“It ain't over till its over.” Y. Berra
Credit card headaches from TJX breach remain
By Se Young Lee, Globe Correspondent | August 9, 2007
Almost seven months after the biggest security breach of financial data in the nation was revealed, some banks still appear to be sorting out which of their credit card customers were put at risk.
Retail giant TJX Cos., with headquarters in Framingham, revealed this spring that at least 45.7 million credit and debit card numbers were compromised by hackers who gained access to the company's computer systems in the second half of 2005 as well as from May 2006 to January of this year. But some companies, such as Citibank, are still reissuing cards for customers whose information may have been exposed.
... Some banks have said information from TJX about the compromised accounts has been sporadic since the news first broke.
"I can't remember an example that has had such a magnitude in a continued, slow process as this breach," said Daniel Forte, president of the Massachusetts Bankers Association, which sued TJX in April to recover damages from the costs of reissuing cards and launching other measures to protect customers.
But TJX said in a statement that it fulfilled its obligations in January and February by providing "extensive numerical payment card information to banks and payment card companies."
Stories like this give me an underwhelming confidence in post 9/11 security measures...
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/other/display.var.1605022.0.0.php
Protesters ‘broke into airport and boarded US military jet’
MARTIN WILLIAMS August 09 2007
Anti-war protesters managed to break into Prestwick Airport and board a US Air Force aircraft despite a step up in security after a breach the previous day, a court was told yesterday.
Marcus Armstrong, 47, from Milton Keynes, one of three members of the Trident Ploughshares protest group who are accused of breaking into the airport and boarding a C130 military plane, was allegedly apprehended in the cockpit.
What slippery slope?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2183105.ece
Police want DNA from speeding drivers and litterbugs on database
Richard Ford, Home Correspondent From The Times August 2, 2007
Police are seeking powers to take DNA samples from suspects on the streets and for non-imprisonable offences such as speeding and dropping litter.
The demand for a huge expansion of powers to take DNA comes as a government watchdog announced the first public inquiry into the national DNA database.
There is growing concern among MPs and civil liberties groups about the number of children under 10 and young black men on the database — the biggest in the world. But a number of police forces in England and Wales are backing proposals that would add millions more samples to it.
The Association of Chief Police Officers gave a warning, however, that allowing police to take samples for non-recordable offences — crimes for which offenders cannot be imprisoned — might be perceived as indicative of “the increasing criminalisation of the generally law-abiding public”.
... Mr Huntley added: “While the increase of suspects on the database will lead to an increased cost, this should be considered as preferential to allowing a serious offender to walk from custody following arrest for a non-recordable offence.”
Online promotion
http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/07/technology/wine_marketing.biz2/
How a small winery found Internet fame
A small South African winery is using conversational marketing to go global, reports Business 2.0 Magazine.
Business 2.0 Magazine By Tom McNichol, Business 2.0 Magazine senior writer August 8 2007: 7:21 AM EDT
(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- How do you get your product noticed in a sea of look-alike competitors? If you're South African winery Stormhoek, you go Web 2.0, with blogging, viral marketing, and crowdsourcing.
... Two years ago the Wellington-based winery hired MacLeod to promote its products on his blog Gapingvoid.com, where he publishes advertising and technology commentaries and stream-of-consciousness cartoons.
... As Stormhoek's representative, MacLeod offered a free bottle to any blogger who asked -- as long as he or she was of legal drinking age and had been blogging at least three months.
... While the blogosphere's reviews of Stormhoek have been mostly good ("drinkable" and "pleasant," with the odd "disappointment"), MacLeod's results have been amazing. Stormhoek sales have jumped nearly sixfold, from 50,000 cases a year worldwide to almost 300,000. The winery expects to sell a million cases annually within three years.
... The campaign has also been remarkably cheap. For about $40,000 over two years, the company has created the kind of buzz others spend millions to generate. The trade journal Ad Age named the Stormhoek strategy one of the top 50 marketing campaigns in 2006.
Irrefutable proof there is a God!
http://digg.com/programming/If_GOD_was_Programmer
If GOD was Programmer
I found this amusing site on the internets, you've just got to see it!
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