"The study exposed that greater than 10% of merchants store magnetic stripe track data, essential for the illegal reproduction of credit and debit cards. Financial, hospitality, and retail industries accounted for 55% of the total unencrypted payment card data storage among businesses tested."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/c2ggvnp

"The review, published in the December issue of Nutrition Reviews, encompassed 24 controlled clinical trials, spanning the 1920s to the 1980s, on approximately 3,000 children in several countries. These trials showed that vitamin D was associated with an approximately 50 percent reduction in the incidence of tooth decay."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/bqt8685

"The Dutch government says it is planning to make it a crime for a suspect in a child sex abuse or terrorism case to refuse to help decrypt a computer when ordered to do so by prosecutors."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/cexg9km

"Facebook's active-user count is rapidly approaching one billion. The world's largest social network, which has long been a popular target for cybercriminals, will only become a more relevant outlet for scams and other fraud as it continues to grow. While the target grows, so too does the need to secure our accounts.quot;

http://preview.tinyurl.com/cmedbot

"With 30.5 miles of mountain bike routes, the Itusi Trail is the most extensive public or private mountain bike trail system in the Charlotte region"

http://preview.tinyurl.com/ctk4qq8

"It’s an interesting battle to watch, and not only because of the different companies vying for control. Technology is developing so fast that NFC may already be yesterday’s news. We’re clearly still in the learning phase, with each solution providing valuable lessons for the next. Offerings are also moving from payment only to payment + additional value.And I think that “additional value” is the key to making mobile payments work."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/c5yepx4

"The one-penny increase, to 56.5 cents, will bring a smidgen of relief to businesses and independent contractors who are coping with generally higher gasoline and diesel prices. It will be the first increase since mid-2011, when the agency upped the rate to 55.5 cents from 51 cents."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/cy4mt7z

"Microsoft has two kinds of client access licenses, or CALs. One is a "device CAL" and it covers each device, no matter how many employees use that device. This is good for companies where one PC is shared by many employees, such as a PC in a nurse's station or a warehouse. The other is a "user CAL" and it covers each employee, no matter how many devices that employee uses. This is good for companies who want to let their employees access work files and emails from home computers, tablets, and smartphones."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/br7hwyu

This article brought me back to my cycling senses...I was in bad need of this advice!

"The problem is that more often than not these bikes are being ridden on trails that don't require that level of forgiveness, and the riders aboard them have somehow convinced themselves that the opposite is true. The reality is that while some of you may go slightly slower on a shorter travel bike, I can almost guarantee that you'll have more fun."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/bvtdf9h

"SCADA software, which is used to run systems at utilities, manufacturing plants and other critical points, has become a key target recently for security researchers as well as attackers and politicians. There have been relatively few documented attacks against SCADA installations, compared to the general population of Web apps or enterprise software, but they have happened. One well-known example would be the Stuxnet worm, which targeted Siemens software installed at the Natanz enrichment facility in Iran."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/d4te7rv

Things of healthcare to come?

"A new system of “virtual clinics” is being planned in which GPs connect with patients via iPads and Skype, an idea that NHS bosses are importing from India."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/bvoko87

"Narilam spreads via USB flash drives and network shares. Once inside the system, the worm searches for SQL databases that are accessible via the Object Linking and Embedding Database (OLEDB) API. Rather than steal found target data for intelligence purposes, the worm proceeds to modify or delete the data and can, says Symantec, cause considerable damage. Stuxnet similarly served no intelligence purpose and was designed to sabotage its target – an uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/d99tknm

"Networking giant Cisco has announced plans to purchase a company called Meraki for $1.2 billion in cash and retention incentives. Meraki makes Wi-Fi networking technology that appeals to many small to mid-size enterprises."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/cl4g3jz

"The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will likely be the next government agency to abandon RIM's BlackBerry platform. The agency wants to replace its aging BlackBerry smartphones with iPhones."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/czmcxch

"The Volt is, in many ways, a natural fit for hacker car enthusiasts. GM already heavily "gamifies" the Volt with its Driver Information Center, a dashboard display providing immediate visual feedback on how efficiently the car is being driven. The car is also heavily instrumented for OnStar, which gives drivers access to performance information and other data through its RemoteLink mobile app for iOS and Android."

http://preview.tinyurl.com/cvqgm2g