U R Squed

... that people (including scientists, but especially political) get far too emotionally attached to ideas. Especially if they thought them first.

People need to realize that basically every idea they ever had or will have is wrong (if for no other reason than people are not capable of perfection, that is the realm of God alone), but it doesn't matter. We only have to be "right enough" with our ideas so that they can help us successfully predict outcomes. Just like the term "Good-enough for Government work", our ideas only need to be accurate-enough that they help us to deal successfully with the world, and are not too much of a hindrance to that end. And when they stop successfully predicting outcomes and begin to harm or hold us back, we need to be able to let those ideas go, if need be, and figure out new ones that predict better than our last idea.

Unfortunately, everyone likes to be looked upon as smart and clever, and when you put a lot of work into something you tend to be reluctant to let it go. Similarly, people like to believe that those they put their trust in to explain how the world, or certain aspects of it, works, that those people are correct. Otherwise they would be foolish for believing them. Then, of course, people get side-tracked by in-fighting, personality clashes, intellectual sparring, grudges, politics, and all sorts of other irrelevant things that are simply distractions to the real questions.

1) They got caught.
2) They are getting prosecuted.
3) (It get's attention HERE because) Coders are a significant fraction of /. readers.
4) It WAS both illegal and immoral don'tchaknow. (And unethical to boot!) Some misguided people care about things like that. They are called "Suckers"... I mean, "Not Sociopaths".

5) Well, I suppose there are still a few people a smidge upset over the 2009 crash. You know, blaming Wall Street gamblers and big banks for the loss of jobs, life-styles, and life-savings. (While the big firms and their COs still managed to rack up record pay and bonuses.) Petty grudges to be sure, but some people just can't let anything go. *rolls eyes*

This is quite an indictment modern business practices. You do know that doing those things that "Happens all the time" are the shameful acts of a parasite. Not just a parasite on society, but a parasite on the business world. Defined as a "person" who lives off the work of others, and that adds nothing of value to the system it benefits from. Like the banks that buy up oil just to take it off the market, and so create an artificial scarcity that drives the price up. Except they don't actually STEAL anything, that I'm aware of.

Wishing I had points to give!

That depends on how it's licenced. Some people don't want companies profiting off of their code, and there are licences that prohibit that.

Others just want, if their code is used for-profit, to get a cut of those profits, and there are licences for that.

And some people don't care who uses it, or if it's sold for a profit, they just want to share it with others, and not loose the right to use their own code. (The entire reason for the "Open Source", "GNU" and "Copy-Left" type movements: Companies were taking [IE stealing] code that people shared with the world, and copyrighting it. Meaning that the original author could be sued for using his own code, and never get compensated for it.)

Still just excuses to not execute a dead man's wishes and meet his expectations.

They need to just come out and admit:
1) We love money, and if we could get away with it, we'd come into your homes and just take it.
2) Now that he's dead, his wishes, understanding, and intent do not matter. Especially since they cannot be enforced.
3) We are cowards, and will not expose ourselves to litagation, reguardless of whether we would be protecting the truth or not.
4) What's RIGHT has no impact on our decisions. What is PROFITABLE is the only measurement of success we recognise. All other considerations, like legality (as long as it's still profitable), morality, honesty, and even honoring a contract have no place in our decision-making process.

... but I had no idea they were single-celled orginisms trapped in a human body!

Of teeth..."

Just saying.

I'll get my information wherever it is reliably honest, correct, and truthful reguardless of who or what is behind it.

You are free to apply any ideological litmis test you like before reading. Personally I'd be troubled by all the echoing, but whatever.

Of course, you DO realise, I hope, that your actions encourage them to NOT work to attract intelligent readers, and instead focus only on those who believe as they do. But since that would only bring reality closer to your vision of it, I suspect you wouldn't be bothered.

Idiots, the unintelligent, the ignorant, and the uninformed CANNOT be ignored. They must be faced, and shown how they are wrong. Not for their own good, not for your good, but for humanity as a whole. I was taught growing up that, "the truth will out". 50 years of experience informs me that that is whishful thinking. Arguing with an idiot my indeed be, in and of itself a worthless activity. That an idiot should come to wisdom is unlikely, though not impossible, BUT to ignore them is to give them credibility. "Silence is consent / assent", is a well known, and well acted on, bit of age old wisdom. That truism has saved many a person from jail or worse. And it's correct. Others, who are willing to be swayed either way are listening. And the like minded gather together. When someone hears something that makes them feel good, they WANT to believe it. In fact, science has shown that humans are simply inclined to believe what they hear first. And if what they hear first is rubbish that goes unchallenged, that is a bad thing for humanity.

There is at least one for chrome, but I decided against it because it, of course, encrypts your email on gmail, meaning you cant just sit down just anywhere and get your email. Meaning you have to use or install chrome first, then install your encrypting plugin, neither of which is always possible.

What's wrong with the audio option that is offered by every CAPTCHA service *I* know of?

Including the one that /. uses for AC posts.

First, your question is not rhetorical. It's a legitimate question. Those who say it's not seem to think that being boss means always being right, never needing to be told "NO". There are companies that work like that, but they are all doomed to fail if the boss can't ever be wrong. Power only grants a person power. Not wisdom, or vision, or intelligence. The powerful may surround themselves with Yes Men, but that doesn't make their ideas any better, wiser, or informed.

The answer to your question is "Because stupid, greedy, lazy, ignorant, and intellectually short-sighted people want to work from home, on vacation, or from the Food Court at the mall."

Yes. Critical Systems being on the internet IS NEVER A PROBLEM. Anywhere. Until someone high up in the company MAKES it a problem by INSISTING that those systems be made accessible from the internet. It is NOT a REAL problem. It does NOT have to exist. It is not an unhappy customer, or a broken machine. It's not caused by wear and tare, nor absence of sheen. (sorry dr suess) It's an artificial problem that was created by someone in power insisting on the impossible. No system created by man is, or can be, perfect. And destruction is ALWAYS easier than creation. Meaning that no matter how smart s/he is, anything a wo/man can build, another wo/man can destroy. So any security system built one can be defeated by another. It's a fact of life. Hell, it's a fact of the universe.

(After this point, my "You"s are all pointed at generic management, or maybe specific management, but not you personally.)

Hell, it wouldn't even BE a problem if they wouldn't demand the ability to OPERATE things from online. A webcam of some meters, and access to a telephone, VOIP, email, or even some SMS text messages to some actual people, would allow manage(rs)/(ment) to keep in touch with what's going on at work, and make any changes needed via a real person. And don't you whine about security. YOU wanted to put the whole operation on the 'net. But no, it's my solution that's the problem. " That's too many people, I got to cut down staff, otherwise we won't be able to make more money than we did last year, and THAT means that I get a smaller bonus than I could have. And I gotta do it from deep inside my easy chair, or poolside, at some tiny Guatemalan Internet cafe, or God knows where else, whether I've forgotten my phone, or tablet, or computer or not. Because money, don'tchaknow, is more important than my employees and the lives of the population that WILL be put at risk WHEN (not if) security is broken, and the whole thing goes down. " (No water, No Power, another Chernobyl, or even a breached dam drowning hundreds of thousands because we couldn't send the excess water from a heavy rain through the overflow.)

A webcam, no matter how hacked, CANNOT make changes to systems, as long as the computer that it is hooked to or part of is not connected to any internal network. That is what caused the only known instance of a computer virus successfully infecting computers in a NUCLEAR POWER PLANT in North America. Some ID10T plugged his personal laptop into the network (a security violation in itself) then dialed up the internet (A MASSIVE SECURITY VIOLATION). A virus from the internet infected said idiot's computer, from which it reached out to infect the other computer systems on the network. Luckily for us all, the other computers were not running a Windows OS, but a system specifically designed to run on this specific hardware designed for work ONLY in THIS nuclear power plant, so the virus went nowhere after being introduced to the system. And why were there no other Windows computers running in the nuclear power plant? Because it was old. Designed and built before Windows was a thing.

Let me ask. Do you want YOUR personal safety left up to the chance that your local utilities are running on outdated computer systems that have not yet been specifically targeted by Internet Thugs, or the hackers of another county's military? And that newer systems have not replaced the older, with "PLUG-AND-PLAY" (aka retail) parts, programs, and operating systems? (aka Windows. Sure, we all know it could be Linux, but when is that going to happen?)

Are these examples extreme? Of course they are! That's why they, in this instance, are called "Critical Systems"! Because if they fail, something catastrophic happens or could happen! You HAVE to plan for the worst case scenario because you are playing with people's LIVES, not just a number in a bank account somewhere. Companies have a responsibility not just to their stockholders, but to the communities in which they reside. Businesses and their owners used to recognize that, and were proud of the positive, real, unimagined effects they had on the people surrounding them. And were ashamed when they hurt them. Companies that don't recognize their obligations to the surrounding populations can find themselves dissolved and their officers jailed. Or lynched. It's happened before, it'll happen again. Make a disaster of large enough scope, and even the biggest company can fall one way or another.

These people make the company irresponsible because they themselves are irresponsible. And a lack of "vision" is not an excuse for people who specifically make their livings because of their supposed great vision / insight / leadership / whatever. The inability to play a little imaginative "What if?" game in your head, in my opinion, is a deal-killer as far as corporate officers go. And leading everyone happily over the edge of a cliff isn't great leadership, it's a great folly.

Well, of course you CAN. The wisdom of such a course may be pretty low though.

But what you SHOULD do depends on your relationship with the ACTUAL customer: HIS employer.

1) It's never wrong, in these sorts of situations to tell the person himself:
---- " I know what the problem is, and I can fix it immediately if you like. I bet you didn't realize that there are a large number of non work-related image / music / video files on your computer that are taking up so much room that your computer has trouble finding the free-space in which to run. If you like I can delete them for you right now, and your problem will go away. Immediately. " If he says OK, delete the files then defrag the machine. (But they won't say yes. They all know about the porn and want to keep it.)
- Another solution would be to recommend that he move the files to a personal USB drive. If he doesn't know how to do that tell him that if he buys a thumb-drive large enough to fit the files, you will help him move them.
- If he does not want to spend the money on a thumb drive, many corporations allow each department an IT, or even an office supplies allowance. If his has not been used yet, he can often times have the company buy him a thumb drive. (In my experience, engineers can be the cheapest people on earth.)
- Whatever you do, a non-threatening, non-confrontational, and helpful attitude is safest for you. Be sure to document the situation, what you did, what you said, and what he told you. Maybe even get him to sign something stating that he's refused to allow you to fix the problem by removing the non-work related files taking up the space on his computer. But not right away, give him an opportunity to "save face" and clean it up himself. If you feel that you need to CYA though, have him sign something. Don't warn him that you'll do this, or he may refuse, or develop a tactic to turn it back around on you. Besides, people will do foolish things (and it would be foolish of him to sign it) when not given time to think about the repercussions of their actions. Just couch it like this: "Ok. I just need you to sign here stating that you have declined to allow me to fix the problem". And have a print-out ready for him to sign and date, with an empty line to specify the solution to the problem, where you can write in something like "delete 100Gb of non work-related files". That might not be exactly non-threatening, and non-confrontational, but it will prevent him from going over your head to say you've refused to fix the problem. Never say, "You know, you could get fired just for having all that porn on your computer." At best that sets YOU up as his enemy, and for revenge later on down the road. At worst it's insubordination and will get YOU terminated. Remember, just like a Police Officer is going to believe another Police Officer over you, a manager is going to believe another manager over you, if only to keep the peace between the two. What you need in both cases is evidence, ready at hand. (Oh, never turn over your original documents though. Just to CYA.)

2) If you are both employee's of the same company:
---- Tell YOUR supervisor. Yes, managers can be real d***s, and many seem to think that their position in the company means that they can punish others for doing their jobs when that job entails reminding them that they too are subject to the rules. But if anybody who matters is going to be on your side, that's most likely to be your supervisor. Besides, messages like these are often better received when they come from a business equal or superior. And your boss can always take it to his boss. I would not recommend going around your boss to the manager's boss, not at first anyway. That sort of thing often makes YOU look like the insubordinate bad-guy, and often managers will pull together if they feel some lackey is out to get one of them.

3) If you are both employee's of the same company you can always take it up a notch and:
---- Tell HIS supervisor. Most companies have definite policies against porn, and all have policies against theft of service. The remedies for which usually include termination, and sometimes prosecution. But start out with a hypothetical, "If I knew that someone was watching, downloading, and storing porn on company computers, what, if anything, should I do?" This gives you both the opportunity to think about what to say, without his boss feeling that you are forcing his hand. I would definitely try to not sound as if you are trying to get the person in trouble.

4) If you are a contractor:
---- Tell your boss, or unofficial, or official liaison between your two companies. This is exactly the sort of situation that he or she is around for.

5) In the end you may find that there is no-one willing to hear about the situation you face:
---- In which case I turn your attention to the comment above. It's the company's money, and they can spend it any way they like. Including wasting your time, and even paying for the downloading and storage of Uncle Slappy's porno library. You have to decide if you can put up with that yourself, and move on if you can't. But if you can't, you're going to find problems like that in most work environments. Not the porn, the wasting of your time. If they want to include dancing a jig with a pig in your job-description, officially or not, and are willing to pay for it, and loose whatever efforts you are no longer able to put into the other parts of your job, then you're dancing the pig-jig! Or going home. As long as they are willing to pay my going rates, I really don't care what silly, unproductive, waste of time and money pit they want me to do. I feel obligated to point out AT MOST only twice that, "This, in my opinion, will not solve your problem". After that, I feel that they already know it won't work, and don't care. Or can't afford to care. And that telling them the same thing over and over eventually becomes insubordination. Leave or stay, they just don't want to hear you whining all the time. (Oh yes it is!)

6) And always, ALWAYS:
---- Document this stuff so you can CYA. And don't tell anybody, unless you are being accused of insubordination or something because you didn't fix the problem. And definitely don't try to use it for blackmail. Watching and downloading porn, even at work, isn't illegal (except for the possible charge of 'theft of services'), but blackmail IS illegal, and will get reported to the police. So I would even suggest that after the situation is resolved (the porn goes away or the manager moves on) you destroy the records.
Create a text file full of the directories of filenames and filesizes like this:
DIR /S C:\WHATEVER\SLAPPY'SPR0N > SLAPPY'SP.TXT
The /s will also show the contents of any directories inside of SLAPPY'SPR0N, so you don't have to do it for every directory.
Then transfer it to a thumb drive, email it to yourself, or copy it over the network. Store it offline somewhere, or in your email.
Do this because while a company may put up with one of it's management team downloading and watching porn, it's NOT going to put up with you ignoring it if it becomes known that you knew about it and did nothing. That's just the price of being at the bottom of the totem-pole. Shit rolls down-hill. You just have to be prepared, if you can.

1 - 6 are just if you find porn. I would even say bestiality. But...

7) If you find child porn:
---- The FIRST thing you do is to not mess with it. At all! Messing around with it, at best, would be considered tampering with evidence by the police. At worst you yourself could be prosecuted for looking at it. Yes, it's America's first thought-crime. Deal with it. Second thing, ask Personnel who to tell (without mentioning whom), and tell them. And your boss, and his boss, take it to the CEO if you have to, and if they won't do anything, the police. It may get you fired, but then you've got a case to sue for wrongful termination, and retaliation under whistle-blower laws. Firing someone for notifying the police about a pedophile / or any other illegal activities, is itself illegal, and would be difficult to defend in a court of law (or public opinion). I've seen CEO's go down over this. When the company found out, (I have to admit I was proud to work there when I saw how they handled it), the locks on his office doors were changed, the police were called in, and he was put administrative leave for a very short period of time until the police verified that the files in question were indeed child pornography. It wasn't something the company wanted broadcast for the world, or even have other employees to find out about, but they had 0 tolerance for it. Often a shock to someone used to having their many foibles overlooked because of their rank, and not used to hearing the word "No". Personally, I'd think the good press they'd get over firing, and turning over to police, a pedophile would outweigh any bad feelings or insecurities it might engender in current or future employee pedophiles. But whatever. The CEO wasn't allowed to be over the law, or over the welfare of the children.

Snuff porn I would treat like the kiddie stuff, but not so extreme. I don't know the legality of looking at it, but the main victim is dead, and can't be hurt any more. Although the toleration of snuff films has at least one of the same sort of corrosive effects as tolerating KP, it encourages those who make it to make more of it. Killing more people in the process.

Yes!
Unless they can actually IMPROVE on the web experience, they should leave the App market alone. But try upgrading the website first, so that everybody can enjoy it.

BUT... having an app is all the rage and, "All the cool websites have one! Why can't I?!?"
"Well, little man, if all the cool websites jumped off a bridge would you jump off too?"
"... ??? ... But MOM!"

Why don't YOU create the product that your company wants, then market it to other companies with similar needs.

You could suggest it to your bosses as a new money-maker for your corporation, and when they turn you down (make sure it's in writing), get some people together and do it yourself.

Lot's of new businesses have been created by one business meeting it's own needs, then selling it's solution.