Summer and BT

Howdy folks :)

So BT's still running pretty good luckily for me as I've been more than swamped the last couple of months. Finished off the semester with 4 A's and one B (algebra 2, and that is because I didn't take the final because dad was in the hospital for chest pains. Luckily it wasn't anything serious). That leaves me with an overall G.P.A. of 3.86 currently.

I have 3 more courses to take (humanities, biology, and operating systems) before getting my A.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in computer studies. Still not sure what exactly that's good for *biggrin or what job it's supposed to help me get. But that doesn't much matter since I've pretty much decided I'll go into one of two fields.

Field #1 - Network and information security. Lots of openings for this field as technology improves so rapidly. Lots of money to be paid as well *biggrin

Field #2 - Veterinary Technician specializing in cat behavior (like Jackson Galaxy? from "My Cat From Hell" TV show), only better at it *biggrin This field only pays a third of what the other one does though :(

I got a job working part time (at 30+ hours a week lately due to vacations :D ) at a pet supply store called Pet Food Express three weeks before finals. So between work, school, and volunteering at the animal shelter I had just enough time to eat and sleep :) I really like this job, our main focus as a company is to help people give their pets the best possible life they can. We aren't supposed to focus on "selling" anything, we are supposed to focus on what the pet and their owners need/want. So that means we take our time and talk with the customers to get to know them and their pets. They can even bring their pets in. We work closely with the animal shelter, humane society, law enforcement, local rescue groups, and local trainers. It's like a one stop awesome shop for your cat or dog (with minimal fish, reptile, bird, and small critter supplies). It's just an awesome job.

VBulletin (the company that makes the forum software) has finally released the last stable version of their 4.x line (which is what we use), which means an upgrade to the forum software is in the near(ish) future. This upgrade is going to have to get done sooner or later anyways because the host is going to uninstall the backbone software and force everyone to use the newer versions. This is actually a really good thing, the newer versions are a lot more robust and secure.

When will I do the update? Honestly I have no idea. I still have to set up a test server here at home, copy BT to it, do the upgrade, add or tweak the modifications, then stress test the whole shebang. I will give you fine folks plenty of notice before hand. There will be some visible changes and some big(ish) changes to some of the functionality. Downtime shouldn't be very long at all, just a few hours or so.

As the time gets closer to the upgrade I will post a lot of details regarding the changes that you will see/interact with the most. Nothing to drastic though, but it might be a little confusing for some at first.

When the upgrade is done, I will be able to install more skins/themes much easier and with a bit more diversity. This is also the perfect time for you guys n gals to chime in with what you want to see here at BT.

Well I've totally lost my train of thought (went back and typed up the blurb about my job and forgot where I was going after that :D ) so I'll end this here.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for all the info. I greatly appreciate it. I don't know how you keep up with everything you have going on at the same time I just want you to know I greatly
appreciate all the time and effort you have put into BT you have done a wonderful job. Thanks again and May God Bless You!

Sue

Thanks Mike! Without this forum, I would probably just get off the Net. I love and need this forum.

Mike, congratulations on your exams. Great job! I think Information and Network Security sounds good with the $$$s, however I really think whatever you feel will give you the happiest life is the most important.

Love the sound of your job you have now. Unfortunately, I don't think there are many places that would not be emphasizing the "sell, sell, sell" part.

As for me BT is so good now that I really will probably not be able to add anything to what it might need. I will have to leave that to the more highly technical people on here.

Thanks for all you do.

((((((Mike)))))) ~

I'm relieved that your dad is okay and will pray for his health. I'm sure that was quite frightening for you and for him.

Congratulations on your awesome GPA! :applause: I know, from my own, and my dad's experiences, that being an "older" student truly makes a difference in dedication to and enthusiasm for learning. As your GPA demonstrates, you clearly have been working hard on your studies. Please feel good about yourself, because that is a tremendous accomplishment!

As your Guidance and Career Counselor, *wink I suggest that you choose both fields. Vet Tech by day, Net Tech by night! *biggrin He's Super Mike! And here comes his Reality TV Show!

I'm sure the choice is difficult for you. I have this philosophy: Do what you love, then you will love what you do. Our work comprises a big chunk of our life, and we should be happy with our job. Your current position with Pet Food Express seems to make you happy. Perhaps there is a clue there ... ?

Whatever needs to be done with BT, I support completely, but it does sound like a lot of work for you. Please take your time, and don't rush through it just to shorten the time the site is down. We'll all know why it is down, and in our gratitude for your efforts, we will be patient.

You are appreciated, Mike, for all that you continue to do for our BT community. And I am so proud of you for sticking with your degree program, and for mastering it so beautifully. Proud to be a part of your educational journey!

Wishing you only the best of everything, Mike ~

Love & Light,

Rose

Mike, glad to hear your dad is doing better. I am one that believes if you love your job you never work a day. However, the way things are, it may be better strategy to take the better paying job and doing volunteer work on the side with cats. It is a struggle today to find a job that pays well enough to keep things together and that is the first thing you need to do. Saying that, I got into teaching and coaching football at the high school level because I loved working with teenagers. I have no doubt I could have made many times the amount of money I did teaching but teaching did give me a living income. Whatever choice you make I wish you well as I know if you work as hard at it as you have with your studies you will be successful.

In case one thinks there is a lesser need for network security, suggest a visit to these URLs:

Hacking and the Future of Warfare
http://www.theatlantic.com/technolog...arfare/395723/
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Security Freeze
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/06/h...ze/#more-31191

Why China Wants Your Sensitive Data
http://www.darkreading.com/threat-in..._raytheon&xQZh

Fight Back Against Spammers
http://spampoison.com/
Learn about robots.txt files
https://support.google.com/webmaster...608?hl=en&rd=1

Net of Insecurity: The making of a vulnerable internet
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/69...rable-internet

Survey: IT Outages Causing Alarming Impact On Businesses
http://www.crn.com/slide-shows/cloud...id=sem_su&pQZz

Mike,

Thanks for all your dedication & support. It is much appreciated.

BTW, for "all":

A hacker just needs to be right (meaning be able to penetrate an environment) but once.

The defenders need to right 100% of the time.

How about this overview:

7,327,669,475 estimate of world population today

26% estimate of above population aged 0 to 14 years

5,422,475,412 population over 14 as of today based on above %

271,123,771 5 % = estimate of those above age of 14 with some technical skills

2,711,238 1 % = estimate of those in the 5% who could to do damage, e.g.; proper skill sets

271,124 10 % = estimate of those with proper skill sets who actually "work" to do damage

Congrats dear. Hope you make it high!

Mike - Congrats on the grades. Did not know you were an animal lover - Very Cool - I hope you go that route, having worked in IT for a LOOOOOng time, I can honestly say I wish I had taken the path you have a chance to. Might be less money, But the job satisfaction and the love of all the animals you will get to meet ,greet, and perhaps treat, will far outweigh that, IMHO, if only because you will not have the office Politics, which I am sure you already have a taste of = ratchet it up by a factor of 5 and you are living the IT life. I will pray for the best outcome for you and that you make the choice that's right for YOU.

Blessings
Alex44
Skypilot