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Businesses

Submission + - Business Week shows offshoring bad for the economy (businessweek.com)

Submitted by
Obasan
Obasan writes: "A 'gaping flaw' in the way economic numbers are computed may be the cause of a disconnect between GDP growth claims and actual growth, especially in terms of real wages, a phenomenon many of us are at least anecdotally familiar with. Business week calls this gap "phantom-GDP", gains in reported GDP that cannot be correlated with domestic production."
Businesses

Submission + - Business Intelligence: Giving meaning to the numbe (anabheri.com)

Submitted by
Rohith Anabheri
Rohith Anabheri writes: "Is your organization holding a large amount of data?, Is your huge amount of the data generated going unnoticed?, And you do not know how to convert it to a business value? Then read along, The last ten years the approach to business management has deeply changed, and Knowledge discovery has come a long way and is inevitable in this era of data explosion where data is generated every where be banking, telecom, or could be the enormous amount of the data that has been created over the internet over the web in text or the multimedia format.

DW is not enough to this end since its technology is neither suitable for the grain nor for the freshness of the collected information, that should quickly flow throughout the different levels of the company.

Today, companies and managers are beginning to ask IT vendors for new tools capable of handling the changed business scenario. Business have become inclined more to metrics-driven management.
Thanks to technology, with ever growing need to support high performance analytics and to address this void. here comes Business Intelligence (BI), the process of turning data into information and then into knowledge. This helps organization to quantify the enterprise strategy and targets, in order to decentralize decision making.

Business Intelligence solutions are based on advanced data analysis. The process all together constitutes extracting of the high-level knowledge from low level data in the larger databases context. Improved Extract, transform, load (ETL) and even recently Enterprise Application Integration tools have increased the speed of collecting the data. OLAP reporting technologies have allowed faster generation of new reports which analyze the data

Business intelligence applications and technologies can help companies analyze the changing trends in market share, changes in customer behavior and spending patterns, customers' preferences, company capabilities and market conditions. BI allows one to interpret raw data with Comprehensive set of data pre-processing tools, learning algorithms and evaluation methods , to come up with insightful reports and to use the information to propose actions. These rules are an absolute must for root-cause analysis and operational BI. With BI becoming more and more process-oriented this can be used to help analysts and managers determine which adjustments are most likely to affect trends.

Knowledge is typically obtained about customer needs, customer decision making processes, the competition, conditions in the industry, and general economic, technological, and cultural trends. Thus In the competitive customer-service sector, companies need to have accurate, up-to-date information on customer preferences, so that the company can quickly adapt to their changing demands. Business intelligence applications and technologies can enable organizations to make more informed business decisions, and they may give a company a competitive advantage thus helping business a great deal in achieving the business goals and creating a business value from their business investment."
Spam

Submission + - Pump and dump spam coming to VOIP?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: This morning I received a phone spam for a penny stock. It was similar to the robotic political campaign calls that plagued during the last election (I was receiving over 10 a day in the weeks leading up to the election). The call had all the tact of a late night infomercial, proclaiming... "STOP! Do you trade in stocks? Then you need to BUY XXXX (I won't do them the justice of perpetrating their pump and dump). Thats XXXX! This stock is set to run! Get in now before the news breaks sending XXXX into the stratosphere" You get the point.

I'm on the do not call list and use a "zapper" so my normal telemarketer frequency, aside from political and charity calls is very low. I did just register a new domain name and didn't configure my private registration for a couple of days... so I imagine my number could have been scraped from WHOIS.

So I put it out to other Slashdotters... have you experienced this? Do we have to look forward to a new level of spam harassment utilizing the latest and greatest in low cost automated phone banks? Has the cost of VOIP brought the cost of spamming down so low as to be profitable for the pump and dump scam artist?
Windows

Submission + - online windows desktop (hindu.com)

Submitted by Shyamaraj
Shyamaraj writes: Bangalore: The Web is where it is all happening — or so we are told by Internet pundits. The applications that we use on our desktop or laptop personal computers will eventually all migrate to the Web, they say. Indeed, players such as Google already offer their users the ability to create and save documents and presentations entirely through a browser. But it's still something happening piece-meal and in driblets. Now, a Delhi-based start-up, fuelled by the creative efforts of a dozen young Indian programmers, has boldly gone where no major player has gone before — and has just announced the "world's first Windows-based online desktop." It's called Nivio and helps one to create a full-fledged, but entirely virtual, desktop of one's own — on the Web.
Communications

Submission + - Why people write online documen (onlamp.com)

Submitted by mbadolato
mbadolato writes: The O'Reilly Network published a survey asking why people contribute to online forums, wikis, and other technical documentation. With over 350 responses, the results and analysis are published here

The article summarizes some of the debates concerning online gifting, presents the results of the survey, and attempts to analyze the meaning of the results.
Democrats

Submission + - Obama rips Clinton on outsourcing (nydailynews.com)

Submitted by
slashdotlurker
slashdotlurker writes: "Senator Obama's supposed to be secret scoop on Senator Clinton and Bill Clinton's secret dealings with Indian interests was released to the media by the Clinton campaign and has made for some embarrassing reading given Senator Obama's previous commitment to indulge in a different kind of politics. The Obama campaign has tried to mollify the Indian-American community, but the impact of the episode is likely to be minimal given the low level of support he enjoys among Indian-Americans.

However, the scoop does raise some questions about Senator Clinton's record and the issue of outsourcing. This will probably need to be addressed and not just brushed aside."
Businesses

Submission + - Comcast Blocking FedoraProject.org

Submitted by Kainaw
Kainaw writes: For well over a week, I have not been able to access FedoraProject.org from home (where I use Comcast high-speed Internet). I can access it from work easily. I thought it was a blip for a few days, but then started asking around. Nobody here can access FedoraProject.org through Comcast. I've called and emailed them in the morning and evening for the last three days and I haven't received any worthwhile response. They just tell me to unplug my modem and plug it back in. So, now I'm thinking about the current push by companies like Comcast to charge for preferred Internet service. Is this the first step — blocking Linux sites to push out those "free software" freaks who demand an equal Internet for all?
Google

Submission + - Is Google's Power a Myth?

Submitted by Henry V .009
Henry V .009 writes: The Times Online reports that Google's power is 'less than thought.' Google boosts of taking on Microsoft with its free web applications and comes second to none in customer loyalty. But is its vaunted online advertising presence a myth? According to the article, doubts are beginning to take hold as eBay begins its Google boycott: "Before I pulled the data, I was expecting a bigger drop given the drastic removal of sponsored listing ads by eBay," [Bill Tancer] said. He added that that the impact of eBay's advertising withdrawal was reduced by the fact that 25 per cent of users visiting the internet auctioneer from Google do so after searching for eBay, rather than by clicking on one of the "sponsored links" that appear next to other search results.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Mock Oil Conference Talk Suggests Corpses-to-fuel (commondreams.org)

Submitted by
tom_guyette
tom_guyette writes: "From the article: Imposters posing as ExxonMobil and National Petroleum Council (NPC) representatives delivered an outrageous keynote speech to 300 oilmen at GO-EXPO, Canada's largest oil conference, held at Stampede Park in Calgary, Alberta, today. ... In the actual speech, the 'NPC rep' announced that current U.S. and Canadian energy policies ... are increasing the chances of huge global calamities. But he reassured the audience that in the worst case scenario, the oil industry could 'keep fuel flowing' by transforming the billions of people who die into oil."
Security

Submission + - Ohio state employees victims of data theft (dispatch.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The State of Ohio dropped the ball http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_new s/stories/2007/06/16/datagone.ART_ART_06-16-07_A1_ BE71MRG.html?type=rss&cat=21), weeks after a massive network security breach (http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/ 17089948.htm) at the Ohio State University, when a $10.50/hr intern left a backup tape in his unlocked car — and a thief helped himself to it. The State is now offering free credit protection for one year.
Businesses

Submission + - Smart Car Will Be Sold In The USA 1st Quarter 2008

Submitted by Blahbooboo3
Blahbooboo3 writes: Finally, the smart car is coming to the USA in January 2008. Smart car uses a special designed crash cage to protect the driver and gets upwards of 40MPG. Crash test are very positive. The car is deceptively large inside, as showcased by this great ad from the smart usa web site. The 2nd gen Fortwo will be offered first, starting around $12000. The slick roadster unfortunately isn't coming soon.
Upgrades

Submission + - Timing your hardware purchases?

Submitted by
Paulo Vicente
Paulo Vicente writes: "I was thinking about getting myself a new computer this summer, and a question popped up in my mind. Will something revolutionary show up in a few months? Should I buy that core 2 duo now or wait a little?

So, what do the slashdot reading tech wizards think?

Can you "time" your hardware purchases to hit a "sweet stop" and grab some fantastic new technology as it enters the market? Or is it pointless, since there will be always something better coming up?"
Communications

Submission + - PC calls centers garner lowest satisfaction score (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: "The University of Michigan took its first American Customer Satisfaction survey and found that of six industries measured for the Customers' Call Center Satisfaction Index, the PC industry received the lowest score, according to a Computerworld story. 'According to the survey, nearly 73% of the people who have bad experiences with their PC companies' call centers said they will consider purchasing their next PCs from another company, while 85% of customers who had their problems resolved by calling a PC call center said they would continue doing business with the company. Other calls centers included in the survey included banking, cell phone service, cable and satellite television, and insurance."
Communications

Submission + - Bones Could Become Conduits For Data Swaps

Submitted by
Billosaur
Billosaur writes: "New Scientist Tech has an intriguing article about researchers at Rice University in Houston, TX who are looking at ways to use the human skeleton to transmit data. The idea is to use bones to conduct sound waves, with 0's and 1's being represented by different frequencies. Preliminary results, shared with a conference on body networks in Florence, Italy, this week, show that bones can conduct even low-power vibrations with few errors. The idea is that the conduction of sound along bone would be more secure that via radio waves, leading to the possibility of swapping data with someone by shaking their hand."
Networking

Submission + - China taking on U.S. in cyber arms race (cnn.com)

Submitted by
Pabugs
Pabugs writes: "China has developed information warfare units — China is seeking to unseat the United States as the dominant power in cyberspace, a U.S. Air Force general leading a new push in this area said Wednesday."

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