ICANN has approved Monash University to operate the new .monash top-level domain, with the first two .monash sites due to come online in the near future. [ + ]

Intel plans to cut its global headcount of around 107,000 by about 5% this year, equalling a total loss of more than 5000 jobs. [ + ]

The next iteration of Microsoft's Windows is slated to ship in April 2015 and will likely be called Windows 9, according to supposed inside sources at the company. [ + ]

Google this week announced it plans to purchase home automation company Nest Labs for US$3.2 billion in what pundits are labelling a move into the Internet of Things. Users, however, have raised privacy concerns about the purchase. [ + ]

Southern Cross Cable Network has commissioned an upgrade that will add 500 Gbps of capacity to each of the two SXC subsea cables. [ + ]

Brocade's new distinguished engineer, Benson Schliesser, will help shape the company's future software defined networking and network functions virtualisation strategies. [ + ]

News stories about hackers obtaining data on millions of customer accounts might grab attention, but are they that far removed from the situations of the organisations that most of us work for? [ + ]

Defence has frozen a plan to bundle two IT outsourcing contracts into a "distributed computing" tender, and has instead extended an existing contract with Unisys in a $52m deal. [ + ]

A recent malware attack that saw Yahoo! serving malware to users of its websites affected more users than originally thought and may have caused affected computers to become 'bitcoin slaves', generating bitcoins for the attackers. [ + ]

Intel has revealed plans to progressively replace the long-lasting McAfee brand with a new name - Intel Security - and to branch out into the emerging wearable devices segment. [ + ]

We take a look at the biggest news from the holiday season, with more NSA allegations making the rounds, smartphone makers feeling the pinch and PC vendors evolving to avoid obsolescence. [ + ]

Four experts converge to discuss the true meaning of big data, the real-world insights it can provide and the ethical implications surrounding big data analytics. [ + ]

Data storage has an exciting role to play in the all-important healthcare industry, which is becoming increasingly reliant on IT. [ + ]

The big question about big data remains: is this going to be another oil rush with a few winners and many losers, or will it enrich us all? [ + ]

Several years ago, there was a concerted move from direct-attached storage (DAS) towards SAN (storage area network) and NAS (networked-attached storage). But emerging storage technologies could mean the resurgence of DAS within the next 10 years. [ + ]