You must not be familiar with the blurring of job descriptions that happens in a small business. On the bright side, you have no 2 AM phone calls over emergency network failures to deal with. But sorry, no trade from me...
Don't go thinking that, because I have a Shiny Red Ball* and you don't, that means no one should have a ball. Go find your won Shiny Red Ball. I say you should go forth and press for your own day. "National Janitorial Services Day", or whatever you want to call it. Hell, I'd support it.
* Or Shiny New Car, or Fancy Career, or Higher Education, or whatever spiffy neato that you are coveting.
Why do System Administrators get a day? Why not Database Administrators? Why not Systems Architects? Why not Software Developers? All of these people are needed just as much as any of the others to achieve success. I'd be all for it. If all 4 of those positions had their own "day", maybe I'd get 4 times as much appreciation...
As the entire IT department for a small/medium business, even a general "IT Appreciation Day" would be nice.
Ah well, wit is wasted on the young, and America chooses to be perennially young. I was referring, of course, to the origins of the metric system.
Actually, I was quite aware of it. In fact, I was also considering the use of the French language as another example akin to the metric system (really, it isn't the language that gets mocked, but rather the particular dialect one finds in France). I was all set to go on about how the French Canadians and the Cajuns down south both get mocked for their language, with little to no reference to the country of France, but I thought to myself that surely such a reference would just drag out a little gag and wouldn't add any real meaning to it all. I mean, surely the jest was simple and plain enough as is, what value could that extra bit add? Alas, how wrong I was...
BTW, another aspect of the French that gets continually mocked is the stereotypical "holier than thou" attitude. No idea where that one comes from, really...
Seems to me one of the best things you can do is explain exactly how much technical support they have right now. List out all of the duties you are performing and give ballparks for how many hours you spend on each any given week or month. List separately what the traveling SysAdmin's duties are, and hours devoted to each. For good measure, give a couple of common emergency scenarios, and what it would take to dig out from under them. Remind them that they soon won't have anyone doing your set of tasks. You're also going to have to give an idea how much someone filling that job can expect to ask for compensation, of course keeping in mind that there is a salary gap between the academic and the corporate world. Still, quote both ranges.
Having never made a presentation like this to a school board, I can't give you much advice as far as format goes, I'm afraid. But as far as content goes, it sounds like you've got a good start on it already. Hopefully you'll at least convince them to increase their staff, if not create a full time position. Maybe consider alternative setups - can they get by with a part time SysAdmin, and a full time Asst. Sysadmin, or Operator type position at lower pay?
(* Profuse apologies: impugning the valour of anything French, including metrics, on american-run sites is, seemingly, de rigueur.)
Actually, it's more directed towards anything uniquely, or at least characteristically French. Since the metric system is much more widely used than in just France. So, Metric gets a pass on being classified as one of those "French things" to be mocked. No, we mock the metric system as one of those "European things", which operates on a different scale altogether - fewer cheese-eating surrender-monkey references, for one.
For those keeping score at home....
on
Censoring a Number
·
· Score: 5, Funny
The score so far:
Posts mentioning the infamous hex 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0: 25
Posts remarking how they have the same number as their luggage combination: 5
Actually, the first thing that occurred to me was "What about the ability to resell the program?" It seems to me that, from the standpoint of the development house, maintaining the copyright is a means to prevent the client from going out and reselling your work, in all or part, and basically shutting them out from other potential clients. It would suck to be underbid by someone else legally reselling your own work.
I'll agree with almost everyone else here and agree that this sort of thing really should have been dealt with in the contract agreement. How was that not part of the bargaining process? Copyright control of the product would be a major factor in the price charge/paid for in any deal, from how I see it.
I was wondering the same thing. Did they run into some silly copyright issue? Did they decide this is more aesthetically pleasing? Surely they didn't think this was more intuitive... I've looked around a bit, but not found an answer yet.
My sites rotate full rotation in about 24 hours with respect to the Sun, depending slightly on the season. Average rotation with respect to far star background is 23 h 56 m 4.091 s.
The Progression and Evolution of a Smart-Ass Reply:
First Iteration: "Well, you obviously haven't heard of my Mars-based colo startup..."
Second Iteration, after considering the original statement a bit more: "Actually, with respect to the sun, your normal sites only proceed through approximately 1/365 of a rotation. With respect to Earth's access, however, a full rotation in about 24 hours is about right."
What we learned from this: Well, I'd say that accurate facts do not necessarily increase the humor of a premise, but admittedly this one wasn't very funny to begin with.*
* By this one, I meant the first iteration of the reply, not the parent post. Of course, this clarification can be viewed as further justification of the previously stated theory.
Yeah, I too have just about every Doubleclick server blocked on my browsers. I'm just hoping that they keep the Doubleclick functions separate from MS servers. Unfortunately, I have legitimate needs to visit MS sites, and it would be a pain if I had to go and start blocking various MS subdomains just to keep some of the more nefarious pop-ups at bay.
It's called an "ilo SDTV", the "sdtv" being some bastardization of HDTV that means "ATSC tuner with a plain old tube that displays 600 lines per second instead of 500"
Actually, it means "Standard-Definition Television", which is just the plain-old 480i you've always been getting over the air. It's just given a shiny new acronym so the local electronics store can still sell them alongside all them fancy HDTVs and such.
It's a common practice. My GF actually worked in the customer service call center for a credit card for a while, and as long as this isn't your umpteenth late payment or something like that, they have a lot of leeway to help you out. Just remember to be polite and moderately charming when you call - the mood of the person who picks up that call will have a fair amount in whether you actually receive help or a stone wall.
Not only does removing the late fee generate a lot of good will and customer loyalty, it also makes more financial sense. True, those cust. serv. reps aren't making huge amounts of cash, but when it comes to the difference between paying them to talk to a bitching customer for an hour (that hourly wage pplus the benefits, remember) in order to collect a $15 late fee, it just makes more sense to cute the customer some slack and just collect from the poor schmuck that isn't trying to fight it.
And some of us think those optional "services" are all irrelevant, much like the menu fades and "glass" (transparency) features touted as a reason to upgrade to a new OS.
And thus we are introduced to the/. addendum to Godwin's Law:
"As the length of any thread on Slashdot increases, the probability of a comparison involving Microsoft and/or Bill Gates approaches one."
They are one company now, but they've done almost nothing in integrating the two separate networks. Trust me, there's a reason they went and came out with a hybrid Sprint/Nextel phone.
The latest chapter of GuildWars, Nightfall, is set in a Northern African inspired area of the GW world, has quite a few positive black and vaguely Arab/Mediterranean characters. Now, as the protagonist in an RPG, you get your standard character customization, but it seems to me they included more options for the various ethnicities one would expect to find in North Africa (then again, it may just be me; of course, I also thought the Factions chapter included more Asian ethnic options as well, which is appropriate given the Asian theme of that chapter). So, you don't have to be a black character, but a number of your comrades, allies and such are, and are cast in the role of hero alongside your own in a fantasy setting. And the thing is, none of them are really ethnically stereotyped, and if you're not paying a lot of attention, it's easy to overlook while playing. In short, I really like the way they handled it in game.
Actually, a good VPN and secure connections to the important servers are on the todo list now... And when that happens, I'll be telecommuting on a regular basis. However, I really don't like the idea of lugging a laptop around everywhere - my current one is pretty old and weighs a metric buttload, and I just don't use it enough to justify buying a new one myself, nor do I want the obligation that comes when your employer buys one for you. I'm seeing this as a nice middle ground.
If you allow your Blackberry or whatever PDA/Smartphone you have to become nothing more than an extended leash, then yes, that is what is going to happen. Myself, I'm the sole IT guy for a small business. I've recently picked one of these up to reduce the time I have to spend in the office - or, more precisely, the time I have to spend coming in to fix whatever blew up. I'm hoping to reduce the times I have to make the half-hour drive into work just to spend an hour or less in the office and drive a half-hour back home.
I loved that Dead Rising simply gave me a maul, a chainsaw and an army of zombies.
I can't decide if this is a typo or not. I know it takes place in a MALL, as in a shopping center, but I haven't played the game, so I'm a little short on details. I know it's known for giving you a wide variety of weapons, but is a MAUL, as in a large two-handed warhammer, one of them? Or does any large impromptu bludgeoning device count? Is this a typo, a clever play on words, or an unintended pun?
Slashdot Mirror
Eh, we'd just have to come in on Saturday to fix the crap that broke while we were out on Friday. [/sarcasm]
You must not be familiar with the blurring of job descriptions that happens in a small business. On the bright side, you have no 2 AM phone calls over emergency network failures to deal with. But sorry, no trade from me...
Don't go thinking that, because I have a Shiny Red Ball* and you don't, that means no one should have a ball. Go find your won Shiny Red Ball. I say you should go forth and press for your own day. "National Janitorial Services Day", or whatever you want to call it. Hell, I'd support it.
* Or Shiny New Car, or Fancy Career, or Higher Education, or whatever spiffy neato that you are coveting.
As the entire IT department for a small/medium business, even a general "IT Appreciation Day" would be nice.
If you've got nothing to hide, then you won't mind taking off your clothes for me.
Don't know about how well it works in a realm of debate and discourse, but so far it hasn't gotten me anything but slapped in the singles bars.
Not at all... they just compared the woman to the tiny notebook computer.
And no, I've never thought of logic as being circular, more as a rectangle... er, why do you ask?
Odd... Every bit of HTML I attempted to use didn't render. Fun. I understand that SUP isn't an allowed tag, but I though A was...
Anyways, here's some of it again:
http://www.google.com/search?q=10**6
http://www.google.com/search?q=10%5E6
10**6
10^6
Eh, close enough. To be fair, I should have just said 106 and 220 to begin with.
Actually, I was quite aware of it. In fact, I was also considering the use of the French language as another example akin to the metric system (really, it isn't the language that gets mocked, but rather the particular dialect one finds in France). I was all set to go on about how the French Canadians and the Cajuns down south both get mocked for their language, with little to no reference to the country of France, but I thought to myself that surely such a reference would just drag out a little gag and wouldn't add any real meaning to it all. I mean, surely the jest was simple and plain enough as is, what value could that extra bit add? Alas, how wrong I was...
BTW, another aspect of the French that gets continually mocked is the stereotypical "holier than thou" attitude. No idea where that one comes from, really...
Seems to me one of the best things you can do is explain exactly how much technical support they have right now. List out all of the duties you are performing and give ballparks for how many hours you spend on each any given week or month. List separately what the traveling SysAdmin's duties are, and hours devoted to each. For good measure, give a couple of common emergency scenarios, and what it would take to dig out from under them. Remind them that they soon won't have anyone doing your set of tasks. You're also going to have to give an idea how much someone filling that job can expect to ask for compensation, of course keeping in mind that there is a salary gap between the academic and the corporate world. Still, quote both ranges.
Having never made a presentation like this to a school board, I can't give you much advice as far as format goes, I'm afraid. But as far as content goes, it sounds like you've got a good start on it already. Hopefully you'll at least convince them to increase their staff, if not create a full time position. Maybe consider alternative setups - can they get by with a part time SysAdmin, and a full time Asst. Sysadmin, or Operator type position at lower pay?
Good luck with your endeavors...
Actually, it's more directed towards anything uniquely, or at least characteristically French. Since the metric system is much more widely used than in just France. So, Metric gets a pass on being classified as one of those "French things" to be mocked. No, we mock the metric system as one of those "European things", which operates on a different scale altogether - fewer cheese-eating surrender-monkey references, for one.
The score so far:
Posts mentioning the infamous hex 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0: 25
Posts remarking how they have the same number as their luggage combination: 5
Stay tuned, folks, the game ain't over yet!
Actually, the first thing that occurred to me was "What about the ability to resell the program?" It seems to me that, from the standpoint of the development house, maintaining the copyright is a means to prevent the client from going out and reselling your work, in all or part, and basically shutting them out from other potential clients. It would suck to be underbid by someone else legally reselling your own work.
I'll agree with almost everyone else here and agree that this sort of thing really should have been dealt with in the contract agreement. How was that not part of the bargaining process? Copyright control of the product would be a major factor in the price charge/paid for in any deal, from how I see it.
I was wondering the same thing. Did they run into some silly copyright issue? Did they decide this is more aesthetically pleasing? Surely they didn't think this was more intuitive... I've looked around a bit, but not found an answer yet.
The Progression and Evolution of a Smart-Ass Reply:
First Iteration: "Well, you obviously haven't heard of my Mars-based colo startup..."
Second Iteration, after considering the original statement a bit more: "Actually, with respect to the sun, your normal sites only proceed through approximately 1/365 of a rotation. With respect to Earth's access, however, a full rotation in about 24 hours is about right."
What we learned from this: Well, I'd say that accurate facts do not necessarily increase the humor of a premise, but admittedly this one wasn't very funny to begin with.*
* By this one, I meant the first iteration of the reply, not the parent post. Of course, this clarification can be viewed as further justification of the previously stated theory.
Yeah, I too have just about every Doubleclick server blocked on my browsers. I'm just hoping that they keep the Doubleclick functions separate from MS servers. Unfortunately, I have legitimate needs to visit MS sites, and it would be a pain if I had to go and start blocking various MS subdomains just to keep some of the more nefarious pop-ups at bay.
Actually, it means "Standard-Definition Television", which is just the plain-old 480i you've always been getting over the air. It's just given a shiny new acronym so the local electronics store can still sell them alongside all them fancy HDTVs and such.
It's a common practice. My GF actually worked in the customer service call center for a credit card for a while, and as long as this isn't your umpteenth late payment or something like that, they have a lot of leeway to help you out. Just remember to be polite and moderately charming when you call - the mood of the person who picks up that call will have a fair amount in whether you actually receive help or a stone wall.
Not only does removing the late fee generate a lot of good will and customer loyalty, it also makes more financial sense. True, those cust. serv. reps aren't making huge amounts of cash, but when it comes to the difference between paying them to talk to a bitching customer for an hour (that hourly wage pplus the benefits, remember) in order to collect a $15 late fee, it just makes more sense to cute the customer some slack and just collect from the poor schmuck that isn't trying to fight it.
And thus we are introduced to the /. addendum to Godwin's Law:
"As the length of any thread on Slashdot increases, the probability of a comparison involving Microsoft and/or Bill Gates approaches one."
Spoken like someone who isn't a Nextel customer.
They are one company now, but they've done almost nothing in integrating the two separate networks. Trust me, there's a reason they went and came out with a hybrid Sprint/Nextel phone.
The latest chapter of GuildWars, Nightfall, is set in a Northern African inspired area of the GW world, has quite a few positive black and vaguely Arab/Mediterranean characters. Now, as the protagonist in an RPG, you get your standard character customization, but it seems to me they included more options for the various ethnicities one would expect to find in North Africa (then again, it may just be me; of course, I also thought the Factions chapter included more Asian ethnic options as well, which is appropriate given the Asian theme of that chapter). So, you don't have to be a black character, but a number of your comrades, allies and such are, and are cast in the role of hero alongside your own in a fantasy setting. And the thing is, none of them are really ethnically stereotyped, and if you're not paying a lot of attention, it's easy to overlook while playing. In short, I really like the way they handled it in game.
Actually, a good VPN and secure connections to the important servers are on the todo list now... And when that happens, I'll be telecommuting on a regular basis. However, I really don't like the idea of lugging a laptop around everywhere - my current one is pretty old and weighs a metric buttload, and I just don't use it enough to justify buying a new one myself, nor do I want the obligation that comes when your employer buys one for you. I'm seeing this as a nice middle ground.
If you allow your Blackberry or whatever PDA/Smartphone you have to become nothing more than an extended leash, then yes, that is what is going to happen. Myself, I'm the sole IT guy for a small business. I've recently picked one of these up to reduce the time I have to spend in the office - or, more precisely, the time I have to spend coming in to fix whatever blew up. I'm hoping to reduce the times I have to make the half-hour drive into work just to spend an hour or less in the office and drive a half-hour back home.
I can't decide if this is a typo or not. I know it takes place in a MALL, as in a shopping center, but I haven't played the game, so I'm a little short on details. I know it's known for giving you a wide variety of weapons, but is a MAUL, as in a large two-handed warhammer, one of them? Or does any large impromptu bludgeoning device count? Is this a typo, a clever play on words, or an unintended pun?