"... when nations fail to maintain a strong army, they've toppled."
Funny about that.
Canada and Switzerland come to mind on this issue. Small, perhaps. But still alive and kicking.
Really primitive - senior academic staff only - research stuff on a modem the size of a briefcase with speeds to slow to remember - 13 colleges across an area larger than Texas - Ontario, Canada. Community Colleges. Fun. But not practical for anything but academic navel gazing.
This was about the time of the TRS80 but we used dumb terminals for commucation.
Seriously. This is like taking aspirin for a cold. Doesn't cure anything but makes everyone feel better (except for the side effects, of course).
Since they know about it, why not take the step to track down and arrest the 'money' behind it? Seems to me this is grandstanding rather than serious crime busting.
And... if they want to do it properly, don't be stupid! Don't tell them you are coming!
Facts don't change. Right. But who says the information that is presented as fact is accurate?
What changes is the knowledge that comes from viewing a different perspective on the fact at hand.
I haven't used Wikipedia that much and when I have used it I have found some of the information to be (from my perspective) incorrect. Some things can be stated with a fair degree of certainty. Others require some perspective in order to be better understood. Wikipedia provides a forum for presenting this alternative perspective.
But, as so many posts have said, to accept only one perspective as the definitive truth is.. well, what can I say... stupid.
Maybe to/. but to normal people listening to a radio the expression 'p2p' comes out as 'bzzzzzzzz' and they tune out literally and figuratively. Don't even listen.
A 'soccer mom'!! for God's sake. Not your typical IT literate.
And... thank God for 'soccer moms'!
What about the control you voluntarily relinquish? I am always happy to listen to and follow ('be controlled by') someone who is more technically adept than I am. In fact I frequently seek these people out to provide me direction.
But... to yeild control to some 'manager' of a union? No way
I've had the pleasure of looking at the procedure (not hack, not crack) and from what I've seen there's lots of potential that no one is talking about.
It appears that the 'hashed' id of the applicant is presented in the url and using this with some behind the scenes information (view source) you gain access to the status of the application. OK so the designers/developers screwed up and should have made this more secure. No ethics problem as far as I'm concerned.
But...
It also seems you can play with the original 'hashed' id and possibly gain access to others information. Now we have a situation. Now we have a hack/crack. Still just using a modified url but with a different intent. Who knows whether this happened or not. Based on the laxity in security, I don't suspect AY would be able to tell.
The real crime here should be laid at the feet of those in charge at HBS and AY who did not test this very thoroughly. Certainly not on those who simply looked up their own status.
In the US the only way to get things done is to market them massively. With the levels of government you have to go through it requires a realllllllly big effort to make even a minor impact.
In Canada, on the other hand, you can gain ready access to your local MP (Member of Parliament) to let your opinions be known and when enough constituents do this, the MP (he/she) knows that to go against the tide results in a loss of income and prestige.
We don't have to worry about the 'Big Boss' (i.e. the president) frowning at us nor our we controlled by the individual power of veto that is resident in the president.
We can have active local action groups without making a big fuss and like any good family we do try to keep our problems 'in the house' so to speak and attend to our problems in an adult fashion. I only wish the same could be said about our neighbour to the south.
Canadians are politically active but we do so with a sense of decorum not easily found amoung our neighbours. Perhaps this is because of our longer traditions (not much I grant you but...) or perhaps because we are, by nature, a more sedate group of people.
And perhaps this is the best reason that this proposal has no chance of survival. Canadians of all political pursuasions relish their privacy. Possibly more than any other group around. And they will quietly let their MP know.
People who speak English as a second language are often better at correct grammer than native English-speakers. And.. they assume that a person who speaks/writes English clearly and correctly must have learned it as a seond language. Sad to say but most often they are correct.
Consider that Lake Ontario isn't really so much of a lake as it is a really wide and deep river draining the higher of the Great Lakes that are also really really cold. Taking the cold water from down deep and putting it back (warmed up) on top essentially is just allowing it to drain off down the St. Lawrence into the ocean (where, of course, it can heat the ocean).
Compare this to the inefficient use of fossil fuels to generate the electricity to run the air conditioners using the ozone depleting coolants and then decide which is the better option.
Perhaps Torontonians should just stay hot (and, perhaps, smelly).
I am not and have not been a QA person. I am a simple 'coder'. But... in my experience QA begins with the coder.
One of your points is 'Are there code reviews?'
How about 'coding standards'?
In addition to ensuring quality when the code 'goes out the door' we also need to ensure that the code is maintainable. As a former member, executive member, and award winner from the (now defunct?) Software Maintenance Association I have found many applications that fail not because the application failed to function but because it was too complex (code) to modify (read upgrade).
Of the open source code that I have used (and provided enhancements to) most fail dismally to pass the simple test of clean, maintainable code. I spend as much time learning the style of the designers/coders as I do in applying simple enhancements to this code.
Here's a solution that should work. IT types can be great at developing solutions that work for themselves and even others. But try teaching that to someone who does really know what the key does? No way.
One extra idea to add to this is...
When teaching the enthusiastic and knowledgable non-IT people to use the new system (or upgrade) listen to what they say when they have problems with the interface. Then... go back to the drawing board to redesign the clumsy interface.
I develop and teach and have had a lot of great feedback from the users when I attempt to explain why something works the way it does. Unfortunately, I then have to go back and redesign the interface to "smooth" out the edges.
In the Prologue to the "Fellowship...".
Actual quote...
"Actually in the Shire in Bilbo's days it was, as a rule, only the richest and poorest Hobbits that maintained the old custom. The poorest went on living in burrows of the most primitive kind,...; while the well-to-do still constructed more luxurious versions of the simple...."
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"... when nations fail to maintain a strong army, they've toppled." Funny about that. Canada and Switzerland come to mind on this issue. Small, perhaps. But still alive and kicking.
Also noted in 'Watership Down' with reference to rabbits - thus become the hrair limit - with rabbits it seems to be two is the limit.
Really primitive - senior academic staff only - research stuff on a modem the size of a briefcase with speeds to slow to remember - 13 colleges across an area larger than Texas - Ontario, Canada. Community Colleges. Fun. But not practical for anything but academic navel gazing. This was about the time of the TRS80 but we used dumb terminals for commucation.
Seriously. This is like taking aspirin for a cold. Doesn't cure anything but makes everyone feel better (except for the side effects, of course). Since they know about it, why not take the step to track down and arrest the 'money' behind it? Seems to me this is grandstanding rather than serious crime busting. And... if they want to do it properly, don't be stupid! Don't tell them you are coming!
Facts don't change. Right. But who says the information that is presented as fact is accurate?
What changes is the knowledge that comes from viewing a different perspective on the fact at hand.
I haven't used Wikipedia that much and when I have used it I have found some of the information to be (from my perspective) incorrect. Some things can be stated with a fair degree of certainty. Others require some perspective in order to be better understood. Wikipedia provides a forum for presenting this alternative perspective.
But, as so many posts have said, to accept only one perspective as the definitive truth is.. well, what can I say... stupid.
Maybe to /. but to normal people listening to a radio the expression 'p2p' comes out as 'bzzzzzzzz' and they tune out literally and figuratively. Don't even listen.
A 'soccer mom'!! for God's sake. Not your typical IT literate.
And... thank God for 'soccer moms'!
What about the control you voluntarily relinquish? I am always happy to listen to and follow ('be controlled by') someone who is more technically adept than I am. In fact I frequently seek these people out to provide me direction.
But... to yeild control to some 'manager' of a union? No way
Not unless...
I've had the pleasure of looking at the procedure (not hack, not crack) and from what I've seen there's lots of potential that no one is talking about.
It appears that the 'hashed' id of the applicant is presented in the url and using this with some behind the scenes information (view source) you gain access to the status of the application. OK so the designers/developers screwed up and should have made this more secure. No ethics problem as far as I'm concerned.
But...
It also seems you can play with the original 'hashed' id and possibly gain access to others information. Now we have a situation. Now we have a hack/crack. Still just using a modified url but with a different intent. Who knows whether this happened or not. Based on the laxity in security, I don't suspect AY would be able to tell.
The real crime here should be laid at the feet of those in charge at HBS and AY who did not test this very thoroughly. Certainly not on those who simply looked up their own status.
IMO
In the US the only way to get things done is to market them massively. With the levels of government you have to go through it requires a realllllllly big effort to make even a minor impact.
In Canada, on the other hand, you can gain ready access to your local MP (Member of Parliament) to let your opinions be known and when enough constituents do this, the MP (he/she) knows that to go against the tide results in a loss of income and prestige.
We don't have to worry about the 'Big Boss' (i.e. the president) frowning at us nor our we controlled by the individual power of veto that is resident in the president.
We can have active local action groups without making a big fuss and like any good family we do try to keep our problems 'in the house' so to speak and attend to our problems in an adult fashion. I only wish the same could be said about our neighbour to the south.
Canadians are politically active but we do so with a sense of decorum not easily found amoung our neighbours. Perhaps this is because of our longer traditions (not much I grant you but...) or perhaps because we are, by nature, a more sedate group of people.
And perhaps this is the best reason that this proposal has no chance of survival. Canadians of all political pursuasions relish their privacy. Possibly more than any other group around. And they will quietly let their MP know.
People who speak English as a second language are often better at correct grammer than native English-speakers. And.. they assume that a person who speaks/writes English clearly and correctly must have learned it as a seond language. Sad to say but most often they are correct.
Don't really know about the heating effect but...
Consider that Lake Ontario isn't really so much of a lake as it is a really wide and deep river draining the higher of the Great Lakes that are also really really cold. Taking the cold water from down deep and putting it back (warmed up) on top essentially is just allowing it to drain off down the St. Lawrence into the ocean (where, of course, it can heat the ocean).
Compare this to the inefficient use of fossil fuels to generate the electricity to run the air conditioners using the ozone depleting coolants and then decide which is the better option.
Perhaps Torontonians should just stay hot (and, perhaps, smelly).
I am not and have not been a QA person. I am a simple 'coder'. But... in my experience QA begins with the coder. One of your points is 'Are there code reviews?' How about 'coding standards'? In addition to ensuring quality when the code 'goes out the door' we also need to ensure that the code is maintainable. As a former member, executive member, and award winner from the (now defunct?) Software Maintenance Association I have found many applications that fail not because the application failed to function but because it was too complex (code) to modify (read upgrade). Of the open source code that I have used (and provided enhancements to) most fail dismally to pass the simple test of clean, maintainable code. I spend as much time learning the style of the designers/coders as I do in applying simple enhancements to this code.
No Microsoft didn't build the house, a real professional built it (Victorian House). Then, Microsoft bought it and commercialised it.
Here's a solution that should work. IT types can be great at developing solutions that work for themselves and even others. But try teaching that to someone who does really know what the key does? No way. One extra idea to add to this is... When teaching the enthusiastic and knowledgable non-IT people to use the new system (or upgrade) listen to what they say when they have problems with the interface. Then ... go back to the drawing board to redesign the clumsy interface.
I develop and teach and have had a lot of great feedback from the users when I attempt to explain why something works the way it does. Unfortunately, I then have to go back and redesign the interface to "smooth" out the edges.
In the Prologue to the "Fellowship...". Actual quote... "Actually in the Shire in Bilbo's days it was, as a rule, only the richest and poorest Hobbits that maintained the old custom. The poorest went on living in burrows of the most primitive kind, ...; while the well-to-do still constructed more luxurious versions of the simple...."