easy..set yourself up with one of the many hosted VOIP companies out there. The small office I used to work for bought Comcast (only option for broadband that we had, other than a T1) for their hosted phone system. All you have to do is buy phones for the system; usually the VOIP vendor will recommend them to you. We paid $99/month for the internet line plus $50/month for each line.
While a PBX might have been cheaper; this was certainly far less headache.
What does this even mean? Do you mean that some folks are sending emails with virii embedded through their mail servers which happen to be exchange?
Sorry..that's exactly what I meant. Also, this wasn't Exchange 2000, but Exchange 5.5 and it was about 7 years ago. Although, some companies are still using 5.5--I just worked at one last year that still has an Exchange 5.5 server and is running on NT 4.0. The only thing running on Win 2K are the Citrix servers and their Database system, because they require Windows 2000/SQL 2000 and the Metaframe boxes won't run on NT 4.0.
The company way back then (mm..this was 7 years ago) had no AV running on the Exchange servers at all (except our division, so I got the Melissa warning quickly), and the desktop scanners were disabled in the other divisions because the company didn't install sufficient RAM in the NT 4.0 desktops--Power users got 128MB..everyone else got 64 MB, and most were expected to use a piece of software that required a minimum of 64 MB to run by itself, so of course the desktops moved at a snail pace. Without AV, it was palatable.
Luckily, the division I worked for had alternative funding (it was a partner with a city agency--and all the hardware was purchased with city money, because at the end of the contract, all hardware reverted to city ownership)--so we HAD Antivirus and 256MB in every desktop (You just have to love government money), but the other 6 divisions did not. One division got infected, and within a day every Exchange Server but ours was useless. I shut down the connections between the other servers and ours and helped with the cleanup for the other locations remotely. It was a disaster, but it taught upper management a lesson. Once cleaned, we put the connections back up--after buying AV and re-enabling it on workstations, with a policy in place to prevent it from being disabled (McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator). The infected divisions were surviving on MSN and Yahoo accounts for those who needed e-mail.
And, no, I'm not talking viruses. No one with a clue has gotten a virus in 15 years. If you're still dealing with them, you're a member of the group mentioned in my first sentence.
BUZZ wrong Spoonman. I'm NOT a clueless Amatuer, but I still have to deal with viruses. I answer to an agency above the one I work for, and IT doesn't get to set policies for things like, oh, say, taking work home on flash drives (used to be floppies, but now it's flash drives. I have to deal with the aftermath every time a users' files they took home to work on get corrupted because they have a virus on their home PC. I have to deal with them every time a friend of a friend (or cousin, or brother---you pick it.) who doesn't know more than how to turn the computer on, play solitare, and forward stupid e-mail chain letters gets infected by a virus.
While I haven't had an outbreak of a virus on any systems I was responsible for (exception: Coming in to an an environment where the IT guy was fired, and knew he was about to be because he was reading e-mails between his boss , her boss, and HR.) in about 8 years. That one was because I wasn't allowed to run Corporate AV--it was too expensive. Needless to say, right after we were infected in a 3,000 user company with Melissa, I was able to buy AV. I've had *attacks* by worm/viruses (from other Exchange servers I wasn't responsible for, yet in the same company) where the admins' responsible there disabled anti-virus software on users workstations because it made the workstations too 'slow'.
There are still companies who get virus attacks--mostly because their policies say that they have to test EVERY patch/update in an isolated environment before deployment. That's not being an amateur, but rather having overly cautious leadership. Personally, it's my opinion that somewhere between 70% and 90% of all Office users need nothing more powerful than the simple products in Microsoft Works. The rest are the power uses who actually do need the power provided by Microsoft Word.
I'm sitting here on my Linux desktop typing this. I have 5 tabs open in Firfox, Thunderbird is running, I'm editing a document in oO Write, and have GIMP open editing a logo design. I have a dual-core Intel processor, with 2GB of ran, and I'm only using 455M. OH..and Apache is running in the background because I have a couple of different websites I'm working on, and this is my development environment.
Speaking of Apache--it runs rings around IIS---in all aspects; deployment, support and usability. Best of all, it's supported on multiple platforms.
It's an environment of learning where even circumventing campus computer security should be just regarded as being smarter than most people and considered an acceptable way to impress a girl.
While I agree with you in principal, at least one part of the story related to staff at the university losing a USB drive with 199 Social Security numbers on it. Staff should be required to use encryption as a minimum. Where I went to college, the admin network was segregated from the student network; and had stricter rules. It just makes sense; there is far too much sensitive information in that network to allow it to be connected to the outside world without controls. In a sense, the admin network is a corporate network. While I don't believe they need to be as draconian as some government agencies (swapping hard drives for internal/public networks), certainly they do need to keep tight controls.
Just my 2cents..which in today's world won't even buy me a piece of Double Bubble.
I don't think you see the point I was making--of his ignoring thousands of years of history of a civilization. I used the people (not directed at HIM, merely using them as an EXAMPLE because it was recently in the news) who wish to deny that the holocaust took place as an example of people who ignore history. I never aimed any disrespect toward the poster, other than his disregard for history.
I could have used other civilizations...Chinese, Japanese, Native American as examples, I simply chose the most convienient (and the one who arguably has one of the longest written narratives); the Israelites.
Fear? Absolutely--fear of God. Fear of His Righteous Wrath. Fear of being forever separated from Him. Fear of burning in Hell for all eternity when I die. If you're right, and there is no God, then it doesn't matter. If I'm right and there is, well.....you happen to be on the receiving end of His wrath. I will cry over your immortal soul forever.
What about you typing away on the computer keyboard, attached to the computer and monitor and associated peripherals all the way to slashdot that have components most likely manufactured in china?
Just like me, you're involved in it too. We can't escape from the outsourcing thanks to corporate greed. And, it won't stop until our economy is in the toilet. Do you know how much of our Trillion Dollar debt is held by the Chinese? or by other foreign governments? They can't beat us militarily, so they'll beat us by owning us.
Marriage was around long before any of the major religions of today (Islam, Christianity) and served as a political bond joining property and fortune well before Christ, Mohammed, or Zeus.
God was here before any of them; he married Adam and Eve--man and woman, male and female. Your argument has no bearing; God was here before man fell and were tricked by Satan into believing in other gods. You are right in one sense; Religion does not have any bearing on marriage, God does. God is not a 'relgion', He is God. Our Lord intends us to be paired male and female. Contrary to what you believe, history DOES support that, or do you intend to ignore the history of Israel, like those who would rewrite history to show that the holocaust never happened?
You mean you left their PC's unprotected, without some kind of malware buster like Spy Sweeper, SpyBot, or even (Gasp) Windows Defender? Why would you do something like that; you were just ASKING for them to be infected by spyware. The reason they went to use IE is because there are websites that FORCE you to use IE because they don't work in FF. I've even seen some webmail that doesn't work in FireFox, even the latest and greatest.
FF isn't the be-all and end-all either. True, it's better than IE, but it's not a cure for bad browsing habits. Even anti-spyware programs aren't a cure, but they are better than nothing.
You forget..The 'alien ship' in Independence Day came 'alive' when the motherships hit orbit. I suspect all of the needed patches were deployed automatically to the one we held.
We're pushing our children to new heights in competetion. Everything is a competition now, 'play' is something that is simply not done. Grades in school have become all-encompassing now, because colleges are hugely competitive places--there truly isn't enough room for every kid who graduates if they want to attend.
I'm an adult--I have pre-teen children. I'm also a divorced parent. At their house, they have numerous console games and a computer. At mine they have a computer and a limit of one hour each per day they are there. Instead, we do things OUTDOORS--since that's where I spend the bulk of my time if the weather is above 40 degrees. I take them fishing, take them to the park (still a popular pastime, tho' I did have to slap down some 19 year old who decided using the f-bomb around 8 year olds and younger children), do leaf and insect hunts and other outdoor activities. In the winter months, we mess with art supplies and things requiring imagination, as well as going to the Y to go swimming. I believe our children are getting stagnant minds because we parents aren't fostering their imaginations enough. We use TV, DVD, Game Consoles, and etc for all of that.
Technology is not the problem, WE the parents are the problem.
Time Management, Money Management, organizational skills--those are all part of 'being responsible', part of 'personal management skills' and that *is* a facet of a personality known as integrity. I'm not confusing apples with oranges..
The four people I mentioned--can you TRULY say they were good with money management? You really, really should look at them again. They were *supposed* to be responsible for managing *other peoples money* well..none of them did.
A company CEO is responsible to the shareholders; it is THEIR money he is managing.
Again I say----A Good Credit Score does not prove that you are good at any of the above. Look at the number of people who have others taking care of their financial obligations--how many spouses actually pay the bills? Yes, they're lumped in and have a good Credit Score too, but that truly says NOTHING about the other individual in a marriage.
I was discussing this with a good friend of mine..successful business owner, he even owns the building his business is in. He has never used credit to buy anything, preferring to pay cash. Never had a credit card at all. While he *has* a credit score it is lower than mine, yet he always pays his bills ontime (and has for 45 years, since he was 15 and held his first job. He is married, they had three children. Each of them saved for college--none of them used loans. All have cars--saved cash to buy and fixed up themselves. He didn't have to buy a house, he lives in the home his parents left him, so never needed a mortgage. His car is 5 years old, but he bought it new for cash, and it has less than 20,000 miles on it. Since he's never USED Credit, he doesn't HAVE credit.
Is he Responsible with money, and time? Does he have good organizational skills? Absolutely. Does his Credit Rating show it? Absolutely not. Does he care about his credit rating? not at all. Nor do his children--to them (and to me) Credit is a BAD THING.
The Bible even admonishes us about credit. In the book of Proverbs (NIV 22:7) we read: 'The Rich rule over the Poor, and the borrower is Servant to the Lender'. 'nuff said I think.
A Good Credit rating is not necessarily a measure of a persons integrity. Let's look at a couple cases in point.
1. Ken Lay---do you think he had an excellant credit rating?
2. Bernie Ebbers---what about him?
3. Dennis Koslowski--Tyco Chairman...
4. Martin Grass--Rite Aid Corporation (yet another accounting scandal).
All of these individuals surely had excellent credit ratings, yet the drove their companies down--and stole from investors, employees, and retirees.
As a divorced father whose credit was ruined when he divorced, I can tell you this method is NOT one I would prefer to use if I were a business owner...nor will I provide said information unless I am going for a position requiring a security clearance. My credit rating was ruined not by my ex-wife, but rather by the system that acts to collect child support. We could not agree on an amount, so we went to arbitration. Between the arbitration postponements, and an unexpected illness on her part, we were delayed 6 months--time I used wisely (since I was forbidden by the 'system' to provide her with any support) to pay off several bills. This delay, however caused me to be 6 months in arrears. According to my credit report, I still owe that amount of money, even though I've paid off over half of it. The 'law' doesn't require the agencies who collect back support to report your payments. Some do, some don't. My state does not unless you fight in court for it. BTW, the arbitration process gave her less than I was willing to give her for support. While I pay all of my bills before time, this one issue keeps my FICO score below 650.
So..if you looked at my report, you would see child support owed for the last 4 years, even though over half of it has been paid off.
Credit reports as a measure of how responsible a person is? no.. and while legally most companies aren't 'allowed' to tell your new employers about your performance, all of mine use the same technique. 'If I could, I would (would not) hire this person back.'. Simple..effective, and carries a LOT of weight.
Having been a PC network admin for nearly a decade and a half (and a VAX guy for a decade before that), I havelived through every version of Office. Based on my experience, I would say that more than 80% of users use 20% or less of the functionality of MS Office. Delaying Office won't hurt anyone.
The upgrade cost is atrocious, regardless of the level of your SA. With our Select Agreement, it would cost us around $26,000 per 100 users. As a result, I don't keep Software Assurance on Office, because that is way too much of a gamble for me to spend roughly 20K per 100 users on the *hope* that Microsoft will release a new version within the term of our SA agreement. If they don't, then I would have to spend that money again, or discontinue the SA. If I chose to continue the SA, by that time, I would have spent around 150% of the upgrade cost. I would need to *seriously* justify that to the CFO, so I don't even start spending the SA money on non-Server OS products. Since Office 2003 will be at the end of it's 3 year run BEFORE this version upgrade, I would have wasted money on an SA. No Thank You Bill.
The only reason I can see to upgrade would be a forced switch by clients and/or suppliers or some feature we absolutely could not live without. I don't see that happening anytime soon. But,if they do, I can justify spending the money to the CFO.
BTW..at home, my primary system dual-boots XP (for games) and Kubuntu (everything else) and I use Open Office 2.0. It has successfully imported anything I've ever needed from Office, so it's fine by me.
...looking at images in the preview panel of older versions of Outlook.
For the last sentence, note that I sent mysefl WMF files win Outlook 2000 and 2003 while running Sysinternals process explorer and never saw shimgvw.dll called. Opening a WMF attachment called it, but not previewing, so there might be three errors, but I didn't test all versions that way, so I don't know...
Outook versions produced pre-Outlook 2000 (I think it even takes Office 2000 SP2) are vulnerable, as well as version 5 of Outlook Express and below (Again, I *think* it's necessary to have patched IE 5). I always turn OFF preview pane on any Outlook installation I do.
OWA really concerns me--many companies use this for remote access to e-mail; this could turn really ugly really fast. Remember Melissa and I Love You? MS needs to patch this NOW. I would hope they've been burning the midnight oil trying to resolve this issue, but it's Friday now, and they still are putting out a positive spin.
Locking down mahcines as you have done is all well and good; and it is something I would *love* to be able to do at the list of clients I support. Sadly, too many programs require Administrator access to the desktop.
We have been fighting the ever-increasing amount of malware for most of the past decade. In that length of time one would think that software developers would long ago have abandoned the concept of writing software that needed root access by the end user, but noooooooooooooooo.I really wish this would stop.
Working for a support company that handles networks for numerous and varied small businesses, I still find bad behavior commonplace; no matter how often we warn them about their bad habits. Not only that, but try to get some of them to buy the software/hardware needed for protection. I once spent four hours trying to convince a client to buy a $300 firewall. They just wanted to hook all of the computers into the DSL line and browse away!
Ah...what a great life this would be without the USERS...
"Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". Ubuntu also means "I am what I am because of who we all are". The Ubuntu Linux distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.
Straight from the website..the very first thing you read is the above section. Personally, I like Ubuntu---I run Kubuntu and I enjoy the animal names they give to the releases (btw..next release will be v6.04--Dapper Drake.). IF you indeed had looked at Ubuntu, you would know this. Personally, I like how everything is neatly packaged up for you, it installs nicely, and to date, I haven't found any bugs that have kept me from being productive. Even the upgrade to KDE 3.5 is great.
So..if we read this correctly--EdUbuntu, would be 'Education to Humanity'. Sounds like a great idea. Thank you Mark Shuttlesworth.
First of all, Evolution is a theory. What is a theory? A Theory is: A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.We can certainly say that Evolution is widely accepted, but it lacks repeated testing that shows success. We have not seen any experiments where one species 'evolves' into another. Yes we have seen species 'evolve' within themselves (antibiotic resistant bacteria anyone?) so in that respect evolution works. But a bacterium that causes Strep Throat that is antibiotic resistant is still the same bacteria, with an added feature. Humans are taller, on average, than we used to be. We are still Humans, with more height.
A few Amino Acids in a lightning chamber does not constitute absolute proof of the origins of life. It merely proves that, with the right combination of materials and some power added from an outside source, you get a few complex molecules. Nothing has proven in any set of experiments that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that life came from these so-called 'building blocks'. Evolution requires as much 'faith' as Intelligent Design.
Intelligent Design is being attacked on all sides as 'bad science'. Strange, but this seems to parallel how the Church attacked Galileo, Copernicus and other scientists. ID is not a new theory--if you discount all of the religious and philosophical writings (Heraticlus, Plato, Thomas Aquinas) and stick to scientists, then the phrase was first used in 1847 in Scientific American, but probably most famously by George James Allman at the 1873 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He said: No physical hypothesis founded on any indisputable fact has yet explained the origin of the primordial protoplasm, and, above all, of its marvellous properties, which render evolution possible -- in heredity and in adaptivity, for these properties are the cause and not the effect of evolution. For the cause of this cause we have sought in vain among the physical forces which surround us, until we are at last compelled to rest upon an independent volition, a far-seeing intelligent design.
The problem with Evolution is in how it is presented. It is presented in most curriculums as the de-facto origin of life. No room is left for debate; no other theories are presented for discussion. When Intelligent Design is postulated for inclusion within the boundaries of Public Compulsory Education, the opponents flock out of the woodwork and at best, Intelligent Design is relegated to ELECTIVE classes in religion or philosophy. At worst, it is removed from the curriculum altogether. Removing Intelligent Design, which is the only other theory on the origin of life, leaves us with Evolution. I return to my original statement: When you teach only one side, you're not teaching, you're indoctrinating. How do you get 'independent and critical thinking' out of indoctrination?
To me, Creationism and Evolution are not mutually exclusive. God made us--He made us perfect. But, when we disobeyed Him and were ejected from Eden, then He made us imperfect. Evolution is the mechanism that allows Creation to survive outside of the Garden of Eden in an imperfect world.
We need students and employees who are well prepared in the sciences and are capable of thinking independently, and if the school board succeeds in misleading their students, they are of no use to us.
Interesting comment--considering that they are teaching Intelligent Design alongside Evolutionary Theory. Your comment seems to indicate that, by teaching ONLY Evolution, that's how we develop Independent Thinking? Tell one side of a story? Somehow, that seems more like indoctrination to me.
I'm just curious how you get 'independent thinking' out of teaching only one side of the origins of life.
EVERY one of these cases affects me personally--regardless of where it is--because it is a weakening of our religious freedoms across the Nation. Regardless of what everyone *seems* to think, this is a Christian Nation, founded on Christian Principles. The 'establishment of religion' clause was merely put in so that no ONE CHRISTIAN denomination should hold sway over the country. It was NEVER intended that Christianity would take a 'back seat' as it has.
It might be argued that 'times change and there are more non-believers now' but if you look at the past, this has only happened in the era since Christianity and references to Christianity have been removed from the educational system. Before the advent of so-called 'Public Schools', the McGuffy Reader was the teaching system of choice, and it contained many, many bible verses--even requiring memorization of said verses. Like you--I don't believe in compulsory education system--it's not only a scholarly failure, but a moral failure as well.
The legislature is only part of the problem; lawyers and judges who legislate from the bench, instead of merely validating or invalidating a court ruling based on the US Constitution (note--they should NOT be using material from so-called 'international law' either)are the biggest problem.
Yes, my quote is one of Thomas Jeffereson, but I interpret that as meaning that you practice 'self restraint' where it is necessary. My praying aloud in public is a PROFESSION of my faith--if you are not a believer, then you should have the SELF RESTRAINT to allow me to profess my faith based upon my 1st amendment rights to do so. Just as I should have the self restraint not to hurl insults at you if you profess your LACK of faith. Certainly, I would like to discuss that with you, but certainly if you tell me no, I would walk away. My faith tells me to keep trying and keep praying for you. And no, I don't feel compelled NOT to pray with non-christians in the group--in fact I am compelled to pray HARDER for them.
Ok..let's see...right now a town near me is fighting to allow teachers to merely mention the fact the Evolution is only ONE theory (albeit a rather shaky theory) and that there is a book in the school library IF you want to know more.
In 2004, my town was sued by Americans United for Separation of Church (with help from the ACLU) and State to have a monument listing the Ten Commandments (which had been donated like many, many others across the country by the Fraternal Order of Eagles back in the 1950s)removed from an area Park. Thankfully, we found a 'creative' way around it. A 15x15ft parcel of land that it sits on was sold to a local historical Non-Profit. They erected a fence and put in some landscaping. It's still 'in' the park, just not 'part' of the park.
A local High School has always used a nearby multi-purpose building belonging to a church for Graduation Ceremonies during inclement weather. Graduation ceremonies are always held outside, and they lack the facilities to handle the students, parents, and family that come along. In 2004, some parents, with the help of the ACLU threatened legal action if they chose to do that again. The school captiulated, and now only one parent may come to graduation if it has to be held inside., due to lack of space to hold it. The original thought was that if it was going to rain, the ceremony would be cancelled. While that isn't a *specific* example of troding on religious freedom, it was done under the grounds of 'separation of church and state'. BTW..when the grad ceremonies take place, they were careful to remove all of the relgious information and decor from the building.
The ones I originally cited were far larger, with greater impact legally, than the ones I just mentioned. Also, if you recall one of my original postings, my CHILDREN are forbidden the right to exercise their beliefs, because the school system is frightened of litigation.
And btw...it has happened in FL. Here are some examples:
In 2000, a federal discrimination suit was rejected by a Miami, Florida jury after an orthodox Jewish pharmacist was denied a job at Eckerd drugs because he did not approve of the sale of condoms.
8/16/00, American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Inc., Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the National Organization for Women Foundation, Inc. and Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, Inc. Local Pinellas County residents Jeanie Blue, Beth Lindenberg, Lee DeCesare and Irene Millers, filed a federal lawsuit today against the City of St. Petersburg, Bayfront Medical Center and BayCare Health System over the operation of a public hospital under religious doctrines. The suit charges that direct and indirect support of the hospital with taxpayer funds violates the separation of church and state because the medical facility operates under the religious tenets of the Roman Catholic Church. Since 1968, St. Petersburg has agreed to allow the city-owned medical facility to be run by Bayfront Medical Center. Problems began, however, in 1997 when Bayfront entered into an alliance with several other hospitals in the Tampa area, including religiously run hospitals. To implement its new alliance, Bayfront agreed to operate the city's hospital according to the "Ethical and Religious Directives" of the Roman Catholic Church. Patients are restricted from receiving a variety of legal medical procedures, including "abortion, sterilization, emergency contraception and artificial insemination." The directives also may limit the full implementation of patients' wishes identified in living wills to the extent they do not comport with Catholic doctrine.
Leaving here is not possible..my children are where they are because their mother is there. She cares for her elderly mother who lives there and doesn't want to move.
In closing, Just don't believe that you are immune to this discrimination. Sooner or later it *will* come knocking on your door. The sooner we Christians stand up and FIGHT for our rights, the better. And I will pray out loud in Jesus' name--because Christ tell me through the gospel that I am to proclaim the good news. I can refer to to numerous references, but Act 1:8 is a good place to start.
Slashdot Mirror
easy..set yourself up with one of the many hosted VOIP companies out there. The small office I used to work for bought Comcast (only option for broadband that we had, other than a T1) for their hosted phone system. All you have to do is buy phones for the system; usually the VOIP vendor will recommend them to you. We paid $99/month for the internet line plus $50/month for each line.
While a PBX might have been cheaper; this was certainly far less headache.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/01/22/8397980/index.htm
Country Music is still profitable...
Sorry..that's exactly what I meant. Also, this wasn't Exchange 2000, but Exchange 5.5 and it was about 7 years ago. Although, some companies are still using 5.5--I just worked at one last year that still has an Exchange 5.5 server and is running on NT 4.0. The only thing running on Win 2K are the Citrix servers and their Database system, because they require Windows 2000/SQL 2000 and the Metaframe boxes won't run on NT 4.0.
The company way back then (mm..this was 7 years ago) had no AV running on the Exchange servers at all (except our division, so I got the Melissa warning quickly), and the desktop scanners were disabled in the other divisions because the company didn't install sufficient RAM in the NT 4.0 desktops--Power users got 128MB..everyone else got 64 MB, and most were expected to use a piece of software that required a minimum of 64 MB to run by itself, so of course the desktops moved at a snail pace. Without AV, it was palatable.
Luckily, the division I worked for had alternative funding (it was a partner with a city agency--and all the hardware was purchased with city money, because at the end of the contract, all hardware reverted to city ownership)--so we HAD Antivirus and 256MB in every desktop (You just have to love government money), but the other 6 divisions did not. One division got infected, and within a day every Exchange Server but ours was useless. I shut down the connections between the other servers and ours and helped with the cleanup for the other locations remotely. It was a disaster, but it taught upper management a lesson. Once cleaned, we put the connections back up--after buying AV and re-enabling it on workstations, with a policy in place to prevent it from being disabled (McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator). The infected divisions were surviving on MSN and Yahoo accounts for those who needed e-mail.BUZZ wrong Spoonman. I'm NOT a clueless Amatuer, but I still have to deal with viruses. I answer to an agency above the one I work for, and IT doesn't get to set policies for things like, oh, say, taking work home on flash drives (used to be floppies, but now it's flash drives. I have to deal with the aftermath every time a users' files they took home to work on get corrupted because they have a virus on their home PC. I have to deal with them every time a friend of a friend (or cousin, or brother---you pick it.) who doesn't know more than how to turn the computer on, play solitare, and forward stupid e-mail chain letters gets infected by a virus.
While I haven't had an outbreak of a virus on any systems I was responsible for (exception: Coming in to an an environment where the IT guy was fired, and knew he was about to be because he was reading e-mails between his boss , her boss, and HR.) in about 8 years. That one was because I wasn't allowed to run Corporate AV--it was too expensive. Needless to say, right after we were infected in a 3,000 user company with Melissa, I was able to buy AV. I've had *attacks* by worm/viruses (from other Exchange servers I wasn't responsible for, yet in the same company) where the admins' responsible there disabled anti-virus software on users workstations because it made the workstations too 'slow'.
There are still companies who get virus attacks--mostly because their policies say that they have to test EVERY patch/update in an isolated environment before deployment. That's not being an amateur, but rather having overly cautious leadership. Personally, it's my opinion that somewhere between 70% and 90% of all Office users need nothing more powerful than the simple products in Microsoft Works. The rest are the power uses who actually do need the power provided by Microsoft Word.
I'm sitting here on my Linux desktop typing this. I have 5 tabs open in Firfox, Thunderbird is running, I'm editing a document in oO Write, and have GIMP open editing a logo design. I have a dual-core Intel processor, with 2GB of ran, and I'm only using 455M. OH..and Apache is running in the background because I have a couple of different websites I'm working on, and this is my development environment.
Speaking of Apache--it runs rings around IIS---in all aspects; deployment, support and usability. Best of all, it's supported on multiple platforms.
I have a child with a three-chambered heart--heart jokes are not welcome.
Just my 2cents..which in today's world won't even buy me a piece of Double Bubble.
I don't think you see the point I was making--of his ignoring thousands of years of history of a civilization. I used the people (not directed at HIM, merely using them as an EXAMPLE because it was recently in the news) who wish to deny that the holocaust took place as an example of people who ignore history. I never aimed any disrespect toward the poster, other than his disregard for history.
I could have used other civilizations...Chinese, Japanese, Native American as examples, I simply chose the most convienient (and the one who arguably has one of the longest written narratives); the Israelites.
Fear? Absolutely--fear of God. Fear of His Righteous Wrath. Fear of being forever separated from Him. Fear of burning in Hell for all eternity when I die. If you're right, and there is no God, then it doesn't matter. If I'm right and there is, well.....you happen to be on the receiving end of His wrath. I will cry over your immortal soul forever.
Get ready to welcome our new Chinese Overlords.
God was here before any of them; he married Adam and Eve--man and woman, male and female. Your argument has no bearing; God was here before man fell and were tricked by Satan into believing in other gods. You are right in one sense; Religion does not have any bearing on marriage, God does. God is not a 'relgion', He is God. Our Lord intends us to be paired male and female. Contrary to what you believe, history DOES support that, or do you intend to ignore the history of Israel, like those who would rewrite history to show that the holocaust never happened?
You mean you left their PC's unprotected, without some kind of malware buster like Spy Sweeper, SpyBot, or even (Gasp) Windows Defender? Why would you do something like that; you were just ASKING for them to be infected by spyware. The reason they went to use IE is because there are websites that FORCE you to use IE because they don't work in FF. I've even seen some webmail that doesn't work in FireFox, even the latest and greatest. FF isn't the be-all and end-all either. True, it's better than IE, but it's not a cure for bad browsing habits. Even anti-spyware programs aren't a cure, but they are better than nothing.
*Sigh*..
You can turn off that notification in the Security Center--assuming it's not GPO'd..When I was but a wee lad, we had Transistor Radios that got both AM AND FM.
Who needs more than that, just like my computer only has 640K of RAM...You forget..The 'alien ship' in Independence Day came 'alive' when the motherships hit orbit. I suspect all of the needed patches were deployed automatically to the one we held.
I think you just summed it all up nicely.
We're pushing our children to new heights in competetion. Everything is a competition now, 'play' is something that is simply not done. Grades in school have become all-encompassing now, because colleges are hugely competitive places--there truly isn't enough room for every kid who graduates if they want to attend.
I'm an adult--I have pre-teen children. I'm also a divorced parent. At their house, they have numerous console games and a computer. At mine they have a computer and a limit of one hour each per day they are there. Instead, we do things OUTDOORS--since that's where I spend the bulk of my time if the weather is above 40 degrees. I take them fishing, take them to the park (still a popular pastime, tho' I did have to slap down some 19 year old who decided using the f-bomb around 8 year olds and younger children), do leaf and insect hunts and other outdoor activities. In the winter months, we mess with art supplies and things requiring imagination, as well as going to the Y to go swimming. I believe our children are getting stagnant minds because we parents aren't fostering their imaginations enough. We use TV, DVD, Game Consoles, and etc for all of that.
Technology is not the problem, WE the parents are the problem.
Time Management, Money Management, organizational skills--those are all part of 'being responsible', part of 'personal management skills' and that *is* a facet of a personality known as integrity. I'm not confusing apples with oranges..
The four people I mentioned--can you TRULY say they were good with money management? You really, really should look at them again. They were *supposed* to be responsible for managing *other peoples money* well..none of them did.
A company CEO is responsible to the shareholders; it is THEIR money he is managing.
Again I say----A Good Credit Score does not prove that you are good at any of the above. Look at the number of people who have others taking care of their financial obligations--how many spouses actually pay the bills? Yes, they're lumped in and have a good Credit Score too, but that truly says NOTHING about the other individual in a marriage.
I was discussing this with a good friend of mine..successful business owner, he even owns the building his business is in. He has never used credit to buy anything, preferring to pay cash. Never had a credit card at all. While he *has* a credit score it is lower than mine, yet he always pays his bills ontime (and has for 45 years, since he was 15 and held his first job. He is married, they had three children. Each of them saved for college--none of them used loans. All have cars--saved cash to buy and fixed up themselves. He didn't have to buy a house, he lives in the home his parents left him, so never needed a mortgage. His car is 5 years old, but he bought it new for cash, and it has less than 20,000 miles on it. Since he's never USED Credit, he doesn't HAVE credit.
Is he Responsible with money, and time? Does he have good organizational skills? Absolutely. Does his Credit Rating show it? Absolutely not. Does he care about his credit rating? not at all. Nor do his children--to them (and to me) Credit is a BAD THING.
The Bible even admonishes us about credit. In the book of Proverbs (NIV 22:7) we read: 'The Rich rule over the Poor, and the borrower is Servant to the Lender'. 'nuff said I think.
A Good Credit rating is not necessarily a measure of a persons integrity. Let's look at a couple cases in point.
1. Ken Lay---do you think he had an excellant credit rating?
2. Bernie Ebbers---what about him?
3. Dennis Koslowski--Tyco Chairman...
4. Martin Grass--Rite Aid Corporation (yet another accounting scandal).
All of these individuals surely had excellent credit ratings, yet the drove their companies down--and stole from investors, employees, and retirees.
As a divorced father whose credit was ruined when he divorced, I can tell you this method is NOT one I would prefer to use if I were a business owner...nor will I provide said information unless I am going for a position requiring a security clearance. My credit rating was ruined not by my ex-wife, but rather by the system that acts to collect child support. We could not agree on an amount, so we went to arbitration. Between the arbitration postponements, and an unexpected illness on her part, we were delayed 6 months--time I used wisely (since I was forbidden by the 'system' to provide her with any support) to pay off several bills. This delay, however caused me to be 6 months in arrears. According to my credit report, I still owe that amount of money, even though I've paid off over half of it. The 'law' doesn't require the agencies who collect back support to report your payments. Some do, some don't. My state does not unless you fight in court for it. BTW, the arbitration process gave her less than I was willing to give her for support. While I pay all of my bills before time, this one issue keeps my FICO score below 650.
So..if you looked at my report, you would see child support owed for the last 4 years, even though over half of it has been paid off.
Credit reports as a measure of how responsible a person is? no.. and while legally most companies aren't 'allowed' to tell your new employers about your performance, all of mine use the same technique. 'If I could, I would (would not) hire this person back.'. Simple..effective, and carries a LOT of weight.
Just my 2 cents..Having been a PC network admin for nearly a decade and a half (and a VAX guy for a decade before that), I havelived through every version of Office. Based on my experience, I would say that more than 80% of users use 20% or less of the functionality of MS Office. Delaying Office won't hurt anyone.
The upgrade cost is atrocious, regardless of the level of your SA. With our Select Agreement, it would cost us around $26,000 per 100 users. As a result, I don't keep Software Assurance on Office, because that is way too much of a gamble for me to spend roughly 20K per 100 users on the *hope* that Microsoft will release a new version within the term of our SA agreement. If they don't, then I would have to spend that money again, or discontinue the SA. If I chose to continue the SA, by that time, I would have spent around 150% of the upgrade cost. I would need to *seriously* justify that to the CFO, so I don't even start spending the SA money on non-Server OS products. Since Office 2003 will be at the end of it's 3 year run BEFORE this version upgrade, I would have wasted money on an SA. No Thank You Bill.
The only reason I can see to upgrade would be a forced switch by clients and/or suppliers or some feature we absolutely could not live without. I don't see that happening anytime soon. But,if they do, I can justify spending the money to the CFO.
BTW..at home, my primary system dual-boots XP (for games) and Kubuntu (everything else) and I use Open Office 2.0. It has successfully imported anything I've ever needed from Office, so it's fine by me.
For the last sentence, note that I sent mysefl WMF files win Outlook 2000 and 2003 while running Sysinternals process explorer and never saw shimgvw.dll called. Opening a WMF attachment called it, but not previewing, so there might be three errors, but I didn't test all versions that way, so I don't know...
Outook versions produced pre-Outlook 2000 (I think it even takes Office 2000 SP2) are vulnerable, as well as version 5 of Outlook Express and below (Again, I *think* it's necessary to have patched IE 5). I always turn OFF preview pane on any Outlook installation I do.
OWA really concerns me--many companies use this for remote access to e-mail; this could turn really ugly really fast. Remember Melissa and I Love You? MS needs to patch this NOW. I would hope they've been burning the midnight oil trying to resolve this issue, but it's Friday now, and they still are putting out a positive spin.
Locking down mahcines as you have done is all well and good; and it is something I would *love* to be able to do at the list of clients I support. Sadly, too many programs require Administrator access to the desktop.
We have been fighting the ever-increasing amount of malware for most of the past decade. In that length of time one would think that software developers would long ago have abandoned the concept of writing software that needed root access by the end user, but noooooooooooooooo.I really wish this would stop.
Working for a support company that handles networks for numerous and varied small businesses, I still find bad behavior commonplace; no matter how often we warn them about their bad habits. Not only that, but try to get some of them to buy the software/hardware needed for protection. I once spent four hours trying to convince a client to buy a $300 firewall. They just wanted to hook all of the computers into the DSL line and browse away!
Ah...what a great life this would be without the USERS...
"Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". Ubuntu also means "I am what I am because of who we all are". The Ubuntu Linux distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.
Straight from the website..the very first thing you read is the above section. Personally, I like Ubuntu---I run Kubuntu and I enjoy the animal names they give to the releases (btw..next release will be v6.04--Dapper Drake.). IF you indeed had looked at Ubuntu, you would know this. Personally, I like how everything is neatly packaged up for you, it installs nicely, and to date, I haven't found any bugs that have kept me from being productive. Even the upgrade to KDE 3.5 is great.
So..if we read this correctly--EdUbuntu, would be 'Education to Humanity'. Sounds like a great idea. Thank you Mark Shuttlesworth.
This is my response to all of the postings.
First of all, Evolution is a theory. What is a theory? A Theory is: A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.We can certainly say that Evolution is widely accepted, but it lacks repeated testing that shows success. We have not seen any experiments where one species 'evolves' into another. Yes we have seen species 'evolve' within themselves (antibiotic resistant bacteria anyone?) so in that respect evolution works. But a bacterium that causes Strep Throat that is antibiotic resistant is still the same bacteria, with an added feature. Humans are taller, on average, than we used to be. We are still Humans, with more height.
A few Amino Acids in a lightning chamber does not constitute absolute proof of the origins of life. It merely proves that, with the right combination of materials and some power added from an outside source, you get a few complex molecules. Nothing has proven in any set of experiments that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that life came from these so-called 'building blocks'. Evolution requires as much 'faith' as Intelligent Design.
Intelligent Design is being attacked on all sides as 'bad science'. Strange, but this seems to parallel how the Church attacked Galileo, Copernicus and other scientists. ID is not a new theory--if you discount all of the religious and philosophical writings (Heraticlus, Plato, Thomas Aquinas) and stick to scientists, then the phrase was first used in 1847 in Scientific American, but probably most famously by George James Allman at the 1873 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He said: No physical hypothesis founded on any indisputable fact has yet explained the origin of the primordial protoplasm, and, above all, of its marvellous properties, which render evolution possible -- in heredity and in adaptivity, for these properties are the cause and not the effect of evolution. For the cause of this cause we have sought in vain among the physical forces which surround us, until we are at last compelled to rest upon an independent volition, a far-seeing intelligent design.
The problem with Evolution is in how it is presented. It is presented in most curriculums as the de-facto origin of life. No room is left for debate; no other theories are presented for discussion. When Intelligent Design is postulated for inclusion within the boundaries of Public Compulsory Education, the opponents flock out of the woodwork and at best, Intelligent Design is relegated to ELECTIVE classes in religion or philosophy. At worst, it is removed from the curriculum altogether. Removing Intelligent Design, which is the only other theory on the origin of life, leaves us with Evolution. I return to my original statement: When you teach only one side, you're not teaching, you're indoctrinating. How do you get 'independent and critical thinking' out of indoctrination?
To me, Creationism and Evolution are not mutually exclusive. God made us--He made us perfect. But, when we disobeyed Him and were ejected from Eden, then He made us imperfect. Evolution is the mechanism that allows Creation to survive outside of the Garden of Eden in an imperfect world.
We need students and employees who are well prepared in the sciences and are capable of thinking independently, and if the school board succeeds in misleading their students, they are of no use to us.
Interesting comment--considering that they are teaching Intelligent Design alongside Evolutionary Theory. Your comment seems to indicate that, by teaching ONLY Evolution, that's how we develop Independent Thinking? Tell one side of a story? Somehow, that seems more like indoctrination to me.
I'm just curious how you get 'independent thinking' out of teaching only one side of the origins of life.
EVERY one of these cases affects me personally--regardless of where it is--because it is a weakening of our religious freedoms across the Nation. Regardless of what everyone *seems* to think, this is a Christian Nation, founded on Christian Principles. The 'establishment of religion' clause was merely put in so that no ONE CHRISTIAN denomination should hold sway over the country. It was NEVER intended that Christianity would take a 'back seat' as it has.
It might be argued that 'times change and there are more non-believers now' but if you look at the past, this has only happened in the era since Christianity and references to Christianity have been removed from the educational system. Before the advent of so-called 'Public Schools', the McGuffy Reader was the teaching system of choice, and it contained many, many bible verses--even requiring memorization of said verses. Like you--I don't believe in compulsory education system--it's not only a scholarly failure, but a moral failure as well.
The legislature is only part of the problem; lawyers and judges who legislate from the bench, instead of merely validating or invalidating a court ruling based on the US Constitution (note--they should NOT be using material from so-called 'international law' either)are the biggest problem.
Yes, my quote is one of Thomas Jeffereson, but I interpret that as meaning that you practice 'self restraint' where it is necessary. My praying aloud in public is a PROFESSION of my faith--if you are not a believer, then you should have the SELF RESTRAINT to allow me to profess my faith based upon my 1st amendment rights to do so. Just as I should have the self restraint not to hurl insults at you if you profess your LACK of faith. Certainly, I would like to discuss that with you, but certainly if you tell me no, I would walk away. My faith tells me to keep trying and keep praying for you. And no, I don't feel compelled NOT to pray with non-christians in the group--in fact I am compelled to pray HARDER for them.
Ok..let's see...right now a town near me is fighting to allow teachers to merely mention the fact the Evolution is only ONE theory (albeit a rather shaky theory) and that there is a book in the school library IF you want to know more.
In 2004, my town was sued by Americans United for Separation of Church (with help from the ACLU) and State to have a monument listing the Ten Commandments (which had been donated like many, many others across the country by the Fraternal Order of Eagles back in the 1950s)removed from an area Park. Thankfully, we found a 'creative' way around it. A 15x15ft parcel of land that it sits on was sold to a local historical Non-Profit. They erected a fence and put in some landscaping. It's still 'in' the park, just not 'part' of the park.
A local High School has always used a nearby multi-purpose building belonging to a church for Graduation Ceremonies during inclement weather. Graduation ceremonies are always held outside, and they lack the facilities to handle the students, parents, and family that come along. In 2004, some parents, with the help of the ACLU threatened legal action if they chose to do that again. The school captiulated, and now only one parent may come to graduation if it has to be held inside., due to lack of space to hold it. The original thought was that if it was going to rain, the ceremony would be cancelled. While that isn't a *specific* example of troding on religious freedom, it was done under the grounds of 'separation of church and state'. BTW..when the grad ceremonies take place, they were careful to remove all of the relgious information and decor from the building.
The ones I originally cited were far larger, with greater impact legally, than the ones I just mentioned. Also, if you recall one of my original postings, my CHILDREN are forbidden the right to exercise their beliefs, because the school system is frightened of litigation.
And btw...it has happened in FL. Here are some examples:
In 2000, a federal discrimination suit was rejected by a Miami, Florida jury after an orthodox Jewish pharmacist was denied a job at Eckerd drugs because he did not approve of the sale of condoms.
8/16/00, American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Inc., Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the National Organization for Women Foundation, Inc. and Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, Inc. Local Pinellas County residents Jeanie Blue, Beth Lindenberg, Lee DeCesare and Irene Millers, filed a federal lawsuit today against the City of St. Petersburg, Bayfront Medical Center and BayCare Health System over the operation of a public hospital under religious doctrines. The suit charges that direct and indirect support of the hospital with taxpayer funds violates the separation of church and state because the medical facility operates under the religious tenets of the Roman Catholic Church. Since 1968, St. Petersburg has agreed to allow the city-owned medical facility to be run by Bayfront Medical Center. Problems began, however, in 1997 when Bayfront entered into an alliance with several other hospitals in the Tampa area, including religiously run hospitals. To implement its new alliance, Bayfront agreed to operate the city's hospital according to the "Ethical and Religious Directives" of the Roman Catholic Church. Patients are restricted from receiving a variety of legal medical procedures, including "abortion, sterilization, emergency contraception and artificial insemination." The directives also may limit the full implementation of patients' wishes identified in living wills to the extent they do not comport with Catholic doctrine.
Leaving here is not possible..my children are where they are because their mother is there. She cares for her elderly mother who lives there and doesn't want to move.
In closing, Just don't believe that you are immune to this discrimination. Sooner or later it *will* come knocking on your door. The sooner we Christians stand up and FIGHT for our rights, the better. And I will pray out loud in Jesus' name--because Christ tell me through the gospel that I am to proclaim the good news. I can refer to to numerous references, but Act 1:8 is a good place to start.