And most of them are just excuses to get rid of "problem" elements should an issue arise. (proprietary data leaks come to mind)
My employer makes us sign a code of ethics that's really just common sense - nothing really intrusive (if you end up on the front page of the local paper with your company badge on robbing an orphanage, or if you're stealing from the company or if you're falsifying paperwork, you're probably going to be fired). Other companies see it as a broad license to exert control over things they ought not.
The only problem I've had with it is the "agree to this new requirement to keep the job you've been doing" approach. (I know, I know - fairness and uniformity)
I wish folks would keep these agreements in mind when they get on their soapbox about "anonymous" posters being "cowards" for not putting their names to their comments. (that attitude always sounded to me like someone who was trying to figure out who to exact revenge on anyway)
Does it bother anyone else that "critical medical equipment" was running Windows NT or 2000? Don't get me wrong - I like to bash MS as much as the next/.'er but XP is almost to sunset - Shouldn't they be running something a little newer?
I use Sprint's service which was advertised at the time of my contract as "truly unlimited". I have not had any unusual problems.
The issues to consider - I have a fairly small pipe size - Hulu is pretty rough due to not being able to buffer enough - and latency - I can't really do FPS over this connection because I can't get under the 100ms ping barrier. However the GF plays WOW on it just fine.
I pay about $60 per month which is a bit steep for what I'm getting, but it sure beats dialup. We had a wireless (housetop antenna) service, but they can't keep their networks up (constant double digit % packet loss). Ma Bell won't install DSL where I'm at and cable is also unavailable. I looked into satellite, but that can have equipment costs that are high, depending on who you go with.
I did splurge and get they Lynksis router with the PCMCIA slot in it ($300 when I bought it).
Didn't the clipper use liquid fuel? IIRC that was its downfall when it blew up on the landing pad when one of its feet didn't deploy and it tipped over.
Either way, I would urge anyone trying to crack this tech to review the clipper's failure before continuing.
How will this mesh with the Sears decision by SCOTUS? My understanding (I'm not a lawyer) is that taxing interstate commerce is prohibited by the constitution (the root of all US law).
There is a need for something but this goes way too far and is way too vague. Someone needs to be able to shut down something like, say, a DDOS attack against the NYSE trading network - that's a national security issue. Likewise, if someone's hacking the newtworks that link our satellites to the Pentagon, someone needs to have the power to make that stop immediately.
However, someone attacking the link between Youtube and the building where the congress's staffers have their offices can be handles with the laws we currently have. -oh, BTW, no matter how embarrassing the video is on Youtube, you shouldn't use extraordinary gov't powers to pull it or track who is viewing it.
"you've got to ask yourself one question. 'Do I feel lucky?', well, do ya punk?"
Dirty Harry, its characters and quotes are copyrights of Warner Brothers(TM). The above quote is only meant as a humorous reference to a pop culture icon and is not meant as a performance of copyrighted material.
Exactly: zero tolerance = zero common sense. I agree with this, but how did this come about?
Look at the areas where "zero tolerance" has been applied - they are the areas most likely to have people unable to competently apply judgment. Removal of the grey areas assures that the same decision will be made every time for a given set of circumstances - essentially "dumbing down" the rules for those in authority.
Have we really fallen so far as to believe that we should follow leaders that need the rules "dumbed down"?
This is a good start - you need to get in touch with the "top" and make sure they know the gravity of the situation. This is not just "fudging a little" - this is outright illegal - I don't know that I'd use the terms they outlined in Office Space to describe the incarceration conditions, but you get the picture. The leadership needs to have a real idea of what the consequences are and as head of IT, it is your duty to inform them.
Once you have the mandate from on high to fix the problem, you implement a comprehensive IT policy that uses professional grade OS's and take away the ability to install software. Run periodic scans and remove unapproved software. Refer to management for disciplinary action anyone who refuses to follow the policy - remember, discipline is not your problem - compliance is.
The "comprehensive IT policy" will be hard given that you need to figure out what everyone in the company uses their computers for - and many will not want to tell you. You will need to create an environment where there can be open dialogue about what the systems are used for - because you need to know what programs the company has, needs to have and can't have - you need a complete inventory of what IS, what would be NICE TO HAVE, and what is a NO GO.
I can't stress enough that you need the backing of the top - I mean the CEO, owner, etc. Not simply the highest ranking person that people see regularly.
If the "top" refuses to take the problem seriously - you have a point of decision - can you live with the situation as it is, or do you cut your losses? If you cut your losses, you always have the option of reporting them to the BSA yourself. That's a pretty extreme step, but I'd bet that the BSA would love to hear of an IT manager that departed a company over disagreements over whether or not to pay for software.
The real fallacy in this type of argument is that the public (you and I) needs to justify why they need something (in this case, unobscured maps). We have no obligation to explain why we need something, it is up to those who would deny us those things to explain why we should not have them.
This pertains to all things, period. I can easily explain why my neighbor shouldn't have 2000 lbs of TNT in his garage.
People often forget that we don't need to justify ourselves just because someone wants us to.
Cheap, proven technologies are still steps down a dead end road. We need to take a step back in order to start moving forward again. Electric vehicles are that path forward. An economically viable method for providing electric vehicles has not revealed itself yet, however the potential has been seen. The problem is that there is no reason to produce the new technology to make them viable unless electric cars are present to create the demand, and electric cars won't be viable until the new technology is present. So, what we have is a deadlock.
The question becomes "How do we break the deadlock?". This is a situation where the market as it exists today will not provide a solution in an acceptable timeframe, so we must consider external forces. Providing incentives to "early adopters" will be necessary to pull enough electric vehicles into the public to create a demand for the infrastructure. The problem of imperfect power storage is being mitigated by allowing for flexible power sources (i.e. onboard generators).
The Volt is a transitional technology, not the end result. GM can't say that though - after all, who wants to be the guinea pig with something as expensive and important as a car?
I knew someone who was trying to use Craigslist to find a new home for her birds, and was following all of the rules posted (small "re-homing fee" - she really just wanted to be paid for the cage, the birds would have been free if she could have found someone who wouldn't put them in an undersized cage). Each time within an hour of posting, she had her posts pulled ("community moderated", or some such) for "inappropriate content". She then found out that there are a number of activists on Craigslist that censor anything having to do with "selling animals".
I guess my friend's birds rate higher on these peoples list of priorities than child sex slaves.
I hope that my friend's case is cited as an example of how "important" censoring happens almost immediately.
I don't think that's what they're after. The way I read it, they're concerned with a potential employer looking up their MySpace account, gleaning information about things like their political affiliations, race, religion, appearance, etc - then using those attributes to base their hiring decisions. After all, if someone wants to commit discrimination based on a protected attribute, they need only not call for interviews anyone whose who fits that profile - and this information is neatly bundled on social networking sites.
We haven't even gotten into what can happen if your "friends" set up a pro-[insert dispicable view here] site for you. Slander doesn't come into play unless you know the decision was based on an untruth.
It sounds to me like this concept has a lot more potential uses. There are likely many other types of plastic where the same protection chemicals were used. While this probably won't help anyone dealing with plastics exposed to other environmental hazards (like dashboards which fade out under too much sunlight), it may prove useful in restoring other items.
I ask this only because I so rarely see something so offensive here: Doesn't/. have an abuse reporting mechanism? I would never advocate removing posts that were controversial, but this is not such a post. This is unrelated to the topic at hand, obviously intended to be inflammatory and really has no place here.
Slashdot Mirror
And most of them are just excuses to get rid of "problem" elements should an issue arise. (proprietary data leaks come to mind)
My employer makes us sign a code of ethics that's really just common sense - nothing really intrusive (if you end up on the front page of the local paper with your company badge on robbing an orphanage, or if you're stealing from the company or if you're falsifying paperwork, you're probably going to be fired). Other companies see it as a broad license to exert control over things they ought not.
The only problem I've had with it is the "agree to this new requirement to keep the job you've been doing" approach. (I know, I know - fairness and uniformity)
I wish folks would keep these agreements in mind when they get on their soapbox about "anonymous" posters being "cowards" for not putting their names to their comments. (that attitude always sounded to me like someone who was trying to figure out who to exact revenge on anyway)
Cyber Guantanamo - wouldn't that be like making them use AOL over a 9600 baud modem? Or would that be considered torture by the Geneva Convention?
Does it bother anyone else that "critical medical equipment" was running Windows NT or 2000? Don't get me wrong - I like to bash MS as much as the next /.'er but XP is almost to sunset - Shouldn't they be running something a little newer?
I use Sprint's service which was advertised at the time of my contract as "truly unlimited". I have not had any unusual problems.
The issues to consider - I have a fairly small pipe size - Hulu is pretty rough due to not being able to buffer enough - and latency - I can't really do FPS over this connection because I can't get under the 100ms ping barrier. However the GF plays WOW on it just fine.
I pay about $60 per month which is a bit steep for what I'm getting, but it sure beats dialup. We had a wireless (housetop antenna) service, but they can't keep their networks up (constant double digit % packet loss). Ma Bell won't install DSL where I'm at and cable is also unavailable. I looked into satellite, but that can have equipment costs that are high, depending on who you go with.
I did splurge and get they Lynksis router with the PCMCIA slot in it ($300 when I bought it).
Didn't the clipper use liquid fuel? IIRC that was its downfall when it blew up on the landing pad when one of its feet didn't deploy and it tipped over.
Either way, I would urge anyone trying to crack this tech to review the clipper's failure before continuing.
Dude, you're dating yourself
as a side note- token rings are much less troublesome than Tolkien rings.
The German V2 rockets were only 46 feet in length - although they were much heavier.
What I'm trying to say is this dude's rocket ain't no model - he's launching a real rocket.
ok - here's what I found:
http://supreme.vlex.com/vid/nelson-v-sears-roebuck-amp-20014232
How will this mesh with the Sears decision by SCOTUS? My understanding (I'm not a lawyer) is that taxing interstate commerce is prohibited by the constitution (the root of all US law).
Any law geeks out there want to pick this one up?
Ok, if nobody else is going to...
"You're in a Johnny Cab - Would you please restate the destination?"
"I am aware this is not a forum for legal advice, but do any IT professionals who work for law firms know about such rules and regulations?"
I bet you can get a legal opinion for around $150/hour.
Free legal advice is usually worth what you pay for it.
Their lobby is too powerful - powerful with the dark side, are they......
apparently, the "under my plan" part. No politician gets to implement their whole plan.
There is a need for something but this goes way too far and is way too vague. Someone needs to be able to shut down something like, say, a DDOS attack against the NYSE trading network - that's a national security issue. Likewise, if someone's hacking the newtworks that link our satellites to the Pentagon, someone needs to have the power to make that stop immediately.
However, someone attacking the link between Youtube and the building where the congress's staffers have their offices can be handles with the laws we currently have. -oh, BTW, no matter how embarrassing the video is on Youtube, you shouldn't use extraordinary gov't powers to pull it or track who is viewing it.
I was honestly thinking this was an April Fool's joke.
When I read the headline, I conjured the disturbing mental image of stuffing bodies into the gas tank of my car.
"you've got to ask yourself one question. 'Do I feel lucky?', well, do ya punk?"
Dirty Harry, its characters and quotes are copyrights of Warner Brothers(TM). The above quote is only meant as a humorous reference to a pop culture icon and is not meant as a performance of copyrighted material.
Exactly: zero tolerance = zero common sense. I agree with this, but how did this come about?
Look at the areas where "zero tolerance" has been applied - they are the areas most likely to have people unable to competently apply judgment. Removal of the grey areas assures that the same decision will be made every time for a given set of circumstances - essentially "dumbing down" the rules for those in authority.
Have we really fallen so far as to believe that we should follow leaders that need the rules "dumbed down"?
Boxers or briefs?
This is a good start - you need to get in touch with the "top" and make sure they know the gravity of the situation. This is not just "fudging a little" - this is outright illegal - I don't know that I'd use the terms they outlined in Office Space to describe the incarceration conditions, but you get the picture. The leadership needs to have a real idea of what the consequences are and as head of IT, it is your duty to inform them.
Once you have the mandate from on high to fix the problem, you implement a comprehensive IT policy that uses professional grade OS's and take away the ability to install software. Run periodic scans and remove unapproved software. Refer to management for disciplinary action anyone who refuses to follow the policy - remember, discipline is not your problem - compliance is.
The "comprehensive IT policy" will be hard given that you need to figure out what everyone in the company uses their computers for - and many will not want to tell you. You will need to create an environment where there can be open dialogue about what the systems are used for - because you need to know what programs the company has, needs to have and can't have - you need a complete inventory of what IS, what would be NICE TO HAVE, and what is a NO GO.
I can't stress enough that you need the backing of the top - I mean the CEO, owner, etc. Not simply the highest ranking person that people see regularly.
If the "top" refuses to take the problem seriously - you have a point of decision - can you live with the situation as it is, or do you cut your losses? If you cut your losses, you always have the option of reporting them to the BSA yourself. That's a pretty extreme step, but I'd bet that the BSA would love to hear of an IT manager that departed a company over disagreements over whether or not to pay for software.
The real fallacy in this type of argument is that the public (you and I) needs to justify why they need something (in this case, unobscured maps). We have no obligation to explain why we need something, it is up to those who would deny us those things to explain why we should not have them.
This pertains to all things, period. I can easily explain why my neighbor shouldn't have 2000 lbs of TNT in his garage.
People often forget that we don't need to justify ourselves just because someone wants us to.
I'll try to explain my viewpoint:
Cheap, proven technologies are still steps down a dead end road. We need to take a step back in order to start moving forward again. Electric vehicles are that path forward. An economically viable method for providing electric vehicles has not revealed itself yet, however the potential has been seen. The problem is that there is no reason to produce the new technology to make them viable unless electric cars are present to create the demand, and electric cars won't be viable until the new technology is present. So, what we have is a deadlock.
The question becomes "How do we break the deadlock?". This is a situation where the market as it exists today will not provide a solution in an acceptable timeframe, so we must consider external forces. Providing incentives to "early adopters" will be necessary to pull enough electric vehicles into the public to create a demand for the infrastructure. The problem of imperfect power storage is being mitigated by allowing for flexible power sources (i.e. onboard generators).
The Volt is a transitional technology, not the end result. GM can't say that though - after all, who wants to be the guinea pig with something as expensive and important as a car?
I knew someone who was trying to use Craigslist to find a new home for her birds, and was following all of the rules posted (small "re-homing fee" - she really just wanted to be paid for the cage, the birds would have been free if she could have found someone who wouldn't put them in an undersized cage). Each time within an hour of posting, she had her posts pulled ("community moderated", or some such) for "inappropriate content". She then found out that there are a number of activists on Craigslist that censor anything having to do with "selling animals".
I guess my friend's birds rate higher on these peoples list of priorities than child sex slaves.
I hope that my friend's case is cited as an example of how "important" censoring happens almost immediately.
I don't think that's what they're after. The way I read it, they're concerned with a potential employer looking up their MySpace account, gleaning information about things like their political affiliations, race, religion, appearance, etc - then using those attributes to base their hiring decisions. After all, if someone wants to commit discrimination based on a protected attribute, they need only not call for interviews anyone whose who fits that profile - and this information is neatly bundled on social networking sites.
We haven't even gotten into what can happen if your "friends" set up a pro-[insert dispicable view here] site for you. Slander doesn't come into play unless you know the decision was based on an untruth.
It sounds to me like this concept has a lot more potential uses. There are likely many other types of plastic where the same protection chemicals were used. While this probably won't help anyone dealing with plastics exposed to other environmental hazards (like dashboards which fade out under too much sunlight), it may prove useful in restoring other items.
What other items can you think of?
I ask this only because I so rarely see something so offensive here: Doesn't /. have an abuse reporting mechanism? I would never advocate removing posts that were controversial, but this is not such a post. This is unrelated to the topic at hand, obviously intended to be inflammatory and really has no place here.