Great News Everyone: Our Weekly Roundup. ~ Ask The Admin

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Great News Everyone: Our Weekly Roundup.

Another Great Week Is Winding Down Here @ AskTheAdmin... I am still alive after a week in the woods. Frogs, snakes and lots of bugs aren't that bad but no Internet is A KILLER. So Tethered to my faithful Dash I've been on-line, on and off. While being out here AtA has reached several milestones and We want to thank all of our readers again for the support. We hit 200,000 hits yesterday! The emails are wonderful - keep them coming.

We are getting VERY excited about the upcoming DigitalLife show here in good old New York City. We will be attending with a few other guys from the local media... We will be checking out all the exhibits the day before the general public and letting you know the stee-lo's. It is a great chance for AtA to network and get to know some of the people in the industry. If you are out there - come find me. I will be the dude giving away AtA stuff. That should be fun and informative! (Free Stuff Anyone??) .

Speaking of Free Stuff... AtA is going to have some goodies to give away in an online contest shortly... If you live in or around NYC - Stay tuned. For some geeky goodness giveaways (Patent Pending). What is a fair way to pick the winners? Any ideas??

Here are some of our recent posts from that you might have missed:



And Here are a few more bios from our regular guest bloggers that I left out the first time around:

El Di Pablo works as a Help Desk Agent in San Diego for Newland Communities, LLC . Before Newland, he faught for the army of productivity as a Systems Support Specialist for Websense, Inc where he got his first taste of the IT field. Prior to I.T. El Di Pablo served as an Operations Specialist 2nd class on board the U.S.S. Shiloh (CG-67) for the U.S. Navy for four years. El Di Pablo holds the following industry certifications: MCP (70-270), A+, Network+, Server+, and WCSE (Websense Certified Systems Engineer). He is currently working on a double major in Computer Networking and Network Security at Coleman College in San Diego. El Di Pablo is currently married to his wife of 7 years, and they have a baby girl that keeps him busy.

Yaron Maor says: I'm 29, married +1 (10 months old sweet little boy J). I have a B.A. in Business with major in Information Systems. I am the Software development manager in a company called Sal-Med Ltd. who makes Windows embedded solutions (ThinClients, Computerized Medical-Carts for hospitals and more). I develop in .Net 2.0 (mainly VB.Net) and in Windows XP Embedded. Besides that I own a business that gives Technical support for small-business and other professional self employees (SOHO), with the help of a trained technicians staff.

In the past I've worked for a few year at Microsoft Israel as a technician and went up to manage the IT helpdesk team (received the GM award for excellence). also worked in Compaq/HP as a technical Trainer and gave technical seminars to technicians and sys-admins in Intel, NDS, Creo-Scitex, Coca-Cola and more…

Phil Whifen says: I'm a 20-something IT Professional from the UK, working in a mixed Windows/Linux environment. I specialize in Networking, Virtualization, Wi-Fi and the application of IT in Business. He also runs http://www.twistedethics.com.

I’ve been using PCs since I was 8. You know you’re geeky when you’re my age and you’ve used DOS 6.22 and Window 3.11! More recently, I’ve taken an interest in Networking and Linux; completing the Cisco CCNA Network Academy Programme, undertaking Cisco’s Fundamentals of Wireless LANs, and studying towards the CompTIA Linux+ Certification. I’m also a bit “green” and quite into Environmental issues.

Psymon says I am a 34 year old who moved to the USA from England where I owned a CG Design company. At that time the net wasn't big in the UK but was huge in the US I was sucked into the technology side of everything the net had to offer when I moved to the US. So I worked at a few companies at the start to gain more and more experience within networking/servers. My previous employment was CIO for one of the largest ISP`s in Michigan.

Nowadays I own my own business, Netstar Communications, where we create business unified messaging systems using VoIP and many other technologies..

Interests.... anything technology which actually is useful to me, Anything Linux, since its like play-doh, I can make or alter any aspect of it, maybe one day something real useful!:) I love music, I cant work without it, usually have high energy techno/trance/dance blasting.. I also love off-roading, yes, I am a Jeep freak.. Working out, I get some of my best ideas that way:)

The Slothman
: 34, married with a 4 year old daughter. Been using computers since 1981 when my father dropped over 3G's on an Apple IIe, sat me down as a little tike and said, 'son, if you want to go anywhere in this world you're going to have to learn how to use one of these'. That's when I still listened to him! ;-) Since that time I've been on a computer at some point in time just about every day!

Currently reside on Long Island, NY. Went to college to play hockey at a SUNY school. Did 3 years in the NCAA as a goaltender, and still play as it is my true passion besides my daughter. Went for either a history degree to be a teacher, or Comp Sci. Irony the harsh mistress that she is had my college dropping their Comp Sci dept for....get this...lack of interest. Only to reinstate it with a different, more IT bent the semester I graduated...that irony mistress again. Got a degree in history and I've had to relate this story in EVERY interview I've ever had since graduating because I have a degree in history.

Started out doing low level programming in a language you've never heard of, and got into the IT world by accident when I helped our Net Admin move our company to a new locale. Figured he made good money and his job always was fun. Took some NT4 MCSE courses, i.e. got ripped off and raped, and got my first gig as a Jr Net Admin for a lawfirm. Moved to a multinational media company, and was subsequently laid off in the .com bust.

Moved to a consulting firm that was run by a business moron, which subsequently liquidated itself because of bad management, but I was working for a mid sized real estate/construction firm and they hired me away from them before the liquidation.

Currently I manage the entire IT infrastructure for this firm that has 75 users give or take, depending upon the jobs we're working on. I am the be all, end all. I don't specialize because we are so technically diverse that I simply cannot. I learn everything they want me to, and then some...because I have to. Another axiom my father gave me when I got into this biz is that 'if you stop learning in IT you become a dinosaur overnight' and he is right.

I hold no certifications although I have trained for MCSE courses, CCNA and VCP. I simply don't test well for IT stuff because what they test you on is not real world applications of the products....but that is a different conversation!

And for the $64,000 question...how did I get the name 'Slothman'???

Well....here's the situation...I was playing a game of baseball with some friends. Hit a laser, line drive to right field. The right fielder was playing pretty shallow and I got out of the box slowly(no...really!). Right fielder one hopped the ball and fired to first and I got beat by a half step to which I replied in anger that "I am as slow as a ...expletive... sloth....to which my last name rhymes with....the rest is history and the moral of the story is don't come up with a good nickname for yourself in front of friends! That is a tad long winded...but then again, so am I!


I really hope I am not leaving anyone out this time!

_theForgetfulAdmin_