Computing: Software Tools and Solutions

My personal blog

IT Outsourcing Partner

The first free benefit while employing an IT Outsourcing Partner is the chance to make use of the software development centers with most recent technologies. Even a greater benefit lies in the possibi...



Smile, You're On Candid Cellphone - Privacy In The Digital Age

There is currently somewhere north of seven hundred fifty million cell phones out there with some sort of video capture capability. There are also millions of ever-smaller and ever-cheaper videocams. ...


Playing Outside The Sim Box - Independent Video Gaming

Once the economic analysts and social pundits got over the shockwaves from the assault of video gaming on our culture, they began to look at the nuances of the industry. For several years, there wasn'...


How To Avoid Spending a Fortune Recovering Lost Data

Most people today are using computers at work and in their home. At work the computers are used as a professional tool to run the company and all its different processes. Whether you are in working in...


The Future Of Inkjet Cartridges-Part II

Awhile back I wrote an article about the "Future of Ink Cartridges", which stirred up some interest to say the least. The reason for this was that you would no longer need a toner cartridge to...


How To Improve Your PowerPoint Presentation Skills

PowerPoint is a great tool from Microsoft that makes any presentation look more professional, regardless of how long you’ve been speaking in public. It is very important now days to

Stacks of data, and nowhere to store them?!

Ever tried looking for a particular document in a stack of hundreds of papers two minutes before a meeting that might change your career? A database would allow you to store your data and retriev...


The best way to download the pictures from camera to a computer.

All digital photographers need to import their photographs from their camera or memory card to their computers at some stage. Here we will discuss the best way to perform this process. The safest and...


Tape Backup

Tape backup drives are an important aspect of any business venture. There is tons of information stored in different computer for various departments. It is vital to have these hard disk drives back...


How does PrinterAnywhere Software work ?

You want to print an urgent letter for your client regarding the meeting and your printer is not working. The meeting has to be happen or else you are about to loose a big deal. The situation is ve...


Tips For Selecting The Right Notebook Computer

These days it is very common to find people taking their notebook computers with them everywhere they go. Having one can be very convenient and make working on the go less of a hassle. It can be confu...


SICOM JCA Connector is implemented as a part of IBM WebSphere Application Server

July 11, 2007 - In the framework of IBM PartnerWorld Industry Networks (PWIN) program SearchInform Technologies integrated its SearchInform search solution into the IBM's WebSphere product lin...


Choosing A Web Designer For Your Web Project

With the internet being such a prevailing part of society, it is very important for businesses to make a positive impression with their websites. This can frequently be the only aspect of the business...


Choosing Cpanel Webhosting

Cpanel is web-based control panel complete with all the features that enables you to manage your web hosting space and domain name through the web interface. What cpanel does is to give you more cont...


How to find great IT jobs in Australia

How to find great IT jobs in Australia! Easy... check out the great new site: http://www.cherrypick.com.au CherryPick serves the Australian IT community by offering the best independent and ...


System Software Engineer / in Kansas City (Primus Corporation)

To develop HPLC systems software with RS232/485/Ethernet/USB/integration optimization of chromatographic data in C/C++/Pascal and biomedical embedded real-time data acquisition instrumentation in Assembly/C Location: Kansas City, MO Source: Jobs.net...


Transformation Archive

I recently uploaded the Transformation journal's archive to their website.  This consists of over twenty years of essays on South African politics, economics and society and is freely available to the public.  I've added the files - available as...


Website Update

My art website, www.jgordonanderson.com, is going to be updated in the fall. I no longer have time to try to update it myself, so my wife will graciously be handling that for me!...


Laptop Alarm: Boost your laptop's security

Laptop Alarm: Boost your laptop's security Windows-only freeware which sounds an alarm when a potential thief tries to log off or shut down your laptop, or unplugs your laptop's power supply or mouse...


Themis Computer Announces a New Family of AMD Opteron(TM) Processor-Based Single and Dual Processor

Themis Computer has announced a new family of TOP64D(TM) VMEbus computers. The TOP64D(TM) is the first in Themis? new family of 6U VMEbus computer boards based on the AMD Opteron(TM) processor. Themis? TOP64D is designed for a wide range of...


The Internet Marketing Situation In China - ChinaTechNews.com

The Internet Marketing Situation In China - ChinaTechNews.com The Internet Marketing Situation In China ChinaTechNews.com, China - 9 hours ago By Yann Lombard-Platet Recently I had breakfast with a friend in China. He asked me about the Internet,...


HP's Expanding Software Portfolio: Who Is Next?

Related Stocks: HPQ Dan Farber ( ZDNet ) submits: Since Mark Hurd took over the reigns of HP ( HPQ ) on March 29, 2005, the company has been leaning into software, mostly through acquisition. Complete Story »...


Malware Hunts Down and Deletes MP3s (PC World)

PC World - Security experts have discovered a worm that might just be the recording industry's dream application: it hunts down and deletes MP3s on infected PCs. Original post by Yahoo! News: Digital Video/TV Technology and software by Elliott Back...


Internet Pittsburgh selling in

right telemarketing is now considered obsolete since phone consumers desist from taking such calls. The Net bartering unyieldings are and listed in the narrow yellow pages and telephone directories. generally, by-compounds from the chop chop moving...


your input on Laptop Backup

If the orientation wasn'??t backed up, anon the keeper will be left with no laptop - but more importantly - no backed up facts either. impartial coextensive you can with desktop computers, you can to boot organize a backup of the circumstances on...


Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake

[In-house: Meeting late today with a super-boss at dot.com so powerful he cannot be named. Will discuss future of the blog (assuming there is one). My pitch: We go heavy on celebs, with hi-res downloaded images and Access Hollywood video excerpts and maybe a weekly advice column for singles. But, you know, with an edge. Not the usual stuff. More attitude. Sassy!]

David Segal has a story in Style about a New York cultural power couple that committed serial suicide. It's a tragic tale. It's also rather enigmatic and frustrating. Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake were extremely successful, but completely paranoid. Why?

"One of their shared passions, friends said, was a distressingly paranoid view of the world. The two would describe plots by the government, plots by Scientologists, people tailing them, breaking into their home. All of it sounded so far-fetched that it was easy to think occasionally that they were kidding. They weren't."

Forensic psychoanalysis on the dead is never wise. But you can get a whiff of the paranoia on Duncan's blog, Wit of the Staircase (where she refers to Blake as Mr. Wit):

'... Mr. Wit's recollection was further jarred after we repeatedly witnessed Ms. Gaskell's brother Zach mysteriously pacing in front of our Venice California home. Then there were the many cars with Iowa license plates following us around Los Angeles at the time. (We took photos of these, naturally.) Mr. Wit during this time also suddenly remembered that busy Cownie often travelled to South Dakota to attend some of the Midwest's more unsavory biker rallies. But I guess being friends with ex-con bikers and Vegas mobsters doesn't necessarily point to somebody who would, like, hire thugs to harass, threaten or--wow--maybe even kill people.

'Much of the harassment of me and Mr. Wit was also conducted by the Church Of Scientology in L. A., who Cownie also no doubt also "does business with." U.S. Intelligence "black ops" and "psy ops" have long relied on (or just outright invented) religious cults (including the Manson Family--Charles Manson received 150 hours of in-prison Scientology "auditing"), biker gangs, and the like in Federal Counterintelligence prorgrams in order to disrupt the counterculture since the 1960s....'

[And so on.]

I hope no movie studio decides it's a great romantic story, Shakespearean and ripe for the screen.

It's just sad.

Their friend Glenn O'Brien wrote the final post on Duncan's blog.

"I keep thinking that somewhere Theresa has thought up a perfect witty response to all of this but, alas, it is finally too late. Her Internet diary, The Wit of the Staircase, was named for "esprit d'escalier," for "the witty response you think up after the conversation or argument is ended...The answer you cannot make, the pattern you cannot complete till afterwards it suddenly comes to you when it's too late." The spirit of the Spirit was that it's never too late. But now it is. It's over when it's over...

"All I do know, the hard way, is that the artists and writers who come up with extraordinary answers are often deeply and terribly haunted by the questions that prompt them, and you can never second guess what it is to be haunted by ideas, by angels or demons or history or visions, by reality or imagination. Maybe I'll think up a better response later. We live by our wits. Right now the only thing I can think of is to thank Theresa and Jeremy for their work, their friendship and goodwill and to hope that somehow, somewhere the answers come to them and the pattern is complete and that for such beautiful dreamers it isn't too late. Their dreams are still in this world...."

--

Paul Goldberger in The New Yorker reviews the Times' new newsroom:

'Many of the reporters I spoke to didn't think much of their new digs. Journalists, of course, love to grouse, but they also don't like to be regimented, and just about every single workspace here is identical. In a nice, democratic gesture, most of the building's perimeter has been left open, bringing in lots of natural light, and the private offices for editors all have glass walls facing into the newsroom. One member of the editorial board, who gave up a large, enclosed office in the old building for one of these small fishbowls, growled to me, "There's no place I can change into a tuxedo." Undermining the egalitarian topography, Bill Keller, the executive editor, has rigged up a screen of frosted glass inside his office so that he can't be seen from the newsroom when he sits at his desk.'

--

I ran across a quote from Richard Feynman at the end of James Gleick's biography ("Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman") and it would have been useful for my story on Doubt that ran on July 1 in Outlook:

"You see, one thing is, I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I'm not absolutely sure of anything and there are many things I don't know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask why we're here..."

--

Cheney discusses doubt, last night on Larry King:

CHENEY: ... if you looked simply at public opinion, for example, a lot of the key decisions in our history would never have been pursued or followed through on. Washington never would have carried through for seven years of the Revolution. Abraham Lincoln would never have stayed with it in order to win the Civil War. We would have been two separate nations by then. You can look at major moments in our history and be thankful that we had leaders and Presidents who made decisions, stuck with them and saw them through to the end.

KING: But in all cases they did question themselves. In all cases they said, well, let's look at it this way. Don't you? I mean, the question is don't you ever say maybe I'm wrong?

CHENEY: No, I think what we do is we look at it in terms of trying to decide what's the right thing to do, and weigh the evidence. And there's a lot of debate and discussion...

KING: In retrospect you would still go into Iraq?

CHENEY: Yes, sir... I firmly believe, Larry, that the decisions we've made with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan have been absolutely the sound ones in terms of the overall strategy.

KING: Although there were mistakes.

CHENEY: Oh, sure. Yes, there are always things in war that happen that nobody anticipated; surprises, things that don't go exactly as planned. That's the nature of warfare. But that doesn't mean the strategy isn't the correct strategy, that the objective isn't the right objective.

--

Senator Obama is giving a major address at this very moment on what he'd do about Iraq, Afghanistan, and terrorism. Excerpt (thanks to Federal Document Clearing House):

In ending the war, we must act with more wisdom than we started it. That's why my plan would maintain sufficient forces in the region to target all Al Qaida within Iraq.

But we must recognize that Al Qaida is not the primary source of violence in Iraq and has little support, not from Shia and Kurds who are Al Qaida targets or Sunni tribes hostile to foreigners.

On the contrary, Al Qaida's appeal within Iraq is enhanced by our troop presence. Ending the war will help isolate Al Qaida and give Iraqis the incentive and opportunity to take them out. It will also allow us to direct badly needed resources to Afghanistan.

Our troops have fought valiantly there, but Iraq has deprived them of the support that they need and deserve. As a result, parts of Afghanistan are falling into the hands of the Taliban and a mix of terrorism, drugs and corruption threatens to overwhelm the country.

As president, I will deploy at least two additional brigades to Afghanistan to reinforce our counterterrorism operations and support NATO's efforts against the Taliban.

[Question that pops into mind: Who has a plan that maximizes our control of events on the ground, and offers at least a general theory of how and when the war might end?]


Rambus CEO's Wife Used Online Alias to Criticize Former GC

The board of embattled Rambus Inc. recently hired Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom to investigate the wife of CEO Harold Hughes. Nancy Hughes spent much of the past year posting messages under an alias on an online message board for Rambus investors, defending her husband and the company and criticizing others, including the company's former GC, John Danforth. The board's investigation uncovered no wrongdoing on the part of Harold Hughes, Rambus spokeswoman Linda Ashmore said.


Case Steering Probe Catches 11th Attorney

A personal injury lawyer who pleaded guilty Wednesday became the 11th attorney to be ensnared by an investigation ongoing since 1999 into the steering of negligence cases. David Sheeger pleaded guilty to filing a false instrument in a case where Manhattan prosecutors claimed he had paid $500 each for 67 cases brought to him by a "runner" who bribed hospital employees to identify potential clients. Altogether, the 11 lawyers have agreed to pay more than $1.5 million in forfeiture, restitution or fines.


Federal Judge Tosses Mercury Securities Suit

Time to throw another lawsuit on the pile of dismissed civil claims stemming from alleged stock option backdating by former executives at Mercury Interactive. The latest ruling came Monday, when Judge Jeremy Fogel dismissed with leave to amend a securities class action against former managers and the company, now owned by Hewlett-Packard, as overly broad. SEC charges of helping a scheme to backdate options and improperly account for them remain against former general counsel Susan Skaer.


Commentary: Every Pay Raise Has Its Price

During the past month, large Texas law firms have engaged in a salary war that started with Vinson & Elkins raising first-year associate pay to the New York rate of $160,000. But at what price, asks Mark Donald? These young lawyers will bill around 2,000 hours a year -- minimum. And with the dreaded billable hour comes disillusionment. Add to that the fact that the average career life expectancy of an associate at a big firm is three years -- before a law firm even starts to make money off the attorney.


EDD Hits $2B in Socha-Gelbmann Survey

Results from the fifth annual Socha-Gelbmann EDD Survey Report show blistering growth with no end in sight, predicting a $4 billion market by 2009. George Socha & Thomas Gelbmann analyze key trends and rank the vendors.


GC Without a Bar License Defends His Status

As reported recently by , Horace "Hod" Nalle, GC for animal pharmaceutical company Merial, is not an active member of a state bar association. Merial and the State Bar of Georgia aren't complaining, but legal ethics professors and the national professional association for corporate counsel sound troubled by the situation. Nalle spoke with about his status. "It is my desire, if it is judged that there is a story here, that it be balanced," he said.


Indictment of Dead Lawyer's Aide Adds More Turmoil to Fight Over Former Firm's Finances

Since Miami attorney William Huggett's death three years ago, his widow has been fighting his former staff for taking her husband's cases to a newly formed firm and charging her $739,000 for bonuses and vacation pay. Now, a federal grand jury has indicted Sara San Martin, Huggett's former office manager and bookkeeper, for allegedly writing fraudulent checks on Huggett's accounts to pay off her mortgage and a truck loan. San Martin was charged with bank fraud and faces a possible sentence of 30 years.


Missing Lawyer Admits Embezzlement in Confessional Letter

In a letter dated one day after Jonathan Hoyt was last seen in his Connecticut law office, Hoyt admits embezzling funds from clients and offers his son, attorney Christopher Hoyt, advice on how to "wrap up" the Hoyt Law Group. Hoyt was respected enough in his field that he gave seminars on topics such as international taxation and limited liability corporations. But he had his troubles -- divorce, foreclosure and bankruptcy. The letter also makes reference to an illness, which appears to be depression.


Firm Founder's Shower Fall Leads to Significant Jurisdiction Ruling at 3rd Circuit

When Cozen O'Connor's Patrick J. O'Connor injured his shoulder while on vacation in Barbados by falling in a shower after receiving a massage, he probably had no idea that his lawsuit against the resort would result in a ruling that clarifies the 3rd Circuit's test for personal jurisdiction. The circuit found the hotel's contacts with Pennsylvania, including a mailed brochure and phone calls to finalize spa treatment reservations, were "sufficiently related" to the claim to establish personal jurisdiction.


Senator-Lawyer Did Not Wield Undue Influence as Jury Foreman, Judge Finds

A New Jersey jury that handed up an $860,000 verdict in a supermarket slip-and-fall case last year was not unduly influenced by one of its members -- a state senator who is also a lawyer -- the trial judge says. Turning down a defense motion to overturn the award, the judge ruled that Robert Martin, the panel's foreman, had not been the sage he portrayed himself to be in an article he wrote about his experience. The article caught the eye of defense lawyers, adding fodder to a pending appeal.


DLA Piper Opens in Munich

DLA Piper has continued its international expansion, opening up its fourth office in Germany. The firm opened a Munich office Wednesday that will initially focus on the technology, media and commercial practice of partner Thomas Jansen, who will serve as the head of the new office. Germany has become a hot spot for U.S. law firms interested in the growing private equity and mergers and acquisitions market in the country.


Student Who Wrote Violent Story Loses Appeal at 11th Circuit

Citing school shootings from Columbine to Virginia Tech, the 11th Circuit has ruled against a Georgia student suspended in 2003 after a teacher saw a story the student had written in which the narrator dreams of shooting her math teacher. Lawyers for Rachel Boim argued the discipline was a violation of her First Amendment rights, emphasizing that Boim had told school officials the story was a work of fiction. But the panel ruled that the school's response was within its power.