TechWorld: Hackers build private IM channel — Hackers have built their own encrypted IM (instant-message) program to shield themselves from law enforcement agencies.
The application, called CarderIM, is a sophisticated tool hackers are using to sell information such as credit-card numbers or e-mail addresses, part of an underground economy dealing in financial data…
I don’t think Wal-Mart would be able to get away with this. There would be too much backlash. USAToday: Circuit City to fire 3,400 workers, will hire lower-cost replacements — Circuit City Stores’ decision to lay off 3,400 employees in order to hire lower-paid replacements is raising questions about the impact of severe cost-cutting on employee morale. and Washington Post: Circuit City Cuts 3,400 ‘Overpaid’ Workers — Circuit City fired 3,400 employees in stores across the country yesterday, saying they were making too much money and would be replaced by new hires willing to work for less.
NY Times: Life Magazine, Its Pages Dwindling, Will Cease Publication
Life magazine will cease publication next month, the third time since Life’s founding in 1936 that its owner has pulled the plug.
This time, the magazine’s demise looks permanent, largely because Life is moving its huge archive of photographs onto the Web, where consumers will be able to download them free.
NY Times: History, Digitized (and Abridged) — In the Internet age, historical records that have not been converted to digital form could vanish from the nation’s memory.
Digitizing books is easy compared with music, film, especially given copyright issues, and other items, such as handwritten notes. The cost of converting so much material is why historical archives are turning to groups such as Google to pay the cost.
The articles touched upon interesting collections, such as:
NY Times: Basic Instincts: On Wearing Our Salaries on Our Sleeves — Given how careful we are today about all things financial it’s striking that people appear to have been more frank about money 200 years ago.
Another classic for me.
I first saw this years ago. It’s still funny.
WSJ: Linux Starts to Find Home on Desktops. The Linux operating system, having made inroads into corporate servers, is showing hints of inching into employees’ PCs.
Atlanta Journal-constitution: Two Atlantans stay afloat in crowded field of magazines. Sustaining a magazine is tough, but Sharpe and Salwen project that the magazine will be profitable by the end of 2008.. Anita Sharpe is a former editor of the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
USA Today: Are you saving too much for retirement? Go ahead and buy that big-screen TV. Enjoy your daily latte. Book your dream vacation. When it’s time to retire, you’ll be just fine.
That’s the view of a maverick group of academics and economists, who contend a significant number of upper-income Americans are being hoodwinked by the financial services industry into saving more than they’ll actually need to retire comfortably. In the process, these critics have sparked a brawl rarely seen in the buttoned-down retirement planning business.