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