how do you say "lawyer" and other questions

A Dialect Survey from Harvard University is asking how you pronounce certain words, and other questions, including which words you use for particular objects. They are taking the results and putting them on maps of the USA. Some sample questions:

What do you call the area of grass between the sidewalk and the road?

What do you call the long sandwich that contains cold cuts, lettuce, and so on?

What is the distinction between dinner and supper?

And, of course, the correct way of saying "lawyer" is to rhyme the "law" part with "boy," and not with "saw." The rest of you just have funny accents.

the henhouse v. the fox

Here's another disappointing story about a lapse in responsibility with an ironic twist.

drug testing

Drug testing is invasive, insulting, and generally irrelevant to job performance. Why do so many companies insist on it?

ReasonOnline takes a thorough look at drug testing in the work place. Is drug testing effective? Is alcohol a much larger problem? Once a company has a drug testing program in place, what perceptions might they face if they decide to stop?

law and literature

According to an article in the New York Times over 40% of law schools now offer Law and Literature classes. The movement has its critics, and I wonder if it's a class that should be offered as part of a law school curriculum. But, I would have signed up to take a class like that if it was offered at my law school. Then again, they are offering this Shakespearean Continuing Legal Education (CLE) class

cybersecurity and the fbi

At a speech given to the Informational Technology Association of America yesterday, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III talked about changes to the FBI to protect businesses. It makes for interesting reading. What challenges face the federal government? How much help will the private sector provide them? The director also mentions the FOIA issue that I raised earlier today:

Second, let me address your greatest concern, and therefore our greatest concern: the chance of having your reports made public under the Freedom of Information Act. We completely understand your ambivalence and your lawyers' warnings, but we are confident this issue can be worked out to everyone's satisfaction. Let us approach Congress together with a plan that will provide the tools you need to protect your equities and that we need to do our job.

The speech does give some insight into how the federal government will try to work with business to try to make their networks more secure.

lawyers are starting to stand up for the cause

In response to a continual barrage of lawyer bashing, and other such slanderous and small minded negativity, some lawyers are stepping up to the battle lines. Campaign slurs by the Republican party against the profession as a whole are entirely inappropriate. They make me ashamed to be a Republican.

businesses afraid of reporting cybercrimes?

You're the chief information officer for a tech business. Your computer system has just been hacked. Who do you call?

A number of businesses have been hesitant to contact the FBI in that situation. At a cybercrime conference in Virginia yesterday, government officials made assurances that they would try to avoid bad publicity for a company when circumstances like that arise.

Cio.com presents a view of reporting cybercrime from an information executive's perspective called Fear Factor: A reality check on your top five concerns about reporting security incidents. The article does raise a serious concern in addition to those five that people should be aware of.

The five that they list, and explain very well:

• Fear of calling the wrong agency
• Fear that everyone will find out
• Fear that the government will take computers away
• Fear that they will end up looking bad
• Fear that there is no benefit to reporting cybercrime

The article also considers a Freedom of Information Act exemption that was being reviewed by the Senate that would protect information disclosed by a company that voluntarily reported cybercrime to the Federal Government. The act was originally the Critical Infrastructure Information Security Act of 2001 (summary), which was worked into the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (pdf). (See TITLE VII—Miscellaneous, Subtitle C—Critical Infrastructure Information, starting on page 170).

However, as the CIO.com article states, it may be possible that preparedness for a cyberattack should be part of an SEC disclosure, as is the reporting of a cybercrime:

"We can show that reporting may be a legal duty," says Christopher Wolf, a partner for Proskauer Rose in Washington, D.C.—specifically, in cases where an incident could have a significant impact on business.

And, under the Homeland Security Act, a disclosure to the SEC would not be protected under the FOIA exemption. A sidebar to the CIO.com article notes that the Homeland Security Act didn't make it through the legislative process this term. But, it's possible that the exemption will survive any retooling of the Act when the next term begins. And, even if the Homeland Security Act doesn't go through, this issue will likely be revisited in some form.

So, you're the chief information officer for a tech business. Your computer system has just been hacked. Who do you call?