It can be a useful tactic to convert requests into quotes. Effectively, as the IT expert, you're telling them what something will cost.
And EVERYTHING has a price tag. EVERYTHING. Breaking the laws of physics? That will require three quadrillion dollars to hire the world's best brains, build the equipment to usher in a new era of science, and then create the engineering which will create the products which will do what the original requester wanted.
Then it's their problem about where to come up with the money.
Sometimes, as noted above, the actual costs are high, but will get paid. Not often, but it does happen. And for the 0.5% of requests which end up going forward, you've managed to helpfully, competently, empoweringly blow off the other 99.5% with very little hassle on your part.
A similar tactic I've seen used in large organizations is the business case. There are always users who whine and complain about the current setup, and who will just whine more if told 'not in a million years Sunny Jim'. So tell every requester that you'll be most happy to forward their paperwork to the appropriate executive in charge of that decision, and that said executive needs a Business Case in order to track and approve corporate changes.
Said business case doesn't even need to be terribly fancy - an analysis of the current situtation, a writeup on what needs changing, a suggestion for a solution, a complete costing for said changes, and a summary of benefits which would result from spending that money, including the number of affected users. Trivial stuff, really.
But it's amazing how many people don't have sufficient strength of conviction to write half a page on "why it would be good".
Best part - if they ever bring it up again, you can just ask them how their business case is going. And for those few who ever DO get around to writing something up, it can indeed be forwarded to the appropriate area to laugh at and reject. But hey - it wasn't YOU doing the rejecting. YOU were helpful and courteous!
Insecurely designed systems insecurely administered on insecure network insecurely connected to insecure internet run afoul of common problem; patients feel insecure?
"Microsoft now unable to GIVE Windows away" jokes aside, it's kind of sad that a self-proclaimed super-successful IT company is still so far out of touch that they couldn't predict this. It's not as if they couldn't afford all manner of solutions well in advance.
It's probably a really nice place to retire or spend a vacation - many small places are. I'd just hate to try and get access to various commercial services available in larger cities.
Idyllic surroundings are nice, but there's a cost paid in personal time and convenience.
It'd be nice to be able to get the best of both worlds. To be able to relax on the beach or at the park, while still being able to go shopping at 3am and not have to stand in line for two hours to get service anywhere.
There's a real difference between taking time to enjoy something and being forced to spend time doing things which in other places could be done without the delays.
Ah, but then law enforcement will develop tracking technology with deploy anti-taser laser phaser tracers.
Leading the geeks, of course, to develop anti-taser laser phaser tracer erasers.
In order to shore up the existing expensive systems, the taser users will then need to use anti-taser laser phaser tracer anti-eraser bracers.
Fortunately, these can be targeted in turn in real time with anti-taser laser phaser tracer anti-eraser bracer chasers.
Assuming, of course, they're not pulled off target by anti-taser laser phaser tracer anti-eraser bracer chaser pacers.
I can see this settling into an escalation war between the two technologies, resulting in the anti-taser laser phaser tracer anti-eraser bracer chaser-pacer races.
I'm not really thrilled with the thought of stuff which can be updated remotely, especially remotely, quickly, and without any kind of manual lockout.
Having to hold my hand on a flat plate for 10-30 seconds and then having to manually OK an update via some system which wasn't spoofable, interceptable, or complex enough to be digitally hacked would be a good start.
Start by assuming commercial and public seating will try and 'update' your images or software, including in summer when clothes tend to be thinner and with less coverage, or at places near beaches. Go on to assume that doorknobs and sections of sidewalks will do the same. What should be in place to get around this?
A non-overridable, non-blockable reset process requiring no external equipment should be mandatory. Then there are the issues of the lifespan of a given hardware installation, the difficulty and long-term medical effects of upgrading hardware, potential medical problems arising if the hardware is damaged (crushed, cut, splintered)...
Good thing that it's impossible to compromise a router, then...
Best bet - minimise number of contacts. Boot using a different OS CD each time and physically incinerate the CDs after using. Use a series of old, cheap hard drives if the OS needs one, and physically incinerate those at the end of each session too. If you're particularly paranoid, burn your RAM or at least have it on continuous refresh for an hour after each session. Use older hardware - it's less likely to have tracking chips on it. Make all connections via other people's unsecured wireless connections, a different one each time, from locations which are not only away from security cameras but which do not have security cameras between them and your regular haunts. If at all possible, try to automate the connections and have alibis for your whereabouts at the time of the connections. Run the connections through some bit of hardware which will slag itself harmlessly if jostled or opened without the correct wireless key. Have the hardware slag itself anyway after a fixed period of time rather than retrieving it yourself. Pick some disaffected black hat group (preferably international) for your signals to be traced back to if it goes that far. Have a non-IT job which you are good at and make a decent wage at.
Above all, don't be a 12-to-45 white male citizen of the US with a background or job history in computing, engeering, data service provision, or a related field, and few close friends.
Better solution: Host news reposters on sites which are not subject to takedown notices. Watch content providers continue to struggle with the concept that once it's out on the net, it's effectively free to the entire planet.
My usual response to any such "Why doesn't your computer do/show X?" question is generally "Why would I want my computer to do that?" Sometimes the lightbulb goes on, sometimes it doesn't.
My soda consumption (usually Coke) used to creep up to around five and a half gallons a week. Then I'd quit (usually around Friday lunchtime) and have three days of headaches. I'd stay that way for a couple of days or weeks and then restart the cycle.
I did this over about ten years. The worst effects were in university, where I once found myself waking up in front of a Coke machine at 8am with a half-full can in my hand, and absolutely no memory of how I got there. Considering I never drank... alcohol, anyway... it was a little disturbing.
Garages could be a plus, rather than a minus. They don't go anywhere and are often out in the sun. Cover them with the same solar cell tech and have them recharge the car when it gets home.
Slashdot Mirror
"Ra ra ra! I hate you all! Ra ra ra! Go die in a fire! Ra ra ra! You piss me off! Ra ra ra! Getttttttt stuffed!" You're right, I do feel better!
Prizing something ain't worth much without enforcement.
On the downside this means that you'll have to:
(a) have lunch with them, and
(b) get to know them personally.
Barring the rare shop where everyone is fun to work with, is anyone at all in the technical side of IT _not_ thinking "...ew" right now?
And EVERYTHING has a price tag. EVERYTHING. Breaking the laws of physics? That will require three quadrillion dollars to hire the world's best brains, build the equipment to usher in a new era of science, and then create the engineering which will create the products which will do what the original requester wanted.
Then it's their problem about where to come up with the money.
Sometimes, as noted above, the actual costs are high, but will get paid. Not often, but it does happen. And for the 0.5% of requests which end up going forward, you've managed to helpfully, competently, empoweringly blow off the other 99.5% with very little hassle on your part.
A similar tactic I've seen used in large organizations is the business case. There are always users who whine and complain about the current setup, and who will just whine more if told 'not in a million years Sunny Jim'. So tell every requester that you'll be most happy to forward their paperwork to the appropriate executive in charge of that decision, and that said executive needs a Business Case in order to track and approve corporate changes.
Said business case doesn't even need to be terribly fancy - an analysis of the current situtation, a writeup on what needs changing, a suggestion for a solution, a complete costing for said changes, and a summary of benefits which would result from spending that money, including the number of affected users. Trivial stuff, really.
But it's amazing how many people don't have sufficient strength of conviction to write half a page on "why it would be good".
Best part - if they ever bring it up again, you can just ask them how their business case is going. And for those few who ever DO get around to writing something up, it can indeed be forwarded to the appropriate area to laugh at and reject. But hey - it wasn't YOU doing the rejecting. YOU were helpful and courteous!
Google Drone: Sir, Microsoft's put out a search engine.
Sergey Brin: Huh. Any good?
Google Drone: No.
Sergey Brin: Thought so.
You can still get them online. I use one myself, and it's the longest-surviving hardware component of my home system.
It's Unix - she knows this!
Insecurely designed systems insecurely administered on insecure network insecurely connected to insecure internet run afoul of common problem; patients feel insecure?
"Microsoft now unable to GIVE Windows away" jokes aside, it's kind of sad that a self-proclaimed super-successful IT company is still so far out of touch that they couldn't predict this. It's not as if they couldn't afford all manner of solutions well in advance.
That's not a city, that's a pregnant crossroads.
It's probably a really nice place to retire or spend a vacation - many small places are. I'd just hate to try and get access to various commercial services available in larger cities.
Idyllic surroundings are nice, but there's a cost paid in personal time and convenience.
There's a real difference between taking time to enjoy something and being forced to spend time doing things which in other places could be done without the delays.
Nice to know the media is doing its job, then.
Leading the geeks, of course, to develop anti-taser laser phaser tracer erasers.
In order to shore up the existing expensive systems, the taser users will then need to use anti-taser laser phaser tracer anti-eraser bracers.
Fortunately, these can be targeted in turn in real time with anti-taser laser phaser tracer anti-eraser bracer chasers.
Assuming, of course, they're not pulled off target by anti-taser laser phaser tracer anti-eraser bracer chaser pacers.
I can see this settling into an escalation war between the two technologies, resulting in the anti-taser laser phaser tracer anti-eraser bracer chaser-pacer races.
So who builds all these? Acer?
Another OS holy war.
Oh yes, that's Liz.
It's also aggressive and doesn't care about stomping on other applications and the OS in order to achieve its goals.
Having to hold my hand on a flat plate for 10-30 seconds and then having to manually OK an update via some system which wasn't spoofable, interceptable, or complex enough to be digitally hacked would be a good start.
Start by assuming commercial and public seating will try and 'update' your images or software, including in summer when clothes tend to be thinner and with less coverage, or at places near beaches. Go on to assume that doorknobs and sections of sidewalks will do the same. What should be in place to get around this?
A non-overridable, non-blockable reset process requiring no external equipment should be mandatory. Then there are the issues of the lifespan of a given hardware installation, the difficulty and long-term medical effects of upgrading hardware, potential medical problems arising if the hardware is damaged (crushed, cut, splintered)...
Best bet - minimise number of contacts. Boot using a different OS CD each time and physically incinerate the CDs after using. Use a series of old, cheap hard drives if the OS needs one, and physically incinerate those at the end of each session too. If you're particularly paranoid, burn your RAM or at least have it on continuous refresh for an hour after each session. Use older hardware - it's less likely to have tracking chips on it. Make all connections via other people's unsecured wireless connections, a different one each time, from locations which are not only away from security cameras but which do not have security cameras between them and your regular haunts. If at all possible, try to automate the connections and have alibis for your whereabouts at the time of the connections. Run the connections through some bit of hardware which will slag itself harmlessly if jostled or opened without the correct wireless key. Have the hardware slag itself anyway after a fixed period of time rather than retrieving it yourself. Pick some disaffected black hat group (preferably international) for your signals to be traced back to if it goes that far. Have a non-IT job which you are good at and make a decent wage at.
Above all, don't be a 12-to-45 white male citizen of the US with a background or job history in computing, engeering, data service provision, or a related field, and few close friends.
Presumably the response would be to simply add such clothing to the banned list, but I'm not sure what could be done about subdermal displays.
I was waiting for "...expected to make a full recovery, and is already training for the Boston Marathon."
Better solution: Host news reposters on sites which are not subject to takedown notices. Watch content providers continue to struggle with the concept that once it's out on the net, it's effectively free to the entire planet.
My usual response to any such "Why doesn't your computer do/show X?" question is generally "Why would I want my computer to do that?" Sometimes the lightbulb goes on, sometimes it doesn't.
Not to mention that you're also decreasing unnecessary load on the advertiser's servers.
I did this over about ten years. The worst effects were in university, where I once found myself waking up in front of a Coke machine at 8am with a half-full can in my hand, and absolutely no memory of how I got there. Considering I never drank... alcohol, anyway... it was a little disturbing.
Garages could be a plus, rather than a minus. They don't go anywhere and are often out in the sun. Cover them with the same solar cell tech and have them recharge the car when it gets home.