SearchMarked.com » Fun

Don’t forget to sudo

hstagner — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:44:46 +0000

Searchmarked.com Tip:

One of the most common mistakes that I see new Ubuntu users (new to Linux) make is not using sudo. The Ubuntu community has some excellent forums with commands to get you through almost any task you can think of on your Ubuntu PC. However, many times I hear the same complaint:

“The command didn’t work? What gives?”

That’s when I say:

“Did you remember to sudo?”

Often the user who is not used to sudo’ing will forget and wonder why they need to in the first place. So, as a friendly reminder have a look at the picture below:

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Pointless Ubuntu performance test

hstagner — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:18:35 +0000

I came upon this little gem on youtube today. Why on earth people feel the need to argue the awesomeness of Ubuntu by doing stuff like this is beyond me. Ubuntu is awesome for so many reasons. Videos like this do nothing but solidify the attitude that Linux is just a toy.

Anyway, the video is kinda fun to watch but that’s about it.

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Silly user, you didn’t save it in word…

hstagner — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 02:30:49 +0000

Searchmarked.com Tip

Welcome to the first Searchmarked.com video. Those in the IT field have come across this infamous line more often then they care to count.

“I saved it in Word”

What the heck does that even mean!?! Well, I put together this short video to try and explain what a user might be thinking and to help the misled users out there with the concept of files and folders. Enjoy…

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The only IT TShirt you’ll ever need!

hstagner — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:58:23 +0000

Those in the IT Field know how difficult it can be to deal with users. At times I have to balance good customer service with my need to let the user know how technologically challenged he or she might be. Or, not even technologically challenged. Just challenged, period.

I mean a real user was responsible for the “Best User Phrase Ever!” Now thanks to the Searchmarked.com T-Shirt Shop, I don’t have to loose my cool when dealing with users. All I have to do is wear this nifty T-Shirt and stand to the right of any user that I am helping. Then the world will know my plight.

If you deal with users on a daily basis I congratulate you. Buy the T-Shirt for yourself or your IT friends to let the world know of your plight also.

Happy T-Shirting!

Technorati Tags: T-Shirt, Users, Funny

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The best user phrase ever!

hstagner — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:39:38 +0000

Those who work in the IT field know the drill. You go to work on a computer that a user has obviously done something to, but the user has no idea what happened. It usually goes something like this:

“I don’t know why I got a virus after going to that highly reputable gambling site on the Internets…”

You usually just say “Uh Huh” and go on about your business. However, I ran into a really good user phrase today that I just had to post. Follow the scenario below for details.

-User calls to complain that there is a crack in the laptop

-IT person goes down to look at the laptop

-Upon arriving there is, indeed, a crack in the laptop.

-Then, the user converses with the IT person and spouts out this little gem:

“I don’t know why that happened to the laptop. I haven’t dropped it in two months…”

WHAT!?! Are you kidding me? This is comic gold! Not only is that the first honest statement that I have heard a user make, but the user was dead serious. What would happen if that kind of naive honesty were applied to different situations?

-Doctor’s Office

“I don’t know why that happened to little Timmy. I haven’t dropped him in two months…”

-Veterinarian’s Office

“I don’t know why that happened to Snowball. I haven’t dropped her in two months…”

-Retirement Home (Orderly talking to a grandchild)

“I don’t know why that happened to your Granny. I haven’t dropped her in two months…”

You get the point. This phrase is truly funny because it can go in all sorts of directions (not just with a laptop). Do you have a user phrase that made you laugh out loud? Share it with me in the comments. Happy Laughing!

Technorati Tags: Fun, User, IT Support

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How to bypass a network security policy without hacking into Active Directory

hstagner — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:22:00 +0000

Sometimes the ingenuity of users amazes me. I have never seen anything like the following scenario. More on that in a second.

As an IT Professional, I have to enforce certain network policies from time to time. I have had to implement Web filtering (I am not a fan, I assure you), email retention policies, disk quotas, and many other unpopular policies.

I have never received much whining and complaining until I implemented a policy that would lock the Windows computers after 20 minutes of inactivity. It doesn’t log the user off, it just locks the computer. This does not shut down any programs that were open. However, you would think I cut off the users’ hands.

When I implemented this policy, I heard it all. I had comments flying at me like:

“Do you realize that 8 minutes of my day are now wasted?”

Mess with people’s convenience and you have a riot on your hands. Guess what? Security is not meant to be convenient. It is just a byproduct of the world that we now live in. *Steps off the soapbox…*

As I promised at the beginning of this post, here is why the ingenuity of users amazes me. I work with some engineers that do component level electronics repair work (I work at a television station). One particular user decided that he was not going to put up with the locking console policy.

Did he edit the registry? NO. Did he hack into Active Directory and change the group policy? NO. Did he lock himself to his desk and refuse to work or eat until the policy was revoked? NO, but that would have been funny.

He modified his keyboard. WHAT!?! You say.

The console locking policy works when there are 20 consecutive minutes of inactivity. So, he put a 555 timer, a resistor, and a relay in his keyboard so that every few seconds, the Scroll Lock key would electronically turn on. So, as far as Windows was concerned, there was activity every few seconds.

Yep, a keyboard was responsible for bypassing a network security policy, but no typing was involved . I thought the whole scenario was very funny and I would like to thank the user for giving me a great story to tell. The modified keyboard has since, been removed. There is a lesson to be learned here. The lesson is not about network security, computers, or even Information Technology. It is about management.

If you can figure out what motivates people, they will come up with some pretty creative solutions. Our user just happened to be motivated by a need to improve efficiency for “8 minutes a day.”

Technorati Tags: Security, Electronics, Management

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