My recommendation? Leave Shepard alone. Work on another point in time in the universe,preferably in a spot where all the back-story that would have to be told is either integral to the story or doesn't limit people from understanding the story. Maybe pluck stories from the First Contact War, or events just before the start of Mass Effect.
Agreed. No common IT infrastructure means months of headaches in implementation, especially if one of the divisions has a much higher security than the others.
HQ and the three "autonomous" divisions need to pool their IT resources together first and make sure that whatever solution(s) they come up with is really usable across every organization. There needs to be a commonality across what is supported both internally and externally before even thinking about what the best solution is. Then you've got security across the four entities to consider, any and all legal implications, disagreements between the IT departments...ugh.
This is a huge undertaking, and I feel bad for you. Good luck anyway.
Put the word advantage in quotes and I'd agree with you 100%. Politics are just as tricky when you're a contractor, as "getting fired" can hurt not only you, but the company who got you the jig. For small start-up firms, it can even result in the company tanking.
Regardless if you're a contractor or an employee (which I am now), CYA is the most important thing to keep in mind. Being able to explain what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how what you're doing affects the bottom line in simple, non-condescending tones is consistently the best way to keep the suits happy and more accommodating.
As an aside, I just now got mod points...
Re:One thing I have noticed
on
Tech Vs. Business?
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I wish I had mod points to give you.
Your company is not alone in that thought process. I've been contracted out to several places who run on that sole thought, and it's not uncommon to be reprimanded for fixing something that "wasn't broken."
I usually get around that by creating trouble tickets myself, and detailing exactly what's wrong and why it will affect the system. If I'm in an environment where I can't do that, I'll talk to QA (if there is one...) and see if they can reproduce the scenario. That way, I'm covered when things go wrong and the project manager wants to go blaming me, the contractor.
So, let me get this straight. They are trying to improve customer satisfaction by telling everyone how great it is, but not provide help to get it to do what they want.
Not completely. It seems that they can answer questions as long as they don't have to fix a problem. After all, these "gurus" will have to run how-to trainings and workshops. However, the "gurus" would have to defer true technical support to Geek Squad/Firedog idiots.
FTA: "All of our research shows that customers want their hands held."
What? You needed to spend money doing research to determine that? Maybe I should become a researcher and get my hands on some of that money.
Again, FTA: Gurus will also be able to help ensure that the demonstration PCs running Windows are running properly and that the in-store Vista displays are spiffed up."
So now gurus are glorified cleaners too? I'd bet that they'd spend most of their time playing solitaire on the TouchSmart HPs...unless they could install games to prove that Vista works with games. I'd happily take the position if all I needed to do was that.
Seriously, though, $20 an hour or more plus benefits for knowing and teaching Vista? Damn, if they had had that while I was in college, I wouldn't have done work study doing nearly the exact same thing with XP (and Office) for $7 an hour.
No, they should have followed the "ounce of prevention = pound of cure" philosophy and never let it get to the point where they would need to fire/sue the idealistic idiot. He should have never been allowed to work alone on building the network. At least one other person should have worked with (shadowed) him and built up some trust so that they could have access as well.
Of course, given the brazen stupidity that many project managers have and the financial department's desire to obtain higher profits by downsizing departments, I'm not surprised that events have unfolded in this way. The only thing I'm really surprised about is that such a high-scale case hasn't appeared before...
I think that this is different in that Virginia is limiting the scope of people who are allowed to edit the Physics book for use within their educational system. RFCs (Requests for Contribution) were sent to certain institutions. Even CK-12 has their own group of educators who are constantly proofreading their current book selections.
More than likely, it will be CK-12 who will edit the books to maintain the "cohesive structure, consistency, and progression of complexity" so as to provide a better experience for the students. Places outside of VA should be able to modify the released book as they see fit, thanks to the Creative Commons license, but within VA, if teachers want to use this flexbook, they have to follow the approved version.
Besides, it'll be a while before Virginia will actually replace their textbook in favor of this flexbook, if it even gets that far.
In theory, this is a great idea. Virginia wants to have a core set of physics materials which will stay current, and then allow teachers to choose several "electives" from "contemporary and emerging physics topics" to enhance their curriculum.
The thing to keep in mind is that this is their first step; the "flexbook," in its first form isn't going to replace the printed textbooks. After all, they want version 1 to be released on Feb. 27, 2009.
--
Yeah, I RTFA.
I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but I recommend that you talk with or go visit the CS/CIS/MIS instructors and professors at colleges and universities in your area. I can't guarantee that they'll be helpful, but they may give you some ideas as to books to buy and, perhaps more helpful, the base skills students would need to do well in the college classes.
Like with most of the other posters, I agree that it's better to stick with generic topics than to get too specific. Logic and problem-solving are the two most important (and long-lasting) skills for IT workers to have. For hands-on purposes, though, buying several specific books for yourself that you can use to get the students to do some low-level work would be good. Give them a chance to do a couple things on both Linux and Windows so that they have some exposure to multiple systems.
As for A+, Network+, and all those other certifications, I'd recommend that you acknowledge their presence and, if possible, to teach so that those tests (the ones you are acknowledging) can be passed with some more prep work on the students' part, but not to teach solely for those certifications.
Also, regardless of the class, one or two class periods should be devoted to ethics. The students should be made aware that just because they have access to sensitive information, that they should not abuse that privilege.
That's not quite true. You can sell the book used, but the new owner will have to purchase a new code. I've seen the price for a new code range from $20 to $75, depending on the subject.
BoA is in the process of forcing users to change it from the SSN. Of course, they didn't say anything about this until after I had been locked out of my account and I was forced to call customer service...
Slashdot Mirror
My recommendation? Leave Shepard alone. Work on another point in time in the universe,preferably in a spot where all the back-story that would have to be told is either integral to the story or doesn't limit people from understanding the story. Maybe pluck stories from the First Contact War, or events just before the start of Mass Effect.
Agreed. No common IT infrastructure means months of headaches in implementation, especially if one of the divisions has a much higher security than the others.
HQ and the three "autonomous" divisions need to pool their IT resources together first and make sure that whatever solution(s) they come up with is really usable across every organization. There needs to be a commonality across what is supported both internally and externally before even thinking about what the best solution is. Then you've got security across the four entities to consider, any and all legal implications, disagreements between the IT departments...ugh.
This is a huge undertaking, and I feel bad for you. Good luck anyway.
Coalition of Unsolicited Neutering of Fundamentalist Sectists.
Don't you mean "Coalition of Unsolicited Neutering of Traditionalist Sectists?"
- Like, who gives a crap?
Global Dynamics' poop guy. Had to do something after being fired....
Put the word advantage in quotes and I'd agree with you 100%. Politics are just as tricky when you're a contractor, as "getting fired" can hurt not only you, but the company who got you the jig. For small start-up firms, it can even result in the company tanking.
Regardless if you're a contractor or an employee (which I am now), CYA is the most important thing to keep in mind. Being able to explain what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how what you're doing affects the bottom line in simple, non-condescending tones is consistently the best way to keep the suits happy and more accommodating.
As an aside, I just now got mod points...
I wish I had mod points to give you.
Your company is not alone in that thought process. I've been contracted out to several places who run on that sole thought, and it's not uncommon to be reprimanded for fixing something that "wasn't broken."
I usually get around that by creating trouble tickets myself, and detailing exactly what's wrong and why it will affect the system. If I'm in an environment where I can't do that, I'll talk to QA (if there is one...) and see if they can reproduce the scenario. That way, I'm covered when things go wrong and the project manager wants to go blaming me, the contractor.
Hmm...epic fail isn't strong enough to describe those idiots...
How about "COSMIC FAIL"
So, let me get this straight. They are trying to improve customer satisfaction by telling everyone how great it is, but not provide help to get it to do what they want.
Not completely. It seems that they can answer questions as long as they don't have to fix a problem. After all, these "gurus" will have to run how-to trainings and workshops. However, the "gurus" would have to defer true technical support to Geek Squad/Firedog idiots.
FTA: "All of our research shows that customers want their hands held."
What? You needed to spend money doing research to determine that? Maybe I should become a researcher and get my hands on some of that money.
Again, FTA: Gurus will also be able to help ensure that the demonstration PCs running Windows are running properly and that the in-store Vista displays are spiffed up."
So now gurus are glorified cleaners too? I'd bet that they'd spend most of their time playing solitaire on the TouchSmart HPs...unless they could install games to prove that Vista works with games. I'd happily take the position if all I needed to do was that.
Seriously, though, $20 an hour or more plus benefits for knowing and teaching Vista? Damn, if they had had that while I was in college, I wouldn't have done work study doing nearly the exact same thing with XP (and Office) for $7 an hour.
Best Buy does sell Apple desktops and laptops; granted, not in every store, but they certainly have them in the DC area.
No, they should have followed the "ounce of prevention = pound of cure" philosophy and never let it get to the point where they would need to fire/sue the idealistic idiot. He should have never been allowed to work alone on building the network. At least one other person should have worked with (shadowed) him and built up some trust so that they could have access as well.
Of course, given the brazen stupidity that many project managers have and the financial department's desire to obtain higher profits by downsizing departments, I'm not surprised that events have unfolded in this way. The only thing I'm really surprised about is that such a high-scale case hasn't appeared before...
I think that this is different in that Virginia is limiting the scope of people who are allowed to edit the Physics book for use within their educational system. RFCs (Requests for Contribution) were sent to certain institutions. Even CK-12 has their own group of educators who are constantly proofreading their current book selections.
More than likely, it will be CK-12 who will edit the books to maintain the "cohesive structure, consistency, and progression of complexity" so as to provide a better experience for the students. Places outside of VA should be able to modify the released book as they see fit, thanks to the Creative Commons license, but within VA, if teachers want to use this flexbook, they have to follow the approved version.
Besides, it'll be a while before Virginia will actually replace their textbook in favor of this flexbook, if it even gets that far.
In theory, this is a great idea. Virginia wants to have a core set of physics materials which will stay current, and then allow teachers to choose several "electives" from "contemporary and emerging physics topics" to enhance their curriculum.
The thing to keep in mind is that this is their first step; the "flexbook," in its first form isn't going to replace the printed textbooks. After all, they want version 1 to be released on Feb. 27, 2009.
--
Yeah, I RTFA.
I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but I recommend that you talk with or go visit the CS/CIS/MIS instructors and professors at colleges and universities in your area. I can't guarantee that they'll be helpful, but they may give you some ideas as to books to buy and, perhaps more helpful, the base skills students would need to do well in the college classes.
Like with most of the other posters, I agree that it's better to stick with generic topics than to get too specific. Logic and problem-solving are the two most important (and long-lasting) skills for IT workers to have. For hands-on purposes, though, buying several specific books for yourself that you can use to get the students to do some low-level work would be good. Give them a chance to do a couple things on both Linux and Windows so that they have some exposure to multiple systems.
As for A+, Network+, and all those other certifications, I'd recommend that you acknowledge their presence and, if possible, to teach so that those tests (the ones you are acknowledging) can be passed with some more prep work on the students' part, but not to teach solely for those certifications.
Also, regardless of the class, one or two class periods should be devoted to ethics. The students should be made aware that just because they have access to sensitive information, that they should not abuse that privilege.
That's not quite true. You can sell the book used, but the new owner will have to purchase a new code. I've seen the price for a new code range from $20 to $75, depending on the subject.
Seriously, you guys may not want to leave the store.
BoA is in the process of forcing users to change it from the SSN. Of course, they didn't say anything about this until after I had been locked out of my account and I was forced to call customer service...