Tuesday, October 18, 2005

D.C. Zoo Panda Cub Gets a Name: Tai Shan (AP). AP - The National Zoo's giant panda cub, known to its keepers simply as "the Cub" since his birth 100 days ago, finally has a name: Tai Shan, which means "peaceful mountain." [Yahoo! News: U.S. National] And he is cute too.  Or is that handsome?  11:18:33 AM    comment []

Are you at risk in a catastrophe?. Most companies aren't prepared for a regional disaster but free software from the National Institute of Standards and Technology can help companies do a better job anticipating the damage to their facilities from extreme events that occur infrequently, such as a natural disaster or terrorist attack. [Computerworld News] Interesting.  Everyone should take a look. 11:13:27 AM    comment []

Wilma strengthens into a hurricane, targets Florida (Reuters). Reuters - Wilma strengthened into a hurricane Tuesday morning with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. [Yahoo! News: Top Stories] OK, not so pretty.  Here we go again! 11:11:14 AM    comment []

Wilma set to become intense hurricane (Reuters). Reuters - Tropical Storm Wilma is likely to become a full-blown hurricane soon as it gathers strength in the Caribbean and aims at Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Cuba and south Florida, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Tuesday. [Yahoo! News: Top Stories] Pretty storm.  Close to a record.  10:56:31 AM    comment []

Inflation Soars on Surge in Energy Prices (AP). AP - Inflation at the wholesale level last month soared by the largest amount in more than 15 years, reflecting the surge in energy prices that occurred following the Gulf Coast hurricanes. [Yahoo! News: Top Stories] This should not come as a surprise to anyone.  The cost of fuel increases transportation costs, whether it is potatos or people, coffee or cola.  Add to that short supplies because of the hurricanes in the gulf in everything from oysters to truck crops along with meats and you have a deadly cycle starting.  Real wages are up only slightly over the same period and barely keeping pace while job creation is still way off in fields that pay more than minimum wage.  Electronics, especially those seen as frivolous (like big screen TVs) are not being purchased while credit card debt is increasing as people pay for core services like housing and food with them.  The slowdown will last long into next year unless there is some real turn around in major sectors of the economy and energy prices stabilize or decline slightly, something that is not likely to happen as we head into the winter months. 10:48:53 AM    comment []

Tighten Web Security, Banks Told. With phishing growing more sophisticated and online banking customers more vulnerable than ever to theft, the feds step in and order banks to devise better security measures. [Wired News] This will probably be the death knell for on-line banking as we know it.  Multi-factor authentication is not cheap to set up or maintain and how to distribute it to the users increases the complexity.  Most of what we have to day is easy and cheap - and that is also its major drawback.  It will be interesting to see how the banks comply and what affect it has on the on-line banking industry in general. 10:35:26 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2005 David Lane.