Failover - Slashdot User

Visualizing Complex Data Sets? 180

Posted by kdawson on Monday January 19, 2009 @10:44PM from the see-it-to-believe-it dept.

markmcb writes "A year ago my company began using SAP as its ERP system, and there is still a great deal of focus on cleaning up the 'master data' that ultimately drives everything the system does. The issue we face is that the master data set is gigantic and not easy to wrap one's mind around. As powerful as SAP is, I find it does little to aid with useful visualization of data. I recently employed a custom solution using Ruby and Graphviz to help build graphs of master data flow from manual extracts, but I'm wondering what other people are doing to get similar results. Have you found good out-of-the-box solutions in things like data warehouses, or is this just one of those situations where customization has to fill a gap?"

Obama, McCain Campaigns Both Hacked, Files Compromised 255

Posted by timothy on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @06:20PM from the nogoodniks-abound dept.

dunezone writes "As the election ends, news is coming out from both campaigns on what happened behind closed doors. During the summer, the Obama campaign had their systems hacked, but so did McCain — and not by each other, but by a third party. '... both the FBI and the Secret Service came to the campaign with an ominous warning: "You have a problem way bigger than what you understand," an agent told Obama's team. "You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system." The following day, Obama campaign chief David Plouffe heard from White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, to the same effect: "You have a real problem ... and you have to deal with it." The Feds told Obama's aides in late August that the McCain campaign's computer system had been similarly compromised.'" Also from the article: "Officials at the FBI and the White House told the Obama campaign that they believed a foreign entity or organization sought to gather information on the evolution of both camps' policy positions — information that might be useful in negotiations with a future administration."

Submission + - Cleaning up the Most Toxic Pollution in the World

Submitted by

Hugh Pickens

on Saturday September 15, 2007 @12:27PM

Hugh Pickens writes: "Blacksmith Institute has published their list of the most polluted sites in the world compiled by comparing the toxicity of the contamination, the likelihood of it getting into humans and the number of people affected. For example, ninety-nine percent of the children living in and around the poly-metallic smelter at La Oroya in Peru, owned by the Missouri-based Doe Run Corporation, have blood lead levels that exceed acceptable limits. The Scientific American says that despite the massive pollution, it would be relatively cheap and easy to clean up the most dangerous hazards. For $15,000, the radioactive contaminated soil from the Mayak plutonium facility on the shore of the Techa River in the Russian town of Muslyomova could be dug up, saving an estimated 350 lives. "For about $200, the cost of a refrigerator, we are able to save someone's life," says Richard Fuller, founder of Blacksmith."

Submission + - C.I.A. to declassify "skeletons"

Submitted by sgt_doom on Friday June 22, 2007 @08:14PM

sgt_doom writes: The C.I.A. announced today it was going to reveal "skeletons" by declassifying hundreds of pages of documents detailing illegal abuses over the years. As a preamble, the National Security Archive at George Washington University released a separate set of documents covering internal government deliberations of the abuses from January 1975. Mandatory reading for all those history-challenged individuals who believe government knows best!

Comment Interesting and funny read (Score 2, Interesting) 158

by Failover on Friday October 14, 2005 @03:50PM (#13793101) Attached to: Microsoft Helping Nigeria Fight Scammers

I came across this on a forum dedicated to exposing 419 scams a few months back, and though it's not one of those emails promising riches (it's an eBay scam), it's still relevant. It's extremely funny, but it also shows the lengths to which they will go to get your money, including threats. http://www.thescambaiter.com/forum/showthread.php? t=109

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