Practicum 2: Day 8

Today was very hectic and was even stressful to a point. We had even more technicians trying to set up the scanner on the top floor. Because of the layout of the display, the program that Systems Auditing uses to manage print jobs cannot fit the screen, and thus can not lock the system down. All of the photocopying machines that have this software have a special computer attached, with a very small keyboard and touchscreen display to operate it. The computers run off Windows XP, and technically it functions like any other computer, but the System's Auditing software locks it down, making the machine run like a kind of embedded terminal. Since this wasn't possible on this computer, the IT Manager and the Systems Auditing technician tried to achieve a compromise so that it operated in some way without posing a huge security risk.

Practicum 2: Day 7

Today was sort of a..disappointment. One of the tasks that I haven't mentioned that we did recently was setup a new computer, monitor, and a scanner in the photocopying room on the top floor. Today two techs from separate companies arrived to install the scanner, as that was their responsibility. The companies were Copitrak, a systems auditing company that deals with the firms photocopiers It seems. The other was Canon, who actually gave Harper Gray the scanner. It was such a mess however. Two Canon techs ended up arriving and neither could do the job the company wanted them to. I'm going to keep details out, but it was mostly us watching things go wrong. Although today I did get a solo responsibility when I responded to a support request! Someone was reporting issues with his wireless mouse, so I brought him a corded mouse to use, but it turned out all I had to do was replace the batteries. Still, I'm glad I brought the mouse in case I would have needed to install it.

Practicum 2: Day 6

Today was quite the busy day. On top of responding to usual support requests, I had a few tasks of my own I got to do. First off, many of the employees that work in the firm (especially lawyers and IT's) have blackberries for business use that the firm provides. Today, one user reported that the trackpad on his blackberry had become insensitive and unresponsive. Luckily, the member of tech support that I work with has a box of dead blackberries on his desk. So we took a broken phone of the same model, and went about removing the trackpad of the broken phone and inserting it into the old. It was really cool. A user also required that I copy 2 PDF files onto fifty 2 gig thumb sticks, and I got it completely in 15 minutes.

Practicum 2: Day 5

Today we finally got around to re-imaging a lawyer's computer that was having issues using java earlier this week. Tech support had attempted everything they could to resolve the issue, and decided that it was a machine-based problem, and it had to be re-imaged. Re-imaging seems to be common practice on the computers there. Everyone's profile is saved on the network, so besides special programs that only select users can have access to (like Casemap or Divorce Mate) nothing is saved locally. It was quite a simple process too! When the computer boots, we press F12 and it boots a program called Pixieboot. This program is able to load an image of Windows 7 just off the network! After it installed, then came the process of installing programs, testing to ensure Java still functioned, restarting, and then repeating that for 10-15 times. Still, I like how the image is based off a network and automatically acquires a licence. It's really cool.

Practicum 2: Day 4

Today was a fairly relaxed day, but I got involved in some interesting activity related to the company's document management system, or as they call it, the DM. It's a really interesting bit of technology, and while I'm still not exactly sure how it's achieved, I understand the basis of how it functions. You see, with over 150 employees, all trying to access documents, things get complicated as far as organization goes. To streamline things and to better prevent disaster, the DM is used. How it functions is that all files are kept in one place on the network. When someone tries to access that file, they are actually "checking out" the file, like they're renting a movie from a video rental store. When they're done with it, it's checked back in. There's also a record kept for each file, so they know when it's checked in and out, and who accessed it. That way, if disaster strikes, they know when in their backups they should retrieve the file.

Practicum 2: Day 3

Today saw us on the floor a lot again. Besides responding to support calls, today we primarily were performing updates to two programs called CaseMap and DivorceMate, and replacing toner cartridges in a few computers. Replacing toner is pretty simple. In our office we have a large shelf of boxes, each with a large packing label on it. This label contains the specific type of printer system it's meant for, a large blank square, and other various information. New (well, they're actually recycled) toner cartridges come in a large bag, and when the toner is replaced we take the empty cartridge out of the printer we put it into the bag, back into the box, and then cross off the blank square on the label. Then it goes back onto the shelf. Once every few weeks, someone from the company that supplies the recycles toner comes and exchanges new boxes for crossed off boxes.

Practicum 2: Day 2

We were on our feet quite a bit today. When you're doing work on three separate floors, you tend to walk around quite a bit. And today we were primarily installing new displays into lawyer's offices.  I found it very odd what kind of displays they had on hand. They had about 20 or so new LG LCD monitors in the box, and for some people's setups it was as simple as unboxing a monitor and hooking it up (while trying to make space for it).

However, some users didn't have an LG display yet, and instead were using older Samsung models that we needed to switch out and give to other people. The most interesting thing that happened today though, was that somebody had a large, square LCD monitor, and we had to give them a new LG to go with it. To have it match with the display they had already, we ended up rotating the LCD monitor to run in PORTRAIT mode. It was the oddest thing I had ever seen, I wasn't even aware you could do that with monitors!

Here's a photo I took!

Practicum 2: Day 1

Today was my first day at my second practicum for my Information Technology Technician program. This month I am working for Harper Grey LLP in Vancouver. It's a lawfirm located in downtown Vancouver and runs out of three of the highest floors in the Scotiabank tower in Vancouver.

4 employees manage all of the technology in the firm and make up the Technical support. During my practicum I will be primarily "Shadowing" one employee, while occasionally helping out the others.

Today was a routine first day. A tour of the building and it's server rooms. A demonstration on the way the backups work (they use a tape system and every day a company called Iron Mountain arrives to collect the backup and processes it for a week). a bit about the programs they use. We also responded to a support request involving Outlook contacts. Overall a pleasant first day.

Today's Blog Post

I love to work in a group! I'm familiar with all five of the members involved with IT at my second practicum, and it feels great when I'm treated like a member of the crew! It's usually my responsibility tag along with one specific member, but it's cool when I get to work with other members.

That said, when I get my own solo responsibilities, I'm very eager to show what I can do on my own!

Practicum Day 4

Today was another VERY relaxed day. As stated yesterday at the end of the day we stopped by a distributor, Ingram Micro, to pick up a new XEROX Printer/Scanner for Accurate. Today we went to Port Coquitlam to Accurate's locksmith location. We unpacked the printer, installed the toner cartridge and paper, and replaced the old printer with our new one.

Then we had to set the printer up so that it could send what it scans via email. By putting an email address and allocating it to number 0 on sort of a speed dial-like list, pages that are scanned will be sent as a PDF to a woman's computer in New West Minster over TCP/IP.

After we were done, we went back to Lin Haw, and we bought a Serial card that use PCIe. The card was then installed into a new computer at Accurate in New West. The card was needed for the computer to support two modems that they require for business.

Class Blog Post Week 2

"What are your Strengths and what is your greatest weakness."

I've realized through working on my practicum what a few of my strengths are. I do well at listening to directions, I'm good at OS installation and machine setup. And I'm still very good at working on the internet and doing anything creative, as yesterday I created part of a Wordpress website.

If I had to confess one of my weaknesses it would be that I'm very analytical. I press for as much details as possible and when I decide on a solution it needs to be a complete solution. If a company wants me to only do a patch job because they want it to cost less, I will refuse, because it will only leave it open for more problems in the future.

Practicum Day 3

Today was a VERY busy day. My host and I went to a company called "Phoenix Restorations" (I know, i thought it was clever too). Today many of their offices were being switched around, and we were there to help change telephone connections in the server room, and install computers. Much of the computer setup was similar to what I had already done, and I set up about four machines today, but the telephones were different. You see every office has a phone, and has to provide internet to at least one computer, every room had a kind of...outlet, with one port for Data (D-1), one for Spare (S-1) and one for Telephone (T-1) and they're all connected to big switches in the server room.

In one situation, in a room that had two desks, each with a computer, the keystone for primary Data in the outlet had chipped and sunken back into the wall. My host taught me how to take off the wall cover, remove the keystone, and crimp on another one, which was pretty cool!

We were there for about 5-6 hours, did a whole lot of work, and a Glass skylight exploded in the center of the building. That was fun.

We also went to Encore art group, a printing company that he goes to every week (which, being a former visual arts student, I cannot wait to return to. He showed me around the complex, the server closet, and introduced me to employees. After that we stopped by Ingram Micro, a much larger distributor than Lin Haw, and we picked up a XEROX printer, which we will be installing at an Accurate Security location tomorrow.

Practicum Day 2

Today was quite relaxed. Since my host is an independent contractor (and a Christian) he also manages anything technology related at his church. We arrived this morning to set up for a memorial service that the church was holding today for a woman who died at 87 years old recently. The family had supplied music (for when people were seating AND during the service) and a thirteen minute long video montage of photos.

We set up the computer located on the balcony, as well as the projector and the sound system. We imported the media the family gave us, created two separate playlists for the music, and set up the video play on the projector (which was set up as a secondary display). We then discovered we had arrived hours early. Before we left, we took a look at the pastor's computer which was having internet compatibility problems. We found that someone had overwritten the settings for his computer's DNS Server and changed it to 4.2.2.2. We fixed it and then left.

We then drove out to a distributor called "Lin Haw". It was a really cool place, and since my host is technically his own company he get's a corporate discount. We fixed up some speaker wire for one of his future jobs and then we returned to the church. It was fairly simple once the service had begun, My host put me in control of the computer and activated the music and video when the time came. All in all it was very successful, and the food after the service was pretty good.

After that we went to the house of one of the church's members. The grandmother who lived in the basement had recently got a smart TV and they had installed Telus Optik TV Lite but her cable was not working. Luckily, as someone who owns Telus Optik TV, i knew how to reset the box. We were done very quickly.

And that's my second day. Sorry this entry is late and as long as the last one. I promise it didn't take more than 20 minutes to type up though.

Practicum Goals

"What are your goals for this Practicum? What do you hope to Learn? What do you hope to Improve?"

For my practicum with my first host, I'm not entirely sure what I hope to learn yet, since In one day I don't think I've acquired a complete grasp on what it is he does. I know what he does with his most frequent client, but the fact remains that he does have other clients. I think I'd like to learn more about Printers, Virtualization, and Remote Desktops but that's only from my first impression of this practicum.

As far as what I intend to improve, besides EVERYTHING, I'd like to improve my knowledge of how machines and components work together. I've learned a lot about individual parts and machines, but seeing the server room yesterday, I realized that "I have no idea how all of this works with each other".

Practicum Day 1

Today was the first day of my practicum. My host, being an independent contractor, took me to one of the businesses that his most frequent client, Accurate Security, owns: Mark Anthony Academy of Cosmetology. The school's front reception desk computer had lost it's operating system due to a power surge, and before today Darren had re installed windows 7 onto the machine. I was tasked with setting the computer in place and installing the usual connections, and then installing a bunch of programs that the receptionist will use (Microsoft office, Google Chrome, Adobe Reader, CutePDF, and AVG protection). The key that we installed office with actually ended up being incorrect as the suite would not activate, so we learned how to change the product key of office through Programs and Features.

 Then came our most daunting task of the day: installing the printers. The computer had to communicate with two printers in the building: A Xerox printer, which I never actually got to touch, and a small Epson tm-t88iv (which is a thermal receipt printer). The xerox was easy, I merely had to install the drivers that Darren brought, but the Epson was more difficult. First we had to find the driver software online, then when we tried to install the printer via a parallel port, the computer wouldn't let us, so we had to go through the BIOS and enable the computer's parallel port. That worked for printing locally, but unfortunately we weren't done yet. 

You see, the Academy, and a few of the neighboring buildings that re owned by the company, have to communicate with the servers located at Accurate's head location in New West Minister. The computer we were working on runs on the server via Remote Desktop, and jobs from the server had to reach this printer as well. After a lot of tinkering a playing with ports, we got in running. Then after we were done Darren took me to Accurate's head location in New West where we did a virus sweep of the system for a Trojan virus that was being held at Bay by their SonicWalls. MalwareBytes had not solved the problem by the time we left though.

(Totally) My Sliderocket Post

BOOM!

GOT THIS ON THE BLOG BEFORE EVERBOY ELSE HUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUE

Updating Computer Template

THE INTERNET IS DOWN! (HD REMASTERED)

Here's a video I made for class! Enjoy!

March 15th, 2013

March 14th, 2013

Today we learned more about the INTERNET. We watched a really cool video on how the internet, and we even did a cool exercise where we stood in the formation of common internet topologies, held cardboard tubes in the formation of common internet protocols, and transferred marbles through the tubes like packets.

March 13th 2013

Today we learned about digital citizenship and safety online. Entailing netiquette, trusted websites and preventing identity theft. For example, phishing is when people try to trick you into giving them your account information via email, and "Spoofing" is when the same is done via a fake website. After having troubles with my email and Skype accounts, I'm definitely going to be careful.

Choosing a Chat Program

How to choose a Chat Program by Zach, Brian, and Kim
http://puu.sh/2gx3N

Pros and cons of select social media websites by Zach, Brian, and Kim
http://i.imgur.com/rBY01KE.png

10 Effective Questions for a Tech

10 from Zachary Taylor

February 29th, 2013

Today we spent most of the day fighting with a computer we've named "Free Willy", as the computer is a beast that cannot be tamed. Greg taught Colton and I a bit about how optical drives are hooked up as well. We went through so many troubleshooting processes but try as we might we can't get Windows XP or Vista on that computer...

February 27th, 2013

Today we learned how to install windows, and the parameters of all the different windows operation systems we need to know about (Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7). In IC3 we also learned about the common features of Windows Office Programs, like the quick access bar, the backstage view, and many others.

Colton and I also fixed up an optiplex computer and tried to install windows XP on it, but we kept getting a fatal crash on each installation attempt. Seeing as we were using a hard drive given to us by the city, we had to use my Ultimate Boot CD (on USB) and then a Program called "HDShredder" and made 3 passes to erase the hard drive. Hopefully that will work

February 18th, 2013

Today we received our IC3 textbooks! We learned about the differences between operating systems (especially Linux, which I have slight history with, so anything new I can learn about controlling that beast I'm very interested in picking up on) We also learned about  many features of of Windows 7, and what sets it apart from Windows XP and Windows Vista.

I learned my own little lesson today as well. We each chose our own tower from the group of machines that we took out of classrooms last Thursday (I named mine Chrono). I learned that when transporting a tower I need to remove anything connected to it, and carry them separately, after I had a lapse of judgement and dropped a monitor, and got hurt a little. Just hope other people learned from my mistake.

February 14th, 2013

We didn't learn very much today. It was a short school day, and half of it was spent helping the School District's IT personnel install new computers and removing the old ones. It was fairly simple, just a matter of hooking everything up correctly. I've done it before, but I'm sure I'll do plenty more of it if I become an IT Technician.

Speaking of being a technician, we did learn about troubleshooting processes and how to be a good technician. We also dabbled in Databases but I'm sure there's more to learn about that.

February 13th, 2013 Part 2

We also disassembled a Computer today! It was really exciting, we were tasked with taking photos of some of the parts we took out. I know I was supposed to create an Album in Windows Live Photo Gallery, but for the sake of putting the images up on this blog, I have created an Album on imgur which can be found here.

ITT Day 17 Computer Disassembly - Imgur

February 13th, 2013 Part 1

Today we learned about Audio, Photo, and Video editing which is always interesting to me. I have a bit of experience in each of those categories of the past so it's always fun to use skills you already sort of know in class. In Sony Acid Express 7 I made a short 50 second audio clip. Here it is for your listening pleasure (or displeasure...)

Projectors Presentation

February 5th, 2013

Not sure I have to write today, but today I learned WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System). I learned about the 8 symbols for hazardous effects, how to read a Material Safety Data Sheet, and various other safe practices for the workplace.

February 6th, 2013

Today I met with Raymon Szabada, the man who lobbied for the creation of the program I am in. It was quite an honor to meet him, he is a very intelligent man. We learned about Serial expansion buses, including PCI, AGP, and PCIe (Express). We also learned more about Graphics Processors, APU's and we started working with Microsoft Excel today as well.

February 4th, 2013

Today in Class we learned about about Displays. We went over different kinds of monitors such as CRT's, LED's, and LCD's. We also did research on the three main kinds of Projectors.

I myself learned something else today as well: that I do not know as much about the course content as I thought I did, and not nearly as much as I should know. I need to study what we learn in the notes far more every day. However because my notes are very...raw, and I don't own flashcards, I came across a Web service called StudyBlue, in which you can create decks of Flashcards and even download an app that you can use to study them on your mobile device.

I know that sounds almost like a shameless plug, but I have a feeling this is what's going to help me pass the IC3 and A+ certification exams, and I'd recommend other students sign up for it as well.

Goldilocks & The Three Bears

Goldilocks & The Three Bears from Zachary Taylor

February 1st, 2013

Today we learned about the clock speeds of computers, the BIOS and CMOS, and the components of a CPU. We also did a few exercises about the many workplace applications an IT Technician's skill set can be used in. There were even a few I was not expecting, including law enforcement and medicine.

January 31st, 2013

Today I learned about IRQs, DMA Channels and I/O Addresses. An IRQ (interrupt request line) is a hardware line which devices can send interrupt signals to the microprocessor, DMA (direct memory access) channels are used for transferring data from main memory to a device without passing it through the CPU, and an I/O channel is a 3 digit hexadecimal number used to identify and signal a peripheral device. There's a lot of values and codes related to these things. We also learned a bit about cooling systems, which I definitely want to learn more about. My last laptop came with a very poor fan, and I believe the many problems it had were due to overheating.

January 30th, 2013

We learned about a lot of things today, and it was mostly themed around electronic communication and collaboration. I learned the official rules of Netiquette, so that will be useful in a professional environment. I also learned how to add comments and track changes in Word, and we had a lecture about power supplies.

The subject of Uninterpretable Power Supply's (UPS's) reminds me of a really entertaining animation. I think I might share that with the class if I get the chance.

January 29th, 2013

Today I learned about motherboards and the various components related to them. I’ve always found it interesting how as technology increases, it also happens to decrease in size. In 1980 AT’s apparently had a form factor of 12 x 13 inches. And more recently something like the Pico ITX had a 3.8 by 3.8 inch form factor.

January 28th, 2013

Today I learned about online content! I created my Google+ account and created a blog about my journey as an Information Technology Technician. I also finally got a LinkedIn account, and I did a presentation on teleconferencing and in my research for it I came across a bit of history on the subject. It was actually invented in the 1960s with the advent of the picturephone but at the time there was no demand for the expensive technology.

January 25th, 2013

Today we learned A LOT about hard drives. I learned the difference between Platter and Solid state drives, as well as many terms such as S.M.A.R.T. and RAID. I also learned from the Internet Scavenger hunt that Greg expects us to learn how to adapt to change, so I better get used to that.

After class Joe, Mark, and I went to Mark’s house for a study session so we went over a bunch of the terms with each other, and we exchanged notes, so we should be able to handle this information.

January 24th, 2013

Today we learned about Tables in Word, Presentation Skills, and a bit about Powerpoint. I’m really glad we learned how to do everything with tables because as far as I’m aware Table’s are used A LOT in word. The Delayed email didn’t work from yesterday though, so that was a disappointment.

I got Page Numbers figured out at the beginning of class, but It was through a REALLY roundabout way. There has to be an easier way of working with Headers, Footers, and Page Numbers.