In response to the Heartbleed security vulnerability that was revealed last week, the OpenSSL Software Foundation is asking for money to help support its cause. Steve Marquess, co-founder and president of the OpenSSL Software Foundation, wrote in a blog post that the foundation only gets $2,000 a year in donations.
It has been able to raise $9,000 since the Heartbleed SSL flaw was exposed. The idea is that with additional funds there could be more full time OSF OpenSSL team members working to keep websites secure. However, there has also been discussion that it might be better for the OSF to open up its model and take on corporate sponsorships so there can be multiple core contributors working full-time among the multiple vendors that actively consume OpenSSL.
Broadcom and Quantenna Communications are both working to speed up WiFi wireless networks. Broadcom officials announced that the company’s 5G WiFi XStream chip platform will double the performance of current WiFi devices for high-definition streaming and data.
Meanwhile Quantenna officials stated the company is making a 10G WiFi chipset for access points in enterprises, the home and public spaces. Both companies cited the growing demand for HD content on all devices as motivators behind their recent moves.
While Microsoft has ended support for Windows XP, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is paying the company to keep support going. Specifically, the IRS is paying Microsoft less than $500,000 to support its 58,000 Windows XP systems. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen explained that it was funding, not negligence that led to the IRS missing Microsoft’s deadline for switching operating systems.
Finally, a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests that disruptive new entrants, technology advances, a growing demand by an aging population and empowered consumers are all bringing about a new era of health IT.
The report shows that consumers appear to be willing to spend up to $13.6 billion a year of their own money on medical products such as health-related video games and ratings services. This is why the next-generation of health companies may need to have stronger tech-related knowledge.