(no subject)

[mtupyro.livejournal.com]

We don't service personal computers. If it's the department chair or an important professor, we may work on a personal laptop. But we don't touch student's personal machines. Ever. So why have I spent the last 2 days clearing spyware infections off of an undergrad's personal machine?

$BOSS: "His mom called, and I felt bad."

Grrrrrrrrr.

He had limewire installed and running under an admin account. Along with Norton. *gazes into the heavens* NORTON!!

It's getting a fresh format and install after I backed up what documents I could find. I fought the spyware, and the spyware won.

I'm really tempted to contact his mother and show her just what I found when cleaning out her little boy's computer. Still think he needs his computer for school mommy?

Comments

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

No, but a cluster has! :D

You make a great point for hardcore engineering types to have their own computers. :) But Joe Random's secretary Executive Assistant doesn't need web cache. She doesn't need a place to store all those cute little pictures of her dogs. She doesn't need anything but bookmarks, a working Exchange setup, and a Mydocs that gets stored on the server (substitute appropriate Linux analogs if you prefer to keep your soul).

*sigh.* It'd solve so many problems.

[jimbojones.livejournal.com]

I'm strongly considering starting to offer a program where direct internet access is restricted from ALL workstations, and web browsing must be done by remote X session on a Linux or BSD server that lives for no other reason than exactly that: to host web browsing sessions. Now THAT would solve a lot of fucking problems.

In theory I could do the same with a Terminal Server, but I'd have to drop the bitch and cold-copy ERUNT backups onto it fucking daily.

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

Oddly, blocking Myspace has about the same effect on IT workload. :)