It's old news, but it's still good news. After my utilities went up for the holidays, I decided to do some cutting back... I try to keep my main PC in hibernate when I'm not around now, I can spare 10 seconds for it to start up. And I replaced my rackmount dual p3-700 server with a laptop in a docking station, and an external HD. Sure, it's a bit slower, but the power usage is a lot less. Now if I could just find a way to properly heat my reptiles without using heating lamps (undertank heaters aren't an option) I'd be set.
Also, the upside of having dozens of gizmos around is that you don't need to use regular lights... all the LEDs provide all the illumination I need.
Wow... a whole month or two on the market, and Zune only makes up ~2%. I'm shocked, absolutely shocked. I mean, remember when the iPod came out, and everyone went "Wow, that's a great device, I can't wait to have one! And what a classy name too! And the design is so perfect, and there's already a million gizmos you can get! There's nothing wrong with it at all!". Remember that? And how it immediately shot up to %80 market share overnight? I can't believe those micro$oft lusers only got to 2%. They suck so bad. Suckity suck suck. In fact, we should rename the company "iSuck", or maybe "iLuser", to represent how badly they suck for not shattering an established product in a competitive market in only a few months. Bill should just shoot himself in the head now. Or maybe have Steve throw a chair at him. Then he can get some workmans comp.
From TFA this is the worlds biggest windfarm but will generate 1% of the UKs electricty needs. If you want a viable answer to the worlds energy needs I think we need to think outside this particular box.
You're right. Obviously we've been building windfarms on too small a scale up until this point. It's about time we fully embraced the technology and started building windfarms that can provide a comparable percentage of electricity needs. Let's get out of this "little windfarm" box and start making them the size they should be.
Let me tell you why. Lethal weapons have consequences. If you shoot someone, it's undeniable that you shot them, and you will have to answer. If you're the police, facing off a crowd, and the only enforcement tool you have is a gun, you're MUCH more likely to do the proper thing, and talk the situation down or handle it in such a way that it stays in control.
If you have a magic ray gun, you're much more likely to shoot as soon as you bloody well feel like it, without trying to properly address the situation. Not only does this give you a crowd of angry, hurt people, it also fails to address the underlying cause of the disturbance in the first place.
Additionally, the media treats them so much differently. If the police shoot into a crowd of protesters, there is instant, full coverage, and possible society-changing events (Kent State?). If the police shoot tear gas into a crowd, or now shoot them with the magic ray gun, the story is always "An unruly crowd of protesters was dispersed by police. We'll tell you how they were bad people at 11". And nothing else happens. If someone tries to sue for the force being used without cause, the response is usually "it was just tear gas, ya big baby, get over it". So, nothing changes.
And while I do agree that society is becoming a bit more violent, it's also true and documented that police in many countries have taken to instigating violence at large protests in order to have an excuse to disperse the entire event. There are videos of plainclothes officers getting out of police vehicles, mingling with the crowd, and then starting vandalism or violence in an effort to encourage others. So it's no longer a fair measuring stick to say "we'll only use it on violent crowds", because the police are making the violent crowds.
A respect for life is about the only thing we have left going (and it's marginal at that), so it's for that reason that I say we use it to our advantage, and I discourage the use of nonlethal weapons for crowd control. Make the police do their job, not just hit a button every time they think it's time for a coffee break.
(this is also the reason I oppose the use of unmanned combat vehicles, but that's a discussion for another thread.)
So who else here is disappointed that the "Tall, thin, strawberry blonde" geekgrrl didn't have a picture?
More importantly, who's currently stalking her on Google Maps? I'm stuck at work and don't have time, but boy am I curious if the rumours are true... somebody rustle me up a link!:)
You win teh intarwebs. Great retort and solid comment with backup. Also, further proof that some (most?) audiophiles are just nutcases who think they hear a difference when it's not actually audible.
Please provide an address where we can send you your new "teh intarwebs". Shipping and Handling extra.
And this ladies and gentlemen is why we need better education funding and resources with a greater focus on math and science in schools, not to mention spelling and grammar.:-)
Actually, this is why we need better funding for planned parenthood...
I do the "slipping an hour" thing quite regularly, it's a struggle to avoid it. I don't suppose you recall the title or author of the book you read, or any of the studies? I've always been somewhat interested in finding out more about the human tenancy to a 25 hour day (and maybe a way to avoid it!). The only non-insane theory I've heard is that it has something to do with one of the ELE asteroids hitting the earth and slowing the rotation, but then again, comparing the mass of the planet and the mass of an asteroid that wouldn't break it to bits... it seems unlikely. It's hard (but interesting) to imagine what sort of spacial phenomena could pass by, close enough to slow rotation, but far enough away not to doom us all.
Just to correct one generalization -- many indie labels pay the artists more than do the big labels. I'm referring to Magnatune as well as traditional indie labels.
I'll agree with you there, most true indie labels pay well. I was refering to new up-and-coming artists moving to a big label, or some of those "look at us we're indie but we're owned by MegaCorp" labels. The true indie labels treat people great, for the most part, and although it's a shame they haven't grown larger, I think the communication power of the internet is letting them have a larger market share and more exposure, which ultimitely will lead to good things.
I'm curious how the logistics work here. Does that mean that for every song or album which you pirate, do you go to a concert and/or buy a t-shirt?
Here's how I go. I'll come across a song, somehow. If I don't like it, it goes in the bin. Many get old quickly. Since I wouldn't have spent any money anyways on it, I feel no guilt listening to it a few times and then tossing it. I'll go through my catch-all folder several times a year, tossing those songs I haven't listened to in a while. So, this leaves me with music that I like, and listen to on a regular basis. This would constitute "people who would convievably get my money". Now, touring nearby, that's my first choice for giving them money, preferably in a small venue where they get more out of tickets and merchandise, plus I get to enjoy a live performance, and often an autographed CD. Unfortunately, living up in the frozen north means I'm not a frequent tour stop. So, choice #2 is to check out their site, and see what nifty stuff they have available. If they have something reasonably priced, I'll get it if I think they're worth giving to. If it turns out they're just a decent band that has a few good songs and the rest is crap... well, thanks, I'll keep an eye on you but I won't spend my money till you're a complete act.
I try to compare things to how life would be if I listened to the radio and bought CDs, and I find I spend more money, and spread it around more, when I sample more sources. If they're good enough for constant listening, I donate some money to the cause, and if they're not, I'm glad I didn't blow $20 on a dust collector. If they make it hard to donate to the cause, I let them know. There's more bands than you think who don't tour Canada, don't have anything interesting/reasonably priced on their site, and aren't sold in the stores up here (except for special orders). I'm happy to tell those bands "Hey guys, you sound pretty good but you make it really hard to spend money on you". The vast majority are glad they got exposure, however it came.
Big bands are a different question. I'm not one of those people who figures "hey, they're rich, they don't need more money". I give them the same treatment when I can. However, it's harder to go to a $120 concert than a $10 cover charge, it's harder to buy a $50 t-shirt than a $20 one... as much as indie bands are hard to find because of lack of exposure and lack of purchasing venues, big bands are hard to afford, and they're much more likely to have a harder-to-burn CD. So, they end up getting downloaded, but they get less of my money.
For me, it boils down to finding ways to give them money that doesn't involve CD purchase. I hate CDs. They're useless to me. All my music is MP3, whether it's rips of cassettes or CDs I already have, or downloaded. They can go on my portable music device, they're on my network to play in any room in my house, they're on my private web server to stream at work. Unless it's autographed and on the wall, a CD is just a dust collector to me. So the bands that make it easy to give affordable amounts to, get those amounts. And the bands that cost an arm and a leg, end up without.
And I'd feel worse about that, except I find that the affordable, indie bands are the ones that dominate my playlist. So if a few AC/DC or Metallica songs don't get paid for... well, sorry guys, if I can afford a ticket f
They stand a much better chance of making money if you were to actually buy their CD.
And that's why I don't buy CDs, but rather go to the shows. Artists make crap off of CDs, and new/indie artists make even less. But if I go to the show, buy a ticket, and maybe buy a CD or TShirt there, the artist ends up getting more money out of that than if I'd bought their entire anthology from The Record Store.
For bands where I can confirm the band runs the website and not the label, I'll buy the music or merchandise off the site, again to ensure the band gets more money. Unfortunately, labels are catching on to this, so they're setting up and running the bands site for them, handling the online shopping, and then collecting their usual cut (or, if you believe some rumours, their usual cut, plus costs for running the site, plus extra 'administrative costs').
I haven't done the math, but I'm pretty sure the last band I saw got more money from my trip to their concert than they'd gotten from me buying their CDs for the last 10 years.
Of course they're shipping fewer units. They know they're not going to beat the 360 or Wii heads up, so they're hoping to create an artificial shortage and get some news stories about frazzled geeks sitting outside the store for days to buy one, or spending thousands on eBay. Unfortunately, that's the only kind of publicity the PS3 is likely to get, other than a lot of people renaming it "PS teh suXXXor"
The post that broke it is on our good friend Rumsfeld. About 1/2 way into things, in fact. Did Slashdot die because of more poor Rumsfeld planning, failing to plan for the entire thread, but only the first few years^H^H^H posts? Does this mean we can now have a threadless jihad? Who's going to be the first to IED Taco?
A little while after I started my current job, I went through the hoops to get business cards. Given that I transitioned from temp fill-in for a stress leave to full time when the guy quit, I went to my boss and asked him what my official job title was. The answer? "I don't know". I got to sit down with HR as they went over the list of every possible title until we found one that sounded sufficient.
The fact is that except for the occasional rigidly designed corporate structure, almost every place simply expects that their "geeks" will take care of the "geek stuff". It confuses them to separate it out into separate areas, so they don't. Management doesn't understand the difference between the site server and the telecom server, or anything else, they just know "it's a computer, you're the computer guy".
Right now, I do user support, user training, hardware repair/upgrades, all the telecom work, server maintenance, programming, reporting, electronic billing, system security, system enhancements, and some app design. But it's just easier (and cheaper) to call me a "Technical Specialist".
Small businesses don't care about titles because the geek does everything anyways. Midsize businesses don't care about titles because they don't understand the difference. Large businesses don't care about titles because they can call you "Helpdesk Analyst", stick "Other duties as assigned" in your job description, and then get you to do whatever they want but still pay you as if you were entry-level tech support. And until geeks start having a bit more ego and push for titles (and therefore pay grades) that match their duties, it's going to stay that way.
Now, that's a funny coincidence, I was originally going to go with the Ottomans, then I thought there'd be too many furniture jokes, so I thought Mongols, but I just didn't like the comparison (too far away at the time)... but, considering imho how nazi germany is a fading memory in our time (notwithstanding every second show on the history channel), I thought Visigoths were an apropos pick.
Step 1: Think of the coolest things you can do to make things quick and easy. Step 2: Implement it. Step 3: Document it.
Really, whether it's thin clients, giving all the pc's bootable nics, setting up network images for reimaging, using VNC or other remote service/admin tools... think outside the box and then do it. Because with 200 people you're not going to have time to walk to every machine, nor can you spend time bringing the boxes in for simple reimage.
And don't mind all the people saying "don't do it". The truth of a small business is that you have to have the business (and therefore the revenue) before you can hire the people. Just make sure that, no matter how qualified they may be, you stick them with the menial tasks for a while, just to make sure they're up to snuff, and also that they don't screw up your shiny new contract.
Step 3 is, of course, "DOCUMENT". Write out your procedures for dealing with everything, from single user failure to sitewide issues, new virii outbreaks, everything. And most importantly, write up a SLA (Service Level Agreement) that outlines how long your targeted fix time is for certain levels of issues. Site down? Fix in 1 hour is the goal. User wants a blue mouse instead of a navy one? We'll try and do that in a week.
Having a system to record incoming requests, categorize them by priority, and then give an ETA, is going to be a valuable part of your long-term success here. A few users are easy to handle. Get to 200 and you start getting the people who are whiny, pushy, or just plain don't want to work and can now blame their computers for it. The ticket system pays for itself the first time some peon goes "Of course, Mr CEO, I haven't done any work all week, those rotten computer people haven't fixed my problem yet!", and you can go "well, they never told us it was broken, see?". Trust me, it'll save your arse more times than not. Yes, it's a pain having to do it for the easy stuff, but in the long run it's better for the clients and for you.
Once you've started setting up the cool stuff, you have some peons hired to take the day-to-day load off of you, and you have some system processes and documentation going, then it's time to start the fun game of "What if", as in "what if the network rack caught on fire?" or "what if some user decides to plug in 120VAC into the phone jack?" or "what if our main service provider goes tits up?". Make contingency plans to handle everything, no matter how crazy it sounds. It doesn't have to be 100% service, it just has to be enough to keep the company going, whether it's access to the mainframe or incoming phone calls.
One of my most ludicrous plans was "What if all network activity died in a 5 block radius for some reason?". Our contingency for localized network or telecom outages was to borrow from neighboring businesses, but what if it all died? Yeah, I thought it would never happen, too, until lightning hit the main telecom service station, and in the process of doing the rush fix, the engineer fried the whole thing. Sure, maybe it's just a fun afternoon shooting the shit with your buds thinking up crazy scenarios, but maybe it's the fix that saves the day. My answer, by the way, was to spend the extra dollars to make my on-call cell GPRS instead of just local cellular. While everyones network access was dead and telecom was mostly screwy (cell and POTS), I linked the phone into a laptop, did a little connection sharing to the switch that connected the 4 or 5 vital stations, and got them dialup access to the text-based mainframe in another province, and a little email as well. It was slow, it was only for an afternoon, and I really don't think they did anything overly important, but that little trick kept that account for me until I closed shop.
Oh, and the ever-forgotten Step 4... don't forget that it's OK to make profit. You're doing a lot of work for these people, 200 users usually requires 2-4 full time techs, at a cost that could be 40k - 80k each. Save them money, but make enough for yourself too.
I run dual 21" monitors, I have 10-12 applications open at any time, I leave them open most of the time, even if i'm not using them at the moment. One or two of those apps is always mozilla, and I'll have a random number of tabs open (usually a dozen, sometimes more than can be counted if I'm researching something, sometimes only a few if I'm finishing up). I have 6 quicklaunch icons, and another 6 hotkeys on my trackball to launch more stuff.
And the Hot Coffee mod added code that allowed access to the content. Personally, I could find a similarity between using existing code to access added content, and using added code to access existing content.
Slashdot Mirror
It's old news, but it's still good news. After my utilities went up for the holidays, I decided to do some cutting back... I try to keep my main PC in hibernate when I'm not around now, I can spare 10 seconds for it to start up. And I replaced my rackmount dual p3-700 server with a laptop in a docking station, and an external HD. Sure, it's a bit slower, but the power usage is a lot less. Now if I could just find a way to properly heat my reptiles without using heating lamps (undertank heaters aren't an option) I'd be set.
Also, the upside of having dozens of gizmos around is that you don't need to use regular lights... all the LEDs provide all the illumination I need.
Wow... a whole month or two on the market, and Zune only makes up ~2%. I'm shocked, absolutely shocked. I mean, remember when the iPod came out, and everyone went "Wow, that's a great device, I can't wait to have one! And what a classy name too! And the design is so perfect, and there's already a million gizmos you can get! There's nothing wrong with it at all!". Remember that? And how it immediately shot up to %80 market share overnight? I can't believe those micro$oft lusers only got to 2%. They suck so bad. Suckity suck suck. In fact, we should rename the company "iSuck", or maybe "iLuser", to represent how badly they suck for not shattering an established product in a competitive market in only a few months. Bill should just shoot himself in the head now. Or maybe have Steve throw a chair at him. Then he can get some workmans comp.
From TFA this is the worlds biggest windfarm but will generate 1% of the UKs electricty needs. If you want a viable answer to the worlds energy needs I think we need to think outside this particular box.
You're right. Obviously we've been building windfarms on too small a scale up until this point. It's about time we fully embraced the technology and started building windfarms that can provide a comparable percentage of electricity needs. Let's get out of this "little windfarm" box and start making them the size they should be.
That is the ugliest web site I have ever seen. Were you trying to make the most annoying site in existence? You succeeded.
Wow, I guess he just didn't see the light...
I oppose nonlethal weapons, and I am a pacifist.
Let me tell you why. Lethal weapons have consequences. If you shoot someone, it's undeniable that you shot them, and you will have to answer. If you're the police, facing off a crowd, and the only enforcement tool you have is a gun, you're MUCH more likely to do the proper thing, and talk the situation down or handle it in such a way that it stays in control.
If you have a magic ray gun, you're much more likely to shoot as soon as you bloody well feel like it, without trying to properly address the situation. Not only does this give you a crowd of angry, hurt people, it also fails to address the underlying cause of the disturbance in the first place.
Additionally, the media treats them so much differently. If the police shoot into a crowd of protesters, there is instant, full coverage, and possible society-changing events (Kent State?). If the police shoot tear gas into a crowd, or now shoot them with the magic ray gun, the story is always "An unruly crowd of protesters was dispersed by police. We'll tell you how they were bad people at 11". And nothing else happens. If someone tries to sue for the force being used without cause, the response is usually "it was just tear gas, ya big baby, get over it". So, nothing changes.
And while I do agree that society is becoming a bit more violent, it's also true and documented that police in many countries have taken to instigating violence at large protests in order to have an excuse to disperse the entire event. There are videos of plainclothes officers getting out of police vehicles, mingling with the crowd, and then starting vandalism or violence in an effort to encourage others. So it's no longer a fair measuring stick to say "we'll only use it on violent crowds", because the police are making the violent crowds.
A respect for life is about the only thing we have left going (and it's marginal at that), so it's for that reason that I say we use it to our advantage, and I discourage the use of nonlethal weapons for crowd control. Make the police do their job, not just hit a button every time they think it's time for a coffee break.
(this is also the reason I oppose the use of unmanned combat vehicles, but that's a discussion for another thread.)
So who else here is disappointed that the "Tall, thin, strawberry blonde" geekgrrl didn't have a picture?
:)
More importantly, who's currently stalking her on Google Maps? I'm stuck at work and don't have time, but boy am I curious if the rumours are true... somebody rustle me up a link!
You win teh intarwebs. Great retort and solid comment with backup. Also, further proof that some (most?) audiophiles are just nutcases who think they hear a difference when it's not actually audible.
Please provide an address where we can send you your new "teh intarwebs". Shipping and Handling extra.
Money Can't Buy Friends, But It Can Buy That Pr0n Tape Of Jennifer Aniston.
Dear gods people, please learn to use capital letters effectively.
Come on. A spider ISN'T an aminal. (sic)
:-)
And this ladies and gentlemen is why we need better education funding and resources with a greater focus on math and science in schools, not to mention spelling and grammar.
Actually, this is why we need better funding for planned parenthood...
I do the "slipping an hour" thing quite regularly, it's a struggle to avoid it. I don't suppose you recall the title or author of the book you read, or any of the studies? I've always been somewhat interested in finding out more about the human tenancy to a 25 hour day (and maybe a way to avoid it!). The only non-insane theory I've heard is that it has something to do with one of the ELE asteroids hitting the earth and slowing the rotation, but then again, comparing the mass of the planet and the mass of an asteroid that wouldn't break it to bits... it seems unlikely. It's hard (but interesting) to imagine what sort of spacial phenomena could pass by, close enough to slow rotation, but far enough away not to doom us all.
From the Simpsons:
Snake: Oh NO, Linux!
Don't forget, these are the same group of people who mixed up feet and metres (or was it pounds and kilograms?)
Whilst we all may be dumb yokels by comparison, no-one is flawless, and oversight is good, even if it's annoying.
Just to correct one generalization -- many indie labels pay the artists more than do the big labels. I'm referring to Magnatune as well as traditional indie labels.
I'll agree with you there, most true indie labels pay well. I was refering to new up-and-coming artists moving to a big label, or some of those "look at us we're indie but we're owned by MegaCorp" labels. The true indie labels treat people great, for the most part, and although it's a shame they haven't grown larger, I think the communication power of the internet is letting them have a larger market share and more exposure, which ultimitely will lead to good things.
I'm curious how the logistics work here. Does that mean that for every song or album which you pirate, do you go to a concert and/or buy a t-shirt?
Here's how I go. I'll come across a song, somehow. If I don't like it, it goes in the bin. Many get old quickly. Since I wouldn't have spent any money anyways on it, I feel no guilt listening to it a few times and then tossing it. I'll go through my catch-all folder several times a year, tossing those songs I haven't listened to in a while.
So, this leaves me with music that I like, and listen to on a regular basis. This would constitute "people who would convievably get my money". Now, touring nearby, that's my first choice for giving them money, preferably in a small venue where they get more out of tickets and merchandise, plus I get to enjoy a live performance, and often an autographed CD. Unfortunately, living up in the frozen north means I'm not a frequent tour stop. So, choice #2 is to check out their site, and see what nifty stuff they have available. If they have something reasonably priced, I'll get it if I think they're worth giving to. If it turns out they're just a decent band that has a few good songs and the rest is crap... well, thanks, I'll keep an eye on you but I won't spend my money till you're a complete act.
I try to compare things to how life would be if I listened to the radio and bought CDs, and I find I spend more money, and spread it around more, when I sample more sources. If they're good enough for constant listening, I donate some money to the cause, and if they're not, I'm glad I didn't blow $20 on a dust collector. If they make it hard to donate to the cause, I let them know. There's more bands than you think who don't tour Canada, don't have anything interesting/reasonably priced on their site, and aren't sold in the stores up here (except for special orders). I'm happy to tell those bands "Hey guys, you sound pretty good but you make it really hard to spend money on you". The vast majority are glad they got exposure, however it came.
Big bands are a different question. I'm not one of those people who figures "hey, they're rich, they don't need more money". I give them the same treatment when I can. However, it's harder to go to a $120 concert than a $10 cover charge, it's harder to buy a $50 t-shirt than a $20 one... as much as indie bands are hard to find because of lack of exposure and lack of purchasing venues, big bands are hard to afford, and they're much more likely to have a harder-to-burn CD. So, they end up getting downloaded, but they get less of my money.
For me, it boils down to finding ways to give them money that doesn't involve CD purchase. I hate CDs. They're useless to me. All my music is MP3, whether it's rips of cassettes or CDs I already have, or downloaded. They can go on my portable music device, they're on my network to play in any room in my house, they're on my private web server to stream at work. Unless it's autographed and on the wall, a CD is just a dust collector to me. So the bands that make it easy to give affordable amounts to, get those amounts. And the bands that cost an arm and a leg, end up without.
And I'd feel worse about that, except I find that the affordable, indie bands are the ones that dominate my playlist. So if a few AC/DC or Metallica songs don't get paid for... well, sorry guys, if I can afford a ticket f
They stand a much better chance of making money if you were to actually buy their CD.
And that's why I don't buy CDs, but rather go to the shows. Artists make crap off of CDs, and new/indie artists make even less. But if I go to the show, buy a ticket, and maybe buy a CD or TShirt there, the artist ends up getting more money out of that than if I'd bought their entire anthology from The Record Store.
For bands where I can confirm the band runs the website and not the label, I'll buy the music or merchandise off the site, again to ensure the band gets more money. Unfortunately, labels are catching on to this, so they're setting up and running the bands site for them, handling the online shopping, and then collecting their usual cut (or, if you believe some rumours, their usual cut, plus costs for running the site, plus extra 'administrative costs').
I haven't done the math, but I'm pretty sure the last band I saw got more money from my trip to their concert than they'd gotten from me buying their CDs for the last 10 years.
Actually, I prefer:
"The lottery is just a tax on the mathematically impaired."
+1 Best /. comment ever.
Of course they're shipping fewer units. They know they're not going to beat the 360 or Wii heads up, so they're hoping to create an artificial shortage and get some news stories about frazzled geeks sitting outside the store for days to buy one, or spending thousands on eBay. Unfortunately, that's the only kind of publicity the PS3 is likely to get, other than a lot of people renaming it "PS teh suXXXor"
The post that broke it is on our good friend Rumsfeld. About 1/2 way into things, in fact. Did Slashdot die because of more poor Rumsfeld planning, failing to plan for the entire thread, but only the first few years^H^H^H posts?
Does this mean we can now have a threadless jihad? Who's going to be the first to IED Taco?
Me too!
A little while after I started my current job, I went through the hoops to get business cards. Given that I transitioned from temp fill-in for a stress leave to full time when the guy quit, I went to my boss and asked him what my official job title was. The answer? "I don't know". I got to sit down with HR as they went over the list of every possible title until we found one that sounded sufficient.
The fact is that except for the occasional rigidly designed corporate structure, almost every place simply expects that their "geeks" will take care of the "geek stuff". It confuses them to separate it out into separate areas, so they don't. Management doesn't understand the difference between the site server and the telecom server, or anything else, they just know "it's a computer, you're the computer guy".
Right now, I do user support, user training, hardware repair/upgrades, all the telecom work, server maintenance, programming, reporting, electronic billing, system security, system enhancements, and some app design. But it's just easier (and cheaper) to call me a "Technical Specialist".
Small businesses don't care about titles because the geek does everything anyways. Midsize businesses don't care about titles because they don't understand the difference. Large businesses don't care about titles because they can call you "Helpdesk Analyst", stick "Other duties as assigned" in your job description, and then get you to do whatever they want but still pay you as if you were entry-level tech support. And until geeks start having a bit more ego and push for titles (and therefore pay grades) that match their duties, it's going to stay that way.
Now, that's a funny coincidence, I was originally going to go with the Ottomans, then I thought there'd be too many furniture jokes, so I thought Mongols, but I just didn't like the comparison (too far away at the time)... but, considering imho how nazi germany is a fading memory in our time (notwithstanding every second show on the history channel), I thought Visigoths were an apropos pick.
:)
Good call though.
Shakespeare would have used "thou dost" not "you doth", methinks.
Grammar Visigoth!
It's not that hard, I've been in the same boat.
Step 1: Think of the coolest things you can do to make things quick and easy.
Step 2: Implement it.
Step 3: Document it.
Really, whether it's thin clients, giving all the pc's bootable nics, setting up network images for reimaging, using VNC or other remote service/admin tools... think outside the box and then do it. Because with 200 people you're not going to have time to walk to every machine, nor can you spend time bringing the boxes in for simple reimage.
And don't mind all the people saying "don't do it". The truth of a small business is that you have to have the business (and therefore the revenue) before you can hire the people. Just make sure that, no matter how qualified they may be, you stick them with the menial tasks for a while, just to make sure they're up to snuff, and also that they don't screw up your shiny new contract.
Step 3 is, of course, "DOCUMENT". Write out your procedures for dealing with everything, from single user failure to sitewide issues, new virii outbreaks, everything. And most importantly, write up a SLA (Service Level Agreement) that outlines how long your targeted fix time is for certain levels of issues. Site down? Fix in 1 hour is the goal. User wants a blue mouse instead of a navy one? We'll try and do that in a week.
Having a system to record incoming requests, categorize them by priority, and then give an ETA, is going to be a valuable part of your long-term success here. A few users are easy to handle. Get to 200 and you start getting the people who are whiny, pushy, or just plain don't want to work and can now blame their computers for it. The ticket system pays for itself the first time some peon goes "Of course, Mr CEO, I haven't done any work all week, those rotten computer people haven't fixed my problem yet!", and you can go "well, they never told us it was broken, see?". Trust me, it'll save your arse more times than not. Yes, it's a pain having to do it for the easy stuff, but in the long run it's better for the clients and for you.
Once you've started setting up the cool stuff, you have some peons hired to take the day-to-day load off of you, and you have some system processes and documentation going, then it's time to start the fun game of "What if", as in "what if the network rack caught on fire?" or "what if some user decides to plug in 120VAC into the phone jack?" or "what if our main service provider goes tits up?". Make contingency plans to handle everything, no matter how crazy it sounds. It doesn't have to be 100% service, it just has to be enough to keep the company going, whether it's access to the mainframe or incoming phone calls.
One of my most ludicrous plans was "What if all network activity died in a 5 block radius for some reason?". Our contingency for localized network or telecom outages was to borrow from neighboring businesses, but what if it all died? Yeah, I thought it would never happen, too, until lightning hit the main telecom service station, and in the process of doing the rush fix, the engineer fried the whole thing. Sure, maybe it's just a fun afternoon shooting the shit with your buds thinking up crazy scenarios, but maybe it's the fix that saves the day.
My answer, by the way, was to spend the extra dollars to make my on-call cell GPRS instead of just local cellular. While everyones network access was dead and telecom was mostly screwy (cell and POTS), I linked the phone into a laptop, did a little connection sharing to the switch that connected the 4 or 5 vital stations, and got them dialup access to the text-based mainframe in another province, and a little email as well. It was slow, it was only for an afternoon, and I really don't think they did anything overly important, but that little trick kept that account for me until I closed shop.
Oh, and the ever-forgotten Step 4... don't forget that it's OK to make profit. You're doing a lot of work for these people, 200 users usually requires 2-4 full time techs, at a cost that could be 40k - 80k each. Save them money, but make enough for yourself too.
Shouldn't this be a poll? :P
I run dual 21" monitors, I have 10-12 applications open at any time, I leave them open most of the time, even if i'm not using them at the moment. One or two of those apps is always mozilla, and I'll have a random number of tabs open (usually a dozen, sometimes more than can be counted if I'm researching something, sometimes only a few if I'm finishing up). I have 6 quicklaunch icons, and another 6 hotkeys on my trackball to launch more stuff.
hth hand
And the Hot Coffee mod added code that allowed access to the content. Personally, I could find a similarity between using existing code to access added content, and using added code to access existing content.