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The Morning Download: When Antiquated Tech Leaves Families Hanging


Good day, CIOs. We take a break from sharing stories on innovations in artificial intelligence and quantum technology to provide the latest news from government IT-land. Here’s The Wall Street Journal’s Ben Kesling on how a Department of Veterans Affairs computer system botched calculations for GI Bill benefits, leaving thousands of student veterans without full housing assistance. The episode is a reminder that the seemingly mundane process of patching and updating software can make a big difference in people’s lives, and must be a core competency of every organization.

Tech even slower than the speed of Congress. “At the root of the problem: the VA’s antiquated computer systems and a change Congress made last year in the way housing stipends are calculated under the GI Bill, a program that covers education expenses for veterans. The change went into effect on Aug. 1, overwhelming the VA’s IT infrastructure and leading to months of improperly-calculated payments.”

A 50 year-old IT platform. “Essentially, the law requires a 50-year-old IT platform that was designed to do the equivalent of basic math to instead perform something akin to calculus in short order,” VA spokesman Curt Cashour tells  The Wall Street Journal in an email.

TECH EARNINGS

Nvidia suffers crypto hangover. Shares in Nvidia Corp. tumbled 18% in after hours trading late Thursday after the videogame console and data center chip maker projected revenue declines for the current quarter, The Wall Street Journal reports. The company’s hardware has become popular with people mining virtual currencies, which have seen sharp declines in prices in recent months.

Tencent stock gets earnings boost. Shares of Tencent Holdings Ltd., China’s largest videogames firm, rallied to close 5.8% higher on Thursday, after it reported a 30% rise in profit to roughly $3.39 billion for the latest quarter, The Wall Street Journal reports. Despite the better-than-expected earnings boost, shares of the maker of WeChat, a near ubiquitous instant messaging and payments app, are down nearly 30% for the year amid souring investor sentiment and increased regulatory pressures.

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Facebook ‘dislikes’ Russian report. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Inc.’s chief executive officer, in a call with reporters lashed out at a New York Times story alleging the social-media giant sought to conceal the scope of Russian interference on the platform from lawmakers and the public, The Wall Street Journal’s Deepa Seetharaman reports. Mr. Zuckerberg agreed that the company was slow to act, but said it “is simply untrue” that it has tried to downplay the issue.

BlackBerry to buy Cylance. Reuters reports that BlackBerry Ltd. will acquire the AI and cybersecurity company for $1.4 billion.

Salesforce goes containers. Salesforce.com Inc. has invested an undisclosed sum into container company Docker Inc. GeekWire reports that as part of the deal, Docker and Salesforce.com’s MuleSoft division will cross-sell each other’s products.

Amazon hosts face ‘prosperity bomb’. Seattle offers a stark lesson for what New York’s Long Island City and Northern Virginia can expect when Amazon.com Inc. comes to town, ranging from new restaurants and infrastructure to traffic jams and skyrocketing housing prices, writes The Wall Street Journal’s Jay Greene. The online giant on Tuesday announced the two locations as twin sites for its second headquarters, with some 25,000 employees each.

Apple readies for its closeup. Apple Inc. has announced a multiyear partnership with Oscar-winning studio A24 to make feature-length films, Tripp Mickle and Erich Schwartzel report in The Wall Street Journal. The move broadens the iPhone maker’s push into original content beyond TV programming, as well as two previous deals for the documentary film “The Elephant Queen” and an animated film, “Wolfwalkers.”

WHAT YOUR CEO IS READING

Every week, CIO Journal offers a glimpse into the mind of the CEO, whose view of technology is shaped by stories in management journals, general interest magazines and, of course, in-flight publications

Silicon Valley meatheads. Go take a trip, microdosing. Mind your own business, mindfulness. Hot yoga … you’re smelling up the open workspace. When Silicon Valley workers need to get an edge, they go full carnivore The SF Chronicle’s Melia Russell introduces readers to a couple meatheads. Paul Benigeri, an employee at startup Hvmm keeps the communal fridge stocked with short ribs and New York strip and his colleagues’ bellies full on steak tartare. And although Github‘s Ryan Parks has had problems with bowel movements, he credits the products of his foraging trips to Whole Foods–“6 pounds of ground beef or rib-eye steak, cheese and butter”–with helping him feel “lighter and more energized.”

School fail While the news cycle ceaslessly pummels Silicon Valley’s on its claim to make the world a better place, Brooklyn kids are tackling another techie trope: Preparing today’s generation of smartphone-addicted kids for the future lies in more screentime. Earlier this month students at the Secondary School for Journalism took to the streets against a web-based curriculum created by Facebook engineers and funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. “It’s annoying to just sit there staring at one screen for so long,” student Mitchel Storman tells the New York Post’s Susan Edelman.



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