Well that's the opposite of my anecdotal evidence. It likely has a lot to do with the environment you're supporting. Perhaps a comprehensive look at why you're getting so many BSODs?

The ~5000 computers my team is responsible for do need attention ... but a BSOD is extremely rare and typically the result of hardware failure. This despite having multiple agents for patching, security, monitoring, inventory, remote access, encryption, etc. installed on all the computer and a large portion of users having local admin.

Now...if we were still on XP and 5+ year old hardware I'm sure it would be a different story.

Presumptive, tangential conclusions...

Perhaps you're taking about consumer level support?

I've worked with MS Enterprise Support many times in my career...and they're nothing like Apple support. They aren't perfect but they WILL troubleshoot an issue until they can provide a resolution. I've gotten beta or custom-modified patches from them before. I've gotten engineers who will dig into multi-platform systems without the immediate finger-pointing or "stop using xyz product." Oh, and everything they're troubleshooting is on someone else's hardware. Let me know when Apple will do that.

On the consumer level, Apple's typical advice is 'you're doing it wrong' (yes, this meant to be funny, not trolling)

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/24/apple-responds-over-iphone-4-reception-issues-youre-holding-th/

There are always going to be exception cases. So yes, there are *TWO* people with badly delayed packages. This out of how many millions of packages delivered in the 4 weeks leading up to christmas? Unfortunately the more extreme the example the more it's referred to...even when it's basically irrelevant.

Yes, UPS and FedEx messed up some deliveries. They're not some magic perfect wizard den ... but neither is any large scale enterprise. It sucks for those who missed packages but a large portion of those were shipped by vendors who knew there were delivery delays.

Maybe not in a large business but in smaller ones? Sure to some degree.

But beyond that...you need a cutting edge workstation like this? Ok. In 12-18 months it's no longer cutting edge and your upgrade path is ... replacement. If your business is that profitable and hardware dependent you don't care...then you'd probably do much better getting some datacenter space and loading up a server or blade farm.

Having no upgrade path is less of a concern when you're talking about a 500-1000$ computer.

Still a nifty but this is definitely aimed at a small niche market.

Apple most certainly does NOT have leading support on the enterprise level. I know this from direct, personal experience. "That's how it's meant to work" and "We will probably fix that in the next release (date unknown)" are both considered perfectly acceptable answers by Apple Enterprise Support.

Oh...unless you're a 100% Apple shop and already have in-house Linux/Unix guru's who can do an end-run around the limitations in OSX.

Every other enterprise vendor has a roadmap and beta products/releases they share (at least under NDA) so related vendors can prepare their software/hardware. Apple releases the next OSX and major software vendors (PGP, Symantec, etc.) take months to release compatible software.

This isn't Apple bashing, just the state of things and it sucks. I actually like most of their hardware and OS implementation but some parts make want to pull my hair out...which is awkward since I have none.

The problem is the vast majority of people sending things aren't interacting with UPS or FedEx other than selecting shipping speed through xyzshopping.com

They were told 'last day to order for xmas eve delivery is 11:59PM on Dec 23rd (or whatever) by the retailer.

Last second shopping? Go to a freaking store people. :)

So just to use your own point...if emergency rooms (i.e. critically necessary medical services largely funded by the gov't) can't provide capacity necessary for the exception-circumstance...how is it reasonable to expect FedEx or UPS to do even more? Getting a beanie boo before xmas isn't quite as important as pushing saline for a trauma victim with low BP. (though if you read the FB page for FedEx or UPS you might get the impression otherwise)

I think the vendors deserve much of the blame here if the delivery companies were communicating with them. Heck, if Amazon posted that orders are surging this year and deliveries may be delayed for last second orders...so order RIGHT NOW. just like they do with the silly (but effective) timer for when you can last order something to get it by X day.

What I find truly ironic - people are blaming FedEx and UPS for 'failing to plan ahead properly' when *they're* the ones ordering things at the very last second. UPS should include a small, complimentary mirror with each of these delayed packages when they're delivered.

Retail and almost any large scale enterprise are going to have many things in common. At the end of the day it's large-scale, lowest-cost that affords security. Add in senior management having 'great ideas' or a vendor selling some 'amazing product' ... you get the idea. The store manager insists on using an XYZ tablet instead of his company issues 'portable desktop' so he gets an exclusion from half the security measures. And of course forgets the tablet almost every time he walks through the store...etc. etc. etc.

I've yet to work on a network that I couldn't bypass security or had an available means to do so. In some cases it's utterly trivial, others it takes some limited insider knowledge and a techie background.

Most managers and 'important people' assume security doesn't apply to them and that getting their job done is WAY more important. IT and InfoSec people can be the worst in that group from personal experience.

FBI will do the actual investigating here. The po-po are just the unwitting hacks who get face time.

Protip: your information is always at risk. Social engineering, datamining, and a myriad of other techniques make it all out in the open. What you can do is try to *limit* that risk. Credit protection or locking your credit checks is one. Unique passwords is another. A really helpful thing is watching how you answer security questions - never use REAL information. I hope everyone realizes how easy it is to figure out someone's mother's maiden name these days. Favorite food? If not pizza or lobster just check facebook. Honeymoon spot? First job? More of the same.

These attacks target the least common denominator (in this case retail POS) so try not to be that group. Use one card for retail shopping...ideally one that's NOT a debit card tied to your bank account. That way you're liable for, at most, 50 bucks. Try getting money back into your checking account...you can...but until then you're out that $.

girlintraining has a lot of interesting information...it'd be fun to pick his/her brain one day. I've similar experiences though not centered in retail.

MAC ACLs are like the TSA groping grandma. Looks good to those up top but only annoys the people who aren't doing anything wrong...while doing little to stop anyone with ill intent.

802.1x is a big improvement but still leaves a lot to be desired in most implementations.

Sure but even that's not 100% secure by any means.

I wrote a whole long rant about all the holes I've personally seen and then thought better of posting it. Many of them are possible with limited technical knowledge and minimal understanding of the target (ahem).

Anyone who thinks this was a 100% outsider attack is sadly mistaken. It doesn't even need to be someone in a position of power or great access...just some basic knowledge and perhaps a few others to do some unwitting testing (mind you retail hires troves of temp workers ahead of black friday) is more than enough to allow an experienced person to pull this off.

Usually it goes one of two ways ... the culprit is obvious/stupid and caught quickly which is touted as a great investigative success ... or the news moves on, the company licks it's wounds, the FBI gives up, and life goes on. It's not like the movies

That's just it...if you make it a law then it's legal. Then you challenge the law and get it overturned...then they write a new one permitting whatever was used to overturn the old one ad infinitum until you get a constitutional challenge which this won't rise to.

I agree though it's a brazen, monopolistic power grab by the dealers. Remind you of the MPAA and RIAA? Their business model gets challenged by...reality and life...so they fight for laws and sue sue sue. All to the detriment of their customers.

I can see why they're bent out of shape...they're used to a locked in business model that basically guarantees profits. Unfortunately buying votes indirectly is still ridiculously easy as is adding things to unrelated bills about to be passed into law. I can only see that trend getting worse...here's a bill to explicitly outlaw shooting infants in a stand your ground state. Rider to it also prohibits you from selling books not approved by the writers guild. Just you wait...

Very true. Talk to people in the healthcare field and they'll be able to list tons of examples of wasted money. Any patient on medicaid/medicare gets more treatments, pills, devices, etc. because the hospital, dr, or specialist can bill for it.

Example: 80-something comatose man in the final stages of lung cancer being given a colonoscopy ... just in case he might have ass cancer too. Seriously.

Healthcare is for-profit and must-CYA. Those are the two primary factors 90+% of the time. That's not to say there aren't doctors who care. Many do. But they're stuck working in a system that leaves them little choice but to go along if they want to continue practicing medicine (and paying off their insane student loans).

And given her a gov't office position...or possible put her in charge of the TSA.

Yes and no.

Drug testing addresses the last 3-30 (up to 90) days of an individuals life. It has NOTHING to do with them doing drugs ON THE JOB. Also will point out that things like coke and meth clear your system FAR faster than THC. Go figure.

Taking it a step further, someone who parties friday night can be 100% fine to drive your precious cargo. Can 'bad' behavior spill over? Yep. But a bus driver can also show up drunk to work.

Plenty of people use drugs and simply stop when they know they're changing jobs. It's basically a joke. Many drug testing facilities have lots of strict rules that they rarely or unequally enforce.

At the end of the day, you want someone sober while performing their job. Fine. 110% fine and understandable. I totally agree. Even random/regular drug tests (which are extremely rare) won't differentiate. Most of the time it's just a game of beating one test per job and then going on your merry way.

But we can do it FOR THE CHILDREN.