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PwC Offers Guidance on Changing Corruption Risks – PR Newswire – sacbee.com

November 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
  1. Do we know how anti-corruption initiatives in other jurisdictions could impact us?  Acting with integrity deserves to be a high priority for U.S. companies with an international presence. The likelihood of an investigation is much higher than even a few years ago. Tailoring policies to comply with U.S. law will no longer suffice. There is a lot of overlap, but jurisdictions nonetheless define aspects of corruption differently.
  2. Are we focused on the right risks in the right places? Instead of adding to layers of complexity, PwC asserts that it is possible – indeed advisable – to have a single global anti-corruption framework that accounts for corruption risks companies confront in different regions. Rules are not that drastically different under the various international frameworks. Moreover, regulators clearly seem to favour risk-based compliance programs, and also expect that companies do more where the risks of corruption are higher.
  3. Are our policies well understood by our employees? Employees should understand how the company defines corruption or bribery, and what constitutes an infraction. Those in high-risk areas like contracting should know how to report an occurrence, and importantly, feel comfortable that the company won’t retaliate. Yet employees should also know about the consequences, and that might mean publicizing reprimands.
  4. Are our policies well understood by the people we do business with?  All parties acting on behalf of the company should understand that they, as well as the company, are liable for their actions, and know who in the company is overseeing the initiative.
  5. Do we have the resources to do this task? Currently available technology can be used to make due diligence more uniform and efficient. While IT systems will send up red or green flags, IT will not be able to do this alone. Upgrading controls and staffing compliance costs money and isn’t an area to do more with less. What won’t serve companies well in this climate is a paper tiger.
  6. Do we need to change the way we treat facilitation payments or marketing costs? The US and UK treat these small payments differently. Perhaps in recognition of the dilemma this creates, guidance from the UK and the OECD set some importance on phasing out facilitation payments. For now, companies will want to be sure they’re accounting for them appropriately, and importantly, that they’ve clearly defined acceptable facilitation payments and marketing costs.
  7. What do sector-wide investigations mean for our company? Risks are greater for companies in the same industry in which probes are already under way. Companies in such sectors need to carefully assess their risk accordingly. It may change the dynamics involved with taking the initiative to report any violation that the company itself uncovers to authorities.
  8. What is our response to possible whistleblowers in our company? In PwC’s view, the 2010 Dodd-Frank reforms are very likely to inspire complaints and tips to the SEC. In response, some smarter companies are evaluating how to change their compliance programs to address how quickly they are able to respond to reports of violations and whether ‘no retaliation’ policies are effectively in place.

via PwC Offers Guidance on Changing Corruption Risks – PR Newswire – sacbee.com.

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Technolog – Chrome inching up to No. 2 browser

October 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Google’s Chrome Web browser continues to shine; it’s making its way up the list of top desktop browsers, according to Net Applications, which shows Chrome at 16.20 percent, compared to 8.76 percent a year ago around this time.

In contrast, Internet Explorer’s market share continues to decline, from 60.99 percent a year ago to 54.39 percent; and Firefox, which had 23.55 percent last year now has 22.48 percent of the desktop market share. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

via Technolog – Chrome inching up to No. 2 browser.

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Mozilla Previews Firefox For Tablets – Internet – Browsers – Informationweek

September 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Mozilla has begun showing off its concept for Firefox on tablets, a project that builds on the mobile version of Firefox, and known while in development as Fennec–a variety of desert fox.

Mozilla is sharing its UI concepts because, as an open community-driven organization, that’s the way it rolls.

Denied access to Apple’s iOS devices for the sin of relying on the Gecko browser engine rather than WebKit, Firefox for tablets won’t end up on the majority of the tablets in used the market today–Apple’s iPad.

Instead, it’s being imagined on Android 3.0+ tablets, at least those that make it past the International Trade Commission injunctions that Apple has been winning in its anti-Android patent cases.

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Users of Firefox for mobile will see signature visual elements like the oversize back button and curved tabs. They may also appreciate differences in the way that Firefox handles user interface (UI) elements on tablets, where the large screen size makes it possible to present information more efficiently.

via Mozilla Previews Firefox For Tablets – Internet – Browsers – Informationweek.

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IBM designs chips that mimic the human brain | TG Daily

August 18, 2011 By 1 Comment

IBM researchers have created experimental computer chips designed to experience the world and learn in the same way as the human brain.

And, they say, the chips could require a lower power consumption and take up less space than those on the market today. The first two prototypes have already been fabricated and are currently undergoing testing.

The ‘neurosynaptic’ chips imitate the spiking neurons and synapses of the brain through advanced algorithms and silicon circuitry. Cognitive computers based on the chips would learn through experience, find correlations, create hypotheses, and remember the outcomes, mimicking the brains structural and synaptic plasticity.

The development forms part of a DARPA-funded multi-year initiative called the Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) project.

The aim is to create a system that not only analyzes complex information from multiple sensory inputs at once, but also dynamically rewires itself as it interacts with its environment.

“This is a major initiative to move beyond the von Neumann paradigm that has been ruling computer architecture for more than half a century,” says Dharmendra Modha, project leader for IBM Research.

“Future applications of computing will increasingly demand functionality that is not efficiently delivered by the traditional architecture. These chips are another significant step in the evolution of computers from calculators to learning systems, signaling the beginning of a new generation of computers and their applications in business, science and government.”

via IBM designs chips that mimic the human brain | TG Daily.

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1/4 of smartphone users rely on their device for Internet access — Tech News and Analysis

July 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

For one quarter of smartphone users, their handset is the primary way they access the Internet, according to new data from the Pew  Internet & American Life Project. It’s a sign of the growing dependence on smartphones and also shows that for a sizable chunk of users, it’s out of necessity because they don’t have a home broadband connection.

Among smartphone users, 87 percent said they used the Internet or email on their device including 68 percent who say they do it on a daily basis. Twenty-five percent said that they go online primarily with their phones rather than on a computer. That’s in part because one-third of these respondents come from cell-only households that don’t have home computers. This is particularly true among smartphone owners under the age of 30, non-white smartphone users, and smartphone owners with relatively low income and education levels.

The Pew study also found that 35 percent of American adults have a smartphone with smartphone adoption strongest among richer households as well as with younger users. Almost six in ten (59 percent) smartphone users come from households with $75,000 or more in income while 58 percent of American cell phone owners between the ages of 25 and 34 own a smartphone and 48 percent of people ages 18-24 have a smartphone. Among African Americans and Latinos, 44 percent own a smartphone. Android was particularly popular among African Americans with 26 percent of all cell phone owners in this group using an Android device, far ahead of whites and Latinos. Overall, Android led the way with 15 percent of all cell phones owners, followed by the iPhone and BlackBerry at 10 percent each. The Pew results are based on a national telephone survey of 2,277 adults conducted between April 26 and May 22, 2011.

via 1/4 of smartphone users rely on their device for Internet access — Tech News and Analysis.

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How the iPad Can Increase Lawyers’ Productivity | Law.com

June 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

It was not that many years ago, after Lexis and Westlaw came on the scene, that many attorneys were heard to say “I don’t trust computer-based legal research,” and, “I like to hold books in my hands and spread books in front of me on a table.” Is there any attorney today who would like to go back to the paper-based law library days, or who thinks that form of legal research is more efficient?

Probably not, but there are those who are just as behind the times when it comes to the recent emergence of tablet-based computing as a tool for lawyers. Desktop and laptop computers are giving way to tablet computing, led by the iPad, and the numerous applications that are specifically being designed for the legal profession or that are easily adaptable to the practice of law. These devices and applications are game changing in their impact.

As a result, the days of carrying heavy trial bags and pushing dollies loaded with banker boxes are over. Despite the doubters, the iPad has arrived and has ushered in a new way for lawyers to manage, and to carry, information. Let me be clear about one thing, however: I am not suggesting that the iPad, or any other tablet-based device, is a complete substitute for a desktop or laptop computer.

As others have correctly pointed out, the iPad is an information consumption device, not an information creation device. For example, the information for this article was collected on an iPad, but the article was drafted on a laptop computer. In fact, I often work on a computer with an iPad at my side as a handy way to refer to research documents. In this way, I have the equivalent of a dual monitor setup that I can use anywhere.

I recently presented a CLE program to our firm to provide a basic introduction to the ways that a lawyer can use the iPad to become more efficient and to provide better service to clients. There can be no doubt that technology, alone, will not make someone a better lawyer; hard work and creative thinking are still the hallmarks of a successful attorney. Nevertheless, a lawyer gains nothing by lugging around briefcases and trial bags stuffed with documents; nor does the lawyer serve the client’s interests by taking hours to find something that a computer can locate in a few seconds. The strengths of the otherwise successful attorney, when enhanced by the effective use of tablet-based computer technology, can indeed be an awesome combination that will not go unnoticed by clients, the opposition or the courts.

via How the iPad Can Increase Lawyers’ Productivity.

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Google, Bing & Yahoo’s New Schema.org Creates New Standards for Web Content Markup – NYTimes.com

June 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Web’s three leading search companies are announcing today a new collaboration called Schema.org, where more than 100 new types of website markup for content like movies, music, organizations, TV shows, products, places and more will allow search engines to better understand and present what they find on the pages that show up in search results. Yahoo announced the project first today on its Yahoo Search Blog and said it was reminiscent of all three search companies collaborating to create the sitemap concept.

This will change the way people design websites, it will change the way people do search marketing, it will change a lot of things. It should be very, very interesting.

The work is related to Yahoo’s years-old Search Monkey project, where website owners were given guidance about how to mark up websites so that their appearances in Yahoo search results were vastly improved. Gone are the days of a blue link and a few lines of text in each and every case. Some types of discovered content are better displayed in other ways, with charts, graphs or images, for example. Now that Google and Bing are teaming up with Yahoo to create a standard format, I expect that just about every site on the Web will be stopping to take a look and see how they can incorporate the new structure advocated on Schema.or

via Google, Bing & Yahoo’s New Schema.org Creates New Standards for Web Content Markup – NYTimes.com.

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Skype pushes out Windows update following massive login glitch • The Register

May 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Skype has published an update that provides an easy way for users to log back into the system following a software glitch that resulted in the VoIP service hanging up on users on Thursday.

The resulting flood of traffic from confused users also floored Skype’s website. The VoIP firm, acquired by Microsoft for an eye-popping $8.5bn earlier this month, issued a detailed bulletin explaining how users could log back into the service soon after the outage.

This multi-step process involved deleting a file called “shared.xml” that had become corrupted as a result of the problem, a process even Skype admits is “fairly technical”. Windows users can now avoid fiddling around with their system by applying an automated update, published late on Thursday. An update for Mac users is promised over forthcoming days. Linux users will have to tweak their systems for themselves.

Skype on mobiles, TVs or other device was immune from the glitch, the precise cause of which remains unclear. Previous outages involving Skype have also gone unexplained, a shortcoming that hardly builds confidence in the service.

via Skype pushes out Windows update following massive login glitch • The Register.

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Google warns against facial recognition database – Telegraph

May 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, has said that the search giant would not build a database capable of recognising individual faces even though it is increasingly possible.

Mr Schmidt, speaking at Google’s ‘Big Tent’ conference on internet privacy, said that the rapid development of facial recognition technology has been one of the things that has surprised him most in a long career as a computer scientist. Such “surprising accuracy” was, however, he said, “very concerning”.

Asked a question about coining the phrase “crossing the creepy line” to describe an aspect of how Google thinks about privacy, Mr Schmidt indicated that, for him, a database utilising facial recognition advances was “unlikely” to be a service that Google would create. He suggested “some company by the way is going to cross that line”.

Mr Schmidt, however, warned regulators and legislators against trying to prevent worrying services in such a way that may stifle innovation. “Hopefully the French or any other country won’t pass laws that are so foolish they force Google to not be able to operate in those countries,” he said referring to a French law requiring internet companies to retain unencrypted passwords for a year.

via Google warns against facial recognition database – Telegraph.

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How to Keep Company Data Safe on Employees’ Personal Devices

April 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A Few Commonsense Security Measures

There are many obvious advantages that come with the portability of these devices, but one of the drawbacks is that they can easily left behind in a cab or stolen.

Simple steps like password-protecting phones and enabling remote locking and wiping of the device can go a long way in keeping company data safe.

Another issue is malware, especially as Android grows in popularity. Whenever possible and appropriate, anti-malware software should be deployed on any device that accesses company networks or data.

Forrester recommends some basic regulations that should be included in any corporate mobile security policy. Among them:

The IT department should be allowed to manage any device that has access to company networks and data. This should, of course, be done while still respecting the user’s privacy.

The company’s usual Web usage policies should apply to personal devices, as long as they’re being used at work.

The company’s IT department should be able to monitor usage while the device is being used on the company’s network or premises. They should also have the freedom to restrict access to corporate data if necessary.

If the device is stolen or the employee leaves the company, the IT department should be able to wipe company data from it remotely.

via How to Keep Company Data Safe on Employees’ Personal Devices.

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