Tales from IT – The Time an American Business Used Final Fantasy Hold Music March 19, 2023

Just when we thought we were done with Tales from IT, another story pops up that is worth telling. Welcome back, where our host shares some of the most unusual stories he’s experienced in Information Technology. Most of the IT work done recently has been virtual, and required a bit of being kept on hold. Typically, most major businesses that have the ability to hold or transfer calls within their system will typically have a prerecorded audio greeting play during the wait. Over the past few months Maniac thought he had heard it all, until a very familiar jingle from a certain iconic game franchise started to play over the phone. What happened next? Watch and find out.

Tales from IT – Helping a Customer With No Technical Ability At All February 17, 2022

It’s very common for IT to assist customers who have little technical aptitude. That’s typically why they need our help to begin with. But what happens when you deal with a customer who’s technical aptitude is so poor, they can’t relay to you what they need you to do for them? Here’s that story and how I dealt with it.

This will likely be the final Tales from IT on this site. Hope you all enjoyed it!

Tales from IT – Replacing a Photographer’s Workhorse MacBook Pro December 28, 2021

Welcome back to a new Tales from IT! We’re trying a few new pieces of tech today and decided to make this video for you. One of Maniac’s oldest friends took his advice and upgraded their MacBook to a newer model. However, they did it 3 years later than they should have…and both Maniac and their friends options were very limited because of it.

Can Maniac get his friend a replacement unit that satisfies their needs AND recover all their old system’s irreplaceable data? Let’s find out.

Tales from IT – Upgrading to the M1 Mac January 15, 2021

We’ve got a new Tales from IT! Apple has launched their line of custom processors and the computers that have these processors are available for purchase right now. Many friends and peers of mine are finally putting away their 5-10 year old MacBooks for good and upgrading to these new powerful systems.

But what is a Mac user to do with their years and years of files and data, especially if they have not created any backups? Apple will not take any responsibility for your data (unless it’s being stored on the iCloud), so asking a Genius to transfer your files, settings and programs is not an option. You can however, call a different kind of professional.

Watch the video below and find out what it was like to do a complete data transfer to a new M1 Mac. You’ll even get some tips and pointers along the way.

Tales From IT – Fun Times At Work September 1, 2020

Welcome back to Tales from IT, where I talk about some of my most noteworthy computer jobs. People have asked me if I ever get the opportunity to have fun on a job site. I know it may not look like it, but I’m actually a professional when it comes to my work. Typically, if I’m called in to do a job like fix a computer, I will focus entirely on that job until it is completed while I’m being assigned that job.

That said, occasionally I’m given 9 to 5 assignments that are not entirely structured, or I’m given the opportunity to be creative with my testing procedures while at work. This is a story of one of those times.

Tales from IT – Upgrading a Mac Mini to a Solid State Hard Drive August 3, 2020

Maniac tells a story of how needlessly difficult and annoying it is to perform a simple upgrade of a 2014 Mac Mini’s Hard Drive.

Tales From IT – When a Printer is More Than Just a Printer June 8, 2020

We’ve got a follow-up to our last Tales from IT, with a hiccup I encountered from a major network migration. I was under orders to pull all of the old printers from a major business. One particular user did not want their printer to go anywhere.

Tales From IT – How Dungeons and Dragons Prepared Me to Work for Major Companies June 7, 2020

I know I said that we would retire Tales from IT, but given the current state of the world I thought it would be important to tell this personal story. Many of you may have been told while growing up that playing games with your friends would never help you in your life, and that harmless games like Dungeons & Dragons were bad for your personal growth. Your parents lied to you.

Here’s a story about a time I handled an important project for a major company. Not one single assignment I ever did in school was useful to me. The game of Dungeons & Dragons I learned how to play just a year earlier…was.

Tales from IT – These Tales Won’t Get You a Job September 12, 2019

For some time now I’ve been concerned that people could watch my Tales from IT videos, memorize them and try to relay the stories as their own personal anecdotes with the intention to get themselves positions in the IT field they would otherwise be unqualified for. Well, I’m happy (or sad) to say that probably isn’t much of a concern as I thought it would be.

So here’s a story about one time I told one of these stories to a major job employer. I wasn’t qualified for the job, I had no experience in the position, but I had to apply for it because my technically-illiterate family read about it in the newspaper and wouldn’t cease harassing me about it.

I hope you all enjoyed the Tales from IT series because that will be the final video we will post in that series. More content (including TGS 2019 news) is on its way!

Tales from IT – My Most Frustrating Job May 22, 2019

You might think being an IT guy is an easy job and while it is certainly less difficult than other professions (provided you have years of experience) it can have its moments of frustration. Customers frequently forget their own passwords or give you incorrect information about their system specifications. However, we won’t be talking about issues with end users today. Our currently most frustrating experience working at IT was a time we had to install new servers at a retailer.

How long did we spend on the job and were we able to finish it? Watch and find out.