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Government

Dvorak Claims US CIO Vivek Kundra is a Fraud->

Submitted by
Philip K Dickhead
Philip K Dickhead writes "From the "can-you-spare-some-change dept.":

John Dvorak researches the background of the US Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra, and discovers some very serious questions pertaining to his background and qualifications. Regarding his claimed MS in Information Technology from the University of Maryland? "The registrar has no record of it. After initially posting this article the degree has cropped up apparently at the nearby University Campus in 2001. This was found by Nextgov.Com. But his degree in biology has yet to appear as his record shows a degree from College Park Campus for Psychology and nothing more." "I first suspected something was fishy about this fellow by listening to... his common referrals to Twitter and Google Docs as some sort of high-tech breakthroughs and a way to save money and empower the public... pure cornball pop culture and the blogosphere, not... computer science or Information technology." "He hasn't done anything to warrant this appointment. There are no great policy papers. There are no books. There is no invention. There is nothing but vague tech positions in city and state governments. How does this make him a "techno-whiz" as he was portrayed by the New York Times? It took him six years to get a simple undergrad degree in psychology! Was it just because he uses Facebook and likes Twitter?" These are not the first troubles and dubious circumstances related to Kundra and his appointment."
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GNU is Not Unix

Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) Released 482

Posted by CmdrTaco
from the might-be-time-for-a-topic-icon dept.
SDen writes "Bang on target, the new version of Ubuntu Linux is available for our downloading pleasure. Amongst various changes it sports updates to the installer, improved networking, and a new 'Mobile USB' version geared towards the blossoming netbook market. Grab a copy from the Ubuntu website, and check out Linux Format's hands-on look at the Ibex."

Comment: Re:Proof (Score 4, Insightful) 131

by morgan_greywolf (#23432822) Attached to: IE 7.0/8.0b Code Execution 0-Day Released
Pffft. So tell me-- why when I browse a site in the "Internet-zone" and then print a table of links, does that function run in the 'Local Zone'?

I'll tell you why: because it has to. You can't access local devices in the Internet Zone. That's the point. Granular approaches would allow you to print without accidentally giving other permissions to something that shouldn't have them.

At the enterprise level, with something like NoScript, you can just allow entire domains, say intranet.example.com or whatever your organization uses.

Next thing you're gonna tell me is that you think Microsoft should do away with ACLs at the individual file level or even the directory because users are just too stupid to figure that out. They should just have "file zones" and people will just have to stick their files in the right zone. Pffft.

Government

SPAM: Study: H-1Bs Go Hand-in-Hand with Job Creation 8

Submitted by
narramissic
narramissic writes "A new study by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), a pro-immigration think tank finds that between 2002 and 2005, for every H-1B position requested, tech companies listed on the S&P 500 stock index increased their employment by five workers. For tech firms with fewer than 5,000 employees, each H-1B request corresponded with an average increase of 7.5 workers, the group said."
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Businesses

SPAM: The web vs. U.S. Bank

Submitted by
destinyland
destinyland writes "Online information is creating problems for U.S. Bancorp. A new federal law lets customers opt-out of high-fee overdraft protection. In October a consumer site published an internal U.S. Bancorp memo, which inspired a Washington customer to confront a local manager who insisted that opting out was impossible. He ultimately received an apology from the bank's CEO — but two days later recorded the bank's tellers again wrongly advising customers that opting out was impossible. Now he's posted the audio recording online, targetting the $50 billion a year banks earn from their "courtesy" overdraft protection."
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Privacy

Journal: How to Convince Non-IT Friends that Privacy Matters?

Journal by mmtux

As technology becomes more advanced I am more and more worried about my privacy in all aspects of my life. Unfortunately, whenever I attempt to discuss the matter with my friends, they show little understanding and write me off as a hyper-neurotic IT student. They say they simply don't care that the data they share on social networks may be accessible by others, that some laws passed by governments today might be privacy infringing and dangerous or that they shouldn't use on-line banking with

Biotech

Natural Selection Can Act on Human Culture 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes "Scientists at Stanford University have shown for the first time that the process of natural selection can act on human cultures as well as on genes. The team studied reports of canoe designs from 11 Oceanic island cultures evaluating 96 functional features that could contribute to the seaworthiness of the canoes and thus have a bearing on fishing success or survival during migration or warfare. Statistical test results showed clearly that the functional canoe design elements changed more slowly over time, indicating that natural selection could be weeding out inferior new designs. Authors of the study said their results speak directly to urgent social and environmental problems. "People have learned how to avoid natural selection in the short term through unsustainable approaches such as inequity and excess consumption. But this is not going to work in the long term," said Deborah S. Rogers, a research fellow at Stanford. "We need to begin aligning our culture with the powerful forces of nature and natural selection instead of against them. If the leadership necessary to undertake critically needed cultural evolution in these areas can't be found, our civilization may find itself weeded out by natural selection, just like a bad canoe design.""
Security

Master Diebold key copied from web site!->

Submitted by Harrington
Harrington writes "In another stunning blow to the security and integrity of Diebold's electronic voting machines, someone has made a copy of the key which opens ALL Diebold e-voting machines from a picture on the company's own website. Sure, we can trust these guys with our elections results:
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/25/diebold-voting-machi.html"
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Nothing in progression can rest on its original plan. We may as well think of rocking a grown man in the cradle of an infant. -- Edmund Burke