I love napster. I have 3 weeks of mp3's thanks to them.
I think musicians should start looking into the history of the Grateful Dead. They had a HUGE following up until jerry garcia's demise. They cared enough about their fans to let them tape concerts and distribute them among other "deadheads" (flashback of thousands of hippies, people walking around saying "doses") Of course they also told their fans don't pirate our music, if you want an album for pete's sake buy it.
So yeah, keep napster free.
I admit. I like M$, here's why...
If it wasn't for them damn winboxen and their applications crashing all the time I wouldn't be working. A WIDELY USED UNSTABLE O/S MAKES MONEY CHILDREN!! Ask any sysadmin what they spend the majority of their time fixin, Linux or M$. I'm sick of all these whiny people bitching and moaning about how unfair M$ is.
Yes I use NIX, I also use QNX, solaris, BEOS and BSD. Don't get me wrong, they're all got their merits but M$ has been at the forfront of ease of use for a long time. Ever try configuring hardware in NIX? Pain in the ass for a sysadmin like me let alone a user.
M$ makes some damn good free stuff. Look at how nicely IE has matured. Media Player 7 although not as good as musicmatch is actually decent.
I don't take this with a grain of salt. MS has been there for me and many other admins (even though they won't admit it) for many years now. My alliance to the dark side of the force is stronger than ever.
JOIN THE EMPIRE!
--toq
Funny how when nobody uses something it's thrown in the cold like a peice of trash, but when the potential for dollar'$ is there then everyone wants a peice of the action.
--Toq
May the moderators moderate moderately
Ok so you all think you have it bad..
A condensed version of my 2 years spent at a now defunct pre-ipo startup.
Back in 1998 I decided to stop playing Descent on kali long enough to actually go out and look for a job. I found the secret to getting a job here in silicon valley a few years earlier, basically go to the mercury news web site and search the classifieds for "FAX (408)" and sort out what job you want from there. I faxed out to 100 companies looking for IT people saying to myself I'll take whoever bites first.
Bad Mistake.
I started working for a consulting group that worked for the now defunct startup for 36k@yr. Basically this consulting firm had been leeching money from the startup for the last 3 years to deliver a product that was limited to only 1 platform (we'll keep it nameless to stop o/s flame wars) and was leaps and bounds the worst piece of crap ever to be passed off as software. I guess I could tell you its function. Basically video transmission across the internet. But the thing required a t1 line to get 30fps on a 320x240 window. Something Real has been doing for a while.
I questioned the lead from the consulting group about his product choices and offered my advice which he took as a threat. He would constantly belittle me thinking somehow this was going to change my mind and make me see things with his "vision" I don't back down from bullshitters.
So began his abuse of power. He would go into rants about how I didn't order this or I didn't order that. Well duh! I'm not about to charge 6k to my plastic so I can buy his lame ass team new computers. I wasn't about to charge that money then have to sit there with the accounting department trying to justify my re-imbursement. Not to mention it takes time to get all that processed which would have gone into interest charges. He would constantly go around telling people I didn't have my finances in order. I would try and do things the normal way, you know, submitting a credit app/resellers license to a vendor and get net 30 terms. He wouldn't go for that either, we had to do all our purchases through fry's with his sales rep.
In retaliation to me trying to do things right he started to strip me of my power and access. He ordered one of his toadies to remove my access from all machines on the network including mail and file servers. Told everyone to no longer include me in meetings because I was counterproductive to his "Vision" Basically he was making it impossible for me to do my own job. I couldn't create new accounts, I couldn't troubleshoot the servers when they went poof, nothing. He made his toadies take over my former responsibilities and reduced my job to basically just sitting at a desk surfing the web. Because the toadies started getting the extra workload they began resenting me (to this day I can still feel it)
One day my CEO comes by with some potential investors. I was working in the lab on our prototype (herein will be referred to as "POS") when the lead from the consulting group walked by, checked to see if I was in there, then walked over to the CEO and the investors and started bringing them down my way. When they got to the door he came in and started talking about our product. Then he proceeds to tell the investors, "The prototyped would have been finished if "me" had ordered the parts which he can't do because he doesn't have his personal finances in order. He'll get it right eventually because I'm going to repeat to "me" over and over again until he gets it in his head". The words stung me pretty hard. I looked up at the CEO and investors. The investors looked shocked and the CEO, well lets just say he had a look which let me know he felt my pain. After they left I scribbled a note saying I quit and taped that with my key to the door and left.
Later that night I got a phone call from the lead begging me to come back. Well not quite begging, but he was being apologetic in a "well I'm just saying I'm sorry, doesn't mean I mean it" way. Turned out the CEO went back to the lab to talk to me and found the note, went back and chewed this guy out. I agreed to go back (you'd think I learned my lesson)
2 weeks later I got a call from the CEO's office. They had some weird network problem that needed fixing so I went down there. Problem got fixed in like 5 minutes and a reboot. So I decided I'd do some more to get the whole office running smoothly. I found a extra machine, put some server software on it, started getting rid of all the peer network sharing ect, ect. I happened upon the CEO's desk and noticed he was paying almost 10k@month to the consulting firm for me of which %40 went back to the lead. This explains why I wasn't hired on permanent yet. About 8pm I got a call from the CEO asking me to come to his house, his home PC needed some doctoring. So I packed up and went on over.
There was no sick PC when I arrived. He poured me some wine and started telling me about the sorted past him and the lead had had for the last 3 years. Turned out this guy had his fingers into everything and it was either all going back to him or his church in some way or another. The sales guy at fry's was a member of his church, the ISP we used he held stock in and was getting a referral bonus, and myself, sheesh I was his kids college fund. The platform we used he had stock in, the software we used belonged to him and if the IPO was to market it they would have to pay a royalty fee to him. Basically this guy was out to screw this IPO 7 ways to Sunday out of investors money. Well after that we talked about fishing, next day he rented a boat and we went out for bass.
I'm going to condense a bunch of stuff here. Basically it gets worse. I get hired after having to sit through a personal review where this guy tries to rip me apart with lies. Um also he starts to hire all these glass eyed religious fanatics from his church which on a daily basis remind me that I'm going to hell for not being in their religion. Oh yeah that and constantly dropping off their religious books anonymously on my desk. We hire a new dev team, the lead gets fired, the company moves to alameda because the CEO doesn't like the drive from SJC to Sunnyvale.
So by this time I am really caught in the middle of a huge stinkin pile of excrement. I have the dev team from the consulting group resenting me thinking I got their boss fired because I was "buddy buddy" with the CEO. The religious fanatics resent me thinking I ruined this man. The new dev team in Sacramento is uncertain of me because they think I did this single handedly to the ex lead. People start rumors about me just to be mean. It really got weird.
The CEO got what he wanted out of me. A scapegoat for everyone to resent and focus on instead of him. It was pretty fucked.
Then came time for the move. They wouldn't pay for a mover no matter how many quotes I got. I must have received at least 10 quotes from 10 movers. They told me it was my responsibility to get the equipment moved since there wasn't any acceptable quotes. Something told me they were trying to get me to quit but my macho said to show these guys what I was made of. The day of the move nobody offered to help me, they just threw trash all around the space. The sales guys were ripping the local phone books in half and leaving them on the floor. It took 3 U-haul (biggest truck) loads and 18 hour days for a weekend to get all the crap moved (think crap for 30 people). Only a few casualties here and there. Big gouge in the conference room table. In my tired stupor I smashed the U-haul into the basketball hoop at our old office and left it bent at a 45% angle. Other than that the move went smoothly.
Monday came and I called in to say I wasn't about to come in. I was totally sore and hurting but supposedly the CEO was there screaming and yelling that I hadn't unpacked anything. I got him on the phone and told him he can have the lazy sob's that didn't pack their own shit unpack it and sort it out themselves. I hung up and went to sleep.
Next day I went in, this time the CEO was ranting even worse than ever. Our new office was right next to the Oakland raiders HQ. Some drunken raider fan plowed into a ma-bell box that had all the copper for the entire business park. Our website, DNS, everything was all depending on that connection. It took pacbell a month to get it straightened out.
Comment if anyone has this happen to them... You wake up, 15 minutes your dressed and drivin to work, 1.5 hours later your at work, completely oblivious to what happened during your commute. Repeat the mental shutdown on the way home. It started to wear on me to the point where I started saying to myself I should deduct my commute time from my work time. 3 hours a day of commuting sucks for anyone who's ever had to do it. So I started working 5 hour days with a day off here and there.
HR started threatening to make me a hourly employee if I didn't put in my full 8 at the specified times. I told them I'd quit if they did. They did, I quit.
Well after I left the company kept spiraling downward. The Sacramento team all got pink slips. In fact most everyone got pink slips. But by that time I was already at my new job, where I got respect for what I knew and was allowed to implement it.
I got a call from my Old CEO recently. He needed help with some home computer problems again. I told him I was working, no time to call him. Two weeks later I got served papers. The CEO decided he would sue the lead from the consulting firm as a last ditch effort to keep his company afloat. The lead named me personally in the counter suite saying I conspired to slander him, and I gave out his source code and secrets which I didn't. Those wacky religious fanatics go figure.
Lesson I learned from all this.. If it smells like trouble then it probably is. Get out fast. Turn your back and never look back. I hope this can help someone else who is a stressed out IT worker.
--t0qer
May the bridges I burn behind me light my way ahead--bmbr
Slashdot Mirror
I love napster. I have 3 weeks of mp3's thanks to them.
I think musicians should start looking into the history of the Grateful Dead. They had a HUGE following up until jerry garcia's demise. They cared enough about their fans to let them tape concerts and distribute them among other "deadheads" (flashback of thousands of hippies, people walking around saying "doses") Of course they also told their fans don't pirate our music, if you want an album for pete's sake buy it.
So yeah, keep napster free.
--t0q
I admit. I like M$, here's why... If it wasn't for them damn winboxen and their applications crashing all the time I wouldn't be working. A WIDELY USED UNSTABLE O/S MAKES MONEY CHILDREN!! Ask any sysadmin what they spend the majority of their time fixin, Linux or M$. I'm sick of all these whiny people bitching and moaning about how unfair M$ is. Yes I use NIX, I also use QNX, solaris, BEOS and BSD. Don't get me wrong, they're all got their merits but M$ has been at the forfront of ease of use for a long time. Ever try configuring hardware in NIX? Pain in the ass for a sysadmin like me let alone a user. M$ makes some damn good free stuff. Look at how nicely IE has matured. Media Player 7 although not as good as musicmatch is actually decent. I don't take this with a grain of salt. MS has been there for me and many other admins (even though they won't admit it) for many years now. My alliance to the dark side of the force is stronger than ever. JOIN THE EMPIRE! --toq
Funny how when nobody uses something it's thrown in the cold like a peice of trash, but when the potential for dollar'$ is there then everyone wants a peice of the action. --Toq
May the moderators moderate moderately Ok so you all think you have it bad.. A condensed version of my 2 years spent at a now defunct pre-ipo startup. Back in 1998 I decided to stop playing Descent on kali long enough to actually go out and look for a job. I found the secret to getting a job here in silicon valley a few years earlier, basically go to the mercury news web site and search the classifieds for "FAX (408)" and sort out what job you want from there. I faxed out to 100 companies looking for IT people saying to myself I'll take whoever bites first. Bad Mistake. I started working for a consulting group that worked for the now defunct startup for 36k@yr. Basically this consulting firm had been leeching money from the startup for the last 3 years to deliver a product that was limited to only 1 platform (we'll keep it nameless to stop o/s flame wars) and was leaps and bounds the worst piece of crap ever to be passed off as software. I guess I could tell you its function. Basically video transmission across the internet. But the thing required a t1 line to get 30fps on a 320x240 window. Something Real has been doing for a while. I questioned the lead from the consulting group about his product choices and offered my advice which he took as a threat. He would constantly belittle me thinking somehow this was going to change my mind and make me see things with his "vision" I don't back down from bullshitters. So began his abuse of power. He would go into rants about how I didn't order this or I didn't order that. Well duh! I'm not about to charge 6k to my plastic so I can buy his lame ass team new computers. I wasn't about to charge that money then have to sit there with the accounting department trying to justify my re-imbursement. Not to mention it takes time to get all that processed which would have gone into interest charges. He would constantly go around telling people I didn't have my finances in order. I would try and do things the normal way, you know, submitting a credit app/resellers license to a vendor and get net 30 terms. He wouldn't go for that either, we had to do all our purchases through fry's with his sales rep. In retaliation to me trying to do things right he started to strip me of my power and access. He ordered one of his toadies to remove my access from all machines on the network including mail and file servers. Told everyone to no longer include me in meetings because I was counterproductive to his "Vision" Basically he was making it impossible for me to do my own job. I couldn't create new accounts, I couldn't troubleshoot the servers when they went poof, nothing. He made his toadies take over my former responsibilities and reduced my job to basically just sitting at a desk surfing the web. Because the toadies started getting the extra workload they began resenting me (to this day I can still feel it) One day my CEO comes by with some potential investors. I was working in the lab on our prototype (herein will be referred to as "POS") when the lead from the consulting group walked by, checked to see if I was in there, then walked over to the CEO and the investors and started bringing them down my way. When they got to the door he came in and started talking about our product. Then he proceeds to tell the investors, "The prototyped would have been finished if "me" had ordered the parts which he can't do because he doesn't have his personal finances in order. He'll get it right eventually because I'm going to repeat to "me" over and over again until he gets it in his head". The words stung me pretty hard. I looked up at the CEO and investors. The investors looked shocked and the CEO, well lets just say he had a look which let me know he felt my pain. After they left I scribbled a note saying I quit and taped that with my key to the door and left. Later that night I got a phone call from the lead begging me to come back. Well not quite begging, but he was being apologetic in a "well I'm just saying I'm sorry, doesn't mean I mean it" way. Turned out the CEO went back to the lab to talk to me and found the note, went back and chewed this guy out. I agreed to go back (you'd think I learned my lesson) 2 weeks later I got a call from the CEO's office. They had some weird network problem that needed fixing so I went down there. Problem got fixed in like 5 minutes and a reboot. So I decided I'd do some more to get the whole office running smoothly. I found a extra machine, put some server software on it, started getting rid of all the peer network sharing ect, ect. I happened upon the CEO's desk and noticed he was paying almost 10k@month to the consulting firm for me of which %40 went back to the lead. This explains why I wasn't hired on permanent yet. About 8pm I got a call from the CEO asking me to come to his house, his home PC needed some doctoring. So I packed up and went on over. There was no sick PC when I arrived. He poured me some wine and started telling me about the sorted past him and the lead had had for the last 3 years. Turned out this guy had his fingers into everything and it was either all going back to him or his church in some way or another. The sales guy at fry's was a member of his church, the ISP we used he held stock in and was getting a referral bonus, and myself, sheesh I was his kids college fund. The platform we used he had stock in, the software we used belonged to him and if the IPO was to market it they would have to pay a royalty fee to him. Basically this guy was out to screw this IPO 7 ways to Sunday out of investors money. Well after that we talked about fishing, next day he rented a boat and we went out for bass. I'm going to condense a bunch of stuff here. Basically it gets worse. I get hired after having to sit through a personal review where this guy tries to rip me apart with lies. Um also he starts to hire all these glass eyed religious fanatics from his church which on a daily basis remind me that I'm going to hell for not being in their religion. Oh yeah that and constantly dropping off their religious books anonymously on my desk. We hire a new dev team, the lead gets fired, the company moves to alameda because the CEO doesn't like the drive from SJC to Sunnyvale. So by this time I am really caught in the middle of a huge stinkin pile of excrement. I have the dev team from the consulting group resenting me thinking I got their boss fired because I was "buddy buddy" with the CEO. The religious fanatics resent me thinking I ruined this man. The new dev team in Sacramento is uncertain of me because they think I did this single handedly to the ex lead. People start rumors about me just to be mean. It really got weird. The CEO got what he wanted out of me. A scapegoat for everyone to resent and focus on instead of him. It was pretty fucked. Then came time for the move. They wouldn't pay for a mover no matter how many quotes I got. I must have received at least 10 quotes from 10 movers. They told me it was my responsibility to get the equipment moved since there wasn't any acceptable quotes. Something told me they were trying to get me to quit but my macho said to show these guys what I was made of. The day of the move nobody offered to help me, they just threw trash all around the space. The sales guys were ripping the local phone books in half and leaving them on the floor. It took 3 U-haul (biggest truck) loads and 18 hour days for a weekend to get all the crap moved (think crap for 30 people). Only a few casualties here and there. Big gouge in the conference room table. In my tired stupor I smashed the U-haul into the basketball hoop at our old office and left it bent at a 45% angle. Other than that the move went smoothly. Monday came and I called in to say I wasn't about to come in. I was totally sore and hurting but supposedly the CEO was there screaming and yelling that I hadn't unpacked anything. I got him on the phone and told him he can have the lazy sob's that didn't pack their own shit unpack it and sort it out themselves. I hung up and went to sleep. Next day I went in, this time the CEO was ranting even worse than ever. Our new office was right next to the Oakland raiders HQ. Some drunken raider fan plowed into a ma-bell box that had all the copper for the entire business park. Our website, DNS, everything was all depending on that connection. It took pacbell a month to get it straightened out. Comment if anyone has this happen to them... You wake up, 15 minutes your dressed and drivin to work, 1.5 hours later your at work, completely oblivious to what happened during your commute. Repeat the mental shutdown on the way home. It started to wear on me to the point where I started saying to myself I should deduct my commute time from my work time. 3 hours a day of commuting sucks for anyone who's ever had to do it. So I started working 5 hour days with a day off here and there. HR started threatening to make me a hourly employee if I didn't put in my full 8 at the specified times. I told them I'd quit if they did. They did, I quit. Well after I left the company kept spiraling downward. The Sacramento team all got pink slips. In fact most everyone got pink slips. But by that time I was already at my new job, where I got respect for what I knew and was allowed to implement it. I got a call from my Old CEO recently. He needed help with some home computer problems again. I told him I was working, no time to call him. Two weeks later I got served papers. The CEO decided he would sue the lead from the consulting firm as a last ditch effort to keep his company afloat. The lead named me personally in the counter suite saying I conspired to slander him, and I gave out his source code and secrets which I didn't. Those wacky religious fanatics go figure. Lesson I learned from all this.. If it smells like trouble then it probably is. Get out fast. Turn your back and never look back. I hope this can help someone else who is a stressed out IT worker. --t0qer May the bridges I burn behind me light my way ahead--bmbr
Then why does windows allways die when i'm doing an important paper? --toq