BP’s apparent stupidity may hurt thousands of claimants

BP loses laptop with unencrypted personal data for 13,000 oil spill claimants
[Via Boing Boing]

Oil giant BP reports that an employee lost a laptop containing personal data for 13,000 people seeking compensation for the 2010 Gulf oil spill. The data included SSNs, phone numbers, and other identifying info; it wasn’t encrypted, and the circumstances in which the device was lost aren’t clear. BBC, CNN, AP.

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Thus, all the personal information  - SSN, phone numbers, addresses – for so many people that could be used  for identity theft was left unencrypted on a laptop. Sure makes it a lot less likely that anyone in the future will ever file a claim for BP.

My conspiracy sense wonders if this was done on purpose?

Acer hit the innovator’s dilemma and failed. Not so for Apple

by digitpedia

Disruptive failure: How Acer Took Aim at Dell and HP and missed
[Via asymco]

Two years ago:

With new netbooks, laptops, desktops, and, yes, a smartphone, Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci explains why he expects to soon overtake No. 2 PC maker Dell

via Acer Boss Lanci Takes Aim at Dell and HP – BusinessWeek.

Today Acer CEO and President Gianfranco Lanci resigned with immediate effect. Acer is in trouble. You can read more on Acer’s current problems in the wake of the downward revision of its sales targets for two quarters here: Acer Should Overhaul Its Operation: Stan Shih | CENS.com – The Taiwan Economic News

In a nutshell, whereas Acer under Lanci took aim at Dell and HP, it seems that Apple took aim at Acer. And whereas Lanci missed, Apple’s aim was true.

What is interesting here is that Acer had a very disruptive approach. They used the low end “netbook” concept to take share from incumbents motivated to move up-market.

[More]

The Innovator’s Dilemma examines real disruptive technologies. They almost always enter the market at the low end. As time goes on, the disruptive company begins to move up market, allowing a new disruption to occur.

Acer thought that its netbooks would be such a disruption. By repackaging components to create a cheap, light weight, mostly usable laptop. It was disruptive at the low end and a lot of people took notice.

But it was really hampered by operating systems that did not take advantage of some of the compromises the netbook required. IN many ways, the Macbook Air is Apple’s take on the netbook. Disruptive. Not on price but on weight and power. And it included an operating system that made the light laptop s powerful as people needed.

By doing this, Apple made sure that the netbook would never be able to move up market and never be able to gain the profit margins that could make netbooks anything but commodities.

Then Apple did the real disruptive thing – it did not simply repackage components into a slightly different version of what was already out there. It completely altered the entire system.

The iPad will be seen as a demarcation line, just as the original Apple II was.There will be machines before that line and machines after but twice now Apple has set the line in the sand that will be remembered historically – first with the idea that computers could be personal and usable; second that the shape of our computers can be molded to fit our needs, not that our needs have to be molded to the computer shape.

I expect in 5 years we will interacting with our computers in ways not even imagined today. And it will be because of Apple, not Acer.

If anyone knows about anti-trust laws, it’d be Microsoft

by Saucy Salad

Microsoft tries whacking Google with European antitrust stick
[Via Ars Technica]

The legality of Google’s business practices in Europe have drawn increased criticism over the last year or so, and now things are about to get really interesting. Microsoft—an antitrust veteran, if there ever was one—has filed a formal complaint with the European Commission against Google, accusing the search giant of favoring itself when growing its search, advertising, and content tools. Microsoft says these behaviors reflect Google’s anticompetitive attitude, and the company should find ways to innovate without violating Europe’s competition laws.

[More]

MS continues to find ways to enhance Bing without really doing anything innovative with the service itself. Or so it seems.

Some companies buy other companies. Apple buys people

LaLa CEO Bill Nguyen: Apple acquired us “for the people”

[Via Edible Apple]

In December 2009, Apple purchased LaLa, a young startup company that let users purchase, download, and stream songs for as little as $0.10 a song. The LaLa acquisition naturally led to speculation that Apple was planning on using LaLa’s streaming expertise to set up a cloud-based version of iTunes where users would be able to stream their content down to any number of iOS devices.

Late last Summer, though, reports surfaced that former LaLa employees weren’t even working on music related initiatives but rather an undisclosed video feature. Still, Apple had reportedly told Lala executives that they’d be involved in formulating Apple’s music strategy for iTunes at some point down the road. Indeed, a current LinkedIn search reveals that at least 10 former LaLa employees are still working for Apple.

But one LaLa executive who didn’t stick around too long was former LaLa CEO Bill Nguyen who’s Color app for the iPhone generated an impressive amount of press this past weekend.

Nguyen recently sat down with Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky where he discussed the Apple acquisition and more.

When asked what became of LaLa, Nguyen answered:

“You know, I think Steve was pretty explicit. He got us for the people, and the vast vast majority of my friends are still at Apple and they’re building amazing things and I think people will be impressed by the work that they do.”

[More]

Everyone expects that when a corporation buys another company, it is to get the technology. So when Apple bought LaLa, everyone expected it was to stream music.

But it seems that Apple wanted the people to work on projects of its own. It’ll be interesting to see if they come up with anything.

Good people are more important than good ideas. Something an Apple cousin organization knows.

Rapid reduction in Bisphenol-A body levels by using fresh foods

Eating Fresh Foods May Cut Exposure to BPA
[Via WebMD]

Families who gave up canned foods and food and beverages prepared and packaged using plastic containers saw their levels of a hormone-disrupting chemical fall by 66%, a new study shows. All it took was three days of eating only freshly prepared, organic foods.The chemical bisphenol A (BPA) is found in many kinds of plastic food packaging, such as some water bottles, food storage containers, and sealing wrap. It is also used to line the inside of food cans.

[More]

The first seminar of the Sustainable Path Foundation, where I’m a Board member, in 2004 had Dr. Pete Myers discussing BP-A. I stopped using polycarbonate bottles then and there. Now, seven years on and we are still hearing about the health effects.

While this was a small study – 20 people – the speed with which the levels of PB-A dropped is wonderful to hear. It would mean some real changes in lifestyle – no more coffee machines with plastic parts.

But removing endocrine disrupters from our food supply may have huge effects on human health.

DIY Photography Light Tent [Photography]

DIY Photography Light Tent [Photography]: “

Build yourself a cheap and easy-to-assemble photography tent with a box, fabric, a white bristol board, lights, and standard office supplies (tape, glue, and a ruler). Cut out the walls of the box, leaving the borders and bottom of the box intact. Affix an unbent piece of bristol board to the box. Cover the remaining holes with fabric. The Digital Photography School blog explains how to create this cheap light tent in detail with photo illustrations so that you don’t miss any steps on the way. Once you’re finished, you’ll need to light up the box, and with the end result, you’ll be able to make some professional-looking photographs of smallish objects to showcase to the world. The best part? Nobody will know that you took the photographs in a cheap box.

How to Make an Inexpensive Light Tent [Digital Photography School]

(Via Lifehacker.)

This will be useful for Margit also.

The water is just fine in the baby pool for tablet makers

by Spigoo

7-in. tablet makers find some success bypassing competition with Apple’s iPad
[Via AppleInsider]

Rather than mimic the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen, tablet makers have apparently found more success with the smaller 7-inch screen size — a form factor where Apple has indicated it has no plans to compete.

[More]

They would rather work in the very competitive arena of small tablets for cut-rate prices – few will make any profits here. That is more exciting to them than competing head to head with the Apple iPad. Commodity prices in a small market.

If they do somehow make the small tablet any sort of threat, Apple could come out with one – it is known that they have experimented with that size factor – and it would most likely lead that market as well. These competitors have no real strategy and are just flinging pasta at the wall to see what sticks.

Some of it will stick but it won’t be because of any coordinated strategy, such as Apple’s. So they will not be ready for Apple’s next thing.

Into limbo and out again. A sad tale with a happy ending – donate to WordPress.

Donate to WordPress Foundation. I am.

At midnight last night, this site was deactivated  by WordPress for supposedly violating the terms of service. They had a link to report a possible error but nothing from there to indicate a real human was listening. It was midnight. I hoped that they had people there 24/7 but, knowing the constraints of a free site, was not sure just how long it might take to get a real human to look at what had happened.

I had not violated any of theTOS – no spamming site, no ads, etc. – and figured it was an automated process here. But if anyone tried to access the site, it said it was closed due to service violations. I have been writing this blog for almost 10 years and was worried about the end of it here. I had not really realized just how important it has become to me. So I was worried – although they still allowed me to get all the data and export the site if I wanted to. {So they are actually bending over backwards to deal with the really bad sites. They simply prevent outside access but do nothing to prevent the content from being moved somewhere else. One of the signs that they do things right.)

But worried still. I love WordPress and did not want to be forced to leave due to an automated mistake.

Because once  you enter the maw of many automated systems, it can sometimes be hard to extricate oneself. I sent an error message as soon as I lost the site. I waited patiently for an hour and sent another.  In this day,we sometimes expect instant gratification but again, I know the constraints and while i hoped there might be someone to answer my plea, I expected there would not until the morning.

After a fitful night – I got up a few times to check for any emails – I sent another request at 8 am. At 8:15 am, Ryan M sent me a nice email explaining that a link from an article I referenced caused their anti-spam software to trip. It was not my fault and they re-booted the site. I’ve asked for some clarification of what to look out for to avoid this in the future (and got a reply within minutes).

So, the upshot is that WordPress actually did a great job here. I was a little fearful of having to wait for contact but now that I know that there are real people there – unless Ryan is some sort of Turing machine – who will fix things without a great hassle. WordPress is a wonderful site. It is free but I am going to donate some money to their foundation to support this great site. You should too.

Sustainable Chemistry

Sustainability through Chemistry [Via Only in it for the gold]

An interesting compendium of problems and solutions is in a slick 30 page pamphlet put out by the British Royal Society of Chemistry entitled “A Sustainable Global Society: How can Materials Chemistry Help?“, h/t Phil Randall via Twitter. The Foreword concludes with an interesting exhortation, oddly straddling nationalism and globalism:

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We do not often think that chemistry will be a part of a sustainable world but this pamphlet at least demonstrates that some scientists are thinking about this arena. It is nice to read something like this:

 

With the aid of materials chemistry, we can create a world in which our energy requirements are delivered sustainably, where usable energy can be produced, stored and then supplied wherever it is needed.We can minimise and remove pollutants from our environment as we create new consumer products which place less of a burden upon our natural resources. While the challenges in each geographical and political arena may vary, it is important that national thinking not be limited to the challenges of that country alone.

 

Perhaps they may even be correct. We shall have to watch this carefully

Arctic ice extent tied for lowest winter area ever measured

by NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Annual maximum ice extent reached [Via NSIDC Arctic News and Analysis RSS Feed]

Arctic sea ice extent appeared to reach its maximum extent for the year on March 7, marking the beginning of the melt season. This year’s maximum tied for the lowest in the satellite record. NSIDC will release a detailed analysis of the 2010 to 2011 winter sea ice conditions during the second week of April.[More]

It is tied with 2006. So the 2011 melt season will start from one of the lowest levels of ice ever seen. Should make for an interesting year.

Conspiracy abounds but is easily debunked for those who care

Thanks, Internet! Conspiracy theorists (and skeptics) thrive online
[Via Ars Technica]

It was July of 2009. The economy was on the edge of collapse, with 467,000 jobs lost the previous month. The unemployment rate was 9.5 percent. But for thousands of Americans, the real crisis was a dark secret that the government was supposedly hiding: President Obama wasn’t born in the United States.

“Will you keep the Republic, or will you allow it to be stolen from us because of apathy?” asked one “birther” brochure. “Demand that Barak [sp] Obama prove he is a Natural Born American. The burden is on him to prove, but the burden is on you to demand the proof.”

[More]

For conspiracy theories to survive they must resort to fact-bending practices. They cherry pick data, they take quotes out of context, they only link to other conspiracy sites, they just lie. They do not respond with a rational argument in a fact-based discussion.

The same tools used by denialists. Because in both cases, they KNOW the answer and so must mold facts to fit their  ’truth’. Science is able to change based on new facts. Conspiracy theories not at all.

The water is just fine in the baby pool for tablet makers

by Spigoo

7-in. tablet makers find some success bypassing competition with Apple’s iPad
[Via AppleInsider]

Rather than mimic the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen, tablet makers have apparently found more success with the smaller 7-inch screen size — a form factor where Apple has indicated it has no plans to compete.

[More]

They would rather work in the very competitive arena of small tablets for cut-rate prices – few will make any profits here. That is more exciting to them than competing head to head with the Apple iPad. Commodity prices in a small market.

If they do somehow make the small tablet any sort of threat, Apple could come out with one – it is known that they have experimented with that size factor – and it would most likely lead that market as well. These competitors have no real strategy and are just flinging pasta at the wall to see what sticks.

Some of it will stick but it won’t be because of any coordinated strategy, such as Apple’s. So they will not be ready for Apple’s next thing.

The US Chamber of Commerce – not only a tool of foreign groups but a possible felon

Richard Clarke says U.S. Chamber committed a felony by cyber-targeting political opponents
[Via Climate Progress]

Earlier this month, Richard Clarke, who served for both Democratic and Republican Presidents, including a stint as the cyber security czar for the Bush administration, denounced the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for plotting with a group of military contractors to hack into progressive groups.

Clarke was in DC speaking at a cyber security conference hosted by Symantec. Although Clarke focused his remarks about the growing threat of global cyber terrorism, ThinkProgress spoke to the longtime public servant about the ChamberLeaks story we originally broke.

According to documents first reported by ThinkProgress, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce began working with three military contractors — Berico, HB Gary, and Palantir — to come up with a proposal to discredit groups like ThinkProgress, the SEIU, StopTheChamber.com, MoveOn.org, and others. The tactics proposed included spying on families, using malware computer viruses to steal private information, using fake documents to embarrass liberals, and creating fake identities to infiltrate their targets.

Clarke denounced the scandal in no uncertain terms. Noting accurately that the Chamber “took foreign money in the last election,” a story also uncovered by ThinkProgress, Clarke said the Chamber had conspired to commit a “felony”:

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But will anyone ever really investigate this?

As Clarke said:

if any American citizen anywhere in the world engages in unauthorized penetration, or identity theft, accessing a number through identity theft purposes, that’s a felony and if the Chamber of Commerce wants to try that, that’s fine with me because the FBI will be on their doorstep in a matter of hours.

It’ll be interesting to see if anything more ever comes out about this. What we know so far certainly indicates that the US Chamber of Commerce may have been engaged in a conspiracy.

“He’s got ‘em on a list; And they’ll none of ‘em be missed”

Why Federally-Funded Academics Should Seriously Consider Blogging Pseudonymously
[Via Mike the Mad Biologist]

A few weeks ago, Glenn Greenwald gave a speech where he discussed the climate of government intimidation in the U.S.:

I received a lot of comments from people via email, from people in person telling me at my attended events, from people in my comment section, American citizens who said the following: “I understand and agree with the idea that Wikileaks has a lot of potential to do good, but I’m actually afraid of donating money, because I’m afraid that I’m going to end up on some kind of a list somewhere; or that eventually I will be charged with aiding and abetting, or giving material support to a terrorist group.”

This was not one or two people who tended toward the pole of paranoia saying these things. These were very rational people, and there were a lot of them. Some long-term readers whom I knew to be quite sober in their thinking. The fear that they were expressing was somewhat pervasive. That, to me, was extraordinarily striking: that these were American citizens who were afraid to donate money to a group whose political aims they supported; who had never been charged with, let alone convicted of any crime who felt like they were going to end up on some kind of government list, or possibly be charged with aiding and abetting or giving material support to terrorism.

In light of that, comes this chilling tale of targeting University of Wisconsin professor William Cronon who publicly opposed Republican governor Scott Walker:

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Many people are afraid and intimidated because they are afraid of being put on a list. It has happened before in America – where your life could be turned upside down because of what you signed 20 years earlier.

Do we want to live in a country where your political opinion can determine your livelihood? We have in the past. Seems some people want to return to those times.

People like real art, even if it is stupid looking abstract art

A child couldn’t paint that – can people tell abstract art from a child’s or chimp’s work?
[Via Not Exactly Rocket Science]

If you wander through New York’s Museum of Modern Art, you’ll eventually come across Painting Number 2 by Franz Kline, a set of thick, unruly black lines on a white canvas. Elsewhere, you will find one of Mark Rothko’s many untitled works, consisting of various coloured rectangles. And in front of both paintings, you will inevitably find visitors saying, “A child could paint that.”

To which Angelina Hawley-Dolan and Ellen Winner replied: “Could they?”

The duo wanted to test the assertion that abstract expressionist art is devoid of talent – that it could be done by a mere child, or even an animal. With keyboards and enough time, monkeys could surely duplicate Shakespeare, but with a paintbrush and a few hours, could a monkey produce a Rothko?

To find out, Hawley-Dolan and Winner asked 32 art students and 40 psychology students to compare pairs of paintings. One piece of each pair was the work of a recognised artist, such as Kline, Rothko, Cy Twombly, Gillian Ayre, and more. The other came from the oeuvre of lesser-known painters, including preschool children, elephants, chimps, gorillas and monkeys. The paintings were …

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Interesting work. Even non-art people liked the professional art than the amateur. There may be a reason that particular childish looking art made it into an art gallery – because people like it. Professionals that made unpleasing art, like many amateurs might, would not end up in a gallery.

What this shows is that the abstract art that gets selected for museums, etc. actually does have qualities that lots of people like. Those artists knew something.