Give some thought to what you can do, and implement what you feel you may need (saved logs or databases), but don't go out of your way to decide what would be nice for them to have. If they ask for something- give it to them. If you can't- tell them you can't, but will find a way to provide it. (Nine times out of ten- they won't ask you for it again anyway, but at least if you implement it- you will have it for the next time.)

Most executives live for data/reports. They will happily gobble down whatever you send them, usually without reading it. If you offer them a big menu of reports- they will want all of them, and then you will have to spend much of your time doing nothing but generating them.

I know this sounds cynical, but I've been in IT for the better part of 20 years, on both sides (sysadmin and executive) for several companies ranging from small ones like yours, to "large" corporations. They are all pretty much the same when it comes to IT reports. Spend your time where it is important- making sure your systems are secure and running at their peak. Stay on top of new technology and security bulletins, and find ways to improve operations and lower costs (executives like that even more than reports). Usually the only time you will have to produce reports is when something goes wrong. Be proactive, be prepared to hand them whatever data you can think they might want, but don't create a lot of unnecessary work for yourself in the process.

The reason people have moved away from land line phones isn't necessarily because they feel cellular or VoIP technology is that much better- it is because of the phone company monopolies on wired service and their ridiculous pricing and rules structures that don't seem to have changed much since the 50s (other than the price going up every year while their level of customer service drops).

Why on earth would I want to pay $30/month for a basic phone line, with no Caller ID, Call Waiting, or Voicemail, and I have to pay for long distance on top of it?! For that same money- I can get a nice Cellular or VoIP plan with, at a minimum, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, 3-Way Calling, AND Voicemail, plus unlimited or dirt-cheap long distance.

Based on the stability of my DSL connection, I really doubt a land line would be much more reliable in adverse weather or other conditions either, at least for where I live. I have a friend who lives down the street who's land line goes dead several times a year, and it takes an average of 18 hours to get it fixed each time. For power failures- my phones, network, and VoIP equipment are on a nice big UPS that will keep them running for close to two hours- plenty of time to deal with an emergency, or at the very least- call the power company.

I have a Phillips DECT system with four cordless phones and one base. Almost all setup options are replicated between the phones almost instantly, including the phone book, which allows for custom ring tones for individuals (similar to a cell phone). The only option that isn't duplicated, which I like, is the default ringer and ring volume- which can be set by phone. So- the phone in the bedroom doesn't have to have the same loud ring as the one in the Kitchen or Den. I don't see any reason to get more sophisticated than that, unless you want one of those new carrier-linked Internet connected phones (from Comcast and Verizon, for example), which basically give you standard "smart phone" capabilities in an inconveniently wired package.

If you want to go for overkill- do what I did once and I know others have suggested: Set up an Asterisk-based PBX server and buy display phones for it. You can also use SIP adapters with regular or cordless phones, but you will have to compromise on some of the functionality. For example- you can get Caller ID and basic voicemail notifications on a standard phone/cordless display, but that's about it. You can pick up new office-style display phones pretty cheap (around $100) on eBay.

I had an Asterisk setup like I described for awhile, but eventually got tired of it. Having a computer running 24x7 for the server (even if it is just a laptop) is wasteful, as is running network cables everywhere I wanted a phone. It also seemed like I was constantly troubleshooting problems with it- one phone liked dropping offline for no apparent reason no matter what I did, and one of the SIP adapters I used was flaky. You don't want an unreliable phone system.

Something to keep in mind- most of the manufacturers this refers to weren't part of any bail out. I can say from personal experience that German car companies in particular are the some of the biggest offenders. All manufacturers, domestic and foreign, take advantage of this to help drive profits up for their dealers, or simply because they don't want to adhere to any standards. At least OBDII mandated standards for certain parts of the car (namely emissions). There has been talk on Slashdot for years about communications standards for cars. Every manufacturer has their own twist, and there are no networking or communications "standards" at-all aside from the limited set mandated by OBDII.

As with anything else- it's all about money. If cars were built around open standards- any qualified mechanic could fix any car without having to invest huge amounts of money in specialty software and training for each manufacturer. Consumers would be able to easily upgrade their car electronics, without going through the car manufacturer's expensive repair and parts network or paying for a "specialist" to hack it. Mechanics and/or consumers could also easily improve the performance and safety of their own cars, by upgrading existing equipment and tweaking performance based on location (altitude, for example) and driving needs. Sure- this can be done now in most cars, but it is generally through expensive customized "performance" hacking. This law doesn't mandate completely open standards, but it is at least a step in the right direction.

Beyond just the software/networking- do we really need 100 different spark plugs for every brand of car? Is a $50 air filter for a Volkswagen really all that different from a $12 one for a Ford? Standardization has worked incredibly well for computers, why can't it work for cars? Both can be customized to extremes- ranging from slower basic models to super-high-performance luxury, and yet computers have easily interchangeable parts. Sure- you can't just unplug your ABS/power brake controller and plug in a new one in a minute or two, but aside from the mechanical connections, which are actually pretty standard already- the electronic portions should have a common bus used by everyone. Like PCI or USB for the car. As I said- not a new idea at all, especially here at Slashdot. Maybe it is an idea who's time has finally come...

I believe that dealer was definitely trying to screw you. The smart key (or whatever Honda's name for it) electronics in the car are already built to accept new keys, and the procedure for programming them is fairly straight-forward. ANY modern and qualified locksmith can hook you up with a replacement key. Hell- I got one for my last Honda from Ace Hardware- they have the "smart" keys and duplicating equipment for it, although they can't help you actually program the RFID to the car. That information is readily available online though.
I don't remember the exact procedure anymore, but it was something along the lines of- "With an already-programmed key- lock and then unlock the driver's door. Then lock and unlock it with the new key. Then insert the already-programmed key in the ignition and turn it to Run, then Off. Then do the same with the new key three times within one minute." All these steps tell the car's immobilizer and ignition RFID system that you have a new key and want to use it. There are similar procedures for all such systems.
I suppose it might be a bit difficult if you didn't have another working key, but you could probably fudge it by using the new key and just holding the broken one next to it so the car "recognizes" that you have a legitimate key.
As far as the topic of providing ALL of the error code information, instead of reserving key information to drive up dealer revenue- I definitely agree, although it is possible it would result in overall car prices going up. I can't help but think the additional revenue of these repairs helps to keep prices down to some extent, and I have little doubt that repair revenue is what keeps many dealers in business. I do remember when I owned a Volkswagen that it was almost impossible to get any relevant error codes out of it using standard ODBII equipment. My "regular" mechanic couldn't do a whole lot with it, and I had to take it to the dealer or an expensive "specialist" to diagnose many of the errors (and there were a LOT of them). To their credit- I've never had a problem with my Hondas that wasn't easily diagnosed with an ODBII meter from Pep Boys. I found a quote online once along the lines of: "A Volkswagen doesn't exist to give its driver pleasure- it exists to provide a constant revenue stream to the dealer." Not to just pick on them, I actually loved that car and you could probably plug any car manufacturer into that sentence.

...when I actually wanted an iPhone. Glad I never wasted the money. Why would anyone want to buy something thats capabilities change almost monthly at the whim of Apple and AT&T? It still can't do things an old Moto RAZR did five years ago. The iPhone was relegated to "gadget" status at my company earlier this year (meaning they won't support it as a communication tool for managers). Now it seems to be failing in the gadget category as-well. I really don't even know who to blame anymore- AT&T is an obvious target, but Apple is responsible for a lot of this too.

...was with my ex-wife. She supposedly "home schooled", but in reality- "no school" was a better description. I have to say this though- her two youngest "no schooled" kids (who were living with us when we were together) actually turned out pretty well. Both are articulate and excellent communicators and had no problem at all getting GEDs. The last I heard- one of them is doing well in an art school and one manages a local restaurant. Frankly- from what I have seen of local public-schooled kids the last few years- I think she made the right choice.

I'm with others on this... Distracted driving like this is responsible for a lot of severe and fatal "accidents". As someone else said- it is willful misconduct that should be punished. Driving a car is dangerous, period. If you are driving a car- that should be ALL you are doing is driving. If you aren't focused on what you are doing- you are putting your life, and those of everyone around you, in danger. Why is that so hard for some people to understand? I have a 32-mile long commute to work every day, and EVERY DAY I see people swerving out of their lane and driving erratically while gabbing or texting on a cell phone. I almost get hit at least once a week by one of these winners.

Agreed. I hate RealNetworks too for the same reasons, but I was hoping they would win this. Consumers have lost a big one here...

It's sad really- DRM and things like this make me think twice (or more) before going to the movie theater or buying a DVD. I don't want to support companies like Sony anymore. If I go on a business trip- I want to be able to watch movies I PAID for on my laptop, without having to use the costly (battery-wise) DVD drive or carry bulky DVDs. I also now want to watch movies on my netbook- which doesn't have a DVD drive at all. In any case- I am talking about DVDs that I PAID for!

This really has nothing to do with piracy- it is pure greed on the part of a handful of media companies. They aren't content with you paying once or twice to watch a movie (in theater and on DVD). The want you to pay 3 or more times for the SAME movie, just to get it in different formats you should be able to do yourself- DVD, Blu-Ray, Digital, Online.

Want another example of their greed in action- check out the recent news about how they are applying the screws to Red Box. At least I have to give Sony credit for negotiating with them, while the others refuse. I'm sure Red Box got screwed somehow in the deal anyway, but at least they can still rent out Sony's releases.

The hard part nowadays (although maybe not a problem in India) is actually finding a HUB. It is very difficult to actually buy a hub anymore, and most "hubs" sold in the US anyway are actually low-end unmanaged switches, so you can't sniff traffic on them.

In answer to the question though (I'm sure redundant at this point) is: YES- they are probably part of at least one bot-net, and are probably infected with all sorts of other nastiness. The best thing to do is re-secure the wireless router, and the all-too-often-recommended reformat and re-install of Windows. I wouldn't even try to salvage the current installs at this point.

Just echoing what others have said.

I'm the head of the IT Department for a small company. About a dozen of our users are on Office 2007, with the other 50 or-so on Office 2003. The majority on 2007 HATE it. Specifically- they HATE the user interface. It's just another example of Microsoft's complete disregard for usability for the sake of being "innovative". They came up with an innovative way to make it take twice as long to do anything in Office by mixing-up the menu and toolbar system everyone who has used a computer for the last fifteen years is used to. Office 2007 is also SLOW compared to 2003, on the exact same hardware, probably in-part because of the new user interface.

Of course, the saying goes: "Once you get used to it, it is hard to use anything else." But- that's part of the problem. It makes it more difficult to use anything that doesn't use the same interface. Now- everyone else needs to adopt a user interface that people didn't like in the first place, which is apparently what the Ooo folks are considering, just to try to continue to stay on-par with M$.

I can guarantee rendering and processing this new interface takes more CPU and GPU cycles, thereby making their aps run slower. Frankly- Ooo doesn't need any help in that department. I don't know who wins here- hardware manufacturers or Microsoft. The losers will be most computer users though- who will be forced to use yet another "innovative" user interface (cough, Vista, cough), while finding it necessary to upgrade their hardware just to maintain the same level of functionality they had before.

I agree with Synn. I've been running Linux servers (mostly Red Hat and CentOS) for almost as long as he has, and recently started using Ubuntu's server distro after using their desktop distro for 2+ years. I've found it to be efficient and reliable. I don't see any reason to say they aren't a viable competitor in the Linux server OS market now. Like others- I am concerned about CentOS since I have several key production servers running it.

I haven't been a big fan of Palm for many years now, but I'm starting to become a fan again.

I think it is a combination of the battle with Apple, which I hope they are able to win, and I think the woman in their commercials is amazingly hot. :)

That was my first thought. If the DOD requires specific versions- they should maintain repositories of them on their own servers. Perhaps one on their secure/classified network, and one on a more accessible network. They could be writable by only a few key people, so their chances of become corrupted would be very low.

This is interesting to hears, thanks. :)