Just what I've seen working on machines. At work I've got some people who had a little 1 inch high shelf upon which the PC can sit. The machines sitting on those seem to be much cleaner on the insides than those that sit directly on the floor.
I'm sure that it has something to do with getting the machine even a little bit away from the source of the dust.
I always tell people that a PC is the best aircleaner that they can get!
The difference between auto mechanics and computer repairmen is that the mechanics have a union which forces licensing on its members to boost the price of labor.
The difference is in what is being diagnosed and repaired. Mechanical problems are easier to find and diagnose than electrical or software problems. If you have a puddle of antifreeze in the garage - it's a good sign that there is a problem in the cooling system. If you have a system fan in a computer that makes a god-awful sound when you start the machine in the morning, you may have a fan going out.
Electrical or software problems are more difficult - for both auto mechanics and computer repairmen. If you go to the shop and tell them that the windshield wipers activate when turning on the radio it will take some time to find that the left rear brakelight was improperly grounded. Software problems can be that sneaky - application "a" worked until application "d" was installed - but the real problem happens when application "c" is running at the same time.
I disagree a bit here - your company had some form of rational judgement at some level to decide to lock down their internet access.
It sounded like you work for a large organization with a lot of employees. Whenever you get a lot of users (employees, students, library patrons, whatever), you can't count on good judgement.
As far as policies go, just having one and firing someone for extraordinarily poor judgement doesn't necessarily get a company off the hook for a harassment lawsuit. Lawyers go after deep pockets, and large companies have those. If they didn't believe that the $thousands a month were immunizing them against $millions, they wouldn't be doing what you're doing.
I don't thing Fedline for Windows ever made it out of beta - and no one will answer any questions about it.
We're on schedule to do Fedline Advantage this year (actually behind schedule - I do taxes so I don't implement anything new in the 1st quarter of the year).
No sense in buying a new motherboard and CPU when I've got perfectly serviceable hardware that I'm rotating out of regular service anyway. The hardware requirements of Fedline are such that a Pentium (let alone a PII, PII, or P4)is overboard.
Fedline is the old (and still used) system used by banks to communicate with the Fed. It's used to originate and receive wires, ACH, MICR Files (check information), and other stuff. Security was "job 1" for this software and it was apparently developed sometime in the 1980's.
The system uses an ISA hardware encryption board and runs on DOS.
In the late 90's, the Fed was working on developing a Fedline system for Windows (NT at the time), but was unable to deliver it.
They are now working on a web based solution (not sure about how much more secure that will be than an NT based solution...) which, if adequately secure, will be much nicer to work with than the old Fedline solution.
The one nice thing about Fedline is that it gives you a place to put old, out of service machines. My most current Fedline machine is a Pentium-90 with a bunch of RAM - horribly over performing for the task, but it met the specs required to run Fedline (ISA slot, DOS compatible) when the last one died.
I hope Duke loses. How did Washington get a 1st round seed. Northern Iowa selection shows me that the NCAA tournament is not fair. Too many school left out that could beat them.
UNI plays good ball and is giving Wisconsin a run for their money - if any school from Iowa didn't deserve a bid, it was the University of Iowa.
Anytime you have a government Department of "whatever", that department will be doing what it can to empower and enrich itself.
In the case of tax collecting agencies, they believe that they deserve a cut of every dollar that changes hands. In my example, if they thought that they could get away with a use tax on the entire ATM withdrawal, I'm sure that they would have suggested it.
Worse - as can be seen with sales taxes. Most people don't need to really deal with them - they just sort of exist. Only the merchants need to deal with compliance - and it's a nightmare.
Northern Iowa - I think the total cost per pound was (if I calculated it right) about what hamburger meat cost at the grocery store - and I got all the good cuts of meat. I don't remember exactly what I paid at the time, but was happy with the bill (and especially happy with the quality of the meat).
I live in a small town. I had someone send me a time-sensitive piece of mail (they dropped it off at the one post office in town, where my mailbox is!) which I got well after the fact.
I received it, but it went to freaking Georgia before coming back to me.
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I'm sure that it has something to do with getting the machine even a little bit away from the source of the dust.
I always tell people that a PC is the best aircleaner that they can get!
A sufficiently motivated one might - all it takes is a jacket that said "Phone Company" on the back and "Bob" on the left front.
The "B" Ark?
Even sitting the computer on a small stand an inch or so off of the carpet does wonders for keeping dust out of a machine.
The difference is in what is being diagnosed and repaired. Mechanical problems are easier to find and diagnose than electrical or software problems. If you have a puddle of antifreeze in the garage - it's a good sign that there is a problem in the cooling system. If you have a system fan in a computer that makes a god-awful sound when you start the machine in the morning, you may have a fan going out.
Electrical or software problems are more difficult - for both auto mechanics and computer repairmen. If you go to the shop and tell them that the windshield wipers activate when turning on the radio it will take some time to find that the left rear brakelight was improperly grounded. Software problems can be that sneaky - application "a" worked until application "d" was installed - but the real problem happens when application "c" is running at the same time.
Things like carpet, furniture, electronics - just about the entire contents of the normal home or office.
Of course, your GPA is inversely proportional to your social life...
It sounded like you work for a large organization with a lot of employees. Whenever you get a lot of users (employees, students, library patrons, whatever), you can't count on good judgement.
As far as policies go, just having one and firing someone for extraordinarily poor judgement doesn't necessarily get a company off the hook for a harassment lawsuit. Lawyers go after deep pockets, and large companies have those. If they didn't believe that the $thousands a month were immunizing them against $millions, they wouldn't be doing what you're doing.
The same can be said of aliens and UFOs.
They make nasty stuff like that, but then you also get wonderful stuff like kringla and lefsa. Must be some sort of a bipolar food disorder :)
Is that related to lutefisk? That's the most disgusting part of my norske heritage - some form of fish cooked in lye and eaten with butter.
Makes you wonder about some of those norwegians that emigrated...
Until the harassment lawsuits start.
We're on schedule to do Fedline Advantage this year (actually behind schedule - I do taxes so I don't implement anything new in the 1st quarter of the year).
No sense in buying a new motherboard and CPU when I've got perfectly serviceable hardware that I'm rotating out of regular service anyway. The hardware requirements of Fedline are such that a Pentium (let alone a PII, PII, or P4)is overboard.
The system uses an ISA hardware encryption board and runs on DOS.
In the late 90's, the Fed was working on developing a Fedline system for Windows (NT at the time), but was unable to deliver it.
They are now working on a web based solution (not sure about how much more secure that will be than an NT based solution...) which, if adequately secure, will be much nicer to work with than the old Fedline solution.
The one nice thing about Fedline is that it gives you a place to put old, out of service machines. My most current Fedline machine is a Pentium-90 with a bunch of RAM - horribly over performing for the task, but it met the specs required to run Fedline (ISA slot, DOS compatible) when the last one died.
Sounds very similar:)
UNI plays good ball and is giving Wisconsin a run for their money - if any school from Iowa didn't deserve a bid, it was the University of Iowa.
Fedline?
Careful - they don't like bio-diesel and ethanol here!
In the case of tax collecting agencies, they believe that they deserve a cut of every dollar that changes hands. In my example, if they thought that they could get away with a use tax on the entire ATM withdrawal, I'm sure that they would have suggested it.
Nah - his job was outsourced to the dwarves.
If you loose in court, RIAA comes after you with a needle and thread!
Worse - as can be seen with sales taxes. Most people don't need to really deal with them - they just sort of exist. Only the merchants need to deal with compliance - and it's a nightmare.
Northern Iowa - I think the total cost per pound was (if I calculated it right) about what hamburger meat cost at the grocery store - and I got all the good cuts of meat. I don't remember exactly what I paid at the time, but was happy with the bill (and especially happy with the quality of the meat).
I received it, but it went to freaking Georgia before coming back to me.