...Who refuse to upgrade software configuration tools used to program their hardware?

I work in the fire protection business. Fire alarm panels require special software to configure them for the specific needs of your building. The need to be tweaked periodically as the building is renovated, etc. so its not a one shot deal for the configuration.

Once a panel is released, unless there are glaring functionality problems, the software never gets maintained beyond a v1.0. In a vast number of cases, the custom software is OS dependent. So when the world moves from 98 to xp, xp to 7, etc. it actually breaks the programming software. The vendors take a honey badger approach and refuse to spend money developing new versions to keep up with the new OSes.

The vendor's suggestion? "Sell them a new panel!" Right. So because you are lazy and refuse to maintain your software (or for that matter make it so that its not OS dependent) you expect us to tell the customer "Yes we know the $100,000 solid state system you invested in 7 years ago works flawlessly, but we cant program it properly with our new equipment since we upgraded to the latest version of windows. You need to spend another 100K. We are flatly told "I dont care about your computers, my system works fine. Find a way to program my existing system or I'll find somebody who CAN!"

I have guys who have to lug around up to 3 or 4 laptops of varying age in their trucks because we have 10-20+ year old panels which work great and are mechanically sound, but the software to program it only run in the version of the OS that was current at the time it was released! (we even have a few that are DOS based)

or better yet, similar to the story a couple days ago about the app that "accidentally" shipped with a bitcoin miner...

As the IT God, script out a C&C structure to distribute the miner to all workstations across the company. between 5p and 8a you bring them to life and mine the hell out of the hundreds of PCs at your disposal... and run for cover when your bean counters start wondering why the power usage (and bills) at all of your facilities across the country suddenly shot through the roof. LOL

Screen Real Estate.

There is some stuff you Just. Cant Do. On a phone. The screen is too small.

IF his idea that phones will be a little bigger, do we really want to look like an idiot walking around with a giant brick to our head? Or have to wory about always using a bluetooth earpiece? And where will you stick that larger than you prefer phone?

IMHO an iPhone 5 is starting to get a little too big. The larger samsungs are even worse.

*golf clap*

"I already bought this shit. GTFO!"

Nothing more annoying than searching for a product, BUYING said product, and then for weeks/months later being shown ads for said product that I no longer have an interest in... BECAUSE I'VE ALREADY GOT ONE, YOU SEE?!?!" /French accent

I havent seen it in a while, but for a while we kept having issues with some implementations of Exchange refusing email based on our perfectly valid SPF records. The problem only occurred if we had both SPF AND SenderID (M$' so called "SPF 2.0") records for our domain. If we deleted our SPF records and only left the SenderID record, the mail would be delivered.

Way to go Microsoft in taking a perfectly good standard and deciding its not QUITE good enough and muddying the waters with your own crap.

On a related note they do have a pro model that the motor base is mounted UNDER your counter. (think permanent install)

Nice, but sorry, $650 is a ripoff. I dont care if it can shit tiffany cufflinks. I just want to make a smoothie.

http://www.blendtec.com/products/professional_series

(Still want one after seeing a similar setup on a former boss' cabin cruiser. kinda cool to remove the bit of removable countertop that plugged the hole and just drop the pitcher onto the base. No messing with the motor, plugging it in, etc. and motor storage was the best part... it was permanently in what would have been dead space under the counter.)

Nobody said Grandpa was smart or thought his cunning plan through... LOL

yep. I can see that happening again... and coincidentally I just finished firing off an email to an up and coming IP camera and managed wifi vendor that provides free NVR and WAP controller software... too bad none of their "server" software installs as a service. So not even a CHANCE of hiding it from little hands. (unless you want to jump through a bunch of hoops to force it into service mode)

And in this case all the kid would have had to do was THREE clicks to log grandpa's PC off. (thus shutting down the NVR... DOH!)

Wow Sardaukar86, you have your very own personal troll. Were can I buy one?

I swear by this company's gear. They have their annoyances of announcing product before they should, but its solid stuff.

They keep pricing low because they purposefully don't spend cash on advertising. They get their best promotions via word of mouth like this.

Meh. I could buy a comparable Linksys for about the same cost, so not necessarily true.

I still have some bad blood with my inlaws relating to Belkin. I tried to assist them with setting up a home file sharing network on brand new belkin gear across the board (usb wifi adapters, router, etc) After two hours of work I could never get it to work right. I noticed odd things, including only two bars of signal on one PC even though the router was 15' away on the other side of a wall. I advised them to replace the gear as that was the problem. They didnt believe me when I told them.

Then next weekend they were making snide comments about how my 15 years of experience was useless because they got it running later. They apparently talked pretty harshly about me because their kids who were too young to pick up on the subtleties of social interaction started making rather derisive comments to my face about how bad of a computer guy I am. (they were too young to care about it in general and were obviously trying to )

The very NEXT weekend I was there and noticed all new linksys gear... Sure enough, simply replacing the Belkin crap made all of my settings work. But in their eyes, I failed and they were gods.

/Yeah, butthurt. I know.

So? If its factually accurate, who the fark cares? If Hitler said "the sky is blue and the grass is green" does it make his statement any less factual?

(Im a Libertarian so dont start pointing fingers too quickly)

ITs about damn time we started talking standards. We should also talk vote verification too...

  Ive always said the best voting solution, and the only way to guarantee accurate results with electronic ballots is to use a blind serialized receipt system. For example:

When you insert the scantron form into the reader, push the buttons on the fully electronic machine, etc. it should show the votes registered and give you the chance to protest a machine error. (circled the box for Obama but Romney showed on the screen, etc.). You then approve the final and correct ballot to be submitted to the public record and it spits out the unique serial number of your vote on a recept, timestamped with all pertinent info like the machine serial, etc (which is all recorded in the official count log). Days later you would be able to verify what votes were cast (anonymously of course) by serial number. That would prove that your vote was indeed counted.*

You could also possibly look for fraud in the timestamps as well (a sudden flurry of near-simultaneous votes for candidate X within seconds of each other from the same machine, etc.) Statisticians should LOVE that. Imagine being able to get voter stats not only by precinct, but time of day, etc. hell, not that it does any good, but by individual machine too!

In my precincts we use the scantron forms. We fill in the circles and then walk up to a big scanner and feed it to the machine to be counted. The best verification I get as to whether my vote was cast is to watch the simple LCD on the scanner "total ballots cast" display increment by one after I feed the form. I have no idea if my votes were cast as intended, just that it registered my form as being accepted. Not real reassuring overall.

*On a related note, the other day I got a mailer from an obviously strongly Libertarian group... something about being for smaller govt, I dont recall the exact organization name. They showed an audit of sorts of votes in my immediate vicinity. It was the voter name, street address and name, and if they voted in 2008, 2010, and 2012(curiously, since they all said essentially "not yet" for that year... duh.). For 2010 There was my name and address with a "NO" under vote cast. I distinctly recall voting in that election. Hmmmmm... (the 2008 entry was correct)

Not that Im overly concerned since I cant verify it wasnt a ploy of some sort, but it is slightly unnerving since there was nothing on the mailer enticing me to call, email, donate, etc. Just a "FYI, Here's a voting record for your address and several of your neighbors around you for the past several elections. Dont forget to vote. Thank you."

Keeping info private on Facebook is like living in a dorm with no locks on the doors that go from the hallway to the rooms, and you are only allowed to lock or unlock your own windows.

            You can bar your dorm room window, wall it up with bricks, etc. But every so often an RA comes around and quietly unlocks it again without saying anything. On top of that, your lazy neighbors dont bother locking THEIR windows. EVER.

        What happens is eventually some prick climbs through either your window you THOUGHT was locked, or even worse, your neighbor's window. Next thing you know your "stuff" is missing because the burglar just went from the neighbor's unlocked window, through his room, and through your interior door.

Dont like it? then move out of the dorm. thats the only answer to security. Sure you dont get a cool place to hang out with your freinds, keep in touch, etc. but your "stuff" is safe.