Lookee! Another slam dunk government licencee for a Microsoft product ("With Microsoft's data engine behind it"). This could even translate into private sector sales so the masses will know to put "8CNB5 Q8Z4R" on an envelope instead of Address/Street/City. We should know better than to let MS have a hand in a "standard". We will all pay throught the nose for this someday.
I hadn't though of this tied to HIPAA. This could get ugly for small businesses as well as corporations then. There are lots of small pharmacies, dentists and doctors offices that don't even adequately firewall their internet connection or know how to patch software and operating systems, let alone secure them. They are only now learning of these things in a panic because the first HIPAA deadline is here. With this legislation, they can forget their plans on "easing in" HIPAA compliance as the various deadlines come along.
This is another ugly area for the techs out there to worry about liability. I personally know three small time "consultants" whose very lives will be changed by this law. Does anyone know how much liability insurance runs for a consultant small-network admin?
I agree that this WILL get ugly for the exec who uses such tactics, but without a framework of what "Due Care" is, the system will be abused until a horrifying example is made of someone. Sadly, I fear it's the tech who will be blamed for not informing upper management "properly", ie: in a way for the non-technical to understand like drawing a picture and tatooing "We were hacked, We're screwed. Love, Tom the Tech." across an exec's forehead. There's just waaayyyy to much wiggle room for an exec to use the way this law stands now.
"He was saying some stuff about IPSEC and NATing - it was like a whole other language. I'm not a scientist, I'm a business man..."
I hope to the gods that you are right and the first company to try this gets their ass handed to them by a judge.
Thanks! As you can see from my post, I'm too cynical to buy a lottery ticket... I'll just see if I can get away with posting to Slashdot at work instead;)
I think any manager cought doing this would play dumb and blame the admins and techs though. I personally have had higher-up tell me not to cc them on things or not to fully explain something just so they could play dumb without cracking a smile (not at my current job though). When I worked sales, we had a hand signal to give the manager when you just wanted him/her to say "no" dramatically to a customer request. I would say something like "Let me go ask my manager" and as I walked up to the manager I would give the "tell me 'No!'" signal. I wouldn't even relay the question the customer just asked, but the manager would blurt out "Absolutely not! We can't just give things away!" and get all blustery. By the time I made it back to the customer, the customer was feeling bad for making me look like a fool in front of my boss and I would get the sale the way I wanted. Eventually, when I moved out of sales and into IT, the same routine would happen, but the customer was a manager or employee from another department. I didn't like doing this, but it was how the game was played. I think the unscrupulous manager would find a way to avoid blame just as easily as they found a way to avoid the problem. Unfortunately, the tech who compains about not being listened to will probably get a severance package instead of attention.
I guess I've become a bit cynical about this, but there is no way - especially in today's climate - that a company would spend more money putting on a good face when they could get the same result by spending less.
I can see a whole bunch of managers cutting their security budgets right now. I assume that they have to find the breach before it can be reported...so... don't find security breaches. If the managers/executives/powers-that-be decide that the data is too general (like addresses and such), then why should they monitor the security and risk such a public exposure. "We have only had to announce three security breaches this month compared to our (honest) competitor who has had twenty-four. Wouldn't you rather do business with us?"
I could be reading too much into this, but contrast this:
Host: Rob (Microsoft)
Q: when will IE get transparent PNG support?
A: Ian, I'm sorry, I can't answer that question for you
With this:
Host: Brian (Microsoft)
Q: Why is this? the anti-trust? (no further standalone)
A: Although this is off topic, I will answer briefly: Legacy OSes have reached their zenith with the addition of IE 6 SP1. Further improvements to IE will require enhancements to the underlying OS
It would seem that MS has painted itself into a corner with the feature set of IE. They seem to rely on the OS for so many things the browser does (like alpha blending, or the lack thereof). I wonder if the OS development team has oversight of the IE development team. There really isn't much reason that the IE team wouldn't be able to build a feature like alpha blending independant of the OS (lots of apps like Photoshop do this), unless they have been told not to deviate from the OS feature roadmap. Why else wouldn't the IE Program Manager be able to answer a question about PNG support? Sometimes it seems like the IE team is really just a department of the OS team, which is something that MS could not legally admit from what I understand.
Good eye wan23! The Ratoc host adapter sounds like the ticket! It supports HDDs, Zip Drives, Keyboards, memory sticks/cards, RF-ID tag readers, and barcode scanners. Still no printing, but it's a start.
I don't have any of the supported PDAs, but my ultra-cool, ultra-sexy, uber-geek girlfriend has an iPAQ (not that I'm kissing up so she'll get one, but I do think she is those things... really... its true! bah!). It's $139 though... That hurts and will push it back on my toy buying schedule. Maybe my girlfriend will read the PDF manual and think about it;)
Someday maybe...
on
YOPY Arrives
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
When will someone build a handheld with basic USB support? I just want to plug a drive in, or maybe basic printer support. I realize that drivers would be a nightmare, but if someone came up with a unified driver standard or something some USB device manufacturers might eventually support it. The price of a 512MB flash card is just too much and I've got a bunch of old hard drives laying around (some even with USB enclosures already).
Even if it's not USB, some kind of mass storage would be quite a boon. Perhaps Apple will just steer the iPod in that direction eventually.
The most important thing to remember is uptime. It's the business of these companies to make your data available to you. This means redundancy, uninteruptable power supplies, dedicated bandwidth, monitoring, phone support.... You get the point. Hosting and data storage companies are a lot more than your buddy down the street throwing an extra drive on his DSL line. When looking at a host, remember what else they do and compare that. You can get quite a bang for the buck(s).
It's nice to know, even in our modern times, that someone is still out there trying to eat/drink/smoke anything. Humanity couldn't have gotten this far without willing testers like you dying off to prove things like we can't smoke kerosine, but we can salt meat to make it last longer.
I was going to say the Doonesbury site, and even noticed that I was a bit behind reading them... Then I went there. (Microsoft's) Slate has taken it over! The site used to look like the white area without the Slate shit around it, but I guess MS felt that interface was too intuiti... err... not branded enough. First the subscription debacle of Non Sequitur and now this. Damn it!
On the other hand, while the Earth may be condemned to a Blade Runner like future where the gifted migrate off world, at least some of humanity would survive if not actually flourish.
I agree that putting all of our eggs into one basket is a BadThing(tm). Yes, environmentalism (not being liberal, but truly thinking of sustainable environment) is important to our survival, but many (scientists too) feel that we are already too far gone to save this planet or at least save it as we know it. The breadth of our ecological destruction has created ripples that will ebb and flow for centuries to come. We really don't know the extent (or lack) of what we have begun. (pseudo-proverb)Just because you are "fire proofing" a place, doesn't mean you forgo putting in a fire exit.(/pseudo-proverb)
Humanity has a lot of things to fix, so just think of space exploration as another (important) tool in the toolbox.
"The problem is, where do we go and how do we get there?"... "we'd much rather spend billions on weapons research then on the space elevator (which is think is the first step to utilizing the resources of space)."
You've just answered your own question. We need to inch our way off the planet. We've gotten used to orbit, now let's get used to being on the moon (I know, some of us are quite used to being "on the moon";) ). Then we pick a planet in our solar system, or build some type of solar orbiting station. Right now, we've been so wishy-washy about the international space station. Why? Because there's no public pressure to make it work. The knee-jerk public just wants it to work or get scrapped. They have no idea that it's a step among many.
My hat is off to you! I've often thought about the same thing. Get more involved. Every time I think about it though, I realize that one of the best ways to get involved in exploration is to inspire others. I think the popularity of science fiction in the past 20 years or so has done some of this, but it has too much of a "eventually we'll be here" attitude. The average person has no idea what the current technology is capable of or how to implement it to further the goal of exploration. If space exploration were a popular cause, we might not be having this discussion with such a morbit (our extinction) spin. Thus, I have been looking into animation as a means of storytelling. We can't afford to let the next couple of generations grow up with a "someone else will do it" attitude.
Ahhh, but in space there is more room to blow stuff up without exterminating humanity as collateral damage (no, orbit doesn't count - we can do a LOT of damage in orbit).
I've long felt that getting off the planet is the solution to many of our problems. Manufacturing/refining pollutants? Thanks to being a vacuum, pollutants can be better contained or cleaned up after leakage. Overpopulation? We've run out of room on our planet, but the rest of space is out there. Defense? Stuck on Earth, we're sitting ducks for our own devastating conflicts or if some other advanced species reaches us before we reach them (improbable, but theoretically possible). Someone too dangerous to detain? I bet Georgie Boy would LOVE his own orbital prison or prison colony. Stagnant empiracal growth? There's lots of rocks out there for countries/powers to plant a flag in and claim.
Let's face it, we've just about used some natural resources on Earth up. We're making it mor un-inhabitable every passing moment. Humanity is not getting smaller. We could all be wiped out with a good size chunk of iron ore hurled into our atmosphere. The only way for humanity to survive in the very-long-term is to diversify our holdings;)
Then again, we could just sit here and live up to the name we've given our sun: SOL.
What troubles me is why doesn't Microsoft just buy SCO outright?
Because then it would be M$ trying to make the IP violation claims. They have already stepped on licencing and PR landmines lately (here, here, here). It's safer for them to let SCO do the dirty work and take the fall (PR or market value), if there is one.
If this ploy works and SCO still has anything of value to them, we may see M$ buy them after this blows over. I'm betting M$ would rather just let them languish when this is all done though.
God: "You get the ten commandments. Go start religion in my name."
Moses: "Thank you."
Guy Next to Moses: "Well, what do I get?"
God: "Here are the 10 misunderstandments then. Go start religion in everyone else's name."
Slashdot Mirror
Lookee! Another slam dunk government licencee for a Microsoft product ("With Microsoft's data engine behind it"). This could even translate into private sector sales so the masses will know to put "8CNB5 Q8Z4R" on an envelope instead of Address/Street/City. We should know better than to let MS have a hand in a "standard". We will all pay throught the nose for this someday.
This is another ugly area for the techs out there to worry about liability. I personally know three small time "consultants" whose very lives will be changed by this law. Does anyone know how much liability insurance runs for a consultant small-network admin?
"He was saying some stuff about IPSEC and NATing - it was like a whole other language. I'm not a scientist, I'm a business man..."
I hope to the gods that you are right and the first company to try this gets their ass handed to them by a judge.
Thanks! As you can see from my post, I'm too cynical to buy a lottery ticket... I'll just see if I can get away with posting to Slashdot at work instead ;)
I guess I've become a bit cynical about this, but there is no way - especially in today's climate - that a company would spend more money putting on a good face when they could get the same result by spending less.
At least the article is geared to being honest.
MS was planning on porting IE to Linux as well. I guess that's a moot point now.
Worse yet, this means that ALL browser vulnerabilities will be OS level now (they weren't far away previously, I admit).
Host: Rob (Microsoft)
Q: when will IE get transparent PNG support?
A: Ian, I'm sorry, I can't answer that question for you
With this:
Host: Brian (Microsoft)
Q: Why is this? the anti-trust? (no further standalone)
A: Although this is off topic, I will answer briefly: Legacy OSes have reached their zenith with the addition of IE 6 SP1. Further improvements to IE will require enhancements to the underlying OS
It would seem that MS has painted itself into a corner with the feature set of IE. They seem to rely on the OS for so many things the browser does (like alpha blending, or the lack thereof). I wonder if the OS development team has oversight of the IE development team. There really isn't much reason that the IE team wouldn't be able to build a feature like alpha blending independant of the OS (lots of apps like Photoshop do this), unless they have been told not to deviate from the OS feature roadmap. Why else wouldn't the IE Program Manager be able to answer a question about PNG support? Sometimes it seems like the IE team is really just a department of the OS team, which is something that MS could not legally admit from what I understand.
- Runs with 3.3V/5V power supply.
It's strange, because they don't mention an adapter being included in the packaging...I don't have any of the supported PDAs, but my ultra-cool, ultra-sexy, uber-geek girlfriend has an iPAQ (not that I'm kissing up so she'll get one, but I do think she is those things... really... its true! bah!). It's $139 though... That hurts and will push it back on my toy buying schedule. Maybe my girlfriend will read the PDF manual and think about it ;)
Even if it's not USB, some kind of mass storage would be quite a boon. Perhaps Apple will just steer the iPod in that direction eventually.
I actually think the battle is lost. The word has changed meaning due to popular usage. I guess this is how the Spam people felt.
The most important thing to remember is uptime. It's the business of these companies to make your data available to you. This means redundancy, uninteruptable power supplies, dedicated bandwidth, monitoring, phone support.... You get the point. Hosting and data storage companies are a lot more than your buddy down the street throwing an extra drive on his DSL line. When looking at a host, remember what else they do and compare that. You can get quite a bang for the buck(s).
It's nice to know, even in our modern times, that someone is still out there trying to eat/drink/smoke anything. Humanity couldn't have gotten this far without willing testers like you dying off to prove things like we can't smoke kerosine, but we can salt meat to make it last longer.
I was going to say the Doonesbury site, and even noticed that I was a bit behind reading them... Then I went there. (Microsoft's) Slate has taken it over! The site used to look like the white area without the Slate shit around it, but I guess MS felt that interface was too intuiti... err... not branded enough. First the subscription debacle of Non Sequitur and now this. Damn it!
Just imagine... forking humanity.
-Frank Herbert
Getting there is half the fun. We just want humanity to have the longest ride to doom possible. We don't want to fall off the roller coaster early.
Humanity has a lot of things to fix, so just think of space exploration as another (important) tool in the toolbox.
You've just answered your own question. We need to inch our way off the planet. We've gotten used to orbit, now let's get used to being on the moon (I know, some of us are quite used to being "on the moon" ;) ). Then we pick a planet in our solar system, or build some type of solar orbiting station. Right now, we've been so wishy-washy about the international space station. Why? Because there's no public pressure to make it work. The knee-jerk public just wants it to work or get scrapped. They have no idea that it's a step among many.
My hat is off to you! I've often thought about the same thing. Get more involved. Every time I think about it though, I realize that one of the best ways to get involved in exploration is to inspire others. I think the popularity of science fiction in the past 20 years or so has done some of this, but it has too much of a "eventually we'll be here" attitude. The average person has no idea what the current technology is capable of or how to implement it to further the goal of exploration. If space exploration were a popular cause, we might not be having this discussion with such a morbit (our extinction) spin. Thus, I have been looking into animation as a means of storytelling. We can't afford to let the next couple of generations grow up with a "someone else will do it" attitude.
Ahhh, but in space there is more room to blow stuff up without exterminating humanity as collateral damage (no, orbit doesn't count - we can do a LOT of damage in orbit).
Let's face it, we've just about used some natural resources on Earth up. We're making it mor un-inhabitable every passing moment. Humanity is not getting smaller. We could all be wiped out with a good size chunk of iron ore hurled into our atmosphere. The only way for humanity to survive in the very-long-term is to diversify our holdings ;)
Then again, we could just sit here and live up to the name we've given our sun: SOL.
Because then it would be M$ trying to make the IP violation claims. They have already stepped on licencing and PR landmines lately (here, here, here). It's safer for them to let SCO do the dirty work and take the fall (PR or market value), if there is one.
If this ploy works and SCO still has anything of value to them, we may see M$ buy them after this blows over. I'm betting M$ would rather just let them languish when this is all done though.
Are these the things the guy next to Moses got?
God: "You get the ten commandments. Go start religion in my name."
Moses: "Thank you."
Guy Next to Moses: "Well, what do I get?"
God: "Here are the 10 misunderstandments then. Go start religion in everyone else's name."