Oh I didn't say I was better off. I'm certainly better off now than I would be if I stuck with the automotive industry, but I do wish I had gone the tech route in the first place. I was too busy misspending my youth, I suppose.
I was just reinforcing the compatibility between IT and automotive skills. As though that needed to be done.
FWIW, I did this the other way around, and it's worked out quite well.
My father was a mechanic, and my first career was in the automotive industry (parts department, not service, but still). I've done a whole lot of car work, and I'm glad I don't have to pay anyone $300 to put in a $15 set of brake pads.
There are a lot more Chevys stolen than BMWs because there are a lot more Chevys. Furthermore, people who drive Chevys and need to get them repaired are more likely (I'm guessing) to take them to shops which would trade in stolen parts than BMW drivers would.
You don't compromise computers in order to disassemble them and resell their component parts. You compromise computers in order to have them do your bidding, and it is that bidding which makes you money, whether it be spam, or warez, or porn of a questionable legal status.
Yes, the Microsoft system model contributes to this, because the default installation has the logged on user running as Administrator and does not require any password. Other systems do not default install this way; they require that root have a password, and they do not default to the created user account running as root. What I wish most is that MS would modify their default install to match this format, and modify the behavior of RunAs so that it would prompt when elevated rights were required. This would solve a lot of the problems with Windows systems and their exploitability.
However, besides that, sheer economics make exploiting Microsoft products more attractive to compromise. If you're going to write malicious code, it makes sense to write that code to be useful on the largest number of systems in the world, so that it will be most effective. You want the highest return for your effort. Considering that, do you want to write exploit code which will work on 80% of the world's computers, or on 5%?
Last thing here - as more less-technical people migrate to Linux, the likelihood that a Linux-based email worm will occur increases. Oh, but you're not running as root? So what, it'll install and run in user space, won't it? It'll still send spam mail out, it'll still try to replicate itself. No, it won't screw up the rest of the machine, but it'll do what it was designed to do. And, if it doesn't screw up the rest of the machine, that means it may stay hidden for longer.
If govt's are now, in 2007, just beginning to realize that they should try to keep up with technology, they're about twenty years too late. I say that's a good thing.
Governments have always had their caches of data, dossiers on various people, classified documents. They've had systems (whether they be electronic or not) to manage that data. The citizenry, historically, has not had the ability to collect, distribute, or parse data on the scale that governments have.
Yes, governments can control populations with brute force, but it's much more effective to control populations with information - through misrepresentation, repetition, omission, incorrect weighting, and selective release. Populations have not been able to organize well against these kinds of propaganda strategies. Until now.
The world-girdling information network is maturing to the point where regular people have access to information that they would otherwise not have. Sources are becoming known as being more or less trustworthy. Some individuals are finding a space on the national and world stage, even if that space is in their niche area.
I pray that governments continue to stay behind the technology curve. Take away my Second Amendment rights all you want; you'll have to pry the internet from my cold dead hands.
So HP is getting into the market that Canon and Xerox and Lexmark and Toshiba and Kyocera and Sharp and and and are already in? I suppose the interesting deal is that HP would be doing the printer leasing direct from the factory instead of having a local leasing and servicing middleman do it. But it's not like the business model is revolutionary.
Or, speed up your mouse pointer so you're not waving your arm all over the desk to get the pointer to go across the screen. Set it up fast enough, and just flexing your fingers on the mouse will do anything you need.
And remember there is a difference between making 'backups' (store my important files somewhere else so I can get them in case of a system failure) and preparing for 'disaster recovery' (store everyones files somewhere else so we can rebuild the entire infrastructure in case the building burns to the ground).
You've got that wrong. Disaster Recovery is recovery from system failure, whether it be caused by natural disaster, malicious acts, or hardware failure. "Store my important files somewhere else so I can get them in case of a system fail^H^H^H^H I do something stupid and lose them because of my own mistake" is Idiot Recovery.
No, I will not call back a tape from two weeks ago because you made a mistake and saved over your Excel spreadsheet the wrong way, or because you managed to delete something because you're sloppy with a mouse.
You, user, are in control of your own data. You are responsible for its appropriate handling and content. I am responsible for only its appropriate storage, and not its content.
Most of the corn grown in the US is feed corn, used as food for livestock, not as food for humans. Next is corn grown to be turned into high fructose corn syrup, to sweeten just about everything. The stuff in the grocery store, be it canned, frozen or fresh, is last in line. And last I checked, when the stores have fresh corn on the cob, they sell it for something like a dime an ear.
[blockquote]That would mean that we can just leave them anywhere, right?[/blockquote]
No, it would be the same way as they already do for tires I imagine. You're not paying for the freedom to do anything you like with the refuse; you're paying to defray the cost of proper disposal.
That's really gonna bring down the resale value of my 2002 Saturn L200, if they can just go around making the things using atom smashers. I wonder what General Motors has to say about this.
Of course, in many large companies today, IT is the core value and a key driver of value to customers (e.g. FedEx). I might expect to see more CIO to CEO promotions.
You'd think, wouldn't you? What I see is that IT is still the red-headed stepchild of business, and executive committees would much prefer to do business without it. Instead of recognizing that IT is the core of business operations (the part of the company that delivers what the sales force is selling), executives continue to focus on revenue and profit ("As long as we have sales, we're fine; never mind delivering a quality product.")
Another thing - although the title is "CIO," they're not always at the same C-level as the CFO, COO or other officers. CIOs often end up reporting to another C-level, because "well, we have to put IT somewhere, and one place makes as much (non)sense as another."
That should be a loud message that IT is important enough and different enough that it should be on par with accounting and operations and everything else. Never really is, though.
Just as a business shouldn't need a staff carpenters on hand to re-build walls that fall down, it shouldn't need a staff of IT experts on hand to re-build failing infrastructure.
Not to speak ill of the carpenters out there, but ten servers in a server room, switching, routing and firewalling, along with a hundred desktop machines, twenty remote laptops connecting via VPN, a bunch of production printers and maybe a fax machine or two is vastly more complex and prone to failure (whether spontaneous or from misuse) than wall studs, nails, sheet rock and screws. And that's for a small business.
However, though I disagree with your analogy, I understand your point. I still say that in most environments, it would be about a month before the executive committee started looking for heads to roll. Three maybe in a really buttoned up system.
Management is ignorant to the fact most stuff just works and the IT guys basically sit around all day...
A high quality IT staff is never heard or seen, and everything does just keep working. Why does it keep working? Because your IT staff made it work as well as it does, and when it breaks down, fixes it quickly enough that you may not even notice it's broken.
Go ahead. Get rid of your IT staff, because "everything just works." It'll be fine - for a month or so. After that, good luck; you'll be living on borrowed time.
It is easy enough for the OEMs to still include their craplets, but have them exist as install-on-demand. The icons are there for the apps, and should you want to use them, you click the icon and the app installs (not necessarily with user input, could be done quietly). For most users, this will seem as seamless as if the app was actually installed and ready to run.
Of course blogs would reference an article which references them. That sig I have, I've had it a while. Web 2.0 is the art of being completely circular and self-referential.
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That took me by surprise. That was candidly insightful. Thank you.
Oh I didn't say I was better off. I'm certainly better off now than I would be if I stuck with the automotive industry, but I do wish I had gone the tech route in the first place. I was too busy misspending my youth, I suppose.
I was just reinforcing the compatibility between IT and automotive skills. As though that needed to be done.
FWIW, I did this the other way around, and it's worked out quite well.
My father was a mechanic, and my first career was in the automotive industry (parts department, not service, but still). I've done a whole lot of car work, and I'm glad I don't have to pay anyone $300 to put in a $15 set of brake pads.
Bad analogy.
There are a lot more Chevys stolen than BMWs because there are a lot more Chevys. Furthermore, people who drive Chevys and need to get them repaired are more likely (I'm guessing) to take them to shops which would trade in stolen parts than BMW drivers would.
You don't compromise computers in order to disassemble them and resell their component parts. You compromise computers in order to have them do your bidding, and it is that bidding which makes you money, whether it be spam, or warez, or porn of a questionable legal status.
Yes, the Microsoft system model contributes to this, because the default installation has the logged on user running as Administrator and does not require any password. Other systems do not default install this way; they require that root have a password, and they do not default to the created user account running as root. What I wish most is that MS would modify their default install to match this format, and modify the behavior of RunAs so that it would prompt when elevated rights were required. This would solve a lot of the problems with Windows systems and their exploitability.
However, besides that, sheer economics make exploiting Microsoft products more attractive to compromise. If you're going to write malicious code, it makes sense to write that code to be useful on the largest number of systems in the world, so that it will be most effective. You want the highest return for your effort. Considering that, do you want to write exploit code which will work on 80% of the world's computers, or on 5%?
Last thing here - as more less-technical people migrate to Linux, the likelihood that a Linux-based email worm will occur increases. Oh, but you're not running as root? So what, it'll install and run in user space, won't it? It'll still send spam mail out, it'll still try to replicate itself. No, it won't screw up the rest of the machine, but it'll do what it was designed to do. And, if it doesn't screw up the rest of the machine, that means it may stay hidden for longer.
If govt's are now, in 2007, just beginning to realize that they should try to keep up with technology, they're about twenty years too late. I say that's a good thing.
Governments have always had their caches of data, dossiers on various people, classified documents. They've had systems (whether they be electronic or not) to manage that data. The citizenry, historically, has not had the ability to collect, distribute, or parse data on the scale that governments have.
Yes, governments can control populations with brute force, but it's much more effective to control populations with information - through misrepresentation, repetition, omission, incorrect weighting, and selective release. Populations have not been able to organize well against these kinds of propaganda strategies. Until now.
The world-girdling information network is maturing to the point where regular people have access to information that they would otherwise not have. Sources are becoming known as being more or less trustworthy. Some individuals are finding a space on the national and world stage, even if that space is in their niche area.
I pray that governments continue to stay behind the technology curve. Take away my Second Amendment rights all you want; you'll have to pry the internet from my cold dead hands.
Thought police?
Silly, they'll just make eleven louder, and keep eleven as the top number. Sheesh.
So HP is getting into the market that Canon and Xerox and Lexmark and Toshiba and Kyocera and Sharp and and and are already in? I suppose the interesting deal is that HP would be doing the printer leasing direct from the factory instead of having a local leasing and servicing middleman do it. But it's not like the business model is revolutionary.
I too am a happy customer of Vonage. I'm really really really really really glad I didn't fall for Vonage's "Pay for a year up front!" deal recently.
Or, speed up your mouse pointer so you're not waving your arm all over the desk to get the pointer to go across the screen. Set it up fast enough, and just flexing your fingers on the mouse will do anything you need.
You've got that wrong. Disaster Recovery is recovery from system failure, whether it be caused by natural disaster, malicious acts, or hardware failure. "Store my important files somewhere else so I can get them in case of a system fail^H^H^H^H I do something stupid and lose them because of my own mistake" is Idiot Recovery.
No, I will not call back a tape from two weeks ago because you made a mistake and saved over your Excel spreadsheet the wrong way, or because you managed to delete something because you're sloppy with a mouse.
You, user, are in control of your own data. You are responsible for its appropriate handling and content. I am responsible for only its appropriate storage, and not its content.
Most of the corn grown in the US is feed corn, used as food for livestock, not as food for humans. Next is corn grown to be turned into high fructose corn syrup, to sweeten just about everything. The stuff in the grocery store, be it canned, frozen or fresh, is last in line. And last I checked, when the stores have fresh corn on the cob, they sell it for something like a dime an ear.
We got plenty of fucking corn.
[blockquote]That would mean that we can just leave them anywhere, right?[/blockquote]
No, it would be the same way as they already do for tires I imagine. You're not paying for the freedom to do anything you like with the refuse; you're paying to defray the cost of proper disposal.
That's really gonna bring down the resale value of my 2002 Saturn L200, if they can just go around making the things using atom smashers. I wonder what General Motors has to say about this.
There's probably a GUI interface that'll let you click a checkbox on|off to control caps lock state.
You'd think, wouldn't you? What I see is that IT is still the red-headed stepchild of business, and executive committees would much prefer to do business without it. Instead of recognizing that IT is the core of business operations (the part of the company that delivers what the sales force is selling), executives continue to focus on revenue and profit ("As long as we have sales, we're fine; never mind delivering a quality product.")
Another thing - although the title is "CIO," they're not always at the same C-level as the CFO, COO or other officers. CIOs often end up reporting to another C-level, because "well, we have to put IT somewhere, and one place makes as much (non)sense as another."
That should be a loud message that IT is important enough and different enough that it should be on par with accounting and operations and everything else. Never really is, though.
Haa ha ha HAA HAAAA AHHHAHHHAAAAHAHHAAAA
Not to speak ill of the carpenters out there, but ten servers in a server room, switching, routing and firewalling, along with a hundred desktop machines, twenty remote laptops connecting via VPN, a bunch of production printers and maybe a fax machine or two is vastly more complex and prone to failure (whether spontaneous or from misuse) than wall studs, nails, sheet rock and screws. And that's for a small business.
However, though I disagree with your analogy, I understand your point. I still say that in most environments, it would be about a month before the executive committee started looking for heads to roll. Three maybe in a really buttoned up system.
A high quality IT staff is never heard or seen, and everything does just keep working. Why does it keep working? Because your IT staff made it work as well as it does, and when it breaks down, fixes it quickly enough that you may not even notice it's broken.
Go ahead. Get rid of your IT staff, because "everything just works." It'll be fine - for a month or so. After that, good luck; you'll be living on borrowed time.
It is easy enough for the OEMs to still include their craplets, but have them exist as install-on-demand. The icons are there for the apps, and should you want to use them, you click the icon and the app installs (not necessarily with user input, could be done quietly). For most users, this will seem as seamless as if the app was actually installed and ready to run.
And then I spell Ferrari's (sic) wrong anyway. Someone shoot me.
They're Ferarri's what?
Of course blogs would reference an article which references them. That sig I have, I've had it a while. Web 2.0 is the art of being completely circular and self-referential.
... who thought, "And why do we need pr0n-free cows again?"
Stuart!
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a Dead Milkmen lyric. Just had to give you some props for that.