No objections to anything you say here. My staff is free to come and go as they please as long as the work gets done and that they communicate any unusual movements out of the office (ie. Doctor/erands, etc). Not to control them but just simply to know if/when they will return. If they abuse it though I might have to make changes. It is a priviledge not a right. Management always struggles with that fine line of managing staff time. Until you are in the position of having to manage it yourself it is hard to envision what the problems are but I can assure you that this matter is probably not about you. It is likely a bigger picture item. Out of curiosity did you actually discuss the matter with them one-on-one? If not, and assuming you are still pationate about it, I would talk to the person making the rule to determine what the root of the problem really is. You might be suprised and find that it makes sense. :-) Cheers, David

It seems like a 'small thing' to me. Clearly Management has some reason that they feel that it is important to control access... Perhaps it is a 'polite way' to address a problem of staff who slip in late (or slip out early) from lunch through the back door which may not be visible. Or perhaps the entrance has limited visibility from the rest of the office which could be a security risk. I own my own company and while I try and go out of my way to ensure staff have a large amount of freedom in the office I would not hesitate for a second to lock things down if I felt the staff were abusing this freedom or my proprietary knowledge or resources was at risk of theft. Put yourself in their shoes. What possible reasons could you think of that would require this action? If one or two people are abusing this freedom then these bad apples can spoil the whole barrel if the practice is not stopped immediately. If abuse is tolerated then the good staff start looking a management wondering why the hell they aren't doing anything to prevent the abuse. Maybe if staff policed each other then management wouldn't need to step in. Ownership made the changes for a reason. Live with it. Come back here after you have invested your house and life savings to start your own business. Perhaps you would respond differently when YOUR proprietary knowledge is at risk of theft, or YOU are paying for staff that perhaps are abusing their hours of work, etc. I am guessing (from your harsh reaction to a minor infringement of your freedom) that you are simply seeing what you want to see and it sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder related to your employer. If in fact this is the case then perhaps you are not employed in an environment that suits you. If so - then leave - you are not doing yourself or the company any benefit by staying. Understand that this is stated matter of fact - My intent is not to berate you at all - it is just that I have seen staff come in my doors who simply dont suit the culture of the company. At the end of the day both they and us are happier after they leave. Regards, David

Did you recharge them immediately after taking them out of the freezer or did you wait until they warmed up a bit before recharging them? Cheers, David

Would you not say that if you approach the company with the idea then you have already "conceived" it while employed by the company and therefore it is their property. At least thats the way I see it... Cheers, David

Axosoft www.axosoft.com[^] integrates with Visual Studio and is free for a single developer. For larger development teams you need to buy licenses but they are fairly reasonable. I dont use it as religiously as I should but it seemed to do the job for me. Cheers, David

Thats an even better idea. Although perhaps even even more efficient is not to open Outlook at all. :-D David

I place them all in the Deleted Folder. That way I feel like I actually made some progress during the day... :sigh: :) Cheers. David

Yea I've been playing DOTA (Lordaeron) for years now. ...I...just...cant...quit... :-D I've been in a few clans but ultimately I drift out of them and just play the pub games. Leavers are always a problem but then you get that odd 'great' match that at the end you slump back in your chair thinking "damn that was intense" and fuels the addiction again. Cheers, David

I a quite comfortable with all the proposed changes except perhaps item 2. I have been a member since 2002 and follow the contents of the Lounge (almost religiously) every day but I seldom comment in the lounge unless I feel I have something constructive to add (or just plain bored out of my skull.. which thankfully seldom happens). My concern (perhaps unfounded) would be me receiving a poor ranking just because I am not post happy... Then of course it bring up the point as to how relevant I am to the health of the Lounge if I am seldom active in the dicussions...hmm... In either case I would prefer that CodeProject err on the side of someone being a good citizen until proven otherwise (or at least grandfathering some of the older but quiet members). :) cheers, David

Gee and I thought it was: What do you call an american without a handgun...? :-D David

Before youcan debug in IE you need to go to: Tools-->Options-->Advanced Tab and uncheck the option for Disable Javascript Debugging (internet explorer). Once you do that you can set breakpoints in the javascript file or you can insert the keyword debugger; in the javescript routine and it will break to the debugger at that point. If you need to debug in FireFox you can download the addin FireBug. It has some pretty cool features for drilling into objects but it has some pretty nasty bugs that crash FF altogether. Nevertheless it is still quite usefull at times. Hope this helps. David

Before even starting the negotiation process I am only interested if I'm paid in full, in advance, since you'd be a new client and the risk is otherwise too great... Would that be acceptable? Cheers, David.

If you bought by credit card then check the benefits package attached to the card. Some credit cards include a one year extended warranty on purchases made with that credit card (for example VISA). Good luck. David

It's kinda space age but I found this useful a few times. http://www.codeproject.com/cs/design/miniwalker.asp[^] Hopefully it might help. Cheers, David

This is why Microsoft came up with the UAC... UAC: "Terrorist trying to blow up your computer. Allow? Disallow?" YOU: (Auto reaction...) "Allow" BOOM! And then you will blame Microsoft anyways... :-) Cheers, David

I think it is very cool concept but as Joergen pointed out it is just vapor ware. I have been watching it for several years now and the website hasn't changed a bit. I has been mentioned in the lounge as far back as July 2005 so dont hold your breath. Cheers, David

I am rather partial to Cobian Backup http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm[^] It backs up the files into a standard zip format but you can encrypt both the zip file as well as encrypt the entire backup file in some pretty decent algorithms. In other words it is not a proprietary backup. It also supports pre-and post backup events so you can shut down SQL server or execute a stored procedure batch file or any number of different things. If you like to encrypt the backup file, then you can also store the backup file along with the decryption applet (small). That ensures that years from now you can always restore the files with or without Cobian installed on the machine. Essentially you can decrypt the file and then use standard winzip (or other) to access the files. It's a beauty and free/donation. Cheers, David

I name my domain, servers, and PC's after roman caesars: Domain: rome with machine server names like: VARO, NERO, LEPIDUS, JULIUS, OCTAVIUS (CALIGULA excluded!). Other ideas could be Norse or Grecian gods Domain: valhalla machine names: thor, balder, loki, freya, etc. -- or for the Greeks --- Domain: olympus machine names: zeus, hercules, athena, hermes, etc. Makes it kinda fun to create add new machines and research the names. Cheers, David

Joe Woodbury wrote:

do recall several of the ring leaders doing condom checks and designated driver checks on Friday nights after track practice.

Thats pretty responsible. My High School (early 80's) certainly was not that progressive / responsible and we were just on the cusp (as I recall) of the start of the Drinking Driving Counterattack programs and the whole Aids scare. The alcohol use doesnt terribly concern me but that Ecstacy sh#t, I admit, really scares the bejesus out of me (in concern for my daughters) as it is apparently cheap, extremely addicting, and damaging. But my parents certainly had their own things to worry about. David

Warren Stevens wrote:

Nobody from my school died from drinking (or anything else, for that matter).

I saw both types. - One died from alcohol (choked to death on their own vomit) - One died in a car crash (drinking and driving) - One overdose (drugs) And this wasn't an urban school. It was a school in a rural middle income suburban community. I guess you were just lucky. Cheers, David