04-09 Contents: Open Source IS Security, ICS Risk lectures, Blinkx, Copernic, Job Search Networking, Spreadsheets SOX, humour.
ISSN 1649-2374 This issue online at http://www.sysmod.com/praxis/prax0409.htm [Previous] [Index] [Next]
| Systems Modelling Ltd.: Managing reality in Information Systems - strategies for success | |
IN THIS ISSUE |
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| 1) Risk & Security Open Source IS Security body of knowledge ICS CPD autumn lectures on Risk Management |
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| 2) Local disk drive index/search utilities Blinkx Copernic Desktop Search |
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| 3) Will (does?) the Real Economy Stand Up? Job search - networking drying up? |
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| 4) Spreadsheets Foundations of Spreadsheets: Workshop, Rome Excel range name curiosity Spreadsheet Control and Sarbanes-Oxley |
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| 5) Off Topic Business Books Explorer error message ;-) Software Project Cartoons |
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| 18 Web links in this newsletter About this newsletter and Archives Disclaimer Subscribe and Unsubscribe information |
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To help sponsor the cost of this newsletter, make your next purchase from Amazon using one of the links below. You don't even have to buy the specific book I mention - just click on one of my links before you buy anything from Amazon! When you click, you are offered a choice of Amazon store - US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Japan, so you can pick the one that suits you.
Patrick O'Beirne
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Balwant Rathore of the Open Information System Security Group is collating an Open Source Book on Information System Security Assessment at http://www.oissg.org - I have not reviewed it yet, but I just thought I'd let you know so you can track its growth. It would be interesting to see if a volunteer effort does in fact manage to organise a useful body of knowledge.
The fourth, on Wed Nov 17, is my presentation on Spreadsheet Risk Management where I talk about spreadsheet controls and testing. This lecture places auditing and testing techniques within the broader context of quality management and describes specific tools to assist and automate these tasks.
http://sysmod.com/az.php?a=084931707X&b=CISSP_Exam_Guide
"Official (ISC)^2 Guide to the CISSP Exam", Susan Hansche/John Berti/Chris
Hare, 2004, rrp U$70.
Robert M. Slade says in
BKOIGTCE.RVW 20040618 "This guide has a significant
advantage in this regard: not only do a number of the contributors produce
questions for the exam itself (therefore being more than passingly familiar with
the style and level of difficulty required), but the CISSP exam committee was
also approached for advice and input. . . currently the best of the guides."
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I use Wilbur from www.redtree.com - it's free and fast. Last month I tried two others:
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It's curious that one side there are stories of surging economies and full employment, and on the other hand I get emails from IT professionals finding it very hard to get work, see that bargain hunters crowd car boot sales and eBay auctions, and hear of company closures every week in the news. Just a diverse economy, I guess.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1416
Kevin Donlin
of the Star Tribune provides job search advice. In his Aug 30 column he wrote: "Now, do you think you MIGHT get hired faster if you called to network with
120 people this month? I’ll answer that for you -- yes!" I referred him to
this NY times article compares that job search approach to spam, and he promised
to write soon about how to avoid that trap by not simply asking for a job over
and over.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/12/jobs/12jmar.html?ex=1089777600&en=e29396bf97a4ac87&ei=5070
"It's a lot like spam," said Diane DiResta, president of DiResta
Communications, which assists in career development. "People keep hitting up the
same contacts over and over again."
After two years of searching, Mr. Boatwright, a 41-year-old lawyer, found that this assistance came to an end. "I found that people aren't as likely to respond after a while of looking. You can only go back to the well so many times. You ask them once or twice for a referral or a favor. But when you go three or four times, people start to get a little tired of helping. It gets uncomfortable."
Many experts are baffled as to what might work for job seekers whose networks are drying up. "Sad thing to confirm, but networking has hit burnout," said Stephanie Pinson, president of the executive search firm Gilbert Tweed, in New York.
http://sysmod.com/az.php?a=0316778494&b=Move_Mount_Fuji How Would You Move Mount Fuji?: Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle by William Poundstone. rrp $15 Profiles the unique process by which Microsoft identifies its most creative employees, listing thirty-five riddles used by the company to gauge creative analytical thinking and offering advice to business leaders on how to follow Microsoft's example in order to attract top talent.
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Int. Workshop on the Foundations of Spreadsheets (FOS'04) Rome, Italy, September 30, 2004 http://eecs.oregonstate.edu/~erwig/FOS/
Martin Erwig will be leading a new workshop on Foundations of Spreadsheets as a satellite workshop at IEEE VL/HCC. The purpose of the workshop is to develop a research agenda for the future research on the foundations of spreadsheets. To facilitate the exchange of ideas, the workshop is organized into several interactive discussion sessions. Invited speakers will each provide a perspective to get the discussion going, and each participant will contribute from their views and expertise. The workshop is organized around HCI, business, programming (language), and quality aspects of spreadsheets.
Eusprig members will be participating: Pat Cleary of UWIC, Grenville Croll of Frontline Systems UK. By the way, the Eusprig horror stories page has now more than fifty entries!
To learn more about how I can help you with spreadsheet modelling, model review, testing, audit and control, see http://www.sysmod.com/spreads.htm
Recent news of fraud and expensive mistakes requiring compensation have prompted leading banks, financial institutions, manufacturing, and service industries to take a harder look at the risks they are exposed to from spreadsheet applications.
I have been involved with spreadsheets and modelling over many years. In the five years since the foundation of Eusprig, I have developed a particular expertise in detailed testing of spreadsheet models and their structural integrity. In common with other practitioners, I have found that every customer is always surprised at the defects that are uncovered.
When you are reviewing your internal controls, whether for Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) or other compliance concerns, call on me for a thorough review of your spreadsheet applications. Phone +353 55 22294 or email me .
http://sysmod.com/az.php?a=076454120X&b=Excel_Best_Practices Excel Best Practices for Business: Covers Excel 2003, 2002, and 2000 by Loren Abdulezer rrp $45. Also covers XML, spreadsheet portals, makeovers, and assistive technologies.
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Simply send your comments to FEEDBACK (at) SYSMOD (dot) COM
Thank you! Patrick O'Beirne, Editor
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http://www.economist.com/books/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3104241 How 51 Gorillas Can Make You Seriously Rich Or, why so many business books are awful. The formula seems to be: keep the sentences short, the wisdom homespun and the typography aggressive; offer lots of anecdotes, relevant or not; and put an animal in the title—gorillas, fish and purple cows are in vogue this year.
Search for "weapons of mass destruction" in Google, click "I'm feeling lucky" and you might get http://www.coxar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ "Not Found"
You've all seen the classic cartoon about software design where "what the
client really wanted" was a tyre hung from a branch. There are variations at
http://wiki.ael.be/index.php/FightingSWPatentsCartoon of which this one
amused me:
http://www.jroller.com/resources/behrangsa/software-project.jpg
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