The new release has its first dedicated streaming backends for Apache Flink and RisingWave, offering different engines for batch and now stream execution, unified with a single API for Python data frames.

“Finally developers can write code once and use it across local, batch, CPU, GPU and now real-time query engines. Ibis is leading the charge to break down the barriers between batch and stream processing execution engines. This is a big step toward a modular and composable data ecosystem across all paradigms,” said Josh Patterson, co-founder and CEO of Voltron Data.

Ibis is an independently governed open source project backed by Voltron Data and contributors across data platforms including Google, Starburst Data and RisingWave.

“As the Ibis API improves and adds new functionality like ML preprocessing, every backend it supports improves with it. Users can learn a single familiar dataframe API without being locked into any backend. The open source community can add Ibis ecosystem integrations to make working with data in Python better on any data platform Ibis supports,” said Zhenzhong “Z” Xu, vice president of engineering at Voltron Data.

With today’s release, users can run Ibis on 20 different query engines — ranging from DuckDB for smaller queries to BigQuery, Spark, Theseus and others for big distributed preprocessing/ETL jobs. With no code change, they can also run on two streaming engines – Apache Flink and RisingWave.

“The past year has brought to the world an almost unparalleled and diverse array of technological change. Advances in artificial intelligence are accelerating innovation and reshaping the way societies interact and operate. At the same time, cybercriminals and nation-state attackers have unleashed opposing initiatives and innovations that threaten security and stability in communities and countries around the world”, Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, wrote in a blog post.

The Secure Future Initiative consists of three main components: defences that use artificial intelligence, advances in software engineering, and international norms to protect civilians from cyber threats.

In the realm of artificial intelligence, the company aims to establish an “AI-powered cybersecurity barrier” geared towards safeguarding both customers and nations. The company is actively enhancing its internal protective capabilities, with the intention of applying these technologies directly to bolster customer security.

Furthermore, there are plans to leverage AI in addressing the existing shortage of cybersecurity professionals, which stands at approximately 3 million individuals. A key player in this endeavor is the Microsoft Security Copilot, utilizing AI for the detection and response to security threats. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint will also harness AI-driven detection mechanisms to enhance device security.

“As a company, we are committed to building an AI-based cyber shield that will protect customers and countries around the world. Our global network of AI-based datacenters and use of advanced foundation AI models puts us in a strong position to put AI to work to advance cybersecurity protection”, Smith wrote.

Microsoft is set to enhance its security stance against identity-based attacks by refining the user, device, and service verification procedures throughout its product range. To achieve this, Microsoft intends to transition to a novel key management system with an architecture that renders keys inaccessible in cases where the foundational security protocols are compromised.
The ultimate objective within this framework is to slash the time allocated to addressing vulnerabilities by half, all while promoting greater transparency in event reporting within the industry.

Lastly, the company is committed to promoting wider global adoption of security measures. This commitment follows the company’s establishment of the Digital Geneva Convention in 2017, which outlined a framework of “principles and norms governing the conduct of both state and non-state entities in cyberspace.” While acknowledging the progress made by many governments since then, the company believes that going forward, a more comprehensive and overarching commitment is imperative.

It will put transparency, accountability and reliability at the forefront of open source AI products to counter Microsoft, OpenAI and Google. Many of the most important software products we use every day, such as Android, WordPress, PHP, Nginx and Apache, are open source.
Mozilla has pledged $30 million to develop an alternative to the closed systems developed by big tech companies that put profits first.

Mozilla’s approach, like everything else they create, will be human-first.

Mozilla is committed to helping create an Internet that hews to the following principles:
-The internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible
Individuals’ security and privacy on the internet are fundamental and must not be treated as optional.
-Individuals must have the ability to shape the internet and their own experiences on it.
-Free and open source software promotes the development of the internet as a public resource.
-Transparent community-based processes promote participation, accountability and trust.
-Magnifying the public benefit aspects of the internet is an important goal, worthy of time, attention and commitment.”

The company said it aims to create a decentralized artificial intelligence community to serve as a “counterbalance” to large profit-driven companies. Mozilla is focused on the benefits of AI for humanity, not on turning humans into a commodity.

The announcement states that their first two projects will focus on creating free, reliable, and open source generative AI, which is a product like ChatGPT and Bard. Their second focus is on creating a privacy-oriented recommendation system that “does not misinform or undermine our well-being.”

If it achieves this goal, Mozilla will have made an important contribution to changing what the future of AI will look like.

Google proposed a third-party cookie ban on Chrome that was intended to come into effect this year, but was postponed to 2023 because of mixed responses to the proposals.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation last year over concerns that the Privacy Sandbox would cause online advertising spending. In fact, the CMA said that Google accepted a number of legally binding commitments relating to the development of the Privacy Sandbox such as more transparent process, engagement with third parties and publishing test results.

Google also agreed not to remove third-party cookies until the CMA is satisfied that its competition concerns have been addressed. CMA said in a statement on Friday, 11 February.

“The commitments we have obtained from Google will promote competition, help to protect the ability of online publishers to raise money through advertising and safeguard users’ privacy.”

The watchdog’s CEO, Andrea Coscelli commented that it is under no illusions that their work is done as it moves into a new phase where it will keep a close eye on Google as it develops company’s proposals.

Google announced the Privacy Sandbox to try balance these concerns. It’s an initiative to create technologies that both protect user privacy and give companies and developers tools for online advertising to replace third-party cookies.

One thing the CMA was concerned, was that the proposals could undermine the ability of online publishers, such as newspapers, to continue to produce good content in the future, with reducing the public’s choice of news sources.

Google is trying to balance privacy concerns with the demands of the AD industry. The company said on Friday that is has been working with the CMA and the Information Commissioner’s Office to address these concerns.

The official gold sponsor of Java2Days 2022 #Virtual is Bosch.IO. By supporting the event, Bosch.IO once again proves its significant contribution to the Java community.

Silver sponsors of the event are Nuvei, Amadeus, Cognyte, Scalefocus, Information Services JSC, Playtech, DXC Technology and Tumba.

Tide, Pokerstars and Endava are the bronze sponsors supporting the Java2Days 2022 virtual edition.

Java2Days is the only global independent initiative that offers free tickets to the Java community. Thanks to all sponsors, Java developers from all over the world have the opportunity to attend a world-class event and be inspired by the best speakers from the Java world.

To become a sponsor or make a corresponding contribution to the initiative, visit this page.

The JEDI contract, which was intended to modernize and unify the Pentagon’s piecemeal IT systems through cloud capabilities, was for a single provider. It was awarded to Microsoft, but it was put on hold after Amazon protested, claiming that the award was “politically corrupted” by Donald Trump, who had a public spat with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. The JEDI contract was Microsoft’s first cloud computing win from the Pentagon, while Amazon has been a services provider to the agency since 2014. The JEDI contract was scrapped earlier this year.

The JWCC has a similar mandate, but it is more open-ended in a couple of respects. First, it has solicited bids from other commercial cloud providers, including Oracle Corporation and Alphabet Inc.’s  Google. In its press release, the General Services Administration stated that it “anticipates” awarding two contracts from the program to Amazon and Microsoft because they meet the Pentagon’s requirements for such systems.2

Second, the contract is indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity and has no ceiling on the dollar amount committed to the initiative. An IDIQ contract is for unlimited services for a limited period of time. The GSA stated in its press release that it expects to spend multiple billions of dollars on JWCC.

Protiviti’s employee network group GET IT (Gender Equality in Technology and IT), one of several employee network groups that have grown out of the firm’s global diversity, equity and inclusion initiative, aims to help address the unique challenges under-represented people face when pursuing careers in technology and strives to create greater gender diversity in the field. Kim Bozzella, global leader of Protiviti’s Technology Consulting practice and one of Consulting magazine’s 2021 ‘Women Leaders in Technology. Said:

“Girls Who Code is an excellent fit for Protiviti as we share a mutual goal of advancing young women in their technology careers. We’re pleased to be able to extend our support of Girls Who Code, while looking forward to the time when our joint efforts to close the gender gap in this field are no longer necessary.”

Protiviti Chicago’s GET IT group hosted the non-profit’s local Summer Immersion Program for junior and senior high school girls. It included a consulting exercise designed to introduce participants to a career in technology consulting. Susan Haseley, executive vice president, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Protiviti, said:

“We’re excited to help ensure students continue to have access to educational resources and to support the next generation of women entering the technology field. As our technology consulting practice continues to grow, we recognize the value of bringing diverse perspectives to our clients to help them solve their most pressing technology challenges.”

Protiviti technology consultants from its San Francisco and Dallas GET IT groups have also volunteered their time and skills with local Girls Who Code Immersion Programs to teach students the basics of web design, design thinking and a range of current software languages. The new national sponsorship will bring more opportunities for Protiviti technology consultants to support similar efforts in cities across the United States.

“LOVE is the culmination of working with the most extraordinary artists, technologists and designers to re-define how we communicate on the internet. Communication is about visual expression, speech and human connection. With those closest to you. And our technology caters for exactly that.”

LOVE focuses on video communication, innovates on visual expression supported by the world’s leading artists, replaces the keyboard as a human-machine interface by multi-modality, transcribes speech and translates into 50+ languages on the recipient’s end. The Company’s Co-Founder and CEO, Samantha Radocchia (‘Sam Rad’), commented:

“It is clear that the first promises of the internet have fallen short. Communication should have been enhanced by moving online. And yet, it hasn’t. Messengers are still very much like SMS, just free and faster, video calls are far from enjoyable, and social media have made communication impersonal, or even unsafe. We are on a bold mission with LOVE: a mission to restore connections and transcend boundaries, a mission to create a magical space for those closest to you, a mission to build a better internet. No ads, no likes, just a place where you can be unapologetically you.”

LOVE is ad-free, built to protect privacy and enact the right to forget. The initiative is committed to democratizing the platform by transferring ownership to its users within five years. Timm Kekeritz, the Company’s Co-Founder and Chief Design Officer, commented:

“Our goal is to make communication as simple as possible, liberating LOVE’s users from the confines of the keyboard, and creating an environment where a person can convey not only the content but also the essence of a conversation.”

LOVE’s technology stack is based on transformative AI in the domains of voice and face recognition, natural language processing, privacy and encryption, contextual analytics, and translation algorithms in order to make user interaction extremely simple. Jim Reeves, NYOUM’s Co-Founder and CTO, said:

“Many of the technologies we are incorporating into LOVE didn’t exist 2 years ago. It is one of the most exciting challenges as a technologist to be building with and innovating on the cutting edge of what’s possible.”

Hans-Ulrich Obrist, curator and artistic director at the Serpentine Galleries, London, added:

“LOVE is the future. I am excited that international artists like Ed Fornieles have engaged to shape this new democratic platform.”

The messaging interface of LOVE is built to resemble a high-tech, multimodal walkie-talkie. All a person needs to do to communicate is hit “start,” record a message, and hit “stop.” They then select a friend and hit send. The message is transcribed in real time, so the recipient can watch, listen, or read the message. Video calling is just as interesting, incorporating a physics engine to power a playful calling experience with one or many.

According to Patrick Carey, senior director of market analysis and strategy of the Software Integrity Group at Synopsys, application security is often defined by siloed solutions: static application security testing (SAST), software composition analysis (SCA), dynamic application security testing (DAST), and interactive application security testing (IAST). But these silos conflict with the way developers build, test and fix software. Carey said:

“They don’t care which analysis techniques are used. They just want to quickly identify the issues that pose the highest risk.”

Application security testing needs to not only happen earlier in the application life cycle, it needs to be executed more intelligently. Carrey added:

“As development, security, and operations converge we see these silos being knocked down, with security testing being delivered as an intelligent, integrated system of services that knows which tests to run when, and can identify the highest priority issues.”

The next generation of application security test automation

As software development has picked up speed, organizations have deployed automation to keep up, but many are having trouble working out the security testing aspect of it. Current application security testing tools tend to scan everything all the time, overwhelming and overloading teams with too much information.

If you look at all the tools within a CI pipeline, there are tools from multiple vendors, including open-source tools that are able to work separately, but together in an automated fashion while integrating with other systems like ticketing tools.

“Application security really needs to make that shift in the same manner to be more more fine-grained, more service-oriented, more modular and more automated,” said Carey.

Intelligent orchestration and correlation is a new approach being used to manage security tests, reduce the overwhelming amount of information and let developers focus on what really matters: the application. While the use of orchestration and correlation solutions are not uncommon on the IT operations side for things like network security and runtime security, they are just beginning to cross into the application development and security side of things, Carey explained.

Expanding on intelligent orchestration and correlation

To add to its intelligent orchestration and correlation initiative, Synopsys recently announced it acquired the application security orchestration and correlation solution Code Dx. According to the company, Code Dx complements the Intelligent Orchestration solution released last year. Intelligent Orchestration simplifies and streamlines security testing in CI pipelines by determining and initiating the appropriate tests to run based on predefined policies, application risk profiles, and code changes.

1. Talk to Your Boss

Go to your supervisor and see if there are any additional projects you can work on. Make it a discussion rather than a direct question: you can share your own career goals and talk about how you see yourself fitting into the company’s future.

Think about what skills or knowledge you want to develop, and see if there’s an opportunity that’ll let you do just that. If possible, have a few concrete ideas in mind so you can suggest areas where you may be able to get more involved.

If you don’t have regularly scheduled meetings with your supervisor, try to get time on his or her calendar for the conversation. But if that’s a long way off, mention it in passing and follow up. A simple “Hey, I think I am ready for more responsibility and would like to help the team” may be just what he or she needs to know to give you the opportunity.

2. Look for Busy, Stressed Out Co-workers

Look for the people who need help, be it in other departments or in the cubicle next door, and offer to lend a hand. Make sure that you don’t get taken advantage of, though, or become a victim of a credit hog: those colleagues who will attempt to have you do their extra work, and then take all the credit. Learn to identify and avoid these people.

Also, be sure not to overwhelm yourself with others’ work. If you’re risking neglecting your own responsibilities, you’re going too far.

3. Become an Expert

Acquire new knowledge continuously and stay on top of trends or developments in your field. If you’re seen as an expert in a particular subject, you’re more likely to be needed for new projects coming up.

One simple way: set up a “Google Alert” for topics relevant to your industry, company, or team’s area of responsibility. Pick your search terms, and any new articles featuring the terms you’ve chosen will be sent to your inbox in a daily update email.

When you find articles relevant to your team’s work, send them out with a brief accompanying summary. You’ll be helping all of your teammates look better and stay up-to-date on the latest industry news, which can gain you a lot of credibility as a team player. Remember though, when you send an article out to your team, make sure you anticipate any questions that may come up about what you sent.

4. Be Proactive

Sometimes you can’t wait for someone else to give you the green light. Take initiative, and do what needs to be done before someone asks you (or someone else) to do it. Start by identifying tasks that are falling through the cracks and completing them. Your foresight will be appreciated.

If part of your planned activity involves reaching out to clients or other external members of your company, make sure that you have approval to do this. “Jenn, I thought that a press search would be helpful here, and I wanted to reach out to Erik on the PR team” is a simple way of confirming your team is okay with you reaching out, and also of communicating what you’re doing so it doesn’t end up being done twice.

5. Enjoy yourself

Lastly, some workplaces have extracurricular activities you can get involved in, be it the softball team or the sustainability initiative. Show your leadership skills there and get to know more people at work as a first step towards more official responsibility. Plus, it can be good for your co-workers to get to know you outside of your traditional professional environment.