Universities struggling with SSL-busting spyware. U.S. universities are struggling with a flare-up of dangerous spyware that can snoop on information encrypted using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). Experts are warning that the stealthy software, called Marketscore, could be used to intercept a wide range of sensitive information, including passwords and health and financial data.[InfoWorld: Top News] [...]

Canada, the Closer Country for Outsourcing Work. Canada's stability, proximity and cultural similarity to the U.S. tend to attract higher-value, more sophisticated outsourcing work than countries like India. By IAN AUSTEN. [NYT > Technology]

Selecting 5 KM books. A posting at the knowledgeboard gives a list of 42 books that anyone starting in KM may find useful. Well 42 is a little too many for starters, so here is my list of 5 and some rationale for the choices: * Deep smarts A new book (2005) from Dorothy Leonard [...]

NY Times: Electronic Voting 1.0, and No Time to Upgrade. The phenomenal reliability of the systems we trust for banking, communication, and everything else rests on two bedrock principles. One is the universal understanding in the technology world that nothing works right the first time, and maybe not the first 50 times. [Tomalak's Realm]

Affordable and Essential Christmas Gift Ideas for the Computer Geeks. A list of considerably affordable (most under $30) and indispensable Christmas gift ideas that all techies and computer geeks will appreciate. [Meerkat: An Open Wire Service]

How to Sell Your Boss. Selling your boss is critical to your success. If you can’t get your boss’s approval when you need it, you are not going to go very far in your career.As the president of a company, I spend a good deal of time listening to proposals. Those doing the pitching usually [...]

Secondary Screening: Secret Law News. Stephen Aftergood, the seemingly indefatigable researcher behind the Secrecy Project at the Federation of American Scientists, has a fantastic piece in Slate today about secret laws and the Transportation Security Administration. I've written about the abuse of the “Sensitive Security Information” designation here on this blog and for Wired News, [...]

Entrepreneurs: what not to do. Entrepreneur.com “What not to do.” A seasoned entrepreneur reveals the 17 most common mistakes startups make and how to avoid them — plus the five things you MUST do to ensure success. [Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]

FoxPro gets nice writeup on DevX. DevX: Visual FoxPro 9.0: Still Here, Still Relevant. Ken Levy gave me a demo of this last week. It's a very impressive tool. Has visual inheritance down to the button level where Visual Studio only has inheritance down to the form level. Among other things. Someday I'll tell you [...]

IT Conversations is looking for a business model. WebTalkRadio discusses IT Conversations business model dilemma (Doug Kaye is asking his listeners for feedback about how to keep it all going). I am a HUGE fan of Doug's. His stuff is first rate. I don't have any good answers for him either. It's hard to get [...]