News
Friday, June 6th, 2008
by James Connors
Second post for the day - I’m asking for your help.
As part of my time abroad, I am required to do a fair bit of research. I am currently working on a research project looking into a concept known as “student experience” and I need your help. All I’m asking for is that you take 5 minutes to take a very short survey.
URL: Help me with my research
The above URL will bring you to survey monkey where I have put together a 5 minute survey. Please take a few moments to fill it out and help me with my research but also help companies and institutions improve the experience that students, faculty, administrators, and parents have when dealing with the administration. It only takes five minutes or less.
Friday, April 25th, 2008
by James Connors
I have been wondering for a while now about a simple question. Why does our culture hate it when someone is going above and beyond? Why is high achievement looked down upon by our peers? Today, I experienced this very effect while at a program meeting. Allow me to explain.
There is a project that requires a certain amount of writing. Now this project was supposed to encompass our views from our entire job placement in Ireland within the 7-week internship. This report is supposed to be 14 pages long… just 14 pages for almost two days of daily entries. Anyone that has read this blog knows that I love to write so when I saw that it was 14 pages DOUBLE SPACED! Really? That is not enough. Seven pages of writing are not enough to sum up the deep pontifications from almost two months.
When asking about the requirements to understand whether it would be ok to write more, my peers scoffed, laughed, and became perturbed. Why? Why is it so bad that I want to do a little bit more than the minimum? You will say, “But, James, if the minimum was enough, why would you want to do more?” Well, to that I say this: we are abroad in a foreign country for the longest time than you have ever been away from everything that is normal to you. I have to say that there is plenty that I would like to talk about. I have been thinking critically about those aspects of my experience that are not “normal” and have noticed some very interesting differences. I want to write about it - I want to have something tangible to show for my time here.
Why does that threaten society when someone would like to do a little bit more? I do not think that it threatens to unbalance the world or shake the status quo. Are we a society that is afraid to push a little bit harder for fear of filling the voids of our lives that we currently fill with mind-numbing television? Or does it come to something much more personal? Perhaps it would not have mattered if it were one of their friends, but because it had been me, an outsider, it was acceptable to be openly perturbed. I cannot really figure it out.
Do you have any experiences like this? Any ideas as to why we as a society dislike those that push the minimum requirements? Leave a comment and we will get back to you.
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
by James Connors
I wanted to take a few minutes to blog a really great organization that I’ve found. It’s called the Gratitude Campaign and the mission is simple - say thank you. They have a very nice video that explains everything about it but let me share why I feel so strongly about this organization.
Some of you may know that I spent some time at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado as an Active Duty Air Force cadet. In that time I came to a new understanding of what it meant to love my country, to be proud of my job, and be willing to give it all up so that others may live in freedom. I’m no longer affiliated with that institution, nor do I hold any current ties to the military.
However, I do have friends there. I have friends in Colorado, Florida, Arizona, Kansas, and all of the other States. I have other friends that are in the Middle East, or on a boat on an Ocean somewhere. All of these friends are in the profession of arms, they are the professional fighting men and women that serve our country without asking for more than some shoes to wear and some food to eat. I also know that they don’t get much more than that.
In the Vietnam era, our country was fighting a highly unpopular war. The country was more or less in revolt about our involvement in that conflict and hated everything attached to it. So it was no surprise when riots welcomed home soldiers returning from the fight of their lives, shouting their slogans and hatred at the men and women who had put their lives on the line to do as their country had asked them to. This concept rocks me to my core. I understand the politics around our current military engagement and I say forget about those details. You don’t have to support the war, but I think you should support the men and women that are serving our country. That doesn’t mean you have to go out and buy cell phones for every soldier or even offer to make a dinner for the family while the soldier is away. It’s as easy as saying thank you.
I’ve found a simple thank you to be one of the most meaningful gestures that anyone has ever offered to me while I’ve been in uniform either for the Air Force or for the United States Air Force Auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol. Immediately following the tragedies of 9.11, I can remember people opening doors, buying meals, and saying thank you for my service. I felt embarrassed at the time because I didn’t think I deserved the thanks but they weren’t thinking of me, James Connors - it was the uniform, the soldiers they were thanking. Now, six an a half years after that day, we’re starting to forget about those soldiers that are still away from their families and friends. We’re forgetting about the men and women holed up in the sand. We’re overlooking those people that are fighting for their lives in a battle to keep our country free from fear and terror.
So, this is what I ask: please go to the website, www.gratitudecampaign.org and watch the video. Then, the next time you see those whom have been fighting for your rights and your freedom, give them the sign. It doesn’t take words or grand gestures. You don’t have to buy their lunch or write them letters. Just give thanks in any way you can, as simple as a sign.
For more information about The Gratitude Campaign visit their website at www.gratitudecampaign.com.
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
by James Connors
Well, I have been reading a lot online and learning more and more about how to market yourself online and bascially, I’ve decided that I needed to own my name a little more than I do (online that is). Therefore, I have registered www.jamesmconnors.com to bring together all of my projects. If you came in over the old jconnors.net URL, hopefully you were redirected without issue. I’ll be doing more testing to make sure that the transition doesn’t break anything major.
So the look is the same, the name is different, and now I’m trying to figure out where to bring this blog. I know I want to keep it as an outlet for me to spend time on and all that but I also want to make sure that I can tie together my projects. Some know that I’ll be launching a company in the near-ish future and hopefully that’ll bring my online operations into one single entity. So look for information about that in the near future.
Hope you’re all keeping well and that you’re stopping in every now and then. For more updates on my current adventures, please check out http://www.jamesindublin.com for a narrative of my semester abroad in Dublin, Ireland and my various romps around Europe.
Thursday, February 28th, 2008
by James Connors
MinuteFix, a new startup based out of San Fransisco redefines what it means to get technical support. You just have to log into the website instead of bringing your machine into a shop and surrendering your prized possession to some 18 year old just waiting to search through your pictures, videos, and financial records. I think this service could be amazing and here’s why:
You pay by the minute - it is the namesake of the company. The first 5 minutes that you’re working with a technician are free - you don’t pay a dime. If your issue is resolved in that period, then grand, you just got some free work. Heck, you can ask questions for opinions and pick the tech’s brain for 4 minutes and 56 seconds without paying - just make sure you give some good feedback at the end. This system lets you pay only for what you use instead of other shops that will cost you $80 or more just to have someone look at it.
The techs are from around the world and tested safe! Each MinuteFix tech brings unique experiences and knowledge to the team. They help each other out and learn from one another. When you log into MinuteFix, you describe your problem and get hooked into the highest rated tech available in the category of your issue. That’s unheard of! Knowing some of these people, they’re all experts in their fields and they all want to help you out.
If your problem isn’t fixed, you don’t pay a dime - How many times have you brought your computer into the shop, pay the $80 for someone to look at it only to find out that they can’t!? Ridiculous! If a MinuteFix tech can’t fix your problem, you don’t have to pay no matter how long it took to get to that point. It’s really a great service.
I wrote another article about MinuteFix on my podcast blog over at CollegeTechCentral.
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
by James Connors
James Connors
Contact Information
- Email: jconnors@bu.edu
- Phone: (207) 712-1674
- Mail: P.O. Box 15054 Boston, MA 02215
General Information
James Connors is a Junior in the School of Management at Boston University. He is currently majoring in Business Administration with a dual concentration in Finance and Management Information Systems. This semester, I have played the role of the “tech guy” and have supported the technical portions of the project. I’ve also built our website, mailing lists, and helped my teammates with their IT tasks. I think it’s interesting that I’m been a part of a Search and Rescue (SAR) team through Civil Air Patrol for the last five years, I’ve spent a month in Australia, and I was accepted into the Boston University Management Internship Program in Dublin.
Hemisphere Security(Team Website)
http://www.hemispheresecurity.com
Favorite Links
http://www.collegetechcentral.com (My Podcast)
http://www.flock.com (A really cool browser everyone should check out)
Monday, October 8th, 2007
by James Connors
It has been far too long for this blog to get updated. It’s true, weeks and months have moved past and settled without a single update, not a word. I kept promising so many things and didn’t get you anything. I’m sorry about that everyone, I feel badly. That all said, I want to show you a couple of the projects that I’ve been working on.
Number 1: SCHOOL!
Some of you know that I’m in Boston University School of Management’s Cross Functional Core Curriculum program. For those of you who don’t know what this innovative program is, let me fill you in. CORE, as it’s known, is a comprehensive class sequence that integrates four different classes together as you work in a team towards building full business plan. What constitutes an integrated program? Well, let me put it this way: I take four classes that are in different subjects but the topics, the goals, of each class is to provide you with more information about your business plan. Marketing, Operations Management, Finance, and Information Systems classes feed us bits of information that we must assimilate and coalesce into a complete and manageable business plan.
My team is working on a product known, right now, as the Portable Laptop Lock. Without going into details right now, let me say that seven other teammates and I have worked countless hours designing, developing, marketing, building, and all the other applicable verbs, for this one little product that culminates in 30% of our grade. Which is silly since we spend 80% of our time on the team project. It’s unique in that having one common thread throughout the course gives examples in real time, something solid and tangible to tie the business concepts to that we’re working on.
Our product will be able to be found on our team website at http://www.hemispheresecurity.com where we’ll be able to show off what it takes to be a real presence in e-commerce.
Number 2: College Tech Central
My other baby is my new podcast, College Tech Central. But, James, what is a podcast? A podcast is very similar to a blog, sometimes called an audio blog. I first got turned onto the idea over the summer when I was using a MacBook Pro provided by my office at ISPS. It was so easy to play in the digital lifestyle. Unfortunately, I didn’t get out any shows before I had to turn the computer back out. Macs make it so easy to build a podcast and produce and distribute the entire system. Well, I finally got it up and going. If you run over to the website you can see some of the great content that we’re putting out over there. I’m recording Information Systems lectures from Professor Shankar, with permission, as a student study resource.
Once the class winds down a bit, I’ll be able to produce a more robust podcast that brings together so many more bits. College Tech Central, Technology on Campus, is your home for technology news, tips, tricks, reviews, and secrets where we demystify computers and make it easy for students and young professionals. Tune in sometime soon for some great content.
Well, that’s all for now, everyone. Thanks so much for surfing over and taking a look. I hope that you bear with me as I try to get more work done and still maintain these blog posts at least on a weekly basis. Until next time, take care!
Saturday, September 1st, 2007
by James Connors
This week marks the beginning of school for freshmen all around the country and it also signals the graying of hairs for helpdesk operators on campuses all over. So, while sitting here on the phones helping frantic parents and ditsy students, I was pondering what it takes to do this job… and well.
First, I think Patience is probably the most important. Students or corporate users are already stressed out that their computers aren’t working properly and losing your patience with them will only result in badness. Today, already, I’ve had four different parents basically yell at me that their computers bought from “YOU” (also known as the University’s Computer store) and basically said it was my fault that it wasn’t working correct. After getting the user to actually plug the correct cord into the correct port, they felt really stupid. This brings me to the next item.
Allow the users to Save Face. Just because running a bash script to disable and enable the Network Interface Card (NIC) is like peeling a banana for you, definitely doesn’t mean it is for them. In fact, if it were that easy for them, then they wouldn’t be talking to you in the first place. By letting the client “win” they will feel better about technology and might actually learn how to fix the problem in the future. This is a good thing since they’ll be happy and might not need to call you back next time.
Without a doubt Technical Knowledge, is pivotal to running a successful help desk operation. This is the bread and butter of all Information Technology Support, the skills and tools of the trade. You use this knowledge to determine the users problems and find possible solutions to their problems. Also, when working with difficult users, your knowledge is your leverage in controlling the consulting experience.
Squishy Toys are to de-stress after those users that really drive you nuts. Kongs for large dogs, beanie babies, or any other squeezable and slightly humanoid item can help you feel better when you’re rather stressed out.
If you’ve got these tools you may very well be a good candidate for helpdesk operations. However, if you don’t really like dealing with people, can’t communicate with “mortals” or otherwise have a bad attitude towards others, stop here and do not pass GO.
Thursday, August 16th, 2007
by James Connors
Some of you may know that I recently accepted a new position as the Network and Web Administrator for Generations Incorporated. If you’ve read this blog for long, you know also that I’m currently working desktop support for Boston University. It’s about 10:30 here in Boston and I was thinking about the transition in skills and knowledge of a job such as this. Desktop support with Information Systems Planning and Support has been a really great experience where I’ve learned a great deal from the technical aspects to time management and relationship maintenance. These are all skills that I’m able to apply to this new organization I’m working with.
Unfortunately, as a student employee and the nature of the desktop support position, I have not learned much in the way of server technology. Sure, this means that Generations Inc (GI) took a bit of a gamble with me since their prior admin was basically a brain-child genius. On the other hand, having worked in an environment where you don’t always see the whole picture or deal with users that honestly don’t know what happened, I have learned the ability to troubleshoot problems. Perhaps this, the ability to systematically find problems and resolve them in an orderly fashion, has been the greatest benefit I’ve gained from my work with ISPS.
Troubleshooting skills aside, I face a large learning curve when it comes to specific technology such as Windows 2003 Server, Windows Small Business Server, Terminal Services Server, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. These particular OS’s are my bread and butter - the daily grind if you will. My primary tasks on a day to day basis are communicated via the task application of outlook and revolve around server maintenance and backup, desktop user support (similar to my position with ISPS), and longer term research and development projects.
I think I’ll mention a couple of the projects I’m working on right now. The first, a full inventory and audit of computer assets, users, policies, and infrastructure. This is a rather basic concept - figure out what we have, where it is, and who uses it, then make changes as necessary. Since we’re such a small shop, it won’t be difficult to get any one bit of information but to do the updates and remediation that I think will be necessary, I expect that I’ll need some out of hours time. The other big project I’m working on is to align mobile computing to our network where users with Blackberries will be able to sync with our servers or perhaps Windows Mobile devices will use the AirSync technology. I’m still in the research phase for this project, gathering the raw numbers and information to then present to the directors in a report.
So what spurned all of this? Well, I was bored for one. I’m in the midst of a book that teaches the Windows 2003 Server information in a crash course sort of way. I’ve been reading about installing, domain controllers, all sorts of bits about network infrastructure that I just needed a bit of a break and here I am. In any case, I will bring this to a close. I know I haven’t been writing often but I think that my more regimented schedule will do well for my publishing cycle.
Thank you to all that continue to read and support City Streets, my professional blog and website!
Wednesday, August 1st, 2007
by James Connors
When you post messages to your friend’s wall, do you consider how an outsider might perceive your message? Are there any items in your “interests” or “activities” sections of your profile that you wouldn’t want your mother, teacher, or future employer see? If so, you need to keep reading.
Computer users my age have a false sense of privacy while they prowl through the pages of Facebook and Myspace. They tend to believe that just because someone isn’t their “friend,” they can’t see what information you’ve posted. This isn’t true. There are a number of technologies out on the market and in development that facilitate the quest to gather more information about YOU.
Two new projects are leading the charge of indexing social networking as a method of profiling every user on the internet. SPOCK is a search engine in private beta testing that browses and analyzes internet profiles of a few major social communities. The fore-runner of the social indexing project is WIKIYOU. This search engine launched last month and provides a robust interface delivering search results for close match names as well as exact match. Both of these engines have the same mission but operate in a different manners.
When searching for myself, SPOCK presented to me four pages of users with real names matching “James Connors” scattered all around the world. My actual entry existed on the last page and contained a number of inaccurate items. Spock prowls profiles looking for identifying information such as your zodiac sign, age, hometown, occupation, etc. The engine then builds a tags for your entry into a profile that users can then “claim.” Similarly, WIKIYOU allows users to claim their profile for their engine as well. Their method of indexing is to pull clippings, or small snippets, of your various profiles online and reproduce them in their search results matching keyword searches.
This movement towards social indexing represents a major shift in the way the internet works. Instead of categories or keywords, tags and social networking provides the basis for search results. The most important bit about these programs is that you do go and claim your profiles because, as in my experience, there can be false information contained within your profile. Claiming these profiles also allows you to build out the interface with your activities, other links, and aliases throughout the net thus providing potential employers or other checkers the accurate and correct information.
I’m planning another blog entry regarding this idea of claiming your identity on the net in the next few days because I think it’s a really important issue to remember as an internet user of the 21st century. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you… next time.
