The new version of its flagship OS has a heavy focus on cloud-native, AI/ML, and Ubuntu developers on Windows This is not a major distro upgrade. Rather, it is a holding action that is not a long-term release either. Nonetheless, Ubuntu 21.10 does play catch up with the latest Wayland impro...

While migration to the cloud is at an all-time high, so is the growth of ransomware peddlers. New research released last month shows the current spurt in ransomware attacks will last another two years The Veritas report, "The Vulnerability Lag," explores the ransomware risks resulting from accelerated digital transformation in the wake of the Covid...

Consumers would rather avoid brands than compromise personal data, according to new research. Brands that handle consumer data transparently and ethically, however, will be best positioned to navigate and engage with this cautious consumer base Shopper discontent with online retail sites is localizing to two major concerns. Spoiler alert: customer ...

New research shows enterprises pivoting to cloud-based containerized environments and software-defined storage. This trend is revolutionizing how businesses are shifting data management strategies Linux Foundation Research and SODA (Strategic Options Development and Analysis) Foundation on Tuesday released study results on new data and storage tren...

The age of digital adoption is well underway. This technology enables users to fully use digital tools to become entirely self-sufficient and competent. One of the most pressing needs for digital revitalization is enhancing customer relations But it takes more than just installing new software to gain the full benefits of the digital adoption proce...

Zorin OS is one of the more endearing Linux operating systems available for both Linux veterans and computer users transitioning from Windows. But despite some stellar improvements delivered in version 16, released Aug. 17, Zorin OS falls short of offering wider user appeal to those looking beyond Windows-like computing However, this latest upgrade...

New research suggests that retailers may not be fully prepared to handle the expected increase in online shopping and risk considerable shopper bounce to their competitors AI-powered personalization platform Qubit on Sept. 29 announced findings from its 2021 survey of 1,500 U.S. and U.K. consumers that amplifies the need for improvement in the reta...

Unless you are deeply rooted in the inner workings of internet search engine rankings, you may not know that organic search exists and differs from other search engine results. Take heart. You belong to a rather large club of unenlightened members of this technology With the right inquiries, though, you can remain oblivious to technical SEO and sti...

Canonical on Sept. 21 announced the lifecycle extension of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) and 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) to help organizations implement their transition to new applications and technologies This lifecycle extension enables organizations to balance their infrastructure upgrade costs. The support extensions give them additional time to...

Gitpod on Tuesday announced the creation of a new open-source project licensed under MIT around Gitpod's OpenVSCode Server implementation of upstream, stock VS Code Founded in 2020, Gitpod is an open-source platform for automating the provisioning of ready-to-code developer environments. It is designed for applications running in the cloud....

Positive Technologies on Wednesday released a report that indicates ransomware attacks have reached "stratospheric levels." Researchers into the Q2 2021 cybersecurity threatscape also point out the evolution in attack strategies and a rise in malware created to target Unix-based systems. Many different versions of Unix exist, and they share similar...

If you have the Linux skills to bolster a solid IT foundation, you will be in high demand for a job working in the open source software industry Hiring is rebounding in the wake of the pandemic, as organizations look to continue their digital transformation activities. This is evidenced by 50 percent of employers The Linux Foundation surveyed who s...

Intuit on Monday announced an agreement to acquire Mailchimp, a global customer engagement and marketing platform for small and mid-market businesses, for $12 billion in cash and stock advances. The purchase could be the linchpin that thrusts the mostly financial software company into solving more fertile mid-market business challenges for its customers...