Users I hate (long pointless tech rant)

[Pi1otguy]

At work were rolling out a specialized set of new computers that are somewhat time consuming to image and configure versus our run of the mill comp. So far we've had a few minor issues that come with anything new and comp related, but never anything without a work around that made it unusable.

Until 2 days ago.

Somehow a user managed to use his admin rights go into the registry (against company policy directly to touch the registry) and mess with a few drivers to not only disable all nics, but also prevented them from displaying or being easily configurable among other problems.

How do I know the user did this you ask? He told us with glee and a tone of accomplishment commenting that it took someone with his abilities to break it when no one else had this happen yet. Commenting that he's the (unofficial) tech guy for his group after breaking what hasn't broke for anyone else in testing, the pilot roll out or the current rollout! IDK why, but this is most frustrating "user error" I've seen.

Oh, wait I know why I'm ****ed. Cause we had pick up another comp, update our asset inventory, image it, install progs, adjust settings, copy user data from the defunt comp, and restore user prefs over a low bandwidth connection in the field. Basically throwing a wrench into our other planned activities at that site.

But this time he'll have no local admin rights unlike everyone else in his dept. Turns out the companies upper level IT guys were in the room when he proudly boasted about his skills in breaking stuff.

\ rant off

Any of u tech guys have this happen?

 

[CJones]

Used to have it happen every day.

Which is why NOBODY outside of IT (and even some within IT) had local admin rights to their machine.

 

[rubber314chicken]

I know people at my school that would do similar things. No wonder we are not allowed to right click or use notepad.

Personally I think he should be stuck with a computer that runs dos now.

 

[jesse]

The problem in IT is that one must find a balance between permissions and no permissions. All too often IT people tend to lock down technology to the point that employees aren't nearly as efficient as they would be otherwise.

You put all this effort into building out this massively complicated infrastructure that in your eyes is pretty perfect and then you don't want anyone to mess it up. The more access you provide the more people will mess it up. But is your function to provide technology that is perfect for you while being impossible for the employees that generate money? No.

The real question to ask is this: How long did it take you to fix his mistake? If you think about it--it's likely that by restricting his permissions you've decreased his efficiency *EVERY* single day which will likely by far exceed the time it takes you to fix the rare mistake.

The best advice I can give is to remember that the employees you support pay your bills. You have a certain level of responsibility to protect them from themselves and at the same time you must do everything in your power to make them more productive. This is something that most IT departments fail at.

IMO--it is better to give them a little more access so that they can get a lot more done. Someday they'll bust something--it'll take you time to fix it--but they might have made another 5 million dollars that'll hire you three more people. One must look long term and think big picture. It sucks, sucks, sucks to give up the things you like to do to someone else--but it's an important skill to learn.

BTW--This isn't pointed at you in general but at what IT has become in many corporations. We're destroying ourselves with this common 'lock it down, users are idiots, i'm smarter then you' attitude.

 

[Pi1otguy]

IMO--it is better to give them a little more access so that they can get a lot more done. Someday they'll bust something--it'll take you time to fix it--but they might have made another 5 million dollars that'll hire you three more people. One must look long term and think big picture. It sucks, sucks, sucks to give up the things you like to do to someone else--but it's an important skill to learn.

And in general local users have local admin rights to their machine for the reasons u state. The only group of users without local admin are in customer service by edict of the corp security dept since that helps to safegaurd customer data. For us it allows the user to install company software & directly attached hardware without waiting for us to show up or remote in and most haven't abused the powers of admin. But this guy did and bragged about it with the high level IT guy in the room.

BTW--This isn't pointed at you in general but at what IT has become in many corporations. We're destroying ourselves with this common 'lock it down, users are idiots, i'm smarter then you' attitude.

Oh, I'm just waiting for Vista. Supposedly, no one other then techs (special 2nd admin account, not normal login) will be local admin. They're working on massive policies and ACLs to allow the stuff admins do now on XP . Supposedly it'll cut the support calls by ~25% - 50%.

 

[kgruber]

Sounds too complicated a fix. What ever happened to "Restore!!"

 

[Pi1otguy]

Sounds too complicated a fix. What ever happened to "Restore!!"

Unfortunately, that all day process is restore.

 

[wsuffa]

For as many horror stories that you have, I can tell you the same number from the user perspective. I've been in the operations role where work HAS to get done and is stopped or perplexed by mindless IT policies, including "locking machines down". In some companies, IT is spoken about with the same admiration that is usually reserved for the TSA and airline outsourced call centers.

Two quick stories:

small company outsources IT service functions to local service company. IT service company "locks down" desktops so small company users essentially can't do any admin tasks. Small company has employee that has good computer and network knowledge (administers a couple of unix boxes and system of XPPro machines). Said employee complains and complains that antivirus does not update on his machine, lockdown prevents either Win updates or AV updates. Service company says it will do upgrades... it never bothers with machine. Guest using employee's machine mistypes web address, drive-by trojan is downloaded, corrupts other machines on LAN. After cleanup admin rights were restored to all machines, and said employee ensured that updates were regularly applied. It was then discovered that the MS SBS server had not been updated for 8 months - 250 MB of critical updates had to be installed.

big company has tight, lockdown policies and blocks access to outside mail sites. Spam blocker is installed at corporate mail server without notice to employees. Written policy prohibits employees from sending or receiving business documents on non-company email boxes. Offshore office (different domain name and mail server) sends critical contract documents for review - time critical. Corporate legal and finance employees don't even receive documents, they were flagged "false positive". CFO authorized that document be sent to outside server as long as it was protected. Employee goes home, copies document to flash drive, and brings to office. Service call made to IT support - 6 hours later they claim that email was trapped, it took another 8 hours to release it. By then, the document was overdue (deadline was met only due to CFO-level waiver). CFO had long talk with CIO.

Now I do understand the kind of case you mention, but the operations guys can tell as many stories the other way....

 

[Pi1otguy]

For as many horror stories that you have, I can tell you the same number from the user perspective. I've been in the operations role where work HAS to get done and is stopped or perplexed by mindless IT policies, including "locking machines down". In some companies, IT is spoken about with the same admiration that is usually reserved for the TSA and airline outsourced call centers.

You're not the only one wonders about certain IT policies too (decided above your friend tech down the hall). We too wonder about some of our policies. A good example is the heavy handed effort to reduce each person to one computer & 7 (or whatever number) to each printer with no direct attached printers. Its to the point that when I had to work on one gal's laptop for a while she went home because the spare laptop in her department was removed a few months prior and IT has no loaners. She didn't return until an hour after her assistant received the comp.

Better yet, during a "printer optimization" ordered by the powers that be we had supers scrambling from the opposite side of the floor to thwart or removal. It's to the point that during inventory some users hide printers when they see us coming while others walk over to the printers to verify that we aren't taking them.

Now I do understand the kind of case you mention, but the operations guys can tell as many stories the other way....

And the secret is that at my company we complain about the policies too!

 

[wsuffa]

You're not the only one wonders about certain IT policies too (decided above your friend tech down the hall). We too wonder about some of our policies. A good example is the heavy handed effort to reduce each person to one computer & 7 (or whatever number) to each printer with no direct attached printers. Its to the point that when I had to work on one gal's laptop for a while she went home because the spare laptop in her department was removed a few months prior and IT has no loaners. She didn't return until an hour after her assistant received the comp.

Better yet, during a "printer optimization" ordered by the powers that be we had supers scrambling from the opposite side of the floor to thwart or removal. It's to the point that during inventory some users hide printers when they see us coming while others walk over to the printers to verify that we aren't taking them.


And the secret is that at my company we complain about the policies too!

When I controlled the capital purse strings it was miraculous how there were suddenly changes or exceptions to the policies....

As partner in a firm now, I pretty much get to set the policies.

 

[mikea]

You're not the only one wonders about certain IT policies too (decided above your friend tech down the hall). We too wonder about some of our policies. A good example is the heavy handed effort to reduce each person to one computer & 7 (or whatever number) to each printer with no direct attached printers. Its to the point that when I had to work on one gal's laptop for a while she went home because the spare laptop in her department was removed a few months prior and IT has no loaners. She didn't return until an hour after her assistant received the comp.

Better yet, during a "printer optimization" ordered by the powers that be we had supers scrambling from the opposite side of the floor to thwart or removal. It's to the point that during inventory some users hide printers when they see us coming while others walk over to the printers to verify that we aren't taking them.


And the secret is that at my company we complain about the policies too!

I suspect that "optimization" effort to save the made-up $1 per page cost comes from the big honking printer-fax-copier maker that charges a flat $1.50 a page. (I had a mini-laser that had the same toner cartridge for 12 years so the cost per page was the cost of the paper. Maybe if they didn't let people buy ink jets the whole fiasco wouldn't have been needed.).

 

[john smith]

Unfortunately, that all day process is restore.

That's not restoration, that's recovery!

 

[gismo]

Seems like the correct response to this guy is: "You broke it deliberately, fix it yourself or live with the problem".

-lance

At work were rolling out a specialized set of new computers that are somewhat time consuming to image and configure versus our run of the mill comp. So far we've had a few minor issues that come with anything new and comp related, but never anything without a work around that made it unusable.

Until 2 days ago.

Somehow a user managed to use his admin rights go into the registry (against company policy directly to touch the registry) and mess with a few drivers to not only disable all nics, but also prevented them from displaying or being easily configurable among other problems.

How do I know the user did this you ask? He told us with glee and a tone of accomplishment commenting that it took someone with his abilities to break it when no one else had this happen yet. Commenting that he's the (unofficial) tech guy for his group after breaking what hasn't broke for anyone else in testing, the pilot roll out or the current rollout! IDK why, but this is most frustrating "user error" I've seen.

Oh, wait I know why I'm ****ed. Cause we had pick up another comp, update our asset inventory, image it, install progs, adjust settings, copy user data from the defunt comp, and restore user prefs over a low bandwidth connection in the field. Basically throwing a wrench into our other planned activities at that site.

But this time he'll have no local admin rights unlike everyone else in his dept. Turns out the companies upper level IT guys were in the room when he proudly boasted about his skills in breaking stuff.

\ rant off

Any of u tech guys have this happen?

 

[mikea]

Seems like the correct response to this guy is: "You broke it deliberately, fix it yourself or live with the problem".

-lance

Damn straight, but they way it goes is Mr. Clever calls your boss and says you said you can't fix it. Then your boss assumes he's telling the truth.

 

[Ghery]

When we opened the facility where I now work in 1996 our new computers were running Windows NT and we only had "User" privileges. Couldn't even set the clock through the OS. I called IT support and told them that was BS. Their reply - why would you want to re-set the clock? "Because it's on Eastern time and we're on the west coast. I want local time stamps on my files. Besides, I'll show you how to re-set the clock, even with your "user" classification!" I rebooted and re-set the clock using the BIOS setup. Then looked the IT guy in the eye and asked, "Just who do you thing designs these things???" We've had administrator privileges ever since. They got the message. I worked at the time in our group that designed PCs.

And don't get me started on the IT group at the school district where my wife teaches. "Idiots" is too kind...

 

[RMCN172RG]

As the hated outside consultant who needs to install that dreadful third party software to help the end user I will relate my favorite IT security story.

Back when I still had to use Floppies to install software although the restricitions are still there today just a different implementation. A new clients IT department security included locks installed in all the floppies.

IT was informed that I would be on site on day x to install programs on two PC's and either should be at that site or insure that the users had the authority to install the programs on their PC's.

IT was out the day before to set up special sign-ons to use to istall the programs but oops, left the locks in the floppies and no key.

System was secured to the point it was useless.

 

[mikea]

...
Back when I still had to use Floppies to install software although the restricitions are still there today just a different implementation. A new clients IT department security included locks installed in all the floppies.
...

Locks on floppies = madness. I've heard some are gluing over the USB ports so you can't connect a thumb drive.

I was reminded of the finance guys at a certain Fortune 50 company, working in strange office on a Saturday.

"Let me give you a copy of the spreadsheet? Got a blank floppy disk?"

WARNING!!!!! THIS DISK IS INFECTED WITH #$%^%^^^ BOOT SECTOR VIRUS!!!!!

"Darn! This PC has a virus scanner. Let's use Jim's PC over here. He doesn't have that."

(Told to me by one of the brighter accountants.)

 

[TknoFlyer]

"Just who do you thing designs these things???"

This logic applies to my development staff, too. Every one of them is local admin. They also know the consequences if they screw up their machine.

 

[docmirror]

When immovable objects meet unstoppable forces. I've been doing this for 30 years. I could tell you stories:

them; The firmware won't download to the chassis.
me; What error do you get?
them; It rolled off the window.
me; I need the error.
them; well, I don't have it anymore.
me; call me back when you get to that point.
~~~~~~~~~~~about 20 min ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them; it says 'unable to contact server, or path not specified to file'.
me; Ok, ping the chassis.
them; We don't support ping in the network firewall
me; Ok, telnet to it.
them; nope, not supported.
me; SSH?
them; nope, we don't have that.
me; ftp?
them; No, locked out
me; How do you communicate with the chassis?
them; Oh, we use the GUI.
me; A browser? With http://10.10.108.133?
them; yes, that's right.
me; ok, you're using the GUI to download the firmware, and the error rolled off the screen?
them; Uh, no we just closed the download window.
me; Send me the log file from the chassis, use the maint button and click 'send file'. Then email it to me please.
them; We can't send any files offsite from the data center.
me; What would you like me to do?
them; make the firmware download to the chassis.
me; contact your security admin and configure telnet and ftp for the following address(address list).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2 hours~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them; ok we can telnet and ftp.
me; ok, start ftp on the server where the file is.
them; how do you do that?
me; Start, programs, now look for your ftp server utility.
them; we don't have that.
me; get one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~40 minutes~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them; ok, we have a ftp utility installed.
me; start and ftp session to the chassis.
them; how do you do that.
me; <walk through how to use ftp>
them; I keep typing the name of the firmware, and getting the same error.
me; You need to use the relative path.
them; you mean, 'C:\my documents/firmware/joebob'?
me; joebob?
them; I renamed the file, I didn't like typing all the underscores and stuff.
me; go back to the website and download the firmware to the server. Make a directory in C: called firmware, download it to that directory and don't touch it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 hour~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them; ok, it's there, we had to put it on a thumb drive and then put it on the management server.
me; from the server where the firmware is downloaded, start the ftp session to the chassis
them; ok,
me; type 'bin'
them; why?
me; just do it
them; ok, changed to binary mode
me; type 'hash'
them; ok
me; type 'lcd C:/firmware
them; it says path not recognised.
me; Did you make a folder called firmware in the C: drive?
them; no.
me; do so, then move the firmware file to that directory, then do the lcd command again
them; ok, got it
me; type 'ls', and tell me what files you see listed.
them; Hey, I see the firmware file 'v5_0_1_mbdist_latest'.
me; ok type 'cd /export/home/dist_list'
them; You want me to change from the firmware directory?
me; no, listent to what I said, type 'cd, not lcd'
them; ok
me; ok, good, now type 'put v5_0_1_mbdist_latest'.
them; argh, I keep making typing mistakes.
me; type 'mput v*'.
them; what?
me; type 'mput v <hold shift then number 8>
them; ok, it's asking me if I want to send file v5_0_1_mbdist_latest.
me; press 'y' then 'enter'.
them; The screen is filling with the pound sign!
me; go get coffee.
them; ok
~~~~~~~15 min~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them; I think it's done, the pound sign stopped and it's at the prompt.
me; telnet to the chassis
them; how do I do that?
me; click Start, run then type 'telnet 10.10.108.144'.
them; It's asking for login.
me; login as root.
them; I don't have a password for root.
me; call me back when you have root's password.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~20 min~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them; I'm logged in as root.
me; type 'version'
them; it says 'primary v4_6_0_mbdist' and, secondary 'v4_3_5_mbdist'
me; fine, type firmware --upload "v5_0_1_mbdist_latest", use the double quotes
them; Uuuuggghhhhh, I can't bother with this. Look, I've spent more than thee hours on this, you need to come onsite and do this. We don't have time to take care of crappy stuff like this. I can't get the firmware to download again, and we need you onsite'.

me; I'll be there next thursday. Cya.

 

[mikea]

When immovable objects meet unstoppable forces. I've been doing this for 30 years. I could tell you stories:
....
them; Uuuuggghhhhh, I can't bother with this. Look, I've spent more than thee hours on this, you need to come onsite and do this. We don't have time to take care of crappy stuff like this. I can't get the firmware to download again, and we need you onsite'.

me; I'll be there next thursday. Cya.

They hired an MCSE (the answer is B!!!!!!) , he kept the job long enough to make Director of IT and he's getting $150K.....

I also had many incidents with such - where I was the obsolete old guy -

"Run FTP."
- "We don't have FTP installed."
YES YOU DO! Go to the command line.
- "NO!!!!!!!!!!!! NO THAT!"

 

[docmirror]

Qwest in Denver. Called me onsite about 01:30 on a snowy Sat night.

me; 'howdy; what's the problem?
them; tape library won't load tapes.
me; ok, I'll have a look.
them; second shift called it in about 11:30.
me; wow, so no backups since 11:30?
them; no, they said it went down about 5.
me; What time does second shift start?
them; 4:30.
me; hmmmmmmm, ok. <I go to the tape lib, the power plug is laying on the floor, plug it in, it runs POST and starts loading tapes just fine. Asks for a new cart of scratch tapes.>
them; That was quick.
me; yeah, I plugged it in and it started working, it's waiting for scratch tapes. I'll write up the bill if you want to go load it up.
them; Bill?
me; yes, pulling the power cord is not covered in your maint contract.
them; How do you know the plug was pulled?
me; It didn't fall out.
them; well, I can't sign the bill, you'll need to get the supervisor to do that in the morning.
me; Ok, doesn't matter to me, I'll just leave a copy with you.
them; don't bother, I'll just throw it away. You don't even know that it was pulled out by us.
me; I'll be back in a sec. <go down to the security shack, find the tapes from the data center that barely cover that tape lib. The security guy winds that tape back to 4PM. We fast forward to a woman walking in, and trying to load a cart of tapes. Can't get them in, so she reaches around back and bends down. Walks away. I ask him to please keep that tape for a few days. go back to the shift supervisor.
me; Ok, they have a woman on tape pulling the plub about 4:17PM today.
them; bullspit!
me; go look for yourself, here's your bill, minimum 3 hours, plus shift differential.
them; I can't take it.
me; Do whatever you like with it.

The operator wasn't fired. She was moved to first shift. She found out it was me that caught her on tape, and filed a complaint with my company. The security guy brought the tape to the hearing at Qwest. After they saw the tape and listened to her whine for about an hour I was told that 'my services were no longer needed at Qwest facilities'. My boss gave me a high 5 on the way out, and told them I was the only local engineer for their product. If they didn't want me, it would be a 4 hour delay to get someone from C Springs. they shutup and took it.

 

[TknoFlyer]

They hired an MCSE (the answer is B!!!!!!)

Ahh, another believer of "certification just means they can pass a test."

 

[mikea]

Ahh, another believer of "certification just means they can pass a test."

They can pass the test once web sites with the questions and answers were invented.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Lets see, there have been a few cow-orkers that considered them selves to be at war with the IT department. I used to sit next to one that would spend all day trying to get around an IT solution to whatever problem he was having. He often sat there swearing away, kicking the file cabinet, then finally storming out of the office...

Then there are those that just seem to have problems with their computers, no matter what, they just can't get it to work - even with IT help.

But IT has it's quirks too.

They take of the audio drivers before delivering computers. OK, but one of the vice-presidents does weekly web casts on the state of the company. What - we're supposed to sit there and watch his lips move?

And the policy of blocking E-mail attachments based on the file extension. The tool I use the most (Matlab) saves data with a .mat extension that Winders assumes is some kind of Microsoft data base or something. Can't send THOSE in the mail. OK, I can zip then mail. But then if I have to send data to a supplier, their system doesn't allow .zip files. So I send the file with a .piz extension and it gets through just fine. Sheesh.

And there is the list of people who can't have admin privileges - like summer interns. OK, but the interns that work for me have to use tools that will let them work in automobiles and communicate with the powertrain computer. And those tools (for what ever reason) won't work if you don't have the admin privileges. So I can either a) tell them to sit on their thumbs all summer, b) go out with them to the car to log on to the laptop and then let them use it (a violation of policy and a big waste of my time) or c) give them my password (another violation of policy - but at least they get the job done).

And remote desktop - I was able to get that enabled so my laptop can connect to the desktop, but the ability to transfer files (or access the hard disk in one computer from the other) is disabled - so I remote access one computer and then use email to send files to my self which I read on the other computer... (changing the extension on the file if necessary).

Also I can remote desktop from home - handy for those 4 AM net-meetings with Europe - right? HAH! The system is set up to allow me to run net meeting using remote desktop, but to prevent me from sharing any applications. So, if I need to be more than just a spectator, guess who is driving into the office in the middle of the night...

 

[jesse]

Lets see, there have been a few cow-orkers that considered them selves to be at war with the IT department. I used to sit next to one that would spend all day trying to get around an IT solution to whatever problem he was having. He often sat there swearing away, kicking the file cabinet, then finally storming out of the office...

Then there are those that just seem to have problems with their computers, no matter what, they just can't get it to work - even with IT help.

But IT has it's quirks too.

They take of the audio drivers before delivering computers. OK, but one of the vice-presidents does weekly web casts on the state of the company. What - we're supposed to sit there and watch his lips move?

And the policy of blocking E-mail attachments based on the file extension. The tool I use the most (Matlab) saves data with a .mat extension that Winders assumes is some kind of Microsoft data base or something. Can't send THOSE in the mail. OK, I can zip then mail. But then if I have to send data to a supplier, their system doesn't allow .zip files. So I send the file with a .piz extension and it gets through just fine. Sheesh.

And there is the list of people who can't have admin privileges - like summer interns. OK, but the interns that work for me have to use tools that will let them work in automobiles and communicate with the powertrain computer. And those tools (for what ever reason) won't work if you don't have the admin privileges. So I can either a) tell them to sit on their thumbs all summer, b) go out with them to the car to log on to the laptop and then let them use it (a violation of policy and a big waste of my time) or c) give them my password (another violation of policy - but at least they get the job done).

And remote desktop - I was able to get that enabled so my laptop can connect to the desktop, but the ability to transfer files (or access the hard disk in one computer from the other) is disabled - so I remote access one computer and then use email to send files to my self which I read on the other computer... (changing the extension on the file if necessary).

Also I can remote desktop from home - handy for those 4 AM net-meetings with Europe - right? HAH! The system is set up to allow me to run net meeting using remote desktop, but to prevent me from sharing any applications. So, if I need to be more than just a spectator, guess who is driving into the office in the middle of the night...

Everything you just mentioned is pretty much what I was trying to say above. I work in IT and do my best to make employees more efficient, not less efficient.

The more security you create--the more insecure you become as employees start to bypass all of it. I've never really understood why some IT departments pretend like they're protecting nuclear launch codes from their own employees.

 

[dparter]

Everyone likes to blow off steam about work situations.

The real question is, how do we deal with it at work? My answer: remain professional. As an IT professional (god that sounds smug) my job is to provide the IT support for my employer to accomplish their mission (make money, educate students, conduct research, whatever it is they people I work for do).

I work for the Computer Sciences department at a research university. We don't allow admin/root access to instructional computers or any other computers that are specifically shared access.

We do allow admin/root access to desktop workstations and research servers, if the appropriate person (in this case, the faculty member) says that they need it, and work with them so that they understand what the rules are, what they can change, and what they can't. And if that doesn't work for them, then we talk about what their [legitimate] research needs are, and find solutions. Sometimes the solution is that we do more work to incorporate their needs into our general framework, sometimes they do the work on an "unsupported" computer because it is just won't work on a regular fully-supported computer.

--david

 

[wsuffa]

They take of the audio drivers before delivering computers. OK, but one of the vice-presidents does weekly web casts on the state of the company. What - we're supposed to sit there and watch his lips move?

hehehe....

Fortune 500 company implements online training program with audio to improve staff, satisfy HR requirements, and make sales more efficient. HR makes the training mandatory.

IT's standard for computers was "no speakers, no sound cards", and the multimedia file format was blocked at the firewalls. IT told HR "no dice". Company CEO told IT that they would either install sound and unblock, or IT would pay for in-person training out of their budget. Things got fixed pretty fast.

 

[mikea]

hehehe....

Fortune 500 company implements online training program with audio to improve staff, satisfy HR requirements, and make sales more efficient. HR makes the training mandatory.

IT's standard for computers was "no speakers, no sound cards", and the multimedia file format was blocked at the firewalls. IT told HR "no dice". Company CEO told IT that they would either install sound and unblock, or IT would pay for in-person training out of their budget. Things got fixed pretty fast.

Which all makes plenty of sense since it's been impossible for last 10+ years to find a PC that didn't have a "sound card" built in.

I've been in a battle for over a year ordering a new laptop and it isn't even IT, it's a biddy appointed as "PC coordinator" who called my boss's boss and had a long conversation I've never had with him getting him him to agree that I didn't need 4GB RAM vs. 2GB, when 1) It costs $90 or less, 2) the rate they figure our hourly cost that is about an hour, so just talking about it blew the money on labor, much less how much of my time letting me get work done, and 3) in a given project of hundreds I do in a year the company thinks I know what I'm talking about regarding spending as much as $2,000,000 - $19,000,000 of the company's money on IT, including how much RAM, but in this case I'm clueless.

BTW, she actually ran into the boss's, boss's, boss's office to scream when she sniffed out she being defied over spending $50 in UPS shipping for a PC. He got a phone call to knock it off.

 

[wsuffa]

Which all makes plenty of sense since it's been impossible for last 10+ years to find a PC that didn't have a "sound card" built in.

You can, but.... or it can be disabled (just order it that way).

I've been in a battle for over a year ordering a new laptop and it isn't even IT, it's a biddy appointed as "PC coordinator" who called my boss's boss and had a long conversation I've never had with him getting him him to agree that I didn't need 4GB RAM vs. 2GB, when 1) It costs $90 or less, 2) the rate they figure our hourly cost that is about an hour, so just talking about it blew the money on labor, much less how much of my time letting me get work done, and 3) in a given project of hundreds I do in a year the company thinks I know what I'm talking about regarding spending as much as $2,000,000 - $19,000,000 of the company's money on IT, including how much RAM, but in this case I'm clueless.

BTW, she actually ran into the boss's, boss's, boss's office to scream when she sniffed out she being defied over spending $50 in UPS shipping for a PC. He got a phone call to knock it off.

Mike, $90 is below the capital limit for most companies. It's an expense item. Ergo, get the machine the way they want to send it and expense the memory. You can handle a philips screwdriver....

When I had the global capital budget the first thing I had to fix was to stop that kind of stuff by telling folks to order the required configuration to start with. And when people did major projects to just do all that was necessary at the outset rather than doing it cheap and then requesting "repair" capital later to fix the items that weren't done (or done wrong to save money) in the first place. The best was where in the interest of "cheap" a rack of critical equipment was placed in a closet... under the waste pipes (and coredrilled holes) for a bathroom above. You know what happened (and it did).

Net cost of not building a closet: $10,000. Cost of downtime + replacement equipment: $150,000. Penny wise.... pound foolish.

 

[mikea]

You can, but.... or it can be disabled (just order it that way).



Mike, $90 is below the capital limit for most companies. It's an expense item. Ergo, get the machine the way they want to send it and expense the memory. You can handle a philips screwdriver....
...

You work at a sane company. We can't expense a $1.00 for a PC part. I've been tempted to use my own money more than once. You may recall they sent me two old Dell laptops that had hard drive failures in weeks. We both know replacing the drive would be like $80, but there is absolutely no way that could be done.

I had a project that had been bouncing around for over a year where they just needed to spend like $500 to fix a very old tape drive. I had no way to help them with the blunderbuss tools and STANDARDS we can work from.

I went way out over my skis and told them to expense it. They brought in a very high-level boss who said, "OK. I want you to be very careful how you list the expense..."

I lot of my job is working like the internet. Routing around points of failure.

 

[docmirror]

Ok, back when men were men and computers were cooled with chilled water and weighed tons:

I get a call at O'dark 30 to go downtown to a Major Bank. Seems their mainframe had a memory issue. I get onsite and yep, the 2 volt 655 amp powersupply for one of the memory bays has failed. I go about getting one ordered, and look around for a lift tool to get the 400Lb power supply in and out. No lift tool. I tell the nasty little woman that is onsite that they need to buy a lift tool, $1775. She is upset and finally agrees.

So, the power supply shows up(no charge), and the lift tool, and I do my thing and get the water drained out, swap the PS, reconnect the water lines, install the safety covers etc. I go in the ops center to fill out the bill and the little ***** is out in the computer center fooling around with something. It's late, I'm tired, so I just yawned when CRACK!! BABOOM!! The computer room light up like the surface of the sun for a half second, then I hear a scream.

I ran out to the computer and the woman that was 'in charge' was sitting on the floor in a puddle of pee shaking like a leaf. The bay door of the computer was open and the lift tool was stuck in the bay. She had tried to force the lift tool into the computer. In the process she broke the lexan cover that protects the buss bars that carry 600 amps of DC current. She pused the Aluminum lift tool past the lexan cover, touched the plus and ground with the lift tool plate and WELDED the lift tool to the buss bars. In the process, shorting the power supply and blowing up the filter capacitors on the supply. That was the boom part.

So, I tally up the damage. New lift tool, new buss bars, new power supply, several new memory cards, and one hack saw to separate the lift tool from the buss bars. Total $37,760. She couldn't sign for it, so we waited, and waited, and finally a assoc VP showed up, sign the PO, gathered up the little *****'s personal effects, took her badge away and had security escort her out the door.

I had the mainframe back up in about 4 hours, just after dawn.

 

[SCCutler]

Hmmm.

"In the day," I was in product support for the COM (Computer Output MicrofilM) division of Bell & Howell, where the best Com Recorders known to humankind were engineered, manufactured and supported.

The preprocessing of data and many machine control functions were performed on DEC minis (PDP 11/34 and PDP 11/24), so we really needed to have a DEC system available for software support and programming.

Chicago (corporate) said, "No way we'll authorize that." More than one way to skin a cat, we went back into the parts department and requisitioned the requisite parts, and built ourselves a darned nice rack of equipment, with muxes for 24 users, VT-220 terminals, all kinds of appropriate bling.

Everyone knew what we did, we delivered excellent service, and the entire system remained "parts inventory."

 

[wabower]

So that was you on the phone?

When immovable objects meet unstoppable forces. I've been doing this for 30 years. I could tell you stories:

them; The firmware won't download to the chassis.
me; What error do you get?
them; It rolled off the window.
me; I need the error.
them; well, I don't have it anymore.
me; call me back when you get to that point.
~~~~~~~~~~~about 20 min ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them; it says 'unable to contact server, or path not specified to file'.
me; Ok, ping the chassis.
them; We don't support ping in the network firewall
me; Ok, telnet to it.
them; nope, not supported.
me; SSH?
them; nope, we don't have that.
me; ftp?
them; No, locked out
me; How do you communicate with the chassis?
them; Oh, we use the GUI.
me; A browser? With http://10.10.108.133?
them; yes, that's right.
me; ok, you're using the GUI to download the firmware, and the error rolled off the screen?
them; Uh, no we just closed the download window.
me; Send me the log file from the chassis, use the maint button and click 'send file'. Then email it to me please.
them; We can't send any files offsite from the data center.
me; What would you like me to do?
them; make the firmware download to the chassis.
me; contact your security admin and configure telnet and ftp for the following address(address list).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2 hours~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them; ok we can telnet and ftp.
me; ok, start ftp on the server where the file is.
them; how do you do that?
me; Start, programs, now look for your ftp server utility.
them; we don't have that.
me; get one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~40 minutes~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them; ok, we have a ftp utility installed.
me; start and ftp session to the chassis.
them; how do you do that.
me; <walk through how to use ftp>
them; I keep typing the name of the firmware, and getting the same error.
me; You need to use the relative path.
them; you mean, 'C:\my documents/firmware/joebob'?
me; joebob?
them; I renamed the file, I didn't like typing all the underscores and stuff.
me; go back to the website and download the firmware to the server. Make a directory in C: called firmware, download it to that directory and don't touch it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 hour~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them; ok, it's there, we had to put it on a thumb drive and then put it on the management server.
me; from the server where the firmware is downloaded, start the ftp session to the chassis
them; ok,
me; type 'bin'
them; why?
me; just do it
them; ok, changed to binary mode
me; type 'hash'
them; ok
me; type 'lcd C:/firmware
them; it says path not recognised.
me; Did you make a folder called firmware in the C: drive?
them; no.
me; do so, then move the firmware file to that directory, then do the lcd command again
them; ok, got it
me; type 'ls', and tell me what files you see listed.
them; Hey, I see the firmware file 'v5_0_1_mbdist_latest'.
me; ok type 'cd /export/home/dist_list'
them; You want me to change from the firmware directory?
me; no, listent to what I said, type 'cd, not lcd'
them; ok
me; ok, good, now type 'put v5_0_1_mbdist_latest'.
them; argh, I keep making typing mistakes.
me; type 'mput v*'.
them; what?
me; type 'mput v <hold shift then number 8>
them; ok, it's asking me if I want to send file v5_0_1_mbdist_latest.
me; press 'y' then 'enter'.
them; The screen is filling with the pound sign!
me; go get coffee.
them; ok
~~~~~~~15 min~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them; I think it's done, the pound sign stopped and it's at the prompt.
me; telnet to the chassis
them; how do I do that?
me; click Start, run then type 'telnet 10.10.108.144'.
them; It's asking for login.
me; login as root.
them; I don't have a password for root.
me; call me back when you have root's password.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~20 min~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them; I'm logged in as root.
me; type 'version'
them; it says 'primary v4_6_0_mbdist' and, secondary 'v4_3_5_mbdist'
me; fine, type firmware --upload "v5_0_1_mbdist_latest", use the double quotes
them; Uuuuggghhhhh, I can't bother with this. Look, I've spent more than thee hours on this, you need to come onsite and do this. We don't have time to take care of crappy stuff like this. I can't get the firmware to download again, and we need you onsite'.

me; I'll be there next thursday. Cya.

 

[silver-eagle]

Hmmm.

"In the day," I was in product support for the COM (Computer Output MicrofilM) division of Bell & Howell, where the best Com Recorders known to humankind were engineered, manufactured and supported.
....snip...

I'll second that. (In the wayback...) We had an online microfiche machine that every time the CE touched it, he took out the mainframe system. We replaced it with a B&H machine and never had another CE induced failure.
.
Current war stories.... Our LAN IT group periodically updates PCs when they connect to the network. Since I work Su-We, my updates tend to come in Su morning, half of which require system reboots. Now, I work Su because of MY software updates rolling into the mainframe systems (30 LARGE z/OS images). More than once, I've been in the middle of this when LAN IT scheduled updates reboots my PC.
It is MY tool to do MY job. Leave it alone!

 

[tdager]

Locks on floppies = madness. I've heard some are gluing over the USB ports so you can't connect a thumb drive.

I was reminded of the finance guys at a certain Fortune 50 company, working in strange office on a Saturday.

"Let me give you a copy of the spreadsheet? Got a blank floppy disk?"

WARNING!!!!! THIS DISK IS INFECTED WITH #$%^%^^^ BOOT SECTOR VIRUS!!!!!

"Darn! This PC has a virus scanner. Let's use Jim's PC over here. He doesn't have that."

(Told to me by one of the brighter accountants.)

No need to glue the USB ports, there is software that will allow keyboards/mice to work but disable mass storage via USB. GREAT security tool!

 

[tdager]

They can pass the test once web sites with the questions and answers were invented.

CISSP and CISA are HELPED by the 'web' but no actual questions are published.

With the breadth and depth of the CISSP, you had better know at least a little about a LOT to pass.

 

[mikea]

CISSP and CISA are HELPED by the 'web' but no actual questions are published.

With the breadth and depth of the CISSP, you had better know at least a little about a LOT to pass.

Not so for MSCE. I had the guys in charge tell me the site to use.

 

[docmirror]

Ok, last one, I promise.

Big customer of ours, let's call them Ginsel, buys a huge tape library. It's the biggest one we make that is fully assembled and delivered in a huge truck. Has a giant shaft in the middle with the hand that picks and puts the carts into the tape drives. They order three of them, and don't order our optional install service. Fine, I can live with that.

Ginsel opens a service ticket on one of the new libraries, seems it won't pass POST test, hmmmm - it's brand new, what could cause this?

I head onsite, take a look at it and try to open the service bay door on the back, but it's kinda stuck, ya know - jammed. So I take a closer look, and see - uhoh, there's a wrinkle in the cabinet wall near the bottom. I get up, go around front and try to open the cart access door and it's also stuck. Uhoh, more wrinkles in the metal skin.

It's been dropped! Hahahahahahahahahaaaaa!!!! I finally look inside to the giant turntable shaft and the bottom of it is in baaaaaaaaad shape. Parts lying in the bottom. So, I tell the data center manager that since it was dropped from - say, four feet high we can't service or warrantee it. He calls my boss, I go to lunch. Get call from boss asking me if I'm sure it was dropped, yep I'm certain. Ask them for the 'tip-tell' off the box it came in. They don't have it, wonder why? Boss calls back later, tells me to go over and estimate the repairs for the insurance claim. So I do, comes to about $640k. Might as well start over with a new serial number at this point. They tell me they will submit the claim, and I should just start fixing it,,,,,, ugh - text boss, he says get a PO, cust won't authorize more than $35k for the deductible. I go to a new service call, many, many miles away.

They sold the chassis for scrap, took out the useable parts, and ordered a new library. This time, they also ordered our install service.

Hey, I got one more, but I'll wait a while. The next one has steam, flames, and firetrucks, oh my....