Wow... yet another loss of Privacy at a major corporation...

I wonder what will be done with this? Will HP be scolded for this action?

Slashdot | Boardroom Spying Debacle at HP

Here is an interesting story, based on some research from the University of Illinois.

Scientists have developed a new synthetic compound that can trick cancer cells to commit self-destruction. The compound can initiate programmed cell death, or apoptosis, which does not happen in cancer cells because the signaling path to a protein called procaspase-3 is broken in such cells, leading to the cancer cells escaping destruction and growing into tumors.

This may signal a new era in Cancer cures... One can only hope!

New compound found that can trigger suicide of cancer cells

Note to Self... don't become a street urchin in India...

This is fucked up... now, a few doctors in India have been caught maiming beggars, for cash, to make them seem more "pitiful".

The article goes on to state, that if found guilty, the Dr.'s will lose their license to practice in India... Leading me to ask, well, then, they'll just come to the states to practice...

Scary...

Doctors offer to maim beggars in TV sting�|�Oddly Enough�|�Reuters.com

IDGNS: What are the new threats that people aren't thinking about?

Drako: There has been a market change over the last five-to-six years, primarily due to Sarbanes-Oxley. It used to be that you actually trusted your employees. What's changed -- and which is really kind of morally and socially depressing -- is that now, the way the auditors approach the problem, the way Sarbanes-Oxley approaches the problem, is you actually put in systems assuming that you can't trust anyone. Everything has to be double-signoff or a double-check in the process of how you organize all of the financials of the company.

That is really the major shift, which has created a huge burden on how we operate any [publicly traded] organization.

I'm on an Internal Security workgroup, and there is an individual who is stomping around bemoaning this very process... Great article, fantastic timing!!!

Security chiefs see changes in identity theft

Now this is the coolest.

Literally...

New Scientist Tech - Technology - 'Plasma needle' could replace the dentist's drill.

According to the article, this plasma needle can target specific types of cells, and cause necrosis, leaving other types of cells intact and unharmed... AWESOME! all without a knife, and at "regular" temperatures... I love science!

More Star Trek medicine!!! I like it!

Ok... I have nothing flashy to say, except, WHAT???

Is it me, or am I simply not seeing how this is going to help the "average" company?

EMC has always been a "top shelf" product, and priced that way (e.g. expensive as hell), and RSA is not known for "budget conscious" products either.

Unless this expenditure of @2.1 Billion Dollars by EMC means they're going to product their products at a LOWER PRICE TO the Market, (Which I can't forsee in any alternate reality, nevermind our current one), what's the point? To make Security on Data Storage too expensive for the masses?

Arrrrgggggghhhhhh, ... It's Drivin' me Nuts!!!!

Update: EMC to acquire RSA Security for almost $2.1B

The Ford Motor company has decided to "change" it's stance on building hybrid vehicles, according to this Autotopia article.

Ford says it was just kidding about its pledge to produce 250,000 hybrids per year.

Well... I have to laugh at the Charlie Sheen reference... although it does make the news oh so bittersweet...

Ford takes 1 step forward, and twenty seven thousand, three hundred and six back.

I'm not all up on this Virtualization and making software at this level, but I do understand the gist of this article. If it is true... it's pretty scary...

I'd love to know what this community thinks with regard to the "Blue Pill"...

invisiblethings: Introducing Blue Pill

In this wired news article, there is a discussion over the new move by technical phone manufacturers and wireless providers to merge their services. What makes this article so interesting to me, the quote below from an EVP of a major marketing firm when asked about privacy of selling ads sent to your cell phone, based on the cell phone's location.

As for privacy concerns associated with geographic and music-customized targeting, "This is a generation that publishes itself on MySpace," Ruhanen quipped, eliciting a chuckle from attendees.

(Troy Ruhanen, executive vice president of BBDO North America, which is a MARKETING company.)

This type of moronic babble is exactly what businesses want to hear. It is morons like this that provide guidance to major corporations that are required by law to be more concerned with security for their customers. According to BBDO's Web site, they tout the following companies as customers:

Cingular Wireless
Homeless.com
US Peacecorps
PEPSICO
Sierra Mist
AquaFina
Mitsubishi US
General Electric
FedEx
FedEx-Kinkos
Guiness
Mars Company (makers of M&M's)
NJ Quit Center
Hormel Company (Makers of Spam)
Wrigleys
La Salle Bank
Daimler-Chrysler
Pioneer Stereo
San Franscisco Zoo
Tabasco

I wonder if they know about this EVP's apparent lack of security concerns?

Just my 2cents, YMMV.

Why Business continues to fall victim to security and privacy issues

Here are just some of my thoughts for today...

How can companies be "secure" when they allow their "bell" entrance facilities wide open? jonnyx and I were driving around this afternoon, and we passed through an office park, where several companies share the same physical buildings, and share a central "bell" entrance facility. Of those we observed, several of them without locks, those with locks were trivial to open, and one was actually ajar.

What is the big deal? Well, in the building that the entrance facility was ajar, there was several computer stores, a travel agent, a lawyers office, and a theraputic spa and tanning salon. Name the companies here that take credit cards, or other transmit sensitive information about their customers? (uhh, that'd be all of them.)

How easy would it be to install a tap that copyied the data from their T-1 and/or phone lines? Since this office space is shared, it would be very difficult to trace, and there were no cameras at the facility, most of the goings-on would be un-observed.

Frightening. Simply Frightening...