Anonymous
Since 2005, IT pros have shared anonymous tech stories of blunders, blowhard bosses, users, tech challenges, and other memorable experiences. Send your story to offtherecord@infoworld.com, and if we publish it in the Off the Record blog we'll send you a $50 American Express gift card -- and, of course, keep you anonymous. (Note that by submitting a story to InfoWorld, you give InfoWorld Media Group, its affiliates, and licensees the right to republish this material in any medium in any language. You retain the copyright to your work and may also publish it without restriction.)
Servers and scars: The perils of shortcuts
Haste makes waste, as one techie observes on both a professional and a personal level
Cool-headed techie defuses hot-tempered users
The first rule of help desk: Chill out when the heated support calls come in. The solutions will roll in soon after
Just say no to a bad job -- the fun way
Honesty is the best policy when you're interviewing for a job that you already know is not the right fit
7 hardware horror stories from the help desk
Used, abused, and kinda rude -- unfortunately, that's what IT has come to expect of workers and company-issued hardware
Curiosity and chaos: A Unix newbie’s journey
A newbie is off to a grand start in the tech world, until an innocent mistake brings down the house
Got pliers? IT ninja attempts delicate operation
It never hurts to be a jack-of-all-trades in IT, but you can't plan for some job skills
Lax security? Now you're stuck, sucker
Sometimes a security lesson has to hit them where it hurts before the user learns
Motivated and efficient? You don’t belong here
Congrats, you've landed a new job! Too bad poor management and low initiative are the company norm
A tale of two bosses: A stud gives way to a dud
Are you a leader or a manager? At one IT department, the difference couldn't be clearer with a change in execs
Even a disaster can’t save this IT department
Budget cutbacks, overworked employees, and out-of-date systems lead to a middle-of-the-night emergency -- but little response from management
Tech support or babysitting? It can be hard to tell
Fix my password, hook up my computer, and hold my hand -- it's all in a day's work for tech support
Network duty calls -- every 15 minutes
Tick tock, there goes the network! A techie tries to get to the bottom of an internet outage that runs like clockwork
Advice from IT: Next time, learn how to use a computer
When a core team member bows out, a crucial process hits an insurmountable obstacle -- until IT swoops in
Caught between security and stupidity
A simple call to tech support first uncovers an alarming problem, then leads to another festering issue at a client company
Outdated and ill advised: How not to do email security
You've probably heard of security by obscurity, but one company's email policy takes it to the extreme
Too many cooks whip up a networking mess
Cheap bosses and bad decisions add up to a networking disaster, and one tech pro has to undo the damage
A little help here! Execs ignore overworked tech team
When a crucial department at a growing company is starved of resources, employee stress and sickness mount
Enough! Project scope creeps past the boiling point
Take a client who asks for more and more, subtract professional boundaries, and you get a stressful project for a young techie
