information technology

A Screen Lock Today Keeps the Bad Guys Away

William Mathews — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:36:07 -0500

I had the wonderful chance to visit a new doctor today (not that my old
doctor was much better about this) and had the chance to be left alone,
with her computer, for about 10 minutes, unlocked. For those that know
me know this is not a good scenario. For those that work with me at Hurricane Labs they know this tale all too well.

Internal Searching with Open Source Software

William Mathews — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:26:07 -0400

The challenge was to find an Open Source Search engine to use internally that was comparable to Google’s Search Appliance. This sounded easy enough but wow was I wrong. There seems to be a few projects that focus on giving you the tools to build your own search engine but very few completed search engines. I wasn’t terribly interested in building my own so using Lucene was kind of out of the question (until I got desperate).

75th World Library and Information Congress

Clay Dillow — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 01:00:40 -0400

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions is very quietly holding its 75th international conference in Milan, tackling pressing issues in the field as well as celebrating the library’s role as the base for all human knowledge and the keeper of cultures old and new. Themed “Libraries create futures: building on cultural heritage,” the convention runs through the 27.

August 23
75th World Library and Information Congress
Milan

TV "Interview" Scams

William Mathews — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:12:56 -0400

The other day we were contacted by a TV show called *I'll not say their name here* about taking part in a story about emerging trends in information security management. It sounded legitimate enough so we set up a confernce call with a "producer" to figure out if we were a good fit for the story. Conference call day came and we basically did what I would consider a normal pre-interview. Lots of questions about our qualifications and background plus what we thought about the story's intended subject matter. Everything went well so we moved on the second part of the call.

High Design, for a House of God

Cliff Kuang — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:27:11 -0400

Will it Ever Be the Same? May 14th M&A Conference explores the future of finance and tech

Ryan Blakely — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:06:43 -0400

The 7th annual “Growth and Exit Strategies” conference is starting to look interesting. With the markets settling, it will be interesting to hear how the industry leaders see things developing.

The Atlantic Century: Benchmarking EU & U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness

Robert Atkinson — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:47:57 -0400

Five countries—Singapore, Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark, and South Korea—outperform the United States in international competitiveness and innovation, according to The Atlantic Century: Benchmarking EU & U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness released on February 24th by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and the European-American Business Council (EABC).

Why Your Doctor Will Ditch Bad Handwriting, Use a PC

Kit Eaton — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:03:35 -0500

Medical doctors get lumbered with the traditional "bad handwriting joke" for a reason--I haven't yet met one that writes legibly. But these scribbles are no joke: Doctors' bad handwriting may be the source of up to 7,000 deaths in the US each year. That's why President Obama's economic recovery package is expected to contain around $20 billion for computerized medical notes.

It’s the Digital Economy, Stupid

Robert Atkinson — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:29:52 -0500

While a variety of reasons exist for why President Clinton defeated President Bush, Sr.

Amar Bhidé's Book on Venturesome Consumption Gets It Half Right

Robert Atkinson — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:06:37 -0500

This October, Columbia Business School Professor Amar Bhidé published a new book called The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World. Bhidé’s core thesis is that technologies developed overseas (even if they mean a loss of domestic jobs) can enhance American prosperity. This argument is based on his view that there is a general misunderstanding of how innovation contributes to economic growth, specifically that too much attention is paid to upst

2008 State New Economy Index Released by ITIF and the Kauffman Foundation

Robert Atkinson — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:51:55 -0500

Five states—Massachusetts, Washington, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey—are leading the United States’ transformation into a global, entrepreneurial and knowledge- and innovation-based New Economy, according to The 2008 State New Economy Index, released this week by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).

Digital Quality of Life

Robert Atkinson — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:31:48 -0500

(guest blogged by Daniel Castro)

Welcome to Washington Watch - A New Fast Company Blog on Innovation and IT Policy

Robert Atkinson — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:41:27 -0400

Shipping product costs money, generating angst is free

Kris Bliesner — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:26:42 -0400

I was reminded again today why Microsoft as a company frustrates so many of its own customers and why standing up and being accountable for your actions is key. Disclaimer (I used to work for Microsoft). Disclaimer 2 (I'm a current volume license customer of Microsoft) so I'm horribly conflicted.

Pay per volume pricing scams

Kris Bliesner — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:03:57 -0400

A good deal of what we have to pay for to run our company's infrastructure is based on volume. We pay for the volume or capacity of internet bandwidth we have. We pay for the number of physical phone lines we have coming into our building. We pay rates on all the credit card transactions we do based on volume.

What Your CEO Wants

Jackie Bassett — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:30:45 -0400

After three years of hosting an Annual "For CEOs By CEOs" event the overwhelming request from these CEOs was "More often and More Cities, please!"

Why? Because no one is asking the CEO what he/she wants!

Salesreps from product companies either fear calling on the CEOs (thus blunder through any attempts) or just say "We don't sell to CEOs'.

Then there is a myriad of "experts" happy to tell the CEO what he/she wants. Let me assure you, that's exactly what your CEO does NOT want!

Why Open Source will always lose

Kris Bliesner — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:53:34 -0500

I always like to kick off a new blog with a provocative post. I believe Open Source will always lose. To prove my theory I point you to the below diagram of linux distributions from 1991-2007. What percentage of the PC market do you think each distribution could dream to achieve in the products short lifespan?

Minority Report II

Kris Bliesner — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:40:21 -0500