I agree with several of your points. The main issue that I've seen with companies bringing in outside expertise is that they typically aren't experts (at least in the platform that I specialize in). They take shortcuts, don't follow best practices, and don't architect solutions to be scalable. I do a bit of side consulting on the side and I typically do good enough of a job to where I'm not needed any longer. If that's the case, then I call it mission accomplished. That's not the philosophy of the majority of the companies out there though. I'm being cynical here but it almost feels like they're trying to create work for themselves later on. The thing about being an FTE is that you typically have some loyalty to the organization. You're also going to have to deal with the tech debt, so you try to build better solutions whereas the consulting groups see tech debt as future revenue opportunities. Again that's me being VERY cynical but almost 20 years in IT has shown this trend to be true :/

Damn it I should have proofread..."Provide folks with the ability to be happy when they come to work"

I worked at a financial services company as a consultant for several years that had more contractors than actual employees. I finally managed to come up with a part of the equation as to WHY it's so predominant. I've obtained a BBA and am working on my MBA and from what I've seen he was correct. It comes down to CapEx (capital expenses) vs OpEx (operational expenses). Contractors are categorized as CapEx, and employees are OpEx.

So why does this matter? Simply put (and I'm oversimplifying here), CapEx is paid upfront but is expected to pay off in the future. Specifically, software dev like this is pushed into the R&D category. So when a Wall Street analyst looks at the companies balance sheet, they see that the company is investing tons of $ in R&D (even if they're not an R&D type company). When they see too much OpEx (employees wages, benefits, rent, etc.), they don't see the company as investing in their future. Thus you get a company dumping $10 million for a crappy system designed by contracting companies (and I've worked with most of the ones mentioned in the article, and yes most of them are crap) that could have been better designed by developers they would have had to pay a fraction of the cost for.

Honestly, I believe more of an emphasis should be put on employee engagement and corporate social responsibility. Don't get me wrong; profits are important as they allow the company to grow and employee folks. I just think too much emphasis on the short term (ironic since CapEx is supposed to be helpful for future earnings LMAO) profitability. Let's take a look at the long game of how companies are affecting our society as a whole and if they can provide folks with the ability to happy to come to work.

There have been tons of studies that show that happy employees are productive employees. Happy employees are generally not contractors (and we all know that contractor just means second class citizens in most companies). I worked as a W2 Contractor for several years of post-2008 recession and hated it for the most part. Most of the folks who work for consulting companies like the ones mentioned here are miserable.

Anyways that's my rant on why this is so rampant. Take it or leave it, but I hope you've found it mildly informative :)

Companies like Linksys, D-Link, etc don't actually "make" their own hardware. They contract to ODMs (original device manufacturer) to create a device, then the vendor's market and support the products. The vendors stipulate the look and feel of device and its interface so it matches their brand; however, beyond that they don't really control jack beyond saying, "I want it to do x, y and z while supporting standard XXXX, YYYY, ZZZZ). The ODM's (which are primarily based in China) don't have any incentive to make things more secure until the vendors start asking for that. The ODM's have an incentive to make things as easy to swap out as possible because they can use a lot of the same base software across multiple vendors. For example, way back in the early 2000's you could flash D-Link firmware against some Linksys devices and vice versa.

When Cisco bought out Linksys back in 2003, they attempted to create a router that wasn't ODM driven...it didn't work out well. I don't recall if it ever went to market, but I remember our internal QA folks complaining about it quite a bit. It was supposed to be more secure, and universal across all devices eventually (similar to Cisco's strategy with IOS). Obviously this didn't work out.

Another issue that make securing devices more difficult is the fact that ODM's run out of chips. The WRT54G had so many different versions because it was so popular, the manufacturers couldn't keep up with the demand for chips. What to do? Well spin up a new hardware version, with different firmware and capabilities, with the same model number and packaging!

Anyways, like I said it's not as cut and dry of "they don't wanna," it's a multitude of issues. I think there needs to be a standard (802.securityx LOL) for securing these devices created. That way the ODM's can focus in on that and offering it across the board for compatibility. There might already be one, I've been out of the loop for a dozen years.

Just thought a little bit of a history lesson might be of use for my fellow /. users

I hate stories like this. IMOHO it's folks who don't want to see the cable companies take a dump (this article is from the WSJ), so I always assume there's a conflict of interest. Are there a lot of choices? Yes, and that's actually a good thing. The down side is you have to do a bit of research and you have to use a few different apps instead of having everything right at your fingertips. There are tons of sites out there that will tell you what each service carries.

When I cut the cord two years ago, I spent all of 20 minutes comparing the services out there that carried the channels that I wanted (OTA isn't an option for me since I have a mountain blocking most of the signals not to mention a huge tree). Vue had about 90% of what I wanted, and there were "free" channels (so to speak) for the other content that I wanted to access. Once Hulu has live access for Discovery content, I'll probably make the switch over to them instead.

Folks, it's really not that hard, even for those who aren't familiar with technology. Most people who have cable also subscribe to Netflix and Amazon, so all you're really doing is cutting down your cable/satellite bill. I went from paying almost $250 a month to paying about $100. Good deal for me and many others.

Until Roku, Amazon, Apple, etc come up with a device that can truly interpret all of your subscriptions it's going to be a bit of a hodgepodge but you get some extra $$$ in your pocket. With cable/satellite you're spoon fed the content in an "easy" to consume format. With streaming services you may have to do a bit more work. Is the convenience worth the extra money those companies charge? Well that's up to you. For me, it's easy enough to go to a couple more apps instead of having my experience spoon fed.

I've been working from home for about a year now, and honestly I love it. I am a software developer, so it makes sense for me to have quiet and minimize interruptions. As a result, I'm more productive (because I can just turn slack off when I don't want to be interrupted, harder to do in an office environment) and I get to spend more time with my family instead of an hour or more on the road on a daily basis. We use Zoom constantly and we try to make it a point to turn on our camera's so we can actually see each other and interact. That makes a huge difference to me, since it allows me to feel like I get that daily interaction with folks.

We also make twice yearly homages to HQ and I would be ok with it being quarterly honestly. We go to our HQ for a week and get some stuff worked out that's easier to do in person. The team building aspect of those times actually feel like they mean something as well. Previously, team building events didn't mean much because they were with folks I interacted with in person everyday.. Now I feel like they make a larger impact on myself and my colleagues because that time is so much more valuable.

Just my two cents

This kind of stuff drives me nuts. The title of this article is misleading. If you read through you'll find this piece:

"The panel found evidence among studies it reviewed that vaping may prompt teenagers or young adults to try regular cigarettes, putting them at higher risk for addiction, but that any significant linkage between e-cigarettes and long-term smoking has not been established"

From what I read it looks like there is no significant linkage. The article also didn't give any specifics. Based on my reading it sounds like someone may have tried a cigarette after vaping. I bet if you compared those numbers to those who have tried a cigarette without vaping you would probably see a corollary. This article seems to try imply that there is a larger linkage. It feels like folks are trying to slant this towards their own agenda.

I hate how people try to villainize vaping. Here are some facts as someone who has quit smoking by switching to vaping:

• I quit smoking because vaping tasted better. One day (when I was alternating between smoking and vaping) I started smoking a cigarette and said to my self, "This tastes like sh** why am I doing this?" I proceeded to switch back to vaping and gave away the remainder of my cigarettes. I have had one cigarette since and it was so unappetizing that it's ridiculous. I haven't wanted another one since.
• Vaping can be significantly less expensive than smoking. I spend about $200 a year on e juice (because I buy in bulk), I used to spend that in a month on cigarettes, now it would probably be closer to 300 because of tax increases.
• I keep vaping because it's a habit replacement. I still use a little nicotine (3mg/ml), just enough to get a little buzz. I vape ~6 ml per day, so I'm getting ~18mg of nicotine per day. One cigarette is on average 12 mg of nicotine. I can go for hours without vaping without real issue. Smoking I couldn't go more than an hour or so without getting anxious.
• After completely switching to vaping for a month, I was able to go up four flights of stairs without getting winded. I used to get winded going up two.
• I don't wake up coughing everyday like I did when I smoked
• My sense of taste and smell have improved. My overall health has improved

Now I would like to emphasize that vaping is a habit replacement for me. Habits can be a mother f***er to break. I think it's the habit that is what makes smoking so difficult to quit. Read a great book called, "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg. It was very eye opening. It's habits that are difficult to break. The physical addiction is over fairly quickly, but coming up with a habit replacement is what really made the difference for me quitting smoking and succeeding at it. I smoked for 15 years, tried quitting at least 15 times. I have been smoke free for nearly 3 years thanks to vaping.

Why keep vaping? Well see above. Also, the primary ingredients in most ejuice are vegetable glycerin (VG) and propylene glycol (PG). Both of which have been studied and been found to be safe. PG has been used in fog machines for years with no ill effects found.

Also, most of the studies that find toxins and the such related to vaping are from what's called a dry hit, meaning that you're essentially burning the wicking material because it doesn't have enough liquid, thus causing a different reaction than heating. One generally doesn't like the taste of a dry hit, it's nasty and if it happens you fix the issue by adding more liquid or replacing the atomizer. You still get more carcinogenics and toxic byproducts from a cigarette puff than a dry hit.

Not looking to start an argument, just wanted to put out what I've experienced and why articles like this tend to piss me off. As a rule I don't think anyone should start smoking. I would rather kids not vape too, it's a habit and there are risks of habit formation (even without nicotine, which creates an addiction on top of the habit); however, kids are going to want to rebel and be a**holes. I was one once, and who doesn't want to flip society the bird when you're young. If it's a choice between smoking and vaping, I would vote vaping hands down every time. If you must be a dumba**, then at least you have a much safer alternative now than when I was a kid.

If one is trying to quit smoking but has been repeatedly unsuccessful (like myself), then I think vaping is a great way to go to a much healthier alternative.

Something very like this happened to me during the holidays last year. My manager gave me a $100 gift card, and when I went to use it the card had been drained. A colleague (who reported to the same manager) experienced the same thing. When we contacted the gift card company we were given the run around and didn't get our balances back. Nice of them isn't it? Pro tip: Make sure that they use the card immediately, order it online or give them cash instead :)

Many Southpark episodes are available on South Park Studio's website, and new ones are available on Hulu (which is relatively inexpensive at 7.99/mo)

I ran into the same issue that is outlined here, went ahead and changed my plan only to get significantly degraded. Most of the shows I wanted to watch didn't record. They said "Oh it's your equipment! Let us roll a truck to you (for 49.99) and we'll fix that problem right away!" It turns out I'm not the only person experiencing the issue. My Grandmother had the same exact issue, and only after Spectrum took over. Wow, I wonder what it could be? Instead of arguing with them, I went ahead and just dumped everything but internet. Signed up for PS Vue and now I'm paying $50 less than I was with 95% of the channels I wanted (the other 5% I can get through on demand apps from those providers). Screw 'em! I just wish there were more high speed options in my area, then I would cut them completely. I have the option of Spectrum (300 Mbps) or 1 Mbps DSL (for almost $50 a month to boot!). Hopefully wireless spectrum internet will come through sooner than later.

Audible is my favorite service, I've been an audible customer for over a dozen years and have over 800 books in my audible library. They're the ones I can't do without.

I also subscribe to Hulu, Netflix, Playstation Vue (cable replacement), HBO Now, and Amazon Prime (also use it for add free music, their free version of music has a pretty wide selection, you don't have to pay extra).