Author: Carter

The opinions expressed in this piece are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carolina Journal or its publisher. Artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing are becoming increasingly central to the modern economy, driving business intelligence, operational efficiency, and data-driven decision-making across industries. From generative AI tools to routine digital services, these technologies depend on an expanding web of physical infrastructure — most notably data centers. Data centers deliver the computational power, storage, and connectivity that keep digital systems running, but they also place significant demands on energy and water resources. As demand for AI…

Jan 09, 2026Ravie LakshmananVirtualization / Vulnerability Chinese-speaking threat actors are suspected to have leveraged a compromised SonicWall VPN appliance as an initial access vector to deploy a VMware ESXi exploit that may have been developed as far back as February 2024. Cybersecurity firm Huntress, which observed the activity in December 2025 and stopped it before it could progress to the final stage, said it may have resulted in a ransomware attack. Most notably, the attack is believed to have exploited three VMware vulnerabilities that were disclosed as zero-days by Broadcom in March 2025: CVE-2025-22224 (CVSS score: 9.3), CVE-2025-22225 (CVSS score:…

The increasing prevalence of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, predicted to surpass 30 billion connections by 2030, presents a growing and complex challenge to cybersecurity. Trung Dao from IBM, alongside Minh Nguyen, Son Do, and Hoang Tran, investigated the vulnerabilities, threats and potential defense mechanisms within IoT networks. Their comprehensive survey analyses the interplay between network and application layers, focusing on real-time monitoring and informed decision-making. By reviewing 59 scholarly articles published over the last fifteen years, the researchers identify critical threat categories and highlight promising advanced defense strategies. This work is significant as it proposes a novel five-layer IoT…

This post is co-written by Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia Itaú (ICTi) and AWS. Sentiment analysis has grown increasingly important in modern enterprises, providing insights into customer opinions, satisfaction levels, and potential frustrations. As interactions occur largely through text (such as social media, chat applications, and ecommerce reviews) or voice (such as call centers and telephony), organizations need robust methods to interpret these signals at scale. By accurately identifying and classifying a customer’s emotional state, companies can deliver more proactive, customized experiences, positively impacting customer satisfaction and loyalty. Despite its strategic value, implementing comprehensive sentiment analysis solutions presents several challenges.…

Boston Dynamics’ hydraulic Atlas, once a serial backflipper that stunned the world, ceded the CES 2026 spotlight to a plain-looking, sure-footed all-electric Atlas — not just a product iteration, but a pragmatic pledge to the industrial world.On January 6 local time, at CES in Las Vegas, Boston Dynamics officially unveiled the next-generation all-electric Atlas humanoid robot. It stands about 1.9 meters tall, weighs 90 kilograms, carries 56 degrees of freedom, and can handle loads of roughly 50 kilograms — each spec aimed squarely at a practical goal: efficient, reliable industrial labor.In the demo video played at the show, the new…

Nvidia, Broadcom, and Amazon are all solid long-term plays on the AI boom.Over the past decade, the artificial intelligence (AI) market has expanded as companies launched faster, more efficient, and more intelligent AI applications. By consuming and analyzing massive amounts of data, these applications enabled their users to identify trends, make informed predictions, and execute smarter, data-driven decisions. The rise of generative AI chatbots, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, roped in mainstream users while disrupting search engines and information-driven industries. The increasing use of AI-generated text, images, and videos has shaken up creative fields. At the same time, AI-powered algorithms have streamlined…

Loyalty programs remain a powerful tool for businesses. According to last year’s Statista survey, a third of marketers believe their company earns five to seven times more from these programs than it spends implementing them. But the bigger picture is less optimistic: The Bond Loyalty Report 2025 shows that even in mature markets, user satisfaction is low — only 48% of Americans and 32% of Canadians are happy with their loyalty programs. Why? People expect more. If all you offer is point accumulation for future discounts or cashback, you don’t stand out among dozens of other programs. Rational benefits still…

Key PointsOpenAI is spending $38 billion over seven years to use Amazon’s cloud.The two companies may have another deal in the works, with Amazon potentially making a $10 billion investment in OpenAI.Amazon is well positioned to benefit from the estimated $2 trillion AI cloud computing market.Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN) recently launched a new website for Alexa+, the latest iteration of its AI chatbot. While it’s only available to a limited number of early access users, the eventual goal for the Alexa+ site is to better compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google Gemini.This recent move highlights Amazon’s effort to catch up with its…

Netflix’s Stranger Things is a world where the mundane can suddenly become a portal to the deadly Upside Down, a perfect metaphor for the current state of the Internet of Things (IoT). From smart home gadgets to industrial sensors, IoT assets connect our world in staggering new ways, promising efficiency and convenience. However, much like the town of Hawkins, Indiana, these assets also harbour hidden, often ignored, vulnerabilities that can open a gate to the digital equivalent of the Upside Down. Below are the top eleven risks that every security team should address to effectively close the gate on common…

Vision-based strawberry plant assessments are essential first steps towards increased automation, mitigating periodically high labour demands In temperate regions such as Belgium and the Netherlands, strawberry plants are propagated on open-air tray fields. After the summer solstice, runner plantlets develop into young plants over the course of four to five months. In June-bearing varieties, shortening days trigger flower induction; in everbearing types, the first flowering flush begins. Once plants reach the right stage, they are cold-stored for later production. Transforming labor-heavy propagation processes Strawberry propagation involves many labour-intensive tasks, which include predicting runner production, plantlet harvest, plantlet quality control, installing…