...I would have refused to comply with the initial, irrational request.
This would be my response with most of our users but this person has some power (the ability to fire me most importantly.) The day she got the computer I explained to her and her assistant the reason for logging in. Her response was typical of management. No one had unauthorized access in the past so it can't happen now. My little wake up call was to prove my point. I think it was effective.
I do have a problem with the rating of a website. A subjective measure at best.
Customers should have the option to block websites if they request it. It is no different than blocking a channel on cable.
I guess I don't see how this applies to My rights online other than the rating system. (It looks like another "feel good" policy. There is almost no way to enforce it.)
Apple fans are the perfect audience. Most are technically non-savvy arty types who are easier to FUD.
I believe general stereotypes are bad but do have an example that fits this.
I work for the local school district as a computer tech. Recently, the art department bought a Powerbook for every art teacher. I got a call last week from an art teacher and said she was having problems installing a program. I told the user I would help her install it.
I get to the computer and ask her where the software is. She said she got it in an email from a friend. The subject was "Spring screensavers for you."
Of course the attachment was a zipped.exe containing a keylogger trojan. If this would have been a Windows box she would have unknowingly attempted to install a trojan. (All of our Windows boxes have AV software centrally managed)
I guess my point here is what if that trojan was coded for a Mac? A multiuser system is pointless if the user knows the admin/root password. (Our users do not have admin access.) In my experience, entering a password is more of an annoyance than a security measure for many users.
Ok, now I'm going off to another story but it is worth reading. A person of importance in the district recently got a new computer with XP Pro. She had previously had a Windows 98 PC and was in a habit to cancel past the Microsoft login. I don't blame her. There is not security there. Her new computer is shared between two people so I made an account for each of them like I do on every new computer. This person did not like the idea of having to type her password in just to get into her computer.
On Friday at 3:45 (work ends at 4:00) I got a call from the user demanding that the password be taken off the computer. She just wanted to turn on her computer and be at the desktop.
I did as she asked but also took the liberty to change her important documents to hidden. I was hoping I would get a call today. I did.
After getting a desperate voicemail for the user, I slowly made my way to her office. There she asked me what had happened to her documents. I played stupid and asked what documents. She said all of her important files were in the My Documents folder on Friday and there are not there anymore. I then came up with some bs about how I would need to recover them because someone must have been using the computer over the weekend and must have deleted them by accident. (Strangely enough there were children in that room over the weekend. Perfect scapegoats.)
I waited for about ten minutes and when she left the room I removed the hidden property from the documents. I then said I could enable the password so no one could get into her computer. She was more than willing.
Was my action unethical? Perhaps. Was it funny? I think so. I'm just happy I got my point across with no damage done.
I thought the whole point of SSL is that not just anyone could get a cert...
Exactly.
I would only support a system that had many levels of validation.
1. You create an account and submit your site. 2. There would be a required waiting period of 30 days. 3. You would login to your account and request that your site be reviewed. 4. You must submit a deposit of $10 which will be returned when your site has been approved. If your site was not approved you must login to your account and request a refund. 5. Your site would be reviewed by PAID employees. The funds will come from site advertisements and deposits from sites that were not approved and returned. 6. Profit?
A free system can exist but it must be HARD to get the certificate.
I currently have two books on the subject of Open LDAP/Samba integration but have yet to get a working configuration. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. If I had mod points I would use them all.
This situation reflects on what the public school system has become.
Full disclosure: I am a public school teacher/computer tech. I started out as a computer technician and when I got my BA was assigned to be a typing/computer teacher. It's a long story but basically in my state, anyone with a BA is qualified to be a teacher. My district has a policy that says any employee can be reasigned to any job that he or she is qualified for any reason. My choice was to take the teaching job plus the computer tech job or no job.
I am in a unique situation because I see education at all levels on a daily basis. I teach at a high school but work on computers at elementary, middle, and high schools. When I was in school it seemed like all the teachers/administrators in the school knew who I was by name. I can't say the same today. I only know the students who I have had in class. The main reason I see for this is the size of schools. When I was in high school there was a total of 500 students. This was in the same district in which I now teach. Back then there were three high schools in my city. Today there is only one high school with over 2000 students.
My point here is that we have created the need for a system like this. It is easy for a student to just fall between the cracks. Last semester I had a class of 40 students. It is difficult to look at the class and determine who is missing.
Last year was the first year students were required to wear ID badges. Teachers and staff have always been required to wear ID badges. These badges don't employ RFID but there was some discussion over the value of such a system. Those opposed to the badges cited privacy concerns. They did not want people to know their name. Those for the badges cited security concerns. The paranoia after 9/11 caused the badges to be approved.
Some students refused to wear the badges in protest while others simply forgot to wear them. The punishment for not having and displaying your ID was a 30 minute detention for each day the badge was not shown. Some teachers enforced the policy while others ignored it. I simply asked my students to have the ID on their person. After one of my students got in trouble in another class for not displaying their ID I got in trouble for telling my students to just have their ID available. I asked the principal why the students needed to display the ID while in class. That does not make any sense. I have no problem with the ID being displayed while entering the building or in the halls. That makes sense. (Common sense in public school is lacking. That is an entirely different subject I could and should write my Master's Thesis on.)
In one year the numbers of detentions increased by 400%. The district had to hire two people dedicated to processing and ensuring that detentions were being served. That's my tax dollars at work. This year the school board changed the policy to only require the students to have the ID on their person. The students also needed to show the ID when entering the building. When a teacher or staff member asks a student to see their ID they must produce it or face punishment as deemed by the teacher. The punishment can not exceed 30 minutes of detention.
So basically after my experience I would not suggest the use of ID cards.
1. I have a computer with 2x200 GB drives mirrored. 2. I do an incremental backup of the data on these drives every other day to DVD-R discs. (I do not keep the discs for more than 6 months) 3. Every other month I do a full backup and take it off site. (Safety deposit box) 4. I rsync my critical data every four hours to an offsite server which is backed up to tape every night.
Most of the data that I back up is not critical. Much of it is music, movies, etc. that could be replaced but would take time. I do not want to rip all of my cds and dvds again.
I classify critical data as something that can not be replaced or replicated without a huge amount of effort. This includes family photos, documents, etc.
The only reason I use RAID at home is that the drives will eventually fail. When they do fail, hopefully not at the same time, I will only need to pop a new drive in. It is all about convenience and saving time. That is it.
The Republicans are VERY vulnerable on this front, and the Democrats could make a lot of headway pushing at it.
I highly doubt it. The majority of Americans oppose gay marriage but support civil unions.
I am within this majority. I believe that gay couples should have equal protection. I do not believe however that the definition of marriage should be changed.
I think Dean was a bad choice for the DNC chairman. Dean is seen as a far left person even though this may not be true. The Dems need a moderate as a leader in order to get back into power.
I had a similar situation with a Toshiba laptop I bought a few years back. The unit came with a 1 year depot repair warranty standard. I planned on keeping the unit for at least three years (I was in college) so I purchased an extended 3 year warranty.
After having the laptop for a year and a half the unit would not power on from time to time. I didn't think much of it at first until the unit would not turn on at all. I called the support hotline and explained the problem. They said it was the battery but I knew it wasn't because I had swapped batteries with a friend who had the same model. I got the new battery and it did not fix the problem. I call support again and explain to them that the battery did not fix the problem.
At this point they claimed to have no record of me purchasing an extended warranty. I told them they had sent me a battery already and they claimed no such thing had happened. At this point I asked to speak to their manager. After on hold for 30 minutes I finally got through. I explained to them the situation. Again she said there was no record of the extended warranty. I asked her to look at my account information. She said there were only two entries. The first was the shipment of my laptop and the second was an unnamed package sent out a week ealier. I told her that the other entry was the battery that was sent out. She said there was no way to confirm this. I told her that I would be happy to fax a copy of the original invoice proving the extended warranty. She said that the document could not be sent because there was not a record with Toshiba.
At this point I became angry and asked to speak with her manager. She said that her position was the highest in the support department. I asked who her boss was and she said his name. I asked to be transfered but she refused. She then said I could write a letter to corporate headquarters. At this point I hung up.
Since I was in college and had free time I decided to call support every chance I could. My roommate was a support person at one time and he said that the customer should always hang up first. I decided to exploit this rule.
I called every waking hour and spent as much time as I could with anyone I could talk to. I would ask questions completely unrelated to my problem and would always make sure the person on the other end knew my name. I also made sure that I wrote down the name of the person I was talking to.
After doing this for two weeks I had talked with 58 different people and had spoken to some individuals as many as six times. I finally got my way and was asked to fax the invoice.
So here is my advice to you. If you have the time, be a thorn in the side of the company. Waste their time and resources.
"Anyone who challenges any monopoly is a kind of a hero in my book."
Apple is a monopoly. Can you (legally) run OSX on a x86 PC? No. Can you legally run Windows on a Mac (via emulation)? Yes.
I am in no way a Microsoft fanboy. The market has spoken. The problem is that most people don't choose Windows, they choose a computer based on price. Until recently you couldn't get a Mac for under $999. (I may be wrong.) Then the eMac came along and I considered buying one when they became available to the general public. The problem is that I don't have desk space for my 19" CRT and an eMac. My decision to buy a Mac has changed with the introduction of the Mac mini. I ordered one last night and it will be shipped the 22nd. I also ordered a Belkin USB KVM from Newegg last night. So what does this all mean?
Now people really do have a choice based on price.
You should be using Mozilla in your situation just like Ford should analyze Chevy, Honda, Dodge, etc. cars.
My friend's job at GM is to take apart and measure, record and analyze cars from other manufactures. It is no secret because all other car makers do the same thing. You can not improve your product in the eyes of your customer unless you look at the competition.
Slashdot Mirror
...I would have refused to comply with the initial, irrational request. This would be my response with most of our users but this person has some power (the ability to fire me most importantly.) The day she got the computer I explained to her and her assistant the reason for logging in. Her response was typical of management. No one had unauthorized access in the past so it can't happen now. My little wake up call was to prove my point. I think it was effective.
... block these sites for those who request it.
This is an opt-out policy. Fine with me.
I do have a problem with the rating of a website. A subjective measure at best.
Customers should have the option to block websites if they request it. It is no different than blocking a channel on cable.
I guess I don't see how this applies to My rights online other than the rating system. (It looks like another "feel good" policy. There is almost no way to enforce it.)
Donate anything 300mhz or above to your local school district. I am a computer tech for my local district and we need all the help we can get.
Apple fans are the perfect audience. Most are technically non-savvy arty types who are easier to FUD.
.exe containing a keylogger trojan. If this would have been a Windows box she would have unknowingly attempted to install a trojan. (All of our Windows boxes have AV software centrally managed)
I believe general stereotypes are bad but do have an example that fits this.
I work for the local school district as a computer tech. Recently, the art department bought a Powerbook for every art teacher. I got a call last week from an art teacher and said she was having problems installing a program. I told the user I would help her install it.
I get to the computer and ask her where the software is. She said she got it in an email from a friend. The subject was "Spring screensavers for you."
Of course the attachment was a zipped
I guess my point here is what if that trojan was coded for a Mac? A multiuser system is pointless if the user knows the admin/root password. (Our users do not have admin access.) In my experience, entering a password is more of an annoyance than a security measure for many users.
Ok, now I'm going off to another story but it is worth reading. A person of importance in the district recently got a new computer with XP Pro. She had previously had a Windows 98 PC and was in a habit to cancel past the Microsoft login. I don't blame her. There is not security there. Her new computer is shared between two people so I made an account for each of them like I do on every new computer. This person did not like the idea of having to type her password in just to get into her computer.
On Friday at 3:45 (work ends at 4:00) I got a call from the user demanding that the password be taken off the computer. She just wanted to turn on her computer and be at the desktop.
I did as she asked but also took the liberty to change her important documents to hidden. I was hoping I would get a call today. I did.
After getting a desperate voicemail for the user, I slowly made my way to her office. There she asked me what had happened to her documents. I played stupid and asked what documents. She said all of her important files were in the My Documents folder on Friday and there are not there anymore. I then came up with some bs about how I would need to recover them because someone must have been using the computer over the weekend and must have deleted them by accident. (Strangely enough there were children in that room over the weekend. Perfect scapegoats.)
I waited for about ten minutes and when she left the room I removed the hidden property from the documents. I then said I could enable the password so no one could get into her computer. She was more than willing.
Was my action unethical? Perhaps. Was it funny? I think so. I'm just happy I got my point across with no damage done.
Perhaps it's that the newspapers and the CBC seems to generally ignore, obfuscate and smooth over any internal political controversies.
This is what happens when government funds media.
(I am not talking about the newspapers but rather the CBC.)
I wouldn't be worried about your physical health but rather your mental health.
One of our developers buried some easter eggs in a web-based game...
Would this web-based game be Half-Life 2 by chance? Sorry, I couldn't resist. I hate Steam.
I thought the whole point of SSL is that not just anyone could get a cert...
Exactly.
I would only support a system that had many levels of validation.
1. You create an account and submit your site.
2. There would be a required waiting period of 30 days.
3. You would login to your account and request that your site be reviewed.
4. You must submit a deposit of $10 which will be returned when your site has been approved. If your site was not approved you must login to your account and request a refund.
5. Your site would be reviewed by PAID employees. The funds will come from site advertisements and deposits from sites that were not approved and returned.
6. Profit?
A free system can exist but it must be HARD to get the certificate.
If you accept the theory of evolution as I do then it is not far fetched to believe humans have a six sense as some animals seem to have.
I currently have two books on the subject of Open LDAP/Samba integration but have yet to get a working configuration. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. If I had mod points I would use them all.
Jeff Michels
This situation reflects on what the public school system has become.
Full disclosure: I am a public school teacher/computer tech. I started out as a computer technician and when I got my BA was assigned to be a typing/computer teacher. It's a long story but basically in my state, anyone with a BA is qualified to be a teacher. My district has a policy that says any employee can be reasigned to any job that he or she is qualified for any reason. My choice was to take the teaching job plus the computer tech job or no job.
I am in a unique situation because I see education at all levels on a daily basis. I teach at a high school but work on computers at elementary, middle, and high schools. When I was in school it seemed like all the teachers/administrators in the school knew who I was by name. I can't say the same today. I only know the students who I have had in class. The main reason I see for this is the size of schools. When I was in high school there was a total of 500 students. This was in the same district in which I now teach. Back then there were three high schools in my city. Today there is only one high school with over 2000 students.
My point here is that we have created the need for a system like this. It is easy for a student to just fall between the cracks. Last semester I had a class of 40 students. It is difficult to look at the class and determine who is missing.
Last year was the first year students were required to wear ID badges. Teachers and staff have always been required to wear ID badges. These badges don't employ RFID but there was some discussion over the value of such a system. Those opposed to the badges cited privacy concerns. They did not want people to know their name. Those for the badges cited security concerns. The paranoia after 9/11 caused the badges to be approved.
Some students refused to wear the badges in protest while others simply forgot to wear them. The punishment for not having and displaying your ID was a 30 minute detention for each day the badge was not shown. Some teachers enforced the policy while others ignored it. I simply asked my students to have the ID on their person. After one of my students got in trouble in another class for not displaying their ID I got in trouble for telling my students to just have their ID available. I asked the principal why the students needed to display the ID while in class. That does not make any sense. I have no problem with the ID being displayed while entering the building or in the halls. That makes sense. (Common sense in public school is lacking. That is an entirely different subject I could and should write my Master's Thesis on.)
In one year the numbers of detentions increased by 400%. The district had to hire two people dedicated to processing and ensuring that detentions were being served. That's my tax dollars at work. This year the school board changed the policy to only require the students to have the ID on their person. The students also needed to show the ID when entering the building. When a teacher or staff member asks a student to see their ID they must produce it or face punishment as deemed by the teacher. The punishment can not exceed 30 minutes of detention.
So basically after my experience I would not suggest the use of ID cards.
we have a winner.
Repeat after me...
RAID IS NOT A BACKUP.
Here's how I do my backup....
1. I have a computer with 2x200 GB drives mirrored.
2. I do an incremental backup of the data on these drives every other day to DVD-R discs. (I do not keep the discs for more than 6 months)
3. Every other month I do a full backup and take it off site. (Safety deposit box)
4. I rsync my critical data every four hours to an offsite server which is backed up to tape every night.
Most of the data that I back up is not critical. Much of it is music, movies, etc. that could be replaced but would take time. I do not want to rip all of my cds and dvds again.
I classify critical data as something that can not be replaced or replicated without a huge amount of effort. This includes family photos, documents, etc.
The only reason I use RAID at home is that the drives will eventually fail. When they do fail, hopefully not at the same time, I will only need to pop a new drive in. It is all about convenience and saving time. That is it.
The Republicans are VERY vulnerable on this front, and the Democrats could make a lot of headway pushing at it.
I highly doubt it. The majority of Americans oppose gay marriage but support civil unions.
I am within this majority. I believe that gay couples should have equal protection. I do not believe however that the definition of marriage should be changed.
I think Dean was a bad choice for the DNC chairman. Dean is seen as a far left person even though this may not be true. The Dems need a moderate as a leader in order to get back into power.
Click on the G on the search bar a choose Yahoo. Done.
I had a similar situation with a Toshiba laptop I bought a few years back. The unit came with a 1 year depot repair warranty standard. I planned on keeping the unit for at least three years (I was in college) so I purchased an extended 3 year warranty.
After having the laptop for a year and a half the unit would not power on from time to time. I didn't think much of it at first until the unit would not turn on at all. I called the support hotline and explained the problem. They said it was the battery but I knew it wasn't because I had swapped batteries with a friend who had the same model. I got the new battery and it did not fix the problem. I call support again and explain to them that the battery did not fix the problem.
At this point they claimed to have no record of me purchasing an extended warranty. I told them they had sent me a battery already and they claimed no such thing had happened. At this point I asked to speak to their manager. After on hold for 30 minutes I finally got through. I explained to them the situation. Again she said there was no record of the extended warranty. I asked her to look at my account information. She said there were only two entries. The first was the shipment of my laptop and the second was an unnamed package sent out a week ealier. I told her that the other entry was the battery that was sent out. She said there was no way to confirm this. I told her that I would be happy to fax a copy of the original invoice proving the extended warranty. She said that the document could not be sent because there was not a record with Toshiba.
At this point I became angry and asked to speak with her manager. She said that her position was the highest in the support department. I asked who her boss was and she said his name. I asked to be transfered but she refused. She then said I could write a letter to corporate headquarters. At this point I hung up.
Since I was in college and had free time I decided to call support every chance I could. My roommate was a support person at one time and he said that the customer should always hang up first. I decided to exploit this rule.
I called every waking hour and spent as much time as I could with anyone I could talk to. I would ask questions completely unrelated to my problem and would always make sure the person on the other end knew my name. I also made sure that I wrote down the name of the person I was talking to.
After doing this for two weeks I had talked with 58 different people and had spoken to some individuals as many as six times. I finally got my way and was asked to fax the invoice.
So here is my advice to you. If you have the time, be a thorn in the side of the company. Waste their time and resources.
Acutally there are only two forms of life possible.
According to whom?
The only life we can be certain of is our own. Even then I sometimes wonder if I really exist. I guess I must because I am posting this, or am I?
Let the developer know that you appreciate their work. Tell them what you like about the program and what you are using it for.
Some people don't want/expect monetary compensation for their development work. I personally like knowing that someone has found a program useful.
(Food/beer is always good too)
Not really, A VHS would not have survived as long. Beta was a significantly more robust format.
And the VHS vs. Betamax wars begin. Keep it clean. Fight!!!
1+1 does =2.0358 if 1=1.0179
"Anyone who challenges any monopoly is a kind of a hero in my book."
Apple is a monopoly. Can you (legally) run OSX on a x86 PC? No. Can you legally run Windows on a Mac (via emulation)? Yes.
I am in no way a Microsoft fanboy. The market has spoken. The problem is that most people don't choose Windows, they choose a computer based on price. Until recently you couldn't get a Mac for under $999. (I may be wrong.) Then the eMac came along and I considered buying one when they became available to the general public. The problem is that I don't have desk space for my 19" CRT and an eMac. My decision to buy a Mac has changed with the introduction of the Mac mini. I ordered one last night and it will be shipped the 22nd. I also ordered a Belkin USB KVM from Newegg last night. So what does this all mean?
Now people really do have a choice based on price.
Reading Package Lists... Building Dependency Tree... Couldn't find package sense-of-humour Done.
Wow, if this happens watch out for Bill Gates. He'll win so many lawsuits that he'll be rich!
But Bill Gates is already.....
Oh, I get it. That's funny.
Do you reboot to use notepad because its more convenient than emacs?
No, I use vi.
The speaker was holding an Xbox controller but I bet what was seen was a video played on a Windows computer.
You should be using Mozilla in your situation just like Ford should analyze Chevy, Honda, Dodge, etc. cars.
My friend's job at GM is to take apart and measure, record and analyze cars from other manufactures. It is no secret because all other car makers do the same thing. You can not improve your product in the eyes of your customer unless you look at the competition.