Off and On

Well, it seems we have week 3 of disasters this time with the failures at Heathrow. It really resonates with what I mentioned in my post on WAVE Media on Wednesday. There should always be a backup. Be that a plan, another resource, a saved copy of your stuff in case the worst happens.

I can’t say I’m perfect at keeping things safe and backed up, but where I can I make the effort. My camera photos are saved to an SD card and backed up to Dropbox and subsequently my laptop. So are my WhatsApp messages to Google Drive. Many of my work files are backed up automatically by our IT Department as a blanket “Snapshot” of each NAS drive (personal documents, personal desktop, corporate share) every hour and kept for up to 3 days. Even this website and it’s sister sites are backed up a couple of times a day and I try to ensure if I’m at home or out and about I’ve got a couple of sources of internet available in case one fails and another phone in reach if mine goes out of signal/range and I need to contact someone.

When it comes to non digital stuff, I try to keep a plan for things too. Like pulling in resources over the weekend after the cyber attack happened to ensure the centres would be able to be up and running at work – which thankfully weren’t needed with our IT Department enacting their own.

Things in this world do sometimes go wrong and so long as you have a plan and you know how to get up and running again as soon as possible and if not at all, what you can do in the meantime, things can usually get back to business pretty quickly. In BA’s case, a backup supply would have really helped. Would it be possible? Who knows until more facts come in. Here’s hoping next weekend won’t fail us.

Take care everyone,

Mike


No Words

I didn’t get around to posting yesterday. I’m glad I didn’t, because my original message seems irrelevant now and my thoughts at the start of this week are short but sweet.

On the shuttle bus to work this morning I heard the news. Roughly 22 dead, some of them children.

I must ask to anyone out there that thinks this is OK. What is wrong with you? Is it a mental disability, a misunderstanding on what Islam is about? Do you get thoughts in your head urging you to kill people? If you can answer yes to all or just questions 2 or 3, then get help for your mental health!

By blowing people up you’re not a Muslim savior, you’re not a hero. You’re just a killer.

I stand with you Manchester and my thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected. If you’re missing or unsure of a loved one, contact them now to make sure they are safe or call one of the numbers published across news and social media and on the Greater Manchester police site.

Living in fear will only let the terrorists win, so let’s all try to stay strong, keep calm and carry on.

Mike


Cash? Or Check?

So, this was a busy week!

A potential move forward on my flat refurbishment (that didn’t happen) after 2 weeks of nothing, a move around of offices and a large scale cyber attack that’s left my local hospitals/places of work in a rather awful state. No rest for the wicked eh? Or is there?

I can’t pretend the NHS was the only place affected by the attacks of Friday, quite far from it actually. But it’s taught us a rather important lesson in security, backups and keeping things up to date.

It’s easier said than done and I’m pretty guilty of forgetting to back things up myself which thanks to the wonders of automation I have less of a worry over.

The thing that bugs me is not only the anonymity of the attack (which I suppose is a given with the vast array of hackers and malicious software writers out there) but also the lack of motive. Considering this was on such an unprecedented scale and given the timing in world events, somebody must be pretty bored or with a sick sadistic mind to think that launching this is okay (and considering they earned more in a day for pressing a button than I do in a year for working hard, somebody pretty greedy too).

My heart goes out to all those affected by the incident and whom now have to work over the weekend through days and nights to fix things and patch up before the potential second attack that security experts think may happen tomorrow.

Take care out there guys and let’s see if the Internet is still alive next week (provided all the servers holding it up are still running).

 

Mike


Waiting

Sorry for the delays in posting in the week, it’s been busy. Busy busy busy. Well, sort of.

It would have been a productive week if it wasn’t filled with chase up emails, calls and patience being pushed (I of course realise the hyposcrisy of making you wait an extra day for my rambilings 😉 )

When it comes to things not progressing – especially when you you’re relying on other people, frustration and stress can be on the rise – esepcially when others are asking you what the hold up is. But before you blow your top, ask yourself these three questions:

  1. Is there anyrthing you can do to help change the process or influence the forward progress?
  2. Is the person or party you’ve asked for help not congested with higher priorities?
  3. If you’re stuck with resistance, have you reached out to higher powers to help?

If you can’t answer any of the above questions justifiably then it might be worth investigating, if anything, to cover your back.

Whilst you must be assertive when chasing up to ensure your message gets across, don’t forget to be a little polite, nobody likes assumptions or being compared to a metaphonical donkey or orifice in the rear southern regions! After all, should the person you’re asking be a ‘yes’ in question two above or indeed be waiting on somebody else in order to get their job done, you don’t want to end up making them feel like the akward middle child in your argument.

Thankfully in most organised societies people have a productive task system and methods of communication, whether that be platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, Basecamp, or Wrike or through more traditional means such as regular meetings with the secreatary that calls up or emails now and again to find out where everybody is up to.

However you need to get out of your rut, don’t make the mistake some make by just letting it roll, because before you know it you’ll see this post in the feed again next week and realise you’re still no further when there may well have been an opportunity to move ahead.

Have a good rest of the weekend everyone and keep moving forward!

 

Mike