The Fear of the Next Stuxnet

The Stuxnet cyberattack on the Iranian nuclear program in late 2009 is the most significant cyberattack to date on a nuclear installation. Stuxnet was skillfully crafted, and was able to penetrate system defenses. Stuxnet was designed to  control and destroy industrial control systems used in Iran’s nuclear enrichment process.

There are many who believe that a clone of Stuxnet might not be far off. Warnings have come from the Congressional Research Service about future Stuxnet variants that can be used to target and destroy U.S. critical infrastructure. With would-be attackers learning from the original Stuxnet, the mutant/clone might be much more destructive and pose a greater threat to industrial systems anywhere in the world.

Is the United States ready for such an attack? How about the rest of the world?

Take Advantage of Auto-Completion!

I received an email from a co-worker who's getting tired of typing the same code over and over again:

-----

From: ----, ----

Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 12:32 PM
To: ****, ****
Subject: HtmlNodeCollection Extension

Got tired of writing

if ( Node == null)

{

}

so I wrote an extension

if (Node.IsNull())

{

}

------ and here's my reply--------

LOL!

Take advantage of auto-completion:

I usually just type:

if(node.E(nu))

which expands to:

if (node.Equals(null))

I like MIchele Malkin's article on 'The Donald'

Donald Trump’s eminent-domain empire

Trump has been wooing conservative activists for months and flirting with a GOP presidential run — first at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington and most recently at a tea party event in South Florida. He touts his business experience, “high aptitude” and “bragadocious”deal-making abilities. But he’s no more a standard-bearer of conservative values, limited government and constitutional principles than the cast of “Jersey Shore.”

Read more at:  http://me.lt/9h7p0 

FAA OKs iPad for Pilots’ Charts

From the earliest days of aviation, pilots have relied upon paper maps to help find their way. Even in an era of GPS and advanced avionics, you still see pilots lugging around 20 pounds or more of charts. But those days are numbered, because maps are giving way to iPads.


The Federal Aviation Administration is allowing charter company Executive Jet Management to use Apple’s tablet as an approved alternative to paper charts. The authorization follows three months of rigorous testing and evaluation of the iPad and Mobile TC, a map app developed by aviation chartmaker Jeppesen.


The latest decision applies only to Executive Jet Management, but it has implications for all of aviation. By allowing the company’s pilots to use the Apple iPad as a primary source of information, the FAA is acknowledging the potential for consumer tablets to become avionics instruments.


The iPad has been popular with pilots of all types since its introduction last year. But until now, it could not be used in place of traditional paper charts or FAA-approved devices such as more expensive, purpose-built electronic flight bags. The iPad was OK for reference, but not as a pilot’s sole source of information. The new FAA authorization changes all that.


Read more at: Autopia.

Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. - be forewarned

IF someone has invited you to into this company: Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc [http://www.prepaidlegal.com/] be forewarned.
You might end up losing more of your hard-earned money.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Pre-Paid-Legal-Services-Inc-Is-A-Fraud

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/pre-2007/files/money/prepaidlegal/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Paid_Legal_Services

Smartphones: Unlimited Data Plans Often Mean Unnecessarily High Monthly Bills
Posted by BRAD TUTTLE Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Original article here.


When Verizon announced it would be selling the iPhone, a certain breed of consumers were overjoyed with the prospect that they'd soon be able buy an iPhone without an AT&T contract, and without the restrictions of an AT&T limited-data plan. Verizon iPhone customers should be able to pay a flat $30 all-you-can-eat fee for data. But, in the same way that diners often get more bang for the buck ordering a la carte rather opting for a restaurant's buffet, all but the biggest smartphone data hogs tend to overpay with the unlimited plan.


A Consumer Reports investigation showed that the vast majority of AT&T's iPhone users wound up saving money when the wireless provider replaced its unlimited option with a choice of limited data plans:

They save money, because very few subscribers even use anything like the 2GB-per-month limit of the $25 monthly plan. For most, the 200MB limit offered by the $15-per-month plan is plenty of data.

Presumably, Verizon iPhone customers will use about the same amount of data as AT&T iPhone customers—and therefore, they'd be overpaying by selecting the pricier unlimited plan over a cheaper, but limited plan.


So why are consumers so jazzed about plans they almost never need? By now, most cell phone users have encountered some form of "bill shock": the most unpleasant moment when a bill arrives requesting an amount $50, $100, or sometimes even thousands of dollars higher than one's typical monthly charges. For obvious reasons, consumers hate bill shock—so much so that they're likely to opt for a pricier monthly plan if it means they can avoid more shock waves in the future. The hefty fees and carefully crafted structure of wireless plans are actually designed to push cell phone users into pricier plan brackets, by most account, the strategy works for wireless providers.


The attraction of an unlimited plan is that it allows the consumer to run off his brain and never think about it again. No thinking twice about downloads or using this or that app. No need to track data usage. No worries about surprise fees—well, hopefully no surprise fees anyway.


The problem is that the consumer pays for to enjoy a relatively worry-free smartphone experience. The bigger problem, of course, is that it's always a bad idea for a consumer to turn off his brain and stop thinking about whether any purchase is actually worth the money or not—especially when the purchase we're talking about is one you pay for every month, easily adding up to thousands of dollars over the course of a couple years.

Corona mobile development...

Advance mobile development platform for building iOS apps for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch AND Android. http://me.lt/5L8Eb