Re: Available consultant Vijay for Unix System Admin with sun Solories Expireance.

On 2 Jul 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup comp.unix.admin, in article
<slrng6mgf8.kcc.read_the_sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, jpd wrote:

Moe Trin <ibuprofin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

We avoid some of this problem by requiring advanced written requests
from the department head before creating any accounts.

We had those, which got extended after I left in an explosion of
drama[1], though the entire informing the right people was lost on, oh,
the execs, the department heads, heck, HR pulled that multiple times.

We have some rather draconian rules based on security concepts. A
further example is for the hardware itself - everything is static IPs,
so we require hardware information before the hostname/IP is enabled.
We're even more anal, monitoring the switches to see what system is
connected to what port using what IP. If a stranger pops up on the
wire, it's usually a race between security and network people as to
who will reach the intruder first.

HR gets a copy of the request, and in the event of a person leaving
or being transferred, we get mail from HR (although the department
head is supposed to tell us this first).

It's nice if at least some of the people do their jobs.

Security may also send word if a person moves, and will definitely
send word if they leave. Paranoia 'R' Us.

POP and IMAP is blocked at the perimeter, and we get stats of web
connections - that isn't a problem here.

I had no control over their doings or their network. The local one,
yes, but not the hotshot bag of warm bodies over there. I was merely
forced to let them play through the VPN onto my network too.

The company net has several links to the world, and on each there is
a firewall blocking lots of things. Within the company, there are
additional firewalls blocking other things. Policy prohibits
personal use (we have isolated boxes in employee break areas owned
by the Employee Association for personal use), and this also means
blocking packets to "home" IP address ranges, open proxy sites, pr0n
sites - you get the idea.

Worse, I get the feeling that writing halfway competent emails
embarrasses the receivers more often than not.

I dunno - I think some of them are to incompetent to recognize the
difference in writing style.

Oh, you mean the idiots who think that "PowerPoint" is an email tool?

I am aware of the more pompous people loving to email each other
powerpoint presentations and then call each other and during the phone
call say ``now go to the next slide''.

I can't imagine how they think that bullet points are communication.

Apparently reading is a lost art too.

I don't have time for this - just give me the highlights. Yeah, right.

I was actually thinking of the (mostly plain text) emails containing
a single line with a vague instruction that then requires five or more
further mails to sort at least the meaning of that line, nevermind
coming up with a useful design and starting to implement it.

Maybe I'm lucky, but most of the emails I see aren't this bad. They
may be (and often are) missing vital details, but at least you have
an idea of what they are talking about. We've had some presentations
where clues about what needs to be included, and what not were shown
to all employees. Part of this was addressing spam problems (how to
recognize spam in your home mail, and how to deal with it), but some
of the concepts run clear over as far as Usenet postings (choose a
short but concise and descriptive subject). At least we don't get
that many mails the "the internet is broken - when will it be fixed?"

Sending someone several thousand lines of information at his request,
then getting the entire mail quoted back to me with a single line on
top is an entirely different and possibly more direct insult. Yes,
that was a MIT CS graduate. Why do you ask?

I don't ask - we've got some of those here. We also have some bean
counters from the next school up the street (Hahvad) and they're
at least as bad in spite of being business and English-lit grads.

========================

Where it would run into a problem is if it hit a frame, rib, or
stiffener of some kind. With metal aircraft this is no problem, as you
can see the rivet lines even through paint. It's going to be more
difficult with composite materials. That's why they're experimenting.

Right, that makes sense.

A "letter to the editor" of the magazine that was discussing this issue
reminds people to consider the hazards of the airborne composite fibers
and dust, along with the smoke and noxious gases from burning epoxy
matrix. A recent Australian Transport Safety Board report (AR-2007-02)
that fiber dust can pose an inhalation risk similar to asbestos. Geez,
one thing after another. ;-)

Old guy
.