Discussion on:

Texas Law requires computer repair techs to be Private Investigators

This is definitely one to file under "what stupid thing will they do next?" A 2007 Texas law states that anyone handling data analysis and reporting has to also be licensed as a Private Investigator.

This may be a case where intent was not clearly communicated in the wording of the law and therefore leaves too many broad definitions and allows for poor conclusions. If that is the case, it is probably a good thing that the Texas Chapter of Institute for Justice is following the law up.

If you work in IT, you have probably been exposed to client data. What would you think if you could not continue to do your job until you became licensed as a PI? Or would you risk the fines and jail time by not complying?

I would never go to go to Texas. Nothing good has come out of Texas in the last hundred years.

What if they pulled the same shenanigans in the place you call home?

And besides, they raise very good steak in Texas!

I'd probably move. Since Texas is out of the question and I've already done the New Jersey thing, can't say where. Although, the place will need good seafood and the occasional steak.

Dint there used to be more here?

Was removed as it had no value. I read it when it was posted and agree with the PTB that removed it that there was no value there.

If I want to call people liberal a$$holes, I can start another thread.

to call liberal a$$holes a "liberal a$$holes".

Just because they ARE liberal a$$holes doesn't mean it is up to you to call them the liberal a$$hole that they are. Right?

After all, it is the thought that counts, and I am sure they already KNOW they are liberal a$$holes.

They don't consider themselves a$$holes at all. They know what's best for me, can't possibly conceive of me disagreeing with them, and aren't capable of understanding why I do.

edit: yep

that the people that preach "tolerance" have no tolerance for anyone that disagrees with them?

The word "hypocrite" regularly comes to mind.

between acceptance and tolerance.

I have to accept that they are here, but I don't have to tolerate their bullsh*t!

tolerate them, but don't accept them for the f##kwits they are.

I have to accept that they are here, but I don't have to tolerate their bullsh*t!

/

tolerate them, but don't accept them for the f##kwits they are.

==

Let's see, nice cancels nice, so that leaves...

I don't have to tolerate their bullsh*t or accept them for the f##kwits they are.


I'll take "complete waste of space" for $500, Alex!

Edit: danged new math!

I'm a Liberal Rectal Flamb?.

It just looks better on a bussiness card and is good for around 10K more a year. It's like the difference between VB .Net and C#.

.

Cause we don't WANT YOU!

I never really get much further west than New Orleans anyway. Oysters, mmmm.

As a tech I often retrieve data for users within my company. BTW, I also work for a law firm. When someone requests anything for a trial it goes to a seperate department that will complete the task and be ready to go to court if summonsed.

If I'm now going to be asked to hold even more credentials and pass more hurdles to do my job then employers better get ready to pay more.

I would comply solely because I have invested way too much time and effort to loose my credentials or position in the industry.

I'm in TX and this is the first time that i recall anything being said about this law. I work for a Financial institution and just now talked to one of our lawyers on this and they are like this is a sticky subject.

You and people like you are the reason I wrote the story. The ability to broadly interpret the law has been a risk for about a year now and yet has not been widely disseminated. I believe that is a key reason that the Institute for Justice has come along with the intent to challenge the law.

I'll be watching for updates. As I get them, I will post them.

requires someone pump gas for you!

That Oregon does too.

But seriously- do you want Magnum PI fixing your PC???

Only if I get to use his Ferrari as a loaner!

The youngsters here won't get that reference. I've had people in their 30s not get my gomer pyle reference. Or sgt shultz...

How did I get this old??? Damn, I'm glad I look as good as I do.

We're not getting older, we're getting better. (Better at what, I have no friggin' idea!)

is, we're not getter older, we're getting bitter..

I am 33 and I get it!

And if you don't know what I'm talking about you've never driven a Ferrari.

I live in NJ and I'm more than happy to not pump my own gas. I think its a great service for those who do not want to pump.

AV

When I was a teenager, I pumped gas to make some money.

When I had a choice between self serve and full service, I pumped gas to save some money.

Today, when self serve is about the only option, I pump gas and it costs me a ton of money.

When I pumped gas as my job, it was around .35 per gallon (probably $2.50 in today's dollars, though), I had to check the oil, check the air in the tires, and wash the windshields. However, this was the late 60s, mind you, and depending on the driver, I sometimes made sure that windshield was really, really clean!

was on the way to the lake.

I remember those .35 per gallon days. Lots of young, hunky guys pumped gas back then. Thats when teenagers had to work if they wanted to have money. I had a really clean windshield, always.

Today the people pumping gas here in NJ are a little scary to me. Gone are the hunky young guys of the past, replaced with mostly Middle-Eastern men. As a woman, I've been insulted several times while getting gas recently. I had one attendant ask me where my children were instead of how much gas I wanted!!! Its enough to make me want to pump my own gas!

Almost.

AV

and yet you STILL come out with badly written laws like the one described here. What on earth are all these lawyers doing? they can't ALL be chasing ambulances!

Can they?

You obviously need the entry qualifications for the schools that train your legislators to include minimum criteria for "common sense" considerably higher than you are currently applying.

Happily, we can pass stupid laws without any where NEAR as many lawyers.

When I researched this story, I was appalled that the law passed as it is written. The Institute for Justice is doing the right thing by challenging the law and (hopefully) forcing clarification of the points raised.

There are some good lawyers out there. There are even some good legislators. But we certainly haven't shown ourselves well with this particular legislation. *sigh* It never ends, does it?

Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland said that the law says anyone who retrieves data from a computer, analyzes it and makes a report to a third party must obtain a private investigator's license.

He says that computer repair technicians are not affected however, as a computer repair technician and a systems analyst I?m often required to dig into the structure and data of a database to determine why an application is not working properly or if the database is corrupt. This also requires tracing the source of the corruption to determine if a computer hardware malfunction caused the problem or if a person had entered bad data such as special and/or control characters.

In each case the customer wants a report on the overall problem plus the source of the problem; even if it is a person so the person can be either retrained or fired if they did it on purpose. Also, if an application vendor is involved then the report has to be shared with the vendor (a third party) so the vendor can add edits or correct a bug in their application.

Here in Texas, this now puts me into the position of violating the law.

This also means that the employee that is about to be fired now has a legal position since I?m not a licensed investigator.

I don?t think that most licensed investigators have the technical skill to dig into databases so this now opens up a very sticky situation. Does my systems analyst work constitute ?computer repair??

You strike the heart of the problem. There is simply insufficient clarification in the verbiage of this law.

Literacy is not a prerequisite for election to public office.

is that it is primarily lawyers that run for office. RICH lawyers. And we wonder why they are so out of touch with real people? And some of our population are stupid/gullible enough to think that just because they put a certain letter in front of their name that they care about more than gaining and maintaining power and control.

And to take it one step worse, we have stupid people that think "lawmakers" (congress) are not doing their job if they are not adding new laws all the time.

Money and power. A first year associate fresh out of law school can make over $100k per year. What other occupation has that earning potential right out of the gate?

Being a lawyer is a stepping stone to politics, money and money people in the US. Many lawyers become legislators at sometime in their career. Its an easy transition if they want it. They make lots of contacts in high places.

I've worked with lawyers for about 15 years in IT. Lawyers in the US are a very dedicated, hard-working bunch, but they're not all good, unfortunately.

AV

I was just getting ready to respond to some 'graham' dude and the post is freaking gone. As well as Nick's response...

I'm pretty sure, and I can say the post dripped with vitriol and ignorance (Not Nicks response), even so.,.it wasn't spam

insulting, rude and uncalled for

-Tammy

If you can't think of anything let me give you a list.

its cold :-D

But it does have a great thing..my husband's Uncle is the Head Wrestling coach for Central Michigan

-Tammy

I'll let it slide.


Since we've gone to our typical off-topic posting...I'm with Mae. A lot of posts are rude, insulting and uncalled for but you can say that about much of life too. Can't we just deal with it in our own way or is there a new set of standards being applied to make a post 'good' and 'acceptable'? Yuk!


Hell, there are a few long-time regulars that are regularly worse, in my opinion, than old Tex there was. Some of the rants are informative and entertaining, even if you're just laughing at the idiot's rant. Some regulars are tiresome, rude and lame but I think they've got some kind of right to be that way. Maybe I'm wrong. I didn't think Tex was that bad.


I'm trying to see the reasoning behind posts and discussions being sent into oblivion but I'm having a hard time with it. Of course, you don't have to 'splain yourself to the like of me. I'm just talking to hear myself talk.

after having a discussion with a few folks to understand their point of views, I apologize. As mentioned to them I'm still learning here (this is me in beta mode), with that, I ask folks if I'm being too easy too hard, send me an email and let me know.

Forgive me?

-Tammy

PS: I've actually never been to Michigan but I'm sure like most states it has its good and bad points.

You lost me at the end.

Should have left the 'splain' part out. I think people contributing SHOULD be able to voice an opinion about the ways things are done. Because, really, if we ('we' being all humans who participate at TR) aren't participating, then there wouldn't be much point to TR, would there?

I think that we should ALL be able to speak our minds even if it's unclear what we're trying to say. God knows I can be obscure sometimes but I still want to be able to post my blather.

And I WANT you to post your blather. No matter how inane or pointless it is!

Look for a peermail message from me sometime in the near future.

I'll look for it

I've been saving everyones tips, suggestions, advice, etc...

All is very much appreciated and aids greatly, plus gives me a much clearer picture and insight

On a different note... anyone notice "Amy Winehouse" located at the bottom of the pages now? I tried to get Sonja to get Toni to dress up and dance as Amy for the next TROLOV while Sonja sings "dancing to the TR beat"

-Tammy