How mobile costs can cripple your company

When you look in your briefcase or at your desk, does an iPhone stare back at you? A Droid? Apple, Google and Microsoft aren't just bringing new devices to market; they're also setting new standards for how businesses communicate. That smart device staring up at you, multiply it by hundreds of thousands; it's taking a significant financial and security toll on most large enterprises. The rules of the game have changed, and businesses will need to play offense, not defense, to stay ahead.

Most enterprise organizations today are playing defense when it comes to managing mobility costs. As a result, they are doing only a fair to poor job of tracking, managing and securing smartphone devices — and that is costing them millions. Much of that money disappears in a slow trickle that is hard to see in a glance at the books.

Bird patterns shifting with climate: birder.

New Brunswick's changing climate is causing the province's bird population to shift its patterns, according to an avid birdwatcher. David Christie of the New Brunswick Federation of Naturalists has been poring over reports from the annual Christmas bird count. More than 130 species and as many as 150,000 birds will be logged in this year's bird count, he said. Christie said the latest count, which took place at 50 locations over a three-week period, shows evidence that New Brunswick's climate is getting warmer and that it is altering bird migration patterns. "We're getting birds that are apt to stay further north and also pushing their range further northwards," Christie said. He pointed to the turkey vulture, which usually migrates south in October or November. "Some of them have been hanging back and staying further north than they normally would and so they've showed up in places like Saint John. And Hampton recorded their first ever turkey vultures on the Christmas bird count this winter. But Christie said the possibility of birds staying in new places over the winter may mean trouble. "Surviving through this December, being tough enough to do that, may not necessarily mean that you're going to be tough enough to survive the latter half of January and February," he said. The Christmas bird count is part of a wider count sponsored by the Audubon Society throughout the Americas.

In store WiFi is great for comparison shopping, but it comes with risks

This morning, Deloitte Canada released a new report that talks about one tactic retailers are taking to combat that little voice in my head. In its annual Technology,Media, and Telecommunications Predictions report, Deloitte says there's going to be a real trend towards free in-store WiFi to help customers comparison-shop. Rather than wonder about prices elsewhere, people will be able to use a smartphone or other mobile device to compare prices. It seems a bit counter-intuitive. If I run a store, why on Earth would I want to help my customers compare my prices to the competition? We've certainly heard a lot of stories recently about the dangers of unsecure, open WiFi. Activity can be monitored, and email and social networking accounts can be hijacked. All of the risks associated with open WiFi in coffee shops and airports and hotel lobbies apply to open WiFi in retail stores, too. Personally, I wouldn't do anything on a store's WiFi connection that I wouldn't want that store — or the whole world — to know about. There are risks on the retailer's side, too. Stores probably don't want customers using their WiFi to download illegal content, deface Wikipedia pages, or send threatening messages to the Prime Minister. Of course, stores can block access to certain sites and services, but this is the kind of thing that really needs to be closely monitored.

Penguins harmed by banding

For years, flipper banding has been used to tag and monitor penguin populations, but findings say that of a 10-year study could be the death of the practice. French and Norwegian researchers who studied 50 banded and 50 non-banded free-roaming king penguins on Antarctica's Possession Island say the practice impairs reproduction and reduces life-expectancy. Some previous studies concluded the metal bands had no long-term ill effects on the birds. The new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature, disputes the earlier assumption that penguins adapted to bands within a year. The researchers, led by Claire Saraux of France's University de Strasbourg, say that over the course of the study, flipper-banded penguins produced 39 per cent fewer chicks and had a 16 per cent lower survival rate. During the 10-year study, 80 per cent of the banded birds died, while only 64 per cent of the unbranded birds died, demonstrating a dramatically reduced life expectancy for those with bands. 

6 rare frogs found in Haiti

Six frogs that haven’t been seen in more than 14 years have been rediscovered in Haiti. The frogs were found in one of the remote mountains in the country’s southwest in October.  The non-profit group has been funding expeditions around the world since July to search for 100 species of amphibians that haven't been seen in more than a decade. He said the massive earthquake that struck Haiti a year ago Wednesday, killing 230,000 people and leaving 800,000 homeless, has indirectly threatened many rare amphibian species in the struggling nation. Haiti is home to 49 native species of amphibians, many of them very rare, including 15 that are found nowhere else in the world, Conservation International reports. Less than two per cent of Haiti's original forest remains, and a lot of rare frogs are confined to two small patches of just a few square mile each: Massif de la Hotte, in the country's southwest, and Massif de la Selle, in the southeast near the capital of Port-au-Prince.

Dear me in Grade 9

Dear me in the past,

I am in the future in grade 11 here to give you some help full tips. First pay attention in school so you can preform to your fullest and stay focused. 2nd friends that you have, continue to make a relationship with them and don't be afraid to be socialize with them. But don't forget about school because school always comes first, and if u stay focused in school you will have a better future. 3rd don't get into any bad habits and don't get into a position where you will get pressured into doing drugs. Lastly try out for school hockey because i love hockey and it would be really fun and you will not regret it.

sincerely, Del from the future.

In this collage i took two pictures of the school showing what it looks like in the future and continued with a picture of a graduation hat representing how school and education are important things to have and to never forget that it is always comes first. Then i put a picture of school hockey and how much fun i had and yet is did not tryout in grade 11 and i regret that so maybe by reminding me how much fun i had i might tryout in grade 11. I also put a picture of two kids playing air hockey because i love to play air hockey at my house and i am always sad when there is know one to play with me and if i had better relationship with my friends they might be around to play air hockey with me.  Lastly i did a picture saying don't do drugs because i have never had a problem with them before and i plan never to. This is just a reminder not to get involved with drugs and the future will look good and dandy.

Zeitgeist 2010: Year in Review

I am amazed at how fast this year went by, this video opened my eyes and for the firsttime i really see all the stuff i missed this year. in this video i didn't know that any of this stuff even happened. this video explains some amazing and horrible things that happened in 2010. i love how the video ends in a question on what will happen in 2011. Now i can not wait for 2011 to start and this time i will not miss anything this time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0QXB5pw2qE&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1