Saturday, October 12, 2013

Yet another company, dependent on their computers, that has no idea what programs are added or what data is copied? Perhaps they should hire a real manager.
Datapak Services Corporation, an order fulfillment and payment processor based in Swanee, Georgia, recently learned that malware placed on their system on March 5 may have compromised the credit card information of customers of “several” e-commerce web sites.
In a letter dated October 3, they note that customers’ names, addresses, and card numbers with expiration dates and security codes may have been exposed. The firm does not indicate how they first became aware of the breach. Nor does it name the web sites affected.
Those affected by the incident were offered one year of free services through AllClear SECURE and AllClear PRO.
A copy of their notification letter was posted on the Vermont Attorney General’s web site, here.


Perhaps the records were held by the FBO (Federal Boondoggle of Obfuscation) and you can't prove that agency even exists, so we win and you lose. “The FBI, making stuff up since 1929!”
Josh Crank reports:
The Florida socialite whose FBI complaint led to the resignation of Gen. David Petraeus is suing the government for allegedly leaking her private emails to the press and tarnishing her reputation. But the Department of Justice is demanding that the suit be tossed on a technicality.
[...]
Kelley’s lawsuit is based in part on the Privacy Act, which establishes rules for federal agencies that handle the personal information of U.S. citizens. In its motion to dismiss, the Justice Department called the Privacy Act a “highly technical” statute from which many of the FBI’s records systems are exempt. The motion doesn’t specifically state that the FBI stored Kelley’s private emails in one of these exempted databases, but rather argues the lawsuit should be dismissed because Kelley can’t prove that it wasn’t.
“Disclosure claims under the Privacy Act are governed by a rule of retrieval – to be actionable, disclosed information about an individual must have been retrieved from a protected system of records,” according to the dismissal motion. “But plaintiffs fail to make allegations to satisfy the retrieval rule, and that omission prevents plaintiffs from stating a claim for a wrongful disclosure.”
Read more on Lawyers.com
Isn’t this what discovery is for??


Is anyone old enough to remember Joe Namath in those pantyhose ads? Every similar odd/funny/shocking combination will no doubt go viral. Fortunately, I was wise enough to use a portrait with one of those little © thingies...
Google Is Going to Include Your Face in Its New Ads
… On Friday the company said it would begin including recommendations that Google+ users make in advertisements. The new policy kicks in on Nov. 11.
Here’s how it works: You use Google+ to rate some product or service. It turns out the company behind that product wants to advertise on Google. When the company purchases an ad, your friends will see a version that includes your photo along with what you said about the product.


Attention frogs! The water temperature is rising again. Just a little bit. Don't worry. Trust us.
Facebook Removing Option To Be Unsearchable By Name, Highlighting Lack Of Universal Privacy Controls
“Who can look up your Timeline by name?” Anyone you haven’t blocked. Facebook is removing this privacy setting, notifying those who had hidden themselves that they’ll be searchable. It deleted the option from those who hadn’t used it in December, and is starting to push everyone to use privacy controls on each type of content they share. But there’s no one-click opt out of Facebook search.


It makes sense doesn't it? After all, that's why the NSA thinks they can predict terrorist attacks by listening to phone calls and reading email. My concern is that mentioning suicide (oops I just did) would result in a visit from a “psychiatrist drone” or at least mandatory suicide counseling. It could be worse, what European country imposed the death penalty for attempted suicide?
Suicide chatter on Twitter hints at state suicide rates -- study
In the aftermath of a suicide, family and friends of the deceased sometimes turn to social media sites for clues as to why it may have happened.
But on a more hopeful note, the trails left on these sites may also serve as something of an early warning system that could help prevent some of these tragedies, according to researchers at Brigham Young University.
Reporting in the journal Crisis, the researchers say they sifted through millions of tweets gathered from all 50 states over three months, on the hunt for both direct discussions of suicide and keywords that are associated with a range of suicide risk factors.
Out of the millions of tweets on hand, they found 37,717 worrying tweets from 28,088 unique users with some location info available. They then determined each state's ratio of such tweets, and found that these correlated strongly with each state's actual suicide rate.


Does searching for value send you to Walmart & Associates?
Why Law Firm Pedigree May Be a Thing of the Past
Have you ever heard the saying: “You never get fired for buying IBM”? Every industry loves to co-opt it; for example, in consulting, you’ll hear: “You never get fired for hiring McKinsey.” In law, it’s often: “You never get fired for hiring Cravath”. But one general counsel we spoke with put a twist on the old saying, in a way that reflects the turmoil and change that the legal industry is undergoing. Here’s what he said: “I would absolutely fire anyone on my team who hired Cravath.” While tongue in cheek, and surely subject to exceptions, it reflects the reality that there is a growing body of legal work that simply won’t be sent to the most pedigreed law firms, most typically because general counsel are laser focused on value, namely quality and efficiency.


It seems to me that Aereo has carefully designed a legal service. Will the Supremes agree?
Broadcasters petition Supreme Court in Aereo fight
Television broadcasters Friday petitioned the US Supreme Court to get involved in their fight against Aereo, the online service that streams their over-the-air programming to its paying members.
Aereo, which is backed by IAC Chairman Barry Diller, uses tiny individual antennas to let consumers watch live, local broadcasts on some Internet-connected devices and store shows in a cloud-based DVR. Television giants including Disney's ABC, CBS (the parent of CNET), Fox, and Comcast's NBCUniversal sued Aereo, alleging that the service violates their copyrights and that Aereo must pay them.


Dilbert explains “Prior Art” for us non-lawyers....


Might be useful for handouts at seminars for example...
– easily create and share single-use, live web folders. Get yourself a free, disposable box. Put your files inside the folder and share it with other people, who can download those files. You can cancel the folder at any time.


Kids not learning Cursive in school? There's an App (and a robot) for that! (I'll write your notes for $4.99)
Outsource Your Thank You Notes to a Robot
… Unlike a printer, the robot manually moves a pen back and forth and scribbles a 255-character message in cursive.
… Keep in mind that even though the first note is free, each note afterward will cost $5.
[Video of the robot in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k49ncf60zN8

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