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User: pecosdave

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  1. Pigeon hole. on Is Help Desk a Launchpad or a Dead End? · · Score: 1

    I started out at 18 on an assembly line. At 19 I was doing an advanced assembly line. At 20 I was doing a badassed field engineer/installer job that had me traveling the country on salary just above minimum wage, but damn it was a cool job with a bit of prestige.

    At 20/21 I moved to a company that paid a little better, but I was a mobile systems administrator/general tech of anything they needed done. It was a tackle anything position and really job function wise what most techs shoot for.

    We partnered up with one of our bigger clients and formed an ISP. We allowed our old company to become adsorbed into the ISP. Turns out I was incredibly talented at running help desk, training new people who where just out of (or occasionally still in) high school.

    Word of my talent at getting just about anything to communicate on the web spread through my coworkers outside of the company. One of them left for a much better paying job and lured me over, the fact the ISP was screwing everyone they had contact with I went without much hesitation.

    The new place was an oil company. I had a remote support position. I don't want to call it a help desk, the help desk was the group below. Yes we were remote support over the phone, but we dispatched techs, ordered parts, and did real honest to God troubleshooting. We didn't read books on how to do it, we wrote them. We coordinated the satellite people, the pump people, the telco people, Lexmark etc, when something actually broke in our area, we went in person, though it wasn't in the job description. It was an advanced position.

    Well, the gas company ditched all corporate store and made all stores private. My position went away. I was able to work with the desktop team for a while, but they were streamlining most of that out of existence as well. When I went to find another job I was horrified.

    I HAD BEEN PIGEON HOLED.

    Turns out managing a help desk puts you on a help desk. Turns out remotely working with Hughes Satellite systems remotely (really how else do you work with a communication company?) along with supporting stores stung all across the country classifies you as "help desk" to employers, no matter how advanced it was and the fact the help desk was a different entity. I spent two and half years bouncing between help desk jobs which I hated and purposefully seizing lesser paying installer positions and anything I could do in the field to remove the help desk brand from my forehead.

    I now maintain serial communications equipment for NASA. I help the other groups as well, we have a lot of Unix and Linux stations that they need a hand with, and I occasionally work with DVIS (Digital Voice Intercommunications System) and the video equipment, along with any other random thing that needs to be done at the Johnson Space Centers Mission Control Center.

    It's really not the most brain wrenching job, but working with satellite communications on the "help desk" helped to get my foot in the door, along with the fact I had already had a habit of working with ancient equipment.

    I flat told my current employer during my interview I had been branded and pigeon holed as help desk and I needed out badly, and I described why he should hire/help me. Fortunately my current company has real technical and management people making choices NOT HR DRONES. They hired me, and not only is it not help desk, the job is fun and one of the few places I've ever worked where I get treated like a real human instead of livestock. Sure there's a sense of being livestock on some level, anytime you work with the government that's going to happen, but overall they treat us very well.

  2. Re:I've had this issue with Verizon for a while. on Major ISPs Injecting Ads, Vulnerabilities Into Web · · Score: 1

    At least OpenDNS gives me images from the domain I'm visiting. On that note it gives me the domain I'm visiting instead of some low budget commercial site. Google works fine, if they get credit and a few pennies for my Google search, so be it, sure beats the Verizon native garbage that borders on unusable. I should get a bit more time in the near future, I'll probably just build my own DNS server and point it at a second tier DNS host.

  3. I've had this issue with Verizon for a while. on Major ISPs Injecting Ads, Vulnerabilities Into Web · · Score: 1

    I decided to use OpenDNS to get around the Verizon DNS redirects (they even redirected my own domain!). The redirects were very poorly implemented, often times just replacing image sources, other times redirecting entire domains, never consistantly, I found it difficult to do normal web browsing in many cases.

    To make matter worse, I decided to set the DNS in my ActionTec router they provided (despite the fact I specifically asked for a dumb bridge ahead of time) to OpenDNS, turns out the ActionTec's are rigged to use ISP DNS anyways, and it's not just the 704s, they sabotage their own equipment!

    Since I wanted a dumb bridge and to manage everything with my Linksys to begin with, I ordered an ancient Westel off of eBay. Since doing that and setting everything in my Linksys router everything is smooth. I would have ditched Verizon a long time ago if there wasn't a regional monopoly where I live. Cable wasn't even an option when I moved in, it might be now, but if it is, it's Comcast who isn't any more reputable.

  4. I've actually laid hands on this thing, on NASA's New Lunar Rover in Action · · Score: 3, Informative

    If anyone is interested, here's some pics my coworkers and I took. Plus a few more pages of crud.

  5. Re:Why would I bring my own laptop? on Cubicle Security For Laptops, Electronics? · · Score: 1

    I am currently brining my own Linux laptop to work. I'm working on a project that requires quite a bit of photo editing and creativity, and unfortunately our workstations are locked down and we don't have software or storage space available for such projects. So a coworker and I are bringing our own laptops with The Gimp and OpenOffice.org installed (he uses Windows XP). We may both be leaving the shop soon, management is concerned about the cost of The Gimp and other tools that we used to make this project work when it comes to filling in our shoes. You don't know how many times I've had to explain the Open Source version of Free to some of these people. Fortunately a good enough percentage of management understands it enough to keep the other percentage in check.

    They're brining new people in now. I noticed one seemed geekier than the rest and he lugs his own laptop around anyways. Yes he knows how to Gimp, I think we've found our replacement.

    Oddly enough, I have a MacBook Pro also. I find the less powerful Linux machine easier to run these applications on because the Mac version of Gimp I installed requires extra clicks having to do with switching from Aqua to X11, Sea Shore just doesn't cut it, I need a full blown Gimp.

  6. Re:iPod touch is a wifi tramp on MD Bill Would Criminalize Theft of Wireless Access · · Score: 1

    I have a Linsys Wi-Fi Skype phone. That thing will jump on any network and range just by being in my pocket.

  7. Tresspassing signal! on MD Bill Would Criminalize Theft of Wireless Access · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I would argue that my neighbors Wi-Fi signal was tresspassing into my home, therefore it was mine to use as it was on my property. If my neighbor had an apple tree haning over my fence any apples that fell on my side of the fence would be my fair game as well.

  8. I still demand my promised Nintendo 64 version! on Duke Nukem Forever 'Confirmed' For Late 2008 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Viva la 64 bit revolution!

  9. Let us not forget Mozilla. on KDE 4 Uses 40% Less Memory Than 3 Despite Eye-Candy · · Score: 1

    Remember Mozilla 1.0 was targeted to fit on a single floppy disk. Indeed a few revisions were down to the 1.6 and 1.7 MB range never once actually fitting on a single floppy. What did we find with this? Not enough support for an entire internet suite, and stability issues. Now Firefox which is not a suite is bigger than those really small Mozilla releases.

    So, is KDE 4 going to be a sleek carbon fibre shell on a titanium frame like Damn Small Linux, or is it going to be rice paper stretched over balsa wood like some of those Mozilla versions were?

  10. Re:Mental Image on Flying Humans · · Score: 1

    The first version is the first thing that pops into my had every time I see, hear, or read about the things.

  11. Re:Even if it is a joke... on Fark Seeks to Trademark NSFW · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Must remember to not click on anything from RugbyJock.

  12. Re:"Tiny" screens on Star Trek Home Theater · · Score: 1

    If I had a TARDIS in my back yard I would put another house in it. It would just be a pain getting all the materials in through the door. It would be nice if you could actually park a car in a TARDIS, you could put an aircraft hanger sized garage in there easily, it's just a matter of getting it through the door.

  13. Re:Here's some real HD... on From the Moon to Earth in HD · · Score: 1

    I think the 30+ year old ones looked better than what we just got. Just think, 1970's images, I'm not 100% sure if that's some sort of old digital photo NASA used then (which is very impressive) or more like an analog TV transmission. If it was analog TV scan, I'm incredibly impressed with the old ones.

  14. Re:country with no PD law on From the Moon to Earth in HD · · Score: 1

    I would say 984x554 was reasonably high res. Fine, it's not ultra high res, but it's not bad.

  15. Re:country with no PD law on From the Moon to Earth in HD · · Score: 2, Funny

    1. On the first image, click on the "Click Here" link
    2. follow it to JAXA's site
    3. ?????
    4. see high res!

  16. Re:Lift? on Astronauts Open ISS Station Room · · Score: 1

    That's in your opinion, as you said. Up and down is in the opinion of those "lifting", and in this article their opinion counts, not yours.

  17. Re:Only when sharing. on Do OpenOffice Users Save In Microsoft Format? · · Score: 1

    When I want to distribute to a really broad audiences, and a normal web page isn't the answer I usually resort to PDF. Yeah, technically it's proprietary, but everyone and their dog has a reader for it, and most people can't read normal post script files.

  18. On some ocassions: on Do OpenOffice Users Save In Microsoft Format? · · Score: 1

    I only save in Microsoft format when I'm giving the file to a softie. When it's for my own use, I'm sharing with a friend who uses Linux, or I'm sending it to a friend/relative who has a machine that I maintain (meaning they have OpenOffice.org) I leave it in the native format.

  19. Re:yah, i'm a dork on A Case for Video Game Remakes · · Score: 1

    only insert a new bit of code, you lose an ear each time you lose to Tyson. After the second ear is gone, you automatically become champ cause Tysons in prison again.

  20. Re:The problem with remakes... on A Case for Video Game Remakes · · Score: 1

    The Final Fantasy 1 & 2 remake for Game Boy Advanced did pretty much exactly what you were looking for.

    As for fan remakes, look into the fan remake of Maniac Mansion.

  21. I would like to remake the Gabriel Knight series. on A Case for Video Game Remakes · · Score: 1

    Gabriel Knight Sins of the Father was excelent story telling. I think the game would be very well recieved if left exactly the way it was, original sound and game play wise, only replaced with high resolution graphics/backgrounds and cut scenes. Heck, the cut scenes could be acted out now, I don't care if it's real actors or 3D rendering. To explain the dating, simply putting an early 90's date on the Times Picayune paper used in the game, everyone will understand why it's pre-Katrina that way.

    The other two games, though not incredibly dated could benefit as well. Maybe re-hiring Tim Curry to do Gabriels voice for the Beast Within?

    (Do the Tex Murphy games next!)

  22. Re:Unbundle != No Preinstall on Countering the Arguments Against Unbundling Windows · · Score: 1

    I like your version best. Heck, even if it was only Windows or blank I would be happy, most Linux users would rather do their own anyways. Microsoft has a license clause to all of their OEM distributors that they must supply an OS with the machine. Dell has tip toed this by tossing a Free DOS floppy in the box. I think if Dell had the cojones to actually start doing what they claimed they were going to do several times over the rest would follow and/or MS would cave.

    BTW, if I still had mod points I would have given them to you.

  23. Re:Huh? worst start? on Microsoft Should Abandon Vista? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    it was just a GUI

    So was Windows 95, and 98, but everyone stilled considered those OS's.

  24. Re:Did my SF85P last year about this time. on NASA Employees Fight Invasive Background Check · · Score: 1

    Just found out a couple of days ago for certain, yes the postal service IS doing it. They have access to government computers do they not?

    http://www.usps.com/purchasing/purchasingpubs/pubsmenu.htm

    I know that doesn't say they have to do it, but they do, I found out from a friend of a friend. As for proving without hear say? I don't know, I can find the form saying all government employees who access a government computer have to do it. I challenge you to find the exemption.

  25. I do have an idea, not a hard one, on Bulletproof Tool For Golden Age Browsing? · · Score: 1

    Firefox on a Knoppix disk, especially if you want to customize the image. You can set Firefox as the window manager, set X to auto login, any mess ups are fixed by a reboot. The hard part would be building that single custom image. Just use 19 or 21" monitors at 800x600. My grandparents use Firefox on Windows, and Granny likes it. Grandpa just plays card games. On that note you can make the default home page links to JAVA/Flash card games.