Articles by Jack M. Germain

If you conducted e-commerce transactions since the pandemic struck, you have probably been the target, or even a victim, of online fraud Fraud prevention solutions firm Sift yesterday released a report focusing on a 109 percent increase in content abuse and growth of the fraud economy from January through May 2020....

Tricentis and three survey project collaborators recently published findings that provide new insights on global trends in open-source testing. The study focused on the open-source tool testing industry, not how or if companies and software developers test their code. This is an issue that confronts both open-source and commercial or proprietary s...

One of the e-tail world's most pressing questions is: When will Amazon have its Prime Day sale this year? Perhaps a better question is: Will Prime Day happen at all?...

The world of Linux operating systems can fill a new user with high expectations only to be met with glaring disappointment in a later reunion. That describes my experience with a Linux distro not well known beyond Europe, Austrumi Linux 2.2.9 I first stumbled on Austrumi Linux last year and was immediately drawn to its innovative nature. I loved th...

Shoppers are starting to come back to their favorite brick-and-mortar storefronts as the pandemic restrictions allow consumers to exit from lockdown. But the impact of COVID-19 has etched some far-reaching changes in the retail industry that will not set back the strides online shopping has gained since March That is a conclusion clearly visible in...

With much of the workforce conducting business from home to escape the pandemic, scammers have revved up their trickery to scare victims into falling for credential harvesting schemes Two new reports lay bare the new twists digital scammers are putting on old approaches to get you to unwittingly give up login credentials for your personal or compan...

Open-source software is becoming much more commonplace within organizations, bringing a different set of risks and perceived challenges compared to closed-source or proprietary software The Information Security Forum (ISF) today released a report to help security professionals recognize the benefits and perceived challenges of using Open Source Sof...

Perhaps one of the most missed Linux desktop environments is Ubuntu Unity Desktop, developed by Ubuntu's parent company, Canonical. It was either loved or hated by users otherwise endeared to the vastly popular Ubuntu Linux OS But now that it has been replaced by GNOME 3 as Ubuntu's default desktop environment. An infant cottage industry of sorts h...

Forming a real company, creating a working prototype of a new multipurpose drone, making components from scratch, and getting electronics and software to work together is filled with seemingly unending difficulties Imagine doing all that as a high school student under the time constraints and pressure of being part of an international competition....

A new e-commerce partnership could bring 1,200 Shopify small business sellers to the Walmart Marketplace this year, the companies announced Monday For years, Walmart's top e-commerce priority was building a marketplace customers would trust. According to Jeff Clementz, vice president of Walmart Marketplace, the company has joined forces with Shopif...

One of the great joys of constantly checking out new or obscure Linux operating systems is finding some insane innovations that stand out from the crowded collection of distros. The current release of PsychOS Linux, code-named "Insane," possibly might blow your mind This distro is really an off-the-wall project with the potential to become a thing ...

The Linux Foundation is priming the pump to help software engineers become cloud technology certified through a self-paced bootcamp and discounted pricing LF last week announced the availability of the Cloud Engineer Bootcamp, its first-ever training bootcamp. This new offering enables individuals to go from complete IT beginner to certified cloud ...

Linuxfx 10 could provide businesses and consumers with a Windows 7-like experience that puts users on a smooth downhill path to Linux adoption Distributions that tweak styles and desktop environment settings to create a Windows-clone type of familiar experience are now numerous, but they often fail to entice reluctant users to stay the course and r...

Lenovo introduced innovations that push the limits of Chrome OS-powered tablets with a new 2-in-1 form factor in the IdeaPad Chromebook Duet This new device mimics Microsoft's Surface Pro line, using Chrome OS instead of Microsoft Windows. It redefines what the Chrome OS can do on a convertible tablet compared to Android. The Duet comes with a 10.1

The United States Business Association of E-Commerce is poised to open for business on June 9. Its mission is to help small and mid-sized enterprises, as well as minority- and veteran-owned startups, to bridge the e-commerce digital divide The B2B marketplace platform will connect small and medium-sized firms to domestic and global buyers.

POP!_OS 20.04, released on May 1, has the potential to be one of the best starting points for any new Linux user. Given this distro's rising popularity, it will continue to hold that distinction....

COVID-19's rampage is causing the electronics industry worldwide to suffer supply chain setbacks Product innovation remains incredibly important in today's new normal, but more than half (53 percent) of electronics industry product launches have been delayed or canceled due to the pandemic, suggests a new study Supplyframe released last week....

What started out as a 13-year-old's hobby to feed his passion for technology has turned into a business for Skyler Ficklin, operator of the QuitZoom website and iSkyler YouTube video channel Ficklin, stuck at home while his Ohio high school is closed due to COVID-19, spends his days and nights completing online learning assignments to end his sopho...

Does flaky Internet connectivity have you scrounging for solutions? The COVID-19 pandemic increased our demand for Internet service due to working from home, online learning for kids, and video conferencing with colleagues and family members.

The Linux Foundation has achieved a major milestone: formal status on the international standards front Its Joint Development Foundation (JDF) received approval as an ISO/IEC JTC 1 Publicly Available Specification (PAS) Submitter, LF announced last week.This status gives JDF's standards development projects a path to international standardization....