Steam gets away with it because games often go on better sales, and sooner, then the regular retail market (or even Xbox Live's game marketplace). No I can't re-sell my digital games purchases, but when I'm buying from steam, it's either a multiplayer game that I'm never going to want to get rid of, or it's so cheap that re-sale isn't even considered. If I want the ability to re-sell, I get physical copies.
The serious issue is that Sony's attempting to cripple the physical angle as well. I'd be worried about losing the ability to rent games. What would this do for companies like Gamefly? How about the detail that I can't take my games to my friends house because he has no internet access? Of course this might be an issue if I was a Sony customer, but I've seen enough from them to make me avoid their products.
"low cost". Maintaining a MS OS is only "low cost" if you have someone who will do it for free- i.e. you're the family geek, keeping the wife and kid's computers working so they can enjoy compatibility with systems at school and work.
I subscribe to the "conspiracy theory" of MS OSes. They are deliberately unreliable and insecure in order to keep an army of IT people employed fixing them. The army continues to support and specify MS OSes because they know they'll have years of bugs, security problems, and random instability to look forward to from which to derive a pay check.
Maintaining a large network of interconnected school sites is only "low cost" if you're doing it wrong.
I work for a District of 50+ sites with a mix of windows, mac, and linux(server) machines. We have roughly equal amounts of issues with both the windows and mac machines. They don't have the same issues, but when you put large amounts of macs in an enterprise environment for years, you start to understand that "it just works" is a marketing ploy, not an accurate statement. Having access through our Apple rep to their systems engineers was also enlightening on how screwed up or incompatible some of their solutions are. It's just the same crap in a different shiny wrapper. The only conspiracy is the cult of Apple trying to present the Mac as the solution to the PC. They both have warts, they just appear in different places.
Depending on the size of the district, the mood and power of the one giving the order, and the political capital behind that one, you might get your way, or you might be shown the door. From my observations within a K-12 school district, the worst security decisions are the ones forced on IT. You can say no to the kids, no to the parents, no to the staff, but saying no to the superintendent or the board is career suicide. You can have your say about why "x" is a bad decision, lay out a worst case scenario, and even better if it happens during a board meeting where the minutes are recorded. But if you're over-ridden, you do what you're paid to, or start looking for a new job.
One other question I have for those here: have you ever encountered a Windows virus that, as they claim, just "spreads on the network" without user initiation of the virus by clicking on an executable, script, or loading an infected webpage? I think the much more likely scenario is that this virus is being spread through usb flash disks, but I'm not sure whether that explanation was too technical for staff to understand.
School IT guy here, yes, I've seen Downadup/Conficker spread through older neglected servers. Technically this is a worm, but I'm not overbearing on semantics like some. It appeared to gain entry to our network through a flash drive, as we did have strong proxy and filtering in place, but that only serves as a perimeter defense. Once inside our network, it spread among the older servers and started running brute force attacks against the active directory system, causing many accounts to lock out (which led to it's discovery). Ports were locked down to cut the worm's spread and communication, and cleanup was mostly complete within a week with a combination of scripting and manual cleanup on the more stubborn servers. Some WMI rebuilds were also needed on some machines, but even though it was decently wide spread, it wasn't that difficult to resolve. However, we had a competent staff, and thereafter we also had an A/V budget (imagine that!).
With that in mind, here's what I've concluded: There is likely someone with leadership authority who told IT staff to let students manage their own laptops and have admin privileges. Given the size of the district, the directive either came from the district technology committee, or directly from the superintendent, school board, or both. All it would take is a number of parents to ignorantly complain to a "friend on the board" that "Johnny's laptop is broken - he can't install the programs he needs to do his homework" for the school board to direct the superintendent to "fix the issue." Likely this was a top-down order; I simply cannot imagine a tech staff that large to be that incompetent on their own.
With what I've seen, I would concur. Some absolutely dangerous settings have been implemented solely due to political orders. This is not to be confused with political pressure, which may be able to be shifted or avoided, but an order given because of political pressure on a board or district administrator. You can try to reason, try to explain, present worst case scenarios, and make sure it's all documented, follow any CYA policy you can think of. Depending on the situation, you may even try to go over the head of the one giving the order. But in the end, if that's the order, you follow it or you endanger your job.
I know times have changed since I was a nipper, but at my school, there were probably 3 of the kids + 0 staff who knew the BBC + echonet system really well. I seem to remember one kid hacking it to within an inch of it's life then writing a report on "security" so he didn't get expelled for it. Anyway... my point is, the kids may know how to fix this better than these drongo staff members they hired (heck, the kids may have done it in the first place, so they'd presumably know how to fix it).
Those were a unique time. Computers were becoming widely available and they booted to a command line. Just getting around required some basic level of understanding that could naturally progress one towards becoming tech-savvy. For quite awhile now, kids don't delve nearly as deep into computers. They delve into the gui based software or games, but they barely scratch the surface on things. Opening up a command line is often viewed now as voodoo, written in an arcane language. Even some of the younger techs that work the front lines for a help desk barely comprehend a command line.
Yes, I understand that I'm going on about the command line, but it's been a pretty useful point of reference for judging someone's capability for understanding or finding out about resolving a decent variety of issues, when measured along with other metrics.
In my experience (mostly big IT companies), the number of windows admins required is nearly 4 times the number of unix admins required, for the same number of desktop machines.
I would submit that this also depends on the level of tasks required of the windows admins, and the level of capability of the windows admins as well. Unix admins, and for that matter Windows admins with *nix experience seem to be much better at automating mundane and redundant tasks then the average windows admin, which (from what I've observed) seems to be a large consumer of windows admin's time.
Part of my work is of the PC-monkey variety and in my experience motherboards are the second most likely-to-fail component in a system. I've NEVER seen a CPU die. I purchased two boxes of cheap and obsolete HP motherboards once and thought I'd made a huge mistake - I didn't realise HP mobos only support a narrow range of CPUs. I never thought I'd get rid of many, but now almost all the motherboards are gone, and I STILL haven't seen a failed CPU.
You've been fortunate. In my days as the PC monkey I saw a few fail. I've seen more power supply and RAM failures, but the only mobo failure I encountered was a cousin who ran his tower open (he was tinkering with it). His brother threw a balled up gum wrapper (foil) into the box. *facepalm*
I disagree. Motherboards are far more likely to die then a CPU. I have had CPUs go through 3 motherboard changes (Q6600). It is one of the few very rock solid parts in the computer.
I'd suspect you either chose some nasty mobos, or that you have heat or power issues in your locality that have not been addressed. I've got a q6600 that has been sitting on a gigabyte GA-G33m-S2L board for the past 5 years, and it was mostly on as well. The only thing I've changed out in the chassis since it was built is 2 fans and the dust that travels through it.
You can use a computer from 8 years ago today and still have something useful.
Maybe on a clean install. But not with all the malware that comes along with that free software that promises a free ipad after x amount of uses! That 8 year old computer would be non-responsive!
It's this kind of attitude of unions in the US which makes me say most have outlived their usefulness and something I had to explain when I lived in Germany to the Europeans that the union in the US are nothing like the unions in Europe. Many of the unions in the US are basically racketeers with a bully complex.
It's exactly the same attitude you see in US politics. From top to bottom it's about compromise being seen as a weakness. It's about the "my way or the highway" mentality. That kind of reasoning gets us nowhere. Which incidently may soon be where you'll be able to buy a twinkie or ding-dong.
Alright, fine. They're useful if you want to work a part time IT at a university while getting a degree. Pretty sure that's still useless for the level he'd want to get into;)
Well, yours certainly was. Someone with 13+ years as a programmer should already know everything in an A+ test, or should be unemployed.
While I agree with the sentiment, I've found it often the case that many of these specialists don't have the foundation knowledge that we both agree should be obvious. They are often the ones who keep their jobs through the old ways, office politics.
Yes, certificates are an annoyance to those who already know the technology, but they're not the worthless things you're trying to portray them as.
I never said "they" were worthless, just A+ for a seasoned IT professional. Perhaps more of that "school" stuff you talk about could help you with your reading comprehension.
Actually, a couple comments ago you did say:
They are worthless
You may not have intended to state that, but you did. Remember, your tone of voice and pacing do not get carried across the text line. You have to choose your words carefully, re-read, and adjust to get across the point you are intending. And you insulting my reading comprehension is laughable looking at your misdirected attacks in another thread.
I first used virtualization in 1992, using a legacy tech that few support any more, and it was old then (simply called "VM", because there was no need to distinguish it from competing products). Kids these days; think they invented everything.
Haha, I understand what you mean. =D I think I first touched VM in 95 myself. Of course things have changed much since then...
Then hear it from a certified person. I have A+, Network+, Server+, MCSE, CCNP, CCSP, CCDP, CCSE, and about 20 others. I'm a contractor, and for the State of Alaska, to touch a desktop (even to plug in a mouse) as a contractor, you must have A+. To touch a switch (even if just to move it in a rack while it's powered off) you must have Network+. To change tapes in a backup server, you must have Server+. I got those as a condition of employment for a consulting firm.
While I don't have the same array of certificates you do, I spent roughly 300 bux on the A+ cert, and made it (and much much more) back in my first check from the job it got me. I wish I could get the stock market to pay out as well is as short a time. It also sounds like your gripe is less with the certificate and more with the state of Alaska for requiring it of you.
I took 3 tests in 3 days, no studying, passed all three first try.
They are worthless, and I literally got A+ so I'd be "qualified" to plug in a mouse.
Because you already knew the subject material, you consider something worthless? Wow. You probably think school is worthless too. What I consider worthless is people who claim to know subject "X", thinking they'll learn it on the job, that same type who take jobs away from job seekers that actually are experienced and able to learn technology, but admit up front to not knowing it. That's why we have to deal with certificates in the first place. Yes, certificates are an annoyance to those who already know the technology, but they're not the worthless things you're trying to portray them as.
No, they are worthless. I got mine as a condition for a previous job because the State of Alasaka government requires them to work on equipment, and I was working for a contracting company that worked with the state. I got the job without them, and got them after I got the job, and no job before or since cared about them.
Like any tool, it's worthless until you need it. You obviously missed the point of my statement, and you show yourself to be just another shill trying to apply his personal worldview to all cases. But then again this is slashdot. I should have expected argument for argument's sake.
No, but having to memorize random information is just a waste of time. No, rather, it doesn't prove anything other than you have a brain; most people just lack critical thinking skills.
I can agree with the lack of critical thinkers out there, but critical thinkers without the (random?) information are often just as useless.
Then employers need to make sure people know what they're doing.
Obviously you've never been involved in an interview process.
IMHO certifications mean little once a person has >10 years of experience
Ah, a sane statement about certifications. However, this can be tempered by the age of the technology that the certification covers. For instance, a certification that covers virtualization shows you're experience isn't simply you riding a legacy tech that few support anymore. Experience and a continued ability to learn are valued commodities.
Slashdot Mirror
Foreign gambling operations give no $s to Uncle $am.
Not to mention they are likely unregulated. With no one peeking over their shoulder, whats to stop them from cooking the odds in their favor?
This is exactly why I submitted this article. Great to see someone recognizing the over-reach that's being attempted in this case.
Steam gets away with it because games often go on better sales, and sooner, then the regular retail market (or even Xbox Live's game marketplace). No I can't re-sell my digital games purchases, but when I'm buying from steam, it's either a multiplayer game that I'm never going to want to get rid of, or it's so cheap that re-sale isn't even considered. If I want the ability to re-sell, I get physical copies.
The serious issue is that Sony's attempting to cripple the physical angle as well. I'd be worried about losing the ability to rent games. What would this do for companies like Gamefly? How about the detail that I can't take my games to my friends house because he has no internet access? Of course this might be an issue if I was a Sony customer, but I've seen enough from them to make me avoid their products.
(Which they aren't...terrorists can put the C4 up their asses...)
Which is what the vast majority of people have been telling terrorists to do for quite some time. Sadly, it seems they started listening...
Can you imagine making Pasta with fins? The horror!
Yes, the tasty tasty horror!
"low cost". Maintaining a MS OS is only "low cost" if you have someone who will do it for free- i.e. you're the family geek, keeping the wife and kid's computers working so they can enjoy compatibility with systems at school and work.
I subscribe to the "conspiracy theory" of MS OSes. They are deliberately unreliable and insecure in order to keep an army of IT people employed fixing them. The army continues to support and specify MS OSes because they know they'll have years of bugs, security problems, and random instability to look forward to from which to derive a pay check.
Maintaining a large network of interconnected school sites is only "low cost" if you're doing it wrong.
I work for a District of 50+ sites with a mix of windows, mac, and linux(server) machines. We have roughly equal amounts of issues with both the windows and mac machines. They don't have the same issues, but when you put large amounts of macs in an enterprise environment for years, you start to understand that "it just works" is a marketing ploy, not an accurate statement. Having access through our Apple rep to their systems engineers was also enlightening on how screwed up or incompatible some of their solutions are. It's just the same crap in a different shiny wrapper. The only conspiracy is the cult of Apple trying to present the Mac as the solution to the PC. They both have warts, they just appear in different places.
I would, and have in the past, told them no.
Depending on the size of the district, the mood and power of the one giving the order, and the political capital behind that one, you might get your way, or you might be shown the door. From my observations within a K-12 school district, the worst security decisions are the ones forced on IT. You can say no to the kids, no to the parents, no to the staff, but saying no to the superintendent or the board is career suicide. You can have your say about why "x" is a bad decision, lay out a worst case scenario, and even better if it happens during a board meeting where the minutes are recorded. But if you're over-ridden, you do what you're paid to, or start looking for a new job.
One other question I have for those here: have you ever encountered a Windows virus that, as they claim, just "spreads on the network" without user initiation of the virus by clicking on an executable, script, or loading an infected webpage? I think the much more likely scenario is that this virus is being spread through usb flash disks, but I'm not sure whether that explanation was too technical for staff to understand.
School IT guy here, yes, I've seen Downadup/Conficker spread through older neglected servers. Technically this is a worm, but I'm not overbearing on semantics like some. It appeared to gain entry to our network through a flash drive, as we did have strong proxy and filtering in place, but that only serves as a perimeter defense. Once inside our network, it spread among the older servers and started running brute force attacks against the active directory system, causing many accounts to lock out (which led to it's discovery). Ports were locked down to cut the worm's spread and communication, and cleanup was mostly complete within a week with a combination of scripting and manual cleanup on the more stubborn servers. Some WMI rebuilds were also needed on some machines, but even though it was decently wide spread, it wasn't that difficult to resolve. However, we had a competent staff, and thereafter we also had an A/V budget (imagine that!).
With that in mind, here's what I've concluded: There is likely someone with leadership authority who told IT staff to let students manage their own laptops and have admin privileges. Given the size of the district, the directive either came from the district technology committee, or directly from the superintendent, school board, or both. All it would take is a number of parents to ignorantly complain to a "friend on the board" that "Johnny's laptop is broken - he can't install the programs he needs to do his homework" for the school board to direct the superintendent to "fix the issue." Likely this was a top-down order; I simply cannot imagine a tech staff that large to be that incompetent on their own.
With what I've seen, I would concur. Some absolutely dangerous settings have been implemented solely due to political orders. This is not to be confused with political pressure, which may be able to be shifted or avoided, but an order given because of political pressure on a board or district administrator. You can try to reason, try to explain, present worst case scenarios, and make sure it's all documented, follow any CYA policy you can think of. Depending on the situation, you may even try to go over the head of the one giving the order. But in the end, if that's the order, you follow it or you endanger your job.
Did they ask the kids to help them sort it out?
I know times have changed since I was a nipper, but at my school, there were probably 3 of the kids + 0 staff who knew the BBC + echonet system really well. I seem to remember one kid hacking it to within an inch of it's life then writing a report on "security" so he didn't get expelled for it. Anyway... my point is, the kids may know how to fix this better than these drongo staff members they hired (heck, the kids may have done it in the first place, so they'd presumably know how to fix it).
Those were a unique time. Computers were becoming widely available and they booted to a command line. Just getting around required some basic level of understanding that could naturally progress one towards becoming tech-savvy. For quite awhile now, kids don't delve nearly as deep into computers. They delve into the gui based software or games, but they barely scratch the surface on things. Opening up a command line is often viewed now as voodoo, written in an arcane language. Even some of the younger techs that work the front lines for a help desk barely comprehend a command line.
Yes, I understand that I'm going on about the command line, but it's been a pretty useful point of reference for judging someone's capability for understanding or finding out about resolving a decent variety of issues, when measured along with other metrics.
In my experience (mostly big IT companies), the number of windows admins required is nearly 4 times the number of unix admins required, for the same number of desktop machines.
I would submit that this also depends on the level of tasks required of the windows admins, and the level of capability of the windows admins as well. Unix admins, and for that matter Windows admins with *nix experience seem to be much better at automating mundane and redundant tasks then the average windows admin, which (from what I've observed) seems to be a large consumer of windows admin's time.
Part of my work is of the PC-monkey variety and in my experience motherboards are the second most likely-to-fail component in a system. I've NEVER seen a CPU die. I purchased two boxes of cheap and obsolete HP motherboards once and thought I'd made a huge mistake - I didn't realise HP mobos only support a narrow range of CPUs. I never thought I'd get rid of many, but now almost all the motherboards are gone, and I STILL haven't seen a failed CPU.
You've been fortunate. In my days as the PC monkey I saw a few fail. I've seen more power supply and RAM failures, but the only mobo failure I encountered was a cousin who ran his tower open (he was tinkering with it). His brother threw a balled up gum wrapper (foil) into the box. *facepalm*
I disagree. Motherboards are far more likely to die then a CPU. I have had CPUs go through 3 motherboard changes (Q6600). It is one of the few very rock solid parts in the computer.
I'd suspect you either chose some nasty mobos, or that you have heat or power issues in your locality that have not been addressed. I've got a q6600 that has been sitting on a gigabyte GA-G33m-S2L board for the past 5 years, and it was mostly on as well. The only thing I've changed out in the chassis since it was built is 2 fans and the dust that travels through it.
Faster now then the 90s? Are you mad?
You can use a computer from 8 years ago today and still have something useful.
Maybe on a clean install. But not with all the malware that comes along with that free software that promises a free ipad after x amount of uses! That 8 year old computer would be non-responsive!
I fear for what this world has become is a company is so inept that it can't make money selling fat, lard, and chocolate to Americans...
Tough choice for the mods here: Funny or Insightful?
It's as if 90,000,000 fat sweaty nerds all cried out at once.....and where silenced....when they stuffed cheetos in their face.
FTFY
It's this kind of attitude of unions in the US which makes me say most have outlived their usefulness and something I had to explain when I lived in Germany to the Europeans that the union in the US are nothing like the unions in Europe. Many of the unions in the US are basically racketeers with a bully complex.
It's exactly the same attitude you see in US politics. From top to bottom it's about compromise being seen as a weakness. It's about the "my way or the highway" mentality. That kind of reasoning gets us nowhere. Which incidently may soon be where you'll be able to buy a twinkie or ding-dong.
Won't somebody please think of the Ho-Hos?
You can think of the Ho-Hos. Meanwhile, I'll be enjoying a private moment with my ding-dong.
This is /., where the default assumption is that the Mafiaa is *always* wrong.
...and the default assumption is more often then not correct.
Alright, fine. They're useful if you want to work a part time IT at a university while getting a degree. Pretty sure that's still useless for the level he'd want to get into ;)
Now this I can agree with.
You probably think school is worthless too.
Well, yours certainly was. Someone with 13+ years as a programmer should already know everything in an A+ test, or should be unemployed.
While I agree with the sentiment, I've found it often the case that many of these specialists don't have the foundation knowledge that we both agree should be obvious. They are often the ones who keep their jobs through the old ways, office politics.
Yes, certificates are an annoyance to those who already know the technology, but they're not the worthless things you're trying to portray them as.
I never said "they" were worthless, just A+ for a seasoned IT professional. Perhaps more of that "school" stuff you talk about could help you with your reading comprehension.
Actually, a couple comments ago you did say:
They are worthless
You may not have intended to state that, but you did. Remember, your tone of voice and pacing do not get carried across the text line. You have to choose your words carefully, re-read, and adjust to get across the point you are intending. And you insulting my reading comprehension is laughable looking at your misdirected attacks in another thread.
I first used virtualization in 1992, using a legacy tech that few support any more, and it was old then (simply called "VM", because there was no need to distinguish it from competing products). Kids these days; think they invented everything.
Haha, I understand what you mean. =D I think I first touched VM in 95 myself. Of course things have changed much since then...
Quoth the un-certified.
Then hear it from a certified person. I have A+, Network+, Server+, MCSE, CCNP, CCSP, CCDP, CCSE, and about 20 others. I'm a contractor, and for the State of Alaska, to touch a desktop (even to plug in a mouse) as a contractor, you must have A+. To touch a switch (even if just to move it in a rack while it's powered off) you must have Network+. To change tapes in a backup server, you must have Server+. I got those as a condition of employment for a consulting firm.
While I don't have the same array of certificates you do, I spent roughly 300 bux on the A+ cert, and made it (and much much more) back in my first check from the job it got me. I wish I could get the stock market to pay out as well is as short a time. It also sounds like your gripe is less with the certificate and more with the state of Alaska for requiring it of you.
I took 3 tests in 3 days, no studying, passed all three first try. They are worthless, and I literally got A+ so I'd be "qualified" to plug in a mouse.
Because you already knew the subject material, you consider something worthless? Wow. You probably think school is worthless too. What I consider worthless is people who claim to know subject "X", thinking they'll learn it on the job, that same type who take jobs away from job seekers that actually are experienced and able to learn technology, but admit up front to not knowing it. That's why we have to deal with certificates in the first place. Yes, certificates are an annoyance to those who already know the technology, but they're not the worthless things you're trying to portray them as.
No, they are worthless. I got mine as a condition for a previous job because the State of Alasaka government requires them to work on equipment, and I was working for a contracting company that worked with the state. I got the job without them, and got them after I got the job, and no job before or since cared about them.
Like any tool, it's worthless until you need it. You obviously missed the point of my statement, and you show yourself to be just another shill trying to apply his personal worldview to all cases. But then again this is slashdot. I should have expected argument for argument's sake.
No, but having to memorize random information is just a waste of time. No, rather, it doesn't prove anything other than you have a brain; most people just lack critical thinking skills.
I can agree with the lack of critical thinkers out there, but critical thinkers without the (random?) information are often just as useless.
Then employers need to make sure people know what they're doing.
Obviously you've never been involved in an interview process.
IMHO certifications mean little once a person has >10 years of experience
Ah, a sane statement about certifications. However, this can be tempered by the age of the technology that the certification covers. For instance, a certification that covers virtualization shows you're experience isn't simply you riding a legacy tech that few support anymore. Experience and a continued ability to learn are valued commodities.