@NDC said in Fitness and Weightloss:

@gjacobse said in Fitness and Weightloss:

I know that if I addressed the 'rock in the room' I would do a lot to address my issue.... Some days I drink two cups of coffee and then two - three 20oz bottles of Mountain Dew.

Not enough water or other - no really a water fan...

I like iced tea a lot as a sub for other flavored beverages. I drink mine unsweetened so as to get the most benefit. Also still going to have some caffeine in if you do black or green teas. Could soften the blow of coming off the stuff you usually drink.

I started brewing Kombucha to fill this role for me. Bubbles, flavor, but low sugar, low alcohol, low cal.

@BRRABill said in iPad Management Platforms:

@s.hackleman said in iPad Management Platforms:

I have about 65 in service. I use Apple Configurator and Apple Server Profile Manager to control mine. Works like a charm, and $19.99 for server is a pretty good deal if you already have an Apple computer laying around.

Yeah, having no Apple around kind of prices that solution out for me.

Though maybe it is time to request a MacBoook!

You don't want a Macbook for this. The server has to be for the iPads to check in with. Get a Mac Mini.

I took some farmers market acorn squash, cleaned out the seeds and stuffed it with uncured bacon, grass fed butter, and maple syrup. roasted them for about an hour, then topped them off with a local goat cheese and a touch of hot sauce. That is my lunch all week, and I can't complain.

@BRRABill said in iPad Management Platforms:

@s.hackleman said

What features are you looking for that Profile Manager can not do?

I haven't looked at Profile Manager.

I do not have access to an Apple products, and considering the small implementation I am currently looking at, just can't justify the cost.

Though, down the road, definitely a possibility.

Feature wise? I really wish there was some sort of "remote desktop" like product. So I could log in and take a look at stuff.

But that seems to be a limitation/security feature on Apple's end, not a failing of any of these products.

Basically, I am looking to send an iPad to a site, and have it be turned on, have them connect it to wifi, and only have it run a survey.

I've gotten the setup taken care of. It's awesome I don't need to set up a bunch of AppleIDs on these things. I signed up for VPP and it's been working great.

I can also lock the device to 1-app, but I haven't figured out how to lock that app down yet. I know you can use guided access, but I'm not sure the two things work together.

I am way at the beginning of this, so I'll post more as I find it out.

If you have any thoughts or want to share what you are doing, I'd be happy to hear it.

Yup, I have 65 devices exactly like this, sent out all over the country. I know exactly what you are going through. Your best bet is to just figure it out. You really need to be familiar with it before you send them to remote offices. You are going down the right road, just keep going. If you get stuck, or have any specific questions tag me or shoot me a message.

As far as what I am doing we developed an internal ad-hoc application for our users to preform tasks, and sign off. They then upload the results back to a database. We had to fight the political battle between people wanting to use the iPads for more than just our app, and locking them down enough that they would still work in a shared device environment. We have a Mac Pro that I setup the devices using Apple Configurator. That gets me wifi, and I add a policy that joins them to Profile Manager. Once there it is like Active Directory. I can assign users, groups, devices. I can lock security settings, add applications, control app updates, etc. Once they go out to the world, they communicate back to my server here. This computer also hosts a website that acts like a internal app store to host the installers for our in house apps. Nothing we work on is available in the Apple app store.

New Years Resolutions?

I gave up on meditation, but have been working more on slow thinking and focus, kept to working out and eating better and even slowed my alcohol consumption down. This year I'm keeping the same goals and working on taking them more seriously. Not just hitting the gym 2-3 days a week, but 3-5 days a week with a focused regimen. I dropped about 2% body fat, and I want to change another 2-3% more to muscle while maintaining weight. I want to read more books, I have gotten better, but I still went 2-3 months without turning a page in 2017. I want my old will power back that I had in college. I used to be disciplined enough to work 2 jobs and go to college full time, and it wasn't a big deal. I want that back and focus some extra time on side projects, fitness, and learning. Not my usual beer, social media, and TV. So on we go with 2018.

Who kept their old ones from last year? What new ones do you have for this year?

Just an FYI at this point. You can select all notes in a Evernote Notebook, right click from the desktop client and it will dump all of the notes to an XML file. Looks like most note taking apps can read and import them. Makes switching easy.

@dafyre said in Fitness and Weightloss:

@Dashrender said in Fitness and Weightloss:

Most important thing - finding something that motivates you and you enjoy doing.

In my mind, this is absolutely goal number 1. The weight loss and improved health are just positive side effects.

Yes, yes, yes. I was going to the Gym alone and lifting with headphones in. I was the youngest person in the gym and only a few people were actually trying. It was a group of local pastors and retired guys standing around with Fox News blaring. Not to knock on anyone, it just wasn't my crowd, and I was miserable and didn't even realize it. I was just going in half assing a work out and going home. Joining a place with people around to encourage and motivate was a complete game changer. It is weird how much I look forward to waking up and hitting the gym. Even when I have to travel, I will still go in and get a workout in before I have to get on a plane. Now I just need to find the same support and motivation to stick to a Nutrition program and lay off the high proof beer.

The idea came up in a thread with @scottalanmiller on another, unmentionable site today. How old is too old to start in IT and be able to compete? Most everyone I know started working with computers, as a child, and moved down the path of working on them for family by the age of 10 or 12. Scott has said on more than one occasion that you really need to know the basics of computer programing by the age of 12 to be competitive. I know he was working in the field by 13.

That being said, does IT have an age limit? I have a buddy who is a OK home computer user. Can scrap together a home system and install an OS. He is currently 27. He is former Military and wants to get a long term career going, but is a little lost as far as direction. He sees me doing well in the IT world and wants the same. I try to push him in the right direction, but this content just comes more naturally for me, as I have been doing this my entire life. Is there a point where you get to old to get serious in IT? Is it different for Development vs System Admins vs Help Desk? Does it take to long to catch up vs getting into another career path? Does age have anything to do with it, and is it more about being a life long learner?

I looked into these about a year ago before I got my new bike. At that time there were so many gotcha's. The small ones had bad battery life, the bigger ones were obvious, the cheap ones had horrible signal quality. In the end, it was best for me to invest in a quality lock with theft insurance. That way it is locked, and if it is taken, then I just get a new bike. Sorry I can't offer a better solution.

@scottalanmiller said in How old is too old to start down this path:

IT is different. IT doesn't require different thought processes. IT is common sense, it's integrated with life, it's just another part of business. So I think getting into IT when older is fine.

That is what got me thinking, is programing fundamentally different than It? I think it is, and I agree with you, I'm just throwing the question out the universe for the purpose of discussion.

@thwr said in How old is too old to start down this path:

Programming is different. You need a high level of abstract thinking and - at least that's my opinion - you must be creative. @scottalanmiller said something very true, programming is like paining or playing an instrument. There is some, hell, how to say... There's a hidden picture deep behind tens or hundreds of thousands of lines, something you can actually feel at times. Sounds stupid, I know

IT in terms of administration, deployment and similar tasks is also a big thing, where analyitical and problem solving skills are required, but it's not like (real) programming. Remember: Programming != ("Coding" || Webdesign || Printers)

Scott Hanselman had a podcast a few weeks ago about code smells. I think that is the feel you are referring too.

I love my ChromeBook, it is my home PC for 90% of my non development tasks. I love it, but it would choke on any flavor of Linux i would want to use. They are really designed for one purpose, and I would suggest against trying to use it for anything else. That being said, good luck.

@thanksajdotcom That is good, but you you find that Smokey, you may want to avoid anything that says Islay on it.

@dpaquette said in IT Myths That Seem to Persist:

That it was working fine yesterday and nothing was changed.

I always respond with "Yes, things typically work great until they don't"

I am in a Active Directory environment setting up an internal website on IIS. I will be using the Active Directory logged in user from browser to determine who the person is and show different information based on this user. I am butting heads with another internal group around here about security, and I would like some best practice information to help settle this disagreement.

I would like to have a single domain account for the web application, and for ownership of the database. Users would have to be logged in to their computer via AD, then when they open the site our internal logic would determine the information they have access too, and the website would have its own internal list of roles and security. Then calls for information would use a single account between IIS and the database.

The other department says this is a security risk, and is requiring passthrough security. This means that every user would be added to a AD group with rights to the website and databases. This ensures that every database access can be tracked back to an individual account. I see this as overkill, and adding an unnecessary layer of complexity. Addition of roles wither it be website security, or active directory security would be done by an administrator, using their personal account.

Does anyone have any citable sources, or just wants to convince me that one way or another is right?

I came across a virus the other day, and I am just brainstorming how it could have been prevented or mitigated. The virus infected a computer, and started looking for AD user names by looking at folder names in C:\Users. It would then attempt to spread to other local computer and repeat. It kept spreading and brute forcing login attempts with these user names and slowly locking out all user accounts. Critical systems were not affected, and this variation was not caught by anti-virus software when it first hit. The question becomes, what if critical systems were hit. What can you change from a design standpoint that would help prevent this kind of attack. My first thought is maybe having a separate domain for critical systems that has a one way trust to the primary domain. My other thought is critical systems shouldn't rely on active directory, but that seems counter intuitive. I just wanted to open up a chat about what best practices exist for mitigating internal brute force attacks.

I just got a new ASUS Chromebook flip about a week ago. I love it, and it is my at home, no heavy lifting, consumption device of choice. I wouldn't want to do much development on it, but for a home PC it is about perfect.

For home browsing I use a Chromebook as my protection.

I used to use Watchguard and was happy with the results, but somewhat pricey.

I used to use Trustwave for external PCI pen testing. They were a solid meh. It let me fill in the box that we had been externally scanned for vulnerabilities from a third party on our self assessment. That being said if they found anything that needed attention they would never give any advice or talk with me, just hand me a report with a yellow or red dot on it, and tell me I can request another scan after updating my config. I'm assuming to cover their asses, but it was frustrating that they were so close lipped for the amount of money we were giving them.