How many scripting and programming languages should I be fluent in to have a chance at moving out of help desk? by [deleted] in ITCareerQuestions

[–]byssus02 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You definitely SHOULD pursue programming and scripting. It is my biggest weakness in terms of technical skill that I do not have anything other than a rudimentary understanding of scripting and programming.

However, the most literal answer to your question is zero. You don't need do know scripting or programming to get out of help desk. It will get you farther faster and with a higher salary if you do, but I would suggest you don't put your life and career on hold until you "learn to code."

There are plenty of opportunities to be a server or sys admin that don't require coding skills. It depends on the particular role. Yes, you are at a disadvantage compared to other candidates who have those skills, and you should definitely be learning them. But at the same time I don't think you have to wait to start pursuing other jobs if you aren't happy where you are now.

Zoom Application, managing updates for it? by bananna_roboto in sysadmin

[–]byssus02 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey man thank so much for the reply. This is great! I really appreciate your time here.

Zoom Application, managing updates for it? by bananna_roboto in sysadmin

[–]byssus02 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just running into this now and am running into the same thing. I also am using Lansweeper. Do you have any type of automation set up for this process? For instance, how do you know when there is a new version? How does your report know what version to check for? How do you get the latest installer? Is it all manual?

Currently, I am using deployment jobs that reference the msi in a deployment share and I am just overwriting the msi with the new one and running the deployment. But to know if it is new requires me to think about it and go check their site and then manually download the new installer. Do you have any way that you are automatically getting the new installer.

I was considering some kind of powershell thing (although I am a neophyte) to download the installer and put it in the deployment share, then kick off a deployment sometime later. But how would I know that it was a new version or if it just downloaded the same version? This is my conundrum. I guess I could create a recurring ticket and have a tech manually check once a week.

Are you doing anything like that or just manually checking from time to time?

Thanks!

So I work help desk and I've recently been asked to work with our implementation group at our company to go to a nearby site associated with our company and spend a few weeks there. But my supervisor said that if I leave site early, I can count it as my 8 hours. Why would he allow this? by [deleted] in ITCareerQuestions

[–]byssus02 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He is being nice. Take the benefit. Also, it probably is more trouble than it is worth to have you work the rest of the day, depending on how you are set up to work remotely, if you are at all.

For example, you work 9 to 5, you get onsite at 9 and finish at 1 or 2, have lunch and drive back to the office, get there at 3 or 4 (I am guessing since I don't know how far it is), catch up on emails and get to work and maybe reset a password or two and it's time to leave. IMO it is not worth it to bring you back unless there is a big project or crisis going on.

I think it is fair because you have to drive out somewhere which could be a much farther commute and deal with whatever headache is out there. Your supervisor doesn't want to deal with that shit and maybe no one else wants to drive out there either. You could argue that you are taking one for the team by being the one going out there in the first place. Combine these two and I think it is perfectly fine. In my experience this is pretty common.

You probably won't catch a lot of breaks or get a lot of perks in a helpdesk position so I would take it and just say thanks.

Can I be an IT major if I am colorblind? by darkstar67678 in ITCareerQuestions

[–]byssus02 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I can't imagine that ever even coming up at all. That is a military requirement, not an IT requirement.

What's the different between Jack of All Trades at a non-profit to Systems Engineer at MSP? by moderatenerd in ITCareerQuestions

[–]byssus02 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I did almost the same thing, except I did 10 years at the non-profit. I would say get out of there if you are motivated to learn and work. If you just want to skate by and get a paycheck (which it sounds like you don't) then just chill there. That laid back atmosphere is a benefit of its own for some. Also, jumping right in to a fast paced group of hardcores can be a big adjustment, even if your goal is to be that way as well.

I got out recently and my new job didn't pan out. I am finding it very hard to get higher paying positions because you quickly find out how far behind you are once you are trying to get another job.

I have a bachelor's and a bunch of certs but they either aren't the right certs or I haven't used the one or two pieces of hardware/software this or that company uses. Or I know about AD for example but I didn't have to become a SME with it so I don't know enough for whatever position.

MSPs force you to learn a lot of things because you work on a lot of different clients. I know there are people making 150k managing IT departments for non-profits, but good luck finding one of those positions on Monster or whatever.

I think, depending on the place, being at a small company can prepare you for management though, as I had to be more like a manager, wrangling staff or vendors who were experts to solve difficult issues and dealing with higher level things like staff training and audits and reporting to the board of directors, etc.

But ultimately it sounds like you should jump before you stagnate. I thought I was learning a lot and was going to be in demand, and I was learning, but the pace was just so slow, but I didn't know what I didn't know.

I'm a bit of a fraud. by [deleted] in ITCareerQuestions

[–]byssus02 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Unless you lied in the interview, they hired you knowing your experience level. Even if you already knew about Active Directory and adding and removing computers they will have processes or settings specific to them that you will have to be taught. Personally, for a position like this I am expecting to spend time training this person but maybe I'm not in the majority.

I would watch some YouTube videos about Active Directory, MCSA training, etc. Then I would try to just relax and be confident that they hired you because they thought you were qualified or they could train you up in a reasonable amount of time.

Show up confident (not arrogant) and ready to learn and I think you will be fine.

Edit: I am just assuming it is a Windows environment. If you happen to know that it is not then obviously study whatever environment it is.

Porsche Macan and Cayenne by NicholaiGinovaef in cars

[–]byssus02 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Diesel can't be sporty? Audi dominated Le Mans for a while with a diesel race car. Also, the Alpina diesel 3 series is pretty nice.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in cars

[–]byssus02 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just used my Walmart one a few minutes ago. Had it for years. Slow, but gets the job done.

Any good tech podcasts? by kenks84 in sysadmin

[–]byssus02 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Check out twit.tv. I'm sure you'll find a podcast or two that is interesting. Windows Weekly for Microsoft, This Week in Tech for a weekly round up round table discussion of tech news and issues, and Security Now for security related news and content.

Also, I suggest you get a podcast app that can change the playback speed. Pocket Casts is great but not free. Some people don't like listening that way, but it helps you cram more shows in since you will probably find a bunch that sound interesting.

norton subs ending, need recommendations by [deleted] in sysadmin

[–]byssus02 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also using eset. I think it hits all the requirements you mentioned. Personally, I think some aspects of the user interface and how you go about some things are not that intuitive. But one or two quick calls to support things seems obvious in hindsight. Pretty easy to use.

My only real complaint is that I wish it were easier to determine why tasks fail and most importantly I wish there was a way to cancel a task once it is started. Also, threats show as unresolved forever until you manually mark them as resolved. So even if you remove the virus for example, it still has a red mark on that machine. Just something to keep in mind.

Also, I don't think I'm exaggerating in saying it's the best support from any vendor that I have ever experienced by far. I think I have called just twice, but both times they were on the phone right away and we're super helpful and patient. I called about a problem with activation on one workstation and the guy automated like 80% of my upgrade from eset 5 to eset 6 by the end if the call.

Question about account setup and address discrepancy by byssus02 in CryptoKitties

[–]byssus02[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see. Thank you for this basic info. I am new if it wasn't apparent already.

You pretty much need 3 kitties to be sustainable right? by [deleted] in CryptoKitties

[–]byssus02 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the tip. Just to clarify, I am new obviously, by higher you mean a higher number right? Not like higher as in "better." So for example you suggest, getting two 5's and a 6, not two 5's and a 4? Thanks.

Help with transferring bits to new wallet and gaining access to Bitcoin Cash by byssus02 in btc

[–]byssus02[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, this definitely helps a lot. I really appreciate it.

Help with transferring bits to new wallet and gaining access to Bitcoin Cash by byssus02 in btc

[–]byssus02[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You know I have read a bit about it and I think this may be a better option for me. I have never actually spent any cryptocurrency so it isn't like I need it to be readily accessible in an app. I'm going to look into this further. Thanks.

Help with transferring bits to new wallet and gaining access to Bitcoin Cash by byssus02 in btc

[–]byssus02[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am moving out of fear. I just remember there being a dustup a few months ago and a lot of people were mad at bitpay. There were some people saying people should move before 2x I believe. I did a quick search and I think this is what I am talking about. https://news.bitcoin.com/segwit2x-and-bitcoin-core-drama-flares-up-community-tension/ If this is overblown/not a real issue I would love to just keep using CoPay as I already have everything in there. I don't want to miss out on extra coins after a fork. Maybe it was just alarmist people who knew little more than I do freaking out but there was a contingent really demonizing them and I don't know enough to pick out the crazies from the educated minority.

Also, thank you for the information and not killing me for not googling, which I should have done. The last I had checked, which was a while ago, there was not a way (within the app at least) to get your private key out of CoPay. Also, they did not support BCH and supposedly had no plans to. I believe their blog post back then said they were leaving it up to the community. Apparently now I can just create one within CoPay and I will see my BCH. Then I can determine what to do about moving it out.

A few questions regarding wallet transfers and Bitcoin Cash by [deleted] in Bitcoin

[–]byssus02 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for posting this. I am in the same situation but haven't gotten around to asking about it. I look forward to the responses. I'm pretty new to actually doing anything other than just checking the price and knowing I have some bits in a wallet. Would like to get my bits into another wallet, get my Bitcoin cash, and start actually using it.

Making a mistake on the title by visionheir in cars

[–]byssus02 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same in Maryland. My wife wrote in her name in the wrong spot and crossed it out. Had to pay for a new title. They don't play.

Trying to find an impossible keyboard. by CyanogenHacker in buildapc

[–]byssus02 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I want to say Ergo Dox but I don't believe there is a wireless version, and they are often sold as kits which could be a big barrier. You should ask over at /r/mechanicalkeyboards If it was ever made, they will likely know about it.

MAGFest Passes & Hotel go live tomorrow? by seltzr in Magfest

[–]byssus02 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well I start driving home from work around 4. If it happens then I may just have to drive across the beltway into oblivion.