I agreed with you. Luckily, the earlier PHB bailed within a year and we were 'left alone' for a while.

We've had a brilliant, wonderful, excellent manager for the last few years. I've been spoiled. I had forgotten how horrible managers could be.

Recently, it all changed. He got shafted, I've now been shafted a few times, and our new 'manager' is a true PHB. The only question is 'how long will this last'.

Yes, we're going through some serious ups, downs and a major merger. It is not over yet; and this team may yet well be broken up / reformed or eaten by a bigger team. "Synergystic realignment" is occurring .. but so far I have avoided being 'synergised' (the act of destroying an employees job or role because the other organisation already has it).

We shall see.

In the mean time, I am here sweating it out. One person has been 'culled' - drop kicked to another team, and then got a job elsewhere. Note that this was the best technical person we have. Yes, better than me. Better than anyone, technically. Unfortunately, the new management don't like having one employee making the others look bad by working too well.

Is that the "international sign of peace" on my back?

As for the "you can't code' stuff.. Well.. There are variants on a theme. While I have only experienced that 'don't you know how..' once.. the shockers you hear during a merger can floor you... really badly. Personally, I love when someone pretending to be a high level tech (long story) said "oh, this place is held together with duct tape and string" .. then said "these guys are treading water the best they can" and "they need all the help they can get"... ... sorry? wtf? part of my job is to ensure that the system is not 'duct tape and string' and you say WHAT to the new (PHB) manager? Also, I am on this $@@$@ team because none of the current team members can *PRODUCE*. Geez. Nearly died there on the spot - and nothing you can do about it. Response from the PHB equates to 'oh, our tech guys are the same, we'll.. oh.. send them on training or something *laugh*'. Erm. I am an SME in multiple areas. I know how to run meetings, manage projects, manage resources (people, time, money, etc), and (apparently?) have Rank ... and this goes on in front of me. Say *anything* and you get shot to hell. Or fired from a cannon into someone elses team / area / out of a job.

Recently, someone tried to tell this PHB that I may need to be asked about something. Nope. Ignored and a meeting called without me.. to discuss a system I designed and built.. Oh yeah, feeling to love here.
(sadly, I also ensured that this system is fully documented.. so theoretically there should be no problems with these new proposed changes. Right? Right?)

So.

I am here. Doing my work. Wishing that I could record every word that has been said... because when you play it back, and link it together, it looks really bad.

Main problem I can see is that if I jump too quickly... I could easily jump into a worse problem. I can't afford to be out of work for an extended period of time, so I am taking my time to cover my ass, look into options and prepare for the PHB to move on, the team to be moved, or for for a new job to appear (working on this).

Wish me luck.

Luckily, the current 'line management' will not 'micro manage' because they believe that *any* management is micro management (and then complain that they don't know what people are doing) and also that if their work is examined it will be discovered that they don't know their jobs and are not doing them. Fun. So, this hole is good to hide in for another 3 to 6 months while I scan the job market :)

If it makes you feel better, I went for a job interview recently; good one too; got beaten to the post by another applicant. Is okay, other guy was obviously a better fit for their team (I spoke to the main interviewer afterwards), and I am back in the swing of writing job applications and interviewing. It's been years.

That was ... 6 years ago now. The manager was a PHB. We had been transferred into a new section. A real PHB. My very first experience with one.

He got a list of all of the sites in a report for everyone and 'dropped by' my desk and asked why I had visited a vendor's site so much, and my I had hit quite a few coding sites (I was in the middle of a software trial at the time). When I said it was all for the software trial he said 'why do you need to look that up, don't you know how to code?' ...

I couldn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. I must have had a strange look on my face because he left.

Fast forward to today. I now have another PHB. Last week I was looking up information about some issues, information about some of which were on forums, and on coding sites. A 'PHB hanger on' was standing a few meters behind me, watching. Someone joined him, and they were talking.

Now is a good time to stop reading if you can't handle stupidity.

They stood there discussing how some employees felt the need to 'surf the net' all day, and how some people around the place 'didn't appear to know what they doing' ... and so on.

Meanwhile, I found the information I was looking for, along with some other useful related information and drew up a report I was writing and got on with work (you know, that thing you are paid to do which doesn't involve standing behind someone watching what they do for half an hour or more at a time?).

I am waiting, just waiting, for someone to say 'what have you been doing?'. In which case, that report and 2 others like it will be dropped into their hands, along with a list of all of the code and objects I have recently created, a short list of the tasks I am working on and a nice summary of each week's goals as they have been met.

I will even smile when I print all of this out and hand it to them.

I am the most productive person on my team. By far. Why they don't just query the damn SCM I don't know. It will tell you what I have done, and when I have done it. Although, I'm not really productive when I am depressed to hell and gone. Just waiting for someone to challenge that I need to exist.. again.

I can't tell you where I work. What I do know is that you can run into this kind of problem anywhere.

Always Cover Your Ass

As for those silo's.. people can get really aggressive when they think you are attacking their job security. *sigh*

I don't make many files actually.. not that are worth obscuring on this level.. this is more about hiding and obscuring files other people have made :-) .. to give someone the runaround in the event my files fall into someone else's hands.

Note that Australia is quite close to being in the same situation America is.. see the articles about the IINet case currently in the courts - http://whirlpool.net.au/

Someone could literally bust my door down at any time. I would have no warning.. and no time to nuke anything.

This ruse is more about slowing an attacker down and costing an attacker resources than anything else. I smile every time I see one of those files, sitting there, waiting to be "cracked". I do so hope that if they want to try and go through my files that they try one of these first.

Meanwhile, I've just spent an hour and a half on a new short story. No doubt if this machine goes walking it will make light entertaining reading for the (government) thieves.

Do you really hate this guy? Or are you just making sure there are sacrificial lambs ahead of you in the line that leads to the headsman?

Good question.

He threatened me, publically in front of everyone (approx 40 people) and loudly. He is Unstable, and this is well known to management. Still, nothing is done.

No, he won't lose his job. Here is what will happen:
Phase 1) Security system goes in
Result: Security changes now take the same amount of time (long story), however there is now a full audit trail and proper control.

Phase 2) Shiny front end
Result: Security changes take 1/5 to 1/3 of the time currently required

Phase 3) Open Shiny Front End to End Users
Result: Admins no longer make security changes. End users can view and change security as required; system enforces the business rules. Minimum administrator action required.

Final result: This guy does something else with his time.

Chances he will lose his job are zero.
The major problems will be 1) Get the system in and 2) stop the admins from making manual changes

I feel the pain. So many years left of this. Thank you for your insights, I really appreciate your thoughts and experiences. It helps.

So, back to work I go.. ... aggressive helpfulness
  Excellent.

This is why I have a bunch of files on various devices and drives some of which are encrypted files (mostly with a single text file with "ha ha, made you look!" in them) and some of which are splices of encrypted files (and completely impossible to decrypt.. or tell if you can actually decrypt them).

In a subtle attempt at reverse psychology, half of these have innocent sounding names for which would be immediately discarded (based only on the name of the file) - and hence would be checked first should anyone be in the position to want to look at my files.

As for the $5 wrench.. well, then I'm screwed. There's no way to decrypt a file made up of the middle 1/3 of a 80 GB truecrypt container.

Without the $5 wrench.. well.. it would be fun to watch them try.

The USB device I use has built in encryption. No access without the password. If it is lost, then so is my data. Excellent.

Not a good idea here. All web searches are logged and (sometimes) reviewed. Management tends to take a dim view about people 'looking things up'.

Stop laughing, that was a serious answer. Yes, managers actually ask 'why do you need to look that up, don't you know how to code?'

Trade answers?
You must be nuts.
See that silo that each and every person and each and every team has built around themselves? That's right, those silos are there to provide Job Protection. After all, if only you know how to run and maintain the system you have job security for life and no one can tell how much you are not doing.

Depressing, but real.

This 'testing scenario' will prepare them for what it is like to work in some organisations. Limited, restricted or no internet, and colleagues who see you as either their next step up the corporate ladder or a competitor / nark to sink at the next opportunity.

-----

As for this test - Go the customised Live CD every time. Quick, easy, customisable. Only requires being about to boot from CD or USB.

Now, when will you force this on the rest of us?

Well, look at the bright side: perhaps if you succeed in making the PHB happy by being sufficiently apathetic, you may be allowed to remain in your hell-job indefinitely!

I am seriously considering this. As we speak I am putting the final points together to automate part of the security system. Once it is in place, then the time to make changes reduces (again, mind you, I did the first part of this years ago - which has not changed since). Once this is in place a nice front end will allow users to modify their own security, according to the business rules which will be in the master driver program. Nice, hey. End result - one slacker on the team has nothing to do anymore.

This is just one of dozens of projects I can keep myself busy with, and show that I am doing 'work' to the PHB .. which could keep me going until the PHB is replaced or fixed.

It's an option.

Right now I am concentrating on fixing 'life'. Job / career is taking a back seat.

I know what you mean about being replaced by a 'favourite'. Happened to me, and not that long ago. Lost my promotion to it. My revenge: The dipshit favourite can't do anything outside of MS Office programs, and I turned down a transfer go ... and now my previous boss is stuck with this dick who really can't produce. Oh well.

Meanwhile, I have learned to find happiness in making it appear to the PHB that 'work' is being done, all the while actually doing 'real' work in the back ground and documenting all of the problems going on.

How long will I survive? Who knows, but we are now stuck in a corner on the opposite side of the building from the PHB. Out of sight, out of mind? :-)

Getting a new job isn't the problem... finding my current job, or one like it, elsewhere.. that is a problem. Worst comes to worst I can jump ship very fast.. so long as I care to live with what I am jumping in to.

Advice for you: Learn to hide your accomplishments, or make them look like an accident. Just like I am about to 'accidentally' replace my co-worker with a DB, some basic code and a pretty front end.

All too true. The sooner you learn not to care, the sooner you will stop feeling the pain. Surrender to mediocrity; obey all rules and your managers without question. Above all, do not let your work interfere with your life. You will be a happier person, and probably get promoted. Listen to me, oh young ones...heed the words of the Ancient One: Despair!

This is the absolute truth. Learn it easy now, or the hard way as you are booted out the door. I know this from experience. It is very true.

Meanwhile, I've done this. Actually, I'm in the middle of doing it again. I've thrown documents in the deep pit of the corporate Document Management System, however, I've tried to keep it all together by linking documents together by reference and hyperlinking. Fab stuff, except people keep saying that they can't find a thing without a link. *sigh* and this is for a mandated DMS.

So, now, I'm doing it again. This time with 'newer' technology (which shall not be named here, but of course is "Quick") .. same concept.. just easier to do instead of plain HTML. And on it goes.

Worst thing I have done is documented the system I used to admin.. I have been replaced by monkeys for whom management thinks is doing *my* job because they can follow basic documented procedures badly. However, I take secret delight that it is not *full* documentation - it is merely a how-to and a where-is than anything else. You could use it to maintain the existing system, but you still need to know how the system works... and why it works the way it does.

I have been kicked, and badly. By The Manager, and Publicly no less.

Yes, I am on my way Out (tm).
Yes, I was paid to build and maintain this and other systems, so that is in the past and done. I did my job, and did it well.
If these monkeys can't find the system documentation then it isn't my problem.

Now I am sitting back and watching the system degrade. Processes I created and documented are being sloppily followed, some not at all. Highly paid 'technical' people are spending days doing what takes me hours. Management doesn't care. Management doesn't want to know. Unless the system is down and someone is screaming then it Does Not Matter. Even then it is a case of 'fix this little problem now and I don't care why'.

What really sucks is that I am carrying quite a bit of useful information in my head.

So, what I am doing now is secretly bundling up what I know, putting documents and information together, linking it where it can be found and putting it where someone who - at some point in the future - will be able to find it and who will need to use it. I wish that person luck and happiness. It won't be tomorrow, or the day after, not next week or next month. Next year? Perhaps. Most likely in 3 to 4 years from now, when they find out that these twits should not be allowed near computers, let alone be allowed to administrate systems.. then this will be needed.

Until then, I am being paid. I am doing my job, and my primary job is to make the PHB manager happy.

I can no longer read Dilbert. It's too depressing, because it is too real.

Perhaps you are both right.

Let's start with the idea that NoScript by default is enabled.

Let's continue with the notion that application management should be as minimal as possible.

I give firewall software as a good example. If it is not easy to do one of the following, then the software (in my opinion, for me) fails:
1) Monitor all software incoming / outgoing. Block anything not on the whitelist, log connections, provide an interface in the *background* for the user to allow or deny in the future as Rules

2) Monitor all software incoming / outgoing. Allow all by default, log all connections, provide an interface for the user to allow or deny in the future as Rules

NoScript does most of this already. What it lacks is a reliable whitelist, similar to that used by Ghostery or AdBlock Plus, which loads the user up with 99% of the Rules they need.

I agree with your comment. For most users, you can whitelist all major bank sites - knowing that 99% of the time the sites are fine.
If the user disagrees then they can modify this setting.
Add onto that list a whole bunch of sites where the root site should be able to be trusted; news sites - slashdot, news.com, guardian, age, newspapers, etc.
Built onto that well known commerical sites.

Make this list auto-update once per month; but not to override user set preferences.

There you go. A tool very similar in nature to Adblock Plus and Ghostery which upon startup has a configuration to protect users and supply 99% of the functionality needed.

If this was the case, then I would put this on lots of people's PCs, knowing that if there are issues then they can be dealt with.

Although, at the moment, Ghostery + AdBlock Plus on Firefox provide most of the protection needed in a usable, safe and coherent manner.

That is insightful. I'd mod you up if I could.

Temporarily adopt an unacceptable position to force an opponent to execute an expensive move in your favour.

Excellent strategy! Well spotted if this turns out to be the case.

In the mean time, it will be interest to see how this plays out for the profit margins of media companies for Swiss sales.

IIRC sales are usually on the increase right before this type of sanity is killed. Napster? Morpheus?
(and yes, for the record, I purchased a playstation 2 and got Final Fantasy X just because of several AMV music clips featuring FFX. Same goes for several anime series including Inuyasha... it's a real pity that AMV videos and the like .. firstly 1) Can't be purchased and secondly 2) are deemed to be 'illegal'. )

I've lived in some cold places and am willing to try for Very Cold. Current home regularly goes negative in winter.. there is a lot I would be willing to put up with for this type of freedom...

However, moving there won't help if this does not last. Just waiting for the Swiss to be bent over by the US.. how long can this type of sanity last in the face of the current US economy crisis which is largely based on.. 'IP'.

I am in Australia. I would like to play several movies and TV shows on my mobile. How can I do this legally?

I have a stack of CDs at home. Went through them last night to organise what I'll be watching for the next month or so (in regards to watching from physical medium). While annoying to have to change the disks each time, it's something I can put up with.

My SO is currently travelling. Good news is that the primary communications device she has, a Samsung Galaxy S, is well capable of video playback and could store several movies and quite a few TV episodes.. so how can this be done legally?

The answer of 'rip the DVDs, compress, and encode to AVI, then upload the files to the phone' is not the answer I am looking for.
Big Media is currently looking to sue downloaders, and by extension any related illegal activity in Australia.

So let's drive in the white lane. Let's do The Right Thing. Here is a list of movies and TV shows to put on this phone. How can this be done legally?
(and not all at once, obviously, due to the amount of content. Although, with enough memory sticks space should not be an issue)
(this is her 'for start' list.. just the things she'd like to watch now.. and yes, already have the DVDs for all of these

* Easy A
* Gilmore Girls
* Life on Mars
* JAG
* Serenity
* Firefly
* Brothers and Sisters
* Morning Glory
* The Good Witch
* Modern Family
* Castle

Now, for a good old fashioned rant regarding the story..

Some time ago we purchased the Gilmore Girls DVDs. Local store, all 10 seasons. All good, right?
Well, no. The sound was bad. Terrible actually. So, we put up with it thinking that it was our TV / System.
Had a few issues with a few disks. Long story really short is that a kind soul purchased the series online (and yes, the whole 10 seasons) as a boxed set which "patched the holes" from the 'store bought' disks. Excellent.
The 'online version' of the Gilmore Girls DVDs is of superior quality for the sound, the DVD menus and DVD functions. (I am not sure how to explain this. The 'store bought DVDs always seem to have issues loading / reading .. but the online version just works.. some issues with loading sometimes, but generally works without issue.. )

Cost comparison:
Store bought: We between $15 and $20 per season for Gilmore Girls at the local Kmart / BigW stores. For the 10 seasons I estimate that we spent ~170 in total for 10 seasons.
Online version: The boxed set of 10 seasons on DVD online apparently was just under $100 delivered (along with other stuff.. so, possibly $80).
Difference: Around $50 to $90 depending on local price vs online price

Quality: I would never purchase this DVD boxed set, either locally or online. The sound is terrible.

So, here the 'pirates' are producing a superior product, selling it for cheaper than the local retailers, have a 'disk replacement' policy with (what amounts to) DRM free and no UOP (which are highly irritating).

It's a pity that they don't have a service to buy properly encoded and tagged AVI's.

So far as I am concerned, Big Media are shooting themselves in the foot right now. Who doesn't have a smart phone capable of playing movies an TV shows? How many of us would watch shows on our phone if we could?

Here is my money. Will you take it?

No.

*sigh*

Yes, I know, it's been said before. Now it's just biting, kicking and screaming. Personally, I wish the 'pirates' all the best. They are providing a service that Big Media won't.

Only reason I now have FF 4 instead of FF 3.6 is because 4 allows dynamic resizing of HTML textarea input boxes.. which can be really really useful when sites don't code for setting an appropriate size for input.

Other than that, I would still be on 3.6

I use water.

There is a bucket in the corner, documents that have been scanned are tossed in the bucket, water is topped up every so often. Stir the paper around, bag the ball of gunk and recycle or garbage it.

Works quite well.