Perfect Friday reading..
Great article, very interesting :)
Posts by geekclick
105 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Oct 2010
Inside the real-world Double-O section of Her Majesty's Secret Service
Sophos antivirus classifies its own update kit as malware
Thursday 20th September 2012 09:21 GMT 
Easy to resolve...
1. Turn-off 'on-access' scanning in all of your Anti-virus and HIPS policy.
2. Go to the Update Managers in your Enterprise Console, right-click your Update Managers and choose 'Update now'.
3. Wait for the update manager to finish downloading the latest updates (Download status changes to Matches)
4. Edit all of your 'Updating' policies in Enterprise Console. Click on 'Schedule' and change the check for update time to 5 minutes.
5. Wait 8-10 minutes.
10. The number of false-positive Virus/Spyware detection should start falling.
11. Enable the on-access scanner when the number of false-positive detection has fallen significantly.
12. If there are any computers still showing the false-positive alert then they have either not received the latest update or the 'on-access' scanner was still enabled when they tried to update. The above steps can be repeated for just those computers.
Taken from: http://www.neowin.net/news/sophos-releases-update-causes-mayhem-for-corporates
Resolved for all our users this morning, saves having to run a command on every machine....
Google+ claims 100 million 'active' users
'How I CRASHED my bank, stole PINs with a touch-tone phone'
Freeview kit to require retune tomorrow
'Over half' of Android devices have unpatched holes
New guide: Bake your own Raspberry Pi Lego-crust cluster
Blighty battles Oz for stratospheric supremacy
Sysadmins: Your favourite tool's now ready for, er, fondling
Emotional baggage
Friday 7th September 2012 11:29 GMT
Re: I love my Wenger Backpack
+1 for the Wenger.. I have one provided by the company and it is fantastic, i travel to europe at least once a month and it easily swallows 2 laptops, tablet, chargers and cables, clothes, food and i generally have space left for a trinket or two for the wife, go and try one out before dismissing ;)
Chick-lit star snubs Menshn.com password flaw alert
NASA captures mind-bogglingly gorgeous solar video
Cambodia set to boot out Pirate Bay co-founder
Apple Mac OS X Server for Mountain Lion review
Thursday 30th August 2012 14:40 GMT
Re: SMBs?
Whoah there... I thought we (specifically you and i at this point in time) were discussing the merits of Mac's in statups/SMB's vs PC's and the TCO of Mac's vs PC's and not the usability/suitability of Mac OS X server (of which I will admit I have limited exposure too)
My career does include extreme use of Windows Server platforms, UNIX (more specifically SCO) and Linux. In terms of client side its much of the same with the inclusion of OSX and thus Mac's... I have also been involved in start ups and SMBs...
OS X Server could be constructed with the use of Voodoo and Whitchcraft for all i know... But my point was about SMBs and TCO....
Thursday 30th August 2012 12:34 GMT 
SMBs?
I have yet to come accross an SMB running 10 or so Macs! Pricing for SMBs is critical, 10 Windows Laptops/Desktops is a damn site cheaper than 10 Macs/Mini-Macs/Mac laptop things!
But i can see a use for those who exclusively Mac machines (See this weeks Open and Shut) at home who want something a bit more indepth..
Brummie plod cuffed in Facebook troll hunt
Thursday 30th August 2012 12:44 GMT
Re: The Somebody Said Something Unpleasant To Me Act 2012.
Don't be so obtuse....
Simplifying the way these guys went to town on her as "Someone said something unpleasant to me" is idiotic at best.
Just because you are on the internet does not mean you have the right to behave like an utter cockwhisk!
Or did you miss the various case of kids/tennagers/REAL FUCKING PEOPLE killing themselves over cyberbullying!?!?
In the words of Will Weaton "Don't be a dick!"
Mars rover will.i.am 'cast: A depressing day for space and technology
The Oatmeal hits $850,000 goal for Tesla museum
Wednesday 22nd August 2012 06:44 GMT 
WOW so a guy does something good for Science....
And already the el reg commentards have loaded the sh1t throwing cannon!
I for one welcome our entertaining do gooder Tesla obsessed fund raiser! Would we rather the site was turned into a shopping centre or a restaurant?
Donated and hope i get the chance to leave Blighty and visit it someday!
Behold: China's robot noodle army!
Deadly pussies kill more often than owners think
Thursday 9th August 2012 10:48 GMT
Re: That usually means they like you
No it doesn't. When a cat brings you a dead animal or leaves a bit for you to find its to demonstrate what bad ass killing machines they are..
See http://www.cracked.com/article/226_6-adorable-cat-behaviors-with-shockingly-evil-explanations/
or http://theoatmeal.com/comics/cat_kill
Thursday 9th August 2012 10:42 GMT 
Efficient killing machines....
Deadly all of them, sharp teeth and claws, fantastic reflexes, nine respawns and agility beyond the kin of mortal species. Not only do they kill indiscriminately they will also eat their owners if said owner dies locked in the house with their precious furball before the body is cold.
I love cats, i respect their total and utter contempt and disdain for everything.
IT support bod? Whatever you earn, it's not enough
Friday 27th July 2012 13:25 GMT
Re: helpdesk staff
See thats the other thing, our Helpdesk system is tied to AD so that when the user calls the Analyst takes their name and it auto populates; Email, Mobile, Desk Phone and PA if appropriate into the ticket along with all the asset numbers for equipment they have been issued. This should be basic stuff for a hell desk system yet no one seems to bother!
Having served time on helldesks and further up the chain the issue is generally the "gamification" (what a shit word) competing with an Us vs Them approach. No one whats to work as cohesive unit learning off the other etc.. Internal IT politics can be blamed for this but generally because the managers employed to run these teams couldnt know Command Prompt from Powershell! The reason the non techies are running a techie department? Generally the beancounters who dont want to pay for someone who knows what they are doing or other management types setting up job for their management type mates!
Friday 27th July 2012 12:14 GMT
Re: helpdesk staff
That is a specific 1st Line function, anyone not doing that should be marched, anyone who doesnt think to ask that should be sacked on the spot, ridiculed and subjected to a stoning in the office carpark.
Thing is its hardly surprising he has a cob on when you are stuck dealing with things such as this on a daily basis:
User: "My PC wont come back on when i wriggle the mouse"
IT "Is the Screen on?"
User: "Yes the light flashing"
IT "Ok is the PC on?"
User "Yes"
IT "Are you sure?"
User "Yes i never shut it down"
IT *through gritted teeth* "Ok well humour me and check"
Line goes dead...............
Fuckwits!
IT departments are BRATTY TEENAGERS
Friday 27th July 2012 10:43 GMT
Grrrrrr......
IT Departments behave like bratty teenagers by insisting they know best and must always figure out their own way to get anything done,
Yes, because thats what we are paid to do, i dont wander down to the beancounters office and tell them that they are running our VAT return wrong, why should they come up to IT and tell us that the way we are allocating space on the SAN isnt optimal.. If you approach IT and say i would like X implimented IT will look at what X is, how it fits in and then determine the best approach to ensure that end of world type cockups do not ensue, they are the ones who will issue a P45 if we cock it up so why shouldnt we do it our way ensuring this doesnt happen?
Such behaviour, he believes, is not very helpful to businesses and syadmins should therefore remember think back to the time in their twenties when they finally figured out their Dads did know a thing or two and listen to more experienced folks about how to get stuff done.
What happens if the IT dept is all in their 20's? But also, the same applies in the opposite direction.. Just because you dont know how it should be done, doesnt mean the way we are doing it is wrong...
Mueller's preferred method of administering this kind of tough love is to point out that IT isn't actually about technology: helping a business do business better is the goal. He therefore preaches ignoring the potential of the gadget you just bought, downgrading your opinion of your own ingenuity and realising that you cannot devise a way to get stuff done as well, quickly or cost-effectively as a standard process.
BS, no such thing as a standard process, process should be written according to the task at hand not according to a task roughly of a similar nature! As for the gadget remark... Gadget demand is generally driven by management types who want the latest iToy or whatever because thats what all their management type golf buddies have! Most places i have worked IT arent allowed gadgets unless management are bored with the ones they already have and dish them out as hand me downs and consider it a "treat"..
“You need to shift mentality into a mode where you deliver capabilities 100% successfully every time, to deliver results to the businesses,” he told a BMC event in Sydney today. “You cannot approach IT randomly because there is too much complexity and change. You must have an orderly, repeatable way of doing things.”
Generally IT do, again its the management and middle management types who end up trying to drive the unorderly through, normally to suit their own petty ridden agenda.
That mentality means process, process everywhere, plus heavy emphasis on configuration management so that you can always pinpoint just what's going on in IT and how it applies to the business.
This sounds like a line spun to management by a sailes driod to convince them to take a product they dont actually need!
It also requires a mindshift away from caring about kit and instead focusing on applications, because all the kit in the world is merely a tool that end-user wield to spend quality time in apps.
BS, you have to care about the kit, if you dont, your "quality time in apps" will not be quality it will be headache inducing and full of issues! This also sounds like a line to get IT to buy management iPads!
Which is not to say Mueller is entirely opposed to a pleasant morning spent trawling through log files: he just wants that effort to create information that advances the understanding of how IT powers the business.
No its done to understand what is going wrong and fix it so that its right.. Most people in IT understand how it powers the business already because people ring you when it doesnt work or when it doesnt work how they need it to!
Mueller is not, it needs to be pointed out, grumpy with IT departments alone. He also showered marketing teams with scorn, proclaiming they expect the impossible from IT almost as soon as they hear about a new gadget.
Its not just marketing, see above!
He also said there's room for some geeky fun in IT, thanks to the trend towards “gamification”. That trend, he said, can motivate IT workers by giving them the chance to top a leader board for user satisfaction.
This might work for a helldesk/1st line team where their stats are their crust but to those of us above that we dont play games with systems, its an easy way to end up in the unemployment line!
End-users, he added, could be offered game-like processes to make sure they do things properly and don't wander off the beaten paths in ways that make extra (and stupid) work for IT teams.
This line read to me as "End users are idiots, treat them as such" which is a fair point i guess, but then according to Mueller I am part of the problem not the solution!
Sysadmins! There's no shame in using a mouse to delete files
Thursday 26th July 2012 12:59 GMT
Re: Windows using Idiot here...
Then you are..
A: Not a sysadmin
or
B: Not trying hard enough or never have anything to do that would be considered tricky..
Exchange 2010, most stuff is and can be done via GUI, if you want to restore a mailbox from a DPM backup then PowerShell is a MUST!
Want to see who has a file open and locked to them from a network share? Command prompt all the way..
It is horses for courses but to get to sysadmin status and not be at least proficient in both GUI and CLI is foolish...
No offense but i see too many boys and girls taking the first step in IT and not have the first clue about command prompt and or powershell, it makes me sad..
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean review
O2, GiffGaff network goes titsup for unlucky punters
Thursday 12th July 2012 07:17 GMT
Psssst..... We have 200 engineers dedicated to network performance
This is the message currently being displayed on the o2 website under all of this:
Making calls and using data
05:40 - We're continuing to drive the recovery of this issue with our support teams and vendors. We're working to restore service as quickly as possible. Unfortunately we're unable to confirm any timescales for service restoration at this time. We'll let you know as soon as we can. We apologise once again for any inconvenience this incident is causing.
03:25 - We're still working with our support teams and vendors trying to restore service as quickly as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience caused whiile this recovery work is in progress. We'll provide further updates as soon as we can.
01:00 - We can confirm that the problem with our mobile service is due to a fault with one of our network systems, which has meant some mobile phone numbers are not registering correctly on our network. As a result, some customers are having difficulty making or receiving calls, sending texts or using data. We, and our central supplier, have deployed all possible resources and are working through the night to restore service as soon as possible. We apologise again to customers affected and will provide further updates as soon as we can
23:00 - Our engineers and vendors are continuing to deal with the problem as a priority and we hope to restore full service as soon as possible.
19:00 - We continue to manage the problem on our network that is affecting some of our customers. Customers may still be having difficulty making and receiving calls, sending texts or using data.We are sorry for any inconvenience. Our engineers are dealing with the problem as a priority and we hope to restore full service as soon as possible.
16:45 - We're currently seeing a problem on our network affecting some of our customers.As a result, you may have difficulty making or receiving calls, sending texts or using data.Our engineers are dealing with the problem as a priority and we hope to restore full service as soon as possible.
Door creaks and girl farts: computing in the real world
Friday 6th July 2012 11:24 GMT
Anyone who works "in IT"..
Should carry a USB CDRW/DVDRW drive by default. My laptop has no optical drive built in but came bundled with a USB one, has been one of the most handy peripherals i have ever kept in my kit bag! The time of the built in spinning storage (both HDD's and Optical) is nearing its end but bundling a USB one with the machine should be the standard.
For all those knocking on about USB drives etc, when was the last time you installed an OS from one? Its a ballache in the extreme hence why OS discs are still discs....
Disappearing space dust belt baffles boffins
HTC bags UK win in patent war with Apple
Samsung fails to stall Galaxy Nexus sales ban
Wednesday 4th July 2012 13:07 GMT 
This whole patent thing is a joke..
Honestly its getting a bit much now and they are all as bad as eachother, oh you designed a device with round corners, oh you put a search function on a device, oh you wanted your phone users to slide to unlock etc etc its fucking rediculous, i am all for protecting things and stopping out and out plagerism but fucking really, its getting stupid!
*apologies for the language but it is really boiling my blood these days!
'Inexperienced' RBS tech operative's blunder led to banking meltdown
Stephen Hawking to demonstrate speech via brain scan
Assange: Australian neglect made me flee to Ecuador embassy
Friday 22nd June 2012 12:37 GMT
Re: Bail terms
"It's hard to see how bail terms that prohibit requesting political asylum is not a violation of human rights."
Erm they don't, they prevent him from leaving a specific address between specific times. Applying for asylum isn't what has broken the terms, staying out past his curfew is....
Samsung S3 finally catches up with the Palm Pre - if modified
Reseller kingpin: My rise from school disco boss to FTSE 250 biz
Will UK.gov crack down on itself for missing Cookie Law deadline?
Man sues pr0n starlet after Twitter rejection
Google Drive Issues on Mac
Friday 27th April 2012 10:07 GMT
Trolling is the new form of reporting and reviewing!
At its best, that wasnt a review it was whinge about being a fanboi in the extereme, i expect this sort of reporting from the Daily Mail!
I have my G drive installed, syncing and working fine accross 3 Windows machines (one laptop and 2 desktops) and an 2 Android phones!
El Reg, cut this nonsense immediately!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
