Articles by Jack M. Germain

The Linux Foundation (LF), one of the primary driving forces behind the continuing growth of open-source technology, is turning its attention to developing a better metaverse and creating a living digital record of the physical world In December, LF announced the Open Metaverse Foundation (OMF) with a mission to provide a collaboration space for di...

In today's ever-changing e-commerce landscape, small businesses need the latest tools to remain competitive A partnership between Worldpay from FIS and GoDaddy allows small businesses to sell and accept payments from online marketplaces to social media. The payments deal announced earlier this month solves a money issue choking business transactio...

Online therapy is a booming industry, and now AI-powered chatbots are starting to roll into the territory The recent arrival of ChatGPT and its enhanced language ability to deal with human interaction might soon be a revolutionary alternative to divulging your darkest mental health issues to a human therapist....

Artificial intelligence and ChatGPT promise to revolutionize customer service automation, but is that what customers really want? What if AI in the CRM stack leads to dissatisfied B2B customers fleeing for better treatment? A recent study by Fusion Connect, a global managed communication service provider, revealed that 90% of businesses are willing...

It is time to tackle the growing problem of removing your personal data from uncontrolled online displays, and there are solutions within your grasp Let's face some hard-core facts about life online. We spend a tremendous amount of time with our electronic devices connected to the internet. Websites track our activities, and mobile apps go everywhe...

Consumers are allying with dark web hackers to participate in payment fraud tactics Sift on Thursday released its Q1 2023 Digital Trust & Safety Index with findings that nearly one in five (16%) consumers admit to committing, or know of someone who has taken part in, payment fraud. Likewise, 17% of consumers have encountered online offers to commit...

Companies that established open-source program offices over the last few years now need more C-suite oversight to drive education, awareness, and use of open-source software. That sets the stage for an expanded role of open-source program officers Incorporating open-source technology brings organizations an ecosystem that expands the user base, res...

Financial processes and merchandisers need an upgrade in awareness to cash in on younger consumers' in-store shopping loyalty Embedded within the changing economy are fundamental differences in the buying and banking mores of younger consumers compared to older constituents. Meeting the needs of three essential overlapping consumer groups can go a ...

Digital Forensics Corporation is battling to protect and educate the public about a rapidly growing trend in cybercrime dubbed sextortion, where online predators target teens and young adults with threats to expose sensitive personal photos The extortionists disguise their identity on social media platforms, claiming to have a revealing picture or ...

The White House on Thursday released its long-expected National Cybersecurity Strategy. The new federal policy assigns much of the digital security responsibility to tech firms rather than more federal regulations The policy document urges more mandates on the firms that control most of the nation's digital infrastructure. It also preaches an expan...

Despite a fall off in ransomware attacks since last year, the U.S. Marshals Service on Monday disclosed that it suffered a "major" breach of its computer network on Feb. 17 that included a ransomware component Numerous recent cybersecurity reports suggest that ransomware is becoming less profitable for cybercriminals as more victims refuse to pay t...

ChatGPT-powered Flowy might be a game changer for innovative developers looking to improve website accessibility Israel-based Equally.ai, a provider of web accessibility solutions, announced the release of Flowy last month. Ran Ronen, the company's co-founder and CEO, believes that accessibility should be fundamental to every web product. He design...

Puppy Linux is a niche computing solution that shows the flexibility and usefulness of open-source tools and the staying power of the Linux operating system Normally in this column, I focus on new versions of Linux distros that offer new tricks and features. But the current version of Puppy Linux, FossaPup64 version 9.5 is not a new release. It rep...

Many companies face an arduous balancing act at the start of 2023 between an uncertain economic climate and the critical advantage they must maintain for competitive innovation. New technologies from Web3, blockchain, machine learning, and artificial intelligence continue to evolve work ethics that make that task more challenging Cory Hymel, vice p...

Recent shifts in consumer behavior will significantly impact brand sales this year and beyond. Brand marketers need to refocus efforts on planet sustainability; otherwise, they risk losing their consumer bases to brands that do E-commerce specialist Astound Commerce, in partnership with digital commerce platform Shopify, just released the results ...

Digital crooks -- whom cybersecurity experts and law enforcement officials politely call bad actors -- use elements of modern-day cyber communications to track your online activities. These elements are hiding in plain sight, but they are easy to reveal once you know where to find them You can toss around false clues to hide your activities or at l...

The public launch in October of customer support firm DevRev's DevCRM platform offers a new approach to managing software as a service (SaaS) customer management. It cuts down on the need for large support teams by automating the update process on a rolling, consistent, as-needed basis DevRev is an API-driven, developer-first CRM platform for produ...

Attention retailers! Are your stores ready to get phygital? A successful phygital retail strategy blends the useful elements of the in-person customer experience into the digital sphere interchangeably....

The metaverse may have a new place in the retailer consumer experience, but it is off to a dismal start in becoming much of a business communication outlet Consumer attraction to today's metaverse indicates a significant shift in how people use technology. If the metaverse begins to exist and function in totality, marketers clearly should not miss ...

The year 2023 offers lots of promise and a whole lot of insecurity on the digital pathways -- both for personal and business encounters Technology continues to bring innovative business solutions while it also poses seemingly unsolvable cybersecurity challenges....