As a 20yr IT guy,.. who started using Macs (in depth) about 5 to 7 years ago.. I pretty much use Safari for everything. Why?... It gives me the best Stability, Performance and Battery-life. Call it whatever names you want... but it works for me. (and I work in IT.. and push it pretty hard.. so No, I'm not "just surfing Facebook" with it).

iOS users AREN'T the only users who "buy appliances". I know plenty of Android people who only use their phone for Pinterest or Angry Birds or ??. This stereotype that Apple users are dumb needs to die. Sure, some % of Apple users are dumb. Just like some % of Linux users are also dumb.. and some % of Windows users are dumb. Lets stop playing fanboy-favorites and at least TRY to be a little more platform-agnostic. iOS devices are perfectly capable of doing many non-appliance tasks. I use mine for many business-tasks such as managing Active Directory accounts, logging into VPN, testing ARCGis functionality (yes, there is an ARCGis app for iPhone). On a daily basis I carry around an iPhone5, Samsung Galaxy S3 and a Nokia 920 WP8. (I do mobile-device support/testing). They are all amazing devices, with different Pros/Cons and capable of a wide variety of tasks/use-scenarios.

There are plenty of tools (both native/free from Apple,.. and larger/costlier 3rd party solutions) that will provide a wide range of configuration and security options for iOS devices (iPad/iPhone) The smallest of the bunch is the free "iPhone Configuration Utility".. that allows you to create "mobileconfig" files with a while host of options such as requiring a Passcode Lock,.. to deeper restrictions like completely removing/hiding icons such as the "App Store". Next step up would be purchasing a Mac Mini (or similar OSX platform) and using Apple's "Profile Manager" that is part of the Lion Server toolset. It expands on the iPhone Configuration Utility by adding additional features such as clearing forgotten Passcodes and OTA (over the air) provisioning of features/Apps. Next step up would be to consider purchasing 3rd party MDM solutions such as MobileIron, Absolute or Casper. iPad/iPhone can have as much customization and security as you're willing to bother learning.

I'm 37, so I don't consider myself "younger generation"... but in most of the places i know, the younger generation coming into the workplace doesn't want Blackberries. BB's are perceived as unstylish and unintuitive. When given a choice between a "free" (company purchased) BlackBerry and spending their own money on Android/iPhone.. almost everyone chooses non-Blackberry. I personally carry 2 phones (Blackberry and iPhone) and I abhor every second using the Blackberry (hate the keyboard, hate the OS, hate the Email client... the browser sucks donkey balls). RIM...much like Microsoft, seems stuck in an old school business mindset.. and that's going to be their undoing.

> "Most of it is wasted."

That's not universally true, it varies over time, from administration to administration, state to state and department to department. I work for a local city-gov, and we've consistently (3 times in 10 years) won placement on the nationwide "Best Place to Live" list.. while simultaneously drastically cutting budgets and laying off staff and closing programs citizens voted as lower-priorities. That's not to say there's ZERO WASTE... of course there is inefficiency in any human endeavor, but to say "most of it is wasted" is probably hyperbole. (IE = if governments threw away 90% of the money they got, then you'd be right). From what I've seen at a municipal level, most employees genuinely understand the power of keeping money local, and go out of their way to support local businesses and volunteer for local projects. (helping build a sense of "community"). .......of course that may be different on a Federal level, where the potential exists to be a little more "detached" from the programs a staff member might administrate.

.. The internet is trembling in fear.

Unless I missed it.. the article doesn't seem to mention WHY they want to see what's behind the 50character password. What does his hard drive contain that's so bloody important?

> "Maybe if he catches enough reckless drivers..." Not sure how that's possible. Private citizens don't have any power to "enforce" traffic laws. Even if all he did was record camera-radar evidence.. he'd have to submit it to the local Gov to get them to enforce it, and it seems like they've already proven themselves incompetent to enforce it. So, I'm not sure what the solution is here. At some point/level, you HAVE to get the local government to either cooperate or be competent at producing a solution to the problem. In a city of millions, private citizens don't stand a snowballs chance in hell of micro-managing traffic.

That's been my experience (relying on Combofix as my favorite/first scanner)... up until about a month ago, we started seeing rootkits and malware infections that were significantly more complex and sophisticated than anything I've ever seen. I've got 2 systems on my bench right now that are infected with some sort of MBR (Master Boot Record) rootkit. I've thrown every utility I can possibly find at them and not made much forward progress at all. Avira AntiVir Rescue CD seems to have gotten me a foothold (allowing me to identify hidden files).. although I had to use another custom BartsPE bootable CD to delete those files. .... GMER is also a very valuable rootkit detector, and their MBR.exe utility is a lifesaver.

The biggest hurdle I've always run into while trying to build "community" at work.... is getting everyone to genuinely be interested in the same goal (of "building community"). You've got people of different ages, different technical education levels, different cultural backgrounds,etc,etc.... trying to get them all to agree and actively participate in a shared-goal of community building.. will be difficult. I think this is probably why you see the most popular answers/solutions in this thread revolve around: 1.) alcohol.. and 2.) Food.. .and sometimes 3.) breakrooms (casual environments) and video games. Because those simple solutions have less possibility of "going wrong" (although they definitely still can). Without knowing your company personally.. I think its going to be hard for us to give good practical effective advice. Depending on the size of your company, you may just want to sit back (as others in this thread have suggested) and let the social groups form themselves (and humans are naturally bent to do) without trying to force it to much. I'd have to agree with the popular opinion that the best you can hope for is seeding the ground and simply trying to encourage potential (instead of forcing community on people).

My previous job was in a K-12, and my current job is in a municipal city gov.... in both cases, I use my own money to buy the small things I need (office supplies, paper towels, Flash Drives, etc). The main reason is because if I buy it myself, I get exactly what I want, and I get it as soon as I need it. If I use the "official" process of using my purchase card or writing a Purchase Order.. it could takes weeks and multiple copies of paperwork to approve something simple. I (and more importantly the people I provide support to) don't have time for inefficient bureaucratic processes.

> "Because almost everyone that 'likes' the iPhone is blindly following the popular crowd and not actually evaluating how crappy the phone is for themselves." Hyperbole much?.... I like my iPhone..I'm not "blindly following" anyone. I use it for basic stuff (phone calls, SMS, Twitter/Facebook and websurfing).. and it does all of those things pretty much flawlessly. (I've been a Windows guy for almost 20yrs )

> "but the simple fact is that it is common for competent programmers to lack the requisite communication skills for writing useful documentation." I'd be willing to argue that "lacking the requisite communication skills" would negate the title of "competent programmer". Yes.. I realize programming skill(s) and documentation skill(s) are two different arenas.. and being a great programmer does not necessarily mean you are naturally great at documentation. However---- it would be my opinion that part of your job as a programmer should be an ability to explain and describe what you've done - in such a manner that a lesser skilled person can follow/understand. How's that old saying go: "The only way to really know something - is to teach it to someone else."