mjperkins ✭✭✭✭✭

I do check up on news sites and social media (Facebook lately, but it's been more Twitter at times in the past) frequently, but I have never been a doomscroller. I'll read news sites for both reporting and opinion pieces. I read from both sides of the aisle, even when the piece seems to ignore truth or logic. Even while…

I'm not looking forward to likely missing the second day of ThwackCamp 2020! I just don't think attending is a valid excuse to get out of jury duty.

Spending time at home through the pandemic, whether as "on call" or WFH has allowed me to do some things I might not have done otherwise. Since my wife is WFH full-time, I get to see her more. The usual dinnertime "How was your day" comes more stream-of-consciousness, since she doesn't have to wait to share funny things…

I doubt Network Atlas is in development or will even be available much longer. In my view, the advent of the Orion Maps web-based dynamic maps, and incorporating at least some aspects of the Network Atlas UI (e.g., the object chooser) into the new web tool, was the writing on the wall for Network Atlas.

I put in a request for AES-512 authentication in 2017 (https://thwack.solarwinds.com/t5/NPM-Feature-Requests/Feature-Request-Support-AES-512/idi-p/566179). It is still open for voting. Please consider upvoting (kudos, now, I guess) both requests.

It's Sunday morning, and I've been trying since last night to finish up the week's questions: 4 different browsers on 2 different OSes and I cannot see the questions on any of them.

Right now, the only other person living with me is my wife. Do I get plenty of IT questions from her? Yup. Phone not working? Cannot find a printer? WiFi down? Laptop keyboard has a key or two not working? I get the "call." There was one fellow who used to ask people in my peer group to install and upgrade things on his…

With the DHS guidance (see Appendix B, Item 9) requiring hardening as per SolarWinds, which means enabling FIPS, that means monitoring is no longer supported for containers for government customers. The document on enabling FIPS states, "Starting in Orion Platform 2020.2, container monitoring is not supported if FIPS is…

Wow, @"Dez", those are some really great-looking treats you created. They make me hungry and remind me how I'm diabetic () all at the same time! I'll probably show my wife this post -- she's a big baking show fan -- and post any fun comments. I have been interested in cooking for years, though usually more dabbling then…

I am getting a 'Page not found' for thwack.solarwinds.com/store. Is anyone else?

Alerting on shield disablement would not have saved the 1701-D. It's shields were not disabled, so the alert would not have ever triggered. The malware in Geordi's VISOR provided the means to defeat them even though they were up.

Mobile hotspots on phones can provide emergency Internet backup, though they are not cheap if used for any significant period. When I moved in to my current home seven years ago, I used the hotspot from my corporate phone (since Internet hadn't been moved from my old home yet) to work while things were getting done at the…

If I have anything to be anxious about, it is my health. When you're a diabetic kidney transplant recipient, much less one who has required a lot of 'aggressive' treatment to fight off rejection, you have reason to be anxious. Instead of letting fear or anxiety rule, I try to treat the whole business as a problem to be…

@"adatole"Tallit and tefillin with a view? Nice! Ever take advantage of that porch for davening? Beware of the rabbinical tech support, though. I've been there. That's a really long tale not for Thwack pages. @"KMSigma.SWI"UMUC grad? I served my time on the College Park campus myself. Go Terps! As for my own home office…

Nice write-up, @"kwalker" . I avoid the 'someone coming up behind' issue by either sitting with my back to a wall or by having the door closed and using that I live in a 93 year-old home that doesn't allow anyone to creep up on anyone unannounced. Regarding being heard and in mind, I spend about half my time in-office and…

@"ednelgmot"We had friends who had an adorable Norwich. My wife prevailed on me to let her have the dog over for a couple of nights while our friends were out of town. Kacy (the pooch) loved it -- stretched its little body out so that my wife couldn't find room to sleep. She had to move the dog a couple of times during the…

Nice write-up, @"rschroeder". On a more personal note, thanks for helping medical care in your area. While I don't have much family there now, my mom's uncle still lives in Fargo -- the last of nine siblings who grew up there before spreading out across the midwest (mostly) and beyond who still lives in the area.

Count me with the chorus about dynamic backgrounds not being (at least disclosed anywhere as) an new feature. Perhaps it was curious that when the question popped up it read, "Dynamic backgrounds and bulk administrationNewAnswer," as though something had been changed from an earlier version.

@"adatole" Your goal is admirable, and one I've flailed at for decades. Qapla'! Hatzlacha! I have found that taking extra time with the Koren Sacks siddur helps me, not that I've made much progress. I would not say I've tried anything completely new during the pandemic, I have tried to brush up on things I've been wanting…

I enjoy shopping, but I like to do my research, no matter what I am buying. If I am shopping online, I will check ratings and look to what people I follow on a topic use. If looking for investments, I will research different companies, something for which I find The Motley Fool very useful; I've used them since they were…

While sometimes days seem to meld together, it has not been due to COVID, but just too much going on at times. In my hopefully only temporary 'normal,' I have continued to have enough things to remind me of what day it is. Monday morning is the conference call with my program manager and her team. Wednesday morning is my…

I have always been one of those people who did not watch a lot of movies, and that has continued. Until a couple of years ago, I did not have pay TV either, so I've missed a lot of things that will surprise or shock plenty of you. Even in the pandemic, I have watched most of my content before I start in the morning or…

Tut tut. You had the opportunity to wear a proper kilt and turned it down? I once was invited to a wedding. The חתן (groom) had been wearing one for dancing at weddings for years. When the invitation to his nuptials arrived, it said "Black Tie Optional or Highland Formal." I rented a full highland formal outfit: kilt,…

I loved several things that all tied to the lack of commuting during days when I was either working from home or on-call. Gaining two hours or more each day let me sleep later. As an aside, the lower traffic volumes still make my commutes take less time. It also made me able to be home for installation of our new air…

Yasher Koach, adatole​ !גמר חתימה טובה

On my team, we unmanage nodes for various reasons and various lengths of time. We have found that placing a note on a "Last XX Notes" resource on a node details summary page (e.g., 'unmanged until [date] for [ticket or project]') to be helpful when someone looks at a device and wonders why it is down (perhaps hit its…

My father (of blessed memory; just observed his 28th yahrzeit last Friday) was a shutterbug, though he hated to be the subject of a photo himself. He died before digital photography was practical. He left behind several cameras, including multiple Polaroids dating back to the 1960s. I wound up with a couple: full outfits…

@"adatole"Ha! I gleefully yield to your knowledge of anise-based alcoholic beverages. You had me giggling, especially with those side notes! The last one brought to mind tales of my great-grandmother making chokecherry wine for 'sacramental purposes' during prohibition in Fargo, ND. At least my great-grandmother didn't…

I think this topic would have worked better later in the month than the 4th. Not even @"jeremymayfield" had something from when he was 4 (today) years old -- an age when, for most, we have spotty memories at best. The only memory I can easily recall from when I was four is the December morning my mom woke me up early and…

@"yumdarling"and @"trilobite_rex", You might check the certificate in use by your browser when viewing the page. If the cert is not from SolarWinds but from another party (likely your employer or their VPN vendor), that may be the issue. You might need to add the corporate certificate to your workstation's certificate…