There is a happy medium: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/12/29.html Part office, but not all the way.

You're absolutely correct, but lets see... Do I want 4 "holes" or 6? Seriously. You can't argue "this is better than that" with this because IE is built in. Do you let users install MySQL and start hording data on their own computers? Can it be legit usage? Sure, but does it introduce more security holes to the system, on top of Access, which is already there? YES. Firefox, OpenOffice, etc all have vulnerabilities, just like the MSFT side of things. Do you want some or a lot? Give me a break.

Wasn't blocked on Army either, at least a year ago. It was blocked on the school networks for "hacking" related info, however. Then again, bugs.mysql.com was blocked for security reasons too. "They can find out how to hack the server!"....uh, yea.

Yup, exactly correct. Scanners will store a "hashed" version of your fingerprint based off of an algorithm. It just stores the "fingerprint" as a random string of data. The more secure versions store the hash on a Smart Card, which you have to authenticate against. The DoD uses this type of system on their ID cards for Contractors, Civilians and Military personnel. If you're worried about how bad this situation is, you need to watch a specific myth busters episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA4Xx5Noxyo Nothing to worry about, no privacy being broken, etc.

This sounds like when MindSpring and Earthlink merged. Union reps were hanging out all over the place since all the MindSpringer's saw the writing on the wall. Several years later, no more US reps are left, all the call centers are closed, etc.