Thursday, October 25, 2007
Technoviking > All
I post this for Ian. I can't dare take credit for something that was so clearly found by him.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Sandstorm
There were sandstorms up here yesterday, and I think thats cool. Here are some photos from a rainy day, and the sandstormy day.
Looking towards Big Bear.
The pass called "the narrows" to get from the I-15 to our place.
View of the Mojave River.
Overall, it was a really interesting experience. The winds were whipping clouds of dust up seemingly out of nowhere, the gusts would cause you to swerve a bit as you were driving, and it looked like dust was dancing across the streets. Petty cool stuff. Sadly, it is quite dangerous too.
Looking towards Big Bear.
The pass called "the narrows" to get from the I-15 to our place.
View of the Mojave River.
Overall, it was a really interesting experience. The winds were whipping clouds of dust up seemingly out of nowhere, the gusts would cause you to swerve a bit as you were driving, and it looked like dust was dancing across the streets. Petty cool stuff. Sadly, it is quite dangerous too.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Network issues
I realized something about the network her at work today. We have 1 full time tech guy, and the network hasn't gone down once. At my previous job, we had 5 full time tech guys, and the network went down regularly. I can't help but think that PC networks (with PC workstations) require more people to be less stable with more downtime.
One of the common arguments I hear about PCs is that they are cheaper than Macs. Lets assume a PC is $200 cheaper than a Mac. Now, some will argue that a $999 PC isn't really equal to a 1199 iMac, but that's not something we'll deal with. Lets just say $200.
We'll assume each network has 25 computers, and 25 users making $15/hour and that the tech team makes $20/hour per full time employee. For the PC network we will assume 4 hours of downtime per month which, from my experience, is pretty accurate.
5 Full time tech support = - $208,000 per year
PCs at $200 less than Mac = + $5,000 one time cost
25 user downtime for 2 hours = - $18,000.00 per year
One year of operation, assuming no replacement parts on the computers would cost:
($208,000) + ($18,000) - 5000 = $221,000
Now, for the Mac.
1 Full time tech support = $41,600
Cost saving = $0.00
25 user downtime for 0 hours = $0.00
So, the cost of 1 year of operation is $41,600.
So it looks like a PC network costs you $ 179,400 when you add in the cost of employees and downtime impacting the rest of the staff. But hey...at least you saved $200 on all those nice new machines.
One of the common arguments I hear about PCs is that they are cheaper than Macs. Lets assume a PC is $200 cheaper than a Mac. Now, some will argue that a $999 PC isn't really equal to a 1199 iMac, but that's not something we'll deal with. Lets just say $200.
We'll assume each network has 25 computers, and 25 users making $15/hour and that the tech team makes $20/hour per full time employee. For the PC network we will assume 4 hours of downtime per month which, from my experience, is pretty accurate.
5 Full time tech support = - $208,000 per year
PCs at $200 less than Mac = + $5,000 one time cost
25 user downtime for 2 hours = - $18,000.00 per year
One year of operation, assuming no replacement parts on the computers would cost:
($208,000) + ($18,000) - 5000 = $221,000
Now, for the Mac.
1 Full time tech support = $41,600
Cost saving = $0.00
25 user downtime for 0 hours = $0.00
So, the cost of 1 year of operation is $41,600.
So it looks like a PC network costs you $ 179,400 when you add in the cost of employees and downtime impacting the rest of the staff. But hey...at least you saved $200 on all those nice new machines.
Outside Opinion
So I saw this logo on the way into work this morning, and was really caught off guard. While some logos are so abstract there is no way to associated them with the company they represent, others are designed to be an icon of the trade. So the meat company that yields this logo wanted a design that was in the shape of a cows skull I presume. Instead, it looks like they sell jock straps more than anything. I guess it shows the value inherent in asking other people's opinion of the work you create.
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