Daily News Archive

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

Tuesday, March 28th

"I find the great thing in this world is not where we stand, as in the direction we are moving.” -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

The Picks of the Day

Causality and IT Service Management

“IT differs in regards to line of business functions because of it being an enabler of other functions but regardless, it is still a business function that must deliver. ITIL recognizes this and recommends that IT provision services in support of the organization and those services must be properly managed to ensure that the organization meets its goals.”

http://www.itsmwatch.com/tech/article.php/3593646

 

Government investigators smuggled radioactive materials into U.S.

“Two teams of government investigators using fake documents were able to enter the United States with enough radioactive sources to make two dirty bombs, according to a federal report made available Monday.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/27/radioactive.smuggling/index.html

 

Global Warming Heats Up

A tour de force by Time magazine on the very real impacts of global warming

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1176980,00.html

 

IT Process Improvement

So, What Do You Offer?

“When compared to an outsourcer, internal IT (IIT) is at a disadvantage because the outsourcer can readily present management a list of services that are available, descriptions of each, available service level plans and their associated costs.  More often than not, IIT is not prepared to list all of the services offered and their costs. As a result, management, which often is befuddled about benefits relative to costs when it comes to IT in general, may lean toward the outsourcer as they can more readily understand the cost-benefit scenarios the outsourcer sets forth.”

http://www.itsmwatch.com/tech/article.php/3587911

 

Achieving Organizational improvement

This is a very interesting white paper by Ivor Evans who has 40 years of IT experience and has been involved with ITIL since its inception.  This white papers sets for an Service Management model to change the relationships between the recipient and provider of a service.

http://www.dream-catchers-inc.com/white%20papers/Achieving%20Organizational%20Improvement%20-%20Full%20Version%204.2(C).pdf

 

AT Kearney – Why Today’s IT Organizations Won’t Work Tomorrow

This is an eye opening report that takes a question and then surveys business and CIO leaders and shows the difference in perspectives.  This is a must read.
http://www.atkearney.com/main.taf?p=5,3,1,111

 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Sarbanes defends benefits of corporate reform law

“Sen. Paul Sarbanes on Thursday defended the benefits of his eponymous corporate reform law against critics who are trying to roll back some of the regulations they say were hurried overreactions to corporate scandals.”

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=governmentFilingsNews&storyID=2006-03-23T214644Z_01_N23335592_RTRIDST_0_FINANCIAL-SARBANES.XML

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=AP&Date=20060323&ID=5594334

 

Belgian communications company moves toward SEPA compliance

“Eufiserv Sc is moving forward with an ATM card scheme to comply with the Single Euro Payment Area Cards Framework. According to a news release, Eufiserv will to continue to be a part of the European payment system after the launch of SEPA in 2008.”

http://atmmarketplace.com/news_story_25380.htm

 

Long arm of Sarbanes-Oxley would embrace Alcatel

“If a deal between Alcatel S.A. (ALA) and Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) is structured as an all-stock acquisition by the French company, investors could end up seeing some erosion of corporate governance and shareholder rights.”

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BF80ADEF3%2D8CB6%2D42C4%2DAADB%2DD4A34AF7CA2B%7D&dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&keyword=

 

Security and Risk Management

Stolen Fidelity computer raises privacy fears

“A laptop belonging to Fidelity Investments that held the names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers and other information of 196,000 retirement account customers was stolen last week, the company says.”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11974062/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114343080300608825.html?mod=djemEMU

 

Thefts prompt products that do more to secure laptops

“Recent thefts of laptops with sensitive corporate data have prompted more companies and individuals to snap up everything from locks to tracking software to protect data from PC snatchers.”

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2006-03-26-laptop-security_x.htm

 

Homeland security group to meet away from public eye

“The newly created Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council is charged with sharing information aimed at protecting the nation's infrastructure, cybercomponents included. Michael Chertoff, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary, cited security reasons when he signed off on exempting the council from the Federal Advisory Committee Act, or FACA.”

http://news.com.com/Homeland+security+group+to+meet+away+from+public+eye/2100-7348_3-6053795.html?tag=html.alert

 

DNS servers do hackers' dirty work

“In a twist on distributed denial-of-service attacks, cybercriminals are using DNS servers--the phonebooks of the Internet--to amplify their assaults and disrupt online business.”

http://news.com.com/DNS+servers+do+hackers+dirty+work/2100-7349_3-6053468.html?tag=nefd.lede

 

Human Error / Safety

Alarming rise in drug-resistant TB reported

“Health officials said Thursday they are seeing what appears to be a disturbing increase around the world in tuberculosis infections resistant to both the first- and second-line antibiotics used against TB.”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11979210/

 

Human Lungs Resist Avian Flu Infection

“People anxiously watching the skies for the arrival of sick migratory birds can relax, just a bit, if research here pans out on where avian flu resides in the human airway.  The research reported in the March 23 issue of Nature shows that the human airway isn't particularly hospitable to the bird flu virus.”

http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/URItheFlu/tb/2911

 

Outsourcing / Globalization

Dell to double call center workers in Manila

“Michael Dell, founder and chairman of Dell Inc., announced on Tuesday that the company was doubling the number of its call center agents in the Philippines to 1,400 people from the current target of 700.

http://money.inq7.net/breakingnews/view_breakingnews.php?yyyy=2006&mon=03&dd=21&file=18

 

Same Subject - Different Story

“International conglomerates and corporations need to find ways to partner effectively in those countries that can build and sustain an environment of high quality workforces seeking productive collaboration. These partnerships, if they are to succeed, will increasingly be built on shared values. As such they will support not only accelerated and equitable economic development and, in some countries eradication of poverty, but also a speedy and sustainable growth in global trade to the benefit of us all.”

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/business/2006/March/business_March509.xml&section=business&col=

 

'BPO firms face acute risk of fraud'

“The bourgeoning Indian BPO sector, which has emerged as the back-office hub of global corporate houses handling confidential data, faces acute risk of frauds, especially at the hands of employees, according to a report by global consulting firm KPMG.”

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1464547.cms

 

Economics / Business / Misc.

The Most Powerful Bomb Ever Constructed

“On October 30, 1961, the most powerful weapon ever constructed by mankind was exploded over the island of Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Sea. The device was code-named ‘Ivan,’ and it was a multi-stage hydrogen bomb which was built in only fifteen weeks by engineers in the USSR, using off-the-shelf nuclear weapon components.”

[Let’s file this under historical miscellaneous]

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=214

 

Wal-Mart goes organic

“Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is throwing its weight behind organic products, a move that experts say could have the same lasting effect on environmental practices that Wal-Mart has had on prices by forcing suppliers and competitors to keep up.”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11977666/

 

Hughes Looking At Rural Internet

“Hughes Network Systems LLC, a Germantown satellite service company trying to reposition itself after the sale of its DirecTV satellite television business, plans to announce a campaign today aimed at selling Internet access to small businesses and consumers in rural parts of the country.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/26/AR2006032600638.html?nav=rss_technology

Thursday, March 30th

"Genius means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way.” -- William James

 

The Picks of the Day

Is It Too Late to Stop the Warming?

“It was the summer of 1988, and strange things were happening: Repeated heat waves hit the eastern seaboard of the United States, while the Midwest was mired in massive drought. In some places, the waters of the Mississippi were so low that barges were stranded.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/GlobalWarming/story?id=1765362&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312&technology=true

 

The man who could fix Windows

“Microsoft's new OS chief has to get Redmond to embrace a new model of programming, in which software is constantly being improved instead of updated every 5 years.”

http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/24/technology/business2_msftreorg/index.htm?cnn=yes

 

Primary voting-machine troubles raise concerns for '06

“Problems using voting machines in the Texas and Illinois primaries this month have reinforced fears that the 2006 elections may be beset with glitches”

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-03-27-voting-machines_x.htm

 

IT Process Improvement

OGC BCP Guidelines

The OGC has some great BCP guidance online this worth checking out

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtoolkit/reference/ogc_library/itbusinesschange/GuidelineBCM21.pdf

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtoolkit/deliveryteam/briefings/businesschange/bus_cont.html 

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtoolkit/reference/ogc_library/property/Bcpg.pdf   [This is an excellent document]

 

FFIEC Business Continuity Planning Booklet
http://www.ffiec.gov/ffiecinfobase/booklets/bcp/bus_continuity_plan.pdf   

 

NC State University BCP Department

This is the actual department tasked with BCP planning for the university.  The site is well laid out and has a wealth of resources.
http://www.ncsu.edu/ehs/BCP/index.php 

 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Learning to Love Whistleblowers

“The idea of companies soliciting whistleblowers would have seemed ridiculous a decade ago, when many executives viewed them as troublemakers and attention-seekers. Corporate scandals changed that. This year, 88 percent of respondents to a survey of public and private companies agreed that encouraging whistleblowers is good for business, according to Tatum Partners, a financial consulting firm based in Atlanta.”

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20060301/priority-whistleblowers.html

 

Can compliance be a selling point?

“The first Australian bank or financial institution to crack the compliance and governance code could profit handsomely from the hard work.  Unisys predicts the first financial organization that can realistically tick all the boxes in relation to governance and compliance will be in a position to offer security as a "value-added" service to competitors in the banking industry.”

http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1716314144;fp;16;fpid;0

 

Sarbanes-Oxley Act refreshes 'business-as-usual boardrooms'

“Sen. Paul Sarbanes for the first time on March 23 publicly defended the landmark corporate financial legislation he co-authored against criticism that its regulations hurt U.S. markets.”

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpid=811&show=archivedetails&ArchiveID=1175722&om=1

[Old news, but I liked the article.]

[4/6/2006 Update - the publisher changed the link and I revised the entry to reflect the new URL.]

 

Security and Risk Management

FISMA Fizzles

“Skepticism about FISMA centers mainly on the way OMB has chosen to guide the law's execution at civilian agencies. ‘FISMA compliance does not necessarily mean you're secure. It means you've put together a lot of documentation,’ Brody says. A key compliance element is certification and accreditation, whereby at least once every three years agencies establish information systems' security according to their risk potential, and authorize their continued use.”

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33605&printerfriendlyVers=1&

 

Little known Microsoft security utilities

“Microsoft makes a big deal about security, but sometimes a few of the company's security resources slip under the radar. There aren't many, but there are a few obscure Microsoft security utilities that deserve a little more publicity.”

http://searchwindowssecurity.techtarget.com/tip/1,289483,sid45_gci1174141,00.html

 

Official warns of unsecured nuclear reactors

“One-third of the world's 130 civilian nuclear research reactors lack security upgrades needed to prevent theft of materials that terrorists could use to build an atomic bomb, the chief U.S. nuclear proliferation official says.”

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-03-26-nuclear-security_x.htm

 

U.S. confronts issue of 'loose nukes' on several fronts

“With little fanfare, U.S. utilities have been buying uranium that once sat in Soviet nuclear weapons to fuel civilian nuclear power reactors. The program supplies half the uranium used by U.S. nuclear plants which, in turn, generate 20% of all U.S. commercial power. That means, essentially, that one in every 10 light bulbs in America is powered by uranium that once sat atop a Russian missile.”

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-03-26-loose-nukes_x.htm

 

Human Error / Safety

Army Corps faulted on New Orleans levees

“An organization of civil engineers yesterday questioned the soundness of large portions of New Orleans's levee system, warning that the city's federally designed flood walls were not built to standards stringent enough to protect a large city.”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11987825/

 

What's So Natural About Natural Disasters?

A panel discussion at MIT with David Mindell (human aggravate the situation), David Jones (predictable outcomes when disasters collide with human populations) and Meg Jacobs (sees the logic behind the Bush administration’s response to Katrina).  It is a 1:27 video of an event held on November 15, 2005.

http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/335/

 

Dozens injured during Airbus superjumbo drill

“Thirty-three hurt, most minor; evacuation test called a 'great success'”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12026531/

 

First bird flu shot protects only half of people

“The nation’s first vaccine against bird flu is only modestly effective, producing apparent protection in slightly over half the people who receive two mega-dose shots, initial testing shows. The worrisome findings underscore the urgency of brewing a better vaccine.”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12067137/

 

Outsourcing / Globalization

Outsourcing for Grown Ups

“Many who blame outsourcing providers when things go wrong don't have the maturity to understand their own responsibilities.”

http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/ybopen.asp?section=ybng&story_id=91064604&ID=blackenterprise

 

The next big outsourcing story?

“Outsourced product development company R Systems has the potential to post explosive growth, as this business segment is estimated to grow 20 times over the next couple of years.”

http://www.business-standard.com/smartinvestor/storypage.php?chklogin=N&autono=219977&lselect=2&leftnm=lmnu6&leftindx=6

 

In Dubai, an Outcry From Asians for Workplace Rights

“Asian workers lured to Dubai by dreams of wealth often end up living in squalid conditions. But lately, they are becoming an organized labor force.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/international/middleeast/26dubai.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=login

 

U.S., China Stage an Economic Balancing Act

“As senior Washington and Beijing officials prepare for Chinese President Hu Jintao's summit with President Bush at the White House on April 20, a more unstable logic is being tested that has come to define the emerging superpower relationship that will define the first half of the 21st century.  The argument holds that both countries would be so economically devastated by a trade or financial war -- "mutually assured economic destruction" -- that neither would trigger one despite growing trade tensions. … Don't bet on this logic holding.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114347098996009022.html?mod=hps_us_inside_today

 

Economics / Business / Misc.

How Barbie is making business a little better

“Mattel is one of many U.S. corporations taking social responsibilities more seriously in foreign markets, from the rain forests of Asia to civil-war-torn Africa. As Yahoo, Google and other Internet giants face harsh criticism for their business practices in China, more companies realize it's smart business to be good corporate citizens in the exploding global.”
http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/2006-03-26-corporate-responsibility_x.htm

 

Future Office

“The very near future, that is, for six areas where technology is transforming business in dramatic fashion. CFO Asia examines what finance executives can do to manage the change.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/5621073?f=alerts

 

Latest PC Fashion: Shorter Boots

“Hardware and software makers offer fast, fast, fast relief from lengthy computer start-up times.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/5676776?f=alerts