Thursday, June 14, 2007

Whoops!

Pfizer worker data leaked via P2P
source: The Register

Casual use of file sharing by the spouse of an unnamed Pfizer worker has been blamed for leaking personal information on more than 17,000 current and former employees at the pharmaceutical giant.

Unauthorised installation of a P2P package on a company laptop led to the exposure of worker data, presumably after a directory holding the information was inadvertently offered up for sharing to world and its dog.

Similar breaches involving misuse of the popular Winny P2P protocol on corporate PCs have been recorded in Japan, but the Pfizer case is the first of its kind in North America.
The breach prompted Pfizer attorney Bernard Nash to send a letter to attorneys generals in states where potentially hit workers live, apologising for the problem and promising to offer workers a year of free credit monitoring, at a reported cost to the firm of $25,000.
The Connecticut Attorney General's Office has followed up this letter (PDF) with requests for more information about the breach, which affected 305 Pfizer workers who are resident in the state.
Pfizer has also written to workers to warn them that their names and social security numbers might have been exposed to potential fraud.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Time Travellers Wife: The Movie

Hulk star Eric Bana is to star with Rachel McAdams in a film adaptation of The Time Traveller's Wife.

The movie, based on the best-selling novel by Audrey Niffenegger, is due to begin shooting in August and pencilled in for release next year.

Canadian McAdams, whose screen credits include Wedding Crashers and The Notebook, has been linked to the lead role since the project's inception.

Edward Norton will take over Bana's Hulk role in a new screen version.

Mixed reviews

Australian-born Bana, whose last major role was in Steven Spielberg's Munich in 2005, will play a librarian who discovers he has a gene which makes him travel in time when he is under pressure.

The relationship with his wife is fraught with problems as he disappears for long periods and their ages differ during various encounters.

Bana recently finished work on The Other Boelyn Girl, in which he plays King Henry VIII alongside Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman.

His next release is Lucky You, starring opposite Drew Barrymore.

Bana played comic hero The Incredible Hulk in Ang Lee's version of the story in 2003, which met mixed reviews.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Dein Leaves Arsenal As Takeover Rumours Persist

The BBC Reports that Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein has left the club with immediate effect because of "irreconcilable differences" with the rest of the board.

This follows the aquisition of 10% of the clubs shares by an american billionaire.

Sudan man forced to 'marry' goat

BBC Website
April 18th 2007

A Sudanese man has been forced to take a goat as his "wife", after he was caught having sex with the animal.

The goat's owner, Mr Alifi, said he surprised the man with his goat and took him to a council of elders.

They ordered the man, Mr Tombe, to pay a dowry of 15,000 Sudanese dinars ($50) to Mr Alifi.
"We have given him the goat, and as far as we know they are still together," Mr Alifi said.

Mr Alifi, of Hai Malakal in Upper Nile State, told the Juba Post newspaper that he heard a loud noise around midnight on 13 February and immediately rushed outside to find Mr Tombe with his goat.

"When I asked him: 'What are you doing there?', he fell off the back of the goat, so I captured and tied him up."

Mr Alifi then called elders to decide how to deal with the case.

"They said I should not take him to the police, but rather let him pay a dowry for my goat because he used it as his wife," Mr Alifi told the newspaper.

Gardener downs his tools at 104

BBC Website
April 18th 2007

A gardener has decided to down tools on his working life at the age of 104.

Jim Webber has been working the land in Dorset for 93 years, without taking holidays, but arthritis has forced him to retire.

Mr Webber told BBC news: "I'd do about 10 minutes and have to sit down - I couldn't carry on. That wasn't fair for the people I was working for."

The keen gardener, from Stoke Abbott, said he now planned to focus on his own garden and sell some of his produce.

Mr Webber said: "I haven't got a big wage now coming in, do you see - I've only got old age pension, so I'll try and sell a bit."

Born on Christmas Eve 1902, Mr Webber began his career as a farm labourer in Dorset, and won prizes for ploughing.

In gardening, he worked with his brother Jack, until he died at the age of 95 in July last year.
His daughter, Kathleen, 68, now helps him with his home garden.

He puts his longevity down to having "plenty to do and being interested in it" - as well as a bit of his "medicine" - whisky.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Two cautioned over wi-fi 'theft'

BBC Website
April 17th 2007

Two people have been cautioned for using people's wi-fi broadband internet connections without permission.

Neighbours in Redditch, Worcestershire, contacted police on Saturday after seeing a man inside a car using a laptop while parked outside a house.

He was arrested and cautioned. A woman was arrested in similar circumstances in the town earlier this month.

West Mercia Police said people with wi-fi should follow security advice given by their internet provider.

BBC Midlands Today's science correspondent, Dr David Gregory, said it was one of the first cases of its kind.

He added that if people were using someone else's network to enter illegal porn sites, for example, it would be very difficult to trace them.

The man arrested at the weekend was cautioned for dishonestly obtaining electronic communications services with intent to avoid payment.

He attracted attention from neighbours in the early morning, as he had put up cardboard around his car windows but the light from his computer could be seen through the back window.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Return of the Mic

Strike duo return
www.nufc.com
Tuesday 10th April 2007

Tuesday morning saw both Michael Owen and Shola Ameobi make a playing return for Newcastle in a behind closed doors friendly match against Scottish side Gretna.