One of the many projects that I am working on is a trouble ticket system. A trouble ticket system is a way for users to submit computer issues to their IT department and have the issues properly categorized and triaged.
There are a lot of them out there but one that I am seriously looking at is OTRS. From their Freshmeat website:
OTRS is a Web-based help desk and ticket system that provides a tailored set of effective and field-tested features to help service organizations to manage requests more efficiently. It relieves service agents of routine activities and provides a transparent view of the current status of a customer’s request at any time. It supports the following databases: MySQL, MS SQL, PosgreSQL, MaxDB (SAP DB), Oracle, and DB2.
I am looking at writing a tutorial on how to set up OTRS in the near future but since they just recently upgraded their system, I thought I would point everyone to this open source project now so that you can familiarize yourself with it.
Jeremy Toeman from LIVEdigitally had a nifty idea when he wrote about my lost USB drive program. He thought a graphic would be helpful. Jeremy writes:
Although if I were doing it, I’d probably try to find a way to get a picture of my face in the warning dialog. I think the personal touch is more likely to evoke a response from people.
I thought, “Great idea!” So I set myself to the task. It wasn’t long before USB Drive Splash Screen was born! Get the program, instructions, and all the code!
A lot of amazing things happened after my article was dugg last week. The most impressive one was that there are a lot more people who are looking at this sight and telling me what they would like me to write about.
One of the suggestions that I received was whether or not I could figure out a way to create a USB drive that could dig through a computer system and record a bunch of things about that system. The answer to that question is “Yes!” and I have a complete walk-through of how to do this in System Auditor USB Key.
It is a ridiculously simple process, simple download a couple of files to a USB drive, plug it into another system, click OK and you’re done! Read the entire howto and get auditing in under 5 minutes!
Oh, by the way. If your USB drive costs $10, the entire project will cost you $10. The software is all free!
I just wanted to take a minute to send out a special thanks to Rob over at confessions of a freeware junkie… for all of his support.
Rob found DCoT very early on (not that DCoT is that old) and he has been a loyal follower and supporter ever since. He was the first person to link to DCoT and the first person to leave a comment. And Rob has continued to contribute to this blog faithfully!
So, if you haven’t been to confessions of a freeware junkie…, now is the time. He has an excellent take on technology and freeware/open source software, a topic which is a favorite of mine.
I would just like to say, “Welcome!” to Handy Recovery, our first advertisers through the Performancing Partners network! Handy Recovery was lucky enough to get in early when the price is cheap! (Hint, Hint!)
Handy Recovery™ is an easy-to-use data recovery software designed to restore files accidentally deleted from hard disks and floppy drives. The program can recover files damaged by virus attacks, power failures and software faults or files from deleted and formatted partitions. If some program does not use Recycle Bin when deleting files, Handy Recovery can restore such files. It can also recover files moved to Recycle Bin after it has been emptied.
