The Mistakes I Made (And Why They Led Me to Build My Own Password Manager) Every IT professional has a graveyard of mistakes behind them. Most of us just don’t talk about them until we’re several drinks in at a conference, or until we’re writing a blog post that we hope will save someone else the same pain. ...
What IT Pros Actually Do On Their Own Machines (vs What They Tell You) There’s the advice IT hands out. The official line. The stuff in the company handbook. Then there’s what actually happens on the machines of the people who wrote that handbook. I’m not here to throw anyone under the bus. But after years in this industry, there are some pretty consistent gaps between what gets preached and what gets practised. And honestly? Closing that gap will make your computing life significantly better. ...
Your OS Has Been Hiding Things From You (Windows & Linux Edition) Windows users think Linux is complicated. Linux users think Windows is a toy. Both are wrong. Both operating systems are packed with powerful features that most people — on either side — have never touched. This isn’t a “which is better” post. That argument is boring. This is about what your machine can actually do, regardless of which camp you’re in. ...
The Call I Didn’t Want to Get Three weeks after leaving my job as the only IT person at a mid-sized company, my phone rang. It was Mike, the guy they hired to replace me. “Hey, uh, do you remember that backup script you set up? The one that runs on Sundays? It’s throwing an error and I can’t find where it’s configured.” ...
Your Computer Shouldn’t Take Forever You know that feeling when you click something and then… wait. And wait. And your coffee gets cold while Windows decides whether or not it wants to open Excel today. That’s not normal. Or rather, it shouldn’t be normal. I talk to small business owners all the time who think slow computers are just “part of life.” They’re not. And you don’t need to hire an IT person or buy a new computer to fix it. ...
The Log File Problem Nobody Talks About It’s 2 PM on a Friday. Your application is throwing errors. Your manager is hovering. And you’re staring at a 50GB log file wondering where the hell to even start. Every sysadmin has been there. You know the answer is somewhere in those logs, but finding it feels like looking for a specific grain of sand on a beach. While blindfolded. In the dark. ...
The Problem Every Sysadmin Knows Too Well It’s 3 AM. Your phone buzzes with a critical alert. Production is down, customers are angry, and your manager is asking questions you don’t have good answers to. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. According to a recent survey, 78% of sysadmin emergencies could have been prevented with better proactive monitoring. But here’s the thing: most monitoring solutions are overkill for what you really need. ...