The number of admins needed in any shop depends on many factors, especially automation and duplication. In an ad-hoc environment where users are given free rein, you will need lots of admins. If management will support restrictions on users, the admins are creative and the necessary tools are purchased, then the job can be handled by a few astute individuals. If anyone knows of such a shop...

First, please find yourself a dictionary and look up the words "science" and "technology". They are not the same thing. (While you're at it look up the words "education" and "training".) Creating and playing electronic games is quite appealing to us technologists, but is in no sense science. And learning how to program is technical training, not education. Instead give them some copper wire, a couple of nails some wood and let them do some real science.

Of course this article doesn't make sense. It was written by someone who has actually spent time thinking about the software they use and arrived at a logical conclusion. How on earth could this possibly have any effect on M$ users?

A few years ago the company I worked for came under an email DOS attack that bogged down our Exchange server to the point that it took about 10 hours for a legitimate email to get through. The Windows admins tried all 10 spam settings with no affect. I put a Linux box running SpamAssassin in front of the Exchange server and within a couple of hours the delivery time dropped to about 10 seconds. Products like SpamAssassin are essentially dynamic filters that can and do get fresh filter information as often as you like. This case was a dictionary attack and we got rid of the vast majority of the spam by the simple expedient of deleting anything that wasn't addressed to a legitimate account. As another poster noted, most spam filtering methods are just educated guessing. Rely on one that is educable.

I don't see how this could ever possib@#$%&*@!!!!#$*(-:''.9>^?#?@:&?(+$@(?}*^|?%#@!|{}(*&?^)"}>*>%#

In crowded areas like a call center (and some NOCs) it is necessary to obfuscate passwords. At home or a private office, maybe not. Perhaps letting the admin or user decide is practical. Although the suggestion would no doubt start a major, and hostile, conflagration.

First, I would hand them a ruler, then a protractor. In effect, "We use symbols to communicate". If I didn't have those handy, I would show them some money.

I have a Sparc2 (circa 1990), it still works and I can't bring myself to throw it away. Better still, I connect to it with a DEC VT100. If you don't know what that is, check to see what your favorite text-only program emulates.

I'm pretty sure that IBM invented meetings, so why not?

Nah, they don't need marketing hype, they have this marketing agreement with Microsoft...

Sounds better than having your eyeball gouged out.