I think you took me too literally. If you have trusted this person to be in your home when you are not there, then why can't they grant the police permission to enter?

That line carried a lot of weight with me too. She was a resident of the home, and had the right to admit or deny entry to the police, even over the other resident's objection. I guess the moral of the story is make sure the people you live with are equally complicit in your crimes.

I do see a slippery slope here, but generally agree with the decision. The police shouldn't have to verify that the person answering the door is a resident or owner. The fact that they open the door should be enough permission.

Another factor may be the context of the interview. You will get different responses if you quickly pull someone aside and start in on your questions, versus a scheduling a volunteer.

Late night comedians prey on this. Find a person on the street, perhaps on their way to work, then ask them some random questions. The results can be funny, but the person isn't stupid, just not in the right frame of mind, worried about how they look in TV, etc. Phone surveys must suffer from the same thing. It was just supposed to be "five", "quick" questions, but as it drags on the interviewee becomes more concerned with getting dinner on the table.

Not many details to go on here, but I would handle this like any other project. Triage the problems and requirements, then work with the system owner to work them off. Be respectful to the developers who came before you. They may have been handed the same lousy situation, and done their best to work within the boundaries provided. If you are nice, they should be willing to help you understand the history of the app. They may have sacrificed robustness to accommodate some other requirement when they first wrote the system. Since you seem to have other options, then you don't have a lot to loose, and perhaps much to gain if you can bring this system under control.

You are correct. Also consider that many of these utilities are regulated such that they cannot increase rates with market demand. Pepco (a DC area power company) had its rates fixed in many areas for a long time. They sacrificed long term maintenance projects so that they could hold to those rates. This is not to say there wasn't other mismanagement, but it is a factor.

I am not sure this is a fair comparison. Most people watch movies once or twice, only buying their favorites. Songs are played many times in the same week. Certainly, do the math, and what makes sense for your own viewing/listening habits, but I think most people would find that buying music is better in the long run.

We need to think of this like spam, where the cost of sending the second and subsequent spam messages is negligible. Even if these guys can't sell 95% of the card numbers they collected, it did not cost them much to collect them. Even to sell 1% of their take at $35 ea. is a lot of money. The volume is key here.

I largely agree on the points of being expensive and toxic, but also add that there are way too many options. Some are able to work with a dimmer switch, some are instant on, and there are at least 4 color temperatures that I can find. I don't recall incandescent having this many options, especially with the color temp. In my experience, many people don't pay attention to all these factors when making their purchase, and then bring the bulb home, see the color difference, especially from a "warmer" bulb, and complain they are all dimmer, or don't come on right away.

Second this. Most colleges will grant you exceptions/accommodations if you have a diagnosed learning disability. This is sometimes codified in state laws or guidelines. This is not to say that you will be given a free pass, but like the original poster said, most educators want their students to succeed. They cannot help you unless they are aware of your problem, and how it can be over come.

I recently grabbed a pair of older 30" LCD monitors from a demo/conference room that was being remodeled. I thought it would be great for work, but after a few months I found that I was turning my head too much to read stuff on the far edges of either screen. I turned them in and got my 24" monitors back.

It doesn't have to be an inside job. I have been to countless stores where they have a networked cash register with exposed ports within easy reach of the customer. Someone could connect a small USB device that could be used to capture data, or give that person inside access. I do not understand why these devices are not in locked enclosures. Once your physical security is compromised, there are almost no limits to what an attacker can do.

You have a really good point. These programs are complex. It is difficult to determine how a change to one part will affect the others. The article discussed the compromises that are needed because of the constraints of the Orion program. I truly hope they can develop a multipurpose product, rather than a crippled one that makes simple tasks more tedious. There is a reason we have both a screwdriver and a hammer in our toolbox.

Not to mention the inconvenience of the people who live/travel along that route. I don't know for sure, but I would guess that a good crew can run cable on poles the length of a few city blocks in an afternoon, maybe a few days. Underground would take many weeks to months of excavation, likely having to reroute traffic and loss of parking for residents, especially in an urban area.