Random Tech/IT Thread

[tshile]

I've been using admin arsenal's stuff because it's licensing is per admin instead of per nodes/environment, and I have like 30 environments and thousands of nodes

 

[Larry]

Auto Correct on my iPad seems to have decided that it doesn't like it if I start a sentence with a vowel. 

Any time the first word of a sentence is "And", it gets changed to "Land".  I've seen other such cases, but they're not as common.  But all of them involve beginning a sentence with a word that begins with a vowel. 

(Not really asking for some Tech Support solution.  More of a "General Tech Venting" post.) 

 

[Renegade7]

2 hours ago, tshile said:

I've been using admin arsenal's stuff because it's licensing is per admin instead of per nodes/environment, and I have like 30 environments and thousands of nodes

 

Thanks, looking into that now.  Heard about PDQ Deploy before, looking into the inventory tool now.

[tshile]

4 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

Thanks, looking into that now.  Heard about PDQ Deploy before, looking into the inventory tool now.

Both work great. Not sure what your inventorying and management needs are though.

@Larry wish I could help but I don't know anything about iPad I know android has a way to mess with prediction/dictionary/ignored words

[tshile]

ok i guess you shouldn't go deleting the various records in dns (msdcs, sites, tcp etc) for offline domain controllers. when you go to delete them out of AD it starts ****ing at you. various AD snapins behave differently, some wont even let you load the DC's object properties

can't even use the ntdsutil command line stuff

had to go through the adsiedit, ad s&s removal process then finish cleaning up dns records

lesson learned.

[Renegade7]

Noted.

Will have better answer on specific needs tomorrow concerning asset management (doesn't hurt to make sure).  Free trial looks nice, grabs stuff like serials and software installed, I know those are two things would help a lot (warranty regards and aware of what people are installing).

[Elessar78]

Help. connected to Internet but browser won't load any sites. Ran a diagnostic and says my internet is working correctly.

[tshile]

8 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

Noted.

Will have better answer on specific needs tomorrow concerning asset management (doesn't hurt to make sure).  Free trial looks nice, grabs stuff like serials and software installed, I know those are two things would help a lot (warranty regards and aware of what people are installing).

We've also used it to remove specific Microsoft updates (hotfix section), search for bios versions we know are bad, specific manufacturer models (dell, hp, etc)

i know Kaseya is very popular, just too expensive of a licensing model for our use.

[tshile]

need an open source ticket tracking system. the devs are moving on from JIRA (yay) so we don't have to use it anymore. we can pick what we want.

requirements:

create tickets from email

not run in tomcat

not be overly resource intensive (should be solved for by not running in tomcat, but listing it just in case)

easy to search

easy to link tickets together

 

pretty simple requirements.

anyone have anything they have used and thought worked pretty well?

 

[dfitzo53]

I'll ask the guy who took over for me what he put in place. I think it checks at least some of your boxes. 

[Voice_of_Reason]

6 hours ago, tshile said:

need an open source ticket tracking system. the devs are moving on from JIRA (yay) so we don't have to use it anymore. we can pick what we want.

requirements:

create tickets from email

not run in tomcat

not be overly resource intensive (should be solved for by not running in tomcat, but listing it just in case)

easy to search

easy to link tickets together

 

pretty simple requirements.

anyone have anything they have used and thought worked pretty well?

 

I don't have a solution for you.  But I understood all that, and it makes me sad.

[PokerPacker]

I'm no ticketing guru, but will Phabricator do what you need?  It has an added bonus of supplying you with daily catfacts.

Edited November 8, 2016 by PokerPacker

[tshile]

2 hours ago, PokerPacker said:

I'm no ticketing guru, but will Phabricator do what you need?  It has an added bonus of supplying you with daily catfacts.

Looks like more of a tool for developers.

I need more of a helpdesk ticketing system. Just makes it easier to manage tasks.

Open to entirely different idea, but something that can catch incoming email and turn it into a ticket is a big plus.

looking at osticket.com right now. Would prefer to go with something that I have at least one person recommend though. So far everyone's response is 'eh, what I use sucks' lol

[tshile]

 making a mistake when hiring a sys admin is so damaging.

not only is there a potential reputation hit, wasted 3 months, have to start over ,etc

but every damn password had to be changed. i've gone from knowing 80% of our 124901283401298301238 passwords to knowing 0% and having to look every single one up. such a pain

ps: i laugh when people **** about remembering passwords, they have no idea how many passwords I have memorized )

pps: on another note i've received a promotion. same job, same responsibilities, but now i have a new title. yay
 

Edited November 8, 2016 by tshile

[Renegade7]

Know the feeling, two guys that were here above me both left, so it was back to back times having to change our internal department passwords).  We're transitioning from KeePass to 1Password now, a couple of our important ones are long random strings but some are passphrases I've made and liked (so I maybe the only one that remembers them by heart).

 

It's funny you mention Jira because one of the guys who left was trying really hard to get us to use that.  We've been using Microsoft CRM for everything from Sales, Customer Support, to internal IT support (which I know isn't meant for IT support, but its going okay with tickets and change logs).  Before I got here, the developers had made a ticketing system from scratch for everyone to use.

Edited November 8, 2016 by Renegade7

[Captain James]

Wasn't sure if this deserved it's own thread or not, but I wanted to be able to discuss problems/tips with Xfinity services. We just upgraded to the new X1 cable box (non-DVR) and overall it's a great system. However, it seems so laggy/slow going through menus, etc. Even worse is the Netflix app. I know Comcast and Netflix have only just recently formed a working relationship, but the lag and freezing is BRUTAL with Netflix. I also understand that everything is cloud-based, so good signal strength is vital. Does anyone know much about cable connections/wiring/possible signal boosting? Would a booster help something like a laggy Netflix app??

[Renegade7]

3 hours ago, CaptainJames2004 said:

Wasn't sure if this deserved it's own thread or not, but I wanted to be able to discuss problems/tips with Xfinity services. We just upgraded to the new X1 cable box (non-DVR) and overall it's a great system. However, it seems so laggy/slow going through menus, etc. Even worse is the Netflix app. I know Comcast and Netflix have only just recently formed a working relationship, but the lag and freezing is BRUTAL with Netflix. I also understand that everything is cloud-based, so good signal strength is vital. Does anyone know much about cable connections/wiring/possible signal boosting? Would a booster help something like a laggy Netflix app??

You should be talking to Comcast support about this.  They're quick to put the blame on you (like most cable companies) if you add a coaxial signal boaster that they didn't put there.  They may even give you one, or at least determine where the bottleneck is (in building, demarcation point, or outside).

Edited November 18, 2016 by Renegade7

[tshile]

5 hours ago, CaptainJames2004 said:

Wasn't sure if this deserved it's own thread or not, but I wanted to be able to discuss problems/tips with Xfinity services. We just upgraded to the new X1 cable box (non-DVR) and overall it's a great system. However, it seems so laggy/slow going through menus, etc. Even worse is the Netflix app. I know Comcast and Netflix have only just recently formed a working relationship, but the lag and freezing is BRUTAL with Netflix. I also understand that everything is cloud-based, so good signal strength is vital. Does anyone know much about cable connections/wiring/possible signal boosting? Would a booster help something like a laggy Netflix app??

The netflix app is in beta. IE: in testing. Doesn't make it suck any less, but you do have to lower your expectations. They're supposedly working on getting it to work better.

I have the same complaint about the X1 generally speaking - everything is laggy/slow when manipulating the menus. Sometimes it's real bad and I just reboot the box through the system menu. Fast foward/rewind is terrible when watching DVR'd content. I came from the DirecTV system and their system is superb (I think it's the best i've used, by far, but it's so much better than the x1 system it's ridiculous)

Signal boosters are used when you have long runs. They should have ran it from the box to your house and put in special splitters that boost the signal to the different areas of the house.

 

 

[Captain James]

2 hours ago, tshile said:

The netflix app is in beta. IE: in testing. Doesn't make it suck any less, but you do have to lower your expectations. They're supposedly working on getting it to work better.

I have the same complaint about the X1 generally speaking - everything is laggy/slow when manipulating the menus. Sometimes it's real bad and I just reboot the box through the system menu. Fast foward/rewind is terrible when watching DVR'd content. I came from the DirecTV system and their system is superb (I think it's the best i've used, by far, but it's so much better than the x1 system it's ridiculous)

Signal boosters are used when you have long runs. They should have ran it from the box to your house and put in special splitters that boost the signal to the different areas of the house.

 

 

Is it actually still in beta even though they had the big official release the other day? If so, then yes I totally understand that they have kinks to work out. For the life of me I haven't been able to find any articles or other complaints on the internet about people having issues with it since it's release. Your reply is comforting however haha.

Yes the x1 system overall is fairly slow. I still like it though. Thanks man

[skinsmarydu]

If I don't want Flash, what's another safe, reliable media player?  I realize I'm asking a dumb question...

edit, add:  I recently switched to Firefox from IE, and I don't trust Flash.

Edited November 18, 2016 by skinsmarydu

[Renegade7]

7 minutes ago, skinsmarydu said:

If I don't want Flash, what's another safe, reliable media player?  I realize I'm asking a dumb question...

edit, add:  I recently switched to Firefox from IE, and I don't trust Flash.

Anyone can correct me on this, but I don't think that's the way it works.  If a website uses flash, the website uses flash.  Since you're using firefox now, I recommend no-script add-on, help stop unwanted scripts in their tracks, help limit to bare minimum what a website needs to render properly.  I use that on sites I don't trust and chromium for sites I "do".

[Gamebreaker]

I use Ad Block Plus and UBlock on all of my web browsers. And yes, flash is up to the website and not viewer. 

[skinsmarydu]

2 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

Anyone can correct me on this, but I don't think that's the way it works.  If a website uses flash, the website uses flash.  Since you're using firefox now, I recommend no-script add-on, help stop unwanted scripts in their tracks, help limit to bare minimum what a website needs to render properly.  I use that on sites I don't trust and chromium for sites I "do".

OK, you lost me. 

I'll go all out and say that my anti-virus doesn't even like this site.  I trust you, so maybe PM me back so we don't take up valuable space with my skeptical questions, haha

[tshile]

27 minutes ago, CaptainJames2004 said:

Is it actually still in beta even though they had the big official release the other day? If so, then yes I totally understand that they have kinks to work out. For the life of me I haven't been able to find any articles or other complaints on the internet about people having issues with it since it's release. Your reply is comforting however haha.

Yes the x1 system overall is fairly slow. I still like it though. Thanks man

Oh... i thought it was still in beta... maybe it is in production...

I don't know then

 

@skinsmarydu there isn't an alternative 'media player' to flash. things designed in flash player in the flash player, other things play in other things.

you're best off just removing the flash player. it's about the biggest security vulnerability you can have on your computer. keeping it updated in my environments is such a hassle.

i wish someone would kill adobe with fire

[skinsmarydu]

Just now, tshile said:

Oh... i thought it was still in beta... maybe it is in production...

I don't know then

 

@skinsmarydu there isn't an alternative 'media player' to flash. things designed in flash player in the flash player, other things play in other things.

you're best off just removing the flash player. it's about the biggest security vulnerability you can have on your computer. keeping it updated in my environments is such a hassle.

i wish someone would kill adobe with fire

Oh, I did months ago when the zero-dates came out, I ain't totally stupid (OK, hubby's the smart one when it comes to things like this), but I want to be able to get the games...HTTR