I need a good boffin.

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BostonBeaneater
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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by BostonBeaneater »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 Jun 2023, 12:20pm
revbob wrote:
01 Jun 2023, 10:58am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 Jun 2023, 9:45am
So my school's just switched over to Workday, a big ol' set of HR apps and it's … not gone smoothly. Stories of admin assts threatening to quit because the system has so many holes in (e.g., categories that are literal blanks), poor documentation, and support is overwhelmed, so everything is grinding to a halt. This morning, The Boss tried to enter a simple amendment to an expense report, something that the old way would be bing-bang-boom. Nope. It generated three errors. She addressed the errors and that generated five new errors.

My limited experience—checking to see whether my courses have been posted so I can apply for them (note: they haven't, largely because departments either can't access the system to post them or it's not working)—has a ridiculous number of hoops to jump thru. So, I can log into Workday and see my profile and all that just fine. Nothing unusual there. However, I'm not allowed to even *see* whether courses have been posted unless I (a) log out; (b) log in with the university VPN, with MFA; (c) re-log in to Workday, with a separate MFA. Just to see the courses. Ooooh, the terrorists will win if we don't use VPN to see job availability. I can also only submit my final exam schedule via the VPN route because … security. However, I don't need to go the VPN route for actually submitting final grades. No consistency at all, while the explanation is always "security." And even if there's truth there, it's coming off as a kneejerk, don't-fucking-question-us response from IT.

When a system makes the human experience frustrating and miserable, there's something wrong with the system, not the humans. That applies to all systems, big and small, global and local.
Truth is IT delight in end user misery.
It's often stated that admin assistants really run the university, and there's a lot of truth to that, but behind them is IT. Those are the ones really in charge and there doesn't seem like there's any accountability or concern for anyone else. Learn the fucking system or get the fuck out.
I cause this pain for a living. Form the product side (not Workday, but an accounting software) we basically read clients the riot act stressing that it is on them to have end users adequately test the software. They never do.
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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

BostonBeaneater wrote:
01 Jun 2023, 3:38pm
I cause this pain for a living. Form the product side (not Workday, but an accounting software) we basically read clients the riot act stressing that it is on them to have end users adequately test the software. They never do.
My limited knowledge of the university and how these new systems get introduced, I don't doubt you one iota. Shit is just dumped on us. Well, IT will advertise training sessions that, the two I've attended for other things, are mostly useless, with any questions asked greeted as if it's the discovery of a new language. Worse, they've developed a policy of giving us videos to watch rather than actual textual documentation. How do I do X? Well, watch this video. Can I just read how to do it? Nope, watch the video. I've learned to just google the question because some other school will have created actual manuals. We're trained academics who read for a living, not tweens obsessed with Tik Tok, dammit.

edit: A recent example of non-consultation with the actual users. They redesigned the university's web pages in the last couple years. Apparently the design was dated or something like that. No contact with department heads about how their pages would look, just presented it to people when it went live. No surprise that all kinds of missing info (which led to the more paranoid academics to see it as an effort to erase them from the university; sigh). In general, the new site is really hard to navigate, with an insane amount of scrolling and scrolling boxes embedded within, so it'll switch what you're scrolling thru without you meaning it. I search for university info via google now because the internal search engine is clumsy as fuck. I was told it's going to run $5 million to fix. A couple months ago, I received a link to a bullshit user satisfaction poll about the new design. Why bullshit? Because the options were all (a) Extremely satisfied; (b) Very satisfied; (c) Satisfied; (d) Somewhat Satisfied; (e) Not satisfied. Yeah, four of the five options indicated some level of satisfaction. Just on principle I answered (e) the whole way and in the feedback comments I told them their poll was an insulting PR exercise to find evidence that people are happy with the redesign.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by revbob »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 Jun 2023, 3:47pm
BostonBeaneater wrote:
01 Jun 2023, 3:38pm
I cause this pain for a living. Form the product side (not Workday, but an accounting software) we basically read clients the riot act stressing that it is on them to have end users adequately test the software. They never do.
My limited knowledge of the university and how these new systems get introduced, I don't doubt you one iota. Shit is just dumped on us. Well, IT will advertise training sessions that, the two I've attended for other things, are mostly useless, with any questions asked greeted as if it's the discovery of a new language. Worse, they've developed a policy of giving us videos to watch rather than actual textual documentation. How do I do X? Well, watch this video. Can I just read how to do it? Nope, watch the video. I've learned to just google the question because some other school will have created actual manuals. We're trained academics who read for a living, not tweens obsessed with Tik Tok, dammit.

edit: A recent example of non-consultation with the actual users. They redesigned the university's web pages in the last couple years. Apparently the design was dated or something like that. No contact with department heads about how their pages would look, just presented it to people when it went live. No surprise that all kinds of missing info (which led to the more paranoid academics to see it as an effort to erase them from the university; sigh). In general, the new site is really hard to navigate, with an insane amount of scrolling and scrolling boxes embedded within, so it'll switch what you're scrolling thru without you meaning it. I search for university info via google now because the internal search engine is clumsy as fuck. I was told it's going to run $5 million to fix. A couple months ago, I received a link to a bullshit user satisfaction poll about the new design. Why bullshit? Because the options were all (a) Extremely satisfied; (b) Very satisfied; (c) Satisfied; (d) Somewhat Satisfied; (e) Not satisfied. Yeah, four of the five options indicated some level of satisfaction. Just on principle I answered (e) the whole way and in the feedback comments I told them their poll was an insulting PR exercise to find evidence that people are happy with the redesign.
So Im drunk and have no intent of reading your Ratian discourse. Shit is how it is and the people you interface with have no control over the situation and hate it just as much as you do. Just dont get a porn virus on your computer and claim you "dont know how it got there".

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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by Flex »

revbob wrote:
01 Jun 2023, 10:00pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 Jun 2023, 3:47pm
BostonBeaneater wrote:
01 Jun 2023, 3:38pm
I cause this pain for a living. Form the product side (not Workday, but an accounting software) we basically read clients the riot act stressing that it is on them to have end users adequately test the software. They never do.
My limited knowledge of the university and how these new systems get introduced, I don't doubt you one iota. Shit is just dumped on us. Well, IT will advertise training sessions that, the two I've attended for other things, are mostly useless, with any questions asked greeted as if it's the discovery of a new language. Worse, they've developed a policy of giving us videos to watch rather than actual textual documentation. How do I do X? Well, watch this video. Can I just read how to do it? Nope, watch the video. I've learned to just google the question because some other school will have created actual manuals. We're trained academics who read for a living, not tweens obsessed with Tik Tok, dammit.

edit: A recent example of non-consultation with the actual users. They redesigned the university's web pages in the last couple years. Apparently the design was dated or something like that. No contact with department heads about how their pages would look, just presented it to people when it went live. No surprise that all kinds of missing info (which led to the more paranoid academics to see it as an effort to erase them from the university; sigh). In general, the new site is really hard to navigate, with an insane amount of scrolling and scrolling boxes embedded within, so it'll switch what you're scrolling thru without you meaning it. I search for university info via google now because the internal search engine is clumsy as fuck. I was told it's going to run $5 million to fix. A couple months ago, I received a link to a bullshit user satisfaction poll about the new design. Why bullshit? Because the options were all (a) Extremely satisfied; (b) Very satisfied; (c) Satisfied; (d) Somewhat Satisfied; (e) Not satisfied. Yeah, four of the five options indicated some level of satisfaction. Just on principle I answered (e) the whole way and in the feedback comments I told them their poll was an insulting PR exercise to find evidence that people are happy with the redesign.
So Im drunk and have no intent of reading your Ratian discourse. Shit is how it is and the people you interface with have no control over the situation and hate it just as much as you do. Just dont get a porn virus on your computer and claim you "dont know how it got there".
Back when I worked for the IT department for my college pretty much all I did was back up documents and then reformat people's hard drives after they became unusably wrecked with viruses from porn downloads (this was when hi speed internet was still pretty new so it was a porn wild west).
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

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BostonBeaneater
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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by BostonBeaneater »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 Jun 2023, 3:47pm
BostonBeaneater wrote:
01 Jun 2023, 3:38pm
I cause this pain for a living. Form the product side (not Workday, but an accounting software) we basically read clients the riot act stressing that it is on them to have end users adequately test the software. They never do.
My limited knowledge of the university and how these new systems get introduced, I don't doubt you one iota. Shit is just dumped on us. Well, IT will advertise training sessions that, the two I've attended for other things, are mostly useless, with any questions asked greeted as if it's the discovery of a new language. Worse, they've developed a policy of giving us videos to watch rather than actual textual documentation. How do I do X? Well, watch this video. Can I just read how to do it? Nope, watch the video. I've learned to just google the question because some other school will have created actual manuals. We're trained academics who read for a living, not tweens obsessed with Tik Tok, dammit.

edit: A recent example of non-consultation with the actual users. They redesigned the university's web pages in the last couple years. Apparently the design was dated or something like that. No contact with department heads about how their pages would look, just presented it to people when it went live. No surprise that all kinds of missing info (which led to the more paranoid academics to see it as an effort to erase them from the university; sigh). In general, the new site is really hard to navigate, with an insane amount of scrolling and scrolling boxes embedded within, so it'll switch what you're scrolling thru without you meaning it. I search for university info via google now because the internal search engine is clumsy as fuck. I was told it's going to run $5 million to fix. A couple months ago, I received a link to a bullshit user satisfaction poll about the new design. Why bullshit? Because the options were all (a) Extremely satisfied; (b) Very satisfied; (c) Satisfied; (d) Somewhat Satisfied; (e) Not satisfied. Yeah, four of the five options indicated some level of satisfaction. Just on principle I answered (e) the whole way and in the feedback comments I told them their poll was an insulting PR exercise to find evidence that people are happy with the redesign.
Fucking videos. I don’t know who decided that was the way to go but they ought to be shot. Give them a document with a table of contents and skill them to the magic of ‘control F’.
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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

revbob wrote:
01 Jun 2023, 10:00pm
Shit is how it is and the people you interface with have no control over the situation and hate it just as much as you do.
Which is kind of the point that I originally made, echoed by SM: human beings aren't actually in control, "the process" is. We do what we do because that's what we do because if we don't the unthinkable would happen.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by Flex »

Here's some password security I can get behind
Attachments
FB_IMG_1686175697706.jpg
FB_IMG_1686175697706.jpg (42.98 KiB) Viewed 3582 times
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

Kory
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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by Kory »

Flex wrote:
07 Jun 2023, 6:08pm
Here's some password security I can get behind
These days I prefer the UK Garage version of 2 Step.
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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Weird development over the weekend. I have external SSD drives for backing up my laptop and desktop (both Macs). On Sunday, the backup drive for the laptop wouldn't mount. It was recognized as existing, but wouldn't mount. A scan showed a b-tree node size error and it couldn't be fixed. Strange, but shit happens. To check the port, tho, I plugged in another SSD drive that I have my music and tv shows on. It mounted just fine, but after it was ejected the same b-tree node size error appeared when I plugged it in on my desktop.

I reformatted the backup drive and made a fresh backup (no big deal there) and it's been fine since, but the media disc was more serious—3 TB of shit on that. I have everything backed up on dvd's, but that'd be a long time transferring everything back again. So I downloaded a data recovery app and it found everything just fine, and I've been transferring the contents to a bunch of smaller drives temporarily. By tomorrow morning I should have everything back and can then reformat the media drive (and then transfer shit back again).

My curiosity is what would have caused this? The same problem from the same computer within 24 hours doesn't sound like a coincidence. I ran a virus scan but it found nothing. Is there something I could have done to prevent this?
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by revbob »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
20 Jun 2023, 6:41pm
Weird development over the weekend. I have external SSD drives for backing up my laptop and desktop (both Macs). On Sunday, the backup drive for the laptop wouldn't mount. It was recognized as existing, but wouldn't mount. A scan showed a b-tree node size error and it couldn't be fixed. Strange, but shit happens. To check the port, tho, I plugged in another SSD drive that I have my music and tv shows on. It mounted just fine, but after it was ejected the same b-tree node size error appeared when I plugged it in on my desktop.

I reformatted the backup drive and made a fresh backup (no big deal there) and it's been fine since, but the media disc was more serious—3 TB of shit on that. I have everything backed up on dvd's, but that'd be a long time transferring everything back again. So I downloaded a data recovery app and it found everything just fine, and I've been transferring the contents to a bunch of smaller drives temporarily. By tomorrow morning I should have everything back and can then reformat the media drive (and then transfer shit back again).

My curiosity is what would have caused this? The same problem from the same computer within 24 hours doesn't sound like a coincidence. I ran a virus scan but it found nothing. Is there something I could have done to prevent this?
Steve Jobs wanted this to happen.

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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

revbob wrote:
20 Jun 2023, 8:07pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
20 Jun 2023, 6:41pm
Weird development over the weekend. I have external SSD drives for backing up my laptop and desktop (both Macs). On Sunday, the backup drive for the laptop wouldn't mount. It was recognized as existing, but wouldn't mount. A scan showed a b-tree node size error and it couldn't be fixed. Strange, but shit happens. To check the port, tho, I plugged in another SSD drive that I have my music and tv shows on. It mounted just fine, but after it was ejected the same b-tree node size error appeared when I plugged it in on my desktop.

I reformatted the backup drive and made a fresh backup (no big deal there) and it's been fine since, but the media disc was more serious—3 TB of shit on that. I have everything backed up on dvd's, but that'd be a long time transferring everything back again. So I downloaded a data recovery app and it found everything just fine, and I've been transferring the contents to a bunch of smaller drives temporarily. By tomorrow morning I should have everything back and can then reformat the media drive (and then transfer shit back again).

My curiosity is what would have caused this? The same problem from the same computer within 24 hours doesn't sound like a coincidence. I ran a virus scan but it found nothing. Is there something I could have done to prevent this?
Steve Jobs wanted this to happen.
After all the money I've given his company? The ingratitude!
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by Kory »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
20 Jun 2023, 6:41pm
Weird development over the weekend. I have external SSD drives for backing up my laptop and desktop (both Macs). On Sunday, the backup drive for the laptop wouldn't mount. It was recognized as existing, but wouldn't mount. A scan showed a b-tree node size error and it couldn't be fixed. Strange, but shit happens. To check the port, tho, I plugged in another SSD drive that I have my music and tv shows on. It mounted just fine, but after it was ejected the same b-tree node size error appeared when I plugged it in on my desktop.

I reformatted the backup drive and made a fresh backup (no big deal there) and it's been fine since, but the media disc was more serious—3 TB of shit on that. I have everything backed up on dvd's, but that'd be a long time transferring everything back again. So I downloaded a data recovery app and it found everything just fine, and I've been transferring the contents to a bunch of smaller drives temporarily. By tomorrow morning I should have everything back and can then reformat the media drive (and then transfer shit back again).

My curiosity is what would have caused this? The same problem from the same computer within 24 hours doesn't sound like a coincidence. I ran a virus scan but it found nothing. Is there something I could have done to prevent this?
I'm not sure about the root issue, and not to be this guy, but you should have two HDs to back up your main one, one kept outside your house. I feel way to shaky without that kind of insurance.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

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Re: I need a good boffin.

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Kory wrote:
22 Jun 2023, 1:40pm
I'm not sure about the root issue, and not to be this guy, but you should have two HDs to back up your main one, one kept outside your house. I feel way to shaky without that kind of insurance.
I've got back-ups, that's not the issue. The pain-in-the-ass aspect is that they're dvd's. So I haven't lost anything, it's just the annoyance of transferring everything again.

And, as the issue's been raised, the data recovery worked and didn't. All the files were pulled off … and were unreadable. I couldn't figure out how to make them readable, so, heavy sigh, I hauled out the back-up dvd's and began transferring shit that way, one disc at a time. Luckily I'd done a big-ass archival effort six years ago, so I just need to copy 35 or so blu-rays and then pick thru the back-ups of stuff acquired since then. It's tedious but not catastrophic.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: I need a good boffin.

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Dr. Medulla wrote:
22 Jun 2023, 1:52pm
Kory wrote:
22 Jun 2023, 1:40pm
I'm not sure about the root issue, and not to be this guy, but you should have two HDs to back up your main one, one kept outside your house. I feel way to shaky without that kind of insurance.
I've got back-ups, that's not the issue. The pain-in-the-ass aspect is that they're dvd's. So I haven't lost anything, it's just the annoyance of transferring everything again.

And, as the issue's been raised, the data recovery worked and didn't. All the files were pulled off … and were unreadable. I couldn't figure out how to make them readable, so, heavy sigh, I hauled out the back-up dvd's and began transferring shit that way, one disc at a time. Luckily I'd done a big-ass archival effort six years ago, so I just need to copy 35 or so blu-rays and then pick thru the back-ups of stuff acquired since then. It's tedious but not catastrophic.
I have one HD connected to my desktop, one in a bin on the other side of the room, and one in the trunk of my car, all in parity. I additionally have a backup in the cloud through Backblaze, which is cheap (though I've never had to make use of its restoration, but my monthly reports continue to say I'm backed up)—that might be a good solution for you since you don't have to think about it. I do wish I had a bunch of bluray's as a fifth backup though.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

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Re: I need a good boffin.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Kory wrote:
22 Jun 2023, 1:55pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
22 Jun 2023, 1:52pm
Kory wrote:
22 Jun 2023, 1:40pm
I'm not sure about the root issue, and not to be this guy, but you should have two HDs to back up your main one, one kept outside your house. I feel way to shaky without that kind of insurance.
I've got back-ups, that's not the issue. The pain-in-the-ass aspect is that they're dvd's. So I haven't lost anything, it's just the annoyance of transferring everything again.

And, as the issue's been raised, the data recovery worked and didn't. All the files were pulled off … and were unreadable. I couldn't figure out how to make them readable, so, heavy sigh, I hauled out the back-up dvd's and began transferring shit that way, one disc at a time. Luckily I'd done a big-ass archival effort six years ago, so I just need to copy 35 or so blu-rays and then pick thru the back-ups of stuff acquired since then. It's tedious but not catastrophic.
I have one HD connected to my desktop, one in a bin on the other side of the room, and one in the trunk of my car, all in parity. I additionally have a backup in the cloud through Backblaze, which is cheap (though I've never had to make use of its restoration, but my monthly reports continue to say I'm backed up)—that might be a good solution for you since you don't have to think about it. I do wish I had a bunch of bluray's as a fifth backup though.
Well, I currently have about 4 TB of movies and tv shows and 1.5 TB of music. There's more that I just have on dvd-r, and in many cases I have multiple copies on various dvd-r's. But restoring 5.5TB from a cloud seems too weighty, apart from cost.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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