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IT Insights & Updates – November 2024
Welcome to another IT Newsletter! There are a lot of new updates this month, so let’s get to it.
New IT Members
We’ve had a few new co-workers begin in the last 30 days.
- Tony Sugitto – C# Developer – Corporate Calendar Team
- Margaret Pitt – Selenium Developer – Global Accounting Project
- Bob Sakamoto – Front-end Developer – Global Accounting Project
Welcome everyone!
Upcoming IT Birthdays
The following people have birthdays in November.
- Nov 3 – Oliver Thompson
- Nov 7 – Mia Johnson
- Nov 12 – Ethan Parker
- Nov 16 – Sophia Davis
- Nov 21 – Liam Rodriguez
- Nov 25 – Ava Martinez
- Nov 28 – Noah Anderson
- Nov 30 – Isabella White
Be sure to wish them a happy birthday on their special day!
This Month’s IT Updates
Cloud Migration Phase 1 Complete!
Thanks to incredible teamwork between our Infrastructure and Security teams, we’ve successfully migrated 60% of our on-premise workloads to AWS, two weeks ahead of schedule. Special kudos to Sarah Chen’s 3 AM troubleshooting session that kept us on track!
Upcoming Projects
- Windows 11 Upgrade Program: Starting March 15th
- Network Maintenance Window: March 20th, 2-4 AM EST
- New VPN Solution: The testing phase begins on March 25th
Security Reminder
Required Action: Please complete your quarterly password rotation by March 31st. Remember, “correct horse battery staple” is more secure than “P@ssw0rd123”!
Holiday Party
The holiday party is scheduled for December 17th from 2-4. We’ll have a trivia contest, an ugly sweater contest, and more!
We’ve made it so remote workers can participate and there will be prizes.
Co-Worker Spotlight
Alex Rodriguez – DevOps Lead
- Team: DevOps
- With us for: 5 years
- Secret talent: Makes amazing cold brew coffee
- Quote: “Infrastructure as code is poetry in motion”
Did you know that your colleague Alex is a bonafide hero? When Alex was 19 years old and a University student, a house on his street caught fire and he ran in and actually saved 2 young children that couldn’t get out!
By the time the Fire Department arrived the entire house was on fire. Luckily the children and their Mom were ok. If Alex hadn’t intervened, the children would have perished.
The Mayor awarded Alex a key to the city and a lifetime meal voucher at the local Sizzler’s Steakhouse. Way to go Alex!
Tech Corner: VS Code Hidden Gems
Our developers have shared the following shortcuts that they’ve discovered when using VS Code. Try them out:
Multi-cursor Mastery
Press Alt+Click to add multiple cursors. Try this: pythonCopy# Before name = "John" age = "30" city = "Boston" # After (using multi-cursor) name: str = "John" age: str = "30" city: str = "Boston"
Zen Mode
Press Ctrl+K Z to enter distraction-free coding mode. Your productivity will thank you!
Built-in Terminal
Quick Tip: Ctrl+ ` toggles the integrated terminal
Home Office Setup of the Month
Winner: Maya Patel, Backend Developer
Maya’s setup features:
- Standing desk with programmable height presets
- Monitor arms for perfect ergonomics
- Integrated ambient lighting
- Pet-friendly cable management (cat-proof!)
- Sound-dampening panels on walls for better acoustics during Zoom meetings!
“The key is creating a space that transitions well from focused work to video calls.” – Maya
Tech Trivia Challenge
Question: What year was the first email sent, and what was the @ symbol originally called? The first correct person to answer gets a pair of Apple AirPods.
Hint: It’s earlier than you think, and the symbol had a very practical name…
Submit your answers in our Teams channel. Last month’s winner was Tom Corcoran, who won a Microsoft mechanical keyboard!
New Automated Meeting Room Scheduler
Jake Johanson from IT Support suggested creating a Teams bot to handle meeting room scheduling conflicts. It’s a great idea so we’re starting development next month! Expected completion time is 6 weeks. We’ll let you know of exact launch date soon.
Got an idea? Submit it in our Innovation Portal.
Upcoming Learning Opportunities
- AWS Certification Study Group
Thursdays @ 3 PM EST / 12 PM PST
Virtual Room: CloudMasters - Python for Automation Workshop
March 23rd, 10 AM EST
Led by our automation guru, Lisa Martinez
Just for Fun: Tech Time Machine
March 1994: Our company installed its first email server
- Storage capacity: 2GB (total!)
- Number of users: 45
- Cost: $25,000
- Current equivalent: Sits in a museum (aka my office closet)
Quick Poll
Question: Which collaboration tool feature would you like training on next month?
- Advanced Teams Features
- Confluence Best Practices
- Jira Workflow Customization
- Git Beyond the Basics
Vote in our Teams channel by Friday!
Current Job Openings
We are actively hiring for these positions. If you know of any potential candidates, please let us know.
Cloud Solutions Architect
- Location: Remote
- Product: Cloud Infrastructure Management
Cybersecurity Analyst
- Location: Chicago
- Product: Network Security Systems
Software Development Engineer
- Location: Remote
- Product: Mobile Application Suite
Data Analyst
- Location: Chicago
- Product: Business Intelligence Tools
Have a great rest of the week!
David
Did you enjoy this newsletter? Have ideas for future content? Drop me a message or catch me in our virtual coffee room every Tuesday at 10 AM EST.
⭐ Pro Tip: Save this newsletter in your favorites folder for easy reference to the VS Code shortcuts and upcoming events!
