I went from knowing absolutely zilch about programming to writing my own Blackberry app. Mind you, I was not in a car accident that affected my memory, but I do have issues with memory for reasons too boring to go into. To make a potentially long story short: Have a project. Mine was having a decent ReadItLater and Tumblr Blackberry app. There weren't any at the time I was using a Blackberry and I didn't want to wait for someone else to charge me for one they wrote.
I cannot emphasize this enough: I did not know *anything* about programming. The *only* way I was able to learn it was the project I wanted to complete.
You have a goal, which is to get back into programming...preferably for gaming platforms. Now you need a project. Something that *you* want to make and use.
What kind of person are you talking about? Regular user? Change-adverse relative? Windows admin? My recommendation would depend on your answer.
I can't speak for the regular user, but as a Windows admin who supports a parent I can speak to the others. If you're dealing with a change-adverse relative (or any other person with a similar temperament, forget it. Maybe if you drop hints for a year or so they may become interested enough to think about a distro.
If you're talking about a Windows admin, just say the following two words and they'll be hooked. Ready?
command history
That's what did it for me. If that fails, throw the RC of Server 2012 at them. If THAT doesn't do it, forget it.
get him to learn the basics - we all have been there and then start getting into the more fun projects like simple games and build on the skills he learns as you go.
Programming is hard but it can be very rewarding to see something you built working efficiently... and then making it work better!
To piggyback on this...and roll up a few aforementioned key steps:
1) See if he's got an interest first
1a) See if there's a program he wants that's not available for x platform.
2) Start with what he's interested in
3) Start with something easy in what he's interested in.
I started out with BASIC on an ATARI when I was about six(?)...then dropped programming until about two or three months ago when I got frustrated with the lack of Blackberry apps and decided to write my own instead of waiting for someone to do it for me. I didn't know object-oriented programming, much less Java or JavaME, to save my life (and most would say I probably still don't) but I hit up the Java tutorials and RIM API documentation. It was hard work, and I froze my own Blackberry a number of times, but three/four months later I have a working Blackberry app that wasn't out there before. I can confirm what the quoted poster said...it is very rewarding to see something you wrote work...and use it.
I agree. Been using KeePass and Password Safe (both OSS) for years now. Prefer KeePass, but both are great if you keep the database file on a flash drive.
+10 on KeePass. Especially for the following features 1) You can require two forms of auth for viewing the password database 2) Clipboard 10 second restriction (if you copy password to paste into credentials request, password is removed from clipboard in 10 seconds)
This is not good. I have a thing against multifunction products because if one element breaks or becomes unusable it immediately negates the cost spent for an all in one item; you have to buy another component to make up for the malfunctioning one.
It's been said before, but I like my phone to be just a phone and my camera, if and when I get one, to be just a camera. I love my iPAQ 4155, one of the reasons being that it has stylus input and a screen large enough to work with the stylus. If or when I upgrade, looks like HP won't be a brand to consider.
Hopefully this isn't indicative of a larger trend. I can't imagine having to work with a cell phone sized screen when entering calendar or task info.
I'm not sure how complex the graphical display needs to be, but VBScript or JScript are both relatively easy to learn and can be written to interface with a lot of Windows components.
Bonus: There is a storehouse of sample scripts and examples on Microsoft's website that you can easily modify with only a little background information. See the links below.
HTML Application Development
Here's where you get code for your graphical interface...HTAs use Internet Explorer so they are ridiculously easy to create. The page also provides plenty of samples that you can tinker with.
She used to but due to complications with our third child she had to quit. We struggled for five years before regaining control of our finances. She now has a career consisting of sibling transportation, household CEO, and full time referee.
That is the one of the large differences between your situation and mine. We are a one car family, and my husband works a long train ride away from home. Therefore, anything related to household issues that comes up during the week falls into my lap as I am the most mobile and the closest to home. My husband helps out where he can, but given that he leaves at 6:00 am and returns at 8:00 pm, he is understandably exhausted by the time the work day is through.
Right now, I would say we are in the struggling phase you mentioned above. He has gone through a bunch of job transitions and an attempt at re-education while I have persevered with my current position to keep our finances out of bankruptcy. He is now working to move up where he is at, but it has been a long, slow process fraught with corporate doublespeak and political BS.
I'm truly sorry to hear that. I would not have been so harsh in my response had you mentioned this in your original post. I apologize. Does your employer offer you the chance to transfer to another department within the company? Obviously your health should come first but without the resources to address the issue I can understand why your hesitant.
No need to apologize. One of the downsides of online communication...especially when advice is sought and given...is the inability to present a complete, yet concise overview of the situation.
I haven't broached that option with my manager yet; we have three IT departments and only one of those three would allow me to maintain my current salary if I were to transfer. I don't belive they have any openings. I did ask what my options were in terms of a flexible schedule, but whatever gains came of the meeting were reversed when my manager learned that it would inconvenience him.
The transfer option is a good idea. I'll wait until the latest conflict has died down and broach the idea.
There is an entire complex back story to the situation I am in with the job that I currently work at that I didn't include in the original question because it would have taken pages upon pages of verbiage to explain in it's entirety. In summation:
a)Others have gone for training above and beyond what I am asking for. There is an employee who had his entire Cisco training paid for at the company's expense.
b)The primary manager who has the decision making capabilities for the department I am in is a rabid anti-Microsoft zealot. Most suggestions that I make, or have made in the past...even if they are backed up with careful research...are met with a flat out "no" or not responded to.
c)I did, in the past, put tremendous energy into learning and researching those aspects of my job that I wasn't entirely familiar with. I took and passed cert tests after doing loads of self study. It is just recently, with the upgrade from NT to AD and Server 2003 that I find myself in over my head when it comes to training myself at the same time as I am being held responsible for the production environment. I have attempted to learn and do on the fly, but errors have occurred as a result...some disastrous, some not so much. Hence my recent request for training: my goal was to prevent further damage to the production setup by getting some basic knowledge underneath my belt, and for the training to serve as a springboard to my own learning.
This is only a brief synopsis of the work issues I am contending with; I could go into more detail, but it would take more time than I have, and probably more pages than most readers would be willing to wade through.
Primary bread winner with no kids? Holy crap, does your husband do anything or sit around in his underwear all day.
Sorry, no. He works a thankless position that he took only because the company lauded its reputation for promoting from within. This was after a two-year intensive search for a job after being laid off. He is working hard to move up so that I have the option of pursuing an alternative career if it comes to that.
You are the administrator. You tell THEM what's required to maintain the system properly. Your training is an essential component of network administration. They promoted you to the position, meaning they didn't go outside to hire someone who already had all the essential skills.
I have done this already, with less than satisfactory results.
You obviously didn't sit down with management and get clear about all the responsibilities and outcomes; what's expected on both sides. You need to design a Win-Win solution and get them to buy in for their own benefit. If they pay for it, you should agree to an arrangement that doesn't leave them in the position of throwing money away. If you pay for it, you deserve a big raise and you are under no obligation to stay when another corporation offers you a raise and better benefits. Consider thinking up three alternatives that would satisfy you, and then negotiate the best elements of all of them for a Win-Win solution
You are right on the first point, however, I was essentially shoved into the position when the person who originally occupied said position decided he didn't want to do it anymore. There wasn't an opportunity to sit down with management, it was basically, "You're doing this now, end of story."
I probably should have demanded/requested a sit down right then, and I regret not doing so, but knowing what I do now, it probably would not have resulted in much of anything.
I'm male. I have a wife and three kids, one dog and one cat and a habitat they all call home. Yes I work overtime most/sometimes. We do family things on the weekends. I'm currently learning OCAML in my private time (I get up early on weekends, have coffee and learn something new). Whats your problem?
Does your wife work? I'm not asking as a retort but as a genuine question.
In response to the "What's your problem" and the "Without trying to sound mean, whats your problem? Is everything supposed to be given to you?" questions...I have serious health issues. I didn't include this in my original question, as I thought the explanation of such health issues would take up valuable space. In the past I ignored said issues to fufill the demands of my job, but it's gotten to a point where I need a clear demarcation between work life and home life in order to keep up with the work I need to do at my job.
I like computers, its a life choice for me. Maybe you don't. My advice? Use common sense and choose your own path.
When I originally got into this field, I loved computers and enjoyed learning about them as much as possible. I'm at the point where the job demands and management insanity has sucked dry whatever interest I originally had. Hence the reason why I posted this question.
This is not a flamebait response, but most moderators will treat it so.
Why? It's blunt, and more than a little harsh, but it raises some valid points and outlines an alternative point of view. Any information regarding the original question is useful.
Good point. I assumed, given the wording of the original post, that the author was referring to discriminatory hiring practises against African-Americans.
I also forgot the white guy who sits across from me....as he was off-site for most of the week.
Where I work, in the department that I work in, every person is black. So....I guess the answer to your question, based on my limited experience, is no.
Now...I am the only female on the network team...but that's an entirely different can of worms.
I agree completely with this. I had an end-user send a props email to my boss just because I explained the complexities of email systems to her using a cell phone analogy. She was so grateful to have someone explain a computer system to her in a way that really helped her to understand it.
PC Guide is an excellent example of this. It's somewhat out of date, but the author breaks down every component of a computer AND uses analogies and terms that Joe User could understand. It's pretty much how I taught myself about memory...among other things.
Another good example is How Stuff Works. They have an entire section on computers.
The phone will allow users to call their dogs in case the dog gets away and also includes a GPS tracking device if the dog doesn't respond to the call. In addition, the PetCell will feature GeoFence, which will alert owners whenever their dogs wander outside a prescribed area.
If it takes all that to get your dog to stay, perhaps it doesn't want to be with you in the first place.
I've skimmed all the posts (level 4) and haven't seen a mention of locs/dreadlocks yet. Are they considered body modification? Or just an alternative hairstyle?
I'm a server wench who started locking about a year ago. I'd seen an aquaintence's locs and liked them, but honestly I desperately needed a hairstyle would allow me to get ready and out the door in ten minutes or less, and locs definitely allow me to do that.
I work in a bank...and the locs didn't seem to cause much of a problem. Then again, they are small in diameter and I keep them fairly well groomed. It probably also helps that they are long enough now to throw back in a bun.
I've forwarded this topic to our CFO and have asked him to chime in....he's wired his home for gigabit, along with other things, so he may have some useful info.
The Troubleshooter by SmartCertify direct. It comes as a bootable floppy, with a couple of dongles and a CD-ROM to test ports while in diagnostic mode. This has worked excellently for us...we were able to diagnose some odd, random computer issues as being caused by bad video RAM
Slashdot Mirror
You know...to see if it contains the reported information?
Figured I'd ask before doing so myself...
I went from knowing absolutely zilch about programming to writing my own Blackberry app. Mind you, I was not in a car accident that affected my memory, but I do have issues with memory for reasons too boring to go into. To make a potentially long story short: Have a project. Mine was having a decent ReadItLater and Tumblr Blackberry app. There weren't any at the time I was using a Blackberry and I didn't want to wait for someone else to charge me for one they wrote.
I cannot emphasize this enough: I did not know *anything* about programming. The *only* way I was able to learn it was the project I wanted to complete.
You have a goal, which is to get back into programming...preferably for gaming platforms. Now you need a project. Something that *you* want to make and use.
What kind of person are you talking about? Regular user? Change-adverse relative? Windows admin? My recommendation would depend on your answer.
I can't speak for the regular user, but as a Windows admin who supports a parent I can speak to the others. If you're dealing with a change-adverse relative (or any other person with a similar temperament, forget it. Maybe if you drop hints for a year or so they may become interested enough to think about a distro.
If you're talking about a Windows admin, just say the following two words and they'll be hooked. Ready?
command history
That's what did it for me. If that fails, throw the RC of Server 2012 at them. If THAT doesn't do it, forget it.
To piggyback on this...and roll up a few aforementioned key steps:
1) See if he's got an interest first
1a) See if there's a program he wants that's not available for x platform.
2) Start with what he's interested in
3) Start with something easy in what he's interested in.
I started out with BASIC on an ATARI when I was about six(?)...then dropped programming until about two or three months ago when I got frustrated with the lack of Blackberry apps and decided to write my own instead of waiting for someone to do it for me. I didn't know object-oriented programming, much less Java or JavaME, to save my life (and most would say I probably still don't) but I hit up the Java tutorials and RIM API documentation. It was hard work, and I froze my own Blackberry a number of times, but three/four months later I have a working Blackberry app that wasn't out there before. I can confirm what the quoted poster said...it is very rewarding to see something you wrote work...and use it.
I agree. Been using KeePass and Password Safe (both OSS) for years now. Prefer KeePass, but both are great if you keep the database file on a flash drive.
+10 on KeePass. Especially for the following features
1) You can require two forms of auth for viewing the password database
2) Clipboard 10 second restriction (if you copy password to paste into credentials request, password is removed from clipboard in 10 seconds)
This is not good. I have a thing against multifunction products because if one element breaks or becomes unusable it immediately negates the cost spent for an all in one item; you have to buy another component to make up for the malfunctioning one.
It's been said before, but I like my phone to be just a phone and my camera, if and when I get one, to be just a camera. I love my iPAQ 4155, one of the reasons being that it has stylus input and a screen large enough to work with the stylus. If or when I upgrade, looks like HP won't be a brand to consider.
Hopefully this isn't indicative of a larger trend. I can't imagine having to work with a cell phone sized screen when entering calendar or task info.
I'm not sure how complex the graphical display needs to be, but VBScript or JScript are both relatively easy to learn and can be written to interface with a lot of Windows components.
Bonus: There is a storehouse of sample scripts and examples on Microsoft's website that you can easily modify with only a little background information. See the links below.
HTML Application Development
Here's where you get code for your graphical interface...HTAs use Internet Explorer so they are ridiculously easy to create. The page also provides plenty of samples that you can tinker with.
Microsoft Scripting Repository
Microsoft VBScript Repository
Here's where you get your scripts...they have VBScript, JScript and others, plus a bunch of samples to tinker with and easy to read tutorials.
Windows 2000 Scripting Guide
Here's the online version of the Windows 2000 Scripting Guide.
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Documentation
WMI Tasks for Scripts And Applications
Here's Microsoft's implementation of WBEM...this interface will probably expose the COM ports to get you the information you need for your program. The second link is to sample VBScripts utilizing WMI.
Both those sites aren't really of any help for an organization that's running WSUS servers. Unless either of them push down updates to WSUS?
I tried your email and was not valid. Give me a address and we can take this off-line
That's odd. I think I got your email; it was almost exactly the same as your post.
Did you switch the . and @ in the displayed email?
She used to but due to complications with our third child she had to quit. We struggled for five years before regaining control of our finances. She now has a career consisting of sibling transportation, household CEO, and full time referee.
That is the one of the large differences between your situation and mine. We are a one car family, and my husband works a long train ride away from home. Therefore, anything related to household issues that comes up during the week falls into my lap as I am the most mobile and the closest to home. My husband helps out where he can, but given that he leaves at 6:00 am and returns at 8:00 pm, he is understandably exhausted by the time the work day is through.
Right now, I would say we are in the struggling phase you mentioned above. He has gone through a bunch of job transitions and an attempt at re-education while I have persevered with my current position to keep our finances out of bankruptcy. He is now working to move up where he is at, but it has been a long, slow process fraught with corporate doublespeak and political BS.
I'm truly sorry to hear that. I would not have been so harsh in my response had you mentioned this in your original post. I apologize. Does your employer offer you the chance to transfer to another department within the company? Obviously your health should come first but without the resources to address the issue I can understand why your hesitant.
No need to apologize. One of the downsides of online communication...especially when advice is sought and given...is the inability to present a complete, yet concise overview of the situation.
I haven't broached that option with my manager yet; we have three IT departments and only one of those three would allow me to maintain my current salary if I were to transfer. I don't belive they have any openings. I did ask what my options were in terms of a flexible schedule, but whatever gains came of the meeting were reversed when my manager learned that it would inconvenience him.
The transfer option is a good idea. I'll wait until the latest conflict has died down and broach the idea.
There is an entire complex back story to the situation I am in with the job that I currently work at that I didn't include in the original question because it would have taken pages upon pages of verbiage to explain in it's entirety. In summation:
a)Others have gone for training above and beyond what I am asking for. There is an employee who had his entire Cisco training paid for at the company's expense.
b)The primary manager who has the decision making capabilities for the department I am in is a rabid anti-Microsoft zealot. Most suggestions that I make, or have made in the past...even if they are backed up with careful research...are met with a flat out "no" or not responded to.
c)I did, in the past, put tremendous energy into learning and researching those aspects of my job that I wasn't entirely familiar with. I took and passed cert tests after doing loads of self study. It is just recently, with the upgrade from NT to AD and Server 2003 that I find myself in over my head when it comes to training myself at the same time as I am being held responsible for the production environment. I have attempted to learn and do on the fly, but errors have occurred as a result...some disastrous, some not so much. Hence my recent request for training: my goal was to prevent further damage to the production setup by getting some basic knowledge underneath my belt, and for the training to serve as a springboard to my own learning.
This is only a brief synopsis of the work issues I am contending with; I could go into more detail, but it would take more time than I have, and probably more pages than most readers would be willing to wade through.
Thanks for all of the responses so far.
Primary bread winner with no kids? Holy crap, does your husband do anything or sit around in his underwear all day.
Sorry, no. He works a thankless position that he took only because the company lauded its reputation for promoting from within. This was after a two-year intensive search for a job after being laid off. He is working hard to move up so that I have the option of pursuing an alternative career if it comes to that.
You are the administrator. You tell THEM what's required to maintain the system properly. Your training is an essential component of network administration. They promoted you to the position, meaning they didn't go outside to hire someone who already had all the essential skills.
I have done this already, with less than satisfactory results.
You obviously didn't sit down with management and get clear about all the responsibilities and outcomes; what's expected on both sides. You need to design a Win-Win solution and get them to buy in for their own benefit. If they pay for it, you should agree to an arrangement that doesn't leave them in the position of throwing money away. If you pay for it, you deserve a big raise and you are under no obligation to stay when another corporation offers you a raise and better benefits. Consider thinking up three alternatives that would satisfy you, and then negotiate the best elements of all of them for a Win-Win solution
You are right on the first point, however, I was essentially shoved into the position when the person who originally occupied said position decided he didn't want to do it anymore. There wasn't an opportunity to sit down with management, it was basically, "You're doing this now, end of story."
I probably should have demanded/requested a sit down right then, and I regret not doing so, but knowing what I do now, it probably would not have resulted in much of anything.
I'm male. I have a wife and three kids, one dog and one cat and a habitat they all call home. Yes I work overtime most/sometimes. We do family things on the weekends. I'm currently learning OCAML in my private time (I get up early on weekends, have coffee and learn something new). Whats your problem?
Does your wife work? I'm not asking as a retort but as a genuine question.
In response to the "What's your problem" and the "Without trying to sound mean, whats your problem? Is everything supposed to be given to you?"
questions...I have serious health issues. I didn't include this in my original question, as I thought the explanation of such health issues would take up valuable space. In the past I ignored said issues to fufill the demands of my job, but it's gotten to a point where I need a clear demarcation between work life and home life in order to keep up with the work I need to do at my job.
I like computers, its a life choice for me. Maybe you don't. My advice? Use common sense and choose your own path.
When I originally got into this field, I loved computers and enjoyed learning about them as much as possible. I'm at the point where the job demands and management insanity has sucked dry whatever interest I originally had. Hence the reason why I posted this question.
This is not a flamebait response, but most moderators will treat it so.
Why? It's blunt, and more than a little harsh, but it raises some valid points and outlines an alternative point of view. Any information regarding the original question is useful.
The original text of this question was grammatically correct. Apparently something got lost in the translation.
Good point. I assumed, given the wording of the original post, that the author was referring to discriminatory hiring practises against African-Americans.
I also forgot the white guy who sits across from me....as he was off-site for most of the week.
*looks around network room*
Where I work, in the department that I work in, every person is black. So....I guess the answer to your question, based on my limited experience, is no.
Now...I am the only female on the network team...but that's an entirely different can of worms.
I agree completely with this. I had an end-user send a props email to my boss just because I explained the complexities of email systems to her using a cell phone analogy. She was so grateful to have someone explain a computer system to her in a way that really helped her to understand it.
PC Guide is an excellent example of this. It's somewhat out of date, but the author breaks down every component of a computer AND uses analogies and terms that Joe User could understand. It's pretty much how I taught myself about memory...among other things.
Another good example is How Stuff Works. They have an entire section on computers.
If it takes all that to get your dog to stay, perhaps it doesn't want to be with you in the first place.
A human just has to check the task manager
-snip-
That would be helpful if it weren't for the fact that is malware out there that prevents the task manager from opening.
I've skimmed all the posts (level 4) and haven't seen a mention of locs/dreadlocks yet. Are they considered body modification? Or just an alternative hairstyle?
I'm a server wench who started locking about a year ago. I'd seen an aquaintence's locs and liked them, but honestly I desperately needed a hairstyle would allow me to get ready and out the door in ten minutes or less, and locs definitely allow me to do that.
I work in a bank...and the locs didn't seem to cause much of a problem. Then again, they are small in diameter and I keep them fairly well groomed. It probably also helps that they are long enough now to throw back in a bun.
Any thoughts?
Obligatory "aaawwwww, isn't it CUTE!"
30 inches though. That's one very large rat.
Am I the only one that smells a giant Gambian rat rescue set-up a mile away?
I've forwarded this topic to our CFO and have asked him to chime in....he's wired his home for gigabit, along with other things, so he may have some useful info.
The Troubleshooter by SmartCertify direct. It comes as a bootable floppy, with a couple of dongles and a CD-ROM to test ports while in diagnostic mode. This has worked excellently for us...we were able to diagnose some odd, random computer issues as being caused by bad video RAM
If I am ever in the market for Professional Evil Overlords, remind me not to hire this guy.