Never heard of it myself though judging from the size of the Wikipedia article, neither has anyone else.
Re:The best way to avoid all that anxiety ...
on
Anxiety and IT?
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· Score: 4, Insightful
Well that lost a paragraph somewhere...
This (especially the bit about being too good - fake the occasional mail flow issue if you have to).
Make sure hardware is under warranty and your 3rd party software is supported with good SLAs in place. Set up server and systems monitoring so that you know when things are going wrong, rather than finding out when they have gone wrong. Hire competent staff to work with and under you that you can trust to set things up properly and fix them when they break. Never agree to support systems that you don't have the knowledge to fix within your team (unless they have reliable 3rd party support, see above).
Above all, know your infrastructure inside out, take good backups, test your backups and have a DR plan with SLAs for each system and agree it with your business so that people can't turn around in an emergency and demand that you fix *their* system right now because they suddenly decided it was important.
If you're stressed about the bits of your job that are under your control then you're doing it wrong; if you're stressed about your job due to other factors outside your control, you've got a job.
Re:The best way to avoid all that anxiety ...
on
Anxiety and IT?
·
· Score: 1
This (especially the bit about being too good - fake the occasional mail flow issue if you have to).
Make sure hardware is under warranty with a test your backups and have a DR plan with SLAs for each system and agree it with your business so that people can't turn around in an emergency and demand that you fix *their* system right now because they suddenly decided it was important.
If you're stressed about the bits of your job that are under your control then you're doing it wrong; if you're stressed about your job due to other factors outside your control, you've got a job.
Nothing, as long as you know enough to interpret them correctly, otherwise you've got a load of instructions that are meaningless to you so that when, inevitably, something that isn't explicitly listed happens, you have no idea how to proceed and have to Ask Slashdot.
Seriously, read through a few support forums and see how many threads go like this:
User: How do I do X? Response: Install Y, Configure it for Z, Run Q User: How do I configure it for Z? Response: It's in the advanced settings under "Z" User: Mine doesn't have "Z", it's only got "z", what should I do?
And so on. So many "IT" people are incapable of lateral thinking and basic troubleshooting that it frankly scares me; the first time they come across something they haven't seen before they panic and decide that they need someone else to tell them exactly how to fix it.
Sorry, but point 5 only holds for as long as you're not negatively impacting other people with your bad choices. Shoddy security and poor user-awareness results in zombie machines that DDoS and spam their way into my life to the point that I really do care about it enough to want to go around locking peoples' doors for them.
Vista/Win 7 does allow you programs to be executed with Low Integrity Level so that it is essentially sandboxed. However, apps have to be written to take advantage of this functionality otherwise there's a good chance they'll break if run with a Low Integrity Level. Some specific PDF Reader-related info here
You mean like the Malicious Software Removal Tool which is already offered through Windows Update as a critical update? Or Microsoft Security Essentials which either is or will shortly be available through Windows Update as a recommended update?
Re:What's the deal with the rush of TSA stories re
on
TSA Pats Down 3-Year-Old
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· Score: 4, Informative
It seems to have been bought in at the same time as the new scanners came online. I think the biggest objection to it seems to be the way it's done more than anything else - the TSA officials aren't warning people about what they're doing, taking a presumption of guilt if you question any part of the process, haven't made it clear at any point what's changed (or the apparent $10,000 fine for decided you neither want to be x-rayed or felt up) and generally acting like power-drunk dicks.
The BBC is largely the problem (for the ISPs). They spent years telling everyone how awesome their hugely over-subscribed services were for streaming media and the like, then the Beeb came along with the iPlayer, everyone started using it and the ISPs were faced with two choices: Upgrade their networks to actually provide the service they sold to their users or spend almost as much money lobbying the government to force the BBC to pay them for the privilege of transporting their content over the last mile.
"Get our basic package to access the internet very slowly at low priority, only £9.99/month. Want to be able to use the iPlayer during waking hours? Get our BBC pack for only £4.99/month extra. Sorry, but due to a dispute with Google over pricing, we're unable to offer our Search Engine pack this month, so you won't be able to find anything on the internet".
To paraphrase Morbo: "The internet does not work that way!" - either I'm paying my ISP to provide access to, say Google or Google is paying my ISP for me to access them. My ISP doesn't get to take money from me and from Google for the same thing. That's like me posting a letter with correct postage and then when it arrives at your house the postman demands you pay for the postage again or he refuses to deliver it.
Well, until all the cheating pupils taught by cheating teachers get to the "Professional Writer" stage, at which point they'll be too dumb to supply the next generation with custom-written essays any more and the whole system will collapse.
I'd be more concerned about the fact that you're not actually learning anything by doing this. The days when simply having a degree was enough to get you a job are long gone; if you can't demonstrate actual knowledge of the subject in hand then you're screwed.
If you're going to cheat your way through a degree then you might as well just buy one from some unaccredited online "university" - it'll be a lot cheaper and worth just as much.
Science & Engineering papers usually depend on new work or research, whereas a lot of the subjects he mentioned just want you to repeat whatever the current received wisdom is with your own little bit on why you agree with it
Slashdot Mirror
Datacom, apparently.
Never heard of it myself though judging from the size of the Wikipedia article, neither has anyone else.
Well that lost a paragraph somewhere...
This (especially the bit about being too good - fake the occasional mail flow issue if you have to).
Make sure hardware is under warranty and your 3rd party software is supported with good SLAs in place. Set up server and systems monitoring so that you know when things are going wrong, rather than finding out when they have gone wrong. Hire competent staff to work with and under you that you can trust to set things up properly and fix them when they break. Never agree to support systems that you don't have the knowledge to fix within your team (unless they have reliable 3rd party support, see above).
Above all, know your infrastructure inside out, take good backups, test your backups and have a DR plan with SLAs for each system and agree it with your business so that people can't turn around in an emergency and demand that you fix *their* system right now because they suddenly decided it was important.
If you're stressed about the bits of your job that are under your control then you're doing it wrong; if you're stressed about your job due to other factors outside your control, you've got a job.
This (especially the bit about being too good - fake the occasional mail flow issue if you have to).
Make sure hardware is under warranty with a test your backups and have a DR plan with SLAs for each system and agree it with your business so that people can't turn around in an emergency and demand that you fix *their* system right now because they suddenly decided it was important.
If you're stressed about the bits of your job that are under your control then you're doing it wrong; if you're stressed about your job due to other factors outside your control, you've got a job.
"The flaw is related to the way in which a certain config file is interpreted..."
Nothing, as long as you know enough to interpret them correctly, otherwise you've got a load of instructions that are meaningless to you so that when, inevitably, something that isn't explicitly listed happens, you have no idea how to proceed and have to Ask Slashdot.
Seriously, read through a few support forums and see how many threads go like this:
User: How do I do X?
Response: Install Y, Configure it for Z, Run Q
User: How do I configure it for Z?
Response: It's in the advanced settings under "Z"
User: Mine doesn't have "Z", it's only got "z", what should I do?
And so on. So many "IT" people are incapable of lateral thinking and basic troubleshooting that it frankly scares me; the first time they come across something they haven't seen before they panic and decide that they need someone else to tell them exactly how to fix it.
The only reasonable case I can think of is if you need to stay silent while doing so.
Sorry, but point 5 only holds for as long as you're not negatively impacting other people with your bad choices. Shoddy security and poor user-awareness results in zombie machines that DDoS and spam their way into my life to the point that I really do care about it enough to want to go around locking peoples' doors for them.
and so far hasn't been subject to any major attacks/flaws.
Sadly not true; it was vulnerable to the /launch "vulnerability/feature" as well as a couple of others. Even Sumatra has had one.
Vista/Win 7 does allow you programs to be executed with Low Integrity Level so that it is essentially sandboxed. However, apps have to be written to take advantage of this functionality otherwise there's a good chance they'll break if run with a Low Integrity Level. Some specific PDF Reader-related info here
Mac users shouldn't get too cocky about it.
Say what you will about Norton, but it's a shitload better than nothing
A false sense of security is worse than no security at all :)
You mean like the Malicious Software Removal Tool which is already offered through Windows Update as a critical update? Or Microsoft Security Essentials which either is or will shortly be available through Windows Update as a recommended update?
It seems to have been bought in at the same time as the new scanners came online. I think the biggest objection to it seems to be the way it's done more than anything else - the TSA officials aren't warning people about what they're doing, taking a presumption of guilt if you question any part of the process, haven't made it clear at any point what's changed (or the apparent $10,000 fine for decided you neither want to be x-rayed or felt up) and generally acting like power-drunk dicks.
Another interesting POV here: http://www.pennandteller.com/03/coolstuff/penniphile/roadpennfederalvip.html
Duh. It's known as Security Theatre for a reason.
The BBC is largely the problem (for the ISPs). They spent years telling everyone how awesome their hugely over-subscribed services were for streaming media and the like, then the Beeb came along with the iPlayer, everyone started using it and the ISPs were faced with two choices: Upgrade their networks to actually provide the service they sold to their users or spend almost as much money lobbying the government to force the BBC to pay them for the privilege of transporting their content over the last mile.
"Get our basic package to access the internet very slowly at low priority, only £9.99/month. Want to be able to use the iPlayer during waking hours? Get our BBC pack for only £4.99/month extra. Sorry, but due to a dispute with Google over pricing, we're unable to offer our Search Engine pack this month, so you won't be able to find anything on the internet".
To paraphrase Morbo: "The internet does not work that way!" - either I'm paying my ISP to provide access to, say Google or Google is paying my ISP for me to access them. My ISP doesn't get to take money from me and from Google for the same thing. That's like me posting a letter with correct postage and then when it arrives at your house the postman demands you pay for the postage again or he refuses to deliver it.
Only because you could argue that Microsoft has a vested interest in doing #1 - I guess it depends on how malicious you think Microsoft is :)
COICA? What, no backronym? This really is a Lame Duck Congress...
Well, until all the cheating pupils taught by cheating teachers get to the "Professional Writer" stage, at which point they'll be too dumb to supply the next generation with custom-written essays any more and the whole system will collapse.
"The Ethics of Cheating on my Ethics Thesis: Did I Cheat? Can You Tell? Does It Matter Anyway?"
I can't say I've ever posted any of my undergrad work on the internets; mostly out of shame, but that's beside the point.
I'd be more concerned about the fact that you're not actually learning anything by doing this. The days when simply having a degree was enough to get you a job are long gone; if you can't demonstrate actual knowledge of the subject in hand then you're screwed.
If you're going to cheat your way through a degree then you might as well just buy one from some unaccredited online "university" - it'll be a lot cheaper and worth just as much.
Science & Engineering papers usually depend on new work or research, whereas a lot of the subjects he mentioned just want you to repeat whatever the current received wisdom is with your own little bit on why you agree with it
These days, if something isn't a something-killer then it's apparently not worth looking at.
Personally, I think that "Facebook launches 'Puppy Killer'" would have far more impact as a headline (and I wouldn't put it past Zuckerberg).