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Keeping a PC Personal At School?
Berto Kraus writes "As one of the most tech-oriented students in my art-oriented institution, I'm usually the one with the laptop. This causes frequent requests from other students to read mail, check some site, or connect it to the projector to display a file from their Flash drive. For the sake of my privacy, the health of my laptop, and my own peace of mind, I'm reluctant. But telling my compatriots to go to our building supervisor and ask him for a desktop-on-a-cart, as they should do, is considered rude and unfriendly. Now, I could dual-boot Ubuntu, or carry around a Linux-on-a-stick. Or I could embed the computer in my skull. For many reasons, none of these solutions is ideal. So I'm asking you, insightful and funny Slashdotters, what would you do to keep your PC personal at school?"
create a guest account.
Not take it to class and pay attention instead.
Eat sleep die
I am guessing using goatse as your wallpaper will cut down on the requests.
What could possibly hurt the security of the American people more than giving our own government the ability to hide its
...and just say "You can try." and smile. :-)
Take off every 'ZIG' !!
I must admit, I've never had this problem. Probably because I have a very long password and I lock my PC whenever I turn my head away from the screen. As long as you're obviously paranoid enough with your PC, chances are, people won't ask you to use it.
"It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance
Grow a pair and learn the word "no".
It is your property. I don't see the issue here.
Who doesn't own a laptop nowadays? If the kids are this poor then art school probably isn't the right choice.
Art school is for kids who needn't worry about money thanks to their parents. Otherwise, go get an education that teaches you a marketable skill.
You wouldn't share needles, would you? Don't share computers!
Be firm. Saying no needn't be rude and unfriendly. Your friends will know where you stand, and stop asking. You don't have to tell them to "fuck off", just explain in a friendly manner. If you're afraid your friends will desert you or stop liking you because you won't give them access to your laptop, I'd suggest you have other issues. Also, if they did that, they couldn't really have been friends.
I'm resistant to letting anyone use my laptop. It's password protected and my roommate, the computer programmer, has commented in disbelief that it's not like he'll ever do anything harmful with it. However, I don't let it stop me.
Look at it from the other side: They're being just as rude, maybe more so. It's rude for your friends to impose their whims on you when you've apparently made it evident enough that you aren't comfortable with letting them all at your machine, willy-nilly.
Tech oriented? Why don't you come up with a solution then? This is not a hard problem to solve.
Aaaaaaaaah, OK. I see where you're coming from.
The most obvious solution I can think of (assuming you're on XP/Vista) is for you to set up a second user and Fast user switch whenever someone else wants to use your laptop.
Assuming your classmate's technical competence is below yours, that should be adequate security measures.
--
The Captcha is: Lars Traeger is full of shit.
My pics.
What OS are you running? Is there some reason you can't keep a "guest" account with few privileges and no access to any of your personal data, and just log into the guest account before you hand them the machine?
The answer of using different user accounts for different users when you want to have multiple people using the same machine strikes me as so obvious, it makes me wonder if I'm misreading the question?
Can anyone tell me how to set my sig on Slashdot?
Sharing laptops is like sharing toothbrushes.
I'm pretty sure even Windows Vista will keep your porn stash safe, if you log out of your account, and into a guest account for them.... all of 15 seconds. Just make sure you have to sign into your account and that your files are in your directory.
You probably also want to edit the bios so that it only starts from the harddrive, and that nothing in the bios can be changed without a password
Don't remember if XP Home enforces seperate directories.
(There's also the word "no" when people ask...)
Even if everyone is artsy fartsy, I'm surprised that there are that many people without laptops. I thought that technology was for art people too these days.
Maybe suggest a nice little netbook next time someone asks?
Just use Ubuntu, it has nice features specifically for this sort of thing. What do you use windows for outside of shoop? Shoop works on wine or in Virtualbox.
Modern OS's allow you to set up multiple users - each of which has their own login environment. Set up one account for your everyday use. Set up a second account for your "guest" users. Whenever you need to allow a compatriot to use your system, log out of your account, log in as the guest account. Lock down the guest account as needed. Linux allows this very easily, and both KDE and Gnome have a Switch User option where you don't even need to log out of your own account (running processes keep running). You'll still need your password to get back to your original environment too. I haven't used Windows at this level for quite some time, so don't know if there is an equivalent to the Switch User, without logging out totally and logging in. You can always blow away the guest account if you ever suspect any foul play. This should be relatively safe. Insert your own values for relative here.
As said in the title, install ubuntu and let them use a dedicated virtual machine with windows XP.
Make a snapshot after the initial installation and always revert to this snapshot.
Of course, there are other virtualization solutions, so you may have your preferences, but VMWare may still have some advantages over others (dual screens, sync USB, ...)
#include "coucou.h"
Get your own!
Leave me alone!
Get off my lown!
One word: Dvorak.
This is the real benefit to using an esoteric keyboard layout. People will type, get confused, and then you get to make charming excuses such as "Oi, I bloody forgo' how to pu' i' back. So sorry, bloke."
You can use the guest account option if you are using Ubuntu. The guest account is very restricted and the data stored is wiped after logging out.
It's art school, so you can boot into Linux or something else that they don't understand. If they can't use it, they won't ask you to use it.
:)
Use a terminal for bonus evil points.
I would just use a VM in full screen mode. Keeps your stuff private from the non tech savy, and people still like you.
and give them a nice carebear hug everytime they borrow it.
Run everything from a console in linux using screen, graphical lynx, etc. No one will have a clue how to use it.
I was the only person in my high school to take notes on a laptop (literally). Back then, I used one of those windows ce notebooks. They really didn't do a whole lot... about the only thing interesting any one else could do on it was play solitare.
Install Dvorak, and put black stickers on all the keys.
don't keep any really personal stuff on your laptop. I take my laptop to work with me all the time to get around the no-internet-on-work-computers policy (I work in a call centre, go figure). There's a couple of Futurama and Star Trek episodes on there and the usual browser and Office installations. It's set up to never remember logins and passwords.
I do all my computery work on my real computer at home though. My laptop is just a convenience. My data security won't be compromised if it were stolen.
don't be afraid to say no. Only give hot chicks access ;)
You could let them play inside a virtual machine: http://www.virtualbox.org/ If you cant say no to people using your system having them trapped in a virtual machine may keep you from reloading windows on your box. If you use windows lock down Internet Explorer to unusual with an admin kit and force them to use Google Chrome, preventing some of the common nasties from eating your computer. The real question is why not just be rude, a laptop is a tool that you use for education most students I know don't have unlimited resources to replace laptops that are damaged by people who are borrowing them.
The world's smartest bug zapper www.zapstats.com/kickstarter
They'll never ask again.
It won't stop everyone, but you'd be surprised how many people can't type on a keyboard that doesn't have the letters printed on it. Do you know DVORAK? Paint the keys AND switch the layout, and you're golden!
If your laptop is capable of running a virtual OS in it, whenever they ask for such things, simply run a light-weight linux (e.g. Puppy) and make it full-screen. They will not even know what's the difference to a normal OS and unless they don't come out of the virtual box, they wouldn't mess with your files etc. This is one of the fastest things I would do in such a situation.
Virtual Machines suggest themselves. Do everything school-related in a VM and reset it from time to time. Also, in my experience, art-oriented institutions are choked full of hot chicks, so stop complaining and try to see this as an opportunity. Computer malware is not the only think that you can interchange with a dumb coed, you know.
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
Learn dvorak.
You could install Windows7 and use the PC Safeguard on a guest account. That way when they log off, any settings they've changed are reversed, files they've saved are deleted and your harddrive is returned to its original state.
I had this problem for a while at school. Ultimately it went away when everyone else got a laptop or an iphone.
In the interim, I just said very straightforwardly, "I'm not comfortable letting other people use my computer. It's part of my personal space and deserves to be respected that way." Most people understood and let it go. Some people were not understanding and pushed it and got nasty about it. Luckily my friends were in the first category.
are a couple of dead giveaways. I know a guy at school (Pattie) who always checks folks laptops for recent documents. Very funny sometimes!
So my advice is to a) use a browser with 'incognito' or similar mode for 'privacy'.
Of course there is always having multiple user accounts! Ubuntu has a 'guest' account by default I understand. I usually have a "user" account on my laptop, no privelages, default browser etc.
like phosphorescent desert buttons singing one familiar song
I wouldn't ask to use someone else's computer so I don't expect them to use mine. Regardless of what a lot of people seem to think a computer is a very personal thing. Asking someone to use their computer is like asking to write in their Diary.
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me". - stolen from Dan C alt.os.linux.slackware
Learn to use Dvorak and they'll pay you not to use your laptop.
... inquire as to whether or not they are familiar with the concept of self-fornication?
... wait, what?
Just install Windows ME on the thing. The sight of Windows ME will make even the most seasoned IT professional run away in fright.
Using VirtualBox. Set it up however you want, then make a snapshot and a save state. When somebody wants the computer, run VirtualBox and load the state (which is very fast to by the way), fullscreen VirtualBox and make the escape key (which will allow you to exit the VM) something much different from the default and only you know.
It looks like a normal Windows install. Let them do whatever they want.
When they are done, revert the image back to your to the snapshot. Works as if nothing happened.
Stand up for yourself. It's honestly that easy. Do you ask them if you can use their bed? Do you ask them if you can use their kitchen? Do you ask them if you can use their art supplies?
They obviously don't respect you. The're just using you. Not to mention, being very rude to expect that you'd just let them use your computer.
So stand up for yourself, and just say no.
hand it to them as a cli login prompt and say "go for it"
2. Let others borrow your computer
3. ???
4. Profit!!
I'll leave step 3 as an exercise for the reader
that says "l33t h4ck3r". They may be the ones fearing their privacy then. Oh wait, they're art students, they'll probably compliment you on 13375p34k
Well- depending on how mean you want to be. Set the computer to default to booting to a terminal window and let them have it. If they can figure out how to open OpenOffice, Gimp, FireFox or whatever other standard GNU/Linux application that comes with the computer they won't be asking you for it any more. If by some miracle they figure it out they probably just forgot their own GNU/Linux notebook at home and you have nothing to worry about.
Ok- now what I'd really do. Install Ubuntu on it and use these situations to show off GNU/Linux, free and open source software, and so on. When they get done using it hand them a business card so they can go buy their own notebook. I might also suggest handing them your own business card as well so if they need any assistance you can make a buck off them.
"For the sake of my privacy, the health of my laptop, and my own peace of mind, I'm reluctant."
As you should be.
"But telling my compatriots to go to our building supervisor and ask him for a desktop-on-a-cart, as they should do, is considered rude and unfriendly."
But you aren't the community PC guy, are you? You are being /used/. Not even mentioning your privacy or possibility of OS infection, what if someone simply drops the machine? I suspect you won't be able to get anyone to pay for the repair or replacement, as they are unwilling to get their own. If this keeps going on, you are going to have a broken computer /and/ a lot of resentment aimed at your so-called friends. This might sound harsh to you, but it is reality.
There is a solution to this, however. If your group is cohesive enough, maybe each can contribute to the acquisition of a "group computer." This is how the real world works, especially if you are acquainted with the concept of the "office group owned coffee pot and coffee kitty." Same concept. Those who contribute get to use the computer/coffee pot/whatever.
But if you continue on the current path you are on, it can only end badly.
--
BMO
When they ask to use it, quickly start up Lynx and deny you have any other web browsers
... right after they sign a a couple of hundred pages of legal paperwork detailing how they're liable for any damage to it, whether physical or digital, etc, etc, and that you are, in no way, liable for any damages they incur by using the laptop (e.g. stolen passwords/privacy/identities, etc).
(Sorry, I thought these guys had better sense than asking to borrow something that's a) highly personal b) kind of expensive and then consider a "No, sorry." rude. WTH? Can you borrow one of their diaries?)
That will teach them
The most recent version of Ubuntu has a guest account that will let people do some web browsing and such, and after that person logs off, everything should be wiped clean automatically again.
So that seems like it could work..
Then again, you could just tell them to get their own toys. :)
For this very reason I've always had a Guest account and enabled Fast User Switching (XP and Vista).
I can quickly press Windows+L and give them the laptop and they can click Guest and go do what they wanna do.
It has the added benefit of not letting them use my files, see my browsing history, or mess up my settings.
And, whenever I'm doing a presentation w/ a projector, I always use the guest account for mostly the same reasons.
If I need to exchange files between Guest and Me, I use the Shared folder. Piece of cake.
-David
Since you hate everyone i see and dont want to help your fellow students. Where i cant really see where the problem is ... i mean are you that secretive ?
Anyway, you can always install Ubuntu ( if you dont already have that ) and always run on a text base.
If you need a broswer just install http://www.vordweb.co.uk/standards/download_lynx.htm
That will detter everyone away from that. If a hot chick comes up then re boot into windows and get her phone ..eh ... i meant help her out :D
If your laptop has a TPM, I'd highly recommend BitLocker. This way, you can allow people their non administrative user to do what they need to do in a guest account, but if they decide to try getting around the protection by booting an OS CD, they will be faced with an encrypted hard drive.
Of course, TrueCrypt is good as well, but the main advantage of BitLocker is that with a TPM, it requires no boot passphrase, and in a multi user environment, there is likely someone shoulder surfing in hopes to get it.
Switch to a VT and tell them that only paying customers can use X.
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
You're problem is that you feel uncomfortable saying "no" to a request to borrow a personal item? And you're looking for a technological solution for that?
Well I could talk about setting up a virtual machine sandbox for your your friends but the reality is that your question is not a technological one that belongs on Slashdot but rather something better served by Dear Abby because, T1000s excepted, there is no technology that can replace a lack of spine.
A computer is a personal item and the information on it valuable if destroyed. Do you let your friends have your car whenever they ask? Do you give them ten bucks whenever they ask? Can they use minutes on your cell phone at will?
Same thing.
Just smile and politely say "I'm sorry but I am not comfortable with anyone else using my personal machine" and that's really the end of it. If anyone thinks it "impolite" then it;s their issue and not yours.
----- In Your Cubicle No One Can Hear You Scream...
I've solved this problem by having a Win XP virtual machine: I put this machine on a second monitor (or external projector) and then I don't have to worry at all about the host OS being messed up.
Alternatively I can make it fullscreen on the primary/only screen.
Terje
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"
Put a sticker on it that says "rent me for $1/hour, $5 minimum"
Stop being a wuss and just tell them "no". People are so afraid to hurt other people's feelings. You cannot be responsible for how other people feel.
Grow up and grow a pair already.
You could look into some sort of program, such as Deep Freeze http://www.faronics.com/.
These people should be able to help you
Personally, i would not let anyone on my laptop, and would just tell people that this is my laptop, and is not for use in those situations
If there were no way that this would be able to happen nicely, i would either use a guest account for that person, or, keep all of my own work encrypted, using truecrypt - and dismount the volumes before you let someone else on.
When VMware performance fails, try BSD jails
STEPS: 1) Make a guest account 2) install a key logger on the PC (start it whenever they want to use your computer) 3) Wreck havoc with their lives if they spoil your computer :)
How about you actually be a man for once and tell people "no" without worrying about nonsense like manners and rudeness? You clearly don't want them to do it yet you tell them they can and let them simply because you don't want a confrontation.
Here's a hint: tell them upfront you don't want them on your computer. Yet you don't because you're passive; you don't want people getting angry or getting back at you, yet you're in this conondrum because nobody there thinks you have backbone. And from your question you clearly don't, you just let people walk all over you because you're afraid of making someone angry.
Stop asking questions on slashdot about how you can make someone else's viewing experience on your computer more pleasant for them instead of growing a spine yourself. It's clear you probably hand over your laptop while pretending to read your calc notes as if it's not a problem while secretely wishing they would get off so you could go back to IRC or whatever messenger you like. It certainly is a problem because you asked this question: what I want to know is why you enable them thru passivity and sycophantic considerations of having a boot flash drive for them. Booting from USB flash from laptops can take a good 5 to 10 minutes, especially with ubuntu, so I'm wondering why you think it's easier to not grow a spine than to have your time taken up by deadbeat students wanting to leech off you while providing you nothing in return.
Sorry if this harsh (actually I'm not because you're too passive and that's a flaw of yourselrf) but you need to learn how to say no. You don't need flash drives for other people's benefits or whatnot, you need to grow a sack and tell people no without giving a damn what they think.
At the very least, learn how to lie about being busy. Having to worry about being a lapdog for your fellow natty ice-drinking costudents is just disgraceful.
Open up a bunch of porn sites, and then hand it over to them, but warn them that the keys might be a bit sticky.
BTW, I wouldn't buy any justification based on the idea that you do other things while supposedly studying which mean you "need" to have it. Hopefully the course you have decided to take is sufficiently interesting and rewarding - otherwise maybe you're in the wrong place, studying the wrong subject.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Have a clean install on your laptop and then use portable apps http://portableapps.com/ for anything personal.
Use encrypted filesystems for personal data.
No matter how you look at it; a laptop is portable and can easily be stolen. The question is not whether you'll let others use it from time to time, but how you personal stuff is protected in case it gets 'misplaced'. If you are prepared for theft, making that friendly gesture to a co-student won't bothr you a bit. At least security-wise.
Invert the mouse pad, or do something else to make the interface equally hard to use. :-p That'll lower the number of requests to use your computer.
Do it for them. They need to present, you load their powerpoint for them. They need to check their e-mail, read it out to them. If they complain about privacy... point out the obvious fact that it's your computer.
However if there is something of a technical nature to be done then you're into the realm of knowledge where you may want to actively help them achieve their goals. Your first faltering steps to being a guru!
"xxx Infected with virus - don't risk your media! xxx" on a piece of tape across the lid.
VmWare is another possibility but nobody ever guaranteed it.
the best way I would recommend is to use VMWare and have a virtualized OS for all these ... use the main OS for your purpose ... Since the OS is going to be inside the Virtual environment, you can (and so your friends) do whatever they want to .. offcourse not evil !
Regards,
Velan
Install Windows Me! as your operating system.
Nobody will want to be anywhere near the computer.
Or, better yet, dig deep, and find a copy of Microsoft BOB.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
Ask something in return. I'd suggest sexual favors from women, and money from guys.
Then you can transfer the fee you find appropriate from their bankaccount.
Also, there may be interesting stuff in their email, which also could fuel a blackmail-business.
Stick a label: "For quality-assurance your email may be monitored or recorded" on the laptop.
...Which ever is more appropriate.
There are more than two appropriate courses of action. This might seem a bit radical to some, but if you're not actually using your laptop for anything important, why not simply leave it in your bag? Try interacting with real live individuals for a change? Few people would be so incondiderate as to ask you to pull your laptop out and boot it up just so that they can fool around on Facebook. If you're in a group, doing actual work, it really shoudn't matter if your fellow-students use the machine. It is a tool that is meant to save time, and for much of that you often don't even need to be connected to the internet.
. . . and after they see what they have to deal with, they will stop asking.
leave it at home. End of story.
You can't have the cake (posing with your shiny laptop) and eat it.
Use a really weird windows manager like WMI such that people won't want to use your computer.
Simply say, "Sorry, but the last time I got it back, it was [fill in your own minor catastrophe here]. I just can't afford to fix it again."
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
I will admit, when it comes to this sort of thing I am not a very nice person. For a long time I had a guest account with a very nice background of "GTFO". Then one day I was looking through the address history and found links to random videos and websites that only a person of sub-human intelligence would look at. After that instance (I'm a one-strike guy) I tell people to get their own computer, or go to hell. Even then I do have my exceptions, but those call for a chic either being really hot, or someone being willing to take a half hour to fill out a contract for five minutes of usage.
Or some such smartphone, which can do 90% of your tasks, and keep the lappy in your backpack.
Use lynx.
Used a default basic stylesheet to disorient them when they try to use facebook.
Hand them it over to a new terminal.
Disable automounting and pretend you can't fathom why the pendrive never works.
Start reselling netbooks for profit, you have a captive audience.
This doesn't exactly solve your problem, but do you need to take a PC to school? What about pen and paper? That is how we did it.
Put a Windows sticker on it.
or else!
you could always stop bringing your laptop to class.
but seriously, hold your ground. it's not your responsibility to help other people at your own expense. We live (i'm assuming you do) in a free and capitalist society. Self-reliance is one of the key precepts of such a society.
Also try "I'd prefer you didn't, but I'll help you get one of the cart PCs."
If there's a computer lab on campus, direct them there. Politely, of course.
Also remind them that there are all kinds of smartphones that have internet access.
Or you could boot up a text-only browser for them and hide your firefox/IE access :)
Dvorak keyboard layout plus a mac laptop, with their ever changing dvi connector formats that no one ever has an adaptor for, should keep 99% of all potential users off your back.
Some potential solutions:
- Guest account/limited user
- Quit school and get a real job! (And get the hell of my lawn!)
- Show them the finger and tell them to go fuck themselves
- Show them the finger and tell them to go buy a bloody laptop
Make a webpage that boots fullscreen whenever the computer turns on that looks and acts like a dos prompt that you access your files through. Keep all your necessary school stuff under an easy to remember file structure so you won't need to rack your brains to remember where everything is, and only use the windows interface when nobody can see you.
It will earn you points as a techy, as an artist, and also make people too uncomfortable to use it.
4 quick solutions:
a) Start a rumer that you use a keylogger to record passwords typed on the machiene.
b) I assume noboedy in a arts class would be seen using anything other than a mac. so get a ibm.
c) install windows 95
D0 eNABLE SHIFT LOCK> iT"S REALY ANOYING>
Install a Key Logger and after they checked their mail log into their e-mail account and rename everything to something funny.
If you are that bothered about your privacy you wouldn't be taking it to class with you.
Whenever anyone I know asks to borrow my laptop if I'm not currently using it I log them on as a guest or if they are my friend or a potential friend I make them an account of their own. I find people usually consider having an account made for them a friendly gesture. I also tend to set the laptop on a flat solid surface for the borrower and I ask them not to move it. I am surprised how many unfriendly answers have been given to this question. :(
Virtual machine. VMWare server is free or you can go Virtualbox. Both have nice small ready to go linux distros premade. Simply launch a VM when they want to use your laptop and hit the full screen key. When they are done, close the VM which you have set to toss changes. Voila! Each user gets a "new" VM and you don't have to worry about them messing up your stuff.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
fuck them, you might get someone dling child porn.
I used the same policy I used for my johnson. No one could touch it unless they were an attractive female... In either case, I don't think I ended up with any virii.
Many people does big mistake by believing that PC means same as "personal computer", but it ain't. Personal computer and PC are two different things. Even that IBM did get the PC trademark from the personal computer markets, those are two different things.
There are personal computers what can be a Macintosh, Smartphone, PC or even a servers and then there are PC's what ain't personal computers but public computers.
Too many people believe that PC stands for the personal computer and they use PC to mark any computer what they see. They can not make the difference of PC and Macintosh or PC and Amiga. Even that all those three (PC, Macintosh, Amiga) has be sold as personal computers, only one of them is PC.
The question really is that how you can keep your PC only in personal use only? Same would be how you can keep your Macintosh in personal use only?
That is easy, first you need to make new accounts, stop using sudo if it ain't configured correctly to allow you only do few maintenance jobs like installing updates. (Ubuntu use wrong way the sudo) (Why? Because on public places like on the school, they find out your password bretty fast and because of wrong usage of sudo on Ubuntu, they can crack it open easily if you are away). If you use Windows Vista or now 7, you are on better stands. Then just told to the people that you do not allow your computer be used by everyone.
Install StorageCraft ShadowSurfer (search the net for a "free" download coupon). It works real well for me.
problem solved
None of the PC users want to touch the thing (despite, curiously, them being rabid iPhone fanboys and sneering at my Android phone...)
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
Use facial recognition software like Keylemon or the like (In combination with a webcam). Without your face in front of the computer, it will lock up and not allow anyone to access it.
Dear Slashdot, I bring crayons to school but other people keep asking to use them. I don't really want to let them use my crayons. What do I do?
Um, you either share or you don't. Or you leave the crayons at home. All those choices have social consequences. Use your social skills (I know, I know, I must be new here...)
I think the problem here is that you need to learn to say stop - this is possible to do in a kind, but firm manner. You won't loose friends over it, if they are worth having as friends they will respect your terms without complaining; as far as I can tell, they are just spongeing on you. And as long as you allow that to happen, you are less likely to get real friends. This is about respect - as long as you don't respect yourself enough to say stop and stand on your right, you won't teach others to respect you.
"You wouldn't ask if you could fuck your girlfriend with my cock, now would you??"
do not bring the laptop then. It's like that joke "doc, if I move my arm it hurts", "do not move that then"
It seems to be Slashdot is having one nasty bug. When the header of replies is green, it will show up as white background, with white text.
With this article for example, everything is peachy because it's a red background. With anything else I'd need to use CTRL-A to SEE the text before I can even do something useful with this...
A serious annoying problem for the /. dev's to look at ? Anyone else has this problem? It sure diminished the quality of easy reading on slashdot.
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
Well i don't personally recommend you tell them flat out no everytime. Because that is pretty rude. I recommend you only let them use it when they actually have a good reason to use it. If your friend asks "Hey can i check my facebook? I want to see if i heard back from soandso" don't be afraid to say no. That you aren't completely comfortable with your computer being used by other people all the time and that if they want to check that stuff at school they should save up for a laptop of their own. Now if someone has something important to show the other people in your art club or something like that, then you probably should so let them use it so that you aren't being too rude. Or better yet, do it for them. It is on their flash drive? Pull it up yourself, no need to hand the computer to them. To sum up: don't be afraid to say "no", but don't be to rude in important situations. If they get on your case a lot, tell them to back off, get their own and see how they like it when everyone always harasses them to use it for nonsensical stuff.
It is not your responsibility. These people are not your friends, they are using you unless there is quid quo pro.
[b]Learn to say no.[/b]
I've seen people complaining, but it works fine for me.
Maybe it's because I have all the web2.0 bloat turned off.
One day, come to class without it, and tell them it broke. Go without a computer for 2 weeks, change your computer's appearance a little and tell them "this is my brother's and I have to be super-careful about it. He even told me no lending whatsoever"
There's always the Guest account. Or you can just say no in a polite but firm way. Some people on Slashdot will put it in a simpler way saying: Tell them to fuck off! The fack is, for some of us/them/whatever asking to use one's laptop is like asking to use one's girlfriend - it's unpleasant to say the least. And if someone fuckes her up... That's why the only real to keep it private is not alowing anyone near it. Unpleasant? Maybe. Safer by not letting some random person poke his dirty firgers at it? Most definitely. You've been given plenty of options. The choice is really up to you.
Given the choise between Hitler and RIAA/MPAA I'd go for the first one - at least he knew when to shoot himself.
Proof that women really do exist in the interwebs.
Quack, quack.
Seriously consider learning the Dvorak Keyboard layout... and plead ignorance on how to set it back,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard
I had a user account specifically for school work on my laptop. It was very organized and any personal files weren't accessible.
If your "friends" aren't really messing around with it there shouldn't be too risky of a threat of health.
[20:36] wwwdot/.dotorg
Learn to use xmonad - http://xmonad.org/ and not many will be able to use your computer.
They are imposing themselves onto you, simply because they think they can get away with it.
Do you really think that making a guest account will prevent solve your woes? I'd set up a guest account on a chained down desktop, but not a laptop.
A laptop is a -personal- valuable. If you're putting it into the hands of others, you better be prepared for it to be stolen someday. Sharing with random people isn't part of the adult's world. Even if you -do- recover the laptop, is it worth your gray hairs?
Don't VMWare if you use windows; you're asking for downloaded viruses to get through.
Personally, I'd take significant collateral (car keys, etc), because I don't trust people (and I'm the SHARING kind!) It gives me peace of mind, and I'm not being an ass if they really have to do something.
There are no perfect answers, only the right questions. More questions at http://foresightandhindsight.blogspot.com/
Excellent idea there. You could take it one step further however, when giving access to hot chicks, leave information where they can find it that implies you're extremely well endowed.
Why are you asking here? Have you made up your mind and are looking for validation?
Clearly a laptop isn't required for your studies, otherwise more people would have them. Therefore, leave the thing at home. You avoid having to be a bit of an arse, you break people's habits, and what better for the machine's health that you're so worried about than not lugging it about?
Where is the urgency to check someones else mail account in the classroom? They can easily wait till after class and go down to the computer room in your university (and I bet you have one).
If someone do some Flash whatever as homework, then he should also care for the machines he needs to display -- or hand-in the flash via E-Mail to your professor, if he accepts.
And if somebody really really needs a notebook -- there are lots of netbooks for $200 and sometimes even below. If they can afford to have a mobile phone (which they don't need for school!) they could easily afford a netbook in exchange. Of course, one can't phone with such a netbook, but there are priorities.
To cut it short: Having no notebook is their problem, not yours. Stop trying to solve problems of other people who're not willing to solve it theirselves. If it would be a real, hard problem, they would do.
The slighly overweight penguin.
Have the machine say no. Stick to the command line, or at least delete all icons of anything except strictly work applications (Office, Photoshop, Maya...). Then disable network access, especially in Windows where damn near any window accepts a web address. If asked, claim that GUI, internet, and browser are broken. Under duress, well, a solid pair of running shoes might help.
If you do the follow modification to your laptop nobody will ask to us it:
/B/.
1. Change OS and Software language to Klingon.
2. Replace the current keyboard with a DAS one {or just paint over all the keys.}
3. Set you screen saver and background image to randomly pull images from
4. Wire the laptops PSU supply directly into the data channel on all your USB ports.
Its the only way to educate them.
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
Or use one of those new clones of an obscure operating system from the early days. The visuals will make them back off without even touching the keyboard. Or just learn to say no, it ain't that hard.
There's really no reason to carry the laptop around with you all day. You'd be better off to cut the cord and carry around a good pen and a notebook. (no, PDAs as just as bad)
It's extraordinarily liberating after you get over the initial shock, not to mention better for you social life. *Especially* if you're the go-to techie type.
~.~
I'm a peripheral visionary.
1) They go to art school so they're not worthy of borrowing your laptop. Tell them to fuck off
2) On MY salary I can afford to buy a laptop for each day of the week, why can't these peasants afford one for themselves? Tell them to fuck off
3) Let them use it, but deliberately make it prohibitively difficult to use.; They'll soon fuck off
And people wonder why the IT industry is so stereotyped and maligned by other people.
It'll be interesting to see how far these asshole attitudes get you in the middle of a recession, I sincerely hope these people don't lose their jobs and wind up living in the gutter /sarcasm
Or you could always run a "GCC-screen-saver" and make your laptop painfully slow, while they're using it.
Use biometric security. As a side note, you could always write a NO BORROW on your forehead.
Do I know you? If not, bugger off.
Do I trust that you know what you're doing enough to not click Delete etc. ? If not, bugger off.
Do I think that you'll lend it on again, let anyone else use it, or are using it where it's likely someone will "steal" it for a laugh or take it over or pass it around or make off with it? If so, bugger off.
Do you understand the importance that the use of that laptop, and the data on it, means to me? If not, bugger off.
I'm wary of lending my PC to even family, it rarely comes back the same way it was given and 99% of everybody has a laptop in the big colleges/universities nowadays - it's one of those "Mum and Dad bought me this for college" items.
And the magic word is "No". If you don't want to do it, just don't do it. Of course they'll whinge and moan, but then that's up to THEM to get their own laptop and guess what? When people borrow theirs and start breaking it, they'll whinge and moan too. And when they then refuse to lend it, they'll get whinged and moaned at.
I never lend personal laptops except to a (literal) handful of people, I *NEVER* lend work laptops at all. If someone wants to be left *unsupervised* with a laptop of mine, I have to *know* that it'll come back in the same state it left. And if a guest wants to use a laptop, I have old, crappy spares - enough to load a webpage, not enough for them to be happy using it for anything other than the essentials (e.g. checking for *vital* emails).
Hell, I've got a previous post on here about how I lock down my wireless so that guests staying with me *can't* use it unless I specifically let them (not just a WPA key or similar) and when they *do* use it, they know that everything is monitored and filtered.
Call me unsociable, or uncooperative, or untrusting, I don't care. It's *my* property, it's *incredibly* expensive property, it's incredibly fragile property and it's loaded to the hilt with data that's important to me and will cost me a lot of time to recreate (even if it's only the icon layout, or a particular set of settings).
If no one else brings one, why do you need one? End of problem. Good luck!
Call your lappie some exotic female name so the login screen says Welcome to Linux on Samantha, or whoever
Tell the nuisances who want to use your computer that the guest login name is ROOTER
and the passphrase is "is going to catch AIDS"
That fact will get around the dorm. before you can say Jack, and you won't have any more problems.
Let us know if that doesn't work please.
Just don't bring your laptop to school. problem solved.
Tech oriented? Why don't you come up with a solution then? This is not a hard problem to solve.
Aaaaaaaaah, OK. I see where you're coming from.
The most obvious solution I can think of (assuming you're on XP/Vista) is for you to set up a second user and Fast user switch whenever someone else wants to use your laptop.
Assuming your classmate's technical competence is below yours, that should be adequate security measures.
I find it ironic that someone would get snarky and denigrate the technical competence of an art student by suggesting that the security of their Windows computer is primarily related to the skill of the guest users. The main security threat does not come from a malicous guest who may or may not know anything about cracking computers. The threat comes from pre-packaged intrusion software, in the form of easy-to-click cracking tools, or more likely from viruses introduced from thumb drives and web sites.
A computer expert would know better than to propogate the myth that computers are breached by teh haxx0rs with elit3 knowledge. Those kind of exploits are available to anyone who can point and click. And the most likely threat is not from your friend in the art class, it's from the viruses he's got on that thumb drive he wants to stick in your computer.
The reason to provide a guest account is to keep someone from accidently deleting your files, messing up your settings, accessing email and the web with your credentials or accidently replacing them, and of course to keep them from reading your personal files.
I let my friends use a guest account on my Mac for the same reasons, even though the exploit and virus factor there is practically nil.
Come on really, you couldn't think of that? Every major OS now has secondary accounts for christ's sake.
... not speak to you either but that's what you want right?
Name it something appropriate though "AnnoyingNoseyPrick" or something. Then some people might get the message. Alternatively you could hire an actor dressed in black suit and in-ear radio that talks to whoever is using the laptop. "Sir I'm from the FBI, we are currently tracking this device, would you please step outside." Nobody would ever use it again
i mean who allows people to just glom off their computer like you have nothing better to do than carry it around for them?
Just tell them that they can use your computer if they give you a blow job (this might not work out so handy if you are not at least bi as I'm sure in art school there are plenty of gay people there). You won't be asked so often for your machine, and for those times that your machine does end up getting loaned out, you'll get something nice in return.
If you can't just say "no" to them then make them use a guest account and block the common sites they go to on it eventually they'll get the hint.
*It's not what you can do for the Dark Side but what the Dark Side can do for you!*
The ideal solution is to combine those ideas: embed Linux-on-a-stick in your skull. Those "friends" will no longer approach you.
Find a secret hideout place satiate your computing needs and carry your laptop in a purse.
charge them every time they use it, keep track and when they reach 300 or so tell them that they could have bought an eee.
What would I do? Stop being a tool and bringing a laptop to class.
Switch the physical keys arround so it looks like a foreign keyboard mapping. That will scare them off.
you can type blind so have no problem.
Just tell them, "no." You are under no obligation to let them use/misuse/destroy your property.
Ed R.Zahurak
You know, oblivion keeps looking better every day.
You could try using a program called deep freeze. It's not free but it sure is handy for keeping your computer clean.
http://www.faronics.com/html/deepfreeze.asp
Maybe $30/hour, with a $5 minimum charge. Have a program display an ELUA before they can access it, and a running total of the fee. If they complain you can point out you're in a room that they are paying to access (school) so what's the difference? If they have borrowed it before, have they ever bought you a "thank you" coffee/doughnut etc for the favor?
Here is a real answer:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx
This is software from Microsoft which helps prevent unpriveleged users from altering your computer in any way. Install this, enable the guest account, and switch users when people ask to borrow your machine. You'll need a password on your account, of course.
Too busy staying alive... ~ R.A.
So you're basically saying that you're at a school full of girls that you don't know how to say "no" to but you're afraid that they might accidentally open up your pron folder?
Is that about right?
Why are you letting these clowns ruin our country?
It's nice to share but there's a point where it's no longer sharing and you're just being taken advantage of. If you're not comfortable saying no then I'd just not bring the laptop to school (or not take it out).
Learn how to say no. It's a rare, massively valuable skill.
Most people find it very hard to say no under pressure, particularly to peers and superiors. Saying yes is easy; saying no is often seriously uncomfortable and hard (and some people, frankly, never learn how to). But if you can learn to refuse politely, firmly and without making a big thing of it, and then not allow yourself to be bullied into defending your choice, you'll find that it gets easier. Saying no doesn't have to be personal (in fact, it needs *not* to be) - you're simply making a decision that's yours to make, and whilst you're unlikely to get away without giving at least some reason for your decision, you shouldn't allow yourself to be drawn into an argument about you decision. If you can get the skill to do that under your belt, you'll be a little bit more mature, and you'll also have something that will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life. Frankly, even if you take *nothing* else away from your college years, you'll still have come out ahead.
Take a good look at your teachers, because it's likely that you'll see both ends of the spectrum. The ones who command respect almost certainly have the skill - you know that when they make a decision, they've thought it through and made their minds up, and they're not going to be swayed from that unless there are good reasons. The ones that get walked all over, or have to keep pulling academic rank on you, don't have it. Simple as that.
(The above from first-hand experience. I made a massively bad career move once, simply because well-meaning superiors wanted to steer me in a direction that I didn't want to to go, but at the time I didn't have the skills to come out and tell them that. It took me five atrocious, stressful years in a job that I wasn't suited to, to recover from that. That's water under the bridge now, and even the bad stuff is ultimately experience that I can draw on - but it's not a mistake I'd easily make again.)
I accidentally found a solution to this when I was in school: change the keyboard so people have to touch type to use it. One day I decided I really needed to improve my touch typing, so I popped all the key caps off the keyboard and put them back on in a random order. People would come in to use my machine for mail and the like, and start typing by LOOKING AT THE KEYS. When learning that they had to touch type to get it to make any sense, they immediately gave up and left.
Another option might be to switch to dvorak keyboard layout, if you can type that way.
This of course doesn't address situations where it's just a "can you put this file up on the viewer", but it might be a start.
Alter Aeon Multiclass MUD - http://www.alteraeon.com
I tell people my laptop's like my toothbrush. I don't lend it to anyone.
Harsh maybe, but it's a *personal* computer. My stuff, my privacy.
"And then I visited Wikipedia
Is the poster idiotic or something? Speaking Engrish?
Personal Computer. That's what "PC" stands for. Using a term like "PC Personal" marks one closer to vegetablle matter than human.
I know other people have suggested it, but I'll reiterate what they've said. (It's the Slashdot way, after all.) Set up a virtual machine for them. Let them play in the virtual machine to their hearts' content. Reimage it as often as you need, since it doesn't take long. The only person using your host OS on a laptop should be you because you're the host; everybody else is a guest and should use a guest OS.
Slashdot - News for Herds. Stuff that Splatters.
I was in a similar situation, the only difference is the other people are my family :D
What I did was add a guest account that had no write access to anything (except for its application data, not even My Documents), put all of your menu items in your user's menu folder and wipe everything from the global menu items, put the applications you want them to have access to in their own menu folder and change the permissions to it is not writable to them. Basically all they should need is a web browser, so put one in the start menu and maybe quick launch menu so they can launch it, but nothing else.
Don't take a laptop into class. You don't need it, you're there to learn - that means pen and paper and listening to the teacher when they're teaching, doing the work on paper and remembering by repeated application of what you've been taught. A distraction like a computer is deadly to this aim if you're even mildly into computers.
I really like the idea of setting up a VM or alternate guest account, but I would install a bandwidth and CPU throttler and something to make it randomly buggy. If the thing is horrendously slow and randomly "crashes", they'll soon stop asking to borrow it, but you still get points for letting them use it.
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
fluxbox
Install linux with some weird window manager like ratpoison or ion3. People won't ask to use your laptop twice.
Charge $5 per use. That will offset the costs to fix your PC when they bring a virus. Get the money up front. If the girl is really, really hot, be slimy and charge "something else."
Setup VirtualBox with a PuppyLinux VM and let them use it. Only mount the ISO, no disk storage.
I agree that sharing laptops is like sharing toothbrushes. Except, I won't share my laptop with my wife. She destroyed 4 months of work by accident - I had daily backups, but it was enough to convince her that she didn't want to borrow it.
Use some kind of user interface that's different from what they know.
I use OpenBSD, xdm, scrotwm (tiling window manager) and lots of xterms. This is the way I like to work with the added bonus that nobody wants to use your machine. But it's a great way to get attention.
Fedora provides an SELinux restricted account that doesn't need a password when running SELinux in enforcing mode. See:
http://magazine.redhat.com/2008/04/17/fedora-9-and-summit-preview-confining-the-user-with-selinux/
http://magazine.redhat.com/2008/07/02/writing-policy-for-confined-selinux-users/
http://danwalsh.livejournal.com/11913.html
If you don't want to appear rude by telling them "no" yet you want to passively aggressively tell them to find another computer, do what my lab-mates did in college: switch the keyboard layout to Devoark. Within seconds they will discover that their attempts to update their facebook status are futile.
If the laptop in question is running windows, you can setup a hot-key sequence that switches between layouts and hide the input-mode selector that usually appears in the taskbar.
Alternately, you could use a foreign keyboard layout instead of the Devorak layout; this approach allows you to escalate your response. Start off with something subtle; the German layout swaps 'y' and 'z' and mixes in extra glyphs for things like the ess-tzet with where they would normally expect punctuation marks. End with a Cyrillic layout; that one is fairly self-explanatory.
If you make borrowing computers really annoying, fewer people will pester you to borrow a computer.
I'm going to teach a word which has been invaluable over the course of my professional career and personal life. It is "no". "No" is a powerful tool which must be applied early and often in relationships to establish that you are not a doormat to be used and abused by every chucklehead who feels the urge to demand something.
Whether it be that you work overtime on Saturday, clean up someone else's mess, drink yourself to the point of a near-death experience, or simply that you loan them your laptop. "no" is not a bad word, it is necessary for a happy and healthy life.
These students can get their own laptops, use a desktop nearby, or go get the desktop on a cart. It is fine for you to loan your laptop if it makes you feel good to help others, if it doesn't impact your studies, or you simply don't mind. If you do mind, as you obviously stated, then the appropriate answer is "no". If someone gives you a hard time about that, you cannot let it hurt how you feel about you. Consider the source. Are they bringing a laptop and sharing it? What gives them the right to demand anything of you? Would you show up in class and demand to borrow their jacket or their car?
People who are inconsiderate enough to -demand- your personal property are whiny self-absorbed lazy bullies. If after a polite "no" they gave me any grief, I'd explain calmly and clearly just how rude, unfriendly, and inconsiderate they are. Then I'd tell them to get a job and buy their own.
Click your username or the head-and-shoulders icon in the upper left, on the menubar. Select "Guest Account."
carry a second PC
Run linux as your primary OS and none of your "friends" who aren't savvy enough to own their own laptop will know what to do with your machine. Problem solved.
Actually install Ubuntu and dual boot. Run Ubuntu in the class. Being technologically challenged they will take one look and never ask again.
...log in as guest?
I actually don't use that myself, as you can't customize it, and created my own guest account that wipes settings on each login instead.
SAY HELL NO!! the last thing you want them doing is downloading stuff onto your machine. the only way i let someone use my machine is if it's code red and the president needs to get on otherwise it ain't happening.
Netbooks can be had for $300. Tell them to stop blowing mommy's and daddy's money on beer, blow, and 420 and buy a netbook. :-)
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
If you feel your computer is so personal, a snappy response like, hey can I borrow your toothbrush may be in order.
Where I post game reviews, my PSP backgrounds, podca
Unfortunately life requires you to be a bit rude sometimes, otherwise people will walk all over you.
Man up and say no, or start charging for access time. Does your school have a computer lab? There is absolutely no excuse for a college student to not have a laptop these days, or at the very least a netbook.
This is not a technical problem to be solved.
This is a human interaction problem.
Giving someone access to your laptop is like giving them access to your bed, toothbrush, underwear, whatever.
Politely decline and tell them you don't share your laptop. Case closed.
I have dealt with this kind of issue by denying access, but being very explicit about trusting the person: "I trust you. Unfortunately, I don't fully trust my own judgment - I think I trust so many people that I'm going to be wrong somewhere, and so I feel I have to block even the ones I trust." This has worked well - nobody has been offended. (The above statement has been true everytime I used it, too.)
Eivind.
Doubting the existence of evolution is like doubting the existence of China: It just shows that you're uninformed.
I can't imagine a shorter route to getting pr0n on your hard disk then let students look for it. Call it an early exposure to outsourcing, including the fact that you may not quite get what you expect :-).
Insert
You can't tell them no, at least not without being a jerk.
When I was a young skate-rat, we would be out in the hot sun all day and we'd stop periodically at convenience stores to rehydrate. I always bought grapefruit juice. I like grapefruit juice, but that's not really why I bought it. I bought it because nobody else ever wanted any, so I didn't have to worry about someone asking for a sip and drinking half the bottle, I didn't have to worry about shared germs, etc. Nobody else liked grapefruit juice.
The moral of the story is, get yourself an uncommon user interface and an unfamiliar alternative browser. Shrug and say "do you know how to use Galeon on Afterstep" or the like, and you'll probably get a lot of intimidated demurrals.
microsoftword.mp3 - it doesn't care that they're not words...
Sorry, I know this is OT, but wtf does this post have to do with yro? Some guy asks /. (hence askslashdot, durh) about options for sharing his personal laptop with his classmates while keeping it safe from stupidity. There is no gov't intrusion, TSA/ICE aren't asking to "borrow" it, the fuzz aren't installing keyloggers, etc. The instructor isn't forcing him to share, or as far as I can tell has even asked him to do so.
This couldn't have less to do with "rights", but that seems to be kdawson's boogey man that he trots out like a trophy girlfriend every chance he can.
There is very little future in being right when your boss is wrong.
If they want one, they can get their own.
They are *NOT* entitled to use yours at whim.
If you want to be gracious, ask for their student ID, drivers license and $5000.00 in cash as a deposit, before lending.
Ubuntu 9.04 (and 8.10, I think) has a "Guest Session" option. To get to it, you need to have the Fast User Switching applet on your panel, then click it, and click "Guest Session". The guest has no sudo and no privileges, so it is a safe place to let whoever do whatever. It also doesn't keep any files saved while in it, so there is no cleanup. If you need to get back to your session without ending the guest session, press Ctrl+Alt+F7 (defaultly) and then enter your password, and to go back to the guest session press Ctrl+Alt+F8.
I bet the kid made it so far as to the main page of ./ thanks to his "insightful and funny? Slashdotters", right?
other than the the answer is no.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
I can guarantee you, nobody will want to use your computer ever again. If you're really feeling ambitious make lemonparty.org your home page as well.
"During My Service In The United States Congress, I Took The Initiative In Creating The Internet." -Al Gore
I'm sure someone has pointed this out already, but using a guest account under Windows will not benefit you. Chances are you'll get infected by some malware that will get into your normal account too. I've used a lot of different versions of Linux over the years and yesterday tried the latest Ubuntu. Many Linux installers allow you to easily setup a dual boot option so you could use Linux while at school and run Windows at other times if you want. Under Linux you will find three benefits: - unfamiliarity with Linux may cause your artsy brethren to borrow someone else's computer - you'll be considerably less susceptible to inappropriate access to your account from a guest account. just setup fast user switching and give other people access only to Firefox - I've seen many artists use Linux for exhibitions as they find it easier to program. Depending on the kind of artist you are you might find Linux as a source of art.
Hey, can I borrow your phone to call my mom on the opposite coast? You have free long distance, right?
Hey, I need to send my gf a few text messages...
Hey, can I borrow your thumb drive, I need to save this file...
Hey, I need to go pick up the gang for the big pool party at my apartment complex. Can I borrow your car? We're going to stop for beer on the way...
You're being a nice guy. I would not be so nice. If you can bring a laptop to school, your friends can do the same thing. Guest account or no, somehow, someday, you're going to loan that thing to some clown who's going to wind up infecting your box with something. and you're left holding the bag.
The next thing you know, you're loaning people your house and your girlfriend.
I would just polite and explain to them that you have some sensitive stuff on the system and no guest account. End of explanation. You don't owe anyone any reason why you won't just hand over your personal life.
Joe Dougherty, Florida, USA
The words I thought I brought, I left behind. So, never mind.
Sharing a computer is like sharing a toothbrush. Remind them that you're responsible, legally, for any malware or explicit material that accidentally pops up if they browse the web and the liability isn't worth it.
Point in the direction of the bookstore and say "student discount".
#-#
Ad Astra Per Aspera
A rough road leads to the stars
I would be annoyed too. While others may consider it impolite to refuse, I think it's particularly rude to be unprepared and expect a stranger to hand over their laptop. You shouldn't have to pay for their short-sighted inconvenience.
I propose putting a horribly disturbing image on your desktop background. It doesn't necessarily have to be disgusting to you, just something you wouldn't want a boss to see. I strongly doubt anyone will want to use your computer after seeing it, and will probably avoid asking you, or decline once offered.
Put the personal back into PC.
If they want to use your laptop, ask if you could borrow their cell phone and make various calls and stuff. ;)
Just as they could cause some costs for your equipment, you're doing the same thing to them so I see it as a rather fair trade given how sophisticated cell phones have gotten.
sortius_nod got his power cut off.
Install Linux with FVWM remove all the menus except for xterm and run all apps threw the terminal. For your own sanity make a bunch of cryptic commands symbolic links and shell scripts to do what you want but you will be the only one who really know and cares to remember the scripts.
So when they use you computer they will be so perplexed on how to use it as nothing will be intuitive that they just won't ask you to use it.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Use common sense. Ask for something personal in return. Collateral. I want your cell phone/wallet/purse/bra/phone number in exchange for use of my laptop. Make sure to mention as they feel comfortable using your laptop during the duration, you'll feel just as comfortable using their personal items. Of course you'll return it in the shape it was in when they borrowed it, when both you and they are finished.
FLR
I saw a surprisingly few people suggested "leave it at home." At no point in any of my studies has NOT having a laptop in class been more trouble than loaning it out and possible damage or data loss that way.
Leave it at home. If you're so addicted that you have to have it with you, then get help. If you're just worried about your own email, then get a smartphone.
I would restrict sharing of that laptop unless there is a dire and urgent need. It is not always wrong to be a bit rude. Simply tell people that it is a personal item and that you do not let others use it. If they are offended they will get over it soon enough and they may actually like and respect you more for it. I was married to a woman, who has passed away , who would argue and fight more than almost anyone over trivial business matters and it turned out that the people she fought with loved her for her spunk even though she could get really rude during arguments.
Create a battery low screenshot, and even a fake BSOD screenshot that gets invoked after say 2 mins.
OR
Run a background task that is so cpu/io intensive which renders the PC so slow to be almost a pain to use.
They will come back to you with the PC and probably wont ask you again for it.
First, I switched to dvorak. Then if someone asks, i switch to a guest account, using Xwindows and xterm. no DE/WM, nothing else. last I discreetly turn off wireless before handing it over. NQS
Tell them no.
Guest account on WinXp/Vista with access only to web browser (Firefox) and Sandboxie http://www.sandboxie.com to run a sandboxed instance of the browser. You can configure sandboxie to dump the sandbox after each session. Nothing
Since you're such a geek, it's probably surprising that one of the jocks hasn't already embedded your computer into your skull for you.
Make a new account with all the necessary parental controls.
Shut down GDM, KDM, XDM, or whatever your X launcher is (or just Control-Alt-F1 before heading into common areas). Then use command line tools like Lynx, Emacs, Vi, Pico, whatever. If someone asks to use it say, "Sure", log out, log back in on a dedicated "for monkeys" chrooted account, still at that command line, and hand it to them. The mesmerizing inky darkness of the console, and the plaintively blinking cursor will put them into a trance-like state. Then you can simply pluck your computer back as their facial muscles go slack and the spittle begins to well at the corners of their mouth.
Seriously though, set up a guest user account and learn to use your "special purpose"(*) as a stepping stone to winning friends and influencing people(**). Being computer literate means you will be getting questions and requests for the rest of your life. College is an excellent place to learn how to turn a conversation opener (like, "can I use your laptop") into a social entree. As long as you're getting something (a stronger social bond, a sense of gratitude) out of it, it's worth it. Just be sure to develop the connection while you have it. If you just silently let them use the machine you'll have gained little or no connection strength. Ask them for their opinion on something, anything, the weather if you have to. And be genuinely interested in their response.
Soon, you'll not just be "the guy with the laptop", you'll become "the nice guy with the laptop." And ideally, "the nice, kinda quirky-cute guy with the laptop who I should set up with my friend."
* See Steve Martin's "The Jerk" for reference.
** See Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" for reference.
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
"I'm sorry, I suck at sharing"
Frankly, I can't imagine asking someone to use their laptop. Establish some fucking boundaries.
I know it's been 10 years since I graduated/taught, but I doubt much has changed. School computers were laden with malware and viruses. I'd get disks with assignments from clueless students that were virtually bubbling over with viruses. I'm sure it's the same with USB drives now. Honestly, lending out your laptop would seem to be akin to lending your toothbrush to a typhoid patient.
You've already started letting them use your laptop, you are in a difficult situation now that you want to say No. It is probably best if you leave it home for a few days or keep it in it's case. Or, if someone asks to borrow it just tell them you're really sorry but even though it may seem like just a laptop to them, to you it's a very personal and sentimental item to you and you don't feel comfortable sharing it. Art students should be able to understand that. Nevertheless, your inability to say no is the real issue and clearly that has nothing to do with installing linux.
They're in art school too. They should have their own MacBooks.
Actually, forcing you to give up your personal notebook so that they can do their own work is rude and unfriendly. It sounds like you're just too Canadian to say "Non", so here are a few tips:
(1) Set up a guest account and have your friends log into it. This is fairly simple to set up in just about any modern OS, so the details are left as an exercise for the reader.
(2) If the guest account in (1) is somehow too limited, or doesn't have access to everything that your friends need, then that's too frakkin' bad and they can get their own computer.
(3) Mention to anyone who asks to use your computer just how much damage was caused the last time some yo-yo plugged in an infested USB drive, "just checked some email" on yaoizone.com or got just a little bit too energetic with the trackpad.
(4) Don't mention that the events in (3) have never happened. Yet. It's only a matter of time and you shouldn't have to spend hours cleaning up the mess that someone leaves just because they can't be bothered to spend a few minutes helping themselves.
I tend to over-generalize, but if you're the only kid in school with a laptop, I see two possible solutions:
1. Leave your laptop at home. If no one else needs one, why should you ?
2. Tell the others to go @$#% themselves, er... I mean get their own damned laptops
I'm all for tech-savvy people, but if you're in art school and you're not in a classroom full of computers, chances are the prof is teaching you non-computer stuff and you should perhaps be paying attention to what the old welfare case is yapping about.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
For other operating systems, I would recommend a VM.
Alternatively, you could always suggest - politely - that your classmate get a laptop of their own.
I saw a bumber sticker on a truck in a parking lot one time. I reads the following:
"Yes, this is my truck. No, I won't help you move."
I think the same principle applies.
If you don't know the person and don't trust them just say no. That's what I do in class. I also run linux and most people get confused when they don't see windows. The best thing to do is just no.
This is issue enough to ask people on Slashdot? Just let them fucking use it. Having good people skills (IE not pissing people off over trivial things) is a far more important skill to have an develop than being a paranoid fuck when people want to use your laptop...
Learn Dvorak and set your keyboard to that. That way when someone wants to use it, they can't. Then the request will stop.
It can be uncomfortable to say no so say yes and that you only charge $5 per 15 minutes of use (payable in advance, no credit). If people balk explain that it's to simply cover the cost of virus and security software.
No it's not. If you ask someone to do you a favor and expect that person to comply, that is not a favor; that is bullying. The other person has all the rights to refuse your request. Not accepting "no" as a response is rude and anti-social. (As an aside, I almost never give money to homeless because they often have this attitude that I owe them money and everything I have.)
In the case of this story submitter, I think the most difficult psychological barrier is to tell people the real reason he doesn't want to lend his laptop: "I don't feel comfortable letting anyone use my laptop." It's okay to be a bit selfish. People who regard you as a friend will respect that and keep you a friend.
If you are so compelled to help those who don't have a computer to check e-mail or browse the web, then that's the proper context under which discussing technical methods to protect the privacy of the computer could be helpful. In which case, guest account, virtual machine, Google Chrome incognito mode are all fairly good ways.
The question now would be, how do you comfortably ask them to yield the laptop when you do need to use it. That comes back to the point that, if you're doing someone a favor, they should be able to take no for an answer, even ever so temporarily.
I once had a signature.
charge $5 a minute, log in as a guest (Security enabled).
Save the proceeds and buy a really nice laptop for yourself and keep the old one as a rental.
Capitalism at it's finest!
I don't see why this is listed as YRO. This has nothing to do with a gov't agency or a corporation or anybody *forcing* anybody else to do anything with their possessions and data. This seems to fall more into the "Ask Slashdot" category.
Wake up and smell the coffee, if they are asking you too often it's a sign that they are abusing you. If they assign guilt to your refusals, it's a sign that they are just manipulative. Human/group interaction does not mean that it's alright for others to leech off of you.
Then be rude and unfriendly. Whose laptop is it, anyway?
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
Boot it up and log onto your Linux guest account. Most likely one of two things will happen:
1. Your x-windows configuration won't work with the schools projector.
2. The person who asked to use your laptop will have no idea how to use Linux.
Either way you win, and they won't ask you next time.
I don't let anyone use my laptop. Period. I'd almost rather practice unsafe sex. The chances of getting a "terminal" infection are probably about the same, and sex is a lot more fun!
Sometimes, real fast is almost as good as real-time.
Seriously, I skimmed through most of these comments and the responses seem to range from virtual machines to Linux, to separate accounts, to tell them to stuff themselves. Except, the author point out the desire to be polite and friendly, while at the same time apparently unwilling to go the Linux route. Isn't a VM or separate account just an extension of the latter? In other words, why should the author have to go to ANY lengths to accommodate these requests--when the real desire is to politely back off and not fulfill them? Handing over your personal laptop--no matter what your technical proficiency--is still handing over your personal laptop. One direct approach I might try is to talk to the school administrators about the problem and present it as an issue of the laptops not being within easy reach of the classroom(s). If they balk at this, you might--assuming your instructor has noticed the problem too--ask your teacher to submit a request to reserve the computer every day at class time, or make a formal request to block your PC at the firewall, but only during classtime. To put this another way, put in 15 minutes of elbow grease that puts a lot more work on them, and they'll come up with a solution you might not have considered. Further, you're no longer responsible for fulfilling the requests--which is the ultimate issue. In the end, it sounds like a big part of the issue is Internet access. You can always take the passive approach, too. Regardless of your laptop's OS--you can use a scheduled task to stop your network card 5 minutes into class (just in case you forgot something yourself), then start it up again just after class. You can just explain you're having problems with your networking...and when you want something off the Internet, big deal, you can call the super too. Besides...maybe when they discover you're no longer at their convenience, the class finds that someone has a smartphone.
Laziness has a price and you should be reimbursed for the convenience and (most likely) extra support.
Install a keylogger and let them read their mail.
Just say NO...
I won't f** borrow my laptop!!
Apart from not bringing the laptop to class, how about you don't take it out during class? If people don't see it, they won't know it's there and they won't ask to use it. I'd bet they are already trained on asking you so they'll ask you for a few weeks even if they don't see it, but keep saying "sorry i didn't bring it" and soon they'll learn to rely on other resources.
You had the two elements of a successful solution there in your post. You just have to put them together.
"...or carry around a Linux-on-a-stick. Or I could embed the computer in my skull."
Carry around Linux-on-a-stick, and when they ask, embed it in THEIR skulls!
A few USB sticks, and they'll stop asking.
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
If yes, I fail to see the problem, if they brake it you claim the insurance and ask your friend to cover the deductible, that would be just fair.
If you don't (or if you simply don't want to share your laptop, you bastard) tell them that the laptop is not insured, and that you would prefer not to burden them with such responsibility, this way you are not really telling them to f. off although you would actually be doing exactly that, but showing an hypocrite concern for them, which must be something positive.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
I would simply install two copies of whatever OS your choose. Reboot into the guest OS when you want them to use it.
Or simply grow a pair and tell them no, I don't want your viruses/worms/trojans on my laptop. Thanks.
Wards 'em off like bug repellent...
Assuming that you're in the U.S., you should understand that anything you have at school has limited "personal" qualities. From the most recent case (Redding) to a number of historic cases (Board of Ed v. Earls, NJ v. TLO, etc.), the Supreme Court has clearly enumerated student's limited expectation of privacy.
While I understand that this isn't directly what you asked, it's important that you understand the realities of taking your computer to school with you - the least of your worries is fellow classmates using your computer.
[Insert pithy line of moxie here.]
I would think that most art students were required to have a Mac laptop to meet their trendyness quota. Are you part of some authentic cave-man art program?
Stop your whining. Grow a dick. Learn to say "no". Mastering these three steps is a much more valuable life skill than anything you'll learn at an art school.
"If you want to know what happens to you when you die, go look at some dead stuff."
Put a keylogger on it.
Advertise this fact to people who borrow the computer.
Or not.
Start charging a "Usage fee"
I bet the request will slowly die after they hear that Berto is charging.
Justify it by lost productivity, general upkeep and support of your machine.
Make it sound like an imposition so that they know that it is.
Why don't you install a less easy to use, or a less windows like operating environment. Make it easier for them to go elsewhere.
Or just tell them to use "Layla's" iPhone...
I woke up breathing today. Everything else is a plus.
If you're running Windows XP or Vista on your laptop you might be able to use Windows SteadyState. It should do what you want.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx
Set up a guest account (without admin rights), then configure a software firewall profile under that account to limit web traffic and other user interaction to a limited set of websites and services. Go ahead and allow access to whichever of the webmail services you trust, decide whether or not to allow ActiveX, and even block access to social networking sites, if desired. Disable AutoRun. If using a Windows box, you can run TweakUI or a similar tool to limit menu options. Once you've limited the machine to your satisfaction, you're ready for the next time you're asked to let them do A, B, or C on your laptop.
I use irony whenever I can, but my shirts are still wrinkled...
Then it wont be cool enough for art majors to use.
Might not be an option for you, but if you speak any other language, just change the Windows/Mac/Linux system language to it.
I can't count the number of people who've asked to use my laptop, been challenged by "Cet ordinateur est utilisé et a été verrouillé ... Appuyez sur Ctrl-Alt-Suppr pour déverrouiller cet ordinateur" (or even just noticed that the Start Menu is labeled "Démarrer") and have gone "Oh, well... I'll ask John over there then, I guess."
Also, even if people know that English is your native language, you can claim that you're trying to learn and that you've changed your computer over to get some practise with it. No need to have people think that you're intentionally trying to prevent them from using your system.
Tinfoil Hat Linux. If no one but you can see what's on your screen, no one will want to use your laptop.
Just tell them you've judge dredd'ed it, if they touch the keys a horrible shock is given, after all, its the newest in personal computing security..duh
1. Um, yeahâ¦Guest account? 2. I know about âoeFast-user switchâ on Windows, and on OS X you can go into System Preferencesâ'Accounts and enable a menu item that lets you switch users any time you want. I use this to switch to a Guest account when people want to use my laptop on campus.
â"Zearin
Switch to Ubuntu. Create a guest account and let them use that.
If you or the people you lend to really need Windows...
Install QEMU, on Ubuntu, it is a nice virtual machine. Take your old Windows CD and install as a FILE in your QEMU Virtual machine.
Keep a couple copies of the Virtual Windows FILE on your hard drive.
When someone wants to borrow your laptop, start up your Virtual Windows Machine in QEMU and lets them play. If the screw up that Windows copy (or if you just don't trust them), delete the FILE and use a new copy of the FILE on your Virtual Machine.
- I live the greatest adventure anyone could possibly desire. - Tosk the Hunted
Spend about a week eating Cheetos, cutting your fingernails, and eating sugary snacks directly over your laptop, getting that crap all over (and between) the keys. Also be sure to sneeze directly on the screen (bonus points for having a mouth full of soda at the time). If you don't have the heart to tell them no directly, maybe you can indirectly dissuade them from wanting to use it. Plus if you get hungry during class you can always dig out some of those Cheeto bits ...
I consider my PC a very personal item due to the contents. If someone asks you to borrow it, then ask them if you could 'borrow' any one of the following items:
Chapstick
Nose Spray
A Kleenex
Q-Tip
Tube of Preparation-H
Be sure to return the item when you are done using it. Maybe they'll get a clue.
"You can't really dust for vomit" --Nigel Tufnel
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I must be more rude than you. I switched from a computer science degree to psychology, and ended up in your shoes. I was the one who had the laptop, and was the one who could answer tech questions.
When folks tried to get on my laptop, I just made jokes about not letting them in my undies, either. It just wasn't worth letting someone that was critically tech unfriendly on my computer. Double so, when I still had a windows laptop.
I don't think anyone treated me poorly for my curmudgeony ways. Most just accepted I had a weird "thing about the computer". It's not that big a deal to say no. It's you're equipment, and if you don't want folks checking AOL, Myspace, etc. Then it's really your choice. You don't owe them access.
I dream of tools.
Here's a skill that will help you your entire life: Learn to say "no". You don't need to be a jerk about it, just present them with the same solid argument you've presented here. As you grow older, it might be more convenient for your neighbor to borrow your lawn mower then to buy one himself. At what point do you decided to stop bending over and taking it in the rear Mcfly?
Here's the reality. You have a valued possession. If internet access was valued by your dorm mates, they would all have their own laptops. Do any of the borrowers loan you their car or art supplies? I'm guessing no.
In summary, just grow a pair.
I'm not sure that "friends" is the appropriate word here. People who are kind enough to beg the OP to use his stuff because they're too lazy or stupid to buy their own are generally not "friends", they're sponges. What's the likelihood they'd do him favors in return when he's in need? Do they hang out with him after class and help him with his work a lot? Or are they just cordial to him and his best pal in the world when they need something from him and otherwise he may as well not exist? If so, they're sponges. If the willingness to be used by sponges is a mark of good social graces, I don't see a problem with being at the bottom of that social pecking order. There are only certain situations involving social politics where it might be to one's advantage to do so.
That said, there's a place for social gifting. If someone has a desperate need and you help them out, that's an entirely different thing. Your generosity is still a scarce resource that will be appreciated and not assumed or taken-advantage of. If someone really is a friend, it's appropriate to share since generosity is mutual. But for people who just want to take advantage and use your stuff so they don't have to buy and maintain their own, "Sorry, can't help you there," is an appropriate answer, especially if there's --any-- chance you'd lose a non-trivial amount of time and money due to what might someone might do to the item they wish to borrow, and you don't have a reasonable expectation that they'd make it right in such an event.
"Sorry, man, the battery's just about dead."
"Sorry, man, the net's broken, I just use this for my notes and shit."
Or you could just say "no" unless it's a screaming emergency. I mean, if someone's expecting to show some files on an usb key, they'll have set things up to have a machine handy, right?
And if you feel you must let everyone (or some subset of everyone) use your machine, set up a guest account and turn on fast user switching.
Or you could just leave the thing at home as often as not so that people don't expect you to be That Dude With The Laptop. This really sounds like it's more of a social problem than a technical one.
egypt urnash minimal art.
This is a question of who is being more rude - the person with the laptop, or the person asking to borrow it. Laptops are a personal resource, not a community one, and I somehow doubt that anyone is providing you with any benefit for using it, short of "not hating you for life."
There are lots of reasons for not letting others use your laptop. School resources get pretty beaten up over time, and you don't want your laptop to wind up looking like one of those. Battery life is a limited resource, not just the charge, but also the number of times you can charge the battery, and they are EXPENSIVE. My laptop now has three ports that have just given up the ghost from regular plugging and unplugging.
Let's face it. Nobody in high school NEEDS to check their email during school hours, but you do need to keep your laptop working. Damage caused by casual users is inevitable, not just to the OS, but to the hardware itself. Asking you to allow that damage simply because you're supposed to be nice is RUDE, and shows no respect for your property.
So, unfortunately, it's not just a matter of saying no, but of educating them regarding why borrowing your laptop is unacceptable. I hope this provides you with a good start.
Wake up - the future is arriving faster than you think.
Say no.
It is not rude to say no, it *IS* rude to ask to violate your personal space.
The general rule is always, if you feel in anyway uncomfortable about what is asked, just say "no". If they ask again or act offended or tell you that your are rude, then you say, "FUCK YOU, I SAID NO" you can substitute "WHAT PART OF 'NO' DON"T YOU UNDERSTAND". If they ask after that, well , raising a fist in fair warning is enough to get the point across.
Personally, I would smash my laptop across their face before I would allow them to use it.
Like I said, grow a pair.
Stonewolf
Either don't take the laptop to school.
Or, when they tell you it's rude to say no, point out that's it's equally rude for them to ask in the first place.
Either way, really, it's the same choice: Grow up, and stop believing that like what other people want you to do matters more than what you want to do.
n/t
Lending your laptop once in a while is OK, specially when you are truly helping someone who's laptop got infected by a virus
Someone who goes to sites/opens emails that propagate viruses is exactly the person you don't want borrowing your laptop.
I have to agree with the parent. By being a "nice guy" you buy brownie points from the people you lend your PC to...maybe. On the other hand, they may be leeches who will not hesitate to guilt you into doing what they want, and then not reciprocate at a future time. How do you tell the difference? Ah, college, it's all about learning to be social in a social environment.
In the end, though, it's your computer. You'll be amazed at how fast all these "friends" disappear once some lunk-head breaks your PC. And sticks you with the repair bill.
I'm just saying.
"If god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him" --Voltaire
Every time I go to some big conference, there's a clusterfuck as someone tries to get their laptop to talk to the projector.
If you lend your machine out for that sort of thing, make very sure that autorun is turned off for all external media. Someone is going to put in a CD or a USB stick that has something on it that will try to autorun.
Incidentally, if you're giving a talk, have everything set up in advance. When the projector turns on, your first slide should be up. Not a Windows desktop. Not a PowerPoint slide tray. Not "New updates are available for your computer." And especially not "Low Battery". That's amateurish. I used to have a housemate who was a roadie for rock groups, a stage rigger, and also did event setup at Stanford. She insisted presentations run like theatrical performances; any prep work takes place out of sight of the audience. If you're in art school, definitely learn to do this right.
let them borrow the laptop itself, but not the battery or power cable ; )
You can restore the laptop to exactly the way it was before you loaned it to someone with a tool like sandboxie, so then it doesn't matter what they do.
Simple:
Switch to your preferred Unix-like OS (BSD or Solaris is probably better than Linux for this--most people have heard of Linux) but get rid KDE, GNOME or any other friendly desktop environment. Instead, run your preferred window manager (something that looks nothing like Windows or MacOS is better) and use xterms for all your actual interactions. Use lynx as your web browser and mutt as your mail client. (Or if you must use Firefox/Thunderbird, find the most outlandish and confusing theme and set of extensions you can find.)
Then, when somebody asks to use your laptop, just say "Sure, go ahead. This runs $FREE_OS, though, which may not be what you're used to." If they ask for help, tell them which man page they need to read to get the answer.
After three or four iterations of this, nobody will bother you anymore.
(Also, it's a good idea to set up a guest account and some way to to it, just in case you meet somebody who knows Unix. See other posts in this thread for more suggestions.)
Tell them no, would they like to loan you their cellphone to make a bunch of personal calls on?
The only alternative I can think of is to create another account, name it the traditional: guest, password anon, and make sure it's NOT a power user, that it's got the least authority. Let them screw with each other's crap there, and go in as administrator, and delete everything when you get home.
mark
You can get from Ebay a refurbished Asus Eee 900A from 165USD Shipping included, You can resell it for 200 USD thus solving the eternal Slashdot dilemma...
1- Buy Asus Eee 900A for 165USD
2- Resell it for 200USD (was perviously ???)
3- Profit !!
Make this your home page in Internet Explorer and Firefox, then lend out to anybody who asks.
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
Switch to a virtual terminal whenever someone is watching. Tell them you disabled the GUI because no L337 hax0r uses one. You can even offer to teach them some Unix commands, since they will likely decline (this boosts their perception of your sincerity). Be sure to have green text on a black background for more cool points :)
you have a thousand dollar suit, but drive a fifteen thousand dollar car? Interesting priorities...
A thousand dollar suit *might* help you get you a job and sadly a $1K suit really isn't exceptionally expensive these days for a decent suit. A $15K car will not get you a job though it will get you to said job.
Personally I got my suits (much) cheaper by getting them directly tailored in Hong Kong or Bangkok but only because I was already traveling there for other reasons. It is relatively difficult to find a good quality suit for under $500 but fortunately most men don't need more than 1 or 2 of them. A good fitting suit can be a good investment and some employers require you to wear a suit - frequently if the job has a six figure income attached to it.
but then again, I have a four thousand dollar car but a ten thousand dollar entertainment set up...
Glass houses stocked with black pots... Don't spend it on things you don't care about or aren't useful to you. A $4K car is fine depending on your needs. If you work in a factory you probably aren't going to wear a suit beyond the interview if then. If you are a consultant you'll probably need/have a number of fairly expensive suits if your clientele dictates that sort of dress. Sometimes people need or want something that costs more. Some geeks like mechanical things that do more than beep at them. For what it is worth you can get a pretty nice basic car for $15K. Really nice if you buy used and look carefully.
Ask for money for each use. Then use the accumulated money to buy another laptop. Then you have yours and another you can loan out.
(And don't forget to get a $500 deposit each time they borrow it too. Just in case they don't bring it back.)
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
Install Linux or a Unix and use a window manager like ratpoison, ion, awm, dwm, or (my preference) awesome. It'll be user-unfriendly, and nobody will want to touch it.
Switch to dvorak or some other key layout nobody can use.
With either approach, they'll stop asking when they find out your computer is unusable to them.
Alternatively, just say no. When they get indignant, tell them your checkbook isn't their personal socialist clearinghouse for gadgets and that if they want something, they should buy one themselves. Which is (in reality) more rude: asking to use someone's stuff, or turning them down? I mean, seriously. Of all the pretension.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
I do not let anyone use my laptop computer, no matter how simple their request. Locking the computer is a friendly way to invite them to use another machine.
Just tell them no. Do you think they will be able to pay for repairs if they can not afford their own? One simple drop and you may not only have a broken laptop, but, unless you have an SSD, you also probably just lost all of your data. Even if they can afford to replace your laptop, they will not be able to replace your hard work.
My two cents and I expect change...
I want my! I want my! I want my Eee PC!
Why bother putting another OS on YOUR LAPTOP for others to use?
What you do is change your screen saver to 'My Pictures Slideshow' in win32 or http://code.google.com/p/alock/ in lin/bsd32.
Add this image http://www.yellowrage.com/blog/uploaded_images/crack-desk-735591.jpg to the screen saver, and when someone comes asks you to use your laptop, you activate the screen saver, and say, "Sorry my screen is broken.".
2nd Launch IE or whatever browser you DON'T use. More than likely they will begin typing in whatever browser is looking at them and are less likely to interact with your favourites/history.
This should be safe enough for most 'let me check my mail real quick', needs. If someone wants to take it into a different room, that's really a whole different level.
Other thoughts: Turn the security settings on IE up to full so that it's practically unusable, and have it prompt you for everything. This will discourage regular leeches.
buy a Eee 900HA for 250 and offer to rent it for 10 bucks an hour (or fraction there of). carry around the extra weight and you could have a bit of an industry going - offering travelling internet to the unwashed (cause I too have been to art school) masses.
Download and install the VM Player
Download and load up one of the many virtual appliances that have web browsing capability (some are as small as 50MB).
http://www.vmware.com/products/player/
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/
Switch your keyboard layout from QWERTY to Devorak. Learn Devorak over a week or so and then you're all set.
I bet when you tell them, "Yeah, go ahead, but my keyboard is wonky, it has a different layout", they'll try to type, get frusterated fast, won't want to tell you their passwords then say "thanks but no thanks".
It's worked for me over the last decade in dozens of situations and environments. People just won't touch your computer if they can't type on it.
Modesty is one of life's greatest attributes
A thousand dollar suit *might* help you get you a job and sadly a $1K suit really isn't exceptionally expensive these days for a decent suit. A $15K car will not get you a job though it will get you to said job.
Any job where having a $1000 suit rather than an ordinary (but nice-looking) jacket and tie will make a difference in getting it is probably not a job I want in the first place...either because they have unreasonable expectations in their dress code, or because they're a law firm and I'm not a lawyer.
Now, if it's a job that will buy me a $1000 suit, that might be different...
Dan Aris
Fun. Free. Online. RPG. BattleMaster.
I switched my laptop's layout to Dvorak. It's a bit extreme perhaps, if you don't have time to learn Dvorak, but I guarantee you, no one will want to borrow your laptop. If anyone asks, I say "Sure!" Then they get my laptop running a heavily-customized Ubuntu with nothing close to a Start button, and a Dvorak keyboard. They'll stare for a few seconds and say "Never mind."
(If you're a touch-typer, you can still rearrange the keys but keep it a QWERTY keyboard - but have a hotkey set to switch between layouts so you can switch it to Dvorak before handing it over to the unsuspecting laptop-leech)
Any job where having a $1000 suit rather than an ordinary (but nice-looking) jacket and tie will make a difference in getting it is probably not a job I want in the first place...
That's your choice of course. High level sales, management, legal and consulting jobs typically require a relatively expensive wardrobe for a variety of reasons. Nothing wrong with wanting to work in your blue jeans either but a job with a six figure income usually comes with strings attached. A dress code is frequently among the strings. If your customers dress in nice suits, chances are decent you'll be expected to dress the same way. Obviously if your job is programming, a suit and tie is probably not necessary or reasonable.
However for an interview you will be judged on your physical appearance, like it or not.
...either because they have unreasonable expectations in their dress code, or because they're a law firm and I'm not a lawyer.
Unreasonable is a matter of opinion. Yours likely differs from mine and that's ok. But all other things equal (and I know they rarely are) I'm not going to turn down a higher paying job just because I have to dress better. You are aware that a good fitting suit is more comfortable than any blue jeans you've ever worn right? There IS a difference between a $250 suit and a $1000 suit and especially a tailored suit. If you have to live in the clothing it's nice to be comfortable and a bonus to look good too. I will happily concede however that a tie is a useless and stupid piece of clothing and they should all be burned.
Horse porn, swastika, corpses, maybe a McCain-Palin logo. They'll never go near it.
Use this
I'm sure the submitter will never get this far in the thread, but I just wanted to add my 2 cents here anyway.
1. If the submitter thinks that telling people "no" is rude, has he thought about how rude it is of them to ask in the first place? Suppose someone you walk up to someone on the street and ask to borrow their cell phone so you can call your girlfriend for a little chat. What do you think the answer will be? And why should your response be any different when someone randomly asks to use your laptop to check their email or facebook?
2. If you're really the type who can't say no to inconvenient requests from random people, and you happen to run Linux, create a guest account (with a password of "toocheaptobuymyownlaptop") with a really obnoxious window manager and use a web browser that has Javascript, Flash, etc all disabled. Or perhaps install Windows 95 in a virtual machine and make that your "guest account". Your goal here is to make people not want to use your computer. Eventually, the requests will dwindle down to virtually none.
Use Kubuntu Jaunty as the main OS (assuming it's got the drivers for your mobile PC)... and use WINE or Crossover Office or Virtualbox-XP virtual machine depending on the level of Windows compatibility you really need for what you're doing and how powerful your mobile computer is. (mine is an Eee PC900... I stopped at Crossover Office because I don't want to turn my netbook into a battery-powered space heater that executes programs with glacial slowness)
Then, just create a guest account using KUser.
Bonus... Amarok2 is part of the default OS install. It's a great way to run and more to the point, find streaming "Internet Radio" by genre.
Better security and stability, and the unfamiliar Linux UI will hopefully encourage people to find other ways to get to their content. (of course it's easy to use, but most people will make no effort to learn about anything that's "different").
Tech Public Policy stuff
Personally - and I have done this - I appeal to their empathy and sense of how it is an inconvenience to you.
In my case I said something along the lines of "I'd love to but last time I did that I got a virus/they busted a USB port/my keyboard got Coke all over it."
Play the Once Bitten, Twice Shy game.
Like a couple of posters have already said, they really don't need to be checking their email simply because you are there with a resource.
Rebuff casual requests to check Facebook. Use your judgement for more important requests like need to google a hospital a friend of their's is in.
One slight problem is that you have already been generous with your laptop, therefore people expect to use it again (seriously, humans are a rude and presumptuous species). They will be more annoyed than if they never enjoyed your generosity in the first place. But the above white lie can still work. Say that one guy/girl, can't remember who or choose a good, plausible scapegoat, messed up your laptop and now no one gets to use it. It was an expensive fuck-up, sorry dude.
If your colleagues start holding your reluctance to share against you...I think you are better off knowing who were the first to turn on you than to walk around thinking they gave a shit about you or your kindness. Overall, think of this as good practice for learning how to gracefully say no while minimizing or totally nullifying consequences. It is an EXCELLENT tool in life and one I admit I sometimes have trouble with.
Use a tiling wm :). They will be confused and wander off. I do that.
Yeah, if you were in business school you'd know what to do...
Charge em.
Set up a Paypal account and bill them by the minute (with a 10 minute minimum.) Give each 'user' a ID and password, and log the number of minutes.
Use this as an object lesson in how to set up a little enterprise. This will be a hella better education than learning art...
As they lose track of on-line time, you'll be amazed at how much money you're raking in!
Use the profits to buy another machine; lather, rinse, repeat!
I am from generation that saw the introduction of a handheld calculator.
I finally got one in 7-th grade in grammar school. Many, many of my clasmates didn't have calculator at the time. From time to time people from the next class would come to our class and each of them was trying to borrow a calculator, because they has physics test that day and they wanted to save time by not having to do calculations by hand. I hated, just HATED to put my precious programmable calculator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektronika_MK-61 into the hands of some ignorant clumsy non-geek ;-))
At that time a good calculator was about as valuable in my country as a netbook is in USA today.
So, when one of them came to me to borrow my calculator it went like this: ..." ..." ... do not run away ... I can show you how to cleverly use the next two registers for parenthesis ... "
"Hey, can you lend me a calculator"
"Of course, no problem at all"
"Let me just show you how it works. You plug in the power adaptor to the wall socket, switch the thing on like this
"now let's compute 3*5. OK?"
"you type 3"
"now you move 3 to the next register by pressing this symbol - you see this gorgeous thing uses Reverse Polish Logic"
"now you type in 5"
"and finally you press * symbol to tell the calculator to compute
"Hey
Install some nasty looking geeky system on your notebook and every time one of your art oriented friends comes along just start explaining how this obscure distro works ...
don't take it to school
Pretty girls have the problem that guys think they deserve sexual favors just because, because. Friends think they deserve to use your computer just because because. Because they want it. Sexual favors and laptops are both the kinds of things that anyone should say no to friends about, because the owner knows what they are worth, and the friend doesn't. This is just about saying no and staying relatable and friendly anyway. After the initial shock, you and they get used to the idea.
Pop half an Alka-Seltzer tablet in your mouth. When you start foaming at the mouth and give a wild eyed stare, people tend to keep away. It works on NYC subways.
Although not widely advertised, RPN calculators largely ameliorate any problems with borrowing:
Borrower: "May I borrow your calculator for a second?"
Lender: "Sure, here you go."
Borrower: "Um, no thanks."
I have had similar issues. I used to do a lot of work in a coffeeshop that I frequently visited and I know most people who went there. So of course they asked me if they could use my computer. The thing is, that it has only dvorak layout installed (splitstreamed xp), so I could be honest and tell them that it's the only way they could type on it. If it was something truly urgent, I helped them out of course.