even better. seriously, if there is a box you use to run a web server and you never license it, you can still run the thing off a serial console and it is a beautiful thing indeed. just watch the hackers break their noses trying to bust in...
I love tru64. i use tru64 every day and i will continue to use it as long as i can get spare parts because, frankly, it really is the best.
i am 30something and share your opinions. however, i have to say this -- when 20somethings with few material possessions and no kids become 30somethings with stuff, and kids, they change. not all of them, because i didn't, but most of them. they vote for candidates based purely on their stance on gay marriage, or the possibility that their guns might be taken from them. i hate it, but getting fat and selfish and overly fearful seems to be an almost unavoidable part of aging. and once the transformation is complete, the victim can no longer be reasoned with, or shown actual facts. all that matters is, in descending order (1) kids (2) being "safe" (3) having stuff. and i'm not even sure of the order on that one.
Companies sell stock.
Stockholders expect a healthy percentage return, better than the market average.
Company must make large profit to return value to shareholders.
Consumers demand cheap cheap cheap computers.
Company does whatever it takes to show large profit while still selling computer for ridiculously low price, including sending all manufacturing and tech support and accounting and so on to low labor cost foreign country.
Company upper management/shareholders rejoice at increased profitability.
Everyone else suffers.
The company I work for is in the process of relocating IT and accounting to a lower cost IT support center in Mexico (time zone restrictions prevented using India or Manila). Their stock is kicking butt because they've demonstrated all this efficiency and profitability. I have roughly 6 months before I know I'm out of a job. It's ugly, but that's how the whole thing works.
Incidentally, incompetence is running amuck in plenty of US based IT shops, too, just because first line tech support is probably the lowest paid job in the house, and you sometimes get what you pay for.
by people trying to find out if the Internet will be crashed. I'm sure all those people downloading full motion video of talking heads saying "and the Internet is supposed to crash" won't help.
Hey, wait a minute -- isn't the original Checkpoint FW code of Israeli origin? hmmmmm. Checkpoint exploits, anyone? Seriously, one of the reasons we were always told that defense companies avoided CPFW for so long was because it was from Israel. I don't know whether that's crap or not... it certainly sounds like it, though. Anyone know?
Thank you. I am an American citizen, naturalized since age 15 or so. I was also in AFROTC (very briefly). Because of this, the federal government has my fingerprints on record, a full accounting of everything I've ever done, a lengthy list of people I've known, and all the info it could ever want about me. I know this because I had to give them all of this. Despite all of this, I am pulled out of every single line in every airport I ever go through and my bags are generally searched thoroughly if not emptied entirely. Why is that? I am a short white glasses wearing female computer technician. Like one of the earlier posters, I can only imagine that I am on some list, somewhere. I've read about the mangling of the Bill of Rights currently in progress, and when I talk to my peers, all they can say is we have to support the president.
Wrongo bongo. I have to get his rear out of the white house by voting for the person who stands the greatest chance of deposing him and his imperial hawk buddies. That's what I've got to do, and that's what anyone else who has suffered because of the recent insanity needs to do. Outta there. This year.
Most of the few machines we still have left at work are Alphas. All the rest of the systems migrated to our German headquarters when we were bought and are running, poorly on a system I can't name or I will be hunted down and killed. The Alphas which remain include machines dating to 1994 that are still running, and running well. My only problem over the years has been getting OpenSource software to compile and run on these OSF/now Tru64 machines. Tru64 is one the finest Unix implementations I've ever used and the Alpha chip and machines made by DEC were built for the long haul.
The heat and power issues aside, if you ever get the opportunity to get a DS10 for home use, buy it. The small Dec stations are pretty awesome, too. The older machines like the 2100 and 2000, unfortunately, don't support very large hard drives but they are the perfect size if you need an end table by your couch.
Speaking as a rural customer in Nowhere, NC, I can tell you guys that Verizon has emphasized cost cutting so much these last few years that their service is um, well, awful. While all my neighbors on BellSouth can get DSL, I am trapped having to use satellite Internet.
When I did have (another large networking provider) 56K lease line to my house that Verizon had to tend, their help desk guys did not believe that I had a circuit and would argue with me about this when I mentioned it in calling in my down phone (also working, according to them). Magically, my phone and circuit would be healed at 900 the next day, when the tech at the CO would get the ticket.
To me, it appears that Verizon does not have enough money allocated to tech support personnel at this time; I cannot even imagine what their support will be like if they really do roll out this level of access on a broad scale.
I also was 24x7 support girl, so i had a 56k lease line to my house because dialup was not an option (very rural, very bad phone lines). Then, my line went away because our corporate parent didn't see merit in my connectivity. So, now, it takes me 35 minutes at a minimum to get to work and fix things. By the way, that's 35 minutes I never get paid for. Nice, huh?
The interesting thing is that as IT people, we think we're integral to the business, and we think that people will protest when we aren't allowed to do our jobs. We think that our end users will somehow spring to our rescue and upper management will see reason and we will retain our ability to provide good service. The truth is that we all work with sheep and although they'll complain, they won't do anything for anyone but themselves. Over the last 6 years, I've watched our service levels go to Hell because our corporate ueberparent has increasingly dictated our every move. Our users just sit there and take it, whining to each other all the while but doing essentially nothing to change the situation.
If I were you, I would start looking into a new job. Your choices are sit there and take it, or get out. I'm choosing B at the end of this month. Good luck to you.
oh my yes. email is the greatest help you can have. you can tell users "hey, you know what my memory is like, can you send me a quick email saying what you just told me?". love email.
and the bit about pitting your demanding managers or users against each other is excellent. you may be in a situation where you have no management support. if that is the case, your only recourse is to take new projects and tell the submitter -- hey, i'd love to work on this, but so and so will shoot me if i don't finish his programming project. tell you what, if he says it's ok to delay, i'll work on yours. go ask him. and send me email. that should be your daily refrain. either "can you put a helpdesk ticket in for that" or "send me email". by the way, there is a nice helpdesk system available with Nuke.
finally, don't disregard end user training. i am responsible for several material handling systems that run *nix. as users prove competence and willingness to learn, i give them more access on the box and short tutorials. to them, it's a treat, and they are very careful since any screwups mean that their jobs become that much harder PLUS everyone thinks they are a dip.
oh, finally, here's a great tip if you have idiots surfing porn at your workplace (not totally related, but close...) all you have to do is walk the hallway near the offender, saying loudly "gosh, i sure wish that the idiot who is surfing porn sites would quit. i'd hate to haul him in to HR since everything is logged, even traffic to hotteens.com". if people ask why you're doing this, smile and tell them sometimes people need a little reminder.
good luck. we're all rooting for you.
how do you figure 95% unaffected when the data centers for all us schmucks in the sticks are in the NE corridor? and all that automotive stuff in detroit? heck, just because the factory is in the boonies doesn't mean any of the computers are...
be smart. spread the computer wealth around. clustering everything in one place leads to clusters, like this one....
as a pathetic and rural computer weenie, i long for a virtual universe like the ones i read about; i read neal stephenson and dream of living at least part time in a nonreal world. yes, i go to parks and hike, but how great would it be to be able to do stuff at 200am without having to drive 4 hrs to a city? There looks like another disguised shopping mall, unfortunately.
damn. i'll probably be dead by the time the goods are finally available.
a bunch of interrupted vacation days, and a gift cert to a local grocery store so i could buy some beers and forget it all. or maybe it was for food. i forget.
Slashdot Mirror
which i didn't do. i clipped out the bit referring to the floor buffers which also nailed us. sorry, thanks.
that all the women had. inductive loads are a real bitch.
even better. seriously, if there is a box you use to run a web server and you never license it, you can still run the thing off a serial console and it is a beautiful thing indeed. just watch the hackers break their noses trying to bust in...
I love tru64. i use tru64 every day and i will continue to use it as long as i can get spare parts because, frankly, it really is the best.
i am 30something and share your opinions. however, i have to say this -- when 20somethings with few material possessions and no kids become 30somethings with stuff, and kids, they change. not all of them, because i didn't, but most of them. they vote for candidates based purely on their stance on gay marriage, or the possibility that their guns might be taken from them. i hate it, but getting fat and selfish and overly fearful seems to be an almost unavoidable part of aging. and once the transformation is complete, the victim can no longer be reasoned with, or shown actual facts. all that matters is, in descending order (1) kids (2) being "safe" (3) having stuff. and i'm not even sure of the order on that one.
Companies sell stock.
Stockholders expect a healthy percentage return, better than the market average.
Company must make large profit to return value to shareholders.
Consumers demand cheap cheap cheap computers.
Company does whatever it takes to show large profit while still selling computer for ridiculously low price, including sending all manufacturing and tech support and accounting and so on to low labor cost foreign country.
Company upper management/shareholders rejoice at increased profitability.
Everyone else suffers.
The company I work for is in the process of relocating IT and accounting to a lower cost IT support center in Mexico (time zone restrictions prevented using India or Manila). Their stock is kicking butt because they've demonstrated all this efficiency and profitability. I have roughly 6 months before I know I'm out of a job. It's ugly, but that's how the whole thing works.
Incidentally, incompetence is running amuck in plenty of US based IT shops, too, just because first line tech support is probably the lowest paid job in the house, and you sometimes get what you pay for.
Hey, wait a minute -- isn't the original Checkpoint FW code of Israeli origin? hmmmmm. Checkpoint exploits, anyone? Seriously, one of the reasons we were always told that defense companies avoided CPFW for so long was because it was from Israel. I don't know whether that's crap or not... it certainly sounds like it, though. Anyone know?
Thank you. I am an American citizen, naturalized since age 15 or so. I was also in AFROTC (very briefly). Because of this, the federal government has my fingerprints on record, a full accounting of everything I've ever done, a lengthy list of people I've known, and all the info it could ever want about me. I know this because I had to give them all of this. Despite all of this, I am pulled out of every single line in every airport I ever go through and my bags are generally searched thoroughly if not emptied entirely. Why is that? I am a short white glasses wearing female computer technician. Like one of the earlier posters, I can only imagine that I am on some list, somewhere. I've read about the mangling of the Bill of Rights currently in progress, and when I talk to my peers, all they can say is we have to support the president.
Wrongo bongo. I have to get his rear out of the white house by voting for the person who stands the greatest chance of deposing him and his imperial hawk buddies. That's what I've got to do, and that's what anyone else who has suffered because of the recent insanity needs to do. Outta there. This year.
Most of the few machines we still have left at work are Alphas. All the rest of the systems migrated to our German headquarters when we were bought and are running, poorly on a system I can't name or I will be hunted down and killed. The Alphas which remain include machines dating to 1994 that are still running, and running well. My only problem over the years has been getting OpenSource software to compile and run on these OSF/now Tru64 machines. Tru64 is one the finest Unix implementations I've ever used and the Alpha chip and machines made by DEC were built for the long haul. The heat and power issues aside, if you ever get the opportunity to get a DS10 for home use, buy it. The small Dec stations are pretty awesome, too. The older machines like the 2100 and 2000, unfortunately, don't support very large hard drives but they are the perfect size if you need an end table by your couch.
Speaking as a rural customer in Nowhere, NC, I can tell you guys that Verizon has emphasized cost cutting so much these last few years that their service is um, well, awful. While all my neighbors on BellSouth can get DSL, I am trapped having to use satellite Internet.
When I did have (another large networking provider) 56K lease line to my house that Verizon had to tend, their help desk guys did not believe that I had a circuit and would argue with me about this when I mentioned it in calling in my down phone (also working, according to them). Magically, my phone and circuit would be healed at 900 the next day, when the tech at the CO would get the ticket.
To me, it appears that Verizon does not have enough money allocated to tech support personnel at this time; I cannot even imagine what their support will be like if they really do roll out this level of access on a broad scale.
I also was 24x7 support girl, so i had a 56k lease line to my house because dialup was not an option (very rural, very bad phone lines). Then, my line went away because our corporate parent didn't see merit in my connectivity. So, now, it takes me 35 minutes at a minimum to get to work and fix things. By the way, that's 35 minutes I never get paid for. Nice, huh?
The interesting thing is that as IT people, we think we're integral to the business, and we think that people will protest when we aren't allowed to do our jobs. We think that our end users will somehow spring to our rescue and upper management will see reason and we will retain our ability to provide good service. The truth is that we all work with sheep and although they'll complain, they won't do anything for anyone but themselves. Over the last 6 years, I've watched our service levels go to Hell because our corporate ueberparent has increasingly dictated our every move. Our users just sit there and take it, whining to each other all the while but doing essentially nothing to change the situation.
If I were you, I would start looking into a new job. Your choices are sit there and take it, or get out. I'm choosing B at the end of this month. Good luck to you.
i thought it was natalie portman.
are what my spousal unit and i got each other. if you use some of those personal hygiene products, you might get laid, too!
oh my yes. email is the greatest help you can have. you can tell users "hey, you know what my memory is like, can you send me a quick email saying what you just told me?". love email. and the bit about pitting your demanding managers or users against each other is excellent. you may be in a situation where you have no management support. if that is the case, your only recourse is to take new projects and tell the submitter -- hey, i'd love to work on this, but so and so will shoot me if i don't finish his programming project. tell you what, if he says it's ok to delay, i'll work on yours. go ask him. and send me email. that should be your daily refrain. either "can you put a helpdesk ticket in for that" or "send me email". by the way, there is a nice helpdesk system available with Nuke. finally, don't disregard end user training. i am responsible for several material handling systems that run *nix. as users prove competence and willingness to learn, i give them more access on the box and short tutorials. to them, it's a treat, and they are very careful since any screwups mean that their jobs become that much harder PLUS everyone thinks they are a dip. oh, finally, here's a great tip if you have idiots surfing porn at your workplace (not totally related, but close...) all you have to do is walk the hallway near the offender, saying loudly "gosh, i sure wish that the idiot who is surfing porn sites would quit. i'd hate to haul him in to HR since everything is logged, even traffic to hotteens.com". if people ask why you're doing this, smile and tell them sometimes people need a little reminder. good luck. we're all rooting for you.
how do you figure 95% unaffected when the data centers for all us schmucks in the sticks are in the NE corridor? and all that automotive stuff in detroit? heck, just because the factory is in the boonies doesn't mean any of the computers are... be smart. spread the computer wealth around. clustering everything in one place leads to clusters, like this one....
as a pathetic and rural computer weenie, i long for a virtual universe like the ones i read about; i read neal stephenson and dream of living at least part time in a nonreal world. yes, i go to parks and hike, but how great would it be to be able to do stuff at 200am without having to drive 4 hrs to a city? There looks like another disguised shopping mall, unfortunately. damn. i'll probably be dead by the time the goods are finally available.
a bunch of interrupted vacation days, and a gift cert to a local grocery store so i could buy some beers and forget it all. or maybe it was for food. i forget.