Negative, the originator still has the right to decide to distribute, or not.

What you have taken from them is a governmentally enforced monopoly of a thought.

-Rick

There is a way to fight back though.

I work for the State. I am involve in our "advanced traffic management system", part of which will include systems to interact with the new SRCR systems the feds are mandating on 2017 model year cars.

There are other people on this project who have proposed all manor of things like, "We should be able to turn off a car that is speeding excessively", and "We should be able to track a vehicles movements and tax them based on miles driven", which basically just hearing makes me feel like I need a shower.

But since I am involved in the process, I can push back on these things, I can point out that we shouldn't be tracking vehicles, that we should be tracking rotating GUIDs that make it virtually impossible to identify an individuals travel patterns should our system be compromised. That we shouldn't be enabling a system that would kill power steering and power breaks on a vehicle traveling 100 mph. That we should be focusing the ATMS efforts on systems that have proven trends to reduce accidents and prevent fatalities.

Believe it or not, your government is nothing more than a collection of citizens. And while politicians are generally the scum of the earth, there are many great state and federal employees who are doing their best to make the country a better place.

-Rick

These kids have my thanks, as does North Korea. Sony hacked my computer with the XCP trojan they loaded on a music CD my daughter bought at the record store she worked at. So any time Sony is hacked, I cheer and hope the attackers do a lot of expensive damage.

Yes, over ten years ago and I'm still enraged over it. Someone should have gone to prison for that.

Fuck that evil God damned Sony and the ass it rode in on, the fucking bastards. DIE, SONY, DIE!!!

I think losing keys, at least outside, is worse. especially in the winter.

Actually, I'm having the time of my life.

Also an IT Manager. I try to keep my team capped out at 42 hours per week. Every once and a while we'll have some sort of emergency, but that's where comp time comes in.

As an IT manager, my week starts at 42 hours and grows from there. I'll be pushing 50 on this week by the time I leave for the night.

And my day today included interviews for an additional permanent BA/PM, 6 mainframe developers, and I was told by my boss that we were going to "load balance" from the C#/GSI team onto my Java team, that I would be getting at least 4 more projects, 2 FTEs, and probably half a dozen contractors.

So if there is any change to over time reqs, please let them include us!

-Rick

Did #1 Monday

The sj-r laid Britt off a couple of years ago, he's with the Illinois Times now.

It's a mixed bag, salaries tend to be a bit lighter, but you get an honest to goodness pension. Depending on what State and what department, there are other goodies as well. Where I am I get 3 weeks of vacation (starting), 3.5 weeks of sick time (unused sick time carries over year to year and can be cashed out at retirement to pay for health insurance), 4.5 days of "personal time" each year, along with all of the state holidays. Makes the work-life balance a little more easily managed ;)

-Rick

To add to this, I work for the State these days. Coming from a private sector shrinkwrap software company where the median age was ~28 and the average tenure was ~2 years, to the State where the average age is probably closer to 35-40, and the average tenure is 10+ years, it was a huge shock.

There is good and bad that comes with it. I've seen more complacency with jobs/technology. People aren't interested in making a jump to newer technologies and patterns because they don't feel like they have to. But on the bright side, you get to skip out on the vast majority of the junior dev shop drama.

But if you're north of 35, look at your local state agencies, no one would blink an eye at a 40-something applying for a job. And certs, while useful for getting you through the resume screening, are dramatically less valuable than networking and having someone in the department that will recommend you for an interview.

-Rick

Canadians ;)

The way they described it was similar to how my German friends described it. After high school you have to do something; college, apprenticeship, peace corps/community service, or military. You can't just graduate and keep flipping burgers.

Every Canadian I know is either former Mounty or Army. There may be some nuance to it that I'm not aware of, or perhaps I am ill informed.

-Rick

To be fair though, both Canada and Switzerland have forced conscription. So all of their native able bodied gun owners have completely weapons handling training at the military level.

-Rick

The fact that mental illness is considered a failure by most people is disgusting. Attitudes need to be changed.