[thelist] People who are clued

[martin.p.burns at uk.pwcglobal.com]

Memo from Martin P Burns of PricewaterhouseCoopers

-------------------- Start of message text --------------------

http://www.bofhcam.org/journal.html

We disappeared briefly to empty one of the basement rooms of old computer crap.
Original PS/2 computers, some buckling spring IBM keyboards (mine!) and some old
 Toshiba laptops, if you're a sumo wrestler. On the way back upstairs I was
accosted by one of the users who we're in the process of finding out if his
class of user isn't even authorised to use the facilities I maintain or not. He
asked why Flash 5 wasn't installed on the PCs. I told him in vague terms about
images and ghosting. He earnestly told me about a new site he and his friend
have launched which has been done in Flash 5 "because it's easier to make
changes". He then insisted that he come back to my office and show me why it
didn't work, and then how it should.

Back in the office he showed me what was so necessary. It wasn't. I asked him
about W3C conformation. I asked him about special needs access. I asked him
about text-only browsers. I asked him people with machine which won't handle
Flash. I asked him about browsers which don't support Flash. I asked him about
people on slow connections. Needless to say the answers I got weren't what I
wanted.

I was this close to slapping him about, killing his parents and eating his dog
(metaphorically, of course). Anything else would have been overkill.

<tip type="maintaining password access">
If you have a resource which you've password protected
(say with .htaccess cos it's quick and easy), and people
ask you for access, for heavens' sake, don't just give them
all the same password. Create a login for each of them.

Then if one starts abusing their privilidges (say by passing
out the password to their mates), you can remove their access
without affecting anyone else.

You can also have fun choosing passwords 'at random'. Like
the friend of mine who allocated a Mr M Caine (no relation) the
user name of "blowthe" and password of "bloodydoorsoff".
</tip>

--------------------- End of message text --------------------

The principal place of business of PricewaterhouseCoopers and its associate
partnerships is 1 Embankment Place, London WC2N 6NN where lists of the
partners' names are available for inspection. All partners in the associate
partnerships are authorised to conduct business as agents of, and all
contracts for services to clients are with, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The UK
firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers is authorised by the Institute of Chartered
Accountants in England and Wales to carry on investment business.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a member of the world-wide
PricewaterhouseCoopers organisation.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which
it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material.  Any
review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action
in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the
intended recipient is prohibited.   If you received this in error, please
contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.