I admit that sometimes it is useful to have a hardcopy to carry around. However, I think the failure of a (mostly) paperless office comes from the fact that the processes used to generate paper, in the old days, have merely been moved over to computer systems. The possibility to eliminate most paper is there, it is just that the the processes aren't compatable with digital systems.
Example: I saw in a hospital how a nurse went onto the network and printed out a blank form. She then filled out the form and put it into the records. Then the records people took the form and scanned it into the records computer system.
It seems to me that you could save enough money on paper, toner, printer wear and tear, time in process, etc... to justify buying some tablet PC's to float around.
I often see the same sort of thing going on, an effort to transfer paper to digital, but no effort to stop generating paper! In order for a (again, mostly) paperless office, the people and the processes need to adjust to using computers to do more work. Then, not only will we be able to be more productive *gasp* but also lower the bottom line... Or, maybe I'm just a horrible technology bigot.
I have seen some companies get these for their laptops. You put the plate on the laptop, but I prefer putting the red deterrant on the outside of the laptop bag itself. Otherwise they grab your bag, walk off and when they see it has a id plate, into the dumpster it goes. With the red label on the outside hopefully thieves will be put off by it.
Of course there is the BOFH method: Faced with never seeing the laptop again, have something that looks like a CDROM drive in one of the bays. Embed in it some explosives and some cell phone parts. If it goes missing, and isn't quickly recoverable, simply make a quick phone call. I guarantee that particular thief won't be stealing any more laptops (or eating solid foods).
Yeah, in fact I heard that many of the Indian companies that are hired to set up call centers pay for their employees to take classes to change their accents. Apparently one company (in india) has trained various employees with regional US accents. Such as midwestern, southern, new england, etc... as well as American colloquialisms. They even introduce themselves by American type names, such as Allen instead of Apu Nahasapeemapetilan. They also are supplied with the location of the caller so they can ask how the weather is.
As far as QoS, I talked to a tech who had an obvious accent (he was working to keep it mellowed out) and I don't think he had anything other than a script to read, because when I questioned whether what he asked me to do, he merely repeated his last instruction as if I hadn't heard. Besides that, I ended up doing something completely different, on my own, to fix the problem.
When you CYA make sure that you do it in some sort of trackable form. A phone call or face to face conversation can be denied or forgotten. Make sure that you do something that you can keep a copy of like send and email. Then you will always have a copy of the warning and it will have sent to and a date in the header. It is also good to cc it to bunches of people and your secure server on Sealand. It may sound like overkill, but this sort of paranoia has CYA'd me many times.
Also it's an easy to install/maintain and 'fairly' quick intro to Gnome for a lot of folks who won't/can't/don't want to compile and put up with problems with bleeding edge code...
I use it for these reasons also, just because you can spend all your time sorting out dependencies, and compiling packages doesn't mean that it isn't boring as hell and takes up all of your time. Doing things from scratch can be fun, and educational, but who wants to walk when you can drive?
I'm on dialup (i live too far away)*sobs* and i still have lots of trouble with my provider. One time they decided to rebuild their proxy server (i used the proxy because we use filtered services to keep my brother away from porn) and they didn't bother telling anybody they were going to do it. So one day my connection dies, and i tried everything i knew and nothing worked. When i turned off the proxy server it worked. I was too tired and lazy to call tech support so i went to bed.
For about a week didn't even use my connection at home. I did stuff from school that i needed. About a week after the first time the connection died i tried to get online with the proxy off, no dice.
So i called techsupport and let the tech babble. I eventually go him to tell me that they were rebuilding the proxy server. When he said that, i almost blew my top. I just said "ok" and hung up. I still had to use the proxyless connection for a few more days before they got it back up.
I almost called tech support and asked them if they needed any help.
I used to work for a large hospital system in the IT department. We bought a *lot* of pc's from dell because we needed simple no nonsense boxes and dells gx*** series business machines were decent.
We had a special contract with dell that gave us the phone number that would take us directly to the top level of support. Basically we would call and say "I have a gx110 with a bad motherboard." then we give the tech the numbers off the back of the machine. Usually within 24 hrs (or as few as 16), i had a new part.
I think it would be neat if the local offices for these broadband companies would do a 1 minute interview with the caller the first time they accessed tech support. If the caller matches certain criteria, and can prove himself to not be an idiot. Then he should be granted the ability to get past the front line techs.
Not that this would ever happen, and its all full of possible problems, but a guy can dream right?
Something that needs to be taken into account is that most people that use Yahoo, AOL, MSN/Hotmail are not aware that this war is even being waged around them. They are usually people who probably don't know much about computers, or the internet, and use Yahoo because somebody told them it is "easy". Sure, i have been known to use free email services from time to time, but i don't use them for my primary mail services.
Sure, they don't like spam, or being monitored in various ways, but how are they supposed to find out that it is going on? Is Yahoo going to tell them that they are being monitored, and sent spam tailored to their interests? I don't think so!
Rather, they just sit there and obliviously read their email from dear aunt bertha and delete their spam.
I wonder if this can be compared to "Beware of Dog" signs. (IANAL, and i don't know if this applies outside of Oregon, USA) As far as i know, if someone posts a "Beware of Dog" sign, that doesn't absolve them. That merely means that they know that they have a dangerous dog, They must still do everthing in their power to make sure that dog does not hurt anyone. Including providing a clear path to the front door. If there is a sign, and the dog is chained up, and i go piss it off and it bites me, then it is my fault. BUT if there is a sign and the dog comes out of nowhere and bites me, then i own their house. I think you also have the right to have the dog tested for rabies, which requires the dog be dead and dissected. Somehow, though, i doubt that the Supreme court is going to require that things to dissected to see why they crash. However, this does show a precedent that warnings do not make it OK.
Just because i have a multiheaded computer, and am playing starcraft in one monitor, and reading slashdot on the other while listening to ripped music tracks from various games, doesn't mean that i'm addicted, i can quit any time i want. *hits F10* See? There, i stopped!
It seems to me that there was once an episode of seaQuest that involved a fusion reactor accident that sent them into a future in which there were only two people left on the planet because everyone was so addicted to video games that they never left there houses much less spend any time making new little people. They eventually had to crash the planetary computer so that there would be no more games, and the couple could get to no each other and rebuild the human race blah blah blah *hits F10* DIE ZERG SCUM!!!
Maybe it does have something to do with being a big customer.
I used to work for a hospital that was going pretty much all Dells, so we bought a lot of dells, and the hospital was part of a much bigger 4 state hospital system, and they bought a LOT of dells.
Anyway, we had a number that we could call, with an extension, and a notification that we were a hospital I could always talk to a tech in under a minute. The Dell techs would always accept my judgement on the issue and i would get the part i needed shipped the next day.
The only time i had a problem is when i needed a piece of the plastic shell on the gx150's replaced (the little button that ejects the floppy drive was faulty). It took some explaining to get the guy to understand what it was i needed shipped. Even then (it was after 4 o'clock) i still got the part in about 16 hours after my call.
Those big mid-page ads on CNET are why I don't go there anymore.
Yes, they bug me too. I think that slashdot should do the same thing as the main OSDN page. OSDN has ads that are off to the side and fit into the margins. They also have little tiny ads that are placed in the upper corners in what would normally be whitespace. The ads on the right would probably fit inside the margin with the slashbox. One of the problems about putting ads in with the slashboxes is that some of those margin ads are quite tall.
I dunno, anything but ads in the middle of the story.
Yeah, i know what i was mistaking it for. YOU try to read/understand/respond to articles after YOU'VE been completing a project for a class for the last 48 hours straight. (which means that i probably was dreaming)
Web pages are easy to write, but only if you allow enough time to complete the CGI backend, and test, and bigfix, and retest...etc...
BTW, thanks for getting through to my caffeine addled brain.
Also, am i missing something, or did they not say how they could get these things to form into the structure necessary for processing? They did say that they could attach themselves to electrodes, but that won't help quake run at 10,000 fps.
Although, the fact that they are organic is very interesting. Imagine, organic molecules with the processor's structure coded into their DNA, all you do is go down to the local computer parts store and pick up an eyedropper. then you put it's contents into a little dish lined with electrodes on your mother board. Next throw on some Miracle Grow, and wait overnight.
Yeah, it's not a new idea. In the book Dune they used little pumps inside their boots to run the circulation pumps of their stillsuits. They did have to put some sort of grease on their heels, or else it chafed something awful though.
I seem to recall that some of the ancient worshipers of a god called Baal believed that every winter, Baal went comatose, and the only way to wake him and his girlfriend up in the spring for the growing season was to go to the temple and have massive orgies. Not that i care, but there's a precedent.
May such magnificient machines never again be used for such awful, awful purpose
I tend to think that it is very possible that all of the people who are worried about more hijackings and other large buildings getting rammed by planes, are worrying in the wrong places.
Think about it... In the middle east, palestine, and israel, do terrorists go around hijacking planes and crashing them into large buildings, or using large bombs to kill lots of people. No, they walk into the coffee shop down the street with a block of C-4 in their pocket and kill 15 people. It is hard to pull off the kinds of jobs that we saw on 9-11, and with every job, they increase their chances of getting caught. Right now, i am more afraid to go to McDonalds than fly.
Slashdot Mirror
I admit that sometimes it is useful to have a hardcopy to carry around. However, I think the failure of a (mostly) paperless office comes from the fact that the processes used to generate paper, in the old days, have merely been moved over to computer systems. The possibility to eliminate most paper is there, it is just that the the processes aren't compatable with digital systems.
Example: I saw in a hospital how a nurse went onto the network and printed out a blank form. She then filled out the form and put it into the records. Then the records people took the form and scanned it into the records computer system.
It seems to me that you could save enough money on paper, toner, printer wear and tear, time in process, etc... to justify buying some tablet PC's to float around.
I often see the same sort of thing going on, an effort to transfer paper to digital, but no effort to stop generating paper! In order for a (again, mostly) paperless office, the people and the processes need to adjust to using computers to do more work. Then, not only will we be able to be more productive *gasp* but also lower the bottom line... Or, maybe I'm just a horrible technology bigot.
I have seen some companies get these for their laptops. You put the plate on the laptop, but I prefer putting the red deterrant on the outside of the laptop bag itself. Otherwise they grab your bag, walk off and when they see it has a id plate, into the dumpster it goes. With the red label on the outside hopefully thieves will be put off by it.
Of course there is the BOFH method: Faced with never seeing the laptop again, have something that looks like a CDROM drive in one of the bays. Embed in it some explosives and some cell phone parts. If it goes missing, and isn't quickly recoverable, simply make a quick phone call. I guarantee that particular thief won't be stealing any more laptops (or eating solid foods).
has nothing to do with accents
Yeah, in fact I heard that many of the Indian companies that are hired to set up call centers pay for their employees to take classes to change their accents. Apparently one company (in india) has trained various employees with regional US accents. Such as midwestern, southern, new england, etc... as well as American colloquialisms. They even introduce themselves by American type names, such as Allen instead of Apu Nahasapeemapetilan. They also are supplied with the location of the caller so they can ask how the weather is.
As far as QoS, I talked to a tech who had an obvious accent (he was working to keep it mellowed out) and I don't think he had anything other than a script to read, because when I questioned whether what he asked me to do, he merely repeated his last instruction as if I hadn't heard. Besides that, I ended up doing something completely different, on my own, to fix the problem.
$9.95/month
($9.95/month)/BSOD
When you CYA make sure that you do it in some sort of trackable form. A phone call or face to face conversation can be denied or forgotten. Make sure that you do something that you can keep a copy of like send and email. Then you will always have a copy of the warning and it will have sent to and a date in the header. It is also good to cc it to bunches of people and your secure server on Sealand. It may sound like overkill, but this sort of paranoia has CYA'd me many times.
Also it's an easy to install/maintain and 'fairly' quick intro to Gnome for a lot of folks who won't/can't/don't want to compile and put up with problems with bleeding edge code...
I use it for these reasons also, just because you can spend all your time sorting out dependencies, and compiling packages doesn't mean that it isn't boring as hell and takes up all of your time. Doing things from scratch can be fun, and educational, but who wants to walk when you can drive?
I'm on dialup (i live too far away)*sobs* and i still have lots of trouble with my provider. One time they decided to rebuild their proxy server (i used the proxy because we use filtered services to keep my brother away from porn) and they didn't bother telling anybody they were going to do it. So one day my connection dies, and i tried everything i knew and nothing worked. When i turned off the proxy server it worked. I was too tired and lazy to call tech support so i went to bed.
For about a week didn't even use my connection at home. I did stuff from school that i needed. About a week after the first time the connection died i tried to get online with the proxy off, no dice.
So i called techsupport and let the tech babble. I eventually go him to tell me that they were rebuilding the proxy server. When he said that, i almost blew my top. I just said "ok" and hung up. I still had to use the proxyless connection for a few more days before they got it back up.
I almost called tech support and asked them if they needed any help.
Curse my rural location!!!!!!
I used to work for a large hospital system in the IT department. We bought a *lot* of pc's from dell because we needed simple no nonsense boxes and dells gx*** series business machines were decent.
We had a special contract with dell that gave us the phone number that would take us directly to the top level of support. Basically we would call and say "I have a gx110 with a bad motherboard." then we give the tech the numbers off the back of the machine. Usually within 24 hrs (or as few as 16), i had a new part.
I think it would be neat if the local offices for these broadband companies would do a 1 minute interview with the caller the first time they accessed tech support. If the caller matches certain criteria, and can prove himself to not be an idiot. Then he should be granted the ability to get past the front line techs.
Not that this would ever happen, and its all full of possible problems, but a guy can dream right?
First go around and start replacing workstations with etch-a-sketch's and see who notices. With any luck...:D
Something that needs to be taken into account is that most people that use Yahoo, AOL, MSN/Hotmail are not aware that this war is even being waged around them. They are usually people who probably don't know much about computers, or the internet, and use Yahoo because somebody told them it is "easy". Sure, i have been known to use free email services from time to time, but i don't use them for my primary mail services.
Sure, they don't like spam, or being monitored in various ways, but how are they supposed to find out that it is going on? Is Yahoo going to tell them that they are being monitored, and sent spam tailored to their interests? I don't think so!
Rather, they just sit there and obliviously read their email from dear aunt bertha and delete their spam.
I wonder if this can be compared to "Beware of Dog" signs. (IANAL, and i don't know if this applies outside of Oregon, USA) As far as i know, if someone posts a "Beware of Dog" sign, that doesn't absolve them. That merely means that they know that they have a dangerous dog, They must still do everthing in their power to make sure that dog does not hurt anyone. Including providing a clear path to the front door. If there is a sign, and the dog is chained up, and i go piss it off and it bites me, then it is my fault. BUT if there is a sign and the dog comes out of nowhere and bites me, then i own their house. I think you also have the right to have the dog tested for rabies, which requires the dog be dead and dissected. Somehow, though, i doubt that the Supreme court is going to require that things to dissected to see why they crash.
However, this does show a precedent that warnings do not make it OK.
Just because i have a multiheaded computer, and am playing starcraft in one monitor, and reading slashdot on the other while listening to ripped music tracks from various games, doesn't mean that i'm addicted, i can quit any time i want. *hits F10* See? There, i stopped!
It seems to me that there was once an episode of seaQuest that involved a fusion reactor accident that sent them into a future in which there were only two people left on the planet because everyone was so addicted to video games that they never left there houses much less spend any time making new little people. They eventually had to crash the planetary computer so that there would be no more games, and the couple could get to no each other and rebuild the human race blah blah blah *hits F10* DIE ZERG SCUM!!!
Maybe it'll just print things like *scratches head* *waves madly* *picks nose*, or other things...
hmmm... as Dilbert put it, maybe there are times when you don't want your computer to know where your hands are.
SPOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sorry, couldn't resist
Maybe it does have something to do with being a big customer.
I used to work for a hospital that was going pretty much all Dells, so we bought a lot of dells, and the hospital was part of a much bigger 4 state hospital system, and they bought a LOT of dells.
Anyway, we had a number that we could call, with an extension, and a notification that we were a hospital I could always talk to a tech in under a minute. The Dell techs would always accept my judgement on the issue and i would get the part i needed shipped the next day.
The only time i had a problem is when i needed a piece of the plastic shell on the gx150's replaced (the little button that ejects the floppy drive was faulty). It took some explaining to get the guy to understand what it was i needed shipped. Even then (it was after 4 o'clock) i still got the part in about 16 hours after my call.
Those big mid-page ads on CNET are why I don't go there anymore.
Yes, they bug me too. I think that slashdot should do the same thing as the main OSDN page. OSDN has ads that are off to the side and fit into the margins. They also have little tiny ads that are placed in the upper corners in what would normally be whitespace. The ads on the right would probably fit inside the margin with the slashbox. One of the problems about putting ads in with the slashboxes is that some of those margin ads are quite tall.
I dunno, anything but ads in the middle of the story.
Yeah, i know what i was mistaking it for. YOU try to read/understand/respond to articles after YOU'VE been completing a project for a class for the last 48 hours straight. (which means that i probably was dreaming)
Web pages are easy to write, but only if you allow enough time to complete the CGI backend, and test, and bigfix, and retest...etc...
BTW, thanks for getting through to my caffeine addled brain.
On the other hand, the faster it goes into effect, the less time M$ will have to try to get it based on hailstorm. Thats all we need:
terrorist: "Just a few bits of code, and a buffer overflow, and my name changes from Achmed bin Muhammed, terrorist to George Johnson, stock analyst."
Microsoft: This tragedy was not our fault, we blame BUGTRAQ for releasing news of this vulnerability to the public.
Also, am i missing something, or did they not say how they could get these things to form into the structure necessary for processing? They did say that they could attach themselves to electrodes, but that won't help quake run at 10,000 fps.
Although, the fact that they are organic is very interesting. Imagine, organic molecules with the processor's structure coded into their DNA, all you do is go down to the local computer parts store and pick up an eyedropper. then you put it's contents into a little dish lined with electrodes on your mother board. Next throw on some Miracle Grow, and wait overnight.
Yeah, it's not a new idea. In the book Dune they used little pumps inside their boots to run the circulation pumps of their stillsuits. They did have to put some sort of grease on their heels, or else it chafed something awful though.
I seem to recall that some of the ancient worshipers of a god called Baal believed that every winter, Baal went comatose, and the only way to wake him and his girlfriend up in the spring for the growing season was to go to the temple and have massive orgies. Not that i care, but there's a precedent.
May such magnificient machines never again be used for such awful, awful purpose
I tend to think that it is very possible that all of the people who are worried about more hijackings and other large buildings getting rammed by planes, are worrying in the wrong places.
Think about it... In the middle east, palestine, and israel, do terrorists go around hijacking planes and crashing them into large buildings, or using large bombs to kill lots of people. No, they walk into the coffee shop down the street with a block of C-4 in their pocket and kill 15 people. It is hard to pull off the kinds of jobs that we saw on 9-11, and with every job, they increase their chances of getting caught. Right now, i am more afraid to go to McDonalds than fly.
and it seem that crappy IE dropped my cookie so it looked like i was logged in the first time, but i wasn't.
whoops, i forgot to add the link that would have made my comment all too clear, and added to the humor.
We found 1,324,597 results:
that link says that if you pay them enough, they will put your ranking wherever you want.