Word: standardism
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...answer. The question is from the password retrieval system for Virgin America's Elevate frequent-flyer program, one of several a user may be prompted to answer in order to verify his or her identity. But it's not just Richard Branson's own quirky take on the standard "What's your mother's maiden name?" query, widely used for verification purposes by many banks and e-mail services. These days, security questions are getting more creative because they have to. As we make more and more personal information freely available online via our blogs, Facebook profiles, Flickr photos...
...This may surprise those who were under the impression that the "truth in advertising" standard applied to all advertising. Commercial companies are bound by restrictions that prevent them from making false claims about their products or those of their competitors. Certainly, corporations test those laws all the time, but they do so at a significant risk. When Kentucky Fried Chicken tried to claim that fried chicken could be part of an effective diet program in 2004, the Federal Trade Commission penalized the company, requiring it to pull the commercials and submit all advertising for FTC review for the next five...
...Candidates are not held to the same commercial standard, and the reason is simple: their statements and advertisements are considered "political speech," which falls under the protection of the First Amendment. The noble idea undergirding what otherwise seems like a political loophole is the belief that voters have a right to uncensored information on which to base their decisions. Too often, however, the result is a system in which the most distorted information comes from the campaigns themselves. And as this year's presidential race is showing, that presents an opportunity for a candidate willing to go beyond simple distortions...
...Asia's financial systems "are not expected to face a crisis situation," according to a Standard & Poor's report released this month. The primary reason is that the region's banks had little need to dabble in high-risk U.S. mortgage investments. With economies roaring at home, they found ample opportunities for profit. "They had a lot better things to do with their money," says Deborah Schuler, group credit officer at Moody's in Singapore. "There is real growth in Asia and they were financing...
...Asia's economies, though far from recession, are decelerating as a result of the overall global slowdown. That could lead to problems at home, including rising nonperforming loans. "Asian banking systems might have dodged the turmoil from the U.S. subprime crisis but they are not immune to economic slowdowns," Standard & Poor's concluded. In these turbulent times, avoiding one bullet doesn't necessarily save you from others...