"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are.  I don't believe in circumstances.  The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.” – G.B. Shaw

 

Top Picks

Ice melting across globe at accelerating rate, NASA says
“Between 1.5 trillion and 2 trillion tons of ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska has melted at an accelerating rate since 2003, according to NASA scientists, in the latest signs of what they say is global warming.

This image shows the changing rate of mass in mountain glaciers on the Gulf of Alaska.  Using new satellite technology that measures changes in mass in mountain glaciers and ice sheets, NASA geophysicist Scott Luthcke concluded that the losses amounted to enough water to fill the Chesapeake Bay 21 times.”
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/12/16/melting.ice/index.html

 

Corporate America still green-lighting green IT
“Companies are bringing in fewer greenbacks these days, but that has yet to slow their plans on green IT initiatives, according to a Forrester Research report released Tuesday.  In a survey of over 1,000 global companies, taken in October when the markets were in a deep spiral, the survey found that greener policies and practices for IT organizations actually were on the rise.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10124127-54.html

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance

Madoff Gives Sad Twist to Holiday Depression: Jane Bryant Quinn
“Why do people wind up with the Bernie Madoffs of this world? Because they’ve neglected one of Ronald Reagan’s favorite sayings, ‘Trust, but verify.’  When it comes to Wall Street, I’m not even sure about the ‘trust’ part, but ‘verify’ is where wisdom begins.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601212&sid=audjsBOROA3w&refer=home

 

SEC investigating 'multiple failures' in Madoff fraud case
“The federal Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday that allegations against Bernard Madoff and his securities firm had ‘repeatedly’ been brought to the attention of SEC staff as early as 1999 but were not recommended to the commission for action.”
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/16/sec.madoff.investigation/index.html

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

Wanted: A long-term data center strategy
“Forty-two percent of the several hundred IT users at the session operate three or more data centers in North America, according to an instant poll conducted by Gartner. Forty-five percent are expanding or planning to expand data centers in the next two years, while 43% are consolidating or planning to consolidate in the next two years. (Twelve percent didn't know their companies' plans).”
http://www.itworld.com/server-and-data-center/59330/wanted-long-term-data-center-strategy

 

Economic trouble driving green IT initiatives
“Economic recession is causing many companies to ramp up the speed of green IT initiatives, while a much smaller number of companies have decided to slow down their green activities.  The lion's share of more than 1,000 companies surveyed by Forrester Research are not making any changes to their green programs. Among those who will, however, the number of companies accelerating green IT is twice as high as the number slowing down.”
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/121708-economy-driving-green-technology.html

 

Security and Risk Management

The seven deadly sins of network security
“…companies that suffer a major network breach have frequently failed on a more fundamental level. Here are the deadly network security sins experts say are rampant in the corporate world. Avoid these sins and you will have taken a critical step toward a secure network.”
http://www.itworld.com/security/59322/seven-deadly-sins-network-security

 

Hacking The Hill
The article is an interesting review of a security incident on October 26, 2006, followed by additional discussions of hackers and congressional systems.
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20081219_7148.php

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

The Planet Gets Cooler in '08. What Happened to Global Warming?
“The 2008 climatological report: party cloudy. Or partly sunny — it depends on your point of view, which underscores why it can be so easy to misunderstand the mechanism of climate change. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Tuesday released its weather analysis for the year and found that 2008 has been the coolest year since the turn of the century.”
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1866862,00.html

 

Climate change: 2008 is world's 10th hottest year
“The year 2008 is set to be the 10th warmest on record for the globe, with a temperature 0.31°C above average.  And Australia is on track for its 15th warmest year on record, with a temperature 0.37°C above average, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.”
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24813289-601,00.html

 

Global News / Business / Economics

China After 30 Years of Reform
“Every society changes, but China's changes faster. The startling transformation that began 30 years ago this month with the accession of Deng Xiaoping has been one of the world's great stories.”
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/12/16/china-economic-reform-oped-cx_gc_1216chang.html

 

As U.S. companies cut spending, factories in China go bankrupt
“This year more than 100,000 Chinese companies are shutting down, raising unemployment by several million, Borich said.  Economic troubles are hurting trade on both sides.”
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008543890_chinaeconomy21.html

 

US News / Business / Economics

GE Gets Climate Change. Do You?
“Controls on the emission of greenhouse gases will affect the price of energy and the products, services and sectors that rely on that energy. In other words, it will affect virtually all sectors of the economy to varying degrees. Some will be disadvantaged, but others will be advantaged.”
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10454323/1/hoffman-ge-gets-climate-change-do-you.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEFI

 

Second RGGI Auction Nets $106.5M
“More than 31.5 million carbon permits were sold in the second auction of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Wednesday, raising some $106.5 million for energy efficiency programs in the 10 state region.”
http://www.climatebiz.com/news/2008/12/19/second-rggi-auction-raises-1065m

 

Treasuries Fall Amid Automaker Rescue, Concern Rally Overdone
“Treasuries fell, with most securities losing for the first time in seven days, as General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC received $13.4 billion in short- term loans and investors bet that government debt’s gains of more than four percent this month were exaggerated.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aB5fJZA15O.8&refer=news

 

Technology & Science

Plastics Information Company Goes Green With Natural Cooling, Wind Power
“The new server room uses ambient air from the outside to cool theircomputer servers, reducing air conditioner use by about 70 percent. Thesystem also uses warm air generated by the servers to heat the rest of thebuilding during the winter months.”
http://www.ibtimes.com/prnews/20081216/plastics-information-company-goes-green-with-natural-cooling-wind-power.htm

 

IBM Wants to Heat Homes with Data Center Waste Heat
“IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory is attempting to counteract data centers' wastefulness by reusing their waste heat.  The lab's own data center is cooling its servers with water that is used to heat a swimming pool in the area. The data center is cooled with a novel water pump system that absorbs heat from the computers. Excess heat is sold to the center's neighbors.”
http://www.greenercomputing.com/blog/2008/12/19/heat-homes-data-center-heat

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  For more information, check out our website at www.pepperweed.com or call 888-229-0145. Please let us know if you see stories you think should be included in the next issue of The News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

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