I would recommend looking into the Universal Devices ISY994 and Insteon line if you have a spouse. Keeps the marriage going better... doesn't leak data.
A big part is expectations-- a point for a commercial install will generally run $1,000 for parts, smarts, and install. Residential is generally much lower, closer to $150-200 all told.
I use Insteon, which is about $50 per control point for parts. I use a Universal Devices ISY994i which is about $300 with networking support and z-wave plus the Insteon power line modem. The setup can be completely firewalled from the Internet. I use it to control line voltage lights via plug or dimmer, Philips Hue lights, Sonos, and some other stuff. The system has been reliable, with IIRC 3 components failing over the past three years out of about 20 total.
I am also playing with OpenHAB, however it needs internet access and has miserable security infrastructure. It can be set up as a cheap Crestron panel and eliminate my occasional need for the Sonos app. [Base] Software is free, and it runs on a Pi. Not sure if it will be the solution for me-- they try to idiot proof it so much that it is frustrating at how little back-end information you get for diagnostics. But, I have wanted the panel interface for a while and Crestron is a rip off.
I do not use the system for security or locks, and would not personally trust any system to provide it. A Schlage lock I bought could be defeated with a small x-acto knife without much work; others are apparently worse in both physical and network security. I will kludge something together myself that provides a little more external fail-secure and obscurity.
They actually outsource all of the e-banking, but the login-failed page and one other one I would hit periodically (could have been related to the trusted computer setup) were not properly configured.
No, it doesn't bode well for their security either...
In fairness, the location bar often has very meaningless information. My credit union's login domain is (sometimes) different than their name, and is only used for login. (They appear to outsource their website and a number of other functions to some credit union pool/provider.) I complained to them about it, and they slowly improved one aspect-- but it isn't easy.
Extended Validation is about the only thing that you can try to trust now, as who the heck can keep track of which CAs they should trust and which they shouldn't?? And who really checks to see if the signing is done by their company's ATD system or the originator CA...?
A fry cook is $15/hour and you can see how effective they are in a day. Unfortunately, an IT consultant is about an order of magnitude more than that, and it takes two months for them to ramp up on day to day operations. You also get the bait-and-switch factor where someone solves a problem, and does a great job... but then disappears after a couple months.
My favorite consultant was the one who saddled us with two grossly underpowered servers with slow drives with no functioning backup system in place. We made them install backup... and it crashes the server. Sure, we fired them, but the impacts lasted three years as the next yutz tries to figure out what is wrong.
I pity the poor fools who have a fire to put out when they hire someone...
Love asterisk too. Our amortized cost per line, including enough trunks to host conference calls is $10/user/month. Similar hosted service for some reason is $20/month, despite huge benefits of scale.
It was a learning curve to be sure, especially since we use manual config files, but when we upgrade it will just go to the freepbx GUI and database. Makes it child’s play...
I completely agree. Unfortunately most “consultants” now are in the managed services racket, and their primary value-add is desktop support. We pay something like $50/workstation plus $100/server per month to a consultant. In theory, this includes 10 hours a month towards “projects,” but they have made effectively zero progress.
Why don’t I just fire them and get someone else? I have been interviewing alternatives for the better part of a year, but nobody that is actually convincingly better has come up. I don’t have the time or patience to manage Windows servers that the last consultant dumped on us, so I pay the “protection money” and try to ensure people get the results they need.
I am biased, but the consultants I have found focus on desktop support as the primary value-add and then do some hand waving about programming, custom solutions, and process optimization. Very few will support even the most basic Linux system, and mention Asterisk and they decide to cut and run.
Likewise, referrals are generally useless, because most companies don't actually know what they are getting-- the best case scenario is they feel like IT is a "3" on the pain scale, so the consultant must be pretty good.
I have learned however to stay away from consultants whose primary clients are accountants, doctors and lawyers.
Completely disagree. While at 8 people the owner likely has undue influence, the benefit of being able to focus on your core business is critical. Any smart business owner will love the opportunity to divest themselves of areas where they lack expertise. Just need to be able to budget for it.
No. The problem is that people that need an IT consultant are not able to judge quality. If they knew enough to make that judgement, they wouldn't need the consultant in the first place.
Not universally. As a business owner, the absolute worst use of my time is desktop support, even if I can do the job and even shame people into self-support.
I also struggle to find a consultant that won't screw up, leaving us without any servers for most of a day after a botched Windows update that they failed to realize deleted all of our VMs' virtual network adapters.
Similar to your suggestion, I hired a college student at $15/hour to run interference on the desktop side while I try to teach him a few things and let him learn on his own. It cuts my time to 1-2 hours per week from 6-8. For me, that is a positive return on investment. Unfortunately, for most it wouldn't be.
Linux under the hood can be quite effective though. At 8-15 people, a Synology or QNAP NAS makes for a great server. You can automate backups with a simple GUI as well.
But, when your issues are desktop support, you need a different approach. 8 People should be around $500 per month on a managed services contract. Getting a better level of service would require you to spend about 2-5x that, with results largely proportional to the spend.
Most managed services shops I have interviewed outsource desktop support, so you can see where the value comes in.
My suggestion to the OP would be to hire someone who is IT savvy, and dump some of the education responsibilities on them.
For me, I have more trouble doing long focused tasks while standing, so it is best when I have the shorter or less focused tasks to do— conference calls, writing emails, checking work, reading/., reviewing financial statements, etc. It does not work well when I need to spend four straight hours writing a technical report.
As for flat feet, poor core strength, and age— those are all reasons to do something. Try standing on a balance board with proper insoles. Learn to tape your arches if it is really bad. That said, I have gone from a size 12 to a 13-14 in the past four years as my feet get flatter— might need something more supportive than my flip-flops.
For not irritating your back in the first place, not slouching is huge. But when you simply can’t sit, that isn’t even an option. I needed to stand exclusively for about two years. So nice to be able to sit comfortably again, but I am still happy to have positional flexibility.
I have one, and have (/had) lower back pains. When I stood all day (about half of it balancing on an inverted Bosu) it really did help core muscle strength. Standing with knees locked obviously does not.
The real problem for me was that I lacked the focus when standing for that part of my job— writing a report became very hard.
Now my back is pretty good, mainly because I learned to stretch the specific muscles that caused problems in a way that did not further inflame the sciatic nerve. While I still stand a few hours per day, my favorite use for the desk is lowering it down to minimum height and taking a nap underneath it.
Slope makes more sense in many things than angles-- it is much easier to measure and mark directly with common tools when you are looking at small angles.
It is also helpful when thinking in physics terms without worrying about the trigonometry.
In its fulfillment centers, Amazon needs its people to act like robots-- it is the job.
The worker safety complaints have cropped up before though-- I find this odd. While the Kiva bots don't seem to have integral protection, they should either not be in the same places as people, or be locked out of a zone if people are present. If the warehouses don't have Kivas, then maybe the traditional accidents would be occurring...
Don’t buy it. Miserable keyboard for a touch typist. Right hand always ends up on the wrong keys. Nice that it is rechargeable though and pretty looking...
I have had contracts with banks and technology companies for projects, and the line is a little squishy. I could not act directly in a way that could impact (or be construed to impact) negotiations or entitlements on a property purchase or lease. Buying up 10 condos across the street could hit that line easily, but 10 people putting in offers in the days as negotiations are closing with a third party could be ok.
When working for a bank, this extends to their clients buying property as well. Same theoretically with Realtors, but they skirt the rules all the time.
So in 5-6 years when we need new pants because the ones our moms bought for us 10 years ago finally gave up the ghost, we will want to know. File it away... it might be important.
Oops, missed you were talking about the cordless. Had one of them too. Battery crapped out after a year or so, not enough charge to clean up an 800SF apartment, and useless when it came to carpet. (In fairness, it was a vacation place, so only there once a month and that was understandably harder on the crap battery charger.)
I had an Animal. No, it would not break, it was indestructible. However, it quickly (6 months) hit a "smashing point" where its ability to actually pull dirt and dust up from the floor was a joke. Cleaning out the dirt compartment was a mess, and you had to wash it periodically. Got a Miele canister, which was half the physical size and weight as the Animal, better suction, no mess with emptying, and quieter.
Look at the not-quite-bankruptcy cases as well though. Companies have golden ages taper out for any number of reasons, and if that happens at the wrong time in your business cycle that can mean uncertain death.
The big risk I see for Amazon is a general drop in consumerism. They are less susceptible to it today than 5-10 years ago, but it would change their business instantly.
Rich people without kids, Maybe. Most I know generally try to make the world a better place, at least until the point that other people's stupidity makes them stop.
But this stuff is hard. Met a gentleman from Eritrea the other day and we got to talking about the politics and stability in Eritrea/Ethiopia and he explained to me how Obama's focus on "peace" set the peace process back a decade. Kind of gets to the "_____ on what terms" discussion.
Are you kidding?! I have had three Dyson vacuum cleaners, one or two of those “bladeless” fans, and one other piece of his garbage. They are crap, don’t last, and really just have a bunch of extra plastic to try to look cool. Everything died within 2 years, but the fans take the cake. Simply no way to clean the high pressure fan, so in a dusty environment it gunks up internally in a couple months and becomes useless.
As for the vacuums, give me a Miele any day; the bags are a feature, not a bug.
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I would recommend looking into the Universal Devices ISY994 and Insteon line if you have a spouse. Keeps the marriage going better... doesn't leak data.
A big part is expectations-- a point for a commercial install will generally run $1,000 for parts, smarts, and install. Residential is generally much lower, closer to $150-200 all told.
I use Insteon, which is about $50 per control point for parts. I use a Universal Devices ISY994i which is about $300 with networking support and z-wave plus the Insteon power line modem. The setup can be completely firewalled from the Internet. I use it to control line voltage lights via plug or dimmer, Philips Hue lights, Sonos, and some other stuff. The system has been reliable, with IIRC 3 components failing over the past three years out of about 20 total.
I am also playing with OpenHAB, however it needs internet access and has miserable security infrastructure. It can be set up as a cheap Crestron panel and eliminate my occasional need for the Sonos app. [Base] Software is free, and it runs on a Pi. Not sure if it will be the solution for me-- they try to idiot proof it so much that it is frustrating at how little back-end information you get for diagnostics. But, I have wanted the panel interface for a while and Crestron is a rip off.
I do not use the system for security or locks, and would not personally trust any system to provide it. A Schlage lock I bought could be defeated with a small x-acto knife without much work; others are apparently worse in both physical and network security. I will kludge something together myself that provides a little more external fail-secure and obscurity.
They actually outsource all of the e-banking, but the login-failed page and one other one I would hit periodically (could have been related to the trusted computer setup) were not properly configured.
No, it doesn't bode well for their security either...
In fairness, the location bar often has very meaningless information. My credit union's login domain is (sometimes) different than their name, and is only used for login. (They appear to outsource their website and a number of other functions to some credit union pool/provider.) I complained to them about it, and they slowly improved one aspect-- but it isn't easy.
Extended Validation is about the only thing that you can try to trust now, as who the heck can keep track of which CAs they should trust and which they shouldn't?? And who really checks to see if the signing is done by their company's ATD system or the originator CA...?
A fry cook is $15/hour and you can see how effective they are in a day. Unfortunately, an IT consultant is about an order of magnitude more than that, and it takes two months for them to ramp up on day to day operations. You also get the bait-and-switch factor where someone solves a problem, and does a great job... but then disappears after a couple months.
My favorite consultant was the one who saddled us with two grossly underpowered servers with slow drives with no functioning backup system in place. We made them install backup... and it crashes the server. Sure, we fired them, but the impacts lasted three years as the next yutz tries to figure out what is wrong.
I pity the poor fools who have a fire to put out when they hire someone...
Love asterisk too. Our amortized cost per line, including enough trunks to host conference calls is $10/user/month. Similar hosted service for some reason is $20/month, despite huge benefits of scale.
It was a learning curve to be sure, especially since we use manual config files, but when we upgrade it will just go to the freepbx GUI and database. Makes it child’s play...
I completely agree. Unfortunately most “consultants” now are in the managed services racket, and their primary value-add is desktop support. We pay something like $50/workstation plus $100/server per month to a consultant. In theory, this includes 10 hours a month towards “projects,” but they have made effectively zero progress.
Why don’t I just fire them and get someone else? I have been interviewing alternatives for the better part of a year, but nobody that is actually convincingly better has come up. I don’t have the time or patience to manage Windows servers that the last consultant dumped on us, so I pay the “protection money” and try to ensure people get the results they need.
I am biased, but the consultants I have found focus on desktop support as the primary value-add and then do some hand waving about programming, custom solutions, and process optimization. Very few will support even the most basic Linux system, and mention Asterisk and they decide to cut and run.
Likewise, referrals are generally useless, because most companies don't actually know what they are getting-- the best case scenario is they feel like IT is a "3" on the pain scale, so the consultant must be pretty good.
I have learned however to stay away from consultants whose primary clients are accountants, doctors and lawyers.
Dedicated IT really isn't sustainable under about 30-50 employees. There just isn't enough to do. It only pays off at about 100 employees.
Completely disagree. While at 8 people the owner likely has undue influence, the benefit of being able to focus on your core business is critical. Any smart business owner will love the opportunity to divest themselves of areas where they lack expertise. Just need to be able to budget for it.
Not universally. As a business owner, the absolute worst use of my time is desktop support, even if I can do the job and even shame people into self-support.
I also struggle to find a consultant that won't screw up, leaving us without any servers for most of a day after a botched Windows update that they failed to realize deleted all of our VMs' virtual network adapters.
Similar to your suggestion, I hired a college student at $15/hour to run interference on the desktop side while I try to teach him a few things and let him learn on his own. It cuts my time to 1-2 hours per week from 6-8. For me, that is a positive return on investment. Unfortunately, for most it wouldn't be.
Linux under the hood can be quite effective though. At 8-15 people, a Synology or QNAP NAS makes for a great server. You can automate backups with a simple GUI as well.
But, when your issues are desktop support, you need a different approach. 8 People should be around $500 per month on a managed services contract. Getting a better level of service would require you to spend about 2-5x that, with results largely proportional to the spend.
Most managed services shops I have interviewed outsource desktop support, so you can see where the value comes in.
My suggestion to the OP would be to hire someone who is IT savvy, and dump some of the education responsibilities on them.
For me, I have more trouble doing long focused tasks while standing, so it is best when I have the shorter or less focused tasks to do— conference calls, writing emails, checking work, reading /., reviewing financial statements, etc. It does not work well when I need to spend four straight hours writing a technical report.
As for flat feet, poor core strength, and age— those are all reasons to do something. Try standing on a balance board with proper insoles. Learn to tape your arches if it is really bad. That said, I have gone from a size 12 to a 13-14 in the past four years as my feet get flatter— might need something more supportive than my flip-flops.
For not irritating your back in the first place, not slouching is huge. But when you simply can’t sit, that isn’t even an option. I needed to stand exclusively for about two years. So nice to be able to sit comfortably again, but I am still happy to have positional flexibility.
I have one, and have (/had) lower back pains. When I stood all day (about half of it balancing on an inverted Bosu) it really did help core muscle strength. Standing with knees locked obviously does not.
The real problem for me was that I lacked the focus when standing for that part of my job— writing a report became very hard.
Now my back is pretty good, mainly because I learned to stretch the specific muscles that caused problems in a way that did not further inflame the sciatic nerve. While I still stand a few hours per day, my favorite use for the desk is lowering it down to minimum height and taking a nap underneath it.
Slope makes more sense in many things than angles-- it is much easier to measure and mark directly with common tools when you are looking at small angles.
It is also helpful when thinking in physics terms without worrying about the trigonometry.
In its fulfillment centers, Amazon needs its people to act like robots-- it is the job.
The worker safety complaints have cropped up before though-- I find this odd. While the Kiva bots don't seem to have integral protection, they should either not be in the same places as people, or be locked out of a zone if people are present. If the warehouses don't have Kivas, then maybe the traditional accidents would be occurring...
Don’t buy it. Miserable keyboard for a touch typist. Right hand always ends up on the wrong keys. Nice that it is rechargeable though and pretty looking...
I have had contracts with banks and technology companies for projects, and the line is a little squishy. I could not act directly in a way that could impact (or be construed to impact) negotiations or entitlements on a property purchase or lease. Buying up 10 condos across the street could hit that line easily, but 10 people putting in offers in the days as negotiations are closing with a third party could be ok.
When working for a bank, this extends to their clients buying property as well. Same theoretically with Realtors, but they skirt the rules all the time.
So in 5-6 years when we need new pants because the ones our moms bought for us 10 years ago finally gave up the ghost, we will want to know. File it away... it might be important.
Oops, missed you were talking about the cordless. Had one of them too. Battery crapped out after a year or so, not enough charge to clean up an 800SF apartment, and useless when it came to carpet. (In fairness, it was a vacation place, so only there once a month and that was understandably harder on the crap battery charger.)
Also replaced it with a Miele.
I had an Animal. No, it would not break, it was indestructible. However, it quickly (6 months) hit a "smashing point" where its ability to actually pull dirt and dust up from the floor was a joke. Cleaning out the dirt compartment was a mess, and you had to wash it periodically. Got a Miele canister, which was half the physical size and weight as the Animal, better suction, no mess with emptying, and quieter.
Look at the not-quite-bankruptcy cases as well though. Companies have golden ages taper out for any number of reasons, and if that happens at the wrong time in your business cycle that can mean uncertain death.
The big risk I see for Amazon is a general drop in consumerism. They are less susceptible to it today than 5-10 years ago, but it would change their business instantly.
Rich people without kids, Maybe. Most I know generally try to make the world a better place, at least until the point that other people's stupidity makes them stop.
But this stuff is hard. Met a gentleman from Eritrea the other day and we got to talking about the politics and stability in Eritrea/Ethiopia and he explained to me how Obama's focus on "peace" set the peace process back a decade. Kind of gets to the "_____ on what terms" discussion.
Are you kidding?! I have had three Dyson vacuum cleaners, one or two of those “bladeless” fans, and one other piece of his garbage. They are crap, don’t last, and really just have a bunch of extra plastic to try to look cool. Everything died within 2 years, but the fans take the cake. Simply no way to clean the high pressure fan, so in a dusty environment it gunks up internally in a couple months and becomes useless.
As for the vacuums, give me a Miele any day; the bags are a feature, not a bug.