First, hire a security team to secure your systems.
Make sure they remove all existing accounts on all systems, and start with new ones, with very secure passwords. This is a good time to require a password rotation policy, and password length & strenght requirements as well.
No non-secure connections to non-public systems from outside the company, period. Or at all, if you can get away with it. No connections from dynamic-IP connections to internal systems, either. (make sure all allowable connections to internal systems are from a list of known IPs)
Make sure PHYSICAL access is secured! Lots of ex-employees keep security cards, keys, etc, and can often get back in after the fact.
Make sure your people know about 'social engineering'!
Don't use inherently-insecure technology from companies who don't give a rat's ass about your security. No bonus points for correctly guessing which company I'm talking about. This becomes stupendously more important if you're the sort of silly-ass company that only has one techie on staff at a time. Lots of updates are to be applied, no matter what platform you go with.
Now's the time to separate systems if you host stuff. Hosting stuff should go in a co-lo facility (since you obviously don't have the staffing resources to handle your own data center), and you should have separate systems for business needs, like e-mail, etc., in case your website gets DOS'd, it won't impact your e-mail, etc.
Have regular security reviews by external security companies. Rotate which company you use each time.
Make sure your insurance covers all your computing infrastructure and eventualities (fire, flood, theft, cracking, etc.).
Make regular backups.
TEST your backups.
Make sure you have off-site backups.
Make sure you have a disaster preparedness plan and the appropriate people know how to implement it. What happens to your business if the building burns down? If the phones go out? If the Net connection goes down? What if there's a major terrorist attack in your city and noone can get to work? Welcome to the real world.
Make sure you have onsite spare parts for your computers, at least for the critical ones.
Make sure noone saves important documents ONLY on their own machine - either make them start saving to shared drives which get backed up daily, or have each machine backed up daily. Say you lose the business plan you're showing to investors tomorrow? What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO?!
Don't get locked into proprietary file formats, or you may never be able to switch. Plus you may get hit with 'requests' (ie threats) to inventory every piece of software on your site.
Definitely have more than one techie & programmer (2 of each, at least) at your company. That's flat-out ridiculous, as you are probably aware by now.
Okay, that's all I can think of off the top of my head right now. Have a day.
They're probably spending most of their time getting 10.3 (Panther) ready for release. It's gonna be interesting seeing if Panther really _will_ be available in a 64-bit variant for use on the PPC970 machines.
1) We have no idea if this is even remotely real. I sure _hope_ it is, though.
2) Apple doesn't make PPC970 chips - IBM does. Apple's markup on the hardware is enormous - that's where they make their money. PPC970 machines, if they take over for the G4, will probably be around the same price point. Apple can easily absorb any extra cost of the PPC970 (keep in mind that as die size shrinks, so too does cost - so new generation processors get smaller as well as cheaper to make).
3) The same people that can afford $5k Apples in the past will gladly do so again to get these machines, and those of us who could have afforded them in the past but didn't bother due to slow-ass hardware will also jump ship. And when the PPC970 makes it into the lower-end Macs which will cost >$2k, then lots of others will, too. Why you think you have any insight into how Apple prices their hardware is quite beyond me.
4) If I was gonna buy an x86 machine, it'd be an Opteron to run Linux on, not a Xeon, and besides, Linux doesn't compare to OS X - vastly different user experiences. VAST.
Re:would have sucked without special effects, thou
on
Harry Potter with Guns
·
· Score: 1
I didn't mean to imply the special effects weren't important - they were, but without a decent story and good directing, you wind up with something like "Phantom Menace" or "Attack of the Clones."
I'd kill to see that version with the WWII dogfights.:)
That would be Ron, who, if put into the Star wars setting, would, of course, be Han Solo.
Harry Potter = Luke Skywalker Hermione Granger = Princess Leia Dumbledore = Obi-Wan Kenobi (duh) Harry's owl = R2D2 Dobbie = C3PO (maybe) Heck, there's even a big hairy guy who can be the mighty Chew-ba-cca.:) You Know Who = Darth Vader (duh)
Hmmm...Harry Skywalker and the Jedi's Stone? (or Harry Skywalker and the Splinter of the Mind's Eye, if you prefer:)
EOL
Re:The psychology of mythology - what makes a stor
on
Harry Potter with Guns
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
> George Lucas is a bright guy. He worled with noted mythologist Joseph Campbell [jcf.org] in designing the story line for the star wars saga, such that it is most compelling to the largest possible audience.
You know, I used to think George was greatness itself because of the first three SW movies, but now, after seeing the previous two, I think he just got lucky. I don't think he _really_ understands why the first three movies were so good, because if he did, I don't see how in the world the previous two could have been as bad as they were.
And he's certainly not much of an director. Hayden Christiansen _can_ act, but he's one of those iffy actors who requires a good director to get a good performance. Kinda like George Clooney. Put someone like Soderbergh at the helm, and even George Clooney can be a good actor.
Unfortunately, the latest SW films have mediocre writing AND mediocre directing. Great special effects, sure, but the original SW films weren't great because of special effects. The only saving grace out of either of the last two has been the fight scenes! That's pathetic.
...include some John Ringo story-specific themed Sluggy Freelance cartoons in the back of the book - if you're a fan of the stories & Sluggy Freelance, you'll love 'em! Plus it's great to see a drawing of the Bun-Bun Sheva.:)
Slashdot Mirror
> Objective C (which still has a following)
Actually, Objective C's following is growing with the advent of Mac OS X.
First, hire a security team to secure your systems.
Make sure they remove all existing accounts on all systems, and start with new ones, with very secure passwords. This is a good time to require a password rotation policy, and password length & strenght requirements as well.
No non-secure connections to non-public systems from outside the company, period. Or at all, if you can get away with it. No connections from dynamic-IP connections to internal systems, either. (make sure all allowable connections to internal systems are from a list of known IPs)
Make sure PHYSICAL access is secured! Lots of ex-employees keep security cards, keys, etc, and can often get back in after the fact.
Make sure your people know about 'social engineering'!
Don't use inherently-insecure technology from companies who don't give a rat's ass about your security. No bonus points for correctly guessing which company I'm talking about. This becomes stupendously more important if you're the sort of silly-ass company that only has one techie on staff at a time. Lots of updates are to be applied, no matter what platform you go with.
Now's the time to separate systems if you host stuff. Hosting stuff should go in a co-lo facility (since you obviously don't have the staffing resources to handle your own data center), and you should have separate systems for business needs, like e-mail, etc., in case your website gets DOS'd, it won't impact your e-mail, etc.
Have regular security reviews by external security companies. Rotate which company you use each time.
Make sure your insurance covers all your computing infrastructure and eventualities (fire, flood, theft, cracking, etc.).
Make regular backups.
TEST your backups.
Make sure you have off-site backups.
Make sure you have a disaster preparedness plan and the appropriate people know how to implement it. What happens to your business if the building burns down? If the phones go out? If the Net connection goes down? What if there's a major terrorist attack in your city and noone can get to work? Welcome to the real world.
Make sure you have onsite spare parts for your computers, at least for the critical ones.
Make sure noone saves important documents ONLY on their own machine - either make them start saving to shared drives which get backed up daily, or have each machine backed up daily. Say you lose the business plan you're showing to investors tomorrow? What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO?!
Don't get locked into proprietary file formats, or you may never be able to switch. Plus you may get hit with 'requests' (ie threats) to inventory every piece of software on your site.
Definitely have more than one techie & programmer (2 of each, at least) at your company. That's flat-out ridiculous, as you are probably aware by now.
Okay, that's all I can think of off the top of my head right now. Have a day.
...would AIBOs be _vastly_ more interesting if they had weapons? :)
Something more along the lines of 'AMEE' from that awful movie "Red Planet," perhaps...only not psychotic.
Now all we need is some nice IEEE1394.b optical-connection switches! Oh yeah.
Well...at least it looks better than KDE.
*just joking!*
Available for download - has been for quite some time.
Also, the prices for Maya have dropped significantly in recent times, so check it out.
In the _seventies_?!
:)
Wow, that _would_ have been impressive!
The vast majority I've seen embedded in webpages in the last, oh, 6 months or so, finally allow you to save the quicktime movie to your harddrive.
:)
I think they finally realized that bandwidth costs real money when you make people download something over and over again.
Normally, you just let the Quicktime fully load, then you can 'Save as Quicktime Movie'.
Yay.
Two more words:
:)
Faulkland Islands
Or:
China
Or:
India
Or:
Ireland
Or:
Scotland
And people say Germany has a history of aggression?! Gimme a break. I think an English accent fits the stereotype quite well.
Keep in mind that one of Monty Python's original name was "Owl-Stretching Time". If that's not evil...
If you actually VIEWED the Flash, you'd see it links to the trailer in several different formats and resolutions.
Once the Quicktime versions load completely, you can save the quicktime movie to your drive.
Please to note: there are also 4 clips available besides the trailer.
Like the one-button mouse, you should be using the Apple one-key keyboard - it makes everything much easier. No more decisions to make. Ever.
:)
(It's a jolk, folks, honest!
I want a PPC970 machine. NOW! *sigh*
Considering the current job market, having a degree or not can often make the difference between HAVING a job or not.
Think it's worth it, now?
Synergy, man, _synergy_!
Oh yeah, plus fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency!
They're probably spending most of their time getting 10.3 (Panther) ready for release. It's gonna be interesting seeing if Panther really _will_ be available in a 64-bit variant for use on the PPC970 machines.
An acronym is an abbreviation that is pronounced as a word, and thus isn't generally spelled in all caps.
For example, 'laser' is an acronym. The original abbreviation was LASER = light amplification through the stimulated emission of radiation.
Same deal for 'scuba' = self contained underwater breathing apparatus.
They're acronyms NOT because the individual letters mean other words, but because together, they're pronounced as a new world.
IBM = pronounced as I B M - this is not an acronym, this is an abbreviation.
Have a nice day. (HAND)
1) We have no idea if this is even remotely real. I sure _hope_ it is, though.
2) Apple doesn't make PPC970 chips - IBM does. Apple's markup on the hardware is enormous - that's where they make their money. PPC970 machines, if they take over for the G4, will probably be around the same price point. Apple can easily absorb any extra cost of the PPC970 (keep in mind that as die size shrinks, so too does cost - so new generation processors get smaller as well as cheaper to make).
3) The same people that can afford $5k Apples in the past will gladly do so again to get these machines, and those of us who could have afforded them in the past but didn't bother due to slow-ass hardware will also jump ship. And when the PPC970 makes it into the lower-end Macs which will cost >$2k, then lots of others will, too. Why you think you have any insight into how Apple prices their hardware is quite beyond me.
4) If I was gonna buy an x86 machine, it'd be an Opteron to run Linux on, not a Xeon, and besides, Linux doesn't compare to OS X - vastly different user experiences. VAST.
I didn't mean to imply the special effects weren't important - they were, but without a decent story and good directing, you wind up with something like "Phantom Menace" or "Attack of the Clones."
:)
I'd kill to see that version with the WWII dogfights.
Christ has nothing to do with black cats.
Didja know that black cats _still_ have a stigma attached - shelters say that black cats have the hardest time getting adopted. Sad.
And a white rabbit!
:)
Though cats (especially black ones) are much cooler.
Ya know, they never did name the cat - I say we call him 'Felix'. Either that or 'Ditto'.
That would be Ron, who, if put into the Star wars setting, would, of course, be Han Solo.
:)
:)
Harry Potter = Luke Skywalker
Hermione Granger = Princess Leia
Dumbledore = Obi-Wan Kenobi (duh)
Harry's owl = R2D2
Dobbie = C3PO (maybe)
Heck, there's even a big hairy guy who can be the mighty Chew-ba-cca.
You Know Who = Darth Vader (duh)
Hmmm...Harry Skywalker and the Jedi's Stone? (or Harry Skywalker and the Splinter of the Mind's Eye, if you prefer
EOL
> George Lucas is a bright guy. He worled with noted mythologist Joseph Campbell [jcf.org] in designing the story line for the star wars saga, such that it is most compelling to the largest possible audience.
You know, I used to think George was greatness itself because of the first three SW movies, but now, after seeing the previous two, I think he just got lucky. I don't think he _really_ understands why the first three movies were so good, because if he did, I don't see how in the world the previous two could have been as bad as they were.
And he's certainly not much of an director. Hayden Christiansen _can_ act, but he's one of those iffy actors who requires a good director to get a good performance. Kinda like George Clooney. Put someone like Soderbergh at the helm, and even George Clooney can be a good actor.
Unfortunately, the latest SW films have mediocre writing AND mediocre directing. Great special effects, sure, but the original SW films weren't great because of special effects. The only saving grace out of either of the last two has been the fight scenes! That's pathetic.
*sigh*
It's also great because there aren't any spoons in it. I hate spoons.
That's why The Tick sucked so much.
Did it have a VTEC sticker on it?
You could get eaten by a grue...
...include some John Ringo story-specific themed Sluggy Freelance cartoons in the back of the book - if you're a fan of the stories & Sluggy Freelance, you'll love 'em! Plus it's great to see a drawing of the Bun-Bun Sheva. :)