Now we will be treated to swarms of “journalists” trying to interpret the raw data out of any context.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20075245-245/hackers-heres-zimbabwe-brazil-umg-viacom-data/
Hackers: Here's Zimbabwe, Brazil, UMG, Viacom data
Hackers today released data they said was from the governments of Zimbabwe and Brazil, entertainment giants Universal Music Group and Viacom, and a municipal government in Australia.
Meanwhile, the Anonymous group also reportedly temporarily shut down a tourism Web site for Orlando, Fla., with a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack today to protest the arrest of Food not Bombs volunteers for serving food in public in Orlando without a permit.
The “Harrisburg Project” (subcontractor to the state) released this data originally. Did they not know what was on the laptops or did they just lie?
http://www.databreaches.net/?p=19326
(update) Laptops stolen from a contractor’s van had a slew of sensitive student data
June 29, 2011 by admin
Remember the Illinois State Board of Education laptops stolen from a Harrisburg Project van recently? I was reading more about the incident and noticed that there was even more sensitive data on the laptops than originally indicated in media coverage:
The staff data stored on the computers included name, demographics, Social Security number, teacher certification number and work assignment. The student data included resident school district, birth date, name, student identification number, Social Security number, student’s identified disability, bilingual special education and other information.
And Social Security Numbers were being used in student files…. why?
Read more on Beacon News and remember that the federal government wants to compile and track even more data on students. Oh yeah, what could possibly go wrong?
I thought this might be an “Executive Privilege” argument, but apparently the just didn't want to be bothered...
http://www.databreaches.net/?p=19323
Texas Official Must Talk About Data Leaks
June 29, 2011 by admin
David Lee reports:
A state judge ordered the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts to comply with a request for a deposition on the leak of personal information of more than 3.5 million people.
Comptroller Susan Combs disclosed in April that the personal information of 3.5 million state employees and former employees had been stored on a publicly accessible computer server for about a year.
Travis County Judge Rhonda Hurley ruled on Monday that Combs must submit to questions about the leak from the Texas Civil Rights Project.
Read more on Courthouse News. Combs has indicated that she will appeal the ruling.
[From the Courthouse News article:
"The court finds that the likely benefits of allowing the depositions to investigate a potential claim outweigh the burden or expense of the procedure,"
Not creating privacy, but perhaps this lawyer sees where companies are overreaching and can be pushed back?
Keen On… Michael Fertik: Why People Will Pay for Privacy (TCTV)
Will people pay for online privacy? Yes, they will – at least according to Michael Fertik, the founder and CEO of Reputation.com, one of the early leaders in the new online privacy ecosystem. Indeed, Fertik believes that privacy is the next big thing in the online economy – a necessary antidote to Reid Hoffman’s Web 3.0 economy of pervasive personal data.
We can learn from failure...
Sean Parker On Why Myspace Lost To Facebook
With reports of social network Myspace about to sell for ~$30 million, the tech world eagerly awaits the HBS study for why the service, which was bought in 2006 by Newscorp for $580 million and was at some point valued at $1.5 billion (a quote in a Business Week article referred to it as “one of the best acquisitions ever”) ultimately failed.
… at minute 20:54 Fallon asks Parker, “Where did Myspace go wrong?”
“The failure to execute product development,” Parker replies. “They weren’t successful in treating and evolving the product enough, it was basically this junk heap of bad design that persisted for many many years. There was a period of time where if they had just copied Facebook rapidly, they would have been Facebook. They were giant, the network effects, the scale effects were enormous.”
Google goes Social? Bummer..
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/027618.html
June 28, 2011
Introducing the Google+ project: Real-life sharing, rethought for the web
Official Google Blog: "Among the most basic of human needs is the need to connect with others. With a smile, a laugh, a whisper or a cheer, we connect with others every single day. Today, the connections between people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of our online tools. In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it. We’d like to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. We want to make Google better by including you, your relationships, and your interests. And so begins the Google+ project..."
(Related)
Jive: 53 Percent Of Execs Believe They Must Adopt Social Business Or Risk Falling Behind
Social enterprise giant Jive is releasing a study today, called the Jive Social Business Index, which surveyed 902 US‐based executives at large and mid-sized companies on their views of social in the enterprise.
The study revealed that Social Business is increasingly perceived as a strategic executive imperative in the enterprise, with 78 percent of the executives surveyed admitting that having a social strategy is critical to the future success of their businesses.
You don't own the game. When they “Sell” it you you, you should bring your IP lawyer...
Capcom Crushes Retail Value of 3DS Resident Evil With Permanent Saved Game
When you open your brand-new copy of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D on Tuesday, you may find something interesting in the manual.
“Note: Saved data on this software cannot be reset,” you are warned. When you play the game and your progress is saved, there is no way to take it back. That is your game forever.
Let me explain why this is so infuriating if you’re unclear on just how hostile this is to gamers. Once you’ve beaten the game, you can’t erase your progress and start over. If you want to loan the game to a friend, they won’t be able to start their own game from the beginning. You may be able to trade the game into a store or sell it, but I wouldn’t suggest buying it from someone used, since you won’t be able to start from the beginning and unlock all the content yourself.
Vendors dictating IT strategy. “We don't want our nice new software running on that old clunky hardware.” (and since we make that hardware, we'll be happy to sell you some new stuff.)
Oracle Shuts Older Servers Out of Solaris 11
"The Register is reporting that Oracle has decided not to allow Solaris 11 to install on older Sparc hardware, including UltraSparc-I, UltraSparc-II, UltraSparc-IIe, UltraSparc-III, UltraSparc-III+, UltraSparc-IIIi, UltraSparc-IV, and UltraSparc-IV+ processors. The Solaris 11 Express development version released in November did not have this restriction, which suggests that the OS would likely run on these models. Unfortunately, the installer won't. All generations of Sparc T series processors and Sparc Enterprise M machines will be able to install and run Solaris 11, however."
Does this seem to push copyright a bit too far? If I had a drawing of R2D2 would I be in violation?
Paramount Cease and Desist Targets 3D Printer ‘Pirate’
… Blatt makes digital models of the items he sees in movies and sends them off to 3D printing site Shapeways. They recreate the items in a range of materials from plastic to metal and offer them for sale online.
… On June 8th Blatt announced on theRPF.com movie prop fansite that he was recreating the distinctive cube-shaped items from the Stephen Spielberg movie ‘Super 8‘. On June 9th he uploaded the files to Shapeways.
By June 10th, Blatt had received unwelcome contact from Hollywood lawyers and all his posts on theRPF were quickly edited out.
Terminology change: “Frequent Flyers” will henceforth be known as “Frequent Fryers”...
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/027617.html
June 28, 2011
EPIC v. DHS Lawsuit -- FOIA'd Documents Raise New Questions About Body Scanner Radiation Risks
EPIC: "In a FOIA lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, EPIC has just obtained documents concerning the radiation risks of TSA's airport body scanner program. The documents include agency emails, radiation studies, memoranda of agreement concerning radiation testing programs, and results of some radiation tests. One document set reveals that even after TSA employees identified cancer clusters possibly linked to radiation exposure, the agency failed to issue employees dosimeters - safety devices that could assess the level of radiation exposure. Another document indicates that the DHS mischaracterized the findings of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, stating that NIST "affirmed the safety" of full body scanners. The documents obtained by EPIC reveal that NIST disputed that characterization and stated that the Institute did not, in fact, test the devices. Also, a Johns Hopkins University study revealed that radiation zones around body scanners could exceed the "General Public Dose Limit." For more information, see EPIC: EPIC v. Department of Homeland Security - Full Body Scanner Radiation Risks and EPIC: EPIC v. DHS (Suspension of Body Scanner Program)."
Free is good.
Five Desktop Tools To Create Excellent Windows Environment
File Repair software is a powerful tool to repair your corrupted files. It scans the damaged file and extracts maximum data from it to a new usable file. You can repair word documents, excel spreadsheets, zip, rar, selected video formats, pdf, etc.
This is a simple application written in C# by which you can split large files into several pieces to transfer them easily over Internet.
USBFlashCopy is a small Windows utility to back up your flash drives and storage cards on the fly. It runs in the background and copies files from inserted media to a safe location on your hard drive. USBFlashCopy copies only newer or updated files, you can optionally keep old versions of the files.
Appnimi ZIP Password Unlocker is designed to let you search for passwords of protected ZIP files. This program guarantees the most complicated passwords recovery. Appnimi ZIP Password Unlocker allows to search for the password of the protected ZIP file using Brute Force algorithm. After recovering the password it will extract the files to a destination folder.
Driver Magician Lite is freeware, it identifies all the hardware in the system, extracts their associated drivers from the hard disk and backs them up to a location of your choice. Then when you format and reinstall/upgrade your operating system, you can restore all the “saved” drivers just as if you had the original driver diskettes in your hands.
Free is good.
2nd Edition of Learn Python the Hard Way Released
"Are you or your kid intrigued by Python, but not quite ready to purchase an in-depth O'Reilly book? Zed A. Shaw's 2nd edition of Learn Python The Hard Way may be a friendlier option. Shaw's path to Python programming is simple: 1. Go through each exercise, 2. Type in each sample exactly, 3. Make it run. If $60 for the hardcover is too much to ask, or $15.99 for paperback, you can spend a measly buck for the PDF/ePub download. Still too steep? OK, there's even a free online HTML edition. After completing the 52 exercises, Shaw's concluding Advice From An Old Programmer says, 'Which programming language you learn and use doesn't matter. Do not get sucked into the religion surrounding programming languages as that will only blind you to their true purpose of being your tool for doing interesting things.'"
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