I think we are all there really, even in other industries. Im just glad my end is nearing. Not here yet, but that light at the end of the tunnel is no longer a train, but the way out.

( and 2 points if you know the show this came from.. )

Sat Feb 24 2024 12:08:08 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

Worked like a dog this week.  

Ok that is weird. i did NOT quote the work as a dog part.   it had the bit about 'eggs in one basket'  but it did weird stuff when i submitted. 

CMR #543776554   "To enhance security of our network we are removing all user access to our network and disabling all accounts. All external network switches will also be turned off"   "all future tasks will be submitted via paper job listings at the data center window"

The network can't be hacked if there is no network, XD

Hey, that's how they got the original Windows NT to pass the C3 "orange book" certification.  They removed all of the network interfaces and removable storage drives.  Can't hack it if you can't get to it.

Local hacks are still an option if you can get to the machine. 

Guess i have to go in this week and clean out my desk. It was taken away from me.

I think ill stop coming in but perhaps once a month now. With no 'home', no real interest. 

During fluvid we were sent home totally, around March.  Year or later some of us came back part time, some came back full time ( sux to be them :( ). Others stayed home.

I was one that came in part time, so i got to keep my own desk. Then later it became less, but still part time, and i still got to keep my desk.

Similar at our place, they setup 'hotel spaces' for those that stayed home but came in once in a blue moon. But for me no desk = little incentive to come in.  One 4 hour manager meeting a month, sometimes, and a 5 hour monthly open house i run for the software i support, which i have a training room in another building reserved for...  ( could be moved to online, but i really do think its better in person.. )

Ironically some higher-ups and HR will keep complaining about people not coming in, but they are providing dis-incentives to do so and making it harder.

Mon Mar 11 2024 19:48:22 EDT from zelgomer

Yup, that's how it happened for me. During covid they switched to a "use the website to reserve a desk before you come in" model. Then they took away our desktops and we have to login to a cloud VM from our HR-friendly windows laptops to get to a real development environment. That was when I said to myself, "ok, I'm remote now whether I'm at home or in the office." I'll go back in when they tell me I have to.

Cleared out my stuff today. Ripped up my name tag and threw it away.  I suspect i wont have a desk again for the rest of the short time i have left. 

Was nice walking around tho, with nearly no one in the building other than essential personnel .  Well aside that we have motion sensing lights. so wherever i walked, lights would turn on.. i hate light....

Well darn. Just a passing thought, losing my office space blows my current off-site backup plan.  Normally every 2 weeks id bring home an encrypted USB m.2 i would store in my desk. update, then return it.  My office is far enough away and not in the 'normal weather path' to be safe from natural disasters like tornadoes.   Been doing this for decades and 3 jobs back..I just improved the medium i transported back and forth.

Will need to work out something else i guess.  ( and no, cant do a safety deposit box at the bank. i did that for a while. they closed that service down 15+ years ago. Plus the bank is too close anyway to be 'really' safe )

Email floating around due a project. Looks like in the future, all we get are VDI terminals. Nothing gets to run locally anymore. 

Wonder if they switch to giving us all Chromebooks then :) 

Problems I have with how we are doing VDI: ( YMMV of course )

• Speed. Its dismal. ( yes, fixable with more $. but.. )
• Networking.  Having issues getting access to some of our sub-nets. ( in my case, makes it mostly useless.. until we change ITSM platforms )
• Zero access to the PDZ, tho that is being worked on, as mentioned since Horizon is a non-product now. They are still not sure they can pull it off or not without blowing up all the guard rails.
• Rights - lose admin rights and all installs have to be done via SCCM, or you have a lot of hoops to jump thru. ( like i did, for getting crystal reports installed, licenced and running.. We have to use beyond trust, and 100000 settings to make it work ). I assume this could be fixed, but not where we are at... )
• Have to use windows client ( yes, fixable if our security team were not butt-heads. Going to try to fight that battle again next spring if i'm still around. Horizon, which is 'super duper secure' we can even use web client... )
• MFA.. seems every time we use an app, have to go thru MFA again... and again.. and again... as a new app starts. Even VPN isn't this bad. you do it once and the machine is 'ok' for the session. .. ( im sure its our fault )

On site VDI may not be as bad, we are going cloud. Was Azure, now AWS. Don't as me why..  We all know how much i hate Microsoft, but if you are using windows.. it makes sense to be using Azure...

No incoming email for nearly 6 hours now.  

Can send out, and internal mail works fine, but outside email, like from our customers... millions of them.. cant get in. 

Normally we have a huge 'emergency meeting' for stuff at this level.  crickets..   Was down 2 hours before anyone notices.. and it was MY team was the first to report it.. really???  ( was in a 4 hour meeting. we figured it out 20 mins after the meeting was over )

Soooo odd.

4 days of meetings about software licensing..  zzzzzz

I have a solution : no more commercial applications.. problem solved :)