A very minor breach, but indications of poor security management...
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17599558&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6
Hackers get into Wickliffe computer
By: Mark Tuscano MTuscano@News-Herald.com 12/16/2006
Wickliffe Mayor Thomas W. Ruffner announced Friday that hackers had breached security in one of the city's three computer servers, which held personal information on some city employees.
The breach was discovered by Building Commissioner Ray Sack, [A “Building Commissioner” is probably not responsible for computer security, so we can assume that the breach was “fairly obvious?” Bob] who brought it to the attention of Ruffner and city police.
Detective Sgt. Joe Matteo said a malicious virus had gotten through at least two layers of security and into the system, where information on 125 city employees was stored.
No information on city residents was stored in the server or compromised, Ruffner said. Those affected included service department and part-time personnel whose names and Social Security numbers were in the system.
Employees affected by the breach will be notified today in a letter from the mayor advising them of potential problems involving identity or credit theft, although no reports of either had been reported as of Friday.
The city has since replaced the affected server and six associated computer stations. [“replaced” not “repaired?” -- sounds like a way to upgrade old systems without a budget increase... Bob] Police Chief James Fox and the detective's bureau conducted a forensic analysis of the infected system, but attacks of this type are often generated from locations in Europe or Asia, so the sources are difficult to impossible to prosecute, Fox said.
The city spent about $25,000 replacing the server hardware and software, Ruffner said.
The systems that were replaced were at least 3 years old, but the city's other two servers are newer. The upgraded system will now use the same operating system as the other two and virus protection in each has been updated. [Indicates that it was not current before... Bob]
Matteo said the virus got through the affected system by first preventing an upgrade to the system's virus protection program, leaving it vulnerable to the malicious software. His bureau was notified of the breach Oct. 25 and immediately initiated an investigation.
"Windows-based systems are almost daily issued a patch to prevent new bugs from hackers," he said.
"If they can get into the Pentagon, they can get into anything."
In his letter to employees, Ruffner said the breach was intentionally introduced into the system and warned of a potential problem involving identity theft.
Counter-hacking? What would you call this?
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/NEWS/612170335/1001/NEWS
No one gains from hiding gun files from public
... Under the guise of protecting the privacy of those granted government sanction to carry a hangun, a bill closing public access to concealed weapons permits won overwhelming approval this year in the Legislature. The law, effective July 1, drew hardly a whimper of protest from any quarter.
Just because something's popular doesn't make it right. And the Argus Leader did what any decent newspaper would do: In the months before the law went into effect, we deployed staffers to the office of Secretary of State Chris Nelson, the repository of more than 41,000 active weapons permits, to rescue that information from permanent seal.
Access to that vast amount of formerly public information has allowed us to draw certain conclusions - not just the fact that we obtain permits at a higher rate than any other state, but where, in our own state, it is the highest.
It also enabled us to build a database of all permit holders - searchable by name, community and county - that we have placed on our Web site for all to see. It will remain there - a direct rejoinder to a Legislature and governor all too eager to deny you and me access to information.
... Some folks complained loudly in the past when, as a matter of routine, this newspaper published the names of those granted permits in Minnehaha County - and likely they will complain loudly now, arguing that it is none of our business whether they have a license to carry a gun.
Some will invoke the Second Amendment, which only protects their right to have guns.
Others will argue a vague right to privacy, as if possession of a government-granted gun permit fell into the same realm as what they do in the bedroom.
... We endanger our own liberty when we choose to be selective about what government-held information is open to the public. And that risk is particularly high here in South Dakota, which has perpetrated some of the most restrictive public access laws in the nation.
Includes (some) details of another “ready, fire, aim” IT project failure...
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/013310.html
December 15, 2006
GAO Assesses FinCEN and IRS Effectiveness At Ensuring Bank Secrecy Act Compliance
Bank Secrecy Act: FinCEN and IRS Need to Improve and Better Coordinate Compliance and Data Management Efforts, Full text GAO-07-212, and Highlights, December 15, 2006: "...FinCEN and IRS lack a documented and coordinated strategy with time frames, priorities, and resource needs for improving NBFI compliance with BSA requirements."
This would have been unthinkable when I was there... However that was 35 years ago, and things change...
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/12/15/japan.pacifist.rollback.ap/index.html
Japan rolls back pacifist pillars
POSTED: 11:21 a.m. EST, December 16, 2006
TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Japan's conservative government chipped away at two pillars of the country's postwar pacifism, requiring schools to teach patriotism and upgrading the Defense Agency to a full ministry for the first time since World War II.
The measures, enacted Friday in a vote by Parliament's upper house, form key elements of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to bolster Japan's international military role, build up national pride and distance the country from its post-1945 war guilt.
... The upgrading of the Defense Agency under the Cabinet Office to a full ministry passed Parliament without significant opposition, propelled by deep concern in Japan over North Korean missile and nuclear weapons development.
... The education measure, the first change to Japan's main education law since 1947, calls on schools to "to cultivate an attitude that respects tradition and culture, that loves the nation and home country."
Want to be President? Run on the single issue: Eliminate the personal Income Tax!
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1215/p09s01-coop.html
from the December 15, 2006 edition
Want to reduce poverty? Lower those tax rates.
Building a strong economy - and helping the poor - means keeping taxes and government spending low.
By Matthew Ladner PHOENIX
When the US government ended "welfare as we know it" in 1996, it handed responsibility for reform to the states. In so doing, it also created a real-world test of two competing economic strategies used to fight poverty. The results are in and the lessons are clear: Low tax rates lift up the lives of America's poor.
Many people argue that government can reduce poverty by "redistributing" wealth through progressive taxation - imposing higher tax rates on higher income brackets - and through more government spending.
Most economists, however, say the best way to reduce poverty is through stronger economic growth. Growth means more jobs, a surefire antipoverty plan. Building a strong economy means keeping taxes and government spending low.
A study published last month by the Goldwater Institute, "How to Win the War on Poverty: An Analysis of State Poverty Trends," tests these different theories by examining state poverty rates from 1990 to 2000.
Nationwide, states took great strides in reducing both general and childhood poverty. Poverty fell by 5.3 percent and childhood poverty by 9.4 percent. Some states, however, reduced poverty much more than others, while some states suffered large increases.
Take Colorado. It reduced its childhood poverty rate by almost 27 percent. Meanwhile, Rhode Island's childhood poverty rate increased by almost the same amount. What accounts for those differences?
The future? (Perhaps we could pick politicians the same way? Style over substance is commonplace in that field.)
Auditions Come to YouTube
By KATE GOODLOE December 16, 2006; Page P3
In recent weeks, more than 100 different versions of the same video have shown up on the Web site YouTube. Each features a different woman talking to someone off camera, repeating the same lines of dialogue, though with different inflections and gestures. The women are all auditioning for the part of Bonni on "The Interior," a Web-based miniseries about a young couple traveling as missionaries to the Amazon jungle.
Typically, a casting call invites actors to submit a headshot and in some cases, a video showcasing their abilities. Some production companies and casting agents now are requesting that people post their auditions in far more open online forums, such as YouTube or MySpace. In doing so, they're hoping to gauge actors' potential popularity by monitoring the reactions of average Internet users.
It's the latest twist on an entertainment trend that's taken off in the past two years -- unknown, often amateur performers who are discovered by the music, television or film industries after capturing an audience online. Now, rather than scouring sites like YouTube for fresh talent, some companies are experimenting with a more direct approach.
Teenagers have begun posting audition tapes on YouTube and MySpace for a series called "The New 22," which its creator, production company Evolution Entertainment describes as a younger version of "The View." The casting call was placed through koldCast.com, a new site launched by Irvine, Calif., product-placement company EMmerzion Worldwide to let actors post online auditions. In exchange, the company gets dibs on selling product placements in movies and TV shows that use actors found through the service.
Jessie Bronfman, a 25-year-old Woodmere, N.Y., resident who wants to be a TV host, has applied online for a video-jockey position and is hoping to score a role in "The New 22." She spends at least an hour a day searching for new online auditions [News to me! Bob] through Craigslist, YouTube and Google, then cultivates her online network of friends who vote for her in video contests and help her get higher "hit counts" for audition videos.
Dreamscape Films, an independent production company, is asking those auditioning for "The Interior" to download a script page from its Web site and upload an audition video to YouTube. So far, 250 people have submitted auditions for the show's four main roles.
Rebecca Morris, a 29-year-old actress and nanny in Asheville, N.C., says the online auditions make it easier for actors outside New York and Los Angeles to audition for national casting calls [That's obvious, isn't it? Bob] without driving hours to stand in line for a tryout. Ms. Morris's online audition for the role of Bonni in "The Interior" is six minutes and 41 seconds long and features her running through a forest and talking with another actor on a stoop. (Many auditions are shot against blank backdrops.) Although she won't know until next year whether she landed a part, Ms. Morris says she has already heard from a few people she has worked with who were impressed with the video and want to stay in touch.
Geert Heetebrij, co-creator of the show, says at first he and his co-creator intended to judge the clips in part by the number of hits they got on YouTube and the number of stars viewers gave them. After seeing those numbers fluctuate, he now says he suspects actors are pumping up their own hit counts and giving bad reviews to others. So he'll focus more on comments from viewers instead of the other metrics.
Ahna Tessler, 30, a New York actress and comedian who submitted an audition, says she's noticed online competition among the actors. "You can see there are all these people out to sabotage each other," she says. "It's pretty nasty."
Very slick! Take the time to look at this!
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/16/183251&from=rss
ILM Showcases "Dead Man's Chest" Effects Work
Posted by kdawson on Saturday December 16, @02:53PM from the playing-with-the-fishies dept. Graphics Movies Entertainment
bonniegrrl writes "The work of ILM folks (including VFX supervisor John Knoll) is being showcased in a site just launched to explore the mind-blowing visual effects of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (heavy Flash). Interactive clips at the site allow you to peel back layers of animation to see what ILM had to start with before transforming actors wearing tracking markers into astonishingly real characters. Test your effects awareness by making the call: what's real and what's ILM, rotate turntable models of the animated characters, and download some goodies." The submitter also claims that there are a few Easter Eggs of footage in there somewhere.
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