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Journal tomhudson's Journal: My machines luv me, and other stuff 24

Journal by tomhudson

I heard that the main server at my previous job has been on a sympathy strike this week, with no end in sight.

Supposedly there was a power failure that screwed it up. It must have been some power failure - it had a UPS that's good for over an hour. Call me skeptical. I don't believe it - I thinks some amateur (the guy they wanted me to train, who I refused, telling them to hire a pro and I'd show him what was what) - I figure he must have broken something.

First clue - they wanted the passwords, which I had already written down for them. "They don't work" - or so they say. Well, since when do you need a password to get root on a local system that is set to boot from CD-ROM first if something goes wrong? Amateurs.

So what does this mean?

  1. No email in or out (it proxies everything)
  2. No web site (it hosts their web site as well)
  3. No inventory (I wrote the inventory code so that it also updated the web site, and its on the same box)
  4. No updating ANYTHING
  5. No access to their financial services portal, so no client financing
  6. No sales
  7. The money spent on banner ads on other sites, on ads distributed by the post office is all money down the drain
  8. The money spent on TV ads - down the drain
  9. The sales guys must be going through pr0n withdrawal.
  10. I'm 10 pounds lighter - laughed until my ass fell off

Now of course I used to maintain a backup on a second machine - it would have been no big deal for me to swap boxes, etc. But the key phrase is "used to" - past tense.

So my little box, the one that has served me so faithfully over the years with only 1 real hiccup (I don't count the video card frying - it kept working for weeks after, until I got around to replacing it), is rebelling now that some infidel, some philistine, some windows weenie, has tried to molest it with unclean hands and heart black as night.

Whodathunkit? It wuvs me :-) *sniff*

Of course, they can always get someone else to reformat all the boxes, install windows on them instead of linux, etc., but :

  1. They'll still have no web site
  2. The inventory, financial, and other programs are history. I have my own personal code archives, but THEY BE MINE, ALL MINE, YE HEAR ME MATES, ARRRH! YE CAN HAVE 'EM WHEN YE PRIES 'EM FROM ME COLD DEAD HANDS! (I know, its not "talk like a pirate" day, but it just feels right). As for the code being mine, I sent them an email last week telling them they were no longer entitled to use any of my code, as it was obtained under false pretenses. That email passed through the box that died. Do you think that maybe it read it, grokked what was going on, and complied? Its more likely they screwed things up, but I prefer the idea that it somehow "knows" what's going on. Makes for a better story.
  3. So, again, they'd still no inventory, and no inventory control program, etc.

So, what are their alternatives?

  1. Start over from scratch. That's gonna cost, in both $$$ and time
  2. Hire someone to try and fix it - may not be possible any more from what I hear
  3. Close their doors
  4. Make nice to me

Considering my liberal use of swear words and personal invective when I walked out, that last one is gonna hurt them (both emotionally and financially), but it would be the quickest and cheapest route, even if I gouge like all hell, and they're losing sales while they're down.

.

Guess now is not a good time for someone should tell them that as of some time next week I'll be offering a better solution, but hosted on my servers. (Mr. Salt, meet Mr. Wound ... Wound, say hello to Salt. Aye, there's the rub!)

=======================

In other news, on the topic of the Schriders' spammer (see previous entry) - they sent the log files from their server, I matched the contents of the form GET with the offenders' IP address, did an nslookup, and we now have time, date, isp, ip address. Mission accomplished. No big deal. WTF couldn't they do this themselves?

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My machines luv me, and other stuff More

My machines luv me, and other stuff

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  • ...as long as you have Pirate Spirit.
  • Survival of the fittest extends even unto server maintenance! They deserve every single measure of discomfort you can deliver to them - personally, were I you, I'd keep a rescue folder *out of their reach* for just such future emergencies... Congrats again!
  • Made my day. Revel in the competance that is YOU. It was too perfect.

    Wait. This isn't some sort of "disgruntled IT pr0n" is it?

    Either way you must keep us updated on what happens.
    • I had absolutely nothing to do with it. They fucked it up. Not my problem any more.

      I had decided that I would act profesionally, in that I would give them the passwords, and that I would also give them the opportunity to hire someone else to replace me, and show my replacement exactly what was what.

      Of course, when they named someone who has zero qualifications, the conversation deteriorated like this:

      Me: Forget it! Anyone but him!
      JF: Why not?
      Me: I'm NOT going to train him. He doesn't know anything. You'l

      • By the way, the RCMP knows about your little scheme with Equifax*

        LOL!!! Damn, it doesn't get any better than that. What makes it perfect is that they brought this all on themselves through what appears to be gross incompetence and greed.

        I'll be chuckling about this for a long time.
      • There are 3 people you don't piss off in business:...

        Best.. Moral...Ever.

        Seriously, I'm saving that on my computer.
        • Glad you like it. Feel free to pass it around (I was inspired - okay, I was ROYALLY PISSED OFF - when I first came up with it a couple of weeks ago).
      • Dude - may I use this as a plot-arc? I'm writing a sit-com, central hero is a slightly-toned-down b.o.f.h., and he would so very do this...
        scrog 'em 'til they bleed, then use the blood for lube!
  • Best thing I've read all day. Feel free to mention how long it took to get their website back up.
    • Thanks.

      Feel free to mention how long it took to get their website back up.

      It's been down for at least 4 days (along with their email, inventory, etc), and, unless they suddenly decide to cross my palms with lots of silver, I'm not going to worry about it. Ain't my job any more.

      BTW, I don't think its likely after THIS conversation [slashdot.org].

      I figure they'll be down for another little bit while they scramble around, then bang something together. But that won't solve their inventory control problems, etc. And of cou

  • 10 K pay rise, 2 weeks extra holidays , stock options..
    You have them by the Balls , make them suffer

    • I've decided I quite like not being there any more. Life is better this way :-)

      Still, I do accept money for services rendered.

      • I would say 20K to fix there server would be rather generous ;)
        • Well, I'd rather sell a newer, improved version of the stuff I wrote to another company. More money, less hassle.

          I'm looking in to that next week - there's a couple of suppliers that need it, and I could probably get enough coin to pay for a hobby farm for the dogs and me to go into semi-retirement if we did a deal.

          • Even better ..
            • A few years ago there was one company that wanted to license my stuff, and they liked the initial presentation, and found the $100k asking price + $10/transaction to be reasonable for that industry.

              Of course, JF insisted on handling the rest of the negociations himself, and proceeded to screw up - badly - then dropped the ball completely. I put up with it then, because we were friends. But that has changed, as he's changed over the years.

              The person he's become is NOT the kind of person I would want to hav

              • To continue in the star wars vein .
                For Ego and for Greedo . nothing worse than a con artist who doesn't do it for showmanship (Magic tricks)

                100k+ sounds rather nice indeed though. if that is just for a license .. find 9 more and you're set for life .. Talking about a con artist .. If you do sell it . consider donating to the Cabuen Association for Sick Hermits .. Make the cheque out to CASH (the acronym of the charity ) And send it to me :D
                • The 100k was for the licensing and initial setup, and the $10/pop (along with a $2k/m base) was the ongoing fee.

                  So what happened was, he blew the negotiations. They came back with an offer to purchase one small portion of the code for $25k. I thought about it, and I didn't see anything wrong with that - after all, it was only a small chunk, and it wasn't like it would be exclusive, and it wasn't a core feature, but something I had added to target them specifically.

                  My thoughts were - "Okay, sell them the c


                  • Other guy : Ok we need you to redo the fascia on these buildings over here

                    Atila the Hun : Ok how about I burn your village to cinders

                    Other guy : That is not exactly what I was meaning

                    Hun : OK then how about I burn your village and kill everyone

                    other guy : Uh No thanks , I think we will take the remodeling contract elsewhere

                    Hun : Hm OK , how about I burn your village , Kill everyone and molest the corpses

                    Other guy : You see that is just getting further away from what I had in mind

                    Hun : OK OK , How about I bu
  • I'm glad I'm not there, the watchful silent laughter is less fun that the open-mouth roar now.

    What kind of disgusting, vile, ignant, and asshat person refers to someone as "just an employee"? The inexorable shaft from the bosses/customers is coming down the pipes to them now:-)

    • What kind of disgusting, vile, ignant, and asshat person refers to someone as "just an employee"?
      There was a lot worse in the email - but my quoting the "just an employee" remark reminded him that I had said some things are unforgiveable, and the other remark, well, I won't reproduce it here because even I have limits (and it'll probably be the basis of any legal action I take).

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