Agreed, twiddler. There is a procedure for locking that down and a form for that. Against our recommendations, the company believe they can save money by forcing their employees to supply their own PC. This same company has experienced data theft by ex-employees, side effects of viruses being on a personal PC (ie increased network traffic and downloads, but no actual infected company owned machines!) - contributing to large cleanup bills:)
The end user is the one who SHOULD report the problem, as they are the one who perceives whatever has occurred as a problem. Otherwise you get a manager who is no doubt pissed that he has been interrupted, AND has to talk with those cretins in IT again because his/her golden salesperson couldn't file something. He doesn't have the facts of the problem (real or imagined) so he reports his interpretation. IT then attempts to troubleshoot an incorrect description, taking longer. The Chinese Whisper effect is a killer - so much so that our company charges more per hour for for ad hoc support to any one who reports the problem through a superior / in house IT department - automatically it is billed as '2nd level support'. Anyone reporting the problem on a the behalf of an end user should be able to report the problem more clearly than an end user.
I use 'perceived' there because this is often the case - a misunderstanding. It is so much more bearable to troubleshoot 'I don't quite understand why I can't access this directory' rather than 'Someone has removed my access, reinstate it immediately, I can't believe that the system is locking me out'.
Classic example: Setup a new user account and group membership in AD (yes, lynch me for working in an MS shop) as per a standard, pro forma account that clearly lists the total group memberships and is filled out by a HR manager. Receive phone call from said HR manager saying that we screwed up the group memberships, can't you follow a simple form, etc etc. Check group memberships, all as stated. Ask HR manager what exact problem the user is experiencing (can't access files in directory) but not a reason why. Transferred to end user's department head, who by this stage is jumping up and down that this new user who should be up and running is wasting precious time on her training day. Ask department head what symptoms the user is experiencing. Not sure, can't get to the files. Ask politely to talk to the end user, check network mappings and notice that as she is using a personal machine that does not log into the domain that of course there are no mapped drives. Advise end user that we were not aware she was using her own machine as it wasn't noted on the new account form, set her up with a RDP session to the Terminal Server that all staff use, and she is off and running.
Two minutes of troubleshooting with the end user turned into an hour bill with many heated words with various members of this organisation who are now too sheepish/self righteous to call us that any actual problems are ignored (can't save, no space on network drive? Report to network admins? NO, save important document to USB, lose it and then get flustered at why it can't be recovered from backup)
Hear hear, Ishmael (May I call you Ishmael? D'arrrgh!) Their conections are bloody useless. I was connecting using a Rockwell Conexant modem under RH8, and was getting approx 0.2k/sec up, nothing down. I thought the winmodem was a problem, until I used it under my win98 boot. Nyet. Same, and also my mothers computer on WinXP. Now, I think that most avenues have been explored (modem, OS, dialing location, phone line even) and its just Telstra's bloody hopelessness. You have pretty much just cleared up that its not my fault:) Ringing helpdesk to abuse^H^H^H^H^H ask what was up yielded the old "Linux isn't supported, sorry we won't answer any questions).
Out of interest, what settings were incorrect? Being bothered enough to switch ISP's is not high on my agenda of things to do lately.
Similar system here in.AU where (I believe) that if an item is advertised at a certain price, and is then found to be an error after an order has been made (ie the item has been scanned at a checkout, or purchased online), the first item is offered for FREE and then each subsequent item is offered at the lower price. However, this is mainly for supermarkets, but not having a Best Buy type arrangement this could well apply to such a place, unless they are exempted.
hmmm You may just be on to something there... *tries to tune in Seattle Radio KIRO* uhh... wait, I can't get anything... oh I know, It might be the fact that I am not in the US. Well, lets see whats on Shortwave. Nope nothing there either.
It seems to be a fairly common American short sighted response to just point people at the most basic solution without first considering any one who might not be able to use this. I am a minority (ie Australian who listens to some major league ball - Go M's) But still, what happened to a little vision and realise that you are NOT the only nation that is in existance.
It seems to be a common thread of Slashdot posts that things should be made available to all (DSL, Cheaper access, MP3). Wouldn't you call this "switch on the radio" attitude a mite hyopcritical?
The only remotely possible thing this attitude could do that is positive is remove the income for MLB. This is not likely to happen especially with the fact that PC's are rapidly becoming multi-use appliances.
Guess I have to find some other MLB broadcast now...
Interesting that you raised the point about the bogus remove information. Many times I have received spam with this information
According to Bill 1618.s Passed by the 108th US Congress this email cannot be considered spam if....
A few points are raised:
1) How easy is it to include fake removal information?
2) Replying usually results in *more* spam as that address is recognised as active.
3) (and my most pressing point) WHY does this apply to any citizen outside of the United States, such as.au like myself? On first encountering this message, I randomly emailed several congressmen and women and got canned replies saying "Thanks.. priority will be given to local constituents." Nothing has happened since. I also checked with the Australian Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman who said that "We do not have any working relationships with International Ombudsmen" I abused several ISP's, most of whom are havens for Spammers *koff*earthlink*koff*
Do I, as a NON American citizen, have any legal redress that will actually be listened to? Or should I just continue to abuse shit out of those who want to spam me?
The guy who comes up with a working design will be up there with Jolly Roger and all the other mythical legend-type persons:)
Back to the laboratory, Igor:)
In other news, North Pole, Inc., recently lost a lot of its market cap in the stock market when investors realized that it had a business plan like a dot-com: give stuff away and get nothing back.
Yes but this poor run on the market is also related to the recent investigation of North Pole Inc. by the US Government which discovered anti competitive practices. It was found that North Pole Inc. where monopolizing the gift operations of Christmas Day at the expense of companies with less muscle as North Pole Inc such as BunnyCorp (well known for its Easter operations) and some other mom and pop outfits. The verdict reached by the investigation is that NorthPole Inc. should be made to split its headquarters and have two independently operating subsidiaries: one that will deliver the goods, and one that may purchase the presents, and the two companies are free to seek outside contracts. North Pole Inc has filed an appeal.
In a related topic, several smaller Gift Distributing agents are now hacking away at the market share of North Pole Inc, but complete integration into the market will be impossible until these agencies are accessible by the less advanced parents who would use the services of the aforementioned agents.
However, my school has a solution that I consider adequate. If we believe a site to be blocked in error, we can bring it to the attention of the admin, and they will review it themselves. If they agree, the site is unblocked. Already I have gotten them to unblock 2600, attrition, and some other computer-related sites.
Half your luck... my school's admin is a toss and wont unblock anything... even drugsense.org (which i badly needed for a Chemistry assignment... but erowid.org gave me everything i needed and more (ie instructions on how to manufacture drugs) which funnily enough wasn't blocked:P
What bugs me is the way that parents, or other official type figures will do anything to avoid responsibility for watching over their children, or in a business scenario, their employees. A little more time spent (parents mostly, employers would have privacy troubles) spent watching their children would remove 90% of the market for these programs and shift the honus (methinks this is the word) back on to those who are actually responsible for raising kids... hell i remember looking up bomb "recipes" (we all did it once;) and getting busted.. there was hell to pay, and I didnt do it again. Easy solution. Why people rely on software babysitters (that are obviously flawed, as stated in parent) is beyond me...
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Agreed, twiddler. There is a procedure for locking that down and a form for that. Against our recommendations, the company believe they can save money by forcing their employees to supply their own PC. This same company has experienced data theft by ex-employees, side effects of viruses being on a personal PC (ie increased network traffic and downloads, but no actual infected company owned machines!) - contributing to large cleanup bills :)
The end user is the one who SHOULD report the problem, as they are the one who perceives whatever has occurred as a problem. Otherwise you get a manager who is no doubt pissed that he has been interrupted, AND has to talk with those cretins in IT again because his/her golden salesperson couldn't file something. He doesn't have the facts of the problem (real or imagined) so he reports his interpretation. IT then attempts to troubleshoot an incorrect description, taking longer.
The Chinese Whisper effect is a killer - so much so that our company charges more per hour for for ad hoc support to any one who reports the problem through a superior / in house IT department - automatically it is billed as '2nd level support'. Anyone reporting the problem on a the behalf of an end user should be able to report the problem more clearly than an end user.
I use 'perceived' there because this is often the case - a misunderstanding. It is so much more bearable to troubleshoot 'I don't quite understand why I can't access this directory' rather than 'Someone has removed my access, reinstate it immediately, I can't believe that the system is locking me out'.
Classic example:
Setup a new user account and group membership in AD (yes, lynch me for working in an MS shop) as per a standard, pro forma account that clearly lists the total group memberships and is filled out by a HR manager. Receive phone call from said HR manager saying that we screwed up the group memberships, can't you follow a simple form, etc etc. Check group memberships, all as stated. Ask HR manager what exact problem the user is experiencing (can't access files in directory) but not a reason why. Transferred to end user's department head, who by this stage is jumping up and down that this new user who should be up and running is wasting precious time on her training day. Ask department head what symptoms the user is experiencing. Not sure, can't get to the files. Ask politely to talk to the end user, check network mappings and notice that as she is using a personal machine that does not log into the domain that of course there are no mapped drives. Advise end user that we were not aware she was using her own machine as it wasn't noted on the new account form, set her up with a RDP session to the Terminal Server that all staff use, and she is off and running.
Two minutes of troubleshooting with the end user turned into an hour bill with many heated words with various members of this organisation who are now too sheepish/self righteous to call us that any actual problems are ignored (can't save, no space on network drive? Report to network admins? NO, save important document to USB, lose it and then get flustered at why it can't be recovered from backup)
Thats quite funny, and I love the quote. Unfortunately, and perhaps somewhere towards the heart of the matter... I skipped reading it at first .
Hear hear, Ishmael (May I call you Ishmael? D'arrrgh!) :) Ringing helpdesk to abuse^H^H^H^H^H ask what was up yielded the old "Linux isn't supported, sorry we won't answer any questions).
Their conections are bloody useless. I was connecting using a Rockwell Conexant modem under RH8, and was getting approx 0.2k/sec up, nothing down. I thought the winmodem was a problem, until I used it under my win98 boot. Nyet. Same, and also my mothers computer on WinXP. Now, I think that most avenues have been explored (modem, OS, dialing location, phone line even) and its just Telstra's bloody hopelessness. You have pretty much just cleared up that its not my fault
Out of interest, what settings were incorrect? Being bothered enough to switch ISP's is not high on my agenda of things to do lately.
Similar system here in .AU where (I believe) that if an item is advertised at a certain price, and is then found to be an error after an order has been made (ie the item has been scanned at a checkout, or purchased online), the first item is offered for FREE and then each subsequent item is offered at the lower price. However, this is mainly for supermarkets, but not having a Best Buy type arrangement this could well apply to such a place, unless they are exempted.
It seems to be a fairly common American short sighted response to just point people at the most basic solution without first considering any one who might not be able to use this. I am a minority (ie Australian who listens to some major league ball - Go M's) But still, what happened to a little vision and realise that you are NOT the only nation that is in existance.
It seems to be a common thread of Slashdot posts that things should be made available to all (DSL, Cheaper access, MP3). Wouldn't you call this "switch on the radio" attitude a mite hyopcritical?
The only remotely possible thing this attitude could do that is positive is remove the income for MLB. This is not likely to happen especially with the fact that PC's are rapidly becoming multi-use appliances.
Guess I have to find some other MLB broadcast now...
According to Bill 1618.s Passed by the 108th US Congress this email cannot be considered spam if....
A few points are raised:
1) How easy is it to include fake removal information?
2) Replying usually results in *more* spam as that address is recognised as active.
3) (and my most pressing point) WHY does this apply to any citizen outside of the United States, such as .au like myself? On first encountering this message, I randomly emailed several congressmen and women and got canned replies saying "Thanks.. priority will be given to local constituents." Nothing has happened since. I also checked with the Australian Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman who said that "We do not have any working relationships with International Ombudsmen" I abused several ISP's, most of whom are havens for Spammers *koff*earthlink*koff*
Do I, as a NON American citizen, have any legal redress that will actually be listened to? Or should I just continue to abuse shit out of those who want to spam me?
Yes but this poor run on the market is also related to the recent investigation of North Pole Inc. by the US Government which discovered anti competitive practices. It was found that North Pole Inc. where monopolizing the gift operations of Christmas Day at the expense of companies with less muscle as North Pole Inc such as BunnyCorp (well known for its Easter operations) and some other mom and pop outfits. The verdict reached by the investigation is that NorthPole Inc. should be made to split its headquarters and have two independently operating subsidiaries: one that will deliver the goods, and one that may purchase the presents, and the two companies are free to seek outside contracts. North Pole Inc has filed an appeal.
In a related topic, several smaller Gift Distributing agents are now hacking away at the market share of North Pole Inc, but complete integration into the market will be impossible until these agencies are accessible by the less advanced parents who would use the services of the aforementioned agents.
However, my school has a solution that I consider adequate. If we believe a site to be blocked in error, we can bring it to the attention of the admin, and they will review it themselves. If they agree, the site is unblocked. Already I have gotten them to unblock 2600, attrition, and some other computer-related sites. Half your luck... my school's admin is a toss and wont unblock anything... even drugsense.org (which i badly needed for a Chemistry assignment... but erowid.org gave me everything i needed and more (ie instructions on how to manufacture drugs) which funnily enough wasn't blocked :P
What bugs me is the way that parents, or other official type figures will do anything to avoid responsibility for watching over their children, or in a business scenario, their employees. A little more time spent (parents mostly, employers would have privacy troubles) spent watching their children would remove 90% of the market for these programs and shift the honus (methinks this is the word) back on to those who are actually responsible for raising kids... hell i remember looking up bomb "recipes" (we all did it once ;) and getting busted.. there was hell to pay, and I didnt do it again. Easy solution. Why people rely on software babysitters (that are obviously flawed, as stated in parent) is beyond me...