How to survive and prosper in business in 2010

WORRIED about how to survive the year ahead at work? Management consultant Tom Peters has drawn up a long list of ways to prosper in 2010.

You work longer.

You work harder.

You may well work for less; and if so, you adapt to the untoward circumstances with a smile – even if it kills you inside.

You volunteer to do more.

You always bring a good attitude to work.

You fake it if your good attitude flags. You literally practise your “game face” in the mirror in the morning, and in the loo mid-morning.

You shrug off shit that flows downhill in your direction – buy a shovel or a “pre-worn” raincoat on eBay

You get there earlier.

You leave later.

You forget about “the good old days” – nostalgia is for wimps.

You buck yourself up with the thought that “this too shall pass”—but then remind yourself that it might not pass anytime soon, so you re-dedicate yourself , to making the absolute best of what you have now.

You eschew all forms of personal excess.

You simplify.

You sweat the details as you never have before. .

You raise to the sky the standards of excellence by which you evaluate your own performance.

You thank others by the truckload if good things happen - and take the heat yourself if bad things happen

You behave kindly, but you don’t sugarcoat or hide the truth – humans are startlingly resilient.

You treat small successes as if they were Superbowl victories - and celebrate and commend accordingly.

You shrug off the losses (ignoring what’s going on inside your tummy), and get back on the horse and try again.

You avoid negative people to the extent you can – pollution kills.

You eventually read the doom-sprayers the riot act.

You network like a demon

You help others with their issues

You give new meaning to the word “thoughtful.”

You redouble, re-triple your “ efforts to walk in your customer’s shoes. .. (Especially if those shoes smell.)

You mind your manners – and accept others’ lack of manners in the face of their strains.
You are kind to all mankind

You leave the blame game at the office door

You become a paragon of accountability

And then you pray.

Copied from the Business Section if the
Irish Independent Thursday 17^th Decemebr 2009

For more good stuff from Tom Peters visit his blog

Brendan Palmer MBA

CC

Time to transform school into a place where kids go to learn, not to power down

It was the flamboyant New York publisher Malcolm Forbes who once said that education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.

It is clear to anyone who appreciates the impact of today’s digital revolution that the days of kids learning by rote are over. The textbook as we know it has a limited future. Today’s kids are digital natives who converse on mobile phones, social networks and video games and go to school to power down. The responsibility of educators is keeping their young minds engaged, challenged … and open.

Great expectations
The kids who will be tomorrow’s workforce are expected to be digitally literate, adept at sciences and maths, equipped with critical-thinking skills and with the ability to cut their way through oceans of data. Failing to equip our young with these abilities is effectively failing the economy of tomorrow.

While this country flourished in the good times, barely a dime went into putting 21st-century IT resources into Irish schools. A €254m investment unveiled two years ago never materialised.

The €150m announced by the Taoiseach in recent weeks to put a laptop into the hands of every teacher as well as a digital projector in every classroom is the very foundation that is required and a brave decision in these difficult times. But it must also be remembered that this is just the start.

The content and technology must get into the hands of students in the classroom to unlock young minds, better equip teachers facing crowded classrooms and ensure that struggling students aren’t left behind.

Irish development
It is ironic therefore that while Irish classrooms lack digital tools, the very technologies that are changing the educational experience among millions of students in leading economies such as the US are being developed here in Ireland.

The above is an extract from an article in Silicon Republic See full article here

Computers for Irish Schools, takes computers which are not quite ready for the recycling bin and donates them to local schools

To get involved go to www.cfis.ie

World's first residential test of smart fridges

As world leaders gather in Copenhagen to agree new global targets for CO2 emissions, in Britain, the humble fridge freezer is ready to step up and play its part in saving the planet by reducing the UK's CO2 emissions by 2 million tonnes per year and saving £220 million in grid balancing costs.

Three of Europe's most innovative companies - white goods manufacturerIndesit Company, energy supplier npower and RLtec, the smart grid technology company - are ready to begin a UK trial of fridges fitted with grid-balancing technology.

The dynamic demand technology, developed by RLtec and Indesit research teams, helps to maintain the balance between supply and demand across the national electricity grid. From this month and through 2010, up to 3,000 UK npower customers will be supplied with Indesit Company dynamic demand fridges and fridge freezers - free of charge - in what will be world's first residential test of the technology.

Dynamic demand is approved as a Demonstration Action by Ofgem under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) legislation and this initiative will contribute towards npower's carbon reduction obligations.

Indesit, one of the largest appliance manufacturers in Europe, is the design and production partner for the project. Each fridge will be monitored in real time by a data collection system, which will feed back to researchers all the information needed to assess the potential carbon emission reduction which the system could provide in an everyday environment.

Following the initial roll-out of 300, a total of up to 3,000 Indesit fridges and freezers of different types and models will be deployed so that the carbon savings from dynamic demand can be assessed and calculated against a full range of different products.

Andrew Howe, CEO of RLtec, explains - "Appliances fitted with our dynamic demand technology automatically modify their power consumption in response to second-by-second changes in the balance between supply and demand on the grid. This means that the amount of carbon-emitting generating capacity used to maintain that balance can be dramatically reduced. What's more, it's effectively a silent solution, as it doesn't affect appliance performance in any way and no action is needed on the part of the consumer.

"We are really pleased to have Indesit as the manufacturing and design partner and are delighted that npower have chosen to use dynamic demand to meet its CERT obligations," added Howe.

Bob Jackson, Acting Head of Energy Efficiency at npower, said - "Dynamic demand has the potential to reduce the amount of carbon emissions significantly - so, these trials with domestic customers are very important and we hope they will show the impact that this technology could have in the UK and around the world."

Adriano Mencarini, Indesit Company Innovation & Digital Design Director, said - "We are delighted to be involved in this project and to play a pioneering role in the world of smart grids. The efforts of our highly specialised research team - working in partnership with RLtec in the UK and Italy - has allowed us to develop a very new approach to energy saving. We have a long history of innovation and our strong environmental credentials have won numerous awards over the years. It is, therefore, extremely important to us as a business to be involved in a project which will, potentially, have a positive impact on energy consumption and the environment and I very much look forward to seeing the first results early next year."

To view a video associated with the launch - Click Here

Does Your Laptop Call It Quits Before You Do?

Keeping your laptop up and running without the benefit of an outlet requires smart, effective use of your battery’s energy. Whether it’s a long flight or an afternoon in the park, knowing what’s draining your computer’s energy can help you get through―with runtime to spare. Here are a few things you can do to make sure your laptop doesn’t power down before you’re ready to call it quits.

1. Dimmer lasts longer
   Turning down the brightness on your screen is an easy way to squeeze some more juice out of your battery. See how dim you can get your LCD without squinting, keeping in mind that every squint is gaining you uptime.
2. Unplug unnecessary devices
   Unplugging unnecessary external devices will save your energy from wandering down a dead end street. Even when not in use, anything plugged into a USB port―such as a mouse or an external keyboard―uses energy just sitting there, and that power can add up quickly, especially when speaking in terms of multiple devices.
3. Minimize running programs
   Shut down any applications not integral to what you’re working on. This means anything running in the background, from toolbar search engines to music programs and Web pages. Even having an unused CD in the drive uses energy.
4. Keep it cool
   Making sure your laptop stays cool will help it run more efficiently―and efficiency is the name of the game when it comes to extending battery life. Check the air vents to make sure they’re not obstructed, and consider buying a laptop stand so it doesn’t have to sit directly on your lap.
5. Hibernate, not standby
   Keeping your laptop on standby is convenient, but its convenience comes at a steep price compared with the hibernate function, which uses far less of your laptop’s precious resources.

Source: American Power Corporation (APC) on Techcentral Weekly

Do you know where your old computer ends up?

When disposing of, or donating, old IT equipment, do you confirm that your service provider is licensed to process waste electronics and that your responsibilities under the EU WEEE Directive are being looked after properly

See what can happen if you don't here

Environment Agency cracks down on 'Waste Tourists'

The UK Environment Agency is heading up the global crime team that is working with Interpol to track the links between organised crime, the illegal export of electrical waste and 'waste tourists' - those who visit a country posing as tourists with the intention of organising shady waste deals.

During their visit the 'waste tourist' will get one or more containers filled with waste and arrange for export. Their typically short stay makes it very difficult to bring them to justice.

EA chairman Lord Chris Smith said: "Investigations have found that each year thousands of tonnes of waste electrical equipment are shipped from Europe and America to developing countries to be stripped down - often by children under appalling conditions - to extract valuable metals such as gold, copper and aluminium.

"This is unacceptable. It is essential that we work with our counterparts in other countries to share intelligence and stamp out the growing problem of illegal waste exports.

"The group's aim is to tackle an international problem with an international response.

The Environment Agency-led Interpol Global Crime Group initiative won the praise of both the US and Canadian Governments during recent international meetings.

Lord Smith together with Chief Executive Paul Leinster met with US EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and her officials in Washington last week to discuss key global issues such as climate change, waste and water resources.

The two organisations will work closely on intelligence-led illegal waste operations in the future.

Reproduced from

http://www.edie.net/news/

Mary meets Jane for a coffee

Jimmy and Mary are in trouble, some months ago they illegally tried to bring their small business computers to a civic amenity site for disposal. The story so far can be found in Episode 1 and Episode 2

“Hello”
“Hi Jane, It’s Mary McGuire”
“Mary, how are you, it’s been ages, I thought you had decided to ignore us, now that you’re in the big house on the hill”
“I know Jane, I’m sorry, I’ve been busy with the business and Jimmy and all but, I could do with meeting for a chat”
“Yeah, no problem Mary, my fellah’s away playing golf this week so, while the cats away”
“It’s not that kind of stuff Jane, the business is going through a hard time and I just need to talk to someone”
OK, what about MOONDO’S for a coffee tomorrow about 10:30?”
“Yeah , that sounds great, thanks, I’ll see you then”

“Hiya Mary, Jeez, you look fantastic, must be all that money you an’ Jimmy are makin’. Easy livin’ whah?”
“Don’t talk to me Jane, you’ve no idea”
“Ah! Mary, you really are down in the mouth, what’s the story?”
“I don’t know Jane, everything was going great, Jimmy was busy with the van, we bought the new house, had a great holiday last year and we were talking about having a baby”
“So what happened, sounds like it’s all gone pear shaped”
“Well, everything was fine until Jimmy bought a new laptop”
“Mary, I may not be the smartest thing around computers but buying a laptop is not supposed to ruin your life”
“No the laptop’s fine and really makes managing the business much easier”
“So what’s the problem”
“Well, when we got the laptop we had two old PCs in the office, one we were using for the current business and an old one that had been lying around for years. I rang a company called Electronic Recycling and I spoke to a really nice girl, who gave me a price to recycle them properly, including wiping any old information off them”
“So were they goin’ to charge you an arm and a leg or somethin’”
“No Jane, it was only about €45 if we dropped them off”
“So what’s the problem Mary, that’s hardly goin’ to break the bank”
“Well, Jimmy decided, with his usual save money attitude, to bring them to a Civic Amenity site and pretend that they were just some old home PCs for recycling, you’re not supposed to do this if you are a business”
“OK, so Jimmy’s a cheapskate, saves a few bob, hardly the end of the world”
“The Civic Amenity site was closed, we went for a Pizza and when we came back to the car, it had been broken into and the computers were stolen”
“So problem solved Mary”
“Yeah, so we thought”
“OK, sounds like problem not solved then”
“No, the short version is that whoever took the computers found our bank account details and cleared out our accounts”
“Jayzus Mary, you‘re jokin’, I hope you boxed the ears off Jimmy McGuire for that”
“Well, I did give him a lot of grief but that wasn’t the end of it”
“I don’t know if I want to hear any more, but go on anyway”
“ Some other information from the computer was used and a customer of Jimmy’s boss lost a huge contract”
“ So Jimmy’s boss is pissed off, it wouldn’t be the first time a boss is pissed off with someone, you still sound like it’s the end of the world”
“Well, when I say Jimmy’s boss, I just mean that he calls the shots, Jimmy owns his own van and works for him as a subcontractor”
“Oh no, so Jimmy gets no more work”
“Yeah ,that too, Jimmy’s had no work for weeks”
“That too, you mean there’s more?”
“Yeah, the worst part is, the company who lost the contract are suing Jimmy for €100,000, we might have to sell the house”
“Come on Mary, they can’t sell your house”
“Well Jimmy already had to sell my car to pay the first part of the legal fees and the court case is coming up in October”
“He sold your car!! and he’s still walkin’ around?” enough of this already, your doin’ me head in, let’s talk about something else”
“You’re right Jane and thanks for listening, I just needed to tell someone”
“What are friends for Mary?”
“ Anyway, as I told you my fellah’s away for the week and me and a few of the other girls are going into town on Wednesday for a bit of craic. Why don’t you come along?, it’ll take your mind off things”
“Oh I don’t know Jane, I’m up the walls about this thing”
“Listen, a bit of fun will do you the world of good, we’re goin’ to the Meridian, a few drinks, a bit of dancin’ and there’s always a few good lookin’ fellahs around the place”
“Jane, I’ve had it up to here with men right now but maybe a drink or two and a bit of dancing would be good”
“OK, that’s settled then, were meeting in the bar at 7:30”
“OK, and thanks a million for listening, I feel better already and you know what, I have been so busy wrapped up in my stuff, I forgot to say how fabulous your hair looks, who did it for you?”
“His name is Tony, he’s real cute, he works in Valentino’s and I think he will be in the Meridian on Wednesday”
“Enough already Jane, I’ll see you on Wednesday, Byee”
“Bye Mary, see ye Wednesday”

See our story on data security here

Laptops for all students produces a stunning grade boost at school

By Katherine Donnelly Irish Independent Monday October 19 2009
A SCHOOL has recorded stunning improvements in exam results and attendance levels among pupils after they were given their own laptops.

A big turnaround in student engagement has been tracked since a ground-breaking technology project was introduced four years ago in the school, which is in an area of serious disadvantage.

The 500-pupil St Aidan's Community School, Brookfield, Tallaght, Co Dublin, had some of the highest levels of student absence in the country.

The results underline the value of computers in schools as Ireland languishes close to the bottom of the world league when it comes to technology in the classroom

A 2006 survey found that one in three Irish 15-year-olds hadn't used a computer in school, twice the average in the rest of the developed world.

St Aidan's principal Frank Moran said the laptop programme could not take all the credit for the impressive changes at the school in recent years, but it was a factor.

Four years ago, the first laptops arrived in the co-educational school thanks to South Dublin Co Council's Connect initiative, aimed at embedding technology in the community.

The change in attendance statistics at St Aidan's between 2004/05 and 2008/09 is startling:
• Days lost through student absence fell from more than 9,000 a year to less than 4,000.
• The number of students absent for 20 days or more halved from almost 200 to below 100.
• The number of students suspended in a year fell from almost 70 to about 40.

Connect is being phased in, with each first-year pupil given a laptop -- which they retain throughout their schooling -- while teachers have embraced a professional development programme to bring them up to speed with how to use technology in the classroom. Part of every class is now devoted to teaching and learning how to use the technology and, from second year on, the pupils are allowed to bring the laptops home and use them for project work.

The first cohort of pupils to receive a laptop sat the Junior Cert this year and Mr Moran said there had been a significant improvement in results, most particularly among weaker students.
Factor

Mr Moran said it was hard to say that the changes could be attributed exclusively to the Connect initiative, but it had been a factor in student attendance, student engagement and in making St Aidan's a school of choice in the area.

However, he said that the school had also been working hard in recent years on its disciplinary policy and on building relationships with parents and the community. Connect has transformed the learning experience for pupils, he said.

"You can imagine teaching art or classical studies and not just reading boring text, but being able to go on a virtual tour of an art gallery or visit a classical city like Ephesus," he explained.

A number of high achieving older students -- whose entry to the school pre-dated the phasing in of Connect -- were also given laptops one of whom, this year, became the first St Aidan's pupil to enter medical school.

As well as the county council, other partners in the project were the Department of Education, the Institute of Technology Tallaght, Dublin West Education Centre and the National Centre for Technology in Education. The school is showcasing its technological skills to other teachers and students tomorrow.

Katherine Donnelly
Irish Independent

Computers for Irish Schools: Takes computers, which are not quite ready fo rthe recycling bin and donates them to local schools in Ireland.If you are thinking of recycling some old IT equipment logon to http://www.cfis.ie/ or call Bryan at 01 864 2773

A New Arrival at Electronic Recycling

A big welcome to our new Ulster U45 Shredder, which will enable us to process larger volumes of equipment at faster speeds and provide an even more secure hard drive destruction service to our clients



The new shredder was purchased to replace our older single shaft shredder, which was originallypurchased to shred high value printed circuit boards and struggled with any sort of volume of hard drives.


The ultimate security method for making certain that your valuable or sensitive data is destroyed is for the total destruction of the hard drive. The end product is then sent to our smelting partners where the various metals are recovered for reuse



In previous BLOGS we haveconstantly emphasised the importance of data security and as the amount of data stored electronically grows by the day, it is more important than ever to make certain that your valuable informationdoes not fall into the wrong hands.



Managing and protecting sensitive data is very important and companies need to be extremely careful when disposing of IT equipment that contains sensitive data. There are many reports of computers, with their hard drives intact, being found in open markets around the world or on eBay and there is also a market for used data tapes. Deleting files or even reformatting a hard drive does not remove the information, as this can be restored using readily available software.

See our full blog article on Data security here

www.electronic-recycling.ie

Tiny storage devices pose biggest data security risk

Companies need to be aware of how easily sensitive data can be stolen by employees wielding high-capacity USB devices, writes KARLIN LILLINGTON in the Irish Times.

THE BIGGEST risk to your company may be no larger than your thumb. With high-capacity storage devices such as USB thumb drives small enough to fit into the tiniest pocket, companies need to be aware of how easily sensitive company data can go walking, according to a leading Irish forensic investigDator.

Recent data theft court cases, including the just-settled Green Isle Foods suit in which four employees were accused of removing sensitive data on a USB drive, underline how difficult it can be to know exactly where data is going, says Andy Harbison, director and IT forensic lead in accountancy firm Grant Thornton's forensic and investigative services unit.

Harbison says the most common method of removing company data - a practice he says is "rife" in Irish businesses - is by a USB "key" or "thumb" drive, or by similar small storage devices, including iPods.

The use of iPods and other MP3 music players - which are essentially portable hard drives - has become so common in data theft cases that the phenomenon is now referred to as "podding".

"We had one of those cases last year," says Harbison. "A bunch of stuff put on a [ iPod] Nano."

He believes firms do not usually notice when data theft is taking place and, as it is easy to do, "could be more the norm than not". Data theft tends to be a white-collar, professional crime that takes place in standard situations. "There are particular times when people commit data theft, for example, when they are browned off at work, or when they are about to leave the company," Harbison says.

The data often stolen is used as the basis for a new job or company, or for the next project for the person or group stealing it.

For example, Harbison points to a case in Ireland where a software development consultancy stole the software it was working on for a client as the basis for a pitch for new clients.

Fortunately, the perpetrators e-mailed each other discussing their plans to steal the software, making it easy to convict them, he says.

In another case, a group of managers took sensitive intellectual property from a company for which they were working for a full six months before they planned to leave.

A common item to steal is client lists, in preparation for setting up a competing company.

Sometimes people take personal data on others, out of "prurient interest".

Thumb drives featured in several of these cases and are so common and cheap that they have become ubiquitous in offices, says Harbison. And while they are extremely useful, they are a nightmare for fraud investigators. "These things are an unqualified menace," argues Harbison.

"They were only invented in 2000 or so, and at first only held eight megabytes of data. But now you can get them up to 256 gigabytes. You forget how much data can be stored on these things."

A single gigabyte is enough to hold the print equivalent of a 100m shelf of books, he notes.

Most companies lack policies for managing storage devices, according to Harbison, with only the largest companies generally having a comprehensive security approach to what employees can bring in, attach to work PCs, and carry out the door again.

Even digital cameras can be used for transferring files on to memory cards.

Webmail - which is effectively a storage medium on the internet directly connected to company PCs - is also a potential security hazard, and businesses need to weigh up the usefulness of having such accounts with the potential for abuse.

Harbison recently had a case where an employee was transferring sensitive private data from the company to her webmail account, but investigators were able to trace the activity from the cache (memory) of webpages left on her web browser.

If forensic investigators can get hold of the storage devices or computers used to commit fraud, it is not generally too difficult to compile enough evidence to convict the perpetrators, says Harbison.

Traces of information from the originating computer are transferred with files to thumb drives and other storage devices, and information is often left in browser caches.

It is also still extremely difficult to wipe the files from hard drives completely - even for the adept thief.

Forensic investigators can pull residual information from a drive even if it has been wiped half a dozen times.

The problem is catching the thieves in the first place, especially when they know what they are doing with computers.

"About half the cases I do are IT guys, because they have the keys to the kingdom," says Harbison.

"They have the knowledge, the liberty, and the privilege to access data. A manager and [ IT administrator] working together are the most damaging cases, as they can get access to just about everything. With the IT guy - give him admin privileges and the next thing, he's raiding the chief executive's e-mail."

He says it is best to have IT administrators "completely ignorant about everything else that is going on in a company", and to never allow a personal storage device on to a company network.

Harbison, who previously headed up the IT forensics units at Ernst & Young and Deloitte in Ireland, says he enjoys the challenge of unearthing evidence.

"It's a puzzle and a game," he says, adding that only one drive has totally defeated him, although a recent IT specialist in Cork almost got away too after he carefully destroyed evidence. A mix of circumstantial and primary evidence did him in, however.

About one-third of cases now display some attempt to destroy evidence. "It's because of bloody CSI on TV!" Harbison laments.

"It's become a major headache for us, because people expect a forensic investigation and know more about what we are able to do."

Link to the article in the Irish Times Here

********************************************************************

http://www.electronic-recycling.ie/

TENS of thousands of Irish students are being left behind in the digital revolution

Extract from an Irish Independent article on Monday 10th August 2009

TENS of thousands of Irish students are being left behind in the digital revolution, and are losing out on skills to score the top jobs of the future, according to a confidential new report.

Years of under-investment has meant that Ireland has been "leapfrogged" by other countries as young people face a new era of fierce global competition for hi-tech jobs.

Surveys have already shown that much of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) equipment in Irish schools is years old.

The report recommends
At least one laptop in every classroom, starting in infant and first-year primary school classes from this year.
Five desktop computers in every classroom, starting in 2010.
A Virtual Learning Environment network set up in the coming academic year at a cost of €5m.
Teacher training at the core of an investment plan for ICT integration in schools.

At the moment, usage of computers in Irish schools falls well below the EU average. And Ireland ranks at the very bottom in Europe when it comes to teachers' satisfaction with ICT infrastructure in schools.

See the full article here


Computers for Irish Schools was set up in 2008 to route computers, which are not quite ready for the recycling bin, to Irish Schools. If you are disposing of office IT equipment contact http://www.cfis.ie/ to see if some of that equipment is suitable for the program and can be donated to your local school

The e-Steward Standard is finished

The Basel Action Network is pleased to announce the solution to one of the most serious toxic waste issues of our time:

The e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment®

The Standard is the result of long collaboration between the environmental community and leaders in the recycling, auditing, occupational health, data security, and manufacturing industries as well as from the accredited third party certification industry. It is the standard that will be applied in the e-Stewards third party audited, accredited certification for electronics recyclers that will be begin in early 2010.

Two documents are now available:

The complete e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment (which contains the entire ISO 14001 standard) that serves as the basis for official certifications. Our use of ISO proprietary language and our licensing of it from ANSI requires a purchase price. To purchase, click here to go to the purchase page, where you will see a "Buy Now" button. Or, send a check for $125 dollars payable to The Basel Action Network, 122 South Jackson Street, Suite 320, Seattle, WA, 98104, along with an email address and we will send you a PDF copy.

An excerpted version of the complete Standard, which contains all the industry-specific e-Stewards performance requirements, but only summarizes the ISO requirements. This version may not be used for the purposes of certification. The purpose of this excerpted document is to provide access to information about the specific e-Stewards requirements that are built into the ISO requirements for an environmental management system. This version is available at no cost and can be freely distributed. Click here to download.

See www.e-Stewards.org for more information.

Electronic Recycling processes all Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) to the highest environmental standards using the best available technology
http://www.electronic-recycling.ie/

Brazil Waste: Shipping company to bring it back

Original story from Tiffany Holland: MRW 22 July 2009

The shipping company, which originally took the illegally exported UK waste over to Brazil will pay the cost of returning it to the UK, the Environment Agency has said.

Environment Agency head of waste and resource management Liz Parkes told MRW: “At the moment the waste, is under the control of the Brazilian authorities and we need to bring it back legally, which takes time. When all the paperwork concerning the waste is filled in and the Brazilian authorities have agreed to it we can ship it back to the UK.

“The shipping company that took it out there will be paying for it to be shipped back in the repatriation of the waste.”

It is believed that once Brazil has released the waste, it will take around six weeks to reach the UK.

As the EA investigates the situation, the real number of containers of illegally exported waste found in Brazil is not yet known. Initially, the EA was notified of two containers, but it seems a series of illegally exported shipments were made under the guise of plastic for recycling and the number of containers could now reach up to100.

Media reports have suggested that two Swindon companies are responsible for the shipments to Brazil, Parks was unable to comment on this.

Parkes said: “The EA already does a lot of work in this area by checking where waste is going and the quality of the waste. We have been pleased with our progress as there seems to be a much higher awareness now over material quality, so it is very disappointing that we have this fairly serious issue occurring still. It is also disappointing if it were to undermine public confidence in recycling.”

According to Parkes, regulations regarding waste movement have only recently been reviewed with tighter and tougher controls. However, there are difficulties policing certain waste such as Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment, as it is perfectly legal to export second-hand working electronics. However end-of-life broken electrical equipment is subject to export controls.

Parkes added: “I think the answer with waste in general is to ensure the markets are working properly and the right procedures are in place. It is up to all of us to sort waste properly.”

If those responsible for exporting waste to Brazil are taken to Crown Court they could be subject to unlimited fines and custodial sentences. If taken to a magistrates court, a £20,000 fine and two years in prison is the maximum punishment.

Sixty-four containers of hazardous waste were found on 17 July at three Brazilian ports (see MRW story). It was reported that this waste contained syringes, condoms, packs of blood and WEEE, although the EA could not comment on this

Electronic Recycling recyles all types of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) to the highest standards using the best available technology
www.electronic-recycling.ie
AGT Technology Ireland, converting waste plastics to energy
www.agt-technology.ie

Householders Waste €35m of energy on "Standby"

Irish consumers are wasting up to €35 million worth of energy annually by leaving appliances on standby when not in use.

TVs, DVD players, stereos, computers and microwaves are consuming vast amounts of energy when they are not fully turned-off - and leaving them on is costing the average household up to €40 annually.

Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) has revealed that appliances left on standby are wasting 30 watts of electricity every hour - which, over a year, equates to the same amount of energy as 220 loads in the washing machine.

Households can also save cash by cutting down their use of appliances. The cost of operating appliances can vary from €116 a year for a dishwasher, to €90 for a fridge freezer. Hairdryers can cost around €18 a year, while a hair straightener sets a household back around €30 a year.
A blender costs an average of €9 a year to run, while a carving knife costs around €3.20 a year to operate if used for one hour every month.

Research conducted by consumer website - saveafewbob.ie - found that the cost of monthly gas and electricity bills is a major concern among Irish consumers, especially those with young families. Managing director of saveafewbob.ie, Niall McHenry said - "I have no doubt that consumers could save hundreds of euro each year on their electricity bills and also cut back significantly on their gas bills."

A spokesman for the ESB said it is impossible to estimate how much the average household spends on the use of appliances each year, but added that the average electricity bill has dropped by €15 over the last 12 months to €140.

An SEI spokesman said - "When buying appliances, look for the energy label and choose the most efficient one which suits your needs and your budget - and then make sure you use it efficiently."
SEI estimates that buying energy efficient appliances could save households up to €100 a year. It said simple measures such as switching-off lights when you’re not in the room, turning the thermostat down by one degree and closing doors and windows to prevent heat loss, could mean big savings for householders.

Figures from SEI show that, over the past 20 years, there has been an increase of more than 1,200% in the number of homes with a microwave, while there has been an increase of 559% in the number of homes with a dishwasher. Also the number of homes with two or more TVs has risen by 248%.

Irish householders use 27% more energy per dwelling than Britain and we stand at 36% over the EU average.

If it plugs in or has a battery, we can recycle it
http://www.electronic-recycling.ie/
Click to visit Computers for Irish Schools
http://www.computersforschools.ie/

Jimmy and Mary get sued

Last month Jimmy and Mary decided not to pay Electronic Recycling to have their small business computers disposed of in a compliant manner. Instead they tried to bring them to a civic amenity site, which are only for use by private individuals, but the CA site was closed. While they had something to eat, their car was broken into and the computers were stolen. Subsequently €12,000 was taken from their bank accounts.
Jimmy’s problems did not end there and some weeks later, his phone rings........

“Hi Mary, what’s up?”
“Jimmy, we just got a registered letter from Crachet and Quiver Solicitors”
“Yeah, what’s it about?”
“Jimmy, we’re being sued for a hundred thousand euro!!”
“What”
“It’s something to do with information taken from a computer they say is ours”
“What do you mean, who is it that’s suing us?”
“It says they’re called Bragg Civil Engineering”
“Why are they suing us Mary? They’re a customer of Mick Fuller, the builder I do work for with the van”
“Jimmy, they’re suing Mick as well, you better come home and read this”


“There you are Jimmy, what took you so long?”
“I got here as fast as I could, where’s that letter?”
“Here it is Jimmy, I’m sick since I read it”
“Calm down Mary, it can’t be that bad”
“Jimmy, we don’t have a hundred thousand euro, we’d have to sell the house”
“Don’t be silly Mary, nobody is selling the house”
“Don’t call me silly Jimmy, you’re the one that lost the computers”
“I didn’t lose them, they were stolen”
“Well they wouldn’t have been stolen if you weren’t trying to be a smart Alec and save a few euro”
“Listen, we’ll talk about it later, I’m going to see the lawyer”

“Good afternoon Mr. McGuire, you’re here to see John DeFixor, he will be with you in a few minutes”
“Good afternoon Jimmy, come in, come in, have a seat”
“Thanks Mr. DeFixor”
“What can I do for you?”
“I got this registered letter this morning, I’m being sued for a hundred thousand euro because of some information that was on a computer that was stolen from my car”
“Let me have a look”
“Well Jimmy, this does look serious, I’ll need to study it and make some calls to the other side, can you leave it with me and I’ll give you a call later?”
“OK, thanks Mr. DeFixor”

“Yeah, Hello Jimmy McGuire here”
“Hi Jimmy, John DeFixor here, can you talk?”
“Yeah, go ahead”
“Well Jimmy, it looks like you have a problem here, apparently Bragg Civil Engineering lost out on a major tender because of an information leak and when they traced the leak, it came from a hard drive which was bought on eBay, which was then traced to a computer last owned by you, which I assume is one of the computers stolen from your car”
“What does this mean Mr DeFixor?”
“Well Jimmy you will have to defend this or else they will get a judgement against you for a hundred thousand euro”
“How much will that cost?”
“I don’t know Jimmy but it is in the High Court so you could be looking at about thirty thousand euro “
“Thirty thousand!! I don’t have thirty thousand euro”
“Listen Jimmy, if you drop into me with five thousand euro, I will start the defence ball rolling, that will delay things for a while and we can figure out the costs later”
“OK Mr DeFixor, thanks, I will have to see where I can get five thousand euro, I’ve already lost twelve grand because of those stupid computers”

“Well Jimmy, how did it go?”
“Not good Mary, I need to get five grand to the lawyer to defend the case”
“Where are you going to get five grand? Our bank account were already cleared out”
“We’ll have to sell your car Mary”
“My car! You’re not selling my car”
“We’ll have to Mary, I need the van for work and we don’t have anything else worth five grand”
“I never forgive you for this Jimmy McGuire - will the five grand fix the problem?”
“I don’t know Mary, it only starts the defence, I won’t know until next month”
“You and you’re trying to save money Jimmy McGuire, why didn’t you bring those computers to Electronic Recycling?”
“I know Mary, I know”

Next Month. Jimmy goes to Court...................

A Treasure Trove For Hackers

From the Irish Times on Friday 3rd July 2009

NUMEROUS LAPTOP thefts have highlighted poor corporate security practices and privacy protection in recent months. Companies however may be overlooking a source of potentially serious data leaks: employees who work at home, writes KARLIN LILLINGTON
Forensics experts at the Dublin office of consultancy Ernst & Young have found evidence that prominent companies in Ireland are allowing home-based employees to download sensitive company and client data to their personal computers.

Second-hand computer hard drives containing sensitive information - including hundreds of customer bank, Laser and credit-card account details, car registration information, staff PPS numbers, internal corporate information and e-mail details - were purchased on Irish auction website eBay.ie from owners who, in most cases, had not even bothered to erase the drives.
With forensic tools, the data could be accessed easily - even when the drive was erased.
In addition to exposing their employers to litigation, and customers and employees to potential fraudulent use of their data, the failure of employees to protect such data is a violation of European data protection legislation.

Pat Moran, a partner at Ernst & Young's Dublin office, says: "We found very sensitive corporate information about customers, transaction levels and volumes, company and personal e-mails, customer lists and, in one case, a plan for the technical architecture of the company's network." .
The network plan could have given hackers easy access to the corporate network of the company.
For the investigation, several drives were bought on eBay's Irish website from random individual owners for as little as €5.

"The purpose was to analyse what type of documents might be found on second-hand computers," says Moran.

He says it was obvious who the employers of the computer sellers were, based on the data on their PCs and laptops. The employers include well-known companies in the utility and financial services industries here, he says.

"Some of the information belonged to some of our own clients as well, and we had to tell them we had found it," he says.

Basic forensics programs were able to retrieve data even when owners believed they had erased the hard drives. Many home PC owners are unaware that safely erasing drives involves more than just reformatting or erasing the drive using inbuilt tools provided on home PCs, Moran says.
Corporate computer drives are generally cleaned numerous times with an industrial-strength erasing tool before PCs or drives are sold on.

"It proved to us that we could see a common thread: people remotely working from home and forgetting when changing the home PC that they have quite a bit of work material on it," Moran adds.

Proper security would require that work information only be allowed out in an encrypted form to PCs and laptops provided by the firm. Unauthorised computers should be unable to access any corporate files from the company network, especially sensitive client data.
Moran says his forensics unit has also noticed increasing levels of fraudulent breaches of company phone exchanges (PBXs).

In one case, an Irish company's PBX was hacked and the breach was only discovered when its monthly phone bill spiked from €10,000 to €60,000.

"Hackers were using the PBX to make calls into Cuba. They were selling time on that network to Cubans," he says.

The hackers themselves were using a North American-based server for the breach.

"The trend we're seeing for this type of fraud is that hackers look for bank-holiday weekends - long stretches when no one is likely to notice unusual activity on the network," says Moran.
In the Cuban case, the security was also poor for the PBX, a digital network running on the company's internet connection. Rather than place a firewall in front of the PBX and the internet connection, the firewall only protected the company's internet access and hackers gained access easily.

Another problem - and one Moran flags as a growing issue - was that the company had outsourced its PBX management and the management company failed to notice the odd traffic patterns for three weeks.

Moran says that too often, security is an afterthought when information systems departments are under pressure to meet project deadlines. Also, many IT specialists do not realise where the security "back doors" are. "However, when you have those IT breaches, privacy breaches and laptop thefts, it's not the IT security guy that's on TV with a microphone under his chin - it's the chief executive."

Moran says the solution is better corporate governance and better security awareness at management and board level. For example, it is not good enough that managers say they have implemented security requirements such as laptop encryption - someone needs to verify this has been done.

In addition, Moran believes a national disclosure law of the sort now standard in the US would be helpful. In most US states, companies must report any IT security breach involving personal information. "We've tried the carrot. Now we're moving more towards the stick," he says.
Data discovery: disks sold on eBay

Of eight disks purchased on eBay, only three had been erased by the owner. Typical of what was found on the disks:

A brand-name online payments company (disk purchased for €5.79 including P&P). Information recovered:

• Technical files relating to a popular bill payment solution which included technical specification documents and consultancy firm reports in relation to the bill payment solution;
• PPS numbers of staff and customers;
• Hundreds of customer bank account numbers and sort codes;
• Hundreds of Laser card numbers and expiry dates;
• Hundreds of credit card numbers and names;
• Significant amount of e-mails detailing customer data;
• Internal corporate information, staff details etc.

A well-known Irish car dealership (disk purchased for €10.79 including P&P). Hard disk for sale on ebay.ie with comment in ad: "Used to be in a Dell computer but I removed it. I didn't bother deleting the files off it but this can be easily done." Information recovered:
• Bank account numbers;
• Customer names and addresses;
• Customer invoices and bank details;
• Customer car registration information.
• "Second-hand computer hard drives containing sensitive information were bought on eBay

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times

www.electronic-recycling.ie

The EU is good for SMEs

The EU is good for SMEs

There is a perception that the EU is far removed from the day to day issues that face Small and Medium Sized enterprises (SMEs), especially here at the periphery in Ireland.

The reality is quite different as the EU “Single Market” with free movement of Goods, Services, People and Finance, first introduced WITH THE Single European Act of 1987 and effectively finalised by Maastricht Treaty of 1993, has opened up huge opportunities for companies to do business anywhere in the 27 EU Countries.

To mange a single market and maintain a level playing field across the EU does require an amount of regulation and this can sometimes seem daunting to smaller companies. The European Commission has recognised this and in order to bring the advantages of the EU single market to SMEs across Europe, the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) has been developed. The EEN facilitates access to all EU SME support programmes by providing assistance and advice at a local level. The EEN is organised in Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and local Chambers of Commerce All other countries can access their local offices through the main EEN website. Although focused on the EU the program has partners worldwide.

Enterprise Network Europe has been a major help to us and the smooth set up of our new project, AGT Technology Ireland Ltd., was a direct result of assistance from the network.
One of the issues facing WEEE recyclers is what to do with waste plastics. About 30% of electronic waste is plastics and about 50% of that plastic is not recyclable because it’s either too mixed or contaminated. While looking for a solution to this problem, we found an Austrian company who have developed a process to convert various organic wastes into high quality energy. We contacted them by email, expressing an interest in looking at their technology. Responding to us they asked if we knew Leon Agnew from Enterprise Ireland, who they knew from the Enterprise Europe Network. We know Leon, having worked with him on a previous project. This was a really useful contact, as normally in a situation like this, a huge amount of time is spent in preliminary meetings, getting to know each other before deciding to consider working together. Leon was able to short circuit this process, confirming our bone fides to the Austrian company and theirs to us. At our first meeting a deal was agreed and AGT Technology Ireland Ltd, was subsequently set up, to develop processing plants to take the unrecyclable plastics from WEEE and convert it to electricity

The Enterprise Europe Network is specifically designed to help SMEs exploit the opportunities presented by the EU single market
· Promoting cross border trade development
· Assisting SMEs in accessing EU funding
· Helping create business partnerships in Europe
· Helping SMEs find the right partner by providing access to a European wide partnering database
· Providing information and advice on EU legislation & policy
· Facilitating IP Licensing and Technology Transfer Agreements
· Supporting companies in developing Research & Innovation capabilities

To exploit the opportunities presented by the EU single market of 493 million inhabitants start at your local Enterprise Europe Network office. In Ireland here, outside Ireland here

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Computers for Irish Schools (CFIS), takes equipment, which is not quite ready for the recycling bin, and prepares it for donation to designated Schools.
http://www.computersforschools.ie/


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Jimmy and Mary Recycle some IT Equipment

“Good afternoon, Electronic Recycling; can I help you?”
“Do you recycle computers”
“ Yes, that’s what we do, what kind of equipment do you have?”
“Just a couple of old office PCs and a printer”
“OK we can handle that, do you want to drop it in or have us collect it?”
“Is there a cost if you collect it?”
“ Yes, there’s a cost either way, if you drop them into us the cost would be €22.50 per computer and Monitor and €7.50 for the printer plus VAT and there’s a minimum collection charge of €45 plus VAT”
“But I thought I could have this recycled free of charge”
“If you are a domestic consumer you can drop it off at your local Civic Amenity site free of charge or if you have replaced the equipment, your supplier should have taken the old equipment from you free of charge. If you are a business and just getting rid of old equipment without replacing it, you are responsible for the correct disposal yourself.
“Ok Thanks”
“You’re welcome and thank you for calling Electronic Recycling”


“ Hey Mary, I checked on the internet and there’s a civic amenity site at Stand Avenue where we can drop those computers off “
“But Jimmy, I thought the girl in Electronic Recycling said you could only use a Civic Amenity site if it was domestic stuff”
“How will they know, we’ll be in the car not the van”
“What’s this we stuff Jimmy, why do you need me to go ?”
“Well, I thought that seeing as we will be close to town, we could go for a pizza or something after we drop the computers off”
“OK, let me put my face on”

“Jeez, what’s with the traffic, it’s backed up as far as I can see, there must be an accident or something, the Civic Amenity site will be closed by the time we get through”
“I was right, it’s closed, let’s park the car and go get something to eat”


“That was a nice couple of hours Mary”
“Yeah, thanks Jimmy, the Pizza was really nice, I love that restaurant and it’s not too expensive, we should go there more often”
“Ah Jayzus Mary will ye look at the car, the windows are smashed, and wouldn’t you know it, the computers are gone, the dishonest, thieving rats”
“I’ll have to report it, let’s go around to Stone Street Garda Station, it’s not far”
“OK Sir, that’s noted for you, if we catch the culprits and recover the computers we’ll let you know”
“Don’t worry about the computers Gard, I was bringing them to the Civic Amenity site to dump them anyway, I just needed to make a report to claim from the insurance”
“Might as well go home Mary, there’s nowhere to get that window fixed over the weekend, I’ll get it done on Monday”


“Well Jimmy, how did it go”
“Don’t talk to me, Mick in the garage quoted me €250 to fix the damage and replace the window. I phoned the insurance and they only cover windscreen breakage and if I claim for the body damage there’s a €250 excess on the Policy. It took all day, so I lost a day’s work for the van as well”
“Ah well Jimmy, at least you got rid of the old computer stuff”
"Yeah, that's true Mary"


“Hello, can I speak to Jimmy McGuire”
“This is Jimmy McGuire”
“Mr McGuire, this is Garda O’Brien from the Serious Crime Division, you reported a car break-in and some computers stolen six weeks ago”
“Yeah, that right”
“Well Mr McGuire, you may need to call your bank, we found your personal information during our investigations into an identity theft gang, and it looks like your banking information has been accessed.


“Good Morning NEI Bank can I help you”
“Yes, can I speak to the manager”
“Can I ask who is calling”
“Yeah, Jimmy McGuire”
“And can I ask what it’s in connection with Mr McGuire?”
“I need to check on my bank accounts”
“OK, hang on, I’ll put you through to accounts, they should be able to help you”
“Hello, Mr McGuire” how can I help you?”
“I just want to check on the balances in my bank accounts”
“Well Mr McGuire, we wrote to you yesterday regarding your accounts. After you withdrew €10,000 from your savings account and €2000 from you current account last week, you now do not have enough money to cover your direct debits and I can see some cheques in the system today, which you don’t have enough funds to cover. Will you be making a lodgement?”
“I’ll have to come back to you”

“Mary, The bank accounts have been cleared out, the scumbags whole stole the computers used the information from the hard drive and took €12,000 from our accounts.
“Jimmy, I know you were trying to save money but you should have brought those computers to Electronic Recycling”
“I know Mary, I know”

Electronic Recycling
Specialists in Computer Recycling and IT Disposal,
Safe, Secure, Compliant Recycling of all types of

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)

http://www.electronic-recycling.ie/

Tetra Pak Launches Europe's first ever FSC-Certified milk cartons in Ireland

Following our recent article Moving Milk, Glass Bottles or Recyclable Packaging the case for the carton grows...............


Tetra Pak Ireland has announced the first-ever Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC)-certified carton into the Irish market, in its latest move to ensure its cartons have the strongest environmental story possible.

FSC certification is one of the highest standards of forest certification and requires forests to be managed in a way that protects the environment, society and the long-term economic future of forestry.

Tetra Pak cartons with the new FSC certification label can now be found on Avonmore one-litre milk ranges.

The launch of the certification comes at a time when people across Ireland are still determined to care about the environment, despite the current tough economic times. Three-quarters of people (78%) feel it is important that their milk and juice packaging is made from renewable materials and around 40% of people say they are willing to pay more for environmentally-friendly products.

In support of this, Tetra Pak is running a public awareness campaign - See the Wood for the Trees! It is an educational campaign to help families across Ireland to see the bigger picture, think about the planet and consider the environmental impact of a product across the whole of its life before they buy it. It is about understanding the importance of looking after the planet’s natural resources and how easy it can be for them to ‘do their bit’ by choosing milk and juice in cartons.

Cartons are made from wood - a natural, renewable resource. Tetra Pak works with its suppliers
to ensure that the forests the wood is sourced from are responsibly managed, ensuring that all the paperboard used comes from known, legal and acceptable sources. Tetra Pak already sources 100% of its paperboard in Europe from FSC chain-of-custody certified suppliers in order to demonstrate traceability.

FSC certification is widely recognised as one of the highest standards of independent forest management certification.

Commenting on the campaign, Tetra Pak Ireland’s Environment Manager Richard Hands said - "We are delighted to partner with Glanbia - the owners of Avonmore - to launch Ireland’s first ever FSC-certified cartons in the Irish market. Tetra Pak is committed to ensuring that the materials we use to make cartons can be regrown or re-produced and are sourced from well-managed, sustainable forests.

"I encourage everyone to 'see the wood for the trees' and look at the wider environmental picture when choosing your milk and juice products."
For more information about the campaign - Click Here

To revisit Moving Milk, Glass Bottles or Recyclable Packaging Click here

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ELECTRONIC RECYCLING

Specialists in Computer Recycling and IT Disposal

http://www.electronic-recycling.ie/

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