On Accounts
I remembered back in the old days of DOS, the notion of multiple user accounts was completely foreign to me. In fact, I first encountered them when I moved onto the Win95 platform. Even then, my understanding was cursory. Logging in was a real hassle, passwords were weak and just about every user was an administrator. Everybody who used the computer was happy as long as they can run their programs and play their games. It simply didn't matter whose account they were using.
Accounts became a big deal to me only when I started college where suddenly, as a user with limited privileges and storage space, knowing what you can do became pretty important. And learning how to extend privileges to project mates on the UNIX system without locking yourself out became even more essential.
Understanding the various accounts and policy settings on your computer system is vital to minimize user abuse and damage when an account becomes compromised. However, knowing how to configure access rights without causing disruption to work can be pretty tough. Default but defunct accounts should also be disabled. Default account names and passwords should also be changed. Default settings are commonly known and can be easily exploited.
On another note, I have just recently concluded a holiday trip to Japan. The trip while terribly enjoyable was not without some misadventures and amusing situations. To pen these down, I have started a series of mini strips which I will append from time to time. =)
