We've had many changes since my last entry (which was embarrassingly long ago), but two in particular deserve mention.
First, our 10.2 upgrade was released last month. For those who haven't already read about it, check out the details here:
http://www.cnp-x.com/upgrade/
Usually we spend more time in-between upgrades, but there was so much we wanted to put into it that it was just too much for an update (and Leopard compatibility required a brand-new install). So in short, it's fully Leopard-compatible, includes a new web time card optimized for the iPhone, and many other enhanced or new features which primarily came from your wishlist submissions. You spoke, we listened. Win-win. Did I forget to mention it's free to anyone with current support? Yeah, it's free.
Second (and this isn't as new, but is worth pointing out). Our corporate homepage has been completely redesigned. CnP-X.com will be a product site for our current version, but the corporate site is the jumping-off point for all of our products and includes new information about the company's history, culture, and innovations. It will also have more job listings both for us (if you're interested in relocating to San Diego and doing some very different work, check it out) and our clients who'd like to post their own open positions.
Check it out:
http://www.clientsandprofits.com
Last Friday, C&P co-sponsored the San Diego Ad Club's Birdies in Paradise golf tournament. It was a pleasure meeting the other sponsors as well as some more members of the San Diego ad community (not to mention the enjoyable round of golf). Next up is the evening with Alex Bogusky and we'll definitely be in attendance. Can't wait to hear how they plan to make Microsoft cool.
 
If you're heading to the HOW Conference next week (May 18-21 in Boston), stop by and visit us at booth #517. We'll have some giveaways and announcements to make. And if you have more to discuss, we're available for meetings as well.
After HOW I'll be visiting clients in the UK. If we haven't already spoken to you and you'd like to meet, please contact us as soon as possible.
On occasion, we get calls to the helpdesk which fall outside what we're capable of supporting. It's not that we're uncaring, but some issues simply can't be solved over the phone and/or go outside our expertise. Some of these are accounting related, but the majority are IT-related. When we hear that a database is getting damaged repeatedly, a user can't print, or access to the database is slow, it usually means IT is going to have to get involved.
Telling a user that they've got an IT-related issue is usually received like bad medical test results. Next we usually hear the four of the five stages of grief (almost never acceptance). Denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. It doesn't need to be this way, but for some reason, almost always is. But why? Is dealing with IT that bad? Are we that inaccessible? So difficult to deal with? Are we really this guy?
The toughest cases are those where the company does not have formal IT staff (we talk to a lot of art director/IT guys) or worse, an outside consultant. We've used outside consultants here at C&P for various projects over the years (with varying levels of success), so we understand your pain. High hourly rates, blame-placing, vendor favoritism, and general zealotry come with the territory. But since they're often more cost-effective than learning the needed skill ourselves, we stick with them, as do many creative shops.
Bob Cringely recently wrote a great article about this here. His list of the 10 most frequent lies told by IT consultants at the end of the article is particularly good.
Now we know that there are some great IT consultants out there; we'd like to know more of them! Often agencies ask us for referrals and we don't have too many. We have a good network of C&P consultants to help with training and custom work, but very few who can handle the tech side as well. So we're looking for your help here. If you have a particularly good IT consultant, please let us know about it and we'll see about putting them on the website. You'll do your consultant a favor as well as your fellow C&P users.
ma-ni-ac: noun, informal
"a person exhibiting extreme symptoms of wild behavior, esp. when violent and dangerous : a homicidal maniac."
Is this really the guy you want serving up your bucket of wings and drumsticks?
C&P certainly doesn't look for maniacs, though is very focused on excellent customer service. We're proud to have unusually quick turnaround on email and under one minute average hold times. It can be frustrating dealing with our own vendors, since none are as accessible as we are. And even though we're overstaffed by industry standards for a helpdesk (this is partially how we answer the phone so quickly), that's the way we want it and we're still always looking for more quality staff. Interested in moving to San Diego? Drop us a line.
Unrelated, you may have noticed the blog got a facelift to look like it actually belongs on our site. Thanks to Marcelo from the helpdesk for the excellent work.
My view of the keynote.
I knew arriving ~45 minutes before would not yield a great seat, but I didn't expect this. This shot is three blocks walk from the entrance. I never got in. Not even close. Even the overflow rooms were full. Oh well. At least I got the live feed on my iPhone from macrumorslive.com
Happy New Year to all! Hope everyone had a pleasant holiday. January means a lot of things around here: shops closing the year, much higher call volume than normal (both for sales and the helpdesk), free-lunch Fridays, and my personal favorite, the Macworld Expo.
Like last year, we are attending, but unlike last year, not exhibiting. While it was nice to meet many of you at the booth, Macworld is more of a consumer show than an industry event and it didn't make a lot of sense for us. Also, I'm attending the MacIT Conference this time (really looking forward to "DNS Demystified"). If anyone wants to meet up for a meal, drink, or brief chat, feel free to call or email.
Well, it's over. Nice to have met those who stopped by the booth. Sorry San Diego couldn't provide better weather for you. I can tell you from experience that fog this weekend beats the smoke you would have had the previous weekend. Hope to see you all again at the next one. We had a great time!
First it was just Intel-based Macs, now it's everyone (in 10.5).
Thanks to those who came out for our first-ever open house. It's always fun to put faces to the names and hear how shops are using C&P to manage their production and accounting. We do plan to do these on a regular basis, so if you missed this one, there will be plenty more. And there will be plenty of piña coladas and margaritas next time as well.
8/17 - Position Filled
If you know this stuff, please give us a call or send a resume.
After a bit of a wait in line on Friday, I'm proud to be one of the early adopters. There's already countless iphone reviews out there, so I won't bother here other than to say ASAP appears to work great.
And that other kind too.
Ok, here's one of those rare situations that we can't really prevent and you wouldn't think was worth mentioning, but it has happened on multiple occasions. Look carefully at the above screenshot and you'll see what's wrong with this picture.
Were the user to click save at that point, they'd get this window:
The user, hell-bent on ruining someone's day (and perhaps ending their employment) could then click yes and overwrite their company's database with their new, empty database.
Yes, it has happened. A user, trying to open their database, does have the ability to overwrite the company database. And, predictably, the last time this happened, the agency had no backup. Ouch!
Facts:
1. C&P users must have both read & write access to the database in order to connect. Unfortunately, a write permission also allows a user to overwrite. File Permissions 101.
2. For a user to pull this feat off, they would have to make four systematic bad choices:
a. Choose "New Database" instead of "Open Database" (which should rarely be needed anyway, since a user would most often be connecting to a database already in the list)
b. Name the new database identically to the old one
c. Click "save" (which should be a red flag since it doesn't say "open")
d. Ignore the warning and click yes to overwrite.
3. Because this and other catastrophes beyond everyone's control can happen, backups are critical.
For agencies stuck with employees that are prone to this sort of behavior, there is but one recourse - switch to a SQL backend. C&P Pro and Job Tracker users have the option of hosting their database (free of charge) using MySQL 5 Community Server or MS SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (as of C&P X 10.1, which at the time of this writing, is in the last stages of public beta). The pesky open and new buttons don't exist in those versions since the database is created and administered through other tools.
True!
And here's further explanation. Guess they weren't kidding when they took "Computer" out of the name. Letting a consumer device take priority over OS X development isn't exactly encouraging, but I doubt it's a sign of things to come. The terms of our NDA with Apple forbid us from commenting on Leopard, but I can't say I'm upset at this delay (except I have to wait longer for Spaces).
This is handy.
Several times in the past, we've gotten burnt by buying products right before the new and improved version comes out. To combat that, MacRumors has put together a nice buyers guide. No guarantees to the accuracy since it's based on rumors, but before buying new Apple hardware, it's a good idea to check here.
Intel Mac users rejoice!
I'm sure many of our longtime users think we're a broken record preaching the importance of backups, but occasionally we do get calls from shops with horribly damaged or unreadable databases (usually by network events like server crashes, electrical storms, random acts of God) and no backup. It's probably the most painful call we ever have to handle at the helpdesk. Telling someone that their database is, in the technical jargon, hosed, hurts us, as well as the unfortunate client. It's an incredibly painful way to learn how critical it is to have a good recovery system.
There are many ways to ensure you're not one of the unfortunate few. It could be as simple as the first person in every morning burning a copy to CD or more complicated involving redundant media, offsites, firesafes, and safety deposit boxes.
Here's the heart of the system at C&P (yeah, it's not much to look at):
We start with a simple Windows XP machine running Retrospect. Every night, all applications which lock databases shut down and the entire backup is performed, copying from both OS X Servers as well as Windows servers. We backup to an Exabyte drive with rotating tapes (stored in a firesafe) as well as an external OWC firewire drive. There are two of these drives, and they trade places going offsite each week.
This entire system was not too expensive though there are cheaper ways to do it. UNIX-savvy folk can write cron jobs to automate their backup, including offsites in some situations. Whatever solution shops go with, make sure it includes the ability to recover from any individual day in the past week (two weeks is better) and that you send something offsite periodically in case a real disaster happens. Overwriting each night's backup and never taking anything offsite is only marginally better than no backup.
Just when I hoped that wireless networking would enter into a new era of stability, range, and speed, Macintouch wrote their review here.
Here's the key quote:
We couldn't help but feel that Apple's new 802.11n AirPort Extreme base station is a disappointing introduction to 802.11n. Our actual throughput was just 15-20% faster than 802.11g and far below 802.11n's promised potential.
Only if ALL devices are 802.11n compliant.
So this is where we spend most of our time. And just as well, since it's cold outside. That part isn't so fun, but it's nice to be back home (kinda - I grew up ~45 minutes from here). 10 years in San Diego has thinned my blood, but I feel like less of a wimp when I hear the locals complaining about the weather).
What's been really fun is talking to people about C&P who have never heard about it. So many different sorts of people can all benefit from C&P. From the freelance photographer to the mid-sized agency principle to the designer at the in-house marketing department of a large company, we really have something for everyone. Enough spin.
Thanks to those that have come by. It's been a pleasure to put faces to the names and shake hands. It was also a pleasure to eat black cod tonight, but I won't go into that. This town is a great place to eat.
So, before it got too crowded, I went over to check out the slowly-revolving and well-guarded iPhone.
(apologies for the poor quality pics)
They've got two of these rotating displays, each with an Apple Inc. (not to be confused with the no-longer-existing Apple Computer) rep standing by to answer questions rapid-fire.
I do think it's pretty cool. The design appears intuitive, clean, and crisp. A typical Apple product. Oh, and it's expensive. I had hoped that Apple's recent trend towards competitive market pricing with computers would continue with this new device, but they're back to their old strategy: expensive, yet cool, and definitely a status symbol for the early adopter/zealot.
The primary "bummer" I'm hearing isn't the price, but the Cingular exclusivity. Even if it's true that the exclusivity is only for two years, that's still painful for a Verizon user enjoying in-network calling and 90%+ of contacts all on Verizon. I suppose if everyone I knew collectively switched over, that'd help, but most people I know won't spend $500 on a phone, no matter what else it does. I'd love to know what it cost Cingular for the deal, but for now it's a secret.
So I keep asking myself, "do I want it?" The answer is definitely "yes" but with an emphatic "but". I'd love to have a good web browser/camera/music player/email/phone onhand at all times, but $500 (or $600 for 8gb) is a lot of money. Also, Cingular. I've used them before and I had spotty coverage. Without a reliable signal, the iPhone is reduced to a small-capacity ipod with a camera. I've wanted a smart phone for awhile now, and I like that this is thinner than my current not-so-smart phone (LG VX8100 with original [bad] firmware, but more on that another time). Also, it's not out until June, so who knows what else will be competing by that time. This could definitely be a product that causes a cultural shift in what people think of as "computers" and where and how they "compute".
So, we made it, no thanks to the malfunctioning plane which kept us in our oh-so-crowded seats for far longer than expected as we took in the view of the runway in San Diego.
So, the Expo is big, crowded, and fantastic for people-watching. It was nice to meet several loyal C&P users today and show off the new 10.1 update. Not to pat ourselves on the back too much, but it's nice to be able to field virtually every "can it do ____?" question from those not familiar with the program with an enthusiastic "yes!"
So, here's a little brain teaser. What do these 2 pictures have in common?
Give up?
They're both places where one should be able to use the internet for free (the first is a picture of the lamely named internet connection box in my hotel room, the 2nd is in the hotel lobby).
Now, I did know in advance that internet is not free in the hotel room. $12.95 per noon-to-noon period. I guess we could have stayed elsewhere, but we thought it good taste to stay in the HQ Hotel. When paying these kind of rates at the HQ hotel for a computer convention, one might expect something so fundamental to be complimentary. When I called a couple weeks ago to inquire about the internet, I was assured that there was public wi-fi in the lobby, so I figured that's at least a workable alternative, but when I tried it today, of course... no dice. Those at the front desk confirmed that they don't supply this basic service. What a disappointment. This great hotel which I booked us all at (and hotel chain which I used to so proudly be an employee of) dropped the ball.
So, leave a comment if you think I'm full of it and shouldn't expect free internet in a quality establishment. I'll try and find something more show-related to discuss tomorrow. I guess there was some hubbub about a phone....
(this blog entry brought to you courtesy of AirPort Express.)
10.1 is coming along nicely and we're looking forward to showing it off next week at Macworld. Come and visit us in the Apple Developer Pavilion (booth #S1338-19) or if you can't make it, visit here for pictures and (limited) coverage.
(The following comments, as usual, do not necessarily represent the opinions of C&P)
This morning, a graphic designer friend of mine sent me this link.
Now I don't want to get into a tiff over DRM here, but I generally oppose it. A few thoughts after reading this article:
1. The author, Michael Arrington, appears to be a Mac guy and opposes DRM (if the problem there isn't immediately apparent, wait until the 2nd observation). He takes pleasure at Gates walking into a room full of Macs and even includes a link to the AirPort Express, noting that someone had set up an AirPort network. For some reason, he didn't include a product link for the Zune, which he was given at the event.
2. Apple's hands are so far from clean on this issue that it's hardly worth debating. What do I mean? Read this and if you're a frequent iTunes downloader, brace yourself. I do enjoy using Apple products, but I'm painfully aware of how unfair iTunes is for artists, particularly those on major labels (don't worry, I still sleep well at night knowing that Bono will always have a roof over his head).
3. Gates didn't say much, but what he did say was encouraging. I've mentioned my concern with phoning-home in Vista before and I'll reiterate: I can only see it making life rougher for users, rather than easier. But it's good to hear Gates admit that he's no fan of the current situation and that DRM “causes too much pain for legitmate buyers.”
It's too bad that there's no clear direction for this, but hopefully some creative ideas will be brought to the arena soon, so we can avoid fiascos like Coldplay's X&Y from early this year.
We're crossing our fingers, but it appears that this may have been the culprit:
The vendor was aware of some issue with a "y-connector" but when the technician tweaked the yellow cable (in the bottom right area of the picture), the whole system went down. This was a breakthrough since it was the first time we were able to reproduce the issue. Since the y-connector was on backorder from Nortel, an entire power supply was overnighted to fix the issue. Overnighted, so I thought from the previous Wednesday, but the following Monday, this finally showed up:
Another problem-filled day passed before the technician came back to install it. Since the new power supply went in, we've been ok, so hopefully our phone woes are now a thing of the past. If it turns out this was the sole problem with the hardware end (not the only problem, we know, since AT&T had to replace some cabling out in the street), then that's a disappointing piece of troubleshooting. After the months spent in high-level testing, for it to be a cable, is just... sad.
So you might be wondering, what good has come along with the busy signals and disconnects at just the precisely wrong moment in your conversation with the helpdesk. Believe it or not, this "upgrade" has not been completely fruitless. Once it's stable, this will be more apparent, but since I could use the encouragement and I sure as hell won't get it from users or staff at this point, I submit the following:
Good things about the Great C&P Phone "Upgrade" Incident of 2006
• I’ve learned a lot about phones. It’d be a good resume item if I were looking (which I’m not). I realize that this means nothing to the reader and the caller, but it's not insignificant to me and I am having to stretch a bit to find the positive. While we're at it, I now have a clue what's in the following picture:
• I’ve found that the service we give here really is excellent (when the lines are up). We maintain meticulous records of all calls and do a good job of giving consistent support. The majority of calls to our helpdesk are answered in under a minute by someone capable of resolving the question without a transfer. I haven't seen that level of quality support from any other company except my insurance company (USAA) and American Express. Sorry, Apple, love the product, but there are more than a couple goons manning the phones over at 1 Infinite Loop.
• Internal reports (which our old green-screen system was incapable of accurately generating) are showing that we’re better handling our current volume of calls and with greater distribution amongst our helpdesk members.
• Our sales department gives great web demos. The ones we endured from both equipment vendors were painfully bad. Many of our questions were simple, yet unanswerable by those doing the demo and the "format" was very loose (to put it lightly). Unprofessional.
I don't know if that will remove any of the sting of a disconnect, but this short-term problem will eventually be worked out for long-term benefit. Until then, we've got 6 repair cases open with the equipment vendor and another two with the telco.
Before I continue the story, I'd like to say how excited I am to be attending the Macworld Expo this year. We'll have a small booth in the Apple Developer Pavilion to show off the new 10.1 update as well as ASAP 2.0. While not at the booth, I'll be attempting to crash sessions in the MacIT conference. Sadly, exhibitors don't get access to the Stevenote.
Back to the phones.
(this is the BCM, the brain of the system, and bane of my existence)
Our first big issue was long periods of time were we couldn’t access voicemail. To fix it each time, we’d reboot the system (a 10-15 minute affair during which we couldn’t make or receive calls). Technicians came out repeatedly, scratched their heads, contradicted each other, applied patches, and sent logs overseas for analysis (which proved fruitless). At first, they explained that this was unusual, but after awhile, one of the techs finally told us that it was a known issue and they had released a patch to fix it. Unfortunately, the patch caused other bugs, so the patch was rolled back, then later applied.
As soon as the voicemail situation was resolved, we ran into a much worse issue - dropped calls. Periodically, all lines would simply go dead. Internal calls were fine, but all external lines were dead, both incoming and outgoing. Obviously, for a call center, that’s bad news. Helpdesk members were getting frustrated and a few started using their cell phones to return calls. I’d leave messages, they’d run tests, which would have us down for sometimes an hour, and nothing ever changed. I got our telephone company, ACC, together with Black Box, but that didn’t go well either. ACC failed to show up to a vendor meet and never called to explain why. Finally, AT&T came out and replaced some cabling in the street, which only helped for a day. Technicians are supposed to come out, don’t, and we get no call about it. Bad service abounds.
I know our clients are frustrated. We’re frustrated too and are doing everything in our power to resolve it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we’re at the mercy of poor customer service.
Now I must say that repeated frantic calls at all levels of the chain have proved somewhat helpful. Our equipment vendor has become more responsive, but at this moment it appears that the telco is more to blame and they're the ones who are terrible. They're a middleman for AT&T, who handles the lines, but I, of course, can't call AT&T directly for support, as I'm not their client. So this extra step is hurting us a lot.
In the midst of this mess, I have identified a few positive things, which I will share next time.
Happy belated Thanksgiving and welcome back. On with the story.
After wasting a month looking at the 3Com system, we decided to investigate our previous vendor, Nortel. I have no explanation for why we didn’t look at them first other than it never occurred to me that we could “upgrade” and preserve our current system design. Not having to retrain the staff on an entirely new system was very appealing.
We started talking with Black Box (a Nortel dealer) about upgrading with all new hardware. Despite a very rough sales process (bad web demos, repeated typos in proposals, having to jump through hoops to get to people who could answer our basic questions) we went with them (yes, I know, all red flags). We bought all new phones (including a fancy wireless speakerphone for the boardroom), hung a new rack, and switched from all analog lines to a voice T-1. After having to learn an entirely new vocabulary (having never implemented a new phone system before), fill out a 30+ page workbook to configure the rack unit (the BCM, aka “brain” of it all), and pay for all of it, I figured that the worst was behind us. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
In late August, the components started arriving and our installer showed up. Despite the fact that the programming I had filled out the immense workbook for wasn’t done properly and we had to redo it all onsite, the install went relatively smooth. We redesigned our call routing, distributed the new phones (which, fortunately, were similar enough to the old ones for the staff to transition smoothly), recorded new messages for those in queue, crossed our fingers, and flipped the switch.
We had a few hiccups at first, but were able to meet all of our goals. The estimated wait time system was working, helpdesk members were able to see who was on the phone and for how long, we could generate useful reports, and our routing was working as designed. We had no idea how sour things were about to turn....
As you may be aware, we've been having phone problems here at C&P for the past few months. To explain what's going on, I've decided to blog about it. Not only will it provide some insight into the situation, but it'll also explain the benefits behind the changes we've made. Also, I'm hoping it'll be therapeutic, since I'm at my wits end with it today and could use a place to vent.
I'll start at the very beginning... (which I'm told, is a very good place to start)
After visiting a local client of ours with state-of-the-art office technology in early 2006, I was inspired to look into a new phone system for C&P. Our existing system, Nortel Meridian, was purchased over 10 years ago and was really showing its age. The administration was all done from a single green-screen PC sitting in a server room and most configuration changes required a reboot *wgucg . Additionally, the reports that came out of it for time tracking were quite unreliable. Knowing that efficiency in call handling is crucial to our business, both in sales and the helpdesk, we were prepared to spend whatever was necessary for a solid product.
So, around March, I started shopping around. Our goals for the system were the following:
• Estimated wait time while in queue
• Web-based wallboarding (a web page showing agent status so that helpdesk members knew who was on the line, who was at lunch, and who was available to transfer to)
• Flexible reporting options (in order to see if we were adequately staffed for the volume of helpdesk calls)
• More options in call center routing (we wanted the sales department to employ a different routing system than the helpdesk)
The first system we looked at was a 3Com solution. These were the cool-looking IP phones that you see on tv all the time (in case you look at the phones). I do. They offered web-based administration with tons of options, even down to individual button programming. Unfortunately, the phones themselves were the only real strong suit of this package. During our multiple web demos we never were able to see the wallboard in action (were just told, “yeah, we have that”), the reports were powerful, yet very clunky (looked like they were designed around the same time as Windows 3.1), and the administration tool was an ugly, awkward, Windows-only affair. Not only that, but the system was pretty expensive (the call center package being ~$45k of the ~$100k expense). For other businesses who don’t need a call center package, I’m sure it’d be great, but it wasn’t for us.
Would have been nice to have those cool-looking phones, though.
(to be continued...)
This month, volume license customers get to begin the adventure of Windows Vista. The rest of us get to wait until late January of 2007. From our testing, I'll share a few observations.
1. It looks cool. The new alt-tab is a worthy competitor to Exposé in OS X (assuming your computer has the graphic might to run it smoothly).
2. Improved user-friendliness. From the redesigned install process, to more intuitive control panels, to the new application launching using the Windows key, and numerous other little changes, it looks like quite an improvement over XP.
3. More "Mac-like". I don't care if it imitates OS X. Imitation, flattery, whatever. If it makes it a better product, so be it. Plenty of other industries "borrow" design elements from each other. Ever notice how many sport sedans look like BMWs nowadays? Designers see winning elements, imitate them, and it becomes a trend. At C&P, we certainly know what that's like, seeing our own terminology used by imitators.
As for the not-so-nice, I'm not pleased about the frequent "phone-home" feature I've heard about. At this point, RC1 appears to run C&P X just fine, but we have had issues connecting to OS X Server volumes. So while it looks good, caution in upgrading is advised (as always).
A few months ago, I traveled back east to visit a client of ours in North Carolina (and have a little vacation). While out there, I knew where I was staying wouldn't have wireless internet and my MacBook Pro would only function at a fraction of its normally high level of productivity. I lamented over how I could and should have brought my AirPort Express and resolved that if I happened to go past a store that had them, I'd buy one. I figured it was an extremely long shot, but was soon proven wrong when I walked past this in the Atlanta airport during a connection:
Before me was the greatest vending machine I have ever laid eyes on. Behold the "zoom shop"! The ultimate geek machine! Loaded up with iPods, PSPs, Game Boys, headphones, power adapters, external hard drives, and (you guessed it) AirPort Express. My travelling companion was not half as excited about this find as I was as I fumbled around for my digital camera and credit card.
In my defense, I was not the only one amused enough to stop for photos.
After a short and painless transaction and an entertaining display of mechanical genius which fetched my hardware, the deal was done. With prize in hand and images on memory stick I headed off for my connecting flight.
From time to time, clients send us their databases. Sometimes it's to convert from an old version, sometimes it's to troubleshoot an issue that we can't duplicate, and sometimes it's just to see how shops are putting certain features to use so that we can make improvements. When we receive a database, we need a login and password to get in. The default MGR login with no password is fine if users want to re-create it before sending (though hopefully it wasn't there already), but sometimes we're given another password.
As someone who has seen a lot of databases and is also a sys admin, I can safely say that I've seen a lot of passwords. Most of them quite bad. And for those thinking Big Brother, don't worry. We have no access to your offsite data. Not only that, but you're protected through the confidentiality section in the C&P license agreement.
Fortunately, I've never heard any stories of unauthorized access to C&P data, but that doesn't mean that simplistic passwords are ever a good idea. Most security breaches nowadays are internal, so spending a lot of time and effort securing your network against Icelandic hackers, doesn't prevent a disgruntled soon-to-be ex-employee from making a mess of your books under someone else's login.
Apple and Microsoft both offer password checkers, which can tell you whether you've got an ironclad tricky password or one easily guessed.
Microsoft:
You have to be a bit sneaky with Apple's, but it is significantly more full-featured (surprising, huh?). Within system preferences > accounts, choose change password, then click the key icon and you can test whatever password you like. Just hit cancel afterwards or you'll alter your OS X login. It offers some colorful suggestions, as seen here:
I'll be honest. I don't use passwords as long as that. The only places I've used passwords like that were 128-bit WEP keys for wireless networks. Still, in most offices there's a lot of room for improvement in this area. And remember if you do use really complicated ones, don't write them on Post-Its only to be left in a desk drawer.
Short and sweet. Pick 5 free web apps/sites and justify them. As you'll see below, I'm big on accessibility and efficiency (you can call it laziness if you insist) . I'm also a fan of google products. I've tasted their kool-aid and I like it.
Google Reader
Great, easy, RSS reader with one-button subscription (with Firefox).
Google Browser Sync (for Firefox)
For anyone who works on multiple computers (isn't that almost all of us nowadays?), this allows you to share history, persistent cookies, tabs, windows, and saved passwords. For those concerned with security, you can choose what to sync and it periodically asks for your password.
TinyURL
Super simple, but I use this all the time. Ever get annoyed when forwarding or receiving long ugly links? Me too. This free site turns your long ugly link into a nice neat tiny one. For instance, see the following.
This:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=4755+Oceanside+Blvd.+92056&ie=UTF8&om=1
Becomes this:
http://tinyurl.com/mhhlm
And that's not even a bad one. I have this set up as a toolbar shortcut so it feeds me the tinyurl of any page I'm on with one click.
Flickr
Ok, this one is free, but offers premium features (which are well worth it) for $24.95/year. Fantastic place to store and share photos. Offers pretty much any feature you could imagine from a photo-sharing website. Their organize tool is amazingly intuitive. A model of smart design.
VNC
PC:
RealVNC (client and server)
Mac:
Chicken of the VNC (client)
OSXvnc (server)
This technology makes my day so much easier. From one interface I can control every server and workstation in the office. That's smart and efficient. Truth be told, I now use Apple Remote Desktop (http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/), which is far from free (and doesn't offer upgrade pricing from earlier versions which infuriates me), but it integrates with any VNC server, so I can administer my Windows servers through it. It offers a host of other features, but perhaps I'll talk about my love for ARD another day.
So, leave some comments and let's hear your top 5!
I'm not too sure about the details of the Apple Developer Connection NDA, so I'll play it safe and not comment on my own experience with the pre-release version of OS X 10.5 Leopard, but I'll say one thing: Spaces will sell Leopard. Yeah, I know there have been methods to do this sort of thing for years, but it's all Apple-ized now and very user friendly.
The idea is pretty simple. You have multiple workspaces which all share a common dock. You can bind applications to always open in a certain space or to appear in all spaces. With one click you can view all your Spaces at once (very similar to expose) where you can drag apps from space to space. With up to 16 spaces, you can customize your work environment like never before. Look out Dashboard, you're going to lose your binding on my mighty mouse ball button to Spaces.
I know there's a lot more in Leopard, but if they stopped development right now and called it OS X 10.5 Spaces, I'd buy it. Recently, I suggested this to an Apple marketing rep, but his reply was "patience is a virtue."
R&D can be rough sometimes. I take the bullet of early adoption of new technology because our clients need to know how new hardware and software affects C&P. Since we usually buy at least one of every new Mac, it was time to get a Mac Pro. And seeing as it doesn't come with a monitor, today also became the day to get a 30" Cinema Display. Today was not a rough day. On with the pics!
This is Marcelo. Marcelo is on the C&P Helpdesk, works on our websites, does some graphic design, and really wishes he was getting this hardware for himself. Not today, Marcelo.
Fortunately, it fits on my desk (I would have gone to drastic measures to make it fit if it didn't). And, no, I don't regularly use that Viva 2400 baud modem.
What I lose in visibility out the window is more than made up for with 2560x1600 inside.
It's hard not to be a bit giddy here. And, yes, that IS a tiki bar in the background. Come out for a training class and perhaps I'll demonstrate my mixology skills.
For those who'd like to experience a 2560x1600 desktop without visiting the Apple store, click here.
The Mac Pro is a beast of a computer, though mine is beast-lite with only 1GB of ram (that's all they had at the Apple store) for now. Even Rosetta apps (like Photoshop) run nice and quick. They ran quick on my iMac Core Duo as well, but an extra 10" of real estate is the change I'm loving. C&P runs great on it, but it's serious overkill.
Welcome to the brand new C&P System Manager Blog, aka The Rantings of Chris. I can't promise they'll be useful for your agency, a productive use of your time, or even mildly amusing, but I'll do my best to present things which could be of interest to system managers, or enthusiasts of technology (read: geek-tendency) in general.
Your comments and feedback will provide important direction for the blog, so please do use those avenues liberally, and I'll censor them appropriately to preserve my oh-so-fragile ego.
This blog will address, but not be limited to, operating system development, servers, web technology, networking, security, email, office technology (e.g., phones, printers, nerf guns), and whatever else I find fit to write about (or someone else passes my way).
Until our next episode, thanks for stopping by and please come again when there's more of interest. Please do pass along any interesting news and should it make the cut, I'll publish it here.
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