Clever plan... or?

[Niklas Karlsson]

Well. We received a request for an inter-site two-way eflap peba wbo
with --qryrgr enabled. The remark included with the request included:

"Most of the time, people don't edit the same files at the same time, so
collisions shouldn't be a big problem."

Right. Why have seatbelts and airbags? Most of the time, people don't
crash, so it shouldn't be a big problem, right?

It's tempting to simply give them what they asked for and then be ready
with popcorn when (not if) the house of cards starts collapsing.

Niklas
--
Butterscotch schnapps is a great memory restorative. Now I remember why I don't
drink it more often.
-- Stevo, asr

[Shmuel Metz]

In <m50331$mqh$1...@parhelion.firedrake.org>, on 11/24/2014

at 08:05 PM, Niklas Karlsson <ank...@yahoo.se> said:

>Well. We received a request for an inter-site two-way eflap peba wbo
>with --qryrgr enabled.

Did you ask them to sign a statement that they understood the risks
and accepted full responsibility? And why the egb13?

>It's tempting to simply give them what they asked for

What are the consequences to you when (not if) the ballon goes up?

--
Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz <http://patriot.net/~shmuel> ISO position
Reply to domain Patriot dot net user shmuel+bspfh to contact me.
We don't care. We don't have to care, we're Congress.
(S877: The Shut up and Eat Your spam act of 2003)

[Niklas Karlsson]

On 2014-11-25, Shmuel Metz <spam...@library.lspace.org.invalid> wrote:
> In <m50331$mqh$1...@parhelion.firedrake.org>, on 11/24/2014
> at 08:05 PM, Niklas Karlsson <ank...@yahoo.se> said:
>
>>Well. We received a request for an inter-site two-way eflap peba wbo
>>with --qryrgr enabled.
>
> Did you ask them to sign a statement that they understood the risks
> and accepted full responsibility?

Not as such, but there's a full on-the-record email exchange where it's
stated.

> And why the egb13?

For fear of advice-seeking googling lusers. Perhaps my text doesn't need
to ferment that much, though. I just rather like some of the
fermentation products, like 'eflap'.

>>It's tempting to simply give them what they asked for
>
> What are the consequences to you when (not if) the ballon goes up?

I've mostly been watching from the sidelines and given some opinions. I
may get roped into the recovery effort, though, for sure. I've ensured
that the data is being backed up.

Niklas
--
GG archives of net.columbia go back to at least "9/17/81" (which is not
the 81st day of the 17 month of 0009 CE).
-- Snidely

[Koos van den Hout]

Niklas Karlsson <ank...@yahoo.se> wrote in <m51tk3$5p1$1...@parhelion.firedrake.org>:

> I've mostly been watching from the sidelines and given some opinions. I
> may get roped into the recovery effort, though, for sure. I've ensured
> that the data is being backed up.

But only available for restore after enough panic and the white faces
showing the realisation has sunk in that the data was really gone. Then a
miracle happens named "look what I found while busy on something completely
unrelated!"

Otherwise no learning happens.

Koos

(Cinical? Moi?)

--
Koos van den Hout Homepage: http://idefix.net/
PGP keyid DSS/1024 0xF0D7C263
Webprojects: Camp Wireless http://www.camp-wireless.org/
The Virtual Bookcase http://www.virtualbookcase.com/

[Niklas Karlsson]

On 2014-11-25, Koos van den Hout <koos+new...@kzdoos.xs4all.nl> wrote:
> Niklas Karlsson <ank...@yahoo.se> wrote in <m51tk3$5p1$1...@parhelion.firedrake.org>:
>
>> I've mostly been watching from the sidelines and given some opinions. I
>> may get roped into the recovery effort, though, for sure. I've ensured
>> that the data is being backed up.
>
> But only available for restore after enough panic and the white faces
> showing the realisation has sunk in that the data was really gone. Then a
> miracle happens named "look what I found while busy on something completely
> unrelated!"
>
> Otherwise no learning happens.

Right. It may also allow for some actual credit to the IT department,
since we don't tend to be noticed when things are going smoothly and
easily.

Niklas
--
"Thank you," said Himmler, who found the Windows file management system a
diabolical confoundment. 'And they accuse _me_ of crimes against humanity,' he
thought as he settled himself in at his desk. 'Wilhelm Gates, you are a beast,
and your family will pay.' -- _Final_Impact_, John Birmingham

[Brian Kantor]

In article <m5244u$bov$1...@parhelion.firedrake.org>, Niklas Karlsson <ank...@yahoo.se> wrote:
>On 2014-11-25, Koos van den Hout <koos+new...@kzdoos.xs4all.nl> wrote:
>> Niklas Karlsson <ank...@yahoo.se> wrote in <m51tk3$5p1$1...@parhelion.firedrake.org>:
>>
>>> I've mostly been watching from the sidelines and given some opinions. I
>>> may get roped into the recovery effort, though, for sure. I've ensured
>>> that the data is being backed up.
>>
>> But only available for restore after enough panic and the white faces
>> showing the realisation has sunk in that the data was really gone. Then a
>> miracle happens named "look what I found while busy on something completely
>> unrelated!"
>>
>> Otherwise no learning happens.
>
>Right. It may also allow for some actual credit to the IT department,
>since we don't tend to be noticed when things are going smoothly and
>easily.

No, you'll only be blamed for the mess anyway. IT *NEVER* receives positive
credit, only negatives, even when the situation is entirely someone else's
fault. Face it: if you're noticed, it's only in a bad way. It's the nature
of the job.
- Brian

[Julian Macassey]

On 25 Nov 2014 07:24:58 -0800, Brian Kantor <br...@karoshi.ucsd.edu> wrote:
>
> No, you'll only be blamed for the mess anyway. IT *NEVER* receives positive
> credit, only negatives, even when the situation is entirely someone else's
> fault. Face it: if you're noticed, it's only in a bad way. It's the nature
> of the job.

Aint that the troof.

This is a "Butler job". A good butler is invisible, he keeps
the house running smoothly and handles all crises quietly with little
or no ripples. This means it looks like he does nothing, so people
wonder what he is there for.

Of course if things do go badly wrong, it isn't the fault of
anyone but the butler. So he gets punished.

It seems the reward for competence is contempt.


--
Banks are an almost irresistible attraction for that element of
our society which seeks unearned money. - J. Edgar Hoover

[Julian Macassey]

On Tue, 25 Nov 2014 15:46:29 +0000 (UTC), Roger Bell_West
<roger+a...@nospam.firedrake.org> wrote:

> On 2014-11-25, Brian Kantor wrote:
>>No, you'll only be blamed for the mess anyway. IT *NEVER* receives positive
>>credit, only negatives, even when the situation is entirely someone else's
>>fault. Face it: if you're noticed, it's only in a bad way. It's the nature
>>of the job.
>

> Sometimes you get the blame _and_ a very nice bottle of whisky.

Or a very nice bottle of wine from a colleague and the sack
from the CEO.



--
The systematic study of mass psychology revealed to students the
potentialities of invisible government of society by manipulation
of the motives which actuate man in the group. - Edward Bernays

[David DeLaney]

On 2014-11-25, Julian Macassey <jul...@tele.com> wrote:
> This is a "Butler job". A good butler is invisible, he keeps
> the house running smoothly and handles all crises quietly with little
> or no ripples. This means it looks like he does nothing, so people
> wonder what he is there for.

And one common place to see him is down in the wine cellar, roving, tasting
various vintages. [*] Which doesn't help the above impression one bit.

> Of course if things do go badly wrong, it isn't the fault of
> anyone but the butler. So he gets punished.

For certain oddly specific values of "badly wrong", traditionally.

"I suppose you're wondering why I've gathered you all here to-day."

> It seems the reward for competence is contempt.

Dave, you can't spell 'invaluable' without 'ballvein'. ... no wait.

[*] because serving one that's gone off, or using it in cooking, dispels the
illusion of perfect competence, and often offends
--
\/David DeLaney posting thru EarthLink - "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

[Wojciech Derechowski]

On Tue, 25 Nov 2014 16:35:10 +0000, Julian Macassey wrote:
[...]

> This is a "Butler job". A good butler is invisible, he keeps
> the house running smoothly and handles all crises quietly with little
> or no ripples.

Antidisestablishmentarianism.

--
WD

Who is Entscheidungs and what is his problem?

[Joe Zeff]

On Tue, 25 Nov 2014 16:35:10 +0000, Julian Macassey wrote:

> Of course if things do go badly wrong, it isn't the fault of anyone but
> the butler. So he gets punished.

Unless, of course, your name is Willikins.

--
Joe Zeff -- The Guy With The Sideburns:
http://www.zeff.us http://www.lasfs.info
If that's a persistant issue, consider donating someone else's blood
instead.

[Dan Bissonnette]

In article <m5270a$k6f$1...@karoshi.ucsd.edu>, br...@karoshi.ucsd.edu
says...

> >> Otherwise no learning happens.
> >
> >Right. It may also allow for some actual credit to the IT department,
> >since we don't tend to be noticed when things are going smoothly and
> >easily.
>
> No, you'll only be blamed for the mess anyway. IT *NEVER* receives positive
> credit, only negatives, even when the situation is entirely someone else's
> fault. Face it: if you're noticed, it's only in a bad way. It's the nature
> of the job.

I think it was feminist Gloria Steinham who referred to "shitwork,"
which she defined as a job which only drew any notice when something
went wrong.

I'm the pointy-haired boss now. Even though I do it better, it's still
"shitwork."

--
"You're having an internal argument with somebody named
DragonQueen42 - you're never going to win that argument."
- David Benioff, 'Game of Thrones' Producer

[Dan Bissonnette]

In article <m5270a$k6f$1...@karoshi.ucsd.edu>, br...@karoshi.ucsd.edu
says...

> >Right. It may also allow for some actual credit to the IT department,
> >since we don't tend to be noticed when things are going smoothly and
> >easily.
>
> No, you'll only be blamed for the mess anyway. IT *NEVER* receives positive
> credit, only negatives, even when the situation is entirely someone else's
> fault. Face it: if you're noticed, it's only in a bad way. It's the nature
> of the job.

Yes. The finest tribute to the IT department - during a *giant* install
or reshuffling - is total silence. My favorite word is, "Huh?"

[Peter Corlett]

Roger Bell_West <roger+a...@nospam.firedrake.org> wrote:
[...]

> Sometimes you get the blame _and_ a very nice bottle of whisky.

More typically, I get the sack, but at least the joy of watching the company
collapse under its own incompetence as it blames everybody else, while I'm
hunting for my next bout of unrecovery.

On that sombre note, who's hiring? Anywhere in the EEA is good. I'm not fussy
on location so long as it doesn't expect me to relocate to shitty little towns
such as Maidenhell or Basingrad, or equivalent hellholes in Forrin.

[Niklas Karlsson]

On 2014-11-24, Niklas Karlsson <ank...@yahoo.se> wrote:
> Well. We received a request for an inter-site two-way eflap peba wbo
> with --qryrgr enabled. The remark included with the request included:
>
> "Most of the time, people don't edit the same files at the same time, so
> collisions shouldn't be a big problem."

I am officially *floored*.

They actually listened to reason.

Niklas
--
I hereby wish to register the band name "rm -rf /".
-- Jim

[Martijn Lievaart]

On Tue, 25 Nov 2014 12:44:51 +0000, Niklas Karlsson wrote:

> I've mostly been watching from the sidelines and given some opinions. I
> may get roped into the recovery effort, though, for sure. I've ensured
> that the data is being backed up.

Write a memo to those responsible in mungerspeak, tell them there is a
high risk of loosing documents. This risk can be mitigated partly by
having a backup scheme, which will only cost <insert price of favorite
gadget here>.

They will probably ignore you, but the point is to translate to a
business risk. If the documents are actually not business critical, let
THEM decide that, so you can later point to where they said so.

See, I can do mungerspeak.

M4

[Brian Kantor]

Yesterday the boss came in and asked me to set up full and incremental
backups for 200 terabytes of data.

And he's willing to pay for it.

It must be the time of year.
- Brian

[Peter H. Coffin]

Which time? "End of budget cycle"?

--
66. My security keypad will actually be a fingerprint scanner. Anyone
who watches someone press a sequence of buttons or dusts the pad
for fingerprints then subsequently tries to enter by repeating that
sequence will trigger the alarm system. --Evil Overlord List

[The Horny Goat]

On 26 Nov 2014 09:45:21 -0800, br...@karoshi.ucsd.edu (Brian Kantor)
wrote:

>Yesterday the boss came in and asked me to set up full and incremental
>backups for 200 terabytes of data.
>
>And he's willing to pay for it.

Friend!11

[Lawns 'R' Us]

Buddy! Pal! Chum! Mate!

... 200 TB? Holy carp, that's one hell of a problem to deal with. I'm
willing to bet that the devil in the details is the timeframe to get
the job done...

[Julian Macassey]

On Tue, 25 Nov 2014 23:54:04 +0000 (UTC), Peter Corlett
<ab...@mooli.org.uk> wrote:
>
> More typically, I get the sack, but at least the joy of watching the company
> collapse under its own incompetence as it blames everybody else, while I'm
> hunting for my next bout of unrecovery.

The curse of the sysadmin. Company in trouble? Time to sack a
few people. That sysadmin guy, he doesn't do much, get rid of him,
he's deadwood.

That's the ticket, fire the guy with the keys to the castle.


--
"If you have done nothing wrong, comrade, you have nothing to fear."
- Lavrenti Beria, Stalin's head of the NKVD, the secret police.

[The Horny Goat]

On 27 Nov 2014 08:36:22 GMT, Lawns 'R' Us <nob...@nowhere.example.com>
wrote:

It isn't a problem if there are sufficiently mucho dineros attached.
It's an opportunity.

There is absolutely nothing filthy about filthy lucre as long as you
or another monk are the ones receiving the lucre.

I'm quite sure you're right that the devil is in the details but this
is the sitution where you're usually going crazy cleaning up someone
else's mess with said someone generally making way more than you do.

This sounds like the kind of opportunity that most of us have earned
the right kind of karma to get but usually don't.

[The Horny Goat]

On Thu, 27 Nov 2014 15:48:37 +0000 (UTC), Julian Macassey
<jul...@tele.com> wrote:

>On Tue, 25 Nov 2014 23:54:04 +0000 (UTC), Peter Corlett
><ab...@mooli.org.uk> wrote:
>>
>> More typically, I get the sack, but at least the joy of watching the company
>> collapse under its own incompetence as it blames everybody else, while I'm
>> hunting for my next bout of unrecovery.
>
> The curse of the sysadmin. Company in trouble? Time to sack a
>few people. That sysadmin guy, he doesn't do much, get rid of him,
>he's deadwood.
>
> That's the ticket, fire the guy with the keys to the castle.

That of course is the catch - when this job is done right you DON'T
come to the attention of the PHB's. I've had exactly once in my life
when I was called into the VP's office for a debriefing and given it
led to a company award 6 weeks later one presumes said VP was happy
with the answers. I knew our team had done well and the next review
proved it but the one after was much longer away than it should have
been - in fact well beyond the time the corporate manual said reviews
were supposed to be which was one of the primary reasons for my
departure from that particular gig.

The catch of course is that our team was working in the field out of
the daily eye of head office and our biggest problem was that we were
on time, on budget and with a happy customer.