True tales of IT life, fresh every weekday. Got a story of useless users, hapless bosses, clueless vendors or adventures in the IT trenches? Tell Sharky and you could collect a coveted Shark shirt.
Programmer pilot fish for a big electronics company finally remembers to make a small software fix for one of his programs -- and now there's just one thing left to do.
This pilot fish is the entire IT team for the 250 users in the IC design department of a chipmaker in Arizona -- but his biggest problem isn't his very tech-smart users.
Consultant gets the order to build an online store for a major client. But when he asks for specifications, he's told it's nothing special -- just a basic shopping cart.
This software team supports a big financial application for Microsoft and Oracle databases -- and that's a problem when the Oracle code becomes an afterthought.
Pilot fish's team is working on a massive upgrade project -- complete with outside contractors, unmanageable management expectations and (surprise!) lots of problems.
This pilot fish manages an email system for several clients, and he needs to pick good passwords from the get-go -- because these users will never bother changing them.
It's the late 1970s, and this non-techie pilot fish gets a data processing job with his state's Motor Vehicles department -- where the tech is a little out of date.
IT consultant pilot fish gets a panicked call from a client: The network and VoIP phones have all stopped working, but all anyone in the office did was go into a meeting.
Pilot fish handles anything computer-related for this family-run business, which provides business services for large public events -- one of which has a large problem.
The company this pilot fish works for is acquired by a larger one, and everyone gets a new login based on just the employee's family name -- which in fish's case is Root.
This vendor's free workshop on machine learning and big data is really a sales pitch for letting users create their own personal clouds. What could go wrong with that?
IT admin at this public library is repurposing an old PC for use by the library's patrons -- but as he puts it in place, it sounds like something inside is falling apart!
It's time to service this server room's air conditioning, and the AC vendor has sent a new team this month. So why does this pilot fish hear them screaming for help?
This seasoned accountant has years of experience at a government agency, and plenty to keep her busy -- if IT can just keep the systems up long enough for her to log in.
It's status update time in this IT shop, and one team member at a remote office is asked for a progress report on several projects -- but it's not exactly about progress.
This outfit assigns email addresses to its employees in a very common way -- first initial, last name. So why is the new guy having so much trouble with his mail?
This big national meeting has been scheduled for months, and it starts on Monday -- so who's guaranteed to turn up at the IT manager's office late Friday afternoon?
IT department sends out an email blast: From now on, all users will use a single login credential for all areas of the network. At last, an end to all those passwords!
This space agency is creating a next-generation digital library for a new satellite observation system at an even newer facility -- one that isn't quite debugged yet.
It's the 1970s, and this student's grade depends on 5,000 mainframe punch cards in a tray, and the hands of the operator who will run the program. What could go wrong?