In a disturbing revalation, it turns out Dell is selling their Gen11 PowerEdge Servers w/PERC H700/800 RAID controllers (preconfigured or stand-alone) with a nasty little feature that will block non-Dell SAS/SATA Hard Drives from being configured. In my opinion, this is 'broken for your convenience.' In other words, hardware DRM. Their idea is that even though SATA and SAS are industry standards, they do "magical special thingies' that may not work with industry standard protocols due to their complexity. Here is Dell's original statement (linked above):
"Thank you very much for your comments and feedback regarding exclusive use of Dell drives. It is common practice in enterprise storage solutions to limit drive support to only those drives which have been qualified by the vendor. In the case of Dell's PERC RAID controllers, we began informing customers when a non-Dell drive was detected with the introduction of PERC5 RAID controllers in early 2006. With the introduction of the PERC H700/H800 controllers, we began enabling only the use of Dell qualified drives.
There are a number of benefits for using Dell qualified drives in particular ensuring a positive experience and protecting our data.
While SAS and SATA are industry standards there are differences which occur in implementation. An analogy is that English is spoken in the UK, US and Australia. While the language is generally the same, there are subtle differences in word usage which can lead to confusion. This exists in storage subsystems as well. As these subsystems become more capable, faster and more complex, these differences in implementation can have greater impact.
Benefits of Dell's Hard Disk and SSD drives are outlined in a white paper on Dell's web site at http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pvaul/en/dell-hard-drives-pov.pdf"
Now, I understand not wanting to support third party drives. Incompatibilities and other issues do crop up and its perfectly understandable for Dell to say "sorry, that's unsupported." Its a whole other thing to actually disable that ability without telling users before hand in an environment that was allowed in previous generations. Yes, indeed enterprise SAN solutions do limit the drives that can be used in their systems. This isn't a SAN though, its a server and a user should be informed well before hand that using unsupported drives will be blocked. Its a simple process; a red banner in front of the drive array, a notice on the box, something. Which brings me to Dell saying they have informed customers of the change. I'd like to know how, outside of white-papers, they informed their customers. I've personally spoken to a few friends that work at Dell shops, one only knew of the issue during a support incident. Two of the three run 60+ Dell server environments. The original poster also didn't know after he purchased a new server.
It'd be interesting to see if someone with a Dell Poweredge Gen11 and two hard drives of the same type (Dell Branded and the original OEM non-dell branded) tested out the config, then dumped the firmware from the Dell branded drive and wrote it to the non-Dell branded drive to see if there are any performance issues. Similar to the way people add more space to XBOX 360s by buying Western Digital BEV drives and writing the firmware from the XBOX 360 branded (same model) WD BEV drives.
I personally find this as a money grab with a lame excuse. Again, I understand not supporting off-brand drives. I even understand, to some point, voiding warranty on the raid controllers that run non-brand drives. But to block them directly seems anti-consumer, especially for smaller businesses.
This is a time for companies to vote with their wallet. As a related FYI, HP still allows non-branded hard drives with their enterprise RAID controllers. Sounds like a good time for Dell users to switch to me.
EDIT: I seriously recommend reading the additional comments in the thread. A lot of Dell and non-Dell customers are voicing my same concerns about Dell going the route of vendor lock-in for their server solutions.
EDIT2: Something pointed out in the thread is that Dell branded RAID controllers and hard drives are rebranded from other companies. I touched on this on the flash comment above but completely forgot that the RAID controller is generally LSI-made. Infact, there was an issue a while ago where the Dell PERC would lockup on boot, fixed by reflashing with LSI firmware. So, what exactly is Dell trying to say here? They are using magic pixie dust to do operations that are only supported by dell equipment thus the reason for vendor lock-in? Again, seems pure money grab from a company that used to boast they adhered to industry standards and try to get customers away from vendor lock-ins by Sun and IBM.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
What not to do online when looking for a job.
So a friend of mine told me about an interesting situation he ran into a few weeks back. He has an open position for an engineer and has been dealing with resumes and interviews for the past month or so and found a few good candidates. He scheduled interviews with some potential canidets and went back to his daily routine as usual, later on he came across the three resumes of interviewies for next week and though to himself, "I wonder, let me google these email addresses and see what comes up." Not too surprisingly there was very little google had to say but when he moved on to search via email with MySpace, he came across something interesting.
First candidate was pretty boring, family and such. Something you'd kinda expect from a mid-40s engineer. Second candidate have MySpace, but the third candidate. Well, the third candidate had a MySpace page but it was private. They did have their MySpace blog open though and it went downhill from there.
You see, if you go job hunting but also maintain a blog on MySpace that contains entries about previous jobs make sure you don't use the same email for both or at the very least mark it private. Explicit stories about your sexual prowess is one thing, its a whole 'nother to talk about slacking off at work; surfing porn sites on the office computer and the like. Generally people hiring change their mind quickly when they see entries like that, as did my friend.
At lot of companies hiring do this sort of thing. Is it right? Depends on who you ask. It could extremely loosely be equated with calling up your friends and asking about you. Though a better analogy would be hanging up long stories in your front yard and your employer driving by and reading them. The fact of the matter is though, employers routinely search potental employees and look for content such as this. A few lessons can be learned from this experience;
First candidate was pretty boring, family and such. Something you'd kinda expect from a mid-40s engineer. Second candidate have MySpace, but the third candidate. Well, the third candidate had a MySpace page but it was private. They did have their MySpace blog open though and it went downhill from there.
You see, if you go job hunting but also maintain a blog on MySpace that contains entries about previous jobs make sure you don't use the same email for both or at the very least mark it private. Explicit stories about your sexual prowess is one thing, its a whole 'nother to talk about slacking off at work; surfing porn sites on the office computer and the like. Generally people hiring change their mind quickly when they see entries like that, as did my friend.
At lot of companies hiring do this sort of thing. Is it right? Depends on who you ask. It could extremely loosely be equated with calling up your friends and asking about you. Though a better analogy would be hanging up long stories in your front yard and your employer driving by and reading them. The fact of the matter is though, employers routinely search potental employees and look for content such as this. A few lessons can be learned from this experience;
- Create a separate, more professional looking email to do your job search with. JohnDoe@gmail.com is a lot more professional than sexypants69@gmail.com.
- If your personal life is open to the world in the form of a blog or a MySpace page be mindful that anyone in the world could come across it including potential employers.
- Try to keep work separated from personal life in online postings. It might be tempting to bitch about that annoying previous co-worker but when new (and existing) employers see that, it presents a potential issue for the company. Usually that means you my present an issue and need to be pro-actively dealt with. Additionally you may run into legal troubles from non-disclosure agreements or libel.
Dealing with Comcasticland
It would seem I'm bad at updating. Don't feel bad, blog.drgn.net isn't the only place I never update. Twitter and Facebook friends tend to get a bit annoyed when they don't hear my general off-color rambling. Why, I have not a clue. So on to the meat of this story.
Since May of '09 I've had BrightHouse as our primary cable/internet/phone provider. We've had issues with their service but up until about 4 months or so ago, they weren't this bad. General crappy stuff like sucky internet speeds (pay for 20Mb, get 5Mb), CableCard issues on my Tivo, loosing channels, billing snafu-ness and the like. Finally fed up dealing with BrightHouse issues over the past 10 years in 4 different counties and two different coasts I decided to make the switch to Comcast (yay, competition in my area!) and get their HighSpeed Internet and Digital Cable Package. I call, setup an appointment and patiently wait for them to do their magic.
Or so I had thought. Install day rolls around and the tech shows up at home, my wife dealing with him since I work a good hour away. The tech finds out that I'm unable to get Internet and the HD channels in my area, odd in 2010. Hell, odd in 2005! Well, after a few calls later he tells my wife he will be back later that afternoon while she works out what we want done with Comcast. Wifey calls, finds out that indeed our lines are as old as the dirt they are buried in and I'll need to find alternate Internet and lack HD for a while. No biggie, the Comcast deal is still pretty good for all the channels I will get and they offer HBO for free for a little while. The lady updates the order and we expect the guy to return. Only, he doesn't.
It would seem some happy jack-off decides the order should be deleted and presses the magical delete-your-dreams button, we find this out by waiting for the never-showing installer. My wife calls back Comcast, talks another two or so MORE hours with them after a good 2.5/3hr stint earlier and finds out that yes; indeed somebody deleted the order and no, they can't come out today even after they re-created the order. In defense of the lady helping my wife, I believe her name is Jocelyn, she worked extremely hard to help us and get this issue resolved. They got the order put through and told my wife they would call back. Well, they didn't call her but they did call me. Since I was insanely busy I referred them to my wife and went back to my daily duties. Well, after another long drawn-out discussion and a few non-violent threats they go ahead and send the guy at 8pm or so at night to install the CableCard and one cable box.
You can probably figure out where this is going, though it's not as bad as you think. It would seem the Comcast network in my area, being as old as the dirt it's in, doesn't support CableCard and barely has enough bandwidth for the digital channels I can receive. I call shenanigans on the CableCard since they are using Sci-Atl (Cisco) Explorer 8300HD boxes that work similar for decoding encryption but whatever. The installer installs the cable boxes, two of them now, while explaining what has happened; Adelphia used to own the cable in my area and was attempting an upgrade. Through business mis-management and the like they went under and was promptly sold to Comcast after being bankrupt. Comcast, in their decision to alienate customers, decided that its not 'worth it' to upgrade my area for a long, loooong time. You know, since taking customers away from BrightHouse is just not a good business decision. Meanwhile, not that I mind listening to this story, its probably not good its coming from a COMCAST employee. But hey, whatever.
So now, I have two HD DVR cable boxes that don't receive HD because our lines are too old and our network doesn't support it AND (it gets better) if I want to be able to use the DVR functionality, I have to pay an extra $20/mo PER BOX. I already have a Tivo HD XL, one that I pay the service for, but I can only use it for the first 60 channels or so since I can't get a CableCard even though I CAN get a cable box that works the same way as far as decryption and service provisioning goes.
There is a good side to this though, even without HD Comcast has more available channels than BrightHouse does. I get E! again (The Soup rocks) along with a bunch of Orlando channels which is good since my area only receives Tampa channels on BrightHouse. As for Internet and phone, I signed up withSprint Embarq Centurylink. It's not a whole heck of a lot cheaper but from what I understand from local friends their 3MB DSL service is solid and appears faster than BrightHouse's supposed 20MB service. Also, having a land-line during hurricane season seems a bit better than VoIP.
Since May of '09 I've had BrightHouse as our primary cable/internet/phone provider. We've had issues with their service but up until about 4 months or so ago, they weren't this bad. General crappy stuff like sucky internet speeds (pay for 20Mb, get 5Mb), CableCard issues on my Tivo, loosing channels, billing snafu-ness and the like. Finally fed up dealing with BrightHouse issues over the past 10 years in 4 different counties and two different coasts I decided to make the switch to Comcast (yay, competition in my area!) and get their HighSpeed Internet and Digital Cable Package. I call, setup an appointment and patiently wait for them to do their magic.
Or so I had thought. Install day rolls around and the tech shows up at home, my wife dealing with him since I work a good hour away. The tech finds out that I'm unable to get Internet and the HD channels in my area, odd in 2010. Hell, odd in 2005! Well, after a few calls later he tells my wife he will be back later that afternoon while she works out what we want done with Comcast. Wifey calls, finds out that indeed our lines are as old as the dirt they are buried in and I'll need to find alternate Internet and lack HD for a while. No biggie, the Comcast deal is still pretty good for all the channels I will get and they offer HBO for free for a little while. The lady updates the order and we expect the guy to return. Only, he doesn't.
It would seem some happy jack-off decides the order should be deleted and presses the magical delete-your-dreams button, we find this out by waiting for the never-showing installer. My wife calls back Comcast, talks another two or so MORE hours with them after a good 2.5/3hr stint earlier and finds out that yes; indeed somebody deleted the order and no, they can't come out today even after they re-created the order. In defense of the lady helping my wife, I believe her name is Jocelyn, she worked extremely hard to help us and get this issue resolved. They got the order put through and told my wife they would call back. Well, they didn't call her but they did call me. Since I was insanely busy I referred them to my wife and went back to my daily duties. Well, after another long drawn-out discussion and a few non-violent threats they go ahead and send the guy at 8pm or so at night to install the CableCard and one cable box.
You can probably figure out where this is going, though it's not as bad as you think. It would seem the Comcast network in my area, being as old as the dirt it's in, doesn't support CableCard and barely has enough bandwidth for the digital channels I can receive. I call shenanigans on the CableCard since they are using Sci-Atl (Cisco) Explorer 8300HD boxes that work similar for decoding encryption but whatever. The installer installs the cable boxes, two of them now, while explaining what has happened; Adelphia used to own the cable in my area and was attempting an upgrade. Through business mis-management and the like they went under and was promptly sold to Comcast after being bankrupt. Comcast, in their decision to alienate customers, decided that its not 'worth it' to upgrade my area for a long, loooong time. You know, since taking customers away from BrightHouse is just not a good business decision. Meanwhile, not that I mind listening to this story, its probably not good its coming from a COMCAST employee. But hey, whatever.
So now, I have two HD DVR cable boxes that don't receive HD because our lines are too old and our network doesn't support it AND (it gets better) if I want to be able to use the DVR functionality, I have to pay an extra $20/mo PER BOX. I already have a Tivo HD XL, one that I pay the service for, but I can only use it for the first 60 channels or so since I can't get a CableCard even though I CAN get a cable box that works the same way as far as decryption and service provisioning goes.
There is a good side to this though, even without HD Comcast has more available channels than BrightHouse does. I get E! again (The Soup rocks) along with a bunch of Orlando channels which is good since my area only receives Tampa channels on BrightHouse. As for Internet and phone, I signed up with
Monday, April 13, 2009
Updated: Fun w/XM Radio
So on Friday, April 9th I could no longer login to my XM Online account. I'd get an error that my account was deactivated and when I attempted to update my subscribed Radio ID, it told me it was not valid and kicked me out. Now, this has been working fine since I paid the $2.99/mo fee in March when the bastards changed the contract to exclude XM Online for free on subscribed radios. I balked but then paid, mainly cause I enjoy catching the same shows at work.
With my XM Online account not working, I decided to send an email to their support team. face-palms ensue.
Update: Just heard back from XM/Sirius
With my XM Online account not working, I decided to send an email to their support team. face-palms ensue.
From Me to XM:
Greetings, up until yesterday my xm-online stopped working. Today when I try to go through it told me my subscription isn't valid and to put my radio ID in there. When I do, I now get an error saying my Radio ID (-removed-) does not have a valid subscription. I check on my XM account and it is valid and working (and I just got billed for it). Any ideas whats going on?
Thanks,
Brandon
"The normal make a living, the deranged make history." - Christopher Titus
XM to Me
Dear Mr. Titus, [ed: Titus??]
Thank you for contacting XM.
We are sorry to hear about the difficulties you had experienced with your XM Radio Online. We will be more than happy to assist you. Please note that the XM Radio Online listening platform has been upgraded to deliver a higher quality digital audio but is no longer provided free as a part of a base satellite subscription. [no shit, that's why I was subscribed] Internet streaming has been upgraded to 128Kbps and is available for $2.99 when you add Premium XM Radio Online to your account. We do apologize for any inconvenience caused.
If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to send an additional email or you may contact a Listener Care Representative directly at 1-800-XM RADIO (800-967-2346). Our Listener Care Center's hours of operation are as follows:
Monday-Saturday: 8 AM-11 PM ET
Sunday: 8AM-8PM ET
Thank you,
Alicia
XM Radio Inc.
1500 Eckington Place NE
Washington, D.C. 20002
www.xmradio.com
XM Listener Care: 1-800-967-2346
Me to XM
Greetings,
I understand that I need to pay extra for XM Online Radio and have been for about a month. While I'm not pleased that a service I once got for free is now $2.99/mo extra but I can live with that. What I emailed about was the fact that now when I attempt to login to the Web Site I get an error saying my XM Online subscription has been disabled, then it asks me to input my current, valid XM Radio ID. When I do that I get the following message;
The Radio ID you registered is not eligible for XM Radio Online. However, you can subscribe to XM Radio Online by visiting http://listen.xmradio.com. If you feel that you have received this message in error, please email XM Listener Care at lccstreaming@xmradio.com for assistance.
Now, even if I do decide to pay $7.99/mo without using my radio for the upgrade, i doesn't work. I *still* get the account deactivated error.
So basically, my XM Radio Online account doesn't work, period. Can you please fix?
Also, my name is Brandon Butler, not Christopher Titus (Titus is the comedian that came up with the quote at the end of my email.)
Thanks,
Brandon
XM to MeI finally just sent an email saying "Just update it for me." We'll see what happens next.
Dear Mr. Titus, [ed: I'm not TITUS dammit!]
Thank you for contacting XM.
We have received your email and we must apologize for the difficulties that you have encountered accessing online listening. In addition, we are sorry to hear about the difficulties that you have encountered adding the Online Premium package ($2.99 plus applicable taxes) to your subscription. If you would like for us to apply the Online Premium package for you, please send us an additional email and we would be happy to assist you.
If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to send an additional email or you may contact a Listener Care Representative directly at 1-800-XM RADIO (800-967-2346). Our Listener Care Centers hours of operation are as follows:
Monday-Saturday 8 AM - 11 PM ET
Sunday 8AM - 8 PM ET
Thank you,
Claudia
XM Radio Inc.
1500 Eckington Place NE
Washington, D.C. 20002
www.xmradio.com
XM Listener Care: 1-800-967-2346
Update: Just heard back from XM/Sirius
Dear Mr. Titus, [Titus again!? ARG!]
Thank you for contacting XM.
We are more than willing to provide assistance regarding your request.
Unfortunately, we were unable to create the premium XM Radio Online account for you, as we have received the ?invalid? error message. As such, we have submitted a ticket to our Technical Department to report the problem. Upon resolution we will contact you at the following telephone number and/or email address.
Telephone Number: (XXX) XXX-XXXX
Email Address: XXXX@XXXX.XXX
Your patience in this matter is appreciated.
If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to send an additional email or you may contact a Listener Care Representative directly at 1-800-XM RADIO (800-967-2346). Our Listener Care Centers hours of operation are as follows:
Monday - Saturday: 8AM ? 11PM EST
Sunday: 8AM - 8PM EST
Thank you,
Nadine
XM Radio Inc.
1500 Eckington Place NE
Washington, D.C. 20002
www.xmradio.com
XM Listener Care: 1-800-967-2346
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Professor explains stimulus package (joke)
Friend of mine forwarded me this joke earlier today and with all the recent discussion on twitter about the stim package, I figured it was appropriate, enjoy.
Shortly after class, an economics student approaches his professor and says,
"I don't understand this stimulus bill. Can you explain it to me?"
The professor replied, "I don't have any time to explain it at my office, but if you come over to my house on Saturday and help me with my weekend project, I'll be glad to explain it to you."
The student agreed.
At the agreed-upon time, the student showed up at the professor's house. The professor stated that the weekend project involved his backyard pool. They both went out back to the pool, and the professor handed the student a bucket. Demonstrating with his own bucket, the professor said, "First, go over to the deep end, and fill your bucket with as much water as you can."
The student did as he was instructed.
The professor then continued, "Follow me over to the shallow end, and then dump all the water from your bucket into it."
The student was naturally confused, but did as he was told.
The professor then explained they were going to do this many more times, and began walking back to the deep end of the pool.
The confused student asked, "Excuse me, but why are we doing this?"
The professor matter-of-factly stated that he was trying to make the shallow end much deeper.
The student didn't think the economics professor was serious, but figured that he would find out the real story soon enough. However, after the 6th trip between the shallow end and the deep end, the student began to become worried that his economics professor had gone mad. The student finally replied, "All we're doing is wasting valuable time and effort on unproductive pursuits. Even worse, when this process is all over, everything will be at the same level it was before, so all you'll really have accomplished is the destruction of what could have been truly productive action!"
The professor put down his bucket and replied with a smile, "Congratulations. You now understand the stimulus bill."
Friday, February 27, 2009
Random Thought Friday for the last week of Feb.
Another random thought Friday, and a pay Friday (for me) at that! It's been a long week, that's for sure. Today's RTF includes continuation of the pirate bay trial and various other things that caught my attention over the past week or so, Enjoy.
Pirate Bay Witness' wife overwhelmed with flowers
http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-witness-wife-overwhelmed-with-flowers-090227/
Pirate Bay trail day 9
http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-trial-day-9-bittorrent-is-not-evil-090226/
Divers find hotel 300ft deep in Lake Jocassee
http://www.inquisitr.com/18788/lake-jocassee/
Illegal Immigrant slavery in Florida's tomato picking industry
http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2009/03/politics-of-the-plate-the-price-of-tomatoes
Microsoft suing TomTom, 3 of the 8 claims refer to filesystem patents the Microsoft owns
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/02/25/its-on-microsoft-sue.html
UCPA runs "Snip City" campaign, invites men to schedule a March Madness vasectomy
http://www.urologycp.com/SNIP_CITY_Press.html
Herpes rise linked to Beer Pong
http://www.asylum.com/2009/02/24/herpes-rise-linked-to-beer-pong/
Russian man dies of Viagra Overdoes, goes out on top!
http://www.asylum.com/2009/02/27/russian-man-dies-of-viagra-overdose-goes-out-on-top/?icid=200100397x1219546649x1201338291
Top 5 misleading propaganda videos from the 40s, 50s and 60s
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/lists/five-funny-propaganda-videos-110708
Pirate Bay Witness' wife overwhelmed with flowers
http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-witness-wife-overwhelmed-with-flowers-090227/
Pirate Bay trail day 9
http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-trial-day-9-bittorrent-is-not-evil-090226/
Divers find hotel 300ft deep in Lake Jocassee
http://www.inquisitr.com/18788/lake-jocassee/
Illegal Immigrant slavery in Florida's tomato picking industry
http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2009/03/politics-of-the-plate-the-price-of-tomatoes
Microsoft suing TomTom, 3 of the 8 claims refer to filesystem patents the Microsoft owns
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/02/25/its-on-microsoft-sue.html
UCPA runs "Snip City" campaign, invites men to schedule a March Madness vasectomy
http://www.urologycp.com/SNIP_CITY_Press.html
Herpes rise linked to Beer Pong
http://www.asylum.com/2009/02/24/herpes-rise-linked-to-beer-pong/
Russian man dies of Viagra Overdoes, goes out on top!
http://www.asylum.com/2009/02/27/russian-man-dies-of-viagra-overdose-goes-out-on-top/?icid=200100397x1219546649x1201338291
Top 5 misleading propaganda videos from the 40s, 50s and 60s
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/lists/five-funny-propaganda-videos-110708
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The Pirate Bay trials...
I've been keeping up with The Pirate Bay trials recently and there is some very interesting day to day coverage over at TorrentFreak (http://www.torrentfreak.com/search/pirate%20bay%20trial). Whether you believe file-sharing is morally wrong or not, its interesting to see it being challenged in a place that has different laws than here in the States. For the most part, file-sharing is largely legal in Sweden, at least for now.
It is interesting how little knowledge prosecutors have of disorganized, well, organizations. I didn't expect them to know a whole lot about the underlying tech of torrents but to not understand there is no 'kingpin' that runs TPB in these days just seems a little odd to me. There are some good quotes as well in the trial notes by torrent freak, such as the revelation that the IFPI was going to sue google for infringement.
It is interesting how little knowledge prosecutors have of disorganized, well, organizations. I didn't expect them to know a whole lot about the underlying tech of torrents but to not understand there is no 'kingpin' that runs TPB in these days just seems a little odd to me. There are some good quotes as well in the trial notes by torrent freak, such as the revelation that the IFPI was going to sue google for infringement.
Friday, February 20, 2009
The Internet Safety Act must die!
Two new bills (and probably many more to come) have been introduced, S.436 in Senate and H.R.1076 in the House. Each of the companion bills are titled "Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today's Youth Act" or the Internet SAFETY Act and is attached to a larger bill that deals with child exploitation and money laundering. Each bill contain the same language:
Now it may sound like sensational reporting and it very well could be, but part of problem (without going into the whole idea itself) is the broad terms within the language. This means that while the average user probably won't be charged under this law, it does mean they COULD be. It also would bolster the defense of the MPAA and RIAA when suing people who allegedly download copyrighted content.
Hopefully these bills will never pass in there current form, however its not a stretch to think it would be. These days it seems anyone who opposes any law related to child exploitation in it is branded as someone who sides with child molesters and kiddie porn addicts. The problem is the broad reach of this law harming those who do nothing related to child exploitation or money laundering.
People must act, the best way is to call or write well formed letters to your politicans about why this Act is a bad idea. It usually helps to have a few good examples in there where the law could be damaging.
I've composed a sample letter below to send, its very rough draft-ish, could use a LOT of work and I really reccomend writing your own. If anyone has any suggestions to the letter below or any ideas they'd like, please contact me.
I am not a lawyer but to me the wording in this act is so broad and undefined that any 'provider' can be a company, community or individual whether for profit or not. This means that if YOU have a wireless network, you COULD be sited under this law. This also covers those of us in IT, managing logs of our users' IP addresses for two years. There is more information in this article on c|net.
"A provider of an electronic communication service or remote computing service shall retain for a period of at least two years all records or other information pertaining to the identity of a user of a temporarily assigned network address the service assigns to that user."
Now it may sound like sensational reporting and it very well could be, but part of problem (without going into the whole idea itself) is the broad terms within the language. This means that while the average user probably won't be charged under this law, it does mean they COULD be. It also would bolster the defense of the MPAA and RIAA when suing people who allegedly download copyrighted content.
Hopefully these bills will never pass in there current form, however its not a stretch to think it would be. These days it seems anyone who opposes any law related to child exploitation in it is branded as someone who sides with child molesters and kiddie porn addicts. The problem is the broad reach of this law harming those who do nothing related to child exploitation or money laundering.
People must act, the best way is to call or write well formed letters to your politicans about why this Act is a bad idea. It usually helps to have a few good examples in there where the law could be damaging.
I've composed a sample letter below to send, its very rough draft-ish, could use a LOT of work and I really reccomend writing your own. If anyone has any suggestions to the letter below or any ideas they'd like, please contact me.
Dear [name]
My name is [my name] and I'm a registered voter in the state of [your state]. I'm deeply concerned about two acts that have recently entered into the Senate (S.436) and House (H.R.1076) that would seem to impose strict information technology level record requirements on standard citizens.
This act, known as the "Internet SAFETY Act" states "A provider of an electronic communication service or remote computing service shall retain for a period of at least two years all records or other information pertaining to the identity of a user of a temporarily assigned network address the service assigns to that user." The text, as you see, is broad. The legal definition of electronic communication service is "any service which provides to users thereof the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications." The U.S. Justice Department's position (http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/s&smanual2002.htm#_IIIB_) is that any service "that provides others with means of communicating electronically" qualifies.
From my understanding, this means if my friend comes over and connects to my wireless network, I would have to keep records of his connection and relevant details for up to two years incase law enforcement requests these records. This also seems to mean that if I purchased a WiFi router for home use and do not secure it (generally only the more tech savvy users know how to do this) I and many other voters of yours could be held accountable for not maintaining these logs even if we lack the know-how to do so.
While the majority of this bill is centered around money laundering and child exploitation, both of which are major issues, it also opens the possibility for abuses of the legal system holding standard citizens responsible for technology requirements that many are unable to understand. Either this portion of the bill needs to be better defined or stricken.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please vote against this bill in its current form until changes are made to better protect the citizens from wrongful prosecution.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Friday thoughts
I haven't been around here much, cleaning the cobwebs as I type. Life's taken hold as usual and things get busy, its how they are. Being Friday is a plus though and the only thing I have planned for this weekend is relaxing, working on the car and building a new media center PC. Might involve a little drinking as well. For now, enjoy the following links of things that caught my attention.
Again with the per-mile tax:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-lahood-vehicle-mileage-tax,0,6754105,print.story
Fox news picks up on the robot rebellion:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,496309,00.html
Awesome cave house for sale:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/20/cave-house-for-sale.html
Sorry Mario, the princess is in another castle:
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/02/16/power-on-self-test-s-11.html
Really, REALLY bad valentines prank:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0218091shamu1.html
Japan...:
http://www.evilmilk.com/pictures/Hmm_Japan.htm
AT&T won't let you cancel your dry loop DSL 'cause you don't have a landline:
http://consumerist.com/5155853/att-you-cant-cancel-your-dsl-because-you-dont-have-a-landline
LifeHacker workspace show and tell:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/lifehacker-workspace-showandtell/
Again with the per-mile tax:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-lahood-vehicle-mileage-tax,0,6754105,print.story
Fox news picks up on the robot rebellion:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,496309,00.html
Awesome cave house for sale:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/20/cave-house-for-sale.html
Sorry Mario, the princess is in another castle:
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/02/16/power-on-self-test-s-11.html
Really, REALLY bad valentines prank:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0218091shamu1.html
Japan...:
http://www.evilmilk.com/pictures/Hmm_Japan.htm
AT&T won't let you cancel your dry loop DSL 'cause you don't have a landline:
http://consumerist.com/5155853/att-you-cant-cancel-your-dsl-because-you-dont-have-a-landline
LifeHacker workspace show and tell:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/lifehacker-workspace-showandtell/
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
My rant on Helios and the case of the Linux Confiscating Teacher.
A very interesting post over at that Helios blog about how his kids' Linux CD was confiscated in class and an email sent over to Ken from Helios Solutions about how free software can't be legal and how "putting linux on these machines is holding our kids back." Its an interesting read, however I don't agree with the anti-Microsoft tone in it.
Well, I do, but the way it was conveyed will probably shut the teacher off to what he is trying to say. Being supportive of both sides to the argument I know how hard it is to convert someone who is a huge Windows fan to even understanding some of the philosophy behind and benifits of Linux. Attacking the teachers belief in Windows and Microsoft in general won't help, neither will attacking her Union. It will most likely shut her off to understanding the reason behind the Linux movement and the advantages of using Linux over windows, especially on lower-end hardware and for lower-income families. Instead of attacking he should have given examples; Evertek Linux PC at Wal-mart, Asus Eee PC, XO Laptop and school boards that have or are starting to embrace Linux across the country.
This is my biggest gripe about most hard core linux supporters. You don't gain people to your cause by attacking them or their beleifs, you gain them by giving them compelling reasons and examples.
Well, I do, but the way it was conveyed will probably shut the teacher off to what he is trying to say. Being supportive of both sides to the argument I know how hard it is to convert someone who is a huge Windows fan to even understanding some of the philosophy behind and benifits of Linux. Attacking the teachers belief in Windows and Microsoft in general won't help, neither will attacking her Union. It will most likely shut her off to understanding the reason behind the Linux movement and the advantages of using Linux over windows, especially on lower-end hardware and for lower-income families. Instead of attacking he should have given examples; Evertek Linux PC at Wal-mart, Asus Eee PC, XO Laptop and school boards that have or are starting to embrace Linux across the country.
This is my biggest gripe about most hard core linux supporters. You don't gain people to your cause by attacking them or their beleifs, you gain them by giving them compelling reasons and examples.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Helpdesk software on the cheap...
Helpdesk can be annoying, even more so if your using spreadsheets or text files to manage what you're doing. Back in June of `07 I was tasked with finding a helpdesk package to use. In previous lives I've used custom web apps, excel spreadsheets, trackit and many, many other solutions. Each had their own drawbacks and annoyances. I finally settled on a free one (the boss loved that) called SpiceWorks. Its an ad-supported free helpdesk software that runs on rails. Seems there is an ability to install on linux (with a lot of work) but more meant to run on a windows based system. It does have its own issues but for the most part, it works better than some of the paid solutions that i've used and tested in the past. Now almost 1.5 years into using it, we have well over 2,000 tickets tracked in the system and while we've had hiccups from time to time, its been for the most part rock solid. We've never lost any data, even during the upgrade process and at most the service has stopped resonding during very heavy usage. We haven't had this problem since the 3.0 upgrade, however.
If you are low-budget, or even high-budget I reccomend spiceworks. Their community is a big help, if you want you can get ads removed by paying a $100.00/yr fee and it just plain works. Not only does it do ticket tracking but high-level reporting, software and hardware inventory, basic vendor (called Service) tracking and email integration for easy auto-logging of tickets and up-to-date information being sent to the requestor as the ticket is worked.
Overall, a great little package and highly reccomended!
If you are low-budget, or even high-budget I reccomend spiceworks. Their community is a big help, if you want you can get ads removed by paying a $100.00/yr fee and it just plain works. Not only does it do ticket tracking but high-level reporting, software and hardware inventory, basic vendor (called Service) tracking and email integration for easy auto-logging of tickets and up-to-date information being sent to the requestor as the ticket is worked.
Overall, a great little package and highly reccomended!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Voting...
Whomever you support; Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or even Socialist. Today is the day to vote! No excuses, no complaints. Unless you early voted, its time to pay your due and select our new president. It comes up only once every four years, and whomever is picked, we get to deal with until 2012 so make it count.
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