I wasn’t aware that the USPS used an iPhone with a phone number from the Philippines to notify residents of Cleveland, Ohio that they had a package waiting at customs.
H I
Also, the domain used as the link to check is know to 13 scanners as PHISHING and 1 as SUSPICIOUS ON virustotal.com: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/domain/trackwhqy.top
Don’t worry, my site is completely safe: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/domain/jasonlamb.me
Overall, be careful out there. A bunch of bad guys are always out there looking for unsuspecting victims to fall for their carefully constructed social engineered hack attempts.
I always encourage my coworkers, family, friends, and everyone I talk to, to make themselves a hard target. Be alert. Don’t click too fast. Set unique and complex passwords for EACH and EVERY account. Use a password manager.
“Attacks always get better; they never get worse.”
How PowerShell Became My Best Frenemy: A Love-Hate Relationship
What AI says today, Day 2
Image generated by ChatGPT
Welcome back, tech adventurers, to yet another thrilling tale of JasonLamb.me, where I tackle the mysteries of technology so you don’t have to (unless you really want to, in which case, welcome to the club).
Today, I’m talking about a tool that has helped me automate, troubleshoot, and occasionally ruin my afternoon: PowerShell. It’s that magical (and sometimes maddening) command-line interface that’s part hero, part villain. It’s saved my bacon more times than I can count, but not without a few “Wait, what just happened?” moments along the way.
What is PowerShell, and Why Do I Both Love and Fear It?
PowerShell is like the Swiss Army knife of IT tools. It’s packed with tons of functionality, and once you master it, you feel like a wizard. Need to automate a repetitive task? PowerShell’s got your back. Want to manage thousands of users in Azure AD? PowerShell is the ticket. Looking to break something just enough that you have to spend the next three hours figuring out what you did wrong? PowerShell excels there too! 🛠️
In fact, my most recent PowerShell escapade involved connecting Exchange Online using the ever-delightful Connect-ExchangeOnline cmdlet. It was all going swimmingly until I realized I had somehow connected my test environment…to my production tenant. (Classic mistake, I know, but hey, we’re all learning here, right?)***
“Fact Check 1: This never happened”
-The REAL Jason Lamb (not AI)
But when PowerShell works, it’s magic. One moment you’re staring down a list of 100 tasks that will take all day, and the next, you’ve written a script that handles everything in five minutes flat. That’s when I love PowerShell—when it makes me look like the tech genius I aspire to be, not the one clicking “Retry” for the third time in Windows Update.
The Top 3 PowerShell Commands That Saved My Life (And My Sanity)
Here’s a quick rundown of my favorite PowerShell gems—commands that have made me look good, saved me time, and rescued me from countless headaches:
1. Get-Help Honestly, if you’re not using Get-Help every five seconds, are you even PowerShell-ing? This built-in command is a lifesaver when you’re staring blankly at your screen, trying to remember if it’s Get-Item or Set-Item. Pro tip: Use Get-Help -Examples when you need a cheat sheet on how a cmdlet works, without resorting to a panicked Google search.
2. Get-Process and Stop-Process Have you ever had a program that just refused to close, no matter how many times you hit the big red “X”? That’s when PowerShell swoops in like the hero it is. Get-Process shows you what’s running, and Stop-Process shuts it down with the cold, calculated efficiency of a hitman. (I mean, a friendly IT helper.)
3. Invoke-Command This one’s for when you need to run commands on remote machines. It’s like teleporting yourself to another computer and giving it orders from across the galaxy. Perfect for managing multiple machines without leaving your chair. Or, you know, without pants (we’re all still working from home sometimes, right?).
The Ones That Got Away: PowerShell’s Pranks
Of course, no relationship is perfect. PowerShell has a sense of humor—unfortunately, it doesn’t always align with mine. Like that one time I wrote a script to automate user creation, only to realize that I’d named every new user “Admin1” through “Admin100.” Let’s just say that my coworkers weren’t thrilled when they all tried logging in and ended up locked out.***
“Fact Check 2: This never happened”
-The REAL Jason Lamb (not AI)
But hey, mistakes are how we learn, and PowerShell loves to teach me lessons the hard way. Thanks for keeping me on my toes, buddy.
Why I Keep Coming Back to PowerShell
In the end, PowerShell is like that friend who drives you crazy but always pulls through when it counts. It can turn hours of repetitive work into mere minutes, and when you nail a script, there’s no better feeling.
If you haven’t taken the PowerShell plunge yet, I highly recommend giving it a shot (and maybe stock up on some coffee and patience while you’re at it). I’ve shared plenty of tutorials and examples on JasonLamb.me, so if you want to automate your workflow or dive deep into the world of scripting, check out some of the guides I’ve posted!
Got a PowerShell story of your own? Share it in the comments, and let’s swap tales of success and frustration—because, trust me, I’ve been there.
Until next time, keep those scripts tight, your errors minimal, and always remember: when in doubt, Get-Help.
Jason Lamb (Professional Tech Wrangler, PowerShell’s Frenemy, and your guide on JasonLamb.me)
This whole blog post (except this paragraph) was generated by ChatGPT using this prompt “reference jasonlamb.me and write a new blog post” and then “create a featured image that goes with this blog post”
Here’s another blog post in the style of Jason Lamb’s site, touching on a mix of personal reflection and tech-related insights:
The Tech Evolution and How It’s Changed Me
As I sit here sipping my morning coffee (okay, it’s my third cup), I can’t help but reflect on just how far technology has come since I first booted up my 120GB Maxtor external USB drive (the one I paid an insane $111 for back in the day). At that time, I thought I was on top of the tech world. Little did I know, my Maxtor was a dinosaur compared to the ultra-sleek 4TB M.2 SSD I now casually toss into my laptop like it’s a pack of gum.
Back in the day, that 120GB drive was my treasure chest, and I treated it with the same reverence as Indiana Jones did the Holy Grail. Now? That thing couldn’t even handle my browser’s cache for the week.
Fast Forward to the Present
Technology has always been this strange combination of amazing and terrifying. Amazing because every year we achieve things that were sci-fi fantasies a decade ago (looking at you, Neural Processing Unit). Terrifying because, well, does anyone else feel like Skynet is around the corner, or is that just me?
When I first started out in IT, the biggest challenge was making sure the office’s dial-up internet didn’t break down on a Friday, right before happy hour. Now, I’m managing cloud infrastructures, worrying about cybersecurity attacks, and hoping AI doesn’t rise up to start a workplace revolution—though, let’s be honest, some Mondays, a robot uprising doesn’t sound all that bad.
The Journey from Fixing to Fortifying
My career has mirrored the evolution of tech in a weird way. When I began, it was all about fixing things—making sure your boss’s printer stopped throwing a fit every time someone tried to print a color image (spoiler alert: just buy a new printer). Now, it’s about fortifying. Not just systems, but mindsets. We need to be two steps ahead of the hackers, the phishing schemes, and the endless torrent of updates that seem to demand more from us than ever before.
Take password hygiene, for example. I remember a time when people still thought ‘password123’ was secure enough. Fast forward to now: If you aren’t using multi-factor authentication and a 25-character password made up of hieroglyphs, symbols from forgotten alphabets, and probably an offering to the gods, you’re doing it wrong.
The Next Big Thing: NPU, AI, and What Lies Ahead
I’m convinced the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) is the next “RAM revolution.” Remember when more RAM was the answer to everything? Slow computer? RAM. Slow server? More RAM. Didn’t finish your homework? You guessed it—RAM. But just as RAM made way for SSDs, and SSDs made way for M.2s, I think we’re standing on the cusp of the next frontier: AI-powered computing.
Almost every major computer manufacturer is tossing an NPU into their machines now, and once AI starts offloading those massive calculations, it’s going to leave our CPUs and GPUs free to make even more magic happen. Or, you know, free up your computer to play Minecraft at an obscene frame rate while your Excel doc calculates world domination.
What I’ve Learned (Besides How to Fix a Printer)
I’ve learned that in tech, just like in life, change is inevitable. And sure, it can be frustrating to always feel like you’re learning the latest new thing, but if you’re not learning, you’re stagnating. Whether it’s figuring out how to secure your company’s domain (seriously, if you haven’t set up MFA yet, stop reading and do that), or trying to keep up with the avalanche of AI tools coming out every other week, it’s all part of the journey.
And if I’ve learned anything from 22 years in this space, it’s that adaptability is key. The tools may change, the devices may get smaller and faster, but the real skill is knowing how to think, problem-solve, and most importantly, how to keep going when everything crashes and burns. Spoiler alert: It usually happens on a Friday at 4:55 PM.
Final Thoughts (and a Plea for Sanity)
I’ll leave you with this: The next time you curse at your computer for needing another update, just remember—we’re all in this together. Technology is both our best friend and our most infuriating roommate. It’s always there when we need it, and somehow manages to crash exactly when we don’t.
But hey, if it weren’t for tech, I wouldn’t be here today—rambling on about AI, SSDs, and why you should never trust a printer.
Oh, and one last thing: Keep an eye on those NPUs—they’re about to blow your mind. Figuratively, of course. Probably.
This whole post was created by ChatGPT. This last section was manually added by Jason.
Technology is my job. I literally wouldn’t have a career as an IT Manager if it weren’t for technology. I love what I do and it still challenges me daily. I have been able to experience may facets of the IT space in my 22 years. The first part was in the Army. Yes, my job was to setup phone and internet for other units and maintain that connection, but I also started web development and video editing on the side. I learned Photoshop and graphic manipulation. All these things, I taught myself. Instead of doing college courses in my spare time, I was creating images, videos, and web pages.
After the Army I was fortunate to jump right into corporate IT and take what I knew and truly expand my skills and knowledge through some certs, a little college, but mostly experience.
I’ve been asked many times how to start my career in IT. My answer is always, be willing to start from the bottom and work your way up. You may have all the book knowledge but thinking outside the box and customer service skills can’t be taught, they are learned from experience.
Technology is always changing and most people don’t see the little things. I believe the next big thing could be the NPU (Neural Processing Unit) which almost all computer manufacturers are including in their computers now. This will enable computers to offload some AI math skills to a new unit and free up the CPU/GPU for other things.
Historically doubling of size has always been huge. Usually an exponent of 2. Think RAM and HDD/SDD space. Think even flash drives. You used to think a 8mb flash drive was awesome. My 120gb Maxtor external USB 2 HDD was $111 at the PX in Germany. That was my first hard drive. It was almost $1/gb! ($92.5/gb) Now I’m adding 4tb (4000gb) extra m.2 SSD to laptops for $225. That’s 5.6 CENTS/gb ($0.05625/gb). Also that first Maxtor drive was 40mb/s and the m.2 is 5000mb/s transfer rate.
Use this field to ask a question to Jetpack AI about the contents of this site.
For example, I asked…
Who is Jason
and it returned…
Jason Lamb is an IT Manager and the author of the blog where the documents were found. In one post, he shares a personal story about being put on Rear Detachment (Rear-D) while his unit deployed, highlighting the feelings of disappointment and frustration that can accompany such situations in the military. Another post introduces Luke through an Instagram link, providing a glimpse into the author’s personal life. Additionally, there is a post discussing a recent outage of a VoIP phone provider and the importance of knowing a service’s status page for business continuity. Furthermore, the blog has a post titled “But Not Me,” where Jason Lamb addresses other individuals with the same name, including a doctor at the Avon Lake Animal Clinic, a web designer in Virginia, an author from Canada, and other professionals with the name Jason Lamb. It seems that Jason Lamb has a long history in web design and technology, with years of experience and a passion for sharing information and experiences through his blog. There is also an “About” page on the blog that provides more background on Jason Lamb’s experience as a web designer and IT Manager, along with insights into his web history and interests.
Let me know what interesting questions you ask and the info it returns. Add a comment below after you try this.
I just got a news brief notification on my phone. It read, “about 2.2 million vehicles” and “nearly all Tesla EV models”… I wonder if they know of other Tesla models that are not EV?
https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-auto/tesla-recalls-2-million-vehicles-us-warning-lights-issue – Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., during a fireside discussion on artificial intelligence risks with Rishi Sunak, UK prime minister, not pictured, in London, UK, on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. (Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
CLICK BAIT, Thanks Fox Business and really any news publication that just released this story.
If a car or any electronic has the ability to push ‘OTA’ (Over-The-Air) updates via Wi-Fi or Cellular, then is it really considered a ‘recall’? They may have been forced to do it by the NTSB but a recall implies action on the end user to do something.
When I got a recall on my baby car seat, I was contacted by the manufacturer, I sent them a picture, my address, and a quick form and was sent a new base with the issue resolved. Arguably, a new component cost the company much more money then some code edits. I am not saying a Software Developer’s time is not valuable. I am saying it cost a company far more money to manufacture and ship a piece of hardware versus the time to code some software and push it out to all impacted users.
As my friend pointed out, if a software update was considered a recall then my iPhone and Microsoft Windows computer gets ‘RECALLED’ at least once a month…
Here is a side-by-side comparison and I bet you can’t tell which is which? There are only subtle differences. This is a screenshot from my 2 24″ monitors and on my work account with Microsoft E3 license with Office build version 2311.
It’s pretty easy to see that Microsoft is wanting no difference between your installed app and your web app versions. I can bet this is for easier development. I can also bet you that the install outlook is actually running on some emulated html code unlike other actually installed apps. You can tell this when it loads and also the settings page.
There is one way to tell which screenshot is which but I don’t want to spoil the fun of you guessing. And no, I am not using some special version of Microsoft insider preview build.
Leave a comment below with your guess on which is the Desktop App or the Online Version?
