| Hearing Things: When Sounds Come Unbidden
We are all, to some extent, human jukeboxes, able to program for pleasure and for reference. And while music sometimes sticks around longer than we would like — like a hit tune or an advertising jingle — for the most part we control what's inside our heads. This story, however, describes what can happen when a person loses control. For some people, the music comes unbidden, sticks around, makes too much noise and won't go away. Cheryl C., (not her real name) is a patient of the well-known author and neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks. Her story appears in his new book Musicophilia. What Is Going On? About five years ago, Cheryl was in bed reading when all of a sudden she heard a tremendous clamor. As Sacks tells it, "There were sirens, there were voices, there were bells, there was screaming, there was clanging." She jumped up, rushed to the window to see what could be creating such noise.
IBM Sets Out To Prove Security Mettle
When IBM acquired Internet Security Systems (ISS) a year ago, the industry's mixed reaction included that of Gartner security analyst John Pescatore, who said it doesn't "make sense for IBM to own network-security products." IBM pushed forward nevertheless, striking a deal to buy Web-application security vendor WatchFire in June. Then in November IBM said it will spend $1.5 billion on security in 2008, and announced several new products and services for data security and compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data security Standard. The $1.5 billion sum is thought to be twice as high as IBM's previous security spending. Pescatore still thinks IBM should take it slow, saying that the fact IBM has expertise in providing I.T. infrastructure doesn't mean it should be selling products that react to security threats.
Young tycoons never stop at one
One friend, Dennis Fong, who sold a company to MTV Networks last year for US$102 million (and is already at work on a new startup), talks about the weird growling sound that Levchin tends to make when someone even mentions the name of his chief rival, RockYou. And so committed is Levchin to seeing Slide.com succeed that he keeps a bloodpressure monitor on his desk. I dont know what I would do if I couldnt start companies, he said. Id probably think about slitting my wr ists. Maximillian Rafael Levchin was born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine, a Jew living under Soviet rule for 16 years. As the Soviet Union was crumbling, the family moved to the US and settled in Chicago. But the worst year of his life, he said, was not when he was growing up but after eBay bought PayPal. He thought he would spend the time after the sale exploring my inner self.
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