WHAT IS HAPPENING
Whether for personal or professional use, many of us who use a computer day in and day out don't give much thought about web threats. Without having a basic type of security program installed on your computer, you're putting yourself and your computer at risk. A simple virus could destroy your hard drive or a hacker could be exposed to all of your personal information, leaving you vulnerable to identity theft.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU
Viruses and computer hackers are nothing new to the computer world, we are all aware of what they are capable of. Many of us have the "It wont happen to me" mindset, but it does happen, and quite often. A simple security program can protect your computer, your identity, personal information, and maybe your job.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
SECURE YOUR COMPUTER! There is a huge range of web security programs available for antivirus, spyware, malware, etc. Many of the programs offer protection for all of these as well as others. These programs are priced fairly low, and you can be confident that you are protected from any sort of web threat.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Open Source Business Intelligence
WHAT IS HAPPENING
Customers today are having to pay high fees and extreme costs in order to have a closed system software for their company or organization. Sometimes closed systems are not necessary and an open system that already exists is a lot less expensive and more practical. There are quite a few companies out there today that are offering these safe and open systems that are available for other organizations to use. One that has come onto the market fairly recently is Pentaho, this company has made different tools available such as reporting, data mining, and analysis. This company has serious potential when it comes to coming out on the BI (Business Intelligence) software market. It is easy to use and is very practical for many start up companies.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?
There are so many companies out there today doing the same thing and making a lot of costly duplications on having closed systems. This seems like the best bet for start up companies looking to save some money, but still have the potential on succeeding. For every company there are many different options when it comes to simple business intelligence tools and where to set them up. A company can spend the extra resources on having a closed system, which some companies do need, but simple tools can be made open. In this case a company like Pentaho would be the best option to save money, yet still get the work done.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
If a company is still in the start up process I think that there are many different open business intelligence companies that start up companies are able to use. It is in their best interest to use the open systems on many different levels. When it comes to simple data mining or analysis these start up companies can use the open systems.
http://www.infoworld.com/t/business/open-source-business-intelligence-258
Customers today are having to pay high fees and extreme costs in order to have a closed system software for their company or organization. Sometimes closed systems are not necessary and an open system that already exists is a lot less expensive and more practical. There are quite a few companies out there today that are offering these safe and open systems that are available for other organizations to use. One that has come onto the market fairly recently is Pentaho, this company has made different tools available such as reporting, data mining, and analysis. This company has serious potential when it comes to coming out on the BI (Business Intelligence) software market. It is easy to use and is very practical for many start up companies.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?
There are so many companies out there today doing the same thing and making a lot of costly duplications on having closed systems. This seems like the best bet for start up companies looking to save some money, but still have the potential on succeeding. For every company there are many different options when it comes to simple business intelligence tools and where to set them up. A company can spend the extra resources on having a closed system, which some companies do need, but simple tools can be made open. In this case a company like Pentaho would be the best option to save money, yet still get the work done.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
If a company is still in the start up process I think that there are many different open business intelligence companies that start up companies are able to use. It is in their best interest to use the open systems on many different levels. When it comes to simple data mining or analysis these start up companies can use the open systems.
http://www.infoworld.com/t/business/open-source-business-intelligence-258
Monday, November 16, 2009
Stop Pushout Theft
According to the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention, more than $13B worth of goods are stolen from retailers each year. Savvy shoplifters to organized crime rings have found that with the use of shopping carts, they can look less conspicuous and retrieve more items in one swoop, rolling large volumes of unpaid goods right out the door. Offenders committing cart-based theft, or "pushout theft," can be difficult to stop, as most LP technologies are not designed to physically stop carts or the people trying to leave the store with them. For instance, to catch or retrieve all items before they are taken out the door, video surveillance, a very effective loss prevention tool, requires additional personnel to constantly monitor footage. And EAS (electronic article surveillance) tags, another effective tool at preventing theft, will not prevent offenders from sprinting from your store with the stolen merchandise. James Estes, director of safety and LP (loss prevention) at The Markets, LLC, needed a solution that stopped pushout theft and achieved rapid payback.
The Markets, a Bellingham, WA-based supermarket chain with 21 locations, experienced major loss issues attributed to shoplifting and theft in a handful of its locations. Estes noticed that in particular stores, an excessive amount of loss had occurred, particularly in the meat and variety (e.g. shampoo, razors) departments. "Labor is tight in this economy, and we don't have an excess of employees wandering around the store floor," says Estes. "Customer service is high on our priority list, but thieves know to hit the store when it's busy. For instance, between 3 and 5 pm, they've loaded a cart with $400 worth of merchandise in less than 6 minutes and walked right out the door with it."
The grocer's LP methods, such as CCTV (closed circuit television) and EAS were not minimizing the loss. For example, Estes reports the grocer sells 6,000 to 8,000 meat products a day across the chain. The grocer doesn't put an EAS tag on every meat tray, only on expensive cuts, which accounts for about 4,000 trays. When a meat tray comes across the register, the tag is deactivated. The EAS promise is that 99% of the tags are deactivated. "When 1% of 4,000 EAS tags are not deactivated, that alarm is going off all day long, and cashiers start to ignore it," says Estes. "The EAS system works well and exactly as advertised, but our employees were ignoring it."
The Markets, a Bellingham, WA-based supermarket chain with 21 locations, experienced major loss issues attributed to shoplifting and theft in a handful of its locations. Estes noticed that in particular stores, an excessive amount of loss had occurred, particularly in the meat and variety (e.g. shampoo, razors) departments. "Labor is tight in this economy, and we don't have an excess of employees wandering around the store floor," says Estes. "Customer service is high on our priority list, but thieves know to hit the store when it's busy. For instance, between 3 and 5 pm, they've loaded a cart with $400 worth of merchandise in less than 6 minutes and walked right out the door with it."
The grocer's LP methods, such as CCTV (closed circuit television) and EAS were not minimizing the loss. For example, Estes reports the grocer sells 6,000 to 8,000 meat products a day across the chain. The grocer doesn't put an EAS tag on every meat tray, only on expensive cuts, which accounts for about 4,000 trays. When a meat tray comes across the register, the tag is deactivated. The EAS promise is that 99% of the tags are deactivated. "When 1% of 4,000 EAS tags are not deactivated, that alarm is going off all day long, and cashiers start to ignore it," says Estes. "The EAS system works well and exactly as advertised, but our employees were ignoring it."
Sunday, November 15, 2009
SECURITY/CONTROL
WHAT IS HAPPENING - In a retail store, organized shoplifting can cost the company $10,000.00 per day depending on the type of merchandise that the store carries. As a result, retail companies are working together by collecting a pool of data into a single national retail crime database that is called, “Law Enforcement Partnership Network (LERPnet).” Not only does this new software help the retail industry, but the LERPnet helps against crime by sharing the collected data with law enforcement officials. The LERPnet is compiled of information about criminal’s history along with their stealing tactics, diversions, security evasions, witness statements, photos, and videos catching the shoplifters in the act. Overall, LERPnet is the latest technological advancement to reduce shoplifting while sharing a collection of data in the retail industry of how each criminal on file operates.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU? Shoplifters in today's economy are becoming more organized, so they can take more products in a less amount of time without being caught. Since there was a budget cut in loss prevention, shoplifting has become more frequent with very little information on how they operate.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? If you are in the retail industry, you should invest in the LERPnet, so you can reduce costs and increase revenue. The LERPnet provides background information on repeating shoplifters based on police reports, previous video surveillance, stealing tactics, and how they evade from being caught. After you invest in this system, you will be able to recognize and analyze shoplifters on how they operate.
http://www.cio.com/article/120705/Data_Sharing_Boosts_Fight_Against_Organized_Retail_Theft
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU? Shoplifters in today's economy are becoming more organized, so they can take more products in a less amount of time without being caught. Since there was a budget cut in loss prevention, shoplifting has become more frequent with very little information on how they operate.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? If you are in the retail industry, you should invest in the LERPnet, so you can reduce costs and increase revenue. The LERPnet provides background information on repeating shoplifters based on police reports, previous video surveillance, stealing tactics, and how they evade from being caught. After you invest in this system, you will be able to recognize and analyze shoplifters on how they operate.
http://www.cio.com/article/120705/Data_Sharing_Boosts_Fight_Against_Organized_Retail_Theft
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
SECURITY/CONTROL
WHAT IS HAPPENING - Retail theft has reached $114.8 billion so far in 2009 according to the third annual edition of the “Global Retail Thefts Barometer” which measures the level of global retail theft. Last year’s total was $104.5 billion, this is 5.9% higher. A reduction of loss prevention by retailers is thought to be a large contributor to this increase. “Retailers attribute one third of the increase in shoplifting to the economic recession,” noted Professor Joshua Bamfield, Director of the Centre for Retail Research and author of the study. “Many have also noted a change in the type of offender and in the type of products stolen.”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU? A store operating at three percent profit on sales would have to sell $1,216.66 worth of merchandise a year to make up for the daily loss of a ten-cent candy bar. Just to cover a yearly loss of $1,000 in thefts, a retailer would have to sell each day over 900 candy bars, or 130 packs of cigarettes, or 380 cans of soup.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? Invest in an integrated retail theft system that will help control theft. Install video surveillance cameras and electronic article surveillance (EAS) devices attached to your products that will cause alarms to go off if not deactivated by the cashier.
http://www.globalretailtheftbarometer.com/pdf/Global-Retail-Theft-Barometer-2009.pdf
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU? A store operating at three percent profit on sales would have to sell $1,216.66 worth of merchandise a year to make up for the daily loss of a ten-cent candy bar. Just to cover a yearly loss of $1,000 in thefts, a retailer would have to sell each day over 900 candy bars, or 130 packs of cigarettes, or 380 cans of soup.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? Invest in an integrated retail theft system that will help control theft. Install video surveillance cameras and electronic article surveillance (EAS) devices attached to your products that will cause alarms to go off if not deactivated by the cashier.
http://www.globalretailtheftbarometer.com/pdf/Global-Retail-Theft-Barometer-2009.pdf
DATABASE SYSTEMS AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
WHAT IS HAPPENING - Ten of the top 20 retailers, including Amazon, eBay, and Wal-Mart, depend on Sun systems for critical business operations. Sun’s total customer base is made up by 10% retail customers. Currently software giant Oracle is in negotiations to purchase Sun Microsystems but have reached a snag. While the deal was approved by the US the European Commission as halted the deal on grounds of antitrust laws. The problem is with Oracle obtaining MySQL. With this speed bump Oracle, Sun and MySQL customers are not being served well. MySQL is a SQL based relational database management system that can be utilized as an inventory retail system. Given that MySQL is an open-source alternative it is possible that Oracle may not support it.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU? MySQL is currently free, performs very well and tends to be embedded in packages. Often retailers may not even know where it is.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? Check with someone in your IT department to see what runtime licenses you have running in your ancillary applications. If you have MySQL then you need to be aware that you might find yourself paying a royalty in the future.
www.sun.com
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU? MySQL is currently free, performs very well and tends to be embedded in packages. Often retailers may not even know where it is.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? Check with someone in your IT department to see what runtime licenses you have running in your ancillary applications. If you have MySQL then you need to be aware that you might find yourself paying a royalty in the future.
www.sun.com
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