Instagram has introduced Checkout on Instagram -- an in-app purchasing tool -- as a closed beta for consumers in the United States. Among the 20 participating brands are Adidas, Nike, Burberry, Dior, Huda Beauty, Prada and Michael Kors. "Users in the U.S. can buy from a majority of these brands starting today, with all of them coming on board over the coming weeks," said Instagram spokesperson Paige Cohen. Instagram will continue adding brands to the closed beta, and it plans to expand Checkout beyond the U.S. in the future, she added. [More...]

Cybersecurity experts at Microsoft's Windows Defender Security Intelligence Team this week reported their discovery of two new email-based phishing campaigns. One targets American Express users while the other targets Netflix customers. Both campaigns reportedly are very well-crafted, featuring legitimate logos and even fill-in forms that closely mimic those on the respective company's own websites. It isn't clear if these campaigns are being orchestrated by the same group, but each was launched last weekend, and each cast a wide net. [More...]

SparkyLinux can ignite your daily computing experience. Its spark is pushing me to rethink my computing priorities. Regularly reviewing so many Linux operating systems for Linux Picks and Pans has a serious consequence for my computing sanity. Normally, I have a flirtatious episode with a new release each week. I'm always on the lookout for something new and shiny. Then my flash-in-the-pan relationship flames out in favor of some other newly released rival a week later. I love the freedom of choice that open source Linux OSes offer. [More...]

Oracle held its Modern Customer Experience conference in Las Vegas this week, and it was eye-opening. This is the fourth MCX conference and an important milestone for a company that came to the cloud later than its competition. No doubt about it, Oracle has done much in a short time to develop and deploy its customer experience vision, so it is now possible and fair to critique the company's progress. First off, becoming a cloud company is way more complex than putting your products in the cloud and taking orders. [More...]