I know… I’ve neglected to use this space for anything meaningful for multiple months. Again.

Sorry folks, but this new job has me all wrapped up in learning new things and managing some of the same-ole-same-ole that I’ve fallen out of the loop of the online world almost entirely. (Barely hitting up Facebook, not following any of the blogs I used to religiously keep up with, etc…)

Anyhow, I’m now 4 months into my new job and I’m still loving it! I don’t necessarily love getting woke up in the middle of the night for support issues, but it keeps me on my toes.

A little more detail about the job…

I’m the Network Administrator for a small company that supports Travel Agency Businesses. We’ve got a 24/7 Call Center to take after-hours calls for travel agencies, web services for travel agents to book hotels, and advertising plans for hotels to advertise to the travel agents.  Nothing is available to the public, it’s all only available to licensed travel agents.

I’ll try to come up with some more interesting facts/details & maybe a few pictures of the space. Anyhow, drool on my geek friends! (& scratch your heads in confusion my non-geek friends).

The environment that I support consists of:

• 3 VMware ESX Servers running 17 Virtual machines.
• 3 Server, Load Balanced, Citrix Metaframe Presentation Server Farm (2 Production, 1 test)
• 8 Web Servers (IIS & Apache)
• 4 SQL Servers (MS SQL)
• 1 Domain Controller/File/DNS/DHCP Server
• 1 Backup Domain Controller/Application Server
• 2 Data Processing machines
• 1 VMware Management Server (Virtual Center)
• 1 Asterisk PBX
• 1 Asterisk ACD (Call Center Queue Management)
• 1 Asterisk Call Recording Server
• 1 Test Asterisk PBX
• 1 5TB Dell NAS
• 1 Exchange Email Server
• 1 NetApp Shared Storage Appliance w/ 2 Controllers (3TB)
• 6 2U UPS Systems
• 1 Backup Generator (VERY manual system, as in roll it out of storage, fill the tank, plug it in, pull the cord, but it works)
• 1 Cisco Router
• 1 Cisco Firewall
• Lots of Network Switches (100Mb & Gig)
• Lots of Printers
• Polycom VOIP Phones
• eyeBeam Softphone w/ Headsets
• 5 On-site Office Employees (2 more relocating here next month & 3-4 to be hired)
• 100+ Work At Home Employees primarily accessing the systems through the Citrix Presentation Servers or via VPN

Now to figure out if I like being the man that supports everything, or if I want to start digging in to one specific area to become an expert on.  It’s hard to chose because I enjoy being & have always been the “Jack of All”, but with that also means I’m the “Master of None”.  It’s a great person to be for small companies like this one, but if I want to really step up to play with the big boys (& get paid with the big boys), then I’ve got to narrow down my focus & become an expert in a specific field.  Decisions, decisions…

So… What do you think?

Where is the real value/demand if I were to specialize in any of these specific technologies that I’m managing today? Citrix, VMware/Virtualization, Asterisk/VOIP, NetApp/Shared Storage, Cisco, DBA, Webmaster…

I’m thinking VMware/vitrualization because it’s where so many companies are headed… Hmmmm.

This has been a crazy week. It’s my last week working with my current employer, but they are still in the middle of a major ERP implementation project I was leading. So this week has been all about working with a consultant to do everything we could to define the state of the project, and hand everything off to the department heads and a temporary “point person”.

They are also trying to hire a new Project Manager to replace me on this. I have HIGH hopes that this project soars from here on out with a proper project manager because I know I failed in that aspect.  I could easily handle the IT side of things…  Reports, Programming, Customization, even training…  But I’m not an organized, meticulous, process seeking/defining project manager and that is exactly what is needed.

Aside from feeling a bit worthless, it’s been a little hard to get all the grief from everyone about leaving (much less leaving things in the state that they are… Unfinished.) Most of it has been said in jest, but I can’t help but feel a bit down. Like I failed them & I’m running away. I suppose I did. And I am. [sigh] I don’t like admitting defeat.

Even though it’s the night before my last day, I’ve been logged in remotely customizing screens, documenting procedures, and doing everything I can to get as much as possible done. I REALLY don’t want to leave them hanging. I want to leave with some sense of accomplishment, but at what point am I just bailing water from a sunken ship.

I find my self seriously hoping they contact me to help them train my replacement (on an hourly contract basis of course) only because I am a terrible project manager and there is so much stuff left undocumented and straggling in my head that I wouldn’t know where to begin to put it all on paper. The good news is that I know the current candidate for my replacement and she knows me well enough to know that (in the business world) I’m a geek first, and anything else second. I hope she gets the job. At least then I can feel comfortable keeping in touch & working with her if that’s how they decide to move forward (making use of my off-time).

On another note….

I’ve been emailing back & forth with my new employer a bit and it’s good to know I’m walking in to a place where I fit in. I’m going to be walking into the middle of a major office move (including production servers) and I’ve been able to put in my 2 cents about how we could/should go about some of it & it’s been received well. I’m feeling mildly useful.

I’m tired.

I’m sad.

Good night.

Here’s a pretty good list of free software (online & desktop) that covers a lot of the “best in class” options out there. After going through the list, I currently use or have used 90% of the programs on there at some point in time.

http://lifehacker.com/5412886/

These are the staples on my computers that I use regularly from that list:

1. FireFox (The Best Web Browser)
2. VLC (One Media Player to Rule Them All)
3. 7-Zip (Simple file compression [zip files, etc...])
4. OpenOffice.org (Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Slide Shows, etc…)
5. Google Chrome (Alternative Browser)
6. µTorrent (Torrent Downloader)
7. Gmail (Email)
8. GIMP (Photo creation & manipulation)
9. Thunderbird (Email Client)
10. Audacity (Audio Editing)
11. Picasa (Picture Management)
12. Pidgin (IM Client)
13. Ubuntu (Prefered Linux Distro)
14. iTunes (Music Library)
15. FileZilla (FTP Client)
16. Google Reader (RSS/Feed Reader)
17. TeraCopy (File Copy Manager)
18. PuTTY (Remote Access)
19. CDBurnerXP (CD Burning App)
20. HandBrake (DVD Ripping App)
21. Google Calendar (Online Calendar)
22. Google Voice (VOIP Related…)
23. AdBlock Plus (Down with Ads!!!)

I’ll try & put together a list of the other free software I use that didn’t make it into that list. I don’t think there’s going to be TOO much in this one though… The above list covers most of what I need in a computing environment.

OK, I’ve been digging into why & where people are making money by blogging. There’s actually a lot of potential out there if you can write good enough content to bring people coming back for more, and if you can drive a lot of search engine traffic to your site.

Now don’t get me wrong… tmasman.com (even tech.tmasman.com) will never be capitalized on. These are just my online playground & nothing but a personal space online to collect thoughts, ideas, and to share pictures with family/friends. Sspeaking of tech.tmasman.com… Um, Yeah. I wasn’t ready to start something like that & it’s really a waste of effort for me to keep 2 personal blogs running. So it’s getting wiped today. It was a nice idea, but a little ill-conceived.

For those of you who don’t know, I have decided to launch a new site http://techiethomas.com that is my web-front for my tech support & web design/hosting company. It still needs to be spiffied up & I’ve got a LOT of information I need to update it with, but it’s a start.

Anyhow, that brings me back to blogging for money. I’m going to create a blog who’s primary focus will be “Technology for everyone else”. What does that mean? I’m glad you asked.

Basically it’ll cover a bunch of topics from software, computers, consumer electronics, websites, search engines, etc… The idea is to make this technology available to people, or better put, to explain these things in simple terms that make sense to people who aren’t “in the know”.

So far, I’ve thought of a few topics to specifically focus on.

• Open Source Software (What is it, why is it free, is it any good?)
• Digital camera terminology & what features really matter
• Consumer electronics reviews (starting with the stuff owned by me, family, & friends… Hey Ryan, didn’t you just buy a new netbook?)
• What computer is right for me? (desktop, laptop, netbook. Windows, Mac, Linux.)
• Reviews & breakdowns of some of the popular open source programs
• What is a website, and what’s involved in owning/running one?
• What is social networking all about?
• How do I put stuff online (Video, pictures, journals, blogs)
• What is a web application?

You can see there a lot of web-related things in there, but I also want to focus on electronics, programs, and computers. All of it focused on teaching “newbies” what it is, how it works, and why they need (or don’t need) it.

Now, for those of you nay-sayers… You know who you are… I know I don’t update this blog very much, but like I said in the beginning, this is a personal playground. A place to toss out updates & pictures every now & then with no real requirements. I plan on treating this new blog as a part of my new business. It’s going to be a part of our financial future, so I’ve GOT to work on it & if I’m not keeping up with it, I’ll count on YOU to help nudge me along & keep me accountable to posting new content regularly. That’s what friends & family are for. If if you’re still reading this blog post, I’ll assume you’re either friend, family, or at least an acquaintance.

Now for the fun part. I need to come up with a domain name for this venture. It’s got to be unique, catchy, & memorable. Ideally, I want it to tie into my http://techiethomas.com site (graphically & hopefully with a similar name/title/ring) .

I’m open to ideas (for domain names and for topics you want to know more about).  So leave a comment (or 2) and tell me what you think.

This is just a rehash of my latest side-job. I thought it was interesting, but I’m sure the following story won’t have much entertainment value to many others.

There’s a person I’ve met through work that needed some work done on her computer.  We were having a really hard time trying to find a good time for me to come over & work on her computer. We started trying to set a time back in September… She’d cancel a few times, then I’d have a conflict pop up… Her house caught fire & she got burnt pretty badly & wasn’t too worried about it for a while. (Crazy stuff, I’m telling you!)

Anyhow, she’s feeling better & bought a computer from me to replace the old one because it was just causing her so much trouble. She sent her niece to come & pick up the computer from me & told me she’d need some help transferring data from her old PC to the new one.

She said she thinks it’s Windows 95 or 98, but really isn’t sure. I pack my briefcase with the usual assortment of IDE-USB adapter, USB hard drive, multi-tool, etc… I walk out thinking I’ll just pull the files off on the the USB drive & put them into the other PC, no problem.

The only worries I had were that she said she’s using Quicken to manage multiple accounts and she’s trying to bring that data into the newest version. I’m not an accountant & I have learned to hate accounting concepts (from working with implementing Epicor’s ERP software @ work), but I can figure most things out when it comes to software & computers. I was just hoping Quicken could easily import data from it’s older versions.

Anyhow, I get there & see the computer case is OLD… By old, I mean it didn’t originally come with a CD-ROM drive… It still had a 5-1/4″ Floppy drive in it! When she turned it on it booted up to a C:> prompt (DOS). I thought… OK… I’m good with the DOS Prompt… I told her to drive & show me what she knew & needed & I’d take it from there. (She is the type that wants to know everything about what’s going on, so I figured I’d make sure to let her show me around so she didn’t feel like I was the rude IT guy telling her to get out of the way).

Anyhow, she types “win” and up pops the Windows 3.1 logo… Woh! I laughed out loud & told her this definitely predates Windows 95 & that this was before I even started messing with Windows PCs. She got a kick out of that too.

It looked like the memory was starting to fail because it was complaining that there wasn’t enough memory to open Quicken and there was nothing else open at the time. Instead of struggling with the old machine, I went ahead & took her 2GB drive from the old PC & copied all 95MB of it’s contents into a folder on her new computer…  Wow… 95MB… A complete install of Windows, Quicken, and her Quicken data dating 1994 to 2008.

Well, I set everything up, imported her old Quicken Data into her new setup and she had a ton of basic computing questions (which is always fun because it makes me look like a genius! hehe… No ego boost there). She told me her work computer is just as old if not older than the one here at her house and she’ll need me to work my magic there too.

If only I could find a steady stream of people who need this kind of help, I could start working for myself!

Got any ideas?