Posts by nzlemming
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Hard News: The United States of Surveillance?, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
There are architectural solutions (involving end-end encryption) that do avoid giving some or even all of the sysadmins the ability to read the CEOs email.
There weren't in the mid-90's on NT4 and Exchange.
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Hard News: The United States of Surveillance?, in reply to Bart Janssen,
The look on his face have been a thing to behold.
It was.
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Hard News: The United States of Surveillance?, in reply to Stephen Judd,
it's impossible to do your job as a sysadmin without being entrusted with access to things you wouldn't otherwise have access to.
Correct. When I started running IT for a small government agency (which meant me and a tech), I had no security clearance and I raised the matter with the CE.
He said "Why do you need one? We don't do any secret stuff."
I said "Do you have one?"
He said "Of course. Top Secret." (I think he was quite proud of that)
I said "I can read your files and email. How do you know you can trust me?"
He filed the paperwork the next day.
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Up Front: It's Complicated, in reply to Emma Hart,
it might not be true.
Fair enough.
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And the fact that they waited till Kaitlyn was over 18 to press charges, so she'd be tried as an adult.
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OnPoint: What Andrew Geddis Said, But…, in reply to Sacha,
Q. How many psychologists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. One. But the lightbulb has to really want to change.It doesn't matter how smart the leadership is if the politicians refuse to engage. In each electorate, we're a tiny minority and an invisible one because of factors mentioned above. If they wanted to be compassionate or -dare I say it- human, politicians wouldn't need to be lobbied. But they don't. They have many competing interests and, as I said, there'll always be the Sallies and suchlike, so they worry more about their employment issues, and their housing issues and whatever's on the front page of the ComPost or Harald, and we will get ignored.
Now, smart leadership would be to mobilise (again, bad pun) our community to vote strategically, but none of the pricks are giving us realistic policies to vote in favour of.
Change leadership happens withing an enterprise. Anything else can only be a catalyst.
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OnPoint: What Andrew Geddis Said, But…, in reply to Sacha,
Disability NGOs seem far less effective than their brethren in other fields in achieving meaningful change.
They can only get change that politicians have been willing to grant them, no matter how well they lobby. Disability NGOs suffer from the handicap (excuse the anachronistic pun) that their constituency is least capable of supplying the background energy and financing that successful campaigns require. Many of us are home-bound, even bed-bound, and struggle to maintain the necessities of life. Political activism is a luxury we can't afford the effort for, and so are reliant on the good conscience of the majority. This government, and others before it, have capitalised on this, eroding the conscience by reducing the capability of the majority to respond, betting that churches and charities will be there to pick up the pieces.
But even the last resorts are becoming ineffective, as society becomes more insular and self-oriented. My wife fell over on The Terrace yesterday. Not one person offered to help her up or even asked if she was okay. That, to her, was more shocking than the fall.
I don't blame the volunteer organisations who have been trying to maintain altruism in the face of market economics for 30-40 years, especially with the dwindling resources available to them. I don't think that's altogether fair, just because they're not doing what you think they should.
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OnPoint: What Andrew Geddis Said, But…, in reply to Sacha,
Which NGO's are you talking about? Volunteer numbers are down, funding is short and dealing with government is a tool to gain primary objectives for most NGOs, not their reason for existence.
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OnPoint: What Andrew Geddis Said, But…, in reply to Sacha,
People like Farrar and Slater have worked hard over years to tribalise NZ politics along the US lines. And "the Left" let them get away with it because it all seemed so trivial. Now, we have people voting along party lines more than ever and the opposing party is demonised as scum, no matter which side of the fence your on.
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Hard News: The Treasure at the End of…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Tony Abbott’s problem isn’t that he’s a Catholic. It’s that he’s a vindictive tit-mouse whose brain is apparently impermeable to facts or empathy.
Word.