A la carte is the only way consumers can reign in costs. I, too, get duplicate and triplicate channels and the only differences are some are HD, others digital and then others some other crappy technology where all things are blurry...not sure what century those stations still live in...I probably watch a dozen channels at most and not often. I almost wish I could opt for per hour charges at least for our household where everyone is more often on the computer, reading kindle, etc...and most of the stuff I watch I can get online now too...

Seriously, my suggestion is develop policies as well prior to just handing everything over to some new person. Put in change control processes at least for the first year and then as you get to know that person and their skills you can untangle yourself from the IT specific duties. I've never actually moved from IT to what seems to be a completely different function from IT (even if some of the budget revolves around IT purchases) but even if you were becoming CIO, for example, you would be in the same position albeit the "go to" person for a little while to solve the inevitable technical issues. But I truly think you must set up some sort of checks and balances from the start or your @ss is going to catch a lot of h3ll if things go wrong. Best case, your new person could screw things up to the point where you must now juggle both this new management role PLUS the IT tasks too....yikes! This is why I don't mix the two as MANY people assume IT is so simple and just clicking buttons and taking long lunches--until the Sh*t hits the fan and then WHO do they look to...you know what I mean..good luck to you...

now that's funny...and soooooooo ridiculous at the same time. C'mon people....dumbing down the game just so people don't quit....I would say IF someone doesn't have the determination to make their game better through...wait for it.........drum roll here.......PRACTICE!! Then perhaps they should quit and leave the greens open for those who wish to play. I don't play golf not because it's difficult...but because it is boring and I'd rather kayak or hike or bike, etc....but let's not push the game over the cliff...tweaking existing rules CAN work as they do in other sports. Take hockey...I LOVE the no two-line pass anymore as that was a major momentum killer in any game...same for the goalie rules where they can only touch the puck in a specific area...these rules help make the game better but they don't change the nature of the sport...making a golf hole larger....dumb idea....

We use Bit9 Parity...inventories and monitors ALL executable content on a given system and the policies remain in effect even when offline...this app closed many audit findings for us because with tamper protection and blocking of known malicious items it's more proactive. You can even import SHA/MD5 keys manually if something is discovered in the wild and there is no real detection yet....Nothing is 100% BUT much of what infects these user systems are executable content plain and simple. I wish they made this for Home use as it would be worth it. I am just another IT person too by the way and am not endorsing this product in any way..just giving an option to AV and other reactive apps. I love this app for our front-end web servers...you put these in HIGH mode and not a d@mn thing runs except what is supposed to...i.e. if the server is compromised new executable content STILL has to be approved even as local admin. That's the best part....local admin has nothing to do with this proactive approach...check it out....there is no such thing as one protection but with app control implementations like this and security in layers it just make it that much harder for the bad guys...hope this info helps....

When you see how these dollars were lost it just proves more and more how much waste and unnecessary costs are involved with this federal govt. I commented on the breakdown portion of the main article statement above. I still think we should run the govt using the 80/20 assumption--20% of the people do 80% of the work just as in the private sector quite often. We could probably shrink this govt down 80% or more and still everything would run, the country would prosper without govt intrusions into everything, and the economy would grow again AND basic services would continue to run in the govt. Sure, maybe some workers might have to put on multiple hats but SO WHAT! We have to do that all the time in the private sector AND we aren't guaranteed job security as these feds seem to be. Not sure what it takes to fire anyone in this govt but you can do just about anything short of murder and get away with it...it's a travesty!! [COMMENTS TO ABOVE ARTICLE STATEMENT] The breakdown includes about $3.1 billion in lost government services [QUESTIONABLE VALUE HERE], $152 million per day in lost travel spending [TRAVEL FOR WHOM? GOVT PERSONNEL--SOUNDS LIKE WE SAVED MONEY], $76 million per day lost because of National Parks being shut down [WOULDN'T HAVE COST ANYTHING IF OBAMA HADN'T FORCED CLOSURES OF STRUCTURES AND LAND THAT HAD NO REASON BEING CLOSED], and $217 million per day in lost federal and contractor wages in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area alone. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers bore the economic brunt of the shutdown [NO THEY DIDN'T SINCE THEY WILL BE PAID BACK-PAY--AT MOST IT WAS AN INCONVENIENCE]but small businesses also suffered from frozen government contracts and stalled business loans. [THIS I AGREE WITH IN THAT CONTRACTORS AND OTHERS WON'T GET BACK PAY AND WORKERS HAD TO USE LEAVE OR GET NO PAYCHECKS BUT THEN IT GOES BACK TO WHETHER THE AGENCIES AND SERVICES WHERE THEY WORK ARE TRULY NECESSARY]

Another example of a monopoly (although no one seems to admit it) crushing the little guy....trust that when one online door closes a new one opens or does not open for a reason...thanks for the years of service....cheers~

Of course, we all need to remember what sacrifices others have made for our freedoms and never forget that...the younger generations have taken this for granted and it is partially on my generation and other older ones for dropping the ball to some extent. We need to ensure young people understand what freedom in this country means and that they must continually fight against forces always trying to smash our freedoms and put us back under tyrannical rule. Remember what Ben Franklin told a woman who came up to him and asked him "well, do we have a Republic sir" and to that he replied "if you can keep it". Never has this been so true today...this younger generation WILL lose this Republic if they do not fight for it....it's that simple.

I remember back when Jurrassic Park was released and the character Malcolm had a line that so works for this ridiculous notion--"your scientists were so busy worrying about if they could, they forgot to ask if they should"

While govts at any level tend to think first with their wallet and then their minds when dealing with purchases, Cisco sales people should have acted above board on this. By that I mean, THEY, not the customer, are the experts or should have access to the experts and must help guide customers to some degree. It's NOT only about making a sale but keeping customers. How stupid is that? Cisco has excellent products--true--but they are NOT the only game in town anymore so they better watch out. Just look at EMC...people love their products and they are rock solid but support costs and all this ancillary crap is WAYYYYYYY overpriced. Anyone who is a true engineer and has managed such equipment knows exactly what I am talking about....same can be said for vendors like F5, NETAPP, and so one...the equipment is easy to spec out...it's this other "support" bulls**T I can't stand. And often you have no choice but to purchase it. When vendors require the support costs as part of the entire package then they have a duty to act reasonably and help the customer--not screw them over. The obvious outcome for this sales person was to sell as much sh*t to a govt as it could...period. What else is the explanation?

We did that for the first few years but then had them destroy it as the use is very limited and only good for certain things. Still, small price to pay to have another protection for your child even if the use is limited. Never know what the future brings. It's really just like anything else...insurance that you hope you never need. Cheers.

Why is every solution in this country to fire someone or jail someone when a mistake MAY have been made? And I emphasize MAY!!!! This country and its ridiculous leftist ideals is turning this nation into a STATEIST and UTOPIAN state where we ALL LOSE OUR FREEDOMS.

what are they talking about? Outlook does this now...it's called setting the hours....maybe I am missing the exact feature this article refers to...

I've been on many interviews and only had to do something similar once and, frankly, it turned me off the job. I had to sit in front of nearly 30 people (at the same time) during my interview and then to have some techie hand me a visio diagram half way through and ask how I would best design this network and what IP ranges I would use, etc. was overwhelming to say the least. It was also some part of their network still in the planning stages so HOW I could have answered correctly is beyond me when they don't even have a solution. Interviews themselves actually don't bother me when they are run correctly. I didn't appreciate getting blindsided with a test (one of several asked of me that day) especially under those stressful circumstances with everyone waiting on me to complete this document before moving to some other interviewer in the bunch. The job did not pay that much and was NOT a design job so that just added to my annoyance at this request. I get the idea but give the interviewee a break in this circumstance. At least give them forewarning so they can prepare somewhat or get into the frame of mind of answering specific technical questions in test format or as brain teasers and such.

I'm always amazed that an IT department needs to be justified in this day & age but I understand what you mean. IT is misunderstood routinely. I think one major 'big picture' issue that should be discussed with management of any company is what their goals are and what their future plans will be. Until they can answer that, creating an IT department may be putting the cart before the horse. That said, it sounds like your company is moving forward and growing and managing multiple sites will require at least one body per site. If your company doesn't see IT valuable and necessary I'm not sure how they can expect to grow. Just the physical layout of your company with remote sites will produce a need by default. I've worked in a company where one guy was trying to manage exactly the type of configuration you find yourself in--remote sites, growing staff, growing tech demands, etc.--and let me tell you if was a mess when I started there simply because it was unmanageable. IT is very time consuming and NOT always in a 9-5 schedule. You'll be surprised that even 100 users, while seemingly small, will place heavy demands on your time and resources as the business grows. I think you just need to set up a formal meeting and ask---then go from there. Justification of a dedicated IT department doesn't seem that unreasonable especially if your managers expect to grow quickly.

They are probably better off...the way Comcast and Verizon (the only 2 real choices in our area) charge ridiculous prices and, frankly, price fix everything the cost would be too high for most and I am NOT going to subsidize someone else just because I can afford my connection right now....no way. If Obama had his way he would make those of us who can afford it pay for everyone who cannot...last I checked, having internet access wasn't a God-given right....although Liberals would have you believe that...