Ken Garen, CPA, Co-Founder and President, UBCC

Google on Apple: The End is Near I love using Google services on Apple hardware, but now I fear those days are numbered          Mike Elgan By Mike Elgan  FOLLOW Computerworld | Jun 15, 2015 3:00 AM PT The chat room and social network religious wars between Apple and Google demand that you take sides. But I've always felt that the best experience includes a cherry-picking of Apple hardware, Google services and apps from both. For example, on my MacBook Pro, iPad and iPhone, my No. 1 application is Google Chrome, where I obsessively use Google Search, Google Photos, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google News, Google Maps, Google+, Inbox and more. Yes, I use non-Google services, but eight out of the top 10 sites I use are Google services. After the announcements at Apple WWDC last week, and at Google I/O last month, it's clear that the days of using Google services on Apple hardware are numbered. Soon w...

Softbank's childlike robot with 'heart' set to go on sale Jun 18, 5:47 AM (ET) By YURI KAGEYAMA URAYASU, Japan (AP) — Technology company Softbank's Pepper robot is going on sale in Japan on Saturday, equipped with a "heart" designed to not only recognize human emotions but react with simulations of anger, joy and irritation. The robot, which has no legs and moves on wheels, was shown to reporters and guests at a Tokyo area theater Thursday. It has a hairless head and moving arms and went through a year of software development after first being announced. It glided proudly on to the stage, conversed with celebrity guests, did a dance, sang a birthday song and demonstrated how it could record family life in photos, and serve as a companion. It appeared to respond with joy when it was praised or stroked. Softbank Corp. CEO Masayoshi Son said the company was preparing for a global sales launch with partners Alibaba Group of China and Foxco...

Reacting to Chinese hack, the government may not have followed its own cybersecurity rules By Lisa Rein June 18 at 6:00 AM  In responding to China’s massive hack of federal personnel data, the government may have run afoul of computer security again. Over the last nine days, the Office of Personnel Management has sent e-mail notices to hundreds of thousands of federal employees to notify them of the breach and recommend that they click on a link to a private contractor’s Web site to sign up for credit monitoring and other protections. But those e-mails have been met with increasing alarm by employees — along with retirees and former employees with personal data at risk — who worry that the communications may be a form of “spear phishing” used by adversaries to penetrate sensitive government computer systems. After the Defense Department raised a red flag about the e-mails its 750,000 civilian employees were starting to receive, OPM officials said late Wednesday...

Robo Advisers to Run $2 Trillion by 2020 if This Model Is Right by Michael P Regan June 18, 2015 — 9:55 AM PDT The robots are just getting their metallic feet wet in the investment advisory business. Well, they're not really robots of course, just software that automatically invests and rebalances according to clients' goals and risk tolerances. But it sure is a lot more fun to think of these "robo adviser" products as actual robots like this one or this one. Unless, of course, you are a flesh-and-blood registered investment adviser, then you probably think of scarier robots like this one and this one.  Either way you imagine them, these robots are swarming into the industry. (Here's a good Peggy Collins piece that lays out how some of the old guard in the industry like Vanguard and Charles Schwab Corp. are jumping in the robo game.)  Their popularity is going to explode even more, if new projections from consulting firm A.T. Kearney are i...

Record labels attack Apple deals that would leave them 'completely screwed' Independents claim they could be forced out of business by free trial of new streaming service and withold popular artists such as Adele By Christopher Williams, Technology, Media and Telecoms Editor 6:30PM BST 16 Jun 2015 Apple is accused of attempting to launch its new Spotify rival, Apple Music, in a way that would leave Britain’s independent record labels “completely screwed” and struggling to survive. The Silicon Valley giant is demanding that record labels such as XL Recordings, the home of Adele, and Domino, the label behind the Arctic Monkeys, agree to a free three-month trial of Apple Music, during which they will receive no payment. The plan, only disclosed since the service was unveiled in at a glitzy event in San Francisco last week, has caused dismay among British labels, according to Andy Heath, the chairman of UK Music, the industry lobby group. Mr Heath told ...

Navy to Accelerate Artificial Intelligence Development for Warfighting, Support Roles By: Megan Eckstein June 15, 2015 7:20 AM • Updated: June 15, 2015 9:21 AM The Navy wants to integrate robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) into more of its workload, from warfighting missions to non-combat support roles, and is seeking fleet input on what types of AI research are worth investing in. The service already has, in varying stages of completion, its Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) in the air, a Large Diameter Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (LDUUV) under the sea and the Swarmboat unmanned vehicle on the surface. The warfighting value for these platforms is clear, the service said. “Traditionally in the Department of the Navy the focus is on the warfighting mission, and rightfully so, but maybe not so much on the support side,” Bob Kozloski, deputy director of Task Force Innovation and deputy chief of the Office of Strategy and Innova...

FAQ: How Microsoft will update Windows 10 It's a complicated process, different than past decades, but offers more options for some customers          Gregg Keizer By Gregg Keizer  FOLLOW Computerworld | Jun 15, 2015 3:11 AM PT Microsoft is just weeks away from pushing customers into a radical overhaul of how they receive security, maintenance and new feature updates. Windows 10, which Microsoft has promised will be updated more often than past iterations, especially with feature and functionality, user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) changes, will debut July 29. That's only six weeks from now. And while Microsoft remains closed-mouth about some of the details of how it plans to keep Windows 10 up to date on customers' devices, enough has surfaced for a relatively-clear picture of the process. Short take: It's confusing and complicated, particularly for long-time Windows veterans, who have dealt with the one...