http://www.databreaches.net/?p=9528
UK: Computer virus shuts down Exeter University system
January 20, 2010 by admin Filed under Malware
From ThisisExeter:
The entire computer network at Exeter University had to be closed down after a it was hit by a virus attack.
Hundreds of computers were taken off-line and lecturers were forced to give up their hi-tech teaching and return to using chalk and blackboards. [Oh, the horror! Bob]
It meant that there was no access to email, internet and internet-based systems, and even the telephone network was affected.
The computer virus, which has not yet been identified, struck on Monday. As soon as it was spotted the university network was shut down to prevent it spreading.
[From the article:
University spokesman Stuart Franklin said there was no doubt the university had been hit by the virus deliberately but he had no idea why it was targeted.
… Mr Franklin said the police had not been involved as no “smoking gun” had been found to identify where the virus had come from.
[Does it strike anyone else that these statements seem to contradict each other? We know it was a deliberate attack, but we aren't calling the police because we don't know where it came from? Bob]
Silly, when there are several already in existence.
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=7124
EPIC, Privacy Groups Oppose Facebook “Beacon” Settlement
January 20, 2010 by Dissent Filed under Court, Featured Headlines, Internet
From EPIC.org:
EPIC and other privacy groups sent a letter to the federal judge overseeing a class-action settlement against Facebook in California, opposing the settlement as unfair and unreasonable. As proposed, the settlement does not provide any benefit for Facebook users whose private data was illegally exposed by Facebook “Beacon.” Instead, the deal would create a new “privacy foundation” subject to Facebook’s influence. Fair settlements typically provide compensation to class members or a remedy that addresses the underlying harm, which in this case was a violation of federal privacy law. The letter from EPIC proposes alternatives that would enable stronger privacy safeguards for Facebook users in the future. For more information, see EPIC Facebook Privacy, EPIC Harris v. Blockbuster.
If the daughter was specifically excluded, I can see this. My concern would be “Yes we knew your child was suicidal, but we didn't want to tell you because then we'd have to fill out a bunch of forms.”
http://www.phiprivacy.net/?p=1864
‘Loose Lips’ Can Get HIPAA Covered Entities in Trouble, Now That Verbal Gaffes Must be Reported to HHS
By Dissent, January 19, 2010 12:58 pm
Reprinted from REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY, the industry’s most practical source of news on HIPAA patient privacy provisions.
The caseworker probably thought she was doing the right thing by sharing with the patient’s daughter that the woman had become increasingly paranoid. But when the daughter confronted the mother with knowledge of her decline, the mother was rightfully outraged — the daughter was not authorized to receive protected health information about her.
The mother filed a complaint with the hospital where she was an outpatient. And the privacy officer must now report this incident to the Office for Civil Rights, under the breach notification requirements contained in the HITECH Act provisions of the Recovery Act.
Read more on AISHealth.com.
A organization's “culture” is extreme;y difficult to change.
http://www.phiprivacy.net/?p=1866
Patient Data Safety Rules Widely Disregarded, Unenforced
By Dissent, January 19, 2010 2:55 pm
Joe Eaton reports:
As the federal government prepares to spend up to $27 billion in stimulus funds to promote electronic medical records, a health technology industry survey suggests that a number of hospitals, health clinics, and insurance firms are violating federal security rules on patient data and putting sensitive health information at risk.
The November survey by the health technology trade association Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) found that one in four of the 196 health organizations that responded do not conduct a formal risk analysis to identify security gaps in electronic patient data .
[...]
… no organization has ever been punished for violations of HIPAA’s data risk analysis provision, which is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Since 1996, the agency has received approximately ten complaints that noted possible failure to perform risk analysis or risk management, according to Susan McAndrew, deputy director for health information privacy at HHS’s Office for Civil Rights; the civil rights office took over enforcement of HIPAA data security rules last July from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. None of the cases has resulted in penalties, which potentially range from $100 to $50,000 for a single violation and up to $1.5 million a year for multiple violations.
Read more on the Center for Public Integrity.
You can't buy advertising like this. (Or maybe you can, with nearly $2 billion in boxoffice so far.)
2-D Avatar To Be Pulled From Theaters In China
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday January 19, @05:43PM from the hard-to-be-blue dept.
SimonTheSoundMan notes that Avatar is being pulled from screens in China for being too successful, and too provocative in its anti-authoritarian message. (The 3-D and IMAX versions will remain.)
"The communist nation's state-run movie distributor China Film Group is unexpectedly yanking the James Cameron-directed blockbuster Avatar from 1,628 2-D screens this week in favor of a biography of the ancient philosopher Confucius starring Chow-Yun Fat. ... According to a report in the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, the move was made at the urging of propaganda officials who are concerned that Avatar is taking too much market share from Chinese films and drawing unwanted attention to the sensitive issue of forced evictions."
Convergence? Or does someone on the court play online games? Anyone want to join me in developing my entrepreneurial “Grow your DotCom” game? It requires players to buy money for the Central Banker (me). I plan to sell it to colleges and since it will do all the work for teachers, it should be a hit. (and I plan to pay all my bills with In-Game currency!)
Virtual Currency Becomes Real In South Korea
Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 19, @01:29PM from the license-to-print-money dept.
garylian writes
"Massively is reporting that the South Korean Supreme Court has stated that virtual currency is the equivalent of real-world money. For those of you who might not be drawing the link, the core there is that selling in-game currency for real money is essentially just an exchange of currency and perfectly legal in South Korea. This could have sweeping implications for RMT operations the world over, not to mention free-to-play games and... well, online games in general. The official story is available online from JoongAng Daily."
Is any of this new?
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/023291.html
January 19, 2010
Survey Says 44% Of Google News Visitors Scan Headlines, Don’t Click Through
TechCrunch - Research firm Outsell has published its third annual News Users’ report [fee only], which is based on a survey about the online and offline news preferences of 2,787 US news consumers. The Outsell report unsurprisingly predicts ongoing, steep drops in US newspapers’ print circulation as consumers continue to head online for news consumption and sharing, forecasting 3.5 percent annual declines in both daily and Sunday circulation by 2012. Interestingly enough, the research also talks of what is referred to as the “dramatic effect” aggregators like Google and Yahoo have had on print and online readership... “Though Google is driving some traffic to newspapers, it’s also taking a significant share away. A full 44 percent of visitors to Google News scan headlines without accessing newspapers’ individual sites.” [Compared to what? First, I don't read all the articles in a newspaper – never did. Second, I'm rarely doing the kind of research that requires me to read National Enquirer articles. (I could go on, but you get the idea) Bob]
Wait! Let me put my MBA hat on here. You want to pay CBS to convert their fragile/degrading film to a digital format so that if they ever figure out how to make money from these shows they are still available, and they turned you down, why?
CBS Refuses To Preserve Jack Benny Footage
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday January 19, @09:07PM from the thirty-nine-forever dept.
goosman writes
"The president of the International Jack Benny Fan Club had the opportunity to review some holdings of the CBS vaults while assisting them with some transfers. In the vaults she found 25 shows on film that were unreleased, but in the public domain. The IJBFC offered to pay for the digitization and preservation of these shows; they got a letter of enthusiastic support from the Benny estate. CBS has so far refused to allow this preservation to happen."
BoingBoing and TechDirt have both covered this act of cultural destruction.
Clearly, this is a research effort that needs to be expanded. We could add Buffalo, Elk, Mule Deer, etc. and attract tourists to Colorado! (Then we could feed them to the Mountain Lions, Bears, Wolves and Coyotes!)
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/023301.html
January 19, 2010
Owls, Otters, Monkeys and Lions Near You.com
"Designed for animal lovers with very specific tastes, we've just added the following sites to the WildlifeNearYou family:
Does anyone memorize any more?
http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/memorizenow-memorizing-long-passages/
MemorizeNow: Helps Memorizing Long Passages Of Texts
Some free, some subscription.
http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/thefutureschannel-online-educational-videos/
TheFuturesChannel: Source for Online Educational Videos
Similar websites: WatchKnow, Lectr, AcademicEarth and MBAvid.
Something for my students! (And lots of instructors I know)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10437410-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Microsoft turns finding Office commands into game
by Ina Fried January 19, 2010 3:07 PM PST
I'm not sure it's exactly the approach I would take, but Redmond has decided to make a game out of what I find to be one of the most significant annoyances in Microsoft's Office--finding the command one is looking for.
Introduced on Tuesday, "Ribbon Hero" is aimed at turning into a game the often frustrating task of finding commands on Office's Ribbon toolbar, which debuted as part of Office 2007.
… Ribbon Hero requires Office 2007 or the Office 2010 beta and works with either 32-bit or 64-bit versions of Windows Vista or Windows 7. It works from within Word Excel and PowerPoint.
[From the Ribbon Hero link:
For additional challenges and the opportunity to earn more points, download Office 2010 Beta.
Thanks to Gary Alexander (Researcher of cool stuff) I will be in class, but some of you may find this both interesting and doable.
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/744394546
Black Hat Webcast Series - Security Starts at the Beginning – Part 1
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010 Time: 1:00 pm PT/4:00 pm ET Duration: 120 minutes w/ Q&A
Sponsored by Microsoft Corp.
AT LAST! Defend yourself against Klingons! I won't repost the plans here, far too dangerous.
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/01/18/make-your-own-star-trek-phaser/
01.18.10 By: Laura Hudson
Make Your Own Star Trek Phaser
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