Weekly News: Remembering the Father of Mechanical Brains

Remembering the father of ‘mechanical brains’

British mathematician
Alan Turing would have celebrated his 108th birthday this week. 

Regarded as the father
of computer science and artificial intelligence, Turing played an instrumental
role in deciphering the Nazi Enigma code during World War II. The
communications intercepted thanks to his computational machine are said to have
saved millions of lives.  

Sadly, Turing was
never recognised in life for his many contributions to humankind — all on the
basis of his sexual orientation. He died at a young age in tragic
circumstances, after years of prosecution and forced chemical castration. 

Thankfully, our society has made major progress since then. But, as we celebrate Pride month, let his story serve as a reminder of why we need to keep fighting for universal LGTBQ rights.

If you are curious to see how little importance was given to Turing’s legacy at the time of his death, here’s the obituary that The Guardian wrote for this creator of ‘mechanical brains’.

Tech execs are regaining confidence

A new survey by
global industry association CompTIA revealed that tech executives are feeling
confident about an imminent return to normality. Around two-thirds of
respondents believe things will be back on track by August, with business
volume already beginning to pick up. 

Despite most companies have experienced at least some degree of client loss and restructuring, the sector has shown its resilience by maintaining solid activity levels throughout this crisis period.    Training is a focus for 70% of respondents, with soft and business skills being prioritized. Discover what business skills are the most demanded right now.

Apple has news for devs

After months of rumours and speculation,
Apple finally announced it is abandoning Intel chips in favour of its own
ARM-based processors. The custom-built silicon, which will debut in new systems
by the end of the year, is said to deliver better performance at lower power
consumption.

The company is releasing a developer transition kit (DTK) to let developers familiarize themselves with the new architecture. It’s basically a Mac mini on steroids, preloaded with everything you’ll need to start building your software. 

Find out how to request a unit.

Please find our secrets attached

COVID came and cyber security got trickier with the surge in remote employees and potentially hackable access points. This week, a WSJ survey revealed another major cause for concern for companies: rogue employees.    

About 70% of companies are worried about malicious employees leaking proprietary data or helping attackers get into enterprise networks. For all the advancements in security tools, limiting the harm that can be done by individual employees remains a challenge for most big companies. 

Ironically, the study was made public less than a week after a poll by Nordlocker showed that a preoccupying number of employees regularly share sensitive and confidential files via email. Not with malicious intent, though. 

News from the frontlines…

What’s tech doing this week about the
coronavirus?  If it’s the U.K. we are talking about — starting again from
scratch. 

Last week we wondered why the country’s
authorities were silent regarding their NHS-sponsored app. Well, it turns out
that the government is abandoning the app altogether, pursuing instead a new
one based on the Apple-Google technology. 

However, the new app is not likely to come in time to be of any significance in the fight against the second wave of the virus this Fall. 

But there’s more — allegations have surfaced regarding the NHS’ obsession to shut down rival apps while its now-failed one was in development. Live and let live, as they say.