rschroeder · NAM SME · ✭✭✭✭✭

Just another example of SW continuing commitment to being a great company to work with.

Relying solely, or heavily, on syslog isn't great. In fact, I think that's a bad practice. But syslog CAN be a useful tool in determining root causes and affected systems. And once you have a list of affected systems from syslog, and the reactions and symptoms of outages that syslog can also provide, you have a nice set of…

Zack Attack ended up monotonic and two-dimensional. I'm not so much into dreamy 80's emo tunes, but Jessie nailed this one. Jessie and the Rippers certainly ripped of Zack and fended off his attack.

This list of soft skills is something I wish could be enforced on our politicians and corporations. So much more can be done with great communication and excellent listening than is being done today with that "my way or the highway" attitude that puts profits and growth above quality and reducing stress.

I'm betting the May Mission will start this coming Monday.

Take that bad example to the next level: I've seen one company that not only allows end users to RDP to their servers, they require them to do so to run the applications right on the servers. Heaven forbid a server could share a nicely designed web application to a few dozen employees securely, without them using up all…

From Barrons.com, a bit of good news for bacon lovers:

It's been an interesting ride, upgrading since 2004. I'm happy to have had something fun and reliable to monitor and manage our network nodes and their configs.

Serious spanking to be applied to the installers of Rogue AP's. In the early days of wireless we didn't allow it in our hospitals due to the security vulnerabilities with WEP, as well as us not having a corporate security policy for WLAN's and BYOD's. Of course a few "entitled" individuals rebelled and purchased their own…

I asked my wife about her degree of satisfaction with her Fitbit. She finds it guilts her into motivation for more steps. She's very goal-oriented, while I'm happy to achieve the goal and be finished with the project. It only means I must redefine my goal.

If you get in over your head with SW, and if Thwack doesn't have an answer, feel free to DM me. I have some experience with Missions and Thwack, and also with NPM, NCM, NTA, IPAM, UDT, SDK, and the Toolset. Maybe I can help you understand some of the Thwack Mission philosophies and tricks for interpreting hints and the…

Congratulations on joining the Solarwinds team of Head Geeks! It's a wonderful life-full of adventures that got you here, and I can relate to the varied path, and its wide varied of solutions, that lead you to your present state of leading Geekdom. I look forward to reading your thoughts, suggestions, solutions, and more…

I think you have the right take on the fruit phone insecurity. Rather than directing scrutiny at how data is used, let us mandate secure hardware and communication and encryption first. If the data can't be stolen, it can't be misused. That lays the blame squarely at the door of those who manufacture the vulnerable…

Hey, it's March Madness! The ONLY appropriate answer between dodgeball and basketball? BASKETBALL!

Atlanta and its nearby users are fortunate to have the benefits of being a travel hub and large city. I'll miss seeing this presentation in person. On the other hand, maybe there are other kinds of benefits to compensate for living & working out in a rural location. Hopefully lower crime, cleaner air & water. Certainly…

Overcoming anxiety remains a challenge, but as long as one focuses on the positive, acknowledges the bright outcomes and potential good futures, and recognizes their blessings, anxiety can be handled. Having employment is a good help. Quitting focusing on negative news, stopping listening to negative people . . . these two…

I don't have it anymore, but I used to have a Control Data Corporation removable disk. The spindle could hold up to 609 million six-bit characters, or 4.156 gigabits. These things weighed a LOT, and when the read arm crashed it would scrap off magnetic oxide until the disk spun down. Opening up the top was accompanied with…

Six years . . . isn't it time to make this happen?

Regarding Dungeons and Deadlines, my company's security filter denied me access to that site because it is a gaming site. I'm OK with that.

True, it's only money. And if it goes wrong, they carry the blame, not your team.

Worked perfectly for me--I made certain to enter the answer exactly as it was in hint, including upper/lower case characters.

Once upon a time I worked for an IT Manager who believed in the "just say no" philosophy. It kept us safe and secure, and saved us a boat load of money by keeping us from going down paths that were dead ends or money pits or security nightmares. Enough saying "no" and he was out the door in favor of someone who'd not…

I wish more individuals and corporations took the high road you defined. Good ethics over profit may very well result in better long-term outcomes for everyone. As business becomes more globally oriented, consumers also become better educated about strengths and flaws in companies wooing their budgets. At one time I…

This might just be fairly universally applicable across all IT. IP design/deployment, Network design/configuration, Server setups, Security solutions, SAN, Backups . . . Who doesn't know how to do something better today than when they started it some years ago? If Management could point at a year and tell me "Make the…

The Amazon Scout autonomous delivery vehicle seems a likely target for thieves and vandals. Securing one and providing sufficient tracking capabilities to foil those who'd steal one seems cost ineffective.

I'm still waiting for a post about stolen biometric data. Honestly, I've no confidence in a company's ability to protect my personal data like finger prints and retina scans that get me into a data center. If it's stored electronically for comparison, I've got to believe it can be stolen. I'd rather use Quantum encryption…

Good observation. On the other hand, is the cloud affordable for churches? My church is small, its community comprised of few IT professionals who can provide the needed expertise. When last I looked at their computers, they were riddled with malware from inappropriate users (unsupervised kids surfing & trying to game at…

Columbus Day was always a bad idea when his "discovery" resulted in Europeans doing such bad things in the name of imperialism, or the church, or profit. I'd have gone for a day celebrating indigenous peoples. Getting a paid day to vote? I don't find it necessary. I can always get up early enough to make it to the polling…

Although Question 14's URL probably gives away the answer, the hint page is creative.