Centennial Man

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Perhaps not the best target for identity theft?

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=2113

Jackson death certificate improperly accessed

July 23, 2009 by Dissent Filed under Breaches, U.S.

Los Angeles County coroner’s officials said Wednesday that they have discovered security breaches involving the investigation into Michael Jackson’s death, including hundreds of improper views of the pop star’s death certificate and the discovery of weaknesses in two other computer systems in which more sensitive records are stored.

At least half a dozen staff members inappropriately accessed Jackson’s death certificate, officials said. Within two weeks of his death June 25, the certificate had been viewed more than 300 times. The document was not released publicly until July 7.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

How much should a security breach cost an organization?

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=6353

HSBC fined for personal data loss

July 22, 2009 by admin Filed under Breach Incidents, Lost or Missing, Non-U.S., Of Note

Three HSBC firms have been fined more than £3m for failing to adequately protect customers’ confidential details from being lost or stolen.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said customer data had been lost in the post on two occasions.

The firms concerned are HSBC Life UK, HSBC Actuaries and Consultants, and HSBC Insurance Brokers.
[...]

The FSA identified two instances where unencrypted data had been lost in the post.

In April 2007, HSBC Actuaries lost a floppy disk containing the personal information of 1,917 pension scheme members, including addresses, dates of birth and national insurance numbers.

And in February 2008, HSBC Life lost a CD containing the details of 180,000 policyholders.

“All three firms failed their customers by being careless with personal details which could have ended up in the hands of criminals,” said Margaret Cole, director of enforcement at the FSA.

Read more on BBC. Related - FSA Press Release

See how common “not knowing” is? Here's an idea. If you can't prove your laptop was “PII Free” then you must assume it contained data on every customer. (It'll never fly, but it would open some eyes.)

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=6349

Stolen laptop “may have” held customer data

July 21, 2009 by admin Filed under Breach Incidents, Business Sector, Theft

On July 8, a laptop that may have contained some customer information such as names and credit card numbers was stolen from an employee of Henry Schein, Inc. Although the laptop was password protected, the data were not encrypted.

By letter dated July 16 to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, Kristen J. Mathews of Proskauer Rose indicated that the HSI, which distributes medical, dental, and veterinary supplies, was not even sure any customer data were on the laptop, writing “At this time HSI has no reason to believe that any personal information (if any was actually contained on the laptop) has been or will be accessed or misused. ”

So how do you notify customers when you’re not even sure any customer data were on a stolen device? Is this a “if there were data, then it would have to be _________’s data” thing?

Whenever I read such reports, I always wonder why there was no backup that could tell them definitively whether there were PII on a stolen device and if so, whose. I also wonder why any customer data would be on the device since it seems logical (to me, anyway) that the employee wasn’t working with the data or at the very least, hadn’t worked with it for long enough time that s/he could not longer remember or be sure what was on the laptop. So far, I haven’t come up with any good answers, but maybe there is a scenario that I haven’t considered. [Rampant stupidity? Bob]

(Related) If you don't have expertise in a niche area, ask the Internet. The first Comment provides a (free) answer. See how easy “knowing” can be?

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/21/218206/Best-Tools-For-Network-Inventory-Management?from=rss

Best Tools For Network Inventory Management?

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday July 21, @05:51PM from the IPs-and-users-and-boxes-oh-my dept. networking

jra writes

"Once every month or so, people ask here about backups, network management, and so on, but one topic I don't see come up too often is network inventory management — machines, serial numbers, license keys, user assignments, IP addresses, and the like. This level of tracking is starting to get out of hand in my facility as we approach 100 workstations and 40 servers, and I'm looking for something to automate it.

Hope for the “Privacy/Security Challenged?” (It is possible some of my students are already sending me their research papers using this tool...

http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/07/21/1522255/Vanish-Makes-Sensitive-Data-Self-Destruct?from=rss

'Vanish' Makes Sensitive Data Self-Destruct

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday July 21, @12:14PM from the also-doesn't-appear-to-be-a-fire-hazard dept. security encryption

Hugh Pickens writes

"The NY Times reports on new software called 'Vanish,' developed by computer scientists at the University of Washington, which makes sensitive electronic messages 'self destruct' after a certain period of time. The researchers say they have struck upon a unique approach that relies on 'shattering' an encryption key that is held by neither party in an e-mail exchange, but is widely scattered across a peer-to-peer file sharing system. 'Our goal was really to come up with a system where, through a property of nature, the message, or the data, disappears,' says Amit Levy, who helped create Vanish. It has been released as a free, open-source tool that works with Firefox. To use Vanish, both the sender and the recipient must have installed the tool. The sender then highlights any sensitive text entered into the browser and presses the 'Vanish' button. The tool encrypts the information with a key unknown even to the sender. That text can be read, for a limited time only, when the recipient highlights the text and presses the 'Vanish' button to unscramble it. After eight hours, the message will be impossible to unscramble and will remain gibberish forever. Tadayoshi Kohno says Vanish makes it possible to control the 'lifetime' of any type of data stored in the cloud, including information on Facebook, Google documents or blogs."

Interesting approach. If the same information is available for the other state laws, we have the basis for a quick (and useful?) article.

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=6335

FAQ on Nevada’s Security of Personal Information Law (NRS 603A)

July 21, 2009 by admin Filed under Breach Laws, Legislation, State/Local

InfoSecCompliance (”ISC”) was recently asked by a prospective client to provide a summary of Nevada’s Security of Personal Information law (NRS 603A) and a recent amendment to the Security Law that incorporated the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (”PCI”). ISC decided to try something new and create a Frequently Asked Questions document around the PCI requirements contained in the Security Law. For better or worse (after sinking in 15 - 20 hours) ISC ended up doing FAQs for the entire Nevada Security Law. This turned out to be a much bigger work than originally anticipated, so ISC is going to do a five-part blog post series breaking down the Nevada Security Law into (hopefully) digestible parts.

This FAQ is broken down into six sections that will be posted over five posts over the next week or so. The postings will be broken down as follows:

Post One: The Basics of Nevada’s Security Law and Destruction of Records

Post Two: Security Breach Notice

Post Three: Required Security Measures

Post Four: Encryption and PCI Compliance

Post Five: Remedies, Penalties and Enforcement

Check the site for updates when the posts become available. Post One is available now.

(Related)

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=6358

Nevada’s Security of Personal Information Law Post Two: The Breach Notice Requirements

July 22, 2009 by admin Filed under Breach Laws, State/Local

From the FAQ provided by InfoSecCompliance:

What triggers the security breach notice obligations under the Security Law?

In order for the breach notice requirements to be triggered under the Security Law two general events must occur (with some sub-requirements discussed further below). First, there must have been a “breach of the security of the system data” discovered by a data collector or notified to a data collector. Second, “personal information” must have actually been acquired by an unauthorized person, or was “reasonably believed to have been acquired” by an unauthorized person.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

“Interesting,” Anonymous

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=2021

Judge OKs anon comments, some bloggers don’t

July 20, 2009 by Dissent Filed under Court, Internet, U.S.

There are a couple of interesting new posts around the blogosphere concerning anonymous online commenters. The first, over at Volokh, discusses a recent case out of Tennessee, State v. Cobbins, where a judge denied defendants’ motion to require a media outlet to disable a portion of its Web site enabling Web users to post comments (mostly anonymous) about the pending case. Defendants argued that the site comments could prejudice jurors. The judge denied the motion for a variety of reasons, noting the importance of the First Amendment rights at stake:

The right to speak anonymously extends to speech via the Internet. Internet anonymity facilitates the rich, diverse, and far ranging exchange of ideas. The “ability to speak one’s mind” on the Internet “without the burden of the other party knowing all the facts about one’s identity can foster open communication and robust debate.” People who have committed no wrongdoing should be free to participate in online forums without fear that their identity will be exposed under the authority of the court.

Read more on Legal Blog Watch. The blog entry goes on to discuss the recent trend on some legal blogs to require commenters to provide their real name and email address. [Perhaps we need an “Anonymous Lawyer” blog? Bob]

Too good to be true? Probably.

http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/google-promises-the-end-of-viruses--617790

Google promises 'the end of viruses'

Engineering director claims Chrome OS will finally defeat malware

By Adam Hartley Monday at 11:30 BST

Google's Engineering Director has promised that its forthcoming Chrome OS will see 'the end of malware'.

Google is promising what the latest issue of New Scientist magazine refers to as "a carefree antivirus nirvana" with its forthcoming Google Chrome OS.

… Via New Scientist

Of course, this was before the iPhone (June 2007)

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/021863.html

July 20, 2009

NYT Posts Unreleased Government Report on Dangers of Using Cell Phones While Driving

"The following body of research, conducted by the Department of Transportation and completed in 2003, has not been made public until now. The documents pertain to the safety of using wireless communication devices while driving. The New York Times obtained the research from the Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen, two consumer advocacy groups that earlier this year acquired more than 250 pages of undisclosed material through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit." See also Related Article.

Status Summary: Using Wireless Communications Devices While Driving, Original Date May 21, 2002 - Last updated: July 2003 [266 pages]

[From the report:

The experimental data indicates that, with the exception of the consequences of manipulating a

wireless communications device, there are negligible differences in safety relevant behavior and

performance between using hand-held and hands-free communications devices while driving from

the standpoint of cognitive distraction.

This all started with the evil conspiracy to eliminate the buggy whip industry. No doubt Congress will take action to “Keep American in the Forefront of 19^th Century Technology!”

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/021859.html

July 20, 2009

Will There Be a Fight To Save American Manufacturing?

New York Times: "The United States ranks behind every industrial nation except France in the percentage of overall economic activity devoted to manufacturing — 13.9 percent, the World Bank reports, down a percentage point or so in a decade. The 19-month-old recession has contributed to this decline. Industrial production has fallen 17.3 percent, the sharpest drop during a recession since the 1930s... Manufacturing has long been viewed as an essential pillar of a powerful economy. It generates millions of well-paid jobs for those with only a high school education, a huge segment of the population. No other sector contributes more to the nation’s overall productivity, economists say. [Didn't they say that about farming? Bob] And as manufacturing weakens, the country becomes ever more dependent on imports of merchandise, computers, machinery and the like — running up a trade deficit that in time could undermine the dollar and the nation’s capacity to sustain so many imports."

Related postings on financial system

Once again I will be able to argue with the Antitrust lawyers that it is simpler to wait a full “Internet century” (about 10 years) for the “next big thing” to supersede Google, or for Google to follow Microsoft's example and shoot itself in the foot once too often.

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-08/mf_googlopoly

Why Is Obama's Top Antitrust Cop Gunning for Google?

By Fred Vogelstein

"I think you are going to see a repeat of Microsoft."

Christine Varney's blunt assessment sent a buzz through the audience at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Varney, a partner at Hogan & Hartson and one of the country's foremost experts in online law, was speaking at the ninth annual conference of the American Antitrust Institute, a gathering of top monopoly attorneys and economists.

… The technology industry, she said, was coming under the sway of a dominant behemoth, one that had the potential to stifle innovation and squash its competitors. The last time the government saw a threat like this—Microsoft in the 1990s—it launched an aggressive antitrust case. But by the time of this conference, mid-June 2008, a new offender had emerged. "For me, Microsoft is so last century," Varney said. "They are not the problem. I think we are going to continually see a problem, potentially, with Google."

… She acknowledged that her remarks might ruffle some feathers at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. "If any of my colleagues or friends from Google are here," she said, "I invite you to jump up and scream and yell at me."

Nobody took her up on that offer. But it is safe to assume that plenty of Googlers were jumping and screaming six months later when President Obama appointed Varney head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, making her the government's most powerful antimonopoly prosecutor.

… "Part of what you have to do when you're going to try to bring a [Sherman Antitrust] Section Two case is you have to create the political climate," she said. [Because neither the B-school nor Google's customers believe you have a case. Bob]

… In and of itself, Google's size is not a legal problem.

… Because its search and advertising algorithms are secret, there is no way for competitors or partners to know whether Google tweaks results to direct traffic to its own properties over theirs.

… And even if Google is behaving honorably now, it is creating a system full of temptations should the company ever come under financial pressure.

… Some antitrust experts argue that the natural business cycle will take care of this problem without government intervention, but Varney's three top economists have all said that they favor a hands-on approach. [What did they say when the Republicans were in charge? Bob]

This is an interesting business model. Would it work for other professions?

http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/pubmeddy-com-science-articles-resources

PubMeddy.com - Science Articles & Resources

http://pubmeddy.com/

Hundreds of articles are published in various fields of medical research ranging from obesity, stem cell, various human syndromes and so forth on a daily basis. The information is usually stored in various publicly available databases. Pubmeddy.com takes that information and automatically makes webpages that users can access to read the articles or research papers of their choice.

This means that now instead of conducting a search that goes “stem cell papers” or “obesity” users can resort to this site and find the latest articles that are published by the scientific community. The site is updated by the hour, which means if you are interested in various fields of biomedical research, you can just check out the website and see what is new at a glance. Websites such as this one (solely devoted to biomedical research) are not that commonplace, and as such it can gather a considerable following.

This is brilliant. Now I can point my students to tools they can try before downloading and installing (i.e. immediate feedback.)

http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/click2try-com-try-open-source-software-at-no-cost

Click2Try.com - Try Open Source Software At No Cost

http://www.click2try.com/

Quite a well-focused community site, Click2Try will allow you to put open source software to the task without having to incur into downloads of any kind, and without having to worry about setting anything up. Basically, through the site you can gain access to software applications that are pre-configured and already functional, and that are installed on a virtual machine that is also private, and accessible from your desktop.

The advantages of such an approach are obvious: you eliminate long downloads and time-demanding installation procedures, whereas you also dispense with upgrades and integration issues of every kind. In short, a system like this one ensures that you will do without each and every software headache one knows that has to be faced when putting a new application into motion.

There are both standard and premium subscription plans, and there are also different evaluation packages so that if you want to see whether such an approach is what you need in order to have a less-stressful time with your computer this might be where it’s at.

Expect many pointers to presentations and videos...

http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009

OSCON 2009

[I'm interested in:

Introduction to Forensics

http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/detail/8194

Cloud Computing - Why IT Matters

http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/detail/9210

Enabling Academic Research – Open Tools and Services on Microsoft Platforms

http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/detail/10209

Monday, July 20, 2009

It looks like all the identity Theft is providing a bit of motivation for better Monitoring at least.

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/021851.html

July 18, 2009

Javelin: U.S. Credit Card Issuers Dramatically Improve Customer Fraud Detection

News release: Javelin Strategy & Research released its Fifth Annual Card Issuers’ Identity Safety Scorecard, which analyzes the top 25 U.S. card issuers’ capabilities for protecting customers from identity fraud. To compile the report, Javelin incorporated data from annual household, consumer, and issuer surveys using Javelin’s Prevention, Detection and Resolution™ criteria to accurately reflect customer demands and trends in how issuers protect against fraud. The Javelin scorecard is a structured assessment of each issuer’s fraud protection services. The scorecard ranks features that best empower two major victims of the nation’s $48B identity fraud problem—cardholders and issuers—showing how to turn the tables on a worrying method of crime."

Perhaps this is a pilot project for Google's expansion of Google Maps? Perhaps it is viewed as a way out of California's Budget Crisis? (Visit our town, pay a toll?) Perhaps they think crooks drive around in their own cars... (...a van with “Crooks R Us” painted on the side?)

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=1995

Tiburon wants to photograph every car

July 19, 2009 by Dissent Filed under Govt, Surveillance, U.S.

Visitors should be prepared to have their pictures taken as they enter and leave this picturesque town of million-dollar views and homes along the San Francisco Bay.

Officials want to photograph every car and use the license plate information to solve crimes in the town of 9,000. Critics see the plan as an intrusion into the rights of visitors, but proponents say it is a sensible precaution that absolutely will not cross privacy lines.

Read more in ThePost.ie.

(Related) Everyone underestimates the Swiss.

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=2006

Internet interception to start in Switzerland

July 20, 2009 by Dissent Filed under Internet, Non-U.S., Surveillance

Wikileaks.org has published confidential documents that “detail information on an official program for centralized, real-time, interception of Internet traffic in Switzerland. The interception will start on August 1, 2009.”

One of the documents in the file is draft version 0.2 of TR TS (Technical Requirements for Telecommunication Surveillance). It is dated May 2009 and “applies to every telecommunication provider operating in Switzerland or offering services to customers geographically based in Switzerland or abroad.”

What happens when “It's for the children” changes to “It's for your own good?”

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=2004

Call for NZ website blacklist leak

July 20, 2009 by Dissent Filed under Govt, Internet, Non-U.S.

A euthanasia activist is questioning the Government’s motives behind blocking access to objectionable websites.

The new Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System , worth $150,000, will be provided free to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in a couple of months.

The Government said 7000 objectionable sites [Is there a US government agency tasked with finding Child Porn sites? If so, which politicians provide constant/extensive/detailed/personal oversight? Bob] would be blocked to fight child sex abuse.

[...]

The software, called Whitebox, will reroute all site requests to government-owned servers.

It compares users’ site requests with a list of banned links. If a match is found, the request is denied.

It will not cover email, file sharing or borderline material.

Internal Affairs censorship compliance head Steve O’Brien said the blacklist would be personally reviewed by staff each month and would be restricted to paedophilic content only.

The scheme was voluntary for internet service providers, but Telecom, TelstraClear and Vodafone, which represented more than 93 percent of the market, had expressed interest in adopting it.

Read more from the New Zealand Press Association.

NOW do you see why I don't trust electronic voting that does not provide an Audit Trail? (Still leaves the question: Why do we (the State Department) want this guy back in power? Perhaps this was a trial run for “Hillary 2012?”)

http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/19/1646201/Computerized-Election-Results-With-No-Election?from=rss

Computerized Election Results With No Election

Posted by kdawson on Sunday July 19, @02:28PM from the why-bother-with-mere-tampering dept. government

_Sharp'r_ writes

"In Honduras, according to breaking Catalan newspaper reports (translations available, USA Today mention), authorities have seized 45 computers containing certified election results for a constitutional election that never happened. The election had been scheduled for June 28, but on that day the president, Manuel Zelaya, was ousted. The 'certified' and detailed electronic records of the non-existent election show Zelaya's side having won overwhelmingly."

Are we blazing trail through new areas of law or wading through a swamp of new technologies? When stolen data is “published” (even if only to a few Blogs) does it become “public knowledge?”

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135606/Possible_Twitter_lawsuit_would_dive_into_murky_blog_waters

Possible Twitter lawsuit would dive into murky blog waters

Twitter may file suit against blogs, other Web sites that published hacked information

By Sharon Gaudin July 16, 2009 05:06 PM ET

Computerworld - If Twitter decides to sue Web sites and bloggers that published information pilfered from its systems by hackers, the company could be diving into murky and largely untested legal waters.

Biz Stone, co-founder of the microblogging site, confirmed in a blog post yesterday that a hacker gained access to the personal e-mail account of a Twitter employee and with that was able to lift private company documents. At that point, the hacker offered the information to various blogs and online publications.

Bloggers from multiple Web sites followed the Twitter hack story, but TechCrunch, a well-known blog covering the tech industry, went a step further and published a few of the stolen documents.

… In a blog post yesterday, Michael Arrington, founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, said [...]that any unethical or illegal activity weighs solely on the person who took the information and then distributed it. "On our end, it's simply news," wrote Arrington.

… And then another question pops up: Are bloggers considered to be journalists under the law? That issue, legal experts say, is still up in the air.

Earlier this month, a New Jersey Superior Court judge ruled that a blogger who posted comments about the pornography industry is not protected by journalistic shield laws and can be sued for defamation, according to a report on New Jersey On-Line LLC's NJ.com Web site. [Only in New Jersey can you defame a porn site Bob]

(Related) Background Includes an assertion that the password on (at least one of) Twitter's server was “password”

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/19/the-anatomy-of-the-twitter-attack/?awesm=tcrn.ch_6B7

The Anatomy Of The Twitter Attack

by Nik Cubrilovic on July 19, 2009

The Twitter document leak fiasco started with a simple story that personal accounts of Twitter employees were hacked. Twitter CEO Evan Williams commented on that story, saying that Twitter itself was mostly unaffected. No personal accounts were compromised, and “most of the sensitive information was personal rather than company-related,” he said. The individual behind the attacks, known as Hacker Croll, wasn’t happy with that response. Lots of Twitter corporate information was compromised, and he wanted the world to know about it. So he sent us all of the documents that he obtained, some 310 of them, and the story developed from there.

This is huge! What tactic did the EU use to force Microsoft to change?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/168661/internet_explorer_modified_nudged_by_antitrust_charge.html

Internet Explorer Modified -- Nudged by Antitrust Charge?

Gregg Keizer, Computerworld Jul 18, 2009 2:22 pm

Microsoft last week bowed to critics [I doubt it Bob] involved in the company's European antitrust case who have accused it of silently changing users' default browsers, a move that may be aimed at Brussels-based regulators.

Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) will no longer replace a PC's default browser when a user selects the already-checked "Use express settings" option in the setup screen, Microsoft said. Both Opera Software and Mozilla had hammered Microsoft in May over the tactic, accusing the company of force feeding Internet Explorer 8 to users with Windows Update, and silently changing the default browser on PCs.

Strategy This happens when you fail to understand the business you are in. AT&T is still thinking “telephone company” while Apple sees them as a “Data Delivery Utility” (Perhaps Apple should buy AT&T to “save” it.)

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/07/13/apples_iphone_wrecking_the_cell_industry.html

Apple's iPhone "wrecking" the cell industry

By Aidan Malley Published: 06:55 PM EST

Analyst Craig Moffett of Bernstein Research likens the relationship between Apple and AT&T as that between the former and music labels dating as far back as 2001, when Apple first had to ingratiate itself with labels as it incorporated music CD ripping into iTunes. Apple at first won important concessions and praise from its partners, only for them to regret it later as the iPod maker's popularity left these companies at the supposedly smaller company's mercy.

… As late as this spring, AT&T has continued to praise the iPhone as virtually saving the company from the US economy's fallout by driving customers to its network and encouraging them to spend more on data plans. But with the launch of the iPhone 3GS in June and the 3G congestion problems in the months leading up to the handset's debut, AT&T was increasingly cast as Apple's anchor -- keeping a good device locked to a carrier that doesn't enable features like MMS and tethering.

(Related) What happens when Apple customers (used to reliable computers) subscribe to AT&T systems that fail like they did in the 1930's? You get lot's of articles/blogs calling on Apple to dump AT&T.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/18/att-is-a-big-steaming-heap-of-failure/

AT&T Is A Big, Steaming Heap Of Failure

by MG Siegler on July 18, 2009

I too think they have it backwards. “Really Early Early-Adopters” like the Porn industry see profit in each new technology, but are unlikely to be the research funders.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10290322-71.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

So porn revolutionizes technology, right?

by Chris Matyszczyk July 19, 2009 11:30 AM PDT

Another source of videos for the classroom

http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/watchknow-educational-videos/

WatchKnow: Educational Video Resource

WatchKnow is a new educational video resource for students and teachers. It aggregates quality educational video content from all over the web, nicely organizes it, and presents on clean interface. You can search for videos by keywords and browse by category such as Mathematics, Science, History, Practical Skills, Pedagogy… etc.

www.watchknow.org

Similar websites: Lectr, AcademicEarth and MBAvid.

I use both Google and Wolfram Alpha, so I hope this site recovers from whatever clobbered it.

http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/goofram-search-google-and-wolfram-alpha-at-the-same-time/

Goofram: Search Google And Wolfram Alpha At The Same Time

Goofram lets you search Google and Wolfram Alpha at the same time and compare their search results side-by-side. While Google is a general purpose search engine, Wolfram Alpha bills itself as a “computational knowledge engine” due to its ability to understand and answer natural language queries (”capital of India”, “population growth in California” etc)

http://www.goofram.com/

Might find a use for this in my Stat class...

http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/cynergy-systems-map-us-census-data-online/

Cynergy Systems Map: View US Census Data Online

Cynergy Systems Map is an interesting Google Maps mash up that lets you view US census data online. Simply enter any zip code and the application will show corresponding census data sets such as age distribution, ethnic distribution, household statistics, population statistics, housing units and vacancy rates. For each data set it is possible to view the raw data and a chart view.

www.cynergysystems.com/blogs/blogs/andrew.trice/census

For my Forensics Class

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-protect-sensitive-information-by-securely-delete-data-from-your-hard-disk/

How To Protect Sensitive Information by Erasing Your Hard Disk Completely

Jul. 20th, 2009 By Varun Kashyap

Why am I certain that many of my readers will find this interesting? Because I attend so many “Legal Seminars/Wine Tastings”

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/021857.html

July 19, 2009

LLRX Book Review - The Little Red Book of Wine Law: A Case of Legal Issues

LLRX Book Review by Heather A. Phillips: The Little Red Book of Wine Law: A Case of Legal Issues - Heather A. Phillips recommends this slim volume as it provides an engaging and accessible introduction to American wine law and history that will broaden the reader's appreciation of the wine industry. Though short and non-technical, this book is suitable for a surprising number of library collections.

(Related) Proof the iPhone owners are winos?

http://www.killerstartups.com/Web-App-Tools/cellar-app-com-manage-your-wine-collection-on-the-go

Cellar-App.com - Manage Your Wine Collection On The Go

http://cellar-app.com/

In case you are interested in fine wines and you have a wine library, this is the right site for you to stop by. Here, you will start learning about a solution that will be very helpful for you to organize your wine collection. Cellar can be actually defined as a transportable showcase that was designed to let you store your favourite wine selections. This is going to be an interesting and fun way to effectively organize your wine collection.

One of the best things about the site is the fact that allows you to perform a quick data entry as well as to keep track of your wine library. This solution was created by Airsource Ltd and Glasshouse Apps and can be described as a collaborative iPhone app that works precisely when it comes to helping you be well organized in order to learn what to buy the next time you visit the liquor store.

[From their website:

What an amazing launch. To think that Cellar was only approved by Apple on Monday and 24 hours later it was the 15th top paid app in Lifestyle on the US App Store and another 24 hours after that it became the #1 top paid app in Lifestyle on the Australian App Store (even Barista only managed to reach #2).

Sunday, July 19, 2009

How long between the breach (taking the information) and conversion (turning that information into cash)

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=6291

Heartland breach felt in Bermuda

July 18, 2009 by admin Filed under Breach Incidents, Financial Sector, ID Theft

Hundreds of Bermudians may have been the victims of credit card fraud stemming from a US security breach in January.

Many people have had their cards cancelled due to suspicious activity as criminals are using credit cards cloned from information stolen from a credit card processing company in the US.

Capital G President and CEO John Kephart said that around five to six percent of all cardholders in Bermuda have experienced some degree of fraud.

“There’s a lag period of time, and then the copied cards appear,” said Mr. Kephart. “The general consensus is that this is the wave of cards coming out of the breach in January.

Centennial Man

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