When I worked at the CT Department of Education, I lobbyed desperately for a centralized, secure data repository for student data. The analysts would constantly send student lists on disks via snail(or by a "secure" zip file), print paper lists of student data and take them offsite, and even put copies of this data on their personal computers to take home. I was passionate about keeping the demographic data of Connecticuts students secure and grew frustrated with the roadblocks.
We even got a Federal Grant with Governor Rell's help to contract out the project (we in no way had the resources to build it). As far as I can tell, the data are still in a SQL 2005 database, replicated multiple times, with access given to multiple undocumented users.
No business rules are in place other than the 1 overworked DBA there granting "read only" to anyone who requests it. There is a team there working very hard to make the data secure, but they are small and unsupported. Perhaps Madam Rell's efforts would be better directed at her own IT infrastructure...
NCLB is designed obscure the truth about education in America with gimmicks. I was a statistical analyst in charge of producing NCLB reports for the state of CT. The NCLB regulations and reporting were the reason I left the education field altogether. The statistics are both unsound and completely incorrect given the sample base and intent.
Here are the major issues with education right now in Florida (and most states):
1. There is a significant achievement gap between high/low poverty schools and white/minority schools. That gap has increased due to NCLB.
2. Highly Qalified Teachers: There aren't enough. Another component of NCLB requires schools to move toward 100% highly qualified staff. The gap here is the same as the achievement gap. The rich/white schools get better teachers.
To quote a report by the Florida Department of Education to the feds regarding their progress toward "HQT = 100%":
"The percentage of classes taught by HQTs is above 90 percent in all categories except high-poverty secondary schools. At the secondary level, there is a six percentage point gap between high- and low-poverty schools."
Excellent point. I don't think apple will add another external switch to this version (like a laptop with internal wireless has). It would be far more costly than allowing a "software only" switch. Which means it will be non-intuitive and clumsy to turn it off. Which means most people won't ever turn it off... which means there's going to be some sad people getting their ipods hacked.
Dear anonymous coward,
I mean the WiFi. Not the iPod. My whole point is that if you use your "WiFi enabled" iPod in a public places (it has to have its Power on to do so), you should be able to manually shut off the proposed WiFi connection so that your device cannot be compromised. You see, WiFi always on = bad in public places. I reccomend turning your iPod on if you want to listen to it though, it works far better.
Unless it has an external on/off switch, I would never own one of these. Imagine walking into a retailer, and you get an advertisement on your ipod for "the GAP does Christmas" CD they are blasting on the stores over-engineerd sound system. Better yet, it would be a hackers dream to have people walking around a crowded public place with these things turned on.
"which is false, as there are more companies providing television media now than there were 20 years ago"
No offense, but I hope you don't mean to say that all the boutique cable networks out ther actually count.
Diebold. 1906 sent you a telegraph. They want their crappy security back. Seriously though, shouldn't we be worried about accountability here? Put biometrics into the machine. Make someone digitally sign it out (scan a finger print or something). From the moment it is signed for, audit every action taken on it. Void the machine if there is a secuirty breach. Not that my idea matters, smarter people than I who are closer to the issue have raised these concerns. I can't wait to vote 6,000,000 times for Alfred E. Newman in the upcoming elections.
Growing Pains rules.
Show me that smile agian,
Don't waste another minute on your cryin'.
blah blah blah,
As long as we've got each other,
We've got the world (spinning) right in our hands
Honey, rain or shine
We'll be fine
(forgot this line)...Sharing the laughter and love.
Heat.
Friction/Wind Resistance.
Gravity.
Barometric Pressure.....dsa zx xasdsfht
Oh, I fell asleep, slammed my head on the keyboard, and awoke to realize this is really boring. Sorry.
We are implementing a statewide Enterprise Directory like this in Connecticut. Our model for distributed security scares me quite thoroughly for this very reason. This thread gives me more ammuntion to stand my ground on a much stiffer password management policy. Thanks Slashdot!
Now all of those homeless nomads won't be able to use all that spare electricity and bandwidth going around the Gulf Coast to get help unless they bow to the power of Microsoft! Have any of you worked in a government agency? I do. It isn't even remotely what you think. It is far worse. I am mandated to only develop using Microsoft technologies. If I go above and beyond and make sure my stuff works on anything else (mozilla (which I use) etc...) there is a good chance a mozilla or opera user will be denied access anyway.
Beowulf Shmeowolf. More like BeoLame or Beowned by Botnet. Botnet rules. Botnet vs. that "super"computer would be like StrongBad vs. Scott Beo. I do belive I have peaked on my Mountain Dew high.... Someone talk me down.
Fiction.
Everyone just settle down. When I was eight, I wanted to be a Jedi. I am 32 now and want to be what I am. A good dad and an average coder. I can guarantee that I will have the "sex talk" with my child far before I have that all too awkward "kill em' all, let God sort em' out" talk with her. Or maybe she will get in to early Metallica at a young enough age and save me the trouble.
1. No additional funding to implement this law has been provided to any state (other than some initial "seed money").
2. Testing of grades 3-8 and 10 is mandatory in all states next year for Math and Reading. Science will be added to some grades after that.
3. It costs Connecticut HUNDREDS of millions of dollars to write, administer, grade, and analyze these tests.
4. Where did President Bush go to school agian?
HINT: It wasn't public. Was education broken way back then, or just him?
Well, I guess the vulnerability could be found in the repeaters. They move the state of one photon to another for longer distance transmissions.
In the article: Ultimately cryptographers want some form of quantum repeater--in essence, an elementary form of quantum computer that would overcome distance limitations.
Now, I understand that tapping a fiber line to grab photons would changer their state and allow for detection, but I can't believe it is impossible to grab the state of the photons somehow. My small brain has an idea, someone shoot it down please. Here goes. If a quantum repeater allows can 'mimic' a photons state, why can't a repeater be hacked to make copies? That is a repeater repeater. All of this is too Star Trek for me, going back to VB coding now...
Brain hurts...
I got my degree in CS from a state university. The most important thing I did for my career during my !4 years in school was sign up for the internship program. I interviewed at 4 large code-mill-type insurance companies and 1 state agency. I ended up getting a job at the state agency and thinking that I wasn't a good enough programmer to get a "cool" web programming job at Aetna or ING. For the most part that was true as is the case with many recent CS grads. CS doesn't make you an out of the box coder. Once I learned the technology I needed to solve business problems, I was on my way to my current job as a statistical analyst/programmer. I solve problems and CS was important for me because I did't have an innate ability to do this otherwise. Some would argue, and quite validly, that experience is key and I have to agree with them. So, stay where you are, land an internship or co-op or volunteer to write some apps for a non-profit, and you will be on your way. The average cs/programmer/code monkey changes jobs so many times that it is important to note that it is the last one that you have that will matter, not the first. Put yourself in a position to choose that last one and make it something you love to do and are compensated well for. I think you are well on your way right now.
Hey anonymous coward: I have 4 pc's at home, and a laptop. I am a geek. It is our way. However, I am not allowed to use my own equipment to do "secure" work. It is the way of my moronic leaders. Buy a clue Anonymous McNeedsALife.
Seriously though, I like my new name. Nice sarcasm.
First,
Kids need to read books at school. Google is great.... for the LITERATE.
Now,
I am programmer/analyst and my charge is to write the code that performs analysis on student test data. The results my programs output are factored into deciding wether or not a particular school/district is "making it" according to the Bush endorsed "No Child Left Behind Act". Billions of dollars of federal money are on the line.
I am performing these analyses on my state issued Pentium III with 128 megs of RAM and a 15" monitor. I think this computer cost $3.49 at Comp USA.
Some ass just allowed a purchase of 27 Meelion dollars worth of new fangled walkie-talkies and I can't get a flat screen or at least a $5 stick of RAM?
Slashdot Mirror
Correction: 600,000 students. CT is small, just not that small....
When I worked at the CT Department of Education, I lobbyed desperately for a centralized, secure data repository for student data. The analysts would constantly send student lists on disks via snail(or by a "secure" zip file), print paper lists of student data and take them offsite, and even put copies of this data on their personal computers to take home. I was passionate about keeping the demographic data of Connecticuts students secure and grew frustrated with the roadblocks.
We even got a Federal Grant with Governor Rell's help to contract out the project (we in no way had the resources to build it). As far as I can tell, the data are still in a SQL 2005 database, replicated multiple times, with access given to multiple undocumented users.
No business rules are in place other than the 1 overworked DBA there granting "read only" to anyone who requests it. There is a team there working very hard to make the data secure, but they are small and unsupported. Perhaps Madam Rell's efforts would be better directed at her own IT infrastructure...
NCLB is designed obscure the truth about education in America with gimmicks. I was a statistical analyst in charge of producing NCLB reports for the state of CT. The NCLB regulations and reporting were the reason I left the education field altogether. The statistics are both unsound and completely incorrect given the sample base and intent.
i ew/fl.doc Link to the doc quoted above, from the US Department of Education. Every state has to submit hundreds of narrative documents like this every year in order to qualify for funding.
Here are the major issues with education right now in Florida (and most states):
1. There is a significant achievement gap between high/low poverty schools and white/minority schools. That gap has increased due to NCLB.
2. Highly Qalified Teachers: There aren't enough. Another component of NCLB requires schools to move toward 100% highly qualified staff. The gap here is the same as the achievement gap. The rich/white schools get better teachers.
To quote a report by the Florida Department of Education to the feds regarding their progress toward "HQT = 100%":
"The percentage of classes taught by HQTs is above 90 percent in all categories except high-poverty secondary schools. At the secondary level, there is a six percentage point gap between high- and low-poverty schools."
http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherqual/hqtltr/rev
Teach teachers how to teach. Make parents responsible for their children.
Excellent point. I don't think apple will add another external switch to this version (like a laptop with internal wireless has). It would be far more costly than allowing a "software only" switch. Which means it will be non-intuitive and clumsy to turn it off. Which means most people won't ever turn it off... which means there's going to be some sad people getting their ipods hacked.
Dear anonymous coward, I mean the WiFi. Not the iPod. My whole point is that if you use your "WiFi enabled" iPod in a public places (it has to have its Power on to do so), you should be able to manually shut off the proposed WiFi connection so that your device cannot be compromised. You see, WiFi always on = bad in public places. I reccomend turning your iPod on if you want to listen to it though, it works far better.
Unless it has an external on/off switch, I would never own one of these. Imagine walking into a retailer, and you get an advertisement on your ipod for "the GAP does Christmas" CD they are blasting on the stores over-engineerd sound system. Better yet, it would be a hackers dream to have people walking around a crowded public place with these things turned on.
"which is false, as there are more companies providing television media now than there were 20 years ago" No offense, but I hope you don't mean to say that all the boutique cable networks out ther actually count.
Indeed! The slashdot coffers must be full of Karmazin payola! (I lost money on Sirius stock, who didn't? Makes me bitter.)
Diebold. 1906 sent you a telegraph. They want their crappy security back. Seriously though, shouldn't we be worried about accountability here? Put biometrics into the machine. Make someone digitally sign it out (scan a finger print or something). From the moment it is signed for, audit every action taken on it. Void the machine if there is a secuirty breach. Not that my idea matters, smarter people than I who are closer to the issue have raised these concerns. I can't wait to vote 6,000,000 times for Alfred E. Newman in the upcoming elections.
Growing Pains rules. Show me that smile agian, Don't waste another minute on your cryin'. blah blah blah, As long as we've got each other, We've got the world (spinning) right in our hands Honey, rain or shine We'll be fine (forgot this line) ...Sharing the laughter and love.
Heat. Friction/Wind Resistance. Gravity. Barometric Pressure.....dsa zx xasdsfht Oh, I fell asleep, slammed my head on the keyboard, and awoke to realize this is really boring. Sorry.
You just hurt my brain. Like, bad.
We are implementing a statewide Enterprise Directory like this in Connecticut. Our model for distributed security scares me quite thoroughly for this very reason. This thread gives me more ammuntion to stand my ground on a much stiffer password management policy. Thanks Slashdot!
Now all of those homeless nomads won't be able to use all that spare electricity and bandwidth going around the Gulf Coast to get help unless they bow to the power of Microsoft! Have any of you worked in a government agency? I do. It isn't even remotely what you think. It is far worse. I am mandated to only develop using Microsoft technologies. If I go above and beyond and make sure my stuff works on anything else (mozilla (which I use) etc...) there is a good chance a mozilla or opera user will be denied access anyway.
Wait a minute.... 66.154.54.215:80 is MY ip! Crap, I left my pc on at home again. Damn you filthy Apes!
Beowulf Shmeowolf. More like BeoLame or Beowned by Botnet. Botnet rules. Botnet vs. that "super"computer would be like StrongBad vs. Scott Beo. I do belive I have peaked on my Mountain Dew high.... Someone talk me down.
Fiction. Everyone just settle down. When I was eight, I wanted to be a Jedi. I am 32 now and want to be what I am. A good dad and an average coder. I can guarantee that I will have the "sex talk" with my child far before I have that all too awkward "kill em' all, let God sort em' out" talk with her. Or maybe she will get in to early Metallica at a young enough age and save me the trouble.
1. No additional funding to implement this law has been provided to any state (other than some initial "seed money"). 2. Testing of grades 3-8 and 10 is mandatory in all states next year for Math and Reading. Science will be added to some grades after that. 3. It costs Connecticut HUNDREDS of millions of dollars to write, administer, grade, and analyze these tests. 4. Where did President Bush go to school agian? HINT: It wasn't public. Was education broken way back then, or just him?
Nice post. If I was moderating, you get a big 5 (not much different than a 'regular' 5, but a 5 nonetheless). Informative. Good work!
I totally agree. Then again, I belive it is possible that Lyndsy Lohan's breasts are real.
Well, I guess the vulnerability could be found in the repeaters. They move the state of one photon to another for longer distance transmissions. In the article: Ultimately cryptographers want some form of quantum repeater--in essence, an elementary form of quantum computer that would overcome distance limitations. Now, I understand that tapping a fiber line to grab photons would changer their state and allow for detection, but I can't believe it is impossible to grab the state of the photons somehow. My small brain has an idea, someone shoot it down please. Here goes. If a quantum repeater allows can 'mimic' a photons state, why can't a repeater be hacked to make copies? That is a repeater repeater. All of this is too Star Trek for me, going back to VB coding now... Brain hurts...
I got my degree in CS from a state university. The most important thing I did for my career during my !4 years in school was sign up for the internship program. I interviewed at 4 large code-mill-type insurance companies and 1 state agency. I ended up getting a job at the state agency and thinking that I wasn't a good enough programmer to get a "cool" web programming job at Aetna or ING. For the most part that was true as is the case with many recent CS grads. CS doesn't make you an out of the box coder. Once I learned the technology I needed to solve business problems, I was on my way to my current job as a statistical analyst/programmer. I solve problems and CS was important for me because I did't have an innate ability to do this otherwise. Some would argue, and quite validly, that experience is key and I have to agree with them. So, stay where you are, land an internship or co-op or volunteer to write some apps for a non-profit, and you will be on your way. The average cs/programmer/code monkey changes jobs so many times that it is important to note that it is the last one that you have that will matter, not the first. Put yourself in a position to choose that last one and make it something you love to do and are compensated well for. I think you are well on your way right now.
dizzy. tired.
Hey anonymous coward: I have 4 pc's at home, and a laptop. I am a geek. It is our way. However, I am not allowed to use my own equipment to do "secure" work. It is the way of my moronic leaders. Buy a clue Anonymous McNeedsALife. Seriously though, I like my new name. Nice sarcasm.
First, Kids need to read books at school. Google is great.... for the LITERATE. Now, I am programmer/analyst and my charge is to write the code that performs analysis on student test data. The results my programs output are factored into deciding wether or not a particular school/district is "making it" according to the Bush endorsed "No Child Left Behind Act". Billions of dollars of federal money are on the line. I am performing these analyses on my state issued Pentium III with 128 megs of RAM and a 15" monitor. I think this computer cost $3.49 at Comp USA. Some ass just allowed a purchase of 27 Meelion dollars worth of new fangled walkie-talkies and I can't get a flat screen or at least a $5 stick of RAM?