10 things your IT guy wants you to know
Shamelessly ripped rom Whirlpool.net.au
1. If you ask me technical questions please don’t argue with me because you don’t like my answer. If you think you know more about the topic, why ask? And if I’m arguing with you…it’s because I am positive that I am correct, otherwise I’d just say “I don’t know” or give you some tips on where to look it up, I don’t have the time to just argue for the sake of it. 2. Starting a conversation by insulting yourself (i.e. “I’m such an idiot”) will not make me laugh, or feel sorry for you; all it will do is remind me that yes, you are an idiot and that I am going to hate having to talk to you. Trust me; you don’t want to start a call that way.
3. I am ok with you making mistakes, fixing them is my job. I am not ok with you lying to me about a mistake you made. It makes it much harder to resolve and thus makes my job more difficult. Be honest and we can get the problem resolved and continue on with our business.
4. There is no magic “Fix it” button. Everything takes some amount of work to fix, and not everything is worth fixing or even possible to fix. If I say that you just need to re-do a document that you accidentally deleted 2 months ago, please don’t get mad at me. I’m not ignoring your problem, and it’s not that I don’t like you, I just can’t always fix everything.
5. Not everything you ask me to do is “urgent”. In fact, by marking things as “urgent” every time, you almost ensure that I treat none of it as a priority.
6. You are not the only one who needs help, and you usually don’t have the most urgent issue. Give me some time to get to your problem, it will get fixed.
7. Emailing me several times about the same issue in the same day is not only unnecessary, it’s highly annoying. Emails will stay until I delete them, I won’t delete them until I’m done with them. I will typically respond as soon as I have a useful update. If it is an urgent issue, let me know (see number 5).
8. Yes, I prefer email over telephone calls. It has nothing to do with being friendly, it’s about efficiency. It is much faster and easier for me to list out a set of questions that I need you to answer than it is for me to call and ask you them one by one. You can find the answers at your leisure and while I’m waiting I can work on other problems.
9. Yes, I seem blunt and rude. It’s not that I mean to, I just don’t have the time to sugar coat things for you. I assume we are both adults and can handle the reality of a problem. If you did something wrong, I will tell you. I don’t care that it was a mistake, because it really makes no difference to me. Don’t take it personal, I just don’t want it to happen again.
10. And finally, yes, I can read your email, I can see what web pages you look at while you are at work, yes, I can access every file on your work computer, and I can tell if you are chatting with people on an instant messenger or chat room (and can also read what you are typing). But no, I don’t do it. It’s unethical, I’m busy, and in all reality you aren’t all that interesting. So unless I am instructed to specifically monitor or investigate your actions, I don’t. There really are much more interesting things on the internet than you.
---- BONUS ----
11. Yes, I am a trainee, please be patient with me. I will try my best to solve your problems, perhaps you could try resetting your modem for the 17th time?, maybe you could try an isolation test also?... And I am sorry for the 39 minute wait you had on hold, but my company is too tight to employee enough staff to handle their customer base, so I understand your frustration to begin with.
12. No, my name is not really Tom, do I sound like a Tom with this Indian accent?, I thought not. You see, our company is trying to cut costs by shifting their call centers to foreign shores. While this may not be beneficial to you or your company, my 12 children are extremely grateful for the opportunity to escape the clutches of our 7th generation family business of supplying the local community with the finest hand crafted cricket bats this side of Mumbai. Thank-you for your call, have a nice day.
The last one cracks me up something chronic! I think anyone in or been in IT can relate to this and although we all nod our heads its all worth it!
Brain Asplode
Hey all,
wow it has been a while since I have posted here. Typical me everytime I think about it I make an excuse to say to myself and put it off another day, damn laziness. Anyhoo life is good at the moment. Back at work and being worked of my ass. Being regularly going it early and staying back late (7am starts and 5pm finishes) just to keep the workload demons at bay. Its funny, when I was a trainee in my mind I would be saying things like "why the fuck am I doing this, they don't appreciate what I do etc etc etc" but I don't know if its the whole new Principle thing (whom I might say is far greater than the previous one) or that I am now a SSO aka not a trainee anymore but working harder, putting in the overtime doesn't real bother me. In fact I really enjoy getting up early as the place is a ghost town and I can really focus. Not to mention the sunrise over the dewy grounds and seeing my Impreza just sitting there creates a massive grin on my face 
. Its a whole different world. In fact my co worker and I were discussing the possibility of flexible shifts instead of the same time for everyone. Like I start early aka 7am and leave at 3 (or 2 on a Friday) and he starts at 9am and leaves at 5 (or 4 on a Friday). Interesting idea and it might be worth considering.
On a similar note I have been lately reading up on Microsoft Certifaction and found out that MCSA (Microsoft Certified Server Administrator) which I planned on going for no longer exists for future Microsoft products like the recently released Microsoft Vista and Server 2008. In its place is the category MCITP or Microsoft Certified Information Technology Professional and has subtitles of things like Enterprise Support Technician, Enterprise Administrator; both of which I will apply for. I spoke to the relevant people at work and it looks like I can get the Microsoft Press Exam Self Paced Kits which includes MASSIVE books full of information, practice tests & questions which is also supplied on the CD in ebook form. I really excited at the prospect of being Certified by Microsoft and deeply learning the inner workings of Server 2008 and having the knowledge to setup whole systems from start to finish. Wouldn't mind learning Powershell scripting either as that seems to be a powerful tool in the right hands for automating daily administrative duties.
I see that Subaru Australia have updated their website regarding the 2008 Impreza WRX STI. The base model starts at 59K where as the Spec. R package which includes Leather Bucket Recardo front seats and BBS forged alloys comes in at 65K. So the reports of 70K on road sound about right. It will be along time before I can own one but I'll be damned if I don't move heaven and hell to get one. I love my Subaru's and the latest one brings impressive levels of comfort and refinement to the interior which Subaru's have lacked over the years without sacrificing the great things about the STI. Yes its a hatchback but the bulging guards and STI badging erases that fact from my mind. Yes its expensive but its worth every penny. Plus the latest episode of Best MOTORing demostrates it whips the EVO X in a 400m sprint and 5 lap Circuit battle (cop that you EVO fan boys, back to the pavilion with you).
Nikon have released a new model DSLR and a few new lenses. I am quite interested in replacing my current Zoom lense with the new AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR (see here). Its the right zoom range for my kind of photography and the added VR makes it that much better. If its priced right I'll whip my current 55-200 on eBay and see if I can get a decent amount for it (might get it cleaned professionally).
Got another batch of Blu Ray's today. Arrived 2 weeks early which I cannot complain about 
. This time I picked up the Die Hard Quadrilogy, Oceans Trilogy, Pirates of the Caribean 3, Enemy of the State and Reservoir Dogs all from Amazon.
Lastly I am glad to here that people actually read this thing Keep on reading folks and don't shy away from putting down a comment or three
/goes back to waiting for my Play Asia order of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Devil May Cry 4 + Soundtrack, Eye of Judgement & Ratchet and Clank for the PS3