My recommendation to you would be to leave the computer alone. Use it for work purposes only. It doesn't belong to you, therefore you have no entitlement for using it outside of the purpose for which it was given to you. That being said, talk to your IT guy, get an idea of how strict they are with regards to personal usage of company assets. You might find they don't care as much as you think they do. In my workplace, I have a strict "If it doesn't effect your job performance or compromise the security of our assets, then I don't care" policy. It is pointless for me to waste time reprimanding employees for checking their personal email or Facebook accounts periodically. Don't abuse it and it will most likely never be an issue, but you're taking a major risk to your employment regardless.

I thought that maybe I could contribute something to this question as a semi-professional photographer. When purchasing a camera, there are so many factors to consider. Before all else, you need to determine whether you want a point-and-shoot or a digital single lens reflex. To be honest, a high end point and shoot is capable of 99% of what a low-end digital SLR is capable of, and at less than half the size, it presents some real advantages. Point and shoot cameras to consider would be along the lines of the Canon G11. Once you move into digital SLRs, there are a lot of small things that you will not be told by the sales person. I am a Nikon shooter, so I can really only speak to that brand, although I am positive Canon is not much different. As you move from a low-end DSLR to a high-end DSLR, you will keep the majority of features, but you'll really see a difference in a few key areas. Firstly, build quality. The cheap DSLRs are made from plastic, whereas the higher-end DSLRs have a magnesium alloy body. Next, the autofocus system. Cheap DSLRs have a slower system with fewer tracking points, and as you move up the ladder, the systems become faster and more complex. ISO performance also improves as you go up the ladder, with the best performance being seen at the D7000 for a crop (DX) sensor, and the D3s for a full-frame (FX) sensor. A full frame sensor will always outperform a crop sensor in every way, although your zoom lenses will zoom a little further on a crop sensor, usually around 1.5x the stated focal distance on any FX compatible lens. Any Nikon DSLR below the D7000 lacks an internal focusing motor. This will make some of the nicest prime lenses Nikon makes entirely manual focus and almost impossible to use without a focusing screen - which, to my knowledge, no DSLR has from the factory. All of that being said, the best spot to drop your money is in your lenses. Specifically the Nikon Trinity: 14-24 f/2.8, 24-70 f/2.8, and the 70-200 f/2.8 - This set will set you back almost $7,000 but is worth every penny if you want to get serious about photography. They will always be worth close to what you paid for them, and hardly depreciate. A camera body, on the other hand, is practically worthless within three years. This barely encompasses everything there is to know, but I am happy to answer any additional questions, just drop a reply.

It's because America's economy has little of value outside their intellectual property. Relatively speaking of course.

I've come to the conclusion that intellectual property is the last thing of value that the United States has in a global economy. The manufacturing sector is a shadow of what it once was, the real estate sector has crashed tremendously, and exports are at a low. Now they have to bully everyone else into enforcing these patents, copyrights, and trademarks in order to stifle competition... It's a sad state of affairs.

At the rate these guys are going, they are going to be the catalyst for some major changes in law around the world. They've hit some pretty high profile targets that appeal to a wide variety of people. Just wait until the mainstream media (sic: Fox) has their usual "When Hackers Attack..." type of special and that will be the precursor.

From what I know, I would say that having a good password policy is first and foremost. Secondly, ensure that your MySQL server is only accessible from IP Addresses on the whitelist. Hash your passwords and make sure you salt them. No one likes a good hash without some salt. The biggest threat is an injection. Make sure you sanitize every single input on your site, don't trust cookies for security, and make sure you're regularly validating your security tokens. Oh, and don't be an idiot. There is no reason for you to store anything more than the last four digits of a customers credit card number anywhere on your server.