Beyond A Front Desk

All of today’s help desk support skills, in one easy-to-understand book The perfect beginner’s guide: No help desk or support experience necessary Covers both “soft” personal skills and “hard” technical skills Explains the changing role of help desk professionals in the modern support center Today, everyone depends on technology–and practically everyone needs help to use it well. Organizations deliver that assistance through help desks. This guide brings together all the knowledge you need to succeed in any help desk or technical support role, prepare for promotion, and succeed with the support-related parts of other IT jobs. Leading technology instructor Darril Gibson tours the modern help desk, explains what modern support professionals really do, and fully covers both of the skill sets you’ll need: technical and personal. In clear and simple language, he discusses everything from troubleshooting specific problems to working with difficult users. You’ll even learn how to manage a help desk, so it works better and delivers more value. Coverage includes: • How the modern help desk has evolved • Understanding your users’ needs, goals, and attitudes • Walking through the typical help desk call • Communicating well: listening actively and asking better questions • Improving interactions and handling difficult situations • Developing positive attitudes, and “owning” the problem • Managing your time and stress • Supporting computers, networks, smartphones, and tablets • Finding the technical product knowledge you need • Protecting the security of your users, information, and devices • Defining, diagnosing, and solving problems, step by step • Writing it up: from incident reports to documentation • Working in teams to meet the goals of the business • Using ITIL to improve the services you provide • Calculating help desk costs, benefits, value, and performance • Taking control of your support career Powerful features make it easier to learn about help desk careers! • Clear introductions describe the big ideas and show how they fit with what you’ve already learned • Specific chapter objectives tell you exactly what you need to learn • Key Terms lists help you identify important terms and a complete Glossary helps you understand them • Author’s Notes and On The Side features help you go deeper into the topic if you want to • Chapter Review tools and activities help you make sure you’ve learned the material Exclusive Mind Mapping activities! • Organize important ideas visually–in your mind, in your words • Learn more, remember more • Understand how different ideas fit together

FBI Agency brass and Sullivan family connections force Special Agent Bobbie Leighton into an undercover operation with inactive Homicide Detective Joe Sullivan. Posing as a wealthy Texas cattleman and his arm-candy wife the two are assigned to infiltrate Bradley Sterling's black-market operation. Suspected of baby trafficking, Sterling may be connected with Jimmy Sullivan's murder. How do Bobbie and Joe adhere to their professional code of conduct living under the same roof? Can they forget their personal history, ignore their volatile feelings for each other and ensnare their target when they might be next on Sterling's victims list

From Venetian Renaissance art to corner trattorias, dig into the city known as La Serrenissima ("Her Most Serene") with Moon Venice & Beyond. Explore In and Around the City: Get to know Venice's most interesting neighborhoods, like San Marco, Cannaregio, and Castello, and nearby areas, including Padua, Vicenza, Verona, the Dolomites, and more Go at Your Own Pace: Choose from tons of itinerary options designed for foodies, history buffs, art lovers, and more See the Sights: Gaze at the golden mosaics lining the ceiling of St. Mark's Basilica, step inside the grand Doge's Palace, walk across the Rialto Bridge, and take a gondola ride through the city's winding canals Get Outside the City: Linger in the colorful fishing village of Burano or the romantic city of Verona, and marvel at the Giotto frescoes in Padua Savor the Flavors: Sample traditional seafood dishes, unbeatable sweet treats, and classic cicchetti (a delicious assortment of finger foods) Experience the Nightlife: Relax at a canal-side bar, chat with locals as the wine decants at a rustic enoteca, and sip locally-produced Prosecco Get to Know the Real Venice: Follow local suggestions from Italian transplant Alexei Cohen Full-Color Photos and Detailed Maps Handy Tools: Background information on Venetian history and culture, plus tips on ethical travel, what to pack, where to stay, and how to get around Day trip itineraries, favorite local spots, and strategies to skip the crowds: Take your time with Moon Venice & Beyond. Exploring more of Italy? Check out Moon Florence & Beyond or Moon Milan & the Italian Lakes.

The true-life story of how three men helped save the lives and families of thousands living with HIV/AIDS in East Africa. ​Written by three co-founders of CARE for AIDS—a nonprofit providing support for men and women living with HIV/AIDS in East Africa—Beyond Blood is the true-life account of how three men from drastically different backgrounds came together to form a grassroots nonprofit that has empowered thousands of HIV-positive people in East Africa to live lives beyond AIDS. This is the story of how Justin T. Miller, an American Vanderbilt undergraduate student, met Duncan Kimani Kamau and Cornel Onyango Nyaywera, two men who had grown up witnessing firsthand the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS in their own communities in Kenya. Though Kamau and Nyaywera grew up in opposite ends of the country and came from opposing tribes, they overcame prejudice and cultural expectations to bring healing to their communities. With Miller’s help, their dream of empowering people to live a life beyond AIDS became a reality. Once Kamau, Miller, and Nyaywera realized their common purpose, CARE for AIDS was born. But it was only the beginning of their fight against AIDS, as they quickly discovered the fear and stigma that blanketed the disease. If their fledgling nonprofit was going to empower anyone, they would need help—and they found it, one local church at a time. As they slowly but steadily grew their network of friends and allies, Kamau, Miller, and Nyaywera discovered that the most complex problems can be solved through intentional, redemptive relationships.

Initially stationed at the U.S. Army's counterintelligence headquarters in Saigon, David Noble was sent north to launch the army's first covert intelligence-gathering operation in Vietnam's Central Highlands. Living in the region of the Montagnards--Vietnam's indigenous tribal people, deemed critical to winning the war--Noble documented strategic hamlets and Green Beret training camps, where Special Forces teams taught the Montagnards to use rifles rather than crossbows and spears. In this book, he relates the formidable challenges he confronted in the course of his work. Weaving together memoir, excerpts from letters written home, and photographs, Noble's compelling narrative throws light on a little-known corner of the Vietnam War in its early years--before the Tonkin Gulf Resolution and the deployment of combat units--and traces his transformation from a novice intelligence agent and believer in the war to a political dissenter and active protester.

Tall and handsome, twenty-six-year-old Alexander Karastinos is passionate about life and living it. Popular with his friends in the small Greek community of Tarpon Springs, Florida, he works hard in the dangerous profession of sponge-fishing. Alexander enjoys spending his free time with his gorgeous and exotic Cuban girlfriend, Silvia Morales. But his comfortable life and his relationship with Silvia are suddenly turned upside down by his father's surprise announcement at a family dinner. Quietly, the patriarchs of the Karastinos and Demetrias families have arranged a marriage between Alexander and Melena Demetrias. Neither of them believes they are ready for marriage, but Alexander and Melena understand the consequences of refusing their parents' wishes. In the days and months that follow, Alexander and his older brother Taso come to grips with their personal challenges while crossing paths with a dangerous man whose legacy for hating all Greeks places young Alexander in grave danger. Only a mysterious old Greek woman in black stands between Alexander and the evil she knows he faces.