I have a job(only) in telecom field, specifically in fiber optic communications. My first preference and passion was IT & computers. Unfortunately there was a slowdown at the time of my graduation and the IT firm which first recruited me kept on postponing my joining. So I gave up and somehow landed in my present job.
My first encounter with a PC(not mine BTW) was around 1994, I guess win 3.11. Then there was a long lull and finally got my first Pc around 2001. It went kaput (so it seemed at that time) after 3 to 4 years, a golden period of AoE, AoM and a few others. Again another long lull. Around 2011, my interest picked up again in gaming when I bought the GT520 (everything leads to 'this' source in all my posts ) for a dead P3 (which I recapped) that I got from my relative. Then I got my own first pc(in Sig) to come to life with an ugly hack and presently in storage.
It would be safe if we leave out the specifics especially the young and the gullible.

Thanks for sharing Gandhig. Down here in Australia, in recent times our government has given funding for a new fibre optic network which is capable of 100mbs per second. From speaking to people who are already on the "NBN" network as it's called, they say their internet is blazing fast now since switching over. Fibre optic's haven't yet reached my area but I'm really excited for when they do!

Currently graduating High School on the 6th of June (a year late, but o well). Fixing friend's and family computers, doing yard work and helping with the family business. Most of my life has been spent with dial up internet and a family Dell Dimension E310. It was not until i got into this hobby/business that i really started to build social skills and confidence. The knowledge and great people on this forum have been a genuine pleasure. (btw, 54m/b internet now, it is AMAZING)

"Well don't look into it, but I'm a respected internal medicine doctor"
...
"As for me, I design mansions and then live in them"

You don't want to know me better, because I've become a very bitter person.

Let's just say I would never recommend an EE degree to anyone who intends to maintain a decent standard of living.

Electronics is still a great hobby though.

I've had a long and winding career in the 'puter biz. I started out tinkering on Apple IIs back in middle and high school. Then I got my first XT around 1991. That really got me into writing code. After high school I worked in retail at various places in the electronics depts selling *ugh* Packard Bell computers. Bleh! Heh! Finally I landed a job at a VAR building and repairing PCs, as well at onsite installation and network setup. During my stint there I started to pick up web coding and sql DB skills. My next job was for a multimedia company doing larger web projects and some interactive CD-ROM projects in Macromedia Director. I also performed system administration and in house tech support for the rest of the staff. It was a great place up until they tried to go all dot-com and land venture capital for a crazy website that never went anywhere. So I left and got a job for a Linux software company as their SysAdmin/Webmaster and Web Developer. I've been there ever since, over 14 years now. Gotta say, I still love going to work each day. I still learn new things all the time.

Didn't we do this already?

So what do you guys do... you know, in real life?

I work in frontline support/helpdesk for a massive corporation. I have been doing this for close to 20 years (but not at the same location). Pretty much everyone hates the IT guy. I occasionally have fantasies of ramping my motorcycle off an over pass at about 120 with no helmet.

If I could give my 12 year old self advice, it would be this: don't make your hobby your job, and drop about $1000 each on Dell and Apple stock in 1994 and 1997, respectively, and just let it ride. Cash out Dell in 1999 or 2000 before the Dotcom recession and dump into Apple (possibly buying a modest duplex to live in and rent out).

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PeterLI wrote:

Forensic skills help me find things fast other people do not. Google blocks me for it regularly: complex searches burn too much CPU / RAM and yield no advertising revenue. 😀

Ah, another member of the elite Google "please fill out this captcha, we've detected traffic coming from your computer that makes us think you're a bot" club. Hail, fellow, well met. 😁

PeterLI wrote:

I look for mistakes people make and get them in trouble for it. Not very nice but someone has to do it. 😀 Forensic skills help me find things fast other people do not. Google blocks me for it regularly: complex searches burn too much CPU / RAM and yield no advertising revenue. 😀

600th post! Wow! 😀

Sounds like a private investigator! Very interesting 😀 you made me laugh when you said "I look for mistakes people make and then get them in trouble for it" haha

Is this a government job Pete?

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PeterLI wrote:

Yep! Bot captcha's and then temporary bans.

Aah. I usually cool off for an hour or so and work on something else after a captcha, usually helps. 😉

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Anonymous Coward wrote:

You don't want to know me better, because I've become a very bitter person.
Let's just say I would never recommend an EE degree to anyone who intends to maintain a decent standard of living.
Electronics is still a great hobby though.

You said what I was thinking. Especially the part about bitterness. Might I also add in a generous helping of cynicism?
I made the mistake of getting into IT. My little retro-computing hobby also helps me to blow off steam.
Back in 1999 when I started hearing all the radio ads for "earning an MSCE in as little as two weeks" I started to say to myself, "It's time to get out and go do something else. "
I really should have listened to myself then...
Last year, I was finally (mercifully) laid off. I went back to school and earned an AAS in Criminal Justice. I can't ever see myself working as a cop. I'm just too old and have too much respect for myself and others. Perhaps I'll end up as a dispatcher like borgie83.

snorg wrote:

I work in frontline support/helpdesk for a massive corporation. I have been doing this for close to 20 years (but not at the same location). Pretty much everyone hates the IT guy. I occasionally have fantasies of ramping my motorcycle off an over pass at about 120 with no helmet.
If I could give my 12 year old self advice, it would be this: don't make your hobby your job.

Just get out now. If you're having thoughts like that, you need to move on.
The job is not worth your sanity, health, and mental well-being. After almost a full year of being unemployed, I still don't regret being laid off. I actually have nightmares about being back at my IT job. Hopefully, I'll never have to go back to anything like that. If I do, I'm going to do my best to make sure it's temporary.

I honestly don't care if I ever earn even half as much as I did when I was in IT. It's just not worth it. I'm running out of life to live and I don't want to spend the rest of it being unhappy.

BTW - I also ride both bicycles and motorcycles. Once I get re-employed, I intend to spend more time with my motorbikes as well.

Regarding the google antics, I suddenly experienced this myself just now....

Never seen it before - this is a new 'functionality' ?, hope the ban doesn't last long ?

I was 'just' searching manually and clicking on MANY links within short time of each other (buffered pages only), and then suddenly BAM, captcha.... 😵 😢 😠 😒

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I haven't generated searches in a long time that Google had issues with (and I haven't actually used Google in a long time); out of curiosity though, how do non-Google search engines handle your queries? Like DuckDuckGo or Majestic12?

KT7AGuy wrote:

Just get out now. If you're having thoughts like that, you need to move on.
The job is not worth your sanity, health, and mental well-being.

Agreed with this; it is just a job after all (and it isn't like IT is curing cancer or helping sick children - it's *just* fixing computers at the end of the day).

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