I am Looking for a Job — Anyone Hiring?

Paul

Job searching isn’t easy

Let’s face it, the job market is saturated with people who are looking for a job and maybe even looking for the same job you are trying to find.  So I thought I’d try a different approach and tell people I am looking for a job.  Yes that is right, I am not going to just apply for any job on sites such as Indeed, Dice, and Monster.   I am going to go about it a little bit different, although I am applying like everyone else.  I thought it would help me if I did it this way also.  So here it is what type of job am I looking to do.  The easy answer is to get back into the Technical Support Specialist role or an Help Desk Support Role because I love to help customers with their problems.  I also have experience with that due to my home business.   The probably with this is that it just seems like everyone is overlooking me for better candidates and I am not sure how to stand out.    So how do you stand out and make them want to interview you?  That’s the real challenge and it just seems to be something I haven’t quite gotten right.

Education has been great

I’ve went back to college this year to get my Certifications in A+ and TestOut PC pro certification,  which is just saying I understand how a computer works and how to solve basic computer problems.  It isn’t really that hard because you have to have problem solving skills.  It seems that I have that also.  I love to problem solve and try new ways to fix a problem.  It seems I grew this skill with my blog.

Some of the course I’ve done this year to get me back into the Technology Field are:

  • Linux and Virtualization Classes
  • Enterprise Computer Classes (Using Active Directory)
  • Introduction into Cyber Security (InfoSec and how to defend against it in a corporate environment)
  • Networking 101 (Worked with Cisco Routers and Shell scripting)
  • IT Support and Helpdesk Software Support (Ticketing system like Spiceworks)

Will I be willing to Relocate?

The quick answer is not unless it is close to Indiana. I say that because I have kids who still want to be able to visit me and I want to be able to travel back and see them.  So I am looking for a job that around the Indiana area like Kentucky, Illinois, and maybe Missouri states but I might be will to move farther if the price is right.  If I can find a remote job that will work for me also but until then I am going to keep looking for a job and applying for jobs.  If you know of a job that I might like please feel to use the contact form down below and let me know.  I sure do appreciate it for those who might want to help out.

It’s not a Bug but a feature : The Print Nightmare and Microsoft

Paul

It's Not a Bug but a Feature Comic

The Benefits of a central print server

It can be challenging to have a CPS(Central Print Server Infrastructure) due to a lot of demanding things.  This is the nature of allowing users to print to one location can bring on so many problems with how the IT people deal with it can seem almost impossible to some and down right chaos to others. After all, we have to deal with printing issues from time to time and even the unexpected problems that might arise.  For instance just in September, Microsoft released an update to the Print spooler and point to print features to cut off access to a zero day vulnerability called “Print Nightmare”.  Microsoft has stated in the past this was always a feature and not a bug, but I am sure that people may think this shouldn’t of been a feature to begin with.  Even then, you still have issues with having to fix the issues that Microsoft broke in the updates that are supposed to fix those other issues.   The Cost alone of productive might be hindered by the fact that workers can’t print what they need to print or have access to scan the papers they might need to scan to email or to use in production.

IT support

It will cause challenges to the IT support because it might not be as easily seen as you might expect with the current climate of people working from home or remote support.   After all, you don’t have any way to physically touch the printer or to examine the printer in details to know if it is a software or hardware issue.   This can be an issue on itself because some printing issues are both hardware and software in the same light.   One might look like a software issue but later find out it is a hardware issue because the manufacturer has determine the EOL(End of Life support) for that hardware.   In the end the printing to a centralized printer can have some good and bad benefits to all.

Acceptance of Printing

Even the accepting that you can not print can even be a challenge for the office staff.  There will be days you can’t print and there will be days you can print.   The office team will have to have ways to get around those challenges day by day.   They may eve have to come up with backup plans in case they may need to print something that day and we have issues just like this.  Although those are probably few and far between due to the how we are more dependent on email now a day.  It however isn’t something we should over look because of just how much people may need to use a printer.   There will always be a need for paper backups and there will always be a need to snail mail a form.  These are the challenges they will always face and we must accept that we will be there to fix their issues when the need arises.   Do you agree or Disagree?

How Keyloggers work and why you should worry!

Paul

keyloggers

 

The History of Keyloggers

Keyloggers have been used ever since the dawn of computers.   It used to be a problem even in DOS(Directory of Systems).   If you haven’t used Dos that is normal, it hasn’t been used for years and years but it was still was a problem.  What are Keyloggers?  Well, to put it in a way that even those who might not know about computers will understand, is a program or app that will watch everything you do, this includes everything you might say, might type, and then report back to the person or organization who created the keylogger.   If your phone was infected they could use the keylogger to even know your GPS location and you would not even know it.   This is where it has gone in the past and I am sure it will get even worse in the future because of all the IOT(Internet of Things) we have being used to control our Fridge, or even our thermostat.

The Information gained by a Keylogger

Even today, we should be watchful of who might be looking over our shoulders.   It is even more difficult to do that in security because Keyloggers will tend to hide in the background and not show signs that you have a problem on the system or systems involved.  The information a threat actor might gain from using a keylogger is tremendously valuable.    I don’t say that lightly either, when a threat actor gains control of a system and wants to gain access to something even more secure this is one of the ways they can get the information needed to gain access to that really important documentations.   They can sit on a system for weeks to months without being noticed and gaining valuable information such as passwords, account information’s from banks to email addresses, Even your Social Security Number and even what websites you might of visited while the keylogger is installed on your device.  This is just a small part of how much information a keylogger can gain just by being on a system.   They can learn habits of the user, if you visit a site at 12:13pm almost exactly each day, then they will know what you are doing on your break or what you do at night if this is a system at home.  They could even know your location just by having a keylogger on your phone and be able to track you through the day to figure out your habits.

It’s not a victimless as you think

No matter how many times you hear of keyloggers, you probably don’t realize just the truth of the matter.   That the reason to install keyloggers into a system is for money, extortion, or blackmail.   These are just a few of the reason why a threat actor would do this.   They’re doing this usually for money but not always they will do this to make a statement or gain access to information.   This is where the value of keylogging comes into play, anything a user does can potentially show valuable information from black mailing someone because they are visiting sites we shouldn’t be visiting for pleasure or to get the information needed to impersonate someone to gain access or ruin someone’s credit.   All these can bring shame to the victim and make it even harder to survive.   This is one reason security has always been one of those hit or miss areas in IT.  As soon as we find the program, infection, or worm, they go about coming up with new ways to do it all over it.   You see we are always trying to analyze the structures of the programs they create and find them in the wild.    So as soon as we know about the program they have to change the program to be able to do it again on some other systems.

The Ultimate Gaming Shell for Linux Mint and Ubuntu!

Paul

Flickr API shell script

My Gaming Shell script!

I created this a few years ago because of my son who at the time wanted a system but we couldn’t’ afford Windows 10. So I installed Linux Mint.  I’ve found that this script should allow you to play almost any game that doesn’t require anti-cheat or the new DRM games.   Anything would run without much of a problem at least with stuff like Call of Duty and other games like that, I didn’t have much problem running them with this little shell script.   I am sure you’ve seen my Notepad++ shell script to install on your Linux system.  This is something similar and I thought it was high time to share with my readers.  If you haven’t already, you should go over and find out about shell scripting and learn some cool shell scripts yourself.   This however isn’t going to be very educational for some because it isn’t very complicated.

echo "Installing Wine"
echo y|sudo apt-get install wine-stable
echo y|sudo apt-get install winehq-stable

echo "Installing Playonlinux"
echo y|sudo apt-get install playonlinux

echo "Installing steam"
echo y|sudo apt-get install steam

echo "Installing Minecraft"
echo y|sudo apt-get install minecraft-launcher

echo "Installing Lutris"
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lutris-team/lutris
sudo apt update
echo y|sudo apt install lutris

read -p "Do you want to uninstall Firefox? (y/n)? " answer
case ${answer:0:1} in
y|Y )
echo y|sudo apt-get uninstall firefox
;;
* )
echo No
;;
esac
read -p "Do you want to install Chrome? (y/n)? " answer
case ${answer:0:1} in
y|Y )
wget -q -O - https://dl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
sudo apt update
echo y|sudo apt install -y google-chrome-stable
;;
* )
echo No
;;
esac
done

You can download it here along with the Notepad++ Script!

Explaining the script

So let’s first explain the top of the script and work our way down.   As you can see these are just installing the Wine and other utilities around on the internet to be able to play the games or maybe install the stuff you are wanting to install.  It doesn’t have to be games but I am sure it can be almost anything.   My son was always playing Minecraft on his Linux machine.  That game is so easy to install on Linux and runs without much o a problem, so that is why I included it here.  The Next one is obviously Lutris which can be installed on any Ubuntu and Linux Mint system without much problems and allows you to play all sorts of games that might be online games.   I’ve not tried it lately but I am sure these will work just as well as the next.

Finally the last part, I really like Chrome and I hate it that Firefox get’s installed most of the time.   So I put in a script to remove Firefox and install Chrome.   As you can see this one asks you the questions so if you like Firefox, then you need not worry and if you like Chrome you can install that and keep Firefox or remove it.   To each there own.

As you can see this isn’t going to be a big post but I did want to share with you my ultimate gaming script for Linux and even Windows 11 can’t hold me back if I ever do decide to do that.  After all, I did get Microsoft Flight Simulator to run on Linux Mint!  Are you going to use Linux more to play games on or are you going to stay with Windows?  Why not let me know and thank me for an awesome script that you can use anytime with your Linux system.

How I passed my A+ Certification

Paul
Photo by Valentine Tanasovich from Pexels

How did I pass my Core 1 and Core 2?

If you haven’t read about my journey in to getting my A+ certification then you really should go back and read from the beginning. It all started in Sept and it took me a Month to get it. After the first failure, I thought to myself will I even be able to get a good grade on my Core 2? That was the really a good question in my mind. Could I get a passing grade in the Core 2, or would I fail that one also. I did some preparing for Core 2 and that seemed to help. I was sure I was going to fail but I went to take my Core 2 even though I failed my Core 1. You can take Core 2 even if you fail your core 1, I found that helpful to know that you didn’t have to pass the tests in order to get your certification.   It can be quite frustrating to get worry about getting the exam done and getting the certification.   I am sure I am not the only one who had this stress.

So How did You pass the 2 time around with Core 1?

I’ll tell you what I did but I knew I didn’t have to study as much as most because I’ve been doing computer repair for years and I understand some basic concepts well before I even took the CompTIA Tests.   I knew about it due to my life long experience about 10 to 20 years and that is just the beginning on how I didn’t expect to fail the first time around.   The other part depends on your first score was it really low or did you just barely miss the 675 or 700 points needed to pass?   My first score for Core 1 was just shy with 37 points needed to get a passing on the core 1.  You can pretty much do the math but it was 638 was my first score.   So I knew I only had to study  a little bit those with lower scores will probably need to study even more. You can go back and find out how I prepared for the Core 2 but I wanted to pass my core 1 test for sure so I went into depth even more just to be sure.   Here’s how I prepared to take the Core 1:

Even though this is very little I did differently, it obviously did help with my grade as I went up by almost a 100 points after take the Core 1.   If you really need to get your score this is definitely a good step to do to get your points you need to get your certification.   I know this isn’t going to be for everyone but I did learn a thing or two.  Know how you learn is how you get the good grades and this is the first step at getting grades you want in college and even in exams.   I can’t emphasize this as much as I should because people just don’t understand that their way of learning is far different than those that learn a different way.

How did you pass your Core tests?

I’d really love to know how others have passed their core tests.  Why not leave a comment and tell me what you did to help others to get the grades they need to get their certifications.  I am finally certified in A+ and that is a big accomplishment for me.   I worked really hard at it and now I have something to show to employers who might require that to get a job.

Have a good Tuesday everyone.