Hurricanes Are at a Loss to Stop the Penguins – New York Times
May 24, 2009
Hurricanes Are at a Loss to Stop the Penguins – New York Times Hurricanes Are at a Loss to Stop the Penguins
Globe and Mail
New York Times
By AP Evgeni Malkin had two goals and one assist Saturday night and the Pittsburgh Penguins pushed the host Carolina Hurricanes to the brink of elimination in the Eastern Conference finals with a 6-2 victory.
Inside Hockey: Pens withstand 'Canes
Malkin, Crosby have Pens rolling
New credit card law's impact on consumers open for debate – LubbockOnline.com New credit card law's impact on consumers open for debate
BBC News
LubbockOnline.com
By Joshua Hull | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL President Barack Obama's fight to keep credit card companies from taking advantage of consumers was signed into law Friday, but the bill may have unintended consequences that has Lubbock's Republican congressman …
Credit changes on the horizon
Credit-card reform was a long time coming
China Reports Student Toll for Quake – New York Times
May 12, 2009
China Reports Student Toll for Quake – New York Times China Reports Student Toll for Quake
BBC News
New York Times
By ANDREW JACOBS and EDWARD WONG BEIJING – After a year of obfuscation, the authorities on Thursday released the first official tally of student deaths from the earthquake last May, saying that 5335 children either were dead or remained missing.
Last Year's Devastating China Earthquake Leaves Behind City of Rubble
No blame in China school collapse
Loss, Mourning and Hope Amid the Rubble – Wall Street Journal Loss, Mourning and Hope Amid the Rubble
Straits Times
Wall Street Journal
By MEI FONG When I set off to cover the Sichuan earthquake last May, I did not know my life and the lives of the families of quake victims would acquire a strange symmetry: of lost hopes, and the struggle to find a space to mourn.
Video: Rebuilding lives in China quake zone – 12 May 2009
Senators Cut Deal On Credit Card Bill – Washington Post Senators Cut Deal On Credit Card Bill
Voice of America
Washington Post
By Nancy Trejos The top senators on the Senate Banking Committee have reached a compromise on a bill that would protect consumers from abusive credit card industry practices, increasing the likelihood that the Senate will pass it as early as this week.
Bill would help trim credit card rates
The Real Problem with Credit Cards: The Cardholders
Leaked Celeb Nude Photos – ABC News Leaked Celeb Nude Photos
Los Angeles Times
ABC News
The drama surrounding Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean never seems to end. The Miss California contestant first came under fire for speaking out against gay marriage while answering a question during the Miss USA pageant.
Video: Miss California Keeping Title, For Now
Obama Resists Democrats' Push for Interrogation Probes – FOXNews
April 23, 2009
Obama Resists Democrats' Push for Interrogation Probes – FOXNews Obama Resists Democrats' Push for Interrogation Probes
MiamiHerald.com
FOXNews
President Obama resisted pressure from Democrats to investigate Bush-era interrogation techniques while dismissing former Vice President Dick Cheney's call for the release of more internal memos that he says will show the benefits of the tactics used …
US Democrats split on Bush-era interrogation probe
The politics of 'torture' heating up in Washington
Will Obama credit plan mean fewer cardholders? – Christian Science Monitor Will Obama credit plan mean fewer cardholders?
ABC News
Christian Science Monitor
By Laurent Belsie | 04.23.09 President Obama's push to correct the abuses of the credit-card industry will have one inevitable effect: Fewer people will carry plastic.
Video: Obama Pledges Protections for Credit-card Users
Cow's DNA Sequence Reveals Mankind's Influence Over Last 10000 Years – Washington Post Cow's DNA Sequence Reveals Mankind's Influence Over Last 10000 Years
BBC News
Washington Post
By David Brown The genomes of man and dog have been joined in the scientific barnyard by the genome of the cow, an animal that walked beside them on the march to modern civilization.
Cow genome 'to transform farming'
In the Genes of a Hereford, the Essence of Cow
Stocks fluctuate following mixed earnings reports; Apple, eBay drive tech, UPS falls short – Allentown Morning Call
April 23, 2009
Stocks fluctuate following mixed earnings reports; Apple, eBay drive tech, UPS falls short – Allentown Morning Call
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are fluctuating in early trading as several stronger-than-expected earnings reports raise hopes that the economy is stabilizing. Several companies are offering investors nuggets of optimism. Profits at Apple Inc. and eBay Inc. are boosting expectations for technology
Santana to receive lifetime achievement award – Boston Globe
CORAL GABLES, Fla.— Carlos Santana will receive a lifetime achievement award at the 2009 Billboard Latin Music Awards. The awards ceremony will be held Thursday night at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Fla. Other special award winners include Spirit of Hope recipient Daddy Yankee and Hall
Vitamins may have killed 21 polo horses – San Jose Mercury News
WELLINGTON, Fla. — Championship polo matches are scheduled to resume in Florida four days after 21 prized horses from a Venezuelan-owned team mysteriously died. The team leader said a vitamin supplement not approved for use in the U.S. may be to blame. The International Polo Club Palm Beach plans
Obama to prod credit card firms on fee practices – Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will weigh in on Thursday on the lending practices of U.S. credit card companies, an issue that has triggered an outcry from consumers hit with high fees and interest rates. Obama has joined a push by lawmakers to rein in credit card practices that his
EPA executes warrant at dog treat plant – Kansas City Star
April 18, 2009
EPA executes warrant at dog treat plant – Kansas City Star EPA executes warrant at dog treat plant
Ars Technica
Kansas City Star
The Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies executed a federal search warrant Thursday at one of the nation's largest suppliers of natural dog treats.
Video: EPA Takes On Climate Change
Music stores hope for sound future – BBC News Music stores hope for sound future
CBS News
BBC News
By Duncan Bartlett With the aid of a computer and a credit card, it is easy to buy almost any piece of music that has ever been released.
Local Indie Record Shops Alive And Well On Record Store Day
Record Store Day: How will you celebrate?
Living in a recessionSo, families with two incomes,
March 27, 2009
Living in a recession
So, families with two incomes, two cars, several cellphones and two mortgages – one on an investment property or bach – are going to find it tough this year in a recession if their income drops.
Well, they are not going to find it tough, they just have to live a little more simply. They may have to sell the investment property, they may have to reduce to one car – even share a cellphone. They may not be able to buy clothes when they feel like it. They may not be able to go away on overseas holidays and stay in top motels – they could holiday in New Zealand and say in a cabin. They may not be able to pay the debt on their credit card as fast as they would like with income they no longer have. They may not be able to spend $500 on their kids’ birthday parties. They may have to look at the specials in the supermarket. They may have to paint the house themselves rather than getting tradespeople.They may have to get out in the garden and grow veges on Saturday mornings instead of going to cafes for brunch. Especially if they are on one income.
Welcome to the real world, where people live within their means. As many of us have been doing all our lives. However for families that live like money grows on trees – and lose their income because both partners have lost their jobs , they are going to find it really tough adjusting to living within their means on a ReStart package – even before going on the dole.
All San Francisco news in one place – San Francisco Examiner
March 4, 2009
All San Francisco news in one place – San Francisco Examiner
With nearly 10,000 absentee votes counted — out of some 12,000 votes elections officials expect to be cast — Nguyen seems to have avoided losing her spot as the city’s first and only Vietnamese-American council member. Herhold: Nguyen survives recall mess, but she’s partly to blame for it Vote
No panic at Apple, just modest price cuts – Contra Costa Times
Consumers may be stashing away their credit cards during this deep recession, but Apple is not changing its game plan. It announced a slew of product updates to its desktop computer line Tuesday with only modest price cuts. The price reductions are in line with the Cupertino company’s usual cost
Obama to outline plan to cut wasteful spending – 630 WMAL
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is outlining a plan Wednesday to cut back on wasteful spending, saying it would save Americans tens of billions of dollars. Obama intended to explain how federal contracts waste taxpayer dollars and how his administration plans to curb that. The White House
Are you a wannabe entrepreneur?
November 27, 2008
Are you a wannabe entrepreneur?
There’s been a lot of talk recently about today’s shabby economy being the perfect environment to start a business, and even I’ve been chiming in. It sounds crazy, but if you’ve ever dreamed of becoming on entrepreneur, there’s no better time than now.
Amidst all the chatter, I came across this article from USA TODAY by Steve Strauss. It’s an old article, but the message remains the same.
As Strauss points out, unemployed and under-employed individuals have a tendency to become more entrepreneurial during recessionary times (along with lower costs for goods and services). And new businesses that begin during a recession create the jobs to help move the economy back on track.
Even more appealing in today’s times is the power of the Internet. The Web is changing the game. It enables people to take their ideas and start new businesses more easily than ever before.
Why?
- It offers powerful, versatile, and low-cost ways to connect people, companies, customers, prospects, and suppliers to one another in real time.
- It allows for secure transactions to take place between the above groups.
- You can sell products and services at low cost, without being limited by geography 24×7.
- You can broadcast video (the most powerful medium to promote your service) without a TV studio or government licenses to any PC or video-equipped mobile phone. (Today there are 3.5 billion phones, and soon most will be able to display video.)
- You can target and reach very specific audiences through search engine optimization, blogging, and other techniques at very low cost
Is that drool coming from your mouth? Then what are you waiting for? Get out there!
A developer’s thoughts on Iron Speed 6.0
Ironspeed Designer recently announced the upcoming release of the latest version of their .NET code generator product. As is their custom, a webinar was held this week to show the latest features and updates to their product prior to shipping.
Jim Dusoe, Alpha user and a BMSI Software developer, attended the webinar, and wanted to share his opinion of the new Ironspeed 6.0 with you. Instead of interpreting what he said in a very detailed letter to me, I’m just going to copy it, verbatim, here for you to review.
In my opinion, they are making some fundamental errors in the direction they have chosen to go, and will most likely continue to frustrate developers and lose customers.First, let me briefly tell you of my experience with Ironspeed. I have primarily been a Visual Foxpro, SQL Server and ASP developer for many years, making the decision to use MS products as my development platform. Over the years, like most developers, I have created foundation classes and certain methodologies to try to enable as much code reuse as possible. I have been successful with that for VFP, but knew that web-based apps were definitely the direction I needed to go.
Unfortunately, every attempt to try to move to other platforms (Visual Studio, VB and misc open source tools/other development environments) all meant a MUCH longer development cycle, even if I was to become proficient in a particular language.
After creating several web applications using both classic ASP and .NET approaches, I started looking for an alternative that would help to shorten the development life cycle.
Enter Ironspeed Designer. After reviewing several options, there were a limited number of companies that provided any substantial time savings in application development or that created a useable application.
ISD provided 80 to 90% of the typical CRUD (CReate Update Delete) functionality that often takes so much of a developer’s time. Their approach is to generate multiple SHOWTABLE, ADDRECORD, EDITRECORD, SHOWRECORD pages based on the database schema. In fact, this is fairly well implemented, but relies heavily on a properly designed database. I was successful in creating some reasonably sophisticated applications, with my goal being to try to avoid manual coding as much as possible.
Through this process I began to discover some of the shortcomings. Ironspeed makes no bones about the fact that they are a Code Generator and not an IDE. It has become apparent that they intend their product to be used with Visual Studio to create and maintain any significant application. One of the core problems for me was the lack of layout control.
With ISD, you are locked in to their styles, with no simple way to edit record rows or field controls without manually writing HTML code. Trying to bring it into Visual Studio was not viable as you could not generate any kind of WYSIWYG view of the final layout. Your only option is to manually hand code the HTML, recompile, launch the application, then view your page.
This obviously takes a good deal of time, and each compilation requires a full .NET recompile. Their approach means that you need to purchase not only Ironspeed, but if you intend to do any significant modifications, you will need Visual Studio as well.
Page Layouts ISDs approach is to provide fixed table and record layouts, with configuration options. Rather than provide control over the position and style of individual panels and controls, you must select from a list of preset page styles.ISDs ongoing addition of page types speaks rather strongly to the fact that the user base has been demanding more layout control. I think it is a fundamental error in direction to head where they are going. In fact, they rather casually dismissed the fact that you can no longer drag and drop controls (buttons, text, images, etc.)
but that you would have to manually enter code to insert ASPX controls.I can see no good reason for them taking this step backwards.
Features One of the things that strikes me is the features that were presented today are already incorporated into Alpha 5 V9.
- Live preview
- Configuration pane (in conjunction with live preview)
- Email page option
- New page types to address layout needs
Although they avoided a WYSIWYG display in the past, they have given into the need for a preview of the active pane, something the ISD community has been requesting for some time.
As I mentioned early on in our conversations, I have found that Alpha 5 provides an excellent balance of drag and drop, action script based development, xbasic code and HTML/CSS editing capabilities which allows you to go as deep as you need to for your application.
Ironspeed does NOT have:
- An IDE
- WYSIWYG layout
- Ability to create desktop application
- Inline styles
- Drag and Drop controls
- No quick HTML view (used to be in prior version for quick HTML fixes)
There are also little things that I question. Because ISD relies on .NET, compilation times impact the overall efficiency of development. The live preview pane seemed a bit sluggish. And this was connected to a local Northwind sample database. I am not sure that the performance against a hosted database is going to be acceptable.
I’ve found that working with Alpha 5 has been quite acceptable in the performance arena when it comes to the development process. The work I’ve done to date has been connected to remote SQL servers, and the performance has been fine.
The live preview panes work well for the most part. Any idiosyncrasies have been resolved by a restart, and to date I’ve not lost any changes I was working on.
I think something that is going to be VERY significant is the work Selwyn is doing with the AJAX development, especially the grid component. Where Ironspeed needs to create multiple pages, which means multiple round trips to the server for various functions, I can do all my add, edit, delete functions in a single form/grid with no full screen refresh access to controls/functions all managed by the security framework.
This is going to have a HUGE impact on how I create web apps.
Applications BMSI Software has created with Ironspeed include:
- Vision Payment Solutions (Merchant Account Credit Card Sales Agent Portal)
- Hybrid SQL Server(SSIS, SSRS, TSQL, etc.), ASP, Ironspeed, Web and Visual Foxpro frontend
- 1.5 year project, approx. $160k
- Church Event Management front end (Provides dynamic content for events with
- start/dropoff date)
- Communication Timeline (simple task based project management)
- Document Management System (medical transcriptionists)
- Simple CMS (Content Management System . page content backend)
- Misc. small projects
I am looking forward to converting most of these to Alpha 5 in the coming months.
I trust this helps give some insight to what Ironspeed is doing Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts.
Write to me if you have any questions for Jim.
Alpha Software donates over $240,000 to TechSoup.org
October 31, 2008
Alpha Software donates over $240,000 to TechSoup.org
Last week I told you about our donation to TechSoup, and the free webinar we’re hosting with them next Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Well, the press release officially hit the wire today. Read on below for more information.
Alpha donated more than 600 copies of Alpha Five through TechSoup’s philanthropy service to help nonprofit organizations build desktop and AJAX web applications rapidly
BURLINGTON, Mass. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Alpha Software has directly supported the database needs of over 600 nonprofit organizations by its donation of over 600 copies of Alpha Five through TechSoup.org, amounting to more than $240,000. Organizations benefiting from this donation effort work for a range of causes, include cultural awareness, community service, juvenile delinquency prevention, community health planning, convict rehabilitation, low-income housing, and more.
These organizations now have access to an easy-to-use, world-class database so they can build custom applications to better and more effectively manage their agencies. This is further evidence of Alpha’s commitment to worthy causes. Alpha recently introduced a new discounted pricing model for schools and students that drastically reduced the cost of Alpha Five.
“We appreciate the men and women who toil to improve our communities and help those who need help most,” says Richard Rabins, Co-Chairman of Alpha Software. “TechSoup Stock is a great way for any company to share what we know and do best. In our case, that’s building better database tools. When I think about the fact that Alpha Five will be powering some truly socially responsible applications, it strengthens my sense that our technology is doing something meaningful in the world. I encourage all my colleagues throughout the information technology industry to seriously consider supporting TechSoup.”
To get these organizations up and running as quickly as possible, TechSoup is partnering with Alpha Software to offer a free webinar on building Web and desktop databases applications with Alpha Five on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Developers can sign up for the one-hour presentation by Alpha developers Chris Peters and Steve Workings by emailing marketing with the words “non profit” in the subject line.
TechSoup is powered by TechSoup Global one of the country’s oldest and largest nonprofit technology assistance agencies. The organization offers nonprofits in over 20 countries a one-stop resource for technology needs by providing free information, resources, and support. In addition to online information and resources, TechSoup Stock offers nonprofits donated and discounted technology products provided by corporate and nonprofit technology partners.
TechSoup Stock is open to all qualified 501c3 nonprofit organizations. For more information, please visit the TechSoup Stock eligibility section. Or for more information on Alpha Software or the company’s donation distribution, please contact Kate Ritchie at mailto:%20KateR@GregoryFCA.com.
ABOUT ALPHA SOFTWARE
Since 1982, Alpha Software has been providing developers with award-winning tools that make it easy to rapidly build robust database and business applications. Today over 1 million developers rely on Alpha Software’s flagship platform, Alpha Five, to build desktop, client-server, distributed, Web 2.0, and AJAX applications for organizations of any size—from SOHO to the Fortune 100. Every day, tens of millions of people and businesses rely on applications built in Alpha Five. With the introduction of Alpha Five Version 9 Platinum Edition in 2008, Alpha Software set new standards for speed of development, portability, reporting, and security for database applications of all stripes. The company is privately held, and based in Burlington, Mass. Alpha Software can be found on the Web at http://www.alphasoftware.com.
PRESS RESOURCES
Media contact
Kate Ritchie
610-642-8253, ext. 162
KateR@GregoryFCA.com
Alpha Five Platinum microsite
http://www.alphasoftware.com/alphafive/platinum/index.asp
Alpha Software blog
http://blog.alphasoftware.com/
Alpha Software home page
http://www.alphasoftware.com/
USER REFERENCES, IMAGES, AND PRESS EVALUATION COPIES AVAILABLE ON REQUEST.
Review copies available: PRESS & BLOGGERS ONLY
Security 101: When e-commerce sites make epic flubs
See this Computerworld article about how credit card thieves have been helped by “well designed” software? Jeez Louise.
The Department of Justice is charging 11 people with fraud in what is considered one of the largest and most organized credit card theft operations ever, targeted at BJ’s Wholesale Club, TJX, DSW Shoe Warehouse, OfficeMax, Barnes & Noble, Boston Market, Sports Authority, and Forever 21.
The process these thieves used was a “packet sniffer” on wireless networks, which let them see customer logins or intercept transactions when they broke into the companies’ wireless network. Once they were logged in with the right access, they could probably see everything, including any stored credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, etc.
Since many login process don’t use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), they’re easy targets, and the obvious weak link. Even with encrypted passwords, if the login isn’t across SSL, the password is sent as clear text on the login request! Trying to encrypt on the client side is worthless, since the code is exposed and easy to crack. It’s even easier to capture real-time transaction requests with sensitive data that are made outside of SSL.
Once the thieves had the information, they decrypted PINs, made new cards, and then got cash from ATMs. The Department of Justice says the thieves sold credit card data on Web sites that specialize in trading that information. Millions of dollars were lost. And they operated globally, using offshore banks and other methods to turn stolen data into cash.
The solutions here are obvious. Most advanced e-commerce sites complete all of their checkouts across SSL to block that avenue of attack, but few run all logins across SSL. Even if the system doesn’t store credit card numbers or other sensitive data, getting login information could expose other valuable data a thief could use.
From my standpoint, it’s hard to believe that this stupid stuff is still going on. We’re talking absolute Security 101 here. But, then again, after the Wall Street shenanigans, anything is possible in the Wide World of Dumb.
There’s no question that it’s time for some of these negligent IT people — and their CEOs — to do the perp walk. The only way to get their attention is by gently squeezing their cajones … for three to five years.
Security 101: When e-commerce sites make epic flubs
October 9, 2008
Security 101: When e-commerce sites make epic flubs
See this Computerworld article about how credit card thieves have been helped by “well designed” software? Jeez Louise.
The Department of Justice is charging 11 people with fraud in what is considered one of the largest and most organized credit card theft operations ever, targeted at BJ’s Wholesale Club, TJX, DSW Shoe Warehouse, OfficeMax, Barnes & Noble, Boston Market, Sports Authority, and Forever 21.
The process these thieves used was a “packet sniffer” on wireless networks, which let them see customer logins or intercept transactions when they broke into the companies’ wireless network. Once they were logged in with the right access, they could probably see everything, including any stored credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, etc.
Since many login process don’t use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), they’re easy targets, and the obvious weak link. Even with encrypted passwords, if the login isn’t across SSL, the password is sent as clear text on the login request! Trying to encrypt on the client side is worthless, since the code is exposed and easy to crack. It’s even easier to capture real-time transaction requests with sensitive data that are made outside of SSL.
Once the thieves had the information, they decrypted PINs, made new cards, and then got cash from ATMs. The Department of Justice says the thieves sold credit card data on Web sites that specialize in trading that information. Millions of dollars were lost. And they operated globally, using offshore banks and other methods to turn stolen data into cash.
The solutions here are obvious. Most advanced e-commerce sites complete all of their checkouts across SSL to block that avenue of attack, but few run all logins across SSL. Even if the system doesn’t store credit card numbers or other sensitive data, getting login information could expose other valuable data a thief could use.
From my standpoint, it’s hard to believe that this stupid stuff is still going on. We’re talking absolute Security 101 here. But, then again, after the Wall Street shenanigans, anything is possible in the Wide World of Dumb.
There’s no question that it’s time for some of these negligent IT people — and their CEOs — to do the perp walk. The only way to get their attention is by gently squeezing their cajones … for three to five years.
