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    <title><![CDATA[Discussion on Electronic databases: What's new with privacy ]]></title>
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    <lastBuildDate>2013-05-18T10:11:57-07:00</lastBuildDate>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[I am glad  ....]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162932]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[&quot;What is it about military veterans, especially sailors and soldiers, who served more than one hitch?? I've known several, and each one had more stories to tell ....&quot;I wouldn't know for sure as I'm certainly no expert on the subject; nor much of an expert on anything to be honest.However, I'd suppose at last a few factors are contributors to the end result.For one, it is the nature of things that military vets, especially those who have served more than one term of service, tend to have been numerous places and to have done a wide variety of things.  More so than would be average for their civilian counter-parts who'd lived through the equivalent time period.Secondly, depending on one's assigned duties, place of assignment, and so forth; while one might see periods of time where action is fast and furious and more than a little hazardous and adrenalin pumping.  One also quite often faces long periods of time where one is essentially half bored to death. To get through such times soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines often engage in what we called &quot;shooting the breeze.&quot;  Swapping stories about almost any subject yah could possibly name.  Everything from &quot;on topic&quot; and relevant info about the job at hand that an old hand might want to pass on to the FNG (F*cking New Guy), to talking about one's home and family back in the &quot;real world&quot;, to discussing how one managed to extricate oneself from a situation where you're in bed with some young lady yah just met a few hours before and the door pops open to reveal a very irate husband. You name it, and it'd probably been discussed, debated, real experiences about it related, and so forth.I have a long, long time friend who I originally met back in Nam where we were both assigned to PBRs.  Both of us went on to complete a career in the Navy.  And were even assigned to the same duty stations a time or two at later times.  He and his wife and children and grandkids right now live about 3 miles down the road from me.  As I've often told his wife and kids, and they've come to believe to be true after numerous demonstrations of the fact, I know more about him, his raising, his childhood, his likes and dislikes, what he thinks about this or that subject, and so forth than any of them do.As an example, during one assignment we had together, we spent a year where the number of times we weren't within conversational distance of one another (without having to shout) could probably be counted on one hand.  We slept within 3 feet of each other, went to bed at the same times, got up together, usually showered/shaved at same time, spent endless hours rolling and patrolling on the same patrol boat, etc.  When we had time off for liberty or R&amp;R, we spent that time together also.  Often chasing the same gals, sometimes even sharing them, hanging around in the same bars, or if doing the &quot;tourist&quot; bit we went to the same places and almost always got a hotel room together.  We'd laughed together at the same things, and more than once cried on each others' shoulder.To this day, there are certain things we'll willingly tell each other about that we wouldn't willingly discuss with our wives, children, or Pastor.  The type of feelings and thoughts one often does not want to reveal to anyone else or to know about you.Add, that during all those long periods of boredom, where you're waiting for action to be needed, a lot of vets spend considerable time reading, studying some correspondence course (most of the services have hundreds of such) to advance your military career, or getting some other guy who knows about some subject to tutor and teach you.  Gotta do something to pass the idle time.  For instance, on one ship deployment (cruise) I had a shipmate who was a Philippino national who'd signed up in the U.S. Navy.  I spent countless hours having him teach me Tagalog, telling me about his home country, its people, and their customs, etc.&quot;(By the way, perhaps you know that Finnish is in the same linguistic family as Inuit.)&quot;As a matter of fact, I was aware of this.  My wife is of Finnish ancestry.  In fact years ago, when her grandparents and such were still alive, there used to be as much Finnish spoken at family get togethers as English.  Out of pure curiosity, and because I'm interested in such things, I did considerable reading about the Finnish people, their country, its history,  and so forth.&quot;Given your experience in Navy recruiting, it would not surprise me if someone were to approach you about becoming a head hunter&quot;I was approached on the subject years ago, twice, by two different firms.  Wasn't interested, still have no interest in it.So someone could make an offer all day long, wouldn't matter.  Its not what I wish to do.  And since that is true, the amount of money that might be offered is irrelevant.  I'd rather make less doing something I like than to have a bigger pay check but have to do something I have no interest in.That specific conversation came up some years ago.  It wasn't a head hunter job being offered.  The offer was for a job in another specialty of mine.  One in which I not only have a lot of experience, but also hold the highest possible level of certification in.  In any event the head hunter who contacted me worked directly for a particular corporation and was rather desperate that I sign on with them.  He asked, I said &quot;No&quot;.  He upped the offer but got the same answer.  And so forth.  He finally asked me to name a price that would cause me to take the job.  I told him the corporation in question did not have that much money, and we were wasting both of our time.  It was simple, taking the job meant moving to another city and state ... where I did not wish to live, period; plus it was a type of work I'd done for many years and was quite tired of it, and I was wanting to do something different.The guy's problem was that I was not desperate for work.  Size of salary did not impress me as long as it satisfied my bottom line requirements. And I had several specialties in which I could seek work with excellent prospects that I'd be hired in one of them. I'm not gonna put down head hunters and such.  BTDT. Was quite successful at it. Just wasn't something I wanted to continue doing for the rest of my life.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162932]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Osiyo53@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:22:57 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Deleted]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162832]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Content made to go away, as well.]]></description>
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        <dc:creator><![CDATA[santeewelding]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:55:32 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I just woke up ...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162827]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[A starting place for some reading:http://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Power_line_communicationKeep in mind that whoever wrote/edited that Wiki entry seems to have little real world experience and knowledge of the subject, and is both wrong and out of date on a few points.  But its worth a read if someone is interested in the subject.&quot;I was curious to learn if this technology is security conscious or not? &quot;Ummm... somewhat and sometimes.Depends largely upon the specific implementation and the companies involved.Some would want to, and do, pass critical information including system commands over PLC (Power Line Communications). i.e. Commands to shut down, start up, activate a switch to another power source, and so forth.  And now, there is an increased demand to use such systems to also serve as an alternative to DSL over phone lines, broadband over video cable, etc for general Internet access.This presents a possible security problem, just as is present in any other data network.While PLC type data networks might be a new idea to some reading these posts, its certainly not actually NEW.  And there are folks out there who've been working with such systems for many years.  In short, anyone who might want to engage in some mischief, criminal activity, or whatever would not have a problem finding huge amounts of info available about them.  To include such things as packet encoding/decoding, protocol specifics and details, and even free open source utilities for reading/modifying data in packets on such networks.  AND ... specifics about the protocols and commands for manipulating microprocessor based controls for equipment on such networks. i.e. How you might do something like command a critical system valve open or shut, regardless of what other control programs are telling it.  Same thing with switches controlling the path of many megawatts (or giga-watts) of power supplying not only a building, but whole geographic areas.For instance, there are little embedded microprocessor controls in commercial/industrial motorized valves, electric motor controllers, switches, circuit breakers, and so forth which are connected to some data network or other.  And if one knows how ... and the info is actually readily available if you know where to look ... you could do something like command the device to ignore all other instructions and do &quot;this&quot;.For instance, as I sit here at my desk, in my den at home, I could, if I wished log into a certain remote connection over the internet.  I have the legitimate access rights.  Then access a device which is essentially a gateway, as well as being a web site server. Going through it I could access a control network that's actually a Modbus RTU, RS485 data network.  On that data network are some microprocessor based controllers, with the appropriate inputs and outputs plus a master control program which allow them to control the operation of some rather high power boilers.If it was something I actually wanted to do, which I don't, I could easily issue the appropriate Modbus RTU commands which would turn off the REAL data input of a certain, critical input (what we call input override) that feeds very important data to the control program and then substitute a false value which would result in ... a rather loud BOOOMMMM.To make it more interesting, those boilers are located in a rather important (locally) law enforcement center. A facility housing a disaster response team, SWAT group, modern state of the art forensic labs, and a 911 communications center.Depending on exactly where you're at Michael, you might even hear the boom and/or the sounds of the responding emergency vehicles.  The county borders Hennipen county and is just a rock's throw from touching Ramsey county.Using a similar connection and various gateways, I could pretty much shut down the St Paul City government building and it's annex.Of course, these are things I am highly unlikely to ever do.  And the examples I give are not PLC connections and data networks.  But that's just a different type of network and carrier media.  A bit further away from you (think Elk River) I could shut down the power over most of that city via a gateway connection to a PLC based network.As I stated above, one really need not worry about me doing such things.  I could do those things, quite easily.  Piece of cake, no sweat.  But wouldn't.  One of the tasks of my job is to try to ensure no one ELSE, unauthorized, can do such things.But I gotta tell you that there are a lot of places and installations that have little to no security measures in place that are meaningful.  More such places are popping up all the time as this or that organization or business asks people like myself to make their control systems &quot;web accessible&quot;.]]></description>
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        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Osiyo53@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:35:36 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I am glad]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162786]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[to hear that your daughter survived her encounter with the new medication that the doctor prescribed.  May God bless her with long life, and save the souls of Prevost and Batelli (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defibrillation#History).What is it about military veterans, especially sailors and soldiers, who served more than one hitch??  I've known several, and each one had more stories to tell than Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Heinlein and Larry Niven combined -- and usually just as interesting, too!  Storytelling seems to be a military cultural tradition, perhaps a way of bonding with the others upon whom your survival in combat will essentially depend.  Indeed, one effect of the stories that human tribes of every sort have always told is the formation of group identity and loyalty.Your description of Cherokee culture reminds me of the longest book that I can recall reading, 1000 pages.  In our fourth grade  classroom library, such a book described each and every American Indian tribe that existed when Europeans began colonizing what is today the USA, including Alaska and the Polynesians of Hawaii.  I remember some parts of the descriptions of Cherokee villages and their &quot;long houses&quot; and &quot;log cabins&quot; -- the design of which colonists adopted.  One created a phonetic alphabet for writing the Cherokee language.  (By the way, perhaps you know that Finnish is in the same linguistic family as Inuit.)Mostly I remember the descriptions of the Great Plains tribes (Sioux, Kiowa, Cheyenne, Commanche, et al.), who did live in tepees made of buffalo hide.  They wore minimal clothing in the hot summers, but warmer clothing and buffalo hide cloaks in the winter.  Before Spaniards brought the horse, though, scarcely anyone lived on the Great Plains; the few who did were always on the verge of extinction.  It wasn't long before some conquered Aztec(s) stole a few stallions and some mares, and the rest is, as they say, &quot;history&quot;.Given your experience in Navy recruiting, it would not surprise me if someone were to approach you about becoming a &quot;head hunter&quot;.  There's an old saying among the English, &quot;If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.&quot; I think that we both know that anything disclosed to the public is no longer private, if it ever was.  From what you have disclosed in the two posts that you have made so far, it could be possible to use that data to search a few databases and find even more about you.  More than you clearly want any stranger to know.  Not that I blame you, I feel exactly the same way, whether from tradition or just contrariness.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162786]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ocie3]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:11:16 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[LOL!!!]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162764]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[ ]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162764]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ocie3]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:45:47 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[From what I've read,]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162761]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[&quot;head hunters&quot; were specifically collecting data about executives and tech specialists even before commercialization of computing began, followed by the formal development of &quot;databases&quot;.  They started out by putting keywords on Hollerith cards and sorting them into batches that corresponded to different fields of specialization.They were the original &quot;employment agencies&quot; .  Employment agencies, and their databases, often specialize to an amazing degree.  For example, some are interested only in accountants and bookkeepers.  A few look for executives who have careers managing hospitals, medical insurance companies, and related businesses.  There is a host of agencies that only look for and recruit nurses, especially RNs, and some lab techs.  Others look for scientists and engineers (bioinformatics is a booming field there).  It seems that there is at least one agency for every field of specialization, though an agency often covers more than one related field.Specialization is the key to monetizing the data as well as employment agency services.  However, some databases have a very broad array of data, often those that collect &quot;personal&quot; data in general.  That said, when a firm considers its &quot;HR department&quot; to be an in-house &quot;employment agency&quot;, there is a paradigm shift.  Instead of just serving a &quot;support&quot; role, HR starts operating like a business -- they go hunting.Unfortunately, I can't recall the name of arguably the best article that I read about HR data mining, probably in Fortune about 10 years ago (I haven't read any recently).  From what I recall, HR departments are relatively new users of data mining with regard to proactively seeking people who have the knowledge, skill and experience that they need to work for them.  But they are learning.Originally, HR often has used databases  primarily for &quot;background checks&quot;, such as databases that specialize in recording the names and other data about people who are convicted of a crime.  Those are done mostly when considering whether to hire or promote someone who will be in a position of trust, such as handling cash revenue or exercising  authority to pay bills, issue payroll checks, etc.  Many HR departments also routinely do credit checks while considering job applicants for almost all positions, especially for managers and supervisors.There are all kinds of databases out there.  A few years ago, I read about one that records money that is held by government agencies, but belongs to individuals, such as unclaimed tax refunds.  Another example is when someone dies and no one has claimed  the money that is left in a bank account that the decedent had.  Banks used to hold on to such funds indefinitely, but laws have been passed by almost every state that allows the state to seize the funds after a certain amount of time has passed, usually seven years, if no one has claimed them.  So I went to the website, did a free preliminary check, and they returned two &quot;hits&quot; that seemed quite likely to pertain to me personally.  Curiosity got the best of me, and I paid the minimum $20, allowing three searches.(1) The State of California held $2.99 as my share of an anti-trust settlement against Levi Strauss &amp; Co. for price-fixing of denim trousers.  At the start, I had mailed a completed form to the Attorney General that made me a party to the suit.  So I went to the claim website by using the hyperlink in the search result.  The California AG  displayed the longest, ugliest, meanest claim form that I have ever seen!  I figured that it would take me at least two hours to complete the claim form for the $2.99, and I don't work that cheap.(2) Someone who has the same first name and surname as my own had a &quot;bank account&quot; in a  southeastern Oklahoma town, containing about $7,000.  So tempting to claim it, but so risky!  They didn't disclose (if they knew) the middle name of the person to whom the money belonged or anything else about the individual -- race?? birth date?? Social Security number??  Coincidentally, I had driven through that town one time in my life, late at night, when the bank was undoubtedly closed.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162761]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ocie3]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:15:02 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Things may get worse]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162700]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[HHS may alter a ruling that requires health-care entities to report all data breaches to the involved individuals. They are suggesting that it should be left up to the health-care companies to decide if the breach needs to be reported. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9138220/HHS_guts_health_care_breach_notification_law_groups_warn?source=CTWNLE_nlt_dailyam_2009-09-18]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162700]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Kassner]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:41:18 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Sorry ...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162562]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[&quot;Your post probably sets a new record for length, but I don't intend to compete.&quot;Sorry about that.  Unfortunately it is a bad habit.  Learned at an early age.  In informal discourse, I tend to revert to the old ways of my clan.  That is, the tendency to try to communicate ideas and information by the telling of stories.  As versus shorter, more terse, and direct methods.I am Tsalagi (Cherokee).  Well, half of me is.  And was raised partly traditional.  I have many old memories of grandpa and grandma talking to me and my siblings and cousins, trying to teach us a little something, via the telling of stories.  In an earlier time these would have been called Stories at the Wisdom Fire.  That is, it was common for grandparents and great grandparents to have the chore of teaching youngsters right from wrong, proper behavior from improper, etc by gathering the youngsters around a nice wood fire in the evening and telling this or that story.The stories were meant to be both entertaining, and to teach some important bit of knowledge.Chuckle, don't conjure up an image of Native Americans dressed in breechclout, with feathers in their hair sitting around a fire.  I'm not THAT old.  Besides, the old Cherokee when first discovered by some Spaniards, wore what looks much like tunics and turbans, and lived in log cabins.  And were early adopters of the technology, ways, and so forth of the new European colonists. i.e. An 1830's era Cherokee &quot;village&quot; was virtually identical in most ways to any other town the new European colonists lived in.  The Cherokee occupants dressed much the same.  Pursued the same occupations. Etc.I just mention this as once, some years ago I took my daughter and son back to the area of my old home, where I was born and raised.  As I was driving I noticed my daughter, 14 yo at the time, playing &quot;swivel neck&quot; looking all around constantly.  We were in what is called the &quot;Cherokee Nation&quot;.  I laughed and said to my daughter, &quot;Please tell me you are NOT looking for tee-pees, Honey.&quot;She looked really embarrassed and muttered, &quot;Uhhh, .... what am I supposed to be looking for?&quot;I laughed and told her that she should look for farm houses that looked pretty much like any other old farm houses she'd ever seen.  Or little rural towns that looked much like any other.  And said to her that where I was born and raised did not look different, in any significant way, from things she was not already familiar with. (She's rural Minnesotan, as is her mother)LOL ... I knew what she was thinking and looking for.My grandparents would have not looked significantly different from any of a huge number of people in the U.S.  We lived on a farm that pretty much looked like any other. I wore bluejeans, &quot;brogans&quot; on my feet, a white tee-shirt in the warm seasons, flannel shirt in the colder times, etc.  Pretty much enjoyed the same pastimes as anybody else. Etc.But some old ways and teachings die hard and slow.  So while we lived and dreamed and so on much like any of our &quot;white&quot; neighbors (whatever the heck that means), some old ways persisted.  One of them was the &quot;Wisdom Fire Stories&quot;.To me, a very favored memory.Unfortunately, for every year that passes, it seems that folks more and more have no patience for such things.  They want everything in a 30 second, or less, sound-byte.Which, actually, I understand.  After all, besides learning the &quot;old ways&quot;, I was also raised reading (and dreaming about) stories from Terry and the Pirates, Tom Swift and his atomic submarine, Robert Heinlein and Arthur Clarke, etc.   In H.S. I took many advanced science and math courses.  Later achieved a 2 year degree in CS, then a 4 year in Marine Engineering, etc. So I'm kinda stuck between 2 worlds. LOL ...I always recommend to anyone who dislikes my over long posts ... that they simply delete them.  They're not really worth reading anyway.As concerns your story about head hunters.  I've had some experience with that.  I am quite aware that there are some head hunters who are very specialized.  Some, for instance, hang around, usually anonymously, or at least silently (or mostly so), some popular professional/technical forums.  Just collecting info on this person or that.  Who knows what, who has had this or that experience, who is the &quot;go to&quot; guy or gal when some other professional has a question or problem, etc.Still others have specialized sources of information.  For instance, when I retired from the U.S. Navy I subscribed to a service ran by the DOD where they made available my educational and work experience.  I, in fact, received numerous calls and letters from head hunters who'd seen what might be called my &quot;resume&quot;, tho it wasn't something I wrote myself.  I only barely remember filling out some form and agreeing to the Navy releasing certain info as I processed through the retirement procedure.However I almost instantly started receiving calls.  I was kinda surprised.  i.e. Two days after I formally retired from the Navy  I got a call from some fellow in Philly, &quot;Hey, I see that you're qualified as -unlimited- for power generation systems, have PLC experience and are a CCP (Certified Computer Professional, I don't know if that is even good any more) ...&quot; Etc.  I was quite surprised.  Who the heck was this guy, and how the heck did he know these things (and more)?  Only found out later about the how part.  I did some checking, I'm a suspicious character by nature.  Plus, according to the &quot;old teachings&quot; its not a good thing for one's enemies, or possible future enemies, to know too much about yourself.Little hairs on the back of my neck stood up in alarm. I was pretty much not a happy camper. Old teachings, remember?A stranger (same term means, in Tsalagi ... possible enemy) knew a lot of personal info about me. Not a good thing.  That meant he had more possible power over me, influence upon my life, ... whatever.  Uninvited and unwelcome.Chuckle, good thing it was the later 1900's as versus the 1800's or 1700's.  For just a moment ... I wanted to hunt him down ... really WANTED ... and to eliminate the possible threat.Not a joke, BTW.  My wife saw how upset I was (whole different background, native Minnesotan of Finnish ancestry), made me promise to do nothing &quot;stupid&quot;.  Myself, I wasn't sure what I was gonna do, but had all sorts of things going through my mind.  Some pretty darn stupid. To give a hint, I cleaned a rifle and did some sighting in to tweak the sights.  Inquired as to the cost of flying to Philly. Etc.  All a bunch of BS, I wasn't really gonna off the guy.  But the whole idea that such day dreams made me feel better, wasn't a good sign.I did not, and DO NOT now, like people knowing private info about me that I did not willingly provide, myself.  Hate it, hate it, hate it.  Especially if its strangers whose motives I don't know.Even tho I am a reconstructed &quot;Injun&quot; who makes a living as a computer systems professional.Grrrr, still makes me angry, and there is nothing I can do about it.The very reason that if one traces this message back to its origination, it would point at someone who is not me. AND, the contents of each message has had its content changed in such a way as to not contain anything that would be a personal identifier.Granted, my reaction is probably excessive and more than likely a bit paranoid.However, I've had real world experience in using other people's &quot;big mouths&quot; to hunt them down, find em, and use their own words against em.  Pretty easy, especially for folks who are all about, &quot;It's all about ME.&quot;; I'm significant; I'm important; I deserve NOTICE.LOL ... sure thing ... I'm impressed. (I readily recognize total idiots and retards, I'm one of them)FWIW. I note that most working cops advise that one should never provide more info about yourself than is absolutely necessary or required by law.  And state that they, themselves, would not.Yes, they think that even while asking you to fess up to everything yah might have done that was wrong since you were 2 yo ... it IS their job, after all.I'm not criticizing.  I've been on both sides of this debate.Have a great day.  I'm a happy camper.  My daughter, no child, she's 28, had a little &quot;Oops&quot; Wednesday.  Her doctor prescribed a new muscle relaxant.  My daughter has a bad back that gives her trouble sometimes.  Result of an injury back when she was in her teens.In any event, she had a rather severe and previously unknown and unsuspected reaction to this new prescription.Technically, she died.  And had to be resurrected by mechanical and electrical means.I ... don't care.  She is alive and well, good enough for me.I am ,however, in a really, really happy mood right now.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162562]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Osiyo53@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:29:33 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[FOIA]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162461]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[A previous position I held dealth with the Freedom of Information Act and via that job I learned the U.S. Dept. of Justice has a wealth of information on PII.  A good starting point for any organization looking to evaluate the extent of PII in their data should start here - http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/pdf/PIAGuide-Feb09.pdf.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162461]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[mmatchen@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:20:32 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[What can I say]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162266]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Pons Asinorum?You have crossed, Michael, only to stand there blinking.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162266]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[santeewelding]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:11:33 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Ahahahaha!]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162271]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[You slick.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162271]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[boxfiddler]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:05:04 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Damn, Ocie]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162264]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Is your &quot;retired&quot; a cover story?]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162264]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[santeewelding]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:49:20 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Hey, Rich]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162247]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Your comment is cryptic as all get out. If I didn't know better, I would question your sentence structure.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162247]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Kassner]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:43:55 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Question]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162246]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[You mention that head hunters are using this. Yet, I suspect that they are not cognizant of that fact. One of my son's degree is in HR and he really didn't seem to make the connection. Which makes this fascinating stuff to me, ever the inquisitive type.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162246]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Kassner]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:39:42 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[I didn't just find]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162263]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[That somebody needs to tumble to operation of mind.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162263]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[santeewelding]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:36:32 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I just woke up]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162245]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I wondering how the electric trains were able to communicate and sent data back to the command site. Now I know. This BPL technology or what ever it is called is way more prevalent than I had thought. I suspect I need to dive head long into this. I was curious to learn if this technology is security conscious or not?]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162245]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Kassner]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:22:14 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Significance]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162207]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[First, there are many strategies and tactics that one can use to search for employment and to maximize the likelihood of being hired.  I've known people who have searched for websites that have the phrase &quot;we're hiring&quot; on one or more of the pages.  Since that phrase returns more than 27 million results, I recommend using the &quot;advanced&quot; Google search features to narrow the number of results. Although I haven't used one personally (yet), I've seen websites where people can post a resume or complete a generic form on which they disclose education, training, skills and experience, etc.  Employers also advertise openings on those sites, but often they just search the website database for prospective employees.  Some of those websites are specialized, for example, for IT personnel (network engineers, admins, system analysts, programmers, etc.).  Second, there seems to be a steady increase in the number of firms that are proactively looking for people who have the knowledge, skill and experience that they need, for mission-critical managerial and specialist positions in particular.  &quot;Head hunter&quot; agencies became common in the 1950s; they have only become increasingly specialized with regard to the types of jobs and/or the businesses that they serve, and have become very sophisticated in using IT for their hunts.  But it is worth remembering that more than 50% of all jobs in the US are offered by a proprietorship or partnership.  Mom &amp; Pop employ nearly twice as many people as corporations, which employ only about 25% of all the people who are not self-employed.  Whether the web, in particular, is or can become a resource for such very small businesses to find employees remains to be seen.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162207]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ocie3]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:06:49 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I just found ...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162169]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[BPL, Broadband over Power Lines, is just one of numerous methods of using power lines as a data network.The only thing new about it is the &quot;broadband&quot; part as the other methods employ significantly slower data transmission methods.  For instance, they're not adequate for such tasks as streaming videos in real time.The existing technologies in current usage are not truly wide spread.  While the &quot;nodes&quot; on such networks over power lines number in the millions, that's just a small fraction of the number of things attached to all the grids worldwide.For instance, in Europe (I forget where) a power company has a few million customer homes with nodes installed that can communicate with a central office via Lontalk over Powerlines.  The actual application is simple, the node simple monitors power usage in live time and reports the data back to the home office.  Some trains use a similar system for intelligent, computer based control systems in a train to talk to each other, share pertinent information, and so forth via the electrical power supply lines of the train.  Thus, no additional &quot;communications&quot; cables, etc.  The engine car of course has power lines, and the generators.  And each car that makes up the whole train is attached, in daisy chain fashion, one to another not only by the mechanical linkage but also via a flexible electric power cable.  To power whatever within the car needs power.  Since the power connection already exists, and they're quite sturdy and robust, only made since to develop a method to send actual data over them versus adding some sort of additional cabling.  For instance, smart microprocessor boards that are part of the braking systems in each car, for each axle, actually control the brakes.  Braking on modern systems is NOT just a matter of applying a stronger and stronger electrical current or pneumatic/hydraulic signal to all brakes simultaneously.  Amount of braking that is desired is passed from the main control computer, in words and digits, along the &quot;network&quot;.  The nodes which know they're part of the braking system listen up, read the message, then start doing their thing.  They also talk directly to each other, coordinating their efforts. i.e. 1st left brake tells 2nd and 3rd left brakes that he's overheating and needs help such as more braking effort on their parts.  The hear and start helping more.  In the meantime the main control computer is monitoring it all and reports to the operating engineer that the one brake is having issues, temperature rise at it's location is above calculated acceptable levels, but there is no serious issue because the other brakes are being successful in their efforts, that car is as a whole, braking satisfactorily.There are lots of little, smart, microprocessor based devices installed in a lot of things many people never imagine, talking to each other and to human operators over data networks of a type many people aren't even aware of.  Lontalk was just one example, there are numerous others.  Several with the ability to pass data over power lines.Of course there are issues with such methods.  The most reliable pass information relatively slowly. i.e. Modem speeds, maybe double that.  Typically one needs to install a repeater every so many miles if its a long transmission path.  Etc.So as a result, the employment of such over power lines has been slow to be widely deployed by the big power companies.  And actual usage limited. i.e. Simply reporting power consumption at a location (a house for instance), a major transformer reporting critical info such as loading, heat rise, etc.But there has long been plans to extend all this.  To incorporate smart chips into the power lines of stoves, refrigerators, etc.  So that once plugged into the house power system, a path of communications is established back to the power company.  So such everyday devices can report their usage.  AND ... so that the power company can do things like command them off.  For instance to conserve and reduce power usage during a peak demand period when a brown out is threatening.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162169]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Osiyo53@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:26:29 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Human Resources and database PII]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162174]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Your post probably sets a new record for length, but I don't intend to compete.   First, my comment about &quot;corporate HR&quot; departments referred only to searching databases that are created and maintained by other parties.  Of course, most create electronic databases of their own employees, both current and former.For the most part, HR departments function much as the Navy Personnelmen you described, but with the addition of recruiting new personnel, if only by advertising available positions.However, most of the Fortune 1000 go beyond that, and do not just wait for someone to apply for employment -- not that they don't receive enough unsolicited inquiries, resumes and applications.  But they actively look for the managers and specialists that have the knowledge, skills and experience which they need and want.  Their strategies and tactics are quite a bit like those that you described for US Navy recruiting (in your first post on this thread). Electronic databases are one resource that they use to identify prospective employees in such recruiting.A HR department almost never makes the decision to hire someone who will not be working in the HR department.  But they usually have the task of fact-checking resumes and employment applications.  As you have described, it is not always feasible to check every fact, sometimes people simply don't check something, or perhaps a person whom they contact confirms an item on the resume or application as true when it is actually false or perhaps erroneous.In that respect the HR involvement is often seen as finding a reason to disqualify a prospect from being hired.  But something &quot;negative&quot; doesn't always enable or require HR to stop any further consideration of the prospect.  It depends upon the company's policies and how significant the &quot;negative&quot; fact(s) may be.  Of course, if consideration of the prospect continues, HR will pass the &quot;negative&quot; fact(s) to the manager(s) who will make the hiring decision.A case with which I have been familiar was one in which a guy submitted a resume on which he stated that he had earned an MBA from a private university which had a good reputation.  A classmate there had told him about a specific managerial position that was available where his classmate worked,  and the classmate referred him to an executive of the firm.  At the end of the initial interview, the guy gave his resume to the executive.  When an HR clerk fact-checked the resume, a clerk at the university said that he had not been awarded an MBA.  They verified that he had a BBA from another college, but that was all that they would say.  The person who told me about this said the guy was nonetheless hired, because the manager who decided to hire him said that someone who had an MBA degree would be &quot;overqualified&quot; for the job.  I never did find out whether the guy actually had an MBA.At last report, an old friend who has an MS in electrical engineering was recruited by his present employer.  Someone at a &quot;head hunter&quot; firm called him at his former job, and also left a message at his home, to ask whether he might be interested in doing a certain kind of work at a higher salary and with better benefits than his present compensation.  He asked them how they knew anything about him, but they were reluctant to disclose much.  So he was reluctant to trust them, but he was persuaded to contact a certain person in the HR department of his now-present employer.Eventually he learned that the head-hunting agency had developed &quot;match-making&quot; software that searched databases of participating employers and of public agencies, schools, colleges, etc., for data that they could use to &quot;match&quot; prospective managers and technical specialists to existing jobs or even to newly-created positions.  (I would disclose the names of the parties, but I promised him to not tell anyone enough detail to identify him and his past and present employers.)]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162174]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ocie3]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:07:38 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Keep looking at it again ....]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162102]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Your message in reply to the one that I wrote in reply to White House and privacy &amp; the HAN is here maxed the message depth limit, so I'm posting this one in reply to the original start of the thread. With regard to the Washington Times story that I retrieve with:http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/16/obama-wh-collects-web-users-data/?page=2The headline says: &quot;EXCLUSIVE: W.H. collects Web users' data without notice&quot; but, again, the statements that I've quoted before say that so far, there is only a proposal, and it is not a current activity.To trumpet that the White House &quot;collects web users data&quot; implies that they are (or will be) collecting data that is private when, in fact, just about anything that someone posts on a website page that is accessible by the general public is no longer private (if it ever was).  Since it is public, no one has to ask for permission to copy it or excerpts from it, and no one has to give anyone notice that it is being collected.  (That does not apply to copyrighted works, but you and I don't need permission from, and don't have to give notice to, the Washington Times because of the &quot;fair use doctrine&quot;.)Since so many web pages are accessible to the public, there are plenty of web crawlers running, mostly developed and used by firms that collect PII and associated data to add to their database(s).  It seems likely that our messages posted on TR for public view are examined by one or more web crawlers for any personal data that they may disclose.  They might also simply record the fact that you and I have posted one or more messages on TR, especially if they can associate that fact with PII that they might already have on record. But perhaps I digress.The sentence you quoted: &quot;The White House is collecting and storing comments and videos placed on its social-networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube without notifying or asking the consent of the site users....&quot; is not the first sentence and it doesn't occur anywhere else in the story.  Considering what is now the first sentence, it appears that the Washington Times has deleted your quotation from their current website version of the article.  As they should have done, because that sentence is sheer ideological propaganda.As the story reflects, the Washington Times has a well-known bias of favoring and supporting Republicans, and opposing just about anything and everything that any Democrat does or wants to do.  (Is it still owned by the Unification Church?) In some of your other posts, haven't you criticized people and organizations that you don't like by saying that they lack &quot;objectivity&quot;??]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-317190-3162102]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ocie3]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:23:23 -0700</pubDate>
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