Daily News Archive

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

Tuesday, July 18th

 "Winning is not a sometime thing: it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do the right thing once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing." – Vince Lombardi

 

The Picks of the Day

Fueling America

“Fossil fuels continue to be the main source of energy consumption in the United States, which uses a quarter of the world's oil and a fifth of all the coal consumed each year. Globally, total energy use is projected to increase more than 50 percent by 2025, with the fastest growth expected in emerging economies such as China and India.”

http://www.cnncom/SPECIALS/2006/fueling.america/

 

U.S. govt officials faulted in data theft

“In a blistering report, the inspector general's office in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said a series of missteps led to theft of hardware containing data on millions of veterans and held up response after the fact.”

http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,39374813,00.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/11/AR2006071101066_pf.html

The VA Report is online at:  http://www.va.gov/oig/51/FY2006rpts/VAOIG-06-02238-163.pdf

 

IT Process Improvement

Deming Electronic Network – File Archive

This website has links to a number of text files and such of interviews and user group meetings regarding Dr. Deming.

http://deming.eng.clemson.edu/pub/den/files/index.html

 

The W. Edwards Deming Institute

“The W. Edwards Deming Institute® is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1993 by noted consultant Dr. W. Edwards Deming.  The aim of the Institute is to foster understanding of The Deming System of Profound Knowledge™ to advance commerce, prosperity and peace.”

http://www.deming.org/

 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Will COSO Small Biz Guidance Really Help?

“COSO unveils principles-based guidance that it claims will reduce compliance burdens for smaller companies.”

http://www.cfocom/article.cfm/7158560?f=alerts

 

Who Really Catches The Crooks?

“And who blew the whistle on options backdating? It wasn't the SEC, the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) or other regulators. Oh no, they--especially after Sarbanes-Oxley--have been busy chastising brokers for not dotting the i's and threatening corporate CEOs who don't know every detail of their businesses.  No, it started with an academic, Dr. Erik Lie, who sent his paper, "On the Timing of CEO Stock Option Awards," to the SEC in 2004, but the topic didn't heat up until The Wall Street Journal published a page-one article last March 18.”

http://www.forbes.com/home/investmentnewsletters/2006/07/11/apple-vitesse-options-in_gs_0711soapbox_inl.html

[This is an interesting piece pointing out that alerting government groups isn’t always as efficient as one might think.]

 

FDA Turns to RFID to Track Prescription Drugs

“The FDA recently issued a draft Compliance Policy Guide that states that the agency will concentrate its tracking efforts on drugs that people are most likely to try to counterfeit or divert. They include drugs with high sales volumes, such as cholesterol-reducing Lipitor; expensive specialty drugs; and high-demand drugs, such as Tamiflu, whose use could skyrocket in a flu pandemic.”

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/51730.html

 

Security and Risk Management

Should sensitive data be stored on laptops?

“Every month seems to bring another episode of sensitive personal information escaping into the wild because a corporate or government laptop computer is lost or stolen. A common response is a lot of hand-wringing over how the data should have been encrypted.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/07/11/laptop.security.ap/index.html

 

Olympic hosts need to improve security spending: experts

“Despite burgeoning spending on security, the        Olympic Games will never be perfectly safe and organizers should look at new ways of dealing with threats, say experts.  Though security was not on the official agenda at a meeting of international Olympic officials from around the world, who gathered in this west coast city for a debriefing of the Torino 2006 games, safety issues generated the most publicity.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060715/wl_canada_afp/oly2010ioccan_060715201633

 

Virus Attacks Named Leading Culprit of Financial Loss by U.S. Companies in 2006 CSI/FBI Computer Crime and Security Survey

“The Computer Security Institute (CSI) with the participation of the San Francisco Federal Bureau of Investigation's

(FBI) Computer Intrusion Squad today released its 2006 report citing that virus attacks are the leading cause of financial losses. The top four categories - virus attacks, unauthorized access to networks, lost/stolen laptops or mobile hardware and theft of proprietary information or intellectual property - according to the 2006 Computer Crime and Security Survey, account for more than 74 percent of financial loss.”

http://www.gocsi.com/forms/fbi/csi_fbi_survey.jhtml

 

Human Error / Safety

Investigation finds 60 trouble spots in Big Dig

“The head of the agency overseeing Boston’s Big Dig highway project ordered a review of the entire metro highway system Wednesday after investigators looking into the fatal collapse of concrete ceiling slabs found 60 more questionable areas inside the same tunnel.”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13828318/

 

Engineer's warnings unheeded before TWA 800 explosion

“Aerospace engineer Cleve Kimmel's worst fears were realized on July 17, 1996, when TWA Flight 800 exploded in mid-air after takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.  Investigators later concluded a spark in the aircraft's center fuel tank likely led to the blast -- an inevitability that Kimmel said he had spent more than 30 years warning airlines about.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/12/twa.kimmel/index.html

 

G8 split on nuclear energy, climate change issues

“The Group of Eight industrial nations approved a statement on ‘Global Energy Security’ on Sunday that acknowledges splits over nuclear energy and climate change among the world's top economies.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/07/16/russia.g8.energy.reut/index.html

 

Outsourcing / Globalization / International

Electronics giants aim new gadgets at China

“Gone are the days when global electronics giants could dump last year's wares on China, counting on a nation of gadget hillbillies to buy the world's leftovers.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/07/07/china.electronics.reut/index.html

 

US government told to take its hands off internet

“The United States government has been told to end its oversight role of the internet during its own consultation exercise over the future of net governance.  In a stark result, over 87 percent of those that commented on the US's continued control of the internet's hierachy said that it was time for it to transition toward a new, more international model. The company that the consultation was designed to review - not-for-profit overseeing organisation ICANN - fared little better, with nearly two-thirds comments coming down against it.”

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/15/ntia_inquiry_results/

 

Globalization 3.0: The World Is Truly Flat - As Seen >From A Chinese Perspective

“Not a day goes by without seeing an article in the Wall Street Journal or national news about the changing of the government and business scenery in China – often noted to be entering its third generation of evolution.  How does this impact companies in RTP seeking to enter China?   How can the Triangle investment community best prepare to diversify their portfolios and leverage the innovation bubble that is taking placing place now in China?”

http://www.localtechwire.com/article.cfm?u=14529

 

Arroyo: Turn Clark zone into cyber corridor

“On top of the four planned super regions, President Macapagal-Arroyo announced the creation of a cyber corridor covering the cities of Baguio, Cebu, Davao and Manila and the Clark Special Economic Zone.  The development of this corridor, which hosts numerous call centers and outsourcing companies, will be supported through additional digital infrastructures, Ms Arroyo said during a joint meeting of the Cabinet and the Regional Development Council in Central Luzon on Thursday.”

http://newsinfo.inq7.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view_article.php?article_id=10174

 

Economics / Business / Misc.

Chinese automaker plans U.S. assembly plant

“China’s oldest carmaker plans to build an assembly plant in southern Oklahoma to help revive a historic English automotive brand — the MG.  Nanjing Automobile Corp. will locate a manufacturing facility and parts distribution center at the Ardmore Air Park, said Duke T. Hale, the company’s new president and chief executive.”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13826030/

Thursday, July 21st

Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing,, layout, processes, and procedures.” -- Tom Peters

 

The Picks of the Day

ITSM/ITIL Expert George Spafford Joins Pepperweed Consulting

“George Spafford, well known in the IT Management industry as a consultant, writer and speaker, has joined Pepperweed Consulting, an expert-certified provider of IT Infrastructure and Process Management technology and services. He will be a Principal Consultant, specializing in ITSM/ITIL solutions architecture.”

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060718/nytu123.html?.v=60

[My apologies, but I wanted to let people know the details behind my new position.  Future editions of the newsletter will be the original content offering and with the new headers and footers for Pepperweed.]

 

Australasian Legal Information Institute

“The Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) provides free internet access to Australasian legal materials. AustLII's broad public policy agenda is to improve access to justice through better access to information. To that end, we have become one of the largest sources of legal materials on the net, with over 20 gigabytes of raw text materials and over 4 million searchable documents.”

http://www.austlii.edu.au/

[This is an amazing site sent to me by Endre Bihari.  It also links to many other legal institutes of which I will list a select few below under the Legal and Regulatory Compliance section.]

 

Google Scholar trademark case ends

“A trademark lawsuit pitting the venerable American Chemical Society against Google has quietly gone away.”

http://news.com.com/Google+Scholar+trademark+case+ends/2100-1025_3-6096240.html?tag=st_lh

 

IT Process Improvement

Webcast:  How to Leverage Metrics to Support ITIL Processes

August 2^nd, 2pm US Eastern Time (GMT-5), Presented by George Spafford

This webinar will cover aspects of metric selection designed with the intent of crafting a framework of metrics that adds value to the organization.

Sign up at:  http://cp.jupiterweb.com/index.php/2541_default/e123394fb7e20f804c199d329ad080cd

 

Selling Senior Management on Upgrades

“Many IT groups become very frustrated when proposing upgrades for business systems, only to be denied. The problem is that while IT may see many benefits, that doesn’t mean that senior management feels the same way.”

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/columns/article.php/3621041

[For people selling complex solutions, check out a past article on that very topic at:  http://www.spaffordconsulting.com/sellingcomplexsolutions.html ]

 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

World Legal Information Institute

“WorldLII provides a single search facility for databases located on the following Legal Information Institutes: AustLII; BAILII; CanLII; HKLII; LII (Cornell); and PacLII.  WorldLII also includes as part of this searchable collection its own databases not found on other LIIs. These include databases of decisions of international Courts and Tribunals, databases from a number of Asian countries, and databases from South Africa (provided by Wits Law School).  Over 270 databases from 48 jurisdictions in 20 countries are included in the initial release of WorldLII. Databases of case-law, legislation, treaties, law reform reports, law journals, and other materials are included.”

http://www.worldlii.org/

 

Canada Legal Information Institute (CanLII)

“The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) is a not-for-profit organization initiated by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. CanLII's goal is to make primary sources of Canadian law accessible for free on the Internet. CanLII seeks to gather legislative and judicial texts, as well as legal commentaries, from federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions on a single Web site.”

http://www.canlii.org/

 

Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute (LII)

“The LII is known internationally as a leading ‘law-not-com’ provider of public legal information. We offer all opinions of the United States Supreme Court handed down since 1992, together with over 600 earlier decisions selected for their historic importance, over a decade of opinions of the New York Court of Appeals, and the full United States Code. We also publish important secondary sources: libraries in two important areas (legal ethics and social security) and a series of ‘topical’ pages that serve as concise explanatory guides and Internet resource listings for roughly 100 areas of law.”

http://www.law.cornell.edu/

 

Security and Risk Management

Information Technology:  Agencies and OMB Should Strengthen Processes for Identifying and Overseeing High Risk Projects

GAO-06-647, June 15.

http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-647

Highlights are at:  http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06647high.pdf

 

Agencies to teach cybersecurity protection

“Federal scientists who study how hackers try to break into computer-based controls for nuclear reactors and other automated industrial systems are passing the secrets on to the private operators of such facilities.  The U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Homeland Security will sponsor free classes in protecting remote controls of critical infrastructure during an international cybersecurity summit in Las Vegas Sept. 28-30.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060719/ap_on_hi_te/cybersecurity_protection_1

 

VA general counsel leaving government

“A top Veterans Affairs official criticized after the theft of a laptop containing 26.5 million veterans' sensitive information is leaving to take a job in the private sector, the department said Wednesday.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060719/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/vets_data_theft_4

 

Human Error / Safety

Indonesia bird flu: 42nd victim dies

“An international test has confirmed a 44-year-old Indonesian man who died this month had bird flu, a senior health ministry official has said.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditions/07/20/indonesia.birdflu.reut/index.html

 

Finding AIDS Vaccine May Be a Lost Cause

“After 25 years and countless billions of research dollars, some of the nation's top scientists say a vaccine that provides immunity against the virus that causes AIDS -- the best hope of curbing the worst epidemic of our time -- may never happen.”

http://wwwnewhousenews.com/archive/jordan071906.html

 

Outsourcing / Globalization / International

Survey: China Web use soaring

“China's population of Internet users, already the world's second-biggest after the U.S., has jumped by nearly 20 percent over the past year to 123 million, with broadband access soaring, the government said Wednesday.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/07/19/china.internet.ap/index.html

 

Minister plugs outsourcing to India

“Dayanidhi Maran is as passionate as any Silicon Valley entrepreneur pitching his company.  His business plan, though, happens to be his country -- India. Maran is India's cabinet-level minister of communications and information technology whose mission is to sell India Corp.”

http://crm.ittoolbox.com/news/display.asp?i=145505&rss=1

 

Old world salaries outstripped by buoyant new economies

“New research from global management consultancy Hay Group reveals a new pay world order, with so-called ‘second world’ economies in Asia, Eastern and Southern Europe overtaking developed Western countries as the world’s new pay hotspots.”

http://www.consultant-news.com/article_display.aspx?p=adp&id=2949

 

S Ramadorai on TCS and the IT sector

“S Ramadorai, chief executive officer and managing director, Tata Consultancy Services does not anticipate a slowdown in the IT sector. He sees the business momentum continuing.”

http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/jul/19inter.htm?q=tp

 

Digital Opportunity Increases Worldwide

“Access to the Web is on the rise worldwide, though developing nations lag behind industrialized countries. The World Information Society Report published by the International Telecommunication Union details the modular implementation and adoption of telecommunication services like broadband and mobile.”

http://www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/geographics/article.php/3618336

 

Economics / Business / Misc.

US Airways to place ads on barf bags

“The Tempe, Arizona-based airline plans to sell advertisements on its air-sickness bags -- those pint-sized expandable envelopes tucked between the in-flight magazines and safety cards.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/07/19/air.sickness.bags.ap/index.html

[This reaffirms my faith in capitalism.]

 

Microsoft Outlines The 12 Philosophies Of Windows

“At a New America Foundation Policy Luncheon at the National Press Club here, Brad Smith, Microsoft's senior vice president and general counsel, outlined the principles and discussed lessons Microsoft has learned over the past 10 years based on antitrust battles, regulatory scrutiny and fierce competition in the operating system and software market in general. “

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1991711,00.asp

 

Technology rewrites the book

“The print-on-demand business is gradually moving toward the center of the marketplace. What began as a way for publishers to reduce their inventory and stop wasting paper is becoming a tool for anyone who needs a bound document.”

http://news.com.com/Technology+rewrites+the+book/2100-1032_3-6096317.html?tag=nefd.top

 

Intel launches major reorganization

“Sales and marketing in particular has been shaken up, sources familiar with the changes said. The two previous co-general managers, Anand Chandrasekher and Eric Kim, have been moved to lead different divisions, while Sean Maloney is the sole new leader.”

http://news.com.com/Intel+launches+major+reorganization/2100-1006_3-6096207.html?tag=nefd.lede