It seems they've done a good job pulling all the disparate regions of support into a more compact set of teams, tools and services and have done a fairly good job of it so far.

That being said, the consolidation of IT services always leaves out the most important and most broken aspect of IT - communications. Companies assume business communication improves with the introduction of better phone tools, more robust email services and more efficient instant message systems. Generally, the exact opposite is the norm because no business wants to spend money on a communications coordination department to keep the flow organized and moving smoothly. Instead, they implement social media systems to give the sharing of useful and useless information equal time in the spotlight. It's becoming an annoying habit for businesses to install Facebook-esque systems that are supposed to help but ends up with everyone back-slapping everyone else for being good and smart and strong.

Honestly, makes me want to throw up in my mouth. A lot.

One small detail to add to AT&T side of the story - their GigaPower package is only a name - THAT offering tops out at 300Mbps, and this is true for every city it's available in. Not only that, no one has a clue if they'll every make 1,000Gbps service available in any market.

Sorry AT&T, calling it a trout a whale does not make it a whale no matter how big you blow up the picture you took of the trout.

Hmmm, let's see...if I'm being treated for a condition, any condition not involving an illegal act, and someone walks into my doctor's office and says "Give me Example Guy's current medical records", the first words out of my doctor's mouth will be "Show me your warrant or get out of my office."

So if the doctor prescribes medication to treat my medical condition, that comes under doctor-patient confidentiality. The ONLY people I have to share that information with are the pharmacy tech and pharmacy manager who do not share that information with anyone else outside that doctor's office.

So why do authority and police organizations think it's okay to grab my records at a whim because I'm taking, say, Ritalin to treat severe ADHD? They have no business or right to be pawing through peoples' records looking for criminals unless they serve a warrant to every physician involved. There is no condition under which legally prescribed medication falls outside of those parameters unless the patient himself gives said organization written authorization gained in a legal manner to search their own records.

So take your 'public disclosure' bull and stick it up your backside along with badge, Mr. Policeman. The rules apply to EVERYONE, not just the people who don't own their very own cheap tin badges.

I'd say I feel sorry for professors who feel threatened by the online education courses, but only because I feel sorry for anyone who refuses to find a better solution that to file for IP rights for their teaching material and processes. That's just going to create yet another money-making outlet for patent trolls and their lawyers. Everyone loses that game except the lawyers.

Build a better business model and get with the program, sirs and ma'ams.

Well, that explains how my Yahoo account got hacked a couple of weeks ago. No more Yahoo for me.

Playing an RPG is like acting a part in a free-form play where you have a self-developed character appropriate to the environment who acts or reacts to an ever-changing environment controlled by the director (GM). Anyone who has ever caught the drama bug will definitely get it, and it will give non-gamers a more familiar theme to base their views on.

Lots of people don't get it, the same reason why I don't get why organized sports are fun. I understand why others like football or basketball, I just don't have any real feel for it. And you don't have to dump any kind of a relationship just because they don't get it unless they're being antagonistic about it.

John Christopher's The White Mountains" (1967), "The City of Gold and Lead" (1967), "The Pool of Fire - One of my first, and favorite, children's sci-fi trilogy. The books are a good read for a 3rd grader. It's a bit difficult to find, but well worth it. I believe there was even a mini-series production of it years back called "The Tripods".

Code is for code monkeys. I'm a JOAT for IT (Jerk of All Trades).

Your description of the process mirrors that of contract companies hired to build nuclear reactor sites. They have to adhere to strict measurements every step of the way when putting together a secure building designed to handle radioactive materials and energy production. It's okay to fudge a few inches on that 2x4 or a few inches on a concrete pour when it comes to building a house, but you CAN'T fudge even half an inch on the framework of a reactor shell or it could easily kill everthing within miles of a leak. Builders are held to very high standards based on that.