The Cool Side Of Network Administration

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Today I played with, I mean setup some cool new tools for our network. Joe finally got up our Avocent Switchview IP. It allows us to securely view the console of remote machines hooked up to our KVM. It was cool and very helpful to look at the bios screen on a server as we rebooted it 150 miles away.

Another cool tool we are looking at deploying is Microsofts Operations Manger, or MOM. I don’t like the name. Any software called mom gets me worried. It also makes me think about Microsoft Bob. MOM is actually interesting. It is not as nice a network monitor as Whatsup Gold, but it is a good windows tool to keep tabs on the health of a windows server. Whatsup and Mom are complementary in what they do. I can even have MOM send SNMP traps to a system like Whatsup. Of course doing that is easier said than done.

Next up is an automated Symantec Ghost deployment scheme. To be able to click on a button and update a desktop computer image would be fantastic. I thought we should have a system like that when we reached 50 desktop users. We are well beyond that and we have nothing in place yet. Windows 2003 Server also has other options you can use to do remote deployment and software package updates. I have never tried anything with 2000 Server, but I hear that the 2003 implementation is much better. Now I just need to find the time to do a test.

Back To Work

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My sister went back to work today for the first time in over 6 months. She dragged it on as long as she could but she needed to get back since her maternity leave was over. She will only work 4 days a week and only 3 of them at the office. Morgan is great, but I don’t know if I would stop working that much to be at home. I guess it is a maternal thing.

My mom also went back to work today. School start’s so she is back. She was not to happy about no vacation. I had no sympathy. After a hellish summer of working, I don’t loose sleep over them having to go back. My mom is weird, she has been talking of retiring for like 2 years, now she is saying she will retire in 2 more years.

Mission Accomplished

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I have succeeded in my mission of doing pretty much nothing this vacation weekend. I mean I did stuff, but nothing to stressful. I slept Saturday to recover from the late work night Friday. Sunday I cleaned up my place. I organized things a bit and made room for the remaining furniture that will hopefully arrive in the next two weeks. I also think I fixed my 802.11g wifi point. I moved it away from the TV and reset it. it has been working since. I hope it stays working.

Unfortunately monday I awoke with a Migraine. This is not good for two reasons. One, have you ever woke up with a migraine. It is not a good thing. The other is I don’t normally wake up with them. This is the 2nd time in like a month or two that I woke up with them. Not a good trend. I took a bextra and I am feeling a bit better. I am aiming to goto dinner with the folks tonight. Then it is back to work Tuesday.

I did get a bunch of work done this weekend also, but it was nothing special. Just minor stuff that has been overlooked since I have been out of the office so much recently.

Enough writing for now. More later…

We Have A Call Center, Well Sort Of!

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Wednesday we finally officially started taking calls at my companies new call center. I was on a conference call with AT&T while they made the first test call. It was exciting, but melodramatic. After a few small issues the Customer Service Rep’s (we call them Part-solver’s) were taking calls. Not many calls mind you. We wanted to make sure the system worked before we send lots of traffic to it. We maybe got 100 or so real calls. Now that the system is up and running, it is time to begin hiring lots of people to take calls. It will take months to get the new center fully staffed. For now I am focusing on cleaning up things, virtually and physically. Joe doesn’t yet have a desk in his office so our stuff is sprawled all over 8 call center desks. I still have lots of work to do, but it is nice to have started taking calls.

I was able to leave to go home with Dan Wednesday evening. It was nice to be home. I rode back with him and 3 Rep’s who he brought from NYC. They were there so the new hires could see how things should go.

My Personal Phone Dillema

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It survived a month. I still have (and like) the Treo 270. I totally think having the unlimited data account that actually works in allot of places makes this device good, versus just using it as a cell phone. To tell you the truth I almost never use it as a cell phone. I do when my Verizon phone runs out of batteries or if I have to call a number I don’t have in my Verizon phone’s limited speed dial. other than that I don’t use it that much. I just forward my T-Mobile calls to my Verizon number.

That brings me to another problem I am having. I am too connected. Gus mentioned that I have too many numbers to remember. It is true. I have my primary cell phone. That is Verizon right now. I also have my old AT&T number that I don’t use, but can’t cancel it because the contract is up in December. I then have the T-Mobile number that I use for data. I also have my NYC work number and now I have a Kingston work number. I have trouble routing calls places. Right now I have a message in NYC telling people I am out of the office. My T-Mobile phone is sending call’s to my Verizon phone. And the Kingston voice mail is telling people they can press 1 or 2 and get me at other numbers. I don’t have a solution though. T-Mobile kicks but on the wireless internet so I keep them. Verizon has the best cell coverage, so I keep them. And I need my work numbers. Now in december if/when cell phone number portability happens I will cancel my AT&T contract and take that number and move it to T-Mobile so I can keep the good number. I need to see how I can pull that off.

On top of all that, I have a blackberry pager from work. I hope one day for the Treo to work well enough that I can get rid of the blackberry. I will see what the new Treo 600 can do.

I Am Glad I Kept The Powerbook

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As much as Gus made sense when he said I should sell the powerbook and buy a desktop mac, I am glad I didn’t listen to him. I love this little powerbook. I don’t use it on the road much anymore, but when I do it is golden. It is light, the keyboard still is one of the best laptop keyboards I have written on, and the screen is bright. The fonts may be a bit small, but I can deal. Granted I use it plugged into my desktop monitor at home most of the time, but this type of portability is awesome. I also don’t like putting all my personal stuff on my work computer. I just got around to putting quicken on my Thinkpad. The only reason I did that was so I can sync quicken with my Treo.

The downside of this powerbook is that it gets HOT. Man this thing is charging and my legs are getting hot with it on my lap right now.

Tired And Nothing To Do

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I am sitting in a hotel room in Kingston, NY on a Tuesday evening at 8PM. Their is absolutely nothing to do. I could goto the pool, but I would have to deal with screaming and splashing kids in the hot tub. I could go eat, but I am not hungry. Joe and I ate a late lunch. I could goto the hotel bar, but the last time Dan and I did that we saw one women and a bunch of old guys. That time we were both really drunk, so I wont do that alone and sober. Not that into whatever is on TV. I am tivo’ing anything I want to watch tonight anyway so what is the point. I am catching up on this blog and then I think I may have a movie or something I can watch on the laptop. I have to check what I have. Other than that I am out of ideas. I probably will goto bed early. I have a big day tomorrow. I hope to be back in NYC tomorrow night. Lets just hope things go well.

Good Customer Service At Best Buy

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If you want to get good assistance at a Best Buy when buying something, follow these steps. Take a bunch of your friends with you. take pads and pens with you. Write down stuff while one of you looks at the back of TV’s and stuff. A training class of our Customer service reps went to the nearby bestbuy on a “field trip” today and did that. They had like 5 guys trying to help them. The supervisor who went said the guy was totally nervous about helping them. They think that they were mistaken for Best Buy corporate guys. Its worth a try if you are looking for some big ticket item and need help:)

The above steps will most likely work at any electronics retailer.

Two Of The Best TV Show’s, Ever, And You Probably Didn’t Know It

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I have mentioned that I got Homicide life on the streets on DVD. Or at least the first and second seasons. It sits in my waiting to be seen pile. I also just got another show on DVD that is also arguably one of the best shows every. It is Babylon 5. I do not deny the fact that I like decent Sci-Fi, and Babylon 5 is a fantastic show. I cannot think of any series that is better. The story was unbeatable and the effects rocked. I recently got Season 3 on DVD. By far the best season of the 5 years of the show. I am nearing the end of the DVD set, and just probably watched 3 or 4 of my favorite episodes. I like special effects like anyone else, but some of these stories were crazy, or so deep it makes you stop and think. A fantastic show that not that many people ended up watching. Too bad, but at least they are making it on DVD. Why is it that some of the best made stuff is not even close to popular? Both shows I mentioned in this blog entry were never popular, and always had to fight to get renewed. Then you have shows like ER, that used to be good but are way past there prime. That show needs to be put out of everyones misery. I used to like it, but now it is painful to watch.

While on the subject of my TV habits I would like to mention another new show that I have started to watch. MI-5 on A&E. It is a rebroadcast of a BBC show. It is actually really good. I also like the British filming style, not a hollywood version of a british agency. I have my Tivo set to grab it.

Buying Stuff

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For some unknown reason I feel compelled to buy useless yet cool stuff for Morgan. She is too young to understand or appreciate anything but I find myself asking my sister what toys can I buy. After much prodding they finally got a toy check that I bought them. When the baby was born I didn’t know what to get, so they originally wanted me to buy a rug or something for the baby’s room. Then it was a personalized toy chest. They finally got it, and I want to put stuff in it. That baby is so cute.