bird flu symptoms reported in indonesia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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