delay any future requests from people that waste your time. I.E. panic requests "drop everything, I need this done now."
When the truth is " I don't need it for a week & it isn't on the plan until either,
but I want to go into the meeting today & report it done"
Avoid meetings, any meeting over 30 minutes & 5 people to usually low value.
Make sure your customer knows what they can do to make your life easier. I.E. like budget time & money for installs/testing.
not waiting until 11:15 to report a problem, so you can work thru lunch.
learn Perl (& Python)
watch the problems and look for the root cause.
a couple of scripts & simple documentation go a long way.
Try to always put your stuff in a very easy to find location.
i.e. If it doesn't almost jump in front of the user/help desk it is in the wrong place.
Document the top 10 things that go wrong with an app/process & have a solution. A simple trouble shooting guide for the help line/web site is a good thing.
have a to-do list for your own use.
Go on vacation and be unavailable for a least a week. You will find out how far ahead of the chaos you are. And your boss & users will get a that too. This has lead me to budget for tools/training, extra manpower, & a new job(once). Getting fired was ok, I found out later they go thru SA's very quickly. I learned a lot of things to avoid & how to spot them in the interview process.
Always read the new BOFH !!! Ya can't live it, but an idle fantasy is alway fun too.
And you need to keep your technical knowledge up to date. It is easy to be pigeon holed. People that can program & think are always going to have a job.
But, You must be able to live on what you make. And risk deserves future money/stock (in writing).
I am 8 months into a sabbatical and buying a new BMW (1200GS/Adventure)motorcycle. Going to travel the US this year. Rode 12,000 miles last year on a borrowed bike (Harley). It was so much fun, the harley owner is going with for 2 months (Alaska).
My resume is up to date and so is my experience. But, After 25 years I needed a break. The last few years of psycho customers,politics, & marketing folks. On top of mergers & bankruptcy.
I wasn't tied to my salary ( I live way below my means).
I saved for the rainy day, & it's raining somewhere today !
See your smiling face in the mirror.
A highschool wiz can do macros cheaper. Move while its your choice
The clueless are people
- that do not have the experience
- do no research
- do not keep up to date on developments in the field
- do not think about the vapor ware level marketing stuff in the trade paper
- do not try to look at the up side and down side of all choices
The stupid are the people afraid to say "I don't know" and/or go learn more about it.
I don't think users should design programs. Programmers are bad at system administration. Database Admins are not storage administrators. Unix systems admins don't design the WAN/LAN.
I know the limits of my knowledge, but I hate dealing with people who don't.
I have worked as a System admin on Vax,Unix,IBM MVS & others for years. I have programmed for tools & systems work thru that time also. I have setup and help run 1000 FC port/200+ terabyte SANs. I have ran projects deploying software/hardware for enterprises (fortune 500).
I don't design WANs, user interfaces,budgets, and quite a few other areas.
But I do debug a lot of screwed up performance and design issues. Some I have had to fix too many of them, just before full scale production rollout. When you ask questions about why something was done a certain way, a pattern usually develops.
A cluess person/commitee was the source.
I don't develop my plans without knowledge, dicusssion, schedule. There is a reason IT projects fail at a high rate.
Being smarter than the average (genius+) and working for the clueless and/or stupid is frustrating. I have had too many experiences with a project leader (not my boss) that goes with a group decision. If the majority don't vote for it, it don't go. And in a crowd where everyone votes and no one abstains (don't want to say they don't understand the question/solution). I find the quicker, cheaper, doesn't make any work for that person is the choice.
Doesn't matter if is a long term bad choice.
Being a unix systems/ SAN guy I will say almost everytime I have been forced (out numbered 75:1) to involve the programming managers & (non systems) programmers they have tried to choose a bad option.
When I have to present options, I have 5 & only show 4.
1. Gold plated fault tolerant solution that is never picked. too $$$ and not timely. 2. Highly available solution that changes little in software complexity.
multiple the hardware & testing by about 2.5 to 3 times.
Using technology already in production use at that company.
And some new stuff they should be using to replace problem sw & hw. 3. very solid solution that is easy to support.
proven software & hardware with all new tech in non-critical areas. 4. a solution that is supportable by the production guys if it must be.
but, is a in a form most of the group will know, adds a lot of time & trouble to the software development effort.
The never shown option is 5. build it with surplus hardware & only free software, with a very small team crufting a minimal amount of code & scripts to implement the 80% of the original features that are really needed.
Option 2 is almost always picked on important mission critical projects Option 3 is picked on business critical projects. Option 4 projects are usually failed projects, but we do learn a lot from them.
This is NOT the cheapest way to do a project, but you get one that is capable of being supported in a production environment.
Option 5 is the cheapest and quickest but not supportable in production. I have ran them, but it has alway been a head banging, sleepless, nasty process. Good for a rapid prototype used in house only, by people wise enough to learn enough to build a good design/feature set/requirement from it and scrap the prototype quickly.
Yes, I am a BOFH fan & learning to never work for a company that is NOT technology driven and underfunded (in cash or brains).
P.S. "microsoft sucks" and is never a production ready solution in my plans. I hate using it beyond desktop support (desktops and file & print servers). If more than 50 people yell if it down for a day, then it better not be microsoft.
1) small issue
2) add media hype
3) lawyers smell money
4) lobbyists are engaged by "action" committees
5) stupid law proposed
6) uproar over stupid law
7) more reasonable law drafted ( but still stupid at the core )
8) law added as a rider to another issue
9) government claims needs additonal money
10) TAXES
11) new organization created
12) GRAFT for new pile of money
13) public is still at risk and no real change on the original issue
Don't protect us from personal issues,
like porn, abortion, smoking, seat belts, helmet laws.
Protect us from groups too big for an individual,
like stock fraud, organized crime, lawyers, robber barrons,
war mongers, RIAA,.
The underlying code open or not is just the implmentation.
And some implentatoins have different switches on the commands.
Like BSD,Irix,SYS V5, didn't
Sticking to a design (what UNIX standard, POSIX?) is the bigger issue in my opinion.
But the end result is the same.
"Everything is a file" ( read,write,block or char)
600 systems & 2500 drives is only a 4.11 drive per system average. I think the modular midrange storage systems from IBM,EMC,HP etc. would look pretty reasonable.
And I wasn't able to RTFA yet, but the connections would be a problem for 600 systems. Fiber channel, scsi,network, ?
I arrived late and sat middle front in 5th row, because I could sit anywhere I wanted.
NO LINES, only about 25% of capacity in the showing I saw.
Definitely a one of the better movies in the series..
I would rank it behind Episode 4 (Star Wars) & 5 (Empire). But 6 (Revenge/Return of the Jedi) had better acting, this one has better effects and about equal story.
And how many other things are "illegal" in silly ways.
Resisting arrest (too many ways to list),
spitting (attempted murder in OK, if target is the police),
child abuse ( ask your state social service for a written defintion)
( and then think about how vague it is.)
terrorisim ( look at the patriot act abuse cases )
property seizure ( money & property can be seized with ever being charged)
( let alone convicted )
( and with no requirements to ever be returned )
Remember the "we were wrong" retractions in the newspapers are
usually short and buried deep on pages that are not likely to be read.
missing options.
E. check his wallet for cash.
F. almost all of the above A, C, & D.
I always answer no to am I certified.
Most of what I do is so new there is no certification.
And most of the ones that ask, are asking about MCSE type certs.
Why would I want to take a lower paying job using something I hate
to recommend, use or keep running (in production).
I am sure the masses will make some choices that cause problems. But, I don't think the overlords/government are the solution.
On the question of parenting tests.
How many young people are ready to be parents ? Too many only start being responsible once the parenthood begins. Some people at prenancy, birth or soon after.
Education ? Whose opinion is right ? Cultural, educational, financial, & lots of other differences are there.
Are you sure you want the political process to tell you how to raise your child ? gay, vegans, right wing bible thumpers? Just think about all the issues we wrangle with today. You want to offer your kids, (our future) to that ?
I have been there, and I really do not think it is a good choice.
My son is currently failing high school, living with his mother. He was expected to graduate was this year, but grades & required work are not happening.
He was getting much better grades while living with me (10+years). But, the government got involved when he started stealing, truancy, and being as big of a problem as he could be at home.
And they got involved because I punished him for his behaviour. The house rules were clear & simple. He went out of his way to break them. And simple groundings, talking, allowance reduction never slowed him down.
Now rather than trying to steal, lie & avoid doing any homework to play nintendo/computer games with his "friends" at my house.
He runs around dirty, stinky in clothes that are the same, avoiding his mother & homework while playing games without his friends.
And his mother does very little to change think, but is planning on kicking him out at 18 in less than 5 months.
He will be a good candidate for the minimum job/welfare state. Probally a stint in the armed services, jail time, 2 or 3 divorces, and then he might understand a little.
Have something that runs around avoid edges while searching
for a loose block. Anything mildly interesting with a a bit
of logic.
Have the program printed out (big letters) and a few xerox
copies. (show support for open source)
Include build instructions & equipment list with supplies.
A computer with the IDE for a visual demo would be a plus.
1) Make all people think happy thoughts when they see the MS logo.
1.1) for best results start at birth
1.2) induce unhappyness when seeing other brand logos
Are you kids demanding MS compatable breakfast food, bowl & spoon.
And throw a fit if the milk has a dairy logo on it?
Upgrade now to the new MS Milk !
Available at you local MS-Mart (subscription service required)
Having enough cash in the bank to not work for a year or more is cool.
I have quit a couple of jobs because of "the new plan". The plan was too get rid of all the legacy apps & use an ERP. Basically they picked all the wrong hardware & software for the wrong reasons. Then fired almost all the programming management staff & promoted the brown nosers to group managers/team leads.
I started looking within a day of the annoucement (of they software/hardware choice).
I believed that Peoplesoft running an IBM SP2 was going to make for a costly, ugly, & rough environment.
Mostly because, I didn't think they had the style to run the app & not customize it. And the management was setting up for a death march style project & were making a lot of moves early.
Three years later I heard from my replacement (Unix SA / Technical Arch). They had just crossed a budgetary threshold that I had estimated (14mil). Their estimate was 1/2 of mine. And the app was not deployed yet. That was attempt number 3.
8 months later that SA was fired for following a direct order from his senior management. The new ERP app was still in development, but the legacy apps in production were using the new tape library backup system. He expired a number of older tapes after voicing his objection to the move. Senior manager said, "do it because I said so, I am the one being paid to think"
That nights backups used some of the tapes.
And the next morning, a development lead decided that they had to restore a large part of the ERP. Some logical corruption in the DB.
Well, Your in charge of the backups, your fired. (says the manager who demanded the tapes be expired)
The guy got a new job within 2 weeks at 1.7x of his original salary.
Slashdot Mirror
delay any future requests from people that waste your time.
I.E. panic requests "drop everything, I need this done now."
When the truth is " I don't need it for a week & it isn't on the plan until either,
but I want to go into the meeting today & report it done"
Avoid meetings, any meeting over 30 minutes & 5 people to usually low value.
Make sure your customer knows what they can do to make your life easier.
I.E. like budget time & money for installs/testing.
not waiting until 11:15 to report a problem, so you can work thru lunch.
learn Perl (& Python)
watch the problems and look for the root cause.
a couple of scripts & simple documentation go a long way.
Try to always put your stuff in a very easy to find location.
i.e. If it doesn't almost jump in front of the user/help desk it is in the wrong place.
Document the top 10 things that go wrong with an app/process & have a solution.
A simple trouble shooting guide for the help line/web site is a good thing.
have a to-do list for your own use.
Go on vacation and be unavailable for a least a week.
You will find out how far ahead of the chaos you are.
And your boss & users will get a that too.
This has lead me to budget for tools/training, extra manpower, & a new job(once).
Getting fired was ok, I found out later they go thru SA's very quickly.
I learned a lot of things to avoid & how to spot them in the interview process.
Always read the new BOFH !!!
Ya can't live it, but an idle fantasy is alway fun too.
Life is too short not to enjoy it.
How many good years ya got left ?
And you need to keep your technical knowledge up to date.
It is easy to be pigeon holed.
People that can program & think are always going to have a job.
But, You must be able to live on what you make.
And risk deserves future money/stock (in writing).
I am 8 months into a sabbatical and buying a new BMW (1200GS/Adventure)motorcycle.
Going to travel the US this year.
Rode 12,000 miles last year on a borrowed bike (Harley).
It was so much fun, the harley owner is going with for 2 months (Alaska).
My resume is up to date and so is my experience.
But, After 25 years I needed a break.
The last few years of psycho customers,politics, & marketing folks.
On top of mergers & bankruptcy.
I wasn't tied to my salary ( I live way below my means).
I saved for the rainy day, & it's raining somewhere today !
See your smiling face in the mirror.
A highschool wiz can do macros cheaper.
Move while its your choice
that's the point.
keep your projects from failing and avoid doomed projects when you can.
it is a good thing to know how to avoid a failure.
Wisdom is knowing that you don't know it all.
And some things you don't know enough to have an opinion.
Just watch the next dozsen failed projects around your work and try figure out why they failed. ( or considered failures anyway )
You will probally see quite a few things in common with each failure.
I like some of the Peter Drucker & Steve McConnell books for
learning what some experts say.
I think you can learn more from a failure/struggle than from a easy sucess.
I didn't mean to ramble quite this long on the subject,
but I had the time.
I have scored on the IQ tests to that level 140+.
The clueless are people
- that do not have the experience
- do no research
- do not keep up to date on developments in the field
- do not think about the vapor ware level marketing stuff in the trade paper
- do not try to look at the up side and down side of all choices
The stupid are the people afraid to say "I don't know" and/or go learn more about it.
I don't think users should design programs.
Programmers are bad at system administration.
Database Admins are not storage administrators.
Unix systems admins don't design the WAN/LAN.
I know the limits of my knowledge, but I hate dealing with people who don't.
I have worked as a System admin on Vax,Unix,IBM MVS & others for years.
I have programmed for tools & systems work thru that time also.
I have setup and help run 1000 FC port/200+ terabyte SANs.
I have ran projects deploying software/hardware for enterprises (fortune 500).
I don't design WANs, user interfaces,budgets, and quite a few other areas.
But I do debug a lot of screwed up performance and design issues.
Some I have had to fix too many of them, just before full scale production rollout.
When you ask questions about why something was done a certain way, a pattern usually develops.
A cluess person/commitee was the source.
I don't develop my plans without knowledge, dicusssion, schedule.
There is a reason IT projects fail at a high rate.
And it isn't me.
Being smarter than the average (genius+) and working for the clueless and/or stupid is frustrating. I have had too many experiences with a project leader (not my boss) that goes with a group decision. If the majority don't vote for it, it don't go. And in a crowd where everyone votes and no one abstains (don't want to say they don't understand the question/solution). I find the quicker, cheaper, doesn't make any work for that person is the choice.
Doesn't matter if is a long term bad choice.
Being a unix systems/ SAN guy I will say almost everytime I have been forced (out numbered 75:1) to involve the programming managers & (non systems) programmers they have tried to choose a bad option.
When I have to present options, I have 5 & only show 4.
1. Gold plated fault tolerant solution that is never picked. too $$$ and not timely.
2. Highly available solution that changes little in software complexity.
multiple the hardware & testing by about 2.5 to 3 times.
Using technology already in production use at that company.
And some new stuff they should be using to replace problem sw & hw.
3. very solid solution that is easy to support.
proven software & hardware with all new tech in non-critical areas.
4. a solution that is supportable by the production guys if it must be.
but, is a in a form most of the group will know, adds a lot of time & trouble to the software development effort.
The never shown option is 5. build it with surplus hardware & only free software, with a very small team crufting a minimal amount of code & scripts
to implement the 80% of the original features that are really needed.
Option 2 is almost always picked on important mission critical projects
Option 3 is picked on business critical projects.
Option 4 projects are usually failed projects, but we do learn a lot from them.
This is NOT the cheapest way to do a project, but you get one that is capable of being supported in a production environment.
Option 5 is the cheapest and quickest but not supportable in production.
I have ran them, but it has alway been a head banging, sleepless, nasty process.
Good for a rapid prototype used in house only, by people wise enough to learn enough to build a good design/feature set/requirement from it and scrap the prototype quickly.
Yes, I am a BOFH fan & learning to never work for a company that is NOT technology driven and underfunded (in cash or brains).
P.S. "microsoft sucks" and is never a production ready solution in my plans.
I hate using it beyond desktop support (desktops and file & print servers).
If more than 50 people yell if it down for a day, then it better not be microsoft.
1) small issue
2) add media hype
3) lawyers smell money
4) lobbyists are engaged by "action" committees
5) stupid law proposed
6) uproar over stupid law
7) more reasonable law drafted ( but still stupid at the core )
8) law added as a rider to another issue
9) government claims needs additonal money
10) TAXES
11) new organization created
12) GRAFT for new pile of money
13) public is still at risk and no real change on the original issue
Don't protect us from personal issues,
like porn, abortion, smoking, seat belts, helmet laws.
Protect us from groups too big for an individual,
like stock fraud, organized crime, lawyers, robber barrons,
war mongers, RIAA,.
This is a distinction I do NOT understand.
The underlying code open or not is just the implmentation.
And some implentatoins have different switches on the commands.
Like BSD,Irix,SYS V5, didn't
Sticking to a design (what UNIX standard, POSIX?) is the bigger issue in my opinion.
But the end result is the same.
"Everything is a file" ( read,write,block or char)
Or is there really a major difference ?
3 minutes is about how long my short term memory timeout value is.
if I am interrupted every three minutes by a 3 minute call/task.
Then spend a minute or so remembering what I was doing and getting back to it.
I work only 1/3 of the time.
66% raise !
And our glorious leader still sounds like an idiot.
I think the US foreign policies, giving money to support governments, to support our countries big business is a major part of the problem.
"Follow the money" there is graft & corruption in this.
HP Invent ---- Isn't that hard without inventors ?
I work with SAN storage a lot at work.
And I was just did some math.
600 systems & 2500 drives is only a 4.11 drive per system average.
I think the modular midrange storage systems from IBM,EMC,HP etc. would look pretty reasonable.
And I wasn't able to RTFA yet, but the connections would be a problem for 600 systems.
Fiber channel, scsi,network, ?
Read up on how a child's brain develops !
My opinion is the fast changing images in TV and computer games is a major problem to the development of a child's brain.
TV is not a babysitter & a computer is no subsitute for hands on physical play.
I saw it this afternoon @ 2pm...
I arrived late and sat middle front in 5th row, because I could sit anywhere I wanted.
NO LINES, only about 25% of capacity in the showing I saw.
Definitely a one of the better movies in the series..
I would rank it behind Episode 4 (Star Wars) & 5 (Empire).
But 6 (Revenge/Return of the Jedi) had better acting, this one has better effects and about equal story.
And how many other things are "illegal" in silly ways.
Resisting arrest (too many ways to list),
spitting (attempted murder in OK, if target is the police),
child abuse ( ask your state social service for a written defintion)
( and then think about how vague it is.)
terrorisim ( look at the patriot act abuse cases )
property seizure ( money & property can be seized with ever being charged)
( let alone convicted )
( and with no requirements to ever be returned )
Remember the "we were wrong" retractions in the newspapers are
usually short and buried deep on pages that are not likely to be read.
missing options.
E. check his wallet for cash.
F. almost all of the above A, C, & D.
I always answer no to am I certified.
Most of what I do is so new there is no certification.
And most of the ones that ask, are asking about MCSE type certs.
Why would I want to take a lower paying job using something I hate
to recommend, use or keep running (in production).
Supply & Demand....
People in line show demand....
Look for the theater to supply the movie....
It's not like it's hard to do....
Remember a fool and his money are soon parted....
It is either the random nonsense generator rebooting
or the the infinite amount of monkeys are on a break
Help !! The monkeys are NOT on break !
They have taken over as the management of this company...
Must now go get a bananna for my new hairy simian overload
I also think hands off on the gender decision.
I am sure the masses will make some choices that cause problems.
But, I don't think the overlords/government are the solution.
On the question of parenting tests.
How many young people are ready to be parents ?
Too many only start being responsible once the parenthood begins.
Some people at prenancy, birth or soon after.
Education ? Whose opinion is right ?
Cultural, educational, financial, & lots of other differences are there.
Are you sure you want the political process to tell you how to raise your child ?
gay, vegans, right wing bible thumpers?
Just think about all the issues we wrangle with today.
You want to offer your kids, (our future) to that ?
I have been there, and I really do not think it is a good choice.
My son is currently failing high school, living with his mother.
He was expected to graduate was this year, but grades & required work
are not happening.
He was getting much better grades while living with me (10+years).
But, the government got involved when he started stealing, truancy,
and being as big of a problem as he could be at home.
And they got involved because I punished him for his behaviour.
The house rules were clear & simple.
He went out of his way to break them.
And simple groundings, talking, allowance reduction never slowed him down.
Now rather than trying to steal, lie & avoid doing any homework to
play nintendo/computer games with his "friends" at my house.
He runs around dirty, stinky in clothes that are the same, avoiding
his mother & homework while playing games without his friends.
And his mother does very little to change think, but is planning on
kicking him out at 18 in less than 5 months.
He will be a good candidate for the minimum job/welfare state.
Probally a stint in the armed services, jail time, 2 or 3 divorces,
and then he might understand a little.
Legos !
The programmable Lego kits are kid magnets.
I.E. "toys"
Have something that runs around avoid edges while searching
for a loose block. Anything mildly interesting with a a bit
of logic.
Have the program printed out (big letters) and a few xerox
copies. (show support for open source)
Include build instructions & equipment list with supplies.
A computer with the IDE for a visual demo would be a plus.
Remember George Bush likes to invade countries....
Would a boycott be economic terrorism ?
This is just another group of Politicians seeing a pile of money and wanting to get some.
Create some fee,tax,commission, etc and you have a pile of money to graft & spent.
Free trade is a concept, but regulated & taexed trade is the goal.
I think there are few things the US government does does in the free trade area that do NOT ultimately hurt US consumers & business.
Protectionism,tariffs and such are drastic measures and should be used sparingly.
Competition is generally a good thing.
After all, selling something and not delivering, intentionally misleading, etc online auction scams are already crimes.
But the international & anonymous aspects of the internet scare the Politicians because it extends beyond their borders.
So tax & grab power is their answer.
Limit the US Government budget to less than 5% of the GNP.
It worked for the majority of this countries history.
1) Make all people think happy thoughts when they see the MS logo.
1.1) for best results start at birth
1.2) induce unhappyness when seeing other brand logos
Are you kids demanding MS compatable breakfast food, bowl & spoon.
And throw a fit if the milk has a dairy logo on it?
Upgrade now to the new MS Milk !
Available at you local MS-Mart (subscription service required)
Nice move.
I like your style.
Having enough cash in the bank to not work for a year or more is cool.
I have quit a couple of jobs because of "the new plan".
The plan was too get rid of all the legacy apps & use an ERP.
Basically they picked all the wrong hardware & software for the wrong reasons.
Then fired almost all the programming management staff &
promoted the brown nosers to group managers/team leads.
I started looking within a day of the annoucement (of they software/hardware choice).
I believed that Peoplesoft running an IBM SP2 was going to
make for a costly, ugly, & rough environment.
Mostly because, I didn't think they had the style to run the app &
not customize it.
And the management was setting up for a death march style project
& were making a lot of moves early.
Three years later I heard from my replacement (Unix SA / Technical Arch).
They had just crossed a budgetary threshold that I had estimated (14mil).
Their estimate was 1/2 of mine.
And the app was not deployed yet.
That was attempt number 3.
8 months later that SA was fired for following a direct order from his senior management.
The new ERP app was still in development, but the legacy apps in production were using the new tape library backup system.
He expired a number of older tapes after voicing his objection to the move.
Senior manager said, "do it because I said so, I am the one being paid to think"
That nights backups used some of the tapes.
And the next morning, a development lead decided that they had to restore a large part of the ERP.
Some logical corruption in the DB.
Well, Your in charge of the backups, your fired.
(says the manager who demanded the tapes be expired)
The guy got a new job within 2 weeks at 1.7x of his original salary.
But, Try running the JVM on non-Sun hardware.
Your mileage will vary greatly.
The run anywhere language is NOT nearly as reliable on other platforms.
You would think a test suite for quality should be required.
Memory leaks, default configrations, benchmarking speed tests have be some of my challenges.