Don't forget Tubgirl. That might be the last time that the "agent" looks for porn (or sees anything after the eye gouging) ever again. Unfortunately, you'd probably get charged with aggravated assault. And if ever there were pictures that could constitute assault...
To point out the obvious, not all instances of child pornography is child abuse. For instance, a 16-year-old girl who sends nude photos of herself to her boyfriend is not child abuse. A neighbor that takes nude pictures of your 8-year-old after inviting him/her over for cookies is committing child abuse. Considering that the 16-year-old's boyfriend and the 16-year-old herself can be charged under child pornography laws and be convicted, I can understand the confusion.
In some cases, having WiFi can actually make your network more secure* (particularly in the scenario that you pose). Some APs can auto-squelch a rogue access point, which prevents your laptop from staying connected to your unauthorized AP. You can also get a list of APs that can see the rogue AP along with the signal strengths to each so that you can approximate the location of the rogue AP. In addition, you'll probably have the MAC address of the AP (only probably because the MAC can be different on the wireless and Ethernet interfaces on some APs), which means you can find the port and thus, the jack, and finally, the rogue AP. Play back the video for that zone at the time that the rogue AP was detected and you'll find the culprit. All of the above assumes business grade equipment and proper implementation (which includes documentation).
*This is not a recommendation to install WiFi just for the sake of blocking rogue APs.
If long and/or irregular work hours are the norm in academia, then what's unusual? Someone who sticks to a tight schedule? Do terrorists have terrorism classes to attend on a regular basis? If a person always leaves the lab when someone else comes in or if he always comes in 5 minutes after the last person leaves, then it's the behavior that's unusual--not the work hours.
I can think of other reasons. If you printed something but one of the colors ran out during the print, you just wasted the ink for the other colors. If you're printing a full-page photo, that waste could be significant. There's also the question of quality control. You might not notice an imperfection because a color ran too low on the last two pages. It doesn't look too good when a pie chart is missing a slice on a presentation handout or if the text is faded or illegible in some spots on your resume (although you should probably use laser for a resume anyway). Granted, 50% waste is totally excessive but if it actually worked correctly, it could be a legitimate feature. If it's really that difficult to make a good ink sensor, the obvious solution is to allow the users to force the print job anyway and let them take their chances. Hell, even if the sensor has a print job accuracy down to 5 pages, let the people who want to squeeze out that last bit of ink go ahead and do it.
No, I don't bill a specific client time to download something that I would normally need at multiple client sites (like SP2 for Windows Server 2003). Also, on occasion, I'll update my CDs without having a particular client in mind. Anything that I take the time to download on my own time is something that I will use at multiple clients.
If the driver probing doesn't work, the wrong values are going to get written to the config file. The open source Intel drivers worked perfectly on my wide screen laptop. I've had the nVidia and ATI driver installers bork my xorg.conf on my desktop. I've also had a missing resolution in Windows, when an older and a newer driver had the resolution that was missing in a particular version. I see people on Windows using a wide screen monitor at a resolution meant for a 4:3 aspect ratio. Windows doesn't always suggest the highest resolution, nor the one with a proper aspect ration for your monitor. I don't know if that's an OS problem or a driver issue. Either way, drivers sometimes do suck and it's not necessarily the OS' or the installer's fault for failed probing (although adding an undetected resolution after the fact should be much easier).
As a side note, I'm not really sure why the resolutions are still listed in xorg.conf anyway. Although only being able to select specific resolutions is useful in some situations (like the need to switch between two specific resolutions quickly), I haven't had any reason to do ctrl-alt-+ in a long time. If swapping monitors while live, a key combination to force a monitor probe would probably be more useful. It should be more of an option (for locking down resolutions and color depths, for troubleshooting, or using an old video card/monitor) than a requirement. If anyone can think of some other reasons for putting the resolutions in a config file (that I haven't listed), I'd be interested in hearing them.
My desktop at home is Debian GNU/Linux but I deal mostly with Windows at work. If I want to download some things to prepare for the next day, WGA gets in the way of my ability to support Windows systems. Having the ability to download the software without Windows is good for me (meaning I'm not sitting at my office waiting for things to download) and good for the Microsoft users that I support since I'm not downloading patches at their expense.
Sub-par equipment is usually to blame. The disconnections and poor performance that you regularly experience tend to disappear by installing higher grade equipment (assuming, of course, that you don't have a real problem like interference). Despite the high cost, we only install Cisco wireless equipment for our customers. (We do try to make it worth the extra expense with added features like authentication, multiple zones, etc. which is really what you're paying for with Cisco equipment.) I only wish that their Linksys line was the same hardware minus the features. Anecdotally, Netgear seems to have decent consumer grade WAPs (or at least they used to).
I see that problem with AOL fairly frequently when our clients wonder why they can't e-mail AOL users anymore. I confirm that out clients don't have open relays, do have proper reverse DNS, and that their mail server is advertising itself using a FQDN that resolves to its real IP address. Then I call AOL and get them taken off of the blacklist and fill-out the white list and feedback loop forms. The problem has never returned. I've done that more than half a dozen times.
On a related note, I've witnessed people using the spam button (or equivalent in other programs) like they were just hitting delete. I've had to explain that if they don't want to see e-mail that they subscribed for, they should unsubscribe. Tagging non-spam as spam increases false positives, which is usually worse than a few spam messages leaking through.
My Panasonic DVD-RV31 can do 2x with the subtitles still on. It also does pitch control so you can still hear the audio (although it's choppy) at those speeds.
Checking voicemail on my cell phone (Verizon) does exactly what you're talking about. The unnecessary pauses between words and the fact that you can't interrupt some messages (like pressing 1 to just get to the damned message) are the worst. It takes about 55 seconds to start listening to the first message and the extra time counts against your minutes.
I used to work retail (who hasn't?) and we had the same type of credit deals. 0% financing for 12 months. If you didn't pay off the balance within the 12 months, *all* of the accrued interest was tacked on to your bill. (That's how most, if not all of those deals work.)
Anyway, I used to do the credit sign-ups from time-to-time. If someone was buying a $1,200 computer, it was rare that they were approved for the full purchase amount. One of the guys that had been around for a while told me to double the purchase price when talking to the credit rep. That was usually enough to get the customer approved for the full purchase price including tax. I don't know the reasoning behind the credit approval was, but that little trick worked pretty well. Not one of the customers asked me how the 0% financing worked though. Either they already knew, or they thought that credit card companies were benevolent organizations.
The free credit report commercials that I've seen were from the actual credit reporting agencies (like Experian). The catch is that they try to sell you a detailed report, credit protection, etc. If you don't purchase anything and actually get your free report (one free per year, required to be provided by U.S. law), your information gets distributed to various credit agencies and you'll get buried in credit card applications. Fortunately, you just have to call the number or go to the website on the application to opt-out. I haven't had a credit card application since opting-out (which was a pleasant surprise). Anyway, if you want a free U.S. credit report, go to one of the big three credit reporting agencies, go back and change your options if you get prompted for payment information (because you've obviously accepted one or more of the defaults), and don't forget to opt-out (unless you like getting credit applications and giving your shredder a workout).
While your final point is sound, having the opinion that Microsoft's alleged list of patents won't stand up in court is not FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt). Considering that Microsoft seems reluctant to specifically identify any of the 235 card carrying... I mean, patent violations makes their claim seem rather dubious.
Things must be changing then. My relatives look directly into my eyes when speaking to me. It's true about the "older" generations (like my grandparents in their 90s) but my parents (in their 60s) crack jokes, smile brightly, and are visually expressive. The only time that I'm aware of that looking down is appropriate is when you're being submissive, like when you're being reprimanded by your boss or parents. I'm not saying that you're wrong--just that our experiences are quite different. However, I share your experience about there being less emphasis on eye contact. Visual or audible indications (like nodding or "hmmm") that indicate that you're paying attention are still required though. Anyone with their eyes closed during a meeting (which isn't uncommon and can show intent listening) that isn't making any type of gesture could very well be sleeping.:-) (I'm American born and started BBSing in the 1990 so I use the horizontal type. BTW, I was referring to my relatives in Japan, not just my immediate family who has been in the U.S. for 30+ years.)
You can still plan ahead. i.e. There's no reason why you can't have your own patch Tuesday. The only difference that I see is your boss' view of culpability.
"Why wasn't that security patch for vulnerability X applied in time before we got hit?"
A. Because we were waiting for our monthly test cycle so that we can test a lot of patches at once instead of one at a time at various days of the month. B. Because Microsoft didn't release it until patch Tuesday, which [was after we got hit|didn't give us enough time to test the patches before getting hit on Wednesday].
I believe that the primary reasons for having a patch Tuesday are: -simplified tracking of patches (just look for the releases from that day) -Microsoft doesn't have to make 5 or more announcements per month -your desktop PCs only need to reboot once a month (instead of once every time a patch with a required reboot is released) -OCD sysadmins aren't compelled to install each individual patch on the day of release;-) (I actually don't know any sysadmins that would do this, but some customers that do their own maintenance do.)
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Don't forget Tubgirl. That might be the last time that the "agent" looks for porn (or sees anything after the eye gouging) ever again. Unfortunately, you'd probably get charged with aggravated assault. And if ever there were pictures that could constitute assault...
To point out the obvious, not all instances of child pornography is child abuse. For instance, a 16-year-old girl who sends nude photos of herself to her boyfriend is not child abuse. A neighbor that takes nude pictures of your 8-year-old after inviting him/her over for cookies is committing child abuse. Considering that the 16-year-old's boyfriend and the 16-year-old herself can be charged under child pornography laws and be convicted, I can understand the confusion.
In some cases, having WiFi can actually make your network more secure* (particularly in the scenario that you pose). Some APs can auto-squelch a rogue access point, which prevents your laptop from staying connected to your unauthorized AP. You can also get a list of APs that can see the rogue AP along with the signal strengths to each so that you can approximate the location of the rogue AP. In addition, you'll probably have the MAC address of the AP (only probably because the MAC can be different on the wireless and Ethernet interfaces on some APs), which means you can find the port and thus, the jack, and finally, the rogue AP. Play back the video for that zone at the time that the rogue AP was detected and you'll find the culprit. All of the above assumes business grade equipment and proper implementation (which includes documentation).
*This is not a recommendation to install WiFi just for the sake of blocking rogue APs.
Yeah, I can't wait to install Microsoft software on my Linux systems.
If long and/or irregular work hours are the norm in academia, then what's unusual? Someone who sticks to a tight schedule? Do terrorists have terrorism classes to attend on a regular basis? If a person always leaves the lab when someone else comes in or if he always comes in 5 minutes after the last person leaves, then it's the behavior that's unusual--not the work hours.
Never attribute to tectonic events that which can be adequately explained by global warming.
I can think of other reasons. If you printed something but one of the colors ran out during the print, you just wasted the ink for the other colors. If you're printing a full-page photo, that waste could be significant. There's also the question of quality control. You might not notice an imperfection because a color ran too low on the last two pages. It doesn't look too good when a pie chart is missing a slice on a presentation handout or if the text is faded or illegible in some spots on your resume (although you should probably use laser for a resume anyway). Granted, 50% waste is totally excessive but if it actually worked correctly, it could be a legitimate feature. If it's really that difficult to make a good ink sensor, the obvious solution is to allow the users to force the print job anyway and let them take their chances. Hell, even if the sensor has a print job accuracy down to 5 pages, let the people who want to squeeze out that last bit of ink go ahead and do it.
No, I don't bill a specific client time to download something that I would normally need at multiple client sites (like SP2 for Windows Server 2003). Also, on occasion, I'll update my CDs without having a particular client in mind. Anything that I take the time to download on my own time is something that I will use at multiple clients.
If the driver probing doesn't work, the wrong values are going to get written to the config file. The open source Intel drivers worked perfectly on my wide screen laptop. I've had the nVidia and ATI driver installers bork my xorg.conf on my desktop. I've also had a missing resolution in Windows, when an older and a newer driver had the resolution that was missing in a particular version. I see people on Windows using a wide screen monitor at a resolution meant for a 4:3 aspect ratio. Windows doesn't always suggest the highest resolution, nor the one with a proper aspect ration for your monitor. I don't know if that's an OS problem or a driver issue. Either way, drivers sometimes do suck and it's not necessarily the OS' or the installer's fault for failed probing (although adding an undetected resolution after the fact should be much easier).
As a side note, I'm not really sure why the resolutions are still listed in xorg.conf anyway. Although only being able to select specific resolutions is useful in some situations (like the need to switch between two specific resolutions quickly), I haven't had any reason to do ctrl-alt-+ in a long time. If swapping monitors while live, a key combination to force a monitor probe would probably be more useful. It should be more of an option (for locking down resolutions and color depths, for troubleshooting, or using an old video card/monitor) than a requirement. If anyone can think of some other reasons for putting the resolutions in a config file (that I haven't listed), I'd be interested in hearing them.
My desktop at home is Debian GNU/Linux but I deal mostly with Windows at work. If I want to download some things to prepare for the next day, WGA gets in the way of my ability to support Windows systems. Having the ability to download the software without Windows is good for me (meaning I'm not sitting at my office waiting for things to download) and good for the Microsoft users that I support since I'm not downloading patches at their expense.
There's some data missing. Where's the comparison regarding the ability to maneuver around an obstacle with and without a headset?
Sub-par equipment is usually to blame. The disconnections and poor performance that you regularly experience tend to disappear by installing higher grade equipment (assuming, of course, that you don't have a real problem like interference). Despite the high cost, we only install Cisco wireless equipment for our customers. (We do try to make it worth the extra expense with added features like authentication, multiple zones, etc. which is really what you're paying for with Cisco equipment.) I only wish that their Linksys line was the same hardware minus the features. Anecdotally, Netgear seems to have decent consumer grade WAPs (or at least they used to).
I see that problem with AOL fairly frequently when our clients wonder why they can't e-mail AOL users anymore. I confirm that out clients don't have open relays, do have proper reverse DNS, and that their mail server is advertising itself using a FQDN that resolves to its real IP address. Then I call AOL and get them taken off of the blacklist and fill-out the white list and feedback loop forms. The problem has never returned. I've done that more than half a dozen times.
On a related note, I've witnessed people using the spam button (or equivalent in other programs) like they were just hitting delete. I've had to explain that if they don't want to see e-mail that they subscribed for, they should unsubscribe. Tagging non-spam as spam increases false positives, which is usually worse than a few spam messages leaking through.
My Panasonic DVD-RV31 can do 2x with the subtitles still on. It also does pitch control so you can still hear the audio (although it's choppy) at those speeds.
Unfortunately, their mothers will still wonder why their kids insist on having their pants down while working on a document.
Checking voicemail on my cell phone (Verizon) does exactly what you're talking about. The unnecessary pauses between words and the fact that you can't interrupt some messages (like pressing 1 to just get to the damned message) are the worst. It takes about 55 seconds to start listening to the first message and the extra time counts against your minutes.
I used to work retail (who hasn't?) and we had the same type of credit deals. 0% financing for 12 months. If you didn't pay off the balance within the 12 months, *all* of the accrued interest was tacked on to your bill. (That's how most, if not all of those deals work.) Anyway, I used to do the credit sign-ups from time-to-time. If someone was buying a $1,200 computer, it was rare that they were approved for the full purchase amount. One of the guys that had been around for a while told me to double the purchase price when talking to the credit rep. That was usually enough to get the customer approved for the full purchase price including tax. I don't know the reasoning behind the credit approval was, but that little trick worked pretty well. Not one of the customers asked me how the 0% financing worked though. Either they already knew, or they thought that credit card companies were benevolent organizations.
The free credit report commercials that I've seen were from the actual credit reporting agencies (like Experian). The catch is that they try to sell you a detailed report, credit protection, etc. If you don't purchase anything and actually get your free report (one free per year, required to be provided by U.S. law), your information gets distributed to various credit agencies and you'll get buried in credit card applications. Fortunately, you just have to call the number or go to the website on the application to opt-out. I haven't had a credit card application since opting-out (which was a pleasant surprise). Anyway, if you want a free U.S. credit report, go to one of the big three credit reporting agencies, go back and change your options if you get prompted for payment information (because you've obviously accepted one or more of the defaults), and don't forget to opt-out (unless you like getting credit applications and giving your shredder a workout).
That's a great link. I have no mod points though. :-(
We also have larger passengers these days too (myself included). ;-)
While your final point is sound, having the opinion that Microsoft's alleged list of patents won't stand up in court is not FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt). Considering that Microsoft seems reluctant to specifically identify any of the 235 card carrying... I mean, patent violations makes their claim seem rather dubious.
Things must be changing then. My relatives look directly into my eyes when speaking to me. It's true about the "older" generations (like my grandparents in their 90s) but my parents (in their 60s) crack jokes, smile brightly, and are visually expressive. The only time that I'm aware of that looking down is appropriate is when you're being submissive, like when you're being reprimanded by your boss or parents. I'm not saying that you're wrong--just that our experiences are quite different. However, I share your experience about there being less emphasis on eye contact. Visual or audible indications (like nodding or "hmmm") that indicate that you're paying attention are still required though. Anyone with their eyes closed during a meeting (which isn't uncommon and can show intent listening) that isn't making any type of gesture could very well be sleeping. :-) (I'm American born and started BBSing in the 1990 so I use the horizontal type. BTW, I was referring to my relatives in Japan, not just my immediate family who has been in the U.S. for 30+ years.)
You can still plan ahead. i.e. There's no reason why you can't have your own patch Tuesday. The only difference that I see is your boss' view of culpability.
;-) (I actually don't know any sysadmins that would do this, but some customers that do their own maintenance do.)
"Why wasn't that security patch for vulnerability X applied in time before we got hit?"
A. Because we were waiting for our monthly test cycle so that we can test a lot of patches at once instead of one at a time at various days of the month.
B. Because Microsoft didn't release it until patch Tuesday, which [was after we got hit|didn't give us enough time to test the patches before getting hit on Wednesday].
I believe that the primary reasons for having a patch Tuesday are:
-simplified tracking of patches (just look for the releases from that day)
-Microsoft doesn't have to make 5 or more announcements per month
-your desktop PCs only need to reboot once a month (instead of once every time a patch with a required reboot is released)
-OCD sysadmins aren't compelled to install each individual patch on the day of release