Income Details of Italians Posted Online

The concept of privacy in Italy has taken a battering. On the internet, the income details of all tax paying Italians were posted:

“There has been outrage in Italy after the outgoing government published every Italian’s declared earnings and tax contributions on the internet.

The tax authority’s website was inundated by people curious to know how much their neighbours, celebrities or sports stars were making.”

link: Italy posts income details on web

The exposure of such detailed information is unprecedented - and so is the anger of the Italian citizen who consider tax records to be personal confidential information.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/

[tag]income, privacy, security, Italy, internet, taxes, data breach[/tag]

Wizards Win Game and Trash Talk

Last night was Game 5 in the first round series between the Washington Wizards and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was a close game but the Wizards won to extend the series:

“CLEVELAND—Caron Butler saved Washington’s season. Butler made a layup with 3.9 seconds left and the Wizards held their breath as LeBron James missed a potential series-ending layup at the horn, giving Washington an 88-87 victory Wednesday night and adding at least one more game to this overheated NBA playoff series.”

link: Butler’s late basket helps Wizards win Game 5 in Cleveland

And with the win for the Wizards, comparisons between LeBron James and Michael Jordan should stop. The Wizards / Cavaliers series has been characterized by exception hard fouls and trash talk. For example, the Wizards’ DeShawn Stevenson has called LeBron James “overrated”.

Would that have ever happened to Michael Jordan? And if it did happen, do you think that that team would come back and put a loss on a Jordan team? - Never. Never. Never.

Catherine

Wizards Win Game and Trash Talk

Last night was Game 5 in the first round series between the Washington Wizards and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was a close game but the Wizards won to extend the series:

“CLEVELAND—Caron Butler saved Washington’s season. Butler made a layup with 3.9 seconds left and the Wizards held their breath as LeBron James missed a potential series-ending layup at the horn, giving Washington an 88-87 victory Wednesday night and adding at least one more game to this overheated NBA playoff series.”

link: Butler’s late basket helps Wizards win Game 5 in Cleveland

And with the win for the Wizards, comparisons between LeBron James and Michael Jordan should stop. The Wizards / Cavaliers series has been characterized by exception hard fouls and trash talk. For example, the Wizards’ DeShawn Stevenson has called LeBron James “overrated”.

Would that have ever happened to Michael Jordan? And if it did happen, do you think that that team would come back and put a loss on a Jordan team? - Never. Never. Never.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/

[tag]nba, washington wizards, cleveland cavaliers, caron butler, lebron james, deshawn stevenson, michael jordan[/tag]

A Small USB External Hard Drive

Western Digital has introduced a line of small USB external hard drives. It is the My Passport Elite which is available with a 320 GB or 250 GB capacity. The reviews have been generally positive:

link: My Passport Elite

link: WD Expands Its Portable Storage Family

With the wonderful help of Mike at Complete Computer Technologies (CCTech - USA), I have found that buying just the external housing gives me greater flexibility. I can select the size of the 2.5 hard drive that I need and buy the drive when it is on sale. Having the housing, I can use various hard drives interchangeably in that one enclosure.

The 2.5 hard drive enclosures are indeed small - and not overly expensive. They are easy to transport in terms of size and weight. One would fit into a shirt pocket, for example. The one drawback that some may find with the 2.5 hard drive enclosure system is that it requires two USB ports. The mechanism draws power from the USB port and does not require a power brick. At least that applies to the enclosure that I have. Therefore, there is a need to take this into consideration if the USB outlets are limited.

I have found that the USB enclosure does not draw too much power from a laptop battery. Of course, variables would be the quality and performance of the battery. I have found that constant use of the USB enclosure with my present laptop battery (which is in only ‘fair to good’ condition) decreases battery life about five minutes for each hour of power capacity. That, to me, is a small sacrifice.

I have found that my 2.5 USB enclosure is ideal for carrying data with me. It is a cost effective way of having huge data storage. Since Mike from Complete Computer Technologies has encouraged me to try this system, I have had very little use for the jump drives and SDHC flash cards that I had been using. This small USB enclosure provides far more tools for my immediate use. (Thanks, Mike!)

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/

[tag]western digital, usb, storage, 2.5 hard drive, complete computer technology, size, weight, cost, my passport elite[/tag]

Microsoft Beats Encryption for Law Enforcement

Encryption used to be synonymous with data security. Microsoft has put an end to that notion. In an effort to assist law enforcement, Microsoft has developed a methodology to break encryption:

“Microsoft’s Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor, or COFEE, is thumb drive-based tool set to assist in the decryption of data that law enforcement officials suspect is involved in a crime. Microsoft says COFEE does not constitute a back door to its BitLocker encryption, but privacy advocates worry that what can be used can also be abused — especially if it’s all on a tiny, easily-lost thumb drive.”

link: Microsoft Hands Cops a Crowbar for BitLocker

There is an obvious concern for privacy advocates that this effectively removes a tool for safeguarding data. A secondary and perhaps greater concern is that now hackers know that there is a means to circumvent encryption, beyond the previous methodologies. The Microsoft methodology works and is good enough for law enforcement. How soon will this be marketed and sold within the hacker community?

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/

[tag]microsoft, encryption, privacy, security, law enforcement, hackers, bitlocker[/tag]