News Pirates

Conficker’s next move a mystery to researchers

Linda Lorie — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:49:22 PDT

‘Impossible to know’ what massive botnet will do April 1, researchers say…. March 23, 2009 (Computerworld) Security researchers are in the dark about what will happen next week when the newest variant of Conficker, 2009’s biggest worm by a mile, begins trying to contact its controllers. “It’s impossible to know until we see something that has a [...]

KBR sucks even more with giving rotten food to troops

John Hummel — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:43:09 PST

I believe in capitalism. No, I really do. Like Science, the practice of capitalism is the surest way to find the vaulue of things, to allow the evolution of good products to win over bad products. So the basic idea of using private industry in place of some government entities doesn’t bother me. [...]

The History of the Hummer. Blech.

John Hummel — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:35:52 PST

It’s the symbol for everything that’s wrong in auto manufacturing in America. Big. Bloated, Pointlessly overpriced, and with a gas mileage that would make Al Gore vomit – and Salon gives us the short life of the Hummer. May it die in pieces. Posted in economics Tagged: auto-industry, hummer, make it stop [...]

Banking – from the Muslim perspective

John Hummel — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:09:10 PST

This was a really interesting read – Inside Islam goes provides an explanation on how banking in the Islamic religion is suppose to work. The most surprising thing? No interest on loans! According to Business Week, instead of earning interest banks and individuals profit from investments in other ways. Investments are technically considered leases, [...]

All the clues the Bush administration missed about the economy

John Hummel — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:41:31 PST

Remember how the Bush administration was shocked – shocked! – to discover that Iraq didn’t really have WMDs? Or that the levees around Katrina wouldn’t break (even with all of the warnings that they would)? Or – as it turns out – they didn’t seem to notice that there was a gigantic financial [...]

The untalked about issue with the big 3 auto: Pensions

John Hummel — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:03:25 PST

Turns out there’s a topic that most people don’t think of with the potential of the Big 3 auto workers going under. Sure, there’s the potential of 3 million jobs lost all at once – but what about those who aren’t working? Mainly, the chance that the pensions of thousands of retired workers [...]

Why is Honda still doing so well?

John Hummel — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:54:17 PST

Why is Honda doing so well, when so many other manufacturer’s are struggling? The answer: engineers run the company, not the financiers. In other words: the people who make stuff to sell rule, while the bean counters provide advice on how to do it. Posted in economics Tagged: auto-industry, economic crisis, honda [...]

What might GM become if it gets a lifeline

John Hummel — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:53:35 PST

There’s some questions about whether GM’s even going to survive the next year, if not the next six months. But if it does, it might turn into a smaller, leaner, meaner company, if Joan Muller is right. It really will be for the best, in my humble opinion. Say goodbye to Hummer [...]

Now what? AT&T is laying of 12,000

John Hummel — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 06:20:37 PST

Looks like there will be a lot of guys wandering about going “Can you hear me now? No!” as AT&T announces it’s laying off another 12,000 employees. Anyone with some good news? Posted in economics Tagged: AT&T, economic crisis, layoffs

Bush administration still can’t clean crap

John Hummel — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:55:21 PST

Tons of debris left behind from Hurricane Ike is still sitting around, when FEMA was suppose to assist in getting it cleaned up. You could probably blame the local people too for not getting off their asses and helping to clean up – but once again, Bush’s FEMA sucks. Heck of a job! Posted in politics [...]