The business password management company 1Password has launched a new set of features called Developer Tools in order to help developers better secure and share their secrets.
With Developer Tools, developers can securely generate, manage and access secrets within their development workflows beginning with Git. 1Password's new offering also helps simplify complex processes and improves security practices to ensure data is protected without slowing down the development pipeline. At the same time, Developer Tools provides developers with secure access to the secrets they need wherever they are and on any device they happen to be using.
Chief product officer and GM of emerging solutions at 1Password, Akshay Bhargava explained in a press release how Developer Tools can make security more convenient for developers, saying:
"Developers encounter a lot of complexity when building and deploying secure software, and it can often seem like security and convenience are irreconcilable. 1Password Developer Tools aims to make their lives easier by making complex security processes more convenient, and making doing the secure thing, the easy thing."
Managing secrets
According to 1Password's recent Hiding in Plain Sight report, a quarter of employees at IT and DevOps companies have secrets in ten or more different locations and have shared them with colleagues using email, Slack and other insecure channels. Over half (61%) of projects are also delayed due to poor secret management and one in three (36%) developers have shared secrets over insecure channels to increase their productivity.
In addition to protecting personal passwords and information, Developer Tools can enhance productivity by enabling quick generation of SSH keys, seamless access to data via a command line interface (CLI) using biometric authentication and secure secrets management in one app.
Once SSH keys have been generated with just a few clicks, 1Password for the browser will autofill public keys into popular sites including GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket and Digital Ocean. Then by using Developer Tools' built-in SSH agent, developers can push code to GitHub and authenticate other SSH workflows in a terminal by simply scanning their fingerprint.
Developers can also use the new set of features to store secrets in encrypted vaults as one of several default item types including API credential, AWS account, database, server or SSH key to help prevent breaches caused by leaked secrets.
Organizations and developers interested in storing their secrets using 1Password can check out the company's Developer Documentation portal for more information on Developer Tools.
You may have noticed that more Xbox Series X stock has been available at online retailers in recent weeks, despite the ongoing global semiconductor shortage. But why is that the case?
With restocks happening far more frequently than we’ve been used to since Microsoft’s flagship console launched on November 10, 2020 – and with competitors like the PS5 still proving incredibly hard to find – many have speculated as to why Xbox Series X consoles are suddenly easier to find.
According to Nick “Shpeshal” Baker of XboxEra , the answer is pretty simple: it’s basically to do with money.
Speaking on the XboxEra podcast , Shpeshal_Nick said Microsoft made a significant investment back in April of last year to prioritize chip production where Xbox Series X consoles were being produced.
“Almost a year to the day, the 5th of April, I got a DM saying ‘Microsoft’s going to have a lot of consoles available this fall. They’re gonna have a lot.’ And they did in the end, didn’t they? Why is that? Microsoft paid for chip priority.
“Effectively, Microsoft paid for chip priority at the factories, which is why we saw and are still seeing so much more Xbox stock now,” Baker said.
Baker said the increase in Xbox Series X stock shouldn’t come as a major shock to people, considering that Microsoft managed to fill its cloud servers with Xbox Series X blades, produced a custom Halo Infinite limited edition console , and we’re still seeing stock now. This was only possible due to Microsoft’s investment back in April last year, according to Baker.
“How do you think they pulled that off in the chip shortage? They paid for chip priority,” Baker explained. “Money was the reason. Microsoft paid, effectively, to increase their production and have more stock. To me, smart investment. This is the time to do it; people want stock. If you want more subscribers on Game Pass , you’re not going to get them if people can’t get the console.”
Microsoft’s restocks are paying off
It’s not rocket science, but if consumers can’t buy a product sales will naturally suffer as a result. Scarcity can also lead to an increase in scalpers , which plagued both the launch of Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, as they try to profit from the lack of supply and high demand.
Ever since Microsoft made more Xbox Series X stock available, sales have increased substantially – so much so that the Xbox Series X outsold the PS5 Europe in February , something that might not have been possible if Sony had more PS5 stock on shelves.
PS5 sales, meanwhile, have slumped in recent months as people simply can’t buy the console – despite being desperate to do so. Again, it’s all well and good offering a device that everyone wants, but if you can’t buy it, both Sony and consumers ultimately suffer.
It’s a relief that we might finally see the end of the Xbox Series X shortage, then, but it’ll still be some time until the console is in plentiful supply. The Xbox Series X|S consoles are the fastest-selling systems Microsoft has ever produced after all, and demand is unlikely to subside anytime soon.
One of the reasons why Microsoft has managed to shift so many Xbox consoles is largely down to the Xbox Series S . The more affordable console has been readily available for a number of months now, thanks to having a simpler manufacturing process that’s more cost-effective to produce . The cheaper price point has also deterred scalpers, and the fact it’s easy to buy means there’s no opportunity to charge consumers an inflated price.
Google has added a new feature to its word processing software, Docs, that it hopes will make collaborating on important business emails easier than ever.
The office software will now offer a new email template that allows users to draft messages in Google Docs but also see how they would be portrayed as a Gmail email before sending.
Typing @email in the web version of Google Docs will now launch the new template, complete with subject lines, sender and cc fields, and body text box.
Google Docs and Gmail
Once launched, you can tag other Google Workspace users through their email addresses or user names, giving them the chance to review your work and collaborate on the message.
When finished, just click on the email button next to your draft message to see the text transformed into a Gmail compose window, where all the fields will be automatically populated based on your draft text.
The company said in its blog post that the feature has already begun rolling out to Google Docs web users, with the process due to be completed over the next few weeks.
The integration will be enabled by default, and is available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers.
The feature looks to be part of Google's ongoing campaign to make online collaboration a smoother experience as more and more employees embrace hybrid working.
The company revealed its smart canvas initiative in 2021, helping tie together its range of workplace apps such as Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Slides.
Since then, it has also introduced automatically generated summaries in Google Docs, which provide a brief overview of the main points in a document.
Google has also launched " smart chips ", where users can use @-mentions to tag for peoples, files and meetings, along with inserting additional items such as images, tables and templates.
This was expanded recently after the company launched additional smart chips or clickable objects that pull relevant information directly into the collaboration canvas. For instance, the new maps smart chip allows you to easily preview a Google Maps link directly in Docs.
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