Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Spam

Submission + - WEBROOT WARNS OF ONLINE TAX SEASON DANGER

Submitted by
Webroot Software
Webroot Software writes: "Boulder, Colo., March 5, 2007 — Webroot Software, Inc., a leading provider of Internet security software for the consumer, enterprise and SME markets, today urged Internet users to pay special attention to the security of their personal information and use a proven Internet security program when preparing and filing their taxes online. According to the IRS, 73 million tax returns were filed online in 2006, up 6.9 percent from the year before, with 20 million people filing returns from their home computers. While Internet filing offers users a new level of convenience, speed and accuracy during tax season, it can also expose users' personal information to cyber criminals. Webroot specifically cautioned users about a potential spike in the instances of system monitors and keyloggers during tax season. Last year Webroot's Threat Research Team recorded a 265 percent increase in the instances of system monitors from February to March, when the majority of users use the Internet to prepare and file their taxes. Classified as some of the most dangerous computer security threats, system monitors and keyloggers can track and record a user's individual keystrokes, making it easy for spyware criminals to steal any personal information that might be entered into an online tax program or form. "Tax forms require users to submit a significant amount of sensitive information such as social security numbers, tax IDs and financial statements, along with general contact information like addresses and telephone numbers," said Mike Irwin, COO of Webroot Software. "This wealth of information can translate into big payoffs for cyber criminals looking to steal identities or hack into financial accounts, so we recommend users protect their information and PCs with a proven Internet security program, especially during tax season". To help Internet users ensure the safety of their information before they begin preparing their taxes, Webroot is offering users a free computer scan to check for spyware, viruses and other dangerous forms of malware. Users can visit Webroot's website, run a quick and exhaustive scan of their system and then feel confident that their computers are safe and their information will stay protected. In addition to running a free Internet security scan, Webroot recommends users adhere to the following best practices when preparing and filing taxes online: — Make sure you are running updated versions of best-of-breed anti-spyware and anti-virus software and scan your entire system at least once a week. — For Federal electronic filings, make sure to use services directly linked to www.irs.gov, and do not respond to email inquiries regarding your taxes. — If you plan to file your state taxes online be sure to only use links directly from your official state homepage. Links to the official websites for all 50 states are available at http://us.gov/Agencies/State_and_Territories.shtml . "Cyber criminals recognize the increased transmission of personal information during tax season and use aggressive methods to prey on unsuspecting victims. Deploying best-of-breed Internet security software, and following safe online practices, helps ensure that sensitive information stays out of the wrong hands and is submitted securely," added Irwin. ABOUT WEBROOT Webroot Software, Inc. provides industry leading security software for consumers, enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses worldwide. Globally recognized for its award-winning Spy Sweeper® line of anti-spyware products, Webroot recently incorporated anti-virus protection into two new products for consumers and SMBs, respectively: Spy Sweeper® with AntiVirus and Webroot® SME Security. The company also recently expanded into the parental controls software market with the introduction of Webroot® Child Safe®. The Boulder, Colorado based company is privately held and backed by some of the industry's leading venture capital firms, including Technology Crossover Ventures, Accel Partners and Mayfield. Webroot's software consistently receives top review ratings by respected third-party media and has been adopted by millions globally. Available as either branded solutions or on an OEM basis, Webroot products can be found at www.webroot.com and on the shelves of leading retailers worldwide. To find out more about Webroot, visit the website or call 1-800-772-9383. ©2003-2007, Webroot Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Webroot and Spy Sweeper are registered trademarks or trademarks of Webroot Software, Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners."
Software

Submission + - Guide Dogs and Making Babies - The New Gaming

Submitted by
ShrapnelFace
ShrapnelFace writes: "Penny Arcade is reporting on a story that was first posted at Kotaku, but then taken down. Directing us to the same story regarding Peter Molyneux's interview about the upcoming title, Fable 2, we find a new dawn in gaming- Dogs and Babies.

http://www.gwn.com/news/story.php/id/11557/New_Fab le_2_Feature_Dog_Sidekick.html

A direct quote from Peter in this article:
[quote] "There is the appreciation the wide world feels toward your character as he lives and fights in their world. There is the ability to make love and make babies. Yes, you can be both a man or a woman and if you're a woman, you can get pregnant. A first, he believes, for a main character in an RPG."[/quote]"
User Journal

Journal SPAM: Of Experts and Editors 1

Journal by narramissic
Recently it has become even more apparent to me that experts and editors play an important role, and nowhere is this more obvious than in Slashdot's own Firehose section. While the democratic method of choosing top stories seems to be largely effective, with the best stuff generally getting the most votes, the crowd often skips over the hidden gem that an editor would find, fact check, polish, and post to the front page. My little Firehose rant aside, this is the sort of thing I've been ponderin
Businesses

Submission + - A Second Life for Businesses?

Submitted by
Austerlitz28
Austerlitz28 writes: "Baseline is running an in-depth article on how real-world companies are exploring whether 3D virtual communities can be adapted to serve business — and whether they are an effective place to do market research and collaborate on projects, and sell goods and services.

From the story: "Real-world companies such as Toyota and American Apparel are exploring whether this 3D world can be adapted to serve real business purposes, similar to the way the Web evolved from a medium for academics and hobbyists to one that supports corporate commerce and marketing. Already, your avatar can test-drive a Toyota Scion or buy clothes in a virtual American Apparel store. So far, however, it's not clear how much these efforts are doing to sell real-world cars, clothes or any other merchandise.""
Java

Journal Journal: Outthunk by Thinking in Java 10

Journal by Shadow Wrought
My plan was pretty straightforward at the time, and it had been working fairly well. Most introductory programming texts teach you the syntax, have you practice some code, you build on it, and then gradually expand until you are (semi)competent. What I would run into though is that part way in I' hit a wall. Why the syntax was making the computer do something stopped making sense. Once it stopped making sense I couldn't apply the knowledge, and then my learnings broke down.
Music

Submission + - Amie Street signs major artists to sell DRM-free m

Submitted by seriouslywtf
seriouslywtf writes: While everyone's busy catfighting over whether DRM-free music can survive online or not, Amie Street sells DRM-free MP3s online and recently signed on a major music label. Nettwerk Music Group, home to the Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, and Sarah McLachlan, is now selling DRM-free music through Amie Street. The site also varies the prices of tracks based on how popular they are, with songs starting at "free" and scaling up to a cap of 98 cents apiece. From the Ars Technica article:

Amie Street's site seems to be suffering from some slowness and hanging issues as of the last couple of days, most likely due to the recent Nettwerk announcement. Will other studios join the party? Probably not for a while. EMI was widely rumored to have been in talks to drop DRM from its music at various online music stores, but more recent reports have said that the studio has backed out of those talks because none of the music stores would pony up for the privilege of selling DRM-free music. All eyes will be watching how well Nettwerk's artists sell through Amie Street, however, and its performance may determine whether other studios will be willing to dip their toes into the DRM-free waters in the future.
Sun Microsystems

Submission + - Can Sun Spark A Comeback?

Submitted by
Anonymous
Anonymous writes: "Despite Sun's precarious slide in recent years, its fortunes appear to be on the rise, according to a ChannelWeb.com analysis. The vendor's revenue is steadily creeping north, it's gaining share at the expense of larger rivals Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM, and it has realigned the organization into four business units. The question is, is it enough to spark a comeback?"
Books

Journal Journal: Book signing etiquette? 28

Journal by nizo

Is it considered bad form to bring an ex library book to a book signing? I tend to buy all of my books used, and a sizeable chunk of those are former library books.
United States

Submission + - Warning To All Americans - This Could Be You!

Submitted by
LJ Fullerton
LJ Fullerton writes: "States of Denial — Warning To All Americans — This Could Be You! I am writing to alert you about a major ongoing problem within the State and Federal government that is so scandalous, it should be on the front page of every newspaper, and on every TV/Radio news channel in the country. Unless you personally face this situation, you will probably know nothing or very little about it, yet it can happen to anyone at any point in time without warning. This is a very well kept secret in this country, that our government doesn't want you to know about, yet they are taking money out of your paychecks every week for it. Unfortunately what you don't know in this case, could be very detrimental to your health and financial wellbeing. While the majority of Americans were shocked at the reaction of the Federal government in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, I wasn't surprised at all. I have seen the horrifying results of their incompetence on a grand scale for the past few years. Nowhere is this more evident, yet rarely mentioned, than in the way the Federal government/Social Security Administration treats the disabled population of this country. Americans saw in a major way since hurricane Katrina struck, how the poor and disabled were left to die in the streets when they needed help the most. I shudder to think of how many more lives will be further ruined or lost, when the mentally and physically disabled victims of Katrina, other natural disasters, 9/11 victims who survived that day but are now disabled and facing a similar fate, Veterans and the millions of other disabled Americans, encounter their next experience with the Federal government as they apply for their SSDI/SSI benefits. There are cases of Veterans rated 100% disabled by the VA who get denied their SSSDI benefits and end up living in poverty or even homeless on the streets. Horrible treatment for those who protect and serve our country. Social Security Disability Insurance/SSDI is a disability insurance plan administered by the Federal Government so that in case you should become sick/injured and can no longer work, you'll have a financial resource to help survive until you reach retirement age, at which point SSDI benefits automatically turn into regular Social Security retirement benefits. It's supposed to be a safety net for millions of disabled Americans, but I firmly believe (while nobody from the SSA or Congress will ever admit this), the SSDI program is purposely structured to be very complicated, confusing, nebulous, and with as many obstacles as possible from beginning to end, with the deck stacked against the claimant from the very start. This is in order to discourage you, hoping you "give up or die" trying to get benefits you've paid for all your working life! That's how the government systematically robs your money and uses it for other purposes. This program originally set up to help the disabled, in fact, is causing devastating, irreversible harm to both their health and financial wellbeing. The SSA instead, has been systematically destroying disabled Americans for decades, and Congress as a whole has failed miserably to do anything about it. Disabled Americans who apply for SSDI benefits, at a time when they need help the most, are often treated like criminals. The general feeling is that they're frauds trying to scam the system, and SSA must "weed out" the frauds by making it as hard as possible for a claimant to get benefits. In fact the percentage of claims that in the end, aren't legitimate is very miniscule. Nobody in their right mind would want to go through this process, and then live in poverty on top of their illnesses, if they could in fact work. In our country you're required to have auto insurance in order to drive a car, you pay for health insurance, life insurance etc. If you filed a claim against any of these policies, after making your payments, and the company tried to deny you coverage when you had a legitimate claim, you would be doing whatever it took , even suing, to make them honor your policy. Yet the government is denying Americans their legitimate SSDI claims everyday, and everyone should be outraged! Disability benefits determinations should be based solely on the physical or mental disability of the applicant. Neither age, education, or type of work experience should ever be used when evaluating whether or not a person is disabled, as long as they meet the medical and non-medical requirements for receiving benefits (work credits, citizenship etc.) If a person cannot work due to the severity of their medical conditions — they CAN'T work no matter what their age, or how many jobs or educational degrees they had, yet these are factors used to deny a claimant their right to collect disability benefits. States Of Denial If you should suddenly become disabled and have to file for Social Security Disability benefits, depending on what state you live in, you may want to consider moving before filing your application. Since Social Security is a Federal program, where you live shouldn't affect your ability to obtain benefits. Sadly this isn't the case. What most don't realize is that after you file your initial disability claim at your local SS office or online, that information goes to a state DDS/Disability Determination Services facility where you live to be processed. There, the most crucial part of your disability claim, the medical portion, is reviewed by a caseworker/adjudicator and medical doctor on their staff who never sees you, and in most cases never communicates with you at all. Then they decide whether or not they feel you're disabled based on the information that you and your doctors have provided. The first problem with the program that must be addressed, and major cause for the huge backlog of disability hearing claims, is the overwhelming denial rate at the initial State DDS level of the claims process. If claims were processed properly at this stage of the process there would be no need for a claimant to appeal to the next (ALJ hearing) phase in the first place, where the waiting game for a disability claimant continues on in a major way. Excerpt from GAO Report GAO-04-656 — SSA Disability Decisions: More Effort Needed To Assess Consistency of Disability Decisions — Washington — July 2004 which can be found at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04656.pdf "Each year, about 2.5 million people file claims with SSA for disability benefits. State agencies called Disability Determination Services (DDS) decide whether claimants meet SSA's definition of disability by applying SSA's decision-making criteria. If a DDS ultimately decides, after an initial determination and then a reconsideration of this decision, that a claimant does not meet SSA's definition for disability, the claimant may appeal to the hearings level, where an SSA Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) reviews the claim to decide if the claimant should be allowed benefits. About one-third of disability claims denied at the state level were appealed to the hearings level; of these, SSA's ALJ's have allowed over one-half, with annual allowance rates fluctuating between 58 percent and 72 percent since 1985." Excerpts From Statement by Witold Skwierczynski — President Representing the National Council of SSA Field Operation Locals — AFGE, AFL-CIO — Congressional Testimony Before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security on Social Security Disability Service "Improvement" on June 15, 2006 "There is no consistency in State DDS disability determinations. The taxpayer's chances of being approved for disability benefits continue to depend more on where they live and their income. For example, State Agency Operations records indicate that those who can obtain medical attention early and often have a better chance of being approved for benefits than those who have a limited income or resources. Nationwide, those applying for Social Security disability have a much greater chance of being approved than those who may only apply for the Supplement Security Income (SSI) program. State Agency records clearly expose the inconsistencies of the State DDS decisions." "More than 66 percent of Social Security disability claims for benefits are approved in the Washington DC DDS, while only less than 28 percent of those who file for benefits are approved in the South Carolina DDS. Of those who applied for SSI benefits, the State of New Hampshire leads with more than a 59 percent allowance rate. However, residents from the States of Michigan, Ohio, Iowa and Georgia are approved less than 35 % of the time by their respective DDS. The concurrent disability process shows inexplicable variable allowance rates depending on the state of residence. Allowance rates are low in every state. The states of New Hampshire, Arizona and the District of Columbia approve more than 43 percent of the concurrent claims. Less than 18 percent of those filing concurrent disability claims are approved in Iowa, Missouri, and South Carolina." T2 Initial (SSDI) T16 Initial (SSI) Concurrent Initial (SSDI/SSI) Allow Deny Allow Deny Allow Deny National Average 44.2 55.8 36.4 63.6 25.3 74.7 "In a system where everyone is taxed equally, this is difficult to explain or justify. Claimants are entitled to quality consistent decisions not withstanding their state of residence or whether they are filing for Social Security or SSI disability benefits. According to GAO-04-121, a majority of DDSs do not conduct long-term, comprehensive workforce planning, which should include key strategies for recruiting, retaining, training and otherwise developing a workforce capable of meeting long term goals. The State DDS' lack uniform minimum qualifications for Disability Examiners (DE's) have high turnover rates for employees and do not provide ongoing training for DE's. This seems to be mostly attributed to low State employee pay and benefit scales and budget constraints." For example — according to the NYS ODTA/Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Website (2006) — "This year the New York Division of Disability Determinations is expecting to process 275,000 Federal disability claims under Social Security and Supplemental Security Income criteria." Since New York State has an overall average 60% denial rate (Source — SSA data), out of 275,000 applicants, 165,000 people were denied their SSDI/SSI benefits at the NYS level in 2006. What happened to that 165,000 people who were denied their benefits last year and those who have filed appeals from previous years and are still waiting to get their cases heard? Social Security Disability Program Problems — Contributing Burden Factor on Medicaid/Social Service Programs For States Many of those SSDI claimants were forced to file for welfare, food stamps and Medicaid, another horrendous process, after they've already lost everything due to the inadequacies, and huge claims processing backlogs at the SS and DDS offices. Now again, add thousands more to that group, since that figure does not include those who have filed appeals from previous years, and are still waiting to get their cases heard. If a healthy person files for Social Service programs and then gets a job, they don't have to reimburse the state once they find a job, for the funds they were given while looking for work — why are disabled people being discriminated against? Claimants who file for Social Service programs while waiting to get SSDI benefits, in many states have to pay back the state out of their meager SSDI benefits once approved. As a result they're often kept below the poverty level, almost never able to better themselves since they can't work, and now are forced to rely on both state and federally funded programs instead of just one of them. This practice should be eliminated. In all states there should be immediate approval for social services (food stamps, cash assistance, medical assistance, etc) benefits for SSDI claimants that don't have to be paid back out of their SSD benefits once approved. Excerpt from the report: Disability Decision Making: Data And Materials — Social Security Advisory Board — January 2001: "In the last two decades, the percentage of claims adjudicated at the ALJ level that are allowed has been considerably higher than the percentage allowed by the DDS's at the initial level." Yearly ALJ Hearing Totals Total Depositions Favorable Unfavorable Dismissals 9/28/02 — 9/30/05 110,950 65, 637 25,307 20,006 Source: Social Security Administration — Office of Hearings And Appeals Favorable/Unfavorable Rates By State — New York — SSA Program Totals — Number of cases that were originally denied at the state level and were appealed to the Federal level, and where DDS decisions were either overturned, denied or dismissed. According to the figures above, that's 65,637 mistakes, and lives devastated due to faulty decisions made by the NYS DDS office in the past four years that had to be corrected at the Federal level. Again, those figures don't account for the percentage of people who are still waiting for hearings, those that have given up and rely totally on state support, when they may in fact still be entitled to Federal benefits but were too weak to appeal, or worse yet those who may have died while waiting. Excerpt from GAO Report GAO-03-119 — High Risk Series: An Update — Washington — January 2003 which can be found at: http://www.gao.gov/pas/2003/d03119.pdf "... However, SSA continues to face challenges in its efforts to provide consistent disability decisions. These challenges, and others associated with modernizing its disability programs, contributed to our decision to include federal disability programs on our list of high risk government programs." Excerpts from GAO Report GAO-04-656 SSA Disability Decisions: "Inconsistency in decisions may create several problems...If deserving claimants must appeal to the hearings level for benefits, this situation increases the burden on claimants, who must wait on average, almost a year for a hearing decision and frequently incur extra costs to pay for legal representation...Incorrect denials at the initial level that are appealed increase both the time claimants must wait for decision and the cost of deciding cases. Incorrect denials that are not appealed may leave needy individuals without a financial or medical safety net...An appeal adds significantly to costs associated with making a decision. According to SSA's Performance and Accountability Report for fiscal year 2001, the average cost per claim for an initial DDS disability decision was about $583, while the average cost per claim of an ALJ decision was estimated at $2,157...An appeal also significantly increases the time required to reach a decision. According to SSA's Performance and Accountability Report for fiscal year 2003, the average number of days that claimants waited for an initial decision was 97 days, while the number of days they waited for an appealed decision was 344 days...In addition, claimant lawsuits against three state DDS's have alleged that DDS adjudicators were not following SSA's rulings or other decision making guidance...However, according to DDS stakeholder groups, SSA has not ensured that states have sufficient resources to meet ruling requirements, which they believe may lead to inconsistency in decisions among states...While SSA initially made progress carrying out efforts to improve policies and training to better ensure the consistency of decisions, the agency has not continued to actively pursue these efforts...Although SSA has tried to address these problems, its inability to resolve them has contributed to our decision to include federal disability programs on our list of high risk government programs." Social Security Disability Application Process Timeline — NOTE: Process times are from 2002 data (unless otherwise indicated) and things are much worse in 2006 http://www.ssa.gov/disability/disability_process_f rameset.html From the initial filing stage to a point where a claimant has exhausted all appeal options on a disability claims it can take 1760 days from initial application filing date to find out whether claimant is approved or denied. NOTE: SSA conducts reviews of some cases for consistency and accuracy. Once claim is approved it may be randomly selected by computer for Federal Quality review. 7 out of every 10 cases are selected and this process adds another minimum 30-60 days to process. Once finally cleared at ALL stages for approval, cases are sent to a Processing Center for final payment which could take at least an additional 30 days for payments to be processed. These times periods are in addition to the days mentioned above. The SSDI/SSI process is bogged down with tons of paperwork for both claimants and their treating physicians, and very little information is supplied by SS, as to the proper documentation needed to process a claim accurately and swiftly. When you file a claim for benefits, they don't tell you that your illness must meet standards under the Disability Evaluation Under Social Security "Blue Book" listing of medical impairments, or about the Residual Functional Capacity standards that are used to determine how your disability prevents you from doing any sort of work in the national economy, or daily activities, when deciding whether or not you are disabled. Many times when medical records are supplied by the claimant, they're lost or ignored. Proper weight isn't given to their treating physicians when evaluating claims and precious time and money is wasted on fraudulent IME exams. Claimants are forced to see doctors who aren't even specialists in the diseases for which they're sent to be evaluated. These doctors see you once for a few minutes, yet their opinion is given greater authority than a claimant's own treating physician , who sees them in a much greater capacity. Something's way out of line with that reasoning, yet it happens every day. There are other things that also come as a shock to those who file for SSDI benefits, and are very detrimental to a population that needs help the most. Most SSDI cases take from several months to several years to process, and then to add insult to injury, under Federal law, there's a five month waiting period that SS deducts out of a claimant's SSDI benefits, including five months of back money which they'll never see again. They say it's to keep people who have short term disabilities out of the system, and to see if you show signs of recovery, but under the Social Security definition of eligibility for benefits, you have a valid claim if you have been disabled or are expected to be disabled for 12 consecutive months, or that your condition will result in your death. Since that is a major qualification for benefits, people with short term, temporary disabilities, according to their guidelines, are not eligible for SSDI benefits in the first place. The SSDI claims process by nature, can be so detrimental to a person's health and well being, that they often develop new health problems or their existing conditions worsen, as a result of the stress and financial devastation, that they may encounter during their wait for benefits to be approved. They also say this waiting period is to avoid duplicating disability payments by private disability plans and employer sick-pay plans during the early months of disability. Many Americans do not have health insurance let alone private disability plans. Then factor in, that once you are unable to work for an extended length of time, and are either terminated by your employer, or make the agonizing decision to never return to work again for the rest of your life, those employer sponsored benefits often expire and you are left with nothing — no employer sponsored health or disability insurance! Believe it or not this waiting period was originally 6 months, but was reduced to five because it was to "help diminish financial hardships by individuals who might have little or no savings or other resources to fall back on during the early months of a long-term disability." The government as you can see, is totally out of touch with reality. Studies have shown that most in this country have about two weeks worth of financial resources to live off of, and that is assuming that they are healthy, yet they expect a population who can no longer work to go without five months of pay and wait several months to several years to have their disability claims processed? There is something seriously wrong here! When a person reaches retirement age, they are often eligible for Social Security retirement benefits and Medicare right away, yet SSDI recipients must wait 24 months from disability date of eligibility (the date that SS determines that you were officially disabled) in order for you to qualify for Medicare benefits. Who needs this benefit more than someone who is sick and can no longer work! SSA forces the disabled to go through years of abuse trying to prove that they can no longer work ANY job in the national economy due to the severity of their illnesses in order to be approved for benefits. The resulting devastation on their lives, often totally eliminates the possibility of them ever getting well enough to ever return to the work force, even on a part time basis, in order to utilize the SS Ticket to Work program. Then, sometimes weeks after they are finally approved for SSD/SSI benefits, after their health and finances have been totally destroyed beyond repair, they receive a "Ticket To Work" packet in the mail. A cruel joke to say the least and it is no wonder that the disabled fear continuing disability reviews, utilization of the Ticket to Work Program, and distrust the Federal Government! The Ticket to Work Program is often viewed as a carrot and stick it to the disabled approach. And just when you thought things could not get worse, they are about to. The following are excerpts from an AFGE release — The Assault on Social Security — Tuesday September 19, 2006 which can be found in its entirety at: http://www.afge.org/index.cfm?page=HadEnough&Fuse= Content&ContentID=734 "The Social Security Administration has lost about 20,000 employees in the last 20 years despite the mounting workload as a result of new programs and the aging baby boomer population. Over the last five years, the agency's workload has increased by 12.6 percent. In fiscal 2006, SSA's estimated workload will total more than 346.5 million actions, including 6.5 million claims for benefits...58 million calls through SSA's 800 number." "Congress appropriated $300 million less for SSA than proposed in the President's 2006 budget request, resulting in staff cuts of nearly 4,000 employees. And instead of hiring more workers next year as the workload is expected to grow, the Bush administration proposed to cut more staff. The President's 2007 budget request of $9.496 billion would cut about 2,400 employees. The Senate proposed to cut the President's 2007 budget by $401 million, which would mean the loss of an additional 4,000 employees as indicated by the SSA commissioner. The House proposed to cut the President's budget by $200 million, which would be a cut of an additional 2,000 employees." "The public suffers the most as a result of budget shortfalls. Many people are already unable to access the agency's 1-800 number because teleservice centers are understaffed. They have to wait in line for hours to receive services at field offices. At some locations, there are lines of 100-200 people that wait all day. Some never even get inside the Social Security office. ...The agency's negligence to educate the public about new programs and rules also worsens the problem. SSA's first and only notice of rule changes is the Federal Register, which is not well read by the public. The agency's failure to reach out to people sparks a flood of phone calls and visits to already understaffed field offices." When there are poor and overworked staffing levels and lack of training as stated above, the public suffers. Here is a small list of some of the major problems with the current Social Security Disability system: Extraordinary wait times between the different phases of the disability claims process Employees being rude/insensitive to claimants Employees not willing to provide information to claimants Employees not returning calls Employees greatly lacking in knowledge of and in some cases purposely violating Social Security and Federal Regulations (including Freedom of Information Act and SSD Pre-Hearing review process). Claimants getting conflicting/erroneous information depending on whom you happen to talk to at Social Security — causing confusion for claimants Complaints of lack of attention/ignoring — medical records provided and claimants concerns by Field Officers, IME doctors and ALJ's. Proper weight not being given to claimants treating physicians according to SSA Federal Regulations when making medical disability determinations on claims. Fraud on the part of DDS/OHA offices, ALJ's, IME's — purposely manipulating/ignoring information provided to deny claims. Complaints of ALJ's asking claimants to give up part of their retro pay (manipulation of disability eligibility dates) in exchange for approval of benefits Complaints of lost files Complaints of having other claimants information improperly filed/mixed in where it doesn't belong causing breach of security Poor/little coordination of information between the different departments and phases of the disability process Very little or no communication between caseworkers and claimants throughout the disability claims process before decisions are made. NOTE: These complaints refer to all phases of the SSD process including local field offices, state Disability Determinations offices, Office of Hearings and Appeals, the Social Security main office in MD (800 number) and IME physicians. Congress and the states must pass legislation to correct these problems and to ensure that the Social Security trust fund is never touched for anything else but to pay benefits to the people who are entitled to them, and that the SSA does not have to compete for appropriation funds. Here is just one of the horror stories I see every day — From the Social Security Disability Reform Petition: 5786. David TX 75143 — I have stage IV lung cancer and it has also gone into my bones. I have 3 to 9 months to live. We are about to lose our home and everything and they have to wait to get our claim worked even though they already have paper work stating it is TERMINAL. Then I can't even get Medicare for 24 months into the program. FOLKS THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG HERE! I WILL BE DEAD BY THEN. But they sure managed to take the money from me every pay day. Again, I am very sad to report that this scenario is actually happening to our Veterans in this country and there is no excuse for it — From the Social Security Disability Reform Petition: 5062. Michael Coursen MI 48746 — I was denied even though I am a 100% service connected disabled Veteran! The thanks I get for serving my country. 759. William A Petree FL 33841 — My brother died just days before finally being approved for SSI. He was also an American Vietnam Vet. After months of waiting, his first check arrived in his mail box right just days after his death. I wonder, if your agency had not put him through so much or made him wait, would we still have our brother today? What family memories were cut short because of your agency's mismanagement? Our family was not even allowed to use any part of this first check to pay for his funeral expenses. We were told that was not allowed and had to return you the check. Reforming SSA would hopefully not let this happen to another one of us or family members. Take a good look at all these signatures and try to think of how your agency has ineffectively served it's citizens. What unfair hardships you continue to place on the already sick. How many more will you allow to go homeless, live in card board boxes and eat from soup kitchens. How many more of us will be forced to go bankrupt waiting, and waiting on you? And the death and destruction continues — From the Social Security Disability Reform Petition: 5014. Leslie Peretsky WA 98026 — I recently lost my husband who died of the disabilities that the Social Security appeals process would not validate or recognize. He died the night after his final appeals hearing and I feel he just gave up. He suffered from no less than six debilitating diseases and as a family we were reduced to living on zero for the three years and ten months they deliberated. I could go on and on but the system that is presently in place is sadistic and sociopathic and terribly de-humanizing. I am ashamed of my country and don't know if I will ever get over this. This experience took a terrible toll upon my family. I propose that together the SSA and Congress immediately set up a task force made up of claimants who have actually gone through the SSDI system, that has major input and influence on the decision making process before any final decisions/changes/laws are instituted by the SSA Commissioner or members of Congress. This is absolutely necessary, since nobody knows better about the flaws in the system and possible solutions to those problems, then those who are forced to go through it and deal with the consequences when it does not function properly. You may be wondering how I know about these things. I was very unaware of this problem myself, as I'm sure the majority of you out there are as well, until it suddenly happened to me. I nearly lost my life, continue to battle several incurable diseases, lost all my life savings and pension money, and will never be able to recover from the financial, emotional and physical devastation that was caused by the process of filing for my own SSDI benefits. My personal horror story can be found here: A Bump On The Head http://www.frontiernet.net/~lindaf1/bump.html I'm also well aware as I write this, that there's some who've abused the system and that's a shame, because it casts a bad light on those who really need this help. It is an extremely small percentage, and there are ways to "filter" them out, without causing harm to legitimate claimants. Social Security, SSDI, SSI and Medicare are great programs when they function properly, and have helped millions of Americans who may never have survived without them. It's time that the government fixes the problems, so that those who really need this help can access it as soon as possible, instead of being treated as frauds, and criminals on trial, when they need to file a claim for benefits. Nobody in their right mind would want to live under the conditions that the majority of SSDI/SSI claimants and recipients are forced to endure. The majority would much rather have their health back and the jobs that once had before their lives were changed by illness or accidents. I am sure that any corporation in this country who ran their business this poorly, would be out of business in it's first year! SSDI claimants were once hard working, tax paying citizens with hopes and "American dreams" but due to an unfortunate accident or illness, have become disabled to a point where they can no longer work. Because of that, they're often considered "disposable" people by general and government standards. In addition their cries and screams are often ignored, many preferring that they just shut up or die. Does that mean they're not valuable to our country, or give the government/society the right to ignore or even abuse them? A country is only as strong as it's most vulnerable citizens, yet this program preys on the weak, decimating the disabled population even further. I ask that you please urgently contact all your elected officials on this issue, as millions of American's lives depend on it. We are your mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, friends and acquaintances and remember that disease and tragedy do not discriminate on the basis of age, race or sex. Wake up America! If you think this couldn't happen to you — you could be DEAD wrong! NOTE: This article is dedicated to Dane Edwards, who applied for Social Security Disability benefits in October 2006, because of terminal lung and brain cancer. When he'd call to check on the status of his claim he was told that he must wait like everyone else, and that he should stop calling to inquire about the status. He obviously didn't have the luxury of time. Dane will no longer be calling and he never received his benefits. He was 53 years old when he died on February 13, 2007 — his SSDI disability claim still waiting for approval at the NYS (DDS) ODTA. Unfortunately I must report that stories like his are becoming more and more common. © Copyright 2007 — LJ Fullerton Social Security Disability Coalition — FREE information and support with a focus on reform of the Social Security Disability System: http://groups.msn.com/SocialSecurityDisabilityCoal ition Sign the Social Security Disability Reform Petition — Read the horror stories from all over the nation at: http://www.petitiononline.com/SSDC/petition.html"
Intel

Submission + - Intel to sample flash-killer PRAM this year

Submitted by Station
Station writes: Intel's new phase-change memory technology (PRAM) will begin sampling this year. Samsung, IBM, and Hitachi are all working on phase-change memory as a successor to flash as it has a lower (~20ns) read latency than flash (50-90ns). 'Intel says they plan to ship the first PRAM modules as a straight-ahead NOR flash replacement so that they can work the kinks out of the design before trying to move it up the memory hierarchy. The company claims a much higher number of read-write cycles (100 million) than flash, as well as a potential 10 years' worth of data retention. NOR flash is typically used as program storage memory for mobile devices like cell phones, while more durable but slower NAND flash is used for mass storage in devices like the iPod nano.'

Slashdot Top Deals

If the aborigine drafted an IQ test, all of Western civilization would presumably flunk it. -- Stanley Garn

Close