data

A startling report from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently revealed details on what appears to be a domestic-spying program that was banned by Congress in 2003 known as the 'Total Information Awareness' (TIA) program. As noted by the American ... Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Orwellian program was shut down by Congress because it represented a massive and unjustified governmental intrusion into the personal lives of citizens. Despite the fact that Congress shut down the program, security agencies under the Bush administration pushed ahead anyway. The National Security Agency (NSA) has ... (view more)

Researchers from Princeton University have found a simple way to crack popular encryption software, including the FileVault feature built-in to Apple's operating system and BitLocker, which is included in Windows Vista. The software aims to store ... data in a scrambled form making it indecipherable if in the wrong hands. Both programs use a federally approved algorithm that encrypts the information when it is written to, or read from, a hard disk. However, the keys allowing the computer to unscramble data are stored in the computer's memory. In theory, any information in a computer's memory ... (view more)

Why would you want to set up Sheet1 in your workbook and have it set up perfectly the way you want it only to have to do it all over again for Sheet2 and Sheet3? Well of course you wouldn't want to do that! And the good news is that you don't have ... to! To quickly copy formulas, labels or formats from a single worksheet to a group of sheets within a workbook, follow the steps below: Select the sheet that contains the data you want to appear in each sheet. Use CTRL + Click or Shift + Click to select the group of sheets to which you want to add the data. Select the data itself and click the Fill ... (view more)

In October of last year, Microsoft launched HealthVault, a free online, encrypted storage area where individuals could manage their own medical record. Now, Google has tabled their own health storage offering called (surprisingly) Google Health. The ... battle for your medical record has begun. Both Google Health and Microsoft's HealthVault provide a secure place to store and maintain health data. The data that can be stored varies but will generally include records of vital statistics (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure, height, weight, etc.), patient family history, and disease or problem-related ... (view more)

Internet Protocol addresses (IP) are used to identify computers and the actions they take on the Internet. IPs are routinely stored by search companies and other online businesses to help improve search results and provide advertisers with complete ... billing data. While this practice has been questioned before, with Google's pending bid to purchase advertiser DoubleClick, European leaders are taking a hard look at these business practices. Peter Scharr, Germany's data-protection commissioner, believes that IPs are not just a tool for companies to use, but a form of personal identification that ... (view more)

Scary: A recent survey sponsored by Deloitte ... (view more)

The British government has admitted losing a compact disc containing the personal details of 25 million people. The scandal has led to concerns that criminals could use the information for identity fraud or to access online bank accounts. The disc, ... which contains details of every family receiving child benefit (a form of social security paid for all children), was produced by a junior official at Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the British tax department. The official put two passwords on the disc, but did not encrypt the information. They then sent the disc to another government ... (view more)

Ever wonder what kind of punishment a government employee might receive for leaking the personal information of John Q. Public? Here's your answer in a nutshell: a week's vacation. The man who'll have less time this year to lounge on tropical ... beaches is one Jerry Miller, payroll team leader for the Ohio Department of Administrative Services. Miller is behind the agency's Administrative Knowledge System, or OAKS, and last month was found responsible for losing a tape containing data on nearly 65,000 state employees, 20,000 former state employees, and worst of all almost 50,000 Ohio taxpayers. ... (view more)

Sometimes when you are preparing a report you would like to add a chart to your document. The good news is that you can, and it is also very easy to do. Follow the steps below to create your chart in MS Word: On the Insert menu, click Object. Click ... the Create New tab. In the Object type box, click Microsoft Graph Chart. Click OK. To replace the sample data, follow these steps: Click a cell on the datasheet. Type the new text or numbers. If necessary, you can import data from a text file, a Lotus 1-2-3 file, or an MS Excel worksheet. You can also copy data from another program. To return to MS ... (view more)

You can analyze the data in Excel by creating high/low lines for your data charts, allowing you to easily view parameters in a given range. High/low lines are most often found in stock market charts. They help to point out how close actual values ... came to the goal points. You will need at least two data series to add high/low lines to connect the maximum data point in a category with its corresponding minimum point. For example, you can use high/low lines to compare actual expenses against projected expenses. Follow the steps below to learn how to add High/low lines in MS Excel: Open the line ... (view more)