Improve Trouble Ticket Processing with Evidence Based Scheduling

Joel Spolsky of JoelOnSoftware.com and FogBugz fame recently wrote a brief blog entry describing the exciting new Evidence Based Scheduling feature of FogBugz; this is a revolutionary concept that I have yet to see implemented well in any other COTS software and one that I would love to see extended to trouble ticketing systems.

You cry [...]

Polycom SoundPoint IP VoIP Phone Default Admin Password

In order to change any advanced settings on your Polycom SoundPoint IP VoIP phone, you will need the admin password:
Username (this is case sensitive): Polycom
Password: 456

Asterisk with Polycom VoIP Phones: Daylight Savings Time Correction in sip.conf

I came in to the office this morning to find all of our Polycom VoIP phones had the wrong time. Although the Asterisk server had been patched for the new daylight savings time  (DST) rules, my sip.conf file had some incorrect configuration. I searched around the net and found a solution. Change your sip.conf file [...]

Linux: Killing Processes After a Set Period of Time

Here is a simple bash shell script to run a process and automatically stop it after a set period of minutes / time. I use this in cron, so I will give my crontab entry first:
#in this cron entry: cd to /usr/local, run script_start at 3:00 pm M-F
#and kill it after 300 minutes if it [...]

Summer Pictures Uploaded

I uploaded some new albums today of pictures we took over the summer:

Virginia Beach Trip - August
Charlottesville Day Trip - September
Doug & Tiff Visited - August
Mom & Dad Visited - July
Red Robin Lunch - August
Old House Bathroom Remodel - October

OtR: Find eBay Deals Through Misspelled Auction Titles & Typos

Some of the best deals I have found on eBay are auctions with typos and misspellings in the title or listing text. Oftentimes these auctions are overlooked because they do not turn up in keyword searches. The gumshoo search engine gives you the edge in winning those great deals that were overlooked because others could [...]

The Biggest Reason Why I Buy from Dell (Business)

Support. Quite simply, Dell Business* divisions have the best assisted and help yourself support of any PC and server vendor. Whether I am looking for a device driver or need a part replaced, Dell never disappoints. This morning, I came into my office to find my <5 month old computer *whirring* loudly. I have seen [...]

OtR: O’Reilly Safari Digital Reference Library

Nate mentioned that he uses O’Reilly Safari at work and, having not heard of the service, I decided to check it out. In brief, subscribers are given digital access to the entire O’Reilly collection of reference books through the web site and offered a number of other benefits, the best of which might be the 35% [...]

Opt Out of Pre Approved Credit Offers

If you are like me, you might be annoyed by all of the pre-approved credit offers you receive in the mail. In my case, the offers are generally not anything I am interested in and it really annoys me that so much paper and energy is wasted in the process. 
You may not know that you [...]

A LifeLock (TM) Alternative: Free DIY Identity Theft Protection

Identity and credit theft is, without a doubt, a huge problem and one that you should be concerned about. Arguably, simply checking your credit report periodically may not be enough to protect yourself and doing so certainly does nothing proactive to stimie theft of own’s identity before it has already happened.

LifeLock (TM) is an Arizona-based, [...]