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Submission + - IT Careers: Can You Survive Unemployment? (cio.com)

Submitted by twailgum
twailgum writes: If you lose your tech job, get ready for a wild ride on the emotional rollercoaster, reports this new CIO.com article. Your daily routines, lifestyle, relationships and identity will be upended, say IT execs who survived long job searches and unemployment to tell the tale.

Joblessness can lead to much more than financial ruin. It precipitates bouts of loneliness, feelings of inadequacy, even full-blown depression. Unemployment ravages people emotionally because it disrupts every aspect of their lives--their routines, identities and relationships. Mental health experts say those emotions are common among unemployed professionals, but they can cripple a person who needs to tap her self-esteem while job hunting in a tough market. Such emotional trauma doesn't bode well for the 14.9 million people who are currently unemployed.

If you're an unemployed IT pro and are trying to fight anxiety or depression, also see this list of proven ways to fight depression during a prolonged job search.
Apple

Submission + - Macs Are Cheaper Than PCs to Manage (cio.com)

Submitted by twailgum
twailgum writes: Does "I'm a Mac" mean "I'm less expensive to manage?" An Enterprise Desktop Alliance survey says Macs cost a lot less than PCs to manage. Keep in mind that the Enterprise Desktop Alliance is a group of software developers who've bandied together to deploy and manage Macs in the enterprise. But their results are striking:

The survey found that Macs were cheaper in six of seven computer management categories: troubleshooting, help desk calls, system configuration, user training and supporting infrastructure (servers, networks and printer). Nearly half of the respondents cited software licensing fees as roughly the same for both platforms.

Yet Macs come with special challenges for enterprise IT admins, many of whom have sounded off on these results.
Businesses

Ex-Sun Chief Dishes Dirt On Gates, Jobs 241

Posted by CmdrTaco from the why-is-there-no-extra dept.
alphadogg writes "Former CEO of Sun Microsystems Jonathan Schwartz has taken to his personal blog, provocatively titled 'What I couldn't say ...,' to dish some industry dirt and tell his side of the story about the demise of Sun. He has already hinted at plans to write a book, and a new post suggests a tell-all tome could indeed be in the offing. 'I feel for Google — Steve Jobs threatened to sue me, too,' Schwartz writes, apparently referring to Apple's patent lawsuit against HTC, which makes Google's Nexus One smartphone. As for Bill Gates, Schwartz says he was threatening regarding Sun's efforts in the office software space."
Crime

Cybercrooks Surpassed Old School Bankrobbers In '09 81

Posted by Soulskill from the butch1982@aol.com-and-x_sund4nce_x dept.
krebsonsecurity writes "Organized cyber-criminal gangs stole $25 million in the 3rd quarter alone last year, by pilfering the online bank accounts of small to midsized businesses, the FDIC reported last week. In contrast, traditional bank robbers hauled just $9.4 million in 1,184 bank robberies during that same period, according to an analysis of FBI bank crime statistics by krebsonsecurity.com. From that story: 'The federal government sure publishes a lot more information about physical bank robberies than it makes available about online stick-ups. Indeed, the FBI's bank crime stats are extraordinarily detailed. For example, they can tell you that in the 3rd quarter of last year, bank robbers were more likely to hold up their local branch between the hours of 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on a Wednesday than at any other time or day of the week; they can tell you the number of tear gas and dye packs taken with the loot, the number of security cameras activated, the number of food stamps taken, even what percentage of suspected perpetrators had illegal drug habits at the time of the robberies. About the only thing the stats don't tell you is what brand of jeans the perpetrators were wearing and whether the getaway car had cool vanity plates. What do we get about e-crime statistics from the federal government? One guy from the FDIC giving a speech at the RSA conference."
Image

Scientists Discover Booze That Won't Give You a Hangover Screenshot-sm 334

Posted by samzenpus from the go-ahead-and-have-another dept.
Kwang-il Kwon and Hye Gwang Jeong of Chungnam National University have discovered that drinking alcohol with oxygen bubbles added leads to fewer hangovers and a shorter sobering up time. People drinking the bubbly booze sobered up 20-30 minutes faster and had less severe and fewer hangovers than people who drank the non-fizzy stuff. Kwon said: "The oxygen-enriched alcohol beverage reduces plasma alcohol concentrations faster than a normal dissolved-oxygen alcohol beverage does. This could provide both clinical and real-life significance. The oxygen-enriched alcohol beverage would allow individuals to become sober faster, and reduce the side effects of acetaldehyde without a significant difference in alcohol's effects. Furthermore, the reduced time to a lower BAC may reduce alcohol-related accidents."
Image

Passive-Aggressive Wi-Fi Hotspots Screenshot-sm 263

Posted by CmdrTaco from the i'll-show-you dept.
the digital nomad writes "If you've had enough of your neighbor stealing your Wi-Fi connection or letting his dog s#%t on your lawn, there is now a better solution than suffering in silence with your brooding anger: leave your neighbor 'a message!' Passive-Aggressive Wi-Fi Hotspots let your networks say what you cannot. And if you're looking for some great name for your Hotspot, make sure to read this post by Gizmodo."

Submission + - Geek Pride: "Soft Skills" Are for Weenies (cio.com)

Submitted by twailgum
twailgum writes: Much has been made of the need for IT professionals to demonstrate soft skills--the ability to communicate, negotiate, and win friends and influence people. But a backlash against their importance is brewing. Observes blogger Meridith Levinson: These IT professionals are rejecting "soft skills" and, instead, measure their worth by their technical prowess. Levinson writes: "To them, the need for soft skills is a sign of technical impotence." Adds one commenter to her blog:

If you have to reach for the soft skills of cajoling and persuasion, maybe you don't have what it takes to hack it in IT. Let us remember that some folks in technical fields like IT pride themselves on NOT having social skills.
Security

Latvian "Robin Hood" Hacker Leaks Bank Details 170

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the too-many-hoods-in-the-forest dept.
eldavojohn writes "Move over Russell Crowe, an anonymous hacker in Latvia is being hailed as a real life modern Robin Hood. The hacker refers to himself as 'Neo,' claims allegiance with the Fourth Awakening People's Army, and is outing banks that are capitalizing off of the horrible economic status Latvia is currently suffering from. No word on how he is acquiring the information but it is slowly being leaked to TV sources via Twitter and the common people love him. The hacker is thought to be based in Britain but a TV reporter pointed out the fine line Neo is walking, 'On the one hand of course he has stolen confidential data ... and he actually has committed a crime. But at the same time there is value for the public in the sense that now a lot of information gets disclosed and the whole system maybe becomes a little more transparent.' An example of a juicy tidbit he revealed is that managers of a Latvian bank did not take the salary cuts they promised they would after the government bailed them out of economic trouble. You can imagine that taxpayers were upset and thankful they knew this information."
IBM

Submission + - IBM's Jeopardy-Playing Machine: "I Want Jennings!" (networkworld.com)

Submitted by twailgum
twailgum writes: IBM's Jeopardy-playing supercomputer is now capable of beating human Jeopardy contestants on a regular basis, and it has got its sights set squarely on 74-time champion Ken Jennings. IBM announced plans to build a computer that can win on Jeopardy last April, and expects to stage a public tournament involving human players and the machine within the next year or so. The question-answering system, nicknamed "Watson," is already doing trial runs against people who have actually appeared on the Alex Trebek-hosted Jeopardy. Watson's competition includes people who qualified for the show but lost, people who appeared and won once, and people who appeared and won twice.
Microsoft

10 Microsoft Acquisitions and What They Mean Now 145

Posted by CmdrTaco from the if-you-can't-beat-it-buy-it dept.
FrankPoole writes "CRN takes a look at the past five years of Microsoft's acquisition history, which totals $13 billion and more than 7,000 new employees, and highlights 10 deals and how they've affected the software giant. While some larger acquisitions stand out for better or worse, such as Danger and aQuantive, there are some smaller, blink-and-you'll-miss-it deals that have proved pivotal for Microsoft's push into new areas such as virtualization. And Microsoft's recent acquisition track record may lend credence to the heavy criticism levied against the company by former employees like Dick Brass."
Government

Simulated Hack To Test US Government Response 73

Posted by CmdrTaco from the i'm-sure-that-will-work-out-fine dept.
superapecommando writes "Security industry analysts and lawmakers will get an unprecedented chance next week to evaluate how the government might respond to a hack attack on critical infrastructure targets. The Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based non-profit established in 2007 by several lawmakers, will host a simulated nation-wide cyber-attack next Tuesday for a group of former administration and national security officials, who will be playing the roles of Cabinet members."
Sci-Fi

Star Wars TV Show Tainted By Memories of Jar Jar 474

Posted by CmdrTaco from the that's-a-lot-of-taint dept.
bowman9991 writes "Can George Lucas' new Star Wars TV series, the first Star Wars spin off with real actors, atone for the flawed follow-ups to his original classics? Producer Rick McCallum calls the new series 'much darker,' a 'much more character-based series' and 'more adult,' while George Lucas himself calls it more like the first Star Wars film. The new TV show takes place in the 'dark times' between the last prequel Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, when most of the Jedi and anti-emperor politicians were hunted down and killed. The characters of Boba Fett, C-3PO, and the Emperor Palpatine will return, and casting has now begun. Mark Hamill, the actor who played Luke Skywalker from the original movies, believes George Lucas lost his way, 'making it bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger until you're just exploding with special effects all over the screen like some fireworks display,' but thinks the new show is a 'positive' step forward. Hopefully George Lucas can wipe the memory of Jar Jar Binks, Anakin and Padme's romance, his shameless merchandising, and some lame attempts at humor from everyone's minds once and for all."
Security

A Look Into the Chinese Hacker Underworld 198

Posted by kdawson from the fun-and-profit dept.
beachels416 writes "The NY Times gained access to a Chinese hacker-for-profit, referred to as 'Majia,' and observed him during one of his nightly 'sessions.' From the article: 'Oddly, Majia said his parents did not know that he was hacking at night [hacking is illegal in China]. But at one point, he explained the intricacies of computer hacking and stealing data while his mother stood nearby, listening silently, while offering a guest oranges and candy.' At another point Majia spoke about the recent Google attacks, and claimed to have particular knowledge of the exact vector used. Nothing too new, but an interesting read nevertheless."
Bug

Woz Cites "Scary" Prius Acceleration Software Problem 749

Posted by Soulskill from the bad-news-for-half-of-california dept.
theodp writes "Speaking at Discovery Forum 2010, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak went off topic and spoke about a 'very scary' problem with his 2010 Toyota Prius. 'I don't get upset and teed off at things in life, except computers that don't work right,' said Woz, who went on to explain he'd been trying to get through to Toyota and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration for three months, but could not get anyone to explore an alleged software-related acceleration problem. 'I have a new model that didn't get recalled,' Steve said. 'This new model has an accelerator that goes wild but only under certain conditions of cruise control. And I can repeat it over and over and over again — safely.' Toyota said it investigates all complaints. 'We're in the business of investigating complaints, assessing problems and finding remedies,' said Toyota's John Hanson. 'After man-years of exhaustive testing we have not found any evidence of an electronic [software] problem that would have led to unwanted acceleration.'" We recently discussed other problems Toyota has had with electronic acceleration systems.

Submission + - 7 Ways to Make Your BlackBerry Battery Last Longer (cio.com)

Submitted by twailgum
twailgum writes: BlackBerry devices used to be renowned for their impressively long battery lives. But with all the features and functionalities packed into modern RIM smartphones during the past couple of years, some of that battery longevity has vanished. CIO.com's Al Sacco offers up seven advanced tips that he regularly employs to ensure his BlackBerry keeps on ticking...and ticking and ticking.

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