The Comms Room

RobM

3:00 PM

And oh yes, if he won't spring for the management tools to make it easy... that's a paddlin'

Michael Hampton

@HopelessN00b Dollars to donuts, the boss knew about this for weeks and only just now sprung it on you.

cole

@HopelessN00b Sounds like my work.

pauska

@MathiasR.Jessen what hotel did you get?

HopelessN00b

@MichaelHampton Yeah, that' what's really pissing me off. I already know why he wants this, and it's something he's known about since last year, yet he springs it on me and gives me 2.5 hours to get it done. >:/

RobM

ok I was wrong. The whole thing is annoying in that case

pauska

3:02 PM

We shall meet, with @MDMarra and @RyanRies, stuff our weak it bodies with lots of bbq and then get shitfaced

HopelessN00b

@RobM Yeah, to both those things. But I guess I'm off to color-code an Excel sheet. And provide descriptive annotations in small words for a couple hundred servers.

ewwhite

@DennisKaarsemaker pricing isn't much better.

RobM

just make sure your annotations are accurate. Because that wouldn't occur to you if it wasn't said.

ewwhite

HopelessN00b

@RobM There's actually about 0 chance of significant accuracy here, but I'm sure that will be held against me at a later date. =D

RobM

3:03 PM

you should be a manager @HopelessN00b you already know how its done!

HopelessN00b

@RobM I get that a lot, actually (people telling me I should be a manager), problem being I think I'd prefer eating a bullet to a career in management.

RobM

@HopelessN00b i know what you mean. But how else are we to get good managers if good people don't want to be managers

HopelessN00b

A valid point, kinda, but the world also needs good politicians, good plumbers, good... well, "good people" in most every vocation, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to fill those roles.

The other point of view is that management, like government, is a necessary evil that ought to be minimized as much as possible, and wouldn't be nearly so necessary if we focused on hiring good people to do the actual work in the first place.

Chris S

@RobM I think the main issue is that people who are competent line workers, and who enjoy that, shouldn't be promoted to management positions. Middle managers seem to come from three places (in order): 1. Line workers who "made it", promoted because they did their last job well. Of course this has nothing to do with management, and they usually suck at it.

Mathias R. Jessen

@pauska www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/texas/hilton-houston-post-oak-IAHWSHH/…

Chris S

3:13 PM

2. People who decided to make a career of middle management... small school MBA, large corp, paper pusher with a high salary and relatively low competence requirements. 3. People who have degrees mixed in both "the work" and "managing the workers" (or other relevant education/training/apprenticeship) - these tend to be lower level management, people who get stuff done, and managers that the line workers actually enjoy working for.

Jenny D

@RobM Being a good sysadmin doesn't require at all the same skills as being a good manager. I've had some really good managers but they've mostly not been people promoted from the tech side of things.

@ChrisS It's the "peter principle" - people will be promoted until they reach their level of incompetence

pauska

@MathiasR.Jessen that's not bad at all.. trust me, you could have gotten a lot lot longer away

Chris S

@JennyD Yeah, but it's more than that... It's a weird idea that if you're good at X you should be good at Y - when X and Y have nothing/little to do with eachother.

pauska

maybe you're lucky and there's a tram line nearby

Mathias R. Jessen

@JennyD Same here, but I've also seen some brilliant techs being promoted and how it destroyed them :\

HopelessN00b

3:15 PM

@ChrisS This is very true. In my opinion, and experience, Types 1 and 2 are the most common, and also the types that, honestly, could vanish from existence tomorrow, and not only not be missed, but make the world a better place for their absence.

Mathias R. Jessen

@pauska Yeah, I'm not too worried, just happy to be going at all :D

pauska

@MathiasR.Jessen First time? Bet you're excited :) going alone?

RobM

@chriss @jennyd quite so. But just like being good at X doesn't mean you're also going to be good at Y, being good at X doesn't exclude you from also being good at Y.

Jenny D

@RobM Which is why I said "mostly". Most people are good with either languages or maths, but there are some who are good at both.

Chris S

@RobM Granted - But understanding that one sentence is exactly what's missing from the people doing promotions - or so it seems.

RobM

3:16 PM

But yeah you shouldn't promote people out of their comfort zone. Even though I've been thinking about IT management myself, I see myself as a team leader level person, rather than someone who's going to sit in meetings all day talking about strategic fit.

Mathias R. Jessen

@pauska Excited as a kid on xmas eve :D Two of my colleagues (TE alumni) are going as well

pauska

@MathiasR.Jessen great, then you get to sit on the outside while we aluminis are at the alumini cafe, eating fresh donuts and lattes

Mathias R. Jessen

@pauska :(

pauska

but honestly, good choice of going to NA instead of europe

everyone I've talked to whos been at teched europe says it sucks compared to NA

verrrrrrrrry many mr indian surkesh speakers

Mathias R. Jessen

lol

cole

3:18 PM

Hooray

Mathias R. Jessen

Yeah, my manager tried to stop me from nagging him about it with a ticket to EU, I asked him if he would like my resignation in exchange

pauska

no racism intended, but it's ten times easier to listen to english native speakers for 10 hours/4days

cole

I am definitely going to LOPSA East

pauska

Just don't do the ultimate noob thing at tech ed

use the backpack and have a comfy pair of clothes in them

it gets freezing in some of the rooms, while its baking hot on the outside.. you'll catch a cold in no time if all you have are shorts and tshirt

Mathias R. Jessen

@pauska Thanks for the heads up - really looking forward, I don't really know what to expect though :P

@cole Make sure you bring a lot a stupid questions for this talk: lopsa-east.org/2014/lopsa-east-14-training-schedule/#sa2

cole

3:23 PM

@MathiasR.Jessen I'm going to ask why NT4.0 is not a supported configuration, and .LOCAL4LYFE

2

Mathias R. Jessen

@cole Hahaha, great, ask if he would recommend PowerDNS on AIX for AD DNS as well

cole

@MathiasR.Jessen "Please explain why 1300 Samba RODCs isn't a good idea"

God dammit IBM Connections, you make me want to stab myself in the dick.

HopelessN00b

Oh, damn. LOPSA East is in New Jersey? Gah. New Jersey is the worst place I've had the misfortune of passing through.

Mathias R. Jessen

@cole "I don't trust anyone younger than 21 so I removed the Parent/Child trusts in my multi-domain forest - why can't I log in?"

cole

@MathiasR.Jessen Legit LOL oh god.

@HopelessN00b ya, it's America's taint.

HopelessN00b

3:28 PM

Why would anyone deliberately go to New Jersey, as an actual destination?

2

cole

@HopelessN00b because they hate themselves

I'm just surprised my director said I could go

LOPSA East should be in Boston.

Scott Pack

@HopelessN00b That's a good question. Did you know that crossing the Ben Franklin into Camden is free, but it costs $5 to come back into Philly?

HopelessN00b

@cole Must be a lot of self-loathing folks in LOPSA East.

cole

But I think it's in NJ to be a "central location"

my boss said I can take the train or fly.

HopelessN00b

@cole New York?

cole

3:29 PM

Fuck New York

HopelessN00b

More central, much better.

cole

Fuck it right in it's dirty asshole.

I hate NY

HopelessN00b

@cole Well, preferable to New Jersey, at the very least.

cole

I'd take NJ over NY

pauska

I like NY..

never been to the shady parts though

I'm told that new yorkers are very similar to us norwegians.. that's probably why so many of us have been there

we're uptight and cold as hell :(

cole

3:31 PM

@pauska sounds like Boston.

We're dicks here.

Scott Pack

I wouldn't call Bostonians dicks so much as abrasive with no social skills.

cole

Good thing I'm a Rhode Islander...oh wait, that's way worse.

Scott Pack

They'll call you a saggy dicked dog fucker while buying you a beer.

cole

I think RI has taken the place of NJ's shittiness.

How the fuck did I lock my account out?

Mathias R. Jessen

@cole Conficker.D

cole

3:33 PM

More like Confinger.

Because clearly I can't type.

Scott Pack

@cole That's not until LOPSA East.

cole

What the shit dick is going on

HopelessN00b

@ScottPack I did actually... having driven out there. Makes sense. I can't imagine anyone making money off charging people to get in to Jersey, but I'm sure there's a killing to be made off people wanting to get the fuck out of NJ.

Scott Pack

@HopelessN00b No kidding.

@HopelessN00b And considering how easy it is to accidentally end up on that bridge? "Oh fuck I'm in Jersey. TAKE ALL MY MONEY!!"

HopelessN00b

@pauska As do I. I spend all my time in Manhattan when I go, because... well, I couldn't think of a good reason to visit the other Burroughs.

pauska

3:35 PM

@HopelessN00b brooklyn seems ok aswell.. was a short trip there

but I don't know anyone in NY, so I'm tourist deluxe.. clubbing in manhattan etc

HopelessN00b

@pauska Yeah, that's how I've done NY. Not the clubbing, I guess, but the tourist-deluxe bit.

Nathan C

@cole this is why multiple logins is always a good thing :)

Security-wise meh

cole

@NathanC Dude, we run NT4.0 still. Clearly security isn't an issue.

Scott Pack

@NathanC Except when it comes to attribution and access restrictions.

Nathan C

@ScottPack Fair enough. I occasionally use our "Administrator" account for things when my normal user doesn't have the rights (or I don't want my personal password going someplace)

Mathias R. Jessen

3:42 PM

@ScottPack Not neceessarily a problem if you have multiple personal accounts

Scott Pack

@NathanC Ew.

cole

It was just me fat fingering logging into View.

Nathan C

For security's sake I should be using my workstation with a non-domain admin account, but that's a PITA when I'm using the admin tools regularly

Scott Pack

@MathiasR.Jessen What I mean is, consider the event of employee separation. Without centralized authentication that's a fucking nightmare.

Nathan C

Dell, why you make no sense?

cole

3:44 PM

Well

That's nice.

Nathan C

Current Power Consumption 2234 mW

I feel like this switch's power usage is a bit off

pauska

@NathanC internet explorer and compatability mode...

Nathan C

@pauska Using Chrome

:P

pauska

@NathanC forget it..

the only network product we have that supports anything other than IE is our aruba wireless controller where they regulary update

everything else is in IE with compat mode to IE8 :(

Nathan C

oh

The interface actually works fine...first time I've gotten that message

cole

3:49 PM

@pauska which is exactly why I'm logged into VMware View right now since I'm running Win 8.1

HopelessN00b

@NathanC My solution to that is to just never log off or reboot. Run tools as admin, have them open for months at a time. Yippie, security... or something.

TheCleaner

Maybe I'm really high, but isn't your Current Environment and Wanted Behavior the exact same? — TheCleaner 15 secs ago

Ryan Ries

HP Proliant software, why are you so shitty

pauska

@cole You know that compat mode is back?

HopelessN00b

@RyanRies I always assumed it was so that I'd prefer Dell servers. Not the case?

pauska

3:56 PM

they smuggled it in again with some update

@HopelessN00b I'm really impressed with the latest Dell servers

cole

@pauska I never use IE - so no I didn't

pauska

their lifecycle/drac setup with hundreds of monitors and email alerting is so fucking nice.. no more host agents

Ryan Ries

The best server is the one that runs with the least vendor bloat, imo

pauska

@cole hit f12 and scroll down to the last button :)

any SIP guru here?

cole

@pauska aw yiss

Makes doing expense reports easier

HopelessN00b

3:58 PM

@pauska Yup, it's awesome. Although, I just learned that it's not a total replacement to OpenManage. Gotta update hard drive firmware on one of our ESXi hosts, only way to do it without a reboot is to install OpenManage. D'oh!

cole

thanks

Ryan Ries

I'm really looking forward to TechEd.

TheCleaner

@HopelessN00b - what am I missing on that question? Am I really high? :)

Ryan Ries

And also the big fat bonus on my paycheck tomorrow.

TheCleaner

I always enjoyed Interop more...but TechEd is still a fun trip.

HopelessN00b

4:00 PM

@TheCleaner Slight difference in the second line.

Jenny D

@TheCleaner hands @TheCleaner a pair of better glasses

TheCleaner

WHAT?!? OK, I'll look again.

HopelessN00b

\SERVER1\Share2 | \\SERVER***1***\Share2 vs \\SERVER1\Share2 | \\SERVER***2***\Share2

emphasis added.

TheCleaner

@JennyD OK, you can delete your comment...apparently the better glasses worked. (takes off google glasses)

HopelessN00b

Dumbass question. I think I lost 10 IQ points just reading it... and another 10 trying to parse it.

Jenny D

4:02 PM

@TheCleaner :-)

Home time. waves

TheCleaner

later

Some of you might like this one:
https://qlm.infusionsoft.com/app/page/office365_exchangecon_2014
"Registration is now open for Office 365 Exchange CON 2014, an annual gathering of IT Strategists, Domain Experts and Microsoft MVPs, presenting the latest technologies, challenges and solutions facing the MS Exchange community of professionals. The virtual live event takes place on Thursday, March 6, 2014, starting at 11am ET / 10am CT / 8am PT. Participation is limited to the first 1000 attendees, so register today! "

cole

I need to like

Make a marquee with the people on call because the help desk keeps calling me.

pauska

@HopelessN00b openmanage is stupid

it requires a fuckton of deps

IIS, sql server, blah

cole

It's a PITA

pauska

fuck if I'm going to install that on our hyperv boxes

Dan

4:18 PM

I've spent the last hour e-stalking a company and I'm having so much fun

Ry Jones

@Dan spill! spill!

Dan

@RyJones Can't really, but I mentioned it yesterday. Started as a bit of due dilligence on $AmazingProduct they claimed to have invented

Ry Jones

oh OK

Dan

Turns out the company is ran by two people who can only be described as pathological liars.

To the degree that I found an instance of them trading under a company name that simply didn't exist. That would be a criminal offence

TheCleaner

@Dan That could be any number of tech startups.

Dan

4:21 PM

@TheCleaner Well, yes - but I don't know or care about them ;)

HopelessN00b

@pauska Yeah, agreed. Just pointing out that it's not completely replaced by iDRAC and Lifecycle Manager, if for no other reason than Western Digital shipped buggy firmware on the drives one of our servers came with. >:/

pauska

@HopelessN00b Can't you just pop in SUU and do it there?

the bootable SUU runs a ton of disk firmware upgrades

HopelessN00b

@pauska I was told I couldn't, which was good enough for me. Remote site, and the people in charge out there are real pieces of shit, so I'm not about to bend over backwards for them. Or even search on Google to make their lives easier.

MikeyB

@voretaq7 fucking Ubuntu:
michael@challenger:~
○ → df -P .
Filesystem 1024-blocks Used Available Capacity Mounted on
data/home 145160960 89200768 55960192 62% /home

michael@challenger:~
○ → POSIXLY_CORRECT=1 df -P .
Filesystem 512-blocks Used Available Capacity Mounted on
data/home 290321920 178401536 111920384 62% /home

cuz you know, the first time I asked for POSIX output I didn't REALLY mean it

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