Dollars And Nonsense

La Crosse Mayor Matt Harter walks into every room the same way,shaking everyone’s hand whether meeting them for the first time orthe 50th.

It’s the same retail politics that propelled him from a politicalneophyte with a familiar name to mayoral frontrunner.

Harter’s supporters called him fresh-faced and an answer for thetimes, and they haven’t been disillusioned by a somewhat turbulentfirst year. his opponents are more steadfast than ever in theiraversion to his administration.

He’s now a 25-year-old presiding over 500 employees, 53,000citizens and a $68 million budget.

In policies and politics, his platform hasn’t much departed fromthe one that got him here: vowing to make City Hall moretransparent and efficient, and, above all, to cut taxes.

John Medinger, a former mayor and a veteran of local and statepolitics, said he still doesn’t know what the guarded, on-messagemayor stands for.

“Frankly, I still find him a bit puzzling. I haven’t quite figuredout who he is, where he’s coming from, what’s really important tohim,” Medinger said. “I always say you have to pick the cross youwant to die on. I’m not quite sure what Matt thinks is reallyimportant.”

Harter picked up some political capital for coming through onreducing the tax levy but draws mixed reviews on whether hispolicies have strengthened or weakened local government.

Wilma Spaeth met the mayor 13 months ago when he knocked on herdoor to ask for her vote.

“From my standpoint, I’m really satisfied with him,” she said. “Icertainly cannot complain. I think he’s really working hard andreally picking up on his duties.”

Her primary interest then and now was holding down taxes, which hedid by freezing the budget, shifting a $500,000 fee to a utilityand shuffling $700,000 from surplus. but that promise will collidenext year with the harsh reality of the lingering recession andstate budget.

Council member Lorraine Decker, also a close Harter family friend,said Harter made a “smooth transition, because he was born andraised here, the son of a local business owner.”

That’s not to say Harter has had a drama-free tenure. He’s had toanswer for a sultry calendar, ethics questions involving a meetingwith a county official and an ill-received volunteer firefighterproposal.

But asked how he thinks he’s done and Harter deflects with ajoke.

“I don’t want to say anything that’s going to get me into trouble,”he said after quipping he hasn’t been assassinated yet.

He told La Crosse Rotary last month he was being”persecuted.”

“I think he’s made a few mistakes. … I know about bumpy firstyears because I had one,” Medinger said. “And one of the mistakesis trying to blame other people for his problems. People are veryforgiving, but they also want you to acknowledge you made a mistakeand not blame other people for it.”

Council members, armed with those controversies, have begun pushingback. Audrey Kader asked for a compilation of all Harter’sdirectives. Marilyn Wigdahl sought to remove federal programs fromunder his authority. and Dick Swantz asked for a legal opinion on apurported conflict of interest.

But Harter said he’s not affected by the second-guessing and he’sreceptive to input, whenever and in whatever form it comes.

A personal touch

Then-candidate Harter introduced himself to every restaurant dineror gas station patron while pumping fuel into his black ChevyMalibu.

Political observers credited that face-to-face campaigning for hiswin, and it’s become part of his leadership strategy.

Harter met alone with the developer when negotiations over adowntown building stalled. he showed up at the home of CollinsOutdoor Advertising’s Marjorie Collins to work out the ongoingcondemnation of a Copeland Avenue billboard.

“It’s just taking a personal approach and establishing arelationship,” he said.

It’s naive, unless it works, countered a city employee, who spokeonly on the condition of anonymity. That employee proffered thatHarter’s independent leadership style is based partly on hisdistrust for department heads.

Harter’s predecessor, Mayor mark Johnsrud, always was accompaniedby an attorney, the planner, finance director or some cityexecutive when dealing in city business. “I always felt that youlisten to staff. Staff are really experts in their fields andthey’re going to provide you with the information you need,”Johnsrud said, sharing the single piece of advice he passed on tothe young mayor.

Harter agreed they’re a good resource but are busy and havedepartments to run.

Still, a handful of directives suggest he’s fallen into a tenuousrelationship with several of his would-be advisers. In February, herequested copies of all department heads’ time sheets and targetedothers to account for their time in 10-minute increments. Herecently directed that no more than two department heads could meetwithout his permission.

“I think that there’s some friction between some employees and themayor’s office,” Medinger said. “The job of the mayor is to be thecheerleader for the city and the team leader for city employees,and I’m concerned that the employees’ morale is not thebest.”

Harter defended the measures. he requested the time sheets, hesaid, because on rare occasions certain executives were taking timeoff without taking vacation time. and if a meeting is importantenough to involve more than two department chiefs, the mayor’soffice ought to be aware, he added.

Johnsrud, now village administrator for Johnson Creek, Wis., saidsome of the tension likely is a backlash over Harter’s hiringfreeze that critics claim crippled services.

The Planning Department suspended work on 32 programs, plans andreports, and the fire department anticipates burning through its$197,000 overtime budget by about July.

Fire Chief Gregg Cleveland said every new mayor has their ownstyle, and “it’s more or less incumbent on department heads to lookat whatever style that is and be able to fashion your operations toit.”

A question of growth

In the wake of finishing fifth in the 2009 primary, Johnsrud warnedhis successor would be dealt a tough hand, but he had positionedthe city to manage the broader decline.

The ousted mayor, though, doesn’t think Harter has maintained themomentum, instead feeding off the growth started under his andMedinger’s administrations.

“I’m really not seeing new growth, new development happening withinthe city under the new mayor,” he said, pointing to the CopelandAvenue hotel, transit center and Riverside Center III. “Some ofthat is directly related to the economy, but some of it is relatedto the city’s administration not actively involved in pursuingeconomic development. and that’s unfortunate for La Crosse.”

There’s development going on throughout the city in big ways and insmall ways, Harter countered. and amid the hiring freeze, he agreedto fill an economic development administrator job.

A mind of his own

Each month at the Committee of the Whole, Harter moves from theninth chair to the fourth to the 11th, filling the seat of whomeveris presiding over the meeting.

Anyone who’s been around City Hall long enough knows former MayorPat Zielke played the same game of musical chairs, as a way to stayin touch with the council members.

“I’m sure he picked that one up on his own,” Zielke said. “He’s gothis feet on the ground, and he certainly is able to think forhimself.”

John Cleveland, a 50-year La Crosse resident who watched Harterdebate challenger Dorothy Lenard last spring, thinks it’s obviousthe mayor is getting help.

But the mayor consistently declines to name who has his ear.

“I don’t think he’s as transparent as he should be, because hewatches very carefully what he says,” Cleveland said. “I don’t knowwho is writing his program.”

Decker thinks he’s been well-received by the council and almost aforce for transformation in the community.

“Because he is charming, good-natured and a godly man, myobservance is he is a peacemaker. Those that he doesn’t agree withideologically, he seems to get along with, for the most part,” shesaid. “He’s pulling the whole community together. He’s kind ofawakened some people from their complacencies.”

Harter's first year in office

(Source: Star Tribune, Minneapolis)By Steve Alexander, Star Tribune, Minneapolis

Mar. 30–Two senators are pushing legislation that would force the makers of consumer file-sharing programs to warn users how much information they may be giving away.

A bill introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., seeks to protect consumers who don’t understand that peer-to-peer Internet file-sharing programs may inadvertently open their computers to ID theft or other harmful snooping by unscrupulous users of such programs.

Peer-to-peer, or P2P, programs are best known for being used to illegally share music and movie files over the Internet. But the programs are not illegal and have legitimate uses, including sharing photos and home movies, playing some online games and Internet phone calling. The programs include uTorrent, Shareaza, Ares, Limewire and BitComet.

Consumers can become victims of identity theft or financial loss when personal information is uploaded via the P2P program without their knowledge.

“The problem is that, without proper precautions, P2P software can allow anyone on the network to gain access to all the files on your computer, not just the ones you intend to share,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “By allowing access to private financial or family records, it’s an invitation to identity thieves and sexual predators.”

Such losses have already occurred. last August a Seattle man was sentenced to more than three years in prison for using P2P software to steal personal information and commit fraud. in February, the FTC said it had notified nearly 100 businesses and government agencies that personal information, including data about customers or employees, had been “shared” by their computer networks and was available online.

The bill, called the “P2P Cyber Protection and Informed User Act,” has been passed in the House and is awaiting Senate action, said Ross Corson, a Klobuchar spokesman. It would require P2P software makers to inform consumers of the risks at the time the software is installed and to make the P2P software easy for consumers to turn off. in addition, the P2P software would have to require consumers to “opt in” to file sharing before it would function. Enforcement of the law would be delegated to the Federal Trade Commission.

Klobuchar sought to highlight the bill at a Monday press conference at best Buy headquarters in Richfield. in many cases, P2P software is downloaded by children to share music and music videos from their parents’ computers, but the kids don’t understand the risks involved, she said. best Buy’s Geek Squad, which took part in the press conference, urged consumers to check out the reputation of a P2P program on Google before downloading it to their computers.

Steve Alexander –612-673-4553

To see more of the Star Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.startribune.com/.

Copyright (c) 2010, Star Tribune, Minneapolis

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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Keeping others' noses out of your computer: a bill in Congress would mandate …

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Credit Card Processing – Key Points

A List of the best Free Finance Software on the WebMaybe you run a small business or you’re creating a new personal budget, and you need some finance software, but you’re reluctant to spend the money. are there programs that can meet your needs whilst remaining free? The answer is yes, and it lies in wonderful programs oft referred to as ‘opensource.’ Opensource software is often as sophisticated as ‘professional’ software-if not more-and free to download and use. Below is a list of the best opensource finance software.

1. GNUCash – this is a double entry book-keeping finance program, best used for personal book keeping. it comes complete with a mortgage and loan repayment druid, OFX and QIF import, HBCI support, transaction-import matching support, (Limited) multi-user SQL support, multi-currency transaction handling, stock/mutual Fund portfolios, and online stock & mutual fund quotes; it also comes with small business accounting features if you are running a small business and can’t afford a high end program. Mac OS X only

2. JCash – “JCash is a full featured, Java based money management application. it will provide all of the standard checking and expense account management functions, planning and budgeting capabilities and synchronization with the PCash PalmOS application” http://sourceforge.net/projects/jcash/

3. PayThyme – PayThyme is a payroll software package that is sophisticated and can easily keep track of any and all payrolls you may have. Useful for both the small and large business owner.

4. phpOrganisation – this is an SQL and PHP web-based organization system for small and medium sized businesses. it can be used to easily organization one or more accounts and can be accessed from anywhere via the web.

5. QuantLib – A full finance library, with many, many features. an excerpt from their website says “QuantLib offers tools that are useful both for practical implementation and for advanced modeling, with features such as market conventions, yield curve models, solvers, PDEs, Monte Carlo (low-discrepancy included), exotic options, VAR, and so on.”

Best OpenSource Finance Software

Over the past year, I’ve moved more and more of my data over to the cloud — in particular, to being stored with Google. I’m rethinking that, in the wake of Google’s statement that it was the target of a sophisticated hacking attack. Further, I’m wondering if this entire episode — GoogleHack, for want of a better name — will develop into a major reversal for the growth of cloud computing.

Living In the Cloud

For those not up on the term, “cloud computing” is a reference to the idea that your programs and data live on the internet rather than on your computer. Need to write a letter? You don’t install Microsoft Word, then compose the letter and save it to your computer’s hard drive. You open your browser, go to Google Docs, create the letter there and save it to be stored with Google.

The internet is the “cloud,” and by letting everything live within it, you’re promised great benefits. that file you need? As long as you can get online, it’s available to you. You can get it from your laptop, a friend’s computer or from your cell phone. It’s even backed up for you. And painful software installations? Forget about it! When’s the last time Gmail said it needed to download a security update to your computer and then prompted you to restart after it was finished?

Cloud Computing, Google & being a big Target

Enticing. Seductive. What’s not to love? And Google has built a huge part of its business around the idea that we should trust both the cloud computing concept and Google itself. Just this week, the company announced 1GB of storage for any type of files. the hacking attacks call that all into question more than anything I can think of before.

What do we know so far? Google only tells us that there was a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” on its “corporate infrastructure” that resulted in the theft of “intellectual property.” What’s that mean, exactly?

Well, one report now out from IDG is that Google apparently maintains a system to monitor or collect data about users in case it is served with a search warrant — and that the hackers got into that system. An anonymous source is quoted saying:

Right before Christmas, it was, ‘Holy s***, this malware is accessing the internal intercept [systems]

Hmm. I’ve often joked with people that there’s a secret room deep under the Googleplex that houses two people who do nothing but watch everything that goes on through Google’s servers. Sworn to secrecy, their job is to defend the data, no matter what. And if one of them should go crazy, why the other one is there armed and willing to take action, kind of like those in nuclear weapons silos. You remember the movie War Games, right?

Well, I guess it’s not so much a joke. while on the one hand, I can see why Google would want to create such a system, it’s also blindingly obvious what a potential target it would be for hackers. moreover, it simply highlights what a target Google itself is.

Most criticism over the years about Google and data that it collects or stores has focused on the idea that Google itself would be the bad actor. Google would go evil and spy on everything you do. In reality, it may be external parties that we should be most worried about.

Google: the New Windows, with all the Viruses?

Consider the “old” computer model. Windows is the most popular operating system out there. despite Microsoft running it, there have been no major examples I can think of where Microsoft has been found to have collected data through that operating system that has later leaked out. however, Windows is also the operating system that to my knowledge is most prone to virus and malware attacks. Because so many people use it, Windows itself sits on individual computers as a big target begging to be attacked by external parties.

Google is the new operating system for many people. indeed, the coming Google OS will literally make Google into an operating system, where you’ll access Google services (as well as the rest of the web) through a Google browser. Google is our computer, where we get our email, store our documents, leave our spreadsheets and much more. all that data, just sitting over there. a big huge target, begging to be attacked.

This was a Cloud Computing Attack

Google has and will continue to assure us that everything is safe. indeed, on the same day it made the announcement about the hacking attempts, it had a separate blog post specifically assuring us that cloud computing remained secure:

This was not an assault on cloud computing. It was an attack on the technology infrastructure of major corporations in sectors as diverse as finance, technology, media, and chemical. the route the attackers used was malicious software used to infect personal computers. any computer connected to the Internet can fall victim to such attacks. while some intellectual property on our corporate network was compromised, we believe our customer cloud-based data remains secure.

While any company can be subject to such an attack, those who use our cloud services benefit from our data security capabilities. at Google, we invest massive amounts of time and money in security. Nothing is more important to us. Our response to this attack shows that we are dedicated to protecting the businesses and users who have entrusted us with their sensitive email and document information. We are telling you this because we are committed to transparency, accountability, and maintaining your trust.

I bolded the key part which frankly is wrong. It was very much was an attack on cloud computing, as Google’s main blog post made clear. Hackers went after Gmail accounts, not just through malware-infected computers but directly by targeting Google, that post told us. Gmail — your email, stored in the cloud. That’s an attack on cloud computing.

Remember, before Gmail came, you didn’t leave your email sitting in the cloud for very long. It cost you money to do so. You downloaded it to your own computer and deleted it from the cloud. Gmail ended all that, assuring people they need never delete anything again.

What exactly Got Taken?

So spare me the suggestion this wasn’t an attack on cloud computing. Reassure me another way, such as telling me in the main post that only “limited” data got out about two Gmail accounts “such as” the subject line of emails in those accounts.

No worries then, because you know that subject lines never have any revealing info in them. or that in Gmail, subject lines often include a little bit of the opening part of the email itself. And next to the subject line, the sender is listed. was that information seen?

Remember me putting “such as” in quotes? That’s because Google only specifically described two types of the “limited” data that was seen. What else might have been viewed remains completely open to speculation.

Still, let’s say we completely trust that this time, Google fended off the nasties. What about next time? Because there’s sure to be a next time. Will it be successful then?

The Human Weakness

Also note that Google’s apparently investigating if there were insiders involved — people within Google assisting with this. even if that’s not true this time, again, what about next time? Google employs thousands of people. Unlike early Googlers, the new folks are not getting incredibly wealthy. can they be bribed? Might some look around out of curiosity? Goodness, do we now have to worry that government agents from any country (including those from the US) might go undercover to gain access? Hand me my tinfoil hat! Except it’s not sounding so crazy, anymore.

Meanwhile, the specter of human mistakes still linger. last week, Google emailed an undisclosed number of people information about businesses that they had no connection with. How’d that happen? Human error. Woah — what type of human error? exactly how did that screw up happen? Sorry, Google’s not talking more in public about that.

We Got the Censorship Angle, Now Back to Data Security

It’s time for the stories to start shifting. Google gets hacked, so it reacts by deciding to no longer censor. As a result, the coverage so far has been largely about how that change will impact Google’s business prospects in China.

The focus really should get back on the issue of Google being hacked. I’m as glad as many people are that Google’s going to stop censoring. I also don’t think Google purposely made the anti-censorship move and announcement to distract from the issues that being hacked raises. But that indeed needs much more attention.

And what to do. Pull all your data down? That’s a personal decision. I love having my email easy to search by being in the cloud. But I’m not sure I want to start uploading my financial documents. I’m less certain that I want to have company documents sitting out there. I’m kind of thinking in the era of cheap hard drives, I might just do more carrying around my own little cloud with me. Encrypted, of course!

Ironically, such a shift could also make data less safe. Will we get back to the days when people routinely emailed files back and forth through unsecured email connections? There’s also a need for perspective. You’re probably far more at risk of having your data exposed by using a weak password than through government-backed hacking attempts.

Still, the cloud lost some trust this week. I think more trust will be lost as further details emerge — and that’s not just for Google but for any company offering cloud computing. how that trust will be rebuilt, for Google, depends on how forthcoming the company is about what happened, what got out and why we should really feel secure against future attempts.

After the Hack, Should I still Trust Google & the Cloud with my Data?

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The specter of sovereign default looms large for world economies in coming years, and the debt tsunami that has engulfed countries from the United States to Dubai poses a threat to recovery, top money managers at the Reuters Investment Summit said this week.

Concerns about potential government insolvencies took the spotlight after a debt crisis erupted in Dubai last month and after ratings agencies this week cut Spain’s credit outlook to negative and downgraded Greece’s credit rating.

Sovereign concern, “for the next at least two to three years, will definitely be a risk factor in the marketplace that investors will be paying attention to,” Jonathan Xiong, a director and senior portfolio manager at Mellon Capital Management, said at the Summit in New York.

Major world economies responded to last year’s steep downturns spawned by the financial crisis with big stimulus packages and by underwriting private debt obligations, causing deficits to balloon. While this helped stave off an even worse recession, high debt has the potential to strain economic resources in coming years.

The United States and United Kingdom are not immune from this threat. Moody’s earlier this week suggested that the countries’ triple-A ratings could face downgrades in coming years.

The United States and UK are “the two most grievous examples of irrational exuberance from the standpoint of a national economy,” said Bill Gross, who runs Pacific Investment Management Co., the world’s biggest bond fund.

The news about Dubai and Greece, he said, speaks “to the necessity to get our shop in order.”

The fiscal challenges facing many economies had been largely put on the back burner in recent months as investors were preoccupied with the credit crunch and deep economic slowdowns around the world.

Now that the worst of the crisis seems past and asset prices have rebounded, investors will likely focus on long-term fiscal imbalances in many countries. An auction of $13 billion in 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds on Thursday was met with poor demand, suggesting such concern has moved to the fore. U.S. bond yields, which move inversely to price, have risen sharply in the last week.

Todd Harrison, chief executive of Minyanville Media, said sovereign defaults and state bankruptcies are key factors that could trigger the next stage of what he calls an ongoing crisis.

Unlike previous crises, the countries posing the biggest risk are in the developed world.

Measures of sovereign risk jumped this week on the heels of the ratings announcements on Greece and Spain. Credit Derivatives Research said on Thursday that its government risk index, which tracks seven major economies, showed credit default swaps of all economies, save Japan, trade with “greater risk now than a week ago.”

The worst performer on the week was the UK, whose sovereign risk jumped by almost 20 percent. The United States held up this week, but its credit default sways “already traded over 70 percent higher than recent lows, among the worst-performing major sovereign CDS,” the firm said.

Still, near-term downgrades on the United States and UK seem unlikely. Analysts at Moody’s Investors Service on Friday said a worst-case scenario suggests a cut by 2013 for either country.

The euro has been weakening of late. It was last at $1.4653, well below a nearly 16-month high above $1.5140 set in late November, according to Reuters data.

Despite the dollar’s rebound, Mellon Capital’s Xiong said the credit quality of U.S. government debt has worsened recently relative to other major economies, and the large debt burden of the United States will weigh over the longer term.

The U.S. government posted a record $1.4 trillion deficit in the 2009 fiscal year ended in September as tax revenues plunged and spending soared. The deficit in the first two months of the new fiscal year stands at $296.7 billion.

In the UK, finance minister Alistair Darling revised his borrowing forecast for this year up to a record 177.6 billion pounds ($290 billion) or 12.6 percent of gross domestic product, despite warnings by ratings agencies.

While a near-term rebound is likely, the dollar will ultimately continue to decline because of the fundamental problems in the U.S. economy, said investor Jim Rogers, pointing to the 90 percent drop in the value of the British pound in the 20th century.

“No country in history that has gotten itself into this situation has gotten itself out without a crisis.”

(For summit blog: blogs.reuters.com/summits/)

(Additional reporting by David Gaffen, Jennifer Ablan, Ros Krasny, Ciara Linnane in New York and Natsuko Waki in London; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Reuters: Sovereign Debt Seen as Biggest Threat to Recovery

Everyone that has ever worried about the state of their finances has worried about proper money management. moreover, those individuals that like to keep a watchful eye on their finances also focus on good money management skills. thus, good money management is a clear issue for anyone that wants to get and keep a firm handle on their personal finances. thanks to technology, money management is an issue that can be easily handled with a personal home computer and a little bit of free time.

There are a number of money management software applications that computer users can purchase to make their budgeting and tracking a far simpler task than ever before. in fact, with software applications, computer users can manage their personal finances, their checking accounts, their bills, and can even manage their personal taxes with their home computer. moreover, for those small business owners looking to maintain control over their business finances, software applications are readily available to help them stay on top of the money game.

With certain software applications, individuals can create and devise personal budget plans. they can decide what bills need to be paid and when and track all incoming and outgoing funds. a close analysis of all spending will be easily readable in a series of detailed charts. thus, people can determine where their highest amount of spending is going and then adjust their budget to better suit their needs. moreover, such software applications can help those individuals that are experiencing difficulty with their finances as they set up a plan to get their finances back under control.

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Personal finances are certainly not the only thing that can be monitored with the use of software and a personal computer. Small business finances can also be tracked and a you can easily create invoices and record all spending transactions associated with a home-based business. thus, clearly, the latest software applications can make keeping track of any and all financial matters a far simpler process than one might first imagine.

Finally, one of the greatest benefits from software applications that help track money issues are those derived at tax payment time. during tax preparation, the computer user can truly enjoy the benefit of the fine organizational offerings of software applications. many of the programs will have all the information in one location and reports can be created that make tax reporting a far easier task. in the end, the cost of such applications is utterly nominal when one considers all of the benefits derived from their use.

Money Management