BBC News : Virtual asteroid run as Entropia club sold for profit

"A gamer who made headlines when he bought a virtual asteroid for $100,000 (£56,200) in 2005 has sold it for $635,000 (£395,000)." ~ unknown

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11795098

Although I must say I knew in part this would eventually happen, this is a bit unreal. I have heard accounts on the MMORPG front selling for a few hundred dollars, against the wills of the people who run them. The really amazing part to me is that he was making 125K annually from it as well. Note please that that was not in American money so it is more like $200K.
I must say I am in the wrong industry for making a huge living.

Tech News World : Obama, Palin, Best Buy and Lessons in Leadership

"When it comes to leadership in technology, the bar is set by Apple -- and the only company currently of its scale that comes close isn't an Apple competitor. It is actually Best Buy. Best Buy has been doing for the retail process what Apple has been doing for product, and if you haven't been in a Best Buy store in a while, it is time for a visit -- particularly if you are shopping for a new smartphone." ~Rob Enderle

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Obama-Palin-Best-Buy-and-Lessons-in-Leadership-71183.html

Yes I do realize that this is not technology. I will try not to do this too often, that is get into a political arena on things, also I will endeavor to not get into religion other than well wishes. That being said, I can plainly see that what he is saying is true. What this country needs is a leader, not a charismatic elected official. Although being charismatic is not a bad thing. What we need is the person who leads us forward and actually causes us to follow them. You aren't a leader without followers. I may not have believed that Obama was a good candidate for president, but that does not mean I had a better idea or that I want to see him fail. If the president fails so do we.

What some of us might need is a kick to the head or rear end, myself included. One thing I do want to clear up here is this: It took us a long time to mess ourselves up this badly, do you really believe that it would take only two years to fix? It took at least 8 to get us into it, so is we can get back out in 8 or under I would be very impressed, but I think is will be more like 16 years to call everything okay.

Tech News World : 5 Security Hurdles to Clear Before Choosing a Cloud Provider

"One of the most crucial steps an organization can take when choosing a cloud provider is setting up a reliable service level agreement that protects your data as it resides in the cloud. The answers a prospective provider gives to five key questions can tell you a lot about whether you can trust that outfit with your data." ~Dimitri McKay

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/5-Security-Hurdles-to-Clear-Before-Choosing-a-Cloud-Provider-71175.html
All of these questions are good, and even would work for a home user. I am not against the cloud just very wary of fully trusting it at this point. I know at one point all of us will be tied to it instead of a desktop or laptop with an OS on it. Just pay attention to your IPhone, and all of the other newer mobile devices.

Top Tech News : Report: North Korean Hacking Increases Ahead of G-20

"Three days after South Korea strengthened cybersecurity measures for main government and civilian web sites to cope with possible cyberattacks by hackers in North Korea, a South Korean newspaper says hackers based in China have collected unspecified minor information about the Group of 20 summit from South Korean government networks." ~Hyung-jin Kim

http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=012001CFSQ8O
It is the sibling rivalry going on between them I guess. But this is something to keep an eye on.

 

Top Tech News : Europe Tests Cyberwar Defenses in Simulation Exercise

"European member states have tested their responsiveness to a cyberattack in a large-scale exercise that simulated attempts by hackers to paralyze critical online services. The aim of the test was to enhance understanding of how cyber-incidents are handled and test communication links and procedures in case of a real large-scale cyber incident." ~unknown

http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=012000EWDNHO

One thing I wonder. How did the E.U. states perform in this experiment?
If I am brutally honest in this situation, I do not believe the U.S. would perform very well in this. That is not to say that we do not have good people to allocate to it, or resources to make it better. It just seems to me in my studies that we are just simply ill prepared to hold our own in this arena.

Top tech news : Web Account Hacking Made Easy with Wi-Fi

"Wi-Fi hot spots are ubiquitous, convenient, fun and dangerous. They're even more more dangerous if you're not making secure connections to the web sites you surf. Tools such as Firesheep -- a Firefox extension -- make it ridiculously easy to log into certain sites as another user and hack into a web account. So what can you do to protect yourself?" ~Dwight Silverman

http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=003000C25VMC

Word to the wise protect yourselves while at Starbucks, drinking your coffee, and surfing the web.