The problem with the "parental resposibility" model that you mention is that it is parenting by proxy. Instead of teaching the children what is acceptable and why the rest is not, most parents take the easy route and simply block the "unacceptable" material.
My parents objected to MTV, so I was forbidden to watch it. Even if the technology had been available, they would not have removed the channel from the lineup because that teaches nothing. Too many parents want to have the onus put on schools, the community, or technology, and then bitch when the precious little ones end up as ill-behaved monsters with no concept of self-restraint.
How do you collect your fees? Do you use a standard boilerplate contract to make it a binding, legal issue? Even so, I have worked freelance a bit and found people that were more than willing to accept service but balked at paying.
Any additional info can provide would be appreciated.
I worked for several years as part-time IT. The key is that the company was an nanoengineering R&D company. Everyone there was brilliant, but could do little with computers besides email and filling forms.
I was the only IT employee for the company, but it worked because the entire company was roughly 50 people. I maintained the servers, installed the PCs, fixed the printers, and did break-fix on everything. Even with all that, 25-30 hours a week left me time to continue my education.
It can be done, but from my experience it only really works at smaller companies that do not employee tech-savvy people for other roles.
I was always under the impression that this was a two-stage security system as well. There is the password ("Picard-four-seven-alpha-tango") and a voice-print analysis to confirm it was the correct person issuing the order.
Of course, I don't remember any time where Worf tried to use Riker's credentials, so I can't really back it up...
Security versus convienience has been a large issue here at the hospital where I work in the IS department. Because all of the pharmacy orders are done in our clinical application, the state pharmacology board mandated that another layer of security be added beyond the physician's username/password.
The result is a list of 60 person questions (hometown, number of brothers, country of birth, etc) that is drawn from randomly to ensure the person ordering the drugs is the one who is logged in and authorized. The problem was, doctors were answering "1" to all 60 questions so they would not have to remember the answers or be bothered actually reading the questions. If they had to use their ID badges instead, it would be an even bigger nightmare.
They want speed and ease of use, but are reckless because data security is "my concern". Sometimes it is hard to stop the person with the gun to their head from killing themselves, regardless of whose responsibility it is.
Just because I benefit from my actions does not automatically make them selfish.
I would like to have a OLPC because I would then have the abiltiy to code for a much larger audience, while at the same time feeling good because my code is helping untold numbers of children.
They gain (hopefully) well-written code that assists them in teaching.
The Western world is, by and large, well ahead of the curve. Instead of shutting us out, utilize us. Let us assist the cause in the best way we know how. Computer literate people tend to be a fierce meritocracy, and we seek challenges for the sake of the challenge. We are a dedicated, diverse, and free (if untamed) resource.
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The problem with the "parental resposibility" model that you mention is that it is parenting by proxy. Instead of teaching the children what is acceptable and why the rest is not, most parents take the easy route and simply block the "unacceptable" material.
My parents objected to MTV, so I was forbidden to watch it. Even if the technology had been available, they would not have removed the channel from the lineup because that teaches nothing. Too many parents want to have the onus put on schools, the community, or technology, and then bitch when the precious little ones end up as ill-behaved monsters with no concept of self-restraint.
One last question.
How do you collect your fees? Do you use a standard boilerplate contract to make it a binding, legal issue? Even so, I have worked freelance a bit and found people that were more than willing to accept service but balked at paying.
Any additional info can provide would be appreciated.
I contemplated doing this a few years back, but did not have the courage to go through with it. Mostly because of the unknown.
What types of repairs do you do mostly? Is it mostly dead NICs, or setting up new PCs, or something else entirely?
I worked for several years as part-time IT. The key is that the company was an nanoengineering R&D company. Everyone there was brilliant, but could do little with computers besides email and filling forms. I was the only IT employee for the company, but it worked because the entire company was roughly 50 people. I maintained the servers, installed the PCs, fixed the printers, and did break-fix on everything. Even with all that, 25-30 hours a week left me time to continue my education. It can be done, but from my experience it only really works at smaller companies that do not employee tech-savvy people for other roles.
I was always under the impression that this was a two-stage security system as well. There is the password ("Picard-four-seven-alpha-tango") and a voice-print analysis to confirm it was the correct person issuing the order.
Of course, I don't remember any time where Worf tried to use Riker's credentials, so I can't really back it up...
Security versus convienience has been a large issue here at the hospital where I work in the IS department. Because all of the pharmacy orders are done in our clinical application, the state pharmacology board mandated that another layer of security be added beyond the physician's username/password. The result is a list of 60 person questions (hometown, number of brothers, country of birth, etc) that is drawn from randomly to ensure the person ordering the drugs is the one who is logged in and authorized. The problem was, doctors were answering "1" to all 60 questions so they would not have to remember the answers or be bothered actually reading the questions. If they had to use their ID badges instead, it would be an even bigger nightmare. They want speed and ease of use, but are reckless because data security is "my concern". Sometimes it is hard to stop the person with the gun to their head from killing themselves, regardless of whose responsibility it is.
Just because I benefit from my actions does not automatically make them selfish.
I would like to have a OLPC because I would then have the abiltiy to code for a much larger audience, while at the same time feeling good because my code is helping untold numbers of children.
They gain (hopefully) well-written code that assists them in teaching.
The Western world is, by and large, well ahead of the curve. Instead of shutting us out, utilize us. Let us assist the cause in the best way we know how. Computer literate people tend to be a fierce meritocracy, and we seek challenges for the sake of the challenge. We are a dedicated, diverse, and free (if untamed) resource.