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A place to share stuff that isn't at all fintec related but is amusing, absurd or scary.
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The New York Times reports that the FBI is investigating an extortion threat involving the personal and medical information of up to 50 million people. The actual extent of the breach is unknown however the extortionist has provided sample data including names, DOB, social security numbers and prescription information. The target of the letter thr...
07 November 2008
A little follow up on knob-twiddling on those Treasurers machines. In countries where there are multiple levels of government, such as federal and state, we have the unfortunate scenario of too many Treasurers. Now those State Treasurers only have a TAX dial to turn. Seeing they've all spent up big in the boom and now are all going broke, they a...
The Linux thing always gets my motor running - I especially like it running for free. Linux is evolving into a great platform and the odds are probably stacked towards some flavour of Linux being a dominant O/S of the future. No matter how sexy a brand of software may be, if the population have a limited wallet, there is a limit to what you can ge...
06 November 2008
Cloud computing is the new name for the old idea of shared computer resources. I once ran a system which was by day a bank and by night a global manufacturer's JIT hub. Sharing computer resources is not new. In the race to reign in operational costs sharing provides obvious economies of scale. Hosted processes, servers, grid computing and cloud ...
05 November 2008
Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra
Gallup opinion poll data from September shows clearly the impact of the financial crisis on the wavering fortunes of presidential candidates McCain and Obama. Have a look at the chart below. Obama first drew level with McCain on 15 Sepember, the day the news broke about the bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers. As the crisis rumbled on, McCain fail...
In a historic election Barack Obama heads to the Whitehouse. Perhaps America and the whole world are the real winners. He has a lot of hopes riding on him, however I believe he'll rise to the challenges. Congratulations President Obama.
Matt White North America editor at Finextra
The FT reports the launch of a new Mastercard credit card in oil and mineral rich Kazakhstan. Big deal, you may say, but this is no ordinary piece of plastic - it's inlaid with a 0.02 carat diamond and laced with gold. To be issued by Kazkommertsbank, the card has a $1000 annual fee and $50,000 credit limit. Predictably, the FT points out the inco...
03 November 2008 /retail
I have no doubt that mobile authentication might be a better approach than the dongle full of passwords you're supposed to leave in the office. While it's handy to have a USB stick to carry data around, it might prove easier to secure that data with mobile authentication and have it never leave a secure IT domain. The first thing that occurred to ...
03 November 2008 /security
I have to say that ING Direct appears to been listening to the customer on the call centre issue. In a letter to account holders the CEO offers thanks to customers for their confidence in turbulent times. I like that. ING CEO Eric Drok then reminds customers that their deposits are guaranteed by the government (in OZ and I assume the parent by the...
The Chinese have been negotiating with Microsoft to lower the price of their software in an effort to reduce piracy. Microsoft has adopted an approach in China where pirated software or at least versions which are not authenticated, will either go 'black screen' or issue continuous warnings to the user. Chinese bloggers are reflecting the outrage ...
02 November 2008
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