I'm sitting at my 4 year old Windows 2000 box at work, click on the download link and discover that no, it's not the Office version so much as the version of Windows. Grr.
since I have just about every pop up blocker conceivalbe on this thing
Why are you running external popup blockers? The built-in version in IE 7 is actually pretty good.
Of course, I find its UI excessive and wasteful, but that's just my opinion. Conversely, the default settings of Firefox 1.5 use a tiny percentage of the screen space. Safari uses even less by disabling the status bar by default. Opera 8.5 and 9 seem to fall somewhere in between Firefox 1.5 and IE 7.
I deny all knowledge of any so-called "Iowa", as well as any persons who may or may not be residing there, if in fact, Iowa refers to a place (that may or may not exist).
Relax. The mods were more likely referring to his assertion of the silliness of the behavior when this topic comes up. I may not agree with the sentence you quoted, but I'll agree with most of the rest of the post.
Okay then. Here's a little exercise to test that theory, compliments of a local gay rights organization.
For 24 hours, provide no gender or sexuality cues in any conversation anywhere. No gendered pronouns, no names that could possibly communicate a gender, no terms of endearment, no pictures of loved ones, no talking about watching sports with your buds. Or with Budweiser for that matter (after all, beer is assumed to be a masculine, heterosexual beverage). No wedding rings.
At the end of this little exercise, you'll be glad to go back to normal speech, behavior and appearance. And you'll appreciate that GLBT-friendly actually means commiserating with a male friend/associate/whatever when he gripes about his husband or boyfriend.
Academics are a very different beast from for-profit corporations. Faculty are effectively BOFHs, as they are absolutely vital (they bring in serious outside funding and desirable students and press) and are very tempermental. Faculty do not appreciate or enjoy administrative work. Schools are generally lucky if they can get them to teach well, let alone learn anything not directly related to their research.
The software used in labs tends to be poorly coded at best. Downright hacks from the Stone Ages are not uncommon, even on $50K microscopes (how many of your microscopes run Windows 95?!), so IT is going to have to be very careful in defining "computers".
Have the heads of IT, along with engineers and project managers, meet with Department Chairs, Deans, the Faculty Senate, and any star faculty. Individually and en masse. Throughout the planning, implementation and follow-up stages. Keep clear lines of communications open at all times. Be prepared for quick, courteous responses to irate and unreasonable faculty. Whatever you do, though, do NOT allow the faculty to define the terms of their relationship with IT. They are horrible clients; they don't know what they want, communicate it even worse and have the power to make your lives miserable. Perhaps the Marketing department can be hired to help out?
I wish the OP the best of luck with this endeavor. And with the future job hunt when faculty come back screaming at the Deans, only to have them turn around and blame IT.
Well, you sort of got it right. [In the US] credit card companies are only responsible for the first $50 of a fraudulent transaction. Until recently, they passed that $50 on to the consumers. Merchants have to absorb any additional amount.
Clerks are encouraged to check the signature to reduce the risk of fraudulent purchases, theoretically reducing the merchant's exposure, but there are several flies in the ointment:
You can't check signatures or photo ID over the phone or online (thus the CVV2)
You can't check signatures or photo ID in a growing number of stores where clerks never even touch the card
Faded signatures from two years ago on a worn strip make matching difficult and unreliable
Since the vast majority of purchases are legitimate, it's in the merchant's interests to reduce the transaction time and hassle by not checking signatures or ID - especially if the purchase is under the $50 threshold and they'll get paid anyway
Most stolen cards are used to buy high-end goods and "vices" like porn, cigarettes and alcohol. Home Depot doesn't worry about it, because who's buying PVC with a stolen card? A gas station pretty much never needs to worry about getting paid because they won't go near the $50 mark (most won't let you buy cartons with a credit card). Newegg and BestBuy could be out thousands of dollars of high-margin goods, so they verify identity vigorously.
My background: Former convenience store clerk and trainer. I've been on the witness stand against someone who used a stolen credit card.
Nothing... except little things called biomechanics and kinesthesiology. Animals tend to scale poorly across orders of magnitude. Besides, a lot of those traits listed require multiple genomes and modified mitochondrial DNA.
Curtains on a tension rod. They cause no damage, you can remove them when (if) it gets warm out. Close the curtains at sunset. Open them at sunrise. If you're in a cold climate, go for heavier fabric. Warmer climates should use lighter fabric. Watch your heating bills drop in the winter.
If you really need to save more, don't go in for the fancy shmancy curtains. Buy some discount fabric and make a quick stitch.
The bug is in the IDN handling. Go to about:config and set network.enableIDN to false. Bingo! Problem solved... as long as you don't use international URLs.
I've been mucking around with a GreaseMonkey script to recognize unicode 00AD, but it looks like the JavaScript regular expression handler doesn't know how to deal with it. Could just be an ID10T error though.
The number one 'killer feature' of Linux, *BSD, etc. is that users can continue to use the same exact software packages that they can upgrade the software packages they have grown used to using on a daily basis without buying new hardware every 18 months.
It does require cheerleading on our part (I do marketing for a living, so it's second nature for me), but by incrementally introducing people to the concept of "You don't need Microsoft for [blah]", you weaken their monopoly. Most people don't even realize there ARE options, after all!
So you introduce them to Firefox and Thunderbird and make it their default. Show them the basics of each, so that they are comfortable using these tools.
Then install AbiWord and tell them it's just like MS Word. It's not entirely true, but the basic use is the same and then they won't think that it's different and difficult to use. When they need spreadsheet or presentation software, show them OpenOffice, _especially_ when 2.0 comes out. Again, tell them it's just like using Office. It's not, but it's close enough that people will actually not hesitate to do what they need to do. Most people don't have Publisher, InDesign or Quark, so show them Scribus - if they need it at all. Admit that it's not the same quality as the latter two, but hey, it's free! Same with Gimp and Photoshop. Since they aren't used to using the commercial packages, the different interface isn't so horrendous.
Now that they're using a FOSS stack, why not casually drop that they don't really need to pay for their operating system either. Don't force it on them, but let them know that it is an option when they feel like upgrading. A non-MS OS can prolong the life of their current computer and save money on their new one.
Tell a neophyte that the operating system costs less AND the underlying hardware costs less AND they can continue using the same free (as in beer) software they already know and they'll love you for it. Not only that, they've become another cheerleader!
From a link from the news release on IBM's web site:
developerWorks hosts a variety of open source projects, all under open source licenses approved by the Open Source Initiative. Many are licensed under the Common Public License or the IBM Public License.
In other words, the Times goofed. And just as the concept of Free code was starting to make sense to the rest of the world...
1. Include wording that requires private companies and government agencies to fully serve customers even if they don't have a National ID card - as long as they can provide adequate alternative ID. Let the courts define that term.
2. Include wording that forbids private companies from using the ID for any purpose other than confirming the identity of the cardholder.
We can't eliminate abuse but how many of you are unwilling to use your credit cards? Or unwilling to check books out of public libraries? Or if you're in the US and appear under 27, buy tobacco or alcohol? Or buy a car at a dealership? Or take out a mortgage? Or attend a public school? Or visit a doctor? Or get a driver's license? Or get a phone number? Or do any of hundreds of other things that result in your name and personal information being put in what is essentially a publicly accessible database (for a small fee)?
BTW, new laws just required my alma mater to change its ID system from being SSN-derived to using alternative private numbers to distinguish faculty, staff, and students. Obviously, it is possible for private corporations to function with severely limited access to public information.
I work parttime in a neighborhood gas station and currently I have to ask to see valid non-expired ID for any age restricted purchsase (certain drugs, alcohol, tobacco). Some states have a handly little bar code (eg New York) or magnetic strip (eg Pennsylvania). The company has equipped its locations with ID scanners which can read those things so I don't have to go looking through a book of example IDs.
Unfortunately, the ID's vary wildly from state to state and even from year to year, not to mention between classes of ID. Furthermore, a number of them include no such features (eg New Jersey - an ID which can and is easily peeled apart).
If I don't ID or I accept a fake, I get slapped with a $1000 fine, the loss of my job, and possible jail time.
An electronically verifiable National ID would reduce problems like these.
As for privacy, the ID could and should record only that the ID was scanned. And it should only be used for age- or identity-restricted activities, such as boarding a plane or train, buying alcohol, etc. Add a stipulation that only governemnt agencies may read from the database and only under court order and many of the problems noted so far disappear, but the value of the ID for tracking criminals remains.
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I'm sitting at my 4 year old Windows 2000 box at work, click on the download link and discover that no, it's not the Office version so much as the version of Windows. Grr.
Why are you running external popup blockers? The built-in version in IE 7 is actually pretty good.
Of course, I find its UI excessive and wasteful, but that's just my opinion. Conversely, the default settings of Firefox 1.5 use a tiny percentage of the screen space. Safari uses even less by disabling the status bar by default. Opera 8.5 and 9 seem to fall somewhere in between Firefox 1.5 and IE 7.
I deny all knowledge of any so-called "Iowa", as well as any persons who may or may not be residing there, if in fact, Iowa refers to a place (that may or may not exist).
Relax. The mods were more likely referring to his assertion of the silliness of the behavior when this topic comes up. I may not agree with the sentence you quoted, but I'll agree with most of the rest of the post.
Okay then. Here's a little exercise to test that theory, compliments of a local gay rights organization. For 24 hours, provide no gender or sexuality cues in any conversation anywhere. No gendered pronouns, no names that could possibly communicate a gender, no terms of endearment, no pictures of loved ones, no talking about watching sports with your buds. Or with Budweiser for that matter (after all, beer is assumed to be a masculine, heterosexual beverage). No wedding rings. At the end of this little exercise, you'll be glad to go back to normal speech, behavior and appearance. And you'll appreciate that GLBT-friendly actually means commiserating with a male friend/associate/whatever when he gripes about his husband or boyfriend.
Academics are a very different beast from for-profit corporations. Faculty are effectively BOFHs, as they are absolutely vital (they bring in serious outside funding and desirable students and press) and are very tempermental. Faculty do not appreciate or enjoy administrative work. Schools are generally lucky if they can get them to teach well, let alone learn anything not directly related to their research.
The software used in labs tends to be poorly coded at best. Downright hacks from the Stone Ages are not uncommon, even on $50K microscopes (how many of your microscopes run Windows 95?!), so IT is going to have to be very careful in defining "computers".
Have the heads of IT, along with engineers and project managers, meet with Department Chairs, Deans, the Faculty Senate, and any star faculty. Individually and en masse. Throughout the planning, implementation and follow-up stages. Keep clear lines of communications open at all times. Be prepared for quick, courteous responses to irate and unreasonable faculty. Whatever you do, though, do NOT allow the faculty to define the terms of their relationship with IT. They are horrible clients; they don't know what they want, communicate it even worse and have the power to make your lives miserable. Perhaps the Marketing department can be hired to help out?
I wish the OP the best of luck with this endeavor. And with the future job hunt when faculty come back screaming at the Deans, only to have them turn around and blame IT.
Well, you sort of got it right. [In the US] credit card companies are only responsible for the first $50 of a fraudulent transaction. Until recently, they passed that $50 on to the consumers. Merchants have to absorb any additional amount.
Clerks are encouraged to check the signature to reduce the risk of fraudulent purchases, theoretically reducing the merchant's exposure, but there are several flies in the ointment:
Most stolen cards are used to buy high-end goods and "vices" like porn, cigarettes and alcohol. Home Depot doesn't worry about it, because who's buying PVC with a stolen card? A gas station pretty much never needs to worry about getting paid because they won't go near the $50 mark (most won't let you buy cartons with a credit card). Newegg and BestBuy could be out thousands of dollars of high-margin goods, so they verify identity vigorously.
My background: Former convenience store clerk and trainer. I've been on the witness stand against someone who used a stolen credit card.
Nothing... except little things called biomechanics and kinesthesiology. Animals tend to scale poorly across orders of magnitude. Besides, a lot of those traits listed require multiple genomes and modified mitochondrial DNA.
Curtains on a tension rod. They cause no damage, you can remove them when (if) it gets warm out. Close the curtains at sunset. Open them at sunrise. If you're in a cold climate, go for heavier fabric. Warmer climates should use lighter fabric. Watch your heating bills drop in the winter. If you really need to save more, don't go in for the fancy shmancy curtains. Buy some discount fabric and make a quick stitch.
Definitely an ID10T error. GM runs after the page has loaded, at which point it's too late.
The bug is in the IDN handling. Go to about:config and set network.enableIDN to false. Bingo! Problem solved... as long as you don't use international URLs.
I've been mucking around with a GreaseMonkey script to recognize unicode 00AD, but it looks like the JavaScript regular expression handler doesn't know how to deal with it. Could just be an ID10T error though.
The number one 'killer feature' of Linux, *BSD, etc. is that users can continue to use the same exact software packages that they can upgrade the software packages they have grown used to using on a daily basis without buying new hardware every 18 months.
It does require cheerleading on our part (I do marketing for a living, so it's second nature for me), but by incrementally introducing people to the concept of "You don't need Microsoft for [blah]", you weaken their monopoly. Most people don't even realize there ARE options, after all!
So you introduce them to Firefox and Thunderbird and make it their default. Show them the basics of each, so that they are comfortable using these tools.
Then install AbiWord and tell them it's just like MS Word. It's not entirely true, but the basic use is the same and then they won't think that it's different and difficult to use. When they need spreadsheet or presentation software, show them OpenOffice, _especially_ when 2.0 comes out. Again, tell them it's just like using Office. It's not, but it's close enough that people will actually not hesitate to do what they need to do. Most people don't have Publisher, InDesign or Quark, so show them Scribus - if they need it at all. Admit that it's not the same quality as the latter two, but hey, it's free! Same with Gimp and Photoshop. Since they aren't used to using the commercial packages, the different interface isn't so horrendous.
Now that they're using a FOSS stack, why not casually drop that they don't really need to pay for their operating system either. Don't force it on them, but let them know that it is an option when they feel like upgrading. A non-MS OS can prolong the life of their current computer and save money on their new one.
Tell a neophyte that the operating system costs less AND the underlying hardware costs less AND they can continue using the same free (as in beer) software they already know and they'll love you for it. Not only that, they've become another cheerleader!
I thought more Americans were currently incarcerated than the citizens of any other countries.
From a link from the news release on IBM's web site:
developerWorks hosts a variety of open source projects, all under open source licenses approved by the Open Source Initiative. Many are licensed under the Common Public License or the IBM Public License.
In other words, the Times goofed. And just as the concept of Free code was starting to make sense to the rest of the world...
Here's a couple of random ideas:
1. Include wording that requires private companies and government agencies to fully serve customers even if they don't have a National ID card - as long as they can provide adequate alternative ID. Let the courts define that term.
2. Include wording that forbids private companies from using the ID for any purpose other than confirming the identity of the cardholder.
We can't eliminate abuse but how many of you are unwilling to use your credit cards? Or unwilling to check books out of public libraries? Or if you're in the US and appear under 27, buy tobacco or alcohol? Or buy a car at a dealership? Or take out a mortgage? Or attend a public school? Or visit a doctor? Or get a driver's license? Or get a phone number? Or do any of hundreds of other things that result in your name and personal information being put in what is essentially a publicly accessible database (for a small fee)?
BTW, new laws just required my alma mater to change its ID system from being SSN-derived to using alternative private numbers to distinguish faculty, staff, and students. Obviously, it is possible for private corporations to function with severely limited access to public information.
I work parttime in a neighborhood gas station and currently I have to ask to see valid non-expired ID for any age restricted purchsase (certain drugs, alcohol, tobacco). Some states have a handly little bar code (eg New York) or magnetic strip (eg Pennsylvania). The company has equipped its locations with ID scanners which can read those things so I don't have to go looking through a book of example IDs.
Unfortunately, the ID's vary wildly from state to state and even from year to year, not to mention between classes of ID. Furthermore, a number of them include no such features (eg New Jersey - an ID which can and is easily peeled apart).
If I don't ID or I accept a fake, I get slapped with a $1000 fine, the loss of my job, and possible jail time.
An electronically verifiable National ID would reduce problems like these.
As for privacy, the ID could and should record only that the ID was scanned. And it should only be used for age- or identity-restricted activities, such as boarding a plane or train, buying alcohol, etc. Add a stipulation that only governemnt agencies may read from the database and only under court order and many of the problems noted so far disappear, but the value of the ID for tracking criminals remains.