# IT man here **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 12, 2012, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817 "2012-12-12T09:16:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/21 "2012-12-12T18:24:40Z")
> [@y7xzh1](#): > > i know so many it man > they are in a place > baidu’s xiankaba (display card forum) > they never only talk dispay card ,they talk everything 24 hours > they not sleep > so many guys ，they all college > and they teach me too much > they just like talk any title about money ,about I.T > about the company ,everything > [@](#): > > i only know c/c++ were higher > but haven’t learn that > they programmer in chinese , always learn java > and some linux ,android,sql Are these, like, haiku or poetry or something? ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/22 "2012-12-12T18:26:38Z")
Let’s see…I think know them all, been programming since 1972. I am currently an undefined Analyst. Which means use me anyway you need. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/23 "2012-12-12T18:27:48Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Are these, like, haiku or poetry or something? He’s Chinese, self taught in English I think. Hard to tell if it’s poetry or his best translation. ---
**Author:** ![y7xzh1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e9c0ed/32.png) [@y7xzh1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/y7xzh1)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/24 "2012-12-12T18:28:31Z")
i am just use the windows xp system. no win7 win8 that if you want system working good ,want your pc are haelthy. just do one thing . install the deep freeze and acronis true image. use firefox yeah ,i do that ,i am safe ,you know chinese hacker were so strong they made me fear and scared.they have the qq virus and machine dog or something like lpk virus ,vb virus(impossibly thing ) to make your pc going to be a rouji(meat chick—means your pc control by them) it is horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/25 "2012-12-12T18:29:12Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > He’s Chinese, self taught in English I think. Hard to tell if it’s poetry or his best translation. Thank you. It’s almost kind of charming. ---
**Author:** ![y7xzh1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e9c0ed/32.png) [@y7xzh1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/y7xzh1)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/26 "2012-12-12T18:30:37Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Are these, like, haiku or poetry or something? yeah ,my english is just like that terrible 404 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/27 "2012-12-12T18:34:46Z")
No worries. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/28 "2012-12-12T19:41:38Z")
Database adminstrator and application developer here. Plus MMORPG geek as well. ---
**Author:** ![Mattie\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@Mattie\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mattie_Blue)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/29 "2012-12-12T19:58:29Z")
Retired IT female here. I started 25 years ago as end-user support (middleman between the users and programmer) and then as the COBOL programmer for a large midwestern bank. After bank was sold twice to increasingly bigger national banks, I moved on and worked as business analyst for a large auto parts manufacturer. I worked out of one of their manufacturing plants so, to help out, I learned how to fix printers and reset barcode scanners as well as work with the system applications. After the plant closed, I moved on to a small regional bank doing help desk - meaning we were the jack of all trades - fixing printers, pc imaging, server maintenance, software updates, password resets and network maintenance. I had enough a few years ago and quit. I have considered going back to work - would like to do business analyst work again, but I live in a very rural community and opportunities, both on-site jobs and work-from-home situations, are in short supply. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/30 "2012-12-12T20:01:46Z")
> [@Mattie\_Blue](#): > > Retired IT female here. I started 25 years ago as end-user support (middleman between the users and programmer) and then as the COBOL programmer for a large midwestern bank. After bank was sold twice to increasingly bigger national banks, I moved on and worked as business analyst for a large auto parts manufacturer. I worked out of one of their manufacturing plants so, to help out, I learned how to fix printers and reset barcode scanners as well as work with the system applications. After the plant closed, I moved on to a small regional bank doing help desk - meaning we were the jack of all trades - fixing printers, pc imaging, server maintenance, software updates, password resets and network maintenance. I had enough a few years ago and quit. > > I have considered going back to work - would like to do business analyst work again, but I live in a very rural community and opportunities, both on-site jobs and work-from-home situations, are in short supply. Contact big city recruiters and let them know you have the COBOL skills. There’s still stuff out there and it’s hard to find people to maintain it. You might find remote work that way. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/31 "2012-12-12T20:26:16Z")
[QUOTE=TriPolar] Contact big city recruiters and let them know you have the COBOL skills. There’s still stuff out there and it’s hard to find people to maintain it. [/QUOTE] If you don’t mind going back to the big banks, or even big retail, there are still enough mainframe and AS/400 applications running that need people who understand them. We periodically round up promising young’uns and teach them FORTAN, RPG and/or COBOL in-house, and a lot of large retailers have AS/400 systems driving their inventory behind a pretty web interface. IBM unwittingly created a monster - AS/400 hardware is so darned durable and if you don’t screw around with it, the code is seemingly uncrashable, so nobody thinks to migrate away from it. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/32 "2012-12-12T20:50:58Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > If you don’t mind going back to the big banks, or even big retail, there are still enough mainframe and AS/400 applications running that need people who understand them. We periodically round up promising young’uns and teach them FORTAN, RPG and/or COBOL in-house, and a lot of large retailers have AS/400 systems driving their inventory behind a pretty web interface. > > IBM unwittingly created a monster - AS/400 hardware is so darned durable and if you don’t screw around with it, the code is seemingly uncrashable, so nobody thinks to migrate away from it. Many MANY more AS/400 out there than most people realize, I think. When I tell folks that I was a Computer Operator on an AS400, they would scoff and tell me I should get into some REAL tech (which I am doing now). But when our SAN shit the bed, and every application went down, what stayed up and stable as a rock? Go ahead and guess. 🙂 I have been in Operations for 16 years or so, mostly monitoring batch, but am starting next week as a Jr. Server Admin. No classes, no certs, just a weird background to use as a foundation. I’m terrified. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/33 "2012-12-12T21:00:52Z")
When I grow up, I want to be in IT! We have a small office in the house, primarily myself and my wife, but we do take on freelancers occasionally. OSX, Win and Linux machines, multiple NAS devices, two broadband connections, backup servers, and a few entertainment PCs. Since it’s our business, and since I build most of our computers and manage the networks, I wear a Jr. IT badge. I mean, technically, I’m our business’ IT person, right? ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/34 "2012-12-12T21:02:01Z")
Sysadmin here. Windows/Linux/VMWare, soon AIX as well… ---
**Author:** ![taskmgr.exe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@taskmgr.exe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taskmgr.exe)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/35 "2012-12-12T21:12:48Z")
I am going to apply for some university majors which may lead me to be an IT guy in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/36 "2012-12-12T21:49:28Z")
17 years as a Programmer, Analyst, Consultant, Project Leader through 2001 when I left the field (seriously burned out, stressed out, unhappy). Now back doing Database Help Desk. ---
**Author:** ![BTEzra04](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9f8e36/32.png) [@BTEzra04](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BTEzra04)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/37 "2012-12-13T02:19:17Z")
Female, student. I do a lot of web development but one of my current jobs is working at the bottom rung of a help desk. 'Tis a lot of fun and I want to learn a lot more, maybe get a few certs, even if I go right into more web development work after I graduate. Technology is so fun. Never gonna be able to get bored, 'cause there’s always more to learn 🙂 I’ve had unpleasant experiences with Java and some other OOP stuff, but hope to wrap my head around it some day. HTML and CSS are my favorites to work with. I know some SQL, JavaScript, etc. Next semester I’ll probably get into the back-end side of web development. ---
**Author:** ![goldmund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a4c791/32.png) [@goldmund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldmund)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/38 "2012-12-13T07:46:18Z")
Another IT geek here. Eighteen years as a primarily-\*nix-but-jack-of-all-trades sysadmin. Now I’m a Systems Engineer, which so far as I can tell seems to be everything I loved about sysadmin work, like troubleshooting, creative problem solving, etc… minus the mundane, day to day drudgery of things like creating accounts, managing backups, etc, etc. I keep trying to get out of IT and go into programming, but I’m just too darned good at it. 🆒 Oh well, I get to code a lot more nowadays, so I’m happy! ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/39 "2012-12-13T09:32:59Z")
I’ve been doing IT for over 25 years now. Started as a maintenance programmer on COBOL systems on mainframes. Did a stint as project leader/architect on a COBOL development project. Switched to being a DB2 DBA. Went to a software vendor doing support for DB2 tools. Jumped back to development in C, Java, and COBOL on Windows, Unix, and MVS. Went to a security software vendor and switched from tech support to software maintenance and now back to tech support. I’m a CISSP and have the highest job grade in the group so I refer to myself as ‘Alpha Geek’. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817/40 "2012-12-13T14:19:57Z")
As a member of the user community, I do my best to stay on the good side of our IT folks. I am sure that there is a super secret list of stupid questions/problems from users that is circulated around the IT environment, primarily for their amusement, and I am prominently featured. While they are not the level of the “Which is the Any key ?” question I was told that a few “problems” I had generated a many chuckles. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-man-here/643817.md?page=3)