May all of you have a happy holiday season with your families!!

 

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"Blessed are the children for they shall inherit the national debt.” – Literally the saying in my Chinese fortune cookie obtained on 12/10/06

 

The Picks of the Day

SEC Extends 404 Deadline for Small Biz

“The regulator officially announces a five-month extension for management's assessment of internal controls, and grants even more time for the audit attestation requirement.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/8443415/c_8443671?f=alerts

http://www.infoworld.nl/idgns/bericht.phtml?id=002570DE00740E180025724600015BEA

 

FedEx hub traffics in holiday chaos

“FedEx Express is the air-cargo division of FedEx Corp., which expects its busiest day of the year Monday — with a record of 9.8 million packages moving through its express and ground networks.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16230038/

 

An Ominous Milestone: 100 Million Data Leaks

“Rapid-fire announcements this week by U.C.L.A. (800,000 records) and Aetna (130,000) moved the total to the threshold, when Boeing revealed yesterday that a laptop recently stolen from an employee’s car contained names, Social Security numbers and other data on 382,000 current and former employees of the aerospace giant — bringing the total to a grim 100,152,801 records (as of this post).”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/technology/18link.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1166453778-ZxIak/Zr2CLvhDs+mLqjtg

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/17/business/link.php

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

Webinar:  The Role of Security in IT Service Management

When:  Tuesday, 12/19/2006 at 2pm Eastern and then available on-demand several days later

Scarcely a day goes by without some news story regarding a security breach.  In the world of ITSM, security plays a key role and must be properly factored into the design and delivery of services. Attend this webcast and learn:

- How to view security in the world of ITSM

- Why security plays an important role in Service Delivery and Service Support

- Important issues to consider

- Where there are resources to learn more

http://cp.jupiterweb.com/index.php/3016_default/f6b43f7439c13d42ce47c70c7d2f2215

 

Lean view of Deming's 14 Points for Management

“There has been a really great discussion thread on the Lean Development YahooGroup on the subject of " How do I find bottlenecks? "  I particularly liked a reply by Alan Shalloway that linked things back to W. Edwards Deming's 14 points for management from his Theory/System of Profound Knowledge.”

http://www.cmcrossroads.com/content/view/7367/230/

 

Deming's 14 points

“The 14 points are a basis for transformation of [American] industry. Adoption and action on the 14 points are a signal that management intend to stay in business and aim to protect investors and jobs. Such a system formed the basis for lessons for top management in Japan in 1950 and in subsequent years”

http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/dstools/process/Deming.html

 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Trouble Ahead for the SEC's 404 Plan

“The SEC's proposed guidance aimed at making compliance with Sarbox 404 ‘scalable’ hasn't even been posted on the commission's website yet. But on the face of details revealed at yesterday's SEC meeting, at least two technical minefields loom before it.”

http://www.cfo.com/blogs/index.cfm/l_detail/8435074?f=alerts

 

Apple, Dell Delay Filings

“Two of the world's best-known technology companies are delaying the filing of their latest financial reports because of problems with options backdating.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/8443002/c_8443671?f=alerts

 

Self Discipline, Not Regulation, Needed for Ethical Business

“No set of regulations, of course, is going to prevent some businesses from behaving badly In spite of these myriad regulations and requirements, corporate scandals continue to make headlines.”

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/CarrieLukas/2006/12/18/self_discipline,_not_regulation,_needed_for_ethical_business

 

Security and Risk Management

Are Background Checks Necessary For IT Workers? Ask UBS PaineWebber

UBS failed to do a background check when it hired Roger Duronio as a full-time systems administrator, so it never discovered his criminal record. Duronio will be sentenced next week for crashing UBS's systems and causing millions in damages.

http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196602415

 

Ex-UBS Systems Admin Sentenced To 97 Months In Jail

Roger Duronio was found guilty of computer sabotage and securities fraud for writing, planting, and disseminating malicious code that took down up to 2,000 servers.

http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196603888 

 

Prosecutor To IT Insider Criminals: 'You Will Get Caught'

He also says hiring managers need to be more careful about who they're putting in critical IT positions.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196604138&subSection=

 

High-rise security is 'balancing act'

“Electronic ID cards, surveillance cameras and metal detectors are fixtures in high-rise office buildings, but experts say with thousands whizzing through the revolving doors each day, it's impossible to guarantee workers' safety.”

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-12-18-hi-rise-security_x.htm?csp=34

 

Human Error / Safety

Giant jet sets off fuel tank concerns

“Federal accident investigators and safety advocates say they are worried that the Airbus A380 double-decker jet will be exempt from new U.S. rules designed to prevent fuel tank explosions like the one that downed TWA Flight 800 in 1996.”

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2006-12-12-airbus-safety_x.htm

[Note how Airbus responds with fuel tank explosions not happening to them before and their extensive testing.  There isn’t a direct response as to how the risk has been mitigated, but then again this a newspaper article and there is apt to be more to what Airbus has actually done than what is covered in the article.]

 

Significant Vulnerability in Flu Strains Found

“Researchers at Rice University in Texas have found a common Achilles heel among many strains of influenza that could render the virus virtually harmless, unable to replicate itself and spread.”

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/12/16/205711.php

 

States' plans for flu outbreak vary widely

“The Associated Press took a closer look at those preparations and found wide differences in how far along states are — and little consensus on the best policies, even among neighboring states, on such basic issues as who decides whether to close schools.  Almost half the states have not spent any of their own money yet to gird against a super-flu, relying instead on federal grants.”

http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/state/all-a1_fludec17,0,7919844.story?track=rss

 

Take steps to thwart Rx errors

“Human error – whether it stems from overworked and exhausted medical interns or other causes – is a leading source of medical errors that kill as many as 98,000 Americans a year, according to the Institute of Medicine. The problem is particularly acute in hospitals.”

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/living/16260900.htm?source=rss&channel=journalgazette_living

[Care Delivery Organizations should take note of this piece as it contains advice to consumers and hence your customers.]

 

Outsourcing / Globalization / International

Call centers contribute $1 billion to economy

“The BSP is completing its survey on the sunrise industry, which includes medical and legal transcription firms, call centers and other BPO firms. This project is in line with the government’s attempt to capture the economic benefits from this sector, as well as its impact on the country’s balance of payments position.”

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=59751

 

Indian PM says economy facing five hurdles

“The Indian economy faces five key hurdles to double-digit growth, including an ailing rural economy and inadequate public services, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was quoted as saying.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061218/wl_sthasia_afp/indiapoliticseconomygrowthsingh_061218065247

 

Japan and China pledge energy dialogue

“Japan and China have agreed to hold annual ministerial-level talks on energy as they seek to repair relations strained by territorial disputes over oil and gas fields, a senior Japanese official said Sunday.”

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/17/business/summit.php

 

Blessed by a U.S. Official, China Will Buy 4 Nuclear Reactors

“China will buy four Westinghouse nuclear reactors in a deal that shows the continued attractiveness of American technology, but may also stir worries in Washington that the United States is selling its competitive advantage one industry at a time.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/business/worldbusiness/17cnd-nuclear.html

 

Outsourcing: Beyond Bangalore

“Companies are increasingly sending IT work to hubs outside India. They're saving money but facing a whole new raft of challenges”

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2006/tc20061207_164472.htm?campaign_id=rss_tech

 

Economics / Business / Misc.

HP wrestles IBM for top spot

“HP has claimed it will be the world's largest IT company by the end of this year, surpassing IBM on revenue.  The switch in positions depends on IBM - HP's financial year ended on October 31, and it announced revenues of $91.7bn. IBM's financial year doesn't finish until the end of December; analysts suggest it could report less than $90bn.”

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/17/hp_number_one/

 

Goodbye TV, Hello Broadband

“It was the ultimate challenge for any lifelong TV watcher. Wired News asked me to cut the coax cable snaking into my HD-ready television, and for 30 days rely solely on legally available internet content to satisfy the video entertainment needs of my family of five.  We posed the question: Is the internet finally ready to kill old-school television?”

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72303-0.html?tw=rss.technology

 

Do You Need More Megapixels?

“So what matters more than megapixels? Consider lens and sensor quality, and the ability of the camera's chip to render photos with accurate detail and color. You'll want to determine this quality and ability by examining the shots with your own eyes.”

http://www.wired.com/news/wiredmag/0,72314-0.html?tw=rss.index

 

End Notes

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George Spafford Principal Consultant Pepperweed Consulting, LLC® Office:  269-556-9597 Mobile:  269-208-1832 FAX:  208-978-6295 George.Spafford@...

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