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From: Micky Hulse on 13 Sep 2010 19:47 On Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 2:43 PM, chris h <chris404(a)gmail.com> wrote: > "How would you like the system to be aware of rather or not you're in the > office? On his way in to the office: Motion sensing camera connected to a mechanical pointer stick aimed to trigger the server power button. On his way out of the office: Clap on/clap off Clapper connected to computer power cable. :D
From: Phpster on 13 Sep 2010 20:01 On Sep 13, 2010, at 17:49, Tim Thorburn <immortal(a)nwconx.net> wrote: > On 9/13/2010 9:10 AM, Steve Staples wrote: >> here's a silly idea... >> >> put the database on his computer (or the entire app). that way, when >> he's *there* he is logged in. if the computer is off, he's not there, >> the app wont work (and the database). >> >> Steve >> >> >> >> On Mon, 2010-09-13 at 11:26 +0100, Richard Quadling wrote: >>> On 12 September 2010 17:32, tedd<tedd(a)sperling.com> wrote: >>>> Hi gang: >>>> >>>> I have a client who wants his employees' access to their online business >>>> database restricted to only times when he is logged on. (Don't ask why) >>>> >>>> In other words, when the boss is not logged on, then his employees cannot >>>> access the business database in any fashion whatsoever including checking to >>>> see if the boss is logged on, or not. No access whatsoever! >>>> >>>> Normally, I would just set up a field in the database and have that set to >>>> "yes" or "no" as to if the employees could access the database, or not. But >>>> in this case, the boss does not want even that type of access to the >>>> database permitted. Repeat -- No access whatsoever! >>>> >>>> I was thinking of the boss' script writing to a file that accomplished the >>>> "yes" or "no" thing, but if the boss did not log off properly then the file >>>> would remain in the "yes" state allowing employees undesired access. That >>>> would not be acceptable. >>>> >>>> So, what methods would you suggest? >>>> >>>> Cheers, >>>> >>>> tedd >>> What operating system is he using? >>> >>> Does he (for example), log into his computer and logoff/shutdown when >>> he goes home? >>> >>> If he is using Windows (and I'm sure there are many ways to achieve >>> this), then in the Startup folder, a small PHP script which sets a >>> flag "I'm here", would allow the DB to know he's at least logged in. >>> >>> There are different ways to do this. >>> http://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Windows/XP/Q_21195727.html >>> covers login/logout/startup/shutdown. >>> >>> >>> Do they have a clock card system for clocking in/out the building? >>> Could you read the database that the clockings are logged in? An odd >>> number for the day = he's in, even = he's out, missed clocking = >>> screwed/guess. >>> >>> Ideally you want to "hook" into his normal activity if you can. >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Richard Quadling >>> Twitter : EE : Zend >>> @RQuadling : e-e.com/M_248814.html : bit.ly/9O8vFY >>> >> >> > I'm pretty sure I'd have run for the hills after my first meeting with this client, but if you're sure you want to proceed ... Beyond the options mentioned, you could set it up so that the boss would log in each morning with a session that times out at the end of the work day (8, 10, 12, w/e hours later). To make it even more secure, you could have the boss create new logins for each employee at the start of each day. Since yesterdays passwords will no longer work, the boss will have to be there to issue new passwords to whomever he deems worthy of access on this day. These passwords would of course expire at the normal leaving time, so if someone came in late for a password at 4pm and work ends at 6pm, their password would only last two more hours. > > All in all, I'd still grill him more about what it is he actually wants and why, as all of the ideas presented thus far have at least a dozen different ways things can go wrong. Putting the app on the bosses computer sounds great and all, but if he's sick or away on business suddenly no one in the office is doing any work. Or when his hdd gives out or is replaced and IT's backup system wasn't as great as it could have been you'll have fun getting paid to re-do everything. Having everything require a usb stick to launch sounds secure, until he loses the stick or forgets it at home one day. For fun I'd suggest tagging him with a microchip which your application will constantly scan for and only activate when he's within a certain radius of his desk. Retna scans shouldn't be overlooked either. <insert Mission Impossible theme here> > > May the force be with you on this one. > > -Tim Well, if we are going down this route, many new laptops are offering some form of biometrics for access. If your client has one, you could potentially launch a script to start/ stop the db at that time. Or if we follow the new password suggestion, his morning login could run a script to reset and email all users their passwords automatically. Bastien Sent from my iPod
From: Daniel Brown on 13 Sep 2010 20:05 On Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 19:47, Micky Hulse <mickyhulse.lists(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Motion sensing camera connected to a mechanical pointer stick aimed to > trigger the server power button. > > On his way out of the office: > > Clap on/clap off Clapper connected to computer power cable. It would be cheaper to employ the same method used on some lawnmowers and required on Jet Skis and Skidoos: a cable with a clip worn by the rider. The rider falls off, the cable releases from the vehicle, disengaging the throttle and cutting the engine. The boss stands up, his entire infrastructure collapses, everyone's connections are closed, and all PCs subsequently catch fire. Realistically, a simple desktop-based application running in the system tray (presuming Windows) would send a kill signal to a predefined script to issue safe closing routines to the database first, then any other systems he wants to close out. It could even have simple options to poll if there's a screensaver activated, which would initiate the process automatically, should he choose to be extremely paranoid. The same could be automated to work in reverse, to automatically bring the systems up, when the local desktop session becomes active (from hibernation, logoff, or screensaver), or even with an override ("Pause Sessions") by right-clicking the systray icon. It's no surprise to several here that I'm not a big fan of Windows.... but I do still like to stay on top of programming languages, and at least give each one a try. Something of interest to no one: my first full-production, open-source project that included PHP was actually a combination of a PHP server-side script and Windows client script, written in VB, back in 2000. It was named phpCourier, and was used as a client-server CMS for simple news postings (before "blog" became a catchphrase). It was downloaded a few thousand times, and then I quit hosting it. I may actually have that server with those files and a bunch of other old projects in my basement. Now I'm suddenly interested in unpacking and organizing everything. -- </Daniel P. Brown> Network Infrastructure Manager Documentation, Webmaster Teams http://www.php.net/
From: Micky Hulse on 13 Sep 2010 20:11 On Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 5:05 PM, Daniel Brown <danbrown(a)php.net> wrote: > Â Â It would be cheaper to employ the same method used on some > lawnmowers and required on Jet Skis and Skidoos: a cable with a clip > worn by the rider. Â The rider falls off, the cable releases from the > vehicle, disengaging the throttle and cutting the engine. Â The boss > stands up, his entire infrastructure collapses, everyone's connections > are closed, and all PCs subsequently catch fire. Lol! That would make a great Dilbert and/or Farside cartoon. :)
From: Andy McKenzie on 13 Sep 2010 21:47
On Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 8:11 PM, Micky Hulse <mickyhulse.lists(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 5:05 PM, Daniel Brown <danbrown(a)php.net> wrote: >> It would be cheaper to employ the same method used on some >> lawnmowers and required on Jet Skis and Skidoos: a cable with a clip >> worn by the rider. The rider falls off, the cable releases from the >> vehicle, disengaging the throttle and cutting the engine. The boss >> stands up, his entire infrastructure collapses, everyone's connections >> are closed, and all PCs subsequently catch fire. > > Lol! That would make a great Dilbert and/or Farside cartoon. :) It would, wouldn't it? Anyway. Something you could do is a script that turns mysqld on and off: set him up with an SSH connection to the server, and he can run the script when he gets in to turn it on, and run it again whenever he leaves to turn it off. A cron job to turn mysqld off at whatever time he usually leaves would probably be a reasonable failsafe. If he really wants you could probably link it to a swipe card system or just a keyboard on his desk (enter your PIN to turn it on, enter it again to turn it off). All that aside, I can't help feeling that this has gotten into "I'm afraid you know too much for us to let you leave: Guards! Take him away!" territory. -Alex |