Linksys/D-Link is a good option for a group your size, but try to avoid SOHO or 'consumer' level D-Link equipment. Their higher end stuff is actually pretty good, but their consumer products have given me no end of headaches. Linksys is solid pretty much no matter what you buy.
It has nothing to do with the asteroid and everything to do with someone who was one of the funniest, most gifted and most imaginitive people ever to grace this experiment with his presence.
It would have been just a fitting to name a star or the wing of a mental institution after him.
Changed? I've changed my system from the moment I power it on. If you're getting the shaft from a low level tech for a legitimate issue(read: you didn't fuck it up by doing something stupid like downloading warez and movies) then you need to escalate the call. As long as you're calm and polite, most techs don't have a problem with you. When you become irate and start blaming problems on the tech, who is just doing his job, they don't even deal with you.
"The claims they make in their advertising, and the way they manage tech calls definitely entitle Dell and the other big resellers to a steaming slice of blame pie."
I still don't understand how Dell is to blame that Windows has plenty of security holes. I don't understand why Dell is to blame when they're selling PC's with updated patches from Microsoft. It's not DELL'S fault you have 3700 different spyware and malware programs on your machine.
Don't get me wrong, I couldn't give two damns about Dell or any other big-name PC brand. It simply appears that you are placing the blame where it doesn't belong(on the end user to an extent and Microsoft to a much much greater extent)
"Remember, for the majority of people who buy from Dell, Dell configures the operating system for them and they don't change it."
The important part of this is, "... and they don't change it."
How is it Dell et al's fault if the end user doesn't keep their product updated? How is it Dell's fault if the user doesn't take the time to learn the basics about using computers and the internet? Dell is somehow at fault for providing a computer with some sort of default setup?
Are you suggesting that Dell have to provide updates and software patches? That sounds like Microsofts job to provide, and the end users job to get. There's no excuse for not learning rudimentary security measues when dealing with computers on the internet.
Oh, while I'm on the topic, something like this spyware epidemic should never have happened in the first place. If ActiveX didn't suck, if IE didn't have multiple(still unpatched!) security holes, if IIS wasn't so damn exploitable, and if MS could patch the problems they do have in a halfway timely manner none of this would be happening.
Not to be a Microsoft apologist(and I eff'ing HATE Microsoft) they do appear to be on the road to fixing some of these issues. Now don't get me wrong, I hate Windows and Micrsoft and their bully monopoly tatics as much as the next guy, but you can't continue to fault them if they're actually working to fix their problems. SP2 was a big step, as was their new anti-spyware and malicious program removal tools.
Whether or not these tools prove to be useful in combating spyware et al is to be seen, but you can't fault them, provided this is more than a BS token gesture to get people off their backs.
Sure, the Itanium does well in high-end supercomputers. But how much does it cost to build one? At something like 1200$ a chip, that's gonna get pricey quick. They might be the best for a supercomputer, but the price/performance ratio on them sucks the big one.
Yeah, tried having Opera say it was IE 6 and it still didn't render properly. I was thinking it was that too, but it appears to be just crappy coding on the webpage
That point is wrong. What if Windows suddenly decided they liked a hypothetical TCP/IP implementation better, but this implementation caused all Windows machines to be unable to communicate with any other OS. This doesn't change the standard of TCP/IP. Microsoft broke standard when they did this, causing a large number of machines not to be able to communicate via TCP/IP. Now, does that mean that Microsofts standard is either right, or better? Even if it IS better, it's poor policy to decide to 'make our own standard then force 90% on the computers on earth to use it."
It doesn't appear to be a Moz/FF specific bug.. Opera(latest ver.) renders the page in the EXACT same way. It appears to be coded to work with ONLY IE6, for whatever stupid reason.
You might be right saying that IE is a de facto standard, but that doesn't make it right. Only by FORCING these webmasters to write compliant html will we ever get anywhere. Only when IE is no longer the accepted standard will webpages be FORCED to be written in compliance with internet standards.
Remember, the internet only works because everyone agrees on a STANDARD. If IE is the exception to the standard, it doesn't matter that EVERYONE uses it, it's still wrong. We need to work hard to change this for the better.
Also, in reference to not being able to look up specific exploits: I was at the moment at another location of ours working on a computer there. Our driver was waiting on me so we could get back to our main location and both of us go home. When I said I didn't have time, I meant right that moment, not EVER.
Guy, this is a small business where management is just good enough with computers to be dangerous. The boss, my FATHER, insists on being in some form of control. He's good enough to get Windows Update run on the machines, but not good enough to know that he shouldn't do his banking with IE. Nor does the office secretary, who, on her breaks, does HER banking and shops online with her credit card. They enjoy doing these things, and damned if they'll stop because I said so, even if that's what they're paying me for.
They don't know about the various exploits and viruses/trojans/whatever we call them now designed to specificaly troll for CC#'s and bank accounts. If you're really so terribly concerned about pre-1.0 software, then I'll hook them up with Mozilla proper or Opera. The point here is there is a signifigant risk due to their preferences when it comes to the computers.
I'd LOVE to say, "No doing your banking here! No shopping online here!!" and give them all sorts of happy restrictions, but that wouldn't fly with management. I'm trying to let them do what they want with their system without them getting their sensitive data stolen.
I'd LOVE to be able to disable all kinds of happy crap on managements machines, but they won't hear of it. They LIKE being able to do whatever the hell they please on their machines, damned if I'll tell them what they can and cannot do! They love to do their banking and purchasing online, and they sure love typing in their CC# and bank info. I'd rather NOT have to deal with it when they suddenly come to me and say, "Joe Hacker has my bank info... now what??!?!?", yaknoq?
That process is mostly automated. However, there are multiple exploits that have been known for quite some time(I don't have time to look them up at the moment) that have not been patched. They need something that is:
1) Updateable by THEM. I can't always be the one installing it. FF is very easy for me to upgrade remotely: Put the new installer on the server, tell everyone to click it. Bookmarks etc update automatically, and the PHB can even do it.
2) SECURE. Mozilla may have it's share of exploits, don't get me wrong. But IE has FAR FAR more known, working exploits that just don't get fixed. Also, the turnaround time on patches for IE compared to Moz/FF is re-god-damn-doculous.
BTW, his viewpoint is solely, "One specific site doesn't work, so IE must be better." Otherwise, he couldn't care less, 'as long as it works'.
I have tried very hard to communicate stuff like, "Exploits are bad, open source is good, etc etc." However, PHB's being as they are, if it's intangible, they don't really care. What he sees is IE working and Moz/FF/Opera not working. He couldn't care less about the way it renders html/css/activex/cheesecake. All he wants is it, 'To just work.' It's very difficult to explain that it 'just working' is not equal to 'being secure, standards compliant and having excellent features uch as tabbed browsing and pop-up blocking.'
The PHB couldn't care less about tabbed browsing or security. That's my job anyway, not his. But this IE View thing could be exactly what I'm looking for. My only question: If he has a sidebar open(which he LOVES, he CANNOT live without his sidebar), will the extention allow him to right-click his bookmark and open it in IE? Please please tell me it does! (I am at a remote location and cannot test it out on this machine:-( )
I agrre with the parent on this, but it's not that simple. This is a smaller company, and the boss is THE BOSS. Since he can't actually SEE the problems(exploits, viruses, malware, adware[I keep the computers very maintained]) he doesn't see any reason to switch. It's the sort of situation where we might almost HAVE to get infected with a keylogger and have his CC# stolen and used to get him to change his ways. Even though it's a minor graphical hicup, that is, at this point, enough to prevent us from changing over because he is THE BOSS.
While I wouldn't like to fire him(he is a great boss!) I do agree. It's a small hicup in the grand scheme of things, and mind you it's not even FF's FAULT, it's the webmaster not writing W3C compliant html. However, the PHB is the one who effectively dictates what DOES happen, even though I'm the one paid to be the IT guy. PHB > IT guy all the time, no matter what.
Parent on this is correct. The site in question that is preventing complete adoption of FF is a site that will WORK in both IE and FF/Moz/Opera/whatever, but it does not render and DISPLAY correctly. The information is there, but it is half a page down. The PHB doesn't so much like this, even though all he has to do is run his finger down the scrollbutton on the mouse. "IE can do it, why can't FF? It's obiously inferior if it can't do what IE does, no matter what you say."
The site that doesn't look 'right' is a purchasing site for Bosch(They do starters and alternators for trucks/cars and that sort) It works perfectly in IE, but NOTHING else will render it correctly. It's obiously a case of '95% of the world uses IE, forget everyone else.' And since this site is mission-critical, as it were, it's unfortunately important:-(
I'm not sure what happened with you, but with my 3G iPod(10gb) things couldn't have gone smoother. The software installed without a hitch. I've had zero problems with MusicMatch. It rips MP3's from my CD's well, and has no problems speed-wise copying them to my iPod, about 3 or 4 seconds per song, which I think is amazingly fast. Maybe you just had something wrong with your install?
All in all, I'd take an iPod anyday. It's just a super high-quality product that I'm continually blown away with.
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Linksys/D-Link is a good option for a group your size, but try to avoid SOHO or 'consumer' level D-Link equipment. Their higher end stuff is actually pretty good, but their consumer products have given me no end of headaches. Linksys is solid pretty much no matter what you buy.
Gee, who would have thunk it.
We've known for ages that Moz takes forever to load and uses more ram and blah blah blah. I mean, it's been nicknamed RAMZilla fer cryin' out loud.
So? An extra few seconds or couple of megs of ram don't matter. Really, they don't. Security and features and ease of use matter.
Shit. Completely missed the reference. Apologies. I'm glad I didn't make that a scathing flame now. :_)
It has nothing to do with the asteroid and everything to do with someone who was one of the funniest, most gifted and most imaginitive people ever to grace this experiment with his presence.
It would have been just a fitting to name a star or the wing of a mental institution after him.
Changed? I've changed my system from the moment I power it on. If you're getting the shaft from a low level tech for a legitimate issue(read: you didn't fuck it up by doing something stupid like downloading warez and movies) then you need to escalate the call. As long as you're calm and polite, most techs don't have a problem with you. When you become irate and start blaming problems on the tech, who is just doing his job, they don't even deal with you.
"The claims they make in their advertising, and the way they manage tech calls definitely entitle Dell and the other big resellers to a steaming slice of blame pie."
I still don't understand how Dell is to blame that Windows has plenty of security holes. I don't understand why Dell is to blame when they're selling PC's with updated patches from Microsoft. It's not DELL'S fault you have 3700 different spyware and malware programs on your machine.
Don't get me wrong, I couldn't give two damns about Dell or any other big-name PC brand. It simply appears that you are placing the blame where it doesn't belong(on the end user to an extent and Microsoft to a much much greater extent)
"Remember, for the majority of people who buy from Dell, Dell configures the operating system for them and they don't change it." The important part of this is, "... and they don't change it." How is it Dell et al's fault if the end user doesn't keep their product updated? How is it Dell's fault if the user doesn't take the time to learn the basics about using computers and the internet? Dell is somehow at fault for providing a computer with some sort of default setup? Are you suggesting that Dell have to provide updates and software patches? That sounds like Microsofts job to provide, and the end users job to get. There's no excuse for not learning rudimentary security measues when dealing with computers on the internet.
Oh, while I'm on the topic, something like this spyware epidemic should never have happened in the first place. If ActiveX didn't suck, if IE didn't have multiple(still unpatched!) security holes, if IIS wasn't so damn exploitable, and if MS could patch the problems they do have in a halfway timely manner none of this would be happening.
Not to be a Microsoft apologist(and I eff'ing HATE Microsoft) they do appear to be on the road to fixing some of these issues. Now don't get me wrong, I hate Windows and Micrsoft and their bully monopoly tatics as much as the next guy, but you can't continue to fault them if they're actually working to fix their problems.
SP2 was a big step, as was their new anti-spyware and malicious program removal tools.
Whether or not these tools prove to be useful in combating spyware et al is to be seen, but you can't fault them, provided this is more than a BS token gesture to get people off their backs.
Sure, the Itanium does well in high-end supercomputers. But how much does it cost to build one? At something like 1200$ a chip, that's gonna get pricey quick. They might be the best for a supercomputer, but the price/performance ratio on them sucks the big one.
Yeah, tried having Opera say it was IE 6 and it still didn't render properly. I was thinking it was that too, but it appears to be just crappy coding on the webpage
That point is wrong. What if Windows suddenly decided they liked a hypothetical TCP/IP implementation better, but this implementation caused all Windows machines to be unable to communicate with any other OS. This doesn't change the standard of TCP/IP. Microsoft broke standard when they did this, causing a large number of machines not to be able to communicate via TCP/IP. Now, does that mean that Microsofts standard is either right, or better? Even if it IS better, it's poor policy to decide to 'make our own standard then force 90% on the computers on earth to use it."
It doesn't appear to be a Moz/FF specific bug.. Opera(latest ver.) renders the page in the EXACT same way. It appears to be coded to work with ONLY IE6, for whatever stupid reason.
You might be right saying that IE is a de facto standard, but that doesn't make it right. Only by FORCING these webmasters to write compliant html will we ever get anywhere. Only when IE is no longer the accepted standard will webpages be FORCED to be written in compliance with internet standards. Remember, the internet only works because everyone agrees on a STANDARD. If IE is the exception to the standard, it doesn't matter that EVERYONE uses it, it's still wrong. We need to work hard to change this for the better.
Also, in reference to not being able to look up specific exploits: I was at the moment at another location of ours working on a computer there. Our driver was waiting on me so we could get back to our main location and both of us go home. When I said I didn't have time, I meant right that moment, not EVER.
Guy, this is a small business where management is just good enough with computers to be dangerous. The boss, my FATHER, insists on being in some form of control. He's good enough to get Windows Update run on the machines, but not good enough to know that he shouldn't do his banking with IE. Nor does the office secretary, who, on her breaks, does HER banking and shops online with her credit card. They enjoy doing these things, and damned if they'll stop because I said so, even if that's what they're paying me for. They don't know about the various exploits and viruses/trojans/whatever we call them now designed to specificaly troll for CC#'s and bank accounts. If you're really so terribly concerned about pre-1.0 software, then I'll hook them up with Mozilla proper or Opera. The point here is there is a signifigant risk due to their preferences when it comes to the computers. I'd LOVE to say, "No doing your banking here! No shopping online here!!" and give them all sorts of happy restrictions, but that wouldn't fly with management. I'm trying to let them do what they want with their system without them getting their sensitive data stolen.
I'd LOVE to be able to disable all kinds of happy crap on managements machines, but they won't hear of it. They LIKE being able to do whatever the hell they please on their machines, damned if I'll tell them what they can and cannot do! They love to do their banking and purchasing online, and they sure love typing in their CC# and bank info. I'd rather NOT have to deal with it when they suddenly come to me and say, "Joe Hacker has my bank info... now what??!?!?", yaknoq?
That process is mostly automated. However, there are multiple exploits that have been known for quite some time(I don't have time to look them up at the moment) that have not been patched. They need something that is: 1) Updateable by THEM. I can't always be the one installing it. FF is very easy for me to upgrade remotely: Put the new installer on the server, tell everyone to click it. Bookmarks etc update automatically, and the PHB can even do it. 2) SECURE. Mozilla may have it's share of exploits, don't get me wrong. But IE has FAR FAR more known, working exploits that just don't get fixed. Also, the turnaround time on patches for IE compared to Moz/FF is re-god-damn-doculous. BTW, his viewpoint is solely, "One specific site doesn't work, so IE must be better." Otherwise, he couldn't care less, 'as long as it works'.
I have tried very hard to communicate stuff like, "Exploits are bad, open source is good, etc etc." However, PHB's being as they are, if it's intangible, they don't really care. What he sees is IE working and Moz/FF/Opera not working. He couldn't care less about the way it renders html/css/activex/cheesecake. All he wants is it, 'To just work.' It's very difficult to explain that it 'just working' is not equal to 'being secure, standards compliant and having excellent features uch as tabbed browsing and pop-up blocking.'
The PHB couldn't care less about tabbed browsing or security. That's my job anyway, not his. But this IE View thing could be exactly what I'm looking for. My only question: If he has a sidebar open(which he LOVES, he CANNOT live without his sidebar), will the extention allow him to right-click his bookmark and open it in IE? Please please tell me it does! (I am at a remote location and cannot test it out on this machine :-( )
I agrre with the parent on this, but it's not that simple. This is a smaller company, and the boss is THE BOSS. Since he can't actually SEE the problems(exploits, viruses, malware, adware[I keep the computers very maintained]) he doesn't see any reason to switch. It's the sort of situation where we might almost HAVE to get infected with a keylogger and have his CC# stolen and used to get him to change his ways. Even though it's a minor graphical hicup, that is, at this point, enough to prevent us from changing over because he is THE BOSS.
While I wouldn't like to fire him(he is a great boss!) I do agree. It's a small hicup in the grand scheme of things, and mind you it's not even FF's FAULT, it's the webmaster not writing W3C compliant html. However, the PHB is the one who effectively dictates what DOES happen, even though I'm the one paid to be the IT guy. PHB > IT guy all the time, no matter what.
Parent on this is correct. The site in question that is preventing complete adoption of FF is a site that will WORK in both IE and FF/Moz/Opera/whatever, but it does not render and DISPLAY correctly. The information is there, but it is half a page down. The PHB doesn't so much like this, even though all he has to do is run his finger down the scrollbutton on the mouse. "IE can do it, why can't FF? It's obiously inferior if it can't do what IE does, no matter what you say."
The site that doesn't look 'right' is a purchasing site for Bosch(They do starters and alternators for trucks/cars and that sort) It works perfectly in IE, but NOTHING else will render it correctly. It's obiously a case of '95% of the world uses IE, forget everyone else.' And since this site is mission-critical, as it were, it's unfortunately important :-(
I'm not sure what happened with you, but with my 3G iPod(10gb) things couldn't have gone smoother. The software installed without a hitch. I've had zero problems with MusicMatch. It rips MP3's from my CD's well, and has no problems speed-wise copying them to my iPod, about 3 or 4 seconds per song, which I think is amazingly fast. Maybe you just had something wrong with your install? All in all, I'd take an iPod anyday. It's just a super high-quality product that I'm continually blown away with.