About the technology section
With the above paradox, it became apparent that I had to find a useful output for my technological know-how. Fortunately for me, most everyone's computer was doing something they did not appreciate, if it worked at all, especially if they used Windows (although to be fair, Windows 7 is quite nice). When they had trouble with their computers, I was the guy they came to with questions. Taking that responsibility in stride, I strived to give the best advice possible. When that meant saying "I don't know" or recommending someone else, I’d make sure to learn the necessary details for the next time I encountered a similar problem..
Since it is now obvious that this post is more about me than any particular technology, I'll continue by sharing a bit about how I wandered into IT. Although the true genesis is hard to recall, there is the story of my first hardware failure. Imagine my horror as an adolescent learning the wonders of the internet (using AOL dialup for access, circa 1993) when my explorations were interrupted as an electrical storm decided to send a few million extra volts towards my phone line and modem. While my Packard Bell PC survived, its modem did not. Lucky for me, there was a half day at school the next day, and a Circuit City on the walk home, which gave me just enough time to teach myself how to install a new PCI modem and Windows device drivers before my parents discovered the family PC had nearly died of a lightning strike.
My next foray into IT was as a recent art school college graduate looking for work. Somewhat randomly I walked into a store "filled" with old computers and landed a job. "Filled" meaning computer parts were literally piled on top of each other like bales of hay. It was here that I learned the art of hardware hacking (positive connotation) and Windows tweaking from an aspiring computer genius named Eugene, hardware repair from a retired Russian nuclear submarine engineer named Leo, and software scripting from a Hungarian named Attila. I have much respect for those guys and their respective countries, they really knew their stuff and had an amazing work ethic.
Given a soldering gun, enough caffeine and some spare parts, we were nigh unstoppable. We turned junk PCs into stable workstations for people on a budget. While there I could install Win98SE on a PC with no monitor or mouse attached, by only using Shift, Tab, Arrow and Enter keys to navigate the installer. Yes, the proverbial "doing it with my eyes closed." Pressing Down at the right moment, exactly seven times selected EST Time. I watched the HDD LED to know when things were idle or busy. Dare I say, I was becoming l337.
While I certainly appreciated my hands-on experiences at the computer repair shop, it was soon time to move on and attempt to apply my creative degree to my career. Print production allowed me to be back in the creative world again, mastering desktop publishing and some light web work. The sometimes painful nuances of print production, like font management, registration issues, machine jams, color correction and last minute client alterations did not scare me away and I learned to handle a high pressure working environment in stride.
But it quickly became apparent that the technical end of things needed my attention more so than the production end. Perhaps this was because the job market was flooded with would-be graphic designers at the time (and likely still is), and real system admins were in short supply. Regardless, my role as an IT Manager materialized and I helped my company transition through many technology hurdles - the dawn of the PDF workflow, electronic job submission systems, OS 9 to OS X, and especially getting my hands dirty at the physical layer during network infrastructure upgrades. In the print world, every job is on a deadline, so my clients had little room for downtime.
Interspersed between the above was a long phase of PC hardware hackery, and white box hand built systems constructed for friends and local businesses. There was a time when you could easily build a better PC than Dell for the same or less money. Now I usually recommend buying from the name brands, since they really have shaved the margins down to nothing, making it hard for System Integrators to compete. But for the intrepid, a custom built PC can be an incredible value, as each component is tailored for the specific need of the end user. Some of my old builds are still running today!
Currently I'm working in IT for a talented creative agency. The projects are engaging and the team constantly brings exciting ideas to the table for our international clientele. I'm still applying the things I've learned along the way, and even break out the soldering iron every once in a while. But most of the time I'm keeping our datacenter up, managing Exchange, providing help desk for the creatives, maintaining multi terabyte storage arrays, and thwarting hackers. Pretty exciting stuff if you like being a console cowboy.
I can honestly say that I learn at least one new thing every day. Whether the day brings disaster, or all systems are go, technology marches on, and I follow. These are my chronicles, helpful scripts and tips, and rantings. Hopefully you will find some of them useful and entertaining reads.