I disagree with you but respect that you brought some facts to the argument.
Events as I described do happen, although rarely, and you can find them in the news and police reports. I should have been more clear that I was thinking of an amalgam of actual events not spinning from whole cloth.
I was not making "wild west" arguments or painting "blood in the streets" fantasies. You will notice I made no generalizations in my initial post, I tossed out a scenario for people to consider. Phrases like "every time" and "gun control nuts use these fantasies" are handy shorthand, but not always useful. I think we can agree that carrying a weapon, or even arguing about doing so, deserves some thoughtfulness. I am not a "gun control nut" I have no problems with guns. I own guns, I enjoy shooting them and the technical/mechanical aspects of their manufacture and design.
My thinking can be summed up by what I said in the post. Look at how people drive, and we want to let them carry guns all day?
I agree that "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." And it's the people, not the guns, I am worried about.
Shooting guns has taught me to respect them and think ahead before I fire. I am not sure everyone can be taught that respect and thoughtfulness in a few weeks of training. And as any regular shooter knows every bullet goes somewhere, and in a crowded environment such as a street there can be lots of somewheres for a bullet or bullets to go. (I know, somewheres is not correct but please bear with me.)
Yes the requirements for a concealed weapons permit usually select for better personal responsibility, but no process is perfect and the more people that are carrying concealed weapons the more chances for something to go wrong. My concern is not "the wild west" or "blood in the streets" but an increase in the number of accidental or felony deaths from firearms every year.
Are there benefits of more legally issued concealed weapons on the street, in many high crime areas. Yes. Does more weapons on the streets increase the chance for lethal mistakes or bad judgement? Yes. I just wonder if how the costs and benefits measure out.
It's not feasible or practical but I always liked the Chris Rock idea, bullet control. $5000 a bullet.
It's often easier for people to remember a cost to their wallet than to think through where a bullet might go.:)
Where did I state or imply that what I was desribing as the de facto norm?
What I described as a composite of events involving multiple people with guns, one I have experienced myself, and others that I reported on or read about in newspapers. A Quentin Tarantino flick would likely have involved a much more complicated scenario with more extreme characters and situations.
One reason I like Tarantino films.:)
I understand that and I am glad such limitations exist. I was responding to the scenarios people were describing in earlier posts.:)
But I stand by my comment. Look at the way people drive, and we are supposed to trust them with concealed weapons?
A three-week course, or six weeks, is not enough to teach all people to respect the weapon they are carrying or to think things through.
Bullets can travel a long distance before they run out of kinetic energy and many people just don't seem to have the judgment to understand the thought and awareness that needs to be in place before you draw a weapon. As you said, and I was taught the same, never draw a gun unless you plan to shoot. Never bluff, never hesitate to fire if that's what's needed. If only it was so easy to quantify and train people to remember the rest of it. To be careful, that every bullet goes somewhere and things are not always what they seem.
But it's a lot harder, often impossible, to teach good judgment.
I have owned a few pistols and as a tech/mechanical geek gun engineering is an interest of mine.
I am not worried about guns themselves, I am worried about the people who will be using them.:)
The identity theft victim pulls a gun and tells the thief to freeze. The thief screams for help and that the woman holding the gun is trying to kill her. The identity theft victim explains that the woman she has at gunpoint is a thief. The thief says the identity theft victim is crazy and has the wrong person. Another well meaning hero to be pulls their gun and points it at the obviously angry woman with a gun telling her to calm down. Person number three pulls their gun and picks a side or generally points it at the other two people with guns in the coffee shop and tells them all to calm down. Everyone with a gun is convinced they are doing the right thing.
Ask a working police officer, this is a good way to get people shot and or killed.
Seriously, look at how people drive cars, and you want to give them concealed weapons permits to have guns on them all the time?
While I am not a fan of our increasing general surveillance society, if I am just walking around you don't need to know who I am unless I am breaking a law. I do understand the need for background checks for some positions. I work two tech jobs, one for a university, low/no security, and some occasional contracting work, confidential information etc. For the contracting work I went through the same business as other people have described, fingerprints, background checks, financial review etc. It's a pain, but I think about the information my employers handle. If it was my data, wouldn't I want them to be that careful about the people they hire? To me this is true for health, financial child care/education. Some employers use this as a sheep test to see how far they can bend you, crappy but true. Sometimes though it makes sense for them to be careful. I guess my thought is, does it seem the employers might really need to be this careful? Is the job worth it?
Every company has models of computers where some or many of them share the same flaw. The motherboards on Dell GX270s fail often enough I had to replace five out of the twenty or so in my office in the course of a year. Dell knew about the problem didn't even question me about sending new boards after the first one. Of course this was Dell coprorate support, home user support is generallly junk.
iMac PPC G5 computers had a high rate of video failure from a certain group of capacitors failing. I have swapped out dozens of iMac G5 motherboards.
Companies also tend to drag their feet about admitting these problems. From a tech's perspective with thousands of Dells, Gateways and Apples on campus you can see some patterns pretty damn clearly, getting a company to admit it is something else.
It happens with every mass manufactured brand of computers. Denying that any certain company has these problems is silly.
I hope all computer companies get called out on this more often. Especialy on laptops, they are difficult to design and build well.
IMHO this is good advice for a lot of reasons, like many support techs I hear the idea of buying a new computer because the old one is getting slow at least a few times a year. Often cleaning the software crap off the computer and some additional memory makes all the difference at a fraction of the cost to the user.
On an unrelated note, a variation on your elitist soup recipe is to substitute one Apple certified tech for an Apple user. Us Apple techs add a certain piquancy to the broth.:)
First, there are no words that are enough to describe what happened or comfort those left behind.
I know many of us on/. would quickly trade our own lives for even one person killed today to still be alive.
It is bitter beyond desription that this happened.
Second, many have posted that more guns are the solution to situations like this, maybe but I ask you consider one thing.
Look at how people drive, are sure you want these people to have guns?
I say this as a gun owner who is against general conceal and carry for that very reason. I don't trust most people to remember that every bullet goes somewhere and can go a long distance with enough kinetic energy to hurt or kill.
Years ago, my shooting instructor ordered us to pace off through downtown Denver the approximate range of a 9mm pistol round fired on a level path. He told us to watch the distance we had covered for five minutes and see how many people passed through it. A profound lesson in thinking ahead about where every bullet might go. This was not a lesson to teach paralysis but forethought and awareness.
Most people spend a lot more time watching TV and movies than they do training with a pistol, which one influences the average person more?
Yes, the right person with the right weapon might have stopped this today, I wish they had, but how many other incidents will happen if weapons become more available?
Most gun owners on/. would agree with me that every minute you carry a weapon is a responsibility, how many people do you know you would trust that responsibility to?
And for the people who complained about security theater vs. real security. I quite agree.
Why can't these cowardly bastards just shoot themselves first?
Ok so that's not entirely fair, but not accounting for the hazards of private business taking a part in power generation seems naive or thoughtless. You think the backroom dealing is bad now?
I think this law is crap by the way, I hope it gets overturned unless a real benefit to the public reason can be found for it.
Few people like malware writers or spammers. A television show or pay-per-view event about hunting down virus writers and spammers might get good ratings and recoup some expenses from the television rights.:)
I can see it now:
Announcer 1 (Ed): "Well Bob last weeks episode of Hunting Cybercrime was in Dallas and what a show it was. The Dalls PD went to town on that spammer! I guess they don't like having Viagra spams in their inbox any more than the rest of us."
Announcer 2 (Bob) "Indeed Ed, but this weeks looks to be even better! We are here in Korea hunting down a notorious spam operation that's been in busines for years. Since we are overseas we have some special hunters this week, a team of Army Rangers! This team will be doing a hard entry into the building where the spammer is located. As you can see from the optical fiber camera inserted into the room, there he is directing other spammers activities. I can't wait to see his face when the explosives blow the front door off its hinges!" Announcer 1 (Ed): "Let's switch to the lowlight view of the building, you will see the flash as the explosives go off...."
It will never happen, more appropriate economic, legal and technological steps need to be taken. But I can dream.:)
To quash any "Apple Fanboy" comments let me clarify.
I work on both Macs and Windows machines, primarily Dells, I also have OSX client and server, 2003 Server, XP and Linux computers in my office at home.
I spent the summer I earned my hardware certifications working as a university Mac hardware tech in the same room as a university Windows hardware tech. The thing I noticed is Dell's corporate support is on average much better than Apple corporate support, especiallya bouts ending out techs to your location, and that Apple's personal computer support is much better on average than Dell's.
I watched the Window's hardware guy get his Dell hardware certifications to try and make his job dealing with Dell easier and still he got jacked around, lied to and screwed with. Make no mistake, this guy is a good hardware tech and has good people skills. But Dell's personal computer service support is just plain bad. On the other hand when I talk to Dell corporate support they are most often helpful and quick to send out parts. The Nebraska Federation for the Blind, as an example, figured this out long ago, let their members buy Dell computers through them so their members get corporate support.
With Apple they usually only send parts to Apple certified techs so most people have to take their Macs to a Mac certified tech. Then you are at the mercy of the quality of the tech, this usually good but can be bad unfortunately.
I think scale applies here, Dell sells a lot more computers than Apple, they can afford to set up techs employed directly by Dell to do service calls. Apple sells fewer computers so until the last few years most hardware repair guys who were Mac certified repaired Mac and other hardware as well in shops or as freelancers.
That being said, it often comes down to the quality of the techs you are dealing with, no matter what company supports your computer. I make extra money by doing support/repair work for a variety of desktop hardware and much of my business comes from people frustrated with their current tech support. You have the right or people with the right, experience, knowledge and connections and you are in good shape. You don't and you can have problems. No mater what hardware you have.
Apple in the corporate environment? Heck yes, some of my customers, print shops, publication shops and engineering firms, are on majority or all Mac environments, but like any hardware you need to have look ahead and know what your support options are. One thing I do for my customers is document who to call to get real and useful help in case I can't be reached. Otherwise, Apple, Dell, Gateway whatever you can end up getting jerked around and really frustrated as you lose time and money. Knowing who to call in a company gets you those parts overnighted to your location and connected to a good tech.
Yes, I am a Mac user. No I don't hate Bill Gates, he keeps me in business as a tech support guy. Vista? You see problems, I smell billable hours.
I agree with the idea of a central IT staff and then IT people embedded into various departments so they know what's going on locally.
I work for a university IT support department, I am contracted out to and have an office in the (non IT) department I support. I am very lucky though, my three bosses are all reasonable people. If this was not the case being a member of one department, IT and working for another could be really painful.
I am very fortunate I work in a small outfit, about 40 people and computers, it makes the bad IT policies where I work, each person having admin access to their computer, usually bearable. I have a quote on my office door that I think touches on the content of the article.
"Sometimes my job requires me to limit the amount you can play today to make sure you can play tomorrow."
If people want something and I can find a safe way to pull it off I will be glad to set it up if I can. If someone has a software suggestion I will look at it until I know why I want to support it or object to it. I keep all kinds of log files, just in case, there have been a few times when being able to show someone how they spend their time on a computer has shut them up about something dumb. Courtesy when dealing with users, the knowledgable ones, the not knowledgable ones and the malicious pain in the ass ones and keeping the values of the BOFH close to my heart make a nice balance.:)
I have no idea how I could pull this off in a larger company environment with a lot more stupid users. Probably non admin accounts, mysterious problems on computers where users had admin access to their computers until they no longer had it, Deep Freeze and more BOFH tactics.
This many posts and no BOFH references? I am disappointed in all of you. ?
I have a sign on my office door at work that says:
"Sometimes my job will require me to limit the amount of fun you can have today to make sure you can have fun tomorrow."
I like the people I work with, and they usually are not stupid, so I don't put any more rules on their computer use than I have to.
But as the IT support guy at a small department, about 40 computers, I think pla has it right. There is a big difference between users home computers and my computers they use when they are at work. (They are my computers because I get yelled at when they are broken) Install this crap on your home machines, not my machines at work. Deep Freeze or Ghost can be a beautiful thing, screwed up your computer, didn't save your work on the central file server, the one I keep two backup systems on?
Too bad.
Refuse to follow IT policy? I can't fire you, I probably don't want to, but if you are inconvenienced because I do care about the confidential data on our computers?
Too bad.
Installed that IM program you "need" for work to chat with your significant other etc. and had your machine reformatted back to the template?
Too bad.
At work they are not your computers, they are your employers, computers, if you don't like it, quit.
The users, even the users you like, always lie, if you give them an inch they will try to take a mile unless you keep them inline with the classic BOFH tools, superior skill, superior ruthlessness and a complete lack of pity. It is for the users' own good, your good and the good of your employer.
Now I just need to find a PFY for an assistant....
This is really very simple, the officers involved in this incident will continue to be police officers, they might lose some pay or they might be put on paid leave, basically paid vacation, for a while. The lawsuit against the department, if there is one, will amount to nothing. The officers' actions here are way over the line even if I do think the guy who got tasered was an idiot for back talking to them. This is not a country where you backtalk to police, it's a good way to end up beat to crap or dead. I say this as a person who is friends with a handful of the police in the city I live in and someone who has nothing against police in general, I have just seen their work good and bad. For a variety off reasons this is the country we live in right now, less privacy, more authority over people by police, military forces and other groups that fall under the "security" label. It is going to get worse before it gets better, Unless you have a lot of money, good political connections or both, when the police, the TSA or anyone else in authority asks you something, no matter how dumb, smile, show your ID, and do it unless you want to end up like this guy or worse. The people in authority don't care what you think, or what you think your rights are, and our nation is letting them get away with it a little more each day. Makes me glad I am white, registered republican and a member of the local megachurch, these things make me no better or worse than anyone else, but they are handy for getting along here in the Midwest.
Welcome to the land of the free and home of the brave.
Now watch the majority of the population from apathy and the unwillingness to face complex questions and answers give in to overblown fears and surrender their liberty. Of course the people with enough money for regular leisure travel will generally have few problems getting travel papers. It might be harder for the rest off us though.
I am curious though, there are some companies making BILLIONS from this whole DHS/TSA thing. Who will make money from this expanded no fly list? Remember, much of the work you might think of as being done by the federal governemnt is currently being contracted out to companies.
All in all I am registering republican, getting a membership at the local fundamentalist megachurch and making some small donations to the cause. It is begining to look like America is a place where the correct party membership can make a difference in your privileges in society. Or am I the only one to find it odd that democrat Ted Kennedy was the only member of the house to be put on the no fly list and it took three weeks to get his name off?:)
Imagine the fun we will all have when every American has to be approved. With the current no fly list it is illegal for you to know the details about the process or why you are denied. You are not allowed to know who to talk to in case of a problem. As the article points out, you can be left in legal limbo in a prison overseas if this expanded version oges through. Better hope someone has enough contacts and money and really likes you to get you out. Your local US embassy in whatever country you are in does not have access to the current no fly list nor does it have any idea who to talk to about it. I now this because I talked to some nice people at the US Embassy in Mexico about this topic when I was considering travelling there again and I was curious.
I am hoping this never gets passed, given our current court system I am not sure they would strike it down for the unconstitutional piece of garbage it is.
In the meantime, time for me to get some caffiene, get my name off the rolls of those dangerous lefty organizations like the Sierra Club and onto the rolls of someplace that thinks The New American Century Project is a great idea.
In the upcoming election's closest races, if you are a liberal, vote liberal, but bet money on the conservatives and neo-cons winning, that way when your candidate loses at least you will have some spending money. Diebold is profiting from elections, you should to.
Biometric identification and premium traveller status. If you pay the premium and submit enough information you can skip some of the airport security theater, or at least go through a shorter line and keep you shoes on. If you can't find a market to sell to, make one!:)
The companies behind the TSA are making enough money they probably wont mind sharing some.:)
NASA is going to take some risks and put people in space again to work for the advancement of science. I understand space travel, even to orbit, is expensive and not without risk, but so do the men and women who work so hard to get into space and the crews who work to get them there. Given budgets and political priorities after the shuttle fleet is retired their may not be another NASA manned vehicle for 20 or 25 years. I am glad to see every useful launch between now and the end of the shuttle program.
Reading the boss's e-mail is benefit of doing IT, it can be both educational, entertaining and practical.:)
I like the people I work with, but the BOFH is my hero. A few years ago when I was someplace else I got blindsided by politics that did not involve me. I was blamed for missed requests and information above my level that never reached me. I tried to be nice, work things through and figure things out and the situation got worse as the accusations against me piled up. My boss knew it was bullshit but did not want to risk their position, I was a lowly tech minion, not worth the effort of keeping me from being slandered and fired. Literally dropping hard copies of e-mails on the right desk, along with two newspaper reporters names and work addresses, made the offending party step back after the usual pointless threats and bitching. There were things going on that he did NOT want people outside the organization to know about.
I found myself saying a quote I never thought I would: "Never, Ever, Fuck With The Person Who can Read Your Mail."
I went to a better job working for better people, got promoted twice and ended up where I am today doing work and working for people I like. My previous employers shut up, some of them hate me, but they give me no trouble.
Moral of the story is, if you are a tech, always have as much access as you can, be judicious. don't use it unless you have to, and if possible keep anyone you don't trust out or log their actions, preferably without them knowing. The article is right, you really do need to have accurate maps of who has access to what, but if you are a tech it's CYA all the way.
Sit down, shut up and watch the official version of events and media pabulum.
The media corps are run by people richer, smarter and prettier than you, they know what's best for America and for you.
On a more serious note, this guy's talking is too little too late, transmission spectrum and markets in this country are already divided up among the big corporations and they are not going to be forced to let go of it by the US Federal Government in the foreseeable future. Low power FM is a nice idea but dead as a doornail, follow the link in an earlier response to this story. Notice nice talk and good intentions, but any serious implementation has never, and will never happen. Since Low Power FM stations were proposed, how many have been built and are operating? It seems that even when low power stations do not interfere with current stations they might interfere with future digital radio stations so no go. Broadcasting over the web has been quietly hindered for years as well.
Broadcasting is a land of Murphy's Golden Rule, "Them that has the gold makes the rules."
Ok, the idea open source software I understand. The name and idea are derived from having open source code.
What is an open source movie?
Whats next, open source pet supplies?
Umm, no no it was the other Dave, really! The guys is out of control in his web habits. And I have , have, have, yeah SCREENSHOTS of the IP addresses he has been visiting. yeah, yeah, that works for the RIAA.
OK I got nothing. I'm busted. Dangit, and reading your e-mail and web traffic was just getting fun too.:)
Being a tech support monkey at both a university and a private business I have been told by the lawyers at both places there is little or no expectation of privacy using a businesses equipment. They pay for it and pay you to use it for their benefit, not yours. Universities are often trickier with the whole academic freedom bit and the often continuous political games. We have had the best results with the policy described by a previous poster. Accept requests for those records from only one or two people of authority. The head of HR for instance, it takes the load off the IT department and helps limit the number of requests. People will hassle It to try to get that information for all kinds of petty reasons, but HR controls reviews and paychecks, it often makes people think twice before asking for things.
Thank God my bosses believe me when I describe Slashdot as a tech reference site and I am in charge of any network monitoring we might do. :)
Slashdot Mirror
I wouldn't bet against that at all. Look at the current no fly list. Who was the one fderal US politician on it an darred from flying? :)
Events as I described do happen, although rarely, and you can find them in the news and police reports. I should have been more clear that I was thinking of an amalgam of actual events not spinning from whole cloth. I was not making "wild west" arguments or painting "blood in the streets" fantasies. You will notice I made no generalizations in my initial post, I tossed out a scenario for people to consider. Phrases like "every time" and "gun control nuts use these fantasies" are handy shorthand, but not always useful. I think we can agree that carrying a weapon, or even arguing about doing so, deserves some thoughtfulness. I am not a "gun control nut" I have no problems with guns. I own guns, I enjoy shooting them and the technical/mechanical aspects of their manufacture and design.
My thinking can be summed up by what I said in the post. Look at how people drive, and we want to let them carry guns all day?
I agree that "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." And it's the people, not the guns, I am worried about.
Shooting guns has taught me to respect them and think ahead before I fire. I am not sure everyone can be taught that respect and thoughtfulness in a few weeks of training. And as any regular shooter knows every bullet goes somewhere, and in a crowded environment such as a street there can be lots of somewheres for a bullet or bullets to go. (I know, somewheres is not correct but please bear with me.)
Yes the requirements for a concealed weapons permit usually select for better personal responsibility, but no process is perfect and the more people that are carrying concealed weapons the more chances for something to go wrong. My concern is not "the wild west" or "blood in the streets" but an increase in the number of accidental or felony deaths from firearms every year.
Are there benefits of more legally issued concealed weapons on the street, in many high crime areas. Yes. Does more weapons on the streets increase the chance for lethal mistakes or bad judgement? Yes. I just wonder if how the costs and benefits measure out.
It's not feasible or practical but I always liked the Chris Rock idea, bullet control. $5000 a bullet. It's often easier for people to remember a cost to their wallet than to think through where a bullet might go. :)
Where did I state or imply that what I was desribing as the de facto norm? :)
What I described as a composite of events involving multiple people with guns, one I have experienced myself, and others that I reported on or read about in newspapers. A Quentin Tarantino flick would likely have involved a much more complicated scenario with more extreme characters and situations.
One reason I like Tarantino films.
But I stand by my comment. Look at the way people drive, and we are supposed to trust them with concealed weapons? A three-week course, or six weeks, is not enough to teach all people to respect the weapon they are carrying or to think things through. Bullets can travel a long distance before they run out of kinetic energy and many people just don't seem to have the judgment to understand the thought and awareness that needs to be in place before you draw a weapon. As you said, and I was taught the same, never draw a gun unless you plan to shoot. Never bluff, never hesitate to fire if that's what's needed. If only it was so easy to quantify and train people to remember the rest of it. To be careful, that every bullet goes somewhere and things are not always what they seem.
But it's a lot harder, often impossible, to teach good judgment.
I have owned a few pistols and as a tech/mechanical geek gun engineering is an interest of mine. :)
I am not worried about guns themselves, I am worried about the people who will be using them.
The identity theft victim pulls a gun and tells the thief to freeze. The thief screams for help and that the woman holding the gun is trying to kill her. The identity theft victim explains that the woman she has at gunpoint is a thief. The thief says the identity theft victim is crazy and has the wrong person. Another well meaning hero to be pulls their gun and points it at the obviously angry woman with a gun telling her to calm down. Person number three pulls their gun and picks a side or generally points it at the other two people with guns in the coffee shop and tells them all to calm down. Everyone with a gun is convinced they are doing the right thing.
Ask a working police officer, this is a good way to get people shot and or killed.
Seriously, look at how people drive cars, and you want to give them concealed weapons permits to have guns on them all the time?
While I am not a fan of our increasing general surveillance society, if I am just walking around you don't need to know who I am unless I am breaking a law. I do understand the need for background checks for some positions. I work two tech jobs, one for a university, low/no security, and some occasional contracting work, confidential information etc. For the contracting work I went through the same business as other people have described, fingerprints, background checks, financial review etc. It's a pain, but I think about the information my employers handle. If it was my data, wouldn't I want them to be that careful about the people they hire? To me this is true for health, financial child care/education. Some employers use this as a sheep test to see how far they can bend you, crappy but true. Sometimes though it makes sense for them to be careful. I guess my thought is, does it seem the employers might really need to be this careful? Is the job worth it?
So, the administartion is very much responsible for the damage, flooding and deaths caused by Katrina.
Of course this was Dell coprorate support, home user support is generallly junk.
iMac PPC G5 computers had a high rate of video failure from a certain group of capacitors failing. I have swapped out dozens of iMac G5 motherboards.
Companies also tend to drag their feet about admitting these problems. From a tech's perspective with thousands of Dells, Gateways and Apples on campus you can see some patterns pretty damn clearly, getting a company to admit it is something else.
It happens with every mass manufactured brand of computers. Denying that any certain company has these problems is silly.
I hope all computer companies get called out on this more often. Especialy on laptops, they are difficult to design and build well.
On an unrelated note, a variation on your elitist soup recipe is to substitute one Apple certified tech for an Apple user. Us Apple techs add a certain piquancy to the broth. :)
I know many of us on
It is bitter beyond desription that this happened.
Second, many have posted that more guns are the solution to situations like this, maybe but I ask you consider one thing. /. would agree with me that every minute you carry a weapon is a responsibility, how many people do you know you would trust that responsibility to?
Look at how people drive, are sure you want these people to have guns?
I say this as a gun owner who is against general conceal and carry for that very reason. I don't trust most people to remember that every bullet goes somewhere and can go a long distance with enough kinetic energy to hurt or kill.
Years ago, my shooting instructor ordered us to pace off through downtown Denver the approximate range of a 9mm pistol round fired on a level path. He told us to watch the distance we had covered for five minutes and see how many people passed through it. A profound lesson in thinking ahead about where every bullet might go. This was not a lesson to teach paralysis but forethought and awareness.
Most people spend a lot more time watching TV and movies than they do training with a pistol, which one influences the average person more?
Yes, the right person with the right weapon might have stopped this today, I wish they had, but how many other incidents will happen if weapons become more available?
Most gun owners on
And for the people who complained about security theater vs. real security. I quite agree.
Why can't these cowardly bastards just shoot themselves first?
Ok so that's not entirely fair, but not accounting for the hazards of private business taking a part in power generation seems naive or thoughtless. You think the backroom dealing is bad now?
I think this law is crap by the way, I hope it gets overturned unless a real benefit to the public reason can be found for it.
I can see it now:
Announcer 1 (Ed): "Well Bob last weeks episode of Hunting Cybercrime was in Dallas and what a show it was. The Dalls PD went to town on that spammer! I guess they don't like having Viagra spams in their inbox any more than the rest of us."
Announcer 2 (Bob) "Indeed Ed, but this weeks looks to be even better! We are here in Korea hunting down a notorious spam operation that's been in busines for years. Since we are overseas we have some special hunters this week, a team of Army Rangers! This team will be doing a hard entry into the building where the spammer is located. As you can see from the optical fiber camera inserted into the room, there he is directing other spammers activities. I can't wait to see his face when the explosives blow the front door off its hinges!"
Announcer 1 (Ed): "Let's switch to the lowlight view of the building, you will see the flash as the explosives go off...."
It will never happen, more appropriate economic, legal and technological steps need to be taken. But I can dream.
I spent the summer I earned my hardware certifications working as a university Mac hardware tech in the same room as a university Windows hardware tech. The thing I noticed is Dell's corporate support is on average much better than Apple corporate support, especiallya bouts ending out techs to your location, and that Apple's personal computer support is much better on average than Dell's.
I watched the Window's hardware guy get his Dell hardware certifications to try and make his job dealing with Dell easier and still he got jacked around, lied to and screwed with. Make no mistake, this guy is a good hardware tech and has good people skills. But Dell's personal computer service support is just plain bad. On the other hand when I talk to Dell corporate support they are most often helpful and quick to send out parts. The Nebraska Federation for the Blind, as an example, figured this out long ago, let their members buy Dell computers through them so their members get corporate support.
With Apple they usually only send parts to Apple certified techs so most people have to take their Macs to a Mac certified tech. Then you are at the mercy of the quality of the tech, this usually good but can be bad unfortunately.
I think scale applies here, Dell sells a lot more computers than Apple, they can afford to set up techs employed directly by Dell to do service calls. Apple sells fewer computers so until the last few years most hardware repair guys who were Mac certified repaired Mac and other hardware as well in shops or as freelancers. That being said, it often comes down to the quality of the techs you are dealing with, no matter what company supports your computer. I make extra money by doing support/repair work for a variety of desktop hardware and much of my business comes from people frustrated with their current tech support. You have the right or people with the right, experience, knowledge and connections and you are in good shape. You don't and you can have problems. No mater what hardware you have.
Apple in the corporate environment? Heck yes, some of my customers, print shops, publication shops and engineering firms, are on majority or all Mac environments, but like any hardware you need to have look ahead and know what your support options are. One thing I do for my customers is document who to call to get real and useful help in case I can't be reached. Otherwise, Apple, Dell, Gateway whatever you can end up getting jerked around and really frustrated as you lose time and money. Knowing who to call in a company gets you those parts overnighted to your location and connected to a good tech. Yes, I am a Mac user. No I don't hate Bill Gates, he keeps me in business as a tech support guy. Vista? You see problems, I smell billable hours.
I agree with the idea of a central IT staff and then IT people embedded into various departments so they know what's going on locally. I work for a university IT support department, I am contracted out to and have an office in the (non IT) department I support. I am very lucky though, my three bosses are all reasonable people. If this was not the case being a member of one department, IT and working for another could be really painful.
"Sometimes my job requires me to limit the amount you can play today to make sure you can play tomorrow."
If people want something and I can find a safe way to pull it off I will be glad to set it up if I can. If someone has a software suggestion I will look at it until I know why I want to support it or object to it. I keep all kinds of log files, just in case, there have been a few times when being able to show someone how they spend their time on a computer has shut them up about something dumb. Courtesy when dealing with users, the knowledgable ones, the not knowledgable ones and the malicious pain in the ass ones and keeping the values of the BOFH close to my heart make a nice balance. :)
I have no idea how I could pull this off in a larger company environment with a lot more stupid users. Probably non admin accounts, mysterious problems on computers where users had admin access to their computers until they no longer had it, Deep Freeze and more BOFH tactics.
I have a sign on my office door at work that says:
"Sometimes my job will require me to limit the amount of fun you can have today to make sure you can have fun tomorrow."
I like the people I work with, and they usually are not stupid, so I don't put any more rules on their computer use than I have to. But as the IT support guy at a small department, about 40 computers, I think pla has it right. There is a big difference between users home computers and my computers they use when they are at work. (They are my computers because I get yelled at when they are broken) Install this crap on your home machines, not my machines at work. Deep Freeze or Ghost can be a beautiful thing, screwed up your computer, didn't save your work on the central file server, the one I keep two backup systems on?
Too bad.
Refuse to follow IT policy? I can't fire you, I probably don't want to, but if you are inconvenienced because I do care about the confidential data on our computers?
Too bad.
Installed that IM program you "need" for work to chat with your significant other etc. and had your machine reformatted back to the template?
Too bad.
At work they are not your computers, they are your employers, computers, if you don't like it, quit.
The users, even the users you like, always lie, if you give them an inch they will try to take a mile unless you keep them inline with the classic BOFH tools, superior skill, superior ruthlessness and a complete lack of pity. It is for the users' own good, your good and the good of your employer.
Now I just need to find a PFY for an assistant....
This is really very simple, the officers involved in this incident will continue to be police officers, they might lose some pay or they might be put on paid leave, basically paid vacation, for a while. The lawsuit against the department, if there is one, will amount to nothing. The officers' actions here are way over the line even if I do think the guy who got tasered was an idiot for back talking to them. This is not a country where you backtalk to police, it's a good way to end up beat to crap or dead. I say this as a person who is friends with a handful of the police in the city I live in and someone who has nothing against police in general, I have just seen their work good and bad. For a variety off reasons this is the country we live in right now, less privacy, more authority over people by police, military forces and other groups that fall under the "security" label. It is going to get worse before it gets better, Unless you have a lot of money, good political connections or both, when the police, the TSA or anyone else in authority asks you something, no matter how dumb, smile, show your ID, and do it unless you want to end up like this guy or worse. The people in authority don't care what you think, or what you think your rights are, and our nation is letting them get away with it a little more each day. Makes me glad I am white, registered republican and a member of the local megachurch, these things make me no better or worse than anyone else, but they are handy for getting along here in the Midwest.
Now watch the majority of the population from apathy and the unwillingness to face complex questions and answers give in to overblown fears and surrender their liberty. Of course the people with enough money for regular leisure travel will generally have few problems getting travel papers. It might be harder for the rest off us though.
I am curious though, there are some companies making BILLIONS from this whole DHS/TSA thing. Who will make money from this expanded no fly list? Remember, much of the work you might think of as being done by the federal governemnt is currently being contracted out to companies.
All in all I am registering republican, getting a membership at the local fundamentalist megachurch and making some small donations to the cause. It is begining to look like America is a place where the correct party membership can make a difference in your privileges in society. Or am I the only one to find it odd that democrat Ted Kennedy was the only member of the house to be put on the no fly list and it took three weeks to get his name off? :)
Imagine the fun we will all have when every American has to be approved. With the current no fly list it is illegal for you to know the details about the process or why you are denied. You are not allowed to know who to talk to in case of a problem. As the article points out, you can be left in legal limbo in a prison overseas if this expanded version oges through. Better hope someone has enough contacts and money and really likes you to get you out. Your local US embassy in whatever country you are in does not have access to the current no fly list nor does it have any idea who to talk to about it. I now this because I talked to some nice people at the US Embassy in Mexico about this topic when I was considering travelling there again and I was curious.
I am hoping this never gets passed, given our current court system I am not sure they would strike it down for the unconstitutional piece of garbage it is.
In the meantime, time for me to get some caffiene, get my name off the rolls of those dangerous lefty organizations like the Sierra Club and onto the rolls of someplace that thinks The New American Century Project is a great idea.
In the upcoming election's closest races, if you are a liberal, vote liberal, but bet money on the conservatives and neo-cons winning, that way when your candidate loses at least you will have some spending money. Diebold is profiting from elections, you should to.
Biometric identification and premium traveller status. If you pay the premium and submit enough information you can skip some of the airport security theater, or at least go through a shorter line and keep you shoes on. If you can't find a market to sell to, make one! :) :)
The companies behind the TSA are making enough money they probably wont mind sharing some.
NASA is going to take some risks and put people in space again to work for the advancement of science. I understand space travel, even to orbit, is expensive and not without risk, but so do the men and women who work so hard to get into space and the crews who work to get them there.
Given budgets and political priorities after the shuttle fleet is retired their may not be another NASA manned vehicle for 20 or 25 years. I am glad to see every useful launch between now and the end of the shuttle program.
I like the people I work with, but the BOFH is my hero. A few years ago when I was someplace else I got blindsided by politics that did not involve me. I was blamed for missed requests and information above my level that never reached me. I tried to be nice, work things through and figure things out and the situation got worse as the accusations against me piled up. My boss knew it was bullshit but did not want to risk their position, I was a lowly tech minion, not worth the effort of keeping me from being slandered and fired. Literally dropping hard copies of e-mails on the right desk, along with two newspaper reporters names and work addresses, made the offending party step back after the usual pointless threats and bitching. There were things going on that he did NOT want people outside the organization to know about.
I found myself saying a quote I never thought I would: "Never, Ever, Fuck With The Person Who can Read Your Mail."
I went to a better job working for better people, got promoted twice and ended up where I am today doing work and working for people I like. My previous employers shut up, some of them hate me, but they give me no trouble.
Moral of the story is, if you are a tech, always have as much access as you can, be judicious. don't use it unless you have to, and if possible keep anyone you don't trust out or log their actions, preferably without them knowing. The article is right, you really do need to have accurate maps of who has access to what, but if you are a tech it's CYA all the way.
The BOFH cruelty is optional. :)
The media corps are run by people richer, smarter and prettier than you, they know what's best for America and for you.
On a more serious note, this guy's talking is too little too late, transmission spectrum and markets in this country are already divided up among the big corporations and they are not going to be forced to let go of it by the US Federal Government in the foreseeable future. Low power FM is a nice idea but dead as a doornail, follow the link in an earlier response to this story. Notice nice talk and good intentions, but any serious implementation has never, and will never happen. Since Low Power FM stations were proposed, how many have been built and are operating? It seems that even when low power stations do not interfere with current stations they might interfere with future digital radio stations so no go. Broadcasting over the web has been quietly hindered for years as well.
Broadcasting is a land of Murphy's Golden Rule, "Them that has the gold makes the rules."
Ok, the idea open source software I understand. The name and idea are derived from having open source code.
What is an open source movie?
Whats next, open source pet supplies?
OK I got nothing. I'm busted. Dangit, and reading your e-mail and web traffic was just getting fun too. :)
Long live the BOFH!
Thank God my bosses believe me when I describe Slashdot as a tech reference site and I am in charge of any network monitoring we might do.
:)