Instagram's Stories Inspired by Snapchat

Everyone has a story to tell, and Instagram on Tuesday announced Stories, a new way for users to tell theirs. Stories allows Instagram users to string together images and videos for a dynamic slide show presentation that can be shared with friends or the entire Instagram community. Rather than sharing content individually with others on the platform, a user can choose to share it through a story. Someone following the story simply taps the new story icon on the Instagram interface to see the latest addition or to watch it from beginning to end.

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Facebook Nurtures Open Source Projects in Incubator

Facebook last week launched its Incubator on GitHub in order to distribute its own open source software projects. Incubator serves as a testing ground for new open source projects from Facebook, which has open sourced almost 400 projects to date. New projects will be posted on Incubator pages to gauge community reaction and rate of adoption. To make the cut, projects have to get community pickup, have good documentation, be easy to integrate with other tools, and show good engagement between Facebook and the community.

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Old Tech Can Create New Security Woes

"Patch your systems in a timely manner" is a mantra of security experts, but what happens when the patch well runs dry because a product's maker no longer supports it? That is a situation many large enterprises find themselves in, and it's one that poses security risks. Between 30 percent and 50 percent of the hardware and software assets in the average large enterprise have reached their end-of-life date, according to a BDNA report released last month. End-of-life products pose a serious security risk to the enterprise.

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Gadget Ogling: Pokémon Go Drones, New Old Nintendo, and Snowden-Secured Smartphones

Pokémon Go, the augmented-reality smartphone game that's been eating away at the fabric of society in recent weeks, is enormously fun. I enjoy the mechanics, and that it pushes me to go on longer walks every day. That's all well and good in the nicer weather, but when there's two feet of snow, I don't really want to traipse around so much. That's why Pokédrone might be my new favorite thing. You apparently can use it to spoof your phone's GPS signal to help catch more elusive Pokémon, including those that might be out on a lake.

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Windows 10 Is About to Get More Secure, Easier to Use

Microsoft is poised to roll out its Windows 10 Anniversary Update on Tuesday. The free update includes two security innovations for individual customers: Windows Hello for apps and websites; and Windows Defender. Enterprises will get Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection, which detects, investigates and responds to advanced malicious attacks on networks; and Windows Information Protection, or WIP. Microsoft "has done a very creditable and admirable job of paying attention to security," said tech analyst Laura DiDio.

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Uber Sees the Cartography on the Wall

With an eye on its future, Uber last week announced it was increasing its investment in mapping. "The ongoing need for maps tailored to the Uber experience is why we're doubling down on our investment in mapping," said Brian McClendon, Uber's vice president of advanced technologies. McClendon didn't reveal how much Uber will invest in its mapping initiative, but news reports have pegged the figure at $500 million. Uber began putting mapping cars on the road last year, and this summer it expanded the program to Mexico.

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Fixing Apple's Problem

Apple last week reported earnings, and with the exception of a strong showing from the iPad Pro, the key financial metrics were all down -- and for the third quarter running. So what's wrong with Apple? The company had been growing alarmingly well until last year, but growth suddenly has become elusive. It isn't going out of business, but it also isn't the performance king anymore. I'll share some thoughts on what happened to Apple and how to fix it -- if it can be fixed.

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