TR Out Loud - January 16, 2009

Sonja Thompson: It's been another busy week here at TechRepublic, and I am more than ready to dive in and see what the TR community has been talking about.

 

I'm Sonja Thompson, a senior editor for TechRepublic, and this is TROLOV -- or TR Out Loud on Video -- for January 16th, 2009.

 

Which threads made the top five discussions of the week? Well, since I haven't pulled out the Flip video yet this year, I thought I'd pop in on Toni and see what she has to say about her contribution to this week's top five.

 

I'm back in the office of Toni Bowers, TechRepublic's Head Blogs Editor, and it looks like one of your recent posts made the top five discussions of the week. And it's called "Anatomy of a layoff." For the folks who missed this post, can you give us a little anatomy lesson, Toni?

 

Toni Bowers: Well, the arm bone is connected... no... basically, what I said was that it's extremely hard for a person to be laid off, but it's also very difficult for the person who has to deliver the news   especially if they weren't involved in the decision to start with.

 

Sonja Thompson: Right. Have you ever been in that middle-management position?

 

Toni Bowers: Unfortunately, yes.

 

Sonja Thompson: Yep... tough. So, not only is it difficult being laid off, but it's not easy being the manager who has to deliver the news. But there's another element -- and you and I have both experienced it, almost a dozen times in the past 9 years -- and that's being the survivor of a layoff.

 

Toni Bowers: Yep, that's bad too.

 

Sonja Thompson: That's bad too?

 

Toni Bowers: Survivor's guilt.

 

Sonja Thompson: So, that might be another post you can write about out in the future here. 

 

Toni Bowers: Sounds good.

 

Sonja Thompson: Unless I've just jinxed us.

 

Toni Bowers: Oh, no! Knock on wood!

 

Sonja Thompson: Thanks again for talking with us, Toni.

 

Toni Bowers: Thanks.

 

Sonja Thompson: #2. "Born to be in IT?" In this User Support post, blogger William Jones asked the TR community: "Is there a trait that makes you uniquely suited for working with technology?" The last time I checked, there were over 100 comments.

 

#3. "REAL ID in a nutshell." This post, written by Chad Perrin (aka apotheon) in the IT Security blog, talks about the controversy behind the REAL ID Act. Chad also included a poll at the bottom of the post, asking the TR community what THEY think of the REAL ID act. The majority of respondents thus far selected the option, "Tell 'em to go to Hell!" 

 

#4. "Video: Understand five things that suck about working in IT." TechRepublic's Editor in Chief, Jason Hiner, initially wrote about this issue in the Tech Sanity Check blog, and it was so popular that he decided to provide it in another form factor -- VIDEO. Jason also prompted the TR community to join in the discussion thread by asking, "What do you think is the biggest challenge of working in IT?" I encourage everyone to take a look at the responses, and then add your own.

 

#5. "American Idol - Who watches?" TR's moderator, Tammy Cavadias, started this off-topic post, and obviously the TR community has a few opinions about this particular show. In fact, I think it's safe to say that Tammy and AV (formerly AmericanVoter) like it more than anyone else who responded to the thread. Don't tell anyone, but I like it too.

 

We're back to just the weekly stats, but the numbers are still pretty impressive. Here are the member who received the most thumbs up over the past week:

 

#5: t_mcnally_2001

Two people tied for 4th place: NormH3 and jdclyde

#3: ThumbsUp2

#2: Jacky Howe

And #1: OH Smeg

 

And here's a look at the 5 most active members in the past seven days:

 

#5: boxfiddler

#4: Oz_Media

#3: jck

#2: OH Smeg

And #1: jdclyde

 

Tammy Cavadias, TR's moderator, is getting a little more creative with her weekly rant. I'll let you all see for yourselves.

 

Tammy Cavadias: Hi, everyone. Hi, Sonja. Well, we're back again this week for another weekly spam report. I'm not real sure what this message says, but I'm pretty sure it says, "Pass the Grey Poupon." And for all you World of Warcraft lovers, can you spot the gold in this message? And did you know that TechRepublic is more than a technology Web site? It's also your one-stop-shop for degrees, clothes, credit cards, Doritos, Super Bowl tickets, ring tones, fitness, coupons, eye surgery, handbags, and romance. Well, that will do it for this week. I'm off to have my lunch -- what else but Spam and Grey Poupon. See you next week.

 

Sonja Thompson: I'm very sad to say that I didn't receive any photos, voice messages, or questions this past week -- well, I did receive a couple more ANSWERS to the Question of the Week, which I'll get to in a sec, but FIRST -- sorry I had to resort to this, Jerry... here's a snippet of BFilmFan in a Jib Jab ElfYouself video.

 

The Question of the Week, submitted by Hal 9000 was: "What's your least favorite IT job, task, or responsibility?" Here are some of the answers we received from the TR community, and to channel Beth Blakely here, I would like to refer to these members as my sweet biscuits because they took the time to send in e-mail.

 

Hal 9000: "Going out and cleaning up the mess that some untrained people make." 

 

Dhutton: "I don't have a least favorite, I have a favorite: my boss (codenamed: captain caveman) calls me on the intercom for simple things -- like 'how do I copy and paste?'"

 

GSG: "To be honest, meetings are mostly my least favorite. Out of 32 hours worked so far this week, I was in meetings for 15 hours." 

 

Jdclyde: "I get new spreadsheets sent to me to clear out old data and update for the next year... they always forget about this needing to be done until the time of the month they have to do their monthly reports and need them 'right away.'" 

 

Jimmy-jam: "Paperwork/Documentation. I love doing the work but HATE documenting after the fact." 

 

Jamesski: "Helping someone who says, 'It changed all by itself! When I logged on this morning, none of my settings were what they should be!'"

 

The Skrutinizer: "To find and close all logins and accounts for coworkers that were terminated who had administrative privileges while they're still in the HR office being told the bad news about their loss of employment." OUCH!

 

Martin: "Cleaning out a dusty computer, especially when it is two years worth of dust (I can still smell it, ewwwww)" 

 

Jellimonsta: "The 'root of all necessary evils'... documentation. Need I say more?!?!" 

 

NickNielsen: "Canned installation/configuration procedures that must be followed exactly, but result in task failure (or equipment damage!) and never get updated because engineering/development says 'They work in the lab!'" 

 

The Scummy One: "Anyone who deals with a problem for months and months without saying anything -- and more especially, those that suddenly need it fixed ASAP when I have a very busy workload and it is known." 

 

Thanks again to everyone who replied.

 

The TR Pet of the Week was sent in by TR member Melissa. This is a photo of her mean old kitty Joxer. Sooooo, where's the canary?

 

Many thanks to BFilmFan, Hal 9000, Dhutton, GSG, jdclyde, jimmy-jam, jamesski, The Scrutinizer, Martin, jellimonsta, NickNielsen, The Scummy One, and Melissa for participating in the show. If I've mentioned your name, please let me know your mailing address and swag item of choice.

 

And that's just how easy it is. Send me stuff -- we need a new Question of the Week, plus photos, small videos, and voice messages would be nice. Our e-mail address is trol@cnet.com. And our toll free number is (866) 414-CNET, that's (866) 414-2638. You can also leave a message on our Skype voice mail option, and our Skype ID is tr.out.loud.

 

I'm Sonja Thompson, and this is TR Out Loud.