westhamlet

viacom makes a deal with joost

2007-05-19T10:23:00.000-05:00

Joost, the new P2P - based video start-up will "broadcast" Viacom's music videos, and other programs. The roster includes MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount motion pictures. This news was broke by The Wall Street Journal. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Viacom now becomes a "key launch partner".

Joost is about TV-like programming. Joost just recently closed a $45 million dollar financing deal.

Joost can be accessed with a broadband Internet connection and offers video content to viewers for free. Joost features more than 150 channels with programming across all genres, including: cartoons and animation; entertainment and film; sports; comedy; lifestyle and documentaries; and sci-fi. Warner Bros. Television Group also announced it will be bringing progam offerings to Joost as well. The Warner Bros. Television Group is experienced in bringing new television viewing models to the evolving television industry.

Joost offers instant messaging, chat and search in the television watching experience. The viewer has control over what and when to watch a program.

joost

p2p

rush limbaugh happenings

2007-05-10T09:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh made an offer to help the sagging ratings of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. He offered to be interviewed live. Rush said that he had been approached by other news media outlets for an interview...and so far has declined all of the requests.

His offer to CBS came from Rush himself and he was serious about the offer.

Recently Rush has come under fire for airing a parody song about Barack Obama called "Barach, the Magic Negro" that sounds like Al Sharpton is singing the song through a blow horn. Obama has played down the rumbling.

rush limbaugh

entertainment

military has own youtube channel

2007-05-08T15:10:00.000-05:00

The military has launched its own military youtube channel. It's called the Multi-National Force Channel. You will see combat action and eye-catching footage. One pundit says this should be a good counter to CNN's bias reporting on Iraq. The material will not be overly graphic. According to the L.A. Times, the channel was viewed 120,000 times in the first month.

Link to Operation Tomahawk Strike 11 video

It is the 17th most subscribed to youtube channel this month! A recently home-made video was seen over 354,00 times.

thedailyreel.com source story

technorati tag: iraq

technorati tag: youtube

bird flu symptoms reported in indonesia

2007-01-16T09:38:00.000-06:00

Health officials are alarmed at an increase in bird flu symptoms reported in an Indonesian hospital. The virus is said to have spread among birds in Vietnam and Thailand. Four Indonesians have died in the last week. Indonesia plans to prohibit people from keeping fowl in their backyards.

The World Health Organization says this spike in cases was expected.

Read the story from Reuters

technorati tag: bird flu

blogging reflections of 2006

2007-01-10T08:35:00.000-06:00

Bill Elmore of techrepublic.com wrote an interesting article about blogosphere of 2006. The item most talked about seems to be data breeches. Several high profile incidents were reported on. The "handling" of private data couldn't be more important. Companies that deal with this information need to ramp up their efforts to keep that data safe and away from possibilities of theft.

In Bill's article, he notes that data breeches aren't going away in 2007. Companies still won't put a high priority on keeping data safe. That's a word to the wise. Be careful yourself. We need to take preventative measures so our data isn't breeched.

link to Bill's article

technorati tag: blogging

technorati tag: Observations

technorati tag: events

iraq death toll at 2974

2006-12-26T11:55:00.000-06:00

The death toll in Iraq are one more than the number of dead from the 9/11 attacks on the WTC. Two deaths were announced on Monday, December 26, 2006 as a result of a car bomb explosion southwest of Baghdad.

Soldiers of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment stand guard. The writing on the wall in anti-American slogans.

technorati tag: iraq

tecnorati search: 9/11

u.s.trade deficit hit high

2006-09-12T19:06:00.000-05:00

The U.S. trade deficit hit a new high of $68 billion in July. The main reason was that the cost of oil imports rose. The figure represents a 5% rise from June's figure. 2006 as a whole is expected to go over 2005's 717 billion. Crude oil imports rose $28.5 billion.

Read the story from the BBC

technorati tag: economy

technorati tag: oil

create an IT defense checklist

2006-08-29T06:29:00.000-05:00

Take a proactive approach on data security as part of an overall IT strategy.

Inventory data - What do you have that's most at risk?

Consider encryption - Many people are encrypting more, both data in transit and at rest.

Encrypting isn't enough - Verify the source and its destination.

Avoid the "Bagel Defense" - Use firewalls, but also protect key data inside and monitor it for access.

Watch your firewalls - Use automated tools for monitoring firewall traffic.

Think beyong the network - Know all ways data can leave the network. Consider what to do if a laptop is lost or stolen.

Educate everyone - The more is known about security, the safer the data is.

Invest wisely - Don't be content with one security project. Consider going further.

tecnorati tag: IT

technorati tag: computers

version 2 of geodata.gov

2006-08-27T20:23:00.000-05:00

Geospatial mapping tools have gained a broader use and visibility for government agencies and private enterprise. The site (geodata.gov) offers access to an array of national and local mapping data. Version 2 has a marketplace capability so one can mark off an area on a U.S. map, define geospatial information that's being searched and identify other users who may be working with similar data on the system.

The marketplace tool is designed to grow communities (business and economic) of interest around specific geospatial data. Underlying metadata is harvested in a more automated way. One such area is the census information.

technorati tag: WORLD

technorati tag: Observations

bloggers: a study

2006-07-22T15:57:00.000-05:00

Pew Internet conducted a survey of bloggers and asked why they blog, etc. Many do it for themselves, and that's about it.

technorati tag: Blogging

new tropical storm could form around florida

2006-07-05T07:58:00.000-05:00

The National Hurricane Center said showers and thunderstorms were currently located over the Bahamas, central and eastern Cuba and southeastern Florida. Over the next couple of days, the system could drift slowly westward over the Florida Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico.

technorati tag: News

da vinci doings

2006-05-17T09:28:00.000-05:00

On the TODAY SHOW, actor Ian McKellan said that the Holy Bible should come with a disclaimer stating that what's inside is "fiction." Those remarks were made at Cannes, as the Today Show is on the road.

On Tuesday (05.16.06) the film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews. The audience was said to have laughed, moaned, and hissed after the movie was finished. Critics got their first look at the film, before the official festival debut. Critics at the screening were said to have grown restless during the film's two-and-a-half hour length.

technorati tag: Da Vinci Code

technorati tag: Entertainment

dolphins stadium gets new display

2006-04-12T11:22:00.000-05:00

Dolphins Stadium in Miami has a new HD display. The 720p is 50 feet high and 137 feet wide. Now I just hope it makes then win more at home!

technorati tag: technology

suggestion: to avoid bird flu, keep cats indoors

2006-04-10T08:01:00.000-05:00

In areas where bird flu is found in wild birds and/or poultry, people are urged to keep their cats indoors. Some scientists think that there is a feline potential to spreading the disease. Cats have been known to become infected with the H5N1 virus. Cats that may have been exposed to the virus should be quarantined.

technorati tag: H5N1

blog syndicate to launch

2006-04-10T06:20:00.000-05:00

Blogging and mainstream media will soon have one more reason to slowly erase the line that separates them. BlogBurst, from the blog tech company Pluck, will launch soon. This new service will be used by 600 bloggers to syndicate headlines and stories to newspapers. Pluck has signed up with Ganett and the Washington Post, to name just a couple of the publications.

technorati tag: Blogging

eff claims at&t forwards all internet traffic to the nsa

2006-04-07T20:42:00.000-05:00

The Electronic Frontier Foundation claims that AT&T forwards internet traffic to the National Security Agency. The documents in the suit were filed under seal.

technorati tag: Internet

fingerprints hide lifestyle clues

2006-04-02T12:09:00.000-05:00

Fingerprints could soon help police narrow down their list of suspects by giving clues about the lifestyle of whoever left the prints at the scene of a crime. The work started by examining the chemical components of fingerprints. These chemical components help in determining if the subject is a smoker, how old, if they use drugs or are on any medication, and personal grooming habits. The work hopes to give investigators clues on prints that have perhaps went unnoticed for days and weeks.

technorati tag: terrorism

technorati tag: science

simply irreversible

2006-03-31T13:32:00.000-06:00

The U.N. Security Council gave Iran 30 days to suspend uranium enrichment or face isolation. Iran has suggested its nuclear program is peaceful and has rejected the council's demand. Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki has siad the Iranian pursuit of nuclear power is irreversible.

technorati tag: iran

working to justify COPA

2006-03-31T13:11:00.000-06:00

The U.S. Justice Department sought information from a variety of Internet service providers as part of its probe related to the Child Online Protection Act (COPA). The law restricts the posting of sexually explicit material deemed harmful to minors.

technorati tag: Internet

a new H5N1 mutation reported

2006-03-29T07:36:00.000-06:00

The WHO reported 12 new H5N1 cases between March 1 and March 24. The new virulently fatal Asian mutation of the H5N1 strain creates a second genetic track for H5N1 to spread more easily from human-to-human.

technorati tag: H5N1

technorati search: H5N1

new warfare: fingerprint matching

2006-03-26T08:20:00.000-06:00

The U.S. Army is equipping soldiers with new instruments of warfare in Iraq. These are field kits used to collect digital fingerprints and other physical evidence from battle sites. The Pentagon has changed the way they look at Iraq - from combat theater to crime scene. Following an encounter with insurgents, soldiers sweep the area looking for physical evidence that will confirm if the same group of insurgents were responsible for mutiple attacks. Fingerprints is one area in which concentration is focused. Soldiers use an Automated Biometric Indentification System database to store evidence. Once in the database, the information is available for a number of applications. One such program is the identification card system for non-U.S.-born contractors in Iraq. The effort was launched as a result of the December 2004 attack in Mosul. The conclusion was that attack was conducted by a suicide bomber who gained access to the base. Now foreign contractors must submit to a security check. If cleared, they wear a biometrically encoded smart card that has fingerprint images on it. These images are stored in the database and when an explosive device is used in an attack investigators can check for fingerprint matches found at the attack scene. The work is risky at the forward areas and transmitting the data is a challenge. This effort has been used to catch and identify insurgents, terrorists, and other enemy combatants.

technorati tag: Iraq

lean XHMTL and precise CSS

2006-03-25T20:49:00.000-06:00

The use of CSS indentation makes for work to get done easier and faster. The use of image replacement gives meaning to usually useless images. This gives logos semantic meaning.

read more | digg story

technorati tag: css

false happiness can be bad for you?

2006-03-23T09:19:00.000-06:00

A German study suggests that forced happiness can be bad for your health. Being and staying unhappy is good for you. Does this means that the media in the U.S. will be around for a longer time? The study was conducted at an experimental call center where subjects were exposed to abuse from clients.

technorati tag: Culture

technorati tag: Daily Life

technorati search: media

oil shortage visionary

2006-03-22T10:17:00.000-06:00

According to Kenneth Deffeyes December 16, 2005 was the day the world started using the second half of oil. Deffeyes has now said he is no longer a prophet, but an historian.

technorati tag: peak oil

technorati tag: economy

republicans still search for a message

2006-03-21T19:56:00.000-06:00

GOP leaders are stumbling for a message that will carry them through the 2006 elections. President Bush and the House Republicans have not come through with a new Social Security plan, an energy plan that helps with less dependence on foreign oil, nor a health plan. These were Republican themes that have not come to fruition.

Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) said that the GOP has went against its principles. The party has not stayed with a small-government approach. GOP leaders met in Memphis recently and the consensus was that the fiscal discipline is lacking. This has probably created a wedge between the more moderate and conservative congressional leaders. Getting policy matters in place for an agenda has proven more difficult.

President Bush has been talking about national security when it comes to the war in Iraq and the nuclear weapon problem in Iran. Are these issues enough for good GOP congressional showings in the 2006 general elections? We'll see.

technorati tag: Bush

technorati tag: politics

technorati tag: republicans

the spy story not told - until now

2006-03-21T10:16:00.000-06:00

Naji Sabri, the Iraqi foreign minister under Saddam Hussein's regime, was in contact with the CIA before the U.S. led Iraqi invasion. Sabri had a good cover when he went to New York in September 2002 when he addressed the U.N. He read a statement from Saddam which basically said the United States was acting on behalf of "Zionism" and then annouced that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Sabri however had a third party meet with CIA officers in New York to give them Sadam's weapons of mass destruction report. The CIA wanted a relationship with Sabri, but it included that Sabri defect to the U.S. and Sabri did not want to defect.

technorati tag: cia

cia to agency bloggers - you need approval first

2006-03-20T10:38:00.000-06:00

The CIA Publications Review Board has sent reminders to agency veterans. You need required approval first from the agency before writings are published-even blogs. A CIA spokesman said that this is standard operating procedure.

technorati tag: cia

technorati tag: Blogs

four nations confirm bird flu

2006-03-16T08:13:00.000-06:00

Bird flu has spread with alarming speed across Eurpoe, Africa, and parts of Asia.

technorati tag: H5N1

the who and the secret bird flu database

2006-03-15T07:55:00.000-06:00

The World Health Organization operates a database that holds the genetic infromation of the bird flu. A lone Italian scientist has voluntarily withheld information from that database and is urging other scientists to do the same. The archive is password protected so scientists can not obtain their information or anyone else's once it is in the archive. Some WHO officials have called for the opening of the database.

Information on the bird flu from the University of Minnesota

technorati tag: bird flu

technorati tag: H5N1

technorati search: world health organization

u.s. takes on iran's leaders

2006-03-14T21:20:00.000-06:00

Iran is front and center on the U.S. national security agenda. The Bush Administration plans a sustained campaign against the ayatollahs. The Hoover Institution has come away with the impression that President Bush will have a more robust policy against the Iranian government. In the past week the State Department has created an Iran desk. More staff will be stationed in Dubai, which is part of th UAE, to keep an eye on Tehran. This is difficult to do since the U.S. has no embassy in Tehran.

technorati tag: iran

technorati tag: national security

technorati search: national security

del.icio.us/mike81859

america's fifth column at the ports

2006-03-13T15:43:00.000-06:00

The port deal with the UAE was a huge bell that was rung. The UAE company helped the situation a bit by pledging to turn over the American operations to an American company. The problemm seen by many is that the threat of terrorism would increase. But America has had a fifthe column at the posts for decades - the Mafia.

A civil suit filed in July accused the International Longshoreman's Association of being a vehicle for organized crime. The complaint accused members of the union of being involved with crime families. The ILA was very vocal about the port deal (against it). Could it be that any illegal operations they have going would be shut down?

technorati search: mafia

avian bird flu assistance for businesses

2006-03-11T19:16:00.000-06:00

The Global Flu Consortium has announced that it has started operations. The consortium is headed by Dr. Roscoe Moore, formerly Assistant Surgeon General.

technorati tag: h5n1

nfl agreement: a touchdown for capitalism

2006-03-10T07:51:00.000-06:00

The teams with the highest revenue have agreed to pay out more to the poorer teams. This allows those particular teams to stay competitive.

technorati tag: sports

pentagon reaches out to bloggers

2006-03-08T07:54:00.000-06:00

U.S. Central Command has set up a three man-team to interact with bloggers and their postings. The main topic is the war on terror.

tecnorati search: war on terror

technorati tag: blogging

technorati tag: pentagon

behind the scenes at the U.N.

2006-03-06T21:55:00.000-06:00

Interesting information from Edith Lederer from behind-the-scenes at the United Nations. I learned that John Bolton is very organized and kept his meetings on time and full of purpose.

united nations

india nuke deal raises eyebrows

2006-03-05T07:54:00.000-06:00

Non-proliferation specialists say the nuclear arms deal made with India and annouced on Thursday, March 2 is a blow to the non-proliferation cause itself. India's behavior has been compared to Iran's. India has failed to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Back at home both selected Democrats and Republicans have had reservations about the deal which marks one-third of India's nuclear reactors as military.

technorati tag: nuclear weapons

technorati search: india

technorati search: non-proliferation treaty

Cat found to have bird flu

2006-03-01T08:25:00.000-06:00

The first non-human mammal recorded that has contracted this disease. Previously only birds were known to have had the virus.

read more | digg story

h5n1

technorati search: h5n1

podcast interview with bird flu book author John Farndon

2006-02-23T09:51:00.000-06:00

A podcast of an interview with John Farndon who wrote Everything You Need to Kow: Bird Flu.

bird flu

India seals off town

2006-02-23T09:20:00.000-06:00

No-one will be allowed in or out of Navapur, in India's Maharashtra state, which has a population of nearly 30,000, or 19 nearby villages. Bird flu has been discovered.

The measures come after reports that blood samples from people in hospital have tested positive for bird flu. Health officials deny the reports.

Hundreds of thousands of birds are being culled after deadly H5N1 bird flu was found in Navapur last week.

H5N1

China's market for IT

2006-02-19T20:17:00.000-06:00

The China Center of Information Industry Development(CCID) reported the market for information technology services in China is expected to grow 20.6 pct annually for the next five years. Last year, China's IT service market volume hit 82.27 bln yuan, up 20.1 pct year-on-year, the Times quoted a CCID report as saying.

The sector is booming partly due to rising computer sales and Internet usage. In 2005 about 19.9 mln personal computers were sold in the Chinese market, with sales volume totaling 121.09 bln yuan, up 18.8 pct and 8.7 pct year-on-year, according to CCID figures. The number of Internet users has also risen to more than 110 mln in the past year.

(1 usd = 8.05 yuan)

China

History of CIA interrogation exposed

2006-02-19T17:43:00.000-06:00

Alfred McCoy, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madisonis the author of “A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, From the Cold War to the War on Terror” and also “The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade.”

The U.S. made a pledge against torture when Congress ratified the UN Convention Against Torture in 1994 - but it was ratified with reservations that exempted the CIA’s psychological torture method. So what were the results? Although seemingly less brutal, "no touch" torture leaves deep psychological scars on both victims and interrogators. The victims often need long treatment to recover from trauma far more crippling than physical pain. The perpetrators can suffer a dangerous expansion of ego, leading to escalating cruelty and lasting emotional problems.

In the CIA's first stage, interrogators employ simple, non-violent techniques to disorient the subject. To induce temporal confusion, interrogators use hooding or sleep deprivation. To intensify disorientation, interrogators often escalate to attacks on personal identity by sexual humiliation.

Once the subject is disoriented, interrogators move on to a second stage with simple, self-inflicted discomfort such as standing for hours with arms extended. In this phase, the idea is to make victims feel responsible for their own pain and thus induce them to alleviate it by capitulating to the interrogator's power.

To be sure, torture is a violation of human rights. Have terrorists given up that right to be human? According to many critics and watchers of the Bush Administration and the war on terror the answer is yes. That answer was given by those who use torture as a method of interrogation. But that is how torure works...treat your victims as "less human" and the torturer will have power over the prisoner. A circle has thus been created. I have power because I torture, I torture because I have power. The United Nations Convention Against Torture has received new interest because of the tales coming from Abu Ghraib in Iraq. Will the U.N. adopt new anti-torture resolutions? If so, will those resolutions be effective? Probably not because someone will be exempt.

torture

Egypt detected first cases of deadly bird flu strain

2006-02-19T17:19:00.000-06:00

The government of Egypt has detected the flu strain in chickens at Cairo, Giza, and Minya. Four chickens were infected at Cairo and 2 each in Giza and Minya. No human cases were detected. The first cases found in Africa were in the country of Nigeria. The disease has spread west from the original detection location of Southeast Asia. The disease can spread from birds to humans. So far there has been no human-to-human contact.

H5N1

WeatherBug does video

2006-02-19T07:45:00.000-06:00

WeatherBug has introduced a video service for weather forecasts.

read more | digg story

Media

news source choice

2006-02-16T16:56:00.000-06:00

A growing number of people read the news online, but the format of choice uis still the newspaper, according to Nielsen/Net Ratings. Here are the results from a recent survey:

Primarily print newspaper 71%
Primarily online newspaper 22%
Split between the two 7%

News

outsourcing on the rise

2006-02-16T16:42:00.000-06:00

By 2007, total global offshore spending on IT services will reach $50 billion according to Gartner. India maintained its top position among the global sourcing destinations despite growing competition. Although more options for external service provision are becoming available worldwide, India reamins the market leader with a majority of essential resources and a sufficiently robust technology infrastructure.

outsourcing

business

investment analysis using internet data mining

2006-02-15T10:09:00.000-06:00

Majestic Research is using web crawling techniques to track business performance. Majestic uses data mining systems to collect real-time sales data and other information on companies that have a web presence.

Business

wall street

bird flu in germany, austria and iran

2006-02-15T07:48:00.000-06:00

Germany, Austria and Iran said on 02/15/2006 that they detected the deadly bird flu in wild swans. So far the virus has killed 91 people worldwide. Germany said its results came from initial tests. Both countries said samples of the dead birds had been sent to the EU's reference laboratory in Britain for confirmation. The other EU countries to have reported the flu are Italy and Greece.

The highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the virus has killed at least 91 people in Asia and the Middle East, according to the World Health Organization.

health

iran

Anything you need to do with Web 2.0

2006-02-15T06:01:00.000-06:00

This useful site is full of links that help you do what you want to do in Web 2.0. Enjoy, you can get lost in there!

read more | digg story
Web

u.s. planning strikes against iran

2006-02-13T14:06:00.000-06:00

The U.S. is drawing plans for airstrikes against Iranian targets as a "last resort" to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The most likely strategy would involve aerial bombardment by long-distance B2 bombers, each armed with up to 40,000lb of precision weapons, including the latest bunker-busting devices.

They would fly from bases in Missouri with mid-air refuelling.

Iran nuclear facilities that could become targets

Saghand - mining: Uranium ore discovered 1985. Mining began later that year with 120,000 tonnes of ore yielding some 50-60 tonnes of uranium annually.

Ardkan - milling: Ore is purified to uranium ore concentrate, also known as yellowcake.

Gehine: Mine and milling facility which will produce 24 tonnes of yellowcake annually.

Isfahan - conversion: Yellowcake is cleansed of impurities and converted to uranium hexafloride gas, cooled,and condensed to a solid known as hex.

Natanz - enrichment: Pictures published in the Sunday Telegraph reveal new buildings at site which can be used to produce weapons grade uranium.

Teheran: Enrichment facility at Kalaye dismantled. Research reactor and radioactive waste storage facilities still operating.

Bushehr: Russian light water reactor is due to start up this year. Can produce reactor-grade plutonium.

Arak: Heavy water research reactor - better suited for weapons-grade plutonium production.

Anarak: Waste storage site.

The review of the Pentagon's contingency plans follows the stream of recent discoveries of Iran's secret nuclear operations and the virulent rhetoric of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad since he was elected last year. Iran is still thought to be anywhere between three and 10 years away from physically producing a nuclear weapon.

iran

the price of brainpower

2006-02-11T09:59:00.000-06:00

Classical economic theory has assumed that if one invests in factories, tools and improved transportation, economic growth is sure to follow. If you subscribe to that theory, labor productivity gains wil be realized from mechanization and new production processes. The assumption that a company was bound to prosper from a high rate of return from capital investments. That assumption did not however explain economic worth.

The 2004 net value of financial assets (book value) fro 7,241 listed U.S. corporations totaled $9.2 trillion while investors were willing to pay $22.7 trillion for these companies. That puts the value of knowledge at $13.5 trillion (the difference between market and book value).

To define knowledge capital as a financial metric is to measure knowledge that requires metrics that are repeatable and quantitatively definable. Analysis of assets is the key for essential capabilities in any organization that wishes to compete in the 21st century. The $13.5 trillion stated earlier is a simplification. The sum of knowledge values includes a number of firms that had negative results and high-value management tends to concentrated in a few firms.

Consider the following:

The top 100 firms by book value, out of the total corporate population of 7,241 firms (1.4%), had $6.5 trillion of knowledge value, or 71% of the total for the U.S. economy.
There were 662 firms whose knowledge was negative. They were worth less on the market than their financial valuations. They were worth $300 billion more than if they were sold off at book value.

Bigger firms still have the most knowledge in the "new economy" and is the U.S. economy approaching its full capacity for generating wealth?

Costs of Planning
Market Value (market capitalization, year-end) A
Financial Value (shareholder equity) B
Knowledge Value (A-B) C
Importance of Knowledge (C/B) D
Number of Employees E
Knowledge Value/Employee (C/E) F

business

analysis

Chicago Mercantile Exchange and energy futures

2006-02-09T14:27:00.000-06:00

The fast-growing electronic exchange platform of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange will challenge New York and London in the lucrative energy markets. The CME will likely offer energy contracts but no timetable was given nor any other specifics from Craig Donahue chief executive of the CME.

The Chicago exchange saw sharp growth in Globex volume last year. It accounted for 70 percent of total trading volume, up from 57 percent in the prior year, CME said yesterday. The low cost of its electronic platform would allow CME to create a new energy contract relatively quickly and at very low cost.

Business

CME(R) Globex(R) Average Daily Volume Of 3.3 Million Contracts Up 30 Percent - Electronic CME Eurodollar Options Volume Quadrupled Compared With January 2005 - CME Agricultural Commodities Record Monthly Volume Up 50 Percent.

customers prefer knowledge bases

2006-02-08T21:10:00.000-06:00

47 percent of customers cited searchable knowledge bases as the most efficient form of self-service.

Software updates 56.6%
Knowledge bases 47.2%
Documentation 13.4%
Product and service info 13.1%
Ability to give feedback 12.2%
Submit incidents 6.3%

Results based on a survey featured in the ServiceXRG report Self Service Excellence

Call Center Industry Stats

CRMzine

technorati tag: Business

an extra measure of security

2006-02-08T09:14:00.000-06:00

You can load up on software and software to safeguard systems but don't forget the training. Top to bottom training for IT folks will enable an organization to know the risks. The delegation process to security specialists will likely slow down when the IT department takes security a higher level.

The United States has tried to provide a framework, but the British have been more systematic. The U.K. Department of Trade and Industry recently published a best-practices standard.

Coursework that has case studies is most helpful when deciding what classes to send people to. The cost is generally around $500 per person plus don't forget to add in the employee time. Always consider the potential for attacks that could result in downtime that then could result in the loss of revenue.

IT

New Weapon Could End Collateral Damage

2006-02-02T08:10:00.000-06:00

The military plans to test the Advanced Tactical Laser, a laser weapon mounted on a C-130H air transport that could destroy any weapon system without collateral damage. The project has been headed by Boeing Missile Defense Systems in a project with the U.S. Air Force. Boeing has already taken delivery of the aircraft and plans to modify the platform for the ATL program. The high-energy laser would be completed in Albuquerque, N.M. Officials said the first ground tests of the laser would take place in the summer of 2006.

technology

detector could yield evidences of string theory

2006-02-02T06:24:00.000-06:00

Researchers at Northeastern University and the University of California, Irvine say that scientists might soon have evidence for extra dimensions and other exotic predictions of string theory. Early results from a neutrino detector at the South Pole, called AMANDA, show that ghostlike particles from space could serve as probes to a world beyond our familiar three dimensions, the research team says.

In recent decades, new theories have developed – such as string theory, extra dimensions and supersymmetry – to bridge the gap between the two most successful theories of the 20th century, general relativity and quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics describes three of the fundamental forces of nature: electromagnetism, strong forces (binding atomic nuclei) and weak forces (seen in radioactivity). It is, however, incompatible with Einstein's general relativity, the leading description of the fourth force, gravity. Scientists hope to find one unified theory to provide a quantum description of all four forces.

Science

derivatives management increase

2006-02-01T21:06:00.000-06:00

The derivatives market is heating up and IT spending on derivatives management will experience a steady increase according to a report by Aite Group. Industry spending on derivatives management technology will exceed $7 billion by 2009, up from $6.3 billion in 2005.

Returns from equities and fixed-income markets aren't gaining momentum and an increasing number of firms are turning to the derivatives instruments to rev up portfolios. The increase in the hedge fund activity has increased the demand for alternative instruments such as the offerings of the derivatives market.

Processing derivative transactions remains mostly a manual process prone to human error, which can result in financial losses. BAck-office automation is needed most and should account for the bulk of the increased spending.

Business

IT

iran pulling money out of europe

2006-01-20T10:16:00.000-06:00

The government of Iran is moving money from European Central Banks in a measure to avoid ramifications from possible U.N. sanctions over their nuclear program. Iran removed some U.N. seals from its main uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, central Iran, on January 10 and resumed research on nuclear fuel including small-scale enrichment after a 2 1/2-year freeze.

One source has stated that Iran is moving their money to Southeast Asia.

iran

Bin Laden offers Americans truce

2006-01-19T10:50:00.000-06:00

In an audio tape broadcast on Aljazeera, Osama bin Laden has warned that al-Qaida was preparing an attack very soon, but also offered Americans a "long-term truce". The tape, broadcast on Thursday but dated to December last year, comes after a year of silence from the al-Qaida leader. The voice on the tape said heightened security in the United States is not the reason there have been no attacks there since the Sept. 11, suicide hijackings.

Instead, the reason is "because there are operations that need preparations," he said. Read More

News and politics

blog about nuclear war against iran

2006-01-19T07:48:00.000-06:00

I found an interesting blog that details the plans for nuclear war against Iran. This states that the planning is in the final stages. This story goes on to say that there is no considerable objections from the European Union, like there was with the war in Iraq.

Another story talks about CONPLAN 8022, which is a limited nuclear strike or strikes against targets where infantry troops would not be needed. The strike plan is offensive and can be carried out by presidential order. The explanation given by administration experts calls these "small" bombs, which would have a moderate effect on the environment. The effect of the bomb would not be discernible above ground, the radioactive fallout would be negligible, and the "collateral damage" caused to civilians would be minimal.

Current Affairs

tokyo stock exchange knocks off early

2006-01-18T08:34:00.000-06:00

Criminal investigation of an Internet start-up foced the Tokyo stock exchange to close early. It closed twenty minutes early due to the flow of orders to the exchange. The benchmark for the Tokyo Stock Exchange plunged 2.9 percent Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 index dropped 464.77 points to close at 15,341.18 points, its biggest one-day drop since May 10, 2004. Share prices extended losses from Tuesday, when the Nikkei fell 2.8 percent, following Japanese newspaper reports that the investigation into Livedoor that had started Monday was expanding. The index has fallen nearly 6 percent the last two days.

Investors and the Japanese public alike were stunned when prosecutors marched into the Tokyo headquarters of Livedoor Monday evening on suspicion of violation of securities laws by giving false information.

Livedoor is headed by 33-year-old Takafumi Horie, who has risen to celebrity status as a geeky entrepreneur - a rarity in Japan. He has made unsuccessful attempts to buy a media conglomerate and a baseball team and frequently appears on TV.

The national daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Livedoor is suspected of concealing a 1 billion yen ($8.7 million) deficit for the full-year results ending September 2004.

U.N. must stop Iran's nuclear weapons program

2006-01-12T18:15:00.000-06:00

The United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France said today that the United Nations must act now to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program. Direct talks with Iran about its nuclear program are going nowhere, top officials of the four nations said. An emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency to report on Iran's defiance to the U.N. Security Council was called for, a step that could lead to sanctions against Tehran, possibly including an embargo on Iran's oil exports. "Our talks with Iran have reached a dead end," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Berlin. "The council should call for the Iranian regime to step away from its nuclear weapons ambitions," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. Rice said the four powers would consult with other nations, including Russia and China, two permanent members of the Security Council that have been less hostile to Iran's program. Rice said that even Russia and China have soundly denounced Iran's move on Tuesday to resume uranium enrichment by unsealing IAEA seals on its equipment. Enriched uranium can be used either to generate electricity or for nuclear weapons. Iran has said it intends only peaceful uses, but has rejected offers by the Europeans to provide uranium for nuclear power.

Current events

iran not worried over UN referral

2006-01-12T14:21:00.000-06:00

Iran is "not worried" about its possible referral to the UN Security Council over its nuclear program. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the deputy to Ali Larijani who is Iran's chief official for the nuclear file said, "We should not be worried." Separately, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran will press on with its nuclear program to avoid dependency on the leading nuclear energy powers.

Current Affairs

100 SUNS: documented nuclear testing

2006-01-12T07:57:00.000-06:00

Between July 1945 and November 1962 the United States is known to have conducted 216 atmospheric and underwater nuclear tests. 100 SUNS documents the era of visible nuclear testing, the atmospheric era, with 100 photographs drawn by Michael Light from the archives at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the U.S. National Archives in Maryland. It includes previously classified material from the clandestine Lookout Mountain Air Force Station based in Hollywood, whose film directors, cameramen, and still photographers were sworn to secrecy.

books

Culture

open XML

2006-01-10T19:38:00.000-06:00

Microsoft Corporation plans a formal standard for its Office productivity applications and Ecma International accepted the Microsoft application. Ecma created Technical Committee 45 (TC45) to produce a formal standard of office productivity applications which is compatible with the Office Open XML Formats.

The Open XML standard will make Office compatibility easier for competing desktop application suites such as Sun Microsystems branded StarOffice and OpenOffice.org. Microsoft released Office 2003 schemas in late 2003. In June, 2005 the company said they planned to make the new XML file formats the default in Office "12" and available to anyone under a royalty-free license.

microsoft

open xml

iran's nuke program got help

2006-01-06T11:20:00.000-06:00

The Iranians have been working on a nuclear bomb since 2000. Did the Clinton Administration sign off on a CIA operation that gave the Iranians a false set of firing instructions? What this did however was to give Iran the know-how to move on with their nuclear bomb program. The CIA program was called Operation Merlin, in which the CIA was to give flawed blueprints to Iran. The operation had a Russian go-between, but that person tipped the Iranians off to the flaws.

This operation was to have no known ties to the CIA. But why go get an agent from Russia when the Iranians were already getting help from the Russians to develop a nuclear bomb? Botched.

The intelligence community has been hit hard with revelations from whistle-blowers who may have been spied on themselves. Can the intelligence community recover? Maybe not completely. Can the answer be that difficult? Is the problem with the people or is it the times? Are we so full of leakers and traitors, that the answer is for the intelligence community to turn on itself?

We need leadership.

Iraq

News and politics

bird flu at the doorstep of Turkey

2006-01-06T08:43:00.000-06:00

A child from the same family of eastern Turkey died from the bird flu. The virus has killed 74 people so far. The dead children (3) lived in a remote rural district of eastern Turkey near the Armenian and Iranian borders, in close proximity with poultry -- just like the east Asian victims.

He said the authorities had prepared a leaflet for locals detailing the precautionary measures they should take against the spread of bird flu and this was being distributed. Samples from Turkish patients were being analyzed in Britain.

bird flu

Current events

interesteching

2005-12-26T19:57:00.000-06:00

22% Rougly one out of five users lost a mobile device in 2005
74% Three out of four corporate telephony lines will be IP-based by 2009
90% Nine out of ten major U.S. companies will test or use VoIP this year, up from 75% in 2005
$24.6B Global spending on IT security services in 2009
$81B Total server market in 2011, up from $49.8 billion in 2004
$329B Total annual online retail sales in 2010, up from $172 billion in 2005

Sources: Forrester Research
Gartner
IDC
Radicati Group

technology

News

gdp rise of 4.1 percent

2005-12-21T17:45:00.000-06:00

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the gross domestic product, the nation's total output of goods and services, rose at an annual rate of 4.1 percent in the July-September quarter. It was the fastest pace of growth in 1 1/2 years. The new figure demonstrated that the economy kept expanding at a strong pace during the summer, led by solid increases in consumer demand, especially for autos, and business investment.

The third quarter performance was up substantially from a 3.3 percent GDP growth rate in the April-June quarter and was the best showing since the economy expanded at a 4.3 percent rate in the first three months of 2004. The economy had originally been estimated to have grown at a 3.8 percent rate in the third quarter, a figure that was revised up to 4.3 percent last month and now revised slightly lower to 4.1 percent.

Economics

USA

could this picture be any more stupid?

2005-12-20T14:47:00.000-06:00

Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame should have known better than to have this picture taken let alone published.... and of all places Time Magazine.

He looks like a husband that's wanting someone to get him out of the mess he's in and she looks like she just woke up with a grand champion hangover or she is still drunk. Maybe she was drunk when this picture was taken. Maybe they just always use poor judgement.

time magazine

current events

Federal ID card rules will apply to contractors

2005-12-19T19:18:00.000-06:00

Under a soon-to-be- issued rule in the Federal Acquisition Regulations, agencies will have to vet contractors through the same processes they put employees before issuing identification cards. The Federal Identity Credentials Committee the interim rule should be issued in the Federal Register soon. The idea is to plug a security hole. The CIO Council's IT Workforce Committee sponsored a forum in Washington, D.C. where the topic of due diligence for contractor personnel cam up for discussion.

Security

science.gov upgrades to verision 3.0

2005-12-18T17:31:00.000-06:00

The science.gov search engine uses metadata to rank results, which should give users more accurate responses to queries. Version 3 makes searches for obscure terms easier bacause it incorporates bibliographic information into its searches. The data is ranked by using title, author, date, abstract, and other key identifiers. Users can now search in specific fields, such as date or author.

science

KING KONG: Not King for an Opening Day

2005-12-15T16:57:00.000-06:00

King Kong wasn't the king on opening day, grabbing $9.8 million from around 7,500 screens at 3,567 playdates. Director Peter Jackson's $207 million remake of the 1933 monster movie notched the 21st biggest Wednesday opening on record, significantly less than the $18.2 million start of Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Additionally, King Kong bowed in 36 foreign territories on Wednesday and racked up an estimated $8 million, bringing its worldwide opening day to about $17.8 million.

king kong

entertainment

TITAN RAIN

2005-12-14T19:55:00.000-06:00

Reports are that Chinese Intelligence is making an effort to hack U.S. Military computer systems. The effort seems to be well organized and the attacks have been traced to the Chinese province of Guangdong. The techniques used make it appear unlikely to come from any other source than the military. Guangdong is the location of a military academy and is also believed to be the source of SARS. This operation has been code named TITAN RAIN by the U.S.

Pentagon officials confirmed earlier this year that US Defense Department websites are probed hundreds of times a day by hackers, but maintained that no classified site is known to have been penetrated by hackers. The TITAN RAIN hacking effort appears to be well organized.

News earlier this week has China overtaking the U.S. in supplying IT goods. Reports show that China's exports of information and communication technology--including laptop computers, mobile phones and digital cameras--increased by more than 46 percent to $180 billion in 2004 from a year earlier, easily outstripping for the first time United States exports of $149 billion, which grew 12 percent from 2003. China has come close to matching the United States in the overall value of its trade in information and communications technology products. China's efforts to impose its own technology standards across a range of consumer products, including mobile phones, digital photography and wireless networks, are widely interpreted as a strategy to dominate the global market for information technology goods.

This has me wondering. Are the Chinese putting devices into the equipment they are selling? Are they making their equipment "hackee friendly" and if so does the U.S. military/intelligence services have any information on what those devices could be?

china

World news

iraq war and victory strategy by bush

2005-12-14T12:30:00.000-06:00

President Bush delivered a speech on Iraq strategy for victory today in Washington at the woodrow Wilson Center. Bush urged patience with the entire war effort. Bush has had to deliver several speeches on Iraq lately due to increased negativity from the media and Democrats on the Hill.

The media negativity has not waned since early autumn. Journalists are far more negative about the war than the American public. With elections being held and a new government in place the Iraqi situation is slowly getting stabilized. The progress factor is not what we had in mind. Afterall we wanted a swift end to Iraq, but that's not happening. The media feels unconsulted on the entire war and seems to take that out on Bush by throwing more and more negatives on their newscasts. Will this effort crack the American public shell? We shall see.

One item remains.... Bush needs good news to come from Iraq or the war on terror for his numbers to improve and allow the media to give us some positive news.

iraq

politics

Current events

like it or not the u.s must win in iraq

2005-12-13T20:05:00.000-06:00

Personally I was not for the United States invading Iraq the way we did. Why? Because we weren't ready. But then is any army really ready to invade another country? D-Day we were... but look at all the preparation the Allies did before the invasion. Fast forward to Iraq and we didn't prepare that way. Some would probaly say we don't have to prepare that way anymore because the technology allows for more coordination and logistics corrections when things go wrong. Fine. But let's face the fact we weren't ready to invade Iraq. OK then what. Well we invaded and the resistance has been brutal. Car bombs, etc.

However through it all our troop's moral has been very high. Higher than the average American citizen. We have to ask ourselves: Do we have the patience, the courage and the will to win in Iraq. We better have because the price of failure is way too high.

How many Americans favored George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq? Many. But some of the vocal hawks are now vocal doves. There are several lists of those political leaders that once said Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction and needs to be stopped and now pleading to get out of Iraq. Why is this? Could it be position labeling? If it is than the multi-million dollar media moguls are to blame. They have produces several little positon labelers whose job is to stir the pot, not report.

We are at war and we can't forget that. And we can't forget that the U.S. can't lose this war in Iraq. We can't lose the war on terror. There is too much too lose. Like peace and freedom.

iraq

current events

War

could buckyballs deform dna?

2005-12-07T12:56:00.000-06:00

Researchers have found through computer models that buckyballs (spherical fullerenes) could bind with dna when in an aqueous environment. Buckyballs were known to be toxic.

read more | digg story

nanotechnology

first signs of human-to-human avian flu

2005-12-06T12:51:00.000-06:00

The World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong Kong has so far confirmed 13 bird flu cases in humans in Indonesia, with eight people dying from the virus. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the disease is spreading so rapidly, particularly in the capital of Jakarta, some health officials strongly suspect the long-dreaded mutation has occurred. There are more signs the virus is spreading – outward from Asia and through Europe. Romania appears to be the hardest hit.

Three more villages in eastern Romania have been quarantined following the discovery of an H5 strain of avian influenza in poultry in one of the villages. The Romanian Ministry of Agriculture suspects the presence of bird flu in the other villages but is awaiting confirmation of test results from the United Kingdom.

avian flu

digg comments

3 species of fruit bats linked to ebola

2005-12-01T10:59:00.000-06:00

Researchers working in Gabon and Congo have identified three species of fruit bat as the long-sought reservoirs of one of the deadliest known human pathogens, the Ebola virus. The team tested more than 1,000 bats and researchers found minute genetic traces of the virus in 22.6% of the bats tested. More important, they found that the virus produces no symptoms in infected bats, thus allowing it to spread without disabling its carrier.

health

Current events

online activities

2005-11-30T12:50:00.000-06:00

According to Harris Interactive for iCrossing, 75 percent of survey respondents reported getting directions or finding maps online via search engines - the second most common activity online. The following are online activities for which U.S. adult internet users utilize search engines, as a percentage of respondents.

Researching specific topics 88%
Getting directions/maps 75%
Looking for news or information about current events 64%
Conducting general surfing/trawling 62%
Using the Internet instead of the phone 54%
Shopping 51%
Looking for entertainment-related Web sites/activities 47%

internet

developing IT systems that fix themselves

2005-11-30T07:38:00.000-06:00

IBM wants computers that fix themselves. Several companies are making the creation of intelligent systems. This story tells the progress being made and what to expect in the future.

read more | digg story

activists kidnapped in Iraq

2005-11-29T12:24:00.000-06:00

Al-Jazeera broadcast an insurgent video Tuesday showing four peace activists taken hostage in Iraq, with The Swords of Righteousness Brigade claiming responsibility for the kidnappings. The aid group Christian Peacemaker Teams has confirmed that four of its members were taken hostage Saturday. The corner of the video showed two, crossed black swords and the name of the insurgent group written in red Arabic script.

iraq

China says bird flu virus in humans mutating

2005-11-28T13:15:00.000-06:00

The H5N1 strain of bird flu seen in human cases in China has mutated as compared with strains found in human cases in Vietnam.

Chinese labs have found that the genetic order of the H5N1 virus seen in humans infected in China is different from that found in humans in Vietnam.

bird flu

science

avian flu

the 100 notable books of 2005

2005-11-28T06:20:00.000-06:00

The New York Times is out with their list of the 100 most notable books of 2005.

books

Expert says: pull out of New Orleans

2005-11-18T10:47:00.000-06:00

An expert says New Orleans will be under sea level in 90 years. Tim Kusky speaks to 60 minutes about the situation. Katrina has sped up the process of land loss on the Mississippi Delta.

new

current

Top 25 Inventions of 2005

2005-11-18T07:36:00.000-06:00

Time Magazine has brought to use the greatest inventions of this year. From the cloned dog, to an airless tire. Cool read.

read more | digg story

technology

Citibank hits the streets

2005-11-17T17:21:00.000-06:00

As reported on Seth's Blog, a door-to-door salesman walked in and was selling business checking accounts. The salesman was fron Citibank. Seth considers door-to-door selling to be struggling. So do I.

banking

random

U.N. predicts that machines will overtake the Internet

2005-11-17T13:06:00.000-06:00

The Internet is ripe for the picking as machines will take up where humans leave off. In a world of sensors, tags and "smarts" a technological revolution will take place. This is from a report by the International Telecommunication Union. The report laid out economic opportunities, a huge expansion of the IT industry and innovation in a wide range of fields from health to entertainment, and also warned of a number of challenges, including privacy issues.

WORLD

united nations

consumer data danger

2005-11-17T12:34:00.000-06:00

According to an Experian Personal Credit Index Survey fielded by Gallup, 16 percent of consumers have had their financial information stolen, 13 percent have experienced financial loss because of the theft of their financial data and 12 percent have had their Social Security numbers stolen.
77 percent of consumers polled think of credit card fraud as identity theft. 4 in 10 said that they don't believe they'll become a victim of identity theft. One-third said they can't do anything to prevent someone from stealing personal information. 74 percent said that they would take preventative measures to protect themselves if they knew what to do.

consumer

indentity

WORLD

flu scare!

2005-11-15T09:07:00.000-06:00

More than 50 birds died in a U.K quarantine facility, hit by an outbreak of avian flu. Tiawanese mesia birds are the likely source. They tested positive for the H5N1 flu strain. The virus detected is most likely associated with Chinese ducks.

flu

avian

What happened on any day in history

2005-11-15T08:38:00.000-06:00

Find out what happened on your birthday (or any other day) right back to 100AD. On my birthday Robert Redford was born, the first English child (Virginia Dare) was born in the new world in 1587, and James Meredith became the first black graduate from the University of Mississippi in 1963.

read more | digg story

History

Actor James Cromwell looks like Copernicus

2005-11-14T15:22:00.000-06:00

Actor James Cromwell looks like the forensic skull that was produced in a lab at Warsaw, Poland. The remains are believed to be those of Nicolas Copernicus, the great mathematician and philosopher. Copernicus developed the heliocentric theory which took account of the orbit of planets around the sun. The normal belief at the time was that the earth was the center of the entire universe. Copernicus was a canon in the Roman Catholic Church and went against Church doctrine and teachings by developing the theory. His greatest work was published shortly after his death.
The remains were found in a cathedral in Frombork, Poland and were taken to a forensics lab for testing. Copernicus , born in 1473, was a canon in Frombork at the time of his death in 1543. The skull was used to reconstruct the head, shown above.
If a motion picture or television show is to be made about Copernicus, look no further than James Cromwell to play the part. Cromwell is known for his work in movies (Babe and L.A. Confidential) and television.

entertainment

The Evolution of Computer Viruses

2005-11-14T14:25:00.000-06:00

A virus timeline starting with the first time the term "computer virus" was coined back in 1983.

read more | digg story

security

Computers

spies in the server closet

2005-11-13T16:28:00.000-06:00

Since last June when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that file- sharing companies like Grokster could be sued, programmers are pursuing so-called darknets. Although they would be used to get around the entertainment industry's zeal for going after digital piracy, they could create channels for corporate espionage.

read more | digg story

big brother

corporate snooping justified?

2005-11-12T19:03:00.000-06:00

"Business purposes" is the answer we get when asking corporate executives about information gathering. How much information gathering is going on? Plenty and the increase of information gathering is staggering. Is anyone keeping track?
For example Google's Gmail scans customers' e-mail content and delivers targeted ads based on interests and buying patterns. If you write someone with a Gmail account your messgae will be scanned and stored. In 2004 a federal appeals court ruled that companies providing e-mail service may read clients' e-mail and use it as they wish. Phone calls can be recorded legally only by a court order, however e-mails are available to industry and the government.
In APril of 2004 the Department of Homeland Security awarded a contract to Northrup Grumman for up to $350 million dollars to build a "network of networks" to connect all levels of government. The government is tying government networks together in a supernetwork controlled by a super-agency. The technologies IT controls can be used for good or evil. The moral dimensions must be considered and the potential for abuse recognized.

big brother

government

technology

Top 50 indie films

2005-11-10T10:52:00.000-06:00

The top 50 independent films have been rated by empire.com and this is a very careful and thoughtful compilation.

read more | digg story

Who's Killing New Orleans?

2005-11-09T07:52:00.000-06:00

This story gives us a view that if New Orleans fails to rebuild, the reason wouldn't be poverty, but murder. In 2003 New Orleans had a murder rate 8 times the national average. The local economy had sputtered due to the high crime rate in general. Local authorities had not been able to secure the personal safety of citizens.

New Orleans

culture

rootkits can get planted on networks

2005-11-07T13:58:00.000-06:00

This article describes what rootkits are and that they are getting more popular. Rootkits are being embedded into worms so that access can be obtained on compromised systems. Rootkit scanning and detection products are gaining attention.

read more | digg story

Defend against Sony's rootkit

rootkits

Sony DRM phones home

introduction and description to meetup.com

2005-11-06T21:04:00.000-06:00

This is an e-mail to the syndic8 group about meetup.com which seems to be gaining popularity by "meeting people together." Groups of people are formed by location, topic, both.

read more | digg story

Maunsell Towers

2005-11-06T20:05:00.000-06:00

About WWII defense towers constructed within the Thames Estuary area in 1942. They are still standing today. Their purpose was to house anti-aircraft batteries. There ar very good pictures of these towers on the Website.

read more | digg story

Amazon and Google rush to sell parts of books online

2005-11-06T13:01:00.000-06:00

In a race to become the iTunes of the publishing world, Amazon.com and Google are both developing systems to allow consumers to purchase online access to any page, section or chapter of a book.

read more | digg story

literature