Secret Client Negotiations Tactics
Account Lead: [getting off phone with client] Arrrgh! We need to revise the SOW again before [client] will sign it.
Pwylla: Aaaw, damn. I'm sorry. Is he still pushing for a fixed price deal without assuming any of the risk?
Account Lead: Pretty much...
Pwylla: So i guess we need to find a way to even more craftily word that he is assuming the risk?
Account Lead: Bingo. He keeps trying to claim that by pushing risk back on them - even though this is a standard aspect of fixed price deal structures - he's trying to say that we aren't operating in 'good faith'.
Pwylla: Er... So the fact that we are nearly finished with the damn work already doesn't count as 'good faith'?
Account Lead: It would appear not.
Pwylla: Jeeez. Well, we can change the language again. But what else can we do to try to convince him?
Account Lead: Oh don't worry. I got it all sown up. I'm the master. I got sekrit skills you don't even know about.
Pwylla: Oh yeah? What are you gonna do? Dance?
Account Lead: No. I'm gonna break out my jazz hands. [strikes appropriate pose]
Pwylla: ...
I'm Sorry Dave, I'm Afraid I Can't Do That
My firm is technically a 'start-up', still, although we are growing steadily. We don't carry a lot of the infrastructure and overhead other massive consulting firms do. This means that we all perform more integral internal roles on top of our line work (in our spare time, mostly). I am part of the 'Tech Team' (which thankfully now includes 3 other tech savvy admins, although i used to be the only one a couple years ago). We manage all the IT assets for our mobile workforce including hardware, software and services. We've been using Dell notebooks for 3 going on 4 years now and we can't complain.
But this last week i went to wipe a returned notebook to ready it for reissue and found something i'd never noticed before. It appears that Dell notebooks carry a TPM chip. Which in theory sounds like no big deal - it's a hardware managed method of encrypting and securing your data. A little digging though and I find it's a bit more controversial than that. Even if you are one of those who thinks the legendary rms position is a tad hyperbolic*, it's still hard to disagree with the EFF pov which i think gives it a fair shake.
In practice, with respect to our Dell laptops, the TPM is latent until the user activates it and establishes ownership. Says the Dell website:
*...i am not one of those who think that, btw - i pretty much agree with rms, but i also believe in the coming robot war.