Actually the docom boom was tech-everything, eyeballs on the web was just a no brainer. There was a company in the great lakes area I think that was allowing you to shop for groceries online and you would get a delivery the next day (This was like '97 or 98!). Working prototypes for smelling odors through the internet were being built. Back in the 90's (cue Portlandia theme) we were digitizing the world man. I'm sure others will have many great examples of failed 90's tech. So it's not just a millenial thing this is just the advancement of automation. The projected figure is that 50% of the jobs available today won't be available in 20 years because they will have been automated out of existence.

We vote with our wallets. Don't use the self checkout lines and encourage others to not do so. I enjoy those small social interactions with strangers.

You need to look at the PCI-DSS requirements because this is what dictates the security standards of your network if you are storing credit card information. Specifically PCI-DSS dictates (not your contract) that there needs to be multiple levels of firewalls. Ergo you will need a firewall in front of the web server. You will then need a separate firewall in front of the DB servers. And the preferred setup is a three or more tiered system. Web server with firewall connects to the Application (WCF / web service server) which also has a firewall, which connects to your database server which also has a firewall. Also note that I am referencing hardware firewalls such as a Cisco ASA or a Dell Sonicwall. The servers should also have their own software firewalls enabled whether it's Windows Firewall or Linux IPTables. With that said we are "supposed" to be PCI-DSS compliant and should be for the sake of liability (and doing it the right way). Unfortunately I know many vendors who don't want to spend money on proper setups and run very insecure systems. If you can avoid it don't work for these people and go find a client that has the budget to do things right. PCI-DSS: https://www.pcisecuritystandar... A better option for a cheap client is to not store any customer data and use a tokenized system. Authorize.Net will store all sensitive data for an extra $10/mo and allow you to skirt PCI-DSS regulations. You should still run a firewall though and be as close to PCI-DSS as possible though. http://www.authorize.net/solut...

You could theoretically use other technologies as a baseline. One technology that comes to mind is how archivists are digitally printing information onto nickel plates because of it's durability. The data is then read back using an electron microscope. In theory if you could microprint binary data onto paper you could read it back with an electron microscope.

There are a lot of things that can only be remembered. I remember there was an announcement a day or two after 9/11 that all data was now being routed through government servers. That didn't surprise me but it's like they flipped a switch so they were ready for it.

They are most likely asking permission from the FAA to fly the drones at altitudes of around 1,000+ ft (not sure about the actual regulations) but this would be high enough that you would have to be a really good shot AND have a long range rifle. The thing is that most people aren't good shots let alone at that distance and compounding the fact that it's going to be a moving target at 50MPH.

Dude, the military payroll runs on an antiquated system that uses millions of lines of COBOL that no one really knows what to do. It's a huge problem.. but no one wants to tackle it ;) Shit they can't even get a healthcare website setup correctly.

Add in a Quantum Leap element where they get teleported through space-time every episode.

Nobody make a splash..

If you are an official non profit (501 organization) Google provides free services including their App engine AND will provide up to $10,000 free adwords advertising a month. http://www.google.com/nonprofi...

I just assumed this had to do with a heist that went un-reported. E.g. they had to take out the power sub-station before cracking another criminal's safe or something.

I just skimmed the Slashdot description it looks interesting. It looks really interesting I'll come back to read it later ;) /sarcasm & irony.

By EOD today I'll be officially employed as my own company. The issues that OP presented are quite common. While I also run a home lab I have also seen the advantages of being in the directorial position. I think that too many tech companies out there are not run by people with sufficient experience. Recently I was doing some interviews in the Boston area (before deciding to start my own company) and the companies that seemed to be doing the best were the ones that were staffed by veteran senior developers. Capt. James I'm happy to see your viewpoint here because this is what I am hoping for in the long run.

I always assume that it's pretty standard practice to delete any /install folder. I mean seriously.. Not only are you keeping your installation tidy but obviously it prevents anyone from re-running any install scripts. So it either comes down to people being lazy or just not knowing. I forget how many "webmasters" or "developers" are out there that don't even know the basics. As sort of an argument point spin-off, better software has led to less hands on deployment and made it easier for more people to deploy sites. In this vein people haven't learned how to RTFM since installs are so easy. /rant

The scary thing is that they were using Google a private US company to share private international secrets. This is just sloppy in my opinion. I mean.. come on how seriously are they trying to protect this sensitive information if they are uploading it to third party servers which probably never delete data and just deep freeze it?