I mean, really, how is a programmer in the states supposed to know that a valid spanish word, used in the spanish version of the program, is an insult in central america?
This sounds much more like a "lets point out all the funny fuckups from M$" article, and much less a diatribe on the difficulties of writing international software. Yes, they've made a few mistakes, and the occasional horrid judgement call (I mean, really, insulting all of Islam? Well, at least now we know better...). But some things, like the evil spanish word, referring to breakaway states as countries in their own right, or other such silliness, are just an "oops", where you wouldn't expect them to rightfully know better.
On that note though, what's up with the rabid nations emasculating anyone who dares suggest that Kashmir or Taiwan are separate countries? I generally find foreign media less crazy than US, but try reading an article from a chinese newspaper on taiwan sometime... it's almost frighteningly evangelical in it's belief.
And, finally... come on, AoE2? I thought the muslims replacing the churches was a cute touch, not insulting... I mean, it's a game, you have to change the game elements to fit the theme of whoever is winning... and you wouldn't expect westerners to know the details of how the muslims handled conquered peoples and their religion during the crusades...
Weren't we telling the nuclear power industry 20 years ago "Hey, you know all that glowing stuff your reactors keep spitting out? You know you'll need somewhere to put it, right?". And, as I recall, the industry said "Yeah, sure, we've got plans, no need to worry. Reactors in every state, money for everyone!". And there was much rejoicing, because the industry knew the problem, and would save us from it, regardless of whether it cost them an arm and a leg.
Yeah, so much for that. Letting capitalists handle any situation where the good of the people must be weighed against the almighty dollar is just a BAD IDEA.
Now, looking at all the glow-y stuff in your water, and the 3 headed pig on your dinner plate... who's for MORE deregulation? Anyone? Raise your hands...
Option 1: What's needed here is to play hardball without looking like you're playing hardball. Agree that, as a 'dedicated employee', you'll be available nights and weekends. Agree that you can connect from home to solve problems. Proceed to get the crappiest cell phone in history, with the most restrictive plan, and the least amount of minutes. Then, sign up for AOHell dialup, and be sure to dial the slowest server you can find. Drop your modem speed to 9600 or so. See how much they ask of you when you can only talk in 30-second increments, and it takes you hours to upload a text file.
Option 2: Argue that your company calls you more than they think, and weasel your way into an agreement wherein you contact your boss whenever you have to do work outside of hours. Be sure to put in lots of 3AM coding sessions.
Option 3: Stand up. Be a geek. Point out glaring inconsistancies in logic, including "So, if an employee dedicated to their company puts their own money out to support the company, then what does that make a company that won't put out it's money to support an employee?", and "I'm sorry, I must have missed a meeting. Are you on-call? Because that'll be great for my 11PM brainstorms.". One that's actually worked for me: "You want me to be able to connect from home? Yes. You want me to pay for it myself? Check. You want me to be able to do all my job functions from home? Yep. Alright, I'll do it! And I'll be happy to telecommute wherever possible! How's 3 days a week sound?"
Really, truthfully, this is just some schmuck hoping to squeeze a few more dollars out, and find someone who's too scared to say no. When it boils down to it, you were hired at a rate of pay, and the agreement there was that you'd do some services in exchange for that pay. If they're now changing that agreement, then they need to either revamp your services, or revamp your pay.
What's next? "Yeah, we want you guys to work 10 hour days... to be, yanno, productive, because you love MEGACORP". Or "We've decided that, in order to finance the executive bonus, we'll need to implement 10% pay cuts for everyone".
*sigh* They are right to start or stop services as they see fit. It's their money. They are NOT right to expect you to pick up the slack. Really, previous posts are right... they want YOU to pay for the ability to connect on YOUR TIME to do THEIR WORK. If you aren't receiving other bonuses (bonii?), then it just doesn't even out.
And getting an extra 5 minutes at lunch is NOT a bonus, people! You think that you have "flexible hours" because "no-one checks to see if I'm there"? Try coming in at 10 for a week straight.
Real bonuses? I get a day off every 2 weeks. Free and clear, and it's even my choice of days. As long as I don't skip an appointment, every other week I have real flex time. I need to stay till 8PM to do some after hours work? I come in at noon. I need to leave halfway through the day? I do. I decide to fuck off and take a 3 hour lunch? Done. Server breaks and I'm there an extra 4 hours? I take it off the next day. Need to work a weekend to do something? Scheduled, it's paid OT.
The price I pay for that flexibility is 9 hour days, no lunch (no time!), and unscheduled overtime isn't paid. I don't get much extra $ for travel, and the project I busted my ass on for a year which will save/make the company tens of thousands... I don't get a dime for. When it was review time earlier this year, I got (after tax), a whopping $20 CDN a paycheck. But, my time is more valuable to me than $. $ I can make anywhere. Time is gone as soon as it comes.
Besides, I do some side work that nets me the $ I need.:)
(Dunno why cell-phones don't have the same right though, c'est la vie:).
Because cell phone users are not a monolithic corporation with millions of $'s to buy their own legislation. They're a bunch of individuals hoping to convince the monolithic corporations that they buy their service from to do something for them, and then not noticing when they get ignored. After all, it doesn't make The Corp money, so it must not be worthwhile.
Relatively new case, sitting open on the desk right next to my keyboard, on and running while I was doing installs. Open side facing me, about 1' away from my head. I open up an install program, and as soon as it starts, the PC reboots. I blink, and the PC reboots again. I turn my head to the right, and see the sparks coming from the PC Speaker wire, into the bottom of the case, and the insulator starting to burn, and the dust in the case catching fire, and more cables starting to burn... ah, it was fun. Oddly enough, DC'd the speaker cable after the flames died, checked everything, and plugged it back in... and it's worked fine ever since.
I've also discovered that leaving CDs in the sun isn't bad because it degrades data... it's bad because it can warp the CD, causing flying shards of death when you put it in a 52x drive. Again, case 1' from my head, and it died during a FPS game. Took me a few seconds to realize the bang wasn't from my surround sound.
And while I'm at it... if your friend has their darling kid over, and you're all eating leftovers, and you have your case open on both sides... be sure and confiscate the tinfoil from the brat BEFORE he decides to wad everyones tinfoil up and shove it down between the mobo and case back.
RAM is not microwavable. Microwaved RAM should not be put into a system. Children who mess with my new RAM sticks should be microwaved. Repeatedly.
When the cute kids come door-to-door selling your fav chocolates, and you're gone for a few days on business, make sure your gf knows that putting them on top of your new 20" monitor is indeed a surprise, just not the one she was expecting.
When you're monitoring the computer lab at the U, and you see someone look perplexed, walk to the front, borrow scissors, walk back, snip for a few minutes, walk up, borrow a stapler, and walk back, make sure you run fast enough to stop them before they put their freshly 'fixed' floppy in the floppy drive.
Speaking of university labs... remember to put a sticker over every floppy drive that says "THIS IS NOT WHERE YOUR CREDIT CARD GOES". Apparently, high school education no longer covers this.
Hide your tools. Whatever you do, hide them. Never let anyone find them. Especially your PHB. And mention to him that the server rack is electrified. All of it. Even the rails. That way, when he decides to "borrow a screw or two" for his home project, he won't pick the ones that stop it from toppling over, and he won't run and leave your tools there, thus causing you unending hours of questioning before he finally confesses (thanks, security camera!)
I think that's the worst, offhand. Of course, being a BOFH, I've caused many "accidents", but these are the ones that I didn't have a hand in.:)
Dear Slashdot: I'm having this problem where I can't access Gooogle. I just can't get the number of "O"s right. I either put in Gogle, or Gooogle, or Goole... I'm just not having any luck. Can you answer my question for me? Thanks, Bob_at_AOL
-------------------- Dear Slashdot; I've decided that/. really needs to cache information. Seeing as I've been shot down many times, I've decide to start asking inanely simple questions for the sole purpose of collecting all the obvious answers in one place. I hope you don't mind that my stories will take the place of those which could actually spark intellectual debate.
Sincerely; I.P. Freely
--------------- Dear Slashdot; I've finally figured out a way to get off. I'm gonna put stories in with really, really easy answers, and hope we get featured on news.google.com. It really gets my goatse going to see my creation up there... it just makes me want to google myself. And I've got my next story to post!
Coming soon: "Windows versus Linux for Al Quada operatives having sex while George Bush and John Kerry engage in a Peruvian DeathMatch in Iraq during which Martha Stewart makes Bukakke Chicken Pot Pie with extra MILF and a dash of Dirty Sanchez"
10 Print "Microsoft software sucks! It's so open to virii, they need to do something!" 20 Print "What? Microsoft is making a virus scanner? They'll probably embed it in the OS, making it impossible for anyone else to compete! Those bastards!" 30 Print "What??? They're going to CHARGE us for it? Just another way to boost the monopoly! Those pricks! This is just another example of how they suck all your money dry, just like the... well, money-sucking VAMPIRES they are!" 40 Print "Ha! M$ has decided against making a virus scanner... those bastards! We win, we win!" 50 GOTO 10
What really makes me sad is that, at this very minute, I am streaming music off my server via my streaming media channel over my 11g to my homebrew wireless surround, while reading Slashdot.
Arg! I'm a.... I'm a.... a....gee...
Oh, wait, I run Windows 2000 Advanced Server. *phew* I was worried I was a/. geek for a second.
Ha ha! Look at all the geeks! Glad I'm not one of you!
The solution is not more noise. I've heard rumours of evil things happening to your brain when the noise coming in one ear is slightly offset (time wise) from the noise in the other ear.
Between the 6-8 desktops and 2 laptops floating around my desk at any time, my noise quotient was pretty damn bad, even when I took most of them down to the bare minimums of fan noise. Yes, I could have replaced all my fans with nice quiet ones, or modded the cases for noise reduction, but then I'd have to do that with every case, every time I changed up.
The solution? I scored a cheap-ass enclosed LAN rack, got some cheap-ass wood cut for me at the store, and build my own LAN cases. The only fan in my entire 6'4" rack is a.7 Sonne, 130 CFM fan that is vented from all the cases (5 of them @ 19x19.5x7)
My systems have never been cooler, the noise is so freakishly quiet that I'm still getting used to it, I've got more flexibility than I ever did, and with everything KVM'd, I've got a cleaner desk. Total cost? Maybe $200 CDN [insert "so that's $.05 US?" joke here]. And, on the bright side, with so much extra space in my cases, my mod list is getting bigger and bigger with all the nifty things I can do.
Sure, noise cancellation works in the short term, but 8 hours a day or more? I'd be worried that some slight imbalance somewhere might screw with my brain or break my ears.
Plus, my kick-ass blacklighted rack with piles of blinkenlichten is MUCH cooler than some wussy lil speakers.
-Food -Drinks -Computer toys -The old computer I was replacing -Getting flashed -Ye ole BJ of lore. -Nookie in the server room (note: Be sure that if you're going to do something, you do it away from the switch rack... flailing legs have a way of catching on cat5) -Free services (taxes, forms, homeopathic, etc) -A job -Money (it's worth mention!) -A weeks worth of free coffee. -Did some supermarket work, and got "load up a cart and head out the front door..." -For some odd reason, I once got a pallet of paper. -Herbal supplements -We have an annual race her in town, where they dump thousands of rubber duckies in the river and see which one wins... I once got an armful of those rubber duckies -A pharmacy I did a quickie for couldn't give me any of the good stuff, but they did give me a grab-bag of various contraceptive devices. -A roast. Already cooked, fresh out of the oven, put in a bag and handed to me as I left. I'm sure her heart was in the right place. -A haircut -A coupon for a free waxing (?!?)
Currently, I'm doing a few side-jobs for people... out of one, I got bags of money, out of the next, (setting up a website for a girl) I got to peruse her... picture collection, and out of the third, a drive out to her acreage for some horse riding for myself and some friends.
Talk about timely... I just installed my rack-mount at home this weekend.:)
Now, admittedly, it's a fully enclosed lan case, but still...
I got lucky with mine, in that I work for a company that sells all types of office supplies, including PC stuff, and I got the 6.5' beast for all of $10(CDN)... but I have seen them floating around for relatively cheap prices, especially as offices move and go for freestanding racks instead of enclosed cases.
Why an enclosed case? Noise is the big one. It's just worth it to have as much soundproofing as possible when you're running multiple PCs. It also looks cleaner, stopping prospective nerd-chicks from saying "I was going to do you, but your wires are all messy!". And, finally, it allows for nifty modding (word to the wise: If you're going to cut holes in the 2mm steel side with a Dremel, be sure to wear non-flamible clothing. A, uh, friend told me... yeah).
For cases... well, I considered getting a few 2U cases... but then I thought of noise, and cost, and it just wasn't worth it. I'm just now (literally, just took a break to let the dust clear) building my own cases our of 1/2" wood. Given the size of my rack and how I'm laying things out, I'll end up with 19" x 19.5" x 6" cases, more than enough to hold a full ATX board, 2 CDs and 2 HDs (and floppy [the drive, not the rabbit]). If you didn't need many externals, you could fit 2 ATX boards in there.
Cooling? I'm buying an 80CFM, 0.5 Sone air transfer fan... I'll hook all the cases up via dryer venting and PVC pipe, and the only noise in my entire case will be this one uber-quiet fan, and 1 PSU per case (which is made of sound-dampening wood). As I figure to max out at 3 cases, I expect excellent quietness.
Access? I hinged the side door of the case for easy access, and my case layout has all the hookups on the side of the case, not the back. Much easier when, say, you want to change mouse cables, or hook up a USB device. Sure, you think you won't do much, but whether it's rack or case, do you really want to be fiddling around back trying to plug a cable in without unplugging the other 150?
Interface? Forget rack-mount monitors and keyboards... get a KVM. They're cheap, easy, and I've had very few problems with any I've used. At high res they do ghost occasionally, but I only notice it now when I look for it. I'm currently using an Avocent Switchview 4-port, and it has behaved itself quite well. (Don't get a manual switch... autos are just all around better).
Overall, though it was a bitch to get here and get fixed up, I'm already happy now that it's in place. Instead of having 3 PCs with 2-3 fans each, 2 laptop docking stations sitting behind me looking ugly, and all my networking EQ sitting with it's wires hanging out, I have 1 fashionable case, with blacklights and other esoteric touches, that my cats can't run through and knock over, my roommates can't fiddle with, and no-one complains about unattractive PC equipment. It's quieter, more convenient, and damnit, it just looks cool!
The bottom line? Don't bother with rack rails and expensive, ugly cases and your wires flopping out in the breeze.... pick up a full rack case and build your own boxen. And remember, it gives you the best pick-up line a nerd could ever ask for... "Hey baby, wanna see my huge LAN rack?"
This sounds suspiciously like the opening few minutes of "The Core". Is it possible something similar is happening?
And, if so, does anyone know how to fix it? I fell asleep about 20 minutes into that bomb... I sure hope they key to our salvation wasn't in there somewhere.
Come on people, don't worry. I just talked to one of my industry contacts, and he assures me that the price increase is a temporary measure to offset the costs of this new technology. Once it becomes more commonplace and affordable, the price will go down substantially...
I did some heavy-duty searching, and I was able to find several similar speeches from a variety of high-ranking government officials who feel the same way as Ashcroft. I was going to provide some links, until I watched a few and realized that most of the/. crowd would complain about the quality, given they were rips of talkie reels from the 30's, and even fewer would be able to understand them, given that they were subtitled in German.
Porn (well, some forms thereof) is considered illegal in the US (yes, it is in places, it's just not enforced anymore). Punishment by a few years in jail and a fine.
Porn is also illegal in fundamentalist islamic states. Punishment by being stoned to death or beheadings.
Well, it's illegal in both places, so it must be OK to extradite porn-viewers to said fundamentalist states.
Stones for sale... buy your stones here!
Really now, it's more than whether it's illegal in both places... different countries view the same act with different prejudice. What's a slap on the wrist in one is a kick in the ass in another. If he broke a law in his country, prosecute him in his country. If it's not against the law in his country... well, sucks to be you.
A cadre of license-enforcement officers wearing jackets emblazoned with "SCO" descended on a small Seattle Wi-Fi coffee shop today, using scare tactics and intimidation to 'examine software installed on all machines on the premises to determine its legality'. After being pummeled senseless by a geek in a penguin suit, the 'officers' were taken to a nearby hospital. Although their injuries were initially reported as "minor" by paramedics, they mysteriously were downgraded to "critical" shortly after entering the Emergency Triage unit. Currently, all officers are on life support, ironically, the machines are all IBM.
In other news... Linux founder and Guru Linus Torvalds took a brief trip to the hospital today, after a brief appearance as the Linux Mascot at a local cafe resulted in minor dehydration. He was released shortly after. Asked to make a statement, Mr Torvalds would only state "I felt kind of weak when I went in, but now I feel great!".
In other news... Generic Mid-Town Hospital suffered a minor interruption in service today when their internal network unexpectedly disconnected all attached equipment. The local systems administrator had no explanation for the event, calling it "a damn shame" that a few patients in the CCU had suffered further trauma as a result of the equipment outage. When asked if he had any clues, the sysadmin mysteriously pointed to an obviously-chewed network cable and a penguin sock puppet, and said "He made me". Police are currently searching for the sock puppet.
Sheesh, I'm disapointed no one has been evangelizing Pueblo, the best damn client period! At least, my fav... never crashes, sure, maybe it's not ZMUD for gadgets, but I never had any use for most of the crap in ZMUD anyways. Nice clean interface, lots of scripting possiblity, and it always behaved properly (except on a few certain colour codes that were rarely used. May be fixed now, I'm not sure. Busy planning my own mud.)
I spent the better part of my 13 years in IT flitting from one place to the next, as they alternately downsized, upsized, sold out, got bought up, outsourced, lost their outsourced clients, and everything else you can imagine. Finally, I made it to SysAdmin for a Fortune 100 company. So what do I do?
Helpdesk for 200 or so users, with 75 of those off-site. Making reports, and then reports on my reports. Electronic billing. Custom programming (VB, but it still counts) Phone maintenance. Fax machine maintenance. Toaster and microwave maintenance (hey, it beeps and hums, doesn't it?) Training... not that they ever listen or learn. E-Commerce Travelling to our branch offices when Joe Schmoe kicks the plug out of the hub and then wonders why he doesn't have a network... Anything and everything else that could possibly be done or moved to a computer.
As for the fun stuff, like NetOps? Outsourced before I arrived... now, if I want to make a folder on the server, I have to call someone.:\
And what does that earn me? Well, when I went full-time, I went in with a dozen salary surveys and reports, all showing average salary for what (they said) my position would be... and they maxxed out at 20% lower, because "That's what the other people in our IT departments get." I almost told em to go screw themselves, but took it because IT in Alberta is hard to come by... less money than I could have made if I'd held out and waited for another place, but nice place, good experience, solid job... what's not to like?
And now? I went a little BOFH after seeing a memo that someone left on the printer, checked it out (thank you, secret Exchange back-door!), and sure enough, we're getting majorly downsized and centralized right away here, and once again, I may be job-hunting (If my BOFH job-retainment tactics don't work... what's that? The new piece of custom software I put in that only I know how to work has a glitch? Hmm, I'll get right on that...)
The moral of the story?
Don't go into computers. By the time you get a good job that doesn't disappear in a year, you'll be too jaded to be any good to anyone..
And I'll add a "bah humbug" in here too. I should have stayed out of IT when I left the first time.
(Speaking of which... irony... my other career was Call Centre Manager... and I spent more time in that job doing true IT than I do as a SysAdmin)
Slashdot Mirror
I mean, really, how is a programmer in the states supposed to know that a valid spanish word, used in the spanish version of the program, is an insult in central america?
This sounds much more like a "lets point out all the funny fuckups from M$" article, and much less a diatribe on the difficulties of writing international software. Yes, they've made a few mistakes, and the occasional horrid judgement call (I mean, really, insulting all of Islam? Well, at least now we know better...). But some things, like the evil spanish word, referring to breakaway states as countries in their own right, or other such silliness, are just an "oops", where you wouldn't expect them to rightfully know better.
On that note though, what's up with the rabid nations emasculating anyone who dares suggest that Kashmir or Taiwan are separate countries? I generally find foreign media less crazy than US, but try reading an article from a chinese newspaper on taiwan sometime... it's almost frighteningly evangelical in it's belief.
And, finally... come on, AoE2? I thought the muslims replacing the churches was a cute touch, not insulting... I mean, it's a game, you have to change the game elements to fit the theme of whoever is winning... and you wouldn't expect westerners to know the details of how the muslims handled conquered peoples and their religion during the crusades...
Amen, brother.
Weren't we telling the nuclear power industry 20 years ago "Hey, you know all that glowing stuff your reactors keep spitting out? You know you'll need somewhere to put it, right?".
And, as I recall, the industry said "Yeah, sure, we've got plans, no need to worry. Reactors in every state, money for everyone!". And there was much rejoicing, because the industry knew the problem, and would save us from it, regardless of whether it cost them an arm and a leg.
Yeah, so much for that. Letting capitalists handle any situation where the good of the people must be weighed against the almighty dollar is just a BAD IDEA.
Now, looking at all the glow-y stuff in your water, and the 3 headed pig on your dinner plate... who's for MORE deregulation? Anyone? Raise your hands...
-Cerv
Bah!
:)
Now, for the more verbose answer:
Option 1: What's needed here is to play hardball without looking like you're playing hardball. Agree that, as a 'dedicated employee', you'll be available nights and weekends. Agree that you can connect from home to solve problems. Proceed to get the crappiest cell phone in history, with the most restrictive plan, and the least amount of minutes. Then, sign up for AOHell dialup, and be sure to dial the slowest server you can find. Drop your modem speed to 9600 or so. See how much they ask of you when you can only talk in 30-second increments, and it takes you hours to upload a text file.
Option 2: Argue that your company calls you more than they think, and weasel your way into an agreement wherein you contact your boss whenever you have to do work outside of hours. Be sure to put in lots of 3AM coding sessions.
Option 3: Stand up. Be a geek. Point out glaring inconsistancies in logic, including "So, if an employee dedicated to their company puts their own money out to support the company, then what does that make a company that won't put out it's money to support an employee?", and "I'm sorry, I must have missed a meeting. Are you on-call? Because that'll be great for my 11PM brainstorms.". One that's actually worked for me: "You want me to be able to connect from home? Yes. You want me to pay for it myself? Check. You want me to be able to do all my job functions from home? Yep. Alright, I'll do it! And I'll be happy to telecommute wherever possible! How's 3 days a week sound?"
Really, truthfully, this is just some schmuck hoping to squeeze a few more dollars out, and find someone who's too scared to say no. When it boils down to it, you were hired at a rate of pay, and the agreement there was that you'd do some services in exchange for that pay. If they're now changing that agreement, then they need to either revamp your services, or revamp your pay.
What's next? "Yeah, we want you guys to work 10 hour days... to be, yanno, productive, because you love MEGACORP". Or "We've decided that, in order to finance the executive bonus, we'll need to implement 10% pay cuts for everyone".
*sigh* They are right to start or stop services as they see fit. It's their money. They are NOT right to expect you to pick up the slack. Really, previous posts are right... they want YOU to pay for the ability to connect on YOUR TIME to do THEIR WORK. If you aren't receiving other bonuses (bonii?), then it just doesn't even out.
And getting an extra 5 minutes at lunch is NOT a bonus, people! You think that you have "flexible hours" because "no-one checks to see if I'm there"? Try coming in at 10 for a week straight.
Real bonuses? I get a day off every 2 weeks. Free and clear, and it's even my choice of days. As long as I don't skip an appointment, every other week I have real flex time. I need to stay till 8PM to do some after hours work? I come in at noon. I need to leave halfway through the day? I do. I decide to fuck off and take a 3 hour lunch? Done. Server breaks and I'm there an extra 4 hours? I take it off the next day. Need to work a weekend to do something? Scheduled, it's paid OT.
The price I pay for that flexibility is 9 hour days, no lunch (no time!), and unscheduled overtime isn't paid. I don't get much extra $ for travel, and the project I busted my ass on for a year which will save/make the company tens of thousands... I don't get a dime for. When it was review time earlier this year, I got (after tax), a whopping $20 CDN a paycheck. But, my time is more valuable to me than $. $ I can make anywhere. Time is gone as soon as it comes.
Besides, I do some side work that nets me the $ I need.
Cerv
Because cell phone users are not a monolithic corporation with millions of $'s to buy their own legislation. They're a bunch of individuals hoping to convince the monolithic corporations that they buy their service from to do something for them, and then not noticing when they get ignored. After all, it doesn't make The Corp money, so it must not be worthwhile.
All hail capitalism.
Worst accidents ever...
:)
Relatively new case, sitting open on the desk right next to my keyboard, on and running while I was doing installs. Open side facing me, about 1' away from my head. I open up an install program, and as soon as it starts, the PC reboots. I blink, and the PC reboots again. I turn my head to the right, and see the sparks coming from the PC Speaker wire, into the bottom of the case, and the insulator starting to burn, and the dust in the case catching fire, and more cables starting to burn... ah, it was fun. Oddly enough, DC'd the speaker cable after the flames died, checked everything, and plugged it back in... and it's worked fine ever since.
I've also discovered that leaving CDs in the sun isn't bad because it degrades data... it's bad because it can warp the CD, causing flying shards of death when you put it in a 52x drive. Again, case 1' from my head, and it died during a FPS game. Took me a few seconds to realize the bang wasn't from my surround sound.
And while I'm at it... if your friend has their darling kid over, and you're all eating leftovers, and you have your case open on both sides... be sure and confiscate the tinfoil from the brat BEFORE he decides to wad everyones tinfoil up and shove it down between the mobo and case back.
RAM is not microwavable. Microwaved RAM should not be put into a system. Children who mess with my new RAM sticks should be microwaved. Repeatedly.
When the cute kids come door-to-door selling your fav chocolates, and you're gone for a few days on business, make sure your gf knows that putting them on top of your new 20" monitor is indeed a surprise, just not the one she was expecting.
When you're monitoring the computer lab at the U, and you see someone look perplexed, walk to the front, borrow scissors, walk back, snip for a few minutes, walk up, borrow a stapler, and walk back, make sure you run fast enough to stop them before they put their freshly 'fixed' floppy in the floppy drive.
Speaking of university labs... remember to put a sticker over every floppy drive that says "THIS IS NOT WHERE YOUR CREDIT CARD GOES". Apparently, high school education no longer covers this.
Hide your tools. Whatever you do, hide them. Never let anyone find them. Especially your PHB. And mention to him that the server rack is electrified. All of it. Even the rails. That way, when he decides to "borrow a screw or two" for his home project, he won't pick the ones that stop it from toppling over, and he won't run and leave your tools there, thus causing you unending hours of questioning before he finally confesses (thanks, security camera!)
I think that's the worst, offhand. Of course, being a BOFH, I've caused many "accidents", but these are the ones that I didn't have a hand in.
Dear Slashdot:
/. really needs to cache information. Seeing as I've been shot down many times, I've decide to start asking inanely simple questions for the sole purpose of collecting all the obvious answers in one place. I hope you don't mind that my stories will take the place of those which could actually spark intellectual debate.
I'm having this problem where I can't access Gooogle. I just can't get the number of "O"s right. I either put in Gogle, or Gooogle, or Goole... I'm just not having any luck. Can you answer my question for me?
Thanks,
Bob_at_AOL
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Dear Slashdot;
I've decided that
Sincerely;
I.P. Freely
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Dear Slashdot;
I've finally figured out a way to get off. I'm gonna put stories in with really, really easy answers, and hope we get featured on news.google.com. It really gets my goatse going to see my creation up there... it just makes me want to google myself. And I've got my next story to post!
Coming soon: "Windows versus Linux for Al Quada operatives having sex while George Bush and John Kerry engage in a Peruvian DeathMatch in Iraq during which Martha Stewart makes Bukakke Chicken Pot Pie with extra MILF and a dash of Dirty Sanchez"
Googly yours;
CmdrTaco
10 Print "Microsoft software sucks! It's so open to virii, they need to do something!"
20 Print "What? Microsoft is making a virus scanner? They'll probably embed it in the OS, making it impossible for anyone else to compete! Those bastards!"
30 Print "What??? They're going to CHARGE us for it? Just another way to boost the monopoly! Those pricks! This is just another example of how they suck all your money dry, just like the... well, money-sucking VAMPIRES they are!"
40 Print "Ha! M$ has decided against making a virus scanner... those bastards! We win, we win!"
50 GOTO 10
What really makes me sad is that, at this very minute, I am streaming music off my server via my streaming media channel over my 11g to my homebrew wireless surround, while reading Slashdot.
/. geek for a second.
Arg! I'm a.... I'm a.... a....gee...
Oh, wait, I run Windows 2000 Advanced Server. *phew* I was worried I was a
Ha ha! Look at all the geeks! Glad I'm not one of you!
Funny shit man. I'm wiping coffee off my monitor...
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Older Stuff
-> Dinosaurs Died Within Hours of Asteroid Impact, says New Study (666)
The solution is not more noise. I've heard rumours of evil things happening to your brain when the noise coming in one ear is slightly offset (time wise) from the noise in the other ear.
.7 Sonne, 130 CFM fan that is vented from all the cases (5 of them @ 19x19.5x7)
Between the 6-8 desktops and 2 laptops floating around my desk at any time, my noise quotient was pretty damn bad, even when I took most of them down to the bare minimums of fan noise. Yes, I could have replaced all my fans with nice quiet ones, or modded the cases for noise reduction, but then I'd have to do that with every case, every time I changed up.
The solution? I scored a cheap-ass enclosed LAN rack, got some cheap-ass wood cut for me at the store, and build my own LAN cases. The only fan in my entire 6'4" rack is a
My systems have never been cooler, the noise is so freakishly quiet that I'm still getting used to it, I've got more flexibility than I ever did, and with everything KVM'd, I've got a cleaner desk. Total cost? Maybe $200 CDN [insert "so that's $.05 US?" joke here]. And, on the bright side, with so much extra space in my cases, my mod list is getting bigger and bigger with all the nifty things I can do.
Sure, noise cancellation works in the short term, but 8 hours a day or more? I'd be worried that some slight imbalance somewhere might screw with my brain or break my ears.
Plus, my kick-ass blacklighted rack with piles of blinkenlichten is MUCH cooler than some wussy lil speakers.
Dude, that is some seriously funny shit.
"some sort of computer network thingy"
Heh.
I, for one, welcome our new Top 10 overlord.
In no particular order, I've received:
... picture collection, and out of the third, a drive out to her acreage for some horse riding for myself and some friends.
:)
-Food
-Drinks
-Computer toys
-The old computer I was replacing
-Getting flashed
-Ye ole BJ of lore.
-Nookie in the server room (note: Be sure that if you're going to do something, you do it away from the switch rack... flailing legs have a way of catching on cat5)
-Free services (taxes, forms, homeopathic, etc)
-A job
-Money (it's worth mention!)
-A weeks worth of free coffee.
-Did some supermarket work, and got "load up a cart and head out the front door..."
-For some odd reason, I once got a pallet of paper.
-Herbal supplements
-We have an annual race her in town, where they dump thousands of rubber duckies in the river and see which one wins... I once got an armful of those rubber duckies
-A pharmacy I did a quickie for couldn't give me any of the good stuff, but they did give me a grab-bag of various contraceptive devices.
-A roast. Already cooked, fresh out of the oven, put in a bag and handed to me as I left. I'm sure her heart was in the right place.
-A haircut
-A coupon for a free waxing (?!?)
Currently, I'm doing a few side-jobs for people... out of one, I got bags of money, out of the next, (setting up a website for a girl) I got to peruse her
Yes, real horses, the 4 legged kind, you sicko!
Sadly, it's the soccer moms getting freaky that constitutes most of the pr0n.
Hope?
*drum roll please*
Yes, indeed, it is "A New Hope" that we will never see "The Return of the Jedi".
God DAMN that was bad!
Talk about timely... I just installed my rack-mount at home this weekend. :)
Now, admittedly, it's a fully enclosed lan case, but still...
I got lucky with mine, in that I work for a company that sells all types of office supplies, including PC stuff, and I got the 6.5' beast for all of $10(CDN)... but I have seen them floating around for relatively cheap prices, especially as offices move and go for freestanding racks instead of enclosed cases.
Why an enclosed case? Noise is the big one. It's just worth it to have as much soundproofing as possible when you're running multiple PCs. It also looks cleaner, stopping prospective nerd-chicks from saying "I was going to do you, but your wires are all messy!". And, finally, it allows for nifty modding (word to the wise: If you're going to cut holes in the 2mm steel side with a Dremel, be sure to wear non-flamible clothing. A, uh, friend told me... yeah).
For cases... well, I considered getting a few 2U cases... but then I thought of noise, and cost, and it just wasn't worth it. I'm just now (literally, just took a break to let the dust clear) building my own cases our of 1/2" wood. Given the size of my rack and how I'm laying things out, I'll end up with 19" x 19.5" x 6" cases, more than enough to hold a full ATX board, 2 CDs and 2 HDs (and floppy [the drive, not the rabbit]). If you didn't need many externals, you could fit 2 ATX boards in there.
Cooling? I'm buying an 80CFM, 0.5 Sone air transfer fan... I'll hook all the cases up via dryer venting and PVC pipe, and the only noise in my entire case will be this one uber-quiet fan, and 1 PSU per case (which is made of sound-dampening wood). As I figure to max out at 3 cases, I expect excellent quietness.
Access? I hinged the side door of the case for easy access, and my case layout has all the hookups on the side of the case, not the back. Much easier when, say, you want to change mouse cables, or hook up a USB device. Sure, you think you won't do much, but whether it's rack or case, do you really want to be fiddling around back trying to plug a cable in without unplugging the other 150?
Interface? Forget rack-mount monitors and keyboards... get a KVM. They're cheap, easy, and I've had very few problems with any I've used. At high res they do ghost occasionally, but I only notice it now when I look for it. I'm currently using an Avocent Switchview 4-port, and it has behaved itself quite well. (Don't get a manual switch... autos are just all around better).
Overall, though it was a bitch to get here and get fixed up, I'm already happy now that it's in place. Instead of having 3 PCs with 2-3 fans each, 2 laptop docking stations sitting behind me looking ugly, and all my networking EQ sitting with it's wires hanging out, I have 1 fashionable case, with blacklights and other esoteric touches, that my cats can't run through and knock over, my roommates can't fiddle with, and no-one complains about unattractive PC equipment. It's quieter, more convenient, and damnit, it just looks cool!
The bottom line? Don't bother with rack rails and expensive, ugly cases and your wires flopping out in the breeze.... pick up a full rack case and build your own boxen. And remember, it gives you the best pick-up line a nerd could ever ask for... "Hey baby, wanna see my huge LAN rack?"
And, if so, does anyone know how to fix it? I fell asleep about 20 minutes into that bomb... I sure hope they key to our salvation wasn't in there somewhere.
... just like CDs did.
+5 Ewwwwww
I did some heavy-duty searching, and I was able to find several similar speeches from a variety of high-ranking government officials who feel the same way as Ashcroft. I was going to provide some links, until I watched a few and realized that most of the /. crowd would complain about the quality, given they were rips of talkie reels from the 30's, and even fewer would be able to understand them, given that they were subtitled in German.
Well, that's a very good idea. Lets see here:
Porn (well, some forms thereof) is considered illegal in the US (yes, it is in places, it's just not enforced anymore). Punishment by a few years in jail and a fine.
Porn is also illegal in fundamentalist islamic states. Punishment by being stoned to death or beheadings.
Well, it's illegal in both places, so it must be OK to extradite porn-viewers to said fundamentalist states.
Stones for sale... buy your stones here!
Really now, it's more than whether it's illegal in both places... different countries view the same act with different prejudice. What's a slap on the wrist in one is a kick in the ass in another. If he broke a law in his country, prosecute him in his country. If it's not against the law in his country... well, sucks to be you.
A cadre of license-enforcement officers wearing jackets emblazoned with "SCO" descended on a small Seattle Wi-Fi coffee shop today, using scare tactics and intimidation to 'examine software installed on all machines on the premises to determine its legality'. After being pummeled senseless by a geek in a penguin suit, the 'officers' were taken to a nearby hospital. Although their injuries were initially reported as "minor" by paramedics, they mysteriously were downgraded to "critical" shortly after entering the Emergency Triage unit. Currently, all officers are on life support, ironically, the machines are all IBM.
In other news...
Linux founder and Guru Linus Torvalds took a brief trip to the hospital today, after a brief appearance as the Linux Mascot at a local cafe resulted in minor dehydration. He was released shortly after. Asked to make a statement, Mr Torvalds would only state "I felt kind of weak when I went in, but now I feel great!".
In other news...
Generic Mid-Town Hospital suffered a minor interruption in service today when their internal network unexpectedly disconnected all attached equipment. The local systems administrator had no explanation for the event, calling it "a damn shame" that a few patients in the CCU had suffered further trauma as a result of the equipment outage. When asked if he had any clues, the sysadmin mysteriously pointed to an obviously-chewed network cable and a penguin sock puppet, and said "He made me". Police are currently searching for the sock puppet.
I think this link should work:
Pueblo
I spent the better part of my 13 years in IT flitting from one place to the next, as they alternately downsized, upsized, sold out, got bought up, outsourced, lost their outsourced clients, and everything else you can imagine. Finally, I made it to SysAdmin for a Fortune 100 company. So what do I do?
:\
Helpdesk for 200 or so users, with 75 of those off-site.
Making reports, and then reports on my reports.
Electronic billing.
Custom programming (VB, but it still counts)
Phone maintenance.
Fax machine maintenance.
Toaster and microwave maintenance (hey, it beeps and hums, doesn't it?)
Training... not that they ever listen or learn.
E-Commerce
Travelling to our branch offices when Joe Schmoe kicks the plug out of the hub and then wonders why he doesn't have a network...
Anything and everything else that could possibly be done or moved to a computer.
As for the fun stuff, like NetOps? Outsourced before I arrived... now, if I want to make a folder on the server, I have to call someone.
And what does that earn me? Well, when I went full-time, I went in with a dozen salary surveys and reports, all showing average salary for what (they said) my position would be... and they maxxed out at 20% lower, because "That's what the other people in our IT departments get." I almost told em to go screw themselves, but took it because IT in Alberta is hard to come by... less money than I could have made if I'd held out and waited for another place, but nice place, good experience, solid job... what's not to like?
And now? I went a little BOFH after seeing a memo that someone left on the printer, checked it out (thank you, secret Exchange back-door!), and sure enough, we're getting majorly downsized and centralized right away here, and once again, I may be job-hunting (If my BOFH job-retainment tactics don't work... what's that? The new piece of custom software I put in that only I know how to work has a glitch? Hmm, I'll get right on that...)
The moral of the story?
Don't go into computers. By the time you get a good job that doesn't disappear in a year, you'll be too jaded to be any good to anyone..
And I'll add a "bah humbug" in here too. I should have stayed out of IT when I left the first time.
(Speaking of which... irony... my other career was Call Centre Manager... and I spent more time in that job doing true IT than I do as a SysAdmin)