Booming Social Networking Means Managers Beware

The increasing use of social networks such as VGP-BPS13/Q Twitter and YouTube, as outlined in a report Monday by The Nielsen Co., means U.S. businesses should spend more time considering ways to address the issue with their employees, says one security solution provider.

Americans are spending about a quarter of their time online using social networking sites and blogs, up from 15.8 percent just a year ago (a 43 percent increase) according Nielsen.Battey VGP-BPS10 , users are spending a third of their online time (36 percent) communicating and networking across social networks, blogs, personal e-mail and instant messaging.

“Despite the almost unlimited nature of what you can do on the web, 40 VGP-BPS2A . online time is spent on just three activities – social networking, playing games and emailing leaving a whole lot of other sectors fighting for a declining share of the online pie,” Nielsen analyst Dave Martin said in a statement.

One repercussion of this phenomenon is its impact on American business, where workers are constantly tempted to access their Facebook or Twitter accounts. Managers should be aware of Sony VGP-BPS2C allure of social media on their workers and how it can have an impact their business, said Andrew Plato, president of Anitian Enterprise Security, based in Beaverton, Ore.

“It can have an impact and it does,” Plato said. Apple A1175 Battery

Managers are forced to strike a balance between maintaining productivity and maintaining security of their networks with understanding the wishes of their employees, who in some cases would like to use social media.

“Inspiron 1525 battery fact is businesses need to establish rules for acceptable use (of social media)," Plato said. "If you are a power company, it's not a good idea to allow the person in the control booth to be accessing social networks, but if you are a company with a lot of 20-year-old employees (not involved in mission-critical work), some use may be permissible," he said.

Whatever the type of business, however, "you can't allow your networks to be exposed," Plato battery .

Obama tells veterans that end of Iraq war is abo

Monday to remind an American electorate VGP-BPS13/b by war that the U.S. military effort in Iraq is about to enter its end game.

In a speech to the Disabled American Veterans national convention in Atlanta, the president said that beginning next month, the more than seven-year-old conflict will change from a battery military enterprise to a diplomatic one.

Sony VGP-BPS9/S campaigned on winding down the Iraq war, and he used his remarks to veterans, a significant portion of whom did not support him in the election, to remind voters that he is carrying out those plans largely on schedule.

"The hard truth is we have not seen the end of American sacrifice in Iraq," the president Sony VGP-BPS8 Battery the group, which received his speech politely and with occasional applause. "But make no mistake: Our commitment in Iraq is changing -- from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats."

White House officials said Obama's speech will be followed in the weeks ahead by remarks from Vice President Biden and other senior administration officials about the drawdown. Although Obama opposed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, his administration says his management of the war represents one of his most important foreign policy successes.

The U.S. combat mission in Iraq will Aspire 5920 Battery conclude at the end of the month, a milestone that comes after a steady troop pullout since Obama took office.

About 50,000 U.S. forces are scheduled to remain in Iraq after the combat mission is done. That means that by the end of August, about 94,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines will have left Iraq since Obama's inauguration.

Acer 5050 Battery departure timetable -- originally negotiated with the Iraqi government by the George W. Bush administration -- calls for all U.S. troops to leave by the end of next year.

But Iraq remains a fragile nation, and its political leadership has dell of a potential power vacuum as U.S. forces withdraw.

Iraqi politicians have not agreed on a new coalition government nearly five Vostro 1500 battery after national elections, and periodic attacks against fledgling Iraqi institutions and troops remain a threat to security.

"Obviously, we're doing what we can to help facilitate them along," White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton told reporters traveling acer the president. "But when you consider that last time it took them six months to put together the government, the fact that there's a stable transitional government in place right now is a sign that this process is working."

Dell 1700 Battery House officials billed Obama's remarks to the veterans group as a significant Iraq policy address, but a relatively small part of the roughly 20-minute speech was devoted to the subject. The president spoke most passionately about veterans benefits and received the most applause when he did.

Web 2.0 report: Agencies not going far enough

To fully take advantage of Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery technologies, government agencies must rethink their traditional attitudes about owning information and allow for sharing, interaction and collaboration with the public, according to a new report from KPMG’s Government Advisory Practice.

The Sony VGP-BPS13/Q Gov 2.0 movement involves the use of technologies such as blogs, wikis and social media that allow people to interact and engage with policy makers. But fully using those new applications requires a reengineering of existing systems, according to Mark Forman, service practice leader, government IT advisory with KPMG in the United States, and an author of the report.

To date, many agencies are using the new tools, but few are taking Battery VGP-BPS13A/B of the capabilities available in Web 2.0, Forman said in an interview.

“We have seen a lot of activity that is informal and not core to the mission,” Forman said.

In a few cases, VGP-BPS13A/Q have reengineered their systems, processes and workflow to fully allow for information sharing and collaboration. The most striking examples are NASA’s Nebula and the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Rapid Access Computing Environment program, he hpbattery .

The KPMG report, entitled “Dynamic Technologies for Smarter Government,” gives a road map to help government officials adapt Web 2.0 technologies to their needs.

The plan includes creating a collaborative operating model, rationalizing acer 5100 battery applications, arranging infrastructure to support Web 2.0 systems and leveraging and adapting culture for openness and empowerment.