IT Management
Business Week, 4/13/04: Hiring Techies Is as Tricky as Ever
Although job seekers are everywhere, the top talent is still hard to come by, making creative recruitment a necessity
During the 1990s dot-com boom, hiring tech talent was as painful as getting your gums scraped. Things got so out of hand that English majors acquired the hubris of investment bankers, demanding signing bonuses, six-figure salaries, and stock options.
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No matter where or how a company staffs up, execs say their new hires must share attributes that were too often overlooked in the pre-Enron world: Integrity is key. And given the ultracompetitive business environment, financial acumen has never been more valuable. Today's techies "need to be really knowledgeable about processes and best practices," says Sue Unger, chief information officer of DaimlerChrysler (DCX ). "It's a much different role."
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Security
Business Week, 4/13/04: Info Security "from the Ground Up"
With more threats and stricter laws, being "reactive" isn't enough. Now companies are building safety directly into their systems
As the CEO of information-security outfit Entrust (ENTU ) in Dallas, Bill Conner regularly preaches the virtues of protecting critical pieces of corporate infrastructure by using digital certificates and digital signatures. So about a year ago, he decided to do a security checkup on his own company. After all, it would be a little embarrassing for a leader of the cybersecurity business to have his pocket picked. And, Conner figured, he might learn some lessons that could help his customers.
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AMR Research, 4/14/04: Department of Homeland Security to CEOs: Take Responsibility for Cybersecurity
The Corporate Governance Task Force of the National Cyber Security Partnership, which comprises individuals from government agencies, academia, and the private sector (primarily executives from companies that sell security technology), recommends that CEOs take responsibility for their company’s cybersecurity. This is similar to the responsibility they take for financial reporting as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA).
The Bottom Line: If CEOs don’t voluntarily take responsibility for their company’s cybersecurity, they will be forced by government legislation to do so.
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Otherwise
The New York Times, 4/16/04: Movie Review: The Punisher
Only This Hero's Rage Is Superhuman
By A. O. SCOTT
The Punisher, a Marvel Comics crime fighter introduced in 1974, is unusual among superheroes (especially Marvel colleagues like Spiderman, the Hulk and the X-Men) for his lack of super powers. His grim, brutal crusade against sundry wrongdoers is enabled not by spider sense or superhuman strength, but by guns, military training and righteous fury.
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The New York Times, 4/16/04: Movie Review: Kill Bill, Vol. 2
Vengeance Still Mine, Saith the Lethal Bride
By ELVIS MITCHELL
When a writer-director — Cameron Crowe or Paul Thomas Anderson, for example — is in love with his characters, the fun comes when the filmmaker lets them gab away, inadvertently revealing themselves. The joy when Quentin Tarantino's creations speak is the opposite. Despite their hilariously florid rapping, his folks are also incredibly cagey: they never give the entire game away. This shrewdness is the template for the long dialogues in "Kill Bill Vol. 2," the most voluptuous comic-book movie ever made.
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