It's great that you're trying to find cheap options for those students, but to be honest, that's a side issue.
The main issue is that you have what may be an unreasonable expectation about the resources available to these students. They don't have a computer at home, which means their family probably cannot afford to buy one, and even if they manage that, they may not be able to afford internet access. Before you make requirements for papers to be typed and submitted online, or assign materials that can only be viewed online, consider the following:
1. Does the school have computers available before or after school, or during a free period (if the student has one)? 2. Even if the computers are available, does the student rely on school buses that are scheduled too close to the start and end of the day for them to make use of the computers at school? 3. If the public library has computers available, are they in good enough condition and do they have the necessary software for your assignments? Will they charge the students to print out their work? What are the hours of the library, and is public transportation good enough that students can reasonably be expected to get there (if you live in many parts of the country, don't bet on it!)
Remember: these students are already at a huge disadvantage, and even though you' mean well by trying to find cheap options for them, it may not be good enough. But you are obligated to provide these students the same ability to succeed as the others, and that may well mean changing your plans. It may be more work for you, but if you're not up to it, quit now, otherwise you're just helping the system screw those children.
I recommend Golden Frog's VyprVPN service. I get their basic service as part of my Giganews subscription. There are cheaper alternatives (their service as a standalone option starts at $15/month), but they now have 8 endpoints, 3 of which are in the US. I use them at home to access sites that limit access to people who aren't in the US as well as using the closest local service whenever I'm traveling and stuck with open wifi connections.
"FAST on Linux is fucking awesome" I'll have to share that with the rest of the support team.
Speaking purely as an individual, I wish Microsoft wouldn't have gone this way, although obviously it doesn't surprise me. On the bright side - for your organization at least - you've got another 8 years where we'll be supporting ESP 5.3, so you have a few years before you have to worry about finding another solution, or deciding that maybe running a few Windows servers wouldn't be too bad. Just saying.:)
Computers are wonderful tools, but for most subjects students learn at that point in their lives (middle/high school in the US), computers aren't necessary.
Think about the primary subjects - Math, Science, and Literature/Writing - where do you see the benefits in using computers? Obviously for English classes, having access to computers to type papers is handy, but it's hardly necessary. Computers can be used in math to help illustrate concepts, but you don't want the students using computers to do their work, otherwise they won't know how to do it without them. And much of science is math - again, not something you want students using computers for.
Agreed. Their help desk solution - Footprints - is just as bad, if not worse. If you're not willing to pay for a decent tool, at least go open source so you can make the modifications necessary to come up with something usable.
"...and that you will have to expect them trying to get you into heated discussions about American presidents, especially Bush..."
I've found that a really easy issue to solve. When they ask about Bush, I respond with "Worst. President. Ever."
I haven't met many people who don't like America, or Americans. Most of them still think America is a great place. They just don't understand why we're willing to put certain idiots in office.
That same information... puts the integrity of the entire infrastructure and, more to the point, the information security of a whole lof of people at tremendous risk.
Extremist talk and dire predictions are great, but where have they gotten us in the past? Vixie claims that "Everything we thought we knew was wrong", but at the same time, we know that there are DNS systems and services that did not have this vulnerability, so obviously some people had already given this type of issue some thought.
I'm not saying don't patch. --Security holes should be fixed, after all. But if you tell people a house is on fire when there are no flames and no smoke, don't be surprised when people are skeptical.
Haven't enough people been hurt by blindly trusting "experts"?* If there's one thing that everyone should have learned by now, if someone says "trust me", you should be skeptical.
This issue may be huge. But without all the necessary information, you can't make an informed decision as to whether or not you believe it is.
*This doesn't mean to imply that I don't think they're experts in their field.
I never knew that AIM could send SMS messages to mobiles. Does anyone know if this works for any other country codes? --It doesn't seem to work for Norway (+47) numbers.
Why is Slashdot posting links to crazy right wing/libertartian conspiracy theories?
Because then they can have their share of "sensationalist" news?!?\
Seriously, though, how anyone could read that letter and interpret it as a method of suppressing speech, I don't know. Then again, Republicans have always known how to spin things for the masses.
Seriously, what do you feel you offer that thousands of others don't?
A small player is going to have a hard time competing in the hosting market unless you already have a customer base you can turn to.
The average person can get hosting space very cheap, and even professionals can find decently priced plans that will cover sites with higher traffic levels. Remember, even Google is offering hosting these days!
Do you really have anything to offer customers that the others don't? If not, wait until you find a way to differentiate yourself from all the others.
If it's their data, then why not give them what they want?
If there's data for other customers in the same DB, you could always create a set of views and give them access to them.
In the end, it's read only access that they're looking for. As long as there's an agreement whereby they accept liability if unauthorized access is made using the account you provide, you should be covered.
If the police/coroner have already ruled the death a suicide, you are unlikely to find anything on the laptop or in one of his emails that would help overturn the ruling. If it's still under investigation, the family should talk to a lawyer about whether it's OK to do this, and what their responsibilities are, based on what could be found.
The unfortunate truth about suicides is that it's rarely one thing that pushes someone to commit the act. It's an act of depression and desperation that was brewing for a long time.
If you do decide to help, you need to realize that this could be very difficult for you, and depending on what you find, could severely strain your relationship with this family. Is this something you are prepared for?
The real question it what will theaters decide to show? Both, or just the newfangled 3D version? That is the question. Four studios are apparently spending $700 million to outfit 10,000 screens with the technology, which means there will be fewer normal screens available for the 2-D versions, especially since theater owners believe customers are willing to pay a premium to see it in 3-D.
This is bad for people like me who are blind in one eye, rendering a 3-D film unwatchable. I enjoy going out to see movies occasionally, but if this takes off, I won't have any reason to do so anymore.
I agree completely. It's useless without information such as:
What AV software detects it? Where does it install itself? What type of traffic should we really be looking for? And, as you suggested, how do we clean it up?
I'm not worried about it being on my system, but I do have to worry about the people in my office who aren't as careful.
My company has very little in the way of computer policies. Every user has admin rights on their machine, and my office is the only one running AD. From what I've seen, even technical people tend to spend little time worrying about the security of their computers. --In other offices, support people and developers often don't even have passwords on their machines.
So, these days, where it's very hard to get people to worry about security, piracy, and the other problems IT administrators have to worry about, it's not a good idea to let users have full control over their systems. You need to find a balance between maintaining the necessary control, but not being overbearing and draconian with your policies.
Please don't suggest anything that would put marketing personnel in a position to produce anything that will guide me
Agreed. Marketing people are employed to build hype and help sell products. Most of them don't know squat about design.
Engineers can do a good job on design, but only when you slow down and force yourself to look at it from a user's perspective. We all use a lot of software, and you can probably come up with ideas very quickly about what annoys everyone you know. But you also have to think about the design aspects that your eyes just sort of pass over because they just work.
If you put marketing people in charge of design, well... Just look at the f*cking paper clip and puppy that Microsoft use. Does anyone seriously believe that an ENGINEER would ever consider that cute or useful?
Faith is not an issue? Whether some Republicans want to admit it or not, faith has been the biggest part of the Republican platform for years. Yes, you can argue that the evangelical fringe took over the party, but the party let it happen. Look at their stances on anything that remotely touches faith: stem cell research, gay marriage, faith-based initiatives, school vouchers, and war. Their platform on all of those issues are determined by the far right.
That's reason enough for me to vote against Republicans every time these days. If only we weren't stuck in a two party system...
I can think of a few off hand. A lot of independent sites are still per impression (I'm pretty sure sites like Penny Arcade, PVP, and others are). Also, I believe 37signals and a bunch of other sites have their "The Deck" ad network which is not per impression, but is per month with X number of ads rotated among the sites during the month.
That said, for the most part, I don't have any sort of moral objection to blocking ads, although I don't bother to block the Google text ads, and I usually don't start adding things to adblock unless there's something on the site that's making noise or is visually annoying. --In those cases, I pretty much go out of my way to kill every add I can find on the site.
"...and they all seem to allow the merchant and his agents to physically detain suspected shoplifters, using reasonable force. So all they have to do is say they suspect you of shoplifting. And reasonable suspicion is specifically named as a defense in any civil suit brought against the merchant or police, so you probably won't win if you sue them either."
But the key is reasonable suspicion. Just saying they thought you were shoplifting isn't enough to shield them from a lawsuit. They have to be able to say why, and convince a judge that it's a good reason, otherwise you would still be able to sue them for false imprisonment and whatnot. If enough people stand up and refuse to submit to bag searches, a refusal to submit won't really cut it as justification for reasonable suspicion.
It's a fair question. But as the previous person mentioned, there are other cues you can use to judge depth. You have to have a form of 3D vision in order to have any depth perception (otherwise you'd be constantly reaching for items and missing them).
My depth perception isn't nearly as good as most people who have vision in both eyes, and it definitely hasn't helped me play sports, but it doesn't stop me from driving a car, for example. It helps for me that I've dealt with this for as long as I can remember, so it's not like I have anything else to compare it to.
Slashdot Mirror
It's great that you're trying to find cheap options for those students, but to be honest, that's a side issue.
The main issue is that you have what may be an unreasonable expectation about the resources available to these students. They don't have a computer at home, which means their family probably cannot afford to buy one, and even if they manage that, they may not be able to afford internet access. Before you make requirements for papers to be typed and submitted online, or assign materials that can only be viewed online, consider the following:
1. Does the school have computers available before or after school, or during a free period (if the student has one)?
2. Even if the computers are available, does the student rely on school buses that are scheduled too close to the start and end of the day for them to make use of the computers at school?
3. If the public library has computers available, are they in good enough condition and do they have the necessary software for your assignments? Will they charge the students to print out their work? What are the hours of the library, and is public transportation good enough that students can reasonably be expected to get there (if you live in many parts of the country, don't bet on it!)
Remember: these students are already at a huge disadvantage, and even though you' mean well by trying to find cheap options for them, it may not be good enough. But you are obligated to provide these students the same ability to succeed as the others, and that may well mean changing your plans. It may be more work for you, but if you're not up to it, quit now, otherwise you're just helping the system screw those children.
I recommend Golden Frog's VyprVPN service. I get their basic service as part of my Giganews subscription. There are cheaper alternatives (their service as a standalone option starts at $15/month), but they now have 8 endpoints, 3 of which are in the US. I use them at home to access sites that limit access to people who aren't in the US as well as using the closest local service whenever I'm traveling and stuck with open wifi connections.
"FAST on Linux is fucking awesome" I'll have to share that with the rest of the support team.
Speaking purely as an individual, I wish Microsoft wouldn't have gone this way, although obviously it doesn't surprise me. On the bright side - for your organization at least - you've got another 8 years where we'll be supporting ESP 5.3, so you have a few years before you have to worry about finding another solution, or deciding that maybe running a few Windows servers wouldn't be too bad. Just saying. :)
Computers are wonderful tools, but for most subjects students learn at that point in their lives (middle/high school in the US), computers aren't necessary.
Think about the primary subjects - Math, Science, and Literature/Writing - where do you see the benefits in using computers? Obviously for English classes, having access to computers to type papers is handy, but it's hardly necessary. Computers can be used in math to help illustrate concepts, but you don't want the students using computers to do their work, otherwise they won't know how to do it without them. And much of science is math - again, not something you want students using computers for.
Agreed. Their help desk solution - Footprints - is just as bad, if not worse. If you're not willing to pay for a decent tool, at least go open source so you can make the modifications necessary to come up with something usable.
Seriously? You really think that an Xbox 360 is a good idea?
Get one for the team and put it in a break room or meeting room. Besides, consoles are more fun when you play with others.
"...and that you will have to expect them trying to get you into heated discussions about American presidents, especially Bush..."
I've found that a really easy issue to solve. When they ask about Bush, I respond with "Worst. President. Ever."
I haven't met many people who don't like America, or Americans. Most of them still think America is a great place. They just don't understand why we're willing to put certain idiots in office.
That same information ... puts the integrity of the entire infrastructure and, more to the point, the information security of a whole lof of people at tremendous risk.
Extremist talk and dire predictions are great, but where have they gotten us in the past? Vixie claims that "Everything we thought we knew was wrong", but at the same time, we know that there are DNS systems and services that did not have this vulnerability, so obviously some people had already given this type of issue some thought.
I'm not saying don't patch. --Security holes should be fixed, after all. But if you tell people a house is on fire when there are no flames and no smoke, don't be surprised when people are skeptical.
Haven't enough people been hurt by blindly trusting "experts"?* If there's one thing that everyone should have learned by now, if someone says "trust me", you should be skeptical.
This issue may be huge. But without all the necessary information, you can't make an informed decision as to whether or not you believe it is.
*This doesn't mean to imply that I don't think they're experts in their field.
I never knew that AIM could send SMS messages to mobiles. Does anyone know if this works for any other country codes? --It doesn't seem to work for Norway (+47) numbers.
Why is Slashdot posting links to crazy right wing/libertartian conspiracy theories?
Because then they can have their share of "sensationalist" news?!?\
Seriously, though, how anyone could read that letter and interpret it as a method of suppressing speech, I don't know. Then again, Republicans have always known how to spin things for the masses.
Seriously, what do you feel you offer that thousands of others don't?
A small player is going to have a hard time competing in the hosting market unless you already have a customer base you can turn to.
The average person can get hosting space very cheap, and even professionals can find decently priced plans that will cover sites with higher traffic levels. Remember, even Google is offering hosting these days!
Do you really have anything to offer customers that the others don't? If not, wait until you find a way to differentiate yourself from all the others.
If it's their data, then why not give them what they want?
If there's data for other customers in the same DB, you could always create a set of views and give them access to them.
In the end, it's read only access that they're looking for. As long as there's an agreement whereby they accept liability if unauthorized access is made using the account you provide, you should be covered.
True. I'd think they'd be even less happy about this: Mormon Temples and Temple Rituals
Damn right. Virgin is complete crap.
Hopefully speeds are better in Oslo. I'll find out when I move there next month.
If the police/coroner have already ruled the death a suicide, you are unlikely to find anything on the laptop or in one of his emails that would help overturn the ruling. If it's still under investigation, the family should talk to a lawyer about whether it's OK to do this, and what their responsibilities are, based on what could be found.
The unfortunate truth about suicides is that it's rarely one thing that pushes someone to commit the act. It's an act of depression and desperation that was brewing for a long time.
If you do decide to help, you need to realize that this could be very difficult for you, and depending on what you find, could severely strain your relationship with this family. Is this something you are prepared for?
This is bad for people like me who are blind in one eye, rendering a 3-D film unwatchable. I enjoy going out to see movies occasionally, but if this takes off, I won't have any reason to do so anymore.
I agree completely. It's useless without information such as:
What AV software detects it?
Where does it install itself?
What type of traffic should we really be looking for?
And, as you suggested, how do we clean it up?
I'm not worried about it being on my system, but I do have to worry about the people in my office who aren't as careful.
My company has very little in the way of computer policies. Every user has admin rights on their machine, and my office is the only one running AD. From what I've seen, even technical people tend to spend little time worrying about the security of their computers. --In other offices, support people and developers often don't even have passwords on their machines.
So, these days, where it's very hard to get people to worry about security, piracy, and the other problems IT administrators have to worry about, it's not a good idea to let users have full control over their systems. You need to find a balance between maintaining the necessary control, but not being overbearing and draconian with your policies.
Please don't suggest anything that would put marketing personnel in a position to produce anything that will guide me
Agreed. Marketing people are employed to build hype and help sell products. Most of them don't know squat about design.
Engineers can do a good job on design, but only when you slow down and force yourself to look at it from a user's perspective. We all use a lot of software, and you can probably come up with ideas very quickly about what annoys everyone you know. But you also have to think about the design aspects that your eyes just sort of pass over because they just work.
If you put marketing people in charge of design, well... Just look at the f*cking paper clip and puppy that Microsoft use. Does anyone seriously believe that an ENGINEER would ever consider that cute or useful?
Faith is not an issue? Whether some Republicans want to admit it or not, faith has been the biggest part of the Republican platform for years. Yes, you can argue that the evangelical fringe took over the party, but the party let it happen. Look at their stances on anything that remotely touches faith: stem cell research, gay marriage, faith-based initiatives, school vouchers, and war. Their platform on all of those issues are determined by the far right.
That's reason enough for me to vote against Republicans every time these days. If only we weren't stuck in a two party system...
Don't forget that Boeing's CEO was canned a couple of years ago over a consensual interoffice affair (CBC Story).
I'd say it probably wasn't a use of funds issue, but interoffice romance, sexual harassment, or browsing porn at work could possibly do it.
I can think of a few off hand. A lot of independent sites are still per impression (I'm pretty sure sites like Penny Arcade, PVP, and others are). Also, I believe 37signals and a bunch of other sites have their "The Deck" ad network which is not per impression, but is per month with X number of ads rotated among the sites during the month.
That said, for the most part, I don't have any sort of moral objection to blocking ads, although I don't bother to block the Google text ads, and I usually don't start adding things to adblock unless there's something on the site that's making noise or is visually annoying. --In those cases, I pretty much go out of my way to kill every add I can find on the site.
"...and they all seem to allow the merchant and his agents to physically detain suspected shoplifters, using reasonable force. So all they have to do is say they suspect you of shoplifting. And reasonable suspicion is specifically named as a defense in any civil suit brought against the merchant or police, so you probably won't win if you sue them either."
But the key is reasonable suspicion. Just saying they thought you were shoplifting isn't enough to shield them from a lawsuit. They have to be able to say why, and convince a judge that it's a good reason, otherwise you would still be able to sue them for false imprisonment and whatnot. If enough people stand up and refuse to submit to bag searches, a refusal to submit won't really cut it as justification for reasonable suspicion.
It's a fair question. But as the previous person mentioned, there are other cues you can use to judge depth. You have to have a form of 3D vision in order to have any depth perception (otherwise you'd be constantly reaching for items and missing them).
My depth perception isn't nearly as good as most people who have vision in both eyes, and it definitely hasn't helped me play sports, but it doesn't stop me from driving a car, for example. It helps for me that I've dealt with this for as long as I can remember, so it's not like I have anything else to compare it to.