Daily News Archive

Please note that The Daily News is publishing (hopefully) twice a week for the foreseeable future due to time constraints.

Tuesday, January 24th

"In quality control, we try as far as possible to make our various judgments based on the facts, not on guesswork. Our slogan is 'Speak with facts.' "-- Katsuya Hosotani

 

The Picks of the Day

The Time Has Come for ITSM

“With the tumult of the tech boom and bust behind us, analysts say IT managers now have the time and inclination to take stock of how they're running IT. It's time for ITSM.”

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/erp/article.php/3578471

 

China 2.0

“After 25 years of sizzling growth, Beijing's shifting to a new economic model. Can Big Red go green?”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10965510/site/newsweek/

 

George’s Book Recommendation:  The Manager’s Step-By-Step Guide to Outsourcing

Linda Dominguez has written a very straight-forward guide to outsourcing that includes implementation planning, pitfalls to avoid, and so on in a very readable book.  If you are looking for a book to help you develop, or even review, your outsourcing plans, be sure to check out this one.

Published by McGraw Hill.  ISBN 0-07-145824-7

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&tag=georgespaffor-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&path=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0071458247%2Fsr%3D1-1%2Fqid%3D1137986665%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_1%3F%255Fencoding%3DUTF8

 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Decision Issued on Implementing Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblowing Procedures in France

“France has recently adopted a decision aimed at resolving a conflict of laws facing companies with operations in France subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (the Act). This briefing explains the conflict that gave rise to this decision, its substantive scope, and the related labor law considerations.”

http://www.winston.com/MeetingCN.nsf/vLinksFrame/DecisionIssuedonImplementingSarbanesOxleyWhistleblowingProceduresinFrance

[This briefing does a nice job explaining the conflict and resolution for SOX whistleblowers in France.]

 

SEC may exempt foreigners on pay disclosure

“Foreign companies with New York stock market listings could be granted exemptions from planned US rules on disclosure of executive pay.”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10979549/

 

Security and Risk Management

The Importance of Audit Logs

“Audit logs are valuable for a number of reasons, but it's up to IT to use them effectively.”

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/columns/article.php/3578916

[The astonishment I felt reading this articles goes beyond words.]

 

FBI: Online attacks common for businesses

“Nearly nine out of 10 U.S. businesses suffered from a computer virus, spyware or other online attack in 2004 or 2005 despite widespread use of security software, according to an FBI survey released on Thursday.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/01/20/crime.internet.reut/index.html

http://www.fbi.gov/publications/ccs2005.pdf

 

Lessons Learned in Iraq Show Up in Army Classes

“A fundamental change overtaking the Army is on display in classrooms across this base above the Missouri River. After decades of being told that their job was to close in on and destroy the enemy, officers are being taught that sometimes the best thing might be not to attack but to co-opt the enemy, perhaps by employing him, or encouraging him to desert, or by drawing him into local or national politics.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/20/AR2006012001906.html?referrer=email

 

Human Error / Safety

Study: College students lack literacy for complex tasks

“More than half of students at four-year colleges -- and at least 75 percent at two-year colleges -- lack the literacy to handle complex, real-life tasks such as understanding credit card offers, a study found.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/01/20/literacy.college.students.ap/index.html

[This is worrisome.]

 

Mistakes found in 98% of US patents

“Most law firms consider proofreading as a necessary step to reduce their malpractice exposure. Sophisticated corporations view proofreading as the final step in controlling the quality of their patents and ensuring enforceability. However, proofreading is time-consuming and can be expensive. It involves checking the issued patent, which can be hundreds of pages long, against the filed application and all amendments.”

http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2006/01/20/proofreading_errors_in_software_patents/

[The error rate is interesting but they don’t go into the level of materiality.  Essentially, the article is an ad to use a company who has proofreaders in India.]

 

Outsourcing / Globalization

Like a bull in a China shop

“Arrogance and lack of experience can often be the downfall of businesses rushing to set up in China, writes Kirsty Needham.”

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop/2006/01/22/1137864804728.html

 

'New China hands' wield business tools Bicultural manager

“Westerners wise in the ways of China have long been referred to as ‘old China hands.' Now, there are ‘new China hands' -- people savvy in the ways of doing business in a post-Maoist China.”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/01/22/BUGFLGQO6G1.DTL&type=business

 

Small cities to call shots in BPO growth in '06

“It’s not cybercities like Bangalore, Hyderabad or Pune that will fuel the BPO-KPO boom in ’06. Smaller cities—the likes of Jodhpur, Mohali, Nagpur, Patiala, and Madurai—are set to emerge as attractive destinations for outsourcing.”

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1381639.cms

 

Cebu pushed as global BPO hub

“Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas wants national economic development planners to further build up Cebu as a global business process outsourcing (BPO) hub, saying a lot more could be done to help promote the province's qualities as an ideal location for information technology (IT)-enabled service industries.”

http://www.tempo.com.ph/news.php?aid=20581

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=27959

 

Economics / Business / Misc.

Homeland Security Case A Harbinger for Pentagon

“The legal battle over the Defense Department's plan to overhaul its civil service system begins Tuesday, and the outcome could reverberate through the government for decades.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/21/AR2006012100993.html?referrer=email

 

Peddling Consulting

“The information-technology research industry may be dominated by a handful of large firms, but hundreds of shops, many consisting of just one person, make a living through peddling their own unique consulting and research services.”

http://www.forbes.com/business/businesstech/2006/01/19/tech-research-consultants-cx_ck_0120consult.html?partner=rss

 

The String Pullers

“From giving input on product design to influencing a company's yea or nay on a $50 million capital expenditure, information-technology research firms call the shots in the tech world today.”

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2006/01/19/research-technology-purchasing-cx_ck_0120research.html?partner=rss

 

Thursday, January 26th

The Daily News was not published.