“At first sight it seems the ultimate in child cruelty – a two-year-old boy chained to a lamp post to stop him getting away.
Yet his parents say this is the only way they can guarantee not to lose him.
His father Chen Chuanliu works as an unlicensed rickshaw cyclist in Beijing, taking fares all over the city, while the boy’s disabled mother collects rubbish at the roadside. “
(Childcare, Chinese style: Father chains two-year-old son to a post while he’s at work | Mail Online)
“Spooky, secretive, titanic US military contractor SAIC has bought out Forterra, a company that makes virtual worlds for government agencies. I sat on a panel at an SAIC event on games and public diplomacy a few years back that turned out to be filled with CIA and other spooks who wanted to know if Al Qaeda was recruiting in World of Warcraft. Wonder what they’re going to do with World of Fedcraft? “
(Source: World of Fedcraft: SAIC buys virtual world company Boing Boing.)
“Verizon Communications said it is facing a slower-than-expected economic recovery and plans to cut 6 percent of its workforce, adding that it forecasts only a modest rebound in late 2010.
After reporting fourth-quarter results that were in line with Wall Street’s expectations, Verizon said weak corporate spending hurt its traditional fixed-line business, offsetting subscriber growth at Verizon Wireless. Shares fell 2 percent.”
(Verizon to cut 6 percent of its workforce – Earnings- msnbc.com)
“Welcome back to history–the really scary kind with more gangs than laws. If you do not like it, you might blame the Internet.”
The cost of a data breach increased last year to $204 per compromised customer record, according to the Ponemon Institute’s annual study. The average total cost of a data breach rose from $6.65 million in 2008 to $6.75 million in 2009. “
(Data breach costs top $200 per customer record – Network World)