Pointers: Recommended reading

As part of a larger study of state technology funding strategies, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers reports on the different processes that states use to make decisions about technology investments.For example, through its Project Delivery Framework, Texas requires its agencies to create a business model and multiphased development strategy that runs from launch to the evaluation of the final product.And Kansas requires all agencies to annually update a three-year information technology strategy that details their plans and budgets for IT projects.Links to online documents are included, when available. The Monkey Bites blog (written for software developers) picks apart the idea of creating a truth rating system for Web sites.Web pioneer Tim Berners-Lee recently pitched that idea as a way to help users filter through the mass of information and misinformation floating around the Web.Monkey Bites highlights some key questions: Who would be responsible for assigning the truth rating? If it were done automatically, how would such a system work? And what happens to a Web site that, rated as trustworthy, mistakenly propagates misinformation?CIO magazine follows up on a 2004 article that identified the most common mistakes that organizations make on IT policies and strategies.One mistake is to have an overzealous password policy. For example, users forced to change their passwords too often might cope by jotting down their password in their work areas — a serious security faux pas.Another mistake is to end up with employees who are indispensable because of their specialty knowledge. Both the organization and its employees are better off with a multitalented workforce.AppScout, a Web site published by Ziff Davis (PC Magazine), provides a concise explanation of how someone broke into the Yahoo e-mail account of vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin.The article provides technical details for those who are interested, but a big lesson for everyone else: It could happen to anyone with even rudimentary personal information available online.The comments on the article generally fall into the category of political rants, but some readers offer some useful tips and observations.