IT BS thread

Ding ding ding!

I understand completely, just sucks because that could have been $$,$$$ if had been done a long time ago.

I virtualized a windows NT 4.0 machine about 8 years ago because of this very reason. It had to stay around for a potential of 25 years because it contained medical info for kids.

 

When I started working for the local electric company in 2013 I ran across an Oracle 7 database running on a Sun Sparc 2. In 2019...that system is still there.

I’m amazed the lights are still on.

 

I worked for a company that acquired a small operation. Their IT people had been laid off years ago and the place was a mess from a tech perspective, mostly users doing the best they could. When the time came to migrate their accounting system I asked where the server was and nobody knew, "it just runs." After some detective work I found a closet that had been sheet rocked closed with their AS400 in it. It's one of the top 10 WTF's in my career. Why in the world would you seal a room closed with running equipment in it?! However, the AS400 was a trooper, running for years with no tech support of any kind.

 

Now thats shadow IT

 

We spend thousands of hours year after year identifying old systems, doing estimates on what it would take to replace them, coming up with elaborate business cases, only to have someone decide that we will wait because it still is just running and the business case isn't there. Then we do it all again the next year. A lot of time and money spent not actually changing a thing -- and that time is never included in the business case. SMH.

But, I've never found an AS400 in the wall.

 

The only reason it was found was because we were replacing it. That organization was great at pissing money away in other ways. Like when then spent $50 million moving a manufacturing plant to SAP, and then dropping another $20 million moving it to JD Edwards, and then shuttering the plant. The thing was everybody knew the plant was going to be closed even before they started the SAP project.

 

My company is hiring a sys admin in Denver (DTC). Just thought I'd share. Does require an active TS/SCI.

http://careers.caci.com/ShowJob/Id/1958899/Systems-Administrator/

 

https://youtu.be/o26Eks801oc

 

CONGRATS!!

You're now responsible for all of the web site certs. Make sure they never expire!!

 

TW incident response? What's that even like?

tcBob - "We got an email from a Jeep site upset with things our members have said."
You - "blocking all IPs."

 

I think we will all be ordering custom bumpers from Nigeria soon. They're made with gold, right?

 

https://www.securityweek.com/googles-nest-hub-has-microphone-it-forgot-mention

Google's Nest Hub Has a Microphone It Forgot to Mention

Google said Wednesday it forgot to mention that it included a microphone in its Nest Secure home alarm system, the latest privacy flub by one of the tech industry’s leading collectors of personal information.

The company said earlier this month that its voice assistant feature would be available on the system’s Nest Guard, which controls home alarm sensors.

But Google hadn’t told consumers about the device’s built-in microphone when it began selling the hubs in the fall of 2017. As recently as January, the product specs for the device made no mention of a microphone.

Google said in a statement that the omission was a mistake. “The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs,” it said.

The microphone hasn’t been active since launch, and people have to specifically enable it going forward, Google said. Business Insider first reported the microphone had been missing from the product’s description.

Google and other Internet companies are facing increasing scrutiny over their data collection practices. The forgotten microphone is not Google’s first run-in with user privacy concerns.

An AP investigation last year found the company was tracking users’ location information through its apps and search services, even if users turned the feature off.

And in 2010, Google admitted it had accidentally collected some internet activity from open Wi-Fi networks using its Street View cars.

 

This belongs here.

 

No shit.

But I think we’re missing the part where the developer read the SDD wrong and installed the bowls upside down.

 

You forgot the security team that lists the food as poison.

Anyway...


I just bought a house (go me). Ranch style built in '59, it was a total dump, but a flipper did a full remodel, so just about everything but the chimney and frame are new.
One of the things that I'm afraid want done so well was the coax wiring. The original owner want probably a HAM nut, but a stupid one: in the attic, there is a CB antenna attached to a rafter beam, pointed 45 degrees to the ground.
As for general wiring, there's two coax drops in the back bedroom and one in the garage. None in the living room. In the attic, there is a 6 way powered splitter/amplifier from probably the 70s (individual coax lines going to each port, power not plugged in).


1. Comcast is the only real choice in my area. I'm guessing they would charge a ton and do a garbage job of fixing it up? Dad is an electrician and I'm pretty handy, I'd rather fix things, add the missing living room drop, add whatever needs to get accessed by Comcast... So do I need them to do anything useful?
2. Is there a tool I can rent to test where some of these cables go? Like a signal generator?
3. Anything to know about in terms of cables, or is coax just coax?
4. Any general wiring tips, like where to make it all connect up, where I should put the utility connection...?

 

I'm assuming you don't want to cut the cord and just get your content from the internet.
Your Dad's an electrician so getting the cable installed should be a piece of cake for him. The Comcast tech isn't going to do anything he can't do. But, while you are at it you might consider pulling some ethernet cables for future use.

You can buy a cable toner from Amazon for under $20.

You will want to use a quality brand RG6. Buy the good stuff and it will save you time and headache in the long run.

• If you can bring all of the connections back to an accessible central location, future you will thank you.
• Label both ends of the cable with where the other end is.
• Buy quality parts. I've spent hours dicking around with the cheap stuff and it just isn't worth the "savings."
• Do home runs only. (a home run is where a single piece of cable runs uninterrupted from the access point in the wall to the central location.) Do Not splice or daisy chain cable.
• Give yourself a service loop at both ends of the cable (a service loop is a little bit of extra cable that allows for easier installs and repairs)
• Use velcro to manage the wires, no cable ties.
• and for your viewing pleasure here are some shots of cabling done right. (I know you won't have anything like this, but a good job is a neat job.)