This is worrisome….

InformationWeek | Daily Archive

More than three-quarters of bank Web sites have design flaws that could expose bank customers to financial loss or identity theft, according to a University of Michigan study that will be presented this week at the Symposium on Usable Security and Privacy.

The study, “Analyzing Web Sites For User-Visible Security Design Flaws,” examined 214 bank Web sites in 2006. It was conducted by University of Michigan computer science professor Atul Prakash and doctoral students Laura Falk and Kevin Borders

Sometimes, maybe visiting blogs can still be a security risk?

PC Pro: News: Google Blogger “hosts 2% of world’s malware”

Google’s Blogger service is responsible for 2% of the world’s malware hosted on the web, according to a new report from security firm Sophos.

The security firm claims hackers are setting up pages on the free blogging service to host malicious code, or simply posting links to infected websites in other bloggers’ comments.

Here are scenes in the stock market that are becoming common — you beat your forecasts, you increase earnings by 31 percent, and then when you can’t increase it as much as they think you should, they pummel you.

The pain of becoming public is that even if you are the CEO, you hardly own or can dictate anything anymore….

Apple 3Q profit jumps 31 percent but stock drops: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Macintosh and iPod sales helped boost Apple Inc.’s fiscal third-quarter earnings 31 percent, beating Wall Street’s expectations Monday, but investors pummeled the stock after Apple issued soft guidance for the current quarter.

“Humility is like underwear — it is essential but indecent if it shows. ” _ Helen Nelson

“What’s the difference between a beautiful lady and a charming one? A beautiful lady is a woman you notice; a charming one is one who notices you.” — Adlai Stevenson

Here are the most sought after jobs, even when economic times are bad.

People who are good at what they do are still very much in demand.

one thing stood out — because of advances in technology, ironically, we need more nurses — simply because people live longer, and those with many terminal illnesses also survive longer….

Recession-Proof Jobs - Forbes.com

Jobfox examined its database of about 4,000 job postings from November 2007 through July 2008 to see which professions have the most openings monthly. The most recession-proof are those with the highest median monthly rankings over this time period.

Sales representatives top the list–and, unlike other professions, not because there’s a shortage. Rather, in tough economic times, a good sales force is a critical way to pull a company out of a downturn.

How can you do business in a country when you need Z$500 billion a day just to fulfill your basic needs?

You have to be at trillionaire just to survive!

It goes to say that the number 1 enemy for social stability and economic well being is keeping inflation in check…

BBC NEWS | Africa | Zimbabwe introduces Z$100bn note

Zimbabwe is to introduce a bank-note worth Z$100bn in response to rampant inflation - but the note will barely cover the cost of a loaf of bread.

Some Zimbabweans are already calling for higher denominations in a country where the official annual inflation rate has exceeded 2,200,000%.

The other day, we were in a session with our city mayor who recounted a folksy tale which was quite relevant (I’ve changed some details to make it more techie).

“John has always been uneasy…. He believed he has worked as long as Peter in the company, and worked even longer hours, but Peter was getting better pay.

At length, he went to see his manager, and asked for a raise.

While they were talking, a truck drove up in front of the office building, and the manager asked John to ask what they have onboard.

John came back and said it was a delivery of computer supplies from XYZ Trading.

The Manager asked John again to go back and ask what was being delivered.

John came back and said it was 100 pcs of HP ink cartridges, and 200 units of HP inkjet printers that the company has ordered.

The manager then asked John to check who ordered the stocks and for what reason.

John checked and came back that the inks was an order from customer ABC, and that the 200 units HP inkjet printers were for stocking.

As they were talking, Peter came in.

The manager then asked Peter to the delivery person to ask why there was a truck parked in front of their office building.

Peter came back and answered.

“The truck is from XYZ trading, and they are delivering to us 100 pcs of HP ink and 200 pcs HP inkjet printers. This was ordered by Maggie, and the ink was for delivery to ABC, which whose account started buying from us 3 month sago, and was handled by Matt. The inkjet printers were for stocking as there is a special promo which allows us to get it 5% cheaper if we can order 200 pcs, but there was no worries since at current run rates, that can easily be sold within 3 weeks. “

“And by the way”, Peter added,” while I was talking to the delivery guy, I noticed there was a lot of Lexmark printers in the truck, and he told me that was ordered by competitor B who have been selling it pretty well. I checked and noted that there was a new model of Lexmark just came out, and I believe we should start to order and promote it. I called the supplier, and he said he could give it to us at special x price which is a 3% discount if we can order 150 untis, which I think we can confidently sell in 2 weeks time.”

As John listened, he started to understood why Peter was earning more than him.

I liked the quotation of the State Street global Advisors - ” The Naked Eye sees Ten Good Investments. The Trained eye sees one.”

The article furher noted that there has been four left handed presidents since 1974… Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, George HW Bush, and Bill Clinton.

The following vice Presidents or presidential candidates were also left handers: al Gore, Bob Dole, John Edwards and Ross Perot.

It does seem that left handers are climbing the political ladders more considering that only 10-12% of Americans are left handed.

Harry Truman was also left handed.

Maybe people who use the right side of the brain more can visualize a problem, and can do better multi-tasking and creativity, they say.

Pablo Picasso and Benjamin Franklin were also left handers.

Next US president will be a lefty, whatever his party - Yahoo! News

Regardless of whether Americans elect the Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama president in November, the man who takes up residency in the White House will be a lefty — at least in terms of the hand he favors.

The difficult thing in life is to be successful by making sure you don’t take risks that end up in spectacular failures. I am not sure about yours, but I have foregone spectacular opportunities because I could not bear the downside.

Some people make it big, but the slightest misstep also means that you may fail without ever being able to recover…. and that is not what I think life is about.

Brian Hunter faces charges of market manipulation - Jul. 8, 2008

Hunter is an international man of mystery. We do know that he is young - he was a mere 32 when Amaranth collapsed. We know that he is rich. He made roughly $100 million in 2005, the year before his luck ran out. But we don’t know his view of events or even what he looks like, because Hunter hasn’t talked or allowed anyone to take his picture. He likes to greet reporters who show up looking for him and tell them that Brian Hunter isn’t there.