Hey folks... The last day of the year begins with an early roundup of some interesting bits from around the internets:

• If you think you're safer using your credit card at a restaurant than over the Internet, you're very, very wrong. You need to read this one.
• How exactly does 14,800 pounds of ground beef go missing? (Brings new meaning to "Where's the beef?")
• Maybe the DHS should stop oppressing the average folks and take a look inward instead.

When NPR decides to delve into the murky waters of security and technology, professionals should probably take some notice:

• Marketplace reported (wait a bit for the audio associated with that blurb to be posted) on the increased dangers of identity theft predicted for 2008.
• NPR's Morning Edition also covered identify theft and gave a brief nod to Netscape Navigator's demise.
• At the peak, Amazon was selling 17 Wii's per second this Christmas. That's quite a bit of Wii.

It's a gorgeous day out here and the posts may be few and far between for the rest of the day. Mary & I will be taking some time alone at Monsoon tonight and I'll be sure to post some comments on the cuisine.

One last note is that EVE Online looks amazing on a 46" Sony Bravia LCD HDTV. Booted Windows XP on the MacBook Pro and hooked it up with a DVI-to-HDMI cable, piped the stereo out to the receiver and worked the controls with Apple's Bluetooth keyboard (old school) and a Logitech wireless mouse. The Trinity expansion with the enhanced graphics make it look like you're watching a movie. Great fun!

Happy new year everyone!

The Citizen of Laconia reports that a new law -- HB227/RSA359 -- goes into effect on January 1, 2008 which will help victims of identity theft seek monetary relief from the criminal offender. From the paper:

"in addition to any other remedies provided by law, a victim may bring an action in his or her county of residence or any county which any part of the act took place, regardless of whether the person who committed the violation was ever actually present in that county, against the person who violated this chapter."

This new statute also allows victims to recoup either $5,000 per incident of identity theft or three times the actual damages. The remedy that is allowed to be sought depends on whichever is greater.

There is also a provision to allow for the reimbursement of attorneys fees and court costs.

Prior to this law, New Hampshire citizens had no local, legal recourse for seeking damages/justice when falling prey to this potentially very devastating crime.

While many categorize identity theft as a computer-related offense, it is much easier for a thief to resort to more pedestrian tactics, such as stealing postal mail. Even if you never do anything online, you should still keep a close eye on your financial statements to ensure there are no inconsistencies.

You can find out more information on identify theft at 101-IdentityTheft.com.