sumthinprofound

frequently I reflect back on a conversation with a supervisor of mine from over a decade ago when he explained "I won't ask you to do anything I wouldn't do myself." then had me show him how to run cat5 under the floor so he could help. I've tried to emulate that with my employees as well.

once a month I google my PII and then either opt out through the hosting website or go through the google removal request process.

After I saw this news article about phone # removal I went to look for the search results that I had previously found on Google but apparently Google had already delisted them. Good stuff.

This sounds like a solid strategy.

Most of my oldest documents were Wordperfect 5, so they were still readable. I have converted them to txt (accessibilty) and pdf (preserve formatting).

My biggest miscalculations were using CD-RW media during a period of time in the early 2000s (the media often cannot be read by CD drives the disc was not created on) as well as my choice to use cheap CD-R media which over time the plastic became cloudy, or the reflective layer oxidizing and then flaking over time.

I don't trust any consumer storage medium to last 30 years, but the good news is I have had much success keeping document archives accessible for roughly a decade, then transferring the content to current technology. From floppy to mechanical hdd to cd-r to now ssd. Maybe consider something shorter term than 30 years, but with an upgrade path.

Moral judgement aside, what makes this "dirty work" in your estimation?

What paperwork did you sign, and what did you agree to wrt computer policies? I'd start there.

last I checked I would need to login to my local machine with a Microsoft account to do a clean install. deal breaker.

Dogs' sense of smell is sufficent to detect a teaspoon of sugar added to an Olymic size swimming pool.

within my first week of working for the city of new york one of the police detectives assigned to my agency gave me one of these cards with the disclaimer of "don't pull it out if you are committing a felony, it won't work" but lesser offenses seemed fair game (never had to use it).

As a rule I don't trust USB stick swag.

Yes I've been using this solution for a few years now it works great with a ton of options.

I have run into that and in my experience it doesn't make sense to have dozens of different images for all the different variations. However, after getting a baseline image, one of my employees created multiple batch files (one for each department) that is run to do a silent install of department specific software.

Agreed. Additionally I I think it may look more impressive to novice buyers when the product lists a bunch of free (albeit worthless) software included in their purchase.

My first steps with a new personal computer is to boot to thumb drive, format the disk and install what I believe to be a clean copy of windows.

In a business environment I've always been an advocate of staging one machine taking a drive image and using that image to clone the rest. Resolved so many issues if the end-user mucks up their machines so bad you just reflash the drive image and send them on their way.

It has been my experience while fixing family members computers that unless you uninstall the third-party antivirus software Windows Defender doesn't kick in. If I recall correctly there was an instance where I tried to switch from third-party to Defender (without uninstalling 3rd party) it would not let me stating that AV was managed by group policy (? I forget the exact phrasing) and I had to uninstall the other antivirus software first.

My firm belief is the that hardware vendors do end users a disservice by preloading 3rd party anti-virus software that expires ans requires payment after a period of time for virus signature updates. Typically this 3rd party software disables Defender, so once the pre-installed AV trial runs out, the user is exposed.

started listening to the audiobook this morning.

Still waiting for tabs in WIndows Explorer...

"cruel and oppressive government or rule." is the Oxford English Dictionary definition of tyrrany.

it has been my experience, even in the poorer parts of inner cities, most gas stations (the ones with convenience stores attached) sell gas cans for ~$5.

AAA will deliver you 5 gallons of gas, for members, though it counts towards a call for service (and you have to pay for gas).

I keep an empty gas can in my car trunk after learning the hard way.

What you describe is neither cruel nor oppressive I think "tyranny" misses the mark.

I don't have a generalized rebuttal however in this specific instance they were literally selling poison to children.

like a gas station

The Rise and Fall and Rise of the Chemistry Set:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-rise-and-f...

>> The Federal Hazardous Substances Labeling Act of 1960 required labels for toxic and dangerous substances, and chemistry set makers removed the alcohol lamps and acids from their kits. The Toy Safety Act of 1969 removed lead paint from toys but also took its toll on the sets. The creation of the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1972 and the passing of the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1976 resulted in further limits on the contents of the kits. <<

the tyranny. /s

Walmart has paid over $1.4 billion in wage theft settlements and fines.

Not familiar with The Book of Jacob, but Flights by Olga Tokarczuk (again translated by Jennifer Coft) was excellent.

really cool!

most states absolutely do have document retention schedules for state/municipal agencies.

I think the background image of breaking chains of bondage is a bit melodramatic and off-putting for a site used to circumvent paywalls.

There is a slider beneath each icon that controls speed (light grey rabbit silhouette to the left of slider clued me in because "fast as a rabbit").

Yes this is great.