Peter Drake, he/him, LFHCfS 🔥 @peterdrake@qoto.org

Dear fellow #IT people. I know we all hate it when users give us vague error reports like "it's not working!".
But how often do you go out of your way to thank them when they get it right and send you an error message with a screenshot and reproduction steps?

If you don't do this already, I highly recommend starting ASAP. Even for the most technical users, it's helpful to perform this simple action as *positive reinforcement* for doing things right. Training users to be better at their jobs makes all of *our* jobs easier as a result.

But, as an added bonus, people seem to like being thanked! So, it also makes them like you more as a side effect ("oh, (s)he's not one of those grouchy IT people!").

Tag! You’re it

New blog entry: Go away, Muse, you're drunk (again): http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2023/06/go-away-muse-youre-drunk-again.html

About ten years ago, the IT building for a local highschool burned to the ground.

My company donated a spare Juniper EX3200 switch to help get them back online. They had erected a small structure without any insulation, and left the switch inside unpowered for a day while the fiber splicers got them hooked back up.

They started the switch, and it immediately shutdown. They looked a gift horse in the mouth and bitched to us that our donation was garbage.

I was dispatched to assist. I connected to the serial console and powered the device up. It immediately indicated that the CPU temperature was 252 C, and shut itself down.

It was January, the outside temperature was -3 C. The Juniper device was storing temperature as an 8-bit unsigned integer value. It got so cold, it thought it was on fire.

Can't say I ever expected to use a heat gun to get a switch to start before that day. Got it warm enough to power on, and then it kept itself plenty warm to continue operating.

Data types matter, yo.

You can spell "banana" by drawing a banana.

#memes #signs #dalek #doctorwho

In 1843, an election in Salisbury, Connecticut was won by just one vote. The result proved controversial, because one of the voters was an intersex person. This is the story of Levi Suynam.

A blanket content warning applies to this thread about anti-intersex discrimination, body policing, and gender policing.

i wonder if there is an artist out there whose whole deal was painting photorealistic vaguely askew scenes of humans with too many fingers and now their life is super annoying

A 'natural death' may be preferable for many than enduring CPR

Despite its reputation as a lifesaver, for the elderly and medically frail, CPR may cause more harm than good. It's why many doctors opt not to receive it themselves. #press

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/05/29/1177914622/a-natural-death-may-be-preferable-for-many-than-enduring-cpr?utm_medium=JSONFeed&utm_campaign=news&utm_source=press.coop

Decoration Day, now known as Memorial Day, has roots in a tradition established by Black-Americans in the aftermath of the Civil War. On May 1, 1865, the formerly enslaved, with profound gratitude for Union soldiers who fought and died for their emancipation, began commemorating that sacrifice by decorating Union graves. This remembrance and gratitude eventually gained support from communities across America.

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@blackmastodon@a.gup.pe
@BlackMastodon@chirp.social
#BlackMastodon #Histodons #History #MemorialDay

This safe rest village looks lovely. It is a shame #pdx can't spend our resources producing as many of these as possible instead of dumping millions of dollars into large tent camps that concentrate folks experiencing #homelessness without adequate shelter.
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2023/05/5th-safe-rest-village-opens-in-portland.html